Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increase in circulating products of lipid peroxidation (F2-isoprostanes) in smokers. Smoking as a cause of oxidative damage.

BACKGROUND It has been hypothesized that the pathogenesis of diseases induced by cigarette smoking involves oxidative damage by free radicals. However, definitive evidence that smoking causes the oxidative modification of target molecules in vivo is lacking. We conducted a study to determine whether the production of F2-isoprostanes, which are novel products of lipid peroxidation, is enhanced in persons who smoke. METHODS We measured the levels of free F2-isoprostanes in plasma, the levels of F2-isoprostanes esterified to plasma lipids, and the urinary excretion of metabolites of F2-isoprostanes in 10 smokers and 10 nonsmokers matched for age and sex. The short-term effects of smoking (three cigarettes smoked over 30 minutes) and the effects of two weeks of abstinence from smoking on levels of F2-isoprostanes in the circulation were also determined in the smokers. RESULTS Plasma levels of free and esterified F2-isoprostanes were significantly higher in the smokers (242 +/- 147 and 574 +/- 217 pmol per liter, respectively) than in the nonsmokers (103 +/- 19 and 345 +/- 65 pmol per liter; P = 0.02 for free F2-isoprostanes and P = 0.03 for esterified F2-isoprostanes). Smoking had no short-term effects on the circulating levels of F2-isoprostanes. However, the levels of free and esterified F2-isoprostanes fell significantly after two weeks of abstinence from smoking (250 +/- 156 and 624 +/- 214 pmol per liter, respectively, before the cessation of smoking, as compared with 156 +/- 67 and 469 +/- 108 pmol per liter after two weeks' cessation; P = 0.03 for free F2-isoprostanes and P = 0.02 for esterified F2-isoprostanes). CONCLUSIONS The increased levels of F2-isoprostanes in the circulation of persons who smoke support the hypothesis that smoking can cause the oxidative modification of important biologic molecules in vivo.
Formulation and Evaluation of Bilayered Tablets of Ibuprofen and Methocarbamol

The aim of present work was to develop a robust formulation of Bi-layer tablets of Ibuprofen and methocarbamol using povidone k-30 as binder. The basic aim of any Bi-layer tablet formulation is to separate physically or chemically incompatible ingredients and to produce repeat action or prolonged action tablet. The drug products may be developed to reduce Low back pain. The mechanism of methocarbamol is a skeletal muscle relaxant which acting centrally through inhibiting inter neuronal activity and blocking polysynaptic reflex pathway at spinal card. Ibuprofen is a pain relieving agent which inhibits the activity of Cyclooxygenase an enzyme crucial for synthesis of prostaglandins. A total number of nine formulations have been taken to optimize and develop a robust and stable formulation. Wet granulation process was used for the formulation of both layers and the final film coated tablets were evaluated for the thickness, weight variation, hardness, friability, disintegration time, dissolution study. Among the formulations tablets of formulation -8 was taken as optimized formula due to its higher rate of dissolution and compiled all the other parameters with the official specifications.
Validation of the defining characteristics of the nursing diagnosis impaired comfort in oncology

Objective: To validate the content of the defining characteristics of impaired comfort nursing diagnosis proposed by NANDA-I in patients under palliative care in oncology. Methods: Methodological study according to the model of diagnostic content validation of Fehring, in a sample of 53 nursing experts. The Mann-Whitney test and Spearman’s correlation coefficient (P <0.05) were used to check if there were influences on expert judgment. Results: We validated the contents of seventeen defining characteristics of the nursing diagnosis and seven other defining characteristics developed in this study. Nine defining characteristics were considered major, another twelve were considered minor and three were excluded. The total diagnostic score was 0.74. Conclusion: To validate the content of the defining characteristics of the nursing diagnosis Impaired Comfort for patients in palliative care in oncology is a way of supporting the clinical nursing practice in their own theoretical knowledge. Descritores Diagnóstico de enfermagem; Processos de enfermagem; Pesquisa em enfermagem; Estudos de validação;
La menace d'accouchement prématuré

