Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Safety of sublingual immunotherapy started during the pollen season.

BACKGROUND Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is safer than subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) and this has lead to the reconsideration of the use of ultra-rush schedules for SLIT. The aim of this study was to assess the safety of ultra-rush SLIT in pollen-allergic children according to different timing of administration in relation to the pollen season. METHODS In total, 34 children with pollen-induced rhinitis and 36 with pollen-induced asthma and rhinitis, were enrolled and assigned to three study groups: group 1 (n = 17 patients): conventional pre-seasonal-SLIT treatment; group 2 (n = 23 patients), seasonal SLIT ended before the pollen seasonal peak; group 3 (n = 30 patients), SLIT began after the pollen seasonal peak and ended after the pollen season. SLIT was performed using extracts from Stallergenes (Antony, France) and following an ultra-rush schedule, consisting in four doses at a 30-min intervals, and maintenance treatment by administering the top dose three times a week. RESULTS In all, 54 adverse events (AEs) were reported: 12 in nine patients in group 1 (9/17, 52.9%), 22 in 14 patients in group 2 (14/23, 60.9%), and 20 in 13 patients in group 3 (13/30, 43.3%). No statistically significant differences were found between the three groups. Local AEs (oral itching and burning) were short lasting and self-resolving. Systemic AEs were also mild, except for a case of asthma, which lasted 5 days, in a patient from group 1. There were no severe reactions, and none of the patients dropped out. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that SLIT with pollen extracts may be safely started at the beginning and also during the pollen season, with a tolerability profile comparable to the conventional pre-seasonal SLIT.
Improving Nursing Handoff Process in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit

In the writer’s organization, the analysis of the incident reports and sentinel events occurrence in the cardiovascular intensive care unit CSICU revealed that; handoff communication was the contributing factor for around 30% of the total incidents. Effective communication among nurses is imperative to ensure patient safety and deliver high quality of care; furthermore, the aim of the handoff process is to achieve effective, safe, and high quality communication when the responsibility for patient care is transferred from one nurse to another. This improvement project was implemented in CSICU; it was concerned with improving the handoff communication among nurses as a step to improve the quality of care provided, and impacts the patient safety through mitigating the omission of vital information that may result from ineffective handoff. Literature review showed that data obtained by joint commission international accreditation JCIA in their review of reported sentinel events indicated that the communication was the root cause of 65% to 70% of sentinel events occurrence. However, this project used the HSE change model (initiation, planning, implementation, mainstreaming). The improvement team formulated an SBAR based handoff form to standardize the handoff process during the end of shift report ,the project evaluation results showed a declining in the percentages of the handoff related incidents and improves the nurses satisfaction.
Naturally acquired immunity to tetanus toxin in an isolated community

Literature on natural immunity to tetanus is scarce. We examined antitetanus antibody levels with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 200 people living in an isolated community and clarified the influence of age and sex on immunity. In 197 subjects, antitoxin antibodies were measured. No sex differences were noted, and 30% had protective levels (above 0.01 IU/ml). The percentage of those considered protected was age dependent.
GENDER INFLUENCES IN VIVO HUMAN RESPONSES TO ENDOTOXIN

ABSTRACT Gender appears to influence systemic and organ-specific inflammatory sequelae of ischemia-reperfusion and infectious challenge in many animal models. Despite the protection provided by female gender, androgen blockade, and/or estrogen administration in such experimental studies, many questions remain regarding the influence of gender dimorphism upon human responses to injury. We hypothesized that the administration of low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to otherwise healthy, young adults would provide insights regarding the influence of gender upon physiological and innate immune system responses to a prototypic inflammatory stimulus. To this end, 72 adult subjects (48 men, aged 29 ± 1.0 years; 24 women, aged 26 ± 1.0 years) were prospectively evaluated before and after the i.v. administration of LPS (2 ng/kg). All subjects developed symptoms within 1.0 to 1.5 h after LPS, and the men exhibited a greater increase in core temperature (2.1 ± 0.1°C) compared with the women (1.4 ± 0.1°C) (P < 0.001). In addition, the men exhibited a greater maximum decrease in mean arterial pressure (−13.0 ± 1.3 mmHg) compared with the women (−8 ± 1.3 mmHg) (P < 0.02). The changes in temperature and mean arterial pressure occurred without detectable differences between the male and female cohort responses of circulating white blood cell count and cortisol or cytokine levels. These results suggest that soluble inflammatory mediators generated by in vivo endotoxin activation of the innate immune system are insufficient to explain the resultant gender-specific phenotypic differences observed in young, adult humans.
Scheduled exercise phase shifts the circadian clock in skeletal muscle.

