Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of a training program for maternity ward professionals on duration of breastfeeding.

BACKGROUND Training programs are commonly viewed as an effective way to improve breastfeeding-related practices of health professionals. The objective of this study was to determine whether a 3-day training program for maternity ward professionals was followed by an increase in duration of any breastfeeding. METHODS A before-and-after study was conducted involving two retrospective random samples of 308 mothers who had delivered a healthy singleton infant of 37 weeks' or more gestation and 2,500 g or more birthweight in a level 3 maternity ward in a university hospital in France. Data were gathered from medical records and postal questionnaire. RESULTS Study participants included 169 mothers (54.9%) in the pre-intervention sample and 178 (57.8%) in the post-intervention sample. The prevalence of any breastfeeding at birth was 77.5 percent (70.5%-83.6%) in the pre-intervention sample and 82.6 percent (76.2%-87.8%) in the post-intervention sample(p=0.24); the median duration of any breastfeeding was 13 weeks and 16 weeks, respectively(chi2 log-rank test=5.8, p=0.02). The decreased risk of weaning in the post-intervention sample persisted after adjustment for baseline characteristics (adjusted hazard ratio=0.70 [0.54-0.91]). It was paralleled by significant improvement in maternity ward practices that are known to affect the duration of breastfeeding. CONCLUSION An intensive 3-day training program for maternity ward professionals can be followed by a significant but moderate increase in the duration of any breastfeeding. Multifaceted interventions involving prenatal components and community support should be planned in Western countries with low to intermediate prevalence of breastfeeding.
Dichloromethane Fermentation by a Dehalobacter sp. in an Enrichment Culture Derived from Pristine River Sediment

ABSTRACT Dichloromethane (DCM) as the sole substrate supported growth of a Dehalobacter sp. in an enrichment culture derived from noncontaminated river sediment. DCM was not reductively dechlorinated, and acetate was produced, indicating DCM fermentation and further suggesting Dehalobacter growth is not limited to organohalide respiration.
Cardiovascular Consequences of Repetitive Arousals over the Entire Sleep Duration

Objectives To explore the cardiovascular effects of nightlong repetitive arousals (RA). Methods Twenty healthy subjects participated in two consecutive sleep studies. The first one was free of intervention and the second study involved repetitive arousals induced by acoustical stimuli. Blood pressure, heart rate variability (HRV), arterial stiffness index (ASI), and serum markers including nitric oxide (NO), endothelin-1 (ET-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were studied. Results RA led to overnight elevation in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) but not in systolic blood pressure (SBP). Regarding HRV, overnight increase in low frequency power (LF) and low frequency to high frequency ratio (LHR) and decrease in high frequency power (HF) were evident. The relative overnight differences in HF and LHR correlated with the amount of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep. RA did not cause detectable change in either ASI or serum markers of interest. Conclusions Nightlong RA alters the sympathovagal modulation significantly and this effect seems to be associated with the amount of REM sleep. Exposure to RA also causes an elevation in postsleep DBP. Disturbance to autonomic nervous system (ANS) may precede endothelial dysfunction and increased arterial stiffness as cardiovascular consequences of RA.
Predictive factors for applicability and success with endoscopic treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

PURPOSE We report on endoscopic treatment outcomes for upper tract urothelial carcinoma and identify predictive factors for success. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 61 renal units were referred for endoscopic treatment of an upper tract tumor, 69% of which did not have a traditional indication for nephron sparing approaches. Tumor pathology and operative findings were assessed retrospectively for treatment outcomes and influential factors. RESULTS Initial ureteroscopic inspection was undertaken in 53 renal units with resection attempted in 18 (34%) resulting in an 89% success rate with 16 treated. A percutaneous approach in 19 renal units (11 after ureteroscopy) was 100% successful in achieving tumor-free status, for a total of 35 renal units successfully treated endoscopically. Surveillance then began on 27 renal units with a recurrence rate of 88% and mean time to recurrence of 5.8 months (range 2 to 20). Of patients undergoing surveillance (31% of whom had high grade disease), 54% remain or have died of unrelated disease, during a mean followup of 21.0 months (range 3 to 48). Higher tumor grade, larger size, renal pelvis location (all p <0.01) and multifocality (p = 0.05) significantly correlated with decreased recurrence-free survival, but did not predict failure of local control by endoscopic surveillance. CONCLUSIONS Although endoscopic techniques can render most patients tumor-free, there is a high associated recurrence rate and many need repeat procedures. Recurrence-free survival is greater in patients with low grade, solitary or less bulky disease. However, rigorous surveillance after endoscopic resection can lead to success even in patients with high grade, multifocal or large volume disease, resulting in preservation of renal units.
Use of recombinant OspC from Borrelia burgdorferi for serodiagnosis of early Lyme disease

Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, is associated with an early and dominant humoral response to the spirochete's 23-kDa outer surface protein C (OspC). We have cloned and expressed OspC as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli and have shown that patient serum samples react with it in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (S. J. Padula, A. Sampieri, F. Dias, A. Szczepanski, and R. W. Ryan, Infect. Immun. 61:5097-5105, 1993). Now we have compared the detection of B. burgdorferi-specific immunoglobulin M antibodies in 74 individuals with culture-positive erythema migrans by a whole-cell ELISA, immunoblot, and the recombinant OspC (rOspC) ELISA. Seventy-six negative controls were also studied. With all of the tests, there was a statistically significant association between the duration of disease and the frequency of a positive result. With the rOspC ELISA, the predictive value of a positive test was 100% and the predictive value of a negative test was 74%. Similar results were obtained with the whole-cell ELISA and with the immunoblot using as the source of test antigen a strain of B. burgdorferi which expresses abundant levels of OspC. We conclude that the use of rOspC in an ELISA is a convenient, readily automated, and easily standardized test for the serodiagnosis of early Lyme disease.
Ultrasonically measured horizontal eye muscle thickness in thyroid associated orbitopathy: cross-sectional and longitudinal aspects in a Danish series.

PURPOSE To analyse horizontal extraocular muscle findings by ultrasound and exophthalmometry in a tertiary endocrinology centre series of patients with thyroid associated orbitopathy (TAO). METHODS The 90 thyroid patients included underwent ultrasonic measurement of horizontal eye muscle thickness by a B-scan based technique carried out in addition to their general ophthalmic evaluation. As an indicator of mainly advanced TAO, longterm prednisone or cyclosporine A was given to many of the patients, and drug-resistant visual loss indicated decompression surgery in four of the 90 patients. Thirty-four patients underwent repeated muscle recordings over 15-49 months; this allowed for cross-sectional analysis and the outlining of longitudinal trends. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS (A) Although marginally overlapping, all four muscle groups were significantly thicker in the study group than in normal control subjects. The mean of the sum of all four muscles was 16.8 mm (range 13.6-21.7 mm) in the control group versus 22.6 mm (range 15.5-36.4 mm) in the thyroid group. (B) Using the clinical NOSPECS grading, more advanced eye involvement was found to generally result in a higher exophthalmometric measurement of protrusion and eye muscle thickness. However, slender rectus muscles and/or normal exophthalmometric values might occur even in advanced orbitopathy. (C) Over a period of 2-4 years, only a few of 34 patients with satisfactory serial ultrasonic measurements returned to their premorbid ophthalmic status. Typically, the extraocular muscles kept their abnormal size after having become clinically quiescent (fibrotic). (D) We found no safe indication regarding disease stage, active or late, from the ultrasonic appearance of the muscle tissue. (E) Discrepancies between various normative eye muscle studies are discussed with regard to computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.
Deletion analysis identifies a region, upstream of the ADH2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is required for ADR1-mediated derepression

