Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ca2+ regulates the kinetics of tension development in intact cardiac muscle.

The goal of this study was to determine whether Ca2+ plays a role in regulating tension development kinetics in intact cardiac muscle. In cardiac muscle, this fundamental issue of Ca2+ regulation has been controversial. The approach was to induce steady-state tetanic contractions of intact right ventricular trabeculae from rat hearts at varying external Ca2+concentrations ([Ca2+]) at 22°C. During tetani, cross bridges were mechanically disrupted and the kinetics of tension redevelopment were assessed from the rate constant of exponential tension redevelopment ( k tr). There was a relationship between k tr and external [Ca2+] that was similar in form to the relationship between tension and [Ca2+]. Thus a close relationship also existed between k tr and tension ( r = 0.88; P < 0.001); whereas at maximal tetanic tension (saturating cytosolic [Ca2+]), k tr was 16.4 ± 2.2 s-1 (mean ± SE, n = 7), at zero tension (low cytosolic [Ca2+]), k tr extrapolated to 20% of maximum (3.3 ± 0.7 s-1). Qualitatively similar results were obtained using different mechanical protocols to disrupt cross bridges. These data demonstrate that tension redevelopment kinetics in intact cardiac muscle are influenced by the level of Ca2+ activation. These findings contrast with the findings of one previous study of intact cardiac muscle. Activation dependence of tension development kinetics may play an important role in determining the rate and extent of myocardial tension rise during the cardiac cycle in vivo.
Hypercholesterolemia induced by cholesterol- or cystine-enriched diets is characterized by different plasma lipoprotein and apolipoprotein concentrations in rats.

This study examined the effects of diet-induced hypercholesterolemia on plasma apolipoprotein (apo) concentrations and hepatic apolipoprotein mRNA levels in rats. Hypercholesterolemia was induced by feeding rats diets containing an excess of either cholesterol or cystine. After cholesterol feeding, plasma apo E and apo B concentrations were lower (-65%, P < 0.001) and greater (+39%, P < 0.01), respectively, compared with control diet-fed rats. After cystine feeding, plasma apo B and apo E concentrations were greater (+46%, P < 0.01 and +75%, P < 0.001, respectively) and plasma apo A-IV concentration was lower (-29%, P < 0.001) than in rats fed control diet. After cholesterol or cystine feeding, a tendency (one-way ANOVA, P = 0.08) for greater apo B mRNA level (+42% and +47%, respectively) was observed compared with control diet-fed rats. No difference emerged between groups for apo E and apo A-I mRNA levels. An opposite effect of cholesterol and cystine feeding was shown for apo A-IV mRNA level, i.e., higher after cholesterol feeding (+47%, P < 0.05) and lower after cystine feeding (-65%, P < 0.01). From this work, it seems that hypercholesterolemia induced by dietary cholesterol or by increased cholesterogenesis in cystine-fed rats is characterized by different plasma lipoprotein and apolipoprotein concentrations and is associated with different apolipoprotein gene expression in the liver.
Protective Fabrics: A Comparison of Laboratory Methods for Evaluating Thermal Protective Performance in Convective/Radiant Exposures

Two laboratory methods used to evaluate the ability of fabrics to provide protective insulation against high intensity thermal exposures are compared. These procedures are ASTM D4108-82, a method that uses a single laboratory gas burner as the heat source, and a more versatile method that combines two gas burners and quartz heaters to provide a different mixture of radiant and convective heat. Comparisons are based on a series of tests made on a large group of specialized fabrics that might be used in the construction of protective apparel. Among the fabrics tested are samples made with flame resistant cotton, rayon, and wool, fabrics from glass and ceramic fibers, and fabrics from polyaramids, cross-linked phenolics, modacrylics, polybenzimidazole, and stabilized acrylic fibers. Differences in materials comparisons caused by the test procedure are discussed, especially the difference made by the balance of radiant to convective energy provided by the heat sources. Correlations are made with fiber and fabric properties. Special emphasis is placed on observing the performance of alu minized samples.
Gender may affect the action of garlic oil on plasma cholesterol and glucose levels of normal subjects.

