Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) of cadaveric shoulders: Comparison of contrast dynamics in hyaline and fibrous cartilage after intraarticular gadolinium injection

Background: Delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC) is a novel method to investigate cartilaginous and fibrocartilaginous structures. Purpose: To investigate the contrast dynamics in hyaline and fibrous cartilage of the glenohumeral joint after intraarticular injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine. Material and Methods: Transverse T1 maps were acquired on a 1.5T scanner before and after intraarticular injection of 2.0 mmol/l gadopentetate dimeglumine in five cadaveric shoulders using a dual flip angle three-dimensional gradient echo (3D-GRE) sequence. The acquisition time for the T1 maps was 5 min 5 s for the whole shoulder. Measurements were repeated every 15 min over 2.5 hours. Regions of interest (ROIs) covering the glenoid cartilage and the labrum were drawn to assess the temporal evolution of the relaxation parameters. Results: T1 of unenhanced hyaline cartilage of the glenoid was 568±34 ms. T1 of unenhanced fibrous cartilage of the labrum was 552±38 ms. Significant differences (P=0.002 and 0.03) in the relaxation parameters were already measurable after 15 min. After 2 to 2.5 hours, hyaline and fibrous cartilage still demonstrated decreasing relaxation parameters, with a larger range of the T1(Gd) values in fibrous cartilage. T1 and ▵R1 values of hyaline and fibrous cartilage after 2.5 hours were 351±16 ms and 1.1±0.09 s−1, and 332±31 ms and 1.2±0.1 s−1, respectively. Conclusion: A significant decrease in T1(Gd) was found 15 min after intraarticular contrast injection. Contrast accumulation was faster in hyaline than in fibrous cartilage. After 2.5 hours, contrast accumulation showed a higher rate of decrease in hyaline cartilage, but neither hyaline nor fibrous cartilage had reached equilibrium.
Human anti-alpha-enolase antibody in sera from patients with Behçet's disease and rheumatologic disorders.

OBJECTIVE alpha-Enolase is a target antigen of IgM-type anti-endothelial cell antibody in patients with Behçet's disease (BD). The objective of this study was to assess the reactivity of serum anti-alpha-enolase antibodies in BD and in other rheumatologic diseases, and to evaluate the clinical significance of serum anti-alpha-enolase antibodies in BD. METHODS Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblotting were used to examine serum samples from patients with BD (n=100), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (n=50), systemic sclerosis (n=21), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n=20), Takayasu's arteritis (n=20), dermatomyositis (n=17), mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) (n=11), and samples from healthy volunteer donors (n=23). The medical records of patients with BD were reviewed to investigate their clinical characteristics. RESULTS Specific positive signals against recombinant human alpha-enolase were detected by IgM ELISA of serum samples from 56 of the 100 BD patients (56.0%), 24 of the 50 SLE patients (48.0%), 15 of the 21 systemic sclerosis patients (71.4%), 13 of the 20 RA patients (65.0%), 10 of the 20 Takayasu's arteritis patients (50.0%), 9 of the 17 dermatomyositis patients (52.9%), and 5 of the 11 MCTD patients (45.5%). The number of BD patients with vascular lesions was significantly higher in the anti-alpha-enolase antibody positive group than in the negative group (p=0.027). CONCLUSION We demonstrated the reactivities of serum anti-alpha-enolase antibodies in BD and other rheumatologic diseases with moderate specificity and also found that serum anti-alpha-enolase antibodies in BD can be associated with vascular system involvement.
The impact of HIV status and type on the clearance of human papillomavirus infection among Senegalese women.

