Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in the Macular Ganglion Cell Complex Thickness and Central Macular Thickness after Argon Laser Panretinal Photocoagulation

ABSTRACT Purpose: To evaluate the changes in the macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness and central macular thickness (CMT) as measured by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) post-argon laser panretinal photocoagulation (PRP). Methods: The medical records of 25 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) who underwent PRP, 29 patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and 29 patients with diabetes but without diabetic retinopathy (DR) were analyzed. The patients who received PRP were followed up for one year. The follow-up measurements were evaluated at baseline, and months 1, 6, and 12 post-argon laser PRP. The baseline values of CMT and GCC thickness were compared among the groups to assess changes with PRP therapy. Results: The CMT gradually increased in months 1 and 6 and then decreased; however, it was significantly higher than the baseline value at month 12 in the PDR group post-PRP. The GCC thickness also increased at months 1 and 6 in almost all segments of the macula, but at month 12 decreased to the baseline value. There was no correlation between the increasing thickness of the macula and change in the GCC thickness post-PRP period in the PDR group. In addition, no significant correlation was detected between the GCC thickness and best-corrected visual acuity during all follow-up visits. Conclusions: GCC thickness increased significantly until month 6 compared with baseline values in most of the macular segments post-PRP in the PDR group. The GCC thickness at month 12 was not different from the baseline thickness in any of the macular segments.
Tissue distribution and depletion kinetics of bortezomib and bortezomib-related radioactivity in male rats after single and repeated intravenous injection of 14 C-bortezomib.

PURPOSE The body distribution of total radioactivity (TR) and bortezomib was investigated in male Sprague-Dawley rats after single and repeated i.v. (bolus) administration with (14)C-labelled bortezomib (VELCADE) (0.2 mg/kg; 0.28 MBq./kg). METHODS Bortezomib was dosed on days 1, 4, 8, and 11 (i.e. a clinical dosing cycle) and the animals were sacrificed at selected time points following single and repeated dose administration for the quantification of TR in blood, plasma, and various tissues by liquid scintillation counting following organ dissection or by quantitative whole body autoradiography. In selected tissues, bortezomib levels were determined by LC-MS/MS. RESULTS In general, plasma TR levels were less than 10% of the corresponding blood concentrations. TR was rapidly and widely distributed to the tissues with only limited penetration into the central nervous system (CNS). In the tissues, highest levels of TR were measured in bortezomib-eliminating organs (liver and kidney), lymphoid tissues, and regions of rapidly dividing cells (e.g. the bone marrow, intestinal mucosa). Low TR concentrations were found in the CNS (tissue-to-blood ratio of approximately 0.05 after repeated dosing). With the exception of the liver, TR consisted almost exclusively of the parent drug. Tissue concentrations of TR and bortezomib increased up to about threefold from the first to the third dose administration, after which they remained constant. CONCLUSION No undue tissue accumulation of TR and of bortezomib was observed in rats following a full clinical dosing cycle of bortezomib.
A large multicenter study analysis of adverse events associated with single operator cholangiopancreatoscopy.

AIM Cholangiopancreatoscopy (CP) is an endoscopic technique that allows for direct visualization of the biliary and pancreatic ducts using a narrow caliber endoscope that passes through the working channel of a duodenoscope directly into the bile and/or pancreatic ducts. Little data is available on the safety of CP. We performed a multicenter retrospective study to evaluate the frequency and severity of adverse events with single operator CP. METHODS A multicenter retrospective study was conducted. RESULTS A total of 282 single operator peroral CP procedures were performed in 224 patients (128 M, 96 F). Most procedures involved the performance of therapeutic maneuvers, with most cases including multiple therapeutic maneuvers. Cholangioscopic or pancreatoscopic-assisted tissue sampling was performed in 222 procedures. Thirty-seven patients underwent electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) for the treatment of common bile duct stones. Adverse events in patients undergoing single cholangioscopy and pancreatoscopy included post-ERCP pancreatitis (N.=11, 3.9%, all mild), post-ERCP cholangitis (N.=4, 1.4%), bleeding (N.=3, 1%), and perforation (N.=2, 0.7%). CONCLUSION Overall, our data shows that ERCP performed with single operator cholangioscopy or pancreatoscopy is safe with adverse events similar to that seen in large studies of ERCP performed without these additional techniques. Of note, vigorous irrigation of the bile ducts was not associated with increased rates of post-procedure cholangitis in our study.
Antidepressants at environmentally relevant concentrations affect predator avoidance behavior of larval fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas)

