Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Troglitazone Inhibits Bile Acid Amidation: A Possible Risk Factor for Liver Injury

Troglitazone and pioglitazone were developed as thiazolidinedione-type antidiabetes drugs, but only troglitazone was withdrawn from the markets due to severe liver injury. As both troglitazone and its sulfate metabolite are strong inhibitors of the bile salt export pump (BSEP), troglitazone-induced bile acid (BA) retention is thought to be one of the underlying mechanisms of liver injury. However, pioglitazone is also a strong BSEP inhibitor, indicating other mechanisms may also be involved in troglitazone-induced BA retention. Although retention of hydrophobic BAs (eg, chenodeoxycholic acid [CDCA]: a nonamidated BA) is known to cause hepatocyte injury, little is known about the hepatic conversion of nonamidated, hydrophobic BA species into less toxic hydrophilic BAs (eg, glycochenodeoxycholic acid: amidated BA) as a mechanism of drug-induced liver injury. In this study, we, therefore, investigated the effects of troglitazone and pioglitazone on BA amidation and the role of amidated BAs in troglitazone-associated BA-mediated hepatotoxicity. We also evaluated the intracellular BA composition of human hepatocytes treated with nonamidated BA species (CDCA or deoxycholic acid [DCA]) in the presence of troglitazone or pioglitazone. Amidation of CDCA and DCA was significantly inhibited by troglitazone (IC50: 5 and 3 µmol/l, respectively), but not pioglitazone. Moreover, treatment with troglitazone led to the retention of CDCA and DCA and decrease of glycine-amidation in hepatocytes. From these results, we suggest that troglitazone-induced liver injury might be caused by the accumulation of nonamidated BAs in hepatocytes due to inhibition of BA amidation.
The Norwegian occupational wholeness questionnaire (N-OWQ): Scale development and psychometric properties

Abstract Background: Occupational therapy has long emphasized the concepts doing, being, becoming and belonging, and a notion of balance between them. Measures of these concepts are in a developing stage. Aim: This study aimed to develop and examine the properties of the Norwegian version of the Occupational Wholeness Questionnaire (N-OWQ), which is proposed to measure being, becoming, and belonging, in addition to occupational wholeness as a higher-order concept. Methods: An anonymous sample of 248 persons over the age of 18 years completed the N-OWQ along with sociodemographic information. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed on the scale items when examining factor structure. Item reduction was based on considerations of communalities, factor loadings, scale consistency if item deleted, and conceptual issues. Internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach’s α. Results: Following the PCA, the ‘Being’ and ‘Becoming’ scales merged into one five-item ‘Self’ scale (Cronbach’s α 0.77). The ‘Belonging’ scale items were split into two scales comprised by three items each: ‘Closeness’ (Cronbach’s α 0.70) and ‘Relatedness’ (Cronbach’s α 0.73). Conclusions: The revised N-OWQ merged the ‘Being’ and ‘Becoming’ items into one factor, whereas the ‘Belonging’ items were split into two distinct factors. Internal consistency for all scales were satisfactory.
Prophylactic defibrillator implantation--toward an evidence-based approach.

Most patients who have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest do not survive. Thus, the use of a prophylactic implantable cardioverter–defibrillator (ICD) for the primary prevention of sudden death is a conceptually attractive option for high-risk patients. Several clinical trials have previously shown that ICDs reduced mortality in patients with coronary artery disease who had not yet had a life-threatening arrhythmia and who were selected on the basis of either the results of electrophysiological testing or left ventricular dysfunction.1–4 In the past year, four multicenter clinical trials have helped refine the selection of appropriate patients for ICD therapy. In addition to .
Embedding Graphs into a Three Page Book with O(m log n) Crossings of Edges over the Spine

