Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and Implementation of a Trauma Care Bundle at a Community Hospital

The Niagara Health System (NHS) in Ontario, Canada is comprised of three non-designated trauma center (NTC) hospitals which provide primary care to approximately 100 trauma patients annually. NTCs often lack standardized resources such as trauma surgeons, trauma-trained emergency room physicians, Advanced Trauma Life Support certified staff, trauma protocols, and other resources commonly found at designated trauma centers. Studies indicate that these differences contribute to poorer outcomes for trauma patients treated at community hospitals in Ontario, including the NTC hospitals of the NHS. In other settings healthcare checklists and bundles have proven effective in streamlining processes to ensure effective, efficient and timely patient care. Quality Improvement (QI) tools and methods were used to design, implement, and evaluate a trauma care bundle at one of the NHS's community hospitals. We assessed outcome and process measures through a chart audit of all trauma care patients in the NHS from July 2015 - November 2015. A Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) was administered to health system staff who were involved in the pilot to assess balancing measures. Between July-November 2015, 39 patients were treated at the St. Catharines Hospital that were identified as either Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) I or CTAS II trauma patients. Of those 39 major trauma patients, 15 received care using the trauma care bundle, representing a 38% uptake. Patients who received care with the trauma bundle had an average Emergency Department (ED) length of stay (LOS) of 1.7 hours, compared with those patients in whom the bundle was not used, whose average ED LOS was 3.4 hours. The SAQ administered to ED physicians who used the bundle (n=10) highlighted the impact on ED patient safety. These early findings suggest that the bundle provides a substantial improvement to the current trauma care process within the Niagara Health System.
The importance of individual predictors and psychosocial working conditions in assessing the work ability index of people with low vision

Purpose. This investigation aimed to clarify the importance of individual predictors and psychosocial working conditions in estimating the work ability index (WAI) of people with impaired vision. Materials and methods. This study utilized a quantitative cross-sectional design involving 450 respondents who had low vision with visual acuity in the range of 0.05–0.3 and a control group of 150 respondents with visual acuity in the range of 0.5–0.3. The investigation was conducted using the standardized instruments of the Copenhagen psychosocial questionnaire (COPSOQ) and the WAI. Results. The average WAI score of the respondents with low vision was 30.1 ± 4.1 and that of the control group was 34.7 ± 3.4. Results indicated a positive COPSOQ/WAI correlation in the following domains: work importance; career prospects; rewards/feedback; role and definition; quality of management; social support; job satisfaction; health condition. Negative correlations were indicated in the following domains: quantitative, cognitive and emotional demands; exhaustion; stress. Conclusions. The WAI of people with low vision is both positively and negatively impacted via different intensities associated with complex correlations, including: gender; age; profession; stress propensity; quantitative, qualitative and emotional demands of work; specificity of work, professional education; presence of stressors.
Effects of short‐term training on plasma acid‐base balance during incremental exercise in man

The present study examined the effect of short‐term submaximal training on plasma acid‐base balance during exercise. The influence of water and ion exchange between plasma, active muscles and erythrocytes in the response to training were also studied. The contributions of independent physicochemical variables (i.e. strong ion difference ([SID]), total concentration of weak acids ([Atot]) and PO2) to changes in arterial (a) and femoral venous (v) plasma [H+] were examined in six subjects (age 24 ± 1.5 years; maximum oxygen consumption rate (V̇O2,max), 3.67 ± 0.24 l min−1) during steady‐state cycling for 15 min at each of 30, 65 and 75 % of V̇O2,max before (pre) and after (post) training for 7 days on a cycle ergometer (2 h daily at 60 % V̇O2,max). The rise in [H+]a during exercise was attenuated post‐training by 3 and 5 nequiv l−1 (P < 0.05) at 65 and 75 % V̇O2,max, respectively, due first to less decrease in [SID]a, secondary to lower [Cl−]a and [Lac−]a; and second, to a reduction in [Atot]a, due to greater plasma volume and less plasma water flux (Jv) into leg muscle (P < 0.05). The rise in [H+]v was also less in post‐training by 4.5 and 6 nequiv l−1 (P < 0.05) at 65 and 75 % V̇O2,max, respectively, and attributed solely to lower [Atot]v (P < 0.05). Attenuation of exercise induced decreases in plasma [SID]a and [SID]v from rest to 75 % V̇O2,max was accompanied by reductions in erythrocyte Lac− and Cl− uptake (P < 0.05), and smaller increases in erythrocyte K+ release (P < 0.05). We conclude that the training‐induced attenuation of the rise in plasma [H+]a and [H+]v during incremental exercise resulted from adaptive changes within muscles (less Lac− production and less water uptake) and erythrocytes (less uptake of Lac−, Cl− and K+), leading to greater [SID] and lower [Atot] in both arterial and femoral venous plasma.
Hematuria following Botox treatment for upper limb spasticity: a case report

