Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Renal, thyroid and parathyroid function during lithium treatment: laboratory tests in 207 people treated for 1–30 years

A total of 207 patients (diagnoses revised according to DSM‐HI‐R) attended our outpatient clinic and were treated with lithium for 1–30 years. They were subjected to conventional renal, thyroid and parathyroid function tests. With increasing treatment duration, the renal tests showed only moderate deviations from expected reference values. No patient developed renal insufficiency. Oversubstitution (thyrotropin ≤0.1 mU/l) was suspected in 25% of the patients on thyroxine. Cross‐sectionally unrecognized hypothyroidism was found in 6% of the patients. Elevated ionized serum calcium was found in 25% and elevated serum intact parathyroid hormone in 23% of the patients.
Health care systems in transition III. Pakistan, Part II. Pakistan's response to HIV-AIDS.

As a developing country exposed to many of the factors that promote the transmission of HIV and by virtue of its geographic location Pakistan faces the threat of a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic. Initially the epidemic established itself among people involved in high-risk behaviors including patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) injecting drug users blood and blood product recipients commercial sex workers long-distance drivers immigrant workers and migrant population subgroups. However evidence exists that the epidemic has already spread from the core groups to the general population. To come to terms with a potentially serious situation a broad spectrum of initiatives has been implemented to contain the HIV epidemic and its related consequences. These include information education and communication campaigns; blood safety measures; provision of laboratory facilities for HIV diagnosis; training activities for clinical management; and prevention treatment and care through STD programs.
Lack of Effect of Influenza Vaccine on Theophylline Levels and Warfarin Anticoagulation in the Elderly

Steady state theophylline concentrations were prospectively measured in 13 elderly institutionalized individuals following influenza vaccination. Vaccine‐mediated increase in concentrations could not be identified. In seven individuals receiving warfarin, no change in prothrombin or partial thromboplastin times occurred following vaccination. No adverse drug reactions were observed. The following year 14 individuals receiving theophylline and 12 receiving warfarin were vaccinated without adverse drug reactions noticed. These data fail to support previous reports of influenza vaccine inhibition of theophylline metabolism or vaccine‐enhanced anticoagulation and are consistent with recent reports on younger subjects.
Analysis of Architecture Effect on Hysteretic Behavior of 3-D Spin Crossover Nanostructures

We have analyzed the hysteretic properties of thermal and pressure induced low spin (LS)↔high spin (HS) phase transition of a 3-D spin crossover (SCO) nanostructure when the cluster architecture is progressively changed from a cubic to a thin film. For solving the 3-D Ising-like Hamiltonian, the Monte Carlo metropolis technique is used, with the edge molecules trapped in HS state. The role of short- and long-range interactions on the SCO cooperativity has been investigated as well. The obtained results show that the cooperativity of a 3-D SCO system, characterized by the same number of molecules and the same interactions strength are strongly affected when going from a cubic 3-D to thin-film architecture. These results are discussed in terms of surface effects.
The oculo‐emetic reflex

Data related to the incidence of postoperative vomiting were collected during prospective studies on 607 ophthafmic surgical patients of all ages who underwent halothane anaesthesia with spontaneous ventilation. Analysis of data in respect of age, sex and surgical site variables, and time of onset of vomiting, identified a female sex‐related vomiting incidence of about 13% and a squint‐related vomiting incidence of about 41%; no relationship between age and vomiting was identified. The analyses showed that squint surgery predisposed particularly to emesis, and was associated with a high incidence of both early and delayed vomiting. It is suggested that the apparent absence of an age‐vomiting relationship in ocular, and especially squint, surgery, and the high incidence of vomiting, particularly the early vomiting associated only with squint surgery, provide clinical evidence for the existence of an oculoemetic rejex. Our observations show that intra‐ and postoperative surgical stimulation of this oculoemetic repex is rejected in the incidences of vomiting after ocular surgery.
Relationship between the level of fasting plasma glucose and beta cell functions in Chinese with or without diabetes.

