Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A review of genetic, biological, pharmacological, and clinical factors that affect carbohydrate-deficient transferrin levels.

BACKGROUND Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is an alcohol biomarker recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This test is increasingly being used to detect and monitor alcohol use in a variety of health care, legal, and industrial settings. The goal of this study is to review the genetic, biological, pharmacological, and clinical factors that may affect CDT levels. METHODS A review of the literature identified 95 research articles that met the authors' criteria and reported potential interactions of a variety of factors on percent and total CDT levels. The review established 12 categories of variables that may affect CDT levels. These categories include (1) alcohol use, (2) genetic factors, (3) race, (4) gender, (5) age, (6) liver disease, (7) iron levels, (8) tobacco use, (9) medication such as estrogen and anticonvulsants, (10) metabolic factors such as body mass index and total body water, (11) chronic medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and (12) surgical patients. RESULTS There is evidence that %CDT levels are affected by alcohol use, end-stage liver disease, and genetic variants. In addition to these three factors, total CDT levels (CDTect) are also affected by factors that raise transferrin levels such as iron deficiency, chronic illnesses, and menopausal status. Other potential factors such as tobacco and age appear to be confounded by alcohol use. The roles of female gender, low body mass index, chronic inflammatory diseases, and medication on CDT levels require further study. False negatives are associated with female gender, episodic lower level alcohol use, and acute trauma with blood loss. CONCLUSIONS This review suggests that a number of factors are associated with false-positive CDTect and %CDT levels. CDT offers great promise to assist physicians in the care of patients to detect and monitor heavy alcohol use.
Estimating the burden and cost of infectious intestinal disease in the Maltese community

SUMMARY The aim of this study was to estimate the burden of infectious intestinal disease (IID) and cost of illness at the community level from a societal aspect. A retrospective, age-stratified cross-sectional telephone study was carried out in Malta in 2004–2005. The number of cases, resources used and cost of resources were computed. The resources involved direct costs (health-care services, stool culture tests, medicines and personal costs) and indirect costs (costs from lost employment by cases and caregivers). This study estimated 0·421 (95% CI 0·092–0·771) separate episodes of IID per person per year in Malta which corresponds to 164 471 (95% CI 35 941–301 205) episodes of IID per year or 450 (95% CI 98–825) episodes of IID each day. The largest proportion of cost is due to provision of health-care services with €10 454 901 [Maltese liri (Lm) 4 558 970] per year; followed by €963 295 (Lm 2 209 393) in lost productivity; €1 286 286 (Lm 561 078) in medicines; €152 335 (Lm 66 452) in stool culture testing and €71 487 (Lm 31 183) in personal costs, giving a total cost of illness of over €16 million (7 million Lm) per year. The burden and cost of IID are high enough to justify efforts to control the illness. Such estimates are important to assess the cost-effectiveness of proposed specific interventions.
The Colonial Archaeological Hero Reconsidered.Post-Colonial Perspectives on the ‘Discovery’ of thePrehistoric Past of Indonesia

Taking as its starting point a collection of (auto)biographical narratives on the academic careers of Dutch prehistorians Van Stein Callenfels, Van Heekeren and Van der Hoop, this paper discusses the phenomenon of the ‘colonial archaeologist as hero’ from both a historical and a theoretical (post-colonial) perspective. We thus reconsider those colonial archaeologists who, according to traditional histories of archaeology, ‘discovered’ the prehistoric past of Indonesia during the 1920s and 1930s. We do this in order to gain a better understanding of the colonial dimension of research into the prehistory of the Dutch East Indies and the way it continues to affect the archaeology of post-colonial Indonesia. We focus on the dynamic social and cultural contexts within which the archaeological research was developed and conclude that the creation of knowledge of the prehistoric past included various forms of indigenous involvement.
5-Hydroxytryptamine levels and platelet aggregation responses in subjects with acute migraine headache

