Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Atrial fibrillation after thoracic surgery for lung cancer: use of a single cut-off value of N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide to identify patients at risk

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) is a well-known complication occurring after thoracic surgery. B-type natriuretic peptide has recently been investigated as a predictive marker of postoperative AF after cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate a definite cut-off for N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in predicting postoperative AF in lung cancer patients. NT-proBNP was determined before and after surgery in 400 patients. Cardiac function was monitored by continuous postoperative ECG and clinical cardiological evaluation. AF occurred in 18% of the patients. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses identified a cut-off of 182.3 ng l−1 as the one with the highest sensitivity and specificity. Perioperative increased levels of NT-proBNP seem to predict postoperative AF in patients undergoing thoracic surgery, and a single cut-off of 182.3 ng l−1 can be used to select high-risk patients who could receive preventive therapy, leading to a considerable decrease in the total costs associated with the management of this complication.
Effects of Sprint and Plyometrics Training on Field Sport Acceleration Technique

Abstract Lockie, RG, Murphy, AJ, Callaghan, SJ, and Jeffriess, MD. Effects of sprint and plyometrics training on field sport acceleration technique. J Strength Cond Res 28(7): 1790–1801, 2014—The mechanisms for speed performance improvement from sprint training and plyometrics training, especially relating to stance kinetics, require investigation in field sport athletes. This study determined the effects of sprint training and plyometrics training on 10-m sprint time (0–5, 5–10, and 0–10 m intervals), step kinematics (step length and frequency, contact and flight time), and stance kinetics (first, second, and last contact relative vertical [VF, VI], horizontal [HF, HI], and resultant [RF, RI] force and impulse; resultant ground reaction force angle [RF&thgr;]; ratio of horizontal to resultant force [RatF]) during a 10-m sprint. Sixteen male field sport athletes were allocated into sprint training (ST) and plyometrics training (PT) groups according to 10-m sprint time; independent samples t-tests (p ⩽ 0.05) indicated no between-group differences. Training involved 2 sessions per week for 6 weeks. A repeated measures analysis of variance (p ⩽ 0.05) determined within- and between-subject differences. Both groups decreased 0–5 and 0–10 m time. The ST group increased step length by ∼15%, which tended to be greater than step length gains for the PT group (∼7%). The ST group reduced first and second contact RF&thgr; and RatF, and second contact HF. Second contact HI decreased for both groups. Results indicated a higher post-training emphasis on VF production. Vertical force changes were more pronounced for the PT group for the last contact, who increased or maintained last contact VI, RF, and RI to a greater extent than the ST group. Sprint and plyometrics training can improve acceleration, primarily through increased step length and a greater emphasis on VF.
Harry Blanchard Nancy Bryant Linda Chase Pat Chrosniak Valerie Croll David Dunning Linda Fielding Dan Foertsch Ramona Mao Patricia Herman Jennifer Hughes Barbara Hunter Steve Levine Margie Leys Mary Moes EDITORIAL BOARD

Metacognitive training techniques have been used successfully to improve childrens' problem-solving skills. The concept of metacognition needs further refinement, however, if it is to continue to be useful as an explanatory construct. Specificzaly, we argue that more attention needs to be paid to how metacognitive abilities are acquired, how this knowledge could be used to help improve the performance of children with learning difficulties, and how metacognition may be rellted to other selfevaluation processes.
Kinematic Evaluation of Lumbar Fusion Techniques

