Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and safety of the oral p38 inhibitor PH-797804 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomised clinical trial

Rationale Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common lung disease leading to progressive decline in lung function. Inhibition of release of inflammatory mediators by p38 inhibitors may be a useful treatment for chronic inflammation of the airways thought to underlie the pathogenesis of the disease. Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of PH-797804, a potent and selective p38 inhibitor, in adults with moderate to severe COPD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stage II/III). Methods This was a randomised, adaptive design, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicentre trial. Patients were initially randomised to placebo, 0.5, 3, 6 or 10 mg PH-797804 once daily and treated for 6 weeks following a 2-week run-in. Measurements and main results The primary endpoint was change from baseline in trough forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) compared with placebo after 6 weeks of treatment. Secondary endpoints included other spirometric parameters, transition dyspnoea index, rescue mediation use, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and symptoms. A total of 230 patients were assigned to treatment; placebo (n=45), 0.5 mg (n=20), 3 mg (n=47), 6 mg (n=70) and 10 mg (n=48). PH-797804 showed a statistically significant improvement in trough FEV1 at week 6 compared with placebo of 0.086 litre (95% Bayesian CI 0.008 to 0.164) and 0.093 litre (95% CI 0.018 to 0·166) at 3 and 6 mg PH-797804, respectively. PH-797804 3 mg and 6 mg showed an improvement in the baseline dyspnoea index/transition dyspnoea index total focal score at week 6. PH-797804 was well tolerated at all doses studied. Conclusions PH-797804 demonstrated improvements over placebo in lung function parameters and dyspnoea in patients with moderate to severe COPD. TrialRegNo NCT00559910.
Suicide during 1961–70 of migrants in Australia

Synopsis Rates and methods of suicide during 1961–70 of migrants in Australia were compared with native born Australians. Large differences in both rates and methods of suicide were found in individual migrant groups. The rates were more akin to those in the country of origin than of the Australian-born, no matter how long the migrants had lived in Australia. By contrast, methods of suicide used by migrants approached more closely those of the Australian-born the longer they had lived in Australia. The change in methods used was greatest in those migrant groups coming from countries with a language and culture more akin to those in Australia. A discussion follows of various possible sociological and cultural factors, both within the countries of origin and within Australia, which could have contributed to these results.
Intubation alone does not mandate trauma surgeon presence on patient arrival to the emergency department.

BACKGROUND Current American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma criteria for major resuscitation include prehospital respiratory compromise or obstruction and/or intubation and mandate an attending trauma surgeon's presence on patient's arrival to the emergency department (ED). A substantial number of trauma patients arrive intubated, with no other physiologic compromise. We hypothesized that field or ED intubation in the absence of other major criteria does not require trauma surgeon presence on patient arrival. METHODS Data were collected from our trauma registry on all injured patients intubated in the field or on arrival to the ED over a 30-month period ending in June 2003. Patients meeting other American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma criteria (systolic blood pressure < 90 mm Hg; gunshot wound to the neck, chest, or abdomen; and unstable patient transfers) were excluded. RESULTS During this period, 7,645 trauma patients were admitted to the ED; 834 were intubated, of whom 489 (59%) had no other criteria for major resuscitation. One was pronounced dead, 6 were admitted to the ward, 415 (85%) were admitted to the intensive care unit, and 67 (14%) were transferred directly to the operating room. Twenty-two (4%) required nonorthopedic or nonneurosurgical procedures, 11 (2%) of which were for hemorrhage control. Twelve of 16 stab wounds (75%) required emergent operation, 7 (44%) of which were for hemorrhage control. In contrast, 8 (3%) of 244 motor vehicle crashes required emergent operation, 4 (2%) of which were for hemorrhage control. CONCLUSION Intubated patients with central stab wounds represent a high-risk group and should mandate trauma surgeon presence on patient arrival. Excluding stab wounds, field or ED intubation alone rarely requires emergent surgical decision-making. Therefore, field or ED intubation alone should not mandate trauma surgeon presence on patient arrival.
The involvement of human placental microsomal cytochrome P-450 in aromatization.

