Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social determinants of parent-child interaction in the UK.

BACKGROUND Children are shaped in part by their environment and one rich in communication is therefore beneficial. Activities such as play and reading have long lasting positive effects on development. This study examined the social and demographic characteristics of mothers who play with, read to and tell stories to their child, using data from the UK-wide Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). METHODS The study included 14 034 mothers of singleton 5-year-old children. Using data from the first and third sweeps of the MCS, we examined how often mothers engaged with their child in playing, reading and telling stories, according to their social and demographic characteristics: ethnicity, socio-economic status, highest academic qualification, lone mother status, age at birth of cohort child, number of children and employment status. Adjusted logistic regression analyses were conducted using Stata. RESULTS When their children were 5 years old, 22% of mothers reported playing, 51% reading and 13% telling stories everyday. Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black mothers were significantly less likely to play with their child at least weekly compared with White mothers. The same applied to lone mothers compared with those living with a partner. Mothers with academic qualifications lower than degree level were less likely to read at least once weekly. Compared with mothers who worked full-time, those who worked part-time, were 'on-leave' or unemployed, were more likely to play with, and read to, their child at least weekly. Mothers with more than one child were significantly less likely to engage at least weekly in any of the three activities studied. CONCLUSIONS We found significant inequalities in the frequency of playing, reading and telling stories according to sociodemographic characteristics. This information is important to be able to target more effectively vulnerable children using established public health initiatives, like 'Bookstart' and 'Surestart', aimed at promoting play, reading and story telling.
Prevalence of Clinical Gallbladder Disease in Mexican‐American, Anglo, and Black Women

Clinical observations have suggested that gallstones are increased in frequency in Mexican-Americans compared to other ethnic groups. Past autopsy surveys have demonstrated a low prevalence in blacks compared to whites. We retrospectively reviewed 1,018 charts to study the prevalence of cholelithiasis in ambulatory women of these three racial/ethnic backgrounds. Mexican-American women were found to have a prevalence of gallbladder disease approximately three times that of black women, with Anglo prevalences falling in an intermediate range. The prevalence of cholelithiasis was also positively associated with increasing age and diabetes, but not with serum cholesterol, use of oral contraceptives or conjugated estrogens, parity, hypertension, menstrual status, or smoking. An association with obesity was shown but could not be shown to be independent of other risk factors.
Measurement of the l-band air-to-ground channel for positioning applications

In the paper, we present results from flight trials conducted to investigate the characteristics of the L-band air-to-ground radio channel for positioning applications. We discuss the employed hardware setup, synchronization concept, calibration procedures, and investigated flight patterns. It is shown that the setup is suitable for investigating both multipath structure and absolute propagation time of the radio signals. The power delay and Doppler power profiles, as well as the time-of-arrival estimation accuracy, are presented. Manuscript
Telomerase Activity as a Marker for Differential Diagnosis of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Studies evaluating the role of telomerase activity in pancreatic adenocarcinoma are inconsistent and a systemic review of the available literature may shed new light on this issue. Objective To systematically review the usefulness of telomerase activity in distinguishing pancreatic cancer from other pancreatic diseases. Methods A comprehensive search of the PubMed and Embase databases was conducted to identify eligible studies. Only studies evaluating telomerase activity in patients with suspected or previously diagnosed pancreatic adenocarcinomas versus nonpancreatic adenocarcinomas and published in English with a sufficient number of cases were included. The hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) model was used to establish the potential value of telomerase activity in the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Results A total of 19 studies qualified for this meta-analysis. In distinguishing pancreatic adenocarcinoma from benign diseases, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of telomerase activity were 0.81 (95% CI, 0.68-0.90) and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.93-0.98), respectively; the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 126.62 (95% CI, 49.94-320.99); beta was −1.16 (95% CI, −3.62-1.29), Z was −0.93, p was 0.35>0.1, and lambda was 6.86 (95% CI, 1.01-12.70). In distinguishing pancreatic adenocarcinoma from chronic pancreatitis, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of telomerase activity were 0.77 (95% CI, 0.61-0.88) and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.91-0.99), respectively; DOR was 117.28 (95% CI, 32.25-426.53); beta was −0.38 (95% CI, −1.89-1.13), Z was −0.49, p was 0.62>0.1, and lambda was 5.30 (95% CI, 3.37-7.24). Conclusions The present meta-analysis demonstrates that telomerase activity could be a useful biomarker for the differential diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and benign pancreatic diseases.
Renal Function Recovery in Children Undergoing Combined Liver Kidney Transplants

