Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition on growth factor mRNA in chronic renal allograft rejection in the rat.

BACKGROUND Despite considerable progress in immunosuppression, the incidence of chronic renal allograft rejection has not decreased. Recent studies have revealed that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition ameliorates graft arteriosclerosis, glomerulosclerosis, and tubular atrophy. Moreover, it decreases systemic and glomerular capillary hydrostatic pressure in a rat kidney allograft model. We evaluated the effects of the ACE inhibitor enalapril on cytokine and growth factor expression in chronically rejecting rat kidney allografts. METHODS Kidneys of Fisher (F344) rats were orthotopically transplanted into Lewis (Lew) rats. To prevent acute rejection, cyclosporine A (1.5 mg/kg/day) was given to all recipients during the first 10 days after transplantation. Enalapril (60 mg/L) or vehicle was added to the drinking water 10 days after transplantation. Animals were harvested 20 weeks after transplantation for histologic and immunohistologic studies, as well as for evaluation of cytokine and growth factor mRNA by semiquantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Controls developed severe signs of chronic rejection, such as glomerular and vascular lesions, associated with a large number of infiltrating leukocytes. Enalapril-treated animals developed less proteinuria and other signs of chronic rejection. The mRNA levels of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), platelet-derived growth factor A and B chain (PDGF A and B), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were significantly reduced in the enalapril group and were most pronounced for IL-1 and PDGF A. In addition, we found an increased level of renal angiotensinogen mRNA after treatment with enalapril. CONCLUSIONS Treatment with enalapril attenuated the development of proteinuria, ameliorated morphological damage, decreased leukocyte infiltration, and prevented a rise in renal mRNA levels of growth factors and cytokines in kidney grafts in a rat model of chronic renal allograft rejection.
Wireless sensor nodes for environmental monitoring in Internet of Things

Wireless networking sensor nodes for environment monitoring in Internet of Things (IOT) are reported in this work. The IOT network includes individual self-sustaining nodes wirelessly transmitting sensor signals to hubs that can be shared in the Internet Cloud. Each node consists of an optimized energy harvesting module, a System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated low-power Bluetooth Smart transceiver, and multi-functional sensor array to monitor environmental parameters. The energy harvesting module is able to adapt and collect energy from solar power, ambient radio waves, and direct wireless power transmission (WPT). The sensor arrays include pH sensor, temperature sensor, photo-detector, electromagnetic wave detector and acoustic noise detector. The SoC processes data and transmits compressed information about environmental conditions to the hub. This platform demonstrated the concepts of combining power harvesting techniques and low-power sensors for the IoT applications.
Inherited susceptibility and acquired allelic imbalance in rat mammary carcinogenesis

Individual genetically determined susceptibility to cancer as well as acquired epigenetic and genetic organ specific alterations are important considerations in choosing target populations for chemopreventive trials. These individual epigenetic and genetic alterations can also serve as potential biomarkers for chemoprevention clinical trials. In order to model these potential markers for chemoprevention investigations, we are examining a series of interrelated rat models.
Relationship of MMPI Cluster Type, Pain Coping Strategy, and Treatment Outcome

