Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced superoxide generation modulates renal function in angiotensin II – induced hypertensive rats

This study was performed to examine the role of superoxide (O2) formation in the regulation of renal hemodynamic and excretory function and to assess its contribution in the pathogenesis of angiotensin II (Ang II) dependent form of hypertension. Renal responses to acute intra-arterial infusion of the O2 scavenger, tempol (50 μg/min/100g BW) with or without catalase (1500 U/min/100g; both native and PEG-catalase), that reduces H2O2, were evaluated in anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats treated chronically with Ang II (65 ng/min) for 2 weeks and compared to non-treated control rats. In Ang II-treated hypertensive rats, tempol caused increases in medullary (13±2%), cortical (5±2%) and total renal blood flow (9±2%) without altering systemic arterial pressure. There were also increases in glomerular filtration rate (9±2%), urine flow (17±4%) and sodium excretion (26±5%). However, tempol infusion in nontreated normotensive rats did not cause significant changes in any of these renal parameters. Co-infusion of catalase with tempol did not alter the responses observed with tempol alone indicated that the observed renal responses to tempol in Ang II-treated rats were attributed to its O2 scavenging effects without the involvement of H2O2. Tempol infusion also significantly decreased 8isoprostane excretion in Ang II-treated rats (39±6%) without changes in H2O2 excretion. However, co-infusion of catalase reduced H2O2 excretion in both Ang II-treated (41±6%) and non-treated rats (28±5%). These data demonstrate that enhanced generation of O2 modulates renal hemodynamic and tubular reabsoptive function possibly leading to sodium retention and thus contribute to the pathogenesis of Ang II induced hypertension.
Spontaneous sequence duplication within an open reading frame of the pneumococcal type 3 capsule locus causes high‐frequency phase variation

The molecular genetic basis of high‐frequency serotype 3 capsule phase variation in Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) was investigated. Pneumococci were grown in sorbarod biofilms at 34°C to mimic nasopharyngeal carriage. Different type 3 pneumococci commonly associated with invasive disease generated apparently random tandem duplications of 11–239 bp segments within the cap3A gene of the type 3 capsule locus. These duplications alone were found to be responsible for high‐frequency capsule phase variation, in which (phase off) acapsular variants possessed duplications within cap3A, and (phase on) capsular revertants possessed wild‐type cap3A genes, indicating the precise excision of the duplication. Additionally, the frequency of phase reversion (off to on) was found to exhibit a linear relationship between (log) frequency of reversion and (log) length of duplication. This apparently random duplication giving rise to phase variation is in stark contrast to the ‘preprogrammed’ contingency genes in many Gram‐negative organisms that possess homopolymeric sequence repeats or motifs for site‐specific recombination.
Tobacco use among school-going adolescents (11-17 years) in Ghana.

PURPOSE To assess tobacco use among school-going adolescents and delineate determinants of their tobacco-use status. METHODS The study utilizes Global Youth Tobacco Survey data collected in 2006 (9,990 unweighted; 773,982 weighted). Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed to determine the relationship between the dependent (tobacco-use status) and independent variables. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the key determinants of tobacco use among adolescents in Ghana. RESULTS The gap in tobacco use between males and females was narrow (6.7% vs. 4.4% for ever cigarette smoker; 2.4% vs. 1.4% for current cigarette smoker; 6.8% vs. 5.2% for user of noncigarette tobacco products). Youth tobacco use was significantly associated with exposure to tobacco industry promotions and tobacco-use behavior of familial relations. Conversely, knowledge about the harmful effects of secondhand smoke was associated with decreased likelihood of tobacco use; however, it was significant only for users of noncigarette tobacco products. CONCLUSIONS The narrow gap in tobacco use among school-going adolescents in a country where tobacco-use prevalence among adult males is more than 10 times that of females is a major policy concern. Additionally, the finding that about 15% of students have either acquired tobacco-branded merchandise or been offered a free cigarette suggest that tobacco marketing is reaching adolescents in the country, which demands urgent policy response. Dealing with such problems requires a comprehensive ban on tobacco industry advertising and promotion and marketing strategies, and policies that restrict youth access to and demand for tobacco products.
Percutaneous revascularization of occluded renal arteries in the setting of acute renal failure

Abstract We report the case of a 60-year-old patient with acute renal failure and occluded bilateral renal arteries presenting with acute pulmonary edema and non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. The patient required renal replacement therapy with hemodialysis and was subsequently successfully treated with bilateral renal artery stent placement. Marked improvement in renal function was noted within 1 week with freedom from the need for renal replacement therapy at 4 months of follow-up.
Image back-light compensation with fuzzy C-means learning algorithm and fuzzy inferencing

