Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PATIENTS’ RADIATION EXPOSURE DURING VARIOUS TYPES OF CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIAS ABLATION

Background: Cardiac Radiofrequency (RF) ablation is used for treating some types of heart rhythm problems. The number of RF ablation procedures is increasing rapidly due to lower complication risks than surgery and high success rates. Due to higher patient exposure to X-ray radiation in different cardiac ablation procedures, public concerns are increasing regarding the detrimental effects of ionizing radiation, including skin injury, genetic effects, and malignancy. Objectives: This study aimed to determine patient absorption doses during Electrophysiological Study (EPS) and RF ablation of different cardiac arrhythmias in an electrophysiology laboratory unit with a flat panel detector. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 223 patients who underwent cardiac EPS and RF ablation. All procedures were executed on a single panel angiography unit with floor mounted C-arm. Dose Area Product (DAP), Entrance Skin Dose (ESD), and Fluoroscopy Time (FT) were recorded in all different procedures. Also, Total FT (TFT), total DAP, and total ESD were analyzed in the 223 procedures separately. Pearson’s correlation test was used to estimate the relationships between FT and DAP, FT and ESD, and ESD and DAP. Results: In this study, 56.1% of the patients were female. The mean age of male and female patients was 43.9 and 47.7 years, respectively. Medians of TFT, total ESD, and total DAP were 7.4 min, 165 mGy, and 19.2 Gycm2, respectively. Total ESD was strongly correlated to DAP (r = 0.945, P < 0.001). Significant correlations were also observed between FT and DAP (r = 0.843, P < 0.001) and between FT and ESD (r = 0.747, P < 0.001). AF ablation procedures had the highest medians of DAP, ESD, and FT values during all types of cardiac arrhythmias. Conclusions: For prevention of deterministic and stochastic effects of radiation exposure, such as skin damage and cancer, operators should attempt to reduce patients’ radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable. In the current study, none of the patients’ ESDs exceeded the threshold dose. The maximum ESD and DAP values were attributed to AF ablation procedures. Significant correlations between DAP and FT as well as between ESD and FT and the strong correlation between DAP and ESD showed that ESD could be reduced by reducing FT and DAP.
Endocytotic Uptake of Zoledronic Acid by Tubular Cells May Explain Its Renal Effects in Cancer Patients Receiving High Doses of the Compound

Zoledronic acid, a highly potent nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate used for the treatment of pathological bone loss, is excreted unmetabolized via the kidney if not bound to the bone. In cancer patients receiving high doses of the compound renal excretion may be associated with acute tubular necrosis. The question of how zoledronic acid is internalized by renal tubular cells has not been answered until now. In the current work, using a primary human tubular cell culture system, the pathway of cellular uptake of zoledronic acid (fluorescently/radiolabeled) and its cytotoxicity were investigated. Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that this primary cell culture model consistently mimics the physiological characteristics of molecular uptake/transport of the epithelium in vivo. Zoledronic acid was found to be taken up by tubular cells via fluid-phase-endocytosis (from apical and basolateral side) as evidenced by its co-localization with dextran. Cellular uptake and the resulting intracellular level was twice as high from the apical side compared to the basolateral side. Furthermore, the intracellular zoledronic acid level was found to be dependent on the administered concentration and not saturable. Cytotoxic effects however, were only seen at higher administration doses and/or after longer incubation times. Although zoledronic acid is taken up by tubular cells, no net tubular transport could be measured. It is concluded that fluid-phase-endocytosis of zoledronic acid and cellular accumulation at high doses may be responsible for the acute tubular necrosis observed in some cancer patients receiving high doses of the compound.
Isothermal and Nonisothermal Fatigue Behavior of a Metal Matrix Composite

