Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of parathyroid hormone and alendronate alone or in combination in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

BACKGROUND Parathyroid hormone increases bone strength primarily by stimulating bone formation, whereas antiresorptive drugs reduce bone resorption. We conducted a randomized, double-blind clinical study of parathyroid hormone and alendronate to test the hypothesis that the concurrent administration of the two agents would increase bone density more than the use of either one alone. METHODS A total of 238 postmenopausal women (who were not using bisphosphonates) with low bone mineral density at the hip or spine (a T score of less than -2.5, or a T score of less than -2.0 with an additional risk factor for osteoporosis) were randomly assigned to daily treatment with parathyroid hormone (1-84) (100 microg; 119 women), alendronate (10 mg; 60 women), or both (59 women) and were followed for 12 months. Bone mineral density at the spine and hip was assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and quantitative computed tomography. Markers of bone turnover were measured in fasting blood samples. RESULTS The bone mineral density at the spine increased in all the treatment groups, and there was no significant difference in the increase between the parathyroid hormone group and the combination-therapy group. The volumetric density of the trabecular bone at the spine increased substantially in all groups, but the increase in the parathyroid hormone group was about twice that found in either of the other groups. Bone formation increased markedly in the parathyroid hormone group but not in the combination-therapy group. Bone resorption decreased in the combination-therapy group and the alendronate group. CONCLUSIONS There was no evidence of synergy between parathyroid hormone and alendronate. Changes in the volumetric density of trabecular bone, the cortical volume at the hip, and levels of markers of bone turnover suggest that the concurrent use of alendronate may reduce the anabolic effects of parathyroid hormone. Longer-term studies of fractures are needed to determine whether and how antiresorptive drugs can be optimally used in conjunction with parathyroid hormone therapy.
Procalcitonin: THE marker of sepsis?

The differentiation between infection, a microbiological process, and sepsis, the host reaction to that microbiological process, remains difficult; the two are not interchangeable. Infection can be present without sepsis, particularly in the debilitated and elderly, for example when blood cultures are positive without an accompanying sepsis response, and a sepsislike response may be present without obvious infection, as in cases of trauma and pancreatitis. At present, as no specific antisepsis treatment has been shown to improve outcome, it is the presence of infection that is important to the clinician, as infection can be treated with antibiotics and/or drainage of the source of infection. Although some patients will have clear evidence of infection, making diagnosis easy, bacteriologic data in many patients is equivocal or missing and other diagnostic aids must be used. In today's clime of escalating costs and increasing antibiotic resistance, it is perhaps even more important to be able to identify those patients in whom an anti-microbial agent is likely to be of benefit. Signs of sepsis, including biological markers, provide an important indicator of the presence of infection and may help to identify those patients who will benefit from anti-infection strategies.
Amnestic Heterosexism and Bystander Responses to Anti-Gay Bullying

ABSTRACT Amnestic heterosexism (AH) reflects the belief that, in contemporary society, people who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) no longer experience discrimination related to sexual orientation. We investigated potential associations between individuals’ AH beliefs and their responses to anti-gay bullying. Heterosexual undergraduates (N = 238) completed a measure of AH before responding to a scenario in which a man accuses another man of being a “fag. ” As expected, those with greater AH beliefs perceived the situation as less severe/dangerous, felt less personally responsible to intervene, and were more blaming toward the target of bullying. In multivariate analyses, AH was indirectly associated with intent to confront the perpetrator via a path of reduced personal responsibility. Our results indicate that beliefs denying the existence of discrimination based on sexual orientation reduce feelings of personal responsibility to address anti-gay bullying. In turn, low personal responsibility inhibits confrontation of those who perpetrate bullying behaviors.
Isolation And Characterization Of Rhizobium Species From Pea Plant ( Pisum Sativum ) Root Nodules And Its Antibiotic And Antibacterial Activity Against Isolated Bacteria