In this paper, a two-stage processing technique utilizing the fuzzy c-means learning mechanism and the fuzzy logic rule inference is proposed to compensate the back-light images. The advantages of this approach are: (1) the subject region can be compensated independently, (2) the brightness of subject region can be enhanced without interference of the background, (3) the contrast of subject region can be enhanced adequately, (4) the original background image can be reserved. We have implemented the proposed compensation method and tested on 30 pictures. The performance is better than that of global histogram equalization and global brightness adjustment.
The Importance of the Cosolvent Propylene Glycol on the Antimicrobial Preservative Efficacy of a Pharmaceutical Formulation by DOE-Ruggedness Testing

The aim of this study was to statistically evaluate the influence of the concentration of the co-solvent propylene glycol on the preservative efficacy of a complex pharmaceutical suspension-emulsion formulation containing methyl- and propylparaben. Preservative Efficacy Tests (PETs) were performed using the validated pharmacopoeial methodology with five test organisms over 1 month on lab-scale test formulations. These were independently prepared according to a Box-Behnken experimental design with a triplicate central point at 0.22% m/m methylparaben, 0.22% m/m propylparaben, and 2.75% m/m propylene glycol, and with an additional corner point of the Box-Behnken cube. We evaluated the preservative efficacies against the criteria of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and European Pharmacopoeias (PhEur) for formulations for oral use, as well as by the statistical comparison of the slopes obtained by linear regression of log (CFU/g) vs. time. With an initial bacterial challenge of 106 CFU/g for each of the three bacterial strains, no survivals were detected after 7 days. For the two fungal strains, box plots and analysis of variance showed significant, concentration-dependent, main effects: the three variables significantly influenced the kill-rate of C. albicans, while A. niger was predominantly influenced by the cosolvent propylene glycol, and only to a minor extent by methylparaben and not at all by propylparaben. These findings were confirmed by taking the pharmacopoeial criteria as the evaluation basis, where the dominant influence of propylene glycol concentration is apparent. It was concluded that the cosolvent propylene glycol is at least of equal preservative importance than both parabens.
Socioeconomic status, race and COPD health outcomes

Background Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common cause of death and disability, little is known about the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and race–ethnicity on health outcomes. Methods The aim of this study is to determine the independent impacts of SES and race–ethnicity on COPD severity status, functional limitations and acute exacerbations of COPD among patients with access to healthcare. Data were used from the Function, Living, Outcomes and Work cohort study of 1202 Kaiser Permanente Northern California Medical Care Plan members with COPD. Results Lower educational attainment and household income were consistently related to greater disease severity, poorer lung function and greater physical functional limitations in cross-sectional analysis. Black race was associated with greater COPD severity, but these differences were no longer apparent after controlling for SES variables and other covariates (comorbidities, smoking, body mass index and occupational exposures). Lower education and lower income were independently related to a greater prospective risk of acute COPD exacerbation (HR 1.5; 95% CI 1.01 to 2.1; and HR 2.1; 95% CI 1.4 to 3.4, respectively). Conclusion Low SES is a risk factor for a broad array of adverse COPD health outcomes. Clinicians and disease management programs should consider SES as a key patient-level marker of risk for poor outcomes.
Extracellular freezing-induced mechanical stress and surface area regulation on the plasma membrane in cold-acclimated plant cells

Freezing tolerance is an important feature for plant survival during winter. In plants, extracellular freezing occurs at subzero temperatures, resulting in dehydration and mechanical stresses upon the plasma membrane. However, many plants can acquire enhanced freezing tolerance by exposure to non-freezing temperatures, which is referred to as cold acclimation. The plasma membrane is the primary site of freezing injury. During cold acclimation, the lipid composition in the plasma membrane changes, which may protect the plasma membrane from injuries caused by freeze-induced dehydration stress (e.g., phase transition). Recently, we have examined the behavior of the plasma membrane during the freezing process using protoplasts isolated from cold-acclimated Arabidopsis leaves. The observations indicate that the cryobehavior of the plasma membrane after cold acclimation may act to resist the mechanical stress caused by freezing.
Yet Another Low Interaction Honeyclient

Low-interaction honeyclients employ static detection techniques such as signatures, heuristic or anomaly detection in the identification of malicious websites. They are associated with low detection rate and failure to identify zero-day and obfuscated attacks. This paper presents a low-interaction client honeypot that employs multiple signature detection engines in combination with de-obfuscation and de-minification of JavaScript code to improve the detection of attack signatures. Pattern matching in the process of identifying the static malicious code characteristics through using regular expressions, provides additional layer of detection. YALIH can achieve low false positive and false negative rate while significantly reducing scanning time and required hardware resources compared to a high interaction client honeypot. YALIH’s virtual browser can handle cookies, redirection and mimic popular browser headers and imitate referrer information. Our experiments with realworld malicious websites demonstrate that similar to Web Spam, malicious websites utilize referrer tracking and cloaking techniques to deliver malicious content to selected users visiting the target domain from specific referrer websites.
Methotrexate and MX-68, a New Derivative of Methotrexate, Limit Infarct Size via Adenosine-Dependent Mechanisms in Canine Hearts