The isothermal and nonisothermal fatigue resistance of a metal matrix com posite (MMC) consisting of Ti-15V-3Cr-3Al-3Sn (Ti-15-3) matrix reinforced by 33 v/o continuous SiC fibers was investigated. The fibers were nominally oriented parallel to the specimen axis. Isothermal fatigue tests were performed in air at 300 and 550°C. In non isothermal fatigue tests, each load excursion at 300°C or 550°C was preceded by a tem perature excursion from 300 to 550°C at zero load. The MMC had good isothermal fatigue resistance at 300 and 550°C at low cyclic stresses, with fatigue cracks initiating from fiber-matrix interfaces and foil laminations. At high cyclic stresses, stress relaxation in the matrix reduced isothermal composite fatigue resistance at 550°C. Nonisothermal fatigue loading substantially degraded composite fatigue resistance. This degradation was produced by a thermomechanical fatigue damage mechanism associated with the fiber-matrix interfaces.
Changes in VEGF expression and DNA synthesis in hepatocytes from hepatectomized and tumour‐bearing mice

Transplanted tumours could modify the intensity and temporal distribution of the cellular proliferation in normal cell populations, and partial hepatectomy alters the serum concentrations of substances involved in cellular proliferation, leading to the compensatory liver hyperplasia. The following experiments were designed in order to study the SI (S‐phase index) and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) expression in regenerating liver (after partial hepatectomy) of adult male mice bearing a hepatocellular carcinoma, throughout one complete circadian cycle. We used adult male C3H/S‐strain mice. After an appropriate period of synchronization, the C3H/S‐histocompatible ES2a hepatocellular carcinoma was grafted into the subcutaneous tissue of each animal's flank. To determine the index of SI and VEGF expression of hepatocytes, we used immunohistochemistry. The animals were divided into two experimental groups: Group I, control, hepatectomized animals; Group II, hepatectomized tumour‐bearing animals. The statistical analysis of SI and VEGF expression was performed using Anova and Tukey as a postcomparison test. The results show that in the second group, the curve of SI changes the time points for maximum and minimum activity, and the peak of VEGF expression appears before the first group. In conclusion, in the hepatectomized mice, the increases of hepatic proliferation, measured by the SI index, may produce a rise in VEGF expression with the object of generating a vascular network for hepatic regeneration. Lastly, as we have mentioned, in hepatectomized and tumour‐bearing mice, the peak of VEGF expression appears before the one of DNA synthesis.
Relationship between design patterns defects and crosscutting concern scattering degree: an empirical study

Design patterns are solutions to recurring design problems, aimed at increasing reuse, code quality and, above all, maintainability and resilience to changes. Despite such advantages, the usage of design patterns implies the presence of crosscutting code implementing the pattern usage and access from other system components. When the system evolves, the presence of crosscutting code can cause repeated changes, possibly introducing defects. This study reports an empirical study, in which it is showed that, for three open source projects, the number of defects in design-pattern classes is in several cases correlated with the scattering degree of their induced crosscutting concerns, and also varies among different kinds of patterns.
Moving to Music: Effects of Heard and Imagined Musical Cues on Movement-Related Brain Activity

