Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The pathophysiology of perioperative myocardial infarction: facts and perspectives.

MYOCARDIAL ISCHEMIA and infarction continue to be major causes of perioperative morbidity and mortality in adult patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. However, despite numerous studies that investigated almost every predictor of postoperative myocardial infarction (PMI), its mechanism is still the subject of debate.1,2 The last decade has seen intense clinical research interest in perioperative myocardial ischemia and infarction. This effort has shed new light on the field and resolved some of the controversy surrounding the entity of PMI. Based on several new studies, the following are now generally accepted. 1. Perioperative myocardial ischemia peaks during the early postoperative period and is significantly associated with myocardial infarction and cardiac complications.3-5 Intraoperative ischemia is less common and is infrequently associated with PMI. Thus, in contrast to earlier concerns, anesthesia per se, either general or regional, if administered without complications, is not a risk factor for the high-risk cardiac patient undergoing noncardiac surgery. Rather, it is postoperative stress (including emergence from anesthesia), which precipitates ischemia, infarction, and cardiac mortality. 2. PMI is preceded almost exclusively by ST depression-type ischemia. ST elevation-type ischemia leading to the majority of infarctions in nonsurgical patients is relatively uncommon after noncardiac surgery.5 3. PMI is mostly silent ( 50%) and most often is a non-Q wave rather than Q-wave infarction.5-7 4. The majority of PMIs occur within the first 24 to 48 hours after surgery,3-6 not on the third to fifth postoperative days as reported in the older literature.8,9 5. Mortality after PMI is 10% to 15%, similar to the in-hospital mortality after nonsurgical non-Q infarction. This is in contrast to older data showing a higher ( 50%) mortality after PMI.10,11 In light of these data, it is justified to re-examine the following questions concerning the pathophysiology of PMI. Is the pathophysiology of PMI different from the typical nonsurgical myocardial infarction (MI)? Does the understanding of the pathophysiology affect the ability to effectively prevent, diagnose, or treat PMI? And does the pathophysiology of PMI teach anything about MI in general?
Stenting strategy for coronary artery bifurcation with drug-eluting stents: a meta-analysis of nine randomised trials and systematic review.

AIMS The present study sought to compare angiographic and clinical outcomes of a simple strategy versus a complex strategy in patients with coronary bifurcation lesions undergoing drug-eluting stent implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS Medline, the Cochrane Library, and other internet sources were searched for randomised trials comparing simple strategy versus complex strategy for treating patients with bifurcation lesions. Nine eligible randomised trials including 2,569 patients were identified. The meta-analysis showed that cardiac death (odds ratio [OR]: 0.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.40- 2.41, p=0.98) and stent thrombosis (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.31-1.34, p=0.24) were similar in the simple and the complex strategy. Compared with the complex strategy, the simple strategy was associated with a reduced risk of either early or follow-up myocardial infarction (OR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.36-0.79, p=0.002; OR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.43-0.86, p=0.01, respectively). The overall risks of side branch restenosis (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 0.73-2.87, p=0.30), target lesion (OR: 1.72, 95% CI: 0.95-3.12, p=0.07) and target vessel revascularisation (OR: 1.59, 95% CI: 0.94-2.69, p=0.09) were comparable between the two groups. In the true bifurcation, with large side branches, and DK-crush subgroups, there were higher rates of reintervention seen in the simple strategy than in the complex strategy. CONCLUSIONS A complex strategy remains an optional treatment for patients with coronary bifurcation lesions without severe safety concerns. A complex strategy may be an optimal treatment for true bifurcation lesions with large side branches.
A completely conserved rat U6 snRNA pseudogene coding sequence is sandwiched between a cytochrome c retropseudogene and a LINE-like sequence.

