Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exertional oxygen uptake kinetics: a stamen of stamina?

The fundamental pulmonary O(2) uptake (.VO(2)) response to moderate, constant-load exercise can be characterized as (d.VO(2)/dt)(tau)+Delta.VO(2) (t)=Delta.VO(2SS) where Delta.VO(2SS) is the steady-state response, and tau is the time constant, with the . VO(2) kinetics reflecting intramuscular O(2) uptake (.QO(2)) kinetics, to within 10%. The role of phosphocreatine (PCr) turnover in . QO(2) control can be explored using (31)P-MR spectroscopy, simultaneously with . VO(2). Although tau.VO(2) and tauPCr vary widely among subjects (approx. 20-65 s), they are not significantly different from each other, either at the on- or off-transient. A caveat to interpreting the "well-fit" exponential is that numerous units of similar Delta.VO(2SS) but with a wide tau distribution can also yield a . VO(2) response with an apparent single tau. This tau is, significantly, inversely correlated with lactate threshold and . VO(2max)(but is poorly predictive; a frail stamen, therefore), consistent with tau not characterizing a compartment with uniform kinetics. At higher intensities, the fundamental kinetics become supplemented with a slowly-developing phase, setting . VO(2)on a trajectory towards maximum . VO(2). This slow component is also demonstrable in Delta[PCr]: the decreased efficiency thereby reflecting a predominantly high phosphate-cost of force production rather than a high O(2)-cost of phosphate production. We also propose that the O(2)-deficit for the slow-component is more likely to reflect shifting Delta.VO(2SS) rather than a single one with a single tau.
[Expression of activin A in tissue and serum of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its clinical significance].

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore the expression of activin A in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its clinical significance. METHODS Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used for detecting the expression of tissue activin A in sixty-four patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used for detecting the serum activin A in the patients before and after surgery. The relationship between expression of activin A in the esophageal cancer tissue with clinicopathological features and its influence on prognosis were analyzed. RESULTS The positive expression rate of activin A in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was 82.8% (53/64), and that of normal esophageal epithelium was 6.7% (2/30), showing a very significant difference between them (P < 0.001). Expression of activin A was correlated with both lymph node metastasis and invasion depth of the tumor (all P < 0.05), and the expression of activin A was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis (r = 0.321, P < 0.05) and invasion depth of the tumor (r = 0.417, P < 0.05). The serum activin A of the patients before and after surgery was (911 ± 276) pg/ml and (667 ± 236) pg/ml, respectively, showing a significant difference (P = 0.005). Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that expression of activin A and lymph node metastasis were independent influencing factors for prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Activin A may play an important role in the pathogenesis and development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and it has an important reference value in the estimation of diagnosis and prognosis for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Early pregnancy failure management among family physicians.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Family physicians, as primary care providers for reproductive-aged women, frequently initiate or refer patients for management of early pregnancy failure (EPF). Safe and effective options for EPF treatment include expectant management, medical management with misoprostol, and aspiration in the office or operating room. Current practice does not appear to reflect patient preferences or to utilize the most cost-effective treatments. We compared characteristics and practice patterns among family physicians who do and do not provide multiple options for EPF care. METHODS We performed a secondary analysis of a national survey of women's health providers to describe demographic and practice characteristics among family physicians who care for women with EPF. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify correlates of providing more than one option for EPF management. RESULTS The majority of family physicians provide only one option for EPF; expectant management was most frequently used among our survey respondents. Misoprostol and office-based aspiration were rarely used. Providing more than one option for EPF management was associated with more years in practice, smaller county population, larger proportions of Medicaid patients, intrauterine contraception provision, and prior training in office-based aspiration. CONCLUSIONS Family physicians are capable of providing a comprehensive range of options for EPF management in the outpatient setting but few providers currently do so. To create a more patient-centered and cost-effective model of care for EPF, additional resources should be directed at education, skills training, and system change initiatives to prepare family physicians to offer misoprostol and office-based aspiration to women with EPF.
Long-Term Effects of Intermittent Adolescent Alcohol Exposure in Male and Female Rats

Alcohol is a serious public health concern that has a differential impact on individuals depending upon age and sex. Patterns of alcohol consumption have recently changed: heavy episodic drinking—known as binge-drinking—has become most popular among the youth. Herein, we aimed to investigate the consequences of intermittent adolescent alcohol consumption in male and female animals. Thus, Wistar rats were given free access to ethanol (20% in drinking water) or tap water for 2-h sessions during 3 days, and for an additional 4-h session on the 4th day; every week during adolescence, from postnatal day (pnd) 28–52. During this period, animals consumed a moderate amount of alcohol despite blood ethanol concentration (BEC) did not achieve binge-drinking levels. No withdrawal signs were observed: no changes were observed regarding anxiety-like responses in the elevated plus-maze or plasma corticosterone levels (pnd 53–54). In the novel object recognition (NOR) test (pnd 63), a significant deficit in recognition memory was observed in both male and female rats. Western Blot analyses resulted in an increase in the expression of synaptophysin in the frontal cortex (FC) of male and female animals, together with a decrease in the expression of the CB2R in the same brain region. In addition, adolescent alcohol induced, exclusively among females, a decrease in several markers of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission, in which epigenetic mechanisms, i.e., histone acetylation, might be involved. Taken together, further research is still needed to specifically correlate sex-specific brain and behavioral consequences of adolescent alcohol exposure.
Post-translational Modifications Regulate Class IIa Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) Function in Health and Disease*