Background and Method. Combined liver kidney transplant (CLKT) is a recognized treatment option for end-stage renal disease due to primary hyperoxaluria (PH-I) and cystic disorders, yet there is only limited data on posttransplant renal function recovery. The objective of this study was to assess postoperative renal function of children with PH-I (group A) undergoing CLKT and to compare this with a cohort of children (group B) who received CLKT for other indications. Results. Twenty-three patients underwent CLKT between 1994 and 2008 (group A: 9 patients; median age 8.6 [1.6–16.7] years; group B: 14 patients; median age 8.5 [1.9–14.6] years). The median follow-up was 88 (14–112) and 22 (4–109) months. Both groups were transplanted with comparable organs. Eight (8/9) and six (6/14) patients received preoperative renal support in each group, respectively, whereas an equal proportion of them required early postoperative renal support (4/8; 50% and 3/6; 50%, respectively). Glomerular function was significantly different between groups until first year posttransplant (median estimated glomerular filtration rate: groups A vs. B; at pretransplant, 3 mo, 6 mo, and 12 mo posttransplant, respectively; 11.06 vs. 12.61 [P=0.4], 40.78 vs. 75.83 [P=0.03], 42.59 vs. 80.56 [P=0.04] and 53.57 vs. 76.75 [P=0.005]). Overall 1-year survival is 89% versus 90% and 5-year survival is 89% versus 62%, respectively. Summary. Children with PH-I receiving CLKT seem to have delayed recovery of renal function compared with polycystic disease, possibly due to mobilization of systemic oxalate. Consideration should be given to earlier or preemptive transplantation for children with PH-I.
Protein kinase C and tyrosine kinase pathways regulate lipopolysaccharide‐induced nitric oxide synthase activity in RAW 264.7 murine macrophages

1 In RAW 264.7 macrophages, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and γ‐interferon (IFNγ) alone or in combination stimulated the induction of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity and increased the expression of the 130 kDa isoform of NOS. 2 LPS‐induced NOS activity was reduced by incubation with CD14 neutralising antibodies and abolished in macrophages deprived of serum. 3 LPS stimulated a small increase in protein kinase C (PKC) activity in RAW 264.7 macrophages which was dependent on the presence of serum. However, IFNγ did not potentiate LPS‐stimulated PKC activity. 4 The protein kinase C inhibitor, Ro‐318220, abolished both LPS‐ and IFNγ‐stimulated protein kinase C activity and the induction of NOS activity. 5 LPS‐ and IFNγ‐induced NOS activity was reduced by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor genestein. Genestein also reduced LPS‐stimulated protein kinase C activity but did not affect the response to the protein kinase C activator, tetradecanoylphorbol acetate (TPA). 6 Nicotinamide, an inhibitor of poly‐ADP ribosylation, abolished LPS‐ and IFNγ‐induced NOS activity. 7 Brefeldin A, an inhibitor of a factor which stimulates nucleotide exchange activity on the 21 kDa ADP‐ribosylation factor, ARF, reduced LPS‐ and IFNγ‐induced NOS activity by approximately 80%. 8 These results suggest the involvement of protein kinase C, tyrosine kinase and ploy‐ADP ribosylation pathways in the regulation of the induction of nitric oxide synthase in RAW 264.7 macrophages by LPS and IFNγ.
QT Interval Dispersion as a New Marker of Restenosis after Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty of Isolated Single-Vessel Coronary Artery Stenosis

