Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fas activation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling pathway requires ICE/CED-3 family proteases

The Fas receptor mediates a signalling cascade resulting in programmed cell death (apoptosis) within hours of receptor cross-linking. In this study Fas activated the stress-responsive mitogen-activated protein kinases, p38 and JNK, within 2 h in Jurkat T lymphocytes but not the mitogen-responsive kinase ERK1 or pp70S6k. Fas activation of p38 correlated temporally with the onset of apoptosis, and transfection of constitutively active MKK3 (glu), an upstream regulator of p38, potentiated Fas-induced cell death, suggesting a potential involvement of the MKK3/p38 activation pathway in Fas-mediated apoptosis. Fas has been shown to require ICE (interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme) family proteases to induce apoptosis from studies utilizing the cowpox ICE inhibitor protein CrmA, the synthetic tetrapeptide ICE inhibitor YVAD-CMK, and the tripeptide pan-ICE inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK. In this study, crmA antagonized, and YVAD-CMK and Z-VAD-FMK completely inhibited, Fas activation of p38 kinase activity, demonstrating that Fas-dependent activation of p38 requires ICE/CED-3 family members and conversely that the MKK3/p38 activation cascade represents a downstream target for the ICE/CED-3 family proteases. Intriguingly, p38 activation by sorbitol and etoposide was resistant to YVAD-CMK and Z-VAD-FMK, suggesting the existence of an additional mechanism(s) of p38 regulation. The ICE/CED-3 family-p38 regulatory relationship described in the current work indicates that in addition to the previously described destructive cleavage of substrates such as poly(ADP ribose) polymerase, lamins, and topoisomerase, the apoptotic cysteine proteases also function to regulate stress kinase signalling cascades.
Can a ‘return-to-work’ agenda fit within the theory and practice of CBT for depression and anxiety disorders?

Abstract Helping service users to return to work has emerged as a key therapeutic objective of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) initiative. IAPT programmes implement National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, especially cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), for people suffering from anxiety and depression. However, relatively little research has been conducted to date into whether, or how, cognitive behavioural interventions can help individuals return to work. This paper reviews literature and research into CBT and occupational outcomes and considers whether a return-to-work agenda may jeopardize the therapeutic alliance which is suggested to be necessary for effective CBT. Moreover, through the use of clinical examples from our practice, we suggest ways in which employment issues might be integrated into CBT for depression and anxiety disorders. We conclude that a return-to-work agenda can be utilized during therapy while maintaining a collaborative and secure therapeutic relationship, especially, perhaps if work issues are embedded within the formulation. However, further research is needed, not only to determine whether CBT can help individuals return to work but also how CBT might best integrate a return-to-work agenda.
Hedging in ESL: a Case Study of Lithuanian Learners

Recently hedging has been extensively studied in different language activities (reading, speaking and writing) with a particular focus on academic English. Its importance for generating an increasingly dialogical academic text nowadays can hardly be questioned. The present paper focuses on the use of hedging devices by L2 users of English, more specifically, by Lithuanian undergraduate students majoring in English. The investigation draws on the data collected from the Lithuanian students’ BA papers written according to Swales’ IMRAD model (Swales 1990). The research has been limited to the introductions of the papers, which were subjected to peer-review before submission. The findings do not support the view that L2 users of English can hardly notice hedges in the text (see Low 1996; Hyland 2000). Even more, more advanced and proficient learners of English are able to produce texts which in terms of hedging are comparable to those produced by experienced academics.
Tracheobronchial suction in infants and children.

