Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agreement between the SCORE and D’Agostino Scales for the Classification of High Cardiovascular Risk in Sedentary Spanish Patients

Background: To evaluate agreement between cardiovascular risk in sedentary patients as estimated by the new Framingham-D’Agostino scale and by the SCORE chart, and to describe the patient characteristics associated with the observed disagreement between the scales. Design: A cross-sectional study was undertaken involving a systematic sample of 2,295 sedentary individuals between 40–65 years of age seen for any reason in 56 primary care offices. An estimation was made of the Pearson correlation coefficient and kappa statistic for the classification of high risk subjects (≥20% according to the Framingham-D’Agostino scale, and ≥5% according to SCORE). Polytomous logistic regression models were fitted to identify the variables associated with the discordance between the two scales. Results: The mean risk in males (35%) was 19.5% ± 13% with D’Agostino scale, and 3.2% ± 3.3% with SCORE. Among females, they were 8.1% ± 6.8% and 1.2% ± 2.2%, respectively. The correlation between the two scales was 0.874 in males (95% CI: 0.857–0.889) and 0.818 in females (95% CI: 0.800–0.834), while the kappa index was 0.50 in males (95% CI: 0.44%–0.56%) and 0.61 in females (95% CI: 0.52%–0.71%). The most frequent disagreement, characterized by high risk according to D’Agostino scale but not according to SCORE, was much more prevalent among males and proved more probable with increasing age and increased LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and systolic blood pressure values, as well as among those who used antihypertensive drugs and smokers. Conclusions: The quantitative correlation between the two scales is very high. Patient categorization as corresponding to high risk generates disagreements, mainly among males, where agreement between the two classifications is only moderate.
Inhibition of endotoxin-induced interleukin-6 production by synthetic lipid A partial structures in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

The effect of two synthetic lipid A partial structures, compound 406 (or LA-14-PP, identical in structure to the lipid A precursor, known as Ia or IVa) and compound 401 (lipid X), on the in vitro modulation of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide)-induced interleukin-6 production by human blood mononuclear cells was investigated. Lipopolysaccharide of Salmonella abortus equi and synthetic Escherichia coli-type lipid A (compound 506, or LA-15-PP) had potent interleukin-6-inducing capacities. The maximum release of interleukin-6 was found after stimulation with 1 to 10 ng of lipopolysaccharide or 10 to 100 ng of synthetic E. coli-type lipid A per ml. Both synthetic lipid A partial structures (compounds 406 and 401) failed to induce interleukin-6 release. However, they inhibited lipopolysaccharide- or lipid A-induced interleukin-6 production in a dose-dependent manner. Inhibition was found not only in mononuclear cells but also in purified monocytes and was not due to a shift in the kinetics of cytokine production. Suppression was manifested in the early stage of interleukin-6 production. Inhibition was also found in the presence of recombinant gamma interferon, indicating that compound 406 and recombinant gamma interferon act in different, independent pathways. Our data, therefore, indicate that the inhibition of interleukin-6 production by lipid A partial structures may help elucidate the mechanism of interaction of the lipid A component of lipopolysaccharide with immune cells in the inflammatory reaction during gram-negative infection.
Significance of time-course changes of serum bone markers after parathyroidectomy in patients with uraemic hyperparathyroidism.