PURPOSE It has been well established in mammals that circadian behavior as well as the molecular clockwork can be synchronized to the light-dark cycle via the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus (SCN). In addition to light, it has been demonstrated that nonphotic time cues, such as restricting the time of food availability, can alter circadian behavior and clock gene expression in selected peripheral tissues such as the liver. Studies have also suggested that scheduled physical activity (exercise) can alter circadian rhythms in behavior and clock gene expression; however, currently, the effects of exercise alone are largely unknown and have not been explored in skeletal muscle. METHODS Period2::Luciferase (Per2::Luc) mice were maintained under 12 h of light followed by 12 h of darkness then exposed to 2 h of voluntary or involuntary exercise during the light phase for 4 wk. Control mice were left in home cages or moved to the exercise environment (sham). A second group of mice had restricted access to food (4 h · d(-1) for 2 wk) to compare the effects of two nonphotic cues on PER2::LUC bioluminescence. Skeletal muscle, lung, and SCN tissue explants were cultured for 5-6 d to study molecular rhythms. RESULTS In the exercised mice, the phase of peak PER2::LUC bioluminescence was shifted in the skeletal muscle and lung explants but not in the SCN suggesting a specific synchronizing effect of exercise on the molecular clockwork in peripheral tissues. CONCLUSIONS These data provide evidence that the molecular circadian clock in peripheral tissues can respond to the time of exercise suggesting that physical activity contributes important timing information for synchronization of circadian clocks throughout the body.
Association of Serum Fetuin-A Levels With the Risk of Albuminuria in Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese.

CONTEXT Fetuin-A is an important hepatokine associated with many cardiometabolic abnormities. The association between fetuin-A and albuminuria has not been investigated in a prospective cohort. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to prospectively investigate whether serum fetuin-A levels were associated with albuminuria in middle-aged and elderly Chinese. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A community-based study was conducted at baseline in 2009, including 3102 individuals aged 40 years or older and followed up for 4 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Baseline and follow-up urine samples were collected to measure urinary albumin and creatinine concentrations. Albuminuria was defined as urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR) of 30 mg/g or greater. RESULTS A total of 194 participants (8.5%) developed albuminuria during the follow-up. Men who developed albuminuria had significantly higher baseline levels of fetuin-A compared with those who did not (338.2 vs 292.9 mg/L, P = .02). Among men, after adjustment for traditional risk factors, each 1-SD increase of fetuin-A level (131.6 mg/L) was associated with a 32% higher risk for developing albuminuria (odds ratio 1.32, 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.62). In addition, among men, compared with participants in the lowest tertile (<253.1 mg/L) of serum fetuin-A levels, those in the highest tertile (>338.2 mg/L) had a 2-fold risk for developing albuminuria (odds ratio 2.07, 95% confidence interval 1.04-4.12) after multivariate adjustment. No association between fetuin-A levels and incident albuminuria was observed in women. CONCLUSIONS High serum fetuin-A levels were independently associated with an increased risk of developing albuminuria in middle-aged and elderly men, whereas no significant associations were found in women.
Molecular characterization of Italian nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome patients

