Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finite Element Study of Human Pelvis Model in Side Impact for Chinese Adult Occupants

Objective: The occupant's pelvis is very vulnerable to side collision in road accidents. Finite element (FE) studies on pelvic injury help to design occupant protection devices to improve vehicle safety. This study was aimed to develop a highly biofidelic pelvis model of Chinese adults and assess its sensitivity to variations in pelvis cortical bone thickness, bone material properties, and loading conditions. Methods: In this study, 4 different FE models of the pelvis were developed from the computed tomography (CT) data of a volunteer representing the 50th percentile Chinese male. Two of them were meshed using entirely hexahedral elements with variable and constant cortical thickness distribution (the V-Hex and C-Hex models), and the others were modeled with hexahedral elements for cancellous bone and variable or constant thickness shell elements for cortical bone (the V-HS and C-HS models). In model developments, the semi-automatic multiblock meshing approach was employed to maintain the pelvis geometric curvature and generate a high-quality hexahedral mesh. Then, several simulations with postmortem human subjects (PMHS) tests were performed to obtain the most accurate model in predicting pelvic injury. Based on the most accurate model, sensitivity studies were conducted to analyze the effects of the cortex thickness, Young's modulus of the cortical and cancellous bone, impactor velocity, and impactor with or without padding on the biomechanical responses and injuries of pelvis. Results: The results indicate that the models with variable cortical bone thickness can give more accurate predictions than those with constant cortical thickness. Both the V-Hex and V-HS models are favorable for simulating pelvic response and injury, but the simulation results of the V-Hex model agree with the tests better. The sensitivity study shows that pelvic response is more sensitive to alterations in the Young's modulus of cortical bone than cancellous bone. Compared to failure displacement, peak force is more sensitive to the cortical bone thickness. However, displacement is more sensitive to the Young's modulus of cancellous bone than peak force. The padding attached on the impactor plays a significant role in absorbing the impact energy and alleviating pelvic injury. Conclusions: The all-hex meshing method with variable cortical bone thickness has the highest accuracy but is time-consuming. The cortical bone plays a determining role in resisting pelvic fracture. Peak impact force appears to be a reasonable injury predictor for pelvic injury assessment. Some appropriate energy absorbers installed in the car door can significantly reduce pelvic injury and will be beneficial for occupant protection.
Testosterone‐mediated immune functions and male life histories

Recent advances in human life history theory have provided new insights into the potential selection pressures that were instrumental in the evolution of human and non‐human primate males. However, gaps remain in our understanding of how primate males regulate and allocate energetic resources between survivorship and reproductive effort. Defense against parasitic infection is an important force shaping life history evolution. Proper performance of immunological responses against infection is influenced by many physiological systems, including metabolic, reproductive, and stress hormones. Because androgens influence and modulate immune, reproductive, and somatic metabolic functions, assessing changes in testosterone and immune factors during infection may yield insight into male physiological ecology. In this review, we examine male life history trade‐offs between immune and reproductive endocrine functions as well as provide a comprehensive review of testosterone–immunocompetence relationships. Emphasis is placed on testosterone because it is a primary hormone shown to be crucial to energy‐allocation processes in vertebrates. Non‐primate species have been used more extensively in this research than humans or non‐human primates, and therefore this extensive literature is organized and reviewed in order to better understand potential parallel relationships in primates, especially humans. Furthermore, we attempt to reconcile the many inconsistent results obtained from field studies on immune–endocrine interactions as well as detail various methodologies that may be used to forward this research in evolutionary anthropology. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 17:527–558, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Creating More and Better Alternatives for Decisions Using Objectives

