Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Body fat distribution and energy metabolism in obese men and women.

OBJECTIVE Upper body obesity seems to be associated with a better prognosis for weight loss than does lower body obesity. However, the impact of body fat distribution on energy metabolism is not clear. SUBJECTS One hundred fifteen non-diabetic obese Caucasians (64 males and 51 females) and 108 Caucasian lean controls (82 males and 26 females) were studied. METHODS Body composition was assessed by hydrodensitometry and body fat distribution was estimated by the waist-to-thigh circumference ratio (W/T). Values of 24-hour energy expenditure (24h-EE), basal metabolic rate (BMR), sleeping metabolic rate (SMR) and respiratory quotient (RQ) were measured in a respiration chamber. RESULTS BMR, adjusted for differences in fat-free mass, fat mass, age and sex, correlated with W/T in obese males (r = 0.40; p < 0.01), but not in obese females. Obese male subjects with upper body obesity had BMR significantly higher than those with lower body obesity (2189 +/- 268 vs 1974 +/- 141 kcal/day; p < 0.01), independently of differences in fat-free mass, fat mass and age. No correlations were found between W/T and adjusted 24h-EE, SMR or RQ in all examined groups. CONCLUSION These findings indicate that in obese males, upper body obesity is associated with increased metabolic rate, possibly related to higher levels of lipid turnover in visceral fat.
Germline minisatellite mutations in workers occupationally exposed to radiation at the Sellafield nuclear facility

Germline minisatellite mutation rates were investigated in male workers occupationally exposed to radiation at the Sellafield nuclear facility. DNA samples from 160 families with 255 offspring were analysed for mutations at eight hypervariable minisatellite loci (B6.7, CEB1, CEB15, CEB25, CEB36, MS1, MS31, MS32) by Southern hybridisation. No significant difference was observed between the paternal mutation rate of 5.0% (37 mutations in 736 alleles) for control fathers with a mean preconceptional testicular dose of 9 mSv and that of 5.8% (66 in 1137 alleles) for exposed fathers with a mean preconceptional testicular dose of 194 mSv. Subgrouping the exposed fathers into two dose groups with means of 111 mSv and 274 mSv revealed paternal mutation rates of 6.0% (32 mutations in 536 alleles) and 5.7% (34 mutations in 601 alleles), respectively, neither of which was significantly different in comparisons with the rate for the control fathers. Maternal mutation rates of 1.6% (12 mutations in 742 alleles) for the partners of control fathers and 1.7% (19 mutations in 1133 alleles) for partners of exposed fathers were not significantly different. This study provides evidence that paternal preconceptional occupational radiation exposure does not increase the germline minisatellite mutation rate and therefore refutes suggestions that such exposure could result in a destabilisation of the germline that can be passed on to future generations.
The Beneficial Effect of Concurrent Task-Irrelevant Mental Activity on Temporal Attention

It is believed that the human cognitive system is fundamentally limited in deploying attention over time. This limitation is reflected in the attentional blink, the impaired ability to identify the second of two visual targets presented in close succession. We report the paradoxical finding that the attentional blink is significantly ameliorated when observers are concurrently engaged in distracting mental activity, such as free-associating on a task-irrelevant theme or listening to music. This finding raises questions about the fundamental nature of the attentional blink, and suggests that the temporal dynamics of attention are determined by task circumstances that induce either a more or a less distributed state of mind.
Genomic Change, Retrotransposon Mobilization and Extensive Cytosine Methylation Alteration in Brassica napus Introgressions from Two Intertribal Hybridizations

Hybridization and introgression represent important means for the transfer and/or de novo origination of traits and play an important role in facilitating speciation and plant breeding. Two sets of introgression lines in Brassica napus L. were previously established by its intertribal hybridizations with two wild species and long-term selection. In this study, the methods of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP), sequence-specific amplification polymorphism (SSAP) and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) were used to determine their genomic change, retrotransposon mobilization and cytosine methylation alteration in these lines. The genomic change revealed by the loss or gain of AFLP bands occurred for ∼10% of the total bands amplified in the two sets of introgressions, while no bands specific for wild species were detected. The new and absent SSAP bands appeared for 9 out of 11 retrotransposons analyzed, with low frequency of new bands and their total percentage of about 5% in both sets. MSAP analysis indicated that methylation changes were common in these lines (33.4–39.8%) and the hypermethylation was more frequent than hypomethylation. Our results suggested that certain extents of genetic and epigenetic alterations were induced by hybridization and alien DNA introgression. The cryptic mechanism of these changes and potential application of these lines in breeding were also discussed.
Experimental Infection of Rabbits with Rabbit and Genotypes 1 and 4 Hepatitis E Viruses