Rhizobium plays a very important role in agriculture by inducing nitrogen fixing nodules on the roots of legumes such as peas, beans and clover. In the 19 th century the scientific demonstration of this symbiosis was started and established that bacteria are present in legume root nodules which are responsible for fixing atmospheric nitrogen (Zsbrau, 1999). The Rhizobium species live inside the root nodules of host legumes so they are beneficial for the growth of the plants (Oblisami, 1995). They easily colonize in the plant root and promote solubilizing activity, nitrogen fixation and biocontrol activity (Deshwal et al., 2011). Root nodule bacteria generally grow under the following conditions 25-30°C (optimum) in the pH range of 6-7 (Vincent, 1970; Somasegaran and Hoben, 1994). Rhizobium growth normally occurs under aerobic conditions. However, when fixing nitrogen, low levels of oxygen are required to protect the enzyme nitrogenase (Goldberg et al., 1987) and hence, Rhizobium are able to grow in microaerophilic conditions (Somasegaran and Hoben, 1994). Rhizobial nod genes are important in the determination of host specificity, infection and nodulation and are involved in the exchange of signals between the plant and bacteria (Denarie et al., 1992). The movement of rhizobia from the infection thread into the host cell results in the rhizobia being surrounded by a membrane known as the peribacteroid membrane (Prescott et al., 1996). This is the formation of nodules and leads to the proliferation of the enlarged rhizobia and cortical cells. The enlarged rhizobia are often referred to as bacteroids in which the fixation of nitrogen by legumes occurs (Denarie et al., 1992; Salisbury and Ross, 1992; Somasegaran and Hoben, 1994). The further differentiation of the bacteriod results in the nitrogen fixing structure known as a symbiosome (Prescott et al., 1996). The cytosol of bacteroids is the site of synthesis of nitrogenase, the enzyme responsible for the reduction of Abstract: The present study describes isolation and characterization of Rhizobium species from root nodules of pea plant (Pisum sativum) and its antibiotic and antibacterial activity against isolated bacteria. Rhizobium is a soil bacteria that fix nitrogen after becoming established inside root nodules of legumes. Selective media YEMA and CRYEMA were used to isolate Rhizobium and characterization was done by biochemical test. Rhizobium species were rod shaped, gram negative and found to be sensitive for pH, temperature and salt concentrations. The Rhizobium isolates showed antibiotic sensitivity against gentamycin, streptomycin and ampicillin whereas resistance against chloramphenicol. Rhizobium isolates showed antibacterial activity against Enterobacter whereas no antibacterial activity was observed against Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus species.
Downregulation of β-catenin decreases the tumorigenicity, but promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cells.

BACKGROUND Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a key role in human breast cancer progression. In this study, we down regulated β-catenin expression in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells and investigated the effect of β-catenin knockdown on the cell biological characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS The recombinant plasmids of pSUPER-enhancement green fluorescent protein 1 (EGFP1)-scrabble-β-catenin-short hairpin ribonucleic acid (shRNA) and pSUPER-EGFP1-β-catenin-shRNA-1 were transfected into MDA-MB-231 cells, respectively, and the stably transfected cells were isolated from G418 selected clones. The β-catenin gene silenced efficiency was measured by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) and Western blot. The biological characteristics of MDA-MB-231 cells with down regulated β-catenin were evaluated by analyzing cell proliferation, clonogenicity, cell mobility and tumorigenicity. The expression of E-cadherin and Vimentin was concurrently detected by QRT-PCR. RESULTS The β-catenin-shRNA-1 stably transfected MDA-MB-231 cells significantly decreased β-catenin expression, cell proliferation, clonogenicity, and tumorigenicity in Balb/c nude mice compared with the MDA-MB-231 cells transfected with pSUPER-EGFP1-scrabble-β-catenin-shRNA. Interestingly, knockdown of β-catenin led to the reduction of epithelial E-cadherin expression, the increase of cell mobility and mesenchymal vimentin expression in MDA-MB-231 cells, indicating an epithelial to mesenchymal transition. CONCLUSION Knockdown of β-catenin expression in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells inhibits cell tumorigenicity in mice, but promotes cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
Serial changes in leukocyte deformability and whole blood rheology in patients with sepsis or trauma.

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to investigate serial changes in leukocyte deformability and rheologic properties of whole blood in patients with sepsis or trauma. METHODS Seventeen sepsis patients and 22 trauma patients were enrolled. Leukocyte deformability and rheologic properties of whole blood were determined with the use of a microchannel array etched on a single-crystal silicon tip, simulating the microvasculature. The number of obstructed microchannels (NOM) was used as a measure of leukocyte deformability. Transit time (TT), i.e., the time taken for 100 microL of whole blood to pass through the microchannel array was also used as rheologic measure. Oxidative activity and F-actin content of neutrophils was measured in patients with sepsis. RESULTS NOM and TT significantly increased in patients when sepsis was diagnosed. In survivors, NOM and TT decreased at the time of recovery from sepsis, but in non-survivors values remained high. Oxidative activity and F-actin content of neutrophils increased significantly as leukocyte deformability decreased. In patients with severe trauma, NOM and TT increased after injury and decreased by the time of recovery from the critical stage. CONCLUSION We conclude that leukocyte deformability decreases in patients with sepsis or severe trauma and that this change negatively affects rheologic properties of whole blood.
Experimental investigation of polarization rotation in twisted optical fibers