BACKGROUND The increase of bone mineral density in cortical bone after parathyroidectomy is smaller than that in cancellous bone. Changes of serum bone markers reflect those of bone metabolism both in cortical and cancellous bone after parathyroidectomy. The present study was undertaken to investigate changes of histomorphometric parameters of cortical and cancellous bone together and their correlation with those of serum bone markers. METHODS Iliac bone biopsy was performed before and 1 week after parathyroidectomy in Group I (n = 13), and before and 4 and 12 weeks after in Group II (n = 11). Moreover, changes of histomorphometric parameters of the endocortical, intracortical and periosteal surfaces as well as in cancellous bone were monitored. Serum levels of intact parathyroid hormone and bone markers were measured simultaneously. Results. In cancellous bone, osteoclast surface (Oc.S/BS) decreased to 0% within 4 weeks after parathyroidectomy, while osteoblast surface (Ob.S/BS) transiently increased at 1 week, followed by a reduction at 4 weeks to levels below the pre-surgical level. In cortical bone, Oc.S/BS was not reduced to 0%, while a significant and temporary increase of Ob.S/BS was observed only on the endocortical and intracortical surfaces at 4 weeks, but not at 1 week. Serum bone resorption markers did not completely disappear and significant and sustained increases of bone formation markers were observed until 4 weeks after parathyroidectomy. CONCLUSIONS Changes of bone formation markers lagged behind those of histomorphometric parameters in cancellous bone because changes of cortical bone were observed later and were incomplete compared with those of cancellous bone.
Safety, Reactogenicity, and Immunogenicity of a Recombinant Protective Antigen Anthrax Vaccine Given to Healthy Adults

BACKGROUND: Bacillus anthracis causes anthrax, a vaccine-preventable zoonotic disease that may follow intentional or unintentional exposure to its spores. Although an anthrax vaccine is currently licensed in the USA, better vaccines are desirable for both pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis. METHODS: Healthy adults, aged 18 to 40 years, received anthrax immunization with either licensed Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA, BioThrax™), or an experimental recombinant Protective Antigen vaccine (rPA) produced from an avirulent, non-spore-forming strain of B. anthracis at one of 4 doses (5, 25, 50, or 75 μg). Volunteers were followed for safety, reactogenicity, and immunogenicity. RESULTS: rPA vaccine was well tolerated with a low rate of local or systemic reactions. Although antibody responses were poor following unadjuvanted rPA administration, 89 and 100% of volunteers who received Alhydrogel-adjuvanted rPA given intramuscularly had 4-fold increases by enzyme-linked immunosorbent and toxin neutralization assays, respectively. Peak antibody responses to adjuvanted rPA given intramuscularly were equivalent to AVA, given either intramuscularly or subcutaneously, when measured by either assay. CONCLUSION: This recombinant Protective Antigen anthrax vaccine, when given with the adjuvant Alhydrogel to healthy adults in 2 intramuscular injections 4 weeks apart, is very well-tolerated and highly immunogenic.
Electrical characterization of non‐Fickian transport in groundwater and hyporheic systems

Recent work indicates that processes controlling solute mass transfer between mobile and less mobile domains in porous media may be quantified by combining electrical geophysical methods and electrically conductive tracers. Whereas direct geochemical measurements of solute preferentially sample the mobile domain, electrical geophysical methods are sensitive to changes in bulk electrical conductivity (bulk EC) and therefore sample EC in both the mobile and immobile domains. Consequently, the conductivity difference between direct geochemical samples and remotely sensed electrical geophysical measurements may provide an indication of mass transfer rates and mobile and immobile porosities in situ. Here we present (1) an overview of a theoretical framework for determining parameters controlling mass transfer with electrical resistivity in situ; (2) a review of a case study estimating mass transfer processes in a pilot‐scale aquifer storage recovery test; and (3) an example application of this method for estimating mass transfer in watershed settings between streams and the hyporheic corridor. We demonstrate that numerical simulations of electrical resistivity studies of the stream/hyporheic boundary can help constrain volumes and rates of mobile‐immobile mass transfer. We conclude with directions for future research applying electrical geophysics to understand field‐scale transport in aquifer and fluvial systems subject to rate‐limited mass transfer.
Volatile Organic Compounds Contribute to Airway Hyperresponsiveness

