Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between hyperuricemia and body fat distribution.

OBJECTIVE We investigated the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and body fat area, serum lipid level, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome in Japanese men. METHOD We studied 508 Japanese man industrial workers who underwent an annual medical examination and agreed to participate in the CT scanning examination. Body fat area was measured at the umbilical level. Metabolic syndrome was defined by the presence of visceral fat Accumulation (> or = 100 cm2) accompanied by two or more disorders; dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia. RESULTS SUA was positively correlated with visceral fat area, subcutaneous fat area, serum total cholesterol level, serum triglyceride level, the Homeostasis Model Assessment index, and was negatively correlated with the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. In multiple regression analysis, the most influential factor for SUA was visceral fat area (p=0.0027), followed by the serum triglyceride level (p=0.0245). We clarified a higher SUA in the metabolic syndrome group as compared with the non-metabolic syndrome group: 6.67+/-1.14 mg, 6.09+/-1.14 mg, respectively (p<0.0001). The median SUA was elevated with increasing metabolic syndrome factors (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION The present study indicated that SUA is related to visceral fat accumulation. Patients with metabolic syndrome revealed a higher SUA.
Written Expression of Students With and Without Learning Disabilities

This study compares the written expression of 48 students with learning disabilities (LD) and 48 normally achieving (NA) students (Grades 4, 8, and 11). Productivity, syntactic maturity, vocabulary, and mechanics were examined using writing samples obtained in response to a standard stimulus. Results indicate that, compared to their NA peers, students with learning disabilities write fewer words and sentences, write more words per sentence, produce fewer words with seven letters or more and fewer sentence fragments, and have a higher percentage of capitalization and spelling errors. No group differences were found for the number of T-units produced or the number of morphemes per T-unit. Comparison of group differences at each grade level and differences by groups across the grades reveals persistent written expression difficulties and signals a need for a careful review of current instructional practices and how they can be improved.
Actual and Simulated Injury of Creontiades signatus (Heteroptera: Miridae) Feeding on Cotton Bolls

The actual feeding injury of Creontiades signatus Distant (Heteroptera: Miridae) was compared with a simulated technique during 2005, 2006 and 2008 by injecting varying dilutions of pectinase into cotton bolls at different boll sizes (ages) and into 2 or 4 locules to determine if such a technique could be used to reduce the time and labor involved with conducting economic injury level studies in the field. The most accurate simulation occurred in 2008 by injecting 1 μL of 10% pectinase into all 4 locules of a cotton boll. This improved the relationships of injury score to seed cotton, seed, and lint weights. The youngest boll age class of ≥ 2 cm diam. (2 d of age) was not significantly more damaged than the medium age ≥ 2.5 cm (8 d of age) bolls, and both sustained significantly more injury than the large boll classification of ≥ 3 cm (12 d of age). However, small bolls were at least 3 times more likely to abscise than medium-sized bolls, and large bolls did not abscise regardless of treatment. Some damage was observed for large bolls from the injected and actual feeding compared with the controls, but the lint and seed weights were not significantly different for any of the treatments including the controls. Our study characterizes the feeding injury caused by C. signatus and describes a simulated technique that may be used to further economic injury studies.
Isolation and Molecular Profiling of Bone Marrow Micrometastases Identifies TWIST1 as a Marker of Early Tumor Relapse in Breast Cancer Patients