Abstract: Methotrexate, an anti-rheumatic agent, has recently been reported to show an anti-inflammatory action via ecto-5′-nucleotidase- and adenosine-dependent mechanisms. Because ecto-5′-nucleotidase contributes to the production of adenosine and adenosine has a potent cardioprotective effect against ischemia/reperfusion injury, we investigated whether methotrexate or MX-68 [N-1-((2,4-diamino-6-pteridinyl) methyl)-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzothiazine-7- carbonyl]-N-2- aminoadipic acid] could reduce infarct size via adenosine-dependent mechanisms. In beagle dogs, the left anterior descending coronary artery was perfused through a bypass tube, which was occluded for 90 minutes followed by 6 hours of reperfusion. The size of infarcts was assessed by TTC staining. MX-68 reduced infarct size compared with that in untreated dogs (13.7 ± 1.9 versus 38.6 ± 5.3%, P < 0.01). This effect was completely blunted by either the adenosine receptor antagonist 8-sulfophenyltheophylline (8-SPT) (45.0 ± 4.6% and 46.8 ± 5.8% in the 8-SPT and MX-68 + 8-SPT groups, respectively) or by the ecto-5′-nucleotidase inhibitor&agr;,β-methylenadenosine 5′-diphosphate (AMP-CP) (44.0 ± 4.5% and 46.7 ± 5.8% in the AMP-CP and MX-68 + AMP-CP groups, respectively). Methotrexate also reduced infarct size to a level comparable with that in the MX-68 group, and its effect was also blunted by 8-SPT. There were no significant differences of collateral blood flow or risk area between the groups. We conclude that methotrexate and its derivative (MX-68) both limit infarct size via adenosine-dependent mechanisms.
Highly deiminated isoform of myelin basic protein from multiple sclerosis brain causes fragmentation of lipid vesicles

Myelin basic protein (MBP) occurs as a number of charge isomers due to phosphorylation, deamidation, and deimination of arginine to citrulline. All of these modifications decrease the net positive charge of the protein and its ability to cause aggregation of negatively charged lipid vesicles. This is used as a model system for the ability of MBP to cause adhesion of the cytosolic surfaces of myelin. Therefore, the effect of two deiminated forms of MBP on lipid vesicles was compared with that of the unmodified, most positively charged isomer, C1, to determine how loss of positively charged arginines would affect the function of MBP. The deiminated forms were the isomer isolated from normal human brains, in which only 6 Arg are deiminated to citrulline (MBP‐Cit6), and an isomer isolated from the brain of a patient who died with acute, fulminating multiple sclerosis (Marburg type), in which 18 of the 19 Arg were deiminated (MBP‐Cit18). Whereas C1 caused aggregation of lipid vesicles, resulting in an increase in absorbance due to light scattering, MBP‐Cit18 caused a decrease in absorbance of the lipid vesicles. Size exclusion chromatography and negative staining electron microscopy showed that this was due to fragmentation of the large multilayered vesicles into much smaller vesicles. MBP‐Cit6 caused less aggregation of lipid vesicles than did C1. However, no fragmentation of the vesicles into smaller ones in the presence of C1 and MBP‐Cit6 was detected by size exclusion chromatography or electron microscopy. The membrane fragmentation caused by MBP‐Cit18 is dramatically different from the effects of other forms of MBP from normal brain and may indicate a pathogenic effect of this charge isomer, which may have contributed to the severity of the Marburg type of multiple sclerosis. Alternatively, the deimination may have been a secondary effect resulting from the disease process. Regardless of the role of MBP‐Cit18 in multiple sclerosis, the effect of this modification indicates that, when most of the arginines of MBP are modified to an uncharged amino acid, the protein acquires properties similar to an apolipoprotein; thus, it may take up an amphipathic structure when bound to lipid. A partly amphipathic character may also be related to the role of MBP‐Cit6 in normal immature myelin, where it is the predominant charge isomer. J. Neurosci. Res. 57:529–535, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Entrepreneurial orientation of spin-offs created by university faculties and institute researchers in Korea

