Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of bariatric surgery results

The objective was to evaluate the results of bariatric surgery in patients in the late postoperative period using the Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System (BAROS). This cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2011 to June 2012 at a hospital in the state of Ceará, Brazil. Data were collected from 92 patients using the BAROS protocol, which analyzes weight loss, improved comorbidities, complications, reoperations and Quality of Life (QoL). Data were analysed using the chi-squared test, Fischer’s exact test and the Mann-Whitney test. There was a reduction in the Body Mass Index (47.2 ± 6.8 kg/m in the pre-operatory and 31.3 ± 5.0 kg/m after surgery, p< 0.001). The comorbidity with the highest resolution was arterial hypertension (p<0.001), and QV improved in 94.6% of patients. The main complications were hair loss, incisional hernia and cholelithiasis. The surgery provided satisfactory weight loss and improvements in the comorbidities associated to a better QL. Use of the BAROS protocol allows nurses to plan interventions and maintain the good results.
THE EFFICACY OF INTRAPERITONEAL PANCREATIC ISLET ISOGRAFTS IN THE REVERSAL OF DIABETES IN RATS

The peritoneal cavity is of renewed interest for pancreatic islet transplantation, since it is the preferable site for transplantation of immunoisolated islets. In this study we investigated the minimum islet graft volume needed to restore normoglycemia after free intraperitoneal isogenic transplantation in streptozotocin diabetic rats. Furthermore, graft function was tested by measuring glucose and insulin response to an intravenous glucose load and spontaneously ingested carbohydrate-rich meal. Three graft volumes were used: 8.0–10.0 (group A); 4.0–5.0 (group B); and 2.0–2.3 μl (group C); 1 μl contained about 300 islets. All 10 rats in group A and 7 out of 9 rats in group B became normoglycemic for at least 6 months posttransplant, with blood glucose levels not significantly different from normal control animals. Only 3 out of 9 animals in group C became
PREVALENCE, TREATMENT AND CONTROL OF HYPERTENSION AMONG TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS AT MOI TEACHING AND REFERRAL HOSPITAL, ELDORET, KENYA.

OBJECTIVES To describe the prevalence, treatment and control of hypertension among type 2 diabetic patients at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) and to determine predictors of blood pressure (BP) control. DESIGN A cross-sectional study. SETTING Diabetic Outpatient Clinic at MTRH, Eldoret, Kenya. SUBJECTS Type 2 diabetic patients. INTERVENTIONS The study collected socio-demographic (age, gender, employment status, monthly income, education level, marital status, cigarette smoking and alcohol use), clinical (BP, weight, height and waist circumference) and laboratory (serum fasting lipids and creatinine, urine proteins) data from type 2 diabetic patients. Good BP control was defined as < 130mmHg systolic and < 80mmHg diastolic. Association between BP control and social demographic, clinical and laboratory variables of study subjects was determined using the chi-square, T-test, fisher's exact test and logistic regression. RESULTS We studied 218 type 2 diabetics: mean age 57 ± 9 years; 122 (56%) were females. Average duration of diabetes was 11 ± 7 years. Prevalence of hypertension was 185/218 (85%) out of who 40 (21%) had good BP control. Average duration of hypertension was 7 ± 5 years. Of the 185 hypertensive diabetics: 92 (50%) had total cholesterol at goal; 102 (55%) had low density lipoproteins (LDL) at goal; 74 (40%) had triglycerides at goal; 65 (35%) had high density lipoprotein (HDL) at goal and 85(45%) had Proteinuria. All hypertensive patients had > 1 anti-hypertensive agent prescribed. Good BP control was associated with compliance to anti-hypertensives (OR = 0.342, 95% CI: 0.105- 1.432) and having HDL at goal (OR = 0.247, 95% CI: 0.126-0.845). Poor BP control was associated with a higher number of prescribed anti-hypertensive agents (OR = 1.377, 95% CI: 1.112- 2.302). CONCLUSION Prevalence of hypertension among type 2 diabetic patients in MTRH is high and BP control is poor despite anti-hypertensive treatment. Significant predictors of BP control include compliance to anti-hypertensives and control of HDL.
The differential effects of chlorpromazine and haloperidol on latent inhibition in healthy volunteers

