Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence of a Relationship between Infant Birth Weight and Later Diabetes Mellitus and Impaired Glucose Regulation in a Chinese Population

Objective: To determine the influence of birth weight, a marker of fetal growth, on the development of later impaired glucose metabolism throughout the life-span of people living in China. Research Design and Methods: We recorded detailed anthropometric data including height, weight and health status and measured blood glucose levels and insulin concentrations at fast and 120 min of a standard OGTT from 2,019 eligible subjects born between 1921 and 1954 to investigate the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired glucose regulation (IGR). Results: The DM and IGR groups were characterized by significantly lower birth weight (P<0.001), smaller head circumference (P<0.001), smaller ponderal index (PI, P=0.007), and shorter length (P=0.004) in contrast to those in the normal glucose tolerance (NGT) group. Using multiple logistic regression analysis, we observed that birth weight remained significantly associated with DM and IGR after adjusting for possible confounding variables at birth and in adult life such as gender, age, central obesity, smoking status, alcohol consumption, dyslipidaemia, family history of diabetes and occupational status (p=0.027). There was a significantly increased risk of getting DM and IGR for those with low birth weight (odds ratio 1.748 [95% confidence interval 1.018 to 3.001], p=0.043). Conclusions: The results confirm that lower birth weight is an independent risk factor for later diabetes or impaired glucose regulation, and show for the first time that this is also applies for a Chinese population.
Discomfort from rubber gloves indicating contact urticaria

Rubber glove intolerance is a common dermatological problem and hypersensitivity of both delayed and immediate types occur. In order to study immediate skin reactions induced by rubber gloves, 15 patients with discomfort and itch produced by rubber gloves were examined The patients were provoked K wearing rubber gloves, scratch tested with gloves, rubber chemicals and powders, RAST‐tests were performed using an extract from the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). In 6/15 patients, contact urticaria was confirmed, in 3 of whom IgE antibodies to latex were demonstrated.
Impact of charging damage on negative bias temperature instability

The impact of charging damage from plasma processes on negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) is demonstrated. The NBTI lifetime of an antenna device decreases more than 5/spl times/ over intrinsic NBTI lifetime and is seen across devices with different thicknesses of the gate dielectric, as well as different back-end processes (Al or Cu). Charging damage (in antenna devices) during processing creates interface states, which are passivated during sinter, resulting in excess Si-H bonds in antenna devices. The increased degradation of devices with an antenna is attributed to these excess Si-H bonds, which are weak and break during the negative bias temperature stress.
Knowledge-sharing behaviour of bank employees in Greece

Purpose – This paper aims to develop an understanding of the factors that influence knowledge‐sharing behaviour within an organisational framework, using widely accepted social psychology theories.Design/methodology/approach – Knowledge‐sharing behaviour of bank employees in Greece is examined using an aggregate model, which is based on the theory of planned behaviour. The suggested research model was tested using structural equation modelling.Findings – The results indicate that intention to share knowledge is mainly influenced by employees' attitude toward knowledge sharing, followed by subjective norms.Research limitations/implications – Knowledge‐sharing behaviour was examined solely focusing on salient beliefs. Findings should be confirmed using a larger sample, as well as through cross‐sectional studies.Practical implications – The results highlight the necessity of creating a climate that would help individuals develop a more favourable attitude toward knowledge sharing as well as the important rol.
[Diagnostic significance of mild hyperhomocysteinemia in a population of children with parents or grandparents who have peripheral or coronary artery disease].