Study Design Eight human cadaveric lumbosacral spines were biomechanically and kinematically tested in torsion and compression‐flexion. They were retested after simulated posterolateral fusion, anterior lumbar interbody fusion, and circumferential fusion. Objectives To analyze stiffness and motion in the anterior and posterior columns of the index and contiguous spinal motion units of anterior, posterolateral, and circumferential fusions. Summary of Background Data Previous biomechanical studies have not incorporated analysis of motion with six degrees of freedom, consideration of contiguous levels, and comparisons of anterior and posterior column motion. Methods Eight human cadaveric lumbosacral spines were biomechanically tested in compression‐flexion and torsion using an advanced biplanar radiography technique. Each specimen underwent either a simulated posterolateral fusion or anterior fusion followed by a circumferential fusion. Motion and stiffness at the level of the fusion and at contiguous levels were analyzed independently in the anterior and posterior columns of the spine. Results At the level of fusion, the simulated posterolateral and anterior fusions prevented more motion in torsion compared with compression‐flexion. With all specimens, it was shown that circumferential fusions were stiffer than the intact specimen. Our comparison of motion in the anterior and posterior columns found no significant differences within the columns of a single vertebral motion segment. Compared with posterolateral fusions, anterior fusions were found to have the greatest effect in increasing motion at contiguous levels. The effect of circumferential fusions on adjacent level kinematics was not significantly greater than that of anterior fusions. Conclusion There are major biomechanical differences between different fusion techniques. This information should be considered in patients undergoing lumbar spinal fusion.
Small molecule inhibition of trans-translation impairs Staphylococcus aureus viability

SMALL MOLECULE INHIBITION OF TRANS-TRANSLATION IMPAIRS STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS VIABILITY by Yueyang Huang, M.S., 2015 Department of Biology Texas Christian University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Shauna M. McGillivray, Assistant Professor of Biology Staphylococcus aureus quickly develops resistance to antibiotics and poses a significant health threat to humans. New antibiotic targets are needed for the development of new antibiotics. Trans-translation has important roles in maintaining bacterial viability. Small molecules, KKL-35 and KKL-40, were recently identified as specific inhibitors of trans-translation. We have investigated the roles of trans-translation on S. aureus viability and the potential of KKL-35 and KKL-40 as antibiotics. We find that KKLs show bactericidal activity against multiple S. aureus strains at relatively low concentration. We also find that sublethal doses of KKLs make S. aureus more susceptible to antimicrobials. Neither KKL-35 nor KKL-40 are cytotoxic to human HeLa cells. Unfortunately, KKL-40 is inactivated by human serum. Therefore, new inhibitors will need to be identified in future studies. Notably, the development of resistance by S.aureus against KKLs remains at a low level. Therefore trans-translation is a promising target for antibiotic development.
Knowledge-based Approach for Event Extraction from Arabic Tweets

Tweets provide a continuous update on current events. However, Tweets are short, personalized and noisy, thus raises more challenges for event extraction and representation. Extracting events out of Arabic tweets is a new research domain where few examples – if any – of previous work can be found. This paper describes a knowledge-based approach for fostering event extraction out of Arabic tweets. The approach uses an unsupervised rule-based technique for event extraction and provides a named entity disambiguation of event related entities (i.e. person, organization, and location). Extracted events and their related entities are populated to the event knowledge base where tagged tweets’ entities are linked to their corresponding entities represented in the knowledge base. Proposed approach was evaluated on a dataset of 1K Arabic tweets covering different types of events (i.e. instant events and interval events). Results show that the approach has an accuracy of, 75.9% for event trigger extraction, 87.5% for event time extraction, and 97.7% for event type identification.
Photodynamic therapy and the treatment of head and neck neoplasia

