Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vascular responses to 17β‐oestradiol in postmenopausal women

Abstract. The vascular responses to 17β‐oestradiol were examined in 23 postmenopausal women (59 ± 7 years [mean ± SD]) using a placebo‐controlled double‐blind crossover design. All women received 1 mg 17β‐oestradiol or placebo (P) sublingually on consecutive days in random order. Axial diameters and blood flow rates of the left common femoral arteries were determined before and 60–80 min after application of verum or placebo as well as 10–30 min after 10 mg isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN) with a quantitative duplex ultrasound technique. Oestradiol induced a vasodilation of femoral arteries (+6.4±4.1% of basal, P < 0.001 vs. basal and P), the vessel diameter was unchanged with placebo (+0.7 ± 2.1%). The blood flow rate increased significantly after oestradiol application (+30 ± 28%, P < 0.05 vs. basal and P), but not after placebo (+11 ±21%). Mean blood pressure and heart rate remained constant with both drugs. Despite its vasodilatory effect, ISDN significantly reduced the arterial blood flow after pretreatment with oestradiol and placebo, probably through cardiac preload reduction. In conclusion, 17β‐oestradiol alters the vascular tone of systemic arteries resulting in a vasodilation and increase of blood flow. We suggest that these direct vascular actions may contribute to the preventive properties of oestrogens on cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women.
Can being bilingual affect the onset of dementia

101 ISSN 1479-6708 10.2217/FNL.14. 8 © 2014 Future Medicine Ltd Future Neurol. (2014) 9(2), 101–103 The dramatic increase in the proportion of elderly people in the world population has led to a growing importance of age-related diseases, in particular dementia. Importantly, this development is not confined to the western world. Dementia is recognized as a major health issue in India, China and many other countries across all continents. It has been described as a “public health priority” by the WHO [1] and became the topic of the last meeting of the G8 economic superpowers in London (UK) in December 2013. Given the rather limited success of the currently available drug therapies for dementia, much interest has been directed towards potential risk factors, but also towards potential protective factors against it. An influential concept in this respect is that of cognitive reserve, assuming that a better level of premorbid functioning may delay the onset or alleviate the manifestations of cognitive decline. Many studies have documented an association between physical, mental and social activity and better cognitive function in old age [2]. From scientific journals to popular press, broad claims have been made regarding ‘brain boosting’ effects of crossword puzzles, training programs or video games. However, one type of mental activity seems to generate more controversy than others: bilingualism. The research on the relationship between bilingualism and dementia started explicitly with the seminal observation by Bialystok et al. that bilinguals develop dementia 4 years later than monolinguals [3]; a finding later confirmed by another study from the same Toronto-based research group [4]. However, these findings do not come out of the blue, but are a logical extension of the emerging field of bilingualism and cognition research. Cognitive advantages of bilingualism have been detected in infants as young as 7 months [5] and have been extensively documented in children [6]. At the other end of the life spectrum, the number of languages spoken has been associated with cognitive function in a large study of healthy elderly [7]. The results of another Canadian study from Montreal paint a slightly more complex picture, with a bilingualism effect detectable in the immigrant group
Pulmonary Toxicity Assessment of Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticles via Nasal Instillation Exposure