Early trials of garlic preparations on blood lipids mainly supported a lipid-lowering effect, whereas later well-designed garlic tablet trials were mainly entirely null. However, enteric simulation tests suggest that this discordance may result from ineffective delivery of bioactive agents from the brands of garlic powder (GP) and cyclodextrin-bound garlic oil (GO) tablets tested in some recent negative trials. In contrast, enteric simulation tests show that the preformed bioactive agents present in "traditional" gelatin capsules of GO are efficiently released, although such capsules have rarely been investigated in lipid-lowering trials. It was hypothesized that gelatin capsules of GO given to normal subjects would improve specified coronary heart disease risk factors. Effects of a GP preparation were also investigated. Subjects (n = 51; men and women, mean age 27 y) were randomly assigned to receive either 8.2 mg/d of GO (allyl sulfides) or placebo for 11 wk. Another 27 subjects received garlic powder (GP) of similar biopotential (7.8 mg allicin/d). Outcome measures were 95% confidence intervals (CI) between GO and placebo groups for differences between baseline and subsequent sample times. Men and women combined showed no significant differences save for an improved total antioxidant capacity at 6 wk (P = 0.01). Hence, no benefit from GO after 11 wk is one plausible conclusion. However, there were significant differences in effect of GO between men and women for HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) (P = 0.004) and total cholesterol (TC)/HDL-C (P = 0.003). Women showed favorable effects in terms of CHD risk factors (i.e., increases in HDL-C and reductions in TC/HDL-C), whereas men had small adverse effects. There was a significant difference in the GO effect for glucose (P = 0.006), with a reduction seen for men and an increase for women. The gender effects were unexpected and such analyses were not planned in advance. Confirmation of these findings with larger numbers of subjects would have importance for the use of garlic against CHD and for the design of future garlic studies.
Actor-Critic based Training Framework for Abstractive Summarization

We present a training framework for neural abstractive summarization based on actor-critic approaches from reinforcement learning. In the traditional neural network based methods, the objective is only to maximize the likelihood of the predicted summaries, no other assessment constraints are considered, which may generate low-quality summaries or even incorrect sentences. To alleviate this problem, we employ an actor-critic framework to enhance the training procedure. For the actor, we employ the typical attention based sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) framework as the policy network for summary generation. For the critic, we combine the maximum likelihood estimator with a well designed global summary quality estimator which is a neural network based binary classifier aiming to make the generated summaries indistinguishable from the human-written ones. Policy gradient method is used to conduct the parameter learning. An alternating training strategy is proposed to conduct the joint training of the actor and critic models. Extensive experiments on some benchmark datasets in different languages show that our framework achieves improvements over the state-of-the-art methods.
Determinants of low birth weight among HIV-infected pregnant women in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND Low birth weight (LBW) increases the risk of infant death, but little is known about its causes among HIV-infected populations in sub-Saharan Africa. OBJECTIVE We assessed sociodemographic, nutritional, immunologic, parasitic, and infant risk factors for birth weight, LBW, and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) status in a cohort of 822 HIV-positive women enrolled in a clinical trial of vitamin supplementation and pregnancy outcomes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. DESIGN Women were enrolled at prenatal care clinics during their second trimester, at which time blood, stool, urine, and genital specimens were collected, and anthropometric measurements and sociodemographic data were recorded. Birth weight was measured at hospital delivery. RESULTS The mean (+/-SD) birth weight was 3015 +/- 508 g, 11.1% of newborns weighed <2500 g (LBW), and 11.5% were SGA. In multivariate analyses, maternal weight at enrollment and a low CD8 cell count were inversely associated with LBW. Advanced-stage HIV disease, previous history of preterm birth, Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and any helmintic infection were associated with higher risk of LBW. The intestinal parasites Entamoeba histolytica and Strongyloides stercoralis were predictors of LBW despite their low prevalence in the cohort. In a multivariate-adjusted linear regression model, BMI, midupper arm circumference, a CD4 cell count <200 x 10(6) cells/L (200 cells/mm(3)), primiparity, maternal literacy, and infant HIV infection at birth were significantly associated with birth weight in addition to risk factors included in the LBW model. Determinants of SGA included maternal weight, low serum vitamin E concentration, candidiasis, malaria, and infant HIV infection at birth. CONCLUSION Prevention of HIV disease progression and vertical transmission, improved nutritional status, and better management of malaria and intestinal parasitic infections are likely to reduce the incidence of LBW in Tanzania.
Exercise and insulin cause GLUT-4 translocation in human skeletal muscle.

