TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage classify if the passage has a definite objective/aim/goal or not. Output '1' if the passage has a defininte objective/aim/goal and output '0' if the passage does not have a definite objective/aim/goal.
PROBLEM: Total bilirubin (TB) was recently recognized as an endogenous anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant molecule. Uric acid (UA) takes part in cardiovascular diseases by inducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction. We assessed the relationship between serum TB levels, serum UA levels, and inflammatory status assessed by neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (N/L) and arterial stiffness and arterial wave reflection in patients with a clinical diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD).', 'We included 145 consecutive patients admitted with stable angina pectoris (SAP) or acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Blood samples were drawn at admission for complete blood count and biochemistry. Non-invasive pulse waveform analysis for the determination of augmentation index (AIx) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements were performed with the commercially available SphygmoCor system.', 'When patients were divided into tertiles of PWV and AIx, median N/L and median serum UA levels were the highest and mean TB levels were the lowest in the third tertile (p<0.001 for all). AIx and PWV were positively associated with serum UA and N/L and negatively associated with serum TB levels (p<0.001 for all). After adjustments for age, gender, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and presence of diabetes, significant correlations persisted for N/L, UA, and TB in ACS patients (p<0.05). In the SAP group, TB was significantly negatively correlated with AIx and PWV, and UA was significantly positively correlated with PWV (p<0.05).

SOLUTION: 1

PROBLEM: We aimed to better discriminate metastasized (lymphogen/occult/both combined) from non-metastasized seminoma based on post-transcriptional changes examined in the peripheral blood.', 'Total RNAs including small RNAs were isolated from the peripheral blood of patients suffering from metastasized testicular tumours (lymphogen, n = 5, clinical stage IIb/c; occult, n = 5, clinical stage I) and non-metastasized patients (n = 5, clinical stage I). Small RNA next generation sequencing (SOLID, Life Technologies) was employed to examine post-transcriptional changes. We searched for small RNAs showing at least 50 reads and a significant\u2009 ≥ 2-fold difference using peripheral blood small RNAs of non-metastasized tumours as the reference group. Candidate small RNAs were examined in univariate logistic regression analysis and combinations of two small RNAs were further examined using support vector machines.', 'On average 1.3 x 10(7), 1.2 x 10(7) and 1.2 x 10(7) small RNA reads were detectable in non-metastasized, lymphogen and occult metastasized seminoma, respectively of which 73-76% remained after trimming. From these between 80-82% represented annotated reads and 7.2-7.8% (1.6-1.7 x 10(4)) were annotated small RNA tags. Of them 137 small RNAs showed > 50 reads and a ≥ two-fold difference to the reference. In univariate analysis we detected 33-35 different small RNAs which significantly discriminated lymphogen/occult/combined metastasized from non-metastasized seminoma and among these different comparisons it were the same small RNAs in 44-79%. Many combinations of two of these small RNAs completely discriminated metastasized from non-metastasized seminoma irrespective of the metastasis subtype.

SOLUTION: 0

PROBLEM: Heparin is used in the treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolic events, including unstable angina. Once unfractionated heparin is discontinued during the acute phase of unstable angina, it has been demonstrated that the disease process may be reactivated within hours. It is hypothesized that this reactivation may be a result of direct platelet activation by heparin that can linger even after the drug itself has been stopped. Prior studies have shown that heparin can either increase or decrease platelet activation. More recent studies have also shown conflicting effects of unfractionated heparin on PFA-100 testing.', 'We studied the in-vitro effects of unfractionated heparin on platelet function and PFA-100 testing. Unfractionated heparin was incubated with whole blood taken from 18 healthy volunteers. Platelet activation and aggregation was assessed with and without the presence of heparin.', 'Platelet aggregation and activation were increased in the presence of heparin. Unfractionated heparin also significantly prolonged collagen/adenosine diphosphate closure time but did not affect collagen/epinephrine closure time.

SOLUTION:
0