Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Marked Post-18th Century Environmental Change in High-Arctic Ecosystems

Paleolimnological data from three high-arctic ponds on Cape Herschel, Ellesmere Island, Canada, show that diatom assemblages were relatively stable over the last few millennia but then experienced unparalleled changes beginning in the 19th century. The environmental factors causing these assemblage shifts may be related to recent climatic warming. Regardless of the cause, the biota of these isolated and seemingly pristine ponds have changed dramatically in the recent past and any hopes of cataloging natural assemblages may already be fruitless.
Study of completeness of prescriptions in paediatrics emergency section of a tertiary hospital in Lagos, Nigeria

A prescription is the prescriber‘s written and signed formula instructing the pharmacist to supply the required drugs for a specific patient. It should be written legibly, accurately and completely in order to minimize errors in the dispensing and administration of medications. This study was to determine the level of occurrence of the essential elements in drug prescriptions in paediatric emergency section in LUTH. A total of 1158 prescriptions were studied and analysed for the essential elements. Also questionnaires were distributed to prescribers in the children emergency Unit of LUTH. Patient’s name was found to be the most occuring element (100%) while patient’s address was the least occuring element (11.5%). The other elements occurences were between 75 to 98% in the prescriptions studied. A similar trend was observed among the prescriber responses to rating of importance of basic elements in a prescription. The patient’s body weight was not included in the prescriptions studied. This is probably due to the fact that it is missing from the standard prescription form. Some of the prescriptions studied were deficient in some of the basic elements. It is being recommended that patient body weight should be included as an element in the standard prescription form for paediatric patients.
Consideration of aggressive therapeutic strategies for primary testicular lymphoma

To evaluate the clinical features and treatment of primary testicular lymphoma, 45 cases were retrospectively evaluated. The median age of the patients was 59 years (range, 40–81) and most patients (76%) presented with Stages I–II. All patients underwent an orchiectomy, after which various treatments were given, chemotherapy alone in 37 patients (60%) and chemotherapy with involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) in 15 patients (33%). Prophylactic intrathecal chemotherapy was given to six patients; cranial irradiation was given in two patients. Eleven patients (24%) received prophylactic irradiation or surgery on the contralateral testis. In 40 patients able to be evaluated, complete response (CR) rate was 78%; 11 of 31 CR patients (36%) had relapsed. Relapse or disease progression was observed in 21 patients. The most frequent site (44%) was in the CNS. The median progression free survival and overall survival were 16 and 34 months, respectively. Ten patients who received prophylactic radiation to the contralateral testis had no relapse in this site. In six patients who received prophylactic intrathecal chemotherapy, there was no leptomeningeal progression, but brain parenchymal relapse occurred in two patients. In multivariate analysis, Stage I (P = 0.02) and additional IFRT after orchiectomy (P = 0.01) were found to be good prognostic factors. In conclusion, orchiectomy followed by intensive chemotherapy and IFRT including prophylaxis to the CNS and contralateral testis, should be considered as initial treatment in primary testicular lymphoma. Am. J. Hematol. , 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Organizational versus Geometric Factors in Mental Rotation and Folding Tasks

The criteria used in performing mental rotation or mental folding tasks were studied with a paradigm that did not involve reaction times. The hypothesis was that, when perceptual-organizational factors come into conflict with the geometric features required for the correct execution of such tasks, it is the former that prevail. To verify this hypothesis two experiments were carried out. In experiment 1, subjects were asked to imagine quadrilaterals rotating round a rotation axis at different inclinations. Their responses were dependent both on the degree of tilt of the rotation axis and on the degree of tilt of the quadrilateral with respect to the rotation axis. Experiment 2 consisted of the mental execution of a folding task. In this case too, the responses depended on the degree of tilt of the folding axis and also on the complexity of the stimulus outline. In both experiments responses were divided into two groups: (i) geometrically correct responses and (ii) responses which, although incorrect, were based on perceptual-organizational criteria. In the light of the results, some theoretical implications regarding transformation operations executed by means of mental images are discussed.
Neural Modulation by Stimulation

