Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Keratoconjunctivitis in a group of Icelandic horses with suspected γ-herpesvirus involvement.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY The role of equid γ-herpesviruses on ocular surface diseases has been disputed, because the diagnosis is usually based on clinical symptoms and detection of viral DNA from samples obtained from live animals. OBJECTIVES To describe the clinical course, results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, in situ hybridisation, cell culture and pathohistological findings of select cases in a presumed outbreak of herpesvirus infection in a group of 15 Icelandic horses. STUDY DESIGN Case series. METHODS Pooled ocular and nasal swabs and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of horses diagnosed clinically with herpesvirus-associated keratoconjunctivitis were analysed for presence of equine herpesviruses (EHV)-2 and EHV-5 nucleic acid using real-time PCR. Necropsy specimens from one horse, subjected to euthanasia due to deterioration of clinical symptoms were examined histopathologically, and analysed for presence of EHV-2 and EHV-5 nucleic acid using real-time PCR. In situ hybridisation and cell culture of select samples were performed. RESULTS All horses with symptoms of severe keratoconjunctivitis were positive for presence of either EHV-2 and/or EHV-5 nucleic acid using real-time PCR. Assessment of necropsy specimens of the most severely affected case, revealed presence of EHV-2 and/or EHV-5 nucleic acid in several ocular and extraocular anatomical locations. The remaining horses responded favourably to symptomatic treatment. CONCLUSIONS This case series illustrates a severe outbreak of keratoconjunctivitis in a group of Icelandic horses, with suspected γ-herpesvirus involvement. For the first time equid γ-herpesviruses were detected in intraocular anatomical locations.
Selection of features from protein-protein interaction network for identifying cancer genes

Cancer is a group of complex diseases, in which a relatively large number of genes are involved. One of the main goals of cancer research is to identify genes that causally relevant to the development and progress of cancer. The increasingly identified cancer genes and availability of genomic and proteomics data provide us opportunities to identify cancer genes by computational methods. In this work, we investigated five predictive topological features, derived from the protein-protein interaction networks, in identifying cancer genes. We used 10-fold cross validation to assess the predictive ability of all the combinations of these features and found the most predictive feature and feature combinations. Two kinds of neural networks, support vector machine (SVM) and multi-layer perceptrons (MLP), were employed to assess the predictive ability of features. We found that the best feature combination for these two algorithms is the same. At the same time, we found SVM performs slightly better than MLP. Using only 2 or 3 features, the best performance of our classification model can get accuracy as high as 73.9%.
Hypothermia in the sepsis syndrome and clinical outcome

ObjectiveTo evaluate the consequences of clinical hypothermia associated with sepsis syndrome and septic shock. DesignAnalysis of data from a multi-institutional, randomized, placebo-controlled, prospective study with predetermined end-point analysis of development of shock, recovery from shock, hospital length of stay, and death. SettingMulti-institutional medical and surgical ICUs. PatientsPatients meeting predetermined criteria for severe sepsis syndrome. InterventionsAppropriate sepsis and shock care with 50% of patients receiving methylprednisolone and 50% receiving placebo. Measurements and Main ResultsThe occurrence rate of hypothermia (<35.5°C) is 9% in this population. When compared with febrile patients, hypothermic patients had a higher frequency of central nervous system dysfunction (88% vs. 60%), increased serum bilirubin concentration (35% vs. 15%), prolonged prothrombin times (50% vs. 23%), shock (94% vs. 61%), failure to recover from shock (66% vs. 26%), and death (62% vs. 26%). The hypothermic patients were also more likely to be classified as having a rapidly or ultimately fatal disease upon study admission. ConclusionsThis prospective study confirms that hypothermia associated with sepsis syndrome has a significant relationship to outcome manifest by increased frequency of shock and death from shock. This finding is in sharp contrast to the protective effects of induced hypothermia in septic animals and perhaps man.
Neurodevelopmental outcome in high‐risk patients after renal transplantation in early childhood

