Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving the prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients with an arterially‐enhancing liver mass

In the United States, cirrhotic patients with known or suspected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are prioritized for liver transplantation. Noninvasive criteria for the diagnosis of HCC rely on arterial enhancement of a mass. The aim of this study was to determine whether clinical, laboratory, and / or radiologic data can improve the prediction of HCC in cirrhotic patients with an arterially‐enhancing mass. Between May 2002 and June 2003, dynamic gadolinium‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of consecutive patients with liver cirrhosis and a solid mass were reviewed by 2 radiologists blinded to the clinical diagnosis. Clinical, laboratory, and radiologic data were recorded for all patients. A total of 94 patients with cirrhosis and an arterially‐enhancing liver mass were studied, 66 (70%) of whom had HCC. Alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) >20 ng/mL (P = .029), tumor size >2 cm (P = .0018), and delayed hypointensity (P = .0001) were independent predictors of HCC. Delayed hypointensity of an arterially‐enhancing mass had a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 96% for HCC. The presence of delayed hypointensity was the only independent predictor of HCC among patients with arterially‐enhancing lesions <2 cm (odds ratio, 6.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8‐13), with a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 95%. In conclusion, delayed hypointensity of an arterially‐enhancing mass was the strongest independent predictor of HCC, regardless of the size of the lesion. If additional studies confirm our results, the noninvasive criteria utilized to make a diagnosis of HCC should be revised. (Liver Transpl 2005;11:281–289.)
Composition of an avian guild in spatially structured habitats supports a competition–colonization trade-off

Assuming better colonization abilities of inferior competitors, the competition–colonization trade-off (CCTO) is one of the hypotheses that explains spatial variation of species composition in fragmented habitats. Whereas this mechanism may structure some plant and insect communities, ecologists have failed to document its operation in other natural systems, and its generality has been questioned. We combined fieldwork and published data to study the composition of a guild of passerines (Parus cristatus, Parus montanus, Parus ater and Regulus regulus) inhabiting 10 landscapes that differed in the amount of forest habitat. The species were ordered in a stable, well-defined competitive hierarchy, and the dispersal ability of each species was inversely correlated with its position in this hierarchy. In functionally continuous landscapes, superior competitors occupied most fragments and all guild members commonly occurred. The relative incidences of superior and inferior competitors were reversed, and differences amplified, in landscapes where patches were physically (distance) or functionally (matrix hardness) isolated. We found little support for two competing hypotheses, namely reduced habitat quality in isolated patches and lower abundance of a keystone predator (Glaucidium passerinum) in fragmented landscapes. We concluded that the CCTO offered the most probable explanation for variation in the composition of the Parus guild across landscapes.
Health consequences of tobacco use for Maori--cessation essential for reducing inequalities in health.

AIM Tobacco use remains the largest preventable cause of death and disease in New Zealand. The aim of this paper was to identify all known health consequences of smoking, including exposure to other people's smoke, focusing on Maori. METHOD A review of the scientific literature, 'grey' literature, and, Government health data and reports. RESULTS Smoking has been causally linked with cardiovascular disease (CVD), many cancers, and several respiratory diseases, and, rates are higher for Maori than non-Maori. There are many consequences for smokers loved ones, including, pregnancy and birth complications, SUDI, and increased respiratory infections, cancers and CVD for children and adults. Maori have higher rates of still-birth and SUDI. CONCLUSION This paper summarises all health consequences, to the smoker and their family. Supporting smoking cessation among Maori, particularly women and parents, may be one of the quickest pathways to health improvements for Maori.
The Influence of Marianismo on Psychoanalytic Work with Latinas

Marianismo, the traditional sexual code of behavior for Latinas, specifies chastity before marriage, sexual passivity after marriage, and the subordination of women to men. In addition to describing traditional gender role expectations for Latinos, this paper discusses marianismo as an important organizer of various conflicts experienced by Latinas. It also presents selected case material from a psychoanalysis to illustrate the impact of Marianismo on the therapeutic process when both the analyst and the patient are Latinas.
Subjective well-being and mortality revisited: differential effects of cognitive and emotional facets of well-being on mortality.

