Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increase of circulating CXCL9 and CXCL11 associated with euthyroid or subclinically hypothyroid autoimmune thyroiditis.

CONTEXT Recently, CXCL9 and CXCL11 have been shown to be involved in autoimmune thyroid disorders; however, no data are present about CXCL9 and CXCL11 circulating levels in thyroid autoimmunity. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to evaluate circulating CXCL9 and CXCL11 in autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT). DESIGN AND PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Serum CXCL9 and CXCL11 have been measured in 141 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed AIT (AIT-p), 70 euthyroid controls, and 35 patients with nontoxic multinodular thyroid. The three groups were similar in gender distribution and age; among the AIT-p, 26% had subclinical hypothyroidism. RESULTS Serum CXCL9 and CXCL11 levels were significantly (P < 0.0001 for both) higher in AIT-p (143 ± 164 and 121 ± 63 pg/ml, respectively) than in controls (68 ± 37 and 65 ± 19 pg/ml, respectively) or patients with multinodular thyroid (87 ± 43 and 71 ± 20 pg/ml, respectively). Among AIT-p, CXCL9 and CXCL11 levels were significantly higher in patients older than 50 yr or those with a hypoechoic ultrasonographic pattern or with hypothyroidism. In a multiple linear regression model including age, thyroid volume, hypoechogenicity, hypervascularity, TSH, anti-thyroglobulin, and anti-thyroid peroxidase, only age and TSH were significantly (P < 0.05) related to serum CXCL9 or CXCL11 levels. In a multiple linear regression model of CXCL9 vs. age, TSH, and CXCL11, TSH (P = 0.032) and CXCL11 (P = 0.001) were significantly and independently related to CXCL9. CONCLUSIONS We first show that circulating CXCL9 and CXCL11 are increased in patients with thyroiditis and hypothyroidism and are related to each other. These results underline the importance of a Th1 immune attack in the initiation of AIT.
Preliminary Results on Efficacy in Closure of Transsphincteric and Rectovaginal Fistulas Associated With Crohn's Disease Using New Biomaterials

Background and aims: it was the aim of this prospective study to analyze the efficacy of the Surgisis® AFP™ anal fistula plug and the Surgisis® mesh for the closure of complex fistulas in Crohn`s disease. Methods: All patients with perianal Crohn's disease suffering from transsphincteric and rectovaginal fistulas who underwent surgery using the Surgisis® anal fistula plug or the Surgisis® mesh were prospectively enrolled in this study. Inclusion criteria included transsphincteric single-tract fistulas and rectovaginal fistulas. Surgery was performed using a standardized technique, including irrigation of the fistula tract, placement and internal fixation of the Surgisis® anal fistula plug, and combined transanal/transvaginal excision of rectovaginal fistula with transvaginal placement of the mesh. Success was defined as closure of both internal and external (perianal or vaginal) openings, absence of drainage without further intervention, and absence of abscess formation. Follow-up information was obtained from clinical examination 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postoperatively. Results: Within the observation period, a total of 16 procedures were performed. After a mean follow-up of 9 months and 1 patient lost to follow-up, the overall success rate was 75%. For transsphincteric fistulas, the success rate was 77%, whereas it was 66% in rectovaginal fistulas associated with Crohn's disease. All 4 patients with failure had reoperation. Rate of stoma reversal in those patients who had fecal diversion was 66%. No deterioration of continence was documented. Conclusion: The short-term success rates are promising. Further analysis is needed to explain the definite role of this technique in comparison with traditional surgical techniques.
Genetic Testing for Warfarin Therapy Initiation

Objective To review the literature regarding the efficacy of genetic testing for determining the appropriate initial dose of warfarin and the effect that this testing has on the safety and efficacy of therapy. Data Sources: Searches of MEDLINE (1966–May 2008) and Cochrane Database (1993–May 2008) were conducted using the search terms warfarin, anticoagulation, pharmacogenomics, pharmacogenetics, CYP2C9, VKORC1, and interindividual variability. Limits included articles written in English with human subjects. Additional data were identified through bibliographic reviews. Study Selection And Data Extraction: All English-language articles identified from the data sources were evaluated. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they evaluated the efficacy of pharmacogenomic testing to improve outcomes with initiation of warfarin therapy. Data Synthesis: The use of warfarin presents numerous challenges in clinical practice. Four studies (N = 38, 48, 200, 297) evaluating the efficacy of genetic testing for determining the initial dose of warfarin therapy have been published. Results show that time to therapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) and time to stable warfarin dose are similar regardless of genotype. When conventional warfarin dosing was compared with pharmacogenomic-based dosing, no significant difference was seen between groups in terms of time spent within the target INR range (41.5% vs 41.7%; no p value reported). Similar results were found in a subsequent study in which patients receiving conventional dosing were outside their target INR range 33.1% of the time compared with 30.7% of the lime for patients whose dose was guided by pharmacogenomics (p = 0.47). Conclusions: There is growing evidence that variant alleles for CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genotypes account for a proportion of the variability seen in warfarin dosing. The currently available literature related to the use of pharmacogenomic testing in the initiation of warfarin therapy does not show improved outcomes in either safety or efficacy with warfarin therapy and therefore does not support the routine use of pharmacogenomic testing when initiating warfarin therapy.
Renal Development and Neonatal Adaptation

