Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prophylactic protection by N‐acetylcysteine against the pulmonary injury induced by 2‐chloroethyl ethyl sulfide, a mustard analogue

Mustard gas exposure causes adult respiratory distress syndrome associated with lung injury. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an antioxidant, such as N‐acetylcysteine (NAC), has any protective effect. Guinea pigs were given single exposure (0.5–6 mg/kg body weight) of 2‐chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES) as a mustard analogue intratracheally and maintained for various lengths of time (1 h to 21 days). Within 1 h of CEES infusion at 4 mg/kg, high levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α), ceramides, and nuclear factor κB accumulated in lung and alveolar macrophages. Both acid and neutral sphingomyelinases were activated within 4 h. These signal transduction events were associated with alteration in the oxygen defense system. Within 1 h of exposure to CEES (6 mg/kg body weight), there was 10‐fold increase in the 125I‐BSA leakage into lung tissue, indicating severe lung injury. Although low level of CEES exposure (0.5 mg/kg body weight) produced symptoms of chemical burn in lung as early as 1 h after exposure, the severity of edema, congestion, hemorrhage, and inflammation increased progressively with time (1 h to 21 days). Feeding of single dose of NAC (0.5 g) by gavage just before the CEES infusion was ineffective to counteract these effects. However, consumption of the antioxidant in drinking water for 3 or 30 days prior to CEES exposure significantly inhibited the induction of TNF‐α, activation of neutral and acid sphingomyelinases, production of ceramides, activation of caspases, leakage of 125I‐bovine serum albumin (125I‐BSA) into lung tissue, and histological alterations in lung. Pretreatment with NAC for 3 and 30 days protected against 69–76% of the acute lung injury. Therefore, NAC may be an antidote for CEES‐induced lung injury. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 17:177–184, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jbt.10076
A Fuzzy Qualitative Evaluation System: A multi-granular aggregation approach using fuzzy compound linguistic variable

Measuring qualitative attributes is a complex process which includes imprecise decisions for designing, rating, and quantifying the qualitative attributes of the measurement objects. This paper proposes a Fuzzy Qualitative Evaluation System FQES using expert judgment to evaluate perceived qualitative attributes. FQES highlights the fusion of the capabilities of humans and computers in the qualitative evaluation process as humans are proficient in fuzzy reasoning and classification, while computers are superior in calculating human fuzzy inputs with embedded fuzzy algorithms derived in this paper. The innovative methods for the fusion of the capabilities includes a Fuzzy Compound Linguistic Variable FCLV for two dimensional rating categories, a Double Step Rating Approach for determination using FCLV, a Parabola-based Fuzzy Normal Distribution FND for assigning fuzzy numbers for the FCLV and a 5-layer Fuzzy Analytical Network 5FAN which is the multi-granularity aggregation system taking multiple fuzzy number inputs to infer the result using an parametric function. FQES could be the ideal framework to increase the assessment accuracy for qualitative evaluation applications such as customer satisfaction surveys, employee satisfaction surveys, vendor surveys and risk assessment surveys. In the application, this paper demonstrates how FQES can be used to identify the optimum number for the selection of suppliers.
Healthy Spaces in Meaningful Places

Purpose: The influence of place on health is beginning to be addressed in health research. Current understanding of rural places, however, remains in a state of disequilibrium, balancing between geographic and sociocultural positions. This article illuminates the significance of place for rural women’s experiences of health promotion in the rural church. Design: This study used a novel approach to interpretive phenomenological methodology by including the photovoice method to elicit both individual and shared experiential meanings. Method: Twenty-two participants took pictures, wrote in logbooks, and participated in individual and group interviews to share their experiences of health promotion in the rural church. Findings: The church as a place was realized through three broad discourses: (a) an intersection of physical and geographic environments, (b) a gateway to experiential attachment and personal meaning, and (c) a connection to shared culture and beliefs. It is also suggested that place may best be interpreted with an experiential lens as it exhibits lived and felt spaces. Conclusions: Data analysis suggests that place consists of both physical and experiential realities, in addition to being a resource of culture and meaning. Implications for rural women’s health promotion include fostering a deeper recognition of place-shaped experiences of health.
Optical coherence tomography for the detection of early macular edema in diabetic patients with retinopathy.