OBJECTIVE Subjective well-being (SWB) is an important predictor of mortality. To date, surprisingly little is known about whether cognitive and emotional facets of SWB independently predict mortality, and whether such effects vary by age. METHOD This study examined differential effects of life satisfaction (LS), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) on mortality in a conjoint analysis using data of German adults between the ages of 40 to 85 years (N = 3,124). Effects of SWB facets were analyzed using Cox Proportional Hazards Models. RESULTS LS and PA predicted mortality over and above sociodemographic factors and physical health (HRLS = .89, 95% CI = .79-1.00, p < .05, HRPA = .81, 95% CI = .70-.93, p < .05). However, this effect diminished when including self-rated health and physical activity. NA was not associated with mortality. Age group comparative analyses revealed that PA predicted mortality in older adults (65+) even after controlling for self-rated health and physical activity (HRPA = .82, 95% CI = .70-.97, p < .05). In middle-aged participants, no SWB indicator predicted mortality when controlling for covariates. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest a differential impact of cognitive and emotional well-being on mortality and suggest that in middle-aged adults the effects of SWB on mortality are attenuated by self-rated health and physical activity. The study underscores the importance of SWB for health and longevity, particularly for older adults.
Measuring the Gains from Trade Under Monopolistic Competition

Three sources of gains from trade under monopolistic competition are (i) new import varieties available to consumers; (ii) enhanced efficiency as more productive firms begin exporting and less productive firms exit; (iii) reduced markups charged by firms due to import competition. The first source of gains can be measured as new goods in a CES utility function for consumers. We argue that the second source is formally analogous to the producer gain from new goods, with a constant-elasticity transformation curve for the economy. We suggest that the third source of gain can be measured using a translog expenditure function for consumers, which, in contrast to the CES case, allows for finite reservation prices for new goods and endogenous markups.
Immunosuppressive Activity of Peritoneal Fluid in Women With Endometriosis

Objective: To investigate the immunosuppressive effect of peritoneal fluid and follicular fluid on both natural killer-mediated cytotoxicity and phytohemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte proliferation. Methods: The peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis was compared to both fertile and infertile control fluids. Lymphocytes were pretreated for 2 or 20 hours with peritoneal or follicular fluids, and their cytotoxicity toward K562 tumor cells was measured. We also investigated the phytohemagglutinin-induced stimulation of lymphocytes co-cultured with peritoneal or follicular fluid. Results: Peritoneal fluid from women with endometriosis had a significantly greater immunosuppressive effect on natural killer-mediated cytotoxicity and on phytohemagglutinin stimulation of lymphocytes compared to peritoneal fluid of fertile women without endometriosis (P < .01 and P < .05, respectively). Using the peritoneal fluid of infertile women without endometriosis, these differences were significant only when compared to women with severe endometriosis. Inhibition of the natural killer activity increased when the incubation period was prolonged from 2 to 20 hours (P < .04). There was no correlation between the immunosuppressive effect of peritoneal fluid and the volume of peritoneal fluid, the day of the menstrual period, estradiol, progesterone, prostaglandin E2, or prostaglandin F2α levels. In peritoneal fluid, the factor responsible for inhibition of natural killer activity was not removed with charcoal treatment. In follicular fluid, on the other hand, the inhibition of natural killer activity decreased significantly after treatment with charcoal. Conclusion: Natural killer activity is suppressed by the peritoneal fluid of women with severe endometriosis; this may be important in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. The factor responsible for the inhibition of natural killer activity in peritoneal fluid is different from that in follicular fluid.
Aquaporin-1 Is Expressed by Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Mediates Rapid Water Transport across Vascular Cell Membranes