Background A recent study provided evidence that farmed rabbits in China harbor a novel hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype. Although the rabbit HEV isolate had 77–79% nucleotide identity to the mammalian HEV genotypes 1 to 4, their genomic organization is very similar. Since rabbits are used widely experimentally, including as models of infection, we investigated whether they constitute an appropriate animal model for human HEV infection. Methods Forty-two SPF rabbits were divided randomly into eleven groups and inoculated with six different isolates of rabbit HEV, two different doses of a second-passage rabbit HEV, and with genotype 1 and 4 HEV. Sera and feces were collected weekly after inoculation. HEV antigen, RNA, antibody and alanine aminotransferase in sera and HEV RNA in feces were detected. The liver samples were collected during necropsy subject to histopathological examination. Findings Rabbits inoculated with rabbit HEV became infected with HEV, with viremia, fecal virus shedding and high serum levels of viral antigens, and developed hepatitis, with elevation of the liver enzyme, ALT. The severity of disease corresponded to the infectious dose (genome equivalents), with the most severe hepatic disease caused by strain GDC54-18. However, only two of nine rabbits infected with HEV genotype 4, and none infected with genotype 1, developed hepatitis although six of nine rabbits inoculated with the genotype 1 HEV and in all rabbits inoculated with the genotype 4 HEV seroconverted to be positive for anti-HEV IgG antibody by 14 weeks post-inoculation. Conclusions These data indicate that rabbits are an appropriate model for rabbit HEV infection but are not likely to be useful for the study of human HEV. The rabbit HEV infection of rabbits may provide an appropriate parallel animal model to study HEV pathogenesis.
How Well Do We Understand and Evaluate Climate Change Feedback Processes

Processes in the climate system that can either amplify or dampen the climate response to an external perturbation are referred to as climate feedbacks. Climate sensitivity estimates depend critically on radiative feedbacks associated with water vapor, lapse rate, clouds, snow, and sea ice, and global estimates of these feedbacks differ among general circulation models. By reviewing recent observational, numerical, and theoretical studies, this paper shows that there has been progress since the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in (i) the understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in these feedbacks, (ii) the interpretation of intermodel differences in global estimates of these feedbacks, and (iii) the development of methodologies of evaluation of these feedbacks ( or of some components) using observations. This suggests that continuing developments in climate feedback research will progressively help make it possible to constrain the GCMs' range of climate feedbacks and climate sensitivity through an ensemble of diagnostics based on physical understanding and observations.
Protein-tyrosine Phosphatase ϵ

Transgenic mice that overexpress v-Ha-ras, c-myc, c-neu or int-2 proto-oncogenes in the mammary epithelium develop breast tumors with morphologies that are characteristic of each initiating oncogene. Since these morphological differences reflect distinctive patterns of tumor-specific gene expression, the identification of the products of these genes might shed light on the mechanisms of transformation and/or the identity of target cells that are transformed by specific classes of oncogenes. By focusing on the tyrosine phosphorylation pathway, we have found that the transmembranal protein-tyrosine phosphatase ϵ (PTPϵ) is highly expressed in murine mammary tumors initiated by c-neu and v-Ha-ras, but not in mammary tumors initiated by c-myc or int-2. This difference is striking and occurs both in primary tumors and in epithelial cells cultured from them. Moreover, PTPϵ overexpression appears to be mammary tumor-specific in that it is not found in other ras-based tumors and cell lines. These observations suggest that PTPϵ either plays a role in ras- and neu-mediated transformation of mammary epithelium or marks mammary epithelial cells particularly susceptible to transformation by these oncogenes. Because of its distinctive expression in these mammary tumors, we have further characterized murine PTPϵ, cloning and determining the complete structures of its cDNAs and showing that it is a glycoprotein that is N-glycosylated in a tissue-specific manner.
Changes in gray matter volume after microsurgical lumbar discectomy: a longitudinal analysis

