Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is the level of arterial pressure reduction important for preservation of renal function.

Elevations in both systolic and diastolic arterial pres-sure are associated with an increased risk of renalfailure [1-3] Thes. e risks are clearly minimized byreducing arterial pressure. At currently accepted levelsof arterial pressure control, i.e. < 140/90 mmHg, how-ever, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitorsare relatively more efficacious in slowing progressionof diabetic renal disease when compared to other drugclasses [4-6] Thi. s is especially true among patientswith pre-existing renal insufficiency and proteinuriawho either have diabetes or are African Americans[4-8]. This unique effect on preservation of renalfunction may not persist, however, if arterial pressureis reduced to lower levels.Recent evidence suggests that the level of arterialpressure reduction may be relatively more importantin regard to minimizing progression of establishedrenal disease than the agents used to lower arterialpressure itsel [6-9]f Recen. t clinical studies demon-strate a marked slowing in the progression of renaldisease at lower levels of arterial [6-9] pressur Th. eeinitial study to demonstrate this effect had 10 peoplein each group [9]. Patients with nephropathy fromtype I diabetes were randomized to two different levelsof arterial pressure control. Beta blockers and diureticswere used in all subjects to reduce arterial pressure.The systolic pressures in the higher level group rangedfrom 135 to 140 mmHg, with diastolic pressures beingbetween 85 and 90 mmHg. The lower pressure grouphad arterial pressures of < 130/80 mmHg. After a10-year follow-up there was a marked difference in therate of decline in renal function with the higher arterialpressure group havin 7g ml/min/yea a r faster declinein renal function when compared to the lower group.Moreover, this group had significantly higher levels ofalbuminuria compared to the lower pressure group.This therefore provided some of the first evidence tosuggest that level of arterial pressure control may beimportant.A recent post-hoc analysis of the Modification ofDietary Protein in Renal Disease (MDRD) trial dem-onstrated that the level of arterial pressure control wasalso an important variable in preserving renal function
Analysis of oncogenic signaling networks in glioblastoma identifies ASPM as a molecular target

Departments of dPathology and Laboratory Medicine, lNeurology, hNeurosurgery, aHuman Genetics, fPharmacology, and bBiostatistics, iThe Henry E. Singleton Brain Cancer Research Program and jNeurogenetics Research Program, and the kSemel Institute for Neuroscience at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; eIngenuity Systems, Inc., 1700 Seaport Boulevard, Third Floor, Redwood City, CA 94063; gThe Barrows Neurological Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital–Catholic Healthcare West, 350 West Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013; and mDepartments of Medicine and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, 101 Science Drive, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27708
Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita in childhood.

BACKGROUND Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) is an autoimmune bullous disease characterized by the presence of antitype VII collagen antibodies, leading to the formation of bullae in the dermoepidermal junction. This disease is rare in childhood. OBSERVATIONS We report 3 new cases of EBA in children. The 3 patients were similar; all 3 children were black, with a clinical phenotype resembling linear IgA bullous disease in children and typical histologic and immunologic features of EBA. In the 3 patients, diagnosis was proven using immune electron microscopy and Western blot analysis, where antitype VII collagen antibodies were demonstrated. Patients 1 and 2 were successfully treated with a combination of prednisone and dapsone. In patient 3, the lesions healed without specific therapy. We found 11 other pediatric cases of EBA in the literature and studied those cases in addition to the cases presented herein to describe the characteristics of EBA in childhood. CONCLUSIONS Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita is a rare disease in childhood. Mucosal involvement is frequent and severe. Because the clinical features are misleading, the use of immune electron microscopy and Western blot analysis is essential to making a diagnosis. Treatment with a combination of prednisone and dapsone is often effective. The prognosis in children is better than it is in adult patients.
Wolbachia endosymbionts responsible for various alterations of sexuality in arthropods

Rickettsia-like maternally inherited bacteria have been shown to be involved in a variety of alterations of arthropod sexuality, such as female-biased sex ratios, parthenogenesis, and sterility of crosses either between infected males and uninfected females or between infected individuals (cytoplasmic incompatibility). We have characterized several of these microorganisms through partial sequences of the small (16S) and large (23S) subunit ribosomal DNA. All the symbionts identified, which include several cytoplasmic incompatibility microorganisms, several endosymbionts of terrestrial isopods, and symbionts of two thelytokous Trichogramma wasp species, belong to a monophyletic group of related symbionts, some of which have previously been detected in several insects exhibiting cytoplasmic incompatibility. Three molecular lineages can be identified on the basis of 16S as well as 23S sequences. Although they are only known as endocellular symbionts, Wolbachia spread by horizontal transfer across host lineages as evidenced by their diversification which occurred long after that of their hosts, and by the non-congruence of the phylogenetic relationships of symbionts and their hosts. Indeed, symbionts of two different lineages have been found in the same host species, whereas closely related endosymbionts are found in distinct insect orders. Isopod endosymbionts form a separate lineage, and they can determine feminization as well as cytoplasmic incompatibility. The ability to determine cytoplasmic incompatibility, found in all lineages, is probably ancestral to this group.
Clinical Trial Evidence for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Type 2 Diabetes

