Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association Studies of Gene Polymorphisms in Toll‐Like Receptors 2 and 4 in Croatian Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

The aim of the study was to assess the frequency of SNP896A/G in the Toll‐like receptor (TLR) 4 gene and SNP1350T/C in the TLR2 gene in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to analyse the association of these SNPs with risk factors for atherosclerosis and clinical aspects of AMI in a sample of the Croatian population. We included 240 participants in the study: 120 AMI patients and 120 sex‐ and age‐matched healthy blood donor controls. The SNP1350T/C variant in the TLR2 gene showed a lower frequency in the AMI patient group than in the control group (P = 0.033). The frequency of SNP896A/G variants in the TLR4 gene between the patients and the controls did not differ (P = 0.286). Significantly, fewer people had SNP1350T/C in the TLR2 gene (P = 0.003) among the participants with arterial hypertension than those without it. The frequency of SNP896A/G in TLR4 was the same in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive subjects (P = 0.088). SNP1350T/C in TLR2 was less frequent in the AMI patients and in those with hypertension. Thus, SNP1350T/C in TLR2 might play a protective role against AMI and arterial hypertension. The frequency of SNP896A/G in the TLR4 gene was not associated with AMI and arterial hypertension. Other risk factors for atherosclerosis and clinical aspects of myocardial infarction were not associated with the genotype distribution of the examined genes.
Chromosomal translocations involved in non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

CONTEXT The discovery that recurrent chromosomal translocations are involved in the pathogenesis of non-Hodgkin lymphomas has greatly improved our understanding of these diseases and revolutionized their diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To review the mechanisms by which chromosomal translocations occur and contribute to the pathogenesis of various types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and to review the utility of molecular genetic methods for the assessment of these translocations. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION Primary research studies and reviews published in the English language that focus on chromosomal translocation and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Chromosomal translocations, which usually result in oncogene activation, occur in many types of B- and T-cell lymphoma, and their detection is helpful for establishing an accurate diagnosis and monitoring disease following therapy. However, the precise mechanisms that explain how translocations occur remain unknown, although for some types of translocations a clear relationship has been established with immunoglobulin gene rearrangement mechanisms. In recent years, a number of genes deregulated by chromosomal translocations have been identified, and the detailed molecular mechanisms by which chromosomal translocations contribute to the pathogenesis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma are beginning to be elucidated. CONCLUSIONS Molecular genetic analysis has played a major role in improving our understanding of B- and T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas and has allowed more precise definition of lymphoma types. Molecular genetic tests to detect these translocations are important ancillary tools for the diagnosis and classification of malignant lymphomas.
Caldesmon: New Insights for Diagnosing Endometriosis1

ABSTRACT Considerable effort has been invested in searching for less invasive methods of diagnosing endometriosis. Previous studies have indicated altered levels of the CALD1 gene (encoding the protein caldesmon) in endometriosis. The aims of our study were to investigate whether average CALD1 expression and caldesmon protein levels are differentially altered in the endometrium and endometriotic lesions and to evaluate the performance of the CALD1 gene and caldesmon protein as potential biomarkers for endometriosis. Paired biopsies of endometrial tissue (eutopic endometrium) and endometriotic lesions (ectopic endometrium) were obtained from patients with endometriosis to evaluate CALD1 gene expression and caldesmon protein levels by real-time PCR and Western blot analysis, respectively. In addition, immunostaining for caldesmon to determine cellular localization was also performed. Endometrium from women without endometriosis was used as a control. Increased CALD1 expression and caldesmon levels were detected in the endometriotic lesions. The electrophoretic profile of caldesmon by Western blot analysis was clearly different between the control group (endometrium of women without endometriosis) and the group of women with endometriosis (eutopic endometrium and endometriotic lesions). Caldesmon expression as determined by immunostaining showed no variation among the cell types in endometriotic lesions and eutopic endometrium. Stromal cells marked positively in eutopic endometrium from control patients and in the endometriotic lesions. The presence of caldesmon in the endometrium of patients with and without endometriosis permitted diagnoses with 95% sensitivity (specificity 100%) and 100% sensitivity (specificity 100%) for the disease and for minimal to mild endometriosis in the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle, respectively. In the secretory phase, minimal to mild endometriosis was detected with 90% sensitivity and 93.3% specificity. Caldesmon is a possible predictor of endometrial dysregulation in patients with endometriosis. A potential limitation of our study is the fact that other endometrial diseases were not excluded, and therefore prospective studies are needed to confirm the potential of caldesmon as a biomarker exclusively for endometriosis.
A procedure to identify an accurate linear model of a synchronous machine

