Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease, and use of target-specific oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention.

This editorial refers to ‘Clinical characteristics and outcomes with rivaroxaban vs. warfarin in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation but underlying native mitral and aortic valve disease participating in the ROCKET AF trial’[†][1], by G. Breithardt et al. on page 3377. With the introduction of the target-specific oral anticoagulants (TSOAs), primary and secondary stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) has been revolutionized. Large randomized clinical trials and subsequent meta-analyses have clearly demonstrated that these agents have at least comparable if not superior efficacy and cause no more or even less major bleeding than vitamin K antagonists.1–5 The improved safety profile of these new compounds is particularly reflected by the significantly reduced risk of intracranial bleeds in comparison with warfarin, a property which all TSOAs have in common.6 Because of the historical studies on stroke prevention in patients with AF, all of the pivotal trials of TSOAs were conducted in patients with non-valvular AF, defined as patients with AF without rheumatic valve disease (mainly severe/moderate mitral stenosis) and/or without prosthetic heart valves. All other types of valve disease such as mitral regurgitation, aortic regurgitation, or aortic stenosis, for example, were allowed to be included in these trials. However, the historical term ‘non-valvular AF’ recently used in TSOA studies has created some confusion and led to concerns about the use of the TSOAs in patients with AF and valvular abnormalities. The recently published European and North American recommendations for management of AF have defined valvular AF as AF related … [1]: #fn-2
Ventilation non invasive : expérience clinique sur 8 ans dans un service de réanimation médicale

La ventilation non invasive (VNI) represente une alternative efficace a la ventilation mecanique (VM) endotracheale, qui s'est largement developpee dans la prise en charge de l'insuffisance respiratoire aigue (IRA) en reanimation. Neanmoins, les conditions reelles de son application et ses resultats peuvent s'averer difficiles a apprehender dans la pratique quotidienne. L'objectif de notre travail a donc ete de rapporter l'experience clinique du service de Reanimation Medicale du CHU de Rouen depuis les dernieres recommandations nationales publiees. Materiel & methodes : Nous avons mene une etude retrospective observationnelle, a partir du codage informatique et des dossiers informatises des patients admis en reanimation aigue. Les patients eligibles etaient ceux ayant beneficie d'une VNI de 2006 a 2013. Trois groupes ont ete definis selon l'indication de la VNI : IRA hypoxemique, IRA hypercapnique et VNI post-extubation (preventive, curative ou sevrage). Outre le caractere descriptif de notre etude, les criteres d'evaluation ont ete le taux de succes/echec de la VNI, son incidence d'utilisation et les facteurs predictifs d'echec de la technique. Resultats : Sur 5031 VM pratiquees en 8 ans, 1077 VNI etaient eligibles (21,4%). 979 VNI pour IRA ont ete retenues (19,4%), dont 399 IRA hypoxemiques (40,8%), 406 IRA hypercapniques (41,5%) et 174 VNI post-extubation (17,8%). Les principales etiologies d'IRA ont ete les pneumopathies ou surinfections bronchiques (35,8%) et les oedemes aigus pulmonaires (OAP) cardiogeniques (24,3%). L'incidence d'utilisation de la VNI a augmente de 25,5 a 59% jusqu'en 2012. Le taux global de succes de la VNI a ete de 78,1%, et differait significativement selon les groupes: 72,4% pour l'IRA hypoxemique, 80,8% pour l'IRA hypercapnique, 85,1% pour la VNI post-extubation (p<0,001). L'efficacite de la technique est restee stable dans le temps, malgre une gravite croissante des patients (IG511). La mortalite globale en reanimation a ete de 11%. L'indication de la VNI (p<0,001), le motif de la VNI post-extubation (p=0,008), les antecedents respiratoires (p=0,001), l'immunodepression (p<0,001), l'IGS II (p<0,001) ont ete retrouves comme principaux facteurs predictifs d'echec de la technique. Conclusion : Notre experience clinique demontre qu'en pratique quotidienne, la VNI constitue une alternative efficace et securitaire a l'intubation, sous reserve qu'elle soit pratiquee dans un environnement adapte, par une equipe experimentee. Cette technique peut representer l'assistance ventilatoire de premiere intention dans bon nombre d'indications d'IRA, et s'averer tres utile pour la prise en charge de la phase post-extubation.
Perceived Usefulness and Trust towards Consumer Behaviors: A Perspective of Consumer Online Shopping

