Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Choledocholithiasis: evaluation with MR cholangiography.

OBJECTIVE We performed this study to evaluate the usefulness of a new T2-weighted MR sequence using a half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo (HASTE) technique in the diagnosis of bile duct stones. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We prospectively evaluated 23 patients with suspected bile duct calculi using HASTE MR cholangiography and compared that imaging technique with endoscopic retrograde cholangiography and sonography. The study group consisted of 15 women and eight men who were 42-89 years old. Patients were imaged in the axial, coronal, and sagittal planes with a 1.5-T MR scanner using a body coil. Acquisitions of 13 sec each allowed images to be obtained in a single breath-hold. All images were interpreted by two radiologists in a double-blinded fashion. The presence, number, and size of stones were noted, and common bile duct dilatation was assessed. RESULTS Fifteen of the 23 patients were proven to have common bile duct stones. Stone size ranged from 3 mm to 35 mm (mean, 11 mm). HASTE MR cholangiography revealed stones in 14 (93%) of 15 patients; sonography revealed stones in nine (60%) of 15 patients. In 12 patients, the common bile duct was dilated, as shown by endoscopic retrograde cholangiography, HASTE MR cholangiography, and sonography. On HASTE MR cholangiograms, we measured the diameter of the bile duct in all patients. The mean diameter was 11 mm, which correlated well (r = .82) with a mean diameter of 13.5 mm as measured on endoscopic retrograde cholangiograms. CONCLUSION HASTE MR cholangiography can noninvasively and rapidly reveal the presence of stones in the common bile duct and allows readers to assess the degree of biliary dilatation. The sequence should be considered as an alternative to endoscopic retrograde cholangiography in patients with clinical evidence of bile duct calculi and in those for whom endoscopic retrograde cholangiography is impossible.
The relationship between vitamin D levels and nondipper hypertension

ObjectiveNondipper hypertension is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease, heart failure and hypertension. We aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D on nondipper hypertension. DesignThis study included total 200 essential hypertensive patients. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed for each patient. In addition to routine tests, vitamin D levels were analysed. ResultsThe study population was divided into two groups: 100 dipper patients (mean age; 50.6±9.9 years, 54 women and 46 men) and 100 nondipper patients (mean age; 49.2±8.2 years, 53 women and 47 men). Clinical blood pressures were significantly higher in nondipper hypertensives than dipper hypertensives (systolic blood pressures 141.2±5.6 vs. 139.1±6.6 mmHg, diastolic blood pressures 88.4±2.6 mmHg vs. 87.4±3.4, P<0.05, respectively). Nondipper patients showed lower levels of vitamin D compared with dippers (21.1±3.5, 31±7.1 ng/ml, P<0.001, respectively). A significant positive correlation was observed between vitamin D and the rate of nocturnal systolic and diastolic blood pressure fall (r=0.525, P<0.001 and r=0.512, P<0.001, respectively) ConclusionVitamin D levels are significantly lower in patients with nondipper hypertension than patients with dipper hypertension.
Olig2 expression, GFAP, p53 and 1p loss analysis contribute to glioma subclassification

The expression of Olig2, a basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factor involved in oligodendroglial specification, was investigated by immunohistochemistry in a series of 146 tumours and control samples. Olig2 expression was restricted to glial tumours and nontumoral oligodendrocytes. It was higher in oligodendrogliomas as compared to astrocytomas and oligoastrocytomas, and in grade III as compared to grade II tumours. Olig 2 was absent or weakly expressed in glioblastoma (GBM), whereas strong expression was found in the oligodendroglial foci of GBM with oligodendroglial component (GBMO). Double labelling was performed on a subset of the most typical tumours, according to the WHO classification. It showed a mutual exclusion, at cell level, of Olig2 and GFAP expression. In pure oligodendrogliomas, tumour cells were Olig2+/GFAP–. In contrast, two main tumour populations, Olig2+/GFAP– and Olig2–/GFAP+, were found in both oligoastrocytomas and astrocytomas. Based on these data from selected samples, two separate entities can be established, corresponding to ‘pure oligodendrogliomas’ and ‘astrocytomas and oligoastrocytomas’. The relevance of this subdivision is further supported by the association with 1p loss and a trend to better survival for pure oligodendrogliomas and with p53 expression and a trend to shorter survival for astrocytomas and oligoastrocytomas. Combined testing of Olig2, 1p status, GFAP and p53 expression may therefore be helpful in refining current classification and providing more homogeneous sets of gliomas for clinical studies.
Phase transitions and fluidity characteristics of lipids and cell membranes

