Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pathological changes of advanced lower-rectal cancer by preoperative radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS In the treatment of lower rectal cancer, we examined the pathological effects of preoperative radiotherapy on intramural spread of tumor and risk factors for local recurrence, including tumor deposit, budding growth of primary tumors, and micrometastasis to lymph nodes. METHODOLOGY Ninety-four patients who underwent surgery for lower rectal cancer were selected. Forty-seven patients received preoperative radiotherapy, at a total dose of 50 Gy [Rad(+) group], whereas 47 did not [Rad(-) group]. Intramural spread was evaluated between the Rad(+) and Rad(-) groups. For analysis of tumor deposit, budding, and micrometastasis, 25 stage-matched patients were selected in both groups. RESULTS Intramural spread was significantly less in the Rad(+) group, compared with the Rad(-) group. The Rad(+) group showed a significant decrease in tumor deposit, budding, and micrometastasis, compared with the Rad(-) group. In patients having overt lymph node metastases or not, the tumor deposit and budding were significantly higher in patients having overt metastases, compared with those not having them, in the Rad(-) group, whereas there was no significant difference in the Rad(+) group. CONCLUSIONS Intramural spread and tumor deposit, budding, and micrometastasis were significantly decreased in the Rad(+) group, compared with the Rad(-) group. These results suggested effects of preoperative radiotherapy for sphincter preservation, as well as for decreasing the local recurrence rate.
A new disorder of praxis in neurodegenerative disease that may be part of Alzheimer's disease

Apraxia is a well-known disorder of praxis and is caused mainly by damage to the left parietal lobe. We presented two cases of neurodegenerative disease with a distinct disorder of praxis, predominantly involving left parietal lobe. While both patients could understand what they should do, they were not able to initiate action and often stopped during execution of actions. They had no apraxia and no temporal and spatial errors on praxis. Magnetic resonance imaging of both patients showed atrophy of the left parieto-occipital and temporo-occipital lobes, and single photon emission computed tomography showed hypoperfusion in the same lobes. Moreover, one of our cases, using [11C] PIB PET, demonstrated increased uptake in the cerebral cortices, suggesting Alzheimer's disease. The symptoms described are different from other disorders of praxis and similar to bradyphrenia or freezing.
Association of IL-10 and IL-6 Gene Polymorphisms with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Egyptian Patients

Recent findings indicate that certain cytokines are capable of interfering with insulin sensitive glucose uptake and induce insulin resistance. To test for the association of IL-10– 1082 and IL-6– 174 genetic polymorphisms with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Egyptian patients. Participants included 69 cases with type 2 DM (31 males and 38 females) with a median age of 57 years in addition to 98 healthy unrelated controls from the Nile Delta region, Egypt. Compared to controls, cases with type 2 diabetes mellitus showed a highly significant increase in the frequency of IL-10– 1082 GG genotype (p 0.05). Polymorphisms related to IL-10– 1082 GG and IL-6– 174 CC genotypes may be considered as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus among Egyptian subjects with a potential impact on family counseling and management.
Geographical Design: Spatial Cognition and Geographical Information Science

With GIS technologies ranging from Google Maps and Google Earth to the use of smart phones and in-car navigation systems, spatial knowledge is often acquired and communicated through geographic information technologies. This monograph describes the interplay between spatial cognition research and use of spatial interfaces. It begins by reviewing what is known about how humans process spatial concepts and then moves on to discuss how interfaces can be improved to take advantage of those capabilities. Special attention is given to a variety of innovative geographical platforms that provide users with an intuitive understanding and support the further acquisition of spatial knowledge. The monograph concludes with a discussion of the number of outstanding issues, including the changing nature of maps as the primary spatial interface, concerns about privacy for spatial information, and a look at the future of user-centered spatial information systems. Table of Contents: Introduction / Spat al Cognition / Technologies / Cognitive Interfaces for Wayfinding / Open Issues / For More Information
Modification of Sm small nuclear RNAs occurs in the nucleoplasmic Cajal body following import from the cytoplasm

Biogenesis of functional spliceosomal small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) includes the post‐transcriptional covalent modification of numerous internal nucleotides. We have recently demonstrated that synthesis of 2′‐O‐methylated nucleotides and pseudouridines in the RNA polymerase II‐synthesized Sm snRNAs is directed by sequence‐specific guide RNAs. Here, we provide evidence supporting the notion that modification of Sm snRNAs occurs in nucleoplasmic Cajal bodies (CBs), where modification guide RNAs accumulate. We show that short fragments of Sm snRNAs are correctly and efficiently modified when targeted to CBs, but not when these same fragments are targeted to the nucleolus. We also demonstrate that internal modification of the U2 snRNA occurs exclusively after nuclear import of the newly assembled Sm snRNP from the cytoplasm. Finally, we show that p80 coilin, the CB marker protein, is not required for snRNA modification. In coilin knockout cells, Sm snRNAs and their modification guide RNAs colocalize in residual CBs, which do not stockpile fibrillarin and fail to recruit the U3 small nucleolar RNA.
Exposure to diesel motor exhaust and lung cancer risk in a pooled analysis from case-control studies in Europe and Canada.

