Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation following coronary artery bypass surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To identify the typical duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation following coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), and to identify risk factors for prolonged postoperative ventilation. DESIGN Retrospective study of 4,863 consecutive patients using univariate and multivariate survival analysis to identify independent risk factors. SETTING Saint Thomas Hospital, Nashville, TN, a 575-bed, academically affiliated, regional referral hospital specializing in cardiovascular diseases. PATIENTS All patients undergoing CABG in our hospital from January 1, 1996, to December 31, 1997. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Duration of mechanical ventilation and mortality were measured. More than 94% of the patients were extubated in the first 3 days following surgery, 4% more were extubated from postoperative days 4 to 14, and almost 2% were receiving ventilation for > 14 days. Those risk factors that reflect preoperative medical instability, especially cardiac or respiratory insufficiency, were associated with the highest incidence of prolonged postoperative mechanical ventilation and for operative mortality. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons-predicted mortality estimate was the best single independent predictor for prolonged postoperative ventilation. CONCLUSIONS Typically, patients can be expected to be extubated within 3 days after CABG. Certain preoperative comorbidities, especially preoperative cardiac or respiratory instability, are predictive of prolonged postoperative mechanical ventilation.
Growth, Metabolic, And Antibody Production Kinetics Of Hybridoma Cell Culture: 1. Analysis Of Data From Controlled Batch Reactors

A mouse‐mouse hybridoma cell line (167.4G5.3) was cultivated in a 1.5‐L stirred‐tank bioreactor under constant pH and dissolved oxygen concentration. The transient kinetics of cell growth, metabolism, and antibody production were followed by biochemical and flow cytometric methods. The cell‐specific kinetic parameters (growth and metabolic rates) as well as cell size were constant throughout the exponential phase. Intracellular protein and RNA content followed a similar trend. Cell growth stopped when the glutamine in the medium was depleted. Glucose could not substitute for glutamine, as glucose consumption ceased after glutamine depletion. Ammonia and lactate production followed closely glutamine and glucose consumption, respectively. Alanine, glutamate, serine, and glycine were produced but other amino acids were consumed. The cells are estimated to obtain about 45% of the total energy from glycolysis, with the balance of the metabolic energy provided by oxidative phosphorylation. The antibody was produced at a constant rate in both the exponential and decline phases of growth. The intracellular antibody content of the cells remained relatively constant during the exponential phase of growth and decreased slightly afterwards.
Effects of sugar-free chewing gum sweetened with xylitol or maltitol on the development of gingivitis and plaque: a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to test the effect of sugar-free chewing gum sweetened with xylitol or maltitol compared to the use of a gum base or no gum on gingivitis and plaque scores under both brushing and non-brushing circumstances. METHODS The design of the study was a four-group, double-blinded, randomized controlled study with a 3-week duration. In each group, the participants did not brush the teeth in the lower jaw designated to develop experimental gingivitis, while maintaining normal oral hygiene procedures in the upper jaw. After professional dental prophylaxis, the participants were allocated into one of four groups (xylitol, maltitol, gum base or no gum). Chewing gum was used five times a day for 10 min. RESULTS 220 participants completed the study and provided evaluable data. The increase in bleeding on marginal probing (BOMP) and plaque scores (PS) in the non-brushed (lower) jaw with experimental gingivitis was significant in all groups (P < 0.001). As compared to the gum base, the increase in BOMP in the xylitol and maltitol group was significantly lower. In the brushed upper jaw, no significant changes for BOMP were observed from the baseline to the end point of the study, and there were no significant differences in BOMP and PS between the groups. CONCLUSION In circumstances where regular brushing is performed, no effect of chewing gum was observed on bleeding and plaque scores. In the absence of brushing, chewing xylitol or maltitol gum provided a significant inhibitory effect on gingivitis scores compared to chewing gum base. The difference when compared to the group not using gum was not significant.
Pathway analysis, engineering, and physiological considerations for redirecting central metabolism.

