Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of techniques for lignocaine hydrochloride analgesia of the velvet antler of adult stags

Abstract Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of various routes of administration and doses of local anaesthetic (LA) to provide analgesia of the velvet antler of adult stags. Methods: In Experiment 1, antlers from 50 red deer stags, ≥2-years-old were allocated to 1 of 4 treatment groups (n = 25 antlers/group) to receive injections with 2% lignocaine hydrochloride as follows: High-dose (1 ml/cm pedicle circumference) or Low-dose ring-block (0.4 ml/cm pedicle circumference) or; High-site or Low-site regional nerve block (5 ml per site, both of which included the auriculopalpebral nerve). An electrical stimulus was applied before application of LA and then each min for up to 4 min after LA injection. If no response was observed, analgesia was tested with a saw cut. If no response occurred, the antler was cut at that time. If the animal responded, a further wait time was applied until 4 min had elapsed, at which time observations ceased. In Experiment 2, 10 primary and 50 re-growth antlers were given a High-dose ring-block and tested with a saw cut after 1 min (n = 30) or 2 min (n = 30). If no response occurred, the antler was removed. If a response occurred, further 1-min wait periods were applied. Results: In the High-dose ring-block and High-site nerve-block groups, 24/25 and 21/25 antlers were removed without response by 2 min, compared with 20/25 and 15/25 antlers in the Low-dose ring-block and Low-site nerve-block groups, respectively. The High-dose ring-block provided more effective analgesia after 3 min than the Low-dose ringblock, as assessed by the number of stags that did not respond to the electrical stimulus (p = 0.008), or subsequent antler removal (p = 0.050). The numbers of antlers removed without response after 1 or 2 min were greater using the High-site nerve-block than the Low-site nerve-block (p = 0.002 and p = 0.037, respectively). In all but the High-dose ring-block group, at least 1 stag required further LA after 4 min, before antler could be humanely removed. In Experiment 2, stags reacted to a saw-cut test on 6/30 antlers, 1 min after a High-dose ring-block, compared with 1/30 antlers after 2 min (p = 0.051). Conclusion: The High-dose ring-block produced the most effective and rapid analgesia. Clinical relevance: A High-dose ring-block with a 2-min wait period should be the preferred method for achieving local analgesia for velvet antler removal.
Longterm Survival Among Patients with Scleroderma-associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Treated with Intravenous Epoprostenol

Objective. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains challenging to treat, especially in association with scleroderma. We examined survival rates among patients with PAH in association with scleroderma who received epoprostenol (Flolan®) through continuous intravenous (IV) infusion in an uncontrolled open-label 3-year extension study following an initial randomized, controlled 12-week study. Methods. One hundred two patients diagnosed with PAH in association with scleroderma who received epoprostenol were included in the analyses. This included 51 PAH patients from a subject population of 56 who received epoprostenol in the randomized controlled study, and 46 patients from an initial population of 55 subjects on conventional therapy in the randomized controlled study, who received epoprostenol in the extension study. All patients in this extension study received open-label epoprostenol. Adverse events, survival, and dosing information were collected throughout the study. Results. The probabilities of survival during the first and second years for all subjects who received epoprostenol during the initial randomized controlled study or during the extension study were 0.71 and 0.52, respectively. This measure remained constant at 0.48 during the third and fourth years. Conclusion. This study reports longterm survival rates for patients with scleroderma-associated PAH treated with IV epoprostenol. Although comparisons to historical data should be made with caution, this study reports a better survival outcome than natural history data on patients with scleroderma-associated PAH.
Diagnostic Criteria for psychosis of Alzheimer ’ s disease ( PAD ) ( after Jeste and Finkel

Correspondence: Subramanian Madhusoodanan St John’s Episcopal Hospital Far Rockaway, NY 11691 USA Tel +1 718 869 7375 Fax +1 718 869 8532 Email sdanan@ehs.org Abstract: Psychosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by delusions or hallucinations and may be associated with agitation, negative symptoms or depression. There are no psychotropic medications that are approved by the US FDA for the treatment of psychosis of AD. However, atypical antipsychotics have been widely used and recommended by geriatric experts in the management of psychosis of AD in view of the modest effi cacy and relative safety until FDA warnings were issued in 2005 and meta-analytic studies showed no signifi cant difference to placebo. The FDA warnings on the cardiac, metabolic, cerebrovascular, and mortality risks have caused serious concerns for the use of atypical antipsychotic agents in elderly patients with dementia. Only a few studies have evaluated prospectively the effects of aripiprazole in psychosis associated with AD. These studies show improvement in the symptoms of psychosis associated with AD with aripiprazole. The safety and tolerability profi le of aripiprazole suggests a low potential for negative impact on dementia and overall patient health. Further studies comparing the effi cacy and tolerability of aripiprazole vs other atypical antipsychotics in dementia are needed.
Expression of the cell death genes BNip3 and NIX in ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast; correlation of BNip3 levels with necrosis and grade

