Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting long-term outcomes of acute aortic dissection: a focus on gender

Acute aortic disease ranks as the 19th leading cause of death with steadily increasing incidence. The prevalence of aneurysms varies depending on the localization along the aorta with a mortality of aortic rupture of around 80%. Traditionally, aortic disease affects men more frequently than women, however, with a varying gender ratio. Nevertheless, in the setting of acute aortic dissection, the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissections identified significant gender-related differences in the management of both sexes with acute aortic conditions. Current data suggest that women are at an increased risk of both dying from aortic dissection and having aorta-related complications than men. This review aims to report on current evidence of gender impact on natural history, treatment and outcomes in patients with acute aortic dissection.
Influence of LIF and BMP‐2 on differentiation and development of glial cells in primary cultures of embryonic rat cerebral hemisphere

Cells prepared from the cerebral hemisphere of embryonic Day 18 rats were maintained for 2 days in serum‐free modified Bottenstein‐Sato (mBS) medium containing thyroid hormone (TH), with or without leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) or bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)‐2, and these influences on the differentiation and development of glial cells were investigated using the cells maintained in mBS medium containing TH as controls. The levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression and the number of GFAP‐positive astrocytes increased markedly with the addition of LIF or BMP‐2, and were enhanced further with the addition of both LIF and BMP‐2. The number of O1‐positive oligodendrocytes increased with the addition of LIF, whereas it decreased with the addition of BMP‐2. The number did not change with the addition of both cytokines. Using antibody against platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF), we then excluded indirect effects of these cytokines through PDGF, which would increase by accelerated astrocyte development. When PDGF was neutralized, the number of oligodendrocytes increased under all conditions examined. As a result of the neutralization, the effect of BMP‐2 on oligodendrocyte differentiation was eliminated, although LIF remained effective. These results suggest that the differentiation of oligodendrocytes was delayed partially by PDGF even in control cultures. It is also suggested that LIF and BMP‐2, each of which accelerates the differentiation and development of astrocytes, would seem to have different effects on oligodendrocyte differentiation, i.e., LIF would directly affect oligodendrocyte differentiation, whereas BMP‐2 would affect it mainly through PDGF. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Tobacco cessation and health promotion

The World Health Organization defines health promotion as “The process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants,”whereby individual health is improved. The development of healthy public policy requires collaborations between scientists, healthcare workers, and government officials. Disease prevention begins with awareness, education, and risk modification. The tremendous power exerted by social norms on individual behavior is also central to the relationships between cigarettes, smoking cessation, and advocacy. The single largest opportunity to modify individual risk of lung cancer is smoking cessation. In fact, this is primary prevention of all tobacco‐ associated diseases. Lung cancer screening for smokers and former smokers provides secondary prevention by decreasing the mortality and morbidity associated with lung cancer. Therefore, smoking cessation should be an essential part of any lung cancer screening program.
METAPOPULATION STRUCTURE OF A SEED–PREDATOR WEEVIL AND ITS HOST PLANT IN ARMS RACE COEVOLUTION

Although the importance of gene flow in the geographic structuring of host–parasite interactions has been well discussed, little is known about how dispersal drives the spatial dynamics of other types of coevolutionary interactions in nature. We evaluated the roles of gene flow in the geographically structured processes of a predator–prey arms race involving a seed–predatory weevil with a long mouthpart and its host camellia plant with a thick fruit coat. Molecular genetic analyses showed that both weevil and camellia populations were structured at a spatial scale of several kilometers. Importantly, the spatial pattern of the migration of weevils, but not that of camellias, imposed significant effects on the geographic configuration of the levels of coevolutionary escalation. This result suggests that even if migration is limited in one species (camellia), local coevolution with the other species that migrates between neighboring localities (weevil) can reduce the interpopulation difference in the local adaptive optima of the former species. Thus, gene flow of a species potentially homogenizes the local biological environments provided by the species and thereby promotes the evolutionary convergence of its coevolving counterparts. Consequently, by focusing on coevolutionary interactions in natural communities, “indirect” effects of gene flow on the adaptive divergence of organisms could be identified.
The Influence of Query Interface Design on Decision-Making Performance