People around the world suffer chronic lower back pain. Because spine imaging often does not explain the degree of perceived pain reported by patients, the role of the processing of nociceptor signals in the brain as the basis of pain perception is gaining increased attention. Modern neuroimaging techniques (including functional and morphometric methods) have produced results that suggest which brain areas may play a crucial role in the perception of acute and chronic pain. In this study, we examined 12 patients with chronic low back pain and sciatica, both resulting from lumbar disc herniation. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain was performed 1 day prior to and about 4 weeks after microsurgical lumbar discectomy. The subsequent MRI revealed an increase in gray matter volume in the basal ganglia but a decrease in volume in the hippocampus, which suggests the complexity of the network that involves movement, pain processing, and aspects of memory. Interestingly, volume changes in the hippocampus were significantly correlated to preoperative pain intensity but not to the duration of chronic pain. Mapping structural changes of the brain that result from lumbar disc herniation has the potential to enhance our understanding of the neuropathology of chronic low back pain and sciatica and therefore may help to optimize the decisions we make about conservative and surgical treatments in the future. The possibility of illuminating more of the details of central pain processing in lumbar disc herniation, as well as the accompanying personal and economic impact of pain relief worldwide, calls for future large-scale clinical studies.
Effects of spironolactone on endothelial function, vascular angiotensin converting enzyme activity, and other prognostic markers in patients with mild heart failure already taking optimal treatment

Objectives: To examine whether the favourable effects on endothelial function, vascular angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity, cardiac remodelling, autonomic function, and QT intervals of spironolactone in combination with ACE inhibitor also occur in patients with New York Heart Association class I–II congestive heart failure (CHF) taking optimal treatment (including β blockers). Methods: Double blind, crossover study comparing 12.5–50 mg/24 hours spironolactone (three months) with placebo in 43 patients with class I–II CHF taking ACE inhibitors and β blockers. Results: Acetylcholine induced vasodilatation improved with spironolactone (p = 0.044). Vascular ACE activity fell (p = 0.006). QTc and QTd fell (mean (SD) QTc 473 (43.1) ms with placebo, 455 (35.4) ms with spironolactone, p = 0.002; QTd 84.5 (41.3) ms with placebo, 72.1 (32.3) ms with spironolactone, p = 0.037). β-Type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and procollagen III N-terminal peptide (PIIINP) concentrations were also reduced by spironolactone (mean (SD) BNP 48.5 (29.6) pg/ml with placebo, 36.8 (28.5) pg/ml with spironolactone, p = 0.039; PIIINP 3.767 (1.157) μg/ml with placebo, 3.156 (1.123) μg/ml with spironolactone, p = 0.000). Conclusions: Spironolactone improves vascular function (endothelial function, vascular ACE activity) and other markers of prognosis (BNP, collagen markers, and QT interval length) in asymptomatic or mild CHF when added to optimal treatment including β blockade. This gives support to the hypothesis that the prognostic benefit seen in RALES (randomised aldactone evaluation study) and EPHESUS (eplerenone postacute myocardial infarction heart failure efficacy and survival study) may also occur in patients with milder CHF already taking standard optimal treatment.
Truncation of the Thyrotropin-releasing Hormone Receptor Carboxyl Tail Causes Constitutive Activity and Leads to Impaired Responsiveness in Xenopus Oocytes and AtT20 Cells (*)

We studied the activity of a truncated thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor (TRH-R), which lacks the last 59 amino acids of the carboxyl tail, where Cys-335 was mutated to a stop codon (C335Stop) (Nussenzveig, D. R., Heinflink, M., and Gershengorn, M. C.(1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 2389-2392). In Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing C335Stop TRH-Rs, TRH binding was higher, whereas chloride current, Ca efflux, and [Ca] responses evoked by TRH were 23, 39, and 21%, respectively, of those in oocytes expressing wild type mouse pituitary TRH-Rs (WT TRH-Rs). In oocytes expressing C335Stop TRH-Rs, basal Ca efflux and [Ca] were twice those in oocytes expressing WT TRH-Rs; chelation of Ca caused a rapid increase in holding current, which is consistent with basal activation; and coexpression with other receptors caused inhibition of the responses to the other cognate agonists. In AtT20 pituitary cells stably expressing C335Stop TRH-Rs, thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)-independent inositol phosphate formation was 1.32 ± 0.11-fold higher, basal [Ca] was 1.8 ± 0.2-fold higher, and the [Ca] response to TRH was much lower than in cells expressing WT TRH-Rs. We conclude that a TRH-R mutant truncated at Cys-335 exhibits constitutive activity that results in desensitization of the response to TRH.
Psychosocial Adjustment of Low-Income African American Youth From Single Mother Homes: The Role of the Youth–Coparent Relationship