The rate and yield of producing a metabolite is ultimately limited by the ability to channel metabolic fluxes from central metabolism to the desired biosynthesis pathway. Redirection of central metabolism thus is essential to high-efficiency production of biochemicals. This task begins with pathway analysis, which considers only the stoichiometry of the reaction networks but not the regulatory mechanisms. An approach extended from convex analysis is used to determine the basic reaction modes, which allows the determination of optimal and suboptimal flux distributions, yield, and the dispensable sets of reactions. Genes responsible for reactions in the same dispensable set can be deleted simultaneously. This analysis serves as an initial guideline for pathway engineering. Using this analysis, we successfully constructed an Escherichia coli strain that can channel the metabolic flow from carbohydrate to the aromatic pathway with theoretical yield. This analysis also predicts a novel cycle involving phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxykinase (Pck) and the glyoxylate shunt, which can substitute the tricarboxylic acid cycle with only slightly less efficiency. However, the full cycle could not be confirmed in vivo, possibly because of the regulatory mechanism not considered in the pathway analysis.In addition to the kinetic regulation, we have obtained evidence suggesting that central metabolites are involved in specific regulons in E. coli. Overexpression of PEP-forming enzymes (phosphoenolpyruvate synthase [Pps] and Pck) stimulates the glucose consumption rate, represses the heat shock response, and negatively regulates the Ntr regulon. These results suggest that some glycolytic intermediates may serve as a signal in the regulation of the phosphotransferase system, heat shock response, and nitrogen regulation. However, the role of central metabolites in these regulations has not been determined conclusively. (c) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Using Irrigation to Manage Weeds: A Focus on Drip Irrigation

Irrigation has transformed agriculture and shaped civilization since its use in the Fertile Crescent more than 6000 years ago. Access to fresh water for irrigation transformed bar‐ ren landscapes, allowing populations to move to previously uninhabitable regions. Ad‐ vances in water management increased the productivity of agricultural systems around the world; supporting substantial population growth. Water consumption for agricultural use accounted for nearly 90% of global water use during the previous century [1] and is responsible for approximately 70% of fresh water withdrawals worldwide [2]. Currently, US water withdrawals for irrigation represent nearly 34% (137 billion gallons/day) of do‐ mestic water use [3]. Treating and pumping irrigation water has a significant carbon footprint as well. Pumping groundwater for irrigation requires about 150 kg Carbon/ha [4]. In the US more than 65% of total vegetable acreage and 76% of fruit acreage is irri‐ gated [5]. Irrigating fruit and vegetable crops can increase marketable yields by 200% or more and is necessary to produce the high quality and yields required to be profitable [6]. It was estimated by Howell [5], that irrigated lands account for 18% of total cropped area, but produce approximately 50% of crop value. Due to the large observable increas‐ es in yield and quality associated with irrigation, many farmers tend to over-irrigate, viewing it as an insurance policy for growing fruits and vegetables. Irrigation can rou‐ tinely exceed 10% of input costs in the US [7] and over-irrigating may reduce yields in some instances [8]. Excessive irrigation not only depletes freshwater reserves, but may leach fertilizers and other chemicals from agricultural lands [9-11]. Unnecessary applica‐ tions of water and fertilizer can also allow weeds to flourish in modern agriculture. While irrigation systems are usually designed and managed with a crop of interest in mind; the impact of irrigation on weed growth is an important component of any mod‐
Facial morphology and ageing: a longitudinal cephalometric investigation of young adults.

