Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vascular Biology and the Skeleton

BLOOD VESSELS ARE organized in a hierarchical fashion to deliver oxygen, soluble factors, and various types of cells to all tissues in our body in a carefully regulated manner. The vascular network forms by both vasculogenesis (de novo vessel formation from angioblastic stem cells) and angiogenesis (sprouting from existing vessels). Both processes are essential during skeletal embryogenesis or repair, but otherwise represent pathological events linked to adverse consequences. The endothelium is one of the most important components of the vasculature, not only because it functions as an essential barrier that limits the movement of cells and molecules between the circulation and tissues, but also because it is a dynamic organ actively capable of directly communicating in a rich language with adjacent tissue and circulating blood cells. This appears evident when considering the remarkable heterogeneity of endothelial cells and their vessel size-specific, tissue-specific, and age-specific differences. What is the underlying cause of endothelial diversity? Certainly during development and ongoing tissue maintenance in the adult, circulatory and tissue components must continually communicate with endothelial cells. However, the signaling between cells and endothelium within a tissue is, in fact, bidirectional, and endothelial cells just as readily communicate with surrounding cells through a host of humoral and growth factors, cytokines and chemokines, reactive metabolites, and polarized surface-associated molecules. Vasculature plays a major role also in the fabrication and homeostatic “health” of living bone, without which bone tissue dies and cannot be repaired or rejuvenated. The development of various “in vitro” models of bone endothelial cells has helped us to gain a better understanding of why the vasculature is so important in bone, what unique features characterize the bone endothelium, and how it functionally interacts with bone cells of different nature. In particular, bone endothelium has been found to actively recruit circulating cells, direct hematopoietic cell homing to the bone marrow, and collaborate with various metastatic cells to selectively target them into bone, largely through the preferential display on bone endothelium of particular attractant signals that orchestrate such movement. In addition, modifications in the blood supply correlate with numerous skeletal pathologies, including osteoporosis or osteopetrosis, inflammatory bone loss, and tumorassociated osteolysis. This overview is intended to highlight the potential roles of various paracrine interactions between bone endothelium and differentiated bone cells during organogenesis or in the mature skeleton, with brief consideration given to bone vascularization in pathological conditions. Potential implications of this growing body of information for medicine are noted.
The Couples' Illness Communication Scale (CICS): development and evaluation of a brief measure assessing illness-related couple communication.

OBJECTIVES When one member of a couple has a chronic illness, communication about the illness is important for both patient and partner well-being. This study aimed to develop and test a brief self-report measure of illness-related couple communication. DESIGN A combination of correlations and multiple regression were used to assess the internal consistency and validity of the Couples' Illness Communication Scale (CICS). METHODS A scale to provide insight into both patient and partner illness communication was developed. The CICS was then tested on patients with ovarian cancer (N=123) and their partners (N=101), as well as patients with early stage multiple sclerosis (MS) who had stable partnerships (N=64). RESULTS The CICS demonstrated good acceptability, internal consistency, convergent validity (correlations with general couple communication and marital adjustment), construct validity (correlations with intrusive thoughts, social/family well-being, emotional impact of the illness, and psychological distress), and test-retest reliability. CONCLUSIONS The CICS meets the majority of psychometric criteria for assessment measures in both a life-threatening illness (ovarian cancer) and a chronic progressive disease (MS). Further research is required to understand its suitability for use in other populations. Adoption of the CICS into couple-related research will improve understanding of the role of illness-related communication in adjustment to illness. Use of this short, simple tool in a clinical setting can provide a springboard for addressing difficulties with illness-related couple communication and could aid decision making for referrals to couple counselling.
Nitric oxide and the enigma of cardiac hypertrophy

In pathological conditions associated with persistent increases in hemodynamic workload (old myocardial infarction, high blood pressure, valvular heart disease), a number of signalling pathways are activated in the heart, all of which promote hypertrophic growth of the heart, characterised at the cellular level by increases in individual cardiac myocyte size. Some of these pathways are required for a successful adaptation to cardiac injury. Other pathways are maladaptive, however, as they lead to progressive contractile dysfunction and heart failure. The free radical gas nitric oxide and natriuretic peptides, both of which are produced in the heart, have emerged as endogenous inhibitors of maladaptive hypertrophy signalling. Overall, it appears that cardiac hypertrophy is controlled by an interplay of pro‐ and antihypertrophic signalling networks. This delicate balance can tip towards adaptation or heart failure. In the future, patients living with cardiac disease may benefit from therapeutic strategies targeting maladaptive hypertrophy signalling pathways. BioEssays 26:608–615, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Correlates of Aggressive Behaviour in Schizophrenia: An Overview