The concept that the liquid crystalline or mesomorphic condition was of importance to biological systems is a relatively old idea. Thus Bernal (1933) when discussing the different types of arrangements of molecules in liquid crystals commented ‘Such structures belong to the liquid crystal as a unit and not to its molecules which may be replaced by others without destroying them and they persist in spite of the complete fluidity of the substance. These are just the properties to be required for a degree of organization between that of the continuous substance, liquid or crystalline solid and even the simplest living cell. ’ Stewart (1961) some thirty years later also stated that ‘It is this property – the combination of flow and lability with a preferred and relatively stable molecular orientation – that makes the mesomorphic (i.e. liquid crystal) phase uniquely appropriate to the structure of protoplasm and living tissue. ’
Antiphospholipid antibodies are associated with enhanced oxidative stress, decreased plasma nitric oxide and paraoxonase activity in an experimental mouse model.

OBJECTIVE Oxidative stress contributes to atherosclerosis, and evidence of enhanced oxidative stress exists in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). In a non-lupus murine model, we evaluated whether anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies could affect the oxidant/antioxidant balance as an early biochemical step of APS. METHODS Hybridomas producing human and murine aCL and anti-beta(2)-glycoprotein I (abeta2-GPI) monoclonal antibodies were injected into three groups of five female BALB/c severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Corresponding hybridomas secreting non-antiphospholipid antibodies of the same isotype were employed as controls. Sera and organs were collected after 30 days. Paraoxonase (PON) activity, peroxynitrite, superoxide, nitric oxide (NO) and nitrotyrosine were measured in plasma. Expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was assessed by western blot and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS PON activity and NO (sum of nitrate and nitrite) levels were reduced in the human aCL IgG group (P<0.002 and P<0.04, respectively), whilst peroxynitrite and superoxide and expression of total antioxidant capacity of plasma were increased (P<0.01). PON and NO were decreased in the murine abeta2-GPI IgG and IgM aCL groups (P<0.03 and P<0.05, respectively). Nitrotyrosine was elevated in the human aCL IgG group (P<0.03). Western blotting showed reduced iNOS expression in the hearts of the IgG aCL group, confirmed by immunostaining. PON inversely correlated with IgG aCL titres (P<0.001), superoxide (P<0.008) and peroxynitrite levels (P<0.0009). Peroxynitrite and total IgG aCL were independent predictors of PON (P<0.0009 and P<0.02, respectively). Superoxide was the only independent predictor of NO (P<0.008) and of nitrotyrosine (P<0.002). CONCLUSION aCL antibodies are associated with the decreased PON activity and reduced NO that may occur in the preclinical phase of APS.
Control of fertility by metabolic cues.

In female mammals, reproduction is extremely sensitive to the availability of oxidizable metabolic fuels. When food intake is limited or when an inordinate fraction of the available energy is diverted to other uses such as exercise or fattening, reproductive attempts are suspended in favor of processes necessary for individual survival. Both reproductive physiology and sexual behaviors are influenced by food availability. Nutritional effects on reproductive physiology are mediated by changes in the activity of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons in the forebrain, whereas the suppression of sexual behaviors appears to be due, at least in part, to decreases in estrogen receptor in the ventromedial hypothalamus. Work using pharmacological inhibitors of glucose and fatty acid oxidation indicates that reproductive physiology and behavior respond to short-term (minute-to-minute or hour-to-hour) changes in metabolic fuel oxidation, rather than to any aspect of body size or composition (e.g., body fat content or fat-to-lean ratio). These metabolic cues seem to be detected in the viscera (most likely in the liver) and in the caudal hindbrain (probably in the area postrema). This metabolic information is then transmitted to the GnRH-secreting or estradiol-binding effector neurons in the forebrain. There is no evidence to date for direct detection of metabolic cues by these forebrain effector neurons. This metabolic fuels hypothesis is consistent with a large body of evidence and seems to account for the infertility that is seen in a number of situations, including famine, eating disorders, excessive exercise, cold exposure, lactation, some types of obesity, and poorly controlled diabetes mellitus.
Exogenous Mg-ATP Induces a Large Inhibition of Pyruvate Kinase in Intact Rat Hepatocytes*