Objective: The use of nanoparticle products is expected to present a potential harmful effect on consumers. Also, the lack of information regarding inhaled nanoparticles may pose a serious problem. In this study, we addressed this issue by studying pulmonary toxicity after nasal instillation of Al-NPs in SD rats. Methods: The animals were exposed to Al-NPs at 1 mg/kg body weight (low dose), 20 mg/kg body weight (medium dose) and 40 mg/kg body weight (high dose). To determine pulmonary toxicity, bronchoalveolar lavage (ts.AnBAL) fluid analysis and histopathological examination were conducted in rats. In addition, cell viability was investigated at 24 hours after the treatment with Al-NPs. Results: BAL fluid analysis showed that total cells (TC) count and total protein (TP) concentrations increased significantly in all treatment groups, approximately two to three times. Also, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and cytokines such as TNF-alpha and IL-6 dose-dependently increased following nasal instillation of Al-NPs. However, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) levels showed no significant changes in a dose dependant manner in BAL fluid. In the cytotoxicity analysis, the treatment of Al-NPs significantly and dose-dependently induced cell viability loss (20 to 30%) and damage of cell membrane (5 to 10%) in rat normal lung epithelial cells (L2). Conclusions: Our results suggest that inhaled Al-NPs in the lungs may be removed quickly by alveolar macrophages with minimal inflammatory reaction, but Al-NPs have the potential to affect lung permeability. Therefore, extensive toxicity evaluations of Al-NPs are required prior to their practical application as consumer products.
Insights into mildly dilated cardiomyopathy: temporal evolution and long‐term prognosis

Mildly dilated cardiomyopathy (MDCM) has been proposed as a subtype of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) characterized by systolic dysfunction in the absence of significant LV dilatation. Few data on the characteristics and outcomes of MDCM patients are available. We sought to assess the main features and the long‐term natural history of MDCM.
Insufficient reduction in heart rate during hospitalization despite beta‐blocker treatment in acute decompensated heart failure: insights from the ASCEND‐HF trial

Heart failure (HF) can be associated with a higher resting heart rate (HR), and an elevated HR is associated with adverse long‐term events. However, the mechanistic and causal role of HR in HF is unclear. This study aimed to investigate changes in HR during hospitalization, and the association between discharge HR and clinical outcomes as well as an interaction with beta‐blocker therapy in patients with acute decompensated HF (ADHF).
ON THE PARADIGM OF ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE IN THE UNICELLULAR WORLD

Altruistic suicide is best known in the context of programmed cell death (PCD) in multicellular individuals, which is understood as an adaptive process that contributes to the development and functionality of the organism. After the realization that PCD‐like processes can also be induced in single‐celled lineages, the paradigm of altruistic cell death has been extended to include these active cell death processes in unicellular organisms. Here, we critically evaluate the current conceptual framework and the experimental data used to support the notion of altruistic suicide in unicellular lineages, and propose new perspectives. We argue that importing the paradigm of altruistic cell death from multicellular organisms to explain active death in unicellular lineages has the potential to limit the types of questions we ask, thus biasing our understanding of the nature, origin, and maintenance of this trait. We also emphasize the need to distinguish between the benefits and the adaptive role of a trait. Lastly, we provide an alternative framework that allows for the possibility that active death in single‐celled organisms is a maladaptive trait maintained as a byproduct of selection on pro‐survival functions, but that could—under conditions in which kin/group selection can act—be co‐opted into an altruistic trait.
Amino acid transporters in the regulation of human skeletal muscle protein metabolism

Purpose of reviewTo highlight recent research on amino acid sensing and signaling and the role of amino acid transporters in the regulation of human skeletal muscle protein metabolism. Recent findingsThe mechanisms that sense amino acid availability and activate mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 signaling and protein synthesis are emerging, with multiple new proteins and intracellular amino acid sensors recently identified. Amino acid transporters have a role in the delivery of amino acids to these intracellular sensors and new findings provide further support for amino acid transporters as possible extracellular amino acid sensors. There is growing evidence in human skeletal muscle that amino acid transporter expression is dynamic and responsive to various stimuli, indicating amino acid transporters may have a unique role in the regulation of human skeletal muscle adaptation. SummaryThere is a clear need to further examine the role of amino acid transporters in human skeletal muscle and their link to cellular amino acid sensing and signaling in the control of protein metabolism. A better understanding of amino acid transport and transporters will allow us to optimize nutritional strategies to accelerate muscle health and improve outcomes for clinical populations.
CONSERVATIVE COEVOLUTION OF MÜLLERIAN MIMICRY IN A GROUP OF RIFT LAKE CATFISH

