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BMRetriever

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biomed_retrieval_dataset

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[ "In adults, most intussusceptions develop from a lesion, usually a benign or malignant neoplasm, and can occur at any site in the gastrointestinal tract. Intussusception in the proximal gastrointestinal tract is uncommon, and gastro-gastric intussusception is extremely rare. We present a case of gastro-gastric intussusception secondary to a primary gastric lymphoma. An 82-year-old female patient presented with acute onset chest pain and vomiting. Abdominal CT revealed a gastro-gastric intussusception. We performed upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, revealing a large gastric mass invaginated into the gastric lumen and distorting the distal stomach. Uncomplicated gastric reposition was achieved with endoscopy of the distal stomach. Histological evaluation of the gastric mass revealed a diffuse large B cell lymphoma that was treated with chemotherapy." ]

[ "A 49-year-old man came to the emergency room with abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and rectal bleeding. Both colonoscopy and CT of the abdomen showed cecocolic intussusception caused by an appendiceal mucocele. An ileocecal resection was performed via a laparoscopic approach and microscopy of the tissue showed a low-grade mucinous neoplasm.", "A 50-year-old Chinese man presented with abdominal pain associated with bloody mucoid stools, loss of appetite and weight loss. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis revealed a colocolic intussusception secondary to a lipoma. The patient subsequently underwent a left hemicolectomy. Clinical and imaging findings of intussusception in adults are discussed in this article." ]

[ "For the lighthouse located on Cape Hatteras, see Cape Hatteras Light. Cape Hatteras from space, October 1989. Cape Hatteras /ˈhaet.ˈhæt.ʌ/ rʌs is a cape on the coast Of North, carolina and is protected as the namesake feature of The Cape Hatteras National. seashore" ]

[ "The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse protects one of the most hazardous sections of the Atlantic Coast. Offshore of Cape Hatteras, the Gulf Stream collides with the Virginia Drift, a branch of the Labrador Current from Canada. This current forces southbound ships into a dangerous twelve-mile long sandbar called Diamond Shoals.", "Beach Information One of the first things you’ll come to quickly realize about the Outer Banks is how diverse the beaches are. There are over 100 miles of shoreline in Dare County connected by the legendary coastal two-lane highway NC 12. Depending on your personal preference, you can find public beach accesses with ample paved parking, modern bath houses and nearby beach convenience shops, or you can immerse yourself in the natural or even primitive beaches of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore best accessible by a 4x4 off-road vehicle." ]

[ "Emeryville is a small city in Alameda County, California, in the United States.he Town of Emeryville was incorporated December 2, 1896. It was named after Joseph Stickney Emery who came during the Gold Rush and acquired large tracts of land in what became known as Emery's. In 1884, Emery was president of a narrow-gauge railroad called the California and Nevada Railroad." ]

[ "The Emery Go-Round is a last-mile shuttle service, provided by the Emeryville Transportation Management Association, to connect employees, residents and visitors of Emeryville from the MacArthur BART Station to various locations throughout the City. The service is fare-free and open to the public.", "Colleges/universities with over 2000 students nearest to Emeryville: 1 Berkeley City College (about 3 miles; Berkeley, CA; Full-time enrollment: 3,146). 2 University of California-Berkeley (about 3 miles; Berkeley, CA; FT enrollment: 37,127)." ]

[ "There are two approaches.\n\n\nThe two groups are treated as independent. You would calculate the ratio of protonated and deprotonated group one using the pKa for that group. Then, you would repeat that for the second group. Independent treatment would be a good approach, for example, to estimate the average charge of the hundreds of side chains in a typical protein that have a pKa near physiological pH.\nThe two pKa values are obtained experimentally from a titration.$$\\ce{AH2 <=> AH- + H+ <=> A^2- + 2 H+}$$ Here, the $\\ce{AH-}$ species could be ambiguous if the pKa values are close to each other (group 1 deprotonated and group 2 protonated or vice versa). Or, for a case like hydronium, water and hydroxide where the same atom can accept two protons, $\\ce{AH-}$ would represent a single defined species. You can get the ratios of the concentrations from the pH and the respective pKa ($\\ce{AH2}$ vs $\\ce{AH-}$ via $K_1$, and $\\ce{AH2}$ vs. $\\ce{AH-}$ via $K_2$), and turn that into fractions of the total for each species. You can use that for a weighted average to calculate the average charge, for example.\n\n\n\n Let's say I want to know the ratio of HZ to Z− for a pH of 1.00 and 11.00, which pKa should be used in the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation and why?\n\n\nThis depends what HZ and Z- refer to. With two ionizable groups, there are really four species, $\\ce{HZYH, HZY^-, ^-ZYH and ^-ZY-}$. If the pKa values are far apart, one of the mixed species would be very unlikely in aqueous solution (in your example, protonated carboxylate with deprotonated amino group). At pH 1.00, the amine would be 100% protonated, and the carboxylic acid would be mostly protonated (comparing its pKa of 2.33 to a pH of 1.00). At pH 11, the carboxylic acid would be 100% deprotonated, and the amine would be mostly deprotonated (comparing its pKa of 9.74 to a pH of 11.00)." ]

[ "Because the acid and conjugate bases are equimolar - and because the equilibrium constant is small, obviating the need to solve a quadratic if you approached this in another way - the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation is:\n$$\\pu{pH} = {\\rm p}K_\\mathrm{a} + {\\rm log}_{10}\\left({[A^-]\\over[HA]}\\right)$$\n$$\\pu{pH} = 4.74 + {\\rm log}_{10}\\left({0.2\\ {\\rm M}\\over 0.2\\ {\\rm M}}\\right)$$\nwhich reduces to\n$$\\pu{pH} = 4.74$$", "The answer to your question does not need a single calculation.\n\nYou have got your 1 molar phosphoric acid that will get deprotonized by the 1 molar sodium hydroxide solution that is added. As both solutions have got the same concentration, you will reach the first inflection point after 100 mL and the second inflection point after 200 mL.\n\nNow what is between those two volumes, at your desired volume of 150 mL?\nA simple buffer system that can be described using the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation:\n$$\\mathrm{pH}=\\mathrm pK_\\mathrm a-\\log_{10}\\frac{\\ce{c(H2A- )}}{\\ce{c(HA^2- )}}$$\n\nAs both concentrations $\\ce{c(H2A- )}$ and $\\ce{c(HA^2- )}$ are equivalent, the logarithmic expression gets zero and your final pH equals the second $\\mathrm pK_\\mathrm a$ value of phosphoric acid, which is 7.21 (according to the German Wikipedia).\n\n$\\hskip3.5cm$" ]

[ "The practice of yoga and meditation has been shown to offer a variety of health benefits. Recent research has associated these practices with reduced stress, improved mental health, and enhanced physical fitness. Yoga, in particular, has been linked to increased flexibility, muscle strength, and body tone. It can also improve respiration, energy and vitality. Meditation, on the other hand, has been found to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression while enhancing self-awareness and promoting emotional health. Furthermore, combining these practices can foster a better overall sense of well-being" ]

[ "Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese martial art, has been associated with numerous health benefits. It's often described as 'meditation in motion,' but it might well be called 'medication in motion.' Scientific studies have shown that it can help reduce stress, improve balance and general mobility, and increase muscle strength in the legs. Some recent research also suggests that practicing Tai Chi may enhance cognitive function, particularly in older adults. However, more studies are needed to confirm these findings and explore potential mechanisms" ]

[ "Anaesthetic and analgesic effects of three different injectable anaesthetic combinations for prepubertal gonadectomy (PPG) in cats were studied. One anaesthetic protocol was compared with a similar one for gonadectomy at traditional age (TAG). Kittens were randomly assigned to PPG or TAG. For PPG, three different protocols were compared: (1) intramuscular (IM) administration of 60 g/kg dexmedetomidine plus 20 g/kg buprenorphine followed by an IM injection of the anaesthetic agent (20 mg/kg ketamine) (DB-IM protocol); (2) oral transmucosal (OTM) administration of 80 g/kg dexmedetomidine plus 20 g/kg buprenorphine followed by an IM injection of 20 mg/kg ketamine combined with 20 g/kg dexmedetomidine (DB-OTM protocol); (3) IM injection of a 40 g/kg medetomidine-20 g/kg buprenorphine-20 mg/kg ketamine combination (MBK-IM protocol). For TAG, a DB-IM protocol was used, but with different doses for dexmedetomidine (40 g/kg) and ketamine (5 mg/kg). All cats (PPG and TAG) received a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory before surgery. Anaesthetic and analgesic effects were assessed pre- and postoperatively (until 6 h). Cumulative logit, linear and logistic regression models were used for statistical analysis. Compared with the DB-OTM protocol, the DB-IM and MBK-IM protocols provided better anaesthesia with fewer adverse effects in PPG cats. Postoperative pain was not significantly different between anaesthetic protocols. PPG and TAG cats anaesthetised with the two DB-IM protocols differed significantly only for sedation and pain scores, but sedation and pain scores were generally low. Although there were no anaesthesia-related mortalities in the present study and all anaesthetic protocols for PPG in cats provided a surgical plane of anaesthesia and analgesia up to 6 h postoperatively, our findings were in favour of the intramuscular (DB-IM and MBK-IM) protocols." ]

[ "OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sedative, anaesthetic and cardiorespiratory effects of intramuscular (IM) administration of alfaxalone alone or in combination with dexmedetomidine in cats.STUDY DESIGN: Blinded, randomized crossover study with a washout period of 15days.ANIMALS: Seven adult cats, weighing 3.50.7kg.METHODS: Cats were assigned randomly to each of three treatments: A5 (alfaxalone 5mgkg(-1) ), D20 A5 (dexmedetomidine 20gkg(-1) and alfaxalone 5mgkg(-1) ) and D40 A5 (dexmedetomidine 40g kg(-1) and alfaxalone 5mgkg(-1) ). Drugs were administered IM into the epaxial muscles. Sedation or anaesthesia scores were evaluated by a modified numerical rating scale. Times to extubation, head-lift, sternal recumbency and standing were recorded. Heart and respiratory rates, systolic arterial pressure, arterial oxygen saturation of haemoglobin, end-tidal carbon dioxide tension and rectal temperature were measured at 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 and 150minutes after drug administration. Adverse events were recorded. Data were analysed by one-way anova with Tukey's post-hoc test for parametric values and, for non-normally distributed parameters, a Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U-test for two independent samples (p<0.05).RESULTS: Sedation scores were significantly different among the treatments. Cats in A5 were deeply sedated, whereas cats administered dexmedetomidine were anaesthetized. The onset of action and the duration of anaesthesia were related to the dose of dexmedetomidine. Cardiorespiratory parameters remained stable in the A5 group. Lower heart rates, higher systolic blood pressures and occasional low pulse oximetry readings were observed in the dexmedetomidine groups. A limited number of adverse events (hyperkinesia, emesis) occurred during recovery.CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Alfaxalone administered IM induced sedation in cats. The addition of dexmedetomidine to alfaxalone induced general anaesthesia with a mild decrease in the heart rate and arterial oxygen saturation of haemoglobin.", "Since it is reported to be difficult to establish Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temmincki) breeding pairs in captivity as a result of overaggressive behavior of the male, artificial insemination (AI) may be a desired option by which to achieve pregnancy. This approach was chosen in the present case involving a nulliparous, 6-yr-old female cat that was inseminated transcervically during a naturally occurring estrus, which therefore required only a single general anesthetic procedure. On day 4 of estrus behavior, the male was anesthetized and semen was collected via urethral catheterization (UC) to recover spermatozoa in high concentration followed by electroejaculation (EE) to obtain additional semen and seminal fluid. The fresh UC semen, totaling 180 microl in volume and containing spermatozoa showing 55-70% sperm motility, was inseminated 2.5 hr later via a commercial cat urinary catheter passed through the cervix into the uterus. Immediately afterwards, the EE fraction (100 microl) was inseminated deeply into the dorsal medial fold of the vagina. The GnRH analogue Receptal (0.75 ml, i.m.) was given during anesthesia in an attempt to induce ovulation. Increasing fecal concentrations of progesterone after AI and a significant rise in fecal prostaglandin F2alpha metabolite (PGFM) concentrations (P < 0.0001) from day 45 post-AI indicated that the cat had conceived, and it produced healthy twin cubs after an 84-day gestation." ]

[ "Background. Adalimumab is effective for the maintenance of remission in patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC). Currently, biologic therapies are used in cases where patients fail conventional medical therapies. If biologic therapies are not available, patients often choose to remain in an unwell state rather than undergo colectomy. Objective. The aim of the study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of adalimumab in patients with UC where adalimumab was readily available compared to not available. Methods. A previously validated Markov model was used to simulate disease progression of patients with UC who are corticosteroid-dependent and/or did not respond to thiopurine therapy. Utility scores and transition probabilities between health states were determined by using data from randomized controlled trials and real-life observational studies. Costs were obtained from the Ontario Case Costing Initiative and the Alberta Health Schedule of Medical Benefits. Results. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios for readily available adalimumab treatment of UC were $40,000 and $59,000 per quality-adjusted life year, compared with ongoing medical therapy in an unwell state, at 5-year and 10-year treatment time horizons, respectively. Conclusion. Considering real-life patient preferences to avoid colectomy, adalimumab is cost-effective according to a willingness-to-pay threshold of $80,000 for treatment of UC." ]

[ "OBJECTIVE: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of adalimumab plus methotrexate (MTX) versus MTX monotherapy in early, aggressive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) when explicitly modelling short-term (reversible) and long-term (irreversible, ie, joint damage) disease activity and physical function.METHODS: A microsimulation model was developed to unify, in a single cost-effectiveness model, measures of reversible and irreversible disease activity and physical function based on data from the PREMIER trial. Short term, reversible disease activity was modelled using DAS28 variables, including swollen joint counts, tender joint counts, C reactive protein concentration and pain. The DAS28 variables were then used in a logistic regression to predict short-term American College of Rheumatology (ACR) responses, which informed treatment continuation and switches. Long term, irreversible, radiographically documented joint damage was modelled using modified Total Sharp Score (mTSS). The model then linked both short-term disease activity and mTSS to the Health Assessment Questionnaire score, which was used to calculate direct and indirect costs, and quality adjusted life-years (QALYs).RESULTS: When both reversible and irreversible effects of therapy were included, combination therapy was estimated to produce 6-month 50% ACR responses in 75% of patients versus 54% in MTX monotherapy. Compared to MTX monotherapy, combination therapy resulted in 2.68 and 3.04 discounted life years and QALYs gained, respectively. Combination therapy also resulted in a net increase in direct costs of 106,207 for a resulting incremental cost/QALY gain of 32,425. When indirect costs were included in the analysis, the ICER (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio) decreased to 27,238. Disregarding irreversible effects increased the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio to 78,809 (when only direct costs were included).CONCLUSIONS: Starting with adalimumab plus MTX combination therapy in early, aggressive RA is cost-effective when irreversible damage is adequately considered.", "BACKGROUND: Adalimumab and ustekinumab are effective psoriasis treatments. This study compares healthcare resource utilization (HRU), costs and dose escalation and describes starting dose trends in ustekinumab versus adalimumab psoriasis patients.METHODS: Adult psoriasis patients initiating adalimumab/ustekinumab on/after 25 September 2009 were selected from a US claims database and classified into biologic-na?ve and biologic-experienced samples.RESULTS: A total of 602 ustekinumab and 3470 adalimumab biologic-na?ve and 1193 ustekinumab and 1467 adalimumab biologic-experienced patients were included. In both samples, ustekinumab patients had significantly more days with medical services (biologic na?ve: IRR =1.14; biologic experienced: IRR =1.08) and higher average total costs by more than $14,000 annually. Ustekinumab users were 2.6 and 1.9 times more likely to have a dose escalation (increase ?45 mg in ustekinumab; ?40 mg in adalimumab) in biologic-naive and biologic-experienced patients, respectively. Between S2/2009 and S1/2012, the proportion of patient initiating on high dose (ustekinumab: >45 mg/28 days; adalimumab: >160 mg/28 days) increased substantially for ustekinumab patients (biologic na?ve: +18.6 percentage points [PP]; biologic experienced: +29.9 PP) but remain stable for adalimumab patients (biologic na?ve: -0.3 PP; biologic experienced: +2.3 PP).CONCLUSION: Ustekinumab patients had more HRU, higher total costs and were more likely to have a dose escalation. The proportion of patients initiating ustekinumab high dose increased substantially between 2009 and 2012." ]

[ "Abstract International visitor arrivals are considered to be a major source of foreign exchange, tourism-related employment and other tourism-related activities. This study used SARIMAX/(E)GARCH volatility models to forecast visitor arrivals by air transport to New Zealand from its eight key tourist source markets (Australia, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US)) and control macroeconomic factors together with global and regional structural changes. The empirical models reveal that the macroeconomic factors contributed at various levels to different markets, and the models we provided made accurate and reliable forecasts for visitor arrivals by air transport from all studied markets. The results from the markets for Germany, Japan, South Korea and the UK showed that significantly negative tourism demand shocks increased the volatility of tourism arrivals, more than positive tourism demand shocks of equal magnitude. Accordingly, the findings of this study will allow policy-makers in the New Zealand tourism sector and other stakeholders (e.g. airline management) to better understand the impacts on the volatility of visitor arrivals to New Zealand." ]

[ "The ease of air travel has made spread of infectious agents a global problem. There are a multitude of tropical diseases ranging from benign viral illnesses to highly contagious and life-threatening diseases and it is important to take a detailed clinical and travel history from the ill returning traveller, especially in the fi rst 4 weeks of return.", "Background: Climate change is not only increasing ambient temperature but also accelerating the frequency, duration and intensity of extreme weather and climate events, such as heavy precipitation and droughts, and causing sea level rise, which can lead to population displacement. Climate change-related reductions in land productivity and habitability and in food and water security can also interact with demographic, economic and social factors to increase migration. In addition to migration, climate change has also implications for travel and the risk of disease. This article discusses the impact of climate change on migration and travel with implications for public health practice. Methods: Literature review. Results: Migrants may be at increased risk of communicable and non-communicable diseases, due to factors in their country of origin and their country of destination or conditions that they experience during migration. Although migration has not been a significant driver of communicable disease outbreaks to date, public health authorities need to ensure that effective screening and vaccination programmes for priority communicable diseases are in place. Population growth coupled with socio-economic development is increasing travel and tourism, and advances in technology have increased global connectivity and reduced the time required to cover long distances. At the same time, as a result of climate change, many temperate regions, including high-income countries, are now suitable for vector-borne disease transmission. This is providing opportunities for importation of vectors and pathogens from endemic areas that can lead to cases or outbreaks of communicable diseases with which health professionals may be unfamiliar. Conclusion: Health systems need to be prepared for the potential population health consequences of migration, travel and tourism and the impact of climate change on these. Integrated surveillance, early detection of cases and other public health interventions are critical to protect population health and prevent and control communicabledisease outbreaks." ]

[ "A 63-year-old overweight female prediagnosed of stress urinary incontinence presented with exacerbated events of urine leakage. She was advised a residential lifestyle and behavioral program, primarily consisting of a monitored yoga therapy module, apart from her ongoing anticholinergic medicine, for 21 days. Assessments were based on a frequency volume chart, a bladder diary for the entire duration of treatment, and the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form questionnaire on the days of admission and discharge. A total of 1.9 kg of weight loss was observed during her stay. Usage of pad, as reported in her diary, reduced from 3 to 1 per day. Her International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form score reduced from 16 to 9, indicating better continence. She expressed subjective well-being and confidence in her social interactions. This is probably the first case report demonstrating feasibility of integration of yoga therapy in the management of urinary incontinence." ]

[ "BACKGROUND: Some patients receiving treatment in conventional health care systems access therapeutic yoga outside their mainstream care to improve cancer symptoms. Given the current knowledge gap around patient preferences and documented experiences of yoga in adult cancer, this study aimed to describe patient-reported benefits, barriers and characteristics of programming for yoga practice during conventional treatment.METHODS: In depth semi-structured interviews (n=10) were conducted in men and women recruited from cancer care clinics in Vancouver, Canada using a purposive sampling technique. The exploratory interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using Interpretive Description methodology and constant comparative analysis methods.RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the data to address our research objectives: patient-perceived benefits of yoga, reasons and motivations for practising yoga, hurdles and barriers to practising yoga, and advice for effective yoga program delivery in adult cancer. Several patients reported yoga reduced stress and other symptoms associated with cancer treatment. Thematic analysis found the social dimension of group yoga was important, as well as yoga's ability to encourage personal empowerment and awareness of physical body and self. Barriers to yoga adherence from the patient perspective included lack of time, scheduling conflicts and worries about financial burden.CONCLUSION: This small, diverse sample of patients reported positive experiences and no adverse effects following yoga practice for management of cancer and its symptoms. Results of this qualitative study identified patient-reported preferences, barriers and characteristics of yoga intervention optimal during adult cancer treatment.", "BACKGROUND: A significant number of women in India are suffering from hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is characterized by elevated lipid profiles and thyroid stimulation hormone (TSH). It leads many comorbid conditions such as coronary artery disease, obesity, depression, osteoporosis, sleep apnea, and etc. Yoga is proven to be effective in reducing weight, dyslipidemia, depression and it brings the balance in autonomous nervous system. We aimed to study the effect of 6 months yoga practice on lipid profile, thyroxine requirement and serum TSH in women suffering from hypothyroidism.METHODS: Twenty-two household women suffering from hypothyroidism between the age range of 30 and 40 (meanSD; 36.73.2) years, with average 41.12-year history of hypothyroidism were included in this study. Subjects with known cardiac issues, hypertension, history, recent surgery, slip disc and low back pain were excluded from this study. None of the subjects were on any other medication except thyroxine which was kept during the intervention phage (mean 65.7822.74 mcg). All the subjects underwent 6 months of yoga practice 1 h daily for 4 days a week. Lipid profile, thyroxine dosage and serum TSH level were assessed before and after intervention. Data was analyzed using paired sample t test & Wilcoxon's signed rank test.RESULTS: The paired sample t-test showed significant reduction in total cholesterol (p=0.006; -8.99 %), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (p=0.002; -9.81 %) and triglycerides (p=0.013; -7.6 %), and there was a significant improvement in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (p=0.02; +9.65 %) along with nonsignificant reduction in TSH level (p=0.452; -9.72 %). Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed significant reduction in thyroxine medication score (p=0.029; -15.30 %) from.CONCLUSION: 6 months practice of yoga may help in improving cholesterol level, serum TSH, may also help in reducing the thyroxine requirement in female patients suffering from hypothyroidism. However, further randomized controlled studies need to be conducted to confirm the present finding." ]

[ "This study was performed to investigate the relationships of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to age-related cataract, and to assess whether liver damage mediates the hepatitis-cataract association. This study analyzed data in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010-2012 on 10,037 participants aged ?40 years. We performed mediation analysis to address the contribution of serum markers of liver damage, high aspartate (AST, >49.9 IU/L) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT, >56.1 IU/L), to the relationships of HBV and HCV infection to cataract. Odds ratios (ORs) for nuclear and any cataract with HBV infection were 1.09 [95% confidence interval (95CI) = 1.02-1.16] and 1.07 (95CI = 1.00-1.14), respectively, compared to HBV uninfection; ORs with HCV infection were 1.35 (95CI = 1.18-1.55) and 1.40 (95CI = 1.12-1.76), respectively. High AST completely mediated the HBV infection-any cataract association. The significant relationships of HCV infection with nuclear and any cataract were formed only by their direct effects, not by mediation effects of high AST or ALT. HBV and HCV infection was significantly associated with nuclear and any cataract. High AST significantly mediates the effects of HBV infections on any cataract outcome, but the associations of HCV infection with nuclear and any cataract were not mediated by high AST or ALT." ]

[ "BACKGROUND & AIMS: The toll-like receptor-interferon (TLR-IFN) signalling pathway plays a crucial role in HBV infection. Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphisms are associated with chronic HBV infection by genome wide association study (GWAS). We aimed to explore interaction between TLR-IFN and HLA gene polymorphisms in susceptibility of chronic HBV infection.METHODS: In the Chinese Southwest Han population, 1191 chronic HBV infection patients and 273 HBV clearance were selected. A total of 39 single nucleotide polymorphism loci in 23 genes of the TLR-IFN pathway and four HLA polymorphism loci associated with chronic HBV infection identified by GWAS were selected for genotyping. SNPStats, QVALUE, and multifactor dimensionality reduction were used for statistical analysis.RESULTS: A significant association was seen in several of the TLR-IFN pathway genes, TLR9 rs352140 (OR = 0.70, P = 0.0088), IL1B rs16944 (OR = 0.67, P = 0.016), IL12B rs3212227 (OR = 1.38, P = 0.021), IFNGR1 rs3799488 (OR = 1.48, P = 0.0048), IFNGR2 rs1059293 (OR = 0.27, P = 0.011), MX1 rs467960 (OR = 0.68, P = 0.022), as well as four loci in HLA, rs3077 (OR = 0.55, P < 0.0001), rs2856718 (OR = 0.60, P = 4e-04), rs9277535 (OR = 0.54, P < 0.0001) and rs7453920 (OR = 0.43, P < 0.0001). A synergistic relationship was seen between rs9277535 and rs16944 (0.13%), rs1143623 and rs6613 (0.10%). The combination of rs9277535 in HLA and rs16944 in IL1B was the best model to predict chronic HBV infection (testing accuracy = 0.6040, P = 0.0010, cross-validation consistency = 10/10).CONCLUSIONS: TLR-IFN pathway gene polymorphisms are associated with chronic HBV infection. Interactions with polymorphisms in these genes may be one mechanism by which HLA polymorphisms influence susceptibility to chronic HBV infection, as specific single nucleotide polymorphism combinations are highly predictive of chronic HBV infection.", "CASE REPORT: This article reports a case of an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated acute retinal necrosis. A 72-year-old male patient presented in the emergency department complaining of progressive loss of vision. During patient management an acute retinal necrosis was suspected and the subsequent diagnostics from a vitreal body biopsy showed positive results only for the EBV genome.OBJECTIVE: The EBV is a rare cause of ocular inflammation. With this report we would like to draw the attention of colleagues to this unusual finding.CONCLUSION: Although EBV screening is not part of the standard diagnostic procedure, its implementation in relevant clinical situations could possibly assist the differentiation between causal relationship and morbidity." ]

[ "NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION \"NATURALISTIC OBSERVATIONBy Nugent, Pam M. S. - April 7, 2013usually employs an observational method where a research study is conducted primarily in the field without the control of the majority of variables during the experiment. An example could include the observation of children by researchers looking at day-care violence. NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION: \"\"A naturalistic observation involves recording and then analysing a situation or event which has not been influenced by outside forces. \"\"Related Psychology Terms SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONBEHAVIOR SAMPLINGBIOTECHNOLOGYMETA-ANALYSISNATIONAL ACADCMY OF SCIENCES (NAS)PSYCHOPATHOLOGYFACTOR LOADINGCONVERGENT STRABISMAZE-BRIGHT AND MAZE-DULL RATSSITUATIONAL ANALYSISCite this page: Nugent, Pam M. S., \"\"NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION,\"\" in Psychology Dictionary.org, April 7, 2013, https://psychologydictionary.org/naturalistic-observation/ (accessed April 12, 2018).tweet \"" ]

[ ". \"The observational method of research concerns the planned watching, recording, and analysis of observed behaviour as it occurs in a natural setting. The observational method is a non-experimental design. The absence of an independent variable does not allow any cause-effect conclusions to be drawn from observational research. Sound evidence is however important to the observational method. Indeed, the observational method's key feature is a standardised, planned, and systematic approach to objectively observe and record behaviour. This is of course to generate all-important data upon which to base any conclusions. Observations, which can be overt or covert, are of five main types. We have participant observation, non-participant observation, structured observation, unstructured observation and naturalistic observation. Each involves the planned gathering, analysis, and interpretation of mostly empirical data on observed behaviour. Each observation has its own features, advantages and disadvantages. Participant observation, for example, sees the researcher set up, and take part in the observation of behaviour under investigation. Non-participant observation sees no involvement on the part of the researcher, with recordings of observed behaviours being taken from afar. The observational method has both advantages and disadvantages as a research design in psychology. Covert observations can be problematic regards ethics and disclosure. Confounding variables also plague observations. These are infinite, and include observer bias and the observer effect. If the researcher plans, structures, and conducts their observation appropriately, the observational method can be seen as a most valid and reliable form of non-experimental research in psychology mainly due to the observational method's high ecological validity. Type of Observational Method Advantages Disadvantages Naturalistic Observation Particularly good for observing specific subjects. Provides ecologically valid recordings of natural behaviour. Spontaneous behaviours are more likely to happen. Ethics: Where research is undisclosed consent will not be obtained, where consent is not obtained - details may be used which infringe confidentiality. Structured Observation Allows control of extraneous variables. Reliability of results can be tested by repeating the study. Provides a safe environment to study contentious concepts such as infant attachment. The implementation of controls may have an effect on behaviour. Lack of ecological validity. Observer effect. Observer bias. Unstructured Observation Gives a broad overview of a situation. Useful where situation/subject matter to be studied is unclear. Only really appropriate as a \"\"first step\"\" to give an overview of a situation / concept / idea. Participant Observation Gives an \"\"insiders\"\" view. Behaviours are less prone to misinterpretation because researcher was a participant. Opportunity for researcher to become an \"\"accepted\"\" part of the environment. Observer effect. Possible lack of objectivity on the part of the observer. Non-Participant Observation Avoidance of observer effect Observer is detached from situation so relies on their perception which may be inaccurate<<< Back to Research Methods Home<<< Back to the correlational technique Forward to the Survey Method >>> \"" ]

[ "Cross-reactivity for mammalian loricrin, sciellin, filaggrin, and transglutaminase are present in alpha-keratogenic layers of gecko epidermis. Alpha-keratins have a molecular weight in the range 40–58 kDa. Loricrin cross-reactive bands have molecular weights of 42, 50, and 58 kDa. Bands for filaggrin-like protein are found at 35 and 42 kDa, bands for sciellin are found at 40–45 and 50–55 kDa, and bands for transglutaminase are seen at 48–50 and 60 kDa." ]

[ "Also, important in this field is Avogadro's number (NA) or Avogadro's constant (6.0221 x 1023). The term mole is defined in that one mole of a substance with a molecular (or atomic) mass of one (1), will have a mass of 1 gram. Or 1 mole of a substance will contain Avogadro's number of that substance.", "From carats ( ct gemstones mass ), karat ( kt - k purity of gold ), troy ounces oz t, troy pounds lb tr, grams g, kilograms kg, milligrams mg, pennyweights dwt, ounces oz and pounds lb net weight., cubic inches in3, cu in, in^3 of gold, cubic feet ft3, ft^3, cu ft, cubic meters m3, m^3, cubic centimeters cc - cm3, cm^3 of gold mass, cubic yards cu ..." ]

