Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum microRNA-122 level correlates with virologic responses to pegylated interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis C

MicroRNA-122 (miR-122) facilitates hepatitis C virus replication in vitro. Serum miR-122 has been implicated as a biomarker for various liver diseases; however, its role in chronic hepatitis C remains unclear. To address this issue, 126 patients with chronic hepatitis C who completed pegylated IFN plus ribavirin therapy with sustained virologic response (SVR) or nonresponse (NR) were retrospectively included, and their pretreatment clinical profiles and treatment responses were collected. Serum miR-122 was quantified before and during treatment. Another 51 patients in SVR and NR groups were prospectively enrolled for validation. Serum miR-122 was found to be a surrogate for hepatic miR-122 and positively correlated with hepatic necroinflammation. Patients who showed complete early virologic response and SVR had significantly higher pretreatment serum miR-122 levels than those with NR (P = 0.001 and P = 0.008, respectively), especially in subgroups of patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 2 and IL-28B rs8099917 TT genotype. Patients with IL-28B TT genotype had significantly better treatment responses and higher pretreatment serum miR-122 level than those with GT or GG genotypes. Univariate analysis showed that pretreatment body mass index, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, triglyceride, IL-28B TT genotype, and serum miR-122 are predictors for SVR. Multivariate analysis specifically in IL-28B TT genotype demonstrated that pretreatment serum miR-122 independently predicted SVR. The validation cohort confirmed a significantly greater pretreatment serum miR-122 level in patients with SVR compared with NR (P = 0.025). In conclusion, serum miR-122 may serve as a surrogate of hepatic miR-122, and a higher pretreatment serum miR-122 level can help predict virologic responses to pegylated IFN plus ribavirin therapy.
Effect of the Modified Live Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) Vaccine on European and North American PRRSV Shedding in Semen from Infected Boars

ABSTRACT The objective of the present study was to compare the effects of the modified live porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) vaccine (Ingelvac PRRS MLV; Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, St. Joseph, MO) on European and North American PRRSV shedding in the semen of experimentally infected boars. The boars were randomly divided into six groups. Vaccinated boars shed the North American PRRSV at the rate of 100.1 to 101.0 viral genome copies per ml and 3.63 to 101.1 50% tissue culture infective doses (TCID50)/ml, respectively, in semen, whereas nonvaccinated boars shed the North American PRRSV at the rate of 100.2 to 104.7 viral genome copies per ml and 1.14 to 103.07 TCID50/ml, respectively, in semen. Vaccinated boars shed the European PRRSV at the rate of 100.1 to 104.57 viral genome copies per ml and 1.66 to 103.10 TCID50/ml, respectively, in semen, whereas nonvaccinated boars shed the European PRRSV at the rate of 100.3 to 105.14 viral genome copies per ml and 1.69 to 103.17 TCID50/ml, respectively, in semen. The number of genomic copies of the European PRRSV in semen samples was not significantly different between vaccinated and nonvaccinated challenged European PRRSV boars. The present study demonstrated that boar vaccination using commercial modified live PRRSV vaccine was able to decrease subsequent shedding of North American PRRSV in semen after challenge but was unable to decrease shedding of European PRRSV in semen after challenge.
The effects of strain rate on the properties of the medial collateral ligament in skeletally immature and mature rabbits: A biomechanical and histological study

The effects of strain rate on the structural properties of the femurmedial collateral ligament‐tibia complex (FMTC) and on the mechanical (material) properties of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of skeletally immature and skeletally mature rabbits were studied. The FMTCs were tested in tension to failure, at five extension rates (0.008 mm/s‐113 mm/s). For the FMTCs from the skeletally immature animals, values of load, elongation, and energy absorbed at failure increased substantially with extension rates. Such increases also existed for skeletally mature animals, but they were much less in magnitude. All samples from the skeletally immature animals failed by tibial avulsion, whereas samples from the skeletally mature animals failed within the ligament substance. The mechanical properties of the ligament substance were minimally strain‐rate sensitive for both groups. Histological sections of the ligament substance and insertion sites from the failed samples were examined, and these observations were correlated with the biomechanical findings. For the rabbit model used in this study, we conclude that skeletal maturity has more influence on the biomechanical properties of the MCL than does strain rate.
The prevalence of depression symptoms and influencing factors among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women

