Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impacto de los padecimientos ortopédicos pediátricos en la calidad de vida de la familia del paciente

Los trastornos ortopedicos en la edad pediatrica son frecuentes y la dependencia de estos pacientes hacia los familiares incrementa, principalmente porque en ocasiones no logran independencia personal ni social, lo que genera un impacto en la dinamica y funcionalidad familiar. El sistema familiar debera reorganizarse para superar la crisis que representa esta condicion. Una de las primeras adaptaciones es la asignacion de un cuidador primario, quien asumira la responsabilidad del enfermo en todo lo que respecta a su atencion basica y cuidado. Objetivo: Determinar el nivel de sobrecarga en el cuidador primario para los padecimientos ortopedicos pediatricos mas frecuentes en el Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad del Bajio. Material y metodos: Se llevo a cabo un estudio descriptivo, prospectivo y transversal que involucro 120 pacientes con diagnosticos de paralisis cerebral infantill, mielomeningocele, pie equino varo aducto congenito y displasia del desarrollo de la cadera, que contaran con cuidador primario, realizandoseles el cuestionario ZARIT para evaluar el nivel de sobrecarga a la que estan sometidos los cuidadores. Resultados: Se registro un porcentaje considerable de familias nucleares, en las cuales se cuenta con ambos padres para satisfacer las necesidades del paciente. Sin embargo, en todos los casos la madre fue quien se defi nio como el cuidador primario. Los cuidadores primarios de pacientes con paralisis cerebral infantil y mielomeningocele son los que presentaron mayor sobrecarga. Conclusiones: El cuidador primario esta sometido a una sobrecarga considerable en padecimientos ortopedicos pediatricos, ya que, ademas de las propias, adoptan las necesidades del familiar enfermo. Es importante determinar el grado de carga emocional y familiar que suponen los padecimientos ortopedicos pediatricos para determinar las necesidades de ayuda (emocional, fisica, psicologica, etcetera)
Biology and significance of signalling pathways activated by IGF-II

Insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) affects many aspects of cellular function through its ability to activate several different receptors and, consequently, numerous intracellular signalling molecules. Thus, IGF-II is a key regulator of normal foetal development and growth. However, abnormalities in IGF-II function are associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer. Here, we review the cellular mechanisms by which IGF-II's physiological and pathophysiological actions are exerted by discussing the involvement of the type 1 and type 2 IGF receptors (IGF1R and IGF2R), the insulin receptor and the downstream MAP kinase, PI-3 kinase and G-protein-coupled signalling pathways in mediating IGF-II stimulated cellular proliferation, survival, differentiation and migration.
Initial Evaluation of a Tactile/Kinesthetic Force Feedback System for Minimally Invasive Tumor Localization

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), while beneficial to patients, leads to new challenges for surgeons and prevents tumors from being localized using finger palpation. A tactile-sensing system (TSS), consisting of a hand-held tactile-sensing instrument (TSI) with a visualization interface, was developed to assist in intraoperative tumor localization. This paper presents the calibration of the TSI and its integration with a visualization interface that allows palpation forces to be displayed. Experiments were conducted to determine whether providing visual force feedback (VFF) to the user would significantly benefit TSS performance when attempting to locate 10 mm hemispherical tumors in ex vivo bovine liver. The TSS with VFF realized a 33% and 21% relative reduction in average and maximum applied forces, respectively, and a 53% relative increase in detection accuracy when compared to the use of the TSS without VFF. Thus, VFF improves the performance of the TSS and has the potential to help surgeons identify tumors intraoperatively during MIS.
Nitric oxide and thromboxane A2-mediated pulmonary microvascular dysfunction.

