Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mitral Valve Prolapse in Marfan Syndrome: An Old Topic Revisited

Background: The echocardiographic features of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) in Marfan syndrome have been well described, and the incidence of MVP in Marfan syndrome is reported to be 40–80%. However, most of the original research was performed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the diagnostic criteria for MVP were less specific. Our goal was to investigate the characteristics of MVP associated with Marfan syndrome using currently accepted diagnostic criteria for MVP. Methods: Between January 1990 and March 2004, 90 patients with definitive diagnosis of Marfan syndrome (based on standardized criteria with or without genetic testing) were referred to Massachusetts General Hospital for transthoracic echocardiography. Patients' gender, age, weight, height, and body surface area at initial examination were recorded. Mitral valve thickness and motion, the degree of mitral regurgitation and aortic regurgitation, and aortic dimensions were quantified blinded to patients' clinical information. Results: There were 25 patients (28%) with MVP, among whom 80% had symmetrical bileaflet MVP. Patients with MVP had thicker mitral leaflets (5.0 ± 1.0 mm vs. 1.8 ± 0.5 mm, P < 0.001), more mitral regurgitation (using a scale of 1–4, 2.2 ± 1.0 vs. 0.90 ± 0.60, P < 0.0001), larger LVEDD, and larger dimensions of sinus of Valsalva, sinotubular junction, aortic arch, and descending aorta indexed to square root body surface area, when compared with those without MVP. When echocardiographic features of patients younger than 18 years of age and those of patients older than 18 were compared, adult Marfan patients had larger LA dimension (indexed to square root body surface area), larger sinotubular junction (indexed to square root body surface area), and more mitral regurgitation and aortic regurgitation. Conclusions: The prevalence of MVP in Marfan syndrome is lower than previously reported. The large majority of patients with MVP have bileaflet involvement, and those with MVP have significantly larger aortic root diameters, suggesting a diffuse disease process.
Effects of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in MTHFR and MTRR on mortality and allograft loss in kidney transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND Plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is associated with cardiovascular outcomes in kidney transplant recipients (KTR). The methylenetetrahydrofolate-reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T polymorphism, an important determinant of plasma tHcy concentrations, could therefore constitute an important prognostic marker. METHODS We prospectively followed 710 KTR over >6 years. The MTHFR677C>T, MTHFR1298A>C, MTHFR1793G>A, and MTRR66A>G polymorphisms were analyzed. Demographic, clinical, and transplant-related information was obtained, and patients were followed-up using the Austrian Dialysis and Transplant Registry. Using Cox regression, we established the independent relations of each genotype to the risk of death from any cause, and/or kidney allograft loss. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 6.1 years, 154 participants died and 260 kidney allografts were lost. Compared to patients with the MTHFR677CC genotype, patients with MTHFR677CT had an adjusted relative mortality risk of 1.02 (95%CI 0.70-1.47), and those with MTHFR677TT of 0.98 (95%CI 0.52-1.85). Compared to MTHFR677CC, the relative risks of kidney allograft loss were 0.93 (95%CI 0.70-1.23; MTHFR677CT) and 0.78 (95%CI 0.47-1.30; MTHFR677TT), respectively. None of the other genotypes were associated with the risks studied, either. These findings did not depend on whether we controlled for tHcy levels. CONCLUSION This study does not support the routine use of MTHFR or MTRR genotyping for prognostic evaluation or risk-stratification in kidney transplant recipients.
Changes in Gut Microbiota in Rats Fed a High Fat Diet Correlate with Obesity-Associated Metabolic Parameters

