Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation prior to presleep protein feeding stimulates the use of protein-derived amino acids for overnight muscle protein synthesis.

Short periods of muscle disuse result in substantial skeletal muscle atrophy. Recently, we showed that both neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) as well as presleep dietary protein ingestion represent effective strategies to stimulate muscle protein synthesis rates. In this study, we test our hypothesis that NMES can augment the use of presleep protein-derived amino acids for overnight muscle protein synthesis in older men. Twenty healthy, older [69 ± 1 (SE) yr] men were subjected to 24 h of bed rest, starting at 8:00 AM. In the evening, volunteers were subjected to 70-min 1-legged NMES, while the other leg served as nonstimulated control (CON). Immediately following NMES, 40 g of intrinsically l-[1-13C]-phenylalanine labeled protein was ingested prior to sleep. Blood samples were taken throughout the night, and muscle biopsies were obtained from both legs in the evening and the following morning (8 h after protein ingestion) to assess dietary protein-derived l-[1-13C]-phenylalanine enrichments in myofibrillar protein. Plasma phenylalanine concentrations and plasma l-[1-13C]-phenylalanine enrichments increased significantly following protein ingestion and remained elevated for up to 6 h after protein ingestion (P < 0.05). During overnight sleep, myofibrillar protein-bound l-[1-13C]-phenylalanine enrichments (MPE) increased to a greater extent in the stimulated compared with the control leg (0.0344 ± 0.0019 vs. 0.0297 ± 0.0016 MPE, respectively; P < 0.01), representing 18 ± 6% greater incorporation of presleep protein-derived amino acids in the NMES compared with CON leg. In conclusion, application of NMES prior to presleep protein feeding stimulates the use of dietary protein-derived amino acids for overnight muscle protein synthesis in older men. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) as well as presleep dietary protein ingestion represent effective strategies to stimulate muscle protein synthesis rates. Here we demonstrate that in older men after a day of bed rest, the application of NMES prior to presleep protein feeding stimulates the use of dietary protein-derived amino acids for overnight muscle protein synthesis by 18% compared with presleep protein feeding only.
Multi-scale phylogenetic structure in coastal dune plant communities across the globe

Aims Studies integrating phylogenetic history and large-scale community assembly are few, and many questions remain unanswered. Here, we use a global coastal dune plant data set to uncover the important factors in community assembly across scales from the local filtering processes to the global long-term diversification and dispersal dynamics. Coastal dune plant communities occur worldwide under a wide range of climatic and geologic conditions as well as in all biogeographic regions. However, global patterns in the phylogenetic composition of coastal dune plant communities have not previously been studied.
Effect of Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibition on Progression of Atherosclerosis and Aneurysm in LDL Receptor‐Deficient Mice Overexpressing MMP‐3, MMP‐12, and MMP‐13 and on Restenosis in Rats after Balloon Injury

ABSTRACT: The broad‐spectrum MMP inhibitor CGS 27023A was tested to determine its potential as a therapy for atherosclerosis, aneurysm, and restenosis. LDL receptor‐deficient (LDLr −/−) mice fed a high‐fat, cholic acid‐enriched diet for 16 weeks developed advanced aortic atherosclerosis with destruction of elastic lamina and ectasia in the media underlying complex plaques. Lesion formation correlated with a 4.6‐ to 21.7‐fold increase in MMP‐3, ‐12, and ‐13 expression. Treatment with CGS 27023A (p.o., b.i.d. at 50 mg/kg) had no effect on the extent of aortic atherosclerosis (36 ± 4% versus 30 ± 2% in controls), but both aortic medial elastin destruction and ectasia grade were significantly reduced (38% and 36%, respectively, p < 0.05). In the rat ballooned‐carotid‐artery model, CGS 27023A (12.5 mg/kg/day via osmotic minipump) reduced smooth muscle cell migration at 4 days by 83% (p < 0.001). Intimal lesions were reduced by 85% at 7 days (p < 0.001), but intimal smooth muscle proliferation was unaffected, and inhibitory efficacy was lost with time. At 12 days, intimal lesion reduction was less potent (52%, p < 0.01). At 3 and 6 weeks, reductions of 11% and 4%, respectively, were not significant. This demonstrates that it is essential to include late time points when the ballooned‐carotid‐artery model is employed to ensure that lesion size does not “catch up” when a compound solely inhibits smooth muscle cell migration. In summary, MMP inhibitor therapy delayed but did not prevent intimal lesions, thereby demonstrating little promise to prevent restenosis. In contrast, MMP inhibitor therapy may prove useful to retard progression of aneurysm.
Solving the mystery of mobile learning adoption in higher education