Blood 5-hydroxytryptamine levels were reduced during migraine attacks in patients who had not taken any drugs but the aggregation responses to 5-hydroxytryptamine of the blood platelets from these patients were similar to responses of platelets from migrainous subjects between attacks. This confirms earlier findings that a permanent difference exists in the behaviour of platelets from migrainous subjects. Blood 5-hydroxytryptamine levels were reduced during migraine attacks in patients who had taken ergotamine. The aggregation responses of platelets taken from migrainous patients on ergotamine both during and between attacks were inhibited, which is in agreement with results previously found for aggregation responses following the in vitro pre-incubation of control platelets with ergotamine. Blood 5-hydroxytryptamine levels were maintained during migraine attacks in patients who had taken analgesics and there was no reduction in the aggregation responses of their platelets.
EFFECT OF GENDER, AGE AND DURATION ON DYSLIPIDEMIA IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS -

Introduction: The burden of dyslipidemia is high in patients with diabetes. Although there is considerable evidence that abnormalities in serum lipids and lipid metabolism are important risk factors for increased incidence of coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetes, controversy exists regarding the association of dyslipidemia with the gender, age and duration of diabetes. Objective: To study the prevalence and association of lipid disorders with gender, age, and duration of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional prospective study of 270 diabetic patients at a tertiary care teaching hospital. The subjects were grouped based on the gender, age and duration of diabetes and into subgroups by a five year scale based on the age and duration of diabetes. Fasting venous blood samples were analyzed for serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein LDL-C and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Results: Prevalence of dyslipidemia was more in female than in male diabetics. There was a gender preference of some lipid parameters. By age and by duration of diabetes, certain subgroups showed higher prevalence of dyslipidemia in both sexes. The degree of dyslipidemia by age showed an increasing trend and then reached a plateau, while it increased with increased duration of diabetes in both male and female diabetics. Although the distribution of lipid abnormalities increased with duration of diabetes, by age it showed no particular pattern of predominance in both sexes p>0.05. Conclusion: The predominance of dyslipidemia at an older age, the increased prevalence and higher lipid abnormalities in the female diabetics indicate that female diabetics are at a higher risk of atherosclerosis and subsequently coronary artery disease compared to male diabetics.
Appraisal of the pediatric ulcerative colitis activity index (PUCAI)

Background: We evaluated the psychometric performance of the Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) in a real‐life cohort from the Pediatric IBD Collaborative Research Group. Methods: Two consecutive visits of 215 children with ulcerative colitis (UC) were included (mean age 11.2 ± 3.6 years; 112 (52%) males; 63 (29%) newly diagnosed and the others after disease duration of 24 ± 15.6 months). Validity was assessed using several constructs of disease activity. Distributional and anchor‐based strategies were used to assess the responsiveness of the PUCAI to change over time following treatment. Results: Reflecting feasibility, 97.6% of 770 eligible registry visits had a completed PUCAI score versus only 47.6% for a contemporaneously collected Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (odds ratio = 45.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 28.6–73.5) obtained for children with Crohn's disease accessioned into the same database. The PUCAI score was significantly higher in patients requiring escalation of medical therapy (45 points [interquartile range, IQR, 30–60]) versus those who did not, (0 points [IQR 0–10]; P < 0.001), and was highly correlated with physician's global assessment of disease activity (r = 0.9, P < 0.001). The best cutoff to differentiate remission from active disease was 10 points (area under receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] 0.94; 95% CI 0.90–0.97). Test–retest reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.89; 95% CI 0.84–0.92, P < 0.001) as well as responsiveness to change (AUC 0.96 [0.92–0.99]; standardized response mean 2.66). Conclusion: This study on real‐life, prospectively obtained data confirms that the PUCAI is highly feasible by virtue of the noninvasiveness, valid, and responsive index. The PUCAI can be used as a primary outcome measure to reflect disease activity in pediatric UC. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2009)
The Safety of Drivers with Chronic Disease

