Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dialysis Exercise Team: The Way to Sustain Exercise Programs in Hemodialysis Patients

Patients affected by end-stage renal disease (ESRD) show quite lower physical activity and exercise capacity when compared to healthy individuals. In addition, a sedentary lifestyle is favoured by lack of a specific counseling on exercise implementation in the nephrology care setting. Increasing physical activity level should represent a goal for every dialysis patient care management. Three crucial elements of clinical care may contribute to sustain a hemodialysis exercise program: a) involvement of exercise professionals, b) real commitment of nephrologists and dialysis professionals, c) individual patient adaptation of the exercise program. Dialysis staff have a crucial role to encourage and assist patients during intra-dialysis exercise, but other professionals should be included in the ideal “exercise team” for dialysis patients. Evaluation of general condition, comorbidities (especially cardiovascular), nutritional status and physical exercise capacity are mandatory to propose an exercise program, in either extra-dialysis or intra-dialysis setting. To this aim, nephrologist should lead a team of specialists and professionals including cardiologist, physiotherapist, exercise physiologist, renal dietician and nurse. In this scenario, dialysis nurses play a pivotal role since they guarantee a constant and direct approach. Unfortunately dialysis staff may often lack of information and formation about exercise management while they take care patients during the dialysis session. Building an effective exercise team, promoting the culture of exercise and increasing physical activity levels lead to a more complete and modern clinical care management of ESRD patients.
P2P, une intervention de pair à pair visant à prévenir le tabagisme de lycéens professionnels : quel rôle de la Théorie du Comportement Planifié dans le maintien des comportements de santé ?

En France, la question du tabagisme des jeunes demeure un defi majeur pour la sante publique. Si l'influence des pairs peut encourager l'usage du tabac, on constate que l'education par les pairs a aussi un potentiel benefique pour changer le comportement tabagique des adolescents. En outre, il a ete demontre que la Theorie du comportement planifie (TCP) donnait la meilleure prediction des intentions et du comportement dans plusieurs domaines de la sante. Cependant, la TCP est peu utilisee pour developper des interventions contre le tabac. Dans le programme de P2P, des lyceens professionnels volontaires ont concu et realise leur propre intervention basee sur la TCP (avec l'aide d'educateurs formes), visant a reduire le tabagisme de leurs camarades. Notre objectif etait de mesurer l'impact de la premiere annee de P2P sur une population particulierement exposee de lyceens professionnels. L'hypothese principale est que P2P evite l’augmentation de la prevalence du tabagisme quotidien au cours de l'annee dans le groupe d'intervention comparativement au groupe de controle.
A university in a period of disruption:identity as an explanatory interpretation of strategic decision-making

This study is aimed at verifying whether organizational identity may be a factor in steering institutions of higher education in a process of change called for by internal and external circumstances. The thesis is built on a case-study of an Italian non-state University that experiences a situation of disruption due to a reduction of governmental funding, a decrease in student enrolment, and an unfavorable national higher education context. The study makes several contributions to existing theories elaborated on organizational studies, higher education policy, and higher education management. In particular, it tries to set a relation between Organizational Identity Theory (Albert and Whetten, 1985) used as theoretical framework, strategic management and leadership in HE. Empirical evidence gathered from the case-study suggest that the context impacts the formation and subsistence of organizational identity and the efficiency of managerial practices and leadership. The higher education system and the funding model in place may favor or prevent the exercise of autonomy and creation of a governance model conducive to a strategic change process. The parameters of the research are set on a specific and limited timeframe, the period of crisis during which tension within the university arose. The research is based on interviews of senior management staff, academic and administrative. The interviews are semi-structured and generated by open-ended questions. The approach to the data collection through interviews is ethnographic and interpretive-constructivist. The data is then validated through documentary analysis. The analysis has made evident that the difficulties experienced by the University are tied to the leaders’ diverse understandings of organizational identity and how these affect the leaders’ strategic decisions. This work demonstrates that the effectiveness of any strategy depends largely on the existing conditions, that is the autonomy and its use as reflected in the governance model, rather than its strategy’s content or form.
Increased expression of TGF-beta1 and IGF-I in inflammatory stenotic lesions of hemodialysis fistulas.