Hematuria is a documented side effect of botulinum toxin injection and has only been reported when it is used for overactive bladder. Here we report a rare case of hematuria following onabotulinumtoxin A (Botox) injection for upper limb spasticity in a 29-year-old male with a history of traumatic brain injury and hemophilia. Hematuria resolved without further complication after self-injection of factor VIII as recommended by his hematologist. Botulinum toxin binds peripheral cholinergic nerve endings to prevent acetylcholine and norepinephrine exocytosis. Studies have shown that both of these compounds are involved in antifibrinolytic activation, suggesting botulinum toxin may play a role in the coagulation cascade by preventing formation of fibrin. This is further supported by resolution of hematuria in our patient after self-injection of factor VIII. As such, botulinum toxin injection may result in mild spontaneous hemorrhage in patients with underlying hematological deficiencies. Further studies are needed to elucidate its effects in coagulation.
Real-Time Artifact-Free Image Upscaling

The problem of creating artifact-free upscaled images appearing sharp and natural to the human observer is probably more interesting and less trivial than it may appear. The solution to the problem, often referred to also as “single-image super-resolution,” is related both to the statistical relationship between low-resolution and high-resolution image sampling and to the human perception of image quality. In many practical applications, simple linear or cubic interpolation algorithms are applied for this task, but the results obtained are not really satisfactory, being affected by relevant artifacts like blurring and jaggies. Several methods have been proposed to obtain better results, involving simple heuristics, edge modeling, or statistical learning. The most powerful ones, however, present a high computational complexity and are not suitable for real-time applications, while fast methods, even if edge adaptive, are not able to provide artifacts-free images. In this paper, we describe a new upscaling method (iterative curvature-based interpolation) based on a two-step grid filling and an iterative correction of the interpolated pixels obtained by minimizing an objective function depending on the second-order directional derivatives of the image intensity. We show that the constraints used to derive the function are related with those applied in another well-known interpolation method, providing good results but computationally heavy (i.e., new edge-directed interpolation (NEDI). The high quality of the images enlarged with the new method is demonstrated with objective and subjective tests, while the computation time is reduced of one to two orders of magnitude with respect to NEDI so that we were able, using a graphics processing unit implementation based on the nVidia Compute Unified Device Architecture technology, to obtain real-time performances.
Fructose-2,6-Bisphosphate synthesis by 6-Phosphofructo-2-Kinase/Fructose-2,6-Bisphosphatase 4 (PFKFB4) is required for the glycolytic response to hypoxia and tumor growth

Fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (F2,6BP) is a shunt product of glycolysis that allosterically activates 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase (PFK-1) resulting in increased glucose uptake and glycolytic flux to lactate. The F2,6BP concentration is dictated by four bifunctional 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatases (PFKFB1-4) with distinct kinase:phosphatase activities. PFKFB4 is over-expressed in human cancers, induced by hypoxia and required for survival and growth of several cancer cell lines. Although PFKFB4 appears to be a rational target for anti-neoplastic drug development, it is not clear whether its kinase or phosphatase activity is required for cancer cell survival. In this study, we demonstrate that recombinant human PFKFB4 kinase activity is 4.3-fold greater than its phosphatase activity, siRNA and genomic deletion of PFKFB4 decrease F2,6BP, PFKFB4 over-expression increases F2,6BP and selective PFKFB4 inhibition in vivo markedly reduces F2,6BP, glucose uptake and ATP. Last, we find that PFKFB4 is required for cancer cell survival during the metabolic response to hypoxia, presumably to enable glycolytic production of ATP when the electron transport chain is not fully operational. Taken together, our data indicate that the PFKFB4 expressed in multiple transformed cells and tumors functions to synthesize F2,6BP. We predict that pharmacological disruption of the PFKFB4 kinase domain may have clinical utility for the treatment of human cancers.
Deregulation and Mislocalization of the Cytokinesis Regulator ECT2 Activate the Rho Signaling Pathways Leading to Malignant Transformation*

