Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of epidural ropivacaine infusion alone and in combination with 1, 2, and 4 microg/mL fentanyl for seventy-two hours of postoperative analgesia after major abdominal surgery.

UNLABELLED Our aim in this prospective, randomized, double-blinded study was to compare the analgesic effectiveness and side effects of epidural infusions with ropivacaine 2 mg/mL alone (Group R; n = 60) and in combination with fentanyl 1 microg/mL (R1F; n = 59), 2 microg/mL (R2F; n = 62), and 4 microg/mL (R4F; n = 63) for up to 72 h after major abdominal surgery. Effective epidural neural blockade was established before surgery; postoperatively, the infusion rate was titrated to a maximum of 14 mL/h for analgesia. No additional analgesics other than acetaminophen were permitted during the infusion. The median of individual visual analog scale score with coughing were <20 mm for all groups (0 = no pain, 100 = worst pain) and was significantly lower (P < 0.01) for Group R4F at rest and with coughing (compared with Group R). Infusions were discontinued due to inability to control pain in significantly fewer patients in Group R4F (16%) than the other groups (34% to 39%; P < 0.01). For all groups, >90% of patients had no detectable motor block after 24 h. Hypotension, nausea, and pruritus were more common with the larger dose of fentanyl. We conclude that, after major abdominal surgery, an epidural infusion of ropivacaine 2 mg/mL with fentanyl 4 microg/mL provided significantly more effective pain relief over a 3-day period than ropivacaine alone or ropivacaine with lower concentrations of fentanyl. IMPLICATIONS Postoperative epidural analgesic infusions are widely used, but there is little information regarding optimal strengths of opioid with local anesthetic. In this blinded, prospective study, we compared four different epidural infusion solutions for efficacy and side effects over a clinically useful postoperative period and conclude that an epidural infusion of ropivacaine 2 mg/mL with fentanyl 4 microg/mL was most effective.
Do stimuli or tasks determine lateralized auditory cortex responses ? An MEG study

We studied hemispheric differences of the evoked magnetic fields induced by frequency modulated tones (FMs) and pure sinusoidal tones, by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG). Seven subjects were exposed to three conditions: 1) passive listening to sinusoidal 1 kHz tones (sine-exposure condition), 2) passive listening to linear FMs (FM-exposure condition), and 3) directional categorization (up versus down) of FMs (FMtask condition). The underlying question was whether different stimuli determine the hemispheric activation of auditory cortex, or rather the task performed by the subjects. With binaural presentation we observed an N100m-latency difference between hemispheres for FMs and a smaller difference for sinusoidal tones. The righthemispheric response to FMs was faster than the left one, both during task end exposure. We also observed different frequency content of the raw (non-averaged) data recorded for the three different conditions. Specifically, the FM-task condition produced a distinct spectral content compared to the two exposure conditions with tones and FMs, which induced a similar spectral pattern. Keywords—Directional categorization task, evoked magnetic fields, frequency modulated tones, magnetoencephalography
On validation of FCCFs for lightning striking tall objects considering propagation effect of finitely conducting earth

In this paper we have studied the accuracy of field-to-current conversion factors (FCCFs) presented by Baba and Rakov for currents inferred from electromagnetic field produced by lightning strike to tall objects, considering the perfectly and finitely conducting ground, respectively. For the perfectly conducting ground, the different FCCFs for the peak currents have different accuracy ranging from about underestimation of 18% to overestimation of 10% for the reflection coefficients at the two ends of object ρt=-0.5 and πb=1.0, and from about underestimation of 25% to overestimation of 10% for πt=-0.5 and πb=0.7, and their accuracy decreases with the increase of current risetime RT. For the finite conductivity with 0.01 S/m and 0.001 S/m, FCCFs will cause many errors if we do not take into account the propagation effect along the finitely conducting ground, and their errors obviously increase with the decrease of the conductivity. For example, for πt=-0.5 and πb=1.0, the errors are about 20% when the conductivity is 0.01 S/m while the errors are about 55% when the conductivity is 0.001 S/m for lightning strike to the 168-m-high object. Therefore, we revised FCCFs by considering the propagation effect of finite conductivity on the electromagnetic field radiated by lightning strike to tall objects, and found that our revised FCCFs have much better accuracy for the lossy ground than that presented by Baba and Rakov.
Acute postpartum uterine inversion with haemorrhagic shock: laparoscopic reduction: a new method of management?