Adulthood is a developmental stage determined from a conventional concept of the ‘grown up’ individual, without a biologically defined initial point. In the Swedish population, adulthood can be considered to have been reached by 18–20 years of age, somewhat earlier on the average for women than for men. At this age the growth curves of several dimensions have reached a plateau. However, many investigations of skull growth have demonstrated continuous dimensional changes up to considerably advanced ages. In this investigation, growth changes in the adult face were longitudinally recorded from 24 to 34 years of age. 27 skeletal and six soft tissue variables were studied. The findings indicated that the major part of the changes of the bony profile were due to posterior mandibular rotation and an adjustment of the upper incisors to the new lower jaw position. In the soft tissues, a forward growth of the nose and retrusion of the lips was recorded.
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study of Language Activated Hyper- and Hypo-Oxygenation in Human Prefrontal Cortex

Oxygenation changes in the left prefrontal cortex during language processing were assessed with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin concentrations at the Fp1 site during 5 min of resting with eyes closed (control), followed by 5 min of reading aloud, were monitored. A statistically significant change in the oxyhemoglobin concentration was observed by NIRS in all the subjects after execution of the experimental task. The observations of hyper-oxygenation as well as hypo-oxygenation in the present investigation extend past studies and suggest a complex phenomenon of activation that may be the result of a vascular steal mechanism, attenuated activation baselines, or active cortical deactivation.
Recruitment of subjects for clinical trials after informed consent: does gender and educational status make a difference?

CONTEXT Researchers and investigators have argued that getting fully informed written consent may not be possible in the developing countries where illiteracy is widespread. AIMS To determine the percentage of patients who agree to participate in a trial after receiving either complete or partial information regarding a trial and to find out whether there were gender or educational status-related differences. To assess reasons for consenting or refusing and their depth of understanding of informed consent. SETTINGS AND DESIGN A simulated clinical trial in two tertiary health care facilities on in-patients. METHODS AND MATERIAL An informed consent form for a mock clinical trial of a drug was prepared. The detailed / partial procedure was explained to a purposive sample of selected in-patients and their consent was asked for. Patients were asked to free list the reasons for giving or withholding consent. Their depth of understanding was assessed using a questionnaire. Chi-square test was used for statistical analyses. RESULTS The percentages of those consenting after full disclosure 29/102 (30%) and after partial disclosure 15/50 (30%) were the same. There was a significant (p=0.043) gender difference with a lesser percentage of females (30%) consenting to participation in a trial. Educational status did not alter this percentage. Most patients withheld consent because they did not want to give blood or take a new drug. Understanding of informed consent was poor in those who consented. CONCLUSIONS The fact that only one-third of subjects are likely to give consent to participate in a trial needs to be considered while planning clinical trials with a large sample size. Gender but not educational status influences the number of subjects consenting for a study. Poor understanding of the elements of informed consent in patients necessitates evolving better methods of implementing consent procedures in India.
Evaluation of Oral Hygiene in Patients with Visual Disabilities

Introduction: Patients with visual impairment present greater difficulty in achieving adequate oral hygiene due to restricted eyesight. Therefore, oral hygiene motivation and instruction methods should be adapted to these patients to understand the importance of bacterial plaque control, both for the health of dental tissues and periodontal tissues Objective: The objective of the present study was to compare the plaque index (PI) of patients with and without visual impairment before and after the institution of oral hygiene instructions through a Randomized Clinical Trial. Twenty patients with visual impairment (Group 1) from the Instituto dos Cegos and 20 without visual impairment (Group 2) from the ASCES Periodontia Clinic were selected. Data were collected through the IP of O'Leary and reevaluated every 21 days for four sessions. Results: in both groups, the mean of PI decreased with the time of evaluation, with a significant difference between the evaluations (p 0.05). As for the mean of the PI assessments, group 2 presented a mean higher than group 1, but without significant difference (p> 0.05). Conclusion: The study therefore suggests that there is no difference in PI in patients with or without visual impairment, and that the guidelines stimulate and motivate an improvement in oral hygiene conditions.
Cognition, Attention, and Behavior in Prader-Willi Syndrome

