Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinicopathological study of myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated glomerulonephritis.

AIMS To investigate the potential prognostic factors for myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody- (MPO-ANCA) associated glomerulonephritis. MATERIALS The clinical and pathological findings were reviewed in 17 patients with this type of glomerulonephritis. METHODS The relationship between the outcome and various clinical and pathological factors were assessed. The relationship between the blood MPO-ANCA level and cellular crescent formation was also investigated. RESULTS Patients who died had a significantly lower serum albumin and creatinine clearance than those who survived, but there were no differences of age, blood MPO-ANCA, urinary protein, and serum creatinine levels or cellular crescent formation between the two groups. There was a close relationship between blood MPO-ANCA levels and cellular crescent formation. CONCLUSIONS Hypoalbuminemia and renal dysfunction may be indicators of a poor prognosis in MPO-ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis. Patients with high blood levels of this antibody and increased cellular crescent formation appear to have active disease, but these factors are not statistically associated with a fatal outcome. Therefore, aggressive treatment may be indicated in patients with active disease initially.
Gingival blood glucose estimation with reagent test strips: a method to detect diabetes in a periodontal population.

BACKGROUND Periodontal disease is considered the sixth complication of diabetes. Therefore, as a foremost responsibility of the periodontist, the present study was carried out to screen an unsuspecting periodontal population for the presence of diabetes with the help of gingival blood glucose and reagent test strips. METHODS A total of 356 patients with no known medical history of diabetes visiting the outpatient Department of Periodontics, at the Government Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, were divided into 3 groups: group 1 included patients with a healthy periodontium; group 2, patients with gingivitis; and group 3, patients with periodontitis. Gingival blood, formed by puncturing the interdental papilla of the upper anterior teeth with a lancet, was allowed to fall onto a test reagent strip, where the color change was noted, and corresponding glucose values recorded. Patients with glucose values >120 gm% (per manufacturer provided chart) were sent for glucose tolerance tests to confirm their glycemic status. Patients with abnormal glucose tolerance values were further referred to a physician for the confirmation of diabetes. RESULTS Diabetes was detected in 19.1% of the survey population, of which 3.9% of patients belonged to group 1, 7.8% of patients belonged to group 2, and 7.3% of patients belonged to group 3. Diabetes was detected in 40.8% of patients with hyperglycemia, of which 8.4% of patients belonged to group 1, 16.8% of patients belonged to group 2, and 15.6% of patients belonged to group 3. A total of 10.11% of the survey population who tested positive for diabetes were females and 8.99% were males. CONCLUSIONS The use of reagent strips for the estimation of gingival blood glucose seemed to be a suitable option for the screening of an unsuspecting periodontal population for the presence of diabetes; however, additional studies in a larger population are needed to confirm their suitability.
Thrombophilic factors and their relation to thromboembolic and other clinical manifestations in Behçet's disease.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence of thrombophilic factors known to induce intravascular clotting and to assess their relationship with thromboembolic complications and the other clinical manifestations in Behçet's disease (BD). METHODS Twenty-five patients with established BD were studied. Twenty patients with rheumatic conditions not known to be associated with venous or arterial thromboembolic phenomena served as controls. Eight of the patients with BD (32%) had either deep vein thrombosis (6 patients), arterial thromboembolic phenomena (2), or both (2). All participants were tested for IgG and IgM anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) levels, the presence of circulating lupus anticoagulant (LAC), protein C, protein S, and antithrombin III activity, activated protein C resistance, and where appropriate factor V Leiden mutation. RESULTS Elevated levels of IgG aCL were detected in 10 (40%) patients with BD compared to one (5%) in the control group (p = 0.012). No significant differences were noted in the other variables studied between the 2 groups. No statistically significant correlation was found between any variable and the clinical manifestations. CONCLUSION Patients with BD do not have decreased protein C, protein S, or antithrombin III activity, activated protein C resistance, circulating LAC, or elevated levels of IgM aCL. A significant number of patients have elevated levels of IgG aCL but they are not associated with venous or arterial thrombosis. No correlation was found between any variable and other clinical manifestations of the disease.
Sibilant production in Hebrew-speaking adults: Apical versus laminal

