Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Care Needs and Level of Care Difficulty Related to Hip Fractures in Geriatric Populations During the Post-Discharge Transition Period

&NA; The objective of this study was to understand the following: (1) the specific care needs of geriatric hip fracture patients; (2) the level of care difficulty during the transition period following discharge; and (3) the correlation amongst demographics, the physical function status of the elderly, and care needs. Purposive sampling was used, and a total of 71 hip fracture cases and their caregivers were selected. A survey was carried out to collect data just before discharge and one week following discharge. Statistical methods included descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, one-way ANOVA, and a paired t-test. Results were as follows: Most geriatric patients depended upon care from family members before discharge, with an average physical function status score of 6.99 (0 to 18) that improved significantly after one week to 10.27; paired t = −7.956 (p < .000). The mean age of primary caregivers was 51.72 years old (SD = 14.05). Most caregivers (47, or 66.2%) were female. The relationship between elderly participants and their primary caregiver was predominantly that of husband and wife (22 people; 31.0%). Participant care needs identified included return visit assistance, awareness of safety at all times, assistance with cleaning and maintaining living quarters, and so on. Caring tasks that were identified as more difficult for the primary caregivers includes providing stair climbing assistance, emotional problems management assistance, walking training assistance, rehabilitation assistance, and emergency disease management assistance. The care needs of the elderly in this study and level of execution difficulty for caregivers was found to be negatively related to the physical function status of the elderly. The study results suggest that providing patient-related home care knowledge to primary caregivers prior to discharge from the hospital and enhancement of the social support system are both needed.
Relative substrate affinities of wild-type and mutant forms of the Escherichia coli sugar transporter GalP determined by solid-state NMR

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectroscopy is used for the first time to examine the relative substrate-binding affinities of mutant forms of the Escherichia coli sugar transporter GalP in membrane preparations. The SSNMR method of 13C cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CP-MAS) is applied to five site-specific mutants (W56F, W239F, R316W, T336Y and W434F), which have a range of different sugar-transport activities compared to the wild-type protein. It is shown that binding of the substrate D-glucose can be detected independently of sugar transport activity using SSNMR, and that the NMR peak intensities for uniformly 13C-labelled glucose are consistent with wild-type GalP and the mutants having different affinities for the substrate. The W239F and W434F mutants showed binding affinities similar to that of the wild-type protein, whereas the affinity of glucose-binding to the W56F mutant was reduced. The R316W mutant showed no detectable binding; this position corresponds to the second basic residue in the highly conserved (R/K)XGR(R/K) motif in the major facilitator superfamily of transport proteins and to a mutation in human GLUT1 found in individuals with GLUT1-deficiency syndrome. The T336Y mutant also showed no detectable binding; this mutation is likely to have perturbed helix structure or packing to an extent that conformational changes in the protein are hindered. The effects of the mutations on substrate-binding are discussed with reference to the putative positions of the residues in a 3D homology model of GalP based on the X-ray crystal structure of the E. coli glycerol-3-phosphate transporter GlpT.
Thermogravimetric study on carbothermic reduction of chromite ore under non-isothermal conditions

In this paper, the reduction of chromite ore by coke was investigated by means of thermogravimetric analysis under non-isothermal conditions (from room temperature to 1823 K). The fractional reduced samples were examined by SEM/EDS and X-ray diffraction analyses. The experimental results showed that the reduction of iron in the chromite ore started before that of chromium in the ore, and the reduction of chromium and iron in the ore overlapped to some degree. Chromium iron carbide (Cr,Fe)7C3, was found to be the intermediate phase during the reduction, and a chromium gradient was found in the spinel phase of the fractional reduced sample at 1673 K. A four-stage reduction process was proposed: one stage involving the reduction of iron in the chromite ore and three stages involving the reduction of chromium in the ore. The activity aspects of component FeCr2O4 and component MgCr2O4 in the chromite ore were considered. The difficulty in the reduction of the chromite ore is attributed to the fact that, as the reduction proceeds, the activity of the component MgCr2O4 in the fractional reduced ore will decrease to a very low level, which makes further reduction very difficult.
Clinical Experience Using Vitamin D and Analogs in the Treatment of Myelodysplasia and Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Review of the Literature

