Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assays for heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia

Tests for the presence of heparin‐dependent antibodies (heparin‐Ig) have evolved in parallel with improved understanding of the pathophysiology of heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). The first group of tests relied upon platelet aggregation or activation. Among tests in this group, the serotonin release assay has been reported to demonstrate the best performance characteristics. However, this test has not been widely adopted outside a few specialized laboratories owing to its complexity and need for radioactive materials. As a result, the less sensitive and specific platelet aggregation test is more commonly used for the diagnosis of heparin‐Ig. The literature suggests that test sensitivity can be improved by the use of the patient’s own platelets, platelets from selected donors known to be reactive in the assay, or washed platelets. Test specificity has been enhanced by the use of two point assays that include neutralization of the reaction by a high dose of heparin. A second group of assays have focused on detection of heparin‐dependent binding of immunoglobulins to the platelet membrane. Most of these tests are hampered by the fact that platelets in patients with suspected HIT and in conditions that are in the differential diagnosis of HIT frequently express high levels of platelet‐associated immunoglobulin. The most recent tests for heparin‐Ig are based on the recognition that patient antibodies are directed against the heparin‐PF4 complex. This has led to the development of the PF4/heparin EIA assay. Because whole platelets are not used in this assay, problems related to under‐reactivity or nonspecific reactivity are avoided. In addition, the ability of the test to predict clinical complications may be improved because the test can distinguish IgM from IgG heparin‐Ig. Currently the laboratory diagnosis of heparin‐Ig remains inexact. The sensitivity and specificity of laboratory assays cannot be firmly established. Much like the diagnosis of the phospholipid syndrome — where use of both the cardiolipin EIA and the lupus anticoagulant test offer overlapping advantages — the combination of the heparin‐PF4 EIA plus either a test of platelet activation or a heparin‐dependent antibody binding assay may prove to be a more sensitive and specific approach to the diagnosis of heparin‐Ig. Despite the progress that has been made in the area of laboratory diagnosis of heparin‐Ig, further improvement is needed. Heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia is not rare and may be associated with devastating morbidity as well as mortality. Low‐molecular‐weight heparins usually cross‐react with heparin‐Ig. Therapy with Org 10172 appears to be the most promising alternative for patients with HIT. Because the clinical diagnosis is uncertain in sick hospitalized patients, further improvements in laboratory assays for heparin‐Ig allowing earlier and more accurate diagnosis of patients at risk for HIT will be welcome.
Roles of hilC and hilD in Regulation of hilA Expression in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium

ABSTRACT Sequences between −332 and −39 upstream of the hilApromoter are required for repression of hilA. An unidentified repressor is thought to bind these upstream repressing sequences (URS) to inhibit hilA expression. Two AraC-like transcriptional regulators encoded on Salmonellapathogenicity island 1 (SPI1), HilC and HilD, bind to the URS to counteract the repression of hilA. The URS is required for regulation of hilA by osmolarity, oxygen, PhoP/PhoQ, and SirA/BarA. Here, we show that FadD, FliZ, PhoB, and EnvZ/OmpR also require the URS to regulate hilA. These environmental and regulatory factors may affect hilA expression by altering the expression or activity of HilC, HilD, or the unknown repressor. To begin investigating these possibilities, we tested the effects of environmental and regulatory factors on hilC andhilD expression. We also examined hilAregulation when hilC or hilD was disrupted or expressed to a high level. Although hilC is regulated by all environmental conditions and regulatory factors that modulatehilA expression, hilC is not required for the regulation of hilA by any conditions or factors except EnvZ/OmpR. In contrast, hilD is absolutely required forhilA expression, but environmental conditions and regulatory factors have little or no effect on hilDexpression. We speculate that EnvZ/OmpR regulates hilA by altering the expression and/or activity of hilC, while all other regulatory conditions and mutations regulate hilA by modulating hilD posttranscriptionally. We also discuss models in which the regulation of hilA expression is mediated by modulation of the expression or activity of one or more repressors.
Young-onset colorectal cancer: is it time to pay attention?

cian note entry; provide alternatives, such as dictation, document scanning, and/or scribes forEMRnotecapture;make the EMR inbox smarter about when, and how, to present messages to PCPs; and train clinic support personnel to manage the same proportion of inbox messages they handled with paper systems and to think whether a message is important or just noise before pushing the soconvenient “Forward-to-PCP” button. If changes are not made to reduce or eliminate these time penalties on PCPs, there will be no PCPs left to penalize.
Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease dissociates mood and motor circuits: A functional MRI case study

