Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas head: survival after regional versus extended lymphadenectomy.

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of regional versus extended lymphadenectomy on survival in patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas. From 1988 to 1996 we performed partial duodeno-pancreatectomies (Whipple procedure) combined with either regional (n = 20, group A) or extended retroperitoneal (n = 33, group B) lymphadenectomy in 53 patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas head. METHODOLOGY The outcome of the two groups was compared by constructing survival curves and evaluating demographic, intraoperative and histopathologic data from all patients (n = 44) with curative (R0) resections. RESULTS For patients after R0 resection there was no significant difference in terms of survival between group A and B. Only tumor stage (p = 0.0258), portal vein invasion (p = 0.0190) and tumor grade (p = 0.0021) had a significant influence on survival, regardless of the type of operation. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that no further improvement of the survival rate can be achieved by extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy, compared to regional lymphadenectomy.
Economic Predictors of Marital Quality Among Newly Remarried Rural and Urban Couples

Guided by family stress theory, this study compares newlywed samples of remarried couples from rural and urban areas. More than 900 men and 1,000 women in remarriages responded to questionnaires that assessed their economic pressures, family characteristics, and relationship quality. On socioeconomic characteristics, rural and urban couples differed. Urban couples were more educated, had smaller households, and had higher incomes. However, both samples reported high levels of satisfaction and low levels of relationship instability. Regression analyses identified gender differences in the economic predictors of relationship quality. For wives, both marital satisfaction and marital instability were predicted by financial concerns. For men, relationship outcomes were related to the ability to make ends meet. Material needs (having enough money to afford necessities) also predicted marital satisfaction for women, but not marital instability. Implications for family life education are provided. Family scholars have observed that couples experience diverse challenges based on different stages and types of marriage. For example, newlywed couples generally experience greater dyadic adjustment difficulties than do more-established marriages (Carrere, Buehlman, Gottman, Coan, & Ruckstuhl, 2000). Remarriages, especially those involving stepchildren, encounter additional relationship stress due to the complexities unique to stepfamily life (Ganong & Coleman, 2004). Previous research on marital quality in rural America has shown that rural couples, in general, exhibit decreased marital stability and satisfaction. These studies associate their findings with the economic pressures that are characteristic of rural areas (Conger et al., 1990, Conger & Elder, 1994). Collectively taking into account the literature on new marriages, remarriages, and rural marriages, we hypothesize that newly-remarried rural couples may experience considerable difficulties regarding marital satisfaction and instability. Specifically, using a sample of newly remarried couples from rural and urban areas, we investigate the rural influence of economic pressure upon self-reported marital instability and marital satisfaction. Several economic variables, which have been implicated in the extant literature as stressors in rural communities (i.e., financial pressure, income, family size, and education level) are examined in order to understand their influence on couples in this stage and type of marriage.
Proteinases produced by pseudomonads isolated from sheep fleece

Fifty-nine pseudomonads isolated from sheep fleece were able to grow on a minimal salts medium with glycerol as the sole source of carbon and energy. Many of these isolates showed additional growth when collagen-based or wool-based substrates were included in the medium. After several days of incubation with these substrates, the nature of soluble proteins present in the growth medium was investigated by using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Up to four major bands of protein with proteinase activity and with widely different electrophoretic mobilities were detected in the gels; one of the bands appeared as a doublet at times. The electrophoretic mobilities of each class of proteinase were similar for the different pseudomonads examined, but the proteinase (or combination of proteinases) induced depended on the protein substrate and strain or species of pseudomonad used.
Lichen Planus in Children: A Possible Complication of Hepatitis B Vaccines

