Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of child temperament with early childhood caries.

BACKGROUND Psychological variable may affect early childhood caries (ECC), but this aspect has not been explored satisfactorily. This study evaluates the child temperament as a risk predictor for ECC. AIM To find the association of child temperament with ECC. SETTINGS AND DESIGN The study is a cross-sectional survey of 1300 school children aged 3 - 6 years from Moradabad city. This survey was conducted during March 2008 to April 2009. The survey assessed the child temperament and analyzed its association with ECC. MATERIALS AND METHODS Children were examined for the evidence of caries, using dmft (decayed missing filled teeth) index based on W.H. O standard criteria (1997). Child temperament was assessed on the basis of five factors; namely, Sociability, Emotionality, Energy level, Attentivity and Rhythmicity using Malhotra Temperament Schedule MTS. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. Significance was deemed at p≤0.05. RESULTS Out of 1,300 parents involved in filling questionnaire for assessment of child temperament, 1053 (81%) responded and their children were included in study. No caries were found in 731 (69%), while 322 (31%) had evidence of caries in one or more teeth. Of the five temperament factors, Sociability, Energy score, Attentivity and Rhythmicity significantly associated with ECC levels. No correlation could be established with emotionality. CONCLUSION The children with ECC were found less sociable, less energetic, highly distractible and less rhythmic as compared to children without ECC.
Impact of Intra- and Interspecies Variation of Occludin on Its Function as Coreceptor for Authentic Hepatitis C Virus Particles

ABSTRACT Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is characterized by a narrow host range and high interindividual variability in the clinical course of infection. Both of these traits are thought to be largely due to genetic variation between species and between individual hosts. The tight junction component occludin (OCLN) is essential for HCV entry into host cells, and the differences between human and murine OCLN are thought to account in part for the inability of HCV to infect mice and hence preclude their use as a convenient small-animal model. This study assesses the impact of genetic variation in OCLN on cell culture-grown HCV (HCVcc) using a newly generated and characterized OCLNlow subclone of the Huh-7.5 cell line (Huh-7.5 subclone in which endogenous OCLN expression has been downregulated by a short hairpin RNA). We report the frequency of coding nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms, i.e., polymorphisms resulting in amino acid exchanges, present in the human population and determine their ability to function as HCV (co)receptors. Moreover, we show that murine OCLN can sustain HCVcc entry, albeit with about 5-fold reduced efficiency compared to that of human OCLN. This reduction in efficiency is due solely to two amino acid residues previously identified by others using an HCV pseudoparticle approach. Finally, we use the Huh-7.5/OCLNlow cell line to show that HCV spread between neighboring cells is strictly dependent on OCLN.
Histochemical Localization of N-Acetyl-Galactosamine in the Midgut of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae)

Abstract The binding of lectins to the midgut of the female sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva) was investigated using lectin-gold conjugates. Midguts from laboratory-reared flies provided fructose solution and/or blood fed on hamster were dissected at 6, 24, and 48 h and at 5 and 7 d after feeding. Before examination by transmission electron microscopy, each midgut was sectioned, incubated with lectins from four sources (Canavalia ensiformis [ConA], Helix pomata agglutinin [HPA], peanut agglutinin [PNA], and wheat germ agglutinin [WGA]), then conjugated with colloidal gold. Only HPA, which is specific for N-acetyl-galactosamine (GalNAc), bound to the midgut. Binding sites were cytoplasmic secretory granules and microvilli throughout the length of the midgut epithelium. Binding occurred in sand flies fed fructose as well as in flies receiving a blood meal. The presence of GalNAc on the midgut microvilli of sand flies before, during, and after blood feeding indicates this amino-sugar is not altered by digestion. As a structural component, GalNAc may represent a terminal on a receptor molecule. The failure of the sand fly peritrophic matrix to bind WGA by N-acetyl-glucosamine may be caused by the complex composition of the membrane, which renders N-glycan inaccessible to the lectin-gold conjugate.
Type of alcoholic beverage and cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx and oesophagus in an Italian area with high wine consumption

