Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
No association of hypoxia inducible factor-1α gene polymorphisms with breast cancer in North-West Indians.

BACKGROUND Hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) is the key regulator of cellular responses to hypoxia and plays a central role in tumour growth. Presence of Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the critical regulatory domains of HIF-1α may result in the overexpression of the protein and subsequent changes in the expression of the downstream target genes. The aim of study was to investigate the association of three SNPs (g.C111A, g.C1772T and g.G1790A) of HIF-1α with the risk of breast cancer in North Indian sporadic breast cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 400 subjects, including 200 healthy controls and 200 patients with breast cancer were recruited in this study. Genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. RESULTS The CC and CA genotype frequency of HIF-1α g.C111A polymorphism was 100 vs 99% and 0 vs 1% in breast cancer patients and healthy controls respectively. The frequencies of CC, CT and TT genotype of g.C1772T polymorphism were 76 vs 74.5%, 19 vs 21% and 5 vs 4.5% in breast cancer patients and control individuals respectively. There was no significant difference in genotype and allele frequencies of HIF-1α g.C1772T polymorphism between cases and control individuals (p>0.05). For g.G1790A genotypes, all patients and controls had only GG genotype. CONCLUSIONS The three HIF-1α polymorphisms (g.C111A, g.C1772T and g.G1790A) are not associated with breast cancer risk in North-West Indian patients.
Predicting therapeutic outcome in patients with diffuse histiocytic lymphoma treated with cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP)

Seventy‐five patients with diffuse histiocytic lymphoma (DHL) ranging in age from 33 to 94 years were treated with cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP). Thirty‐eight patients (51%) achieved complete remission, but nine of these patients relapsed after remission lasting one to 23 months (median time to relapse, four months). We used multivariate analysis to identify those characteristics that significantly affected treatment outcome. The chances for complete remission were adversely affected by DHL appearing after histologic conversion from another lymphoma (P = 0.006), the presence of systemic symptoms (P = 0.024), and not having the large noncleaved (LNC) histologic subtype (P = 0.040). The chance for relapse from complete remission was increased only by the presence of systemic symptoms (P = 0.042). Overall survival was adversely affected by the presence of bone marrow involvement (P = 0.002), having other than LNC histologic subtype (P = .010), and the presence of systemic symptoms (P = 0.043). It appears that patients whose DHL appears de novo and who also are symptom status A (70% long‐term disease‐free survival) or have the LNC histologic subtype (67% long‐term disease‐free survival) have an excellent outlook when treated with CHOP at the doses used in this study. However, patients with B symptoms (16% long‐term disease‐free survival), histologic conversion to DHL (8% long‐term disease‐free survival), previous chemotherapy (8% long‐term disease‐free survival), and bone marrow involvement (8% long‐term disease‐free survival) respond poorly and for these patients other treatments need to be identified. In addition, patients with B symptoms who achieve complete remission with CHOP are at high risk to relapse (59% relapse rate) and should be considered for “intensification” therapy after complete remission is documented. Cancer 50:1695‐1702, 1982.
Emergency nurses' perceptions of critical incidents and stress debriefing.

INTRODUCTION This is a descriptive study of questionnaire responses of 682 members of three state ENAs, with supporting interview data from 26 of those participants. The objective was to determine (1) the types of clinical events perceived as critical and (2) the usefulness of critical incident stress debriefings for emergency nurses. METHODS Questionnaires asking emergency nurses to rate clinical incidents as critical and to respond to questions about their experiences with debriefings were sent to members of three state ENAs. Structured interviews about personal experiences with critical incidents and debriefings were conducted with 26 respondents. RESULTS Emergency nurses responding to the questionnaire viewed the death of a child and the death of a coworker as the most critical of the possible events. The majority of interviewees saw an incident related to the death of a child as the most critical in their careers. Of the questionnaire respondents, 32% had participated in debriefings; 88% of those found them helpful in reducing critical incident stress. DISCUSSION The findings suggest that managers should be alerted to the possibility of acute stress responses when emergency nurses experience a child's death. Education regarding stress and debriefings may be helpful to ED personnel.
Upregulation of CD4+ NKT Cells Is Important for Allograft Survival in Staphylococcal-Enterotoxin-B-Treated Rats after High-Risk Corneal Transplantation