ABSTRACT The Hebrew IPA charts describe the sibilants /s, z/ as ‘alveolar fricatives’, where the place of articulation on the palate is the alveolar ridge. The point of constriction on the tongue is not defined – apical (tip) or laminal (blade). Usually, speech and language pathologists (SLPs) use the apical placement in Hebrew articulation therapy. Some researchers and SLPs suggested that acceptable /s, z/ could be also produced with the laminal placement (i.e. the tip of the tongue approximating the lower incisors). The present study focused at the clinical level, attempting to determine the prevalence of these alternative points of constriction on the tongue for /s/ and /z/ in three different samples of Hebrew-speaking young adults (total n = 242), with typical articulation. Around 60% of the participants reported using the laminal position, regardless of several speaker-related variables (e.g. tongue-thrust swallowing, gender). Laminal production was more common in /s/ (than /z/), coda (than onset) position of the sibilant, mono- (than di-) syllabic words, and with non-alveolar (than alveolar) adjacent consonants. Experiment 3 revealed no acoustical differences between apical and laminal productions of /s/ and of /z/. From a clinical perspective, we wish to raise the awareness of SLPs to the prevalence of the two placements when treating Hebrew speakers, noting that tongue placements were highly correlated across sibilants. Finally, we recommend adopting a client-centred practice, where tongue placement is matched to the client. We further recommend selecting targets for intervention based on our findings, and separating between different prosodic positions in treatment.
INFLUENCE OF DIET ON FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION OF DEPOT FAT IN WESTERN SANDPIPERS (CALIDRIS MAURI)

Abstract Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) have been previously shown to undergo seasonal changes in the fatty acid composition of their fat stores, even though they do not show the marked seasonal variation in diet common to many migratory passerines. We investigated the effect of dietary fatty acid composition on the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue in captive Western Sandpipers by feeding birds experimental diets with different fatty acid composition. In addition, we determined the effect of total percentage of fat content of the diet (5 vs. 10%) on fatty acid composition of depot fat. Birds maintained normal body mass (24–27 g) throughout all experimental treatments. Most adipose fatty acids were sensitive to dietary manipulation to some extent. Changes in fatty acid composition of the diet had the largest effect on adipose tissue composition for the essential polyunsaturated fatty acid linoleate (18:2), whereas it had the least effect for the monounsaturated fatty acid oleate (18:1). The saturated fatty acid palmitate (16:0) demonstrated an intermediate capacity to alter fatty acid composition of adipose tissue. Total amount of fat in the diet did not influence the effect of diet on fatty acid deposition. Results of dietary manipulations in this study suggest that diet does explain some of the variation in fatty acid composition observed during migration in Western Sandpipers, but that certain fatty acids can be modulated independently of diet (probably through de novo synthesis, postabsorption modification, or both).
"Assessment of relationship between xerostomia and oral health-related quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis".

OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between xerostomia and oral health-related quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. MATERIALS AND METHOD Two hundred patients with rheumatoid arthritis were assessed using Fox and OHIP-14 questionnaires concerning xerostomia and oral health-related quality of life, respectively. The sum of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) was determined via an intra-oral examination. In addition, intergroup comparisons were evaluated using t test, chi-square, regression, and Tukey analysis. RESULT Among rheumatoid arthritis patients, 51% had been afflicted with xerostomia. We found a statistically significant relationship between xerostomia and oral health-related quality of life (p-value=.004), as xerostomia cases have significantly worse oral health-related quality of life. Also, there was a statistically significant association between oral health-related quality of life and gender as well as DMFT. CONCLUSION Because there seem to be a high prevalence of xerostomia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, screening in such population is highly recommended. Therefore, educational programs and/or workshops should be encouraged among healthcare providers to prevent worsening of oral health-related quality of life.
Role of interleukin‐18 and its receptor in hepatocellular carcinoma associated with hepatitis C virus infection

Interleukin (IL)‐18 is a proinflammatory cytokine that is up‐regulated in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which is the most common underlying disease in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The purpose of our study was to investigate the role of IL‐18 in HCC associated with HCV infection. Sixty‐five patients with HCC and HCV infections who received curative surgical resections were examined in our study. The expression of the IL‐18 receptor was investigated in HCC tissues obtained from these patients and in 2 HCC cell lines. Nuclear factor (NF)‐κB activity and the expression of Bcl‐xL and xIAP mRNA were tested in the cell lines using recombinant human (rh) IL‐18. The IL‐18 receptor was expressed in both the HCC tissues and the cell lines. NF‐κB activation and the expression of Bcl‐xL and xIAP mRNA were increased by rhIL‐18. Moreover, rhIL‐18 suppressed the apoptosis of HCC cells which was induced by etoposide in vitro. The overall survival rate (55.4%) was significantly worse in the IL‐18 receptor‐positive patients than in the IL‐18 receptor‐negative patients (p = 0.015). In a Cox multivariate analysis, the expression of the IL‐18 receptor was found to be a significant predictor of a poor outcome in HCC patients. The expression of the IL‐18 receptor and an antiapoptotic mechanism involving NF‐κB activation in HCC cells may be implicated in a poor patient outcome. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Long‐term effect of intravenous immunoglobulin on anti‐MuSK antibody‐positive myasthenia gravis

