Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Postoperative exposure to glove powders modulates production of peritoneal eicosanoids during peritoneal wound healing.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of postsurgical exposure of peritoneal cavity to glove powders, Hydrocote, latex proteins, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on eicosanoid production in peritoneal fluid and cellular distribution of eicosanoid enzymes in peritoneal wound during healing. DESIGN Randomised experimental study. SETTING Institute for Wound Research, USA. ANIMALS 360 mice randomised into six groups of 60 each. INTERVENTION Abrasion of peritoneal cavity followed by instillation of 500 microl of sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS) alone (Control) or containing 100 microg/ml of Biosorb, Keoflo, Hydrocote, 1 mg/ml of latex proteins, or 12.5 microg/ml of LPS. Mice were killed at 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and 28 days, and the peritoneal washing obtained from each animal and concentration of eicosanoids measured. Tissue were immunostained for cyclooxygenases and 5-lipoxygenase and thromboxane A2 (TXA2) synthetase. RESULTS Peritoneal fluid from uninjured controls contained 3.9 (0.8), 5.2 (0.3) and 0.2 (0.02) ng/ml of thromboxane B2 (TXB2), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and leukotriene B4 (LTB4), respectively. These increased significantly during the first week to 6.3 (0.3), 11.7 (0.8) and 2.6 (0.1) ng/ml, p<0.05, before returning to baseline by day 14. In all the treated groups the values were significantly higher than in controls (p<0.05). Immunoreactive cyclo-oxygenases, 5-lipoxygenase and TXA2 synthetase proteins were present in various cell types in uninjured skin and peritoneum, incisional and peritoneal wounds and adhesion tissues. Staining was more intense at the site of wounds and paralleled eicosanoid concentrations during healing. There was no difference between exposed and unexposed groups. CONCLUSION The presence of glove powders, latex proteins and LPS in peritoneal cavity cause increased eicosanoid production and aggravate the normal inflammatory reaction to tissue injury. This may contribute to the inflammatory or immune reactions and development of adhesions caused by glove powders.
Modeling the effect of explicit information in visuomotor adaptation

In this study the effect of providing explicit information in a visuomotor adaptation task was investigated using two computational models. Both models were able to reproduce the observed behavior in previous studies. However, these models make different prediction about a localization task after adaptation. A relevant experiment may be designed and performed to test whether either of these predictions is valid or the models need to be improved.
Helicobacter pylori infection and the risk of development of esophageal adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND An increase in the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has coincided with a decrease in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection. Whether these 2 phenomena are associated is unknown. METHODS We conducted a nested case-control study of 128,992 members of an integrated health care system who had participated in a multiphasic health checkup (MHC) during 1964-1969. During follow-up, 52 patients developed esophageal adenocarcinoma. Three randomly chosen control subjects from the MHC cohort were matched to each case subject, on the basis of age at the MHC, sex, race, and the date and site of the MHC. Data on cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index (BMI), and education level were obtained at the MHC. Serum samples collected at the MHC were tested for IgG antibodies to H. pylori and to the H. pylori CagA protein. RESULTS Subjects with H. pylori infections were less likely than uninfected subjects to develop esophageal adenocarcinoma (odds ratio [OR], 0.37 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.16-0.88]). This significant association was restricted to case subjects and control subjects <50 years old at the MHC (OR, 0.20 [95% CI, 0.06-0.68]). In patients with H. pylori infections, the OR for those who tested positive for IgG antibodies to the CagA protein was similar to that for those who tested negative for it. BMI >/=25 and cigarette smoking were strong independent risk factors for development of esophageal adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION The absence of H. pylori infection, independent of cigarette smoking and BMI, is associated with a markedly increased risk of development of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
Hepatitis B virus immunization among young injection drug users in San Francisco, Calif: the UFO Study.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is common (44%–80%) in injection drug users (IDUs),1–8 and younger IDUs are at high risk.9–11 Although a safe and effective vaccine is available, high vaccine completion rates in IDUs (70%–86%) have been achieved primarily in drug treatment settings.12–15 Among street-recruited young injectors in San Francisco, Calif, only 13% had serological evidence of prior immunization, and 28% had been infected with HBV.16 We combined cash incentives and street outreach with flexible immunization schedules to improve HBV vaccine completion in young injectors in San Francisco. We examined factors associated with vaccine completion and observed postvaccination antibody responses in completers.
Early-Age Tensile Basic Creep Behavioral Characteristics of High-Strength Concrete Containing Admixtures

