Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditory rehabilitation of older people from the general population--the Leiden 85-plus study.

BACKGROUND Very few older people with severe hearing loss use hearing aids to reduce the negative consequences of reduced hearing in daily functioning. AIM Assessment of a screening test and a standardised auditory rehabilitation programme for older people from the general population with untreated severe hearing loss. DESIGN OF STUDY Intervention study and qualitative exploration. SETTING Leiden 85-Plus Study, a prospective population-based study of 85-year-old inhabitants of Leiden, the Netherlands. METHOD Hearing loss was measured by pure-tone audiometry in 454 subjects aged 85 years. Subjects with hearing loss above 35 dB at 1, 2, and 4 kHz who did not use hearing aids were invited to participate in a standardised programme for auditory rehabilitation. In-depth interviews were held with participants to explore arguments for participating in this programme. RESULTS Of the 367 participants with severe hearing loss (prevalence = 81%), 66% (241/367) did not use a hearing aid. Three out of four of these participants (n = 185) declined participation in the auditory rehabilitation programme. The most common reason given for not participating was the subjects' feeling that their current hearing loss did not warrant the use of a hearing aid. Subjects who participated in the programme were found to suffer from more severe hearing loss and experienced more hearing disability. Those who did not participate in the programme felt they could cope with their disabilities and considered a hearing aid unnecessary. CONCLUSION Untreated hearing loss is prevalent among older people from the general population. The majority of older people decline auditory rehabilitation. For these people the use of a hearing aid is not perceived as necessary in order to function on a daily basis. Older people who have expected benefits from a hearing aid have already obtained them, marginalising the benefits of a rehabilitation (and screening) programme.
Fos‐Like Immunoreactivity in the Brainstem of the Rat Following Peripheral Administration of Cholecystokinin

Ninety min after intraperitoneal (ip) injection of Cholecystokinin (CCK, 50 μg/kg body wt) Fos‐like protein was expressed in cells throughout the nucleus of the tractus solitarii (NTS) and area postrema, and also in scattered cells in the lateral reticular area of the brainstem. Using dual fluorescent immunocytochemistry for Fos‐like protein and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), catecholaminergic cells in the A2 region of the NTS and the A1 region of the lateral reticular area were shown to be activated.
ANGPTL3 Decreases Very Low Density Lipoprotein Triglyceride Clearance by Inhibition of Lipoprotein Lipase*

KK/San is a mutant mouse strain established in our laboratory from KK obese mice. KK/San mice show low plasma lipid levels compared with wild-type KK mice despite showing signs of hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. Recently, we identified a mutation in the gene encoding angiopoietin-like protein 3 (Angptl3) in KK/San mice, and injection of adenoviruses encodingAngptl3 or recombinant ANGPTL3 protein to mutant KK/San mice raised plasma lipid levels. To elucidate the regulatory mechanism of ANGPTL3 on lipid metabolism, we focused on the metabolic pathways of triglyceride in the present study. Overexpression ofAngptl3 in KK/San mice resulted in a marked increase of triglyceride-enriched very low density lipoprotein (VLDL). In vivo studies using Triton WR1339 revealed that there is no significant difference between mutant and wild-type KK mice in the hepatic VLDL triglyceride secretion rate. However, turnover studies using radiolabeled VLDL revealed that the clearance of3H-triglyceride-labeled VLDL was significantly enhanced in KK/San mice, whereas the clearance of 125I-labeled VLDL was only slightly enhanced. In vitro analysis of recombinant protein revealed that ANGPTL3 directly inhibits LPL activity. These data strongly support the hypothesis that ANGPTL3 is a new class of lipid metabolism modulator, which regulates VLDL triglyceride levels through the inhibition of LPL activity.
[Plasmodium falciparum or P. malariae parasitemia in carriers of sickle cell trait in various Benin biotypes].

