Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Donor Pretreatment with Dopamine on Allogeneic Kidney Transplantation after Prolonged Cold Storage in Rats

Background. Retrospective transplant database analysis revealed that administration of catecholamines to organ donors reduces acute rejection episodes and improves graft survival after renal transplantation. In the present study, the authors investigated the influence of dopamine donor pretreatment before prolonged cold storage on short- and long-term graft outcome after allogeneic kidney transplantation. Methods. Fisher donor rats were treated intravenously for 24 hr with dopamine or isotonic saline, Lewis rats treated with saline served as controls. Explanted kidneys were stored for 24 hr at 4°C in University of Wisconsin solution and transplanted into Lewis rats. Results. Dopamine pretreatment markedly reduced the infiltration of monocytes down to the level of isogeneic controls 5 days after allogeneic transplantation and hastened recovery of renal function in the first days after transplantation. After 24 weeks, serum creatinine and proteinuria were significantly lower in recipients of dopamine-treated grafts. Histologically, dopamine donor pretreatment significantly reduced the severity of chronic allograft nephropathy. Survival of animals that underwent transplantation was improved by dopamine pretreatment of donors (P=0.04). Conclusions. Pretreatment of organ donors with dopamine improves short- and long-term outcome after prolonged cold storage and subsequent allogeneic kidney transplantation in rats. The authors’ experimental data demonstrate that donor treatment is a simple and effective approach for preventing long-term graft loss after kidney transplantation.
Reduction of the anxiety of medical students after curricular reform.

OBJECTIVES Curricular structure may interfere in students' anxiety level at medical schools. The objective of this study was to assess anxiety levels in medical students before and after a curriculum reform at the Medical School of Ribeirão Preto and to compare them with students at other courses that had no curricular changes in the same university campus. METHOD Study samples were obtained in two moments: 1) two years before the reform; 2) after the reform when the reformed curriculum completed its fourth year. The pre-sample (former curriculum) consisted of 307 medical students and 217 students from psychology and biology courses. The post-sample (new curriculum) was composed of 330 medical students and 194 students from psychology and biology courses. Anxiety was assessed by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). RESULTS Comparing the pre with the post sample, we found STAI-T scores of the students under the former curriculum were significantly higher in the first (42.9 + 1.08) and second (41.9 + 1.1) years than the STAI-T scores of the medical students under the new curriculum (38.1 + 1.0 and 37.9 + 1.06, respectively). Students from other courses and 5th year medical students, who followed the same curriculum, did not show any significant differences between different samples. CONCLUSION These results suggest that changes to medical school curricula may reduce the medical student' levels of anxiety in the first two years of the course.
Age differences in mental health literacy

Background: The community's knowledge and beliefs about mental health problems, their risk factors, treatments and sources of help may vary as a function of age. Methods: Data were taken from an epidemiological survey conducted during 2003–2004 with a national clustered sample of Australian adults aged 18 years and over. Following the presentation of a vignette describing depression (n = 1001) or schizophrenia (n = 997), respondents were asked a series of questions relating to their knowledge and recognition of the disorder, beliefs about the helpfulness of treating professionals and medical, psychological and lifestyle treatments, and likely causes. Results: Participant age was coded into five categories and cross-tabulated with mental health literacy variables. Comparisons between age groups revealed that although older adults (70+ years) were poorer than younger age groups at correctly recognising depression and schizophrenia, young adults (18–24 years) were more likely to misidentify schizophrenia as depression. Differences were also observed between younger and older age groups in terms of beliefs about the helpfulness of certain treating professionals and medical and lifestyle treatments for depression and schizophrenia, and older respondents were more likely to believe that schizophrenia could be caused by character weakness. Conclusion: Differences in mental health literacy across the adult lifespan suggest that more specific, age appropriate messages about mental health are required for younger and older age groups. The tendency for young adults to 'over-identify' depression signals the need for awareness campaigns to focus on differentiation between mental disorders. Background It is now well recognised that up to 70% of individuals with mental health disorders do not seek help. It has been argued that help seeking will improve with better recognition and labelling of mental disorders, increased understanding of the causes and treatments for mental health problems [1], reductions in stigma [2] and confidence and belief in the rationale for treatment approaches [3]. The advantages of early help seeking have been clearly articulated, with early help seeking providing the opportunity for early intervention and improved long-term outcomes for mental disorders [4]. While mental health Published: 20 April 2008 BMC Public Health 2008, 8:125 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-8-125 Received: 11 September 2007 Accepted: 20 April 2008 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral. com/1471-2458/8/125 © 2008 Farrer et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
PENGGUNAAN NAMA KOTA SEBAGAI NAMA DOMAIN DI INDONESIA

