Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Weekly training volume and hematological status in female top-level athletes of different sports.

AIM The objectives of the present study were: a) to investigate the prevalence of iron depletion and anemia among female top-level athletes from different sports; b) to determine a relationship between serum ferritin levels and training status of female athletes. METHODS This study was conducted on 84 female professional athletes who were recruited during preparticipation physical examination. Upon entering the laboratory 10 mL of venous blood was drawn from an antecubital vein into a lavender-top tube for a complete blood count (CBC), serum iron, and transferrin and ferritin levels. RESULTS No significant differences between any of the hematological variables were found between groups of different sports. The lowest hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum iron, ferritin and transferrin encountered in the study were Hb of 9.1 g/dL, MCV of 64.5 fL, serum iron of 15 microg/dL, ferritin of 5.4 microg/L, transferrin of 210 microg/dL in a 20-year old female distance runner with functional impairment and iron deficiency anemia. No significant differences were found between female athletes from different sports regarding the prevalence of iron depletion, iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Serum ferritin level poorly correlate with training duration (r = 0.24) and seems to be inadequate indicator of training tolerance. CONCLUSION This study has shown a high prevalence of iron depletion and anemia among female athletes from different sports, with similar incidence in individuals independent of their weekly training volume.
Vascular endothelial growth factor in ocular fluid of patients with diabetic retinopathy and other retinal disorders.

BACKGROUND Retinal ischemia induces intraocular neovascularization, which often leads to glaucoma, vitreous hemorrhage, and retinal detachment, presumably by stimulating the release of angiogenic molecules. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an endothelial-cell-specific angiogenic factor whose production is increased by hypoxia. METHODS We measured the concentration of VEGF in 210 specimens of ocular fluid obtained from 164 patients undergoing intraocular surgery, using both radioimmuno-assays and radioreceptor assays. Vitreous proliferative potential was measured with in vitro assays of the growth of retinal endothelial cells and with VEGF-neutralizing antibody. RESULTS VEGF was detected in 69 of 136 ocular-fluid samples from patients with diabetic retinopathy, 29 of 38 samples from patients with neovascularization of the iris, and 3 of 4 samples from patients with ischemic occlusion of the central retinal vein, as compared with 2 of 31 samples from patients with no neovascular disorders (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P = 0.006, respectively). The mean (+/- SD) VEGF concentration in 70 samples of ocular fluid from patients with active proliferative diabetic retinopathy (3.6 +/- 6.3 ng per milliliter) was higher than that in 25 samples from patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (0.1 +/- 0.1 ng per milliliter, P = 0.008), 41 samples from patients with quiescent proliferative diabetic retinopathy (0.2 +/- 0.6 ng per milliliter, P < 0.001), or 31 samples from nondiabetic patients (0.1 +/- 0.2 ng per milliliter, P = 0.003). Concentrations of VEGF in vitreous fluid (8.8 +/- 9.9 ng per milliliter) were higher than those in aqueous fluid (5.6 +/- 8.6 ng per milliliter, P = 0.033) in all 10 pairs of samples obtained simultaneously from the same patient; VEGF concentrations in vitreous fluid declined after successful laser photocoagulation. VEGF stimulated the growth of retinal endothelial cells in vitro, as did vitreous fluid containing measurable VEGF. Stimulation was inhibited by VEGF-neutralizing antibodies. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that VEGF plays a major part in mediating active intraocular neovascularization in patients with ischemic retinal diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy and retinal-vein occlusion.
Efficacy of chemoradiotherapy on pain relief in patients with intrapelvic recurrence of rectal cancer.

PURPOSE To assess the efficacy of chemoradiotherapy on pain relief in patients with intrapelvic recurrence of rectal cancer. METHODS The records of 30 patients treated with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy for intrapelvic recurrence of rectal cancer between September 1993 and February 1999 were retrospectively reviewed. There were 17 patients in the chemoradiotherapy (CRT) group and 13 patients in the radiotherapy alone (RTA) group. Simultaneous extrapelvic distant metastases were found in 11 patients in the CRT group and in seven patients in the RTA group. Radiotherapy was administered with a median total dose of 50 Gy in both groups. In the CRT group, 15 patients received 5-fluorouracil by continuous infusion and two patients received irinotecan in a biweekly infusion schedule during the course of radiotherapy. The response rate and duration of pain relief were evaluated and were compared between the two groups. RESULTS The response rate of pain relief in the CRT and RTA was 100 and 77%, respectively. The median duration of pain relief in the CRT and RTA groups was 7.8 and 4.0 months, respectively and there was a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.019). The median survival time from the start of radiotherapy was 15.1 and 9.3 months in the CRT and RTA groups, respectively, and there was a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that chemoradiotherapy for intrapelvic recurrence of rectal cancer for the purpose of pain relief appears to be more effective than radiotherapy alone.
Close look at the experiences of patients enrolled in a clinical trial of acupuncture treatment for atrial fibrillation in Korea: a qualitative study nested within a randomised controlled trial