The quality of alternatives is crucial for making good decisions. This research, based on five empirical studies of important personally relevant decisions, examines the ability of decision makers to create alternatives for their important decisions and the effectiveness of different stimuli for improving this ability. For decisions for which the full set of potentially desirable alternatives is not readily apparent, our first study indicates that decision makers identify less than half of their alternatives and that the average quality of the overlooked alternatives is the same as those identified. Four other studies provide insight about how to use objectives to stimulate the alternative-creation process of decision makers and confirm with high significance that such use enhances both the number and quality of created alternatives. Using results of the studies, practical guidelines to create alternatives for important decisions are presented.
Telomere length is positively associated with the expression of IL-6 and MIP-1α in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells of multiple myeloma

Potential roles of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma (MM) are largely unknown. In the current study, the authors analyzed telomere length and the expressions of interleukin (IL)-6 and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α in MSCs derived from the bone marrow (BM) of MM patients and controls. The current results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in cell surface expression of CD73 and CD90, and the capacity to differentiate into bone tissue were identified between the BM MSCs derived from MM patients and controls. Interestingly, telomere length (TL) and mRNA expressions of IL-6 and MIP-1α were significantly longer or higher in BM MSCs of MM than those of controls. Moreover, TL is positively associated with the expressions of IL-6 and MIP-1α at the mRNA level in BM MSCs of MM. Additionally, IL-6 and MIP-1α expression were significantly upregulated when MSCs from MM patients were cultured in the myeloma associated condition medium. The present study indicated that myeloma-associated elongation of TL of BM MSCs may be a key element contributing to the increased IL-6 and MIP-1α expression, by which MSCs in the tumor microenvironment may facilitate MM and/or MM bone disease development.
Impact and Epidemiological Investigations into the Incursion and Spread of Peste des Petits Ruminants in the Comoros Archipelago: An Increased Threat to Surrounding Islands.

Late October 2012, a great number of deaths of unknown origin occurred in goat herds in the suburbs of Ngazidja, located in the Comoros archipelago. Few weeks later, laboratory testing requested by the animal health authorities resulted in the identification of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) infection. Notably, the Index case could be attributed to a sick goat imported from Tanzania. Viral isolation was successful from the lungs leading to the whole N nucleoprotein gene sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strain belongs to the lineage III which includes strains of eastern African origin. In addition, to evaluate the impact of PPR on the Comorian indigenous domesticated ruminant population, a cross-sectional PPR serological survey was conducted between April and July 2013. A low overall PPRV antibody prevalence 2.24% (95% CI [1.38; 3.08]) was detected with a Grande Comore prevalence of 3.34% (IC = [2.09; 4.63]) with a limited spread of the disease mainly due to farm practices such as limited contacts between farm animals and rapid slaughtering of sick animals.
Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4AIII (eIF4AIII) Is Functionally Distinct from eIF4AI and eIF4AII

ABSTRACT Eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF4A) is an RNA-dependent ATPase and ATP-dependent RNA helicase that is thought to melt the 5′ proximal secondary structure of eukaryotic mRNAs to facilitate attachment of the 40S ribosomal subunit. eIF4A functions in a complex termed eIF4F with two other initiation factors (eIF4E and eIF4G). Two isoforms of eIF4A, eIF4AI and eIF4AII, which are encoded by two different genes, are functionally indistinguishable. A third member of the eIF4A family, eIF4AIII, whose human homolog exhibits 65% amino acid identity to human eIF4AI, has also been cloned from Xenopus and tobacco, but its function in translation has not been characterized. In this study, human eIF4AIII was characterized biochemically. While eIF4AIII, like eIF4AI, exhibits RNA-dependent ATPase activity and ATP-dependent RNA helicase activity, it fails to substitute for eIF4AI in an in vitro-reconstituted 40S ribosome binding assay. Instead, eIF4AIII inhibits translation in a reticulocyte lysate system. In addition, whereas eIF4AI binds independently to the middle and carboxy-terminal fragments of eIF4G, eIF4AIII binds to the middle fragment only. These functional differences between eIF4AI and eIF4AIII suggest that eIF4AIII might play an inhibitory role in translation under physiological conditions.
The Relationship Between Aldose Reductase C106T Polymorphism and Diabetic Retinopathy: An Updated Meta-Analysis.