OBJECTIVES To examine whether the lung releases nitric oxide (NO) in response to thromboxane A2 and to examine the local release of NO as a protective compensatory mechanism by which the lung responds to the proinflammatory and vasoactive effects of thromboxane A2. DESIGN The lungs of anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats were perfused in vitro with Krebs-Henseleit buffer that contained an inhibitor of NO synthase (nitroglycerinenitro-L-arginine methyl ester [L-NAME]) (10(-4) mol/L), an NO donor (sodium nitroprusside) (10(-8) mol/L), or perfusate alone. Following equilibration, the thromboxane A2 receptor agonist 9,11-dideoxy-11alpha, 9alpha-epoxymethanoprostaglandin F2alpha(U-46619) (7.1 X 10(-8) mol/L) was added to the perfusate. Fifteen minutes later, the capillary filtration coefficient, pulmonary arterial pressure, and vascular resistance were measured. Pulmonary NO release was assessed by quantitating the release of cyclic guanosine monophosphate into the perfusate. RESULTS The capillary filtration coefficient of lungs exposed to U-46619 was 3.5 times greater than that of lungs perfused with buffer alone (P<.05). The addition of sodium nitroprusside reduced the increase in capillary filtration coefficient associated with U-46619 by 50% (P<.05) whereas L-NAME had no effect. The addition of U-46619 to the perfused lung caused a 3.0+/-0.4 mm Hg increase in pulmonary artery pressure (P<.01) with a corresponding rise in total vascular resistance (P<.05). This effect was exacerbated by L-NAME (P<.05) and inhibited by sodium nitroprusside (P<.05). Exposure of the isolated lungs to U-46619 caused a 4-fold increase in cyclic guanosine monophosphate levels within the perfusate. CONCLUSION These data are consistent with the hypothesis that NO release may be an important protective mechanism by which the lung responds to thromboxane A2.
CD 44 variant isoforms expressed by breast cancer cells are functional E-selectin ligands under flow conditions

Venktesh S. Shirure, Tiantian Liu, Luis F. Delgadillo, Chaz M. Cuckler, David F. J. Tees, Fabian Benencia, Douglas J. Goetz, and Monica M. Burdick Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio; Biomedical Engineering Program, Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio; Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio; and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
Corpus-based extraction and identification of Portuguese Multiword Expressions

This presentation reports on an on-going project aimed at building a large lexical database of corpus-extracted multiword (MW) expressions for the Portuguese language. MW expressions were automatically extracted from a balanced 50 million word corpus compiled for this project, furthermore these were statistically interpreted using lexical association measures, followed by a manual validation process. The lexical database covers different types of MW expressions, from named entities to lexical associations with different degrees of cohesion, ranging from totally frozen idioms to favoured co-occurring forms, such as collocations. We aim to achieve two main objectives with this resource. Firstly to build on the large set of data of different types of MW expressions, thus revising existing typologies of collocations and integrating them in a larger theory of MW units. Secondly, to use the extensive hand-checked data as training data to evaluate existing statistical lexical association measures.
Mitochondrial glutathione uptake: characterization in isolated brain mitochondria and astrocytes in culture

Glutathione in the mitochondria is an important determinant of cellular responses to oxidative stress. Mitochondrial glutathione is maintained by uptake from the cytosol, a process that has been little studied in brain cells. In the present study, measurements using isolated rat brain mitochondria showed a rapid uptake of [3H]‐glutathione that was strongly influenced by the mitochondrial glutathione content. [3H]‐glutathione incorporated into the mitochondria was not rapidly released. Uptake was inhibited by substrates and inhibitors for several known mitochondrial anion transporters. Citrate, isocitrate and benzene‐1,2,3‐tricarboxylate were particularly effective inhibitors, suggesting a possible role for a tricarboxylate carrier in the glutathione transport. The properties of uptake differed greatly from those reported previously for mitochondria from kidney and liver. In astrocytes in primary culture, diethylmaleate or hydrogen peroxide treatment resulted in depletion of cytosolic and mitochondrial glutathione. The pattern of restoration of glutathione content in the presence of glutathione precursors following treatment with diethylmaleate was consistent with uptake into mitochondria being controlled primarily by the glutathione gradient between the cytosol and mitochondria. However, following hydrogen peroxide treatment, recovery of glutathione in the mitochondria initially preceded comparable proportional restoration in the cytosol, suggesting the possibility of additional controls on glutathione uptake in some conditions.
Re-Analysis of Single-Mode Conditions for Silicon Rib Waveguides at 1550 nm Wavelength

