Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between the Level of Circulating Endothelial Micro-Particles in the Blood and Blood Lipid Content in Uyghur and Han Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between the endothelial cell micro-particles (EMPs) blood level and the blood lipid in Uygur and Han patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in order to provide a theoretical basis for the pathogenesis study of ACS. METHODS 100 ACS patients (50 cases for each ethnic group) were selected as the patient group from January 2012 to August 2013 from the Cardiology Sector of the People's Hospital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and 100 healthy subjects (50 cases for each ethnic group) were selected as the control group. Blood samples were collected. Flow cytometry was used to detect the EMP levels. An automatic biochemical analyzer was used to detect the levels of the blood lipids and the related indicators. RESULTS The EMP levels in the patient group of both ethnicities were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05), although no statistically significant differences were found in the EMP levels between Uygur and Han in the patient groups, nor in the control group (p > 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed significant correlations between the EMP levels and the blood lipid related indexes (p < 0.05), with a degree of correlation of 86.70%. Path analysis indicated that the EMP level was mainly affected by high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The EMP level in the blood of ACS patients is significantly higher than in the control group, and the levels between HDL-C and EMPs are negatively correlated. The pathogenesis of ACS could be associated with the increase of the EMP level in the blood, and HDL-C might affect the level of circulating EMPs.
Meckel Diverticulum: The Mayo Clinic Experience With 1476 Patients (1950–2002)

Objective:Through a comprehensive review of the Mayo Clinic experience with patients who had Meckel diverticulum, we sought to determine which diverticula should be removed when discovered incidentally during abdominal surgery. Summary Background Data:Meckel diverticula occur so infrequently that most articles have reported either small series or isolated cases. From these limited series, various conclusions have been reported without clearly indicating which incidental diverticula should be removed. Methods:Medical records were reviewed of 1476 patients found to have a Meckel diverticulum during surgery from 1950 to 2002. Preoperative diagnosis; age; sex; date of surgery; and intraoperative, macroscopic, and microscopic findings from operative and pathology reports were recorded. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine which clinical or histologic features were associated with symptomatic Meckel diverticulum. The features analyzed were age; sex; length, base width, and ratio of length to base width of the diverticulum; and the presence of ectopic tissue or abnormal tissue (inflammation or enteroliths). Results:Among the 1476 patients, 16% of the Meckel diverticula were symptomatic. The most common clinical presentation in adults was bleeding; in children, obstruction. Among patients with a symptomatic Meckel diverticulum, the male-female ratio was approximately 3:1. Clinical or histologic features most commonly associated with symptomatic Meckel diverticula were patient age younger than 50 years (odds ratio [OR], 3.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6–4.8; P < 0.001), male sex (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.3–2.4; P < 0.001); diverticulum length greater than 2 cm (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.1–4.4; P = 0.02), and the presence of histologically abnormal tissue (OR, 13.9; 95% CI, 9.9–19.6; P < 0.001). Conclusions:After analyzing our data, we neither support nor reject the recommendation that all Meckel diverticula found incidentally should be removed, although the procedure today has little risk. If a selective approach is taken, we recommend removing all incidental Meckel diverticula that have any of the 4 features most commonly associated with symptomatic Meckel diverticulum.
Ca2+ leakage out of the sarcoplasmic reticulum is increased in type I skeletal muscle fibres in aged humans

The amount of Ca2+ stored in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of muscle fibres is decreased in aged individuals, and an important question is whether this results from increased Ca2+ leakage out through the Ca2+ release channels (ryanodine receptors; RyRs). The present study examined the effects of blocking the RyRs with Mg2+, or applying a strong reducing treatment, on net Ca2+ accumulation by the SR in skinned muscle fibres from Old (∼70 years) and Young (∼24 years) adults. Raising cytoplasmic [Mg2+] and reducing treatment increased net SR Ca2+ accumulation in type I fibres of Old subjects relative to that in Young. The densities of RyRs and dihydropyridine receptors were not significantly changed in the muscle of Old subjects. These findings indicate that oxidative modification of the RyRs causes increased Ca2+ leakage from the SR in muscle fibres in Old subjects, which probably deleteriously affects normal muscle function both directly and indirectly.
ERCP in octogenerians: a safe and efficient investigation.

