Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endoluminal Graft Repair for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms in High-Risk Patients and Octogenarians: Is it Better Than Open Repair?

ObjectiveTo analyze the short-term and midterm results of open and endoluminal repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in a large single-center series and specifically in octogenarians. MethodsBetween January 1997 and October 2000, 470 consecutive patients underwent elective repair of AAA. Conventional open repair (COR) was performed in 210 patients and endoluminal graft (ELG) repair in 260 patients. Ninety of the patients were 80 years of age or older; of these, 38 underwent COR and 52 ELG repair. ResultsPatient characteristics and risk factors were similar for both the entire series and the subgroup of patients 80 years or older. The overall complication rate was reduced by 70% or more in the ELG versus the COR groups. The postoperative death rate was similar for the COR and ELG groups in the entire series and lower (but not significantly) in the ELG 80 years or older subgroup versus the COR group. The 36-month rates of freedom from endoleaks, surgical conversion, and secondary intervention were 81%, 98.2%, and 88%, respectively. ConclusionThe short-term and midterm results of AAA repair by COR or ELG are similar. The death rate associated with this new technique is low and comparable, whereas the complication rate associated with COR in all patients and those 80 years or older in particular is greater and more serious than ELG repair. Long-term results will establish the role of ELG repair of AAA, especially in elderly and high-risk patients.
DEMETHYLATION OF THE PESTICIDE METHOXYCHLOR IN LIVER AND INTESTINE FROM UNTREATED, METHOXYCHLOR-TREATED, AND 3-METHYLCHOLANTHRENE-TREATED CHANNEL CATFISH (ICTALURUS PUNCTATUS): EVIDENCE FOR ROLES OF CYP1 AND CYP3A FAMILY ISOZYMES

Exposure to the organochlorine pesticide methoxychlor (MXC) is associated with endocrine disruption in several species through biotransformation to mono-desmethyl-MXC (OH-MXC) and bis-desmethyl-MXC (HPTE), which interact with estrogen receptors. The biotransformation of [14C]methoxychlor was examined in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), a freshwater species found in the southern United States. Hepatic microsomes formed OH-MXC and HPTE, assessed by comigration with authentic standards. The Km for OH-MXC formation by control liver microsomes was 3.8 ± 1.3 μM (mean ± S.D., n = 4), and Vmax was 131 ± 53 pmol/min/mg protein. These values were similar to those of catfish pretreated with 2 mg/kg methoxychlor i.p. for 6 days (Km 3.3 ± 0.8 μM and Vmax 99 ± 17 pmol/min/mg) but less (p < 0.05) than the kinetic parameters for catfish treated with 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC), which had Km of 6.0 ± 1.1 μM and Vmax of 246 ± 6 pmol/min/mg protein. Liver microsomes from 3-MC-treated fish produced significantly more of the secondary metabolite and more potent estrogen, HPTE. Intestinal microsomes formed OH-MXC at lower rates than liver. Methoxychlor pretreatment significantly reduced intestinal metabolite formation from 32 ± 4 to 15 ± 6 pmol/min/mg (mean ± S.D., n = 4), whereas 3-MC treatment significantly increased OH-MXC production to 72 ± 22 pmol/min/mg. Ketoconazole, clotrimazole, and α-naphthoflavone all decreased the production of OH-MXC in liver microsomes, whereas α-naphthoflavone stimulated HPTE formation, suggesting that CYP1 and CYP3 family isozymes demethylated methoxychlor. The results suggest that the formation of estrogenic metabolites from methoxychlor would be more rapid in catfish coexposed to CYP1 inducers.
Randomized trial of dose-intensity with single-agent carboplatin in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. London Gynaecological Oncology Group.