Single-mode waveguiding devices are desired for photonic integrated circuits. Previous studies on the single-mode conditions (SMCs) of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) rib waveguide lack a comprehensive discussion to include a large to small range of cross-section cases, thus revealing the discrepancies of various determination methods. Here, we reanalyze the SMCs for large and small SOI rib waveguides by utilizing a finite-element method mode solver. The results are compared with both classical SMCs of Soref's expression and Pogossian's effective-index method, indicating that the constant value α shown in the Soref's analytical expression depends on the rib heights and polarizations. For transverse-electric polarized light and the waveguide height exceeding 5 μm, α is approaching that of Soref's equation; if the height is ≤5 μm, then α = 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.7, and 1.0 are determined for the cases of 5, 3, 2, 0.8, and 0.4 μm heights, respectively. However, for transverse-magnetic polarized light, if the height ≥ 2 μm, α is constant (0.25) and independent on the rib heights, and α = 0.18 and 0.12 are attained for the cases of 0.8 and 0.4 heights, respectively. This detailed analysis indicates that a wider rib width can be used while preserving a SMC leading to devices with improved coupling efficiencies and reduced insertion losses for on-chip photonic circuits.
Selenium and Bladder Cancer Risk: a Meta-analysis

Background: Selenium is considered to be an antioxidant, and its high levels have been inversely associated with cancer risk of several sites. This meta-analysis examined the relationship between levels of selenium measured in serum and toenails, and the risk of bladder cancer. Methods: A meta-analysis using data from seven published epidemiologic studies (three case-control, three nested case-control, one case-cohort) published before March 2010 was done to examine the association between levels of selenium and bladder cancer. Fixed and random effects analyses were done to calculate meta-odds ratio (mOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Heterogeneity among studies was measured by the I2 statistic. Results: Overall, the risk of bladder cancer was inversely associated with elevated levels of selenium according to a random-effects model (mOR = 0.61; 95% CI, 0.42-0.87). The mORs were 0.95 (95% CI, 0.69-1.27) and 0.55 (95% CI, 0.32-0.95) among men and women, respectively. Sex, type of sample specimen, smoking status, and study design were found to be potential sources of heterogeneity. Conclusions: A significant protective effect of selenium, observed mainly among women, may result from gender-specific differences in its accumulation and excretion. The heterogeneity found among studies was mainly linked to the different biological sample specimens used to measure the selenium concentrations and the small size of the studies. Although these results suggest a protective effect of selenium for bladder cancer risk, additional large studies are warranted to support these preliminary evidence. Impact: The present results suggest a beneficial effect of high selenium intake for bladder cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(9); 2407–15. ©2010 AACR.
Effect of supplementing a fibre basal diet with different nitrogen forms on ruminal fermentation and microbial growth in an in vitro semi-continuous culture system (RUSITEC)

