Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test Characteristics in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Associated Pulmonary Hypertension

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a well-known complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It remains unclear whether exercise parameters can be used to discriminate between COPD patients with associated PH (COPD-PH) and COPD patients without associated PH (COPD-nonPH). Objective: To study whether the existence of pulmonary hypertension in COPD is related to characteristic findings in gas exchange and circulatory parameters during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed CPET data in 25 COPD patients in whom right heart catheterization had been performed. Differences were assessed between COPD-PH and COPD-nonPH patients in peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak), ventilatory efficiency (VE/VCO2), oxygen pulse, maximal ventilation and pulse oximetry (SpO2). Results: PH was found in 10 of 25 patients (mPpa = 33 ± 7 mm Hg), in 15 patients mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPpa) was below 25 mm Hg (18 ± 3 mm Hg). CPET in COPD-PH was characterized by a higher VE/VCO2 at nadir, a higher VE/VCO2 slope, and a lower SpO2 at rest and during exercise, but values in both groups were overlapping considerably. In the whole group mPpa was associated with resting PaO2 (r = –0.70, p < 0.001), VE/VCO2 nadir (r = 0.43, p < 0.05), and inversely related to SpO2 at rest and during exercise (r = –0.58 and r = –0.64, p < 0.01, respectively). Conclusion: Although CPET characteristics showed a large overlap in both groups, the existence of PH in COPD is associated with a significantly reduced ventilatory efficiency during CPET. However, a low SpO2 at rest and a further decrease during exercise similarly suggest the presence of PH in COPD.
Increased platelet depleted plasma 5-hydroxytryptamine concentration following meal ingestion in symptomatic female subjects with diarrhoea predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Background: Meal ingestion is often associated with exacerbation of gastrointestinal symptoms in subjects with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Furthermore, recent preliminary data suggest that 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) concentration in platelet poor plasma is elevated following meal ingestion in some subjects with diarrhoea predominant IBS (d-IBS) compared with healthy subjects, although it is not known whether this is related to postprandial symptomatology. Aim: To expand on previous data by evaluating a larger number of subjects but also to assess plasma 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) concentrations, 5-HT turnover, platelet 5-HT stores, and any relationship to symptomatology. Methods: We assessed platelet depleted plasma 5-HT and 5-HIAA concentrations for two hours (60 minute intervals) under fasting conditions, and then for a further four hours (30 minute intervals) after a standard carbohydrate meal (457 kcal), together with fasting platelet 5-HT concentrations in 39 female subjects with d-IBS (aged 19–52 years; mean age 33) and 20 healthy female volunteers (aged 20–46 years, mean age 28). IBS symptomatology, in particular abdominal pain and bloating, and urgency to defecate were assessed throughout the study Results: When related to fasting levels, there was no statistically significant difference in postprandial plasma 5-HT concentrations between d-IBS and healthy subjects. However, when fasting levels were not taken into consideration, d-IBS subjects exhibited higher postprandial plasma 5-HT concentrations compared with healthy subjects (p=0.040). Furthermore, d-IBS subjects who exhibited postprandial symptomatology had higher levels of postprandial plasma 5-HT, whether assessed with respect to fasting baseline levels (p=0.069) or not (p=0.047), compared with d-IBS subjects who did not report postprandial symptomatology. This appeared to be associated with a concomitant increase in plasma 5-HIAA (p=0.161) but reduction in turnover (p=0.058). Lastly, d-IBS subjects had higher platelet concentrations of 5-HT than healthy subjects (p=0.009). Conclusions: These data suggest that postprandial symptomatology may be associated with increased platelet depleted plasma 5-HT concentrations in female subjects with d-IBS. In addition, the presence of increased platelet stores of 5-HT may act as a useful marker for the diagnosis and management of d-IBS.
The use of ultrasound in the study of articulatory properties of vowels in clear speech

ABSTRACT Although the acoustic properties of clear speech have been extensively studied, its underlying articulatory details have not been well understood. The purpose of the present study is twofold: To examine the specific articulatory processes of clear speech using ultrasound and to investigate whether and how the type of listener (hard of hearing, normal hearing) and the lexical property of words (frequency) interact in the production of clear speech. To this end, we examined productions of /ɑ/, /æ/ and /u/ from 16 speakers of US English. Overall, our ultrasound results suggested that the tongue’s highest point moved in a direction that exaggerated the three vowels’ phonological features, resulting in an expanded articulatory vowel space for the hard-of-hearing listener and low-frequency words. No interaction was found between the listener and word frequency, suggesting that the effects of word frequency hold constant across the two types of listeners.
Variations in the adoption and willingness to use e-services in three differentiated urban areas