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by a progressive loss of beta cell functions. However, the evaluation of beta cell functions is either expensive or inconvenient for clinical practice. We aimed to elucidate the association between the changes of insulin responsiveness and the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) during the development of diabetes. METHODS A total of 1192 Chinese individuals with normal blood glucose or hyperglycemia were enrolled for the analysis. The early insulinogenic index (DeltaI30/DeltaG30), the area under the curve of insulin (AUC-I), and homeostasis model assessment were applied to evaluate the early phase secretion, total insulin secretion, and insulin resistance respectively. Polynomial regression analysis was performed to estimate the fluctuation of beta cell functions. RESULTS The DeltaI30/DeltaG30 decreased much more rapidly than the AUC-I accompanying with the elevation of FPG. At the FPG of 110 mg/dl (a pre-diabetic stage), the DeltaI30/DeltaG30 lost 50% of its maximum while the AUC-I was still at a compensated normal level. The AUC-I exhibited abnormal and decreased gradually at the FPG of from 130 mg/dl to higher (overt diabetes), while the DeltaI30/DeltaG30 almost remained at 25% of its maximum value. When hyperglycemia continuously existed at > 180 mg/dl, both the DeltaI30/DeltaG30 and AUC-I were totally lost. CONCLUSION The increased fasting plasma glucose reflects progressive decompensation of beta cell functions, and could be used to guide the strategy of clinical treatments.
Incidence and risk factors associated with exertional rhabdomyolysis syndrome in National Hunt racehorses in Great Britain

A telephone survey of 51 National Hunt racing yards with 1140 horses in training was made in April and May 2003 to establish the incidence of exertional rhabdomyolysis syndrome during the previous year. A case-control study was used to investigate the risk factors for the syndrome in eight yards selected on the basis that cases had been confirmed by the analysis of serum muscle enzymes. The overall incidence of syndrome was 6.1 cases per 100 horses per year, and 55 per cent of the yards reported at least one case. The risk factors identified were sex, the average length of the training gallop, and the type of horse (steeplechaser, bumper/unraced or hurdler). There were no significant associations with the horses' temperament, age or Timeform rating.
Foreign DNA Integration—Perturbations of the Genome—Oncogenesis

Abstract: We have been interested in the consequences of foreign DNA insertion into established mammalian genomes and have initially studied this problem in adenovirus type 12 (Ad12)‐transformed cells or in Ad12‐induced hamster tumors. Since integrates are frequently methylated de novo, it appears that they might be modified by an ancient defense mechanism against foreign DNA. In cells transgenic for the DNA of Ad12 or for the DNA of bacteriophage λ, changes in cellular methylation and transcription patterns have been observed. Thus, the insertion of foreign DNA can have important functional consequences that are not limited to the site of foreign DNA insertion. These findings appear to be relevant also for tumor biology and for the interpretation of data derived from experiments with transgenic organisms. For most animals, the main portal of entry for foreign DNA is the gastrointestinal tract. Large amounts of foreign DNA are regularly ingested with the supply of nutrients. Starting in 1987/1988, we have been investigating the fate of orally administered foreign DNA in mice. Naked DNA of bacteriophage M13 and the cloned gene for the green fluorescent protein (GFP) of Aequorea victoria have been used as test molecules. Moreover, the plant‐specific gene for the ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase (rubisco) has been followed in mice after feeding soybean leaves. At least transiently, food‐ingested DNA can be traced to different organs and, after transplacental transfer, to fetuses and newborns. There is no evidence for germ line transmission or for the expression of orally administered GFP DNA.
Deficits in communication and information transfer between hospital-based and primary care physicians: implications for patient safety and continuity of care.