This paper studies the problem of embedding a graph G into a book with vertices on a line along the spine of the book and edges on the pages in such a way that no edge crosses another. When each edge is allowed to appear in one or more pages by crossing the spine, one of the authors showed that there exists a three page book embedding of G in which each edge crosses the spine at most O(n) times, where n is the number of vertices. This paper improves the result and shows that there exists a three page book embedding of G in which each edge crosses the spine at most O(log n) times. An $\Omega(n^2)$ lower bound on the number of crossings of edges over the spine in any book embedding of the complete graph Kn is also shown.
Regulation of PAI-1 Concentration in Platelets by Systemic Administration of Antisense Oligonucleotides to Rats

Summary In this report we tested the effect of oligodeoxyribonucleotides antisense to PAI-1 mRNA administered into rats on PAI-1 concentration in platelets. Low doses of the antisense oligonucleotide (MPO-16R) reduced PAI-1 activity, both in rat blood plasma and platelet lysates by 20.5% and 28.7%, respectively. There was no change in platelet count after treatment with MPO-16R but treated platelets showed lower aggregability as compared with controls (37 ± 13% and 54 ± 12%, respectively). In an experimental model of rat arterial thrombosis, low doses of MPO-16R caused a significant delay in the occlusion time (31.8%). These data further support for the role of PAI-1 as a major determinant of arterial thrombolysis resistance and for the first time demonstrate the possibility of reduction of platelet PAI-1 concentration by antisense approach.
ALTERATIONS IN WATER INTAKE AND CORE TEMPERATURE IN BABOONS DURING HYPOTHALAMIC THERMAL STIMULATION *

The baboon can serve as an excellent experimental animal for the study of hypothalamic regulatory mechanisms. It is adaptable to chronic maintenance in restraining chairs, thus permitting the use of indwelling catheters and probes. Moreover, the relatively large size of this animal's skull and brain makes it feasible to mount appropriate apparatus for modifying and recording temperatures at specific points within the central nervous system. A series of studies was recently undertaken in this laboratory concerning hypothalamic control of, and possible interactions among, the pituitary gland, body temperature, and alimentation. (Sundsten & Matheson, 1966 & 1967). The present data concern water intake and core temperatures in the unanesthetized chaired baboon at normal, cold, and warm environmental temperatures and during direct cooling and warming of the preoptic-anterior hypothalamus (POAH) with chronically implanted thermodes.
Parvovirus B19 transmission by heat‐treated clotting factor concentrates

BACKGROUND: Human parvovirus B19 (B19) DNA can be frequently detected in plasma‐derived coagulation factor concentrates. The production of some clotting factor products includes heat treatment steps for virus inactivation, but the effectiveness of such steps for B19 inactivation is unclear. Moreover, detailed transmission case reports including DNA sequence analysis and quantification of B19 DNA from contaminated heat‐treated blood components have not been provided so far. Therefore, the correlation between B19 DNA in blood components and infectivity remains unclear.
Analysis of 12-lead electrocardiogram in top competitive professional athletes in the light of recent guidelines.

BACKGROUND One of the most important aims of modern sports cardiology is prevention of sudden cardiac death among athletes. Adequate pre-participation screening is a crucial part of prevention, however, current ACC, AHA or ESC guidelines are not uniform in this context. There is recently ongoing discussion on implementation of 12-lead ECG to the screening protocol. AIM To assess the prevalence of alterations of resting 12-lead ECG in a population of top-level professional athletes - members of the Polish Olympic Team - using recently accepted criteria. METHODS During the period of intensive training before the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing (2008), a 12-lead, resting ECG was performed in 73 members (20 women and 53 men) of the Polish Olympic Team. Commonly accepted criteria were used to assess the ECG, and alterations were divided into two groups according to recent publications: group I - 'benign', common - thought to be consistent with the athlete's heart syndrome (i.e.: sinus bradycardia, 1st degree atrioventricular block, early repolarisation, right bundle branch hemiblock, isolated signs of left ventricular hypertrophy); and group II - 'suspected', uncommon - which may occur due to organic heart disease (i.e. complete bundle branch block, ventricular arrhythmia, inverse T wave or pathological QRS axis deviation). RESULTS Completely normal ECG was present in 11% of those examined, common (group I) findings were observed in 65% and 'suspected' (group II) in 23%. The most commonly occurring 'benign' findings were bradycardia incomplete, right bundle branch block and isolated left ventricular hypertrophy, found in 75, 71 and 41%, respectively. From 'suspected' (group II) the most frequent was left posterior fascicular hemiblock, present in 10% of those examined; other findings were complete right bundle branch block, left atrial hypertrophy, inverse T waves and left anterior fascicular hemiblock in single cases. CONCLUSIONS 1. Most of the observed alterations in resting ECG of professional athletes belong to the 'common' group and result from adaptation to exercise. 2. Frequent occurrence of left posterior fascicular hemiblock, which is thought to be 'potentially malignant', requires further investigation.
The socio-demographic legacy of the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia

The study presented in this paper is an examination of the long-term impact of genocide during the period of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–79) in Cambodia. The very high and selective mortality of the period had a major impact on the population structure of Cambodia. Fertility and marriage rates were both very low under the Khmer Rouge, but recovered immediately after the regime's collapse. Because of the shortage of eligible men, the age and education differences between partners tended to decline. The period also had a lasting impact on the educational attainment of the population. The school system collapsed during the period and therefore individuals—especially men—who were of school age at the time have a lower educational attainment than those from the preceding and subsequent birth cohorts.
The role of peri-operative treatment in resectable liver metastases of colorectal cancer

Synchronous or metachronous colorectal liver metastases (CLMs), although being the expression of systemic disease, allow a curative approach for about 25—35% of patients. Patients presenting with CLMs should receive a multimodal management in order to increase the number of patients undergoing R0 surgery and to decrease the rate of recurrence. Postoperative and/or pre-operative systemic chemotherapy shows beneficial impact regarding progression-free and overall survival, without increasing postoperative complication rates. Concerning the complex definition of resectability and the number of patients with ‘borderline’ resectable CLMs, pre-operative chemotherapy plays an important role in both the improvement of prognosis and ‘conversion’ to resectability. Duration of chemotherapy in the perioperative setting should not exceed 6 months. Current data do not recommend the use of locally applied chemotherapy using hepatic artery infusion after resection of CLMs. Liver surgery has made several advances extending resectability to a larger group of patients and decreasing local hepatic recurrence. Moreover, locally ablative procedures such as radiofrequency and selective internal radiation therapy have joined the armamentarium in the case of positive resection margins or unresectable disease. Future research will help in defining treatment regimens and approaches in this setting.
Cluster-randomized trial on complementary and responsive feeding education to caregivers found improved dietary intake , growth and development among rural Indian toddlersmcn

Inadequate feeding and care may contribute to high rates of stunting and underweight among children in rural families in India. This cluster-randomized trial tested the hypothesis that teaching caregivers appropriate complementary feeding and strategies for how to feed and play responsively through home-visits would increase children’s dietary intake, growth and development compared with home-visit-complementary feeding education alone or routine care. Sixty villages in Andhra Pradesh were randomized into three groups of 20 villages with 200 mother–infant dyads in each group. The control group (CG) received routine Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS); the complementary feeding group (CFG) received the ICDS plus the World Health Organization recommendations on breastfeeding and complementary foods; and the responsive complementary feeding and play group (RCF&PG) received the same intervention as the CFG plus skills for responsive feeding and psychosocial stimulation. Both intervention groups received bi-weekly visits by trained village women. The groups did not differ at 3 months on socioeconomic status, maternal and child nutritional indices, and maternal depression. After controlling for potential confounding factors using the mixed models approach, the 12-month intervention to the CFG and RCF&PG significantly (P < 0.05) increased median intakes of energy, protein, Vitamin A, calcium (CFG), iron and zinc, reduced stunting [0.19, confidence interval (CI): 0.0–0.4] in the CFG (but not RCF&PG) and increased (P < 0.01) Bayley Mental Development scores (mean = 3.1, CI: 0.8–5.3) in the RCF&PG (but not CFG) compared with CG. Community-based educational interventions can improve dietary intake, length (CFG) and mental development (RCF&PG) for children under 2 years in food-secure rural Indian families.
Glucagon, Insulin, and Growth Hormone Response to Exchange Transfusion in Premature and Term Infants