BACKGROUND Persistent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with the development and progression of HPV-related disease, including cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and invasive cervical cancer. METHODS We examined the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status and type on the clearance of HPV infection among 614 Senegalese women enrolled in a longitudinal study of HPV and CIN. Women were examined every 4 months for HPV DNA. Clearance was defined as 2 consecutive negative HPV DNA test results. RESULTS Cox proportional hazard regression with time-dependent covariates indicated that HIV-positive women were less likely to clear HPV infection (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.31 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.21-0.45]) than HIV-negative women. Among HIV-positive women, those with CD4 cell counts <200 or from 200 to 500 cells/microL showed a 71% (adjusted HR, 0.29 [95% CI, 0.11-0.76]) and 32% (adjusted HR, 0.68 [95% CI, 0.31-1.48]) reduction in the likelihood of HPV clearance, respectively, compared with those with CD4 cell counts >500 cells/microL. HIV-2 infection was associated with an increased likelihood of HPV clearance (adjusted HR, 2.46 [95% CI, 1.17-5.16]), compared with that for HIV-1 infection. CONCLUSIONS HIV infection reduces the likelihood of HPV clearance. Among HIV-positive women, immunosuppression, as measured by CD4 cell count, reduces the likelihood of HPV clearance, and HIV type appears to be associated with HPV clearance.
Factors that Facilitate and Impede School Counselor Advocacy for and with LGBT Students

ABSTRACT Despite the increasing focus on advocacy in the field of school counseling, there is a dearth of empirical research on the factors that facilitate and impede school counselor advocacy in general and with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in particular. As such, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the factors that enable and inhibit high school counselors’ advocacy efforts with and on behalf of LGBT students.
Improving compliance with preventive medicine procedures in a house staff training program.

Performance of health maintenance procedures by internal medicine house staff is inadequate, yet little has been published outlining means to improve performance rates. We prospectively studied the effectiveness of a reminder system to improve screening by Pap smear, rectal examination with stool guaiac test, breast examination, and pneumococcal vaccine administration in two resident outpatient clinics. Performance of these preventive health measures was determined during a six-week baseline period and again after five months of chart reminders to residents in one clinic, and after six months without reminders. For the intervention, a physician's assistant screened each chart and attached a reminder to the front indicating which procedures were overdue based on published recommendations. Health screening behavior was not significantly different between the two resident clinics during baseline. After the five-month reminder intervention, residents in both groups moderately increased their preventive health activities over baseline; however, only the reminded group showed significant improvement (chi 2 = 11.60, P less than .001). Six months after remainders were discontinued there was no difference in overall performance between the two clinics (chi 2 = 2.79, NS). The reminded group did preserve its significant improvement over the baseline phase (chi 2 = 6.12, P less than .01). This simple reminder system had a modest but statistically significant positive impact on health screening behavior. Despite this improvement, absolute rates of screening remained below 50% in both clinics.
Maximal dentate gyrus activation: characteristics and alterations after repeated seizures.

1. The dentate gyrus was activated by trains of stimulation to either the contralateral CA3 region or the ipsilateral angular bundle. Responses were monitored with recordings of extracellular field potentials and extracellular potassium ([K+]o. Maximal dentate activation was identified by the appearance of bursts of large-amplitude (20-40 mV) population spikes associated with a secondary rise in [K+]o and an abrupt negative shift of the DC potential. 2. Several parameters were defined to characterize features of maximal dentate activation. These included 1) time to onset of maximal dentate activation, 2) duration of maximal dentate activation, 3) stimulus threshold for maximal dentate activation, 4) threshold for afterdischarge production, and 5) afterdischarge durations. The time to onset of maximal dentate activation and the duration of maximal dentate activation depended on the stimulus intensity until, above a certain stimulus intensity, both parameters reached constant values. The total period of maximal dentate activation (during both stimulation and afterdischarge) was constant. 3. The characteristics of maximal dentate activation were then determined in kindled animals and compared with age-matched controls. Kindled animals had a significant increase in the total duration of maximal dentate activation and a decrease in the ratio of afterdischarge threshold to the threshold for maximal dentate activation to 1 from a ratio in control animals of 6. 4. In a set of urethan-anesthetized animals, the characteristics of maximal dentate activation before and after 36 stimuli were determined. One hour after the last of 36 stimulus-evoked seizures, there was a trend towards a decrease in the threshold for maximal dentate activation and in the time to its onset. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Job Choice and Performance: Revisiting Core Assumptions about Public Service Motivation