CONTEXT Delayed or inaccurate communication between hospital-based and primary care physicians at hospital discharge may negatively affect continuity of care and contribute to adverse events. OBJECTIVES To characterize the prevalence of deficits in communication and information transfer at hospital discharge and to identify interventions to improve this process. DATA SOURCES MEDLINE (through November 2006), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and hand search of article bibliographies. STUDY SELECTION Observational studies investigating communication and information transfer at hospital discharge (n = 55) and controlled studies evaluating the efficacy of interventions to improve information transfer (n = 18). DATA EXTRACTION Data from observational studies were extracted on the availability, timeliness, content, and format of discharge communications, as well as primary care physician satisfaction. Results of interventions were summarized by their effect on timeliness, accuracy, completeness, and overall quality of the information transfer. DATA SYNTHESIS Direct communication between hospital physicians and primary care physicians occurred infrequently (3%-20%). The availability of a discharge summary at the first postdischarge visit was low (12%-34%) and remained poor at 4 weeks (51%-77%), affecting the quality of care in approximately 25% of follow-up visits and contributing to primary care physician dissatisfaction. Discharge summaries often lacked important information such as diagnostic test results (missing from 33%-63%), treatment or hospital course (7%-22%), discharge medications (2%-40%), test results pending at discharge (65%), patient or family counseling (90%-92%), and follow-up plans (2%-43%). Several interventions, including computer-generated discharge summaries and using patients as couriers, shortened the delivery time of discharge communications. Use of standardized formats to highlight the most pertinent information improved the perceived quality of documents. CONCLUSIONS Deficits in communication and information transfer at hospital discharge are common and may adversely affect patient care. Interventions such as computer-generated summaries and standardized formats may facilitate more timely transfer of pertinent patient information to primary care physicians and make discharge summaries more consistently available during follow-up care.
Situated and Interactive Multimodal Conversations

Next generation virtual assistants are envisioned to handle multimodal inputs (e.g., vision, memories of previous interactions, and the user’s utterances), and perform multimodal actions (, displaying a route while generating the system’s utterance). We introduce Situated Interactive MultiModal Conversations (SIMMC) as a new direction aimed at training agents that take multimodal actions grounded in a co-evolving multimodal input context in addition to the dialog history. We provide two SIMMC datasets totalling ~13K human-human dialogs (~169K utterances) collected using a multimodal Wizard-of-Oz (WoZ) setup, on two shopping domains: (a) furniture – grounded in a shared virtual environment; and (b) fashion – grounded in an evolving set of images. Datasets include multimodal context of the items appearing in each scene, and contextual NLU, NLG and coreference annotations using a novel and unified framework of SIMMC conversational acts for both user and assistant utterances. Finally, we present several tasks within SIMMC as objective evaluation protocols, such as structural API prediction, response generation, and dialog state tracking. We benchmark a collection of existing models on these SIMMC tasks as strong baselines, and demonstrate rich multimodal conversational interactions. Our data, annotations, and models will be made publicly available.
Novel target antigens for dendritic cell-based immunotherapy against ovarian cancer

Identification of tumor-specific target antigens has been a major hurdlefor the treatment of malignant disease by vaccination or immunotherapy. A second challenge has been the induction of therapeutically effective immune responses to these ‘self’ antigens. The recent recognition of dendritic cells as powerful antigen-presenting cells capable of inducing primary T-cell responses in vitro and in vivo – in combination with identification of tumor-specific antigens – has generated widespread interest in dendritic cell-based immunotherapy against a wide variety of tumors. In this review, a series of recently identified novel ovarian tumor antigens is discussed, and the potential for therapeutic dendritic cell vaccination targeted against these antigens is assessed.
The expanding role of tranexamic acid in the management of obstetric hemorrhage.

Reducing mortality and morbidity in obstetric patients presents challenges at each end of the coagulation spectrum. The greatest cause of maternal mortality worldwide is from hemorrhage, and yet women also die in large numbers from peripartum pulmonary embolism (1). Pharmacologic manipulation of the coagulation cascade, including the use of the antifbrinolytic tranexamic acid, has become an important part of reducing hemorrhage risk in cardiac, trauma, and orthopedic patients (2), and will now likely become a more common practice in obstetric management with the recent publication of the World Maternal Antifibrinolytic (WOMAN) trial (3).
The Human Papillomavirus Type 16 E6 Oncoprotein Activates mTORC1 Signaling and Increases Protein Synthesis