Angulated and straight catheters were passed through endotracheal tubes in a series ofinfants and young children and the position in the tracheobronchial tree was verified by chest radiography. In twenty-nine out of thirty-four attempts in one cadaver and eighteen children the angulated catheter entered the left main bronchus, whilst in nineteenout of twenty-two attempts a straight catheter entered the right main bronchus. The use and advantage of an angulated catheter for tracheobronchial suction are discussed.
Perioperative chemotherapy with bevacizumab and liver resection for colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

BACKGROUND Surgery remains the only curative option for patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRLM). Perioperative chemotherapeutic strategies have become increasingly popular in the treatment of CRLM. Although the role of bevacizumab (Bev) in this setting remains unclear, its widespread use has raised concerns about the use of Bev as part of perioperative chemotherapy. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed all patients who received Bev and underwent liver resection between July 2004 and July 2008 at the McGill University Health Center. Chemotherapy-related toxicity, response to chemotherapy, surgical morbidity and mortality, liver function and survival data were assessed. RESULTS A total of 35 patients were identified. Of these, 26 (74.3%) patients received oxaliplatin-based cytotoxic chemotherapy, six (17.1%) received irinotecan-based therapy and the remainder received both agents. A total of 17 patients (48.6%) underwent portal vein embolization prior to resection and 12 (34.3%) underwent staged resection for extensive bilobar disease. A median of six cycles of preoperative Bev were administered. Nine patients (25.7%) experienced grade 3 or higher chemotherapy-related toxicities. Four events were deemed to be related to Bev. The overall response rate was 65.7% (complete and partial response). One patient progressed on therapy, but this did not prevent R0 resection. The incidence of postoperative morbidity was 42.3%. A total of 21.7% of complications were Clavien grade 3 or higher. There were no perioperative mortalities. There were no cases of severe sinusoidal injury or steatohepatitis. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of 4-year survival was 52.5%. CONCLUSIONS These data confirm the safety of chemotherapy regimens which include Bev in the perioperative setting and demonstrate that such perioperative chemotherapy in patients with CRLM does not adversely affect patient outcome. There was no increase in perioperative morbidity compared with published rates. The addition of Bev to standard chemotherapy may improve response rates, which may, in turn, impact favourably on patient survival.
FLUID FLOW AND STRESSES ON MICROCARRIERS IN SPINNER FLASK BIOREACTORS

The paper presents a validated CFD model for the flow in a bench-scale spinner flask that features a centrally-located magnet-driven impeller. Model development found that use of the immersed solid mesh method resulted in better correspondence with observations and μPIV measurements than the more established sliding mesh method in ANSYS-CFX. Analysis of spatial distributions suggested stresses and turbulence in a bench-scale stirredflask bioreactor featuring vertical outer-wall baffles were of a magnitude which could result in inhibited growth due to cell damage if the angular velocity was high enough, even when the magnitude of the Reynolds number indicated that the flow was barely turbulent.
Cervicovaginal human papillomavirus (HPV)‐infection before and after hysterectomy: evidence of different tissue tropism for oncogenic and nononcogenic HPV types in a cohort of HIV‐positive and HIV‐negative women