The rapid expansion in users of mobile devices, particularly among university students, makes mobile learning (m-learning) the modern style of learning for the new millennium. Thus, it is important to identify and explore the factors that may influence students' intention to use m-learning. In Jordan, research on mobile learning adoption is still very narrow. For the purpose of this study, we propose a framework that is based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model, to explore the potential factors that may impact students' intention to acceptance and use of m-learning in developing countries such as Jordan. The proposed framework is empirically tested using a total of 444 paper-based questionnaires, collected from students at four Jordanian universities. The results reveal that effort expectancy, performance expectancy, trust expectancy, self-management of learning, system functionality and social influence are significant determinants of m-learning adoption, and explain 64.8% of the variance in the students' intentions to adopt m-learning. Gender and uncertainty avoidance are found to have moderating effects on some of the relationships of the research model. These findings offer multiple useful implications for m-learning adoption, in terms of both research and practice.
Pneumocystis Pneumonia in South African Children With and Without Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in the Era of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

Background: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is a major cause of hospitalization and mortality in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected African children. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and outcome of PCP in South African children living in a high HIV-prevalence area in the context of a free, available antiretroviral therapy program. Methods: Sequential children hospitalized with hypoxic pneumonia were prospectively enrolled from November 2006 to August 2008. Sociodemographic, historical, clinical, and outcome data were collected. A nasopharyngeal aspirate and lower respiratory tract sample (induced sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage) were submitted for PCP immunofluorescence. Lower respiratory tract samples were also investigated for bacterial, mycobacterial, and viral pathogens. Results: A total of 202 children were enrolled; 124 (61.4%) were HIV-infected; 34 (16.8%) were HIV-exposed but uninfected and 44 (21.8%) were HIV-unexposed. Among HIV-exposed children, 70 (44.3%) had participated in the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission program, but only 18.4% were taking trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis. PCP occurred in 43 children (21.3%) of whom 33 (76.7%) were HIV-infected. The case fatality of children with PCP was higher than those without PCP (39.5% vs. 21.4%; relative risk, 1.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.15–2.97; P = 0.01). Conclusions: PCP is a common cause of hypoxic pneumonia and mortality in HIV-infected South African infants. Underuse of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission program and failure to institute trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis in HIV-exposed children identified through the program are important obstacles to reducing PCP incidence.
Urbanization and its effects on personality traits: a result of microevolution or phenotypic plasticity?

Human‐altered environmental conditions affect many species at the global scale. An extreme form of anthropogenic alteration is the existence and rapid increase of urban areas. A key question, then, is how species cope with urbanization. It has been suggested that rural and urban conspecifics show differences in behaviour and personality. However, (i) a generalization of this phenomenon has never been made; and (ii) it is still unclear whether differences in personality traits between rural and urban conspecifics are the result of phenotypic plasticity or of intrinsic differences. In a literature review, we show that behavioural differences between rural and urban conspecifics are common and taxonomically widespread among animals, suggesting a significant ecological impact of urbanization on animal behaviour. In order to gain insight into the mechanisms leading to behavioural differences in urban individuals, we hand‐raised and kept European blackbirds (Turdus merula) from a rural and a nearby urban area under common‐garden conditions. Using these birds, we investigated individual variation in two behavioural responses to the presence of novel objects: approach to an object in a familiar area (here defined as neophilia), and avoidance of an object in a familiar foraging context (defined as neophobia). Neophilic and neophobic behaviours were mildly correlated and repeatable even across a time period of one year, indicating stable individual behavioural strategies. Blackbirds from the urban population were more neophobic and seasonally less neophilic than blackbirds from the nearby rural area. These intrinsic differences in personality traits are likely the result of microevolutionary changes, although we cannot fully exclude early developmental influences.
Male infertility and adult polycystic kidney disease – revisited: case report and current literature review

Adult polycystic kidney disease (APKD) is one of the most common inherited disorders affecting one in 800–1000 live births. Extra‐renal manifestation of APKD is not uncommon. Cysts involving the male and female reproductive system have been reported. However, fertility is affected only in male subjects. Among cysts involving the reproductive system, seminal vesicle cysts have been reported to be the most common. The effect of seminal vesicle cysts on male fertility has been controversial. Current literature reports that majority of men remain fertile. However, uraemia and its implications on fertility and abnormal semen parameters in men with seminal vesicle cysts must be taken into consideration. We herein present two patients with APKD with contrasting semen parameters and also review the current literature.
Poliomyelitis Infection in Cortisone-Treated Hamsters Induced by the Intraperitoneal Route.∗

Summary It was possible to produce a violent and uniformly fatal poliomyelitis infection in the hamster by the intraperitoneal route following treatment with cortisone. The disease was accompanied by a pronounced viremia apparently due to the multiplication of the virus outside of the central nervous system under these conditions. No clinical infection was observed in non-treated hamsters thus inoculated. No disease was produced following the intraperitoneal inoculation of the virus in the hamsters receiving ACTH.
Do serum hepcidin-25 levels correlate with oxidative stress in patients with chronic kidney disease not receiving dialysis?

AIMS Iron metabolism is an important factor of anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hepcidin is a regulator of iron homeostasis and has a major role in the anemia of chronic disease (ACD). Oxidative stress (OS) is also associated with iron metabolism. However, the clinical utility of hepcidin, especially its association with OS, in CKD patients not receiving dialysis is still unclear. METHODS We recruited 117 patients (62 ± 15 years, 85 males, and median estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 22 ml/min/1.73 m2) with CKD not receiving dialysis. Serum 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a marker of DNA oxidative injury, and serum hepcidin-25 were measured by ELISA and by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, respectively. RESULTS Hepcidin-25 was associated positively with ferritin, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and 8-OHdG, and negatively with eGFR and hemoglobin. Sex, oral iron, hemoglobin, transferrin saturation (TSAT), ferritin, and hsCRP were independently associated with hepcidin-25 in a multiple regression model. In contrast, neither eGFR nor 8-OHdG independently affected hepcidin- 25. CONCLUSIONS The close association between hepcidin and serum ferritin, oral iron and hsCRP indicates that it plays a key role in the pathogenesis of anemia in patients with CKD not receiving dialysis. In contrast, effects of eGFR and OS were not apparent.
Causative factors as cues for addressing the rapid increase in suicide in Mie Prefecture, Japan: Comparison of trends between 1996–2002 and 1989–1995

Abstract The number of suicides in Japan has increased from approximately 22 000 per year from 1988 to 1997 to >30 000 per year since 1998. Likewise, the number of suicides has been increasing in Mie Prefecture. The purpose of the present study was to examine the incidence of and circumstances surrounding all suicide cases during 1996–2002 in Mie Prefecture and to compare the data with those from 1989 to 1995. In Mie Prefecture, the age‐specific suicide rate during the second 7‐year period included marked increases among men aged 50–59 and 60–69 years. Among women, the age‐specific suicide rate increased with age during both 7‐year periods. During the second period, psychiatric disorders as causative factors increased in all generations. They were especially important for women of the younger generation, whereas economic problems were the most common causative factor among men aged 40–64. Physical illness as a causative factor in suicide was high among the elderly, but among the other age groups this factor trailed behind economic difficulties for men and psychiatric disorders for women. To prevent suicide, social cooperation as well as a plenitude of visiting nurses and psychiatric care is required, and early detection and treatment are also important.
The problem of illegally induced abortion: results from a hospital‐based study conducted at district level in Dar es Salaam

Summary Illegal abortion is known to be a major contributor to maternal mortality. The objective of the study was firstly to identify women with illegally induced abortion, (IA) and to compare them with women admitted with a spontaneous abortion (SA) or receiving antenatal care (AC), and secondly to describe the circumstances which characterized the abortion. The population of this cross‐sectional questionnaire study comprised patients from Temeke District Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After an in‐depth confidential interview, 603 women with incomplete abortion were divided into two groups: 362 women with IA and 241 with SA. They were compared with 307 AC women. IA women were significantly younger, more often better educated, unmarried, nulliparous and students than AC women. Regarding civil‐status, educational level, proportion of nullipara and proportion of students, SA patients were similar to AC women. These results lend support to the assumption that the in‐depth confidential interview made it possible to distinguish IA women from SA women.
What colour of flowers do Lepidoptera prefer for foraging?

Food plant preferences of some Lepidoptera species associated with particular colour of the flowers were investigated. Based on 1,329 field observations of 43 Lepidoptera and 66 plant species, Lepidoptera showed a high tendency (G-test, Gadj = 698.6, df = 6, P < 0.001) to use the yellow (29%) and pink (28%) coloured flowers for foraging. Compared to the other colours it was evident that plants with red flowers (2%) were not preferred. Moreover, the plants with red (H = 0.435) and yellow-white (H = 0.543) flowers were not visited by diverse Lepidoptera species. Although yellow and pink flowers were most frequently visited, the highest degrees of the Lepidoptera diversity values were associated with the plants having blue (H = 0.647) and purple (H = 0.634) flowers. Species of Nymphalidae were most numerous (14 spp.) in the study area and the members of this family were observed 430 times on 39 different plant species, but never on plants with red flowers. Pieris rapae was the most abundant species that occurred 136 times on a total of 21 different plant species of which eight had yellow flowers. But, this species has never been seen while feeding on red flowers.
Factors Predicting Mortality in Elderly Patients on Dialysis

