Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis C virus infection in dialysis and chronic liver patients: Viraemia dependent anti‐E2‐antibody response

Cryptic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection relates to patients infected chronically with HCV that are seronegative but have HCV‐RNA. These patients are not identified by the standard serological tests for HCV, which are based on detection of antibodies to core, NS3 and NS5 antigens. They will, therefore, be wrongly diagnosed as non‐infected, and are considered as a potential risk for others. Cryptic HCV infection in dialysis units occurs frequently and, due to medical procedures, is a major factor for contracting the virus when unrecognised. This study was conducted in order to assess the humoral immune responses to E2‐antigen in sera of patients infected chronically with HCV. Recombinant E2 protein in enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) were used to test the occurrence of anti‐E2 antibodies in the sera of patients from the liver clinic and of dialysis patients. The presence of E2 antibodies was found to be correlated with the presence of HCV‐RNA and with viral load. Antibodies to the E2 protein could be detected in as many as 30% of the sera from dialysis patients with cryptic HCV infection (HCV‐RNA only). The results suggest that detection of anti‐E2 antibodies may enhance significantly HCV serological standard testing; especially among patients on dialysis, and that antibodies to envelope E2 protein appear to depend on and correlate with the presence of HCV particles. J. Med. Virol. 73:529–535, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Accelerating Scientific Data Exploration via Visual Query System

The increasing availability of rich and complex data in a variety of scientific domains poses a pressing need for tools to enable scientists to rapidly make sense of and gather insights from data. One proposed solution is to design visual query systems (VQSs) that allow scientists to interactively search for desired patterns in their datasets. While many existing VQSs promise to accelerate exploratory data analysis by facilitating this search, they are not widely used in practice. Through a year-long collaboration with scientists in three distinct domains—astronomy, genetics, and material science—we study the impact of various features within VQSs that can aid rapid visual data analysis, and how VQSs fit into scientists’ analysis workflow. Our findings offer design guidelines for improving the usability and adoption of next-generation VQSs, paving the way for VQSs to be applied to a variety of scientific domains.
Effects of Third Trimester Counseling on Pregnancy Weight Gain, Birthweight, and Breastfeeding among Urban Poor Women in Bangladesh

Background Maternal malnutrition and poor gestational weight gain are the most important causes of low birth weight and high rates of newborn mortality. Objective To assess the effects of nutrition counseling in the third trimester of pregnancy on maternal weight gain, birth weight of newborn, and breastfeeding practices. Methods This was a longitudinal experimental study with nutrition intervention for a period of 3 months. One hundred fifteen women (57 in the intervention group and 58 in the comparison group) who were visiting the Maternal and Child Health Training Institute at 6 months of pregnancy were randomly selected. The intervention group was given nutrition education twice in the first month and once a month for the next 2 months before delivery; the comparison group received routine hospital advice on food intake, immunization, personal hygiene, and breastfeeding. The women were weighed monthly up to delivery, the newborn infants' birth weights were measured within 24 hours after delivery, and breastfeeding practices were observed 1 month after delivery. Results Women in the intervention group gained 1.73 kg more weight during the third trimester than women in the comparison group (5.61 vs. 3.88 kg, p < 0.001). The mean birthweight of babies of women in the intervention group was 0.44 kg greater than that of babies of women in the comparison group (2.86 vs. 2.42 kg, p <0.001). In the intervention group, 10.5% of babies were born with low birthweight, compared with 48.3% of the babies of women in the comparison group (p < 0.001). In the intervention group, 75.4% of mothers initiated breastfeeding within 1 hour after birth, compared with 34.5% of mothers in the comparison group (p < 0.001). Conclusions Nutrition education only during the third trimester improved weight gain during pregnancy, reduced 78% of low birth weight, and improved breast-feeding practices.
Prefrontal Cortex Mediates Extinction of Responding by Two Distinct Neural Mechanisms in Accumbens Shell

