Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prophylactic corticosteroids for cardiopulmonary bypass in adults.

BACKGROUND High-dose prophylactic corticosteroids are often administered during cardiac surgery. Their use, however, remains controversial, as no trials are available that have been sufficiently powered to draw conclusions on their effect on major clinical outcomes. OBJECTIVES The objective of this meta-analysis was to estimate the effect of prophylactic corticosteroids in cardiac surgery on mortality, cardiac and pulmonary complications. SEARCH STRATEGY Major medical databases (CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Web of Science) were systematically searched for randomised studies assessing the effect of corticosteroids in adult cardiac surgery. Database were searched for the full period covered, up to December 2009. No language restrictions were applied. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised controlled trials comparing corticosteroid treatment to either placebo treatment or no treatment in adult cardiac surgery were selected. There were no restrictions with respect to length of the follow-up period. All selected studies qualified for pooling of results for one or more end-points. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The processes of searching and selection for inclusion eligibility were performed independently by two authors. Also, quality assessment and data-extraction of selected studies were independently performed by two authors. The primary endpoints were mortality, cardiac and pulmonary complications. The main effect measure was the Peto odds ratio comparing corticosteroids to no treatment/placebo. MAIN RESULTS Fifty-four randomised studies, mostly of limited quality, were included. Altogether, 3615 patients were included in these studies. The pooled odds ratio for mortality was 1.12 (95% CI 0.65 to 1.92), showing no mortality reduction in patients treated with corticosteroids. The odds ratios for myocardial and pulmonary complications were 0.95, (95% CI 0.57 to 1.60) and 0.83 (95% CI 0.49 to 1.40), respectively. The use of a random effects model did not substantially influence study results. Analyses of secondary endpoints showed a reduction of atrial fibrillation and an increase in gastrointestinal bleeding in the corticosteroids group. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis showed no beneficial effect of corticosteroid use on mortality, cardiac and pulmonary complications in cardiac surgery patients.
Religion and self-management of Thai Buddhist and Muslim women with type 2 diabetes.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To report of a qualitative study of how religion affects the self-management of Thai Buddhist and Muslim women with type 2 diabetes. BACKGROUND The importance of diabetes self-management is well recognised. However, research on such self-management in Thailand is scarce, in particular on the influence of religion on the self-management of Thai Buddhist and Muslim women with type 2 diabetes. DESIGN A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. METHODS Purposive convenience sampling was used, and 48 women, 19 Buddhist and 29 Muslim, aged from 28-80 years, participated. Data were collected in 2008-09 and analysed by use of manifest and latent content analysis. RESULTS Four themes of the influence of religion on the self-management among Thai women with type 2 diabetes emerged: religion - a way of coping with diabetes, spiritual practice - a help for disease control, spiritual practice - an effort to struggle with everyday life, and support from family - a cultural practice. CONCLUSIONS The Buddhist and Muslim women had self-management capabilities that were often related to their religions. However, many of them had poor control of their blood sugar levels and needed assistance. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Reference to religion and spiritual practice can be an effective means of helping diabetes patients better manage their disease and change their lifestyles. Furthermore, family and economic and social environments should be taken into account both in care and in interventions aimed at helping patients cope and empowering them to control their disease.
The Generation of Spatial Population Distributions from Census Centroid Data

Census data are commonly used in geographical analysis and to inform planning purposes, though at the disaggregate level the basis of enumeration poses difficulties. In this paper an approach to surface generation is described that offers the prospect of revealing an underlying population distribution from centroid-based data which is independent of zonal geography. It is suggested that this can serve a wide variety of analytical, cartographic, and policy purposes, including the creation of spatial indicators of economic and social conditions and enhancing the value of census data. The approach is illustrated by reference to an analysis of part of the valleys of South Wales, in the United Kingdom.
Effect of cobalt on synthesis and activation of Bacillus licheniformis alkaline phosphatase

The effect of CO2+ on the synthesis and activation of Bacillus licheniformis MC14 alkaline phosphatase has been shown by the development of a defined minimal salts medium in which this organism produces 35 times more (assayable) alkaline phosphatase than when grown in a low-phosphate complex medium or in the defined medium without cobalt. Stimulation of enzyme activity with cobalt is dependent on a low phosphate concentration in the medium (below 0.075 mM) and continued protein synthesis. Cobalt stimulation resulted in alkaline phosphate production being a major portion of total protein synthesized during late-logarithmic and early-stationary-phase culture growth. Cells cultured in the defined medium minus cobalt, or purified enzyme partially inactivated with a chelating agent, showed a 2.5-fold increase in activity when assayed in the presence of cobalt. Atomic spectral analysis indicated the presence of 3.65 +/- 0.45 g-atoms of cobalt associated with each mole of purified active alkaline phosphatase. A biochemical localization as a function of culture age in this medium showed that alkaline phosphatase was associated with the cytoplasmic membrane and was also found as a soluble enzyme in the periplasmic region and secreted into the growth medium.
Distribution of CCR-5 delta32 allele in Argentinian children at risk of HIV-1 infection: its role in vertical transmission.