Biological mimicry has long been viewed as a powerful example of natural selection's ability to drive phenotypic evolution, although continuing debates surround the mechanisms leading to its development and the nature of these mimetic relationships. Müllerian mimicry, in which unpalatable species derive a mutual selective benefit through evolved phenotypic similarity, has alternatively been proposed to evolve through either a two‐step process initiated by a large mutational change, or through continuous gradual evolution toward a common aposematic phenotype. I exposed a model predatory fish species to two species of endemic Lake Tanganyikan Synodontis to provide evidence for aposematism and the presence of Müllerian mimicry in these species. Predators quickly became conditioned to avoid the venomous catfish and did not discriminate between the two species when they were switched, supporting a hypothesis of functional Müllerian mimicry in this group of similarly colored fish. Ancestral state reconstructions and statistical comparisons of color pattern divergence in Tanganyikan Synodontis indicate that Müllerian mimicry in these catfish has developed through diversification of an aposematic common ancestor with subsequent conservative mutualistic coevolution among its daughter lineages, rather than advergent evolution of a mimic toward a nonrelated model, as assumed by widely accepted models of Müllerian mimicry evolution.
Revisiting the role of exhaled nitric oxide in asthma

Purpose of review This review focuses on the most recent studies investigating fractional nitric oxide concentration in exhaled breath (FeNO) as a useful biomarker for identifying specific phenotypes in asthma and as a tool for asthma diagnosis, monitoring and clinical decision-making. Recent findings On the basis of the current literature, it has been highlighted that FeNO is a clinically relevant marker in various clinical aspects of asthma: FeNO is a predictor for developing asthma in persistent rhinitis or in infants with respiratory symptoms; FeNO contributes to identification of asthma phenotypes in both children and adults, also in relation to severity; FeNO is useful in monitoring the effectiveness of inhaled corticosteroids (including compliance) and biologic treatments like omalizumab; FeNO, in conjunction with symptom registration and lung function measurements, contributes to asthma diagnosis and optimizes asthma management. Summary FeNO provides further information in distinguishing different phenotypes in asthma, allowing a much more appropriate control of the disease, especially in patients with difficult/severe asthma. In the future, it would be interesting to shed light on the hidden biological mechanisms responsible for low or normal FeNO values in symptomatic asthmatic patients.
A program of positive intervention in the elderly: memories, gratitude and forgiveness

Objective: The main goal of this study has been to increase the quality of life in people of over 60 years through a positive psychology intervention.Method: We employed a program which consists of training based on autobiographical memory, forgiveness and gratitude. The sample consisted of 46 participants aged 60–93 years. State and trait anxiety, depression, general memory, specific memories, life satisfaction and subjective happiness were measured.Results: The results revealed that participants who followed the program (experimental group) showed a significant decrease in state anxiety and depression as well as an increase in specific memories, life satisfaction and subjective happiness, compared with the placebo group.Conclusion: Our program offers promising results and provides new evidence for the effectiveness of positive interventions in the field of psychogerontology, helping increase subjective well-being and quality of life in older adults by focusing interventions on the enhancement of personal and social resources for being happy.
A web-based examination of experiences with intrusive thoughts across the adult lifespan