The prevalence of malaria and the frequency of gene S were surveyed in two different regions of Benin, savana and coastal lacustrine regions. In both regions, prevalence of malaria was not significantly different between Hb AA people and Hb AS people. Gene S prevalence was not modified by age, excepted for Hb SS which was not found in people upper than 25 years. In holoendemic area, i.e. lacustrine region, means of P. falciparum parasitaemia were significantly lower in Hb AS children than in Hb AA children. Sickle cell trait did not reduce the prevalence of malaria but seemed to decrease the level of parasitaemia.
School performance for children with cleft lip and palate: a population‐based study

BACKGROUND Educational attainment is important in shaping young people's life prospects. To investigate whether being born with orofacial cleft (OFC) affects school performance, we compared school test results between children born with and without OFC. METHODS Using record-linked datasets, we conducted a population-based cohort study of children liveborn in Western Australia 1980-2010 with a diagnosis of OFC on the Register of Developmental Anomalies, and a random sample of 6603 children born without OFC. We compared odds ratios for meeting national minimum standards in five domains (reading, numeracy, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation), and adjusted OR (aOR) for children with cleft lip only (CLO), cleft lip and palate (CL + P) and cleft palate only (CPO) for each domain. RESULTS Results from two testing programs (WALNA and NAPLAN) were available for 3238 (89%) children expected to participate. Most met the national minimum standards. Compared with children without OFC, children with CPO were less likely to meet minimum standards for NAPLAN reading (aOR 0.57 [95%CI 0.34, 0.96]) grammar and punctuation (aOR 0.49 [95%CI 0.32, 0.76]), WALNA writing (aOR 0.66 [95%CI 0.47, 0.92]), and WALNA and NAPLAN numeracy (aOR 0.64 [95%CI 0.43, 0.95] and aOR 0.47 [95%CI 0.28, 0.82]), respectively. Children with CL + P had significantly lower odds for reaching the spelling standard in NAPLAN tests (aOR 0.52 [95%CI 0.29, 0.94]). Children with CLO had similar odds for reaching all minimum standards. CONCLUSION Children born with OFC, particularly children with CPO, should be monitored to identify learning difficulties early, to enable intervention to maximize school attainment.
Glycolipid Content of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Grown in Baby Hamster Kidney Cells

Vesicular stomatitis virions grown in baby hamster kidney (BHK-21-F) cells were found to contain hematoside (neuraminosyl-galactosyl-glucosyl-ceramide). This ganglioside, which was the only detectable glycolipid in the virion, is also the only glycolipid found in significant amount in BHK-21-F cells. Approximately 87% of the total neuraminic acid in the virion was found to be linked to protein and 13% to lipid.
Informing Patients: An Assessment of the Quality of Patient Information Materials

Angela Coulter, Vikki Entwistle, David Gilbert King's Fund, £16.95, pp 216 ISBN 1857172140 ! [][1] Rating: ! [Graphic][2] ! [Graphic][3] ! [Graphic][4] ! [Graphic][5] Pamphlets and, recently, audiotapes and videos have become a usual, visible, and promoted source of information for patients in general practice, in specialist consulting rooms, and in outpatient clinics. These information aids have been produced by a wide range of organisations in response to increasing patient expectations for factual or experiential information about investigations, illness and its causes, treatment options, support services, and likely outcomes. The quality, availability, acceptability, and effectiveness of information sources developed by authoritative bodies is commonly assumed. Many clinicians … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [4]: /embed/inline-graphic-3.gif [5]: /embed/inline-graphic-4.gif
Tritrichomonas foetus Induces Apoptotic Cell Death in Bovine Vaginal Epithelial Cells