BACKGROUND A rise of the homocysteine plasma level--mild hyperhomocysteinaemia--is considered an independent risk factor for the development of vascular damage. It is due to hereditary deficiency of 5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase with accentuation of vitamin deficiency (folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12). In previous studies the authors confirmed this fact in the population of patients with aortocoronary or peripheral arterial bypasses. The assumed autosomal recessive transmission of this deficiency should make it possible to detect carriers of this metabolic deviation already in childhood. By selective screening of the child population at risk it would thus be possible to detect affected subjects in time and prevent the development of vascular disease by preventive folate administration. METHODS AND RESULTS In a group of 38 children and grandchildren from risk families where at least one of the parents or grandparents was operated on account of vascular obliterating disease the total homocysteine plasma level was examined by the chromatographic method. An increase of total homocystein (8.7 +/- 2.7 mumol/l) was found as compared with children from the non-risk population (5.4 +/- 1.8 mumol/l), (p < 0.001). The total homocysteine values however were dependent on the child's age and were more marked in children above 12 years of age. In the parental population mild hyperhomocysteinaemia was present in 38% of those with aortocoronary bypasses and in 43% of those with peripheral arterial bypasses. CONCLUSIONS The authors found significantly elevated total homocysteine levels in the child population from risk families with obliterating vascular disease. The total homocysteine level depends on the child's age and is more markedly expressed in children above 12 years of age.
Normal stiffness of fractures in granitic rock : A compilation of laboratory and in-situ experiments

Fractures and the networks they form have a major impact on the mechanical, thermal and hydraulic behaviour of a rock mass. For this reason, practically all geotechnical engineering projects conducted in fractured rock require quantitative descriptions of the properties of the fractures. A case in point is the project that motivated this study: the simulation of the surface subsidence resulting from the drawdown in pore-pressure about a deep tunnel in crystalline rock due to drainage into the tunnel [1,2]. Hydro-mechanically coupled discontinuum models of the medium required properties to be assigned, amongst which was the stress-dependent normal stiffness characteristics. Since there were no estimates of such for the fractures within the rock mass in question, a survey of published studies of normal stiffness was undertaken to guide the model parameterisation. Most studies measured fracture closure as a function of a change in applied effective normal stress. In laboratory experiments, the change was usually cyclical. A key problem in rendering such diverse data to be collectively interpretable is posed by the fact that the normal stiffness of fractures, kn, is strongly stress dependent, particularly at low effective normal stress levels (Fig. 1). This means that the closure-normal stress curves must be approximated by some function that fits the curves, preferably with as few free parameters as possible.
Studies of factors involved in the production of low tension glaucoma.

Forty-five patients with low tension glaucoma were compared with 45 ocular hypertensive patients matched for age and sex. The low tension glaucoma group had a significantly higher rate of hemodynamic crises, low systemic blood pressure, and low ophthalmic blood pressure. Progression occurred in fewer than half of the patients with low tension glaucoma.
Accuracy of an infrared tympanic thermometer.

