Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sudomotor testing discriminates between subjects with and without antibodies against botulinum toxin A—A preliminary observation

With an increasing number of patients being treated with botulinum toxin A (BTX A), the incidence of neutralizing anti‐BTX antibodies (ABA) is rising. Because BTX A is known to inhibit sweating, sudometry seems to be a promising tool to test the efficacy of BTX A. We injected BTX A subcutaneously in normal control subjects and four patients with spasmodic torticollis, two responders and two nonresponders with proven ABA. Sweating was visualized using iodine starch staining and quantified used capacitance hygrometry. BTX A inhibited sweating completely at the injection site in both control subjects and all responders without evidence for ABA. However, continued sweating was recorded when the nonresponders with proven ABA were tested. We conclude that sudomotor testing is able to discriminate between subjects with and without clinically important ABA.
Frequency and Duration of Rhinovirus Infections in Children With Cystic Fibrosis and Healthy Controls: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

Background: Respiratory viral infections are an important cause of morbidity in patients with chronic respiratory diseases, such as cystic fibrosis (CF). We hypothesized that patients with CF are more susceptible to human rhinovirus (HRV) infections than healthy controls. Methods: In a 6-month winter period, 20 young children with CF (0–7 years) and 18 age-matched healthy controls were sampled biweekly for HRV-polymerase chain reaction using nasopharyngeal swabs, irrespective of respiratory symptoms. Respiratory symptoms were scored twice a week. If any symptom was present, an additional sample was obtained. All HRV-positive samples were genotyped to distinguish HRV subtypes. Results: We analyzed 645 samples, with comparable total numbers of samples in both groups. HRV was detected in 40.8% of all analyzed samples. Children with CF had significantly more HRV-positive samples compared with healthy controls, with a mean number (± standard deviation) of 8.1 ± 2.3 versus 5.7 ± 2.9 positive samples per individual (P < 0.01). Prolonged detection (>2 weeks) with the same HRV subtype occurred more frequently in the CF patients (P < 0.01). The genetic distribution and pattern of phylogenetic diversity of the different HRV subtypes were similar in both groups. Conclusions: This is the first in vivo longitudinal study showing that HRV is detected more frequently and persists for longer periods in CF patients compared with healthy controls. This might indicate increased viral replication and/or decreased antiviral defense in patients with CF.
Littoral sea clutter returns at 94GHz

This paper reports and discusses measurements made of the returns from sea clutter in the littoral at 94GHz using the SAFlRE demonstration radar. These measurements add significantly to the limited data which is available on sea clutter at 94GHz as well as showing how a radar developed to assist the public understanding of technology can also be used for research purposes. Littoral clutter measurements are proportionately more important at 94GHz than at lower frequencies because the short range of radars at these frequencies means that they are much more likely to be operating in this environment than in the open sea. The measurements show peak backscatter levels of about -22dB (sea state 3, 20 grazing angle), but this is concentrated around the breaking wave crests, and the mean value is close to the -30dB reported by other workers. At the high range resolutions used, the resultant distributions appear very longtailed. The data also shows a useful insight into the behaviour of sea clutter when viewed with circular polarisation, for which the peak values are similar to those observed with linear polarisations, but the mean values are much lower.
Using evidence, rigorous measurement, and collaboration to eliminate central catheter-associated bloodstream infections

Healthcare-associated infections are common, costly, and often lethal. Although there is growing pressure to reduce these infections, one project thus far has unprecedented collaboration among many groups at every level of health care. After this project produced a 66% reduction in central catheter-associated bloodstream infections and a median central catheter-associated bloodstream infection rate of zero across >100 intensive care units in Michigan, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality awarded a grant to spread this project to ten additional states. A program, called On the CUSP: Stop BSI, was formulated from the Michigan project, and additional funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and private philanthropy has positioned the program for implementation state by state across the United States. Furthermore, the program is being implemented throughout Spain and England and is undergoing pilot testing in several hospitals in Peru. The model in this program balances the tension between being scientifically rigorous and feasible. The three main components of the model include translating evidence into practice at the bedside to prevent central catheter-associated bloodstream infections, improving culture and teamwork, and having a data collection system to monitor central catheter-associated bloodstream infections and other variables. If successful, this program will be the first national quality improvement program in the United States with quantifiable and measurable goals.
Analysis of Retrotransposition and DNA Methylation in Barley Callus Culture