Mutations in the PTCH gene, the human homolog of the Drosophila patched gene, have been found to lead to the autosomal dominant disorder termed Nevoid Basal Cell Carcinoma Syndrome (NBCCS, also called Gorlin Syndrome). Patients display an array of developmental anomalies and are prone to develop a variety of tumors, with multiple Basal Cell Carcinomas occurring frequently. We provide here the results of molecular testing of a set of Italian Nevoid Basal Cell Carcinoma Syndrome patients. Twelve familial patients belonging to 7 kindreds and 5 unaffected family members, 6 non‐familial patients and an additional set of 7 patients with multiple Basal Cell Carcinoma but no other criteria for the disease were examined for mutations in the PTCH gene. All of the Nevoid Basal Cell Carcinoma Syndrome patients were found to carry variants of the PTCH gene. We detected nine novel mutations (1 of which occurring twice): 1 missense mutation (c.1436T>G [p.L479R]), 1 nonsense mutation (c.1138G>T [p.E380X]), 6 frameshift mutations (c.323_324ins2, c.2011_2012dup, c.2535_2536dup, c.2577_2583del, c.3000_3005del, c.3050_3051del), 1 novel splicing variant (c.6552A>T) and 3 mutations that have been previously reported (c.3168+5G>A, c.1526G>T [p.G509V], and c.3499G>A [p.G1167R]). None of the patients with multiple Basal Cell Carcinoma but no other criteria for the syndrome, carried germline coding region mutations. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Repeat Positron Emission Tomographic Studies in Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Cats: Residual Perfusion and Efficacy of Postischemic Reperfusion

The wider clinical acceptance of thrombolytic therapy for ischemic stroke has focused more attention on experimental models of reversible focal ischemia. Such models enable the study of the effect of ischemia of various durations and of reperfusion on the development of infarctions. We used high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) to assess cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2), oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), and cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMRglc) before, during, and up to 24 h after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in cats. After determination of resting values, the MCA was occluded by a transorbital device. The MCA was reopened after 30 min in five, after 60 min in 11, and after 120 min in two cats. Whereas all cats survived 30-min MCAO, six died after 60-min and one after 120-min MCAO during 6–20 h of reperfusion. In those cats surviving the first day, infarct size was determined on serial histologic sections. The arterial occlusion immediately reduced CBF in the MCA territory to <40% of control, while CMRO2 was less affected, causing an increase in OEF. Whereas in the cats surviving 24 h of reperfusion after 60- and 120-min MCAO, OEF remained elevated throughout the ischemic episode, the initial OEF increase had already disappeared during the later period of ischemia in those cats that died during the reperfusion period. After 30-min MCAO, the reperfusion period was characterized by a transient reactive hyperemia and fast normalization of CBF, CMRO2, and CMRglc, and no or only small infarcts in the deep nuclei were found in histology. After 60- and 120-min MCAO, the extent of hyperperfusion was related to the severity of ischemia, decreased CMRO2 and CMRglc persisted, and cortical/subcortical infarcts of varying sizes developed. A clear difference was found in the flow/metabolic pattern between surviving and dying cats: In cats dying during the observation period, extended postischemic hyperperfusion accompanied large defects in CMRO2 and CMRglc, large infarcts developed, and intracranial pressure increased fatally. In those surviving the day after MCAO, increased OEF persisted over the ischemic episode, postischemic hyperperfusion was less severe and shorter, and the perfusional and metabolic defects as well as the final infarcts were smaller. These results stress the importance of the severity of ischemia for the further course after reperfusion and help to explain the diverging outcome after thrombolysis, where a relation between the residual flow and the effectiveness of reperfusion was also observed.
Generation of superoxide and singlet oxygen from

Three potential routes to generation of reactive oxygen species from α-tocopherolquinone have been identified. The quinone of the water-soluble vitamin E analogue Trolox C (Trol-Q) is reduced by hydrated electron and isopropanol α-hydroxyalkyl radical, and the resulting semiquinone reacts with molecular oxygen to form superoxide with a second order rate constant of 1.3 x 10 dm mol s, illustrating the potential for redox cycling. Illumination (UV-A, 355 nm) of the quinone of 2,2,5,7,8-pentamethyl-6-hydroxychromanol (PMHC-Q) leads to a reactive short-lived (ca 10 s) triplet state, able to oxidise tryptophan with a second order rate constant greater than 10 dm mol s. The triplet states of these quinones sensitize singlet oxygen formation with quantum yields of about 0.8. Such potentially damaging reactions of α-tocopherolquinone may in part account for the recent findings that high levels of dietary vitamin E supplementation lack any beneficial effect and may lead to slightly enhanced levels of overall mortality.
A ‘reciprocal’ theorem for the prediction of loads on a body moving in an inhomogeneous flow at arbitrary Reynolds number

