Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The G20210A prothrombin mutation and the Physicians' Health Study.

To the Editor: We would like to offer our interpretation of the recent article by Ridker et al,1 which was derived from the Physicians’ Health Study (PHS). To our knowledge, this is the only report that does not confirm the association between the G20210A prothrombin mutation and deep vein thrombosis. In this report, the mutation was also unrelated to myocardial infarction and stroke.1 The G20210A allele is associated with increased prothrombin levels in blood and, since 1996, it has been reported concordantly as a moderate and significant risk factor for deep vein thrombosis by ≥12 different case-control studies (published in extenso) involving 2657 patients and 4070 healthy controls (for partial review see Reference 2). The PHS was conceived as a randomized trial to investigate the effects of aspirin versus placebo on cardiovascular mortality during a 5- to 10-year follow-up period.1 3 Enrolled subjects constituted a special group: American male physicians, 41 to 84 years of age, who were selected according to the absence of previous thrombotic events (ie, with …
If Women are More Often Depressed, Why Don't More of Them Kill Themselves?

A recent review of research on the incidence of depression in men and women led to the conclusion that women are more likely than men to show unipolar depression, and there is evidence too for a higher incidence of bipolar depression among women (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987). T h ~ s conclusion came both from studies of treated patients and from community surveys, both in the USA and in other nations of the world. Estimates of the fernalelmale ratio for depressive disorders raneed from 1.5 to 2.4 in the various sets of studies. The question arises, therefore, if women are more likely to be seriously depressed than men, why is their suicide rate so much lower? For example, the sex ratio of female/male suicide rates ranges from 0.7 in Japan to 0.1 in El Salvador, with a USA ratio of 0.3. Lester (1989) has noted a sexist bias in calling those who die as a result of their suicidal acts completed suicides whereas those who live are called attempted suicides. This implies that the goal of a suicidal act is to die rather than live. If we view continued living as the goal, then comoleted suicides are failed suicides whereas a t tem~ted suicides are successful! Reorienting our attitude toward suicide then suggests that we count all suicidal acts in determining the female/male ratio. Only three surveys w h ~ c h h.we tried to count all of the suicidal acts in a community have been identified (Lester, 1988) In L o s Angeles in 1957, Farberow and Shneidman (1961) found 2052 women who had completed or attempted suicide and 1368 men, giving a ratio of 1.8. For Hong Kong, data from Yap (1958) gives a ratio of 1.2, and for the Netherlands data from de Graaf and Kruyt (1976) gives a ratio of 1.3. These match closely the ratios reported by Nolan-Hoekserna for the USA of 1.9, for Hong Kong 1.1 and for the Netherlands 1.3. Thus, studies in which authors have counted attempted suicides as well as completed suicides indicate that women commit more suicidal acts than men. and the sex ratios for total suicidal acts in three countries for which data are available match the sex ratios for the incidence of depression.
N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate‐activated channels of mouse central neurones in magnesium‐free solutions.

1. The whole‐cell and outside‐out configurations of the patch‐clamp method were used to investigate the properties of the channels activated by N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA channels) in mouse central neurones in culture. Recording was made in Mg2+‐free solutions. 2. In the whole‐cell recording mode the currents induced by both NMDA and L‐glutamate were accompanied by a large increase in noise. In both cases the noise power spectra were well fitted by single Lorentzian functions and the corresponding mean time constant, tau, was about 6 ms at room temperature. The single‐channel conductance, gamma n, estimated from the ratio of the noise variance to the total current, varied between 22 and 40 pS. 3. Endogenous amino acids known to activate NMDA receptors (L‐glutamate, L‐aspartate, L‐cysteine sulphinate and quinolinate) as well as exogenous NMDA agonists such as ibotenate and trans‐2,3‐piperidine dicarboxylate (trans‐PDA) all produced similar responses. In particular, analysis of the current noise yielded tau values between 4 and 8 ms in all cases. 4. NMDA responses were antagonized by 2‐amino‐5‐phosphonovalerate (APV) without any effect on gamma n or tau values measured by noise analysis; NMDA responses were also diminished by D‐alpha‐aminoadipate and cis‐2,3‐piperidine dicarboxylate. 5. In outside‐out patches, it was observed that the single‐channel current amplitude varies linearly as a function of membrane potential between ‐80 and +60 mV. The reversal potential is near 0 mV. NMDA channels are permeable to Na+, K+ and Cs+, but blocked by choline. The single‐channel conductance, gamma e, varies between 40 and 50 pS at room temperature. 6. The NMDA channels open in bursts of short openings interrupted by brief closures. At ‐60 mV, the closures had a mean duration, tc, of 0.4 +/‐ 0.2 ms. The mean channel open time, to, was 5.9 +/‐ 1.0 ms for NMDA and 5.3 +/‐ 1.7 ms for L‐glutamate. The mean burst duration, tb, was 10.5 +/‐ 0.7 ms for NMDA and 8.5 +/‐ 2.0 ms for L‐glutamate. 7. When the temperature was increased between 14 and 24 degrees C, the NMDA channel conductance increased with a Q10 of 1.6 while the mean open time decreased with a Q10 close to 2. 8. The NMDA channel showed, in addition to the 'main' conductance state (40‐50 pS), smaller conductance states of 15 and 35 pS. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
PONDERACIÓN DE LAS PROBABILIDADES DE OBSERVACIÓN DE LOS HMM PARA VERIFICACIÓN DE LOCUCIONES EN SISTEMAS DE RAH