The gut microbiota is emerging as a new factor in the development of obesity. Many studies have described changes in microbiota composition in response to obesity and high fat diet (HFD) at the phylum level. In this study we used 16s RNA high throughput sequencing on faecal samples from rats chronically fed HFD or control chow (n = 10 per group, 16 weeks) to investigate changes in gut microbiota composition at the species level. 53.17% dissimilarity between groups was observed at the species level. Lactobacillus intestinalis dominated the microbiota in rats under the chow diet. However this species was considerably less abundant in rats fed HFD (P<0.0001), this being compensated by an increase in abundance of propionate/acetate producing species. To further understand the influence of these species on the development of the obese phenotype, we correlated their abundance with metabolic parameters associated with obesity. Of the taxa contributing the most to dissimilarity between groups, 10 presented significant correlations with at least one of the tested parameters, three of them correlated positively with all metabolic parameters: Phascolarctobacterium, Proteus mirabilis and Veillonellaceae, all propionate/acetate producers. Lactobacillus intestinalis was the only species whose abundance was negatively correlated with change in body weight and fat mass. This species decreased drastically in response to HFD, favouring propionate/acetate producing bacterial species whose abundance was strongly correlated with adiposity and deterioration of metabolic factors. Our observations suggest that these species may play a key role in the development of obesity in response to a HFD.
RAPID COMMUNICATION Hippocampal Structural Changes Across the Menstrual Cycle

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in association with Ja- cobian-modulated voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to test for regional variation in gray matter over the menstrual cycle. T1-weighted anatomical images were acquired using a spoiled gradient recalled ac- quisition sequence in 21 women. Each subject was scanned twice: once during the postmenstrual late-follicular phase (Days 10-12 after onset of menses), and once during the premenstrual late-luteal phase (1-5 days before the onset of menses). Gray matter was relatively increased in the right anterior hippocampus and relatively decreased in the right dorsal basal ganglia (globus pallidus/putamen) in the postmenstrual phase. Verbal declarative memory was increased in the postmenstrual vs. premenstrual phase. This first report of human brain structural plas- ticity associated with the endogenous menstrual cycle extends well- established animal findings of hormone-mediated hippocampal plasticity to humans, and has implications for understanding alterations in cogni- tion and behavior across the menstrual cycle. V C 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Alpha-pinene oxidation by OH: simulations of laboratory experiments

This paper presents a state-of-the-art gas-phase mechanism for the degradation of -pinene by OH and its validation by box model simulations of laboratory measure- ments. It is based on the near-explicit mechanisms for the ox- idation of -pinene and pinonaldehyde by OH proposed by Peeters and co-workers. The extensive set of -pinene pho- tooxidation experiments performed in presence as well as in absence of NO by Noziet al. (1999a) is used to test the mechanism. The comparison of the calculated vs measured concentrations as a function of time shows that the levels of OH, NO, NO2 and light are well reproduced in the model. Noting the large scatter in the experimental results as well as the difficulty to retrieve true product yields from concen- trations data, a methodology is proposed for comparing the model and the data. The model succeeds in reproducing the average apparent yields of pinonaldehyde, acetone, total ni- trates and total PANs in the experiments performed in pres- ence of NO. In absence of NO, pinonaldehyde is fairly well reproduced, but acetone is largely underestimated. The dependence of the product yields on the concentration of NO and -pinene is investigated, with a special attention on the influence of the multiple competitions of reactions af- fecting the peroxy radicals in the mechanism. We show that the main oxidation channels differ largely according to pho- tochemical conditions. E.g. the pinonaldehyde yield is es- timated to be about 10% in the remote atmosphere and up to 60% in very polluted areas. We stress the need for ad- ditional theoretical/laboratory work to unravel the chemistry of the primary products as well as the ozonolysis and nitrate- initiated oxidation of -pinene.
Economic Evaluation in Acupuncture: Past and Future

While reasons that patients choose acupuncture vary, the decision to pay for most or all of the costs without reimbursement strongly suggests that acupuncture is perceived as both valuable and beneficial to consumers. An insurance company’s decision to cover acupuncture (or any treatment) is based on different factors. Insurance companies and health management organizations (HMO) must balance their overall costs with the need to attract and keep customers. The strategies used to determine
A role for immunoglobulin G in donor-specific Streptococcus sanguis-induced platelet aggregation

