Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma Antibodies against Trichomonas vaginalis and Subsequent Risk of Prostate Cancer

Background: Although several previous case-control studies have investigated associations between sexually transmitted infections (STI) and prostate cancer, most have focused on gonorrhea and syphilis, two well-recognized, symptomatic STIs. Another STI of interest for prostate carcinogenesis is trichomonosis, a less well recognized and frequently asymptomatic STI with known prostate involvement. We investigated this infection in relation to incident prostate cancer in a nested case-control study within the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Methods: Prostate cancer cases were men diagnosed with prostate cancer between the date of blood draw (1993-1995) and 2000 (n = 691). Controls were men who had had at least one prostate-specific antigen test and who were free of prostate cancer and alive at the time of case diagnosis. One control was individually matched to each case by age (n = 691). Serologic evidence of a history of trichomonosis was assessed by a recombinant Trichomonas vaginalis α-actinin IgG ELISA. Results: Thirteen percent of cases and 9% of controls were seropositive for trichomonosis (adjusted odds ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-2.03). This association persisted after additional adjustment for such factors as a history of other STIs, and was strongest among men who used aspirin infrequently over the course of their lives (odds ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-4.02, Pinteraction = 0.11). Conclusions: Serologic evidence of a history of trichomonosis was positively associated with incident prostate cancer in this large, nested case-control study of male health professionals. As this study is the first, to our knowledge, to investigate associations between T. vaginalis serology and prostate cancer, additional studies are necessary before conclusions can be made. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(5):939–45)
Movement Characteristics of Persons with Prader‐Willi Syndrome Rising from Supine

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to: 1) determine if previously published descriptors of the supine to stand rising task in healthy individuals could be applied to the movements of persons with Prader‐Willi Syndrome (PWS); and 2) assess upper extremity (UE), axial region (AX), and lower extremity (LE) movements among subjects with PWS compared with controls. Methods: Nine subjects with PWS (seven‐36 years of age) and matched controls were videotaped performing 10 rising trials. The UE, AX, and LE movements were classified using published descriptors. Occurrence frequencies of movement patterns, duration of movement, and the relationships among body region movement score, BMI, and age were determined. Results: Subjects with PWS utilized developmentally less advanced asymmetrical rising patterns, took longer to rise, and demonstrated less within subject variability than controls. Conclusions: Categorical descriptors, with minor modifications, can be used to describe rising movements in persons with PWS. Knowledge of successful rising patterns may assist PTs when examining or planning intervention strategies for teaching the rising task.
Complications of Catheter Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia: A Single-Center Experience

Background—Catheter ablation has become an established treatment modality for a broad spectrum of ventricular tachycardias (VTs). We analyzed incidence and predictors of major complications of VT ablation procedures in a high-volume expert center. Methods and Results—We evaluated 548 consecutive patients who underwent 722 ablation procedures, 473 (65.5%) for structural heart disease VT in the period 2006 to 2012. There were 45 (6.2%) major complications observed in 44 patients. Access site vascular complications were the most frequent (3.6%). Three patients (0.4%) had cardiac tamponade/hemopericardium, and 5 patients (0.7%) had a thromboembolic event. No procedural deaths occurred. Procedures for structural heart disease VT versus idiopathic VT had a significantly higher complication rate (8.0% versus 2.8%; P=0.006). Similarly, patients with electrical storm (10.1% versus 5.3%; P=0.04) and nonelective procedures (8.4% versus 3.5%; P=0.007) were at higher risk of complications. On multivariate analysis, age >70 years (P=0.01), serum creatinine >115 &mgr;mol/L (P=0.0003), and individual operator (P=0.0001) were the only independent predictors of complications. Overall 30-day mortality in the structural heart disease VT group reached 5.0% (patients) and 3.6% (procedures). Death was associated with early recurrence of VT/ventricular fibrillation (P=0.003) and ablation for electrical storm (P=0.02). Conclusions—Complication rates for VT ablation are significantly lower in idiopathic VT or in elective procedures. Independent predictors of complications include age, renal insufficiency, and individual operator. Postprocedural mortality is predicted by early recurrence of VT/ventricular fibrillation and ablation for electrical storm.
Electron-phonon interaction in ternary mixed crystals.