The effects of embryonic and larval exposure to environmentally relevant (ng/L) concentrations of common antidepressants, fluoxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, and bupropion (singularly and in mixture) on C‐start escape behavior were evaluated in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Embryos (postfertilization until hatching) were exposed for 5 d and, after hatching, were allowed to grow in control well water until 12 d old. Similarly, posthatch fathead minnows were exposed for 12 d to these compounds. High‐speed (1,000 frames/s) video recordings of escape behavior were collected and transferred to National Institutes of Health Image for frame‐by‐frame analysis of latency periods, escape velocities, and total escape response (combination of latency period and escape velocity). When tested 12 d posthatch, fluoxetine and venlafaxine adversely affected C‐start performance of larvae exposed as embryos. Conversely, larvae exposed for 12 d posthatch did not exhibit altered escape responses when exposed to fluoxetine but were affected by venlafaxine and bupropion exposure. Mixtures of these four antidepressant pharmaceuticals slowed predator avoidance behaviors in larval fathead minnows regardless of the exposure window. The direct impact of reduced C‐start performance on survival and, ultimately, reproductive fitness provides an avenue to assess the ecological relevance of exposure in an assay of relatively short duration.
Genome sequence of Streptococcus agalactiae, a pathogen causing invasive neonatal disease

Streptococcus agalactiae is a commensal bacterium colonizing the intestinal tract of a significant proportion of the human population. However, it is also a pathogen which is the leading cause of invasive infections in neonates and causes septicaemia, meningitis and pneumonia. We sequenced the genome of the serogroup III strain NEM316, responsible for a fatal case of septicaemia. The genome is 2 211 485 base pairs long and contains 2118 protein coding genes. Fifty‐five per cent of the predicted genes have an ortholog in the Streptococcus pyogenes genome, representing a conserved backbone between these two streptococci. Among the genes in S. agalactiae that lack an ortholog in S. pyogenes , 50% are clustered within 14 islands. These islands contain known and putative virulence genes, mostly encoding surface proteins as well as a number of genes related to mobile elements. Some of these islands could therefore be considered as pathogenicity islands. Compared with other pathogenic streptococci, S. agalactiae shows the unique feature that pathogenicity islands may have an important role in virulence acquisition and in genetic diversity.
Cyclosporine Withdrawal Improves Long-Term Graft Survival in Renal Transplantation

Background. The reduction in renal transplant rejection rates achieved over the last 20 years have not translated into a commensurate improvement in long-term graft survival. Cyclosporine has been central to immunosuppressive regimens throughout this period but its effect on long-term transplant outcomes remains unclear. Methods. This randomized controlled trial allocated first cadaveric renal transplant recipients in seven centers around Australia to three immunosuppressive regimens: azathioprine and prednisolone (AP), long-term cyclosporine alone (Cy), or cyclosporine initiation followed by withdrawal at 3 months and azathioprine and prednisolone replacement (WDL). Results. Between 1983 and 1986, 489 patients were randomized with 98% follow-up to a median of 20.6 years. Mean graft survival (censoring deaths) was superior in the WDL group (14.8 years) when compared with both AP (12.4 years, P=0.01 log-rank test) and Cy (12.5 years, P=0.01 log-rank test) groups by intention-to-treat. Without death censoring, graft survival with WDL was superior to AP (9.5 years vs. 6.7 years, P=0.04) and of borderline superiority to Cy (9.5 years vs. 8.5 years, P=0.06). Patient survival was not different between the three groups. Renal function was superior in AP (at 1, 10, and 15 years posttransplant) and WDL (at 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years) groups when compared with Cy. Conclusion. This study illustrates superior long-term renal transplant survival and preservation of renal function with a protocol using cyclosporine withdrawal. If long-term renal transplant outcomes are to improve, we should reconsider guidelines recommending universal maintenance use of cyclosporine.
Age-period-cohort modelling of alcohol volume and heavy drinking days in the US National Alcohol Surveys: divergence in younger and older adult trends.

AIMS The decomposition of trends in alcohol volume and heavy drinking days into age, period, cohort and demographic effects offers an important perspective on the dynamics of change in alcohol use patterns in the United States. DESIGN The present study utilizes data from six National Alcohol Surveys conducted over the 26-year period between 1979 and 2005. Setting United States. MEASUREMENTS Alcohol volume and the number of days when five or more and eight or more drinks were consumed were derived from overall and beverage-specific graduated frequency questions. RESULTS Trend analyses show that while mean values of drinking measures have continued to decline for those aged 26 and older, there has been a substantial increase in both alcohol volume and 5+ days among those aged 18-25 years. Age-period-cohort models indicate a potential positive cohort effect among those born after 1975. However, an alternative interpretation of an age-cohort interaction where drinking falls off more steeply in the late 20s than was the case in the oldest surveys cannot be ruled out. For women only, the 1956-60 birth cohort appears to drink more heavily than those born just before or after. Models also indicate the importance of income, ethnicity, education and marital status in determining these alcohol measures. CONCLUSIONS Increased heavy drinking among young adults in recent surveys presents a significant challenge for alcohol policy and may indicate a sustained increase in future US alcohol consumption.
From micro to macro: Propagated constraints in social networks