Major clinical trials have shown that excellent glycemic control, sustained over time, can prevent or delay the microvascular complications of diabetes, including retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. No prospective trial has clearly shown that glycemic intervention can prevent the macrovascular complications of diabetes, such as myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, and amputation. However, a number of landmark clinical trials have shown the efficacy of control of blood pressure and lipids and use of antiplatelet agents (mainly aspirin) in protecting the macrovasculature of individuals with diabetes. In this article, glycemic, blood pressure, lipid, and antiplatelet trials relevant to the treatment of people with type 2 diabetes are reviewed.
Acquisition and monitoring system of the electrical signals generated in cerebral activity

Hemos disenado un Sistema de Adquisicion y Monitoreo para adquirir y visualizar las senales electricas generadas en la corteza cerebral con el fin de utilizarlas en diagnostico medico y/o en aplicaciones de robotica. Consta de una primera etapa de sensamiento y acondicionamiento de la senal proveniente de los electrodos ubicados en el craneo del paciente, la cual es amplificada y filtrada. La senal acondicionada pasa a la etapa de digitalizacion, y posteriormente es llevada a un computador a traves del puerto paralelo a fin de visualizar los datos a traves de un programa elaborado en LabView.
TcpA pilin sequences and colonization requirements for O1 and O139 Vibrio cholerae

The distribution, characterization and function of the tcpA gene was investigated in Vibrio cholerae O1 strains of the El Tor biotype and in a newly emergent non‐O1 strain classified as serogroup O139. The V. cholerae tcpA gene from the classical biotype strain O395 was used as a probe to identify a clone carrying the tcpA gene from the El Tor biotype strain E7946. The sequence of the E7946 tcpA gene revealed that the mature El Tor TcpA pilin has the same number of residues as, and is 82% identical to, TcpA of classical biotype strain O395. The majority of differences in primary structure are either conservative or clustered in a manner such that compensatory changes retain regional amino acid size, polarity and charge. In a functional analysis, the cloned gene was used to construct an El Tor mutant strain containing an insertion in tcpA. This strain exhibited a colonization defect in the infant mouse cholera model similar in magnitude to that previously described for classical biotype tcpA mutants, thus establishing an equivalent role for TCP in intestinal colonization by El Tor biotype strains. The tcpA analysis was further extended to both a prototype El Tor strain from the Peru epidemic and to the first non‐O1 strain known to cause epidemic cholera, an O139 V. cholerae isolate from the current widespread Asian epidemic. These strains were shown to carry tcpA with a sequence identical to E7946. These results provide further evidence that the newly emergent non‐O1 serogroup O139 strain represents a derivative of an El Tor biotype strain and, despite its different LPS structure, shares common TCP‐associated antigens. Therefore, there appear to be only two related sequences associated with TCP pilin required for colonization by all strains responsible for epidemic cholera, one primary sequence associated with classical strains and one for El Tor strains and the recent O139 derivative. A diagnostic correlation between the presence of tcpA and the V. cholerae to colonize and cause clinical is now extended to strains of both O1 and non‐O1 serotypes.
Dyscoordinate expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha by human blood monocytes and alveolar macrophages.

Previous studies have shown that human alveolar macrophages produce less interleukin-1 (IL-1) in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) than do their precursors, blood monocytes. The purpose of this study was to compare the capacities of alveolar macrophages and blood monocytes to synthesize tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in response to LPS. Alveolar macrophages were obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage of healthy nonsmoking subjects, and blood monocytes were obtained by adherence of mononuclear cells to plastic. TNF activity was measured in supernatants and cell lysates as cytotoxicity to L929 fibroblasts (uptake of neutral red at 570 nm). TNF activity of alveolar macrophages stimulated at 10(6) cells/ml with LPS (10 micrograms/ml) for 16 h was 596 +/- 367, and of blood monocytes it was 60 +/- 84 U/ml (mean +/- SD, p less than 0.005). At no concentration of LPS and at no period of stimulation did alveolar macrophages express less TNF activity than did blood monocytes. In concurrent experiments, supernatants of LPS-stimulated alveolar macrophages contained less IL-1 activity than did blood monocytes. Lysates of both cell types contained less than 20% of total TNF activity. The TNF activity of LPS-stimulated alveolar macrophages was neutralized greater than 99% by monoclonal antibody to TNF-alpha; control monoclonal antibody OKT3 had no effect. Next, alveolar macrophages and blood monocytes were biosynthetically labeled with [3H]leucine during incubation with LPS; supernatants were immunoprecipitated with anti-TNF, and precipitates were electrophoresed on polyacrylamide gels. Autoradiographs indicated that immunoreactive TNF was produced by both blood monocytes and alveolar macrophages and that the relative molecular weights were identical (17,000). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
[The role of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore in neurodegenerative processes].

