Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Involvement of central immunity in uncomplicated diverticular disease

Objective. The pathogenesis of symptoms of uncomplicated diverticular disease (UDD) is unclear, but changes in gut microflora and physiologic inflammation may be implicated. The objective of the study was to investigate the distribution of gut homing lymphocytes in peripheral blood and intestinal mucosa of UDD patients, and the effects of luminal antibiotic treatment. Material and methods. Ten UDD patients and 10 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects underwent peripheral blood sampling, and colonoscopy with biopsies taken from the transverse and sigmoid colon. Treatment consisted of a 2-month course of rifaximin 1.2 g/day for 15 days/month. Blood sample and mucosal biopsies were repeated in UDD patients at the end of treatment. Flow cytometry was performed using monoclonal antibodies (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD25, CD19, CD45, CD62L, CD103). Results. In peripheral blood, both CD4+ and CD8+/CD103+ were significantly higher in patients at baseline than in controls (0.95% versus 0.36%, and 0.5% versus 0.09%, respectively). After treatment, peripheral CD4+/CD103+ decreased (0.27%), while CD8+/CD103+ did not change (0.35%); on the contrary, peripheral CD25+ increased, the CD4+ subpopulation showing significantly higher levels than those in controls. No difference was found between lymphocytes in the diverticular sigmoid mucosa of patients at baseline and those in controls, but there was a significant decrease in CD8+/CD62L+ after treatment. In the normal transverse colon, CD4+/CD62L+ of patient at baseline were significantly lower than in controls. After treatment, CD4+/CD103+ levels significantly increased, while CD8+/CD62L+ levels significantly decreased. Conclusions. Both central and mucosal immunity may be modified in UDD patients, with an increased recruitment of CD103+ lymphocytes. A 2-month course of rifaximin appears to reduce CD103+ levels, suggesting a decrease in mobilization of mucosal homing.
Sphingosine‐1‐phosphate and the immunosuppressant, FTY720‐phosphate, regulate detrusor muscle tone

Overactive bladder syndrome (OBS) results from disturbances of bladder function. Bladder smooth muscle (detrusor) exhibits spontaneous rhythmic activity (tone) independent of neurogenic control, which is enhanced in patients with OBS. We have now uncovered a prominent role for the bioactive sphingo‐lipid metabolite, sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P), in regulating rabbit detrusor smooth muscle tone and con‐traction. S1P‐induced contraction of detrusor muscle was dependent on stretch and intracellular calcium. Although detrusor expresses the S1P receptors S1P1 and S1P2, only S1P2 appeared to be involved in S1P‐induced contraction, since SEW2871 (S1P1 agonist) and dihydro‐S1P (potent agonist for all S1P receptors except S1P2) were poor contractile agents. In agreement, the S1P2 antagonist JTE013 inhibited S1P‐induced contraction. The fast, transient muscle contraction (phasic) mediated by S1P was dependent on phospholipase C (PLC) whereas the slower, sustained contraction (tonic) was not. Surprisingly, the immunosuppressant FTY720‐phosphate, an agonist for all S1P receptors except S1P2, had distinct contractile properties and also induced slow, sustained contraction. Thus, FTY720‐phos‐phate and/or S1P may regulate calcium channels in an S1P receptor‐independent manner. Collectively, our results demonstrate that S1P may regulate detrusor smooth muscle tone and suggest that dysregulation of complex S1P signaling might contribute to OBS. —Watterson, K. R. , Berg, K. M. , Kapitonov, D. , Payne, S. G. , Miner, A. S. , Bittman, R. , Milstien, S. , Ratz, P. H. , Spiegel, S. Sphingosine‐1‐phosphate and the immuno‐suppressant, fty720‐phosphate, regulate detrusor muscle tone. FASEB J. 21, 2818–2828 (2007)
Marriage, divorce, and remarriage in the 1990's.