Objective: To study the role of CD4+ natural killer T (NKT) cells in staphylococcal-enterotoxin-B (SEB)-treated rats after high-risk corneal transplantation. Method: Fisher 344 donor corneas were transplanted into Lewis recipients. Corneal neovascularization was induced by sutures. All the recipients were randomly divided into 3 groups. The SEB group was intraperitoneally injected with SEB at a concentration of 75 µg/kg. The drug combination group received SEB and dexamethasone at a concentration of 5 mg/ml. The control group received saline buffer. All transplants were evaluated for 30 days. Ten days after transplantation, 3 recipients in each group were sacrificed for immunological study. Result: The survival time of the allografts in the SEB group was 12.50 ± 1.41 days, much longer than in the control group (7.30 ± 0.67 days) and the drug combination group (10.38 ± 3.07 days). The lymphocyte proliferation ability was the weakest and the percentage of CD4+ NKT cells in both the spleen and the mandibular lymph nodes was the highest in the SEB group, while the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ cells was the lowest in the drug combination group. IL-2 in the aqueous humor and the serum was lower while IL-10 was higher in the SEB group than in the other 2 groups. Conclusion: SEB prolongs allograft survival in rat high-risk corneal transplantation. This effect seems to be mediated by the upregulation of CD4+ NKT cells.
Evidence that Protein Kinase C Activities Involved in Regulating Neurite Growth Are Localized to Distal Neurites

Abstract: Previously, we observed that long‐term treatment of distal nerve fibers of rat sympathetic neurons in compartmented cultures with phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate (PMA) caused a reduction in the rate of neurite elongation by >50%. In the present report we show that protein kinase C (PKC) activity could be measured in extracts of distal neurites by an assay of the Ca2+‐dependent phosphorylation of a PKC‐specific octapeptide substrate. We found that local application of 1 µM PMA for 24 h to distal neurites caused nearly complete down‐regulation of Ca2+‐dependent PKC activity measured in this manner. We determined that the inhibition of neurite elongation by PMA was mediated by local mechanisms in the neurites because local application of PMA to center compartments containing cell bodies and proximal neurites did not inhibit the rate of elongation of distal neurites. We then investigated the effects of the recently available PKC inhibitors, calphostin C and chelerythrine, finding that, like PMA, these inhibited the growth of distal neurites when applied locally to them, and had no effect when applied to cell bodies and proximal neurites. However, the inhibition of neurite growth by calphostin C occurred at a concentration far below its IC50 value for protein kinase inhibition, and both calphostin C and chelerythrine inhibited distal neurite growth even in neurons pretreated with PMA. Thus, it appears that these agents do not all inhibit neurite growth through the same mechanisms. Although the PKC activities involved in neurite elongation in sympathetic neurons have not been precisely defined, these data presented in this study indicate that protein kinases localized to growth cones play a complex and important role in regulating axonal growth.
THE IMPACT OF THE GOVERNMENT REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH IN MYANMAR

The study focuses on investigation of co-integration between revenue and expenditure of government and GDP growth. The study aims to find to examine the relationship and causality between government revenue and expenditure. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression results show that an expending expenditure raise government revenue, and both are positively related in Myanmar. According to the Granger Causality test, Government expenditure cause revenue and revenue also cause expenditure. According to Auto-regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound test, the government expenditure have positive influence on GDP growth in the long run and negative influence in the short run. The government revenue has effect on GDP growth negative in the short run and positive in the long run. Besides, they have co-integration and long-run relationship in Myanmar economy.
Viewpoint Paper: A Model for Expanded Public Health Reporting in the Context of HIPAA

