Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dietary phytoestrogens improve stroke outcome after transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats

As phytoestrogens are postulated as being neuroprotectants, we assessed the hypothesis that dietary isoflavone‐type phytoestrogens are neuroprotective against ischemic stroke. Transient focal cerebral ischemia (90 min) was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) following the intraluminal thread technique, both in rats fed with soy‐based diet and in rats fed with isoflavone‐free diet. Cerebro‐cortical laser‐Doppler flow (cortical perfusion, CP), arterial blood pressure, core temperature, PaO2, PaCO2, pH and glycemia were measured before, during and after MCAO. Neurological examination and infarct volume measurements were carried out 3 days after the ischemic insult. Dietary isoflavones (both glycosides and aglycones) were measured by high‐performance liquide chromatography. Neither pre‐ischemic, intra‐ischemic nor post‐ischemic CP values were significantly different between the soy‐based diet and the isoflavone‐free diet groups. Animals fed with the soy‐based diet showed an infarct volume of 122 ± 20.2 mm3 (19 ± 3.3% of the whole ipsilateral hemisphere volume). In animals fed with the isoflavone‐free diet the mean infarct volume was significantly higher, 191 ± 26.7 mm3 (28 ± 4.1%, P < 0.05). Neurological examination revealed significantly higher impairment in the isoflavone‐free diet group compared with the soy‐based diet group (3.3 ± 0.5 vs. 1.9 ± 0.5, P < 0.05). These results demonstrate that dietary isoflavones improve stroke outcome after transient focal cerebral ischemia in such a way that a higher dietary isoflavone content results in a lower infarct volume and a better neurological status.
Intravenous Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism of the Reactive Oxygen Scavenger α-Phenyl-N-Tert-Butyl Nitrone (PBN) in the Cynomolgus Monkey

The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of the antioxidant and reactive oxygen scavenger alpha-phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN) was examined in the male cynomolgus monkey after intravenous administration. Following an i.v. bolus dose of 5 mg/kg, plasma concentrations of PBN declined in a bi-exponential fashion. PBN demonstrated a moderate plasma clearance (CL(p) = 27.02 +/- 6.46 ml/min/kg) and a moderate volume of distribution at steady state (Vd(ss) = 1.70 +/- 0.23 l/kg), resulting in a terminal elimination half-life of 0.76 +/- 0.25 h. The corresponding area under the curve (AUC(0-infinity)) was 3.20 +/- 0.77 microg-h/ml. Scale-up of the in vitro microsomal intrinsic clearance data for PBN afforded a blood clearance (CLb) value of 22 ml/min/kg, which was in reasonable agreement with the observed in vivo CLb. Monkey liver microsomes catalyzed the NADPH-dependent monohydroxylation of PBN to the corresponding alpha-4-hydroxyphenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone (4-HOPBN) metabolite. The formation of 4-HOPBN and its corresponding O-glucuronide was also discernible upon qualitative analysis of pooled (0-24 h) monkey plasma and urine samples. Less than 5% of the administered dose was excreted as unchanged PBN in the urine, suggesting that P450-catalyzed metabolism constituted the major route of PBN clearance in the primate. In conclusion, the pharmacokinetic attributes and the clearance mechanism of PBN in the cynomolgus monkey is similar to that observed in the Sprague-Dawley rat.
Young adults' opinions of Philip Morris and its television advertising

Objective: To determine what young people think about the tobacco company Philip Morris and how it affects their evaluations of the company's new television advertising. Design: Data were gathered in the context of a controlled experiment in which participants saw four Philip Morris ads about youth smoking prevention, four Philip Morris ads about charitable works, or four Anheuser-Busch ads about preventing underage drinking (the control group). Knowledge and opinion of Philip Morris were measured before ad exposure. Setting: A California state university in the San Francisco Bay area. Subjects: A convenience sample of undergraduates (n = 218) aged 18–25 years. Main outcome measures: Advertising evaluation measured by 12 semantic differential scales. Results: A little more than half of the students knew that Philip Morris is a tobacco company. Neither this knowledge nor students' smoking status was related to their opinion of the company. Philip Morris ads were rated less favourably by students who were aware that the sponsor is a tobacco company than by students who were unaware. Conclusions: Advertisements designed to discredit the tobacco industry typically avoid references to specific companies. This study suggests that such counter-advertising would benefit from teaching audiences about the industry's corporate identities.
Postoperative diaphragmatic paralysis after cardiac surgery in children: incidence, diagnosis and surgical management