ABSTRACT This study analyses electronic service (e-service) adoption in regards to socio-spatial dynamics. Conceptually the paper focuses on the interrelations of both private and public e-services and on the influence that demographic variables have on e-service adoption. To empirically engage in this discussion the study uses segmented residential areas representing different socio-spatial characteristics; namely ‘city center’, ‘high-income suburban’ area, and ‘lower-income suburban’ area. With data from an extensive postal survey and standard statistical methods for analyzing survey data the paper shows the extent of existing differentiation in e-service use between genders and according to age, education and income, as well as spatial differences between the studied residential areas. The study results, thus, clearly indicate that the e-service use has still statistically differentiated user profiles, particularly if it is considered in a spatial setting. The paper concludes by addressing directions for the future research.
The effects of hypercapnia, hypoxia, exercise and anxiety on the pattern of breathing in man.

1. The pattern of breathing, defined as the relations between tidal volume and inspiratory and expiratory times, was measured during the stimulation of breathing by carbon dioxide (hyperoxic rebreathing at rest) in twenty‐seven healthy, young volunteers. 2. Most of the patterns (twenty) were divisible into two parts, for low (range 1) and high (range 2) tidal volumes. The relations were curved, inverse proportionalities for both inspiration and expiration in range 2, and for expiration in range 1. The relations for inspiration in range 1 were evenly divided between those with constant inspiratory times (type 1) and those with curved, inverse proportionalities (type 2). 3. In four volunteers, direct proportionalities predominated and the patterns were scattered (type 3). 4. Eight of the volunteers (four type 1, two type 2 and two type 3 patterns) repeated the measurements and one changed from a type 1 to a type 2 pattern. 5. Nine of the volunteers also rebreathed during resting hypoxia. Two altered their patterns, and the others had patterns which were superimposed upon those measured during hyperoxic rebreathing at rest. 6. Eighteen of the volunteers also rebreathed (hyperoxic) during light exercise (25 W). Five entrained their breathing frequency to the exercise rhythm and showed exercise patterns with constant inspiratory and expiratory times. The others had patterns which were extensions of those measured during hyperoxic rebreathing at rest. 7. The pattern of breathing in range 1 was measured by steady‐state methods in a further ten volunteers at rest with their eyes closed and open, and during mental arithmetic. The pooled average pattern showed that the stress of mental arithmetic shortened both inspiratory and expiratory times, and changed a type 2 pattern into a type 1 pattern.
[Are patients with fibromyalgia "hypervigilant"?].

INTRODUCTION Clinical and experimental studies suggest that a generalized style of hypervigilant information processing may influence the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia (FM). This article deals with the question whether perception and processing of sensory stimuli in patients suffering from FM can be described in terms of "generalized hypervigilance". METHODS The components of hypervigilant stimulus processing were defined and discussed with reference to the current literature. RESULTS This literature review indicates that perceptual thresholds are not reduced in the majority of FM-patients. A strategy of hypervigilant information processing has consistently been shown only for suprathreshold aversive stimuli or under pressure to perform well. This is true for psychophysical as well as for neurophysiological parameters. The results concerning information processing of external stimuli cannot be transferred easily to the processing of somatosensory stimuli. CONCLUSION On the whole the existing studies argue against the assumption of trait-like hypervigilant information processing in FM-patients. A more appropriate explanation of the results is in terms of the interaction of situational and personal factors.
‘Trans-generational immune priming’: specific enhancement of the antimicrobial immune response in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor

Encounters with parasites and pathogens are often unpredictable in time. However, experience of an infection may provide the host with reliable cues about the future risk of infection for the host itself or for its progeny. If the parental environment predicts the quality of the progeny's environment, then parents may further enhance their net reproductive success by differentially providing their offspring with phenotypes to cope with potential hazards such as pathogen infection. Here, I test for the occurrence of such an adaptive transgenerational phenotypic plasticity in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor. A pathogenic environment was mimicked by injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharides for two generations of insects. I found that parental challenge enhanced offspring immunity through the inducible production of antimicrobial peptides in the haemolymph.
Ultracentrifugal isolation of vesicular carriers of biliary cholesterol in native human and rat bile