Abstract: Patient and graft survival rates of pediatric renal transplant recipients are currently excellent, but there are few reports regarding the long‐term neurodevelopmental outcome after renal transplantation (Tx) in early childhood. Children with renal failure from infancy would be expected to have a less favorable developmental prognosis. We report the neurodevelopmental outcome in 33 school‐age children transplanted between 1987 and 1995 when < 5 yr of age. We prospectively performed a neurological examination, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, electroencephalograms (EEGs), audiometry, and neuropsychological tests (NEPSY), and measured cognitive performance (WISC‐R); we related these results to school performance and to retrospective risk factors prior to Tx. Twenty‐six (79%) children attended normal school and 76% had normal motor performance. Six of the seven children attending a special school had brain infarcts on MRI. The EEG was abnormal in 11 (35%), and five (15%) received anti‐convulsive treatment after Tx. Sensorineural hearing loss was documented in six patients. The mean intelligence quotient (IQ) was 87, and 6–24% showed impairment in neuropsychological tests. The children attending a special school had been more premature, but had not had a greater number of pre‐ or neonatal complications. They had experienced a greater number of hypertensive crises (p = 0.002) and seizures (p = 0.03), mainly during dialysis, but the number of septic infections and the mean serum aluminum levels were not significantly greater than in the children with normal school performance. In these previously lethal diseases, the overall neurodevelopmental outcome is reassuring. However, it is of crucial importance to further minimize the risk factors prior to Tx.
Ca(2+)‐induced Ca2+ release mediates Ca2+ transients evoked by single action potentials in rabbit vagal afferent neurones.

1. Standard intracellular recording techniques with ‘sharp’ micropipettes were used to evoke action potentials (APs) in acutely dissociated adult nodose neurones. 2. APs induced a transient increase in [Ca2+]i (a calcium transient), recorded with fura‐2, that was dependent upon [Ca2+]o and the number of APs. Over the range of one to sixty‐five APs, the relation between the amplitude of the calcium transient and the number of APs was well fitted by a rectangular hyperbola (chi 2 = 3.53, r = 0.968). From one to four APs, the calcium transient‐AP relation can be described by a line with a slope of 9.6 nM AP‐1 (r = 0.999). 3. Charge movement corresponding to Ca2+ influx evoked by a single AP was 39 +/‐ 2.8 pC (mean +/‐ S.E.M.) and did not change significantly during trains of one to thirty‐one APs (P < 0.05). 4. Caffeine (10 mM), a known agonist of the ryanodine receptor, produced an increase in [Ca2+]i. The caffeine‐induced rise in [Ca2+]i was attenuated (by > 90%) by lowering [Ca2+]o, and by ryanodine (10 microM), 2,5‐di(t‐butyl)hydroquinone (DBHQ, 10 microM), or thapsigargin (100 nM). 5. Neurones incubated with ryanodine, DBHQ or thapsigargin required at least eight APs to evoke a detectable calcium transient. These reagents did not significantly affect Ca2+ influx (P < 0.05). In the presence of these inhibitors, the calcium transient‐AP relation exhibited slopes of 1.2, 1.1 and 1.9 nM AP‐1 for ryanodine, DBHQ and thapsigargin, respectively. When compared with the slope of 9.6 nM AP‐1 in non‐treated neurones, it appears that Ca2+ influx produced by a single AP is amplified by ca 5‐ to 10‐fold.
Oculopalpebral Dimensions of Adult Nigerians: Report from the Enugu Normative Ocular Anthropometry Study