BACKGROUND Hemodialysis fistula dysfunction due to stenotic lesions remains a frequent cause of hospitalization for hemodialysis patients. Transforming growth factor-beta(TGF-beta) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) are known to be involved in atherogenesis. The latent TGF-beta1 binding protein-1 (LTBP-1) targets extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions and is involved in the regulation of TGF-beta latency. METHODS We investigated the expression of TGF-beta1, LTBP-1 and IGF-I in 15 occluded or severely narrowed vein segments of primary arteriovenous fistulas, in 29 non-stenosed control veins from uremic, pre-dialysis patients, and in 15 non-stenosed control saphenous veins obtained from patients undergoing aortocoronary bypass grafting. Immunohistochemistry was performed on snap-frozen tissue specimens using antibodies recognizing either the latency-associated peptide of TGF-beta1 (96-1), LTBP-1 (Ab39) or IGF-I. Serum levels of TGF-beta1 and IGF-I were determined by commercially available IRMA. RESULTS In stenosed hemodialysis fistulas, a pronounced intimal thickening with deposition of ECM was observed with light and electron microscopy. Infiltrating cells were seen in stenosed vessels, mostly in areas of intimal hyperplasia and in the media. TGF-beta1, LTBP-1 and IGF-I expression were mostly localized in the neointimal and medial layers, and were significantly higher than in the control groups. A positive correlation between the presence of inflammatory cells and the staining intensity for TGF-beta1, LTBP-1 and IGF-I was found in all vessels analyzed. CONCLUSION Neointimal thickening of primary arteriovenous fistulas represents a local inflammatory process and appears to be associated with increased protein expression of TGF-beta1 and IGF-I. While local IGF-I is likely to stimulate smooth muscle cell proliferation in this setting, TGF-beta1 may be an important trigger of ECM production and deposition.
The Herpes Simplex Virus 1 UL17 Protein Is the Second Constituent of the Capsid Vertex-Specific Component Required for DNA Packaging and Retention

ABSTRACT The herpes simplex virus (HSV) UL17 and UL25 minor capsid proteins are essential for DNA packaging. They are thought to comprise a molecule arrayed in five copies around each of the capsid vertices. This molecule was initially termed the “C-capsid-specific component” (CCSC) (B. L. Trus et al., Mol. Cell 26:479-489, 2007), but as we have subsequently observed this feature on reconstructions of A, B, and C capsids, we now refer to it more generally as the “capsid vertex-specific component” (CVSC) (S. K. Cockrell et al., J. Virol. 85:4875-4887, 2011). We previously confirmed that UL25 occupies the vertex-distal region of the CVSC density by visualizing a large UL25-specific tag in reconstructions calculated from cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) images. We have pursued the same strategy to determine the capsid location of the UL17 protein. Recombinant viruses were generated that contained either a small tandem affinity purification (TAP) tag or the green fluorescent protein (GFP) attached to the C terminus of UL17. Purification of the TAP-tagged UL17 or a similarly TAP-tagged UL25 protein clearly demonstrated that the two proteins interact. A cryo-EM reconstruction of capsids containing the UL17-GFP protein reveals that UL17 is the second component of the CVSC and suggests that UL17 interfaces with the other CVSC component, UL25, through its C terminus. The portion of UL17 nearest the vertex appears to be poorly constrained, which may provide flexibility in interacting with tegument proteins or the DNA-packaging machinery at the portal vertex. The exposed locations of the UL17 and UL25 proteins on the HSV-1 capsid exterior suggest that they may be attractive targets for highly specific antivirals.
Vitamin E in humans: an explanation of clinical trial failure.

OBJECTIVE To describe the potential benefits and hazards of vitamin E supplementation and present a rational basis for understanding the conflicting results among randomized clinical trials, epidemiologic investigations, and animal studies on the use of vitamin E to prevent atherosclerosis. METHODS We conducted a retrospective review of the pertinent literature found in PubMed from 1981 through August 2005. The published data are analyzed and summarized. RESULTS The possible factors implicated for failure of vitamin E therapy include the following: (1) the inclusion of patients without biochemical evidence of increased oxidative stress, (2) the relatively short duration of treatment, (3) the use of suboptimal dosages of vitamin E, (4) the suppression of gamma-tocopherol by alpha-tocopherol, (5) the use of vitamin E supplementation without the concurrent use of vitamin C, (6) the lack of inclusion of biochemical markers of oxidative stress and markers of vascular response, (7) the inappropriate administration of vitamins relative to meal ingestion, and (8) the poor patient compliance and the lack of monitoring of vitamin E levels. CONCLUSION Large, randomized clinical trials have not yet substantiated a beneficial effect of use of vitamin E to reduce atherosclerotic risk in humans, despite demonstration of antioxidant effects in vitro and in animals. Only in subsets of patients at high risk for atherosclerosis has a beneficial effect been suggested. Before additional large, randomized clinical trials of vitamin E are performed, the specific biologic and surrogate marker effects of vitamin E in each target population must be defined more carefully. This approach will save resources, minimize untoward side effects, and identify the patients who will benefit the most.
Differential regulation of microglial keratan sulfate immunoreactivity by proinflammatory cytokines and colony‐stimulating factors

