Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incidence and Type of Aspiration in Acute Care Patients Requiring Mechanical Ventilation via a New Tracheotomy.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To investigate the incidence of aspiration and type of aspiration (overt or silent) in patients requiring mechanical ventilation via a new tracheotomy, ie, within the previous 2 months. DESIGN Prospective, consecutive. SETTING Urban, tertiary, acute care hospital. PATIENTS Fifty-two adult inpatients referred for a swallow evaluation between March 1999 and December 2001. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing was used to determine incidence and type of aspiration. Aspiration was defined as evidence of food material in the airway below the level of the true vocal folds, with silent aspiration defined as no overt symptoms of aspiration (eg, coughing or choking). Thirty-five of 52 patients (67%) did not aspirate, and 17 of 52 patients aspirated (33%). Fourteen of the 17 patients (82%) who aspirated were silent aspirators. Patients who aspirated were significantly older (mean age, 73 years; range, 48 to 87 years) than those who did not aspirate (mean age, 59 years; range, 20 to 83 years; p < 0.05). Patients who aspirated were posttracheotomy for significantly less time (mean, 14 days; range, 3 to 48 days) than those who did not aspirate (mean, 23 days; range, 1 to 62 days) [p < 0.05]. No significant difference was observed regarding the duration of translaryngeal intubation for aspirators (mean, 14 days; range, 0 to 31 days) vs nonaspirators (mean, 14 days; range, 0 to 29 days; p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Two thirds of patients requiring short-term mechanical ventilation via a new tracheotomy swallowed successfully. When aspiration occurred, it was predominantly silent aspiration. It is important to consider age, number of days posttracheotomy, functional reserve, and clinical judgment of recovery rate before performing a swallow evaluation in this population. Specifically, swallowing success will occur most frequently in patients < 70 years old, with optimal timing for a successful swallow outcome at approximately 3 weeks posttracheotomy in patients > 70 years old and 1 week in patients < 70 years old, and in conjunction with improving medical and respiratory status.
The Effect of Familiar Size at Familiar Distances

The effect of familiar size as a distance cue was tested with familiar objects at familiar distances. Experiment 1 showed that there were no uncontrolled distance cues available and that in their absence the retinal image did not affect depth or size perception. Under these conditions, size and distance judgments were essentially indeterminate and independent of each other. In experiment 2 a paradigm was employed which allowed a direct determination of whether equivalent changes either in size of a familiar object or in its true distance produced equivalent changes in its perceived distance. The results showed that there were no uncontrolled distance cues, and that subjects perceived the familiar object as having its familiar size. Moreover, changing the retinal image of the objects had almost exactly the same effect on their perceived distance as did changing their true distance. Hence, familiar size does effectively govern the perception of distance when there are no competing cues.
Neither Interleukin-6 nor Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Is Required for Clearance of Chlamydia trachomatis from the Murine Genital Tract Epithelium

ABSTRACT Female mice bearing targeted mutations in the interleukin-6 or inducible nitric oxide synthase locus mounted effective immune responses following vaginal infection with Chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydial clearance rates, local Th1 cytokine production, and host antibody responses were similar to those of immunocompetent control mice. Therefore, neither gene product appears to be critical for the resolution of chlamydial infections of the urogenital epithelium.
Investigation of portability of space docking techniques for autonomous underwater docking

This document presents a study of space docking strategies and their applicability for autonomous underwater docking. While autonomous docking is already used in space, there are only a few examples in the underwater environment. This study analyses current space docking techniques and identifies the key areas, which are portable in the underwater domain. Space and underwater environments are quite different, and this implies a great difference in the sensors which can be used. However, it is shown that some ideas and some techniques can be transferred, with the necessary adaptations, from the space to the underwater environment.
Media Richness and Social Norms in the Choice to Attend Lectures or to Watch them Online

