Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biomarkers of Osteoarthritis: A Review of Recent Research Progress on Soluble Biochemical Markers, Published Patents and Areas for Future Development

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type of arthritis in humans and animals. It is a major cause of pain and disability and has significant consequences for public health. The burden of OA is expected to increase with ageing of the population and the present obesity epidemic. Therefore, there is an acute need for reliable biomarkers that can facilitate earlier diagnosis of OA, and inform the prognosis, monitoring and therapeutic strategies for chronic forms of this disease. However, the field is hampered by a lack of reliable, quantifiable, easily measured biomarkers that provide an earlier diagnosis of OA, inform on the prognostic of the disease and monitor and predict the responses of a patient to a therapeutic modality. Biomarkers of tissue turnover in joints have the capacity to reflect disease relevant biological activity and provide information that may be useful diagnostically and therapeutically, potentially enabling a more rational and personalised approach to healthcare management. In this paper, we review recent progress in the area of OA biochemical marker research. We hope that this review stimulates further research into OA biomarkers and contributes to the development of new and innovative tests for early disease diagnosis, facilitating individualised treatment and improving clinical outcome. We also review a selected number of recent patents relevant to the area of OA biomarkers highlighting areas for commercial development.
Temporomandibular pain and jaw dysfunction at different ages covering the lifespan – A population based study

Temporomandibular pain and jaw dysfunction can have a negative effect on daily life, but these conditions are not well recognized in the health care systems. The general aim was to examine the cross‐sectional prevalence of frequent temporomandibular pain and jaw dysfunction in men and women across the lifespan.
The in vitro mechanisms and in vivo efficacy of intravenous lidocaine on the neuroinflammatory response in acute and chronic pain

The neuroinflammatory response plays a key role in several pain syndromes. Intravenous (iv) lidocaine is beneficial in acute and chronic pain. This review delineates the current literature concerning in vitro mechanisms and in vivo efficacy of iv lidocaine on the neuroinflammatory response in acute and chronic pain.
The Neurology of Eye Movements, 4th Edition

Scope: This is a major revision of the classic text on everything you would want to know (and more! ) about ocular motility. The first edition of this remarkable book was published in 1983 at 281 pages, and this fourth edition at 763 pages plus an accompanying DVD reflects the veritable explosion of information on the neurobiology and clinical relevance of eye movements. The authors are the same duo of clinician-scientists whose names have literally represented the study of ocular motility for more than a quarter century. As in the first edition, the book is divided into two sections, the first dealing with fundamentals of neurophysiology of eye movements and the second dealing with its clinical applications. The first eight chapters present the results of basic ocular motor research in a form useful for clinicians. The reader will find an unparalleled up-to-date synthesis of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of ocular motility. The last four chapters provide a pathophysiologic approach to clinical disorders with symptoms and signs of eye movement disorders, including the differential diagnoses of disorders involving the muscles, neuromuscular junction, ocular motor cranial nerves, vestibular system, and central nervous system areas involved in ocular motility. Each chapter begins with an outline of its content for easy reference and ends with a summary in bullet-point form, followed by extensive, comprehensive referencing. Throughout the chapters there are multiple summary boxes, figures, schematic diagrams, and tables. The accompanying DVD provides the full text of the book with links to 23 video displays that provide downloadable teaching slides. Additionally, the DVD contains 200 video clips, images, and the hand-written lecture notes ‘‘Linear Control Systems in the Oculomotor System’’ by David A. Robinson, the acknowledged mentor of the authors.
Speech technology-based assessment of phoneme intelligibility in dysarthria.

BACKGROUND Currently, clinicians mainly rely on perceptual judgements to assess intelligibility of dysarthric speech. Although often highly reliable, this procedure is subjective with a lot of intrinsic variables. Therefore, certain benefits can be expected from a speech technology-based intelligibility assessment. Previous attempts to develop an automated intelligibility assessment mainly relied on automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems that were trained to recognize the speech of persons without known impairments. In this paper automatic speech alignment (ASA) systems are used instead. In addition, previous attempts only made use of phonemic features (PMF). However, since articulation is an important contributing factor to intelligibility of dysarthric speech and since phonological features (PLF) are shared by multiple phonemes, phonological features may be more appropriate to characterize and identify dysarthric phonemes. AIMS To investigate the reliability of objective phoneme intelligibility scores obtained by three types of intelligibility models: models using only phonemic features (yielded by an automated speech aligner) (PMF models), models using only phonological features (PLF models), and models using a combination of phonemic and phonological features (PMF + PLF models). METHODS & PROCEDURES Correlations were calculated between the objective phoneme intelligibility scores of 60 dysarthric speakers and the corresponding perceptual phoneme intelligibility scores obtained by a standardized perceptual phoneme intelligibility assessment. OUTCOMES & RESULTS The correlations between the objective and perceptual intelligibility scores range from 0.793 for the PMF models, over 0.828 for PLF models to 0.943 for PMF + PLF models. The features selected to obtain such high correlations can be divided into six main subgroups: (1) vowel-related phonemic and phonological features, (2) lateral-related features, (3) silence-related features, (4) fricative-related features, (5) velar-related features and (6) plosive-related features. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS The phoneme intelligibility scores of dysarthric speakers obtained by the three investigated intelligibility model types are reliable. The highest correlation between the perceptual and objective intelligibility scores was found for models combining phonemic and phonological features. The intelligibility scoring system is now ready to be implemented in a clinical tool.
Pain‐catastrophizing and fear‐avoidance beliefs as mediators between post‐traumatic stress symptoms and pain following whiplash injury – A prospective cohort study

