Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interleukin 1 and Chronic Rejection: Possible Genetic Links in Human Heart Allografts

Chronic rejection is a leading cause of graft loss in thoracic transplant recipients. Studies on the pathogenesis of chronic rejection have suggested a contributory role for certain cytokines and growth factors. The activity of these mediators is subject to genetic variation if a polymorphism alters expression, or function, of the ligand or its receptor. Here we have asked if certain cytokine and growth factor gene polymorphisms correlate with chronic rejection in recipients of thoracic allografts. In a retrospective analysis of 179 recipients of thoracic organ transplants (128 heart; 36 heart‐lung; and 15 lung), polymorphisms in 8 genes that influence the inflammatory process, namely IL1B, IL1R1, IL1RN, IL6, IL10, TNFA, TGFB1 and FCGRIIA, were examined. Genotypic data from recipients who had either died or been re‐transplanted as a result of chronic rejection (n = 96) were then compared to those of recipients who had a functioning graft for more than 11 years (n = 83). In the heart graft recipients, only those polymorphisms that influenced expression of the IL1 receptor antagonist gene had a significant correlation with graft survival, with homozygosity for the IL1RN*1 allele being associated with rejection. The alternative, less frequent IL1RN alleles emerged as genomic predictors of long‐term allograft survival. This association was especially strong when IL1 region haplotypes were considered, particularly when analysis was confined to heart transplant recipients who had had multiple acute rejection episodes (OR > 20). This case‐control study indicates that gene polymorphisms which influence IL1 bioactivity also influence the progression of chronic rejection in heart grafts.
A 3D difference-of-Gaussian-based lesion detector for brain PET

Positron emission tomography (PET) plays an important role in neurodegenerative disorder diagnosis and neurooncology applications, especially detecting the early metabolism anomalies in human brains. Current lesion detection algorithms can be roughly classified into voxel-based, region of interest (ROI)-based, and global algorithms. These methods may capture the scale and/or location of the lesions in brain, but other important properties, such as lesion metabolism rate and contrast to non-lesion parts are often ignored. To capture these important features, we propose a novel lesion detector with three lesion-centric feature descriptors for brain PET. We analyze the lesion patterns of 331 PET datasets from the ADNI baseline cohort and further perform t-test between different disorder groups to validate the new lesion-centric features. The preliminary results show that the proposed lesion detector is robust in capturing the brain lesions and has a great potential to be a predictive biomarker for neurological disorders.
High voltage gain boost converter topology for grid connected systems

This paper proposes a dc-ac system with a very high dc-dc conversion ratio. The proposed converter is called the switched inductor multilevel boost converter (SIMLBC). This proposed topology is a PWM-based dc-dc converter which combines the switched-inductor structures and the switching capacitor function to provide different output voltages and simplifying the control on this converter by controlling only one switch. It has a high dc voltage gain with small duty cycle and the number of stages can be increased without change in the main circuit. This topology is proposed to be used as a dc link in applications where several voltage levels are required, such as a multilevel inverter. The conventional inverter is connected to the proposed converter to have an ac voltage to use this circuit in a lot of applications that require ac voltage like a photovoltaic system to connect this system to the grid. The proposed converter is simulated by using PSIM program and a prototype was built and experimentally tested for verification.
Arterial stiffness and cognitive dysfunction in alzheimer and parkinson's diseases

Cognitive dysfunction and dementia are important causes of disability and mortality in the elderly population. Over a decade, many studies have found evidence that greater arterial stiffness is associated with impaired cognitive function. Stiff arteries have a direct effect on the brain microvasculature. In this review, we present evidence that arterial stiffness is linked to cognitive dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders represented by Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. We also discuss possible mechanisms of arterial stiffness and cognitive dysfunction other than the universal pathologic features of beta-amyloid for Alzheimer’s disease and alpha-synuclein for Parkinson’s disease.
Drug use density in critically ill children and newborns: Analysis of various methodologies

Objective: To compare in the pediatric, cardiac, and neonatal intensive care units, three methods of assessing vancomycin and linezolid drug use density by number of: defined daily doses (DDDs), prescribed daily doses, and days of drug use per 100 patient days. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: A tertiary care children’s hospital. Patients: We reviewed the charts of patients admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit and neonatal intensive care unit in 2005 who were treated with vancomycin, and those admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit who were treated with vancomycin or linezolid during 2004 and 2005. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: The number of patients, treatment days, total amount of vancomycin/linezolid, total intensive care unit admissions, and patient days were recorded. We used the World Health Organization definition of DDD for vancomycin and linezolid (2000 and 1200 mg, respectively). The prescribed daily dose for each intensive care unit was calculated for each year by dividing the total amount of the medication administered by the total number of treatment days. The drug use densities were then calculated as the total DDDs, prescribed daily doses, and days of drug use per 100 patient days. The vancomycin use densities were significantly different among the three intensive care units when compared by each method. They were significantly lower in all three units when expressed as DDDs per 100 patient days. The vancomycin drug use density in the pediatric intensive care unit was significantly decreased during 2005 compared with 2004 by all three methods. Conclusions: In critically ill children, drug use density of vancomycin is significantly less when evaluated by the DDD method compared with the prescribed daily dose method, a more appropriate method in children. However, the simplest and most accurate method of assessing drug use density is the number of days of drug use method, which allows comparison of drug use density between different pediatric facilities or clinical units.
A Model of Stability and Persistence in a Democracy

