Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology of periodontal diseases in the Study of Health in Pomerania.

AIM The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and extent of periodontal diseases among adults in a province in Eastern Germany. MATERIAL AND METHODS The Study of Health in Pomerania is a population-based study conducted during 1997-2001. The net random sample comprised 4310 20-81-year-old subjects. Periodontal status was assessed at four surfaces using a half-mouth recording protocol. RESULTS The prevalence of attachment loss >or=3 mm was 89.7%, with 62.8% of teeth being affected. Probing depths >or=4 mm were prevalent in 69.7% of subjects, and 29.6% of teeth were affected. 25.3% of all subjects had severe pockets (>or=6 mm). Periodontitis was significantly more prevalent in males. For attachment loss, the prevalence and extent increased significantly with increasing age, whereas probing depth values levelled off after the age of 40. In older subjects, increased recession and attachment loss were found, while the probing depth remained constant. According to the recent CDC classification, 17.6% and 33.3% of persons had severe and moderate periodontitis, respectively. The prevalence of periodontitis increased significantly with age and remained constant after the age of 50-59. CONCLUSIONS Periodontitis is more prevalent in Pomerania than in the United States or Western Europe. In older subjects, attachment loss steadily increased, while the probing depth remained constant.
Inhibition of Tumor Necrosis Factor-&agr; and Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Correlates With the Induction of IL-10 in Septic Rats Undergoing Laparotomy and Laparoscopy

Proinflammatory mediators are implicated in the mediation of host response to surgical stress. Greater inflammatory response has been reported after open surgery than after laparoscopic surgery in animal models. This study investigated the inflammatory response of tumor necrosis factor &agr; (TNF) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and the anti-inflammatory response of interleukin (IL)–10 after laparotomy and laparoscopy in a rat endotoxic shock model. Rats received lipopolysaccharide (LPS) intraperitoneally and underwent laparotomy (n = 5), laparoscopy (n = 5), or no surgical intervention (n = 5). A control group received anesthesia only (n = 5). Serum TNF levels peaked at 2 hours after LPS injection and were significantly suppressed in animals undergoing laparotomy and laparoscopy (P < 0.05). Serum IL-10 levels were higher at 2 hours in the laparotomy and laparoscopy groups but were higher only in the laparotomy group at 4 hours after LPS injection (P < 0.05). Hepatic iNOS mRNA and protein were significantly inhibited at 4 and 8 hours in the laparotomy and laparoscopy groups in comparison with the animals receiving LPS only (P < 0.05). The induction of IL-10 correlated with the suppression of TNF and iNOS suggests that IL-10 may play a role in downregulating TNF and iNOS in septic rats undergoing laparotomy and laparoscopy.
Activation of p90RSK and growth stimulation of multicellular tumor spheroids are dependent on reactive oxygen species generated after purinergic receptor stimulation by ATP

Mitogenic stimulation by growth factors may be mediated through intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) acting as signaling molecules. Incubation of multicellular prostate tumor spheroids with adenosine 5′ triphosphate (ATP) dose‐dependently stimulated tumor growth. ATP, uridine 5′‐triphosphate (UTP), adenosine 5′‐diphosphate (ADP), and 2‐methylthio‐ATP (2‐MeS‐ATP) increased intracellular ROS levels significantly. ROS generation by ATP was inhibited by the P2 receptor antagonist suramin, by the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase inhibitors diphenylene iodonium chloride (DPI) and 4‐(2‐aminoethyl) benzenesulfonylfluoride (AEBSF), as well as by the Ca2+‐dependent phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitors indomethacin and methyl arachidonyl fluorophosphonate (MAFP). The generation of ROS was dependent on the intracellular Ca2+ response evoked by ATP. Exogenous ATP activated the extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, which was blunted by the MAPK/ERK kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) antagonist PD 98059. The radical scavengers vitamin E, dimethyl thiourea (DMTU), and N‐acetyl cysteine (NAC) failed to inhibit ERK1/2 activation but abolished p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (p90RSK) activation downstream of ERK1/2, as well as the growth stimulation of tumor spheroids. Our data indicate that p90RSK downstream of ERK1/2 is the molecular target for ROS generated through stimulation of purinergic receptors by ATP.
Thyroid Dysfunction in Women with Systemic Sclerosis