The CC-chemokine receptor (CCR)-5 is thought to be the main co-receptor used by macrophage-tropic HIV-1 strains for cell entry. The presence of a 32 base-pair deletion in both CCR-5 alleles (CCR-5 32/CCR-5 32) in exposed uninfected individuals confers resistance against macrophage-tropic isolates usually involved in HIV-1 transmission although recent findings suggest that such homozygosity fails to confer total resistance against HIV-1 infection. 64 blood donors and 328 children born to HIV-1-infected mothers attending the Hospital de Pediatria "J.P. Garrahan" in Buenos Aires between July 1994 and March 1997 participated in a study conducted to determine the frequency and role of CCR-5 32 allele in the perinatal transmission of HIV-1 in Argentina. 138 of the children were infected with HIV-1 while 190 were uninfected. The presence of the 32 allele was determined through polymerase chain reaction amplification of CCR-5 sequences. 3 (4.7%) of the 64 blood donors were heterozygous CCR-5/CCR-5 32 while the remaining subjects were homozygous for the wild-type allele. The allele frequencies were 0.976 and 0.024 for the wild-type and mutant alleles respectively. 21 children were heterozygous and 1 was homozygous for CCR-5 32 for a CCR-5 32 allelic frequency of 0.035. No difference in CCR-5 genotype distribution was found between blood donors and children at risk. 8 of the HIV-1-infected and 13 of the uninfected children were heterozygous while 1 uninfected child was homozygous for the CCR-5 32 allele. The genotype distribution did not differ significantly between HIV-1-infected and uninfected populations and were in equilibrium according to the Hardy-Weinberg equation.
Prevalence and Psychosocial Factors of Aggression Among Youth

Background: Youth indulgence themselves in various aggressive behaviors leading to significant psychosocial dysfunctions. The present study assesses the prevalence of aggression among youth and to assess the risk factors of aggression among youth. Materials and Methods: Anger Data sheet, Resilience Scale and Buss-Perry Aggression Scale, were administered on 5476 participants using survey design. Data was collected from different communities (college, residential, apartments and workplace) of Bangalore, Jammu, Indore, Kerala, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Delhi. 47% were female and 53% were male. The mean age of the sample was 20.2 years. Comparative analysis was carried out by Pearson correlation coefficient and Chi-square was also carried out. Results: About 17.7% of the youth has high mean aggression score on Buss-Perry Aggression Scale. Males have high mean score on aggression than females. Males experienced more verbal aggression, physical aggression and anger than females. Younger age group (16-19 years) experienced more aggression than older age group (20-26 years). The risk factors of the youth aggressions were identified as physical abuse in childhood, substance abuse such as alcohol and tobacco, negative peer influence, family violence, academic disturbance, psychological problems attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, suspicious, loneliness, mood disturbance, negative childhood experience and TV and media. Conclusion: The study document, the presence of correlates of risk factors of aggression among youth and implies usages of management strategies to help them to handle aggression.
Phenotypic characterization of culturable marine luminous bacteria isolated from coastal waters of the southern Adriatic Sea (Otranto, Italy)

Con el fin de determinar la abundancia y composicion de especies de bacterias luminosas en aguas costeras del sur del mar Adriatico (Otranto, Italia), se recolectaron muestras en tres sitios con diferente grado de contaminacion antropogenica. Se aislaron 116 cepas de bacterias luminosas marinas y se sometieron a 36 pruebas bioquimicas para su caracterizacion fenotipica. El analisis numerico de los datos mostro cinco grupos con > 86% de similitud, los cuales fueron identificados como Photobacterium leiognathi, Vibrio fischeri, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio splendidus biovar I y Shewanella hanedai. La abundancia relativa de cada especie muestra que las bacterias luminosas cultivables en las aguas analizadas consisten principalmente de V. harveyi (69.0%), V. fischeri (13.8%) y P. leiognathi (12.1%). Ademas, la actividad humana parece afectar la abundancia total de bacterias luminosas pero no la seleccion de especies individuales, ya que las frecuencias de las bacterias fueron similares en todos los sitios estudiados
HISTOPLASMOSIS IN THE AGED †