AIM To compare the retinal thickness measurements with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in healthy subjects with those of type 2 diabetes patients with or without diabetic retinopathy (DR) and with no clinical evidence of diabetic macular edema (DME). PATIENTS AND METHODS The present prospective study included 29 diabetic patients (57 eyes) with no DR (group 1), 32 diabetic patients (63 eyes) with DR (group 2) and 25 healthy volunteers (39 eyes, control group). Eyes showing macular edema on slit-lamp biomicroscopy or leakage on fluorescein angiography were not included in the study. The mean retinal thickness at the central fixation point (CFP) and the 9 ETDRS macular regions were compared in subgroups of healthy volunteers by age, sex and right or left eye. These mean retinal thickness values were also compared in the control group, group 1 and group 2. Early DME was diagnosed with OCT if it exceeded the mean thickness +2.SD (standard deviation) in healthy subjects. RESULTS Mean retinal thickness at the CFP and fovea in healthy eyes was 176 +/- 16.8 microm and 198.3 +/- 21.4 microm, respectively. It was significantly greater in men than in women (p < 0.05), decreased with age and showed no statistically significant difference between right and left eyes. Differences in retinal thickness were found to be significant for the CFP and all ETDRS regions (controls vs. group 1 and controls vs. group 2) and for the CFP, fovea, superior inner, temporal inner and nasal inner ETDRS regions (group 1 vs. group 2, group 2 having greater thickness). Early DME was diagnosed at retinal thickness exceeding 209.6 microm at the CFP and 241.1 microm at the fovea in 13 eyes of diabetic patients from group 2. Twelve eyes with early DME had mild non-proliferative DR and one--moderate non-proliferative DR. CONCLUSION In the present study, mean retinal thickness was greater in diabetic patients (with and without DR) than in healthy subjects. Patients with DR had thicker retinas than patients without DR. Spectral-domain OCT seemed to be useful for the detection of early DME in patients with retinopathy and no clinical evidence of macular edema. Patients with early DME should have a closer follow-up
Anthropometric Analysis of the Maxillary Bone and the Alar Base in Unilateral Cleft Lip with Secondary Nasal Deformity: Classification of a Piriform Margin Bony Depression

Objectives This study was conducted to measure the soft tissue of the alar base and the piriform aperture area of the maxillary bone of unilateral cleft lips with secondary nasal deformities when secondary operation are necessary to classify the alar base depression and to provide a clinical reference for the second surgery. Methods Twenty-six patients with unilateral cleft lip with secondary nasal deformity were treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, China Medial University. Nose data were attained preoperatively and postoperatively. Correlations were made between the soft tissue and the bony depression and patient satisfaction with the nasi basis. Classifications were then made based on these data. Results When the distance discrepancy of the bilateral piriform aperture depression was less than 4.5 mm, we obtained a fine appearance for the nose by repairing only the soft tissues. When it was more than 5 mm, we had to combine repair of the soft tissue with a bone graft or the restitution of the alveolar cleft. When the distance was between 4.5 mm and 5 mm, the surgeon considered both the wishes of the patient and the clinic's standard procedure. Conclusions For patients with cleft lips and palates, the bony depression was not the only factor that resulted in postoperative alar depression. Anthropometry of the nose prior to surgery was important for choosing the methods that would yield satisfactory results.
Generalized Scattering Matrix of the discontinuity between an equilateral triangular waveguide and a rectangular, circular or elliptical waveguide

The full-wave analysis of the discontinuity between an equilateral triangular waveguide and other analytical larger waveguide with rectangular, circular or elliptical cross-section is presented. The equilateral waveguide can be shifted and/or rotated with respect to the other waveguide, providing a great flexibility for the design of microwave components such as transformers, filters or double-polarization components. Furthermore, the presented quasi-analytic formulation, unified for the three cases throughout the use of plane wave series, is very efficient and can be integrated in hybrid solvers for full-wave optimization. The Mode-Matching technique is employed for analyzing the basic discontinuity and the inner cross products between the modes are computed by means of their plane wave representation in the different waveguides. The simulation results are compared with those obtained by other numerical techniques.
A Very Rare Entity: Catamenial Pneumothorax

Catamenial pneumothorax, a variant of spontaneous pneumothorax occurs exclusively in women of menstrual age. Catamenial pneumothorax is associated with a high rate of recurrence. The etiology and pathogenesis is enigmatic. We describe the case of a 42-year-old woman with right-sided catamenial pneumothorax recurring four times, caused by ectopic endometriosis in the pleural layers which was confirmed histopathologically. Surgical treatment should be accomplished during menstruation for optimal visualization of pleurodiaphragmatic endometriosis.
Segmented high speed imaging of vibrating microbubbles during long ultrasound pulses

Detailed information about the response of microbubbles to long ultrasound pulses (>100 cycles) is hampered by the limited time span ultra fast-framing cameras (> 10 MHz) cover. We therefore developed a new imaging mode for the Brandaris 128 camera [1], facilitating high speed imaging during small time windows (segments), equally distributed over a relatively large time span.
Limited utility of alanine aminotransferase screening of hepatitis C antibody‐screened blood donors