ABSTRACT Tritrichomonas foetus is a serious veterinary pathogen, causing bovine trichomoniasis, a sexually transmitted disease leading to infertility and abortion. T. foetus infects the mucosal surfaces of the reproductive tract. Infection with T. foetus leads to apoptotic cell death of bovine vaginal epithelial cells (BVECs) in culture. An affinity-purified cysteine protease (CP) fraction yielding on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis a single band with an apparent molecular mass of 30 kDa (CP30) also induces BVEC apoptosis. Treatment of CP30 with the protease inhibitors TLCK (Nα-p-tosyl-l-lysine chloromethyl ketone) and E-64 [l-trans-epoxysuccinyl-leucylamide-(4-guanido)-butane] greatly reduces induction of BVEC apoptosis. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis of CP30 reveals a single peak with a molecular mass of 23.7 kDa. Mass spectral peptide sequence analysis of proteolytically digested CP30 reveals homologies to a previously reported cDNA clone, CP8 (D. J. Mallinson, J. Livingstone, K. M. Appleton, S. J. Lees, G. H. Coombs, and M. J. North, Microbiology 141:3077-3085, 1995). Induction of apoptosis is highly species specific, since the related human parasite Trichomonas vaginalis and associated purified CPs did not induce BVEC death. Fluorescence microscopy along with the Cell Death Detection ELISAPLUS assay and flow cytometry analyses were used to detect apoptotic nuclear condensation, DNA fragmentation, and changes in plasma membrane asymmetry in host cells undergoing apoptosis in response to T. foetus infection or incubation with CP30. Additionally, the activation of caspase-3 and inhibition of cell death by caspase inhibitors indicates that caspases are involved in BVEC apoptosis. These results imply that apoptosis is involved in the pathogenesis of T. foetus infection in vivo, which may have important implications for therapeutic interference with host cell death that could alter the course of the pathology in vivo.
A Simplified Method for IIR Filter Design with Quasi-Equiripple Passband and Least-Squares Stopband

The modification of the weighted least squares (WLS) method for IIR filter design based on [5] is presented in the paper. The new algorithm allows to obtain quasi-equiripple approximation of the desired frequency response function in the passband and least squares (LS) approximation in the stopband. Even though the proposed method is very simple, it enables to obtain a larger passband-to-stopband ratio (PSR) of energies and a smaller passband ripple of the designed filter magnitude response when compared with the peak-constrained least-squares method.
Effect and Mechanism of Glutamine on Productive Performance and Egg Quality of Laying Hens

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary glutamine (Gln) on the productive performance and egg quality of laying hens. A total of four hundred Lingnan Yellow laying hens aged 34 weeks were randomly assigned into four groups (100 laying hens/group), and fed, respectively, with diets supplemented with 0% (control group), 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.8% Gln during the 6- week feeding period. The results were as follows. First, the productivity of laying hens fed with 0.8% Gln in diet was significantly increased (p 0.05). Second, luteinizing hormone (LH) (p<0.01), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) (p<0.01), triiodothyronine (T3), and tetraiodothyronine (T4) contents (p<0.05) in blood of laying hens fed with 0.8% Gln in diets were also significantly improved, and greater improvement in the duodenum and oviduct structure was observed in that treatment group. This study indicated for the first time that diets with 0.8% Gln were able to increase the productive performance of laying hens through stimulating hormone secretion and better development of both
Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) effector‐mediated suppression of antimicrobial nitric oxide production in a small intestinal epithelial model system

In vivo studies with the mouse‐specific member of the attaching and effacing (A/E) family of pathogens raised the possibility that these non‐invasive enteric pathogens can specifically inhibit inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression to prevent the production of antimicrobial nitric oxide (NO). In this study we use polarized Caco‐2 cells, a model of human small intestinal epithelia, to (i) demonstrate conclusively that an A/E member, human specific enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), can inhibit cytokine‐induced iNOS expression, (ii) show that this activity is dependent on the delivery of effector molecules into host cells and (iii) investigate the mechanism of inhibition. Analysis of the level of iNOS‐related mRNA, protein and NO production demonstrated that EPEC can inhibit iNOS expression at the transcriptional, by direct and indirect mechanisms, and post‐transcriptional levels. This transcriptional block was linked to the failure of the iNOS‐related transcriptional factor NF‐κB, but not STAT1, to undergo phosphorylation‐associated activation. A selective pressure to prevent iNOS production was evidenced by the finding that iNOS activity had a potent antimicrobial effect on adherent but not non‐adherent bacteria. Moreover, given the central role NF‐κB plays in transcribing genes associated with early host immune responses, this inhibitory mechanism presumably represents an important role in pathogenesis. Our study also provides insights into the nature of NO production in response to bacterial infection as well as the role of the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE)‐encoded effector molecules in inhibiting iNOS expression.
COMPARATIVE CATABOLISM OF CARBOHYDRATES IN PSEUDOMONAS SPECIES