ABSTRACT Although there has been considerable enthusiasm for public service motivation (PSM) research in recent years, two of PSM's fundamental assumptions have been relatively untested: its impacts on job choice and on job performance. Using panel data from two different studies, we offer stronger observational tests of these core assumptions. The findings provide mixed evidence. When testing PSM's effect on employment choice, we find that PSM measured during a law student's first year predicts the sector in which they are employed after graduation three years later. In a separate study investigating PSM's effect on job performance, we find that government employee PSM does not predict employee absenteeism or supervisor assessments of their in-role and extra-role performance. Our findings support recent calls for a more nuanced theory and analyses of PSM to help better understand its implications for recruiting, retaining, and motivating the workforce used to provide public goods and services.
Shifts in Color Discrimination during Early Pregnancy

The present study explores two hypotheses: a) women during early pregnancy should experience increased color discrimination ability, and b) women during early pregnancy should experience shifts in subjective preference away from images of foods that appear either unripe or spoiled. Both of these hypotheses derive from an adaptive view of pregnancy sickness that proposes the function of pregnancy sickness is to decrease the likelihood of ingestion of foods with toxins or teratogens. Changes to color discrimination could be part of a network of perceptual and physiological defenses (e.g., changes to olfaction, nausea, vomiting) that support such a function. Participants included 13 pregnant women and 18 non-pregnant women. Pregnant women scored significantly higher than non-pregnant controls on the Farnsworth-Munsell (FM) 100 Hue Test, an objective test of color discrimination, although no difference was found between groups in preferences for food images at different stages of ripeness or spoilage. These results are the first indication that changes to color discrimination may occur during early pregnancy, and is consistent with the view that pregnancy sickness may function as an adaptive defense mechanism.
Factors determining fatigue in the chronic fatigue syndrome: a path analysis

Abstract Objectives: To explore the interrelationship of different dimensions (fatigue, neuroticism, sleep quality, global mental and physical health) in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Methods: Patients meeting the Fukuda criteria of CFS filled out two independent fatigue scales (Fatigue Questionnaire, FQ and Checklist Individual Strength, CIS), NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF36). Exploratory and confirmatory path analyses were performed. Results: Out of 226 eligible patients, 167 subjects were included (mean age 39.13 years, SD 10.14, 92% female). In a first exploratory path analysis, using FQ for assessment of fatigue, night-time PSQI sleep quality had a direct effect on SF36 physical quality of life (PQoL) and no effect on FQ fatigue. This was confirmed by a subsequent path analysis with CIS fatigue and by confirmatory path analyses in 81 patients. These unexpected results raised the question whether FQ or CIS fatigue sufficiently operationalizes fatigue in CFS patients. Conclusions: Poor sleep quality seems to directly impact on mental quality of life (MQoL) and PQoL without mediation of fatigue assessed with FQ and CIS. A more cohesive framework needs to be developed with more comprehensive clinical tools for the different dimensions in the construct of CFS.
Diabetes-related knowledge among medical and nursing house staff.

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY To assess the diabetes-related knowledge of medical and nursing house staff with particular focus on inpatient diabetes management and insulin therapy. METHODS In a cross-sectional design, diabetes-related knowledge among physicians, graduate nurses, medical students and student nurses of the departments of internal medicine, surgery and gynaecology was assessed using a 42-item multiple-choice questionnaire. RESULTS Of 466 subjects approached 232 completed the questionnaire. Knowledge was highest for physicians in internal medicine (total score 62 +/- 11%, mean +/- SD, max. 100%). Physicians in surgery and gynaecology had lower scores (48 +/- 14% and 47 +/- 12%, p <0.001 and p <0.05 respectively, compared with internal medicine), which were comparable to those of medical students (49 +/- 9%). Knowledge of attending physicians and residents did not differ within the three specialities. Nurses in internal medicine and surgery had the same level of knowledge (total score 41 +/- 11% each), which was comparable to that of student nurses (40 +/- 9%). Nurses in gynaecology had lower total scores (30 +/- 10%, p <0.001 compared with nurses in medicine and surgery respectively). The comfort level in dealing with diabetes correlated with the knowledge score for physicians, but not for nurses. CONCLUSIONS Knowledge of diabetes is mediocre among medical and nursing house staff. For physicians, the knowledge level depends on the speciality (internal medicine better than surgery and gynaecology) and correlates with the comfort level in dealing with diabetes, but is not higher in attending physicians than in residents. Nurses have a high comfort level, which, however, does not correlate with knowledge, which is similar in medicine, surgery and student nurses, but low in gynaecology.
Bortezomib for the treatment of multiple myeloma

