Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Myocardial fibrosis in asymptomatic degenerative mitral regurgitation: what does T1 mapping tell us?

Degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR), defined as that because of mitral prolapse or flail on the basis of underlying myxomatous disease or fibroelastic deficiency, is common. There is consensus that intervention is appropriate in the setting of symptoms and impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function as gauged by LV ejection fraction (LVEF) or LV end-systolic volume, and these carry class I recommendations in the current American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and European Society of Cardiology Guidelines.1,2 There is also support for intervening in the asymptomatic patient with atrial fibrillation or pulmonary hypertension (class II). 1,2 However, in the absence of randomized control trials, there is ongoing debate as to the best approach to the management of the patient who meets none of these triggers. Those who advocate close medical follow-up with the use of stress testing to confirm the asymptomatic state until triggers develop (watchful waiting) argue that accurate identification of patients with truly severe degenerative MR can be challenging and that, even in those with unequivocally severe regurgitation, the short- and long-term risks of surgery are not outweighed by the risks of waiting until triggers develop.3 Those who favor prophylactic surgical intervention argue that for patients likely to undergo successful repair, waiting puts them at risk for poorer longer term outcomes.4 Article see p 946 In an environment where the limitations of LVEF as a measure of systolic function are well recognized, new tools for identifying subclinical abnormalities that might be precursors to overt LVEF reduction or symptoms might prove valuable in clinical decision making. Better still would be a means of reliably identifying the onset of irreversible LV changes of which fibrosis is arguably one. In this issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging , Edwards et al5 report a study in …
CXCL12 increases human neural progenitor cell proliferation through Akt‐1/FOXO3a signaling pathway

CXCL12, a ligand for the chemokine receptor CXCR4, is well known in mediating neural progenitor cell (NPC) migration during neural development. However, the effects of CXCL12 on human NPC proliferation and its associated signaling pathways remain unclear. The transcription factor, FOXO3a, a downstream target of Akt‐1, is critical for cell cycle control and may also play an important role in regulating NPC proliferation. In this study, we found that CXCL12 promotes human NPC proliferation as determined by the proliferation marker Ki67 and BrdU incorporation. This CXCL12‐mediated NPC proliferation was associated with an increase in Akt‐1 and FOXO3a phosphorylation in a time‐ and dose‐dependent manner. The CXCR4 antagonist (T140) or inhibitors for G proteins (Pertussis toxin) and phosphoinositide 3‐kinase (PI3K) (LY294002) abolished CXCL12‐mediated NPC proliferation and phosphorylation of Akt‐1 and FOXO3a. The roles of Akt‐1 and FOXO3a in CXCL12‐mediated NPC proliferation were further investigated by using adenoviral over‐expression in NPCs. Over‐expression of dominant‐negative Akt‐1 or wild‐type FOXO3a in NPC abrogated CXCL12‐mediated proliferation. These data suggest that CXCL12‐mediated NPC proliferation is reliant upon the phosphorylation of Akt‐1 and FOXO3a and gives insight to an essential role of CXCL12 in neurogenesis. Understanding this mechanism may facilitate the development of novel therapeutic targets for NPC proliferation during neurogenesis.
The Role of Angiogenic Growth Factors in Arteriogenesis

Background/Aims: Collateral vessels restore only about 40% of the maximum dilatory reserve after femoral artery occlusion, whereas complete normalization is reached by increased fluid shear stress (FSS). We studied the role of known potent angiogenic growth factors (separately or in combination) in arteriogenesis by determining their expression in FSS-stimulated collaterals and close-to-collateral infusion of growth factor peptides in a rabbit model of femoral artery occlusion. Methods: Values of maximum collateral conductance (Cmax) and post mortem angiograms were compared to those achievable by high FSS. mRNA levels of growth factor ligands and receptors were determined in FSS-stimulated collaterals. Results: Seven days after vessel occlusion, FSS-stimulated legs showed a Cmax not significantly different from that of not occluded femoral arteries. Arteriogenesis was significantly less enhanced after growth factor treatment (MCP-1 86%, Ad5.1-FGF-4 75%, bFGF 72%, PDGF 64%, VEGF 50% of Cmax after FSS stimulation). RT-PCR showed no differential expression of FGF receptors, but an up-regulation of VEGF-receptor-2. Conclusion: The most potent known angiogenic growth factors at high pharmacological doses reach only a fraction of the maximum conductance obtained by high FSS. Arteriogenesis differs from angiogenesis, so the main focus to markedly improve arteriogenesis should be put on the underlying mechanisms of shear stress.
Energy-Saving Lipid Extraction from Wet Euglena gracilis by the Low-Boiling-Point Solvent Dimethyl Ether