Objective: This study was conducted for the purpose of determining the prevalence of depression in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women and the factors that influence the development of depression. Methods: A community-based sample of 685 women aged 45 to 59 years who were living in Malatya was recruited in this cross-sectional study. An information form that included questions on descriptive characteristics and lifestyle variables of cases, the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire, and the Beck Depression Inventory were administered to each woman in the sample. The data were collected through personal interviews with women at their home between February and May 2008. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 50.66 (4.15) years. The prevalence of depression symptoms among the perimenopausal and postmenopausal women was 41.8%. Of all women, 23.2% were premenopausal and 56.9% were postmenopausal. The logistic regression analysis revealed that depression symptom development was 1.8 times higher in the perimenopausal-postmenopausal period than in the premenopausal period, 3.6 times higher among those with an event history affecting life in a negative way than among those without, and 2.0 times higher among those with a body mass index of 25 kg/m2 or higher than among those with a body mass index of less than 25 kg/m2. Conclusions: There is a high level of prevalence of depression symptoms in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.
Beyond warfarin: a patient-centered approach to selecting novel oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND Warfarin reduces stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. However, its narrow therapeutic index and need for chronic monitoring are barriers to its optimal utilization in many patients. The recent introduction of 3 novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs), as alternatives to warfarin, may change the eligibility and management of patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) who require systemic anticoagulation. PURPOSE To summarize contemporary indications for anticoagulation in NVAF, and to help provide patient-centered clinical decision making for selecting warfarin or 1 of the NOACs (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban) based on randomized trials and mechanistic data for each drug. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION The primary clinical outcome trials of warfarin and the NOACs, pharmacologic studies, and briefing documents from the US Food and Drug Administration were reviewed. DATA EXTRACTION AND DATA SYNTHESIS In randomized trials, NOACs were consistently noninferior to warfarin for reducing stroke or systemic embolism in patients with NVAF, with reductions in intracranial bleeding as well. However, NOACs have several important drug-drug interactions, exclusion criteria for specific patient subgroups (eg, severe renal disease), and each medication may have a different impact on other clinical outcomes such as myocardial infarction or gastrointestinal bleeding. Benefits of the new drugs are particularly pronounced when international normalized ratio levels on warfarin are labile. CONCLUSIONS Warfarin continues to play an important role in the prevention of stroke or systemic embolism in NVAF. Among selected patients, the use of NOACs provides equal or superior benefit, without the need for chronic anticoagulation monitoring or ongoing dose titration.
Context of deletions and insertions in human coding sequences

We studied the dependence of the rate of short deletions and insertions on their contexts using the data on mutations within coding exons at 19 human loci that cause mendelian diseases. We confirm that periodic sequences consisting of three to five or more nucleotides are mutagenic. Mutability of sequences with strongly biased nucleotide composition is also elevated, even when mutations within homonucleotide runs longer than three nucleotides are ignored. In contrast, no elevated mutation rates have been detected for imperfect direct or inverted repeats. Among known candidate contexts, the indel context GTAAGT and regions with purine‐pyrimidine imbalance between the two DNA strands are mutagenic in our sample, and many others are not mutagenic. Data on mutation hot spots suggest two novel contexts that increase the deletion rate. Comprehensive analysis of mutability of all possible contexts of lengths four, six, and eight indicates a substantially elevated deletion rate within YYYTG and similar sequences, which is one of the two contexts revealed by the hot spots. Possible contexts that increase the insertion rate (AT(A/C)(A/C)GCC and TACCRC) and decrease deletion (TATCGC) or insertion (GCGG) rates have also been identified. Two‐thirds of deletions remove a repeat, and over 80% of insertions create a repeat, i.e., they are duplications. Hum Mutat 23:177–185, 2004. Published 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Experiential knowledge of expert coaches can help identify informational constraints on performance of dynamic interceptive actions

Abstract Coordination of dynamic interceptive movements is predicated on cyclical relations between an individual’s actions and information sources from the performance environment. To identify dynamic informational constraints, which are interwoven with individual and task constraints, coaches’ experiential knowledge provides a complementary source to support empirical understanding of performance in sport. In this study, 15 expert coaches from 3 sports (track and field, gymnastics and cricket) participated in a semi-structured interview process to identify potential informational constraints which they perceived to regulate action during run-up performance. Expert coaches’ experiential knowledge revealed multiple information sources which may constrain performance adaptations in such locomotor pointing tasks. In addition to the locomotor pointing target, coaches’ knowledge highlighted two other key informational constraints: vertical reference points located near the locomotor pointing target and a check mark located prior to the locomotor pointing target. This study highlights opportunities for broadening the understanding of perception and action coupling processes, and the identified information sources warrant further empirical investigation as potential constraints on athletic performance. Integration of experiential knowledge of expert coaches with theoretically driven empirical knowledge represents a promising avenue to drive future applied science research and pedagogical practice.
Long‐term depression in horizontal slices of the rat lateral amygdala

