Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms of lung polyamine accumulation in chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.

Chronic hypoxia causes polyamine-dependent hypertensive pulmonary vascular remodeling (J. E. Atkinson. J. W. Olson, R. J. Altierre, and M. N. Gillespie, J. Appl. Physiol. 62: 1562-1568, 1987), but mechanisms by which lung polyamine contents are elevated have not been established. This study measured polyamine contents, biosynthetic activities, and transport in lungs of rats exposed to hypobaric hypoxia (simulated altitude: 4,570 m) for 4-14 days. Hypoxia increased lung contents of spermidine and spermine within 40 h and of putrescine within 4 days. These changes preceded hypoxia-induced increases in pulmonary arterial pressure and development of right ventricular hypertrophy. Additional experiments determined whether increased lung polyamine contents could be ascribed to elevated activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the rate-limiting enzyme in conversion of ornithine to putrescine. Lung ODC activity did not differ from controls at 40 h posthypoxia and was reduced below control levels from 4-14 days of exposure. Putrescine transport kinetics were assessed in isolated, salt solution-perfused lungs. Apparent Km for putrescine uptake was increased from 10.4 microM in control lungs to 16.9 microM in lungs from rats maintained for 7 days in an hypoxic environment. Maximal velocity (Vmax) of lung putrescine transport was increased from 1.67 nmol.g-1.min-1 in controls to 2.65 in hypoxic lungs. Putrescine efflux also was altered by hypoxic exposure; T1/2 for loss of diamine from a slowly effluxing pool was increased from 60.6 min in controls to 91.5 min in hypoxic lungs. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Pan-Asian spread of single fungal clone results in large scale fish kills

In most human and feline cases of cutaneous protothecosis, a direct inoculation of the algae beneath the skin has been demonstrated (Dillberger and others 1988, Matsuda and Matsumoto 1992). In this case, the initial location of the lesions on the scrotum and central pad of one forelimb suggests that they could have been the portal of entry for the organism. Although the number of cases of the cutaneous form of the disease described in the dog is very small, the more consistent clinical findings seem to be cutaneous nodules, crusty-ulcerative lesions and nasal involvement, while the scrotal granuloma that characterised this case had not previously been described. This scrotal dermatitis was the first lesion to be noticed and the only lesion present throughout the clinical course of the disease. Accordingly, cutaneous protothecosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of scrotal lesions in dogs, particularly in collies. The aspirates from the regional lymph nodes were negative but the presence of protothecal organisms in urine sediment proved that there was a systemic circulation of the algae. However, renal function was normal, and only mucocutaneous signs were observed. Thus, although P wickerhamii may produce systemic signs (Migaki and others 1982), cutaneous lesions seem to be consistent with P wickerhamii infection, in contrast with P zopfii infection, in which only systemic signs have been reported (Tyler 1990). Ketoconazole treatment of cutaneous protothecosis for four months was successful in a previous case (Macartney and others 1988). In the present case, oral ketoconazole was also effective, although the response was very slow, and the scrotal granuloma had not resolved completely after six months of treatment and had to be excised surgically. Explanations for this incomplete response could be the dosage of ketoconazole used and the poor cooperation by the owner who did not administer the drug regularly. Although it has been reported that P wickerhamii is very susceptible to clotrimazole (Tyler 1990), in this case the topical application of clotrimazole did not seem to produce any more rapid improvement than systemic ketoconazole alone. Canine cutaneous protothecosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of scrotal dermatitis and/or multiple cutaneous nodules. Collies may be predisposed but, in contrast with systemic protothecosis, the prognosis is much better because P wickerhamii algae are sensitive to drugs of the imidazole and triazole groups. However, the clinical response may be very slow, surgical excision may be necessary for localised lesions and the medical treatment should be maintained after the clinical condition has resolved.
The Effect of Reciprocal Strategy and Learning Style on Reading Comprehension of the 10th Grade Students of SMAN 3 Amlapura

ABSTRA CT The Effect of Reciprocal Strategy and Learning Style on Reading Comprehension of the 10 th Grade Students of SMAN 3 Amlapura . Thesis, Language Education Study Program, Post Graduate Program, Ganesha University of Education. Key Words: reciprocal teaching strategy, learning style, and reading comprehension . This study aimed at investigating the effects of reciprocal teaching and learning style on the English reading comprehension of 10 th grade students of SMAN 3 Amlapura. The research subjects of this study were the 10 th grade students of SMAN 3 Amlapura. There were 180 students involved as the research subjects of this study. This study was a quasy experiment. The data were collected quantitatively. The data were collected using two types of instruments: test and questionnaire. The method of data analysis used was two-way ANOVA. The study concluded that the use reciprocal strategy significantly improve students’ reading comprehension of the 10 th grade students of SMA Negeri 3 Amlapura. Reciprocal strategy is also significantly improve visual-dominant students in reading comprehension. There was no significant difference in students' reading comprehension between the two groups of students who were dominant in Kinestatic learning style treated with learning style.
Heritability of retinal vessel diameters and blood pressure: a twin study.

