Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal Study of Viruses Associated with Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease

ABSTRACT In this investigation a population of dogs at a rehoming center was monitored over a period of 2 years. Despite regular vaccination of incoming dogs against distemper, canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV-2), and canine parainfluenza virus (CPIV), respiratory disease was endemic. Tissue samples from the respiratory tract as well as paired serum samples were collected for analysis. The development of PCR assays for the detection of CPIV, canine adenovirus types 1 and 2, and canine herpesvirus (CHV) is described. Surprisingly, canine adenovirus was not detected in samples from this population, whereas 19.4% of tracheal and 10.4% of lung samples were positive for CPIV and 12.8% of tracheal and 9.6% of lung samples were positive for CHV. As reported previously, a novel canine respiratory coronavirus (CRCoV) was detected in this population (K. Erles, C. Toomey, H. W. Brooks, and J. Brownlie, Virology 310:216-223, 2003). Infections with CRCoV occurred mostly during the first week of a dog's stay at the kennel, whereas CPIV and CHV were detected at later time points. Furthermore, the evaluation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies to CPIV and an immunofluorescence assay for detection of antibodies to CHV is described. This study shows that CPIV is present at kennels despite vaccination. In addition, other agents such as CHV and CRCoV may play a role in the pathogenesis of canine respiratory disease, whereas CAV-2 and canine distemper virus were not present in this population, indicating that their prevalence in the United Kingdom is low due to widespread vaccination of dogs.
Customer satisfaction and expenditure behaviour in musical festivals

We evaluate the determinants of the two different types of tourists’ expenditure behaviour at a musical festival: the expenditure per day in the city of the event and expenses in the enclosure during the event. We prove that the domestic tourists who live out of the town of the event and foreigners who came purposely for the event spend more in the enclosure. Comparing the expenditures in the city, foreigners spend more in town than the nationals who came from out of the city. Four distinct factors of satisfaction emerged in the application of the factorial analysis: organization of the festival, kind of music, conditions of the enclosure and accessibility to the venue. It was also found that the most satisfied with the event also have a higher propensity to spend more on the enclosure and in the city. This research reveals an important framework for event managers and for politicians. The results of this study will be important for the promotion and dissemination by the event organization to the extent that marketing campaigns should be directed to the identification of socio-demographic characteristics of the tourists, the factors of satisfaction and the lovers of the event that positively contribute to the expenditure in the city and in the enclosure. The results may be of interest to politicians, as the event, if properly assessed and planned, can be used as important marketing strategy in cities where it occurs. Moreover, this kind of event is already part of an itinerary tourism tour and for this reason, its social, cultural and economic importance will have to be properly assessed.
Accelerated Up-Dosing of Subcutaneous Immunotherapy with a Registered Allergoid Birch Pollen Preparation

Background: Early pollen flight and new allergens prolonging the pollen season means that the time for up-dosing of allergen-specific subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) outside the pollen season becomes shorter. Hence, for patients who wish or need to be up-dosed faster, an accelerated induction regimen would provide a useful treatment option. Methods: An accelerated up-dosing regimen (0.1-0.3-0.5 mL at weekly intervals) was compared to conventional up-dosing (0.05-0.1-0.2-0.3-0.4-0.5 mL at weekly intervals) using an allergoid birch pollen SCIT preparation. After up-dosing, the maintenance dose (0.5 mL) was given 3 times at biweekly intervals. The multicenter study was performed according to an open randomized, parallel-group design. Results: A total of 123 birch pollen-allergic patients (81 adults and 42 adolescents) presenting with rhinitis or rhinoconjunctivitis with or without mild asthma (FEV1 >70%) were randomized to either the conventional registered up-dosing or an accelerated regimen. In total, 96.7 and 98.4% successfully reached the maintenance dose for the conventional and accelerated regimen, respectively, without relevant differences between adults and adolescents. Both regimens were safe and well tolerated. Furthermore, significant increases (similar in size) in specific IgG and IgG4 after 3 months of treatment were observed in both groups, independent of age. Conclusion: The accelerated SCIT regimen was revealed to be as safe as the conventional regimen, and the immunological effects of both regimens are similar. Accordingly, the accelerated regimen may be used to up-dose patients of adult as well adolescent age within 2 weeks.
The effect of Amblyomma variegatum on liveweight gain of cattle in Zambia

Abstract. The effect of the tick Amblyomma variegatum Fabricius on liveweight gain (LWG) on yearling cattle over 16 weeks was evaluated under quasi‐natural conditions. Early in the exposure period when animals may have been in a state of suppressed metabolism, the effect of tick feeding on LWG was negligible. Overall, however, the difference in LWG between tick‐free and tick‐infested groups of cattle was 4.95 kg after 16 weeks. This difference between the groups was used to estimate a lower LWG of 48–63 g due to each engorging female tick.
A Second Life for eHealth: Prospects for the Use of 3-D Virtual Worlds in Clinical Psychology

