Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for and Pathophysiologic Implications of Hypothalamic‐Pituitary‐Adrenal Axis Dysregulation in Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Abstract: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by profound fatigue anad an array of diffuse somatic symptoms. Our group has established that impaired activation of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis is an essential neuroendocrine feature of this condition. The relevance of this finding to the pathophysiology of CFS is supported by the observation that the onset and course of this illness is excerbated by physical and emotional stressors. It is also notable that this HPA dysregulation differs from that seen in melancholic depression, but shares features with other clinical syndromes (e.g., fibromyalgia). How the HPA axis dysfunction develops is unclear, though recent work suggests disturbances in serotonergic neurotransmission and alterations in the activity of AVP, an important co‐secretagogue that, along with CRH, influences HPA axis function. In order to provide a more refined view of the nature of the HPA dusturbance in patients with CFS, we have studied the detailed, pulsatile characteristics of the HPA axis in a group of patients meeting the 1994 CDC case criteria for CFS. Results of that work are consistent with the view that patients with CFS have a reduction of HPA axis activity due, in part, to impaired central nervous system drive. These observations provide an important clue to the development of more effective treatment to this disabling condition.
MicroRNA-122 antagonism against hepatitis C virus genotypes 1–6 and reduced efficacy by host RNA insertion or mutations in the HCV 5′ UTR

MicroRNA-122 (miR-122) is believed to stimulate hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication through interaction with two adjacent sites downstream of stem loop I (SLI) within the HCV 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR). Recently, it was demonstrated that locked nucleic acid SPC3649-induced miR-122 antagonism suppressed HCV genotype 1a and 1b infection in vivo. However, virus-producing culture systems with 5′ UTR of different HCV genotypes have not been available for testing 5′ UTR-based treatment approaches. Using JFH1-based Core-NS2 genotype recombinants, we developed 5′ UTR-NS2 recombinants of HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a with efficient growth in Huh7.5 cells. Deletion mutagenesis studies demonstrated that the 5′ UTR SLI was essential for genotypes 1–6 infection. However, lack of SLI could be compensated for by insertion of other structured HCV or host RNA sequences, including U3 small nucleolar RNA. We demonstrated that SPC3649-induced miR-122 antagonism had a potent antiviral effect against HCV genotypes 1–6 5′ UTR-NS2 viruses. Strikingly, HCV recombinant virus with substitution of SLI and miR-122 binding site 1 (S1) by the U3 RNA sequence was not affected by miR-122 antagonism; this was attributed to the lack of an intact S1 by reverse genetics studies. Therefore, we engineered the corresponding U3 RNA sequences into S1 and demonstrated that HCV recombinants with wild-type SLI and single or combined mutations at four of eight nucleotides of S1 were viable in Huh7.5 cells. These mutations reduced the efficacy of SPC3649 treatment, indicating that escape variants to miR-122 antagonism-based HCV therapy could potentially occur.
The effectiveness of surgical management of oroantral communications: a systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND An oroantral communication (OAC) is a common complication in alveolar surgery that usually occurs as a result of the extraction of maxillary posterior teeth. To avoid further complications, several closure techniques are used; most of them need a flap elevation. Recently, simpler conservative flapless techniques for OAC closure have been described. OBJECTIVES To appraise the effectiveness of different techniques for closure of OACs also in comparison to nothing. SEARCH METHODS The following electronic databases were searched for randomised controlled trials regarding techniques for closure of OACs: PubMed; SciVerse Scopus; Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences; The Scientific Electronic Library Online and The Cochrane Library (from January 1949 to August 2014). Unspecific algorithms were chosen in order to maximise search sensibility. Additional manual searching was performed in PubMed related citations, in five journals and in the references of the selected articles. There were no restrictions with regard to publication language. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing techniques for closing oroantral communications to nothing, or different techniques for closing oroantral communications reporting the success rate with at least two months follow-up. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The screening of eligible studies, the assessment of methodological quality and data extraction were done by two independent reviewers working in duplicate. RESULTS The research individuated 1256 publications. After screening, only five articles were assessed for eligibility. Only two RCTs evaluating the effectiveness of techniques for OAC closure fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the present review. One trial including 30 patients assessed whether flapless techniques (resorbable root analogues and haemostatic gauze) could be as effective as the Rehrmann's buccal flap; all the patients were reported as successfully healed in the three intervention groups. Another RCT with 20 patients compared the effectiveness of the buccal fat pad flap (100% success rate) with a sandwich graft with hydroxyapatite crystals within collagen sheaths (90% success rate). The authors found no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS There are no RCTs evaluating whether an oroantral communication should be closed or not. There is weak evidence from two RCTs showing good results with five different techniques for closure of OACs (resorbable root analogues, haemostatic gauze, Rehrmann's buccal flap, buccal fat pad flap, sandwich graft with hydroxyapatite crystals). Until sufficiently high quality RCTs are conducted, elevating or not a flap for closure of OACs will be left to the personal choice of the surgeon.
Saudi Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension: Biomarkers in pulmonary arterial hypertension