Abstract: Hypothyroidism has been frequently reported in systemic sclerosis (SSc), but whether SSc itself increases the risk of thyroid dysfunction is still controversial. The aim of the present study was to determine whether routine thyroid function screening in SSc should be warranted. Serum levels of free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, and thyroid‐stimulating hormone, and the presence of thyroid‐specific autoantibodies (antithyroid peroxidase and antithyreoglobulin) were measured in 79 women with SSc and 81 age‐matched women with osteoarthritis (OA) serving as controls. Hyperthyroidism was found in 2 of 79 (2.5%) SSc and in 4 of 81 (5%) OA cases. Hypothyroidism was found in 16 of 79 (20%) patients with SSc (subclinical in 14/16 cases) and in 9 of 81 (11%) patients with OA (subclinical in all cases; P= 0.131). Antithyreoglobulin antibodies were present in 14% versus 13% patients (SSc versus OA, P= NS), whereas antithyroid peroxidase antibodies were present in 23% versus 11% patients (SSc versus OA, P= 0.057). The risk of hypothyroidism was significantly higher in antithyroid peroxidase‐positive patients (P < 0.0001), irrespective of the primary diagnosis, and greater in women with OA (OR = 24.6, 95% CI 4.3–141.9, P < 0.0001) than SSc (OR = 4.2, 95% CI 1.2–14.3, P= 0.035). SSc is not independently associated with an increased risk of thyroid dysfunction, but antithyroid peroxidase antibodies may identify a subset of patients at risk of developing thyroid dysfunction.
Interleaving Commands: a Threat to the Interoperability of Smartcard Based Security Applications

Although smartcards are widely used, secure smartcard interoperability has remained a significant challenge. Usually each manufacturer provides a closed environment for their smartcard based applications including the microchip, associated firmware and application software. While the security of this "package" can be tested and certified for example based on the Common Criteria, the secure and convenient interoperability with other smartcards and smartcard applications is not guaranteed. Ideally one would have a middleware that can support various smartcards and smartcard applications. In our ongoing research we study this scenario with the goal to develop a way to certify secure smartcard interoperability in such an environment. Here we discuss and experimentally demonstrate one critical security problem: if several smartcards are connected via a middleware it is possible that a smartcard of type S receives commands that were supposed to be executed on a different smartcard of type S'. Such "external commands" can interleave with the commands that were supposed to be executed on S. Here we demonstrate this problem experimentally with a Common Criteria certified digital signature process on two commercially available smartcards. Importantly, in some of these cases the digital signature processes terminate without generating an error message or warning to the user.
Effect of plasmodial RESA protein on deformability of human red blood cells harboring Plasmodium falciparum

During intraerythrocytic development, Plasmodium falciparum exports proteins that interact with the host cell plasma membrane and subplasma membrane-associated spectrin network. Parasite-exported proteins modify mechanical properties of host RBCs, resulting in altered cell circulation. In this work, optical tweezers experiments of cell mechanical properties at normal physiological and febrile temperatures are coupled, for the first time, with targeted gene disruption techniques to measure the effect of a single parasite-exported protein on host RBC deformability. We investigate Pf155/Ring-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (RESA), a parasite protein transported to the host spectrin network, on deformability of ring-stage parasite-harboring human RBCs. Using a set of parental, gene-disrupted, and revertant isogenic clones, we found that RESA plays a major role in reducing deformability of host cells at the early ring stage of parasite development, but not at more advanced stage. We also show that the effect of RESA on deformability is more pronounced at febrile temperature, which ring-stage parasite-harboring RBCs can be exposed to during a malaria attack, than at normal body temperature.
Functional Ability Correlates with Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease

Background/Aims: Previously we have shown that functional declines in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) correlate to global measures of cognitive decline. We now determine if the correlation between cognitive impairment and functional ability in PD is similar to that in AD using individual cognitive measures. Methods: 93 PD subjects and 124 AD/MCI subjects underwent the Functional Assessment Staging (FAST), the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS), and a neuropsychological battery. Results: In PD subjects, the FAST and GDS correlated significantly with Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA), Animal Fluency, and Stroop but not with Clock Draw or Judgment Line Orientation (JLO). In AD/MCI subjects, FAST and GDS correlated with all neuropsychological components except Stroop. In the AD/MCI group, the UPDRS significantly correlated with the FAST, GDS, MMSE, and all neuropsychological parameters except the Stroop. In the PD group, the motor UPDRS significantly correlated significantly with FAST, GDS, MMSE and all neuropsychological parameters except Digit Span, Stroop, Clock Draw and JLO. Conclusions: Similar to AD, functional decline in PD correlates with multiple measures of cognitive impairment. Some differences between PD and AD may be explained by the influence of motor disability and declines in visuospatial function in PD.
Culturally Strong Childcare Programs for Indigenous Children, Families and Communities

ACCOMMODATING THE DIVERSE CHILDCARE needs of Australia's Indigenous communities, both within mainstream and Indigenous-operated services, is a major concern for all Indigenous families and communities. Of particular concern in relation to formal child care is the need for programs to be culturally strong. Culturally strong programs incorporate the culturally based beliefs, values and practices, including child-rearing practices, of individuals, families and communities using that service. This paper, drawing upon a broad-based consultation funded by the Australian Government and conducted throughout 2005–06, addresses the key elements of what constitutes culturally strong childcare programs for Indigenous children, families and communities. In recognition of the heterogeneous nature of Indigenous Australians, the research methods included focus groups, community consultations, and interviews with key stakeholders in the childcare sector nationally in order to identify their positions. The research findings highlighted that those involved with childcare programs for Indigenous children, whether they are living in a remote community in the Northern Territory or in Redfern in Sydney, New South Wales, share a similar desire: that programs reflect the cultural knowledge and practices of their respective communities.
The impact of a vision screening law on older driver fatality rates.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of the Florida visual acuity licensing standard for drivers 80 years and older on fatal motor vehicle collision (MVC) involvement. METHODS Motor vehicle collision fatality rates for all Florida residents and for drivers 80 years and older were compared before and after the visual acuity licensing standard was implemented in January 2004. RESULTS From 2001 to 2006, there was a nonsignificant (P = .06) increase in MVC fatality rates in Florida; in contrast, fatality rates among drivers 80 years and older demonstrated a significant downward linear trend (P = .01). When comparing prelaw (2001-2003) and postlaw (2004-2006) periods, the fatality rate among all-aged occupants increased by 6% (rate ratio, 1.06; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-1.14); conversely, fatalities among drivers 80 years and older decreased significantly by 17% (rate ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-0.98). CONCLUSIONS Despite little evidence for an association between visual acuity and MVC involvement, the results of this study suggest that a vision screening law targeting Floridians 80 years and older resulted in a reduction in the MVC fatality rate among such drivers. The exact mechanism responsible for this association is unclear and future research should attempt to identify what might explain this relationship.
Past, present, and future challenges in breast cancer treatment.

