Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Employed for Higher Pay ? How Medicare Facility Fees Affect Hospital Employment of Physicians

Hospitals employ an increasing number of physicians and bill for a growing share of outpatient procedures, part of a vertical integration trend. Exploiting a change in the methodology used by Medicare to calibrate payments for medical procedures, we find this trend is at least partially driven by payer reimbursement rules. Our estimates suggest that the change in Medicare’s methodology explains 20 percent of the increase in physician employment and 35 percent of the increase in hospital-billed outpatient procedures between 2009 and 2013. We conclude that at least some of the recent vertical integration trend has been motivated by reimbursement rules.
Isoflurane-induced neuronal apoptosis in developing hippocampal neurons

We hypothesized that the P2X7 receptor may be the target of isoflurane, so we investigated the roles of the P2X7 receptor and inositol triphosphate receptor in calcium overload and neuronal apoptosis induced by isoflurane in cultured embryonic rat hippocampal neurons. Results showed that isoflurane induced widespread neuronal apoptosis and significantly increased cytoplasmic Ca2+. Blockade of P2X7 receptors or removal of extracellular Ca2+ combined with blockade of inositol triphosphate receptors completely inhibited apoptosis or increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+. Removal of extracellular Ca2+ or blockade of inositol triphosphate receptor alone could partly inhibit these effects of isoflurane. Isoflurane could directly activate P2X7-gated channels and induce inward currents, but did not affect the expression of P2X7 receptor protein in neurons. These findings indicate that the mechanism by which isoflurane induced neuronal apoptosis in rat developing brain was mediated by intracellular calcium overload, which was caused by P2X7 receptor mediated calcium influx and inositol triphosphate receptor mediated calcium release.
Hat 2 p recognizes the histone H 3 tail to specify the acetylation of the newly synthesized H 3 / H 4 heterodimer by the Hat 1 p / Hat 2 p complex

Yang Li, Li Zhang, Tingting Liu, Chengliang Chai, Qianglin Fang, Han Wu, Paula A. Agudelo Garcia, Zhifu Han, Shuai Zong, You Yu, Xinyue Zhang, Mark R. Parthun, Jijie Chai, Rui-Ming Xu, and Maojun Yang Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
Dynamic regularization for the restoration of PET images

Among the variety of methods so far proposed, the deconvolving process might be one of the most important techniques in improving medical imaging quality. In this paper, we will discuss the inverse problem of the deconvolving process within the framework of the network inversion technique, with respect to the neural network model for the partial volume effect arising in positron emission tomography (PET). To stabilize the inverse solution, we incorporate such a priori knowledge as the histological information given by MR images and the smoothness in the distribution of blood flow, which can be realized by Tikhonov regularization. In particular, in this paper we propose a dynamic regularization technique in which the regularizing parameter is changed dynamically in each stage of the ongoing iterative optimization procedure. We explain the method and demonstrate the effectiveness of dynamic regularization with respect to the brain PET image restoration process, presenting successful results. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Syst Comp Jpn, 30(8): 2331, 1999
Adipocyte-selective Reduction of the Leptin Receptors Induced by Antisense RNA Leads to Increased Adiposity, Dyslipidemia, and Insulin Resistance*

Although recent evidence suggests that leptin can directly regulate a wide spectrum of peripheral functions, including fat metabolism, genetic examples are still needed to illustrate the physiological significance of direct actions of leptin in a given peripheral tissue. To this end, we used a technical knock-out approach to reduce the expression of leptin receptors specifically in white adipose tissue. The evaluation of leptin receptor reduction in adipocytes was based on real time PCR analysis of the mRNA levels, Western blot analysis of the proteins, and biochemical analysis of leptin signaling capability. Despite a normal level of leptin receptors in the hypothalamus and normal food intake, mutant mice developed increased adiposity, decreased body temperature, hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, impaired glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, as well as elevated hepatic and skeletal muscle triglyceride levels. In addition, a variety of genes involved in regulating fat and glucose metabolism were dysregulated in white adipose tissue. These include tumor necrosis factor-α, adiponectin, leptin, fatty acid synthase, sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1, glycerol kinase, and β3-adrenergic receptor. Furthermore, the mutant mice are significantly more sensitive to high fat feeding with regard to developing obesity and severe insulin resistance. Thus, we provide a genetic model demonstrating the physiological importance of a peripheral effect of leptin in vivo. Importantly, this suggests the possibility that leptin resistance at the adipocyte level might be a molecular link between obesity and type 2 diabetes.
2016 ESC/EAS Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidaemias.

