Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Suppression of lymphangiogenesis induced by Flt‐4 antibody in gastric low‐grade mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma by Helicobacter heilmannii infection

Background and Aims: Our recent study revealed that per oral infection with Helicobacter heilmannii induced low‐grade mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in the gastric fundus of C57BL/6 mice after a period of 6 months, although the pathophysiological mechanism of lymphoma expansion remains to be clarified. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the interaction of this tumor with angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. In addition, the effect of Flt‐4 antibodies on lymphoma expansion was investigated.
Comparative sensitivity of three populations of the cladoceran Moinodaphnia macleayi to acute and chronic uranium exposure

Assessment of differences in the response of three different populations of the tropical cladoceran Moinodaphnia macleayi to uranium exposure was evaluated. The populations tested included a laboratory stock (maintained for 10 years), a wild population collected from Bowerbird Billabong (an uncontaminated environment), and a population collected from Djalkmara Billabong (a relatively contaminated environment with elevated levels of uranium), located on the Ranger uranium mine site, Jabiru East, NT, Australia. Chronic and acute toxicity of uranium was determined for all three populations. The no‐observed‐effect‐concentration (NOEC; reproduction) and lowest observed‐effect‐concentration (LOEC; reproduction) for uranium ranged between 8–31 μg L−1 and 20–49 μg L−1, respectively, for all three populations. The 48 h EC50 (immobilization–lethality) for uranium ranged between 160–390 μg L−1 for all three populations. There was little difference in the response of the three populations of M. macleayi to acute and chronic uranium exposure, although the response of the laboratory population to chronic uranium exposure appeared more variable than the “wild” populations. There was no apparent tolerance in the population of M. macleayi obtained from Djalkmara Billabong when exposed to elevated levels of uranium. M. macleayi was significantly more sensitive to uranium exposure than other species previously tested. It was concluded that the sensitivity of the laboratory population (to uranium) is still representative of natural M. macleayi populations. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 16: 365–376, 2001
Lifetime co-occurrence of DSM-III-R alcohol abuse and dependence with other psychiatric disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey.

OBJECTIVE To study patterns of co-occurrence of lifetime DSM-III-R alcohol disorders in a household sample. METHODS Data came from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS), a nationally representative household survey. Diagnoses were based on a modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. RESULTS Respondents with lifetime NCS/DSM-III-R alcohol abuse or dependence had a high probability of carrying at least 1 other lifetime NCS/DSM-III-R diagnosis. Retrospective reports have suggested that most lifetime co-occurring alcohol disorders begin at a later age than at least 1 other NCS/DSM-III-R disorder. Earlier disorders are generally stronger predictors of alcohol dependence than alcohol abuse and stronger among women than men. Lifetime co-occurrence is positively, but weakly, associated with the persistence of alcohol abuse among men and of alcohol dependence among both men and women. CONCLUSIONS Caution is needed in interpreting the results due to the fact that diagnoses were made by nonclinicians and results are based on retrospective reports of the age at onset. Within the context of these limitations, though, these results show that alcohol abuse and dependence are often associated with other lifetime DSM-III-R disorders and suggest that, at least in recent cohorts, the alcohol use disorders are usually temporally secondary. Prospective data and data based on clinically confirmed diagnoses are needed to verify these findings.
Influence of Sublethal Concentrations of Common Disinfectants on Expression of Virulence Genes in Listeria monocytogenes

ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne human pathogen that causes listeriosis, a relatively rare infection with a high fatality rate. The regulation of virulence gene expression is influenced by several environmental factors, and the aim of the present study was to determine how disinfectants used routinely in the food industry affect the expression of different virulence genes in L. monocytogenes when added at sublethal concentrations. An agar-based assay was developed to screen the effect of disinfectants on virulence gene promoter expression and was validated at the transcriptional level by Northern blot analysis. Eleven disinfectants representing four different groups of active components were evaluated in this study. Disinfectants with the same active ingredients had a similar effect on gene expression. Peroxy and chlorine compounds reduced the expression of the virulence genes, and quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) induced the expression of the virulence genes. In general, a disinfectant had similar effects on the expression of all four virulence genes examined. Northern blot analyses confirmed the downregulation of prfA and inlA expression by Incimaxx DES (a peroxy compound) and their upregulation by Triquart Super (a QAC) in L. monocytogenes EGD. Hence, sublethal concentrations of disinfectants routinely used in the food industry affect virulence gene expression in the human pathogen L. monocytogenes, and the effect depends on the active components of the disinfectant. From a practical perspective, the study underlines that disinfectants should be used at the lethal concentrations recommended by the manufacturers. Further studies are needed to elucidate whether the changes in virulence gene expression induced by the disinfectants have impact on virulence or other biological properties, such as antibiotic resistance.
Les tests utilisateurs: avantages et inconvénients des passations individuelles et par paires

This article presents the advantages and drawbacks of individual and paired-user testing in terms of number and type of usability problems uncovered. Thirty-two participants had to perform 8 tasks designed to allow the evaluation of interactive tv services. For half of the participants (16) the test session was conducted individually: for the other half, the test session employed pairs of users (8×2 participants) performing the tasks together. The main results indicate that task completion times do not differ statistically between groups and that paired-user testing involve better success rates. Individual sessions allow the identification of more usability problems while paired-user sessions involve a better understanding of the difficulties users encountered. As for the type of usability problems uncovered (Guidance, Compatibility, etc.), differences between the two groups were observed. The results are discussed in relation to the commentairies published on the paired-user testing.
Genetic resolution of composition and phylogenetic placement of the isabelline bear

Abstract We sequenced part of the mitochondrial control region of 2 Himalayan Ursus arctos isabellinus individuals and compared it with that of other U. arctos. Results indicate that the valid allopatric subspecies U. a. isabellinus represents an ancient clade and includes the Gobi bear of Mongolia as a relict population.
Proportion of women presenters at medical grand rounds at major academic centres in Canada: a retrospective observational study

Objective To assess the proportion of women who presented research or medical grand rounds at five major academic hospitals in Canada. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting Five major university-affiliated hospitals in Toronto and Calgary. Results Overall, at all sites and types of academic rounds, there were an average of 17% fewer women presenting than men (P<0.001). There were an average of 32% and 21% more men presenting at the city-wide grand rounds in cities A and B, respectively (P<0.001, P=0.002). There were more male speakers at four out of five types of rounds. The proportion of women presenting on average was proportional to the Canadian workforce, but on average, below the proportion of female residents and medical students (median ratio 1.1, 0.7 and 0.8, respectively). Conclusion Our study demonstrated a lower proportion of females in an important outlet for academic recognition and role modelling. This provides a possible contributing factor to the under-representation of women in academic medicine and an area that can be systematically targeted to promote equity.
Early growth response‐1 induction by fibroblast growth factor‐1 via increase of mitogen‐activated protein kinase and inhibition of protein kinase B in hippocampal neurons

Background and purpose: The transcription factor early growth response‐1 (Egr‐1) and the acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF‐1) are involved in many regulatory processes, including hippocampus‐associated learning and memory. However, the intracellular signalling mechanisms regulating Egr‐1 in hippocampal cells are not entirely understood.
Timing of Fetal Nucleated Red Blood Cell Count Elevation in Response to Acute Hypoxia

We determined the effect of an acute episode of severe hypoxia on peripheral nucleated red blood cell (RBC) counts in the fetal rat. Timed pregnant rats were randomized to a 2-hour exposure to hypoxia (placement in a chamber containing a gas mixture with 9% O2 +3% CO2 + balanced N2) or to a 2-hour exposure to a sham chamber containing room air. Two maternal animals per group underwent cesarean section immediately after the 2-hour period and then 4, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 h after exposure. Fetal nucleated RBC counts were compared between groups at each time interval. The nucleated RBC counts were not significantly different in the hypoxia group until 12 h (mean ± SEM 158.0 ± 22.4 RBC/10 high-power fields vs. 90.6 ± 11.0; p = 0.03) and 24 h (133.2 ± 16.0 vs. 84.1 ± 9.0; p = 0.04) after exposure. There were no differences between groups 36, 48, and 60 h after exposure. In the near-term rat fetus, acute hypoxia was associated with a delayed but transient increase in peripheral nucleated RBC counts.
Mortality from cancer and other diseases in poultry slaughtering/processing plants.