Results of a nonlinear simulation is used in this paper to identify a linear model of a black-boxed synchronous machine. Linear system identification methods such as Prony Analysis, are employed to identify linear models of power system devices when their complete mathematical models are not available to be included in small signal stability studies. While the user lacks the knowledge of the control structure and its parameters, availability of the machine model is practically possible as the models and their parameter estimation methods are well established. Rapidly decaying transients of the machine, such as amortisseur winding transients, usually tend to be missed by available system identification methods. In this work an improved expanding-data-window Prony Analysis method is complemented with an eigenstructure assignment based method to incorporate a-priori knowledge of the generator to determine the highly damped transients of an electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation model of a synchronous machine with generator controllers.
Interactions affect hyphal growth and enzyme profiles in combinations of coniferous wood-decaying fungi of Agaricomycetes

Fomitopsis pinicola is a species of Polyporales frequently encountered in Nordic temperate and boreal forests. In nature, the fungus causes destructive brown rot in wood, colonizing tree trunks often occupied by other Basidiomycota species. We mimicked these species-species interactions by introducing F. pinicola to five white rot species, all common saprotrophs of Norway spruce. Hyphal interactions and mycelial growth in various combinations were recorded, while activities of lignocellulose-acting CAZymes and oxidoreductases were followed in co-cultures on two different carbon-source media. Of the species, Phlebia radiata and Trichaptum abietinum were the strongest producers of lignin-modifying oxidoreductases (laccase, manganese peroxidase) when evaluated alone, as well as in co-cultures, on the two different growth media (low-nitrogen liquid medium containing ground coniferous wood, and malt extract broth). F. pinicola was an outstanding producer of oxalic acid (up to 61 mM), whereas presence of P. radiata prevented acidification of the growth environment in the liquid malt-extract cultures. When enzyme profiles of the species combinations were clustered, time-dependent changes were observed on wood-supplemented medium during the eight weeks of growth. End-point acidity and production of mycelium, oxalic acid and oxidoreductase activities, in turn clustered the fungal combinations into three distinct functional groups, determined by the presence of F. pinicola and P. radiata, by principal component analysis. Our findings indicate that combinations of wood-decay fungi have dramatic dynamic effects on the production of lignocellulose-active enzymes, which may lead to divergent degradative processes of dead wood and forest litter.
Evidence-based practice in the management of lower limb lymphedema after gynecological cancer

ABSTRACT Purpose: Lower limb lymphedema (LLL) is characterized as a physical-functional chronic complication that impacts the quality of life of women who have gone through treatment for gynecological cancer. The present study aims to check the conservative treatments available for lymphedema after gynecological cancer in the context of evidence-based practice. Methods: The selection criteria included papers from May 1993 discussing treatment protocols used in LLL after treatment for gynecological cancer. The search was performed until October 2014 in MEDLINE, SciVerse, and PEDro using “rehabilitation,” “treatment outcome,” “therapeutics,” “clinical protocol,” “gynecologic surgery,” “lower extremity,” “lower limb,” and “lymphedema” as keywords, focused on women with a previous diagnosis of gynecological cancer who received radiation and/or chemotherapy and/or surgery and/or lymphadenectomy as part of their treatment. Results: From 110 studies found, 3 articles that used the complex decongestive therapy (CDT) as a treatment protocol were selected. There were no randomized clinical trials associated with the conservative treatment of LLL post-treatment of gynecological cancer. The three selected articles are retrospective, and had the same outcome – decreased volume of the affected limb lymphedema. Conclusions: Although LLL is more or as frequent and detrimental as upper limb lymphedema post-cancer treatment, there are only a few studies about this subject. Publications are even scarcer when considering studies with interventional approach. Randomized controlled trials are necessary to support rehabilitation resources on lymphedema post-gynecological cancer treatment.
Dietary exposure to chloropropanols of secondary school students in Hong Kong

This paper reports levels of 3-monochloropropan-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) and 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP) in a wide range of food items and estimates their dietary exposure for secondary school students in Hong Kong. Dietary exposure to chloropropanols was estimated using local food consumption data obtained from secondary school students in 2000 and the concentrations of 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP in food samples taken from the local market. The dietary exposure to 3-MCPD for an average secondary school student consumer was estimated to be 0.063–0.150 µg kg−1 body weight (bw) day−1, whilst that for the high consumer was 0.152–0.300 µg kg−1 bw day−1. Both estimates fell below the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake of 2 µg kg−1 bw established by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and amounted to less than 20% of this safety reference value. The dietary exposure to 1,3-DCP for an average secondary school student consumer was estimated to be 0.003–0.019 µg kg−1 bw day−1, whilst that for the high consumer was 0.009–0.040 µg kg−1 bw day−1. The resulting margins of exposures were of low concern for human health. It could be concluded that both the average and high secondary school student consumers were unlikely to experience major toxicological effects of 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP.
Serum iron concentration as a tool to measure relative iron absorption from elemental iron powders in man