The Task Force for the Management of Dyslipidaemias of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) Developed with the special contribution of the European Assocciation for Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation (EACPR) ABI : ankle-brachial index
Cultivation of the Drosophila Sex-Ratio Spiroplasma

Uncultivable for more than 25 years, the sex-ratio spiroplasma of Drosophila willistoni grew in a tissue culture medium (H-2) containing an embryo-derived lepidopteran cell line (IPLB-TN-R2). After adaptation, it grew in a cell-free H-2 medium. This success demonstrates the usefulness of cell culture systems for cultivation of fastidious microorganisms and facilitates study of the sex-ratio trait in Drosophila.
Predicting Vaginal Delivery in Nulliparous Women Undergoing Induction of Labor at Term

Abstract Objective We sought to develop a model to calculate the likelihood of vaginal delivery in nulliparous women undergoing induction at term. Study Design We obtained data from the Consortium on Safe Labor by including nulliparous women with term singleton pregnancies undergoing induction of labor at term. Women with contraindications for vaginal delivery were excluded. A stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predictors associated with vaginal delivery by considering maternal characteristics and comorbidities and fetal conditions. The receiver operating characteristic curve, with an area under the curve (AUC) was used to assess the accuracy of the model. Results Of 10,591 nulliparous women who underwent induction of labor, 8,202 (77.4%) women had vaginal delivery. Our model identified maternal age, gestational age at delivery, race, maternal height, prepregnancy weight, gestational weight gain, cervical exam on admission (dilation, effacement, and station), chronic hypertension, gestational diabetes, pregestational diabetes, and abruption as significant predictors for successful vaginal delivery. The overall predictive ability of the final model, as measured by the AUC was 0.759 (95% confidence interval, 0.749–0.770). Conclusion We identified independent risk factors that can be used to predict vaginal delivery among nulliparas undergoing induction at term. Our predictor provides women with additional information when considering induction.
Low ERCC 1 Expression Correlates with Prolonged Survival after Cisplatin plus Gemcitabine Chemotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer 1

Purpose: Overexpression of the excision repair crosscomplementing 1 (ERCC1) gene, which is crucial in the repair of cisplatin (CDDP)-DNA adducts, is reported to negatively influence the effectiveness of CDDP-based therapy for gastric and ovarian cancers. Recent evidence indicates that Gemcitabine (Gem) may modulate ERCC1 nucleotide excision repair activity, and down-regulation of DNA repair activity by ERCC1 antisense RNA reportedly inhibits synergism of CDDP/Gem. We investigated whether ERCC1 mRNA expression levels were associated with clinical outcomes after treatment with a combination Gem/CDDP regimen for patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Experimental Design: Response and survival were correlated with the level of ERCC1 expression in 56 patients with advanced (stage IIIb or IV) NSCLC treated as part of a multicenter randomized trial with Gem 1250 mg/m days 1 and 8 plus CDDP 100 mg/m on day 1 every 3 weeks. mRNA was isolated from paraffin-embedded pretreatment primary tumor specimens, and relative expression levels of ERCC1/ -actin were measured using a quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (Taqman) system. Results: ERCC1 expression was detectable in all tumors. There were no significant differences in ERCC1 levels by gender, age, performance status, weight loss, or tumor stage. The overall response rate was 44.7%. There were no significant associations between ERCC1 expression and response. Median overall survival was significantly longer in patients with low ERCC1 expression tumors (61.6 weeks; 95% confidence interval, 42.4–80.7 weeks) compared to patients with high expression tumors (20.4 weeks, 95% confidence interval, 6.9–33.9 weeks). ERCC1 expression, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, and presence of weight loss were significant prognostic factors for survival in a Cox proportional hazards multivariable analysis. Conclusions: These data suggest that ERCC1 expression is a predictive factor for survival after CDDP/Gem therapy in advanced NSCLC. Although there was a trend toward decreased response with high ERCC1 mRNA levels, this difference failed to reach statistical significance. This result may reflect the impact of Gem and the requirement for ERCC1 expression for CDDP/Gem synergism or may be attributable to the relatively small patient sample size in this study. Prospective studies of ERCC1 as a predictive marker for activity of CDDP-based regimens in NSCLC are warranted.
Insomnia (primary) in older people: non-drug treatments.

INTRODUCTION Up to 40% of older adults have insomnia, with difficulty getting to sleep, early waking, or feeling unrefreshed on waking. The prevalence of insomnia increases with age. Other risk factors include psychological factors, stress, daytime napping, and hyperarousal. METHODS AND OUTCOMES We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of non-drug treatments for primary insomnia in older people (aged 60 years and older)? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to May 2014 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). RESULTS We found 14 studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions. CONCLUSIONS In this systematic review, we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), exercise programmes, and timed exposure to bright light.
Elections and Deceptions: An Experimental Study on the Behavioral Effects of Democracy

Traditionally, the virtue of democratic elections has been seen in their role as means of screening and sanctioning shirking public officials. This paper proposes a novel rationale for elections and political campaigns considering that candidates incur psychological costs of lying, in particular from breaking campaign promises. These non-pecuniary costs imply that campaigns influence subsequent behavior, even in the absence of reputational or image concerns. Our lab experiments reveal that promises are more than cheap talk. They influence the behavior of both voters and their representatives. We observe that the electorate is better off when their leaders are elected democratically rather than being appointed exogenously - but only in the presence of electoral campaigns. In addition, we find that representatives are more likely to serve the public interest when their approval rates are high. Altogether, our results suggest that elections and campaigns confer important benefits beyond their screening and sanctioning functions.
Acute rejection before cytomegalovirus infection enhances von Willebrand factor and soluble VCAM-1 in blood.