Latent inhibition (LI) is a measure of reduced learning about a stimulus to which there has been prior exposure without any consequence. It therefore requires a comparison between a pre-exposed (PE) and a non-pre-exposed (NPE) condition. Since, in animals, LI is disrupted by amphetamines and enhanced by antipsychotics, LI disruption has been proposed as a measure of the characteristic attentional deficit in schizophrenia: the inability to ignore irrelevant stimuli. The findings in humans are, however, inconsistent. In particular, a recent investigation suggested that since haloperidol disrupted LI in healthy volunteers, and LI was normal in non-medicated patients with schizophrenia, the previous findings in schizophrenic patients were entirely due to the negative effects of their medication on LI (Williams et al., 1998). We conducted two studies of antipsychotic drug effects on auditory LI using a within-subject, parallel group design in healthy volunteers. In the first of these, single doses of haloperidol (1 mg. i.v.) were compared with paroxetine (20 mg p.o.) and placebo, and in the second, chlorpromazine (100 mg p.o.) was compared with lorazepam (2 mg. p.o.) and placebo. Eye movements, neuropsychological test performance (spatial working memory (SWM), Tower of London and intra/extra dimensional shift, from the CANTAB test battery) and visual analogue rating scales, were also included as other measures of attention and frontal lobe function. Haloperidol was associated with a non-significant reduction in LI scores, and dysphoria/akathisia (Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale) in three-quarters of the subjects. The LI finding may be explained by increased distractibility which was indicated by an increase in antisaccade directional errors in this group. In contrast, LI was significantly increased by chlorpromazine but not by an equally sedative dose of lorazepam (both drugs causing marked decreases in peak saccadic velocity). Paroxetine had no effect on LI, eye movements or CANTAB neuropsychological test performance. Haloperidol was associated with impaired SWM, which correlated with the degree of dysphoria/akathisia, but no other drug effects on CANTAB measures were detected. We conclude that the effect of antipsychotics on LI is both modality and pharmacologically dependent and that further research using a wider range of antipsychotic compounds is necessary to clarify the cognitive effects of these drugs, and to determine whether there are important differences between them.
Adherence to cancer prevention guidelines and risk of breast cancer

Healthy eating patterns and keeping physically active are potentially more important for chronic disease prevention than intake or exclusion of specific food items or nutrients. To this end, many health organizations routinely publish dietary and lifestyle recommendations aimed at preventing chronic disease. Using data from the Canadian National Breast Screening Study, we investigated the association between breast cancer risk and adherence to two sets of guidelines specific for cancer prevention, namely the American Cancer Society (ACS) Guidelines and the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) Recommendations. At baseline, 49,613 women completed dietary and lifestyle questionnaires and height and weight measurements were taken. During a mean follow‐up of 16.6 years, 2,503 incident cases of breast cancer were ascertained. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of meeting each guideline, and number of guidelines met, with breast cancer risk. The two sets of guidelines yielded similar results. Specifically, adherence to all six ACS guidelines was associated with a 31% reduction in breast cancer risk when compared to subjects adhering to at most one guideline (HR = 0.69; 95% CI = 0.49–0.97); similarly, adherence to six or seven of the WCRF/AICR guidelines was also associated with a 31% reduction in breast cancer risk (HR = 0.69; 95% CI = 0.47–1.00). Under either classification, meeting each additional guideline was associated with a 4–6% reduction in breast cancer risk. These results suggest that adherence to cancer prevention guidelines is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer.
Comparative study of taurine and tauropyrone: GABA receptor binding, mitochondrial processes and behaviour

Objectives Taurine, a sulfur‐containing amino acid, has high hydrophilicity and is poorly absorbed. Tauropyrone, a taurine‐containing 1,4‐dihydropyridine derivative, is suggested to have greater activity than taurine owing to improved physicochemical properties that facilitate delivery of the compound to target cells. The aim of this study was to determine whether the 1,4‐dihydropyridine moiety in tauropyrone improves the pharmacological efficacy of taurine in vitro and in vivo.
Sub-string/Pattern Matching in Sub-linear Time Using a Sparse Fourier Transform Approach