The advent of electronic medical records and health information exchange raise the possibility of expanding public health reporting to detect a broad range of clinical conditions and of monitoring the health of the public on a broad scale. Expanding public health reporting may require patient anonymity, matching records, re-identifying cases, and recording patient characteristics for localization. The privacy regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) provide several mechanisms for public health surveillance, including using laws and regulations, public health activities, de-identification, research waivers, and limited data sets, and in addition, surveillance may be distributed with aggregate reporting. The appropriateness of these approaches varies with the definition of what data may be included, the requirements of the minimum necessary standard, the accounting of disclosures, and the feasibility of the approach.
Recovery Capacity of the Finance System of Italian Municipalities After the Currency Crisis of 1992

This paper is a first pioneering attempt to apply the concept of resilience to the analysis of the public finance systems of local governments, a concept already used and “abused” in various disciplines and fields of science. In particular, it proposes an attempt to estimate the recovery capacity of Italian Municipalities in a crucial period of our country’s financial history, between 1992 and 2000, or between the currency crisis and the introduction of the Euro. However, the analysis also involved the subsequent trends, in order to demonstrate that the current vulnerability of the municipal public finance system, in particular of the Municipalities of Southern Italy, depends not only on the economic cycle but also on the continuous and incessant changes in the financing mechanisms of local governments established by the central government. The analysis showed a lower financial resilience of the Municipalities of the Mezzogiorno (island and continental) compared to those of the Center-North. The determinants of this phenomenon were found, for one part, through the analysis of the financial data of the Italian Municipalities – as presented by the SVIMEZ in its annual reports on the economy of the Mezzogiorno – and, for another part, through the critical synthesis of significant economic events which occurred during the period examined.
FMCW radar fall detection based on ISAR processing utilizing the properties of RCS, range, and Doppler

Falls are among the leading causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries for seniors. For long-term non-contact detection of falls in home and nursing environments, a coherent frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar sensor is designed and tested. The coherence property of the developed FMCW radar helps to preserve the phase history of the signal detected from human subjects, and can thus obtain Doppler information based on inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging. By analyzing the changes of the radar cross-section (RCS), range, and Doppler on ISAR images during the movement of a subject, falls can be distinguished from normal activities. Experiments have been carried out to demonstrate and analyze the ISAR signature of actual fall incidents, which has been compared with that of an abrupt movement. Preliminary results have confirmed the ability of an FMCW radar to successfully detect fall events using ISAR imaging.
New facile method for preparing themperature-resopnsive cell culture surfaces using a thioxantone-based photoinitiator immobilized polystyrene surface

PIPAAm grafted polystyrene (PIPAAm-Pst) dishes were prepared using visible light irradiation and polystyrene dishes modified with thioxanethone-based photoinitiator. At optimized preparation conditions, PIPAAm-PSs fabricating cell sheets were successfully prepared by 5 mins visible light irradiation. After PIPAAm polymerization, micro-patterned temperature responsive polystyrene culture surface (MPTRCS) were generated by additional micro-patterned polymerization of PAAm. Endothelial cells were attached selectively PIPAAm region at 37°C. By lowing temperature, micro-pattered endothelial cells were detached from MPTRCS as continuously micro-pattered cell sheet.
In Vivo Imaging of 64Cu-Labeled Polymer Nanoparticles Targeted to the Lung Endothelium