ABSTRACT The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase acts as a cellular rheostat that integrates signals from a variety of cellular signal transduction pathways that sense growth factor and nutrient availability as well as intracellular energy status. It was previously reported that the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) E6 oncoprotein may activate the S6 protein kinase (S6K) through binding and E6AP-mediated degradation of the mTOR inhibitor tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2) (Z. Lu, X. Hu, Y. Li, L. Zheng, Y. Zhou, H. Jiang, T. Ning, Z. Basang, C. Zhang, and Y. Ke, J. Biol. Chem. 279:35664-35670, 2004; L. Zheng, H. Ding, Z. Lu, Y. Li, Y. Pan, T. Ning, and Y. Ke, Genes Cells 13:285-294, 2008). Our results confirmed that HPV16 E6 expression causes an increase in mTORC1 activity through enhanced phosphorylation of mTOR and activation of downstream signaling pathways S6K and eukaryotic initiation factor binding protein 1 (4E-BP1). However, we did not detect a decrease in TSC2 levels in HPV16 E6-expressing cells. We discovered, however, that HPV16 E6 expression causes AKT activation through the upstream kinases PDK1 and mTORC2 under conditions of nutrient deprivation. We show that HPV16 E6 expression causes an increase in protein synthesis by enhancing translation initiation complex assembly at the 5′ mRNA cap and an increase in cap-dependent translation. The increase in cap-dependent translation likely results from HPV16 E6-induced AKT/mTORC1 activation, as the assembly of the translation initiation complex and cap-dependent translation are rapamycin sensitive. Lastly, coexpression of the HPV16 E6 and E7 oncoproteins does not affect HPV16 E6-induced activation of mTORC1 and cap-dependent translation. HPV16 E6-mediated activation of mTORC1 signaling and cap-dependent translation may be a mechanism to promote viral replication under conditions of limited nutrient supply in differentiated, HPV oncoprotein-expressing proliferating cells.
Trait anxiety modulates the electrophysiological indices of rapid spatial orienting towards angry faces

We investigated the electrophysiological markers of attentional bias for threat in anxiety. Low-anxiety and high-anxiety individuals performed a spatial-cueing task, in which an emotional facial expression (angry or happy) was presented alongside a neutral expression. Results revealed that angry expressions elicited an enhanced N2pc component, but that this was true only for those reporting high levels of trait anxiety. These results confirm the early capture of spatial attention by threat-related stimuli, and demonstrate that this early bias is modulated by trait anxiety. Enhanced P1 amplitudes to targets after presentations of angry expressions were also found; however, this effect was not modulated by trait anxiety levels. Our findings indicate that individual differences in temperament are an important determinant of the early neural response to threat.
Flow organization in laterally unconfined Rayleigh-B\'enard turbulence

We investigate the large-scale circulation (LSC) of turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection in a large box of aspect ratio $\Gamma =32$ for Rayleigh numbers up to $Ra=10^9$ and at a fixed Prandtl number $Pr=1$. A conditional averaging technique allows us to extract statistics of the LSC even though the number and the orientation of the structures vary throughout the domain. We find that various properties of the LSC obtained here, such as the wall-shear stress distribution, the boundary layer thicknesses and the wind Reynolds number, do not differ significantly from results in confined domains ($\Gamma \approx 1$). This is remarkable given that the size of the structures (as measured by the width of a single convection roll) more than doubles at the highest $Ra$ as the confinement is removed. An extrapolation towards the critical shear Reynolds number of $Re_s^{\textrm{crit}} \approx 420$, at which the boundary layer (BL) typically becomes turbulent, predicts that the transition to the ultimate regime is expected at $Ra_{\textrm{crit}} \approx \mathcal{O}(10^{15})$ in unconfined geometries. This result is in line with the Gottingen experimental observations. Furthermore, we confirm that the local heat transport close to the wall is highest in the plume impacting region, where the thermal BL is thinnest, and lowest in the plume emitting region, where the thermal BL is thickest. This trend, however, weakens with increasing $Ra$.
Longitudinal study of veterinary students and veterinarians: effects of growing up on a farm with animals.