Abstract: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of neuropathic pain is supported by good‐quality randomized controlled trials, prospective and retrospective case studies, and observational case series that confirm its efficacy and safety. SCS has been successfully used in various refractory neuropathic pain conditions, including failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), neuropathic back and leg pain, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) types I and II. According to the Harbour and Miller Scale (2001), the evidence for SCS in FBSS has been classified as grade B, while that for CRPS type I has been classified as grade A. Clinical evidence has shown that compared to conventional pain therapy, more than two‐thirds of carefully selected patients treated with SCS achieved sustained pain relief of 50% or more, with minimal side effects. Many patients were able to reduce their analgesic consumption. Quality of life improved and the majority of patients were happy with their treatment; in some cases, patients were able to return to work. Trial stimulation, which is relatively inexpensive and completely reversible, provides predictive value for long‐term efficacy and increases the cost‐effectiveness of permanent implantation. Studies consistently report that over time, SCS is potentially cost saving to the healthcare system. At present, SCS is considered a “last resort” in the treatment of refractory neuropathic pain, yet evidence suggests that early intervention with SCS results in greater efficacy and, in the case of FBSS, should be considered before re‐operation.
Arterial Myogenic Properties of the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat

When subject to a transmural pressure gradient resistance arteries develop a spontaneous, intrinsically initiated contraction which varies according to the pressure stimulus and occurs in the absence of vasoconstrictor agonists. Such pressure‐dependent active changes in vascular tone are indicative of the vascular myogenic response and contribute to autoregulation and the setting of total peripheral resistance and hence blood pressure regulation. The myogenic behaviour of blood vessels provides the background tone upon which other vasomotor influences act. Hypertension is associated with a raised vascular resistance and in this article the evidence for increased myogenic activity contributing to the raised vascular resistance is reviewed. Although there are some cases that provide evidence for exaggerated myogenic responsiveness in resistance arteries taken from hypertensive animals it is not possible to conclude that enhanced myogenic contractile responses within normal pressure ranges contribute to the raised total peripheral resistance. However, the myogenic tone of the resistance arteries of the various vascular beds is subject to differing modulatory influences in hypertensive animals and their normotensive controls which may contribute to the aetiology of hypertension.
Uric Acid-induced Phenotypic Transition of Renal 2 Tubular Cells as a Novel Mechanism of Chronic 3 Kidney Disease 4 5

Eun-Sun Ryu, Mi Jin Kim, Hyun-Soo Shin, Yang-Hee Jang, Hack 6 Sun Choi, Inho Jo, Richard J. Johnson, and Duk-Hee Kang 7 8 9 10 The Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine,Department of 11 Molecular Medicine, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Ewha Medical 12 Research Center, Seoul, Korea; The Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, 13 University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado, U. S. A. 14 15 16 17 18 Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: Duk-Hee Kang, M.D., Ph.D., 19 Division of Nephrology, Ewha University College of Medicine, 911 Mok-dong 20 Yangcheon-Ku, Seoul 158-710, Korea (e-mail : dhkang@ewha.ac.kr). 21 22 Articles in PresS. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol (January 2, 2013). doi:10.1152/ajprenal.00560. 2012
Forecasting the stochastic demand for inpatient care: the case of the Greek national health system

The aim of this study is to estimate the unexpected demand of Greek public hospitals. A multivariate model with four explanatory variables is used. These are as follows: the weekend effect, the duty effect, the summer holiday and the official holiday. The method of the ordinary least squares is used to estimate the impact of these variables on the daily hospital emergency admissions series. The forecasted residuals of hospital regressions for each year give the estimated stochastic demand. Daily emergency admissions decline during weekends, summer months and official holidays, and increase on duty hospital days. Stochastic hospital demand varies both among hospitals and over the five-year time period under investigation. Variations among hospitals are larger than time variations. Hospital managers and health policy-makers can be availed by forecasting the future flows of emergent patients. The benefit can be both at managerial and economical level. More advanced models including additional daily variables such as the weather forecasts could provide more accurate estimations.
Operation with decelularized pulmonary allografts : medium-term results