Of the five major 'Uracil-rich' small nuclear RNAs (U snRNAs) involved in the splicing of messenger RNA precursors, U6 is the most highly conserved in primary sequence (1). We have carried out a search of the nucleotide sequence data bases for sequences that are similar to mammalian U6 snRNA. Unexpectedly this search identified a previously uncharacterized U6 snRNA pseudogene. Besides being the first reported U6 snRNA pseudogene in rat, this pseudogene has a number of unusual features. The pseudogene coding sequence has 100% sequence identity with rat U6 snRNA although it lacks apparent upstream promoter elements. Thus a computer assisted search did not reveal the presence of a TATA motif, PSE (proximal sequence element) or DSE (distal sequence element). Since these elements are highly conserved in sequence and location upstream of mammalian U6 genes and are required for functional transcription of U6 in vivo (2, 3, 4), it is highly unlikely that the U6 pseudogene is functional and consequently conserved. The clone (RncycplO) that contains this U6 pseudogene has been previously shown to contain a diverged cytochrome c retropseudogene and sequence(s) that hybridize with rat LINE (long interspersed repeat sequence) DNA (5, 6). We show that the U6 pseudogene is located directly between the cytochrome c retropseudogene and a sequence that is highly homologous to regions within two rat LINEs (see Figure 1). A region upstream of the cytochrome c retropseudogene coding sequence was also identified to be rat LINE-like.
Worsening kidney function in decompensated heart failure: treat the heart, don't mind the kidney.

This editorial refers to ‘Changes in renal function during hospitalization and soon after discharge in patients admitted for worsening heart failure in the placebo group of the EVEREST trial’, by J.E. A. Blair et al. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehr238. In a post-hoc analysis of the Efficacy of Vasopressin Antagonism in Heart Failure Outcome Study with Tolvaptan (EVEREST), Blair and co-workers found that worsening kidney function shortly after hospitalization and in the early post-discharge period independently predicted cardiovascular mortality and re-hospitalizations because of heart failure (HF). 1 These findings confirmed previous evidence that worsening kidney function following hospitalization for decompensated HF is a strong independent predictor of long-term adverse outcomes. An intriguing finding of the above study, however, was that worsening kidney function was also associated with a decrease in body weight and circulating levels of the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), changes that reflected an amelioration of fluid congestion and that per se were expected to predict improved outcomes in the long term. To explain this apparent paradox, we have to go back to the old days of Arthur J. Merril who in 1946 measured renal plasma flow and the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by using the sodium para -amino hippurate and inulin renal clearance techniques, in 37 subjects admitted because of HF from different aetiologies.2 In these patients, the renal plasma flow was reduced to one-third to one-fifth of normal, whereas the cardiac output was rarely reduced below half the resting value. On the basis of these findings, he suggested that in HF there is a specific diversion of blood away from the kidneys, organs which normally receive ∼20% of the cardiac output. Despite the large reduction in …
Inmigración y espacio socio-residencial en la Región Metropolitana de Barcelona

En la ultima decada la inmigracion extranjera ha generado profundas transformaciones en la ciudad de Barcelona y su Region Metropolitana. El intenso flujo migratorio unido a los diferentes modos de asentamiento y segregacion espacial de las nacionalidades han hecho emerger un nuevo tipo de desigualdad social urbana donde el factor etnico cada vez es mas relevante. El objetivo de este articulo es justamente analizar la relacion existente entre la insercion y el asentamiento territorial de la inmigracion y el espacio socio-residencial de la metropoli con tal de determinar hasta que punto es condicionante de los diferentes modos de segregacion. Por otra parte, tambien analiza la transformacion de dicha estratificacion espacial observandose la emergencia de una nueva estratificacion socio-etnica al igual que en otras ciudades europeas.
Quantification of CD44v6 and EGFR Expression in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas Using a Single-Dose Radioimmunoassay

Background: In the growing field of tumor targeting, there is an urgent need to profile suitable molecular targets. In this study, CD44v6 and EGFR expression was quantified in samples of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) using a single-dose (SD) radioimmunoassay. Methods: The SD radioimmunoassay using 125I-chimeric monoclonal antibody (cMAb) U36 and 125I-cMAb cetuximab was first validated and then applied to quantify the expression of their target antigen molecules, CD44v6 and EGFR, in patient samples. Results were compared to immunohistochemical staining. Results: The SD assay provided sensitive quantitative values of the molecular targets studied, generally agreeing with the immunohistochemistry (IHC) results. The results indicated that expression of CD44v6 (0.2–20 nmol/µg membrane) was generally higher than that of EGFR (0.6–2.3 nmol/µg membrane) in the tumor samples analyzed, which corresponded to an average of 700,000 and 90,000 antigen molecules per cell, respectively. Conclusions: The SD radioimmunoassay is simple, reliable, and can be performed on a small amount (50 mg) of tissue. This assay could be a useful tool in the growing field of personalized cancer therapy, and can be used as a complement to IHC. In the tumors studied, CD44v6 was generally expressed at a higher level than EGFR, which might suggest that it could be more readily targeted by MAbs.
The Enemies Hypothesis: Tritrophic Interactions and Vegetational Diversity in Tropical Agroecosystems.