Deletion analysis was used to identify sequences upstream of the ADH2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that are required for its regulation. 5' and 3' internal deletions of the ADH2 control region were created in vitro, and the fragments were ligated adjacent to the ADH1 promoter and structural gene. Hybrid genes with 3' deletions extending from -119 to -216 (the start site of ADH2 transcription is designated +1) were fully repressed and derepressed to high levels. Hybrid genes with 3' deletions extending from -119 to -257 were repressed but failed to significantly derepress. Hybrid genes lacking the -216 to -257 region also failed to respond to ADR1-5c, a mutant allele of the unlinked regulatory gene ADR1, which confers constitutive expression on ADH2. This implies that the region between these deletion endpoints, which includes a 22-base-pair sequence of dyad symmetry, is required for efficient derepression of an adjacent promoter. Internal deletions extending in the 3' direction from position -1141 confirmed these results. Deletion mutants lacking the region -1141 to -259 were normally regulated, whereas deletions extending from -1141 to -115 were not derepressible. These results support the hypotheses that the ADH2 promoter may normally be in an inactive conformation in the yeast chromosome and that derepression of ADH2 requires positive activation mediated through an upstream activation sequence located between 216 and 257 base pairs 5' to the start site of ADH2 transcription. No evidence for a DNA sequence mediating repression was obtained.
Polish version of standardized noise reaction questions for community noise surveys.

OBJECTIVES This article presents the Polish version of two standardized noise reaction questions for community noise surveys. An internationally comparable noise reaction measure for social surveys was published by Fields et al. as a result of work performed by the Community Response to Noise Team of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Noise. This measure consists of two recommended noise reaction questions: a 5-point verbal scale question and a 0-10-point numeric scale question. METHODS The Polish words for a 5-point noise annoyance verbal scale were selected by respondents from a group of 21 potential adverbs following the method described by Fields et al. The same standardized empirical study protocol was used to select annoyance scale words (a 5-point verbal scale question) for the nine different languages. RESULTS The following words for a 5-point noise annoyance scale were obtained: not at all, a little, rather, substantially, extremely annoying. CONCLUSIONS The Polish version of the scale described in this paper has international counterparts. It means that our data expand the world database on human reactions to noise in different communities and become more comparable with the data from other countries.
Visual imagery and enactment of actions in memory.

It was assumed that self-performing an action necessarily focuses information-processing on action-relevant information in order to guarantee smooth enactment. As a consequence, enacting an action should provide the subjects with excellent item-specific information and hinder the subjects from encoding contextual information that is not a part of the action proper. These hypotheses were tested in paired-associate learning experiments in which unrelated action-verb-pairs served as stimuli. Free recall (FR) of the action verbs was considered to indicate item-specific encoding, and cued recall (CR)--with one element of a pair serving as a cue for the other--to reflect context encoding. The verb-pairs were learned essentially under four types of instructions: under standard learning instructions (as a control), under enactment instructions, under self-imagery instructions, and under other-imagery instructions. The results demonstrated that enactment led to better FR than standard learning and the two imagery conditions, showing that enactment provides excellent item-specific information. CR was equally poor after overt enactment and self-imagined performance and worse after standard learning and after imagining somebody else performing an action, showing that motor encoding hinders pair integration--i.e. efficient context encoding.
Eye Instability in the Rabbit Induced by Vestibular Stimulation in the Vertical Plane

Objective—Sinusoidal vestibular stimulation in the horizontal plane induces periodic eye instability in the intact rabbit and the hypothesis of an intrinsically unstable velocity storage mechanism has been conceived. The present research examined the stability of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) in the vertical plane, considering that the time constant values of vertical and horizontal VORs differ and that separate regions of the vestibulo-cerebellum affect the horizontal and vertical slow VOR components differently. Material and Methods—Normal pigmented rabbits were sinusoidally oscillated in the dark about their vertical and longitudinal axes to evoke horizontal and vertical eye responses. Results—Frequency and peak-to-peak amplitude stimulation parameters ranged from 0.1 to 0.8 Hz and from 5° to 20°, respectively. During horizontal VOR, periodic alternating drift (PAD) was superimposed on the ocular response, and both peak velocity and period were directly correlated with stimulation amplitude. Vestibular stimulation in the vertical plane induced PAD: the period of vertical PAD was shorter and the amplitude smaller than the corresponding horizontal PAD values. A further difference in vertical PAD occurred in the lack of modulation of period and peak velocity by the stimulus amplitude. Conclusion—These results support the hypothesis of different instabilities of the velocity storage mechanism in the vertical and horizontal planes, possibly due to separate sensory-motor systems sub-serving the vertical and horizontal VORs.
A contribution to the quality evaluation of mobile learning environments