PURPOSE We have examined the role of an increase in cisplatin dose-intensity in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer by means of single-agent carboplatin therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Two hundred twenty-seven patients were randomized to treatment and eligible for analysis. The dose of carboplatin was calculated according to the Calvert formula. One hundred seventeen patients received carboplatin at an area under the concentration time curve (AUC) of 6 for six courses, administered every 28 days, and 110 patients received carboplatin at an AUC of 12 for four courses, administered every 28 days. Patients were eligible provided they had not received prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy and had International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages II to IV or relapsed stage I epithelial ovarian cancer. RESULTS The planned total-dose increase was 33% for the patients treated with carboplatin AUC 12, but the received percentage total-dose increase was 20%. There were no differences in progression-free or overall survival between the two treatment arms; the overall survival rate at 5 years was 31% and 34% of patients treated at AUCs 6 and 12, respectively. There was significantly more toxicity associated with carboplatin AUC 12, which resulted in more treatment delays and/or dose reductions (52% v 18%; P < .001). CONCLUSION We have shown that carboplatin can be delivered at an AUC of 12 for four courses without granulocyte colony-stimulating factor support, although significant hematologic toxicity occurs. Nonhematologic toxicities were not clinically significant. Carboplatin offers an opportunity to intensify cisplatin therapy, but a greater than two-fold increase in dose-intensity probably needs to be achieved before significant effects on survival will be produced and hematologic support will be required.
The Validity of Discrepancy-Based Definitions of Reading Disabilities

This study addressed the validity of distinguishing children with reading disabilities according to the presence or absence of discrepancies between intelligence test scores and academic achievement. Three definitions of reading disability were used to provide criteria for five groups of children who (a) met a discrepancy-based definition uncorrected for the correlation of IQ and achievement; (b) met a discrepancy-based definition correcting for the correlation of IQ and achievement; (c) met a low achievement definition with no IQ discrepancy; (d) met criteria a and b; and (e) met none of the criteria and had no reading disability. Comparison of these five groups on a set of 10 neuropsychological tests corrected for correlations with IQ showed that group differences were small and accounted for little of the variability among groups. These results question the validity of segregating children with reading deficiencies according to discrepancies with IQ scores.
Hepatoprotective efficacy of certain flavonoids against microcystin induced toxicity in mice

Toxic cyanobacteria (blue‐green algae) water blooms have become a serious problem in several industrialized areas of the world. Microcystin‐LR (MC‐LR) is a cyanobacterial heptapeptide that represents acute and chronic hazards to animal and human health. Identification of suitable chemprotectants against microcystin is essential considering human health hazards. In the present study, we have evaluated the protective efficacy of three flavanoids namely quercetin (200 mg/kg), silybin (400 mg/kg), and morin (400 mg/kg)] pretreatment against microcystin toxicity (0.75 LD50, 57.5 μg/kg) in mice. Various biochemical variables were measured to study the recovery profile of protected animals at 1‐ and 3‐days post‐toxin treatment. The serum alanine amino transferase (ALT) shows 17‐fold increase in MC‐LR treated animals compared with control group at 1 day. The silybin and quercetin group showed a decrease in level of ALT compared with MC‐LR group but still higher than control group. No significant protection was observed with aspartate aminotransaminase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in flavanoid‐treated groups at 1‐day post‐treatment. But at 3 days, the serum levels of AST and ALT were normalized to control values, but the serum LDH levels were still significantly higher than the control group. No significant changes were observed in glutathione peroxidase and reduced glutathione levels at both 1‐ and 3‐day postexposure. The catalase activity shows a significant decrease in quercetin‐treated animals at 3‐day postexposure. The protein phosphatase was significantly inhibited in MC‐LR group compared to control. The silybin pretreated group showed recovery after 1 day. At 3 days, the PPAse activity was reversed to control values in all the flavanoid‐treated groups. Immunoblotting analysis showed microcystin‐PPAse adduct in liver tissues of toxin‐treated as well as flavanoid‐treated mice even after 3 days. The results of this study show that flavanoids, quercetin, silybin, and morin could reverse the hepatotoxic effects of MC‐LR in vivo. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 22: 472–479, 2007.
Follow‐up examinations including sequential bone marrow biopsies in essential thrombocythemia (ET): A retrospective clinicopathological study of 120 patients

Diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia (ET) has been usually established by regarding the criteria of the Polycythemia Vera Study Group. Accordingly, a retrospective clinicopathological study was performed on 120 patients with a follow‐up ranging between 5 and 13 years and repeated bone marrow trephine examinations. Following the new WHO classification, at presentation patients revealed three distinctive patterns of bone marrow (BM) features: (true) ET in 43 patients, prefibrotic idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF) in 50 patients, and early IMF in 27 patients. Heterogeneity of morphological features was associated with correspondingly expressed laboratory data. Contrasting initial and early IMF, patients with true ET displayed an about 80% probability to lack splenomegaly, anemia, and increase in the LDH and LAP values and also failed to show any myeloblasts or erythroblasts on the peripheral blood films. Follow‐up examinations including sequential BM biopsies (mean interval 39 ± 31 months) disclosed that of the 43 patients with true ET only one developed an increase in reticulin. On the other hand, 65 of 77 patients with prefibrotic and early IMF evolved into overt myelofibrosis–osteosclerosis. Moreover, survival analysis demonstrated significant differences in our patients. A neglectable proportion of life loss according to a sex‐ and age‐matched general population was found in true ET (less than 11%) opposed to IMF without or mild fibrosis (range 21% to 32%). Am. J. Hematol. 70:283–291, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
From genomics via proteomics to cellular physiology of the Gram‐positive model organism Bacillus subtilis

Complementing proteomic technologies enable an unbiased view of cellular adaptation and thus may provide a new understanding of cellular physiology, particularly for microorganisms because a major fraction of their proteome is accessible to currently available technology. In combination with transcriptional profiling expression proteomics provides access to interesting candidate genes and proteins that will then need to be validated and supplemented by traditional physiological, biochemical and genetic approaches. After a description of the current status of the technology, we display the potential of microbial proteomics using the model organism Bacillus subtilis as example. Starting from a proteome map a proteomic view of the metabolism will be provided. Furthermore, we demonstrate that proteomics complemented by transcriptomics is also useful for the study of stress and starvation responses and that integration of these data will lead to a comprehensive understanding of the adaptational network of bacterial cells. Thus, B. subtilis constitutes a highly versatile and tractable model organism for the study of generic stress responses and the expertise that has been gained can easily be transferred to the study of the cellular physiology of related Gram‐positive pathogens and their pathophysiology.
Risk Aversion Relates to Cognitive Ability: Fact or Fiction?

Recent experimental studies suggest that risk aversion is negatively related to cognitive ability. In this paper we report evidence that this relation might be spurious. We recruit a large subject pool drawn from the general Danish population for our experiment. By presenting subjects with choice tasks that vary the bias induced by random choices, we are able to generate both negative and positive correlations between risk aversion and cognitive ability. Structural estimation allowing for heterogeneity of noise yields no significant relation between risk aversion and cognitive ability. Our results suggest that cognitive ability is related to random decision making rather than to risk preferences.
Macrophage mannose receptor in chronic sinus disease

Background: The role of infectious agents in the onset and maintenance of chronic sinus disease is still not fully understood. Macrophage mannose receptor (MMR), an innate pattern recognizing receptor, capable of phagocytosis of invaders and signal transduction for proinflammatory mechanisms, might be of importance in immune interactions in chronic sinus disease.
Multicomponent Chimeric Antigen for Serodiagnosis of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis

ABSTRACT In this work, we describe the assembly of a synthetic gene coding for several antigenic determinants found in different Leishmania infantum antigens. Selected epitopes were derived from the ribosomal proteins LiP2a, LiP2b, and LiP0 and from the histone H2A. The resulting gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli either as a fusion protein (with the vector pMAL-c2) or alone (with the vector pQE). In both cases, high-level bacterial production of the recombinant protein was achieved and the products were found to be stable. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting experiments confirmed that the corresponding epitopes are present in the engineered protein. Finally, a serological evaluation of this multiple-epitope protein by Falcon assay screening test-ELISA revealed a sensitivity of 79 to 93% and a specificity of 96 to 100% in diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis, indicating that this protein represents a valuable tool for serodiagnosis.
Fast and Effective Pattern Matching on Weighted Attributed Graphs