Background Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in concentrations found in both the work and home environments may influence lung function. We investigated the prevalence of airway responsiveness in workers exposed to VOCs. Methods We used allergic skin tests, nonspecific airway hyperresponsiveness testing and questionnaires to study twenty exposed workers and twenty-seven control subjects. Atopy was defined as a reactor who showed >3+ response to one or more allergens on the skin prick tests. Airway hyperresponsiveness (BRindex) was defined as log [% fall of FEV1/ log (last concentration of methacholine) +10]. Results The VOC exposed workers, in comparison with the control subjects, tended to have a higher BRindex (1.19±0.07 vs. 1.15±0.08, respectively). Workers exposed to VOCs with atopy or smoker, as compared with the workers exposed to VOCs with non-atopy and who were non-smokers and the control subjects with non-atopy and who were non-smokers, had a significantly higher BRindex (1.20±0.05 vs. 1.14±0.06 vs. 1.10±0.03, respectively p<0.05). The BRindex was not correlated with atopy, the smoking status or the duration of VOC exposure. Conclusions These findings suggest that VOCs may act as a contributing factor of airway hyperresponsiveness in workers exposed to VOCs.
A Statistical Machine Translation Approach to Sinhala-Tamil Language Translation

Data-driven approaches to Machine Translation have come to the fore of Language Processing Research over the past decade. The relative success in terms of robustness of Example Based and Statistical approaches have given rise to a new optimism and an exploration of other data-driven approaches such as Maximum Entropy language modeling. Much of the work in the literature however, largely report on translation between languages within the European Family of languages. This research is an attempt to cross this language family divide in order to compare the performance of these techniques on Asian languages. In particular, this work reports on Statistical Machine Translation experiments carried out between language pairs of the three major languages of Sri Lanka: Sinhala, Tamil and English. Results indicate that current models perform significantly better for the SinhalaTamil pair than the English-Sinhala pair. This in turn appears to confirm the assertion that these techniques work better for languages that are not too distantly related to each other.
An ISO 9001: 2000 Compliant Quality Management System for Data Integration in Data Warehouse Systems

In modern information systems, the topic of data quality becomes more and more important due to increasing analysis demands. This holds especially for data warehouse systems and similar systems that provide data integrated from heterogeneous sources. Although a large variety of extraction-transformation-loading tools supporting data integration is available, there is still no process model defining which integration steps should be done in which order to best fulfil the users’ needs. Our research project CLIQ is supposed to close this gap. In CLIQ, the integration process is being viewed as a kind of production process. This view enables us to apply concepts of quality management known from the manufacturing/service domain. More precisely, we developed a quality management system for data integration that meets the requirements of the recent ISO 9001:2000 standard. This paper presents our approach and describes its added value compared to traditional approaches to data integration.
An Efficient and Tasty Use of Atlantic Salmon Trimming: Microbiological and Chemical-Physical Evaluation of Salmon Frankfurters

The demand for easy-to serve fish based products, like frankfurters, is increasing, thanks to their convenience and quick preparation. In this study, cooked and cold-smoked salmon based frankfurters were evaluated for chemical-physical and microbiological characteristics during 90-days storage at 4°C. Every 15 days of storage, samples were submitted to complete microbiological analyses and to the determination of pH, Water Holding Capacity (WHC), colour parameters and texture (by Warner-Bratzler shear force test and folding test). The evaluation of lipid oxidation (by TBARS determination) was also performed. The results of microbiological analyses showed the absence of pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. , and the presence of very low total bacterial loads, with a gradual increase during the storage, exceeding 7 Log CFU/g after the 75 th day. The identification of bacterial population by rRNA sequencing revealed the presence of a typical microflora, mainly composed by Carnobacterium maltaromaticum and Brochothryx thermosphacta. The physicalchemical properties, such as pH, WHC, colour, texture and lipid oxidation parameters were constant for all the period considered, at testing this product as a very stable easy-to prepare novel food.
A CONTAMINAÇÃO ANTRÓPICA E SEUS EFEITOS EM TRÊS ESTUÁRIOS DO LITORAL DO CEARÁ, NORDESTE DO BRASIL - REVISÃO