Long‐term depression (LTD) is an enduring decrease in synaptic efficacy and is thought to underlie memory. In contrast to investigations of plasticity mechanisms in the amygdala in rat coronal slices, this study was done in horizontal slices. Field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) and EPSPs, respectively, were recorded extracellularly and intracellularly from the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA). We show that low‐frequency stimulation (LFS) induces LTD in the LA, when stimulation electrodes were located in the LA. No significant differences were found between females and males. In dependence of strain variations, a reduction of GABAergic inhibition either reduced the magnitude of LTD or was a prerequisite for the induction of extracellularly recorded LA‐LTD. Theta pulse stimulation (TPS) of afferents within the LA caused a weaker LTD than LFS. Theta burst stimulation (TBS) given 20 min after the end of LFS reversed LTD, whereas high‐frequency stimulation (HFS) resulted in long‐term potentiation (LTP) that was significantly stronger than that obtained in naive slices. Therefore, primed induction of LTD facilitates high‐frequency‐induced LTP in the rat lateral amygdala. NMDARs as well as group II mGluRs were involved in the mediation of LA‐LTD. In contrast to data obtained by stimulation of afferents running within the LA, LFS of the external capsule fibers induced a weak LA‐LTD, and TPS was not able to induce LTD. This study showed for the first time that LTD can be induced in the LA by standard LFS (900 pulses at 1 Hz) and that LTP stimuli reversed LTD. The results also provide further evidence for the broad sensitivity of synaptic plasticity mechanisms to the history of prior activity. Synapse 53:141–150, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Do Clerkship Experiences Affect Medical Students' Attitudes toward Chronically Ill Patients?

Purpose To measure changes in medical students' attitudes toward chronically ill patients, and to identify experiences, specifically during clerkships, that contributed to students' attitudes. Method A cohort of students from five U.S. medical schools voluntarily participated in three surveys longitudinally administered before and after required clinical rotations. The first two questionnaires were identical and asked for demographic information and pre-matriculation experiences with chronically ill patients. The third was modified to include questions about clinical experiences with chronically ill patients. Responses from the first and third questionnaires were linked for analysis. Results A total of 502 of 695 students (69%) completed both the first and the third questionnaires. Many students (36%) had had pre-matriculation experiences with chronic illness. After clinical training, 25% of the respondents stated that they would seek another career specialty if the incidence of chronically ill patients increased in their chosen field, compared with the 9% who responded so before clinical training (p < .001). While 73% of the students had favorable perceptions toward chronically ill patients, and 91% felt involved in care, significantly fewer students (p < .01) had had positive patient care experiences when working with residents (57%) and attendings (59%). Gender, age, prior experiences, and school site were not associated with attitudinal changes. Conclusion Students begin medical school with positive attitudes toward caring for chronically ill patients, but this perception depreciates with clinical experience, which may affect specialty decisions. Contributing factors may include adequate role modeling by residents and attendings and a perceived discrepancy in the quality of care patients receive.
A Sub-national Perspective on Financing Investment for Growth I - Measuring Fiscal Space for Public Investment: Influences, Evolution and Perspectives

Sub-national governments are key players for public investment, as they are responsible on average for 62% of total public investment in OECD countries. This article analyses the different factors affecting sub-national governments’ fiscal space for public investment. It proposes an indicator for measuring this fiscal space and analyses the evolution of its different components over 2007-2012. The article shows that the global financial crisis and the ensuring consolidation drive have reduced sub-national governments’ fiscal space for public investment, through a downward pressure on revenues, increased expenditure obligations, and constrained capacity to borrow or issue debt on financial markets. Les gouvernements infra-nationaux sont des acteurs majeurs de l'investissement public dans les pays de l'OCDE, et representent en moyenne 62% de l'investissement public total. Cet article analyse les determinants de la marge de manoeuvre budgetaire disponible pour l'investissement public infra-national. Il propose un indicateur pour mesurer cette marge de manoeuvre, et analyse l'evolution de ses composantes entre 2007 et 2012. La crise et les plans de rigueur introduits dans de nombreux pays ont reduit l'espace budgetaire des gouvernements infra-nationaux disponible pour l'investissement. Ceci s'explique a la fois par une baisse des revenus infra-nationaux, une hausse des depenses ainsi que par une plus grande limitation dans leur acces a l'emprunt bancaire ou a l'emprunt sur les marches financiers.
Multilevel Oblique Corpectomy Without Fusion: Our Experience in 48 Patients