Tensile creep is an important parameter to evaluate cracking probability of high-strength concrete (HSC) structure, and the mineral admixtures have great effect on it. In this paper, the early-age tensile basic creep behaviors of HSC containing fly ash (FA) and blast furnace slag (BS) were investigated by experiments, and the influences of loading age and stress level (stress-strength ratio of initial loading) were evaluated. The results showed that FA promoted the early-age tensile basic creep while BS inhibited the early-age tensile creep. Moreover, the influence of loading age on early-age tensile basic creep of HSC was more significant, and the affected ages’ duration was longer than that of plain concrete. The early-age tensile basic creep of HSC containing admixtures also showed linear creep characteristic after a certain age as HSC without admixtures, and the linear characteristic was more obvious at a later loading age. The tensile basic creep velocity of HSC containing FA was the highest, while HSC containing BS exhibited the lowest velocity. The influence of admixtures on velocities of tensile basic creep was gradually attenuated with the age growth in holding period.
Umut Ve Olumlu-Olumsuz Duygular Arasındaki İlişkiler

Bu calismanin amaci, umut duzeyi yuksek ve dusuk olan kadin ve erkekler arasinda olumlu ve olumsuz duygular yonunden farkliliklar bulunup bulunmadigini incelemektir. Calismanin orneklemini Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesinin degisik bolumlerinde lisansustu duzeyde egitimlerine devam eden, 163 (100 kiz, 63 erkek) ogrenci olusturmustur. Calismada, veri toplama araclari olarak Umut Olcegi ve Pozitif ve Negatif Duygu Olcegi kullanilmistir. Veriler 2 (cinsiyet) x 2 (yuksek-dusuk umut duzeyi) cok yonlu varyans analizi (MANOVA) yoluyla incelenmistir. Analiz sonuclari, cinsiyet temel etkisinin ve cinsiyet X umut duzeyi etkilesiminin anlamli duzeyde olmadigini; buna karsilik umut duzeyi temel etkisinin anlamli oldugunu gostermistir. Bulgular, yalniz olumlu duygular acisindan umut duzeyi dusuk olanlar ile umut duzeyi yuksek olanlar arasindaki farkin anlamli duzeyde oldugunu ortaya cikarmistir.
Impact of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) on Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonad-Liver (HPGL) Axis in Fish

3 Abstract: The aquatic ecosystem is one of the most exposed environments to pollutants. A lot of xenobiotics are known to disrupt the reproductive endocrine system. Fish are one of the primary risk organisms for Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs). In common with all vertebrates, reproduction in fish is controlled by the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonad-Liver (HPGL) axis. The multitude of hormones controlling this axis and the complexity of hormones regulation, make from the HPGL axis a major target of EDCs. Variation of hormones synthesis levels, disturbance of genes expression, alteration of gonads structure and disruption of live r functions were noted. HPGL axis represents so one of the most important endpoints in the risk assessment of EDCs. In this review, we seek to extract from recent literature concepts regarding the effects of EDCs on the endocrine reproductive system in fish that might be of interest to explain some alterations in the wide populations of fish.
Fermentation of the Straw Material Paja Brava by the Yeast Pichia stipitis in a Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation Process

Paja Brava is a native South American grass with a high carbohydrate content. In the current work, the potential of using this feedstock for ethanol production using a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process with the xylose-fermenting yeast Pichia stipitis (Scheffersomyces stipitis) CBS6054 was investigated. The straw material was subjected to SO2 catalyzed steam pretreatment at 200˚C and 5 min residence time, which resulted in a solubilization of pentose sugars (mainly xylose) of 64% with only minor amounts of degradation products. The obtained material, including the pretreatment liquid, was subsequently hydrolyzed and fermented in an SSF process at microaerobic conditions using either a batch or a fed-batch process at a total water-insoluble solids loading of 10%. Overall yields of ethanol based on all available sugars of 0.24 g/g and 0.27 g/g were obtained for batch and fed-batch mode of operation, respectively. The higher yield in the fed-batch process coincided with a higher degree of conversion of the sugars in the liquid medium, in particular of arabinose, for which the conversion was doubled (from 48% to 97%).
Visualizing Research Digital Libraries with Open Standards