The past half century—the lifetime of the American Society of Clinical Oncology—represents a historical watershed in the management of breast cancer, a period in which old dogmas were overthrown, to be replaced by biology-driven therapeutic approaches. These approaches transformed the disease from one where mutilating local therapy was followed by distant recurrence and death, to one where patients regularly choose local (and often minimal) therapy, then receive systemic therapies that are increasingly effective and progressively more targeted. Breast cancer, perhaps more than any other solid tumor, was transformed by the progressive application of clinical hypothesis testing of basic biologic concepts. The revolutionary overthrow of the Halstedian hypothesis, with its emphasis on the primacy of locoregional control through extensive surgery, led to changes both in locoregional therapy as well as providing the intellectual basis for adjuvant systemic therapies. And, at a time when systemic therapies were dominated by rank empiricism, breast cancer led the way in the application of targeted biologic therapy, long before targeted therapy became an oncologic mantra. This article will review a half-century of progress, focusing on the areas in which the greatest progress has been seen: the revolution in locoregional therapy; the application of cytotoxic chemotherapy in both local and advanced disease; the discovery and therapeutic exploitation of estrogen receptor biology; the use of estrogen receptor biology for breast cancer prevention; and the targeting of the human epidermal growth factor receptor complex. Collectively, these constitute a revolution in breast cancer therapeutics that has occurred within the lifetime of an organization. Finally, we will touch on the remaining therapeutic challenges for this disease. Locoregional Therapy The locoregional treatment of breast cancer has been transformed through changes in both the biologic understanding and the clinical presentation of the disease. Starting with the pivotal randomized clinical trials from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) and the Milan group, radical mastectomy was replaced by modified radical mastectomy and eventually breastconserving surgery, with breast radiation becoming the preferred
Conjugates of Cisplatin and Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors as Potent Antitumor Agents Overcoming Cisplatin Resistance

Cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) is an enzyme involved in tumorigenesis, and inhibitors of the enzyme are increasingly used as adjuvant modulators in anticancer therapies due to their synergistic effects with traditional chemotherapeutics. COX‐2 is also reported to cause resistance towards antitumor agents, such as cisplatin. Here, the first covalently linked conjugates of cisplatin and COX inhibitors are reported. These conjugates exhibit concerted transport of both drugs into tumor cells and simultaneous action upon intracellular cleavage. These platinum(IV) complexes show highly increased cytotoxicity compared with cisplatin and are even able to overcome cisplatin‐related resistance of tumor cells. While the results reported show that COX‐2 inhibition is not directly responsible for the potent activities of these conjugates, they do represent useful tool compounds for the elucidation of the influence of COX inhibitors on the efficacy of antitumor agents.
Text classification based on data partitioning and parameter varying ensembles

Support vector machines (SVM) are among the best text classifiers so far. Meantimes, ensembles of classifiers are proven to be effective on many domains. It is expected that ensembles of SVM classifiers could achieve better performance. In this paper two types of ensembles on SVM classifiers, the data partitioning ensembles and heterogeneous ensembles, have been proposed and experimentally evaluated on three well-accepted collections. Major conclusions are that disjunct partitioning ensembles with stacking could achieve the best performance, and that the parameter varying ensembles are proven to be effective, meanwhile have the advantage of being deterministic.
When hepatic-side ductal margin is positive in N+ cases, additional resection of the bile duct is not necessary to render the negative hepatic-side ductal margin during surgery for extrahepatic distal bile duct carcinoma

