Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A multicenter study of major depressive disorder among emergency department patients in Latin‐American countries

This multicenter study estimated the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) among emergency department patients in Latin America. To identify patients with MDD, we used a combination of DSM IV‐ criteria interview and a questionnaire screen including the center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. We analyzed data from consecutive adult patients from hospitals in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico and described the demographic and health status differences between MDD and non‐MDD patients. Prevalence of MDD ranges from 23.0 to 35.0%. The estimates are based on a total of 1,835 patients aged 18 years and over, with response rates of 83.0%. Compared to non‐MDD patients, MDD patients were more likely to be middle‐aged, female, smokers, of lower socioeconomic status, and to report a diagnosis of asthma or arthritis/rheumatism. Multivariate analysis identified a lower level of education, smoking, and self‐reported anxiety, chronic fatigue, and back problems to be independently associated with MDD. Our data suggest that the prevalence of MDD is elevated among emergency department patients in Latin American countries. The integration of depression screening into routine emergency care merits serious consideration, especially if such screening can be linked to psychiatric treatment. Depression and Anxiety 25, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Motor learning affects visual movement perception

In the present study we investigated whether imitation of artificial movement trajectories of meaningless objects has an effect on how these trajectories are later perceptually processed within the human brain. During observation of a sequence of artificial object movements 10 participants (experimental group) actively imitated the trajectories during motor training and 10 participants (control group) solved a working memory task without motor training. The haemodynamic responses were recorded before and after the intervention while participants observed the movements and either had to detect colour changes of one of the objects (colour task, motor‐irrelevant) or had to judge whether the movement pattern could be imitated with the hands (simulation judgement task, motor‐relevant). The between‐group comparison of the post‐intervention haemodynamic responses revealed stronger activity for the motor training than for the control group during the simulation judgement task. This activity appeared in motor‐related areas (supplementary motor area and inferior parietal lobe) and in the occipito‐temporal area. During the colour task, the motor training group showed stronger activity in the occipital lobe. The control group did not reveal any stronger activity than the motor training group for either task. The results suggest that motor training has task‐specific effects on neural processes that are involved in perception of movements. Furthermore, they indicate that motor‐related areas are triggered by observed artificial object movements, but only if a motor‐relevant task is pursued.
Chlorobornanes in water, sediment and fish from toxaphene treated and untreated lakes in western Canada

Concentrations of toxaphene (CHB) and 2-exo,3-endo,5-exo,6-endo,8,9,10-heptachlorobornane (B7-1001; Hp-Sed), a major toxaphene component known to be present in the sediment of toxaphene treated lakes, were determined in water, sediment, and fish from 13 lakes to examine the relationship between chlorobornane levels in fish and environmental variables. The lakes were situated in either the boreal plain, montane, or subalpine ecozones in western Canada. Five of the lakes had been treated with toxaphene between 1958 and 1962. Mean concentration of CHB (all chlorobornane congeners) in fish from the lakes ranged from 1.9 to 303 μg/kg with the maximum concentration occurring in lake trout from Bow Lake, an oligotrophic glacial fed lake with no record of toxaphene usage. CHB and in particular B7-1001 levels, were higher in water, sediment, and fish from treated relative to matched untreated lakes selected as “control” sites. CHB concentra tions in sediment were not related to the levels measured in fish; however.
Medical Management of Diabetic Foot Infections

