Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Risk

Epidemiologic and laboratory studies support a role for the vitamin D endocrine system in ovarian carcinogenesis. The association of ovarian cancer risk with polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene, including rs10735810 (FokI), rs11568820 (Cdx-2), rs1544410 (BsmI), rs7975232 (ApaI), rs731236 (TaqI), and BsmI-ApaI-TaqI combined genotypes, was examined among 313 women with epithelial ovarian carcinoma and 574 controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression. The associations of VDR polymorphisms with risk were generally inconsistent across ethnic groups. Among Caucasian women (72 cases, 148 controls), heterozygous and homozygous ApaI A allele carriers were at increased ovarian carcinoma risk compared with homozygous carriers of the ApaI a allele (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.2-7.0 and OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.3-9.1; Ptrend = 0.02). Caucasian heterozygous carriers of FokI f allele were also at increased risk of ovarian carcinoma compared with homozygous carriers of the common allele (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.3-4.8; Ptrend = 0.04). Among Japanese women (94 cases, 173 controls), ovarian cancer risk was significantly decreased (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.9) among Cdx-2 A allele heterozygotes compared with homozygote G allele carriers (Ptrend = 0.03). Compared with the bbaaTT BsmI-ApaI-TaqI genotype, bbaATT and BBAAtt genotypes were associated with increased ovarian cancer risk in Caucasian women (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.3-13.1 and OR 5.2, 95% CI 1.6-17.5), but not in Japanese women (OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.6-1.9 and OR 2.3, 95% CI:0.4-12.3). This investigation provides some evidence that polymorphisms in the VDR gene might influence ovarian cancer susceptibility. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(12):2566–71)
Capillary Filtration and Ankle Edema in Patients with Venous Hypertension Treated with TTFCA

The variation of capillary filtration rate (CFR), ankle circumference (AC), and ankle edema (AE) was evaluated in three groups of patients with venous hypertension (ambulatory venous pressure > 42 mmHg) and in a group of normal subjects before and after treatment for four weeks with Total Triterpenic fraction of Centella Asiatica (TTFCA), a venoactive drug acting on the microcirculation and on capillary permeability. Group A (20 patients) was treated with TTFCA 60 mg tid; Group B (20 patients) was treated with 30 mg tid; Group C (12 patients) was treated with placebo; and Group D (10 normal subjects) was treated with TTFCA 60 mg tid in an open study. Capillary filtration rate was assessed by venous occlusion plethysmography, ankle edema by a new system called AECT (Ankle edema coin tester). Subjective symptoms of venous hypertension were assessed by an analogue scale line considering four symptoms: swelling sensation, restless lower extremity, pain and cramps, and tiredness. CFR, AC, and AE were significantly higher in patients in comparison with normal subjects. After four weeks of TTFCA treatment there was a significant decrease of the abnormally increased CFR, AC, and AECT time in patients. This was also greater in the higher dose group. No significant change was observed in the placebo group and in normal subjects treated with TTFCA. Symptoms were also significantly improved in the two groups treated with the active drug according to the dose. No significant changes were observed in the placebo group. In conclusion the improvement of symptoms by TTFCA observed in patients with venous hypertension was well correlated with the improvement of CFR and ankle edema, and dose ranging showed that 180 mg/day is more effective in improving both symptoms and CFR.
GnRH-induced gonadotrophin secretion in ovariectomized Booroola ewes with hypothalamic\p=m-\pituitary disconnection