Purpose: Micrometastatic cells detected in the bone marrow have prognostic significance in breast cancer. These cells are heterogeneous and likely do not exhibit uniform biological behavior. To understand the molecular diversity of disseminated cancer cells that reside in bone marrow, we enriched this cell population and did global gene expression profiling in the context of a prospective clinical trial involving women with clinical stage II/III breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Experimental Design: Enrichment of TACSTD1 (EpCAM)–expressing cells from bone marrow of breast cancer patients was achieved using immunomagnetic beads. Gene expression profiles were compared between enriched cell populations and whole bone marrow from 5 normal volunteers and 23 breast cancer patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment. Enriched cells from bone marrow samples of breast cancer patients before treatment or at 1 year follow-up were also analyzed (total of 87 data sets). The expression of transcripts specifically detected in enriched cell populations from breast cancer patients was correlated with 1-year clinical outcome using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR in an independent cohort of bone marrow samples. Results: Analysis of EpCAM-enriched bone marrow cells revealed specific expression of a subgroup of transcripts, including the metastasis regulator, TWIST1. Most transcripts identified, including TWIST1, were not expressed in enriched populations of bone marrow from normal volunteers, suggesting that this expression profile reflects a signature of breast cancer bone marrow micrometastases that persist after chemotherapy. In an independent set of bone marrow samples obtained before any treatment, TWIST1 expression correlated with early disease relapse. Conclusions: Disseminated breast cancer cells present in bone marrow after chemotherapy possess unique transcriptional signatures. Genes whose expression is overrepresented in these cell populations, such as TWIST1, may prove to be excellent markers of early distant relapse in breast cancer patients.
Liver transplantation around the world

In the recent issues of Liver Transplantation, we have asked transplant doctors and colleagues from around the world to share insights about the state of liver transplantation in their countries. The purpose of these articles is to provide a perspective for each of us to learn how our colleagues organize and provide transplant services based on the challenges and opportunities in their different settings. By learning from the experience of these different countries, we hope that individual physicians might improve their own programs or appreciate the benefits that they might enjoy. To a great extent, the practice of liver transplantation within each country is a reflection of its own unique culture. Western countries are more organized, regulated, and have reached a plateau of transplant volume, whereas emerging countries are less systematic and growing rapidly in both their capabilities and volumes. We hope that these reviews will help provide a better appreciation for the practice of liver transplant within each of our countries by reviewing the experiences reported by Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In future issues, authors from more countries around the globe will be invited to also share their experiences. Transplant Volume
Efficacy of motivational interviewing for smoking cessation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective A systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the efficacy of interventions incorporating motivational interviewing for smoking cessation and identify correlates of treatment effects Data sources Medline/PubMed, PsycInfo and other sources including grey literature Study selection Title/abstract search terms were motivational interview* OR motivational enhancement AND smok*, cigarette*, tobacco, OR nicotine. Randomised trials reporting number of smokers abstinent at follow up were eligible. Data extraction Data were independently coded by the first and third authors. We coded for a variety of study, participant, and intervention related variables. Data synthesis A random effects logistic regression with both a random intercept and a random slope for the treatment effect. Results 31 smoking cessation research trials were selected for the study: eight comprised adolescent samples, eight comprised adults with chronic physical or mental illness, five comprised pregnant/postpartum women and 10 comprised other adult samples. Analysis of the trials (9485 individual participants) showed an overall OR comparing likelihood of abstinence in the motivational interviewing (MI) versus control condition of OR 1.45 (95% CI 1.14 to 1.83). Additional potential correlates of treatment effects such as study, sample, and intervention characteristics were examined. Conclusions This is the most comprehensive review of MI for smoking cessation conducted to date. These findings suggest that current MI smoking cessation approaches can be effective for adolescents and adults. However, comparative efficacy trials could be useful.
Comprehensive UGT1A1 genotyping in a Japanese population by pyrosequencing.