Objective To explore the experiences of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in the context of a prospective, two-parallel-armed, participant-blinded and assessor-blinded sham-controlled randomised trial. Design A nested qualitative study within an ongoing randomised controlled trial to explore acupuncture's antiarrhythmic effects on drug refractory acupuncture in persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) (ACU-AF trial). Participants Participants were recruited using purposeful sampling and a maximum variation strategy with regard to treatment allocation (treatment or control) and protocol completion (completion or non-completion). Setting This was a single-centre in-depth interview qualitative study conducted at a tertiary-level university hospital in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Results Data saturation was reached after 8 participants. Thematic analysis identified that most patients were not aware of their condition until medical check-up; physician referral was the main reason for trial participation, and patients had high expectations regardless of previous acupuncture experiences. Patients tended to depend on their physicians' opinions because they felt helpless of their condition. No one questioned their assigned treatment groups and generally believed acupuncture treatment was different for cardiovascular diseases. A few patients expressed disappointment in the strict and rigid protocols, in which most practitioners refrained from explaining their acupuncture procedures. Conclusions For cardiovascular patients their physician's advice was one of the biggest reasons for enrolling in the acupuncture trial therefore relying on standard recruitment methods may not be effective. Fortunately both real and sham acupuncture groups in our sample were receiving treatment as intended, but in the future, designing a more pragmatic trial (better reflecting clinical settings, expanding the inclusion criteria and using more treatment points) will allow researchers to better explore the comprehensive effects of acupuncture. The findings of this study will allow researchers to improve the currently ongoing ACU-AF trial and to further help interpretation of main trial outcomes once the trial is completed. Trial registration number: NCT02110537.
Political decision-making and the decline of Canadian peacekeeping

ABSTRACT This article explores the reasons behind Canada’s declining participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations. It proposes a decision-making model that explains how politicians assess opportunities to commit personnel to peacekeeping missions by balancing their policy objectives with the pressures of electoral politics. Emphasizing the importance of voters in political decision-making processes, it argues that participation in peacekeeping is dependent on three key factors: a belief in the value of peacekeeping in principle; a belief in the value of a given peacekeeping operation; and risk aversion in response to the potential costs of peacekeeping. Tracing Canada’s declining participation in peacekeeping operations since the 1990s, it particularly focuses on how this calculus has, in different ways, limited Canada’s involvement in peacekeeping under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government and Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, arguing that the former undervalued peacekeeping as a means of obtaining its foreign policy objectives and as a feature of national identity, minimizing the perceived benefits of participation, while the latter has focused on the inherent risks of peacekeeping despite a professed commitment to peacekeeping in principle, maximizing the perceived costs of further personnel commitments. The decisions of successive Canadian governments have led to a free-rider problem in which Canada is willing to enjoy the benefits of peacekeeping but unwilling to bear the costs.
Methylation levels of maternal and paternal genomes during preimplantation development.

The methylation status of three highly repeated sequences was studied in sperm, eggs and preimplantation embryos with different combinations of parental chromosomes. High levels of methylation of the IAP and MUP sequence families were found in sperm and in eggs, whereas the L1 repeat was found to be highly methylated in sperm but only about 42% methylated in eggs. To assess how the two parental genomes behaved during preimplantation development, normal, fertilised embryos were compared with parthenogenetic embryos where the chromosomes are exclusively of maternal origin. It was observed that the high levels of methylation at the IAP and MUP sequences were retained through early development, with the first signs of demethylation at the IAP sequences apparent on both parental chromosomes in the blastocyst. Methylation at the sperm-derived L1 sequences dropped to about the same level as that of the egg-derived sequences by the late 2-cell stage, both then remain at this intermediate level until around the time of cavitation when levels fell to about 10% in the blastocyst. High levels of DNA methylase were detected in germinal vesicle and metaphase II oocytes; these high levels were maintained in fertilised and parthenogenetic embryos through into the morula and then declined to be undetectable in the blastocyst. Our comparison of maternal and paternal genomes suggests that methylation levels at repeat sequences are remarkably similar at the time of fertilisation or, as in the case of the L1 sequences, they become so during the first few cell cycles. Hence, there do not appear to be global methylation differences between the genomes that are retained through preimplantation development. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Transport of Phosphate by Plasma Membranes of the Jejunum and Kidney of the Mouse Model of Hypophosphatemic Vitamin D-Resistant Rickets

