Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Limitation of reperfusion injury by a monoclonal antibody to C5a during myocardial infarction in pigs.

The complement system has been implicated in reperfusion injury during acute myocardial infarction. We therefore attempted to reduce reperfusion injury with a monoclonal antibody (MAb) to the complement component, C5a. In 13 control pigs and 9 pigs pretreated with this MAb, ischemia was induced by a 50-min occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery, followed by 3 h of reperfusion. Infarct area (as percent of risk area) was reduced from 58 +/- 5% in controls to 38 +/- 7% (P < 0.05) in MAb-treated animals. Heart rate-systolic blood pressure product, left ventricular (LV) first derivative of pressure, LV end-diastolic pressure, and coronary blood flow were similar (P > 0.05) in the two groups. At 15 min of reperfusion, immunoreactive factor Bb began to increase significantly (P < 0.05) in regional coronary venous plasma, consistent with activation of the alternative complement pathway. The anti-C5a MAb did not attenuate formation of the membrane attack complex (C5b-9) as assessed by a hemolytic complement assay. Myocardial myeloperoxidase activity, a marker of tissue neutrophil concentration, was similar in the risk regions of the two groups, suggesting that neutrophil infiltration was unaltered by the MAb. However, in vitro the MAb (15 and 30 micrograms/ml) reduced C5a-stimulated neutrophil aggregation (67.4 and 70.9%), chemotaxis (52.5 and 81.4%), degranulation (66.7 and 75.8%), and superoxide generation (26.7 and 100%). In conclusion, myocardial infarction-reperfusion is associated with activation of the alternative complement pathway. Furthermore, a MAb to C5a that inhibits neutrophil cytotoxic activity, but neither the membrane attack complex nor myocardial neutrophil accumulation, decreases infarct size in pigs. These data suggest an important role of the alternative complement pathway and C5a in the propagation of ischemia cardiac damage during reperfusion.
Heart transplantation in patients with end-stage heart failure and cardiac ascites.

BACKGROUND Clinical outcome of heart transplantation in patients with heart failure and ascites has not been reported. Here, the clinical outcome of heart transplantation in patients with heart failure and ascites is evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS Between 1989 and 2005, 45 patients with heart failure and ascites underwent an orthotopic heart transplantation. Of the 45 patients, 33 were men (median age 44 years, range 10-63 years). Causes of heart failure included congenital heart disease in 4 patients (9%), dilated cardiomyopathy in 21 patients (47%), rheumatic heart disease in 7 patients (16%), coronary artery disease in 10 patients (22%), and others. Twenty of the 45 patients (44%) had undergone a previous cardiac operation. Hospital mortality occurred in 10 patients (22%) because of bleeding in 4, sepsis with multiple organ failure in 5 and non-diagnostic graft failure in 1 patient. Re-operation for postoperative bleeding occurred in 14 patients (31%). Independent risk factors for hospital death were low serum albumin (odds ratio 0.05; 95% confidence interval 0.003-0.591; p=0.018) and re-operation for bleeding (odds ratio 30.11; 95% confidence interval 2.38-380.26; p=0.009). CONCLUSIONS Heart transplantation in patients with heart failure and ascites was associated with high hospital mortality and morbidity. The co-existence of ascites and hypoalbuminemia implied poor prognosis.
Repeated Cocaine Alters Glutamate Receptor Subunit Levels in the Nucleus Accumbens and Ventral Tegmental Area of Rats that Develop Behavioral Sensitization

