Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk factors associated with intermediate and long-term mortality following vascular surgery in South African patients

Summary There are few data on predictors of mortality following vascular surgery in South African patients. While in the developed world, peri-operative risk factors are also associated with intermediate-term survival, it is likely that the weighting and even the clinical risk factors may be different in South African patients due to the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease in developing countries. The aim of this study was therefore to determine risk factors associated with intermediate and long-term mortality in South African vascular surgical patients. Design A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Intermediate and long-term survival was determined by subsequent hospital visits or admissions. For patients who did not return to the hospital, the patient or patient’s next of kin was contacted telephonically. The outcome of the patient, and the time to the outcome following the surgical procedure were recorded. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was conducted using Cox regression analysis to determine predictors of intermediate-term mortality. Results Only hypertension and diabetes were associated with intermediate and long-term mortality at the bivariate level of analysis with p < 0.10. There was no co-linearity between hypertension and diabetes. Hypertension was the only predictor of intermediate and long-term survival retained in the multivariate model (hazard ratio 3.86, 95% confidence interval 0.83–15.4, p = 0.086). Conclusion In contrast to developed-world observations, peri-operative clinical risk indices were not associated with intermediate and long-term survival in South African vascular surgical patients. Instead, two risk factors that were identified in the South African National Burden of Disease study were associated with mortality. It appears that a ‘western lifestyle’ (and the presence of associated risk factors) may be more important predictors of intermediate and long-term mortality than peri-operative risk predictors of cardiac events in South African vascular surgical patients. This study highlights an important public health issue for the South African population where the most important determinants of mortality are continued exposure to risk factors (such as hypertension and diabetes) in the community, with little modification of these risk factors through primary health surveillance and management, even after surgical admission for pathology known to be associated with these risk factors.
Locus of control, life events and treatment outcome in alcohol dependent patients

We investigated the relationship of locus of control and life events to outcome of treatment at 6 months in 67 patients with alcohol dependence. Outcome was less favourable in patients with pre‐treatment scores indicating external locus of control than in those with internal locus of control. Furthermore, patients with relapse in the follow‐up period experienced more independent life events with moderate to severe objective negative impact than those with more favourable outcome. These results suggest that locus of control may be of clinical use in formulating treatment and prognosis, and that the occurrence of life events may influence outcome. The results are discussed in relation to strategies for treatment and prevention of relapse.
Nonclassical Heat Transfer Models for Laser-Induced Thermal Damage in Biological Tissues

To ensure personal safety and improve treatment efficiency in laser medical applications, one of the most important issues is to understand and accurately assess laser-induced thermal damage to biological tissues. Biological tissues generally consist of nonhomogeneous inner structures, in which heat flux equilibrates to the imposed temperature gradient via a thermal relaxation mechanism which cannot be explained by the traditional parabolic heat conduction model based on Fourier’s law. In this article, two non-Fourier heat conduction models, hyperbolic thermal wave model and dual-phase-lag (DPL) model, are formulated to describe the heat transfer in living biological tissues with blood perfusion and metabolic heat generation. It is shown that the non-Fourier bioheat conduction models could predict significantly different temperature and thermal damage in tissues from the traditional parabolic model. It is also found that the DPL bioheat conduction equations can be reduced to the Fourier heat conduction equations only if both phase lag times of the temperature gradient (τT ) and the heat flux (τq ) are zero. Effects of laser parameters and blood perfusion on the thermal damage simulated in tissues are also studied. The result shows that the overall effects of the blood flow on the thermal response and damage are similar to those of the time delay τT . The two-dimensional numerical results indicate that for a local heating with the heated spot being smaller than the tissue bulk, the variations of the non-uniform distributions of temperature suggest that the multi-dimensional effects of thermal wave and diffusion not be negligible. © 2011 ASME
The Variability in Atlantic Ocean Basin Hurricane Occurrence and Intensity as related to ENSO and the North Pacific Oscillation

