Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
'One-stop' rectal bleeding clinics without routine flexible sigmoidoscopy are unsafe.

Over 90% of patients referred to surgeons for investigation of rectal bleeding have haemorrhoids, fissure-in-ano or proctitis. Full investigation of these patients to exclude colonic neoplasia or inflammatory bowel disease imposes a considerable load on a hospital's resources as well as exposing the patient to significant inconvenience and morbidity. A 'one-stop' outpatient clinic was established, with selective use of flexible sigmoidoscopy, based on the judgement and clinical findings of a single experienced surgeon. Over a 4 month period, 344 patients were assessed, and 326 were identified as not needing flexible sigmoidoscopy. At 3 and 6 monthly follow-up, 22 presented with persistent rectal bleeding and three previously unidentified cancers were found on performance of flexible sigmoidoscopy. If a 'one-stop' policy is to be used in the management of rectal bleeding, routine flexible sigmoidoscopy is essential for all patients.
Quinolone-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae: correlation of alterations in the GyrA subunit of DNA gyrase and the ParC subunit of topoisomerase IV with antimicrobial susceptibility profiles

Fifty-five clinical strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were examined for mutations in the gyrA and parC genes and for antimicrobial susceptibility profiles. The MICs of quinolones for 31 strains with alterations in GyrA were significantly higher than the MICs for 24 strains without such alterations. Eleven strains with alterations in both GyrA and ParC were significantly more resistant to fluoroquinolones than those with alterations in GyrA alone. The MICs of cephalosporins for these strains were also significantly higher than those for other strains.
Bim and Noxa Are Candidates to Mediate the Deleterious Effect of the NF-κB Subunit RelA in Cerebral Ischemia

The transcription factor nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is well known for its antiapoptotic action. However, in some disorders, such as cerebral ischemia, a proapoptotic function of NF-κB has been demonstrated. To analyze which subunit of NF-κB is functional in cerebral ischemia, we induced focal cerebral ischemia in mice with a germline deletion of the p52 or c-Rel gene or with a conditional deletion of RelA in the brain. Only RelA deficiency reduced infarct size. Interestingly, expression of the proapoptotic BH3 (Bcl-2 homology domain 3)-only genes Bim and Noxa in cerebral ischemia depended on RelA and the upstream kinase IKK (IκB kinase). RelA stimulated Bim and Noxa gene transcription in primary cortical neurons and bound to the promoter of both genes. Thus, the deleterious function in cerebral ischemia is specific for the NF-κB subunit RelA and may be mediated through Bim and Noxa.
Testicular tumors: findings with color Doppler US.

A study of 28 patients with surgically proved testicular tumors was performed to determine the appearance at color Doppler ultrasound (US) scanning. There was a general correlation of tumor size and vascularity. Twenty of 21 (95%) tumors larger than 1.6 cm were hypervascular. Six of seven (86%) tumors smaller than 1.6 cm were hypovascular. One small, 1.1-cm-diameter seminoma was hypervascular, and one 2.8-cm-diameter seminoma was hypovascular. The histologic findings of the tumor did not correlate with the vascularity of the lesion as seen at color Doppler US. Resistive indexes ranged from . 476 to 1.0 (mean, 0.70). Peak systolic velocities ranged from 8.4 cm/sec to 64.9 cm/sec (mean, 9.8 cm/sec). Venous flow was detected in eight tumors. The gray-scale findings, as well as history and physical examination findings, correctly suggested a neoplasm in all cases. The findings at color Doppler US were prospectively interpreted as indicative of neoplasm in 27 cases and as indicative of inflammation in one case. The authors conclude that color Doppler US scanning has only a limited role in the evaluation of testicular tumors.
A diet rich in phosphatidylethanolamine increases plasma homocysteine in mink: a comparison with a soyabean oil diet

