Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms of hypoxemia in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is characterized by widespread central obstruction of the pulmonary arteries with organized thrombus and thereby differs substantially from other forms of pulmonary hypertension. We studied 25 patients using the multiple inert gas elimination technique to identify and quantitate the physiologic mechanisms of hypoxemia in this disorder. All patients had chronic obstruction of the central pulmonary arteries, which was demonstrated angiographically and later surgically confirmed. All patients but one were hypoxemic (PaO2 = 65 +/- 11 mm Hg, PaCO2 = 32 +/- 4 mm Hg, AaPO2 = 45 +/- 14 mm Hg), and all patients had pulmonary hypertension (mean Ppa = 45 +/- 11 mm Hg) with an elevated pulmonary vascular resistance (mean PVR = 1,000 +/- 791 dyne/s/cm5, normal less than 300). The cardiac index was reduced (1.7 +/- 0.6 L/min/m2), as was the P-vO2 (31 +/- 5 mm Hg). Inert gas studies revealed widened unimodal Va/Q distributions in 20 of 25 subjects, with a log standard deviation of 1.01 +/- 0.32 (upper limit of normal, 0.6; ages 20 to 40), shunt = 0.03 +/- 0.05 of cardiac output, and dead space of 3.4 +/- 1.1 ml/kg (upper limit of normal, 2.9). The VD/VT ratio was 0.51 +/- 0.10. No low (VA/Q less than 0.1) or high (VA/Q greater than 10.0) regions were present, and no evidence for diffusion limitation of O2 transfer at rest was found. The low cardiac output and resulting low P-VO2 were responsible for approximately 33% of the increased AaPO2. The magnitude of the VA/Q abnormality correlated poorly with the PVR, the mean Ppa, or the magnitude of vascular obstruction. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Altered resting state networks in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease: An fMRI study

Activity and reactivity of the default mode network in the brain was studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 28 nondemented individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 18 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 41 healthy elderly controls (HC). The default mode network was interrogated by means of decreases in brain activity, termed deactivations, during a visual encoding task and during a nonspatial working memory task. Deactivation was found in the default mode network involving the anterior frontal, precuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex. MCI patients showed less deactivation than HC, but more than AD. The most pronounced differences between MCI, HC, and AD occurred in the very early phase of deactivation, reflecting the reactivity and adaptation of the network. The default mode network response in the anterior frontal cortex significantly distinguished MCI from both HC (in the medial frontal) and AD (in the anterior cingulate cortex). The response in the precuneus could only distinguish between patients and HC, not between MCI and AD. These findings may be consistent with the notion that MCI is a transitional state between healthy aging and dementia and with the proposed early changes in MCI in the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus. These findings suggest that altered activity in the default mode network may act as an early marker for AD pathology. Hum Brain Mapp, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Low frequency noise characteristics of InGaAs bow-tie diodes for terahertz detection

Detailed investigation of low-frequency noise characteristics in InGaAs bow-tie diodes designed for terahertz detection is carried out within temperature range of 77-300 K. Spectral density of voltage fluctuations at room temperature is found to be proportional to 1/f, while at lower temperatures, 77 K-200 K, Lorentzian-type spectra dominate. Characteristic times of generation - recombination fluctuations responsible for Lorentzian-type spectra in temperatures from 150 K to 200 K ranges from a few microseconds to tens of millisecond, and estimated activation energies vary from 0.15 eV to 0.36 eV.
Simple reaction times to lateralized light flashes. Varieties of interhemispheric communication routes.