The biomarker is an indicaror of a biological or pathological process. Clinical observations, measures or environmental events, or measured laboratory values can all be biomarkers in the appropriate setting. An ideal biomarker reflects the underlying biological process, predicts clinical events, is easily obtainable, is reproducible and is not prohibitively expensive. This typically requires validation in longitudinal cohort studies. Biomarkers may help understand the pathological mechanisms responsible for the disease, help as screening tools, predict disease worsening or decline, and determine adequacy of response to therapeutic interventions.
Morbidity and mortality patterns of post- neonatal paediatric medical admissions in a large mission hospital in Benin City, Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the morbidity and mortality pattern in children admitted into a mission hospital and to compare the results with those obtained from public hospitals. It was a retrospective study that reviewed the admission and outpatient attendance registers as well as the case records of all children aged between one month and 14 years admitted into St. Philomena Catholic Hospital (SPCH), Benin City, from 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2001. Out of the 8172 children seen at the paediatric outpatient clinic, 1210 (14.8%) were admitted; comprising of 646 (53.4%) males and 564 (46.6%) females. Under-fives accounted for 84.0% of these admissions. Slightly more cases were admitted during the wet season 632 (52.3%) than the dry season 578 (47.7%). Malaria and its complications (61.1%), gastroenteritis (16.6%) and acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRTI) (8.7%) were the three commonest causes of childhood hospitalisation. Other causes include anaemia (3.7%), measles (3.6%) and febrile convulsion (3.3%). Overall, mortality rate was 4.1%, with under-fives accounting for 92.0% of these deaths. Mortality rate in under-fives was 18.0%, while mortality rate was 1.7 times higher in girls than boys. The commonest causes of death were malaria and its complications (52.0%), anaemia (18.0%), gastroenteritis (14.0%), measles (8.0%) and ALRTI (6.0%). High case fatality rates were found in cerebral malaria (27.8%), anaemia (20.0%), meningitis (20.0%) and measles (9.1%). The commonest cause of death among infants (excluding neonates) was gastroenteritis, while malaria-induced anaemia was the commonest cause of death among children aged 1–4 years. Malaria and its complications, gastroenteritis, ALRTI and severe anaemia are the most important causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in Benin City. Health interventions aimed at controlling these diseases should be strengthened if childhood morbidity and mortality are to be significantly reduced. Greater resources should be allocated to the health care needs of under-fives especially during the wet season.
Inhibition of Solid Tumor Formation by Prior Immunization with Formalized Neoplastic Spleen Extracts.∗

Summary Offspring of mice inoculated during pregnancy with a Rauscher virus vaccine prepared from neoplastic spleen cell extracts were resistant to challenge with cells rendered myxonbrosarcomatous by transformation in vitro with the Rauscher virus. Offspring of mice similarly inoculated with normal spleen cell extracts showed no such resistance. The results suggest that cells transformed to a myxonbrosarcomatous pattern of growth by infection with the Rauscher leukemia virus in vitro share a specific antigen with spleen cell extracts rendered neoplastic by the same virus in vivo. The possible significance of the relationship between leukemia induction by the Rauscher virus in vivo and myxofibrosarcomatous transformation of cells by the same virus in vitro is discussed.
Social Spending, Human Capital, and Growth in Developing Countries: Implications for Achieving the MDGs