We address the problem of finding subgraphs that best match a user’s query on Weighted Attributed Graphs (WAGs). We define a WAG as a graph where nodes exhibit multiple attributes with varying, non-negative weights. An example of a WAG is a coauthorship network, where each author has multiple attributes, each corresponding to a particular topic (e.g., databases, data mining, and machine learning), and the amount of expertise in a particular topic is represented by a non-negative weight on that attribute. A typical user query in this setting specifies both connectivity patterns between query nodes and constraints on attribute weights of the query nodes. For example, a user query may have a triangle connectivity pattern where each node is an author with expertise greater than 50% in at least one topic area (i.e. attribute). We propose a ranking function which unifies the matching on attribute weights over the nodes and on the graph structure. We prove that the problem of retrieving the optimal match for such queries is NPcomplete. Moreover, we propose a fast and effective top-k pattern matching algorithm for weighted attributed graphs. In an extensive experimental study with multiple real-world datasets, our proposed algorithm exhibits significant speed-up over competing approaches. On average, our proposed method is more than 7⇥ faster in query processing than the strongest competing method.
A study of some immunological features in aborted women infected with Toxoplasma gondii and Cytomegalovirus in Hilla city

This study was conducted to determine the role of T.gondii and CMV in cases of abortion in pregnant women and detect the possible association between the two infections. The occurrence of two pathogens in relation to the age has been studied. The infections reaching peak in the age group (25-29) years old . We found that the highest prevalence of Toxoplasmosis and CMV infection recorded for women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Sera and placental biopsies were collected from aborted and controlled women. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to assess the presence of specific antibodies against T.gondii and CMV in addition to the estimation of the concentration of INF-γ at systemic and mucosal levels to determine the humoral and cellular immunity. T.gondii and CMV infections and the synergism infections between two organisms induce both humoral and cellular immune responses both at mucosal and systemic levels.
Human pelvis height is associated with other pelvis measurements of obstetric value.

In low resource settings, perinatal death remains a major challenge, yet some of the key anthropometric measures used for screening have been found to be inappropriate. These calls for additional anatomically related measurements to act as a basis for the design of: easy-to-use, low technology accurate tools to enhance obstetric care quality in these settings. This study set out to determine the associations between the various pelvis anthropometric measurements of obstetric importance with pelvis height. The study made use of 30 complete rearticulated Adult pelvic bonesets of known sex. The some of the thirteen measurements made on each boneset included: Pelvis height, Sacral Anterior Orientation (SAO), pubic bone length, total pelvis height and inlet medial-lateral diameter. All measurements were taken thrice and the average used for comparisons with pelvis height. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney test and multilevel regression analysis test to control for gender was used. Pelvis height had significant associations with SAO (-0.36, P<0.01), pubic bone length (0.41, P<0.01), total pelvis height (0.21, P=0.04) and inlet medial-lateral diameter (0.46, P=0.02). Additional significant associations were observed with the diameters of the mid and outlet diameters of the birth canal. Pelvis height had significant associations with: total pelvis height and inlet medial-lateral diameter of the pelvis and the measurements related to the mid and outlet diameters of the birth canal. This study provides initial evidence to support further evaluation of pelvis height as an additional tool for the assessment of the human birth canal. Key words : Pelvis height, Pelvimetry, Childbirth low resource settings
The Effect of Speed Training on Sprint and Agility Performance in 15-Year-Old Female Soccer Players