Penggunaan nama kota sebagai nama domain oleh pihak lain tanpa ijin semakin banyak terjadi. UDRP mensyaratkan adanya persamaan atau kemiripan dengan merek apabila nama domain dikategorikan sebagai cybersquatting. UU Merek Amerika dan Inggris menerima perlindungan nama kota sebagai merek yang tidak terdaftar apabila nama kota tersebut memiliki “secondary meaning”. UU ITE dalam Pasal 23 ayat (2) telah memberikan hak kepada pemerintah kota untuk memperoleh nama domain serta hak untuk menuntut ganti rugi berdasarkan Pasal 38. Pengaturan dalam Pasal 6 ayat (3) UU Merek belum harmonis dengan UU ITE. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan nama pemerintah kota sebagai nama domain tanpa ijin merupakan pelanggaran terhadap Pasal 23 ayat (2) UU ITE dan Pasal 6 ayat (3) huruf b dan c UU Merek yang ditafsirkan. Hakim sebagai penegak hukum di pengadilan harus menerima dan mengadili perkara cybersquatting terhadap nama kota di Indonesia berdasarkan ketentuan UU ITE dan melakukan penafsiran terhadap ketentuan Pasal 6 ayat (3) huruf b dan huruf c UU Merek.
Differential Expression of a Putative CarD-Like Transcriptional Regulator, LtpA, in Borrelia burgdorferi

ABSTRACT The availability of microbial genome information has provided a fruitful opportunity for studying regulatory networks in a variety of pathogenic bacteria. In an initial effort to elucidate regulatory networks potentially involved in differential gene expression by the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi, we have been investigating the functions and regulation of putative transcriptional regulatory factors predicted to be encoded within the B. burgdorferi genome. Herein we report the regulation of one of the predicted transcriptional regulators, LtpA (BB0355), which is homologous to the transcriptional regulator CarD from Myxococcus xanthus. LtpA expression was assessed in response to various environmental stimuli. Immunoblot and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analyses revealed that unlike many well-characterized differentially regulated Borrelia genes whose expression is induced by elevated temperature, the expression of LtpA was significantly downregulated when spirochetes were grown at an elevated temperature (37°C), as well as when the bacteria were cultivated in a mammalian host-adapted environment. In contrast, LtpA was induced at a lower culture temperature (23°C). Further analyses indicated that the downregulation of LtpA was not dependent on the Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS regulatory pathway, which is involved in the downregulation of OspA when B. burgdorferi is grown in a mammalian host-adapted environment. LtpA protein levels in B. burgdorferi were unaltered in response to changes in the pH in the borrelial cultures. Multiple attempts to generate an LtpA-deficient mutant were unsuccessful, which has hampered the elucidation of its role in pathogenesis. Given that LtpA is exclusively expressed during borrelial cultivation at a lower temperature, a parameter that has been widely used as a surrogate condition to mimic B. burgdorferi in unfed (flat) ticks, and because LtpA is homologous to a known transcriptional regulator, we postulate that LtpA functions as a regulator modulating the expression of genes important to B. burgdorferi's survival within its arthropod vector.
Mutational Analyses of Glucose Dehydrogenase and Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Genes in Pseudomonas fluorescens Reveal Their Effects on Growth and Alginate Production