Nanoparticles (NPs) targeting the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) hold promise as a mean of delivering therapeutics to the pulmonary endothelium in patients with acute and chronic respiratory diseases. As these new materials become available, strategies are needed to understand their behavior in vivo. We have evaluated the use of 64Cu and PET to noninvasively image the lung uptake and distribution of NPs coated with an anti-ICAM antibody. Methods: Model fluorescent NPs were coated with a mixture of an anti-ICAM antibody (or nonspecific IgG) and 64Cu-DOTA-IgG (where DOTA is 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid). Biodistribution and small-animal PET and CT studies were performed in healthy mice and in mice pretreated with lipopolysaccharides (LPSs). Metabolism studies were also performed to evaluate the stability of 64Cu-labeled NPs in lungs in vivo. Results: The lungs of mice administered anti-ICAM NPs labeled with 64Cu were clearly imaged by small-animal PET 1, 4, and 24 h after administration. Both biodistribution and small-animal imaging showed a 3- to 4-fold higher uptake in the lungs of mice injected with ICAM-targeted NPs relative to that of the control group. Lung uptake was further enhanced by pretreating the mice with LPS, presumably because of ICAM-1 upregulation. However, an approximately 2-fold decrease in lung signal was observed in each experimental group over 24 h. Metabolism studies in lung tissues harvested from mice injected with 64Cu-labeled anti-ICAM NPs showed considerable release of a small 64Cu-radiometabolite from the NPs beginning as early as 1 h after injection. A decrease in lung fluorescence was also observed, most likely reflecting partial release of NPs from the lungs in vivo. Conclusion: The use of small-animal PET to track 64Cu-labeled nanostructures in vivo shows potential as a strategy for the preclinical screening of new NP drug delivery agents targeting the lung endothelium and other tissues. Future design optimization to prolong the stability of the radiolabel in vivo will further improve this promising approach.
High-Performance Mathematical Functions for Single-Core Architectures

Nowadays high-performance computing (HPC) architectures are designed to resolve assorted sophisticated scientific as well as engineering problems across an ever intensifying number of HPC and professional workloads. Application and computation of key trigonometric functions sine and cosine are in all spheres of our daily life, yet fairly time consuming task in high-performance numerical simulations. In this paper, we have delivered a detailed deliberation of how the micro-architecture of single-core Itanium® and Alpha 21264/21364 processors as well as the manual optimization techniques improve the computing performance of several mathematical functions. On describing the detailed algorithm and its execution pattern on the processor, we have confirmed that the processor micro-architecture side by side manual optimization techniques ameliorate computing performance significantly as compared to not only the standard math library's built-in functions with compiler optimizing options but also Intel® Itanium® library's highly optimized mathematical functions.
Reflections on the highway safety field