Music is commonly used to facilitate or support movement, and increasingly used in movement rehabilitation. Additionally, there is some evidence to suggest that music imagery, which is reported to lead to brain signatures similar to music perception, may also assist movement. However, it is not yet known whether either imagined or musical cueing changes the way in which the motor system of the human brain is activated during simple movements. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to compare neural activity during wrist flexions performed to either heard or imagined music with self-pacing of the same movement without any cueing. Focusing specifically on the motor network of the brain, analyses were performed within a mask of BA4, BA6, the basal ganglia (putamen, caudate, and pallidum), the motor nuclei of the thalamus, and the whole cerebellum. Results revealed that moving to music compared with self-paced movement resulted in significantly increased activation in left cerebellum VI. Moving to imagined music led to significantly more activation in pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and right globus pallidus, relative to self-paced movement. When the music and imagery cueing conditions were contrasted directly, movements in the music condition showed significantly more activity in left hemisphere cerebellum VII and right hemisphere and vermis of cerebellum IX, while the imagery condition revealed more significant activity in pre-SMA. These results suggest that cueing movement with actual or imagined music impacts upon engagement of motor network regions during the movement, and suggest that heard and imagined cues can modulate movement in subtly different ways. These results may have implications for the applicability of auditory cueing in movement rehabilitation for different patient populations.
Neurological mortality among U.S. veterans of the Persian Gulf War: 13-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND This study focuses on long-term mortality, specifically brain cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS) of 621,902 veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War (GW), and 746,248 non-GW veterans. METHODS Follow-up began with the date the veteran left the GW theater or May 1, 1991 and ended with the date of death or December 31, 2004. Cox proportional hazard models were used for analyses. RESULTS Adjusted mortality rate ratios (aRR) of GW veterans compared to non-GW veterans were not statistically significant for brain cancer (aRR = 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73, 1.11), MS (aRR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.23, 1.63), Parkinson's disease (aRR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.17, 2.99), or ALS (aRR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.56, 1.62). GW veterans potentially exposed to nerve agents for 2 or more days and GW veterans exposed to oil well fire smoke were at increased risk for brain cancer mortality (aRR = 2.71, 95% CI: 1.25, 5.87; aRR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.00, 3.27; respectively). CONCLUSIONS The risk of death due to ALS, MS, Parkinson's disease, and brain cancer was not associated with 1991 GW service in general. However, GW veterans potentially exposed to nerve agents at Khamisiyah, Iraq, and to oil well fire smoke had an increased risk of mortality due to brain cancer.
Toxicity of combined ganciclovir and zidovudine for cytomegalovirus disease associated with AIDS. An AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study.

OBJECTIVE To assess the toxicity, efficacy, and pharmacology of combined zidovudine and ganciclovir therapy in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and serious cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease. DESIGN Prospective, phase I multicenter trial (ACTG 004) with patients grouped by previous study drug history. SETTING Three university-based AIDS Clinical Trials Units sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). PATIENTS Forty-one patients with AIDS-related CMV disease. Previous therapy with either zidovudine or ganciclovir was allowed. INTERVENTIONS Patients were treated with zidovudine, 600 to 1200 mg/d; or, if on ganciclovir maintenance, ganciclovir, 5 mg/kg body weight; blood was sampled for pharmacokinetic studies. The other drug was then administered to the patient with blood sampling and, finally, the two drugs in combination were given. Patients were continued on both drug therapies with dose reduction of zidovudine only for grade 3 or 4 toxicity. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Forty patients were eligible. Hematologic toxicity was frequent, with 9 of the 10 patients requiring dose reductions for grade 3 or 4 toxicity at zidovudine doses of 1200 mg/d. With zidovudine doses of 600 mg/d, 82% experienced such hematologic toxicity. Median survival was 6 months; 10 patients developed intercurrent infection and 19, progressive CMV disease. Pharmacokinetic variables (alpha and beta half-lives, volume of distribution, clearance) were not affected in combination therapy. CONCLUSION The combination of zidovudine and ganciclovir is poorly tolerated in patients with AIDS and serious-CMV disease, with 82% developing severe to life-threatening hematologic toxicity. Such toxicity is not a result of pharmacologic interactions, drug metabolism, or excretion.
ETHANOL METABOLISM: REGULATION BY GENETIC FACTORS IN NORMAL VOLUNTEERS UNDER A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AND THE EFFECT OF CHRONIC ETHANOL ADMINISTRATION