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is detected in nearly all cervical cancers and approximately half of vaginal cancers. However, vaginal cancer is an order of magnitude less common than cervical cancer, not only in the general population but also among women with HIV/AIDS. It is interesting therefore that recent studies found that HPV was common in both normal vaginal and cervical tissue, with higher prevalence of nononcogenic HPV types in the vagina. In our investigation, we prospectively examined HPV infection in 86 HIV‐positive and 17 HIV‐negative women who underwent hysterectomy during follow‐up in a longitudinal cohort. Cervicovaginal lavage specimens were obtained semi‐annually and tested for HPV DNA by polymerase chain reaction. To address possible selection biases associated with having a hysterectomy, subjects acted as their own comparison group—before versus after hysterectomy. The average HPV prevalence was higher in HIV‐positive than HIV‐negative women both before (59% vs. 12%; p < 0.001) and after hysterectomy (56% vs. 6%; p < 0.001). Multivariate random effects models (within‐individual comparisons) demonstrated significantly lower HPV prevalence [odds ratio (OR) = 0.71; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.59–0.85) after hysterectomy. The association of HPV prevalence with hysterectomy was similar among HIV‐positive and HIV‐negative women. However, hysterectomy had greater effects on oncogenic (OR = 0.48; 95% CI = 0.35–0.66) than nononcogenic HPV types (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.71–1.11; Pinteraction = 0.002). Overall, we observed greater reductions in oncogenic than nononcogenic HPV prevalence after hysterectomy. If correct, these data could suggest that oncogenic HPV have greater tropism for cervical compared to vaginal epithelium, consistent with the lower incidence of vaginal than cervical cancer.
Comparative investigation of i.v. iohexol and iopamidol: effect on renal function in low-risk outpatients undergoing CT.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of our study was to compare the effects of i.v. iohexol and iopamidol on renal function in outpatients undergoing CT. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We performed a prospective, double-blind, randomized clinical trial of 389 adults with low risk for contrast-induced nephropathy, comparing i.v. iohexol with iopamidol (300 mg I/mL). Serum creatinine (SCr) concentration was measured at baseline and 2 and 3 days after contrast administration. A noninferiority analysis was planned to compare the mean maximum SCr change from baseline between subject groups. Contrast-induced nephropathy rates (three definitions) for both contrast agents were compared as a secondary end point. RESULTS One hundred ninety and 199 subjects received iohexol and iopamidol, respectively. The mean change in SCr from baseline using the maximum day 2 or 3 measurement was 0.07 ± 0.12 mg/dL (95% CI, 0.05-0.09 mg/dL) for the iohexol group and 0.05 ± 0.12 mg/dL (95% CI, 0.03-0.07 mg/dL) for the iopamidol group. The difference between contrast agents with respect to the mean change in SCr from baseline was -0.02 ± 0.12 mg/dL (95% CI, -0.045 to 0.003 mg/dL; p = 0.08). Contrast-induced nephropathy rates were not statistically different using any definition. CONCLUSION Although our results were unable to show absolute noninferiority of iohexol compared with iopamidol because of a very small difference in increase in mean SCr from baseline (using a noninferiority margin of 0.04 mg/dL), this difference is likely of minimal or no clinical importance in outpatients undergoing CT with low risk for contrast-induced nephropathy.
Evaluation of biofield treatment dose and distance in a model of cancer cell death.

OBJECTIVE This study assessed the potential influence of biofield treatment on cultured human cancer cells and whether such influence was affected by varying the duration of the treatment (dose) or the distance between the biofield practitioner and the target cells. DESIGN Biofield treatment dosage was assessed from a short distance (0.25 meters) in three independent experiments involving 1, 2, or 5 treatments, along with another set of three independent and comparable mock experiments. Biofield treatment distance was assessed at 0.25, 25, and ∼ 2000 meters involving two treatments in three independent experiments along with another set of three mock experiments. INTERVENTION Biofield treatments were delivered by a highly acclaimed biofield practitioner with the intention of diminishing growth of the cells or inducing cancer-cell death. OUTCOME MEASURE Cell viability was quantified 20 hours after treatments, using a spectrophotometric assay for live-cell counting. The dependent measure for each experiment was the log ratio of the cell viability values of treated samples (biofield or mock) over the values of untreated control samples. RESULTS A trend of decreasing cell viability with increasing biofield dose was evident in the first set of experiments assessing dose-response; however, no such effect was evident in the second set of experiments evaluating biofield treatment distance. Mock experiments yielded relatively stable viability ratios in both sets of experiments. Linear regression analysis and hypothesis testing of the data taken as a whole did not yield statistical significance at p<0.05. CONCLUSIONS These results represent the first indication of a biofield treatment dose-response in a controlled laboratory setting. The data are inconclusive because of the inability of reproduce the cellular response in a replicate experiment.
Fatness, physical activity, and television viewing in children during the adiposity rebound period: the Iowa Bone Development Study.