Despite progress in understanding the biology of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and despite advances in treatment, the majority of patients with AML die from the disease. The observation that Vitamin D can induce AML blast cells in vitro to differentiate along the monocytic lineage was made 30 years ago; however, it remains to translate this into a clinically meaningful strategy. This is a review of published clinical experience regarding the use of Vitamin D and its analogs, either alone or in combination with other agents, to treat AML. In many of these reports, investigators included patients with myelodysplasia (MDS) as well as AML patients in their treatment cohorts; therefore reports of Vitamin D and its analogs in treating MDS are included. This review documents heterogeneity in selection criteria for patients treated in these studies, the spectrum of Vitamin D analogs used in various studies, and the differing dosing strategies employed by investigators. Despite examples of occasional clinical efficacy, barriers remain to the successful application of Vitamin D in the treatment of MDS and AML. These include the lack of definition of a particularly sensitive target population, and the as yet unknown optimal choice of Vitamin D analog and dosing schedule.
Stress in the wild: Chronic predator pressure and acute restraint affect plasma DHEA and corticosterone levels in a songbird

The effects of chronic stressors on glucocorticoid levels are well described in laboratory rodents, but far less is known about the effects of chronic stressors on wild animals or on dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels. DHEA can be produced by the adrenal cortex and has prominent antiglucocorticoid properties. Here, we examined wild songbirds to elucidate the relationship between chronic predator pressure and plasma DHEA and corticosterone levels. We measured circulating steroid levels at baseline and after acute restraint in the breeding and nonbreeding seasons. During the breeding season, males in low predator pressure (LPP) environments had higher baseline DHEA levels than males in high predator pressure (HPP) environments. Also, acute restraint decreased DHEA levels in LPP males only but increased corticosterone levels in HPP and LPP males similarly. During the nonbreeding season, DHEA and corticosterone levels were lower than during the breeding season, and acute restraint decreased DHEA levels in both HPP and LPP males. Unlike males, breeding females showed no effect of predator pressure on baseline DHEA or corticosterone levels. These data suggest that naturalistic chronic and acute stressors affect circulating DHEA and corticosterone levels in wild animals and highlight the importance of using multiple endpoints when studying the physiological effects of chronic stress.
Histopathologic Changes and the Immune Response within the Jejunal Mucosa in Infants and Children

Summary: Jejunal biopsies obtained from 45 children referred for a variety of clinical conditions were examined histologically and by standard immunofluorescence methods. The number of plasma cells was recorded per “mucosal tissue unit. ” The results showed that most of the immunoglobulin A (IgA) counts in infants under 3 yr with normal mucosa were low and that there was a rise in the number of IgA plasma cells starting after this age. Despite this, under pathologic conditions (partial villous atrophy with increased inflammatory cell infiltration - PVA) a significant rise in IgA plasma cells occurred in all age groups. Patients with coeliac disease tended to show the highest IgA as well as IgM plasma cell counts. In all other patients, IgM counts did not change significantly with age or histologic abnormalities.Speculation: Children in the first few months of life are as capable as older children of increasing the number of IgA plasma cells in their jejunal mucosa. However, though immunocompetent, their gut, on first contact, will be lacking in primary immune responses to the various antigens, and, therefore, may be relatively unprotected.
FMR1 Premutation Is an Uncommon Explanation for Premature Ovarian Failure in Han Chinese