Simple unimanual reaction times to lateralized light flashes were measured in 40 normal subjects, 4 commissurotomized patients, and a boy with callosal agenesis. In all subjects, reaction times tended to be shorter when the stimuli were presented on the same side as the response hand (uncrossed condition) than on the opposite side (crossed condition). In 2 experiments, the magnitude of the crossed-uncrossed difference (CUD) was greatest in the commissurotimized patients (ranging from 35 to 96 ms), the acallosal boy showed an intermediate CUD (20 and 12 ms for the first and second experiment, respectively), and normal subjects exhibited the smallest CUD (an insignificant 1 ms difference and a significant 3 ms difference in the first and second experiment, respectively). For all subjects, reaction times increased when the stimulus light intensity was decreased (Experiment 1) or when stimulus eccentricity was increased (Experiment 2). However, the effects of these visual parameters on the CUD revealed group and individual differences. Neither stimulus light intensity nor eccentricity affected the CUD in the normals, in 1 of the commissurotomized patients, and in the acallosal boy. The CUDs in these subjects are attributed to the transfer of nonsensory information via the corpus callosum, via ipsilateral corticospinal tracts, and via the anterior commissure or ipsilateral motor pathways, respectively. The CUDs of 2 commissurotomized patients varied with stimulus eccentricity but not intensity. Subcallosal interhemispheric visual transfer is thus apparently more sensitive to stimulus eccentricity than to intensity. The final commissurotomized patient, R.Y. , had slower and less accurate responses to stimuli presented in the right visual hemifield during left, but not right, hand responses. An asymmetry in subcortical visual interhemispheric communication is suspected in this patient. The disparate results amongst these subjects are discussed and contrasted with previous findings. Finally, an information processing model of cortical and subcortical interhemispheric communication is presented.
Physical and psychosocial functioning of women and men after coronary artery bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVE To assess whether physical and psychosocial functioning differs between women and men after coronary artery bypass surgery. DESIGN Observational cohort study. SETTING Major teaching hospital. PATIENTS A total of 454 consecutive patients who received coronary artery bypass surgery from June 1989 through March 1990. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Nurse reviewers collected data on the severity of coronary artery disease and coexisting illnesses from medical records. A mailed survey measuring instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), social activities, mental health, and vitality was completed by 306 (70.2%) of 436 patients who were alive 6 months after surgery. Functioning on each scale was adjusted for age, marital status, education, severity of angina, recent myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and coexisting illnesses at the time of surgery. RESULTS Before surgery, women were much more likely than men to have had class IV angina (50.9% vs 30.4%), a recent myocardial infarction (32.1% vs 18.0%), and congestive heart failure (34.0% vs 17.6%) (all P < .002). On a range from 0 (severe impairment) to 100 (no impairment), adjusted postoperative functioning was equivalent for women and men in IADLs (86.7 vs 89.1), social activities (95.2 vs 95.3), mental health (72.6 vs 76.0), and vitality (58.1 vs 62.5) (all P > .20). Women reported similar or greater adjusted improvements than men for IADLs (27.2 vs 19.6, P = .08), social activities (20.8 vs 8.0, P = .002), mental health (11.2 vs 5.7, P = .05), and vitality (22.2 vs 12.9, P = .04). CONCLUSIONS Women were more severely ill than men at the time of coronary artery bypass surgery, but women and men reported similar physical and psychosocial functioning 6 months after surgery. These findings demonstrate important functional benefits of this procedure among both women and men.
Temporal Variations in Myopia Progression in Singaporean Children within an Academic Year

Purpose Excessive nearwork is believed to be associated with myopia development and progression. To investigate this further, we studied refractive error changes and their correlation with nearwork in a cohort of grade school children in Singapore. Methods Cycloplegic autorefraction was performed 5 times over 10 months on 168 children aged 7, 9, and 12 years who were further divided into myopic and nonmyopic subgroups based in their initial refractive errors. Information about nearwork was obtained through diaries filled out over 24 h at the commencement of the study. Results Myopia progression was high (overall mean: −0.87 D per year) and largely linear throughout the year, but significantly higher rates were seen after the final school examinations in 7-year-old myopes and nonmyopes. Overall, myopic groups exhibited higher progression rates than nonmyopic groups, although 33.6% of subjects from the latter groups had become myopic by the end of the study. Nearwork scores derived from the diaries were generally not well correlated with overall myopia progression. Conclusions The tendency for myopia progression rates to increase after the final school examinations in 7-year-olds is interpreted as a delayed effect of the intense nearwork associated with preparing for them. The timing of nearwork-diary data collection at the beginning of the study could be responsible for the poor correlation between these data and overall myopia progression rates.
Combined Impact of Smoking and Early‐Life Exposures on Adult Lung Function Trajectories

Rationale: Both adverse early‐life exposures and adult smoking can negatively influence adult lung function trajectory, but few studies consider how the impact of early‐life exposures may be modified by subsequent smoking. Methods: The Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development is a nationally representative cohort, initially of 5,362 individuals, followed since enrollment at birth in March 1946. Using data collected prospectively across life and multilevel modeling, we investigated how the relationships between early‐life exposures (infant lower respiratory infection, manual social class, home overcrowding, and pollution exposure) and FEV1 and FVC trajectories between ages 43 and 60‐64 years were influenced by smoking behavior. Measurements and Main Results: Among 2,172 individuals, there were synergistic interactions of smoking with infant respiratory infection (P = 0.04) and early‐life home overcrowding (P = 0.009), for FEV1 at 43 years. Within smoker‐stratified models, there were FEV1 deficits among ever‐smokers associated with infant lower respiratory infection (−108.2 ml; P = 0.001) and home overcrowding (−89.2 ml; P = 0.002), which were not evident among never‐smokers (−15.9 ml; P = 0.69 and −13.7 ml; P = 0.70, respectively). FVC modeling, including 1,960 individuals, yielded similar results. FEV1 decline was greater in smokers (P < 0.001), but there was no effect of any early‐life exposure on FEV1 decline. Neither smoking nor early‐life exposures were associated with FVC decline. Conclusions: Besides accelerating adult FEV1 decline, cigarette smoking also modifies how early‐life exposures impact on both midlife FEV1 and FVC. These findings are consistent with smoking impairing pulmonary development during adolescence or early adulthood, thereby preventing catch‐up from earlier acquired deficits.
Early origins of obesity: programming the appetite regulatory system