Large scale research Digital Libraries (DLs) have a large array of potentially useful metadata. Yet, many popular DLs do not provide a convenient way to navigate the metadata or to visualize classification schema in the user session. For example, in the broad world of Management Information Systems (MIS) research, a high-level overview of MIS topics and their interrelationships would be useful to navigate a MIS DL before zooming in on a specific article. To address this obstacle, this paper describes a prototype, the Technical Report Visualizer System (TRV), which uses a wide variety of open standards to expose DL classification metadata in the navigation interface. The system captures MIS article metadata from the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) compliant arXiv e-Print archive at Cornell University. The OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) is used to collect the topic metadata; the articles’ Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Computing Classification System codes. We display the topic metadata in a Java hyperbolic tree and make use of XML conceptual product and implementation product standards and specifications, such as the Dublin Core and BiblioML bibliographic metadata sets, XML Topic Maps, Xalan and Xerces, to link user navigation activity to the
Does Simulation-Based Medical Education With Deliberate Practice Yield Better Results Than Traditional Clinical Education? A Meta-Analytic Comparative Review of the Evidence

Purpose This article presents a comparison of the effectiveness of traditional clinical education toward skill acquisition goals versus simulation-based medical education (SBME) with deliberate practice (DP). Method This is a quantitative meta-analysis that spans 20 years, 1990 to 2010. A search strategy involving three literature databases, 12 search terms, and four inclusion criteria was used. Four authors independently retrieved and reviewed articles. Main outcome measures were extracted to calculate effect sizes. Results Of 3,742 articles identified, 14 met inclusion criteria. The overall effect size for the 14 studies evaluating the comparative effectiveness of SBME compared with traditional clinical medical education was 0.71 (95% confidence interval, 0.65–0.76; P < .001). Conclusions Although the number of reports analyzed in this meta-analysis is small, these results show that SBME with DP is superior to traditional clinical medical education in achieving specific clinical skill acquisition goals. SBME is a complex educational intervention that should be introduced thoughtfully and evaluated rigorously at training sites. Further research on incorporating SBME with DP into medical education is needed to amplify its power, utility, and cost-effectiveness.
Tobacco and bladder cancer in males: Increased risk for inhalers and smokers of black tobacco

Relationships between risk of bladder cancer and tobacco smoking were assessed from a hospital‐based case‐control study conducted in France from 1984 to 1987. Smoking history was analyzed for 954 male patients (477 cases and 477 controls). The odds ratio (OR) of bladder cancer was estimated at 3.95 for all smokers vs. non‐smokers. The risk increased with duration of smoking and with average daily cigarette consumption, but there was a significant interaction between these 2 parameters, since the risk only increased with average daily consumption when the duration exceeded 20 years. Black tobacco consumption and inhaling were both found to double the risk when analyzed separately, but their respective effects appeared to interact, and an elevated risk for smokers of black tobacco was only observed among inhalers. Smokers of black and blond tobacco also differed in the way in which the risk evolved with time after cessation of smoking. The OR decreased faster after cessation of smoking among smokers of black tobacco than among smokers of blond tobacco, but the residual risk was higher 15 years after cessation among the former than among the latter.
Targeting Aurora A kinase activity with the investigational agent alisertib increases the efficacy of cytarabine through a FOXO‐dependent mechanism

