Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased endothelial cell adhesion on plasma modified nanostructured polymeric and metallic surfaces for vascular stent applications

Techniques to regenerate the vasculature have risen considerably over the last few decades due to the increased clinical diagnosis of artery narrowing and blood vessel blockage. Although initially re‐establishing blood flow, current small diameter vascular regenerative materials often eventually cause thrombosis and restenosis due to a lack of initial endothelial cell coverage on such materials. The objective of this in vitro study was to evaluate commonly used vascular materials (specifically, polyethylene terephthalate, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, nylon, commercially pure titanium, and a titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V)) modified using an ionic plasma deposition (IPD) process and a nitrogen ion implantation plasma deposition (NIIPD) process. Such surface modifications have been previously shown to create nanostructured surface features which mimic the natural nanostructured surface features of blood vessels. The modified and unmodified surfaces were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and surface energy measurements. Furthermore, in vitro endothelial cell adhesion tests (a key first step for vascular material endothelialization) demonstrated increased endothelial cell adhesion on many modified (with IPD and NIIPD + IPD) compared to unmodified samples. In general, endothelial cell adhesion increased with nanoroughness and surface energy but demonstrated a decreased endothelial cell adhesion trend after an optimal coating surface energy value was reached. Thus, results from this study provided materials and a versatile surface modification process that can potentially increase endothelialization faster than current unmodified (conventional) polymer and metallic vascular materials. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;103: 459–471. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Effect of Ramadan Fasting on Biochemical Parameters in Healthy Thai Subjects.

Introduction Although, the effect of Ramadan fasting on the risks for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) has been reported in several studies, the results were inconsistent. In addition, the effect of Ramadan fasting on biochemical parameters in Thai subjects has not been evaluated. Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Ramadan fasting on anthropometry, blood pressure, Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG), lipid profiles, and body composition in healthy Thai subjects. Materials and Methods A total of 65 healthy subjects (21 men and 44 women) aged between 19-24 years were randomly recruited. Anthropometry, blood pressure, FBG, Total Cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TG), High Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDL-C), Low Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (LDL-C), and body composition were measured before Ramadan, end of Ramadan and after one month of Ramadan. Results There were no changes in anthropometry, blood pressure, lipid profiles and body composition in both genders before Ramadan, end of Ramadan and after one month of Ramadan. Nevertheless, FBG levels were significantly increased after one month of Ramadan compared with baseline (5.09±0.50 versus 4.83±0.38 mmol/L, p=0.016, respectively) in women. Conclusion The Ramadan fasting did not affect the lipid, anthropometric and body composition in healthy Thai subjects. However, the increased FBG levels after one month of Ramadan were observed in women. To improve the favourable biochemical parameters after Ramadan fasting, the lifestyle modifications such as, increased intake of healthy diets and increased physical activity should be recommended.
Inhaled nitric oxide increases endothelin-1 levels: A potential cause of rebound pulmonary hypertension

Objective Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is front-line therapy for pulmonary hypertension after repair of congenital heart disease. However, little clinical data exists regarding the effects of iNO on regulators of pulmonary vascular resistance. An imbalance between primary vasodilators, such as NO, and vasoconstrictors, such as endothelin-1 (ET-1), has been implicated in rebound pulmonary hypertension upon iNO withdrawal. The objective of this study was to determine whether iNO therapy alters plasma ET-1 levels. Design This is a prospective study involving pediatric and adult patients at risk for pulmonary hypertension. Setting Pediatric patients were in the cardiac intensive care unit and adult patients were in a tertiary-care hospital. Patients Group 1 included children with congenital heart disease requiring iNO for treatment of pulmonary hypertension after cardiopulmonary bypass (n = 15), group 2 was adults receiving iNO (n = 10), and group 3 included children at risk for pulmonary hypertension after bypass that did not require iNO (n = 8). Interventions Dosages of iNO were 2–60 ppm. The duration of therapy ranged from 23 to 188 hrs in group 1 and 29 to 108 hrs in group 2. Measurements and Main Results Arterial blood was obtained for the measurement of ET-1 levels before and during iNO therapy and 24 hrs after iNO withdrawal. Group 1 mean ET-1 levels increased to 127% of baseline by 12 hrs of iNO, remained elevated at 48 hrs (p < .05), then decreased to 71% of iNO levels 24 hrs after withdrawal (p < .01). Group 2 ET-1 levels increased to 147%, and 137% of baseline at 12 and 24 hrs of iNO therapy, then fell to 68% of baseline within 24 hrs of discontinuing iNO. ET-1 levels in group 3 decreased after surgery (p < .05). Conclusions These data suggest that iNO increased plasma ET-1 levels, which subsequently decreased when iNO was discontinued. Increased circulating ET-1 levels might contribute to rebound pulmonary hypertension upon iNO withdrawal.
[Effect of clozapine and risperidone on serum cytokine levels in patients with first-episode paranoid schizophrenia].