Glucuronidation, catalyzed by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), is important in the detoxification and enhanced elimination of a large number of endogenous and exogenous substrates. The human UGT1A gene complex contains at least nine variations of exon 1, common exons 2–5, and a single exon 1 splices to exons 2–5 (1). Of the UGT1A isoforms, UGT1A1 is primarily responsible for the glucuronidation of bilirubin in the human liver and can also conjugate phenols, anthraquinones, flavonoids, and a variety of therapeutic drugs and their metabolites (e.g., SN-38, an active irinotecan metabolite) (2)(3). Several functional polymorphisms in UGT1A1 are associated with reduced bilirubin glucuronidation activity and cause hyperbilirubinemia (Gilbert and Crigler–Najjar syndromes). UGT1A1 TATA box variants [A(TA)6TAA>A(TA)5/7/8TAA] are associated with enhanced [(TA)5] or reduced [(TA)7/8] UGT1A1 transcription (4). Among them, the (TA)6 and (TA)7 repeats have been reported in Asians. The variant (TA)7 is associated with reduced glucuronidation of SN-38 and bilirubin, as well as the pathogenesis of Gilbert syndrome (5). In addition, a T-to-G substitution at nucleotide −3279 (A of the translational start codon in GenBank accession no. AF297093.1 is nucleotide number 1) in the UGT1A1 phenobarbital-responsive enhancer module reduces transcriptional activity (6). The most common nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (211G>A) that causes an amino acid alteration (glycine to arginine at codon 71) is found in Asian populations at frequencies of 13–23% (7)(8). The 686C>A (P229Q) variation in the Taiwanese has a frequency of 2.8% (8). Also associated with Gilbert syndrome are 211G>A (G71R) and 686C>A (P229Q). Rare in Japanese and Taiwanese patients is 1456T>G (Y486D), which is associated with the more severe type II Crigler–Najjar syndrome (8)(9). Our previous study demonstrated that …
Transplacental passage of protease inhibitors at delivery

ObjectiveAlthough combinations of different antiretroviral drugs are increasingly used by pregnant HIV-1-infected women, few human data are available to evaluate in utero protease inhibitors (PI) exposure. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of transplacental passage of PI at delivery. MethodsPregnant women treated with antiretroviral drugs including PI and/or nevirapine were eligible for the study. Placental transfer was determined by comparison of drug concentrations in blood samples simultaneously collected from a peripheral maternal vein and the umbilical cord at delivery. Drug levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. ResultsThirteen maternal–cord blood sample pairs were evaluable for transplacental passage determination (nine nelfinavir, two ritonavir, one saquinavir, one lopinavir, two nevirapine). Median cord and maternal drug concentrations, respectively, were nelfinavir < 250 and 1110 ng/ml; ritonavir < 250 and 1113 ng/ml; saquinavir < 100 and 350 ng/ml; lopinavir < 250 and 3105 ng/ml and nevirapine 2072 and 2546 ng/ml. The cord-to-maternal blood ratio was extremely low for all PI. ConclusionPI do not cross the placenta to an appreciable extent and consequently cannot be expected to exert a direct antiviral activity in utero during the whole dosing interval. Limited transfer may result from their high degree of plasma protein binding and their backwards transport through P-glycoprotein, largely expressed in the placenta. In contrast, nevirapine readily crosses the placental barrier. Such considerations may support treatment decisions in pregnant women.
ARCH FORMS AMONG DIFFERENT ANGLE CLASSIFICATIONS A - STUDY

The aim of the study was to find out the type of arch form amongst different Angle classifications attending the orthodontic department of Sardar Begum Dental College and Hospital, Peshawar. Consideration of the arch form is of paramount importance, because it is imperative that the arch form should be examined before embarking upon the treatment as this gives valuable information about the position into which teeth can be moved if they are to be stable following treatment. It was a prospective cross-sectional study carried out on a total of 120 individuals irrespective of gender having Angle’s class I, II or III occlusion. The results revealed that the most prevalent arch form among the individuals of the sample was of the tapered variety i.e., 49.2% irrespective of the Angle classification while ovoid and square arch forms were 2 nd and 3 rd in the prevalence order i.e., 29.2% and 21.2% respectively. The study emphasizes that consideration should be given to the arch form specific for the particular individual.
The Role of Parent–Child Bonding, Attachment, and Interpersonal Problems in the Development of Deviant Sexual Fantasies in Sexual Offenders

