Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patterns of Genetic Variation in the Hypertension Candidate Gene GRK4: Ethnic Variation and Haplotype Structure

Association studies using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have the potential to help unravel the genetic basis of hypertension. Nevertheless, to date, association studies of hypertension have yielded ambiguous results. It is becoming clear that such association studies must be interpreted within the context of the genetic structure of the populations being studied, and patterns of variation within specific genomic regions. With this in mind we analyzed genetic variation in the G protein‐coupled receptor kinase 4 (GRK4) gene, a gene whose product has recently been shown to inhibit the dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1) from increasing sodium excretion. We genotyped three previously identified GRK4 SNPs, as well as ten additional SNPs, over 71.6 kb of the GRK4 locus in four populations: African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Caucasians. Haplotype structure varied among populations, with Hispanics and Caucasians having the most linkage disequilibrium (LD) among SNPs. African Americans had three shorter haplotype blocks, while patterns of markers in the Asian populations demonstrated less LD among markers, a pattern inconsistent with block structure. We observed limited haplotype diversity in each of the four populations, with differing haplotype frequencies among the ethnic groups. We also found substantial evidence for population differentiation, with the largest differences between the African‐American and Asian samples with FST values in the upper 90th percentile when compared to a genome‐wide distribution. However, for all population comparisons, FST values decreased sharply in the 3′ region of the gene. This pattern of differentiation among populations is consistent with selection in this part of the gene maintaining similar patterns of variation among otherwise divergent populations. Our results document not only different allele frequencies between populations, but differences in haplotype structure that may be important in evaluating association studies between hypertension and GRK4.
Associations between the Genotypes of Staphylococcus aureus Bloodstream Isolates and Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Bacteremic Patients

ABSTRACT We investigated associations between the genotypic and phenotypic features of Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream isolates and the clinical characteristics of bacteremic patients enrolled in a phase III trial of S. aureus bacteremia and endocarditis. Isolates underwent pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, PCR for 33 putative virulence genes, and screening for heteroresistant glycopeptide intermediate S. aureus (hGISA). A total of 230 isolates (141 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and 89 methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA]) were analyzed. North American and European S. aureus isolates differed in their genotypic characteristics. Overall, 26% of the MRSA bloodstream isolates were USA 300 strains. Patients with USA 300 MRSA bacteremia were more likely to be injection drug users (61% versus 15%; P < 0.001), to have right-sided endocarditis (39% versus 9%; P = 0.002), and to be cured of right-sided endocarditis (100% versus 33%; P = 0.01) than patients with non-USA 300 MRSA bacteremia. Patients with persistent bacteremia were less likely to be infected with Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene (pvl)-constitutive MRSA (19% versus 56%; P = 0.005). Although 7 of 89 MRSA isolates (8%) exhibited the hGISA phenotype, no association with persistent bacteremia, daptomycin resistance, or bacterial genotype was observed. This study suggests that the virulence gene profiles of S. aureus bloodstream isolates from North America and Europe differ significantly. In this study of bloodstream isolates collected as part of a multinational randomized clinical trial, USA 300 and pvl-constitutive MRSA strains were associated with better clinical outcomes.
Awareness of Organ Donation among Fresh Students in Medical Field

Many deaths due to organ failure can be avoided if organ donors are available. Lack of donors may be because of the lack ofknowledge and awareness of many issues about organ donation. In the present study, an attempt had been made to probe thisissue from the fresh students in medical field because through them the message can reach the public through their directcontact with people in the out-patient department, admission wards and medical camps. It is a cross-sectional questionnairebasedstudy involving Madha Group of Educational Institutions and Tagore Medical College & Hospital in Chennai. 287 maleand female students of 1st year medical, dental and nursing colleges participated in the study. A questionnaire with 55 questionson various aspects of organ donation was given to them to answer by choosing “yes/no/don’t know” or “right/wrong/don’tknow” in 30 minutes. The results showed that about 60% of the students had sufficient knowledge about the storage ofharvested organs and compatibility check. About 90% of them were aware of the need of organ donation and they extendedtheir support for the act. But hardly 7% of them registered for the same. They were also weaker in the areas like time lapsebetween harvesting and transplanting the organ, who could donate to whom, cadaver donations, methods of promoting organdonation and regarding the payment to be made to the donors or his relatives After collecting the papers for evaluation, theparticipants were educated with more emphasis on the weaker areas.
and Its Impact on Parliamentary Elites Falls from Grace and the Hazards of High Status: The 2009 British MP Expense Scandal