Summary. To test whether the F gene-specific differences in the plasma concentrations of FSH and LH are due to differences in the pituitary responsiveness to exogenous GnRH, ovariectomized Booroola ewes with hypothalamic\p=n-\pituitary disconnection (HPD\p=n-\ovx) were treated with GnRH (250 ng i.v.) once every 2 h for up to 5 weeks. In Exp. 1, jugular venous blood was collected once weekly from 13 FF and 14 + + HPD\p=n-\ovx ewes for 6 weeks before GnRH treatment and every 2nd, 3rd or 6th day for 5 weeks during treatment. In Exp. 2, jugular venous blood was collected from another 8 FF and 7 + + HPD\p=n-\ovx ewes at 5- or 10-min intervals over 4 GnRH pulses (250 ng i.v. once every 2 h) on 3 separate occasions after the animals had been subjected to the GnRH pulse regimen for \m=~\7 days beforehand. Also in Exp. 2, the animals were extensively sampled around a larger (10\g=m\g) i.v. injection of GnRH and the pituitary FSH and LH contents assessed after the animals had been re-exposed to the once every 2 h GnRH (250 ng i.v.) pulse regimen for several days following the larger GnRH bolus. In Exp. 3 the distributions of mean plasma concentrations of FSH and LH in individual GnRH-treated HPD\p=n-\ovx ewes were compared with those in ovariectomized and ovary-intact FF and ewes. LH remains uncertain. These data support the hypothesis that at least part of the expression of the F gene is at the level of the pituitary gland to affect its responsiveness to physiological concentrations of GnRH.
Allocation of substance use disorder patients to appropriate levels of care: feasibility of matching guidelines in routine practice in Dutch treatment centres.

AIMS To examine the feasibility of implementing evidence-based guidelines for patient-treatment-matching to levels of care in two Dutch substance abuse treatment centres. DESIGN Multi-centre observational follow-up study. SETTING Two large substance abuse treatment centres (SATCs). PARTICIPANTS All 4394 referrals to the two SATCs in 2003. MEASUREMENTS Baseline patient characteristics needed for treatment allocation according to protocol, treatment allocation according to matching protocol, treatment allocation according to actual level of care (LOC) entered. ANALYSIS Comparison of recommended and actual LOC entered. Evaluation of reasons for observed differences between recommended and actual LOC entered. FINDINGS Data needed for treatment allocation according to protocol were available for 2269 (51.6%) patients. Data needed for evaluation of actual LOC entered were available for 1765 (40.2%) patients. Of these patients, 1089 (60.8%) were allocated according to protocol: 48.4% based on the guideline algorithm and 12.4% based on clinically justified deviations from this algorithm. The main reason for deviation was a different appraisal of addiction severity, made by the intake counsellor compared to the protocol. CONCLUSION The feasibility of guideline-based treatment allocation is seriously limited due to inadequate data collection of patient characteristics and suboptimal guideline-based treatment allocation. As a consequence, only 24.4% of the patients could be evaluated as being matched properly to the treatment planned. The results indicate several barriers which limit the adequate implementation of patient-treatment-matching guidelines: problems in the infrastructure of data collection and storage and the inertia of intake staff who did not adhere to the guidelines for assessment and matching.
Sperm DNA fragmentation testing in patients with subclinical varicocele: is there any evidence?

The commentary by Drs. Herati and Lamb towards the clinical utility of sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) testing article by Agarwal et al. (1) offers valuable views enriching the debate on this subject. The authors recognized the drawbacks of the conventional semen analysis results in accurately predicting the true male fertility potential, and acknowledged the value that sperm function tests, like SDF, might offer in this regards. As for its applicability in varicocele patients, the authors went further proposing the utilization of SDF in patients with subclinical varicocele to help in selecting men who will ultimately benefit from varicocelectomy. Finally, they highlighted the recommendations of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) (2) suggesting that due to “…SDF testing’s low predictive ability of pregnancy outcomes, lack of validation between studies, and overall insufficient evidence correlating sperm DNA integrity and reproductive outcomes. ” , caution should be practiced before utilizing this test for assisted reproductive treatments (ART).
Hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia.

