Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endoanal Ultrasound Findings and Fecal Incontinence Symptoms in Women With and Without Recognized Anal Sphincter Tears

OBJECTIVE: To estimate whether endoanal ultrasound findings are more prevalent in primiparous women with a history of anal sphincter tear than in women without this history and whether the findings are associated with fecal incontinence symptoms. METHODS: A total of 251 primiparous women at seven clinical sites underwent standardized ultrasound assessment of the internal and external anal sphincter 6–12 months after delivery. Participants were women in the three cohorts of the Childbirth and Pelvic Symptoms Study: 1) women with clinically evident third- or fourth-degree tear at vaginal delivery (n=106); 2) no tear at vaginal delivery (n=106); and 3) cesarean delivery without labor (n=39). Women completed the Fecal Incontinence Severity Index to assess fecal incontinence symptoms. RESULTS: Thirty-five percent of the sphincter tear group exhibited internal sphincter gaps compared with 3% of vaginal controls (odds ratio [OR] 18.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.5–62.1) and 10% of cesarean controls. External sphincter gaps were identified in 51% of the tear group compared with 31% of vaginal controls (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.3–4.0) and 28% of cesarean controls. In the tear group, fecal incontinence severity was greater in those with internal sphincter gaps compared with those with no internal sphincter gaps (Fecal Incontinence Severity Index score 6.6±8.3 compared with 3.3±6.1, P=.02), as well as in those with external sphincter gaps (6.1±8.4 compared with 2.7±5.0, P=.01), and greatest in those with both internal and external sphincter gaps compared with at least one gap not present (7.2±8.1 compared with 3.4±6.4, P=.003). CONCLUSION: Anal sphincter gaps detected by ultrasonography are prevalent in postpartum primiparous women with a history of sphincter tear and are associated with fecal incontinence severity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2
Calorie restriction reverses age‐related alteration of cavernous neurovascular structure in the rat

Calorie restriction (CR) refers to a reduction of calorie intake without compromising essential nutrients to avoid malnutrition. CR has been established as a non‐genetic method of altering longevity and attenuating biological changes associated with aging. Aging is also an important risk factor for erectile dysfunction. The aim of this study was to examine whether CR diet can reverse the age‐related alterations of erectile tissue in the aged rat. Four groups of rats were used: young rats (7 months) + ad libitum, aged rats (22 months) + ad libitum, young rats + CR diet, and aged rats + CR diet. The ad libitum group had free access to both food and water, and CR groups were fed 60% of the food intake of their ad libitum littermates, starting from 6 weeks before sacrifice. The penis was harvested and stained with antibodies to von Willebrand factor, smooth muscle α‐actin, platelet‐derived growth factor receptor‐β, phospho‐eNOS, nNOS, and neurofilament. We also performed Masson trichrome staining and TUNEL assay. The blood samples were collected for the measurement of serum total testosterone level. The contents of endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, pericytes, and neuronal cells as well as serum testosterone levels were significantly lower in the penis of aged rats than in their young littermates. CR significantly restored cavernous endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, pericytes, and neuronal cell contents and decreased cavernous endothelial cell apoptosis and fibrosis in both young and aged rats. CR also increased serum testosterone level in aged rats, but not in young rats. CR successfully improved age‐related derangements in penile neurovascular structures and hormonal disturbance. Along with a variety of lifestyle modifications, our study gave us a scientific rationale for CR as a non‐pharmaceutical strategy to reprogram damaged erectile tissue toward neurovascular repair in aged men.
Increasing stability in an inverse problem for the acoustic equation

In this work, we study the inverse boundary value problem of determining the refractive index in the acoustic equation. It is known that this inverse problem is ill-posed. Nonetheless, we show that the ill-posedness decreases when we increase the frequency and the stability estimate changes from logarithmic type for low frequencies to a Lipschitz estimate for large frequencies.
Accumulation of catalytically active PKC‐ζ into the nucleus of HL‐60 cell line plays a key role in the induction of granulocytic differentiation mediated by all‐trans retinoic acid