Behavioral disturbances have been reported with subthalamic (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD). We report correlative functional imaging (fMRI) of mood and motor responses induced by successive right and left DBS. A 36‐year‐old woman with medically refractory PD and a history of clinically remitted depression underwent uncomplicated implantation of bilateral STN DBS. High‐frequency stimulation of the left electrode improved motor symptoms. Unexpectedly, right DBS alone elicited several reproducible episodes of acute depressive dysphoria. Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) imaging was carried out with sequential individual electrode stimulation. The electrode on the left was within the inferior STN, whereas the right electrode was marginally superior and lateral to the intended STN target within the Fields of Forel/zona incerta. fMRI image analysis (Analysis of Functional NeuroImages, AFNI) contrasting OFF versus ON stimulation identified significant lateralized blood oxygen level‐dependent (BOLD) signal changes with DBS (P < 0.001). Left DBS primarily showed changes in motor regions: increases in premotor and motor cortex, ventrolateral thalamus, putamen, and cerebellum as well as decreases in sensorimotor/supplementary motor cortex. Right DBS showed similar but less extensive change in motor regions. More prominent were the unique increases in superior prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate (Brodmann's area [BA] 24), anterior thalamus, caudate, and brainstem, and marked widespread decreases in medial prefrontal cortex (BA 9/10). The mood disturbance resolved spontaneously in 4 weeks despite identical stimulation parameters. Transient depressive mood induced by subcortical DBS stimulation was correlated with changes in mesolimbic cortical structures. This case provides new evidence supporting cortical segregation of motor and nonmotor cortico‐basal ganglionic systems that may converge in close proximity at the level of the STN and the adjacent white matter tracts (Fields of Forel/zona incerta). © 2003 Movement Disorder Society
Association Between Risk-Taking Tendency and Smoking Behavior Among Male High School Students in the Republic of Korea

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate the effects of risk-taking tendency on experimental smoking and current smoking among male high school students in the Republic of Korea (N = 295). A multinomial logistic regression was used to examine their relationship. After adjustment for other covariates, risk-taking tendency showed no significant association with experimental smoking but did show a statistically significant association with current smoking. In addition, other factors significantly related to cigarette use differed depending on the type of smoking behavior. Social factors were significantly associated with experimental smoking, whereas personal attributes were significantly linked to current smoking.
Design and Experiment on Differentially-Driven Microstrip Antennas

Design and experiment is given of differentially-driven microstrip antennas. First, the design formulas to determine the patch dimensions and the location of the feed point for single-ended microstrip antennas are examined to design differentially-driven microstrip antennas. It is found that the patch length can still be designed using the formulas for the required resonant frequency but the patch width calculated by the formula usually needs to be widen to ensure the excitation of the fundamental mode using the probe feeds. The condition that links the patch width, the locations of the probe feeds, and the excitation of the fundamental mode is given. Second, the wideband techniques for single-ended microstrip antennas are evaluated for differentially-driven microstrip antennas. A novel H-slot is proposed for differentially-driven microstrip antennas to improve impedance bandwidth. Third, the effects of imperfect differential signal conditions on the performance of differentially-driven microstrip antennas are investigated for the first time. It is found that they only degrade the polarization purity in the -plane with an increased radiation of cross-polarization. Finally, both differentially-driven and single-ended microstrip antennas were fabricated and measured. It is shown that the simulated and measured results are in acceptable agreement. More importantly, it is also shown that the differentially-driven microstrip antenna has wider impedance bandwidth of measured 4.1% and simulated 3.9% and higher gain of measured 4.2 dBi and simulated 3.7 dBi as compared with those of measured 1.9% and simulated 1.3% and gain of measured 1.2 dBi and simulated 1.2 dBi of the single-ended microstrip antenna.
Ten Take Home Lessons from the First 10 Years of the CTN and 10 Recommendations for the Future

Background: The first 10 years of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Clinical Trials Network (CTN) yielded a wealth of data on the effectiveness of a number of behavioral, pharmacological, and combined approaches in community-based settings. Methods: We summarize some of the methodological contributions and lessons learned from the behavioral trials conducted during its first ten years, including the capacity and enormous potential of this national research infrastructure. Results: The CTN made contributions to the methodology of effectiveness research; new insights from secondary analyses; the extent to which approaches with strong evidence bases, such as contingency management, extend their effectiveness to real world clinical settings; new data on ‘standard treatment’ as actually practiced in community programs, the extent to which retention remains a major issue in the field; important data on the safety of specific behavioral therapies for addiction; and heightened the importance of continued sustained attention to bridging the gap between treatment and research. Conclusions: Areas of focus for the CTN’s future include defining common outcome measures to be used in treatment outcome studies for illicit drugs; incorporating performance indicators and measures of clinical significance; conducting comparative outcome studies; contributing to the understanding of effective treatments of comorbidity; reaching underserved populations; building implementation science; understanding long-term outcomes of current treatments and sustaining treatment effects; and conducting future trials more efficiently.
Postural control during quiet bipedal standing in rats