BACKGROUND Understanding the determinants of adiposity in young children may be particularly critical for preventing adult obesity since the age at which body fatness reaches a postinfancy low point (typically 4-6 years) is inversely associated with obesity later in life. METHODS; We examined cross-sectional associations among fatness, leanness, and physical activity in 467 children (range 4-6 years). Activity was measured using accelerometry and parental report of children's television (TV) viewing. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to quantify body composition. RESULTS Minutes spent in vigorous activity and TV viewing were the variables most consistently and most highly associated with adiposity. Children in the lowest quartile for vigorous activity had on average (absolute) body fat percentages that were 4% greater than those children in the highest quartile for vigorous activity. Body fat percentages for children in the highest category for TV viewing were on average 3% greater than those children who watched the least amount of TV. CONCLUSIONS Low levels of vigorous physical activity and high levels of TV viewing are associated with fatness in young children during the adiposity rebound period. This suggests that increasing children's active play may be important in preventing obesity later in life.
2D Doppler backscattering using synthetic aperture microwave imaging of MAST edge plasmas

Doppler backscattering (DBS) is already established as a powerful diagnostic; its extension to 2D enables imaging of turbulence characteristics from an extended region of the cut-off surface. The Synthetic Aperture Microwave Imaging (SAMI) diagnostic has conducted proof-of-principle 2D DBS experiments of MAST edge plasma. SAMI actively probes the plasma edge using a wide (±40° vertical and horizontal) and tuneable (10–34.5 GHz) beam. The Doppler backscattered signal is digitised in vector form using an array of eight Vivaldi PCB antennas. This allows the receiving array to be focused in any direction within the field of view simultaneously to an angular range of 6–24° FWHM at 10–34.5 GHz. This capability is unique to SAMI and is a novel way of conducting DBS experiments. In this paper the feasibility of conducting 2D DBS experiments is explored. Initial observations of phenomena previously measured by conventional DBS experiments are presented; such as momentum injection from neutral beams and an abrupt change in power and turbulence velocity coinciding with the onset of H-mode. In addition, being able to carry out 2D DBS imaging allows a measurement of magnetic pitch angle to be made; preliminary results are presented. Capabilities gained through steering a beam using a phased array and the limitations of this technique are discussed.
A survey on awareness of consumers about health problems of food additives in packaged foods and their attitude toward consumption of packaged foods: a case study at Jimma University.

The objective of the study was to assess degree of consumption of packaged foods, awareness of consumers about health problems of food additives, and also their attitudes towards packaged foods. Two hundred seventy nine employees of Jimma University were participated in the study. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires, and analyzed using SPSS software (version16). The results showed that 71.68% of the respondents replied that they do not frequently consume/purchase packaged food mainly for price reason. The rest (28.32%) replied that they frequently consume/purchase packaged foods. The results also showed that 64.15% of the respondents are aware of health problems of packaged foods that contain food additives. However, the majority of respondents (70.96%) still want to continue consumption of packaged foods. This indicates that lack of knowledge of consumers about chemical properties of food additives of specific classes and their associated health risks. Thus, awareness raising activities are recommended to consumers to avoid long-term health problems of food additives.
Effect of Changes in Pelvic Tilt on Range of Motion to Impingement and Radiographic Parameters of Acetabular Morphologic Characteristics