All geriatricians should familiarize themselves with a relatively new American disease that has received general recognition only in the past five years, namely, histoplasmosis. This disease was first described by Darling (1) in 1906, while working at the Ancon Hospital in Panama. He identified the specific causative organism, but mistook it for a protozoon, naming it Histoplasma capsulatum. Darling's 3 original patients died. In the early part of this century, the medical literature contained sporadic reports of fatal cases, emanating chiefly from the tropical Americas. The first case (fatal) of this disease to be reported (2) in the United States, occurred in Minnesota in 1926. De Monbreun (3) in 1932 proved the fungus origin of the disorder and demonstrated that the life cycle of the Histoplasma capsulatum could be completed only by passing the "mycelial-form" through intermediate animal hosts, such as the dog, horse or cow. His researches were presented before the American Society of Tropical Medicine at their meeting in Richmond, Virginia, in 1933. Up to 1951, only 138 authenticated cases had appeared in the world's medical literature (4). Eighty per cent of these originated within twenty-four states of this country. In 59 cases (43 per cent) the correct diagnosis had been made during life. Rapid strides have been made in the past five years in the United States in improving methods of correct diagnosis and earlier recognition of this disease. The reader is referred to earlier contributions by the author (5-10) for a detailed story of the history of histoplasmosis and its behavior in the human subject. In these papers evidence has been presented that histoplasmosis is probably the principal cause of juvenile mesenteric lymphadenitis (6), that it has a general incidence of from 8 to 12 per cent among the general population of Southern California (9), that about one third of the cases of both "nonspecific regional enteritis of the small intestine" and "chronic ulcerative colitis" exhibit specific histologic evidence of the presence of Histoplasma capsulatum in the surgically excised fresh tissues (8), and that this bizarre disease chiefly affects the young. In patients of the geriatric age level, the disease is usually observed in the form of late residual symptoms and extensive tissue damage following the acute stages of Histoplasma capsulatum infection in earlier life. We now believe that man receives his initial infection from inhaling (11, 12) contaminated dusts that contain the "mycelial-form" of this fungus, after it has passed through man's most common animal companions-the dog (13), cat, horse, cow, steer, or chicken (14). Their droppings contaminate the soil over
Somatization in Depression and Anxiety Disorders

Somatization in depression and anxiety disorders Somatization may be described as the tendency to express psychological dysphoria through bodily symptoms. Patients complain of physical signs which they attribute to a medical disease and seek medical help for, but the symptoms do not fullfill diagnostic criteria of an organic disorder. Although somatization is known to be associated with many psychiatric disorders, it mostly accompanies depression and anxiety disorders. Somatic symptoms are thought to be a manifestation of somatized dysphoria in depression and/or anxiety. Somatization, stil accepted to be an unsolved problem in the borderland of medicine and psychiatry, leads to an increase in psychological distress and disability of patients and worsens the prognosis of psychiatric disorders. On the other hand, somatization may mask real psychiatric symptomatology leading to a delay in true diagnosis and effective treatment. This review aims to evaluate the effects of somatization on the clinical picture, diagnosis, treatment and
Presence and Morphology of the Molar Tubercle According to Dentition, Hemi-Arch and Sex

El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la presencia y el grado de expresion del tuberculo molar de acuerdo con el sexo, denticion y hemiarcos. Fueron evaluados modelos de estudio de 126 pacientes que estaban bajo tratamiento ortodontico en la Universidad de Franca, UNIFRAN, de ambos los sexos, de 4 a 13 anos de edad. Los segundos molares superiores primarios y primeros molares superiores permanentes, de ambos los lados, fueron evaluados cuanto la presencia y el grado de expresion del tuberculo molar. Para estudio de asociacion, se utilizo el test de Qui-cuadrado. La concordancia de la presencia o ausencia del tuberculo molar segundo denticion, hemiarco y sexo fue estimada por la Estadistica Kappa. Se observo dimorfismo sexual cuanto la presencia/ausencia del tuberculo molar (p=0,009), todavia no hubo asociacion significativa entre el grado de expresion del tuberculo y el sexo (p=0,791). El tuberculo molar fue mas frecuentemente observado en el sexo masculino, en segundos molares primarios y en la forma de depresion. Se verifico concordancia significativa y "moderada" entre los lados derecho e izquierdo en la denticion primaria (k=0,596), "buena" en la denticion permanente (k=0,708) y concordancia "debil" y significativa entre la presencia del tuberculo molar y el tipo de denticion (k=0,207).
The Turbopause Experiment: Atmospheric stability and turbulent structure spanning the turbopause altitude