Patricia F Waller Memorial Lecture Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 28 April 2004 It is a great honor to have been invited to give the inaugural Patricia F Waller memorial lecture. Certainly any reflections on this field would have to note Pat’s many significant contributions over several decades. I will mention several, as I tell you what I think about the status of the highway safety field, based on my own 30+ years of experience. Pat and I served together on various committees. The most recent was a National Academy of Sciences committee assembled to assess the status of the injury control field. Motor vehicle injury control was determined to be the “show horse” of the field, as evidenced by this quote from the committee report: “Over the past three decades, dramatic progress has been made in reducing motor vehicle injuries by understanding the factors that increase the risk of injury, designing interventions to reduce these risks, and implementing and evaluating a wide array of interventions”. 1 I am going to darken this rosy assessment somewhat because not all is well with the highway safety situation in the United States. To some extent this is because of factors that have always been with us, and to some extent it is because of more recent developments. First, the field is held back by woeful underfunding. We don’t pay very much attention to the highway safety problem, which is evident when you “follow the money”. In 2004 the United States federal research budget for the National Cancer Institute was $3 billion, for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute $2.3 billion, and for highway safety research (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration) $164 million. These are huge differentials, even though in terms of adjusted years of life lost …
Forced euvolemic diuresis with mannitol and furosemide for prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in patients with CKD undergoing coronary angiography: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Contrast-induced nephropathy is common in patients with coronary angiography. Mechanistically, forced euvolemic diuresis with mannitol and furosemide ought to prevent contrast-induced nephropathy. Our objectives are to: (1) undertake a randomized trial testing this hypothesis, and (2) conduct a meta-analysis of our findings with 2 earlier studies. STUDY DESIGN (1) Randomized allocation-concealed controlled trial with blinded ascertainment of outcomes, and (2) random-effects meta-analysis of 3 trials. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Single-center study of consenting adults with serum creatinine level greater than 1.7 mg/dL undergoing coronary angiography; patients unable to tolerate fluid challenge or receiving dialysis were excluded. Two previous trials had randomly assigned 159 patients. INTERVENTION Forced euvolemic diuresis with saline, mannitol, and furosemide compared with saline hydration controls. All patients were pretreated with at least 500 mL of half-normal saline before angiography; during and 8 hours after, urine output was replaced milliliter per milliliter with half-normal saline. OUTCOMES & MEASUREMENTS The primary outcome was contrast-induced nephropathy within 48 hours of the procedure, defined as a 0.5-mg/dL absolute or 25% relative increase in creatinine level. RESULTS Overall, 92 patients were allocated to intervention (n = 46) or control (n = 46). Mean age was 64 +/- 14 (SD) years, 23% were women, 37% had diabetes, 47% used oral furosemide, mean creatinine level was 2.8 +/- 1.6 mg/dL, and most patients (72%) underwent diagnostic catheterization. Patients had a net positive fluid balance (389 +/- 958 mL for intervention versus 655 +/- 982 mL for controls; P = 0.2). Contrast-induced nephropathy occurred in 23 (50%) intervention patients versus 13 (28%) controls (relative risk, 1.77; 95% confidence interval, 1.03 to 3.05; P = 0.03; adjusted odds ratio, 3.73; P = 0.03). Within 48 hours, creatinine level had increased by 0.8 +/- 1.1 mg/dL with intervention versus 0.2 +/- 0.6 mg/dL for controls (P = 0.002). Overall, 11 (12%) patients died or required dialysis, with no difference according to allocation status (P = 0.5). Random-effects meta-analysis of published data (3 trials; 251 patients) suggests furosemide-based interventions lead to significant harm compared with hydration: pooled relative risk, 2.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.37 to 3.37; I(2) = 0%. LIMITATIONS Small single-center study that cannot determine whether harms were related to furosemide, mannitol, or a combination. CONCLUSIONS Forced euvolemic diuresis led to a significantly increased risk of contrast-induced nephropathy. This strategy should be abandoned, and our results suggest that oral furosemide therapy perhaps should be held before angiography.
Clinical Trial: Marine Lipid Suppositories as Laxatives

Cod-liver oil and other marine products containing polyunsaturated fatty acids have anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-viral effects and may be useful in the treatment of various inflammatory and infectious diseases. We developed suppositories and ointment with 30% free fatty acid (FFA) extract from omega-3 fish oil. Our purpose was to evaluate the safety of marine lipid suppositories and ointment in healthy volunteers and to explore the laxative effect of the suppositories. Thirty healthy volunteers were randomized either to a study group administrating 30% FFA suppositories and applying 30% FFA ointment to the perianal region twice per day for two weeks, or to a control group using placebo suppositories and ointment in a double blinded manner. Results: No serious toxic effects or irritation were observed. In the study group 93% felt the urge to defecate after administration of the suppositories as compared to 37% in the control group (P = 0.001). Subsequently 90% in the study group defecated, compared to 33% in the control group (P = 0.001). Conclusion: The marine lipid suppositories and ointment were well tolerated with no significant toxic side effects observed during the study period. The suppositories have a distinct laxative effect and we aim to explore this effect in further clinical trials.
Severe thrombocytopenia in iron deficiency anemia

Mild‐to‐moderate thrombocytopenia has been reported as an occasional finding in patients with iron deficiency. The present case describes a multiparous woman who presented with increased menorrhagia, severe anemia (3.0 g/dl) and thrombocytopenia (9,000 platelets/mm3). Her bone marrow examination showed iron deficiency, megakaryocytopenia, and erythroid hypoplasia but no other evidence of a primary marrow disorder. Her symptoms, the thrombocytopenia and the megakaryocytopenia, resolved with iron replacement. This case demonstrates the profound degree to which thrombopoiesis can be affected in iron deficiency.