Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pancreatic Cancer Registry in Japan: 20 Years of Experience

Abstract: The prognosis of pancreatic cancer is defined by the histology and extent of disease. Preoperative histologic diagnosis and diagnostic imaging are fundamentals in managing the disease, but it is not rare to find unexpected peritoneal dissemination or liver metastasis at the time of operation. The overall resectability rate of pancreatic cancer is 40% in Japan. Resecting the portal vein and peripancreatic plexus were performed on 40% of the patients who underwent pancreatectomy for invasive cancer in the head of the pancreas. Long-term survival was only found in patients who underwent pancreatectomy. Radical lymph node dissection, or combined resection of the large vessels, did not seem to improve survival further than the standard resection. Multidisciplinary treatments combined with surgery were performed, and various effects of postoperative chemotherapy after pancreatectomy, intraoperative- and postoperative-radiation therapy, or postoperative chemotherapy for unresectable tumor, were shown. Development of unconventional therapies and refinement of the conventional therapy should be promoted on a randomized prospective trial basis. To promote this effort, which requires the international comparisons and cooperation, JPS developed a computerized JPS registration system downloadable from the JPS website (http://www.kojin.or.jp/suizou/index.html).
The social accountability of medical schools and its indicators.

CONTEXT There is growing interest worldwide in social accountability for medical and other health professional schools. Attempts have been made to apply the concept primarily to educational reform initiatives with limited concern towards transforming an entire institution to commit and assess its education, research and service delivery missions to better meet priority health needs in society for an efficient, equitable an sustainable health system. METHODS In this paper, we clarify the concept of social accountability in relation to responsibility and responsiveness by providing practical examples of its application; and we expand on a previously described conceptual model of social accountability (the CPU model), by further delineating the parameters composing the model and providing examples on how to translate them into meaningful indicators. DISCUSSION The clarification of concepts of social responsibility, responsiveness and accountability and the examples provided in designing indicators may help medical schools and other health professional schools in crafting their own benchmarks to assess progress towards social accountability within the context of their particular environment.
Child nutrition in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States: time to redirect strategies?

Abstract Background Countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States made little progress in child nutrition and mortality between 1990 and 2005. The present paper assesses the nutritional status of children <5 years of age and discusses possible strategies for improvement. Methods Data on low birth weight, infant and young child feeding, underweight, overweight and micronutrient deficiencies were compiled from available reports and databases, complemented through questionnaires to UNICEF Country Offices, and analysed by country, age, gender, urban/rural residence, maternal education and wealth quintiles. Results Exclusive breast-feeding in the first 6 months and continuing breast-feeding up to 2 years fall short of WHO and UNICEF recommendations. Complementary foods are introduced too early and may be poor in protein and micronutrients. Stunting and underweight are prevalent, especially in children aged 12 to 35 months; overweight is even more prevalent. Vitamin A and I deficiencies are still present in some countries, despite current control efforts. Anaemia ranges between 20 % and 40 %. Higher rates of malnutrition are found in rural areas, children of less educated mothers and lower-income families. Discussion Current public health strategies should be redirected to address: (i) overall protection, promotion and support of infant and young child feeding, in addition to breast-feeding; (ii) overweight, in addition to underweight and stunting; and (iii) malnutrition as a whole, in addition to micronutrient deficiencies. An equity lens should be used in developing policies and plans and implementing and monitoring programmes. Capacity building, cross-sectoral action, improved data collection within adequate legal frameworks and community engagement should be the pillars of redirected strategies.
A serpin mutant links Toll activation to melanization in the host defence of Drosophila

A prominent response during the Drosophila host defence is the induction of proteolytic cascades, some of which lead to localized melanization of pathogen surfaces, while others activate one of the major players in the systemic antimicrobial response, the Toll pathway. Despite the fact that gain‐of‐function mutations in the Toll receptor gene result in melanization, a clear link between Toll activation and the melanization reaction has not been firmly established. Here, we present evidence for the coordination of hemolymph‐borne melanization with activation of the Toll pathway in the Drosophila host defence. The melanization reaction requires Toll pathway activation and depends on the removal of the Drosophila serine protease inhibitor Serpin27A. Flies deficient for this serpin exhibit spontaneous melanization in larvae and adults. Microbial challenge induces its removal from the hemolymph through Toll‐dependent transcription of an acute phase immune reaction component.
Genetic diversity and connectivity in the East African giant mud crab Scylla serrata: Implications for fisheries management