Suppression of ill-timed or competing actions optimizes goal-directed behaviors. Diminished inhibitory control over such actions is a central feature of such disorders as impulsivity, obesity, and drug addiction. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is involved in suppression of unreinforced actions. Using reversible inactivation in rats, we demonstrate that vmPFC activity is also required for inhibition of unreinforced actions extinguished during learning of a cued appetitive task and that behavioral disinhibition following vmPFC inactivation depends on dopamine signaling in nucleus accumbens shell (NAcS). Combining electrophysiological recording in NAcS with vmPFC inactivation in rats reveals two neural mechanisms by which vmPFC inhibits unreinforced actions. The first is by suppressing phasic excitations that promote behavioral cue responding. The second is by increasing the basal firing of NAcS neurons that tonically inhibit reward seeking. These results identify the vmPFC and the NAcS as critical elements of the circuits relevant to suppression of inappropriate actions.
Do Surgical Brain Lesions Present as Isolated Dementia? A Population‐Based Study

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of clinically important subdural hematoma (SDH), hydrocephalus not associated with a recent intracranial bleed, and intracranial tumor that is not obviously metastatic, and to test the sensitivity of a promising decision rule for computerized tomography (CT) in dementia.
Sports activities 5 years after total knee or hip arthroplasty: the Ulm Osteoarthritis Study

Objective: To analyse sports activities of patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis (OA) over lifetime, preoperatively, and 5 years after arthroplasty. Methods: In a longitudinal four centre study, 809 consecutive patients with advanced OA of the hip (420) or the knee (389) joint under the age of 76 years who required total joint replacement were recruited. A completed questionnaire about sports activities at 5 year follow up was received from 636 (79%) of the 809 patients. Results: Although most patients with hip (97%) and knee (94%) OA had performed sports activities during their life, only 36% (hip patients) and 42% (knee patients) had maintained sports activities at the time of surgery. Five years postoperatively, the proportion of patients performing sports activities increased to 52% among patients with hip OA, but further declined to 34% among those with knee OA. Accordingly, the proportion of patients with hip OA performing sports activities for more than 2 hours a week increased from 8 to 14%, whereas this proportion decreased from 12 to 5% among patients with knee OA. Pain in the replaced joint was reported by 9% of patients with hip and by >16% with knee OA. Conclusion: Differences in pain 5 years after joint replacement may explain some of the difference of sports activities between patients with hip and knee OA. Reasons for reduction of sports activities may include the increasing age of the patients, their worries about an “artificial joint”, and the advice of their surgeon to be cautious.
Adverse events associated with eccentric exercise protocols: six case studies.

PURPOSE Rhabdomyolysis is a condition characterized by muscle damage and degeneration of muscle cells after strenuous, overexertion exercise. Although the incidence of severe rhabdomyolysis is rare, this condition can be dangerous and even fatal. Eccentric exercise protocols are currently being used to induce and study mild forms of muscle damage. However, serious adverse events can occur in these laboratory investigations. The purpose of this report was to expose some of the adverse events resulting from performance of eccentric exercise protocols to study muscle damage in humans. METHODS The following case studies involved an eccentric exercise protocol where two sets of 25 maximal eccentric actions of the elbow flexors were performed, separated by a 5-min rest period. RESULTS Case reports are presented that reveal prolonged losses in the ability of the muscle to generate force lasting 43-47 d, extreme swelling of the exercised arm lasting several weeks, and greatly elevated serum creatine kinase levels. CONCLUSIONS Although adverse events resulting from eccentric exercise are rare, our laboratory has observed a 3% incidence rate during the past year. Investigators should be knowledgeable of the sequelae of events that are associated with muscle damage after high-force eccentric exercise and take appropriate precautions.
Quantitative exposure of grafted rat tracheas to 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene.