Six hundred and twelve drivers with chronic disease, mainly diabetes, cardiovascular disease, renal disorders, and diseases of the sense organs, were investigated with regard to the frequency of road accidents and serious driving offences during a 10-year period. Road accidents directly caused by the disease or its treatment occurred in four (0·8%) cases, all due to hypoglycaemic attacks in insulin-treated diabetics. A comparison was made between the investigation series and a control series identical with regard to number, sex, age, and duration of licence-holding. About 50% of the drivers in each series were asked about their exposure to traffic; this proved to be similar in both series. The percentages of drivers experiencing road accidents were 4·1 in the investigation series and 7·7 in the control series. The corresponding figures for road accidents and serious driving offences taken together were 9·8% and 15·3%. The conclusion is drawn that any increased risk to road safety constituted by drivers with the specified chronic diseases may be satisfactorily offset by the restrictions applied in Sweden in the granting of licences to these drivers.
The role of a high‐fat diet in enhancing the development of mammary tumors in ovariectomized rats

The incidences of mammary tumors in female Sprague–Dawley rats injected with 7,12‐dimethylbenz‐(a)anthracene (DMBA) on day 50, ovariectomized 80 days later, and then maintained for 40 weeks on semipurified high‐fat (20%) and low‐fat (0.5%) high‐fat diets, were 57% and 25%, respectively. In addition, the group exhibited significantly higher tumor multiplicities than the low‐fat group (0.78 vs 0.25 tumors/total rats at risk). The weight gains of the HF and LF groups were similar, indicating that the differences in tumor yields were due to the fat content of the diet per se and not to caloric insufficiency or obesity.
[Comparison of Biological Characteristics and Immunosuppressive Activity between Human Amniotic Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells].

OBJECTIVE To compare the biological characteristics and immunosuppressive activity between human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSC) and human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMMSC). METHODS MSC from human amnion and bone marrow were isolated using enzymatic digestion and Ficoll-Hypaque density gradients, respectively. Their biological characteristics were compared by morphology, cell growth curves, cell cycle profile analysis, immunophenotype and immunofluorescence assay. Their immunosuppressive activities were studied on total activated T-cells with phytohemagglutinin (PHA-PBMSC). An in vitro co-culture was performed to compared the lymphocyte proliferation and the supernatant level of IFN-γ were measured by CCK-8 method and ELISA, respectively. RESULTS Both hAMSC and hBMMSC demonstrated fibroblast-like morphology. The hAMSC were able to be amplified for at least 15 passages, while the hBMMSC only for 6-7 passages. There was no significant difference in the proportion of G2/M phase cells of the 2 cells types (P>0.05). By FACS analysis for immunophenotype, both MSC were shown to be positive for CD105, CD90, CD73 and negative for CD34, CD45, CD11b, CD19, HLA-DR, but hAMSC were positive for Oct-3/4, which was in contrast to hBMMSC. Both of them expressed vimentin. Both the cells exhibited a inhibitory role on the lymphocyte proliferation induced by PHA in co-culture conditions, that was increased with the increase MSC proportion and both the suppressing effecs were enhanced. The supernatant IFN-γ levels of hAMSC co-cultured with lymphocyte at a ratio of 1:1 after 72 hours were measured by ELISA, and the level of IFN-γ was significantly lower than that in the same co-culture system of hBMMSC. In contrast to the IFN-γ in the PHA-stimulated group, the IFN-γ level in both co-culture groups was significantly lower. CONCLUSION MSC from amnion displayed a higher proliferative capacity and stem cell properties, compared with hBMMSC. Both MSC can inhibit lymphocyte proliferation and suppress IFN-γ secretion induced by PHA in vitro.
Editorial: Positive Effects of Intravenous Zoledronic Acid on Bone Remodeling and Structure: Are Different Effects on Osteoblast Activity to Other Oral Bisphosphonates Responsible?