Abstract The hypophosphatemic mouse is a useful model for the study of hypophosphatemic vitamin D-resistant rickets in humans. Hypophosphatemia and hyperphosphaturia are the main biochemical findings in the patients and in mice with the disorder. The exact membrane localization of the site of the defect in phosphate transport in humans is not known. We utilized a well-validated technique of brush border and basolateral membrane vesicles to investigate phosphate transport across the enterocyte and the renal tubule cells of the hypophosphatemic (Hyp) mice model. Phosphate uptake by brush border membranes of jejunal enterocytes revealed similar initial rates (slopes were 0.007 and 0.006 for Hyp and control mice, respectively). Kinetics of jejunal Na+-dependent phosphate uptake showed a Vmax of 0.21 ± 0.03 and 0.19 ± 0.02 nmol/mg protein/15 sec, and <Km of 0.12 ± 0.07 and 0.09 ± 0.02 mM in the Hyp and control mice, respectively. Kinetics of basolateral uptake of phosphate were also similar (Vmax of 0.05 ± 0.01 and 0.06 ± 0.02 nmol/mg protein/10 sec and <Km of 0.013 ± 0.004 and 0.028 ± 0.022 mM, respectively). On the other hand, kinetics of Na+-dependent phosphate uptake by renal brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) were markedly decreased (Vmax of 0.42 ± 0.03 and 1.09 ± 0.06 nmol/mg protein/15 sec, < P < 0.01, and <Km of 0.01 ± 0.003 and 0.05 ± 0.02 <mM, P < 0.02, in the Hyp and control mice, respectively). Kinetics of Na+-dependent phosphate uptake by renal basolateral membrane were not decreased (Vmax of 0.19 ± 0.02 and 0.21 ± 0.02 nmol/mg protein/10 sec and <Km of 0.012 ± 0.003 and 0.012 ± 0.004 mM for Hyp and control mice, respectively). To determine whether the decrease in renal BBMV is secondary to alteration in the Na+-dependent phosphate transporter or due to changes in the Na+ gradient, two studies were conducted: first, a tracer exchange study in renal BBMV which showed a decrease in phosphate uptake in Hyp BBMV compared with controls, confirming the kinetic studies; and second, an Na+ permeability study in renal BBMV of Hyp and control mice which showed no differences in Na+ permeability across the renal BBMV.
Differential Expression of Vibrio vulnificus Capsular Polysaccharide

ABSTRACT Vibrio vulnificus is a human pathogen whose virulence has been associated with the expression of capsular polysaccharide (CPS). Multiple CPS types have been described; however, virulence does not appear to correlate with a particular CPS composition. Reversible-phase variation for opaque and translucent colony morphologies is characterized by changes in CPS expression, as suggested by electron microscopy of cells stained nonspecifically with ruthenium red. Isolates with opaque colony morphologies are virulent and appear to be more thickly encapsulated than naturally occurring translucent-phase variants, which have reduced, patchy, or absent CPS. Previously, we have shown that the virulence of translucent-phase variants was intermediate between opaque-phase variants and acapsular transposon mutants, suggesting a correlation between virulence and the amount of CPS expressed. In the present study, CPS expression of phase variants and genetically defined mutants of V. vulnificusM06-24/O was examined by using a CPS-specific monoclonal antibody with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, flow cytometry, and immunoelectron microscopy. Semiquantitative analyses of CPS expression correlated well among these assays, confirming that the translucent-phase variant was intermediate in CPS expression and retained type I CPS-specific epitopes. Cell surface expression of CPS varied with the growth phase, increasing during logarithmic growth and declining in stationary culture. Significantly greater CPS expression (P = 0.026) was observed for cells grown at 30°C than for those at 37°C. These studies confirm that phase variation and virulence in V. vulnificus correlate with the amount of CPS expressed and demonstrate the fluidity of bacterial polysaccharide expression in response to environmental conditions.
Amentoflavone Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis and Wear Debris-Induced Osteolysis via Suppressing NF-κB and MAPKs Signaling Pathways

Abstract Wear debris-induced osteolysis is one of the major reasons for subsequent aseptic loosening after cementless hip arthroplasty. Increasing evidence suggests that receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) ligand-mediated osteoclastogenesis and osteolysis are responsible for wear debris-induced aseptic loosening. In the present study, we explored the effect of amentoflavone (AMF) on inhibiting osteoclast generation and wear debris-induced osteolysis in vitro and in vivo. Twenty-four male C57BL/J6 mice were randomly divided into four groups: a sham group and groups with titanium wear debris treatment followed by intraperitoneal injection of various concentrations of AMF (0, 20, and 40 mg/kg/day). The micro computed tomography scanning and histological analysis were performed. Bone marrow-derived macrophages were cultured to investigate the effect of AMF on osteoclast generation and function. The results showed that AMF suppressed osteoclastogenesis, F-actin ring formation, and bone absorption without cytotoxicity. AMF prevented titanium wear debris-induced osteolysis in mice. AMF suppressed the relative proteins of NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKs) signaling pathways. Thus, the present study suggests that AMF derived from plants could inhibit osteoclastogenesis and titanium wear debris-induced osteolysis via suppressing NF-κB and MAPKs signaling pathways.
Predators as stressors? Physiological and reproductive consequences of predation risk in tropical stonechats (Saxicola torquata axillaris)