Managers in modern organizations are confronted with ever-increasing volumes of information that they must evaluate when making a decision. Data warehousing and data mining technologies have given managers a number of valuable tools that can help them store, retrieve, and analyze information contained in large databases; however, maximizing user performance with these tools remains a challenge for information systems professionals. One important and under-explored aspect of the effectiveness of these tools is the design of the query interface. In this study, we compared the use of visual and text-based interfaces on both low and high complexity tasks. Results demonstrated that decision maker performance was more accurate using the text-based interface when task complexity was low; however, decision makers using the visual interface performed better when task complexity was high. In addition, decision makers' subjective mental workload was significantly lower when using the visual interface, regardless of task complexity. In contrast to expectations, less time was needed to make a decision on low complexity tasks when using the visual interface, but those results were reversed under conditions of high task complexity. These results have important implications for the design of managerial decision-making systems, particularly in complex decision-making environments.
Bacterial vaginosis as a risk factor for preterm delivery: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate bacterial vaginosis as a risk factor for preterm delivery. STUDY DESIGN Selection criteria were (1). the data appeared in original, published English-language reports of prospective studies or control groups of clinical trials that included women at <37 weeks of gestation with intact amniotic membranes, (2). all the women had to have been screened for bacterial vaginosis that was diagnosed by either clinical criteria or criteria that were based on Gram stain findings, and (3). the outcomes were preterm delivery, spontaneous abortion, maternal or neonatal infection, and perinatal death. RESULTS Eighteen studies with results for 20,232 patients were included. Bacterial vaginosis increased the risk of preterm delivery >2-fold (odds ratio, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.54-3.12). Higher risks were calculated for subgroups of studies that screened for bacterial vaginosis at <16 weeks of gestation (odds ratio, 7.55; 95% CI, 1.80-31.65) or at <20 weeks of gestation (odds ratio, 4.20; 95% CI, 2.11-8.39). Bacterial vaginosis also significantly increased the risk of spontaneous abortion (odds ratio, 9.91; 95% CI, 1.99-49.34) and maternal infection (odds ratio, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.26-5.08). No significant results were calculated for the outcome of neonatal infection or perinatal death. CONCLUSION Bacterial vaginosis, early in pregnancy, is a strong risk factor for preterm delivery and spontaneous abortion.
Endotoxin Inactivation in Water by Using Medium-Pressure UV Lamps

ABSTRACT Deionized water was spiked with various concentrations of endotoxin and exposed to UV irradiation from medium-pressure UV lamps to assess endotoxin inactivation. It was found that endotoxin inactivation was proportional to the UV dose under the conditions examined. The inactivation rate was determined to be ∼0.55 endotoxin unit/ml per mJ/cm2 of irradiation delivered.
ERKMAPK Activity as a Determinant of Tumor Growth and Dormancy; Regulation by p38SAPK