The twist induced polarization rotation in birefringent optical fibers is well understood and has been treated in the late seventies. We recently derived a formulation of the polarization rotation in twisted optical fibers using a tensorial coupled mode approach, that, other than existing theories, employs a fixed reference frame. This is interesting for fiber sensing applications, where the perturbing effects onto the fiber, such as strains induced by embedding the fiber into a host material, are conventionally given in a fixed laboratory reference frame. Hence, the derived theory can easily be integrated into existing formulations in the laboratory reference frame. In this work we demonstrate the experimental verification of the derived theory.We mechanically twist an optical fiber using an automated test stand and recording the change in polarization. The results are in close agreement with the theory.
Double Immunohistochemical Staining Method for HIF-1α and its Regulators PHD2 and PHD3 in Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded Tissues

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1α) is expressed in the nuclei of tumor cells under hypoxic conditions, and is regulated, in part, by cytoplasmic prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs). As HIF-1α is selectively expressed in tumor cells, inhibitors are being developed for cancer therapy. Although methods for the detection of HIF-1α and PHDs are available, an immunohistochemical double staining method for these markers in individual tumor cells is not available. For method development a human squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) xenograft, A253, was used as a known positive control tissue for HIF-1α in well-differentiated areas without microvessels. This laboratory showed that tumor cells in these areas are strongly positive for hypoxia markers. Another human, poorly differentiated SCC xenograft, FaDu, without hypoxic areas, was used as a negative control. PHD2 and 3 immunostaining was optimized individually using the human kidney. To optimize HIF-1α detection the pressure cooker time for antigen retrieval, concentration of the primary antibody, amplification reagent, and DAB development time were decreased. Casein blocking further decreased the background. Double staining resulted in brown nuclei for HIF-1α (DAB), and pink cytoplasmic staining for PHD2, 3 (fast red). The isotype-matched controls were negative. Normal human tissues had no detectable HIF-1α, but expressed PHD2, 3. The potential use of this new and improved method was confirmed by analyzing 15 surgical biopsies of oropharyngeal SCC of which 6 were positive for HIF-1α. This new method defined the optimal conditions for detection of HIF-1α and PHDs in individual tumor cells and could have a diagnostic and therapeutic potential.
Human Genome data analyzed by an evolutionary method suggests a decrease in cerebral protein-synthesis rate as cause of schizophrenia and an increase as antipsychotic mechanism

The Human Genome Project (HGP) provides researchers with the data of nearly all human genes and the challenge to use this information for elucidating the etiology of common disorders. A secondary Darwinian method was applied to HGP and other research data to approximate and possibly unravel the etiology of schizophrenia. The results indicate that genetic and epigenetic variants of genes involved in signal transduction, transcription and translation - converging at the protein-synthesis rate (PSR) as common final pathway - might be responsible for the genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia. Environmental (e.g. viruses)and/or genetic factors can lead to cerebral PSR (CPSR) deficiency. The CPSR hypothesis of schizophrenia and antipsychotic mechanism explains 96% of the major facts of schizophrenia, reveals links between previously unrelated facts, integrates many hypotheses, and implies that schizophrenia should be easily preventable and treatable, partly by immunization against neurotrophic viruses and partly by the development of new drugs which selectively increase CPSR. Part of the manuscript has been published in a modified form as "The glial growth factors deficiency and synaptic destabilization hypothesis of schizophrenia" in BMC Psychiatry available online at this http URL
Clinical Assessment of Liver Size in Normal Children

size can also be assessed with accuracy by radiography’ . 2 and by radioactive scintiscan 3,4 procedures, but because of cost and the potential harmful effects of radiation, these methods are not commonly employed with children. Nor is echography available for routine screening. Liver span (height in the mid-clavicular line) measured during physical examination correlates well with liver height as determined in hepatic scintiscans or from direct measurement of
Effects of osteochondral defect size on cartilage contact stress

Contact stress distributions were studied in vitro for 13 dog knees, with full‐thickness osteochondral defects drilled in the weight‐bearing area of both femoral condyles. Diameters of the circular defects were concentrically enlarged from 1 to 7 mm. Digitally‐imaged Fuji film was used to record cartilage contact stress distribution on femoral condyles for each increment of defect diameter. All specimens showed at least some tendency for contact stress concentration at the rim of the defects. However, detailed distributions had large interspecimen variability and, within a given specimen, contact stress distributions became progressively more nonuniform around the defect rim as the diameter was enlarged. Averaged over the full series of 26 condyles, circumferential mean cartilage contact stress around the defect rim was only moderately higher (by 10–30%) than intact surface's peak local contact stress [series average = 6.2 mega pascals (MPa)]. Maximal rim stress concentration occurred for 2 mm defects, there being a consistent trend toward mild rim stress decrease with further defect enlargement. Such modest contact stress elevations, per se, are probably insufficient to inhibit defect repair or to cause degeneration of surrounding cartilage. However, near the defect rim (for all diameters), the radial component of the gradient of contact stress (i.e., radialdirection variation of contact stress) was consistently elevated by an order of magnitude above that for intact, condyle articular cartilage.
Evaluation of testicular tissue of adult rats treated with cisplatin incorporated into the liposome