Abstract: Lichen planus (LP) has been reported as a complication of hepatitis B vaccination in both adults and children. According to published observations, an autoimmune reaction may be triggered by the viral S epitope. In children, LP is uncommon and, because of its atypical clinical presentation, definitive diagnosis may require biopsy. We investigated the possible association of recombinant hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines with childhood LP or LP‐like eruptions seen in our hospital over the last 3 years. Only biopsy‐confirmed cases in which the clinical history could be thoroughly scrutinized were included. We report five patients less than 16 years of age in whom such an association could be supported by relevant data. Thirteen similar pediatric and 15 adult cases have been reported from various countries in the last 5 years. The data indicate that LP is a complication that rarely occurs in children receiving the HBV vaccine. It appears without known predisposing factors and has variable clinical presentations while the␣histologic findings are consistent and, with minor variations, typical of LP.
Distribution of cp32 Prophages among Lyme Disease-Causing Spirochetes and Natural Diversity of Their Lipoprotein-Encoding erp Loci

ABSTRACT Lyme disease spirochetes possess complex genomes, consisting of a main chromosome and 20 or more smaller replicons. Among those small DNAs are the cp32 elements, a family of prophages that replicate as circular episomes. All complete cp32s contain an erp locus, which encodes surface-exposed proteins. Sequences were compared for all 193 erp alleles carried by 22 different strains of Lyme disease-causing spirochete to investigate their natural diversity and evolutionary histories. These included multiple isolates from a focus where Lyme disease is endemic in the northeastern United States and isolates from across North America and Europe. Bacteria were derived from diseased humans and from vector ticks and included members of 5 different Borrelia genospecies. All erp operon 5′-noncoding regions were found to be highly conserved, as were the initial 70 to 80 bp of all erp open reading frames, traits indicative of a common evolutionary origin. However, the majority of the protein-coding regions are highly diverse, due to numerous intra- and intergenic recombination events. Most erp alleles are chimeras derived from sequences of closely related and distantly related erp sequences and from unknown origins. Since known functions of Erp surface proteins involve interactions with various host tissue components, this diversity may reflect both their multiple functions and the abilities of Lyme disease-causing spirochetes to successfully infect a wide variety of vertebrate host species.
Conjoint IGF-I and Insulin Infusion Shows Diverse Interactive Effects in Diabetic Rats

Studies in diabetic rodents and humans provide evidence that IGF-I may alleviate the diabetic state and insulin resistance to some degree. To assess the efficacy of IGFs as an adjunct treatment with insulin in diabetes, we infused IGF-I or des(1–3)IGF-I for 7 days at 0, 10.7, 26.7, and 66.8 nmol/day to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats in conjunction with infusions of 0, 2.2, 5.6, or 14 nmol/day insulin. Both insulin and des(1–3)IGF-I increased body weight gain by 7 g/day compared with controls (1.2 g/day), but there was no additive effect. However, for nitrogen retention, the effects of des(1–3)IGF-I were additive with those of 2.2 nmol/day insulin. Des(1–3)IGF-I was two- to threefold more potent than IGF-I. At comparable rates of total nitrogen retention, carcass nitrogen retention was ∼ 35% higher with insulin than with IGF treatment, indicating a differential tissue response. IGFs did not alter carcass fat content. Des(1–3)IGF-I increased liver glycogen additively with insulin but reduced glucosuria only when given with 5.6 nmol insulin per day, indicating the possibility of a facilitatory effect, perhaps via increased insulin sensitivity. Insulin was 10- to 25-fold more potent in these glucoregulatory actions. Differential effects of the hormones were also observed for kidney, liver, and thymus weights. We conclude that IGFs and especially the more potent des(1–3)IGF-I may have a role as an adjunct to insulin therapy in diabetic patients.
Reducing estimator biases due to equalization errors in adaptive digital predistortion systems for RF power amplifiers

This paper investigates degradations in a RF power amplifier, linearized using digital predistortion (DPD), due to biases in the DPD coefficient estimation. Of specific interest is the effect of equalization errors in the observation path on the distortion spectrum of the RF output signal. It is proposed that the frequencies allocated to the input signal be notched within the estimator to reduce the effects of equalizer errors. Results show that the use of an estimator notch improves the ACLR2 performance by 11 dB and 16 dB for DPD implemented using memory and gain polynomials, respectively. The notch also allows the order (rank) of the estimation to be reduced.
Vagal Control of Breathing Pattern after Midcervical Contusion in Rats.