AIMS To review the role played by the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) in different physiological and pathological processes. METHOD Both genetic and functional alterations in mitochondria can lead to errors that trigger programmed cell death, which in turn give rise to a number of diseases that affect the nervous system. Over the last few years the mitochondrion has been seen as the link between the different signalling pathways involved in some degenerative processes. The mitochondrion seems to play an important part in the cellular decision making that leads, irreversibly, toward the execution phase in cellular death processes. This being the case, the action would be mediated by the permeability of its membranes, through the formation of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, and would involve phenomena such as the dissipation of the mitochondrial electrochemical potential and the release of substances from within it. These substances include apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), apoptosis protease activating factor 1 (apaf 1), cytochrome c and members of the protease family: the caspases. These alterations have been described in neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer s and Parkinson s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and transmissible spongiform encephalopaties. CONCLUSIONS Designing pharmaceutical products capable of interfering with the functions of MPTP would allow a better therapeutic approach in neurological pathologies.
Short term effects of air pollution on emergency hospital admissions for respiratory disease: results of the APHEA project in two major cities in The Netherlands, 1977-89.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the short term relationship between air pollution and the daily number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory disease. DESIGN: Data were analysed using autoregressive Poisson regression allowing for overdispersion and controlling for possible confounding factors such as seasonal and other chronological variables, meteorological factors, and influenza epidemics. SETTING: The two major cities in The Netherlands-Amsterdam (694,700 inhabitants) and Rotterdam (576,200 inhabitants). PARTICIPANTS AND MEASUREMENTS: Emergency hospital admissions for respiratory diseases, registered on a daily basis by the National Medical Registration, for the period 1977-89 were used. ICD-9 codes included were: respiratory (460-519), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (490-492, 494, 496), and asthma (493). The mean (range) of the total daily number of admissions for these three classifications were as follows: 6.70 (0-23), 1.74 (0-9) and 1.13 (0-7) respectively in Amsterdam and 4.79 (0-19), 1.57 (0-9), and 0.53 (0-5) in Rotterdam. Air pollution measurements were provided by the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection. In The Netherlands, air pollution is at a low to moderate ("summer type") or a low ("winter type") level. The levels in Amsterdam and Rotterdam did not differ much for the "summer type". For 1977-89 the mean (range) values of ozone (O3), the "summer type" pollutant (O3-8 h), were 86 (0-252) micrograms/m3 in Amsterdam and 82 (0-286) micrograms/m3 in Rotterdam. The mean (range) of the values "winter type", pollutant, sulphur dioxide (SO2-24 h), were 38 (0-381) micrograms/m3 in Amsterdam and 50 (1-379) micrograms/m3 in Rotterdam. For black smoke (BS-24 h), values were 14 (1-84) micrograms/m3 and 28 (1-144) micrograms/m3 respectively (1986-89). MAIN RESULTS: Ozone had a non-significant positive effect on the number of respiratory emergency admissions in summer in people aged > or = 65 years (relative risk for a 100 micrograms/m3 increase in O3-8 h of 1.127 (0.983, 1.292) in Amsterdam and a significant positive effect of 1.344 (1.097, 1.647) in 1977-81 in Rotterdam). Sulphur dioxide did not show any clear effects; in Amsterdam a significant negative effect was even found. The same was true for nitrogen dioxide in Amsterdam; in Rotterdam, however, nitrogen dioxide showed non-significant positive effects (RR 0.965, 1.342). Black smoke did not show any clear effects in Amsterdam; in Rotterdam it was positively but not significantly related to the number of admissions. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the relation between short term air pollution and emergency hospital admissions is not always consistent at these rather low levels of daily hospital admissions and of air pollution.
Differential mortality in the United States before 1900.

This article examines the differentials in mortality that are revealed by the responses to questions about the number of children-ever-born and the number currently-alive provided by a national sample of older women taken from the manuscript census [of the United States] for 1900. Particular attention is given to differential mortality by social status. (EXCERPT)
Roles of Sox3 and Lmx 1b in early development of the inner ear