Bortezomib is the first proteasome inhibitor drug tested in human patients. Bortezomib demonstrates a particular clinical utility in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), where it is the only one of the new drugs administered as mono-therapy that prolongs survival. The significant problem for the consistent pursuit of bortezomib was neurotoxicity, which has been significantly reduced by registering subcutaneous administration or being administered once per week. Bortezomib is currently approved for the treatment of patients with progressive MM in mono-therapy and in combination with prednisone and melphalan in cases of untreated patients who are not candidates for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) and in combination with dexamethasone or dexamethasone and thalidomide in untreated MM patients, who are candidates for treatment AHSCT. Clinical research is focused on the combination of bortezomib with other new drugs with the hope of further optimizing the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.
Hypoxia suppresses runx2 independent of modeled microgravity

Bone loss is a consequence of skeletal unloading as seen in bed rest and space flight. Unloading decreases oxygenation and osteoblast differentiation/function in bone. Previously we demonstrated that simulation of unloading in vitro, by culturing differentiating mouse osteoblasts in a horizontal rotating wall vessel (RWV), results in suppressed expression of runx2, a master transcriptional regulator of osteoblast differentiation. However, the RWV is able to reproduce in a controlled fashion at least two aspects of disuse that are directly linked, model microgravity and hypoxia. Hypoxia in the RWV is indicated by reduced medium oxygen tension and increased expression of GAPDH and VEGF. To uncouple the role of model microgravity from hypoxia in suppressed runx2 expression, we cultured osteoblasts under modeled microgravity (oxygenated, horizontal RWV rotation), hypoxia (vertical RWV rotation), or both conditions (horizontal RWV rotation). The expression, DNA binding activity and promoter activity of runx2, was suppressed under hypoxic but not normoxic modeled microgravity RWV conditions. Consistent with a role for hypoxia in suppression of runx2, direct exposure to hypoxia alone is sufficient to suppress runx2 expression in osteoblasts grown in standard tissue culture plates. Taken together, our findings indicate that hypoxia associated with skeletal unloading could be major suppressor of runx2 expression leading to suppressed osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Working Memory Load and Reminder Effect on Event-Based Prospective Memory of High- and Low-Achieving Students in Math

The effects of working memory (WM) demand and reminders on an event-based prospective memory (PM) task were compared between students with low and high achievement in math. WM load (1- and 2-back tasks) was manipulated as a within-subject factor and reminder (with or without reminder) as a between-subject factor. Results showed that high-achieving students outperformed low-achieving students on all PM and n-back tasks. Use of a reminder improved PM performance and thus reduced prospective interference; the performance of ongoing tasks also improved for all students. Both PM and n-back performances in low WM load were better than in high WM load. High WM load had more influence on low-achieving students than on high-achieving students. Results suggest that low-achieving students in math were weak at PM and influenced more by high WM load. Thus, it is important to train these students to set up an obvious reminder for their PM and improve their WM.
Spectrum of Cardiac Lesions in Behçet Disease: A Series of 52 Patients and Review of the Literature