Objective: To evaluate the medium-term results (4 years) of decelularized allografts during Ross Operation. Method: From January 2003 to February 2007, 68 patients underwent Ross Operation with decelularized allografts. Forty eight were male and the mean age was 30.3±11.2 years. Decelularization was done with deoxicolic acid (DOA) in 35 cases and with sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) in 33. For comparison of the gradients, 68 patients with cryopreserved allografts and matched for age were selected. All patients had a control echo before hospital discharge and annually thereafter. In addition, eight patients had MRI studies. In two patients, samples of the conduit wall were analyzed by histological analysis. Results: There was one (1.4%) early death. In the late follow-up, there were two reoperations for endocarditis and one late death. The early gradients varied between 4 29 mmHg (m= 10.3± 5.5mmHg) and exhibited an increase to 16.5±12.2 mmHg (min= 4, max= 45) at 24 months postoperatively. There were no significant differences when compared to the cryopreserved group. There was, however, a tendency towards lesser gradients in the SDS decelularized group after 12 months. Histological analysis revealed partial reendothelization and progressive repopulation of the tunica media media wall with autogenous cells. There was no progressive pulmonary insufficiency. The MRI results showed a lesser tendency to shrinkage in the decelularized conduits.
Adenocarcinomas on the Rise — Does it Influence Survival from Oesophageal Cancer?

Background and Aims: A significant change in the occurrence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) in relation to adenocarcinomas (ACs) has been observed in the Norwegian population during the last 20 years (1988–2007). The AC incidence has increased from 5–10% to more than 50% nowadays, while the incidence of SCCs has decreased. Our goal was to evaluate if the change from SCC to AC and the increased effort to control reflux could be reflected in tumour stage, patient demographics and treatment results. Material and Methods: We analysed clinical and pathological data from 347 patients with oesophageal AC (n = 189) and SCC (n = 158) treated at The Norwegian Radium Hospital during said period for patient- and tumour characteristics, treatment modalities and survival. Results: An oesophageal resection was performed in 169 of 347 patients. The median survival rate for all patients was 15 months, with a 5-year survival rate of 10%. The median survival time for operated and non-operated patients was 25 and 12 months respectively, with the corresponding 5-year survival rate of 13% and 2%. Patients with N0M0 disease operated with free resection margins presented a 5-year survival rate of 28%. Conclusions: The change from SCC to AC and the ensuing considerable efforts made in surveillance and treatment of AC did not lead to improved long time survival for our patients.
Association of ACE gene A2350G and I/D polymorphisms with essential hypertension in the northernmost province of China

ABSTRACT Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene, as a strong candidate gene for essential hypertension(EH), has been extensively studied. In this study, we carried out a population-based case-control study to explore whether ACE gene I/D and A2350G polymorphisms could consider to be risk factors for EH. A total of 2040 subjeces were recruited from Chinese Han in this study, out of which 1010 were cases and 1030 were normotensive individuals. ACE gene A2350G and I/D polymorphisms were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and A2350G polymorphism was detected after restriction enzyme digestion with BstuI. Besides, we choosed 10% samples randomly sequencing to verify the accuracy of results. Genotype and allele frequencies distribution of I/D and A2350G in EH and control groups were significantly different. After grouped by sex or age, there were still statistical significances for two polymorphisms. In dominant and recessive model of A2350G, we found significant differences between two groups, respectively. For ACE I/D polymorphism, we observed that the existence of dramatical difference in dominant model between two groups, while in recessive model, marginally significant difference was found. Among the four haplotypes composed by ACE gene A2350G and I/D, haplotype G-D reached the statistical significance in two groups, and exhibited to be a risk factor for the development of EH, whose P < 0.001 and OR 95%CI = 1.639(1.435–1.872), while the other haplotypes were the protective factors and decreased the susceptibility to EH(P < 0.05). ACE gene A2350G and I/D polymorphisms were associated with increasing the risk of suffering from EH in the northernmost province of China individuals, with D allele and G allele individuals had a higher risk of EH(OR = 1.443, 95%CI = 1.273–1.636 and OR = 1.481, 95%CI = 1.303–1.684).
Glutamate Receptor Subunit GluR2 and NMDAR1 Immunoreactivity in the Retina of Macaque Monkeys with Experimental Glaucoma Does Not Identify Vulnerable Neurons