Background Cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease covers a wide spectrum from simple to complex cardiac and extracardiac malformations. Innovations in pediatric cardiac surgery and perioperative care over the past decades have allowed surgical correction or at least palliation in almost all complex congenital heart defects in the first years of life. Diaphragmatic paralysis (DP) due to phrenic nerve injury after congenital cardiac surgery is an important respiratory complication resulting with respiratory insufficiency, lung infections, prolonged hospital stay time and even death. Methods Between April 2001 and December 2010, among patients undergoing cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease, postoperative DP was diagnosed in 47/10 200 (0.46%) patients. Diaphragmatic placation was performed in 37/47 patients. DP was suspected in children who failed to wean from mechanical ventilation or in those with persistent respiratory distress when there is no cardiac cause. Decreased respiratory sounds in auscultation, paradoxical breathing during spontaneous ventilation and elevated hemidiaphragm on chest X‐ray led us to use fluoroscopy, ultrasound and/ or electromyogram (EMG). When chest X‐rays did not have a diagnostic value in patients with persistent respiratory distress, bilateral DP was suspected and immediate fluoroscopy of EMG was performed for diagnosis. In all patients, diaphragmatic placation was performed using a thoracic approach, through the sixth or seventh intercostals space with lateral thoracotomy. Results A total of 47 patients (21 females and 26 males) with a median age of 7.21 months (range 0.27‐71 months) were diagnosed DP after cardiac surgery. The incidence of DP was 0.46% after cardiac surgery. The paralysed hemidiaphragm was left side in 26/47 (55.3%), right side in 17/47 (36.2%) and bilateral in 4/47 (8.5%) cases. The assisted ventilation time after cardiac surgery was (450±216) (116‐856) hours. The median time from cardiac surgery to surgical placation was (24±14) (5‐56) days. No patient died in this study. The follow‐up period was (26.2±16.8) months. The position of the plicated diaphragm was normal on chest X‐ray, in all plicated survivors within the 1st, 6th and 12th months after discharge. Conclusions DP caused by phrenic nerve injury during surgical intervention for congenital heart disease is an important risk factor in terms of morbidity during the postoperative period. Diaphragmatic placation appears a good option, especially in newborns and small children, to wean patients from mechanical ventilation and to prevent long‐term side effects of mechanical ventilation.
Characterization of Hepatitis C Virus Core-Specific Immune Responses Primed in Rhesus Macaques by a Nonclassical ISCOM Vaccine

Current therapies for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are only effective in a restricted number of patients. Cellular immune responses, particularly those mediated by CD8+ CTLs, are thought to play a role in the control of infection and the response to antiviral therapies. Because the Core protein is the most conserved HCV protein among genotypes, we evaluated the ability of a Core prototype vaccine to prime cellular immune responses in rhesus macaques. Since there are serious concerns about using a genetic vaccine encoding for Core, this vaccine was a nonclassical ISCOM formulation in which the Core protein was adsorbed onto (not entrapped within) the ISCOMATRIX, resulting in ∼1-μm particulates (as opposed to 40 nm for classical ISCOM formulations). We report that this Core-ISCOM prototype vaccine primed strong CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses. Using intracellular staining for cytokines, we show that in immunized animals 0.30–0.71 and 0.32–2.21% of the circulating CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, respectively, were specific for naturally processed HCV Core peptides. Furthermore, this vaccine elicited a Th0-type response and induced a high titer of Abs against Core and long-lived cellular immune responses. Finally, we provide evidence that Core-ISCOM could serve as an adjuvant for the HCV envelope protein E1E2. Thus, these data provide evidence that Core-ISCOM is effective at inducing cellular and humoral immune responses in nonhuman primates.
Practical Domain and Type Enforcement for UNIX