In recent years, issues related to teaching and learning have been more and more discussed and investigated by the scientific community. Mobile learning (m-learning) environments, despite the benefits provided, are still considered as new and incipient products. Among the limitations observed in the construction and adoption of such environments, we highlight the lack of specific quality guidelines to allow an adequate evaluation of them. In short, the planning and execution of a systematic evaluation among m-learning environments can ease their selection and adoption by apprentices, tutors and educational organizations. Motivated by this scenario, in this paper we propose a process for the quality evaluation of mobile learning environments. To validate our ideas, we have applied the proposed process in the quality evaluation of a set of m-learning environments. The promising results achieved suggest the feasibility of adopting the process for quality evaluation purposes in the m-learning domain.
Heterogeneous lamella structure unites ultrafine-grain strength with coarse-grain ductility

Significance For centuries it has been a challenge to avoid strength–ductility trade-off, which is especially problematic for ultrastrong ultrafine-grained metals. Here we evade this trade-off dilemma by architecting a heterogeneous lamella structure, i.e., soft micrograined lamellae embedded in hard ultrafine-grained lamella matrix. The heterogeneous deformation of this previously unidentified structure produces significant back-stress hardening in addition to conventional dislocation hardening, rendering it higher strain hardening than coarse-grained metals. The high back-stress hardening makes the material as strong as ultrafine-grained metals and as ductile as coarse-grained metals. Grain refinement can make conventional metals several times stronger, but this comes at dramatic loss of ductility. Here we report a heterogeneous lamella structure in Ti produced by asymmetric rolling and partial recrystallization that can produce an unprecedented property combination: as strong as ultrafine-grained metal and at the same time as ductile as conventional coarse-grained metal. It also has higher strain hardening than coarse-grained Ti, which was hitherto believed impossible. The heterogeneous lamella structure is characterized with soft micrograined lamellae embedded in hard ultrafine-grained lamella matrix. The unusual high strength is obtained with the assistance of high back stress developed from heterogeneous yielding, whereas the high ductility is attributed to back-stress hardening and dislocation hardening. The process discovered here is amenable to large-scale industrial production at low cost, and might be applicable to other metal systems.
Cross‐regulation among disparate antibiotic biosynthetic pathways of Streptomyces coelicolor

A complex programme of regulation governs gene expression during development of the morphologically and biochemically complex eubacterial genus Streptomyces. Earlier work has suggested a model in which ‘higher level’ pleiotropic regulators activate ‘pathway‐specific’ regulators located within chromosomal gene clusters encoding biosynthesis of individual antibiotics. We used mutational analysis and adventitious overexpression of key Streptomyces coelicolor regulators to investigate functional interactions among them. We report here that cluster‐situated regulators (CSRs) thought to be pathway‐specific can also control other antibiotic biosynthetic gene clusters, and thus have pleiotropic actions. Surprisingly, we also find that CSRs exhibit growth‐phase‐dependent control over afsR2/afsS, a ‘higher level’ pleiotropic regulatory locus not located within any of the chromosomal gene clusters it targets, and further demonstrate that cross‐regulation by CSRs is modulated globally and differentially during the S. coelicolor growth cycle by the RNaseIII homologue AbsB. Our results, which reveal a network of functional interactions among regulators that govern production of antibiotics and other secondary metabolites in S. coelicolor, suggest that revision of the currently prevalent view of higher‐level versus pathway‐specific regulation of secondary metabolism in Streptomyces species is warranted.
Homogeneity of protein serotype antigens in Neisseria meningitidis group A