Summary There is increasing evidence fora relationship between bacterial infections and several cardiovascular disorders. Although the precise mechanism(s) underlying this association is unknown, the direct activation of platelets by bacteria is one possibility. Individual strains of S. sanguis activate platelets in a non-uniform, donor-dependent manner. In the current study, platelet aggregation profiles were obtained for fourteen donors in response to four strains of S. sanguis (2017–78, 133–79, SK112, SK108a) and one of S. gordonii (SK8). The platelets from all donors responded to strains 2017–78 and 133–79,whereas strains SK112, SK8 and SK108a caused aggregation in one, five and twelve donors, respectively. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding to strains 2017–78, 133–79 and SK108a were significantly greater than to strains SK112 and SK8. Absorption of IgG by strain 2017–78 caused significant decreases in IgG binding, and platelet aggregation in response, to all strains. Single-strand conformational polymorphisms were observed in the FcγRIIA gene from four donors. Sequencing revealed two known and two novel point mutations, none of which correlated with the aggregation profile. Thus, platelet activation to the various strains depends ona common IgG and, while in most cases the level of IgG binding to S. sanguis determines platelet responsiveness, neither the levels of IgG nor FcγRIIA polymorphisms can fully account for donor variability.
Study of performance indicators in male volleyball according to the set number [Estudo dos indicadores de rendimento em Voleibol masculino em função do número do set]

O presente estudo pretendeu comparar o rendimento nas acoes de jogo de Voleibol, em equipas masculinas de alto nivel, ao longo dos cinco sets de um jogo. A amostra consistiu em 65.949 acoes realizadas em 550 sets da Liga Mundial 2005, seniores masculinos. A recolha de dados foi efectuada tendo como suporte instrumental o software “Volleyball Information System”. Os procedimentos estatisticos basearam-se na analise descritiva e inferencial, pela aplicacao da analise da variância (ANOVA) de um factor para testar a existencia de diferencas entre as medias dos diferentes sets, para um nivel de significância de 5% e as observacoes cumpriram os requisitos de fiabilidade para serem utilizadas como ferramenta cientifica, tanto pela percentagem de acordos inter-observador, como pela estatistica Kappa de Cohen. O presente estudo demonstrou que os rendimentos das acoes de continuidade (recepcao, distribuicao e defesa) sao significativamente inferiores no primeiro set em relacao aos restantes. O facto de ser no primeiro set que as equipas obtem rendimentos inferiores podera ser justificado por ser a fase inicial do jogo, onde factores de adaptacao fisica e psicologica ainda nao estao consumados.
Gendered Communication and Career Outcomes: A Construct Validation and Prediction of Hierarchical Advancement and Non-Hierarchical Rewards

This research introduces and tests a measure that captures gendered communication style, a multi-dimensional construct with masculine and feminine facets. In Study 1, we follow a well-regarded content adequacy procedure to develop and test items to represent each of these facets and further validate the new measurement instrument across two samples of working adults. Study 2 replicates the instrument’s factor structure and tests the relationships between perceived masculine and feminine communication styles and multiple indicators of career success. Results generally support our hypotheses that masculine communication style is related to hierarchical advancement (e.g., number of promotions, advancement to higher managerial levels), whereas feminine communication style is related to non-hierarchical rewards (e.g., higher compensation, increased span of control). Unexpectedly, feminine communication style also positively predicts two indicators of hierarchical career success. Furthermore, an interaction effect suggests that gendered communication style has more of an impact on women’s compensation than on men’s.
Modeling a layer 4-to-layer 2/3 module of a single column in rat neocortex: Interweaving in vitro and in vivo experimental observations