Recent trends in marriage, divorce and redivorce, and remarriage were gleaned from cohort data from the US Supplement to the Current Population Survey, 1990, on the frequency of women entering and exiting a verity of marital statuses. Marriage patterns are described also in terms of their interrelationship with educational attainment, fertility history, age, race and Hispanic origin, age at marital event, and duration in marital status. the effects of marriage patterns on children are also considered. Future trends are anticipated along with their impact on families. The trend has been toward a significant number of adults and children living in one-parent families. This situation is also usually one of poverty and social deprivation. The time spent by children in one-parent families is estimated at almost 50%. There are 14 detailed tables to supplement the text. The appended tables and discussion provide background information on the accuracy of estimates. The increasing trend of divorce has meant that between the 1960s and 1980 the divorce rate doubled and reached the point where 1 out of 2 marriages was expected to end in divorce. During the 1980s, the rate remained the same, and first marriage and remarriage declined. Declines may be due to delay in marriage or to more people never marrying. Between 1975 and 1990, the percent of women ever married declined for all age groups; for women 20-24 years old the decline was from 63 to 38%. Marriage patterns were different for Blacks and Whites, but both experienced declines in first marriage. Black women will marry later than White women and will include a greater proportion who will never marry. Hispanic patterns were similar those of Whites. The slight drop in the percent divorcing after a first marriage between 1985 and 1990 showed less divorce for the younger age groups and more for the older age groups. 4 of 10 marriages involve a second or higher order marriage for 1 or both partners. The percent remarrying among the older cohort declined from 74% in 1975 to 63% in 1990. Remarriage was higher for White women than for Black or Hispanic women. In 1990, redivorce was 5% of all ever married women and 29% of all women remarried. Children have had to adjust to "increasingly varied and complex living arrangements. " Future prospects are for women continuing to marry at a later age, never marrying, never marrying but becoming mothers, attaining higher education, and achieving a greater labor force participation.
Phosphate and Calcium Uptake by Rat Odontoblast‐Like MRPC‐1 Cells Concomitant With Mineralization

It has been suggested that odontoblasts are instrumental in translocating Ca2+ and inorganic phosphate (Pi) ions during the mineralization of dentin. The aim of this study was to characterize cellular Pi and Ca2+ uptake in the novel rat odontoblast‐like cell line mineralizing rat pulpal cell line (MRPC) 1 during mineralization to see if changes in the ion transport activity would occur as the cultures develop and begin forming a mineralized matrix. MRPC‐1 cells were cultured in chemically defined medium containing ascorbate and Pi, and cultures were specifically analyzed for cellular Pi and Ca2+ uptake activities and expression of type II high‐capacity Na+‐Pi cotransporters. The odontoblast‐like phenotype of the cell line was ascertained by monitoring the expression of collagen type I and dentin phosphopoprotein (DPP). Mineralized nodule formation started at day 9 after confluency and then rapidly increased. Ca2+ uptake by the cells showed a maximum during the end of the proliferative phase (days 5–7). Pi uptake declined to a basal level during proliferation and then was up‐regulated simultaneously with the onset of mineralization to a level fourfold of the basal uptake, suggesting an initiating and regulatory role for cellular Pi uptake in mineral formation. This up‐regulation coincided with a conspicuously increased glycosylation of NaPi‐2a, indicating an activation of this Na+‐Pi cotransporter. The study showed that MRPC‐1 cells express an odontoblast‐like phenotype already at the onset of culture, but that to mineralize the collagenous extracellular matrix (ECM) that formed, a further differentiation involving their ion transporters is necessary.
Effect of Intermedin1-53 on Angiotensin II-Induced Hypertrophy in Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes

Objectives: Intermedin (IMD) is coexpressed in the heart with its receptor, which suggests that it may have localized actions as a modulator of cardiac function. The present study was designed to observe the interaction between IMD and cardiac hypertrophy and the possible mechanism involved in the antihypertrophic effects of IMD1-53 in cultured neonatal ventricular myocytes. Methods: Myocyte hypertrophy was induced by treating the cells with angiotensin II, and the hypertrophic response was characterized by a significant increase in cell surface area, protein synthesis, and BNP mRNA expression. Results: Our results showed that angiotensin II led to an obvious decrease in the production, secretion, and mRNA expression of IMD and increase receptor activity modifying proteins 1, 3 mRNA expression. Moreover, IMD1-53 inhibited the angiotensin II-induced hypertrophic response and the effects of IMD1-53 were similar to those of equivalent-dose adrenomedullin and could been blocked by H89. Otherwise, in our study, IMD1-53 resulted in dose-dependent increases of cAMP production in cardiomyocytes. Conclusions: Thus, IMD and its receptor system are involved in cardiac hypertrophy, and like adrenomedullin, IMD1-53 exerts an antihypertrophic effect on neonatal cardiomyocytes and the effect can be mediated by the cAMP/PKA pathway.
Effectiveness of computerized delivery of intrasulcular anesthetic in primary molars.

BACKGROUND Pain measures associated with computerized delivery of intrasulcular anesthestic have not been reported. The authors evaluated a computerized delivery system for intrasulcular (CDS-IS) anesthesia in primary molars. METHODS; The study population consisted of children aged 2 to 13 years who received CDS-IS injections, 159 in mandibular molars and 48 in maxillary molars. Children were treated by one of three modes of behavioral management: behavior modification (BM) only, inhalation of nitrous oxide (N2O) in addition to BM or intrarectal sedation. Variables evaluated included the subjective perception of the child's well-being before and after administration of the anesthetic, the child's pain behavior during anesthetic administration, effectiveness of the anesthetic during dental treatment, incidence of reported postoperative dental pain (PDP) and analgesic use after the CDS-IS injections. RESULTS The effectiveness of CDS-IS anesthesia in mandibular molars was 97 percent, 92 percent, 63 percent and 71 percent for restorations, preformed stainless steel crowns, extractions and pulpal therapies, respectively (mean effectiveness, 89 percent). The effectiveness of CDS-IS anesthesia in maxillary molars was 96 percent, 50 percent, 92 percent and 78 percent, respectively (mean effectiveness, 90 percent). CDS-IS was less effective in children aged 2 to 4 years who received sedation than it was in older children. The authors found no differences between children's subjective self-reports of well-being before and after anesthetic administration, between the sexes and/or between modes of behavioral management (that is, BM or N2O). Most children exhibited low pain-related behavior during anesthetic administration, with no differences between boys and girls. The overall incidence of PDP was 31.4 percent; 64.9 percent of these patients received pain-relieving medications as a result, with no correlation to age, tooth treated, effectiveness of anesthesia or type of treatment. CONCLUSIONS CDS-IS is effective for anesthetizing primary molars, mainly for amalgam, resin-based composite and stainless steel crown restorations.
MRI-Defined Subcortical Ischemic Vascular Disease: Baseline Clinical and Neuropsychological Findings

Background: Subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD) is a common, but often overlooked cause of vascular cognitive impairment. Diagnostic research criteria for SIVD are based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings including substantial white matter lesions (WML) and multiple lacunar infarcts. Empirical studies validating these imaging criteria are still few. The purpose of the study was to describe the clinical and cognitive characteristics of the MRI-defined SIVD in a mixed sample of functionally independent elderly subjects with WML. Methods: The subjects of the Leukoaraiosis and Disability (LADIS) study, aged 65–84 years, underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological examinations, and brain MRI at the baseline assessment. The subjects meeting the SIVD imaging criteria (n = 89) were compared to the other subjects of the sample (n = 524). Results: SIVD was associated with lower education, hypertension and, independently, with obesity. The subjects with SIVD had more often motor impairment, a history of falls, and subtle impairment in activities of daily living, but they did not differ for depressive symptoms. SIVD subjects performed significantly inferiorly in tests of global cognitive function, psychomotor speed, attention and executive functions, verbal fluency, and working memory. Conclusion: In this population of nondisabled older adults with WML, SIVD was related to specific clinical and functional characteristics. Neuropsychological features included psychomotor slowing as well as deficits in attention and executive functions.
Workplace Assessment of Targeted Violence Risk: The Development and Reliability of the WAVR‐21

