Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consequence of Hoechst 33342-mediated Leishmania DNA topoisomerase-I inhibition on parasite replication

This study reports that inhibition of Leishmania Topo-I with the minor groove-binding ligands (MGBLs) Hoechst 33342 (Ho342) blocks parasite growth in culture by mechanisms involving DNA breakage. While Ho342 inhibited the replication of several species of Leishmania in a dose- and time-dependent manner, Ho258 was not effective. Cytofluorometric analysis suggested that superior effectiveness of Ho342 over Ho258 was attributed to Leishmania parasites being more permeable toward Ho342. This observation was supported by the ability of both Ho342 and Ho258 to block the relaxation of supercoiled pBR322 DNA by Leishmania Topo-I. The Ho342 specificity toward L. donovani Topo-I was reinforced by the observation that increased Topo-I gene expression and Topo-I activity in Leishmania was paralleled by augmented resistance for this compound. Furthermore, the capacity of NaCl treatment to reverse MGBL-mediated DNA break suggests that Ho342 targetted Topo-I. Moreover, we observed that Ho342-inducible arrest of Leishmania growth was accompanied by G1 arrest and induction of cell death that closely resembles apoptosis. Taken together, our results suggest that MGBL compounds show promise as Topo-I inhibitors against Leishmania infection.
Perinatal outcome in relation with laboratory findings in pregnancy induced hypertension(PIH)

Background: Perinatal mortality is an important indicator of the status of maternal and child health, the conditions of obstetric care and the level of economic development of a community. The perinatal mortality rate (PMR) reflects both the characteristics of reproductive health and the quality of antenatal care, delivery, and newborn care. Objective: To find out the corelation between laboratory parameters with perinatal outcomes in PIH cases. Method: 320 patients having an average systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mm hg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mm Hg were included in the study and biochemistry parameters like serum AST, ALT analysed by UV kinetic, LDH by UV kinetic IFCC, Uric acid by modified Trinder’s method and calcium by arsenazo III methods, were measured by Xl 300 autoanalyzer. Result: In our study overall incidence of PIH was 14.3 %. Maternal death occurred in 09 cases(2.8%). Perinatal mortality occurred in 86(23.3%) with 57(17.8%) Stillbirth and 29(9.0%) Neonatal deaths. Low birthweight160/110 and above (Table 2). Perinatal death increased significantly in PIH women with increased levels of serum AST, ALT, uric acid, LDH and with a significant decrease in serum calcium levels. Perinatal death occurred in 63(73%) cases with Uric acid >6.0 mg/dl, 48(55.8%) in cases with > 600U/l LDH and in 48(55.8%) cases with < 8.0 mg/dl Calcium. Conclusion: A positive correlation has been made out between serum AST, ALT, uric acid, LDH, calcium and perinatal deaths in relation to the severity of PIH and these may be useful markers and diagnostic tools for predicting the progression of PIH. Keywords: Preeclampsia, uric acid, LDH, calcium, Perinatal mortality
Immediate Definitive Prosthetic Reconstruction in Patients With Ptotic Breasts

AbstractImmediate reconstruction of medium/large ptotic breasts can be performed by using expanders, definitive implants, or autologous flaps. If a skin-sparing mastectomy is feasible, excellent results can be achieved by planning Wise pattern incisions, using definitive implants. The authors suggest the use of a dermal-adipose flap, harvested from the ptotic part of the breast, rotated laterally, and interposed between the serratus fascia and the pectoralis muscle to close the inferolateral part of the pocket. We performed 23 immediate unilateral single-stage breast reconstructions, with simultaneous contralateral reduction. Preoperatively, all breasts showed grade II or III ptosis. There was no case of implant infection or failure of the reconstruction. The median follow-up was 21 months; however, some patients followed up for >4 years; in this period, no case of capsular contracture was observed. This technique has provided good shape, acceptable ptosis consistent with the healthy breast and symmetric scars.
Beneficial effects of administering carprofen before surgery in dogs