Abstract We develop an intertemporal model of political competition which accounts for three stylized facts of political life in representative democracies: (i) political stability and the absence of discrimination, (ii) a limited degree of political competition, and (iii) the persistence of different political outcomes in otherwise similar economies. In our model political stability is desirable for risk-averse voters. Voters only vote for “decent” policy proposals which do not discriminate against single groups. We derive properties of the set of possible political outcomes and study the issue of robustness against renegotiation. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C72, D70, D72.
Identification of Suicidal Tendencies of Individuals based on the Quantitative Analysis of their Internet Texts

Even though suicide is one of the top three causes of young people’s deaths, no reliable methods of identifying suicidal behavior have been developed. One of the promising directions of research is quantitative analysis of speech. It is nowadays common to process texts by suicidal individuals (mostly suicidal notes or literary texts by famous people, e.g., poets, writes, etc.) and texts by individuals from a control group using software (mostly LIWC) and to design models for classifying texts as those by suicidal individuals or not. This kind of analysis has been mainly performed for English texts that generally have a number of restrictions due to their linguistic nature. The authors are the first to attempt to design a mathematical model to classify texts as those by suicidal or nonsuicidal individuals using numerical values of linguistic parameters as features. Texts (blogs by young people who committed suicides, similar in both genre and topic, to those by individuals of an age-corresponding control group) were processed using the Russian version of LIWC with users’ dictionaries. Unlike current studies, in designing the model we mostly made use of features that are not significantly dependent on the content. This is because not all individuals who committed suicides are known to deal with the topic in their texts. The resulting model was shown to be 71.5% accurate, which is comparable with the state-of-the-art for English texts.
Effect on intraerythrocytic Anaplasma marginale of soluble factors from infected calf blood mononuclear cells

Blood mononuclear cells (lymphocytes and monocytes) were isolated from infected calves during in vivo control of acute anaplasmosis and cultured with Anaplasma marginale organisms. Supernatants from the cultures reduced the proportion of erythrocytes containing viable A. marginale in vitro, indicating that an antibody-independent mechanism of rickettsemia control might occur during acute anaplasmosis.
Possible Reactions of Dietary Phenolic Compounds with Salivary Nitrite and Thiocyanate in the Stomach

Foods are mixed with saliva in the oral cavity and swallowed. While staying in the stomach, saliva is contentiously provided to mix with the ingested foods. Because a salivary component of nitrite is protonated to produce active nitrous acid at acidic pH, the redox reactions of nitrous acid with phenolic compounds in foods become possible in the stomach. In the reactions, nitrous acid is reduced to nitric oxide (•NO), producing various products from phenolic compounds. In the products, stable hydroxybezoyl benzofuranone derivatives, which are produced from quercetin and its 7-O-glucoside, are included. Caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and rutin are oxidized to quinones and the quinones can react with thiocyanic acid derived from saliva, producing stable oxathiolone derivatives. 6,8-Dinitrosocatechis are produced from catechins by the redox reaction, and the dinitrocatechins are oxidized further by nitrous acid producing the quinones, which can make charge transfer complexes with the dinitrosocatechin and can react with thiocyanic acid producing the stable thiocyanate conjugates. In this way, various products can be produced by the reactions of salivary nitrite with dietary phenolic compounds, and reactive and toxic quinones formed by the reactions are postulated to be removed in the stomach by thiocyanic acid derived from saliva.
Early-age cold conditioning of broilers: effects of timing and temperature

1. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of early-age cold conditioning (CC) on performance, ascites mortality, thyroid hormones status and immune response (leucocytes count) of broiler chickens. 2. A total of 336 chicks at 2 and 3 d of age were exposed to 20 or 25°C (for 3 or 6 h) in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment, while a control group was kept under normal temperature conditions (30°C). Thereafter, both control and cold conditioned birds were reared under standard conditions until 42 d of age. 3. The results showed that performance (weight gain and feed efficiency) was improved by CC at the end of the rearing period. Carcase traits (breast, thigh and abdominal fat percentage) were not affected by different treatments. Heart weight was lower in cold conditioned birds accompanied with lower ascites mortality. Total leucocyte count was higher in CC birds. Higher concentrations of thyroxin (T4) were found in plasma of treated groups, while triiodothyronine (T3) to T4 ratio was decreased. 4. In conclusion, it seems that early age CC improves performance and reduces ascites mortality of broilers through altered thyroid hormones metabolism and leucocyte function. According to the results, the best timing for CC of broilers was 20°C for 6 h at the age of 2 d, and no significant benefit was observed by repeated CC.
Neuronal morphology and neuropil structure in the stomatogastric ganglion of the lobster, Homarus americanus

The stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) has long been used as a model system for the study of central pattern generation, neuromodulation, and network dynamics. Anatomical studies of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) in different species have mostly been restricted to subsets of neurons and/or general structural features. For the first time, we describe the morphology of all STG neurons belonging to the two circuits that produce the well‐described pyloric and gastric rhythms in the lobster, Homarus americanus. Somata sit on the dorsal and lateral surface of the STG and send a single primary neurite into the core of the neuropil, which is mostly made up of larger lower order branches. The perimeter of the neuropil consists mostly of finer higher order branches. Immunohistochemical labeling for synaptic proteins is associated with the small diameter branches. Somata positions are not constant but show preferred locations across individuals. The number of copies is constant for all neuron types except the PY and GM neurons (PY neuron number ranges from 3 to 7, and GM neuron number ranges from 6 to 9). Branch structure is largely nondichotomous, and branches can deviate substantially from cylindrical shape. Diameter changes at branch points can be as large as 20‐fold. Clearly, the morphology of a specific neuron type can be quite variable from animal to animal. J. Comp. Neurol. 501:185–205, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Expiratory Flow Maneuvers in Patients with Neuromuscular Diseases

Bach JR, Gonçalves MR, Páez S, Winck JC, Leitão S, Abreu P: Expiratory flow maneuvers in patients with neuromuscular diseases. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2006;85:105–111. Objectives:To compare cough peak flows (CPF), peak expiratory flows (PEF), and potentially confounding flows obtained by lip and tongue propulsion (dart flows, DF) for normal subjects and for patients with neuromuscular disease/restrictive pulmonary syndrome and to correlate them with vital capacity and maximum insufflation capacity. Design:A cross-sectional analytic study of 125 stable patients and 52 normal subjects in which CPF, PEF, and DF were measured by peak flow meter and vital capacity and maximum insufflation capacity by spirometer. Results:In normal subjects and in patients, the DF significantly exceeded PEF and CPF (P ≤ 0.001). For normal subjects, PEF and CPF were not significantly different. For patients with neuromuscular disease/restrictive pulmonary syndrome, the CPF significantly exceeded PEF (P < 0.05). No normal subjects but 14 patients had DF lower than CPF. Thirteen of these 14 had the ability to air stack (maximum insufflation capacity greater than vital capacity), indicating greater compromise of mouth and lip than of glottic muscles. For 14 of 88 patients, maximum insufflation capacity values did not exceed vital capacity, mostly because of inability to close the glottis (inability to air stack). Nonetheless, for 11 of these 14 patients, the DF were within a standard deviation of the whole patient group; thus, bulbar-innervated muscle dysfunction was not uniform. CPF and PEF correlated with vital capacity (r = 0.85 and 0.86, respectively), and with maximum insufflation capacity (r = 0.76 and 0.72, respectively). Conclusions:Measurements of CPF, PEF, and DF are useful for assessing bulbar-innervated, inspiratory, and expiratory muscle function. Care must be taken to not confuse them.
Interaction between Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Insertion/Deletion Genotype and Exercise Training on Knee Extensor Strength in Older Individuals

Prior data in young individuals suggest that the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism interacts with exercise to affect athletic performance, but the direction of the genotype effect depends on the outcome assessed (endurance vs. strength). The purpose of this study was to determine whether the ACE I/D genotype influences physical function responses to exercise training in older individuals. Physical function (muscle strength, walking distance, and self-reported disability) was measured before and after an 18-month randomized, controlled exercise trial in 213 older (>or= 60 yrs), obese (BMI >or= 28 kg/m2) men and women. Exercise training consisted of walking and light weight lifting for one hour 3 times/wk. At baseline, there were no associations between ACE I/D genotype and measures of physical function. Following exercise training, individuals with the DD genotype showed greater gains in knee extensor strength compared to II individuals. There was a significant (p = 0.014) interaction between ACE I/D genotype and exercise treatment on percent change in knee strength. In addition, there was a trend towards a greater improvement in physical disability score in DD genotypes (p = 0.13), but changes in 6-minute walk distance were not different between genotype groups. Thus, changes in muscle strength with exercise training in older individuals may be dependent on ACE I/D genotype.
High rates of army ant raids in the Neotropics and implications for ant colony and community structure