This study describes the development of the WAVR‐21, a structured professional judgment guide for the assessment of workplace targeted violence, and presents initial interrater reliability results. The 21‐item instrument codes both static and dynamic risk factors and change, if any, over time. Five critical items or red flag indicators assess violent motives, ideation, intent, weapons skill, and pre‐attack planning. Additional items assess the contribution of mental disorder, negative personality factors, situational factors, and a protective factor. Eleven raters each rated 12 randomly assigned cases from actual files of workplace threat scenarios. Summary interrater reliability correlation coefficients (ICCs) for overall presence of risk factors, risk of violence, and seriousness of the violent act were in the fair to good range, similar to other structured professional judgment instruments. A subgroup of psychologists who were coders produced an ICC of 0.76 for overall presence of risk factors. Some of the individual items had poor reliability for both clinical and statistical reasons. The WAVR‐21 appears to improve the structuring and organizing of empirically based risk‐relevant data and may enhance communication and decision making.
Peloisis hepatis due to Bartonella henselae in transplantation: a hemato-hepato-renal syndrome.

BACKGROUND Bacillary peliosis hepatis is an uncommon but well recognized disease due to disseminated Bartonella infections occurring predominantly in immunocompromised individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus, type 1. A similar condition in the absence of Bartonella infection when described in organ transplant patients was felt to be secondary to azathioprine and/or cyclosporine. METHODS Herein, we report the first case of bacillary peliosis hepatis due to systemic Bartonella henselae infection in a patient after kidney transplant. The patient presented with severe anemia, persistent thrombocytopenia, and hepato-renal syndrome. DNA-based polymerase chain reactions (PCR), which allowed direct detection of both B henselae and quintana DNA in patient's peripheral blood and liver tissue, were used. Indirect immunofluorescence assay for Bartonella serology was performed on peripheral blood. RESULTS Histopathology of the liver biopsy demonstrated peliosis hepatis. Indirect immunofluorescence assay for Bartonella serology was positive, and B henselae DNA was identified by PCR in the peripheral blood and liver tissue. Treatment with a 3-month course of oral erythromycin resulted in an excellent clinical response. CONCLUSIONS The present case suggests that although various anti-rejection therapies and opportunistic infections are associated with hepatic and renal dysfunction along with bone marrow suppression, the diagnostic evaluation in this situation should include liver biopsy and a careful search for evidence of systemic Bartonella infection, e.g., exposure to cats, Bartonella serology, and Bartonella DNA by PCR. A reduction in immunosuppression and prolonged therapy with antibiotics such as erythromycin will often result in early recovery.
Optimization and valuation of recongurable satellite constellations under uncertainty

Space-based persistent surveillance provides decision makers with information necessary to effectively respond to both natural and man-made crises. This thesis investigates a reconfigurable constellation strategy that utilizes on-demand, maneuverable satellites to provide focused regional coverage with short revisit times at greatly decreased cost when compared to traditional static satellite constellations. The thesis develops and demonstrates a general framework to guide the design and optimization of reconfigurable satellite constellations specifically tailored to stakeholder objectives while considering requirement uncertainty. The framework is novel in that it avoids many of the assumptions and simplifications of past research by: 1. explicitly considering uncertainty in future operating conditions; 2. concurrently optimizing constellation pattern design, satellite design, and operations design; and, 3. investigating layered and asymmetric patterns. The framework consists of three elements: a detailed simulation model to compute constellation performance and cost for a variety of architectures and patterns, Monte Carlo simulation to determine how well each design performs under uncertain future conditions, and a parallel multi-objective evolutionary algorithm developed from the -NSGA-II genetic algorithm to find designs that maximize performance while simultaneously minimizing cost. Additionally, a new performance metric is developed to measure directly how well a design meets desired temporal and spatial sampling requirements and a decision model and optimal assignment process is developed to determine how to employ the option of reconfigurability to respond to specific regional events. The framework was used to perform 85 optimization runs selected to compare the costeffectiveness of several constellation architectures over varied operating conditions and coverage requirements. All optimization runs were performed in less than three months, demonstrating that parallel computing coupled with sophisticated optimization routines enable rapid spiral development of satellite constellations. Results show that reconfigurable constellations cost 20 to 70% less than similarly performing static constellations for the scenarios studied. The cost savings grows with increasingly demanding coverage requirements. Results from optimizing a fully asymmetric constellation pattern led to two the development of new ‘quasi’-asymmetric patterns that were found to significantly outperform symmetric patterns
Neural correlates of auditory distraction revealed in theta-band EEG

