Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maternal MHC Regulates Generation of Pathogenic Antibodies and Fetal MHC-Encoded Genes Determine Susceptibility in Congenital Heart Block

Congenital heart block develops in fetuses of anti-Ro52 Ab-positive women. A recurrence rate of 20%, despite the persistence of maternal autoantibodies, indicates that there are additional, yet unidentified, factors critical for development of congenital heart block. In this study, we demonstrate that besides the maternal MHC controlling Ab specificity, fetal MHC-encoded genes influence fetal susceptibility to congenital heart block. Using MHC congenic rat strains, we show that heart block develops in rat pups of three strains carrying MHC haplotype RT1av1 (DA, PVG.AV1, and LEW.AV1) after maternal Ro52 immunization, but not in LEW rats (RT1l). Different anti-Ro52 Ab fine specificities were generated in RT1av1 versus RT1l animals. Maternal and fetal influence was determined in an F2 cross between LEW.AV1 and LEW strains, which revealed higher susceptibility in RT1l than RT1av1 pups once pathogenic Ro52 Abs were present. This was further confirmed in that RT1l pups more frequently developed heart block than RT1av1 pups after passive transfer of RT1av1 anti-Ro52 sera. Our findings show that generation of pathogenic Ro52 Abs is restricted by maternal MHC, whereas the fetal MHC locus regulates susceptibility and determines the fetal disease outcome in anti-Ro52–positive pregnancies.
Cutting film violence: effects on perceptions, enjoyment, and arousal.

The authors investigated the effects of cutting specific graphic scenes of film violence on self-reports of arousal, enjoyability, and perceptions of violence among a sample of U.S. students. In 3 studies, they varied film exposure from 1 1/2 min in the 1st study to a complete motion picture (American vs. British version of same film) in the 3rd. In all 3 studies, the participants rated the cut versions as less violent than the uncut versions. The participants distinguished quite subtle differences in levels of violence, even when the cuts were minor and contextualized within an entire movie. Cutting the movie significantly increased its enjoyability for the women; for the men, there was no significant difference. Cutting violent films made no difference in arousal for the men but substantially lowered self-report levels of arousal for the women.
The Clinical Features and Outcome of Stupor

Stupor is an unusual but striking phenomenon, generally recognized but difficult to define in precise clinical terms. A large literature exists on the diverse conditions in which it may occur, but there is little information on differentiating one cause from another, or on the prevalence of these causes. This insufficiency extends to the phenomenology of stupor, where descriptive criteria are not always adequate for separating stupor from allied states. Such difficulties are reflected in a current text book by Merskey and Tonge (1965). The authors only recognize stupor if there is total akinesis, where it is assumed that the diagnosis is schizophrenia. Depressive stupor is not recognized as an entity.
Obstetric and neonatal outcome in patients with anxiety disorders

Abstract Objective: To investigate whether a diagnosis of anxiety disorder is a risk factor for adverse obstetric and neonatal outcome. Methods: A retrospective population-based study was conducted comparing obstetric and neonatal complications in patients with and without a diagnosis of anxiety. Multivariable analysis was performed to control for confounders. Results: During the study period 256 312 singleton deliveries have occurred, out of which 224 (0.09%) were in patients with a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. Patients with anxiety disorders were older (32.17 ± 5.1 versus 28.56 ± 5.9), were more likely to be smokers (7.1% versus 1.1%) and had a higher rate of preterm deliveries (PTD; 15.2% versus 7.9%), as compared with the comparison group. Using a multiple logistic regression model, anxiety disorders were independently associated with advanced maternal age (OR 1.087; 95% CI 1.06–1.11; p = 0.001), smoking (OR 4.51; 95% CI 2.6–7.29; p = 0.001) and preterm labor (OR 1.92; 95% CI 1.32-–2.8; p = 0.001). In addition, having a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder was found to be an independent risk factor for cesarean section (adjusted OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.82–3.46; p < 0.001), using another multivariable model. No association was noted between anxiety disorders and adverse neonatal outcomes including small for gestational age, low Apgar scores and perinatal mortality. Conclusion: Anxiety disorders are independent risk factors for spontaneous preterm delivery and cesarean section, but in our population it is not associated with adverse perinatal outcome.
[Perinatal morbidity and mortality in pregnancies that progressed with ruptured membranes at a public hospital in Northern Brazil].