Las tecnologias de reconocimiento del habla requieren sistemas fiables capaces de funcionar correctamente en diferentes tareas y entornos. Al no ser posible conseguir un reconocimiento libre de errores en la mayoria de casos, surge la necesidad de disponer de una medida de la fiabilidad del sistema. En este articulo se propone la ponderacion de la probabilidad de observacion de los modelos de Markov, equilibrando la diferencia entre rangos dinamicos de las probabilidades de transicion y de observacion. El parametro definido OPW es independiente de la gramatica utilizada, a diferencia de otras soluciones similares. Dado que se espera que las variaciones introducidas por este nuevo parametro tengan mayor influencia en las palabras incorrectamente reconocidas, se propone un sistema de verificacion de locuciones basado en una ‘segunda opinion’. Para ello se utiliza la salida de decodificar utilizando diferentes OPW 6= 1. Resultados experimentales conseguidos hasta el momento muestran la validez de la propuesta.
Public Attitudes toward Welfare State Policies A Comparative Analysis of 24 Nations

Morten Blekesaune Norwegian Social Research – NOVA, Oslo, Norway Jill Quadagno Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, Florida State University, USA To be presented at the first annual conference of The Network for European Social Policy Analysis (ESPAnet), Copenhagen November 13-15 2003. To be published in European Sociological Review, vol.19, no.5, December 2003. Abstract The paper investigates public attitudes toward welfare state policies as a result of both situational, i.e. unemployment, and ideological factors, i.e. egalitarian ideology, at both the individual and national level. The dependent variables are public support for the sick and the old as well as for the unemployed as target beneficiaries of welfare state policies. Data from the ISSP-study «Role of government» are analyzed using a multi-level regression technique. Findings indicate that the nation level is important in shaping public attitudes toward welfare state policies in industrialized nations, and that both situational and ideological factors play a role. Apparently, various nations generate different public beliefs about national social problems and about the relationship between individuals, the state and other institutions. Eventually, these understandings and beliefs influence popular attitudes regarding what kind of policies the state should pursue, and who should benefit.
Predicted long-term cardiovascular risk among young adults in the national longitudinal study of adolescent health.

OBJECTIVES We estimated the distribution of predicted long-term cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among young adults in the United States. METHODS Our data were derived from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health participants (n = 14 333; average age: 28.9 years). We used a Framingham-derived risk prediction function to calculate 30-year risks of "hard" and "general" CVD by gender and race/ethnicity. RESULTS Average 30-year risks for hard and general CVD were 10.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 10.1%, 10.7%) and 17.3% (95% CI = 17.0%, 17.7%) among men and 4.4% (95% CI = 4.3%, 4.6%) and 9.2% (95% CI = 8.9%, 9.5%) among women. Average age-adjusted risks of hard and general CVD were higher among Blacks and American Indians than among Whites and lower among Asian/Pacific Islander women than White women. American Indian men continued to have a higher risk of general CVD after adjustment for socioeconomic status. Four percent of women (95% CI = 3.6%, 5.0%) and 26.2% of men (95% CI = 24.7%, 27.8%) had a 20% or higher risk of general CVD. Racial differences were detected but were not significant after adjustment for socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS Average CVD risk among young adults is high. Population-based prevention strategies and improved detection and treatment of high-risk individuals are needed to reduce the future burden of CVD.
Functional Analysis of Mosquito-Borne Flavivirus Conserved Sequence Elements within 3′ Untranslated Region of West Nile Virus by Use of a Reporting Replicon That Differentiates between Viral Translation and RNA Replication