Using panel data from 120 developing countries from 1975 to 2000, this paper explores the direct and indirect channels linking social spending, human capital, and growth in a system of equations. The paper finds that both education and health spending have a positive and significant direct impact on the accumulation of education and health capital, and thus can lead to higher economic growth. The paper also finds that other policy interventions, such as improving governance, reducing excessive budget deficits, and taming inflation, can also be helpful in moving countries toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As such, higher spending alone is not sufficient to achieve the MDGs.
Population need for renal replacement therapy in Thames regions: ethnic dimension

Abstract Objectives: To determine the use of renal replacement therapy by ethnic origin and to ascertain the variation in provision of such therapy and to relate this to the distribution of ethnic minority populations. Design- Analysis of retrospective and cross20sectional data from 19 renal units. Setting: All four Thames regional health authorities. Subjects - Patients resident in the Thames regions who were accepted as new patients for renal replacement therapy during 1991 and 1992 and the patients who were already undergoing such treatment between December 1992 and April 1993. Main outcome measures: Rates of acceptance for and prevalence of renal replacement therapy among white, black, and Asian people. Results - The average annual acceptance rates per million in 1991-2 were 61 for white people, 175 for black people, and 178 for Asians, and the prevalences per million were 351, 918, and 957 respectively. The relative risks increased with age. A threefold increase in the acceptance rate occurred in people aged under 55 in both the black and Asian populations, suggesting that the higher rates are probably not due to factors related to access alone. Treatment rates varied considerably among districts, reflecting both the distribution of ethnic minority populations and access to services. Conclusion: Black and Asian people receive and20have a greater need for renal replacement therapy,20and the need will increase as these populations age.20These findings have important implications for the provision of renal services in districts with a high proportion of ethnic minorities and for the management of diabetes mellitus and hypertension, two important causes of end stage renal failure in these populations.
An increase in overseas acquired HIV infections among heterosexual people in Western Australia.

BACKGROUND There has been a recent increase in the number of heterosexually acquired HIV infections among non-Aboriginal people in Western Australia (WA), which has not been reported in other Australian jurisdictions. This report describes the epidemiological features of this increase. METHODS A descriptive analysis was conducted of newly diagnosed HIV infections among non-Aboriginal WA residents notified to the Department of Health from 2002 to 2006. Analysis outcomes included demographics, exposure categories, and place of HIV acquisition. RESULTS From 2002 to 2006, 258 new HIV diagnoses were notified among non-Aboriginal WA residents. Over this period, the number of notifications increased from 41 cases in 2002 (2.2 cases/100 000 population) to 66 cases in 2006 (3.4 cases/100 000 population). Overall, 107 (42%) of the cases were heterosexually acquired, and the annual number increased threefold from 2002 to 2006 (12 to 36 cases, respectively). Of these cases, 64 (60%) were male and 43 (40%) were female. The majority (89%) of male cases acquired HIV overseas, mostly in countries other than their region of birth; South-east Asia was the most common place of acquisition reported. Over half (56%) of the female cases acquired HIV overseas, mainly in their region of birth (83%), and sub-Saharan Africa was the most common place of acquisition. CONCLUSION There has been a recent increase in heterosexually acquired HIV infections among male and female WA residents, many of whom reported acquiring HIV overseas. Safe sex campaigns in WA should continue to reinforce safe sex messages among people travelling overseas.
Experiences of carers managing childhood eczema and their views on its treatment: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND Childhood eczema causes significant impact on quality of life for some families, yet non-concordance with treatment is common. AIM To explore parents' and carers' views of childhood eczema and its treatment. DESIGN AND SETTING Qualitative interview study in primary care in the south of England. METHOD Carers of children aged ≤5 years with a recorded diagnosis of eczema, who reported that eczema was still a problem, were invited to participate. Thirty-one parents were interviewed from 28 families. RESULTS Many parents expressed frustration with both medical care and prescribed treatments. They felt their child's suffering was not 'taken seriously', and experienced messages about a 'trial and error' prescribing approach and assurance that their child would 'grow out of it' as a further 'fobbing off', or dismissal. Many carers were ambivalent about eczema treatments, mainly topical corticosteroids but also emollients. Dietary exclusions as a potential cure were of interest to most families, although they perceived healthcare professionals as uninterested in this. Families varied in the extent to which they felt able to manage eczema and the length of time taken to gain control. In some instances, this was linked to not understanding advice or receiving conflicting advice from different healthcare providers. CONCLUSION Poor concordance with treatments seems unsurprising in the presence of such dissonance between carers' and healthcare providers' agendas. Acknowledging the impact of the condition, greater attention to how key messages are delivered and addressing carers' treatment beliefs are likely to improve engagement with effective self-care.
Inhibitory effects of amide local anaesthetics on stimulus‐induced human leukocyte metabolic activation, LTB4 release and IL‐1 secretion in vitro