To understand the origin, development, and functions of deviant sexual fantasy in sexual offenders, the present article investigates three areas of the literature on sexual offenders (i.e., parent–child relationships, attachment, and interpersonal problems), hypothesizing a possible path through which dysfunctional parent–child relationships might lead to deviant sexual fantasies. The review of the literature provides indirect evidence that an insecure attachment style developed in response to dysfunctional parenting practices may generate feelings of inadequacy and inferiority to others and a lack of the self-confidence and social skills to initiate or maintain consensual intimate relationships with appropriate others. It is hypothesized that such problems, in turn, might promote low levels of intimacy and satisfaction in romantic relationships and serious and chronic emotional loneliness, withdrawal, and negative attitudes (such as anger and hostility) toward potential partners, leading to a progressive retirement from the real world and refuge in an internal world of deviant sexual fantasies in order to satisfy attachment-related needs for intimacy, emotional closeness, or power. Such a combination of insecure attachment, interpersonal problems, and use of deviant sexual fantasies as a means to achieve the intimacy, power, or control absent from reality might predispose to sexual offending.
Improved Deep Embedded Clustering with Local Structure Preservation

Deep clustering learns deep feature representations that favor clustering task using neural networks. Some pioneering work proposes to simultaneously learn embedded features and perform clustering by explicitly deﬁning a clustering oriented loss. Though promising performance has been demonstrated in various applications, we observe that a vital ingredient has been overlooked by these work that the deﬁned clustering loss may corrupt feature space, which leads to non-representative mean-ingless features and this in turn hurts clustering performance. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose the Improved Deep Embedded Clustering (IDEC) algorithm to take care of data structure preservation. Speciﬁcally, we manipulate feature space to scatter data points using a clustering loss as guidance. To constrain the manipulation and maintain the local structure of data generating distribution, an under-complete autoencoder is applied. By integrating the clustering loss and autoencoder’s reconstruction loss, IDEC can jointly optimize cluster labels assignment and learn features that are suitable for clustering with local structure preservation. The resultant optimization problem can be effectively solved by mini-batch stochastic gradient descent and backpropagation. Experiments on image and text datasets empirically validate the importance of local structure preservation and the effectiveness of our algorithm.
Genetic and economic relationships between somatic cell count and clinical mastitis and their use in selection for mastitis resistance in dairy cattle

Clinical mastitis (CM) and monthly test-day somatic cell count (SCC) records on Holstein cows were used to investigate the genetic and economic relationship of lactation average (of natural logarithms of) monthly test-day SCC (LSCC) with CM. After editing, there were 23663 lactation records on 17937 cows from 257 herds. Three groups of herds were first identified as having low (L), medium (M) and high (H) incidences of CM from the original or pooled (P) data set. Genetic parameters were estimated for the original and three data sub-sets (derived from the three herd groups). Expected genetic responses to selection against CM were calculated using genetic parameters of each data set separately, with an adapted version of the UK national index (£PLI-profitable lifetime index). Indirect economic values of SCC (EV SCC ) were calculated as the direct cost of CM per cow per lactation weighted by the genetic regression coefficient of CM lactation records on their sires’ predicted transmitting ability for SCC (PTA SCC ). All genetic regression analyses were based on linear and threshold-liability models. Heritabilities and repeatabilities, respectively, were 0·034 and 0·111 for CM and 0·120 and 0·347 for LSCC in the original data set. Genetic, permanent environmental, residual and phenotypic correlations between CM and LSCC for the original (pooled) data set were 0·70, 0·44, 0·13 and 0·20, respectively. Parameter estimates for the three herd groups differed, with magnitude of the estimates increasing with increase in incidence from L to H herd groups. The EV SCC per unit of PTA SCC for L, M, H and P herd groups, respectively, were £0·04, £0·15, £0·33 and £0·18 on the observed and £0·86, £0·96, £1·22 and £1·10 on the underlying-liability scales. Selection for mastitis resistance, using SCC as an indicator trait in an extended version of £PLI, resulted in a selection response of 0·9, 2·1, 1·7 and 1·9 more cases per 100 cows after 10 years of selection in L, M, H and P herd groups, respectively. These results suggest that genetic responses to selection for CM resistance as well as the EV SCC are specific to herd incidence and hence would be appropriate for customized selection indexes. The increase in CM cases was greater when CM was excluded from the £PLI (2·8 v. 1·9), hence it is recommended that CM should be included in the breeding goal in order to arrest further decline or to make improvement in genetic resistance to clinical mastitis.
Relationships between Personality and Coping with Stress: An Investigation in Swedish Police Trainees

