Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral Nutritional Supplementation in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients — Does it Work?

157 Malnutrition and hypoalbuminemia, often used interchangeably, are the most important prognostic indicators in peritoneal dialysis (PD) populations (1). However, despite this knowledge, the prevalence of both remains high in this group as attempts to alleviate the problem has resulted in minimal success (2). The etiology of malnutrition and hypoalbuminemia appears to be multifactorial in nature, with poor oral intake being an important contributor (3,4). It would seem to make intuitive sense that malnourished patients with poor oral intake should improve with oral nutritional supplementation and, hence, it is commonly practiced; yet the few studies published to date on PD patients have shown mixed results (Table 1) (5–10). This limited body of literature includes two clinical studies by Teixidó-Planas et al. (8) and González-Espinoza et al. (9) published in this issue of Peritoneal Dialysis International. Both however, provide only moderate additional evidence for the use of oral supplements in PD. Teixidó-Planas et al. enrolled 65 incident PD patients and randomized them to 12 months of either a commercial supplement providing 20 g of protein per day or no supplement. At baseline, this cohort had relatively preserved serum albumin concentrations, with the intervention group and control group having a mean of 3.75 ± 0.42 g/dL and 3.87 ± 0.49 g/dL respectively. During the trial, 30% of subjects were lost to follow-up and more of the subjects were noncompliant. No significant increase in serum albumin could be demonstrated in either the “intention to treat” or the “as treated” analysis. González-Espinoza et al. randomized 30 PD patients into two groups and followed them for 6 months. Patients enrolled were significantly malnourished based upon the baseline mean serum albumin and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) scores. One group received an egg albumin-based protein supplement twice per day; the other group received no supplement. Both groups received otherwise standard care, including dietetic support. The authors discuss that the supplement they used was notable ORAL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATION IN PERITONEAL DIALYSIS PATIENTS — DOES IT WORK?
Genomic insight into the amino acid relations of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, with its symbiotic bacterium Buchnera aphidicola

The pea aphid genome includes 66 genes contributing to amino acid biosynthesis and 93 genes to amino acid degradation. In several respects, the pea aphid gene inventory complements that of its symbiotic bacterium, Buchnera aphidicola (Buchnera APS). Unlike other insects with completely sequenced genomes, the pea aphid lacks the capacity to synthesize arginine, which is produced by Buchnera APS. However, consistent with other insects, it has genes coding for individual reactions in essential amino acid biosynthesis, including threonine dehydratase and branched‐chain amino acid aminotransferase, which are not coded in the Buchnera APS genome. Overall the genome data suggest that the biosynthesis of certain essential amino acids is shared between the pea aphid and Buchnera APS, providing the opportunity for precise aphid control over Buchnera metabolism.
Determinants of self-reported health status in a population-based sample of persons with radiographic knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is highly prevalent and disabling. Patients with radiographic knee OA may experience pain and functional impairment, which can diminish their health status. Our objective was to determine factors associated with self-reported health status in a national population-based sample with radiographic knee OA. METHODS Our sample included all of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-III) participants who underwent a knee radiograph and were found to have radiographic OA (defined as Kellgren/Lawrence grade 2 or higher). Self-reported health status was determined by asking the participant to rate their overall health as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. Self-reported health status was analyzed as an ordinal variable using cumulative logit regression, as a dichotomous variable (excellent/very good/good versus fair/poor) using logistic regression, and as a continuous variable after transformation using linear regression. RESULTS A total of 1,021 (42%) of NHANES-III participants with a knee radiograph were included in this analysis. The multivariable analyses were performed on 1,009 (99%) of the eligible participants with complete data. We found that nonwhite race, lower income, more comorbidities, and greater functional limitation were associated with worse self-reported health status in all 3 multivariable analyses. CONCLUSION This study has quantified the role of clinical, radiographic, and socioeconomic factors associated with self-reported health status in a population-based sample of patients with knee OA. Self-reported health status in patients with knee OA was associated with functional status and comorbidity.
MAP kinase phosphorylation‐dependent activation of Elk‐1 leads to activation of the co‐activator p300