Abstract Diabetic foot infections (DFIs) are a commonly encountered medical problem. They are associated with an increased frequency and length of hospitalization and risk for lower–extremity amputation. Furthermore, they have substantial economic consequences. Patients with diabetes mellitus are particularly susceptible to foot infections because of neuropathy, vascular insufficiency, and diminished neutrophil function. The approach to managing DFIs starts with determining if an infection exists. If an infection exists, then the type, severity, extent of infection, and risk factors for resistant organisms should be determined through history, physical examination, and additional laboratory and radiological testing. Optimal management requires surgical debridement, pressure offloading, effective antibiotic therapy, wound care and moisture, maintaining good vascular supply, and correction of metabolic abnormalities, such as hyperglycemia, through a multidisciplinary team. Empiric antibiotics for DFIs vary based on the severity of the infection, but must include anti–staphylococcal coverage.
Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that is thought to play a role in the etiology and progression of prostate cancer. Hormone activity requires binding to the vitamin D receptor (VDR), which contains several genetic polymorphisms that have been associated with risk of prostate cancer. To further evaluate this relationship, we conducted a population‐based case‐control study of the VDR BsmI, FokI, and Poly‐A polymorphisms, and prostate cancer.
Nuclear Export of MicroRNA Precursors

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which function as regulators of gene expression in eukaryotes, are processed from larger transcripts by sequential action of nuclear and cytoplasmic ribonuclease III–like endonucleases. We show that Exportin-5 (Exp5) mediates efficient nuclear export of short miRNA precursors (pre-miRNAs) and that its depletion by RNA interference results in reduced miRNA levels. Exp5 binds correctly processed pre-miRNAs directly and specifically, in a Ran guanosine triphosphate–dependent manner, but interacts only weakly with extended pre-miRNAs that yield incorrect miRNAs when processed by Dicer in vitro. Thus, Exp5 is key to miRNA biogenesis and may help coordinate nuclear and cytoplasmic processing steps.
Deciphering Decision Making: Variation in Animal Models of Effort- and Uncertainty-Based Choice Reveals Distinct Neural Circuitries Underlying Core Cognitive Processes

Maladaptive decision-making is increasingly recognized to play a significant role in numerous psychiatric disorders, such that therapeutics capable of ameliorating core impairments in judgment may be beneficial in a range of patient populations. The field of “decision neuroscience” is therefore in its ascendancy, with researchers from diverse fields bringing their expertise to bear on this complex and fascinating problem. In addition to the advances in neuroimaging and computational neuroscience that contribute enormously to this area, an increase in the complexity and sophistication of behavioral paradigms designed for nonhuman laboratory animals has also had a significant impact on researchers' ability to test the causal nature of hypotheses pertaining to the neural circuitry underlying the choice process. Multiple such decision-making assays have been developed to investigate the neural and neurochemical bases of different types of cost/benefit decisions. However, what may seem like relatively trivial variation in behavioral methodologies can actually result in recruitment of distinct cognitive mechanisms, and alter the neurobiological processes that regulate choice. Here we focus on two areas of particular interest, namely, decisions that involve an assessment of uncertainty or effort, and compare some of the most prominent behavioral paradigms that have been used to investigate these processes in laboratory rodents. We illustrate how an appreciation of the diversity in the nature of these tasks can lead to important insights into the circumstances under which different neural regions make critical contributions to decision making.
Assessment of the sedative effect of medetomidine and determination of its optimal dose in thoroughbred horses.

The present study was carried out to assessing the sedative effect of medetomidine and determining its optimal dose in thoroughbred horses. Excessive ataxia after sedative treatment is dangerous for horses. Therefore three doses which may cause sufficient sedation with only mild ataxia were examined. Response to stimulation and the severity of ataxia suggested that 7.5 micrograms/kg BW, i.v. , is optimal.
Impression cytology in rigid gas permeable contact lenswearers