En los ultimos anos se ha avanzado sustancialmente en la comprension de los mecanismos moleculares implicados en el proceso de induccion de la placoda otica. Aun asi, continua habiendo poca informacion de como se establece un dominio con competencia neural y otro no-neural y este ha sido el objetivo de la presente tesis doctoral. Hemos analizado los mecanismos moleculares mas relevantes para la regionalizacion inicial de la placoda otica y hemos explorado el papel de Sox3 y Lmx1b en el establecimiento y mantenimiento de un territorio competente neural, utilizando embriones de pollo como organismo modelo. Los resultados muestran que el gen Sox3, inicialmente expresado en un territorio amplio, se regionaliza en un dominio otico y equibranquial proneural. La sobreexpresion de Sox3 a estadios preoticos, induce la generacion de precursores neurales que expresan Sox2 y Delta1, sin embargo estos no progresan a estadios de mayor diferenciacion. A la vez, Sox3 es capaz de inhibir la expresion de Lmx1b, un gen expresado en dominio no neural, hecho que sugiere que su patron final viene determinado por la actividad neurogenica. Finalmente, presento evidencias que la senalizacion mediada por BMP desarrolla un papel inicial en el establecimiento de la expresion de Lmx1b en el terrirorio otico, pero que ni la actividad de BMP ni la expresion de Lmx1b influyen en el proceso de determinacion neural. En conclusion, nuestros resultados evidencian nueva informacion de los mecanismos moleculares que gobiernan los primeros pasos de la competencial neural y la regionalizacion de la placoda otica en un territorio neural versus un no neural.
Prevalence of chronic kidney disease and association with cardiovascular risk factors among teachers in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract Background: There is a need to determine the feasibility of conducting studies of chronic diseases among large cohorts of African patients. One aim of the South African feasibility study was to determine the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among school teachers. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey of 489 teachers we captured data on demographics, CVD risk factors, anthropometry and blood pressure. Serum glucose, creatinine, cholesterol and urine protein/creatinine ratio was measured. Glomerular filtration rate was estimated using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) and the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease study equations. Results: The mean (± standard deviation) age of the participants was 46.3 ± 8.5 years, with 70.3% being female and 74.6% of mixed ethnicity. The crude prevalence of CKD using the CKD-EPI equation was 6.1% while the age-adjusted prevalence was 6.4% (95% confidence interval 3.2–9.7%). CKD was associated with the presence of diabetes and higher diastolic blood pressures. Conclusions: In our study population of relatively young, working individuals CKD was common, clinically silent and associated with cardiovascular risk factors. The long-term complications of CKD are serious and expensive to manage and this, therefore, constitutes an important public health problem for South Africa.
QUALIDADE NO ATENDIMENTO COMO UM DIFERENCIAL PARA O INCREMENTO DO TURISMO NO MUNICÍPIO DE PENEDO-AL

O objetivo neste artigo e levantar evidencias que permitam mapear a oferta dos servicos em restaurantes que estao localizados no circuito turistico de Penedo- AL, com o proposito de reunir elementos que permitam diagnosticar, a partir do metodo de analise SWOT, as potencialidades e fragilidades dos estabelecimentos pesquisados. A abordagem escolhida foi a qualitativa com pesquisa de campo, a partir dos pesquisadores na experiencia de visitantes. Para a coleta de dados, foram investigadas as diversas dimensoes da qualidade inerentes ao segmento de alimentos e bebidas (A&B). As analises foram realizadas de forma qualitativa, a fim de facilitar o levantamento dos pontos fortes e fracos. Diante dos resultados, pode-se averiguar que os restaurantes pesquisados apresentaram um bom nivel de qualidade de servicos. No entanto, e necessario avaliar a media geral dos indicadores submetidos para que se possa conhecer os indices que precisam ser melhorados na percepcao do turista, a fim de alcancar a excelencia na prestacao de servicos de qualidade.
Differentiating 451 languages in terms of their segment inventories

A “segment niche” for a language is a subset of its segment inventory that can distinguish this language from all other languages. This article gives the computer-generated segment niches for the 451 languages in the UCLA Phonological Segment Inventory Database (UPSID-451). It is shown that languages usually possess a multitude of segment niches, but not all of these alternatives are equally representative of a language's idiosyncrasy. A criterion is suggested for choosing among these alternatives: Preferring the niche for a language which contains segments with the smallest frequencies of occurrence in other languages (this niche, in effect, can be considered as more “typical” for the language). Some patterns emerge regarding the size and structure of the computed “typical” niches.
More flexible data types

XML can play several roles in a distributed object system. In particular, data can be serialized in XML-based formats. XML-encoded data can be more self-describing than data encoded in many more traditional ways, which facilitates the kind of decentralized protocol evolution seen in Internet-scale development: XML's explicit "tagging and bagging" helps keep extensions straight. However, today's common distributed object systems have type systems that are not flexible enough to describe such data. We suggest a way to make more flexible data types; this improves distributed object systems in general, and is critical to realizing XML's full potential. This approach has: (1) typing judgements based on type structure instead of type identity, (2) extensible record types with optional fields, (3) coarse record types, for which extension is compatible with subtyping, and (4) non-ignorable fields in record values.