PURPOSE To identify obstetric and perinatal factors associated with perinatal morbidity and mortality in pregnancies that progressed with ruptured membranes. METHODS A cross-sectional hospital-based study with secondary data from records of patients (n=87) that evolved with the premature rupture of membranes between 24 and 42 weeks of gestation, admitted from January to April 2013 to a public hospital in Acre State, North of Brazil. Data were subjected to bivariate analysis for selection of variables to be used in a multiple regression model according to Poisson logistic regression with robust error. RESULTS The prevalence of perinatal morbidity-mortality was 51.4%, including a 2.3% death rate (2 cases) and a 9.2% fetal neonatal death rate (8 cases). The variables associated with mortality in the final multiple model were: number of prenatal consultations ≥6, with a prevalence ratio (PR) of 0.5 and a 95% confidence interval (95%CI) of 0.3-0.9, gestational age ≥30 weeks (PR=0.6; 95%CI 0.4-0.8), low birth weight (PR=2.9; 95%CI 1.5-5.4), and mechanical ventilation (PR=3.8; 95%CI 2.0-7.2). CONCLUSION Perinatal morbidity and mortality were high among cases of ruptured membranes. Morbidity and mortality were associated with factors such as fewer prenatal visits, extreme prematurity and low birth weight in this group.
A monetary policy rule: The augmented Monetary Conditions Index for Philippines using UECM and bounds tests

This paper constructs the augmented monetary conditions index (AMCI) over 1982:1-2004:4 using UECM and bounds test approach for the Philippines data. Results reveal evidence of cointegration between the real GDP and its determinants, namely short-term interest rate, exchange rate and claims on private sectors that take into account three key transmission mechanisms channels in the conduct of monetary policy, namely the interest rate, exchange rate and credit channels. While asset price channel is found to be insignificant. The monetary conditions during the study periods is reflected in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinasâ€™s reaction to the prevailing economic situation, imply that the AMCI tracks the inverse movements of the real GDP growth reasonably well after 1990s. Possible light of policy implications have put forward.
Does Platelet Administration Affect Mortality in Elderly Head-Injured Patients Taking Antiplatelet Medications?

A significant portion of patients sustaining traumatic brain injury (TBI) take antiplatelet medications (aspirin or clopidogrel), which have been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. In an attempt to alleviate the risk of increased bleeding, platelet transfusion has become standard practice in some institutions. This study was designed to determine if platelet transfusion reduces mortality in patients with TBI on antiplatelet medications. Databases from two Level I trauma centers were reviewed. Patients with TBI 50 years of age or older with documented preinjury use of clopidogrel or aspirin were included in our cohort. Patients who received platelet transfusions were compared with those who did not to assess outcome differences between them. Demographics and other patient characteristics abstracted included Injury Severity Score, Glasgow Coma Scale, hospital length of stay, and warfarin use. Three hundred twenty-eight patients comprised the study group. Of these patients, 166 received platelet transfusion and 162 patients did not. Patients who received platelets had a mortality rate of 17.5 per cent (29 of 166), whereas those who did not receive platelets had a mortality rate of 16.7 per cent (27 of 162) (P = 0.85). Transfusion of platelets in patients with TBI using antiplatelet therapy did not reduce mortality.
Measurement of short-term stability of ultra stable oscillators

We present in this paper the progress report of the building of two cryogenic sapphire oscillators (CSO) at LPMO. A description of our original resonator configuration is discussed. The measurement of a short-term frequency instability better than 2middot10 -14 for short integration times is presented. We also demonstrated an exceptional long term frequency stability of better than 5middot10 -14 over one day. We finally report the usefullness of CSO in the characterization of state of the art ultra stable quartz cristal oscillators in a simple way of measurement.
Post-infarction ventricular septal defect: risk factors and early outcomes.