These survival times were used to calculate the cumulative risk to estimate an expected number of cases in these animals, using a 10 per cent maternally-associated transmission rate by seven years of age, which is likely to be a maximum rate, as indicated by the results of the cohort study. This cumulative risk was calculated by the summation of the risk for each animal developing BSE, dependent on the proportion of the median incubation period for which they survived and assuming the incubation period was the same as that for feedborne transmission. That is, an animal which survived from 20 months to seven years would have contributed 0-1 to the expected number of cases, but animals surviving for shorter periods would make a proportionately smaller contribution to the expected cases. This results in an expected number of cases of BSE in these offspring of 7. If this estimation procedure is restricted to offspring born more than six months before the onset of BSE in the dams, then the expected number of BSE cases is reduced to 6. In fact, there was none. The results of this investigation are somewhat limited by the small number of pedigree beef suckler herds affected by BSE and the very low within-herd incidence among these herds due to feedbome infection (Wilesmith and others 1992). However, as indicated above, the estimation of the risk for offspring is less confounded by the feedborne source than in dairy herds, from which the majority of the animals for the cohort study were necessarily obtained. It was not possible to determine the use of commercial concentrates in these herds with any accuracy, because of the intermittent and low usage. Comparisons of the incidence of BSE-affected dairy herds compared to that of BSE-affected beef suckler herds, in which only homebred animals were affected, revealed that dairy herds had a 24-fold greater risk (J. W. Wilesmith and J. B. M. Ryan, unpublished observations). Two conclusions arise from this study. First, it seems highly unlikely that milk is a source of infection for cattle, as, collectively, it is estimated that the 132 offspring considered in this investigation would have consumed 111,500 litres of milk, and
GABAergic and glycinergic presympathetic neurons of rat medulla oblongata identified by retrograde transport of pseudorabies virus and in situ hybridization

Electron microscopy suggests that up to half the synaptic input to sympathetic preganglionic neurons (SPGNs) is GABAergic or glycinergic. A proportion of this input is suspected to originate from neurons located within the medulla oblongata. The present study provides definitive evidence for the existence of these supraspinal presympathetic (PS) neurons with inhibitory phenotypes. PS neurons were identified by retrograde trans‐synaptic migration of pseudorabies virus (PRV) injected into the adrenal gland. GABAergic or glycinergic cell bodies were identified by the presence of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)‐67 mRNA or glycine transporter (GlyT)‐2 mRNA detected with in situ hybridization (ISH). Neither GABAergic nor glycinergic PS neurons were tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)‐immunoreactive (ir). GABAergic PS neurons were located within the ventral gigantocellular nucleus, gigantocellular nucleus alpha, and medial reticular formation, mostly medial to the TH‐ir PS neurons. About 30% of GABAergic PS neurons were serotonergic cells located in the raphe pallidus (RPa) and parapyramidal region (PPyr). Glycinergic PS neurons had the same general distribution as the GABAergic cells, except that no glycinergic neurons were located in the RPa or PPyr and none were serotonergic. PRV immunohistochemistry combined with ISH for both GlyT2 and GAD‐67 mRNAs showed that at least 63% of midline medulla GABAergic PS neurons were also glycinergic and 76% of glycinergic PS neurons were GABAergic. In conclusion, the rostral ventromedial medulla contains large numbers of GABAergic and glycinergic neurons that innervate adrenal gland SPGNs. Over half of these PS neurons may release both transmitters. The physiological role of this medullary inhibitory input remains to be explored. J. Comp. Neurol. 479:257–270, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Efficiency and productivity of hospitals in Vietnam.

PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative efficiency and productivity of hospitals during the health reform process. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH Data envelopment analyses method (DEA) with the input-oriented variable-returns-to-scale model was used to calculate efficiency scores. Malmquist total factor productivity index approach was then employed to calculate productivity of hospitals. Data of 101 hospitals was extracted from databases of the Ministry of Health, Vietnam from the years 1998 to 2006. FINDINGS There was evidence of improvement in overall technical efficiency from 65 per cent in 1998 to 76 per cent in 2006. Hospitals' productivity progressed around 1.4 per cent per year, which was mainly due to the technical efficiency improvement. Furthermore, provincial hospitals were more technically efficient than their central counterparts and hospitals located in different regions performed differently. ORIGINALITY/VALUE The paper provides an insight in the performance of Vietnamese public hospitals that has been rarely examined before and contributes to the existing literature of hospital performance in developing countries
Air-fluidized beds or conventional therapy for pressure sores. A randomized trial.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness and adverse effects of air-fluidized beds and conventional therapy for patients with pressure sores. DESIGN Randomized trial with both masked and unmasked comparisons of outcome after a median follow-up of 13 days (range, 4 to 77 days). SETTING Urban, academic referral, and primary care medical center. PATIENTS Of 140 potentially eligible hospitalized patients with pressure sores, 72 consented to randomization; 65 (90%) completed the study. INTERVENTIONS Thirty-one patients on air-fluidized beds (Clinitron Therapy, Support Systems International, Inc., Charleston, South Carolina) repositioned every 4 hours from 0700h to 2300h without use of other antipressure devices. Thirty-four patients on conventional therapy used an alternating air-mattress covered by a foam pad (Lapidus Air Float System, American Pharmaceal Company, Cincinnati, Ohio) on a regular hospital bed; were repositioned every 2 hours; and had elbow or heel pads as needed. Topical therapy was standardized for both groups. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Pressure sores showed a median decrease in total surface area (-1.2 cm2) on air-fluidized beds, but showed a median increase (+ 0.5 cm2) on conventional therapy; 95% confidence interval (CI) for the difference between medians, -9.2 to -0.6 cm2 (p = 0.01). Improvement, as assessed from serial color photographs by investigators masked to treatment group, occurred in 71% and 47%, respectively; 95% CI for the difference, 1% to 47% (p = 0.05). For pressure sores 7.8 cm2 or greater, outcome differences between air-fluidized beds and conventional therapy were greater: median total surface area change was -5.3 and +4.0 cm2, respectively; 95% CI for the difference, -42.2 to -3.2 cm2 (p = 0.01). Improvement rates were 62% and 29% respectively; 95% CI for difference, 1% to 65% (p = 0.05). After adjusting for other factors associated with sore outcome, the estimated relative odds of showing improvement with air-fluidized beds were 5.6-fold (95% CI, 1.4 to 21.7) greater than with conventional therapy (p = 0.01). No significant increase in adverse effects was seen with air-fluidized beds. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that air-fluidized beds are more effective than conventional therapy, particularly for large pressure sores. Studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of air-fluidized beds in long-term care settings.
Behavioural determinants of salt consumption among hypertensive individuals.

BACKGROUND High salt consumption among populations remains a challenge for health professionals dealing with prevention and control of hypertension. The present study aimed to identify the psychosocial predictors of salt consumption among hypertensive individuals, based on an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Three salt consumption behaviours were studied: Behaviour 1- using <4 g of salt per day during cooking; Behaviour 2- avoiding adding salt/table salt use to the prepared foods; and Behaviour 3- avoiding the consumption of foods with high salt content. METHODS At baseline (n = 108), TPB and additional variables (self-efficacy, habit, past behaviour, hedonic determinant, self-perceived diet quality) were measured. At 2-month follow-up (n = 95), the three behaviours were assessed. Behaviour and intention were sequentially regressed on the study variables, using polytomous logistic regression and hierarchical linear regression with rank transformation, respectively. RESULTS Behaviour 1 was predicted by intention [odds ratio (OR) = 6.23; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.81-21.52], whereas self-efficacy and habit predicted intention. Behaviour 2 exhibited high score mean and low variation and was predicted by self-perceived diet quality (OR = 2.56; 95% CI = 1.03-6.36). Behaviour 3 was predicted by the hedonic determinant (OR = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.01-1.98). CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that salt-related behaviours are explained by a variety of determinants. Among these determinants, special consideration should be given to motivational and hedonic aspects.
Immunocytochemically defined interneuron populations in the hippocampus of mouse strains used in transgenic technology

