Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of alterations in urine flow rate on prostaglandin E excretion in conscious dogs.

The relationships between urinary prostaglandin E excretion and urine flow rate were evaluated in 11 conscious mongrel dogs during antidiuresis, maximal water loading, vasopressin administration during maximal water loading, and mannitol infusion. Urine flow rates between 0.21 and 15.1 ml/min were achieved. Urinary prostaglandin E excretion rates, determined by a membrane receptor assay, varied directly with urine flow rates (r = 0.908). Vasopressin administration (34--540 microU . kg-1 . min-1) resulted in a fall, rather than the expected rise, in urinary prostaglandin E excretion. When the concentration of prostaglandin E in the urine was plotted against urine flow rate, the demonstrated relationship appeared most consistent with passive diffusion. Mannitol infusion increased urine flow rates to levels comparable to the levels seen with maximal water loading but did not result in a fall in plasma osmolality. Urinary prostaglandin E excretion rates, however, were not distinguishable from those in the previous group. These data demonstrate that urinary prostaglandin E excretion rates are determined, to a great extent, by urine flow rate and that the significance of the interpretation of elevated excretion levels of these lipids in diuretic states may have to be reevaluated.
Levels of metalloproteinase (MMP-3, MMP-9), NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL), and nitric oxide (NO) in peripheral blood of osteoarthritis (OA) patients.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to judge whether there is a correlation between some biochemical features of knee osteoarthritic blood and clinical characteristics and to evaluate the potential relationship between osteoarthitis (OA) severity and putative biomarkers for the disease. METHODS 105 patients suffering from knee OA were analyzed clinically (Lequesne's index) and radiographically (Kellgren and Lawrence, K&L). Plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were harvested separately. Specimens were analyzed for concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). Transcript levels of the receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (RANKL) mRNA, MMP-3mRNA, and MMP-9mRNA were measured using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS Data certified significantly increasing concentrations of plasma MMP-3, MMP-9, and NO as well as transcript levels of RANKL mRNA and MMP-9 mRNA in early OA (at grade I). There was a positive correlation of MMP-3 and MMP-9 content in plasma and MMP-9 mRNA expression levels in PBMC with the severity of clinical symptoms (total Lequesne's scores) in early OA. NO content in plasma correlated with total Lequesne's scores, pain scores in response to pressure, and swelling scores of early OA patients (atgGrade I). Analogously, there were positive correlations of RANKL mRNA expression with total Lequesne's scores, pain scores in response to pressure, and swelling scores in OA patients at Grade I. CONCLUSIONS [corrected] Some biochemical factors, including content of NO, MMP-3, MMP-9, and transcript levels of some genes, including MMP-9 mRNA and RANKL mRNA, may be specific and sensitive enough to diagnose OA diseases at an early stage in the pathological process of OA when radiological features do not reflect degradation of articular cartilage. Therefore, proper regulation of these factors may be a promising and realistic new target for the treatment of degenerative osteoarticular diseases.
Anti‐inflammatory properties of the PI3K pathway are mediated by IL‐10/DUSP regulation

Resolution of inflammation is an important hallmark in the course of infectious diseases. Dysregulated inflammatory responses may have detrimental consequences for the affected organism. Therefore, tight regulation of inflammation is indispensable. Among numerous modulatory signaling pathways, the PI3K/PTEN signaling pathway has been proposed recently to be involved in the regulation of innate immune reactions. Here, we attempted to elucidate molecular mechanisms that contribute to the modulatory properties of the PI3K signaling pathway in inflammation. PTEN‐deficient macrophages, which harbor constitutively active PI3Ks, were analyzed in response to gram‐negative bacteria and PAMPs such as LPS. PTEN‐deficient cells showed reduced inflammatory cytokine production, which was accompanied by reduced MAPK signaling activation in early‐ as well as late‐phase activation. Simultaneously, we found increased levels of the MKP DUSP1, as well as the anti‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐10. Our data suggest that differential DUSP1 regulation coupled with enhanced IL‐10 production contributes to the anti‐inflammatory properties of the PI3K pathway.
Prognostic factors and survival in patients with gastric stump cancer.