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast is an early, non‐invasive lesion and the prognosis is associated with the extent of necrosis and cell death within the tumour. Two cell death genes, BNip3 and NIX, are up‐regulated in response to hypoxia in breast carcinoma cells, although any involvement of either gene in disease progression is currently unknown. This study has analysed the expression of BNip3 and NIX in 56 samples of breast DCIS, as well as in adjacent benign and invasive breast tissue. Both genes are strongly expressed in the epithelial component of a subset of DCIS and invasive disease. The data show a correlation between high expression of BNip3 in the DCIS cells and a high‐grade, necrotic lesion that is likely to be associated with invasive tumour. BNip3 was present in tumour‐associated macrophages and in apocrine metaplastic lesions. Expression of NIX did not correlate with any of the parameters investigated Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effect Of Rhizobia Inoculation On Nodulation And Nitrogen Fixation Of Soybean Cultivars In Sudan Savanna Of Nigeria

A field experiment has been conducted to study the effect of rhizobia inoculation and nitrogen fixation of soybean cultivars. The experiment consisted of testing ten cultivars under bradyrhizobium inoculation and uninoculation conditions in a split plot design and replicated four times, with inoculation in the main plot and the varieties in the sub plot level. The parameters determined were initial physicochemical properties of the soil, number of nodules and nodule score, and biological nitrogen fixation. The result indicated that the soil was low in fertility with low organic matter, total N, available P and Sulphur. Nodule score and number of ineffective nodules were significantly affected as there were significant differences between the inoculated and uninoculated treatments. Similarly, varietal effect on number of effective and ineffective nodules and number of nodules were significant (P<0.05), but nodule score was not significantly affected. The highest number of effective nodules and number of nodules were observed in TGX 1945 and TGX 1935–3F, respectively, while the lowest was with SC–SAGA. Highest N2 fixed (150 Kg N ha -1 ), equivalents to 63% was observed with TGX 1935-3F, while the lowest (100 Kg N ha -1 ), equivalent to 55% N was with SC-SAGA. Generally, the proportion of plant N derived from atmosphere and the estimate of N fixed were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by inoculation and varieties. Keywords—Inoculation, Nodulation, Nitrogen Fixation, Soybean, Kano, Nigeria
THE CHARACTERISTICS AND CONTEXT OF IMPRINTING

At an early age many birds will respond socially to a wide variety of objects which need bear no resemblance to their own species. After responding to one of these objects, however, a bird may develop a preference for it and eventually reject the others. Although many responses become restricted to the stimuli which first elicited them, the development of social preferences in birds provides a particularly striking example, which has been extensively studied; so much so, indeed, that the processes by which other preferences and habits are acquired are frequently classified by their likeness to it. This process which restricts social preferences to a specific class of objects is generally referred to as ' imprinting'. Widespread attention was first drawn to imprinting by Lorenz (1935), although its effects had been described long before (cf. Gray 1963), notably by Spalding (1873) and Heinroth (1911). Lorenz emphasized the importance of its role in mate selection and argued that imprinting differs fundamentally from other learning processes. His views have both stimulated and dominated much of the subsequent research; however, they have not gone unquestioned (e.g. Moltz, 1960; Sluckin & Salzen, 1961; Fabricius, 1962; Hinde, 1962) and in recent years the status of imprinting has become increasingly ill-defined. The primary object of this article, therefore, is to reconsider the characteristics of imprinting and the ways in which they have been interpreted. Most investigators have used nidifugous birds which are feathered at hatching and able to walk shortly afterwards. These birds are capable of actively closing the distance between themselves and their parent when separated from her and will
The efficacy of low dose azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Azathioprine (AZA) and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) have been widely used in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). However, some patients cannot tolerate standard doses (2-2.5 mg/kg for AZA or 1-1.5 mg/kg for 6-MP) due to side effects such as leukopenialneutropenia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of low dose AZA/6-MP compared to the standard dose. METHODOLOGY From 1995 to 2005, 122 patients with UC or CD treated with AZA/6-MP at Samsung Medical Center in Korea were enrolled. We divided these patients into 2 groups (standard dose group versus low dose group) according to the maintenance dose. RESULTS Among the 122 patients, 17 received the standard dose and 105 received a low dose. The mean maintenance doses were 2.25 mg/kg for the standard dose group and 1.35mg/kg for the low dose group. The clinical outcomes of remission induction, maintenance of remission and relapse rate showed no significant difference in comparisons between these two groups. CONCLUSION Low dose AZA/6-MP was as effective as the standard dose for remission induction and maintenance of remission in patients with UC and CD. For patients that develop leukopenia/neutropenia during dose escalation, maintenance therapy with low dose AZA/6-MP should be considered.
Development of cortical granules and the cortical reaction in rat and Hamster eggs