A method was developed for continuously exposing tracheal epithelium to measured amounts of carcinogen. Beeswax was the vehicle for sustained release of carcinogen, and tracheas transplanted to s.c. sites were target tissues. In the experiment reported here, transplanted rat tracheas were exposed to a potent carcinogen, 7,12-di-methyl benz(a)anthracene (DMBA). The rate of release of DMBA from the beeswax carrier within the tracheal lumen approached first order when the initial concentration of carcinogen was high (3200 to 325 microng in a 24.45-mg pellet). With lower concentrations, where the carcinogen was dissolved in the beeswax, initial release was rapid, and most of the carcinogen was delivered within 4 weeks. At high DMBA dose levels, the entire tracheal epithelium was uniformly replaced by keratinizing squamous metaplasia after 1 week of exposure, and after 2 months, when from 280 to 910 microng DMBA had been delivered, all transplants had developed invasive squamous carcinomas. Sarcomas also developed in 19% of the transplants. At lower dose levels the epithelial reactions were more varied, and tumor development was more protracted. The lowest DMBA dose presently known to diduce carcinomas in this experimental model is 40 microng, which is in the dose range used for tumor initiation in skin carcinogenesis studies in mice.
A Comparison of Hyperbaric 1% and 3% Solutions of Small-Dose Lidocaine in Spinal Anesthesia

We examined whether the concentration of hyperbaric lidocaine affected the regression of motor block when the dose of lidocaine was kept constant at 30 mg. We also examined the spread, duration, and regression of sensory block. Sixty-five patients (ASA physical status I or II), scheduled for elective perineum or lower limb surgery, were enrolled in this study. Patients received spinal anesthesia with 1 mL of 3% lidocaine or 3 mL of 1% lidocaine. Adequate level of block was obtained for surgery in 63 of 65 patients. Whereas the administration of 3 mL of hyperbaric 1% lidocaine solution produced a level of sensory block similar to that produced by the administration of 1 mL of hyperbaric 3% lidocaine solution in spinal anesthesia, the administration of 3 mL of hyperbaric 1% lidocaine solution resulted in shorter times to full motor recovery and to urination and produced less motor block compared with 1 mL of hyperbaric 3% lidocaine solution. Two patients receiving 1% lidocaine and four patients receiving 3% lidocaine required IV ephedrine because of hypotension. Our results showed the clinical advantages of hyperbaric 1% lidocaine spinal anesthesia compared with hyperbaric 3% lidocaine spinal anesthesia for surgery of short duration.
Symphysis‐fundal height growth chart of an obstetric cohort of 817 Mozambican women with ultrasound‐dated singleton pregnancies

Our aim was to construct a new symphysis‐fundus height (SFH) growth chart, based on Mozambican women with ultrasound‐dated singleton pregnancy, who represent the largest obstetric cohort in a developing country followed for this purpose. Two antenatal clinics were chosen in the suburban area of Maputo City. A cohort of 904 consecutively recruited antenatal clients was followed until delivery. The growth of the SFH was measured every second to third week. Gestational age was determined by ultrasound at enrolment. Women with multiple pregnancy or with gestational age > 21 weeks at enrolment were excluded. The average number of antenatal SFH measurements per woman was 7.8 (SD 2.4). The drop out rate was 9.6%. Mean birthweight was 2909 g. Pre‐term deliveries occurred in 15% and low birthweight deliveries (< 2500 g) in 16%. Using proper longitudinal methods, we constructed an FH growth chart and compared it with various previously published SFH charts, which showed the Mozambican chart to be 0–3 cm below the others. Nulliparous women were 0.5 cm below multiparous women. We did not find any difference in the SFH growth charts between women with or without overt morbidity. Women with a body mass index (BMI) < 19 and women with a BMI > 27 had approximately 1 cm lower and 1 cm higher readings, respectively, than women with normal BMI. The Mozambican SFH growth chart is an example of an elaborated growth chart for a well‐defined population in alow‐income country. It constitutes the basis for further studies to predict the small‐for‐gestational age newborn from anthropometrical data obtained by use of appropriate technology.
EDWARDSIELLOSIS IN WILD STRIPED BASS FROM THE CHESAPEAKE BAY