Anti‐muscle‐specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK) antibody‐positive myasthenia gravis (MG) patients show various responses to conventional immunosuppressive treatment and some patients are resistant to these therapies. We report a 50‐year‐old Japanese man with anti‐MuSK antibody‐positive MG, who showed no or poor response to various therapies, including plasmapheresis, corticosteroid, and tacrolimus. The patient was then treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and showed a good response that persisted over 20 months. The outcome of this case suggests that IVIG treatment may be an effective therapeutic option for anti‐MuSK antibody‐positive MG, with a potentially long‐term effect.
Clinical, neuropathological, and molecular study in two families with spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6)

To clarify the clinical, neuropathological, and molecular characteristics of spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6), two unrelated Japanese families with SCA6 were studied. A clinical feature of the two families was late onset “pure” cerebellar ataxia. Pathologically, three SCA6 brains consistently showed Purkinje cell dominant cortical cerebellar degeneration. Morphometric analysis showed that loss of the cerebellar granule cells and inferior olivary neurons were very mild compared with the severity of Purkinje cell loss. There was no obvious ubiquitin immunoreactive nuclear inclusions. All affected patients had identical expanded alleles, and the expansion was also homogeneously distributed throughout the brain without mosaicism. The present study showed that SCA6 is characterised by Purkinje cell dominant cortical cerebellar degeneration, highly stable transmission of the CAG repeat expansion, and lack of ubiquitin immunoreactive nuclear inclusions.
Otolith fibers and terminals in chick vestibular nuclei

The distribution of gravity‐sensing, otolith afferent fibers and terminals was studied in the vestibular nuclei of 4–5‐day hatchling chicks by using single and double labeling of fibers and terminals with biocytin conjugated to Alexa Fluor and confocal imaging. The vestibular nuclei are represented in a series of five transverse sections of the brainstem immunolabeled with MAP2. Saccular fibers entered the medulla posterior to and at the level of the posterior tangential vestibular nucleus and coursed through ventral parts, producing ascending and descending branches. Small saccular terminals contacted a few dendrites in the tangential nucleus. In contrast, small saccular terminals contacted many dendrites and a few neuron cell bodies in the ventrolateral vestibular nucleus, vestibulocerebellar nucleus, and descending vestibular nuclei. Utricular fibers coursed through ventral parts of the central tangential nucleus before bifurcating into ascending and descending branches. In the tangential nucleus, utricular fibers formed a few large axosomatic terminals (spoon terminals) and a few small terminals on dendrites. In addition, small utricular terminals contacted numerous dendrites and a few neuron cell bodies in the ventrolateral, vestibulocerebellar, and descending vestibular nuclei. Thus, there was negligible overlap in the distribution of the otolith nerves, although each otolith afferent shared common regions with the canal afferents, previously shown, suggesting that some second‐order vestibular neurons process convergent inputs from otolith and canal afferents. Taken together with previous results, the present findings identify discrete regions of the chick vestibular nuclei where second‐order vestibular neurons likely process directly convergent otolith and canal inputs. J. Comp. Neurol. 502:19–37, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Punir, Proteger, Prevenir?: a Lei Maria da Penha e as limitações da administração dos conflitos conjugais violentos através da utilização do direito penal

Esta tese procura identificar quais as consequencias geradas pela opcao tomada pela Lei 11.340/06 (Lei Maria da Penha) ao utilizar o sistema de justica criminal como mecanismo central para a administracao de conflitos violentos contra a mulher e, alem disso, busca compreender se esta opcao considera a complexidade que envolve estes conflitos, atendendo as demandas das mulheres em situacao de violencia que buscam o auxilio do Estado para administra-los. O objetivo central e o de verificar como se da o funcionamento dos diferentes servicos de atendimento e protecao realizados pela Policia Civil, Brigada Militar e Poder Judiciario na cidade de Porto Alegre – RS, e quais as consequencias resultantes da opcao da Lei tanto para mulheres em situacao de violencia atendidas, quanto para as instituicoes acionadas para o processamento formal dos casos. As hipoteses estao direcionadas para as ideias de que a) os conflitos violentos que resultam na vitimizacao de mulheres em seu ambiente domestico e/ou familiar possuem uma especificidade que os mecanismos de administracao oferecidos pelo sistema de justica penal nao estao aptos para considerar; b) a opcao pelo endurecimento penal, que tem caracterizado o atual contexto de demanda punitiva por parte dos movimentos sociais, esta conectada com a adesao estatal ao populismo punitivo e ao desenvolvimento de um modelo de Estado Regulativo e c) a utilizacao do direito penal como forma de garantir a igualdade de genero e prevenir a violencia implica em prejuizos para a administracao dos conflitos domesticos e familiares, uma vez que a logica penal coloniza todos os demais mecanismos voltados para a prevencao da violencia e garantia de direitos.
Children and young people’s rights in the digital age: An emerging agenda