SUMMARY The aromatization of androstenedione is inhibited in the presence of diethylaminoethyl-2,2-di-phenyl valerate and not monoxide metyrapone. The role of cytochrome P-450 in this reaction could not, therefore, be unequivocally established by inhibition studies. However, it was determined that steroid binding to placental microsomal cytochrome P-450 is absolutely specific for aromatase substrates, intermediates, and inhibitors. Moreover, the substrate 19nortestosterone, aromatization of which is inhibited by CO, is a competitive inhibitor of both the aromatization and cytochrome P-450 binding of androstenedione, and vice versa. These results suggest that a single species of cytochrome P-450 is responsible for the aromatization of both steroids. 19-hydroxyandrostenedione and 19-0x0-androstenedione also compete with androstenedione and 19-nortestosterone
A multi-layered governance framework for incorporating social science insights into adapting to the health impacts of climate change

Background Addressing climate change and its associated effects is a multi-dimensional and ongoing challenge. This includes recognizing that climate change will affect the health and wellbeing of all populations over short and longer terms, albeit in varied ways and intensities. That recognition has drawn attention to the need to take adaptive actions to lessen adverse impacts over the next few decades from unavoidable climate change, particularly in developing country settings. A range of sectors is responsible for appropriate adaptive policies and measures to address the health risks of climate change, including health services, water and sanitation, trade, agriculture, disaster management, and development. Objectives To broaden the framing of governance and decision-making processes by using innovative methods and assessments to illustrate the multi-sectoral nature of health-related adaptation to climate change. This is a shift from sector-specific to multi-level systems encompassing sectors and actors, across temporal and spatial scales. Design A review and synthesis of the current knowledge in the areas of health and climate change adaptation governance and decision-making processes. Results A novel framework is presented that incorporates social science insights into the formulation and implementation of adaptation activities and policies to lessen the health risks posed by climate change. Conclusion Clarification of the roles that different sectors, organizations, and individuals occupy in relation to the development of health-related adaptation strategies will facilitate the inclusion of health and wellbeing within multi-sector adaptation policies, thereby strengthening the overall set of responses to minimize the adverse health effects of climate change.
The International Haemovigilance Network Database for the Surveillance of Adverse Reactions and Events in Donors and Recipients of Blood Components: technical issues and results

The International Haemovigilance Network's ISTARE is an online database for surveillance of all adverse reactions (ARs) and adverse events (AEs) associated with donation of blood and transfusion of blood components, irrespective of severity or the harm caused. ISTARE aims to unify the collection and sharing of information with a view to harmonizing best practices for haemovigilance systems around the world.
A Memory-Access-Efficient Implementation for Computing the Approximate String Matching Algorithm on GPUs

The closeness of a match is an important measure with a number of practical applications, including computational biology, signal processing and text retrieval. The approximate string matching (ASM) problem asks to find a substring of string Y of length n that is most similar to string X of length m. It is well-know that the ASM can be solved by dynamic programming technique by computing a table of size m × n. The main contribution of this work is to present a memory-access-efficient implementation for computing the ASM on a GPU. The proposed GPU implementation relies on warp shuffle instructions which are used to accelerate the communication between threads without resorting to shared memory access. Despite the fact that O(mn) memory access operations are necessary to access all elements of a table with size n × m, the proposed implementation performs only O( mn w ) memory access operations, where w is the warp size. Experimental results carried out on a GeForce GTX 980 GPU show that the proposed implementation, called w-SCAN, provides speed-up of over two fold in computing the ASM as compared to another prominent alternative. key words: approximate string matching, edit distance, GPU, CUDA, shuffle instructions
Prototype for 5G new air interface technology SCMA and performance evaluation

Sparse code multiple access (SCMA) is a novel non-orthogonal multiple access scheme proposed to meet the challenging demand of the future 5G communications, especially in support of the massive connections. The coded bits from each data stream will be directly mapped as multi-dimensional SCMA codeword in complex domain and then spread onto the physical resource elements in a sparse manner. The number of codewords that can be non-orthogonally multiplexed in one SCMA block can be made much larger than the number of orthogonal resource elements therein, resulting in an overloaded system. The sparsity in the spreading pattern and the design in the multidimensional modulator jointly ensure the SCMA codewords can be robustly decoded with low complexity. In this paper, we focus on the low complexity receiver design and verified the superior of an SCMA system via simulations and real-time prototyping. Lab tests and field tests all show that SCMA is a promising candidate for 5G non-orthogonal multiple access which can provide up to 300% overloading that triples the whole system throughput while still enjoying the link performance close to orthogonal transmissions.
Adolescents' alcohol and drug use trajectories in the year following treatment.

