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.

Q: High sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) and adiponectin (APN) are two critical cytokines and exert inverse effects on atherosclerosis initiation and progression. The purpose of our study was to investigate the value of Hs-CRP and ANP ratio (Hs-CRP/APN ratio) on evaluating atherosclerosis progression.', "One hundred sixty consecutive participants underwent carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measured by ultrasound were enrolled and drawn fasting blood samples for plasma levels Hs-CRP and APN, serum levels of lipid profiles and fasting blood glucose evaluation. Other anthropometrics and clinical status were collected by questionnaire. All participants were divided into 4 groups according to the baseline Hs-CRP/APN ratio and underwent CIMT measurement every 6 months. CIMT increment and composite cardiovascular endpoints were compared after 24 months' follow-up.", "At baseline, body mass index (BMI), smoking, diabetic mellitus, usage of statins, Hs-CRP and APN independently correlated with Hs-CRP/APN ratio as analyzed by spearman rank correlation. Smoking, serum level of LDL-C, plasma level of Hs-CRP and Hs-CRP/APN ratio were positively correlated with CIMT while usage of statins and plasma level of APN were negatively correlated with CIMT as analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis. After 24 months' follow-up, the progression of CIMT was the most prominent in the fourth quartile of baseline Hs-CRP/APN ratio. In addition, the incidence of composite cardiovascular endpoint was also higher in the fourth quartile as compared to the other 3 lower quartiles.

A: Is increased Hs-CRP/adiponectin ratio associated with increase carotid intima-media thickness?
****
Q: Beta defensins are secreted from ovine oviduct epithelial cells (OOECs) in response to microbial infection, and are potential alternatives to antibiotic agents in the treatment of microorganism infection, particularly given the abuse of antibiotic agents and the increasing number of drug-resistant bacteria. The aberrant expression of defensins may result in disorders involving organ and oviduct inflammation, such as salpingitis.', 'In the present study, we investigated the effects of LPS on the mRNA expression levels of sheep -defensin-1 (SBD-1) in ovine oviduct epithelial cells. The OOECs in vitro culturing system were established and treated with different concentrations of LPS for indicated time. In addition, MAPK inhibitors and TLR4 antibodies were pretreated to investigate the potential mechanism which involves in LPS regulating SBD-1 expression.', 'LPS markedly upregulated SBD-1 expression in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Treatment with 100ng/mL LPS resulted in the phosphorylation of JNK, ERK and P38 MAPK. Interestingly, the LPS stimulated SBD-1 expression was attenuated by pretreatment with the P38 MAPK inhibitors SB203580 and SB202190 but not the JNK inhibitor SP600125, while the ERK inhibitor PD98059 had a minor effect. Furthermore, treatment with a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) neutralizing antibody significantly decreased P38 MAPK phosphorylation and LPS induced SBD-1 expression.

A: Does lipopolysaccharide induce SBD-1 expression via the P38 MAPK signaling pathway in ovine oviduct epithelial cells?
****
Q: Left atrial pressure and its surrogate, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), are important for determining diastolic function. The role of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in assessing diastolic function is well established in awake subjects. The objective was to assess the accuracy of predicting PCWP by TTE and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) during coronary artery surgery.', 'In 27 adult patients undergoing on-pump coronary artery surgery, simultaneous echocardiographic and hemodynamic measurements were obtained immediately before anesthesia (TTE), after anesthesia and mechanical ventilation (TTE and TEE), during conduit harvest (TEE), and after separation from cardiopulmonary bypass (TEE).', "Twenty patients had an ejection fraction (EF) of 0.5 or greater. With the exception of E/e' and S/D ratios, echocardiographic values changed over the echocardiographic studies. In patients with low EF, E velocity, deceleration time, pulmonary vein D, S/D, and E/e' ratios correlated well with PCWP before anesthesia. After induction of anesthesia using TTE or TEE, correlations were poor. In normal EF patients, correlations were poor for both TEE and TTE at all five stages. The sensitivity and specificity of echocardiographic values were not high enough to predict raised PCWP except for a fixed curve pattern of interatrial septum (area under the curve 0.89 for PCWP 17, and 0.98 for 18 mmHg) and S/D less than 1 (area under the curve 0.74 for PCWP 17, and 0.78 for 18 mmHg).

A:
Does interatrial septum motion but not Doppler assessment predict elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure in patients undergoing cardiac surgery?
****