[ "DUROS((R)) delivery technology consists of sterile, nonbiodegradable, single-use devices for continuous, subcutaneous administration of therapeutic molecules at steady rates. DUROS delivery technology is capable of delivering a wide range of therapeutic molecules for durations ranging from 3 to 12 months. Administration of therapy via DUROS devices may facilitate patient compliance with treatment since the DUROS device does not require self-injections. Consistent delivery of drug levels within a targeted therapeutic window achievable with DUROS delivery technology avoids exposure to high initial drug concentrations that can result from bolus injections and that may be associated with certain adverse drug effects. Several approaches have been taken to assess the suitability of DUROS devices for delivery of the therapeutic molecules leuprolide acetate, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and omega interferon (omega IFN). Testing includes determining protein stability and measuring in vitro protein release rates. Three peptides or proteins were formulated into either a solution (leuprolide) or Intarcia's proprietary DUROS suspension formulation (GLP-1, omega IFN) and filled into DUROS devices. The devices demonstrated reliable start-up and continuous steady drug delivery in in vitro studies. Stability of the molecules was maintained for 3 years at 37 degrees C (leuprolide), 2 years at 30 degrees C (omega IFN), or 6 months at 37 degrees C (GLP-1). Patients in clinical studies of a 1-year DUROS device found the device to be comfortable and convenient" ]

[ "Peptides represent a promising source of new medicines, but improved technologies are needed to facilitate discovery and optimization campaigns. In particular, longer peptides with multiple disulfide bridges are challenging to produce, and producing large numbers of structurally related variants is dissuasively costly and time-consuming. The principal cost and time drivers are the multiple column chromatography purification steps that are used during the multistep chemical synthesis procedure, which involves both ligation and oxidative refolding steps. In this study, we developed a method for multiplex parallel synthesis of complex peptide analogs in which the structurally variant region of the molecule is produced as a small peptide on a 384-well synthesizer with subsequent ligation to the longer, structurally invariant region and oxidative refolding carried out in-well without any column purification steps. To test the method, we used a panel of 96 analogs of the chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 (69 residues, two disulfide bridges), which had been synthesized using standard approaches and characterized pharmacologically in an earlier study. Although, as expected, the multiplex method generated chemokine analogs of lower purity than those produced in the original study, it was nonetheless possible to closely match the pharmacological attributes (anti-HIV potency, capacity to elicit G protein signaling, and capacity to elicit intracellular receptor sequestration) of each chemokine analog to reference data from the earlier study. This rapid, low-cost approach has the potential to support discovery and optimization campaigns based on analogs of other chemokines as well as those of other complex peptide and small protein targets of a similar size.", "BACKGROUND: DLBS1033 is a bioactive protein fraction extracted from Lumbricus rubellus, with fibrinogenolytic, fibrinolytic and anti-aggregation activities reported in an in vitro study. Plasma half-life is an important parameter to calculate its dose. This study was conducted to evaluate the biological half-life of DLBS1033 by measuring serial plasmin-antiplasmin (PAP) complex. PAP complex is a stable and inactive compound as a result of fibrinolysis process.METHODS: this was an open-label clinical trial in healthy adult subjects. Subjects were divided into two groups to receive single dose drugs (received 3 x 490 mg) or repeated administration until steady state conditions (3 x 490 mg/day for 3 days). Blood samples for PAP complex measurement were collected at time 0 (before drug administration for single dose group), then at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 24 hours after drug administration. Safety parameters used in this study were creatinine, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), SGOT, and SGPT.RESULTS: the biological half-life of DLBS1033 was calculated based on the mean of PAP complex concentration on each time sampling. In single dose group, the highest mean of PAP complex concentration was reached before drug administration. Our result showed that the activity of DLBS1033 could not be determined after single dose administration. In steady state condition, the PAP complex concentration increase in 2 hours after last drug administration. The biological half-life of DLBS1033 was 8.6 hours. There were no significant safety findings on all laboratory parameters and no serious adverse events.CONCLUSION: it is concluded that the fibrinolytic effects of DLBS1033 can be measured in steady state condition. The biological half-life of DLBS1033 in steady state condition was 8.6 hours. There were no serious adverse events on two groups of subjects." ]

[ "Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Keene. Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,409 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Cheshire County. Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest." ]

[ "Keener is a Canadian slang term used to describe someone who is overly eager to learn and prove themselves. Can sometimes be considered to describe a suck up too. Simply words are nerd, geek, smartypants, etc.", "Keener, North Carolina. Concepts. A competitive personality, especially with regards to academics and athletics. A student who routinely asks questions to which every other person in the room knows the answer. A first-year undergraduate who takes meticulous notes, often at the expense of understanding course material as it is presented" ]

[ "Men have been shown to estimate their likelihood of engaging in sexually coercive behaviors and also uncommon and unprotected sexual behaviors as higher when they are in an acute state of sexual arousal. The present research sought to test (1) whether sexual arousal effects could be replicated under more controlled laboratory settings, (2) whether women showed the same pattern of results, and (3) whether this effect was specific to sexual disinhibition or would generalize to non-sexual disinhibited behavior. In two experimental studies, male and female participants (Study 1: N=84; Study 2: N=86) were either sexually aroused by acoustically presented erotic narratives or listened to sexually non-arousing neutral narratives. Afterwards, they self-estimated their likelihood of engaging in a variety of behaviors that could be characterized as sexual or non-sexual disinhibited behavior. Results replicated the previously established effect of sexual disinhibition under sexual arousal for men and provided the first evidence for a similar effect in women. No arousal effects were observed for non-sexual behavior, rendering alternative explanations based on mere indifferent responding unlikely. The discussion focused on a plausible explanation for this effect." ]

[ "OBJECTIVE: Behavioral disinhibition in the context of negative emotion (e.g., disgust, fear, etc.) may promote the core psychopathology of anorexia nervosa (AN). Affective models of AN position a number of clinical behaviors as functioning to reduce negative affect. Gonadal hormone dysregulation, in particular testosterone, likely plays some role in this process.METHOD: Adolescent and young adult AN (n = 32) and healthy control (HC; n = 20) participants completed an emotional go/no-go task--a valenced measure of behavioral disinhibition--and had blood drawn to assess gonadal steroid hormone concentrations.RESULTS: Analyses indicated that patients with AN committed significantly more commission errors, which measures the tendency to respond to nontarget stimuli. This effect was qualified by the valence of the stimulus; the higher relative level of error was true for disgust and happy stimuli, but not neutral stimuli. Hormone analyses revealed a testosterone by group interaction. Testosterone was associated with decreased commission errors for patients with AN, but had no discernible relationship with task outcome for HCs. These effects were not confounded by weight, pubertal status, or self-reported anxiety or depression.DISCUSSION: These findings suggest patients with AN have difficulty inhibiting behavior in the context of emotional stimuli, and that this disinhibition is negatively related to levels of circulating androgens.", "Physiological needs that are currently unfulfilled are known to affect human cognition and behavior. The present study investigates whether and how the temporary activation of two primary physiological needs, namely hunger and sexual arousal, influence both the frequency and the contents of mind-wandering episodes. To induce hunger, one group of participants fasted for a minimum of five hours whereas another group of participants was exposed to audio material with explicit sexual content to provoke sexual arousal. Both groups as well as an additional control group, which had not received hunger instructions and had not been exposed to arousing material of any kind beforehand, performed a reading task during which mind wandering was assessed using a standard experience-sampling method. Results showed that acute hunger but not elevated sexual arousal renders the occurrence of mind-wandering episodes more likely. Induction of both hunger and sexual arousal rendered the occurrence of need-related off-task thoughts more likely and changed time orientations of mind wandering. The present findings are well in line with the assumption that unfulfilled needs regularly achieve cognitive priority and extend the cognitive-priority idea to self-generated thoughts." ]

[ "or, six or more players in teams (no more than three partnerships). The object of the game is to be the first player or team to play out their entire stock pile(s). The player with the middle age goes first. Each player is dealt 30 cards for their pile with only the top card visible, and a hand of five cards, and the remaining cards are placed face down to create a common draw pile. The shared play area allows up to four build piles, which must be started using either a \"\"1\"\" card or a Skip-Bo, and each player" ]

[ "basketball hoops, and they show up as checkers on the video screen. The game can be played by 2 players, or by 1 player against the computer. Both the player that wins and the player that loses get tickets. Connect Four Connect Four (also known as Captain's Mistress, Four Up, Plot Four, Find Four, Four in a Row, Four in a Line, Drop Four, and Gravitrips (in Soviet Union)) is a two-player connection game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping one colored disc from the top into a seven-column, six-row vertically suspended grid.", "is because with only one piece, a player can no longer execute a capture. Another way to win is for a player to immobilize the other player's pieces so that they cannot move or capture. The board is a 4×4 marble hole board. There are 16 marbles total of which 8 are black and 8 are white. The game is played according to these rules. Four Field Kono Four Field Kono is an abstract strategy game from Korea. Each player attempts to capture the other player's pieces by jumping over their own piece and landing on the other player's piece." ]

[ "The Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) shows high affinity binding to multiple inflammatory CC and CXC chemokines and is expressed by erythrocytes and endothelial cells. Recent evidence suggests that endothelial DARC facilitates chemokine transcytosis to promote neutrophil recruitment. However, the mechanism of chemokine endocytosis by DARC remains unclear. We investigated the role of several endocytic pathways in DARC-mediated ligand internalization. Here we report that, although DARC co-localizes with caveolin-1 in endothelial cells, caveolin-1 is dispensable for DARC-mediated (125)I-CXCL1 endocytosis as knockdown of caveolin-1 failed to inhibit ligand internalization. (125)I-CXCL1 endocytosis by DARC was also independent of clathrin and flotillin-1 but required cholesterol and was, in part, inhibited by silencing Dynamin II expression.(125)I-CXCL1 endocytosis was inhibited by amiloride, cytochalasin D, and the PKC inhibitor Gö6976 whereas Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) enhanced ligand internalization through DARC. The majority of DARC-ligand interactions occurred on the endothelial surface, with DARC identified along plasma membrane extensions with the appearance of ruffles, supporting the concept that DARC provides a high affinity scaffolding function for surface retention of chemokines on endothelial cells" ]

[ "BACKGROUND: Extracellular high mobility group box 1 protein  (HMGB1) serves a central role in inflammation as a transporter protein, which binds other immune-activating molecules that are endocytosed via the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE). These pro-inflammatory complexes are targeted to the endolysosomal compartment, where HMGB1 permeabilizes the lysosomes. This enables HMGB1-partner molecules to avoid degradation, to leak into the cytosol, and to reach cognate immune-activating sensors. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) requires this pathway to generate pyroptosis by accessing its key cytosolic receptors, murine caspase 11, or the human caspases 4 and 5. This lytic, pro-inflammatory cell death plays a fundamental pathogenic role in gram-negative sepsis. The aim of the study was to identify molecules inhibiting HMGB1 or HMGB1/LPS cellular internalization.METHODS: Endocytosis was studied in cultured macrophages using Alexa Fluor-labeled HMGB1 or complexes of HMGB1 and Alexa Fluor-labeled LPS in the presence of an anti-HMGB1 monoclonal antibody (mAb), recombinant HMGB1 box A protein, acetylcholine, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtype alpha 7 (á7 nAChR) agonist GTS-21, or a dynamin-specific inhibitor of endocytosis. Images were obtained by fluorescence microscopy and quantified by the ImageJ processing program (NIH). Data were analyzed using student's t test or one-way ANOVA followed by the least significant difference or Tukey's tests.RESULTS: Anti-HMGB1 mAb, recombinant HMGB1 antagonist box A protein, acetylcholine, GTS-21, and the dynamin-specific inhibitor of endocytosis inhibited internalization of HMGB1 or HMGB1-LPS complexes in cultured macrophages. These agents prevented macrophage activation in response to HMGB1 and/or HMGB1-LPS complexes.CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that therapies based on HMGB1 antagonists and the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway share a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism of substantial clinical relevance.", "Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) can accelerate tumor progression by attracting tumor-associated macrophages. We studied the effects of MCP-1 on SKOV-3 cells in order to investigate MCP-1 biological activity ovarian cancer. A SKOV-3 cell invasion assay (Transwell assay) and cell adhesion assay (96-well assay) were performed. Immunohistochemical staining for C-C motif chemokine receptor-2 (CCR2), a receptor for MCP-1, was also performed on cultured SKOV-3 cells. Migration and adhesion of MCP-1-treated SKOV-3 cells were significantly increased compared to untreated cells (p<0.01). A CCR2 antagonist attenuated the invasion and adhesion of MCP-1-treated cells. CCR2 was expressed in the cytoplasm of SKOV-3 cells" ]

[ "Impaired lung function is associated with obesity and insulin resistance. In this study, we investigated the relationship between metabolic syndrome and impaired lung function in adults. A total of 46,514 subjects 20 years and over (21,669 men and 24,845 women, mean age = 37.3 +/- 11.2 and 37.0 +/- 11.3 years, respectively) were recruited from four nationwide MJ Health Screening Centers in Taiwan from 1998 to 2000. Metabolic syndrome was defined using the National Cholesterol Education Panel (NCEP) metabolic syndrome criteria or America Heart Association/National Heart Lung Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) criteria. The relationship between metabolic syndrome and lung function test was examined using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of impaired lung function was 11.1% in men and 14.0% in women. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 5.8% using NCEP criteria and 12.8% using AHA/NHLBI criteria. In multivariate logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age, gender, BMI, smoking, alcohol drinking, and physical activity, restrictive lung impairment was independently associated with increased risk of having metabolic syndrome (p < 0.01, odds ratios = 1.221 using NCEP criteria and 1.150 using AHA/NHLBI criteria)" ]

[ "AIM: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) becomes increasingly obvious from an early age. The current study aimed at exploring the relationship between insulin resistance and the main biomarkers of MetS in young adult algerian patients.METHODS: Glucose, HbA1C, total cholesterol (TC), hjgh bensity lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), insulinemia and C-peptide, adipokins (leptin, adiponectin), inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-a), us-CRP and GLP-1 were measured by suitable methods. Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) was used to detect the degree of insulin resistance.RESULTS: The MetS patients displayed higher glucose, insulin, HbA1c values and impaired lipid profile as judged by increasing TC, TG, LDL-C levels and lower HDL-C. Furthermore, adipokines, HDL-C and CRP contents were significantly higher whilst TG and LDL-C were much lower in MetS female group as compared to male patients suggesting most pronounced metabolic perturbation in the latter group. The probability of a significant correlation between HOMA and studied variables was often higher in female than male subjects. Such was the case for total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, adiponectin, interleukin-6, TNF-á and hs-CRP.CONCLUSION: The high rate of metabolic syndrome among young obese adults is alarming, this requiring extensive investigations in prone subjects.", "Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and visceral obesity are more prevalent in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). We investigated the association of visceral fat (VF) measures with the components of MetS in OSAS patients with different severity levels, according to World Health Organization (WHO, 1999), National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III, 2001), and International Diabetes Federation (IDF, 2005) definitions. Study population was grouped according to polysomnography results as non-OSAS [who had apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) <5, n = 51], mild OSAS (5 < AHI <15, n = 52), moderate OSAS (15 < AHI <30, n = 53), and severe OSAS (AHI >30, n = 53). VF ratio was measured by abdominal bioimpedance analysis. Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and lipid profiles were assessed in all subjects. The prevelance of MetS in OSAS patients was 30.0%, 35.6%, and 44.4% according to WHO, NCEP-ATP III, and IDF definitions, respectively. MetS was found in 27.5% non-OSAS and 72.8% OSAS according to at least one definition (P = 0.012). Within OSAS group, 27.2% subjects had average, 38.0% had slightly excessive, and 34.8% had an excessive VF ratio. The prevelance of MetS was similar in various VF ratios (P > 0.05). However HOMA-IR increased progressively with VF ratio after adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI; P = 0.02). AHI increased progressively with BMI (P = 0.02), WHR (P = 0.03), VF ratio (P = 0.01), HOMA-IR (P = 0.02), and MetS (P = 0.016)" ]

[ " Land plants are multicellular organisms that can be distinguished from other living things by a number of characteristics: They make their own food. Plants are photosynthetic and contain a green pigment called chlorophyll, which enables plants to convert energy from the sun into food. Plants store their food as starch." ]

[ " Grasses are monocots, and their basic structural characteristics are typical of the majoriity of monocotyledonous plants: leaves with parallel veins, fibrous roots, and other consistent floral and internal structures that differ from those of dicots (see Monocots vs. Dicots or Monocots and Dicots Chart).", " Since some uncolonized land may have thin, poor quality soils with few nutrients, pioneer species are often hardy plants with adaptations such as long roots, root nodes containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and leaves that employ transpiration." ]

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[ "How much do you make as a cashier at Petsmart? Answers.com ® Wiki Answers ® Categories Jobs & Education Jobs Salary and Pay Rates How much do you make as a cashier at Petsmart? Flag How much do you make as a cashier at Petsmart? Answered by The Wiki Answers ®Community Answers.com ® is making the world better one answer at a time. There is really not enough information to answer this question copletely. I can say for sure that pay rates vary by locations because each stat can set it's own minimum wage. I don't know about petsmart from experience but I have worked in retail. At the old wally world, and the Home D. as well it varies due to annual evaluations that may or may not result in a pay increase. so a new hire could presumeably make less than an experienced cashier. The manager who hires the person could also take past experience into account when offering a position.4 people found this useful Was this answer useful? Yes Somewhat No How much does a cashier make annually? About $10,000.00 for 2 in a half years How much does a Lowes cashier make? I make 11.75 an hour with no prior head cashiering experience in Michigan. Krell Rell 1,493 Contributions How much does a cashier make? Usually, cashiers make minimum wage. How much does cashiers make at Kroger?7.00 a hour How much do cashiers make? Minimum wage.. not a good job unless you're desperate. How much does a Lowe's cashier make?\\n I work at the 1985 Lowes in Alaska as a cashier, i make 11.20 an hour as of 07/14/08How much does Pet Smart managers make a year? The average salary of a Pet Smart manager is between $60,000 and$62,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications. Withbonuses and other benefits, the pay may be rai …How much do dsw cashiers make?$ 7.50 in OHHow much does a cashier make at Zaxbys? Not enougj How much does a cashier at sears make?minimum wage $7.25 in NEHow much does cashiers make?100,00,00How much does a safeway cashier make? It depends when he/she was hired. If it was pre 2004, they can make upwards of $18 / hr depending on the region. If hired now, they cap out around $12Answered In Salary and Pay Rates How much does walmart cashiers make?it depends on how nice you are. Answered In Salary and Pay Rates How much does a Popeyes cashier make?$7.25 per hour Answered In Salary and Pay Rates How much do cashiers at cvs make?who much do cvs cahier makes Answered In Salary and Pay Rates How much does a cashier make at a supermarket? It depends on the market. All markets don't make the same money Answered In Salary and Pay Rates How much does a cashier make at Walmart?make 7.50 per year" ]

[ "He had a one-way ticket to Minneapolis, where he said he was going to take care of some business. Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace poses in the front of the dining room in his South Beach Miami, Fla., residence in this April 27, 1996 file photo. Versace was killed outside his oceanfront villa, shot twice in the back of the head at point-blank range." ]

[ "Andrew Phillip Cunanan (August 31, 1969 – July 23, 1997) was an American serial killer[1] who murdered at least five people, including fashion designer Gianni Versace and Chicago tycoon Lee Miglin, during a three-month period in mid-1997.", "Hitler escaped to Spain, where he was then taken by U-boat to Argentina to live out his life until the 1960′s. As a corollary to this story, Hitler remained on the FBI’s most wanted list until the 1960′s — apparently no one had told the FBI that he had killed himself in Berlin either.itler escaped to Spain, where he was then taken by U-boat to Argentina to live out his life until the 1960′s. As a corollary to this story, Hitler remained on the FBI’s most wanted list until the 1960′s — apparently no one had told the FBI that he had killed himself in Berlin either." ]

[ "Out of five species of true marten, the American marten is the only species found in North America (Chapman & Feldhamer, 1982). They are also one of only two in the genus Martes located in North America, the other being the large-bodied fisher (Martes pennanti) (Buskirk & Zielinski, 1998)." ]

[ "Martens are polygamous and females will often mate with more than one male in a season. They also will mate several times during a given day (Chapman & Feldhamer, 1982). Females tend to become more aggressive during mating, as do males who often fight with other males to mate with a female (Chapman & Feldhamer, 1982).", "Pine martens have long, bushy tails, one-third the length of their body. Fishers live in similar habitat, have similar tracks and are darker in color than pine martens. Stone martens are non-native species and are also about the size of the male pine marten.They are pale gray to brown with a white throat patch.ine martens have long, bushy tails, one-third the length of their body. Fishers live in similar habitat, have similar tracks and are darker in color than pine martens. Stone martens are non-native species and are also about the size of the male pine marten." ]

[ "rumour meaning, definition, what is rumour: an unofficial interesting story or piece of news that might be true or invented, and…. Learn more." ]

[ "Medical Definition of RUMINATION. : the act or process of ruminating: a: the act or process of regurgitating and chewing again previously swallowed food b: obsessive or abnormal reflection upon an idea or deliberation over a choice. the act or process of ruminating: a: the act or process of regurgitating and chewing again previously swallowed food b: obsessive or abnormal reflection upon an idea or deliberation over a choice.", "Definition of rum. 1 1 : an alcoholic beverage distilled from a fermented cane product (such as molasses) 2 2 : alcoholic liquor the demon rum." ]

[ "Alkali metals are the six elements that comprise Group I in the Periodic Table: lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), and francium (Fr). Especially when dissolved in water, these elements form strong bases (alkalis) capable of reacting with and neutralizing strong acids." ]

[ "Alkali Metals. Group I of the Periodic Table is composed of highly reactive metals. They react vigorously with water to produce hydroxides and release hydrogen. Even in air they react quickly to cover their surfaces with oxides. In nature they are found in ionic compounds, but never in the pure state. Their chemical activity increases as you move downward through the periods from Li to Na to K, etc.", "The two valence electrons are not tightly bound to the nucleus, so the alkaline earths readily lose the electrons to form divalent cations. Summary of Common Properties. 1 Two electrons in the outer shell. 2 Low electron affinities. 3 Low electronegativities. 4 Readily form divalent cations." ]

[ " Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg, towards the end of World War II. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's armored forces, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and, later, Luftwaffe aircraft (in the concluding stages of the engagement) also sustained heavy losses.", " Korean War The Korean War (in South Korean Hangul: 한국전쟁 ; Hanja: 韓國戰爭 ; RR: \"Hanguk Jeonjaeng \" , \"Korean War\"; in North Korean Chosŏn'gŭl: 조국해방전쟁 ; Hancha: 祖國解放戰爭 ; MR: \"Choguk haebang chǒnjaeng \" , \"Fatherland Liberation War\"; 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was a war between North Korea (with the support of China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (with the principal support of the United States). The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union also gave some assistance to the North." ]

[ " Battle of the Twin Tunnels The Battle of the Twin Tunnels (French: \"Bataille de Twin-Tunnels\" ) took place during the Korean War. In which the 1st Battalion 23rd Infantry Regiment 3rd Brigade Combat Team 2nd Infantry Division and elements of the 21st Infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Division inflicted heavy casualties on the People's Volunteer Army.", " Operation Minden Operation Minden was an offensive undertaken by United Nations (UN) forces during the Korean War between 8–12 September 1951, as part of a general advance to extend the Wyoming Line. Operation Minden was the precursor to the much larger Operation Commando, which established the Jamestown Line." ]

[ "To understand the distributional characteristics of dystrophin gene deletion breakpoints in \"central deletion hot spot\" and analyze the instability of introns 44-51 after excluding the effect of intron's length. Fifty-nine Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy(DMD/BMD) patients were detected by polymerase chain reactions with the primers to amplify exons 44-52 of dystrophin gene. The amount of actual breakpoints, expected breakpoints according to its length, and the ratios of actual breakpoints to expected values(A/E) for introns 44-51 were calculated respectively. In \"central deletion hot spot\", about 30.8% of breakpoints fell in intron 44, about 23.1%, 17.9%, 10.3%, 10.3% of breakpoints fell in introns 50,51, 45, 48, respectively. But the amount of actual breakpoints of intron 44 was less than that of expected breakpoints according to its length, the ratio of A/E was 0.7. The amount of actual breakpoints of introns 48, 50, 51, 45 were more than that of length expected value. The ratios of A/E were 2.7, 2.0, 1.9, 1.1, respectively" ]

[ "Skeletal muscles of mdx mice lack functional levels of dystrophin due to a mutation in Dmd exon 23. Morpholino antisense oligomers can induce expression of a truncated dystrophin by redirecting splicing to skip processing of exon 23. We tested whether systemic administration of Vivo-Morpholino, an octaguanidine delivery moiety-Morpholino conjugate that targets exon 23 (VMO23), restored function to muscles of mdx mice. Extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles of mdx mice were weaker, less powerful, and showed greater functional deficits after eccentric contractions than normal. VMO23 treatment normalized EDL force and power of mdx mice and eliminated their exaggerated sensitivity to eccentric contractions. Diaphragm muscle strips from mdx mice also produced lower-than-normal force and power, and these variables were restored to normal, or near-normal, levels by VMO23 treatment", "Restoration of the open reading frame of the DMD gene and dystrophin protein production in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can be achieved by exon skipping using antisense oligomers (AOs) targeted to splicing elements." ]

[ "Autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in the body. In recent years, significant advancements have been made in the treatment options for these conditions. Biological therapies, for example, have been a significant breakthrough in this domain. They work by targeting the specific cells and chemicals in the immune system that cause inflammation and damage to the body's tissues. Rituximab and belimumab are two such therapies used for lupus, while infliximab and etanercept are used for rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, advancements in stem cell transplantation have shown promise for severe cases. This involves replacing the faulty immune system with a healthy one, although this is considered an aggressive form of treatment with potential side effects. Personalized medicine, tailoring treatments to the individual's specific genetic makeup, is another frontier being explored. These approaches are hoped to improve patient outcomes, reduce side effects, and enhance quality of life for those living with autoimmune diseases" ]

[ "Autoimmune diseases are a group of disorders in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues, leading to inflammation and damage. Examples include lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. These conditions are often chronic and can significantly impact a patient's quality of life. While the exact cause of autoimmune diseases remains unknown, factors such as genetics, environment, and infections are believed to play a role. Symptoms vary depending on the type and severity of the condition, but they often include fatigue, joint pain, and skin rashes. Diagnosis is typically based on symptoms, physical examination, and specific laboratory tests. While there is currently no cure for autoimmune diseases, treatment aims to control inflammation, reduce symptoms, and prevent damage to the body's tissues. This may involve medications, physical therapy, and lifestyle changes" ]

[ "The title of this research paper is 'Immunogenicity and Efficacy of a Novel COVID-19 Vaccine: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Trial'. This study aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity and efficacy of a new COVID-19 vaccine in a large, diverse cohort of adults. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial included over 30,000 participants aged 18 years or older. The primary outcome was the prevention of symptomatic COVID-19 infection. The vaccine showed a 94.1% efficacy in preventing COVID-19, including severe disease. Even among older adults and people with comorbidities, who are typically more vulnerable to severe disease, efficacy was high. The vaccine's safety profile was also acceptable, with no serious safety concerns reported. The study concludes that the new COVID-19 vaccine is effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in adults, with a high efficacy rate across different age groups and comorbidities" ]

[ "The title of this research article is 'The Impact of Physical Activity on Immune Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review'. This review summarizes evidence from observational and interventional studies on the association between physical activity and immune function in older adults. The immune system's function declines with age, a process known as immunosenescence. Regular physical activity has been suggested as a potential strategy to delay or counteract immunosenescence. A total of 45 studies were included in the review, most of which reported a positive association between physical activity and various markers of immune function. The review concludes that regular physical activity may enhance immune function in older adults, potentially reducing the risk and severity of infectious diseases. However, more high-quality, longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings and to understand the underlying mechanisms" ]

[ "The incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a chronic lung disease of newborns, is paradoxically rising despite medical advances. We demonstrated elevated bombesin-like peptide levels in infants that later developed BPD. In the 140-day hyperoxic baboon model of BPD, anti-bombesin antibody 2A11 abrogated lung injury. To test the hypothesis that bombesin-like peptides mediate BPD in extremely premature baboons (born at Gestational Day 125 and given oxygen pro re nata [PRN], called the 125-day PRN model), similar to \"modern-day BPD.\" The 125-day animals were treated with 2A11 on Postnatal Day 1 (P1), P3, and P6. On P14 and P21, lungs were inflation-fixed for histopathologic analyses of alveolarization. Regulation of angiogenesis by bombesin was evaluated using cultured pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells. In 125-day PRN animals, urine bombesin-like peptide levels at P2-3 are directly correlated with impaired lung function at P14. Gastrin-releasing peptide (the major pulmonary bombesin-like peptide) mRNA was elevated eightfold at P1 and remained high thereafter. At P14, 2A11 reduced alveolar wall thickness and increased the percentage of secondary septa containing endothelial cells. At P21, 2A11-treated 125-day PRN animals had improved alveolarization according to mean linear intercepts and number of branch points per millimeter squared. Bombesin promoted tubulogenesis of cultured pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells, but cocultured fetal lung mesenchymal cells abrogated this effect" ]

[ "The molecular mechanism(s) by which mechanical ventilation disrupts alveolar development, a hallmark of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, is unknown. To determine the effect of 24 h of mechanical ventilation on lung cell cycle regulators, cell proliferation and alveolar formation in newborn rats. Seven-day old rats were ventilated with room air for 8, 12 and 24 h using relatively moderate tidal volumes (8.5 mL.kg⁻¹). Ventilation for 24 h (h) decreased the number of elastin-positive secondary crests and increased the mean linear intercept, indicating arrest of alveolar development. Proliferation (assessed by BrdU incorporation) was halved after 12 h of ventilation and completely arrested after 24 h. Cyclin D1 and E1 mRNA and protein levels were decreased after 8-24 h of ventilation, while that of p27(Kip1) was significantly increased. Mechanical ventilation for 24 h also increased levels of p57(Kip2), decreased that of p16(INK4a), while the levels of p21(Waf/Cip1) and p15(INK4b) were unchanged. Increased p27(Kip1) expression coincided with reduced phosphorylation of p27(Kip1) at Thr¹⁵⁷, Thr¹⁸⁷ and Thr¹⁹⁸ (p<0.05), thereby promoting its nuclear localization. Similar -but more rapid- changes in cell cycle regulators were noted when 7-day rats were ventilated with high tidal volume (40 mL.kg⁻¹) and when fetal lung epithelial cells were subjected to a continuous (17% elongation) cyclic stretch", "The mechanisms contributing to alveolar formation are poorly understood. A better understanding of these processes will improve efforts to ameliorate lung disease of the newborn and promote alveolar repair in the adult. Previous studies have identified impaired alveogenesis in mice bearing compound mutations of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors (FGFRs) 3 and 4, indicating that these receptors cooperatively promote postnatal alveolar formation. To determine the molecular and cellular mechanisms of FGF-mediated alveolar formation. Compound FGFR3/FGFR4-deficient mice were assessed for temporal changes in lung growth, airspace morphometry, and genome-wide expression. Observed gene expression changes were validated using quantitative real-time RT-PCR, tissue biochemistry, histochemistry, and ELISA. Autocrine and paracrine regulatory mechanisms were investigated using isolated lung mesenchymal cells and type II pneumocytes. Quantitative analysis of airspace ontogeny confirmed a failure of secondary crest elongation in compound mutant mice. Genome-wide expression profiling identified molecular alterations in these mice involving aberrant expression of numerous extracellular matrix molecules. Biochemical and histochemical analysis confirmed changes in elastic fiber gene expression resulted in temporal increases in elastin deposition with the loss of typical spatial restriction. No abnormalities in elastic fiber gene expression were observed in isolated mesenchymal cells, indicating that abnormal elastogenesis in compound mutant mice is not cell autonomous. Increased expression of paracrine factors, including insulin-like growth factor-1, in freshly-isolated type II pneumocytes indicated that these cells contribute to the observed pathology" ]

[ "Tularemia, or rabbit fever, is a bacterial disease associated with both animals and humans. Although many wild and domestic animals can be infected, the rabbit is most often involved in disease outbreaks. Tularemia is relatively rare in Illinois; five or fewer cases are reported each year.ularemia, or rabbit fever, is a bacterial disease associated with both animals and humans. Although many wild and domestic animals can be infected, the rabbit is most often involved in disease outbreaks. Tularemia is relatively rare in Illinois; five or fewer cases are reported each year." ]

[ "The disease is transmitted most commonly by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito's saliva into a person's blood. The parasites travel to the liver where they mature and reproduce.Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be spread by humans. Most deaths are caused by P. falciparum because P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae generally cause a milder form of malaria. The species P. knowlesi rarely causes disease in humans.alaria parasites belong to the genus Plasmodium (phylum Apicomplexa). In humans, malaria is caused by P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale, P. vivax and P. knowlesi. Among those infected, P. falciparum is the most common species identified (~75%) followed by P. vivax (~20%).", "1 Erysipelas: This very common hog disease is caused by the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, found in almost every pig farm. 2 Up to half of the animals may carry it in their tonsils. 3 It's always there in the pig or in its environment since it is present and spread through saliva, feces or urine.reatments and vaccines are listed including the QC Supply product numbers and drug names. Common Hog Diseases & Some Possible Options for Treatment. 1 Anemia: Most common in newborn pigs, especially where there isn't enough iron or copper in the soil." ]

[ "Race has dominated the observations I have made on this trip." ]

[ "Most of my observations on this trip were about regional cuisine." ]

[ "The calcaneus bone is formed of extensive trabecular bone and is therefore well suited to be used as an example of loaded bone to establish the ability of combining microfinite element (microFE) technique with high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) in determining its mechanical properties. HR-pQCT is increasingly used as a tool for in vivo bone clinical research, but its use has been limited to the distal radius and tibia. The goal of this study was to determine the applicability of HR-pQCT-derived microFE models of the calcaneus trabecular bone with 82m voxel size with reference to higher-resolution microCT-based models taken as gold standard. By comparing the outputs of microFE models generated from both HR-pQCT and microCT images of the trabecular bone of five calcaneus cadaveric specimens, it was found that the HR-pQCT-based models predicted mechanical properties for fracture load, total reaction force and von Mises stress are considerably different from microCT-based counterparts by 33, 64 and 70%, respectively. Also, the morphological analysis showed a comprehensive geometrical difference between HR-pQCT-based microFE models and their microCT-based equivalents. The results of the HR-pQCT-based models were found to have strong dependency on the threshold value chosen to binarise the images prior to finite element modelling. In addition, it was found that the voxel size has a strong impact on accuracy of imaged-based microFE models compared to other factors such as the presence of soft tissue and image scanning integration time. Therefore, although HR-pQCT has shown to be useful to predict overall structural and biomechanical changes, it is limited in providing local accurate biomechanical properties of trabecular bone and therefore should be used with caution when assessing bone remodelling through local changes of trabecular bone apposition and resorption in disease treatment monitoring." ]

[ "BACKGROUND: Calcaneal fractures account for around 2% of all fractures and most of them are intra-articular fractures. Many implants have been used in the fixation of calcaneal fractures, but their biomechanical stability has not yet been well investigated. The aim of this study was to compare the primary stability of four fixations of calcaneal fracture.METHODS: Eight cadaveric calcaneus samples were used to simulate the Sanders' types III fracture pattern and fixed through four different implants, namely, K-wires, cannulated screws (CS), absorbable screws (AS), and plate-screw system (PSS). Each specimen was then placed into a custom-made jig and was loaded through a material testing machine to simulate the physiological condition. The primary stability was measured in the vertical direction as the stiffness and anterior-posterior direction as the calcaneocuboid force. One-way analysis of variance was used for data analysis.RESULTS: The results showed the highest stiffness of 634 (383-891; SD 226) N/mm in the intact model. It was significantly higher than the models fixed with K-wires, CS or PSS. There was no significant difference in vertical stiffness between fractures fixed with AS and the intact model or other fixed models. The intact model showed the lowest calcaneocuboid force of 153 (120-218; SD 39) N, while the fractures fixed with AS showed the greatest force of 242 (146-398; SD 84) N. The significance was only detected between these two models.CONCLUSIONS: The global stiffness was similar when the calcaneal fractures were fixed by K-wires, CS and PSS. The stability of the AS fixation differed along both the vertical and anterior-posterior directions, and was greatly influenced by the bone quality. AS for fracture fixation should be designed with greater strength and pull-out resistance.", "Maintaining the calcaneal length after calcaneal fractures is vital to restoring the normal biomechanics of the foot, because it acts as an important lever arm to the plantarflexors of the foot. However, estimation of the length of the calcaneus to be reconstructed in comminuted calcaneal fractures can be difficult. We propose a new method to reliably estimate the calcaneal length radiographically by defining the calcaneotalar length ratio. A total of 100 ankle radiographs with no fracture in the calcaneus or talus taken in skeletally mature patients were reviewed by 6 observers. The anteroposterior lengths of the calcaneus and talus were measured, and the calcaneotalar length ratio was determined. The ratio was then used to estimate the length of the calcaneus. Interobserver reliability was determined using Cronbach's coefficient and Pearson's correlation coefficient. The mean length of the calcaneus was 75 0.6 mm, and the mean length of the talus was 59 0.5 mm. The calcaneotalar ratio was 1.3. Using this ratio and multiplying it by the talar length, the mean average estimated length of the calcaneus was within 0.7 mm of the known calcaneal length. Cronbach's coefficient and Pearson's correlation coefficient showed excellent interobserver reliability. The proposed calcaneotalar ratio is a new and reliable method to radiographically estimate the normal length of the calcaneus when reconstructing the calcaneus." ]

[ "The Symptoms of Trauma Scale (SOTS) is a 12-item, interview-based, clinician-rated measure that assesses the severity of a range of trauma-related symptoms. This pilot study evaluated its use and psychometric properties in an outpatient setting that provides treatment to survivors of chronic interpersonal trauma. Thirty participants completed self-report measures of posttraumatic stress symptoms, depression, dissociation, self-esteem, and affect dysregulation; the participants also participated separately in a semistructured interview based on the SOTS conducted by 2 trained interviewers. SOTS composite severity scores for DSM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (cPTSD), DSM-5 PTSD, and PTSD dissociative subtype, and total traumatic stress symptoms generally had acceptable internal consistency and interrater reliability. Evidence of convergent, discriminant, criterion, and construct validity was found for the SOTS composite PTSD scores, although potential limitations to validity that require further research and refinement of the measure were identified for the SOTS total and DSM-IV cPTSD scores and the hyperarousal, affect dysregulation, and dissociation items. Interviewers and interviewees described the interview as efficient, informative, and well tolerated. Implications for clinical practice and research to refine the SOTS are discussed." ]

[ "This study focused on a group of Chinese adolescents and examined whether the degree of alexithymia would mediate the effect of PTSD from past trauma onto psychiatric co-morbidities and whether gender differences would moderate the mediational effects of alexithymia. Three hundredand twenty-six adolescents were recruited from two schools and completed the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, General Health Questionnaire-28 and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. The results showed that 54% had no trauma in their lives; 10, 21 and 15% met the criteria for full, partial and no-PTSD respectively. After adjusting the number of traumatic events, difficulty identifying feelings mediated the path between PTSD from past trauma and psychiatric co-morbidity. Gender moderated the mediational effect of difficulty identifying feelings. To conclude, adolescents can develop PTSD symptoms and psychiatric co-morbidity following exposure to a traumatic event. For both males and females, difficulty getting in touch with feelings can influence the impact of PTSD onto psychiatric co-morbidity.", "OBJECTIVE: Persistent postconcussive symptoms (PPCS) are a set of physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that often follow mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Some of these symptoms also occur in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study examined the unique contribution of mTBI and PTSD to PPCS. The roles of neurocognitive and motivational factors were also addressed.METHOD: Sixty one children and adolescents (ages 6-18), at least 3 months post motor vehicle accident (MVA), participated in the study. All participants were diagnosed with PTSD symptoms. Thirty three participants met mTBI criteria, and 28 did not. Standard instruments for assessment included a semistructured clinical interview, self-report questionnaires, and a neuropsychological evaluation.RESULTS: No differences were found between the mTBI and non-TBI groups on any of the emotional or neurocognitive measures, including PPCS symptoms. Multiple regression analyses revealed that emotional status, such as state anxiety and depression, were the best predictors of PPCS. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses revealed a double mediation model, in which suboptimal effort mediated the relationship between neurocognitive performance and PPCS, and emotional status mediated the relationship between suboptimal effort and PPCS.CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the importance of emotional status in the diagnosis of PPCS among children who suffer from PTSD. It is possible that PPCS reflect a more general expression of accident-related emotional distress, rather than being a direct result of the injury. (PsycINFO Database Record" ]

[ "Serological markers detect asymptomatic coeliac disease among first-degree relatives of patients with sprue. However, some relatives with coeliac disease-related antibodies have 'normal' jejunal mucosa by conventional histology. Whether these serological abnormalities represent false-positives or are consequences of gluten sensitivity is not known. Our aim was to evaluate, through quantitative histology, intestinal biopsies of asymptomatic relatives of probands seeking abnormalities consistent with latent coeliac disease. Fifty-nine intestinal biopsies obtained from asymptomatic relatives were evaluated; 40 samples were suitable for histological quantification. Seven samples showed severe mucosal atrophy (coeliac disease) and 33 were considered as 'normals'. In the 'normal' group, nine samples were obtained from patients with one or more positive serological tests and 24 from those with negative tests. Morphometry was compared for samples obtained from healthy control individuals (n = 10) and for those from coeliac patients (n = 7). Serological tests used were: antigliadin antibodies type immunoglobulin (Ig)A and IgG (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), antirrecticulin antibody (immuno-fluorescence) and endomysial antibody (immunofluorescence). Biopsy samples were obtained with endoscopic forceps from the distal duodenum (second portion). Quantitative histology of duodenal biopsies was performed with a computerized image analysis system" ]

[ "Serum IgA class antigliadin antibodies (IgA-AGA) are increased in untreated patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), and it has been suggested that salivary IgA-AGA measurements could be used as a non-invasive screening test for gluten-sensitive enteropathy.", "The benefits of serologic screening for coeliac disease in asymptomatic individuals are debatable.AIM: To investigate dietary compliance, quality of life and bone mineral density after long-term treatment in coeliac disease patients found by screening in risk groups. The study comprised 53 consecutive screen-detected coeliac patients diagnosed 14 years (median) ago. Dietary compliance was assessed by interview, 4-day food record and serology. Quality of life was evaluated by the Psychological General Well-Being and SF-36 questionnaires, gastrointestinal symptoms by the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale and bone mineral density by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Comparisons were made to 44 symptom-detected-treated coeliac patients, 110 non-coeliac subjects and the general population. A total of 96% of screen-detected and 93% of symptom-detected coeliac patients adhered to a strict or fairly strict gluten-free diet. In screen-detected patients, quality of life and gastrointestinal symptoms were similar to those in symptom-detected patients or non-coeliac controls and bone mineral density was similar to that in the general population." ]

[ "Saved by the Bell: Tiffani Thiessen, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Dennis Haskins, Lark Voorhies, Ed Alonzo, Leanna Creel, Dustin Diamond" ]

[ "CLICK: Watch the Saved By the Bell reunion now! Voorhies was last spotted making a rare public appearance at a farmer's market in L.A. in September 2014, just one day after Lifetime's The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story premiered. I did not watch, and will not watch, Voohries tweeted of the TV movie.", "Title: Saved by the Bell (1989–1992) 7 /10. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below." ]

[ "OBJECTIVE: To examine how positive affect influences ability to benefit from heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback treatment for individuals with severe brain injury.METHOD: Secondary data analysis of a nonrandomized experimental study that assessed the efficacy of biofeedback treatment for executive dysfunction in 13 individuals with chronic severe brain injury.RESULTS: Bivariate correlations between the predictors (levels of HRV and positive affect) and the outcome (change in Category Test errors) showed large effect sizes for higher levels of HRV coherence (r = -.495, p = .085) but not for positive affect (r = .069, p = .824). Although positive affect had a negligible effect on Category Test improvements by itself, positive affect played a moderating role that complemented the effect of HRV coherence. HRV coherence had a stronger effect on Category Test performance among those participants who demonstrated higher positive affect. A regression model was fit that included main effects for HRV coherence and positive affect, as well as their interaction. The interaction term was significant in a 1-tailed test (b = -3.902, SE = 1.914, p = .072).CONCLUSIONS: Participants who had the most positive emotions made the most gains in the HRV biofeedback training and performed better posttreatment on a test designed to measure problem-solving ability. Results indicate that positive affect can improve cognition, specifically mental flexibility and abstract thinking. Addressing factors that shape negative affect such as irrational beliefs and self-doubt is an important target for therapeutic intervention even in those with severe, chronic deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record" ]

[ "If it can be assumed that positive affect modulates cognitive control, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The main aim of this study was to investigate how positive affect influences proactive and reactive modes of control and to explore the temporal dynamic of this influence, in terms of its transient and/or sustained effects. We used the AX-continuous performance task, combined with event-related potentials (ERP) recording. The results showed that positive affect impaired proactive control. More specifically, response preparation was weaker, as highlighted by a decreased contingent negative variation (CNV), prior to the target. As a consequence, conflict detection, as reflected by the N2 component, was decreased under positive affect. The P3a, associated with conflict resolution, remained unaffected by positive emotion, suggesting a lack of reactive control modulation. These effects were diffuse and did not appear on a transient timescale, highlighting the importance of positive emotion's time course for how it influences cognitive control processes.", "Positive emotion is associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, yet some mechanisms remain unclear. One potential pathway is via emotional competencies/skills. The present study tests whether the ability to facially express positive emotion is associated with CVD risk scores, while controlling for potential confounds and testing for sex moderation. Eighty-two men and women underwent blood draws before completing self-report assessments and a performance test of expressive skill. Positive expressions were scored for degree of 'happiness' using expression coding software. CVD risk scores were calculated using established algorithms based on biological, demographic, and behavioral risk factors. Linear regressions revealed a main effect for skill, with skill in expressing positive emotion associated with lower CVD risk scores. Analyses also revealed a sex-by-skill interaction whereby links between expressive skill and CVD risk scores were stronger among men. Objective tests of expressive skill have methodological advantages, appear to have links to physical health, and offer a novel avenue for research and intervention." ]

[ "How and why?" ]

[ "I do not care how or why it happened." ]

[ "An eye twitch is an involuntary spasm of the muscles in the eyelid. Blepharospasm is the medical term for eyelid twitching. Eyelid twitching usually occurs every few seconds and lasts for a few minutes. It may come and go over a period of days or weeks. Sometimes the twitching results in the eye being held closed until the movement stops, but this is not always the case." ]

[ "Best Answer: Muscle twitching is very normal. A lot of people do get it and it isn't something unusual or to worry about. It is called fasciculation and it occurs when an involuntary muscle contracts noticeably under the skin.", "Ptosis is the drooping or sagging of a body part [4]. Ptosis of the upper eyelid (upper lid ptosis, blepharoptosis, drooping upper eyelid, droopy-lid-syndrome) is defined as abnormally low-lying upper eyelid margin in primary gaze, resulting in narrowing of the palpebral opening and fissure and covering part of the eye." ]

[ "Although the old glamour has faded, the same old reasons still make a vacation at Simla worthwhile." ]

[ "The old glamour is gone, which means there's not much point in going to Simla anymore." ]

[ "Research on the impact of the continuity of care (COC) on health outcomes in patients with mental illness is limited. This observational study examined whether the longitudinal COC is associated with a decreased likelihood of death among patients with mental disorders in the French general population. Data were derived from the French National Health Insurance (NHI) reimbursement database. Patients with any mental disorder who visited a psychiatrist at least twice within 6 months were included. The primary endpoint was death by all causes. We measured longitudinal COC with a psychiatrist twice a year between 2007 and 2010, using the COC index developed by Bice and Boxerman. The COC index was analysed as a time-dependent variable in a survival analysis after adjustments for age, gender and stratifying on comorbidities and social status. Among 14,515 patients visiting a psychiatrist at least twice in 6 months and tracked over 3 years, likelihood of death was significantly lower in patients with higher continuity of care (hazard ratio for an increase in 0.1 of continuity, adjusted for age, sex, and stratified on comorbidities and social status: 0.83 [0.83-0.83]), particularly in those with bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia" ]

[ "There is increasing pressure on mental health providers to reduce the duration of treatments, while retaining level of quality and effectiveness. The risk is that the population is underserved and therefore needs new treatment episodes. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether duration of treatment and return into mental health care were related. This study examined Dutch patients with an initial treatment episode in 2009 or 2010 in specialized mental health settings for depressive disorder (N = 85,754). Follow-up data about treatment episodes were available up until 2013. The data set included demographic (age, gender), and clinical factors (comorbidity with other DSM-IV Axis; scores on the 'Global Assessment of Functioning'). Cox regression analyses were used to assess whether duration of treatment and relapse into mental health care were related. The majority of patients did not return into mental health care (86 %). Patients with a shorter duration of treatment (5-250 min; 251-500 min and 751-1000 min) were slightly more likely to return (reference group:>1000 min) (HR 1.19 95 % CI 1.13-1.26; HR 1.11 95 % CI 1.06-1.17; HR 1.18 95 % CI 1.11-1.25), adjusted for demographic and clinical variables.", "BACKGROUND: People living with serious mental health conditions experience increased morbidity due to physical health issues driven by medication side-effects and lifestyle factors. Coordinated mental and physical healthcare delivered in accordance with a care plan could help to reduce morbidity and mortality in this population. Efforts to develop new models of care are hampered by a lack of validated instruments to accurately assess the extent to which mental health services users and carers are involved in care planning for physical health.OBJECTIVE: To develop a brief and accurate patient-reported experience measure (PREM) capable of assessing involvement in physical health care planning for mental health service users and their carers.METHODS: We employed psychometric and statistical techniques to refine a bank of candidate questionnaire items, derived from qualitative interviews, into a valid and reliable measure involvement in physical health care planning. We assessed the psychometric performance of the item bank using modern psychometric analyses. We assessed unidimensionality, scalability, fit to the partial credit Rasch model, category threshold ordering, local dependency, differential item functioning, and test-retest reliability. Once purified of poorly performing and erroneous items, we simulated computerized adaptive testing (CAT) with 15, 10 and 5 items using the calibrated item bank.RESULTS: Issues with category threshold ordering, local dependency and differential item functioning were evident for a number of items in the nascent item bank and were resolved by removing problematic items. The final 19 item PREM had excellent fit to the Rasch model fit (x2 = 192.94, df = 1515, P = .02, RMSEA = .03 (95% CI = .01-.04). The 19-item bank had excellent reliability (marginal r = 0.87). The correlation between questionnaire scores at baseline and 2-week follow-up was high (r = .70, P < .01) and 94.9% of assessment pairs were within the Bland Altman limits of agreement. Simulated CAT demonstrated that assessments could be made using as few as 10 items (mean SE = .43).DISCUSSION: We developed a flexible patient reported outcome measure to quantify service user and carer involvement in physical health care planning. We demonstrate the potential to substantially reduce assessment length whilst maintaining reliability by utilizing CAT." ]

[ " Aggy is a slang term that means \"aggravated\" or \"aggravating\" ... like \"irritated\" or \"irritating.\"" ]

[ " got it going on. (idiomatic, colloquial, chiefly US) Be attractive, outgoing (typically of women). (idiomatic, colloquial, chiefly US) Appreciatively, of someone or something for being active and successful in a pursuit, to have the ability to be active and successful in a pursuit.", " Your adjusted gross income, or AGI, is an important line item on your taxes, as it affects your eligibility for certain tax benefits. The same is true of your modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI. Typically, your MAGI (modified adjusted gross income) and AGI (adjusted gross income) are close in value to one another." ]

[ "Alkenones (C37 -C40 ) are highly specific biomarkers produced by certain haptophyte algae in ocean and lacustrine environments and have been widely used for paleoclimate studies. Unusual shorter-chain alkenones (SCA; e.g., C35 and C36 ) have been found in environmental and culture samples, but the origin and structure of these compounds are much less understood. The marine alkenone producer, Emiliania huxleyi CCMP2758 strain, was reported with abundant C35:2 Me (?12, 19 ) alkenones when cultured at 15C (Prahl etal. 2006). Here we show, when this strain is cultured at 4C-10C, that CCMP2758 produces abundant C35:3 Me, C36:3 Me, and small amounts of C36:3 Et alkenones with unusual double-bond positions of ?7, 12, 19 . We determine the double-bond positions of the C35:3 Me and C36:3 Me alkenones by GC-MS analysis of the dimethyl disulfide and cyclobutylamine derivatives, and we provide the first temperature calibrations based on the unsaturation ratios of the C35 and C36 alkenones. Previous studies have found C35:2 Me (?14, 19 ) and C36:2 Et (?14, 19 ) alkenones with three-methylene interruption in the Black Sea sediments, but this is the first reported instance of alkenones with a mixed three- and five-methylene interruption configuration in the double-bond positions. Thediscovery of these alkenones allows us to propose a novel biosynthetic scheme, termed the SCA biosynthesis pathway, that simultaneously rationalizes the formation of both the C35:3 Me (?7, 12, 19 ) alkenone in our culture and the ?14, 19 Black Sea type alkenones without invoking new desaturases for the unusual double-bond positions." ]

[ "Medium- and long-chain 1-alkanol and ,-alkanediols are used in personal care products, in industrial lubricants, and as precursors for polymers synthesized for medical applications. The industrial production of ,-alkanediols by alkane hydroxylation primarily occurs at high temperature and pressure using heavy metal catalysts. However, bioproduction has recently emerged as a more economical and environmentally friendly alternative. Among alkane monooxygenases, CYP153A from Marinobacter aquaeolei VT8 (CYP153A M.aq ; the strain is also known as Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus VT8) possesses low overoxidation activity and high regioselectivity and thus has great potential for use in terminal hydroxylation. However, the application of CYP153A M.aq is limited because it is encoded by a dysfunctional operon. In this study, we demonstrated that the operon regulator AlkR M.aq is functional, can be induced by alkanes of various lengths, and does not suffer from product inhibition. Additionally, we identified a transposon insertion in the CYP153A M.aq operon. When the transposon was removed, the expression of the operon genes could be induced by alkanes, and the alkanes could then be oxyfunctionalized by the resulting proteins. To increase the accessibility of medium- and long-chain alkanes, we coexpressed a tunable alkane facilitator (AlkL) from Pseudomonas putida GPo1. Using a recombinant Escherichia coli strain, we produced 1.5 g/liter 1-dodecanol in 20 h and 2 g/liter 1-tetradecanol in 50 h by adding dodecane and tetradecane, respectively. Furthermore, in 68 h, we generated 3.76 g/liter of 1,12-dodecanediol by adding a dodecane-1-dodecanol substrate mixture. This study reports a very efficient method of producing C12/C14 alkanols and C12 1,12-alkanediol by whole-cell biotransformation.IMPORTANCE To produce terminally hydroxylated medium- to long-chain alkane compounds by whole-cell biotransformation, substrate permeability, enzymatic activity, and the control of overoxidability should be considered. Due to difficulties in production, small amounts of 1-dodecanol, 1-tetradecanol, and 1,12-dodecanediol are typically produced. In this study, we identified an alkane-inducible monooxygenase operon that can efficiently catalyze the conversion of alkane to 1-alkanol with no detection of the overoxidation product. By coexpressing an alkane membrane facilitator, high levels of 1-dodecanol, 1-tetradecanol, and 1,12-dodecanediol could be generated. This study is significant for the bioproduction of medium- and long-chain 1-alkanol and ,-alkanediols.", "IL-35 is a recently identified cytokine exhibiting potent immunosuppressive properties. The therapeutic potential and effects of IL-35 on pathogenic T effector cells (Teff) and Foxp3+ Treg, however, are ill defined. We tested the capacity of IL-35 to suppress ongoing autoimmunity in NOD mice. For this purpose, an adeno-associated virus vector in which IL-35 transgene expression is selectively targeted to cells via an insulin promoter (AAV8mIP-IL35) was used. AAV8mIP-IL35 vaccination of NOD mice at a late preclinical stage of type 1 diabetes (T1D) suppressed -cell autoimmunity and prevented diabetes onset. Numbers of islet-resident conventional CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and DCs were reduced within 4 weeks of AAV8mIP-IL35 treatment. The diminished islet T-cell pool correlated with suppressed proliferation, and a decreased frequency of IFN--expressing Teff. Ectopic IL-35 also reduced islet Foxp3+ Treg numbers and proliferation, and protection was independent of induction/expansion of adaptive islet immunoregulatory T cells. These findings demonstrate that IL-35-mediated suppression is sufficiently robust to block established -cell autoimmunity, and support the use of IL-35 to treat T1D and other T-cell-mediated autoimmune diseases." ]

[ "In this study, we investigated the effect of [N-(5-chloro-2-hydroxyphenyl)-l-aspartato] chlorogallate (GS2), a new water soluble gallium complex, on cell invasion and on the expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in human metastatic HT-1080 fibrosarcoma and MDA-MB 231 breast carcinoma cells. The effect on cell invasion was studied using a modified Boyden chamber coated with a type-I collagen. We analyzed the effect of GS2 on MMP-2, MMP-9, and MMP-14 via zymography and enzymatic assay using high affinity fluorogenic substrates. The expression of MMP mRNA was analyzed via qRT-PCR. GS2 induced a decrease in cell invasion. A dose-dependent inhibition effect was observed on the activities of MMP-2, MMP-9, and MMP-14 with the IC50 values of 168, 82, and 20 M, respectively. A decrease in the expression of MMP-14 mRNA was observed in both cell lines, whereas the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA was decreased only in the MDA-MB231 cells. Data obtained for the expression of MMP-14 mRNA were confirmed via Western blotting. In fact, MMP-14 expression was decreased in the presence of GS2. Overall, these data show that GS2 is a promising compound for anti-invasive and anticancer therapy." ]

[ "Gallic acid (GA) is a polyphenol present in many plants. This study was aimed to investigate the molecular interaction of GA with the human erythrocyte membrane and to determine its antioxidant capacity. The molecular interaction with the membrane of human red cells and the antioxidant property was assayed on both human red cells and molecular models of its membrane. Observations by optical, scanning electron, and defocusing microscopy demonstrated that GA is capable to convert red cells from their normal biconcave shape to crenated echinocytes. This result indicates that GA molecules are positioned in the outer monolayer of the red cell membrane. Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) and dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE) were selected as classes of phospholipids found in the outer and inner monolayers of the red cell membrane, respectively. X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry showed that GA was preferentially bound to DMPC bilayers. Experiments related to the antioxidant capacity of GA indicated that this compound offsets HClO oxidative capacity on DMPE bilayers. In addition, optical, scanning, defocusing microscopy, and hemolysis assays confirmed the protective capacity of GA against HClO deleterious effects on human red cells. As a conclusion, GA would be capable to block the access of oxidants into the lipid bilayer, and thus avoid their access into red cells.", "OBJECTIVE: Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the major chemical constituent of green tea, exhibits remarkable anti-tumor effect properties. In the present work, we aim to explore the effect and underlying mechanism of EGCG on multiple myeloma (MM) cells.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effects of EGCG on MM cells proliferation and apoptosis were determined by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry assay. The siRNAs were used to inhibit endogenous expression of EZH2. Enforced expression of EZH2 in U266 cells was accomplished by transfecting EZH2 plasmid.RESULTS: EGCG suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis in U266 cells, which accompanied by EZH2 inhibition. Moreover, we revealed that enforced expression of EZH2 increased MM cells proliferation and reduced cell apoptosis, whereas EGCG partially reversed the effects of EZH2 on MM cells progression. In addition, qRT-PCR and Western blot showed that EZH2 overexpression increased Bcl-2 expression, and decreased BAX, BAK1 and cytochrome c expression in U266 cells exposed to EGCG.CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that EGCG inhibited MM cells proliferation and induced apoptosis by targeting EZH2 and modulated mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, indicating EGCG might act as an adjuvant for chemotherapy of MM patients." ]

[ "I experienced severe pain abdomen, bloating 2 days ago after eating food, that has msg and onion. My doctor said I am intolerant to those and that I should avoid it. I really liked that dish and I want to know if I won't be able to eat it again. Is the intolerance to onion and msg permanent?" ]

[ "I am intolerant to msg and onion. I ate food at a restaurant a couple of hours ago and I was not aware that the particular dish had onion and msg. My abdomen started bloating and hurting after an hour and its very uncomfortable. What should I do now for relief?" ]

[ "The functional impairment of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) constitutes an important barrier for therapeutic angiogenesis. Here, we tested the hypotheses that a secreted version of acidic fibroblast growth factor (sp-FGF1) gene transfer may achieve functional improvement of EPCs and that autologous transplantation of sp-FGF1-modified EPCs can facilitate neovascularization in a porcine model of chronic myocardial ischemia. EPCs were cultured from porcine peripheral blood and transduced with a recombinant adeno-associated virus encoding the sp-FGF1 gene (Td/FGF1-EPC). EPC function was evaluated 3 days after the gene transfer. In vitro, the sp-FGF1-modified EPCs displayed enhanced migration, tube formation and survival. Chronic myocardial ischemia was induced by the placement of an ameroid constrictor around the left circumflex coronary artery (LCx). Four weeks after ameroid placement, coronary angiography was performed and the cells were administered through the stenotic LCx. Myocardial perfusion defects were significantly reduced in animals transplanted with Td/FGF1-EPC compared to animals that received non-transduced EPCs or PBS (P<0.05) as assessed by SPECT 4 weeks after cell transplantation. Furthermore, the vascular density of ischemic myocardium was significantly increased in Td/FGF1-EPC transplanted animals (P<0.05). In addition, FGF1 protein expression was only detected in Td/FGF1-EPC transplanted animals" ]

[ "Gene therapy stimulating the growth of blood vessels is considered for the treatment of peripheral and myocardial ischemia. Here we aimed to achieve angiogenic synergism between vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A, VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) in murine normoperfused and ischemic limb muscles. Adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs) carrying β-galactosidase gene (AAV-LacZ), VEGF-A (AAV-VEGF-A) or two angiogenic genes (AAV-FGF4-IRES-VEGF-A) were injected into the normo-perfused adductor muscles of C57Bl/6 mice. Moreover, in a different experiment, mice were subjected to unilateral hindlimb ischemia by femoral artery ligation followed by intramuscular injections of AAV-LacZ, AAV-VEGF-A or AAV-FGF4-IRES-VEGF-A below the site of ligation. Post-ischemic blood flow recovery was assessed sequentially by color laser Doppler. Mice were monitored for 28 days. VEGF-A delivered alone (AAV-VEGF-A) or in combination with FGF4 (AAV-FGF4-IRES-VEGF-A) increased the number of capillaries in normo-perfused hindlimbs when compared to AAV-LacZ. Simultaneous overexpression of both agents (VEGF-A and FGF4) stimulated the capillary wall remodeling in the non-ischemic model. Moreover, AAV-FGF4-IRES-VEGF-A faster restored the post-ischemic foot blood flow and decreased the incidence of toe necrosis in comparison to AAV-LacZ", "Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were shown to have angiogenic potential contributing to neovascularization. However, a clear definition of mouse EPCs by cell surface markers still remains elusive. We hypothesized that CD34 could be used for identification and isolation of functional EPCs from mouse bone marrow. CD34(+) cells, c-Kit(+)/Sca-1(+)/Lin(-) (KSL) cells, c-Kit(+)/Lin(-) (KL) cells and Sca-1(+)/Lin(-) (SL) cells were isolated from mouse bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) using fluorescent activated cell sorting. EPC colony forming capacity and differentiation capacity into endothelial lineage were examined in the cells. Although CD34(+) cells showed the lowest EPC colony forming activity, CD34(+) cells exhibited under endothelial culture conditions a more adherent phenotype compared with the others, demonstrating the highest mRNA expression levels of endothelial markers vWF, VE-cadherin, and Flk-1. Furthermore, a dramatic increase in immediate recruitment of cells to the myocardium following myocardial infarction and systemic cell injection was observed for CD34(+) cells comparing with others, which could be explained by the highest mRNA expression levels of key homing-related molecules Integrin β2 and CXCR4 in CD34(+) cells. Cell retention and incorporation into the vasculature of the ischemic myocardium was also markedly increased in the CD34(+) cell-injected group, giving a possible explanation for significant reduction in fibrosis area, significant increase in neovascularization and the best cardiac functional recovery in this group in comparison with the others" ]

[ "Pectin content is an important quality index of fruits, as pectin content undergoes significant changes during the peach ripening process. The commonly used carbazole colorimetry method measures only the total content value of each kind of pectin for each pulp sample and cannot provide distribution maps of the pectin contents for the whole fruit pulp. This work used the hyperspectral imaging technique to quantitatively visualize the distribution maps of pectin contents inside peach pulp at the pixel level. The protopectin contents were well predicted, with the best residual predictive deviation of 2.264, whereas the predictions of the water-soluble pectin and the total pectin contents were not satisfied. On the basis of the best predictive model, the distribution maps of the protopectin contents were quantitatively visualized. A histogram of an example protopectin distribution revealed the existence of a wide range of protopectin contents in peach pulp. Our results show that hyperspectral imaging holds promise as a powerful alternative to the carbazole colorimetry method for measuring the spatial variations in the protopectin distribution inside peach pulp. The distribution maps could be used as a maturity indicator to understand and evaluate the ripening process of peach fruit in depth." ]

[ ": Pectin was extracted from apple (Malus domestica 'F?lticeni') pomace with Celluclast 1.5L, at doses of 20, 40, and 60 L/g of material. The temperature and time of extraction were varied on three levels-temperature-40, 50, and 60 C; time-12, 18, and 24 h. For each experiment, the extraction yield (R2 = 0.8905), the galacturonic acid content (R2 = 0.9866), and the degree of esterification (R2 = 0.9520) of pectin was determined. Response surface methodology (RSM) was implemented via a Box-Behnken design, to optimize pectin extraction. In the optimum extraction conditions (temperature of 48.3 C, extraction time of 18 h 14 min, and enzyme dose of 42.5 L/g of pomace), the design predicted a 6.76% yield with a galacturonic acid content of 97.46 g/100 g of pectin and a degree of esterification of 96.02%. FT-IR analysis of the pectin sample obtained in these conditions showed a chemical structure similar to that of commercial apple and citrus pectin.", "KEY MESSAGE: We confirmed the roles of auxin, CK, and strigolactones in apical dominance in peach and established a model of plant hormonal control of apical dominance in peach. Auxin, cytokinin, and strigolactone play important roles in apical dominance. In this study, we analyzed the effect of auxin and strigolactone on the expression of ATP/ADP isopentenyltransferase (IPT) genes (key cytokinin biosynthesis genes) and the regulation of apical dominance in peach. After decapitation, the expression levels of PpIPT1, PpIPT3, and PpIPT5a in nodal stems sharply increased. This observation is consistent with the changes in tZ-type and iP-type cytokinin levels in nodal stems and axillary buds observed after treatment; these changes are required to promote the outgrowth of axillary buds in peach. These results suggest that ATP/ADP PpIPT genes in nodal stems are key genes for cytokinin biosynthesis, as they promote the outgrowth of axillary buds. We also found that auxin and strigolactone inhibited the outgrowth of axillary buds. After decapitation, IAA treatment inhibited the expression of ATP/ADP PpIPTs in nodal stems to impede the increase in cytokinin levels. By contrast, after GR24 (GR24 strigolactone) treatment, the expression of ATP/ADP IPT genes and cytokinin levels still increased markedly, but the rate of increase in gene expression was markedly lower than that observed after decapitation in the absence of IAA (indole-3-acetic acid) treatment. In addition, GR24 inhibited basipetal auxin transport at the nodes (by limiting the expression of PpPIN1a in nodal stems), thereby inhibiting ATP/ADP PpIPT expression in nodal stems. Therefore, strigolactone inhibits the outgrowth of axillary buds in peach only when terminal buds are present." ]

[ "Bifidobacteria are natural inhabitants of the human gastrointestinal tract. In full-term newborns, these bacteria are acquired from the mother during delivery and rapidly become the predominant organisms in the intestinal microbiota. Bifidobacteria contribute to the establishment of healthy intestinal ecology and can confer health benefits to their host. Consequently, there is growing interest in bifidobacteria, and various strains are currently used as probiotic components in functional food products. However, the probiotic effects have been reported to be strain-specific. There is thus a need to better understand the determinants of the observed benefits provided by these probiotics. Our objective was to compare three human B. longum isolates with the sequenced model strain B. longum NCC2705 at the chromosome and proteome levels. Pulsed field electrophoresis genotyping revealed genetic heterogeneity with low intraspecies strain relatedness among the four strains tested. Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, we analyzed qualitative differences in the cytosolic protein patterns. There were 45 spots that were present in some strains and absent in others. Spots were excised from the gels and subjected to peptide mass fingerprint analysis for identification. The 45 spots represented 37 proteins, most of which were involved in carbohydrate metabolism and cell wall or cell membrane synthesis. Notably, the protein patterns were correlated with differences in cell membrane properties like surface hydrophobicity and cell agglutination" ]

[ "Genome-, transcriptome- and proteome-wide measurements provide insights into how biological systems are regulated. However, fundamental aspects relating to which human proteins exist, where they are expressed and in which quantities are not fully understood. Therefore, we generated a quantitative proteome and transcriptome abundance atlas of 29 paired healthy human tissues from the Human Protein Atlas project representing human genes by 18,072 transcripts and 13,640 proteins including 37 without prior protein-level evidence. The analysis revealed that hundreds of proteins, particularly in testis, could not be detected even for highly expressed mRNAs, that few proteins show tissue-specific expression, that strong differences between mRNA and protein quantities within and across tissues exist and that protein expression is often more stable across tissues than that of transcripts. Only 238 of 9,848 amino acid variants found by exome sequencing could be confidently detected at the protein level showing that proteogenomics remains challenging, needs better computational methods and requires rigorous validation. Many uses of this resource can be envisaged including the study of gene/protein expression regulation and biomarker specificity evaluation.", "Gut microbiota of breast-fed infants are generally rich in bifidobacteria. Recent studies show that infant gut-associated bifidobacteria can assimilate human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) specifically among the gut microbes. Nonetheless, little is known about how bifidobacterial-rich communities are shaped in the gut. Interestingly, HMOs assimilation ability is not related to the dominance of each species. Bifidobacterium longum susbp. longum and Bifidobacterium breve are commonly found as the dominant species in infant stools; however, they show limited HMOs assimilation ability in vitro. In contrast, avid in vitro HMOs consumers, Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis, are less abundant in infant stools. In this study, we observed altruistic behaviour by B. bifidum when incubated in HMOs-containing faecal cultures. Four B. bifidum strains, all of which contained complete sets of HMO-degrading genes, commonly left HMOs degradants unconsumed during in vitro growth. These strains stimulated the growth of other Bifidobacterium species when added to faecal cultures supplemented with HMOs, thereby increasing the prevalence of bifidobacteria in faecal communities. Enhanced HMOs consumption by B. bifidum-supplemented cultures was also observed. We also determined the complete genome sequences of B. bifidum strains JCM7004 and TMC3115. Our results suggest B. bifidum-mediated cross-feeding of HMOs degradants within bifidobacterial communities." ]

[ "Crotamiton, a scabicide and antipruritic agent persistent during biological treatment processes, is frequently detected in secondary effluent. In this study, titanium dioxide (TiO2) and high-silica zeolite (HSZ-385) composites were synthesized and applied for the treatment of crotamiton in secondary effluent. Crotamiton was rapidly adsorbed by HSZ-385, and the adsorption performance of crotamiton in the secondary effluent was quite close to that in the test using ultrapure water. Even though the TiO2-zeolite composites showed lower adsorption rates than that of HSZ-385, similar crotamiton adsorption capacities were revealed using both test materials. The photocatalytic decomposition of crotamiton was significantly inhibited by the water matrix at low initial concentrations. The TiO2-zeolite composites rapidly adsorbed crotamiton from secondary effluent, and then the crotamiton was gradually decomposed under ultraviolet irradiation. Importantly, when using TiO2-zeolite composites, coexisting material in the secondary effluent did not markedly inhibit crotamiton removal at low initial crotamiton concentration. The behaviors of the main intermediates during treatment demonstrated that the main degradation intermediates of crotamiton were also captured by the composites." ]

[ "We undertook an ultrastructural study of the spermiogenesis of the lanternfish Lampanyctus crocodilus (Myctophiformes, Myctophidae) with special emphasis on the condensation of chromatin and the biochemical characterisation of its sperm nuclear basic proteins (SNBPs). The round head of the early spermatid of L. crocodilus develops into a curved conical-shaped head in the spermatozoon. Two flagella, present even in the spermatid, are inserted laterally at the convex side of the sperm head. Both flagella possess an axoneme with a 9 + 0 instead of the typical 9 + 2 axonemal structure. Mitochondria undergo a characteristic redistribution during spermiogenesis. A reduced number of them are present lying away from the centrioles at both ends of the concave side of the sperm head. During the chromatin condensation stages in spermiogenesis, fibrogranular structures with granules of 25  5 and 50  5 nm can be observed in the early spermatid and develop into larger granules of about 150  50 nm in the middle spermatid. The latter granules coalesce during the transition to the advanced spermatid and spermatozoon giving rise to highly condensed chromatin in the sperm cell. Protamines are the main SNBPs associated with this chromatin; however, they are unusually large and correspond to the largest protamines described in fish to date. Small stoichiometric amounts of histones and other basic proteins coexist with these protamines in the spermatozoon.", "Using immunocytochemistry methods, the structure of synaptonemal complexes (SC) of chromosomes in spread nuclei of primary spermatocytes of mice at 1, 10, and 36 days after the 10-day intraperitoneal administration of antibacterial preparations of three pharmacological groups: furacilin, an antiseptic derivative of nitrofuran; cifran, an antibiotic from the group of fluoroquinolones; and sextaphage, a polyvalent piobacteriophage was investigated. The maximal number of disturbances in the structure and behavior of synaptonemal complex was revealed on the first day after the end of preparation administration. On days 10 and 36, the total number of disturbances in SC structure decreased gradually. On the first day after the end of the administration of cifran and sextaphage in 41.8 and 25% of nuclei, respectively, the fragmentation of synaptonemal complexes was revealed and, in males to whom furacilin had been administered, the fragmentation of synaptonemal complexes was identified in 100% of nuclei. Multiple chromosome fragmentation is a meiotic disaster and results in the degeneration of cells without enabling the mechanism ofpachytene arrest. The features of pachytene arrest were revealed in the nuclei of primary spermatocytes with the disturbances of chromosomes pairing. After the administration of sextaphage, circle structures released from the lateral elements of SC and are dyed with antibodies to SCP3 protein." ]

[ "IMPORTANCE: Screening for splice site mutation c.828+3A>T in the peripherin 2 (PRPH2) gene should be a high priority in families with highly variable retinal dystrophies. The correction of missplicing is a potential therapeutic target.OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence, genetic origin, and molecular mechanism of a donor c.828+3A>T mutation in the PRPH2 (peripherin 2, retinal degeneration slow) gene in individuals with retinal dystrophies.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Case-control study that took place at the University of Texas Health Science Center, the University of Iowa, and the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, from January 1, 1987, to August 1, 2014, including affected individuals from 200 families with a diagnosis of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, 35 families with unspecified macular dystrophies, and 116 families with pattern dystrophy. Participants were screened for the c.828+3A>T mutation by restriction-enzyme digest, single-strand conformational polymorphism screening, or bidirectional sequencing. Haplotypes of polymorphic markers flanking the PRPH2 locus and sequence variants within the gene were determined by denaturing gel electrophoresis or automated capillary-based cycle sequencing. The effect of the splice site mutation on the PRPH2 transcript was analyzed using NetGene2, a splice prediction program and by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of illegitimate transcripts from peripheral white blood cells.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Results of testing for splice site mutation, haplotypes, and alternate transcripts.RESULTS: The PRPH2 mutation was found in 97 individuals of 19 independently ascertained families with a clinical diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa, macular dystrophy, and/or pattern dystrophy. All affected individuals also shared a rare haplotype of approximately 644 kilobase pairs containing the c.828+3A>T mutation, which extends from the short tandem repeat polymorphism D6S282 to c.1013G>A (rs434102, a single-nucleotide polymorphism) in exon 3 of PRPH2, suggesting this mutation is from a common ancestor and is a founder mutation. It has a prevalence of 2% in families diagnosed as having autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa and 10% in families with variable clinical diagnosis of pattern, macular, and retinal dystrophies. Individuals with the c.828+3A>T mutation expressed a PRPH2 transcript not found in control participants and that was consistent with abnormal splicing.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The PRPH2 c.828+3A>T splice site mutation is a frequent cause of inherited retinal dystrophies and is owing to the founder effect. The likely cause of disease is the missplicing of the PRPH2 message that results in a truncated protein product. Identifying the genetic etiology assists in more accurate management and possible future therapeutic options." ]

[ "BACKGROUND: The recent application of gene-sequencing technology has identified many new somatic mutations in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Among them, serine and arginine rich splicing factor 2 (SRSF2) mutations belonging to the RNA splicing pathway were of interest. Many studies have already reported the potential prognostic value of SRSF2 mutations in MDS patients, with controversial results. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to investigate their prognostic impact on MDS.METHODS: Databases, including PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library, were searched for relevant studies published up to 14 October 2016. Overall survival (OS) was selected as the primary endpoint, and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) transformation was the secondary endpoint. We extracted the corresponding hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for OS and AML transformation from multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. The combined HRs with their 95% CIs were calculated using fixed or random effect models.RESULTS: A total of 10 cohort studies, covering 1864 patients with de novo MDS and 294 patients with SRSF2 mutations, were included in the final meta-analysis. Our results indicated that SRSF2 mutations had an adverse prognostic impact on OS (p<0.0001) and AML transformation (p = 0.0005) in the total population. Among the MDS patients with low or intermediate-1 risk defined according to the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), SRSF2 mutations predicted a shorter OS (p = 0.009) and were more likely to transform to AML (p = 0.007).CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicates an independent, adverse prognostic impact of SRSF2 mutations on OS and AML transformation in patients with de novo MDS. This also applies to the subgroup of low- or intermediate-1-IPSS risk MDS. The identification of mutations in SRSF2 can improve current risk stratification and help make treatment decisions.", "Previous studies reported that the proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2) gene was identified to be related to paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD), infantile convulsions with PKD, PKD with migraine and benign familial infantile epilepsy (BFIE). The present study explores whether the PRRT2 mutation is a potential cause of febrile seizures, including febrile seizures plus (FS+), generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) and Dravet syndrome (DS); thus, it may provide a new drug target for personalized medicine for febrile seizure patients. We screened PRRT2 exons in a cohort of 136 epileptic patients with febrile seizures, including FS+, GEFS+ and DS. PRRT2 genetic mutations were identified in 25 out of 136 (18.4%) febrile seizures in epileptic patients. Five loss-of-function and coding missense mutations were identified: c.649delC (p.R217Efs*12), c.649_650insC (p.R217Pfs*8), c.412C>G (p.Pro138Ala), c.439G>C (p.Asp147His) and c.623C>A (p.Ser208Tyr). PRRT2 variants were probably involved in the etiology of febrile seizures in epileptic patients." ]

[ "NADPH isn't destroyed by absorbing 340 nm light; if it were, then spectrophotometry wouldn't be a good technique to monitor its concentration. The primary stability concern with NADPH and NADH is acid-catalyzed decomposition. A great 1986 article summarizing this phenomenon is available here.\n\nSome highlights from the article:\n\n\nAt 30 &deg;C, the pseudo-first order rate constant for NADPH degradation in aqueous solution goes from 0.5 min$^{-1}$ at pH ~3 to $10^{-5}$ min$^{-1}$ at pH 10. At pH 7 the rate constant is $10^{-3}$ min$^{-1}$.\nThe rate is elevated slightly by higher concentrations of phosphate buffer, about 10x higher for 1 molar (!) phosphate vs. extrapolation to infinite-dilution phosphate.\n\n\nA secondary pathway for NAD(P)H decomposition is oxidation by atmospheric air, but it is usually pretty minor compared to acid degradation.\n\nSo I don't think there will be a big problem with light destroying your NADPH. You might be able to re-use it, but it depends how long you let it sit in solution, and at what temperature." ]

[ "TL;DR - You need two different lamps, one that has a phosphor to absorb the 254 nm light, and one that doesn't. Alternatively, you can use one lamp, and use a filter to select the wavelengths.\n\nMercury vapour lamps emit a significant amount of both UV-C light (around 254 nm) and UV-A light (around 365 nm). This includes fluorescent bulbs used for lighting a room. The ultraviolet emission is a fundamental property of the element, not some kind of engineering accident. Light at these wavelengths is harmful, so you don't want it flying all over the place. The solution? Coat the inside of the lamp with a substance that absorbs the UV light. In some cases (but not all), the glass of the lightbulb itself can absorb the UV light.\n\nExcept now you're turning lots of luminous energy into heat, which is wasteful. A smarter solution is to coat the lamp with a phosphor, which absorbs the UV-C and UV-A light and reemits the energy at longer wavelengths. Depending on the phosphor, the reemitted light will have a different spectrum.\n\nIf you look at a 254 nm UV-C bulb and a 365 nm UV-A bulb (while they're turned off..), you'll notice that the 254 nm lamp is completely see-through, whereas the 365 nm lamp often has a white powdery coating the inside. This powder is a phosphor, which is chosen to absorb the 254 nm UV-C light, while letting the 365 nm UV-A light through (as well as other lower energy visible wavelengths). Some 365 nm UV-A lamps also have a coating to absorb the any visible light generated, such that relativity pure invisible 365 nm light shines through. This is popularly called a \"black light\".\n\nNote that this does NOT imply every mercury lamp with a phosphor coating blocks the UV-C light it generates.", "Freeze-thaw cycles are often suspected of causing degradation in organic molecules 1,2. My first guess would be that your fluorophore is breaking down due to those repeated cycles. Alternatively, you might be getting precipitation of a calcium compound from the buffer you are freezing that your colleague is not.\nStandard laboratory practice is to make aliquots of frozen solutions. Before thawing the solution for the first time, set up pre-labeled smaller containers (e.g. Eppendorf tubes) and then aliquot the amount you expect to use for each experiment. That way potentially sensitive compounds are only thawed twice.\nReferences:\n1: Kozikowski, B. A., Burt, T. M., Tirey, D. A., Williams, L. E., Kuzmak, B. R., Stanton, D. T., ... &amp; Nelson, S. L. (2003). The effect of freeze/thaw cycles on the stability of compounds in DMSO. Journal of biomolecular screening, 8(2), 210-215.\n2: US Food and Drug Administration. (2008). Guidance for Industry. Drug Stability Guidelines." ]

[ "But many popular brands actually contain considerably less than an old-fashioned cup of black coffee. An 8.4-ounce serving of Red Bull, for instance, has a relatively modest 76 to 80 mg of caffeine, compared to the 95 to 200 mg in a typical cup of coffee, the Mayo Clinic reports." ]

[ "She fully recovered within a day from the overdose, and doctors explained she had ingested three times the safe daily amount of caffeine (about 300 milligrams or two to three coffee cups worth of caffeine).", "Compare 12 apr 2017 find out how much caffeine is in coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cola, mg; Milk chocolate (1 oz) 6 Semi sweet chips cup 168 11 oct 2006 'if someone drinks five to 10 cups of decaffeinated the dose as a can coca cola about 31 milligrams 24 2012 eleven didn't list amount on label." ]

[ "World War I (WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history." ]

[ "The war lasted exactly four years, three months and 14 days. Before World War II began in 1939, World War I was called the Great War, the World War or the War to End all Wars. 135 countries took part in World War I, and more than 15 million people died in the war. World War I was fought on most of the continent of Europe. The actual fighting that happened during the war was fought on many different fronts. The Western Front was where most of the fighting between Germany and the Allies happened.", "Best Answer: Johnka is incorrect on two counts. World War II began with the Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, at 4:40 a.m., local time. The United ..." ]

[ "Halifax is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. Halifax was incorporated as a borough on May 29, 1785. The borough is situated at the confluence of Armstrong Creek and Susquehanna River. The population was 875 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Harrisburg – Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area." ]

[ "Halifax County, North Carolina. Halifax County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,691. Its county seat is Halifax.", "Halifax County, North Carolina. Halifax County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,691. Its county seat is Halifax. Halifax County is part of the Roanoke Rapids, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Rocky Mount-Wilson-Roanoke Rapids, NC Combined Statistical Area." ]

[ "That would make things more complicated." ]

[ "If you do that it will make things easier." ]

[ "Around about 1970, a gentamicin-loaded poly (methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) bone cement brand (Refobacin Palacos R) was introduced to control infection in joint arthroplasties. In 2005, this brand was replaced by two gentamicin-loaded follow-up brands, Refobacin Bone Cement R and Palacos R + G. In addition, another gentamicin-loaded cement brand, SmartSet GHV, was introduced in Europe in 2003. In the present study, we investigated differences in gentamicin release and the antibacterial efficacy of the eluent between these four cement brands. 200 μm-wide gaps were made in samples of each cement and filled with buffer in order to measure the gentamicin release. Release kinetics were related to bone cement powder particle characteristics and wettabilities of the cement surfaces. Gaps were also inoculated with bacteria isolated from infected prostheses for 24 h and their survival determined. Gentamicin release and bacterial survival were statistically analysed using the Student's t-test. All three Palacos variants showed equal burst releases but each of the successor Palacos cements showed significantly higher sustained releases. SmartSet GHV showed a significantly higher burst release, while its sustained release was comparable with original Palacos. A gentamicin-sensitive bacterium did not survive in the high gentamicin concentrations in the interfacial gaps, while a gentamicin-resistant strain did, regardless of the type of cement used. Survival was independent of the level of burst release by the bone cement" ]

[ "Infections represent one of the most frequent causes of arthroplasty revision. Thus, design of new antimicrobial scaffolds to reduce implant rejections, bone infections and associated medical costs is highly desired. In recent years, essential oil components (EOCs) have merged as compounds with significant antimicrobial activity that can be attached to specific surfaces to enhance and prolong their antimicrobial effect. Herein calcium phosphate CaP regenerative materials have been coated with a vanillin derivative to combine its original bone regeneration properties with antimicrobial action of EOCs. Materials in form of microparticles and blocks were prepared and fully characterized. Clonogenic viability tests demonstrated that low concentrations of material (10 mg·mL-1) resulted effective to kill 100% of E. coli DH5á bacteria. Additionally, vanillin containing scaffolds did not display any toxic effect over cells, yet they preserve the ability to express alkaline phosphatase (ALPL), collagen type 1, chain á1 (COL1A1) and bone gamma-carboxyglutamic acid-containing protein or osteocalcin (BGLAP), which are genes typically expressed by osteoblasts. These results demonstrate that commercially available scaffolds can be functionalized with EOCs, achieving antimicrobial activity and open up a new approach for the treatment and prevention of infection. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: During the last years, the interest in bone regenerative materials with antibiotic properties has increased, since prosthesis infection is one of the most usual complications in implant surgery. In this work, we report a hybrid system composed by a calcium phosphate material (powders and scaffolds) functionalized with the derivative of an essential oil component (EOC). Our purpose was to provide the calcium phosphate material with antimicrobial activity without harming its bone regenerative capability. The obtained results were encouraging, which opens up the possibility of developing new modified materials for the prevention and treatment of bone infection.", "According to expert opinions, gentamicin should be administered as an adjunct to penicillin against severe group B streptococcal (GBS) infections. Whether the adjunct is important is of particular interest for elderly patients. Not only is the risk of aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity higher in elderly persons, but their immune defence to bacterial infections may also be impaired. Time-kill assays with human blood products, such as serum, neutrophilic granulocytes (opsonophagocytic assays) and whole blood from healthy, elderly volunteers were performed to evaluate the effect of gentamicin in combination with penicillin. In time-kill assays with human serum and in opsonophagocytic assays, we saw a trend for faster killing with the penicillin-gentamicin combination therapy. This effect was seen 4 and 6 h after antibiotic exposure but not at time points evaluated at ≥8 h. In whole blood killing assays, no difference in killing rates was observed with adjunctive gentamicin therapy" ]

[ "Pesticides are important contributors to the global freshwater biodiversity crisis. Among pesticides, neonicotinoids are the best-selling class of agricultural insecticides and are suspected to represent significant risks to freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Despite growing recognition that neonicotinoid impacts may be modified by the presence of additional stressors, there is limited information about their interactions with other agricultural stressors in freshwater ecosystems. We conducted an outdoor pond-mesocosm experiment to investigate the individual and interactive effects of nutrients, fine sediment, and imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid insecticide) inputs on freshwater community structure (density, diversity, and composition of zooplankton and benthic invertebrates) and ecosystem functioning (ecosystem metabolism, primary production, and organic matter decomposition). We hypothesized antagonistic nutrient-imidacloprid, and synergistic sediment-imidacloprid interactions, affecting aquatic invertebrate communities. The three stressors had significant individual and interactive effects on pond ecosystems. The insecticide neutralized the positive effects of nutrient additions on benthic invertebrate richness and mitigated the negative effects of sediment on zooplankton communities (antagonistic interactions). Moreover, we observed compensatory responses of tolerant benthic invertebrates, which resulted in reversal interactions between sediment and imidacloprid. Furthermore, our observations suggest that imidacloprid has the potential to increase net ecosystem production at environmentally relevant concentrations. Our findings support the hypothesis that the impacts of imidacloprid may be modified by other agricultural stressors. This has important implications on a global scale, given the widespread use of these pesticides in intensive agricultural landscapes and the growing body of literature suggesting that traditional pesticide assessment frameworks, based on laboratory toxicity tests alone, may be insufficient to adequately predict effects to complex freshwater ecosystems." ]

[ "The role of soil moisture, light and pH on imidacloprid dissipation was investigated. A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) based method was developed to quantify imidacloprid present in soil with a recovery of more than 82%. Rate of dissipation of imidacloprid from soil was faster in submerged condition compared to field capacity and air dried condition. Imidacloprid dissipated non-significantly between sterile and non-sterile soils, but at field capacity, the dissipation was faster in non-sterile soil compared to sterile soil after 60days of incubation. Similarly, under submergence, the dissipation of imidacloprid was 66.2% and 79.8% of the initial in sterile and non-sterile soils, respectively. Imidacloprid was rather stable in acidic and neutral water but was prone to photo-degradation. Therefore, imidacloprid degradation will be faster under direct sunlight and at higher soil moisture.", "Studies were conducted to determine the distribution and elimination of imidacloprid (IMI) in rainbow trout. Animals were injected with a low (47.6 g/kg), medium (117.5 g/kg) or high (232.7 g/kg) dose directly into the bloodstream and allowed to depurate. The fish were then sampled to characterize the loss of IMI from plasma and its appearance in expired water (all dose groups) and urine (medium dose only). In vitro biotransformation of IMI was evaluated using trout liver S9 fractions. Mean total clearance (CLT) values determined by non-compartmental analysis of plasma time-course data were 21.8, 27.0 and 19.5 mL/h/kg for the low, medium and high dose groups, respectively. Estimated half-lives for the same groups were 67.0, 68.4 and 68.1 h, while fitted values for the steady-state volume of distribution (VSS) were 1.72, 2.23 and 1.81 L/kg. Branchial elimination rates were much lower than expected, suggesting that IMI is highly bound in blood. Renal clearance rates were greater than measured rates of branchial clearance (60% of CLT in the medium dose group), possibly indicating a role for renal membrane transporters. There was no evidence for hepatic biotransformation of IMI. Collectively, these findings suggest that IMI would accumulate in trout in continuous waterborne exposures." ]

[ "There are 230 calories in a 1 salad serving of Arby's Roast Turkey Farmhouse Salad. Calorie breakdown: 49% fat, 13% carbs, 38% protein." ]

[ "Arby's - Crispy Chicken Farmhouse Salad. *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. Search our food database by name:", "Though the fast food company generally focuses in providing satisfying and savory portions to customers, patrons may order off of the Market Fresh menu to access low-calorie options including the roast turkey ranch and bacon sandwich, the crispy chicken farmhouse salad, and the roast turkey and Swiss wrap." ]

[ "In vitro, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have demonstrated a low immunogenic profile. In this study, we tested the immune response to allogeneic MSCs in immunocompetent swines both in vitro and in vivo. Major histocompatibility complex-controlled swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) and SLA were used as donor and recipient, respectively. In vitro, proliferative responses were tested by mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) or cocultures and cytokine profiling by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In vivo, allogeneic MSCs were injected in cardiac infarcted area (n=3) and compared with subcutaneous injections of either MSCs (n=2) or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs; n=2). Two additional animals received a skin graft as controls. No immunosuppression was used. Specific antidonor humoral responses were tested by flow cytometry and complement-dependent cytotoxicity assay. In vitro, either unstimulated MSCs or interferon (IFN)-gamma stimulated MSC failed to elicit a proliferative response (stimulation index: 1.23 vs. 1.12 vs. 36.9 for controls, P<.001). Concomitantly to the absence of proliferation to MSCs, low production of IFN-gamma and interleukin-2 was evidenced in supernatants while the production of Th2 cytokines was comparable to controls. In vivo, all animals receiving skin grafts, subcutaneous PBMCs and intracardiac MSCs injections developed donor-specific cellular and humoral responses (immunoglobulins M and G) with antibody-complement-mediated cytotoxicity. Subcutaneous MSCs injection needed a rechallenge to similarly develop a cytotoxic humoral response" ]

[ "Depression of myocardial contractility occurs in septic shock. Fourteen pigs were instrumented to measure cardiopulmonary dynamics after a challenge of Escherichia coli endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide endotoxin, LPS). A volumetric Swan-Ganz catheter was placed via the jugular vein, and a carotid arterial line was placed into the aortic root. Eight pigs received LPS alone and six pigs received tumor necrosis factor monoclonal antibody (TNF MAb) 15 minutes before the administration of LPS. Pulmonary artery and aortic root blood were sampled for amounts of TNF. Ninety minutes after LPS administration, thoracotomy was performed to biopsy the right and left ventricles for TNF levels. Contractility was determined from the end systolic pressure-volume relationships of pressure-volume diagrams. Right ventricular end diastolic volume index nearly doubled and myocardial contractility decreased by 40% from baseline in the pigs receiving only LPS. Pigs that received TNF MAb had no change in myocardial contractility or right ventricular end diastolic volume index from baseline. There was a higher level of TNF in the aortic sample than in the pulmonary samples at 60 minutes. Right ventricular tissue TNF levels were significantly higher in the LPS-alone group. There was no such difference in left ventricular tissue", "Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) hold considerable promise in the treatment of ischemic heart disease. Most preclinical studies of MSCs for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have been performed either in syngeneic animal models or with human cells in xenogeneic immunodeficient animals. A preferable pre-clinical model, however, would involve human MSCs in an immunocompetent animal. AMI was generated in adult sheep by inducing ischemia reperfusion of the second diagonal branch. Sheep (n = 10) were randomized to receive an intravenous injection of human MSCs (1 × 10(6) cells/kg) or phosphate buffered saline. Cardiac function and remodeling were evaluated with echocardiography. Perfusion scintigraphy was used to identify sustained myocardial ischemia. Interaction between human MSCs and ovine lymphocytes was assessed by a mixed lymphocyte response (MLR). Sheep receiving human MSCs showed significant improvement in myocardial perfusion at 1 month compared with baseline measurements. There was no change in ventricular dimensions in either group after 1 month of AMI. No adverse events or symptoms were observed in the sheep receiving human MSCs. The MLR was negative" ]

[ "Season 2 of The Mysteries of Laura amps up the stakes with edgy, dramatic cases, combined with a relationship triangle as suspenseful as the mysteries the cops solve each week. The cast also includes Laz Alonso, Janina Gavankar, Max Jenkins and Callie Thorne." ]

[ "Laura Benanti debuts on Wednesday on the ABC series, where she plays a singer-songwriter whose slow-mo career gets a sudden jump-start. “Sadie is respected in the musical community,” says Benanti, who starred in NBC’s “Go On.” “But she hasn’t had a breakout hit.”.", "Actor Biography. Carly Corinthos Jacks on the ABC Television Network's General Hospital. Laura Wright joined the cast of General Hospital in November 2005 as Carly Corinthos Alcazar. Born September 11th in Washington DC and raised Clinton MD, Wright was hit by the acting bug in the eighth grade. She performed in many high school plays such as Gypsy, Our Town and You Can't Take It With You.." ]

[ "Respiratory disease is a complex phenotype and the diagnostic can be attributed to multiple causes including viral infection (e.g., respiratory coronavirus, bovine respiratory syncytial virus), bacterial infection (e.g., pneumonic spp.; lungworm), and vena caval thrombosis. Moreover, the impact of respiratory disease in cows varies with the stage of lactation when the disease is detected. In general, intense management practices facilitate the detection of respiratory disorders in dairy cattle herds relative to beef cattle herds. Thus, we propose that study of respiratory disease incidence in a large dairy cattle data set as paradigm to advance the knowledge on the factors influencing the incidence of this disease across cattle types. Respiratory disease information on 6,283 Holstein cows across four U.S. states and nine herds were evaluated. Two descriptors of respiratory disease were evaluated: days in milk to respiratory disease detection and the binary detection of respiratory disease. Survival analysis was used to study the days in milk-to-disease. The binary variable respiratory disease detection was analyzed using a binary logistic model. Lactation number, season, region, farm, body condition score, and milk yield level (3 levels) were included in the model as fixed explanatory effects whereas sire was considered a random effect. Incidence of respiratory disease was lower in summer relative to winter, and there was a nonsignificant trend on lactation number. Body condition score had a significant effect, with higher body condition score associated with lower incidence of respiratory disease. Farm, body condition score, and milk yield level had significant effect on the time when respiratory disease was identified. The heritability estimate for incidence of respiratory disease was 0.4, suggesting that despite the high number of potential causative agents, selection for less susceptible cattle can be an effective strategy to reduce the impact of this disease. The heritability estimate of the days in milk-to-disease was 0.13, showing that non-genetic components may play an important role on the stage of the lactation when the disease is detected. These findings contribute to an animal health project (USDA-NIFA-ILLU-538909) and a multistate project database (USDA-NIFA-AFRI-003542) for direct measures of health and fertility in cattle." ]

[ "Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is the major cause of serious respiratory tract infections in calves. The disease is multifactorial, with either stress or reduced immunity allowing several pathogens to emerge. We investigated the susceptibility of bovine airway epithelial cells (BAEC) to infection by the three major viruses associated with the BRDC: bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) and bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (BPIV3). For this purpose, two culture systems for well-differentiated BAEC were used: the air-liquid interface (ALI) system, where filter-grown BAEC differentiate into a pseudostratified respiratory epithelium and precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) where BAEC are maintained in the original tissue organisation. Comparative infection studies demonstrated that entry and release of BPIV3 occurred specifically via the apical membrane with ciliated cells being the major target cells. By contrast, airway epithelial cells were largely resistant to infection by BHV-1. When the epithelial barrier was abolished by opening tight junctions or by injuring the cell monolayer, BHV-1 infected mainly basal cells. Respiratory epithelial cells were also refractory to infection by BRSV. However, this virus infected neither differentiated epithelial cells nor basal cells when the integrity of the epithelial barrier was destroyed. In contrast to cells of the airway epithelium, subepithelial cells were susceptible to infection by BRSV. Altogether, these results indicate that the three viruses of the same disease complex follow different strategies to interact with the airway epithelium. Possible entry mechanisms are discussed.", "Abstract Pneumonia in bovines is a multifactorial disease manifestation leading to heavy economic losses. Infections of bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and bovine parainfluenza virus-3 (BPI-3) are among the important contributing factors for the development of pneumonia in young animals. These viral agents either primarily cause pneumonia or predispose animals to the development of pneumonia. Although, the role of BRSV and BPI-3 in the pathogenesis of pneumonia is well established, there are no reports of involvement of BRSV and BPI-3 from Indian cattle and buffaloes suffering from pneumonia. In the present investigation, we performed postmortem examinations of 406 cattle and buffaloes which were below twelve months of age. Out of 406 cases, twelve (2.95%) cases were positive for BRSV and fifteen (3.69%) cases were positive for BPI-3, screened by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Further, positive cases were confirmed by sequence analysis of RT-PCR amplicons and direct immunofluorescence antibody test (d-FAT) in paraffin-embedded lung tissue sections. BRSV positive cases revealed characteristic findings of bronchiolar epithelial necrosis, thickened alveolar septa by mononuclear cells infiltration and edema; alveolar lumens were filled with mononuclear cells and numerous syncytial cells were seen having intracytoplasmic inclusions. The BRSV antigen distribution was found to be in bronchiolar and alveolar epithelium and syncytial cells in the lung sections. In fifteen cases where BPI-3 was detected, bronchointerstitial pneumonia in the majority of cases with thickened alveolar septa by mild macrophage infiltration, hyperplasia of type-II pneumocytes and bronchiolar necrosis along with syncytial cells having intracytoplasmic inclusions in the majority of cases were observed. The BPI-3 antigen distribution was found to be in bronchiolar and alveolar epithelium and syncytial cells in the lung sections. RT-PCR amplicons of BRSV and BPI-3 obtained were sequenced and their analysis showed homology with already available sequences in the NCBI database. It is the first report of detection of BRSV and BPI-3 from pneumonic cases by RT-PCR and d-FAT from cattle and buffaloes of India, indicating the need for more epidemiological studies." ]

[ "This is the most common reason adult cats, especially adult female cats, fight. She probably remembers this is her kitten, but an unneutered female is considered competition in the territory of another. Our cat had kittens at one time." ]

[ "Mother cats give dead prey to kittens to teach them what to eat, as part of weaning. Get ready for step two - mother cats bring wounded prey to kittens to teach them the coup de grace killing technique. We had a cat that would bring wounded birds and snakes to our bedroom.", "In fact, physical experiences play a vital role in how a cat recalls information long-term. By nature, cats are emotional creatures and therefore, they will actually go through a mourning process when an owner or even feline playmate dies." ]

[ "Quartz is a well-known occupational fibrogenic agent able to cause fibrosis and other severe pulmonary diseases such as silicosis and lung cancer. The silicotic pathology owes its severity to the structural and chemo-physical properties of the particles such as shape, size and abundance of surface radicals. In earlier studies, we reported that significant amounts of surface radicals can be generated on crystalline silica by chemical aggression with ascorbic acid (AA), a vitamin naturally abundant in the lung surfactant, and this reaction led to enhanced cytotoxicity and production of inflammatory mediators in a macrophage cell line. However in the lung, other cells acting in the development of silicosis, like fibroblasts and endothelial cells, can come to direct contact with inhaled quartz. We investigated the cytotoxic/pro-inflammatory effects of AA-treated quartz microcrystals (QA) in human primary fibroblasts and endothelial cells as compared to unmodified microcrystals (Q). Our results show that, in fibroblasts, the abundance of surface radicals on quartz microcrystals (Q vs QA) significantly enhanced cell proliferation (with or without co-culture with macrophages), reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, NF-B nuclear translocation, smooth muscle actin, fibronectin, Bcl-2 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 expression and collagen production. Contrariwise, endothelial cells reacted to the presence of quartz microcrystals independently from the abundance of surface radicals showing similar levels of cytotoxicity, ROS production, cell migration, MCP-1, ICAM-I and fibronectin gene expression when challenged with Q or QA. In conclusion, our in vitro experimental model demonstrates an important and quite unexplored direct contribute of silica surface radicals to fibroblast proliferation and fibrogenic responses." ]

[ "The endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) capture stent has drawn increasing attentions and become one of the most promising concepts for the next generation vascular stent. In this regard, it is of great significance to immobilize a molecule with the ability to bind EPC for rapid in vivo endothelialization with high specificity. In this work, a facile two-step method aimed at constructing a coating with specific EPC capturing aptamers is reported. The processes involves as the first-step deposition of plasma polymerized allylamine (PPAam) on a substrate to introduce amine groups, followed by the electrostatic adsorption of a 34 bases single strand DNA sequence to the PPAam surface as a second step (PPAam-DNA). Grazing incidence attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (GATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the successful immobilization of the aptamers. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) real time monitoring result shows that about 175 ng/cm(2) aptamers were conjugated onto the PPAam surface. The interactions between the modified surfaces and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (ECs), smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and murine induced EPCs derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were also investigated. It was demonstrated that PPAam-DNA samples could capture more EPCs, and present a cellular friendly surface for the proliferation of both EPCs and ECs but no effect on the hyperplasia of SMCs. Also, the co-culture results of 3 types of cells confirmed that the aptamer could specifically bond EPCs rather than ECs and SMCs, suggesting the competitive adhesion advantage of EPCs to ECs and SMCs. These data demonstrate that the EPC aptamer has large potential for designing an EPC captured stent and other vascular grafts with targeted in situ endothelialization.", "Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 1 plays a key role in endothelial homeostasis by inducing microRNA (miR) let-7. Our previous paper showed that anti-fibrotic effects of N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (AcSDKP) were associated with restoring diabetes-suppressed expression of FGFR1 and miR let-7, the key contributor of mitochondrial biogenesis, which is regulated by mitochondrial membrane GTPase proteins (MFN2 and OPA1). Here, we found that the FGFR1 signaling pathway was critical for AcSDKP in maintaining endothelial mitochondrial biogenesis through induction of miR let-7b-5p. In endothelial cells, AcSDKP restored the triple cytokines (TGF-2, interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor-)-suppressed miR let-7b-5p and protein levels of the mitochondrial membrane GTPase. This effect of AcSDKP was lost with either fibroblast growth factor receptor substrate 2 (FRS2) siRNA or neutralizing FGFR1-treated cells. Similarly, AcSDKP had no effect on the miR let-7b-5p inhibitor-suppressed GTPase levels in endothelial cells. In addition, a miR let-7b-5p mimic restored the levels of FRS2 siRNA-reduced GTPases in endothelial cells. These findings were also confirmed using MitoTracker Green and an immunofluorescence assay. Our results demonstrated that the AcSDKP-FGFR1 signaling pathway is critical for maintaining mitochondrial dynamics by control of miR let-7b-5p in endothelial cells." ]

[ "Splenic scintigraphy has been described to be a powerful tool in unclear (68) Ga-DOTATOC-PET/CT findings, allowing differentiation between somatostatin receptor (Sst)-positive tissue deriving from neuroendocrine tumour (NET) and functioning splenic tissue. However, our own experiences sometimes show a lack of identification on splenic scintigraphy, especially in small lesions, leading to uncertainties regarding the safe identification of NET or splenic tissue. Here, we report on 10 cases with (68) Ga-DOTATOC-PET/CT and (99m) Tc-heat-denaturated red blood cell (HDRBC) scintigraphy and we illustrate the strengths and limitations of (99m) Tc-HDRBC scintigraphy in this context." ]

[ "BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic partial splenectomy (LPS) for focal splenic lesions is technically demanding and carries risk of hemorrhage. Nevertheless, it can be a valuable option, particularly for children and adults in whom attempt at preservation of splenic immunologic function outweighs risk associated with organ preservation.PATIENT: A 58-year-old man was diagnosed with a focal splenic lesion at the upper splenic pole on surveillance imaging following axillary lymph node metastasis for cancer of unknown primary origin (CUP). After an interval of 8 months, repeat FDG-PET showed increase in size and PET-avidity without any evidence of new lesions. Due to isolated site and history of CUP, the patient was considered for a LPS.TECHNIQUE: With the patient in reversed modified French position, the upper pole splenic vessels were controlled and a well-defined area of ischemia encompassing the lesion identified. Under intermittent inflow occlusion and ultrasonography guidance, the parenchymal transection was performed. Total operative time was 180min, estimated blood loss was 175cc, the patient was discharged on postoperative day 2, and final pathology confirmed an Epstein-Barr virus associated inflammatory pseudotumor.1 , 2 CONCLUSION: Safe LPS requires systematic pre-operative assessment of hilar vascular anatomy and a stepwise approach to controlling the vessels intra-operatively. Anatomic parenchymal transection and intermitted vascular isolation for lesions close to the demarcation zone minimizes blood loss. Risk/benefit stratification of LPS may be beneficial in select patients only. Whether in patients with CUP LPS may aid in preserving innate and adaptive immunity with potential clinical, including oncologic, benefits will require further investigations.3 - 5.", "Endoscopy of colon and rectum is a commonly used diagnostic and therapeutic procedure, which is generally safe although complications such as bleeding and perforation occur. There is, however, a small risk of splenic injury with potentially lethal outcome. We describe a case of splenic injury after sigmoidoscopy in a 48-year-old male." ]

[ "Noun[edit] mandatory ‎(plural mandatories) (dated, rare) A person, organisation or state who receives a mandate; a mandatary." ]

[ "requirement requirements plural 1 n count a requirement is a quality or qualification that you must have in order to be allowed to do something or to be suitable for something usu with supp its products met all legal requirements 2 n count your requirements are the things that you need", "Popular Terms. Mandatory order (writ) issued by a higher court to a lower court, inferior tribunal, or a public or corporate officer or agency. It commands the correct and proper performance of a specified act or public-duty related to the responsibilities of the entity to which it is directed. Latin for, we command." ]

[ "The form barracks is both the singular and the plural form. The plural possessive is barracks'. The form barrack is a verb, to provide soldiers with accommodations; to jeer l…oudly at someone performing or speaking in public. 3 people found this useful." ]

[ "A mess hall is what military types call their dining halls. The term’s origins go back to the Middle Ages when British sailors began calling their meagre, often grub-infested meals a mess, which they clearly were. Mess originally meant the food for one meal.", "Early barracks were multi-story blocks, often grouped in a quadrangle around a courtyard or parade ground. A good example is Berwick Barracks, which was among the first in England to be purpose-built and begun in 1717 to the design of the distinguished architect Nicholas Hawksmoor.arrack accommodation at the time was provided for a mere 20,000. To deal with the situation, responsibility for building barracks was transferred in 1792 from the Board of Ordnance to a specialist Barracks Department overseen by the War Office." ]

[ "BACKGROUND: Interleukin 16 is an immunomodulatory chemokine that signals through CD4 + T cells, monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells. Its expression in immune-related cells enhances the antimicrobial effect and inhibits HIV replication in macrophages. However, the role of IL-16 in macrophage polarization is uncertain. Mir-145 was reported to regulate IL-10 expression by targeting histone deacetylase 11 and promotes alternatively activated macrophage (M2) polarization. Mir-145 was also predicted to target IL-16 mRNA. We aimed to explore the roles of IL-16 and mir-145 in macrophage polarization and antimicrobial functions.METHODS: THP1 monocytes were employed in this study, and their cell activity when incubated with different concentrations of IL-16 was evaluated using the CCK-8 cell counting kit. To obtain polarized macrophages, THP-1 cells were induced by IL-4 and IL-13 following PMA incubation (M2 polarized macrophages) or induced by IFN-gamma and LPS (M1 classical macrophage activation). The influence of IL-16 on macrophage phagocytosis was quantified by the amount of chicken red blood cell phagocytized. IL-16, IL-10 and miR-145 expression in THP1 monocytes and induced macrophages was quantified by quantitative PCR. The miR-145 and IL-16 targeting relationship was verified by the dual luciferase reporter assay. The influence of IL-16 and mir-145 on macrophage polarization was evaluated by M1 and M2 macrophage characterized marker gene expression.RESULTS: The M0 macrophage subtype was induced by PMA. The M1 and M2 subtypes of macrophage were successfully induced by M1- and M2-specific induction. M1 macrophages express higher levels of IL-16 than M2 macrophages but express lower levels of IL-10 and mir-145 than M2 cells. IL-16 with a concentration up to 150 ng/mL has no influence on THP-1 cell proliferation but improves macrophage phagocytosis ability with the down-expression of IL-10 and up-expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1a and IL-6. Knockdown with its target siRNA is beneficial for macrophage maintenance but reduces phagocytosis ability. Mir-145 specifically targets the IL-16 3'UTR verified by the dual luciferase reporter assay. Mir-145 downregulates IL-16 expression and upregulates IL-10 expression, thereby promoting M2 macrophage polarization.CONCLUSION: IL-16 modulates macrophage polarization through regulating IL-10, IL-1a and IL-6 expression. Mir-145 is involved in M2 macrophage polarization by targeting IL-16 and enhancing IL-10 expression." ]

[ "Macrophages exposed to the Th2 cytokines interleukin (IL) IL-4 and IL-13 exhibit a distinct transcriptional response, commonly referred to as M2 polarization. Recently, IL-4-induced polarization of murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) has been linked to acetyl-CoA levels through the activity of the cytosolic acetyl-CoA-generating enzyme ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY). Here, we studied how ACLY regulated IL-4-stimulated gene expression in human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). Although multiple ACLY inhibitors attenuated IL-4-induced target gene expression, this effect could not be recapitulated by silencing ACLY expression. Furthermore, ACLY inhibition failed to alter cellular acetyl-CoA levels and histone acetylation. We generated ACLY knockout human THP-1 macrophages using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. While these cells exhibited reduced histone acetylation levels, IL-4-induced gene expression remained intact. Strikingly, ACLY inhibitors still suppressed induction of target genes by IL-4 in ACLY knockout cells, suggesting off-target effects of these drugs. Our findings suggest that ACLY may not be the major regulator of nucleocytoplasmic acetyl-CoA and IL-4-induced polarization in human macrophages. Furthermore, caution should be warranted in interpreting the impact of pharmacological inhibition of ACLY on gene expression.", "Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF)--induced adipose-related protein (TIARP) is a negative regulator of inflammation in arthritis model mice. In humans, six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of prostate 4 (STEAP4) (human counterpart of TIARP) is also expressed in CD14+ monocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, highly levels of exon 3-spliced variant STEAP4 (v-STEAP4) expression have been observed in porcine lung. The aim of this study is to elucidate the expression and functional role of v-STEAP4, comparing it with that of STEAP4, in the pathogenesis of arthritis. We identified v-STEAP4 in CD14+ cells. The expression of STEAP4 and v-STEAP4 was higher in patients with RA than in healthy participants. We also found that STEAP4 and v-STEAP4 were correlated positively with C-reactive protein and that their expression was decreased after treatment with an interleukin (IL)-6 antagonist in patients with RA. To investigate further the role of STEAP4 and v-STEAP4, we produced STEAP4 and v-STEAP4 over-expressing human monocytic cell lines (THP-1) for functional analysis. In the v-STEAP4 over-expressing cells, the production of IL-6 was suppressed significantly, but TNF- was increased significantly through lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Immunoblot analysis revealed that phosphorylated (p-)nuclear factor kappa B (NF-B) was increased after LPS stimulation and degradation of nuclear factor kappa B inhibitor alpha (IB) was sustained, whereas p-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT-3) was decreased with v-STEAP4. We identified specific up-regulation of v-STEAP4 in RA monocytes. V-STEAP4 might play a crucial role in the production of TNF- and IL-6 through NF-B and STAT-3 pathways, resulting in the generation of RA." ]

[ "Infection with the Lyme bacteria can cause this sort of internal vibration - a type of paresthesia (peripheral nerve sensation). When it's mild, you may first notice it at night when your body is quiet and still." ]

[ "Mostly, the vibration in car is caused by the damaged or unbalanced wheels or tires. In addition, the damage on the suspension, drivetrain, and steering components can also cause the annoying vibrations. However, there are some other causes of car vibrations. You can see in the following account.", "This is the search for you! Determining the Causes of Vehicle Vibrations. Vibrations can range from a slight wobble in your seat to the glass falling out of your windows. For the most part, your vehicle should run smoothly, but every once in awhile something goes wrong and you get a vibration. In this article I’ll cover some of the basics about vibrations, their causes, and how to deal with them. Click on the menu item to see more topics." ]

[ "Coxiella burnetii is causative agent of Q fever, which is a public health problem in most countries. The aim of this study was to study the prevalence rate of C. burnetii in raw milk of dairy animals in Iran with previous history of abortion. In this survey, milk samples were collected from different dairy animals with history of abortion from Qom province (center of Iran). Samples were tested by Nested PCR and Real-time PCR for detection of IS1111 gene of C. burnetii. In total, 34.92% (44 of 126) milk samples were positive for C. burnetii. Prevalence of C. burnetii in cattle, sheep and goat milk was 33.33%, 35.71% and 35.71%, respectively. Age was a significant risk factor for shedding of C. burnetii in cattle (P = 0.02) and goat (P = 0.05). Shedding of C. burnetii was high prevalence in milk of dairy animals with history of abortion in Iran. The high prevalence of this bacterium in milk (especially in animals with history of abortion) indicates that Excreted by milk as a potential source to spread of infection in the environment." ]

[ "Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii), an intracellular zoonotic bacterium causing Q fever, occurs widely in cattle herds. After invasion of the pregnant uterus and initial localization in the placenta, active C. burnetii infections may spread to the fetus hematogenously or by the amniotic-oral route and thus may cause abortion, premature delivery, stillbirth, and weak offspring (APSW) complex. In a case-control study, we investigated precolostral blood samples of 56 stillborn calves and 30 live births from a dairy herd endemically infected with C. burnetii \"C-cluster\" strains and an increased stillbirth rate in primiparous cows. Within the group of the stillborn calves, four precolostral blood samples (7.1%) were tested positive for C. burnetii DNA by PCR and one serum sample (1.8%) positive for anti-C. burnetii IgG antibodies by a commercial ELISA test, respectively. Neither C. burnetii DNA nor anti-C. burnetii IgG antibodies were detected in the samples of calves being born alive. In conclusion, we demonstrated that coxiellaemia and precolostral seroconversion occurred sporadically in stillborn calves from this endemically infected herd. Due to the low detection rates, C. burnetii could not be confirmed to be the cause of the increased stillbirth rate.", "Coxiella burnetii is a highly infectious obligate intracellular bacterium and the etiological agent of the zoonosis Query (Q) fever. This Gram-negative gamma-proteobacterium has adapted to replicate within a specialized compartment in mammalian phagocytic cells, known as the Coxiella-containing vacuole (CCV). Knowledge of critical characteristics of the CCV microenvironment (e.g., luminal pH), analysis of the C. burnetii genome sequence, and strategic metabolic profiling have provided the basis for determining the physicochemical and nutritional conditions necessary to support axenic replication of C. burnetii. In this unit, the media currently utilized for axenic culture of C. burnetii are described, with emphasis on application. To aid in experimental reproducibility and interpretation of results, considerations and limitations are discussed. Lastly, expected results for C. burnetii axenic growth under control conditions are provided as a reference. 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc." ]

[ "Implementation of a hand hygiene promotion program in a large university hospital required that we find a suitable method to assess health care workers' (HCWs) hand hygiene practices. This study aims at comparing direct observation and self-assessment methods. Hand hygiene practices of 206 HCWs (physicians, nurses, and nurse assistants) in 25 care units were directly observed by trained auditors for 1 day. A week later, 1050 HCWs filled out a self-assessment questionnaire on their compliance with handwashing indications (participation rate was 83%). Average global self-reported compliance rate (SRR) after patient care was similar to the observed rate (OBR) (74%). According to the type of care, differences between SRR and OBR were nonsignificant, except for change of infusion bag by nurses and nursing care by nurse assistants. Physicians and nurse assistants tended systematically to over evaluate their compliance, whereas nurses tended to under evaluate their compliance with hand hygiene recommendations" ]

[ "BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: This study investigated the cause of hand hygiene deficit, and further implemented a quality improvement program using WHO's hand-hygiene strategy to enhance the compliance of hand hygiene in the nursing home in Taiwan.METHODS: This prospective study was conducted in eleven nursing homes in Taiwan from January 2015 to December 2016. After intervention, we monitor the compliance, and accuracy of hand hygiene. In addition, we also calculated the number of episodes of infection per 1000 resident-days in each nursing home in the intervention period (July-December 2015) and post-intervention period (January-October 2016).RESULTS: Overall, the consumption of alcohol-based handrubs increased from 10.1 ml per resident-day in intervention period to 12.2 ml per resident-day in post intervention period. The compliance of hand hygiene increased from 74% in intervention period to 79% in post-intervention period and the rate of correct hand hygiene increased from 81% in intervention period to 87% in post-intervention period. Most importantly, the infection density decreased from 2.39 per 1000 resident-day in intervention period to 1.89 per 1000 resident-day.CONCLUSIONS: A national quality-improvement program using WHO's hand-hygiene strategy to enhance hand hygiene and reduce healthcare associated infection is effective in nursing homes in Taiwan.", "The diffusion of national evidence-based practice guidelines and their impact on patient outcomes often go unmeasured. Our objectives were to (1) evaluate implementation and compliance with clinical practices recommended in the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hand Hygiene Guideline, (2) compare rates of health care-associated infections (HAI) before and after implementation of the Guideline recommendations, and (3) examine the patterns and correlates of changes in rates of HAI. We used pre- and post-Guideline implementation site visits and surveys in the setting of 40 US hospitals--members of the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System--and measured HAI rates 1 year before and after publication of the CDC Guideline and used direct observation of hand hygiene compliance and Guideline implementation scores. All study hospitals had changed their policies and procedures and provided products in compliance with Guideline recommendations; 89.8% of 1359 staff members surveyed anonymously reported that they were familiar with the Guideline. However, in 44.2% of the hospitals (19/40), there was no evidence of a multidisciplinary program to improve compliance. Hand hygiene rates remained low (mean, 56.6%). Rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections were significantly lower in hospitals with higher rates of hand hygiene (P < .001). No impact of Guideline implementation or hand hygiene compliance on other HAI rates was identified. Other factors occurring over time could affect rates of HAI. Observed hand hygiene compliance rates were likely to overestimate rates in actual practice. The study may have been of too short duration to detect the impact of a practice guideline" ]

[ "We designed this study to assess the biologic significance of Ki-67 proliferation index (PI) in gastric cancer. Gastric cancer tissue from 245 patients were immunostained for Ki-67. Ki-67 PI was defined as the percentage of tumor cells positive for Ki-67. In addition, we have previously evaluated the expressions of nine epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins. The relationship between Ki-67 PI and clinicopathologic parameters, patient survival, and EMT data were sought. Low Ki-67 PI was correlated with poorly differentiated histology (P = 0.034), an advanced T stage (P < 0.001), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.011). Also, the low PI group was found to have a significantly worse prognosis than the high PI group (P = 0.003, log-rank test). Multivariate analysis revealed that Ki-67 PI remained as an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio (95% CI) = 0.670 (0.450-0.999)). Furthermore, greater expressional changes of EMT-related proteins were found to be significantly associated with low Ki-67 PI (P = 0.025)" ]

[ "AIMS: To investigate Ki-67 index with regard to its ability to predict achievement of pathologic complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in breast cancer patient.MATERIAL AND METHODS: It was a prospective observational study, conducted in Department of Medical Oncology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Center (RGCIRC), New Delhi from February 2014 to March 2016. A total of 134 patients with Stage II/III breast cancer who underwent NACT followed by surgery at our center were enrolled and analyzed. Before starting the treatment, clinical, tumor-related and treatment-related factors were recorded. Response evaluation was done clinically and radiologically after completion of NACT and pathologically on the surgical specimen. We calculated Ki-67 cut-off of 35% to label it as high by area under Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for prediction of pCR.RESULTS: Clinical complete response (cCR) was observed in 35/134 (26.1%) patients while pCR was observed in 32/134 (23.9%) patients. On univariate analysis, higher grade (III), high Ki-67 index (>35%) and number of chemotherapy cycles (>3) were associated with better CCR rates. On multivariate analysis, number of chemotherapy cycles (>3) and high Ki-67 index (>35%) were independent predictive factors. For the predictive factors of pCR, univariate analysis showed grade (III), estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor negativity, HER-2 positivity, number of chemotherapy cycles (>3), TNBC and high Ki-67 index (>35%) to be associated with higher pCR rates. On multivariate analysis, Ki-67 index >35% and HER-2 positivity were the only independent predictive factors of pCR.CONCLUSIONS: We suggest 35% as best cut-off for Ki-67 expression for predicting response to NACT and achievement of pCR. Validation of this cut-off is required in larger studies.", "Low expression of p27(kip1), a dominant cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor involved in G1-S transition of the cell cycle, recently has been reported to be associated with aggressive tumor growth. It has been shown that active cell proliferation alludes to poor prognosis in patients with synovial sarcoma. However, to the authors' knowledge, little is known about the clinicopathologic significance of p27(kip1) in synovial sarcoma. p27(kip1) expression was examined immunohistochemically in 55 cases of primary synovial sarcoma, and the relations between p27(kip1) expression and several cell proliferation markers, i.e., mitotic index (MI), Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67 LI), and clinicopathologic parameters related to poor prognosis, were determined. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of p27(kip1) expression in synovial sarcomas. p27(kip1) labeling index (p27(kip1) LI) correlated inversely with MI (r = -0.44, P = 0.0007) and Ki-67 LI (r = -0.63, P < 0.0001). Of the clinicopathologic parameters examined, tumor necrosis (P = 0.019) and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (P = 0.021) correlated significantly with p27(kip1) LI. Survival analysis showed that p27(kip1) LI was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with synovial sarcoma (P = 0.0031)" ]

[ "States. Screenwriter Deborah Moggach initially attempted to make her script as faithful to the novel as possible, writing from Elizabeth's perspective while preserving much of the original dialogue. Wright, who was directing his first feature film, encouraged greater deviation from the text, including changing the dynamics within the Bennet family. Wright and Moggach set the film in an earlier period and avoided depicting a \"\"perfectly clean Regency world\"\", presenting instead a \"\"muddy hem version\"\" of the time. It was shot entirely on location in England on a 15-week schedule. Wright found casting difficult due to past performances of particular characters." ]

[ "relationship develops between Anne and Kevin and they go to restaurants, race cars, and get drunk. The romance falters, partly because Kevin lets Bob watch them having sex in her bedroom. Drunk and upset, Kevin tries to talk to Bob, who is incapable of a serious conversation. Bob is secretly happy that he has his friend back, but neither is capable of saying what he feels. The film originated with a series of comic poems from Terry Larsen. The budget was raised from Greater Union and the Australian Film Commission. It was shot in November and December 1976 in western", "support her a bit. She’s really brilliant in the film; she’s Emelia, exactly what the script wanted.\"\" \"\"Albatross\"\" was filmed entirely on the Isle of Man, which was used to portray the film's setting in a fictional small coastal town somewhere on the mainland. Among the locations used in the film were historic house Ravencliffe near Douglas Head and Peel harbour. Other venues included: the quay by Castle Rushen in Castletown, the west coast at Niarbyl, the graveyard at St Marks, and the lighthouse at the Point of Ayre. The interview episode at \"\"Oxford\"\" was filmed in the quadrangle and" ]

[ "Bo-Gan-Whan (BGH), a Korean polyherbal medicine, is used as a hepatoprotective drug. It has six natural sources, and has been demonstrated to have anti-oxidative, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties; however, its effect on vascular diseases remains unclear. Cell viability and proliferation assays were employed using an EZ-Cytox Cell Viability Assay Kit. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) migration was measured by scratch wound healing assay and Boyden chamber assay. The expression levels of the phosphorylated signaling proteins relevant to proliferation, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) were determined by western blot analysis. Chromatogram and mass analysis were employed by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system. Cell prolife ration and migration were also explored using the PDGF-BB-induced aortic sprout assay. BGH (100-500 μg/mL) significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration of PDGF-BB-stimulated VSMCs through the reduced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK in comparison to untreated PDGF-BB-stimulated VSMC. Moreover, we identified the paeoniflorin as the major composition of BGH" ]

[ "Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) proliferation contributes significantly to intimal thickening in atherosclerosis and restenosis diseases. Platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) has been implicated in VSMC proliferation though the activation of multiple growth-promoting signals. Mesoglycan, a natural glycosaminoglycans preparation, is reported to show vascular protective effect. However, the mechanisms by which mesoglycan inhibits proliferation of VSMC are not fully understood. Here, we investigated whether mesoglycan exert therapeutic effect via AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its underlying mechanism. We cultured VSMC with increasing doses of mesoglycan. AMPK activation was measured by western blot analysis and cell proliferation was measured by flow cytometry. Mesoglycan dose- and time- dependently increased the phosphorylation of AMPK (Thr(172)) and its upstream target, LKB1 (Ser(428)) and its downstream, ACC (Ser(79)) in VSMCs. Mesoglycan also blocked the PDGF-stimulated cell cycle progression through the G0/G1 arrest. AMPK DNα1, AMPK DNα2 or AMPK siRNA reduced the mesoglycan-mediated inhibition of VSMC proliferation. AMPK signaling activated by mesoglycan regulates mTOR phosphorylation which closely related to cell proliferation", "Hyper-proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are closely associated with atherosclerosis. Recently, the flavonol morin has been reported to exhibit potent anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, we investigated molecular mechanisms of morin in VSMCs stimulated by PDGF. Morin effectively inhibited PDGF-stimulated proliferation of VSMCs through a G1 cell-cycle arrest, leading to down-regulation of CDK2, CDK4, cyclin D1, and cyclin E proteins. Interestingly, PDGF markedly down-regulated p27KIP1 protein expression; however, morin treatment restored the p27KIP1expression to the basal level. Morin did not affect phosphorylation of MAPKs (ERK, p38, and JNK); however, phosphorylation of AKT was dramatically suppressed by morin in PDGF-stimulated VSMCs. Using the PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, we revealed that AKT is a key regulator in the inhibitory mechanism of morin against PDGF-induced proliferation of VSMCs. Morin disturbed migratory and invasive potential of VSMCs via suppression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we verified that NF-êB, AP-1, and Sp-1 transcription factors are implicated in the mode of action of morin, which suppresses the MMP-9 activity in PDGF-induced VSMCs. Based on the results, we believe that morin may be a potential therapeutic agent for atherosclerosis without negative side effect." ]

[ "STUDY DESIGN: A pilot randomised controlled trial.OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness and participant satisfaction of web-based physiotherapy in people with spinal cord injury (SCI).SETTING: Community patients of a national spinal injury unit in a university teaching hospital, Scotland, UK.METHODS: Twenty-four participants were recruited and randomised to receive 8 weeks of web-based physiotherapy (intervention), twice per week, or usual care (control). Individual exercise programmes were prescribed based on participants' abilities. The intervention was delivered via a website (www.webbasedphysio.com) and monitored and progressed remotely by the physiotherapist.RESULTS: Participants logged on to the website an average of 1.40.8 times per week. Between-group differences, although not significant, were more pronounced for the 6-min walk test. Participants were positive about using web-based physiotherapy and stated that they would be happy to use it again and would recommend it to others. Overall, it was rated as either good or excellent.CONCLUSIONS: Web-based physiotherapy was feasible and acceptable for people with SCI. Participants achieved good compliance with the intervention and rated the programme highly and beneficial for health and well-being at various states after injury. The results of this study warrant further work with a more homogeneous sample.SPONSORSHIP: This study was funded by the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit, Glasgow, UK." ]

[ "OBJECTIVES: Psychologically informed physiotherapy is used widely with patients with chronic pain. This study aimed to investigate patients' beliefs about, and experiences of, this type of treatment, and helpful and unhelpful experiences.DESIGN: A qualitative study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of semi-structured interviews.PARTICIPANTS: Participants (n=8) were recruited within a national specialist pain centre following a residential pain management programme including 2.25hours of physiotherapy each day. Participants were eligible for inclusion if they had achieved clinically reliable improvements in physical functioning during treatment. Interviews were conducted 3 months post-treatment.RESULTS: Participants reported differing experiences of physiotherapy interventions and differences in the therapeutic relationship, valuing a more individualised approach. The themes of 'working with the whole of me', 'more than just a professional', 'awareness' and 'working through challenges in the therapeutic relationship' emerged as central to behavioural change, together with promotion of perceptions of improved capability and physical capacity.CONCLUSION: Psychologically informed physiotherapy is an effective treatment for some patients with chronic pain. Participants experienced this approach as uniquely different from non-psychologically informed physiotherapy approaches due to its focus on working with the patient's whole experience. Therapeutic alliance and management of relationship ruptures may have more importance than previously appreciated in physiotherapy.", "BACKGROUND: Web-based interventions for pain management are increasingly used with possible benefits, but never used in addition to multimodal rehabilitation (MMR). MMR is recommended treatment for persistent pain in Sweden. The aim was to evaluate the effects of a self-guided, web-based programme added to MMR for work ability, pain, disability and health-related quality of life.METHODS: We included 99 participants with persistent musculoskeletal pain in a randomized study with two intervention arms: (1) MMR and web-based intervention, and (2) MMR. Data was collected at baseline, 4 and 12months. Outcome measures were work ability, working percentage, average pain intensity, pain-related disability, and health-related quality of life.RESULTS: There were no significant effects of adding the web-based intervention to MMR regarding any of the outcome variables.CONCLUSIONS: This trial provides no support for adding a self-guided, web-based activity programme to MMR for patients with persistent musculoskeletal pain.SIGNIFICANCE: The comprehensive self-guided, web-based programme for activity, Web-BCPA, added to multimodal treatment in primary health care had no effect on work ability, pain, disability or health-related quality of life. Future web-based interventions should be tailored to patients' individual needs and expectations." ]

[ "The purpose of this study was to compare clinical outcomes between laparoscopically assisted and open distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer. The records of 21 patients who underwent laparoscopically assisted distal gastrectomy (LG) for preoperative diagnosis of intramucosal gastric carcinoma between January 1996 and August 1998 were reviewed and compared with those of 31 open distal gastrectomy patients during the same period. Age, gender, and size and histologic differentiation of the lesions were matched. Those located at the body of the stomach (p = 0.011) and those macroscopically depressed (p = 0.049) were subjected more frequently to open surgery. Laparoscopically assisted gastrectomy required significantly longer operative time (p<0.001) with less extensive lymph node dissection (p<0.001). However, time to start of walking (p = 0.032), time to flatus (p = 0.002), duration of postoperative fever (p = 0.027), and postoperative hospital stay (p = 0.001) were significantly shorter in the LG group, and this group had a lower white blood cell count on the first postoperative day (p = 0.010). Blood loss and time to oral intake were comparable between the groups. Complications included one conversion to open surgery, one leakage, and one stenosis in the LG group, and two leakages and an atelectasis in the OG group" ]

[ "The Eastern experience has reported the safety of laparoscopic assisted gastrectomy (LAG) for gastric cancer. Its use in Western countries is still debated owing to concerns about its oncologic equivalence to open gastrectomy (OG). We sought to review and compare their operative outcomes and oncologic specimen quality (number of harvested lymph nodes and surgical margins) for gastric adenocarcinoma (GA). We reviewed the charts of all patients undergoing LAG (2007-2010) and OG (2000-2010) for GA in a single institution. Several surgeons performed the OGs, whereas 1 fellowship-trained laparoscopic surgeon performed LAGs. The primary outcome was quality of the surgical specimen, assessed by the number of harvested lymph nodes (LNs) and margin status. Secondary outcomes were perioperative events. Data were analyzed as intention to treat. We retrieved 60 cases (47 OGs, 13 LAGs). The conversion rate was 23%. Mean operative time was 115 minutes longer and blood loss was 425 mL less (both p < 0.001) for LAGs. A mean of 14.4 (standard deviation [SD] 9.8) and 11.2 (SD 8.2) LNs were harvested for OGs and LAGs, respectively (p = 0.29). Negative margins were achieved for all patients. Mean length of stay was similar (LAG: 19 d v. OG: 18.9 d; p = 0.91). The groups did not differ on major postoperative complications (12.7% v. 23.1%; p = 0.39) or operative mortality (2.1% v. 7.7%; p = 0.32)", "The aim of this study was to clarify the short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) for gastric cancer compared to conventional open total gastrectomy (COTG) with a case-control study. Between January 2002 and December 2010, a series of 264 patients with gastric cancer underwent R0 total gastrectomy (61 LATG patients and 203 COTG patients). Age, gender, and pathological stage were matched by propensity scoring, and 120 patients (60 LATG and 60 COTG) were selected for analysis. There were no significant differences in the clinicopathological features between the two groups. Regarding postoperative outcomes, first flatus time was significantly shorter in the LATG group than in the COTG group (p<0.001), while operation time was significantly longer in the LATG group than in the COTG group (p<0.001). Postoperative complications occurred in 5 cases (8.3%) of the LATG group and in 11 cases (18.3%) of the COTG group (p = 0.178). There were two recurrences in the LATG group and three recurrences in the COTG group. There was no significant difference in the 5-year survival rate between the two groups (p = 0.667)" ]

[ "OBJECTIVES: To improve understanding of the logistics of transitions of care (TOC) clinics and to provide guidance to pharmacists in developing and implementing a new TOC clinicor improving an existing one.SETTING: Outpatient TOC clinic within an ambulatory care practice.PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Two general internal medicine practices collaborated with a university health system to create an interdisciplinary TOC clinic to improve quality and continuity of patient care. The clinic accommodates any patients of the practice who are not able to get an appointment with their primary care physician within 1 to 2 weeks of discharge from any hospital. Physician residents, an attending physician, a clinical pharmacist, a nurse, medical assistants, and a social worker (if necessary) are involved in the patient's care during the transition process.PRACTICE INNOVATION: Pharmacists can play a vital role in developing and implementing a TOC clinic or enhancing a current one. There are many logistical components to consider in developing a clinic, and this article providesguidance inthe various steps required in creating a clinic, including support and coordination, personnel, workflow, operations, reimbursement, marketing, metrics, and measures.CONCLUSION: This tool may help pharmacists implement or enhance an outpatient TOC clinic to improve patient care, quality, and continuity." ]

[ "Improvement in clinic efficiency in the ambulatory setting is often looked at as an area for development of lean management strategies to deliver a higher quality of healthcare while reducing errors, costs, and delays. To examine the benefits of improving team communication and its impact on clinic flow and efficiency, we describe a time-motion study performed in an academic outpatient Ophthalmology clinic and its objective and subjective results. Compared to clinic encounters without the use of the portable radios, objective data demonstrated an overall significant decreases in mean workup time (15.18 vs. 13.10), room wait (13.10 vs. 10.47), and decreased the total time needed with an MD per encounter (9.45 vs. 6.63). Subjectively, significant improvements were seen in careprovider scores for patient flow (60.78 vs. 84.29), getting assistance (61.89 vs. 88.57), moving patient charts (54.44 vs. 85.71), teamwork (69.56 vs. 91.0), communications (62.33 vs. 90.43), providing quality patient care (76.22 vs. 89.57), and receiving input on the ability to see walk-in patients (80.11 vs. 90.43). For academic purposes, an improvement in engagement in patient care and learning opportunities was noted by the clinic resident-in-training during the pilot study. Portable radios in our pilot study were preferred over the previous method of communication and demonstrates significant improvements in certain areas of clinical efficiency, subjective perception of teamwork and communications, and academic learning.", "The Healthy Lifestyle Clinic (HLC) is an interdisciplinary weight management clinic conceived to address alarming rates of pediatric obesity and related comorbidities in the midsouth region of the United States. The clinical cohort presented is a subset of the 609 patients evaluated during the first 2 years of the HLC and comprises 380 patients with a minimum of 6 months of follow-up. The primarily non-Hispanic black (67.1%) cohort presented with severe obesity ( MzBMI = 2.52 0.41) and particularly high rates of insulin resistance, among other comorbidities. This article offers insight into the challenges of intervening with a cohort of youth and their families, many with limited resources to support intensive behavioral and lifestyle changes. Our experiences implementing a weight management clinic with a diverse clinical cohort provide guidance for emerging programs and impetus to investigate environmental and cultural factors that contribute to high attrition in the treatment of pediatric obesity." ]

[ "Gorillas' appearances can vary based on sub-species, but for the most part, the western subspecies tend to be brownish gray in color, while the eastern and mountain gorillas tend to have a more blackish coat. Mountain gorillas also have longer and thicker fur which is adapted to their colder mountainous habitat. The three lowland subspecies of gorillas sport short, fine hair. Eastern lowland gorillas are the largest of the four subspecies. Diet. Gorillas are herbivores and eat leaves, shoots ..." ]

[ "Adult male gorillas have silvery white saddles that inspired the name silverback for these animals. Generally, the mountain gorilla has longer hair than the other subspecies. Western lowland gorillas have a more pronounced brow ridge, and ears that appear small in relation to their heads.They also have a different shaped nose and lip.n comparison to the mountain gorilla, the western lowland gorilla has a wider and larger skull and the big toe of the western lowland gorilla is spread apart more from the alignment of his other four toes. Like all great apes, gorillas’ arms are longer than their legs.", "Western lowland gorillas are smaller and lighter than the other gorilla subspecies, with short hair, a wider skull and a more pronounced brow ridge. The ears also appear small in relation to the head. There is also a more pronounced difference between the sexes, with females being almost half the size of silverbacks.estern lowland gorillas are smaller and lighter than the other gorilla subspecies, with short hair, a wider skull and a more pronounced brow ridge. The ears also appear small in relation to the head. There is also a more pronounced difference between the sexes, with females being almost half the size of silverbacks." ]

[ "Long Description: The United States Coast Guard was established during the Presidency of George Washington on 4 August 1790 when the first Congress authorized the construction of ten vessels to enforce federal tariff and trade laws and to prevent smuggling." ]

[ "First woman to lead U.S. Coast Guard in Great Lakes is retiring because she fell in love with Cleveland. Updated on July 19, 2017 at 10:09 AM Posted on July 19, 2017 at 7:00 AM. U.S. Coast Guard district commander June Ryan discusses her gender's role in her career.", "The 2016 theme, Honoring Women in Public Service and Government, leads us to recognize women who serve with our local United States Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River. Although the Coast Guard is the smallest military branch, it has large responsibilities for the safety and security of our country and coastline, under the umbrella of Homeland Security. Coast Guard women commonly face the front line, since they were fully integrated into active-duty service in the 1970's. The organization has been cutting edge in empowering and embracing women as equals in a normally male-dominated field." ]

[ "A high concentration of TAM (25 μM) induced a time-dependent apoptosis of MCF-7 cells. ERK1/2 and AKT were activated during TAM-induced apoptosis. The ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059, the PI3K/Akt inhibitor LY294002, and the c-Src inhibitor PP2 all enhanced TAM action. Moreover, the ubiquitin ligase c-Cbl was up-regulated during this process. Over-expression of c-Cbl significantly enhanced the apoptosis-inducing effects of TAM, while 70Z/Cbl suppressed the apoptosis-inducing effects of TAM. Further investigation revealed that, overexpression of c-Cbl significantly downregulated the c-Src protein levels and TAM-induced AKT activity. But 70Z/Cbl significantly upregulated TAM-induced ERK and AKT activity", "Tamoxifen (TAM) is a nonsteroidal antiestrogen that has been widely used in the treatment of breast cancer through its anti-estrogen activity. Recent studies show that TAM is cytotoxic to both estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and ER-negative cells via the induction of apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms of this effect are not well understood. In the present study, we investigated the roles of c-Src, ERK, AKT and c-Cbl ubiquitin ligases during TAM-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 cells. MCF-7 cell proliferation and apoptosis were measured by 3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and flow cytometry, respectively. c-Cbl expression, and the activity of c-Src, ERK, AKT were assayed by Western blotting. Overexpression of the wild and the dominant-negative type of c-Cbl (70Z/Cbl) were achieved by transient transfection of plasmids encoding c-Cbl and 70Z/Cbl, respectively, and were confirmed by Western blotting. Statistical analysis was performed using the t-test, and a p-value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant" ]

[ "Cisplatin is more often used to treat ovarian cancer (OvCa), which provides modest survival advantage primarily due to chemo-resistance and up regulated anti-apoptotic machineries in OvCa cells. Therefore, targeting the mechanisms responsible for cisplatin resistance in OvCa cell may improve therapeutic outcomes. We have shown that ovarian cancer cells express CC chemokine receptor-9 (CCR9). Others have also shown that CCL25, the only natural ligand for CCR9, up regulates anti-apoptotic proteins in immature T lymphocytes. Hence, it is plausible that CCR9-mediated cell signals might be involved in OvCa cell survival and inhibition of cisplatin-induced apoptosis. In this study, we investigated the potential role and molecular mechanisms of CCR9-mediated inhibition of cisplatin-induced apoptosis in OvCa cells. Cell proliferation, vibrant apoptosis, and TUNEL assays were performed with or without cisplatin treatment in presence or absence of CCL25 to determine the role of the CCR9-CCL25 axis in cisplatin resistance. In situ Fast Activated cell-based ELISA (FACE) assays were performed to determine anti-apoptotic signaling molecules responsible for CCL25-CCR9 mediated survival", "BAG-1 (bcl-2 associated athanogene) is a multifunctional protein that protects cells from a wide range of apoptotic stimuli including radiation, hypoxia and chemotherapeutic agents. Overexpression of cytoplasmic BAG-1 has been associated with the increased survival and decreased response to treatment with tamoxifen (TAM) in breast cancer. We attempted to assess the expression of BAG-1 in the human breast cancer cells that are resistant to treatment with 4-OH TAM and effect of altered BAG-1 expression on their sensitivity to 4-OH TAM. BAG-1 expression was examined in the MCF-7 cells that became resistant to 4-OH TAM. The 4-OH TAM-resistant MCF-7 cells were then transfected with the BAG-1 siRNA and the 4-OH TAM-sensitive MCF-7 cells with the plasmids carrying the human BAG-1 isoform-specific expression constructs respectively to investigate the effect of BAG-1 on the TAM-induced apoptosis. Our results showed that the TAM-resistant MCF-7 (TAMR/MCF-7) cells expressed higher level of BAG-1 than that of the MCF-7 cells. Down-regulation of BAG-1 significantly enhanced the sensitivity of the TAMR/MCF-7 cells to TAM treatment. Additionally, we found that BAG-1 p50 was the only isoform that inhibited the TAM-induced apoptosis in the MCF-7 cells, while the other isoforms had little effect" ]

[ "Translational nanomedicine occurs only through the successful integration of multiple inputs and iterative modifications. The therapeutic window plays a pivotal role in the trajectory of translational nanomedicine. Often defined in terms of the range of dosage for safe and effective therapeutic effect, a second definition of the therapeutic window refers to the often narrow temporal window in which a therapeutic effect can be obtained. Expanding the second definition to explicitly include the spatial dimension, this article explores aspects of the therapeutic spaces created by nanomedicine that shift the traditional dimensions of symptom, sign and pathology. This article analyzes three aspects of the therapeutic window in nanomedicine - temporal, spatial and manner of construction and their impact on the dimensions of modern medicine." ]

[ "PURPOSE: To profile which cytokine genes are differentially expressed (DE) as up- or downregulated by cultured human trabecular meshwork (TMEs) and Schlemm's canal endothelial cells (SCEs) after three experimental treatments consisting of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) irradiation, exposure to media conditioned either by SLT-irradiated TMEs (TME-cm) or by SCEs (SCE-cm). Also, to profile which cytokines are upregulated ex vivo in SLT-irradiated human conventional aqueous outflow pathway (CAOP) tissues.METHODS: After each treatment, Affymetrix microarray assays were used to detect upregulated and downregulated genes for cytokines and their receptors in TMEs and SCEs. ELISA and protein antibody arrays were used to detect upregulated cytokines secreted in SLT-irradiated CAOP tissues ex vivo.RESULTS: The SLT irradiation upregulated numerous cytokine genes in TMEs, but only a few in SCEs. Exposure to TME- and SCE-cm induced SCEs to upregulate many more cytokine genes than TMEs. Selective laser trabeculoplasty irradiation and exposure to TME-cm downregulated several cytokine genes in TMEs but none in SCEs. Selective laser trabeculoplasty irradiation induced one upregulated and three downregulated cytokine-receptor genes in TMEs but none in SCEs. Exposure to TME-cm induced upregulation of one and downregulation of another receptor gene in TMEs, whereas two unique cytokine-receptor genes were upregulated in SCEs. Cytokine protein expression analysis showed that at least eight cytokines were upregulated in SLT-irradiated human CAOP tissues in situ/ex vivo.CONCLUSIONS: This study has helped us identify a cytokine signaling pathway and to consider newly identified mechanisms regulating aqueous outflow that may lay the foundation for the future development of cytokine-based glaucoma therapies.", "Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are emerging as important players and drug targets in respiratory disease. Amongst the vanilloid-type TRP channels (which includes the six members of the TRPV family), target diseases include cough, asthma, cancer, and more recently, pulmonary edema associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Here, we critically evaluate a recent report that addresses TRPV4 as a candidate target for the management of acute lung injury that develops as a consequence of aspiration of gastric contents, or acute chlorine gas exposure. By use of two new TRPV4 inhibitors (GSK2220691 or GSK2337429A) and a trpv4(-/-) mouse strain, TRPV4 was implicated as a key mediator of pulmonary inflammation after direct chemical insult. Additionally, applied therapeutically, TRPV4 inhibitors exhibited vasculoprotective effects after chlorine gas exposure, inhibiting vascular leakage, and improving blood oxygenation. These observations underscore TRPV4 channels as candidate therapeutic targets in the management of lung injury, with the added need to balance these against the potential drawbacks of TRPV4 inhibition, such as the danger of limiting the immune response in settings of pathogen-provoked injury." ]

[ "The aim of the study was to investigate the possible association between the BDKRB2 gene and training-induced improvements in swimming performance in well-trained swimmers. One hundred Polish swimmers (52 men and 48 women, aged 18.1 1.9 years), who competed in national and international competitions at middle- (200 m) and long-distance events (?400 m), were included in the study. Athletes' genotype and allele distributions were analyzed in comparison to 230 unrelated sedentary subjects, who served as controls, with the test. All samples were genotyped for the BDKRB2 -9/+9 polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction. The effects of genotype on swimming performance improvements were analyzed with two-way (3 ? 2; genotype ? time) analysis of variance with metric age as a covariate. The training period of 1.9 0.4 years had a significant (p < 0.01) effect on swimming performance, both in female and male athletes. Both in female and male athletes, the BDKRB2 gene -9/+9 polymorphism had no significant effect on swimming performance. An interaction effect of BDKRB2 gene -9/+9 polymorphism ? time was found for swimming performance only in male athletes. Post hoc analyses showed that swimmers with the +9/+9 BDKRB2 genotype had a greater improvement in swimming performance than swimmers with the -9/+9 polymorphism (p ? 0.05). No interaction effects for gender ? BDKRB2 gene -9/+9 polymorphism were found for either swimming performance or improvement in swimming performance. These results suggest that the response to long-term exercise training could be modulated by the BDKRB2 gene -9/+9 polymorphism in male athletes. In well-trained swimmers, BDKRB2 gene variation was not found to be an independent determinant of swimming performance." ]

[ "Theory predicts that environmental heterogeneity offers a potential solution to the maintenance of genetic variation within populations, but empirical evidence remains sparse. The live-bearing fish Xiphophorus variatus exhibits polymorphism at a single locus, with different alleles resulting in up to five distinct melanistic \"tailspot\" patterns within populations. We investigated the effects of heterogeneity in two ubiquitous environmental variables (temperature and food availability) on two fitness-related traits (upper thermal limits and body condition) in two different tailspot types (wild-type and upper cut crescent). We found gene-by-environment (G ? E) interactions between tailspot type and food level affecting upper thermal limits (UTL), as well as between tailspot type and thermal environment affecting body condition. Exploring mechanistic bases underlying these G ? E patterns, we found no differences between tailspot types in hsp70 gene expression despite significant overall increases in expression under both thermal and food stress. Similarly, there was no difference in routine metabolic rates between the tailspot types. The reversal of relative performance of the two tailspot types under different environmental conditions revealed a mechanism by which environmental heterogeneity can balance polymorphism within populations through selection on different fitness-related traits.", "CONTEXT: In front-crawl swimming, the upper limbs perform alternating movements with the aim of achieving a continuous application of force in the water, leading to lower intracyclic velocity variation (dv). This parameter has been identified as a crucial criterion for swimmers' evaluation.PURPOSE: To examine the assessment of intracyclic force variation (dF) and to analyze its relationship with dv and swimming performance.METHODS: A total of 22 high-level male swimmers performed a maximal-effort 50-m front-crawl time trial and a 30-s maximal-effort fully tethered swimming test, which were randomly assigned. Instantaneous velocity was obtained by a speedometer and force by a strain-gauge system.RESULTS: Similarity was observed between the tests, with dF attaining much higher magnitudes than dv (P < .001; d = 8.89). There were no differences in stroke rate or in physiological responses between tethered and free swimming, with a high level of agreement for the stroke rate and blood lactate increase. Swimming velocity presented a strong negative linear relationship with dF (r = -.826, P < .001) and a moderate negative nonlinear relationship with dv (r = .734, P < .01). With the addition of the maximum impulse to dF, multiple-regression analysis explained 83% of the free-swimming performance.CONCLUSIONS: Assessing dF is a promising approach for evaluating a swimmer's performance. From the experiments, this new parameter showed that swimmers with higher dF also present higher dv, leading to a decrease in performance." ]

[ "OBJECTIVE: Analytical dose calculation algorithms for Eclipse and Raystation treatment planning systems (TPS), as well as a Raystation Monte Carlo model are compared to corresponding measured point doses.METHOD: The TPS were modeled with the same beam data acquired during commissioning. Thirty-five typical plans were made with each planning system, 31 without range shifter and four with a 5 cm range shifter. Point doses in these planes were compared to measured doses.RESULTS: The mean percentage difference for all plans between Raystation and Eclipse were 1.51 1.99%. The mean percentage difference for all plans between TPS models and measured values are -2.06 1.48% for Raystation pencil beam (PB), -0.59 1.71% for Eclipse and -1.69 1.11% for Raystation monte carlo (MC). The distribution for the patient plans were similar for Eclipse and Raystation MC with a P-value of 0.59 for a two tailed unpaired t-test and significantly different from the Raystation PB model with P = 0.0013 between Raystation MC and PB. All three models faired markedly better if plans with a 5 cm range shifter were ignored. Plan comparisons with a 5 cm range shifter give differences between Raystation and Eclipse of 3.77 1.82%. The mean percentage difference for 5 cm range shifter plans between TPS models and measured values are -3.89 2.79% for Raystation PB, -0.25 3.85% for Eclipse and 1.55 1.95% for Raystation MC.CONCLUSION: Both Eclipse and Raystation PB TPS are not always accurate within 3% for a 5 cm range shifters or for small targets. This was improved with the Raystation MC model. The point dose calculations of Eclipse, Raystation PB, and Raystation MC compare within 3% to measured doses for the other scenarios tested." ]

[ "PURPOSE: Eclipse treatment planning system has not been able to optimize the jaw positions for Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). The arbitrary and planner-dependent jaw placements define the maximum field size within which multi-leaf-collimator (MLC) sequences can be optimized to modulate the beam. Considering the mechanical constraints of MLC transitional speed and range, suboptimal X jaw settings may impede the optimization or undermine the deliverability. This work searches optimal VMAT jaw settings automatically based on Eclipse Scripting Application Programming Interface (ESAPI) and RapidPlan knowledge-based planning.METHODS AND MATERIALS: Using an ESAPI script, the X jaws of rectal VMAT plans were initially set to conform the planning-target-volume (PTV), and were gradually extended toward the isocenter (PTV center) in 5-7 mm increments. Using these jaw pairs, 592 plans were automatically created for 10 patients and quantitatively evaluated using a comprehensive scoring function. A published RapidPlan model was evoked by ESAPI to generate patient-specific optimization objectives without manual intervention. All candidate plans were first stored as text files to save storage space, and only the best, worst, and conformal plans were consequently recreated for comparison.RESULTS: Although RapidPlan estimates dose-volume histogram (DVH) based on individual anatomy, the geometry-based expected dose (GED) algorithm does not recognize different jaw settings but uses PTV-conformal jaws as default; hence, identical DVHs were observed regardless of planner-defined jaws. Therefore, ESAPI finalized dose-volume calculation and eliminated the plans with unacceptable hotspots before comparison. The plan quality varied dramatically with different jaw settings. Trade-offs among different organs-at-risk (OARs) were collectively considered by the proposed scoring method, which identified the best and worst plans correctly. The plans using conformal jaws were neither the best nor the worst of all candidates.CONCLUSIONS: VMAT plans using optimal jaw locations can be created automatically using ESAPI and RapidPlan. Conformal jaws are not the optimal choice.", "The duration of the eclipse phase, from cell infection to the production and release of the first virion progeny, immediately followed by the virus-production phase, from the first to the last virion progeny, are important steps in a viral infection, by setting the pace of infection progression and modulating the response to antiviral therapy. Using a mathematical model (MM) and data for the infection of HSC-F cells with SHIV in vitro, we reconfirm our earlier finding that the eclipse phase duration follows a fat-tailed distribution, lasting 19 h (18-20 h). Most importantly, for the first time, we show that the virus-producing phase duration, which lasts 11 h (9.8-12 h), follows a normal-like distribution, and not an exponential distribution as is typically assumed. We explore the significance of this finding and its impact on analysis of plasma viral load decays in HIV patients under antiviral therapy. We find that incorrect assumptions about the eclipse and virus-producing phase distributions can lead to an overestimation of antiviral efficacy. Additionally, our predictions for the rate of plasma HIV decay under integrase inhibitor therapy offer an opportunity to confirm whether HIV production duration in vivo also follows a normal distribution, as demonstrated here for SHIV infections in vitro." ]

[ "When the Chain of Rocks Canal opened, it carried all large navigational traffic around the Chain of Rocks and other rough spots in the river. When the 1967 bridge carrying I-270, known as the New Chain of Rocks Bridge, was built, navigation below was of little concern." ]

[ "The Pulaski County Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge, popularly known as the Big Dam Bridge, opened in September 2006, crossing the Arkansas River atop the Murray Lock and Dam west of Little Rock; it is the second-longest bridge built for pedestrians in North America. Fourche Creek runs through southern Little Rock.", "In 1995, the interchange between the Queens approach of the Throgs Neck Bridge and the Cross Island Parkway was reconstructed. The $10 million interchange project was completed in only eight months. In 1998, MTA Bridges and Tunnels installed the first of its new variable message signs on the Throgs Neck Bridge." ]

[ "Instructions. 1 Preheat the grill to its medium setting or prepare charcoals for grilling. 2 On a large sheet of aluminum foil, pile the carrot slices. 3 Place on the grill and let cook, undisturbed, for about 25 minutes. Transfer the carrots to a serving dish and top with 1 basil. Enjoy immediately." ]

[ "Directions. Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or prepare the barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush the vegetables with 1/4 cup of the oil to coat lightly. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and pepper. 3 red bell peppers, seeded and halved. 2 3 yellow squash (about 1 pound total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles. 3 3 zucchini (about 12 ounces total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles. 4 3 Japanese eggplant (12 ounces total), sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick rectangles. 5 12 cremini mushrooms. 6 1 bunch (1-pound) ....", "A lot of veggies do well on the grill, but some really stand out — asparagus, corn, eggplant, mushrooms, peppers (bell or hot), onions, even cabbage. 1 Grilled Asparagus. 2 Thai Charred Eggplant with Tofu. 3 Savory Grilled Onions. Cabbage on the 1 Grill. Grilled Poblano Pepper and Mango Quesadillas. More BBQ & Grilled Vegetable Recipes." ]

[ "Due to the different goals of current glaucoma treatments, various treatment methods have their pros and cons. Therefore, their applications are affected by factors inside and outside medical category, thus prone to a series of problems.In clinical practice, in addition to following the related clinical guidelines and standards, medical ethics problems must be considered. And besides, based on the principles of nonmaleficence, beneficence, respect and justice in medical ethics, the treatments should be carefully selected to weigh the advantages and disadvantages to the patients.Only in this way, the efficacy and safety of glaucoma treatment can be improved, and the medical and social missions of glaucoma specialists can be more reasonably completed." ]

[ "Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is considered one of the main factors in the development and progression of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). The main schemes of drug treatment and cell protection from glaucomatous damage are aimed particularly at reducing IOP. However, it is possible for the disease to progress with normalized IOP. This determines the need to search for drugs that would affect other pathogenetic links of the progression of POAG.PURPOSE: To study the effect of 'Cytoflavin' drug on the stabilization of glaucomatous optic neuropathy in patients with POAG.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 103 patients with initial or developed POAG. Patients were randomized into two groups using random numbers: the control group patients (n=50) receiving standard conservative treatment, and the main group (n=53), where patients received the combined drug with metabolic action 'Cytoflavin'. In addition to standard ophthalmological studies, all patients underwent biological, electrophysiological, perimetric, structural topographic, laboratory and sociological examinations before and after the treatment.RESULTS: By the end of the 3rd month of the treatment, the patients of the main group showed positive dynamics of the amplitude and phase characteristics of bioelectric activity of the retina, improvement in the total sensitivity of the retina for central field of view. Cytoflavin contributed to reducing the rate of progression of glaucoma according to optical coherence tomography: stabilization of the thickness of the nerve fiber layer, reduction of the rate of global and focal loss of retinal ganglion cells. In patients of the main group, by the end of the 3rd month, the severity of oxidative stress has significantly reduced and the antioxidant defense improved. On the background of stabilized glaucomatous process, a subjective improvement in general and psycho-emotional health, increased confidence in the success of the therapy and thus the improved the quality of life was observed in comorbid patients of the main group.CONCLUSION: Cytoflavin acts on the mechanisms that enhance the protection of the retina against the effects of reperfusion injury and oxidative stress, contributes to the metabolic adaptation of neurons and leads to a more favorable variant of POAG.", "PURPOSE: To assess the character and degree of concerns of glaucoma patients and identify demographic/clinical factors affecting the concerns.DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional study.METHODS: A questionnaire that addressed patients' concerns was administered to consecutive glaucoma patients. Severity of concern was scored with a scale of 0-5 in order of increasing severity. Age, sex, intraocular pressure, visual field (VF) mean deviation (MD), number of antiglaucoma medications, history of glaucoma surgery, and employment status were recorded.RESULTS: Questionnaire results of 152 patients (meanVF MD,-8.03 7.86 dB [better eye] and-16.06 10.22 dB [worse eye]; mean age, 69 14 years) were analyzed. Severity of concern was greatest for general eyesight (2.92/5.00) and visual symptoms (2.78/5.00), followed by activities (2.20/5.00) and socioeconomic factors (2.13/5.00), and then ocular symptoms (1.69/5.00) (P < .001). The most common concerns within each domain were blurry vision (32%), reading small print (34%), medical costs (26%), and dryness (32%). Concern about visual symptoms correlated with VF MD of the better eye (r=-0.258; P= .001) and worse eye (r=-0.233; P= .004). Concern about activities correlated with history of glaucoma surgery (r= 0.148; P= .023) and VF MD of the better eye (r=-0.284; P < .001) and worse eye (r=-0.295; P < .001). Concern about socioeconomic factors correlated with VF MD of the better eye (r=-0.245; P= .003) and age (r=-0.260; P=.001).CONCLUSIONS: Glaucoma patients reported varied degrees of concern regarding items associated with quality of life. Certain items may be more concerning than others. Severity of some concerns increased with more severe VF loss, prior glaucoma surgery, or younger age." ]

[ "INTRODUCTION: In the United States, routine human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is recommended for females and males at age 11 or 12 years; the series can be started at age 9 years. Vaccination is also recommended for females through age 26 years and males through age 21 years. The objective of this study was to assess the health impact and cost-effectiveness of harmonizing female and male vaccination recommendations by increasing the upper recommended catch-up age of HPV vaccination for males from age 21 to age 26 years.METHODS: We updated a published model of the health impact and cost-effectiveness of 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine (9vHPV). We examined the cost-effectiveness of (1) 9vHPV for females aged 12 through 26 years and males aged 12 through 21 years, and (2) an expanded program including males through age 26 years.RESULTS: Compared to no vaccination, providing 9vHPV for females aged 12 through 26 years and males aged 12 through 21 years cost an estimated $16,600 (in 2016 U.S. dollars) per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. The estimated cost per QALY gained by expanding male vaccination through age 26 years was $228,800 and ranged from $137,900 to $367,300 in multi-way sensitivity analyses.CONCLUSIONS: The cost-effectiveness ratios we estimated are not so favorable as to make a strong economic case for recommending expanding male vaccination, yet are not so unfavorable as to preclude consideration of expanding male vaccination. The wide range of plausible results we obtained may underestimate the true degree of uncertainty, due to model limitations. For example, the cost per QALY might be less than our lower bound estimate of $137,900 had our model allowed for vaccine protection against re-infection. Models that specifically incorporate men who have sex with men (MSM) are needed to provide a more comprehensive assessment of male HPV vaccination strategies." ]

[ "BACKGROUND: Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection; vaccination is recommended for US males, including MSM through age 26 years. We assessed evidence of HPV among vaccine-eligible MSM and transgender women to monitor vaccine impact.METHODS: During 2012-2014, MSM aged 18-26 years at select clinics completed a computer-assisted self-interview regarding sexual behavior, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, and vaccinations. Self-collected anal swab and oral rinse specimens were tested for HPV DNA (37 types) by L1 consensus polymerase chain reaction; serum was tested for HPV antibodies (4 types) by a multiplexed virus-like particle-based immunoglobulin G direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.RESULTS: Among 922 vaccine-eligible participants, the mean age was 23 years, and the mean number of lifetime sex partners was 37. Among 834 without HIV infection, any anal HPV was detected in 69.4% and any oral HPV in 8.4%, yet only 8.5% had evidence of exposure to all quadrivalent vaccine types. In multivariate analysis, HPV prevalence varied significantly (P < .05) by HIV status, sexual orientation, and lifetime number of sex partners, but not by race/ethnicity.DISCUSSIONS: Most young MSM lacked evidence of current or past infection with all vaccine-type HPV types, suggesting that they could benefit from vaccination. The impact of vaccination among MSM may be assessed by monitoring HPV prevalence, including in self-collected specimens.", "BACKGROUND: Federally funded surveys of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake are important for pinpointing geographically based health disparities. Although national and state level data are available, local (ie, county and postal code level) data are not due to small sample sizes, confidentiality concerns, and cost. Local level HPV vaccine uptake data may be feasible to obtain by targeting specific geographic areas through social media advertising and recruitment strategies, in combination with online surveys.OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to use Facebook-based recruitment and online surveys to estimate local variation in HPV vaccine uptake among young men and women in Minnesota.METHODS: From November 2012 to January 2013, men and women were recruited via a targeted Facebook advertisement campaign to complete an online survey about HPV vaccination practices. The Facebook advertisements were targeted to recruit men and women by location (25 mile radius of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States), age (18-30 years), and language (English).RESULTS: Of the 2079 men and women who responded to the Facebook advertisements and visited the study website, 1003 (48.2%) enrolled in the study and completed the survey. The average advertising cost per completed survey was US $1.36. Among those who reported their postal code, 90.6% (881/972) of the participants lived within the previously defined geographic study area. Receipt of 1 dose or more of HPV vaccine was reported by 65.6% women (351/535), and 13.0% (45/347) of men. These results differ from previously reported Minnesota state level estimates (53.8% for young women and 20.8% for young men) and from national estimates (34.5% for women and 2.3% for men).CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that recruiting a representative sample of young men and women based on county and postal code location to complete a survey on HPV vaccination uptake via the Internet is a cost-effective and feasible strategy. This study also highlights the need for local estimates to assess the variation in HPV vaccine uptake, as these estimates differ considerably from those obtained using survey data that are aggregated to the state or federal level." ]

[ "High doses of inhaled albuterol produce substantial improvements in bronchodilatation but are associated with dose-related systemic side effects including hypokalemia and hypomagnesemia. Concomitant diuretic therapy also produces these metabolic sequelae and may therefore precipitate cardiac arrhythmias in patients taking this combination of drugs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the electrocardiographic (ECG) effects of high-dose inhaled albuterol, and to evaluate whether potentiation occurs with bendrofluazide. Ten normal subjects (mean age [+/- SEM]: 29 +/- 2 years, four women, six men) received seven days of treatment with either bendrofluazide 5 mg or identical placebo in a single-blind, randomized, cross-over design, with a 10-day washout period. After each treatment period, responses (potassium, magnesium, ECG) to cumulative doubling doses of inhaled albuterol (100 micrograms to 2,000 micrograms) were measured. Baseline potassium levels (mean and 95% confidence intervals) were lower after pretreatment with bendrofluazide compared with placebo (3.07 mmol/L [2.89 to 3.25 mmol/L] versus 3.78 mmol/L [3.62 to 3.93 mmol/L]; p less than 0.001). The combination of bendrofluazide and albuterol produced a lower absolute level of potassium than did placebo and albuterol: (2.72 mmol/L [2.50 to 2.95 mmol/L] versus 3.18 mmol/L [3.09 to 3.27 mmol/L]; p less than 0.001). Mean (+/- SEM) potassium fell to a lower level with bendrofluazide and albuterol in women than in men (2.45 +/- 0.04 mmol/L versus 2.90 +/- 0.13 mmol/L; p less than 0.005). Albuterol alone produced a small but significant fall in magnesium (0.842 mmol/L [0.815 to 0.869 mmol/L] to 0.789 mmol/L [0.757 to 0.820 mmol/L]; p less than 0.001), but no further change after bendrofluazide. Pretreatment with bendrofluazide increased the frequency (p less than 0.001) and amplitude (p less than 0.05) of U waves due to albuterol. Albuterol also attenuated T-wave amplitude (p less than 0.001) and prolonged the Q-Tc interval (p less than 0.001), with no additive effect from bendrofluazide. ST-segment depression (p less than 0.001) occurred in five subjects who inhaled albuterol" ]

[ "To compare the efficacy of adding formoterol or salbutamol to regular ipratropium bromide treatment in COPD patients whose conditions were suboptimally controlled with ipratropium bromide alone. A randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, two-period, crossover clinical trial. Twenty-four clinics and university medical centers in nine countries. One hundred seventy-two patients with baseline FEV(1) < or = 65% predicted, with FEV(1) reversibility to salbutamol not exceeding the normal variability of the measurement, and symptomatic despite regular treatment with ipratropium bromide. Each patient received two treatments in random order: either inhaled formoterol dry powder, 12 microg bid, in addition to ipratropium bromide, 40 microg qid for 3 weeks, followed by salbutamol, 200 microg qid, in addition to ipratropium, 40 microg qid for 3 weeks, or vice versa. Efficacy end points included morning premedication peak expiratory flow (PEF) during the last week of treatment (primary end point), the area under the curve (AUC) for FEV(1) measured for 6 h after morning dose on the last day of treatment, and symptom scores (from daily diary recordings). Morning PEF and the AUC for FEV(1) were significantly better for formoterol/ipratropium than for salbutamol/ipratropium (p = 0.0003 and p < 0.0001, respectively). The formoterol/ipratropium combination also induced a greater improvement in mean total symptom scores (p = 0.0042). The safety profile of the two treatments was comparable", "Increased re-hospitalization due to acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a modern issue in cardiology. The aim of this study was to investigate risk factors for re-hospitalization due to worsening heart failure, and the effect of tolvaptan (TLV) on decreasing the number of re-hospitalizations. This was a multicenter, retrospective study. The re-hospitalization factors for 1191 patients with ADHF were investigated; patients receiving continuous administration of TLV when they were discharged from the hospital (n = 194) were analyzed separately. Patients were classified into 5 risk groups based on their calculated Preventing Re-hospitalization with TOLvaptan (Pretol) score. The total number of patients re-hospitalized due to worsening heart failure up to one year after discharge from the hospital was 285 (23.9%). Age ?80 years, duration since discharge from the hospital after previous heart failure <6 months, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin <10 g/dl, uric acid >7.2 mg/dl, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <40%, left atrial volume index (LAVI) >44.7 ml/m2, loop diuretic dose ?20 mg/day, hematocrit <31.6%, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <50 ml/min/1.73m2 were independent risk factors for re-hospitalization for worsening heart failure. There was a significant reduction in the re-hospitalization rate among TLV treated patients in the Risk 3 group and above. In conclusions, age, duration since previous heart failure, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin, uric acid, LVEF, LAVI, loop diuretic dose, hematocrit, and eGFR were all independent risk factors for re-hospitalization for worsening heart failure. Long-term administration of TLV significantly decreases the rate of re-hospitalization for worsening heart failure in patients with a Pretol score of 7." ]

[ "BACKGROUND: The routine assessment of day 3 serum progesterone prior to initiation of ovarian hyper-stimulation with the use of GnRH antagonists is under debate. In this study, we evaluated the clinical utility of this policy.METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) with the use of GnRH antagonists aimed at determining the frequency of cases with progesterone levels exceeding the recommended threshold of 1,660 pg/ml and at evaluating whether this assessment may be predictive of pregnancy.RESULTS: Serum progesterone exceeded the recommended threshold in one case (0.3%, 95% CI 0.01-1.5). The median (interquartile range) basal progesterone in women who did (n = 95) and did not (n = 217) become pregnant were 351 (234-476) and 380 (237-531) pg/ml, respectively (p = 0.28). The 90th percentile of the basal progesterone distribution in women who became pregnant was 660 pg/ml. Cases with serum progesterone exceeding this threshold in successful and unsuccessful cycles were 10 (10%) and 30 (14%), respectively (p = 0.47). The capacity of basal progesterone to predict pregnancy was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve (area under the curve = 0.54, 95% CI 0.47-0.61, p = 0.28). No graphically evident threshold emerged.CONCLUSION: Routine day 3 serum progesterone assessment in IVF cycles with the use of GnRH antagonists is not justified. Further evidence is warranted prior to claiming its systematic use." ]

[ "BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in nonanomalous neonates in the United States. Women with a previous early spontaneous preterm birth are at highest risk for recurrence. Weekly intramuscular 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate reduces the risk of recurrent prematurity. Although current guidelines recommend 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation between 16 and 20 weeks, in clinical practice, 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate is started across a spectrum of gestational ages.OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between the gestational age at 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation and recurrent preterm birth among women with a prior spontaneous preterm birth 16-28 weeks' gestation.STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study of women from a single tertiary care center, 2005-2016. All women with ?1 singleton preterm births because of a spontaneous onset of contractions, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes, or painless cervical dilation between 16 and 28 weeks followed by a subsequent singleton pregnancy treated with 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate were included. Women were grouped based on quartiles of gestational age of 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation (quartile 1, 140/7 to 161/7; quartile 2, 162/7 to 170/7; quartile 3, 171/7 to 186/7; and quartile 4, 190/7 to 275/7). Women with a gestational age of 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation in quartiles 1 and 2 were considered to have early-start 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate; those in quartiles 3 and 4 were considered to have late-start 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate. The primary outcome was recurrent preterm birth <37 weeks' gestation. Secondary outcomes included recurrent preterm birth <34 and <28 weeks' gestation and composite major neonatal morbidity (diagnosis of grade III or IV intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis stage II or III, or death). Gestational age at delivery was compared by quartile of 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and the log-rank test. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios for the association between gestational age at 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation and preterm birth <37 weeks' gestation, adjusting for demographics, prior pregnancy and antenatal characteristics.RESULTS: A total of 132 women met inclusion criteria; 52 (39.6%) experienced recurrent preterm birth <37 weeks in the studied pregnancy. 17-Alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate was initiated at a mean 176/7 2.5 weeks. Demographic and baseline characteristics were similar between women with early-start 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate (quartiles 1 and 2) compared with those with late-start 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate (quartiles 3 and 4). Women with early-start 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate trended toward lower rates of recurrent preterm birth <37 weeks compared with those with late-start 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate (41.3% vs 57.7%, P= .065). Delivery gestational age was inversely proportional to gestational age at 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation (quartile 1, 374/7 weeks vs quartile 2, 365/7 vs quartile 3, 361/7 weeks vs quartile 4, 340/7, P= .007). In Kaplan-Meier survival analyses, these differences in delivery gestational age by 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation quartile persisted across pregnancy (log-rank P < .001). In regression models, later initiation of 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate wassignificantly associated with increased odds of preterm birth <37weeks. Women with early 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation also had lower rates of major neonatal morbidity than those with later 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation (1.5% vs 14.3%, P= .005).CONCLUSION: Rates of recurrent preterm birth among women with a prior spontaneous preterm birth 16-28 weeks are high. Women beginning 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate early deliver later and have improved neonatal outcomes. Clinicians should make every effort to facilitate 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate initiation at 16weeks.", "BACKGROUND: Progesterone administration has been shown to reduce the risk of preterm birth and neonatal morbidity in women at high risk, but there is uncertainty about longer term effects on the child.METHODS: We did a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of vaginal progesterone, 200 mg daily taken from 22-24 to 34 weeks of gestation, on pregnancy and infant outcomes in women at risk of preterm birth (because of previous spontaneous birth at ?34 weeks and 0 days of gestation, or a cervical length ?25 mm, or because of a positive fetal fibronectin test combined with other clinical risk factors for preterm birth [any one of a history in a previous pregnancy of preterm birth, second trimester loss, preterm premature fetal membrane rupture, or a history of a cervical procedure to treat abnormal smears]). The objective of the study was to determine whether vaginal progesterone prophylaxis given to reduce the risk of preterm birth affects neonatal and childhood outcomes. We defined three primary outcomes: fetal death or birth before 34 weeks and 0 days gestation (obstetric), a composite of death, brain injury, or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (neonatal), and a standardised cognitive score at 2 years of age (childhood), imputing values for deaths. Randomisation was done through a web portal, with participants, investigators, and others involved in giving the intervention, assessing outcomes, or analysing data masked to treatment allocation until the end of the study. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered at ISRCTN.com, number ISRCTN14568373.FINDINGS: Between Feb 2, 2009, and April 12, 2013, we randomly assigned 1228 women to the placebo group (n=610) and the progesterone group (n=618). In the placebo group, data from 597, 587, and 439 women or babies were available for analysis of obstetric, neonatal, and childhood outcomes, respectively; in the progesterone group the corresponding numbers were 600, 589, and 430. After correction for multiple outcomes, progesterone had no significant effect on the primary obstetric outcome (odds ratio adjusted for multiple comparisons [OR] 086, 95% CI 061-122) or neonatal outcome (OR 062, 038-103), nor on the childhood outcome (cognitive score, progesterone group vs placebo group, 973 [SD 179] vs 977 [175]; difference in means -048, 95% CI -277 to 181). Maternal or child serious adverse events were reported in 70 (11%) of 610 patients in the placebo group and 59 (10%) of 616 patients in the progesterone group (p=027).INTERPRETATION: Vaginal progesterone was not associated with reduced risk of preterm birth or composite neonatal adverse outcomes, and had no long-term benefit or harm on outcomes in children at 2 years of age.FUNDING: Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme, a Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) partnership. The EME Programme is funded by the MRC and NIHR, with contributions from the Chief Scientist Office in Scotland and National Institute for Social Care and Research in Wales." ]

[ "Dental trainees have an important role to play in quality assuring training programmes. Local education and training boards (LETBs) actively encourage trainee engagement through structured feedback, which acts as a valuable source of critical appraisal. This is designed to support the structure of training programmes and influences its quality and content. In 2014, East Midlands LETB appointed a regional trainee representative to collate, present and promote dental foundation and core trainee issues to the Dental School Board, as well as highlight their accomplishments and achievements. The pilot brief given was to evolve the post to better support trainees and quality manage the various feedback pathways. This allowed for further research into the existing trainee representative posts across the East Midlands, and highlighted the specific and unique benefits of having regional trainee representation to be the overarching voice on the LETB. This article sets out the framework of responsibilities of a regional trainee representative, contrasts it with established representative posts (regionally and nationally), and advocates why dental schools should appoint to these positions to promote the voices of their trainees. It will also explain the advantages of being a representative, as well as highlight some of the challenges, in the hope that it encourages the next generation to consider applying for these roles." ]

[ "Directors for Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine fellowships develop and maintain guidelines for fellowship training in the subspecialty. The first edition of the guidelines was published in 2005 with a revision published in 2010. This set of guidelines updates the 2010 revision. The guidelines address 3 major topics: organization and resources, the educational program, and the evaluation process.", "Despite continuing interest in interprofessional teamwork to improve nurse outcomes and quality of care, there is little research that focuses on nurse job satisfaction and retention after an interprofessional team intervention. This study explored registered nurse (RN) job satisfaction and retention after a purposeful interprofessional team training and structured interprofessional bedside rounds were implemented. As part of a larger study, in this comparative cross-sectional study, pre- and post-intervention data on RN job satisfaction and turnover rate were collected and analyzed. It was found that RNs had significantly higher job satisfaction after the interprofessional team intervention. The 6-month period turnover rate in the post-intervention period was slightly lower than the 6-month period turnover rate in pre-intervention period; however, the rate was too low to provide statistical evidence. Ongoing coaching and supportive work environments to improve RN outcomes should be considered to enhance quality of care and patient safety in healthcare." ]

[ "AIMS AND BACKGROUND: To assess the safety and feasibility of neutron brachytherapy (NBT) combined with external beam radiation (EBRT) in the treatment of patients with inoperable gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (GEJAC).METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: From January 2001 until November 2011, 67 patients with inoperable GEJAC received EBRT combined with NBT. Radiotherapy consisted of EBRT up to a total dose of 40 to 54 Gy in 20 to 27 fractions and NBT up to 12 to 25 Gy in 3 to 5 fractions. The patients were divided into 2 total-dose groups: a low-dose group (28 patients, 52 to 57 Gy) and a high-dose group (39 patients, 58 to 69 Gy).RESULTS: The duration of follow-up ranged from 16 to 106 months. The median survival time for the 67 patients was 15.7 months, and the 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-year rates for overall survival (OS) were 56.7%, 37.2%, 30.8% and 12.7%, respectively. The corresponding local-regional control (LRC) rates were 72.4%, 59.1%, 51.2% and 42.0%, respectively. In univariate analysis, the 5-year OS rates were 7.1% and 16.5% for patients of the low-dose and high-dose groups, respectively (P = 0.024). The incidence of acute esophagitis (grade ?2) was significantly higher in the high-dose group (56.4%) than the low-dose group (32.1%) (P = 0.049). No fistulas or massive bleeding were observed during treatment. Six of the 67 patients (9.0%) experienced late toxicity: fistulas developed in 3 patients and massive bleeding occurred in 3 patients. Of these 6 patients, 4 had persistent or locally recurrent tumors, and 2 displayed no evidence of tumors. Three patients each were in the low-dose and high-dose groups.CONCLUSIONS: The combination of EBRT and NBT was safe and effective in patients with GEJAC. The high-dose group achieved better LRC and OS but had a higher rate of acute esophagitis." ]

[ "OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) candidates and compare with computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET).METHODS: Inclusion criteria for this single institutional retrospective study were 1) biopsy-proven or suspicious NSCLC with diameter <6 cm; 2) no distant metastasis; 3) EBUS-TBNA staging between April 2008 and November 2014; 4) SBRT eligible. CT and PET positive nodes were defined as short axis ?1 cm and standardized uptake value ?2.5, respectively. Node positive by clinical-pathologic confirmation (NPCP) was defined as confirmed malignancy by EBUS-TBNA or recurrence in hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes within one year after SBRT. The survival after SBRT was compared between radiologically node-positive, but EBUS-TBNA negative, patients (Case) and a matched cohort (tumor size; radiation dose; operability) who underwent SBRT without EBUS-TBNA staging (Control).RESULTS: There were 35 eligible patients (mean age 77  8.2; mean diameter 2.5  1.0 cm). Thirty were medically inoperable. Twenty out of 24 patients with radiologically positive node(s) were negative by EBUS-TBNA. All eleven radiologically negative patients were N0 following EBUS-TBNA. Thirty-one patients underwent SBRT. Per-person based sensitivity/specificity of CT, PET and EBUS-TBNA for NPCP were 42.9/64.3%, 100/64.3% and 57.1/100%, respectively. A 1:4 match was obtained. Regional failure-free survival (p = 0.71; HR = 0.88 95%CI 0.45-1.74) and disease-free survival (p = 0.77; HR = 1.10 95%CI 0.58-2.11) of the Case were not significantly different from the Control.CONCLUSION: Patients with radiographically positive lymph nodes can be considered for EBUS-TBNA and may remain candidates for SBRT.", "Informal recycling of electronic waste (e-waste) has been shown to cause significant brominated flame retardant (BFR) contamination of surrounding soils in a number of Asian and West African countries. However, to the authors' knowledge, there have been no published studies demonstrating polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) and novel brominated flame retardant (NBFR) soil contamination from regulated \"formal\" e-waste processing facilities in developed countries. This study reports on PBDEs (-28, -47, -99, -100, -153, -154, -183, and -209) and NBFRs (PBT, PBEB, HBB, EH-TBB, BTBPE and DBDPE) in 36 soil samples surrounding two Australian e-waste recycling plants and a further eight reference soils. Overall ?PBDE concentrations ranged 0.10-98 000 ng/g dw (median; 92 ng/g dw) and ?NBFRs ranged ND-37 000 ng/g dw (median 2.0 ng/g dw). Concentrations in soils were found to be significantly negatively associated with distance from one of the e-waste facilities for ?penta-BDEs, BDE-183, BDE-209, and ?NBFR compound groups. ANOVA tests further illustrated the potential for e-waste recycling to significantly elevate concentrations of some BFRs in soils over distances up to 900 m compared to references sites. This study provides the first evidence of soil contamination with PBDEs and NBFRs originating from formal e-waste recycling facilities in Australia, which may have implications for e-waste recycling practices throughout the world." ]

[ "INTRODUCTION: This study was aimed at investigating the vascular risk factors associated with the first stroke. It highlighted unfavorable trends in stroke mortality in the region gravitating towards the general hospital in Doboj.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included all patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of first stroke and their main vascular risk factors were explored, both in terms of their importance in the occurrence of stroke, and in terms of gender and age lines. The research results were statistically processed, analyzed and commented on.RESULTS: The most common risk factor for the first stroke included hypertension (70%), smoking (35%), heart diseases (28%), diabetes mellitus (28%), hyperlipoproteinemia (26%), atrial fibrillation (18.5%) and immoderate consumption of alcohol (17%).CONCLUSION: The presence of vascular risk factors in the majority of patients is important, and at least one of them was present in 80% of patients. Alcohol consumption, smoking and hyperlipoproteinemia were significantly more frequent in men, and atrial fibrillation was more frequent in women. Arterial hypertension, heart disease and diabetes mellitus were present" ]

[ "BACKGROUND: Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide and remains an important health burden both for the individuals and for the national healthcare systems. Potentially modifiable risk factors for stroke include hypertension, cardiac disease, diabetes, and dysregulation of glucose metabolism, atrial fibrillation, and lifestyle factors.OBJECTS: We aimed to derive a model equation for developing a stroke pre-diagnosis algorithm with the potentially modifiable risk factors.METHODS: We used logistic regression for model derivation, together with data from the database of the Korea National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). We reviewed the NHIS records of 500,000 enrollees. For the regression analysis, data regarding 367 stroke patients were selected. The control group consisted of 500 patients followed up for 2 consecutive years and with no history of stroke.RESULTS: We developed a logistic regression model based on information regarding several well-known modifiable risk factors. The developed model could correctly discriminate between normal subjects and stroke patients in 65% of cases.CONCLUSION: The model developed in the present study can be applied in the clinical setting to estimate the probability of stroke in a year and thus improve the stroke prevention strategies in high-risk patients. The approach used to develop the stroke prevention algorithm can be applied for developing similar models for the pre-diagnosis of other diseases.", "BACKGROUND: Stroke is an emerging public health challenge in Ghana requiring urgent attention for its control. Because some of the risk factors for stroke are modifiable, characterisation of these risk factors in the Ghanaian population as well as outcomes of stroke are urgently needed to guide policy for non-communicable diseases. We therefore conducted this study to evaluate the frequencies of the traditional risk factors and outcomes of stroke at the main tertiary referral centre in the middle belt of Ghana in a prospective observational study.METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with a clinical diagnosis of stroke were consecutively recruited and vascular risk factors were assessed as well as markers of severity of stroke and in-patient treatment outcomes. 265 patients were recruited, 56.6% were females and mean SD age of 64.6 14.54 years. 85%, 73% and 58% of patients had systemic arterial hypertension, physical inactivity and obesity respectively as common risk factors. We identified that patients with stroke had a median of 3 traditional risk factors, were unaware of the presence of these risk factors or were poorly controlled if known. Stroke was associated with a high in-patient case fatality rate of 43% principally among patients with haemorrhagic stroke.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that urgent concerted efforts are required to improve public awareness and management of the prevailing risk factors of stroke in Ghana." ]

[ "To determine the longitudinal associations between obstructive sleep apnea, carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), and plaque. This is a population-based, prospective cohort study conducted from July, 1989, to November, 2012, on 790 randomly selected Wisconsin residents who completed a mean of 3.5 (range, 1-6) polysomnograms during the study period. Obstructive sleep apnea was characterized by the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI, events/h). Common carotid artery IMT and plaque were assessed by B-mode ultrasound. The mean (SD) time from the first polysomnograms to carotid ultrasound was 13.5 (3.6) years. Multivariable regression models were created to estimate the independent associations of baseline and cumulative obstructive sleep apnea exposure with subsequent carotid IMT and plaque. At baseline, the mean age of participants was 47.6 (7.7) years (55% men, 97% white). AHI was 4.4 (9.0) events/h (range, 0-97); 7% had AHI >15 events/h. Carotid IMT was 0.755 (0.161) mm; 63% had plaque. Adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, smoking, and use of lipid-lowering, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic medications, baseline AHI independently predicted future carotid IMT (β=0.027 mm/unit log10[AHI+1]; P=0.049), plaque presence (odds ratio, 1.55 [95% confidence intervals, 1.02-2.35]; P=0.041) and plaque score (odds ratio, 1.30 [1.05-1.61]; P=0.018). In cumulative risk factor-adjusted models, AHI independently predicted future carotid plaque presence (P=0.012) and score (P=0.039), but not IMT (P=0.608)" ]

[ "PURPOSE: The aim of our study is to report the peri-procedural complications and long-term stroke recurrent rate of symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) patients who underwent submaximal primary angioplasty.METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients in a single center who underwent submaximal primary angioplasty between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2015. The peri-procedural complications and long-term outcomes are reported.RESULTS: Primary angioplasty was successfully performed in 129 patients (97.0%). The mean degree of pre-procedural stenosis was 81.9 ± 10.2%, and the degree of residual stenosis was 40.7 ± 19.1%. There were nine (6.8%) peri-procedural complications within 30 days, including seven ischemic strokes, one subarachnoid hemorrhage, and one asymptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. None of them resulted in death. One-year follow-up was available in 122 patients (91.7%). Three more ischemic strokes (2.3%) which were in the territory of the treated artery occurred between 30 days and 1 year. The 1-year stroke and death rate was 9.0%, including peri-procedural stroke. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a 3-year stroke-free survival of 87.2%.CONCLUSION: Submaximal primary angioplasty can be performed with a low peri-procedural complication rate and relatively good clinical outcome at long-term follow-up for symptomatic ICAS patients.", "BACKGROUND: Patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) have poor outcome. Studies on outcome beyond 1 year post-aSAH are few, and late recovery is poorly investigated, initiating this prospective outcome study on patients 12-15 years after an aSAH. We hypothesized to find; functional improvement > 1 year post-ictus; increased long-term mortality in aSAH patients vs matched controls, and finally to present; predictors of long-term favorable outcome (GOS 4-5).METHODS: We prospectively investigated patients, admitted 2000-2003 to the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, 1 year post-ictus using Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). The patients were revalidated 12-15 years post-aSAH by structured-telephone interviews (GOS), followed by statistical analysis.RESULTS: A total of 158 patients were included, (women n = 114, men n = 44), with a mean age of 55 years at aSAH. Patients treated with surgical clipping had lower mortality. At the follow-up 12-15 years post-aSAH, all 103 survivors (65.2%) were categorized as having; good recovery (39.9%), moderate disability (15.2%), or severe disability (10.1%). Within the patient cohort, 23.6% improved GOS over time. Fifty-five patients died, median at 4 years post-ictus. aSAH patients had 3.5 times increased mortality 12-15 years post-ictus vs matched controls (P < .0001). Patients with favorable outcome at 1 year (67.3%, n = 101) had similar survival probability as control patients. Prognostic indicators of long-term favorable outcome were low age and high GOS at 1-year follow-up, (AUCROC, 0.79).CONCLUSIONS: Individual functional improvement was found >1 year post-ictus. Patients with favorable outcome at 1 year had similar long-term life expectancy as the general population. Indicators of long-term favorable prognosis were low age at ictus and high GOS at 1-year follow-up." ]

[ "The purpose of this study is to estimate the organ and effective dose (E) from computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) on a 320-MDCT scanner. Radiation dose was estimated for the prospectively ECG-gated CTCA in a male phantom. A total of 451 chips of thermoluminescent dosimeter were implanted in the phantom for measuring the organ doses. The effective doses were calculated using measured organ doses and the tissue-weighting factors. The dose length product (DLP) values were recorded and used to develop the conversion coefficient k = 0.017 mSv•(mGy•cm)(-1) (E/DLP). In a 3-beat acquisition, the organ doses ranged from 0.24 to 71.55 mGy, and the doses in breast, bone surface, oesophagus, and lung were higher than 20 mGy. The effective doses in 2-beat and 3-beat acquisition were estimated to be 14.3 and 24.3 mSv. More beats of acquisition led to higher radiation dose. The reported k values for chest CT scan can be used to roughly estimate the E value from CTCA for 320 MDCT." ]

[ "A series of phantom experiments were performed with the aim of estimating organ doses for patients undergoing conventional X-ray chest and pelvis examinations. The experiments were performed using physical phantoms corresponding to an adult and a 5-year-old child. Mean organ doses and entrance surface dose were measured using TL-dosemeters. The measured organ doses were compared with the data obtained by calculations using available software tools (EDEREX and PCXMC 2.0) based on the computational MIRD-5 stylized models. The differences between calculated and measured doses for organs located fully or partly in the primary radiation beam did not exceed 33% with the probability of 95% for the tube voltage 60-140 kV both for an adult and a 5-year-old child phantom. This study suggests that EDEREX and PCXMC 2.0 can be used to estimate organ and effective dose for adult as well as pediatric patients undergoing conventional X-ray examinations.", "UNLABELLED: This work aimed to investigate the spatial distribution of scattered radiation doses induced by exposure to the portable X-ray, the C-arm machine, and to simulate the radiologist without a shield of lead clothing, radiation doses absorbed by medical staff at 2 m from the central exposure point.MATERIAL AND METHOD: With the adoption of the Rando Phantom, several frequently X-rayed body parts were exposed to X-ray radiation, and the scattered radiation doses were measured by ionization chamber dosimeters at various angles from the patient. Assuming that the central point of the X-ray was located at the belly button, five detection points were distributed in the operation room at 1 m above the ground and 1-2 m from the central point horizontally.RESULTS: The radiation dose measured at point B was the lowest, and the scattered radiation dose absorbed by the prosthesis from the X-ray's vertical projection was 0.07 0.03 Gy, which was less than the background radiation levels. The Fluke biomedical model 660-5DE (400 cc) and 660-3DE (4 cc) ion chambers were used to detect air dose at a distance of approximately two meters from the central point. The AP projection radiation doses at point B was the lowest (0.070.03 Gy) and the radiation doses at point D was the highest (0.260.08 Gy) .Only taking the vertical projection into account, the radiation doses at point B was the lowest (0.52 Gy), and the radiation doses at point E was the highest (4 Gy).The PA projection radiation at point B was the lowest (0.36 Gy) and the radiation doses at point E was the highest(2.77 Gy), occupying 10-32% of the maximum doses. The maximum dose in five directions was nine times to the minimum dose. When the PX and the C-arm machine were used, the radiation doses at a distance of 2 m were attenuated to the background radiation level. The radiologist without a lead shield should stand at point B of patient's feet. Accordingly, teaching materials on radiation safety for radiological interns and clinical technicians were formulated." ]

[ "Iron, like many of the Transition Metals does have a variable valency, it can valencies of 2+ (ferrous iron), 3+ (ferric iron) and in some cases, 4+ (tetravalent iron).\n\nIn regards to $\\ce{Fe3O4}$, according to the Wikipedia page Iron(II,III) oxide,\n\n\n contains both $\\ce{Fe^2+}$ and $\\ce{Fe^3+}$ ions\n\n\nA 2-dimensional diagram of $\\ce{Fe3O4}$ is below, from the relevant ChemSpider page:\n\n\n\nA 3-dimensional model is below (from Wikipedia):\n\n\n\nred indicate oxygen" ]

[ "As per Nicolau's suggestion, : \n\n$$\\{(1-2)\\times\\color\\red{4}\\}-2$$\n\ngives \n\n$$2\\ce{XeO3}\\to2\\ce{Xe}+\\ce{3O2}$$\n\nThus, I conjecture that the second and third reaction differ by the fact of decomposition of $\\ce{XeO3}$\n\n$2$ can be converted into $1$ by multiplying by $\\color \\red{\\frac 3 2}$ and decomposing one of the $\\ce{XeO3} $ molecules.\n\nWikipedia also says that $\\ce{XeO3}$ is unstable.", "Assuming $\\ce{FeO}$ and $\\ce{Fe3O4}$ are solid throughout the range of temperatures we are interested in, they won't appear in the expression for the equilibrium constant $K$ (which in this case is equivalent to $K_p$). If $n$ is the total number of moles of $\\ce{CO}$ that you start with,\n\n$$K_p = K = \\frac{p_{\\ce{CO2}}}{p_{\\ce{CO}}} = \\frac{n_{\\ce{CO2}}}{n_{\\ce{CO}}} = \\frac{0.9 n}{0.1 n} = 9$$\n\nPlugging this into the formula previously derived, we find $T = 1388~\\mathrm{K}$." ]

[ "Cardiotoxicity is a well-known side effect of doxorubicin (DOX), but the mechanisms leading to this phenomenon are still not completely clear. Prediction of drug-induced dysfunction onset is difficult and is still largely based on detection of cardiac troponin (cTn), a circulating marker of heart damage. In the last years, several investigations focused on the possible involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in DOX-induced toxicity in vitro, with contrasting results. Recently, several groups employed animal models to mimic patient’s condition, investigate the biological pathways perturbed by DOX, and identify diagnostic markers of cardiotoxicity. We reviewed the results from several studies investigating cardiac miRNAs expression in rodent models of DOX-treatment. We also discussed the data from two publications indicating the possible use of circulating miRNA as biomarkers of DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. Unfortunately, limited information was derived from these studies, as selection methods of candidate-miRNAs and heterogeneity in cardiotoxicity assessment greatly hampered the novelty and robustness of the findings. Nevertheless, at least one circulating miRNA, miR-1, showed a good potential as early biomarker of drug-mediated cardiac dysfunction onset. The use of animal models to investigate DOX-induced cardiotoxicity surely helps narrowing the gap between basic research and clinical practice. Despite this, several issues, including selection of relevant miRNAs and less-than-optimal assessment of cardiotoxicity, greatly limited the results obtained so far. Nonetheless, the association of patients-based studies with the use of preclinical models may be the key to address the many unanswered questions regarding the pathophysiology and early detection of cardiotoxicity." ]

[ "Doxorubicin-induced nephropathy in mice is a model for studying experimental nephrotic syndrome. It corresponds to puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis in rats. In this model, susceptible 129 S1/SvImJ mice are administered a rapid intravenous injection that can be accomplished via either the lateral tail vein or the retrobulbar sinus. Because doxorubicin is a highly toxic substance, extravasation must be avoided during the administration of the intravenous injection to prevent the development of large necrotizing lesions and exacerbation of the animals’ stress. In the present study, we compared the safety and stress of these two injection routes by using histopathological analyses of the animals’ orbital cavities or tails, respectively. The injection of 14.5 µg/g body weight doxorubicin into the mice’s lateral tail veins (n = 9) or retrobulbar sinuses (n = 19) caused no clinically detectable stress or impairment. Histopathologies of the specimens five days after doxorubicin injection revealed inflammatory lesions at the injection sites in both groups. In the orbital sinus specimens from the retrobulbar-injected group, fibrosis was evident 25 days after injection. Moreover, while all of the retrobulbar-injected mice (100%) developed nephrotic syndrome, tail vein-injected mice had a significantly lower response rate (66%, p = 0.047, Fisher’s exact test) and exhibited only attenuated features of nephrotic syndrome. It was therefore concluded that doxorubicin administration via either lateral tail vein or retrobulbar sinus injections led to a similar induction of histopathological changes with no effects on the clinical well-being of the mice. However, retrobulbar sinus injections were more efficient for inducing experimental nephrotic syndrome.", "Mycobacterial infections resulting from cardiac implantable electronic devices are rare, but as more devices are implanted, these organisms are increasingly emerging as causes of early-onset infections. We report a patient with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator pocket and associated bloodstream infection caused by an organism of the Mycobacterium fortuitum group, and we review the literature regarding mycobacterial infections resulting from cardiac device implantations. Thirty-two such infections have been previously described; most (70%) were caused by rapidly growing species, of which M. fortuitum group species were predominant.When managing such infections, clinicians should consider the potential need for extended incubation of routine cultures or dedicated mycobacterial cultures for accurate diagnosis; combination antimicrobial drug therapy, even for isolates that appear to be macrolide susceptible, because of the potential for inducible resistance to this drug class; and the arrhythmogenicity of the antimicrobial drugs traditionally recommended for infections caused by these organisms." ]

[ "Twilight (Meyer novel) Twilight (stylized as twilight) is a 2005 young adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book in the \"\"Twilight\"\" series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella \"\"Bella\"\" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington. She is endangered after falling in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire. Additional novels in the series are \"\"New Moon\"\", \"\"Eclipse\"\", and \"\"Breaking Dawn\"\". \"\"Twilight\"\" received lukewarm reviews. Some praised the novel's tone and its portrayal of common teenage emotions such as alienation and rebellion. Others criticized Meyer's prose and argued the story was lacking in character development. It", "of \"\"Breaking Dawn\"\", she is able to cast the shield away from herself. She is also described by Edward as \"\"very graceful\"\", even for a vampire, in comparison to her earlier clumsiness. In the film adaptations, Bella is portrayed by actress Kristen Stewart. Meyer stated that she was \"\"very excited\"\" to see Stewart play the part and that she was \"\"thrilled to have a Bella who has practice [in a vast array of film genres]\"\", since, according to Meyer, \"\"Twilight\"\" has moments that fit into many genres. Stewart wears contact lenses in the films in order to achieve a chocolate" ]

[ "a mind reader, the first human to do so. However, she was not able to guess that Edward was in love with her. After being turned into a vampire, she describes having a much clearer view of the world. She is also very self-controlled, being able to ignore the scent of human blood on her first hunting trip. Bella's private mind that was able to repel some vampires' mental abilities while she was human evolved after she became a vampire; her skill strengthened, allowing her to shield herself and those around her from other vampires' mental gifts. By the end", "attempted to change her into one of the undead. This attack altered the curse for Nina somewhat and caused her to become both werewolf and vampire in one. By day Nina Price seems to be a normal human, but once the sun goes down she becomes a vampire. Due to the werewolf curse, Nina became a white wolf during the full moon and she used her father's money and status to reserve a zoo or park in which she would cage herself until the full moon was over and she was no longer an animal (so she would not hurt" ]

[ "McArdle disease is an uncommon metabolic disorder usually characterized by marked exercise intolerance although great individual variability exists in its phenotypic manifestation. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) genotypes and indices of exercise capacity (peak oxygen uptake (VO(2)peak), ventilatory threshold (VT) and gross mechanical efficiency (GE)) in patients with McArdle disease. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that the I allele might favourably influence exercise capacity. Forty-four Spanish patients (23 males, 21 females) and 44 age-matched and gender-matched controls (23 males, 21 females) performed a graded cycle-ergometer test until exhaustion (for VO(2)peak and VT determination) and a 12 min constant-load test at the power output eliciting the VT (for GE determination). No significant difference (p>0.05) was found in indices of exercise capacity between ID + II genotypes and DD homozygotes in the group of male patients, male controls and female controls. However, in the group of female patients, the ID + II group (n = 11) had a higher VO(2)peak than DD homozygotes (n = 10) (15.8 (SEM 1.6) ml/kg/min versus 11.9 (SEM 0.9) ml/kg/min, respectively; p<0.05)" ]

[ "Older women with coronary artery disease (CAD) have reduced peak aerobic power (Vo(2)peak), muscle strength, and quality of life (QOL). Exercise interventions that can improve Vo(2)peak and muscle strength may also result in an improvement in QOL. This study compared the effect of aerobic training (AT) or combined aerobic and strength training (COMT) on Vo(2)peak, distance walked in 6 min, upper- and lower-extremity maximal strength, and QOL in 18 women (age range, 60 to 80 years) with documented CAD. After baseline testing, subjects were randomly assigned to AT (treadmill and cycle exercise, n = 9) or COMT (treadmill and cycle exercise plus upper- and lower-extremity strength training, n = 9), and each group exercised 3 d/wk for 8 weeks. Both AT and COMT resulted in a similar increase in Vo(2)peak, distance walked in 6 min, lower-extremity strength, and emotional and global QOL. COMT improved upper-extremity strength, and physical and social QOL, which was unchanged after AT", "An insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the gene for angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) is associated with ACE plasma levels and activity. Conflicting results have been reported about the relevance of this polymorphism for atherosclerotic vascular disease. The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of this polymorphism for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The study was designed as a case-control study including 522 patients with documented PAD and 522 sex- and age-matched controls. ACE genotype was determined by size-analysis of polymerase chain reaction products. ACE genotype frequencies were similar between patients (II: 23.4%; ID: 44.8%; DD: 31.8%) and controls (II: 23.8%; ID: 48.3%; DD: 27.9%, P=0.37). The adjusted odds ratio of carriers of the DD genotype for PAD was 1.29 (95% confidence interval 0.95-1.75). The polymorphism was furthermore not associated with age at onset of PAD (P=0.56), Fontaine stage of the disease (P=0.68) or ankle/brachial index of patients (P=0.86)" ]

[ " So farm subsidies hark back to WWI, when the federal government subsidized agriculture to keep it cheap for the war effort. These subsidies stuck around in the 20's, which caused many farmers to have to foreclose on their farms as agricultural prices remained rock bottom. \n\nIn the great depression, the FDR administration, through the agricultural adjustment act, famously paid farmers not to plant on their land and to kill off excess livestock to bring prices of agricultural products back up to a point where farming was a viable business model.\n\nIn short, the government subsidizes agriculture because the government has an interest in making sure food prices are not volatile and that farmers can earn a living farming. If they're going to do this without driving farmers out of business as they did in the 1920's, they will occasionally have to pay farmers not to grow (to put upward pressure on the price).\n\nMany would argue that, by 2015, the government could very easily let food prices float freely to no ill effect on the overall economy (and save a bunch of tax dollars). However, farmers are a powerful interest group in US politics and governments, historically, take food security very seriously and likely wouldn't back off of it to save a few bucks.", " Basically, the government wants to keep some farmers farming. If they go out of business, we run into trouble. So early on, the government would store excess grain/corn/etc to make sure that which went on the market was worth enough to keep everyone paid. But this also meant the farmers had to incur the costs of farming corn that wasn't eaten, the government had to incur the costs of storing corn till it rotted, and so on. It's ultimately cheaper just to pay them not to farm." ]

[ " As I understand it, the majority of poor farmers are creating food at a sustainable level. This means they only make enough to feed themselves and their families. It's due to the fact that most land is bought by the government or large companies who coerce these small farmers into giving up fertile soil. An example would be Tibetan farmers who were forced to sell their farmland because a large company terraced a nearby mountain, which affected the mountain goat population, which affected the weed growth, etc etc.\n\n Big company farmers *are* very very rich, and they grow things in controlled atmospheres/greenhouses, where temperature/humidity/sunlight/pressure/etc and pesticides and growth drugs and SCIENCE are on their side. They can produce a massive number of crops with minimal cost and time, whereas a poorer farmer is entirely dependent on how the natural world acts. If a river is stopped to create a dam for hydropower, they've just lost their water supply. If the cold snap happens too early in the year, all their tubers have just frozen in the ground. So not only do big companies have the ability to create a lot of produce, they can also do it consistently and for a longer period of time. This means that when they sell, they can do it at a lower price and also build up brand reliability. \n\nBetween fair trade chocolate or regular chocolate, the economical choice is the regular chocolate. It costs more for the poor farmer to create their crop, so they can't create a lot of it, and it's harder for them to sell their crop when they do have enough surplus. \n\nWhen they say that there is enough food to feed everybody in the world, most of this food is not being produced by the local/poorer farmers. It's being made by the economically more developed countries in rural areas, whose target audience is other economically developed countries, because these countries can buy their food. \n\nThe competition is between big companies and independent farmers. There is a massive demand for food, and a massive supply for it, but the distribution doesn't follow the demand because the people who need it most simply cannot afford it.", " There are all sorts of crops, and farmers can choose to grow whatever they want on their own land (assuming the weather and the dirt are the right kind of weather and dirt for the crop - good luck growing bananas in Connecticut!). Farmers can grow tomatoes or corn or wheat or spelt or a bajillion other things.\n\nAnd I won't go into what grown-ups call \"market economics\", but basically, people are willing to pay different amounts of money for different crops. The same way gold is worth more than silver, some crops are worth more than other crops. And these prices go up and down.\n\nAt one point, lots of US farmers noticed that certain crops (like cotton and tobacco) were consistently worth a lot more than other crops (like corn). They decided to grow the crops that would make them more money. The problem is, if all the farmers started thinking like that, nobody would grow corn, and then there'd be less food to eat! No corn on the cop, no Corn Pops, no Kix! And lots of people would be hungry! So the US Government decided to step it, and they told farmers they'd pay them extra if they were to grow corn (a *subsidy*) so they'd have no reason to switch to tobacco (to *incentivize* corn). So even though the market price for corn is still lower, the US Government *inflates* it, makes it higher, so that farmers will still want to grow corn, so people can eat.\n\nThe problem nowadays is that farmers have figured out how to grow really big farms using really big machines, so one farmer can grow LOTS of corn all by himself or herself! And that meant that there was actually lots and lots of corn, almost too much corn, and so corn started being used in all sorts of different things. Corn being fed to cows, using corn syrup instead of sugar to make things sweet, and so on. If you go to a supermarket, it's actually cheaper to buy a Twinkie than an apple! So some people want the law to change, and the subsidies to go away, but that hasn't happened yet. Lots of farmers would be really upset if that extra money from the government went away, so it's still being debated." ]

[ "Louisiana average salary is $49,504, median salary is $49,504 with a salary range from $49,504 to $49,504. Louisiana salaries are collected from government agencies and companies.Each salary is associated with a real job position. Louisiana salary statistics is not exclusive and is for reference only. They are presented as is and updated regularly.ouisiana average salary is $49,504, median salary is $49,504 with a salary range from $49,504 to $49,504. Louisiana salaries are collected from government agencies and companies." ]

[ "According to SimplyHired.com, the average salary for a waiter in Houston is $49,000 a year, and some can make a lot more than that. “I’ve being doing this for 10 years,” says 28-year-old Michael Brand, who works at the just-opened Triniti.ccording to SimplyHired.com, the average salary for a waiter in Houston is $49,000 a year, and some can make a lot more than that. The longevity is just unbelievable,” Tony Vallone says of his waitstaff. Raul Larios has been with Vallone for 37 years. I eat in restaurants. I write about them.", "The average salary of a police officer in Louisiana is less than the national average, but the Pelican State ranks toward the middle nationwide in terms of officers being able to afford a home on what they make. average, salary, police officer, louisiana. 293. Wednesday, 15 Jul 2015 03:21 PM. 2015-21-15." ]

[ "Smoking is considered one of the primary risk factors for many serious diseases. It has been conclusively linked to lung cancer, with smokers being up to 30 times more likely to get lung cancer or die from it than nonsmokers. Additionally, smoking is also a significant risk factor for heart diseases. It contributes to the buildup of plaque in the arteries, increases the risk of blood clots, reduces the blood flow and the amount of oxygen in the blood. It also nearly doubles the risk of heart attack. Furthermore, smoking has been associated with other cancers, like mouth, throat, kidney, and pancreas. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of lung diseases that block airflow and make it hard to breathe, is also largely caused by smoking. In fact, the vast majority of COPD cases are directly related to cigarette smoke. Lastly, smoking can also lead to stroke, cataracts, loss of sense of smell and taste, and it can cause teeth and gum disease" ]

[ "Smoking has been a part of human culture for centuries, with tobacco being the most commonly used substance. From social gatherings to personal stress relief, smoking has been used in various contexts. The act of smoking involves the combustion of a material and the subsequent inhalation of the resultant smoke. The most prevalent form of smoking worldwide is cigarette smoking, although other forms such as cigars, pipes, and hookahs are also common. While the substances used in these smoking methods differ, the act itself remains similar. The social implications of smoking have varied greatly over time, with certain cultures embracing it as a part of their rituals and traditions. In recent years, however, smoking has faced increasing scrutiny due to its potential health risks. As a result, many societies have begun to implement measures to reduce the prevalence of smoking, such as the implementation of smoking bans in public places and the introduction of smoking cessation programs" ]

[ "Kidney failure is a debilitating disorder with limited treatment options. The kidney-protective effects of stem cells have been vastly investigated and promising results have been achieved with various sources of stem cells. However, in spite of beneficial effects on other disease models, the renoprotective potential of human cord blood-derived unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSC) has not been examined so far. In the present study, acute kidney failure was induced in female nude mice and the effect of USSC transplantation on kidney function and structure was assessed. Furthermore, the expression of some cytokine genes was examined by real-time PCR. Homing of the transplanted cells into kidneys was assessed by flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and real-time PCR. USSC-conditioned medium did not attenuate the in vitro nephrotoxic effects of cisplatin. Transplantation of USSC to nude mice did not protect kidney function and was associated with worsened kidney structural damage. USSC transplantation was also associated with a decline in the renal expression of VEGF-A gene. In spite of these effects, the transplanted cells could not be detected in the kidneys by any of the exploited methods and they were mainly entrapped in the lungs" ]

[ "Context: Nephrotoxicity is a highly manifested complication in cancer patients undergoing cisplatin therapy. Oxidative stress, nitrosative stress, and inflammation are the major patho-mechanisms of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the protective effect of pretreatment and post-treatment of nordihydroguaiarectic acid (NDGA) on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. Material and methods: Cisplatin-induced renal damage was accessed by biochemical estimation of nephrotoxicity markers, oxidative and nitrosative stress whereas inflammatory markers were accessed by ELISA technique. Results and conclusion: Cisplatin administration had resulted in renal injury associated with oxidative stress, nitrosative stress as evident by increased MDA, ROS, and nitrite level with decreased antioxidants such as SOD, catalase and, glutathione. Furthermore, cisplatin treated animals exhibited a noticeable pro-inflammatory response with the substantial increase in renal levels of TNF-á, IL-1â, and IL-6 and decrease in the renal level of IL-10. NDGA pretreatment did not lead to significantly rise in oxidative stress, nitrosative stress, and inflammation along with restored the level of IL-10 in the kidney and preserved renal function. Moreover, NDGA post-treatment also presented nephroprotective effects, but the effects were not as positive as compared to NDGA pretreatment. In conclusion, these results indicate that NDGA pretreatment is renoprotective while on the other hand NDGA post-treatment is not so effective in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.", "Cisplatin, a major chemotherapeutic agent, accumulates in proximal tubules of the kidneys and causes acute renal failure dose-dependently. We previously reported that cisplatin induced more severe renal dysfunction in interleukin-6 (IL-6) knockout (IL-6(-/-)) mice than in wild-type (WT) mice. Expression of a pro-apoptotic protein was significantly increased with cisplatin in IL-6(-/-) mice compared to that in WT mice. IL-6, locally expressed in renal tubular cells after cisplatin administration, prevents the development of renal dysfunction at an early stage. In the present study, we focused on downstream signals of IL-6 and oxidative stress induced by cisplatin in order to evaluate the protective role of IL-6 in the development of acute renal failure. WT and IL-6(-/-) mice were given either cisplatin (30 mg/kg) or saline intraperitoneally. Blood and kidney samples were collected at 24h and 72 h after cisplatin administration. The changes in expression of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal protein (4-HNE, oxidative stress marker) and cyclooxygenase-2 (cox-2), activities of superoxide dismutases and caspase-3, and phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) were examined" ]