The aim of the present paper is to describe the role played by three-dimensional (3-D) virtual worlds in eHealth applications, addressing some potential advantages and issues related to the use of this emerging medium in clinical practice. Due to the enormous diffusion of the World Wide Web (WWW), telepsychology, and telehealth in general, have become accepted and validated methods for the treatment of many different health care concerns. The introduction of the Web 2.0 has facilitated the development of new forms of collaborative interaction between multiple users based on 3-D virtual worlds. This paper describes the development and implementation of a form of tailored immersive e-therapy called p-health whose key factor is interreality, that is, the creation of a hybrid augmented experience merging physical and virtual worlds. We suggest that compared with conventional telehealth applications such as emails, chat, and videoconferences, the interaction between real and 3-D virtual worlds may convey greater feelings of presence, facilitate the clinical communication process, positively influence group processes and cohesiveness in group-based therapies, and foster higher levels of interpersonal trust between therapists and patients. However, challenges related to the potentially addictive nature of such virtual worlds and questions related to privacy and personal safety will also be discussed.
Synthesis of the Arabidopsis Bifunctional Lysine-Ketoglutarate Reductase/Saccharopine Dehydrogenase Enzyme of Lysine Catabolism Is Concertedly Regulated by Metabolic and Stress-Associated Signals1

In plants, excess cellular lysine (Lys) is catabolized into glutamic acid and acetyl-coenzyme A; yet, it is still not clear whether this pathway has other functions in addition to balancing Lys levels. To address this issue, we examined the effects of stress-related hormones, abscisic acid (ABA), and jasmonate, as well as various metabolic signals on the production of the mRNA and polypeptide of the bifunctional Lys-ketoglutarate reductase (LKR)/saccharopine dehydrogenase (SDH) enzyme, which contains the first two linked enzymes of Lys catabolism. The level of LKR/SDH was strongly enhanced by ABA, jasmonate, and sugar starvation, whereas excess sugars and nitrogen starvation reduced its level; thus this pathway appears to fulfill multiple functions in stress-related and carbon/nitrogen metabolism. Treatments with combination of hormones and/or metabolites, as well as use of ABA mutants in conjunction with the tester sugars mannose and 3-O-methyl-glucose further supported the idea that the hormonal and metabolic signals apparently operate through different signal transduction cascades. The stimulation of LKR/SDH protein expression by ABA is regulated by a signal transduction cascade that contains the ABI1-1 and ABI2-1 protein phosphatases. By contrast, the stimulation of LKR/SDH protein expression by sugar starvation is regulated by the hexokinase-signaling cascade in a similar manner to the repression of many photosynthetic genes by sugars. These findings suggest a metabolic and mechanistic link between Lys catabolism and photosynthesis-related metabolism in the regulation of carbon/nitrogen partitioning.
Cancer Statistics, 2005

Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the number of new cancer cases and deaths expected in the United States in the current year and compiles the most recent data on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival based on incidence data from the National Cancer Institute and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Incidence and death rates are age‐standardized to the 2000 US standard million population. A total of 1,372,910 new cancer cases and 570,280 deaths are expected in the United States in 2005. When deaths are aggregated by age, cancer has surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of death for persons younger than 85 since 1999. When adjusted to delayed reporting, cancer incidence rates stabilized in men from 1995 through 2001 but continued to increase by 0.3% per year from 1987 through 2001 in women. The death rate from all cancers combined has decreased by 1.5% per year since 1993 among men and by 0.8% per year since 1992 among women. The mortality rate has also continued to decrease from the three most common cancer sites in men (lung and bronchus, colon and rectum, and prostate) and from breast and colorectal cancers in women. Lung cancer mortality among women has leveled off after increasing for many decades. In analyses by race and ethnicity, African American men and women have 40% and 20% higher death rates from all cancers combined than White men and women, respectively. Cancer incidence and death rates are lower in other racial and ethnic groups than in Whites and African Americans for all sites combined and for the four major cancer sites. However, these groups generally have higher rates for stomach, liver, and cervical cancers than Whites. Furthermore, minority populations are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage disease than are Whites. Progress in reducing the burden of suffering and death from cancer can be accelerated by applying existing cancer control knowledge across all segments of the population.
Clinical Criteria for the Diagnosis of Salivary Gland Hypofunction

There is considerable difficulty in the making of initial clinical decisions as to whether a given patient has salivary gland hypofunction, and hence requires additional salivary gland evaluation. This study identified a set of four clinical measures that, together, successfully predicted the presence or absence of salivary gland hypofunction. The four measures were: dryness of lips, dryness of buccal mucosa, absence of saliva produced by gland palpation, and total DMFT; they were derived from discriminant analysis of data collected from 71 individuals with normal and low salivary flow rates. These measures are proposed as criteria for clinical decision-making, as well as for classification of patients in studies of salivary gland dysfunction syndromes. This study also identified unstimulated whole salivary flow rates of 0.12-0.16 mL/ min as the critical range separating individuals with salivary gland hypofunction from those with normal gland function.
GASTROENTEROLOGY CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA CT Colonography : Current Status and Future Promise