The present study was designed to establish a midcervical contusion model that can simulate long-term respiratory deficits, and investigate the breathing pattern during vagal-mediated respiratory reflexes following midcervical contusion. Moderate and severe (impactor height: 6.25 or 12.5 mm) contusion was induced at midline C3-4 spinal cord in adult Sprague-Dawley rats. The ventilatory behaviors of unanesthetized were evaluated by whole body plethysmography at 1 day and 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks post-injury. The tidal volume was decreased and frequency was increased in contused animals compared with uninjured animals at the acute injury state. At 8 weeks post-injury, respiratory frequency was similar between groups; however, contused animals had lower tidal volume. The pulmonary chemoreflex induced by intrajugular capsaicin (1.5 μg/kg) injection and the Hering-Breuer inflation reflex induced by increasing positive end-expired pressure (9 cm H2O) were evoked in anesthetized animals at 3 days, or 2 or 8 weeks post-surgery. The result showed that capsaicin induced a significant prolongation of the expiratory duration in uninjured animals; however, this response was greatly attenuated in contused animals at 3 days post-injury. Increased positive end-expired pressure also caused an increase in the expiratory duration in uninjured and moderately contused animals; however, severely contused animals exhibited an attenuated response. At 2 and 8 weeks post-injury, both the pulmonary chemoreflex and the Hering-Breuer inflation reflex were similar between uninjured and contused animals. These data suggested that midcervical contusion can cause a long-term respiratory impairment and a transiently attenuation of vagal-mediated respiratory reflexes.
The anticonvulsant actions of carisbamate associate with alterations in astrocyte glutamine metabolism in the lithium–pilocarpine epilepsy model

As reported previously, in the lithium–pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), carisbamate (CRS) produces strong neuroprotection, leads to milder absence‐like seizures, and prevents behavioral impairments in a subpopulation of rats. To understand the metabolic basis of these effects, here we injected 90 mg/kg CRS or vehicle twice daily for 7 days starting 1 h after status epilepticus (SE) induction in rats. Two months later, we injected [1‐13C]glucose and [1,2‐13C]acetate followed by head microwave fixation after 15 min. 13C incorporation into metabolites was analyzed using 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We found that SE reduced neuronal mitochondrial metabolism in the absence but not in the presence of CRS. Reduction in glutamate level was prevented by CRS and aspartate levels were similar to controls only in rats displaying absence‐like seizures after treatment [CRS‐absence‐like epilepsy (ALE)]. Glutamine levels in CRS‐ALE rats were higher compared to controls in hippocampal formation and limbic structures while unchanged in rats displaying motor spontaneous recurrent seizures after treatment (CRS‐TLE). Astrocytic mitochondrial metabolism was reduced in CRS‐TLE, and either enhanced or unaffected in CRS‐ALE rats, which did not affect the transfer of glutamine from astrocytes to neurons. In conclusion, CRS prevents reduction in neuronal mitochondrial metabolism but its effect on astrocytes is likely key in determining outcome of treatment in this model.
Artefact reduction in photoplethysmography

In order to remove motion artefact prior to digital processing, the invention provides a method of monitoring living tissue comprising the steps of emitting electromagnetic radiation at said tissue at at least first and second different wavelengths, receiving the radiation at the different wavelengths after it has been transmitted through or reflected within said tissue, providing at least first and second signals which are a logarithmic measure of the received first and second radiation wavelengths and subtracting the second signal from the first signal, removing a DC component of the result of the subtraction and providing an AC component to digital sampling means, and processing the digital samples in order to provide a desired value representing a property of the tissue.
Properties of a simian virus 40 mutant T antigen substituted in the hydrophobic region: defective ATPase and oligomerization activities and altered phosphorylation accompany an inability to complex with cellular p53

