Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of palytoxin on the sodium–potassium pump: model and simulation

We propose a reaction model for the palytoxin–sodium–potassium (PTX–Na+/K+) pump complex. The model, which is similar to the Albers–Post model for Na+/K+-ATPase, is used to elucidate the effect of PTX on Na+/K+-ATPase during the enzyme interactions with Na+ and/or K+ ions. Conformational substates and reactions for the pump are incorporated into the Albers–Post model to represent enzymes with or without bound PTX. A mathematical model based on the reaction scheme is used in simulations modeling experimental studies of PTX-induced ionic currents. Our simulations suggest that (i) extracellular Na+ as well as K+ promotes PTX-induced channel blockage; (ii) extracellular K+ accelerates PTX unbinding; and (iii) K+ occlusion in the PTX–pump complex is essential for describing the PTX-induced current dynamics.
Epidemiology of traumatic brain injury in eastern China, 2004: a prospective large case study.

BACKGROUND Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death for traumatic injury, which is the fifth highest killer in China and the highest killer in adults under 40 years of age. But, there is a lack of epidemiologic data of TBI in China during the past decade. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic data of TBI in eastern China, based on a prospective multicenter trial. METHODS Data were collected from the 77 hospitals by standardized structured questionnaires in this region during the 1-year period (2004). RESULTS A total of 14,948 of cases of traumatic brain injury were identified from 77 hospitals in eastern China. There were 11,446 men (76.6%) and 3,502 women (25.4%). Male adolescents and young adults were affected more often by brain injury. Traffic accidents (60.9%), knock on head (13.4%), and falls (13.1%) were the leading causes of patients with TBI. Approximately one-thirds of the traffic-related TBI were motorcyclists, 31% were pedestrians, and 21.9% were cyclists, whereas motor vehicle occupants only counted for 14% of the cases. The distribution of head injury severity, on the basis of Glasgow Coma Scale scores, was mild in 62%, moderate in 18.1%, and severe in 20% for all cases. The traffic accidents caused the most of severe injuries, which accounted for about 70.4%. Based on Glasgow Outcome Scale assessment, 10.8% of the patients died, 2.6% were in vegetation status, 2.2% had severe disability, 7.2% had moderate disability, and 77.3% had good recovery. And, the outcome depended on age, injury mechanism and initial Glasgow Coma Scale score. CONCLUSIONS The prospective cohort study shows an alteration of TBI during the past decade in eastern China. It is essential to establish a standardized surveillance system of TBI incidence, risk factors, causes, and outcomes for development of new, more effective, targeted strategies to prevent TBI.
Factors regulating viable cell density in the intervertebral disc: blood supply in relation to disc height

The intervertebral disc is an avascular tissue, maintained by a small population of cells that obtain nutrients mainly by diffusion from capillaries at the disc–vertebral body interface. Loss of this nutrient supply is thought to lead to disc degeneration, but how nutrient supply influences viable cell density is unclear. We investigated two factors that influence nutrient delivery to disc cells and hence cell viability: disc height and blood supply. We used bovine caudal discs as our model as these show a gradation in disc height. We found that although disc height varied twofold from the largest to the smallest disc studied, it had no significant effect on cell density, unlike the situation found in articular cartilage. The density of blood vessels supplying the discs was markedly greater for the largest disc than the smallest disc, as was the density of pores allowing capillary penetration through the bony endplate. Results indicate that changes in blood vessels in the vertebral bodies supplying the disc, as well as changes in endplate architecture appear to influence density of cells in intervertebral discs.
The analgesic effect of interferential therapy on clinical and experimentally induced pain

Abstract Background: Interferential therapy (IFT) is one of the most popular modalities used by physiotherapists for the management and control of pain. Despite its widespread use, there remains debate surrounding its effectiveness. Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the published literature on the effectiveness of IFT in reducing pain. Method: A literature search of Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), and Physiotherapy Evidence Based (PEDro) was performed. This review adhered only to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated IFT in the presence of a control group. PEDro scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Results: Nine RCTs met the inclusion criteria of this review. One study evaluated the effect of IFT on clinical pain while remaining studies examined induced pain including thermal (cold and hot), ischemic, mechanical, and delayed onset of muscle soreness. No clear conclusion was withdrawn regarding the effectiveness of IFT on pain management due to the high variability in study design and deficiencies in methodological quality. The data were limited and contradicting and therefore, of equivocal support to the pain reduction effect of IFT. Conclusion: There is inadequate evidence to support the effectiveness of IFT in pain management. Clearly, there is a need for RCTs with high methodological quality to establish IFT efficacy.
Timing of Z-ring localization in Escherichia coli