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of clozapine and risperidone on serum cytokine levels in patients with first-episode paranoid schizophrenia, and explore the role of the cytokines in the psychopathological basis of the illness. METHOD Fifty-eight patients with first-episode paranoid schizophrenia were treated with either clozapine or risperidone, and before and at the end of the 4th, 8th weeks and 6th months after the medication respectively, the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, 2, 18,and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the psychotic symptoms. RESULT In patients treated with risperidone, the levels of serum IL-6 and IL-2 after 4 weeks, TNFalpha after 8 weeks, and IL-18 after 6 months were all significantly lowered in comparison with the pretreatment levels (P<0.01 or 0.05). In clozapine group, the levels of IL-2 after 4 weeks and IL-6 and IL-18 after 6 months were lowered significantly (P<0.01 or 0.05). Before the medication, serum IL-6 level was positively correlated with Positive Syndrome scores (r=0.386, P<0.01), IL-2 with the total score and Positive Syndrome scores (r=0.338, 0.305; P<0.01, 0.05), and TNFalpha with the total score (r=0.283, P<0.05). The changes of IL-2 and IL-6 after 8 weeks was positively correlated with the change of Positive Syndrome scores (r=0.268, 0.375; P<0.05, 0.01). Six months after the medication, the change in IL-6 and TNFalpha levels was positively correlated with the change of total score (r=0.365, 0.362; P<0.05). Before treatment, IL-6 was positively correlated with IL-2 levels (r=0.356, P<0.01), and TNFalpha with IL-18 levels (r=0.291, P<0.05). TNFalpha was positively correlated with IL-6 levels (r=0.332, P<0.01) 8 weeks after the medication. The changes in IL-6 was positively correlated with the those in IL-2 levels 6 months after the medication (r=0.391, P< 0.05). CONCLUSION Clozapine and risperidone have similar immunosuppression actions and may affect serum IL-6 levels in patients with paranoid schizophrenia, in the psychopathology of which the cytokines play their roles of various importance.
New Techniques in the Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to differentiate into cells of the three primary germ layer lineages, ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. The most studied type of pluripotent stem cells are embryonic stem cells (ESC), cells derived from the inner cell mass of embryos at the blastocyst stage of development (Evans and Kaufman, 1981; Martin, 1981; Thomson et al., 1998). The pluripotent property of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) makes them useful for the development of cellular therapies to replace diseased or degenerated cells in the body. Moreover, hESC also possess the ability to propagate indefinitely in vitro while maintaining a normal karyotype, and thus can provide an unlimited source of cells for the development of cell replacement therapies (Pera et al., 2000). However, one of the major hurdles in hESC research has been the ethical implications of using stem cells derived from embryos. Furthermore, generation of patient-specific stem cell lines may overcome some of the issues associated with immuno-compatibility in cell replacement therapy. The breakthrough studies conducted by Shinya Yamanaka’s group demonstrated direct reprogramming of mouse or human fibroblasts back to pluripotent cells, creating so-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) (Takahashi et al., 2007; Takahashi and Yamanaka, 2006). Studies of iPSC revolutionized stem cell research by creating a more reproducible method to generate sufficient amounts of patient-specific pluripotent cells and bypassing the ethical implications surrounding research utilizing human embryos. iPSC also provide an alternative approach to generate disease-specific lines for mechanistic studies in disease modeling, as well as high throughput screening for drug discovery or toxicology studies (Amabile and Meissner, 2009). As the area of iPSC research is rapidly evolving, this review aims to summarize and discuss the current techniques used for the generation of iPSC.
Agricultural Sprayer Standards and Prospects for Development of Standards for other Farm Machinery

In most developing countries the process of delivering pesticides to the target (i.e. application of pesticides) is not well understood nor is it generally well managed. A number of factors contribute to this situation, among them are a lack of adequate policies and legislation, lack of education resulting in poor knowledge, lack of research and capital availability, many and varied pest problems, and socio-economic problems. This results in an inadequate management of pests on one side, and an overuse of pesticides leading to serious environmental and health problems and high pest control costs on the other. Following European experience, legislation on pesticide application appears to be an area of priority. The introduction and enforcement of equipment safety standards is only one component but this has to be complemented with others, such as formal education and training as well as periodic inspections of sprayers to ensure safe working conditions. The requirement for safety standards for other agricultural machines becomes important as the level of mechanization rises. Suitable basic standards and test procedures are mostly available at an international level and need not be reinvented at national level. However, appropriate national legislation is required to enforce these international safety standards.
A spectroscopic and thermodynamic study of Taxol nucleic acid complexes.