Abstract: Increased glutamate transmission in the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area has been proposed as a mechanism underlying sensitized behavioral responses to repeated cocaine administration. GluR1, GluR2/3, and NMDAR1 subunits of glutamate receptors were quantified from immunoblots in these brain nuclei in rats at 24 h and 3 weeks after discontinuing 1 week of daily cocaine injections. Motor behavior was monitored after the first and last injections of daily cocaine, and those rats that showed >20% increase in motor activity after the last compared with the first injection were considered to have developed behavioral sensitization. The subjects that developed behavioral sensitization showed a significant increase in GluR1 levels in the nucleus accumbens at 3 weeks but not at 24 h of withdrawal. Conversely, sensitized animals showed a significant increase in NMDAR1 and GluR1 levels in the ventral tegmental area at 1 day but not at 3 weeks of withdrawal. None of these increases occurred in the rats exposed to daily cocaine that did not develop behavioral sensitization (<20% increase in motor activity), and no changes were measured in the level of GluR2/3 in any treatment group. The functional importance of the increases in glutamate receptor subunit levels is suggested by the fact that the changes were present only in rats that developed behavioral sensitization to repeated cocaine administration.
Effectiveness of auto-cross-linked hyaluronic acid gel in the prevention of intrauterine adhesions after hysteroscopic adhesiolysis: a prospective, randomized, controlled study.

BACKGROUND A prospective, randomized, controlled study was performed to assess the efficacy of auto-cross-linked hyaluronic acid (ACP) gel in preventing the development of intrauterine adhesions following hysteroscopic adhesiolysis. METHODS Ninety-two patients with irregular menses and intrauterine adhesions referred to the Hysteroscopic Unit of the University of Naples "Federico II". Patients were randomized to two different groups. Group A were randomized to hysteroscopic adhesiolysis plus intrauterine application of ACP gel (10 ml) and group B were randomized to operative hysteroscopy alone (control group). Baseline adhesion scores were calculated for each patient and at 3 months after surgery. RESULTS Group A showed a significant decrease in intrauterine adhesions at 3 months follow-up in comparison with the control group. Staging of adhesions showed a significant decrease in adhesion severity in patients treated with ACP gel. CONCLUSIONS ACP gel significantly reduces the development of intrauterine adhesions postoperatively and its use is likely to be associated with a reduction of severe adhesions.
Thoracic Organ Transplantation in the United States, 1995–2004

This article reviews trends in thoracic organ transplantation based on OPTN/SRTR data from 1995 to 2004. The number of active waiting list patients for heart transplants continues to decline, primarily because there are fewer patients with coronary artery disease listed for transplantation. Waiting times for heart transplantation have decreased, and waiting list deaths also have declined, from 259 per 1000 patient‐years at risk in 1995 to 156 in 2004. Fewer heart transplants were performed in 2004 than in 1995, but adjusted patient survival increased to 88% at 1 year and 73% at 5 years. Emphysema, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and cystic fibrosis were the most common indications among lung transplant recipients in 2004. Waiting time for lung transplantation decreased between 1999 and 2004. Waiting list mortality decreased to 134 per 1000 patient‐years at risk in 2004. One‐year survival following transplantation has improved significantly in the past decade. The number of combined heart‐lung transplants performed in the United States remains low, with only 39 performed in 2004. Overall unadjusted survival, at 58% at 1 year and 40% at 5 years, is lower among heart‐lung recipients than among either heart or lung recipients alone.
Clinical and EEG Features of Complex Partial Seizures of Extratemporal Origin

Summary: Complex partial seizures (CPSs) of extratemporal origin are frequently misdiagnosed. Common reasons for diagnostic errors are failure to recognize the epileptic cause of the attacks or to appreciate localizing clinical seizure characteristics and nonspecific or misleading scalp EEG findings. This report describes clinical characteristics of two types of extratemporal CPSs, frontal and occipital. Frontal lobe CPSs are brief, frequent attacks that begin and end suddenly. They are dominated by complex, semi‐purposeful motor automatisms, and vocalization and sexual automatisms are common. Their often bizarre appearance frequently leads to a misdiagnosis of hysteria. Occipital lobe CPSs are characterized primarily by their spread pattern, which can follow various paths. They may mimic temporal lobe CPSs, sensorimotor partial seizures, or supplementary motor partial seizures. Scalp EEGs are frequently misleading. The initial clinical symptoms are the most important clue to correct diagnosis and include elemental visual symptoms, visual loss, eye pulling or movement sensations in the absence of detectable movement, rapid forced blinking or eye flutter, and contralateral eye deviation.
Specification Language for Transaction Level Assertions