The first epizootic of edwardsiellosis, caused by Edwardsiella tarda, is described. The epizootic occurred in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland (USA) during the summer and autumn of 1994, and affected wild adult striped bass (Morone saxatilis). Clinical signs included numerous irregular coalescing hemorrhagic ulcers on the body and fins that were distinctly malodorous. Internally, the body cavity was filled with abundant yellowish or sanguinous mucoid fluid, and the visceral organs had multiple tiny white foci. The intestines contained thick white opaque mucus. Histopathological lesions included ulcerative dermatitis, cardiac endothelial hyperplasia, and necrotic foci and granulomata in multiple organs. A bacterium isolated in pure culture was characterized taxonomically and serologically as the wild-type or classical biotype of E. tarda. In infectivity trials, it was pathogenic for striped bass, gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), and turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) with an LD50 of about 105 cells; however, the isolate was non-virulent for mice (LD50 > 108 cells). The isolate also was resistant to the bacteriolytic activity of normal fish skin mucus.
Short-term Changes in Tear Volume After Blepharoptosis Repair

Purpose: The aim was to evaluate tear volume change by using videomeniscometry before and after blepharoptosis surgery. Methods: Fifty-nine eyes of 36 patients with blepharoptosis without lacrimal duct obstruction or other eyelid diseases were examined. All the patients underwent levator advancement, and the tear volume was evaluated preoperatively and 1.5 months postoperatively. The margin reflex distance-1 was determined from photographs, and the tear volume was determined by the measurement of tear meniscus radius using videomeniscometry. Results: The mean margin reflex distance-1 was significantly increased after performing a blepharoptosis surgery (0.13 ± 1.13 mm preoperatively vs. 3.18 ± 0.85 mm postoperatively, P < 0.001). The average tear meniscus radius was significantly decreased (0.31 ± 0.16 mm preoperatively vs. 0.23 ± 0.08 mm postoperatively, P < 0.001). A postoperative reduction in the tear meniscus radius was noted in 46 eyes (78%) of 31 patients, and no reduction was noted in 13 eyes (22%) of 12 patients. Preoperative higher tear meniscus radius values were more likely to be decreased (P < 0.01). Conclusions: The tear volume was decreased after the blepharoptosis surgery was performed, especially for an initially high tear volume.
Fast Simulation of Dynamic Ultrasound Images Using the GPU

Simulated ultrasound data is a valuable tool for development and validation of quantitative image analysis methods in echocardiography. Unfortunately, simulation time can become prohibitive for phantoms consisting of a large number of point scatterers. The COLE algorithm by Gao et al. is a fast convolution-based simulator that trades simulation accuracy for improved speed. We present highly efficient parallelized CPU and GPU implementations of the COLE algorithm with an emphasis on dynamic simulations involving moving point scatterers. We argue that it is crucial to minimize the amount of data transfers from the CPU to achieve good performance on the GPU. We achieve this by storing the complete trajectories of the dynamic point scatterers as spline curves in the GPU memory. This leads to good efficiency when simulating sequences consisting of a large number of frames, such as B-mode and tissue Doppler data for a full cardiac cycle. In addition, we propose a phase-based subsample delay technique that efficiently eliminates flickering artifacts seen in B-mode sequences when COLE is used without enough temporal oversampling. To assess the performance, we used a laptop computer and a desktop computer, each equipped with a multicore Intel CPU and an NVIDIA GPU. Running the simulator on a high-end TITAN X GPU, we observed two orders of magnitude speedup compared to the parallel CPU version, three orders of magnitude speedup compared to simulation times reported by Gao et al. in their paper on COLE, and a speedup of 27000 times compared to the multithreaded version of Field II, using numbers reported in a paper by Jensen. We hope that by releasing the simulator as an open-source project we will encourage its use and further development.
Cluster headache: clinical features and therapeutic options.