Abstract. Very few sequences of high resolution wind and temperature measurements in the lower thermosphere are available in the literature, which makes it difficult to verify the simulation results of models that would provide better understanding of the complex dynamics of the region. To address this problem the Turbopause experiment used four rockets launched over a period of approximately two hours from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska (64° N, 147° W) on the night of 17–18 February 2009. All four rocket payloads released trimethyl aluminum trails for neutral wind and turbulence measurements, and two of the rockets carried ionization gauges and fixed-bias Langmuir probes measuring neutral and electron densities, small-scale fluctuations and neutral temperatures. Two lidars monitored temperature structure and sodium densities. The observations were made under quiet geomagnetic conditions and show persistence in the wind magnitudes and shears throughout the observing period while being modulated by inertia-gravity waves. High resolution temperature profiles show the winter polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere in a state of relatively low stability with several quasi-adiabatic layers between 74 and 103 km. Temperature and wind data were combined to calculate Richardson number profiles. Evidence for turbulence comes from simultaneous observations of density fluctuations and downward transport of sodium in a mixed layer near 75 km; the observation of turbulent fluctuations and energy dissipation from 87–90 km; and fast and irregular trail expansion at 90–93 km, and especially between 95 to 103 km. The regions of turbulent trails agree well with regions of quasi-adiabatic temperature gradients. Above 103 km, trail diffusion was mainly laminar; however, unusual features and vortices in the trail diffusion were observed up to 118 km that have not been as prevalent or as clearly evident in earlier trail releases.
Molecular Differentiation of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar from Stool and Culture Samples Obtained from Polish Citizens Infected in Tropics and in Poland

Summary. The examinations were carried out on stool and serum samples obtained from 38 Polish citizens infected with E. histolytica sensu lato. Prevalence of infection (according microscopic examinations) was 0.63% in the Polish who come back from abroad and about 0,19 % in persons who did not leave our country. The investigations were performed with isoenzyme analysis and polymerase chain reacti on with the use of specific (Psp, NPsp) and (p11+p12, p13+p14) primers. Serodiagnostic examinations were done with antigen produced fro m E. histolytica HK-9 axenic strain. The examinations revealed that in 31 cases the amoebae belonged to nonpathogenic E. dispar, in 4 to pathogenic E. histolytica, among this one indigenous case; and in two cases were mixed infections. In one case we neither got DNA amplification products nor cultured amoebae. However, from 25 persons we obtained amoebae cultures helping in identification th e amoebae zymodemes. The prevailing zymodeme was nonpathogenic zymodeme I. The PCR results were in agreement with isoenzymatic and serodiagnostic examinations.
Structural basis for pregnenolone biosynthesis by the mitochondrial monooxygenase system

In humans, the precursor to all steroid hormones, pregnenolone, is synthesized from cholesterol by an enzyme complex comprising adrenodoxin reductase (AdR), adrenodoxin (Adx), and a cytochrome P450 (P450scc or CYP11A1). This complex not only plays a key role in steroidogenesis, but also has long been a model to study electron transfer, multistep catalysis, and C–C bond cleavage performed by monooxygenases. Detailed mechanistic understanding of these processes has been hindered by a lack of structural information. Here we present the crystal structure of the complex of human Adx and CYP11A1—the first of a complex between a eukaryotic CYP and its redox partner. The structures with substrate and a series of reaction intermediates allow us to define the mechanism underlying sequential hydroxylations of the cholesterol and suggest the mechanism of C–C bond cleavage. In the complex the [2Fe-2S] cluster of Adx is positioned 17.4 Å away from the heme iron of CYP11A1. This structure suggests that after an initial protein–protein association driven by electrostatic forces, the complex adopts an optimized geometry between the redox centers. Conservation of the interaction interface suggests that this mechanism is common for all mitochondrial P450s.
Fundamental studies on the electrical potential difference across blood vessel walls and applications of direct current coagulation.

In recent years, the improvement in surgical techniques have been greatly improved with the development of medical electronics. And yet, there remains many incidences in which the surgeon should use the classical techniques rather than the recently developed procedures. For example, when oozing or uncontrollable bleeding is encountered from injured organ in which ligation or suturing, application of pressure, or application of alternating electro-coagulation may be used, but no satisfactory result may be obtained with any of these m ethods. In this regard, the effect of the direct current on the living body has been studied by many investigators since the middle of the 18th century. Recently, the application of the direct current electro-coagulation has been applied clinically by some investigators. This electric hemostasis is merely a skillful application of the bio-electric phenomena to living body. In these e xperiments, the investigation was carried out on the bio-electric phenomena, especially on the potential difference of the blood vessel wall which previously had been studied in the various aspects by many investigators. However, different interfering factors obstruct the measuring of potential difference across the blood vessel wall under the normal condition. This paper describes the new apparatus for measuring of potential difference of the removed blood vessel wall using a special electrode whi:h is not affected by the phenomena of polarization. Intravascular thrombus formation due to direct current was observed by the microscope and microphotographs were taken. In animal experiments, stable injury on the organ (spleen), electro-coagulation was done under various ,conditions for oozing or uncontrollable bleeding and its effect on the injured portion was investigated. At the same time, blood pressure, platelets, and hematocrit (factors that are concerned in clotting mechanism) which is changed due to direct current, were measured, and t he results were discussed.