Type enforcement is a table-oriented mandatory access control mechanism well-suited for confining applications and restricting information flows. Although both flexible and strong, type enforcement alone imposes significant administrative costs and has not been widely adopted. Domain and Type Enforcement (DTE) is an enhanced version of type enforcement designed to provide needed simplicity and compatibility. Two primary techniques distinguish DTE from simple type enforcement: DTE policies are expressed in a high-level language that includes file security attribute associations as well as other access control information; and during system execution, DTE file security attributes are maintained using a concise human-readable format in a runtime DTE policy database, thus removing the need for security-specific low-level data formats. Such formats are a major source of incompatibility for security-enhanced systems. A DTE UNIX prototype system has been implemented to evaluate these primary DTE concepts. This paper presents experiences gained and preliminary results indicating that DTE can provide cost effective security increases to UNIX systems while maintaining a high degree of compatibility with existing programs and media. <<ETX>>
Speckle free optical watermarking based on pseudo-random phase encoding

Watermarking is a process of embedding copyright information into an image to verify the ownership without any kind of corruption. In optical applications, the usage of diffusers is required to obtain a homogeneously distributed spectrum. However, the use of a diffuser in the input plane and the finite size of the sensor leave the recovered watermark with noise speckles. This noise affects negatively the verification process. We propose the usage of pseudo-random band-limited diffusers to place watermarks on optical images using a method based on Fourier-transform and random phase encoding algorithm. Such diffusers can help to recover a free-speckle watermark. The robustness to typical attacks is analyzed. Numerical results have shown its effectiveness.
Selection of methods for assessing sediment toxicity in California bays and estuaries

Toxicity tests are often used in sediment assessment programs. However, the choice of methods has been largely limited to acute tests. Where sublethal methods have been used, there has been little consistency among programs in the types of the sublethal tests used. The goal of this study was to develop a method for choosing a suite of acute and sublethal tests for use in a California statewide assessment program, and to develop a set of method‐specific thresholds for classifying the degree of toxicity within a multiple line of evidence framework consisting of sediment chemistry, benthic community structure, and sediment toxicity. A group of candidate methods was evaluated using feasibility and performance criteria. Toxicity thresholds were calculated based on test variability and sensitivity. As a result of the evaluation, 3 acute toxicity methods using amphipods (Eohaustorius estuarius, Rhepoxynius abronius, and Leptocheirus plumulosus), and 2 sublethal methods using a polychaete and mussel embryos (Neanthes arenaceodentata growth and Mytilus galloprovincialis embryo development at the sediment‐water interface) were selected for recommendation. Thresholds for toxicity categories corresponding to Nontoxic, Low Toxicity, Moderate Toxicity, and High Toxicity were developed for each test method. Although these toxicity categories and thresholds provide a consistent framework for the interpretation of test results among different methods, additional research is needed to determine their effectiveness for predicting impacts to benthic communities. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2012; 8: 625–637. © 2011 SETAC
Patterns of gene expression in developing embryos of Arabidopsis hybrids

Hybrids between the Arabidopsis ecotypes C24 and Ler have high levels of hybrid vigour, or heterosis, in both biomass and seed yield. Heterosis can be detected throughout the development of the plant and in different tissues. We examined developing embryos and seeds of C24/Ler reciprocal hybrids with the aim of detecting the earliest time at which heterotic gene activity occurs. In the transcriptomes of 4-dap (days after pollination; dermatogen to globular) and 6-dap (heart) embryos from both parents and hybrids, 95% of expressed genes were at the mid parent value (MPV) and 95% of the genes with single nucleotide polymorphisms between C24 and Ler retained the same relative allelic expression levels in the hybrids as existed in the parents. This included loci that had equivalent levels of transcription in the two parents, together with loci which had different levels of expression in the parents. Amongst the genes which did not have MPV expression levels in the hybrids (non-additively expressed genes), approximately 40 in the globular embryo stage and 89 in the heart embryo stage had altered levels of transcription in both reciprocal hybrids; these genes could contribute to the heterotic phenotype of the hybrid embryo. Many of the non-additively expressed genes had expression levels that were shifted towards maternal levels of transcription, and these differed in the reciprocal hybrids. Allelic expression analysis indicated that most genes with altered allelic contributions in the hybrids had an increase in the expression level of the hybrid's maternal allele. Consistent with the maternal pattern of gene expression, embryo and seed also show maternally influenced phenotypes.
Changing patterns of bleeding in patients with severe haemophilia A