OBJECTIVE Beyond the initial relapse episode, little is known about short-term patterns of alcohol and other drug use in treated adolescents. This study characterized treated teens' short-term alcohol and other drug use trajectories over 1-year follow-up. METHOD Adolescents (N = 110, ages 12-18, 65% male, 94% white) recruited from addictions treatment, with a current DSM-IV alcohol diagnosis, reported on daily alcohol and other drug use in monthly telephone contacts over 1-year follow-up using the Timeline Follow-Back procedure. Latent class mixture modeling identified trajectories based on maximum number of consecutive abstinent days per month, separately for alcohol and other drugs. RESULTS Four alcohol trajectories were identified: high abstinence (53%), decreasing abstinence (10%), increasing abstinence (16%) and low abstinence (21%). The alcohol trajectories were distinguished by gender, age, readiness to change substance use and alcohol-related coping. To characterize changes in alcohol abstinence in relation to abstinence from other drugs, four other drug trajectories were identified: high (59%), decreasing (12%), increasing (14%) and low (15%) abstinence. Cross-classification of the alcohol and drug trajectories indicated a moderate level of concordance (kappa = 0.49). CONCLUSIONS Multiple pathways of short-term change in alcohol and other drug use were identified. Although changes in abstinence from alcohol and other drug use tended to co-occur, exceptions were observed. Differences between alcohol trajectories in readiness to change substance use and use of substance coping suggest the potentially positive impact of targeted and effectively timed interventions that focus on motivational enhancement and on improving substance coping for certain adolescent subgroups.
Prophylactic efficacy of lithium versus carbamazepine in treatment-naive bipolar patients.

BACKGROUND Alternatives to lithium for prophylactic treatment of patients with bipolar affective disorders are increasingly being advocated. However, trials comparing lithium with alternatives are scarce and often biased. METHOD We studied 94 patients with at least 2 episodes of bipolar disorder (DSM-III-R) during the previous 3 years who were in remission at entry into the study. Treatment with lithium or carbamazepine had not exceeded a total of 6 months during their lifetime. Patients were randomly assigned to carbamazepine or lithium at entry into the 2-year double-blind study or during the acute index episode previous to entry into the study. No concurrent antipsychotics or antidepressants were allowed. RESULTS On lithium treatment, 12/44 patients developed an episode, compared with 21/50 on carbamazepine treatment. Episodes on lithium treatment occurred almost exclusively during the first 3 months of the trial. Carbamazepine carried a constant risk of an episode of about 40% per year. Efficacy of lithium was superior to that of carbamazepine in patients with a (hypo)manic index episode that had not been treated with study drug during the index episode (p <.01) and also in patients with prior hypomanic but no manic episodes (p <.05). The proportion of patients who dropped out was slightly higher among those taking lithium (16/44) compared with those taking carbamazepine (13/50), resulting in 16/44 patients (36%) on lithium treatment completing the 2 years with no episode, compared with 16/50 (32%) on carbamazepine treatment. CONCLUSION Lithium appears to be superior in prophylactic efficacy to carbamazepine in bipolar patients not previously treated with mood stabilizers. Our results should reinforce efforts to put and maintain such patients on treatment with lithium.
Biochemical studies of cytokinetic changes during tumor growth.