C olorectal cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the world with approximately 1 million new cases diagnosed annually and approximately half a million annual deaths [1]. The highest incidence occurs in North America and Europe [2]. Colon cancer is the second most common cause of mortality from cancer in the United States, causing more than 52,000 deaths in 2006 [1]. The lifetime risk of colon cancer in America is about 1 in 17 [3]. Colon cancer characteristically begins as slow-growing premalignant polyps that take approximately 10 years to progress to carcinoma [4]. It therefore is believed that colon cancer is largely preventable by mass screening to detect and then remove such polyps [5]. Only one half of the average-risk population in the United States undergoes any of the currently available screening tests for colorectal cancer, however [6,7], because of safety concerns, test invasiveness, inconvenience, costs, embarrassment, and lack of education concerning colon cancer screening [8]. CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy, CTC) is an innovative technology that entails CT examination of the entire colon and computerized processing of the raw data after colon cleansing and colonic distention. CTC currently is under intense analysis as a screening test that potentially could increase the screening rate for colon cancer because of its relative safety, relatively low expense, and greater patient acceptance as compared with other current screening methods. Its role in mass colon cancer screening is controversial, however, because of its highly variable reported sensitivity, concerns about specificity because of the inability to sample polyps for histologic analysis, and lack of therapeutic capabilities.
Tourists' behavioural analysis on olive oil consumption: empirical results

Olive oil is one of the products closely related to the Mediterranean basin and it represents one of the most important agricultural activities. Greece represents the third largest producer of olive oil in Europe. This research attempts to explore the olive oil preferences of tourists who have visited the island of Crete. The approach involved collecting questionnaires during the summer of 2014, in order to derive quantitative data, preferences, attitudes, socio-demographic profiles and the purchasing criteria of tourists towards olive oil. Logistic regression was used with the aim of studying the profile of the tourist that decides to buy olive oil in Crete. The results of the study demonstrated that the country of origin of the tourists is one of the most important driver in olive oil choice as well as the time spent in Crete and the interest in typical products.
Health-Related Quality of Life and Association With Arthropathy in Greek Patients with Hemophilia

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is increasingly implicated in contemporary hemophilia management. This study focuses on the assessment of HRQoL in Greek patients with hemophilia and the comparison with normative data from the general population, as well as on the extent arthropathy may affect the patients’ HRQoL. One hundred and nine adult patients completed the Greek social functioning (SF-36) and Haem-A-QoL questionnaires. Arthropathy was assessed by both the World Federation of Hemophilia clinical score and Pettersson radiological score. The most impaired domains of Haem-A-QoL were sports/leisure (SL) and physical health (PH; mean scores 61.2 and 42.2, respectively). The patients experienced statistically significant lower mean scores in all SF-36 domains than the normative sample, especially in role physical (RPH), bodily pain (BP), and general health (GH) subscales. Among Haem-A-QoL subscales, SL and PH were found strongly associated with severity of arthropathy using both orthopedic scores (P < .001), and maintained the statistical significance after adjustment for age (P < .05). A poor orthopedic status was also negatively associated with certain SF-36 subscales. However, none of these correlations remained after adjustment with age. Compared to normative data from Greece, patients with hemophilia showed deterioration in all HRQoL subscales, with a more pronounced effect in RPH, BP, and GH subscales. Health-related quality of life was strongly influenced by arthropathy, mainly in the physical aspects of HRQoL. The use of the disease-specific Haem-A-QoL tool can capture additional associations between HRQoL and hemophilic arthropathy.
Surgical Complications and the Risk Factors of Totally Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy

Purpose It has not yet been elucidated whether there are specific complications associated with totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG). We evaluated the complications and the risk factors associated with TLDG. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 138 consecutive patients who underwent TLDG. The clinical and operative data, which included the body mass index, respiratory function, hematological data, pathological data, and the experience of surgeon, were analyzed. Results Intraoperative and postoperative complications developed in 10 and 28 patients, respectively. A univariate analysis determined that the patient age, concurrent respiratory disease, and operation time were important risk factors. A multivariate analysis found no significant risk factors in this set, although the operation time was the most promising risk factor. Conclusions The present data suggest that TLDG can be performed with acceptable perioperative complication rates, although a longer operation time may cause a higher frequency of postoperative complications.
Role of p38 in Replication of Trypanosoma brucei Kinetoplast DNA