After dissemination from a primary tumor, cancer cells may resume growth, leading to overt metastasis, or enter a state of protracted dormancy. However, mechanisms that determine their fate, or markers that predict it, are mostly unavailable. We previously showed that in HEp3 human head and neck carcinoma, the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)MAPK/p38SAPK activity ratio predicts whether the cells will proliferate or enter a state of dormancy in vivo. The proproliferative balance of high ERK/p38 ratio was induced by high urokinase (uPA) receptor (uPAR) expression, which activated α5β1-integrin and epidermal growth factor receptor. This signaling pathway was additionally enhanced by uPA binding to uPAR and fibronectin binding to α5β1-integrin. We tested whether the ERK/p38 balance is predictive of in vivo behavior in other cancer cell types and whether altering the balance will shift their phenotype between proliferation and dormancy. ERK and p38 activities were determined using either phospho-specific monoclonal antibodies or a trans-reporting system where GAL4-Elk and GAL4-CHOP trans-activation of luciferase gene served as reporters for ERK and p38 activities, respectively. We show that in breast, prostate, melanoma, and fibrosarcoma cell lines, the level of active phospho-ERK and the ERK/p38 activity ratio predict for the in vivo behavior in ∼90% of the cell lines tested. Modulation of ERK/p38 activity ratio by multiple pharmacological and genetic interventions confirms that high ERK/p38 ratio favors tumor growth, whereas high p38/ERK ratio induces tumor growth arrest (dormancy) in vivo and that ERK is negatively regulated by p38. A melanoma cell line appeared to have developed an escape mechanism to avoid the growth inhibitory effect of high p38 activity. Mechanistic analysis implicated high uPAR expression and its interaction with and activation of α5β1-integrin as determinants of the in vivo growth promoting high ERK/p38 ratio in several cell lines. The small GTPase, Cdc42, was implicated in activation of p38 and growth arrest. These results suggest that even cells that originate in advanced cancers retain a degree of dependence on surface receptors and matrix for their proliferative signals in vivo and provide a therapeutic opportunity to change their phenotype from tumorigenic to dormant.
Natural History of Low‐Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion

Objective To determine guidelines for management of CIN1 by evaluating its natural history. Methods One hundred fifty-eight patients were diagnosed with CIN1 had colposcopy follow-up with or without cytology every three months. Results Colposcopically directed biopsy confirmed progression to CIN2 or CIN3 in 17 of 158 (10.7%) patients, persistence of CIN1 in 87 (55%) patients, regression to normal in 54 (34.2%) patients during the 5-year follow-up period. The percentage of abnormal Pap tests were 39%, 64%, and 71% in the regression, persistent, and progression groups, respectively. The percentage of HPV-positive tests were 16%, 29%, 65% in regression, persistent, and progression groups, respectively. Conclusions Of the patients who were diagnosed with CIN1 and monitored by colposcopy for 60 months, 34% had disease regression, 55% had persistent disease, and 11% had progressive disease. HPV DNA testing is more informative than the Pap test in the prediction of disease progression.
Sports-Specific Adaptation of Left Ventricular Muscle Mass in Athlete's Heart

Regarding the influence of the left ventricular (LV) adaptation by sports-specific factors the supposed endurance training have so far been compared mainly to strength conditioning. In the present study we investigated the echocardiographic LV measurements of endurance-trained athletes in different kinds of endurance sports (running and ball games) by using matched-pair procedures. We examined 22 male soccer players (S) and 22 male 400-m runners (R) on a regional up to a national level with--each similar in pairs--the following body mass (S: 75.7 +/-5.0 kg; R: 75.2 +/- 5.6), body surface area (S: 1.97 +/- 0.09 m2; R: 1.98 +/- 0.09), fat-free body mass (S: 68.4 +/- 4.6 kg; R: 68.3 +/- 5.3) and individual anaerobic threshold as a criterion to determine the running endurance (S: 14.23 +/- 0.79 km.h-1; R: 14.25 +/- 0.80). The body dimensions-related heart volume (HV/lean body mass: S: 14.2 +/- 1.5 ml.kg-1; R: 13.4 +/- 1.0) as well as the absolute and body surface-related LV internal diameter (EDD: S: 55.0 +/- 3.8 mm; R: 52.7 +/- 3.3; EDD/body-surface area: S: 27.8 +/- 1.9 mm.m-2; R: 26.6 +/- 1.3) were measured significantly higher in S as compared to R (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). In both groups, free LV wall thickness, enddiastolic diameter and LV muscle mass correlated significantly with the body dimensions (fat-free body mass: r = 0.42 - 0.48 - 0.56; p < 0.004, respectively). In conclusion, specific sport-related strain like frequent exercises in interval form (typical for ball games) and a different volume/intensity ratio could significantly influence the LV adaptation beside the endurance performance as well as constitutional and genetic factors.
Effects of electromagnetic radiation from a cellular telephone on the oxidant and antioxidant levels in rabbits