BACKGROUND: The introduction of hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening has significantly reduced the frequency of posttransfusion hepatitis C. To examine the current added value of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) screening, all donor screening at two large blood centers was reviewed. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: From July 1991 through March 1994, 1,258,000 allogeneic blood donors were screened by enzyme immunoassay for anti‐ HCV: 343,000 donations by the first‐generation test (HCV 1.0) and 915,000 donations by the second‐generation test (HCV 2.0). Donations with positive EIA results were confirmed with a recombinant immunoblot assay. RESULTS: Of these donors, 1,637 (0.13%) were confirmed as HCV‐ positive and 21,666 (1.72%) had elevated ALT. To estimate the additional margin of safety due to ALT screening, all donors who seroconverted were reviewed, and those donors who had elevated ALT but were HCV negative on a previous donation were identified. One hundred eleven HCV seroconversions were observed: 19 seroconversions from HCV 1.0‐negative to HCV 1.0‐confirmed‐positive, 82 apparent seroconversions from HCV 1.0‐negative to HCV 2.0‐confirmed‐positive, and 10 seroconversions from HCV 2.0‐negative to HCV 2.0‐confirmed‐positive. The number of apparent HCV 1.0‐negative to HCV 2.0‐positive seroconversions was much greater than expected, which reflected the increased sensitivity of HCV 2.0. Only 15 donors were identified who had an elevated ALT on a previous HCV‐negative blood donation, and all of these were among those who apparently seroconverted from HCV 1.0‐ negative to HCV 2.0‐confirmed‐positive. Out of the 10 HCV 2.0‐ seroconverting donors, no donor was found who was initially HCV 2.0 negative with elevated ALT and later was HCV 2.0 positive; nor were such donors found among 4 additional HCV 2.0‐seroconverting donors. CONCLUSION: With the introduction of HCV 2.0 screening. ALT appears to have little value as a surrogate test for hepatitis C, and ALT testing was unable to detect any donors who later seroconverted, as detected by HCV 2.0.
Evaluation of the Austrian Industrial Research Promotion Fund (FFF) and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Synthesis Report

Dieser Synthesebericht fasst eine wesentliche Evaluierung der beiden bedeutendsten Forderinstitutionen von Wissenschaft und Innovation in Osterreich zusammen: Des Forschungsforderungsfonds fur die gewerbliche Wirtschaft (FFF) und des Fonds zur Forderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF). Es wurde von einem grosen internationalen Team von Evaluatoren und zwei Panels von leitenden Wissenschaftern und Forschungsadministration durchgefuhrt. In diesem Bericht betrachten wir eine Reihe von Optionen fur die Zukunft. Zusatzlich zu den ausfuhrlicheren Empfehlungen, die wir uber die Fonds machen, erreichen wir einige weitere Schlussfolgerungen. Die Verbesserung der Leistungsfahigkeit der Fonds erfordert auch wichtige Anderungen in ihrem Kontext. Mit dem besten Willen ist es schwer fur eine Agentur in einem komplexen System effektiv zu handeln. Unsere kurze Analyse dieses breiteren Systems schlug die Notwendigkeit einer starkeren Arena-Funktion und fur eine Art Schiedsrichter in der Forschungs- und Innovationsgovernance in Osterreich vor, Rollen, die moglicherweise durch den osterreichischen Rat angegangen werden konnten.
Extraintestinal Infections due to Escherichia Coli : An Emerging

background: Infections due to Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) represent a major but little-appreciated health threat. Proper antibiotic sensitivity testing and judicious use of antibiotics are crucial in treatment of such infections. Aims: This study was done to determine the spectrum of infections caused by ExPEC and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. settings and Design: Department of Microbiology, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital which is a tertiary care, teaching hospital attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute. This is a prospective study from January 2009 to December 2010. Materials & Methods: A total of 379 E. coli isolates from various extraintestinal infections were studied for the antimicrobial sensitivity. The isolates were processed using standard procedures. All strains of E.coli were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility pattern by modified Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. The results were interpreted using CLSI guidelines and statistically analyzed. Results: A total of 379 strains of E.coli were isolated from extraintestinal infections. Out of these 253 (66.7%) were from urine, 101 (26.6%) were from pus & exudates, 23 (6.1%) from sputum and 2 (0.5%) from blood. The analysis of drug resistance pattern shows that among 349 isolates of E.coli maximum number 357 (94.2%) were resistant to ampicillin and least, 0(0%) were resistant to carbapenams followed by 59 (15.6%) to netilmicin. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a significant increase in the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among E.coli isolates. When selecting empirical therapy, in vitro susceptibility patterns must be considered along with other factors, such as expected efficacy, adverse effects, cost, cost-effectiveness, and selection of resistant strains. Extraintestinal Infections due to Escherichia Coli: An Emerging Issue
Bipolar disorder: leads from the molecular and cellular mechanisms of action of mood stabilisers