The effects of vegetational diversity on the abundance of natural enemies of herbivores were studied in a traditional agroecosystem in tropical Mexico. Visitation patterns of parasitic Hymenoptera and densities of predators were compared between monocultures of squash and maize and mixed assemblages of maize, cowpea, and squash. The impact of parasitoid visitation was assessed by monitoring the percent parasitism of a target herbivore in the system: Diaphania hyalinata (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), a cucurbit specialist. The "Enemies" hypothesis predicts a positive correlation between plant species richness and natural enemy abundance, which results in the regulation of herbivores at lower levels in diverse vegetation than in pure stands. The specific questions addressed in this study were: (1) are the major groups of natural enemies more abundant in patches of diverse vegetation than in monocultures? ; (2) if so, does an increase in either abundance or diversity of natural enemies cause a concomitant increase in herbivore regulation? ; (3) are the effects of vegetational diversity uniform over major enemy groups? The activity of hymenopteran parasitoids was affected by cropping pattern. Malaise trap captures of parasitoids in general, and of those species that attack D. hyalinata on squash, were consistently greater in tricultures than in squash monocultures, but were also greater in maize monocultures. Parasitism rates of eggs and larvae were higher on squash interplanted with maize and cowpea. These data partially support the "Enemies" hypothesis in explaining lower herbivore levels in diverse vegetation. However, the effects of diversity, per se, do not seem to be as important as the presence of maize in the system. The responses of natural enemies to vegetational diversity were not uniform. Most predators were not significantly influenced by cropping patterns, and some were more abundant in squash monocultures. The results of this study are discussed in terms of possible routes by which members of the third trophic level are influenced by plants in association.
The Nitrogen Paradox in Tropical Forest Ecosystems

Observations of the tropical nitrogen (N) cycle over the past half century indicate that intact tropical forests tend to accumulate and recycle large quantities of N relative to temperate forests, as evidenced by plant and soil N to phosphorus (P) ratios, by P limitation of plant growth in some tropical forests, by an abundance of N-fixing plants, and by sustained export of bioavailable N at the ecosystem scale. However, this apparent up-regulation of the ecosystem N cycle introduces a biogeochemical paradox when considered from the perspective of physiology and evolution of individual plants: The putative source for tropical N richness—symbiotic N fixation—should, in theory, be physiologically down-regulated as internal pools of bioavailable N build. We review the evidence for tropical N richness and evaluate several hypotheses that may explain its emergence and maintenance. We propose a leaky nitrostat model that is capable of resolving the paradox at scales of both ecosystems and individual N-fixing organisms.
Spelling tasks and Alzheimer's disease staging

Reading, writing and oral spelling were evaluated in 30 normal elderly individuals and 28 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). Significant differences between control and AD groups were found in all tasks. Oral spelling was the most impaired function in AD and the only one which differentiated mild and moderate dementia cases. This task is very sensitive to the disease's effects on working memory and may be included in batteries aimed at staging AD.
Angiotensin II AT 2 receptor activation attenuates AT 1 receptor-induced increases in the 1 glomerular filtration of albumin – a multiphoton microscopy study 2 3

