bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Conventional and Two-dimensional Strain Echocardiography in Predicting Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery in Shahid Madani Hospital of Tabriz, Iran
Authors: Doshmangir Leila 
Published: December 2022

Objectives: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication of heart surgery with favorable short- and long-term outcomes. Preoperative left atrial (LA) dysfunction may be a significant component in identifying patients at risk for postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG (surgery. Advances in imaging technologies and an understanding of AF pathophysiology can lead to more definitive potential therapeutic approaches. The paper has the aim to present the role of conventional echocardiography and LA two-dimensional (2D) strain. 2D Strain echocardio graphies in assessing LA function in predict POAF after CABG surgery.
Materials and Methods: In this study, all patients with sinus rhythm who underwent CABG surgery were selected. All the patients had undergone conventional echocardiography and LA 2D-strain echocardiography 24 hours before surgery. In addition to demographic, clinical, and intraoperative features, other assessments, including electrocardiogram (ECG) and Holter monitoring, were recorded. The obtained information was recorded, and the study results were reported using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, and percentage frequency). A Chi-square test was used to evaluate the qualitative variables, and a t-test was used to compare the quantitative variables. Given the multi-factorial nature of AF, univariate and multivariate methods were used to analyze the data and the effect of STRAIN. In this study, P < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: According to the findings, 85 patients (81%) were male with a mean age of 60.26 ± 10.61 years. 50% of the patients underwent off-pump CABG surgery, and 50% underwent on-pump surgery with a mean time of 98.52 ± 22.44 minutes. POAF was seen in 22.9% of patients during hospitalization, and AF's duration was 13.85 ± 14.41 hours. AF patients had higher LA volume index (LAVI) than non-AF patients (p = 0.018). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), E/e, E/A,and deceleration time(DT) . Non-AF patients had higher rates of LA reservoir (26.97 ± 6.87 VS. 20.46 ± 4.27, p <0.001), LA contractile (14.98 ± 3.68 VS. 12.76 ± 3.72, p =0.012) and LA global (24.28 ± 6.57 VS. 17.71 ± 4.11, p <0.001) than AF patients. The results of the multivariate logistic regression showed that LAVI (p= 0.014) and LA global (p = 0.027) were significant predictors of AF detection. Thus with increasing LAVI, the probability of developing AF increases, and with decreasing LA global, this probability decreases.
Conclusions: Compared to conventional echocardiography, 2D-strain echocardiography is a more effective diagnostic tool in predicting the possibility of post-CABG AF.
Molecular Characterization and Antibiogram of Selected Pathogens Isolated from Streams and Wells Water Sources in Three Local Government Areas of Rivers State, Nigeria
Authors: Okwelle A. A. , Lennox J. A. , Asikong B. E. 
Published: December 2022

Aims: Reliance on unhealthy water sources such as hand dug wells and streams have led to the occurrence of waterborne diseases such as amoebic dysentery, gastroenteritis, typhoid fever and cholera among several communities in Rivers State. This study tends to identify selected multidrug resistant pathogens isolated from streams and wells water sources in three Local Government Areas of Rivers State using molecular techniques.
Methodology: A total of 48 well and stream water samples were collected aseptically from 24 sampling sites in Ikwerre, Emohua and Etche Local Government Areas of Rivers State. Samples were analysed using membrane filtration technique for total heterotrophic bacterial count and total coliform count. The well and stream water samples were also cultured for E. coli, Salmonella and Vibrio sp. Antibiotic sensitivity test of the isolates was carried out using the disk diffusion method and multidrug resistant isolates were identified using PCR-based techniques (16S rRNA).
Results: The results of this study showed that total aerobic heterotrophic bacteria count occurred more in Emohua LGA for both well and stream water sources with bacterial count of 1.71 x104 cfu/ml for well water samples and 2.35 x 104 cfu/ml for stream water samples. The mean fungal count of the stream water samples was highest in Emohua LGA with 2.55 x 104 cfu/ml followed by Ikwerre LGA which had 4.20 x 103 cfu/ml and Etche LGA with the least count of 1.80 x 102 cfu/ml. All the isolated bacteria species were found to be resistant to more than 50% of the antibiotics used with highest Multi Antibiotic Resistant Index of 0.625. multidrug resistant bacterial isolates identified include Vibrio sp strain 201707CJKOP-Y162 (MG593726), Bacillus sbtilis clone N55 (JQ622582), Chryseobacterium sp strain CB2915-325-DE_0621 (MH512534), Enterobacter sp strain AB55 (MF407145), Klebsiella pneumonia strain M792-16(MH680830), Shigella sonnei strain AR_0030(CP032523), Escherichia coli strain WECHEC025943(CP027205) and Salmonella bongori strain KC153129.116 (MG663494).
Conclusion: Access to good quality or potable drinking water and efficient sanitary practices are fundamental to human health and economic development. The occurrence of multidrug resistant pathogenic bacterial isolates in natural water sources requires serious routine evaluation in order to forestall the outbreak of waterborne disease epidemics.
The prevalence of optometric anomalies and symptoms in children receiving special tuition
Authors: Baraas Rigmor C. , Demberg Anneli 
Published: July 2002