AbstractThe purposes of the present study of chronic pain patients were to (a) assess whether cognitive and behavioral coping style is related to personality factors, (b) assess how coping styles differ across personality types, and (c) assess how outpatient interdisciplinary intervention affects the coping styles of various personality types. Four MMPI clusters (Depression/Pathological, V-type. Marginal Depression, and Marginal V-type) were derived using a hierarchical clustering procedure. Seventy subjects also completed the Coping Strategies Questionnaire before and after a 3-week outpatient pain management program. Pretreatment analyses indicated the Depression/Pathological and Marginal Depression groups used diverting attention less than either V-type group. The V-type group reported using praying/hoping significantly more than either of the marginal groups. At posttreatment the Depression/Pathological group used catastrophizing significantly more than either of the marginal groups. Results of pre-post analyses indicated that the Depression/Pathological group increased their use of diverting attention, reinterpreting pain sensations, and ignoring pain sensations, while decreasing catastrophizing. The V-type group increased their use of reinterpreting pain sensations, while decreasing praying/hoping and catastrophizing. Neither of the Marginal subtypes showed significant pre-post changes in coping strategies. These results suggest that different personality types use different pain coping strategies prior to multidisciplinary treatment. Groups showing more severe psychological distress, perhaps related to an underlying personality disorder, displayed greater changes in coping strategies with treatment, but remained more dysfunctional after treatment. These findings suggest that the alteration of coping strategies may be an important treatment effect needing more individualization to maximize treatment response. Furthermore, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire appears to be sensitive to treatment change, with the direction of change being toward increased use of more adaptive coping strategies and decreased use of less adaptive strategies.
Correlation of salivary glucose, blood glucose and oral candidal carriage in the saliva of type 2 diabetics: A case-control study

Objectives: To study the correlation between blood glucose levels and salivary glucose levels in type 2 diabetic patients, to study the relationship between salivary glucose levels and oral candidal carriage in type 2 diabetic patients and to determine whether salivary glucose levels could be used as a noninvasive tool for the measurement of glycemic control in type 2 diabetics. Study Design: The study population consisted of three groups: Group 1 consisted of 30 controlled diabetics and Group 2 consisted of 30 uncontrolled diabetics based on their random nonfasting plasma glucose levels. Group 3 consisted of 30 healthy controls. Two milliliters of peripheral blood was collected for the estimation of random nonfasting plasma glucose levels and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Unstimulated saliva was collected for the estimation of salivary glucose. Saliva was collected by the oral rinse technique for the estimation of candidal counts. Results: The salivary glucose levels were significantly higher in controlled and uncontrolled diabetics when compared with controls. The salivary candidal carriage was also significantly higher in uncontrolled diabetics when compared with controlled diabetics and nondiabetic controls. The salivary glucose levels showed a significant correlation with blood glucose levels, suggesting that salivary glucose levels can be used as a monitoring tool for predicting glycemic control in diabetic patients. Conclusion: The present study found that estimation of salivary glucose levels can be used as a noninvasive, painless technique for the measurement of diabetic status of a patient in a dental set up. Increased salivary glucose levels leads to increased oral candidal carriage; therefore, oral diagnosticians are advised to screen the diabetic patients for any oral fungal infections and further management.
Prevalence and Patterns of Bone Metastases Detected with Positron Emission Tomography Using F-18 FDG

Purpose The aim of this retrospective study was to report the prevalence and imaging characteristics of bone metastases detected with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and, when possible, compare these findings with the performance of bone scans in the same patients. Methods The reports of 403 patients with histologically proved malignant disease who underwent a PET scan for initial or post-therapeutic staging were reviewed for the presence of possible bone metastases. Based on the final diagnosis confirmed by histopathologic analysis or clinical follow-up, the PET findings of patients with positive bone metastases were evaluated in terms of location, intensity, and patterns. When the PET scan was positive, the PET results were compared with the findings of available bone scans. Results PET studies suggested the presence of bone metastases in 38 patients (9%). No follow-up data were available for 9 patients, and the remaining 29 were evaluated further. Of these patients, 6 had false-positive findings, whereas bone metastatic involvement was clinically confirmed in 23 patients. The primary malignant findings included lung cancer (n = 9), esophageal cancer (n = 3), lymphoma (n = 2), melanoma (n = 2), thyroid cancer (n = 2), breast cancer (n = 1), colon cancer (n = 1), prostate cancer (n = 1), testicular cancer (n = 1), and nasopharyngeal cancer (n = 1). On PET, 5 patients had a solitary metastatic focus (22%), and the remaining 18 patients had multiple lesions (78%). The vertebrae were the most frequently involved bones (74%), followed by pelvic bones (70%), ribs (65%), upper extremities including the scapula (48%), sternum (43%), and lower extremities (43%). The patterns of abnormal uptake were classified into three groups: focal (15 patients, 65%), diffuse (2 patients, 9%), and a mixed pattern (6 patients, 26%). Most of the lesions showed intense abnormal uptake (18 patients, 78%); 5 patients had both intense and moderate FDG uptake. Thirteen of the 23 patients with confirmed bone metastases also had a bone scan, which revealed positive bone disease in all of these patients. However, PET consistently revealed more metastatic foci than did the bone scan on a lesion basis. Conclusions The most frequent pattern of detectable bone metastases with FDG-PET imaging was multiple foci of intense uptake. PET revealed more lesions than did bone scanning, independent of the type of cancer or location of bone involvement, in patients who were accurately diagnosed by FDG-PET imaging.
Necrotic enteritis predisposing factors in broiler chickens