Background In premature ovarian failure (POF), cessation of menstruation occurs before the expected age of menopause. Approximately 1% of women are affected. FMR1 premutation was reported to be responsible for up to 3.3%–6.7% of sporadic POF and 13% of familial cases in Caucasians, while the data was absent in Chinese population. Therefore, the impact of FMR1 CGG repeat on ovarian reserve is needed to be investigated in large Chinese cohort. Methods The number of FMR1 CGG repeat was determined in 379 Han Chinese women with well-defined 46, XX non-syndromic sporadic POF and 402 controls. The age of menopause onset in respect to CGG repeats was further analyzed. Results The frequency of FMR1 premutation in Han Chinese POF was only 0.5% (2/379), although it was higher than that in matched controls (0%, 0/402), it was much lower than that reported in Caucasian with POF (3.3%–6.7%). The prevalence of intermediate FMR1 (41–54) was not increased significantly in sporadic POF than that in controls (2.9% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.343). However, POF patients more often carried a single additional CGG repeat in a single allele than did fertile women (allele-1: 29.7 vs. 28.8, P<0.001; allele-2: 32.6 vs. 31.5, P<0.001). POF patients with both alleles of CGG repeats outside (below or above) the normal range (26–34) showed an earlier age of cessation of menses than those with two alleles within normal range (hom-high/high vs. norm: 20.4±4.8 vs. 24.7±6.4, p<0.01; hom-low/high vs. norm: 18.7±1.7 vs. 24.7±6.4, p<0.01). Conclusions FMR1 premutation seems to be an uncommon explanation for POF in Han Chinese. However, having both alleles with CGG repeats outside the normal range might still adversely affect ovarian aging.
Genomic expression programs and the integration of the CD28 costimulatory signal in T cell activation

Optimal activation of T cells requires effective occupancy of both the antigen-specific T cell receptor and a second coreceptor such as CD28. We used cDNA microarrays to characterize the genomic expression program in human peripheral T cells responding to stimulation of these receptors. We found that CD28 agonists alone elicited few, but reproducible, changes in gene expression, whereas CD3 agonists elicited a multifaceted temporally choreographed gene expression program. The principal effect of simultaneous engagement of CD28 was to increase the amplitude of the CD3 transcriptional response. The induced genes whose expression was most enhanced by costimulation were significantly enriched for known targets of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) transcription factors. This enhancement was nearly abolished by blocking the nuclear translocation of NFATc by using the calcineurin inhibitor FK506. CD28 signaling promoted phosphorylation, and thus inactivation, of the NFAT nuclear export kinase glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3), coincident with enhanced dephosphorylation of NFATc proteins. These results provide a detailed picture of the transcriptional program of T cell activation and suggest that enhancement of transcriptional activation by NFAT, through inhibition of its nuclear export, plays a key role in mediating the CD28 costimulatory signal.
Cost-effectiveness of adult vaccination strategies using pneumococcal conjugate vaccine compared with pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.

CONTEXT The cost-effectiveness of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) compared with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) among US adults is unclear. OBJECTIVE To estimate the cost-effectiveness of PCV13 vaccination strategies in adults. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A Markov state-transition model, lifetime time horizon, societal perspective. Simulations were performed in hypothetical cohorts of US 50-year-olds. Vaccination strategies and effectiveness estimates were developed by a Delphi expert panel; indirect (herd immunity) effects resulting from childhood PCV13 vaccination were extrapolated based on observed PCV7 effects. Data sources for model parameters included Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Active Bacterial Core surveillance, National Hospital Discharge Survey and Nationwide Inpatient Sample data, and the National Health Interview Survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Pneumococcal disease cases prevented and incremental costs per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. RESULTS In the base case scenario, administration of PCV13 as a substitute for PPSV23 in current recommendations (ie, vaccination at age 65 years and at younger ages if comorbidities are present) cost $28,900 per QALY gained compared with no vaccination and was more cost-effective than the currently recommended PPSV23 strategy. Routine PCV13 at ages 50 and 65 years cost $45,100 per QALY compared with PCV13 substituted in current recommendations. Adding PPSV23 at age 75 years to PCV13 at ages 50 and 65 years gained 0.00002 QALYs, costing $496,000 per QALY gained. Results were robust in sensitivity analyses and alternative scenarios, except when low PCV13 effectiveness against nonbacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia was assumed or when greater childhood vaccination indirect effects were modeled. In these cases, PPSV23 as currently recommended was favored. CONCLUSION Overall, PCV13 vaccination was favored compared with PPSV23, but the analysis was sensitive to assumptions about PCV13 effectiveness against nonbacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia and the magnitude of potential indirect effects from childhood PCV13 on pneumococcal serotype distribution.
Classifying Medical Questions based on an Evidence Taxonomy