ABSTRACT The biosynthesis of alginate has been studied extensively due to the importance of this polymer in medicine and industry. Alginate is synthesized from fructose-6-phosphate and thus competes with the central carbon metabolism for this metabolite. The alginate-producing bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens relies on the Entner-Doudoroff and pentose phosphate pathways for glucose metabolism, and these pathways are also important for the metabolism of fructose and glycerol. In the present study, the impact of key carbohydrate metabolism enzymes on growth and alginate synthesis was investigated in P. fluorescens. Mutants defective in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase isoenzymes (Zwf-1 and Zwf-2) or glucose dehydrogenase (Gcd) were evaluated using media containing glucose, fructose, or glycerol. Zwf-1 was shown to be the most important glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase for catabolism. Both Zwf enzymes preferred NADP as a coenzyme, although NAD was also accepted. Only Zwf-2 was active in the presence of 3 mM ATP, and then only with NADP as a coenzyme, indicating an anabolic role for this isoenzyme. Disruption of zwf-1 resulted in increased alginate production when glycerol was used as the carbon source, possibly due to decreased flux through the Entner-Doudoroff pathway rendering more fructose-6-phosphate available for alginate biosynthesis. In alginate-producing cells grown on glucose, disruption of gcd increased both cell numbers and alginate production levels, while this mutation had no positive effect on growth in a non-alginate-producing strain. A possible explanation is that alginate synthesis might function as a sink for surplus hexose phosphates that could otherwise be detrimental to the cell.
Concentrations in plasma and safety of 7 days of intravenous itraconazole followed by 2 weeks of oral itraconazole solution in patients in intensive care units

Pharmacokinetics and safety of a hydroxy-beta-propyl solution of itraconazole were assessed in 16 patients in an intensive care unit. On the first 2 days, four 1-h infusions of 200 mg were given at 0, 8, 24, and 32 h. From day 3 to 7, inclusive, a single 1-h infusion of 200 mg of itraconazole was given daily. The intravenous (i.v.) treatment was directly followed by repeated administrations of an oral solution of itraconazole at a dosage of either 200 mg once daily or 200 mg twice daily (b.i.d.). During i.v. treatment, steady-state concentrations of itraconazole and hydroxy-itraconazole in plasma were reached within 48 and 96 h, respectively. At the end of i.v. treatment, mean (+/- standard deviation) itraconazole and hydroxy-itraconazole trough concentrations in plasma were 0.344 +/- 0.140 and 0.605 +/- 0.205 microg/ml, respectively. After the 2-week oral follow-up of 200 mg once daily the mean trough concentration had decreased to 0.245 microg/ml, whereas after 200 mg b.i. d. it increased to 0.369 microg/ml. Diarrhea during oral treatment appeared to be dose related and may be due to the solvent hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin. More severe laboratory abnormalities were noted during the i.v. than the oral treatment phase, probably related to more severe illness in that period of intensive care, but none proved clinically important. These results suggest that plasma itraconazole levels above 0.250 microg/ml may be achieved and maintained with the 1-week i.v. schedule followed by b.i. d. oral administration, whereas the once-daily oral follow-up seems to be a suboptimal treatment.
Plastic Deformation Study of Vertical Zinc Oxide Nanowires for Polymer Cantilever-Based Sensor Applications

In this letter, the mechanical properties of piezoelectric ZnO nanowire (NW) films have been measured using a nanoindentation technique. We demonstrated a fabrication process to embed this NW film inside a polymeric (SU-8) cantilever. Mechanical properties of this SU-8/ZnO NW film and cantilever have been measured. The ZnO NWs have been grown vertically using a low-temperature chemical synthesis. The observed value of Young's modulus for ZnO NW is in the range 72-93 GPa. After embedding this NW film inside a polymer matrix, the Young's modulus value was reduced to the range 5-19 GPa. The mechanical behavior of the NW-embedded cantilever has also been investigated using the nanoindentation technique. These cantilevers have been shown to be suitable for surface stress-sensing applications.
Catabolism in mollicutes.