ABSTRACT Necrotic enteritis in chickens develops as a result of infection with pathogenic strains of Clostridium perfringens and the presence of predisposing factors. Predisposing factors include elements that directly change the physical properties of the gut, either damaging the epithelial surface, inducing mucus production, or changing gut transit times; factors that disrupt the gut microbiota; and factors that alter the immune status of birds. In the past research into necrotic enteritis predisposing factors was directed by the simple hypothesis that low-level colonization of C. perfringens commonly occurred within the gut of healthy chickens and the predisposing factors lead to a proliferation of those bacteria to produce disease. More recently, with an increasing understanding of the major virulence factors of C. perfringens and the application of molecular techniques to define different clades of C. perfringens strains, it has become clear that the C. perfringens isolates commonly found in healthy chickens are generally not strains that have the potential to cause disease. Therefore, we need to re-evaluate hypotheses regarding the development of disease, the origin of disease causing isolates of C. perfringens, and the importance of interactions with other C. perfringens strains and with predisposing factors. Many predisposing factors that affect the physical and immunological characteristics of the gastrointestinal tract may also change the resident microbiota. Research directed towards defining the relative importance of each of these different actions of predisposing factors will improve the understanding of disease pathogenesis and may allow refinement of experiment disease models.
Influence of Human Serum on Antifungal Pharmacodynamics with Candida albicans

ABSTRACT Antifungal susceptibilities (NCCLS, approved standard M27-A, 1997) were determined for the reference strain ATCC 90028 and 21 clinical isolates of Candida albicans with varying levels of fluconazole susceptibility using RPMI 1640 (RPMI) and 80% fresh human serum–20% RPMI (serum). Sixty-four percent (14 of 22) of the isolates tested demonstrated significant decreases (≥4-fold) in fluconazole MICs in the presence of serum, and the remaining eight isolates exhibited no change. Itraconazole and ketoconazole, two highly protein-bound antifungal agents, had MICs in serum that were increased or unchanged for 46% (10 of 22) and 41% (9 of 22) of the isolates, respectively. All 10 isolates tested against an investigational antifungal agent, LY303366, demonstrated significant increases in the MIC required in serum, while differences in amphotericin B MICs in the two media were not observed. Four of 10 isolates tested demonstrated fourfold higher flucytosine MICs in serum than in RPMI. Postantifungal effects (PAFEs) and 24-h kill curves were determined by standard methods for selected isolates. At the MIC, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, flucytosine, and LY303366 kill curves and PAFEs in RPMI were similar to those in serum. Isolates of fluconazole-resistantC. albicans required lower MICs in serum than in RPMI, without relative increases in fungal killing or PAFEs. Isolates tested against amphotericin B demonstrated significantly reduced killing and shorter PAFEs in serum than in RPMI without observable changes in MIC. In conclusion, antifungal pharmacodynamics in RPMI did not consistently predict antifungal activity in serum for azoles and amphotericin B. Generally speaking, antifungal agents with high protein binding exhibited some form of reduced activity (MIC, killing, or PAFE) in the presence of serum compared to those with low protein binding.
The Effect of Passive Versus Active Recovery on Power Output Over Six Repeated Wingate Sprints