Accurately evaluating the importance of nodes in social networks is essential to many tasks such as influential node identification, social campaign monitoring, and rumor prevention. The structural hole theory addresses this issue by quantifying the constraints among the nodes. However, the theory considers the effect of local network structure rather than the whole network structure. This introduces potential biases in the quantification of node importance. To fill this gap, we propose the concept of propagated constraints based on the structural hole theory. We assume that a node not only receives constraints from other nodes but also imposes constraints on them reciprocally. In addition, constraints can propagate along the shortest paths and reach a distant node, which results in a global measure of node importance. We also propose a constraint propagation algorithm to calculate the global constraints of nodes. Finally, we apply the algorithm to a real social network to evaluate the performance of the proposed metrics, which are compared with the state-of-the-art structural importance measures. The experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed measures.
Technology Restriction and Demand Shifts in Transportation Dynamics: An Empirical Study

A transportation network company (TNC) is an app-based, two-sided platform that matches passengers with vehicles through information sharing. In 2015, the Shanghai government introduced a policy to restrict taxi drivers’ use of TNC apps during certain hours. We leverage this exogenous policy shock and collect comprehensive data on various transportation usage to investigate the economic impact of information sharing on the use of taxis and the entire transportation dynamics. We identify a significant decrease in the total number of taxi transactions during the enforcement time but a significant increase during non-enforcement times. Further, the restriction simultaneously increases traffic on public transportation and during non-enforcement times. Moreover, the restriction leads to increasingly congested surface streets during both policy enforcement and non-enforcement times, indicating an spillover to private vehicle use for short-distance rides. Interestingly, our mechanism analysis reveals an increased average distance after restricting information sharing, including sharing destinations, suggesting the dominant mechanism of information sharing as expanding drivers’ demand choice set, alleviating their uncertainty over idle time and, thus, encouraging them to take shorter orders due to their higher marginal profit. From an academic perspective, we contribute to the information systems literature by isolating the economic value of information sharing for a TNC and the transportation systems and by providing information-sharing designs to improve TNC and transportation efficiency and manage drivers’ selectivity behavior. Practically, we highlight how information sharing should be considered in the platform design and regulation of a TNC.
Respiratory viruses in neonates hospitalized with acute lower respiratory tract infections

The burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in neonates has not been clearly studied. The aims of this study were to determine the overall distribution of respiratory viruses in neonates hospitalized with acute lower respiratory tract infectiosns (ALRI) and to describe the clinical characteristics of RSV infections in these neonates.
The clinical course of pulmonary embolism.

BACKGROUND Pulmonary embolism is a potentially fatal disorder. Information about the outcome of clinically recognized pulmonary embolism is sparse, particularly given that new treatments for more seriously ill patients are now available. METHODS We prospectively followed 399 patients with pulmonary embolism diagnosed by lung scanning and pulmonary angiography, who were enrolled in a multicenter diagnostic trial. We reviewed all hospitalizations, all new investigations of pulmonary embolism, and all deaths among the patients within one year of diagnosis. RESULTS Of the 399 patients, 375 (94 percent) received treatment for pulmonary embolism, usually conventional anticoagulation. Only 10 patients (2.5 percent) died of pulmonary embolism; 9 of them had clinically suspected recurrent pulmonary embolism. Clinically apparent pulmonary embolism recurred in 33 patients (8.3 percent), of whom 45 percent died during follow-up. Ninety-five patients with pulmonary embolism (23.8 percent) died within one year. The conditions associated with these deaths were cancer (relative risk, 3.8; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.3 to 6.4), left-sided congestive heart failure (relative risk, 2.7; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.5 to 4.6), and chronic lung disease (relative risk, 2.2; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.2 to 4.0). The most frequent causes of death in patients with pulmonary embolism were cancer (in 34.7 percent), infection (22.1 percent), and cardiac disease (16.8 percent). CONCLUSIONS When properly diagnosed and treated, clinically apparent pulmonary embolism was an uncommon cause of death, and it recurred in only a small minority of patients. Most deaths were due to underlying diseases. Patients with pulmonary embolism who had cancer, congestive heart failure, or chronic lung disease had a higher risk of dying within one year than did other patients with pulmonary embolism.
Helicobacter pylori: Current Perspectives