The aquaporins are a rapidly expanding family of highly conserved proteins which function as transmembrane water channels. We have previously shown that the gene for aquaporin-1 (AQP-1) is expressed in rat, aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) implying a specific role for AQP-1 in vascular function. In this study we set out to document the expression of AQP-1 in human arteries and found mRNA and protein in normal endothelial and VSMCs of human arteries and capillaries and in a subset of VSMCs in human atherosclerotic plaques. Secondly, we examined the regulation of AQP-1 gene expression during vascular development and following vascular injury. Studies in the rat demonstrated that AQP-1 mRNA is induced in the neonatal aorta at week 2 of postnatal development and that the protein is present in neointimal VSMCs following balloon injury. Finally, by measuring the rate of change in cell size induced by changes in external osmolarity and demonstrating that water transport can be inhibited with mercuric chloride, we show that AQP-1 is responsible for water transport across human VSMC membranes. Thus, this study provides evidence for a hitherto unrecognised role for aquaporins in mediating rapid water transport across human VSMC membranes. By analogy with other tissues, these data argue for an important role for AQP-1 in regulating transcellular fluid flow and tissue hydration.
Knockdown of orexin type 2 receptor in the lateral pontomesencephalic tegmentum of rats increases REM sleep

Dysfunction of the orexin/hypocretin neurotransmitter system causes the sleep disorder narcolepsy, characterized by intrusion of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep‐like events into normal wakefulness. The sites where orexins act to suppress REM sleep are incompletely understood. Previous studies suggested that the lateral pontomesencephalic tegmentum (lPMT) contains an important REM sleep inhibitory area, and proposed that orexins inhibit REM sleep via orexin type 2 receptors (OxR2) in this region. However, this hypothesis has heretofore not been tested. We thus performed bilateral injection of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting Ox2R into the lPMT on two consecutive days. This led to a approximately 30% increase of time spent in REM sleep in both the dark and light periods for the first 2 days after injection, with a return to baseline over the next two post‐injection days. This increase was mainly due to longer (> 120 s) REM episodes. Cataplexy‐like episodes were not observed. The percentage of time spent in wakefulness and non‐(N)REM sleep, as well as the power spectral profile of NREM and REM sleep, were unaffected. Control animals injected with scrambled siRNA had no sleep changes post‐injection. Quantification of the knockdown revealed that unilateral microinjection of siRNAs targeting OxR2 into the lPMT induced a approximately 40% reduction of OxR2 mRNA 2 days following the injections when compared with the contralateral side receiving control (scrambled) siRNA. Orexin type 1 receptor mRNA level was unaffected. Our results indicate that removal of OxR2 neurotransmission in the lPMT enhances REM sleep by increasing the duration of REM episodes.
Diabetes induction and effects on the fasting blood glucose levels Sixteen Wistar

The effects of ethanol extract of Trigonella foenum-graecum (Fenugreek) seeds on the blood glucose levels in alloxan-induced diabetic rats at different doses (2g/kg, 1g/kg, 0.5g/kg and 0.1g/kg) were studied. The hypoglycemic effect of extract was compared with that of the standard antidiabetic drug (glimepiride, 4mg/kg) single dose. The extract showed significant activity against the diabetic state induced by alloxan but the intensity of hypoglycemic effect varied from dose to dose. The most effective dose recognized was 1g/kg but that is still lower than the standard antidiabetic drug. No acute toxicity was observed for ethanol extract of T. foenum-graecum seed when it was administered orally at high dose level (3 g/kg body weight), which is higher than effective antihyperglycemic dose, and closely observed for 24 hrs for any mortality and next 10 days for any delayed toxic effects on gross behavioral activities. Phytochemical group tests were also accomplished and presence of alkaloids, steroids and carbohydrates were recognized in the extract.
The relationship of renal blood flow to cardiac output in normal individuals as determined by concomitant radioisotopic measurements.