Mg-ATP infusion in vivo has been reported to be beneficial both to organ function and survival rate in various models of shock. Moreover, a large variety of metabolic effects has been shown to occur in several tissues due to purinergic receptor activation. In the present work we studied the effects of exogenous Mg-ATP in rat liver cells perifused with dihydroxyacetone to investigate simultaneously gluconeogenetic and glycolytic pathways. We found a significant effect on oxidative phosphorylation as characterized by a decrease in oxygen consumption rate and in the cellular ATP-to-ADP ratio associated with an increase in lactate-to-pyruvate ratio. In addition, exogenous Mg-ATP induced rapid and reversible inhibition of both gluconeogenesis and glycolysis. The main effect on gluconeogenesis was located at the level of the fructose cycle, whereas the decrease in glycolysis was due to a strong inhibition of pyruvate kinase. Although pyruvate kinase inhibition induced by exogenous Mg-ATP was allosteric when assessed in vitro after enzyme extraction, we found a large decrease in the apparent maximal velocity when kinetics were assessed in vivo in intact perifused hepatocytes. This newly described short-term regulation of pyruvate kinase occurs only in the intact cell and may open new potentials for the pharmacological regulation of pyruvate kinase in vivo.
Explaining the industrial dynamics of Hong Kong with special reference to the textile and garment industry

Applies Kirzner’s concept of entrepreneurship to explain the economic success of Hong Kong. The city economy possesses neither natural resources, nor sophisticated technologies, and yet it has successfully developed into one of the most prosperous economies in East Asia. This study argues that Hong Kong’s industrial dynamism relies mainly on a large number of adaptive entrepreneurs who are constantly alert to opportunities, maintain a high degree of flexibility in their production and respond rapidly to change. In the textile and garment industry, firms survived by pursuing a product imitation strategy, operating at a small‐scale, extensively utilizing subcontracting networks, producing customer label garments as well as performing spatial arbitrageurship. Employing these adaptive entrepreneurial strategies, Hong Kong manufacturers have learnt from foreign firms and imitated their products. By selling improved commodities at lower prices, they have competed against the original suppliers from the western advanced countries. Furthermore, to exploit new profit opportunities, Hong Kong’s entrepreneurs have shifted their production activities from one product to another, from one industry to another, from higher cost to lower cost regions, from traditional fishing and agriculture into manufacturing, and then to finance and other services. Their efforts have brought about structural transformation in the economy and enabled Hong Kong to catch up with early industrialized nations.
Management of early Fontan failure: a single-institution experience.

OBJECTIVE To analyse the incidence and outcomes of early Fontan failure (EFF) in a large contemporary cohort of palliated patients. METHODS A retrospective, single-centre study of all patients undergoing primary Fontan from 1 July 1995 to 31 December 2009 was performed. EFF was defined as death, need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), Fontan takedown to superior cavopulmonary connection (SCPC) or transplantation within 30 days of the Fontan procedure. The incidence and outcomes were summarized with descriptive statistics, and risk factors for EFF were identified. RESULTS A total of 592 patients underwent primary Fontan procedure during the study period; 67% had a dominant right ventricle. An extracardiac conduit (ECC) was used for Fontan completion in 60.5%, with the remainder having a lateral tunnel. EFF occurred in 11 patients (1.9%), all of whom had ECC. ECMO was used in 5 patients, 5 had Fontan takedown and 2 had heart transplantation. Five of eleven, or 46%, study subjects died as opposed to an overall mortality for primary Fontan of 0.8%. Among patients who had Fontan takedown to SCPC, long-term survival was 80%. By univariate analysis, elevated ventricular end-diastolic pressure (9.5 ± 3.3 vs 7.4 ± 2.7 mmHg, P = 0.019) and total circulatory support time (99 ± 33 vs 71 ± 23 min, P = 0.001) were risk factors for EFF. The mean follow-up for the 6 hospital survivors was 5.9 years. There was one late transplant-related death. Of the 4 surviving patients who had Fontan takedown to a SCPC, 3 underwent subsequent Fontan completion and 1 underwent biventricular repair. CONCLUSIONS EFF is rare in the current era, but is associated with significant mortality. High filling pressures and a prolonged intraoperative course are risk factors for EFF. Of the management strategies available, Fontan takedown to an intermediate pathway appears to be associated with the best outcomes.
A hybrid model for spatially and temporally resolved ozone exposures in the continental United States