We studied the academic, cognitive, and behavior profile of 18 patients with Prader-Willi syndrome. All had severe learning disabilities in arithmetic and writing, and the majority were also dyslexic. Their average Full-Scale IQ was 73.7 ± 8.9, which was 1 SD below normal range, whereas their performance on executive, memory, and visuospatial tasks ranged from 2.1 to 7.0 SD below the expected means. Behavioral problems were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist, on which the majority scored in the pathologic range for social and attention problems, delinquent and aggressive behavior, somatic complaints, and thought problems. Genotypes of the children did not predict cognitive or behavioral profile, nor could behavior be associated with parameters of weight or IQ. In summary, we found that patients with Prader-Willi syndrome have profound learning disabilities and cognitive deficits, greater than expected for their IQ. Behavioral problems, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are also prevalent and impede the overall management of this group of patients. The genotypes were not helpful in predicting cognitive or behavioral patterns. (J Child Neurol 2001;16:288-290).
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills of preregistration house officers.

chest easily inflated. Her heart rate was 52 beats/minute (apex); there were no palpable pulses and no response to stimuli. She was given adrenaline 1:1000 0 5 ml by subcutaneous infusion, 5% sodium bicarbonate 10 ml, and hydrocortisone 100 mg by intravenous injection. An intravenous infusion ofplasma protein fraction was started. Within a few minutes peripheral pulses were palpable and systolic blood pressure was 50 mm Hg. She remained drowsy for about 12 hours but apart from having fever (37-4'C) made an uncomplicated recovery. Her parents declined further attempts at surgery and she was discharged.
Organization and Transcriptional Analysis of a Six-Gene Cluster around the rplK-rplA Operon ofCorynebacterium glutamicum Encoding the Ribosomal Proteins L11 and L1

ABSTRACT A cluster of six genes, tRNATrp-secE-nusG-rplK-rplA-pkwR, was cloned and sequenced from a Corynebacterium glutamicum cosmid library and shown to be contiguous in the C. glutamicumgenome. These genes encode a tryptophanyl tRNA, the protein translocase component SecE, the antiterminator protein NusG, and the ribosomal proteins L11 and L1 in addition to PkwR, a putative regulatory protein of the LacI-GalR family. S1 nuclease mapping analysis revealed thatnusG and rplK are expressed as separate transcriptional units and rplK and rplA are cotranscribed as a single mRNA. A 19-nucleotide inverted repeat that appears to correspond to a transcriptional terminator was located in the 3′ region downstream from nusG. Northern analysis with different probes confirmed the S1 mapping results and showed that thesecE-rplA four-gene region gives rise to four transcripts.secE was transcribed as a 0.5-kb monocistronic mRNA,nusG formed two transcripts of 1.4 and 1.0 kb from different initiation sites, and the two ribosomal protein genesrplK and rplA were cotranscribed as a single mRNA of 1.6 kb. A consensus L1 protein binding sequence was identified in the leader region of the rplK-rplA transcript, suggesting that expression of the rplK-rplA cluster was regulated by autogenous regulation exerted by the L1 protein at the translation level. The promoters of the nusG andrplK-rplA genes were subcloned in a novel corynebacterial promoter-probe vector and shown to confer strong expression of the reporter gene.
Novel frameshift mutations in the RP2 gene and polymorphic variants

Mutations in the RP2 gene located on Xp11.23 are associated with X‐linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP), a severe form of progressive retinal degeneration which leads to complete loss of vision in affected males. To date, 14 different mutations in the RP2 gene have been reported to cause XLRP, the majority of which lead to a coding frameshift within the gene and predicted truncation of the protein product. We here report two novel frameshift mutations in RP2 identified in XLRP families by PCR‐SSCP and direct sequencing, namely 723delT and 796‐799del. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the coding region of RP2 are also described (105A>T, 597T>C, 844C>T, 1012G>T), the first polymorphisms to be reported within this gene of unknown function, two of which alter the amino acid sequence. The current study extends the XLRP mutation profile of RP2 and highlights non‐pathogenic coding sequence variations which may facilitate both functional studies of the gene and analysis of intragenic allelic contribution to the phenotype. Hum Mutat 15:580, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Improving the Arc-Eager Model with Reverse Parsing