BACKGROUND Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infections in transplantation patients are associated with vascular endothelial damage. This is reflected by the appearance of cytomegalic endothelial cells (CECs) and noninfected endothelial cells (ECs) in blood. To get more insight in the extent of vascular damage during HCMV infection, we investigated the levels of soluble markers during HCMV infection in relationship to EC levels and also preceding the acute rejection episodes. METHODS Of 46 kidney transplant patients, plasma levels of von Willebrand factor (VWF), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), and soluble E-selectin (sE-sel) were analyzed during the course of HCMV infection. RESULTS Plasma levels of VWF and sVCAM-1 increased twofold during severe HCMV infection. Moreover, the plasma levels of VWF correlated with detectable cytomegalic and noninfected ECs in blood. The kinetics of changes in VWF and ECs (CEC and EC) demonstrated the relationship with HCMV-induced vascular damage. Levels of sICAM-1 and sE-sel in plasma did not significantly change during HCMV infection. Interestingly, the combination of HCMV infection and preceding acute transplant rejection caused the highest increases of VWF and sVCAM-1 plasma levels, reflecting an enhanced susceptibility for endothelial damage at the moment of infection. CONCLUSION CMV infection is associated with vascular damage, and the vascular damage during CMV infection is enhanced if patients experienced acute rejection before CMV infection.
Role of type III iodothyronine 5‐deiodinase gene expression in temporal regulation of Xenopus metamorphosis

To elucidate the role of type III iodothyronine 5‐deiodinase (5‐D) in the temporal regulation of amphibian metamorphosis, the regulation of gene expression of 5‐D and thyroid hormone receptor β (TRβ) in organs of Xenopus laevis was investigated. High levels of TRβ mRNA in the respective organs were observed at the times of their major morphological changes. Expression of the 5‐D gene was highly regulated among the organs during metamorphosis, including up‐regulation in the tail and down‐regulation in the liver. The tail and liver expressed 5‐D gene before their metamorphic changes. These precocious expressions correlated with the lower responsiveness to exogenously added triiodo‐L‐thyronine (T3) for inducing a high level of TRβ mRNA expression. However, the same organs responded to lower doses of T3 to regulate 5‐D gene expression as seen in spontaneous metamorphosis. The induction of 5‐D gene expression was considerably delayed in the intestine, even at an excess dose of T3. Thus, the two genes in a given organ appeared to respond to T3 either with different dose dependencies or with different timetables. The results obtained are also discussed in respect to recent findings in Rana catesbeiana.
Characterization of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Human Patients in Germany over a 3-Year Period

ABSTRACT We have investigated 677 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains from humans to determine their serotypes, virulence genes, and clinical signs in patients. Six different Shiga toxin types (1, 1c, 2, 2c, 2d, and 2e) were distributed in the STEC strains. Intimin (eae) genes were present in 62.6% of the strains and subtyped into intimins α1, β1, γ1, ε, θ, and η. Shiga toxin types 1c and 2d were present only in eae-negative STEC strains, and type 2 was significantly (P < 0.001) more frequent in eae-positive STEC strains. Enterohemorrhagic E. coli hemolysin was associated with 96.2% of the eae-positive strains and with 65.2% of the eae-negative strains. Clinical signs in the patients were abdominal pain (8.7%), nonbloody diarrhea (59.2%), bloody diarrhea (14.3%), and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) (3.5%), and 14.3% of the patients had no signs of gastrointestinal disease or HUS. Infections with eae-positive STEC were significantly (P < 0.001) more frequent in children under 6 years of age than in other age groups, whereas eae-negative STEC infections dominated in adults. The STEC strains were grouped into 74 O:H types by serotyping and by PCR typing of the flagellar (fliC) genes in 221 nonmotile STEC strains. Eleven serotypes (O157:[H7], O26:[H11], O103:H2, O91:[H14], O111:[H8], O145:[H28], O128:H2, O113:[H4], O146:H21, O118:H16, and O76:[H19]) accounted for 69% of all STEC strains. We identified 41 STEC strains belonging to 31 serotypes which had not previously been described as human STEC. Twenty-six of these were positive for intimins α1 (one serotype), β1 (eight serotypes), ε (two serotypes), and η (three serotypes). Our study indicates that different types of STEC strains predominate in infant and adult patients and that new types of STEC strains are present among human isolates.
Actinomycin D: Effect on the Immune Response