Resident microglia of the rat CNS express a unique type of keratan sulfate immunoreactivity (KS‐IR) that is lacking on peripheral monocytes/macrophages and associated with a so far unknown proteoglycan core protein. Microglial KS‐IR is downregulated during T‐cell‐mediated autoimmune inflammation but largely preserved in degenerative lesion paradigms. This study addresses the role of cytokines and colony‐stimulating factors in the regulation of microglial KS‐IR. In vitro, ramified microglia in coculture with astrocytes, but not isolated microglia, constitutively expressed KS‐IR under control conditions. In both culture paradigms, KS‐IR was increased significantly by macrophage‐ (M‐CSF) and granulocyte/macrophage colony‐stimulating factors (GM‐CSF), as well as tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α). By contrast, the Th1 cytokine interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) downregulated KS‐IR, both when applied alone or in combination with either GM‐CSF, M‐CSF, or TNF‐α. In vivo, the intracerebroventricular administration of IFN‐γ, but not TNF‐α, to healthy rats led to an almost complete disappearance of KS‐IR from ramified brain microglia. Our data suggest that the expression of microglial KS‐IR is under dominant negative control by the Th1 cell cytokine IFN‐γ and represent the first evidence of cytokine‐dependent proteoglycan regulation in the CNS. GLIA 30:401–410, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Small Molecule Modulators of Keap1‐Nrf2‐ARE Pathway as Potential Preventive and Therapeutic Agents

Kelch‐like ECH‐associated protein 1 (Keap1)‐nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2)‐antioxidant response elements (ARE) pathway represents one of the most important cellular defense mechanisms against oxidative stress and xenobiotic damage. Activation of Nrf2 signaling induces the transcriptional regulation of ARE‐dependent expression of various detoxifying and antioxidant defense enzymes and proteins. Keap1‐Nrf2‐ARE signaling has become an attractive target for the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress‐related diseases and conditions including cancer, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases. Over the last few decades, numerous Nrf2 inducers have been developed and some of them are currently undergoing clinical trials. Recently, overactivation of Nrf2 has been implicated in cancer progression as well as in drug resistance to cancer chemotherapy. Thus, Nrf2 inhibitors could potentially be used to improve the effectiveness of cancer therapy. Herein, we review the signaling mechanism of Keap1‐Nrf2‐ARE pathway, its disease relevance, and currently known classes of small molecule modulators. We also discuss several aspects of Keap1–Nrf2 interaction, Nrf2‐based peptide inhibitor design, and the screening assays currently used for the discovery of direct inhibitors of Keap1‐Nrf2 interaction. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev., 32, No. 4, 687‐726, 2012
Spectrum Changes Produced by Scattering of Light With Tunable Spectral Degree of Coherence from a Spatially Deterministic Medium

Within the validity of the first-order Born approximation, we study the spectrum changes generated by the scattering of light with a tunable spectral degree of coherence (SDOC) from a spatially deterministic medium. Before interacting with the medium, a scalar plane wave is incident upon Young's pinholes, which are employed to produce the incident wave with a tunable SDOC. By assuming that both the scattering potential of the medium and the spectrum of incident plane waves obey Gaussian profiles, the spectrum of the scattered field is derived as a linear combination of Fourier transforms of the scattering potentials. Changes in the spectrum of the scattered field are strongly dependent on the scattering angle, the effective radius of the medium, and Young's pinhole parameter. Moreover, red shifts occurring in the scattered field can be enhanced by either reducing the scattering angle or increasing the effective radius. The results presented here generalize the previous reports, where the light with prescribed functions of the SDOC scattered from a deterministic medium was considered.
Incidence and Risk Factors for Mitochondrial Toxicity in Treated HIV/HCV-Coinfected Patients

Background Coinfection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV is not uncommon and therapies for both infections are currently available. A major drawback, however, could be a potentially higher risk for mitochondrial toxicity (MT), defined as the elevation of pancreatic enzymes or lactate levels due to the nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors contained in both therapies. Methods Prospective analyses of clinical and laboratory data, including plasma lactate levels and pancreatic enzymes, of 113 consecutive HIV/HCV-coinfected patients were assigned to receive ribavirin (RBV) plus interferon (IFN)-α. Results Fourteen patients (12%) showed increased levels of amylase/lipase and/or hyperlactataemia. No patient developed clinical pancreatitis. Four patients with hyperlactataemia had clinical symptoms of lactic acidosis and recovered uneventfully by 2 weeks after treatment withdrawal. The variables significantly associated with MT in the univariate analysis were: therapy with didanosine (ddI), ddI plus stavudine (d4T), previous history of diabetes and the baseline lactate level. However, ddI use was the only independent risk factor for MT identified in the multivariate analysis. MT was not associated with gender, age, alcohol consumption, type of IFN, degree of steatosis and fibrosis in liver biopsy, presence of lipodystrophy, CD4+ cell count, HCV or HIV viral load, mitochondrial DNA and COXII-expression in liver tissue, or antiretroviral therapy containing d4T or protease inhibitors. Conclusions 12% of HIV/HCV-coinfected patients receiving IFN plus RBV concomitantly with highly active antiretroviral therapy developed laboratory markers of MT. Although most of cases were asymptomatic, our study suggests that concomitant use of RBV plus ddI should be avoided, and that routine monitoring of lactate and pancreatic enzymes may be recommended.
Plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids: toxicity and problems