ABSTRACT We have developed a reporting replicon of West Nile virus (WNV) that could be used to quantitatively distinguish viral translation and RNA replication. A Renilla luciferase (Rluc) gene was fused in-frame with the open reading frame of a subgenomic replicon in the position where the viral structural region was deleted, resulting in RlucRep. Transfection of BHK cells with RlucRep RNA yielded two distinctive Rluc signal peaks, one between 2 and 10 h and the other after 26 h posttransfection. By contrast, only the 2- to 10-h Rluc signal peak was observed in cells transfected with a mutant replicon containing an inactivated viral polymerase NS5 (RlucRep-NS5mt). Immunofluorescence and real-time reverse transcriptase PCR assays showed that the levels of viral protein expression and RNA replication increased in cells transfected with the RlucRep but not in those transfected with the RlucRep-NS5mt. These results suggest that the Rluc signal that occurred at 2 to 10 h posttransfection reflects viral translation of the input replicon, while the Rluc activity after 26 h posttransfection represents RNA replication. Using this system, we showed that mutations of conserved sequence (CS) elements within the 3′ untranslated region of the mosquito-borne flaviviruses did not significantly affect WNV translation but severely diminished or completely abolished RNA replication. Mutations of CS1 that blocked the potential base pairing with a conserved sequence in the 5′ region of the capsid gene (5′CS) abolished RNA replication. Restoration of the 5′CS-CS1 interaction rescued viral replication. Replicons containing individual deletions of CS2, repeated CS2 (RCS2), CS3, or RCS3 were viable, but their RNA replication was dramatically compromised. These results demonstrate that genome cyclization through the 5′CS-CS1 interaction is essential for WNV RNA replication, whereas CS2, RCS2, CS3, and RCS3 facilitate, but are dispensable for, WNV replication.
Digoxin–quinidine and digoxin–amiodarone interactions: frequency of occurrence and monitoring in Australian repatriation hospitals

An extensive scrutiny of 19,460 patients' charts was carried out by clinical pharmacists in six Australian Repatriation Hospitals. The incidence of the prescribing of digoxin–quinidine and digoxin–amiodarone combinations was 018% and 022% of patients, respectively, giving an overall level of 04% (4/1000). For both combinations, digoxin was prescribed long term in 81% of the cases and quinidine or amiodarone recently added to digoxin therapy in 44% of patients identified. Therapeutic drug monitoring of digoxin therapy was initiated by clinical pharmacists in 41% of patients and resulted in modifications to digoxin therapy in 63% of this sub–group of patients. Quinidine and amiodarone therapies were also changed in nine patients. Of particular note was the number (15 or 58%) of dosage changes or therapy cessations made to digoxin therapy for patients also receiving amiodarone which occurred as a result of clinical pharmacist intervention.
Suscetibilidade antimicrobiana de Staphylococcus aureus isolados de amostras de leite de bovinos com suspeita de mastite

Staphylococcus aureus e um dos principais agentes das mastites do rebanho leiteiro em varios paises do mundo. O aparecimento de cepas multirresistentes a antibioticos tem dificultado o tratamento dessas infeccoes. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o perfil de suscetibilidade antimicrobiana de Staphylococcus aureus , isolados de 55 amostras de leite de vacas com suspeita de mastite no Extremo-Oeste catarinense. Foram inoculados 1 mL de cada amostra em caldo Infuso Cerebro Coracao, incubados a 36 ± 1 °C por 24 horas. Posteriormente, as amostras foram estriadas em Agar Sangue e Agar Sal Manitol, incubadas a 36 ± 1 °C por 48 horas. Colonias caracteristicas foram identificadas por coloracao de Gram e testes bioquimicos. O antibiograma foi realizado por meio da tecnica de difusao em disco descrita por Kirby-Bauer , conforme Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (2005). Foram testados os seguintes antibioticos: penicilina, ciprofloxacin, clindamicina, eritromicina, nitrofurantuina, rifampicina, sulfazotrin, tetraciclina, vancomicina e gentamicina. Das 55 amostras, 39 (70,9%) foram positivas para Staphylococcus aureus . Os percentuais gerais de sensibilidade, resistencia e sensibilidade intermediaria foram 78,72%, 13,59% e 7,69%, respectivamente. Os antibioticos mais eficazes foram ciprofloxacin e sulfazotrin, com 97,44% de eficacia e vancomicina, com 94,87%, e os menos eficazes foram a penicilina, com 46,15% de resistencia e tetraciclina, com 30,77%. Conclui-se que S. aureus e um dos principais agentes etiologicos causadores de mastite, com resistencia a diversos antimicrobianos. Assim, a analise antimicrobiana in vitro deve ser considerada pelos proprietarios rurais para reduzir perdas na producao leiteira e em programas de controle da doenca em questao. Palavras-chave: Staphylococcus aureus . Mastite. Suscetibilidade antimicrobiana.
What Does Mental Health Have to Do With HIV Prevention ?