La menace d'accouchement premature (MAP) demeure un probleme de sante publique par ses consequences humaines et economiques. Si la frequence de l'accouchement premature a diminue durant les deux dernieres decennies, elle s'est stabilisee ces dernieres annees et aurait meme tendance a augmenter. Les facteurs etiologiques sont le plus souvent intriques parmi lesquels figurent au premier plan les conditions socio-economiques. La prise en charge des MAP severes necessite une hospitalisation, le repos au lit reste primordial. Les betamimetiques representent encore le traitement tocolytique de reference malgre l'apparition de nouveaux produits efficaces mais non denues d'effets secondaires materno-foetaux limitant ainsi leur utilisation. La corticotherapie a prouve son utilite dans l'acceleration de la maturite pulmonaire fœtale entre 28 et 32 semaines d'amenorrhee. En cas d'echec de la tocolyse, la prise en charge de l'accouchement et du nouveau-ne premature reclame la competence d'une equipe pluridisciplinaire avec un service de reanimation pediatrique a proximite du bloc d'accouchement. L'effort doit egalement porter sur la prevention malheureusement bien difficile a etablir.
Analysis of AMPA receptor subunits expressed by single Purkinje cells using RNA polymerase chain reaction.

Analysis of AMPA receptor subunits expressed by single Purkinje cells using RNA polymerase chain reaction Pascal Bochet,* Etienne Audinat,t Bertrand Lambolez,* Francis Crepelt and Jean Rossier* *Institut Alfred Fessard, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 91 I98 Gif-sur-Yvette, and tlaboratoire de Neurobiologie et de Neuropharmacologie du Developpement. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 9 I405 Orsay, France
Classification of User Trajectories in LTE HetNets Using Unsupervised Shapelets and Multiresolution Wavelet Decomposition

The classification of user trajectories in Long-Term Evolution (LTE) heterogeneous networks (HetNets) is investigated in this paper. We propose a methodology to classify user trajectories based on the measurement reports submitted to the serving base station as part of the handover process; we propose to consider each measurement report as a time series. This methodology allows base stations to automatically and autonomously discover the radio-frequency (RF) conditions of their cell edge (e.g., signal strength degradation and interference levels). We propose the application of machine learning and data mining techniques to identify patterns in the reference signal received power measurement reports submitted by users as they approach the edge of the service area. Our time-series clustering algorithm based on unsupervised shapelets and multiresolution wavelet decomposition provided superior performance compared to a discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based clustering algorithm. Our algorithm was able to provide clustering results with an average accuracy of 95%. Furthermore, the quality measure of the resulting clusters was up to 75% better, compared to the clustering results provided by the DFT-based algorithm. We also proposed a novel methodology to calculate a suitable number of clusters with no prior knowledge regarding the data; an average accuracy close to 90% was achieved.
Milburn's vision of a new NHS

Adopting the missionary position News p 1083 Having established a reputation as the most centralising secretary of state for health in the history of the British National Health Service, Alan Milburn now seems determined to recast himself as the man who shifted the “centre of gravity within the health service from Whitehall to the NHS frontline. ” This, he emphasised in a much advertised speech last week,1 is to be the theme of Labour's second term in office. Power and resources are increasingly to be transferred to primary care trusts, which are expected to control 75% of the NHS's budget by 2004. Clinicians are to be more involved in the design of services at all levels, starting with the Department of Health itself, as well as being given more control over budgets. NHS trusts, including primary care trusts, “will have greater operational freedom. ” And to promote this “new decentralised approach,” the structure of bureaucratic control is to be simplified: responsibility for “performance managing the local health care system” …
HLA-DQ and Susceptibility to Celiac Disease: Evidence for Gender Differences and Parent-of-Origin Effects

