Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Body Composition COMPARISON OF A COMMERCIAL WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM TO A FITNESS CENTER

Ball SD, Bolhofner AT. Comparison of a commercial weight loss program to a fitness center. JEPonline 2008;11(3):1-12. It is not known if commercial weight loss programs are as effective at lowering body weight, altering body fatness and improving the lipoprotein profile as compared to joining a fitness center. PURPOSE: To compare the effectiveness of a commercial weight loss program (Weight Watchers) (WW) to joining a fitness center (FC) for weight loss and body composition. A secondary purpose was to investigate changes in blood chemistry. METHODS: Forty-three overweight (BMI = 25) and sedentary women received a 12 week membership to either WW (n=24) or a local fitness center (FC) (n=19). Subjects in WW were instructed to follow the recommendations of the program, which included weekly weigh-ins, counseling sessions, and a point counting system to monitor calories. Subjects assigned to FC were instructed to follow the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for weight loss. Outcomes included body weight (BW), body fat percentage (%BF) measured via the BOD POD, intraabdominal fat (IAF) and subcutaneous abdominal fat (SAF) measured via computed tomography, total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C with subfractions, and triglycerides. RESULTS: BW decreased significantly for WW (P < 0.001) but not for FC (P = 0.055). %BF did not change significantly for either group. Both groups lost a significant amount of IAF. SAF decreased significantly for WW but not for FC. No changes were observed in the lipoprotein profile. CONCLUSION: Although WW subjects lost some body weight and improved abdominal fatness, %BF was not decreased. Overweight women joining a fitness center for the purpose of weight loss or body fat change will likely fail. Neither program was able to alter the lipoprotein profile. Health professionals should consider these results when recommending weight loss programs.
A secondary analysis of retention across the PMTCT cascade in selected countries: Rwanda, Malawi, Kenya, and Swaziland

This study constructed cohorts of HIV-positive pregnant women and their infants by reviewing facility PMTCT labor and delivery post natal care and laboratory registers/records from the time of the mother’s initial registration. We then tracked their retention in the program over 10-12 months. Four countries were selected as examples of countries implementing different models of PMTCT: Rwanda (Option B) Malawi (Option B+) Kenya (Option A) and Swaziland (Option A).
Persistence of secondary prevention medication and related factors for acute ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack in China

Abstract Objective: We recently measured the longitudinal use of secondary prevention medication following hospital discharge and the factors influencing persistence in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and transient ischemic attack (TIA) in China. Methods: Patients with AIS and TIA who were enrolled in the China National Stroke Registry II from June 2012 to January 2013 were surveyed to determine persistence. The medications included antiplatelet therapies, warfarin, antihypertensive therapies, statins, and diabetes medications. We determined persistence for a three-month period following discharge. Persistence was defined as the continuation of all secondary preventive medications prescribed upon hospital discharge. The factors associated with medication persistence 3 months after discharge were examined using a multivariable logistic regression. Results: Of the 21,592 patients with AIS and TIA, 18,344 (91.2%) were eligible for analysis. After 3 months post-discharge, 46.2% of the subjects continued to take all secondary prevention medications prescribed at discharge. Independent predictors of three-month medication persistence included younger age, absence of a history of diabetes or atrial fibrillation, higher family income, less severe stroke, index cerebrovascular event of ischemic stroke, and being treated in a hospital with a stroke unit and more beds in the neurology department. Conclusions: More than half of patients with AIS and TIA reported discontinuing one or more secondary prevention medications within 3 months of hospital discharge. Several factors associated with medication persistence were identified. Here, we propose strategies that could be implemented to improve the quality of secondary prevention.
Altered putamen functional connectivity is associated with anxiety disorder in Parkinson's disease

In this study, we used resting state-functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to explore altered putamen functional connectivity (FC) in Parkinson's disease patients with anxiety disorder. We divided 65 Parkinson's disease patients into anxiety (PD-A; n=18) and non-anxiety (PD-NA; n=45) groups based on a Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale cutoff score of 12. The PD-A patients exhibited altered putamen FC with cortical and subcortical regions. The PD-A patients showed enhanced putamen FC with the caudatum, which correlated with increased emotional processing during anxiety. Decreased putamen FC with the orbitofrontal gyrus and cerebellum also correlated with increased anxiety in Parkinson's disease. Our findings demonstrate that anxiety disorder in Parkinson's disease is associated with abnormal putamen FC networks, especially with caudatum, orbitofrontal gyrus and cerebellum.
Regulation of FSH expression by differentially expressed miR-186-5p in rat anterior adenohypophyseal cells

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) has key roles in animal reproduction, including spermatogenesis and ovarian maturation. Many factors influence FSH secretion. However, despite the broad functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) via the regulation of target genes, little is known about their roles in FSH secretion. Our previous results suggested that miR-186-5p targets the 3′ UTR of FSHb; therefore, we examined whether miR-186-5p could regulate FSH secretion in rat anterior adenohypophyseal cells. miR-186-5p was transfected into rat anterior pituitary cells. The expression of FSHb and the secretion of FSH were examined by RT-qPCR and ELISA. A miR-186-5p mimic decreased the expression of FSHb compared with expression in the control group and decreased FSH secretion. In contrast, both the mRNA levels and secretion of FSH increased in response to miR-186-5p inhibitors. Our results demonstrate that miR-186-5p regulates FSH secretion by directly targeting the FSHb 3′ UTR, providing additional functional evidence for the importance of miRNAs in the regulation of animal reproduction.
Association between glutamate transporter gene polymorphisms and obsessive-compulsive disorder/trait empathy in a Korean population

Accumulating evidence suggests that the glutamatergic system plays a major role in the pathophysiology of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and empathic processing. Particularly, genetic influence of glutamate transporter gene (SLC1A1) on OCD has been frequently replicated in previous studies, but several studies did not replicate the result. Therefore, we aimed to replicate the associations between the SLC1A1 and OCD in a Korean population. In addition, we investigated the influence of SLC1A1 on trait empathy, impairments in which are characteristic of OCD. Six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of SLC1A1 were genotyped in 615 patients with OCD and 508 healthy controls. The interpersonal reactivity index (IRI)—which consists of four subscales (perspective taking, PT; fantasy seeking, FS; empathic concern, EC; personal distress, PD)—was assessed from 277 patients with OCD and 395 controls. There were no significant associations between OCD and SNPs or haplotypes of SLC1A1. Patients with OCD exhibited significantly lower PT and higher PD scores than controls. The C-T-G haplotype at rs301430-rs301434-rs3087879 of SLC1A1 was significantly associated with higher PD scores after adjusted for age, sex, and OCD status. Our results suggest that six common SNPs of SLC1A1 may not contribute to the development of OCD, but may contribute to certain aspect of trait empathy such as personal distress. However, insufficient sample size and limited number of SLC1A1 SNPs may have reduced the likelihood of detecting significant associations. Therefore, further studies with larger sample size and more tag SNPs of the SLC1A1 gene were warranted.
Collaborative Task Execution in Mobile Cloud Computing Under a Stochastic Wireless Channel

This paper investigates collaborative task execution between a mobile device and a cloud clone for mobile applications under a stochastic wireless channel. A mobile application is modeled as a sequence of tasks that can be executed on the mobile device or on the cloud clone. We aim to minimize the energy consumption on the mobile device while meeting a time deadline, by strategically offloading tasks to the cloud. We formulate the collaborative task execution as a constrained shortest path problem. We derive a one-climb policy by characterizing the optimal solution and then propose an enumeration algorithm for the collaborative task execution in polynomial time. Further, we apply the LARAC algorithm to solving the optimization problem approximately, which has lower complexity than the enumeration algorithm. Simulation results show that the approximate solution of the LARAC algorithm is close to the optimal solution of the enumeration algorithm. In addition, we consider a probabilistic time deadline, which is transformed to hard deadline by Markov inequality. Moreover, compared to the local execution and the remote execution, the collaborative task execution can significantly save the energy consumption on the mobile device, prolonging its battery life.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Changing behaviour through business-nonprofit collaboration ? Consumer responses

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The effect of nanocrystalline Ni-W coating on the tensile properties of copper

Nanostructured Ni-W alloy coatings containing approximately 40 wt. % tungsten were electrodeposited onto copper substrates. The effect of the coatings thickness on the surface topography, microstructure and grain size was investigated with the aid of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques respectively. In addition, this research work aims in understanding the influence and correlation between microstructure and thickness of these Ni-W coatings with the bulk mechanical properties of coated specimens. The experimental results indicated that the micro-hardness and Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) of the Ni-W coated copper were higher than that of bare copper, whereas both slightly increased with increasing coating thickness up to 21 μm. On the other hand, the ductility of Ni-W coated copper decreased significantly with increasing coating thickness. Thus it could be said that when applying Ni-W coatings there are certain limitations not only in terms of their composition, but their thickness, grain size and coating structure should be also taken into consideration, in order to obtain an understanding of their mechanical behavior.
Fatigue test of structural steel Q390GJD welded connections

A number of axial tensile fatigue tests were conducted under high frequency fatigue machine.During the tests,Q390GJD plate specimens with polished and original welded connections were used.The test results showed that the discreteness of the fatigue strength was fairly great.The fatigue strength of Q390GJD welded connections under 2 million times loading was greater than the corresponding value calculated according to the steel design code.The fatigue performance of these welded connections with different treatment has large difference.
Berberrubine attenuates mucosal lesions and inflammation in dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis in mice

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic relapsing disease without satisfactory treatments, in which intestinal inflammation and disrupted intestinal epithelial barrier are two main pathogeneses triggering UC. Berberrubine (BB) is deemed as one of the major active metabolite of berberine (BBR), a naturally-occurring isoquinoline alkaloid with appreciable anti-UC effect. This study aimed to comparatively investigate the therapeutic effects of BB and BBR on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mouse colitis model, and explore the potential underlying mechanism. Results revealed that BB (20 mg/kg) produced a comparable therapeutic effect as BBR (50 mg/kg) and positive control sulfasalazine (200 mg/kg) by significantly reducing the disease activity index (DAI) with prolonged colon length and increased bodyweight as compared with the DSS group. BB treatment was shown to significantly ameliorate the DSS-induced colonic pathological alternations and decreased histological scores. In addition, BB markedly attenuated colonic inflammation by alleviating inflammatory cell infiltration and inhibiting myeloperoxidase (MPO) and cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-4 and IL-10) productions in DSS mice. Furthermore, BB treatment substantially upregulated the expression of tight junction (TJ) proteins (zonula occludens-1, zonula occludens-2, claudin-1, occludin) and mRNA expression of mucins (mucin-1 and mucin-2), and decreased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. In summary, BB exerted similar effect to its analogue BBR and positive control in attenuating DSS-induced UC with much lower dosage and similar mechanism. The protective effect observed may be intimately associated with maintaining the integrity of the intestinal mucosal barrier and mitigating intestinal inflammation, which were mediated at least partially, via favorable modulation of TJ proteins and mucins and inhibition of inflammatory mediators productions in the colonic tissue. This is the first report to demonstrate that BB possesses pronounced anti-UC effect similar to BBR and sulfasalazine with much smaller dosage. BB might have the potential to be further developed into a promising therapeutic option in the treatment of UC.
Genome-Wide Biases in the Rate and Molecular Spectrum of Spontaneous Mutations in Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio fischeri

The vast diversity in nucleotide composition and architecture among bacterial genomes may be partly explained by inherent biases in the rates and spectra of spontaneous mutations. Bacterial genomes with multiple chromosomes are relatively unusual but some are relevant to human health, none more so than the causative agent of cholera, Vibrio cholerae. Here, we present the genome-wide mutation spectra in wild-type and mismatch repair (MMR) defective backgrounds of two Vibrio species, the low-GC% squid symbiont V. fischeri and the pathogen V. cholerae, collected under conditions that greatly minimize the efficiency of natural selection. In apparent contrast to their high diversity in nature, both wild-type V. fischeri and V. cholerae have among the lowest rates for base-substitution mutations (bpsms) and insertion-deletion mutations (indels) that have been measured, below 10−3/genome/generation. V. fischeri and V. cholerae have distinct mutation spectra, but both are AT-biased and produce a surprising number of multi-nucleotide indels. Furthermore, the loss of a functional MMR system caused the mutation spectra of these species to converge, implying that the MMR system itself contributes to species-specific mutation patterns. Bpsm and indel rates varied among genome regions, but do not explain the more rapid evolutionary rates of genes on chromosome 2, which likely result from weaker purifying selection. More generally, the very low mutation rates of Vibrio species correlate inversely with their immense population sizes and suggest that selection may not only have maximized replication fidelity but also optimized other polygenic traits relative to the constraints of genetic drift.
Mechanical regulation of musculoskeletal system development

During embryogenesis, the musculoskeletal system develops while containing within itself a force generator in the form of the musculature. This generator becomes functional relatively early in development, exerting an increasing mechanical load on neighboring tissues as development proceeds. A growing body of evidence indicates that such mechanical forces can be translated into signals that combine with the genetic program of organogenesis. This unique situation presents both a major challenge and an opportunity to the other tissues of the musculoskeletal system, namely bones, joints, tendons, ligaments and the tissues connecting them. Here, we summarize the involvement of muscle-induced mechanical forces in the development of various vertebrate musculoskeletal components and their integration into one functional unit. Summary: This Review summarizes how muscle-induced mechanical forces influence the morphogenesis and biomechanical integrity of tendon, joint, bone and muscle, and their integration into a functional unit.
Effects of pre-fatigue on the strain localization during tensile tests of DP 500 steel at low and high strain rates

The analysis involved subjecting DP 500 steel to pre-fatigue loads, and then tension at high strain rates using Hopkinson bar. Digital image correlation method was used to investigate how the pre-fatigue loads change the strains’ distribution on the surface of the sample subjected to tension. The analysis involved both films recorded at low rates of deformation (1.0 × 10−2 s−1) using ARAMIS system and the images captured with a high-speed camera during dynamic deformations with a Hopkinson bar (6.0 × 102 s−1). It was noted, based on the micro-structural analysis, that pre-fatigue loads cause the formation of micro-damages in the examined material. Thus, macroscopically observed stress–strain characteristic as well as Huber–Mises substitute strains’ distribution determined locally by the image correlation method is also subject to changes. The observed effects include the following: reduction of deformation corresponding to the tensile strength, decrease in elongation at break, and increase in yield limit and tensile strength. The observed effects are intensified with an increased stress value and pre-fatigue cycles’ number. Furthermore, these phenomena are more intensive in the conditions of dynamic deformation.
Prediction of egg freshness during storage using electronic nose

&NA; The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of a fast gas chromatography (GC) e‐nose for freshness discrimination and for prediction of storage time as well as sensory and internal quality changes during storage of hen eggs. All samples were obtained from the same egg production farm and stored at 20 °C for 20 d. Egg sampling was conducted every 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 16, and 20 d. During each sampling time, 4 egg cartons (each containing 10 eggs) were randomly selected: one carton for Haugh units, one carton for sensory evaluation and 2 cartons for the e‐nose experiment. The e‐nose study included 2 independent test sets; calibration (35 samples) and validation (28 samples). Every sampling time, 5 replicates were prepared from one egg carton for calibration samples and 4 replicates were prepared from the remaining egg carton for validation samples. Sensors (peaks) were selected prior to multivariate chemometric analysis; qualitative sensors for principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant factor analysis (DFA) and quantitative sensors for partial least square (PLS) modeling. PCA and DFA confirmed the difference in volatile profiles of egg samples from 7 different storage times accounting for a total variance of 95.7% and 93.71%, respectively. Models for predicting storage time, Haugh units, odor score, and overall acceptability score from e‐nose data were developed using calibration samples by PLS regression. The results showed that these quality indices were well predicted from the e‐ nose signals, with correlation coefficients of R2 = 0.9441, R2 = 0.9511, R2 = 0.9725, and R2 = 0.9530 and with training errors of 0.887, 1.24, 0.626, and 0.629, respectively. As a result of ANOVA, most of the PLS model results were not significantly (P > 0.05) different from the corresponding reference values. These results proved that the fast GC electronic nose has the potential to assess egg freshness and feasibility to predict multiple egg freshness indices during its circulation in the supply chain.
Later Age at Onset of Independent Walking Is Associated With Lower Bone Strength at Fracture‐Prone Sites in Older Men

Later age at onset of independent walking is associated with lower leg bone strength in childhood and adolescence. However, it is unknown whether these associations persist into older age or whether they are evident at axial (central) or upper limb sites. Therefore, we examined walking age obtained at age 2 years and bone outcomes obtained by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) and peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) scans at ages 60 to 64 years in a nationally representative cohort study of British people, the MRC National Survey of Health and Development. It was hypothesized that later walking age would be associated with lower bone strength at all sites. Later independent walking age was associated with lower height‐adjusted hip (standardized regression coefficients with 95% confidence interval [CI] –0.179 [–0.251 to –0.107]), spine (–0.157 [–0.232 to –0.082]), and distal radius (–0.159 [–0.245 to –0.073]) bone mineral content (BMC, indicating bone compressive strength) in men (all p < 0.001). Adjustment for covariates partially attenuated these associations, primarily because of lower lean mass and adolescent sporting ability in later walkers. These associations were also evident for a number of hip geometric parameters (including cross‐sectional moment of inertia [CSMI], indicating bone bending/torsional strength) assessed by hip structural analysis (HSA) from DXA scans. Similar height‐adjusted associations were also observed in women for several hip, spine, and upper limb outcomes, although adjustment for fat or lean mass led to complete attenuation for most outcomes, with the exception of femoral shaft CSMI and spine bone area (BA). In conclusion, later independent walking age appears to have a lifelong association with bone strength across multiple skeletal sites in men. These effects may result from direct effects of early life loading on bone growth and mediation by adult body composition. Results suggest that late walking age may represent a novel risk factor for subsequent low bone strength. Existing interventions effective in hastening walking age may have positive effects on bone across life. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc.