TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.
PROBLEM: Approximately 50% of subjects with essential hypertension (EH) are insulin resistant, and this defect in insulin action could contribute to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in these patients. To test this hypothesis, we attempted to see if there was a link between insulin resistance (IR) and carotid intimal medial thickness (IMT), an early index of CVD, in patients with essential hypertension.', 'Ultrasound quantification of carotid IMT was performed in 79 hypertensive patients, and 63 patients (31 m and 32 f), defined as being free of plaque (IMT < 1.3 mm), were further subdivided into normal (<1.0 mm) and thickened (1-1.3 mm) IMT groups. Subjects in the thickened IMT group were older and had significantly (p < 0.05) higher plasma concentrations of fasting insulin, nitric oxide (NO(x)) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1). However, the two groups were not significantly different in terms of blood pressure, overall or regional obesity, fasting lipid levels, uric acid, concentrations of other cellular adhesion molecules or levels of C-reactive protein. There were significant (p < 0.05) correlations in the whole population between IMT and age, fasting insulin and NO(x), and multiple regression analysis identified fasting insulin as an independent predictor of IMT.

SOLUTION: Do insulin resistance/compensatory hyperinsulinemia predict carotid intimal medial thickness in patients with essential hypertension?

PROBLEM: Previous studies have shown that Fructus Ligustri Lucide (FLL) can be used to anti-cancer. However, the mechanism by which FLL mediate this effect is unclear. In the present study, aqueous extracts of FLL induced cell apoptosis in human gastric carcinoma cell was investigated.', 'The cell viability was detected by the CCK8 assay. The cell apoptosis was assessed by annexin V-PI double-labeling staining and hoechst 33342 staining. The protein expression of cell cycle regulators and tumor suppressors were analyzed by western blotting.', 'Treatment of human gastric carcinoma cells with FLL induced cell death in a dose- and time-dependent manner by using CCK8 assay. Consistent with the CCK8 assay, the flow cytometry results showed that the proportion of the early and terminal phase of apoptosis cells had gained after FLL treatment as compared to untreated group. Moreover, human gastric carcinoma cells were exposed to the aqueous extracts of FLL for 48 h, which resulted in an accumulation of cells in G2/M phase. Apoptotic bodies were clearly observed in human gastric carcinoma that had been treated with FLL for 48 h and then stained with Hochest 33342. Treatment of gastric carcinoma cells with increasing doses of FLL and increasing durations significantly increased the protein expression of Bax and Caspase3, decreased the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 level. The expression of CDC2 and cdc25C were downregulated upon FLL treatment in human gastric carcinoma. In contrast, p53 and p21 were obviously upregulated by FLL treatment in a concentration-dependent manner.

SOLUTION: Do aqueous extracts of Fructus Ligustri Lucide induce gastric carcinoma cell apoptosis and G2/M cycle arrest?

PROBLEM: To evaluate if serum S100B protein and neuron-specific enolase measured during therapeutic hypothermia are predictive of neurodevelopmental outcome at 15 months in children with neonatal encephalopathy.', 'Prospective longitudinal cohort study.', "A level IV neonatal ICU in a freestanding children's hospital.", 'Term newborns with moderate to severe neonatal encephalopathy referred for therapeutic hypothermia during the study period.', 'Serum neuron-specific enolase and S100B were measured at 0, 12, 24, and 72 hours of hypothermia.', 'Of the 83 infants enrolled, 15 (18%) died in the newborn period. Survivors were evaluated by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II at 15 months. Outcomes were assessed in 49 of 68 survivors (72%) at a mean age of 15.2 ± 2.7 months. Neurodevelopmental outcome was classified by Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II Mental Developmental Index and Psychomotor Developmental Index scores, reflecting cognitive and motor outcomes, respectively. Four-level outcome classifications were defined a priori: normal = Mental Developmental Index/Psychomotor Developmental Index within 1 SD (> 85), mild = Mental Developmental Index/Psychomotor Developmental Index less than 1 SD (70-85), moderate/severe = Mental Developmental Index/Psychomotor Developmental Index less than 2 SD (< 70), or died. Elevated serum S100B and neuron-specific enolase levels measured during hypothermia were associated with increasing outcome severity after controlling for baseline and socioeconomic characteristics in ordinal regression models. Adjusted odds ratios for cognitive outcome were 2.5 (95% CI, 1.3-4.8) for S100B and 2.1 (95% CI, 1.2-3.6) for neuron-specific enolase, and for motor outcome, 2.6 (95% CI, 1.2-5.6) for S100B and 2.1 (95% CI, 1.2-3.6) for neuron-specific enolase.

SOLUTION:
Do biomarkers S100B and neuron-specific enolase predict outcome in hypothermia-treated encephalopathic newborns*?