RATIONALE Diesel motor exhaust is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as probably carcinogenic to humans. The epidemiologic evidence is evaluated as limited because most studies lack adequate control for potential confounders and only a few studies have reported on exposure-response relationships. OBJECTIVES Investigate lung cancer risk associated with occupational exposure to diesel motor exhaust, while controlling for potential confounders. METHODS The SYNERGY project pooled information on lifetime work histories and tobacco smoking from 13,304 cases and 16,282 controls from 11 case-control studies conducted in Europe and Canada. A general population job exposure matrix based on ISCO-68 occupational codes, assigning no, low, or high exposure to diesel motor exhaust, was applied to determine level of exposure. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Odds ratios of lung cancer and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by unconditional logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, study, ever-employment in an occupation with established lung cancer risk, cigarette pack-years, and time-since-quitting smoking. Cumulative diesel exposure was associated with an increased lung cancer risk highest quartile versus unexposed (odds ratio 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.19-1.43), and a significant exposure-response relationship (P value < 0.01). Corresponding effect estimates were similar in workers never employed in occupations with established lung cancer risk, and in women and never-smokers, although not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Our results show a consistent association between occupational exposure to diesel motor exhaust and increased risk of lung cancer. This association is unlikely explained by bias or confounding, which we addressed by adjusted models and subgroup analyses.
Factors determining serologic response to treatment in patients with syphilis.

BACKGROUND The goal of this study was to describe the clinical and epidemiologic manifestations of a syphilis outbreak in downtown Madrid, Spain. Because human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients may be at increased risk of serologic failure during syphilis treatment, analysis of factors determining the response to treatment was performed in a cohort of HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients with syphilis. METHODS We performed a longitudinal, retrospective study of patients with syphilis who received the diagnosis at a university-affiliated hospital in Madrid from 2003 through 2007. RESULTS Three hundred forty-seven cases of syphilis were identified and treated (30 primary, 164 secondary, 77 early latent, and 76 late cases of syphilis). Forty-one percent of patients were immigrants, mostly from South America and the Caribbean, and 49.3% were known to be HIV positive. Syphilis incidence increased from 15.6 to 35 cases per 100,000 person-years from 2003 to 2007. Most patients were men, and 50.4% were men who had sex with other men. Meningitis (4.9%) and uveitis (2.9%) were the complications most frequently observed, and their frequency did not differ between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients. Serologic failure was observed in 44 (23.5%) patients: 37 (29.6%) of 125 HIV-positive patients and 7 (11.2%) of 62 HIV-negative patients (odds ratio, 3.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.38-7.93; P < .05). Men (hazard ratio [HR], 0.38), patients in the late stage of syphilis (HR, 0.46), and HIV-positive persons (HR, 0.61) demonstrated slower serological responses to treatment. HIV-negative patients responded more frequently to treatment, but after 2 years of follow-up, both groups shared similar response rates. Antiretroviral treatment reduced the time to serologic response (HR, 2.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.35- 3.20; P < .001). CONCLUSION Syphilis incidence rose 223% from 2003 to 2007, affecting mostly HIV-positive men, men who have sex with men, and immigrants. Men, patients in the late stages of syphilis, and HIV-positive persons may be at increased risk of serologic failure. Antiretroviral therapy significantly reduced the time to achieve response to syphilis treatment in HIV-positive patients.
Interleukin 18 Participates in the Early Inflammatory Response and Bacterial Clearance during Pneumonia Caused by Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae

ABSTRACT Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a common gram-negative respiratory pathogen. To determine the role of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin 18 (IL-18) during NTHi pneumonia, normal wild-type (WT) and IL-18 knockout (KO) mice were intranasally infected with NTHi. IL-18 KO mice displayed a delayed clearance of NTHi from the respiratory tract, resulting in >20-fold higher bacterial loads in their lungs at 24 h after infection, preceded by a strongly attenuated pulmonary innate immune response as determined by cytokine and chemokine induction and histopathology. These data identify IL-18 as part of an adequate innate immune response during NTHi pneumonia.
Adaptation of the Bergman and Loxley technique for hydroxyproline determination to the autoanalyzer and its use in determining plasma hydroxyproline in the domestic fowl.