Background: Impression cytology is a technique used to evaluate alterations on conjunctival surface cells. However, the method is not popular among eye care practitioners and thus limited data is available in the literature. Aims and Objectives: This study evaluates changes in the tarsal conjuntival cells following continuous wear rigid gas permeable contact lens (CWRGP) using impression cytology technique. Methods: Twenty subjects aged between 19 to 23 years were fitted with CWRGP. Eleven (55%) of them succeeded in wearing the lens continuously till the third month. Thirty non-lens wearing subjects were recruited as controls. Impression cytology was performed at baseline and after 3 months of wearing CWRGP. The cytological changes were graded according to Saini Grading Scale. Results: All 11 RGP wearing subjects showed Saini Grade 1 staining at baseline. At 3 months, 10 (91%) of them showed features of grade 1 and 1 demonstrated of grade 2 features with inflammatory cells. Twenty-nine (29, 97%) of control subjects showed grade 1 at baseline and 3 months. No significant difference was found in the appearance of conjunctival cells between both groups at visit 1 and the 3 month visit (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.470). Conclusion: The wearing of CWRGP for 3 months did not cause notable changes in the tarsal conjunctiva. Impression cytology should be considered as a diagnostic tool to investigate alterations on ocular surface and to improve the management of contact lens patients
The Relationship Among Disclosure, Internalized Homophobia, Religiosity, and Psychological Well-Being in a Lesbian Population

THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG DISCLOSURE, INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA, RELIGIOSITY, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL­ BEING IN A LESBIAN POPULATION Sharon Lyn dayman Old Dominion University, 2004 Director: Dr. Robin Lewis This study investigated the relationship among disclosure, internalized homophobia, and religiosity in a lesbian population and how these three variables are related to psychological well-being in order to build upon the scant amount of empirical research on these variables in the lesbian psychological literature. A total of 679 women, 18 to 70 years old, and from all across the country were recruited via the internet to participate in a web-based survey. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Lesbian Internalized Homophobia Scale (Szymanski & Chung, 2001), the Outness Inventory (Mohr & Fassinger, 2000), the Behavioral Self-Disclosure Questionnaire (Carroll & Gilroy, 2000), the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (RyfE, 1989), the Age-Universal Intrinsic-Extrinsic (I-E) Scale, Amended (Maltby & Lewis, 1996), and the Quest Religious Orientation Scale, Amended (Maltby & Day, 1998). Results indicate that both higher verbal and behavioral disclosure correlate with psychological well-being and less internalized homophobia. Overall, no strong relationship was found between religiosity and disclosure or between religiosity and psychological well-being. Higher religiosity (intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious orientation) was, however, correlated with greater internalized homophobia. This study Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. also found that psychological well-being is related to less internalized homophobia. Low internalized homophobia, high intrinsic religiosity, and low extrinsic religiosity are associated with higher levels of psychological well-being. Future research should continue to investigate the use of the Behavioral Self-Disclosure Questionnaire, should further investigate the relationship between “religious” and “spiritual” identity, and should take a more specified approach to studying religion and its relationship with psychological well-being in a lesbian population so that specific religions and religious subgroups are examined. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Insulin Binding to Isolated Human Adipocytes