Objective: To determine the normal oculopalpebral anthropometric measurements of a Nigerian adult population. Subjects andMethods: A population-based prospective observational random survey was conducted in Enugu, South-Eastern Nigeria between January and April 2010. The participants were healthy adults comprising 248 males and 252 females aged 18–76 years. One thousand eyes were examined. Demographic data, and bilateral direct manual millimetre measurements of the horizontal palpebral fissure (HPF), vertical palpebral fissure (VPF), upper lid crease (ULC), brow height (BH), and margin reflex distance (MRD) were obtained from all participants. Data were categorised by demographic variables and analysed to yield frequencies, percentages and proportions. Between-gender comparisons, using the independent t test, were considered significant at p < 0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 36.5 ± 14.6 years. There was no significant difference between the genders in mean age (men: 37.3 ± 15.7 vs. women: 35.8 ± 13.3, p = 0.2302). The mean values of the parameters were (male, female) HPF: 32.8 ± 2.0 vs. 32.6 ± 3.0; VPF: 10.6 ± 1.2 vs. 10.6 ± 1.2; ULC: 8.2 ± 2.5 vs. 7.9 ± 2.2; BH: 13.1 ± 2.4 vs. 13.6 ± 2.7; and MRD: 4.1 ± 0.5 vs. 4.2 ± 0.8. Significant between-gender difference was observed only in BH measurements (p = 0.029) and variable trends with age. Conclusion: Oculopalpebral measurements of normal adult Nigerians in Enugu showed variations by age and gender. This may have implications for clinical evaluation and surgical management of oculopalpebral disorders in adult South-Eastern Nigerians. Future longitudinal studies are needed.
Vascular involvement in the prognosis of primary cutaneous melanoma.

OBJECTIVE To examine the role of vascular invasion as a prognostic factor in melanoma. DESIGN Retrospective survival analysis. SETTING Academic medical center. PATIENTS A total of 526 patients with primary cutaneous melanoma from the University of California, San Francisco, Melanoma Center database with 2 years of follow-up or documented relapse. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES (1) Presence of vascular involvement defined as vascular invasion with tumor cells within blood or lymphatic vessels; or uncertain vascular invasion, with melanoma cells immediately adjacent to the endothelium. (2) Percentage with metastasis or death and relapse-free and overall survival. RESULTS The presence of either type of vascular involvement significantly increased the risk of relapse and death and reduced the survival associated with melanoma. The impact of vascular involvement on these outcomes was similar to that of ulceration. In a multivariate analysis, vascular involvement was the second most important factor (after tumor thickness) in the primary tumor in predicting survival. CONCLUSIONS Vascular involvement is an important independent predictor of metastasis and survival in melanoma. The phenomenon of uncertain vascular invasion describes an earlier step than definite vascular invasion in tumor progression.
A structural compendium on service quality and customer satisfaction: A survey of banks in India

ABSTRACT The core aim of the research is to measure and analyze the quality of services offered by the top three public- and private-sector banks in India and to attempt to know how bank services quality affects customer satisfaction. By administering both questionnaires and personal interviews, researchers garnered the opinions of a total of 600 respondents with BANKQUAL statement. The authors applied Cronbach’s alpha to test reliability and the selected hypotheses have been proven with Chi-square tests and t-tests. All the public-sector banks chosen for the study lead in the satisfaction index over the private-sector banks by demonstrating differences in the dimensions of credibility, influence, and geographic spread. The research is most precious to diverse stakeholders of the Indian banking industry, particularly to banks who want to know about their existing service quality for further improvement. For the first time, the researchers introduced the comprehensive BANKQUAL statement to test out the quality of bank services in India.
Expression of visfatin mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is not correlated with visfatin mRNA in omental adipose tissue in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND Visfatin, which is secreted predominantly from visceral adipose tissue, has an insulin-mimetic action and may play a role in the regulation of insulin sensitivity in humans. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from venous blood samples are the most accessible tissue for the analysis of gene expression. The aims of the study were to compare the expression of visfatin in PBMCs with that in omental adipose tissue in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS Visfatin mRNA was measured in omental adipose tissue and PBMCs from 10 women with PCOS and 10 healthy controls, matched for BMI and age, using the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS The expression of visfatin mRNA in both omental adipose tissue and PBMCs from the women with PCOS was significantly higher (P = 0.01 and P = 0.05, respectively) than that in the controls. This finding indicated that mononuclear cells are a potential source of visfatin in women with PCOS. However, only the expression of visfatin mRNA in adipose tissue, not that in PBMCs, showed a significant positive correlation with insulin levels 2h after glucose loading (P = 0.044, r(2) = 0.45), and with homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA(IR); P = 0.035, r(2) = 0.47). In addition, the expression of visfatin mRNA in PBMCs did not correlate with the expression of visfatin mRNA in omental adipose tissue. CONCLUSIONS PCOS is associated with increased visfatin mRNA concentrations in PBMCs and in omental adipose tissue. However, only visfatin mRNA concentration in omental adipose tissue is closely correlated with BMI and insulin resistance.
Antimicrobial Stewardship in the Microbiology Laboratory: Impact of Selective Susceptibility Reporting on Ciprofloxacin Utilization and Susceptibility of Gram-Negative Isolates to Ciprofloxacin in a Hospital Setting