We report a step in constructing an in silico model of a neocortical column, focusing on the synaptic connection between layer 4 (L4) spiny neurons and L2/3 pyramidal cells in rat barrel cortex. It is based first on a detailed morphological and functional characterization of synaptically connected pairs of L4–L2/3 neurons from in vitro recordings and second, on in vivo recordings of voltage responses of L2/3 pyramidal cells to current pulses and to whisker deflection. In vitro data and a detailed compartmental model of L2/3 pyramidal cells enabled us to extract their specific membrane resistivity (≈16,000 ohms·cm2) and capacitance (≈0.8 μF/cm2) and the spatial distribution of L4–L2/3 synaptic contacts. The average peak conductance per L4 synaptic contact is 0.26 nS for the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid and 0.2 nS for NMDA receptors. The in vivo voltage response for current steps was then used to calibrate the model for in vivo conditions in the Down state. Consequently, the effect of a single whisker deflection was modeled by converging, on average, 350 ± 20 L4 axons onto the modeled L2/3 pyramidal cell. Based on values of synaptic conductance, the spatial distribution of L4 synapses on L2/3 dendrites, and the average in vivo spiking probability of L4 spiny neurons, the model predicts that the feed-forward L4-L2/3 connection on its own does not fire the L2/3 neuron. With a broader distribution in the number of L4 neurons or with slight synchrony among them, the L2/3 model does spike with low probability.
Arabidopsis Cryptochrome 2 Completes Its Posttranslational Life Cycle in the Nucleus[W]

CRY2 is a blue light receptor regulating light inhibition of hypocotyl elongation and photoperiodic flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana. The CRY2 protein is found primarily in the nucleus, and it is known to undergo blue light–dependent phosphorylation and degradation. However, the subcellular location where CRY2 exerts its function or undergoes blue light–dependent phosphorylation and degradation remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed the function and regulation of conditionally nuclear-localized CRY2. Our results show that CRY2 mediates blue light inhibition of hypocotyl elongation and photoperiodic promotion of floral initiation in the nucleus. Consistent with this result and a hypothesis that blue light–dependent phosphorylation is associated with CRY2 function, we demonstrate that CRY2 undergoes blue light–dependent phosphorylation in the nucleus. CRY2 phosphorylation is required for blue light–dependent CRY2 degradation, but only a limited quantity of CRY2 is phosphorylated at any given moment in seedlings exposed to blue light, which explains why continuous blue light illumination is required for CRY2 degradation. Finally, we showed that CRY2 is ubiquitinated in response to blue light and that ubiquitinated CRY2 is degraded by the 26S proteasome in the nucleus. These findings demonstrate that a photoreceptor can complete its posttranslational life cycle (from protein modification, to function, to degradation) inside the nucleus.
Locally targeted cytoprotection with dextran sulfate attenuates experimental porcine myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury.

AIMS Intravascular inflammatory events during ischaemia/reperfusion injury following coronary angioplasty alter and denudate the endothelium of its natural anticoagulant heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) layer, contributing to myocardial tissue damage. We propose that locally targeted cytoprotection of ischaemic myocardium with the glycosaminoglycan analogue dextran sulfate (DXS, MW 5000) may protect damaged tissue from reperfusion injury by functional restoration of HSPG. METHODS AND RESULTS In a closed chest porcine model of acute myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury (60 min ischaemia, 120 min reperfusion), DXS was administered intracoronarily into the area at risk 5 min prior to reperfusion. Despite similar areas at risk in both groups (39+/-8% and 42+/-9% of left ventricular mass), DXS significantly decreased myocardial infarct size from 61+/-12% of the area at risk for vehicle controls to 39+/-14%. Cardioprotection correlated with reduced cardiac enzyme release creatine kinase (CK-MB, troponin-I). DXS abrogated myocardial complement deposition and substantially decreased vascular expression of pro-coagulant tissue factor in ischaemic myocardium. DXS binding, detected using fluorescein-labelled agent, localized to ischaemically damaged blood vessels/myocardium and correlated with reduced vascular staining of HSPG. CONCLUSION The significant cardioprotection obtained through targeted cytoprotection of ischaemic tissue prior to reperfusion in this model of acute myocardial infarction suggests a possible role for the local modulation of vascular inflammation by glycosaminoglycan analogues as a novel therapy to reduce reperfusion injury.
The structure of schizotypal personality traits: a cross-national study