The origin of cortical granules is described in hamster and rat oocytes by electron microscopy. They occur first near vesicular elements of small Golgi complexes. Most of these Golgi complexes lie peripherally, but in the rat, there are a few also near the germinal vesicle. The granules arise at the concave surfaces of the Golgi complexes and apparently migrate to the cell membrane where they become aligned in close association to it. Cortical granules are found in the cytoplasm of the first polar body but not in the second. The cortical reaction, initiated by sperm attachment, consists of a gradual fusion of the membranes surrounding cortical granules with that of the egg plasma membrane and eversion of their contents into the perivitelline space. Occasionally, in the rat several granules fuse laterally to form larger cortical “caverns. ” Such caverns have a single opening to the perivitelline space. The origin and extrusion of cortical granules can be compared usefully with the synthesis and merocrine‐type secretion of proteinaceous granules or mucoid droplets.
Geometric processing of CAD data and meshes as input of integral equation solvers

Among the presently known numerical solvers of integral equations, two main categories of approaches can be traced: • Mesh-free approaches • Mesh-based approaches. We will propose some techniques to process geometric data so that they can be efficiently used in subsequent numerical treatments of integral equations. In order to prepare geometric information so that the above two approaches can be automatically applied, we need the following items. • Splitting a given surface Γ into several four-sided patches Γi. • Generating a diffeomorphism γi from the unit square to Γi. • Generating a mesh M on a given surface. • Patching of a given triangulation. In order to have a splitting Γ = ∪i=1Γi, we need to approximate the surfaces first by polygonal regions. We use afterwards quadrangulation techniques by removing quadrilaterals repeatedly. We will generate the diffeomorphisms by means of transfinite interpolations of Coons and Gordon types. The generation of a mesh M from a piecewise Riemannian surface will use some generalized Delaunay techniques in which the mesh size will be determined with the help of the Laplace-Beltrami operator. We will describe our experiences with the IGES format because of two reasons. First, most of our implementations have been done with it. Next, some of the proposed methodologies assume that the curve and surface representations are similar to those of IGES. Patching a mesh consists in approximating or interpolating it by a set of practical surfaces such as B-spline patches. That approach proves useful when we want to utilize a mesh-free integral equation solver but the input geometry is represented as a mesh.
The effect of workplace intervention on pain and sickness absence caused by upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an ergonomic intervention on pain and sickness absence caused by upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders. METHODS In this randomized controlled study, subjects aged 18-60 years (N=177) seeking medical advice due to upper-extremity symptoms were included if their symptoms, or the exacerbation of symptoms, had started <30 days prior to the medical consultation and immediate sick leave was not required. Workplace ergonomic improvements were made in the intervention group. Data on symptoms and sickness absences were gathered during one-year follow-up. RESULTS Pain intensity, pain interference with work, leisure time, or sleep did not differ between the intervention and control group during the one-year follow-up. During the first three months of follow-up, the percentage of employees with sickness absence due to upper-extremity or other musculoskeletal disorders did not differ between the intervention (N=89) and control (N=84) group, but the total number of sickness absence days in the intervention group was about half of that in the control group (mean 6.2 versus 9.8 days for upper-extremity disorder and 6.0 versus 11.5 days for upper-extremity and other musculoskeletal disorders combined). During 4-12 months of follow-up, the percentage of employees with sickness absence due to upper-extremity disorder (10.1% versus 16.7%, P=0.20) or upper-extremity and other musculoskeletal disorders combined (20.2% versus 32.1%, P=0.07) was lower in the intervention than the control group. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that an early ergonomic intervention reduces sickness absence due to upper-extremity or other musculoskeletal disorders.
Immunopathology and Infectious Disease Therapeutic Administration of KM Lectin Protects Mice Against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis Infection via Interleukin-12 Production in a Toll-Like Receptor 2-Dependent Mechanism

From the Departamento de Biologia Celular e Molecular e Bioagentes Patogênicos,* Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Clı́nica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, and Departamento de Enfermagem Geral e Especializada, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Bias in estimating the causal hazard ratio when using two‐stage instrumental variable methods