ABSTRACT Trypanosomes have an unusual mitochondrial genome, called kinetoplast DNA, that is a giant network containing thousands of interlocked minicircles. During kinetoplast DNA synthesis, minicircles are released from the network for replication as θ-structures, and then the free minicircle progeny reattach to the network. We report that a mitochondrial protein, which we term p38, functions in kinetoplast DNA replication. RNA interference (RNAi) of p38 resulted in loss of kinetoplast DNA and accumulation of a novel free minicircle species named fraction S. Fraction S minicircles are so underwound that on isolation they become highly negatively supertwisted and develop a region of Z-DNA. p38 binds to minicircle sequences within the replication origin. We conclude that cells with RNAi-induced loss of p38 cannot initiate minicircle replication, although they can extensively unwind free minicircles.
In Vitro Models as a Platform to Investigate Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) remains a significant cause of mortality and morbidity, affecting individuals of all age groups. Much remains to be learned about its complex pathophysiology, with a view to designing effective neuroprotective strategies to protect sublethally injured brain tissue that would otherwise die in secondary injury processes. Experimental in vivo models offer the potential to study TBI in the laboratory, however, treatments that were neuroprotective in animals have, thus far, largely failed to translate in human clinical studies. In vitro models of neurotrauma can be used to study specific pathophysiological cascades — individually and without confounding factors — and to test potential neuroprotective strategies. These in vitro models include transection, compression, barotrauma, acceleration, hydrodynamic, chemical injury and cell-stretch methodologies. Various cell culture systems can also be utilised, including brain-on-a-chip, immortalised cell lines, primary cultures, acute preparations and organotypic cultures. Potential positive outcomes of the increased use of in vitro platforms to study TBI would be the refinement of in vivo experiments, as well as enhanced translation of the results into clinically meaningful neuroprotective strategies for the future. In addition, the replacement of in vivo experiments by suitable in vitro studies would lead to a welcome reduction in the numbers of animal procedures in this ethically-challenging field.
CHRONIC BLOCKADE OF HIPPOCAMPAL KAPPA RECEPTORS INCREASES ARTERIAL PRESSURE IN CONSCIOUS SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS BUT NOT IN NORMOTENSIVE WISTAR KYOTO RATS

Previous studies in this laboratory have shown that dynorphins acting on hippocampal kappa opioid receptors in rat brain exert a restraining influence on arterial blood pressure and that a relative deficiency of their production in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) may be involved in SHR hypertension. Kappa receptor blockade should therefore exacerbate hypertension in SHR. We explored the latter possibility by chronic unilateral infusion of nor-binaltorphimine dihydrochloride (nor-BNI), a selective kappa receptor antagonist, into the right dorsal hippocampus of conscious SHR and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) controls over a 14 day period. Additional controls consisted of similar hippocampal infusions of equivalent volumes of drug vehicle in both rat strains. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rates (HR) were determined in each animal once daily by the tail cuff method during this period. Nor-BNI induced a sustained increase in the basal high level of MAP in SHR from 132 ± 8 to 150 ± 10 mmHg throughout the 14 days and an increased HR from 427 ± 17 to 477 ± 30 on day 3 to 5 following the drug. By contrast, nor-BNI had no significant effects on either MAP or HR in WKY rats and control infusions of drug vehicle were similarly without effect in both strains. The results support our previous suggestion that the kappa opioid system of the hippocampus ordinarily restrains arterial blood pressure in SHR since prolonged hippocampal kappa receptor blockade results in augmented hypertension in this strain.
Continuation of the Etonogestrel Implant in Women Undergoing Immediate Postabortion Placement

OBJECTIVE: To estimate whether women who receive an immediate postabortion etonogestrel subdermal implant have higher discontinuation rates than women who undergo an interval insertion (insertion not associated with a recent pregnancy). METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of the Contraceptive CHOICE Project. We compared 12-month continuation rates for the subdermal implant between women undergoing immediate postabortion placement and women who underwent an interval placement. Continuation rates were compared using Kaplan-Meier estimator of survival function and Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Over the study period, 141 women received the implant immediately postabortion and 935 women underwent an interval placement. The 12-month continuation rates were similar: 81.5% among women undergoing immediate postabortion placement and 82.8% among women undergoing interval placement (P=.54). In the survival analysis, women who received an immediate postabortion implant were no more likely to discontinue their method than women who had an interval placement (adjusted hazard ratio 1.04, 95% confidence interval 0.68–1.60). The most common reason given for discontinuation was frequent or irregular bleeding, which was reported by 65.4% of women discontinuing in the immediate postabortion group and 56.7% in the interval group. CONCLUSION: Women who undergo immediate postabortion placement of the subdermal implant have high rates of continuation that are equivalent to women undergoing interval insertion. Immediate postabortion long-acting reversible contraceptives should be available to women undergoing induced abortion to decrease the risk of repeat unplanned pregnancy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II