The small genome size of mollicutes, and particularly mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas, precludes their possession of the extensive range of metabolic activities present in most other bacterial groups. Demonstrated catabolic activities appear primarily to be associated with energy generation, rather than the provision of substrates for synthetic pathways, and anabolism is largely dependent upon extracellular sources of amino acids, nucleic acid precursors and lipids. However, the pathways of energy generation in mollicutes are diverse and specialized, and may in vivo be dependent upon the presence of a single amino acid (arginine) or urea. Even in those species that utilize carbohydrates the range of substrates is restricted, and while Ac. laidlawii has both EMP and PP pathways and is able to oxidize pyruvate to acetate plus CO2, many mycoplasmas possess only a part of these activities. Such specialization and the infrequent demonstration of inducible enzyme activity in mollicutes implies adaptation to specific habitats in host species, and suggests that differences in the catabolic activities of mollicute strains may be significant in terms of their ecology and pathogenicity. The demonstrated energy-generating pathways of mollicutes produce low ATP yields. Thus, mollicute growth will generate relatively large quantities of metabolic end-products and may deplete host tissues of substrates. Arginine depletion may be of particular importance in pathogenesis and the close physical association between mollicutes and host cells will enhance the potential significance of NH4+ production from the hydrolysis of arginine and urea, and of H2O2 and superoxide formation during carbohydrate metabolism. In addition, lipid and protein catabolism may be associated with virulence where extracellular or membrane-bound enzyme activities exist. Membrane-bound DNAase and RNAase activities have also been demonstrated in mycoplasmas and Ac. laidlawii (Pollack et al., 1965) and U. urealyticum (Romano & La Licata, 1978). Many aspects of mollicute catabolism, including energy conservation in some groups, is poorly understood. Also, while substantial catabolic diversity has been demonstrated within mollicutes and new species are continually being isolated, metabolism has been studied in relatively few species, and even in these only single strains or small groups of strains have been used. In this review, therefore, an attempt to avoid generalizations concerning mollicute behaviour has been made. The lack of much basic knowledge concerning mollicute metabolism has also necessitated the widespread use of 'may be' and other equally vague terms. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Upregulation of annexins I, II, and V after traumatic spinal cord injury in adult rats

The posttraumatic inflammatory reaction contributes to progressive tissue damage after spinal cord injury (SCI). Annexins, a family of structurally related calcium‐ and phospholipid‐binding proteins, have potent anti‐inflammatory effects by inhibiting the activity of phospholipase A2 (PLA2), a key enzyme responsible for inflammation and cytotoxicity. We investigated spatiotemporal expression of annexins I, II, and V after a contusive SCI using the New York University impact device (a 10‐g rod, height 12.5 mm) in adult rats. Western blot analysis revealed that annexin I expression increased at 3 days after injury, peaked at 7 days (1.75‐fold above the baseline level; P < 0.01), started to decline at 14 days, and returned to the baseline level at and beyond 28 days post‐injury. The expression of annexin II started to increase at 3 days, reached its maximal level at 14 days (2.73‐fold; P < 0.01), remained at a high level up to 28 days, and then declined to the basal level by 56 days after injury. Annexin V expression started at 3 days, reached its maximal level at 7 days (1.61‐fold; P < 0.05) and remained at this level until 56 days after injury. RT‐PCR results confirmed expression of all three annexins at the mRNA level after SCI. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence double‐labeling analyses revealed that increased annexins I, II, and V were localized in neurons and glial cells. The present study thus revealed increased expression of the three annexin isoforms after moderate contusive SCI. The precise role of annexins in posttraumatic inflammation and neuroprotection after SCI remains to be determined. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pulmonary TB and NTM lung disease: comparison of characteristics in patients with AFB smear-positive sputum.