The effects of high dietary levels of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) on plasma concentrations of homocysteine (tHcy) have not previously been studied. Eighteen mink (Mustela vison) studied were fed one of three diets during a 25d period in a parallel-group design. The compared diets had 0, 17 and 67% extracted lipids from natural gas-utilising bacteria (LNGB), which were rich in PE. The group with 0% LNGB was fed a diet of 100% soyabean oil (SB diet). Phospholipids are the main lipid components in LNGB and Methylococcus capsulatus is the main bacteria (90%). The fasting plasma concentration of tHcy was significantly higher when the mink consumed the diet with 67% LNGB than when they consumed the SB diet (P=0·039). A significantly lower glutathione peroxidase activity was observed in mink consuming the 17% LNGB diet or the 67% LNGB diet than was observed in mink fed the SB diet. The lack of significant differences in the level of plasma PE due to the diets indicates that most of the PE from the 67% LNGB diet was converted to phosphatidylcholine (PC) in the liver. It has previously been hypothesised that phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase is an important source of tHcy. The present results indicate that plasma tHcy is at least partly regulated by phospholipid methylation from PE to PC. This methylation reaction is a regulator of physiological importance.
Speech assessment of patients using three types of indwelling tracheo-oesophageal voice prostheses

Abstract A multidisciplinary prospective study compared speech acceptability between three types of indwelling tracheo-oesophageal voice prostheses. Twenty male laryngectomees took part over five years, using 42 prostheses. Speech was assessed on a discrete scale by trained and untrained personnel. The majority scored in the mid-range for each assessor. The kappa coefficient was used to test similarity between assessors, and for all pairings agreement was significant (p<0.05). The speech and language therapist tended to give higher scores and the patient lower. A relationship was found between patients' ages categorized by decade and the surgeon's score alone. This relationship held for Groningen high resistance and Provox prostheses individually too (p<0.05). The untrained assessed similarly to the professionals – humans are all voice listeners. The analysis suggests surgeons find tracheo-oesophageal speech in older patients better than in younger ones; or make more allowances for the elderly. There was a trend for Provox prostheses to produce the best scores.
The Real Self: From Institution to Impulse

It is proposed that people variously recognize their real selves either in feelings and actions of an institutional and volitional nature, such as ambition, morality, and altruism, or in the experience of impulse, such as undisciplined desire and the wish to make intimake revelations to other people. A shift toward the impulse pole seems to be under way and might be plausibly explained by chaning cultural definitions of reality modified terms of social integration, shifting patterns of deprivation, or new opportunities and consequences. Many standard sociological assumptions about social control are incopatible with the new pattern of self-identification.
Enhanced pyruvate production in Candida glabrata by carrier engineering

Pyruvate is an important organic acid that plays a key role in the central metabolic pathway. Manipulating transporters is an efficient strategy to enhance production of target organic acids and a means to understand the effects of altered intracellular pyruvate content on global metabolic networks. Efforts have been made to manipulate mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC) to transport pyruvate into different subcellular compartments in Candida glabrata to demonstrate the effects of the subcellular distribution of pyruvate on central carbon metabolism. By increasing the mitochondrial pyruvate content through enhancing the rate of pyruvate transport into mitochondria, a high central carbon metabolism rate, specific growth rate and specific pyruvate production rate were obtained. Comparing the intracellular pyruvate content of engineered and control strains showed that higher intracellular pyruvate levels were not conducive to improving pyruvate productivity or central carbon metabolism. Plasma membrane expression of MPCs significantly increased the expression levels of key rate‐limiting glycolytic enzymes. Moreover, pyruvate production of CGΔura3‐Sp‐MPC1, CGΔura3‐Sp‐MPC2, and CGΔura3‐Sp‐MPC1‐Sp‐MPC2 increased 134.4%, 120.3%, and 30.0%, respectively. In conclusion, lower intracellular pyruvate content enhanced central carbon metabolism and provided useful clues for improving the production of other organic acids in microorganisms.
Single Core Osmotic Pump (SCOP): Development of Single Layer Osmotic controlled release tablet for poorly soluble drug