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Celiac disease (CD) is twice as frequent among female than male. Despite the large number of reports on the DQ2/DQ8 association, no systematic studies have investigated a possible different role of the HLA genes in the two genders. We performed case-control and family-based analyses of DR-DQ variants in a pediatric CD cohort with the aim of comparing female to male associations and to investigate the paternal/maternal inheritance of the disease-predisposing haplotypes.METHODS:A total of 281 female and 156 male pediatric celiac patients, 292 nuclear families, and 551 controls were genotyped for HLA-DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1 loci. Odds ratio, parental origin of the disease-associated haplotypes, and transmission ratio distortion were valuated in-between male and female cases.RESULTS:DQ2/DQ8 were more frequent in female than in male patients (94% F, 85% M; P = 1.6 × 10−3) with a 99.1% and 90.5% calculated negative predictive value of the HLA test, respectively. Surprisingly, the majority of the 39 DQ2/DQ8 negative cases were male. The analysis of the DQ2 haplotype origin showed that 61% of female patients and 42% of male patients carried a paternal combination (P = 0.02). The transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) proved the major distortion in the DR3-DQ2 transmission from fathers to daughters.CONCLUSIONS:CD is confirmed to be more prevalent in female than in male (F:M = 1.8) but, in DQ2/DQ8 negative patients, we found an unexpected male excess (F:M = 0.7). Moreover, only the inheritance of a paternal DQ2 haplotype led to a daughters predominance. These data show a role of HLA genes on the disease sex bias and suggest a possible different effect of parent-specific epigenetic modifications in the two genders.
Peri-implant bone reactions to immediate implants placed at different levels in relation to crestal bone. Part II: a pilot study in dogs.

PURPOSE The aim of the present study was to evaluate bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and bone remodeling dynamics after immediate implant placement at different levels in relation to the crestal bone with two different implant designs in beagle dogs. MATERIALS AND METHODS The mandibular second, third and fourth premolars of six beagle dogs were extracted bilaterally and three implants were immediately placed in the hemi-arches of each dog. Randomly, three cylindrical and three tapered implants were inserted crestally (control group) or 2 mm subcrestally (test group). Both groups were treated with a minimal mucoperiosteal flap elevation approach. A gap from the buccal cortical wall to the implant was always left. Three dogs were allowed a 4-week submerged healing period and the other three an 8-week submerged healing period. The animals were sacrificed and samples were obtained. Biopsies were processed for ground sectioning. Histomorphometric analysis was carried out in order to compare BIC, de novo bone formation and bone remodeling. RESULTS All implants osseointegrated clinically and histologically. Healing patterns examined microscopically at 4 and 8 weeks for both groups (crestal and subcrestal) yielded similar qualitative bone findings. The total BIC mean value for the crestal group was 36.48 ± 3.4% and for the subcrestal group was 41.46 ± 4.2%. The mean percentage of newly formed BIC was greater with the cylindrical implant design (46.06 ± 1.09%) than with the tapered design (33.89 ± 1.72%). There was less bone resorption in the subcrestal group (test) than crestal group (control). CONCLUSION These findings suggest that apical positioning of the top of the implant does not jeopardize bone crest and peri-implant tissue remodeling. However, less resorption of the lingual crest may be expected when implants are placed 2 mm subcrestally. Moreover, higher BIC values were found in cylindrical implants placed subcrestally.
Validation of machine learning techniques: decision trees and finite training set

There has been some recent interest in using machine learning techniques as part of pattern recognition systems. However, little attention is typically given to the validity of the features and types of rules generated by these systems and how well they perform across a variety of features and patterns. We focus on such issues of validity and comparative performance using two different types of decision tree techniques. In addition, we introduce the notion of including legal perturbations of objects in the training set and show that the performance of the resulting classifiers was better than that those trained without such legal constructs in the data selection.
Immobilization of basic fibroblast growth factor on a platinum microcoil to enhance tissue organization in intracranial aneurysms.