Summary. Previous studies on the pattern of joint bleeding in patients with haemophilia have reported that the knee joint is most frequently affected. Home treatment data reporting bleeding frequency and location collected from 100 patients registered at six haemophilia centres in the UK have been analysed to determine current patterns of bleeding. Bleeding frequency has markedly decreased although bleeding into joints remains the main characteristic of haemophilia. However, the ankle joint has replaced the knee joint as the most common joint affected. Furthermore, it seems that the frequency of knee joint bleeding is also less than the elbow joint suggesting that the traditional pattern of joint bleeding in haemophilia has now changed significantly.
Reference‐free unwarping of EPI data using dynamic off‐resonance correction with multiecho acquisition (DOCMA)

Inhomogeneities of the main magnetic field cause geometric distortion in echo‐planar imaging, a method central to functional MRI. A number of correction methods have been proposed, most of which are based on the acquisition of a fieldmap providing the local offsets to the main magnetic field. Here, accelerated multiecho echo‐planar imaging is used, with echo times short enough to enable the construction of a fieldmap of comparable quality from the data themselves. This way, each volume in a time series can be unwarped using a fieldmap obtained from that volume, avoiding volume‐to‐volume field‐motion interactions that invalidate reference data in conventional approaches that use a single, static, fieldmap. The combination of accelerated acquisition with dynamic distortion correction yields volumes with very low distortion at repetition times similar to conventional echo‐planar imaging. The method is applied to data acquired at 3 and 7 T and is shown to effectively correct image geometry. Furthermore, it is shown that dynamic distortion correction yields better temporal signal stability than correction using a static fieldmap in the presence of subject motion. Magn Reson Med 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Statistical approaches for assessing the relative validity of a food-frequency questionnaire: use of correlation coefficients and the kappa statistic

Abstract Objective: To compare different statistical methods for assessing the relative validity of a self-administered, 150-item, semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) with 4-day weighed diet records (WR). Design: Subjects completed the Scottish Collaborative Group FFQ and carried out a 4-day WR. Relative agreement between the FFQ and WR for energy-adjusted nutrient intakes was assessed by Pearson and Spearman rank correlation coefficients, the percentages of subjects classified into the same and opposite thirds of intake, and Cohen's weighted kappa. Subjects: Forty-one men, mean age 36 (range 21-56) years, and 40 women, mean age 33 (range 19-58) years, recruited from different locations in Aberdeen, Scotland. Results: Spearman correlation coefficients tended to be lower than Pearson correlation coefficients, and were above 0.5 for 10 of the 27 nutrients in men and 17 of the 27 nutrients in women. For nutrients with Spearman correlation coefficients above 0.5, the percentage of subjects correctly classified into thirds ranged from 39 to 78%, and weighted kappa values ranged from 0.23 to 0.66. Conclusions: Both Spearman correlation coefficients and weighted kappa values are useful in assessing the relative validity of estimates of nutrient intake by FFQs. Spearman correlation coefficients above 0.5, more than 50% of subjects correctly classified and less than 10% of subjects grossly misclassified into thirds, and weighted kappa values above 0.4 are recommended for nutrients of interest in epidemiological studies.
Efficacy of Computer-Aided Dosing of Warfarin Among Patients in a Rehabilitation Hospital