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of active versus passive recovery on 6 repeated Wingate tests (30-s all-out cycling sprints on a Velotron ergometer). Method: Fifteen healthy participants aged 29 (SD = 8) years old (body mass index = 23 [3] kg/m2) participated in 3 sprint interval training sessions separated by 3 to 7 days between each session during a period of 1 month. The 1st visit was familiarization to 6 cycling sprints; the 2nd and 3rd visits involved a warm-up followed by 6 30-s cycling sprints. Each sprint was followed by 4 min of passive (resting still on the ergometer) or active recovery (pedaling at 1.1 W/kg). The same recovery was used within each visit, and recovery type was randomized between visits. Results: Active recovery resulted in a 0.6 W/kg lower peak power output in the second sprint (95% confidence interval [CI] [ − 0.2, − 0.8 W/kg], effect size = 0.50, p < .01) and a 0.4 W/kg greater average power output in the 5th and 6th sprints (95% CI [+0.2,+0.6 W/kg], effect size = 0.50, p < .01) compared with passive recovery. There was little difference between fatigue index, total work, or accumulated work between the 2 recovery conditions. Conclusions: Passive recovery is beneficial when only 2 sprints are completed, whereas active recovery better maintains average power output compared with passive recovery when several sprints are performed sequentially (partial eta squared between conditions for multiple sprints = .38).
Incidence and prognostic impact of secondary cytogenetic aberrations in a series of 145 patients with mantle cell lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a mature B‐cell neoplasm with an aggressive behavior, characterized by the t(11;14)(q13;q32). Several secondary genetic abnormalities with a potential role in the oncogenic process have been described. Studies of large MCL series using conventional cytogenetics, and correlating with proliferation and survival, are scarce. We selected 145 MCL cases at diagnosis, displaying an aberrant karyotype, from centers belonging to the Spanish Cooperative Group for Hematological Cytogenetics. Histological subtype, proliferative index and survival data were ascertained. Combined cytogenetic and molecular analyses detected CCND1 translocations in all cases, mostly t(11;14)(q13;q32). Secondary aberrations were present in 58% of patients, the most frequent being deletions of 1p, 13q and 17p, 10p alterations and 3q gains. The most recurrent breakpoints were identified at 1p31‐32, 1p21‐22, 17p13, and 1p36. Aggressive blastoid/pleomorphic variants displayed a higher karyotypic complexity, a higher frequency of 1p and 17p deletions and 10p alterations, a higher proliferation index and poor survival. Gains of 3q and 13q and 17p13 losses were associated with reduced survival times. Interestingly, gains of 3q and 17p losses added prognostic significance to the morphology in a multivariate analysis. Our findings confirm previous observations indicating that proliferation index, morphology and several secondary genetic alterations (3q gains and 13q and 17p losses) have prognostic value in patients with MCL. Additionally, we observed that 3q gains and 17p losses detected by conventional cytogenetics are proliferation‐independent prognostic markers indicating poor outcome. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
FID: A Faster Image Distribution System for Docker Platform

Docker has been widely adopted in enterprise-level container environment. As an important part of Docker-based container ecosystem, Docker Registry provides the service of storing, distributing and managing Docker images, which is crucial to run Docker containers. In large-scale container platforms, deploying applications is prone to overburdening Docker Registry with flooding network traffic, and this situation may even cause failures of image services. In this paper, we present a new P2P-based large-scale image distribution system called FID (Faster Image Distribution), which is able to accelerate the speed of distributing Docker images by taking full advantage of the bandwidth of not only Docker Registry but also other nodes in the cluster. We implemented and validated FID on the enterprise-level cluster. The experiment results show that, compared to the native image distribution method, FID reduces at least 97% of network traffic for Docker Registry. Furthermore, it reduces 83.50% of distribution time on average when distributing images among 200 nodes, and particularly, reduces up to 91.35% of distribution time for the 500M image of Hadoop.
Consumer Price Effects of Joining the European Economic and Monetary Union: Modeling the Post-accession Price Adjustment of Greece