Objective: This review aims to critically evaluate the reported biological, psychological and social correlates of aggression in schizophrenia and to delineate those correlates which could be of use clinically and those which require further research. Method: The literature from 1974–1996 was searched using Psychlit and supplemented by suggestions from senior members of the authors' Department. Results: Past history of aggression, psychopathology, extrapyramidal side effects of neuroleptic medications, substance abuse, reduced serotonin function, antisocial and impulsive personality traits, neurological/neuropsychological deficits, electroen-cephalography, neuroimaging abnormalities and environmental factors were all found to be correlated with aggressive behaviour in schizophrenia. However, there are many methodological limitations of previous studies in this field, often leading to inconsistent and inconclusive findings. Conclusions: Some tentative conclusions regarding clinically useful predictors of aggression in schizophrenia can be drawn at this stage. There is a need for methodological limitations of previous studies to be overcome before more firm conclusions can be reached.
Maintenance Support for Object-Oriented Programs

This paper describes some of the difficulties that may be expected in the maintenance of software developed using the new object oriented languages. The concepts of inheritance and of polymorphism provide the great strengths of these languages, but they also introduce difficulties in program analysis and understanding. The paper analyzes problems of dynamic binding, object dependencies, dispersed program structure, control of polymorphism, high-level understanding, and detailed code understanding. Examples are presented based on code from a PC Smalltalk environment and from studies of two systems under development at Bell Communications Research
The Residency Discount for Rents in Germany and the Tenancy Law Reform Act 2001: Evidence from Quantile Regressions

Abstract Most countries show a residency discount in rents for sitting tenants. In the wake of strong rent increases and housing shortages, Germany implemented a reform in 2001 to curtail rent increases. Based on linked housing-tenant data for Germany, this paper estimates panel OLS and quantile regressions of rents within tenancies. The results show that rents deflated by the CPI increase strongly from 1984 until the reform in 2001, and there is a reversal in the trend afterwards. Before the reform, there is a significant residence discount which decreases in absolute value with tenure. The reform reduces rents, in particular for expensive apartments and for new leases. There is no residency discount after the reform.
Postoperative Pain Control After Lumbar Spine Fusion: Patient‐Controlled Analgesia Versus Continuous Epidural Analgesia

Study Design. A prospective, randomized, double‐blind clinical trial. Objective. To compare the efficacy of postoperative continuous epidural analgesia versus patient‐controlled analgesia in patients undergoing lumbar fusion. Summary of Background Data. Controversy remains regarding the optimal strategy for postoperative pain control. Methods. Fifty‐four patients were divided into two treatment groups. There was no difference between the groups with respect to age, levels fused, estimated blood loss, and use of spinal instrumentation. Patient‐controlled analgesia or epidural analgesia was administered in a double‐blind manner for a 3‐day postoperative course. Each patient received both an epidural and a patient‐controlled analgesia delivery system; 26 received the epidural active agent and 28 received patient‐controlled analgesia. Postoperative time to liquids and solid food, ambulation, length of stay, and side effects was recorded. Pain was evaluated by a visual analog scale on postoperative days 1, 2, and 3. Results. Results showed no difference between the groups with reference to diet, ambulation, length of stay, and visual analog scale scores. Minor side effects occurred in 71% of patients in both groups. No major complications occurred. Epidural catheter dislodgment occurred in 11% of patients. The total cost for epidural analgesia was approximately $550 more than that for patient‐controlled analgesia for a 3‐day postoperative course. Conclusions. These data suggest that there is no clinical advantage of epidural opiate/local anesthetic analgesia over systemic opiate by patient‐controlled analgesia for spinal fusion patients. However, possible technical limitations (namely, the low dosage of bupivacaine and placement of the catheter tip) may have prevented adequate delivery of anesthetic to the involved segments. Although the incidence of side effects is similar, cost factors and a high incidence of epidural catheter dislodgment favor use of patient‐controlled analgesia.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Protective and Risk Factors in 18 Survivors of a Plane Crash

The aim of this study is to identify protective and risk factors related to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on a sample of survivors from a single plane crash. Eighteen survivors were examined 6 months following the event. The subjects all underwent psychiatric interviews, Clinician‐Administered PTSD Scale structured interviews, personality and cognitive tests. Only 38.9% of them presented with all of the symptoms of PTSD; 22.2% showed no symptoms for PTSD; remaining survivors exhibited emotional/affective symptoms related to the event. In addition to the severity of the traumatic event itself, other risk factors identified were the loss of a relative, the manifestation of depressive symptoms, and the severity of physical injuries sustained. Low levels of hostility and high levels of self‐efficacy represented protective factors against developing PTSD.
Fruit Quality of Plum Cultivars ‘ Elena’ and ‘ Bistrica’

