Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exoskeleton anchoring to tendon cells and muscles in molting isopod crustaceans

Abstract Specialized mechanical connection between exoskeleton and underlying muscles in arthropods is a complex network of interconnected matrix constituents, junctions and associated cytoskeletal elements, which provides prominent mechanical attachment of the epidermis to the cuticle and transmits muscle tensions to the exoskeleton. This linkage involves anchoring of the complex extracellular matrix composing the cuticle to the apical membrane of tendon cells and linking of tendon cells to muscles basally. The ultrastructural arhitecture of these attachment complexes during molting is an important issue in relation to integument integrity maintenance in the course of cuticle replacement and in relation to movement ability. The aim of this work was to determine the ultrastructural organization of exoskeleton – muscles attachment complexes in the molting terrestrial isopod crustaceans, in the stage when integumental epithelium is covered by both, the newly forming cuticle and the old detached cuticle. We show that the old exoskeleton is extensively mechanically connected to the underlying epithelium in the regions of muscle attachment sites by massive arrays of fibers in adult premolt Ligia italica and in prehatching embryos and premolt marsupial mancas of Porcellio scaber. Fibers expand from the tendon cells, traverse the new cuticle and ecdysal space and protrude into the distal layers of the detached cuticle. They likely serve as final anchoring sites before exuviation and may be involved in animal movements in this stage. Tendon cells in the prehatching embryo and in marsupial mancas display a substantial apicobasally oriented transcellular arrays of microtubules, evidently engaged in myotendinous junctions and in apical anchoring of the cuticular matrix. The structural framework of musculoskeletal linkage is basically established in described intramarsupial developmental stages, suggesting its involvement in animal motility within the marsupium.
A new CMOS electronically tunable current conveyor and its application to current-mode filters

In this paper, a new CMOS high-performance electronically tunable second-generation current conveyor (ECCII) is presented. The current gain of the proposed ECCII can be controlled electronically by adjusting the ratio of dc bias currents of the ECCII. The output terminal of the proposed ECCII has high impedance, which enables easy cascadability. Also, as an application, the proposed ECCII is used for realizing a universal current-mode filter. The filter realizes low-pass, bandpass, and high-pass responses simultaneously. The low-pass response is obtained at high impedance output and its gain can be independently tuned by changing the current gain of the relevant CC. SPICE simulation results using TSMC 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS process model shows excellent performance for the proposed ECCII. The proposed circuit consumes average power of 6.6 mW using /spl plusmn/1.5-V supply voltages.
Short-term effectiveness of a community-implemented falls prevention referral service

Abstract Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of the 16-week evidence-based Steady Steps exercise referral scheme at improving physical function, balance confidence, and quality of life (QoL) of community-dwelling older adults at risk of falling. Method: A non-experimental, practice-based study involving a retrospective analysis of participant outcomes. Pre–post comparisons of three performance-based measures of gait and balance and of person-reported outcomes for balance confidence and QoL were performed. Effectiveness was evaluated in terms of statistically significant changes and relative to published fall-risk thresholds and minimal detectable changes (MDCs) or minimum clinically important differences. Results: One hundred and thirty-six participants completed the program over 19 months. Statistically significant differences were observed for all outcomes (p < 0.001), translating to an overall 42.6% reduction in falls-related risk. Approximately 63% of participants achieved an improvement ≥MDC in at least one of the performance-based tests. Greater than 55% achieved self-reported improvements in balance confidence ≥ MDC, while >40% reported clinically important improvements in QoL. Conclusions: While the non-experimental design precludes conclusive evidence of causation, the highly significant and clinically meaningful improvements observed in individuals who completed the evidence-based Steady Steps program support its translation of evidence into effective practice. Continued implementation and evaluation of such practices and their longer-term effects are warranted. Implications for Rehabilitation Falls in older adults represent an escalating public health problem, and rehabilitation professionals are charged with developing and/or identifying feasible and effective evidence-based programs that target and reduce falls risk in this population. Our findings support Steady Steps as an effective third-sector referral rehabilitation service that successfully translates research evidence-based exercise interventions into effective practice, positively impacting physical function, balance confidence and quality of life (QoL) in community-dwelling older adults. Our study provides practice-based evidence of the effectiveness of exercise interventions that are progressively challenging, deliver a high dose of moderate to high intensity and target the main falls risk factors of muscle weakness and gait and balance impairment. In spite of their limitations, non-experimental, practice-based approaches provide rehabilitation professionals with feasible opportunities for evaluating existing services, such as Steady Steps, and contributing to the overall evidence-base for falls prevention and management.
[Association study of sleep apnea syndrome and polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene].

