Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Outcome by Gender in the Veterans Health Administration Motivating Overweight/Obese Veterans Everywhere Weight Management Program.

BACKGROUND Few evaluations of the Veterans Health Administration Motivating Overweight/Obese Veterans Everywhere (MOVE! ) weight management program have assessed 6-month weight change or factors associated with weight change by gender. MATERIALS AND METHODS Analysis of administrative data from a national sample of veterans in the VA MOVE! PROGRAM RESULTS A total of 62,882 participants were included, 14.6% were women. Compared with men, women were younger (49.6 years [standard deviation, SD, 10.8] vs. 59.3 years [SD, 9.8], p < 0.0001), less likely to be married (34.1% vs. 56.0%, p < 0.0001), and had higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (26.0% vs. 22.4%, p < 0.0001) and depression (49.3% vs. 32.9%, p < 0.001). The mean number of MOVE! visits attended by women was lower than men (5.6 [SD, 5.3] vs. 6.0 [SD, 5.9], p < 0.0001). Women, compared with men, reported lower rates of being able to rely on family or friends (35.7% vs. 40.8%, p < 0.0001). Observed mean percent change in weight for women was -1.5% (SD, 5.2) and for men was -1.9% (SD, 4.8, p < 0.0001). The odds of ≥5% weight loss were no different for women (body-mass index [BMI] >25 kg/m2) compared with men (BMI >25 kg/m2; odds ratio, 1.05 [95% confidence interval, 0.99-1.11; p = 0.13]). CONCLUSIONS Women veterans lost less weight overall compared with men. There was no difference in the odds of achieving clinically significant weight loss by gender. The majority of women and men enrolled lost <5% weight despite being enrolled in a lifestyle intervention. Future studies should focus on identifying program- and participant-level barriers to weight loss.
Phylogeny and putative virulence gene analysis of Bartonella bovis

Bartonella bovis is a small Gram-negative bacterium recognized as an etiological agent for bacteremia and endocarditis in cattle. As few reports are available on the taxonomic position of B. bovis and its mechanism of virulence, this study aims to resolve the phylogeny of B. bovis and investigate putative virulence genes based on whole genome sequence analysis. Genome-wide comparisons based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and orthologous genes were performed in this study for phylogenetic inference of 27 Bartonella species. Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology (RAST) analysis was used for annotation of putative virulence genes. The phylogenetic tree generated from the genome-wide comparison of orthologous genes exhibited a topology almost similar to that of the tree generated from SNP-based comparison, indicating a high concordance in the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of Bartonella spp. The analyses show consistent grouping of B. bovis in a cluster related to ruminant-associated species, including Bartonella australis, Bartonella melophagi and Bartonella schoenbuchensis. RAST analysis revealed genes encoding flagellar components, in corroboration with the observation of flagella-like structure of BbUM strain under negative straining. Genes associated with virulence, disease and defence, prophages, membrane transport, iron acquisition, motility and chemotaxis are annotated in B. bovis genome. The flagellin (flaA) gene of B. bovis is closely related to Bartonella bacilliformis and Bartonella clarridgeiae but distinct from other Gram-negative bacteria. The absence of type IV secretion systems, the bona fide pathogenicity factors of bartonellae, in B. bovis suggests that it may have a different mechanism of pathogenicity.
Nonlinear Systems Identification Using Deep Dynamic Neural Networks

Neural networks are known to be effective function approximators. Recently, deep neural networks have proven to be very effective in pattern recognition, classification tasks and human-level control to model highly nonlinear realworld systems. This paper investigates the effectiveness of deep neural networks in the modeling of dynamical systems with complex behavior. Three deep neural network structures are trained on sequential data, and we investigate the effectiveness of these networks in modeling associated characteristics of the underlying dynamical systems. We carry out similar evaluations on select publicly available system identification datasets. We demonstrate that deep neural networks are effective model estimators from input-output data
Inter-ethnic differences in valve morphology, valvular dysfunction, and aortopathy between Asian and European patients with bicuspid aortic valve