The human ECT2 protooncogene encodes a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the Rho GTPases and regulates cytokinesis. Although the oncogenic form of ECT2 contains an N-terminal truncation, it is not clear how the structural abnormality of ECT2 causes malignant transformation. Here we show that both the removal of the negative regulatory domain and alteration of subcellular localization are required to induce the oncogenic activity of ECT2. The transforming activity of oncogenic ECT2 was strongly inhibited by dominant negative Rho GTPases, suggesting the involvement of Rho GTPases in ECT2 transformation. Although deletion of the N-terminal cell cycle regulator-related domain (N) of ECT2 did not activate its transforming activity, removal of the small central domain (S), which contains two nuclear localization signals (NLSs), significantly induced the activity. The ECT2 N domain interacted with the catalytic domain and significantly inhibited the focus formation by oncogenic ECT2. Interestingly, the introduction of the NLS mutations in the S domain of N-terminally truncated ECT2 dramatically induced the transforming activity of this otherwise non-oncogenic derivative. Among the known Rho GTPases expressed in NIH 3T3 cells, RhoA was predominantly activated by oncogenic ECT2 in vivo. Therefore, the mislocalization of structurally altered ECT2 might cause the untimely activation of cytoplasmic Rho GTPases leading to the malignant transformation.
Genetic transformation of Colletotrichum truncatum associated with anthracnose disease of chili by random insertional mutagenesis

An Agrobacterium tumefaciens ‐mediated transformation (ATMT) system was successfully developed for Colletotrichum truncatum, the causal agent of chili anthracnose. A. tumefaciens carrying a hygromycin phosphotransferase gene (hph) and a green fluorescent protein (gfp) gene was used to transform the conidiospores of two C. truncatum pathotypes F8‐3B and BRIP26974. Optimum transformation efficiency was obtained when equal volumes of A. tumefaciens strain AGL1 carrying either pJF1 or pPK2 binary vector was used to transform C. truncatum conidiospores at 106/ml and co‐cultivated at 24 °C for three days. Southern blot analysis indicated that 87.5% of the transformants contained randomly inserted, single copies of the T‐DNA. Infection and colonisation of chili fruit at the mature red stage with F8‐3B‐GFP and BRIP26974‐GFP confirmed the maintenance of virulence within these transformed pathotypes. In situ studies of infection and colonisation of the susceptible genotype fruit using fluorescent microscopy and transformed isolates of C. truncatum expressing GFP revealed that the pathogen was able to colonise healthy fruit tissue intercellularly in an endophytic manner without producing secondary biotrophic infection structures. The developed transformation system will be used to study the function of pathogenicity genes in C. truncatum using both forward and reverse genetics approaches. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Doxycycline Inhibits IL-17-Stimulated MMP-9 Expression by Downregulating ERK1/2 Activation: Implications in Myogenic Differentiation