Carbohydrate metabolism of the Pseudomonadaceae is known to involve unique catabolic pathways. Lockwood et al. (1941) reported the possible use of Pseudomonas and Phytomonas species for commercial production of gluconate and 2-ketogluconate. Since these compounds are not involved in glycolysis it was apparent that a pathway for glucose degradation other than glycolysis is present in the pseudomonads. Investigations of glucose catabolism by Campbell et al. (1954) and Koepsell (1950) revealed that gluconate, 2-ketogluconate, aketoglutarate, and pyruvate are important intermediates of glucose breakdown in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Further insight into the metabolism of this family was gained when Entner and Doudoroff (1952) identified the pathway of glucose catabolism in Pseudomonas saccharophila by means of inhibition and radiotracer studies. Wood (1955) described a similar pathway, which functions concurrently with the pentose phosphate pathway in P. fluorescens. Participation of Entner-Doudoroff and pentose phosphate pathways in pseudomonads were also evaluated by Lewis et al. (1955) and Gibbs and DeMIoss (1954). With the establishment of the pathways of glucose catabolism in pseudomonads, it is therefore of interest to compare the relative participation of individual pathways in the
Effect of temporomandibular joint bony ankylosis and surgical sequelae of gap arthroplasty on middle ear volume

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of temporomandibular joint bony ankylosis and surgical sequelae of gap arthroplasty on middle ear volume (MEV). Patients and methods Sixteen Egyptian individuals were selected and divided into two equal groups. The first group (group I) included eight patients with 14 bony ankylosed joints; the second group (group II) included eight normal individuals. The operated patients were chosen from those attending the outpatient clinic of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Cairo University. Gap arthroplasty was utilized for the management of such patients. Radiographic assessments for MEV for the first group were obtained for all the participants preoperatively and also 3 months postoperatively. Comparison of MEV was carried out with normal individuals both preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. Results It was observed that there was a significant decrease in MEV of ankylosed patients preoperatively when compared with normal individuals and a significant decrease in MEV 3 months postoperatively when compared with the preoperative volume. Conclusion Patients with temporomandibular joint bony ankylosis showed a decrease in MEV compared with normal individuals; also, gap arthroplasty has a decreasing effect on MEV.
A review of sensitivity and tolerability of antipsychotics in patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia: focus on somnolence.