AIM To elucidate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of gastric stump cancer (GSC). METHODS The clinical data for 92 patients with GSC were collected at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. The prognostic factors were analyzed with Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS GSC tended to occur within 25 years following the primary surgery, when the initial disease is benign, whereas it primarily occurred within the first 15 years post-operation for gastric cancer. Patients with regular follow-up after primary surgery had a better survival rate. The multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that Borrmann type I/II (HR = 3.165, 95%CI: 1.055-9.500, P = 0.040) and radical resection (HR = 1.780, 95%CI: 1.061-2.987, P = 0.029) were independent prognostic factors for GSC. The overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of the 92 patients were 78.3%, 45.6% and 27.6%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of those undergoing radical resection were 79.3%, 52.2%, and 37.8%, respectively. The 5-year survival rates for stages I, II, III, and IV were 85.7%, 47.4%, 16.0%, and 13.3%, respectively (P = 0.005). CONCLUSION The appearance of GSC occurs sooner in patients with primary malignant cancer than in patients with a primary benign disease. Therefore, close follow-up is necessary. The overall survival of patients with GSC is poor, and curative resection can improve their prognosis.
The Original Gerstmann‐Sträussler‐Scheinker Family of Austria: Divergent Clinicopathological Phenotypes but Constant PrP Genotype

We present new data on the original Austrian kindred with Gerstmann‐Sträussler‐Scheinker disease (GSS) which encompasses currently 221 members in 9 generations. The mode of inheritance is autosomal dominant. Predominant clinical features are slowly progressive ataxia and late impairment of higher cerebral functins. In contrast, a recent case with proven P102L mutation of the PRNP gene had rapidly developing dementia and severe cortical damage indistinguishable from the clinicopathological phenotype of Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (CJD). PRNP codon 129 was homozygous for methionine in both the historic and recent cases. Neuropathology confirms spongiosis of variable degree and numerous protease resistant / prion protein (PrP) amyloid plaques scattered throughout most of the brain as constant features in this family. Some amyloid deposits are surrounded by dystrophic neurites with accumulation of phosphorylated neurofilaments and abnormal organelles, reminiscent of Alzheimer‐type plaques. Severe telencephalic damage and a synaptic‐type fine granular immunoreactivity in laminar distribution in the cortex with anti‐PrP after hydrated autoclaving of sections were seen only in the recent patient. In conclusion, factors in addition to the PRNP genotype at codons 102 and 129 must play a role in determining clinicopathological characteristics of this inherited brain amyloidosis.
Pulmonary function testing prior to extubation in infants with respiratory distress syndrome

Pulmonary function testing was performed just prior to extubation on 50 infants mechanically ventilated for treatment of respiratory distress syndrome. All infants were ready for extubation as defined by clinical criteria. Pulmonary mechanics and energetics were measured by a computerized technique that consists of a pneumotachometer to measure flow rates and an esophageal balloon and differential transducer to estimate transpulmonary pressure. Tidal volume, minute ventilation, dynamic lung compliance, pulmonary resistance, and resistive work of breathing were then calculated by high speed microcomputer processing.
Can Sanctions Induce Pessimism? An Experiment

We run an experiment in which two subjects play a two-round minimum effort game in the presence of a third player (principal) who is the only one informed about past effort choices and benefits from a higher minimum effort of the others. Sanctions introduced in the second round by the experimenter lead to more optimistic beliefs and higher efforts. This is not true when sanctions have been imposed by the principal. The possibility that the choice of a sanction is a signal of low effort levels causes players who chose high effort in the first round to be less optimistic.
Regulated ADAM10-dependent Ectodomain Shedding of γ-Protocadherin C3 Modulates Cell-Cell Adhesion*

γ-Protocadherins (Pcdhγ) are type I transmembrane proteins, which are most notably expressed in the nervous system. They are enriched at synapses and involved in synapse formation, specification, and maintenance. In this study, we show that Pcdhγ C3 and Pcdhγ B4 are specifically cleaved within their ectodomains by the disintegrin and metalloprotease ADAM10. Analysis of ADAM10-deficient fibroblasts and embryos, inhibitor studies, as well as RNA interference-mediated down-regulation demonstrated that ADAM10 is not only responsible for the constitutive but also for the regulated shedding of these proteins in fibroblasts and in neuronal cells. In contrast to N-cadherin shedding, which was activated by N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptor activation in neuronal cells, Pcdhγ shedding was induced by α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid hydrate stimulation, suggesting differential regulation mechanisms of cadherin-mediated functions at synapses. Cell aggregation assays in the presence or absence of metalloprotease inhibitors strongly suggest that the ectodomain shedding events modulate the cell adhesion role of Pcdhγ. The identification of ADAM10 as the protease responsible for constitutive and regulated Pcdhγ shedding may therefore provide new insight into the regulation of Pcdhγ functions.
Testing Precise Hypotheses

Testing of precise (point or small interval) hypotheses is reviewed, with special emphasis placed on exploring the dramatic conflict between conditional measures (Bayes factors and posterior probabilities) and the classical P-value (or observed significance level). This conflict is highlighted by finding lower bounds on the conditional measures over wide classes of priors, in normal and binomial situations, lower bounds, which are much larger than the P-value; this leads to the recommendation of several alter- natives to P-values. Results are also given concerning the validity of approximating an interval null by a point null. The overall discussion features critical examination of issues such as the probability of objective testing and the possibility of testing from confidence sets.
Posttraumatic Growth Following the Loss of a Pet: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

The current study examined Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) experienced by bereaved pet owners in the United States, French-Canada, Japan, and Hong Kong following the death of their pet. Using qualitative methodology, we analyzed responses of participants who answered “yes” to a question about experiencing PTG and explored to what extent the cross-cultural responses mapped onto the five factors of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). For the U.S. sample, 58% of responses mapped onto the PTGI. For French-Canada, 72% of responses mapped onto the PTGI. For Japan, 50% of responses mapped onto the PTGI and for Hong Kong, 39% of responses mapped onto the PTGI. We also explored emergent categories related to PTG for individuals who have lost a pet and discerned the unique aspects for PTG across cultures.
Adult coeliac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis and smoking.