Objective: To present the theory, technique, and results of photodynamic therapy for the treatment of oral, laryngeal, and head and neck cancers. Study Design: Retrospective review of the literature of more than 500 patients with head and neck cancer treated with photodynamic therapy, as well as a retrospective review of the author's 107 patients treated with photodynamic therapy for head and neck neoplasia between 1990 and 1997. Methods: The literature was retrospectively reviewed, as were patient records, and tabulaled for age, sex, site, and staging of lesions, with special focus on post‐photodynamic therapy treatment outcome, long‐term disease‐free survival, and complications. Results: Twenty‐five patients with carcinoma in situ and T1 squamous cell carcinoma of the true vocal cord who underwent photodynamic therapy treatment for cure obtained a complete response after a single photodynamic therapy treatment. Only one patient has had recurrence to date, with a cure rate to 79‐month follow‐up of 95%. Twenty‐nine patients with carcinoma in situ and T1 recurrent squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity and tongue were treated. All obtained a complete response after a single photodynamic therapy treatment; however, five patients developed local recurrence with follow‐up to 70 months, for an 80% cure rate. A review of 217 patients with early squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck treated with photodynamic therapy in the literature demonstrated an 89.5% complete response rate. The most common complication in these patients was limited prolonged skin photosensitivity without any permanent sequelae. Conclusions: Photodynamic therapy is effective for treating carcinoma in situ and T1 squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and oral cavity and may be of benefit as an adjuvant intraoperative treatment of stages III and IV tumors of the head and neck in conjunction with surgery and radiation therapy to improve cure rates. Further controlled studies need to be performed to further demonstrate the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy and the treatment of head and neck cancers.
Delayed fungal evolution did not cause the Paleozoic peak in coal production

Significance The Carboniferous−Permian marks the greatest coal-forming interval in Earth’s history, contributing to glaciation and uniquely high oxygen concentrations at the time and fueling the modern Industrial Revolution. This peak in coal deposition is frequently attributed to an evolutionary lag between plant synthesis of the recalcitrant biopolymer lignin and fungal capacities for lignin degradation, resulting in massive accumulation of plant debris. Here, we demonstrate that lignin was of secondary importance in many floras and that shifts in lignin abundance had no obvious impact on coal formation. Evidence for lignin degradation—including fungal—was ubiquitous, and absence of lignin decay would have profoundly disrupted the carbon cycle. Instead, coal accumulation patterns implicate a unique combination of climate and tectonics during Pangea formation. Organic carbon burial plays a critical role in Earth systems, influencing atmospheric O2 and CO2 concentrations and, thereby, climate. The Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic is so named for massive, widespread coal deposits. A widely accepted explanation for this peak in coal production is a temporal lag between the evolution of abundant lignin production in woody plants and the subsequent evolution of lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes fungi, resulting in a period when vast amounts of lignin-rich plant material accumulated. Here, we reject this evolutionary lag hypothesis, based on assessment of phylogenomic, geochemical, paleontological, and stratigraphic evidence. Lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes may have been present before the Carboniferous, and lignin degradation was likely never restricted to them and their class II peroxidases, because lignin modification is known to occur via other enzymatic mechanisms in other fungal and bacterial lineages. Furthermore, a large proportion of Carboniferous coal horizons are dominated by unlignified lycopsid periderm with equivalent coal accumulation rates continuing through several transitions between floral dominance by lignin-poor lycopsids and lignin-rich tree ferns and seed plants. Thus, biochemical composition had little relevance to coal accumulation. Throughout the fossil record, evidence of decay is pervasive in all organic matter exposed subaerially during deposition, and high coal accumulation rates have continued to the present wherever environmental conditions permit. Rather than a consequence of a temporal decoupling of evolutionary innovations between fungi and plants, Paleozoic coal abundance was likely the result of a unique combination of everwet tropical conditions and extensive depositional systems during the assembly of Pangea.
Anti-nociceptive activity of a few structurally related trimethoxy flavones and possible mechanisms involved