We tested a wet extraction method for lipid extraction from Euglena gracilis water slurry at 0.51 MPa and 20 °C using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME). The yields, proximate analyses, elemental composition, and molecular weight distribution properties of the extracts from E. gracilis and the remaining residues obtained by DME extraction were compared with those of the extracts obtained by hexane Soxhlet extraction.
Effect of cooking temperature treatment on the textural and viscoelastic characteristics of Frankfurter emulsion

EFFECT OF COOKING TEMPERATURE TREATMENT ON THE TEXTURAL AND VISCOELASTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FRANKFURTER EMULSION Yatindra Singh, Ph.D. Ohio State University, 1977 Advisor: Prof. J. L. Blaisdell Co-Advisor: Prof. Floyd L. Herum Textural characteristics are an important factor in overall quality of meat and sausage. The important factors affecting the texture of sausage are composition, method of comminution, cooking cycle, etc. The industry has used the cooking temperature as the single major process parameter to control the final product properties, although emulsion formulation is also important. No study available has so far been carried out to determine the influence of cooking cycle on the texture of sausage. The sausage industry now uses computerized linear programming techniques to aid in product formulation. A sensory panel cannot be used to provide numerical data from each lot of product processed or to be processed on a daily basis. Therefore, objective texture measurement systems are needed. 2 A suitable methodology for treating frankfurter emulsion to cooking temperature treatment and preparating test specimen was developed for subsequent measurements of textural and viscoelastic parameters on the Instron Universal Testing Machine. Frankfurter emulsion was cooked by a ramp heating of a water bath in the cooking tubes to 55, 65, 70, 75, 80 and 90°C temperatures with 1 hour holding at the respective bath temperatures. The influence of cook holding times at 65°C cooking temperature on the texture profile and elastic parameters also was determined. The principal results of this investigation are as follows: 1. The texture profile parameter of hardness generally increases with the cooking temperature. However, at a 90°C cooking where hardness drops off, the loss in hardness may be due to the brittleness of the sample and/or some physico-chemical changes among the proteins. The compression energy of the first bite, being the area under the hardness curve, also increases with the cooking temperature and has a higher correlation coefficient than hardness. 2. Cohesiveness, elasticity, gumminess, and chewiness all are polynomial functions of the cooking temperature treatment and have minimum values in the cooking region of 70-75°C where important physico-chemical changes among proteins are believed to be occurring. 3. As a result of cyclical loading-unloading to a small strain (20%) of the specimen, the deformation is partly recovered and partly residual. The residual or plastic like deformation decreases
Floral pathway integrator gene expression mediates gradual transmission of environmental and endogenous cues to flowering time

The appropriate timing of flowering is crucial for the reproductive success of plants. Hence, intricate genetic networks integrate various environmental and endogenous cues such as temperature or hormonal statues. These signals integrate into a network of floral pathway integrator genes. At a quantitative level, it is currently unclear how the impact of genetic variation in signaling pathways on flowering time is mediated by floral pathway integrator genes. Here, using datasets available from literature, we connect Arabidopsis thaliana flowering time in genetic backgrounds varying in upstream signalling components with the expression levels of floral pathway integrator genes in these genetic backgrounds. Our modelling results indicate that flowering time depends in a quite linear way on expression levels of floral pathway integrator genes. This gradual, proportional response of flowering time to upstream changes enables a gradual adaptation to changing environmental factors such as temperature and light.
Design Issues for User-Level Network Interface Protocols on Myrinet

This paper surveys the design issues for user-level network interface protocols for modern high-speed networks such as Myrinet. It first explains the principles of such protocols through a simple, unreliable protocol. Next, six important design issues are discussed in more detail: data transfers, address translation, protection, control transfers, reliability, and multicast. The design issues are illustrated by performance measurements on a Myrinet cluster and by representative examples taken from 11 communication systems for Myrinet.
Upregulated miR-16 expression is an independent indicator of relapse and poor overall survival of colorectal adenocarcinoma patients