In this issue of JBMR, Recker et al. report on the effects of three annual infusions of intravenous zoledronic acid 5 mg on bone remodeling and bone structure. Analysis of bone structure by CT in unpaired iliac crest biopsies showed higher trabecular bone volume and trabecular number and reduced trabecular separation with zoledronic acid treatment compared with placebo. Histomorphometric analyses revealed a median 63% reduction in activation frequency and a reduced volume referent bone formation rate. Osteoid volume and thickness and bone mineralization were normal, the latter being different to the increase in the mean degree of mineralization of bone seen after alendronate treatment. In the 21% of patients who received concomitant treatment with other anticatabolic drugs, apart from an increase in cortical thickness, these tissue level changes to zoledronic acid were not different from those treated with zoledronic acid alone. A novel finding, not shown for other bisphosphonates, was a higher mineral apposition rate (MAR) with zoledronic acid. This study is the largest to date of bisphosphonate effects on bone structure and bone remodeling. Zoledronic acid is a third-generation aminobisphosphonate showing the greatest inhibition of farnesyl disphosphate synthase and highest affinity for hydroxyapatite. In human studies, it is a potent inhibitor of bone resorption that can be administered intravenously annually. In postmenopausal women, its use is associated with increases in spine and hip BMD, reduced bone turnover, and a significant reduction in the risk of vertebral, hip, and nonvertebral fractures. In elderly patients, when given within 3 mo of a minimal trauma hip fracture, its use is associated with a reduction in the rate of new clinical fractures and improved survival.
Prognostic factors for ovarian metastases from primary gastric cancer

The purpose of this study was to analyze prognostic factors for ovarian metastases from primary gastric cancer, helping establish optimal strategy in ameliorating survival for this entity. Clinical data of 68 consecutive patients histologically diagnosed with ovarian metastases from primary gastric cancer were accrued from 1096 cases with female gastric cancer. Metachronous surgery was performed on 36 patients and 32 received synchronous surgery. There were 14 patients treated with surgery alone and 54 with combined modality therapy. After the median follow-up time of 9.1 months, the median survival time (MST) of 12.4 months was observed for all patients. Patients treated with synchronous surgery tended to have an inferior survival compared with those treated with metachronous surgery (MST: 10.9 vs 14.3 months; P= 0.100). Combined modality showed a significantly better MST compared with surgery alone (13.6 vs 7.9 months; P= 0.004). Chemotherapy cycles (more than four or less than or equal to four) were found to have an impact on survival (MST: 14.3 vs 9.4 months; P= 0.031). Peritoneal metastases, lymphovascular involvement, and unilateral ovarian metastasectomy were independent unfavorable prognostic factors. Combined modality therapy as primary therapy resulted in good outcome, and more aggressive chemotherapy (more than four cycles) was accompanied by an improvement in survival. Innovative systemic treatments need to be explored in treatment of peritoneal metastases and lymphovascular involvement. Bilateral oophorectomy was considered when ovarian metastases were histologically diagnosed.
An Investigation of Controlled Oscillations in a Plasma Torch for Combustion Enhancement

An oscillating plasma torch was investigated as a device to produce an oscillating shock and resulting dynamic input to the supersonic combustion process. Several experiments were performed and the results were analyzed. The aim of the research was to thoroughly investigate the oscillation behavior of the plasma torch with the plan of controlling the oscillation at chosen frequencies. A modulating power system for dynamic control of the plasma torch oscillation was designed and tested in quiescent conditions (no flow), Mach 2.4 cold supersonic flow, and Mach 2 heated supersonic flow conditions. The oscillating plasma torch used nitrogen feedstock and was operated over a frequency range of 2Hz-4kHz. A dynamic torch model using the hybrid Mayr-Cassie electric arc model was developed to predict the plasma torch electric arc response at appropriate frequencies for interaction with supersonic combustion. In quiescent conditions, the dynamic response of the plasma torch power system and plasma jet were characterized using signal processing techniques and high speed video imaging. High speed Schlieren images were used to determine the behavior of the oscillating plasma jet in Mach 2.4 cross flow and its influence on the induced shock structure. The nitrogen-and air-fed torches were integrated with a flush-walled 4-hole aerodynamic ramp injector using hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels, and was tested at the University of Virginia Aerospace Research Lab (ARL) in heated Mach 2 supersonic flow. Unsteady pressure variations from the oscillating shock produced by the plasma torch were recorded and measurements of the static pressure of the combustion produced by the steady and oscillating plasma torch were obtained. The oscillating torch system performed well over a range of different flow conditions. It will enable active control input to the combustion process. The controllable unsteady blockage can provide a type of shock interaction that has been shown to increase turbulence and mixing augmentation.
FERMI-LAT SEARCH FOR PULSAR WIND NEBULAE AROUND GAMMA-RAY PULSARS