Abstract Several forms of a theorem providing general expressions for the force and torque acting on a rigid body of arbitrary shape moving in an inhomogeneous incompressible flow at arbitrary Reynolds number are derived. Inhomogeneity arises because of the presence of a wall that partially or entirely bounds the fluid domain and/or a non-uniform carrying flow. This theorem, which stems directly from Navier–Stokes equations and parallels the well-known Lorentz reciprocal theorem extensively employed in low-Reynolds-number hydrodynamics, makes use of auxiliary solenoidal irrotational velocity fields and extends results previously derived by Quartapelle & Napolitano (AIAA J., vol. 21, 1983, pp. 911–913) and Howe (Q. J. Mech. Appl. Maths, vol. 48, 1995, pp. 401–426) in the case of an unbounded flow domain and a fluid at rest at infinity. As the orientation of the auxiliary velocity may be chosen arbitrarily, any component of the force and torque can be evaluated, irrespective of its orientation with respect to the relative velocity between the body and fluid. Three main forms of the theorem are successively derived. The first of these, given in (2.19), is suitable for a body moving in a fluid at rest in the presence of a wall. The most general form (3.6) extends it to the general situation of a body moving in an arbitrary non-uniform flow. Specific attention is then paid to the case of an underlying time-dependent linear flow. Specialized forms of the theorem are provided in this situation for simplified body shapes and flow conditions, in (3.14) and (3.15), making explicit the various couplings between the body’s translation and rotation and the strain rate and vorticity of the carrying flow. The physical meaning of the various contributions to the force and torque and the way in which the present predictions reduce to those provided by available approaches, especially in the inviscid limit, are discussed. Some applications to high-Reynolds-number bubble dynamics, which provide several apparently new predictions, are also presented.
Characterization of mobile spot diffusing optical wireless systems with diversity receiver

Channel characteristics of mobile nondirected diffuse optical wireless communication under the constraints of multipath dispersion and ambient light noise have received little attention to date. This paper presents an original study of transmitter motion and diversity receivers and their effects on the system performance for both conventional diffuse systems (CDS) and line strip multispot diffusing systems (LSMS). Under these conditions, simulation results show that high-received signal power can be obtained by using a LSMS in conjunction with a composite receiver consisting of seven branches. Furthermore, under ambient noise corruption, LSMS provides signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvements of more than 30 dB over the conventional nondirected diffuse system at the worst communication link. Moreover, we evaluate the effect of path loss on the proposed system and it is confirmed that the path loss is reduced by more than 6 dB over the CDS.
The Female Labor Force and Long-Run Development: The American Experience in Comparative Perspective

This paper provides additional evidence on the U-shaped relationship between the process of economic development and women's labor force participation. The experience of the United States is studied in a comparative perspective relative to a sample of rich economies observed over the period 1890-2005. The analysis confirms the existence of a U-shaped female labor supply function, coming from both cross-country and within country variation. Further analysis of a large cross section of economies observed over the post-WWII period suggests that the timing of a country's transition to a modern path of economic development affects the shape of women's labor supply.
Soil pathogen-aphid interactions under differences in soil organic matter and mineral fertilizer