Sir, I read with interest the case report by Vijayaraghavan and Sujatha,1 and the accompanying commentary by Chien,2 and have the following comments to make. First, it should be emphasised that acute postpartum uterine inversion is a life-threatening emergency. I have personally been involved with a case of maternal death because of haemorrhagic shock following a uterine inversion. In the case report by Vijayaraghavan and Sujatha, the inversion resulted in massive vaginal bleeding and signs of shock. I believe there is no place for attempted laparoscopic reduction in that situation. If reduction of the inverted uterus fails with the vaginal approach, and an abdominal approach is necessary, a laparotomy rather than laparoscopy should be attempted. Laparotomy would allow
Direct intrawound administration of dimethylsulphoxide relieves acute pain in rats

Wounds associated with injuries such as burns can produce moderate to severe pain. Besides causing distress to the patient, unrelieved pain could delay healing owing to stress‐related problems. Thus, pain needs to be treated as early as possible after injury. It was hypothesised that local treatment of wounds with appropriate analgesic drugs could attenuate pain. HOE 140, a bradykinin receptor antagonist, reduced acute inflammatory pain in rats after intrawound administration. In this study, the analgesic effect of dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) was investigated in a similar hind‐paw incision model in rats. An extremely small quantity (10 µl) of 100% DMSO was administered into the incision site just before closure of the wound. It persistently attenuated guarding behaviour in rats over a period of 3 days without affecting thermal hyperalgesia or allodynia. Accumulated evidence indicates that guarding is equivalent to pain at rest in humans. The possible mechanisms of the analgesic effect could be inhibition of C group of peripheral nerve fibres or even free radical scavenging. Healing of the wound was found to be normal at the end of the study period. In conclusion, DMSO could be useful in the treatment of acute pain resulting from tissue injuries such as burns.
A Novel, Extraneuronal Role for Cyclin-dependent Protein Kinase 5 (CDK5)

A number of cyclin-dependent protein kinase (CDK) inhibitors were tested for the ability to protect IPC-81 rat leukemic cells against cAMP-induced apoptosis. A near perfect proportionality was observed between inhibitor potency to protect against cAMP-induced apoptosis and to antagonize CDK5, and to a lesser extent, CDK2 and CDK1. Enforced expression of dominant negative CDK5 (but not CDK1-dn or CDK2-dn) protected against death, indicating that CDK5 activity was necessary for cAMP-induced apoptosis. The CDK inhibitors failed to protect the cells against daunorubicine-, staurosporine-, or okadaic acid-induced apoptosis. The inhibition of CDK5 prevented the cleavage of pro-caspase-3 in cAMP-treated cells. The cells could be saved closer to the moment of their onset of death by inhibitors of caspases than by inhibitors of CDK5. This suggested that the action of CDK5 was upstream of caspase activation. The cAMP treatment resulted in a moderate increase of the level of CDK5 mRNA and protein in IPC-81 wild-type cells. Such cAMP induction of CDK5 was not observed in cells expressing the inducible cAMP early repressor. The cAMP-induced increase of CDK5 contributed to apoptosis since cells overexpressing CDK5-wt were more sensitive for cAMP-induced death. These results demonstrate the first example of a proapoptotic CDK action upstream of caspase activation and of an extra-neuronal effect of CDK5.
Epidemiology of Whipple's disease in Germany. Analysis of 110 patients diagnosed in 1965-95.