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) are toxic for human and livestock. They undergo a metabolic toxication process in the liver which is the first target organ for PA poisoning. Worldwide many episodes of human PA intoxications are well reported. In many cases the reason for these intoxications has been PA contamination in food. The main tools for analysing food and fodder on PA content are based on GC and HPLC separation, followed by MS(-MS) detection. Actual incidents with toxic PA are the ‘Jacobaea vulgaris (syn. Senecio jacobaea) problem’ in Europe and the ‘Ageratum conyzoides problem’ in Ethiopia.
The impact of functional status and change in functional status on mortality over 18 years among persons with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To calculate mortality rate associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to estimate the effect of initial functional status and of change in functional status on mortality among persons with RA, and to compare the mortality experience of such persons to that of the US population. METHODS The study used a prospective panel of 1269 persons followed for a mean of 8.4 years (median 7 yrs, interquartile range 3-12, maximum 18). Mortality status was ascertained from contacts with next of kin, study physicians, and search of the National Death Index. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the proportion dying in each time interval, with and without stratification for initial functional status [Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score] or average change in functional status. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to establish the effect of functional status, demographic characteristics, and health status on mortality risk. RESULTS There were 270 deaths among the 1269 persons with RA. After 18 years of followup the overall death rate was 39%. The death rates in the best through worst initial quartiles of HAQ score were 29, 33, 44, and 54%. The death rate was 51% among persons with declining HAQ score versus 31 and 32% among those with no change or improvement in this measure, respectively. Demographic and health status did not reduce the effect of HAQ or average change in HAQ on mortality risk. Compared to the US population, the persons with RA had a standardized mortality rate of 1.32. CONCLUSION The persons with RA in this study had elevated mortality rates. Poor initial functional status and declining functional status significantly increased mortality risk among these persons with RA.
Innovative work behaviour and performance-related pay: rewarding the individual or the collective?

AbstractIn order to change employee behaviour, companies frequently turn to forms of performance-related pay (PRP). At the same time, there is a clear imperative to encourage employee innovation. In this study we focus on the relation between PRP, organizational and job-level task resources and innovative work behaviour (IWB). In doing so, we distinguish between individual and collective PRP and build on insights from high-performance work systems and employee creativity literature. Using survey data of 927 employees from five Belgian industries, we find that individual PRP weakens the important positive relation of task-level job resources like learning opportunities on IWB. The combination of both individual and collective PRP, on the contrary, strengthens the positive relationship between organizational resources like upward communication and IWB.
Modelling of Credit Risk and Correlation Risk: Time-Dependent and Stochastic Correlation Models

The degree of a relationship between the changes of two or more financial quantities in time can be measured by correlations, which play a key role in investing, trading, risk management and regulation. This thesis is divided into three parts and contains a wide range of topics related to the impact of financial correlation, its modellings and applications in finance. The first part is devoted to briefly introduce basic notions of counterparty credit risk (CCR), credit value adjustment (CVA) and to study default dependence between counterparties in a credit default swap (CDS) contract. To compute the highly accurate bilateral CVA (BVA) on CDS, we employ tailored numerical methods to obtain the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the integrated Cox- Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) process, which is demanded to to compute the survival probabilities of the counterparties. Furthermore, we develop a new formula which allows simultaneous defaults among counterparties, the simultaneous default risk can thus be regarded. From the first part we get motivated to work on the dynamical (time-dependent) and stochastic correlation model in the next two parts. In the second part, we provide an appropriate and reasonable time-dependent correlation function and present the concept of dynamically (time-dependent) correlated Brownian motions (BMs) and its construction. As example, we apply this new time-dependent correlation function to price European options and Quanto options. We analyze the improvement by using a time-dependent correlation instead of a constant correlation. As randomness features more generally, like moving from time-dependent interest rate to stochastic interest rate, from time-dependent volatility to stochastic volatility, in the last part we investigate how to model correlation as a stochastic process and its applications in finance. We provide a general stochastic correlation model and discuss several stochastic correlation processes. We apply stochastic correlation to price Quanto options and quantify the correlation risk caused by using a wrong (constant) correlation. Furthermore, we incorporate stochastic correlation into the Heston model and find, that the Heston model extended by introducing stochastic correlation provide a better fit to the skew and smile in the volatility surface that is visible in the market.