The effect of differentiating doses of all‐trans retinoic acid (ATRA, 10−6 m) and vitamin D3 (10−7 m) was investigated on the nuclear levels of endogenous ceramide and protein kinase C‐ζ (PKC‐ζ) catalytic activity in HL‐60 myeloid cells. ATRA induced a parallel increase of ceramide and catalytically active PKC‐ζ into the nuclear compartment of HL‐60 cells (peak at 72 h). On the other hand, vitamin D3 increased the levels of nuclear ceramide and PKC‐ζ activity to a lesser extent and with a delayed kinetics compared to ATRA (peak at 96 h).
Estimation of line-based target registration error

We present a novel method for estimating target registration error (TRE) in point-to-line registration. We develop a spatial stiffness model of the registration problem and derive the stiffness matrix of the model which leads to an analytic expression for predicting the root-mean-square (RMS) TRE. Under the assumption of isotropic localization noise, we show that the stiffness matrix for line-based registration is equal to the difference of the stiffness matrices for fiducial registration and surface-based registration. The expression for TRE is validated in the context of freehand ultrasound calibration performed using a tracked line fiducial as a calibration phantom. Measurements taken during calibration of a tracked linear ultrasound probe were used in simulations to assess TRE of point-to-line registration and the results were compared to the values predicted by the analytic expression. The difference between predicted and simulated RMS TRE magnitude for targets near the centroid of the registration points was less than 5% of the simulated magnitude when using more than 6 registration points. The difference between predicted and simulated RMS TRE magnitude for targets over the entire ultrasound image was almost always less than 10% of the simulated magnitude when using more than 10 registration points. TRE magnitude was minimized near the centroid of the registration points and the isocontours of TRE were elliptic in shape.
Large Platelets Circulate in an Activated State in Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is associated with aggravated development of vascular complications. Yet, it has not been established whether platelet hyperreactivity contributes as a pathogenetic factor. In order to study the role of activated platelets in diabetes mellitus, we investigated the expression of the membrane activation markers CD63 (GP53) and CD62 (GMP-140) as direct indicators of in vivo activation. The CD63-positive fraction was significantly higher in patients (6.1% X 3.7 +/- 1) than in controls (2.7% X 3 +/- 1). In parallel, the CD62-positive fraction was significantly elevated in patients to 5% X 2.5 +/- 1 in comparison to controls (3% X 2 +/- 1). Patients with angiopathy had a mean increase of 304% in CD63-positive and of 223% in CD62-positive platelets. Patients without clinically detectable angiopathy showed a trend to an increased fraction in CD63-/CD62-positive platelets. There was no correlation of the activation markers with fasting blood glucose, HbA1 or platelet count. CD63 platelet bound fluorescence significantly increased with platelet size in the patient group. We conclude that in diabetes mellitus an increased number of large platelets circulate in an activated state predominantly in patients with angiopathy. This could imply that platelets become activated by vascular lesions. The trend in patients without vascular disease, however, suggests that activated platelets may also basically contribute to the prethrombotic state in diabetes mellitus.
Comparative evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the diagnosis of pulmonary echinococcosis

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was done for the detection of immunoglobulin G and M (IgG and IgM) antibodies to Echinococcus granulosus in surgically proved cases of hydatidosis, especially pulmonary hydatidosis, by use of human hydatid cyst fluid antigen and soluble scolex antigen. This assay was compared with the following standardized techniques: the indirect hemagglutination test, the indirect immunofluorescent antibody test, and Casoni's intradermal test. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, with either of the antigens (human hydatid cyst fluid or soluble scolex antigen), was more sensitive and specific than the other techniques in diagnosing cases of hydatidosis, especially hydatid disease of the lung.
Verbal repetition skill in language impaired children: Evidence of inefficient lexical processing?