would not be feasible to do a comparison with the standard version. Subjects with normal hearing performed slightly better on the standard MMSE. As the written version was in large font, it is unlikely that this was due to visual problems, but visual acuity was not formally tested. A written version of the test has been previously used in Alzheimer’s dementia, having a trend to superior scores with the standard version in hearing-impaired subjects and the converse in hearing-unimpaired subjects [6]. The authors suggested that this supported a non-artefactual correlation between cognitive and hearing impairment. Our results suggest that the written MMSE is comparable but not superior to the standard MMSE in a population with normal or mildly impaired cognitive function. However, the written MMSE was preferred to the standard version in the hearingimpaired group, presumably because it required less effort, with no significant preference in the normal hearing group. Audiometry was not used to stratify subjects. As we were evaluating a test for clinical practice, the use of the (bedside) whisper test had some advantages. A possible source of bias was the variation in the baseline characteristics of the target population. However, the analysis was adjusted for gender and age as much as possible. The written MMSE was thus comparable to the standard MMSE in a population which included subjects with normal and impaired hearing and cognition. Hearing-impaired subjects performed no better with the written version but preferred it, suggesting that the written MMSE may be a more acceptable version of this test in the hearing impaired. In subjects with profound hearing imparity, the standard version of the MMSE is clearly impractical and in this group, the written version is indispensable.
In vitro assay of cellular immunity to tumor-specific antigen(s) of virus-induced tumors by macrophage migration inhibition.

It has been well established that transformation of cells by oncogenic DNA viruses leads to the expression of virus-specific antigens, among which are the tumor-specific transplantation antigens (TSTA)4 (1–6). While the immune response to these antigens can be detected in vivo by transplantation rejection (1, 2), the procedure is time-consuming, requires a great deal of material and large numbers of animals and is difficult to quantitate. Inhibition of macrophage migration has been a useful tool for in vitro studies of delayed hypersensitivity (7). It has been used to study this phenomenon in guinea pigs, rats, mice, hamsters and man (8, 9). Earlier studies with this technique detected reactivity against tuberculin, other microbial antigens, pure protein antigens, viral antigens, and normal tissue alloantigens (8). The test has also been used to measure cellular immunity in mice to antigens associated with Moloney sarcoma virusinduced tumors (10) and spontaneous mammary carcinoma (11), as well as to detect tumor-specific antigens of tumors induced by chemical carcinogens (12–15).
Functional Demonstration of Reverse Transsulfuration in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Reveals That Methionine Is the Preferred Sulfur Source for Pathogenic Mycobacteria*

Methionine can be used as the sole sulfur source by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex although it is not obvious from examination of the genome annotation how these bacteria utilize methionine. Given that genome annotation is a largely predictive process, key challenges are to validate these predictions and to fill in gaps for known functions for which genes have not been annotated. We have addressed these issues by functional analysis of methionine metabolism. Transport, followed by metabolism of 35S methionine into the cysteine adduct mycothiol, demonstrated the conversion of exogenous methionine to cysteine. Mutational analysis and cloning of the Rv1079 gene showed it to encode the key enzyme required for this conversion, cystathionine γ-lyase (CGL). Rv1079, annotated metB, was predicted to encode cystathionine γ-synthase (CGS), but demonstration of a γ-elimination reaction with cystathionine as well as the γ-replacement reaction yielding cystathionine showed it encodes a bifunctional CGL/CGS enzyme. Consistent with this, a Rv1079 mutant could not incorporate sulfur from methionine into cysteine, while a cysA mutant lacking sulfate transport and a methionine auxotroph was hypersensitive to the CGL inhibitor propargylglycine. Thus, reverse transsulfuration alone, without any sulfur recycling reactions, allows M. tuberculosis to use methionine as the sole sulfur source. Intracellular cysteine was undetectable so only the CGL reaction occurs in intact mycobacteria. Cysteine desulfhydrase, an activity we showed to be separable from CGL/CGS, may have a role in removing excess cysteine and could explain the ability of M. tuberculosis to recycle sulfur from cysteine, but not methionine.
A study of oligoclonal band negative multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVES--To determine whether oligoclonal band (OCB) negative multiple sclerosis is a reliable diagnosis and, if so, whether it has a distinctive prognosis. METHODS--Retrospective and matched prospective comparison of the clinical and laboratory features of patients with clinical definite multiple sclerosis with and without intrathecal synthesis of oligoclonal IgG. RESULTS--Thirty four patients were identified with apparent OCB negative clinically definite multiple sclerosis. The results of oligoclonal banding proved to have been equivocal in 14 of 34; the clinical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis was questionable in 8 of 34. The remaining 12 patients with "true" OCB negative multiple sclerosis were significantly less disabled than matched OCB positive controls. Re-examination of CSF-serum pairs from six OCB negative patients showed that three remained OCB negative while three showed evidence of intrathecal synthesis of OCBs. CONCLUSIONS--OCB negative clinically definite multiple sclerosis is rare and should be diagnosed with caution; in unequivocal cases it seems to have a relatively benign prognosis.
Effects of Iproniazid in Depressive Syndromes