OBJECTIVE To compare the clinical and radiographic features of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung disease in patients with acid-fast bacilli (AFB) positive sputum specimens. DESIGN The initial clinical and radiographic features of 229 PTB patients were compared with those of 70 patients with NTM lung disease. The most commonly involved organisms in the NTM lung disease cases were Mycobacterium avium complex (n = 38, 54%) and M. abscessus (n = 26, 37%). RESULTS Clinical and radiographic findings that were more common in patients with NTM lung disease than in PTB patients were: older age (P < 0.001), non-smoker (P < 0.001), history of previous TB treatment (P < 0.001), absence of pleural effusion (P = 0.017), involvement of middle and/or lower lung zones (P = 0.007), and bilateral disease (P = 0.005). Multivariate analysis showed that older age (> or = 40 years), non-smoker, previous TB treatment, absence of pleural effusion and involvement of middle and/or lower lung zones were significant independent predictors for NTM lung disease. CONCLUSIONS There is considerable overlap in the clinical and radiographic appearances of PTB and NTM lung disease. The isolation and identification of causative organisms are mandatory for a correct diagnosis in patients with AFB-positive sputum specimens.
Cellular adhesion molecules and blood pressure: interaction with sex in a multi-ethnic population

Objective To clarify the association between blood pressure and four different adhesion molecules, adjusting for potential confounders, in men and women from different ethnic origins. Design and Methods The soluble (s) plasma adhesion molecules sP-selectin, sE-selectin, intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were measured in 261 white (120 women), 188 African origin (99 women) and 215 South Asian (99 women) individuals living in England. All were free from coronary heart disease, stroke, other cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and were not receiving drug treatment for hypertension or high lipids, hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptives. Results After adjustment for age, only sE-selectin concentrations were significantly associated with blood pressure. There was a significant interaction of sex with systolic (P = 0.013), diastolic (P = 0.042) and pulse (P = 0.015) pressures. After adjustment for age, ethnicity, body mass index and smoking, the significant interaction of sex persisted and in women the associations with systolic (P < 0.001), diastolic (P < 0.001) or pulse (P = 0.004) pressure were unchanged, but in men the association with diastolic blood pressure was abolished. Finally, the association appeared to be present in women younger than 50 years, who were likely to be premenopausal. Conclusions The relationship between adhesion molecules and blood pressure is adhesion molecule specific and varies with sex and age, which may partially explain previous inconsistencies in the literature. The mechanisms relating blood pressure to adhesion molecule concentrations are unknown, but they are likely to be modified by the menopause. These differences may relate to the production, clearance or cell-surface shedding of the adhesion molecules.
A multi-centre evaluation of malignant odontogenic tumours in Nigeria

Introduction odontogenic tumors originate from neoplastic transformation of the remnants of tooth forming apparatus. There are varying degrees of inductive interactions between odontogenic ectomesenchyme and epithelium during odontogenesis, leading to lesions that vary from benign to malignant. Malignant odontogenic tumours (MOTs) are very rare and are classified according to embryonic tissue of origin. Recently, there has been a few changes to the classification of MOTs according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) classification in 2017. This study aims to evaluate and reclassify MOTs, using a multi-centre approach in some major tertiary dental hospitals in Nigeria. Methods this study reviewed the clinicopathological data on 63 cases of MOT diagnosed over 25 years in five major tertiary dental hospitals in Nigeria. All MOT cases were reclassified according to the recent revision to the 2017 WHO classification of odontogenic tumours. Results from a total of 10,446 biopsies of oral and jaw lesions seen at the 5 study centres over the 25-year study period, 2199 (21.05%) cases were found to be odontogenic tumours (OTs), of which 63 were MOT. MOTs constituted 0.60% of the total biopsy cases and 2.86% of OTs. Odontogenic carcinomas presented with a mean age higher than odontogenic sarcomas. According to our 2017 WHO reclassification of MOTs, odontogenic carcinomas, ameloblastic carcinomas and primary intraosseous carcinomas were found to be the top three lesions, respectively. Carcinosarcomas were found to be extremely rare. Conclusion using a multi-centre approach is a robust way to reduce diagnostic challenges associated with rare maxillofacial lesions such as MOTs.