Speeded verbal repetition of spoken words in simple and primed conditions was used to examine lexical processing deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI). During simple verbal repetition, children with SLI (n = 18) were slower at repeating abstract verbs compared to concrete verbs. This same effect was not observed for nouns. Age matched typically developing (TD) children (n = 18) showed no effect of concreteness for either verbs or nouns. During primed verbal repetition the children heard prime-target word pairs (e.g., lion-tiger) on each trial. Semantically related primes speeded verbal repetition for the TD but not SLI group, suggesting inefficient spreading activation within lexical semantics for children with SLI. Phonologically related primes (e.g., tiny) slowed verbal repetition of the target (e.g., tiger) in both groups, suggesting children with SLI were similar to their age-matched peers in lexical phonological competition. The results are generally supportive of graded deficits in lexical processing skill in SLI consistent with connectionist accounts, and approaches to therapy that combine semantic and phonological dimensions at the word level.
Drug Therapy Problems & Contributing Factors Among Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases in Felege Hiwot Referral and Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia

Drug therapy problem is a new concept developed around 1990s. It results in increased morbidity and mortality. It is also a common scenario in chronic non communicable diseases, like cardiovascular diseases. Although pharmacotherapy in cardiovascular diseases can improve patient outcome, its benefit can be compromised by drug-related problems. The objective of the research is to characterize the prevalence of drug therapy problems and contributing factors among hospitalized patients with cardiovascular diseases in Felege Hiwot Referral and Jimma University Specialized hospital. Hospital based general cohort study design was used. All admitted patients with cardiovascular disease/s, in Felege Hiwot Referral and Jimma University specialized hospital were included. Most of the data were collected from patient card. Pharmacists in collaboration with a nurse were involved in collecting the data. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 Descriptive, logistic and linear regressions were used. P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant to study association between risk factors and drug therapy problems. The most common cardiovascular disease encountered were hypertensive heart disease (27, 27.83%), rheumatic heart disease (24, 24.74%) and, functional heart failure and cor pulmonalae (24, 24.74%). A total of 164 number of DTPs were identified with the mean number of DTP was 1.69 + 0.993. Most of the patients had drug therapy problem. Presence of heart failure (AOR: 8.001) had significant association. Number of co morbidity had significant association with number of DTPs while number of drugs didn't. As the number of co morbidity increases by one unit, there is 28.2% increase in number of DTP. © 2014 iGlobal Research and Publishing
Immediate Anatomic Results after the Endovascular Treatment of Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms: Analysis in the CLARITY Series

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The efficacy of the endovascular treatment in providing stable occlusion of intracranial aneurysms is still controversial and should be precisely analyzed. A first step is to carefully study immediate anatomical results. CLARITY (Clinical and Anatomical Results in the Treatment of Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms) is a prospective multicenter consecutive series including patients treated by coiling for ruptured aneurysms. Immediate anatomic results are presented. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Postoperative anatomic results were evaluated by DSA by the treating physician and anonymously and independently by 2 experienced neuroradiologists by using the 3-point Montreal Scale. Patients were divided into 2 groups: patients treated with GDC and those treated with Matrix detachable coils. RESULTS: A total of 773 patients (461 women, 312 men; 19–80 years of age; mean, 51.2 ± 13.2 years) with 773 ruptured aneurysms were included in the study. The rate of occlusion as determined by the treating physician was designated complete for 586 aneurysms (75.8%), neck remnant for 145 aneurysms (18.8%), and aneurysm remnant for 42 aneurysms (5.4%). The same evaluation as reported by the 2 independent reviewers was complete occlusion for 366 aneurysms (47.4%), neck remnant for 324 aneurysms (41.9%), and aneurysm remnant for 83 aneurysms (10.7%). Postoperative anatomic results were significantly linked to age but not to the technique of endovascular treatment or aneurysm characteristics (location, size, dome-to neck ratio). Results were not significantly different between the GDC and Matrix group. CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular treatment of ruptured intracranial aneurysms resulted in a high rate of satisfactory occlusion (complete occlusion and neck remnant in 89.3%). Patient age was the only factor associated with the rate of occlusion. The rate of aneurysm occlusion differed insignificantly between GDC and Matrix coils.
Variability and Uncertainty in Swedish Exposure Factors for Use in Quantitative Exposure Assessments