Background Schizotypal traits are considered a phenotypic-indicator of schizotypy, a latent personality organization reflecting a putative liability for psychosis. To date, no previous study has examined the comparability of factorial structures across samples originating from different countries and cultures. The main goal was to evaluate the factorial structure and reliability of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) scores by amalgamating data from studies conducted in 12 countries and across 21 sites. Method The overall sample consisted of 27 001 participants (37.5% males, n = 4251 drawn from the general population). The mean age was 22.12 years (s.d. = 6.28, range 16–55 years). The SPQ was used. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Multilevel CFA (ML-CFA) were used to evaluate the factor structure underlying the SPQ scores. Results At the SPQ item level, the nine factor and second-order factor models showed adequate goodness-of-fit. At the SPQ subscale level, three- and four-factor models displayed better goodness-of-fit indices than other CFA models. ML-CFA showed that the intraclass correlation coefficients values were lower than 0.106. The three-factor model showed adequate goodness of fit indices in multilevel analysis. The ordinal α coefficients were high, ranging from 0.73 to 0.94 across individual samples, and from 0.84 to 0.91 for the combined sample. Conclusions The results are consistent with the conceptual notion that schizotypal personality is a multifaceted construct and support the validity and utility of SPQ in cross-cultural research. We discuss theoretical and clinical implications of our results for diagnostic systems, psychosis models and cross-national mental health strategies.
Efficacy and safety of adefovir dipivoxil with antiretroviral therapy: a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT Adefovir dipivoxil is a nucleotide analog that has demonstrated effective antiretroviral activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with once-daily administration. OBJECTIVE To determine if adefovir confers antiretroviral or immunologic benefit when added to stable antiretroviral therapy. DESIGN Multicenter, 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Enrollment was conducted from June 3, 1996, through May 6, 1997. SETTING Thirty-three US HIV treatment centers. PARTICIPANTS Of 1171 patients screened, 442 patients infected with HIV receiving stable antiretroviral therapy for at least 8 weeks with plasma HIV RNA greater than 2500 copies/mL and CD4+ cell count above 0.20 x 10(9)/L were randomized. INTERVENTION Patients were randomized to receive either a single 120-mg/d dose of adefovir dipivoxil (n = 219) or an indistinguishable placebo (n = 223). All patients received L-carnitine, 500 mg/d. Open-label adefovir was offered after 24 weeks and was continued until the end of the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Changes in HIV RNA from baseline, based on area under the curve and CD4+ cell levels, adverse events, and effect of baseline genotypic resistance on response to adefovir. RESULTS Patients assigned to adefovir demonstrated a 0.4-log10 decline from baseline in HIV RNA compared with no change in the placebo group (P<.001), which continued through 48 weeks. CD4+ cell counts did not change. During the initial 24 weeks, elevated hepatic enzyme levels (P<.001), gastrointestinal tract complaints (P<.001), and weight loss (P<.001) were associated with use of adefovir. Between 24 weeks and 48 weeks elevations in serum creatinine occurred in 60% of patients, usually returning to baseline after discontinuation of adefovir. Patients with lamivudine or lamivudine and zidovudine resistance mutations demonstrated anti-HIV effects with adefovir (P< or =.01 vs placebo group). CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that once-daily adefovir therapy reduces HIV RNA and is active against isolates resistant to lamivudine or lamivudine and zidovudine. Nephrotoxicity occurred when treatment extended beyond 24 weeks but was reversible.
Weakly- and Semi-Supervised Object Detection with Expectation-Maximization Algorithm

Object detection when provided image-level labels instead of instance-level labels (i.e., bounding boxes) during training is an important problem in computer vision, since large scale image datasets with instance-level labels are extremely costly to obtain. In this paper, we address this challenging problem by developing an Expectation-Maximization (EM) based object detection method using deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Our method is applicable to both the weakly-supervised and semi-supervised settings. Extensive experiments on PASCAL VOC 2007 benchmark show that (1) in the weakly supervised setting, our method provides significant detection performance improvement over current state-of-the-art methods, (2) having access to a small number of strongly (instance-level) annotated images, our method can almost match the performace of the fully supervised Fast RCNN. We share our source code at this https URL.