We have utilized ultracentrifugation of native bile‐Metrizamide density gradients to isolate a vesicular transport system or biliary lipids in both man and rat. We identified vesicular structures by electron microscopy. Fresh bile specimens were obtained from bile fistula rats (unsaturated bile) and from patients 1 week after bile duct surgery (supersaturated bile). Metrizamide was dissolved in bile (33% w/v), and continuous density gradients were performed with undiluted bile (density limits = 1.020 to 1.300 gm per ml). The relative distribution of biliary cholesterol, phospholipid and bile salt was studied as a function of the density of the fractions. Approximately 50% of total rat biliary cholesterol and between 61 and 90% of human biliary cholesterol was concentrated in the lightest fractions of the gradients (density < 1.060 gm per ml). In contrast, less than 20% of bile salts was present in fractions with densities lower than 1.060 gm per ml. The highest amounts of bile salts and phospholipids of the bile‐Metrizamide density gradients were found in the density range of 1.075 to 1.100 gm per ml in both human and rat bile. More than 80% of biliary proteins was found in fractions with densities < 1.075 gm per ml, and only 2% was found in the cholesterol‐rich fraction with density < 1.060 gm per ml in both species. When bile salt concentration was raised in rat bile from 38 to 97 mM by adding taurocholate, the low density cholesterol‐rich fraction almost disappeared. Electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations of the fractions with density < 1.060 gm per ml showed 40 to 120 nm vesicles, which were not apparent in the other fractions. Similar vesicles were demonstrated also in fresh rat bile and within the canaliculi after acute depletion of the bile salt pool (biliary bile salt concentration of 3.45 mM; total biliary lipid concentration of 0.25 gm%). The structure of these vesicles was shown in thin sections of liver specimens. They appeared as internal cavities surrounded by a single, continuous 6‐nm‐thick bilayer. These studies demonstrate that a high proportion of biliary cholesterol is transported in vesicles in human supersaturated native bile and that vesicular carriers are also responsible for the transport of a significant amount of biliary cholesterol in unsaturated rat bile. The presence of vesicles in unsaturated hepatic bile strongly supports the thesis that biliary lipids may be secreted as vesicles from the hepatocyte into the canaliculi.
Advanced Islanding Detection Functionality for Future Electricity Distribution Networks

Islanding detection methods can be divided into communication-based and local detection-based methods. Proposed local passive detection methods have traditionally been dependent on the distributed generation unit type. A large nondetection zone (NDZ) near a power balance situation and unwanted distributed generation tripping due to other network events have also been major drawbacks of traditional, passive local islanding detection methods. In this paper, a new passive local multicriteria-based islanding detection algorithm with fault detection and islanding verification logic is presented. This new islanding detection algorithm, measuring voltage unbalance and voltage total harmonic distortion from all phases, is able to detect very fast and selectively islanding situations in a perfect power balance without NDZ with a simultaneous utilization of the available fault detection information and novel islanding verification logic. In addition to the new multicriteria-based islanding detection method, the fault detection information and islanding verification logic could also be used together with any other known passive islanding detection methods, that is, parameters which are not specified in the fault-ride-through (FRT) requirements of the future grid codes, to improve the performance of these methods in terms of reliability and speed of detection.
Not just heads and hands but hearts as well: an exploration of the attitudes of Irish primary classroom teachers currently providing inclusive education for children with significant special educational needs.

In the developed world over the last number o f decades, there has been a movement away from the placement o f young persons with significant special educational needs (SEN) in specialised\ segregated educational settings, replaced by the commitment to their enrolment in local mainstream schools, to be educated with their siblings and neighbourhood peers. This policy, where a student with significant SEN spends his / her official school day in the mainstream classroom, originally termed integration, is now more commonly referred to as inclusion, or inclusive education. For the purposes o f this study, the students are considered as having significant SEN if they have been granted additional teaching support and / or the services o f a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) by the National Council for Special Educational Needs (NCSE). The classroom teacher has been identified as a critical factor in the success o f inclusive education. A teacher’s attitudes towards the inclusive process strongly influences their commitment to this initiative. The study employed a qualitative approach to investigate the attitudes o f Irish primary school teachers working in an inclusive classroom. The researcher examined potential determinants in the formation o f teachers ’ attitudes, beliefs and emotions in relation to working in the inclusive classroom; such as teacher education, working relationship with SNA, rewards and challenges associated with the inclusive classroom, influence o f the wider school community, experience of contact with parent/s o f child with significant SEN and experience o f contact with outside professionals supporting the child. Twelve teachers in Irish primary school inclusive classrooms (N - 12) participated in the study. Data were generated through the use of interviews and teacher-written journals. Although the majority o f teachers held positive views towards the inclusion process, concerns were expressed about lack o f supervised placement in the inclusive classroom during initial teacher education (ITE), the availability o f ongoing teacher education in inclusive practices, working relationship with SNA, time constraints and the balance o f rights between the needs of the child with significant SEN and those o f their class peers. While the vast majority o f participants viewed their school principal as being supportive o f inclusive education, they differentiated between what they considered as administrative support for the policy o f inclusion and personal affirmation by the principal o f the teacher working in the inclusive classroom. The findings have implications for policy makers, teacher educators, professionals in the health services, school support services and school principals. The researcher makes some recommendations to address the identified challenges to the formation o f positive teacher attitudes to inclusive education.
Prospective association between physical activity and falls in community-dwelling older women

