Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality of life in insect venom allergic patients

Purpose of reviewAs re-sting rates and mortality in Hymenoptera allergy are generally low, health related quality of life is an important therapeutic target in the treatment of allergic patients. This review focuses on the impact of anaphylactic reactions and the effect of interventions in health related quality of life for Hymenoptera allergic patients. Recent findingsAnaphylactic reactions following insect stings can have a great impact on the quality of life of insect sting allergic patients. Venom immunotherapy, with information about the risks and benefits of the treatment, was shown to improve health related quality of life. There were no patients whose health related quality of life was so severely impaired that they did not improve with venom immunotherapy. Treatment with an Epipen (ALK-Abello, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands) resulted in a deterioration in health related quality of life. SummaryThese findings suggest that patient education of these risks and benefits is as important as the treatment itself in order to achieve all the important therapeutic goals of venom immunotherapy. For most patients the Epipen is insufficient as definitive treatment from a quality of life point of view. Although the low mortality, morbidity and re-sting frequency in Hymenoptera allergic patients has led some authorities to conclude that many patients are treated unnecessarily, this conclusion is refuted by the fact that venom immunotherapy improves health related quality of life in the vast majority of patients receiving this treatment, even if they are not re-stung.
A comparison of ICAGD (immediate complete anterior guidance development) to mock ICAGD for symptom reductions in chronic myofascial pain dysfunction patients.

The purpose of this study is to assess what impact shortening disclusion time to less than . 5 seconds during right and left mandibular excursions has on myofascial pain(s) symptoms present in a dental student population. Twenty-five dental students, who exhibited symptomatology consistent with myofascial pains patient, were divided into a treatment, control, and an untreated group. They participated in an occlusal adjustment study which measured changes in disclusion time, as well as, myofascial pains muscular symptom remissions resultant from treatment. The treated group of ten subjects received ICAGD occlusal adjustments to shorten their disclusion time to less than . 5 seconds per mandibular excursion. The goal of this therapy was to totally disclude the posterior teeth in a measurable time frame of . 5 seconds or less. The control group of eight subjects received mock ICAGD with tooth polishing. The goal of this therapy was to simulate ICAGD adjustments for possible placebo effect on symptom remissions. The untreated group had their disclusion times measured but received no treatment to adjust, or to simulate adjustment to their occlusion. The goal of analyzing an untreated group was to attempt to show that mock treatment (performed on the control subjects), or no treatment (performed on the untreated subjects), resulted in no measurable change in the disclusion time in either of these two subject groups. Each subject was recalled for disclusion time measurement four to five times in a one-year period of observation, at which time, they were required to report their myofascial pains symptom status by answering an ordinal scale questionnaire. The results suggest that shortening disclusion time to less than . 5 seconds per mandibular excursion can induce remissions of many muscular myofascial pains symptoms. Additionally, mock ICAGD occlusal adjustments did not appear to be a factor in the control subjects treatment response, as this group showed no statistically significant symptom remissions.
Impaired glucose tolerance and endothelial damage, as assessed by levels of von Willebrand factor and circulating endothelial cells, following acute myocardial infarction

Background. Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) increases the incidence of major adverse cardiac events. We hypothesized that endothelial damage following AMI, as assessed by levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF) and circulating endothelial cells (CECs), would be more pronounced in patients with IGT compared to those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Methods. We studied non-diabetic patients with AMI (n=125; 107 (86%) male; mean age 59 years (SD 12.5)) who underwent oral glucose tolerance testing 3–5 days after admission. We measured vWF (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and CECs (CD146 immunobead capture) in the fasting state and at 2 h post glucose load. Results. Base-line vWF and CEC levels were higher in IGT patients versus those with NGT and healthy controls (HC) (P<0.001). The acute increase in vWF and CECs in response to the glucose load was significantly higher in the IGT group compared to those with NGT and HC (P<0.01)—an increase on a par with that seen in newly diagnosed diabetics. Conclusion. The degree of endothelial damage post AMI in patients with IGT is greater than NGT, and comparable to that seen in frank diabetes mellitus. Subjects with IGT therefore need to be as actively sought and managed.
Definitive evidence for the nonmitochondrial production of superoxide anion by human spermatozoa.