Mature barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Zafer-160) embryos were cultured on callus induction medium (MS + 4 mg l^−1 Dicamba) for 30 days and embryogenic calli were transferred onto regeneration medium (MS + 0.5 mg l^−1 trans-zeatin riboside). Callus induction percentage was 67.2%; embryogenic callus induction percentage was 42.3% and their regeneration percentage was 63.8%. Retrotransposon movements and methylation alterations in 15-day-old, 30-day-old calli and 4-day-old barley seedling (control) were investigated with Inter-Retrotransposon Amplified Polymorphism (IRAP) and Methylation-Sensitive Restriction Fingerprinting (MSRF), respectively. IRAP patterns were quite monomorphic however MSRF indicated increase in cytosine methylation during callus formation. Changes in retroelement movements and methylation alterations were evaluated and discussed in the light of literature.
A parent-only group intervention for children with anxiety disorders: pilot study.

OBJECTIVE Working to optimize treatment outcome and use resources efficiently, investigators conducted the first test of an existing parent-only group cognitive-behavioral therapy protocol to treat 24 children 7 to 16 years old with primary anxiety disorder diagnoses. METHOD Over the course of 7 months, the authors evaluated a manual-based therapy protocol that teaches parents skills to work with their children as lay therapists in the context of their ongoing interactions and daily life. This was an uncontrolled pilot study, examining within-subject outcomes via measures from multiple informants, aimed at generating estimates of effect size. RESULTS Children demonstrated significant improvement on parent- and clinician-rated measures of anxiety. Twenty-five percent of primary anxiety diagnoses fully remitted, and the average number of anxiety diagnoses dropped from 3.4 to 1.5. The intervention had a large effect on anxiety disorder severity and impairment, parental attitudes, targeted anxious behavior problems, and clinician-rated impairment. Children with anxiety-disordered parents reported more improvement than children whose parents were not anxious. The intervention was acceptable to families. CONCLUSIONS The results of this pilot study suggest that parents acting as lay cognitive-behavioral therapists for their anxious children may be effectively and acceptably trained in a group format.
The Effect of Distressing Imagery on Attention to and Persuasiveness of an Antialcohol Message

Background. Distressing imagery may inhibit health communications by inducing audiences to reduce distress by avoiding attention to persuasive messages. Method. This study used eye-tracking methods to compare gaze time allocated to a persuasive textual message, accompanied by either distressing high-resolution color images or less distressing two-color images with degraded outline and detail. Results. Participants in the distressing images condition showed lower intentions to reduce drinking in the following 3 months, which may have been mediated by lower gaze time to textual elements of the message. The effect was stronger in participants who both scored lower on dispositional mental disengagement and were more vulnerable to alcohol-related problems. Conclusions. These findings suggest that distressing imagery may inhibit persuasion by reducing audience attention to message components. Implications for message design are discussed.
The cellular response to induction of the p21 c‐Ha‐ras oncoprotein includes stimulation of jun gene expression.

We have studied the effects of c‐Ha‐ras oncogene in mouse NIH 3T3 fibroblasts by DNA transfection and analysis of gene expression at the mRNA and protein level in a heat‐ and heavy metal‐inducible model system. The human c‐Ha‐ras proto‐oncogene and oncogene were cloned under the hsp70 heat‐shock promoter. Clonal lines of cells with negligible basal expression of the hsp‐c‐Ha‐ras oncogene construct were chosen on the basis of the inducibility of p21c‐Ha‐ras protein and several transformation parameters. We demonstrate that the expression of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) mRNA is enhanced approximately 4‐6 h after the induction of the p21c‐Ha‐ras oncoprotein. This increase was reversible upon cessation of c‐Ha‐ras mRNA and protein synthesis, while constitutively elevated ODC was characteristic for stably c‐Ha‐ras‐transformed cells. The high‐level expression of ODC in ras‐transformed cells was insensitive to tumour promoter stimulation. A similar mRNA induction by c‐Ha‐rasVal‐12 was also observed for two other serum‐ and tumour promoter‐regulated genes associated with the transformed phenotype: transin (stromelysin) and the glucose transporter. This prompted us to examine also potential changes in the expression of the serum‐ and tumour promoter‐induced transcription factor genes junB and c‐jun after induction of the hsp–c‐Ha‐ras construct. The junB mRNA was enhanced approximately 10‐fold and the c‐jun oncogene mRNA to a lesser degree in the hsp–c‐Ha‐ras‐transfected cells after zinc activation of the hsp70 promoter. These effects were not seen in similarly treated control cells. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Contrast Media-Induced Renal Morphologic Lesions in Diabetic Rats