Calculs des frequences propres de la vibration optique des reseaux et des parametres du couplage electron-phonon de Frohlich. La dependance des modes optiques et des parametres de Frohlich vis-a-vis de la concentration presente un comportement a un ou deux modes. Analyse de l'interaction d'un electron avec les 2 branches d'un phonon optique
Community-Based Enterprises in Italy: Definition and Governance Models

In recent years, a new form of co-operative business is taking shape in Italy: the community-based enterprise, a community acting collectively at both management and business level, to pursue common goals. Community-based enterprises grow on a system of networks of free relationships among the members of a local community, with a high degree of reciprocity; when individuals work together in a business systems, relationships become social relationships. The complex of the community members’ relationships, objectives and expectations towards the company reflects necessarily on governance models that should follow a multistakeholder pattern. Multistakeholdership implies a direct and active participation of subjects bearing conflicting interests in the decisional process. This paper describes community-based enterprises in Italy, draws their governance models, and emphasizes how the passage from opening to different stakeholders to implementation of multistakeholder governance is very slow and difficult to put into practice.
Somatic Hypermutation Patterns in Germinal Center B Cell Malignancies

The extraordinary diversity of the human antibody repertoire is dependent upon a combinatorial association of immunoglobulin (Ig) gene segments. This process, known as V(D)J recombination, is initiated during the antigen-independent phase of B cell ontogeny in the bone marrow (BM) and is characterized by ordered gene rearrangements leading to the assembly of distinct variable (V), diversity (D) (for heavy chains (HC) only) and joining (J) gene segments into a V(D)J gene complex [1]. Successful rearrangement of HC Ig genes and subsequently that of light chain (LC) Ig genes (k or l) will enable the developing B cell to later express on its surface a fully functional Ig receptor with unmutated V region sequences [2]. The second, antigen-dependent, phase of B cell ontogeny will start when the “naive” B cell exiting the BM enters into the primary follicles of the secondary lymphoid organs where contact with and selection by antigen takes place [3]. Following antigen contact, Ig genes are further modified by two distinct processes: the variable region is diversified by SHM [4] while the constant region may be changed by class-switch recombination (CSR) [5]. The term SHM refers to the introduction of mutations within rearranged IgV genes at a rate much higher than usual. Antigen selection in B cell ontogeny is evidenced by non-random distribution of somatic mutations in Ig HC and LC V genes, a feature providing useful information concerning the ontogenetic assignment of B cell neoplastic disorders [6]. In this context, an increased ratio of replacement (R) mutations (leading to aminoacid change in the encoded polypeptide) to silent (S) mutations (leaving the encoded polypeptide unaltered) has been considered as the most reliable surrogate marker of selection by antigen for higher avidity [7]. However, irrespectively of subsequent selection, SHM is primarily targeted at specific hotspots within V genes, i.e. trior tetra-nucleotide sequence motifs, such as the RGYW motif (R 1⁄4 purine, Y 1⁄4 pyrimidine, W 1⁄4A or T) and its complementary, WRCY [8]. While the exact mechanism of SHM remains elusive, this phenomenon is characterized by certain unique features: the nature of mutations indicates a preference for transitions over transversions with purines targeted more frequently than pyrimidines, suggesting strand bias; mutations are concentrated mainly in the CDRs and most often are single nucleotide substitutions rather than deletions or insertions; certain codons are targeted more often by the mutational process, while others are less likely to tolerate changes; finally, a striking bias exists for G and C over A and T nucleotide mutations [9]. SHM has been linked to transcription and requires the presence of Ig enhancers [4,10]; replacement of
The Interaction of Spatial and Object Pathways: Evidence from Balint's Syndrome