Background New research is dramatically altering our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal communication. Aim To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of mood stabilisers. Method Results from integrated clinical and laboratory studies are reviewed. Results Chronic administration of lithium and valproate produced a striking reduction in protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes in rat frontal cortex and hippocampus. In a small study, tamoxifen (also a PKC inhibitor) had marked antimanic efficacy. Both lithium and valproate regulate the DNA binding activity of the activator protein 1 family of transcription factors. Using mRNA differential display, it was also shown that chronic administration of lithium and valproate modulates expression of several genes. An exciting finding is that of a robust elevation in the levels of the cytoprotective protein, bcl-2. Conclusions The results suggest that regulation of signalling pathways may play a major part in the long-term actions of mood stabilisers. Additionally, mood stabilisers may exert underappreciated neuroprotective effects.
Position sensorless direct torque control of BLDC motor by using modifier

Direct torque control (DTC) can directly control the inverter states in order to reduce the torque error within the prefixed band limit DTC of brushless dc drive with trapezoidal back-EMF is presented in this paper. Using the rotor flux vector position in alpha - beta axis stationary reference frame and torque error, the proper switching pattern can be selected to control the generated torque and reducing commutation torque ripple. Sliding mode observer, which is robust to parameter uncertainties can be used to estimate the back-EMF and the generated torque. The rotor flux vector position estimation and its novel modifier can be achieved using a rotor flux observer. Simulation and experimental results confirm that the proposed method is good idea to introduce reliable sensorless scheme.
Molecular stratification of sporadic and hereditary colorectal cancer – mini review

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers and one of the leading causes of cancer death in the Western world. The disease arises from the accumulation of mutations in oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and mismatch repair genes during progression from normal colon epithelium to adenoma and metastatic carcinoma. The majority of colorectal cancers arise in sporadic form. About one-third of patients with CRC have a family history of cancer and elevated risk for this malignant disease. However, only 5% of CRC arise from a germline mutation in high penetrant genes, adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene and DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. The most common hereditary CRC syndrome is Lynch syndrome defined by hereditary germline mutations in one the of MMR genes. The term hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), previously used interchangeably with Lynch syndrome, now refers to a broader spectrum of familial CRC disorders that can mimic some clinical features of Lynch syndrome, but without germline mutations in MMR genes characteristic for Lynch syndrome. Distinguishing between the HNPCC disorders is important for clinicians, as the approach to surveillance for patients and their family members differs according to risk for CRC associated with each syndrome. This mini review will give some information about the most frequent molecular genetics changes in sporadic and hereditary colorectal cancer and its molecular stratification due to its heredity, somatic mutations and microsatellite instability.
[Comparative study on absorption kinetics in intestines of rats of epimedii foliunm of Xianlinggubao capsules prepared by different processes].

OBJECTIVE To study the characteristics of intestinal absorption of icariin and epimedin C of Xianlinggubao capsules, and compare the absorption of Xianlinggubao capsules prepared by different processes. METHOD Non everted gut sac method was applied to investigate the influence of absorption sites and concentration on icariin and epimedin C, which were determined by HPLC. RESULT The absorption rate constants of epimedin C in duodenum were absolutely more than that in jejunum and ileum (P < 0.05). The absorption rate constants of icariin in jejunum were absolutely less than that in duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05). The absorption rate constants of epimedin C and icariin kept at the same level when the concentrations of drug solution were at high, middle and low level. The Ka of epimedin C at three levels were 0.040, 0.058, 0.061 h(-1) , respectively, and the Ka of icariin at three levels were 0.002, 0.007, 0.003 h(-1), respectively. CONCLUSION Intestinal absorption of icariin and epimedin C is not effected by concentrations. The absorption rate constants of icariin and epimedin C in new Xianlinggubao capsules are higher.
The evaluation of sulfonamides, alone or in combination with pyrimethamine, in the treatment of multi-resistant falciparum malaria.

Summary The evaluation of sulfadiazine, sulfamethoxypyridazine (Midicel®) and sulphorthomidine (Fanzil®) alone or combined with pyrimethamine against drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum is reported. The results indicate that (1) combination of a sulfonamide with pyrimethamine enhanced the curative effect of either one alone, (2) when combined with pyrimethamine, Midicel and Fanzil were superior to sulfadiazine, and (3) of the regimens tested, 1.0 g Fanzil as a single oral dose given together with 50 mg pyrimethamine showed the most promise for the successful treatment of the multi-drug-resistant falciparum malarias. Factors limiting the usefulness of sulfonamides as antimalarials are discussed.