Background Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been shown safe and feasible in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) morphology. Evaluation of inter-ethnic differences in valve morphology and function and aortic root dimensions in patients with BAV is important for the worldwide spread of this therapy in this subgroup of patients. Comparisons between large European and Asian cohorts of patients with BAV have not been performed, and potential differences between populations may have important implications for TAVR. Aim The present study evaluated the differences in valve morphology and function and aortic root dimensions between two large cohorts of European and Asian patients with BAV. Methods and results Aortic valve morphology was defined on transthoracic echocardiography according to the number of commissures and raphe: type 0 = no raphe and two commissures, type 1 = one raphe and two commissures, type 2 = two raphes and one commissure. Aortic stenosis and regurgitation were graded according to current recommendations. For this study, aortic root dimensions were manually measured on transthoracic echocardiograms at the level of the aortic annulus, sinus of Valsalva (SOV), sinotubular junction (STJ), and ascending aorta (AA). Of 1427 patients with BAV (45.2 ± 18.1 years, 71.9% men), 794 (55.6%) were Europeans and 633 (44.4%) were Asians. The groups were comparable in age and proportion of male sex. Asians had higher prevalence of type 1 BAV with raphe between right and non-coronary cusps than Europeans (19.7% vs. 13.6%, respectively; P < 0.001), whereas the Europeans had higher prevalence of type 0 BAV (two commissures, no raphe) than Asians (14.5% vs. 6.8%, respectively; P < 0.001). The prevalence of moderate and severe aortic regurgitation was higher in Europeans than Asians (44.2% vs. 26.8%, respectively; P < 0.001) whereas there were no differences in BAV with normal function or aortic stenosis. After adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and valve function, the dimensions of the aortic annulus [mean difference 1.17 mm/m2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.96-1.39], SOV (mean difference 1.86 mm/m2, 95% CI 1.47-2.24), STJ (mean difference 0.52 mm/m2, 95% CI 0.14-0.90) and AA (mean difference 1.05 mm/m2, 95% CI 0.57-1.52) were significantly larger among Asians compared with Europeans. Conclusions This large multicentre registry reports for the first time that Asians with BAV showed more frequently type 1 BAV (with fusion between right and non-coronary cusp) and have larger aortic dimensions than Europeans. These findings have important implications for prosthesis type and size selection for TAVR.
Relationship Status and Long-Term Care Facility Use in Later Life.

Objectives: Most older adults prefer to “age in place” and avoid formal long-term care. Yet demographic shifts, including population aging and an increasing prevalence of remarried and unmarried older adults, could undermine these goals, mak-ing it important to consider carefully how and why relationship status relates to long-term care risk. Method: We fit hazard models to a sample of adults aged 65 and older from eight waves (1998–2012) of the Health and Retirement Study ( N = 21,564). We consider risk of any long-term care facility admission, as well as risk of long-duration stays. Results: Widowed, divorced, and never married adults have the highest risks of long-term care admission. Remarried and partnered adults have similar risks of long-term care admission as continuously married adults. Relationship status is more important for men than for women, especially when considering long-duration stays. Relationship status is also more significant for non-Hispanic White and Hispanic adults compared with non-Hispanic Black adults. Economic resources and, to some extent, social ties partially explain the association between relationship status and long-term care use. Discussion: By addressing the prohibitive costs of long-term care services which enable aging in place (e.g., home health care), relationship status disparities in long-term care may be reduced. Future studies should consider the link between long-term care facility use and relationship status in future cohorts as well as examine how relationship status structures access to a range of long-term care options.
Cognitive directional cost-based transmit power control in IEEE 802.11 WLAN