EDITOR,-Snook and colleagues report that cigarette smoking seems to exert a protective effect against the development of adult coeliac disease (Gut 1996; 39: 60-2). Dermatitis herpetiformis is an uncommon blistering skin disease of unknown aetiology. Importantly, gluten sensitive enteropathy is present in almost 100% of patients after gluten loading, giving rise to the hypothesis that coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis may be part of a spectrum of disease. ' Because the enteropathy is usually mild in dermatitis herpetiformis, overt malabsorption is rare.2 We therefore wanted to assess whether the finding by Snook et al was also present in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis, as this would provide further evidence of a link between dermatitis herpetiformis and coeliac disease. Twenty nine patients, 20 male and nine female, with dermatitis herpetiformis were identified. Only patients with histological and direct immunofluorescence findings compatible with a diagnosis of dermatitis herpetiformis were included in the study. Patients were interviewed to identify their cigarette smoking history, permitting determination of number of pack years smoked (one pack year=20 cigarettes a day for one year). Twenty nine age and sex matched controls with atopic eczema were also recruited and cigarette smoking history determined in the same way. A Wilcoxon sign ranked matched pair test was used to analyse pack year smoking data. The average age at the time of the study was 59-1 years (SD 14-12). We found that patients with dermatitis herpetiformis smoked significantly less than controls (p<0Q0009, median differ-
Dermatomal Organization of SI Leg Representation in Humans: Revising the Somatosensory Homunculus

Penfield and Rasmussen's homunculus is the valid map of the neural body representation of nearly each textbook of biology, physiology, and neuroscience. The somatosensory homunculus places the foot representation on the mesial surface of the postcentral gyrus followed by the representations of the lower leg and the thigh in superio-lateral direction. However, this strong homuncular organization contradicts the "dermatomal" organization of spinal nerves. We used somatosensory-evoked magnetic fields and source analysis to study the leg's neural representation in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). We show that the representation of the back of the thigh is located inferior to the foot's representation in SI whereas the front of the thigh is located laterally to the foot's representation. This observation indicates that the localization of the leg in SI rather follows the dermatomal organization of spinal nerves than the typical map of neighboring body parts as depicted in Penfield and Rasmussen's illustration of the somatosensory homunculus.
Calcium sensitivity of isometric tension is increased in canine experimental heart failure.

To examine the role of alterations in myofibrillar function in chronic heart failure, we determined isometric tension-pCa relations in permeabilized myocardium from a canine model of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) produced by chronic rapid pacing. In the initial series of experiments, seven dogs were paced at 250 beats per minute for 28.9 +/- 7.0 days, resulting in ventricular dilatation and reduced ejection fractions by echocardiography and elevated intracardiac filling pressures. Isometric tension-pCa relations were measured by using mechanically disrupted and permeabilized myocyte-sized preparations obtained from left ventricular biopsies before (n = 11) and after (n = 10) chronic rapid pacing-induced heart failure. Resting sarcomere length (SL) was set at 2.35 microns, and preparations had low end compliance (SL was 2.23 +/- 0.03 microns during maximal activation). Passive tension (2.1 +/- 1.0 versus 2.4 +/- 0.6 mN/mm2) and maximal Ca(2+)-activated tension (25.9 +/- 9.3 versus 27.8 +/- 6.8 mN/mm2) were similar for control and DCM preparations, respectively. However, the calcium sensitivity of isometric tension was increased in failing myocardium (pCa50 5.95 +/- 0.11 [DCM] versus 5.83 +/- 0.10 [control], P = .001). Treatment of myofibrillar preparations with the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A decreased calcium sensitivity of tension to a greater degree in failing preparations (shift of pCa50 from 6.04 +/- 0.06 to 5.75 +/- 0.09, n = 7) than in nonfailing preparations (5.91 +/- 0.08 to 5.74 +/- 0.07, n = 8), and isometric tension-pCa relations in the two groups were not significantly different after protein kinase A treatment. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Reactive Trajectory Controller for Object Manipulation in Human Robot Interaction