Tropical birds usually lay smaller clutches and are less likely to initiate a second brood than their temperate–zone relatives. This reduction in annual fecundity is generally explained as an adaptation either to higher rates of nest predation or to a more limited food supply concurrent with higher adult survival in the tropics. However, the physiological parameters associated with lower annual fecundity in tropical birds have not been well investigated. We compared the annual fecundity, behaviour and a number of physiological parameters of stonechat parents feeding fledged juveniles in territories with and without fiscal shrikes, a predator on adult and fledged birds. Stonechat pairs in territories with shrikes were less likely to initiate a second brood and delayed successive broods compared to pairs in territories without shrikes. After fledging of their young, males showed a greater propensity than females to initiate distraction calls after a human intrusion into their territory and, therefore, invested more in the defence of their young. In territories with shrikes stonechat males had higher initial plasma corticosterone levels and lower body conditions than males in territories without shrikes, suggesting that they were chronically stressed. In contrast, the females from both types of territory had low initial plasma corticosterone levels. We conclude that shrike presence might account for the delay in initiation of a second brood and the reduction in the tendency to initiate a second brood. Whether these effects are mediated by the elevated levels of corticosterone remains to be demonstrated.
Seed dormancy cycling and mortality differ between two locally adapted populations of Arabidopsis thaliana.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Intraspecific variation in seed bank dynamics should contribute to local adaptation, but is not well studied. The extent to which genetic and environmental factors affect dormancy cycling and seed mortality was investigated in the annual herb Arabidopsis thaliana by conducting a reciprocal seed burial experiment. METHODS Seeds from two locally adapted populations (from Italy and Sweden) were buried at both of the sites of origin, and seed mortality and germinability were determined during the following 2 years for initially non-dormant glasshouse-matured seeds and dormant field-matured seeds. KEY RESULTS Mean soil temperature was higher at the Italian site compared with the Swedish site throughout the year, and the germination proportions were in general higher for seeds buried in Italy than in Sweden. The rate of secondary dormancy induction of the Italian genotype was faster than that of the Swedish genotype at both sites, while the opposite was true for the rate of dormancy release, at least at the Swedish site. The comparison of non-dormant glasshouse seeds with dormant field seeds demonstrated that A. thaliana seeds can adjust their dormancy levels to current environmental conditions, and suggests that maternal environmental conditions have only minor effects on dormancy cycles. At both sites, locally produced seeds had low germinability in the first year compared with the second year, suggesting that a considerable fraction of the seeds would enter the seed bank. In Italy, but not in Sweden, seed mortality increased rapidly during the second year of burial. CONCLUSIONS This is the first demonstration of intraspecific genetic differentiation in the annual seed dormancy cycle of any species, and the documented difference is likely to contribute to local adaptation. The results suggest that the contribution of a seed bank to seedling recruitment should vary among environments due to differences in the rate of seed mortality.
Induction of an Antiviral State and Attenuated Coxsackievirus Replication in Type III Interferon-Treated Primary Human Pancreatic Islets

ABSTRACT Type III interferons (IFNs), also called lambda interferons (IFN-λ), comprise three isoforms, IFN-λ1 (interleukin-29 [IL-29]), IFN-λ2 (IL-28A), and IFN-λ3 (IL-28B). Only limited information is available on their expression and biological functions in humans. Type I and type II IFNs protect human pancreatic islets against coxsackievirus infection, and this is important since such viruses have been proposed to play a role in the development of human type 1 diabetes. Here we investigated whether type III IFN is expressed during infection of human islet cells with coxsackievirus and if type III IFN regulates permissiveness to such infections. We show that human islets respond to a coxsackievirus serotype B3 (CVB3) infection by inducing the expression of type III IFNs. We also demonstrate that islet endocrine cells from nondiabetic individuals express the type III IFN receptor subunits IFN-λR1 and IL-10R2. Pancreatic alpha cells express both receptor subunits, while pancreatic beta cells express only IL-10R2. Type III IFN stimulation elicited a biological response in human islets as indicated by the upregulated expression of antiviral genes as well as pattern recognition receptors. We also show that type III IFN significantly reduces CVB3 replication. Our studies reveal that type III IFNs are expressed during CVB3 infection and that the expression of the type III IFN receptor by the human pancreatic islet allows this group of IFNs to regulate the islets' permissiveness to infection. Our novel observations suggest that type III IFNs may regulate viral replication and thereby contribute to reduced tissue damage and promote islet cell survival during coxsackievirus infection.