An earlier report described a patient (RM) with bilateral parietal damage who showed severe binding problems between shape and color and shape and size (Friedman-Hill, Robertson, & Treisman, 1995). When shown two different-colored letters, RM reported a large number of illusory conjunctions (ICs) combining the shape of one letter with the color of the other, even when he was looking directly at one of them and had as long as 10 sec to respond. The lesions also produced severe deficits in locating and reaching for objects, and difficulty in seeing more than one object at a time, resulting in a neuropsychological diagnosis of Balint's syndrome or dorsal simultanagnosia. The pattern of deficits supported predictions of Treisman's Feature Integration Theory (FIT) that the loss of spatial information would lead to binding errors. They further suggested that the spatial information used in binding depends on intact parietal function. In the present paper we extend these findings and examine other deficits in RM that would be predicted by FIT. We show that: (1) Object individuation is impaired, making it impossible for him correctly to count more than one or two objects, even when he is aware that more are present. (2) Visual search for a target defined by a conjunction of features (requiring binding) is impaired, while the detection of a target defined by a unique feature is not. Search for the absence of a feature (0 among Qs) is also severely impaired, while search for the presence (Q among 0s) is not. Feature absence can only be detected when all the present features are bound to the nontarget items. (3) RM's deficits cannot be attributed to a general binding problem: binding errors were far more likely with simultaneous presentation where spatial information was required than with sequential presentation where time could be used as the medium for binding. (4) Selection for attention was severely impaired, whether it was based on the position of a marker or on some other feature (color). (5) Spatial information seems to exist that RM cannot access, suggesting that feature binding relies on a relatively late stage where implicit spatial information is made explicitly accessible. The data converge to support our conclusions that explicit spatial knowledge is necessary for the perception of accurately bound features, for accurate attentional selection, and for accurate and rapid search for a conjunction of features in a multiitem display. It is obviously necessary for directing attention to spatial locations, but the consequences of impairments in this ability seem also to affect object selection, object individuation, and feature integration. Thus, the functional effects of parietal damage are not limited to the spatial and attentional problems that have long been described in patients with Balint's syndrome. Damage to parietal areas also affects object perception through damage to spatial representations that are fundamental for spatial awareness.
Multiclass Multimodal Detection and Tracking in Urban Environments

This paper presents a novel approach to detect and track people and cars based on the combined information retrieved from a camera and a laser range scanner. Laser data points are classified by using boosted Conditional Random Fields, while the image based detector uses an extension of the Implicit Shape Model (ISM), which learns a codebook of local descriptors from a set of hand-labeled images and uses them to vote for centers of detected objects. Our extensions to ISM include the learning of object parts and template masks to obtain more distinctive votes for the particular object classes. The detections from both sensors are then fused and the objects are tracked using a Kalman Filter with multiple motion models. Experiments conducted in real-world urban scenarios demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
A Digitizing Technique for the Study of Movement of Intradiscal Dye in Response to Flexion and Extension of the Lumbar Spine

The effects of flexion and extension exercises on lumbar discs and low-back pain are controversial. Our goals were to develop a technique and program for digitizing and analyzing discograms and to study the motion of intradiscal dye in response to flexion and extension. Thirty-five patients following awake discography were evaluated with lateral radiographs obtained in an extension position and a flexion position. Fifty-three segments with normal morphology and 47 segments with abnormal morphology were studied. Discograms with normal morphology showed numerically significant change in position with a more anterior position occurring during extension. Changes in the position of intradiscal dye in discs with abnormal morphology were less predictable. Digitizing was an advantageous technique.
Diagnostic Efficiency of the Trail Making Test as a Function of Cut-off Score, Diagnosis, and Age