BACKGROUND The epidemiology of Whipple's disease (WD) is obscure. To obtain basic data, we performed an evaluation of WD patients in Germany. METHODS Information was collected from 110 WD patients diagnosed during 1965-95 at 5 institutions in different regions of Germany. Four items were evaluated: 1) year in which the diagnosis was made; 2) residence and 3) age at the time of diagnosis; and 4) sex. RESULTS WD patients originated from all parts of Germany. The incidence of new cases was relatively stable, with a mean of one to two cases per year per collecting centre. In 1995, a maximum of 13 new WD patients was diagnosed. There was a significant increase in the mean age of patients (1965-75, 48.7 years; confidence interval, +/- 3.98 years; 1976-85, 50.7 years, +/- 3.69 years; 1986-95, 57.0 years, +/- 2.80 years; P < 0.01) and an increasing proportion of women (1965-85, 4%; 1986-1995, 22%). CONCLUSIONS Whipple's disease is not quite as rare as commonly assumed. There is no obvious geographic predominance. During the past three decades, the demography of WD patients has changed.
Active momentum trading versus passive ‘ naive diversification’

Asset managers in the stock market either opt for active or passive portfolio strategies. One important strategy involving active trading is the return-based momentum strategy that buys recent winner stocks and sells short loser stocks (Jegadeesh and Titman 1993, 2001). The extensive evidence of the profitability of momentum trading has undoubtedly underpinned the interest of investment practitioners. Many studies demonstrate the statistically significant model alpha of the momentum profit using either the CAPM or multi-factor models (see, for example, Fama and French (1993), Avramov and Chordia (2006), Sagi and Seasholes (2007) and Liu and Zhang (2008)). Korajczyk and Sadka (2004) further show that after controlling for transaction costs the momentum strategies remain profitable.
Solvent extraction and separation of lanthanoids with mixtures of chelating extractant and 4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcin

The solvent extraction of trivalent lanthanoids (La, Nd, Eu, Ho, and Lu) with mixtures of the chelating extractant 1-(2-thienyl)-4,4,4-trifluoro-1,3-butanedione (thenoyltrifluoro-acetone, HTTA) or 4-benzoyl-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-5-on (HP) and 4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcin (PAR, S) in CHCl3 was studied. It was found that in the presence of 4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcin the lanthanoids were extracted as Ln(TTA)3 ⋅ S and LnP3 ⋅ S. On the basis of the experimental data, the values of the equilibrium constants were calculated. A synergistic effect was observed for the extraction of the above-mentioned ions with the binary mixture of extractants. The separation of the lanthanoids with synergistic mixtures was higher than those obtained with HTTA or HP alone. In most cases an enhancement of the separation of metal ions was observed upon the change of the chelating extractant HP with HTTA.
Acid secretion in relation to recurrence of duodenal ulcer after vagotomy and drainage

The acid secretory responses of patients with recurrent ulcer after vagotomy and drainage have been compared retrospectively with those of patients with a positive insulin test but no recurrent ulcer and with those of patients with a negative insulin test. Patients with recurrent ulcer were on average 10 years younger than patients with an incomplete vagotomy but no recurrence, although their preand postoperative acid secretory responses were similar.
Joint Slepian-Wolf/Dirty-paper coding

We consider a joint Slepian-Wolf/Dirty-paper coding (SW-DPC) setup where a binary source needs to be transmitted over an additive white-Gaussian channel in the presence of interference known only at the encoder, as well as correlated side-information available only at the decoder. We propose a practical joint SW-DPC framework that uses a single low-density parity-check code coupled with trellis coded quantization to simultaneously provide error protection (in the face of noise and interference) and compression (in the face of correlated side-information available at the decoder). Simulation results indicate that the proposed joint SW-DPC scheme with finite-length codes outperforms a scheme with separate SW and DPC by 0.3 dB. In addition, we show that our joint SW-DPC code designed for one set of channel conditions is capable of achieving negligible bit-error rates for many other channel conditions as well. More specifically, it achieves successful decoding for a wide variety of channel conditions for which a separation-based scheme fails.
ABO blood groups, Rhesus factor, and anaphylactic reactions due to Hymenoptera stings.