The investigation of the effect of El Nino-related variability on hurricane activity has been a popular topic of study. Studies have shown that there are fewer Atlantic Ocean basin hurricanes during an El Nino year than during a La Nina year. Various atmospheric and oceanic parameters that influence hurricane development become significantly altered during an El Nino event, leading to suppressed easterly wave development and growth. The effect of the El Nino/La Nina cycle on hurricane intensity, however, is not straightforward. Studies addressing the interannual variability of hurricane intensity have captured far less attention than the more generalized subject of hurricane occurrence. This study examined the interannual variability of hurricane intensity (measured as wind speed and interpreted through the Saffir-Simpson Scale) from 1938 through 1999. These data were then compared with the occurrence of El Nino/La Nina events as defined using the Japan Meteorological Association (JMA) index. El Nino/La Nina variability superimposed on variability associated with the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) was also examined here. Not surprisingly, during an El Nino year the intensity of Atlantic hurricanes was found to be weaker than during a neutral year or a La Nina year. There were also significant differences found in hurricane intensity between El Nino and La Nina years when the NPO was in phase 1, rather than when the NPO was in phase 2. Finally, this study also examined the interannual variation in hurricane intensity by genesis region (i.e. the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean Basins, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico).
Early postoperative mortality after 67,548 total hip replacements

Patients in the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register with a total hip replacement (THR) have a lower long-term mortality than the age- and gendermatched Norwegian population. We analyzed the early postoperative mortality after 67,548 THR operations in 68 hospitals reported to the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register between 1987 and 1999. Data on deaths and causes of death were obtained from from Statistics Norway, and on thromboprophylaxis from a separate questionnaire sent to all hospitals. During the years 1987-2000 the 68 hospitals reported use of 6 thromboprophylaxis drugs and 24 different combinations of drugs and stockings. In 1988, only 3 of 29 hospitals reported use of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), but in 1999, 67 of the 68 hospitals used LMWH. In the first postoperative week, the daily mortality was about 2.5 deaths per 10,000 THR patients. By the 70th postoperative day, the daily mortality had declined to about 0.57 deaths per 10,000 patients. The daily mortality of the age- and gender-matched Norwegian population was 0.95 deaths per 10,000 individuals. Early postoperative mortality increased with age, was higher in men than women, and was usually due to vascular disease. We found only a slight reduction in the 60-day postoperative mortality during the period 1987-1999. All underlying diagnoses for a prosthesis operation had a higher 60-day postoperative mortality than primary osteoarthrosis.
Structure of Amphiphilic Terpolymer Raspberry Vesicles

Terpolymer raspberry vesicles contain domains of different chemical affinities. They are potential candidates as multi-compartment cargo carriers. Their efficacy depends on their stability and load capacity. Using a model star terpolymer system in an aqueous solution, a dissipative particle dynamic (DPD) simulation is employed to investigate how equilibrium aggregate structures are affected by polymer concentration and pairwise interaction energy in a solution. It is shown that a critical mass of polymer is necessary for vesicle formation. The free energy of the equilibrium aggregates are calculated and the results show that the transition from micelles to vesicles is governed by the interactions between the longest solvophobic block and the solvent. In addition, the ability of vesicles to encapsulate solvent is assessed. It is found that reducing the interaction energy favours solvent encapsulation, although solvent molecules can permeate through the vesicle’s shell when repulsive interactions among monomers are low. Thus, one can optimize the loading capacity and the release rate of the vesicles by turning pairwise interaction energies of the polymer and the solvent. The ability to predict and control these aspects of the vesicles is an essential step towards designing vesicles for specific purposes.
Force-induced fibronectin fibrillogenesis in vitro

Polymerization of fibronectin (FN) and its assembly into fibers, in vitro, is a two-step self-assembly process, initiated by the formation of a stable FN sheet made of globular particles at the air–liquid interface, and followed by shear-force driven fibrillogenesis along a superhydrophobic surface made of elastic micropillars. The initially-formed fibrils, displaying “rough” surfaces with globular subdomains, can be further stretched into “smooth” fibers with a characteristic diameter of 14 nm. Using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, we demonstrated that the fibers formed in vitro are highly similar to an FN matrix produced by cultured fibroblasts. Furthermore, we showed that the stretched FN fibrils can support cell adhesion, and display antigenic epitopes which appear to be sequestered in the relaxed molecules. These findings suggest that cells are able to mechanically fine-tune the biological activity of the underlying matrix by modulating its structure, surface properties and organization.
Left hemisphere lateralisation of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: A dichotic listening study