Studies in rodents have established that GLUT-4 translocation is the major mechanism by which insulin and exercise increase glucose uptake in skeletal muscle. In contrast, much less is known about the translocation phenomenon in human skeletal muscle. In the current study, nine healthy volunteers were studied on two different days. On one day, biopsies of vastus lateralis muscle were taken before and after a 2-h euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp (0.8 mU ⋅ kg-1 ⋅ min-1). On another day, subjects exercised for 60 min at 70% of maximal oxygen consumption (V˙o 2 max), a biopsy was obtained, and the same clamp and biopsy procedure was performed as that during the previous experiment. Compared with insulin treatment alone, glucose infusion rates were significantly increased during the postexercise clamp for the periods 0-30 min, 30-60 min, and 60-90 min, but not during the last 30 min of the clamp. Plasma membrane GLUT-4 content was significantly increased in response to physiological hyperinsulinemia (32% above rest), exercise (35%), and the combination of exercise plus insulin (44%). Phosphorylation of Akt, a putative signaling intermediary for GLUT-4 translocation, was increased in response to insulin (640% above rest), exercise (280%), and exercise plus insulin (1,000%). These data demonstrate that two normal physiological conditions, moderate intensity exercise and physiological hyperinsulinemia ∼56 μU/ml, cause GLUT-4 translocation and Akt phosphorylation in human skeletal muscle.
Dental Implants in Patients with Sjögren's Syndrome.

BACKGROUND Limited evidence is available for applying dental implants in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients. PURPOSE This study aims to retrospectively assess clinical outcome of implant therapy in a cohort of well-classified patients with SS. MATERIALS AND METHODS All SS patients attending the University Medical Center Groningen for follow-up (n = 406) were asked whether they had implants. In SS patients with implants peri-implant health and implant survival was recorded and compared with data from matched healthy controls. Patients' symptoms, health-related quality of life, oral functioning, and satisfaction were assessed using validated questionnaires. RESULTS Of the responding SS patients (n = 335), 21% was provided with implants. Of these 69 SS patients, 50 SS patients were willing to join our study. In SS patients, peri-implant health was reasonably good with minor marginal bone loss and a peri-implantitis prevalence of 14%, comparable with healthy controls. Implant survival was 97% (median follow-up 46 months) [IQR 26;73], and overall patients' satisfaction was high. Oral functioning correlated negatively with dryness, patients' satisfaction, and chewing ability in SS patients. CONCLUSIONS Implant therapy is common in our cohort of SS patients. In spite of shortcomings of our retrospective analysis, implants in SS patients seem to perform comparable with implants in healthy patients.
Predicting Trajectories of Functional Decline in 60- to 70-Year-Old People