Abstract Background: The present study was designed to investigate the anti-nociceptive activity of a few structurally related trimethoxy flavones (7,2′,3′-TMF, 7,2′,4′-TMF, 7,3′,4′-TMF and 7,5,4′-TMF) and the possible mechanisms involved. Methods: Anti-nociceptive activity was evaluated in mice by employing acetic acid-induced writhing, formalin-induced nociception and hot water tail immersion methods. The involvement of opioid, GABAergic, tryptaminergic, adrenergic and dopaminergic mechanisms and K+ATP channels in the anti-nociceptive activity of trimethoxy flavones was investigated using suitable interacting chemicals. Results: Trimethoxy flavones exhibited a significant and dose-dependent inhibition of acetic acid writhing. The paw-licking response time was reduced both in the early and late phases of formalin nociception in a dose-dependent manner by trimethoxy flavones. A significant increase in tail withdrawal latency time was also observed after trimethoxy flavones treatment. These observations revealed the potential anti-nociceptive action of the investigated trimethoxy flavones. Pretreatment with naloxone and bicuculline significantly attenuated the reduction of abdominal constrictions produced by all the tested trimethoxy flavones indicating a definite role of opioid and GABAergic mechanisms in the anti-nociceptive effect of trimethoxy flavones. The anti-nociceptive action elicited by various trimethoxy flavones was differently modulated by glibenclamide, ondansetron, yohimbine and sulpiride. Conclusions: The investigated trimethoxy flavones exhibited promising anti-nociceptive activity in various nociceptive models, and multiple mechanisms are involved in the anti-nociceptive activity of these compounds.
Arrhythmia Risk Prediction in Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy Based on Heart Rate Variability and Baroreflex Sensitivity

This study examined the relation between heart rate variability (HRV) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and subsequent major arrhythmic events (MAE), defined as sustained VT, VF or sudden death, in 263 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) in sinus rhythm. The predefined measure of HRV was the standard deviation of all normal‐to‐normal RR intervals (SDNN) on baseline 24‐hour ambulatory ECG. BRS was determined by the phenylephrine method. Over 52 ± 21 months of follow‐up, MAE occurred in 38 patients (14%). SDNN at baseline 24‐hour ambulatory ECG (106 ± 46 vs 109 ± 45, ns) and BRS (7.9 ± 5.5 vs 7.7 ± 5.3 ms/mmHg, ns) were both similar in patients with versus without MAE during follow‐up. In contrast, left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower in patients with versus without MAE (24%± 7% vs 31%± 10%, P < 0.019. Conclusions: Neither HRV nor BRS predicted MAE in patients with IDC.
A framework for provisioning restful services on mobile devices

Web services that are accessible on mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets are a reality in today's age. Web services hosted on mobile devices consume valuable device resources such as battery power, connectivity to network, and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) availability. In this context, a mobile client consumes web services provisioned by mobile devices, acting as service providers. The purpose of the research is to identify a framework that can possibly improve the efficiency, quality of services and discovery of provisioning web services on mobile devices. The framework considers battery life, message time and size, processing required, availability, reliability, scalability and the discovery of these Web accessible services. By using the framework that enables context-aware services, the efficiency and quality of services can be improved. Discovery of these services are improved by utilizing a hybrid model of both Mobile P2P and JmDNS.
Outcome measures in clinical trials on medicinal products for the treatment of dementia: a European regulatory perspective