Objectives: Intrusive thoughts and images are common across the adult lifespan, but vary in their consequences. Understanding age-related experiences with intrusive thoughts is important for identifying risk and protective factors for intrusive thought problems across the adult lifespan. This study characterized age trajectories for six aspects of experiences with intrusive thoughts using Internet data collection. Method: Participants (N = 1427; ages 18–87) were randomly assigned to suppress (i.e. keep out of mind) or monitor an intrusive thought for one minute, and then later to monitor the thought for a second minute. Participants tracked thought recurrences during each thinking period, then reported their positive and negative affects following each thinking period, as well as their effort expended in suppressing the thought and perceived difficulty controlling the intrusive thought. Multilevel modeling and generalized estimating equations modeled the continuous relationships between age and each dependent variable. Results: As expected, older age was associated with less decline in positive affect while engaging with an intrusive thought. Interestingly, older age was also associated with a sharper rise and fall of negative affect. Suppression effort increased linearly with age (though perceived difficulty did not). Finally, no age differences were found in either the frequency or duration of the thought's recurrence, adding to previous evidence that older adults function similarly to younger adults in their control of intrusive thoughts, despite certain age-related declines in cognitive functioning. Conclusion: These findings suggest a dissociation between age-related changes in emotional versus cognitive characteristics of engaging with intrusive thoughts.
SPECIATION AND DISPERSAL ALONG CONTINENTAL COASTLINES AND ISLAND ARCS IN THE INDO‐WEST PACIFIC TURBINID GASTROPOD GENUS LUNELLA

Species trees were produced for the Indo‐West Pacific (IWP) gastropod genus Lunella using MrBayes, BEAST, and *BEAST with sequence data from four genes. Three fossil records were used to calibrate a molecular clock. Eight cryptic species were recognized using statistical methods for species delimitation in combination with morphological differences. However, our results suggest caution in interpreting ESUs defined solely by the general mixed Yule Coalescent model in genera like Lunella, with lower dispersal abilities. Four almost entirely allopatric species groups were recovered that differ in ecology and distribution. Three groups occur predominantly along continental coastlines and one occurs on island arrays. Sympatric species occur only in the torquata and coronata groups along coastlines, whereas species in the cinerea group, distributed in two‐dimensional island arrays, occur in complete allopatry. Dispersal along island arcs has been important in the maintenance of species distributions and gene flow among populations in the cinerea group. The emergence of new islands and their eventual subsidence over geological time has had important consequences for the isolation of populations and the eventual rise of new species in Lunella.
CAN REINFORCEMENT OCCUR WITH A LEARNED TRAIT?

We use birdsong as a case study to ask whether reinforcement can occur via the spread of a genetically determined female preference for a socially inherited (learned) male trait. We envision secondary contact between two neighboring populations with different song dialects. An individual's ability to learn song is confined by a genetic predisposition: if predispositions are strong, there will be no phenotypic overlap in song between populations, whereas weak predispositions allow phenotypic overlap, or “mixed” song. To determine if reinforcement has occurred, we consider if an allele for within‐population female mating preference, based on song, can spread, and whether population specific songs can concurrently be maintained at equilibrium. We model several scenarios, including costs to mating preferences, mating preferences in hybrids, and hybrids having the ability to learn pure songs. We find that when weak predispositions are fixed within a population reinforcement based on song cannot occur. However, when some individuals have strong predispositions, restricting phenotypic overlap between populations in the trait, reinforcement is only slightly inhibited from a purely genetic model. Generalizing beyond the example of song, we conclude that socially learned signals will tend to prohibit reinforcement, but it may still occur if some individuals acquire trait phenotypes genetically.
The effects of a computer-based cognitive and physical training program in a healthy and mildly cognitive impaired aging sample

Objectives: The Long Lasting Memories (LLM) program concerns a newly integrated platform which combines cognitive exercises with physical activity within the context of advanced technologies. The main objective of this study was to present the preliminary results that determine the possible effectiveness of the LLM program in the improvement of cognitive functions and symptoms of depression in healthy elderly and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Method: Fifty healthy and MCI subjects participated in the study. All of them received one hour's physical training and 35 minutes’ cognitive training, 3 times a week, during the 12 weeks of the program. Before and after the intervention all participants were assessed using a battery of neuropsychological tests.Results: The results showed a significant improvement after the LLM training in global cognitive function, in verbal memory, in attention, in episodic memory and symptoms of depression. Conclusion: This study indicates that LLM is a promising solution for older adults with and without cognitive impairment, maintaining their wellbeing with few professional and technical requirements.
Positive psychology interventions in people aged 50–79 years: long-term effects of placebo-controlled online interventions on well-being and depression