25 In this study, we assessed the acute effects of angiotensin II on the albumin glomerular 26 sieving coefficient (GSC) using intravital microscopy. The experiments were performed on 27 Munich Wistar Froemter (MWF) rats. Alexa-Fluor-594 albumin was injected intravenously, 28 and the fluorescence intensity in the glomerular capillaries and Bowman’s space was 29 determined to calculate the albumin GSC. The GSC was measured before and during the 30 constant infusion of angiotensin II (10 ng/min/kg BW). Baseline mean arterial pressure 31 (MAP) was 99±5 mm Hg and stabilized at 137±5 mm Hg during angiotensin II infusion. The 32 baseline GSC averaged 0.00044±4.8*10 and increased by 286±44% after angiotensin II 33 infusion (p<.0001). The proximal tubular Alexa-Fluor-594 albumin uptake was enhanced 34 during angiotensin II infusion (518% of the baseline value during angiotensin II vs. 218% in 35 controls; p<.0001). No change in GSC was observed when the AT1 antagonist losartan was 36 injected before the start of angiotensin II infusion. The AT2 antagonist PD123319 increased 37 the baseline GSC from 0.00052±3.6*10 to 0.00074±8.2*10 (p=.02) without altering the 38 MAP. During angiotensin II infusion with losartan, PD123319 increased the albumin GSC 39 from 0.00037±5.8*10 to 0.00115±. 00015 (p=.001). When the renal perfusion pressure was 40 mechanically controlled, the GSC increased from 0.0007±. 00019 to 0.0025±. 00063 during 41 angiotensin II infusion (p=.047), similar to what was observed when the renal perfusion 42 pressure was allowed to increase. In summary, AT1 activation acutely increases the albumin 43 GSC. This effect appears to be largely independent of changes in the renal perfusion pressure. 44 The AT2 receptor partially attenuates the proteinuric effects of the AT1 receptor. 45
Polymer Material Selection and Testing of Resistive Wire Arrangement for a Transparent Infant Warming Blanket

The ThermoCloud was designed as a portable, scalable, transparent electrical blanket to warm and insulate infants, while permitting hassle-free medical transportation and maximum visualization of a patient's thorax and extremities, without removing the blanket. The blanket consists of a resistive network of wires, located between two sheets of a clear polymer and is designed to reach 37*C and provide 50W heat generation with a 12V power supply and a 3K effective resistance of the wire network. The alpha prototype of ThermoCloud is composed of thin nichrome wires arranged in parallel and sandwiched between two 0.76 mm thick sheets of PVC. The revised prototype developed in this thesis improves the performance by using a 0.10 mm thin sheet of polyethylene, which is softer, drapes and has better thermal conductivity, which will allow for an even distribution of heat. In addition, a new wire and network arrangement is explored that uses five parallel pairs of flat copper wires in series achieves the same resistance. Scale prototypes were fabricated and bench tested. While a temperature of 34*C was achieved and evenly distributed, hot spots formed at the copper bus bars and some likely failure modes were identified that should be addressed in future work. Thesis Supervisor: Alexander H. Slocum Title: Professor of Mechanical Engineering
“Nativi digitali” e apprendimento con le ICT. La ricerca GenY @ work in Ticino, Svizzera

L’articolo presenta le radici storiche e il percorso dell’espressione “nativi digitali”, introducendo anche il dibattito critico che e nato recentemente a mostrarne limiti e assunti non dimostrati. Presenta poi una ricerca, condotta in Canton Ticino (Svizzera), intesa a studiare le pratiche di uso delle ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) da parte di giovani impiegati in generazione Y, nati cioe dopo il 1980. Oltre a una migliore comprensione della popolazione studiata, la ricerca ha permesso di osservare come alcuni assunti diffusi a proposito della generazione Y e dei nativi digitali siano frutto di ipergeneralizzazioni, e richiedano quindi di essere fortemente limitati e ri-valutati in ricerche locali.
Aortic pulse wave velocity as a marker of cardiovascular disease in subjects over 70 years old

Background Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a significant and independent predictor of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in hypertensive subjects and in patients with end-stage renal disease, but its contribution to cardiovascular risk in subjects between 70 and 100 years old has never been tested. Patients A cohort of 124 subjects (mean age: 87 ± 7 years) was studied in two geriatric departments in a Paris suburb. Together with sphygmomanometric blood pressure measurements, aortic PWV was measured using a validated automatic device. Results Blood pressure, heart rate and body mass index, but not age, explained 48% of the PWV variability in this cohort. Furthermore, PWV was the major factor predicting the presence of CVD. The adjusted odds ratio was 17.44 (95% confidence intervals: 2.52–120.55). Antihypertensive drug therapy and low plasma albumin level had only an additive role. Blood pressure, particularly pulse pressure, had no predictive value. Conclusion In 70–100-year-old subjects, aortic PWV is a strong independent marker of CVD, a finding that remains to be to confirmed by long-term longitudinal studies.
Targeting the inflammatory pathways to enhance chemotherapy of cancer