We have measured the cytokinetic changes which characterize the growth of a hyperdiploid Ehrlich ascites tumor and have investigated some possible underlying biochemical mechanisms. In this tumor, the cell cycle increases from 9.5 hr on the 2nd day of growth to 39 hr on the 14th day and the proportion of cells in S (thymidine index) declines from 80 to 40% during the same interval of growth. Protein synthesis (measured by uptake of leucine-14C during a 20-min pulse) declines at a rate similar to the decline of the thymidine index, but there are no changes in the specific activity of six enzymes: aryl sulfatase, β-glucuronidase, thymidine kinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, and glutathione reductase. Transplantation of 107 cells from plateau-phase tumors (14 to 16 days) to new hosts causes the rate of protein synthesis to increase immediately. The thymidine index, on the other hand, remains constant for 5 to 6 hr after transplantation and then doubles within the next 4 hr. The rise is prevented (or delayed) when the animals breathe 6% oxygen. Hypoxia also decreases the thymidine index of 2-day tumors, but it does not alter the length of the cell cycle. The results suggest that the progressive accumulation of cells in G1 during tumor growth may reflect the relative inefficiency of anaerobic metabolism in producing the energy ( e.g. , ATP) necessary for movement into S phase.
Relationship between acidity and chemical properties of brazilian soils

In soils of tropical climate regions the high acidity and the presence of exchangeable aluminum (Al3+), associated to low fertility, are the main restrainting factors for agricultural production. A laboratory experiment was conducted using 26 soils of different Brazilian regions, to investigate soil acidity components, giving emphasis to Al and their relations with chemical properties. The pH correlated positively with P, Ca, Mg, K, BS, CEC and V% values, and negatively with Al saturation. The Al3+ was the predominant exchangeable cation in 32% of the soils with pH below 5.6. The KCl titratable H+ represents the hydroxi-Al(OH)x complex with low stability and the Wolf-Morgan extracted Al corresponds to the exchangeable + non-exchangeable Al species. The Al3+ and low stability hydroxi-Al decreased quickly with increasing pH up to 5.5. The non-exchangeable Al increased up to pH 4.5, then decreased to pH 5.5 and had a small increment from 7.0 to 7.5.
Influence of Ultrasound Treatment on Cavitation Erosion Resistance of AlSi7 Alloy

Ultrasound treatment of liquid aluminum alloys is known to improve mechanical properties of castings. Aluminum foundry alloys are frequently used for production of parts that undergo severe cavitation erosion phenomena during service. In this paper, the effect of the ultrasound treatment on cavitation erosion resistance of AlSi7 alloy was assessed and compared to that of conventionally cast samples. Cavitation erosion tests were performed according to ASTM G32 standard on as-cast and heat treated castings. The response of the alloy in each condition was investigated by measuring the mass loss as a function of cavitation time and by analyzing the damaged surfaces by means of optical and scanning electron microscope. It was pointed out that the ultrasound treatment increases the cavitation erosion resistance of the alloy, as a consequence of the higher chemical and microstructural homogeneity, the finer grains and primary particles and the refined structure of the eutectic induced by the treatment itself.
Possible sporadic rapid‐onset dystonia–parkinsonism

Rapid‐onset dystonia–parkinsonism is a hereditary disease characterized by a combination of dystonic and parkinsonian symptoms. Bulbar musculature is predominantly affected by dystonia. The onset is usually abrupt and the progression of the disease over years is minimal or absent. Homovanillic acid levels in cerebrospinal fluid can be diminished, suggesting that the pathogenesis of the disease is related to some dysfunction in dopaminergic neurotransmission. However, no abnormality has been found in positron emission tomography studies and levodopa does not improve symptoms. The genetic abnormality is not known, but evidence for linkage to markers on chromosome 19q13 has been reported. We describe the case of a woman with a clinical picture highly suggestive of rapid onset dystonia–parkinsonism (RDP) and no family history of the disease. © 2002 Movement Disorder Society.
[Effect of laparoscopic colectomy on exfoliated cancer cells in peritoneal cavity and prognosis for patients with colon cancer].