We consider the problem of querying a string (or, a database) of length $N$ bits to determine all the locations where a substring (query) of length $M$ appears either exactly or is within a Hamming distance of $K$ from the query. We assume that sketches of the original signal can be computed off line and stored. Using the sparse Fourier transform computation based approach introduced by Pawar and Ramchandran, we show that all such matches can be determined with high probability in sub-linear time. Specifically, if the query length $M = O(N^\mu)$ and the number of matches $L=O(N^\lambda)$, we show that for $\lambda < 1-\mu$ all the matching positions can be determined with a probability that approaches 1 as $N \rightarrow \infty$ for $K \leq \frac{1}{6}M$. More importantly our scheme has a worst-case computational complexity that is only $O\left(\max\{N^{1-\mu}\log^2 N, N^{\mu+\lambda}\log N \}\right)$, which means we can recover all the matching positions in {\it sub-linear} time for $\lambda<1-\mu$. This is a substantial improvement over the best known computational complexity of $O\left(N^{1-0.359 \mu} \right)$ for recovering one matching position by Andoni {\em et al.} \cite{andoni2013shift}. Further, the number of Fourier transform coefficients that need to be computed, stored and accessed, i.e., the sketching complexity of this algorithm is only $O\left(N^{1-\mu}\log N\right)$. Several extensions of the main theme are also discussed.
Disturbed Sleep Among Adolescents Living in 2 Communities on the Texas-Mexico Border, 2000-2003

Introduction Disturbed sleep is a public health problem, but few studies describe the prevalence of sleep problems among Hispanic adolescents. We estimated the prevalence of disturbed sleep and associated factors among ninth graders living on the Texas-Mexico border. Methods We used probabilistic sampling to conduct 2 cross-sectional, school-based surveys: 1 during the 2000-2001 school year in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas (n = 4,901), and 1 during the 2002-2003 school year in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (n = 669). We assessed disturbed sleep during the 4 weeks before the survey. Results The prevalence of disturbed sleep in Matamoros was 36% and in the Lower Rio Grande Valley was 28%. Factors associated with disturbed sleep in both populations were smoking cigarettes, having ever used cocaine, having been forced to have sex, considering attempting suicide, feeling sad, and going without eating for 24 hours or more. Conclusion This study revealed a high prevalence of disturbed sleep in high school students living on the Texas-Mexico border. This public health issue should be further investigated in both communities.
Application of Texture Analysis in the Differential Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Thyroid Nodules: Comparison With Gray-Scale Ultrasound and Elastography.

OBJECTIVE The purposes of this study were to investigate the optimal subset for texture analysis by use of a histogram and cooccurrence matrix in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules and to compare the results with those of gray-scale ultrasound and elastography. MATERIALS AND METHODS From a retrospective search of an institutional database between June and November 2009, 633 solid nodules 5 mm or larger from 613 patients who underwent gray-scale ultrasound and elastography and subsequent ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration were included in this study. Each nodule was categorized as probably benign or suspicious of being malignant according to findings at gray-scale ultrasound and elastography. Histogram parameters (mean, SD, skewness, kurtosis, and entropy) and cooccurrence matrix parameters (contrast, correlation, uniformity, homogeneity, and entropy) were extracted from gray-scale ultrasound and elastographic images. The diagnostic performances of gray-scale ultrasound, elastography, and texture analysis for differentiating thyroid nodules were evaluated. RESULTS Gray-scale ultrasound had the best diagnostic performance with an ROC AUC (Az) of 0.809 among all parameters. Elastography had significantly poorer performance (Az = 0.646) than gray-scale ultrasound (p < 0.001). Mean extracted from gray-scale ultrasound had the highest Az (0.675) among all histogram and cooccurrence matrix parameters extracted from gray-scale ultrasound and elastographic images. However, mean and the combination of mean and gray-scale ultrasound had poorer performance than gray-scale ultrasound alone. CONCLUSION Using texture analysis does not improve diagnostic performance in the evaluation of thyroid cancers.
Discovery and Scoring of Protein Interaction Subnetworks Discriminative of Late Stage Human Colon Cancer*S