Renal blood flow and cardiac output were determined in normal men using single injection radioisotopic techniques. These methods use external monitoring to obviate the discomforts and difficult chemical determinations of older methods. The average cardiac index of 3·36 ± 0·35 l. /min/m2 and the average renal blood flow of 629 ± 70·0 ml. /min/m2 compare favourably with previously reported values.
CELL SURFACE IMMUNOGLOBULIN

#-chains from radioiodinated surface immunoglobulin (Ig) of murine splenocytes are markedly heterogeneous as determined by their mobility on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) e lectrophoresis in 5% acrylamide gels (1). We considered the possibility that the heterogeneity is dependent on differing carbohydrate contents of these chains. To explore this possibility, chains were electrophoresed in gels of higher acrylamide concentration in order to reduce the effect of carbohydrate moieties on mobility (2). These studies have led to the identification of two classes of Ig on the surface of murine splenocytes. One is immunoprecipitab le with anti-tt and has a heavy chain w hich coelectrophorese s with secreted-it. The other is not specifically immunoprecipitab le with antisera raised against purified tL-, 5% or a-chains and is smaller in size than tt-chain. Its properties are similar to those of human 5-chain (3).
Parasitological study of a population of Tiber River eels (Anguilla anguilla).

A study was conducted on the parasitofauna of Anguilla anguilla caught in the section of the Tiber river south of Rome (Italy). The sample examined consisted of 417 specimens that were classified by stage (elver, young yellow eel, yellow eel and silver eel) and season of sampling. The following species were identified: Trypanosoma granulosum, Eimeria anguillae, Myxidium giardi, Sphaerospora reichenowi, Myxobolus sp. , Trichodina anguilli, Ichthyohodo sp. , Gyrodactylus anguillae, Bothriocephalus claviceps, Proteocephalus macrocephalus, Raphidascaris acus, Acanthocephalus clavula. Each parasite species was considered in its prevalence according to stage and season. For some parasite the pathogenic effect was also examined in a histological study of serial sections. The results of the statistical analysis of the single parasitic infection as related to different seasons pointed to marked seasonal trends only in some species (Trypanosoma granulosum and Gyrodactylus anguillae). The intensity of infection assessed for acanthocephalan infection only was found to affect neither weight nor condition index (weight/length3). No difference in weight or condition index was found to be ascribable to the presence or absence of a species. An attempt to find a rule-of-thumb algorithm to gauge the overall effect to parasitic diseases failed to give sufficiently significant results.
Influence of local structure on the location of antigenic determinants in tobacco mosaic virus protein.

Early work on protein antigenicity led to the common belief that proteins possess a finite number of antigenic determinants located in accessible regions of the molecule's surface. This view is now changing. As a result of extensive studies, seven continuous epitopes have been located on tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) protein by measuring the antigenic activity of short peptides with anti-protein antibodies. The structure of the viral protein has been refined in Cambridge, enabling the Strasbourg workers to correlate the position of these epitopes with regions of high segmental mobility in the protein. Surface accessibility is not a sufficient condition for antigenicity, because six short peptides corresponding to accessible regions of the protein possess no antigenic activity. Recent work in Strasbourg shows that when longer peptides of TMV protein are used, more antigenic determinants are found and these lie in more structured regions of the protein (e.g. helices). In these cases the longer peptide may be folding up in solution to mimic part of the native structure.
Neurocognitive performances in participants of at-risk mental state for schizophrenia and in first-episode patients