In this research dry matter, total acids (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), TSS/TA ratio, pH, vitamin C, total phenols, flavonoids, non-flavonoids, natural and total invert, in fresh and dried plums, of two plum cultivars ‘ Elena’ and ‘ Bistrica’ , were investigated. There was significant difference between selected cultivars in fresh and dried fruit. ‘ Elena’ showed higher values of dry matter, TSS, TSS/TA ratio, pH and total invert, while ‘ Bistrica’ had higher values of vitamin C, total phenols, flavonoids and non-flavonoids, total acids and natural invert in fresh and dried fruit. It can be concluded that although ‘ Elena’ obviously has some favorable characteristics, cultivar Bistrica has higher content of antioxidant compounds.
Easy guide to searching for evidence for the busy clinician

The busy clinician is constantly faced with clinical questions regarding patient care. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the large amount of health information available electronically. This article offers one easy approach for searching the electronic database. It is intended for the busy clinician who is unsure how to conduct an electronic search. It provides guidance on where to search and how to search using the PICO search method. It also provides a list of useful resources to help clinicians critically appraise the articles found to determine its relevance.
Inclusion body myositis and Sjogren's syndrome.

The association of inclusion body myositis (IBM) with disorders having immune abnormalities has been reported recently. 1-3 We describe a patient with IBM and Sjogren's syndrome. REPORT OF A CASE A 70-year-old woman presented with a ten-year history of progressive muscle weakness. A trial of prednisone, 60 mg daily, for several months in 1981 was without benefit. By October 1983, she was unable to climb stairs and required assistance when walking. She had no bulbar symptoms. Since 1971, she has had dry eyes and mouth and had a total removal of the left parotid gland for "infection. " In recent years she has also had cold-induced blanching of her fingers. General physical examination showed only a grade 3/6 apical systolic murmur. Weakness was prominent in quadriceps and iliopsoas muscles. Mild weakness was present in other proximal and distal muscles of all four extremities and in facial and tongue muscles. Gowers' sign
Type 2 transglutaminase in Huntington’s disease: a double‐edged sword with clinical potential

Abstract. Mastroberardino PG, Piacentini M (Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, and National Institute for Infectious Diseases IRCCS ‘Lazzaro Spallanzani’, Rome, Italy) Type 2 transglutaminase in Huntington’s disease: a double‐edged sword with clinical potential (Review‐Symposium). J Intern Med 2010; 268: 419–431.
Giant cell arteritis with extensive scalp necrosis: A diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

Declaration of patient consent The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form the patient(s) has/have given his/her/their consent for his/ her/their images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patients understand that their names and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal their identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed.
The asymptotic analysis of multiple imaginary characteristic roots for LTI delayed systems based on Puiseux–Newton diagram

The paper proposes a novel procedure for the asymptotic expansions of root loci around multiple imaginary roots of an exponential polynomial, which is necessary for the stability analysis of the LTI systems with commensurate delays. With the LTI delay systems given as exponential polynomials (also called quasi-polynomial), we seek to characterise the asymptotic behaviours of the characteristic roots of such systems in an algebraic way and determine whether the imaginary roots cross from one half-plane into another or only touch the imaginary axis. According to the Weierstrass preparation theorem, the quasi-polynomial equation is equivalent to an algebraic equation in the neighbourhood of a singular point. Furthermore, our result gives an explicit expression of the coefficients of the algebraic equation in infinite power series of delay parameter, and the determinations of such power series coefficients refer to the computation of residues of memorphic functions. Subsequently, the classic Puiseux–Newton diagram algorithm can be used to calculate the algebraic expansions of the reduced equation directly. Thus, the asymptotic behaviours of root loci around singular points of the quasi-polynomial equation are obtained. Some illustrative simulations are given to check the validity of the proposed method on asymptotic analysis with a powerful software.
A study of maternity provision in the UK in response to the needs of families who have a multiple birth.

Multiple pregnancy is NEVER planned. A few years ago one could categorically make such a statement. Perhaps nowadays one cannot be so sure. Although parents are still unlikely to be able to plan such an event, it does seem that current infertility treatments may allow or even encourage practitioners to use methods which predispose to a multiple pregnancy. The practice of returning several fertilised embryos to the uterus in the hope of achieving a successful result has meant that many parents who longed for a baby have had to adjust to the realisation of a multiple pregnancy with all the effects such an occurrence has on family physical, social and emotional resources. The Study of Triplets and Higher Order Births by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys [1] highlighted the striking increase in Multiple Births in recent years. This was particularly evident in the case of triplets and higher order births. (Fig. 1) Care of these high-risk infants is costly in resources and no increased funding has been given to the National Health Service or Social Services budgets to provide care and support for the families. This study endeavours to ascertain the needs of such families preconceptually, antenatally, intra-partum, postnatally and in the early months following the birth. It also tries to assess how appropriate current practice is in meeting these needs. Initially, the views of approximately half of the nursing staff in the neonatal units of a regional referral unit, a large district unit accepting referrals and a small district unit which did not, were probed in in-depth interviews. These nurses represented all grades and levels of experience. Their opinions on the needs of families with multiples in their care and on how appropriate the service they gave was in meeting these needs were sought. Concurrently, mothers in their care were similarly interviewed. A comparison of the staff and parent responses highlighted areas of confusion and the possible inappropriate or unsatisfactory provision of assistance. A comprehensive questionnaire was then circulated, via Twins Clubs affiliated to the Twins and Multiple Births Association (TAMBA), to mothers whose multiples were born since January 1990. Independent members of TAMBA were also included.
Tertiary plotopterids (Aves, Plotopteridae) and a novel hypothesis on the phylogenetic relationships of penguins (Spheniscidae)