Background: There are no reliable non-invasive markers of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). The aim of our study was to measure changes in QT interval dispersion after PTCA and to determine whether restenosis subsequently affects QT interval dispersion. Methods and Results: Fifty-six consecutive patients – 41 men and 15 women (mean age: 56.2 ±8.3 years) – with isolated stenosis of the left anterior descending artery who underwent successful PTCA were studied. A symptom-limited treadmill exercise test was performed within 7 days after PTCA and then again before repeated angiography. Repeated coronary angiography revealed restenosis in 15 patients (26.8%) and no signs of significant stenosis in 41 patients (73.2%). QT interval dispersion in the group of patients with restenosis measured before exercise increased from baseline 34 ± 7 to 49 ± 15 ms after 6 months (p < 0.01) and QT interval dispersion measured immediately after exercise increased from baseline 38 ± 4 to 68 ± 21 ms after 6 months (p < 0.001). In contrast, patients without restenosis showed no significant changes in QT interval dispersion measured before (baseline: 34 ± 9 ms; after 6 months 33 ± 12 ms; p = NS) and immediately after exercise (baseline: 34 ± 12 ms; after 6 months: 33 ± 10; p = NS). When QT interval dispersion ≧60 ms (measured 6 months after PTCA procedure) was considered as a potential marker of restenosis, this indicator had very high sensitivity and specificity when measured immediately after exercise (80 and 95% respectively). Conclusions: QT interval dispersion significantly increases in the group of patients with documented restenosis and may be a simple, non-invasive marker of restenosis. However, further studies are needed to confirm this observation.
Decreased CD127 Expression on T Cells in HIV-1-infected Adults Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy With or Without Intermittent IL-2 Therapy

Background: The interleukin-7 (IL-7)/IL-7 receptor &agr; (IL-7R&agr;) system is an important regulator of T-cell homeostasis. We evaluated the IL-7/IL-7R&agr; system in a large cohort of HIV-infected patients, including a subset treated with intermittent IL-2. Methods: IL-7 serum levels and CD127 (IL-7R&agr;) expression on T cells were evaluated in a cross-sectional study of 36 healthy volunteers, 151 HIV-infected patients, and 83 HIV-infected patients who had received IL-2 therapy. Multivariate regression models were used to determine predictors of CD127 expression. Results: HIV-infected patients had higher IL-7 levels compared with healthy volunteers (P = 0.022) and IL-2-treated patients (P = 0.012). CD127 expression was significantly lower on CD4 and CD8 T cells of HIV-infected patients compared with healthy volunteers (P = 0.008 and P < 0.001, respectively), and CD127 median fluorescence intensity was lowest on CD4 T cells in IL-2-treated patients (P < 0.001 compared with HIV-infected patients). The proportion of naive and effector memory/effector T cells were significant predictors of CD127 expression on T cells. IL-2 immunotherapy led to the expansion of a CD25+/CD127-low subset of CD4 T cells. Conclusions: CD127 expression on T cells remains low in HIV-infected patients despite antiretroviral therapy, reflecting persistent aberration in the subset composition of the T-cell pool.
Lymphokine-activated killer cytotoxicity in neonatal mononuclear cells: in vitro responses to tumor cell lines from pediatric solid tumors.

The presence of neonatal (cord) lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell activity toward natural killer cell resistant Raji and Daudi cell lines has recently been reported from our laboratory. We investigated the future therapeutic use of LAK adoptive immunotherapy by examining LAK in vitro cytotoxicity from both neonatal and adult mononuclear cells against solid tumor cell lines of relevance to pediatric oncology: SH-SY5Y (neuroblastoma), SK-NM-C (neuroblastoma-neuroepithelioma), NEP-1 (Wilms' tumor), SK-ES-1 (Ewing's sarcoma), and A-204 (rhabdomyosarcoma). Cord and adult mononuclear cells were activated by recombinant IL-2 (100 mu/ml) for 5-7 days and added in an effector:target ratio of 40:1 to 51Cr-labeled target cells. Specific cell lysis was determined after a 4-h incubation. There was a significantly high level of cord and adult LAK cytotoxicity against Wilms' (76.4 +/- 9.8 versus 77.3 +/- 6.8%) and Ewing's (84.2 +/- 5.5 versus 71.1 +/- 6.5%) cell lines and significant but moderate LAK activity against neuroepithelioma (52.0 +/- 6.6 versus 55.4 +/- 4.5%) and rhabdomyosarcoma (46.6 +/- 5.7 versus 43.9 +/- 5.2%) cell lines. There was no difference between cord and adult LAK activity toward these targets. However, a differential response toward the more classical neuroblastoma cell line, SH-SY5Y, was noted with significantly more LAK cytotoxicity from cord mononuclear cells than adult mononuclear cells (51.2 +/- 6.9 versus 28.5 +/- 8.2%) (p less than or equal to 0.01). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Increases in Acidic Phospholipid Contents Specifically Restore Protein Translocation in a Cold-sensitive secA orsecG Null Mutant*