Epidemiological and experimental evidence has emerged that a dysregulated inflammation is associated with most of the tumors. Recent studies have begun to unravel molecular pathways linking inflammation and cancer. The identification of transcription factors such as NF-kappaB, STAT3, HIF-1 alpha and their gene products such as COX-2, cytokines, chemokines and chemokine receptors have laid molecular foundation for the decisive role of inflammation in carcinogenesis. Inflammation contributes to survival and proliferation of malignant cells, tumor angiogenesis, metastasis and reduced response to chemotherapy. In view of their involvement at different stages of tumor development, inflammatory pathways represent attractive targets for cancer prevention and therapy. However, advances in this field have not been fully realized, and challenge remains to obtain clinical data from patients and then to utilize this information for optimal and personalized therapy. We present evidence that targeting inflammatory pathways have a potential role to improve chemotherapy of cancer.
A INFLUÊNCIA DA VERTICALIZAÇÃO NO DESEMPENHO E NO VALOR DAS EMPRESAS: EVIDÊNCIAS NO MERCADO BRASILEIRO

O presente artigo avalia a influencia da verticalizacao no desempenho e valor das empresas brasileiras, segundo os pressupostos da Economia dos Custos Transacionais de Williamson, 1979. Estas variaveis foram operacionalizadas pelo constructo Q de Tobin que foi calculado trimestralmente para dois grupos de empresas listadas na Bovespa, segundo os informes contabeis disponibilizados no banco de dados do Economatica Softwares para Investidores Ltda. O primeiro grupo foi composto por empresas mais verticalizadas em sua cadeia de valor e o segundo, por empresas menos verticalizadas. Com base nos resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que as empresas mais verticalizadas possuem um desempenho e um valor de mercado estatisticamente mais significativos que as empresas de menor verticalizacao do mesmo setor, fortalecendo a teoria proposta por Williamson, 1979.
Real-Time Decentralized Neural Control via Backstepping for a Robotic Arm Powered by Industrial Servomotors

This paper presents a continuous-time decentralized neural control scheme for trajectory tracking of a two degrees of freedom direct drive vertical robotic arm. A decentralized recurrent high-order neural network (RHONN) structure is proposed to identify online, in a series–parallel configuration and using the filtered error learning law, the dynamics of the plant. Based on the RHONN subsystems, a local neural controller is derived via backstepping approach. The effectiveness of the decentralized neural controller is validated on a robotic arm platform, of our own design and unknown parameters, which uses industrial servomotors to drive the joints.
Soluble glycoprotein VI, a specific marker of platelet activation is increased in the plasma of subjects with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) have been shown to cause platelet activation in vitro, through the low-affinity immunoglobulin G (IgG) receptor (FcγRIIa) on platelets. Platelet activation via engagement of FcγRIIa results in proteolytic cleavage and shedding of platelet specific glycoprotein VI (GPVI) which can be detected in the plasma as soluble GPVI (sGPVI). We hypothesized that plasma levels of sGPVI would be increased among patients with seropositive RA as a consequence of antibody-induced platelet activation and GPVI shedding. Methods Samples from 84 patients with RA (65 seropositive and 19 seronegative) and 67 healthy controls were collected prospectively and analysed for sGPVI using a standardised ELISA. Results Patients with seropositive RA had significantly higher levels of sGPVI compared to seronegative RA and controls. Median (IQR) sGPVI levels were 4.2 ng/ml (3.2, 8.0) in seropositve RA, 2.2 ng/ml (1.5, 3.5) in seronegative RA and 2.2 ng/ml (1.6, 3.4) in controls (p<0.0001). sGPVI levels correlated with ACPA titres (r = 0.32, p = 0.0026) and with RF titres (r = 0.48, p<0.0001). Conclusion Plasma sGPVI, a specific marker of platelet activation is increased among patients with seropositive RA.