SummaryA case‐control study was performed where 9 pupils receiving special tuition (ST‐group) were compared with 36 controls. Six (66,7%) of the pupils in the ST‐group were diagnosed as dyslexic. No significant correlation was revealed between receiving special tuition and having reduced visual function, nor between reduced visual function and number of visually related symptoms. Although the number of symptoms was not significantly greater in the ST‐group, some of the symptoms were significantly more common in the ST‐group, and none were significantly more common in the control group.
Picosecond reorientational dynamics of polar dye probes in binary aqueous mixtures
Authors: Dutt G. B. , Doraiswamy S. 
Published: July 2002

Picosecond time dependent fluorescence method has been used to measure the rotational reorientation times (τr) of three kinds of dye probes—oxazine 720 (a monocation), nile red (neutral but polar), and resorufin (a monoanion)—in a series of binary mixtures of water–amides, water–dipolar aprotics, and water–alcohols at 298 K. Most of the binary mixtures are characterized by the fact that at a particular composition (between 25% to 40% of the organic solvent in water), the viscosity (η) of the solution reaches a maximum value that is higher than the viscosities of the two solvents. As a consequence, the viscosity profile of the solution as a function of the organic solvent exhibits a bivaluedness, the extent of which is more, if the liquids are nearly isoviscous. The dielectric properties of the solution also change across the composition range. All the dyes show a near linear behavior of τr vs η in formamide–water, N-methylformamide–water, and methanol–water mixtures. A dual-valued profile for τr vs η is obtained for the cation oxazine 720 in the three dipolar aprotic mixtures (N, N-dimethylformamide–water, N, N-dimethylacetamide–water, and dimethylsulphoxide–water), with the rotational reorientation times being higher in the organic solvent-rich zone, compared to the corresponding isoviscous point in the water-rich zone. However, the anion resorufin shows a bivalued profile of τr vs η only in dimethylsulphoxide–water mixtures, while the neutral nile red shows a linear behavior in all the dipolar–aprotic water mixtures. A hook-type profile of τr vs η is seen for the anion resorufin in ethanol–, 1-propanol–, and 2-propanol–water mixtures and for the cation oxazine 720 in 1-propanol– and 2-propanol–water mixtures; but nile red shows no departure from linear behavior even in alcohol–water mixtures.
The rotational dynamics of the cation oxazine 720 in dipolar aprotic–water mixtures is explained in terms of solvation since the dielectric friction is minimal in these solutions. While the concept of dielectric friction model seems to be adequate to understand the nonhydrodynamic behavior of the oxazine 720, the additional contribution due to solvation effects has to be necessarily taken into account to explain the rotational dynamics of the anion resorufin in alcohol–water mixtures.
Serum levels of TNF‐α, sIL‐2R, IL‐6, and IL‐8 are increased and associated with elevated lipid peroxidation in patients with Behçet′s disease
Authors: Evereklioglu Cem , Er Hamdi , Türköz Yusuf , Çekmen Mustafa 
Published: July 2002