We used a systems biology approach to identify and score protein interaction subnetworks whose activity patterns are discriminative of late stage human colorectal cancer (CRC) versus control in colonic tissue. We conducted two gel-based proteomics experiments to identify significantly changing proteins between normal and late stage tumor tissues obtained from an adequately sized cohort of human patients. A total of 67 proteins identified by these experiments was used to seed a search for protein-protein interaction subnetworks. A scoring scheme based on mutual information, calculated using gene expression data as a proxy for subnetwork activity, was developed to score the targets in the subnetworks. Based on this scoring, the subnetwork was pruned to identify the specific protein combinations that were significantly discriminative of late stage cancer versus control. These combinations could not be discovered using only proteomics data or by merely clustering the gene expression data. We then analyzed the resultant pruned subnetwork for biological relevance to human CRC. A number of the proteins in these smaller subnetworks have been associated with the progression (CSNK2A2, PLK1, and IGFBP3) or metastatic potential (PDGFRB) of CRC. Others have been recently identified as potential markers of CRC (IFITM1), and the role of others is largely unknown in this disease (CCT3, CCT5, CCT7, and GNA12). The functional interactions represented by these signatures provide new experimental hypotheses that merit follow-on validation for biological significance in this disease. Overall the method outlines a quantitative approach for integrating proteomics data, gene expression data, and the wealth of accumulated legacy experimental data to discover significant protein subnetworks specific to disease.
Anatomic Levels: Important Landmarks in Penectomy Specimens: A Detailed Anatomic and Histologic Study Based on Examination of 44 Cases

The majority of squamous cell carcinomas of the penis arise from the glans, and the prognosis is related significantly to the depth of invasion of crucial anatomic landmarks. Accurate information related to this can only be obtained when specimens are carefully evaluated grossly. Most pathologists in developed countries encounter resected specimens of penile carcinoma infrequently, and gross evaluation is occasionally suboptimal, potentially preventing obtaining reliable prognostic information. The four distinct levels of the glans penis are the epithelium, lamina propria, corpus spongiosum, and corpus cavernosum. A simple method for pathologic evaluation of the glans is presented. Noteworthy findings in our study of a South American population were that the distance from the lamina propria to tunica albuginea ranged from 7 to 13 to 6 mm at the dorsal, central, and ventral areas of the corpus spongiosum, respectively. The most distal portion of the corpus cavernosum was located within the glans in 34 of 44 cases and in the body of the penis in only 10. The corpus spongiosum was thinner in the former cases. These anatomic variations may bear on prognosis.
Efficacy of lenalidomide in POEMS syndrome: A retrospective study of 20 patients

POEMS syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by polyneuropathy, monoclonal gammopathy, multiorgan involvement, and elevated vascular endothelial growth factor levels. Localized bone lesions require irradiation, whereas young patients with disseminated disease receive intensive treatment with stem cell support. Treatment of older and non responding patients is not yet standardized. We report the use of a combination of lenalidomide and dexamethasone in 20 patients with POEMS syndrome. Four patients were newly diagnosed, and 16 had relapsed or progressed after treatment. All but one of the patients responded: clinical improvements were noted in neuropathies (16/20) organomegaly (13/13), peripheral edema (14/15), and pulmonary hypertension (5/5). At least a very good partial response was noted in 68% of patients, with partial responses in 26%. Serum VEGF levels fell markedly in all 17 patients with available values. Twelve patients had 18‐FDG‐PET/CT at diagnosis (11 with positive findings), and nine patients during follow‐up. The number of lesions fell markedly in five cases and remained stable in two cases, while two patients became negative. During a median follow‐up of 22 months, four patients relapsed. Toxicity, predominantly hematological, was mild and manageable. Lenalidomide thus appears to be effective in POEMS syndrome, inducing high rate of clinical and biological responses. Am. J. Hematol. 88:207–212, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effect of estrogen on calcium and sodium transport by the nephron luminal membranes.