Introduction. We propose that auditory hallucinations are internally generated speech misrepresentations that are lateralised to the left temporal lobe. If hallucinations are misrepresentations involving the speech perception area of the left temporal lobe, then hallucinating patients should have problems identifying a simultaneously presented external speech sound, especially when the sound is lateralised to the left hemisphere. Lateralisation of speech perception can be experimentally studied with the dichotic listening task with consonant-vowel syllables. We predicted a negative relation between frequency of auditory hallucinations and performance on the dichotic listening task. Method. We studied 87 right-handed patients with schizophrenia. Hallucination scores were taken from the BPRS symptom scale. Right and left ear scores in the dichotic listening task were recorded. A right ear advantage is expected in healthy individuals, indicating left temporal lobe processing superiority. The patients were compared with 36 right-handed healthy reference subjects. Results. A gradual decrease in the ability to process and report the right ear stimulus with increasing frequency of hallucinations was seen in the schizophrenia patients. No such relationship was found for processing and reporting of the left ear stimulus. There were no significant correlations with negative symptoms. Thus, the results were not the consequence of illness severity. There was however a significant correlation with unusual thought content symptom, pointing to a relationship also between delusions and auditory hallucinations. Conclusion. The results support that auditory hallucinations may be internally generated speech misrepresentations, originating in the left temporal lobe.
Stressful Situations and Coping Strategies in Relation to Age

Whether people cope differently with negative events at different ages was assessed by relation to age by type of situation perceived as potentially stressful and by type of coping strategy used, and also whether the kind of coping strategy used to reduce the potential stressor was related to type of stressor. To do this the factor structure of the Spanish version of the Ways of Coping Checklist of Lazarus and Folkman was examined in an Argentine sample of 153. The factor analysis of checklist scores identified five factors: Cognitive redefinition, Problem focus, Seeking social support, Wishful thinking, and Avoidance. For two groups, ages 20 to 24 and 40 to 45 years, analysis indicated a significant association of type of situation perceived as potentially stressful with age. The middle-age group (40–45 yr.) chose a way of coping in problem solution but the young adult group (20–24 yr.) seemed more often to elude problems. It appears that the type of stressor influences type of coping.
Development of a Nested PCR Method Targeting a Unique Multicopy Element, ISMap02, for Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Fecal Samples

ABSTRACT This study describes the development of a nested PCR assay that uses a unique element (ISMap02) for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis that is present at six copies within the genome. In addition, the sensitivity of the assay with this element was compared to the sensitivity of detection of the IS900 element in both conventional and real-time PCR assays. The specificity of the ISMap02 element was evaluated by PCR of the DNA extracted from isolates of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis and M. avium subsp. avium, as well as DNA from M. fortuitum, M. scofulaceum, M. phlei, M. smegmatis, and M. gordonae. Only M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis DNA was detectable after amplification with the ISMap02 primers. The sensitivity of detection for the ISMap02 element in either a conventional or a real-time PCR format was less than 100 fg DNA or 102 CFU/ml in serial titration curves with pure bacteria. These results were comparable to those obtained for the IS900 element. Experimental spiking of a negative fecal sample followed by M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis DNA extraction resulted in detection thresholds of 102 CFU/g for the IS900 element and 103 CFU/g for the ISMap02 element by using a real-time PCR format, but this sensitivity dropped 10-fold for both elements in a conventional PCR format. Analyses of fecal samples obtained from naturally infected animals demonstrated a sensitivity for the detection of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis DNA by use of the ISMap02 element similar to that achieved by use of the IS900 element when it was used in a conventional PCR format. The real-time PCR format improved the levels of detection of both elements, but not to a significant degree. In conclusion, the ISMap02 element provides a very sensitive and specific alternative as a diagnostic reagent for use in PCR assays for the detection of paratuberculosis.
A statistical analysis of successional patterns in carrion-arthropod assemblages: implications for forensic entomology and determination of the postmortem interval.

A set of statistical protocols is proposed for analyzing carrion-arthropod succession in forensic entomology investigations. A total of 23 carrion-arthropod data sets from temperate, tropical, desert, and coastal environments were assembled in a standard format and analyzed using randomization tests and methods derived from quantitative community ecology. The data were analyzed in three ways. First, patterns of arthropod visitation on nonhuman carcasses were analyzed in each of the 23 cases. Analysis revealed two groups of taxa: those that persist on the carcass over a single time interval (= nonreoccurring taxa, 80% of the taxa) and those that appear, leave, and reappear over time on the carcass (= reoccurring taxa, 20%). Reoccurring taxa, which can confound estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI), were found in 6 classes, 12 orders, and 29 taxonomic families of arthropods, including some forensically important taxa (for example, calliphorids, sarcophagids, histerids). The recognition that reoccurring taxa exist and that they are found in forensically important groups is an early step toward factoring in their potential importance in future entomological investigations. Second, temporal changes in the taxonomic composition of the carrion-arthropod community were studied by quantifying the degree of taxonomic similarity between pairwise combinations of time-specific samples of the succession. In 13 of the 18 illustrated cases, the midsuccessional samples, owing to their higher species richness, were taxonomically more similar to all other pairwise samples, on the average, than early and late successional samples which were poorer in species. Variability in taxonomic composition is the norm for most periods of the succession; however, in 17 of the 23 cases, some successional periods (particularly endpoint samples) revealed no changes in arthropod species composition (= matching sample-pairs). When applied to medicolegal cases, it is suggested that data sets with large fractions of matching sample-pairs should produce wider-ranging PMI estimates, on the average, than data sets with smaller fractions of matching sample-pairs. Third, Monte Carlo simulation was applied to each of the 23 assemblages to test specific hypotheses about community-wide patterns of arthropod visitation times on nonhuman carcasses. Simulation results revealed that arthropod residence times in the majority of cases (13 or 56%) followed a "clumped" succession model, whereas, the remaining 10 cases (44%) showed a more "uniform" spacing pattern of residence times on carcasses. Comparison of species accumulation curves for observed and simulated data further revealed that among the 13 "clumped" cases, most (9 or 69%) followed a "clumped, early" model (rather than "clumped, midterm" or "clumped, late" models). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Prediction of no‐reflow and major adverse cardiovascular events with a new scoring system in STEMI patients