INTRODUCTION Rupture of the ventricular septum complicates acute myocardial infarction in 0.2% of cases in the thrombolytic era. Ventricular septal defect (VSD) has a mortality of 90-95% in medically managed and 19-60% in surgically treated patients. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed of 41 patients, 26 females (63.4%) and 15 males (36.6%), average age 67.5 ± 15 years, with post-infarction VSD who were treated in the VUL SK intensive cardiology unit between 1991 and 2007. RESULTS Thirty-seven patients had hypertension (90.2%); anterior wall acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was found in 27 patients (68%). VSD was more frequent in women than in men (p=0.043). In 36 patients (87%) treatment was started 24 hours or later after the development of AMI symptoms. In 34 patients (83%) the rupture occurred during the first episode of AMI and in the majority of these (19 patients, 46.3%), preoperative coronary angiography demonstrated disease of only one coronary artery. During the first 10 days after the onset of AMI, 5 patients (12.2%) were treated surgically but did not survive the operation; 33 patients (80.5%) underwent operation 3-4 weeks after the onset of AMI and all survived. CONCLUSIONS Female sex, advanced age, arterial hypertension, anterior wall AMI, absence of previous AMI, and late arrival at hospital are associated with a higher risk of mortality from acute VSD. The most important factor that determines operative mortality and intra-hospital survival is the time from the onset of AMI to operation.
Clinical outcome of small hepatocellular carcinoma after different treatments: a meta-analysis.

AIM To compare clinical outcomes between surgical resection (RES) and nonsurgical-RES (nRES) ablation therapies for small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched for studies of RES and nRES treatments for small HCC between January 2003 and October 2013. The clinical outcome measures evaluated included overall survival rate, disease-free survival rate, adverse events, and local recurrence rate. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95%CIs were calculated using either the fixed effects model or random effects model. The χ(2) and I(2) tests were calculated to assess the heterogeneity of the data. Funnel plots were used to assess the risk of publication bias. RESULTS Our analysis included 12 studies that consisted of a total of 1952 patients (RES vs nRES), five studies that consisted of 701 patients [radiofrequency ablation (RFA) vs percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI)], and five additional studies [RFA vs RFA + transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE)] that all addressed the treatment of small HCC. For cases of RES vs nRES, there was no significant difference in the 1-year (OR = 0.99, 95%CI: 0.87-1.12, P = 0.85) or 3-year (OR = 0.97, 95%CI: 0.84-1.11, P = 0.98) overall survival rate; however, there was a significant increase in the RES group in the 5-year overall survival rate (OR = 0.81, 95%CI: 0.68-0.95, P = 0.01). The 1-year (OR = 0.94, 95%CI: 0.82-1.08, P = 0.37) and 5-year (OR = 0.99, 95%CI: 0.85-1.14, P = 0.85) disease-free survival rates showed no significant differences between the two groups. The 3-year disease-free survival rate (OR = 0.81, 95%CI: 0.69-0.96; P = 0.02) was higher in the RES group. For cases of RFA vs PEI, our data analysis indicated that RFA treatment was associated with significantly higher 2-year (OR = 0.76, 95%CI: 0.58-0.99, P = 0.043) and 3-year (OR = 0.73, 95%CI: 0.54-0.98, P = 0.039) overall survival rates; however, there were no significant differences in the 1-year (OR = 0.92, 95%CI: 0.72-1.17, P = 0.0502) overall survival rate or incidence of adverse events (OR = 1.84, 95%CI: 0.76-4.45, P = 0.173). For cases of RFA vs RFA+TACE, there were no significant differences in the 1-year (OR = 1.17, 95%CI: 0.88-1.56, P = 0.27) or 3-year (OR = 1.25, 95%CI: 0.90-1.73, P = 0.183) overall survival rate; however, the 5-year overall survival rate (OR = 3.19, 95%CI: 1.51-6.74, P = 0.002) in patients treated by RFA+TACE was higher than that treated by RFA alone. CONCLUSION Surgical resection is superior to nonsurgical ablation for the treatment of small HCC. Among the studies analyzed, RFA is the most efficacious single nonsurgical ablation treatment.
On the relative contributions of absorption and scattering to ultrasound attenuation in trabecular bone: a simulation study