Objective: To explore associations between physical activity and the risk of falls and fractured bones in community-dwelling older women. Design, setting and participants: A prospective observational survey with three and six-year follow-ups. The sample included 8188 healthy, community-dwelling women, aged 70–75 years in 1996, who completed surveys as participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Women who reported a recent serious injury from falling were excluded. Outcomes were reports of a fall to the ground, injury from a fall, and a fractured bone in 1999 and 2002. The main predictor variable was physical activity level in 1996, categorised on the basis of weekly frequency as none/very low, low, moderate, high and very high. Covariates were demographic and health-related variables. Logistic regression models were computed separately for each outcome in 1999 and 2002. Main results: In multivariable models, very high physical activity was associated with a decreased risk of reporting a fall in 1999 (odds ratio (OR) 0.67; 95% CI 0.47 to 0.95) and in 2002 (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.43 to 0.96). High/very high physical activity was associated with a decreased risk of a fractured bone in 2002 (OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.34 to 0.83). No significant association was found between physical activity and injury from a fall. Conclusions: The results suggest that at least daily moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity is required for the primary prevention of falls to the ground and fractured bones in women aged 70–75 years.
Progastrin stimulates murine colonic epithelial mitosis after DNA damage.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Transgenic mice that overexpress progastrin are more susceptible than either wild-type mice or mice that overexpress amidated gastrin to chemical carcinogen-induced colonic adenomas. We have investigated whether alterations in the regulation of apoptosis or mitosis after DNA damage contribute to the effects of progastrin on murine colonic epithelium. METHODS Apoptosis and mitosis were assessed on a cell positional basis in murine intestinal epithelium after gamma-irradiation. Mice analyzed were progastrin overexpressing, gastrin overexpressing, gastrin knockout, and their wild-type counterparts. The expression of cell cycle regulators was analyzed by gene array and Western blotting. RESULTS Apoptosis was induced to similar levels in the small intestinal and colonic crypts of all mice 4.5 hours after 8 Gy gamma-radiation. Colonic mitosis was inhibited to almost undetectable levels by 8Gy gamma-radiation in wild-type, gastrin-knockout, and gastrin-overexpressing mice. However, significant colonic mitosis persisted in progastrin-overexpressing mice up to 24 hours after 8Gy gamma-radiation. Increased levels of cdk4 and cyclin D1 proteins were found in the colonic epithelium of progastrin-overexpressing mice relative to wild-type animals after gamma-radiation. CONCLUSIONS After DNA damage by gamma-radiation, mice with elevated progastrin exhibit significantly higher levels of colonic mitosis than wild-type or gastrin-overexpressing mice. Persistently elevated cdk4 and cyclin D1 in progastrin overexpressing mice accounts for the capacity of colon cells to continue with the cell cycle after DNA damage.
Institutions and Entrepreneurship Quality

Entrepreneurship contributes importantly to the economy. However, differences in the quality and quantity of entrepreneurship vary significantly across developing and developed countries. We use a sample of 70 countries over the period of 2005–2015 to examine how formal and informal institutional dimensions (availability of debt and venture capital, regulatory business environment, entrepreneurial cognition and human capital, corruption, government size, government support) affect the quality and quantity of entrepreneurship between developed and developing countries. Our results demonstrate that institutions are important for both the quality and quantity of entrepreneurship. However, not all institutions play a similar role; rather, there is a dynamic relationship between institutions and economic development.
Perivascular spaces on 7 Tesla brain MRI are related to markers of small vessel disease but not to age or cardiovascular risk factors

Cerebral perivascular spaces (PVS) are small physiological structures around blood vessels in the brain. MRI visible PVS are associated with ageing and cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). 7 Tesla (7T) MRI improves PVS detection. We investigated the association of age, vascular risk factors, and imaging markers of SVD with PVS counts on 7 T MRI, in 50 persons aged ≥ 40. The average PVS count ± SD in the right hemisphere was 17 ± 6 in the basal ganglia and 71 ± 28 in the semioval centre. We observed no relation between age or vascular risk factors and PVS counts. The presence of microbleeds was related to more PVS in the basal ganglia (standardized beta 0.32; p = 0.04) and semioval centre (standardized beta 0.39; p = 0.01), and white matter hyperintensity volume to more PVS in the basal ganglia (standardized beta 0.41; p = 0.02). We conclude that PVS counts on 7T MRI are high and are related SVD markers, but not to age and vascular risk factors. This latter finding may indicate that due to the high sensitivity of 7T MRI, the correlation of PVS counts with age or vascular risk factors may be attenuated by the detection of “normal”, non-pathological PVS.