CONTEXT Oxidative stress in the male germ line has been associated with poor fertility, impaired embryonic development, miscarriage, and childhood disease. Such stress is known to be associated with the peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in the sperm plasma membrane and oxidative DNA damage to both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. However, the source of the free radicals responsible for such damage is still unresolved. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to chemically validate the use of dihydroethidium (DHE) as a probe for detecting the generation of superoxide anion by human spermatozoa and to examine the relationship between this activity and defective sperm function. METHOD DHE and SYTOX green were used in conjunction with flow cytometry and HPLC to investigate superoxide generation by human spermatozoa. Cause and effect relationships were established using menadione to artificially drive superoxide production by these cells. RESULTS HPLC, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and spectrofluorometry were used to demonstrate that human spermatozoa generate the superoxide-specific product, 2-hydroxyethidium, from DHE. Spontaneous superoxide production by human spermatozoa was found to originate from a nonmitochondrial source and was inversely correlated with sperm motility. A causative relationship between superoxide generation and sperm function was demonstrated when the pharmacological stimulation of this activity with menadione was shown to result in both severe motility loss and DNA damage. CONCLUSIONS These studies validate a methodology for investigating the origins of oxidative stress in the male germ line and demonstrate, for the first time, the significance of superoxide generation by human spermatozoa in the etiology of this condition.
Design of Wide-Band, Sharp-Rejection Bandpass Filters With Parallel-Coupled Lines

An edge-coupled quarter wavelength resonator and half-wavelength open stubs are used for designing a highly selective wideband bandpass filter (BPF). A homogeneous medium is considered and the even-odd mode approach is used for filter analysis. Next, a microstrip line implementation procedure is described. The filter has sharp rejection, wide stopband, low insertion loss (IL), and fabrication simplicity. A prototype BPF having 69.5% 3-dB fractional bandwidth (FBW) is fabricated. A simple stub modification extends the upper 20-dB stopband to five times that of the filter upper cutoff frequency. Passband IL is within 1.6dB
Delaying dementia

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., a 19th-century physician, Dean of Harvard Medical School, and poet, described an enchanting thought experiment in his poem, “The Deacon's Wonderful One-Hoss Shay. ” This carriage was crafted to be equally strong in every part, letting it run in perfect condition for 100 years before, one fine day, it disintegrated like a “bubble burst. ” For many geriatric neurologists and their patients, that would be a worthy goal: to address all the “weak links,” the most vulnerable and fixable aspects of brain aging, thus compressing morbidity due to cognitive decline into a brief flicker prior to death. The emerging realization that dementia is a clinical syndrome with multiple etiologies lends urgency to the argument for a multipronged therapeutic approach more akin to that used in the prevention of coronary artery disease or stroke.
Safety and Efficacy of the Avirulent Mycoplasma gallisepticum Strain K5054 as a Live Vaccine in Poultry

Abstract A Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) isolate from an atypically mild outbreak in turkey breeders was found to be similar to house finch isolates by DNA analyses. A preliminary study in turkeys showed that this isolate (K5054) caused very mild lesions and protected turkeys against subsequent challenge with a virulent MG strain. In this study, K5054 was further evaluated as a potential vaccine strain in commercial layer-type chickens and turkeys. The safety of K5054 was evaluated by aerosol challenge followed by evaluation of gross and histopathologic lesions as well as serologic reactions and isolation of MG from the trachea and air sacs. Infection of chickens (trial 1) and turkeys (trial 2) with K5054 resulted in little evidence of MG lesions. There was weak seroconversion, and K5054 was consistently reisolated from the tracheas of chickens and turkeys. The efficacy of K5054 as a vaccine was evaluated by aerosol challenge of vaccinated chickens (trial 3) and turkeys (trial 4) with virulent R strain. There was evidence of protection from lesions associated with MG.
Solution structure of the region 51–160 of human KIN17 reveals an atypical winged helix domain

Human KIN17 is a 45‐kDa eukaryotic DNA‐ and RNA‐binding protein that plays an important role in nuclear metabolism and in particular in the general response to genotoxics. Its amino acids sequence contains a zinc finger motif (residues 28–50) within a 30‐kDa N‐terminal region conserved from yeast to human, and a 15‐kDa C‐terminal tandem of SH3‐like subdomains (residues 268–393) only found in higher eukaryotes. Here we report the solution structure of the region 51–160 of human KIN17. We show that this fragment folds into a three‐α‐helix bundle packed against a three‐stranded β‐sheet. It belongs to the winged helix (WH) family. Structural comparison with analogous WH domains reveals that KIN17 WH module presents an additional and highly conserved 310‐helix. Moreover, KIN17 WH helix H3 is not positively charged as in classical DNA‐binding WH domains. Thus, human KIN17 region 51–160 might rather be involved in protein–protein interaction through its conserved surface centered on the 310‐helix.
Significant Reduction of Acute Cardiac Allograft Rejection by Selective Janus Kinase-1/3 Inhibition Using R507 and R545