This study is a reinvestigation of the effectiveness of the Trail Making Test in discriminating between brain-damaged (n = 51) and pseudoneurologic (n = 72) subjects. All subjects were hospitalized male veterans at the Allen Park Veterans Administration Hospital. An analysis of covariance showed that the pseudoneurologic subjects performed at a significantly higher level than the brain-damaged subjects. Further analysis with two different cutoff scores exhibited unequal discriminatory power throughout the whole range of Trail Making Test scores. These results suggested diagnosing only when the scores were 9 or lower and 13 or higher. This use of extreme scores resulted in an over-all hit rate of 87% in the study. Comparisons with five major subgroupings of the pseudoneurologic subjects yielded only one significant difference: more accurate discrimination with the 12 cut-off score between 10 general-medical and peripheral nerve-damaged subjects (100% correct) and 18 psychotic subjects (39% accuracy).
The prospects for super‐acuity: limits to visual performance after correction of monochromatic ocular aberration

It has recently been suggested that correction of the monochromatic aberration of the eye could lead to substantial improvements in visual acuity and contrast sensitivity function. After consideration of the best‐corrected visual acuity of normal eyes, the optical and neural limits to visual performance are reviewed. It is concluded that, even if current problems with the accuracy of the suggested techniques of aberration correction, through corneal excimer laser ablation or customised contact lenses, can be overcome, changes in monochromatic ocular aberration over time, the continuing presence of chromatic aberration, errors of focus associated with lags and leads in accommodation, and other factors, are likely to result in only minor improvements in the high‐contrast acuity performance of most normal eyes being produced by attempted aberration control. Significant gains in contrast sensitivity might, however, be achievable, particularly under mesopic and scotopic conditions when the pupil is large, provided that correct focus can be maintained. In the immediate future, reduction of the high levels of aberration that are currently found in eyes that have undergone refractive surgery and in some abnormal eyes should bring useful benefits.
Host factors in carcinogenesis: certain bile-acid metabolic profiles that selectively increase the risk of proximal colon cancer.

Epidemiologic data on large bowel carcinoma often are combined for the colon and rectum because of the difficulties in correctly assigning cancers of the rectosigmoid section (1). Not surprisingly, therefore, few epidemiologic studies have distinguished between subsites within the colon. Nevertheless, the ageand sexspecific incidence rates of cancers of the proximal (i.e., cecal and ascending) colon and distal (i.e., descending and sigmoid) colon differ from one another (1). In addition, recent evidence suggests that the incidence of proximal colon cancer particularly is influenced by those "host" states in which the characteristics of the bile acids entering the cecum are altered. The pattern of international variation of colon cancer by subsite shows that in countries with higher rates the excess tumors are found largely in the distal colon (2). Thus, it is reasoned, the environmental, particularly dietary, factors thought to influence colon carcinogenesis appear to be acting primarily in the distal colon. Correa and Haenszel (2) have distinguished these patterns as endemic and epidemic. The present paper concerns itself to some extent with that classification, although the distinction we are seeking to delineate is between "endogenous" and "exogenous" factors. Therefore, we would wish to distinguish the relationship with host "states" from the widely postulated effects upon distal colon carcinogenesis of factors such as the extent of subsequent intracolonic bacterial degradation of bile acids, their physicochemical binding by fiber, and their rates of passage and reabsorption along the colon (1, 3, 4). These factors 'are thought particularly to reflect dietary (exogenous) influences.
Pharmacotherapy of amphetamine-type stimulant dependence: an update.