This paper presents a reactive trajectory controller for manipulating objects in Human Robot Interaction (HRI) context. The trajectories to be followed by the robot are provided by a human aware motion planner. The controller is based on an online trajectory generator, which is capable of calculating a trajectory from an arbitrary initial condition to a target within one control cycle. The controller is capable of switching to a new trajectory each time the motion planner provides a new trajectory, changing the frame in which the input trajectory is controlled and tracking a target or a trajectory in a frame, which moves with respect to the robot frame. The controller chooses different control modes for different situations. Visual servoing by trajectory generation is considered as one case of the control situations. Some results obtained with this controller are presented to illustrate the potential of the approach.
Combined Radiation Effects of Protons and Electrons on NPN Transistors

This paper examines individual radiation effects caused by 110 keV electrons, 70 keV protons and 170 keV protons, and combined radiation effects induced by 110 keV electrons together with 70 keV protons and 110 keV electrons with 170 keV protons on the forward current gain of bipolar junction transistors (3DG112D, NPN). Key parameters were measured in-situ and the change in current gain of the NPN transistors is obtained at a fixed collector current. Experimental results show that the current gain degradation of the NPN transistors is sensitive to both of ionization and displacement damage. The ionization damage is primarily caused by 110 keV electrons, while the displacement damage is mainly induced by 170 keV protons in this study. Under the combined exposure of 170 keV protons and 110 keV electrons, the current gain degradation lies between those given by the individual irradiations. The current gain degradation is mainly caused by the 170 keV protons, and the 110 keV electrons mitigate the degradation to some extent. In the case of combined irradiation of 110 keV electrons and 70 keV protons, no synergistic effect occurs, the current gain degradation is basically controlled by the 110 keV electrons.
Listeria monocytogenes meningitis: serotype distribution and patient characteristics in The Netherlands, 1976–95

Two hundred and seven cases of listeria meningitis that occurred in The Netherlands over 20 years were reviewed to study associations between Listeria monocytogenes serotype, age, underlying disease, and outcome. The mean annual incidence per 100000 population was 0·12 in 1981–90, decreasing to 0·07 in 1991–5. Underlying disease was present in 50% of non-neonatal patients, most often haematological malignancy (15%) and the use of immunosuppressive therapy (14%). The meningitis-related case fatality rate was 16%; a significantly higher rate was associated with the presence of underlying disease (30%) or age [ges ]70 years (29%). Serotype 4b was most frequent (65%) and L. monocytogenes types 1/2a, 1/2b, or 1/2c (30% of cases) were significantly more often isolated from non-neonatal patients with underlying disease, suggesting a higher virulence of listerial serotype 4b.
An invitation to additive prime number theory

The main purpose of this survey is to introduce the inexperienced reader to additive prime number theory and some related branches of analytic number theory. We state the main problems in the field, sketch their history and the basic machinery used to study them, and try to give a representative sample of the directions of current research. 2000 MSC: 11D75, 11D85, 11L20, 11N05, 11N35, 11N36, 11P05, 11P32, 11P55.
In vitro-activated human lupus T cells express normal estrogen receptor proteins which bind to the estrogen response element

We have shown that estrogen receptor (ERa,ERb) transcripts are expressed in SLE and normal T cells. In this study, T cell nuclear extracts from female lupus patients and normal donors were tested for biologically active ER proteins capable of binding to the human estrogen response element (hERE) by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. When peripheral blood T cells were stimulated with 17b-estradiol (E2), PMA and ionomycin, two major retarded bands in T cell nuclear extracts exhibited a migration pattern similar to slow migrating protein-ERE complexes in human breast cancer cell extracts. T cells cultured only with E2 did not have these complexes. The formation of the complexes was inhibited by competition with the hERE cold oligonucleotide and partially with anti-ERa antibodies. There was no notable difference in the migration pattern of ERE-binding proteins between the SLE and normal T cell extracts. Together, these results suggest that activated human T cells, whether lupus-derived or normal-derived, contain biologically active ERa proteins. Other factors may be responsible for differential sensitivity of lupus T cells to estrogen.
Tailored Treatment Approach for Emphysematous Pyelonephritis

Objective: We evaluated the clinical presentation, diagnosis and management of patients presenting with emphysematous pyelonephritis (EP). Patients and Methods: The clinical data of 24 EP patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. The management strategies were discussed according to the severity of condition at presentation. Results: The mean age of the patients was 61.8 years. Diabetes mellitus was detected in 21 (87.5%) of them. Escherichia coli was the predominant pathogen. There were 6 patients (25%) who recovered with antibiotic treatment only (mild). Percutaneous drainage in addition to antimicrobial chemotherapy was necessary in 13 cases (54%) (moderate). The remaining 5 patients (21%) were treated by nephrectomy (severe). Conclusions: EP is a serious infection that can display a fatal progression despite ablative treatment but there are also some cases with mild or moderate severity that can be successfully treated without nephrectomy.