In this globalization era, the Internet has become an important tool for web browsing, social networking and even making online purchases. In Malaysia, few studies have examined the influence of perceived usefulness and trust on the online shopping behavior of consumers. Thus, the current study intends to investigate whether perceived usefulness and trust influence the online shopping behavior of consumers in northern Malaysia which comprises Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Perak. The relationship of the perceived usefulness and trust and the online shopping behaviors of the consumers will also be determined in this study. Quantitative research will be conducted by distributing questionnaires to 600 Internet users from different age groups, genders and backgrounds. Perceived usefulness and trust are predicted to influence the online shopping behaviors of consumers in northern Malaysia since these two factors were proven to influence the online shopping behavior of other developing countries such as China. The information obtained from this study will facilitate online retailers and shoppers? understanding of the different perspectives of both parties regarding the effects of perceived usefulness and trust on online shopping behavior. This study can be a useful guideline for researches to improve their studies.
RELATIONS BETWEEN IMMUNOREACTIVE SOMATOMEDIN C, INSULIN AND T3 PATTERNS DURING FASTING IN OBESE SUBJECTS

Plasma glucose, immunoreactive somatomedin‐C (Sm‐C), GH, insulin (IRI) and T3 were measured daily in 20 obese subjects before and during a 9‐day fast. Control levels of Sm‐C were normal and exhibited no significant correlation with any of the other parameters investigated. During fasting there were no consistent variations in GH, but significant decreases occurred in blood glucose, IRI, T3 and Sm‐C levels. While individual Sm‐C patterns varied widely, as a group the fasting Sm‐C values showed a positive correlation with the fasting IRI and T3 levels, and with control body weight. These findings suggest that the decrease in Sm‐C which occurs during caloric deprivation may be the result of concomitant decreases occurring in T3 and IRI levels.
Pathogenicity of Salmonella enteritidis phage types 6A and 7 in experimentally infected chicks

Pathogenicity of Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis (S.E) phage types (PTs) 6A and 7 were determined in orally inoculated newly hatched specific pathogen free (SPF) chicks. Clinical signs and mortality were observed daily. Body weights, bacterial isolation, gross lesions and histological lesi ons were recorded on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 and 21 post inoculations (pi). Out of 155 newly hatched SPF White Leghorn chicks, five chicks were randomly separated to confirm the SPF status of the chicks before inoculation. The remaining chicks w ere divided into three sacrificed groups (A, B and C) of 30 chicks each and their respective three mortality groups (MA, MB and MC) of 20 chicks each. Groups A and MA, and groups B and MB were inoculated orally with 0.1mL containing 10 7 cfu of SE PT6A (UPM-0527) and SE PT7 (UPM-0530), respectively. The un-inoculated groups C and MC served as negative controls. Chicks in groups A and B showed clinical signs of depression, anorexia, ruffled feathers, vent pasting and diarrhea starting from day 1 pi. Lifting of wings from thorax was observed in group A and B from day 1 and 5 pi, respectively. There was significant difference (p<0.05) in body weight gain among the inoculated and the control groups on days 14 and 21 pi. Growth index values were 0.035, 0.036 and 0.037 for groups A, B and C, respectively. Mortality of 20% was recorded only in MA group. Goss lesions of unabsorbed yolk, airsaculitis, fibrinous pericarditis, fibrinous perihapatitis, enlarged kidneys, spleenomegaly and dehydration were observed in about 15% of sacrificed chicks in group A and 10% in group B. Mild to moderate lesions were observed under microscope. Salmonella was isolated from the cultured samples of group A and B throughout the experiment period with the individual variation of chicks and samples. It was concluded that newly hatched SPF chicks are susceptible to PT6A and PT7 infections. These SE PTs are mild to moderately pathogenic for SPF chicks. SE PT6A is more pathogenic than SE PT7.
Current Concepts Historical Perspective — Emergence of Influenza A ( H 1 N 1 ) Viruses