The main aim of this study was to investigate the effects of short burst speed and change-of -direction exercises on sprint and agility performance in youth female soccer players 15.5 (± 0.7) years. One training group (n=10) followed an eight-week, once per week training program consisting of short-burst sprinting exercises in addition to two normal soccer training, while a control group (n=9) followed three traditional soccer training session. Pre-and post-tests assessed significant improvement in 10 m sprint, pre 1.99 s (± 0.08), post 1.91 s (± 0.09), 20 m sprint pre 3.53 s (± 0.15), post 3.42 s (± 0.15), and agility performance, pre 8.23 s (± 0.31), post 7.80 s (± 0.33). Control group (15.1 years (± 0.7) did not demonstrate significant change in performance during the intervention period. The results demonstrate that a training program of short burst high speed exercises improve linear sprint and agility performance in youth female soccer players, beyond the gain of traditional soccer training consisting of small-sided games.
Excitatory Effect of GABAergic Axo-Axonic Cells in Cortical Microcircuits

Axons in the cerebral cortex receive synaptic input at the axon initial segment almost exclusively from γ-aminobutyric acid–releasing (GABAergic) axo-axonic cells (AACs). The axon has the lowest threshold for action potential generation in neurons; thus, AACs are considered to be strategically placed inhibitory neurons controlling neuronal output. However, we found that AACs can depolarize pyramidal cells and can initiate stereotyped series of synaptic events in rat and human cortical networks because of a depolarized reversal potential for axonal relative to perisomatic GABAergic inputs. Excitation and signal propagation initiated by AACs is supported by the absence of the potassium chloride cotransporter 2 in the axon.
Evaluation of recovery methods to detect faecal streptococci in polluted waters

Aims: This paper compares the faecal streptococci count on 25 samples of polluted waters obtained with three techniques: most probable number (MPN), membrane filtration (MF) and pour plate (PP) methods. Although the PP method is a simple technique, familiar to water bacteriologists, it is not recommended in the international methods.
Disulfide-Bond-Forming Pathways in Gram-Positive Bacteria

ABSTRACT Disulfide bonds are important for the stability and function of many secreted proteins. In Gram-negative bacteria, these linkages are catalyzed by thiol-disulfide oxidoreductases (Dsb) in the periplasm. Protein oxidation has been well studied in these organisms, but it has not fully been explored in Gram-positive bacteria, which lack traditional periplasmic compartments. Recent bioinformatics analyses have suggested that the high-GC-content bacteria (i.e., actinobacteria) rely on disulfide-bond-forming pathways. In support of this, Dsb-like proteins have been identified in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but their functions are not known. Actinomyces oris and Corynebacterium diphtheriae have recently emerged as models to study disulfide bond formation in actinobacteria. In both organisms, disulfide bonds are catalyzed by the membrane-bound oxidoreductase MdbA. Remarkably, unlike known Dsb proteins, MdbA is important for pathogenesis and growth, which makes it a potential target for new antibacterial drugs. This review will discuss disulfide-bond-forming pathways in bacteria, with a special focus on Gram-positive bacteria.
Variability in Adequacy of Ventilation during Transport of Cardiac Surgery Patients: A Cohort Study

Inadequate ventilation of intubated patients during transport from the operating theatre to the intensive care unit with attendant hypercarbia may adversely affect haemodynamics. In a retrospective observational study, we assessed the incidence of inadequate ventilation during transport from the operating theatre to the intensive care unit in 99 consecutive cardiac surgery patients admitted to our university tertiary hospital. Demographic, clinical, arterial blood gas and haemodynamic measurements were made on arrival in the intensive care unit after cardiac surgery. The relationships between arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO2), mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) and other relevant haemodynamic variables were explored. Overall, hypocarbia (PaCO2<35 mmHg) occurred in 18.2% of patients, while 28.3% of patients had hypercarbia (PaCO2 >45 mmHg). Pulmonary hypertension was common, with nearly half of the cohort having MPAP ≥25 mmHg and 17.2% ≥30 mmHg. However, there was no association between PaCO2 and MPAP (R2=0.0076, P=0.39). Contrary to expectation, neither hypercarbia nor high MPAP were associated with measured adverse outcomes, although this may have been because we studied an insufficient number of patients with extreme values. Associations of higher MPAP, which would be expected to compromise cardiovascular status, included acidaemia, hypoxia and the requirement for noradrenaline. These factors define a group of high-risk patients who should receive particular attention and who should be the focus of future studies.