This research focus on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of technology spin-offs as they are expected to reduce the gap between their technology and the market. Entrepreneurial orientation is an organizational activity or process that redistributes or combines resources in an innovative way and takes risk to create new values. It helps improve the level of organizational innovation to deal with uncertainty. An empirical study was performed to analyze EO of spin-offs established by university faculty and Institute Researchers in Korea. Antecedent variables to EO are hypothesized to include public policy for university faculty and institute researchers, the relationship with incubating organization, and the level of social network with other firms. The relationship EO and technological performance are also hypothesized. Data from the total of 121 spin-off organizations were collected and a series of multiple regressions were performed. The performance variable included both technological performance such as the number of newly marketed products and new technology and subjective performance such as the level of satisfaction with sales amount and profitability. Several important conclusions were drawn from this study. First, university and institute's policy has a significant effect on the level of innovativeness, while government policy is not related to EO. Second, high percentage of man power from the incubating organization has a negative effect on risk taking. The level of cooperation with incubating organization also is not related to Entrepreneurial Orientation. Third, the intensity of the cooperative network with other firms has a significant effect on risk-taking. Network relationship with government related organizations is not related to Entrepreneurial Orientation. This study analyzed the importance and role of university and institute's policy and network with other firms to improve EO. It also suggested that a high composition of man power from the incubating organization has a negative relationship with EO.
Biliary sludge and obstruction: another sign of a delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction

An 81-year-old physician was transfused with 2 units of red blood cells (RBCs) for an acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage and anemia. At that time, anti-E (only) was identified in his plasma, which was attributed to transfusions during cardiac surgery 21 years previously. Both units of transfused RBCs were Eand crossmatch compatible. On Day 18 after the transfusion, he developed fever, severe diarrhea, and dark urine. After an increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST), bilirubinemia (fractionation not performed), and bilirubinuria (suggestive of direct hyperbilirubinemia) were observed, his primary care physician suspected choledocholithiasis (stones within the common bile duct [CBD]). He ordered an abdominal ultrasound, which showed a dilated CBD. On Day 23, endoscopic ultrasound revealed sludge in the gallbladder and distal CBD (see figure, left), and endoscopic retrograde cholangiography confirmed the presence of sludge in the distal CBD. A plastic stent was placed to facilitate biliary drainage (see figure, right). Retrospective review of a computerized tomogram of the abdomen performed 3 months previously for an unrelated illness did not reveal sludge in the gallbladder or CBD. The patient’s hematocrit (Hct) was 29.6% 3 days before the endoscopy. A routine postendoscopy Hct was unexpectedly low, 20.7%. The patient denied any symptoms to suggest recurrent gastrointestinal bleed. He was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital for blood transfusion. Upon admission (Day 19), the
Skills, strategies, sport, and social responsibility: reconnecting physical education

Physical education is one of the more difficult subjects in the curriculum for generalist classroom teachers in primary schools to incorporate confidently into their teaching. In many primary schools, the generalist classroom teacher defers to a physical education specialist. This situation has both positive and negative features. In this context, this study brings together several prominent models of physical education teaching in an approach that enables the curriculum to be encountered through the interests of the children. This approach offers a generalist teacher, through appropriate professional development, a means for delivering a high‐quality physical education programme, and also complements the repertoire of the specialist physical education teacher at both primary and secondary school levels.
The effect of intra-articular neostigmine , tramadol , tenoxicam and bupi v acaine on postoperati v e pain

Objctive: The present study, investigates the analgesic effects and complications of intra-articular neostigmine, tramadol, tenoxicam and bupivacaine on postoperative pain in patients undergoing day case knee arthroscopy. Subjects: Group 1 received 0.5 mg neostigmine, Group 2 received 100 mg tramadol, Group 3 received 20 mg tenoxicam, Group 4 received 20 ml 0.5% bupivacaine (control) in 20 ml normal saline intra-articularly at the end of the surgery. All patients had the same anaesthetic technique. Patients were observed in the recovery room with respect to pain scores, haemodynamic changes and postoperative analgesia at 1, 2 and 4 h postoperatively. Analgesic therapy in the recovery room was managed with 25 mg bolus doses of meperidine when the patients had visual analosue scale (VAS) scores higher than three points. The patients were discharged from hospital with a prescription for diclofenac 75 mg to be used as required. They were asked to complete their pain measures at 24 h and record their analgesic consumption. Results: There were no significant differences among the study groups regarding pain scores, haemodynamic changes, the first analgesic requirement time and complications. All patients in our study had adequate postoperative analgesia without any severe complication. Conclusion: Intra-articular administration of neostigmine, tramadol, tenoxicam or bupivacaine is a simple and effective postoperative analgesic technique after outpatient arthroscopic knee procedures. # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Stem compatibility for cement-in-cement femoral revision: an in vitro study

Cement-in-cement femoral component revision is a useful and commonly practised technique. Onerous and hazardous re-shaping of the original cement mantle is required if the new stem does not seat easily. Furthermore, without removing the entirety of the original cement mantle, the freedom to alter anteversion or leg length is difficult to predict preoperatively. We present data from in vitro experiments testing the compatibility of the top cemented stems according to UK registry figures (NJR 2013). This data augments preoperative planning by indicating which revision stems require minimal or no cement reshaping when being inserted into another stem's mantle. We also present the maximum shortening and anteversion that can be achieved without reshaping the original cement mantle.