Information of exposure factors used in quantitative risk assessments has previously been compiled and reported for U.S. and European populations. However, due to the advancement of science and knowledge, these reports are in continuous need of updating with new data. Equally important is the change over time of many exposure factors related to both physiological characteristics and human behavior. Body weight, skin surface, time use, and dietary habits are some of the most obvious examples covered here. A wealth of data is available from literature not primarily gathered for the purpose of risk assessment. Here we review a number of key exposure factors and compare these factors between northern Europe—here represented by Sweden—and the United States. Many previous compilations of exposure factor data focus on interindividual variability and variability between sexes and age groups, while uncertainty is mainly dealt with in a qualitative way. In this article variability is assessed along with uncertainty. As estimates of central tendency and interindividual variability, mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, and multiple percentiles were calculated, while uncertainty was characterized using 95% confidence intervals for these parameters. The presented statistics are appropriate for use in deterministic analyses using point estimates for each input parameter as well as in probabilistic assessments.
Clinical Features and Outcome in HIV-Associated Multicentric Castleman's Disease.

PURPOSE To describe clinical features, treatment outcomes and relapse rates in HIV-associated multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD) in a sizeable mature cohort. METHODS From a prospective database, we identified 61 HIV-seropositive patients with histologically confirmed MCD (median follow-up, 4.2 years). Since 2003, 49 patients with newly diagnosed MCD have been treated with rituximab with (n = 14) or without (n = 35) etoposide. RESULTS At MCD diagnosis, 55 (90%) of 61 patients met proposed clinical criteria defining an attack. Four patients (7%) had histologic evidence of coexisting lymphoma, and one developed lymphoma 2 years after treatment. The incidence of lymphoma is 28 per 1,000 patient years. With rituximab-based treatment, the overall survival was 94% (95% CI, 87% to 100%) at 2 years and was 90% (95% CI, 81% to 100%) at 5 years compared with 42% (95% CI, 14% to 70%) and 33% (95% CI, 6% to 60%) in 12 patients treated before introduction of rituximab (log-rank P < .001). Four of 49 rituximab-treated patients have died; three died as a result of MCD within 10 days of diagnosis, and one died as a result of lymphoma in remission of MCD. Eight of 46 patients who achieved clinical remission suffered symptomatic, histologically confirmed MCD relapse. The median time to relapse was 2 years, and all have been successfully re-treated and are alive in remission. The 2- and 5-year progression-free survival rates for all 49 patients treated with rituximab-based therapy were 85% (95% CI, 74% to 95%) and 61% (95% CI, 40% to 82%), respectively. CONCLUSION HIV-associated MCD is a remitting-relapsing disease. The outlook has improved dramatically in recent years with the introduction of rituximab-based therapy and yields high overall survival rates.
Improved flow-cytometric detection of low P-glycoprotein expression in leukaemic blasts by histogram subtraction analysis.

Expression of the drug efflux pump P-glycoprotein (PGP) was determined by flow cytometry in human lung cancer cell lines and in leukaemic blasts derived from 60 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Cells from the PGP-negative parent cell line H69/P and the multidrug resistant (MDR)-variant H69/LX4 could be clearly distinguished by immunostaining with the anti-PGP monoclonal antibody MRK16. In leukaemic blasts, the differences in fluorescence intensities between samples incubated with the idiotypic nonspecific (control sample) and specific antibody (test sample) were small, resulting in nondisjunct distributions. Only in a few leukaemia specimens were PGP-expressing cells detectable by simple subtraction of histograms using a threshold. Therefore, an improved histogram subtraction analysis, based on curve fitting and a statistical test, was applied to distinguish antigen-positive from antigen-negative cells. Moreover, a multiparametric staining procedure employing propidium iodide (PI) and Hoechst 33342 was used to reduce staining artefacts. By this approach, leukaemic cells with low expression of PGP were detected in 39 out of 60 cases. Subpopulations with strong PGP expression, resulting in disjunct fluorescence distributions, were not observed. Only in 5 out of 60 specimens were PGP expressing cells detected by a conventional subtraction of histograms using a threshold. Comparison of data obtained with or without the multiparametric gating procedure indicated that the increase in sensitivity was mainly due to the application of the data analysis. However, exclusion of cell debris using PI and Hoechst staining properties reduced the deviation of data from mean values. No relation between PGP expression and cell cycle position was observed in either cell lines or in leukaemic blasts. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Pharmacological inhibition of PHOSPHO1 suppresses vascular smooth muscle cell calcification