Estuaries, where rivers meet the ocean in coastal areas, have attractive biodiversity for exploration and human activities. However, the anthropic activities interfere on natural dynamics, impacting the estuaries by habitat destruction and the addition of compounds capable of generating lethal and sublethal effects on organisms. In the Ceara State, the estuaries of the rivers Ceara, Pacoti and Jaguaribe are relevant because their locations, socioeconomic importance and interactions with coastal communities. Due to the advance of deterioration in the quality of these estuaries, this paper presents a review considering the presence of contaminants in water and sediment, and their toxic effects to the biota. Increasing contamination was evidenced for these estuaries, mainly due to metals, especially over the last 10 years. Biological damages were seen on local species and laboratorial toxicity tests indicated the toxicity potential, both acute and chronic, of the contaminants in the three estuaries, including at Pacoti estuary, which was a former reference location. Despite protection initiatives, the impacts on these estuaries are frequent, continuous and increasing. The data highlight that there are serious gaps of knowledge about the local contamination and reinforce the urgent need for more research and control actions to prevent future impacts of ecosystem scale.
Acute erythremic myelosis (true erythroleukaemia): a variant of AML FAB-M6

AIMS Antibodies against CD56 are primarily used in flow cytometric studies to detect natural killer cells. However, they may be useful in the identification of neuroendocrine malignancies, especially if the cells do not express CD45, indicating a non-leucocyte origin. METHODS A retrospective review was conducted on all solid tissue flow cytometric studies performed between January 1997 and September 2001, to identify all cases with a CD56+/CD45- immunophenotype. RESULTS Twelve neuroendocrine malignancies (five metastatic small cell carcinomas, three Merkel cell carcinomas, two metastatic undifferentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas, one metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma, and one neuroblastoma) were identified. CONCLUSIONS CD56+/CD45- neuroendocrine malignancies are only rarely detected in the flow cytometric analysis of solid tissue samples. However, the recognition of this immunophenotype is important to avoid their misclassification as natural killer cell malignancies. Furthermore, flow cytometry assists in the rapid identification of such cases, so that appropriate immunohistochemical studies can be performed to facilitate their correct diagnosis.
Evidence for the efficacy of duloxetine in treating mild, moderate, and severe depression

Clinicians need to know whether duloxetine is effective in patients across a broad range of depressive symptoms and depression severity. Data were pooled from nine randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in major depressive disorder (total N=2227) comparing duloxetine (40–120 mg/day) with placebo for 8–9 weeks. Patients were retrospectively stratified by baseline score on the HAMD17 into mild (≤19; n=682), moderate (n=1099), or severe (≥25; n=446) groups. Duloxetine produced significantly greater baseline-to-endpoint mean change than placebo in HAMD17 total score, Maier and retardation subscales, and the Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scale in all three cohorts. Significant improvement was seen in HAMD17 items 1 (depressed mood), 3 (suicide), 7 (work and activities), and 10 (psychic anxiety) regardless of severity. The HAMD17 anxiety subscale and items 13 (somatic symptoms-general) and 15 (hypochondriasis) showed significant improvement only in moderately and severely ill patients. Significant improvement in the HAMD17 Maier subscale was seen in all groups by week 1. In all three groups, placebo was significantly superior to duloxetine at early visits on HAMD17 item 12 (somatic symptoms-GI). Mildly and severely ill patients exhibited significant reduction in visual analog scale overall pain severity at the study endpoint. The studies contained fewer patients with very mild or very severe illness, limiting our ability to draw conclusions in these patient populations. Duloxetine demonstrated superior efficacy in the treatment of major depressive disorder, when compared with placebo, regardless of the baseline severity of depressive symptoms, although effect sizes were largest in the most severely depressed patients.
Molecular Determinants of High Affinity Binding of α-Scorpion Toxin and Sea Anemone Toxin in the S3-S4 Extracellular Loop in Domain IV of the Na+ Channel α Subunit*