Transaction level (TL) modeling is the basis of the so called electronic system level that allows development of systems on chip at a quicker pace than with classical RTL approaches. Starting from the specification phase of the product development cycle, TL modeling enables easy architecture exploration and early software co-development. In contrast to RTL, TL models (TLM) are more abstract and do not contain micro-architectural details for instance; the design focus is on high-level control and data flow. Since TLMs are essential at the decision process in early system development and as they can serve as golden reference models for later RTL regression, it is imperative to ensure that they implement the specification correctly. Assertion based verification (ABV) has given a good return of investment in RTL verification, decreasing debug time while preserving the design intent leveraging these benefits on the transaction level for the verification of TLMs requires the adaptation of current ABV approaches to the specific characteristics of these abstract models. In this paper we present an assertion specification language, based on formal definitions, that allows the specification of transaction level properties and their execution in simulation. We derive the language from known ABV languages and extend these by the required TL functionality, and explain how simulation traces of finite length can be checked against properties
The complete sequence of the mRNA for the HLA‐DR‐associated invariant chain reveals a polypeptide with an unusual transmembrane polarity.

A non‐polymorphic polypeptide is associated intracellularly with the alpha and beta chains of murine Ia antigens and of human HLA‐DR antigens. The exact role and the structure of this invariant chain have not been determined so far. A cDNA clone encoding the 33 000 dalton human invariant chain has been isolated. The nucleotide sequence of a near full‐length cDNA clone, together with the sequence of the 5′ portion of the mRNA determined by primer‐extension, are reported here. The protein structure deduced from that sequence shows an unusual feature: the presence of a hydrophobic transmembrane region near the NH2 terminus, and of two glycosylation sites near the middle, indicates that the invariant chain has a polarity of membrane insertion which is inverted relative to histocompatibility antigens and most transmembrane proteins.
Semiotic dynamics and collaborative tagging

Collaborative tagging has been quickly gaining ground because of its ability to recruit the activity of web users into effectively organizing and sharing vast amounts of information. Here we collect data from a popular system and investigate the statistical properties of tag cooccurrence. We introduce a stochastic model of user behavior embodying two main aspects of collaborative tagging: (i) a frequency-bias mechanism related to the idea that users are exposed to each other's tagging activity; (ii) a notion of memory, or aging of resources, in the form of a heavy-tailed access to the past state of the system. Remarkably, our simple modeling is able to account quantitatively for the observed experimental features with a surprisingly high accuracy. This points in the direction of a universal behavior of users who, despite the complexity of their own cognitive processes and the uncoordinated and selfish nature of their tagging activity, appear to follow simple activity patterns.
Step training with body weight support: effect of treadmill speed and practice paradigms on poststroke locomotor recovery.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of practice paradigms that varied treadmill speed during step training with body weight support in subjects with chronic hemiparesis after stroke. DESIGN Randomized, repeated-measures pilot study with 1- and 3-month follow-ups. SETTING Outpatient locomotor laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-four individuals with hemiparetic gait deficits whose walking speeds were at least 50% below normal. INTERVENTION Participants were stratified by locomotor severity based on initial walking velocity and randomly assigned to treadmill training at slow (0.5mph), fast (2.0mph), or variable (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0mph) speeds. Participants received 20 minutes of training per session for 12 sessions over 4 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Self-selected overground walking velocity (SSV) was assessed at the onset, middle, and end of training, and 1 and 3 months later. RESULTS SSV improved in all groups compared with baseline (P<.001). All groups increased SSV in the 1-month follow-up (P<.01) and maintained these gains at the 3-month follow-up (P=.77). The greatest improvement in SSV across training occurred with fast training speeds compared with the slow and variable groups combined (P=.04). Effect size (ES) was large between fast compared with slow (ES=.75) and variable groups (ES=.73). CONCLUSIONS Training at speeds comparable with normal walking velocity was more effective in improving SSV than training at speeds at or below the patient's typical overground walking velocity.
Caractérisation pharmacogénétique des facteurs de résistance et de toxicité de l'Oxaliplatine et de l'Irinotécan dans les tumeurs colorectales