Medial vascular calcification (MVC) is common in patients with chronic kidney disease, obesity, and aging. MVC is an actively regulated process that resembles skeletal mineralization, resulting from chondro‐osteogenic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Here, we used mineralizing murine VSMCs to study the expression of PHOSPHO1, a phosphatase that participates in the first step of matrix vesicles‐mediated initiation of mineralization during endochondral ossification. Wild‐type (WT) VSMCs cultured under calcifying conditions exhibited increased Phospho1 gene expression and Phospho1–/– VSMCs failed to mineralize in vitro. Using natural PHOSPHO1 substrates, potent and specific inhibitors of PHOSPHO1 were identified via high‐throughput screening and mechanistic analysis and two of these inhibitors, designated MLS‐0390838 and MLS‐0263839, were selected for further analysis. Their effectiveness in preventing VSMC calcification by targeting PHOSPHO1 function was assessed, alone and in combination with a potent tissue‐nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) inhibitor MLS‐0038949. PHOSPHO1 inhibition by MLS‐0263839 in mineralizing WT cells (cultured with added inorganic phosphate) reduced calcification in culture to 41.8% ± 2.0% of control. Combined inhibition of PHOSPHO1 by MLS‐0263839 and TNAP by MLS‐0038949 significantly reduced calcification to 20.9% ± 0.74% of control. Furthermore, the dual inhibition strategy affected the expression of several mineralization‐related enzymes while increasing expression of the smooth muscle cell marker Acta2. We conclude that PHOSPHO1 plays a critical role in VSMC mineralization and that “phosphatase inhibition” may be a useful therapeutic strategy to reduce MVC. © 2013 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
A Comparison of Paramyxoviruses by Immunopreeipitation

Using the technique of immune precipitation of [35S]methionine-labelled infected cell polypeptides followed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography it has been shown that SV5 and a closely related isolate are both antigenically related to human parainfluenza virus type 2. Limited cross-reactions were also demonstrated between parainfluenza virus types 1 and 3 by this method and the apparent molecular weights of the major structural components of human parainfluenza virus types 2 and 3 have been deduced. 177
Associations with Meibomian Gland Atrophy in Daily Contact Lens Wearers

Purpose To determine associations for contact lenses (CLs) and meibomian gland atrophy in a matched-pair study. Methods Contact lens wearers (case) and age- and sex-matched non–contact lens (NCL) wearers with no history of CL use (control) were recruited for a multicenter study. All subjects were administered the Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire and a comprehensive battery of clinical tests (e.g., tear breakup time, bulbar and limbal redness, meibography, etc.) were performed. Upper and lower eyelid meibomian gland atrophy were graded with both digital meibography (percent gland atrophy) and visual meiboscore methods. Conditional logistic regression analyses were then used to determine relationships among CL use, meibomian gland atrophy, and ocular surface signs and symptoms. Results A total of 70 matched pairs were analyzed. The mean (±SD) age of the CL group was 30.6 (±12.4) years, and that of the NCL group was 30.1 (±12.2) years. The subjects were 63% female. The association between CL wear and meiboscore was not significant univariately, but the best-fitting multivariate regression model showed that higher meiboscores were associated with being a CL wearer (odds ratio [OR], 2.45) in a model that included eyelid margin erythema (OR, 0.25) and lissamine green staining (OR, 1.25). Percent gland atrophy was not associated with CL wear in regression analysis (p = 0.31). Conclusions This study determined inconclusive associations with CLs and meibomian gland atrophy. This study also provided a comprehensive assessment of differences between CL and NCL wearers.