Copyright © 2009 Massachusetts Medical Society. On April 17, 2009, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed two cases of swine influenza in children living in neighboring counties in California.1 Here we take a perspective from systems biology to review the series of evolutionary and epidemiologic events, starting in 1918, that led to the emergence of the current swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) strain (S-OIV), which is widely known as swine flu. This article is one of two historical articles on influenza A (H1N1) viruses in this issue of the Journal.2 Our review focuses on the key steps that characterize this viral evolution (Fig. 1).
A Study of the Compressive Properties of Lumbar Vertebral Trabeculae: Effects of Tissue Characteristics

The compressive material properties of human lumbar vertebral trabecular bone were examined and compared to in vivo and in vitro measures of bone density and to the degree of macroscopic disc degeneration. No significant differences in the material properties were found for segment level (L1–L4) or for degeneration grade (I–IV), although trabecular bone specimens from segments with slightly degenerated disks (I–II) were stronger (24%) and stiffer (16%) on the average than specimens from segments with severely degenerated discs. Significant positive logarithmic regressions were obtained, however, between the in vivo and in vitro measures of trabecular bone density and trabecular bone mechanical properties. The results indicate that in vivo mineral measurements can accurately estimate the compressive material properties of lumbar vertebral trabeculae.
A low power CMOS image sensor design for wireless endoscopy capsule

This paper proposes a low power full-custom CMOS digital pixel sensor array designed for a wireless endoscopy capsule. The proposed architecture greatly reduces the on-chip memory requirement by sharing pixel-level memory in the sensor array with the digital image processor. The pixel-level memories in the proposed full-custom image sensor are used not only to store the raw image pixel values in the image capture phase, but also is also used as buffers for the digital image processor during the image compression and transmission phase. Low power design is carried out both at the algorithmic and circuit levels, which reduces almost 50% switching activities on data bus, about 80% of power consumption in the main pixel circuit during image capture phase and 15% during image process phase while transmitting data at a rate of 2-frame/s.
Frequency selectivity and speech discrimination in sensorineural hearing loss.

Two supposed measures of auditory frequency selectivity--the critical band (CB) in loudness summation and the psychoacoustic tuning curve (PTC), Both measured at 1 kHz--were compared with the capacity for speech discrimination in patients with various cochlear disorders and a relatively flat audiometric pattern. The CB in loudness summation was correlated neither to the degree of hearing loss nor to the speech discrimination score. In contrast, the PTC changed with increasing hearing loss in the same manner as the electrophysiological tuning curve (FTC), i.e. rapidly deteriorating beyond normal limit values when the hearing loss exceeded 30--40 dB (HL). Nearly the same dependency of the degree of the hearing loss was demonstrated for the speech discrimination score (determined in noise and after filtering of the signal) and a significant correlation was present between this score and cochlear tuning, as expressed by the PTC. It is proposed that the PTC is a more valid measure of auditory frequency selectivity than the CB in loudness summation. If this is accepted the results seem to support the hypothesis of impaired frequency selectivity as a major cause for deteriorated speech discrimination in patients with cochlear disorders.
Effective dose of dental CBCT-a meta analysis of published data and additional data for nine CBCT units.

OBJECTIVES This article analyses dose measurement and effective dose estimation of dental CBCT examinations. Challenges to accurate calculation of dose are discussed and the use of dose-height product (DHP) as an alternative to dose-area product (DAP) is explored. METHODS The English literature on effective dose was reviewed. Data from these studies together with additional data for nine CBCT units were analysed. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and paired analysis are used to characterize the data. RESULTS PubMed and EMBASE searches yielded 519 and 743 publications, respectively, which were reduced to 20 following review. Reported adult effective doses for any protocol ranged from 46 to 1073 µSv for large fields of view (FOVs), 9-560 µSv for medium FOVs and 5-652 µSv for small FOVs. Child effective doses from any protocol ranged from 13 to 769 µSv for large or medium FOVs and 7-521 µSv for small FOVs. Effective doses from standard or default exposure protocols were available for 167 adult and 52 child exposures. Mean adult effective doses grouped by FOV size were 212 µSv (large), 177 µSv (medium) and 84 µSv (small). Mean child doses were 175 µSv (combined large and medium) and 103 µSv (small). Large differences were seen between different CBCT units. Additional low-dose and high-definition protocols available for many units extend the range of doses. DHP was found to reduce average absolute error for calculation of dose by 45% in comparison with DAP. CONCLUSIONS Large exposure ranges make CBCT doses difficult to generalize. Use of DHP as a metric for estimating effective dose warrants further investigation.
Valoración territorial de los productos locales como vía para el desarrollo local: el caso del municipio de Ameca, Jalisco