We present supervised machine-learning approaches to automatically classify medical questions based on a hierarchical evidence taxonomy created by physicians. We show that SVMs is the best classifier for this task and that a ladder approach, which incorporates the knowledge representation of the hierarchical evidence taxonomy, leads to the highest performance. We have explored the use of features from a large, robust biomedical knowledge resource, namely, the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS), and we have found that performance is generally enhanced by including these features in addition to bag-ofwords.
Proteomic Interaction Patterns between Human Cyclins, the Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Ortholog pUL97 and Additional Cytomegalovirus Proteins

The human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-encoded cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) ortholog pUL97 associates with human cyclin B1 and other types of cyclins. Here, the question was addressed whether cyclin interaction of pUL97 and additional viral proteins is detectable by mass spectrometry-based approaches. Proteomic data were validated by coimmunoprecipitation (CoIP), Western blot, in vitro kinase and bioinformatic analyses. Our findings suggest that: (i) pUL97 shows differential affinities to human cyclins; (ii) pUL97 inhibitor maribavir (MBV) disrupts the interaction with cyclin B1, but not with other cyclin types; (iii) cyclin H is identified as a new high-affinity interactor of pUL97 in HCMV-infected cells; (iv) even more viral phosphoproteins, including all known substrates of pUL97, are detectable in the cyclin-associated complexes; and (v) a first functional validation of pUL97-cyclin B1 interaction, analyzed by in vitro kinase assay, points to a cyclin-mediated modulation of pUL97 substrate preference. In addition, our bioinformatic analyses suggest individual, cyclin-specific binding interfaces for pUL97-cyclin interaction, which could explain the different strengths of interactions and the selective inhibitory effect of MBV on pUL97-cyclin B1 interaction. Combined, the detection of cyclin-associated proteins in HCMV-infected cells suggests a complex pattern of substrate phosphorylation and a role of cyclins in the fine-modulation of pUL97 activities.
Universal Erasure Entropy Estimation

Erasure entropy rate (introduced recently by Verdu and Weissman) differs from Shannon's entropy rate in that the conditioning occurs with respect to both the past and the future, as opposed to only the past (or the future). In this paper, universal algorithms for estimating erasure entropy rate are proposed based on the basic and extended context-tree weighting (CTW) algorithms. Consistency results are shown for those CTW based algorithms. Simulation results for those algorithms applied to Markov sources, tree sources and English texts are compared to those obtained by fixed-order plug-in estimators with different orders. An estimate of the erasure entropy of English texts based on the proposed algorithms is about 0.22 bits per letter, which can be compared to an estimate of about 1.3 bits per letter for the entropy rate of English texts by a similar CTW based algorithm
Influence of fowl uropygial gland and its secretory lipid components on growth of skin surface bacteria of fowl.

Bacterial species, which occur on the breast skin surface of adult (1 year old) white leghorn fowl with intact uropygial gland, were identified as : Staphylococcus epidermidis, Sarcina lutea, Streptomyces sp. and a facultative diphtheroid belonging to the genus Corynebacterium; S. epidermidis being the most predominant one. Two species of bacteria, namely, Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus sp. were shown to colonize the skin surface after 60 days of captivity. Extirpation of uropygial gland caused severe depletion of population of S. epidermidis, Streptomyces sp. and diphtheroid. The effect was more conspicuous after 60 days compared to that after 30 days of the gland removal. On the skin surface of glandless fowls the population of S. aureus increased significantly and a new form identified as anthracoid bacillus became the most predominant species after 60 days. Addition of total lipids from the free-flowing fowl uropygial secretion, as 0.2% suspension, to trypticase soya broth cultures of individual bacteria of fowl skin surface encouraged strongly the growth of S. epidermidis, Streptomyces sp. and Proteus sp. but suppressed the population of the anthracoid. When identical amount of diester wax or wax alcohol of the secretion was supplemented to the culture, more or less similar result was obtained. Wax alcohol also had a mild inhibitory effect on Streptomyces sp. Wax acids, added to the culture (0.2%) suppressed population of all the bacterial forms except Proteus sp. , while the hydrocarbon fraction, which also contained some amount of squalene, produce an opposite effect.
Impact of switching from mycophenolate mofetil to enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium on gastrointestinal side effects in patients with autoimmune disease: a Phase III, open-label, single-arm, multicenter study