OBJECTIVE This study compared the sensitivity and tolerability of antipsychotics in patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. DATA SOURCES English-language literature from January 1966 to December 2006 cited in MEDLINE was searched for the terms antipsychotics, typical antipsychotics, atypical antipsychotic, generic and brand names of antipsychotics, safety, tolerability, discontinuation due to adverse events, somnolence, and bipolar mania, bipolar depression, bipolar disorder, manic-depressive illness, or schizophrenia, randomized, double blind, and controlled clinical trial. STUDY SELECTION Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, monotherapy studies of anti-psychotics in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia were prioritized. DATA EXTRACTION Absolute risk increase (ARI) or reduction (ARR) and the numbers needed to treat to harm (NNTH) or benefit (NNTB) for the discontinuation due to adverse events and somnolence relative to placebo were estimated. DATA SYNTHESIS Ten acute trials in mania, 3 in bipolar depression, and 8 in schizophrenia were identified, along with 2 maintenance studies in bipolar disorder and 2 in schizophrenia. In schizophrenia, ziprasidone caused significantly more discontinuations due to adverse events than placebo, with an NNTH of 19, while aripiprazole caused significantly fewer discontinuations due to adverse events than placebo, with an NNTB of 12. In mania, there was no statistically significant difference in discontinuation due to adverse events between antipsychotics and placebo. However, in bipolar depression, both quetiapine and olanzapine caused more discontinuations due to adverse events than placebo, with NNTHs of 7 and 24, respectively. All atypical antipsychotics caused a significantly greater incidence of somnolence than placebo in mania and depression, with NNTHs from 5 to 8 for mania and 2 to 6 for depression. In schizophrenia, only olanzapine, ziprasidone, and aripiprazole (NNTHs from 5 to 14) caused a significantly higher incidence of somnolence. There was no significant difference between schizophrenia and mania in the discontinuation due to adverse events or somnolence of all studied antipsychotics. However, there was a significantly higher incidence of discontinuation due to adverse events and somnolence caused by quetiapine in bipolar depression than that in schizophrenia or mania. CONCLUSION Patients with bipolar disorder appear more sensitive to antipsychotics, and depressed patients are less tolerant to somnolence than those with either mania or schizophrenia.
Contribution of residual function to removal of protein-bound solutes in hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES This study evaluated the contribution of residual function to the removal of solutes for which protein binding limits clearance by hemdialysis. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Solute concentrations were measured in 25 hemodialysis patients with residual urea clearances ranging from 0.1 to 6.2 ml/min per 1.73 m2. Mathematical modeling assessed the effect of residual function on time-averaged solute concentrations. RESULTS Dialytic clearances of the protein-bound solutes p-cresol sulfate, indoxyl sulfate, and hippurate were reduced in proportion to the avidity of binding and averaged 8±2, 10±3, and 44±13% of the dialytic urea clearance. For each bound solute, the residual clearance was larger in relation to the residual urea clearance. Residual kidney function therefore removed a larger portion of each of the bound solutes than of urea. Increasing residual function was associated with lower plasma levels of p-cresol sulfate and hippurate but not indoxyl sulfate. Wide variation in solute generation tended to obscure the dependence of plasma solute levels on residual function. Mathematical modeling that corrected for this variation indicated that increasing residual function will reduce the plasma level of each of the bound solutes more than the plasma level of urea. CONCLUSIONS In comparison to urea, solutes than bind to plasma proteins can be more effectively cleared by residual function than by hemodialysis. Levels of such solutes will be lower in patients with residual function than in patients without residual function even if the dialysis dose is reduced based on measurement of residual urea clearance in accord with current guidelines.
The role of smooth muscle cells in the fibrogenesis of arteriosclerosis.

removed at All the tissues were fixed in a modified formol-sublimate-acetic (FSA) solutiont or Lillie's buffered iO per cent formalin. ' Following the fixation time optimal for each fixative solution, the processes of dehydration, clearing, infiltration and embedding by either the conventional method using alcohol and toluol, or by means of tetrahydrofuran, were carried out as outlined elsewhere. ' Sections not exceeding 3A in thickness were stained with hemalum-phloxine-saffron, Masson's trichrome, phosphotungstic-acid-hematein or phosphotungstic acid hematoxylin, Alcian blue-PAS-hematoxylin-orange G, Heidenhain's azan, pentachrome II, resorcin fuchsin-nudear fast red-metanil yellow, and Bielschowsky-Maresch silver impregnation for reticular fibers-nuclear fast red-metanil yellow.
Turn-off characteristics of the CMOS snapback ESD protection devices - new insights and its implications

The residual voltage across the ESD snapback protection device after its turn-off is one of the key parameters that must be considered for efficient ESD protection design. Turn-off characteristics of various snapback devices (5VNMOS, 5V LVTSCR and 12V DeMOS-SCR), are analyzed with experimental data for the first time and it is demonstrated that the residual voltage after turn-off is a unique parameter and depends on the type of ESD device, its architecture and layout. The residual voltage after turn-off can vary in a wide range from holding voltage to DC breakdown voltage and is a function of the ESD pulse amplitude. The underlying physical mechanism causing the waveform behavior is discussed in detail.