CBP/p300 recruitment to enhancer‐bound complexes is a key determinant in promoter activation by many transcription factors. We present a novel mechanism of activating such complexes and show that pre‐assembled Elk‐1–p300 complexes become activated following Elk‐1 phosphorylation by changes in Elk‐1–p300 interactions rather than recruitment. It is known that Elk‐1 binds to promoter in the absence of stimuli. However, it is unclear how activation of Elk‐1 by mitogen‐acivated protein kinase (MAPK)‐mediated phosphorylation leads to targeted gene transactivation. We show that Elk‐1 can interact with p300 in vitro and in vivo in the absence of a stimulus through the Elk‐1 C‐terminus and the p300 N‐terminus. Phosphorylation on Ser383 and Ser389 of Elk‐1 by MAPK enhances this basal binding but, most importantly, Elk‐1 exhibits new interactions with p300. These interaction changes render a strong histone acetyltransferase activity in the Elk‐1‐associated complex that could play a critical role in chromatin remodeling and gene activation. The pre‐assembly mechanism may greatly accelerate transcription activation, which is important in regulation of expression of immediate‐early response genes, in particular those involved in stress responses.
Evaluating the use of commercial drug-specific calibrators for determining PT and APTT reagent sensitivity to dabigatran and rivaroxaban

Summary Suitable laboratory methodologies for quantifying the non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOAC) include liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) or drug-calibrated assays such as the dilute thrombin time for dabigatran or anti-Xa measurements for rivaroxaban. In situations when these tests are unavailable, it has been suggested that using commercial drug calibrators on APTT and PT assays would theoretically provide reagent sensitivity to these drugs. The purpose of this study was to determine whether commercial drug calibrators deliver similar reagent sensitivity information as samples from patients receiving dabigatran or rivaroxaban as part of their routine care. Two laboratory sites tested commercial calibrator material for dabigatran and rivaroxaban (Hyphen Biomedical) using PT and APTT reagents and data was compared to samples collected from patients taking NOACs that were quantified by LC-MS/MS. Correlation statistics and calculating the amount of drug required to double the clotting time of normal plasma were performed. All drug calibrator material correlated more strongly (R2> 0.95) for any reagent/drug combination than patient samples (R2 ranged from 0.29–0.86). Dabigatran calibrator results and patient data were equivalent for SynthASil and PTT-A APTT reagents. The dabigatran and rivaroxaban calibrator material over-estimated drug sensitivity for all PT reagents when compared to sensitivity data calculated based on drug levels obtained by LC-MS/MS from patient samples. In conclusion, drug-specific calibrators overestimated reagent sensitivity which may underestimate in vivo drug concentration in a given patient. Further studies are required to assess whether this method of determining relative sensitivity of NOAC on routine coagulation assays should be recommended.
Alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer in Japanese men: the Miyagi cohort study

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between alcohol consumption and the risk of total cancer, and to estimate the proportion of total cancer attributable to drinking habit in Japanese men. From June through August 1990, a total of 21 201 Japanese men completed a self-administered questionnaire on various health habits, including alcohol consumption. During 153 389 person-years of follow-up through December 1997, we identified a total of 882 cases of cancer. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the relative risk of total cancer according to categories of alcohol consumption. The risk for total cancer was significantly higher in ex-drinkers than never-drinkers. There was a dose–response relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the risk of total cancer among current drinkers: multivariate RRs in reference to never-drinkers (95% confidence intervals (CI)) were 1.1 (0.8–1.3), 1.3 (1.0–1.7), and 1.3 (1.1–1.7) in current drinkers who consumed less than 22.8 g, 22.8–45.5 g, 45.6 g or more alcohol per day, respectively (P for trend <0.001). Estimated 17.9% (95% CI 3.1–30.5) of total cancer risk was attributable to drinking habit. In our findings, approximately 20% of the total cancer cases in Japanese men may be prevented by alcohol control.
Causal Pathways for Temperature Predictability from Snow Depth