The adaptation of a manual technique for hydroxyproline determination to the AutoAnalyzer is described. The method can be used to determine standard solutions to within 2·6 per cent. and to deal with successive concentration differences of up to 10 µg ml–1. The concentration range for optimum accuracy is 2·5 to 15·0 µg ml–1. Application of the technique to the study of plasma hydroxyproline levels in the domestic fowl is described, and comparison with isotope-dilution analysis demonstrates the lack of gross interference.
Effects of Noise on Speech Recognition and Listening Effort in Children With Normal Hearing and Children With Mild Bilateral or Unilateral Hearing Loss.

Purpose This study examined the effects of stimulus type and hearing status on speech recognition and listening effort in children with normal hearing (NH) and children with mild bilateral hearing loss (MBHL) or unilateral hearing loss (UHL). Method Children (5-12 years of age) with NH (Experiment 1) and children (8-12 years of age) with MBHL, UHL, or NH (Experiment 2) performed consonant identification and word and sentence recognition in background noise. Percentage correct performance and verbal response time (VRT) were assessed (onset time, total duration). Results In general, speech recognition improved as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) increased both for children with NH and children with MBHL or UHL. The groups did not differ on measures of VRT. Onset times were longer for incorrect than for correct responses. For correct responses only, there was a general increase in VRT with decreasing SNR. Conclusions Findings indicate poorer sentence recognition in children with NH and MBHL or UHL as SNR decreases. VRT results suggest that greater effort was expended when processing stimuli that were incorrectly identified. Increasing VRT with decreasing SNR for correct responses also supports greater effort in poorer acoustic conditions. The absence of significant hearing status differences suggests that VRT was not differentially affected by MBHL, UHL, or NH for children in this study.
Early Attention Impairment and Recovery Profiles After Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury

Objectives:To examine recovery of attention from 3 to 6 months postinjury; to identify effects of injury severity and time since injury on performance; to explore whether complex attention skills (eg, shifting, divided attention, attentional control) are more vulnerable to traumatic brain injury (TBI), and slower to recover than simple attention skills (eg, attentional capacity, selective attention, sustained attention). Design:Prospective longitudinal investigation. Participants:A total of 205 school-aged children with TBI were divided into groups according to injury severity (mild = 63%, moderate = 27%, severe = 10%). Setting:Emergency departments of 3 metropolitan children's hospitals across Australia. Main Measures:Standardized clinical measures of both simple and complex attention were administered at 3 months and 6 months postinjury. Results:Attention skills were vulnerable to the impact of TBI. More severe injury affected attention skills most negatively. Significant recovery was observed over time. There were few interaction effects, with severity groups exhibiting similar levels of recovery over the 6 months post-TBI. No differences in recovery trajectories were detected for simple and complex attention. Conclusions:These findings have important clinical and educational implications, suggesting that children with TBI, and particularly those with more serious injuries, are most vulnerable to attention deficits in the acute stages postinjury. It is important that schools and families are aware of these limitations and structure expectations accordingly. For example, gradual return to school should be considered, and in the early stages of recovery, children should be provided with sufficient rest time, with reduced expectations for tasks such as homework.
OCULAR FINDINGS IN PSORIATICS

Reports of psoriasis as a cause of ocular disease are rare in the earlier literature. Conjunctivitis, keratitis with superficial sores and iritis have been mentioned (Morax and Souiex, quoted by Grosz). According to Nobl, conjunctival plaques were observed by inter alia Kusnitzky, Jarisch, Sack and Kreibich. In more recent years the writers who have described ocular psoriasis have also stressed its great rarity. Thus conjunctival psoriasis, as Schlosser (1935) pointed out in a survey of the literature, has received only infrequent mention. Corneal psoriasis was reported by Pillat (1934) in a patient whose eyes he examined with a slit-lamp. Pillat also referred to five other cases in the literature, but considered that only one showed true corneal psoriasis. Vrabec ( 1952) described the histologic changes in a case of his own and mentioned two further reports of corneal psoriasis in the literature. The diagnosis of ocular psoriasis has been based on changes of varying types. Conjunctival psoriasis was described by Sack (according to Jarisch) as a demarcated, yellowish-red plaque on the palpebral conjunctiva, by Kogan (according to Schlosser) as silvery plaques on the margins of the eyelids with conjunctivitis, and by Vrabec as a small lesion of xerotic appearance on the bulbar conjunctiva. Corneal psoriasis, in Pillat's opinion, was characterized by superficial and deep limbal opacities with vascularization, and smaller axial lesions without limbal contact. Epithelial pro-
A prospective study of folate intake and the risk of breast cancer.