Le cancer colorectal, historiquement de mauvais pronostique, a fait au cours des annees l'objet de nombreuses recherches qui ont change sa prises en charge notamment par l'evaluation de nouvelles therapies, la recherche de facteurs predictifs de sensibilite a la chimiotherapie ou de nouveaux marqueurs de pronostic. L'association des plusieurs molecules dans un protocole chimiotherapeutique represente le pilier du traitement du cancer colorectal metastatique. Elle peut etre responsable d'une augmentation du taux de reponse, ainsi que d'une augmentation de la survie des patients. Les protocoles qui utilisent l'association entre l'acide L-folinique, le 5-FU et l'Irinotecan (FOLFIRI) ou l'Oxaliplatine (FOLFOX) sont devenu les protocoles les plus souvent utilises, en premiere ligne chimiotherapeutique, pour traiter les cancers colorectaux. En meme temps, les polymorphismes genetiques au niveau des genes cibles des medicaments ou encore au niveau des genes impliquees dans les voies de detoxification, ainsi qu'au niveau des genes intervenant dans les processus de reparation de l'ADN peuvent peser sur l'activite de ces molecules chimiotherapeutiques. En consequence nous nous sommes interesses au cours de cette these a la recherche des facteurs predictifs de l'efficacite et de la tolerance aux traitements utilisant principalement les trois molecules (5- FU, Irinotecan et Oxaliplatine). L'individualisation therapeutique en fonction du profil pharmacogenetique du chaque patient, rendra possible, d'un cote, la diminution des toxicites et, d'un autre cote, l'augmentation de l'efficacite du traitement, accompagnee de l'amelioration de la qualite de vie des patients.
[Patient education--how can the long-term effect be analyzed and how long does it last?].

UNLABELLED In a comparative study the effect of a brief education or associated with an additional group education will be examined. The possible test parameters are critically examined. METHOD In a general practitioner's surgery 564 patients with chronic obstructive airway diseases were given a brief education and 63 of these patients were given additional group instruction. For these patients and for 55 patients with only brief education, medication costs, doses, hospital treatment, cases or days of work inability, episodes of dyspnoea and the contact with the surgery were examined for the first 6 months prior to and following the education. RESULTS Hospital treatment was not necessary, the small number of cases or days of work inability and dyspnoea showed no differences. The cost of medication increased (413.13 DM to 518.88 DM to 400.21) only for a short while after the brief education. Following the combined education medication costs, after an intensive remarkable initial increase (429.62 DM to 539.81 DM), showed only a slight reduction (494.63 DM). Patients after brief education and patients with COPD after combined education needed a step-up. After a combined education a step down was possible for asthmatics (2.30 to 2.09 to 2.13). Within two years the quality of life returned to its original level after the combined courses. For all of the 55 patients with brief education the acceptance of cortisone kept sinking intensively. Following additional group education after an initial increase it remained above the preceding period for all patients for up to 7 and for asthmatics for up 4 follow-up periods. The contact with the surgery dropped for all patients after a brief education more quickly than after additional group education. CONCLUSION In surgery the effect of patient education with quality of life, acceptance of cortisone and the reduction in visits to the surgery can obviously be judged better than with the parameter used so far. The effect declines more quickly after brief education than after combined education in which case a refresher course is necessary after 3-4 years.
Studies on phytochemical, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycaemic and antiproliferative activities of Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea angustifolia extracts