Background The current standard treatment for extrahepatic distal bile duct carcinoma (EDBDC) is surgical resection, as no effective alternative treatment exists. In this study, we investigated the treatment strategies and outcomes for 90 cases of EDBDC at our department. Material/Methods Between April 2000 and March 2013, 90 pancreatoduodenectomies (PDs) were performed for EDBDC. The mean patient age was 69.1±9.8 years, and there were 59 males and 31 females. Extended lymph adenectomy including lymph nodes around the common hepatic artery and celiac axis was performed in all patients. The mean operation time was 537.1±153.8 min and the mean operative blood loss was 814.0±494.0 ml. There were no operation-related deaths. The overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 90.0%, 51.2%, and 45.0%, respectively. Results Lymph node metastasis was present in 28 patients (N+; 31.1%), and it was absent in 62 (N−; 68.9%). The 5-year survival rate was 20.0% for N+ patients and 52.4% for N− patients, which is significantly higher (P=0.03). Nine cases (10.0%) showed hepatic-side ductal margin (HM) positivity for carcinoma. The 5-year survival rate was 18.7% for HM-positive patients and 48.3% for HM-negative patients, which is significantly higher (P=0.005). In multivariate analysis, N+ was the strongest adverse prognostic factor. Subclass analysis of 62 cases (excluding 28 N+ cases) revealed 7 patients with positive HMs (11.3%) and 55 patients with negative HMs (88.7%). The 5-year survival rate was 47.6% for HM-positive patients and 49.8% for HM-negative patients (P=0.73). Thirty-five cases (38.9%) recurred: there were 19 cases of local recurrence (21.1%), 11 cases of liver metastasis (12.2%), 4 cases of distant recurrence (4.4%), and 1 case of para-aortic lymph node metastasis (1.1%). Conclusions In conclusion, when HM is positive in N+ cases, additional resection of the bile duct is not necessary to render the HM negative for carcinoma.
Effects of Synbiotic Food Consumption on Serum Minerals, Liver Enzymes, and Blood Pressure in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Double-blind Randomized Cross-over Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: This research was to examine the effects of synbiotic intake on minerals, liver enzymes, and blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: This randomized, cross-over clinical trial was performed among 62 diabetic patients. Persons were randomly assigned to intake either a synbiotic (n = 62) or a control food (n = 62) for 6 weeks. A 3-week washout period was applied following which persons were crossed over to the alternate intervention arm for an additional 6 weeks. The synbiotic was consisted of Lactobacillus sporogenes (1 × 107 CFU), 0.04 g inulin (HPX) as prebiotic. Persons were asked to consume the synbiotic and control foods 27 g a day. Blood pressure was measured, and blood samples were taken at baseline and after 6-week intervention to assess calcium, magnesium, iron, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and total bilirubin. Results: The consumption of a synbiotic food, compared to the control food, resulted in a significant rise of calcium (0.66 vs. −0.14 mg/dL, P = 0.03) and iron (5.06 vs. −9.98 mg/dL, P = 0.03). The decrease of total bilirubin (0.08 vs. −0.04 mg/dL; P = 0.009) was also seen in the synbiotic group compared with the control group. Conclusions: Overall, synbiotic in T2D patients had beneficial effects on calcium, iron, and total bilirubin concentrations.
Parvalbumin‐expressing ependymal cells in rostral lateral ventricle wall adhesions contribute to aging‐related ventricle stenosis in mice

Aging‐associated ependymal‐cell pathologies can manifest as ventricular gliosis, ventricle enlargement, or ventricle stenosis. Ventricle stenosis and fusion of the lateral ventricle (LV) walls is associated with a massive decline of the proliferative capacities of the stem cell niche in the affected subventricular zone (SVZ) in aging mice. We examined the brains of adult C57BL/6 mice and found that ependymal cells located in the adhesions of the medial and lateral walls of the rostral LVs upregulated parvalbumin (PV) and displayed reactive phenotype, similarly to injury‐reactive ependymal cells. However, PV+ ependymal cells in the LV‐wall adhesions, unlike injury‐reactive ones, did not express glial fibrillary acidic protein. S100B+/PV+ ependymal cells found in younger mice diminished in the LV‐wall adhesions throughout aging. We found that periventricular PV‐immunofluorescence showed positive correlation to the grade of LV stenosis in nonaged mice (<10‐month‐old), and that the extent of LV‐wall adhesions and LV stenosis was significantly lower in mid‐aged (>10‐month‐old) PV‐knock out (PV‐KO) mice. This suggests an involvement of PV+ ependymal cells in aging‐associated ventricle stenosis. Additionally, we observed a time‐shift in microglial activation in the LV‐wall adhesions between age‐grouped PV‐KO and wild‐type mice, suggesting a delay in microglial activation when PV is absent from ependymal cells. Our findings implicate that compromised ependymal cells of the adhering ependymal layers upregulate PV and display phenotype shift to “reactive” ependymal cells in aging‐related ventricle stenosis; moreover, they also contribute to the progression of LV‐wall fusion associated with a decline of the affected SVZ‐stem cell niche in aged mice.