PURPOSE Studies investigating the associations between aldose reductase (ALR) genetic polymorphisms and diabetic retinopathy (DR) have reported controversial results. Therefore, to shed light on these inconclusive findings, we performed this meta-analysis to clarify the effects of ALR C(-106)T polymorphism on DR risk. METHODS Relevant studies were selected through an extensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, the Web of Science databases and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, and Wan Fang databases in Chinese. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by using random-effects model. RESULTS The present meta-analysis included 3512 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients with DR and 4319 DM patients without DR. Overall, the pooled ORs showed a nonsignificant association between ALR C(-106)T polymorphism and DR susceptibility in all genetic models (C allele versus T allele: OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.90-1.29; CT/TT versus CC: OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.72-1.13; TT versus CT/CC OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.69-1.10; TT versus CC: OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.64-1.18; CT versus CC: OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.73-1.19). No significant association was detected between ALR C(-106)T polymorphism and nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy or proliferative diabetic retinopathy. An additional analysis showed that the association of C(-106)T polymorphism with DR was significant in type 1 DM (C allele versus T allele: OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.39-2.28; CT/TT versus CC: OR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.36-0.68; TT versus CT/CC OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.28-0.84; TT versus CC: OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.17-0.67; CT versus CC: OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.37-0.74) but not in type 2 DM. CONCLUSIONS The results of this meta-analysis showed that ALR C(-106)T polymorphism was not associated with an increased risk of DR. However, subgroup analysis showed a genetic association between ALR C(-106)T polymorphism and the risk of DR of type 1 DM but not DR of type 2 DM.
Soluble Arctic amyloid β protein inhibits hippocampal long‐term potentiation in vivo

Mutations in the amyloid precursor protein that result in substitutions of glutamic acid at residue 22 of the amyloid β protein (Aβ) with glutamine (Q22, Dutch) or glycine (G22, Arctic) cause aggressive familial neurological diseases characterized by cerebrovascular haemorrhages or Alzheimer's‐type dementia, respectively. The present study compared the ability of these peptides to block long‐term potentiation (LTP) of glutamatergic transmission in the hippocampus in vivo. The effects of intracerebroventricular injection of wild‐type, Q22 and G22 Aβ(1–40) peptides were examined in the CA1 area of urethane‐anaesthetized rats. Both mutant peptides were ≈ 100‐fold more potent than wild‐type Aβ at inhibiting LTP induced by high‐frequency stimulation when solutions of Aβ were freshly prepared. Fibrillar material, as determined by electron microscopy, was obvious in all these peptide solutions and exhibited appreciable Congo Red binding, particularly for Aβ(1–40)G22 and Aβ(1–40)Q22. A soluble fraction of Aβ(1–40)G22, obtained following high‐speed centrifugation, retained full activity of the peptide solution to inhibit LTP, providing strong evidence that in the case of the Arctic disease a soluble nonfibrillar form of Aβ may represent the primary mediator of Aβ‐related cognitive deficits, particularly early in the disease. In contrast, nonfibrillar soluble Aβ(1–40)Q22 supernatant solution was ≈ 10‐fold less potent at inhibiting LTP than Aβ(1–40)G22, a finding consistent with fibrillar Aβ contributing to the inhibition of LTP by the Dutch peptide.
Male suicide rates in German prisons and the role of citizenship