The role of different types of alcoholic beverage on cancer of the upper digestive tract was investigated in a case‐control study conducted in the northern part of Italy on 305 male cases of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, 288 of oesophageal cancer and 1621 controls admitted to hospital for acute, non‐neoplastic conditions, unrelated to alcohol intake. Similar significant trends of risk increase with increasing alcohol intake were seen for cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx and oesophagus independent of type (or types) of beverage consumed. Among the heaviest drinkers (i. e. ≥84 drinks/week) odds ratios (ORs) of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx for wine only, wine and spirits, and combination of wine, spirits, and beer were 11.2, 9.9 and 4.1, respectively. Corresponding oesophageal cancer ORs were 15.0, 10.0 and 6.0. This study from an area with high wine consumption confirms that wine per se can greatly enhance the risk of cancer of the upper digestive tract and suggests that the most frequently used alcoholic beverage in each study appears to be the most important determinant of these tumours.
Does Ethical Reinforcement Pay? Evidence from the Canadian Mutual Fund Industry in the Post‐Financial Crisis Era

This study elucidates the link and effect of ethical reinforcement in the post&#8208;financial crisis era by taking two congruent directions to demonstrate that ethical reinforcement can be accomplished by either a continuous ethical training or a meticulous code of business ethics&#8212;which members of the mutual fund industry claim they adhere to&#8212;as both have a positive effect on the funds&#8217; performance, including sizeable gains to investors. Furthermore, evidence divulges that ethical reinforcement moderates the performance of ethical or socially responsible investments (SRI) funds more than nonethical investments, suggesting that a perspective of ethical or SRI classification of a fund alone is not sufficient, but it is necessary to have the institutional ethical environment and/or managers&#8217; continuous ethical training. This result supports the notion of financial market discipline and reveals some factors behind SRI or ethical funds returns, notably during the period following the recent financial crisis.
Comparison of Graphic Symbol Learning in Individuals with Aphasia and Right Hemisphere Brain Damage

This study compared the differences in performance on recognition of graphic symbols across time by individuals with aphasia, individuals with right-hemisphere brain damage, and neurologically normal adults. The subjects, seen individually, learned 40 Blissymbols. The symbols were selected so that the effects of symbol translucency and complexity on the recognition of graphic symbols could be examined. A paired-associate learning paradigm was used to teach the symbol-referent pairs to subjects. The results indicated that individuals with aphasia and neurologically normal adults do not differ significantly in recognition of graphic symbols. However, individuals with right-hemisphere damage recognized fewer symbols compared to individuals with aphasia and normal adults, suggesting that they have difficulty in associative learning of graphic symbols. Additionally, translucency was found to be a potent factor in the recognition of Blissymbols by all groups. The finding that individuals with severe chronic aphasia can learn and retain graphic symbols has significant clinical implications for aphasia rehabilitation.
Serum adipokines and HIV viral replication in patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy.

INTRODUCTION Several studies have reported that cytokines secreted by adipose tissue (adipokines) may be linked to HIV replication. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between HIV replication and serum levels of adipokines, in a Caucasian HIV-infected population of men and women undergoing complex antiretroviral therapy. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in an unselected sample of 77 HIV-1-positive patients. Serum adipokines levels were measured including circulating adiponectin, leptin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 - with undetectable viral load and Group 2 - with persistent HIV viral replication. Differences between groups ? were tested using independent-sample t-test for Gaussian variables and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test for non-parametric variables. Pearson's chi-squared test was used for correlation analysis. RESULTS A total of 77 patients (age range: 17-65, mean: 32.5 years) including 44 men (57.1% men, age range: 17-63 years, mean: 34.1 years) and 33 women (42.9% women age range: 19-65 years, mean: 30.3 years) were included in the study. TNF-alpha had significantly higher serum levels in patients with detectable viral load (16.89 vs. 9.35 pg/mL), (p=0.043), but correlation analysis lacked statistical significance. Adiponectin had median serum levels of 9.22 ìg/mL in Group 1 vs. 16.50 ìg/mL in Group 2 but the results lacked statistical significance (p=0.059). Higher leptin, IL-6 and resistin serum levels were noted in patients with undetectable HIV viral load, without statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS The present study reported higher TNF-alpha serum levels in patients with persistent HIV viral load. We found no statistically significant correlations between adiponectin, leptin, resistin and IL-6 and HIV viral load in our Caucasian HIV-positive study population, undergoing antiretroviral therapy.
Tumor necrosis factor receptor type‐1 in sensory neurons contributes to induction of chronic enhancement of inflammatory hyperalgesia in rat

Carrageenan‐induced inflammatory pain lasting hours to days produces a protein kinase C epsilon (PKCɛ)‐dependent ‘primed’ state lasting several weeks, during which time injection of prostaglandin E2 induces hyperalgesia which is markedly enhanced and prolonged compared to PGE2‐induced hyperalgesia in normal ‘unprimed’ rats. In the present study, we demonstrate that while inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and antagonism of β2‐adrenergic receptors markedly attenuated the hyperalgesia induced by carrageenan, these interventions did not affect hyperalgesic priming. Tumor necrosis factor‐α (rat recombinant; rrTNFα), another mediator of carrageenan‐induced inflammation, alone produced hyperalgesia and priming, which were attenuated and prevented, respectively, by intrathecal administration of antisense to PKCɛ. Inhibition of TNFα with thalidomide or a rat polyclonal anti‐TNFα antibody attenuated carrageenan‐induced hyperalgesia and prevented priming. Intrathecal administration of antisense to tumour necrosis factor receptor type‐1 (TNFR1) reduced the level of TNFR1 transported toward the peripheral terminals of sensory neurons, and attenuated both carrageenan‐ and rrTNFα‐induced priming. Acute hyperalgesia induced by carrageenan or rrTNFα remained intact in animals treated with TNFR1 antisense. Our results demonstrate that the generation of the primed state does not require production of hyperalgesia and that TNFα, which is generated during acute inflammation, can act on sensory neurons to induce hyperalgesic priming by activating neuronal PKCɛ.
"It's not what you know, but who you knew": examining the relationship between behavior change and AIDS mortality in Africa.

Until there is an effective vaccine, changing sexual behavior (e.g., use of condoms or fewer partners) is still the only course of action that can slow the spread of HIV for most Africans. But exactly which factors influence behavior change and how are still debated. This article examines the notion that as the HIV/AIDS epidemic strengthens and spreads through communities in Africa, and mortality mounts, behaviors that prevent transmission should be changing. We focus on men in three countries--Uganda, Kenya, and Zambia--examining determinants of their behavior change, and analyze the relative importance of knowing someone who has died of AIDS as compared with other factors such as age, education level, knowledge of HIV/AIDS, economic status, and marital status. Data from three DHS surveys in Uganda (1995), Zambia (1996), and Kenya (1998) are fitted to a model predicting behavior change. Results from this cross-sectional, multinational study suggest that married and working men aged 20-40 are significantly more likely to have changed their behavior. Personal experience of AIDS is a significant predictor of behavior change in Uganda and Zambia, and is marginally significant in Kenya. One implication in the context of the epidemic is that behavior change is partly determined by the high level of mortality experienced by African communities. A second implication is that higher levels of disclosure, or lower levels of denial of AIDS as a cause of death, may help individuals change their behavior.
Laparoscopic repair of perforated peptic ulcer

A total of 100 consecutive patients with perforated duodenal or juxtapyloric ulcers were treated by: laparotomy and omental patch repair (group 1, n = 44); laparoscopic suture patch repair (group 2, n = 35); and laparoscopic fibrin glue repair (group 3, n = 21). The three groups were comparable in Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II score and in other known operative risk factors such as shock on admission, delayed presentation and associated underlying medical illness. Operative mortality and morbidity data were identical in all groups. The mean operating time was 52.1, 101.3 and 61.1 min respectively in the three groups (group 1 versus group 2, group 2 versus group 3, and group 1 versus groups 2 and 3 combined, P < 0.001). The median number of doses of analgesia required after operation was 4, 3 and 1 respectively (group 1 versus groups 2 and 3, P < 0.05). Conversion to laparotomy was necessary in six patients in group 2 and in one in group 3 (P not significant). The median hospital stay was 5 days in all three groups. Patients who underwent laparoscopic repair of perforated peptic ulcer required fewer postoperative doses of analgesia than those who had open repair. Laparoscopic glue repair has the additional advantage over laparoscopic suture of being technically simpler; it also takes less time to perform.
Market Evidence on Investor Preference for Fewer Directorships

We examine investors’ preference for directors serving on fewer versus more boards (“busy directors”) by measuring market reaction to busy directors’ resignations at the companies that still keep these directors on the board. We find a positive reaction implying a preference for fewer directorships. The reaction is more positive when the need for the director’s services is greater, when the resignation frees up more of the director’s time, and when the director is of higher quality. Furthermore, we find that following their resignation, directors increase their board responsibilities/leadership at firms that still retain them and seek no board appointments elsewhere.
Accelerated long‐term forgetting in children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy

Purpose: The rapid forgetting of information over long (but not short) delays (accelerated long‐term forgetting [ALF]) has been associated with temporal lobe epilepsy but not idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). Long‐term memory formation (consolidation) is thought to demand an interaction between medial temporal and neocortical networks, which could be disrupted by epilepsy/seizures themselves. The present study investigates whether ALF is present in children with IGE and whether it relates to epilepsy severity.
Separate Sets of Cerebral Clock Neurons Are Responsible for Light and Temperature Entrainment of Drosophila Circadian Locomotor Rhythms

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster shows a bimodal circadian locomotor rhythm with peaks at lights-on and before lights-off, which are regulated by multiple clocks in the brain. Even under light-dark cycles, the timing of the evening peak is highly dependent on temperature, starting earlier under lower ambient temperature but terminating almost at the same time. In the present study, using behavioral and immunohistochemical assays, the authors show that separate groups of clock neurons, either light-entrainable or temperature-entrainable, form a functional system driving the locomotor rhythm. When subjected to a light cycle combined with a temperature cycle advanced by 6 h relative to the light cycle, the dorsally located neurons (DNs) and lateral posterior neurons (LPNs) shifted their phase of TIMELESS expression, but the laterally located protocerebral neurons (LNs) basically maintained their original phase. Thus, the LNs seem to be preferentially light-entrainable and the DNs and LPNs to be primarily temperature-entrainable. In pdf01 mutant flies that lack the neuropeptide PDF in the ventral groups of LNs, the onset of the evening peak was greatly advanced even under synchronized light and temperature cycles and was shifted even more than in wild-type flies in response to a 6-h phase shift of the temperature cycle, suggesting that ventral LNs have a strong impact on the phase of the other cells. It seems likely that the 2 sets of clock cells with different entrainability to light and temperature, and the coupling between them, enable Drosophila to keep a proper phase relationship of circadian activity with respect to the daily light and temperature cycles.
Correlation of Vitamin E, Uric Acid, and Diet Composition With Histologic Features of Pediatric NAFLD