dystonia. It is perhaps too early to draw any conclusions from this, but the facts just quoted may suggest that extrapyramidal rigidity and disturbances of posture are due to abnormal impulses descending from above the brain-stem level. The pathological states I have been considering may be regarded as local disturbances in that they can exist in fragmentary form. There are, however, some more general disturbances of posture which are of interest. There is considerable evidence that the posture adopted by a patient in a major epileptic attack is the result of a discharge of impulses from nuclei in the brain stem probably closely related to those concerned in the maintenance of decerebrate rigidity. There is a type of epilepsy, known as akinetic epilepsy, which leads to what are called " drop-attacks. " In these the patient suddenly falls to the ground without warning, there is no convulsion, loss of consciousness if it occurs is only momentary, and he is immediately able to get up again. Such attacks must presumably be due to a sudden inhibition of the antigravity postural mechanisms. In cataplexy, which is associated with narcolepsy, strong emotion causes a rather more gradual loss of power in all the muscles, so that the patient sinks to the ground and is completely immobilized for a short time. This again has been explained in terms of an inhibition of motor mechanisms generally. Finally, in patients with lesions of the frontal lobes and in some psychotic states, we find a condition of postural plasticity in which an attitude imposed by passive movement is maintained indefinitely, or the patient may remain spontaneously immobilized in the same attitude for a long time.
COMT polymorphisms in impulsively violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder.

OBJECTIVE The relationship between catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphisms and violent behaviour was tested in highly selected group of non-psychotic violent offenders. METHODS We conducted an association study comparing 47 male repeatedly sentenced for impulsive violent attacks diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) with 43 healthy male controls matched on education. Three COMT polymorphisms were analysed: COMT Val158Met and COMT Ala146Val on exon 4, and untranslated polymorphism on the 6th exon, at the regulatory region of the COMT gene with deletion-insertion character del/C. RESULTS Logistic regression analysis revealed that while Val158Met is not associated with violence in APD, another COMT polymorphism - COMT Ala146Val is more frequent among violent offenders with APD (p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS To conclude, our findings provide further support that COMT is a modifying gene that plays a role in determining interindividual variability in the proclivity for violent behaviour in subjects without major mental disorder.
A predictive inner–outer model for streamwise turbulence statistics in wall-bounded flows

A model is proposed with which the statistics of the fluctuating streamwise velocity in the inner region of wall-bounded turbulent flows are predicted from a measured large-scale velocity signature from an outer position in the logarithmic region of the flow. Results, including spectra and all moments up to sixth order, are shown and compared to experimental data for zero-pressure-gradient flows over a large range of Reynolds numbers. The model uses universal time-series and constants that were empirically determined from zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer data. In order to test the applicability of these for other flows, the model is also applied to channel, pipe and adverse-pressure-gradient flows. The results support the concept of a universal inner region that is modified through a modulation and superposition of the large-scale outer motions, which are specific to the geometry or imposed streamwise pressure gradient acting on the flow.
Hepatic steatosis and liver transplantation current clinical and experimental perspectives.

Hepatic steatosis has diverse clinical implications in liver transplantation, hepatology, and hepatic surgery. This review will focus on issues related to liver transplantation; the prevalence and diagnosis of hepatic steatosis in potential donors, the impact of steatosis on graft and recipient survival after transplantation and on donor liver supply. In addition, we will review available animal models to investigate this problem and the data in humans and in experimental animals that help understand how steatosis leads to increased liver ischemia/reperfusion (I/RP) injury.
Algal degradation of a known endocrine disrupting insecticide, alpha-endosulfan, and its metabolite, endosulfan sulfate, in liquid medium and soil.

The role of algae in the persistence, transformation, and bioremediation of two endocrine disrupting chemicals, alpha-endosulfan (a cyclodiene insecticide) and its oxidation product endosulfan sulfate, in soil (incubated under light or in darkness) and a liquid medium was examined. Incubation of soil under light dramatically decreased the persistence of alpha-endosulfan and enhanced its transformation to endosulfan sulfate, over that of dark-incubated soil samples, under both nonflooded and flooded conditions. This enhanced degradation of soil-applied alpha-endosulfan was associated with profuse growth of indigenous phototrophic organisms such as algae in soil incubated under light. Inoculation of soil with green algae, Chlorococcum sp. or Scenedesmus sp. , further enhanced the degradation of alpha-endosulfan. The role of algae in alpha-endosulfan degradation was convincingly demonstrated when these algae degraded alpha-endosulfan to endosulfan sulfate, the major metabolite, and endosulfan ether, a minor metabolite, in a defined liquid medium. When a high density of the algal inoculum was used, both metabolites appeared to undergo further degradation as evident from their accumulation only in small amounts and the appearance of an endosulfan-derived aldehyde. Interestingly, beta-endosulfan was detected during degradation of alpha-endosulfan by high density algal cultures. These algae were also capable of degrading endosulfan sulfate but to a lesser extent than alpha-endosulfan. Evidence suggested that both alpha-endosulfan and endosulfan sulfate were immediately sorbed by the algae from the medium, which then effected their degradation. Biosorption, coupled with their biotransformation ability, especially at a high inoculum density, makes algae effective candidates for remediation of alpha-endosulfan-polluted environments.
Occurrence of serious adverse effects in patients receiving community-based therapy for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

