Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase II study of vinorelbine in patients with pretreated advanced ovarian cancer: activity in platinum-resistant disease.

PURPOSE The aim of the study was to evaluate the activity of vinorelbine (VNLB) in a population of advanced ovarian cancer patients, with particular attention to defining its role in platinum-resistant disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-three patients were recruited and treated with VNLB 25 mg/m2 intravenously (IV) weekly. the median age was 53 years, performance status 0 to 2, and number of previous chemotherapy regimens two (range, one to five). Twenty-four patients were platinum-resistant; the remaining nine either were platinum-sensitive (four cases) or had undetermined sensitivity (five cases). RESULTS The mean delivered dose-intensity of VNLB was 67% of the planned level, because 60% of the cycles were delayed due to neutropenia or anemia. Four partial responses (PRs) and one complete response (CR) were observed, for an overall response rate of 15% (95% exact confidence interval, 5.1% to 31.9%). All the responses occurred in the subgroup of 24 platinum-resistant cases, in whom the response rate was 21% (95% exact confidence interval, 7.1% to 42.1%). Seven patients became stabilized on VNLB, and 27% of the cases showed a reduction in serum cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) levels. G3/G4 side effects consisted of neutropenia, anemia, and worsening of preexisting peripheral neuropathy. No treatment-related deaths occurred. CONCLUSION VNLB led to a 21% response rate in the population of heavily pretreated and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients. Further studies of VNLB alone or in combination with taxanes are warranted in patients with less pretreatment.
Beneficial effect of Hypericum perforatum on depression and anxiety in a type 2 diabetic rat model.

Recent studies have revealed diverse therapeutically interesting pharmacological properties of a standardized Hypericum perforatum extract (HpE) potentially useful for treatments of patients with metabolic and psychiatric disorders. Consequently, the presented experiments were designed to test usefulness of the extract for the treatment of comorbid conditions of mood disturbances and anxiety in diabetic rats. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was induced in overnight fasted rats by a single i.p. injection of streptozotocin (STZ; 65 mg/kg), 15 min after an i.p. injection of nicotinamide (120 mg/kg). HpE was administered orally (100 and 200 mg/kg b.w.) to diabetic animals for 14 days. Anxiolytic activity was evaluated using open-field exploration test (OFT) and elevated plus maze (EPM) test. Antidepressant activity was assessed using Porsolt's forced swim test (FST). Fasting blood glucose levels in different groups were analyzed on the 14th day. Diabetic rats showed significant increase in anxiety in OFT and EPM compared to non diabetic normal control rats. Diabetic rats treated with HpE have shown significant anxiolytic activity in OFT and EPM test. In FST, immobility period of vehicle treated diabetic rats was significantly increased (p < 0.05) compared to normal control rats. Treatment with HpE significantly decreased (p < 0.001) immobility period compared to vehicle treated diabetic control rats. HpE treatment significantly reduced elevated blood glucose levels in diabetic rats. The presented observations strongly suggest that HpE could be suitable alternative therapeutic option for prevention, as well as treatment, of comorbidities caused by, or associated with, depression, anxiety and diabetes.
A Compact Ultrawideband MIMO Antenna Using QSCA for High Isolation

In this letter, a compact ultrawideband (UWB) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with lower wireless local area network (WLAN) coverage is proposed. The proposed MIMO antenna consists of two quasi-self-complementary monopoles, which are easy to achieve ultrawideband operation. By arranging two monopoles symmetrically, with their main radiation directions oppositely oriented, a UWB MIMO antenna with high isolation is proposed. This high isolation is achieved without using any other decoupling methods, which, totally, benefits from the monopoles' complementary and asymmetrical structures. The measured |S11| has the band of mainly covering 2.19-11.07 GHz except a little higher than -10 dB at 2.86-3.28 GHz, and with |S21| ≤ - 20 dB at most of the band. Since the proposed monopole has excellent inherent properties, a four-element UWB MIMO antenna with good isolation is also discussed.
Stakeholders’ perceptions on teaching and learning arts and humanities in East Africa: Rwanda’s stake

This study aims at building a positive perception towards the teaching and learning of arts and humanities and advocating for their scholarship given their value in the cultivation of human development in East Africa. The study is anchored in the stakeholders’ theory of salience that claims that once latent stakeholders (who belong to arts and humanities) are supported via policy intervention, they survive. Without this support, scholarship and research in arts and humanities are adversely affected. Participants from four East African Community member states, i.e. Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya were involved. The findings show that the general public has less consideration of the teaching and learning of arts and humanities subjects with different and mixed perceptions such as fewer opportunities for employability, inability to justify its raison d’etre and showcase its technological, scientific and economic contributions, inability to attract research funds, to name but a few. However, the contribution of arts and humanities to the human development ranging from their maintenance of a democratic society, literacy, creativity, resilience, understanding, critical thinking, communicative skills, and practical judgment to long-term civic results is also depicted. Hence, to ensure their survival, there should be a political will to promote them in one way or another.
Museums Inspire Reading through Real-World Experiences