BACKGROUND Healthy chickens or turkeys and their eggs destined for human consumption are commonly infected with viruses which cause cancer in these animals. Some of the viruses can infect and transform human cells in vitro, and human sera show serological evidence of infection with these viruses. It is not known whether the viruses cause cancer in humans. METHODS We conducted a mortality study of a subcohort of 2639 workers in poultry slaughtering plants who have one of the highest human exposures to these viruses, and 6081 unexposed workers from non-meat companies (controls). All were members of a local meatcutters' union in Baltimore. RESULTS Statistically significant increased risks were observed for cancer of the oesophagus, liver cancer, tumours of the haemopoietic lymphatic system, and motor vehicle accidents, in the group of poultry workers as a whole or in particular race/sex subgroups. The results for other causes of death showed consistently elevated risks in most race/sex subgroups, but these were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION The cohort is young, and because the number of deaths is small, the results though suggestive of increased risks for some causes, are inconclusive. However they indicate that this cohort is of interest, and that further follow-up might reveal a much clearer and consistent picture.
Oxidation by mushroom tyrosinase of monophenols generating slightly unstable o-quinones.

Tyrosinase can act on monophenols because of the mixture of mettyrosinase (Em) and oxytyrosinase (Eox) that exists in the native form of the enzyme. The latter form is active on monophenols although the former is not. However, the kinetics are complicated because monophenols can bind to both enzyme forms. This situation becomes even more complex as the products of the enzymatic reaction, the o-quinones, are unstable and continue evolving to generate o-diphenols in the medium. In the case of substrates such as 4-methoxyphenol, 4-ethoxyphenol and 4-tert-butylphenol, tyrosinase generates o-quinones which become unstable with small constants of approximately < 10-3 s-1. The system evolves from an initial steady state, reached when t-->0, through a transition state towards a final steady state, which is never reached because the substrate is largely consumed. The mechanisms proposed to explain the enzyme's action can be differentiated by the kinetics of the first steady state. The results suggest that tyrosinase hydroxylates monophenols to o-diphenols, generating an intermediate Em-diphenol in the process, which may oxidize the o-diphenol or release it directly into the medium. In the case of o-quinone formation, its slow instability generates o-diphenol which activates the enzymatic system yielding parabolic time recordings.
Rapid Regioselective Oligomerization of l-Glutamic Acid Diethyl Ester Catalyzed by Papain

Papain-catalyzed oligomerization of diethyl l-glutamate hydrochloride was conducted in phosphate buffer at 40 °C. Because of rapid oligomerization kinetics, high substrate concentrations were not needed to shift the equilibrium for oligomer synthesis. For example, at 0.03 M diethyl l-glutamate hydrochloride, oligo(γ-ethyl l-glutamate) synthesis and precipitation from solution occurred in 55% yield. MALDI-TOF spectra of precipitated products showed two series of ion peaks separated by 157 m/z units, the mass of oligo(γ-ethyl-l-glutamate) repeat units. The most abundant signals were at DP 8 and 9, in excellent agreement with DPavg values determined by 1H NMR. Lower intensity peaks with m/z less by 28 correspond to hydrolysis of one ester group either at a chain end or a pendant group along chains. Oligo(γ-ethyl-l-glutamate) synthesis at 40 °C in phosphate buffer (0.9 M, pH 7) occurred rapidly so that by 5, 10, and 20 min the yield reached 70 ± 4%, 78 ± 4% and 81 ± 5%, respectively. High product yields were .
[Long-term follow-up of home parenteral nutrition at a general hospital: complications and quality of life].