Purpose Prisoners are at a particularly high risk of suicide. In contrast to other psychosocial risk factors it remains unclear to what degree the risk of suicide differs between prisoners with local citizenship and foreigners. In order to provide more detailed information for suicide prevention in prisons, this study aims to compare suicide rates (SR) between these populations in German criminal custody. Methods Based on a German national database of completed suicide in custody, suicides by prisoners were analysed and compared with epidemiological data of the prison population and the general population, stratified for German and foreign citizenship. Data analysis was adjusted for differences in the age distribution of both populations by calculating standard mortality ratios (SMR) for suicide. Results SR were higher in prisoners with German citizenship than those with foreign citizenship (SR = 76.5 vs. SR = 42.8, P<0.01). This association was not specific to the prison population, as the higher SR in citizens compared to non-citizens (SR = 19.3 vs. SR = 9.0, P<0.01) were also found in the general population. The association between prison suicide and citizenship was comparable in juvenile and adult prisoners, indicating its relevance to both the juvenile and adult detention systems. Conclusion Imprisonment is associated with a substantially increased risk of suicide in both German and non-German citizens, a finding which needs to be taken into consideration by the justice system. The lower suicide risk in non-German citizens is independent of whether or not they are in custody.
Hemodynamic evaluation in pregnancy: limitations of impedance cardiography

Impedance cardiography (ICG) has been proposed to estimate the stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO) in various medical indications. The aim of this study was to explore the reliability of ICG during pregnancy with respect to SV and CO measurements. Blood pressure, heart rate and thoracic impedance were monitored during the course of pregnancy and related ICG patterns analyzed. We determined thoracic impedance (Z0), left ventricular ejection time (LVET) and the maximum value of the first derivative of the impedance waveform (dZ/dt)max beat-to-beat. The two main components of non-invasive SV estimation, LVET and (dZ/dt)max, decreased in week 35 relative to week 12 by 7.6% ± 4.8% and by 36.0% ± 14.0%, respectively, based on a decrease in R–R interval of 9.9% ± 9.7%, whereas changes in Z0 did not play a significant role. Furthermore, the decrease of (dZ/dt)max was greater in the third compared to the second trimester of pregnancy. Taking into account an 18.2% ± 6.8% body weight increase, the calculated SV decreased in week 35 relative to week 12 by 19.2% ± 14.3%. The normalized term ((dZ/dt)max)/Z0 explained 85–94% of the variance of SV change after week 20. These results were confirmed for fixed R–R interval at a constant value across the repeated measurements. Based on beat-to-beat analysis of the main components of non-invasive SV estimation by ICG, measured repeatedly throughout normal pregnancy, we conclude that SV calculations render invalid data. Our findings strongly suggest that CO cannot be reliably assessed with ICG in pregnant women.
Electron transfer between primary and secondary donors in Rhodospirillum rubrum: evidence for a dimeric association of reaction centers.

Light-induced oxidation of the primary electron donor P and of the secondary donor cytochrome c2 was studied in whole cells of Rhodospirillum rubrum in the presence of myxothiazole to slow down their reduction. 1. The primary and secondary electron donors are close to thermodynamic equilibrium during continuous illumination when the rate of the electron transfer is light-limited. This implies a long-range thermodynamic equilibration involving the diffusible cytochrome c2. A different behavior is observed with Rhodobacter sphaeroides R26 whole cells, in which the cytochrome c2 remains trapped within a supercomplex including reaction centers and the cytochrome b/c complex [Joliot, P., et al. (1989) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 975, 336-345]. 2. Under weak flash excitation, the reduction kinetics of the photooxidized primary donor are nearly exponential with a half-time in the hundred microseconds time range. 3. Under strong flash excitation, the reduction of the photooxidized primary donor follows a second-order kinetics. About half of the photooxidized primary donor is reduced in a few milliseconds while the remainder stays oxidized for hundreds of milliseconds despite an excess of secondary donors in their reduced form. The flash intensity dependence of the amplitude of the slow phase of P+ reduction is proportional to the square of the fraction of reaction centers that have undergone a charge separation. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Results from the Survey of Antibiotic Resistance (SOAR) 2009-11 and 2013-14 in China.