α-Scorpion toxins and sea anemone toxins bind to a common extracellular site on the Na+ channel and inhibit fast inactivation. Basic amino acids of the toxins and domains I and IV of the Na+ channel α subunit have been previously implicated in toxin binding. To identify acidic residues required for toxin binding, extracellular acidic amino acids in domains I and IV of the type IIa Na+ channel α subunit were converted to neutral or basic amino acids using site-directed mutagenesis, and altered channels were transiently expressed in tsA-201 cells and tested for 125I-α-scorpion toxin binding. Conversion of Glu1613 at the extracellular end of transmembrane segment IVS3 to Arg or His blocked measurable α-scorpion toxin binding, but did not affect the level of expression or saxitoxin binding affinity. Conversion of individual residues in the IVS3-S4 extracellular loop to differently charged residues or to Ala identified seven additional residues whose mutation caused significant effects on binding of α-scorpion toxin or sea anemone toxin. Moreover, chimeric Na+ channels in which amino acid residues at the extracellular end of segment IVS3 of the α subunit of cardiac Na+ channels were substituted into the type IIa channel sequence had reduced affinity for α-scorpion toxin characteristic of cardiac Na+ channels. Electrophysiological analysis showed that E1613R has 62- and 82-fold lower affinities for α-scorpion and sea anemone toxins, respectively. Dissociation of α-scorpion toxin is substantially accelerated at all potentials compared to wild-type channels. α-Scorpion toxin binding to wild type and E1613R had similar voltage dependence, which was slightly more positive and steeper than the voltage dependence of steady-state inactivation. These results indicate that nonidentical amino acids of the IVS3-S4 loop participate in α-scorpion toxin and sea anemone toxin binding to overlapping sites and that neighboring amino acid residues in the IVS3 segment contribute to the difference in α-scorpion toxin binding affinity between cardiac and neuronal Na+ channels. The results also support the hypothesis that this region of the Na+ channel is important for coupling channel activation to fast inactivation.
Paleomagnetism of the lower Mesozoic diabase and arkose of Connecticut and Maryland

3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete.
Health Status of Population Living around the Proposed Uranium Mining Area

The atomic energy programme of our country has gained considerable momentum for increasing the need of energy for the accelerated agricultural and industrial growth during the last five decades (Zahid and Barik, 2004). The Government is committed to appreciable increase in contribution of nuclear power to the total power generation capacity and it has been felt that a balance mix of hydel, coal and nuclear power is must for meeting the long-term power requirement.
Ellipsoidal sets for resilient and robust static output-feedback

The implementation of a controller, if not exact, may lead to the so-called fragility problem, i.e., the loss of expected closed-loop properties. In the present note, this difficult problem is dealt with considering robust static-output feedback (SOF) control for uncertain linear time-invariant systems. By analogy with robust analysis theory based on quadratic separation, a new formulation for the SOF design is shown to be a valuable way to tackle fragility issues. Indeed, the use of a quadratic separator for design purpose allows to define a whole resilient (nonfragile) set of SOF control laws. Results are formulated as matrix inequalities one of which is nonlinear. A numerical algorithm based on nonconvex optimization is provided ant its running is illustrated on classical examples from literature.
Application of PCR methods to evaluate EGFR, KRAS and BRAF mutations in a small number of tumor cells in cytological material from lung cancer patients

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status in the tyrosine kinase domain is known to be a predictor of the response to gefitinib or erlotinib in lung cancer; thus, a non-surgical procedure of tumor specimen collection is critical for mutation analysis. The aim of the present study was to analyze the EGFR, KRAS and BRAF status in limited cytological material. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the quantitative scale of tumor cells and the percentage of tumor cells in cytological material were evaluated at the early stages of pathomorphological material qualification for EGFR, KRAS and BRAF mutation analysis. Our results revealed that even 100–1,000 tumor cells from fine needle aspiration (FNA) samples provided reliable results of mutation analysis when sensitive real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods were used. EGFR mutations were detected in 10% (7/71) and KRAS mutations were detected in 35% (19/54) of the lung adenocarcinoma cases. In addition, we reported the most common inhibiting mutation (p.T790M) found in coexistence with p.L858R in an FNA sample from a patient, for whom short-term improvement after erlotinib treatment was observed before further progression of the disease. Subsequently, mutual exclusion of EGFR and KRAS mutations was observed. Cytological samples with a small number of tumor cells obtained via FNA, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) or brushing are suggested to be used for diagnostic purposes after careful selection by cytopathologists and analysis using a validated, sensitive real-time PCR method.