Class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs4, -5, -7, and -9) modulate the physiology of the human cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, nervous, and immune systems. The regulatory capacity of this family of enzymes stems from their ability to shuttle between nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments in response to signal-driven post-translational modification. Here, we review the current knowledge of modifications that control spatial and temporal histone deacetylase functions by regulating subcellular localization, transcriptional functions, and cell cycle-dependent activity, ultimately impacting on human disease. We discuss the contribution of these modifications to cardiac and vascular hypertrophy, myoblast differentiation, neuronal cell survival, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Esperanza de Vida Ajustada por la Calidad en España: una aproximación

El objetivo de este trabajo es proporcionar una primera estimacion de la Esperanza de Vida Ajustada por la Calidad para Espana. Esta medida sintetica que combina cantidad y calidad de vida, puede ser un instrumento valioso para la evaluacion de programas publicos destinados a aumentar la esperanza de vida y mejorar la calidad de vida de la poblacion. Asimismo, esta estimacion puede servir para validar las estimaciones previamente realizadas en Espana a escala territorial.
Taxes and transfer pricing: Income shifting and the volume of intrafirm transfers

This paper extends Harris [1993] by linking the level of taxes paid by firms and the profits they report in various geographic areas to the volume of intergeographic area transactions within firms. If firms use the prices for goods transferred internationally to minimize their global taxes, it seems reasonable that the greatest opportunities and incentives for such manipulation exist for firms with large amounts of international intrafirm sales and with large differences in tax rates between regions. Following Harris [1993], these firms constitute the "flexibility partition" with the greatest incentives and opportunities for transfer price management. ' A
Continuity and Change in Labor Process Analysis Forty Years After Labor and Monopoly Capital

Braverman’s Labor and Monopoly Capital tapped into a late twentieth century sense that work while appearing ever safer, cleaner and more automated, was actually, less skilled, more controlled, and more intensive. For Braverman the general movement in work in the twentieth century had been towards degradation of skill and worker control, devoid of creative technical content and thought. Braverman’s monumental book drew on Marx’s writings on technology and the labour process, for the conditions of American capitalism in the 1970s. He provoked such heated debate that the term ‘Bravermania’ has entered the sociological lexicon. His analysis on the labour process in late modernity has seen scholars of organization, work and society at loggerheads over an array of issues. While some writers have attacked Braverman for underplaying the potential for worker resistance, others have defended his analysis as more nuanced and ultimately true to its Marxist inheritance. These debates, which continue to this day on both sides of the Atlantic, but as the paper demonstrates, there has been a movement away from some of the grander themes of Labor and Monopoly Capital (the state, the class structure, the universal market) towards a narrow focus on skill. But there has also been a widening of debates, with new themes (embodiment of labour, globalization, heightened mobility of labour, fragmentation of employment contracts, and spatial division of labour) which has moved labour process theory on and continued to rejuvenate discussion around the control and direction of work that Braverman helped to initiate.
The strengths and limitations of parental heights as a predictor of attained height

Mid-parental heights are widely used to help assess an individual child’s growth. However, the methods in use vary, and most make no allowance for extremes of parental height. This study aimed to examine the actual distribution of parental heights in a survey population and the relation with their children’s heights. The heights of 419 representatively sampled children aged 8–9 years were compared with their reported mid-parental heights, all expressed as standard deviation scores (SDS). These confirmed previous predictions that 90% of the children’s heights would fall within 1.5 SDS (approximately two centile spaces) of their mid-parental heights. However, where parents were unusually tall or short, their children were relatively less tall or short, respectively, and the mid-parental height was a poor predictor of attained height. A simple calculator for expected height centile is described that automatically adjusts for this regression to the mean. Of 13 children below the second centile for height, eight were within two centile spaces (90% range) of their mid-parental height SDS. However, when allowance was made for regression to the mean, only three of 13 were within the 90% range. Although mid-parental height provides a useful guide to expected height centile for children and parents of average stature, it can be misleading when used to assess short children.
Effects of different management factors on broiler performance and incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia

1. This study was to determine the effects of two lighting programmes (continuous—24L:0D or intermittent—12L:3(1L:3D)), two feeding programmes (continuous—ad libitum or meal feeding—3 h feed:3 h deprivation × 4 times per d) and two ascorbic acid (AA) supplementations (0 or 150 mg/l in water) on broiler performance and incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia (TD). 2. One-day-old male commercial (Ross PM3) broiler chicks (1600) were used. The chicks were randomly divided into 8 treatment groups (2 × 2 × 2) and their replicates (4 replicates per treatment). 3. Intermittent lighting increased body weight and improved feed conversion. Body weight of broilers was decreased by meal feeding. AA supplementation had no significant effect on the body weight and feed conversion ratio. There was no lighting × feeding × supplemental AA interaction for body weight, feed conversion ratio, mortality rate and carcase weight. 4. Supplemental AA improved the cortical thickness of tibiotarsus and decreased the incidence of TD. 5. It was concluded that the application of intermittent lighting in combination with supplementation of 150 mg/l AA is a useful method to reduce TD in broilers without loss of performance.
"Calciosome," a cytoplasmic organelle: the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-sensitive Ca2+ store of nonmuscle cells?

Calsequestrin (CS) is the protein responsible for the high-capacity, moderate affinity binding of Ca2+ within the terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, believed up to now to be specific for striated muscle. The cells of two nonmuscle lines (HL-60 and PC12) and of two rat tissues (liver and pancreas) are shown here to express a protein that resembles CS in many respects (apparent mass and pH-dependent migration in NaDodSO4/PAGE; blue staining with StainsAll dye; Ca2+ binding ability) and is specifically recognized by affinity-purified antibodies against skeletal muscle CS. In these cells, the CS-like protein is shown by immunofluorescence and immunogold procedures to be localized within peculiar, heretofore unrecognized structures distributed throughout the cytoplasm. These structures appear to be discrete organelles, which we propose to be named "calciosomes. " By cell fractionation (Percoll gradient and free-flow electrophoresis), the CS-like protein of HL-60 cells is shown to copurify with the markers of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins-P3)-sensitive Ca2+ store, whereas the markers of other organelles (endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complex, mitochondria, endosomes) and of the plasma membrane do not. Calciosome might thus be the intracellular target of Ins-P3--i.e., the source of the Ca2+ redistributed to the cytosol following receptor-triggered generation of the messenger.
Insulating properties of transformer oil-based silica nanofluids

Two types of colloidal dielectric fluids with 20% concentration of nanoparticles are manufactured by dispersing SiO2 nanoparticle with transformer oil by different preparation methods in order to improve the dielectric properties of mineral oil. The AC breakdown voltage of pure oil and prepared nanofluids were measured according to IEC standard methods at 20ppm. The AC breakdown voltages of two nanofluids were 1.05 times and 1.11 that of base oil respectivelyThe possible modification mechanism of silica nanoparticles on insulating properties of transformer oil was discussed on the trap characteristics of host oil and nanofluids. The results confirmed that mineral oil modified with Silica nanoparticles hold a promise to improve its insulating properties.
Factors Associated with Job Satisfaction among Public-Sector Physicians in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Evidence indicates an association between job satisfaction and illness among physicians. There are also negative consequences of physician dissatisfaction on the quality of medical services. With this in view, a cross-sectional study of a stratified random sample of physicians (n = 266) was conducted in the municipal public health care system in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Participants answered a questionnaire about job satisfaction, sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, work and employment conditions, and health status. Of the 232 respondents, 150 (64.94%) declared themselves satisfied with the work, with no significant difference between male and female physicians (66.4% vs. 64.2%; p = 0.74). The number of physicians satisfied with their work was significantly higher among those who experienced a high level of social support at work (p < 0.01) and was significantly lower among those working under high-strain conditions (p = 0.01) and those who screened positive for the presence of common mental disorders (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that policies to promote social support and mental health in the workplace, as well as the implementation of strategies to increase physicians' control over their work activities, can have a positive effect on the job satisfaction of these professionals.
Cardiac Surgery in an Adult Patient with Congenital Asplenia andThrombocytopenia

Isolated congenital asplenia is a rare form of immunodeficiency often presenting with overwhelming and potentially fatal infection in early childhood. We report a case of an adult patient with congenital asplenia and severe chronic thrombocytopenia suffering from unstable angina pectoris. The patient underwent coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass. Consistent prophylaxis of infection, adequate surgical technique and control of thrombocytopenia prevented losing the patient from sepsis and uncontrollable bleeding.
An Amino Acid Substitution in the Pore Region of a Glutamate-gated Chloride Channel Enables the Coupling of Ligand Binding to Channel Gating*