Study Design. The authors provide their results in performing multilevel oblique corpectomy for degenerative spondylotic myelopathy in 48 patients. Objective. To demonstrate the efficacy and safety of the multilevel oblique corpectomy when applied in selected cases. Summary of Background Data. The technique of multilevel oblique corporectomies for treatment of cervical spondylogenetic myeloradiculopathies allows anterolateral access to the cervical spine so that the spinal canal and conjugate foramen can be widened at more than one level, without the need for vertebral stabilization. Methods. During a 7-year period, multilevel oblique corpectomy was performed in 48 consecutive patients for degenerative spondylotic myelopathy. The outcomes were analyzed according to the Japanese Orthopaedic Association classification modified to Western customs, and according to Nurick’s scale 1 month, 1 year, and 2 years after surgery. Spinal stability was evaluated in all patients by plain radiograph films of the cervical spine, lateral views in flexion and extension, on discharge, 1 month and 1 year after operation. Results. Significant clinical improvement occurred in 29 patients with a complete functional recovery in 22; moderate improvement was achieved in 12 patients; neurological status remained stable in 5, and it worsened in 2. All patients showed spinal stability. Conclusions. Multilevel oblique corpectomy was found to be a safe technique that guarantees good results in terms of both regression of clinical symptoms and long-term spinal stability.
A history of the ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC

Introductory concerns -- Part I. City-states -- Origins : the Uruk phenomenon -- Competing city-states : the early dynastic period -- Political centralization in the late third millennium -- The Near East in the early second millennium -- The growth of territorial states in the early second millennium -- Part II. Territorial states -- The club of the great powers -- The western states of the late second millennium -- Kassites, Assyrians, and Elamites -- The collapse of the regional system and its aftermath -- Part III. Empires -- The Near East at the start of the first millennium -- The rise of Assyria -- Assyria's world domination -- The Medes and Babylonians -- The creation of a world empire : Persia -- Governing a world empire : Persia -- Epilogue -- King lists -- Guide to further reading -- Comprehensive time line.
Glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) variants in Malaysian Malays

We performed DNA analysis using cord blood samples on 86 male Malay neonates diagnosed as G6PD deficiency in the National University of Malaysia Hospital by a combination of rapid PCR‐based techniques, single‐stranded conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP) and DNA sequencing. We found 37.2% were 871G>A (G6PD Viangchan), 26.7% were nt 563 C>T (G6PD Mediterranean) and 15.1% were 487G>A (G6PD Mahidol) followed by 4.7% 1376G>T (G6PD Canton), 3.5% 383T>C (G6PD Vanua Lava), 3.5% 592C>T (G6PD Coimbra), 2.3% 1388G>A (G6PD Kaiping), 2.3% 1360C>T (G6PD Union), 2.3% 1003G>A (G6PD Chatham), 1.2% 131C>G (G6PD Orissa) and 1.2% 1361G>A (G6PD Andalus). Seventy‐one (82.6%) of the 86 G6PD‐deficient neonates had neonatal jaundice. Fifty seven (80%) of the 71 neonates with jaundice required phototherapy with only one neonate progressing to severe hyperbilirubinemia (serum bilirubin >340 μmol/l) requiring exchange transfusion. There was no significant difference in the incidence of neonatal jaundice, mean serum bilirubin level, mean age for peak serum bilirubin, percentage of babies requiring phototherapy and mean number of days of phototherapy between the three common variants. In conclusion, the molecular defects of Malay G6PD deficiency is heterogeneous and G6PD Viangchan, Mahidol and Mediterranean account for at least 80% of the cases. Our findings support the observation that G6PD Viangchan and Mahidol are common Southeast Asian variants. Their presence in the Malays suggests a common ancestral origin with the Cambodians, Laotians and Thais. Our findings together with other preliminary data on the presence of the Mediterranean variant in this region provide evidence of strong Arab influence in the Malay Archipelago. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Innovative Accounting Approach for environmental, energy and economic variables for Portuguese and Spanish sectors

The Iberian Peninsula is one of the European regions most affected by climate change (European Environmental Agency). Given the peculiarity of these two countries (Portugal and Spain) in the integration of the electricity market and on the similarity of energy and environmental policies adopted in both, it is relevant to study the relationship between variables such as CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and economic growth in the past and predict their relationship in the future. Panel VAR was implemented, including forecast error variance decomposition and impulse response functions, using data from 1975 to 2012 for selected economic sectors. It was noticed that as CO2 decreases, energy consumption decreases in the short-run, but economic activity increases, may be due to the mix of fossil fuels used in economic activity. Reducing energy consumption changes CO2 emissions with simultaneous change in technology used in energy resources. Results also reveal differences among the two countries.