Background: Early identification of people at risk of functional decline is essential for delivering targeted preventive interventions. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify and predict trajectories of functional decline over 9 years in males and females aged 60-70 years. Methods: We included 403 community-dwelling participants from the InCHIANTI study and 395 from the LASA study aged 60-70 years at baseline, of whom the majority reported no functional decline at baseline (median 0, interquartile range 0-1). Participants were included if they reported data on ≥2 measurements of functional ability during a 9-year follow-up. Functional ability was scored with 6 self-reported items on activities of daily living. We performed latent class growth analysis to identify trajectories of functional decline and applied multinomial regression models to develop prediction models of identified trajectories. Analyses were stratified for sex. Results: Three distinct trajectories were identified: no/little decline (219 males, 241 females), intermediate decline (114 males, 158 females), and severe decline (36 males, 30 females). Higher gait speed showed decreased risk of functional limitations in males (intermediate limitations, odds ratio [OR] 0.74, 95% CI 0.57-0.97; severe limitations, OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.26-0.66). The final model in males further included the predictors fear of falling and alcohol intake (no/little decline, area under the receiver operating curve [AUC] 0.68, 95% CI 0.62-0.73; intermediate decline, AUC 0.63, 95% CI 0.56-0.69; severe decline, AUC 0.79, 95% CI 0.71-0.87). In females, higher gait speed showed a decreased risk of intermediate limitations (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.38-0.68) and severe limitations (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.07-0.44). Other predictors in females were age, living alone, economic satisfaction, balance, physical activity, BMI, and cardiovascular disease (no/little decline, AUC 0.80, 95% CI 0.75-0.85; intermediate decline, AUC 0.74, 95% CI 0.69-0.79; severe decline, AUC 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.99). Conclusion: Already in people aged 60-70 years, 3 distinct trajectories of functional decline were identified in these cohorts over a 9-year follow-up. Predictors of trajectories differed between males and females, except for gait speed. Identification of people at risk is the basis for targeting interventions.
Quantitative Assessment of Immunohistochemistry Laboratory Performance by Measuring Analytic Response Curves and Limits of Detection.

CONTEXT - Numerous studies highlight interlaboratory performance variability in diagnostic immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing. Despite substantial improvements over the years, the inability to quantitatively and objectively assess immunostain sensitivity complicates interlaboratory standardization. OBJECTIVE - To quantitatively and objectively assess the sensitivity of the immunohistochemical stains for human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2), estrogen receptor (ER), and progesterone receptor (PR) across IHC laboratories in a proficiency testing format. We measure sensitivity with parameters that are new to the field of diagnostic IHC: analytic response curves and limits of detection. DESIGN - Thirty-nine diagnostic IHC laboratories stained a set of 3 slides, one each for HER2, ER, and PR. Each slide incorporated a positive tissue section and IHControls at 5 different concentrations. The IHControls comprise cell-sized clear microbeads coated with defined concentrations of analyte (HER2, ER, and/or PR). The laboratories identified the limits of detection and then mailed the slides for quantitative assessment. RESULTS - Each commercial immunostain demonstrated a characteristic analytic response curve, reflecting strong reproducibility among IHC laboratories using the same automation and reagents prepared per current Good Manufacturing Practices. However, when comparing different commercial vendors (using different reagents), the data reveal up to 100-fold differences in analytic sensitivity. For proficiency testing purposes, quantitative assessment using analytic response curves was superior to subjective interpretation of limits of detection. CONCLUSIONS - Assessment of IHC laboratory performance by quantitative measurement of analytic response curves is a powerful, objective tool for identifying outlier IHC laboratories. It uniquely evaluates immunostain performance across a range of defined analyte concentrations.
Residual effect of phosphorus applied to wheat on sorghum fodder in a loam soil

A field experiment was conducted on a loam soil (Sultanpur Soil Series) to observe the residual effect of phosphorus (P2O5) on sorghum fodder applied to wheat in a wheat-sorghum fodder rotation. The treatments applied to wheat were computed from modified Freundlich model which ranged from 8.04-54.48 mg kg -1 P (36.82 - 249.52 kg P2O5 ha -1 ) along with control with and without N and K2O. Maximum fresh fodder yield of 30.58 Mg ha -1 and oven dried yield (7.13 Mg ha -1 ) was obtained at residual Olsen-extractable P value of 20.75 mg kg -1 . Fodder contained maximum P concentration of 0.19% with total P uptake of 13.55 kg ha -1 . Olsen– extractable P built up to level of 20.75 mg kg -1 after wheat harvest was declined to 10.05 mg kg -1 after harvest of sorghum fodder. Similarly, maximum phosphorus recovery of 18.50% was obtained with sorghum fodder at residual P value of 20.75 mg kg -1 soil after wheat.
Residual excessive sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea on treatment with continuous positive airway pressure