There is evidence that changes in perinatal nutrition programme the development of relative fat mass and the regulation of appetite in adult life. These studies have been primarily in the rodent utilizing maternal overnutrition or undernutrition imposed at different stages of pregnancy and beyond, mapping of neuropeptide localization and activity and appropriate null mutant models. Whilst the rodent offers significant advantages in terms of a short gestation and the availability of useful transgenic and null mutant models, there are also advantages to using an animal model more akin to the human, in which all components of the ‘fat–brain axis’ are present before birth, such as the sheep. This review summarizes recent work on the expression and localization of the ‘appetite regulatory’ peptides in the fetal rodent and sheep hypothalamus and their potential role in the early programming of postnatal appetite and obesity.
Cloning of pectate lyase gene pel from Pseudomonas fluorescens and detection of sequences homologous to pel in Pseudomonas viridiflava and Pseudomonas putida

Pectate lyase (PL) depolymerizes pectin and other polygalacturonates (PGAs) and is thought to play a role in bacterial invasion of plants. Production of PL by the soft-rotting pathogen Pseudomonas fluorescens CY091 is regulated by Ca2+. In the presence of Ca2+, this bacterium constitutively synthesizes PL in media containing glucose, glycerol, or PGA and excretes over 87% of total PL into culture fluids. In the absence of Ca2+, the organism fails to use PGA as a carbon source and produces very low levels of PL in media containing glucose or glycerol. Of the small amount of PL produced by the bacterium in Ca(2+)-deficient media, over 78% was detected within the cells, indicating that Ca2+ is critical not only for the production but also for the secretion of PL. The pel gene, encoding an alkaline PL (pI 10.0, Mr 41,000) was cloned and located on the overlapping region of a 4.3-kb SalI and a 7.1-kb EcoRI fragment. The 7.1-kb EcoRI fragment appears to contain a promoter for pel gene expression. A 1.7-kb SalI-XhoI subfragment of the 4.3-kb SalI fragment was cloned into pUC18 to give pROTM2. Escherichia coli cells carrying pROTM2 produce 50 to 100 times more PL than do cells carrying other pectolytic constructs. Production of PL by E. coli (pROTM2) was not affected by carbon sources or by Ca2+. The pI and Mr of PL from E. coli corresponded to values for its counterpart from P. fluorescens. A 0.7-kb BglII-ClaI fragment encoding the pel structural sequence was used to detect pel homologs in various species of fluorescent pseudomonads. Homologous sequences were observed in 10 of 11 strains of P. fluorescens, P. viridiflava, and P. putida. The pel gene in fluorescent pseudomonads is well conserved and may exist and remain repressed in certain strains or species which exhibit nonpectolytic phenotypes under laboratory conditions.
T-large granular lymphocyte leukemia: current molecular concepts

Abstract T-large granular lymphocyte (T-LGL) leukemia is a chronic and often indolent T cell lymphoproliferation characterized by extreme expansion of a semi-autonomous cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clone. Clinically, T-LGL can be associated with various cytopenias; neutropenia constitutes the most frequent manifestation. LGL clone represents a pathologic counterpart of the cytotoxic effector T cell but an abnormal memory CD8 cell seems to provide the supply of the matured LGL population. Analysis of clonal T cell receptor (TCR) rearrangement and complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) of the TCR β-chain is a useful tool to investigate clonal expansions, track the frequency of expanded clones and also clinically useful to monitor the response to therapy. The lessons learned from molecular analysis of clonal repertoire support a clinically-derived conclusion that the LGL clone arises in the context of an initially polyclonal immune response or an autoimmune process. Consequently, specific manifestations of T-LGL may be a result of the recognition spectrum of the transformed clone and the cytokines it produces. Due to the often monoclonal manifestation, T-LGL constitutes a suitable model to investigate polyclonal CTL-mediated processes. Application of new technologies, including TCR repertoire analysis by sequencing, clonotypic quantitative PCR and VB flow cytometry facilitate clinical diagnosis and may allow insights into the regulation of TCR repertoire and consequences resulting from the contraction of clonal diversity.
KINESIN‐LIKE PROTEINS ARE INVOLVED IN POSTMITOTIC NUCLEAR MIGRATION OF THE UNICELLULAR GREEN ALGA MICRASTERIAS DENTICULATA