Elderly patients are increasingly enrolled in dialysis programs and present a series of special characteristics due to their high morbidity and mortality. Objective:To describe the characteristics of incident dialysis patients aged >75 years, their comorbidities and their admissions, with a view to determining the factors that influence their course and mortality. Patients and Methods: The study included all patients aged >75 years who started dialysis in our center since January 2000. The mean duration of follow-up was 3.3 ± 2.2 years. Data were collected on incident comorbidity, admissions and their causes. A total of 139 patients were included, with a mean age of 78.6 ± 2.6 years (67.6% males, 33.8% diabetic and 7.9% on peritoneal dialysis). Three groups were established according to age: 75–79, 80–85 and >85 years. The most frequent comorbidities were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (25.9%), ischemic heart disease (25.2%), heart failure (25.9%), neoplasms (23.7%), peripheral vascular disease (23.7%), cerebrovascular disease (18.7%) and arterial hypertension (81%). The Charlson index was calculated, not adjusted for age, and comorbidity tertiles were established. Results: During follow-up, the patients presented 0.82 ± 0.99 admissions/patient/year, with a duration of 12.1 ± 20.6 days/patient/year. The main causes of admission were infection (33%), vascular access problems (27%) and peripheral vascular events (14%). A total of 61 patients died (44%), and 4 underwent kidney transplantation (2.9%). The mean duration of follow-up of the transplanted patients was 3.6 ± 1.8 years. The main causes of death were infection (32%), cardiovascular problems (28.3%) and neoplastic disease (11.3%). The global survival rate was 90, 82 and 53% after 1, 2 and 5 years, respectively. No significant differences in survival or annual admission rate were found in relation to age group and dialysis technique. In contrast, the annual admission rate and days of admission were directly correlated to the Charlson index (p = 0.009 and p = 0.032, respectively). No significant differences in the Charlson index were found between the patients on hemodialysis and those subjected to peritoneal dialysis. In the univariate model, the factors associated to mortality were diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure and the Charlson index. In the multivariate model, only the Charlson index remained as an independent predictive factor (p = 0.006). Conclusions: Unlike the general population, age does not influence mortality or admissions in elderly patients on dialysis. Incident comorbidity is the factor exerting the greatest influence upon mortality and admissions. Advanced age in itself should not be regarded as an excluding factor for starting dialysis.
Bright Light during Nighttime: Effects on the Circadian Regulation of Alertness and Performance

The present studies evaluated to what extent duration (all-night or 4-hour exposures) and timing of nocturnal bright light (BL) (beginning or end of the night) modulate effects on vigilance. The results showed that all-night BL exposure is able to alleviate the nocturnal decrements in alertness and performance. However, under certain circumstances, this continuous BL exposure may induce adverse effects on mood and finally reveal to be counterproductive. Shorter BL exposure (4 h) during nighttime helps improve mood and performance, although the effects of short BL pulses were less efficacious than all-night BL exposure. The latter part of the night appears the best time for using the alerting effect of BL. The immediate alerting effect of BL seems to be mediated by a global activation of the central nervous system.
The relationship between adolescent suicidal behavior and life events in childhood and adolescence.

OBJECTIVE Although the relationship between experience of problematic life events and adolescent suicidal behavior has frequently been recognized during the past decade, few studies of life events have been initiated that discriminated between adolescent suicide attempters and depressed adolescents. Therefore, the authors compared adolescent suicide attempters with both depressed and nondepressed adolescents who never attempted suicide with respect to life events that happened in two periods: childhood (defined as the period up to age 12 years) and adolescence (age 12 and older). METHOD Using a semistructured interview, the authors gathered life event data about childhood and adolescence from three groups of adolescents: 48 suicide attempters, 66 depressed adolescents who had never made a suicide attempt, and 43 nondepressed adolescents who had never made a suicide attempt. RESULTS The group of adolescents who attempted suicide differed from both of the other groups in that they had experienced more turmoil in their families, starting in childhood and not stabilizing during adolescence. During adolescence, they were more often sexually abused. During the last year before the attempt, further social instability, such as changes in residence and having to repeat a class, occurred. CONCLUSIONS For suicidal adolescents, the suicide attempt seems embedded not just in the problems every adolescent has to deal with but in greater turmoil in their families, rooted in childhood and not stabilizing during adolescence, in combination with traumatic events during adolescence and social instability in the year preceding the attempt.