Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Umbilical activin A concentration as an early marker of perinatal hypoxia

Objective: To evaluate activin A as a potential, early marker of perinatal hypoxia and to analyze factors, other than hypoxia, which influence on activin A concentration. Methods: Umbilical cord blood samples were collected from 86 newborns with gestational age 30–41. Of the 86 newborns, 26 were regarded as hypoxic. Activin A concentrations were measured by means of specific two-site enzyme immunoassays. Activin A concentrations were correlated with newborns’ gender, week gestation, mode of delivery and blood gas measurements. Results: Activin A levels were significantly higher in hypoxic than nonhypoxic newborns (medians, minimum and maximum values: 1.516; 0.149 –1.974 versus 0.368; 0.054 – 1.041 ng/mL, p = 0.0452). Activin A concentration was significantly higher in male newborns (p = 0.0074). Activin A levels were lower in term than preterm babies but the differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.2368 in hypoxic, p = 0.2487 nonhypoxic). Mode of delivery did not influence on activin A concentration (p = 0.8293 hypoxic, p = 0.9458 nonhypoxic). The differences of occurrence of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in both group was not statistically significant (p = 0.61). Conclusions: Umbilical artery activin A combined with other markers of hypoxia could be a useful marker of perinatal hypoxia. Concentration of activin A is significantly higher in male newborns. The mode and time of delivery have no influence on activin A concentration.
Asymptomatic atopy is associated with increased indoleamine 2,3‐dioxygenase activity and interleukin‐10 production during seasonal allergen exposure

Background Indoleamine 2,3‐dioxygenase (IDO) is a tryptophan (TRP)‐catabolizing enzyme with regulatory effects on T cells. T cell inhibition is achieved through both TRP depletion and TRP metabolite accumulation in specific local tissue microenvironments. The expression of IDO activity by different types of antigen‐presenting cells (APCs) has been shown to play a role in many instances of immunoregulation and tolerance induction. Induction of IDO after the engagement of the high‐affinity receptor for IgE, FcɛRI, on atopic monocytes has been suggested to regulate T cell responses in atopic disorders. Interleukin‐10 (IL‐10), a cytokine known for its down‐regulatory functions in the immune system, has recently been associated with the stable expression of IDO in mature tolerogenic dendritic cells.
Registration of brain MR images in large-scale populations

QIAN WANG: Registration of Brain MR Images in Large-Scale Populations. (Under the direction of Dinggang Shen.) Non-rigid image registration is fundamentally important in analyzing large-scale population of medical images, e.g., T1-weighted brain MRI data. Conventional pairwise registration methods involve only two images, as the moving subject image is deformed towards the space of the template for the maximization of their in-between similarity. The population information, however, is mostly ignored, with individual images in the population registered independently with the arbitrarily selected template. By contrast, this dissertation investigates the contributions of the entire population to image registration. • First, the population can provide guidance to the pairwise registration between a certain subject and the template. If the subject and an intermediate image in the same population are similar in appearances, the subject shares a similar deformation field with the intermediate image. Thus, the guidance from the intermediate image can be beneficial to the subject, in that the pre-estimated deformation field of the intermediate image initiates the estimation of the subject deformation field when the two images are registered with the identical template. • Second, all images in the population can be registered towards the common space of the population using the groupwise technique. Groupwise registration differs from the traditional design of pairwise registration in that no template is predetermined. Instead, all images agglomerate to the common space of the population simultaneously. Moreover, the common space is revealed spontaneously
Palatal Depth and Arch Parameter in Class I Open Bite, Deep Bite and Normal Occlusion

