Given a passage with a context and an answer, 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.
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Question: Context: The ability to achieve significant donor engraftment without fully myeloablative conditioning has revolutionized allogeneic stem cell transplantation. These nonmyeloablative approaches may allow extension of this potentially curative modality to an increasing number of patients including those with non-malignant diseases. Although a number of regimens have been explored, the optimal means of conditioning has not been determined.', 'We previously demonstrated that rapamycin (RAPA) has the ability to promote T-cell tolerance even in the presence of costimulation. In the current study, we examine the ability of rapamycin or the calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine A (CSA) to promote chimerism in a murine haploidentical bone marrow transplantation model. Mice were conditioned with 300 cGy and received either RAPA at 3 mg/kg/day IP, CSA at 20 mg/kg/day IP, or no immunosuppression starting on the day before the transplant and continued for 4 weeks.', 'There was no apparent toxicity, and animals maintained normal blood counts throughout. More importantly, long-term macrochimerism was observed only in the RAPA-treated group.
Answer: These results establish a simple, nontoxic, irradiation-based regimen that facilitates engraftment without ablation. This strategy may prove useful in nonmalignant disorders such as hemoglobinopathies in which moderate levels of donor chimerism could prove curative.

Answer: Does low-dose radiation plus rapamycin promote long-term bone marrow chimerism?


Question: Context: Recently, the Arg389Gly beta1-adrenoceptor (beta1AR) gene polymorphism has been detected. The Arg variant exhibited increased responsiveness to agonist-induced stimulation in vitro. Functional studies in isolated human atrial muscle strips and in-vivo studies revealed contradictory results regarding the functional relevance of this polymorphism. We sought to characterize the functional consequences of the Arg389Gly beta1-AR polymorphism in 30 consecutive healthy male volunteers in vivo.', 'beta1-AR genotype was determined by PCR and restriction analysis, which was confirmed by DNA sequencing. We compared heart rate, blood pressure, and contractile response of the various genotype carriers with a modified dobutamine stress echocardiography protocol.', 'Subjects homozygous for the Arg389 beta1AR showed a significantly higher increase in fractional shortening upon cumulative doses of dobutamine as compared to subjects carrying one or two copies of the Gly389 allele. A statistically significant difference was observed at a dobutamine dose of 10 microg/kg/min (46.5 +/- 1.3 vs. 41.8 +/- 1.0 %; P = 0.023) and was maximal at 40 microg/kg/min (61.9 +/- 1.4 vs. 52.8 +/- 1.6; P = 0.001). As a result, the systolic blood pressure response to dobutamine was significantly enhanced in individuals homozygous for the Arg389 allele, whereas the effect on heart rate did not differ between the two groups. Normalization for changing afterload conditions by calculating the pressure-dimension ratio revealed similar effects, indicating that the beta1AR-mediated effects are mainly a result of increased myocardial inotropy.
Answer: These data indicate that the Arg389Gly beta1AR polymorphism is functionally relevant in vivo and determines contractile responsiveness to catecholamines in humans.

Answer: Does the Arg389Gly beta1-adrenoceptor gene polymorphism determine contractile response to catecholamines?


Question: Context: To evaluate the thickness of cartilage at the posterior aspect of the medial and lateral condyle in Osteoarthritis (OA) knees compared to non-OA knees using computed tomography arthrography (CTA).', '535 consecutive knee CTAs (mean patient age = 48.7 ± 16.0; 286 males), were retrospectively analyzed. Knees were radiographically classified into OA or non-OA knees according to a modified Kellgren/Lawrence (K/L) grading scheme. Cartilage thickness at the posterior aspect of the medial and lateral femoral condyles was measured on sagittal reformations, and compared between matched OA and non-OA knees in the whole sample population and in subgroups defined by gender and age.', 'The cartilage of the posterior aspect of medial condyle was statistically significantly thicker in OA knees (2.43 mm (95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.36, 2.51)) compared to non-OA knees (2.13 mm (95%CI = 2.02, 2.17)) in the entire sample population (P < 0.001), as well as for all subgroups of patients over 40 years old (all P ≤ 0.01), except for females above 60 years old (P = 0.07). Increase in cartilage thickness at the posterior aspect of the medial condyle was associated with increasing K/L grade in the entire sample population, as well as for males and females separately (regression coefficient = 0.10-0.12, all P < 0.001). For the lateral condyle, there was no statistically significant association between cartilage thickness and OA (either presence of OA or K/L grade).
Answer: Cartilage thickness at the non-weight-bearing posterior aspect of the medial condyle, but not of the lateral condyle, was increased in OA knees compared to non-OA knees. Furthermore, cartilage thickness at the posterior aspect of the medial condyle increased with increasing K/L grade.

Answer:
Is cartilage thickness at the posterior medial femoral condyle increased in femorotibial knee osteoarthritis : a cross-sectional CT arthrography study ( Part 2 )?