Abstract Background: Colorectal adenocarcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among adults in Western countries. miR-16 is heavily involved in cancer progression. In this study, we examined the potential diagnostic and prognostic utility of miR-16 expression in colorectal adenocarcinoma. Methods: Total RNA was extracted from 182 colorectal adenocarcinoma specimens and 86 non-cancerous colorectal mucosae. After polyadenylation of 2 μg total RNA by poly(A) polymerase and subsequent reverse transcription with an oligo-dT adapter primer, miR-16 expression was determined using an in-house developed reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR method, based on SYBR Green chemistry. SNORD43 (RNU43) and SNORD48 (RNU48) were used as reference genes. Next, we performed extensive biostatistical analysis. Results: miR-16 was shown to be significantly upregulated in colorectal adenocarcinoma specimens compared to non-cancerous colorectal mucosae, suggesting its potential exploitation for diagnostic purposes. Moreover, high miR-16 expression predicts poor disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of colorectal adenocarcinoma patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed that miR-16 overexpression is a significant unfavorable prognosticator in colorectal adenocarcinoma, independent of other established prognostic factors, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Interestingly, miR-16 overexpression retains its unfavorable prognostic value in patients with advanced yet locally restricted colorectal adenocarcinoma that has not grown through the wall of the colon or rectum (T3) and in those without distant metastasis (M0). Conclusions: Overexpression of the cancer-associated miR-16 predicts poor DFS and OS of colorectal adenocarcinoma patients, independently of clinicopathological factors that are currently used for prognostic purposes.
Caring as a slave morality: Nietzschean themes in nursing ethics.

BACKGROUND Sceptical arguments about 'caring' can be divided into three categories. First, it is suggested that, while caring is no doubt an admirable thing in itself, it is just one ideal among others. Secondly, it is claimed that caring is not really a virtue at all, and that it should be regarded as more of a vice, because it promotes favouritism, injustice, and self-deception. Thirdly, there is a worry that caring is not politically realistic, and that its advocates underestimate the powerful organizational and social structures which conspire to subvert nursing. AIM This paper outlines a fourth, and more radical, type of scepticism, which explains why caring is subject to these drawbacks. In doing so, it considers the relation between caring, phenomenology and holism in nursing discourse, and the way in which all three fit together to form the 'caring paradigm'. METHODS The paper adopts a genealogical approach, borrowed directly from Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality. That book argues that the values associated with caring are the expression of a profound resentment, harboured by the slaves (weak, powerless, timorous) against the nobles (strong, powerful, self-confident). Caring represents an inversion, a sort of 'fantasy revenge', in which the nobles can be portrayed as 'evil', while the slaves portray their own weakness as 'good'. Taking its cue from Nietzsche, the paper shows that the Genealogy narrative can be transposed into a modern health care context, with nurses as the 'slaves' and the medical profession as the 'nobles'. CONCLUSIONS The ideology of caring is, in the Genealogy's terms, a slave morality. It represents an attack on the 'medical-scientific model', motivated by resentment, and designed to establish nursing's superiority. Its effects have been debilitating, and it has prevented nursing from becoming a 'noble' (that is, a properly scientific) discipline.
Relationship between physiological parameters and performance during a half-ironman triathlon in the heat

Abstract Triathlon is a popular outdoor endurance sport performed under a variety of environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to assess physiological variables before and after a half-ironman triathlon in the heat and to analyse their relationship with performance. Thirty-four well-trained triathletes completed a half-ironman triathlon in a mean dry temperature of 29 ± 3ºC. Before and within 1 min after the end of the race, body mass, core temperature, maximal jump height and venous blood samples were obtained. Mean race time was 315 ± 40 min, with swimming (11 ± 1%), cycling (49 ± 2%) and running (40 ± 3%) representing different amounts of the total race time. At the end of the competition, body mass changed by −3.8 ± 1.6% and the change in body mass correlated positively with race time (r = 0.64; P < 0.001). Core temperature increased from 37.5 ± 0. 6ºC to 38.8 ± 0. 7ºC (P < 0.001) and post-race core temperature correlated negatively with race time (r = −0.47; P = 0.007). Race time correlated positively with the decrease in jump height (r = 0.38; P = 0.043), post-race serum creatine kinase (r = 0.55; P = 0.001) and myoglobin concentrations (r = 0.39; P = 0.022). In a half-ironman triathlon in the heat, greater reductions in body mass and higher post-competition core temperatures were present in faster triathletes. In contrast, slower triathletes presented higher levels of muscle damage and decreased muscle performance.
How Hyperarousal and Sleep Reactivity Are Represented in Different Adult Age Groups: Results from a Large Cohort Study on Insomnia