This study aimed to measure the palatal depth, maxillary and mandibular arch widths and circumferences in three groups: class I open bite, class I deep bite and class I normal occlusion, to compare the results among the three groups and to find the correlation coefficient among the different variables in each group separately to identify any possible correlation among palatal depth, maxillary and mandibular arch widths and arches circumferences. Seventy two sets of casts divided into 3 groups (class I open bite malocclusion, class I deep bite malocclusion and class I normal occlusion) were used. Palatal depth, maxillary and mandibular arch widths and arches circumferences were measured using a sliding gauge caliper, readouts were rounded to 0.1 mm. The palatal depth was the highest in open bite followed by normal and then in deep bite. The intermaxillary widths were the highest in normal occlusion followed by deep bite and then open bite. No significant differences were seen in the mandibular widths among the three groups. Correlation coefficient among variables expressed considerable variation. Keywords: Palatal depth, open bite, deep bite (Iraqi Orthod J 2005; 1(2): 26-31). ncisor overbite is the amount of vertical overlap of maxillary and mandibular central incisors measured perpendicular to the occlusal plane, open bite (opertognathia) was assigned a negative value while deep bite is an excessive overbite. 1 Overbite is a measurement the clinician uses frequently before, during and after treatment, since its an elusive occlusal characteristics that is most difficult to predict in the growing child, most difficult to correct orthodontically and often relapses following orthodontic treatment. 2,3
Recent radiocarbon results and King Solomon

Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphy here offer a new chronological structure for the Iron Age in the Levant. The credit for the construction of massive public monuments in the northern part of Israel is here wrested from David and Solomon and attributed to the later Omride dynasty. The early Israelite monarchs actually ruled over a small kingdom in the highlands around Jerusalem rather than a great empire.
Dietary habits and past medical history as related to fatal pancreas cancer risk among adventists

Epidemiologic studies of diet and pancreas cancer are few, and include ecologic comparisons and a limited number of prospective and case—control studies. Foods and/or nutrients that have been suggested to be associated with increased risk of this cancer include total fat intake, eggs, animal protein, sugar, meat, coffee and butter. Consumption of raw fruits and vegetables has been consistently associated with decreased risk. Dietary habits and medical history variables were evaluated in a prospective study of fatal pancreas cancer among 34,000 California Seventh‐day Adventists between 1976 and 1983. Forty deaths from pancreas cancer occurred during the follow‐up period. Compared to all US whites, Adventists experienced decreased risk from pancreas cancer death (standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 72 for men; 90 for women), which was not statistically significant. Although there was a suggestive relationship between increasing meat, egg, and coffee consumption and increased pancreatic cancer risk, these variables were not significantly related to risk after controlling for cigarette smoking. However, increasing consumption of vegetarian protein products, beans, lentils, and peas as well as dried fruit was associated with highly significant protective relationships to pancreas cancer risk. A prior history of diabetes was associated with increased risk of subsequent fatal pancreas cancer, as was a history of surgery for peptic or duodenal ulcer. A history of tonsillectomy was associated with a slight, nonsignificant protective relationship as was history of various allergic reactions. These findings suggest that the protective relationships associated with frequent consumption of vegetables and fruits high in protease‐inhibitor content are more important than any increase in pancreas cancer risk attendent on frequent consumption of meat or other animal products. Furthermore, the previously reported positive associations between diabetes and abdominal surgery and pancreas cancer risk are supported in these data.
Fibrinogen: a possible link between social class and coronary heart disease.

SIR,-Dr H L J Markowe and colleagues show high fibrinogen values, a possible cardiovascular factor, in lower grade employees compared with higher grade employees (9 November, p 1313). This finding fits well with the raised cardiovascular mortality in lower classes. ' The authors consider that "job stress" might be the basis for their results. Our group has carried out a longitudinal study trying to determine the effects of "examination stress" on blood viscosity and plasma viscosity, which are highly dependent on fibrinogen. In volunteers who had prepared themselves for final exams for an average of four months we found that blood viscosity at low shear and constant packed cell volume was 20-1I% and plasma viscosity 3*3% higher (both significant at the 1% level) when stress was present. Measurements were taken on the day of the examination and three weeks after the candidates successfully passed it. These results seem to confirm that stress is the reason for the fibrinogen differences in the study of Dr Markowe and colleagues. It is interesting to note that all cardiovascular risk factors are associated with haemorrheological abnormalities much like the ones described above.2 On the basis ofsuch observations we have formulated a working hypothesis,3 which suggests that both atherogenesis and haemorrheological variables are influenced by partly similar phenomena-namely, the adsorption of plasmatic macroproteins to surfaces in contact with plasma. Haemorrheological measurements may therefore have valuable diagnostic potential. E ERNST A MATRAI M BAUMANN Haemorrheological Research Laboratory, Clinic for Physical Medicine, University of Munich, 8000 Munchen 2, FRG
Fine carrier and sampling frequency synchronization in OFDM systems