We have analyzed the biochemical properties of a nonviable simian virus 40 (SV40) mutant encoding a large T antigen (T) bearing an amino acid substitution (Pro-584-Leu) in its hydrophobic region. Mutant 5080 has an altered cell type specificity for transformation (transforming mouse C3H10T1/2 but not rat REF52 cells), is defective for viral DNA replication, and encodes a T that is unable to form a complex with the cellular p53 protein (K. Peden, A. Srinivasan, J. Farber, and J. Pipas, Virology 168:13-21, 1989). In this article, we show that 5080-transformed C3H10T1/2 cell lines express an altered T that is synthesized at a significantly higher rate but with a shorter half-life than normal T from wild-type SV40-transformed cells. 5080 T did not oligomerize beyond 5 to 10S in size compared with normal T, which oligomerized predominantly to 14 to 20S species. In addition, the 5080 T complex had significantly decreased ATPase activity and had a 10-fold-lower level of in vivo phosphorylation compared with that of normal T. Two-dimensional phosphopeptide analysis indicated several changes in the specific 32P labeling pattern, with altered phosphorylation occurring at both termini of the mutant protein compared with the wild-type T. Loss of p53 binding is therefore concomitant with changes in ATPase activity, oligomerization, stability, and in vivo phosphorylation of T and can be correlated with defective replication and restricted transformation functions. That so many biochemical changes are associated with a single substitution in the hydrophobic region of T is consistent with its importance in regulating higher-order structural and functional relationships in SV40 T.
Being a Good Nurse and Doing the Right Thing: a qualitative study

Despite an abundance of theoretical literature on virtue ethics in nursing and health care, very little research has been carried out to support or refute the claims made. One such claim is that ethical nursing is what happens when a good nurse does the right thing. The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was therefore to examine nurses’ perceptions of what it means to be a good nurse and to do the right thing. Fifty-three nurses responded to two open-ended questions: (1) a good nurse is one who. ; and (2) how does a nurse go about doing the right thing? Three hundred and thirty-one data units were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Seven categories emerged: personal characteristics, professional characteristics, patient centredness, advocacy, competence, critical thinking and patient care. Participants viewed ethical nursing as a complex endeavour in which a variety of decision-making frameworks are used. Consistent with virtue ethics, high value was placed on both intuitive and analytical personal attributes that nurses bring into nursing by virtue of the persons they are. Further investigation is needed to determine just who the ‘good nurse’ is, and the nursing practice and education implications associated with this concept.
Acute respiratory effects of particulate air pollution.

In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, several episodes of extreme air pollution focused attention on the potential for adverse health effects of air pollution. These included an episode in the Meuse Valley, Belgium, in December 1930 ( 15), an episode in Donora, Pennsylvania in 1948 (36), and several episodes in London, England (23, 44). The sudden large increases in sickness and death that accompanied such episodes demonstrated that air pollution can adversely affect human health. The increased mortality associated with such episodes provided the first quantitative measure of the adverse effects of air pollution. By the 1970s, a link had been well established between respiratory disease and particulate and/or sulfur-oxide air pollution, but still there remained disagreement as to the level of pollution that would significantly affect human health. In reviewing research published between 1968 and 1977, Holland and several other prominent British scientists ( 19) concluded that particulate and related air pollution at high levels pose hazards to human health, but that health effects of particulate pollution at lower concentrations could not be "disentangled" from health effects of other factors. Shy (45) responded by asserting that the review by Holland et al systematically discounted evidence of pollution-related health effects at contemporary pollution levels. Shy, and other reviewers ( 1, 12, 45, 54), contended that the cumulative weight of evidence provided sound reasons to believe that
Surgery in Malawi - a national survey of activity in rural and urban hospitals.