Aim: Behçet′s disease (BD) is a systemic immuno‐inflammatory disorder and the aetiopathogenesis is to be specified. Cytokines play a role in immune response and in many inflammatory diseases. The aim of this case‐control study is to investigate serum pro‐inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, interleukin‐1beta (IL‐1β), soluble IL‐2 receptor (sIL‐2R), IL‐6, and chemokine IL‐8 levels in patients with BD. We also determined the end product of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde (MDA)) in BD patients as an index for oxidative stress.Methods: A total of 37 patients (19 men, 18 women) with BD (active, n = 17; inactive, n = 20) and 20 age‐matched and sex‐matched healthy control subjects (11 men, nine women) included in this cross‐sectional, blinded study. Serum TNF‐α, IL‐1β, sIL‐2R, IL‐6 and IL‐8 levels were determined by a spectrophotometer technique using the immulite chemiluminescent immunometric assay. Lipid peroxidation was evaluated by Wasowicz et al. The levels of cytokines and lipid peroxidation in the active period were compared with the inactive period of the disease. Results are expressed as mean ± standard error.Results: IL‐1β levels were below the detection limits of the assay (< 5 pg/ml) in all samples. Mean levels of MDA (8.1 ± 0.7 μmol/l), sIL‐2R (800 ± 38 U/ml), IL‐6 (12.6 ± 1.1 pg/ml), IL‐8 (7.2 ± 0.4 pg/ml), and TNF‐α (7.9 ± 0.5 pg/ml) in active BD patients were significantly higher than those in inactive patients (4.3 ± 0.5 μmol/l, p < 0.01; 447 ± 16 U/ml, p < 0.001
; 8.3 ± 0.6 pg/ml, p = 0.006; 5.3 ± 0.1 pg/ml, p < 0.001; and 5.1 ± 0.2 pg/ml, p < 0.001; respectively) or control subjects (2.1 ± 0.2 μmol/l, p < 0.001; 446 ± 20 U/ml, p < 0.001; 6.4 ± 0.2 pg/ml, p < 0.001; 5.4 ± 0.1 pg/ml, p < 0.001; and 4.7 ± 0.1 pg/ml, p < 0.001, respectively). On the contrary, only the mean IL‐6 level was significantly different between inactive BD and control subjects
(p = 0.02). All acute phase reactants were significantly higher in active BD than in inactive period
(for each, p < 0.01).Conclusions: High levels of sIL‐2R, IL‐6, IL‐8 and TNF‐α indicate the activation of immune system in BD. Serum sIL‐2R, IL‐6, IL‐8 and TNF‐α seem to be related to disease activity. Increased lipid peroxidation suggests oxidative stress in BD and therefore tissue damage in such patients. Amelioration of clinical manifestations would be envisaged by targeting these cytokines, chemokines and lipid peroxidation with pharmacological agents.
Voice characteristics in the progression of Parkinson's disease
Authors: J. Holmes Rhonda , M. Oates Jennifer , J. Phyland Debbie , J. Hughes Andrew 
Published: July 2002

AbstractThis study examined the acoustic and perceptual voice characteristics of patients with Parkinson's disease according to disease severity. The perceptual and acoustic voice characteristics of 30 patients with early stage PD and 30 patients with later stage PD were compared with data from 30 normal control subjects. Voice recordings consisted of prolongation of the vowel /a/, scale singing, and a 1‐min monologue. In comparison with controls and previously published normative data, both early and later stage PD patients’ voices were characterized perceptually by limited pitch and loudness variability, breathiness, harshness and reduced loudness. High modal pitch levels also characterized the voices of males in both early and later stages of PD. Acoustically, the voices of both groups of PD patients demonstrated lower mean intensity levels and reduced maximum phonational frequency ranges in comparison with normative data. Although less clear, the present data also suggested that the PD patients’ voices were characterized by excess jitter, a high‐speaking fundamental frequency for males and a reduced fundamental frequency variability for females. While several of these voice features did not appear to deteriorate with disease progression (i.e. harshness, high modal pitch and speaking fundamental frequency in males, fundamental frequency variability in females, low intensity and jitter), breathiness, monopitch and monoloudness, low loudness and reduced maximum phonational frequency range were all worse in the later stages of PD. Tremor was the sole voice feature which was associated only with later stage PD.
Specific language impairment in Italian: The first steps in the search for a clinical marker
Authors: Bortolini Umberta , Caselli M. Cristina , Deevy Patricia , Leonard Laurence B. 
Published: July 2002