Purpose of review One of the most common causes of excessive daytime sleepiness in clinical practice is obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). So far, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most effective treatment for OSA. Some of the patients do not improve on CPAP and remain sleepy despite using CPAP. This review provides updated information about the possible causes of residual sleepiness whilst using the CPAP in patients with OSAS. Recent findings Prevalence of OSAS has increased recently to 23.4% in women and 49.7% in men. Periodic limb movement, behaviorally induced insufficient sleep syndrome and depression are the most common causes of persistent sleepiness on CPAP. Residual sleepiness after exclusion of all possible causes is 6%. Summary There is still lack of sufficient evidence about the accurate characteristics and possible causes of this residual sleepiness and how to address this in large prospective studies.
Effect of Lactobacillus GG on intestinal integrity in Malawian children at risk of tropical enteropathy.

BACKGROUND Tropical enteropathy is an asymptomatic villous atrophy of the small bowel that is prevalent in the developing world and is associated with altered intestinal function and integrity. The histology of tropical enteropathy resembles that seen in small-bowel bacterial overgrowth. OBJECTIVE This study tested the hypothesis that treatment of 3-5-y-old Malawian children with the probiotic Lactobacillus GG would improve their intestinal function and integrity. DESIGN Clinically healthy children (n = 164) were enrolled in a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind trial. Intestinal function and integrity were measured by using the site-specific sugar-absorption test before and after 30 d of treatment with Lactobacillus GG or placebo. The primary outcomes were the ratios of urinary lactulose to mannitol (L:M) and of urinary sucrose to lactulose (S:L) excretion. RESULTS Of the 161 children who completed the study, 119 (73%) had tropical enteropathy on enrollment (L:M > 0.10). Children receiving Lactobacillus GG did not differ significantly from the placebo group in the excretion (in % of dose administered) of mannitol (mean +/- SD: 8.9 +/- 4.4 and 8.9 +/- 3.9, respectively), lactulose (0.31 +/- 0.20 and 0.33 +/- 0.23, respectively), or sucrose (0.078 +/- 0.058 and 0.082 +/- 0.075, respectively). L:M and S:L also did not differ significantly between the Lactobacillus and placebo groups (0.19 +/- 0.13 and 0.20 +/- 0.12, respectively, for L:M; 0.58 +/- 0.46 and 0.65 +/- 0.57, respectively, for S:L). CONCLUSION Administration of Lactobacillus GG for 30 d had no effect on the intestinal integrity of 3-5-y-old Malawian children.
Evaluation of 16 commercial antibody ELISAs for the detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus–specific antibodies in serum and milk using well-characterized sample panels

We performed a thorough fit-for-purpose evaluation of commercial ELISAs for the detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV)-specific antibodies in serum and in milk by testing 2 panels of well-characterized serum and milk samples. Sixteen ELISAs from 9 different manufacturers, available on the Belgian market at the time of our study, were assessed for their diagnostic and analytical sensitivity (DSe and ASe, respectively), diagnostic specificity (DSp), and repeatability relative to the virus neutralization (VN) test considered to be the gold standard assay. Using serum as a matrix, DSe was much lower for competitive (c)ELISAs (min. 45%, max. 65%) than for indirect (i)ELISAs (min. 85%, max. 100%), partly because of the lower detection of positive samples from vaccinated animals included in the panel. ASe was also better for iELISAs; DSp was >95% for all but 2 ELISAs. Repeatability, expressed as coefficients of variation (CV) of optical densities, was generally good, although 3 ELISAs had a mean CV >10%. With milk samples, as observed for serum, DSe was lower for cELISAs (min. 57%, max. 75%) than for iELISAs (min. 61%, max. 89%), and DSp was high for all ELISAs (min. 94%, max. 100%). Both DSe and ASe were lower when testing milk samples compared to serum samples. These results confirm that serologic monitoring of BVDV-free herds should be performed using serum samples of unvaccinated animals to avoid interference of vaccination and to maximize the chance of detecting seroconversion linked to BVDV infection. Further investigations using a larger collection of field samples are recommended.