Front line prevention workers are often confused about how to identify problems and prioritize goals. In part, this confusion arises from the fact that the relevant service delivery systems (i.e., medical care, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, and prevention services) each have their own goals, language, and set of assumptions about what is best for their clients. Until recently, these four service delivery systems have worked in relative isolation and as a consequence, their assumptions about the best care for their clients have remained largely unstated until conflict arises over how to address the needs of a particular client. Nature and Scope of the Problem Eric Bing and his colleagues (2001) used data from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS) to examine mental health and substance use in a large, nationally representative probability sample of adults receiving care for HIV in the U.S. Study participants were administered a brief instrument that screened for mental health disorders and drug use during the previous 12 months. Nearly half of the sample screened positive for a mental health disorder, nearly 40% reported using an illicit drug other than marijuana, and more than 12% screened positive for drug dependence. More than one-third of the study sample screened positive for major depression and over a quarter of the sample screened positive for a less severe form of depression called dysthymia. The proportion of people screening positive for mental health and substance abuse disorders in the HCSUS sample is considerably higher than that obtained from general population samples. For example, the proportion of people screening positive HIV and Mental Health: The Challenges of Dual Diagnosis
An optimum setting of controller for a dc-dc converter using bacterial intelligence technique

The most commonly used control algorithm in industry is the Proportional-Derivative-Integral (PID) control. The controller's performance is decided by the proper selection of the control parameters. In this paper, Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA) is applied for optimizing the controller's parameters of a dc-dc converter. The robustness of the BFOA tuned PID controlled DC-DC converter under load disturbances is studied. Finally, the controller's effectiveness is studied by comparing it with the conventional PID controlled DC-DC converter.
Human apolipoprotein molecular biology and genetic variation.

PERSPECTIVES AND SUMMARy 700 APO A-I . 700 Apo A -I eDNA . 700 Apo A -I G ene. 702 A po A -I G ene Loca tio n . 703 A po A -I Mu ta tio ns . 704 APO A-II 705 Apo A -II eDNA . 705 APO A-IV 706 A po A -IV eDNA . 706 Apo A -IV G ene a nd G enetic Varia tio n. 707 APO B . 708 Apo B G enetic Varia tio n . 709 APO CI . 710 Apo CI eDNA . 710 APO CII . 711 Apo CII eDNA . 711 Apo CII Gene S truc tur e, Mappi ng, a nd G enetic Varia tio n . 712 APO cm . 714 A po cm eDNA . 7 14 Apo elII G ene S truc tur e, Mappi ng, a nd G enetic Varia tio n . '" 715 Apo A -I Apo elII G ene Rearra ng em ent . 716
Translation and processing of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens extracellular RNase

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens extracellular RNase has been previously cloned and expressed in Bacillus subtilis. Site-specific mutagenesis experiments have identified codon -39 as the start site of translation. We have determined the primary signal peptide cleavage site of preprobarnase and propose a pathway for the conversion of probarnase to mature barnase.
Delta-Sigma Modulator based multiplier

In this paper, a new technique is proposed for multiplication of two sampled low frequency analog signals and the result is in digital form. Out of the two signals, one signal is fed to the input of typical second order, ΔΣ Modulator (DSM). The operating period of the DSM circuit is varied directly in proportion to the absolute amplitude of the second analog signal. In this case, the average value of the digital output of quantizer is equal to the product of the analog signals in each sampling period. The dynamic range of input signals and the accuracy of proposed multiplier are better than the conventional CMOS multipliers.
Travaux en Évitement de Collision au JRL-Japon