The giant mud crab Scylla serrata provides an important source of income and food to coastal communities in East Africa. However, increasing demand and exploitation due to the growing coastal population, export trade, and tourism industry are threatening the sustainability of the wild stock of this species. Because effective management requires a clear understanding of the connectivity among populations, this study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity and connectivity in the East African mangrove crab S. serrata. A section of 535 base pairs of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and eight microsatellite loci were analysed from 230 tissue samples of giant mud crabs collected from Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, and South Africa. Microsatellite genetic diversity (He) ranged between 0.56 and 0.6. The COI sequences showed 57 different haplotypes associated with low nucleotide diversity (current nucleotide diversity = 0.29%). In addition, the current nucleotide diversity was lower than the historical nucleotide diversity, indicating overexploitation or historical bottlenecks in the recent history of the studied population. Considering that the coastal population is growing rapidly, East African countries should promote sustainable fishing practices and sustainable use of mangrove resources to protect mud crabs and other marine fauna from the increasing pressure of exploitation. While microsatellite loci did not show significant genetic differentiation (p > 0.05), COI sequences revealed significant genetic divergence between sites on the East coast of Madagascar (ECM) and sites on the West coast of Madagascar, mainland East Africa, as well as the Seychelles. Since East African countries agreed to achieve the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) target to protect over 10% of their marine areas by 2020, the observed pattern of connectivity and the measured genetic diversity can serve to provide useful information for designing networks of marine protected areas.
Effects of Acid Water Exposure on Plasma Cortisol, Ion Balance, and Immune Functions in the “Cobalt” Variant of Rainbow Trout

Abstract This study was undertaken to examine physiological responses to acidification of environmental water in the “cobalt” variant of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), which exhibits malformation of the pituitary, by following changes in plasma levels of cortisol and electrolytes, blood pH, gill Na+, K+-ATPase activity, and immune functions after exposure to acid water (pH 4.5). Resting levels of plasma cortisol and lysozyme were significantly lower in the cobalt variant than in the normal trout, whereas plasma ceruloplasmin was significantly higher in the cobalt variant, suggesting that some endocrine factors, lacking or deficient in the cobalt variant, are important for the regulation of its immune functions. Blood pH was slightly but significantly lower in the cobalt variant at rest. After exposure to acid water for 24 h, both the normal trout and cobalt variant showed a significant elevation in plasma cortisol, although the increased level in the cobalt variant was still lower than that in the normal trout transferred to neutral water. No differences were seen in blood pH, plasma electrolytes, and gill Na+, K+-ATPase activity between the normal trout and the cobalt variant, indicating that the cobalt variant regulates ion balance when exposed to acid water, despite malformation of the pituitary. Although the normal trout showed a reduction in plasma lysozyme level after acid exposure, there was no significant change in the cobalt trout. Adverse effects of pituitary malformation on ion balance and immune functions may be compensated by extrapituitary factors in the cobalt variant when it is exposed to acid water.
Vasopressin binding in the cerebral cortex of the mongolian gerbil is reduced by transient cerebral ischemia

In Mongolian gerbils, the content of vasopressin in the cerebral cortex, the striatum, and the hypothalamus is increased after induction of acute cerebral ischemia. We used an iodinated vasopressin analogue and light microscopic autoradiography to study the distribution of vasopressin V1 receptors in the brain of adult male gerbils and to evaluate the effects of a transient bilateral cerebral ischemia (6 minutes) on the density of this receptor population. The animals were killed immediately or 10, 30, or 100 hours after transient bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries.
“This Method, I Think, Can Shed New Light”

Improving the reproductive health of immigrant populations requires understanding the specific context of risk and need. As part of a field trial of the FemCap™, a woman-initiated cervical barrier contraceptive, we conducted postintervention focus group discussions (FGDs) with 20 women (five FGDs) of Haitian background, the majority of whom were born in Haiti and spoke Haitian Créole at home, at a community health center in south Florida. Participants discussed the role of religion and inequitable gender norms in Haitian traditions about family planning decisions and provided important insights into the gender-power nuances of their partnership dynamics vis à vis the use of female barrier methods. Encouraged by more equitable gender norms in the United States, participants were eager to serve as health education agents, with strong altruistic sentiments toward other Haitian girls and women who they felt could be encouraged to negotiate for greater reproductive decision-making power.
Une approche par les échelles de la transformation du pouvoir et de l’autorité de l’État au travers de la politique publique d’immigration et d’intégration de quatre villes frontières en Israël

Ce projet est le fruit d’une reflexion entamee des 2010 dans le cadre de mon activite professionnelle. Je travaillais en parallele sur des questions d’urbanisme et de developpement economique local, et des questions liees a l’integration des immigres. Ces deux champs paraissaient associes, pourtant, alors que les villes situees dans des regions en developpement accueillent des populations immigrantes, rares sont celles qui entrevoient les benefices potentiels de l’immigration. Developpement e.
Crystal structure of the FMN‐binding domain of human cytochrome P450 reductase at 1.93 Å resolution