BACKGROUND The use of infrared thermometry to measure temperatures in hospitalized patients is increasing. Although infrared thermometers have been proven to be accurate when they are used by well-trained personnel, no previous studies have examined their accuracy during routine hospital use. OBJECTIVE To determine the accuracy and observer variability of temperatures measured with an infrared tympanic thermometer (TT). DESIGN Prospective, observational study. SETTING ICUs of a 300-bed teaching community hospital. PATIENTS Fifty-one critically ill patients. MEASUREMENTS The mean of three tympanic temperatures measured with the infrared TT (tempTTs) was compared to temperatures simultaneously measured with the thermistor of right heart catheters and rectal mercury thermometers for the following three groups of observers who had been certified in the use of the infrared TT: a single critical care nurse (CCN)/educator (Ed); CCNs, and floor nurses (FNs)/clinical care practitioners (CCPs). RESULTS Two rounds of measurements were given to 51 patients by 153 observers. Temperatures of the pulmonary artery (PA) measured with the thermistor of right heart catheters (tempPAs) ranged from 96.5 to 102.6 degrees F, with a mean (-/+ SD) of 99.3+/-1.1 degrees F. The intraobserver variabilities (correlation coefficients) of the tempTTs ranged from 0.90 for those measured by FNs/CCPs, to 0.92 for those measured by CCNs, to 0.98 for those measured by the CCN/Ed. Accuracy, arbitrarily defined as within a deviation of -/+0.5 degrees F of the tempPA, was 100% for the rectal mercury thermometer and 98.0% for the infrared TT when used by the CCN/Ed. The accuracy of the infrared TT was 80% when measured by CCNs and 61% when measured by FNs/CCPs. Differences between tempPAs and tempTTs measured by the CCN/Ed ranged from 0 to 0.7 degrees F, with a mean of 0.2 degrees F. Similarly, differences between tempPAs and tempTTs measured by CCNs ranged from 0 to 2.4 degrees F, with a mean difference of 0.3 degrees F. However, differences between tempPAs and tempTTs measured by FNs/CCPs ranged from 0 to 3.0 degrees F, with a mean of 0.6 degrees F (greater differences than those obtained by the CCNs; p < 0.01). The accuracy of rectal mercury thermometry was 100%. If a temperature > or = 101.0 degrees F had been considered as the threshold at which a fever is present, and if the mean of three measurements had been used to designate temperature, workups that were either inappropriately performed or omitted would have resulted from 2% of tempTTs measured by the CCN/Ed, 1% of those measured by CCNs, and 4% of those measured by FNs/CCPs. CONCLUSION When used properly, both tympanic and rectal thermometry are very accurate. However, the infrared TT produced measurements that were both less accurate and less reproducible when used by nurses who routinely used it in clinical practice.
Micromechanical properties of tobacco mosaic viruses

A tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) subject to local forces can be viewed as an uniform beam with local loads. We used a custom built Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) to determine the curvature induced in the TMV by concentrated load or by distributed forces. Local forces were created by the AFM tip. Distributed forces were applied to the virus via the surface tension of receding droplets. The experimental results of both methods can be described when we attribute a Young modulus of 6 ± 3 GPa to the virus. Our value is about five times larger than published data. We compare our results to the literature and work out possible error sources in our experiment and in published one.
Logistic regression models for predicting physical and mental health-related quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis patients

The aim of this work was to develop two logistic regression models capable of predicting physical and mental health related quality of life (HRQOL) among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. In this cross-sectional study which was conducted during 2006 in the outpatient rheumatology clinic of our university hospital, Short Form 36 (SF-36) was used for HRQOL measurements in 411 RA patients. A cutoff point to define poor versus good HRQOL was calculated using the first quartiles of SF-36 physical and mental component scores (33.4 and 36.8, respectively). Two distinct logistic regression models were used to derive predictive variables including demographic, clinical, and psychological factors. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each model were calculated. Poor physical HRQOL was positively associated with pain score, disease duration, monthly family income below 300 US$, comorbidity, patient global assessment of disease activity or PGA, and depression (odds ratios: 1.1; 1.004; 15.5; 1.1; 1.02; 2.08, respectively). The variables that entered into the poor mental HRQOL prediction model were monthly family income below 300 US$, comorbidity, PGA, and bodily pain (odds ratios: 6.7; 1.1; 1.01; 1.01, respectively). Optimal sensitivity and specificity were achieved at a cutoff point of 0.39 for the estimated probability of poor physical HRQOL and 0.18 for mental HRQOL. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the physical and mental models were 73.8, 87, 83.7% and 90.38, 70.36, 75.43%, respectively. The results show that the suggested models can be used to predict poor physical and mental HRQOL separately among RA patients using simple variables with acceptable accuracy. These models can be of use in the clinical decision-making of RA patients and to recognize patients with poor physical or mental HRQOL in advance, for better management.
National Surveillance of Dialysis‐Associated Diseases in the United States, 1997