The scientific meeting of the National Council on Alcoholism in April of 1971 achieved several worthy goals. One of its notable accomplishments was the disclosure of several promising new approaches to the genetic and environmental factors that may lead to alcoholism. My own contribution does not involve alcoholics but normal volunteers. Nevertheless, the results may be of interest from the point of view of the metabolic derangements that eventually develop in alcoholism. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of individual variation in ethanol metabolism in healthy adults not receiving ethanol or other drugs for the month preceding the investigation and to define the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to these differences. This investigation of the metabolism of ethanol was conducted in two separate and unrelated parts and with two different groups of volunteers. In the first part, 14 pairs of adult, Caucasian twins living in the Washington, D.C., area who had abstained from ethanol and other drugs for the month preceding the study received, beginning at 0900 and continuing over a 10-minute period, a single oral dose of 1 ml per kilogram of 95% ethanol diluted with ice water. Beginning one and one-half hours after ethanol ingestion was completed and continuing at half-hour intervals until five or six specimens had been collected, we drew blood specimens (12 ml each), which were anticoagulated with 0.1 ml of 40% sodium citrate. The plasma was withdrawn and in most cases assayed immediately for ethanol, although it was frozen for several days in some cases prior to assay. Ethanol was assayed by slight modification of the method of Goldbaum and colleagues. ' The modification consisted in substitution of 28.5% Ucon LB-550-X (polypropylene glycol) for the liquid phase. Into each of two test tubes (13 X 100 mrn) 1 ml of plasma was pipetted. The tubes were sealed with clean rubber stoppers* and heated in a water bath at 42' C for 30 minutes. Preliminary experiments indicated that the samples could be heated for four hours without loss of ethanol. After heating, 1.4 ml of the vapor phase was withdrawn with a 6-ml disposable syringe fitted with a 25 g X 1.5-inch needle. The sample was assayed in a Barber Coleman gas liquid chromatograph with an argon ionization detector and argon as the carrier gas. The 6 foot column was packed with 28.5% Ucon 550X on chromosorb W, 80 to 100 mesh. The column temperature was maintained at 102' C; the flash heater and detector were kept at 125' and 140' C, respectively. Retention time of the ethanol was approximately four minutes. A standard curve of peak height against ethanol concentration was linear over a range from 0 to 100 PI per ml. Duplicate determinations of ethanol were almost always within 5% of each other; in specimens in which the ethanol values were further apart, ethanol was redetermined in two additional 1-ml aliquots from the same sample. Among the 14 pairs of twins whose rates of ethanol metabolism were deter-
Displacement of Canada's largest public illicit drug market in response to a police crackdown

Background: Law enforcement is often used in an effort to reduce the social, community and health-related harms of illicit drug use by injection drug users (IDUs). There are, however, few data on the benefits of such enforcement or on the potential harms. A large-scale police “crackdown” to control illicit drug use in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside provided us with an opportunity to evaluate the effect. Methods: As part of our ongoing prospective cohort study of IDUs in Vancouver, we examined data collected from 244 IDUs in the 3 months before the police crackdown and from 142 IDUs in the 3 months after the start of the crackdown, on Apr. 7, 2003. All study subjects were active drug users. We also examined external data on needle exchanges and syringe disposal. Results: The 2 groups of IDUs were statistically similar: they were mainly young (mean age 39 years) and male (63%), and they had injected illicit drugs for 13 years on average. Ethnic background and the proportion homeless were also similar. There were no statistically significant reported differences (all p > 0.1) in the street price of heroin, cocaine or “crack” in the 2 periods. In the 3-month periods before and after the crackdown, respectively, the rates of daily heroin injection were 27.9% and 26.8%, daily cocaine injection 28.7% and 27.5%, and daily crack use 59.4% and 60.6% (all p > 0.1). The proportions of study subjects receiving methadone treatment, 41.0% and 44.4% (p = 0.516), did not differ. However, the proportions reporting a change in where drugs were used, 22.5% and 33.8% (p < 0.05), and the proportions reporting a change in the neighbourhood of use because of police presence, 18.1% and 26.8% (p < 0.05), increased significantly. Needle-exchange data confirmed that the community levels of drug use were unchanged. Disposal statistics demonstrated that the monthly average number of used syringes found on the streets outside the traditional area of drug use increased from 784 in the 3 months before Apr. 1 to 1253 in the subsequent 3 months (p = 0.002) and the monthly average number of used syringes found in public boxes for the safe disposal of syringes decreased from 865 to 502 (p = 0.018). Interpretation: The effort to control illicit drug use did not alter the price of drugs or the frequency of use, nor did it encourage enrolment in methadone treatment programs. Several measures indicated displacement of injection drug use from the area of the crackdown into adjacent areas of the city, which has implications for both recruitment of new initiates into injection drug use and HIV prevention efforts.
Acacia senegal gum exudate offers protection against cyclophosphamide-induced urinary bladder cytotoxicity