The study explored media richness and normative factors that influence students’ choice to attend lectures or watch them online. Lectures in a large psychology course were taped and posted online where they could be viewed by streaming video. All students in the course had the option to attend lectures or watch them online, a choice that could be exercised on a lecture-by-lecture basis. The proportion of lectures watched online revealed that students chose between face-to-face and online lectures on the basis of their perception of the information richness of the medium. Students also chose a medium to the extent that they perceived others to favor it. When asked what medium they would use to watch lectures in various subject areas, students opted for face-to-face lectures when they anticipated the learning content to be difficult. The symbolism associated with the two media was not related to media choice.
Sluggish cognitive tempo is associated with academic functioning and internalizing symptoms in college students with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVES The purposes of the present studies were to (a) examine the factor structure of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in college students and (b) examine the associations between SCT and academic functioning and internalizing symptoms in college students with and without ADHD. METHOD In Study 1, a confirmatory factor analysis of the Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale-IV (BAARS-IV) was conducted in a sample of 768 college students (aged 17-34 years, 68% female). In Study 2, we examined the relation of SCT to academic functioning and internalizing symptoms in a sample of 72 college students rigorously diagnosed with ADHD (aged 17-35 years, 44% female). RESULTS Study 1 results supported the factor structure of the BAARS-IV, with the optimal model comprising 4 correlated but distinct factors: SCT, Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity. After controlling for correlated demographic variables and ADHD symptoms, SCT was significantly related to academic impairment (including grade point average), anxiety, and depression. In Study 2, SCT again contributed unique variance to internalizing symptoms and academic impairment after controlling for correlated participant characteristics (i.e., sex, age, race, parent education level, family income, ADHD medication use, and mental health service utilization) and ADHD symptom severity. CONCLUSIONS These results fill an important gap in the literature by (a) confirming SCT to be distinct from ADHD in emerging adulthood, (b) demonstrating SCT to be strongly linked to college student adjustment, and (c) providing support for the hypothesis that SCT is associated with psychosocial functioning in both individuals with and without ADHD.
Unsaturated Fatty Acids Phosphorylate and Destabilize ABCA1 through a Phospholipase D2 Pathway*

Abnormal high density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolism among patients with diabetes and insulin resistance may contribute to their increased risk of atherosclerosis. ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCA1 mediates the transport of cholesterol and phospholipids from cells to HDL apolipoproteins and thus modulates HDL levels and atherogenesis. Unsaturated fatty acids, which are elevated in diabetes, impair the ABCA1 pathway in cultured cells by destabilizing ABCA1 protein. Here we examined the cellular pathway that mediates the ABCA1 destabilizing effects of fatty acids. The long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase inhibitor triacsin C completely reversed fatty acid-induced ABCA1 destabilization, indicating that fatty acids need to be activated to their CoA derivatives to enhance ABCA1 degradation. Unsaturated but not saturated fatty acids stimulated phospholipase D (PLD) activity, the PLD inhibitor 1-butanol prevented the unsaturated fatty acid-induced reduction in ABCA1 levels, and the PLD2 activator mastoparan markedly reduced ABCA1 protein levels, implicating a role for PLD2 in the ABCA1 destabilizing effects of fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids and mastoparan increased phosphorylation of ABCA1 serines. PLD2 small interfering RNA abolished the ability of unsaturated fatty acids to inhibit lipid transport activity, to reduce protein levels, and to increase serine phosphorylation of ABCA1. The diacylglycerol analog oleoylacetylglycerol also reduced ABCA1 protein levels and increased its serine phosphorylation, suggesting that PLD2-generated diacylglycerols promote the destabilizing phosphorylation of ABCA1. These data provide evidence that intracellular unsaturated acyl-CoA derivatives destabilize ABCA1 by activating a PLD2 signaling pathway.
Serum immunoglobulin E levels in patients with neoplastic disease.

The serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) concentrations of groups of patients with neoplastic disease were determined with a double antibody radioimmunoassay technique. The IgE levels were normal in patients with most of the types of neoplastic disease studied. However, the serum levels of IgE were reduced in patients with neoplasms affecting the B cell (thymic independent) system of lymphocytes and plasma cells. Thus, the geometric mean serum IgE concentrations of patients with chronic lymphocyte leukemia (18 ng/ml), multiple myeloma with an IgG paraprotein (27 ng/ml), and multiple myeloma with an IgA paraprotein (36 ng/ml) were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) below the geometric mean of normal controls (96 ng/ml). The reduction in IgE levels is a feature of a more generalized pattern observed in these patients of reduced polyclonal immunoglobulin synthesis and reduced numbers of B lymphocytes bearing normal polyclonal surface immunoglobulins. This reduction in the number of normal B lymphocytes and in the concentration of polyclonal immunoglobulins may be due to the production, by the malignant plasma cells and lymphocytes, of humoral regulators of B cell proliferation and immunoglobulin synthesis. In contrast to these findings in patients with malignancies of the B cell system there was a 9-fold elevation of the geometric mean serum IgE concentration to 945 ng/ml in patients with Hodgkin's disease, a disease associated with abnormalities of cellular immunity and disorders of T cell function. It is suggested that a reduction of thymic dependent, T cell, regulators of IgE synthesis may occur in such patients and that this reduction in T cell regulatory function may be the cause of the high IgE levels seen in patients with Hodgkin's disease.
Application of metabolic flux analysis for the identification of metabolic bottlenecks in the biosynthesis of penicillin-G.

A detailed stoichiometric model was developed for growth and penicillin-G production in Penicillium chrysogenum. From an a priori metabolic flux analysis using this model it appeared that penicillin production requires significant changes in fluxes through the primary metabolic pathways. This is brought about by the biosynthesis of carbon precursors for the beta-lactan nucleus and an increased demand for NADPH, mainly for sulfate reduction. As a result, significant changes in flux partitioning occur around four principal nodes in primary metabolism. These are located at: (1) glucose-6-phosphate; (2) 3-phosphoglycerate; (3) mitochondrial pyruvate; and (4) mitochondrial isocitrate. These nodes should be regarded as potential bottlenecks for increased productivity. The flexibility of these principal nodes was investigated by experimental manipulation of the fluxes through the central metabolic pathways using a high-producing strain of P. chrysogenum. Metabolic fluxes were manipulated through growth of the cells on different substrates in carbon-limited chemostat culture. Metabolic flux analysis, based on measured input and output fluxes, was used to calculate the fluxes around the principal nodes. It was found that, for growth on glucose, ethanol, and acetate, the flux partitioning around these nodes differed significantly. However, this had hardly any effect on penicillin productivity, showing that primary carbon metabolism is not likely to contain potential bottlenecks. Further experiments were performed to manipulate the total metabolic demand for the cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). NADPH demand was increased stepwise by cultivating the cells on glucose or xylose as the carbon source combined with either ammonia or nitrate as the nitrogen source, which resulted in a stepwise decrease of penicillin production. This clearly shows that, in penicillin fermentation, possible limitations in primary metabolism reside in the supply/regeneration of cofactors (NADPH) rather than in the supply of carbon precursors.
Activation of Lateral Extrastriate Areas during Orthographic Processing of Japanese Characters Studied with fMRI

We investigated the early orthographic processing in the occipital cortex using Japanese morphogram by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Kanji (Japanese morphogram) is one system of character used in the Japanese language, each character of which has a specific meaning and pronunciations. To ensure that the effects of the general visual properties of Kanji were excluded from Kanji-related activation, we created strict control stimuli, the "scrambled Kanji" that had the same luminance, contrast, and retinotopical size as those of the original Kanji. In the Kanji vs scrambled Kanji task, we found significant activation in the left inferior occipital gyrus. However, we found no activation in earlier visual cortices, including the primary visual cortex, indicating that the scrambled Kanji served as an effective control stimulus for this task. In the Kanji vs blank screen task, much more areas, including earlier visual cortices, were activated. The activation that we found in the Kanji vs scrambled Kanji task was compatible with the results of previous studies of English letter strings by other groups, suggesting that the left inferior occipital gyrus plays an essential role in orthographic processing common to these two different writing systems.
A synthetic pentasaccharide for the prevention of deep-vein thrombosis after total hip replacement.