BACKGROUND Cluster headache is the most common type of trigemino-autonomic headache, affecting ca. 120 000 persons in Germany alone. The attacks of pain are in the periorbital area on one side, last 90 minutes on average, and are accompanied by trigemino-autonomic manifestations and restlessness. Most patients have episodic cluster headache; about 15% have chronic cluster headache, with greater impairment of their quality of life. The attacks often possess a circadian and seasonal rhythm. METHOD Selective literature review RESULTS Oxygen inhalation and triptans are effective acute treatment for cluster attacks. First-line drugs for attack prophylaxis include verapamil and cortisone; alternatively, lithium and topiramate can be given. Short-term relief can be obtained by the subcutaneous infiltration of local anesthetics and steroids along the course of the greater occipital nerve, although most of the evidence in favor of this is not derived from randomized clinical trials. Patients whose pain is inadequately relieved by drug treatment can be offered newer, invasive treatments, such as deep brain stimulation in the hypothalamus (DBS) and bilateral occipital nerve stimulation (ONS). CONCLUSION Pharmacotherapy for the treatment of acute attacks and for attack prophylaxis is effective in most patients. For the minority who do not gain adequate relief, newer invasive techniques are available in some referral centers. Definitive conclusions as to their value cannot yet be drawn from the available data.
Relationship of perceived parenting practices to anger regulation and coping strategies in African-American adolescents.

This study examined the relationship of perceived parenting practices to anger and coping in a sample of 70 African-American adolescents. Regression analyses reveled that perceptions of parental strictness were negatively related to anger temperament, anger-out, and avoidance (all p<0.05), and was positively associated with engaging in demanding activities (p<0.02). Additionally, perceptions of parental involvement were positively related to seeking diversions (p<0.04), and perceptions of parental autonomy granting were negatively related to anger-out (p<0.02). These findings highlight the potential importance of the perceived parent-adolescent relationship for African-American adolescents.
Communication and self-esteem in adults with Down syndrome.

BACKGROUND It is estimated that around 50-90% of people with learning disabilities experience difficulties in communicating. Previous research has linked communication difficulties and self-esteem in other populations, yet this relationship has not previously been investigated for people with Down syndrome. AIMS To explore the relationship between communication and self-esteem in adults with Down syndrome. This research also aimed to offer an empowering and inclusive opportunity for adults with learning disabilities to be involved in research. METHODS & PROCEDURES Recruitment took place via a charity established for people with Down syndrome. Twelve adults with Down syndrome and an adult they nominated were approached. A qualitative methodology was selected to explore communication and self-esteem. A thematic analysis focused on the qualitative data collected via semi-structured interviews. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Major themes within the data revealed that a relationship between communication and self-esteem may exist for adults with Down syndrome. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATION This study demonstrated that people with Down syndrome may experience low self-esteem that may be linked to communication. The clinical implications of this are considered and areas for future research are identified.
The Autonomic Symptom Profile

Objective: To develop a new specific instrument called the Autonomic Symptom Profile to measure autonomic symptoms and test its validity. Background: Measuring symptoms is important in the evaluation of quality of life outcomes. There is no validated, self-completed questionnaire on the symptoms of patients with autonomic disorders. Methods: The questionnaire is 169 items concerning different aspects of autonomic symptoms. The Composite Autonomic Symptom Scale (COMPASS) with item-weighting was established; higher scores indicate more or worse symptoms. Autonomic function tests were performed to generate the Composite Autonomic Scoring Scale (CASS) and to quantify autonomic deficits. We compared the results of the COMPASS with the CASS derived from the Autonomic Reflex Screen to evaluate validity. Results: The instrument was tested in 41 healthy controls (mean age 46.6 years), 33 patients with nonautonomic peripheral neuropathies (mean age 59.5 years), and 39 patients with autonomic failure (mean age 61.1 years). COMPASS scores correlated well with the CASS, demonstrating an acceptable level of content and criterion validity. The mean (±SD) overall COMPASS score was 9.8 (±9) in controls, 25.9 (±17.9) in the patients with nonautonomic peripheral neuropathies, and 52.3 (±24.2) in the autonomic failure group. Scores of symptoms of orthostatic intolerance and secretomotor dysfunction best predicted the CASS on multiple stepwise regression analysis. Conclusions: We describe a questionnaire that measures autonomic symptoms and present evidence for its validity. The instrument shows promise in assessing autonomic symptoms in clinical trials and epidemiologic studies.