Knowledge about the course of recovery after whiplash injury is important. Most valuable is identification of prognostic factors that may be reversed by intervention. The mutual maintenance model outlines how post‐traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and pain may be mutually maintained by attention bias, fear, negative affect and avoidance behaviours. In a similar vein, the fear‐avoidance model describes how pain‐catastrophizing (PCS), fear‐avoidance beliefs (FA) and depression may result in persistent pain. These mechanisms still need to be investigated longitudinally in a whiplash cohort.
A Comparison of Attitudes Toward Cognitive Enhancement and Legalized Doping in Sport in a Community Sample of Australian Adults

Background: This article compares public attitudes toward the use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement with the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport. We explore attitudes toward the acceptability of both practices; the extent to which familiarity with cognitive enhancement is related to its perceived acceptability; and relationships between the acceptability of cognitive enhancement and legalized doping in sport. Methods: A survey was administered through a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system to members of the Australian general public aged 18–101 years in the state of Queensland. Results: Of 1,265 participants, 7% agreed that cognitive enhancement is acceptable; 2.4% of the total sample said they had taken prescription drugs to enhance their concentration or alertness in the absence of a diagnosed disorder, and a further 8% said they knew someone who had done so. These participants were twice as likely to think cognitive enhancement was acceptable. Only 3.6% of participants agreed that people who play professional sport should be allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs if they wanted to. Participants who found cognitive enhancement acceptable were 9.5 times more likely to agree with legalized doping. Conclusions: Policies that facilitated the use of prescription drugs by healthy people for cognitive enhancement or permitted performance-enhancing drugs in sport would be at odds with the attitudes of the vast majority of our participants. Furthermore, our findings do not support media claims that the use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement is widespread in all sectors of society.
Glycemic Control with Diet, Sulfonylurea, Metformin, or Insulin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Progressive Requirement for Multiple Therapies (UKPDS 49)

ONE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF treating patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus is to produce near-normal glucose levels to prevent the development of diabetic complications. The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and Stockholm studies in white patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, and the Kumamoto study in nonobese Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) indicate that improved blood glucose control will delay the progress of microvascular complications. An epidemiological study of Pima Indians suggested that when the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level is less than 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL), the risk of developing microvascular complications is lower. This finding was corroborated by a similar study in whites with 2-hour oral FPG tolerance data. More recent studies have shown the risk of retinopathy to increase at FPG levels between 6.4 and 7.6 mmol/L (115-137 mg/dL) in Pima Indians, between 6.0 and 7.2 mmol/L (108-130 mg/dL) in Egyptians, and between 6.0 and 6.7 mmol/L (108-121 mg/dL) in a US population sample. The level of glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) that is equivalent to this level of hyperglyAuthor Affiliations: Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, England. A complete list of the members of the UK Prospective Diabetes Study Group was published previously (Lancet. 1998;352:837-853). Financial Disclosure: We received support from pharmaceutical companies including Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals A/S (Bagsvaerd, Denmark), Bayer Pharmaceutical Division (Newbury, England), Bristol Myers Squibb Co (Hounslow, England), Hoechst Marion Roussel (Bridgewater, NJ), Eli Lilly & Co (Indianapolis, Ind), Lipha (Lyon, France), and Farmitalia Carlo Erba (St Albans, England). Additional assistance was provided by Boehringer Mannheim Corp (Livingston, Scotland), Becton Dickinson Co (Oxford, England), Owen Mumford (Woodstock, England), Securicor (London, England), Eastman Kodak Co Health Imaging Division (Hemel Hempstead, England), and Cortecs Diagnostics (Deeside, Scotland). CorrespondingAuthorandReprints: RobertC.Turner, FRCP, UKPDS Study Group, Diabetes Research Laboratories, Radcliffe Infirmary, Woodstock Road, Oxford, EnglandOX26HE(e-mail: robert.turner@drl.ox.ac.uk). Context Treatment with diet alone, insulin, sulfonylurea, or metformin is known to improve glycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, but which treatment most frequently attains target fasting plasma glucose (FPG) concentration of less than 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) or glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) below 7% is unknown. Objective To assess how often each therapy can achieve the glycemic control target levels set by the American Diabetes Association.
CTBT (7-chlorotetrazolo[5,1-c]benzo[1,2,4]triazine) producing ROS affects growth and viability of filamentous fungi.