Two‐stage instrumental variable methods are commonly used to estimate the causal effects of treatments on survival in the presence of measured and unmeasured confounding. Two‐stage residual inclusion (2SRI) has been the method of choice over two‐stage predictor substitution (2SPS) in clinical studies. We directly compare the bias in the causal hazard ratio estimated by these two methods. Under a principal stratification framework, we derive a closed‐form solution for asymptotic bias of the causal hazard ratio among compliers for both the 2SPS and 2SRI methods when survival time follows the Weibull distribution with random censoring. When there is no unmeasured confounding and no always takers, our analytic results show that 2SRI is generally asymptotically unbiased, but 2SPS is not. However, when there is substantial unmeasured confounding, 2SPS performs better than 2SRI with respect to bias under certain scenarios. We use extensive simulation studies to confirm the analytic results from our closed‐form solutions. We apply these two methods to prostate cancer treatment data from Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results‐Medicare and compare these 2SRI and 2SPS estimates with results from two published randomized trials. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification of mosquito bloodmeals using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b gene sequences

Abstract Primer pairs were designed and protocols developed to selectively amplify segments of vertebrate mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and cytochrome b (Cyt b) mtDNA from the bloodmeals of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). The protocols use two pairs of nested COI primers and one pair of Cyt b primers to amplify short segments of DNA. Resultant sequences are then compared with sequences in GenBank, using the BLAST function, for putative host identification. Vertebrate DNA was amplified from 88% of our sample of 162 wild‐caught, blood‐fed mosquitoes from Oregon, U.S.A. and GenBank BLAST searches putatively identified 98% of the amplified sequences, including one amphibian, seven mammalian and 14 avian species. Criteria and caveats for putative identification of bloodmeals are discussed.
The Development of Metaphyseal Cortex—Implications for Distal Radius Fractures During Growth

Fractures of the distal radial metaphysis are very common in otherwise healthy children. The reasons for this high fracture incidence are not entirely clear. To address this problem, we undertook a detailed analysis of distal radius development using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) at a site 4% proximal to the radial articular surface. The study population comprised 337 healthy children and adolescents (aged 6‐18 years; 171 girls) and 107 adults (aged 29‐40 years; 88 women). Total volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) remained stable at about 70% of the adult value between the ages of 6‐7 years and 14‐15 years in both genders. Cortical thickness increased little between 6‐7 years and 12‐13 years in girls and 14‐15 years in boys. Strength‐Strain Index (SSI; a parameter combining geometry and density) was still at only 20% of the adult value in girls aged 10‐11 years and at 21% of the adult level in boys aged 12‐13 years. At these ages, factors that contribute to the mechanical challenge to the distal radius in case of a fall (forearm length and body weight) had already reached 49% and 36% of the adult value in girls and boys, respectively. The shaping of the distal radius cortex (metaphyseal inwaisting) was assessed by analyzing the decrease in cross‐sectional bone size between adjacent bone slices in a separate population of 44 children (aged 8‐19 years; 26 girls). The rates of periosteal resorption and endocortical apposition were estimated to average 8 μm/day and 10 μm/day, respectively, during the growth period. In conclusion, during growth the increase in distal radius strength lags behind the increase in mechanical challenges caused by a fall, because metaphyseal cortical thickness does not increase sufficiently. The endocortical apposition rate is already very high at that site and apparently cannot be further increased to levels that would be necessary to keep bone strength adapted to the mechanical requirements.
FAK phosphorylation at Ser‐843 inhibits Tyr‐397 phosphorylation, cell spreading and migration

Multiple stimuli promote the tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), which ultimately facilitates migration. Little is known about the effect of adhesion‐dependent signals and cytoskeleton organization on the regulation of FAK phosphorylation at serine sites, or about the role of FAK serine phosphorylation in cell migration. Here, we show that FAK phosphorylation at Ser‐843 is strikingly increased when adherent cells are removed from the substratum and held in suspension or by treatment of adherent cells with cytochalasin D, conditions that disrupt the F‐actin cytoskeleton and promote focal adhesion disassembly. Notably, the increase in Ser‐843 phosphorylation was accompanied by a concomitant sharp decrease in Tyr‐397 phosphorylation. To further examine the cause‐effect relationship between these two phosphorylation sites we generated Ser‐843 phosphorylation‐deficient and phosphorylation‐mimicking FAK mutants. We found that mutation of Ser‐843 to aspartic acid (FAK[S843D]) markedly decreased FAK Tyr‐397 phosphorylation in integrin‐stimulated cells. While the migratory defect of FAK‐deficient fibroblasts was rescued by stable re‐expression of WT FAK or FAK[S843A], stable re‐expression of FAK[S843D] failed to restore the ability of the cells to migrate into the denuded area of a wound. Our results indicate that increased FAK phosphorylation at Ser‐843 represses FAK phosphorylation at Tyr‐397, thus suggesting a mechanism of cross‐talk between these phosphorylation sites that could regulate FAK‐mediated cell shape and migration. J. Cell. Physiol. 210: 436–444, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.