African American youthw from single mother homes are at greater risk for internalizing and externalizing problems relative to their peers from two-parent homes. Although the predominance of psychosocial research on these youth has focused on maternal parenting and mother–child relationship quality, far less attention has been devoted to the quality of the relationships that youth have with “nonmarital coparents,” or other adults and family members who assist African American single mothers with childrearing. This study examined the contribution of the youth–coparent relationship to psychosocial adjustment among African American youth from single mother families (n = 141). Findings revealed that maternal parenting and youth–coparent relationship quality interacted to predict both youth internalizing and externalizing problems. Specifically, greater youth–coparent relationship quality enhanced the protective role of maternal positive parenting. Findings suggest the potential role of broader familial and social contexts for enhancing the protective effects of positive parenting.
Mechanisms for store-wait-free multiprocessors

Store misses cause significant delays in shared-memory multiprocessors because of limited store buffering and ordering constraints required for proper synchronization. Today, programmers must choose from a spectrum of memory consistency models that reduce store stalls at the cost of increased programming complexity. Prior research suggests that the performance gap among consistency models can be closed through speculation--enforcing order only when dynamically necessary. Unfortunately, past designs either provide insufficient buffering, replace all stores with read-modify-write operations, and/or recover from ordering violations via impractical fine-grained rollback mechanisms. We propose two mechanisms that, together, enable store-wait-free implementations of any memory consistency model. To eliminate buffer-capacity-related stalls, we propose the scalable store buffer, which places private/speculative values directly into the L1 cache, thereby eliminating the non-scalable associative search of conventional store buffers. To eliminate ordering-related stalls, we propose atomic sequence ordering, which enforces ordering constraints over coarse-grain access sequences while relaxing order among individual accesses. Using cycle-accurate full-system simulation of scientific and commercial applications, we demonstrate that these mechanisms allow the simplified programming of strict ordering while outperforming conventional implementations on average by 32% (sequential consistency), 22% (SPARC total store order) and 9% (SPARC relaxed memory order).
Reactive Oxygen Species Modulation of Na/K-ATPase Regulates Fibrosis and Renal Proximal Tubular Sodium Handling

The Na/K-ATPase is the primary force regulating renal sodium handling and plays a key role in both ion homeostasis and blood pressure regulation. Recently, cardiotonic steroids (CTS)-mediated Na/K-ATPase signaling has been shown to regulate fibrosis, renal proximal tubule (RPT) sodium reabsorption, and experimental Dahl salt-sensitive hypertension in response to a high-salt diet. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are an important modulator of nephron ion transport. As there is limited knowledge regarding the role of ROS-mediated fibrosis and RPT sodium reabsorption through the Na/K-ATPase, the focus of this review is to examine the possible role of ROS in the regulation of Na/K-ATPase activity, its signaling, fibrosis, and RPT sodium reabsorption.
Area efficient, low power and robust design for add-compare-select units

This paper presents an area efficient, low-power and robust ACS unit for Viterbi decoder in two synchronous and asynchronous architectures. The asynchronous design is based upon quasi delay insensitive (QDI) timing model which leads to a robust and low power purpose and synchronous architecture uses a hybrid CMOS-pseudo NMOS technology to improve area and throughput factors. Some optimization techniques to reduce the power and area are applied to each design. The simulation results show the asynchronous design has the lowest power consumption with 6.65mW and hybrid CMOS has the lowest transistor counts with 759 in relative to other reported circuits.
The Demographic Transition and the Sexual Division of Labor

This paper presents a theory in which increases in female labor force participation and reductions in the gender‐wage gap are generated as part of a single process of demographic transition, initially characterized by reductions in mortality and fertility. The paper suggests a relationship between gains in life expectancy and changes in the role of women in society that has not been identified before in the literature. Mortality reductions affect the incentives of individuals to invest in human capital and to have children, with implications for female labor force participation and the wage differential between men and women. The paper also presents some empirical evidence to support the predictions of the theory.
Maintenance with rituximab after autologous stem cell transplantation in relapsed patients with CD20 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL): CORAL final analysis.