A known way to improve the accuracy of dependency parsers is to combine several different parsing algorithms, in such a way that the weaknesses of each of the models can be compensated by the strengths of others. For example, voting-based combination schemes are based on variants of the idea of analyzing each sentence with various parsers, and constructing a combined output where the head of each node is determined by "majority vote" among the different parsers. Typically, such approaches combine very different parsing models to take advantage of the variability in the parsing errors they make. In this paper, we show that consistent improvements in accuracy can be obtained in a much simpler way by combining a single parser with itself. In particular, we start with a greedy implementation of the Nivre pseudo-projective arc-eager algorithm, a well-known left-to-right transition-based parser, and we combine it with a "mirrored" version of the algorithm that analyzes sentences from right to left. To determine which of the two obtained outputs we trust for the head of each node, we use simple criteria based on the length and position of dependency arcs. Experiments on several datasets from the CoNLL-X shared task and the WSJ section of the English Penn Treebank show that the novel combination system obtains better performance than the baseline arc-eager parser in all cases. To test the generality of the approach, we also perform experiments with a different transition system (arc-standard) and a different search strategy (beam search), obtaining similar improvements in all these settings.
Model for wave propagation in a lossy vocal tract.

Wave propagation in a lossy vocal tract with yielding walls is described in terms of an idealized, three‐parameter model. It is shown how the parameters of the model may be determined from terminal acoustical measurements on the vocal tract. Evidence is presented for the adequacy of the model. Some applications are suggested.
Targeted Disruption of TGF-&bgr;–Smad3 Signaling Leads to Enhanced Neointimal Hyperplasia With Diminished Matrix Deposition in Response to Vascular Injury

The role of transforming growth factor (TGF)-&bgr; and its signal in atherogenesis is not fully understood. Here, we examined mice lacking Smad3, a major downstream mediator of TGF-&bgr;, to clarify the precise role of Smad3-dependent signaling in vascular response to injury. Femoral arteries were injured in wild-type and Smad3-null (null) male mice on C57Bl/6 background. Histopathological evaluation of the arteries 1 to 3 weeks after the injury revealed significant enhancement of neointimal hyperplasia in null compared with wild-type mice. Transplantation of null bone marrow to wild-type mice did not enhance neointimal thickening, suggesting that vascular cells in situ play a major role in the response. Null intima contained more proliferating smooth muscle cells (SMC) with less amount of collagen compared with wild-type intima. TGF-&bgr; caused significant inhibition of cellular proliferation in wild-type aortic SMC, whereas the growth of null SMC was only weakly inhibited by TGF-&bgr; in vitro, indicating a crucial role of Smad3 in the growth inhibitory function. On the other hand, Smad3-deficiency did not attenuate chemotaxis of SMC toward TGF-&bgr;. TGF-&bgr; increased transcript level of &agr;2 type I collagen and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1, and suppressed expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinases in wild-type SMC. However, these effects of TGF-&bgr; were diminished in null SMC. Our findings altogether show that the loss of Smad3 pathway causes enhanced neointimal hyperplasia on injury through modulation of growth and matrix regulation in vascular SMC. These results indicate a vasculoprotective role of endogenous Smad3 in response to injury.
Vaccination during Pregnancy

Pregnant women and their newborns are susceptible to infectious diseases. Healthcare providers must have the knowledge to provide advice and to support the use of immunizations for women who wish to ensure a healthy pregnancy. Several vaccines are now available for adolescents and women of childbearing age. Vaccination during pregnancy has the potential to provide protection to both mother and infant. Influenza and tetanus/diphtheria vaccines are routinely recommended for pregnant women. Other vaccines are available for women at risk for infection due to exposure, underlying medical conditions or travel. Live vaccines are contraindicated during pregnancy. Vaccines are underutilized in pregnancy due to safety, practical and liability barriers. To address physicians and patients’ concerns, research is ongoing to further support vaccination during pregnancy as an efficient, safe and effective strategy with significant potential to improve the health of women and their infants worldwide.