AbstractDynamical subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) weather forecasting has made strides in recent years, thanks partly to better initialization and representation of physical variables in models. For instance, realistic initializations of snow and soil moisture in models yield enhanced temperature predictability on S2S time scales. Snow depth and soil moisture also mediate month-to-month persistence of near-surface air temperature. Here the role of snow depth as predictor of temperature one month ahead in the Northern Hemisphere is examined via two causal pathways. Through the first pathway, snow depth anomalies in month 1 persist into month 2 and are then linked to temperature anomalies through snow–temperature feedback mechanisms. The first pathway is active from fall to summer, and its effect peaks before the melting season: in winter in the low latitudes, in spring in the midlatitudes, and in early summer in the high latitudes. The second pathway, where snow depth anomalies in month 1 lead to soil moistu.
Diagnostic pathology of lymphoproliferative disorders

Summary The last 20 years have seen a dramatic change in the way we classify, and therefore diagnose, lymphoma. Two decades ago, the International Working Formulation enabled diagnosis and management on the basis of H&E sections alone, with no mandatory requirement for immunophenotyping, molecular studies or any other ancillary investigations. The concept of categorisation by ‘clinicopathological entities’ defined by clinical features, morphology, immunophenotype and more recently, genotype, began with the Kiel, and Lukes and Collins classifications in the late 1970s, becoming fully expressed in the REAL and subsequently WHO classifications. The current, multidisciplinary approach to categorisation adds significantly to the task facing the anatomical pathologist, since it requires distribution of biopsy material to all the appropriate specialised laboratories, the gathering of a range of cross‐disciplinary information, the correlation of all diagnostic findings, deduction of a definitive diagnosis and, finally, integration of all the above into a single multi‐parameter report. In this review, we summarise the contemporary approach to the biopsy, diagnosis and reporting of lymphoproliferative disorders.Abbreviations: DLBCL, diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma; FCM, flow cytometry; FL, follicular lymphoma; FLIPI, Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index; FNA, fine‐needle aspiration; HL, Hodgkin lymphoma; IPI, International Prognostic Index; LPD, lymphoproliferative disorders; NCB, needle core biopsy; NHL, non‐Hodgkin lymphoma; PI, proliferative index.
Simultaneous exploration of optimal datapath and loop based high level transformation during area-delay tradeoff in architectural synthesis using swarm intelligence

This paper presents the first transformation methodology of a swarm intelligence algorithm into design space exploration (DSE) of optimal datapath and unrolling factor during area-performance tradeoff in high level synthesis (HLS). To the best of the authors’ belief, in the literature, the above transformation has not been performed so far for developing a fully automated integrated exploration methodology of optimal datapath and unrolling factor. DSE problem being intractable and complex in the presence of auxiliary variable such as loop unrolling factor requires administration of intelligent decision making strategies at multiple stages to yield optimal results. The major sub-contributions of this proposed algorithm includes: a) Deriving a model for execution delay computation of a loop unrolled control data flow graph (CDFG) based on available resources, b) handling area-execution delay tradeoff during our integrated DSE process; c) Sensitivity analysis of particle swarm optimization (PSO) parameters used in assisting the designer in pre-tuning the baseline parameters during final area-performance tradeoff. Results of the proposed approach indicated an average improvement in Quality of Results (QoR) of > 23% and reduction in runtime of > 92% compared to recent approaches.
The RF Potential of High-performance 100nm CMOS Technology

We have investigated the RF potential of 100nm CMOS technology. A high cut-off frequency of 140 GHz for 80nm (actual gate length) NMOS devices was achieved. Combining on wafer measurements with the compact model MOS model 11, we demonstrate that an fmax of 320GHz is achievable on scaled NMOS devices.
A comparison of five serological tests for bovine brucellosis.