Exchange transfusions were performed on premature or term infants using blood preserved with acid citrate and glucose. The plasma concentrations of glucose, free fatty acids, insulin, glucagon, and growth hormone were measured in the donor blood and in blood from the infant at different times during the transfusion. The total amounts of metabolite and hormone infused and removed from the infant were calculated. The exchange transfusion caused a larger rise in plasma glucose of premature infants than of term infants, due in part to a higher plasma glucose in the donor blood used for premature infants. Despite the higher plasma glucose levels, the premature infants secreted less insulin in response to the glucose challenge, as judged by the rise in plasma insulin and the insulin balance. The transfusions were associated with increased growth hormone secretion in both groups. Premature infants secreted more growth hormone per kg bodyweight than term infants. Plasma glucagon levels in term and premature infants before transfusion were higher than those found in normal infants under comparable conditions. The transfusion caused a similar fall in plasma concentration and a similar negative balance of free fatty acids and glucagon in each group.
Effects of ergot alkaloids in feed on performance and liver function of piglets as evaluated by the 13C-methacetin breath test

Ergot alkaloids (the sum of individual alkaloids is termed as total alkaloids, TA) are mycotoxins of the fungus Claviceps purpurea and might adversely affect the performance and aspects of liver physiology of pigs. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of feeding ergot alkaloids to piglets on performance and liver function by using the 13C-methacetin breath test. Two ergot batches were mixed into piglet diets resulting in 5 and 6 mg (Ergot 17-low and -high) and 9 and 21 mg TA/kg (Ergot 19-low and -high) and compared to an ergot free Control group. Feed intake and live weight gain decreased significantly with the TA content (p = 0.006). The time of the maximum 13CO2-exhalation (t max) occurred significantly earlier in Control piglets (8.9 min) compared to the groups Ergot 17-high and Ergot 19-high (24.7 and 23.6 min, respectively, p = 0.014) whilst the elimination half-life remained uninfluenced by dietary treatments (55–64 min). The cumulative 13CO2-recovery (cPDR) was significantly reduced in piglets fed the Ergot 19-high diet (7.6%) compared to the groups Control and Ergot 17-high (13.1% and 10.8%, respectively, p = 0.011). In conclusion, the TA content of the diets is closer related to the adverse effects of ergot on piglet performance than the dietary ergot content itself. The mechanisms by which TA affects porcine liver function need to be studied further.
International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA) recommendations for the construction of multilingual speech tests

Objective: To provide guidelines for the development of two types of closed-set speech-perception tests that can be applied and interpreted in the same way across languages. The guidelines cover the digit triplet and the matrix sentence tests that are most commonly used to test speech recognition in noise. They were developed by a working group on Multilingual Speech Tests of the International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA). Design: The recommendations are based on reviews of existing evaluations of the digit triplet and matrix tests as well as on the research experience of members of the ICRA Working Group. They represent the results of a consensus process. Results: The resulting recommendations deal with: Test design and word selection; Talker characteristics; Audio recording and stimulus preparation; Masking noise; Test administration; and Test validation. Conclusions: By following these guidelines for the development of any new test of this kind, clinicians and researchers working in any language will be able to perform tests whose results can be compared and combined in cross-language studies.
General Properties of Beta-Galactosidase of Xanthomonas campestris

Partially purified β-galactosidase of Xanthomonas campestris required 32 to 37�C and pH 5.5 to 5.8 for optimum activity. The enzyme had low affinity for lactose hydrolysis (Km = 22 mM) and was inhibited by thiol group reagents, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, galactose, and d-galactal.
Postoperative sore throat after routine oral surgery: influence of the presence of a pharyngeal pack.

