Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ameliorative potential of alpha-ketoglutaric acid (AKG) on acute lung injuries induced by ammonia inhalation in rats

ABSTRACT Introduction: Toxicants such as ammonia, if inhaled, can damage respiratory tract leading to acute lung injury and pulmonary edema. Besides being a possible threat for the workers in chemical industry, easy availability and the toxic nature of ammonia may be used by terror groups for inflicting mass casualty among vulnerable population. In the present study, we have evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) to mitigate acute effects of ammonia on lung structure and antioxidant status in experimental animals. Methods: Acute lung injury (ALI) models were developed by inhalation of aerosols of liquid ammonia in male Sprague Dawley rats. AKG (5%) respiratory fluid was inhaled by nebulization once daily for 5 days. Animals were euthanized and their blood samples were collected for hematology and serum biochemistry analysis. Total cell count, total protein (TP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), antioxidant enzyme activity (CAT, SOD, GSH), and malonaldialdehyde (MDA) formation were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Results: Treatment with AKG showed significant lung protection by lowering the levels of total cell count, TP, LDH, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and MDA in BAL fluid. There was a marked increase in catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) content of BAL fluid post-AKG inhalation. Histopathology of lung tissue correlated with cellular and biochemical findings indicate therapeutic efficacy of AKG against ammonia-induced lung injuries. Conclusions: The data suggest a possible therapeutic role of AKG inhalation against ammonia-induced structural and inflammatory changes in the lung.
PET-CT scan in pediatric oncology: where, when, how and at what price?

The advent of combined positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET–CT) has been an important innovation in the diagnosis, staging, monitoring of response to therapy, and disease surveillance in adult oncology. [1,2] Combined morphological and functional information along with rapid, non-invasive whole-body tumor staging has proven to be a boon for treating oncologists. However, the role of PET–CT in the pediatric cancers is less clearly defined at present. In the recent times, the use of PET–CT imaging in pediatric cancer patients is growing rapidly and it is likely to become an important part of therapeutic decision tree in the near future. [3] In this issue of “The Indian Journal of cancer”, Samuel et al. have given a comprehensive overview of PET–CT protocols and its clinical applications in children with cancer. The increasing use of serial PET–CT scans in the management of children raises the serious consideration of radiation exposure. Hence, it is imperative to weigh the risk–benefit ratio of this potentially harmful modality in this young and vulnerable population from the perspective of a clinician and precisely define the current role of this modality in the current practice.
PPAR-α activation reduced LPS-induced inflammation in alveolar epithelial cells

ABSTRACT Purpose of the study: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) represents a major cause of mortality in intensive care patients. Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α) by fibrates, such as WY-14643 (WY), has been described to beneficially influence inflammation and experimental lung injury. The impact of PPAR-α activation on alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) has not been studied yet. Materials and Methods: To investigate the effect of PPAR-α activator WY in wild-type (WT) and in PPAR-α knockout (PPAR-α−/−) animals, mice were treated in different regimes: mice received chow enriched with or without WY for 14 days prior AEC isolation (in-vivo treatment). Furthermore, isolated AEC from both groups were subsequently cultured with or without WY (in-vitro treatment). AEC were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cell culture supernatant and cell lysate were used for analysis of pro-inflammatory mediators. Results: AEC challenged with LPS showed a significantly increased generation of pro-inflammatory mediators. After in-vivo WY-exposure, AEC displayed significantly reduced concentration of TNF-α, MIP-2, and TxB2 after LPS stimulation. This beneficial effect was abrogated in PPAR-α−/− animals. Interestingly, sole in-vitro application of WY-14643 failed to reduce levels of pro-inflammatory mediators whereas we found an additive effect of a combined in-vivo and in-vitro PPAR-α activation. PGE2 concentration remained high after LPS challenge and was unaffected by WY treatment. Conclusion: PPAR-α activation by in-vivo exposure to fibrates reduced the inflammatory response in isolated AEC. These findings may facilitate further studies investigating the translation of pharmacological PPAR-α activation into clinical therapy of ARDS.
Effect of early elbow crutch mobility on patients with post-anterior cruciate ligament repair.