Army ants form nomadic insect colonies whose chief food is other social insects. Here we compare the rate of army ant raids with the average density of their potential prey from 28 New World subtropical and tropical localities. We estimate that army ant raids occur at the rate of 1.22 m 2 per day in tropical forests. Army ant raid rates increased with primary productivity, and with the density of potential prey (litter-nesting ant colonies), across sites. Our estimates of raid rates for army ant guilds are much higher than previously published estimates based solely on surface-raiding Eciton. Life-history theory predicts that high rates of predation on insect societies will select for both smaller average colony sizes and indeterminate colony growth, and these traits have been documented for tropical ant litter-nesting ants. Our results suggest that army ant predation can affect both patterns.
Cellular immunodeficiency enhances the progression of human papillomavirus‐associated cervical lesions

Most cases of low‐grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types regress spontaneously within years. Unknown co‐factors seem to be necessary for a progression to malignancy. To determine the possible role of cellular immunodeficiency as such a co‐factor in the genesis of genital neoplasia, 48 HIV‐infected women and 52 allograft recipients were examined periodically during a 3‐year period. Colposcopy, cytology and HPV‐DNA typing (Vira Type) were performed at each visit. Each cervical lesion was matched prospectively with 2 lesions from immunocompetent controls. In all, 29/100 patients suffered from cervical neoplasms, including 2 advanced cervical cancers and 9 CIN3 lesions. Correlation between grade of lesion and HPV DNA 16/18 was significant. Low‐grade lesions among patients progressed more often than among controls and recurrent lesions after destructive treatment were seen more frequently among patients than among controls. All patients with CD4‐lymphocyte counts of <400/μl or immunosuppression for more than 3 years suffered from progressive lesions. We conclude that malfunction of the cellular immune response following either HIV‐induced depletion or iatrogenic inhibition of CD4‐lymphocyte activation, enhances the progression of HPV‐induced cervical lesions to malignancy. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A METODOLOGIA DOS VOLUMES FINITOS APLICADA À REOLOGIA COMPUTACIONAL: I- INTRODUÇÃO

Sumario: O calculo numerico de escoamentos e outros fenomenos de transporte envolvendo fluidos nao-Newtonianos e cada vez mais frequente, constituindo um metodo muito poderoso de projecto e diagnostico em engenharia. Por razoes historicas, os metodos de calculo numerico usados em Reologia Computacional, nome por que e conhecida esta area quando estao envolvidos fluidos viscoelasticos de elevada viscosidade, baseiam-se sobretudo na metodologia dos elementos finitos, mas esta tem elevados custos computacionais quando comparada com a metodologia dos volumes finitos. O metodo dos volumes finitos tem uma grande tradicao na Mecânica dos Fluidos classica e por outro lado e menos exigente em recursos computacionais, sendo por isso uma alternativa viavel e interessante no âmbito da Reologia Computacional. So nos ultimos 5 anos se assistiu a um franco desenvolvimento na aplicacao dos volumes finitos a Reologia Computacional, mas nao esta ainda disponivel um texto que englobe o conhecimento existente sobre esta tecnica. Achamos pois que esta seria a altura de iniciar um conjunto de textos sobre a aplicacao da metodologia dos volumes finitos a Reologia Computacional, a apresentar nesta revista, e que constituirao o embriao de uma obra a editar futuramente. Este primeiro artigo comeca por enquadrar a metodologia dos volumes finitos na perspectiva da Reologia Computacional, enunciando alguns dos desenvolvimentos mais relevantes. As equacoes de conservacao da massa, quantidade de movimento e energia, que devem ser resolvidas num problema de calculo numerico de fluidos nao-Newtonianos, sao formuladas na Seccao 3, e o artigo encerra com a apresentacao de alguns modelos constitutivos reologicos tipo para fluidos viscoinelasticos e viscoelasticos.
I Have Mastered the Challenge of Living With a Chronic Disease: Life Stories of People With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Our aim with this study was to explore the narrative life story of individuals diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. An open qualitative approach, namely narrative biographic methodology, was applied to include the life context of the participants and to deliberately exclude predefinitions of concepts. Ten people with rheumatoid arthritis who retired early because of the disease participated and were interviewed three times according to a narrative biographic interview style. The biographical data and the interview texts were analyzed both individually and in comparison to each other. Some participants regarded rheumatoid arthritis as a challenge for mastery in their lives, whereas others adapted to the disease and “made the best out of a bad situation. ” Especially in countries where the medical model predominates in health care, our findings can be used to broaden the current view that some health professionals have toward patients, and stress the importance of patients being self-responsible.