OBJECTIVE To compare the career paths of veterinarians who had grown up on farms with animals with those of veterinarians from other backgrounds, during the first 15 years after they graduated. PROCEDURE Questionnaires were completed by veterinary students in their first and fifth year, and after 1, 5, 10 and 15 years after they graduated. The most recent questionnaires were returned by 134 of 137 graduates, 20% of whom had grown up, or lived for at least two years, on farms where animals were a primary source of income. This paper includes findings from that questionnaire but also contains comparisons with previous ones. RESULTS Fifteen years after they graduated, veterinarians who had grown up on farms with animals were more likely than those of other backgrounds to be living in centres with < 10,000 people (58% farm, 20% other), irrespective of the type of work they were doing. Although they were more likely to be doing no veterinary work (42% farm, 21% other), they were also more likely to be working in mixed practice (15% farm, 9% other) and with cattle and sheep generally (11% full time equivalent farm, 5% full time equivalent other). However, > 80% of those who had started their careers in mixed practice were no longer in mixed practice after 15 years. Veterinarians of farm origin who were in private practice were more likely to be sole or part owners (93% farm, 46% other) and less likely to be employees (7% farm, 54% other). CONCLUSIONS In this study, veterinarians who had grown up on farms with animals seemed slightly more likely than those from other backgrounds to continue working in mixed practice and to work with cattle or sheep, although the numbers were small and the differences not significant. Whatever their background, the majority who started their careers in mixed practice left over the next few years, and by 15 years only 15% remained.
Predicting Switching Behaviour of e-Service Users toward m-Services: An Empirical Investigation

Although M-services have gained remarkable attention, recent advancements in mobile computing are competing against raised expectations. Little attention in the current literature has been given to the expectations of cost and benefits to determine switching behaviour towards M-services. Drawing upon prior theories of switching behaviour, the current research investigates the switching factors (inhibitors, enablers and social and personality aspects) by empirically examining a proposed research model using structural equation model (SEM) techniques. In order to examine the model, a survey data set of seven hundred and fifty (n=750) responses was collected by means of an online questionnaire in Saudi Arabia. Results, herein, indicate that intention to switch to M-services can be predicted by expected switching cost (ESC), expected switching benefits (ESB), social influence (SI) and personal innovativeness (PI). Two groups consisting of three switching inhibitors and three switching enablers were demonstrated to be antecedents of the ESC and ESB respectively. All proposed relationships within the research model have been supported by empirical data.
Correlation between left ventricular mass and urinary sodium excretion in specific genotypes of CYP11B2

Background Aldosterone has essential roles in regulating intravascular volume and blood pressure, and is suggested to influence cardiac structure. However, the association of polymorphisms in the aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2) with hypertension or cardiac hypertrophy remains controversial. Objective To evaluate the distribution of polymorphisms in the CYP11B2 gene and the possible associations between genotypes and blood pressure, urinary excretion of aldosterone or electrolytes and echocardiographic measurements, in a Japanese population. Methods and results We examined the association of two common diallelic polymorphisms within CYP11B2, one in the promoter −344T/C and the other an intron 2 gene conversion, with blood pressure, 24-h urinary excretion of aldosterone and electrolytes, and echocardiographic measurements, in a Japanese population. We confirmed significant linkage disequilibrium between these polymorphic loci and ethnic differences in frequency of the alleles. The −344C and −344T haplotypes apparently diverged before the intron conversion polymorphism was generated on the latter haplotype. Allele frequencies did not differ between 535 normotensive and 360 hypertensive individuals or between hypertensive individuals with higher and lower concentrations of renin. The only significant correlation was a positive correlation of left ventricular mass with 24-h urinary excretion of sodium, which occurred only in individuals with the −344CC genotype or the intron 2 conversion (−/−) genotype. Conclusions The −344CC or intron 2 conversion (−/−) genotype in CYP11B2 may be a risk factor for developing sodium-sensitive cardiac hypertrophy. Ethnic differences in the distribution of CYP11B2 genotypes combined with differences in salt intake might account for inconsistencies between previous reports.