Abstract The structural and functional development of the kidney is responsible for a significant impact on postnatal adaptation to extrauterine life. Prenatal or neonatal impairment of nephrogenesis may carry long term, lifelong consequences in terms of reduced nephron endowment, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular risks at adulthood. Intrauterine growth restriction, preterm birth, congenital renal, and urinary tract anomalies are for long widely incriminated. Neonatal administration of nephrotoxic drugs has been associated with short-term acute kidney injury and longer chronic kidney disease. This review attempts at offering a comprehensive understanding of the renal development, the neonatal renal transition to extrauterine life and subsequent maturation phase during early infancy. It also focuses on developmental and maturational changes that impact lifelong renal function and adult health.
RAD51 overexpression is a negative prognostic marker for colorectal adenocarcinoma

RAD51 is the central protein in the homologous recombination pathway and is therefore of great relevance in terms of both therapy resistance as well as genomic stability. By using a tissue microarray analysis of 1,213 biopsies taken from colorectal adenocarcinomas (CRCs), we investigated whether RAD51 expression can be used as a prognostic marker as well as potential associations between this and the expression of other proteins known to be related to CRC. Strong RAD51 expression was observed in 1% of CRC, moderate in 11%, weak in 34% and no expression in 44%. No correlation was found between RAD51 expression and clinicopathological parameters. RAD51 expression correlated significantly (p = 0.001) with overall survival, with a median survival of 11 months for patients with strong, 46 with moderate, 76 with weak and 68 with negative expression. Multivariate analyses revealed that in addition to tumor stage (p < 0.0001) and nodal status (p < 0.0001), RAD51 expression is also an independent prognostic parameter (p = 0.011). Strong RAD51 expression was found to be associated with the loss of the two DNA mismatch repair proteins MSH (p = 0.0003), MLH (p = 0.002) and β‐catenin (p = 0.012) as well as with elevated p21 (p = 0.003) and EGFR expression (p = 0.0001). However, a correlation with overall survival could only be found for EGFR expression (p = 0.008), although no added benefit in risk stratification could be determined when evaluated together with RAD51. Overexpression of RAD51 is a predictor of poor outcome in CRC. This finding indicated the promise of future studies using RAD51 as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target.
Plasma levels of amyloid beta 40 and 42 are independent from ApoE genotype and mental retardation in Down syndrome.

In Down syndrome (DS) brain an early, selective accumulation of amyloid beta (Abeta) peptides ending at residue 42 (Abeta42) occurs. Whether this event depends on an altered processing of amyloid beta precursor protein (APP) or on defective clearance is uncertain. To investigate this issue, we measured Abeta species 40 and 42 in plasma from 61 patients with DS, 77 age-matched normal controls, and 55 mentally retarded subjects without chromosomal abnormalities. The Abeta 40 and 42 plasma levels were then correlated with apolipoprotein E (apoE) genotypes in all groups of cases, and with I. Q. and Mini Mental Status Examination values in DS subjects. Both Abeta species were significantly elevated in DS compared to control groups, and the extent of their increase reflects that expected from APP gene overexpression. Plasma levels of Abeta 40 and 42 did not correlate with apoE genotypes in DS and control cases, and with the extent of mental retardation in DS subjects. The results indicate that accumulation and clearance of plasma and cerebral Abeta are regulated by different and independent factors.
Effects of moisture stress on absorption, translocation, & distribution of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in bean plants.

Applications of herbicides such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid made locally during the summer months for the control of oak brush are often not as effective as those made during the spring or fall (H. M. Elwell, 1961, personal communication), indicating that moisture stress within the plant may be important in determining the effectiveness of these compounds as herbicides. There have been few attempts to measure directly the significance of the actual water deficit within the plant in regard to the absorption and translocation of 2,4-D. The effects of temperature and humidity have been studied in relation to their effect on 2,4-D absorption and translocation, and these factors may have an indirect influence on the moisture stress in plant cells.
Ka Band power limiter for satellite channel amplifier