Incubation trials were carried out with the rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC) to study the effects of four forms of N on the growth of ruminal micro-organisms and the fermentation variables when an all-fibre basal diet was incubated. The basal diet consisted of 10 g neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) from grass hay plus 2 g NDF from sugarbeet pulp. N forms were isolated soyabean protein, soyabean peptides, amino acids blended to profile soyabean protein and NH3 as NH4Cl. Half of the daily N supply was infused as NH4Cl and the other half was infused as each of the four treatments described. Non-NH3 N (NAN) forms increased NDF (P = 0·006), acid-detergent fibre (P = 0·003) and cellulose (P = 0·015) disappearance after 48 h incubation, CO2 (P < 0·001), CH4 (P = 0·002) and total volatile fatty acids production (P < 0·001), as well as the molar percentages of isobutyrate, isovalerate and valerate, which reflected the fermentation of amino acid C skeletons. NAN treatments also increased microbial N flow (P < 0·001) compared with NH3, with peptides and protein supporting more (P = 0·036) than amino acids. The proportion of microbial N derived from NH3 decreased successively (P < 0·05) with NH3 > amino acids > peptides > protein treatments, indicating preferential uptake of peptides without passage through the NH3 pool. Microbial efficiency (g microbial N/kg organic matter apparent disappearance) was greater (P = 0·002) for the NAN forms than for the NH3 treatment, with peptides and protein treatments supporting higher (P = 0·009) values than amino acid treatment. These results indicate that N forms other than NH3 are required for optimal fibre digestion and microbial growth.
MicroRNA-146a Mimics Reduce the Peripheral Neuropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Mice

MicroRNA-146a (miR-146a) regulates multiple immune diseases. However, the role of miR-146a in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) has not been investigated. We found that mice (db/db) with type 2 diabetes exhibited substantial downregulation of miR-146a in sciatic nerve tissue. Systemic administration of miR-146a mimics to diabetic mice elevated miR-146a levels in plasma and sciatic nerve tissue and substantially increased motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities by 29 and 11%, respectively, and regional blood flow by 50% in sciatic nerve tissue. Treatment with miR-146a mimics also considerably decreased the response in db/db mice to thermal stimuli thresholds. Histopathological analysis showed that miR-146a mimics markedly augmented the density of fluorescein isothiocyanate–dextran-perfused blood vessels and increased the number of intraepidermal nerve fibers, myelin thickness, and axonal diameters of sciatic nerves. In addition, miR-146a treatment reduced and increased classically and alternatively activated macrophage phenotype markers, respectively. Analysis of miRNA target array revealed that miR-146a mimics greatly suppressed expression of many proinflammatory genes and downstream related cytokines. Collectively, our data indicate that treatment of diabetic mice with miR-146a mimics robustly reduces DPN and that suppression of hyperglycemia-induced proinflammatory genes by miR-146a mimics may underlie its therapeutic effect.
The Use of the Bethesda Terminology in Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Results in a Lower Rate of Surgery for Nonmalignant Nodules

The Bethesda system (BS) for reporting thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA), which classifies nodules as nondiagnostic (ND), benign (B), atypia/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS), suspicious for follicular neoplasm (SFN/FN), suspicious for malignancy (SFM), or malignant (M), uses clinically valuable management guidelines. The authors employed a similar in-house classification system (IS) for thyroid FNAs, using the categories of ND, B, suspicious follicular cells (SFC), follicular lesion/neoplasm (FL/FN), SFM, and M. The authors compared IS and BS, and assessed the utility of BS in clinical practice. A total of 581 nodules with cytological/histological follow-up were examined and indeterminate lesions by BS were reclassified. The sensitivity and specificity for malignancy using IS were similar to that of BS (77% vs 99%). However, when SFN/FN and SFM were both considered positive, the results for IS and BS were as follows: sensitivity, 85% versus 85%; specificity, 87% versus 94%; and diagnostic accuracy, 86% versus 90%, respectively. Discrepancies between cytological and histological data were evident in 35 cases among all categories of BS except AUS/FLUS. The rate of surgery for nonmalignant nodules was lesser (20% vs 9%) by BS. Among 34 AUS/FLUS cases with follow-up data, hypocellularity was the case in 11 (46%) nonneoplastic and 10 (100%) neoplastic nodules. The use of BS results in a lower rate of surgery for nonmalignant nodules even though patients with borderline cytopathologic features are still encountered. AUS/FLUS category can be separated into subgroups according to the factors causing difficulties in the interpretation. There is a need of accumulation of AUS/FLUS cases to do further evaluations and studies.
Lymphocyte function antigen‐1 regulates neutrophil recruitment and tissue damage in acute pancreatitis