The anti‐inflammatory effects of the amide local anaesthetics lidocaine and bupivacaine were evaluated in vitro by examination of the metabolic activation and secretory responses of human polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PMNGs) and mononuclear cells. Pretreatment with lidocaine or bupivacaine had a dose‐dependent inhibitory effect on PMNG luminol‐amplified chemiluminescence stimulated by bovine serum albumin (BSA)/anti‐BSA immune complexes (IC) or by serum‐opsonized zymosan (SOZ) particles. Both lidocaine and bupivacaine inhibited the release of the inflammatory mediators leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) evaluated by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Pretreatment of suspended PMNGs and monocytes with the anaesthetics caused a marked inhibition of LTB4 release when the cells were stimulated with SOZ. In short‐term (24 h) cultures of mononuclear cells the addition of lidocaine or bupivacaine reduced, in a dose‐dependent manner, the level of IL‐1 detected after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In all three assays (chemiluminescence, LTB4 and IL‐1 RIA) bupivacaine was found to be more potent than lidocaine. The present results show that amide local anaesthetics have marked suppressive effects on the metabolic activation and secretory functions of leukocytes stimulated by different agonists. Although the detailed mechanisms for these effects are not known, they may explain part of the potent anti‐inflammatory actions of local anaesthetics previously described in vivo.
Monoclonal antibody that inhibits infection of HeLa and rhabdomyosarcoma cells by selected enteroviruses through receptor blockade

BALB/c mice were immunized with HeLa cells, and their spleen cells were fused with myeloma cells to produce hybridomas. Initial screening of culture fluids from 800 fusion products in a cell protection assay against coxsackievirus B3 (CB3) and the CB3-RD virus variant yielded five presumptive monoclonal antibodies with three specificities: protection against CB3 on HeLa, protection against CB3-RD on rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells, and protection against both viruses on the respective cells. Only one of the monoclonal antibodies (with dual specificity) survived two subclonings and was studied in detail. The antibody was determined to have an immunoglobulin G2a isotype and protected cells by blockade of cellular receptors, since attachment of [35S]methionine-labeled CB3 was inhibited by greater than 90%. The monoclonal antibody protected HeLa cells against infection by CB1, CB3, CB5, echovirus 6, and coxsackievirus A21 and RD cells against CB1-RD, CB3-RD, and CB5-RD virus variants. The monoclonal antibody did not protect either cell type against 16 other immunotypes of picornaviruses. The monoclonal antibody produced only positive fluorescence on those cells which were protected against infection, and 125I-labeled antibody confirmed the specific binding to HeLa and RD cells. The results suggest that this monoclonal antibody possesses some of the receptor specificity of the group B coxsackieviruses.
Diurnal blood pressure curve in children and adolescents