Objective: To present a new method for measuring the relative bioavailability (RBV) of commercial elemental iron powders by investigating induced changes of serum iron concentration (S‐Fe) in relation to ferrous sulphate (FeSO4). Earlier studies have shown that in a group of subjects there is good agreement between the increase in S‐Fe and the amount of iron absorbed from a simple iron salt as FeSO4. Methods: The study included two groups of male blood donors (n=2×16 subjects) who were served three meals with an interval of approximately nine weeks between each one. In one group the meal was fortified with reduced iron, ferrous sulphate or no iron at all. In the other group the meal was fortified with electrolytic iron, ferrous sulphate or no iron. The S‐Fe increase was followed for 6 h. Studying the non‐iron meals was necessary so that the basal diurnal variation in the S‐Fe during the six hours could be measured and subtracted. Results: The mean S‐Fe increase calculated as the area under the curve (AUC) from the reduced iron (RBV=0.43) and the electrolytic iron (RBV=0.73) differed significantly from the AUC following FeSO4 (p=0.002 and p=0.021, respectively). The difference between the reduced and the electrolytic iron was also statistically significant (p=0.036). Conclusion: Measuring increases in S‐Fe could be a reliable and simple method to determine the RBV in comparative studies of elemental iron powders in relation to FeSO4.
Patients with heart failure and their partners with chronic illness: interdependence in multiple dimensions of time

Background Informal caregivers play a vital role in supporting patients with heart failure (HF). However, when both the HF patient and their long-term partner suffer from chronic illness, they may equally suffer from diminished quality of life and poor health outcomes. With the focus on this specific couple group as a dimension of the HF health care team, we explored this neglected component of supportive care. Materials and methods From a large-scale Canadian multisite study, we analyzed the interview data of 13 HF patient–partner couples (26 participants). The sample consisted of patients with advanced HF and their long-term, live-in partners who also suffer from chronic illness. Results The analysis highlighted the profound enmeshment of the couples. The couples’ interdependence was exemplified in the ways they synchronized their experience in shared dimensions of time and adapted their day-to-day routines to accommodate each other’s changing health status. Particularly significant was when both individuals were too ill to perform caregiving tasks, which resulted in the couples being in a highly fragile state. Conclusion We conclude that the salience of this couple group’s oscillating health needs and their severe vulnerabilities need to be appreciated when designing and delivering HF team-based care.
Eisenstasin, new antistasin family inhibitor from the earthworm

A couple of new antistasin family serine protease inhibitors have been isolated from the non-hematophagous earthworm, Eisenia andrei. These novel inhibitors have been designated as eisenstasin I and II. Similar to other antistasin family inhibitors, eisenstasin I and II feature 3 and 4 internal repeats, respectively, of a 24–29 amino acid sequence, both of which exhibit a conserved pattern of 6-cysteine/2-glycine at an identical position between the third and fourth cysteine residues. This suggests that the eisenstasins isolated from the earthworm are members of the antistasin family. The eisenstasins are 82% similar with regard to amino acid sequences and exhibit over 70% similarity with the antistasins from the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus, while also displaying less than 40% sequence similarity with the leech antistasins. Earthworm eisenstasins are basic proteins, primarily due to the frequent occurrence of arginine residues in their structure, especially at the C-terminal region. As arginine is a key residue for the substrate specificity of some serine proteases including FXa, it is thought that these multiple arginine residues may play a role in the inhibitory characteristics of the eisenstasins. Considering the structure and number of the internal repeats derived from a variety of animal species, the deletion as well as the duplication of all or part of an internal repeat may be implicated in the evolution of the structure and function of the antistasin family inhibitors.
Concordance Between Routine Interictal Magnetoencephalography and Simultaneous Scalp Electroencephalography in a Sample of Patients with Epilepsy

Summary: Both electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) localize epileptiform activity but may yield different results. This discordance may arise from different detection capabilities or from different data collection and interpretation techniques. Comparisons of MEG and EEG have focused on detection of individual spikes. However, side-by-side comparisons of results as used in the clinical setting is lacking. In this report, we present our empirical comparison. We reviewed 58 simultaneous MEG-EEG recordings (35 paired-sensors, 23 whole-head) from a diverse epilepsy population, comparing previous clinical MEG interpretations with new blinded EEG interpretations, noting lobar concordance of readers’ judgments of regional abnormalities. A second-pass unblinded analysis, using all available clinical data, assessed the relative contribution and plausibility of the results of each technique. Concordance was high (85%) overall. Discordance was sometimes caused by constraints imposed by MEG dipole fitting techniques. Even when results of the techniques did not match, MEG often disambiguated the clinical scenario, especially when combined with imaging information. Thoughtful analysis of combined MEG-EEG datasets, beyond algorithm-based interictal spike detection, can help guide clinical decision-making even when concordance between techniques is imperfect. In some cases, EEG and MEG are synergistic and provide complementary information.
Estimating Error in Using Ambient PM2.5 Concentrations as Proxies for Personal Exposures: A Review