Within the past decade, there has been an explosion of investigative activity and publications about Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Its role in gastroduodenal disease is becoming greater with definite etiologic association in chronic type B gastritis and a probable role in duodenal ulcer, a probable role in gastric ulcer, and possibly a factor in the development of interstitial type gastric carcinoma. Epidemiologic studies have shown H. pylori to be worldwide in distribution with higher prevalence rates and earlier initial infection rates in developing countries compared with industrialized nations. Person-to-person transmission appears to occur via the fecal–oral route. Pathogenesis of H. pylori-associated diseases remains unclear. We are, however, gaining insights into the role that H. pylori extracellular products play in damage to mucin and gastric epithelial cells as well as other gastroduodenal physiologic processes. Antimicrobial treatment, when effective, produces remission of mucosal pathologic changes and reduces duodenal recurrence rates. A major as yet unsolved problem is that there is no completely effective treatment regimen that consistently eradicates H. pylori in infected patients. Concepts of pathogenesis and future directions of research are discussed.
HIV‐1 Infection Dysregulates Cell Cycle Regulatory Protein p21 in CD4+ T Cells Through miR‐20a and miR‐106b Regulation

Both CD4+ T lymphocytes and macrophages are the major targets of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1); however, they respond differently to HIV‐1 infection. We hypothesized that HIV‐1 infection alters gene expression in CD4+ T cells and monocyte‐derived macrophages (MDMs) in a cell specific manner and microRNAs (miRNAs) in part play a role in cell‐specific gene expression. Results indicate that 183 and 31 genes were differentially regulated in HIV‐1 infected CD4+ T cells and MDMs, respectively, compared to their mock‐infected counterparts. Among the differentially expressed genes, cell cycle regulatory gene, p21 (CDKN1A) was upregulated in virus infected CD4+ T cells both at the mRNA and protein level in CD4+ T cells, whereas no consistent change was observed in MDMs. Productively infected CD4+ T cells express higher amount of p21 compared to bystander cells. In determining the mechanism(s) of cell type specific regulation of p21, we found that the miRNAs miR‐106b and miR‐20a that target p21 were specifically downregulated in HIV‐1 infected CD4+ T cells. Overexpression of these two miRNAs reduced p21 expression significantly in HIV‐1 infected CD4+ T cells. These findings provide a potential mechanism, by which, HIV‐1 could exploit host cellular machineries to regulate selective gene expression in target cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 1902–1912, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Immune responsiveness and the pathogenesis of human onchocerciasis.

Prominent antibody but minimal cellular proliferative responses to parasite antigen typify the systemic immune response of patients with onchocerciasis. While components of this response are proinflammatory (and antiparasitic), the primary force driving the immune system is the need to contain or limit inflammation around microfilariae that die in the skin or elsewhere at rates up to hundreds of thousands per day. These dying parasites initiate local inflammatory reactions, with the result being "bystander" tissue damage, which cumulatively determines host pathology. Local and systemic immune mechanisms to contain inflammation (e.g., blocking antibodies, down-regulating cytokines) are prominent in infected patients, and their delineation is crucial to understanding the pathogenesis of onchocercal disease in the skin, eye, and elsewhere. The degree of pathology appears directly related to both microfilarial numbers and the intensity of proinflammatory responses to them and inversely related to the effectiveness of specific mechanisms to suppress this inflammation.
In Vitro Evaluation of Bacterial Leakage at Implant-Abutment Connection: An 11-Degree Morse Taper Compared to a Butt Joint Connection

Background and Aim. The geometry of implant-abutment interface (IAI) affects the risk of bacterial leakage and invasion into the internal parts of the implant. The aim of this study was to compare the bacterial leakage of an 11-degree Morse taper IAI with that of a butt joint connection. Materials and Methods. Two implants systems were tested (n = 10 per group): CSM (submerged) and TBR (connect). The deepest inner parts of the implants were inoculated with 2 μL of Streptococcus mutans suspension with a concentration of 108 CFU/mL. The abutments were tightened on the implants. The specimens were stored in the incubator at a temperature of 37°C for 14 days and the penetration of the bacterium in the surrounding area was determined by the observation of the solution turbidity and comparison with control specimens. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was traced for the estimation of bacterial leakage and the results between two groups of implants were statistically analyzed by chi-square test. Results. No case of the implant system with the internal conical connection design revealed bacterial leakage in 14 days and no turbidity of the solution was reported for it. In the system with butt joint implant-abutment connection, 1 case showed leakage on the third day, 1 case on the eighth day, and 5 cases on the 13th day. In total, 7 (70%) cases showed bacterial leakage in this system. Significant differences were found between the two groups of implants based on the incidence of bacterial leakage (p < 0.05). Conclusion. The 11-degree Morse taper demonstrated better resistance to microbial leakage than butt joint connection.