Objectives: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in children in the United States. Although changes in diet are often recommended to improve NAFLD, little is known regarding the influence of diet on histologic features of the disease. Subjects and Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional registry-based study. Children (n = 149) enrolled in the multicenter nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) Clinical Research Network had demographic, anthropometric, clinical, laboratory, and histology data obtained, including the Block Brief Food Questionnaire. Subjects were grouped by presence or absence of steatohepatitis and grades of histologic features according to NASH Clinical Research Network criteria. Results: No significant differences were found between children with steatosis compared with steatohepatitis for fraction of energy from fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was low and did not correlate with histologic features, although uric acid, a surrogate marker for fructose intake, was significantly increased in those with definite NASH (P = 0.008). For all groups, vitamin E consumption was insufficient compared with the recommended daily allowance. Median consumption of vitamin E was lower in children with higher grade of steatosis (8.4 vs 6.1 vs 6.9 for grades I, II, and III, respectively, P = 0.05). Those consuming less vitamin C had increased ballooning degeneration (P = 0.05). Conclusions: Children with NAFLD have a diet that is insufficient in vitamin E and this may contribute to the pathophysiology of NAFLD. In children with NAFLD, reported sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is low; however, uric acid, which may reflect total fructose consumption, was significantly associated with NASH and should be further evaluated.
Microsatellite allele sizes alone are insufficient to delineate species boundaries in Symbiodinium

Symbiodinium are a diverse group of unicellular dinoflagellates that are important nutritional symbionts of reef‐building corals. Symbiodinium putative species (‘types’) are commonly identified with genetic markers, mostly nuclear and chloroplast encoded ribosomal DNA regions. Population genetic analyses using microsatellite loci have provided insights into Symbiodinium biogeography, connectivity and phenotypic plasticity, but are complicated by: (i) a lack of consensus criteria used to delineate inter‐ vs. intragenomic variation within species; and (ii) the high density of Symbiodinium in host tissues, which results in single samples comprising thousands of individuals. To address this problem, Wham & LaJeunesse (2016) present a method for identifying cryptic Symbiodinium species from microsatellite data based on correlations between allele size distributions and nongeographic genetic structure. Multilocus genotypes that potentially do not recombine in sympatry are interpreted as secondary ‘species’ to be discarded from downstream population genetic analyses. However, Symbiodinium species delineations should ideally incorporate multiple physiological, ecological and molecular criteria. This is because recombination tests may be a poor indicator of species boundaries in Symbiodinium due to their predominantly asexual mode of reproduction. Furthermore, discontinuous microsatellite allele sizes in sympatry may be explained by secondary contact between previously isolated populations and by mutations that occur in a nonstepwise manner. Limitations of using microsatellites alone to delineate species are highlighted in earlier studies that demonstrate occasional bimodal distributions of allele sizes within Symbiodinium species and considerable allele size sharing among Symbiodinium species. We outline these issues and discuss the validity of reinterpretations of our previously published microsatellite data from Symbiodinium populations on the Great Barrier Reef (Howells et al. 2013).
Classification of systemic sclerosis in the Japanese population based on rapid progression of skin thickening

In general, patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have been classified in two clinical subsets (diffuse and limited) based on the extent of skin thickening, and the extent of skin fibrosis is closely related to the severity of organ involvement and mortality rates. In addition, there is a rapid progression of skin thickening in diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc). In this study, we classified a novel subset of SSc based on the rate of skin thickening progression, and evaluated the relationship of the subset to disease severity and laboratory markers. Thirty-three patients with dcSSc were included in the study. Participants who had a modified Rodnan’s total skin thickness score higher than 15 points within a year from the first symptoms were defined as having rapidly progressive SSc (RPSSc; group 1), while all the other dcSSc patients were defined as having non-RPSSc (group 2). The frequencies of interstitial lung disease and renal crisis were significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2. The frequencies of antitopoisomerase I antibody (anti-topo I) and anti-SS-A antibody were significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2. Conversely, the frequency of anticentromere antibody was significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1. This study demonstrates the clinical significance of a new subset of SSc (defined as RPSSc), which is characterized by a markedly rapid progression of skin thickening. This new classification may be useful for predicting the prognosis of SSc at an early stage, so that patients who should receive aggressive therapy with immunosuppressants might be identified.