Transgenic mice are overtaking the role of model animals in neuroscience. They are used in developmental, anatomical, and physiological as well as experimental neurology. However, most results on the organization of the nervous system derive from the rat. The rat hippocampus and its neuronal elements have been thoroughly investigated, revealing remarkable functional and morphological diversity and specificity among hippocampal interneurons. Our aim was to examine the properties of distinct hippocampal interneuron populations, i.e., those immunoreactive for calcium‐binding proteins (parvalbumin, calbindin, and calretinin), neuropeptides (cholecystokinin, neuropeptide Y, somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide), and certain receptors (metabotropic glutamate receptor 1α, cannabinoid receptor type 1) in four strains of mice widely used in transgenic technology, and to compare their properties to those in the rat. Our data indicate that the distribution as well as the dendritic and axonal arborization of mouse interneurons immunoreactive for the different markers was identical in the examined mouse strains, and in most respects are similar to the features found in the rat. The postsynaptic targets of neurons terminating in the perisomatic (parvalbumin), proximal (calbindin), and distal (somatostatin) dendritic region, as well as on other interneurons (calretinin), also matched those found in the rat. However, a few significant differences could also be observed between the two species in addition to the already described immunoreactivity of mossy cells for calretinin: the absence of spiny calretinin‐immunoreactive interneurons in the CA3 region, sparse contacts between calretinin‐immunoreactive interneurons, and the axon staining for somatostatin and neuropil labeling for cholecystokinin. We can conclude that the morphofunctional classification of interneurons established in the rat is largely valid for mouse strains used in transgenic procedures. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Therapeutic Time Window of Methylprednisolone in Acoustic Injury

Hypothesis: This study aims to investigate the therapeutic time window of methylprednisolone in acoustic injury. Background: Although glucocorticoids have been widely used in the treatment of acoustic injury, the therapeutic time window of glucocorticoids in acoustic injury has never been examined. Methods: Mice were exposed to 4-kHz pure tone of 128-dB sound pressure level for 4 hours. Auditory brainstem response was examined before, immediately after, and 2 weeks after acoustic overexposure. Results: Methylprednisolone significantly improved the auditory brainstem response threshold shifts 2 weeks after acoustic overexposure when it was administered before or immediately after acoustic overexposure, but not when administered 3 hours after acoustic overexposure. Conclusion: The present findings suggest that methylprednisolone possesses protective effects against acoustic injury of the cochlea with a short therapeutic time window.
The Economic and Statistical Value of Forecast Combinations Under Regime Switching: An Application to Predictable Us Returns

We address an interesting case – the predictability of excess US asset returns from macroeconomic factors within a flexible regime-switching VAR framework – in which the presence of regimes may lead to superior forecasting performance from forecast combinations. After documenting that forecast combinations provide gains in predictive accuracy and that these gains are statistically significant, we show that forecast combinations may substantially improve portfolio selection. We find that the best-performing forecast combinations are those that either avoid estimating the pooling weights or that minimize the need for estimation. In practice, we report that the best-performing combination schemes are based on the principle of relative past forecasting performance. The economic gains from combining forecasts in portfolio management applications appear to be large, stable over time, and robust to the introduction of realistic transaction costs.
Population-Based Trends in Volumes and Rates of Ambulatory Lumbar Spine Surgery