Both the secAcsR11 and ΔsecG::kan mutations cause cold-sensitive growth, although the growth defect due to the latter mutation occurs in a strain-specific manner. Overexpression of pgsA encoding phosphatidylglycerophosphate synthase suppresses the growth defects of the two mutants. We investigated the mechanism underlying thepgsA-dependent suppression of the two mutations using purified mutant SecA and inverted membrane vesicles (IMVs) prepared from pgsA-overexpressing cells. The acidic phospholipid content increased by about 10% upon pgsAoverexpression. This increase resulted in the stimulation of proOmpA translocation only when mutant SecA or SecG-depleted IMVs were used. The translocation-coupled ATPase activity of SecA was significantly defective with the mutant SecA or SecG-depleted IMVs, but it recovered to a near normal level when the acidic phospholipid level was increased. The stimulation of ATPase activity was observed only at low temperature. The steady-state level of membrane-inserted SecA was low with the mutant SecA or SecG-depleted IMVs, and it decreased further upon the increase in the acidic phospholipid content. However, the level of SecA insertion markedly increased upon the inhibition of SecA deinsertion by the addition of β,γ-imido adenosine 5′-triphosphate (AMP-PNP), especially with IMVs containing increased levels of acidic phospholipids. These results indicate that the increase in the level of acidic phospholipids stimulates the SecA cycle in the two mutants by facilitating both the insertion and deinsertion of SecA.
Aberrant NEAT1 expression is associated with clinical outcome in high grade glioma patients

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) NEAT1 has been reported to play critical roles in various human tumor entities and related to the survival of patients with malignancies. However, little is known about the role of lncRNA NEAT1 in glioma patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of NEAT1 in human glioma and its correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis in human glioma; we analyzed the relationship of lncRNA NEAT1 expression with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in glioma patients. In our results, the relative level of NEAT1 expression was higher in cancer tissues compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues (p < 0.001). High NEAT1 expression was observed to be closely correlated with larger tumor size (p = 0.023), higher WHO grade (p = 0.005), and recurrence (p = 0.011). Kaplan–Meier curves showed that patients with high NEAT1 expression showed unfavorable overall survival (OS) than the low NEAT1 expression group (p = 0.002). Multivariate analysis results revealed that NEAT1 overexpression was an independent prognostic factor for OS in addition to postoperative chemoradiotherapy and WHO grade. Moreover, high NEAT1 expression in patients with stage III~IV disease and postoperative chemoradiotherapy conferred unfavorable OS (stage III~IV p = 0.002, postoperative chemoradiotherapy p = 0.000). This study supports NEAT1 as a potential prognostic predictor with its high expression in cancer tissues and its association with carcinogenesis and progression in glioma.
Species relative abundance and direction of introgression in oaks

Successful hybridisation and subsequent introgression lead to the transfer of genetic material across species boundaries. In this process, species relative abundance can play a significant role. If one species is less abundant than the other, its females will receive many heterospecific gametes, increasing mate‐recognition errors and thus hybridisation rate. Moreover, first‐generation hybrids will also more likely mate with the more abundant species, leading to asymmetric introgression. These predictions have important fundamental consequences, especially during biological invasions or when a rare species threatened by extinction is surrounded by individuals from a related species. However, experimental tests in nature of the importance of the relative abundance of each species on hybridisation dynamics remain scarce. We assess here the impact of species relative abundance on hybridisation dynamics among four species from the European white oak species complex. A total of 2107 oak trees were genotyped at 10 microsatellite markers and Bayesian clustering methods were used to identify reference trees of each species. We then used these reference trees to simulate purebred and hybrid genotypes to determine optimal threshold for genetic assignment. With this approach, we found widespread evidence of hybridisation between all studied oak species, with high occurrence of hybrids, varying from 11% to 31% according to stand and sampling strategies. This finding suggests that hybridisation is a common phenomenon that plays a significant role in evolution of this oak species complex. In addition, we demonstrate a strong impact of species abundance on both hybridisation rate and introgression directionality.
Capacity Bounds and Detection Schemes for Data Over Voice