AbstractRecent studies of children with specific language impairment (SLI) have identified language measures that seem quite accurate in distinguishing preschool‐age children with SLI from their normally developing peers. However, the studies have focussed exclusively on English, and it is clear from the literature that the SLI profile varies between languages. This paper reports on three studies designed to assess the utility of particular language measures for Italian. In the first two studies, it was found that a composite measure based on the use of definite singular articles and third‐person plural inflections showed good sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing Italian‐speaking children with SLI from their typically developing peers. The third study showed that the same composite can be applied successfully to individual cases of SLI. Some of the additional steps needed to evaluate this composite measure are discussed.
Phonological Awareness Skills Of 4‐Year‐Old British Children: An Assessment And Developmental Data
Authors: Burt Lucy , Holm Alison , Dodd Barbara 
Published: July 2002

AbstractThis study reports developmental data for the phonological awareness and processing skills of 57 normally developing Tyneside preschool children, aged between 46 and 58 months. The children were assessed on eight tasks: consistency of word production, phonological variability according to speech production task, non‐word imitation, syllable segmentation, rhyme awareness, alliteration awareness, phoneme isolation and phoneme segmentation. The results indicated that girls and boys performed similarly; socio‐economic status significantly affected performance on six of the tasks; and age was significantly correlated with performance on tasks targeting alliteration, non‐word imitation, phonological variability, and phoneme isolation and segmentation. The older children were more phonologically aware than the younger children.
Immunization with a Peptide Surrogate for Double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) Induces Autoantibody Production and Renal Immunoglobulin Deposition
Authors: Putterman Chaim , Diamond Betty 
Published: July 2002

Anti–double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) antibodies are the serologic abnormality characteristically associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and may play an important role in disease pathogenesis. Although the anti-dsDNA antibodies present in SLE are indicative of an antigen-driven response, the antigen has not been conclusively identified.
By screening a phage peptide display library, we demonstrated previously that the decapeptide DWEYSVWLSN is specifically bound by the pathogenic murine IgG2b anti-dsDNA antibody R4A. To investigate the possibility that a protein antigen might trigger lupus-like autoimmunity, we immunized BALB/c mice with DWEYSVWLSN in adjuvant. Mice developed significant titers of IgG anti-dsDNA antibodies 2–3 wk after the initial immunization. Immunized mice also developed antibodies against some other lupus autoantigens, and immunoglobulin deposition was present in renal glomeruli at 49 d. Although an immune response to peptide and dsDNA was evident in BALB/c mice, there was little response in other inbred strains.
This study demonstrates that lupus-like anti-dsDNA reactivity can be generated in nonautoimmune mice by immunization with a peptide antigen. Peptide-induced autoimmunity may prove useful in understanding the spreading of antigenic specificities targeted in SLE. However, most importantly, the demonstration that a peptide antigen can initiate a SLE-like immune response opens a new chapter on the potential antigenic stimuli that might trigger SLE.
Snoring as a Risk Factor for Type II Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Study
Authors: Al-Delaimy Wael K. , Manson JoAnn E. , Willett Walter C. , Stampfer Meir J. , Hu Frank B. 
Published: July 2002