OBJECT To enhance tissue organization in an aneurysm lumen, the authors prepared a platinum microcoil carrying basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and analyzed its effectiveness in the treatment of aneurysms. METHODS Ultrathin multiorganic layers were assembled on a platinum coil through successive deposition of cationic polyethylenimine and anionic heparin, and then bFGF was immobilized through an affinity interaction with heparin. The bFGF was effectively immobilized on the surface of the platinum coil without deterioration of the coil's mechanical properties. Coil embolization of aneurysms constructed using a canine common carotid artery was performed via the endovascular approach. The aneurysms together with parent arteries were harvested 2 weeks after coil embolization. Platinum coils unmodified, coated with heparin, or immobilized with heparin and bFGF were examined. The percentage of occlusion at the aneurysm orifice in animals treated with bFGF-immobilized coils (92.99+/-7.94%) was significantly greater than that in animals treated with heparin-coated coils (57.26+/-10.76%) or unmodified coils (52.86+/-8.54%). The histological score of the aneurysms treated with bFGF-immobilized coils was also significantly greater than the scores in the control group. CONCLUSIONS These results indicated that bFGF-immobilized microcoils may be beneficial in the obliteration of aneurysms.
Two weeks of prednisolone was as effective as four weeks in improving carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms.

Question: In patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), what is the long-term effectiveness of oral steroids given for 2 weeks compared with 4 weeks? Design: Randomized (allocation concealed), blinded (clinicians, patients, data collectors, and data analysts), placebo-controlled trial with 12-month follow-up. Setting: A hospital in Taichung, Taiwan. Patients: 109 patients (mean age, 46 years; 74% women) who had clinical symptoms and signs of CTS confirmed by electrodiagnostic tests. Exclusion criteria were symptom duration …
3 MODELLING TRENDS IN FOOD MARKET INTEGRATION : METHOD AND APPLICATION TO TANZANIAN MAIZE MARKETS Introduction

Pushed by increasing availability of price data and extensive market liberalisation efforts in many developing countries, research on food market integration has evolved rapidly over the last two decades. Empirical methods to measure market integration diverged in two directions: on the one hand, there is the Parity Bounds Model (PBM), while on the other hand the use of Threshold Autoregressive (TAR) Models has been proposed. This article provides a discussion of the two methods and argues that TAR models are more able to capture the dynamics of the arbitrage process underlying interconnected markets. Furthermore, we extend the standard TAR model to include a time trend in both the threshold and the adjustment parameter. Using weekly maize price data on seven selected markets in Tanzania, we illustrate how both transaction cost and the speed of adjustment have changed during the nineties.
Eclampsia is more prevalent during the winter season in Sweden

Hypertensive pregnancy conditions have shown seasonal variations and have been related to low levels of vitamin D. In Sweden, the hours of sunlight per day are few in winter. We hypothesized that eclampsia would be more common in the winter season. We performed a population‐based cross‐sectional study of all singleton deliveries in Sweden during a 5‐year period (n= 482,759 women). All parturients with eclampsia were included as cases and those without formed control group. The incidence of eclampsia was nearly doubled during winter season (odds ratio 1.9, 95% confidence interval 1.4–2.6) as compared to other seasons. The incidence of eclampsia during the period studied (1990–1994) was four in 10,000 pregnancies. We found that eclampsia was twice as common in winter and we introduce the alternative hypothesis that lack of sunlight exposure increases women's susceptibility to eclampsia, possibly due to vitamin D insufficiency.
Post-Transfusion Cytomegaloviremia and Persistence of Cytomegalovirus in Blood

Cytomegaloviremia was documented in seven patients. Three patients were renal transplant recipients and two were liver transplant recipients. One was a postcardiac surgery patient, and one had acute myelogenous leukemia. The transplant patients had received only banked blood or fresh frozen plasma and developed evidence of infection about 1 month after surgery. Illness varied from no apparent signs to fever alone, fever and a morbilliform rash, hepatitis and an infectious mononucleosis syndrome. The virus was isolated from the blood erythrocyte layer, the leukocyte layer, and the plasma and serum, in that order of frequency. In vitro studies demonstrated persistence of inoculated cytomegalovirus in the presence of erythrocytes (and tissue culture media) for up to 21 days. In whole blood under banking conditions, inoculated virus was recovered after 28 days and, in fresh frozen plasma, after 97 days.
Glycyrrhizin-induced reduction of alt in european patients with chronic hepatitis C