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine the impact of selective susceptibility reporting on ciprofloxacin utilization and Gram-negative susceptibility to ciprofloxacin in a hospital setting. Historically at our institution, the microbiology laboratory practice was to report ciprofloxacin susceptibility for all Enterobacteriaceae regardless of susceptibility to other agents. A selective reporting policy was implemented which involved the suppression of ciprofloxacin susceptibility to Enterobacteriaceae when there was lack of resistance to the antibiotics on the Gram-negative panel. Ciprofloxacin utilization (measured in defined daily doses [DDD] per 1,000 patient days) was collected before and after the intervention and compared to moxifloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, nitrofurantoin, and amoxicillin-clavulanate. Monthly susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli to ciprofloxacin was tabulated. An interrupted time series analysis using segmented regression was performed. The mean monthly ciprofloxacin utilization decreased from 87 (95% CI, 83.7 to 91.2) to 39 (95% CI, 35.0 to 44.0) DDD per 1,000 patient days before and after the implementation of selective reporting, respectively. There was an immediate and sustained reduction in ciprofloxacin usage at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postintervention (P < 0.001). A compensatory increase in amoxicillin-clavulanate use was noted starting at 6 months postintervention and persisted for the study period (P < 0.027). Susceptibility of E. coli, but not that of P. aeruginosa, to ciprofloxacin was higher than predicted starting 12 months after the intervention (P < 0.05). In conclusion, selective reporting of ciprofloxacin susceptibly may be a useful intervention to reduce targeted antimicrobial utilization and improve Gram-negative susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. This approach should be considered as part of a broader multimodal antimicrobial stewardship program.
Microfinance Schemes and Poverty Reduction among Women in the Northern Region of Ghana

In Ghana like in other countries, microfinance has been acknowledged as a pro- poor development intervention because of its special programme models in meeting the special needs of the poor especially women. The study explores the contributions of microfinance programmes to poverty reduction and empowerment among women. Qualitative methodologies were used to collect the primary data from about 29 informants recruited from the MFIs. The study found out that MFIs give credits with conditions that are not favourable to the needs of the women. It was also found out that, the dependency burdens on women coupled with the low credit that the women access from the MFIs for productive activities lead the women to deploy the credit to meet the demand of both the business and household. Moreover it was revealed by the study that irrespective of the women’s access to credit and income their bargaining power and fallback positions in household decision making processes are largely defined by the gendered regimes within the household economy.
Examination of the carcass in terms of quality and sanitation in broiler chickens fed with marine hydrobionts

The objective of this study was to examine the quality and sanitary characteristics after post slaughter period of the carcasses of chickens which fed with marine hydrobiont. A total of 240, 12 day-old broiler chickens from Ross 308 breed were used in the study. The chickens were divided into three groups as two experimental groups and a control group. The chickens in the control group were fed with basal diet (BD) during the experiment. In the first experimental group, 7% of the basal diet was replaced with mineral additive (MA) while in the 2nd group 7% percent protein mineral additive was added to the feed of chickens. The chicks were fed with these feeds from 21 to 42 days of age. During the study the broilers were constantly observed considering the disposal of feed consumption and their general conditions. The chickens were slaughtered at the end of the study and following slaughtering process morphologic and sanitary assessment of carcasses was carried out. In addition, external appearance, visceral organs and carcass samples of slaughtered chickens were checked during the veterinary inspection. The microbiological investigation were performed by using Colpoda steinii infusorium. There was no abnormal changes in organs or appearance of tissues among control and experimental groups according to the post slaughter veterinary inspection. In addition, visually examination revealed that carcasses were identical for the control group and the experimental groups. There was no difference between the control and experimental group according to microbial contamination results. As a conclusion, it is evaluated that the meat of broiler chicken in the experimental groups are safe for consuming. Therefore, it was concluded that the prepared hydrobionts could be used safely in the poultry feeding.
Association of T‐786C eNOS gene polymorphism with increased susceptibility to acute chest syndrome in females with sickle cell disease

Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is a life‐threatening complication of sickle cell disease (SCD). A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the role of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene polymorphisms (E298D and T‐786C) in African–American SCD patients. The D298 allele showed no association; the C‐786 allele showed a statistically significant association (P = 0·0061) in female ACS cases. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that relative risk of ACS was 8·695 (P = 0·0076, 95% confidence interval 1·761–42·920) for female carriers of C‐786. eNOS T‐786C is a gender‐specific genetic modifier that is associated with increased susceptibility to ACS in female SCD patients.
Asynchronous Dissipative Control for Fuzzy Markov Jump Systems

The problem of asynchronous dissipative control is investigated for Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy systems with Markov jump in this paper. Hidden Markov model is introduced to represent the nonsynchronization between the designed controller and the original system. By the fuzzy-basis-dependent and mode-dependent Lyapunov function, a sufficient condition is achieved such that the resulting closed-loop system is stochastically stable with a strictly (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ {\mathcal {Q}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ {\mathcal {S}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ {\mathcal {R}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>)-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ {\alpha }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-dissipative performance. The controller parameter is derived by applying MATLAB to solve a set of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, we present two examples to confirm the validity and correctness of our developed approach.
Metabolites of ochratoxins in rat urine and in a culture of Aspergillus ochraceus

We studied the metabolic profile of ochratoxin A (OA) in rats and in a culture of OA-producing Aspergillus ochraceus. Ochratoxin alpha (O alpha), ochratoxin beta (O beta), 4-R-hydroxyochratoxin A (4-R-OH OA), 4-R-hydroxyochratoxin B (4-R-OH OB), and 10-hydroxyochratoxin A (10-OH OA) were isolated from a culture of A. ochraceus and structurally characterized by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and high-pressure liquid chromatography. 4-R-OH OA and O alpha were consistently produced and were the dominant biotransformed metabolites in the fungal culture and in rats treated with OA and ochratoxin C (OC), while the formation of 10-OH OA was conditional in the fungal system. Green fluorescent biomacromolecules were isolated by detergent extraction of the fungal culture followed by cold-acetone precipitation and gel filtration. Acid hydrolysis of the fluorescent macromolecules resulted in the release of several ochratoxins, including O alpha (80%), OA (2%), and OC (5%), and other unidentified fluorescent compounds but not OB and O beta. Cross-reactivity studies of the natural macromolecule conjugates of OA with anti-OA polyclonal antibodies indicated that they were covalently linked to the macromolecules via a group other than the carboxyl group. These studies demonstrated that a fungus can produce some of the same metabolites of OA as the rat and that O alpha, OA, and OC may be covalently linked to fungal macromolecules.
Inter-Organisational Coordination for Sustainable Local Governance: Public Safety Management in Poland

The goal of this article is to examine the basic characteristics and factors that impact inter-organisational coordination in sustainable local governance to address: 1. What are the factors that effective inter-organisational coordination between independent units creating public safety system on local level in sustainable local governance depends on? 2. What are the principal features of inter-organisational coordination in the public safety management system studied in the context of sustainable local governance? The article’s goal was reached using desk research analysis and empirical research. The desk research covers an analysis of international scientific publications. In turn, the empirical research was based on the example of public safety management. It covered interviews with practitioners dealing with public safety and a hermeneutic process within a focus group of scholars. As a result of the conducted research, interdependencies between coordination and other factors of inter-organisational collaboration were identified and the process of inter-organisational coordination during the emergency situations was characterised.