AbstractTo examine the association between snoring and risk of developing type II diabetes mellitus, the authors analyzed data from the Nurses' Health Study cohort. This analysis included 69,852 US female nurses aged 40–65 years without diagnosed diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at baseline in 1986. Snoring patterns were ascertained by questionnaire. During 10 years of follow-up, 1,957 women were diagnosed with type II diabetes. In analyses adjusted for age and body mass index, snoring was associated with risk of diabetes (for occasional snoring vs. nonsnoring, relative risk (RR) = 1.48 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.29, 1.70); for regular snoring vs. nonsnoring, RR = 2.25 (95% CI: 1.91, 2.66); p for trend < 0.0001). Further adjustment for other diabetes risk factors and sleeping-related covariates only slightly attenuated the risk (for occasional snoring, RR = 1.41 (95% CI: 1.22, 1.63); for regular snoring, RR = 2.03 (95% CI: 1.71, 2.40); p for trend < 0.0001). Analyses stratified by body mass index, smoking history, or parental history of diabetes showed a consistent association between snoring and diabetes within the categories of these variables. These results suggest that snoring is independently associated with elevated risk of type II diabetes.
Promoter2.0: for the recognition of PolII promoter sequences.
Authors: Knudsen S 
Published: July 2002

Abstract
MOTIVATION: A new approach to the prediction of eukaryotic PolII promoters from DNA sequence takes advantage of a combination of elements similar to neural networks and genetic algorithms to recognize a set of discrete subpatterns with variable separation as one pattern: a promoter. The neural networks use as input a small window of DNA sequence, as well as the output of other neural networks. Through the use of genetic algorithms, the weights in the neural networks are optimized to discriminate maximally between promoters and non-promoters. RESULTS: After several thousand generations of optimization, the algorithm was able to discriminate between vertebrate promoter and non-promoter sequences in a test set with a correlation coefficient of 0.63. In addition, all five known transcription start sites on the plus strand of the complete adenovirus genome were within 161 bp of 35 predicted transcription start sites. On standardized test sets consisting of human genomic DNA, the performance of Promoter2.0 compares well with other software developed for the same purpose. AVAILABILITY: Promoter2.0 is available as a Web server at http://www.cbs.dtu. dk/services/promoter/
GeneBuilder: interactive in silico prediction of gene structure.
Authors: Milanesi L , D'Angelo D , Rogozin I B 
Published: July 2002

Abstract
MOTIVATION: Prediction of gene structure in newly sequenced DNA becomes very important in large genome sequencing projects. This problem is complicated due to the exon-intron structure of eukaryotic genes and because gene expression is regulated by many different short nucleotide domains. In order to be able to analyse the full gene structure in different organisms, it is necessary to combine information about potential functional signals (promoter region, splice sites, start and stop codons, 3' untranslated region) together with the statistical properties of coding sequences (coding potential), information about homologous proteins, ESTs and repeated elements. RESULTS: We have developed the GeneBuilder system which is based on prediction of functional signals and coding regions by different approaches in combination with similarity searches in proteins and EST databases. The potential gene structure models are obtained by using a dynamic programming method. The program permits the use of several parameters for gene structure prediction and refinement. During gene model construction, selecting different exon homology levels with a protein sequence selected from a list of homologous proteins can improve the accuracy of the gene structure prediction. In the case of low homology, GeneBuilder is still able to predict the gene structure. The GeneBuilder system has been tested by using the standard set (Burset and Guigo, Genomics, 34, 353-367, 1996) and the performances are: 0.89 sensitivity and 0.91 specificity at the nucleotide level. The total correlation coefficient is 0.88. AVAILABILITY: The GeneBuilder system is implemented as a part of the WebGene a the URL: http://www.itba.mi. cnr.it/webgene and TRADAT (TRAncription Database and Analysis Tools) launcher URL: http://www.itba.mi.cnr.it/tradat.
DRAGON: Database Referencing of Array Genes Online
Authors: Bouton Christopher M.L.S. , Pevsner Jonathan 
Published: July 2002

Abstract
Summary: ‘Database Referencing of Array Genes ONline’ or ‘DRAGON’ is a web-accessible database that aids in the analysis of differential gene expression data as a biological annotation tool. Users of DRAGON can submit data sets containing large lists of genes and then choose particular characteristics that DRAGON supplies for all genes on the list rapidly and simultaneously.
Availability: The DRAGON database is available for queries on the DRAGON web site www.kennedykrieger.org/pevsnerlab/dragon.htm.
Contact: pevsner@kennedykrieger.org or cbouton@jhmi.edu
To whom correspondence should be addressed.