Interleukin 17 (IL-17) is a cytokine with pleiotropic effects associated with several inflammatory diseases. Although elevated levels of IL-17 have been described in inflammatory myopathies, its role in muscle remodeling and regeneration is still unknown. Excessive extracellular matrix degradation in skeletal muscle is an important pathological consequence of many diseases involving muscle wasting. In this study, the role of IL-17 on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase- (MMP-) 9 in myoblast cells was investigated. The expression of MMP-9 after IL-17 treatment was analyzed in mouse myoblasts C2C12 cell line. The increase in MMP-9 production by IL-17 was concomitant with its capacity to inhibit myogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells. Doxycycline (Doxy) treatment protected the myogenic capacity of myoblasts from IL-17 inhibition and, moreover, increased myotubes hypertrophy. Doxy blocked the capacity of IL-17 to stimulate MMP-9 production by regulating IL-17-induced ERK1/2 MAPK activation. Our results imply that MMP-9 mediates IL-17's capacity to inhibit myoblast differentiation during inflammatory diseases and indicate that Doxy can modulate myoblast response to inflammatory induction by IL-17.
Associations between coronary calcification on chest radiographs and mortality in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND KDIGO (Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes) guidelines recommend lateral abdominal radiographs to assess vascular calcification in incident dialysis patients. However, nearly all dialysis patients in the United States receive chest radiographs at dialysis therapy inception, which may provide readily available information on coronary artery (CAC) and aortic arch calcification (AAC). We determined the prevalence of CAC and AAC visible on plain chest radiographs and their associations with mortality in our dialysis population. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective analysis. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS 93 participants who received maintenance hemodialysis at the San Diego Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 2009-2010. PREDICTOR Presence of CAC and AAC as evaluated by a radiologist. OUTCOME All-cause mortality. RESULTS Average age was 64 years, 22% were African American, and 97% were men. CAC and AAC prevalences were 25% and 58%, respectively. During 20 months' follow-up, 28% died. CAC was associated with mortality in models including cardiovascular (HR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.04-5.59) and dialysis-related (HR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.24-6.60) risk factors. AAC was associated with HRs of 5.25 (95% CI, 1.46-17.72) in cardiovascular risk factor-adjusted models and 7.31 (95% CI, 2.03-26.34) in dialysis models. When CAC and AAC were both included in models, both CAC (HR, 3.40; 95% CI, 1.24-9.36) and AAC (HR, 6.23; 95% CI, 1.64-23.66) remained significantly associated with mortality. LIMITATIONS The study sample is relatively small and mostly male. CONCLUSIONS CAC and AAC are highly prevalent on chest radiographs in dialysis patients and strongly associated with mortality independent of one another. Because these images are nearly ubiquitous, inexpensive, and often obtained for other indications, they should be considered for risk assessment in hemodialysis patients. Future studies are required to determine whether CAC or AAC on chest radiography is additive or duplicative of the risk of aorto-iliac calcification on lateral abdominal radiographs currently suggested by KDIGO.
Wastewater reuse in Europe

In Europe the last two decades has witnessed growing water stress, both in terms of water scarcity and quality deterioration, which has prompted many municipalities to look for a more efficient use of water resources, including a more widespread acceptance of water reuse practices. This paper reviews European water reuse practices and sets out the map of the water reclamation technologies and reuse applications. The data are based on a conventional literature survey, on the preliminary evaluation of an in-depth survey of a large number of European water reuse projects and on the findings of a dedicated international workshop. The preliminary evaluation indicates that for an increased utilisation of reclaimed wastewater, clearer institutional arrangements, more dedicated economic instruments and the set-up of water reuse guidelines are needed. Technological innovation and the establishment of a best practice framework will help, but even more, a change is needed in the underlying stakeholders’ perception of the water cycle.
The proteasome inhibitor PS-341 in cancer therapy.

The anticancer activity of the boronic acid dipeptide proteasome inhibitor PS-341 was examined in vitro and in vivo. PS-341 was a potent cytotoxic agent toward MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells in culture, producing an IC90 of 0.05 microM on 24 h of exposure to the drug. In the EMT-6 tumor cell survival assay, PS-341 was equally cytotoxic administered p.o. or by i.p. injection up to a dose of 2 mg/kg. PS-341 was also toxic to the bone marrow colony-forming unit-granulocyte macrophage. PS-341 increased the tumor cell killing of radiation therapy, cyclophosphamide, and cisplatin in the EMT-6/Parent tumor, but was not able to overcome the in vivo resistance of the EMT-6/CTX and EMT-6/CDDP tumors. In the tumor growth delay assay, PS-341 administered p.o. had antitumor activity against the Lewis lung carcinoma, both primary and metastatic disease. In combination, regimens with 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, Taxol and adriamycin, PS-341 seemed to produce primarily additive tumor growth delays against the s.c. tumor and was highly effective against disease metastatic to the lungs. The proteasome is an interesting new target for cancer therapy, and the proteasome inhibitor PS-341 warrants continued investigation in cancer therapy.
Chromosomal Distribution of Cytonuclear Genes in a Dioecious Plant with Sex Chromosomes