Rights-based approaches to children’s digital media practices are gaining attention offering a framework for research, policy and initiatives that can balance children’s need for protection online with their capacity to maximize the opportunities and benefits of connectivity. But what does it mean to bring the concepts of the digital, rights and the child into dialogue? Arguing that the child represents a limit case of adult normative discourses about both rights and digital media practices, this article harnesses the radical potential of the figure of the child to rethink (human and children’s) rights in relation to the digital. In doing so, we critique the implicitly adult, seemingly invulnerable subject of rights common in research and advocacy about digital environments. We thereby introduce the articles selected for this special issue and the thinking that links them, in order to draw out the wider tensions and dilemmas driving the emerging agenda for children’s rights in the digital age.
PERUBAHAN DAN PERKEMBANGAN BAHASA: Tinjauan Historis dan Sosiolinguistik

Perubahan dan perkembangan bahasa dapat terjadi secara internal maupun eksternal. Dalam artikel ini perubahan dan perkembangan bahasa secara internal akan ditinjau melalui kajian historis dengan melihat perubahan dan perkemabangan bahasa berdasarkan sejarah perkembangannya. Akan tetapi, perubahan dan perkembangan secara ekternal akan ditelaah melalui kajian sosiolinguistik dengan menelaah dan mencermati perubahan dan perkembangan bahasa yang dipengaruhi oleh faktor-faktor sosial budaya yang terjadi di masyarakat.Perubahan secara internal awalnya terjadi pada perilaku para penutur dalam kehidupannya sehari-hari untuk saling menyesuaikan diri, dan disusul oleh kecenderungan berinovasi pada kelompok masyarakat yang sudah akrab, kemudian diikuti perubahan-perubahan lain secara berantai, yang akhirnya menjadikan bahasa-bahasa itu berbeda-beda satu sama lain, walaupun awalnya berasal dari satu rumpun bahasa. Perubahan bahasa secara eksternal adalah perubahan dan perkembangan bahasa yang diakibatkan oleh adanya kontak suatu bahasa dengan bahasa yang lainnya, dimana manusia sebagai makhluk sosial yang berbudaya telah saling berhubungan baik antarbangsa di dunia maupun antaretnis di suatu negara.
Comparison of Techniques for Generating Digital Terrain Models from Contour Lines

Simple but objective criteria for evaluating the quality of DTMs, derived from digital contour lines, are defined. Such criteria are then applied to terrain models, obtained by means of four different procedures, which refer to three sample areas characterized by complex morphological settings. The results of the comparison shows that each DTM is affected by one or more types of error or pitfall; however, one TIN generator and one grid interpolator proved to be capable of effectively producing terrain models which largely reflect the ground morphology as expressed by the input contour lines.
Jumping mechanisms in jumping plant lice (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Psyllidae)

SUMMARY Jumping mechanisms and performance were analysed in three species of psyllids (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha) that ranged from 2 to 4 mm in body length and from 0.7 to 2.8 mg in mass. Jumping was propelled by rapid movements of the short hind legs, which were only 10–20% longer than the other legs and 61–77% of body length. Power was provided by large thoracic muscles that depressed the trochantera so that the two hind legs moved in parallel planes on either side of the body. These movements accelerated the body to take-off in 0.9 ms in the smallest psyllid and 1.7 ms in the largest, but in all species imparted a rapid forward rotation so that at take-off the head pointed downwards, subtending angles of approximately −60 deg relative to the ground. The front legs thus supported the body just before take-off and either lost contact with the ground at the same time as, or even after, the hind legs. In the best jumps from the horizontal, take-off velocity reached 2.7 m s−1 and the trajectory was steep at 62–80 deg. Once airborne, the body spun rapidly at rates of up to 336 Hz in the pitch plane. In many jumps, the wings did not open to provide stabilisation, but some jumps led directly to sustained flight. In their best jumps, the smallest species experienced a force of 637 g. The largest species had an energy requirement of 13 μJ, a power output of 13 mW and exerted a force of nearly 10 mN. In a rare jumping strategy seen in only two of 211 jumps analysed, the femoro-tibial joints extended further and resulted in the head pointing upwards at take-off and the spin rate being greatly reduced.
Metastases Seen on SPECT Imaging Despite a Normal Planar Bone Scan

Although bone scintigraphy is an extremely sensitive method for the detection of focal bone disease, small lesions below the resolution of planar imaging may be missed. This is a report of a patient with carcinoma of breast who showed tumor progression 1 year after initial treatment. Complete evaluation was performed in order to detect the origin of increased level of a tumor marker. Although planar bone scintigraphy could not demonstrate any lesion in the spine, multiple metastases were detected in the lumbar and the thoracic spines on SPECT imaging. Only some of these lesions were seen with MRI. Repeat planar bone imaging 6 weeks later showed multiple bone lesions in the lumbar and thoracic areas.