BACKGROUND Venous thromboembolism is a frequent complication of total hip replacement. The pentasaccharide Org31540/SR90107A, a highly selective, indirect inhibitor of activated factor X, is the first of a new class of synthetic antithrombotic agents. To determine the optimal dose for phase 3 studies, we conducted a dose-ranging study in which Org31540/SR90107A was compared with a low-molecular-weight heparin, enoxaparin, in patients undergoing total hip replacement. METHODS In a double-blind study, patients were randomly assigned to postoperative administration of one of five daily doses of Org31540/SR90107A, given once daily, or to 30 mg of enoxaparin, given every 12 hours. Treatment was continued for 10 days or until bilateral venography was performed after a minimum of 5 days. RESULTS Of 933 patients treated, 593 were eligible for the efficacy analysis. With Org31540/SR90107A a dose effect was observed (P=0.002), with rates of venous thromboembolism of 11.8 percent, 6.7 percent, 1.7 percent, 4.4 percent, and 0 percent for the groups assigned to 0.75 mg, 1.5 mg, 3.0 mg, 6.0 mg, and 8.0 mg of the drug, respectively, as compared with a rate of 9.4 percent in the enoxaparin group. The reduction in the risk of venous thromboembolism was 82 percent for the 3.0-mg Org31540/SR90107A group (P=0.01) and 29 percent for the 1.5-mg group (P=0.51). Enrollment in the 6.0-mg and 8.0-mg Org31540/SR90107A groups was discontinued because of bleeding complications. Major bleeding occurred 3.5 percent less frequently in the 0.75-mg group (P=0.01) and 3.0 percent less frequently in the 1.5-mg group (P=0.05) than in the enoxaparin group (in which the rate was similar to that in the 3.0-mg group). CONCLUSIONS A synthetic pentasaccharide, Org31540/SR90107A, has the potential to improve significantly the risk-benefit ratio for the prevention of venous thromboembolism, as compared with low-molecular-weight heparin.
Analysis of Opinions Regarding Medical Specialty Selection Examination and Career Choices of 5th and 6th Grade Medical Students from Düzce University, Turkey

Objective: In this study, it was aimed that analyzing career choices of Students of Medical Faculty and their opinions regarding Medical Specialty Selection Examination. Methods: At 2012-2013 education terms, 101 medical students from Duzce University participated in this cross sectional study. 58 (57,4%) of them were at 5 th grade and 43 (42,6%) of the participants were at 6 th grade. Career Choices, affecting factors, training course satisfaction, some demographic factors (age, gender, grade, type of high school graduated from), thoughts regarding to Medical Specialty Selection Exam and foreign language examination scores were questioned via the questionnaire based survey. Results: 41(40.6%) of the 101 participants who filled up the questionnaire based survey were male, 60(59.4%) of them were female. Their mean age was 23.6±0.9 years and most of them (n=50; 49.5%) had graduated from Anatolian High Schools. It is reported that top 5 training course according to student satisfaction as follows Emergency Medicine (n=16; 15,8%), Dermatology (n=16; 15.8%), Cardiology (n=11; 10.9%), Brain Surgery (n=9; 8.9%) and Pediatrics (n=7; 6.9%) (p<0.0001). It is also reported that top 5 areas according to the choices on Medical Specialty Selection Examination are as follows; Otolaryngology (n=11; 10.9%), Dermatology (n=9; 8.9%), Internal Medicine (n=8; %7.9), Plastic Surgery (n=8; 7.9%) and Psychiatry (n=8; 7.9%) (p<0.0001). If we compare male and female students, male students prefer sports medicine (n=5; 12.2%), whereas female students prefer Otolaryngology (n=9; 15.0%) in the first rank of their choices. Conclusion: It is reported that regarding to Medical Specialty Selection Examination choices; in addition to gender differences, “impacts on family and private life and properties of academic career” are also the most affecting factors.
Identification of Intraday Metabolic Profiles during Closed-Loop Glucose Control in Individuals with Type 1 Diabetes