The control of bipedal posture in humans is subject to non-ideal conditions such as delayed sensation and heartbeat noise. However, the controller achieves a high level of functionality by utilizing body dynamics dexterously. In order to elucidate the neural mechanism responsible for postural control, the present study made use of an experimental setup involving rats because they have more accessible neural structures. The experimental design requires rats to stand bipedally in order to obtain a water reward placed in a water supplier above them. Their motions can be measured in detail using a motion capture system and a force plate. Rats have the ability to stand bipedally for long durations (over 200 s), allowing for the construction of an experimental environment in which the steady standing motion of rats could be measured. The characteristics of the measured motion were evaluated based on aspects of the rats’ intersegmental coordination and power spectrum density (PSD). These characteristics were compared with those of the human bipedal posture. The intersegmental coordination of the standing rats included two components that were similar to that of standing humans: center of mass and trunk motion. The rats’ PSD showed a peak at approximately 1.8 Hz and the pattern of the PSD under the peak frequency was similar to that of the human PSD. However, the frequencies were five times higher in rats than in humans. Based on the analysis of the rats’ bipedal standing motion, there were some common characteristics between rat and human standing motions. Thus, using standing rats is expected to be a powerful tool to reveal the neural basis of postural control.
Short-term Training Effects on Left Ventricular Diastolic Function and Oxygen Uptake in Older and Younger Men

ObjectiveTo determine the effect of plasma volume change with short-term training and diuresis on left ventricular diastolic filling and exercise oxygen uptake (VO2) in older versus younger men. MethodsEleven older (68 ± 5 y) physically active (maximal oxygen uptake [VO2max] = 25.9 ± 3.6 mL · kg−1 · min−1) and 10 younger sedentary males (24 ± 5 y, VO2max 40.5 ± 5.0 mL · kg−1 · min−1) were randomly assigned to 5 consecutive days of (1) 1 h/d high intensity stationary cycling (EXER); (2) 100 mg/d spironolactone (DIUR); and (3) exercise and diuretic (EXDI). Each treatment was separated by a 21-day washout. Doppler echocardiographic indices of left ventricular diastolic filling including peak early and atrial transmitral flow velocity and isovolumic relaxation time; percent change in plasma volume; submaximal VO2 kinetics; and VO2max were determined at baseline and 48 hours after each treatment. ResultsPlasma volume was increased more in the young following EXER (8.92 ± 7.6 vs. 6.2%, P = 0.038) and decreased more in the older group following DIUR (−11.5% vs. −3.54 ± 9.0, P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between groups after EXDI. Significant changes in peak early flow velocity with EXER in older subjects were not reflected in any other changes in left ventricular diastolic filling across conditions. No changes in left ventricular diastolic filling were observed in the young group with any condition. VO2max and VO2 kinetics were unchanged under all conditions from baseline in both groups. ConclusionsThese results suggest that exercise VO2 responses either at maximal or submaximal workrates are not limited by alterations in left ventricular pump function in physically fit older adults.
An Empirical Study of the Relationship between the Idiosyncratic Volatility and Cross-sectional Return

We confirm that the negative relation between lagged idiosyncratic volatility and future average returns cannot be explained by exposure to various cross-sectional risk factors and market frictions such as illiquidity,trading cost and price delay.Different from studies in US stock markets,we find that the negative relation is stronger with equal-weighted idiosyncratic volatility quintile portfolios than value weighted portfolios.We also find that the abnormal low future returns with high past idiosyncratic volatility is not significant after controlling for turnover effect in Chinese stock market.We propose that short sale constraints and retail investors dominating trading in Chinese stock market can help to explain the differences.
(–)‐2‐oxa‐4‐aminobicylco[3.1.0]hexane‐4,6‐dicarboxylic acid (LY379268) and 3‐[(2‐methyl‐1,3‐thiazol‐4‐yl)ethynyl]piperidine (MTEP) similarly attenuate stress‐induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) have been implicated in the regulation of anxiety, stress responses and the neurobehavioral effects of psychostimulants. The present study was designed to examine whether antagonizing mGluR5 or activating mGluR2/3 prevents stress‐induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. Male Wistar rats were trained to self‐administer cocaine and then subjected to daily extinction training for 2 weeks. Subsequent exposure to 15 minutes of intermittent footshock elicited robust reinstatement of responding at the previously active lever. Both the selective mGluR5 antagonist 3‐[(2‐methyl‐1,3‐thiazol‐4‐yl)ethynyl]piperidine (MTEP) (0–3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) and the selective mGluR2/3 agonist (–)‐2‐oxa‐4‐aminobicylco[3.1. 0]hexane‐4,6‐dicarboxylic acid (LY379268) (0–3 mg/kg, subcutaneously) prevented cocaine seeking induced by footshock stress following the same dose‐response function. The data show that although mGluR2/3 and mGluR5 are differentially located on synaptic compartments, both LY379268 and MTEP produced the same behavioral effects in reducing stress‐induced reinstatement. These results are important because they demonstrate that a reduction in glutamate‐mediated neural excitability (albeit via different mechanisms of action) reverses footshock‐induced reinstatement and suggest that pharmacological manipulations of mGluR2/3 and mGluR5 can prevent the effects of stress, a major precipitating factor for relapse. These findings further confirm that mGluR2/3 or mGluR5 are promising targets for relapse prevention.
Cloning and expression of cynomolgus monkey and baboon zona pellucida proteins