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been conducting surveillance of hemodialysis-associated hepatitis since the early 1970s (1), when the CDC reported that the incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among patients and staff during 1972– 1974 had increased by more than 100% to 6.2% and 5.2%, respectively. These early surveys had only a 50– 65% response rate of centers listed by the National Dialysis Registry. In an effort to obtain a higher response rate, and thus more complete information, the CDC initiated a cooperative program with the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) in 1976 that provided for a questionnaire from the CDC to be included in HCFA’s annual facility survey. As a result of this collaboration, the response rate to the CDC questionnaire now exceeds 90%. Since collaboration with the HCFA was begun, the CDC survey has been performed for calendar years 1976, 1980, and 1982 to 1997 (2–12). Questions about other hemodialysis-associated diseases and practices not related to hepatitis have been included over the years, and the questionnaire is continually updated to collect data about hemodialysis practices and hemodialysisassociated diseases of current interest and importance. The objectives of this yearly survey are to determine the frequency with which certain hemodialysis practices, including measures designed to prevent disease, are used; determine the frequency of hemodialysis-associated complications and diseases; and to use this information to suggest further measures to prevent complications and disease in hemodialysis patients and staff.
A characterization of excitatory postsynaptic potentials in the avian nucleus magnocellularis.

1. The activation of current-clamped neurons in the chick nucleus magnocellularis (nMAG) by eighth nerve stimulation has been studied in a brain slice preparation using patch electrodes. Single presynaptic stimuli produced rapidly rising, suprathreshold, excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) with a synaptic delay of approximately 0.4 ms. Spontaneous, miniature EPSPs (mEPSPs) were evident in control extracellular solution and in the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX). 2. The EPSP was composed of a large, brief component that was sensitive to antagonists of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, and a smaller, slowly decaying component that was sensitive to both N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and AMPA receptor antagonists. 3. Injection of depolarizing current steps revealed a strong outward rectification of the membrane conductance at potentials close to the resting potential. Consequently, neurons could fire only a single, TTX-sensitive action potential during a current step. The conductance responsible for this rectification was sensitive to 1 mM 4-aminopyridine but not to 1 mM tetraethylammonium. 4. Following the termination of depolarizing current pulses, membrane potential decayed with a half-time (t1/2) that decreased as the depolarizing current increased, reaching approximately 0.25 ms for a depolarization from rest of 20 mV. The t1/2 for the decay of EPSPs matched the membrane t1/2, indicating that the underlying synaptic conductance decays more quickly than the membrane t1/2. 5. The slow phase of the EPSP was always longer than the membrane t1/2 and increased in size with hyperpolarization. This result is consistent with the contribution of AMPA receptors to the slow, as well as fast, EPSP. 6. The safety factor for transmission with low-frequency stimuli was large, as indicated by the rise time of the EPSP, the extent to which the EPSP shunted the action potential, and the size of EPSPs after prolongation of the synaptic conductance by cyclothiazide. 7. During repetitive synaptic stimulation, the slow EPSPs summated to produce a plateau depolarization of 10-20 mV. The plateau potential was only partially blocked by NMDA receptor antagonists. 8. During trains of stimuli, the faster EPSPs rode atop the plateau potential and could drive action potentials at rates up to 500 Hz for short periods. Synaptic depression was evident during trains, such that EPSPs often fell below threshold after 5-10 stimuli at rates above 200 Hz. EPSPs could remain suprathreshold for several seconds at 50 Hz. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Wisconsin Card Sorting Performance in Patients With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Clinical and Neuroanatomical Correlates