Selective attention involves the exclusion of irrelevant information in order to optimize perception of a single source of sensory input; failure to do so often results in the familiar phenomenon of distraction. The term ‘distraction’ broadly refers to a perceptual phenomenon. In the present study we attempted to find the electrophysiological correlates of distraction using an auditory discrimination task. EEG and event-related potential responses to identical stimuli were compared under two levels of distraction (continuous broad-band noise or continuous speech). Relative to broad-band noise, the presence of a continuous speech signal in the unattended ear impaired task performance and also attenuated the N1 peak evoked by nontarget stimuli in the attended ear. As the magnitude of a peak in the event-related potential waveform can be modulated by differences in intertrial power but also by differences in the stability of EEG phase across trials, we sought to characterize the effect of distraction on intertrial power and intertrial phase locking around the latency of the N1. The presence of continuous speech resulted in a prominent reduction of theta EEG band intertrial phase locking around the latency of the N1. This suggests that distraction may act not only to disrupt a sensory gain mechanism but also to disrupt the temporal fidelity with which the brain responds to stimulus events.
Influence of chlorhexidine on dentin adhesive interface micromorphology and nanoleakage expression of resin cements

This study focused on adhesive interface morphologic characterization and nanoleakage expression of resin cements bonded to human dentin pretreated with 1% chlorhexidine (CHX). Thirty‐two non‐carious human third molars were ground flat to expose superficial dentin. Resin composite blocks were luted to the exposed dentin using one conventional (RelyX ARC) and one self‐adhesive resin cement (RelyX U100), with/without CHX pretreatment. Four groups (n = 8) were obtained: control groups (ARC and U100); experimental groups (ARC/CHX and U100/CHX) were pretreated with 1% CHX prior to the luting process. After storage in water for 24 h, the bonded teeth were sectioned into 0.9 × 0.9 mm2 sticks producing a minimum of 12 sticks per tooth. Four sticks from each tooth were prepared for hybrid layer evaluation by scanning electron microscope analysis. The remaining sticks were immersed in silver nitrate for 24 h for either nanoleakage evaluation along the bonded interfaces or after rupture. Nanoleakage samples were carbon coated and examined using backscattered electron mode. Well‐established hybrid layers were observed in the groups luted with RelyX ARC. Nanoleakage evaluation revealed increase nanoleakage in groups treated with CHX for both resin cements. Group U100/CHX exhibited the most pronouncing nanoleakage expression along with porous zones adjacent to the CHX pretreated dentin. The results suggest a possible incompatibility between CHX and RelyX U100 that raises the concern that the use of CHX with self‐adhesive cements may adversely affect resin‐dentin bond. Microsc. Res. Tech. 76:788–794, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Alternative Frameworks for Insurance Regulation in the United States

The U.S. government interferes with the market for foreign laborers by restricting the number and mix of immigrants and setting tight quantitative limits on foreign-born guest workers. This has created a mismatch between the demand for foreign workers from U.S. businesses and their supply, directly leading to the illegal immigration situation we confront today. The current system inefficiently limits the gains that our economy could achieve from employing larger numbers of foreign workers, and it disproportionately harms small U.S. businesses. The economic fears associated with increased guest workers or immigrants are unfounded. The current Senate immigration reform proposal would be a marginal improvement but does not go far enough. Red Card, an alternative guest worker proposal, would better coordinate labor markets. Ultimately, an immigration market free from government limitations and interference would be the most efficient solution.