The unicellular green alga Micrasterias denticulata performs a two‐directional postmitotic nuclear migration during development, a passive migration into the growing semicell, and a microtubule mediated backward migration towards the cell centre. The present study provides first evidence for force generation by motor proteins of the kinesin family in this process. The new kinesin specific inhibitor adociasulfate‐2 causes abnormal nuclear displacement at 18μM. AMP‐PNP, a non hydrolyseable ATP analogue or the general ATPase inhibitors calyculin A and sodium orthovanadate also disturb nuclear migration.
Skeletal muscle metabolic changes in peripheral arterial disease contribute to exercise intolerance: a point-counterpoint discussion

Patients with claudication have a marked impairment in exercise performance. Several factors contribute to this limitation, including reductions in large vessel blood flow and oxygen delivery as well as metabolic abnormalities in skeletal muscle. The relative contribution of these factors and their role in the pathophysiology of the exercise limitation is discussed using a point-counterpoint approach. Future directions for research conclude the discussion.
Polish Forum for Prevention Guidelines on Cardiovascular Risk Assessment: update 2016.

1Department of Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, John Paul II Hospital, Krakow, Poland 21st Department of Cardiology and Hypertension, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland 3Department of Hypertension and Diabetology, Medical University in Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland 4Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Population Studies, Institute of Public Health, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland 5Department of Epidemiology, Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland 6Department of Haemodynamics and Angiocardiography, John Paul II Hospital, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland 7Department of Metabolic Diseases, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland 8Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacogenomics, Division of Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland 9Department of Paediatric Cardiology and Rheumatology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland 102nd Department of Neurology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland 11Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland 12Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland 13Department of Family Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland 14Department of Congenital Heart Disease, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland
Short communication Characterization of mutations in the VP 1 region of Sabin strain type 1 polioviruses isolated from vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis cases in Iran

Background: The live-attenuated oral polio vaccine used to interrupt poliovirus transmission is genetically unstable. Reversion of some attenuating mutations, which normally occurs during vaccine strain replication in some recipients, and can rarely cause vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP). The poliovirus eradication program designed by the World Health Organization (WHO) includes immunization with OPV in addition to careful surveillance of all acute-flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases. Objectives: In Iran we last isolated imported wild poliovirus in 2000 and the immunization coverage was 100% in 2002. During 2001, there were three AFP cases with residual paralysis from which Sabin-like type 1 polioviruses were isolated in our national polio laboratory. Study design: The complete VP1 region of the three isolates was sequenced and amino acid substitutions associated with these neurovirulent isolates were recorded. Results: These isolates had either 4, 2 or 1 nucleotide substitution(s) in the VP1 region, corresponding to amino acid change in the VP1 of isolate 1 of either (H 149 −→ Y), (T
Microblogging as an extension of science reporting

Mass media have long provided general publics with science news. New media such as Twitter have entered this system and provide an additional platform for the dissemination of science information. Based on automated collection and analysis of >900 news articles and 70,000 tweets, this study explores the online communication of current science news. Topic modeling (latent Dirichlet allocation) was used to extract five broad themes of science reporting: space missions, the US government shutdown, cancer research, Nobel Prizes, and climate change. Using content and network analysis, Twitter was found to extend public science communication by providing additional voices and contextualizations of science issues. It serves a recommender role by linking to web resources, connecting users, and directing users’ attention. This article suggests that microblogging adds a new and relevant layer to the public communication of science.
Diagnosis of Kawasaki disease

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a medium vessel vasculitis with predilection for coronary arteries. Due to lack of a reliable confirmatory laboratory test, the diagnosis of KD is based on a constellation of clinical findings that appear in a typical temporal sequence. These diagnostic criteria have been modified from time to time and the most recent guidelines have been proposed by the American Heart Association (AHA) in 2017. However, several children may have incomplete or atypical forms of KD and the diagnosis can often be difficult, especially in infants and young children. In this review, we have detailed the steps involved in arriving at a diagnosis of KD and also highlight the important role of echocardiography in diagnosis and management of children with KD.
Distinct "Feeding" and "Hunger Motivating" Systems in the Lateral Hypothalamus of the Rat

Electrodes were implanted in the middle hypothalamus of rats to determine the neural organization of the "feeding" centers. Stimulations of the farand midlateral hypothalamic area produced feeding responses in sated animals, but only the former caused sated animals to cross an electrified grill to press a lever for food. After lesions had been made in the medial forebrain bundle, however, stimulations in the far-lateral hypothalamic area resulted in feeding in sated animals but failure to cross the electrical barrier to press a lever for food. Simultaneous far-lateral and "satiety" center stimulations produced feeding in sated animals but failed to "motivate" grill-crossing behavior.