CTBT (7-chlorotetrazolo[5,1-c]benzo[1,2,4]triazine) causes intracellular superoxide production and oxidative stress and enhances the susceptibility of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans, and C. glabrata cells to cycloheximide, 5-fluorocytosine, and azole antimycotic drugs. Here, we demonstrate the antifungal activity of CTBT against 14 tested filamentous fungi. CTBT prevented spore germination and mycelial proliferation of Aspergillus niger and the pathogenic Aspergillus fumigatus. The action of CTBT is fungicidal. CTBT increased the formation of reactive oxygen species in fungal mycelium as detected by 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate and reduced the radial growth of colonies in a dose-dependent manner. Co-application of CTBT and itraconazole led to complete inhibition of fungal growth at dosages lower than the chemicals alone. Antifungal and chemosensitizing activities of CTBT in filamentous fungi may be useful in combination treatments of infections caused by drug-resistant fungal pathogens.
Principles and Practice of Endocrinology and Metabolism

This new textbook is a well-written and easily understood reference book of nearly 1800 text pages. The authors have attempted to cover the entire field of clinical endocrinology and metabolism with emphasis on the practical aspects of clinical medicine, including pathology, diagnoses, and therapy. It is geared for both the specialist and the primary care physician, and yet it does not skimp on basic science and theoretical aspects of this most academic specialty. This latter point is especially evident in the first section of the book, "General Principles of Endocrinology," which covers such areas as "Are All Cells Endocrine? " "Hormonal Action," "Endocrine Rhythms," "Exercise: Endocrine and Metabolic Effects," and other practical subjects that embrace both the basic science and the practical aspects of the practice of endocrinology and metabolism. Each of the following 15 chapters has introductions that are terse and to the point, followed by detailed discussions of various
Vacuna frente al virus del papiloma humano: un nuevo reto para el pediatra

La infeccion por virus del papiloma humano (VPH) es la enfermedad de transmision sexual mas frecuente en el mundo. Esta infeccion constituye una causa necesaria del cancer de cervix, se ha relacionado con otras formas de cancer anogenital, de via aerea y digestivo, y es ademas el origen de las verrugas anogenitales. Los avances recientes en la vacunacion profilactica frente al VPH y la inminente disponibilidad comercial de estas vacunas, colocan al pediatra ante un nuevo reto: la indicacion y administracion de estas vacunas para la prevencion de la infeccion por VPH, y como consecuencia, del cancer de cervix y otras patologias relacionadas con el VPH. En este articulo se revisan los aspectos esenciales de la infeccion por VPH, su relacion con el cancer de cervix, los avances en las vacunas profilacticas frente al VPH y el papel del pediatra en este contexto.
Examining Female-Speci fi c Factors Lends Insight Into Women ’ s More Favorable Prognosis in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement *

T ranscatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an increasingly recognized alternative in high-risk patients in whom open valve surgery is unsuitable. A number of publications now point in the direction of a more favorable prognosis for women than men undergoing TAVR despite experiencing more vascular complications and bleeding in the perioperative period (1,2). Reasons for this sex difference have yet to be determined. With respect to heart disease in general, women differ from men in many ways; women are more often older than men, they have other comorbidity profiles, and their anatomy differs. Collection of a woman’s reproductive history has gained recognition as an important factor in cardiovascular disease guidelines (3,4). However, the underrepresentation of sex-specific data analysis in both clinical trials and registry studies in cardiology limits the understanding of these sex differences (5).
Association between current lifestyle behaviors and health-related quality of life in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer survivors

The purpose of the present study was to compare cancer survivors on three different lifestyle behaviors (i.e., physical activity, fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption, and smoking) and examine the association between these lifestyle behaviors and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Breast (n = 123), colorectal (n = 86), and prostate (n = 107) cancer survivors completed a survey that included lifestyle behavior questions and the RAND-36 Health Status Inventory (HSI). Results showed that similar percentages of breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer survivors met the lifestyle behavior recommendations. Overall, 69.9 and 26.3% reported meeting the recommendations for physical activity and F&V consumption while 94.3% did not smoke. In addition, survivors who met the physical activity recommendation had significantly higher HRQOL than those who did not, however, meeting the F&V recommendation was not related to HRQOL. Nonetheless, survivors who met more than one lifestyle behavior recommendation had significantly higher HRQOL than those who only met one recommendation. Therefore, although it appears that F&V interventions are needed, it may be important to target more than one lifestyle behavior to obtain optimal HRQOL benefits. Importantly, results suggest that physical activity may be the key lifestyle behavior to include in multibehavioral interventions aimed at improving HRQOL.
Persistence of Bartonella spp. stealth pathogens: from subclinical infections to vasoproliferative tumor formation.