OBJECTIVE:In Japan, ALT normalization induced by long-term i.v. glycyrrhizin treatment reportedly reduces the progression of liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term (4-wk) feasibility and efficacy on serum ALT of three or six times per week i.v. glycyrrhizin therapy in European patients.METHODS:Patients with chronic hepatitis C, nonresponders, or unlikely to respond (genotype 1/cirrhosis) to interferon therapy were included in this study. Medication was administered i.v. three or six times per week for 4 wk; follow-up also lasted 4 wk.RESULTS:Sixty-nine out of 72 treatment courses were completed according to protocol. There were no significant changes in ALT levels within the placebo group (n = 13). The mean percentage ALT decrease from baseline at the end of treatment was 26% and 47% for the three times per week and six times per week treatment group, respectively (both p < 0.001 vs placebo). At the end of active treatment, 10% (four of 41) and 20% (three of 15) of the patients reached normal ALT levels for the three times per week and six times per week treatment group, respectively. The ALT lowering effect disappeared after cessation of treatment. No major side effects were observed.CONCLUSION:It appeared feasible to treat European outpatients with chronic hepatitis C three or six times per week with i.v. glycyrrhizin. Glycyrrhizin treatment induces a significant ALT decrease in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Six times per week treatment appears more effective than three times per week.
Sertoli Cells Dictate Spermatogonial Stem Cell Niches in the Mouse Testis1

Sustained spermatogenesis in adult males relies on the activity of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). In general, tissue-specific stem cell populations such as SSCs are influenced by contributions of support cells that form niche microenvironments. Previous studies have provided indirect evidence that several somatic cell populations and the interstitial vasculature influence SSC functions, but an individual orchestrator of niches has not been described. In this study, functional transplantation of SSCs, in combination with experimental alteration of Sertoli cell content by polythiouracil (PTU)-induced transient hypothyroidism, was used to explore the relationship of Sertoli cells with SSCs in testes of adult mice. Transplantation of SSCs from PTU-treated donor mice into seminiferous tubules of normal recipient mice revealed a greater than 3-fold increase in SSCs compared to those from testes of non-PTU-treated donors. In addition, use of PTU-treated mice as recipients for transplantation of SSCs from normal donors revealed a greater than 3-fold increase of accessible niches compared to those of testes of non-PTU treated recipient mice with normal numbers of Sertoli cells. Importantly, the area of seminiferous tubules bordered by interstitial tissue and percentage of seminiferous tubules associated with blood vessels was found to be no different in testes of PTU-treated mice compared to controls, indicating that neither the vasculature nor interstitial support cell populations influenced the alteration of niche number. Collectively, these results provide direct evidence that Sertoli cells are the key somatic cell population dictating the number of SSCs and niches in mammalian testes.
Hepatitis C Virus NS5A Physically Associates with p53 and Regulates p21/waf1 Gene Expression in a p53-Dependent Manner

ABSTRACT We have previously demonstrated that hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A protein promotes cell growth and transcriptionally regulates the p21/waf1 promoter, a downstream effector gene of p53. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism of NS5A-mediated transcriptional repression of p21/waf1. We observed that transcriptional repression of the p21/waf1 gene by NS5A is p53 dependent by using p53 wild-type (+/+) and null (−/−) cells. Interestingly, p53-mediated transcriptional activation from a synthetic promoter containing multiple p53 binding sites (PG13-LUC) was abrogated following expression of HCV NS5A. Additional studies using pull-down experiments, in vivo coimmunoprecipitation, and mammalian two-hybrid assays demonstrated that NS5A physically associates with p53. Confocal microscopy revealed sequestration of p53 in the perinuclear membrane and colocalization with NS5A in transfected HepG2 and Saos-2 cells. Together these results suggest that an association of NS5A and p53 allows transcriptional modulation of the p21/waf1 gene and may contribute to HCV-mediated pathogenesis.