There is increasing evidence showing that microbes can influence plant-insect interactions. In addition, various studies have shown that aboveground pathogens can alter the interactions between plants and insects. However, little is known about the role of soil-borne pathogens in plant-insect interactions. It is also not known how environmental conditions, that steer the performance of soil-borne pathogens, might influence these microbe-plant-insect interactions. Here, we studied effects of the soil-borne pathogen Rhizoctonia solani on aphids (Sitobion avenae) using wheat (Triticum aestivum) as a host. In a greenhouse experiment, we tested how different levels of soil organic matter (SOM) and fertilizer addition influence the interactions between plants and aphids. To examine the influence of the existing soil microbiome on the pathogen effects, we used both unsterilized field soil and sterilized field soil. In unsterilized soil with low SOM content, R. solani addition had a negative effect on aphid biomass, whereas it enhanced aphid biomass in soil with high SOM content. In sterilized soil, however, aphid biomass was enhanced by R. solani addition and by high SOM content. Plant biomass was enhanced by fertilizer addition, but only when SOM content was low, or in the absence of R. solani. We conclude that belowground pathogens influence aphid performance and that the effect of soil pathogens on aphids can be more positive in the absence of a soil microbiome. This implies that experiments studying the effect of pathogens under sterile conditions might not represent realistic interactions. Moreover, pathogen-plant-aphid interactions can be more positive for aphids under high SOM conditions. We recommend that soil conditions should be taken into account in the study of microbe-plant-insect interactions.
Analytical Evaluation of Particle-Enhanced Immunonephelometric Assays for C-Reactive Protein, Serum Amyloid a and Mannose-Binding Protein in Human Serum

Against a background of growing interest in more sensitive assays for quantifying various acute phase proteins, we evaluated the performance of recently developed tests for C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (SAA) and mannose-binding protein (MBP) on the Behring nephelometer II (BN II). Sample results outside the calibration ranges of 3·5 to 220 mg/L for CRP, 3·3 to 215 mg/L for SAA and 0·09 to 5·6 mg/L for MBP were automatically re-measured at another dilution. The lower limits of detection were 0·01, 0·7 and 0·01 mg/L for CRP, SAA and MBP, respectively. The coefficients of variation (CV) for intra- (n ⩾ 20) and inter- (n ⩾ 15) assay precision were < 5·2% and < 8·5%, respectively, for the three proteins at concentrations representing low, normal and high. Linearity for each method was within 5% of the expected values throughout the calibration range. We observed no significant interference from bilirubin (up to 300 mg/L) or haemoglobin (up to 10 g/L) for the three tests. Method comparison studies performed for CRP and SAA yielded the following results: y (CRP on BN II) = 0·75x (ELISA, Hemagen) −0·25 mg/L (r = 0·981, Sy/x = 2·1 mg/L; y (SAA on BN II) = 1·44x (ELISA, Hemagen) −9·9 mg/L (r = 0·972, Sy/x = 6·9 mg/L), where ELISA is enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Reference intervals established in 261 adult blood donors (aged 36·2 ± 9·0 years) were found to be log-normal with 2·5th, 50th and 97·5th centiles of < 0·17, 100 and 10·1 mg/L for CRP, < 0·84, 2·10 and 9·70 mg/L for SAA; and 0·30, 1·28 and 4·10 mg/L for MBP. We observed no relationship with CRP concentration and age; however, SAA levels increased with age while MBP levels decreased. The BN II provides a simple, rapid and sensitive system for measuring CRP, SAA and MBP in human serum.
THE INFLUENCE OF AMPHETAMINE ADDICTION ON PREGNANCY AND THE NEWBORN INFANT 1

ABSTRACT. influence of amphetamine addiction on pregnancy and the newborn infant has been studied retrospectively in 23 cases. Six of the mothers claimed to have discontinued their abuse in early pregnancy, while the remaining 17 mothers continued throughout. In comparison with the average number of visits by pregnant Swedish women to maternal health centres, the 17 women who continued their abuse made significantly fewer visits, although there was a wide variation. Complications related to pregnancy and delivery were few, however. One child with a myelomeningocele was stillborn. Six children were preterm and three were small for gestational age. Two full‐term children were extremely drowsy and in need of tube feeding, symptoms that might be due to the maternal abuse. Eight of the ten mothers, who had previous children placed in foster homes by the Social Welfare Department, left the hospital with their newborn infant in their care as well as all the eleven primiparae.