Although the benefits of high status are well documented, in this research we explore the potential hazards associated with high status that have increasingly been implicated in recent studies. Organizational research suggests two such hazards: (1) opportunistic behaviors by elites that eventually lead to sanctions and (2) the targeting of elites by various audiences such that they are held more accountable than their lower-status counterparts for similar offenses. Our objective was to disentangle these two explanations in the context of an organizational scandal involving the Members of the British Parliament (MPs) whose annual expense claims were unexpectedly exposed in a well-known 2009 scandal. We find that high-status MPs were not more likely to abuse the expense system than were lower-status MPs, but they were more likely to be targeted by the press and voters for their inappropriate expense claims. As a consequence, high-status MPs were significantly more likely than non-elite MPs to exit Parliament when they had high levels of inappropriate expense claims. Elite MPs who were not implicated in the scandal, however, were far more likely to remain in Parliament than their lower-status counterparts. Our results also suggest that media coverage of the expense incident by British newspapers played a significant role in shaping social reactions to the scandal.
Loss of Cyclooxygenase-2 Retards Decidual Growth but Does Not Inhibit Embryo Implantation or Development to Term

Abstract Previous reports have described that female mice deficient in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) are largely infertile because of failure to ovulate, poor fertilization, and defective implantation and decidualization. In the present study, we reinvestigated reproduction in these mice and found they do show a reduction in the numbers of ovulated and fertilized eggs. However, we did not observe any substantial effect on embryo implantation frequencies or an inability of COX2-deficient females to support embryo development to weaning. Pseudopregnant COX2-null recipients do not show any alteration in the timing of implantation following blastocyst transfer, but they do show a delay in the initial rate of decidual growth after implantation that lags by approximately 24 h compared to that in heterozygous or wild-type recipients. These results support previous findings that COX2 has a role in mediating the initial uterine decidual response but is not essential to sustaining decidual growth and embryo development throughout the remainder of pregnancy.
FOOD BORNE PARASITIC ZOONOSIS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO METACERCARIAL INFECTION IN FISHES

The study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of food borne trematode infections in commercially important fish species of Pakistan such as, Labeo rohita (rohu), Cirrhinus mrigala (mori), Catla catla (thaila), Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (silver carp). For this purpose 222 different samples of fishes were collected from different water bodies i.e. Rawal Dam, Islamabad, Mangla Dam (Mirpur) and local fish markets, Lahore. The detection of infectious metacercariae of Opisthorchis, Clonorchi and Heterophyid were done by pepsin digestion technique. Overall infection rate was recorded as 28.37%. Species wise prevalence indicated that Catla catla and Labeo rohita were more frequently affected, whereas the lowest (23.5%) prevalence was reported in Hypophthalmichthys molitrix.
A genetic study of cleft lip and palate in Hawaii. II. Complex segregation analysis and genetic risks.

In a population study of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL[P]) and isolated cleft palate (CP) involving interracial crosses in Hawaii, Ching and Chung [1] observed that the underlying factor for these conditions are acting additively without a clear-cut maternal effect. They considered the observation prima facie as consistent with the mode of multifactorial inheritance with threshold effect. However, a more critical test for discriminating alternative modes of inheritance must be made on family data, and the conclusion derived from the population incidences must be supported by such data. The present investigation attempts to discriminate specifically between the hypothesis of single locus with multiple parameters and that of quasi-continuity under multifactorial inheritance. Obviously, accurate estimates of recurrence risks depend on the degree of success of such a discrimination. The family data were derived largely from the same base population studied earlier [1]. The analytical method employed is that of Morton et al. [2].
Three-dimensional helical computerized tomography angiography in the diagnosis, characterization, and management of middle cerebral artery aneurysms: comparison with conventional angiography and intraoperative findings.

OBJECT Middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms can be difficult to detect and characterize. The authors describe the utility and impact of helical computerized tomography (CT) angiography for the evaluation of aneurysms in this location, and compare this modality with digital subtraction (DS) angiography and intraoperative findings. METHODS Two hundred fifty-one patients with suspected cerebral aneurysms underwent CT angiography. Two-dimensional multiplanar reformatted images and three-dimensional CT angiograms were examined by two independent readers in a blinded fashion. Results were compared with findings on DS angiograms to determine the relative efficacy of these modalities in the detection and characterization of aneurysms. Questionnaires completed by neurosurgeons and endovascular therapists were used to determine the impact of CT angiograms on aneurysm management. Twenty-eight patients harboring 31 MCA aneurysms and 26 patients without aneurysms were identified using CT angiography. The sensitivity of CT angiography and DS angiography for MCA aneurysms was 97%; both techniques showed 100% specificity. In 76% of evaluations, the CT angiography studies provided information not available on DS angiography examinations. For the characterization of aneurysms, CT angiography was rated superior (72%) or equal (20%) to DS angiography in 92% of cases evaluated (p < 0.001). Computerized tomography angiography was evaluated as the only study needed for patient triage in 82% of cases (p < 0.001), and as the only study needed for treatment planning in 89% of surgically treated (p < 0.001) and in 63% of endovascularly treated cases (p < 0.001). The information acquired on CT angiograms changed the initial treatment plan in 24 (67%) of these 36 complex lesions (p < 0.01). The aneurysm appearance intraoperatively was identical or nearly identical to that seen on CT angiograms in 17 (89%) of 19 of the surgically treated cases. CONCLUSIONS Computerized tomography angiography has unique advantages over DS angiography and is a viable alternative to the latter modality in the diagnosis, triage, and treatment planning in patients with MCA aneurysms.
The common cold, pattern sensitivity and contrast sensitivity