Plotopterids (Aves: Plotopteridae) are extinct wing-propelled diving birds which exhibit a strikingly similar wing morphology to penguins (Spheniscidae), but also share derived characters with pelecaniform birds that are absent in penguins. The similarities between Plotopteridae and Spheniscidae have hitherto been attributed to convergence, and plotopterids were considered to be most closely related to the pelecaniform Phalacrocoracidae (cormorants) and Anhingidae (anhingas). However, here I show that assignment of plotopterids to pelecaniform birds does not necessarily preclude them from being the sister taxon of penguins. Cladistic analysis of 68 morphological characters resulted in sister group relationship between Plotopteridae and Spheniscidae, and the clade (Plotopteridae + Spheniscidae) was shown to be the sister taxon of the Suloidea, i.e. a clade including Sulidae (boobies and gannets), Phalacrocoracidae, and Anhingidae. Derived characters are discussed which support this novel hypothesis. Paedomorphosis probably accounts for the absence of derived characters in penguins that are shared by Plotopteridae and members of the Steganopodes. Plotopterids exemplify the importance of fossil birds for analyzing the phylogenetic relationships of modern taxa that exhibit a highly apomorphic morphology.
The Generalized Exponential Distribution As a Lifetime Model under Different Loss Functions

Bayes estimates of the unknown parameter and the reliability function for the generalized exponential model are derived. Bayes estimates are obtained under various losses such as the squared error, the absolute error, the squared log error, and the entropy loss functions. Monte Carlo simulations are presented to compare the Bayes estimates and the maximum likelihood estimates of the unknown parameter and the reliability function.
EFFECT OF DAYLENGTH ON GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION OF THE CUCUMBER.

Most contemporary studies of photoperiodism in plants have dealt with species which normally flower either in long or short day conditions. There is great experimental convenience and clarity of response in the employment of species which can be qualitatively distinguished as reproductive in a short photoperiod and vegetative in a long photoperiod or vice versa. Phenomenal improvement in our knowledge of the physiology of growth and reproduction has attended the study of such clearly defined types in the two decades following the enunciation of the basic concept of photoperiodism by Garner and Allard (8). Scientific interest has centered in the nature of the metabolic factors
Personality-Impression Formation as a Function of Visual Cues and Set

In 2-person simulated employment interviews, blindfolded interviewers (N = 119) perceived interviewees in general in the same ways as did seeing interviewers (N = 256). In accord with Asch's hypothesis on the centrality of the cold-warm construct, the effect of the advance set warm is to enhance the frequency with which interviewers select warm-related words as descriptive of interviewees; the effect of the advance set cold is to lower that frequency.
THE THEORY OF CONTRARY OPINION: A TEST USING SENTIMENT INDICES IN FUTURES MARKETS

The theory of contrary opinion predicts price reversals following extremes in market sentiment. This research tests a survey-based sentiment index's usefulness as a contrary indicator across 28 U.S. futures markets. Using rigorous time-series tests, the sentiment index displays only a sporadic and marginal ability to predict returns, and in those instances the pattern is one of return continuation--not reversals. Therefore, futures traders who rely solely upon sentiment indices as contrary indicators may be misguided.
[First validation of the French version of the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI)].

AIM Gastrointestinal quality of life index (GIQLI) was initiated in Germany. The aim of this study was to validate its French version (translation). METHODS The questionnaire includes 36 items asking about symptoms, physical status, emotions, social dysfunction, and effects of medical treatment. The questionnaire has been applied to 615 persons: 335 healthy individuals and 280 patients. Responsiveness and absolute and relative scores were calculated in both groups. Psychometric analysis was done by measuring the validity (convergent and discriminant) and internal consistency. RESULTS The responsiveness was 93%. The mean score was 126 for healthy individuals and 96 for patients (P < 0.00001). The validity of the questionnaire (both convergent and discriminant) and the internal consistency were demonstrated. Clinical validity was also suggested by the differences between healthy individuals and patients. CONCLUSION This study allowed the psychometric validation of the French version of GIQLI. This index could be used in France as a reliable method for measuring quality of life related to gastrointestinal diseases.