Bacterial cell division takes place in three phases: Z-ring formation at midcell, followed by divisome assembly and building of the septum per se. Using time-lapse microscopy of live bacteria and a high-precision cell edge detection method, we have previously found the true time for the onset of septation, τc, and the time between consecutive divisions, τg. Here, we combine the above method with measuring the dynamics of the FtsZ-GFP distribution in individual Escherichia coli cells to determine the Z-ring positioning time, τz. To analyze the FtsZ-GFP distribution along the cell, we used the integral fluorescence profile (IFP), which was obtained by integrating the fluorescence intensity across the cell width. We showed that the IFP may be approximated by an exponential peak and followed the peak evolution throughout the cell cycle, to find a quantitative criterion for the positioning of the Z-ring and hence the value of τz. We defined τz as the transition from oscillatory to stable behavior of the mean IFP position. This criterion was corroborated by comparison of the experimental results to a theoretical model for the FtsZ dynamics, driven by Min oscillations. We found that τz < τc for all the cells that were analyzed. Moreover, our data suggested that τz is independent of τc, τg and the cell length at birth, L0. These results are consistent with the current understanding of the Z-ring positioning and cell septation processes.
Insulin increases the release of proinflammatory mediators.

BACKGROUND Strict glucose control with insulin is associated with decreased mortality in a mixed patient population in the intensive care unit. Controversy exists regarding the relative benefits of glucose control versus a direct advantageous effect of exogenous insulin. As a combined medical/surgical population differs significantly from the critically injured patient primed for secondary insult, our purpose was to determine the influence of insulin on activated macrophages. Our hypothesis was that insulin would directly abrogate the inflammatory cascade. METHODS Differentiated human monocytic THP-1 cells were stimulated with endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS], 100 ng/mL) for 6 hours. Cells were treated +/-10(-7) M insulin for 1 hour and 24 hours. Total RNA was isolated and gene expression for TNF-alpha and IL-6 performed using Q-RT-PCR. Supernatants were assayed for TNF-alpha and IL-6 protein by ELISA. RESULTS At 1 hour, compared with macrophages treated with LPS alone, macrophages treated with insulin produced significantly more TNF-alpha protein (11.4 +/- 5.9 pg/mL vs. 32.5 +/- 3.1 pg/mL; p < 0.03). At 24 hours compared with macrophages treated with LPS alone, macrophages treated with insulin produced significantly more TNF-alpha protein (83 +/- 2.02 pg/mL vs. 114 +/- 6.54 pg/mL; p < 0.01). However, gene expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 was not different in LPS stimulated macrophages with and without insulin treatment at both 1 hour and 24 hours. CONCLUSION Contrary to our hypothesis, insulin does not have direct anti-inflammatory properties in this experimental model. In fact, insulin increases proinflammatory cytokine protein levels from activated macrophages.
Cuban Adolescents Requesting Presymptomatic Testing for Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2

Since 2001 a program for the presymptomatic testing of families affected with SCA2 has been under development in Cuba. According to the initial protocol, access would be given to nonsymptomatic individuals at 50% risk, over 18 years; nevertheless, eleven minors requested their inclusion in the program. A retrospective and descriptive study based on the analysis of the medical records belonging to these individuals was designed. Being aware of how challenging clinical settings of predictive genetic testing for minors are, this paper reviews their profile, the outcome of the carried out studies, as well as the reproductive option chosen by the gene positive consultands. The mean age at the time of testing was 16.2 years. Nine adolescents completed the protocol (three had positive test results) and two withdrew. They had a distinctive profile; all were females, pregnant, motivated by the risk assessment for their descendants, and interested in PND with termination of the gestation were the fetus a carrier. Nevertheless, once the result of the test is known, the gene positive consultands chose discordant reproductive options. Further research is necessary to assess the long-term psychological impact in both gene positive and gene negative participants, as well as in their parents and at-risk relatives.
Origins of heterogeneity in Streptococcus mutans competence: interpreting an environment-sensitive signaling pathway

Bacterial pathogens rely on chemical signaling and environmental cues to regulate disease-causing behavior in complex microenvironments. The human pathogen Streptococcus mutans employs a particularly complex signaling and sensing scheme to regulate genetic competence and other virulence behaviors in the oral biofilms it inhabits. Individual S. mutans cells make the decision to enter the competent state by integrating chemical and physical cues received from their microenvironment along with endogenously produced peptide signals. Studies at the single-cell level, using microfluidics to control the extracellular environment, provide physical insight into how the cells process these inputs to generate complex and often heterogeneous outputs. Fine changes in environmental stimuli can dramatically alter the behavior of the competence circuit. Small shifts in pH can switch the quorum sensing response on or off, while peptide-rich media appear to switch the output from a unimodal to a bimodal behavior. Therefore, depending on environmental cues, the quorum sensing circuitry can either synchronize virulence across the population, or initiate and amplify heterogeneity in that behavior. Much of this complex behavior can be understood within the framework of a quorum sensing system that can operate both as an intercellular signaling mechanism and intracellularly as a noisy bimodal switch.
The Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited

In 1983 Dr George Vaillant reported a study, The Natural History of Alcoholism , based upon a research program of adult development at the Harvard Medical School. The original study carried out from 1940 through 1980 involved 660 men during their maturation from adolescence to late middle life. Of the 660 subjects, 204 were college students with excellent social and economic resources. A total of 456 young men were selected from less fortunate inner-city environments, and 100 alcohol-dependent men and women who were in treatment for alcohol detoxification were also evaluated on a longitudinal basis. In Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited Dr Vaillant notes that "rather than alter the original text I have chosen to add data collected and literature reviewed since 1980 in new sections under headings marked revisited . " He also states that "one purpose of using separate sections for new material is to underscore the relativity that time imposes
Interplay between postcranial morphology and locomotor types in Neotropical sigmodontine rodents

Sigmodontine rats are one of the most diverse components of the Neotropical mammal fauna. They exhibit a wide ecological diversity and a variety of locomotor types that allow them to occupy different environments. To explore the relationship between morphology and locomotor types, we analyzed traits of the postcranial osteology (axial and appendicular skeletons) of 329 specimens belonging to 51 species and 29 genera of sigmodontines exhibiting different locomotor types. In this work, postcranial skeletal characters of these rats are considered in an ecomorphological study for the first time. Statistical analyses showed that of the 34 osteological characters considered, 15 were related to the locomotor types studied, except for ambulatory. However, character mapping showed that climbing and jumping sigmodontines are the only taxa exhibiting clear adaptations in their postcranial osteology, which are highly consistent with the tendencies described in many other mammal taxa. Climbing, digging and swimming rats presented statistically differences in traits associated with their vertebral column and limbs, whereas jumping rats showed modifications associated with all the skeletal regions. Our data suggest that sigmodontine rats retain an all‐purpose morphology that allows them to use a variety of habitats. This versatility is particularly important when considering the lack of specialization of sigmodontines for a specific locomotor mode. Another possible interpretation is that our dataset probably did not consider relevant information about these groups and should be increased with other types of characters (e.g. characters from the external morphology, myology, etc.).
Hindrances to precise recovery of cellular forces in fibrous biopolymer networks

How cells move through the three-dimensional extracellular matrix (ECM) is of increasing interest in attempts to understand important biological processes such as cancer metastasis. Just as in motion on flat surfaces, it is expected that experimental measurements of cell-generated forces will provide valuable information for uncovering the mechanisms of cell migration. However, the recovery of forces in fibrous biopolymer networks may suffer from large errors. Here, within the framework of lattice-based models, we explore possible issues in force recovery by solving the inverse problem: how can one determine the forces cells exert to their surroundings from the deformation of the ECM? Our results indicate that irregular cell traction patterns, the uncertainty of local fiber stiffness, the non-affine nature of ECM deformations and inadequate knowledge of network topology will all prevent the precise force determination. At the end, we discuss possible ways of overcoming these difficulties.
The functional coupling of the deep abdominal and paraspinal muscles: the effects of simulated paraspinal muscle contraction on force transfer to the middle and posterior layer of the thoracolumbar fascia

The thoracolumbar fascia (TLF) consists of aponeurotic and fascial layers that interweave the paraspinal and abdominal muscles into a complex matrix stabilizing the lumbosacral spine. To better understand low back pain, it is essential to appreciate how these muscles cooperate to influence lumbopelvic stability. This study tested the following hypotheses: (i) pressure within the TLF's paraspinal muscular compartment (PMC) alters load transfer between the TLF's posterior and middle layers (PLF and MLF); and (ii) with increased tension of the common tendon of the transversus abdominis (CTrA) and internal oblique muscles and incremental PMC pressure, fascial tension is primarily transferred to the PLF. In cadaveric axial sections, paraspinal muscles were replaced with inflatable tubes to simulate paraspinal muscle contraction. At each inflation increment, tension was created in the CTrA to simulate contraction of the deep abdominal muscles. Fluoroscopic images and load cells captured changes in the size, shape and tension of the PMC due to inflation, with and without tension to the CTrA. In the absence of PMC pressure, increasing tension on the CTrA resulted in anterior and lateral movement of the PMC. PMC inflation in the absence of tension to the CTrA resulted in a small increase in the PMC perimeter and a larger posterior displacement. Combining PMC inflation and tension to the CTrA resulted in an incremental increase in PLF tension without significantly altering tension in the MLF. Paraspinal muscle contraction leads to posterior displacement of the PLF. When expansion is combined with abdominal muscle contraction, the CTrA and internal oblique transfers tension almost exclusively to the PLF, thereby girdling the paraspinal muscles. The lateral border of the PMC is restrained from displacement to maintain integrity. Posterior movement of the PMC represents an increase of the PLF extension moment arm. Dysfunctional paraspinal muscles would reduce the posterior displacement of the PLF and increase the compliance of the lateral border. The resulting change in PMC geometry could diminish any effects of increased tension of the CTrA. This study reveals a co‐dependent mechanism involving balanced tension between deep abdominal and lumbar spinal muscles, which are linked through the aponeurotic components of the TLF. This implies the existence of a point of equal tension between the paraspinal muscles and the transversus abdominis and internal oblique muscles, acting through the CTrA.
Determination of Normal Echocardiographic, Electrocardiographic, and Radiographic Cardiac Parameters in the Conscious New Zealand White Rabbit