Five serological assays: the buffered plate antigen test, the standard tube agglutination test, the complement fixation test, the hemolysis-in-gel test and the indirect enzyme immunoassay were diagnostically evaluated. Test data consisted of results from 1208 cattle in brucellosis-free herds, 1578 cattle in reactor herds of unknown infection status and 174 cattle from which Brucella abortus had been cultured. The complement fixation test had the highest specificity in both nonvaccinated and vaccinated cattle. The indirect enzyme immunoassay, if interpreted at a high threshold, also exhibited a high specificity in both groups of cattle. The hemolysis-in-gel test had a very high specificity when used in nonvaccinated cattle but quite a low specificity among vaccinates. With the exception of the complement fixation test, all tests had high sensitivities if interpreted at the minimum threshold. However, the sensitivities of the standard tube agglutination test and indirect enzyme immunoassay, when interpreted at high thresholds were comparable to that of the complement fixation test. A kappa statistic was used to measure the agreement between the various tests. In general the kappa statistics were quite low, suggesting that the various tests may detect different antibody isotypes. There was however, good agreement between the buffered plate antigen test and standard tube agglutination test (the two agglutination tests evaluated) and between the complement fixation test and the indirect enzyme immunoassay when interpreted at a high threshold. With the exception of the buffered plate antigen test, all tests were evaluated as confirmatory tests by estimating their specificity and sensitivity on screening-test positive samples. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Are our medical graduates in New Zealand safe and accurate in ECG interpretation?

AIM We aimed to assess the skills of final year medical students and resident medical officers in recognising and interpreting important common or life-threatening abnormalities in the electrocardiogram (ECG). METHODS 102 participants at two study sites (52 of whom were final year medical students) attempted to determine the heart rate and rhythm and identify and interpret any abnormalities present in 15 ECGs in a 30-minute time period. RESULTS Accurate determination of heart rate was poor, ranging from 0% to 89% correct across the 15 ECGs. Normal sinus rhythm in 8 ECGs was identified 81% to 95% of the time, and ventricular tachycardia was identified by 98% of participants. Atrial fibrillation (55%), second degree heart block (19%) and ventricular pacing (9%) were not well identified. Four ECGs showed acute ischaemic ST segment changes, and these were correctly identified in 87% to 93% of cases, although interpretation of these abnormalities was less accurate. Long QT interval (7%) and pre-excitation (WPW pattern, 11%) were not well recognised. Nearly half of the participants rated their ability to interpret ECGs as less than satisfactory while just over half rated the ECG teaching they had received as less than satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS Overall study participants did not achieve what we would consider an adequate standard in recognising and interpreting important common or life-threatening abnormalities in the ECG. To address this we need to define minimum standards in ECG interpretation, to improve our teaching to meet these standards, and to assess our graduates against these.
Whether and How Virtual Try-On Influences Consumer Responses to an Apparel Web Site

Lack of direct experiential information is part of the explanation as to why only a small portion of apparel sales are performed online. To alleviate this problem, there are several forms of virtual experience that assist consumers in evaluating apparel online. Particularly significant among such virtual experiences are those facilitated by image interactivity technology (IIT). This paper focuses on one form of IIT, the "virtual try-on" (VTO), and analyzes whether and, if so, how using a virtual 3D model to try on clothes influences cognitive, affective, and conative responses to a retail Web site. Our comparison of personalized VTO with nonpersonalized VTO and mix-and-match technology in a laboratory-controlled environment shows that VTO does not lead to greater influence over consumer responses per se. We underline the utmost importance of model self-congruity and body esteem in increasing the impact of VTO on these responses. Hence, apparel Web sites proposing VTO, as well as companies providing these solutions, should focus on ways to efficiently maximize the perceived resemblance between the consumer and the model. By introducing body-related constructs such as body esteem and perceived model self-congruity, this study augments prior research on IIT by proposing and validating the underlying mechanism by which VTO influences consumer responses.
Erosion processes alter water quality in a stream within a small catchment in the Upper Lusatia Region in Saxony