The number of reports on the effects induced by electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in various cellular systems is still increasing. Until now no satisfactory mechanism has been proposed to explain the biological effects of this radiation. Oxygen free radicals may play a role in mechanisms of adverse effects of EMR. This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of electromagnetic radiation of a digital GSM mobile telephone (900 MHz) on oxidant and antioxidant levels in rabbits. Adenosine deaminase, xanthine oxidase, catalase, myeloperoxidase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase activities as well as nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde levels were measured in sera and brains of EMR‐exposed and sham‐exposed rabbits. Serum SOD activity increased, and serum NO levels decreased in EMR‐exposed animals compared to the sham group. Other parameters were not changed in either group. This finding may indicate the possible role of increased oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of adverse effect of EMR. Decreased NO levels may also suggest a probable role of NO in the adverse effect. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Molecular characterization of the Escherichia coli FimH adhesin.

Bacterial adherence mediated by fimbriae is an essential prerequisite for colonization of the urinary tract. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli express a number of different adhesive organelles, including P, type 1, S, and F1C fimbriae [1]. Type 1, or mannose-sensitive, fimbriae are produced by >80% of all uropathogenic E. coli. It is now well established that the expression of type 1 fimbriae by E. coli is a virulence factor for pathogenesis of the urinary tract [2, 3]. A typical type 1 fimbriated bacterium has 200-500 peritrichously arranged fimbriae on its surface. A single type 1 fimbria
The Contributions of Child and Romantic Attachment to Sleep Quality

Little is known about the relation between attachment and sleep, although both develop around the first year of life and mutually influence each other. Furthermore, attachment styles and dimensions have been associated with sleep difficulties in both childhood and adulthood. However, these findings have not been consistent, especially among dismissing individuals. In addition, the specific contributions of both child and romantic attachment to sleep quality have not been investigated thus far. This cross-sectional study aims to examine the ways child and romantic attachment are associated with sleep quality. A sample of 671 heterosexual residents of the United States, aged 18 to 65 years, were recruited through social media platforms. It was hypothesized that: 1) Romantic attachment significantly and positively explains the association between child attachment scores (higher scores indicate less security) and poorer sleep quality so that this association is weakened in the presence of romantic attachment; 2) Dismissing or secure romantic attachment is related to good sleep quality while preoccupied or fearful romantic attachment is related to poor sleep quality. Analyses were stratified by sex and were adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, education, income, marital status, length of current romantic relationship, and recruitment site. The mediational hypothesis (1) was supported for models examining the relation between child anxious attachment and sleep quality in men and women. The test of the second hypothesis revealed a significant relation between romantic attachment dimensions and sleep, but no specific attachment style was associated with sleep quality. The links between romantic attachment insecurity and sleep dysfunction by sex suggests that men and women regulate affect differently. Considering attachment as part of the broader framework of emotion regulation provides a window into individual differences in sleep quality, and sleep-wake patterns may be understood as manifestations of attachment behaviors in research, prevention, and treatment of sleep difficulties in adults.
DNA damage in lead-exposed hepatocytes: coexistence of apoptosis and necrosis?

The aim of the present study was to investigate the coexistence of oxidative DNA damage and apoptosis- and necrosis-related DNA damage, and to correlate with ultrastructural changes in hepatocyte nuclei in the lead-nitrate–exposed liver. Adult male Wistar rats were exposed to 0, 0.5, and 1% lead nitrate for 60 days, and the livers were sampled the next day. Ultrastructurally, hepatocyte nuclei showed no apoptosis-related morphological changes, but showed necrotic changes. Competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed no change in 8-oxo-dG activity (P > 0.05), but immunohistochemistry showed its localization in hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, endothelium, and bile ductule epithelium. TUNEL-labeled DNA breaks presenting 3′-OH ends increased in hepatocytes in all functional zones of the portal acini and bile ductule epithelium (zones I>III>II). In situ oligo ligation revealed the existence of DNA breaks bearing duplex 3′ overhangs and 5′ P-blunt ends in hepatocytes of all functional zones and bile ductule epithelium. In conclusion, both apoptosis- and necrosis-related DNA damage coexist without significant oxidative DNA damage. Hepatocytes display changes related to necrosis, but not those related to apoptosis.
Compensation of transmission channel effects in chaos synchronization