Excitatory amino acid neurotoxicity has been proposed as a mechanism underlying selective neuronal death in glaucoma. The relationships between the cellular distribution of glutamate receptor subunit proteins GluR2 and NMDAR1 and the vulnerability of restricted retinal neuron subpopulations was explored in experimental glaucoma in macaque monkeys, produced by treating the trabecular meshwork in one eye with argon or diode laser burns. Immunostaining of retinal segments was performed using specific monoclonal antibodies to the GluR2 and NMDAR1 subunit proteins as well as neurofilament protein. The distribution of immunoreactivity was qualitatively assessed in the retina, and ganglion cells were counted in the paracentral and peripheral regions of each retinal segment. Immunoreactivity for both of these glutamate receptor subunit proteins was widely distributed in most retinal neuron types in control eyes and was colocalized with neurofilament protein in ganglion cells. In the glaucomatous eyes, densities of GluR2- and NMDAR1-immunoreactive ganglion cells were dramatically reduced compared to unaffected fellow eyes, but GluR2- and NMDAR1-immunoreactive populations of horizontal, bipolar, and amacrine cells were not affected. These data parallel previous observations on the selective vulnerability of ganglion cells in this experimental model of glaucoma. However, GluR2 and NMDAR1 subunits do not constitute cell type-specific markers of vulnerability in glaucoma as they are present in neurons prone to degeneration as well as in resistant ones. While retinal pathology in glaucoma involves excitotoxic mechanisms that may be related to glutamate receptor subunits regulating calcium fluxes, the specific pattern of neuronal vulnerability clearly depends on other cellular characteristics such as morphology, connectivity, and other aspects of the neurochemical phenotype.
General Unified Analyses of Two-Capacitor Inductive Power Transfer Systems: Equivalence of Current-Source SS and SP Compensations

A general and systematic comparison of eight compensation schemes in the inductive power transfer system (IPTS) of single magnetic coupling and two capacitors is proposed in this paper. The characteristics of series-series (SS), series-parallel (SP), parallel-series (PS), and parallel-parallel (PP) compensation schemes for a voltage source or a current source are widely explored in terms of maximum efficiency, maximum power transfer, load-independent output voltage or current, magnetic coupling coefficient (k) independency, and allowance of no magnetic coupling (k = 0). Through comparative analyses using a general unified IPTS model, the current-source-type SS and SP are found to be superior to other compensation schemes in terms of the five criteria mentioned above, and they are found to have nearly the same efficiency, load power, and component stress characteristics for the same load quality factor. A design guideline for the current-source-type SS and SP is suggested and experimentally verified by a 200-W prototype of air coils at 100 kHz.
Noninvasive perfusion MRI in Alzheimer's disease