Many of the subunits of ligand-gated ion channels respond poorly, if at all, when expressed as homomeric channels in Xenopus oocytes. This lack of a ligand response has been thought to result from poor surface expression, poor assembly, or lack of an agonist binding domain. The Caenorhabditis elegans glutamate-gated chloride channel subunit GluClβ responds to glutamate as a homomeric channel while the GluClα subunit is insensitive. A chimera between GluClα and GluClβ was used to suggest that major determinants for glutamate binding are present on the GluClα N terminus. Amino acid substitutions in the presumed pore of GluClα conferred direct glutamate gating indicating that GluClα is deficient in coupling of ligand binding to channel gating. Heteromeric channels of GluClα+β may differ from the prototypic muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in that they have the potential to bind ligand to all of the subunits forming the channel.
Effects of Kampo Formulas on the Progression of Hypercholesterolemia and
Fatty Liver Induced by High-Cholesterol Diet in Rats

BACKGROUND Bofutsushosan is a well known Kampo, traditional Japanese medicine, based on ancient Chinese medicine mainly used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia in Japan. We selected two Kampo formulas, Boiogito and Keishibukuryogan mainly used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia in China to compare with Bofutsushosan and cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe. METHODS Hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver were induced by high cholesterol (containing 2% cholesterol and 0.5% cholic acid) diet in male Wistar rats for 6 and 12 weeks. Kampo formulas Boiogito, Bofutsushosan, Keishibukuryogan and ezetimibe were added to the high-cholesterol diet, respectively. After 6 and 12 weeks, body and liver weights, blood chemistry, cholesterol concentrations, fat-related and inflammatory-related factors were examined. RESULTS High-cholesterol diet increased body and liver weights, and serum cholesterol concentrations. Boiogito and ezetimibe improved them. Serum ICAM-1 and RBP4 were increased in the high cholesterol diet group. Boiogito and ezetimibe improved them too. In the histological examinations of liver and adipose tissues, we observed a significant improvement after treatment. Immunostaining expression of ICAM-1 in aorta was improved by Boiogito, Bofutsushosan, Keishibukuryogan and ezetimibe. The mRNA expression of RBP4, HFABP, CFABP, MCP1 and CCR2 in liver and adipose tissue were decreased by Boiogito and ezetimibe. CONCLUSION Boiogito has a protective effect on the progression of hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver induced by high-cholesterol diet in rats and more effective than Bofutsushosan and Keishibukuryogan. The lipid-lowering effect of Boiogito is not stronger than ezetimibe. But the anti-inflammatory (MCP1, CCR2) and anti-arteriosclerotic (ICAM-1) effects of Boiogito are more potent than ezetimibe.
[Irritable bowel syndrome and healthcare consumption. An observational study in private gastroenterology].

AIM Little data is available on the management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in daily practice. The purpose of our study was to study the relationship between the severity of IBS and healthcare consumption. METHODS During a cross-sectional epidemiological study undertaken by 330 private gastro-enterologists, the severity of IBS symptoms experienced by patients was quantified with Francis' score (limits 0-500) to study the relationship with the healthcare consumption. RESULTS Data obtained from 1407 patients (mean age: 52.3 +/- 15 years, females: 68%) were analysed. Symptoms were usually long-lasting (mean duration: 134.1 +/- 128.4 months); they had required on average 5.7 +/- 4.5 medical visits in the past year including 2.3 +/- 2.1 visits to a gastroenterologist. The mean number of additional investigations performed by patient was 1.3 +/- 1.4. Ninety one percent of them took at least one medication. The mean severity score was 268.5 +/- 85.2. Patients' distribution according to severity showed that 47.3% of the patients had symptoms of moderate severity and 44.9% of high severity. There was a significant relationship between, in one hand, severity of symptoms and, in the other hand, the number of visits (P<0.001), the number of additional investigations (P<0.001) and the number of prescribed medications (P<0.001). CONCLUSION There was a positive relationship between the severity of symptoms and the healthcare consumption in private gastroenterological practice. The data confirm the significant burden of IBS in France.
Animacy effects in Chinese relative clause processing

Prior research on relative clauses (RCs) in Mandarin Chinese has led to conflicting results regarding ease of processing subject-extracted RCs (SRCs) versus object-extracted RCs (ORCs) and has often used animacy configurations that are rare in corpora. Building on animacy patterns observed in a corpus, we used self-paced reading to explore how animacy influences real-time processing of Chinese RCs. Experiment 1 tested SRCs, and found marginal facilitation effects with animate heads (subjects) and inanimate objects. Experiment 2 tested ORCs and found significant facilitation effects with inanimate head (objects). Experiment 3 showed that when the subject is animate and the object inanimate, ORCs are as easy to process as SRCs, but when the subject is inanimate and the object is animate, SRCs are processed faster. Thus, the animacy of the head and the embedded noun must be taken into account when evaluating processing ease.