IEEE 802.11 Wlan networks are constantly challenged for maximum overall service performance and new mobility applications: real-time, interactive communications and presence analytics. They require a solid design approach that considers but not limited to: highly varying characteristics of dense environments, technology advances, feasibility of study hypotheses, and overall service design best practices. This work argues that radio resource management, transmit power and frequency, should be centrally coordinated at low design level, to achieve such performance, and considers optimizing transmission power control as prerequisite to dynamic channel allocation techniques. It focuses on co-channel interferences but can be easily extended to tackle cross-channel interferences, too. In this paper, we consider beamforming and cost-based communication techniques to derive a new transmission power control approach that allows access points and mobile stations to communicate without or very lessened co-channel interferences. The proposed model runs 3 algorithms to maximize transmission opportunities for nodes based both on realistic hypotheses and modeled system behavior. The term opportunities refers also, to new transmissions possibilities that are often missed in other studies. Our work proves that transmission opportunities could be enhanced drastically, when it considers at the same time, constraints from upper service layers.
Competitive Externalities of Tax Cuts

We examine how tax cuts that benefit some firms are related to the economic performance of their direct competitors. Consistent with tax cuts decreasing the cost of initiating competitive strategies, we find that a decrease in the tax burden for only a certain group of firms in the U.S. economy has a negative economic effect on the performance of its direct competitors not directly exposed to the same tax cut. This negative externality is stronger when competitors (1) face financial constraints, (2) operate in more competitive markets, (3) have similar products to their lower-taxed rivals, (4) face rivals that retain more of their tax benefits (e.g., due to lower shareholder payouts), and (5) face financially constrained rivals. We also find that shareholders and lenders price the negative externality manifested in these competitors’ economic performance.
Integrated Care Approaches Used for Transitions from Hospital to Community Care: A Scoping Review

RÉSUMÉ Les soins intégrés constituent une approche prometteuse pour améliorer les transitions entre les soins pour les personnes âgées, mais il n’existe pas de consensus concernant ce concept ou ses applications. Cet examen de la portée décrit l’ampleur et le contenu des publications sur les initiatives de soins intégrés visant les transitions entre les soins hospitaliers et les soins en milieu communautaire pour les aînés (âgés de 65 ans ou plus), et la conceptualisation des soins intégrés dans ces écrits. Une recherche systématique dans la littérature des 10 dernières années a permis d’identifier 899 documents qui ont été examinés par deux évaluateurs. Des 48 documents sélectionnés, 26 étaient des articles de revues scientifiques et 22 des articles de la littérature grise. Les analyses réalisées incluent des statistiques descriptives et une analyse de contenu qui résume les caractéristiques des initiatives de soins intégrés. Les résultats suggèrent que l’intégration de la prestation des soins et services est principalement visée par ces travaux, plutôt que l’intégration du financement, de l’administration ou de l’organisation des soins. Afin de permettre des comparaisons sur le plan international des initiatives de soins intégrés visant l’amélioration des transitions entre les soins, une description détaillée des contextes organisationnels serait aussi nécessaire. ABSTRACT Integrated care is a promising approach for improving care transitions for older adults, but this concept is inconsistently defined and applied. This scoping review describes the size and nature of literature on integrated care initiatives for transitions from hospital to community care for older adults (aged 65 and older) and how this literature conceptualizes integrated care. A systematic search of literature from the past 10 years yielded 899 documents that were screened for inclusion by two reviewers. Of the 48 included documents, there were 26 journal articles and 22 grey literature documents. Analysis included descriptive statistics and a content analysis approach to summarize features of the integrated care initiatives. Results suggest that clinical and service delivery integration is being targeted rather than integration of funding, administration, and/or organization. To promote international comparison of integrated care initiatives aiming to improve care transitions, detailed descriptions of organizational context are also needed.
Resistance to proteasome inhibitors and other targeted therapies in myeloma