Estrogens are widely used for contraception and osteoporosis prevention. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of 17 beta-estradiol on calcium (Ca(2+)) transport by the nephron luminal membranes, independently of any other Ca(2+)-regulating hormones. Proximal and distal tubules of rabbit kidneys were incubated with 17 beta-estradiol or the carrier for various periods of time, and the luminal membranes of these tubules were purified and vesiculated. Ca(2+) uptake by membrane vesicles was measured using the Millipore filtration technique. Incubation of proximal tubules with the hormone did not influence Ca(2+) uptake by the luminal membranes. In contrast, incubation of distal tubules with 10(-8) M 17 beta-estradiol for 30 min decreased the initial uptake of 0.5 mM Ca(2+) from 0.34+/-0.04 (s.e.m. ) to 0.17+/-0.04 pmol/microg per 5 s (P<0.05). In the presence of 100 mM Na(+), 0.5 mM Ca(2+) uptake was strongly diminished and the effect of 17 beta-estradiol disappeared (0.17+/-0.01 and 0.21+/-0.07 pmol/microg per 5 s in vesicles from the control and treated tubules). Direct incubation of the membranes with 17 beta-estradiol, however, failed to show any influence of the hormone on Ca(2+) transport. The action of 17 beta-estradiol was dose-dependent, with a half-maximal effect at approximately 10(-9) M. Ca(2+) uptake by the distal tubule membranes presents dual kinetics. 17 beta-Estradiol decreased the V(max) value of the high-affinity component from 0.42+/-0.02 to 0.31+/-0.03 pmol/microg per 10 s (P<0.02). In contrast with the effect of the hormone on Ca(2+) transport, estradiol increased Na(+) uptake by both the proximal and distal tubule luminal membranes. In conclusion, incubation of proximal and distal tubules with estrogen decreases Ca(2+) reabsorption by the high-affinity Ca(2+) channels of the distal luminal membranes, and enhances Na(+) transport by the membranes from proximal and distal nephrons.
Furan quantification in bread crust: development of a simple and sensitive method using headspace-trap GC-MS

ABSTRACT To study reactivity in bread crust during the baking process in the pan, we followed furan mainly resulting from Maillard and caramelisation reactions in cereal products. Furan quantification is commonly performed with automatic HS-static GC-MS. However, we showed that the automatic HS-trap GC-MS method can improve the sensitivity of the furan quantification. Indeed, this method allowed the LOD to be decreased from 0.3 ng g–1 with HS-static mode to 0.03 ng g–1 with HS-trap mode under these conditions. After validation of this method for furan quantification in bread crust, a difference between the crust extracted from the bottom and from the sides of the bread was evident. The quantity of furan in the bottom crust was five times lower than in the side crust, revealing less reactivity on the bottom than on the sides of the bread during the baking process in the pan. Differences in water content may explain these variations in reactivity.
Fine mapping of outer membrane protein P2 antigenic sites which vary during persistent infection by Haemophilus influenzae

Antigenic drift of the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) P2 of nonencapsulated Haemophilus influenzae as observed during persistent infections in patients with chronic bronchitis was mimicked in a rabbit model in which H. influenzae persisted in subcutaneous cages. The antigenic drift resulted from amino acid substitutions in potentially surface-exposed loops of MOMP P2. Since in a rabbit model the appearance of antigenic variants was associated with the presence of strain-specific bactericidal antibodies (L. Vogel, B. Duim, F. Geluk, P. Eijk, H. Jansen, J. Dankert, and L. van Alphen, Infect. Immun. 64:980-986, 1996), we determined the epitope specificities of these bactericidal antibodies. The eight loops of MOMP P2 of H. influenzae d1 were separately expressed as fusion proteins with glutathione S-transferase. Sera of rabbits persistently infected with H. influenzae reacted with the loop 5 and loop 6 fusion proteins in immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. For fine mapping of the epitopes with pepscan analysis, overlapping synthetic peptides consisting of 12 amino acids were made. Rabbit sera contained antibodies reacting with peptides derived from loop 5 and peptides containing amino acids of the side of loop 6. In addition, MOMP P2 variant-specific reactions with the amino acids located at the tip of loop 6 were detected. The rabbit sera showed variant-specific complement-dependent bactericidal activities, which were eliminated by affinity chromatography with fusion proteins of loop 6 but not of loop 5. We conclude that, during persistence of H. influenzae in rabbits, variant-specific bactericidal antibodies are elicited to the variable tip of MOMP P2 loop 6.