Abstract Context: Echinacea (Asteraceae) is used because of its pharmacological properties. However, there are few studies that integrate phytochemical analyses with pharmacological effects. Objective: Evaluate the chemical profile and biological activity of hydroalcoholic Echinacea extracts. Materials and methods: Density, dry matter, phenols (Folin–Ciocalteu method), flavonoids (AlCl3 method), alkylamides (GC-MS analysis), antioxidant capacity (DPPH and ABTS methods), antiproliferative effect (SRB assay), anti-inflammatory effect (paw oedema assay, 11 days/Wistar rats; 0.4 mL/kg) and hypoglycaemic effect (33 days/Wistar rats; 0.4 mL/kg) were determined in three Echinacea extracts which were labelled as A, B and C (A, roots of Echinacea purpurea L. Moench; B, roots, leaves, flowers and seeds of Echinacea purpurea; C, aerial parts and roots of Echinacea purpurea and roots of Echinacea angustifolia DC). Results: Extract C showed higher density (0.97 g/mL), dry matter (0.23 g/mL), phenols (137.5 ± 2.3 mEAG/mL), flavonoids (0.62 ± 0.02 mEQ/mL), and caffeic acid (0.048 mg/L) compared to A and B. A, B presented 11 alkylamides, whereas C presented those 11 and three more. B decreased the oedema (40%) on day 2 similar to indomethacin. A and C showed hypoglycaemic activity similar to glibenclamide. Antiproliferative effect was only detected for C (IC50 270 μg/mL; 8171 μg/mL; 9338 μg/mL in HeLa, MCF-7, HCT-15, respectively). Discussion and conclusion: The difference in the chemical and pharmacological properties among extracts highlights the need to consider strategies and policies for standardization of commercial herbal extracts in order to guarantee the safety and identity of this type of products.
Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Review

Ventilator-associated pneumonia is the most frequent intensive care unit (ICU)-related infection in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. In contrast to other ICU-related infections, which have a low mortality rate, the mortality rate for ventilator-associated pneumonia ranges from 20% to 50%. These clinically significant infections prolong duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU length of stay, underscoring the financial burden these infections impose on the health care system. The causes of ventilator-associated pneumonia are varied and differ across different patient populations and different types of ICUs. This varied presentation underscores the need for the intensivist treating the patient with ventilator-associated pneumonia to have a clear knowledge of the ambient microbiologic flora in their ICU. Prevention of this disease process is of paramount importance and requires a multifaceted approach. Once a diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia is suspected, early broad-spectrum antibiotic administration decreases morbidity and mortality and should be based on knowledge of the sensitivities of common infecting organisms in the ICU. De-escalation of therapy, once final culture results are available, is necessary to minimize development of resistant pathogens. Duration of therapy should be based on the patient’s clinical response, and every effort should be made to minimize duration of therapy, thus further minimizing the risk of resistance.
GIGANTEA Enables Drought Escape Response via Abscisic Acid-Dependent Activation of the Florigens and SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS11[C][W]

Floral transition under drought conditions is accelerated by enabling ABA-dependent up-regulation of the florigen genes. Modulation of the transition to flowering plays an important role in the adaptation to drought. The drought-escape (DE) response allows plants to adaptively shorten their life cycle to make seeds before severe stress leads to death. However, the molecular basis of the DE response is unknown. A screen of different Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) flowering time mutants under DE-triggering conditions revealed the central role of the flower-promoting gene GIGANTEA (GI) and the florigen genes FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and TWIN SISTER OF FT (TSF) in the DE response. Further screens showed that the phytohormone abscisic acid is required for the DE response, positively regulating flowering under long-day conditions. Drought stress promotes the transcriptional up-regulation of the florigens in an abscisic acid- and photoperiod-dependent manner, so that early flowering only occurs under long days. Along with the florigens, the floral integrator SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS1 is also up-regulated in a similar fashion and contributes to the activation of TSF. The DE response was recovered under short days in the absence of the floral repressor SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE or in GI-overexpressing plants. Our data reveal a key role for GI in connecting photoperiodic cues and environmental stress independently from the central FT/TSF activator CONSTANS. This mechanism explains how environmental cues may act upon the florigen genes in a photoperiodically controlled manner, thus enabling plastic flowering responses.
Mechanical properties of chromia scales

Depth-sensing submicron indentation testing was used to measure the elasticplastic behavior of sintered chromia and oxide scales formed on pure chromium in air. The use of top-down indentations limited the amount and precision of the scale data due to surface roughness and substrate effects. Nevertheless, results for the hardnesses and elastic moduli were within the range expected for such oxides. Within experimental uncertainty, the mechanical properties of the scales and those of the corresponding bulk oxide were generally comparable.