Hyperarousal is a 24-h state of elevated cognitive and physiological activation, and is a core feature of insomnia. The extent to which sleep quality is affected by stressful events—so-called sleep reactivity—is a vulnerability factor for developing insomnia. Given the increasing prevalence of insomnia with age, we aimed to investigate how hyperarousal and sleep reactivity were related to insomnia severity in different adult age groups. Data were derived from a large cohort study investigating the natural history of insomnia in a population-based sample (n = 1693). Baseline data of the Arousal Predisposition Scale (APS) and Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test (FIRST) were examined across age and sleep/insomnia subgroups: 25–35 (n = 448), 35–45 (n = 528), and 45–55 year olds (n = 717); good sleepers (n = 931), individuals with insomnia symptoms (n = 450), and individuals with an insomnia syndrome (n = 312). Results from factorial analyses of variance (ANOVA) showed that APS scores decreased with increasing age, but increased with more severe sleep problems. FIRST scores were not significantly different across age groups, but showed the same strong increase as a function of sleep problem severity. The findings indicate that though arousal predisposition and sleep reactivity increase with more severe sleep problems, only arousal decreases with age. How arousing events affect an individual during daytime thus decreases with age, but how this arousal disrupts sleep is equivalent across different adult age groups. The main implication of these findings is that treatment of insomnia could be adapted for different age groups and take into consideration vulnerability factors such as hyperarousal and stress reactivity.
Patients' knowledge of adverse reactions to current medications.

AIMS Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) account for 3.2-7% of acute hospital admissions. The aim of this study was to assess prospectively knowledge of ADRs in patients admitted through the emergency department of a teaching hospital. METHODS Three hundred and ninety-nine patients were admitted on acute medical call during study periods in September 2002 and May 2003. One hundred gave their perception of the risk of ADRs using visual analogue scales, where 0 indicates minimum and 10 maximum risk. The medications studied were warfarin, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), corticosteroids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirin. Responses are compared against a medical control group. RESULTS Corticosteroids were ranked most dangerous by patients (median score, 25th-75th centiles: 5.4, 2.9-8.7). Medical staff ranked NSAIDs as highest risk (6.2, 4.0-7.5). Patients identified NSAIDs as low risk (2.1, 0.7-4.9), perceiving the risk of cardiac arrhythmias and disturbance in liver biochemistry to be equivalent to risk of upper gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding. Risk of haemorrhage was ranked as the most common ADR for warfarin by patients (8.6, 3.3-9.5) and medical staff (8.8, 7.6-9.3). CONCLUSIONS Patients underrate the risk of ADRs of their medications. While there is a good level of knowledge of ADRs amongst warfarin and aspirin users, there is a clear lack of knowledge regarding the risk of upper GI bleeding in NSAID users. Increased education may reduce the incidence of ADRs but it is more likely that it will serve to meet increasing patient expectations.
A fracture mechanics based description of the pull-out behavior of headed studs embedded in concrete

According to the experiments the behavior of headed studs embedded in a large concrete block and loaded in tension with the support reactions relatively far away from the anchor is controlled by stable growth of the circumferential failure crack up to maximum load. Just before reaching maximum load the area of cracked concrete is only some 25% to 30% of the whole surface of the fracture cone, which is mainly formed in the descending part of the large embedment depth loaddisplacement curve the load transferred in the cracked area is relatively small compared to the total load.
Counting Permutations by Alternating Descents