Diabetes mellitus was induced in rats with streptozotocin and after 3 months the animals (n = 48) received an i.v. injection of 1 or 3 g I/kg in the form of high-osmolar diatrizoate, low-osmolar iopromide or iohexol, or of 0.6 g I/kg of high-osmolar Gd-DTPA. The controls were given an i.v. injection of physiologic saline. After 2 hours the kidneys were fixed by perfusion and the renal morphologic changes were semiquantitatively analyzed by two independent observers unaware of the agent administered. The contrast media (CM) induced pronounced cytoplasmic vacuolization in the proximal convoluted tubular cells. Such a lysosomal alteration may indicate CM uptake into the cell, and the ultrastructural evaluation revealed intracellular injuries related to the process. The alterations were most marked following administration of iohexol, but diatrizoate also induced a statistically highly significant vacuolization (p < 0.001). The lysosomal alterations following iopromide administration were not as striking, and Gd-DTPA induced only minor changes.
A developmental psychopathology perspective on child abuse and neglect.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this review is to conceptualize child abuse and neglect within a developmental psychopathology perspective. Toward this end, issues of definition and epidemiology, etiology, and sequelae are addressed. METHOD Research and theory on child abuse and neglect with relevance to a developmental perspective is reviewed. RESULTS Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of the etiology and consequences of child abuse and neglect. Less progress has been made in utilizing this knowledge to inform treatment efforts. CONCLUSIONS Incorporation of a developmental psychopathology perspective into efforts to understand and ameliorate the adverse effects of child abuse and neglect holds considerable promise for advancing research and intervention in the area of child maltreatment. The importance of providing comprehensive and coordinated services that incorporate knowledge of how maltreated youngsters negotiate stage-salient issues of development is stressed. The provision of child-focused treatment, parent-based models of intervention, and ecologically driven approaches to prevention all can benefit from an understanding of the adverse effects that maltreatment exerts on the process of development.
Barriers, control and identity in health information seeking among African American women

Qualitative research methods were used to examine the role of racial, cultural, and socio-economic group (i.e., communal) identities on perceptions of barriers and control related to traditional and internet resources for seeking health information. Eighteen lower income, African American women participated in training workshops on using the internet for health, followed by two focus groups. Transcripts were analyzed using standardized coding methods. Results demonstrated that participants perceived the internet as a tool for seeking health information, which they believed would empower them within formal healthcare settings. Participants invoked racial, cultural, and socio- economic identities when discussing barriers to seeking health information within healthcare systems and the internet. The findings indicate that the internet may be a valuable tool for accessing health information among lower income African American women if barriers are reduced. Recommendations are made that may assist health providers in improving health information seeking outcomes of African American women.
Temporal resolution improvement in cardiac CT using PICCS (TRI-PICCS): performance studies.

PURPOSE The recently proposed prior image constrained compressed sensing (PICCS) method has been applied in cardiac MDCT to improve the temporal resolution by approximately a factor of 2, by using projection data acquired from half of the standard short-scan angular range to reconstruct images with improved temporal resolution. The method was referred to as temporal resolution improvement using PICCS (TRI-PICCS). The primary purpose of this article is to study (1) the relationship between the performance of the TRI-PICCS algorithm and the angular range of projection data used in image reconstruction; (2) the relationship between the performance of the TRI-PICCS algorithm and the motion orientations and motion patterns of moving objects; and (3) the relationship between the performance of the TRI-PICCS algorithm and various heart rates. METHODS A hybrid phantom consisting of realistic cardiac anatomy and eight moving objects with known motion profiles to simulate coronary arteries was constructed by superimposing the analytical projection data of eight simulated moving vessels to the in vivo projection data from a cardiac MDCT scan. The motion profiles of the moving objects may independently change orientations, period, and amplitude. A prior image was reconstructed using a short-scan filtered backprojection method from a gated short-scan data set for each given motion profile. The TRI-PICCS method was applied to improve temporal resolution for each configuration of given motion profiles of moving objects and given active angular range specified by the target temporal resolution. To quantitatively study the performance, figures of merit were introduced to quantify signal intensity deficit, image distortion, and residual motion artifacts, respectively. RESULTS The performance of the TRI-PICCS method is the same when the projection data are taken from 100 degrees to 120 degrees. The performance of the TRI-PICCS method is independent of location and motion orientations. The performance of the TRI-PICCS method does not significantly degrade for heart rates up to 100 bpm with a gantry rotation speed of 350 ms per rotation. CONCLUSIONS The TRI-PICCS method can be used to systematically improve temporal resolution for MDCT cardiac imaging by a factor of 2-2.3 and the performance of the TRI-PICCS method is insensitive to motion locations and motion orientations. The TRI-PICCS method enables a single-source MDCT scanner with 350 ms or faster gantry speed to scan patients with heart rates as high as 100 bpm.
Stress , and Age : How the U-Curve Varies across People and Places Forthcoming in the Journal of Population Economics