Background Selective inhibition of lymphocyte activation through abrogation of signal 3-cytokine transduction emerges as a new strategy for immunosuppression. This is the first report on the novel Janus kinase (JAK)1/3 inhibitors R507 and R545 for prevention of acute allograft rejection. Methods Pharmacokinetic and in vitro enzyme inhibition assays were performed to characterize the drugs. Heterotopic Brown Norway–Lewis heart transplantations were performed to study acute cardiac allograft rejection, graft survival, suppression of cellular host responsiveness, and antibody production. Therapeutic and subtherapeutic doses of R507 (60 and 15 mg/kg 2 times per day) and R545 (20 and 5 mg/kg 2 times per day) were compared with those of tacrolimus (Tac; 4 and 1 mg/kg once per day). Results Plasma levels of R507 and R545 were sustained high for several hours. Cell-based enzyme assays showed selective inhibition of JAK1/3-dependent pathways with 20-fold or greater selectivity over JAK2 and Tyrosine kinase 2 kinases. After heart transplantation, both JAK1/3 inhibitors reduced early mononuclear graft infiltration, even significantly more potent than Tac. Intragraft interferon-&ggr; release was significantly reduced by R507 and R545, and for interleukin-10 suppression, they were even significantly more potent than Tac. Both JAK1/3 inhibitors and Tac were similarly effective in reducing the host Th1 and Th2, but not Th17, responsiveness and similarly prevented donor-specific immunoglobulin M antibody production. Subtherapeutic and therapeutic R507 and R545 doses prolonged the mean graft survival and were similarly effective as 1 and 4 mg/kg Tac, respectively. In combination regimens, however, only R507 showed highly beneficial synergistic drug interactions with Tac. Conclusions Both R507 and R545 are potent novel immunosuppressants with favorable pharmacokinetics and high JAK1/3 selectivity, but only R507 synergistically interacts with Tac.
Memory function after resolution of post-traumatic amnesia

Primary objectives: The aims of this pilot study were (1) to examine neuropsychological, particularly memory functions immediately after post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) resolution according to the Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test (GOAT), and (2) to provide a preliminary exploration of pattern of performance on GOAT items across PTA duration. Methods and procedures: Thirty-seven head injured patients were administered the Recognition Memory Tests on the day that PTA resolved. Formal neuropsychological assessment was conducted on average 10 days after PTA resolution. Main outcomes and results: All the patients in the series showed memory impairment which varied in severity but was typically characterized as global and severe. Deficits in executive and speed and attention functions were common. GOAT items relating to orientation were typically passed, while items concerning anterograde and retrograde recall were most commonly failed across all stages of PTA duration. Conclusions: These findings suggest that reliance on memory performance as a measure of PTA is not ideal and highlight the need for further research of this issue.
Self‐Renewal of Pulmonary Alveolar Macrophages: Evidence From Radiation Chimera Studies

Radiation‐induced chimeric mice were used to study the origin of pulmonary alveolar macrophages. Unlike in other studies, these radiation chimeras were prepared by using a special fractionated irradiation regimen to minimize the killing of alveolar macrophage colony‐forming cells, putative local stem cells. For this study CBA mice with or without T6 chromosome marker were used. Under this experimental condition, the majority of alveolar macrophages in mitosis are of host origin even after 45 weeks. These data suggest that alveolar macrophages are a self‐renewing population under normal steady‐state conditions.
Biology and treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Major advances have occurred in our understanding of the biology, immunology, and opportunities for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in recent times. Surface antigen analysis has helped us define classical CLL and differentiate it from variants such as marginal zone leukemia, mantle cell leukemia, and prolymphocytic leukemia. An important observation has been that the B-cells in indolent types of CLL, which do not require therapy, have undergone somatic hypermutation and function as memory B-lymphocytes whereas those more likely to progress have not undergone this process. Section I by Dr. Nicholas Chiorazzi encompasses emerging elements of the new biology of CLL and will address the types of somatic hypermutation that occur in CLL cells and their correlation with other parameters such as telomere length and ZAP70 status. In addition he addresses the concept of which cells are proliferating in CLL and how we can quantitate the proliferative thrust using novel methods. The interaction between these parameters is also explored. Section II by Dr. Thomas Kipps focuses on immune biology and immunotherapy of CLL and discusses new animal models in CLL, which can be exploited to increase understanding of the disease and create new opportunities for testing the interaction of the CLL cells with a variety of elements of the immune system. It is obvious that immunotherapy is emerging as a major therapeutic modality in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Dr. Kipps addresses the present understanding of the immune status of CLL and the role of passive immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies such as rituximab, alemtuzumab, and emerging new antibodies. In addition the interaction between the CLL cells and the immune system, which has been exploited in gene therapy with transfection of CLL cells by CD40 ligand, is discussed. In Section III, Dr. Michael Keating examines the question "Do we have the tools to cure CLL? " and focuses on the fact that we now have three distinct modalities, which are able to achieve high quality remissions with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) negativity for the immunoglobulin heavy chain in CLL. These modalities include initial chemoimmunotherapy with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab, the use of alemtuzumab for marrow cytoreduction in minimal residual disease and allogeneic bone marrow transplants. The emergence of non-ablative marrow transplants in CLL has led to the broadening of the range of opportunities to treat older patients. The addition of rituximab to the chemotherapy preparative regimens appears to be a significant advance. The combination of our increased understanding of the biology, immune status, and therapy of CLL provides for the first time the opportunity for curative strategies.
Toward Improving the Relevance of Information Systems Research to Practice: The Role of Applicability Checks