Background The purpose of this study was to assess changes in gastrointestinal symptom severity in patients with autoimmune disease who were switched from mycophenolate mofetil to enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS). Methods In this national, explorative, single-arm study, 111 patients were enrolled and switched to equimolar EC-MPS at baseline. The primary endpoint was change in the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) total score after 6–8 weeks of treatment (Visit 2). The optional follow-up visit was 6–12 weeks after completion of the study (Visit 2). Secondary endpoints were changes in GSRS subscale score; changes in gastrointestinal-related quality of life measured by the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI); and general health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measured by Psychological General Well-Being Index and assessment of overall treatment effect (OTE). Change was evaluated by paired t-tests. Results At Visit 2, the mean ± standard deviation GSRS total score improved from 2.28±1.13 to 2.02±0.93 points. The change (−0.28±0.92 points, P=0.002) was statistically significant. The change at the follow-up visit (−0.36±0.94 points, P=0.001) was statistically significant and more than the minimal clinical important difference. GSRS subscores showed statistically significant and clinically relevant improvement for abdominal pain (−0.51±1.2 points, P<0.001) and indigestion (−0.42±1.33 points, P=0.002). Overall GIQLI score showed significant improvement from baseline to Visit 2 (−5.8±18.6 points, P=0.002). Per OTE, improvement was reported in 44.1% and 34.2% patients as rated by physicians and patients, respectively. The majority of patients (55%) reported OTE-HRQoL as unchanged. Diarrhea and nausea were the commonly reported adverse events. Conclusion Patients switched to EC-MPS experienced less gastrointestinal symptom burden and showed improvement in HRQoL.
A model of the stimulation of a nerve fiber by electromagnetic induction

A model is presented to explain the physics of nerve stimulations by electromagnetic induction. Maxwell's equations predict the induced electric field distribution that is produced when a capacitor is discharged through a stimulating coil. A nonlinear Hodgkin-Huxley cable model describes the response of the nerve fiber to this induced electric field. Once the coil's position, orientation, and shape are given and the resistance, capacitance, and initial voltage of the stimulating circuit are specified, this model predicts the resulting transmembrane potential of the fiber as a function of distance and time. It is shown that the nerve fiber is stimulated by the gradient of the component of the induced electric field that is parallel to the fiber, which hyperpolarizes or depolarizes the membrane and may stimulate an action potential. The model predicts complicated dynamics such as action potential annihilation and dispersion. <<ETX>>
Theta-frequency selectivity in the somatic spike-triggered average of rat hippocampal pyramidal neurons is dependent on HCN channels

We had previously predicted, using computational analyses, that the spike-triggered average (STA) of hippocampal neurons would exhibit theta-frequency (4–10 Hz) spectral selectivity and would manifest coincidence detection capabilities for inputs in the gamma-frequency band (25–150 Hz). Here, we confirmed these predictions through direct electrophysiological recordings of STA from rat CA1 pyramidal neurons and demonstrate that blocking HCN channels reduces the frequency of STA spectral selectivity to the delta-frequency range (0.5–4 Hz).
Laser performance of Tm:KY(WO4)2 crystal

Spectroscopic properties of Tm3+:KY(WO4)2 laser crystal were investigated. CW laser operation on Tm:KYW crystal under laser diode pumping at 802 nm and 1750 nm was demonstrated with slope efficiency of 53 % and 28 % and output power of 553 mW and 86 mW, respectively.