INTRODUCTION Numerous publications indicate that the prevalence of some infectious, neoplastic and immunological diseases are associated with ABO blood groups. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to verify whether ABO and Rh blood groups are associated with severe anaphylactic reactions after Hymenoptera stings. MATERIAL AND METHODS A study was undertaken of 71,441 Caucasian subjects living in the same geographic area. The study group included 353 patients with diagnosed systemic anaphylaxis to Hymenoptera venom. Control group included 71,088 healthy blood donors. Frequencies of ABO and Rhesus groups in the study and control groups were compared using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS No statistically significant interactions were observed between the ABO blood group and anaphylactic reactions to Hymenoptera.
Sympathetic neuron survival and TrkA expression in NT 3-deficient mouse embryos trophins for survival at an earlier stage in their

trophins for survival at an earlier stage in their Sean Wyatt, Luzia G.P.Piñón, Patrik Ernfors1 development. and Alun M.Davies The sensory neurons of the trigeminal ganglion are School of Biological and Medical Sciences, Bute Medical Buildings, supported by either brain-derived neurotrophic factor University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AJ, UK and (BDNF) or neurotrophin-3 (NT3), but not NGF, in cultures 1Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Medical Biochemistry set up at the stage when the earliest axons are growing to and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, BZ laboratory, their peripheral targets, whereas later in development the S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden neurons lose BDNF/NT3 responsiveness and become dependent on NGF for survival (Buchman and Davies, Several in vitro and in vivo studies have led to the widely 1993; Paul and Davies, 1995). Accordingly, the number accepted view that NT3 is required for sympathetic of neurons undergoing apoptosis in the trigeminal ganglion neuroblast survival, induction of TrkA expression and is markedly increased in embryos with null mutations in the acquisition of NGF dependence. However, we show the BDNF receptor tyrosine kinase (trkB) and NT3 genes that the number of neurons and the levels of trkA during the early stage of development when the neurons and p75 mRNAs in the superior cervical sympathetic are supported by BDNF and NT3 in vitro, whereas ganglion (SCG) of NT3–/– mouse embryos increase neuronal apoptosis is markedly elevated in trkA–/– embryos normally up to E16, 2 days after SCG neurons start later in development when neurons are supported by NGF responding to NGF. At E18 and in the postnatal period, in vitro (Piñón et al., 1996; Wilkinson et al., 1996). there are significant reductions in the number of SCG During the early stages of their formation, paravertebral neurons and in the levels of trkA and p75 mRNAs. sympathetic ganglia contain many dividing cells that These results show that the neurotrophin survival exhibit a variety of neuronal characteristics (Cohen, 1974; requirements of SCG neurons do not switch from NT3 Rothman et al., 1978, 1980; Anderson and Axel, 1986; to NGF during development and that NT3 is not Rohrer and Thoenen, 1987; DiCicco-Bloom and Black, required for the expression of TrkA and p75 and 1988; DiCicco-Bloom et al., 1990). Although many of the acquisition of NGF dependence. Rather, some these proliferating immature neurons or neuroblasts sympathetic neurons have a late requirement for NT3 initially survive without added neurotrophins in culture at the time when they also depend on NGF for survival. (Ernsberger et al., 1989; Wyatt and Davies, 1995), a The expression of transcripts encoding catalytic TrkC number of in vitro studies have shown that NT3, but not is negligible at this stage, suggesting that NT3 acts NGF, is capable of enhancing their survival (Birren et al., mainly via TrkA. 1993; Dechant et al., 1993; DiCicco-Bloom et al., 1993).
Ocean surface response to hurricanes observed by SAR

In this study, we analyze 83 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images including 73 from RADARSAT-1 and 10 from ENVISAT that contain tropical cyclone eye information. We also obtain ancillary tropical cyclone intensity information from NOAA National Hurricane Center and Japan Meteorological Agency. Based on this information, we generate tropical cyclone morphology statistics. We found that majority of the hurricanes are in wavenumber 1 and 2 category. Marine atmospheric boundary layer rolls can also be extracted from SAR image.
Rewards, Costs, and Coping of African American Caregivers

African American female caregivers who provided care to an elderly demented or confused relative (n = 83) were interviewed to explore the relationships between the caregiver's confrontive, emotive, and palliative coping and household income, relationship to the elder, perceived caregiving demands, quality of social support, rewards, costs, and care recipient's geographic area of residence. These seven variables accounted for significant variance in emotive coping, though not in confrontive and palliative coping. The caregiver's primary appraisal of perceived costs was key in the explanation of emotive coping; perceived rewards were important in accounting for palliative coping, and social support quality was salient in the explanation of confrontive coping. Perceived caregiving demands, caregiver household income, caregiver-care recipient relationship, and care recipient geographic area of residence were not significantly related to the three types of coping.
Simple and validated UHPLC method coupled to UV detection for determination of daptomycin in human plasma and urine.