Ultrasound has been proposed as a means to non-invasively assess bone and particularly bone strength and fracture risk. Although there has been some success in this application, there is still much that is unknown regarding the propagation of ultrasound through bone. Because strength and fracture risk are a function of bone mineral density as well as architectural structure and tissue quality, this study was carried out to further elucidate the mechanisms of interaction between ultrasound and bone. Frequency-dependent attenuation of an ultrasound wave in trabecular bone has been shown to be strongly dependent on bone mass and architecture and is currently used in several clinical devices for bone assessment. Since attenuation is due to both absorption by the biological tissues per se and scattering, it is of interest to understand the relative contributions of each. A sample of calcaneal trabecular bone was scanned with micro-CT and subjected to morphological image processing (erosions and dilations) to obtain a total of 11 three-dimensional (3D) date sets. Eleven two-dimensional (2D) slices obtained from the 3D data sets were then analyzed to evaluate their bone volume fractions (VF). Computer simulations of ultrasonic propagation through each of thru 11 2D slices, which varied in VF from 0.088-0.181, were carried out in one of two modes. In the first instance, the component tissue (i.e., marrow and bone) were lossy, while in the second set of simulations the component tissues were lossless. In both cases the slope of the attenuation was computed over the frequency range 300 kHz - 900 kHz for the entire data set. Results obtained showed an average reduction in the attenuation slope of only 4.4% (SD=1.8%) in the lossless case as compared (pairwise) with the lossy case. This data indicates that scattering is the primary mechanism in trabecular bone with respect to overall attenuation measurements, and further suggests that models relating scattering to bone architecture and mass should be developed to further enhance the ability of ultrasound to non-invasively access bone.
Cultural meanings of pain: a qualitative study of Black Caribbean and White British patients with advanced cancer

Pain is a common cancer-related symptom, but little research has been conducted that explores the meanings of this symptom across different ethnic groups. This study involved qualitative interviews to explore and compare the meanings of pain among 26 Black Caribbean and 19 White patients with advanced cancer. Patients were recruited from oncology outpatient clinics, a lung clinic and palliative care teams. Interview transcripts were analysed using the framework approach. A total of 23/26 Black Caribbean and 15/19 White patients reported cancer-related pain. Accounts of Black Caribbean and White patients identified pain as a ‘challenge’ that needed to be mastered by the individual, not necessarily by drugs and identified pain as an ‘enemy’ that represented an unfair attack. Two further meanings of pain emerged from Black Caribbean patients’ accounts: pain as a ‘test of faith’ that referred to confirmation and strengthening of religious belief, and pain as a ‘punishment’ that was associated with wrongdoing. These meanings influenced the extent patients were able to accommodate their distress. Pain assessment needs to consider the patients’ narratives that include the meanings they attribute to this symptom, and which may be governed by culture.
Activity-Dependent Factors Affecting Poststroke Functional Outcomes

Abstract Over the last several years, there has been increasing recognition of the potential for central nervous system (CNS) recovery after brain damage. One commonality across the recovery and brain plasticity literature is that practice induces plastic, dynamic changes in the CNS. However, more than simply repetition, it is the manipulation of specific practice variables that appears to drive these dynamic processes in the CNS. The experimental manipulations used in the studies on neuroplasticity largely derive from the concept that in the undamaged or healthy brain neuronal connections and cortical maps are continuously remodeled by experience and by the performance of specific, intensive, and complex movements used to solve motor problems and attain goals. Intervention designed to promote recovery rather than compensation after stroke would then manipulate these same practice variables that have consistently promoted behavioral recovery and neuroplasticity in laboratory settings. Three current intervention strategies that incorporate these practice variables are reviewed. Preliminary results provide evidence that manipulation of task intensity and specificity and the sensorimotor experience of the task training are the necessary ingredients for maximizing the tremendous potential for recovery in patients with stroke.
Two Factor Additive Conjoint Measurement with One Solvable Component.