Mitra R, Marciello MA, Brain C, Ahangar B, Burke DT: Efficacy of computer-aided dosing of warfarin among patients in a rehabilitation hospital. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2005;84:423–427. Objective:To determine whether computer-aided dosing of warfarin is superior to physician dosing to maintain a patient in a rehabilitation hospital within a target international normalized ratio goal. Design:Randomized, double-blinded, clinical trial in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. A total of 30 consecutive patients admitted receiving warfarin were randomized to either clinician dosing or computer-aided warfarin dosing for the duration of their hospitalization. The main outcome measures included the percentage of days in a therapeutic anticoagulation range and the number of blood draws. Exclusion criteria included short length of stay (n = 110, 39%) and a physician declared international normalized ratio target range of <2.0 (n = 67, 23%). A total of 73 patients were excluded because of heme-positive stools at admission, recent gastrointestinal bleed, early discharge or consent refusal. Dawn AC software was used to determine warfarin dosage and frequency of blood draws to maintain a target international normalized ratio of 2.0–3.0 for the computer-dosed group (n = 14). Several physicians recommended warfarin dosages for the second group (n = 16). Two were dropped from the computer model secondary to lost data files for these two patients. Results:Computer-aided dosing of warfarin resulted in 61.7% of days within the therapeutic range (international normalized ratio, 2–3), whereas clinician dosing resulted in only 44.1%. There were no significant differences in the number of blood draws or demographic variables between the two groups. Conclusion:Computers were significantly better at maintaining patients within a therapeutic international normalized ratio range than physicians. There were no significant differences in the number of recommended blood draws.
Differential Cerebral Protein Synthesis and Heat Shock Protein 70 Expression in the Core and Penumbra of Rat Brain after Transient Focal Ischemia

OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this study was to correlate the cerebral protein synthesis (CPS) reductions in the ischemic core and penumbra with the metabolic stress response indicated by heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) synthesis. METHODSRats were subjected to 90 minutes of temporary focal cerebral ischemia produced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, using the endovascular suture model. Regional CPS was qualitatively evaluated, with [35S]methionine autoradiography, after reperfusion for 2 to 72 hours. The observed changes were correlated with HSP70 immunoreactivity, as assessed in the same brain sections. The ischemic core in the striatum was characterized by HSP70 expression only in endothelial and/or glial cells, with an absence of expression in neurons. The penumbra was delineated as the cortical middle cerebral artery territory region in which HSP70 was also expressed in metabolically stressed neurons. RESULTSAfter 2 hours of reperfusion, CPS was reduced to 30 ± 16% of the homologous contralateral hemisphere value in the core and to 75 ± 22% in the penumbra (P < 0.05). This difference was still present at 72 hours, when CPS values were 62 ± 21% and 98 ± 29% of the nonischemic contralateral hemisphere values in the core and penumbra, respectively (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONPersistent inhibition of CPS in regions in which neuronal HSP70 expression is absent may distinguish core areas of infarction from penumbral regions in which neuronal HSP70 is present, which eventually recover from sublethal metabolic stress during reperfusion after temporary focal ischemia.
Effects of oxygen and exogenous L-arginine on EDRF activity in fetal pulmonary circulation.

To determine whether L-arginine, the precursor of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), increases vasodilator activity in the fetal pulmonary circulation, we studied its effects on basal pulmonary vascular tone and on pulmonary vasodilation stimulated by oxygen and acetylcholine (ACh) in chronically prepared late-gestation fetal lambs. L-Arginine infusion (30-300 mg over 10 min) into the left pulmonary artery (LPA) increased blood flow (18-57%) without changing pulmonary artery pressure. To determine whether O2-induced vasodilation involves EDRF and is augmented by L-arginine treatment, we infused L-arginine or NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA), an inhibitor of EDRF synthesis, while increasing fetal PO2 6 Torr by delivering 100% O2 to the ewe for 120 min. In controls, LPA blood flow progressively increased from 106 +/- 13 ml/min (baseline) to 257 +/- 34 ml/min (peak) at 40 min of increased PO2 (P < 0.05, baseline vs. peak) but steadily returned toward baseline during the next hour. Treatment with L-NNA markedly attenuated O2-induced pulmonary vasodilation (P < 0.05 vs. control). L-Arginine infusion did not augment or sustain the O2-induced vasodilator response. We also examined whether L-arginine could sustain pulmonary vasodilation to ACh, another EDRF-dependent stimulus, and found that the EDRF substrate neither potentiated nor sustained the ACh response. We conclude that: in the fetal lung 1) exogenous L-arginine is a fetal pulmonary vasodilator, 2) increased PO2 augments EDRF activity in the fetal lung, and 3) supplemental L-arginine does not sustain either O2- or ACh-induced vasodilation. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)