ABSTRACT Ground-level ozone is an important atmospheric oxidant, which exhibits considerable spatial and temporal variability in its concentration level. Existing modeling approaches for ground-level ozone include chemical transport models, land-use regression, Kriging, and data fusion of chemical transport models with monitoring data. Each of these methods has both strengths and weaknesses. Combining those complementary approaches could improve model performance. Meanwhile, satellite-based total column ozone, combined with ozone vertical profile, is another potential input. The authors propose a hybrid model that integrates the above variables to achieve spatially and temporally resolved exposure assessments for ground-level ozone. The authors used a neural network for its capacity to model interactions and nonlinearity. Convolutional layers, which use convolution kernels to aggregate nearby information, were added to the neural network to account for spatial and temporal autocorrelation. The authors trained the model with the Air Quality System (AQS) 8-hr daily maximum ozone in the continental United States from 2000 to 2012 and tested it with left out monitoring sites. Cross-validated R2 on the left out monitoring sites ranged from 0.74 to 0.80 (mean 0.76) for predictions on 1 km × 1 km grid cells, which indicates good model performance. Model performance remains good even at low ozone concentrations. The prediction results facilitate epidemiological studies to assess the health effect of ozone in the long term and the short term. Implications: Ozone monitors do not provide full data coverage over the United States, which is an obstacle to assess the health effect of ozone when monitoring data are not available. This paper used a hybrid approach to combine satellite-based ozone measurements, chemical transport model simulations, land-use terms, and other auxiliary variables to obtain spatially and temporally resolved ground-level ozone estimation.
Ion-beam modification of high-temperature superconductor thin films for the fabrication of superconductive nanodevices

Ion-beam irradiation allows for a direct modification of the electric properties of high-temperature superconductors (HTS). Computer simulations of the ion-target interactions reveal that He+ions at energies above 60 keV do not implant into 100-nm thick films of YBa2Cu3O7but can create about one defect per unit cell at technically feasible ion doses of a few 1015cm-2. These point defects are primarily displacements of the oxygen atoms of YBa2Cu3O7. X-ray analysis and measurements of the electrical resistivity after cumulative ion irradiation confirm that the main building blocks of the crystal structure remain intact although the superconductor is converted to an insulator. Superconductive nanodevices can be fabricated with this method by directing a low-divergence beam of light ions at a thin film of HTS through a mask placed at a distance from the surface of the material. The illuminated areas of the film are converted from superconducting to semiconducting and even insulating in a single-step process.
Dietary sodium chloride deprivation throughout development selectively influences the terminal field organization of gustatory afferent fibers projecting to the rat nucleus of the solitary tract

In order to determine whether the developing central gustatory system responds to altered sensory experience, terminal fields of the chorda tympani nerve (CT) within the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) in control, NaCl deprived, and rats in which CT taste responses “recovered” from NaCl deprivation were investigated via anterograde transport of HRP. Rats fed a low sodium diet (0.03% NaCl) from the third day of gestation to at least 35 days postnatal exhibited both abnormally distributed and irregularly shaped CT terminal fields. Specifically, the dorsal zone of the field was the smallest in controls whereas it was the largest in deprived rats, occupying more medial and caudal territory within the nucleus. The portion of the field immediately ventral to the dorsalmost zone was characterized by a compact, oval shape in control rats and an irregular, broad configuration in deprived rats. Although it has been observed that deprivation‐induced changes in the neurophysiology of the CT are reversible, the central morphological alterations reported here remain abnormal. Restoration of 1.0% NaCl in the diet at 28 days postnatally, for at least 60 days, did not result in normal CT terminal fields. The pattern of the field in rats “recovered” from NaCl deprivation was comparable to that found in deprived rats, and the size of the field was three times that found in control and deprived rats.
End-of-life decision making in Europe and Australia: a physician survey.