SYNOPSIS Results from two studies involving challenge with respiratory syncytial viruses showed that volunteers who developed colds were more sensitive to a visually distracting pattern presented prior to virus challenge than were volunteers who did not get a cold. Volunteers with sub-clinical infections reported more illusions after virus challenge than they had done before, whereas uninfected volunteers and those with colds tended to report fewer illusions on the second test. These effects did not occur when volunteers were challenged with either a coronavirus or rhinovirus. Overall, the results confirm that behavioural measures may be related to susceptibility to subsequent illness, and that viral infections may influence visual perception. They also show that the effects vary according to the nature of the infecting agent, which agrees with results from studies looking at other aspects of behaviour.
Giant inguino-scrotal hernias seen at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND Inguino-scrotal hernias are a common surgical problem especially in our rural areas. The aim of this study is to review six patients seen with giant inguinoscrotal hernias at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. METHODS A retrospective review of patients seen between 1985 and 1995 at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital with giant inguino-scrotal hernias was carried out. RESULTS The duration of the hernias ranged from twelve to thirty years. All the patients were above fifty-five years of age and eighty percent of them worked as farmers. Ninety percent of the patients developed cardio-respiratory difficulties when reduction was attempted during the operation. One patient had his operation converted to a bowel resection in order to allow for easy reduction. All developed severe scrotal haematoma and sepsis, one a full blown scrotal gangrene and another faecal fistula that resulted in death. CONCLUSION In view of the intensive care required following surgery and the complications of surgery, we are advocating a policy of wait and see till features of intestinal obstruction present for surgery to be contemplated.
Electrical conductivity of graphene-based epoxy nanodielectrics

Graphene-based epoxy nanocomposites have been produced by the ultrasonication of graphene oxide (GO), chemically modified GO and through two-phase extraction of GO water solution. All the samples have been post-cured and the thermal treatment provided a thermal in situ reduction of GO into the epoxy reticulated matrix. Electrical conductivity of the samples has been measured showing different behavior depending on both the nanofiller and the production procedure employed. Sample with 0.5 wt% of GO shows conductivity values 80 times higher than the neat epoxy.
Failed tracheal intubation in obstetrics: a 6‐year review in a UK region

In the South Thames (West) region of the United Kingdom, during a 6‐year period from 1993 to 1998, there was a significant increase in the Caesarean section rate accompanied by a significant decrease in the use of general anaesthesia for operative delivery. During this time, there were 36 failed tracheal intubations occurring in 8970 obstetric general anaesthetics (incidence 1/249). There was no significant difference in the incidence of failed tracheal intubation in each of the six years. In 24 of the 26 cases for which the patients' notes could be examined, there was either no recording of pre‐operative assessment, a failure to follow an accepted protocol for failed tracheal intubation, or no follow‐up.
Experimental Study of Sound Propagation Through Bubbly Water: Comparison With Optical Measurements

The study of the acoustical properties of bubbly flows remains a challenge for scientists. Classical theoretical results provide the expression of a complex effective wave number characterizing sound propagation through such a medium. Theoretical attenuation and phase-speed changes of sound can be obtained from this effective wave number and are specifically observable around characteristic frequencies related to the size of the bubbles. With the aim to contribute to the ongoing research, this paper presents experimental work conducted in a large laboratory tank, to study sound propagation through bubbly water. An original bubble generation technique and the characterization of the generated bubbles by both acoustical and optical methods are reported. In the experiments of this work, air bubbles are injected, using a high-pressure washer, into a large water-filled tank through which sound signals are propagated. The characteristic frequencies and the bubble sizes are determined from the measurements of the sound attenuation and the sound phase speed. These measurements are complemented by concurrent acquisitions of acoustic signals and optical images. A comparative study is conducted between the bubble size distributions deduced from the optical and those deduced from the acoustical measurements.
Quantitation of early clonal expansion of two mutant 61st codon c-Ha-ras alleles in DMBA/TPA treated mouse skin by nested PCR/RFLP.