Objective To investigate the diurnal blood pressure curve in healthy normotensive children. Thirty-one children were re-examined after a median interval of 123 days in order to study the reproducibility of the diurnal profile. Subjects Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and conventional blood pressure readings were obtained in 228 normotensive children, whose ages ranged from 6 to 16 years and of whom 116 were boys and 112 girls. Results The conventional blood pressure averaged 99±11/57±9mmHg in boys and 98±12/56±9mmHg in girls (means±SD); the corresponding 24 h pressures were 111±7/66±5mmHg and 109±7/65±5mmHg, respectively. Of the children, 83% had a significant diurnal blood pressure rhythm for systolic pressure and 89% for diastolic pressure. The nocturnal blood pressure fall was normally distributed, averaging 12.0±6.3mmHg systolic and 14.2±5.9mmHg diastolic. There was no evidence for a bimodal distribution. The amplitude of the diurnal blood pressure curve, determined by the Fourier approach, was positively skewed with a mean of 12.5±4.2mmHg for systolic and 14.0±4.1mmHg for diastolic blood pressure. The daily blood pressure maximum occurred at 1344±4h 46 min for systolic and 1321±4h 22min for diastolic blood pressure. For systolic blood pressure the cumulative sum (cusum)-derived circadian alteration magnitude was 1.7±6.2mmHg higher in boys than in girls, whereas the cusum plot height was also 7.3±27.0mmHg x h higher in male subjects. The repeatability coefficient (2 SD of the difference between paired recordings, expressed as a percentage of nearly maximal variation) was 80% for the conventional systolic pressure and 40% for the conventional diastolic blood pressure. The repeatability coefficients for the ambulatory blood pressure levels varied from 32 to 45% and for the parameters describing the diurnal blood pressure profile from 42 to 78%. Conclusion A significant diurnal blood pressure rhythm is observed in most normotensive children and adolescents. There is no evidence for a bimodal distribution of the nocturnal blood pressure fall. The reproducibility of the parameters of the diurnal blood pressure curve tended to be less than that of the ambulatory blood pressure level. Thus, one 24 h recording is probably insufficient to characterize a child's diurnal blood pressure profile fully.
Behavior-Based Pricing: An Analysis of the Impact of Peer-Induced Fairness

Firms tracking consumer purchase information often use behavior-based pricing (BBP), i.e., price discriminate between consumers based on preferences revealed from purchase histories. However, behavioral research has shown that such pricing practices can lead to perceptions of unfairness when consumers are charged a higher price than other consumers for the same product. This paper studies the impact of consumers’ fairness concerns on firms’ behavior-based pricing strategy, profits, consumer surplus, and social welfare. Prior research shows that BBP often yields lower profits than profits without customer recognition or behavior-based price discrimination. By contrast, we find that firms’ profits from conducting BBP increase with consumers’ fairness concerns. When fairness concerns are sufficiently strong, practicing BBP is more profitable than without customer recognition. However, consumers’ fairness concerns decrease consumer surplus. In addition, when consumers’ fairness concerns are sufficiently strong, they reduce inefficient switching and improve social welfare. This paper was accepted by J. Miguel Villas-Boas, marketing .
Freshman design projects in the Foundation Coalition

Many talented engineering students abandon engineering before taking a single engineering course. Herded into large sections of "pre-engineering" mathematics, chemistry and physics courses, many students prove themselves academically but walk away from engineering, disillusioned. Numerous schools have instituted freshmen engineering courses to retain some of these capable but disinterested students in the engineering program. Freshman engineering courses spark students' interest by showing students that engineers communicate, lead and create as well as analyze. One of the most successful ways of showing first-year students the diversity of skills needed to practice engineering is through freshman design projects. The authors have each selected three of their favorite freshmen design projects (a total of fifteen projects) and posted detailed descriptions on the web (www.foundation.ua.edu/projects). This paper provides: a brief description of the freshman programs at each school (the schools are participants in the NSF-sponsored Foundation Coalition); short summaries of each project; and answers to frequently asked questions about freshman design projects.