PURPOSE To assess the relative influence of genetic and environmental effects on retinal vessel diameters and blood pressure in healthy adults, as well as the possible genetic connection between these two characteristics. METHODS In 55 monozygotic and 50 dizygotic same-sex healthy twin pairs, aged 20 to 46 years, interpolated diameter estimates for the central retinal artery (CRAE), the central retinal vein (CRVE), and the artery-to-vein diameter ratio (AVR) were assessed by analysis of digital gray-scale fundus photographs of right eyes. RESULTS The heritability was 70% (95% CI: 54%-80%) for CRAE, 83% (95% CI: 73%-89%) for CRVE, and 61% (95% CI: 44%-73%) for mean arterial blood pressure (MABP). Retinal artery diameter decreased with increasing age and increasing arterial blood pressure. Mean vessel diameters in the population were 165.8 +/- 14.9 microm for CRAE, 246.2 +/- 17.7 microm for CRVE, and 0.67 +/- 0.05 microm for AVR. No significant influence on artery or vein diameters was found for gender, smoking, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, or 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test values. CONCLUSIONS In healthy young adults with normal blood pressure and blood glucose, variations in retinal blood vessel diameters and blood pressure were predominantly attributable to genetic effects. A genetic influence may have a role in individual susceptibility to hypertension and other vascular diseases. The results suggest that retinal vessel diameters and the possible associated variations in risk of vascular disease are primarily genetic characteristics.
Neural Evidence for Representation-Specific Response Selection

Response selection is the mental process of choosing representations for appropriate motor behaviors given particular environmental stimuli and one's current task situation and goals. Many cognitive theories of response selection postulate a unitary process. That is, one central response-selection mechanism chooses appropriate responses in most, if not all, task situations. However, neuroscience research shows that neural processing is often localized based on the type of information processed. Our current experiments investigate whether response selection is unitary or stimulus specific by manipulating response-selection difficulty in two functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments using spatial and nonspatial stimuli. The same participants were used in both experiments. We found spatial response selection involves the right prefrontal cortex, the bilateral premotor cortex, and the dorsal parietal cortical regions (precuneus and superior parietal lobule). Nonspatial response selection, conversely, involves the left prefrontal cortex and the more ventral posterior cortical regions (left middle temporal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, and right extrastriate cortex). Our brain activation data suggest a cognitive model for response selection in which different brain networks mediate the choice of appropriate responses for different types of stimuli. This model is consistent with behavioral research suggesting that responseselection processing may be more flexible and adaptive than originally proposed.
Community Composition and Abundance of Bacterial, Archaeal and Nitrifying Populations in Savanna Soils on Contrasting Bedrock Material in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Savannas cover at least 13% of the global terrestrial surface and are often nutrient limited, especially by nitrogen. To gain a better understanding of their microbial diversity and the microbial nitrogen cycling in savanna soils, soil samples were collected along a granitic and a basaltic catena in Kruger National Park (South Africa) to characterize their bacterial and archaeal composition and the genetic potential for nitrification. Although the basaltic soils were on average 5 times more nutrient rich than the granitic soils, all investigated savanna soil samples showed typically low nutrient availabilities, i.e., up to 38 times lower soil N or C contents than temperate grasslands. Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing revealed a unique soil bacterial community dominated by Actinobacteria (20–66%), Chloroflexi (9–29%), and Firmicutes (7–42%) and an increase in the relative abundance of Actinobacteria with increasing soil nutrient content. The archaeal community reached up to 14% of the total soil microbial community and was dominated by the thaumarchaeal Soil Crenarchaeotic Group (43–99.8%), with a high fraction of sequences related to the ammonia-oxidizing genus Nitrosopshaera sp. Quantitative PCR targeting amoA genes encoding the alpha subunit of ammonia monooxygenase also revealed a high genetic potential for ammonia oxidation dominated by archaea (~5 × 107 archaeal amoA gene copies g−1 soil vs. mostly < 7 × 104 bacterial amoA gene copies g−1 soil). Abundances of archaeal 16S rRNA and amoA genes were positively correlated with soil nitrate, N and C contents. Nitrospira sp. was detected as the most abundant group of nitrite oxidizing bacteria. The specific geochemical conditions and particle transport dynamics at the granitic catena were found to affect soil microbial communities through clay and nutrient relocation along the hill slope, causing a shift to different, less diverse bacterial and archaeal communities at the footslope. Overall, our results suggest a strong effect of the savanna soils' nutrient scarcity on all microbial communities, resulting in a distinct community structure that differs markedly from nutrient-rich, temperate grasslands, along with a high relevance of archaeal ammonia oxidation in savanna soils.
Cardiovascular Effects of Dobutamine and Phenylephrine Infusion in Sevoflurane-anesthetized Thoroughbred Horses