A randomized clinical trial was conducted to investigate the effect of the presence of a pharyngeal pack during endotracheal anaesthesia on the incidence of postoperative sore throat. The patients were anaesthetized with fentanyl, thiopentone and atracurium. Thirty-six patients were anaesthetized without placement of pharyngeal packs while 26 patients had pharyngeal packs inserted. There were no significant differences in the incidence or severity of sore throat postoperatively in the two groups (P=0.23). These results contradict previous studies, which showed an increase in the incidence of postoperative sore throat after the use of pharyngeal packs.
Equilibrium in a Competitive Insurance Market Under Adverse Selection with Endogenous Information

This paper investigates the existence and nature of equilibrium in a competitive insurance market under adverse selection with endogenously determined information structures. Rothschild-Stiglitz (RS) characterized the self-selection equilibrium under the assumption of exclusivity, enforcement of which required full information about contracts purchased. By contrast, the Akerlof price equilibrium described a situation where the insurance firm has no information about sales to a particular individual. We show that with more plausible information assumptions - no insurance firm has full information but at least knows how much he has sold to any particular individual - neither the RS quantity constrained equilibrium nor the Akerlof price equilibrium are sustainable. But when the information structure itself is endogenous - firms and consumers decide what information about insurance purchases to reveal to whom - there always exists a Nash equilibrium. Strategies for firms consist of insurance contracts to offer and information-revelation strategies; for customers - buying as well as information revelation strategies. The equilibrium set of insurance contracts is unique: the low risk individual obtains insurance corresponding to the pooling contract most preferred by him; the high risk individual, that plus (undisclosed) supplemental insurance at his own actuarial odds resulting in his being fully insured. Equilibrium information revelation strategies of firms entail some but not complete information sharing. However, in equilibrium all individuals are induced to tell the truth. The paper shows how the analysis extends to cases where there are more than two groups of individuals and where firms can offer multiple insurance contracts.
The relationship between second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratios and problematic and pathological Internet use among Turkish university students

Background and aims The ratio of the second and fourth fingers (2D:4D ratio) is a sexually dimorphic trait, with men tending to have lower values than women. This ratio has been related to prenatal testosterone concentrations and addictive behaviors including problematic video-gaming. We aimed to investigate the possible association between 2D:4D ratios and Internet addiction and whether such a relationship would be independent of impulsivity. Methods A total of 652 university students (369 women, 283 men), aged 17–27 years, were enrolled in the study. Problematic and pathological Internet use (PPIU) was assessed using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). The participants also completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (version 11; BIS-11) and had their 2D:4D ratios measured. Results 2D:4D ratios were not significantly different in women with PPIU and in those with adaptive Internet use (AIU). Men with PPIU exhibited lower 2D:4D ratios on both hands when compared with those with AIU. Correlation analysis revealed that 2D:4D ratios on both hands were negatively correlated with IAT scores among men, but not among women. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that age, duration of weekly Internet use, impulsiveness, and 2D:4D ratios on the right hand were independently associated with IAT scores among men, and impulsivity did not mediate the relationship between 2D:4D ratios and PPIU. Conclusions For men, 2D:4D ratios on the right hand were inversely correlated with Internet addiction severity even after controlling for individual differences in impulsivity. These findings suggest that high prenatal testosterone levels may contribute to the occurrence of PPIU among men.
Neural correlates underlying perception of tonality-related emotional contents

Using an event-related functional MRI technique, we examined the blood oxygen level-dependent responses of normal participants to auditory stimuli that consisted of four triads to explore the neural correlates for judging mode-related emotional contents in tonal music. Three categories of stimuli, MAJOR, MINOR and NEUTRAL were prepared. MAJOR and MINOR stimuli suggest C major and c minor, respectively. NEUTRAL stimuli were controls. The task was to judge the categories. Contrasts MAJOR–NEUTRAL and MINOR–NEUTRAL showed significant activation in the bilateral inferior frontal gyri, medial thalamus, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. It is suggested that the bilateral inferior frontal gyri and medial thalamus are involved in judging the mode, whereas the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was related to conflicts in the participant's mind.