A new Single Core Osmotic Pump (SCOP) tablet which osmotically delivers high doses of low solubility drugSertraline Hydrochloride (SET) has been developed. The formulations were compared based on six comparative parameters namely, Q24(total release after 24hr), Q12(total release after 12hr),TL (lag time), RSQzero12 (R square of zero order equation for drug release in 12hr), RR12 (in vitro release rate for 12 hr) and T80%(time require to deliver 80% of drug). The drug release profile from osmotic devices showed that the type of polymer and concentration in the core formulation can markedly affect the drug release. Increasing the amount of osmogent to an optimum level significantly increased Q12 and improved zero order release pattern of SET. Bioavailability enhancing additive, citric acid was added in core formulation, which has multifunction property like enhancedSET solubility, create osmotic pressure difference, act as flux regulating agent and make SET containing composition more hydrophilic. As a result, TL and T80% were decreased and Q12 and RR12 were increased. Increasing concentration of PEG 4000 in the semipermeable membrane of the SCOP markedly decreased TL, T80%and increased Q12, Q24 and RR12. Optimum aperture diameter for the formulations was determined to be 850 µm for zero order release pattern. This study also revealed thatoptimization of SPM thickness is very important for approaching zero order kinetics.The developed SCOP system could be effective to formulate a single layer osmotic controlled release tablet of water insoluble drug with large dose.
Ixora coccinea Linn: phytochemical investigation.

The present study was undertaken to carry out phytochemical screening of the ethanolic extract of the roots of Ixora Coccinea linn belonging to the family Rubiaceae. It is a fairly small, bushy shrub, with bright scarlet coloured flowers. The preliminary phytochemical screening of the ethanolic extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, resins, saponins, triterpenoids and steroids. Chemical investigation of the roots led to the isolation of six phytoconstituents namely 9, 12-Octadecadienoic acid, Di-n-octyl phthalate, β-Amyrin, Kaempferol-7-o- glucoside, Kaempferitrin and Quercitrin. All these constituents are reported for the first time from the roots of I. Coccinea.
Daily Timing of Mating and Age at Reproductive Maturity in Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae)

Abstract The psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama vectors a bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, in Florida which is responsible for citrus greening disease (huanglongbing), one of the most serious diseases of citrus. Despite the great economic importance of D. citri to citrus production, little is known about the reproductive biology and behavior of this insect. We conducted studies to determine the copula duration, the age at which both males and females reach reproductive maturity, the pre-oviposition period, the daily timing of mating activity in a laboratory colony, and the temporal dynamics in the sex ratio of a cohort of newly eclosed adults. The emergence patterns of males and females were strikingly similar, with no evidence for protandry or protogyny. Both sexes reached reproductive maturity by 2-3 d post-eclosion. Oviposition generally began within 1 d after mating, but was longer when females were mated at 2 d of age. Mean ± SEM copula duration was 48.3 ± 8.4 minutes (range: 15.2-98.0). Mating on orange jasmine was observed almost exclusively on flush shoots during daylight hours, with no obvious peak of daily mating activity. Mating activity may be constrained during scotophase in part by cooler temperatures and lack of light. Methods for carrying out mating experiments with this species are described.
Attachment loss in Moroccan early onset periodontitis patients and infection with the JP2-type of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans.