Cisplatin (CPL) is one of the most widely used and effective chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of several human malignancies. However, it causes serious side effects, especially on reproduction. In order to reduce the undesirable effects caused by many drugs, liposomes have been used as a good system for drug delivery. The aim of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the effects of CPL incorporated into the dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine liposome (DPPC) on the testicular tissue of adult Wistar rats. The animals (n = 20) were distributed into four experimental groups: (a) control (distillated water); (b) liposome (DPPC, 1 mL), (c) cisplatin incorporated into liposome (CPL/DPPC), and (d) CPL (8 mg/kg body weight). The animals received a single intraperitoneal injection and were killed 10 days after each treatment for histopathological analysis of testes. The results showed that the testicular histomorphometric parameters in rats of DPPC and CPL/DPPC groups were similar to those of the control group. Meanwhile, rats of the CPL‐treated group showed a variety of morphological alterations, including atrophy of seminiferous tubules and presence of multinucleated cells in the germinal epithelium. The incorporation of CPL into the liposome had no influence on the testicular weight or any other stereological parameters, but it was beneficial in maintaining the body weight of the animals. In conclusion, the liposome suppressed the cytotoxic effects caused by cisplatin in the testes of rats, suggesting a possible use in chemotherapy against cancer to reduce the side effects seen on reproduction. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:323–329, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Field-induced tetragonal blue phase (BP X).

Hornreich et al. predicted that blue phases I, II, or III should undergo structural transformations into anisotropic uniaxial blue phases in electric or magnetic fields. It is shown here that, besides a hexagonal blue phase BP H/sup 3D/ discovered previously, a novel blue phase, called BP X, can be obtained either from BP I for Eparallel(110) or from BP II for Eparallel(100). Using the method of Kossel diagrams, clear-cut evidence is presented that blue phase X has tetragonal symmetry. The transformation of BP I into BP X involves a homogeneous strain in the plane perpendicular to E and a dilation in the field direction.
Conjoint Optimization: An Exact Branch-and-Bound Algorithm for the Share-of-Choice Problem

Conjoint analysis is a statistical technique used to elicit partworth utilities for product attributes from consumers to aid in the evaluation of market potential for new products. The objective of the share-of-choice problem (a common approach to new product design) is to find the design that maximizes the number of respondents for whom the new products utility exceeds a specific hurdle (reservation utility). We present an exact branch-and-bound algorithm to solve the share-of-choice problem. Our empirical results, based on several large commercial data sets and simulated data from a controlled experiment, suggest that the approach is useful for finding provably optimal solutions to realistically sized problems, including cases where partworths contain estimation error.
Neale and Kendler : Models of Comorbidity Table I Summary of Threshold Models and Their Relationship to Those of Klein and Riso ( 1994 ) KLEIN AND RISO 1994 MODEL PRESENT

We develop several formal models for comorbidity between multifactorial disorders. Based on the work of D. N. Klein and L. P. Riso, the models include (i) alternate forms, where the two disorders have the same underlying continuum of liability; (ii) random multiformity, in which affection status on one disorder abruptly increases risk for the second; (iii) extreme multiformity, where only extreme cases have an abruptly increased risk for the second disorder; (iv) three independent disorders, in which excess comorbid cases are due to a separate, third disorder; (v) correlated liabilities, where the risk factors for the two disorders correlate; and (vi) direct causal models, where the liability for one disorder is a cause of the other disorder. These models are used to make quantitative predictions about the relative proportions of pairs of relatives who are classified according to whether each relative has neither disorder, disorder A but not B, disorder B but not A, or both A and B. For illustration, we analyze data on major depression (MD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) assessed in adult female MZ and DZ twins, which enable estimation of the relative impact of genetic and environmental factors. Several models are rejected-that comorbid cases are due to chance; multiformity of GAD; a third independent disorder; and GAD being a cause of MD. Of the models that fit the data, correlated liabilities, MD causes GAD, and reciprocal causation seem best. MD appears to be a source of liability for GAD. Possible extensions to the models are discussed.