OBJECTIVE Rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction has focused over the past decade on early mobility and exercises in the recent years, due to advancements in the surgical techniques, presumably less strain on the graft. Thus it was necessary to investigate the effect of early mobilization with the single elbow crutch with conventional methods and its outcome responses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Totally, 40 subjects of day 1 post-ACL oblique repair with mean age of 25 ± 5.3 years participated in the study. Subjects were divided into experimental and control groups for rehabilitation with single elbow crutch and walker, respectively, along with conventional exercises for 6 weeks. After 4th week elbow crutch and walker were discarded for both groups. Interventional outcomes were assessed by static, dynamic stability, and knee functional score at 4th and 6th weeks post-operatively for both groups. RESULTS Both groups showed statistically significant difference in static and dynamic stability at 4th and 6th weeks. Whereas compared with experimental group, in control group Lysholm functional score was low in at 4th and 6th weeks. It was found that outcomes were improved within each group from 4th to 6th week. CONCLUSION Study concluded that knee stability and Lysholm functional Knee Score were significantly improved by early mobilization although functional score was more significant in single elbow crutch group than walker and also recommended early weaning off walking aids for faster outcomes during rehabilitation of post-ACL repair.
Alergia a beta-lactâmicos na clínica pediátrica: uma abordagem prática

OBJECTIVE: To present a practical approach to the diagnosis and management of allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics. SOURCES: Allergy journals indexed in MEDLINE and LILACS, as well as seminal studies and texts. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: Allergy to penicillin is commonly reported. In many cases, this results in the decision not to use this drug. About 10% of drug allergy reports are confirmed. The clinical manifestations due to allergic reaction to penicillin vary widely, with emphasis on skin disorders. Gell & Coombs' four hypersensitivity mechanisms are involved in allergic reactions. Penicillin is degraded to a major (95%) and minor determinants (5%). Immediate IgE-mediated reactions causing anaphylaxis are associated with minor determinants in 95% of the cases. Hypersensitivity to these products can be assessed using cutaneous tests performed with major and minor determinants, thus avoiding anaphylactic shock in allergic individuals. The present article underscores the basic body of knowledge on allergy to penicillin, providing support for a more accurate diagnosis of this event and for the choice of management in cases of suspected beta-lactam allergy. CONCLUSIONS: The incorrect diagnosis of penicillin allergy frequently leads to the exclusion of this drug as a therapeutic option. A better recognition of these situations will enable the use of penicillin and reduce the risks associated with hypersensitivity.
Osseous integration in porous tantalum implants

Porous tantalum is a biomaterial that was recently introduced in orthopedics in order to overcome problems related to implant loosening. It is found to have osteoconductive, and possibly, osteoinductive properties hence useful in difficult cases with severe bone defects. So, it is of great interest to shed light on the mechanisms through which this material leads to new bone formation, after being implanted. Porous tantalum is biologically relatively inert, with restricted bonding capacity to the bone is restricted. In order to overcome this obstacle, it undergoes thermal processing in an alkaline environment. This process leads to extensive hydroxyapatite formation on its surface, and thus, to better integration of porous tantalum implants. Apart from this, new bone tissue formation occurs inside the pores of the porous tantalum after its implantation and this new bone retains the characteristics of the normal bone, that is, bone remodeling and Haversian systems formation. This finding is enhanced by the observation that porous tantalum is an appropriate substrate for osteoblast adherence, proliferation, and differentiation. Furthermore, the finding that osteoblasts derived from old women (> 60 years old) and cultivated on porous tantalum may grow faster than osteoblasts taken from younger women (< 45 years old) and cultivated on other substrates, can partially explain porous tantalum’s good performance in cases of patients with severe bone defects. In conclusion, porous tantalum’s chemical and mechanical properties are those that probably define the already noticed good performance of this material. However, further research is needed to totally clarify the mechanisms.
Reliability of the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test for Children with Cerebral Palsy Aged 2 to 12 Years

ABSTRACT Aim: To investigate reliability of the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST) scores for children with cerebral palsy (CP) aged 2–12 years. Method: Thirty-one QUESTs from 24 children with CP were rated once by two raters and twice by one rater. Internal consistency of total scores, inter- and intra-rater reliability findings for total, domain, and item scores were calculated. Results: Total scores inter-rater reliability, Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was 0.86, and for intra-rater reliability, ICC was 0.96. Domains had high reliability (ICC > 0.80) within raters and between raters except for grasp (moderate at ICC = 0.67). Item inter-rater reliability was moderate or better for 80% of items; item intra-rater reliability was moderate or better for 87% of items. Total score internal consistency was high (α = 0.97). Implications: The QUEST has proven reliability for children with CP aged 18 months to 8 years. This study demonstrates strong reliability for children aged 2–12 years.
Effects of Sox9 gene therapy on the healing of bone-tendon junction: An experimental study