BACKGROUND No-reflow is associated with a poor prognosis in STEMI patients. There are many factors and mechanisms that contribute to the development of no-reflow, including age, reperfusion time, a high thrombus burden, Killip class, long stent use, ejection fraction ≤40, and a high Syntax score. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the parameters associated with no-reflow prediction by creating a new scoring system. METHODS The study included 515 consecutive STEMI patients who underwent PCI; 632 STEMI patients who had undergone PCI in another center were included in the external validation of the scoring system. The correlations between 1-year major adverse cardiac events and low/high risk score were assessed. RESULTS In this study, seven independent variables were used to build a risk score for predicting no-reflow. The predictors of no-reflow are age, EF ≤40, SS ≥22, stent length ≥20, thrombus grade ≥4, Killip class ≥3, and pain-balloon time ≥4 h. In the derivation group, the optimal threshold score for predicting no-reflow was >10, with a 75% sensitivity and 77.7% specificity (Area under the curve (AUC) = 0.809, 95%CI: 0.772-0.842, P < 0.001). In the validation group, AUC was 0.793 (95%CI: 0.760-0.824, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION This new score, which can be calculated in STEMI patients before PCI and used to predict no-reflow in STEMI patients, may help physicians to estimate the development of no-reflow in the pre-PCI period.
The Protective Effects of Taurine against Early Renal Injury in STZ-Induced Diabetic Rats, Correlated with Inhibition of Renal LOX-1-Mediated ICAM-1 Expression

Oxidative stress is a key cause in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). As a main receptor of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), LOX-1 plays an important role in the induction of leukocyte adhesion molecules, such as intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Taurine (TAU), a potent endogenous antioxidant, showed renoprotective effects in several model animals. This study was designed to determine the renoprotective effect and possible mechanism involved LOX-1 and ICAM-1 expression of taurine in early DN. Six-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: normal control (NC), diabetes mellitus (DM), and taurine-treated DM (DM+TAU). Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg/kg, i.p.). After the onset of diabetes, drinking water containing 1% taurine was given to rats in the DM+TAU group. After six weeks of treatment, blood glucose (BG), serum levels of creatinine (sCr) and BUN, and LOX-1 and ICAM-1 expression (protein and gene) in kidney cortices were estimated. Meanwhile, renal malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities were examined as parameters of oxidative stress in diabetic rats. For DM+TAU rats, when compared with DM rats, the levels of serum BUN, sCr, and renal MDA were reduced, and the activities of renal GSH-Px were increased, but the BG levels were not influenced. Simultaneously, taurine attenuated histopathologic evidence of renal damages and reduced the overexpression of LOX-1 and ICAM-1 in kidney cortices of diabetic rats. In conclusion, taurine showed protective effects against early renal injury in diabetic rats. These renoprotective effects may be partly caused by suppression of oxLDL/LOX-1 system and subsequently ICAM-1 overexpression on renal cortex via its antioxidative property.
The Unequal Eects of Weather and Climate Change: Evidence from Mortality in India

Weather ‡uctuations have shaped the economic activities of humans for centuries. And in poor, developing countries, where large swathes of the population continue to depend on basic agriculture, the weather continues to be a key determinant of production and employment. This raises the possibility that weather shocks may translate into increases in mortality. To investigate this possibility we examine the relationship between weather and death across Indian districts between 1957 and 2000. Our estimates imply that hot days (and de…cient rainfall) cause large and statistically signi…cant in