This paper investigates the joint pilot-assisted estimation of the residual carrier frequency offset (RCFO) and sampling frequency offset (SFO) in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system. As it is known, the exact maximum-likelihood (ML) solution to this problem involves a bidimensional grid-search that cannot be pursued in practice. After introducing an enlarged set of auxiliary unknown parameters, however, the RCFO and SFO recovery tasks can be decoupled and the bidimensional search is thus replaced with a simpler mono-dimensional search. This results into an estimation algorithm of reasonable complexity which is suitable for practical implementation. To further reduce the processing load, we also present an alternative scheme yielding frequency estimates in closed-form. Numerical simulations indicate that the proposed methods outperform existing estimators available in the literature in terms of both estimation accuracy and error-rate performance.
New Pattern-Recognition Method for Fault Analysis in Transmission Line With UPFC

In this paper, a new set of time-frequency features for fault-type identification, fault-loop status supervision, and fault-zone detection modules in a compensated transmission line with a unified power-flow controller is proposed. Some features are extracted from a one-cycle data window of one side of the compensated line, including 3/16 cycle of postfault data by the fast discrete orthonormal S-Transform (FDOST). The computation burden of the FDOST as a time-frequency decomposition is the same as the fast Fourier transform. The support vector machine is employed for classification of the ranked features by the Gram-Schmidt method. The graphical representations of extracted features and the obtained numerical results under different conditions confirm the efficacy of the proposed scheme.
Structure and content components of self-management interventions that improve health-related quality of life in people with inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The purpose of this review was to identify and categorise the components of the content and structure of effective self-management interventions for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel diseases are chronic gastrointestinal disorders impacting health-related quality of life. Although the efficacy of self-management interventions has been demonstrated in previous studies, the most effective components of the content and structure of these interventions remain unknown. DESIGN A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of randomised controlled trials was used. METHODS A systematic search of six electronic databases, including Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane central register of controlled trials, Web of Science, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, was conducted. Content analysis was used to categorise the components of the content and structure of effective self-management interventions for inflammatory bowel disease. Clinically important and statistically significant beneficial effects on health-related quality of life were explored, by comparing the association between effect sizes and various components of self-management interventions such as the presence or absence of specific content and different delivery methods. RESULTS Fifteen randomised controlled trials were included in this review. Distance or remote self-management interventions demonstrated a larger effect size. However, there is no evidence for a positive effect associated with specific content component of self-management interventions in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease in general. CONCLUSIONS The results showed that self-management interventions have positive effects on health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, and distance or remote self-management programmes had better outcomes than other types of interventions. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE This review provides useful information to clinician and researchers when determining components of effective self-management programmes for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. More high-quality randomised controlled trials are needed to test the results.
Transcranial Doppler and Cortical Microcirculation at Increased Intracranial Pressure and during the Cushing Response: An Experimental Study on Rabbits: 147