8004 Background: Chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is the standard treatment for chemosensitive relapses DLBCL. No study has compared different salvage therapies and evaluated maintenance post ASCT. METHODS DLBCL CD 20+ in first relapse or pts refractory after first line therapy were randomized between R ICE (rituximab, ifosfamide, etoposide, carboplatinum) or R DHAP (rituximab dexamethasone cytarabine and cisplatinum). Responding patients received BEAM and ASCT and were randomized between observation or maintenance with rituximab every 2 months for 1 yr (Gisselbrecht J Clin Oncol; 2010 28:4184-4190). RESULTS ITT analysis was made on 477 pts with R ICE: 243 pts and R DHAP: 234 pts: 255 relapses >12m, 213 refractory/early relapses; 306 pts with prior exposure to rituximab; secondary(s) IPI 0-1: 281 pts; s IPI 2-3:181pts. There was no difference in response rate between R ICE 63.6% and R DHAP 64.3%. There was no difference between R ICE and R DHAP at 4 yrs for EFS (26% vs 37% p=0.2) and OS (43% vs 51%, p=0.3). Factors affecting 4 yrs EFS, PFS and OS were: prior treatment with rituximab; early relapse < 12 m; s IPI 2-3. ASCT was performed in 255 pts and 242 randomized for maintenance:122pts rituximab (R), 120 pts observation(O). Distribution between R/O arms were respectively: median age 54 /53 yrs,Male 76/83; female 46/37;secondary IPI 0-1: 84/81; sIPI 2-3: 36/36. 89/76 relapses >12m. , 33/41 refractory/early relapses. Median follow up was 44 m with 111 events. 4 yrs EFS was 52.8 % (CI 46-59) with 63% (CI 56-69) OS. There was no difference in EFS, PFS and OS between R and O arms. In multivariate analysis, sIPI2-3 significantly affected EFS, PFS, OS (p=0.0004). Women (83pts) had a better 4 yrs EFS 63% than male (159pts) 37% (p=0.01). The difference was only in the R arm (p=0.004). Gender was an independent prognostic factor in the R arm. Toxicity was mild with 12% SAE versus 4% for R /O respectively. CONCLUSIONS There was no difference between R-ICE and R-DHAP and between post ASCT maintenance with R or O. Women did significantly better after ASCT with rituximab. Early relapses to upfront rituximab-based chemotherapy have a poor prognosis.
Estimation of Nationwide Vaccination Coverage and Comparison of Interview and Telephone Survey Methodology for Estimating Vaccination Status

This study compared interview and telephone surveys to select the better method for regularly estimating nationwide vaccination coverage rates in Korea. Interview surveys using multi-stage cluster sampling and telephone surveys using stratified random sampling were conducted. Nationwide coverage rates were estimated in subjects with vaccination cards in the interview survey. The interview survey relative to the telephone survey showed a higher response rate, lower missing rate, higher validity and a less difference in vaccination coverage rates between card owners and non-owners. Primary vaccination coverage rate was greater than 90% except for the fourth dose of DTaP (diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis), the third dose of polio, and the third dose of Japanese B encephalitis (JBE). The DTaP4: Polio3: MMR1 fully vaccination rate was 62.0% and BCG1:HepB3:DTaP4:Polio3:MMR1 was 59.5%. For age-appropriate vaccination, the coverage rate was 50%-80%. We concluded that the interview survey was better than the telephone survey. These results can be applied to countries with incomplete registry and decreasing rates of landline telephone coverage due to increased cell phone usage and countries. Among mandatory vaccines, efforts to increase vaccination rate for the fourth dose of DTaP, the third dose of polio, JBE and regular vaccinations at recommended periods should be conducted in Korea.