BACKGROUND Hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia is a variant of aplastic anemia in which aplastic anemia follows an acute attack of hepatitis. The aplastic anemia, however, is often fatal if untreated. To characterize the illness, investigate the role of hepatitis viruses, and assess the response to immunosuppressive treatment, we studied patients with the syndrome who were referred to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). METHODS Standard hematologic and biochemical tests and measurements of bone marrow cellularity were used to monitor the patients' response to treatment. Serum was assayed for antibodies and antigens related to hepatitis A, B, and C viruses and for the RNA of hepatitis C and GB virus C by the polymerase chain reaction. All patients were treated with antithymocyte globulin and cyclosporine. RESULTS Ten patients with hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia were referred to the NIH between 1990 and 1996; all had the typical features of this syndrome. There was evidence of activated CD8 T lymphocytes in the blood. Serologic tests for hepatitis A, B, and C viruses were negative; RNA of hepatitis C virus was undetectable in all patients, but RNA of GB virus C was detected in three patients. Seven of the patients responded to intensive immunosuppressive treatment; the three who did not respond all died within one year of treatment, two from complications of stem-cell or marrow transplantation. CONCLUSIONS The hepatitis of the hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia does not appear to be caused by any of the known hepatitis viruses. We recommend immunosuppressive treatment for patients who do not have an HLA-matched related donor available for bone marrow transplantation. Several features of the syndrome suggest that it is mediated by immunopathologic mechanism.
Inflammation and hypertension: the search for a link.

The last decade has shown an increase in the relevance of inflammation and its mediators in vascular biology; thus, the role of inflammation during atherogenesis is now amatter of intense investigation [1,2]. Basic science studies proved that elements belonging to both innate and adaptive immunity can be involved in the formation, progression and complication of atherosclerosis [2]. Plasma levels of circulating inflammatory molecules, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), have been shown to be predictive of future cardiovascular disease (CVD), and drugs which modify their levels can reduce the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke [3]. It has been known for years that hypertension represents an important risk factor for CVD and its treatment is mandatory to prevent future adverse events. To date, however, very little data are available concerning a potential link between inflammation and hypertension. Inflammation and hypertension may share some pathophysiological mechanisms, and this raises the question of whether the treatment of one of the two conditions could have some impact on the other.
Does a pregnant woman's intended place of birth influence her attitudes toward and occurrence of obstetric interventions?

BACKGROUND A home confinement with midwifery care is still an integral part of Dutch maternity care. It has been argued that the existence of home birth itself influences the course of the birth process positively, which is why obstetric interventions are low in comparison with neighboring countries. This study examined the impact of women's intended place of birth (home or hospital) and the course of pregnancy and labor when attended by midwives. METHODS This is a prospective study of 625 low-risk pregnant women, gestation 20 to 24 weeks, enrolled in 25 independently working midwifery practices. The course of labor was measured by the frequency of interventions by midwives and obstetricians. RESULTS A more non-technological approach to childbirth was observed within the women opting for a home birth compared with the women opting for a hospital birth. Data showed a relationship between interventions and planned birth site: sweeping membranes and amniotomy by midwives were more likely to be conducted in women opting for a home birth. Multiparas opting for hospital birth were more likely to experience consultations and referrals. Within the group of multiparas referred for obstetrician care, women intending to have a home birth experienced fewer interventions (e.g., induction, augmentation, pharmacologic pain relief, assisted delivery, cesarean section) compared with those who had opted for a hospital birth. CONCLUSIONS A large proportion of women desire a home birth. The impact of that choice demonstrated a smoother course of the birth process, compared with women who desired to deliver in the hospital, as measured by fewer obstetric interventions. We suggest that psychological factors (expectation and perceptions) influence both a woman's decision of birthplace and the actual birth process.
The effects of NOD activation on adipocyte differentiation

Obesity is associated with chronic inflammation. Toll‐like receptors (TLR) and NOD‐like receptors (NLR) are two families of pattern recognition receptors that play important roles in immune response and inflammation in adipocytes. It has been reported that TLR4 and TLR2 activation induce proinflammatory changes that impair adipocyte differentiation. However, the effects of activation of NOD1 and NOD2, the two prominent members of NLR, on adipocyte differentiation have not been studied.
Decreased Maternal Cardiac Glucose Oxidation: Taking One for the Fetus.