It has been hypothesized that tumor promotion in mouse skin involves clonal expansion of initiated cells with activated c-Harvey (Ha)-ras oncogene to give rise to benign tumors. We have used the two stage mouse skin carcinogenesis model using 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) as the initiator and 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) as the tumor promoter to quantitate the number of mutated c-Ha-ras alleles in mouse epidermal DNA. Epidermal samples were harvested over a 12-week period before the appearance of papillomas. Three 61st codon (i.e. CAA) c-Ha-ras mutations, CTA (T2), CGA (G2) and CAT (T3) were quantitated by newly developed nested PCR/RFLP assays. During TPA promotion the number of T2 mutant copies showed a progressive increase starting at 4 weeks after initiation and the number of T3 mutant alleles showed an increase starting at 6 weeks. By 12 weeks after initiation, TPA-promoted mouse epidermis averaged approximately 8x10(5) T2 mutant alleles per epidermis while the number of T3 mutant alleles averaged 3x10(4) per epidermis. The best-fit lines for the quantitation of mutant alleles derived from DMBA/TPA-treated mice from 4 to 12 weeks after initiation were exponential. These results were consistent with clonal expansion of epidermal cells carrying these mutations during tumor promotion. The slopes of the best-fit lines for the mutant copies indicated a trend in which cells with the T2 mutations had a growth advantage during TPA promotion over cells with the T3 mutation.
Advances in the management of follicular lymphoma

Purpose of review Antibody-based therapy has revolutionized treatment strategies in follicular lymphoma. This review focuses on current standards and recent innovations in the management of the disease. Recent findings Understanding the mechanism of action of antibodies led to the development of next generation CD20 antibodies, antibodies targeting other molecules and bispecific antibodies. With obinutuzumab, a promising next generation of CD20 antibodies has entered phase III of clinical trials. The bispecific T-cell engager blinatumomab combines targeted therapy with immunologic activation of T cells exerting cytotoxic activity on the target cells. Apart from antibodies, small molecules targeting key pathways in lymphoma have shown promising activity in vitro and are currently in clinical development. Summary A wealth of new substances has entered various stages of clinical trials and has yet to show superiority over rituximab-based immunochemotherapy. Intelligent therapeutic regimens containing these drugs have to be developed. Large randomized trials comparing promising treatment options are urgently needed.
Requirement for vacuolar proton-ATPase activity during entry of influenza virus into cells

The role that endosomal acidification plays during influenza virus entry into MDCK cells has been analyzed by using the macrolide antibiotics bafilomycin A1 and concanamycin A as selective inhibitors of vacuolar proton-ATPase (v-[H+]ATPase), the enzyme responsible for the acidification of endosomes. Bafilomycin A1 and concanamycin A, present at the low concentrations of 5 x 10(-7) and 5 x 10(-9) M, respectively, prevented the entry of influenza virus into cells when added during the first minutes of infection. Attachment of virion particles to the cell surface was not the target for the action of bafilomycin A1. N,N'-Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, a nonspecific inhibitor of proton-ATPases, also blocked virus entry, whereas elaiophylin, an inhibitor of the plasma-proton ATPase, had no effect. The inhibitory actions of bafilomycin A1 and concanamycin A were tested in culture medium at different pHs. Both antibiotics powerfully prevented influenza virus infection when the virus was added under low-pH conditions. This inhibition was reduced if the virus was bound to cells at 4 degrees C prior to the addition of warm low-pH medium. Moreover, incubation of cells at acidic pH potently blocked influenza virus infection, even in the absence of antibiotics. These results indicate that a pH gradient, rather than low pH, is necessary for efficient entry of influenza virus into cells.
Crossing over and Heterochromatin in the X Chromosome of Drosophila Melanogaster.

T IS well known that the frequency of crossing over per unit cytological I length, either mitotic or salivary, is not constant along the chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster. Furthermore there is ample evidence to show that the centromeric, or spindle attachment, regions of the chromosomes have certain peculiar properties in this respect. Two of the most important of these characteristics are : (a) Crossing over per unit cytological length near the centromere is
CDK 5 RAP 2 Is Required to Maintain the Germ Cell Pool during Embryonic Development

Sami Zaqout,1,2,3 Paraskevi Bessa,1 Nadine Krämer,1,2,3 Gisela Stoltenburg-Didinger,1 and Angela M. Kaindl1,2,3,* 1Institute of Cell Biology and Neurobiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany 2Center for Chronically Sick Children (Sozialpädiatrisches Zentrum, SPZ), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany 3Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Kapelle-Ufer 2, 10117 Berlin, Germany *Correspondence: angela.kaindl@charite.de http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.stemcr. 2017.01. 002