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of laparoscopic colectomy on the exfoliated cancer cells in peritoneal cavity, recurrence and metastasis of patients with colonic carcinoma. METHODS One hundred and fifty-nine patients with colonic cancer proven by colonoscopy and pathology were divided into two groups based on patient's preference: laparoscopic group (n=74) and open group (n=85). The positive rate of exfoliated cancer cells in peritoneal cavity was compared by cytological detection before and after cancer resection. Recurrence, metastasis rate and 3-year survival were compared between the two groups. RESULTS The positive rates of exfoliated cancer cells in peritoneal cavity were 12.2% (9/74) in the laparoscopic group and 15.3% (13/85) in the open group before cancer resection without significant difference (P=0.718); 20.3% (15/74) and 30.6% (26/85) after cancer resection without significant difference (P=0.138). The follow-up ranged from 4 to 45 months. The 3-year local recurrence rates were 13.6% (8/59) and 8.8% (6/68) (P=0.455), the 3-year distal metastasis rates were 11.9% (7/59) and 17.6% (12/68) (P=0.416) and the 3-year survival rates were 79.7% and 80.0% (P=0.998), and the differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION The laparoscopic operation does not increase the recurrence and metastasis rate and results in similar survival in patients with colonic cancer as compared to open procedure.
Tobacco smoke exposure induces irreversible alteration of testicular function in prepubertal rats

Abstract Background: Smoking is a serious public health problem and an important risk factor of many diseases. The present study evaluated whether or not the influence of prolonged tobacco smoke (TS) exposure on spermatic indices and reproductive hormones would be reversible in young and adult rats. Methods: Prepubertal and adult rats were grouped into five (I, II, III, IV, and V) separately (n=5/group) and exposed to TS at target concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 0.5, and 1.0 mg nicotine/day, respectively for 30 days using the whole body exposure inhalation method. Groups I, II, and III were sacrificed 24 h after TS exposure, while groups IV and V were allowed to recover for 30 days before they were sacrificed. Results: Sperm count and motility were significantly (p<0.05) reduced in exposed prepubertal and adult rats. Additionally, sperm morphology was unaltered, testosterone was reduced, while luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) were elevated compared to the non-TS exposed control group. The reductions in sperm count and motility were reversed only in adult recovery rats. LH and FSH elevations were reversed in all recovery animals, but testosterone concentrations remained lower than control. Furthermore, malondialdehyde levels in testes of exposed rats were significantly increased. This was reversed only in adult recovery rats that received 0.5 mg nicotine. Testicular levels of catalase, reduced glutathione, and superoxide dismutase were unaltered, except in prepubertal rats wherein catalase was decreased in both treated and recovery groups. Conclusions: The TS exposure alters sperm characteristics reversibly in adult, but irreversibly in prepubertal rats, which is attributable to elevation of oxidative stress.
Fossile Säugethierreste von Java und Japan

Die Beschreibung eines Stegodontenzahnes von Java in der vorhergehenden Abhandlung dieses Bandes ist die Veranlassung geworden, dass De Koninklijke Natuurkundige Vereeniging in Nederlandsch Indie eine grosse Sammlung fossiler Saugethierreste dem Geologischen Museum in Leiden ubersandte. Es befinden sich darin vor allen Dingen Elephanten- und Walfischknochen in sehr grosser Zahl. Einen Theil der fur eine Artbestimmung geeigneten Petrefakte machte ich zum Gegenstande einer Untersuchung, deren Resultate im Folgenden zusammengestellt sind. Die Walfischreste, die durch einen ansehnlichen, fast vollig erhaltenen Schadel, ein grosses, unversehrtes Schulterblatt, zahlreiche Wirbel u. a. m. vertreten sind, hoffe ich spater zu publiciren. Laut mir gewordener Mittheilung sind alle Objekte von Java und zwar von Surakarta (Solo) abkunftig, gesammelt durch Radhen Saleh. Es geht indessen aus verschiedenen kurzen Notizen uber die Ausgrabungen des Letztgenannten in den Sitzungsberichten der Naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft von Niederlandisch Indien ¹) hervor, dass Radhen Saleh auch an anderen Orten fossile Wirbelthierreste ausgrub, so in der Regentschaft Sentolo der Residenz Djokdjokarta, im Jahre 1865, ferner im Gebirge Pandan, an der Grenze von Madiun, Rembang und Kediri, und zwar an einem Orte genannt Gedung Lumbu, unweit Tjaruban, im Jahre 1866. Nordlich von Solo fand der Officier P.E. C. Schmulling schon 1864 Reste fossiler Saugethiere ²).