An accurate diagnosis of cardiac disease requires knowledge of normal heart parameters. In total, 100 clinically healthy, unsedated New Zealand white rabbits were studied to establish well-tolerated and repeatable techniques for echocardiography (echo) and electrocardiography. In total, 50 thoracic radiographs were obtained to establish normal cardiac parameters. Electrocardiographic complexes were used to measure heart rate, rhythm, amplitude, and duration of the wave components. Cardiac structures and systolic and diastolic functions were evaluated using echo. Thoracic digital radiographs were obtained with standard radiographic techniques. A subjective analysis of the cardiac silhouette was done as well as objective measurements using the vertebral heart score. These normal values will assist in the diagnosis of cardiac disease in rabbits.
Cost benefits of reduction in motor vehicle injuries with a nationwide speed limit of 65 miles per hour (mph).

BACKGROUND Nationwide reduction of speed limits to 65 miles per hour (mph) has the potential to save 2,985 lives every year. We undertook the current study to measure potential cost savings of implementing this injury prevention strategy. METHODS Using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's CRASHCOST software, we determined costs of motor vehicle injuries in the 29 states with speed limits exceeding 65 mph in 2003. CRASHCOST estimates lifetime economic costs associated with motor vehicle crashes. Next, we calculated the expected number of crashes, and associated costs, if speed limits were reduced to 65 mph nationwide. Estimated crash rates after reduction were derived by comparing states with speed limits up to 65 mph versus >65 mph, adjusted for vehicle miles traveled, safety belt use, and other confounders. Potential savings were defined as the difference between the two costs. RESULTS Estimated potential savings with restriction of speed limits to 65 mph is $13 billion annually, including a $2 billion reduction in trauma care costs. These savings reflect approximately 6% of the total economic impact of motor vehicle crashes ($231 billion in 2000). To put these costs into perspective, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates $50 billion in annual savings with safety belt use, $1.94 billion with airbags, and $670 million with motorcycle helmets. CONCLUSIONS Nationwide reduction of speed limits to 65 mph has the potential to save $13 billion nationally every year. Hence, legislative action on speed limits will not only reduce motor vehicle injuries and deaths, but will also provide significant cost savings.
Imaging may delay transfer of rural trauma victims: a survey of referring physicians.

BACKGROUND Delayed transfer to a trauma center due to unnecessary imaging results in suboptimal patient outcome and increases healthcare costs. Unnecessary imaging may result from beliefs regarding trauma center requirements and legal concerns. We hypothesized that referring physicians consider factors other than clinical criteria when deciding to order imaging studies before transfer of trauma patients. METHODS A mail survey of 218 referring physicians to a level I trauma center elicited factors affecting decision to obtain imaging studies before transfer. Graded answers to six questions were obtained and demographics of the physician respondent. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS One hundred forty-nine of 218 surveys were returned (68.3%). One-third (33.1%) of respondents obtain imaging because of perceived expectations of the receiving trauma center, independent of patient acuity. Twenty percent incorrectly think that the law prohibits transfer before patients are stabilized. Twenty-eight percent obtain imaging because of liability concerns, even if that imaging delays transfer. Overall, 45% obtain imaging for either perceived requirement or liability concern. Non-advanced trauma life support (ATLS)-certified physicians are more likely to use all available resources before transfer than ATLS-certified physicians. CONCLUSIONS Factors other than patient care dictate imaging acquisition in almost half of those surveyed. Misperception of expectations, misunderstanding of legal imperatives, and liability concerns all delay transport of the injured. ATLS-certified individuals use imaging more appropriately, thus, promoting more timely transfer. State-wide protocols, education, and liability reform may reduce transport delays.