The high sensitivity of the Fermi-LAT (Large Area Telescope) offers the first opportunity to study faint and extended GeV sources such as pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). After one year of observation the LAT detected and identified three PWNe: the Crab Nebula, Vela-X, and the PWN inside MSH 15–52. In the meantime, the list of LAT detected pulsars increased steadily. These pulsars are characterized by high energy loss rates () from ∼3 × 1033 erg s−1 to 5 × 1038 erg s−1 and are therefore likely to power a PWN. This paper summarizes the search for PWNe in the off-pulse windows of 54 LAT-detected pulsars using 16 months of survey observations. Ten sources show significant emission, seven of these likely being of magnetospheric origin. The detection of significant emission in the off-pulse interval offers new constraints on the γ-ray emitting regions in pulsar magnetospheres. The three other sources with significant emission are the Crab Nebula, Vela-X, and a new PWN candidate associated with the LAT pulsar PSR J1023−5746, coincident with the TeV source HESS J1023−575. We further explore the association between the HESS and the Fermi source by modeling its spectral energy distribution. Flux upper limits derived for the 44 remaining sources are used to provide new constraints on famous PWNe that have been detected at keV and/or TeV energies.
Subtle hyperproinsulinaemia characterises the defective insulin secretory capacity in offspring of glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody-positive patients with latent autoimmune diabetes mellitus in adults.

OBJECTIVE We set out to assess whether hyperproinsulinaemia is an early finding in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We measured plasma proinsulin and C-peptide responses during a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and in the hyperglycaemic clamp in 21 normoglycaemic offspring of LADA patients testing positive for glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GADA) or islet cell antibodies (ICA), and in 17 healthy control subjects without a family history of diabetes. RESULTS The study groups had comparable areas under the curves of blood glucose, plasma proinsulin, C-peptide and proinsulin/C-peptide in the OGTT. However, the offspring of LADA patients had higher proinsulin/C-peptide in the hyperglycaemic clamp (P < 0.01 versus the control group). The offspring of GADA-positive LADA patients (n = 9) had higher proinsulin and proinsulin/C-peptide than did the control group in the OGTT (P < 0.05 for both comparisons) and in the hyperglycaemic clamp (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05 respectively). They also had higher proinsulin than the offspring of ICA-positive LADA patients (n = 12) (P < 0.001) in the hyperglycaemic clamp. The offspring of ICA-positive LADA patients did not clearly show hyperproinsulinaemia during the tests, but they had lower maximal glucose-stimulated insulin secretory capacity than the control group (P < 0.05) and the offspring of GADA-positive LADA patients (P < 0.05) in the hyperglycaemic clamp. CONCLUSIONS These results suggested that insulin secretion in the offspring of GADA-positive LADA patients is characterised by subtle defects in the processing of insulin precursors. Furthermore, various proinsulin responses among the offspring of LADA patients with different autoimmune markers provided further evidence that LADA is a heterogeneous disorder.
Tribological Degradation of Head–Disk Interface in Hard Disk Drives Under Accelerated Wear Condition

To further increase the areal storage density of hard disk drive, one solution is to reduce the spacing between the magnetic head and disk to sub-1-nm regime. Such ultra-low spacing introduces great challenges to tribological reliability in the head-disk interface (HDI). Therefore, it is necessary to understand the characteristics and mechanisms of HDI degradation in the tribological condition. This paper investigates the degradation behaviors of HDI based on an accelerated wear experiment. Acoustic emission and thermal asperity sensors were used simultaneously to monitor the touch down dynamics before and after each cycle of the overdrive test to characterize the HDI degradation behaviors. Through analyzing the evolutions of HDI dynamic characteristics, the degradation mechanisms, including wear mechanism shift and HDI instability propagation were figured out.