Bartonella spp. are facultative intracellular bacteria that typically cause a long-lasting intraerythrocytic bacteremia in their mammalian reservoir hosts, thereby favoring transmission by blood-sucking arthropods. In most cases, natural reservoir host infections are subclinical and the relapsing intraerythrocytic bacteremia may last weeks, months, or even years. In this review, we will follow the infection cycle of Bartonella spp. in a reservoir host, which typically starts with an intradermal inoculation of bacteria that are superficially scratched into the skin from arthropod feces and terminates with the pathogen exit by the blood-sucking arthropod. The current knowledge of bacterial countermeasures against mammalian immune response will be presented for each critical step of the pathogenesis. The prevailing models of the still-enigmatic primary niche and the anatomical location where bacteria reside, persist, and are periodically seeded into the bloodstream to cause the typical relapsing Bartonella spp. bacteremia will also be critically discussed. The review will end up with a discussion of the ability of Bartonella spp. , namely Bartonella henselae, Bartonella quintana, and Bartonella bacilliformis, to induce tumor-like vascular deformations in humans having compromised immune response such as in patients with AIDS.
Structural community factors and sub-optimal engagement in HIV care among low-income women in the Deep South of the USA

Abstract This study describes the ways in which poverty and other structural factors create a risk environment for sub-optimal engagement in HIV care among low-income women living with HIV in the Southern USA, contributing to existing health disparities. We conducted a qualitative study in 2012, involving in-depth interviews with 14 stakeholders (service providers and representatives of community-based organisations) and 7 focus-group discussions with 46 women living with HIV (89% African American). A thematic approach in the context of the social ecological model guided data analysis. Data were coded and analysed using NVivo qualitative software. The findings suggested that structural community factors, such as poverty, poor employment opportunities, limited access to healthcare resources, stigma, transportation challenges and access to illicit substances, may work independently and in synergy to impact women’s health seeking behaviour and decision-making, thereby influencing their ability to engage in HIV care. Interventions designed to improve engagement in HIV care should address structural factors to bolster low-income women’s ability to engage in care.
Effects of raloxifene on breast cancer cell migration and invasion through the actin cytoskeleton

Raloxifene (RAL) is a selective oestrogen receptor modulator (SERM) approved for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and for the prevention of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. However, little is known on the effects of this SERM on breast cancer cell metastasis, which is the main cause of morbidity and death. Cell movement is critical for local progression and distant metastasis of cancer cells. These processes rely on the dynamic control of the actin cytoskeleton and of cell membrane morphology. The aim of the present study was to characterize the effects of RAL or of 17β‐estradiol (E2) plus RAL on oestrogen receptor (ER) positive T47‐D breast cancer cell cytoskeletal remodelling, migration and invasion. Our findings show that, when given alone, RAL induces a weak actin cytoskeleton remodelling in breast cancer cells, with the formation of specialized cell membrane structures implicated in cell motility. However, in the presence of physiological amounts of estradiol, which potently drives breast cancer cell cytoskeletal remodelling and motility, RAL displays a powerful inhibitory effect on oestrogen‐promoted cell migration and invasion. These actions are plaid through an interference of RAL with an extra‐nuclear signalling cascade involving G proteins and the RhoA‐associated kinase, ROCK‐2, linked to the recruitment of the cytoskeletal controller, moesin. Hence, in the presence of estradiol, RAL acts as an ER antagonist. These results highlight a novel mechanism of action of the SERM raloxifene that might be important for the interference of breast cancer progression or metastasis induced by oestrogens in postmenopausal women.
Fifty Shades: ambivalence about birth control in an erotic bestseller and its cultural implications

Abstract The Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James has taken the world by storm and become a cultural phenomenon. The lack of contraceptive use in the erotic fiction, first pointed out by bloggers, is analysed in this article and compared to medical information. James may be praised for sexualising condom use. However, her protagonist makes poor choices in terms of hormonal contraception and is negligent about its use, resulting in an unintended pregnancy and resolved in marital bliss and motherhood. What is of more interest here than a possible message about contraceptive use, is the outcome that the fiction’s negligence in birth control and responsibility affirms an ideology in which female sexuality and sexual experimentation can only be tolerated within the context of procreation and affirmation of motherhood. Subsequently, the cultural significance of the trilogy’s popularity and its tension between sexual exploration, birth control and fertility is explored. In a globally popular fantasy published more than five decades after the introduction of the pill, the protagonist’s lack of attention to reliable birth control leads to a telling dichotomy that combines adventurous exploration of female sexuality and affirmation of the nuclear family.