Leucocyte infiltration is a rate‐limiting step in the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis (AP) although the adhesive mechanisms supporting leucocyte‐endothelium interactions in the pancreas remain elusive. The aim of this study was to define the role of lymphocyte function antigen‐1 (LFA‐1) in regulating neutrophil‐endothelium interactions and tissue damage in severe AP.
Finance and Social Responsibility in the Informal Economy: Institutional Voids, Globalization and Microfinance Institutions

We examine the heterogeneous effects of globalization on the interest rate setting by microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. We consider MFIs as a mechanism to overcome the institutional void of credit for small entrepreneurs in developing and emerging economies. Using a large global panel of MFIs from 119 countries, we find that social globalization that embraces egalitarian institutions on average reduces MFIs’ interest rates. In contrast, economic globalization that embraces neoliberal institutions on average increases MFIs’ interest rates. Moreover, the proportions of female borrowers and of poorer borrowers negatively moderate the relationship between social globalization and MFI interest rate, and positively moderate the relationship between economic globalization and MFI interest rate. This paper contributes to understanding how globalization processes can both ameliorate and exacerbate challenges of institutional voids in emerging and developing economies.
Gene expression changes in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice following prenatal alcohol exposure.

BACKGROUND Prenatal alcohol exposure can result in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Not all women who consume alcohol during pregnancy have children with FASD and studies have shown that genetic factors can play a role in ethanol teratogenesis. We examined gene expression in embryos and placentae from C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) mice following prenatal alcohol exposure. B6 fetuses are susceptible to morphological malformations following prenatal alcohol exposure while D2 are relatively resistant. METHODS Male and female B6 and D2 mice were mated for 2 hours in the morning, producing 4 embryonic genotypes: true-bred B6B6 and D2D2, and reciprocal B6D2 and D2B6. On gestational day 9, dams were intubated with 5.8 g/kg ethanol, an isocaloric amount of maltose dextrin, or nothing. Four hours later, dams were sacrificed and embryos and placentae were harvested. RNA was extracted, labeled and hybridized to Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 v2 microarray chips. Data were normalized, subjected to analysis of variance and tested for enrichment of gene ontology molecular function and biological process using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). RESULTS Several gene classes were differentially expressed in B6 and D2 regardless of treatment, including genes involved in polysaccharide binding and mitosis. Prenatal alcohol exposure altered expression of a subset of genes, including genes involved in methylation, chromatin remodeling, protein synthesis, and mRNA splicing. Very few genes were differentially expressed between maltose-exposed tissues and tissues that received nothing, so we combined these groups for comparisons with ethanol. While we observed many expression changes specific to B6 following prenatal alcohol exposure, none were specific for D2. Gene classes up- or down-regulated in B6 following prenatal alcohol exposure included genes involved in mRNA splicing, transcription, and translation. CONCLUSIONS Our study identified several classes of genes with altered expression following prenatal alcohol exposure, including many specific for B6, a strain susceptible to ethanol teratogenesis. Lack of strain specific effects in D2 suggests there are few gene expression changes that confer resistance. Future studies will begin to analyze functional significance of the expression changes.
Endoglin (CD105): A Marker of Tumor Vasculature and Potential Target for Therapy

Endoglin (CD105) is an accessory protein of the transforming growth factor-β receptor system expressed on vascular endothelial cells. Mutation of the endoglin gene is associated with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasias, or Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome, and has been studied extensively in the context of this disease. The expression of endoglin is elevated on the endothelial cells of healing wounds, developing embryos, inflammatory tissues, and solid tumors. Endoglin is a marker of activated endothelium, and its vascular expression is limited to proliferating cells. Recent studies identified endoglin expression in several solid tumor types, with the level of expression correlating with various clinicopathologic factors including decreased survival and presence of metastases. Attempts to target endoglin and the cells that express this protein in tumor-bearing mice have yielded promising results.