In order to study the binding of insulin to insulin-sensitive human tissue, we isolated adipocytes from surgically obtained human fat tissue. Our data demonstrate that insulin readily and specifically binds to isolated adipocytes. The time course of this reaction indicates that steady state binding conditions occur at forty-five minutes, with a subsequent decline in binding later. There is no appreciable insulin or receptor degradation before forty-five minutes, suggesting a true equilibrium. After forty-five minutes the decline in binding can be accounted for by insulin plus receptor degradation. At 3 × 10−11 M 125-I-insulin and 2 × 105 cells per milliliter, 1.8 to 2.4 per cent of the 125-I-insulin was bound. The specificity of this binding reaction is demonstrated by the high concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone and human growth hormone that are without effect on binding, while proinsulin and desalanine insulin inhibit binding in proportion to their biologic activity. On the other hand, binding can be readily inhibited by porcine insulin at physiologic concentrations, i.e. binding is 13 per cent inhibited at 1 ng. per milliliter and 50 per cent inhibited at 8.6 ng. per milliliter. The kinetic behavior of this reaction can be approximated by Scatchard analysis, which indicates 50,000 high affinity sites per cell with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 1.9 × 10−9 M per liter and 250,000 low affinity sites per cell with a Kd of 8 × 10−9 M per liter. In conclusion, these studies demonstrate and characterize the binding of insulin to normal isolated human adipocytes; they indicate that the study of insulin-adipocyte binding is a possible means to gain further insight into the mechanism of altered response to insulin in human disease states.
Randomized trial of cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy versus systemic chemotherapy and palliative surgery in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis of colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE To confirm the findings from uncontrolled studies that aggressive cytoreduction in combination with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is superior to standard treatment in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis of colorectal cancer origin. PATIENTS AND METHODS Between February 1998 and August 2001, 105 patients were randomly assigned to receive either standard treatment consisting of systemic chemotherapy (fluorouracil-leucovorin) with or without palliative surgery, or experimental therapy consisting of aggressive cytoreduction with HIPEC, followed by the same systemic chemotherapy regime. The primary end point was survival. RESULTS After a median follow-up period of 21.6 months, the median survival was 12.6 months in the standard therapy arm and 22.3 months in the experimental therapy arm (log-rank test, P =.032). The treatment-related mortality in the aggressive therapy group was 8%. Most complications from HIPEC were related to bowel leakage. Subgroup analysis of the HIPEC group showed that patients with 0 to 5 of the 7 regions of the abdominal cavity involved by tumor at the time of the cytoreduction had a significantly better survival than patients with 6 or 7 affected regions (log-rank test, P <.0001). If the cytoreduction was macroscopically complete (R-1), the median survival was also significantly better than in patients with limited (R-2a), or extensive residual disease (R-2b; log-rank test, P <.0001). CONCLUSION Cytoreduction followed by HIPEC improves survival in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis of colorectal origin. However, patients with involvement of six or more regions of the abdominal cavity, or grossly incomplete cytoreduction, had still a grave prognosis.
Transection of the spinal cord in developing Xenopus laevis.

The literature on regeneration in the central nervous system of vertebrates has been reviewed exhaustively by Windle (1955, 1956). Adult fish and urodeles reestablish physiological and anatomical continuity of the spinal cord after it has been completely transected while adult anurans (Piatt & Piatt, 1958) and mammals on the whole do not. In all groups of vertebrates regeneration is more successful in the period of early embryonic development, and becomes less so as development proceeds. Experiments designed to investigate the factors responsible for this change demand an animal in which the difference in the regenerative capacity of embryonic and adult form is marked, and all stages of development are easily accessible for operative procedures. These criteria are satisfied by Anura. For this reason regeneration in the anuran central nervous system merits further investigation. After spinal cord transection in urodele larvae, Piatt (1955) found that the Mauthner axons did not regenerate although other axons around them did.
The CPSF30 Binding Site on the NS1A Protein of Influenza A Virus Is a Potential Antiviral Target

ABSTRACT The emergence of influenza A viruses resistant to the two existing classes of antiviral drugs highlights the need for additional antiviral drugs, particularly considering the potential threat of a pandemic of H5N1 influenza A viruses. Here, we determine whether influenza A virus replication can be selectively inhibited by blocking the ability of its NS1A protein to inhibit the 3′-end processing of cellular pre-mRNAs, including beta interferon (IFN-β) pre-mRNA. Pre-mRNA processing is inhibited via the binding of the NS1A protein to the cellular CPSF30 protein, and mutational inactivation of this NS1A binding site causes severe attenuation of the virus. We demonstrate that binding of CPSF30 is mediated by two of its zinc fingers, F2F3, and that the CPSF30/F2F3 binding site on the NS1A protein extends from amino acid 144 to amino acid 186. We generated MDCK cells that constitutively express epitope-tagged F2F3 in the nucleus, although at only approximately one-eighth the level of the NS1A protein produced during virus infection. Influenza A virus replication was inhibited in this cell line, whereas no inhibition was observed with influenza B virus, whose NS1B protein lacks a binding site for CPSF30. Influenza A virus, but not influenza B virus, induced increased production of IFN-β mRNA in the F2F3-expressing cells. These results, which indicate that F2F3 inhibits influenza A virus replication by blocking the binding of endogenous CPSF30 to the NS1A protein, point to this NS1A binding site as a potential target for the development of antivirals directed against influenza A virus.
Changing Childhoods in the Cape Colony: Dutch Reformed Church Evangelicalism and Colonial Childhood, 1860–1895