Actinomycin D injected simultaneously with sheep erythrocytes in female rats caused a delay in the immune response but had no effect on the rate or maximum amount of hemagglutinin produced. The delay was roughly proportional to the concentration of the antibiotic administered, and was up to 2 days for 75 �g in a 200-gram female rat (sublethal dose for females). The dose effect in the delay in response is consistent with the time when actinomycin would no longer be available to bind with newly synthesized DNA and when messenger-RNA production could occur. Similar results were obtained with another antigen, the enzyme β-galactosidase, in male rats during the secondary response.
In utero exposure to venlafaxine, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, increases cardiac anomalies and alters placental and heart serotonin signaling in the rat.

BACKGROUND Human studies are inconsistent with respect to an association between treatment with selective serotonin and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSRI/SNRIs) and an increase in the incidence of congenital heart defects. Here we tested the hypothesis that in utero exposure to venlafaxine, a highly prescribed SNRI, increases the incidence of fetal heart defects and alters placental and fetal heart serotonin signaling in the rat. METHODS Timed-pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were gavaged daily with venlafaxine hydrochloride (0, 3, 10, 30, or 100 mg/kg/day) from gestation day 8 to 20. On gestation day 21, fetuses were examined for external and internal malformations; placentas and fetal hearts were collected for the analysis of gene expression. RESULTS Venlafaxine had no effect on the number of live fetuses, fetal body weights, or external morphology in the absence of maternal toxicity. However, venlafaxine significantly increased the placental index (fetal body/placental weight ratio) and the incidence of fetal cardiac anomalies. Venlafaxine exposure decreased placental expression of the serotonin transporter (SERT/Slc6a4) at the transcript and protein levels. In contrast, venlafaxine increased SERT expression in the hearts of female, but not male, fetuses. Expression of the serotonin 2B receptor (5-HT2B /Htr2b) and of fibroblast growth factor 8 was induced in fetal hearts. CONCLUSION In utero venlafaxine exposure altered the placental index and induced fetal cardiac anomalies in rats. We propose that the increased incidence of cardiac anomalies is mediated through alterations in serotonin signaling in the placenta and fetal heart. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:1044-1055, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Psychosocial determinants of behaviour problems in Brazilian preschool children.

BACKGROUND This investigation aimed at examining, through an epidemiological study, the social demographic, family and individual determinants of behaviour problems in preschool children. METHOD Six hundred and thirty-four children, age four years, and their mothers, belonging to a cohort of 5,304 children being followed from birth, took part in the study. During a home visit, the child's behaviour problems and IQ were examined, as well as the prevalence of maternal psychiatric disorder, the quality of the home environment, and other social demographic, family and individual factors. RESULTS The results revealed a prevalence of children's behaviour problems of 24% (clinical and borderline groups). Regression analysis showed that maternal psychiatric disorder, education and age, number of younger siblings and quality of the home environment explained 28% of the variance of the child's behaviour problems. CONCLUSIONS The results point to the multi-determination of child behaviour problems.
Comparison of efficacy of four anaesthetic agents in the yellow seahorse , Hippocampus kuda ( Bleeker , 1852 )

To meet the demands of traditional Chinese medicine and marine ornamentals, there has been a commercial interest stimulated in culturing many seahorse species. In modern aquaculture, anaesthetics play an important role in reducing handling stress and mortality. In this investigation, the efficacy of four anaesthetic agents (MS-222, benzocaine, clove oil and 2-phenoxyethanol) was compared in captive-bred yellow seahorse, Hippocampus kuda (Bleeker, 1852). Minimum effective concentrations determined were 125 mg L (induction 115±16 s and recovery time 246±36 s) for MS-222, 175 mg L (induction 175±19 and recovery time 354±55 s) for benzocaine, 50 mg L (induction 115±28 and recovery time 385±37 s) for clove oil, 1000 μl L (induction 176±22 and recovery time 271±37 s) for 2-phenoxyethanol. Induction and recovery times for adult H. kuda anaesthetised with anaesthetic agents were dose-dependent (P<0.05). The onset of individual phases of anaesthesia and recovery times depended significantly on the concentration of the anaesthetic used. An inverse exponential relationship was observed between concentrations of anaesthetic and induction time, whereas exponential relationships were observed between concentrations and recovery time for all anaesthetic agents evaluated. Although all anaesthetics were considered safe, MS-222 and clove oil were proved to be most effective for use in husbandry of the H. kuda. The study being the first one that compared the efficacy of different anaesthetic agents in adult seahorses has practical significance with regards to seahorse husbandry and production efficiency.