ISSUES Methamphetamine- or amphetamine-type stimulants are the second most frequently used illicit drug worldwide, second only to cannabis. Behavioural treatments are efficacious, but their impact is limited underscoring the need for other treatment options, notably, pharmacotherapy. APPROACH A review of randomised controlled trials of pharmacotherapies for methamphetamine- or amphetamine-type stimulants was performed using PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Evidence for efficacy of medications is reported. KEY FINDINGS Clinical trials have yielded no broadly effective pharmacotherapy. Promising signals have been observed for methylphenidate, naltrexone, bupropion and mirtazapine in subgroups of patients in reducing stimulant use (e.g. patients with less severe dependence at baseline and men who have sex with men), though none has produced an unambiguous, replicable signal of efficacy. IMPLICATIONS Problems in Phase II trials, including high dropout rates, missing data and a lack of agreement on outcomes, complicate efforts to find a broadly effective pharmacotherapy for amphetamine-type stimulant disorders. Efforts to address these problems include calls for better validation of pharmacological target exposure, receptor binding and functional modulation. As well, there is a need for agreement in using findings from preclinical and early phases of the medication development process for selecting better pharmacotherapy candidates. CONCLUSION After over 20 years of efforts worldwide to develop a broadly effective medication for dependence on methamphetamine- or amphetamine-type stimulants, no candidate has emerged. This highlights the need for new compounds, consistent and stringent research methods, better integration between preclinical and clinical stages of medication development, and improved collaboration between government, industry and researchers.
Interleukin-21 is increased in active systemic lupus erythematosus patients and contributes to the generation of plasma B cells.

OBJECTIVES Excessive interleukin- (IL-) 21 production by T cells has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We explored the expression and function of IL-21 in human SLE. METHODS IL-21 and IL-21 receptor (IL-21R) expression was assessed by real-time PCR and flow cytometry in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of SLE patients and healthy controls. PBMCs, purified CD19+CD27- naïve and CD19+CD27+ memory B cells were stimulated with IL-21 and CpG-ODN2006 (TLR-9 agonist) to examine generation of memory and plasma (CD19+CD38highIgD-) B cells. Apoptosis was assessed by 7AAD staining. RESULTS Active SLE patients had 4-fold higher IL-21 mRNA and increased levels of intracellular IL-21 in peripheral blood CD4+ T cells (mean±SD fluorescence intensity, 1.7±0.1 in active versus 0.9±0.3 in inactive SLE and controls, p=0.035). IL-21R mRNA was comparable between SLE and healthy controls. Stimulation of PBMCs with IL-21 increased the proportion of memory and plasma cells; addition of CpG-ODN2006 enhanced these effects. Both naïve and memory B cells responded to IL-21/TLR-9 by increased generation of memory and plasma B cells, respectively; an anti-apoptotic effect was observed. In active SLE, PBMCs stimulation with IL-21 and/or CpG-ODN increased memory and plasma B cells, comparable to healthy controls. Addition of IL-21 to lupus autologous mixed lymphocyte cultures induced significant IgG production, and treatment with IL-21R.Fc to block IL-21/IL-21R interaction reduced the proportion of plasma cells. CONCLUSIONS Increased IL-21 may synergise with TLR-9 signalling and contributes to generation of plasma cells in active SLE patients.
Pharmacokinetic profile of diazepam in man following single intravenous and oral and chronic oral administrations.

Four subjects each received single intravenous and oral 10-mg. doses of diazepam and 10 mg. orally every 24 hr. for 15 days. The intravenous blood level data were fitted with a three-compartment open-model system containing both a “shallow” and a “deep” peripheral compartment. The “apparent” half-life of elimination of diazepam following intravenous administration ranged from 21 to 37 hr. , and the calculated volume of distribution ranged from 160 to 205% of body weight. The rate at which diazepam returns to the central compartment from the deep peripheral compartment, k31, was shown to be the rate-controlling factor in the elimination of diazepam and in the formation of desmethyldiazepam. Orally administered diazepam was rapidly and completely absorbed. Following chronic administration of 10 mg. diazepam every 24 hr. , the minimum and maximum steady-state (plateau) levels of diazepam can be successfully predicted or calculated utilizing the pharmacokinetic parameters obtained following intravenous administration. Diazepam blood levels plateau at approximately Day 7 of treatment at twice the blood levels observed on Day 1. Desmethyldiazepam blood levels are within the range of the diazepam blood levels and exhibit an apparent half-life range from 50 to 99 hr. after the last dose of diazepam on Day 15.