Cellular networks provide widespread and reliable voice communications among subscribers through mobile voice channels. These channels benefit from superior priority and higher availability compared with conventional cellular data communication services, such as General Packet Radio Service, Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution, and High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. These properties are of major interest to applications that require transmitting small volumes of data urgently and reliably, such as an emergency call in vehicular applications. This encourages excessive research to make digital communication through voice channels feasible, leading to the emergence of Data over Voice (DoV) technology. In this research, we investigate the challenges of transmitting data through mobile voice channels. We introduce a simplified information-theoretic model of the vocoder channel and derive bounds on its capacity. By invoking detection theory concepts and conjecturing Weibull and chi-square distributions for approximately modeling the probability distribution of channel output, we propose improved detection schemes based on the mentioned distributions and compare the achieved performances with the calculated bounds and other state-of-the-art DoV structures. Moreover, in common mobile networks, the vocoder compression rate is adopted in accordance with the network traffic adaptively. Although this phenomenon affects the overall capacity significantly, it has been overlooked by previous research studies. In this research, we apply the Gilbert-Elliott (GE) model to the voice channel, extract the required model parameters from the Markov model, and bound the overall voice channel capacity by considering the adaptive rate adjustment phenomenon.
Elevated Plasma Viral Loads in Romidepsin-Treated Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Rhesus Macaques on Suppressive Combination Antiretroviral Therapy

ABSTRACT Replication-competent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) persists in infected people despite suppressive combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), and it represents a major obstacle to HIV functional cure or eradication. We have developed a model of cART-mediated viral suppression in simian human immunodeficiency virus (SIV) mac239-infected Indian rhesus macaques and evaluated the impact of the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) romidepsin (RMD) on viremia in vivo. Eight macaques virologically suppressed to clinically relevant levels (<30 viral RNA copies/ml of plasma), using a three-class five-drug cART regimen, received multiple intravenous infusions of either RMD (n = 5) or saline (n = 3) starting 31 to 54 weeks after cART initiation. In vivo RMD treatment resulted in significant transient increases in acetylated histone levels in CD4+ T cells. RMD-treated animals demonstrated plasma viral load measurements for each 2-week treatment cycle that were significantly higher than those in saline control-treated animals during periods of treatment, suggestive of RMD-induced viral reactivation. However, plasma virus rebound was indistinguishable between RMD-treated and control-treated animals for a subset of animals released from cART. These findings suggest that HDACi drugs, such as RMD, can reactivate residual virus in the presence of suppressive antiviral therapy and may be a valuable component of a comprehensive HIV functional cure/eradication strategy.
Cloning and characterisation of NADPH-dependent cytochrome P450 reductase gene in the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera.

BACKGROUND Previous studies in our laboratory showed that cytochrome P450 CYP6B7 plays a critical role in a Handan fenvalerate resistant strain (HDFR) of Helicoverpa armigera. As an important component of P450 enzyme systems, cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) plays an essential role in transferring electrons from NADPH to the P450-substrate complex. However, little information about CPR in H. armigera (HaCPR) has been reported. RESULTS A full-length cDNA (3525 bp) of HaCPR was cloned. The open reading frame of the HaCPR gene encoded 687 amino acids and shared 27.87-95.21% identities with other known CPRs. Bioinformatic analysis showed that HaCPR is a transmembrane protein with Mw of 77.4 kDa and contains conserved features. The results of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that the expression level of HaCPR mRNA was 1.84-fold higher in midgut of 5th instars of the Handan susceptible strain than that in pupae, and the level in the midgut of HDFR strain was 2.02-fold higher than that of the Handan susceptible strain. The levels of HaCPR mRNA were induced by phenobarbital at concentrations of 2 and 4 mg g(-1) , which enhanced 5.20- and 17.45-fold, respectively, compared to that of the control after 48 h of phenobarbital treatment. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that HaCPR is important for the development of H. armigera and may play an essential role in the P450-mediated insecticide resistance of H. armigera to fenvalerate.