BACKGROUND A clone of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (JP2) with increased leukotoxin production and characterized by a 530-bp deletion in the leukotoxin gene operon is endemically present in Morocco and strongly associated with the presence of early onset periodontitis (EOP). OBJECTIVES To compare patterns of attachment loss among EOP-patients with or without JP2-type of A. actinomycetemcomitans in dental plaque. MATERIAL AND METHODS Among 45 Moroccan adolescents with EOP (i.e. one or more teeth with attachment loss >/= 3 mm) 39 had cultivable plaque samples. Fifteen (38.5%) were culture-positive for A. actinomycetemcomitans of the JP2-type as determined by PCR, and 24 (61.5%) were not (mean age 16.5 years in both groups). RESULTS EOP-patients culture-positive for A. actinomycetemcomitans of the JP2-type had significantly more teeth with attachment loss (mean 5.1, median 4.0) than EOP-patients not culture-positive for A. actinomycetemcomitans of the JP2-type (mean 2.8 teeth, median 1.0) (p = 0.02), and higher attachment loss (mean 4.3 mm vs. 3.4 mm; median 4.0 mm vs. 3.0 mm) (p = 0.01). No major differences could be detected between the two groups in the pattern of affected teeth in the dentition. CONCLUSIONS The study demonstrates increased periodontal destruction among EOP-patients culture-positive for A. actinomycetemcomitans of the JP2-type compared with EOP-patients without the JP2-clone.
Assessing Speech Pattern Contrast Perception in Infants: Early Results on VRASPAC

Objective: To assess perception of specific speech pattern contrasts in infants with normal hearing (NH) and infants with sensorineural hearing loss (HL). Study Design: Prospective longitudinal and cross-sectional study. Setting: Tertiary referral center. Patients: Nine infants with NH and 11 infants with HL ranging from mild to profound. Methods: Speech pattern contrast perception was evaluated in infants with NH and HL using a new behavioral test called Visual Reinforcement Assessment of the Perception of Speech Pattern Contrasts (VRASPAC). VRASPAC assesses the infant's ability to distinguish the speech features of vowel height and place and consonant voicing, continuance, and place. Detection of a phonetic change is indicated by a conditioned head-turn response. Performance is reported as the percent confidence that responses are not random. Results: The infants with NH attained high confidence scores for the vowel height and place contrasts used in this study. The infants with HL achieved high scores for the vowel height contrast regardless of degree of hearing loss. High scores were attained for the vowel place contrast by infants with losses less than 60 dB HL. Performance for the consonant contrasts was variable for all of the infants. Results from 1 infant assessed precochlear and postcochlear implantation indicated substantial improvement in speech pattern contrast perception with the implant. Conclusion: Perception of speech pattern contrasts in infants, particularly for the vowel contrasts, can be evaluated with a high level of confidence using VRASPAC. Consonant contrast perception is much more variable than vowel contrast perception and requires further investigation.
What's New in Obstetric Anesthesia? The 2011 Gerard W. Ostheimer Lecture

The “What's New in Obstetric Anesthesia” lecture was established by the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology in 1975 to update members on the preceding year's medical literature. In 1995, the lecture was renamed in honor of Gerard W. Ostheimer, an obstetric anesthesiologist from Brigham and Women's Hospital who contributed significantly to the knowledge and practice of obstetric anesthesia. The Ostheimer lecturer reviews the obstetric anesthesia, obstetric, perinatology, and health services literature to identify articles that are relevant to the practice of obstetric anesthesiology. This review summarizes the most relevant publications from the 2010 literature.
Interobserver Reliability of Neovascularization Score Using Power Doppler Ultrasonography in Midportion Achilles Tendinopathy

Background Power Doppler ultrasonography is widely used to examine neovascularization in midportion Achilles tendinopathy. The reliability of the grading of the degree of neovascularization has not been examined previously. Hypothesis Power Doppler ultrasonography can be performed with a high interobserver reliability to determine the neovascularization score in patients with midportion Achilles tendinopathy. Study Design Case control study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 4. Methods Thirty-three symptomatic and 17 asymptomatic Achilles tendons from 25 consecutive patients were included for ultrasound examination. Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment–Achilles score was used to assess the severity of the Achilles tendinopathy. Each tendon was scored twice by different radiologists using the modified Öhberg score for neovascularization. Results The intraclass correlation coefficient for interobserver reliability was 0.85. Neovascularization was observed in 70% (23/33) of the symptomatic tendons and in 29% (5/17) of the asymptomatic tendons. The Spearman correlation coefficient between the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment–Achilles score and the degree of neovascularization was −0.16 (P =. 10). Conclusion An excellent interobserver reliability was found for determining the degree of neovascularization on power Doppler ultrasonography examination. Neovessels were present in a majority of symptomatic tendons. The severity of symptoms was not correlated with the neovascularization score. Clinical Relevance Power Doppler ultrasonography is widely used to evaluate tendinopathy without knowledge of the difference in observations between several testers. Interobserver reliability of the evaluation of the degree of neovascularization in chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy is excellent.
Botanical Drug Puerarin Coordinates with Nerve Growth Factor in the Regulation of Neuronal Survival and Neuritogenesis via Activating ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathways in the Neurite Extension Process