This paper focuses on consequences of erosion processes on the water quality in a small catchment mainly used for agriculture. Due to the silty soils with small infiltration capacity and some steep slopes, much suspended sediment is carried with the surface runoff into the river. To gain detailed knowledge about the dynamic of suspended particle concentration in the stream, particularly the intensity and the duration of the pollution, continual measurements of turbidity and conductivity have been done. Additionally water samples have been automatically taken regulated by the streamflow and have been analysed in the lab to determine the particle concentration and some dissolved chemical substances such as nitrate and heavy metals. From those measurements a regression between turbidity and suspended particle concentration was derived as basis to calculate suspended load. Results showed a typical hysteresis with bigger particles being transported within the fast rising limb than in the falling limb of the flood waves. Moreover, it was also found, that nitrate concentration was lower during the summer and early autumn than in spring with the same discharge.
Dietary fish and evening primrose oil with vitamin E effects on semen variables in cockerels

1. Our aim was to determine the effect of n-3 (2%, wt/wt, fish oil rich diet) and n-6 (2%, wt/wt, evening primrose oil rich diet) fatty acid dietary supplementation and their combination with two concentrations of vitamin E (40 vs 200 mg/kg) on semen variables and on fatty acid and vitamin E profiles of spermatozoa in broiler breeders at 32, 42 and 52 weeks of age. 2. The inclusion of fish oil in the cockerel diets increased the docosahexaenoic acid proportion in the sperm phospholipid fraction, which was almost threefold higher compared to the other two groups irrespective of vitamin E supplementation. 3. In contrast, an increase in the proportion of total n-6 polyunsaturates, mainly 22:4n-6, was observed in the evening primrose oil group compared to the control only when the dietary content of vitamin E was increased to 200 mg/kg. 4. Sperm concentration was decreased in the fish and evening primrose oil groups if vitamin E was 40 mg/kg, but such an effect was prevented in the fish, not the evening primrose oil group, by increasing the vitamin E to 200 mg. 5. The proportion of motile spermatozoa was improved by the increased supplementation of vitamin E in all oil treatments.
Surgical procedures among those greater than or equal to 90 years of age. A population-based study in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1975-1985.

Persons greater than or equal to 90 years of age represent a rapidly growing subset of the population, but little data exist on their utilization of the health care system. Population-based data capabilities of the Rochester/Olmsted County Epidemiology Project were used to study the performance of surgery among persons greater than or equal to 90 years of age for the 11-year period, 1975-1985. During this time, 224 residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota underwent 301 separate operations. The annual operation rate increased over the course of the study (trend test, p less than 0.001), reaching a plateau of 89.0 per 1000 person-years. This suggests a potential for nearly 91,000 operations annually in this age group based on 1987 U.S. Census estimates. Ninety-two per cent were discharged from the hospital alive, and 5-year survival was consistent with that expected (23% vs. 17%). Increased longevity of the general population, combined with increased performance of surgery in this rapidly growing segment of the population, may have significant implications for health care planning.
Pralatrexate, a novel class of antifol with high affinity for the reduced folate carrier‐type 1, produces marked complete and durable remissions in a diversity of chemotherapy refractory cases of T‐cell lymphoma

T‐cell lymphomas (TCLs) are characterised by poor responses to therapy with brief durations of remissions. An early phase study of pralatrexate has demonstrated dramatic activity in patients with relapsed/refractory disease. Of the first 20 lymphoma patients treated, 16 had B‐cell lymphoma and four had refractory aggressive TCL. All four patients with TCL achieved a complete remission. Patients with B‐cell lymphoma achieved stable disease at best. For each TCL patient, the response was more durable than their best response with chemotherapy. This early experience is the first to document this unique activity of pralatrexate in TCL.