The number of novel therapies for the treatment of myeloma is rapidly increasing, as are the clinical trials evaluating them in combination with other novel and established therapies. Proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents and monoclonal antibodies are the most well known and studied classes of novel agents targeting myeloma, with histone deacetylase inhibitors, nuclear export inhibitors and several other approaches also being actively investigated. However, in parallel with the development and clinical use of these novel myeloma therapies is the emergence of novel mechanisms of resistance, many of which remain elusive, particularly for more recently developed agents. Whilst resistance mechanisms have been best studied for proteasome inhibitors, particularly bortezomib, class effects do not universally apply to all class members, and within‐class differences in efficacy, toxicity and resistance mechanisms have been observed. Although immunomodulatory agents share the common cellular target cereblon and thus resistance patterns relate to cereblon expression, the unique cell surface antigens to which monoclonal antibodies are directed means these agents frequently exhibit unique within‐class differences in clinical efficacy and resistance patterns. This review describes the major classes of novel therapies for myeloma, highlights the major clinical trials within each class and discusses known resistance mechanisms.
Test non‐inferiority (and equivalence) based on the odds ratio under a simple crossover trial

For testing the non‐inferiority (or equivalence) of a generic drug to a standard drug, the odds ratio (OR) of patient response rates has been recommended to measure the relative treatment efficacy. On the basis of a random effects logistic regression model, we develop asymptotic test procedures for testing non‐inferiority and equivalence with respect to the OR of patient response rates under a simple crossover design. We further derive exact test procedures, which are especially useful for the situations in which the number of patients in a crossover trial is small. We address sample size calculation for testing non‐inferiority and equivalence based on the asymptotic test procedures proposed here. We also discuss estimation of the OR of patient response rates for both the treatment and period effects. Finally, we include two examples, one comparing two solution aerosols in treating asthma, and the other one studying two inhalation devices for asthmatics, to illustrate the use of the proposed test procedures and estimators. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Massive lateral transfer of genes encoding plant cell wall-degrading enzymes to the mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma from its plant-associated hosts

Unlike most other fungi, molds of the genus Trichoderma (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) are aggressive parasites of other fungi and efficient decomposers of plant biomass. Although nutritional shifts are common among hypocrealean fungi, there are no examples of such broad substrate versatility as that observed in Trichoderma. A phylogenomic analysis of 23 hypocrealean fungi (including nine Trichoderma spp. and the related Escovopsis weberi) revealed that the genus Trichoderma has evolved from an ancestor with limited cellulolytic capability that fed on either fungi or arthropods. The evolutionary analysis of Trichoderma genes encoding plant cell wall-degrading carbohydrate-active enzymes and auxiliary proteins (pcwdCAZome, 122 gene families) based on a gene tree / species tree reconciliation demonstrated that the formation of the genus was accompanied by an unprecedented extent of lateral gene transfer (LGT). Nearly one-half of the genes in Trichoderma pcwdCAZome (41%) were obtained via LGT from plant-associated filamentous fungi belonging to different classes of Ascomycota, while no LGT was observed from other potential donors. In addition to the ability to feed on unrelated fungi (such as Basidiomycota), we also showed that Trichoderma is capable of endoparasitism on a broad range of Ascomycota, including extant LGT donors. This phenomenon was not observed in E. weberi and rarely in other mycoparasitic hypocrealean fungi. Thus, our study suggests that LGT is linked to the ability of Trichoderma to parasitize taxonomically related fungi (up to adelphoparasitism in strict sense). This may have allowed primarily mycotrophic Trichoderma fungi to evolve into decomposers of plant biomass.
STAT3 activation by E6 is essential for the differentiation-dependent HPV18 life cycle