Partial clones for the three cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fasicularis) zona pellucida genes (cmZPA, cmZPB, and cmZPC) have previously been isolated. These partial clones contained the sequences for the C‐terminal portion of each rcmZP protein. To obtain full‐length clones for each cmZP, a fresh cynomolgus monkey ovarian cDNA library was constructed. PCR methodology was employed to speed the isolation of full‐length clones for each cmZP cDNA. The 3′ primers were designed based on sequence information from the previously identified clones; the 5′ primers were designed using the human ZP sequences. The PCR technique yielded full‐length clones of cmZPA and cmZPC, but not of cmZPB. Therefore, a genomic clone of cmZPB was isolated and the sequence determined. The exon/intron structure is nearly identical to the human ZPB exon/intron structure. New PCR primers were designed based on the cynomolgus monkey ZPB genomic sequence, and a full‐length cmZPB cDNA was obtained. The same primers that were used to generate the cmZPB were also used to generate a baboon (Papio cynocephalus) ZPB (bZPB) cDNA. As was done previously for the human zona pellucida (hZP) cDNAs, the cmZP, and bZPB cDNAs were transferred to shuttle vectors for transfection into Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Stable cell lines for producing each ZP protein were isolated. Each cell line secreted the desired recombinant zona pellucida (rZP) protein into the culture medium, and each protein was purified using an established protocol. In terms of size and purity, the purified recombinant cmZP (rcmZP) and rbZPB proteins resemble the rhZP proteins. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 65: 237–244, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Market Integration and Financial Crisis: New Evidence from Asian Paciic Markets

We investigated the stock market integration among national equity indices in eight countries from the period of 1995 to 2009, which was then clustered into four sub-sample periods. The multivariate time series analyses were employed to observe the degree and the existence of the integration. We found a cointegrating vector in each of three sub-sample periods. Interestingly, in the 1997 inancial crisis, we found that there was no indication of cointegration relationship among the equity indices. The results of block causality tests and the accounting innovation analysis indicate that the short run dynamic interactions among the stock indices became more intense during the current inancial crisis, and that the U.S. stock market played dominant role in the regional markets. ");} // --> activate javascript
Perspective on the management of catheter-related infections in cancer patients.

The risk of infectious complications ranges from 9 to 80% depending on patient population and definition of catheter-related infection. In the vast majority of these patients, those infections can be treated successfully without catheter removal. The major exceptions to this guideline are patients with significant exit site or tunnel infections or with fungal isolates. Because the majority of those infections are caused by Gram-positive organisms such as S. epidermidis or S. aureus that have variable sensitivities to the antistaphylococcal penicillins, intravenous vancomycin along with gentamicin should be administered empirically until culture results are available. It appears to be unnecessary to remove the Silastic catheter automatically just because the patient is febrile, particularly if there is no microbiological evidence that the catheter is the source of the fever. Quantitative blood cultures drawn through the catheter and from a peripheral vein may lead to a better understanding of the role the catheter plays in the septic episodes in these patients but has yet to be definitive in identifying patients who absolutely require catheter removal to cure their infection. Surveillance cultures have not proved helpful in defining an "at risk" group for catheter-related infection and, due to cost and possible added risk of inducing an infectious complication, should not be routinely performed outside of an investigational setting. Instruction of patients in proper catheter care both before and after placement is of critical importance. To date there is no proved standard of catheter care and maintenance. There is a need for careful investigation in this area. We recommend that routine handling of the catheter be done with aseptic technique, which usually requires use of Betadine swabs when manipulating the catheter tip and use of a sterile dressing (e.g. E. Med IV Strip) or Op-Site (a transparent occlusive dressing) at the exit site. Continued dressings with either daily, every other day or biweekly changes may protect the catheter from gross contamination but do not protect it from catheter-associated infections. Controlled studies are needed to compare the numerous methods of postplacement catheter management and to determine the rate of infectious complications with the recently available double and triple lumen Silastic catheters and the subcutaneous implantable port-type catheters. We are presently pursuing such an investigation.