Novel therapies are urgently needed to improve clinical outcomes for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The investigational drug alisertib (MLN8237) is a novel Aurora A kinase inhibitor being studied in multiple Phase I and II studies. We investigated the preclinical efficacy and pharmacodynamics of alisertib in AML cell lines, primary AML cells and mouse models of AML. Here, we report that alisertib disrupted cell viability, diminished clonogenic survival, induced expression of the FOXO3a targets p27 and BIM and triggered apoptosis. A link between Aurora A expression and sensitivity to ara‐C was established, suggesting that Aurora A inhibition may be a promising strategy to increase the efficacy of ara‐C. Accordingly, alisertib significantly potentiated the antileukemic activity of ara‐C in both AML cell lines and primary blasts. Targeted FOXO3a knockdown significantly blunted the pro‐apoptotic effects of the alisertib/ara‐C combination, indicating that it is an important regulator of sensitivity to these agents. In vivo studies demonstrated that alisertib significantly augmented the efficacy of ara‐C without affecting its pharmacokinetic profile and led to the induction of p27 and BIM. Our collective data indicate that targeting Aurora A with alisertib represents a novel approach to increase the efficacy of ara‐C that warrants further investigation.
Mechanism of action and applications of the antimicrobial properties of copper

Copper is an essential micronutrient for most living organisms, serving as a redox-active cofactor for important enzymes such as the terminal respiratory oxidases and superoxide dismutase. However, in excess copper can be extremely toxic, due in part to this same redox-activity by which copper ions can catalyse the production of deleterious reactive oxygen species (ROS), and also due to its propensity to form extremely stable complexes with cellular components.
Intimacy, Orgasm Likelihood, and Conflict Predict Sexual Satisfaction in Heterosexual Male and Female Respondents

Anonymous data provided by 417 female and 179 male sexually active heterosexual respondents showed that in long term sexual relationships, sexual satisfaction was positively correlated with two different intimacy variables, the respondent's orgasm likelihood, and negatively correlated with conflict in the relationship. Multiple linear regression permitted us to measure the effect sizes of these variables as predictors of sexual satisfaction. These findings have important implications for treatment of symptomatic couples.
Ultraviolet Inactivation of Feline Calicivirus, Human EntericViruses and Coliphages ¶

Norwalk and Norwalk‐like viruses (NLV) are major causes of food‐ and water‐related disease in the United States. There is no host cell line in which the NLV can be tested for infectivity. Feline calicivirus (FCV) and NLV both belong to the family Caliciviridae. FCV can be assayed for infectivity in the Crandell Reese feline kidney cell line, so FCV serves as a surrogate for NLV. This study is the first report of UV inactivation of FCV and also of using the plaque technique, in contrast to the 50% tissue culture infectious dose end point technique, to determine the FCV infectivity titer. The infectivity titers (log10 plaque‐forming units/mL) of UV‐inactivated FCV, hepatitis A virus (HAV), poliovirus type 1 (PV1) and two small, round coliphages were plotted as a function of UV dose and analyzed by regression analysis and analysis of variance. These fitted straight‐line curves represent exponential inactivation, so UV inactivation can be said to show “one‐hit kinetics. ” The decimal inactivation doses of UV for FCV, HAV, PV1, MS2 and ϕX174 were 47.85, 36.50, 24.10, 23.04 and 15.48 mW s/cm2, respectively. FCV appears to be the most UV resistant among the tested viruses.
GABA(B) receptor 1 polymorphism (G1465A) is associated with temporal lobe epilepsy

Background: Dysfunction of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (B) receptors has been implicated in the pathogenesis of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Objective: To evaluate the genetic contribution of cloned human GABA(B) receptors to TLE. Methods: The authors genotyped 141 patients (78 women and 63 men; mean age = 49.1 ± 18.0 years) with nonlesional TLE and 372 age- and sex-matched normal individuals for the known polymorphism G1465A in the human GABA(B) receptor 1 [GABA(B[1])] gene. Results: There was a highly significant overrepresentation of the G1465A heterozygote in patients with TLE compared with controls. The A/G genotype was found in 17% of the 141 patients with TLE and in only 0.5% of the 372 controls (p < 0.0001). The authors also found that patients carrying the A allele had a significantly higher risk (p = 0.003, OR = 6.47, 95% CI = 2.02 to 20.76) of developing drug-resistant TLE. Furthermore, the age at onset of seizures tended to be lower in patients with A/G genotype, but the difference was not significant. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that the GABA(B[1]) polymorphism (G1465A) confers a highly increased susceptibility to TLE. Moreover, it seems to influence the severity of this common epileptic disorder.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF COEXISTING EXTRANIDAL ANEURYSMS TO INTRACRANIAL HEMORRHAGE IN PATIENTS HARBORING BRAIN ARTERIOVENOUS MALFORMATIONS