CONTEXT Folate is involved in DNA synthesis and methylation and may reduce breast cancer risk, particularly among women with greater alcohol consumption. OBJECTIVES To assess the association between folate intake and risk of breast cancer and whether higher folate intake may reduce excess risk among women who consume alcohol. DESIGN Prospective cohort study performed in 1980, with 16 years of follow-up. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 88818 women who completed the dietary questionnaire section of the Nurses' Health Study in 1980. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Incidence of invasive breast cancer by levels of folate and alcohol intake. RESULTS A total of 3483 cases of breast cancer were documented. Total folate intake was not associated with overall risk of breast cancer. However, among women who consumed at least 15 g/d of alcohol, the risk of breast cancer was highest among those with low folate intake. For total folate intake of at least 600 microg/d compared with 150 to 299 microg/d, the multivariate relative risk (RR) was 0.55 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39-0.76; P for trend = .001). This association was only slightly attenuated after additional adjustment for intake of beta carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin, preformed vitamin A, and total vitamins C and E. The risk of breast cancer associated with alcohol intake was strongest among women with total folate intake of less than 300 microg/d (for alcohol intake > or =15 g/d vs <15 g/d, multivariate RR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.15-1.50). For women who consumed at least 300 microg/d of total folate, the multivariate RR for intake of at least 15 g/d of alcohol vs less than 15 g/d was 1.05 (95% CI, 0.92-1.20). Current use of multivitamin supplements, the major source of folate, was associated with lower breast cancer risk among women who consumed at least 15 g/d of alcohol (for current users of supplements vs never users, RR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.59-0.93). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that the excess risk of breast cancer associated with alcohol consumption may be reduced by adequate folate intake.
Zeitgeists and Development Trends in Long-Term Care Facility Design

&NA; Through literature analysis, in-depth interviews, and the application of the Delphi survey, this study explored long-term care resident priorities with regard to long-term care facility design in terms of both physical and psychological needs. This study further clarified changing trends in long-term care concepts; illustrated the impact that such changes are having on long-term care facility design; and summarized zeitgeists related to the architectural design of long-term care facilities. Results of our Delphi survey indicated the following top five priorities in long-term care facility design: (1) creating a home-like feeling; (2) adhering to Universal Design concepts; (3) providing well-defined private sleeping areas; (4) providing adequate social space; and (5) decentralizing residents' rooms into clusters. The three major zeitgeists related to long-term care facility design include: (1) modern long-term care facilities should abandon their traditional “hospital” image and gradually reposition facilities into homelike settings; (2) institution-based care for the elderly should be de-institutionalized under the concept of aging-in-place; and (3) living clusters, rather than traditional hospital-like wards, should be designed into long-term care facilities.
Epidemiology and natural course of eating disorders in young women from adolescence to young adulthood.

OBJECTIVES To describe the epidemiology of eating disorders (ED) in a community sample of adolescent girls; to compare the clinical characteristics of full-syndrome (FS) and partial-syndrome (PS) ED cases; and to provide information about the continuity between adolescent ED and young adult psychopathology. METHOD A randomly selected sample of high school girls were assessed during adolescence (n = 891) and a year later (n = 810), and a stratified subset (n = 538) was assessed during their 24th year. The assessments included the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, the Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation, level of functioning, mental health treatment utilization, history of suicide attempt, and physical symptoms. RESULTS The incidence of ED was less than 2.8% by age 18, and 1.3% for ages 19 through 23. Comorbidity with other psychopathology (89.5%), but especially depression, was very high. FS- and PS-ED groups differed significantly from a no-disorder comparison group on most outcome measures, and more than 70% of the adolescent FS- and PS-ED cases met criteria for an Axis I disorder in young adulthood. CONCLUSIONS FS- and PS-ED are associated with substantial comorbidity, treatment seeking, impaired functioning, and risk for psychopathology in young adulthood.
MRI-guided radiotherapy: Opening our eyes to the future

When discussing local treatment modalities, physicians often quip that there can be no blind surgeons, suggesting that an inherent advantage to surgery is the ability to precisely visualize the target. Advances in radiation therapy (RT) technology over the years have significantly improved the radiation oncologists’ abilities to precisely sculpt high-dose radiation to a variety of targets, simultaneously improving local control and toxicity profiles. However, even the most sophisticated methods of CT-based image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) are hampered by limitations that can compromise target localization and motion management. Additionally, realtime adaptive radiotherapy (ART) programs, wherein radiation plans can be molded to fit the often malleable anatomy of tumors and organs-at-risk, have not yet been developed. For these reasons, MRI-guided RT is considered the next frontier of radiation oncology. However, the development of integrated MRI/RT-delivery platforms is complicated by several technical challenges that have precluded development of MRI-guided linear accelerators. By virtue of employing a low-field (0.35 T) MRI and three 60Co sources, a newly available tri-60Co teletherapy system (MRIdian SystemTM, ViewRayTM, Cleveland, OH, USA) has tackled these technical concerns and has thus become the first MRI-guided RT platform with FDA approval for medical use. In this Review, we describe the abilities of this device to accomplish the goals of MRI-guided RT—improved target localization, sophisticated motion management, and on-line ART—by exploring published feasibility, proof-of-principle, and proof-of-practice studies.