The synchronization of chaos is a well-known topic which attracted the attention of the scientific community in the last two decades. However, the robustness of the synchronous state has been not widely studied, especially considering real cases in which the effects introduced by the physical channel through which chaotic circuits interact, may deeply influence the quality of synchronization and even the onset of it. In this paper, the synchronization of two chaotic circuit coupled through a non-ideal channel is investigated. In particular, the effects of channels introducing a frequency-independent or frequency-dependent time-delay are investigated. Furthermore, two different design strategies to obtain a linear compensation block able to compensate the considered channel effects are presented and the recovery of the synchronous state is discussed.
Detecting Security Vulnerabilities in Object-Oriented PHP Programs

PHP is one of the most popular web development tools in use today. A major concern though is the improper and insecure uses of the language by application developers, motivating the development of various static analyses that detect security vulnerabilities in PHP programs. However, many of these approaches do not handle recent, important PHP features such as object orientation, which greatly limits the use of such approaches in practice. In this paper, we present OOPIXY, a security analysis tool that extends the PHP security analyzer PIXY to support reasoning about object-oriented features in PHP applications. Our empirical evaluation shows that OOPIXY detects 88% of security vulnerabilities found in micro benchmarks. When used on real-world PHP applications, OOPIXY detects security vulnerabilities that could not be detected using state-of-the-art tools, retaining a high level of precision. We have contacted the maintainers of those applications, and two applications’ development teams verified the correctness of our findings. They are currently working on fixing the bugs that lead to those vulnerabilities.
Compiling three-address code for C programs

This paper describes a post processor that improves the assembly-language code generated by the portable C compiler. The novel ability to change a sequence of two-address instructions into an equivalent three-address instruction distinguishes this particular code improver from other “peephole” improvers. The combined compiler-improver generates good three-address code for the Digital Equipment Corporation vax-11® computer without requiring extensive changes in the compiler itself, which was designed to accommodate machine architectures with at most two addresses per instruction. For typical programs the improver reduces the number of bytes in the instruction stream by 10 to 23 percent. This paper emphasizes the technique used to transform two-address code to three-address code.
Trends in multi-layer cellular system design and handover design

This paper presents an overview of current research and published work on the performance of multi-layer cellular architectures and the handover performance in such networks. In a multi-layer cellular network, macrocells with a large coverage area, overlay microcells or picocells with smaller coverage areas. This network architecture, if well engineered, can provide improved QoS and higher capacity over the traditional single-tier cellular network under the same resource constraints. The small coverage of microcells/picocells, and the consequent multipath and shadow fading characteristics, mean that handover events in future systems will occur at a much higher rate. Therefore efficient handover algorithms are a cost-effective way of enhancing the capacity and QoS of cellular systems. This paper describes several methods that can be used for the evaluation of handover-related system performance.
HIV/AIDS stigma: The latest dirty secret

The rejection of HIV/AIDS stigma is based on the understanding that all acts of social exclusion relating to HIV/AIDS are not only morally wrong but also counterproductive to effective HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. There is some survey evidence suggesting that HIV/AIDS stigma has already diminished substantially over time both in South Africa and worldwide. However, it is arguable that these surveys are failing to measure the changing face of stigma effectively. This paper describes some of the conceptual and methodological challenges that quantitative research measuring stigma needs to address. Foremost amongst these is the fact that HIV/AIDS stigma stems from multiple sources which cannot be conflated if stigma is to be properly identified, measured and most importantly, addressed.