Sarah Duff ’s monograph makes an important contribution to the historiography of children and childhood in South Africa. While historians have discussed the impact of colonialism on intergenerational relations, this book places the experiences of children at its centre, signalling a break from previous approaches to studies of childhood in this context. Focusing on the period 1860 to 1895, the book covers a remarkably understudied period in Cape history. Earlier critical studies of the Cape gentry, including work by Robert Ross and KirstenMcKenzie, began to tease out the origins of a colonial middle-class in the Cape, although this work focused on the first half of the nineteenth century. By contrast, Duff ’s contribution describes the ways in which these ethnic, linguistic and racial identities were experienced and renegotiated by children and adults in the second half of the century. The book illustrates how changing conceptions of what it meant to be a (white) boy or a girl was connected to processes of industrialisation. Thus, what emerges is a picture of childhood as a concept deeply shaped by historical circumstances, subject to interpretation and modification as ideas about race, labour and education shifted over the course of the century. Each of the five substantive chapters of the book develop the argument that in the second half of the nineteenth century, ‘childhood moved from being a central concern of an evangelical church, eager to reform colonial society, to being at the centre of the Cape government’s efforts to address white poverty’ (21). The first chapter discusses the growth of evangelicalism within the Dutch Reformed Church after the Great Revival in 1860. It argues that youth participation in the growing evangelical movement was connected to their seeking agency during a time of economic depression in the colony (34). Thus, ‘the poor, the young, and the desperate’ (35) were central actors in the growth of the Dutch Reformed Church in this period. The second chapter builds on the context of church growth, carefully tracing white middle-class people’s experiences of growing up in the southwestern Cape. A particular strength of this chapter is the close attention paid to sources left by families, and youth themselves, in the form of personal papers, diaries, and letters, mapping their intensely gendered processes of becoming ‘mature’
Protection by Glycyrrhizin against Warm Ischemia‐Reperfusion–Induced Cellular Injury and Derangement of the Microcirculatory Blood Flow in the Rat Liver

Background/Aim: The mechanism by which ischemia‐reperfusion (I/R)‐induced derangement of the hepatic microcirculation leads to tissue injury is not fully understood. We postulated that alterations to the hepatic microcirculation, including hemodynamic derangement and increased leukocyte‐endothelium interaction, play a role, and that glycyrrhizin exerts its hepatoprotective effects, in part, by reducing these microcirculatory changes. Materials and Methods: Wistar rats were subjected to 30–60 minutes segmental hepatic ischemia, followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion. Glycyrrhizin was administered prior to ischemia. Using intravital fluorescence microscopy, the administration of fluorescein isothiocyanate–conjugated erythrocytes allowed the measurement of erythrocyte‐velocity (RBCvel), lobular, and sinusoidal perfusion. Bleb formation was observed by electron microscopy. Blood and tissue were taken for the assessment of liver injury. Results: Glycyrrhizin reduced I/R‐induced liver injury (histology, liver enzymes) and reduced hepatocyte apoptosis (TUNEL, caspase‐3 activity). Glycyrrhizin inhibited hepatocyte bleb formation and reversed the I/R‐induced reductions in lobular perfusion and RBCvel. Leukocyte rolling and adherence in postsinusoidal venules and neutrophil infiltration were reduced by glycyrrhizin. I/R‐induced elevation in HMGB1 was prevented by glycyrrhizin. Conclusions: Early bleb formation with deranged microcirculatory flow and leukocyte‐endothelium interaction would appear to contribute to I/R‐induced hepatocellular injury. Glycyrrhizin exerts its hepatoprotective effect by preventing these changes, in addition to a direct cellular effect.