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: To investigate the significance of respiratory muscle weakness in chronic heart failure and its relation both to maximum oxygen consumption during cardiopulmonary exercise testing and to skeletal muscle (quadriceps) strength.', 'Seven healthy men aged 54.9 (SEM 4.3) years and 20 men with chronic heart failure aged 61.4 (1.6) years (P = 0.20) with radionuclide left ventricular ejection fraction of 25.4 (3.0)%.', 'Mouth pressures during maximum static inspiratory effort (PImax) at functional residual capacity (FRC) and residual volume (RV) were measured in all subjects and taken as indices of inspiratory muscle strength. Similarly, mouth pressures during maximum static expiratory effort (PEmax) at FRC and total lung capacity (TLC) were taken as indices of expiratory muscle strength. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing was performed in all subjects. All controls and 15 heart failure patients also had their right quadriceps muscle strength measured.', 'There was respiratory muscle weakness in heart failure patients, with reduction of PImax at FRC (59.7) (6.3) v 85.6 (9.6) cm H2O, P = 0.045), PEmax at FRC (94.8 (6.2) v 134.6 (9.1) cm H2O, P = 0.004), and PEmax at TLC (121.7 (8.5) v 160.7 (13) cm H2O, P = 0.028). PImax at RV was also reduced but this did not reach statistical significance (77.3 (6.6) v 89.3 (13) cm H2O, P = 0.44). There was also significant weakness of the right quadriceps muscle (308.5 (22) v 446.2 (28) N, P = 0.001). PImax at both FRC and RV correlated with maximum oxygen consumption (r = 0.59, P = 0.006, and r = 0.45, P = 0.048 respectively) but not PEmax. There was, however, no significant correlation between PImax and right quadriceps strength.

SOLUTION: Is inspiratory muscle strength a determinant of maximum oxygen consumption in chronic heart failure?

PROBLEM: To investigate the inhibition of amyloid beta-protein 42 (Abeta42) production in M146L cells by gamma-schisandrin.', 'M146L cells which can produce considerable Abeta42 in vitro were treated with gamma-schisandrin (1.67, 5.00 and 15.00 microg x mL(-1)), beta-secretase inhibitor (S4562, 100.00 microg x mL(-1)) and gamma-secretase inhibitor (S2188, 13.68 microg x mL(-1)), separately. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to assess cell viability. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to determine the amount of Abeta42. Western blotting was used to examine C99, an intermediary product of APP cleaved by beta-secretase. beta-Secretase and gamma-secretase activities were assayed by commercial kits.', 'The CCK-8 assay indicated that different concentrations of gamma-schisandrin had no neurotoxicity on the cultured M146L. And the ELISA test showed that the amount of Abeta42 secreted by M146L cells treated with gamma-schisandrin (5.00 and 15.00 microg x mL(-1)) decreased obviously as compared with solvent control. The results of Western blotting test indicated that there was no change of C99 contents and beta-secretase activity in gamma-schisandrin treated cells, while gamma-secretase activity decreased obviously.

SOLUTION: Does [ Gamma-Schisandrin inhibit production of amyloid beta-protein 42 in M146L cells ]?

PROBLEM: The "hygiene hypothesis" postulates that individuals raised in a sanitary environment are more likely to develop inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Several studies previously demonstrated contradictory results in this regard. We performed for the first time a population-based study on the association of surrogate markers of childhood hygiene with the risk for IBD.', 'A cross-sectional population-based study was undertaken. Information on number of siblings, birth order, and living in an urban versus rural environment was obtained for 399,251 Jewish adolescents at the age of 17 yr from 1998 to 2004. The study population included only subjects born in Israel. In order to control for genetic confounding, subjects were also divided according to their ethnic group as being Ashkenazi, Sephardic, or Israeli in origin.', 'In total, 768 cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were diagnosed (0.19%), with 53.8% of the cases being of Ashkenazi origin. On multivariate analysis, variables significantly associated with IBD were male gender (odds ratio [OR] 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24-1.67), Ashkenazi origin (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.63-2.22), living in an urban environment (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.02-1.78), small number of siblings in the family (for 1 sibling vs 5 or more, OR 2.63, 95% CI 1.49-4.62), and higher birth order (for birth order of 5 or higher vs 1, OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.47-3.77), showing for both variables an almost strictly highly significant monotonic association (P value for trend <0.001).

SOLUTION:
Is childhood hygiene associated with the risk for inflammatory bowel disease : a population-based study?