The interactions of natural and synthetic polynucleotide double strands with the antitumor agent paclitaxel and the oncological product "Taxol for Injection Concentrate" (abbreviated as taxol) were examined in diluted aqueous solutions by thermal denaturation profiles (Tm), CD spectra and UV-absorption measurements. Furthermore, DNA-paclitaxel and -taxol complexes in condensed nucleic acid solutions were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. As polynucleotides alternating and homologous poly[d(AT)] and poly[d(GC)] and calf thymus DNA were used. The results point to stabilizing interactions of paclitaxel to AT nucleotides, whereas in the presence of GC base pairings no interaction took place. Thereby the interaction to homologous (dA). (dT)-tracts seems to be preferred.
Efficient Estimation of Time-Invariant and Rarely Changing Variables in Finite Sample Panel Analyses with Unit Fixed Effects

This paper suggests a three-stage procedure for the estimation of time-invariant and rarely changing variables in panel data models with unit effects. The first stage of the proposed estimator runs a fixed-effects model to obtain the unit effects, the second stage breaks down the unit effects into a part explained by the time-invariant and/or rarely changing variables and an error term, and the third stage reestimates the first stage by pooled OLS (with or without autocorrelation correction and with or without panel-corrected SEs) including the time-invariant variables plus the error term of stage 2, which then accounts for the unexplained part of the unit effects. We use Monte Carlo simulations to compare the finite sample properties of our estimator to the finite sample properties of competing estimators. In doing so, we demonstrate that our proposed technique provides the most reliable estimates under a wide variety of specifications common to real world data.
Passive sampling.

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Intravenous Clomipramine and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

A 62 year old woman presented with a long history of obsessive-compulsive disorder, the symptoms of which were not adequately controlled by oral clomipramine. The patient was started on intravenous clomipramine. Drug levels of both clomipramine and its active metabolite desmethylclomipramine were measured. Symptoms were controlled during her hospital stay. A three year follow-up report indicated the patient is doing well with no evidence of obsessive-compulsive or depressive symptoms. A discussion of the blood levels obtained and the caution to be exercised during intravenous administration is presented.
Return to oestrus after first insemination in sow herds (incidence, seasonality, and association with reproductivity and some blood parameters).

As no systematic study has been done to get an accurate estimate of the incidence of return to oestrus after first insemination in sows in the Netherlands, the objectives of this investigation were: 1) to obtain an estimate of the incidence of return to oestrus after insemination at the herd level; 2) to investigate the association between incidence of return to oestrus after first insemination and reproduction characteristics in order to get an impression of the economic importance of reproductive failure. These objectives were investigated by using the reproduction results of 240 swine breeding herds in the Southern Netherlands in 1987. This information was obtained from CBK plus computerized herd management records. The average incidence rate of return to oestrus after first insemination at a herd level was 16.9 per 100 first inseminations. The occurrence of return to oestrus after first insemination was distinctly higher in the insemination months July and August compared to the rest of the year. An increased incidence, with 10 returns per 100 first inseminations corrected for confounders in a multiple linear regression model, was associated with a decrease of approximately 0.3 live born piglets/sow/year. A prospective longitudinal study was started in 1988 and 1989 in 37 sow herds. Individual sows were monitored from weaning to first insemination, to the occurrence of return to oestrus, or not, after first insemination, and to farrowing. The investigation focused in particular on the relationship between return to oestrus after first insemination and seroconversion against porcine parvovirus (PPV) and Leptospira interrogans serovar bratislava (L. bratislava). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Beta-cell response during a meal test: a comparative study of incremental doses of repaglinide in type 2 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of incremental doses of repaglinide on postprandial insulin and glucose profiles after a standard 500-kcal test meal. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Sixteen diet-treated Caucasians with type 2 diabetes (mean HbA(1c) 8.4%) were enrolled in this randomized, open-label, crossover trial. Subjects received 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 mg repaglinide or placebo in a random fashion, followed by a standard 500-kcal test meal on 5 separate study days, 1 week apart. RESULTS The insulinogenic index (DeltaI30/DeltaG30) and insulin area under the curve (AUC) from 0 to 30 min (AUC(0-30)) were higher with the 4-mg drug dose compared with the two lower doses and with 2 mg compared with 0.5 mg. On subgroup analysis, the incremental insulin responses were apparent only in the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) < 9-mmol/l subgroup of subjects and not in the FPG >9-mmol/l subgroup. There was a significant dose-related increase in the late postprandial insulin secretion (insulin AUC(120-240)), which resulted in hypoglycemia in four subjects. Proinsulin-to-insulin ratios at 30 and 60 min improved with increasing doses of repaglinide; higher drug doses (2 and 4 mg) were more effective than the 0.5- and 1-mg doses. CONCLUSIONS Significant dose-related increases in early insulin secretion were found only in less advanced diabetic subjects. In advanced diabetic patients, only the maximum dose (4 mg) was significant compared with placebo. Better proinsulin-to-insulin processing was noted with increasing drug doses.
INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY IN THREE CULTURALLY CONTRASTING STATES OF INDIA