Background: Several methods have been used to account for measurement error inherent in using ambient concentration of particulate matter <2.5 &mgr;m/m3 (PM2.5) as a proxy for personal exposure. Such methods commonly rely on the estimated correlation between ambient and personal PM2.5 concentrations (r). However, studies of r have not been systematically and quantitatively assessed for publication bias or heterogeneity. Methods: We searched 7 electronic reference databases for studies of the within-participant correlation between ambient and personal PM2.5. Results: We identified 567 candidate studies, 18 (3%) of which met inclusion criteria and were abstracted. The studies were published between 1999 and 2008, representing 619 nonsmoking participants aged 6–93 years in 17 European and North American cities. Correlation coefficients (median 0.54; range 0.09–0.83) were based on a median of 8 ambient-personal PM2.5 pairs per participant (range 5–20) collected over 27–547 days. Overall, there was little evidence for publication bias (funnel plot symmetry tests: Begg's log-rank test, P = 0.9; Egger's regression asymmetry test, P = 0.2). However, strong evidence for heterogeneity was noted (Cochran's Q test for heterogeneity, P < 0.001). European locales, eastern longitudes in North America, higher ambient PM2.5 concentrations, higher relative humidity, and lower between-participant variation in r were associated with increased r. Conclusions: Characteristics of participants, studies, and the environments in which they are conducted may affect the accuracy of ambient PM2.5 as a proxy for personal exposure.
[Population policy in Thailand].

Population policy may be defined differently by students of demography but it is generally defined as measures aiming at influencing demographic processes--fertility, mortality, and migration--through public and private programs. Population policy may also be classified into different types: direct and indirect policies; population influencing and population responsive policies; explicit and implicit policies; and domestic and international policies. For Thailand, earlier population policies tended to be policies aimed at increasing the size of population through pronatalist and public health measures. However, findings of various studies in the early 1960s indicated that the rate of population growth in Thailand since the end of World War II had been as high as 3% per annum. These had led the government to eventually issue the first national population policy statement "supporting family planning through a voluntary system. " in March 1970. The first 5-year family planning program was included in the health plan of the Third National Economic and Social Development Plan (1972-1976). From the Fourth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1977-1981) onwards, population policies were made more comprehensive to cover all dimensions of population: population growth; quality of population; and population distribution and human settlements. Since population policy is an integral component of overall economic and social policies, conflicts between objectives of sectoral policies have to be minimized as much as possible. Future options of the population policies were briefly discussed.
Real-time localization of an omnidirectional mobile robot resorting to odometry and global vision data fusion: An EKF approach

This paper describes a robust localization system, similar to the used by the teams participating in the Robocup Small size league (SLL). The system, developed in Object Pascal, allows real-time localization and control of an autonomous omnidirectional mobile robot. The localization algorithm is done resorting to odometry and global vision data fusion, applying an extended Kalman filter.
[Hysterectomy via laparotomy or pelviscopy. A new CASH method without colpotomy].

Total Hysterectomy has been until non performed by extracervical "enucleation" of the fascia of the uterine corpus with amputation of the vagina. The new method leaves the extrafascial highly vascularised vascular stem, the corresponding nerves and the topography of the ureter untouched. It is limited to an intrafascial cylindriform enucleation of the cervix. The diameter of the cervical cylinder can be determined beforehand by vaginal sonography. Punching-out is effected from a new instrument C.U. R.T. (= calibrated uterine resection tool) of 10-20 mm diameter. A cervicohaemostaser provides for safe transvaginal haemostasis in the residual cervix. The transvaginal sexual sensations of the patient are not impaired due to the fact that the cardinal ligaments are preserved as well as the nerve supply of the cervical fascia. Suspension of the cervical fascia at the supporting ligaments of the uterus can be performed in an ideal manner. Pelviscopic extirpation of the uterus is done in the classical way used in abdominal hysterectomy with ligature and suture. Morcellated cylinders of 2-3 cms in diameter, of the cervix and corpus uteri and even of myomas up to the size of a child's head, will suffice for relevant histological examination. The physical stress to which the patient is exposed is about the same as in routine surgical pelviscopy. The abdominal space remains practically unopened in pelviscopic transabdominal hysterectomy. Pelviscopic transabdominal hysterectomy with and without adnexae according to the CASH technique corresponds to surgery performed with a minimum of invasiveness. It is fully sufficient as regards cancer prophylaxis with respect to cervical or endometrial cancer.