La generacion y el impulso de los productos locales es uno de los mecanismos que se identifican en los territorios que promueven el desarrollo local y el aprovechamiento de sus recursos endogenos. Los productos locales en los espacios rural-urbano, se relacionan principalmente con la produccion de alimentos, manufactura ligera y en algunos casos con la dotacion de servicios y comercio, vinculado con el aprovechamientos de elementos que tienen que ver con el turismo, e incluso el patrimonio tangible e intangible. Asimismo cuando los productos locales se vinculan con sus sistemas agroalimentarios fomentan el desarrollo de su territorio, por lo que requieren valorarse territorialmente y anclarse a estrategias y politicas de desarrollo local que los promuevan e impulsen la gestacion de iniciativas de desarrollo empresarial. El presente documento tiene por objeto reconocer el estado que guarda la produccion local en el municipio de Ameca, Jalisco, y valorar tanto su desarrollo como la posibilidad que los mismos tienen de involucrarse con otros proyectos como el que el Gobierno Estatal propuso desde 2007 para detonar el crecimiento de la Region, denominado “Rutas Creativas: Estrategias para el Desarrollo Regional”, el cual promueve el desarrollo de las Vias Verdes. La estrategia metodologica contempla definir los atributos que en lo general identifican a los productos locales, a partir de la revision de los aportes teoricos hechos en el tema, asi como del trabajo de campo que de manera particular se hizo para el municipio de Ameca. Asi tambien se incluye la revision de las estadisticas economicas del sector primario y secundario, a fin de tener informacion sobre la estructura sobre la que esta soportada la produccion local y realizar un primer ejercicio de valoracion territorial que consigne las fortalezas y debilidades que el municipio presenta para el desarrollo local, mediante el fortalecimiento de los productos locales.
Inhibition of histone deacetylation enhances the neurotoxicity induced by the c‐terminal fragments of amyloid precursor protein

The AICD (APP intracellular Domain) and C31, caspase‐cleaved C‐terminal fragment of APP, have been found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients' brains and have been reported to induce apoptosis in neuronal cells. In recent, the C‐terminal fragments of amyloid precursor protein (APP‐CTs) have been reported to form a complex with Fe65 and the histone acetyltransferase Tip60 and are thought to be involved in gene transcription. In this study, based on the hypothesis that APP‐CTs might exert neurotoxicity by inducing some gene transcription, we investigated the effects of APP‐CTs on histone acetylation which indicates that transcription is actively going on and also on the relationship between histone acetylation and the cytotoxicity induced by APP‐CTs in nerve growth factor (NGF)‐differentiated PC12 cells and rat primary cortical neurons. Here we demonstrate that the expression of APP‐CTs [C31, AICD (C59) and C99] induces increases in acetylation of histone 3 and histone 4 and that treatment with sodium butyrate, an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, significantly enhances the cytotoxicity induced by APP‐CTs. The acetylation of histone plays an important role in allowing regulatory proteins to access DNA and is likely to be a major factor in the regulation of gene transcription. Taken together, our results suggest that APP‐CTs exert neurotoxicity by transcription‐dependent mechanisms and this might contribute to the pathogenesis of AD. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Oxidative and nitrosative stress enzymes in relation to nitrotyrosine in Helicobacter pylori-infected humans.