ABSTRACT To determine dose-dependent cardiovascular effects of dobutamine and phenylephrine during anesthesia in horses, increasing doses of dobutamine and phenylephrine were infused to 6 healthy Thoroughbred horses. Anesthesia was induced with xylazine, guaifenesin and thiopental and maintained with sevoflurane at 2.8% of end-tidal concentration in all horses. The horses were positioned in right lateral recumbency and infused 3 increasing doses of dobutamine (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 µg/kg/min) for 15 min each dose. Following to 30 min of reversal period, 3 increasing doses of phenylephrine (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 µg/kg/min) were infused. Cardiovascular parameters were measured before and at the end of each 15-min infusion period for each drug. Blood samples were collected every 5 min during phenylephrine infusion period. There were no significant changes in heart rate throughout the infusion period. Both dobutamine and phenylephrine reversed sevoflurane-induced hypotension. Dobutamine increased both mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and cardiac output (CO) as the result of the increase in stroke volume, whereas phenylephrine increased MAP but decreased CO as the result of the increase in systemic vascular resistance. Plasma phenylephrine concentration increased dose-dependently, and these values at 15, 30 and 45 min were 6.2 ± 1.2, 17.0 ± 4.8 and 37.9 ± 7.3 ng/ml, respectively.
The association between tobacco and the risk of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema in children and adolescents: analyses from Phase Three of the ISAAC programme

Background Exposure to parental smoking is associated with wheeze in early childhood, but in 2006 the US Surgeon General stated that the evidence is insufficient to infer a causal relationship between exposure and asthma in childhood and adolescents. Aims To examine the association between maternal and paternal smoking and symptoms of asthma, eczema and rhinoconjunctivitis. Methods Parents or guardians of children aged 6–7 years completed written questionnaires about symptoms of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema, and several risk factors, including maternal smoking in the child's first year of life, current maternal smoking (and amount) and paternal smoking. Adolescents aged 13–14 years self completed the questionnaires on these symptoms and whether their parents currently smoked. Results In the 6–7-year age group there were 220 407 children from 75 centres in 32 countries. In the 13–14-year age group there were 350 654 adolescents from 118 centres in 53 countries. Maternal and paternal smoking was associated with an increased risk of symptoms of asthma, eczema and rhinoconjunctivitis in both age groups, although the magnitude of the OR is higher for symptoms of asthma than the other outcomes. Maternal smoking is associated with higher ORs than paternal smoking. For asthma symptoms there is a clear dose relationship (1–9 cigarettes/day, OR 1.27; 10–19 cigarettes/day, OR 1.35; and 20+ cigarettes/day, OR 1.56). When maternal smoking in the child's first year of life and current maternal smoking are considered, the main effect is due to maternal smoking in the child's first year of life. There was no interaction between maternal and paternal smoking. Conclusions This study has confirmed the importance of maternal smoking, and the separate and additional effect of paternal smoking. The presence of a dose–response effect relationship with asthma symptoms suggests that the relationship is causal, however for eczema and rhinoconjunctivitis causality is less certain.
Vitamin D status is a determinant of atorvastatin effect on carotid intima medial thickening progression rate in children with lupus: an Atherosclerosis Prevention in Pediatric Lupus Erythematosus (APPLE) substudy

Objective Epidemiological associations suggest that vitamin D status may play a role in inflammation and progression of atherosclerosis. Using frozen serum, carotid intima medial thickness (CIMT) measurements and other existing data from the Atherosclerosis Prevention in Pediatric Lupus Erythematosus (APPLE) trial, we assessed interactions between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), atorvastatin randomisation and CIMT progression rate. Methods Participants in the 3-year APPLE trial were randomised to placebo or atorvastatin and CIMT progression rate was measured. Baseline frozen serum was used to measure 25(OH)D concentrations. Mixed effect longitudinal models for CIMT progression at 3 years were used to evaluate interaction between vitamin D deficiency (serum 25(OH)D <20 ng/mL) at baseline and atorvastatin or placebo treatment, adjusting for key systemic lupus erythematosus disease variables and cardiovascular risk factors. Results 201/221 APPLE participants had available samples and were included in this analysis; 61/201 (30%) had vitamin D deficiency at baseline. In adjusted longitudinal modelling, there was significant interaction between baseline vitamin D deficiency and atorvastatin randomisation in 3-year progression of mean-max CIMT. In four out of six carotid segments, there was a greater decrease in mean-max CIMT progression rate in subjects who were treated with atorvastatin compared with placebo if they had baseline serum 25(OH)D levels ≥20 ng/mL. Conclusions Subjects with serum 25(OH)D ≥20 ng/mL had less mean-max CIMT progression following 3 years of atorvastatin treatment. Results from secondary analyses must be interpreted cautiously, but findings suggest that underlying vitamin D deficiency may be involved in response to atorvastatin in atherosclerosis prevention. Trial registration number NCT00065806.
Countrywide Campaign to Prevent Soccer Injuries in Swiss Amateur Players