SETTING A community-based treatment program for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in an urban shantytown of Lima, Peru. OBJECTIVES To ascertain the occurrence of serious adverse effects associated with therapy for MDR-TB in northern Lima, Peru, where therapy was individualized according to drug-susceptibility testing of patients' infecting strains and delivered through a community-based program. DESIGN A retrospective record review of 60 patients who had received individualized therapy for MDR-TB between September 1996 and October 1998. RESULTS Although adverse effects were common, they occurred less frequently than previously reported in the literature and were rarely life-threatening. Effects occurring most frequently in this population included: mild gastritis (100%), dermatological effects (43.3%), peripheral neuropathy (16.7%), depression (18.3%), and anxiety (11.7%). These effects never resulted in the discontinuation of anti-tuberculosis therapy, and only occasionally resulted in the suspension of an agent (11.7%). CONCLUSION In young patients with little comorbid disease, multidrug, long-course regimens rarely caused life-threatening adverse effects. Common side effects may be managed successfully on an out-patient basis through a community-based treatment program in conjunction with MDR-TB experts, even in resource-poor settings. The very low rate of default in this cohort offers hope that strategies to manage the adverse effects may reduce the incidence of abandonment of therapy and increase rates of cure.
Heart failure in the MI patient.

Pump or heart failure is becoming a major cause of death in patients admitted to coronary care units with myocardial infarction(l). The reason is not an increased incidence of heart failure, but a decrease in deaths from arrhythmias. The decline in arrhythmia mortality among CCU patients is due in large part to the close observation and care by the nurses working in these units. Nurses can also play a decisive part in reducing the number of deaths from heart failure. The ischemia and necrosis from an
The systems approach to planning.

One of the fundamental functions of management is planning, yet the current planning process often produces poor plans that are incomplete, unusable, and do not build prevention and risk management into the project. After all, if something did not happen, one cannot be sure if it would or would not have happened after the fact. My research finds that one reason for poor planning is that the process, as currently taught, is defective and needs to be modified. We can formulate the problem of modifying the teaching paradigm as outlined below, using the template from a previous blog video :
Seasonal Settlement of Olympia Oyster Larvae, Ostrea lurida Carpenter 1864 and Its Relationship to Seawater Temperature in Two Southern California Estuaries

ABSTRACT The continued lack of recovery of the United States west coast populations of the Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida † Carpenter 1864, has piqued recent interest in restoration projects. Because local population persistence is influenced by many factors, including larval settlement, information about the magnitude and timing of settlement will provide valuable contributions to such restoration efforts. We examined larval settlement as a function of season and also monitored water temperature, which is reported to influence settlement timing by cueing synchronized male spawning and subsequent larval settlement. Previous literature, based on an anomalous open coast population, found that settlement of O. lurida in La Jolla, CA occurred once seawater reached a temperature of 16°C. To observe variation over seasons in larval settlement density relative to temperature within the more common estuarine habitat in southern California, we placed ceramic tiles in two locations within Upper Newport Bay, Newport, California and in two locations within Aqua Hedionda Lagoon, Carlsbad, California. Temperature data were also collected at each site throughout the sampling period. Tiles were collected and oyster spat counted every two weeks during spring tides to pinpoint pulses in settlement. Settlement in Upper Newport Bay occurred from May until November with peak settlement in June and ranged from 0.0 oysters/m2 to 1,179 ± 344.8 oysters/m2 at Coney Island and 0.0 oysters/m2 to 511 ± 216.4 oysters/m2 at Newport Wall. In Aqua Hedionda Lagoon, settlement occurred from June until February with peak settlement in June and ranged from 0.0 oysters/m2 to 339 ± 53.7 oysters/m2 at Aqua Hedionda site 1 and 0.0 oysters/m2 to 108 ± 37.3 oysters/m2 at Aqua Hedionda site 2. Whereas oyster settlement did occur at all of our study sites, we did not observe a universal temperature that correlated with the initiation and termination of oyster settlement, nor any significant correlations linking water temperature with peaks in settlement.