AIM To compare a possible relation between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and the oxygen- and nitrogen radical system in humans. METHODS Mechanisms for H. pylori to interfere with the oxygen and nitrogen radical system is of great importance for understanding of the H. pylori persistence and pathogenesis. Biopsies were obtained from the gastric wall of 21 individuals. Ongoing infection with H. pylori was detected using direct analyze from the biopsies using campylobacter-like organism test (CLO-test) and/or by using (14)C-urea breath test. The individuals were divided in a negative H. pylori and a positive H. pylori group. Expression in the gastric mucosa of inducible nitric oxide syntase (iNOS), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase (NADPH-oxidase) myeloperoxidase (MPO), and nitrotyrosine were assessed by Western blotting. RESULTS The individuals who undervent gastroscopy were divided in a H. pylori neg. [n = 13, m/f = 7/6, age (mean) = 39] and a H. pylori pos. group [n= 8, m/f = 5/3, age (mean) = 53]. Using western blot analysis iNOS was detected as a 130 kDa band. The iNOS expression was upregulated in the antrum of H. pylori infected individuals in comparison to the controls, mean ± SD being 12.6 ± 2.4 vs 8.3 ± 3.1, P < 0.01. There was a markedly upregulated expression of MPO in the antrum of H. pylori infected individuals in comparison to the control group without infection. In several of non-infected controls it was not possible to detect any MPO expression at all, whereas the expression was high in all the infected subjects, mean ± SD being 5.1 ± 3.4 vs 2.1 ± 1.9, P < 0.05. The NADPH-oxidase expression was analysed by detecting the NADPH-oxidase subunit p47-phox expression. P47-phox was detected as a 47 kDa band using Western blot, and showed a significantly higher expression of p47-phox in the antrum of the H. pylori infected individuals compared to the controls, mean ± SD being 3.1 ± 2.2 vs 0.3 ± 0.2, P < 0.01. Regarding nitrotyrosine formation, Western blot did not show any significant increase or decrease compared to controls, 7.0 ± 0.9 vs 6.9 ± 1.1, not significant. CONCLUSION iNOS, MPO and NADPH-oxidase was up-regulated among H. pylori infected. Regarding nitrotyrosine no difference was found. This support an H. pylori related inhibition of radical formation.
Ocular rigidity: biomechanical role, in vivo measurements and clinical significance

Ocular rigidity (OR) refers to the relationship between pressure and volume changes in the eyeball. Since the description of the differential tonometry method for the calculation of an OR coefficient by Friedenwald, several other methodologies have been proposed to measure OR, including the anterior chamber manometry, axial length (AL) changes, measurement of pulse amplitude and fundus pulse, ultrasound elastography and evaluation of corneal hysteresis. However, most of these methodologies suffer from deficiencies, such as invasive nature, poor accuracy or reproducibility or technical complexity. Nevertheless, it is possible that OR affects the pathogenesis and clinical course of a variety of ocular conditions, including glaucoma, age‐related macular degeneration, presbyopia, corneal changes following refractive surgery as well as the accuracy of IOP measurements by many tonometers. Thus, the future development of non‐invasive and easy‐to‐use methodologies for the accurate measurement of OR in the every‐day practice would be clinically important.
Swabbing Surgical Sites Does Not Improve the Detection of Staphylococcus aureus Carriage in High-Risk Surgical Patients.

BACKGROUND A major risk factor for the development of surgical site infections is Staphylococcus aureus carriage. Compared with non-carriers, S. aureus carriers have up to a 14-fold greater risk for post-surgical infections. Pre-operative screening for S. aureus carriage is controversial. Yet, targeted screening in high-risk patients or from clinically relevant sites may be beneficial. We aimed to determine whether S. aureus detection in high-risk surgical patients would be increased by culturing surgical sites, in addition to the nares, vs. nares-only culturing. METHODS Adults undergoing pre-operative evaluations in orthopedic and neurosurgical clinics were eligible for participation. For each subject, specimens were collected from the anterior nares and from the proposed surgical site. Samples were inoculated onto methicillin-resistant S. aureus-selective chromogenic agar plates and blood agar plates. RESULTS Of 150 subjects, 80 (53.3%) were women and 70 (46.7%) men. The mean age was 61 years and 77/150 (51.3%) had a BMI≥30. Culture results were available for 147/150 subjects. Of the 147 surgical site cultures, 54 (36.7%), 51 (34.7%), and 28 (19.0%) were collected from knee, hip, and lumbar sites, respectively; the remaining 14 (9.5%) were from cervical, thoracic, or infra-clavicular sites. Overall, 35/147 (23.8%) nasal cultures grew S. aureus; 29/147 (19.7%) grew methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), and 6/147 (4.1%) grew methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Only 2/147 (1.4%) surgical site cultures grew S. aureus; both grew MSSA and MSSA was cultured also from the nasal swabs of these subjects. Using nasal culture+surgical site culture as "true positive," the percentage of additional S. aureus carriers detected by the addition of surgical site screening was zero as compared to nasal screening alone. CONCLUSIONS The detection of S. aureus carriage in high-risk surgical patients is not improved by swabbing surgical sites in addition to the nares.