We find the exponential generating function for permutations with all valleys even and all peaks odd, and use it to determine the asymptotics for its coefficients, answering a question posed by Liviu Nicolaescu. The generating function can be expressed as the reciprocal of a sum involving Euler numbers: \[ \left(1-E_1x+E_{3}\frac{x^{3}}{3! }-E_{4}\frac{x^{4}}{4! }+E_{6}\frac{x^{6}}{6! }-E_{7}\frac{x^{7}}{7! }+\cdots\right)^{-1}, \tag{$*$} \] where $\sum_{n=0}^\infty E_n x^n\! /n! = \sec x + \tan x$. We give two proofs of this formula. The first uses a system of differential equations whose solution gives the generating function \begin{equation*} \frac{3\sin\left(\frac{1}{2}x\right)+3\cosh\left(\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{3}x\right)}{3\cos\left(\frac{1}{2}x\right)-\sqrt{3}\sinh\left(\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{3}x\right)}, \end{equation*} which we then show is equal to $(*)$. The second proof derives $(*)$ directly from general permutation enumeration techniques, using noncommutative symmetric functions. The generating function $(*)$ is an "alternating" analogue of David and Barton's generating function \[ \left(1-x+\frac{x^{3}}{3! }-\frac{x^{4}}{4! }+\frac{x^{6}}{6! }-\frac{x^{7}}{7! }+\cdots\right)^{-1}, \] for permutations with no increasing runs of length 3 or more. Our general results give further alternating analogues of permutation enumeration formulas, including results of Chebikin and Remmel.
Ten-year survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation as a first-line treatment.

AIM To investigate the long-term survival and prognostic factors in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as a first-line treatment. METHODS From 2000 to 2013, 316 consecutive patients with 404 HCC (1.0-5.0 cm; mean: 3.2 ± 1.1 cm) underwent ultrasonography-guided percutaneous RFA as a first-line treatment. There were 250 males and 66 females with an average age of 60.1 ± 10.8 years (24-87 years). Patients were followed for 1 year to > 10 years after RFA (234, 181, 136, and 71 for 3, 5, 7, and 10 years, respectively). Overall local response rates and long-term survival rates were assessed. Survival results were generated using Kaplan-Meier estimates, and multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox regression model. RESULTS In total, 548 RFA sessions were performed and major complications occurred in 10 sessions (1.8%). Local tumor progression and/or new tumor development were observed in 43.3% (132/305) of the patients during the follow-up period. Overall 5- and 10-year survival rates were 49.7% and 28.4%, respectively. Based on multivariate analysis, three factors were identified as independent prognostic factors for overall survival: Child-Pugh classification (HR = 4.054, P < 0.001), portal vein hypertension (HR = 2.743, P = 0.002), and tumor number (HR = 2.693, P = 0.003). The local progression-free 5- and 10-year survival rates were 42.7% and 19.5%. In addition to the Child-Pugh classification and the number of tumors, the number of RFA sessions (HR = 1.550, P = 0.002) was associated with local progression-free survival. CONCLUSION RFA can achieve acceptable outcomes for HCC patients as a first-line treatment, especially for patients with Child-Pugh class A, patients with a single tumor and patients without portal vein hypertension.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection induces il12rb1 splicing to generate a novel IL-12Rβ1 isoform that enhances DC migration

RNA splicing is an increasingly recognized regulator of immunity. Here, we demonstrate that after Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (mRNA) il12rb1 is spliced by dendritic cells (DCs) to form an alternative (mRNA) il12rb1Δtm that encodes the protein IL-12Rβ1ΔTM. Compared with IL-12Rβ1, IL-12Rβ1ΔTM contains an altered C-terminal sequence and lacks a transmembrane domain. Expression of IL-12Rβ1ΔTM occurs in CD11c+ cells in the lungs during M. tuberculosis infection. Selective reconstitution of il12rb1−/− DCs with (mRNA) il12rb1 and/or (mRNA) il12rb1Δtm demonstrates that IL-12Rβ1ΔTM augments IL-12Rβ1-dependent DC migration and activation of M. tuberculosis-specific T cells. It cannot mediate these activities independently of IL12Rβ1. We hypothesize that M. tuberculosis-exposed DCs express IL-12Rβ1ΔTM to enhance IL-12Rβ1-dependent migration and promote M. tuberculosis–specific T cell activation. IL-12Rβ1ΔTM thus represents a novel positive-regulator of IL12Rβ1-dependent DC function and of the immune response to M. tuberculosis.