Daptomycin, a lipopeptide antibiotic with excellent activity against Gram-positive bacteria, is excreted primarily by the kidneys. Development of effective chromatographic methodologies for the determination of daptomycin in human specimens is necessary for clinical use. This study developed a simple and validated ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography method coupled to ultraviolet detection for determination of daptomycin in human plasma and urine. After the pretreatments involving protein precipitation, the supernatants were separated using a 2.3 µm particle size octadecylsilyl column, and the run time was 1 min. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration ranges of 2-200 mg/L for plasma and 25-300 mg/L for urine. Intra- and inter-assay precision and accuracy values of plasma were within 13.5 and 92-100% and within 10.7 and 100-107%, respectively. Those of urine were within 5.0 and 101-104% and within 3.7 and 100-101%, respectively. The validated method was applied to the determination of plasma and urine samples in patients receiving 4-6 mg/kg of intravenous daptomycin, resulting in sufficient sensitivity for evaluating the plasma exposure and urinary excretion. In conclusion, the present method with acceptable analytical performance can be helpful for evaluating the pharmacokinetic disposition of daptomycin in clinical settings.
Factors Associated with Geriatric Syndromes in Older Homeless Adults

Although older homeless adults have high rates of geriatric syndromes, risk factors for these syndromes are not known. We used multivariable regression models to estimate the association of subject characteristics with the total number of geriatric syndromes in 250 homeless adults aged 50 years and older. Geriatric syndromes included falls, cognitive impairment, frailty, major depression, sensory impairment, and urinary incontinence. A higher total number of geriatric syndromes was associated with having less than a high school education, medical comorbidities (diabetes and arthritis), alcohol and drug use problems, and difficulty performing one or more activities of daily living. Clinicians who care for older homeless patients with these characteristics should consider screening them for geriatric syndromes. Moreover, this study identifies potentially modifiable risk factors associated with the total number of geriatric syndromes in older homeless adults. This knowledge may provide targets for clinical interventions to improve the health of older homeless patients.
Persistent distention of colon damages interstitial cells of Cajal through Ca2+‐ERK‐AP‐1‐miR‐34c‐SCF deregulation

Gastrointestinal motility disorders (GMDs) are attributed to loss of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), whose survival and function are deeply dependent on the activation of KIT/SCF signalling. Based on the facts that gastrointestinal distention is common in GMD patients and SCF produced by smooth muscle cells (SMCs) is usually decreased before ICC loss, we considered a possible contribution of persistent gastrointestinal distention/stretch to SCF deficiency. In this study, chronic colonic distention mouse model, diabetic gastrointestinal paresis mouse model, cultured mouse colonic SMCs and colon specimens from Hirschsprung's disease patients were used. The results showed that SCF was clearly decreased in distent colon of mice and patients, and microRNA array and real‐time PCR indicated a concomitant increase of miR‐34c in distent colon. A negative regulation of miR‐34c on SCF expression was confirmed by luciferase reporter assays together with knock‐down and overexpression of miR‐34c in cultured colonic SMCs. Using EMSA and ChIP assays, we further consolidated that in response to persistent stretch, the transcription factor AP‐1/c‐Jun was highly activated in colonic SMCs and significantly promoted miR‐34c transcription by binding to miR‐34c promoter. Knock‐down or overexpression of AP‐1/c‐Jun in cultured colonic SMCs leads to down‐ or up‐regulation of miR‐34c, respectively. In addition, the activation of AP‐1/c‐Jun was through ERK1/2 signalling provoked by Ca2+ overload in colonic SMCs that were subject to persistent stretch. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that persistent distention/stretch on colonic SMCs could suppress SCF production probably through Ca2+‐ERK‐AP‐1‐miR‐34c deregulation, resulting in ICC loss or impairment and GMD progress.