OBJECTIVE The present study assesses the septic, thrombotic and hepatic complications and also the quality of life of patients with home parenteral nutrition (NPD in its Spanish acronym). METHODS The case histories of patients treated with NPD at our hospital were collected for the period January, 1986, to January, 2001. We had 20 patients, mean age 48 +/- 14 years (mean +/- SD), with a total catheterization time of 16,292 days. The main causes of intestinal failure were mesenteric ischaemia and radical enteritis. Quality of life was assessed by means of the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) and the Karnofsky Index (KI). RESULTS We found a catheter infection rate of 0.42 per 100 days of catheter, mostly produced by coagulase-negative staphylococci (63%). In 30% of the cases, it was necessary to remove the catheter, including in all cases produced by Candida. Cather occlusion rate was 0.05 per 100 days. Five patients presented an increase in transaminases and alkaline phosphatase, and one female patient developed cholestasis. Two patients died of NPD-related causes. The results of the quality of life analysis showed it was moderately affected, with SIP scores of 14.6 +/- 3.5 and KI results of 70 +/- 20 (mean +/- SD). CONCLUSIONS Home parenteral nutrition allows a greater survival in cases of intestinal failure. The most frequent complication is an infection of the catheter. The results of the quality of life analysis in our series reveal it was moderately affected in most cases.
Pharmacokinetics of Bupropion and its Metabolites in Cigarette Smokers versus Nonsmokers

Bupropion is an antidepressant agent that is also effective as an aid to quit cigarette smoking. A single 150‐mg tablet of sustained‐release bupropion hydrochloride was administered to two groups of volunteers, cigarette smokers and nonsmokers, who were matched for race, gender, body frame, age, and weight. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated for bupropion, and three major metabolites (hydroxybupropion and the aminoalcohol isomers, threohydrobupropion and erythrohydrobupropion, expressed as a composite total). Mean (±SD) values of area under the concentration‐time curve from time 0 extrapolated to infinity (AUC0–∞), maximum concentration (Cmax), time to reach Cmax (tmax), and half‐life (t1/2) of bupropion in smokers and nonsmokers, respectively, were 1,164 ± 220 ng · hr/mL and 1,161 ± 292 ng · hr/mL; 144 ± 28 ng/mL and 143 ± 39 ng/mL; 3.00 ± 0.50 hours and 2.88 ± 0.49 hours; and 19 ± 5 hours and 18 ± 3 hours. No clinically significant differences between smokers and nonsmokers or between male and female volunteers were observed for the pharmacokinetics of bupropion or its metabolites. The absence of pharmacokinetic differences indicates that dosage adjustments are not necessary when bupropion is prescribed to male and female cigarette smokers.
Reliability of diagnostic reporting for children aged 6-11 years: a test-retest study of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Revised.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the reliability of symptom reporting by community children of elementary school age and their parents on a version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Revised (DISC-R). METHOD A sample of 109 children aged 6-11 years from an ongoing epidemiologic study were recruited for retest DISC-R interviews after completion of the study protocol. Retest interviews took place 7-18 days after the first interview and were conducted by interviewers who had no prior information about the subjects. Test-retest reliability for five common childhood psychiatric diagnoses was evaluated with the kappa statistic; the intraclass correlation coefficient was used to evaluate test-retest reliability of symptom scales. RESULTS The reliability of the parents' reports on the DISC-R was good to excellent for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and separation anxiety disorder; it was fair for overanxious disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder. The children reported many fewer symptoms than the parents except for separation anxiety disorder; reliability was fair for separation anxiety disorder and poor for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The children were particularly unreliable in reporting about time factors, such as duration and onset of symptoms. When symptoms were considered without duration and onset, children's reports reached fair reliability for separation anxiety disorder, overanxious disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but remained poor for oppositional defiant disorder. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that highly structured diagnostic interviews such as the DISC-R may not be appropriate for use with younger children of elementary school age in community-based studies.
Relapse-Free Survival in Patients With Nonmetastatic, Surgically Resected Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: An Analysis of the AJCC and ENETS Staging Classifications