Background Sox9 is an operon that positively regulates the transcription of type II collagen. The generation of type II collagen plays a critical role in the healing process of the bone-tendon junction (BTJ). Materials and Methods Sox9 was injected into an established bone-tendon healing model in order to observe its effect on the healing by determining the biomechanical properties of the BTJ. In addition, the recombinant adenovirus Sox9 was used to transduce the animal model samples and in vivo observations of the effect of the adenovirus-mediated Sox9 transduction as well as its promotion of the healing properties were made. Results Sox9 was not only able to promote the healing, but also increased the biomechanical strength. The recombinant Sox9 delivered by adenoviral vector can be expressed at a high level in the damaged tissues of the bone-tendon junction, which can stimulate the production of type II collagen and improve the healing of the BTJ. Conclusions Based on the results of this study, we considered that gene therapy may be applicable in the healing process of the bone-tendon junction.
In vitro comparison of resistance to implant failure in unstable trochanteric fractures fixed with intramedullary single screw versus double screw device

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the resistance of intramedullary single screw device (Gamma nail) and double screw device proximal femoral nail (PFN) in unstable trochanteric fractures in terms of the number of cycles sustained, subsidence and implant failure in an axial loading test in cadaveric femora. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 18 dry cadaveric femoral specimens, 9 of these were implanted with a Gamma nail and 9 with PFN. There was no significant difference found in average dual energy X-ray absorptiometry value between both groups. The construct was made unstable (AO type 31A3.3) by removing a standard sized posteromedial wedge. These were tested on a cyclic physiological loading machine at 1 cycle/s with a load of 200 kg. The test was observed for 50,000 loading cycles or until implant failure, whichever occurred earlier. Peak displacements were measured and analysis was done to determine construct stiffness and gap micromotion in axial loading. Result: It was observed that there was statistically significant difference in terms of displacement at the fracture gap and overall construct stiffness of specimens of both groups. PFN construct group showed a mean subsidence of 1.02 mm and Gamma nail construct group showed mean subsidence of 2.36 mm after cycling. The average stiffness of Gamma nail group was 62.8 ± 8.4 N/mm which was significantly lower than average stiffness of the PFN group (80.4 ± 5.9 N/mm) ( P = 0.03). In fatigue testing, 1 out of 9 PFN bone construct failed, while 5 of 9 Gamma nail bone construct failed. Conclusion: When considering micromotion (subsidence) and incidence of implant/screw failure, double screw device (PFN) had statistically significant lower micromotion across the fracture gap with axial compression and lower incidence of implant failure. Hence, double screw device (PFN) construct had higher stability compared to single screw device (GN) in an unstable trochanteric fracture femur model.
Simulating respiratory motion in whole-body PET imaging with the MCAT phantom

Respiratory motion is known to affect the quality of PET imaging of the thorax and abdomen, hindering the localization, detection of the lesions, and quantification of tracer uptake in a tumor. It also poses a challenge for the registration of PET and CT scans, even with a combined PET/CT scanner. Our long term goal is to study the impact of respiratory motion on lesion detection for FDG-PET scan. In this paper, we used the model proposed in the new dynamic MCAT phantom to simulate FDG-PET scans. In order to prepare the input data for the simulation, two sets of 16 temporal frames of the MCAT phantom were generated along a complete respiratory cycle. We generated an emission data set, using typical values of FDG uptake for each tissue, and a set of corresponding attenuation maps for 511 keV photons. After a thorough inspection of the different moving structures, we introduced 3 hot spherical lesions (7,10 and 12 mm diameter) in the liver, mediastinum and right lung, respectively with contrasts of 4:1, 8:1 and 13:1. We assumed that the liver and mediastinum approximately move as rigid bodies in the current phantom model. Both emission and attenuation data sets were input to an analytical PET simulator. The resulting analytical emission and transmission sinograms corresponding to each frame were averaged. Poisson noise was introduced in the emission projections and images were reconstructed using the FORE-AWOSEM algorithm, after correction for normalization and attenuation. The visual inspection of the images shows the lesions blurred and elongated in comparison with the images originating from a 'static' frame. We also found that respiratory motion may preclude the detection of the smallest lesion inserted in the liver.
Complexation/encapsulation of green tea polyphenols in mixed calcium carbonate and phosphate micro-particles

We used a double-jet mixer to encapsulate water-soluble polyphenols, green tea extract (GTE), with calcium-based inorganic materials. The device mixed calcium chloride solutions with a solution of carbonate and phosphate in the presence of a GTE solution, and formed micro-particles which capture the GTE molecules. The micro-particles were analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectroscopy to determine the encapsulation yield and loading of the different GTE components. We established correlations between (1) the efficiency of the GTE encapsulation and the composition of the mixed anion solutions and (2) the protonation degree of the ions and the molar ratio of calcium cations and carbonate/phosphate anions. An optimal and reproducible GTE loading of about 40% with an encapsulation yield of 65% was observed for a carbonate/phosphate molar composition of 4 : 1. In addition, our experimental results showed that the process is selective and favours the encapsulation of gallated species which form stronger complexes with calcium cations.
Electrocardiographic Abnormalities in Heart Failure Patients at a Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana

The resting 12-lead Electrocardiogram (ECG) is very useful in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of heart failure. There are limited data on the prevalence of ECG abnormalities in heart failure in Ghana. This retrospective study was therefore designed to determine the prevalence of ECG abnormalities among heart failure patients attending a cardiac clinic at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, Ghana. Medical records of 398 patients diagnosed with heart failure were selected from the cardiac clinic, using simple random sampling. The demographic, clinical and chest X-ray characteristics of the patients were examined. The 12-lead resting ECGs were obtained from 394 of the patients. The ECGs were abnormal in 93% (n=367) of the patients. The main ECG abnormalities included: left ventricular hypertrophy (43.7%), left axis deviation (39.6%), left bundle branch block (19.2%), and left atrial enlargement (25.6%). Arrhythmias seen included: ventricular extrasystoles (11.2%), atrial fibrillation (8.9%), complete heart block (5.3%), and ventricular tachycardia (3.6%). In conclusion, our study has shown that ECG abnormalities are very common among heart failure patients attending cardiac clinic in Kumasi, Ghana
Eeglab – an Open Source Matlab Toolbox for Electrophysiological Research

EEGLAB is a widely used open-source MAT- LAB toolbox for analysis of electrophysiological data. Us- ing EEGLAB, users can import various data formats, pre- process data (filter, resample, average, epoch), visualize data (signal browser, event-related potentials, power spec- tra), perform independent component analysis (ICA), use various time/frequency analysis methods such as event- related spectral perturbation (ERSP) and inter-trial co- herence (ITC). The extensible plug-in architecture enables third parties to contribute additional functionality such as source localization, connectivity estimation or the design of online brain-computer interfaces.
In vitro physicochemical characterization and short term in vivo tolerability study of ethionamide loaded PLGA nanoparticles: potentially effective agent for multidrug resistant tuberculosis

Purpose: To achieve prolonged drug release for the treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis and to improve the patient compliance, ethionamide loaded PLGA nanoparticles were developed. Material and methods: They were developed by solvent evaporation method and optimized. The optimized formulation was subjected to various physico-chemical characterization, in vitro release studies and in vivo tolerability study. Results and discussion: There was no significant drug-polymer interaction and drug was encapsulated as crystalline form in nanoparticles. In vitro release was sustained up to 15 days in various media. Ethionamide loaded nanoparticles in mice did not reveal any statistically significant treatment related effects on body weight gain and clinical signs. Likewise, no treatment-related toxic effect was found in hematology, clinical chemistry and histopathology. Our results indicate the development of an orally effective safe formulation of ethionamide with sustained release property. Conclusion: Hence, ethionamide loaded nanoparticles offer excellent potential for further preclinical and clinical studies.
Integrative Analysis of -Omics Data: A Method Comparison

Technological improvements have shifted the focus from data generation to data analysis. The availability of huge amounts of data like transcriptomics, protemics and metabolomics raise new questions concerning suitable integrative analysis methods. We compare three integrative analysis techniques (co-inertia analysis, generalized singular value decomposition and integrative biclustering) by applying them to gene and protein abundance data from six life cycle stages of Plasmodium falciparum. We create a network view of the GO terms associated to cell cycle stages by all three methods.
Physical inactivity as one of the chronic disease risk factors among high school learners in public schools in a local community in South Africa

This study aimed to determine the physical activity levels and existence of risk factors associated with chronic diseases of lifestyle among high school learners. A crosssectional research design was used to obtain information about physical activity levels from 951 learners from two high schools in a local community in the Western Province of South Africa. Physical activity levels were obtained using the KUOPIO Ischaemic Heart Disease 24-hour physical activity record over a seven-day period. Anthropometrical and blood pressure measurements as well as behaviours including cigarette smoking and alcohol use were recorded as risk factors for chronic diseases of lifestyle. Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (2000). Risk factors were identified as obesity, physical inactivity, smoking and hypertension. Variance of analysis (ANOVA) was used to statistically determine differences in groups. The results indicated that 32% of the learners were classified as being physically inactive and that 21% engaged in health risk behaviours. In addition, 35% of the learners had more than one risk factor for chronic diseases of lifestyle present. Since cardiovascular risk factors have been shown to persist into adulthood, health professionals should assume some responsibility for the prevention, detection, and intervention relevant to cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents. South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation Vol. 28(2) 2006: 73-80