L'evitement de collision pour un systeme robo- tique peut s'ecrire sous la forme d'un systeme de contraintes unilaterales de grande dimension. Dans cet article, nous traitons de la prise en compte de ce systeme pour des robots humanoides soit dans la planification soit en temps reel dans une commande reactive. Le probleme est double : comment ecrire sous une forme "sympathique" le probleme des contraintes d'evitement de collision et d'auto-collision ? Comment prendre en compte un systeme quelconque de contraintes unilaterales de maniere continue dans la loi de commande ? Une solution generique est propose pour repondre a ces deux questions, ainsi que des experiences en simulation et sur le robot HRP-2 permettant d'illustrer l'interet de notre approche. Theme— Modelisation, commande en robotique humanoide Mots-clef — Evitement d'obstacle, contraintes unilaterales, fonction de tâche, redondance, surfaces englobantes, optimisa- tion de mouvement I. CADRE DU TRAVAIL
Influences of power electronic converters on current-voltage behaviors during faults in DGUs-Part I: Wind energy conversion systems

The growing interests in clean and sustainable electric energy push towards increasing the interconnection of wind energy conversion systems (WECS) to utility grids. Designs of the majority of WECSs employ power electronic converters (PECs), which generally have non-linear and switched characteristics. The characteristics, operation, and control of PECs in WECSs can result in non-conventional current-voltage behaviors during faults. This paper investigates the current-voltage behaviors during faults that occur in WECSs or their host grids. Two types of WECSs are considered in this paper, which are the doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs) and permanent magnet generator (PMGs) based WECSs. The current-voltage behaviors are investigated in experimentations for different faults occurring during the grid-connected operation.
COAGULATION AND THROMBOTIC DISORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH PIG ORGAN AND HEMATOPOIETIC CELL TRANSPLANTATION IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES

Background. Efforts to achieve tolerance to transplanted pig organs in nonhuman primates by the induction of a state of mixed hematopoietic chimerism have been associated with disorders of coagulation and thrombosis. Activation of recipient vascular endothelium and platelets by porcine hematopoietic cells and/or activation of donor organ vascular endothelium and/or molecular differences between the species may play roles. Irradiation or drug therapy could possibly potentiate endothelial cell activation and/or injury. Methods. We have investigated parameters of coagulation and platelet activation in nonhuman primates after (1) a regimen aimed at inducing mixed hematopoietic chimerism and tolerance (TIR that included total body irradiation, T cell depletion, and splenectomy; (2) pig bone marrow or pig peripheral blood mobilized progenitor cell transplantation (PCTx); and/or (3) pig organ transplantation (POTx). Five experimental groups were studied. Baboons were the recipient subjects in all groups except Group 1. Gp 1 Cynomolgus monkeys (n=6) underwent TIR + allotransplantation of hematopoietic cells and a kidney or heart or TIR + concordant xenotransplantation (using baboons as donors) of cells and a kidney; Gp 2 Baboons (n=4) underwent TIR with or without (±) autologous hematopoietic cell infusion; Gp 3 (n=12) PCTx±TIR; Gp 4 (n=5) POTx±TIR; Gp 5 (n=4) TIR + PCTx + POTx. Platelet counts, with plasma prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen levels, fibrin split products and/or D-dimer were measured. Results. In the absence of a discordant (porcine) cellular or organ transplant (Groups 1 and 2), TIR resulted in transient thrombocytopenia only, in keeping with bone marrow depression from irradiation. PCTx alone (Group 3) was associated with the rapid development of a thrombotic thrombocytopenic (TTP)-like microangiopathic state, that persisted longer when PCTx was combined with TIR. POTx (±TIR) (Group 4) was associated with a gradual fall (over several days) in platelet counts and fibrinogen with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC); after graft excision, the DIC generally resolved. When TIR, PCTx and POTx were combined (Group 5), an initial TTP-like state was superseded by a consumptive picture of DIC within the first week, necessitating graft removal. Conclusions. Both PCTx and POTx lead to profound alterations in hemostasis and coagulation parameters that must be overcome if discordant xenotransplantation of hematopoietic cells and organs is to be fully successful. Disordered thromboregulation could exacerbate vascular damage and potentiate activation of coagulation pathways after exposure to xenogeneic cells or a vascularized xenograft.