Background:The risk of metastatic spread among patients with early-stage pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors has not been well established. The authors sought to evaluate whether the new TNM staging systems proposed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) are prognostic for relapse-free survival (RFS) after surgical resection. Methods:Patients with surgically resected localized or locally advanced pancreatic NETs treated at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center between 1999 and 2010 were assigned a stage (I–III) based on the AJCC and ENETS classifications. RFS and overall survival were measured using Kaplan-Meier methodology, with log-rank testing for evaluation of the 2 tumor staging systems. Multivariate analysis was performed controlling for tumor grade, location, surgery type, functional hormonal status, and incidental diagnosis. Results:The authors identified 123 patients with nonmetastatic, surgically resected pancreatic NETs. When using the AJCC classification, 5-year RFS rates for stages I through III were 78%, 53%, and 33%, respectively (P < 0.01). Using the ENETS classification, 5-year RFS rates for stages I to III were 100%, 70%, and 53% (P < 0.18). When excluding patients who were referred after their metastatic recurrence, the 5-year RFS rates for stages I to III were 90%, 73%, and 66% according to the AJCC classification, and 100%, 84%, and 75% according to the ENETS classification. Recurrence rates peaked at approximately 2 years after surgery. Conclusions:The AJCC and ENETS TNM classifications for pancreatic NETs are prognostic for recurrence-free survival and can be adopted in clinical practice.
Review: 2D, 3D, 4D ultrasound in Obstetrics: Best evidence practice

56 Introduction Recent advances in prenatal diagnosis and therapy has been made possible with the invention of newer imaging modalities including 3D and 4D ultrasound. Two dimensional ultrasound remains the method by which most fetal structural abnormalities are screened and diagnosed, however 3D and 4D are being used increasingly for the examination of the human fetus. Two dimensional scanning allows visualisation of static images while 3D and 4D imaging adds a further dimension to fetal study by allowing interaction with volume data sets to examine anatomic structures of interest in planes of section. This article will focus on the role of 2D, 3D and 4D ultrasonography in the diagnosis of fetal malformations and their value as a primary or adjunct diagnostic tool.
Using representation learning and out-of-domain data for a paralinguistic speech task

In this work, we study the paralinguistic speech task of eating condition classiﬁcation and present our submitted clas-siﬁcation system for the INTERSPEECH 2015 Computational Paralinguistics challenge. We build upon a deep learning language identiﬁcation system, which we repurpose for general audio sequence classiﬁcation. The main idea is that we train lo-cal convolutional neural network classiﬁers that automatically learn representations on smaller windows of the full sequence’s spectrum and to aggregate multiple local classiﬁcations towards a full sequence classiﬁcation. A particular challenge of the task is training data scarcity and the resulting overﬁtting of neural network methods, which we tackle with dropout, synthetic data augmentation and transfer learning with out-of-domain data from a language identiﬁcation task. Our ﬁnal submitted system achieved an UAR score of 75.9% for 7-way eating condition classiﬁcation, which is a relative improvement of 15% over the baseline.
Effects of Socioeconomic Factors on Public High School Outcomes and Rankings

The authors used data on public high schools in New Hampshire to demonstrate how the socioeconomic status (SES) of the district can help explain variations in students' average standardized test scores and college-attendance rates and subsequent rankings of schools within states. The authors show how states can use multiple-outcome measures to derive an alternative ranking of high schools that removes the contributions of SES to the school-level outcomes and how these rankings compare with similar rankings that would be obtained solely on the basis of observed outcomes. Results demonstrate that socioeconomic factors account for a large portion of the variations in school-level outcomes in New Hampshire and that the subsequent rankings of schools can change dramatically after controlling for these factors. The methodology that the authors present can be replicated easily in other states and applied to different choices of outcome and control measures.