Some Ka-Band payloads request an anti-jamming capacity to be protected against RF interference attacks. This performance can be provided by Thales Alenia Space Ka-Band channel amplifiers thanks to the new Ka-band hard limiter. The power limiter presented in this paper allows to perform this limitation over a 10 dB power dynamic range in the frequency band 20.2 – 20.9 GHz providing in addition tuning capabilities and taking into account the design de-rating rules mandatory for space application.
REPEATED TRANSIENT ANURIA FOLLOWING LOSARTAN ADMINISTRATION IN A PATIENT WITH A SOLITARY KIDNEY

We report the case of a 70-year-old hypertensive man with a solitary kidney and chronic renal insufficiency who developed two episodes of transient anuria after losartan administration. He was hospitalized for a myocardial infarction with pulmonary edema, treated with high-dose diuretics. Due to severe systolic dysfunction losartan was prescribed. Surprisingly, the first dose of 50 mg of losartan resulted in a sudden anuria, which lasted eight hours despite high-dose furosemide and amine infusion. One week later, by mistake, losartan was prescribed again and after the second dose of 50 mg, the patient developed a second episode of transient anuria lasting 10 hours. During these two episodes, his blood pressure diminished but no severe hypotension was noted. Ultimately, an arteriography showed a 70–80% renal artery stenosis. In this patient, renal artery stenosis combined with heart failure and diuretic therapy certainly resulted in a strong activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Under such conditions, angiotensin II receptor blockade by losartan probably induced a critical fall in glomerular filtration pressure. This case report highlights the fact that the angiotensin II receptor antagonist losartan can cause serious unexpected complications in patients with renovascular disease and should be used with extreme caution in this setting.
Caregivers’ satisfaction with hospice care in the last 24 hours of life

The goals of this study were to identify elements of care that contributed to positive and negative perceptions of hospice care in the last 24 hours of life, and to define patient and family characteristics that are associated with satisfaction with care during this difficult period. Surveys were sent to 207 primary caregivers, and 112 surveys were returned. This study reports four findings that elucidate the factors that make family members more or less satisfied with the care that their loved one received during the last day of life, and how satisfaction with this period of care should be measured.
Optimising role of drugs in patient care.

A logical approach to disease management is one that comprises both non-pharmacologic as well as pharmacologic interventions. Institution of dietary modification, weight regulation, health counselling in general, are some of the non-pharmacologic interventions which are practiced alone or in combination with use of drugs. But drugs are substances which, while conferring benefits, may also cause harm; therefore caution is needed when using them. Optimising the role of drugs in healthcare therefore requires that before administering a drug, the healthcare provider must ask some questions pegged to basic principles of pharmacotherapy, including the following: (i) whether he should, in the first place, interfere with the patient by giving drugs? (ii) what is the exact alteration in the patient’s condition that he hopes to achieve? in other words what is the patho-physiological alteration that he wishes to correct? (iii) is the drug to be administered capable of bringing the desired change? (iv) what other effects does the drug have, and are these effects harmful? (v) does the likelihood of benefit outweigh that of harm, in other words, the healthcare provider must consider benefit versus harm and efficacy versus safety (1). These considerations, in part, describe a phenomenon generally known as rational use of drugs or medicines. In this communication, the word “drug” is used interchangeably with the word “medicine”. Rational use of drugs is a demanding exercise because it requires that appropriate drug must be available to the people who need it at a price they can afford, and, when needed, the drug is prescribed correctly, taken by the patient in correct quantities; at the correct time intervals and for the professionally recommended time duration. Rational use of drugs also demands that the drug so prescribed and consumed by the patient is effective, of acceptable quality and safety. The concept of rational use of drugs is therefore both holistic and overtly idealistic which, in itself, prescribes a tall order a rigid yardstick for best therapeutic practice. This subject has concerned international bodies such as the World Health Organisation over the last few decades (2). Fulfillment of rational use of drugs presents concrete hurdles or challenges. These challenges may reside in the courts of the Government, the institutions providing education and training to various cadres of healthcare workers involved in prescribing, dispensing and managing procurement, storage and distribution of drugs. The challenges also concern the consumer and consumer organisations, where these EDITORIAL
Anemia is Associated with Bone Mineral Density in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract Objective: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often suffer from systemic co-morbidities, including anemia. However, anemia is related to multiple outcomes in COPD and in other chronic diseases, but it's impact is underestimated in COPD. The objective of the present study was to relate anemia in patients with COPD with disease-related outcomes, systemic inflammation and COPD related co-morbidities. Methods: Data of 321 patients with COPD admitted for pulmonary rehabilitation were analysed. Besides general characteristics, lung function, body composition, arterial gases and plasma haemoglobin concentration, disease-related outcomes (health-related quality of life by St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire, 6-minute walking distance, mMRC dyspnea scale, and BODE index), systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP)) and self-reported and objectified co-morbidities (low muscle mass, osteoporosis, renal failure, risk for undernutrition) were taken into account. Results: First, 20% of the patients were anemic, and 8% was polycythemic. Polycythemic patients had a lower proportion of men and a lower proportion of low muscle mass compared to the other groups. Anemic patients had higher plasma CRP levels and lower total body bone mineral density compared to the other groups. There was no difference in disease-related outcomes or other co-morbidities in the patients with and without anemia. Even after adjustment for confounders, anemia was an independent determinant for higher CRP levels and lower bone mineral density. Conclusion: Anemia is frequently present in patients with COPD and there is evidence that it is associated with lower whole body bone mineral density.
Effect of gallium focused ion beam milling on preparation of aluminium thin foils