OBJECTIVES To compare antibiotic susceptibility of community-acquired respiratory bacteria in China during 2009-11 and 2013-14. METHODS Susceptibility was determined by Etest(®) (bioMérieux) or disc diffusion according to CLSI, EUCAST and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) breakpoints, except for azithromycin where Etest(®) breakpoints (in CO2 incubation) were used in place of standard CLSI breakpoints. Statistical significance of differences in susceptibility across time periods was evaluated using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS During 2009-11, 434 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 307 Haemophilus influenzae and 140 Moraxella catarrhalis were collected from eight centres and during 2013-14, 208 S. pneumoniae, 185 H. influenzae and 80 M. catarrhalis were collected from five centres. Penicillin-non-susceptible isolates remained stable at ∼66% over both time periods but susceptibility decreased significantly for amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (or amoxicillin) and cefaclor. For H. influenzae, the proportion of β-lactamase-positive isolates and β-lactamase-negative ampicillin-resistant strains (CLSI definition) was higher in 2013-14 (25.4% and 7.0%, respectively) than in 2009-11 (16.3% and 3.6%, respectively), with decreased ampicillin and cephalosporin susceptibility. By 2009-11 and 2013-14, only amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (amoxicillin), levofloxacin, penicillin (intravenously) and chloramphenicol inhibited >70% of S. pneumoniae. During 2013-14, M. catarrhalis showed increasing resistance, with cefaclor and levofloxacin susceptibility decreasing significantly. However, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefuroxime and levofloxacin continued to inhibit >90% of isolates. CONCLUSIONS On the whole, antimicrobial susceptibility decreased in China between 2009-11 and 2013-14. In 2013-14, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, levofloxacin and chloramphenicol were the most active antibacterial agents tested against community-acquired respiratory pathogens when assessed by CLSI, EUCAST or PK/PD breakpoints. Resistance to other antibacterials in China was generally high. Our data demonstrate the need to harmonize breakpoints for these pathogens.
A Copula-based Approach to Simulate Climate Impacts on Yield: Some Preliminary Findings

One approach to modeling the ex-ante effects of extreme weather events on production entails statistical downscaling of global climate model ensembles to regional or sub-regional levels. However, statistical downscaling of global climate ensembles is highly technical and computationally expensive in terms of time, data storage, and human resource costs. Our approach considered the use of copulas to generate multivariate empirical distributions of crop yields and meteorological information. The fundamental idea is that retrospective data on drought, floods, or other extreme weather events are statistically associated with crop performance. We posit the historical record of crop production and meteorological events embody all of the necessary information needed to understand what happens to agricultural production when extreme weather events prevail. These trends are evident in publicly available records. By mining the correlation structure between yields and growing conditions embedded in the historical record, we can simulate sequentially poor weather years and the corresponding effects on agricultural production.
Cognitive Advantages of Bilingual Children in Different Sociolinguistic Contexts

Many studies have shown that bilingual children outperform monolinguals on tasks testing executive functioning, but other studies have not revealed any effect of bilingualism. In this study we compared three groups of bilingual children in the Netherlands, aged 6–7 years, with a monolingual control group. We were specifically interested in testing whether the bilingual cognitive advantage is modulated by the sociolinguistic context of language use. All three bilingual groups were exposed to a minority language besides the nation’s dominant language (Dutch). Two bilingual groups were exposed to a regional language (Frisian, Limburgish), and a third bilingual group was exposed to a migrant language (Polish). All children participated in two working memory tasks (verbal, visuospatial) and two attention tasks (selective attention, interference suppression). Bilingual children outperformed monolinguals on selective attention. The cognitive effect of bilingualism was most clearly present in the Frisian-Dutch group and in a subgroup of migrant children who were relatively proficient in Polish. The effect was less robust in the Limburgish-Dutch sample. Investigation of the response patterns of the flanker test, testing interference suppression, suggested that bilingual children more often show an effect of response competition than the monolingual children, demonstrating that bilingual children attend to different aspects of the task than monolingual children. No bilingualism effects emerged for verbal and visuospatial working memory.