Background: Algorithms for closed-loop insulin delivery can be designed and tuned empirically; however, a metabolic model that is predictive of clinical study results can potentially accelerate the process. Methods: Using data from a previously conducted closed-loop insulin delivery study, existing models of meal carbohydrate appearance, insulin pharmacokinetics, and the effect on glucose metabolism were identified for each of the 10 subjects studied. Insulin's effects to increase glucose uptake and decrease endogenous glucose production were described by the Bergman minimal model, and compartmental models were used to describe the pharmacokinetics of subcutaneous insulin absorption and glucose appearance following meals. The composite model, comprised of only five equations and eight parameters, was identified with and without intraday variance in insulin sensitivity (SI ), glucose effectiveness at zero insulin (GEZI), and endogenous glucose production (EGP) at zero insulin. Results: Substantial intraday variation in SI , GEZI and EGP was observed in 7 of 10 subjects (root mean square error in model fit greater than 25 mg/dl with fixed parameters and nadir and/or peak glucose levels differing more than 25 mg/dl from model predictions). With intraday variation in these three parameters, plasma glucose and insulin were well fit by the model (R 2 = 0.933 ± 0.00971 [mean ± standard error of the mean] ranging from 0.879–0.974 for glucose; R 2 = 0.879 ± 0.0151, range 0.819–0.972 for insulin). Once subject parameters were identified, the original study could be reconstructed using only the initial glucose value and basal insulin rate at the time closed loop was initiated together with meal carbohydrate information (glucose, R 2 = 0.900 ± 0.015; insulin delivery, R 2 = 0.640 ± 0.034; and insulin concentration, R 2 = 0.717 ± 0.041). Conclusion: Metabolic models used in developing and comparing closed-loop insulin delivery algorithms will need to explicitly describe intraday variation in metabolic parameters, but the model itself need not be comprised by a large number of compartments or differential equations.
Prevalence and clinical characteristics of human metapneumovirus infections in hospitalized infants in Spain

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), a condition recently described in the Netherlands, causes lower respiratory infections, particularly in young children and among the elderly. The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics of hMPV infections in hospitalized infants <2 years of age and to compare them to those of infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). A prospective study was conducted on the clinical characteristics of infants admitted to hospital for respiratory infection through 5 years. Simultaneous detection of influenza A, B, and C viruses, RSV, and adenoviruses was performed in clinical samples by multiple reverse transcription nested‐PCR assay. The presence of hMPV was tested in all samples using two separate RT‐PCR tests. Some respiratory virus was detected in 70.5% of the 1,322 children included in the study. hMPV was found in 101 of the positive nasopharyngeal aspirates (10.8%), and was the most common virus after RSV and rhinovirus. Peak incidence was found in March. Over 80% of children were <12 months. The more common diagnoses were bronchiolitis (49.5%) and recurrent wheezing (45.5%). Fifty‐four percent of cases required oxygen therapy and, one percent, assisted ventilation. Thirty percent were co‐infections, with clinical characteristics indistinguishable from single infections. Seventy‐one hMPV single infections were compared to 88 RSV single infections. hMPV infections were significantly more frequent than RSV in infants older than 6 months (P = 0.04). Recurrent wheezing was diagnosed more frequently in hMPV patients (P = 0.001). All other variables tested were similar, in both groups. hMPV was the third most frequent virus after RSV and rhinovirus in infants <2 years of age, hospitalized for respiratory infection, and was associated with bronchiolitis and recurrent wheezing. hMPV predominantly occurred in spring. Co‐infections were frequent and clinically similar to single infections and RSV infections. Pediatr Pulmonol. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.