Using cross-sectional, individual-level survey data from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh collected under the Indian National Family Health Survey programme of 1992–93, statistical modelling was used to analyse the impact of a range of variables on the survival status of children during their first 2 years of life. Attention was focused on the potential impact of the mother’s autonomy. The strongest predictors of mortality were demographic and biological factors, breast-feeding behaviour, and use and knowledge of health services. Variables that can be interpreted as being related to maternal autonomy, such as the presence of a mother-in-law in the household, did not have a significant direct effect on child survival at the individual level, and their indirect effects were very limited.
Posttranscriptional Defects in p-Globin Messenger RNA Metabolism in ,f-Thalassemia ABNORMAL ACCUMULATION OF p-MESSENGER RNA PRECURSOR SEQUENCES

A B S T R A C T The production of ,B-globin messenger RNA (mRNA) in /3-thalassemic erythroblasts was studied during pulse-chase incubations with [3H]uridine. Globin [3H]mRNA was quantitated by molecular hybridization to recombinant DNA probes complementary to globin mRNA and mRNA precursor sequences. Each of six patients with ,8+-thalassemia produced normal amounts of globin a and ,8 [3H]mRNA during a 20-min pulse incubation, but the 1/3a [3H]mRNA ratio declined to steady-state levels during a chase incubation, suggesting posttranscriptional defects in ,3-globin mRNA metabolism. ,/-globin mRNA precursor production was estimated by measurement of [3H]RNA sequences hybridizing to a pure DNA probe containing only the large intervening sequence (intron) of the /8-mRNA precursor. Four of the patients exhibited abnormal accumulation of 3H-,8-intron sequences (2-10 times normal), indicating abnormal posttranscriptional processing. In the remaining two patients, one ofwhom is known to carry a mutation in the small intron of the ,3-globin gene, accumulation of large 3H p3_ntron RNA and ,3-globin [3H]mRNA was normal in nuclei, but the ratio of,//a [3H]mRNA in cytoplasm was reduced, suggesting a different posttranscriptional defect in /3-mRNA processing. These findings imply the existence of heterogeneous posttranscriptional abnormalities in /8-globin mRNA metabolism in different patients with ,8-thalassemia. The initial rates of y- and 8-mRNA synthesis were low in all patients, suggesting that the low Preliminary results of these studies were presented at the National Meeting of the American Society for Clinical In-vestigation, 25-27 April 1981, San Francisco, Calif. (Clin. Res. 29: 512a [Abstr.]). sub-tracting control per washed the individual probes. Measurements of globin synthesis and steady-state mRNA levels. Globin biosynthesis was measured by incubating intact bone marrow cells and/or reticulocytes with [3H]leucine, as described (21, 22). Measurements of the steady-state amounts of globin mRNA present in the bone marrow aspirates at the time the sample was taken were accomplished by saturation hybridization techniques, using [32P]deoxy cytidine triphosphate (dCTP) purified a- and 83-cDNA (specific activity 8 x 107 cpm/,ug cDNA) under stringent hybridization conditions (78°C, 0.2 M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 6.8, 0.5% SDS); the methods used were those described by us earlier (22, 27). The steady-state S/a-mRNA ratios in total erythroblast RNA were measured by comparing the slopes of the saturation hybridization curves. The values presented in Results were determined using the same pulse-labeled RNA preparations used to detect newly synthesized
Lens Epithelial Cells Express CD95 and CD95 Ligand Treatment Induces Cell death and DNA Fragmentation in Vitro

Purpose Despite advances in intraocular lens design and material, posterior capsule opacification remains one of the major problems in modern cataract surgery. Therefore, the use of antiproliferative agents has been advocated. CD95 ligand (CD95L, Fas, Apo-1) is a death ligand that triggers apoptosis in susceptible target cells. Apoptosis allows for the safe disposal of cells without damaging the surrounding tissue. The goal of this study was to characterize and evaluate CD95L-induced cell death in cultured lens epithelial cells (LEC). Methods Expression of CD95 in untreated porcine LEC was investigated by flow cyto metry. Cell death after CD95L or CD95 agonistic antibody treatment was assessed by crystal violet assay and DNA fragmentation was measured by comet assay. Results The presence of CD95 was observed in LEC. CD95L treatment resulted in a time-and concentration-dependent killing of LEC, which was synergistically enhanced by the addition of cyclohexamide. CD95L treatment induced DNA fragmentation. Conclusions The present study confirms the use of apoptosis-inducing CD95L in the inhibition of LEC proliferation. Further studies are needed before clinical application of CD95L to inhibit posterior capsule opacification will be feasible.