Study Design. Sequential cross-sectional study. Objectives. To quantify patterns of outpatient lumbar spine surgery. Summary of Background Data. Outpatient lumbar spine surgery patterns are undocumented. Methods. We used CPT-4 and ICD-9-CM diagnosis/procedure codes to identify lumbar spine operations in 20+ year olds. We combined sample volume estimates from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery (NSAS), and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) with complete case counts from HCUP's State Inpatient Databases (SIDs) and State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASDs) for four geographically diverse states. We excluded pregnant patients and those with vertebral fractures, cancer, trauma, or infection. We calculated age- and sex-adjusted rates. Results. Ambulatory cases comprised 4% to 13% of procedures performed from 1994 to 1996 (NHDS/NSAS data), versus 9% to 17% for 1997 to 2000 (SID/SASD data). Discectomies comprised 70% to 90% of outpatient cases. Conversely, proportions of discectomies performed on outpatients rose from 4% in 1994 to 26% in 2000. Outpatient fusions and laminectomies were uncommon. NIS data indicate that nationwide inpatient surgery rates were stable (159 cases/100,000 in 1994 vs. 162/100,000 in 2000). However, combined data from all sources suggest that inpatient and outpatient rates rose from 164 cases/100,000 in 1994 to 201/100,000 in 2000. Conclusions. While inpatient lumbar surgery rates remained relatively stable for 1994 to 2000, outpatient surgery increased over time.
Case management workforce in the United States.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare characteristics of the case management (CM) workforce in the US by age, years of experience, and original profession. DESIGN This study was an exploratory, descriptive secondary analysis of demographic and job characteristics of 24,085 certified case managers (CCMs). METHODS Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and correlation coefficients were calculated. FINDINGS The majority of the case-management workforce is made up of RNs (93.3%). The CCMs were older, with a mean age of 55.0 years, than were those in their original profession and started to work as CCMs late in their careers. The educational level of RN-CCMs was lower than that of CCMs from other professions. Also, job titles and work settings of CCMs were diverse, with different focus areas depending on clients' needs. The distribution of CCMs was associated with the number of managed-care enrollees. CONCLUSIONS Profiles of CCMs in this study are valuable for clinical practice and can assist with deployment of the CM workforce. CLINICAL RELEVANCE To develop and deploy CCMs better matched to societal healthcare needs, characteristics of CCMs should be precisely understood. Managing the CM workforce is expected to be critical because of a shortage of RN workers and aging-of-the-workforce issues in the US.
Measuring personality at a distance: Development of an integrated system for scoring motives in running text.

A new integrated method for scoring achievement, affiliation-intimacy, and power motive imagery in verbal running text (speeches, interviews, literary works, etc.) is introduced as an aid to personality research at a distance. Systematic studies demonstrate that the new scoring system has interscorer and temporal reliability, validity, and convergence with scores from the original TAT-based scoring systems. Group and individual studies of political leaders, as well as studies of conflict escalation, illustrate its range of application. Overall, the performance of the new integrated running text system, which is nonreactive and can be applied to any naturally-occurring verbal material, suggests an alternative to the testing procedures of traditional personality research and assessment. Personality research is often limited by the way in which personality variables are measured. These limits are especially prominent in the study of individual lives. Often it is impossible to administer traditional psychological tests or carry out an interview. Examples include cases where testing is impossible, such as studies of political leaders, prominent persons, or historical figures who are no longer alive; and situations where testing is possible but undesirable because it is highly reactive and arouses test-taking or self-presentational sets, suspiciousness, defensiveness, or anxiety. Personality researchers, therefore, have begun to overcome this problem by developing indirect methods of measuring personality that can be applied “at a distance,” as a supplement to the more conventional methods of psychobiography (Hermann, 1968). In general, these methods are nonreactive, so that they can give repeated measurements over time without repeated testing; and they are flexible, so that they can measure personality characteristics in a variety of contexts. Because of widespread interest in understanding the relationship between personality and politics, at-a-distance techniques are probably most widely used in political psychology (e.g., Hermann, 1977), but they have also been applied to literary figures (Porter & Suedfeld, 1981), notable persons, and in fact to college students and other traditional groups of personality research subjects, as an alternative to traditional testing. Prominent among the variables measured in this way are motives (Hermann, 1979, 1980a, 1980b), integrative 1 A later version of this paper is published in A. J. Stewart, J. M. Healy, Jr., & D. J. Ozer (Eds.), Perspectives in personality: Approaches to understanding lives (pp. 59-89). London: Jessica Kingsley, 1991. I am grateful to Abigail Stewart for advice and discussion of several issues; to Joseph M. Healy, Jr. for advice in the final formulation of the scoring system and actual scoring; and to John W. Atkinson, Dan P. McAdams, David C. McClelland, and Joseph Veroff for generously providing data from their own previous research studies. This chapter was prepared with support from the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation, which support is gratefully