PURPOSE A sizable proportion of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) display impairments on tests of executive function. Previous studies have suggested several factors that may explain such performance, including the presence of hippocampal sclerosis, electrophysiological disruption to extratemporal regions, and early age of seizure onset. However, no clear determinants have been found that consistently explain such executive dysfunction. The present study investigated the contribution of several clinical variables and temporal lobe neuroanatomic features to performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) in a series of patients with TLE. METHODS Eighty-nine patients with lateralized TLE (47 left, 42 right) were examined. Seventy-two patients from this series underwent anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL). Regression analysis was used to examine the effects of age, education, age at seizure onset, seizure duration, seizure laterality, history of secondary generalized seizures, and MRI-based volumes of the right and left hippocampi on preoperative WCST performance (number of categories completed, perseverative errors). Further univariate analyses examined whether the presence of bilateral hippocampal sclerosis, mesial temporal lobe abnormalities beyond the hippocampus, or temporal neocortical abnormalities affected preoperative WCST performance. In addition, we examined whether becoming seizure free after ATL affected change in WCST performance. RESULTS Overall regression analysis was not significant. However, an examination of individual partial correlations revealed that patients with a history of secondary generalized seizures performed more poorly on the preoperative WCST than did patients without such history. In addition, patients who were seizure free after ATL did not exhibit better WCST outcome than patients who did not become seizure free. The presence of bilateral hippocampal sclerosis, extrahippocampal mesial temporal atrophy, or temporal neocortical lesions did not affect WCST performance. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that the presence of temporal lobe structural abnormalities do not significantly affect executive function as measured by the WCST. The present study does suggests that the critical determinants of WCST performance in patients with TLE lie outside the temporal lobe and likely relate to metabolic disruption to frontostriatal neural network systems.
Lymphocyte transformation and leucocyte migration-inhibition by Australia antigen.

The occurrence of a state of cell-mediated immune responsiveness to the Australia antigen following acute virus-B hepatitis has been demonstrated by the use of two in vitro methods—the lymphocyte transformation test and the leucocyte migration–inhibition test. Australia antigen-rich serum and purified Australia antigen were found to be effective agents in both tests. Close correlation was observed between the two tests. Persistent carriers of the Australia antigen give negative results with both tests.
Partial destabilization of native structure by a combination of heat and denaturant facilitates cold denaturation in a hyperthermophile protein

Cold denaturation is a phenomenon seen in many different proteins. However, there have been no reports so far of its occurrence in hyperthermophile proteins. Here, using a recombinant triosephosphate isomerase (PfuTIM) from the hyperthermophile archaeon, Pyrococcus furiosus, we show that the heating of this protein through the low temperature side of its thermal unfolding transition in the presence of guanidinium hydrochloride (GdmCl) results in the formation of partially‐disordered conformational ensembles that retain considerable native‐like secondary and tertiary structure. Unlike PfuTIM itself, these thermochemically obtained partially‐disordered PfuTIM ensembles display cold denaturation as they are cooled to room temperature. The protein thus shows hysteresis, adopting different structural states in a manner dependent upon the nature of the heating and cooling treatment, rather than upon the initial and final conditions of temperature and GdmCl concentration, indicating that some sort of a kinetic effect influences structure adoption and retention. The structure lost through cooling of partially‐disordered PfuTIM is found to be regained through heating. The ability of GdmCl to thus apparently destabilize the highly thermodynamically and kinetically stable structure of PfuTIM (sufficiently, to cause it to display observable cold‐denaturation and heat‐renaturation transitions, in real‐time, with cooling and heating) offers support to current ideas concerning the how hyperthermophile proteins achieve their high kinetic stabilities, and suggests that desolvation‐solvation barriers may be responsible for high kinetic stability. Proteins 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Experimental study of Dermacentor marginatus Sulz. and Rhipicephalus rossicus Jak. et K. Jak. ticks as vectors of tularemia.

The importance of the ixodial ticks as vectors of tularemia has been noted by many investigators in the Soviet Union and abroad. D. A. Golov (1934 and 1935) and D. A. Golov and V. N. Fedorov (1934) showed experimentally the capacity of Dermacentor marginatus larvae infected with the tularemia organism to transmit the infection to rodents and domestic animals in the nymph or in the sexually-mature tick stage. Four nymphs were the minimum number of specimens used for transmitting the infection to a rodent. Transfer of tularemia to domestic animals was accomplished by attaching a few score adult infected ticks to them.