Background: The current understanding of the effect of dynamic changes in pelvic tilt on the functional acetabular orientation and occurrence of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is limited. Purpose: To determine the effect of changes in pelvic tilt on (1) terminal hip range of motion and (2) measurements of acetabular version as assessed on 2- and 3-dimensional imaging. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Preoperative pelvic computed tomographic scans of 48 patients (50 hips) who underwent arthroscopic surgery for the treatment of FAI were analyzed. The mean age of the study population was 25.7 years (range, 14-56 years), and 56% were male. Three-dimensional models of the hips were created, allowing manipulation of the pelvic tilt and simulation of hip range of motion to osseous contact. Acetabular version was measured and the presence of the crossover sign, prominent ischial spine sign, and posterior wall sign was recorded on simulated plain radiographs. Measurements of range of motion to bony impingement during (1) hip flexion, (2) internal rotation in 90° of flexion, and (3) internal rotation in 90° of flexion and 15° adduction were performed, and the location of bony contact between the proximal femur and acetabular rim was defined. These measurements were calculated for −10° (posterior), 0° (native), and +10° (anterior) pelvic orientations. Results: In native tilt, mean cranial acetabular version was 3.3°, while central version averaged 16.2°. Anterior pelvic tilt (10° change) resulted in significant retroversion, with mean decreases in cranial and central version of 5.9° and 5.8°, respectively (P < .0001 for both). Additionally, this resulted in a significantly increased proportion of positive crossover, posterior wall, and prominent ischial spine signs (P < .001 for all). Anterior pelvic tilt (10° change) resulted in a decrease in internal rotation in 90° of flexion of 5.9° (P < .0001) and internal rotation in 90° of flexion and 15° adduction of 8.5° (P < .0001), with a shift in the location of osseous impingement more anteriorly. Posterior pelvic tilt (10° change) resulted in an increase in internal rotation in 90° of flexion of 5.1° (P < .0001) and internal rotation in 90° of flexion and 15° adduction of 7.4° (P < .0001), with a superolateral shift in the location of osseous impingement. Conclusion/Clinical Relevance: Dynamic changes in pelvic tilt significantly influence the functional orientation of the acetabulum and must be considered. Dynamic anterior pelvic tilt is predicted to result in earlier occurrence of FAI in the arc of motion, whereas dynamic posterior pelvic tilt results in later occurrence of FAI, which may have implications regarding nonsurgical treatments for FAI.
Biological variation in inflammatory and hemostatic markers

Summary. Background: Concentrations of inflammatory and hemostatic variables are influenced by biological variation, which is the natural within‐subject variation over time. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine fibrinogen, C‐reactive protein (CRP), platelet aggregation, thrombin generation and prothrombin time (PT): (i) the number of repeated measurements needed to obtain the true habitual concentration of an individual; (ii) the recommended analytical imprecision for diagnosis and monitoring; (iii) the recommended analytical bias; (iv) the contribution of analytical imprecision to test result variability; (v) the index of individuality; (vi) the reference change value; and (vii) the seasonal variation. Subjects and methods: We collected 520 blood samples over a 1‐year period from 40 healthy individuals, and determined the between‐subject, within‐subject and seasonal variation in fibrinogen, CRP, platelet aggregation, thrombin generation and PT. Results: One or two repeated measurements were sufficient to establish the true habitual concentration, except for platelet aggregation and peak thrombin generation, where at least four and nine repeated measurements were needed, respectively. For diagnosis, the maximal recommended coefficient of analytical variation (CV) was 4%–27%, except for CRP (77.7%). For monitoring, these CVs were on average 3% lower. Recommended analytical bias varied between 1.7% and 33.2%. Finally, seasonal variation was observed in concentrations of fibrinogen and thrombin generation, which could explain approximately 11% of their total variation. Conclusion: This study provides insights into the biological variability of selected inflammatory and hemostatic markers, which can be used for sample size calculations and to determine the analytical quality specifications for their respective assays.
Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation improves dry eye symptoms in patients with glaucoma: results of a prospective multicenter study

Dear editor We read the article entitled “Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation improves dry eye symptoms in patients with glaucoma: results of a prospective multicenter study” by Tellez-Vazquez, with great interest.1 The authors found omega-3 fatty acid supplementation to have very beneficial effects on symptoms and clinical findings of dry eye. We appreciate the authors’ well-organized study that contained a large number of participants. Findings in this study show the importance of diet in dry eye syndrome. As a result of industrialization, natural eating habits have changed. Refined foods make up a large part of the diet. Thus, deficiency of essential molecules such as omega-3 is unavoidable. Elderly people especially, may have more deficiency because of potential absorption problems. Omega-3 is important for cell membrane stabilization and health of neural cells.2 Deficiency of omega-3 may have a significant role in dry eye, more than estimated. We suggest that supplementation of omega-3 should be recommended to chronic dry eye patients.