Objectives: Various positive psychology interventions have been experimentally tested, but only few studies addressed the effects of such activities in participants aged 50 and above. Method: We tested the impact of four self-administered positive psychology interventions in an online setting (i.e., gratitude visit, three good things, three funny things, and using signature strengths in a new way) on happiness and depressive symptoms in comparison with a placebo control exercise (i.e., early memories). A total of 163 females aged 50–79 tried the assigned interventions or the placebo control exercise for one week and completed measures on happiness and depressive symptoms at five times (pre- and post-test, 1, 3, and 6 months). Results: Three out of the four interventions (i.e., gratitude visit, three good things, and using signature strengths in a new way) increased happiness, whereas two interventions (three funny things and using signature strengths in a new way) led to a reduction of depressive symptoms on at one post-measure. Conclusion: Positive psychology interventions yield similar results for people aged 50 and above as for younger people. The dissemination of such interventions via the Internet offers a valuable opportunity for older age groups as well.
WITHIN‐POPULATION STRUCTURE HIGHLIGHTED BY DIFFERENTIAL INTROGRESSION ACROSS SEMIPERMEABLE BARRIERS TO GENE FLOW IN ANGUILLA MARMORATA

In the marine environment, differential gene exchange between partially reproductively isolated taxa can result in introgression that extends over long distances due to high larval dispersal potential. However, the degree to which this process contributes to interlocus variance of genetic differentiation within introgressed populations remains unclear. Using a genome‐scan approach in the Indo‐Pacific eel Anguilla marmorata, we investigated the degree of interpopulation genetic differentiation, the rate of introgression, and within‐population genetic patterns at 858 AFLP markers genotyped in 1117 individuals. Three divergent populations were identified based on clustering analysis. Genetic assignments of individuals revealed the existence of different types of hybrids that tended to co‐occur with parental genotypes in three population contact zones. Highly variable levels of genetic differentiation were found between populations across the AFLP markers, and reduced rates of introgression were shown at some highly differentiated loci. Gene flow across semipermeable genetic barriers was shown to generate spatial introgression patterns at some loci which define within‐population structure over long distances. These results suggest that differential introgression in subdivided populations may be relevant when interpreting spatial variation patterns displayed by outlying loci in other marine fish populations.
The effect of intracoronary infusion of bone marrow‐derived mononuclear cells on all‐cause mortality in acute myocardial infarction: rationale and design of the BAMI trial

Over the past 13 years bone marrow‐derived mononuclear cells (BM‐MNCs) have been widely investigated for clinical efficacy in patients following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). These early phase II trials have used various surrogate markers to judge efficacy and, although promising, the results have been inconsistent. The phase III BAMI trial has therefore been designed to demonstrate that intracoronary infusion of BM‐MNCs is safe and will significantly reduce the time to first occurrence of all‐cause death in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction after successful reperfusion for ST‐elevation AMI (powered with the aim of detecting a 25% reduction in all‐cause mortality). This is a multinational, multicentre, randomized, open‐label, controlled, parallel‐group phase III study aiming to enrol approximately 3000 patients in 11 European countries with at least 17 sites. Eligible patients who have impaired left ventricular ejection (≤45%) following successful reperfusion for AMI will be randomized to treatment or control group in a 1:1 ratio. The treatment group will receive intracoronary infusion of BM‐MNCs 2–8 days after successful reperfusion for AMI added on top of optimal standard of care. The control group will receive optimal standard of care. The primary endpoint is time from randomization to all‐cause death. The BAMI trial is pivotal and the largest trial to date of BM‐MNCs in patients with impaired left ventricular function following AMI. The aim of the trial is to provide a definitive answer as to whether BM‐MNCs reduce all‐cause mortality in this group of patients.