Based on efficacy and safety data, several drugs have been approved for symptomatic improvement of dementia of the Alzheimer type and one for the symptomatic improvement of dementia associated with Parkinson's disease. However, established treatment effects must be considered as modest. Randomized clinical trials in other subtypes of dementia (e.g. vascular dementia) have not been able to demonstrate clinically relevant symptomatic improvement, nor has it yet been possible to establish disease-modifying effects in any dementia syndrome or its subtypes. Recent progress in basic science and molecular biology of the dementias has now fostered new interest for more efficacious symptomatic treatments as well as for disease-modifying approaches in the degenerative dementias. For regulatory purposes this requires better standardization and refinement of diagnostic criteria, which allow the study of homogeneous disease populations in specialized academic centers as well as in the general community setting. Depending on the disease stages (early versus late, mild to moderate to severe impairment) and disease entities, distinct assessment tools for cognitive, functional and global endpoints should be used or newly developed. The typical design to show symptomatic improvement is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study comparing change in two primary endpoints, one of them reflecting the cognitive domain and the second preferably reflecting the functional domain of impairment. The changes must be robust and clinically meaningful in favor of active treatment versus placebo. If a treatment claim for prevention of the emergence, slowing or stabilizing deterioration is strived for, it has to be shown that the treatment has an impact on the underlying neurobiology and pathophysiology of the process of dementia. Establishing such an effect in a highly variable progressing syndrome is complex and difficult; however, a variety of trial designs has been provided, including baseline designs, survival designs, randomized start or randomized withdrawal designs, with or without incorporation of biomarkers as surrogate endpoints (e.g. magnetic resonance tomography, emission tomography, cerebrospinal fluid markers). To be accepted as a surrogate endpoint such a biomarker ideally should respond to treatment, predict clinical response and be compellingly related to the pathophysiological process of the dementia. However, careful and sufficient validation of proposed biomarkers as a potential surrogate endpoint is a prerequisite for acceptance by regulatory bodies. This review outlines the regulatory requirements for approval of a new medicinal product for symptomatic improvement or disease-modifying effects in patients with dementia, with special emphasis on the importance of validation of the assessment tools and potential surrogate endpoints based on recent experience and discussion regarding anti-dementia drugs in the European framework.
Occurrence of ochratoxin A in Italian wines

A total of 96 red wines and 15 white dessert wines produced mostly in the years 1995–97 in 19 Italian regions were analysed for ochratoxin A (OTA). The amount of OTA ranged from < 1 to 3856 ng/l, the median (mean) was found to be 90 (419)ng/l for the red wines and 8 (736)ng/l for the white dessert wines. Our survey shows that the geographic region of origin has a strong influence on OTA contamination, both for red and for dessert wines: in fact, wines produced in southern Italy were markedly more contaminated. The overall median (mean) OTA concentration in the red wines produced in the four Italian areas (northwest, northeast, centre and south) was 2 (11), 90 (81), 134 (295) and 1264 (1233)ng/l. The same trend was observed for the white dessert wines: OTA concentrations of over 1000ng/l were found in four out of five samples from southern Italy (1185, 2454, 3477, 3856ng/l), while central and northern samples showed very low contamination. The contribution of wine to mean daily OTA intake can be considered negligible in the case of people drinking wine manufactured in northern and central Italy; this is not true if a medium drinker constantly consumes red wine produced in southern Italy: in this case wine alone could supply the diet with an amount of OTA equal to or even above the tolerable daily intake of 5ng/kg body weight recommended by the Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission.
Chronic illness as biographical disruption or biographical disruption as chronic illness? Reflections on a core concept

Taking as its point of departure Bury’s (1982) concept of chronic illness as biographical disruption, this paper provides a critical assessment of its fortunes since that time. Having ‘rescued’ the concept from recent postmodern and disability critiques, the paper provides a series of further reflections on its strengths and weaknesses, including the notion of ‘normal illness’; the importance of timing and context; the significance of continuity as well as loss; and the role of biographical disruption itself in the aetiology of illness. This, in turn, provides the basis for a broader set of reflections on the vicissitudes of the biographically embodied self in conditions of late modernity: a situation of chronic reflexivity in which our bodies/selves are continually problematised if not pathologised. The paper concludes, given this ‘balance sheet’, with a discussion of some potentially fruitful lines of future research, including links with the life-events and inequalities literature.
Studies on tryptophan pyrrolase in Drosophila melanogaster.

D U R I N G the course of an intensive study of eye pigment differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster using transplantation techniques, two diffusible precursors of the brown pigments were discovered (cf. Review by EPHRUSSI 1942). Originally called U+ and cn+ substances or hormones, these compounds were ultimately identified as kynurenine and 3-hydroxy-kynurenine7 respec-tively. The metabolic pathway by which tryptophan is believed to be converted to ommochromes or brown pigment is shown in the following scheme: