Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cholesterol-lowering effects of a proprietary Chinese red-yeast-rice dietary supplement.

BACKGROUND We examined the cholesterol-lowering effects of a proprietary Chinese red-yeast-rice supplement in an American population consuming a diet similar to the American Heart Association Step I diet using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, prospectively randomized 12-wk controlled trial at a university research center. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the lipid-lowering effects of this red-yeast-rice dietary supplement in US adults separate from effects of diet alone. DESIGN Eighty-three healthy subjects (46 men and 37 women aged 34-78 y) with hyperlipidemia [total cholesterol, 5.28-8.74 mmol/L (204-338 mg/dL); LDL cholesterol, 3.31-7.16 mmol/L (128-277 mg/dL); triacylglycerol, 0.62-2.78 mmol/L (55-246 mg/dL); and HDL cholesterol 0.78-2.46 mmol/L (30-95 mg/dL)] who were not being treated with lipid-lowering drugs participated. Subjects were treated with red yeast rice (2.4 g/d) or placebo and instructed to consume a diet providing 30% of energy from fat, <10% from saturated fat, and <300 mg cholesterol daily. Main outcome measures were total cholesterol, total triacylglycerol, and HDL and LDL cholesterol measured at weeks 8, 9, 11, and 12. RESULTS Total cholesterol concentrations decreased significantly between baseline and 8 wk in the red-yeast-rice-treated group compared with the placebo-treated group [(x+/-SD) 6.57+/-0.93 mmol/L (254+/-36 mg/dL) to 5.38+/-0.80 mmol/L (208+/-31 mg/dL); P < 0.001]. LDL cholesterol and total triacylglycerol were also reduced with the supplement. HDL cholesterol did not change significantly. CONCLUSIONS Red yeast rice significantly reduces total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and total triacylglycerol concentrations compared with placebo and provides a new, novel, food-based approach to lowering cholesterol in the general population.
Altered diurnal regulation of blood ionized calcium and serum parathyroid hormone concentrations during parenteral nutrition.

BACKGROUND Little is known about parathyroid gland function in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN). OBJECTIVE Our objective was to determine whether parathyroid gland function is abnormal in TPN recipients. DESIGN Six patients with a mean (+/-1 SD) age of 45.5 +/- 8.0 y who had been receiving TPN for 18.7 +/- 2. 8 y underwent bone biopsy, bone mass measurements with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and dynamic tests of parathyroid gland function. Diurnal variations in blood ionized calcium (iCa(2+)) and serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations were also assessed. Results were compared with those of healthy volunteers. RESULTS Bone mass and bone formation were subnormal in all patients. Basal serum PTH concentrations were moderately higher in the TPN recipients than in healthy volunteers, and values obtained every 30 min over 24 h were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in TPN recipients (5.0 +/- 0.9 pmol/L) than in healthy volunteers (2.6 +/- 0.6 pmol/L). The percentage increase in serum PTH during citrate-induced hypocalcemia was lower in the TPN recipients, consistent with secondary hyperparathyroidism. Evening infusions of calcium-containing TPN eliminated the nocturnal rise in serum PTH, increased the amplitude of change for iCa(2+) and PTH over 24 h, increased the orderliness of change for iCa(2+) and PTH as measured by approximate entropy (ApEn), and enhanced the synchrony of change between iCa(2+) and PTH. Treatment for 10 d with calcium-free TPN restored the nocturnal rise in serum PTH and increased ApEn for PTH. ApEn for iCa(2+) remained low, suggesting that a component of nutrient solutions, but not calcium per se, enhances the regularity of PTH release in TPN recipients. CONCLUSION Parathyroid gland function is abnormal in long-term TPN recipients, which may contribute to disturbances in bone metabolism.
The effect of soy protein with or without isoflavones relative to milk protein on plasma lipids in hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND Clinical trial data and the results of a meta-analysis suggest a hypocholesterolemic effect of soy protein. The effect may be partially attributable to the isoflavones in soy. Few studies have examined the separate effects of soy protein and isoflavones. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine the effect of soy protein and isoflavones on plasma lipid concentrations in postmenopausal, moderately hypercholesterolemic women. DESIGN This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 3 treatment groups. After a 4-wk run-in phase during which the women consumed a milk protein supplement, the subjects were randomly assigned to 12 wk of dietary protein supplementation (42 g/d) with either a milk protein (Milk group) or 1 of 2 soy proteins containing either trace amounts of isoflavones (Soy- group) or 80 mg aglycone isoflavones (Soy+ group). RESULTS LDL-cholesterol concentrations decreased more in the Soy+ group (n = 31) than in the Soy- group (n = 33) (0.38 compared with 0.09 mmol/L; P = 0.005), but neither of these changes was significantly different from the 0.26-mmol/L decrease observed in the Milk group (n = 30). The results for total cholesterol were similar to those for LDL cholesterol. There were no significant differences in HDL-cholesterol or triacylglycerol concentrations between the 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS The difference in total- and LDL-cholesterol lowering between the 2 soy-protein supplements suggests an effect attributable to the isoflavone-containing fraction. However, the unexpected LDL-cholesterol lowering observed in the Milk group, and the fact that there was no significant difference between either soy group and the Milk group, suggests that changes may have been due to other factors related to participation in the study.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of selenium supplements among HIV-infected pregnant women in Tanzania: effects on maternal and child outcomes.

BACKGROUND In observational studies, adequate selenium status has been associated with better pregnancy outcomes and slowed HIV disease progression. OBJECTIVE We investigated the effects of daily selenium supplements on CD4 cell counts, viral load, pregnancy outcomes, and maternal and infant mortality among 913 HIV-infected pregnant women. DESIGN In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, eligible women between 12 and 27 wk of gestation were given daily selenium (200 mug as selenomethionine) or placebo as supplements from recruitment until 6 mo after delivery. All women received prenatal iron, folic acid, and multivitamin supplements irrespective of experimental assignment. RESULTS The selenium regimen had no significant effect on maternal CD4 cell counts or viral load. Selenium was marginally associated with a reduced risk of low birth weight [relative risk (RR) = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.49, 1.05; P = 0.09] and increased risk of fetal death (RR = 1.58; 95% CI = 0.95, 2.63; P = 0.08), but had no effect on risk of prematurity or small-for-gestational age birth. The regimen had no significant effect on maternal mortality (RR = 1.02; 95% CI = 0.51, 2.04; P = 0.96). There was no significant effect on neonatal or overall child mortality, but selenium reduced the risk of child mortality after 6 wk (RR = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.19, 0.99; P = 0.048). CONCLUSION Among HIV-infected women from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, selenium supplements given during and after pregnancy did not improve HIV disease progression or pregnancy outcomes, but may improve child survival. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00197561.
Fish odour triggers conspecific attraction behaviour in an aquatic invertebrate

Group living has evolved as an adaptation to predation in many animal species. In a multitude of vertebrates, the tendency to aggregate varies with the risk of predation, but experimental evidence for this is less well known in invertebrates. Here, we examine the tendency to aggregate in the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex in the absence and presence of predator fish odour. Without fish odour, the gammarids showed no significant tendency to aggregate. In contrast to this, in fish-conditioned water, they significantly preferred to stay close to conspecifics. Predation risk can, thus, influence gammarids social behaviour.
The nematode Pristionchus pacificus as a model system for integrative studies in evolutionary biology

Comprehensive studies of evolution have historically been hampered by the division among disciplines. Now, as biology moves towards an ‘‐omics’ era, it is more important than ever to tackle the evolution of function and form by considering all those research areas involved in the regulation of phenotypes. Here, we review recent attempts to establish the nematode Pristionchus pacificus as a model organism that allows integrative studies of development and evo‐devo, with ecology and population genetics. Originally developed for comparative study with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, P. pacificus provided insight into developmental pathways including dauer formation, vulva and gonad development, chemosensation, innate immunity and neurobiology. Its subsequent discovery across a wide geographic distribution in association with scarab beetles enabled its evaluation in a biogeographic context. Development of an evolutionary field station on La Réunion Island, where P. pacificus is present in high abundance across a number of widespread habitat types, allows examination of the microfacets of evolution – processes of natural selection, adaptation and drift among populations can now be examined in this island setting. The combination of laboratory‐based functional studies with fieldwork in P. pacificus has the long‐term prospective to provide both proximate (mechanistic) and ultimate (evolutionary and ecological) causation and might therefore help to overcome the long‐term divide between major areas in biology.
Women with low iron stores absorb iron from soybeans.

BACKGROUND Worldwide, 30% of the population, a greater proportion of whom are women and children, is iron deficient. Soybeans are a major source of nonheme iron in many human diets, but information on iron bioavailability is still conflicting. Because much of soybean iron is in ferritin [distinct from the poorly bioavailable iron in cereals resulting from interactions between calcium, Fe(III), phytate, and proteins in the meal], soybeans provide a target for manipulating seed iron composition to achieve increased iron bioavailability. OBJECTIVE The aim was to reevaluate soybean iron bioavailability. DESIGN Eighteen women, most with marginal iron deficiency, consumed meals with intrinsically labeled ((55)Fe) soybeans (hydroponically grown and nonnodulating) as soup (n = 11) or muffins (n = 7) and a reference dose of (59)Fe as ferrous sulfate in ascorbate solution. The radioactivity in red cells was measured 14 and 28 d later. RESULTS The mean (55)Fe absorption from either soup or muffins was 27% and that from the reference dose was 61%. (55)Fe was distributed approximately equally between protein (49.3 +/- 3.0%) and phytate, a contrast with nodulating soybeans likely caused by a high phosphate content in the growth medium. There was an expected inverse correlation (r = -0.793, P < 0.001) between red cell radioactivity and serum ferritin concentration. CONCLUSIONS These results show that soybeans appear to be a good source of nutritional iron in marginally iron-deficient individuals. More study is needed on the effect of plant nodulation on the form of soybean iron, aimed at enhancing bioavailability to combat iron deficiency in at-risk populations.
Appropriate body mass index and waist circumference cutoffs for categorization of overweight and central adiposity among Chinese adults.

BACKGROUND Recent data suggest that current overweight and central adiposity guidelines based on Western populations are not appropriate for Asian populations. The published data among Chinese are insufficient to address this issue. OBJECTIVE We aimed to identify cutoffs for body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) and waist circumference that confer increased risk of cardiovascular disease in Chinese adults as would be consistent with overweight and central adiposity. DESIGN A nationally representative, cross-sectional sample of 15 239 Chinese adults aged 35-74 y was studied. RESULTS Mean blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and glucose values were incrementally higher and mean HDL-cholesterol values were incrementally lower with each unit increase in BMI and waist circumference in both men and women. Both the point at which sensitivity equaled specificity and the shortest distance in the receiver operating characteristic curves for hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, or >/=2 of these risk factors suggested a BMI cutoff of 24 and a waist circumference cutoff of 80 cm for both men and women. CONCLUSIONS Lower cutoffs for BMI and waist circumference are needed in the identification of Chinese patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
Biological Drugs in Guillain-Barré Syndrome: An Update

Background: Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is currently considered the most common global cause of acute flaccid paralysis. Currently, standard therapy for Guillain-Barré Syndrome includes intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange. Despite medical advances regarding these treatments, many treated patients do not reach full recovery. Therefore several biological agents have attracted the attentions from researchers during the last decades, and various studies have investigated their role in Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Objective: The present study aims to address emerging biological approaches to GBS while considering their efficiency and safety in treating the disease. Materials and Methods: An extensive electronic literature search was conducted by two researchers from April 2016 to July 2016. Original articles, clinical trials, systematic reviews (with or without meta-analysis) and case reports were selected. Titles and abstracts of papers were screened by reviewers to determine whether they met the eligibility criteria, and full texts of the selected articles were retrieved. Results: Herein authors focused on the literature data concerning emerging biological therapeutic agents, namely anti-C5 monoclonal antibody (Eculizumab), anti-C1q monoclonal antibody, anti-T cell monoclonal antibody, anti-CD2 monoclonal antibody, anti L-selectin monoclonal antibody, anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (Rituximab), anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody (Alemtuzumab) and cytokine targets. By far, none of these agents have been approved for the treatment of GBS by FDA. Conclusion: Literature findings represented in current review herald promising results for using these biological targets. Current review represents a summary of what is already in regards and what progress is required to improve the immunotherapeutic approach of treating GBS via future studies.
Verb Bias and Plausibility in L 2 Sentence Processing

The syntactic role of the article is temporarily ambiguous. The sentence proceeds with the article having the direct object role in (1a) but having the role of subject of the embedded clause in (1b). Such direct object/sentential complement (DO/SC) ambiguity at the article arises because English allows the complementizer that to be dropped before an embedded clause. Readers typically slow down at reading the first verb in the embedded clause (had in 1b), because they have initially interpreted the article as the direct object of the main clause verb read, and have to revise such analysis at the disambiguating verb had. In English, sentences with DO/SC temporary ambiguity like (1b) can be disambiguated by adding the complementizer that after the main clause verb, as shown in (2). The use of the complementizer that is optional in English in this type of structure.
Interplay between ecological, behavioural and historical factors in shaping the genetic structure of sympatric walleye populations (Sander vitreus)

Disentangling ecological, behavioural and evolutionary factors responsible for the presence of stable population structure within wild populations has long been challenging to population geneticists. This study primarily aimed at decoding population structure of wild walleye (Sander vitreus) populations of Mistassini Lake (Québec, Canada) in order to define source populations to be used for the study of spatial partitioning using individual‐based multilocus assignment methods, and decipher the dynamics of individual dispersal and resulting patterns of spatial resource partitioning and connectivity among populations. A second objective was to elucidate the relationships between biological characteristics (sex, size, age and population of origin) and an individual's probability to migrate and/or disperse. To do so, a total of 780 spawning individuals caught on five distinct spawning sites, and 1165 postspawning individuals, captured over two sampling seasons (2002–2003) were analysed by means of eight microsatellite loci. Four temporally stable walleye populations associated with distinct reproductive grounds were detected. These populations were differentially distributed among lake sectors during their feeding migration and their spatial distribution was stable over the two sampling seasons. Dispersing individuals were identified (n = 61); these revealed asymmetrical patterns of dispersal between populations, which was also confirmed by divergent admixture proportions. Regression models underlined population of origin as the only factor explaining differential dispersal of individuals among populations. An analysis of covariance (ancova) indicated that larger individuals tended to migrate from their river of origin further away in the lake relative to smaller fish. In summary, this study underlined the relevance of using individual‐based assignment methods for deciphering dynamics of connectivity among wild populations, especially regarding behavioural mechanisms such as differential spatial partitioning and dispersal responsible for the maintenance of genetic population structure.
Quasisymmetric uniformization and heat kernel estimates

We show that the circle packing embedding in R 2 \mathbb {R}^2 of a one-ended, planar triangulation with polynomial growth is quasisymmetric if and only if the simple random walk on the graph satisfies sub-Gaussian heat kernel estimate with spectral dimension two. Our main results provide a new family of graphs and fractals that satisfy sub-Gaussian estimates and Harnack inequalities.
Are S1 Screws a Useful Adjunct to Iliac Screws in Long Fusions to the Sacrum in Cerebral Palsy?

Study design. Multicenter prospective database review of patients with cerebral palsy (CP) and spinal deformity. Objective. To determine if the type of distal fixation is associated with improved correction of coronal deformity or pelvic obliquity (PO) at 2 years in long posterior fusions to the sacrum. Summary of background data. Multiple techniques are utilized for distal fixation in patients with CP. Although there is emerging evidence that the augmentation of iliac screws with S1 screws may be beneficial, this remains controversial. Methods. A prospective, multicenter database was used to identify patients with CP who underwent long posterior fusions to the sacrum. Eighty-eight patients were included, 52 with iliac screws (I) and 36 with iliac and S1 screws (IS) for distal fixation. Preoperative, first erect, and 2-year follow-up radiographs and complications were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA and repeated measures ANOVA with significance set at P < 0.05. Results. Scoliosis was the primary deformity in greater than 90% of patients in both groups (P=0.84). Preoperative coronal deformity was similar (I = 83°, IS = 87°, P = 0.49), but correction was better with the use of S1 screws on the first erect radiograph and at 2 years (I = 35°, IS = 22°, P = 0.001), reflecting correction of 58% and 74% for iliac and iliac-S1 screws, respectively (P < 0.001). Preoperative PO was similar (I = 29°, IS = 30°, P = 0.71) and was noted to improve more in the iliac-S1 group by 2 years (I = 11°, IS = 5°, P = 0.004), representing correction of 60% and 77% for the iliac and iliac-S1 groups, respectively (P = 0.018). There was no difference in the rate of major (P = 0.27) or minor (P = 0.65) complications in either group. Conclusion. Bilateral S1 and iliac screws are associated with improved spinal deformity and PO correction at 2 years in the CP population. Two points of distal fixation, S1, and ilium should be considered for this population. Level of Evidence: 3
Comparison of two assessments of physical activity and a survey method for calorie intake.

For purposes of classification of people by level of physical activity for epidemiological investigations, the common approach is to use their job classification and in some instances their recreational pursuits as well. These classifications usually provide a threecategory classification such as: sedentary, moderately active, and active (1). If the vast number of subjects are classified in the middie category, the purpose of separation is somewhat compromised. Ideally, separation into quintiles would be most useful. Such separation would be possible if actual caloric turnover for 24 hr could be accurately measured. Measurement of the caloric turnover in people engaged in normal living is a difficult task. Methodology is available but is time consuming and imprecise (1-4). It is estimated that the measurement error for such procedures as dietary surveys and physical activity appraisals by activity diary or by questionnaire and interview is of the order of + 10% of the true value for 24-hr caloric turnover when conditions are favorable. Under unfavorable and complicated conditions, the error may well be + 25 % (5). The data presented here were obtained by two methods. The first method involved physical activity appraisal by questionnaire and interview (1 , 4, 6), and the second method involved a 7-day dietary survey in the home (7). These methods were used to assess the physical activity status of a group of men engaged in a larger study to determine the efficacy of physical activity in the primary prevention of coronary heart disease. Additional data are provided on the type of physical activity in which the men were engaged.
Anthropometric estimates of muscle and fat mass in relation to cardiac and cancer mortality in men: the Paris Prospective Study.

BACKGROUND The associations of different components of body mass with disease outcomes are not well defined. OBJECTIVE We investigated the effects of body composition on risk of death from cardiac causes and cancer in adult men. DESIGN Middle-aged men (n = 7608) in the Paris Prospective Study were followed up for 15 y. At study entry, the following measurements were obtained: sagittal diameter, sum of midarm and midthigh circumferences, sum of 3 trunk skinfold thicknesses (estimate of trunk subcutaneous fat), and sum of 3 extremity skinfold thicknesses (estimate of extremity subcutaneous fat). To assess their relative contributions to cardiac and cancer mortality, we used multivariate Cox models in which the sagittal diameter adjusted for trunk skinfold thicknesses was used as an estimate of intraabdominal fat and the sum of midarm and midthigh circumferences adjusted for extremity skinfold thicknesses was used as an estimate of muscle mass. RESULTS In multivariate analyses in both smokers and nonsmokers, the sagittal diameter was the only significant predictor of cardiac death. The sum of midarm and midthigh circumferences was negatively associated and sagittal diameter was positively associated with cancer death, whereas extremity skinfold thicknesses exhibited a U-shape relation. Exclusion of subjects who died from cancer in the first 5 y of follow-up did not change these results. CONCLUSIONS Intraabdominal fat appears to be the main body compartment involved in risk of cardiac death, whereas increased risk of cancer death is associated with lower muscle mass and lower subcutaneous fat, independent of smoking and after the exclusion of early mortality. Increased central fat distribution may confer additional risk of death from cancer.