Serotype antigens (STA), which have been shown to be constituents of outer-membrane protein, were extracted from group A meningococci with 0.2 M LiCl and pelleted by centrifugation at 150,000 X g. The STAs from 100 group A strains, which had been isolated from cases and carriers in various geographical locations, were compared by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Every STA produced three major protein bands with molecular weights of approximately 35,000, 39,000, and 45,000, respectively. This SDS-PAGE pattern is clearly distinct from that produced by the serotype of group B and C meningococci most commonly isolated from cases (group B type 2 and group C type 2). The group A STAs were also indistinguishable by immunodiffusion. However, differences in bactericidal reactions were demonstrated, suggesting that there are other antigens that play a role in antibody response.
Naive T Cell Recruitment to Nonlymphoid Tissues: A Role for Endothelium-Expressed CC Chemokine Ligand 21 in Autoimmune Disease and Lymphoid Neogenesis1

Naive T cells are usually excluded from nonlymphoid tissues. Only when such tertiary tissues are subjected to chronic inflammation, such as in some (but not all) autoimmune diseases, are naive T cells recruited to these sites. We show that the CCR7 ligand CC chemokine ligand (CCL)21 is sufficient for attracting naive T cells into tertiary organs. We performed intravital microscopy of cremaster muscle venules in T-GFP mice, in which naive T cells express green fluorescent protein (GFP). GFP+ cells underwent selectin-dependent rolling, but no firm adherence (sticking). Superfusion with CCL21, but not CXC chemokine ligand 12, induced integrin-dependent sticking of GFP+ cells. Moreover, CCL21 rapidly elicited accumulation of naive T cells into sterile s.c. air pouches. Interestingly, a second CCR7 ligand, CCL19, triggered T cell sticking in cremaster muscle venules, but failed to induce extravasation in air pouches. Immunohistochemistry studies implicate ectopic expression of CCL21 as a mechanism for naive T cell traffic in human autoimmune diseases. Most blood vessels in tissue samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (85 ± 10%) and ulcerative colitis (66 ± 1%) expressed CCL21, and many perivascular CD45RA+ naive T cells were found in these tissues, but not in psoriasis, where CCL21+ vessels were rare (17 ± 1%). These results identify endothelial CCL21 expression as an important determinant for naive T cell migration to tertiary tissues, and suggest the CCL21/CCR7 pathway as a therapeutic target in diseases that are associated with naive T cell recruitment.
ROLE OF INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES IN THE EFFECT OF ESTRADIOL ON ATHEROMA

1 Although hormonal therapy (HT) may increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke in postmenopausal women, epidemiological studies (protection in premenopausal women) suggest and experimental studies (prevention of fatty streak development in animals) demonstrate a major atheroprotective action of estradiol (E2). The understanding of the deleterious and beneficial effects of oestrogens is thus required. 2 The immuno‐inflammatory system plays a key role in the development of fatty streak deposit as well as in the rupture of the atherosclerotic plaque. Although E2 favours an anti‐inflammatory effect in vitro (cultured cells), it rather elicits a pro‐inflammatory response in vivo involving several subpopulations of the immuno‐inflammatory system, which could contribute to plaque destabilization. The functional role of several cytokines was explored in hypercholesterolemic mice. The atheroprotective effect of E2 was fully maintained in mice deficient in interferon‐g or interleukin‐12, as well as IL‐10. In contrast, the protective effect of estradiol was abolished and even reversed in hypercholesterolemic mice given a neutralizing anti‐transforming growth factor‐b (TGF‐b) antibody. Endothelium is another important target for E2, since it not only potentiates endothelial nitric oxide and prostacyclin production, but also controls trafficking of the populations of the immuno‐inflammatory system. 3 To conclude, the respective actions of oestrogens on the cell populations involved in the pathophysiology of atherothrombosis may be influenced, among others, by the timing of HT initiation, the status of the vessel wall and, as recently demonstrated the status of the TGF‐b pathway.