As suggested by the neurodevelopmental model, neurocognitive disturbances are core features of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The aim of the present study was to explore the neurocognitive performance of symptomatically defined high-risk participants as well as first-episode patients on tests of verbal memory, executive functioning, working memory, and attention. The sample consisted of 54 participants at risk for schizophrenia and 37 patients with a first episode of psychosis. The high-risk group exhibited a similar cognitive performance profile to that of the first-episode participants when compared with normative data. The neurocognitive functioning of both patient groups were within standard average range at most of the cognitive domains. Moreover the intellectual functioning of both groups was within higher average level, while decreased “hit rates” could be observed within both subtests “Figures” and “Symbols” of the Continuous Performance Test–Identical Pairs Version (CPT-IP) in the group of first-episode patients. Direct comparison between the clinical groups did show increasing impairments of these parameters in first-episode patients compared to high-risk participants. Results suggest that high-risk participants do perform at average neurocognitive performance levels at all tested domains compared with normative data. Compared to norm values first-episode patients showed decreased attention abilities.
Effects of Noise and Proficiency on Intelligibility of Chinese-Accented English

This study compared the intelligibility of native and foreign-accented English speech presented in quiet and mixed with three different levels of background noise. Two native American English speakers and four native Mandarin Chinese speakers for whom English is a second language each read a list of 50 phonetically balanced sentences (Egan, 1948). The authors identified two of the Mandarin-accented English speakers as high-proficiency speakers and two as lower proficiency speakers, based on their intelligibility in quiet (about 95% and 80%, respectively). Original recordings and noise-masked versions of 48 utterances were presented to monolingual American English speakers. Listeners were asked to write down the words they heard the speakers say, and intelligibility was measured as content words correctly identified. While there was a modest difference between native and high-proficiency speech in quiet (about 7%), it was found that adding noise to the signal reduced the intelligibility of high-proficiency accented speech significantly more than it reduced the intelligibility of native speech. Differences between the two groups in the three added noise conditions ranged from about 12% to 33%. This result suggests that even high-proficiency non-native speech is less robust than native speech when it is presented to listeners under suboptimal conditions.
Differential Mode Delay Measurements of Fluorinated Graded Index Polymer Optical Fiber

We have performed a detailed study of four different perfluorinated graded index polymer optical fibers issued from two manufacturers. After the description of the test bench that has been set up in order to measure the differential mode delays, we report on the corresponding measurements in time domain and the deduced ones in the frequency domain allowing us to get the optical modal bandwidth.
Evaluation of IS Curriculum Design: A Pilot Study using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test

Critical thinking ability is a key goal of higher education. This pilot study investigates the suitability of using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) to evaluate an IS curriculum design in terms of measuring the students’ development of critical thinking skills as they progress through the study program. All currently active students at two similar IS bachelor’s programs at Uppsala University was asked to take the test. The results show that the CCTST can be used for the stated purpose. However, the fact that the test is not available in the students’ native language is an area of concern. The study also points to the importance of developing strategies for increasing response rate and using relevant indicators of study performance.
Grandmothers, caregiving, and family functioning.

OBJECTIVES We used McCubbin's Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation ( McCubbin, Thompson, & McCubbin, 2001) to examine how demographic factors, family stress, grandmother resourcefulness, support, and role reward affect perceptions of family functioning for grandmothers raising grandchildren, grandmothers living in multigenerational households, and grandmothers not caregiving for grandchildren. METHODS A sample of 486 grandmothers completed a mailed questionnaire. We used structural equation modeling to (a) test the effects of demographic factors (i.e., grandmother's age, race, marital status, and employment), family stressful life events and strain, grandmother's resourcefulness, subjective and instrumental support, and role reward on perceptions of family functioning for each grandmother group; (b) evaluate differences in the measurement and structural models between the grandmother groups using multisample analysis; and (c) test the model on the full sample, coding for caregiver status. RESULTS The models did not differ significantly by grandmother group; therefore we assessed the composite model using a multisample analysis. We found general support for the resiliency model and equivalence of the models across grandmother groups. Less support, resourcefulness, and reward, and more intrafamily strain and stressful family life events contributed to perceptions of worse family functioning. DISCUSSION Findings demonstrate the importance of the quality of family functioning for grandmothers in all types of families.