OBJECTIVE:We hypothesized that coexisting extranidal arterial aneurysms (EAs) would be associated with an increased risk of incident intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) from brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM) rupture. METHODS:To determine the presence of EAs and compare the sources and locations of ICH, we retrospectively reviewed the computed tomographic, magnetic resonance imaging, and angiographic studies of patients who presented between 1990 and 1999. EAs were defined as saccular luminal dilations of the parent feeding vessels that were proximally flow-related (i.e., at the circle of Willis), distally flow-related (i.e., distal to the circle of Willis), and unrelated (i.e., in circulation distant from the BAVM). RESULTS:Of 314 BAVM patients, 138 (44%) presented with ICH. In the ICH group, 22 patients (16%) had aneurysmal ICH, 100 (72%) had BAVM ICH, and 16 (12%) had ICH from an indeterminate source. There were 61 patients with 1 or more EAs (29 patients with 42 flow-related proximal aneurysms, 39 patients with 48 flow-related distal aneurysms, and 10 patients with 20 unrelated aneurysms). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that ICH patients were more likely than non-ICH patients to have a coexisting EA (35 versus 13%; odds ratio = 3.9; 95% confidence interval, 2.1–7.5; P < 0.001), but this effect was not present when only BAVM-related ICH was considered (odds ratio = 0.3; 95% confidence interval, 0.1–1.0; P = 0.052). Other independent predictors of ICH included small AVM size (<3 cm), exclusively deep venous drainage, and the presence of an intranidal aneurysm. CONCLUSION:Clinical presentation with ICH was associated with EA aneurysms, but the association was due to aneurysmal rather than BAVM rupture, suggesting that EAs and the BAVM ICH risks may be considered as separate entities in future studies.
The pathogenesis of pulmonary contusion: an open chest model in the rat.

BACKGROUND Chemokines direct leukocytes to areas of inflammation or injury. In general, CC chemokines (MCP-1, MIP-1alpha, RANTES) are chemoattractants for mononuclear cells and CXC (CINC-1, MIP-2alpha) for polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs). Herein we describe an open chest model of pulmonary contusion (PC) in a rodent (rat) and have identified a possible role for CC and CXC chemokines in the pathogenesis of PC. METHODS Sprague-Dawley rats (350 g) underwent thoracotomy. The exposed lung was struck with a piston at 5.2 m/s (150 J/M2). Blood, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and lung tissue were collected at 3 hours and 24 hours after injury. PaO2/FiO2 (P/F) ratio was calculated at 15-minute intervals for 3 hours after contusion. Serum was evaluated for cytokine and chemokine expression using ELISA. Cell count/differential was performed on BAL, and lung tissue was obtained for histologic analysis, protein expression and wet to dry weights. Data are reported as pg/mL +/- SE. Data were analyzed using Student's t test to identify significant differences (p < or = 0.05 significant) between sham and injured animals. RESULTS Piston impact caused PC based upon morphologic and histologic criteria. BAL cell count and lung wet to dry weights were increased and P/F ratio was decreased after PC. Systemic levels of IL-ra, MCP-1, and the CXC chemokines MIP-2alpha and CINC-1 were significantly elevated at 3 hours when sham and injured animals were compared. All chemokines were found to be significantly elevated at 24 hours, consistent with the early PMN and subsequent mononuclear infiltration observed in the contused lung. Pulmonary expression of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, CINC-1, MIP-2alpha, ICAM-1, and elastase were increased and activated systemic neutrophils showed increased CD-11b. CONCLUSION A model of PC is described in which innate inflammation is activated locally and systemically. Systemic levels of CC and CXC chemokines are increased after PC. This correlates with elevated PMN CD-11b expression, enhanced pulmonary ICAM-1 expression, and mononuclear and PMN infiltration into the lung and alveolar space. Elevated levels of CC and CXC chemokines are seen after PC and may be involved in the lung's inflammatory response to injury.