ABSTRACT: THE EFFECT OF increased intracranial pressure on the flow velocity of the basilar artery was measured with transcranial ultrasonic Doppler in New Zealand White rabbits under &agr;‐chloralose anesthesia and artificial respiration. Laser Doppler flowmetry served to study changes of the cortical microcirculation. The results confirm a high inverse correlation of the diastolic flow velocity, the pulsatility index, and the resistance index with the cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP). During acute intracranial hypertension, however, these parameters do not show a good correlation with the local cortical blood flow. The absence of a correlation was evident over a wide CPP range down to values of 35 mm Hg. Only at CPP values below this critical threshold is the microcirculation impaired. The threshold is reached at pulsatility index values of more than 2.0 and at resistance index values of more than 0.8. Therefore, transcranial Doppler indices permit the detection of critical reductions of microcirculatory blood flow. The Cushing reaction occurred with a constant time lag of 5.5 ± 0.7 seconds after the loss of CPP. The Cushing reaction did not establish systolic blood flow, which remained below the functional threshold, as concluded from the temporary loss of somatosensory evoked potentials.
Efficacy of Pregabalin in the Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia

This prospective, open-label study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pregabalin treatment in patients suffering from trigeminal neuralgia with and without concomitant facial pain. Fifty-three patients with trigeminal neuralgia (14 with concomitant chronic facial pain) received pregabalin (PGB) 150-600 mg daily and were prospectively followed for 1 year. The primary outcome was number of patients pain free or with reduction of pain intensity by > 50% and of attack frequency by > 50% after 8 weeks. Secondary outcome was sustained pain relief after 1 year. Thirty-nine patients (74%) improved after 8 weeks with a mean dose of 269.8 mg/day (range 150-600 mg/day) PGB: 13 (25%) experienced complete pain relief and 26 (49%) reported pain reduction > 50%, whereas 14 (26%) did not improve. Patients without concomitant facial pain showed better response rates (32 of 39, 82%) compared with patients with concomitant chronic facial pain (7 of 14, 50%, P = 0.020). Concomitant chronic facial pain appears to be a clinical predictor of poor treatment outcome. PGB appears to be effective in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.
Identification of human ST2 protein in the sera of patients with autoimmune diseases.

Soluble human ST2 protein (IL1RL1-a) in the sera of patients with various autoimmune diseases was identified by a newly developed procedure using specific monoclonal antibodies. After immunoprecipitation and subsequent immunoblotting, a glycosylated protein of about 60 kDa was detected in the sera of SLE patients, but not in the sera of healthy controls. The experiments using gel filtration and SDS-PAGE under a nonreducing condition indicated the existence of the ST2 multimer in serum. The mobility of the natural protein was slower than that of the recombinant human ST2 protein produced by COS7 cells in SDS-PAGE, suggesting a difference of glycosylation between humans and monkeys. The identification of the natural human ST2 protein should be important both to fundamental researches and the further clarification of the clinical implications of the ST2 protein.
Nurses on the move.

Find the secret to improve the quality of life by reading this nurses on the move. This is a kind of book that you need now. Besides, it can be your favorite book to read after having this book. Do you ask why? Well, this is a book that has different characteristic with others. You may not need to know who the author is, how well-known the work is. As wise word, never judge the words from who speaks, but make the words as your good value to your life.
Insulin—Blood Cardioplegia Decreases Matrix Metalloproteinase Activity in Ischaemia-reperfusion Injury during Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Reperfusion of myocardium during coronary bypass activates matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) with changes occurring in the levels of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in the myocardium. This study investigated the effects of insulin-blood cardioplegia on MMP activity and TIMP levels during reperfusion. Non-diabetic patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft with cardiopulmonary bypass were randomized into a control group (n = 12) or an insulin group (n = 12). Blood cardioplegia was used for both groups; insulin and glucose were added to the insulin group. Blood samples were obtained from the coronary sinus just before aortic cross clamping and after 1 and 30 min of reperfusion. Plasma proenzyme MMPs (proMMP-2 and −9) and TIMPs (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2) levels were measured. There were no differences between groups for MMP-2 and TIMP-2 levels. However, insulin diminished proMMP-9 activation, although some still occurred. TIMP-1 consumption lessened during reperfusion which, we conclude, was as a result of the diminished MMP activation. This is the first open heart surgery study in which diminished MMP activation was achieved via a metabolic change.
P3 brain potential amplitude in criminal psychopathy: Evaluating distinct contributions of affective-interpersonal and impulsive-antisocial features