Nerve growth factor (NGF) regulates neuronal survival and differentiation by activating extracellular signal‐regulated‐kinases (ERK) 1/2 and phosphoinositide‐3‐kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathways in two distinct processes: latency process and neurite extension process. This study was designed to investigate whether botanical drug C‐glucosylated isoflavone puerarin coordinates with NGF to regulate neuritogenesis via activating ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt in neurite extension process.
Comparison of steaks from Holstein and Simmental x Angus steers.

Boneless rib eye steaks from 32 Holstein and 32 Simmental x Angus steers were evaluated by 55 supermarket meat managers. Within breed, steers were divided into light or heavy initial weights. Within initial weight groups, steers were either implanted with Revalor or not implanted. Steers were slaughtered commercially when they reached a small degree of marbling, and rib eye steaks were cut from the carcass and stored at -20 degrees C until the day before evaluation. After thawing overnight in a 0 to 4 degrees C cooler, uncooked steaks were randomly assigned to positions on paper plates. Each of the 55 evaluators was then told to record whether each steak was from a Holstein or a traditional beef breed. The percentage identified correctly was 50.9 +/- . 96, which was not different from being random. Steaks were later assigned to blocks of eight treatments and cooked to an internal temperature of 68 degrees C before six or seven participants evaluated steaks from each block. Sensory attributes were acceptable for all steaks. Steaks from Holstein steers generally were superior to those from Simmental x Angus steers. Steaks from steers with heavy initial weights generally were superior to steaks from steers with light initial weights. Steaks from steers implanted with Revalor were slightly less acceptable than steaks from unimplanted steers for several sensory attributes, but the difference in overall acceptability was minor and nonsignificant. All the differences were small, and may have limited commercial relevance. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Tolerance to the granulocyte-releasing and colony-stimulating factor elevating effects of endotoxin.

Injection of Salmonella typhosa endotoxin into either CF1 or C57bl/6J mice leads to prompt increases in serum colony-stimulating factor (CSF). Repeated injections of endotoxin result in a dose-related hyporesponsiveness or tolerance to this effect. Tolerance is seen after either intravenous (i.v.) or intraperitoneal (i.p.) routes of administration or challenge and occurs after one to two preinjections. Cross-tolerance to heterologous endotoxin (Escherichia coli) was also shown. This cross-tolerance is complete immediately after cessation of preinjections, but partial at later time intervals. Levels of a serum inhibitor of colony growth were decreased in tolerant mice, although this decrease is not statistically significant. Tolerant mice injected with endotoxin release granulocytes from the bone marrow normally, in spite of the absence of a CSF response. This suggests that neutrophil releasing activity (NRA) and CSF are separate entities. A marked marrow granulocytic hyperplasia develops after 7 or 20 days of endotoxin injections, despite the tolerance to the CDF-elevating effect of endotoxin. This granulocytic hyperplasia could still be mediated by serum CSF increases. A negative medullary feed-back secondary to the repetitive release of marrow granulocytes, however, is an equally plausible mechanism for the stimulation of granulocyte production. It is also possible that the decrease in serum inhibitors played a role in the sustained increase in granulopoiesis seen here.