Focussed ion beam milling has greatly extended the utility of the atom probe and transmission electron microscope because it enables sample preparation with a level of dimensional control never before possible. Using focussed ion beam it is possible to extract the samples from desired and very specific locations. The artefacts associated with this sample preparation method must also be fully understood. In this work, issues specifically relevant to the focussed ion beam milling of aluminium alloys are presented. After using the focussed ion beam as a sample preparation technique it is evident that gallium will concentrate in three areas of the sample: on the surface, on grain boundaries and at interphase boundaries. This work also shows that low‐energy Ar ion nanomilling is potentially quite effective for removing gallium implantation layers and gallium from the internal surfaces of aluminium thin foils.
Accelerating Performance of NekCEM with MPI and CUDA

NekCEM is an open-source, scalable implementation of high-order methods for electromagnetic (EM) device simulations [1]. One of the primary applications is a simulation of an undulator – a high-energy EM device that bends electrons forcing them to radiate intense and concentrated energy for use in particle accelerators and colliders. By enabling the simulation of EM dynamics, NekCEM complements and strengthens the theoretical and experimental research in high-energy physics. NekCEM uses an MPI-based single-program multiple-data (SPMD) programming model, where each MPI process executes on its piece of a decomposed domain and cooperates with neighboring processes by exchanging messages for process boundary data points. The calculations are done using spectral element discontinuous Galerkin (SEDG) scheme, where electric and magnetic field values on just the domain boundary faces are exchanged between neighbors. Upon completion of face data exchange, a new time-step calculation is initiated with the new data from neighbors. Due to the relatively small data exchange, the execution time of a simulation run is computationally bound such that for most runs 25 to 50% of overall time is spent in a matrix-matrix multiplication routine (mxm). This is due to the computational intensity of looping through each mesh element and calculating the local gradient along each dimension of the modeled domain. Therefore, it is essential to accelerate the execution of mxm operation to improve the overall performance of application runs. In this paper, our contributions are as follows
Atomic Force Microscopy Studies of DNA Release in Gene Delivery Dynamics

This chapter reviews recent advances in the understanding of DNA release dynamics from polymeric gene delivery systems. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has recently been applied to monitor DNA release from bioreducible polyplex nanoparticles and layer-by-layer (LbL) thin films in real time. DNA release dynamics is central to the understanding and control of gene delivery from gene delivery nano-systems. Polycations containing bioreducible disulfide bonds form interpolyelectrolyte complexes with DNA in nanoparticles and thin films. During disassembly, DNA is released in nearphysiologic conditions due to the reducing nature of the polycations. AFM is used to visualize plasmid DNA in various decondensed states from reducible polyplexes and LbL films. The studies highlight nanostructures including toroids and bundles as dominant intermediate DNA structures during DNA release.
Activity of the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Acarina: Ixodidae), in relation to solar energy changes.

Field data obtained during 1963–65 on a study area near Montpelier, Virginia, were used in an investigation of relationships between solar radiation and air temperature and activity of Dermacentor variabilis (Say) adults and subadults. Analysis of the data by statistical methods indicated that there is a real relationship between solar radiation received per day and daily activity of larvae (but not of nymphs) during the period of spring feeding. Continuous larval activity occurred during the periods when an average daily solar radiation level of 200 langleys or more was received in the tick habitat. A real relationship was found also between solar radiation levels and daily questing activity of adults; continuous adult activity occurred during the periods when the daylight period exceeded 13 hours and an average daily solar radiation level of about 300 langleys was received in the habitat. No relationship was found between tick activity and air temperature.
Navigating Life and Loss in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that can cause unpredictable disability. Over the past 10 to 15 years, practitioners and researchers have come to recognize that children and adolescents are at risk for this disease. Drawing on the experiences of pediatric MS patients and their parents, I designed this study to explicate the process of adjustment to the disease. Using Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory methodology, I developed a preliminary theory that captures the experience of grief in the adjustment process of young people with MS. The core of the theoretical model focuses on two separate, yet overlapping processes: recurring loss and carrying on. Significant turning points influenced the oscillation between these two processes, highlighting the interconnection of intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics in adjustment to the disease. Results reinforce and extend current grief literature and provide an alternative perspective on adjustment to pediatric chronic illness.