The aim was to investigate relationships between personality characteristics derived from Cloninger’s personality theory and ways of coping. We investigated 103 police trainees by the Temperament and Character Inventory and Ways of Coping Checklist. There were several particularities characterising trainees within various personality profiles relating to coping. Each WoC scale was significantly predicted by varying personality subscales with temperament subscales mainly contributing to the prediction. Only personality domains harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self directedness could significantly be predicted by coping scales. Some coping behaviours often jointly occur depending on the specific stressful situation; and these combinations are related to particular personality trait constellations.
Pituitary hyperplasia resulting from primary hypothyroidism

We report an unusual case of pituitary hyperplasia secondary to primary hypothyroidism clinically masquerading pituitary apoplexy. A 22-year-old female presented with intermittent headache, easy fatigability, facial puffiness, coarseness of facial features, and hoarseness of voice for six months duration. Diplopia and diminution of vision was also observed for the last 15 days. Brain imaging findings showed pituitary enlargement, the thyroid function test were suggestive of primary hypothyroidism. Patient did well with thyroid hormone replacement therapy.
Phylogenetic relationships of Elymus L. and related genera (Poaceae) based on the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer sequences

To help in the clarification of the taxonomic status of Elymus L. and related genera Agropyron Gaertn. , Leymus Hochst. , Hordelymus (Jess.) Harz, and Brachypodium P.Beauv. , the sequence diversity in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA was studied. ITS data of 64 Triticeae accessions including 40 Elymus ,1 2 Agropyron, 7 Leymus ,a nd 4 Hordelymus ,a nd 1 Brachypodium as an out-group were analysed. The molecular diversity statistics indicated that the most diverse genus is Elymus among the studied genera. The constructed phylogenetic tree by the maximum parsimony method revealed that one specimen of Elymus, E. pycnanthus (Godr.) Melderis, clustered with species of Agropyron. Molecular diversity statistics also indicated that E. pycnanthus is distantly related to other species of Elymus, but is closer to Agropyron species. The finding of strong affinity of Elymus to the species of Leymus and Agropyron supports the view that the taxonomy of Elymus is further complicated by the role of hybridisation among different ancestral genera.
A High Comorbidity Score Should Not be a Contraindication for Kidney Transplantation

Background Currently, potential kidney transplant patients more often suffer from comorbidities. The Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) was developed in 1987 and is the most used comorbidity score. We questioned to what extent number and severity of comorbidities interfere with graft and patient survival. Besides, we wondered whether the CCI was best to study the influence of comorbidity in kidney transplant patients. Methods In our center, 1728 transplants were performed between 2000 and 2013. There were 0.8% cases with missing values. Nine pretransplant comorbidity covariates were defined: cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular accident, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, liver disease, lung disease, malignancy, other organ transplantation, and human immunodeficiency virus positivity. The CCI used was unadjusted for recipient age. The Rotterdam Comorbidity in Kidney Transplantation score was developed, and its influence was compared to the CCI. Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis, corrected for variables with a known significant influence, were performed. Results We noted 325 graft failures and 215 deaths. The only comorbidity covariate that significantly influenced graft failure censored for death was peripheral vascular disease. Patient death was significantly influenced by cardiovascular disease, other organ transplantation, and the total comorbidity scores. Model fit was best with the Rotterdam Comorbidity in Kidney Transplantation score compared to separate comorbidity covariates and the CCI. In the population with the highest comorbidity score, 50% survived more than 10 years. Conclusions Despite the negative influence of comorbidity, patient survival after transplantation is remarkably good. This means that even patients with extensive comorbidity should be considered for transplantation.