During pregnancy, there are several coordinated and dynamic maternal adaptations that take place to meet the demands of the growing and developing fetus. This includes significant physiological, endocrine, and metabolic adaptations that produce a diabetogenic state of progressive insulin resistance.1,2 It is thought that these metabolic adaptations occur so that nutrients, such as glucose, are conserved and directed toward the fetus to sustain its constant nutritional and oxygen requirements. Pregnancy is also associated with significant physiological remodeling of the cardiovascular system, which includes increases in ventricular wall mass, ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial contractility, and cardiac compliance.1,2 These cardiac adaptations combined with an increase in heart rate and cardiac output further ensure the optimization of nutrient and oxygen delivery to the growing fetus. Although the maternal cardiovascular and metabolic adaptations that allow for optimal nutrient delivery to the fetus during pregnancy are well understood, one particular area where knowledge is lacking in pregnancy relates to maternal cardiac energy metabolism profiles. Because pregnancy results in an increased maternal cardiac hypertrophy, and both physiological and pathophysiological cardiac hypertrophy are associated with several alterations in myocardial energy metabolism,3,4 it is likely that pregnancy-associated cardiac hypertrophy is also accompanied by altered myocardial metabolism. In support of this, in this issue of Circulation Research , Liu et al5 provide evidence that the cardiac hypertrophy associated with late pregnancy is associated with reductions in myocardial glucose oxidation rates and increases in fatty acid oxidation rates (Figure). Article, see p 1370 Figure. Cardiac energy metabolism during pregnancy. The study by Liu et al demonstrates that pregnancy-induced cardiac hypertrophy is associated with alterations in myocardial energy metabolism mimicking that observed in the heart during obesity and diabetes mellitus with an increase in fatty acid oxidation rates and a decrease in …
Performance Evaluation of BATMAN Routing Protocol for VoIP Services: A QoE Perspective

MANETs are experiencing unstoppable growth due to their decentralized topology and their easy and low-cost deployment. The dynamic nature of MANETs entails the use of appropriate routing protocols to obtain good performance in the services supported by the network; even more if these services present tough temporal requirements, such as multimedia or VoIP services. One routing protocol to which notable research effort has been devoted is the BATMAN protocol, which proposes an interesting paradigm avoiding the explicit interchange of routing information among nodes. In this paper, we focus on evaluating the performance of BATMAN supporting VoIP traffic on low power-consumption nodes, from a Quality of Experience (QoE) point of view. Specifically, we evaluate the impact on BATMAN performance of 1) the PHY layer, by employing a fading characterization of the transmission channel; 2) the number and density of ad-hoc nodes; and 3) node mobility. All the results obtained for BATMAN are compared with those attained by using the widely used OLSR routing protocol. From the results, we conclude that neither BATMAN nor OLSR in their respective current implementations are suitable enough for VoIP traffic support in MANETs composed of energy-saving nodes.
Reconciliation of work and private life : a comparative review of thirty European countries

Daniele Meulders & Sile O’Dorchai, Belgium (BE) Roselyn Borg, Malta (MT) Alena Křižkova, Hana Mařikova and Radka Janneke Plantenga, the Netherlands (NL) Dudova, the Czech Republic (CZ) Ingrid Mairhuber, Austria (AT) Ruth Emerek, Denmark (DK) Ania Plomien, Poland (PL) Friederike Maier, Germany (DE) Virginia Ferreira, Portugal (PT) Anu Laas, Estonia (EE) Aleksandra Kanjuo Mrcela, Slovenia (SI) Maria Karamessini, Greece (EL) Magdalena Piscova, Slovakia (SK) Maria Luisa Molto, Spain (ES) Anna-Maija Lehto, Finland (FI) Rachel Silvera, France (FR) Asa Lofstrom, Sweden (SE) Ursula Barry, Sonja Tiernan and Catherine Colette Fagan, Rory Donnelly and Jill Conlon, Ireland (IE) Rubery, the United Kingdom (UK) Paola Villa, Italy (IT) Lilja Mosesdottir, Iceland (IS) Alexia Panayiotou, Cyprus (CY) Ulrike Papouschek, Lichtenstein (LI) Ilze Trapenciere, Latvia (LV) Anne Lise Ellingsaeter, Norway (NO) Vida Kanopiene, Lithuania (LT) Iskra Beleva, Bulgaria (BU) Robert Plasman & Salimata Sissoko, Luxembourg (LU) Elena Zamfir, Romania (RO) Beata Nagy, Hungary (HU)
Optimum permutation modulation codes and their asymptotic performance (Corresp.)