There is now much evidence for a remarkably consistent relationship between age and happiness—“the U-curve”. In this paper, we present the first analysis that explores why some nations—and people within them—have turning points that are much earlier while others turn much later. Contributing to past studies, we analyzed the relationship within forty-six individual countries, as well as how it varied depending on where in the well-being distribution individuals are, and extended the analysis to stress. The U shape relationship between age and happiness held in 44 of the 46 countries, and a reverse U held for stress in almost as many. Our most novel finding is that the timing of the turn varies depending on average country-level happiness and on individuals’ position in the well-being distribution. Our findings highlight the consistency of the relationship as well as how its timing varies across people and places. JEL Codes: D06, D6, I14
Exploration of whole brain networks modulated by acupuncture at analgesia acupoint ST36 using scale‐specific wavelet correlation analysis

Background Previous studies have demonstrated that acupuncture could modulate various brain systems in the resting brain networks. Graph theoretical analysis offers a novel way to investigate the functional organization of the large‐scale cortical networks modulated by acupuncture at whole brain level. In this study, we used wavelets correlation analysis to estimate the pairwise correlations between 90 cortical and subcortical human brain regions in normal human volunteers scanned during the post‐stimulus resting state. Methods Thirty‐two college students, all right‐handed and acupuncture naïve, participated in this study. Every participant received only one acupoint stimulation, resulting in 16 subjects in one group. Both structural functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data (3D sequence with a voxel size of 1 mm3 for anatomical localization) and functional fMRI data (TR=1500 ms, TE=30 ms, flip angle=90°) were collected for each subject. After thresholding the resulting scale‐specific wavelet correlation matrices to generate undirected binary graphs, we compared graph metrics of brain organization following verum manual acupuncture (ACU) and sham acupuncture (SHAM) groups. Results The topological parameters of the large‐scale brain networks in ACU group were different from those of the SHAM group at multiple scales. There existed distinct modularity functional brain networks during the post‐stimulus resting state following ACU and SHAM at multiple scales. Conclusions The distinct modulation patterns of the resting brain attributed to the specific effects evoked by acupuncture. In addition, we also identified that there existed frequency‐specific modulation in the post‐stimulus resting brain following ACU and SHAM. The modulation may be related to the effects of verum acupuncture on modulating special disorder treatment. This preliminary finding may provide a new clue to understand the relatively function‐oriented specificity of acupuncture effects.
Clinical Impact of Multidetector Row Computed Tomography on Patients With Pancreatic Cancer

Objectives: This study was designed to compare multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT) and CT-assisted hepatic arteriography (CTHA)/CT during arterial portography (CTAP)/angiography/contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) findings prospectively for accuracy in the detection of liver metastasis and vascular involvement of the tumor. Methods: The study included 43 patients with pancreatic cancer who were evaluated from September 2002 to December 2003. These patients underwent preoperative evaluation by angiography/CTHA/CTAP/CECT (7-mm thickness) and by MDCT (1.25-mm thickness). Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of liver metastasis diagnosis were all superior using MDCT relative to CTHA/CTAP. The diagnostic accuracy of liver metastasis for patients with tumors less than 10 mm in diameter was particularly superior with MDCT relative to CTHA/CTAP. The surgical and pathological findings of vascular involvement were more accurately diagnosed by MDCT than by CTHA/CTAP/angiography/CECT. Although MDCT findings were generally similar to surgical findings of vascular involvement, MDCT overestimated the incidence of pathological vascular involvement. Conclusions: Multidetector row CT imaging can potentially offer more accurate staging of pancreatic cancer and may be useful to surgeons both in preoperative planning and for intraoperative guidance.
Otomycosis: A common problem in North Iraq

Abstract Otomycosis is a common disease in North Iraq. Of the 219 cases diagnosed clinically in Mosul Teaching Hospital seen during a 15 month period, 179 were due to fungus infection. The disease was more frequently encountered in young adults whose age was range from 16–30 years. The incidence of the disease was significantly higher in females (65.4 per cent), mainly housewives, than in males. Aspergillus species were the dominant isolated fungi (92.1 per cent).