The coordination between nuclear and organellar genes is essential to many aspects of eukaryotic life, including basic metabolism, energy production, and ultimately, organismal fitness. Whereas nuclear genes are bi-parentally inherited, mitochondrial and chloroplast genes are almost exclusively maternally inherited, and this asymmetry may lead to a bias in the chromosomal distribution of nuclear genes whose products act in the mitochondria or chloroplasts. In particular, because X-linked genes have a higher probability of co-transmission with organellar genes (2/3) compared to autosomal genes (1/2), selection for co-adaptation has been predicted to lead to an over-representation of nuclear-mitochondrial and nuclear-chloroplast genes on the X chromosome relative to autosomes. In contrast, the occurrence of sexually antagonistic organellar mutations might lead to selection for movement of cyto-nuclear genes from the X chromosome to autosomes to reduce male mutation load. Recent broad-scale comparative studies of N-mt distributions in animals have found evidence for these hypotheses in some species, but not others. Here, we use transcriptome sequences to conduct the first study of the chromosomal distribution of cyto-nuclear interacting genes in a plant species with sex chromosomes (Rumex hastatulus; Polygonaceae). We found no evidence of under- or over-representation of either N-mt or N-cp genes on the X chromosome, and thus no support for either the co-adaptation or the sexual-conflict hypothesis. We discuss how our results from a species with recently evolved sex chromosomes fit into an emerging picture of the evolutionary forces governing the chromosomal distribution of nuclear-mitochondrial and nuclear-chloroplast genes.
Lymphangiogenesis and Its Relationship With Lymphatic Metastasis and Prognosis in Malignant Melanoma

Regional lymph node metastasis is one of the important indicators of cutaneous malignant melanoma. Newly formed lymphatic vessels are considered to provide a route whereby tumor cells can migrate to the lymph nodes. Both vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) ‐C and ‐D have been confirmed to participate in tumor lymphangiogenesis, but the prognostic significance of VEGF‐C, VEGF‐D, and lymphangiogenesis in cutaneous malignant melanoma remains controversial. To clarify the effects of these factors and to evaluate the relationships between lymphangiogenesis, lymph node metastasis, and prognosis in patients with malignant melanoma, the expressions of VEGF‐C, VEGF‐D, and their receptor (VEGFR) ‐3 were detected by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction. The expressions of both VEGF‐C and VEGF‐D proteins were concomitantly detected in the cytoplasm of the malignant cells. VEGF‐C and VEGF‐D expressions were associated with VEGFR‐3 expression and were significantly correlated with both peritumoral lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis. The incidence of peritumoral lymphatic vessels was significantly higher in lymph node metastatic melanomas than that in nonmetastatic melanomas. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that VEGF‐C and VEGF‐D were independent prognostic factors for overall survival and disease‐free survival in patients with malignant melanoma. This study suggests that both VEGF‐C and VEGF‐D are involved in peritumoral lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis. VEGF‐C and VEGF‐D expression may be clinically useful indicators for prognostic evaluation in patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma. Anat Rec, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Standards for PET Image Acquisition and Quantitative Data Analysis

Quantitative 18F-FDG PET is increasingly being recognized as an important tool for diagnosis, determination of prognosis, and response monitoring in oncology. However, PET quantification with, for example, standardized uptake values (SUVs) is affected by many technical and physiologic factors. As a result, some of the variations in the literature on SUV-based patient outcomes are explained by differences in 18F-FDG PET study methods. Various technical and clinical studies have been performed to understand the factors affecting PET quantification. On the basis of the results of those studies, several recommendations and guidelines have been proposed with the aims of improving the image quality and the quantitative accuracy of 18F-FDG PET studies. In this contribution, an overview of recommendations and guidelines for quantitative 18F-FDG PET studies in oncology is provided. Special attention is given to the rationale underlying certain recommendations and to some of the differences in various guidelines.