0 N A SUNNY summer morning, two young boys on the river overlook talk with animation and peer through binoculars at something down on the water's edge. Closer observation reveals the boys are reading a field guide for adults. As they alternate between looking through the binoculars and reading, one boy is overheard saying, "It says here they only live in the lower quarter of North America. This is not the kind of turtle we've got down there:' The boys drop to the ground, continuing to pore over the book. The blond boy jumps up again and continues to look through binoculars, assuming a sentry's position as the redheaded boy on the ground frantically flips through the pages, occasionally stopping to read aloud to the sentry. These two fourth-graders are attending a summer tutoring program at Minnetrista, a cultural center and gardens near Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. They are both more than a year behind their grade level in reading, and they tell their tutors that they hate reading and never choose to read for fun. Yet in the museum setting overlooking the river, they have become fascinated with turtles they see sunning on a log at the water's edge. One boy had dragged his mother to the public library where he checked out the field guide. He was willing to read a book written for adults with words beyond his reading level, like "quarter;' "Tortuga;' and "tortoise:' For these youngsters, the museum setting has made reading both necessary and pleasurable.
Atrial Natriuretic Peptide Affects Stimulus-Secretion Coupling of Pancreatic β-Cells

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) influences glucose homeostasis and possibly acts as a link between the cardiovascular system and metabolism, especially in metabolic disorders like diabetes. The current study evaluated effects of ANP on β-cell function by the use of a β-cell–specific knockout of the ANP receptor with guanylate cyclase activity (βGC-A-KO). ANP augmented insulin secretion at the threshold glucose concentration of 6 mmol/L and decreased KATP single-channel activity in β-cells of control mice but not of βGC-A-KO mice. In wild-type β-cells but not β-cells lacking functional KATP channels (SUR1-KO), ANP increased electrical activity, suggesting no involvement of other ion channels. At 6 mmol/L glucose, ANP readily elicited Ca2+ influx in control β-cells. This effect was blunted in β-cells of βGC-A-KO mice, and the maximal cytosolic Ca2+ concentration was lower. Experiments with inhibitors of protein kinase G (PKG), protein kinase A (PKA), phosphodiesterase 3B (PDE3B), and a membrane-permeable cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) analog on KATP channel activity and insulin secretion point to participation of the cGMP/PKG and cAMP/PKA/Epac (exchange protein directly activated by cAMP) directly activated by cAMP Epac pathways in the effects of ANP on β-cell function; the latter seems to prevail. Moreover, ANP potentiated the effect of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) on glucose-induced insulin secretion, which could be caused by a cGMP-mediated inhibition of PDE3B, which in turn reduces cAMP degradation.
Continuous, automated acetylene reduction assays using intact plants.

An automated method was developed for continuous, in situ determination of acetylene reduction (N(2) fixation) by intact soybean plants (Glycine max [L.]). The culture vessel containing the roots of intact plants grown in sand culture is sealed at the surface and an air-acetylene mixture continuously injected into the root chamber. The effluent gas is automatically sampled and injected into a gas chromatograph. Continuous acetylene assay at intervals as short as 3.5 min may be made over a period of several days, without attention, except for plant watering. Adverse effects of prolonged exposure of the root system to acetylene were mitigated by pulse injection of acetylene for 20 min followed by 40 min of acetylene-free air. Bare root systems can be suspended in a reaction chamber and sprayed with water or nutrient solution; this permits periodic removal of the root system for sampling nodules.In studies lasting several diurnal cycles, acetylene reduction did not decline more than 50% of the maximum rate in light, thus nitrogenase activity depends on concomitant photosynthesis and on carbohydrate from storage pools.
Functional Balance Assessment With Pediatric Balance Scale in Girls With Visual Impairment

Purpose: To examine functional balance abilities in girls with visual impairment (VI) and to investigate the correlation between stabilography and clinical balance assessment using the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) in girls with VI. Methods: The PBS and stabilography were administered to 26 girls with VI aged 10 to 15 years. The association between PBS scores and sway parameters was examined using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: The range of PBS scores was 47 to 56. Balance difficulties appeared in single-leg stance, tandem stance, and reaching forward. The PBS scores correlated with all but 2 sway parameters, with r values ranging from −0.18 to −0.58. Conclusions: Girls with VI present difficulties in upright stance when the size of the base of support is narrowed and in situations where the center of gravity approaches the edge of the base of support. There is a need to provide interventions to improve balance abilities in girls with VI.
Inhibition of ras by farnesylthiosalicylate significantly reduces the levels of autoantibodies in two animal models of the antiphospholipid syndrome.