We performed functional MRI using the echo-planar imaging and signal targeting with alternating radio frequency (EPISTAR) technique in 11 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 8 age-matched control subjects. Seven of the AD patients had qualitatively apparent focal areas of hypoperfusion in the posterior temporoparietal-occipital regions. At the earliest inversion time producing cortical enhancement, the ratios of parieto-occipital and temporo-occipital to whole slice signal intensity were significantly lower in the AD patients than in the controls. Parieto-occipital hypoperfusion correlated with dementia severity as measured by the Blessed Dementia Scale. EPISTAR may prove to be a rapid, noninvasive alternative to other functional neuoimaging modalities in the evaluation of patients with dementia. NEUROLOGY 1996;47: 1339-1342
The Generation and Characterization of a Radiation-Resistant Model System to Study Radioresistance in Human Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract Pearce, A. G. , Segura, T. M. , Rintala, A. C. , Rintala-Maki, N. D. and Lee, H. The Generation and Characterization of a Radiation-Resistant Model System to Study Radioresistance in Human Breast Cancer Cells. Radiat. Res. 156, 739–750 (2001). To systematically study the selection of radioresistant cells in clinically advanced breast cancer, a model system was generated by treating MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells with fractionated γ radiation. A clonogenic assay of the surviving cell populations showed that 2–6 Gy per fraction resulted in a rapid selection of radioresistant populations, within three to five fractions. Irradiation with additional fractions after this initial increase did not increase the radioresistance of the surviving population significantly. Doses of 0.5 and 8 Gy per fraction were not effective in selecting radioresistant cells. To further determine the cause of the changes in radiosensitivity, 15 clones were isolated from the cell populations treated with 40 or 60 Gy with 2 or 4 Gy per fraction, respectively, and were analyzed for radiosensitivity. The average D10 for these clones was 6.75 ± 0.36 Gy, which was higher than that for the parental cell population (D10 = 6.0 ± 0.2 Gy). The operation of cell cycle checkpoints and the doubling time were similar for both the nonirradiated parental population and the isolated radioresistant subclones. In contrast, a decrease in the apoptotic potential was correlated (r = 0.7, P < 0.01) with increased survival after irradiation, suggesting that apoptosis is an important factor in determining radioresistance under our experimental conditions. We also isolated several subclones from the nonirradiated parental cell population and analyzed them to determine their radiosensitivity after fractionated irradiation. Ten fractions of 4 Gy (40 Gy in total) did not result in a significant increase in the radioresistance of these subclones compared to the irradiated cell populations. The possible mechanisms of the increased radioresistance after fractionated irradiation are discussed.
Behaviour after Cerebral Lesions in Children and Adults

Animal experiments tend to show that brain injuries sustained early in life have less effect than comparable lesions incurred at later stages. By contrast, neurological observations suggest that certain forms of early brain damage in children may have disproportionately serious consequences for later development. The apparent contradiction may be resolved if one grants that results might differ, according to (a) the kind of task employed, and (b) the age at which the child is tested. Three perceptual tasks have been devised which disclose such differential effects.
Fluconazole- and itraconazole-resistant Candida albicans strains from AIDS patients: multilocus enzyme electrophoresis analysis and antifungal susceptibilities

Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis and in vitro susceptibility testing with a broth microdilution method were used to analyze Candida albicans strain diversity in four AIDS patients with recurrent oropharyngeal candidiasis who successively developed clinical resistance to fluconazole (FCZ) and itraconazole (ITZ). One to ten colonies per sample were randomly chosen from oral washings collected before the initial FCZ treatment and just before every other antifungal treatment; a total of 98 isolates were analyzed. Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis analysis revealed 14 different electrophoretic types (ETs). Statistical analysis of genetic distances showed that C. albicans isolates clustered into five subpopulations (I to V). In each subpopulation, isolates are closely related, and genetic distances between subpopulations I to IV are short. In contrast, subpopulation V, which contained isolates typed as ET8 and ET14, is strongly divergent from the others; these isolates may represent atypical C. albicans isolates. Only one patient was infected with a single strain during the course of azole therapy; for the three remaining patients, variants of the same strain and different strains were concurrently isolated. Clinical FCZ resistance was clearly correlated with in vitro data for three patients. Moreover, MICs of ITZ increased during FCZ therapy, and MICs of ITZ which were > or = 1.56 micrograms/ml were found when clinical ITZ resistance occurred; isolates from subpopulation V showed the highest MICs of ITZ. Because of the emergence of clinical ITZ resistance after clinical FCZ resistance, the feasibility of long-term azole therapy for mucosal candidiasis in AIDS patients is questioned.