Background: In Switzerland, the national accident insurance company registered a total of 42 262 soccer injuries, resulting in costs of approximately 145 million Swiss francs (~US$130 million) in 2003. Research on injury prevention has shown that exercise-based programs can reduce the incidence of soccer injuries. Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the implementation and effects of a countrywide campaign to reduce the incidence of soccer injuries in Swiss amateur players. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: All coaches of the Schweizerischer Fussballverband (SFV) received information material and were instructed to implement the injury prevention program “The 11” in their training of amateur players. After the instruction, the coaches were asked to rate the quality and the feasibility of “The 11. ” Before the start of the intervention and 4 years later, a representative sample of about 1000 Swiss soccer coaches were interviewed about the frequency and characteristics of injuries in their teams. Teams that did or did not practice “The 11” were compared with respect to the incidence of soccer injuries. Results: A total of 5549 coaches for amateur players were instructed to perform “The 11” in the training with their teams. The ratings of the teaching session and the prevention program were overall very positive. In 2008, 80% of all SFV coaches knew the prevention campaign “The 11” and 57% performed the program or most parts of it. Teams performing “The 11” had an 11.5% lower incidence of match injuries and a 25.3% lower incidence of training injuries than other teams; noncontact injuries in particular were prevented by the program. Conclusion: “The 11” was successfully implemented in a countrywide campaign and proved effective in reducing soccer injuries in amateur players. An effect of the prevention program was also observed in the population-based insurance data and health-care costs.
Menopause and cardiovascular disease: the evidence

Menopause is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) because estrogen withdrawal has a detrimental effect on cardiovascular function and metabolism. The menopause compounds many traditional CVD risk factors, including changes in body fat distribution from a gynoid to an android pattern, reduced glucose tolerance, abnormal plasma lipids, increased blood pressure, increased sympathetic tone, endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation. Many CVD risk factors have different impacts in men and women. In postmenopausal women, treatment of arterial hypertension and glucose intolerance should be priorities. Observational studies and randomized clinical trials suggest that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) started soon after the menopause may confer cardiovascular benefit. In contrast to other synthetic progestogens used in continuous combined HRTs, the unique progestogen drospirenone has antialdosterone properties. Drospirenone can therefore counteract the water- and sodium-retaining effects of the estrogen component of HRT via the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, which may otherwise result in weight gain and raised blood pressure. As a continuous combined HRT with 17β-estradiol, drospirenone has been shown to significantly reduce blood pressure in postmenopausal women with elevated blood pressure, but not in normotensive women. Therefore, in addition to relieving climacteric symptoms, drospirenone/17β-estradiol may offer further benefits in postmenopausal women, such as improved CVD risk profile.
Severe Periodontitis Enhances Macrophage Activation via Increased Serum Lipopolysaccharide

Objective—In periodontitis, overgrowth of Gram-negative bacteria and access of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to circulation may activate macrophages leading to foam cell formation. We investigated whether periodontal treatment affects proatherogenic properties of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and, thus, macrophage activation. Methods and Results—LDL was isolated and characterized before and after treatment from 30 systemically healthy patients with periodontitis. Production of cytokines and LDL cholesteryl ester (LDL-CE) uptake by macrophages (RAW 264.7) was determined. Baseline periodontal variables correlated positively with serum LPS and C-reactive protein concentrations, as well as macrophage cytokine production and LDL-CE uptake. LPS concentration correlated positively with serum concentration of oxidized LDL and cytokine production. Higher cytokine production and LDL-CE uptake were induced by LDL isolated from patients with elevated number of affected teeth before treatment. Patients with serum LPS concentrations above the median (0.87 ng/mL) at baseline had higher serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (baseline versus after treatment, 1.30±0.19 versus 1.48±0.28 mmol/L; P=0.002) and HDL/LDL ratio (0.31±0.01 versus 0.34±0.10; P=0.048), but lower serum LPS concentration (1.70±0.49 versus 0.98±0.50 ng/mL; P=0.004) and autoantibodies to &bgr;2-glycoprotein I (0.11±0.06 versus 0.09±0.04 ELISA units; P=0.022) after treatment. Conclusions—Our results suggest that in systemically healthy patients, the infected/inflamed area in periodontitis is associated with macrophage activation via increased serum LPS concentration.