INTRODUCTION Malawi is a poor country with few doctors. It has 21 district hospitals all of which have operating theatres but none of which has a permanent surgeon. It also has 4 central hospitals, each with one or more surgeons. Most district hospitals are manned by a single doctor and two or more paramedical clinical officers. PATIENTS AND METHODS All district and central hospitals were visited, and theatre logbooks analysed. All cases performed in 2003 were recorded. RESULTS In 2003, a total of 48,696 surgical operations were recorded, of which 25,053 were performed in 21 district hospitals and 23,643 in 4 central hospitals. Caesarean section is the commonest major surgical procedure in district hospitals and is performed in approximately 2.8% of all births, compared to 22% in the UK. Very few major general surgical or orthopaedic procedures are carried out in district hospitals. CONCLUSION This study underlines Malawi's need for more surgeons to be trained and retained.
Identification of clinical risk factors for nosocomial pneumococcal bacteremia.

Clinical risks for nosocomial pneumococcal bacteremia (NPB) have been analyzed previously in case series, a study design inadequate for this purpose. Therefore, we performed a case-control study of NPB, pairing each of 37 cases identified retrospectively at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center from the period of 1984-1994 with four or five hospitalized controls. Comorbidities identified at the time of admission that were significantly associated with NPB on univariate and multivariate analysis included respiratory or hematologic malignancy, anemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and coronary artery disease. All characteristic symptoms and signs of pneumococcal infection were significantly more common in cases than in controls. NPB was strongly associated with death within 7 days of the index blood culture date, and the mortality rate among cases was 40.5%, compared with 1.2% among nonbacteremic controls (P < .00001). We conclude that NPB is a highly lethal infection that is associated with distinct but identifiable clinical risks, symptoms, and signs.
Pure fetal blood samples obtained by cordocentesis: Technical aspects of 322 cases

Three hundred and twenty‐two percutaneous umbilical blood samplings were performed over 4 years in our prenatal diagnostic centre. A 3·5 MHz sector ultrasound transducer was used to guide a 22·5‐gauge needle under local anaesthesia. Sampling was performed fcir rapid fetal karyotyping (within 72 h) in 120 cases, for diagnosis of fetal toxoplasmosis in 133 cases, for determination of the severity of Rh immunization in 15 cases, and for diagnosis of congenital rubella in 4 cases. Pure fetal blood was obtained in 98·7 per cent of the cases after two attempts. The approach to the cord was either transamniotic or trans‐piacental. Puncturing was preferentially done at the placental insertion of the cord (72·2 per cent of the cases) and the mean blood sample volume was 3·5 ml. The rate of fetal death in utero was 1 9 per cent, including two cases of amnionitis, one trisomy 18, and one severe bradycardia. The failures were due to sampling at an early stage of pregnancy (before gestation week 18), to maternal obesity, oligohydramnios, and the inexperience of the operator.
The processing of dynamic faces in the human brain: Support for an integrated neural framework of face processing

Faces convey rich information including identity, gender and expression. Current neural models of face processing suggest a dissociation between the processing of invariant facial aspects such as identity and gender, that engage the fusiform face area (FFA) and the processing of changeable aspects, such as expression and eye gaze, that engage the posterior superior temporal sulcus face area (pSTS-FA). Recent studies report a second dissociation within this network such that the pSTS-FA, but not the FFA, shows much stronger response to dynamic than static faces. The aim of the current study was to test a unified model that accounts for these two major functional characteristics of the neural face network. In an fMRI experiment, we presented static and dynamic faces while subjects judged an invariant (gender) or a changeable facial aspect (expression). We found that the pSTS-FA was more engaged in processing dynamic than static faces and changeable than invariant facial aspects, whereas the OFA and FFA showed similar response across all four conditions. Our results reveal no dissociation between the processing of changeable and invariant facial aspects, but higher sensitivity to the processing of changeable facial aspects by the motion-sensitive face area in the superior temporal sulcus.