Cylophosphamide (CYCL) is a strong anticancer and immunosuppressive agent but its urotoxicity presents one of the major toxic effects that limit its wide usage particularly in high dose regimens. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate Acacia Senegal gum exudate, Gum Arabic (GA), for its possible role as a natural, nontoxic agent against CYCL-induced urotoxicity. Male Swiss albino rats were exposed to CYCL (150 mg/kg BW, once i.p) with or without GA oral supplementation (7.5 g/kg/day for 6 days) through drinking water. Glutathione (GSH), Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Nitric oxide (NO) bladder contents were assessed. Responsiveness of the bladder rings to acetylcholine (ACh) in vitro, microscopic and macroscopic features are also investigated. CYCL produced pronounced harmful effects on bladder urothelial lining with significant increases in (MDA) and NO levels in the tissue homogenates. Bladder-GSH content is dropped by over 60% following CYCL injection. Bladder contractility, as measured by its responsiveness to ACh, recorded a marked reduction. The isolated bladders exhibited such macroscopic changes as severe edema, inflammation and extravasation. The bladder weight increased as well. Histological changes were evident in the form of severe congestion, petechial hemorrhage and chronic inflammatory reaction in the lamina propria accompanied with desquamated epithelia. GA, a potential protective agent, produced an almost complete reversal of NO induction, lipid peroxidation or cellular GSH bladder contents in the GA + CYCL-treated group. Likewise, bladder inflammation and edema were reduced. Bladder rings showed a remarkable recovery in their responsiveness to ACh. Bladder histological examination showed a near normal configuration and structural integrity, with a significant reduction in inflammation and disappearance of focal erosions. These remarkable effects of GA may be attributed to its ability to neutralize acrolein, the reactive metabolite of CYCL and/or the resultant reactive oxygen metabolites, through a scavenging action. GA may limit the cascading events of CYCL-induced damage, initiating a cytoprotective effect leading to structural and functional recovery of the bladder tissues.
Variational problems arising from balancing several error criteria

The purpose of this paper is to describe various results which pertain to a class of variational problems in which two or more error criteria are to be controlled simultaneously in some optimal fashion. This type of problem has wide application in optimal control, statistical estimation and approximation theory. We make no pretense that our treatment is exhaustive either in the applications we cover or in the analysis we use. Rather, we wish to point out some general properties of these problems that are useful, survey some interesting examples which arise in applications, and give an analysis of certain classes of these variational problems where total positivity plays a central role.
InvBIs a Type III Secretion-Associated Chaperone for theSalmonella enterica Effector ProteinSopE

ABSTRACT SopE is a bacteriophage-encoded effector protein of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium that is translocated into the cytosol of eukaryotic cells by a type III secretion system (TTSS) (W.-D. Hardt, H. Urlaub, and J. E. Galán, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:2574-2579, 1998; M. W. Wood, R. Rosqvist, P. B. Mullan, M. H. Edwards, and E. E. Galyov, Mol. Microbiol. 22:327-338, 1996). In this study, we provide evidence that an unlinked gene carried within the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1), invB (K. Eichelberg, C. Ginocchio, and J. E. Galán, J. Bacteriol. 176:4501-4510, 1994), is required for the secretion of SopE through the SPI-1 TTSS. Furthermore, far-Western blotting analysis shows that SopE directly interacts with InvB through a domain located at its amino terminus. We conclude that InvB is the TTSS-associated chaperone for SopE.