This paper takes a first step in aiding researchers to improve the relevance of their research to practice. By proposing that Information Systems researchers conduct applicability checks with practitioners on the research objects (for example, theories, models, frameworks, processes, technical artifacts, or other theoretically based IS artifacts) they either produce or use in theory-focused research, our paper presents an actionable, systematic approach to evaluating, establishing, and further improving research relevance. Furthermore, because it is an approach that can be conducted as an additional step either at the beginning or the end of the traditional research life cycle, it leaves untouched the rigorous methods used to conduct the study, that is, it does not compromise traditional research models. The approach we propose is based on the analyses of three dimensions of relevance that are critical to practitioners' attempts to internalize IS research findings (importance, accessibility, and suitability), and a comprehensive set of solutions that can be used to address them. Our analysis reveals that the most critical dimension for practice is the importance of the research to the needs of practice. The solution we propose to address that need is to conduct an applicability check on the research objects of interest. The applicability check forms an integral part of the research process, either prior to or following engagement in a typical research process. We present principles and criteria for the conduct and evaluation of an applicability check, which is primarily based on the focus group method, and secondarily on a modified nominal group technique.
Differential expressions of stromal cell-derived factor-1α and vascular endothelial growth factor in the placental bed of pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the differential expression of stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α)/CXCR4 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the third trimester placental bed of normotensive controls and preeclamptic patients. Methods: Placental bed tissues were collected from 15 patients with preeclampsia (PE) and 15 gestational-matched normotensive controls at the time of their cesarean delivery. Placental bed expressions of SDF-1α, CXCR4 and VEGF were evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), real-time PCR and immunohistochemical staining. Results: No statistical difference was found between the PE and the normotensive control group with respect to their age and parity, gravidity and body mass index. The placental bed expressions of SDF-1α/CXCR4 and VEGF were significantly decreased in the PE group compared with the normotensive control group. Conclusions: This study showed decreased expressions of SDF-1α/CXCR4 and VEGF in the third trimester placental bed of pregnancies with PE. This result suggests that decreased expressions of SDF-1α/CXCR4 and VEGF in the placental bed could be associated with the pathogenesis of PE.
Genetic analysis of adult-plant resistance to leaf rust in a double haploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em Thell) population

A genetic analysis of adult plant resistance to leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) was performed in in vitro obtained double haploid progenies from a cross between the Brazilian wheat cultivar Trigo BR 35, which, under the high inoculum pressure of the southern region, has been resistant to leaf rust for more than 12 years, and the susceptible cultivar IAC 13-Lorena. Haplodiploidization via in vitro gimnogenesis was done by somatic elimination of the pollen donor genome after maize pollination of the F1 plants. The advantages and usefulness of double haploids (DH) for genetic analysis of complex inherited traits like durable adult-plant resistance to wheat leaf rust were evident: it was possible to analyze inheritance patterns in this cross by using only the 35 DH homozygous segregant lines obtained by in vitro embryo culture of F1 flowers pollinated by maize, this number being equivalent to 1,225 conventional F2 lines because of lack of heterozygosity. After being infected with MCG and LPG races, the results indicated that Trigo BR 35 has two resistance genes. One of the genes expressed resistance only after the intermediate stage of plant development (5-6 leaves).
Study and analysis of control phase role for increasing the Success of six sigma projects

As we know, they complete the six sigma projects in different phase by use of quality instrument. But some of these instruments are affective, determinative and play an important role in projects. Regarding this fact that six sigma projects are based on results, it is important fours to reach a result and maintain it and we are always seeking to stabilize the result improvements. In this paper, the accomplished six sigma projects in one of Iran automobile industries were studied ; the different phases of this project were analyzed statistically and its success and failure rates were identified, the relationship between the execution of control phase qualitative instruments and six sigma project's success and failure rates were identified and its results are presented here ; finally some solutions were suggested to increase this methodology's success in service and industrial environments which enable us to improve six sigma projects to six sigma level
Brodie’s Abscess of the Cuboid Bone: A Case Report

The case of a patient with Brodie’s abscess of the cuboid bone and who presented with a painful and swollen right foot is described. The patient was treated successfully by surgical evacuation of the abscess and with antibiotics. To the authors’ knowledge, Brodie’s abscess of the cuboid bone has not been reported previously. The clinical presentation and diagnostic difficulties which may be encountered are discussed.