This paper addresses conditions for the existence of additive separable utilities. It considers mainly two-dimensional Cartesian products in which restricted solvability holds w.r. t. one component, but some results are extended to n-dimensional spaces. The main result shows that, in general, cancellation axioms of any order are required to ensure additive representability. More precisely, a generic family of counterexamples is provided, proving that the (m+1)st order cancellation axiom cannot be derived from the mth order cancellation axiom when m is even. However, a special case is considered in which the existence of additive representations can be derived from the independence axiom alone. Unlike the classical representation theorems, these representations are not unique up to strictly positive affine transformations, but follow Fishburn's (1981) uniqueness property. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.
Labor Representation in Governance as an Insurance Mechanism

We investigate how Germany’s mandated 50% labor representation on supervisory boards affects layoffs and wages during adverse industry shocks. We hypothesize that parity-codetermination helps the implementation of implicit contracts that insure employees against adverse shocks. We estimate difference-in-differences in employment and wages using panel data at the establishment level. The results show white-collar and skilled blue-collar employees of firms with parity-codetermination are protected against layoffs during shock periods. But unskilled blue-collar workers, who lack real representation on the board, are not. Moreover, white-collar and skilled blue-collar workers pay an insurance premium of about 3% in the form of lower wages. The effects of insuring these employees manifest in higher operating leverage: During shock periods, parity-codetermined firms suffer greater reduction in profitability and valuation, witness greater increase in stock beta, and engage in more asset sales to finance insurance payoffs.
Mucosal assessment of tumor necrosis factor alpha levels on paraffined samples: a comparison between immunohistochemistry and real time polymerase chain reaction

Author(s) : Enzo IerardiArticle title : Mucosal assessment of tumor necrosis factor alpha levels on paraffined samples:a comparison between immunohistochemistry and real time polymerase chainreactionArticle no : 483739Dear Author,Please check these proofs carefully. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to checkagainst the original manuscript and approve or amend these proofs. A second proof is notnormally provided. Informa Healthcare cannot be held responsible for uncorrected errors, even ifintroduced during the composition process. The journal reserves the right to charge for excessiveauthor alterations, or for changes requested after the proofing stage has concluded.The following queries have arisen during the editing of your manuscript and are marked in themargins of the proofs. Unless advised otherwise, submit all corrections using the CATS onlinecorrection form. Once you have added all your corrections, please ensure you press the “SubmitAll Corrections” button.
Coronary Revascularization in Diabetics: The Background for an Optimal Choice

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is more extensive and severe in diabetic than non-diabetic patients both in randomized trials and registries (see table 1 and 2). Compared with nondiabetic, diabetic patients have smaller vessel size and poorer coronary collateral vessels development. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major risk factor for poor outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and is specifically associated with higher rates of restenosis. A potential mechanism underlying this phenomenon, suggested by angiographic and ultrasonic studies, is a higher degree of late luminal loss and neointimal hyperplasia in diabetic compared to non-diabetic patients . The increased rate of restenosis in diabetic patients may have an impact on their prognosis. In a study of 603 diabetic patients undergoing balloon angioplasty between 1987 and 1995, the occlusive form of restenosis has been associated with poor survival and was an independent predictor of mortality (Van Belle 2001). Finally, DM constitutes an independent predictor of early stent thrombosis, both in the bare-metaland drug-eluting-stent era. Current guidelines favor coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery over PCI in most diabetic patients with multivessel disease (MVD). However, substantial variability exists in the current medical practice suggesting a lack of clinical consensus.
Sparse least trimmed squares regression for analyzing high-dimensional large data sets

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