Permutation modulation codes are a class of group codes for the Gaussian channel whose codewords are obtained by permuting the components of a given initial vector X in Euclidean n -dimensional space. In this paper, the problem of choosing the components of X in such a way that the minimum distance between any two codewords is maximized is solved. In particular, a closed-form expression is obtained for this minimum distance and is used to investigate the asymptotic behavior of some selected codes.
Expression and production of aberrant PAX5 with deletion of exon 8 in B‐lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia of children

We investigated PAX5 expression in childhood B‐lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Seven of 21 children with B‐lineage ALL had multiple PAX5 variants, while 14 children and healthy controls showed full‐length (FL) and one variant PAX5. By Western blotting, healthy controls displayed Pax5‐FL, while one short Pax5, derived from the deletion of exon 8 (Pax5‐ΔE8) was produced in 90% of ALL samples, as well as in ALL cell lines. PAX5‐ΔE8 lacked more than 50% of the transactivation domain, indicating that aberrant Pax5 production might lead to the arrest of B‐cell differentiation, contributing to the pathogenesis of B‐lineage ALL.
Starting Position of Movement and Perception of Angle of Trunk Flexion While Standing with Eyes Closed

The present study attempted to investigate the effect of position on the perception of angle of trunk flexion while standing. For this purpose, the range effect was factored out by setting the constant target angle at 10°, with varied starting positions of trunk flexion. We found that subjects underestimated angle of trunk flexion when the starting position was close to a quiet standing posture, overestimated when close to maximum trunk flexion, and correctly perceived it when at the middle position. Less perceptual distortion was observed at the positions close to maximum trunk flexion in the present study than in our previous one, in which various target angles of trunk flexion were reproduced from a quiet standing posture. The reduced distortion in the present study was believed to have resulted from factoring out the range effect. The flexion angle of the hip joint changed in tandem with that of the trunk, while very little movement was observed in the ankle, knee, and neck joints. Judging from the changing pattern of hip-joint angle, the muscle activity of the erector Spinae and biceps femoris increased gradually to 90° trunk flexion. In contrast, the actual increment of muscle activity reached zero or a minimum value at the middle angles as the angle of trunk flexion increased. It was assumed that the abrupt change in kinesthetic information associated with muscle activity exerted a great influence on the perception of trunk flexion.
Naloxone depresses cocaine self-administration and delays its initiation on the following day

While dopamine mechanisms play a crucial role in cocaine-taking behavior, the contribution of endogenous opioid systems is less clear. We assessed the effects of opioid receptor blockade by naloxone (1 mg/kg, s.c.) on the daily performance and subsequent initiation of cocaine self-administration in trained rats. Naloxone decreased self-administration rate by approximately half, with the effect varying from complete blockade to no change. On the day following naloxone treatment, the latencies from the drug availability cue to the first self-administration were consistently longer than before naloxone treatment. Measurement of brain temperature and behavioral observations suggested a lower than normal level of motivational arousal as a factor for slow initiation of cocaine-taking behavior. After the first drug infusion, however, performance was uniformly normal. These data suggest endogenous opioid systems play a role in cocaine-taking behavior and indicate a residual inhibitory consequence of naloxone treatment on the initiation of this behavior.
SUSTAINABLE DRAINAGE A Review of Published Material on the Performance of Various SUDS Components

This review does not make any claim to be comprehensive, nor to include all those references which are significant. It is an attempt to draw attention to those publications which have appeared in conference proceedings and journals which most frequently contain outputs of relevance to sustainable drainage in the UK and overseas. Readers are advised to review the references given in the papers cited as these are not necessarily listed in this review and may give valuable additional information.