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) activate a number of host factors to control their differentiation-dependent life cycles. The transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-3 is important for cell cycle progression and cell survival in response to cytokines and growth factors. STAT3 requires phosphorylation on Ser727, in addition to phosphorylation on Tyr705 to be transcriptionally active. In this study, we show that STAT3 is essential for the HPV life cycle in undifferentiated and differentiated keratinocytes. Primary human keratinocytes containing high-risk HPV18 genomes display enhanced STAT3 phosphorylation compared to normal keratinocytes. Expression of the E6 oncoprotein is sufficient to induce the dual phosphorylation of STAT3 at Ser727 and Tyr705 by a mechanism requiring Janus kinases and members of the MAPK family. E6-mediated activation of STAT3 induces the transcription of STAT3 responsive genes including cyclin D1 and Bcl-xL. Silencing of STAT3 protein expression by siRNA or inhibition of STAT3 activation by small molecule inhibitors, or by expression of dominant negative STAT3 phosphorylation site mutants, results in blockade of cell cycle progression. Loss of active STAT3 impairs HPV gene expression and prevents episome maintenance in undifferentiated keratinocytes and upon differentiation, lack of active STAT3 abolishes virus genome amplification and late gene expression. Organotypic raft cultures of HPV18 containing keratinocytes expressing a phosphorylation site STAT3 mutant display a profound reduction in suprabasal hyperplasia, which correlates with a loss of cyclin B1 expression and increased differentiation. Finally, increased STAT3 expression and phosphorylation is observed in HPV positive cervical disease biopsies compared to control samples, highlighting a role for STAT3 activation in cervical carcinogenesis. In summary, our data provides evidence of a critical role for STAT3 in the HPV18 life cycle.
Elution , Biological Activity and Characterization of Phytotoxin Produced by Sugarcane Red Rot Pathogen Colletotrichum falcatum

An attempt was made to assess the chemical nature of the toxic compound(s) present in the culture broth of Colletotrichum falcatum by selection of only biologically active fractions at every stage of toxin elution and characterization. In liquid culture, C. falcatum produced toxic metabolites that are soluble in water, methanol and diethyl ether. The column eluted semi-purified form of secondary metabolites produced severe necrotic lesions on sugarcane leaves at a concentration of 5000 mg/l and the toxin was found to be host specific. Production of necrotic lesion size in sugarcane leaves increased with increase in concentration and time of toxin inoculation, i.e. severe necrotic lesions were noticed after 72 h at 10000 mg/l and after 96 h at 5000 mg/l. The biologically active column eluted fractions viz., RP1, RP2, RP3 and RP8 were analyzed with HPLC and GC-MS for structural characterization. The analysis of biologically active fractions identified seven toxic compounds, viz., C12H30O4, C16H40O5, C21H50O7, C17H29NO5, C24H62O6, C30H50O4 and C15H24O in the metabolites of C. falcatum. Among the identified compounds C17H29NO5 (methoxy phenylpyruvic acid) appeared consistently (at Rt 10.1 min of GC/MS analyzed TIC) in all the biologically active fractions tested. These seven identified compounds constitute phenolics, sugars, acids and few esters. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
High peripheral temperatures in king penguins while resting at sea: thermoregulation versus fat deposition

ABSTRACT Marine endotherms living in cold water face an energetically challenging situation. Unless properly insulated, these animals will lose heat rapidly. The field metabolic rate of king penguins at sea is about twice that on land. However, when at sea, their metabolic rate is higher during extended resting periods at the surface than during foraging, when birds descend to great depth in pursuit of their prey. This is most likely explained by differences in thermal status. During foraging, peripheral vasoconstriction leads to a hypothermic shell, which is rewarmed during extended resting bouts at the surface. Maintaining peripheral perfusion during rest in cold water, however, will greatly increase heat loss and, therefore, thermoregulatory costs. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the maintenance of a normothermic shell during surface rest: (1) to help the unloading of N2 accumulated during diving; and (2) to allow the storage of fat in subcutaneous tissue, following the digestion of food. We tested the latter hypothesis by maintaining king penguins within a shallow seawater tank, while we recorded tissue temperature at four distinct sites. When king penguins were released into the tank during the day, their body temperature immediately declined. However, during the night, periodic rewarming of abdominal and peripheral tissues occurred, mimicking temperature patterns observed in the wild. Body temperatures, particularly in the flank, also depended on body condition and were higher in ‘lean’ birds (after 10 days of fasting) than in ‘fat’ birds. While not explicitly tested, our observation that nocturnal rewarming persists in the absence of diving activity during the day does not support the N2 unloading hypothesis. Rather, differences in temperature changes throughout the day and night, and the effect of body condition/mass supports the hypothesis that tissue perfusion during rest is required for nutritional needs. Summary: Periodic peripheral rewarming occurs when king penguins rest at night in a shallow seawater tank, probably reflecting perfusion changes required for the deposition of subcutaneous fat.