BACKGROUND The frequencies with which physicians make different medical end-of-life decisions (ELDs) may differ between countries, but comparison between countries has been difficult owing to the use of dissimilar research methods. METHODS A written questionnaire was sent to a random sample of physicians from 9 specialties in 6 European countries and Australia to investigate possible differences in the frequencies of physicians' willingness to perform ELDs and to identify predicting factors. Response rates ranged from 39% to 68% (N = 10 139). Using hypothetical cases, physicians were asked whether they would (probably) make each of 4 ELDs. RESULTS In all the countries, 75% to 99% of physicians would withhold chemotherapy or intensify symptom treatment at the request of a patient with terminal cancer. In most cases, more than half of all physicians would also be willing to deeply sedate such a patient until death. However, there was generally less willingness to administer drugs with the explicit intention of hastening death at the request of the patient. The most important predictor of ELDs was a request from a patient with decisional capacity (odds ratio, 2.1-140.0). Shorter patient life expectancy and uncontrollable pain were weaker predictors but were more stable across countries and across the various ELDs (odds ratios, 1.1-2.4 and 0.9-2.4, respectively). CONCLUSION Cultural and legal factors seem to influence the frequencies of different ELDs and the strength of their determinants across countries, but they do not change the essence of decision making.
Propertius i. 18 and Callimachus, Acontius and Cydippe

Warmington, puerarum manibus confectum pulcerrime; Varro, Sat. Menipp. fr. 87 Biich. ,properate uiuere,puerae . ; id. Vit. Pop. Rom. fr. 83 Riposati, sic inpriuatis domibus pueri liberi et puerae ministrabant. Compare also the related early use of puer in the nominative/vocative singular as a feminine (=puella): Livius Andronicus, Od. fr. 16 Morel, sanctapuer Saturnifilia regina; Naevius, Bell. Pun. fr. 29 Morel, prima incedit Cereris Proserpina puer. There are two other relevant citations where the correct reading was disputed in antiquity. In Livius Andronicus, Od. fr. 3, meapuer, quid uerbi ex tuo ore superafugit? and the carmen Nelei (Ribbeck, Scaen. Rom. Poes. i, p. 271, fr. v), sauciapuerfilia sumam, Aelius Stilo and Asinius, supported by Charisius (loc. cit.), vouch for the use here of feminine puer, as printed in my citations; but Varro {Ling. Lat. p. 198. 7 Goetz-Schoell) claims that in both passages the form puer a was used. The evidence is abundant and relevant enough to show that at Rod. 282 Ptolemocratia's predilection for poetical and obsolescent words and phrases could have led her to use puerae here. A scribe unused to this early Latin form would immediately 'correct' it to the obvious puellae.
Investigating the relationship between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in study behaviour in distance education.

BACKGROUND Recent research on student learning in higher education has identified clear associations between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in their study behaviour. AIMS This research investigated a general theoretical model linking students' demographic characteristics, perceptions and study behaviour with measures of outcome and in particular compared four accounts of the casual relationship between perceptions and study behaviour. SAMPLES Study 1 employed data from 1,123 students taking six courses by distance learning; Study 2 employed data from 2,049 students taking seven courses by distance learning. METHODS Path analysis was used to assess the causal relationships among the students' age, gender and prior qualifications, their scores on the Course Experience Questionnaire, their scores on a short version of the Approaches to Studying Inventory or the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory, their overall marks and their ratings of general satisfaction. RESULTS Both studies yielded evidence for the causal efficacy of all the paths identified in the general theoretical model. CONCLUSIONS There exists a bi-directional causal relationship between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in their study behaviour.