BACKGROUND Stimulation and proliferation of lymphocytes require activation of Ras. S-farnesylthiosalicylic acid (FTS) is a synthetic substance that detaches Ras from the inner cell membrane and induces its rapid degradation. Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are a heterogeneous group of antibodies detected in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), which is associated with thrombosis, pregnancy losses, and thrombocytopenia. OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of FTS treatment on aPL levels in a genetic autoimmune model (the MRL/lpr mice) and in an induced model of APS. METHODS Female Balb/C mice immunized once with beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2-GPI) in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) and female MRL/lpr mice were treated intraperitoneally with either FTS (5 mg/Kg/day) or saline 3-5 times a week. aPL and anti-beta2-GPI antibodies were measured by ELISA. RESULTS FTS treatment 3 times a week resulted in significant decreases of aPL and anti-beta2-GPI antibodies in both animal models. In contrast, more frequent treatment (5 times a week) had no significant effect on autantibody levels in both animal models. We further compared 2 protocols in the induced APS model, one for alternate day treatment and the other for daily treatment on the first 3 days each week, and found a decrease in autoantibody levels only in the alternate day protocol. CONCLUSIONS Inhibition of Ras activation by FTS is effective in decreasing autoantibody levels in models of APS. The differential modulation of immune function by alternate day compared to daily treatment may provide better understanding of the role of Ras activation in this system.
Do harsh and positive parenting predict parent reports of deceitful-callous behavior in early childhood?

BACKGROUND The relationship between parenting and the development of antisocial behavior in children is well established. However, evidence for associations between dimensions of parenting and callous-unemotional (CU) traits is mixed. As CU traits appear critical to understanding a subgroup of youth with antisocial behavior, more research addressing the link between early parenting and CU traits is needed. METHODS The current study investigated longitudinal predictions between measures of harsh and positive parenting, and early CU behavior. Data from mother-child dyads (N = 731; 49% female) were collected from a multi-ethnic, high-risk sample with young children, and included self-reported and multi-method observed parenting. CU behavior was assessed using a previously validated measure of deceitful-callous behavior (Hyde et al., 2011). RESULTS Results suggest that dimensions of harsh parenting, but not positive parenting, contribute to the development of child deceitful-callous behavior. Nevertheless, deceitful-callous behavior showed strong stability over time and the effects of harsh parenting, especially observed harshness, were modest. CONCLUSIONS The current findings have implications for developmental psychopathology and early interventions for antisocial behavior. The results also raise a number of issues about measuring emerging CU behavior in very young children, including the interrelation between parent perceptions and reports of child behavior, parent reactions, and the subsequent development of severe antisocial behavior.
Cytochrome P450 2C19 Polymorphism, Suboptimal Reperfusion and All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Objectives: To determine whether the 681 G>A (*2) polymorphism of cytochrome P450 (CYP2C19) is related to suboptimal reperfusion and mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) pretreated with clopidogrel. Methods: Thestudy included 276 consecutive patients with AMI in whom percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stenting was attempted. Four-year follow-up for all-cause mortality was obtained. Results: There were 15 failed procedures (5.4%). In the remaining 261 patients, suboptimal reperfusion (post-PCI TIMI flow <3) was observed in 12.6% of the cases. There were 56 carriers (50 heterozygous and 6 homozygous) of CYP2C19*2. The prevalence of carriers in patients with suboptimal flow was 39.4% in comparison to 18.9% in the other patients (p = 0.01). Independent predictors of suboptimal reperfusion were initial TIMI flow ≤1 (OR = 5.9, 95% CI 2.2–16.2, p = 0.001) and CYP2C19*2 (OR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.3–6.6, p = 0.01). Thirty patients died during follow-up (11.5%). Four-year mortality tended to be higher in carriers of CYP2C19*2 (17.9%) versus non-carriers (9.8%; p = 0.09), but the only independent predictors of death were age (HR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.4–2.8, p = 0.0001) and suboptimal reperfusion (HR = 3.6, 95% CI 1.5–8.8, p = 0.004). Conclusions: The CYP2C19*2 allele is an independent predictor of suboptimal reperfusion in patients with AMI undergoing PCI with stenting after pretreatment with clopidogrel and may increase the risk of all-cause mortality.
Point Surveillance of Staphylococcus aureus Carriage among Medical Staff in Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kuwait

Objective: To investigate the carriage of Staphylococcus aureus among doctors and nurses in Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kuwait, following the detection of 3 cases of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Materials and Methods: A total of 260 nasal and throat swabs were obtained from 19 doctors and 111 nurses and cultured for the carriage of S. aureus. Forty-three S. aureus were identified based on their growth characteristics on mannitol-salt agar, catalase and tube coagulase and DNA hydrolysis. The isolates were tested for susceptibility to antibacterial agents and typed by phage typing; plasmid analysis and pulsed-field electrophoresis were carried out to determine their relatedness. Results: Of the 19 doctors, 4 (21%) had nasal carriage while only 1 of them had a throat carriage. Sixteen (14.4%) nurses carried S. aureus in their noses and 20 (18%) in their throats. The combined nasal carriage rate for both doctors and nurses was 15.8%, and combined throat carriage was 16.6%. None of them carried MRSA. The isolates were resistant to penicillin G (90%), tetracycline (23.3%), erythromycin (9.3%) and cadmium (100%). Typing of the isolates showed a variety of phage types, plasmid and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns. Discussion: None of the doctors or nurses carried MRSA. Typing of the methicillin-susceptible strains that they carried demonstrated that the S. aureus were different, indicating an absence of a dominant clone capable of spreading. It is important to maintain a low carriage of S. aureus among health-care workers.
Serum Chemical Biomarkers of Cardiac Injury for Nonclinical Safety Testing

There has been a substantial increase in the number and efficacy of laboratory biomarkers for the evaluation of human cardiac injury over the last decade. The advantages of these over traditional laboratory tests have encouraged adoption of comparable markers in nonclinical studies for cardiac injury assessment. Of particular interest are markers that are not only more sensitive and/or specific than traditional parameters for cardiac injury, but also those that may directly bridge human and laboratory animal safety testing. However, a majority of recently developed markers are quantified through antibody-based assays, and cross-reactivity with the comparable analyte in nonhuman samples is difficult to predict and often species-variable. The utility of these novel biomarkers thus, depends upon adequate assay validation with each laboratory species of interest. In contrast, traditional laboratory parameters of cardiac injury lack the properties of an ideal biomarker, but are well established and have an extensive database in nonclinical safety assessment. The current status and utility of both recently developed and traditional biomarkers of cardiac injury in nonclinical testing, and considerations for validation of novel biomarkers of cardiac injury are reviewed.
Strategies for the Treatment of Antipsychotic-Induced Sexual Dysfunction and/or Hyperprolactinemia Among Patients of the Schizophrenia Spectrum: A Review

There is limited evidence for the management of sexual dysfunction and/or hyperprolactinemia resulting from use of antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia and spectrum. The aim of this study was to review and describe the strategies for the treatment of antipsychotic-induced sexual dysfunctions and/or hyperprolactinemia. The research was carried out through Medline/PubMed, Cochrane, Lilacs, Embase, and PsycINFO, and it included open labels or randomized clinical trials. The authors found 31 studies: 25 open-label noncontrolled studies and 6 randomized controlled clinical trials. The randomized, double-blind controlled studies that were conducted with adjunctive treatment that showed improvement of sexual dysfunction and/or decrease of prolactin levels were sildenafil and aripiprazole. The medication selegiline and cyproheptadine did not improve sexual function. The switch to quetiapine was demonstrated in 2 randomized controlled studies: 1 showed improvement in the primary outcome and the other did not. This reviewed data have suggested that further well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to provide evidence for the effects of different strategies to manage sexual dysfunction and/or hyperprolactinaemia resulting from antipsychotics. These trials are necessary in order to have a better compliance and reduce the distress among patients with schizophrenia.
Genes in the accessory sec locus of Streptococcus gordonii have three functionally distinct effects on the expression of the platelet‐binding protein GspB

Platelet binding by Streptococcus gordonii strain M99 is strongly correlated with the expression of the large surface glycoprotein GspB. A 14 kb chromosomal region downstream of gspB was previously shown to be required for the expression of this protein. The region encodes SecA2 and SecY2, which are components of an accessory secretion system dedicated specifically to the export of GspB. The region also includes three genes (gly, nss and gtf) that encode proteins likely to function in carbohydrate metabolism, and four genes (orf1–4) that encode proteins of unknown function. In this report, we have investigated the role of these genes in GspB expression. We found that disruption of orf1, orf2 or orf3 resulted in a loss of GspB export and the intracellular accumulation of GspB. As they are apparently essential components of the accessory secretion system, these genes were renamed asp1–3 (for accessory secretory protein). In gtf and orf4 mutants, gspB was transcribed, but no GspB was detected. These results suggest that Gtf and Orf4 are required for the translation or for the stability of GspB. In contrast, gly and nss mutants were able to express and export GspB. However, disruption of these genes appeared to affect the carbohydrate composition of this glycoprotein. As asp1–3, gtf and orf4, but not gly and nss, are conserved in the accessory sec loci of several staphylococcal and streptococcal species, these genes may also have crucial roles in the expression and export of GspB homologues in the other Gram‐positive bacteria.