AbstractCardiac abnormalities in patients with Behçet disease (BD) include pericarditis, myocarditis, endocarditis with valvular regurgitation, intracardiac thrombosis, endomyocardial fibrosis, coronary arteritis with or without myocardial infarction, and aneurysms of the coronary arteries or sinus of Valsalva. Data regarding the clinical spectrum, prevalence, and outcome of cardiac lesions in BD are lacking. In this study, we report the main characteristics, treatment, and long-term outcomes of 52 patients with cardiac lesions from a cohort of 807 (6%) BD patients. Forty-five (86.5%) patients were male, with a mean (±SD) age at BD diagnosis of 29.3 ± 10.3 years.Cardiac involvement was the first feature of BD in 17 (32.7%) patients. Cardiac lesions included pericarditis (n = 20; 38.5%), endocarditis (mostly aortic insufficiency) (n = 14; 26.9%), intracardiac thrombosis (n = 10; 19.2%), myocardial infarction (n = 9; 17.3%), endomyocardial fibrosis (n = 4; 7.7%) and myocardial aneurysm (n = 1; 1.9%). Patients with cardiac involvement were more frequently male (86.5% vs. 64.9%; p < 0.01) and had more arterial (42.3% vs. 11.1%; p < 0.01) and venous lesions (59.6% vs. 35.8%; p < 0.01) compared to those without cardiac manifestations. Factors associated with complete remission of cardiac involvement were treatment regimens with oral anticoagulants, immunosuppressants, and colchicine. The 5-year survival rate was 83.6% and 95.8% (p = 0.03) in BD patients with and without cardiac involvement, respectively. After a median (Q1–Q3) follow-up of 3.0 (1.75–4.2) years, 8 patients had died, in 3 cases directly related to cardiac involvement.In conclusion, cardiac lesions affected 6% of our large cohort of BD patients. The prognosis of cardiac involvement in BD is poor and improves with oral anticoagulation, immunosuppressive therapy, and colchicine.
Estrogen Receptor Gene Polymorphisms in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia and Alcohol-Associated Dementia

The association between the estrogen receptor (ER-α) gene and dementia was examined in 223 patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), 66 with vascular dementia (VD), 17 with alcohol-associated dementia (ALD) and 134 healthy elderly control subjects. The PvuII and XbaI restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the ER-α gene were represented as Pp (PvuII) and Xx (XbaI), with capital letters signifying the absence of restriction sites and small letters the presence of restriction sites. We found that the frequency of the ER-α gene P allele and X allele in the late-onset AD (LOAD) group (P allele was 0.51, X allele was 0.30) was significantly higher than that in controls (P 0.38, p < 0.01; X 0.20, p < 0.01), and that the frequency of the ER-α gene P allele and PP genotype was significantly different between apolipoprotein E ε4 carriers and noncarriers in LOAD. These findings suggest that the genotype of the ER-α gene may be specific in LOAD, and that the ER-α gene was an additional risk for LOAD.
ALCOHOLIC TENDENCY AND EEG AROUSAL IN WOMEN: EFFECTS OF FAMILY HISTORY AND PERSONALITY UNDER EMOTIONAL STIMULATION

Alcoholism runs in families and is influenced by both genetic and personality factors. Important questions remain, however, as to just how neurological functioning is affected by these predispositions. As a result, the present study assessed the effects of both familiality and personality factors on electroencephalographic (EEG) responses. College students were prescreened for family history (FH) of and personality predisposition (PAP) toward alcoholism, and 60 subjects were assigned to four extreme groups representing the crossover of the familial and personality dimensions. Each participant was exposed to nonverbal positive and negative emotional stimuli. Electroencephalography was recorded at frontal, parietal, and temporal sites in both hemispheres throughout and analyzed to assess response in the fast and slow alpha and beta ranges. Results showed that those with either a positive family history of alcoholism alone or predisposing personality characteristics alone were less aroused than those without predispositions. However, those high on both dimensions had lower arousal than subjects in other cells. Findings were interpreted as supporting the theoretical inverted U-shaped relationship of arousal input to arousal output.