This study shows how the Consumer Price Index of Greece is affected by joining the European Economic and Monetary Union. The post-accession price adjustment of Greece is also modeled. The research design employed in the study consists of descriptive statistics, chi-square test and regression analysis. The accession of Greece to the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 2001 and the introduction of the euro in 2002 were followed by a sharp upward shift of the consumer price level. This increase in consumer price level has given birth to a widely held hypothesis that claims that the accession of Greece to the EMU has caused a structural increase in the consumer price level. In this study this hypothesis is tested and rejected. There was no substantial evidence of such an effect of the aftermath of joining the EMU. However, there was strong evidence of structural breaks in the Greek consumer price equilibrium and of the presence of a non-linear price adjustment model. This study addresses the adjustment behavior of the consumer price level, and finds that the shift in prices after the accession to EMU is normal equilibrium restoring adjustments.
Evaluation of Internet-based oncologic teaching for medical students.

BACKGROUND Electronic tools with substantial educational applications are now widely available. METHODS In a prospective, randomized study, the value of Web-based educational tools for teaching second-year medical students was evaluated. The 35-hour, image-intensive multifaculty neoplasia course was selected for the experiment, with 103 students assigned to the control group (C) and 61 to the experimental group (E). Representative password-controlled multimedia course modules, accessible via the Internet, were developed. The E cohort was exposed to both classroom and Web-aided materials, whereas the C group had access to the Web modules only after the experiment was concluded (but before the final examination). Pre- and post-exposure questionnaires assessed computer knowledge, familiarity with the Internet, availability of computer access, and the value of Web-based education for both cohorts. Additionally, pre-and post-exposure tests were administered to both cohorts based on educational materials presented in the Web modules. RESULTS The overall participation rate was 64% (E = 69%; C = 60%). The post-test showed no major performance difference between the two groups. The questionnaires revealed that: less than 1% of the students had not accessed the Internet previously; less than 5% had not used the Internet for medical education before; 34% felt that computer resources on campus were inadequate; and over 75% found Web-based education to be an important additional educational resource. The major negative aspect was the slow pace of data transfer for modem-based home access. Only 1% of students felt that Web-based education could completely replace traditional teaching. CONCLUSION The potential for incorporating Web-based education in the medical curriculum is considerable.
Repeated Ovarian Stimulations Induce Oxidative Damage and Mitochondrial DNA Mutations in Mouse Ovaries

Abstract: Superovulation by injection of exogenous gonadotropin is the elementary method to produce in vivo‐derived embryos for embryo transfer in women. Increased oocyte aneuploidy, embryo mortality, fetal growth retardation, and congenital abnormalities have been studied at higher‐dose stimulations. Ovarian and oocyte biological aging possibly may have adverse implications for human oocyte competence with repeated hyperstimulation. In this study, we found that reduced competence for the human oocyte has been associated with degenerative embryo upsurge during embryo culture and failure to develop into the blastocyst stage in the three, four, five, and six stimulation cycles. On the other hand, the numbers of ovulated oocytes were decreased in the groups with more ovarian stimulation. More aggregated mitochondria were found in the cytoplasm of the repetitively stimulated embryos. Higher amounts of oxidative damage including 8‐OH‐dG, lipoperoxides, and carbonyl proteins were also revealed in the ovaries with more cycle numbers of ovarian stimulation. Higher proportions of mtDNA mutations were also found. The detected molecular size of the mutated band was approximately 675 bp. Increased amounts of carbonyl proteins were also revealed after repeated stimulation. An understanding of the relationship between oocyte competence and ovarian responses to stimulation in the mouse may provide insights into the origin of oocyte defects and the biology of ooplasmic aging that could be of clinical relevance in the diagnosis and treatment of human infertility.