The crystal structure of the FMN‐binding domain of human NADPH‐cytochrome P450 reductase (P450R‐FMN), a key component in the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase system, has been determined to 1.93 å resolution and shown to be very similar both to the global fold in solution (Barsukov I et al., 1997, J Biomol NMR 10:63–75) and to the corresponding domain in the 2.6 å crystal structure of intact rat P450R (Wang M et al., 1997, Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 94:8411–8416). The crystal structure of P450R‐FMN reported here confirms the overall similarity of its α‐β‐α architecture to that of the bacterial flavodoxins, but reveals differences in the position, number, and length of the helices relative to the central β‐sheet. The marked similarity between P450R‐FMN and flavodoxins in the interactions between the FMN and the protein, indicate a striking evolutionary conservation of the FMN binding site. The P450R‐FMN molecule has an unusual surface charge distribution, leading to a very strong dipole, which may be involved in docking cytochrome P450 into place for electron transfer near the FMN. Several acidic residues near the FMN are identified by mutagenesis experiments to be important for electron transfer to P450 2D6 and to cytochrome c, a clear indication of the part of the molecular surface that is likely to be involved in substrate binding. Somewhat different parts are found to be involved in binding cytochrome P450 and cytochrome c.
Transformations in Representations of Gender During the Emergence of the Teotihuacan State: A Regional Case Study of Ceramic Figurines from the Basin of Mexico

This paper investigates transformations in the construction and expression of gender ideologies in the Basin of Mexico from the late Middle Formative through Classic periods (approx. 800bc–ad600). Ceramic figurines from the sites of Teotihuacan, Axotlan, Cerro Portezuelo and Huixtoco are used to explore how elements of gender were constructed and communicated in the region over the course of a millennium, and how these practices underwent a transformation during the emergence and expansion of the Teotihuacan state. During the Formative periods, the selection, combination, or omission of sexual attributes in association with decorative elements such as jewellery formed a flexible strategy for depicting a variety of social identities across the Basin of Mexico. The emergence of the Teotihuacan figurine style in the Terminal Formative period brought with it significant changes to the way figurine bodies were formed—sexual attributes disappeared and were replaced with increasingly elaborate clothing and jewellery as the figurine corpus diversified into multiple types. Although relative rates of depictions of feminine and masculine figurines shifted over time, in no period were figurines limited to a binary set of depictions, indicating diverse social identities and gender ideologies in the Basin of Mexico over time.
Studying + work = disaster.

When Margaret recently took up her place on a nursing degree course at her local university, she calculated she would have to carry on doing some form of job to make ends meet. Margaret’s parents were already supporting her older brother through his degree, and it was not possible for the family to stretch their finances any further. So like many student nurses, Margaret took up a couple of part-time jobs; one as a barmaid in a local pub, the other as a cleaner.
The Role of Platelet Gel in Regenerative Medicine

For decades, platelet concentrates have been a standard transfusion component for the treatment of clotting disorders. They are prepared from the whole blood within 24 hours from collection from voluntary blood donors by means of differential centrifugation of platelet rich plasma (PRP) or by the apheresis and stored at room temperature with a maximum shelf life of 7 days. They are transfused to the patients who suffer from thrombocytopenia or some other platelet disorder in order to sustain the haemostatic function. Freezing platelets is feasible but results in poor recovery, although the platelets retain their clotting functions after thawing. The use of platelets is permanently increasing, due to advanced surgical and other therapies and they are considered vital products in blood banking today (Brecher, 2005). Apart from their clotting functions, platelets have been shown to possess some other evolutionary highly conserved biological functions, such as immune defence, tissue forming and regeneration. These properties are now clinically used by the virtue of platelet gel preparations. Technically, the clinical precursor of platelet gel has been fibrin glue that was composed of two separate solutions fibrinogen and thrombin. When mixed together, these agents were similar to the last stages of the clotting cascade in forming a fibrin clot. Fibrinogen has been obtained from pooled allogeneic single-donor plasma units and from the autologous blood of the patients and has been usually isolated by the process of cryoprecipitation. The additional thrombin component has been generally derived from commercial bovine sources. Some investigators have even added calcium chloride and/or antifibrinolytics (i.e., aminocaproic acid, aprotinin) to their preparations in order to enhance the clot formation. Although fibrin glue has been used in a variety of surgical procedures for the prevention of bleeding, it has been especially useful in heparinized patients undergoing cardiovascular procedures requiring extracorporeal circulation, as it does not need an intact hemostatic system to be effective. Fibrin glue has also been evaluated in the presealing of woven or knitted Dacron vascular grafts. The major drawback to its use has been attributed to the potential risk of transmitted serological disease from pooled and single-donor blood donors, so the patient's own blood was considered to be the safest preparation to prepare fibrin glue. Overall, fibrin glue is a useful adjunct to other methods to control bleeding in selected surgical patients (Thompson et al., 1988; Lee & Kang, 2011).
3D Network-on-Chip system communication using minimum number of TSVs

Three-dimensional networks-on-chip (3D NoC) using through-silicon-via (TSV) can significantly improve the performance and the degree of integration of the system-on-chip. However, TSV accompanies some overheads such as area, cost, and capacitance, so it must be balanced between performance and cost. In this paper, an efficient 3D NoC design technique that minimizes the number of TSVs with a new vertical communication method is suggested. The proposed technique showed only 8.1% decrease in performance while area saving is 39.5% compared to the 3D NoC with 8 TSVs. It is expected to improve performance further as the number of layers increases.
p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase contributes to cell cycle regulation by cAMP in FRTL-5 thyroid cells.