iv INTRODUCTION . 1 Psychopathy and P3 Brain Potential Amplitude . 2 Heterogeneity of Psychopathy.5 Current Study Aims and Hypotheses . 6 METHOD . 8 Participants . 8 Measurement of Psychopathy.8 Experimental Stimuli and Task . 9 Stimulus Delivery and Recording Procedure . 10 Physiological Measurement and Data Reduction.10 Data Analyses.11 RESULTS . 13 Overall Sample Effects.13 Associations of Psychopathy Factors with P3 Response Amplitude . 14 Associations of Impulsive-Irresponsible and Antisocial PCL-R Facet Scores with P3 Response Amplitude.15 DISCUSSION.17 Implications for Understanding Psychopathy and P3 Amplitude Associations.18 Limitations and Future Directions.21 APPENDICES . 24 A. FOOTNOTES.24 B. INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL LETTER AND STUDY PERSONNEL.25 REFERENCES . 28 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH . 33
Recurrent mutations of the exportin 1 gene (XPO1) and their impact on selective inhibitor of nuclear export compounds sensitivity in primary mediastinal B‐cell lymphoma

Primary mediastinal B‐cell lymphoma (PMBL) is an entity of B‐cell lymphoma distinct from the other molecular subtypes of diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We investigated the prevalence, specificity, and clinical relevance of mutations of XPO1, which encodes a member of the karyopherin‐β nuclear transporters, in a large cohort of PMBL. PMBL cases defined histologically or by gene expression profiling (GEP) were sequenced and the XPO1 mutational status was correlated to genetic and clinical characteristics. The XPO1 mutational status was also assessed in DLBCL, Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and mediastinal gray‐zone lymphoma (MGZL). The biological impact of the mutation on Selective Inhibitor of Nuclear Export (SINE) compounds (KPT‐185/330) sensitivity was investigated in vitro. XPO1 mutations were present in 28/117 (24%) PMBL cases and in 5/19 (26%) HL cases but absent/rare in MGZL (0/20) or DLBCL (3/197). A higher prevalence (50%) of the recurrent codon 571 variant (p.E571K) was observed in GEP‐defined PMBL and was associated with shorter PFS. Age, International Prognostic Index and bulky mass were similar in XPO1 mutant and wild‐type cases. KPT‐185 induced a dose‐dependent decrease in cell proliferation and increased cell‐death in PMBL cell lines harboring wild type or XPO1 E571K mutant alleles. Experiments in transfected U2OS cells further confirmed that the XPO1 E571K mutation does not have a drastic impact on KPT‐330 binding. To conclude the XPO1 E571K mutation represents a genetic hallmark of the PMBL subtype and serves as a new relevant PMBL biomarker. SINE compounds appear active for both mutated and wild‐type protein. Am. J. Hematol. 91:923–930, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Extended Mirror Neuron Network

Mirror neurons (MNs) are a fascinating class of cells originally discovered in the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) and, subsequently, in the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) of the macaque, which become active during both the execution and observation of actions. In this review, I will first highlight the mounting evidence indicating that mirroring others’ actions engages a broad system of reciprocally connected cortical areas, which extends well beyond the classical IPL-PMv circuit and might even include subcortical regions such as the basal ganglia. Then, I will present the most recent findings supporting the idea that the observation of one’s own actions, which might play a role in the ontogenetic origin and tuning of MNs, retains a particular relevance within the adult MN system. Finally, I will propose that both cortical and subcortical mechanisms do exist to decouple MN activity from the motor output, in order to render it exploitable for high-order perceptual, cognitive, and even social functions. The findings reviewed here provide an original framework for envisaging the main challenges and experimental directions of future neurophysiological and neuroanatomical studies of the monkey MN system.