OBJECTIVE Thyrotropin activates the cAMP pathway in thyroid cells, and stimulates cell cycle progression in cooperation with insulin or insulin-like growth factor-I. Because p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38 MAPKs) were stimulated by cAMP in the FRTL-5 rat thyroid cell line, we investigated (i) the effect of the specific inhibition of p38 MAPKs on FRTL-5 cell proliferation and (ii) the mechanism of action of p38 MAPKs on cell cycle control, by studying the expression and/or the activity of several cell cycle regulatory proteins in FRTL-5 cells. METHODS DNA synthesis was monitored by incorporation of [(3)H]thymidine into DNA and the cell cycle distribution was assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. Expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins was determined by Western blot analysis. Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (Cdk2) activity associated to cyclin E was immunoprecipitated and was measured by an in vitro kinase assay. RESULTS SB203580, an inhibitor of alpha and beta isoforms of p38 MAPKs, but not its inactive analog SB202474, inhibited DNA synthesis and the G1-S transition induced by forskolin plus insulin. SB203580 inhibited specifically p38 MAPK activity but not other kinase activities such as Akt and p70-S6 kinase. Treatment of FRTL-5 cells with SB203580 decreased total and cyclin E-associated Cdk2 kinase activity stimulated with forskolin and insulin. However, inhibition of p38 MAPKs by SB203580 was without effect on total cyclin E and Cdk2 levels. The decrease in Cdk2 kinase activity caused by SB203580 treatment was not due to an increased expression of p21(Cip1) or p27(Kip1) inhibitory proteins. In addition, SB203580 affected neither Cdc25A phosphatase expression nor Cdk2 Tyr-15 phosphorylation. Inhibition of p38 MAPKs decreased Cdk2-cyclin E activation by regulating the subcellular localization of Cdk2 and its phosphorylation on Thr-160. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that p38 MAPK activity is involved in the regulation of cell cycle progression in FRTL-5 thyroid cells, at least in part by increasing nuclear Cdk2 activity.
Optimism and Pessimism in Kuwaiti and American College Students

Background: Cross-cultural comparisons in optimism (O) and pessimism (P) are few. Kuwait and the United States have different languages, situations, history and culture. On this basis, there is good reason to hypothesise that there are significant differences between the two countries in O and P. Aims: To explore the differences in, and correlates of, O and P in Kuwaiti and American college students. Method: Two samples of male and female undergraduates were recruited from Kuwait (N = 460) and the United States (N = 273). Their mean ages were 21.9 3.0 and 23.2 6.5, respectively. All respondents completed the Arabic Scale of Optimism and Pessimism (ASOP), the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire, the Ego-grasping Scale, the Death Obsession Scale, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and the Arabic Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Kuwaitis responded to the scales in Arabic, and Americans responded in English. Results: The ASOP displayed good internal consistency, a meaningful factorial structure and interpretable factors in both countries. It was found that O correlated negatively with the above scale scores, while the correlations of P were positive, indicating the convergent validity of the ASOP. The Kuwaiti mean score on O was significantly lower than the mean of their American counterparts, and vice versa for P. Conclusion: The findings are explained in the light of previous results on personality and psychopathology questionnaires in Kuwaiti and American societies. There is a need to investigate O and P in different cultures.
A case‐control study of multiple myeloma nested in the american cancer society prospective study

Among the subjects enrolled in the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II, a large nation‐wide prospective study, 282 died from multiple myeloma (MM) during the first 4 years of follow‐up. These were divided into incident cases who were initially free from disease and prevalent cases who reported MM or related symptoms at the time of enrollment. For each case, 4 controls matched for age, sex, ethnic group and residence were randomly selected. Previous history of diabetes [odds ratio (OR) = 2.0] and employment as farmer (OR = 2.7) were the risk factors consistently suggested by the results of the analysis. The risk associated with farming showed a linear trend with duration of exposure. Pesticide or herbicide exposure was not a risk factor per se but, when combined with farming, it increased the OR to 4.3. Low education, occupational exposure to dyes, and employment in a bank, on the railroad or as a maid were also suggested risk factors, but either they were not statistically significant or they were based on small numbers of exposed subjects. No association between MM and asbestos exposure was observed.