OBJECTIVE To identify polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter(5-HTT) gene and to find out whether there was relationship between any such polymorphisms and sleep apnea syndrome (SAS). METHODS For two polymorphisms of 5-HTT target DNA gene was amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and 6% non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels electrophoresis. The frequencies of the different forms of the genotypes and alleles of 5-HTT gene were analyzed in 104 patients with SAS and 150 healthy controls. RESULTS The frequencies of the S or L alleles and the S/S, S/L or L/L genotypes in promoter region of 5-HTT gene in SAS group were not significantly different to those in healthy controls (P > 0.05). However, the frequencies of 10/10, 12/10 genotypes of 5-HTT-VNTR in SAS patients were significantly higher than those in healthy control subjects (P < 0.05). Moreover, the frequency of the allele 10 of 5-HTT-VNTR in SAS patients was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (P<0.01). CONCLUSION The allele 10 of 5-HTT-VNTR might be a susceptible factor in the pathogenesis of SAS.
Transition from the Taylor rule to the zero lower bound

Abstract This paper examines the Taylor rule in the context of United States monetary policy since 1965, particularly with respect to the zero-lower-bound era of the federal funds rate from 2009 to 2016. A nonlinear Taylor rule is developed which features smooth transitions in the first two moments of the federal funds rate. This flexible specification is found to usefully capture observed nonlinearity, while accounting for the well-documented structural changes in monetary policy formation at the Federal Reserve in the last 50 years, and especially in the recent zero-lower-bound era.
Vitamin D supplementation in chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The benefits and harms of vitamin D supplementation (ergocalciferol or cholecalciferol) were assessed in patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD, dialysis-dependent CKD, and renal transplant recipients. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS MEDLINE (1966 to September 2009), SCOPUS (September 2009), and nephrology conference proceedings were searched for relevant observational and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Treatment effects were summarized as mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a random effects model. Separate analyses were conducted for observational studies and RCTs. RESULTS Twenty-two studies (17 observational and 5 RCTs) were included. There was a significant improvement in 25-hydroxyvitamin D (MD 24.1 ng/ml, 95% CI 19.6 to 28.6) and an associated decline in parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels (MD -41.7 pg/ml, 95% CI -55.8 to -27.7) among observational studies. PTH reduction was higher in dialysis patients. Among RCTs, there was a significant improvement in 25-hydroxyvitamin D (MD 14 ng/ml, 95% CI 5.6 to 22.4) and an associated decline in PTH levels (MD -31.5 pg/ml, 95% CI -57 to -6.1). A low incidence of hypercalcemia and hyperphosphatemia was reported with vitamin D supplementation. Cardiovascular and skeletal effects of vitamin D supplementation have not been studied. Included studies were mostly of low to moderate quality. CONCLUSIONS Available evidence from low-to-moderate quality observational studies and fewer RCTs suggests that vitamin D supplementation improves biochemical endpoints. However, whether such improvements translate into clinically significant outcomes is yet to be determined.
Identification of Several Human Homologs of Hamster DNA Damage-inducible Transcripts

Low ratio hybridization subtraction technique was previously used in this laboratory to enrich and isolate a number of low abundance UV-inducible hamster transcripts (Fornace, A. J., Jr., Alamo, I. J., and Hollander, M. C. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 85, 8800–8804) that led to the identification and cloning of five important hamster and humanGADD genes (Fornace, A. J., Jr., Nebert, D. W., Hollander, M. C., Luethy, J. D., Papathanasiou, M., Fargnoli, J., and Holbrook, N. J. (1989) Mol. Cell. Biol.9, 4196–4203). In this study we have characterized the remaining DNA damage-inducible (DDI) transcripts. Of the 24 DDI clones, 3 clones (A13, A20, and A113) representing different regions of the same hamster cDNA exhibited near perfect homology to human p21 WAF1/CIP1 cDNA. The DDI clones A26, A88, and A99 displayed very high sequence homologies with the human proliferating nuclear antigen, rat translation initiation factor-5 (eIF-5), and human thrombomodulin, respectively, whereas clones A29 and A121 matched with express sequence tagged sequences of unknown identity. The DDI clones A18, 106, and A107 were different isolates of the same hamster cDNA (hereafter referred to as A18) and displayed high sequence homology with the members in the heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) family. Using the hamster A18 partial-length cDNA as a probe, we screened human fibroblast cDNA library and isolated the corresponding full-length human cDNA. The deduced amino acid sequence revealed that the putative protein contains all the canonical features of a novel glycine-rich hnRNP. The A18 mRNA levels were specifically increased in response to DNA damage induced by UV irradiation or UV mimetic agents. Thus the putative A18 hnRNP is the first hnRNP whose mRNA is specifically regulated in response to UV-induced DNA damage; accordingly, it may play some role in repair of UV-type DNA damage.
Psychopathology and Symptom Remission at Adolescence Among Children with Attention-Deficit–Hyperactivity Disorder

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine changes of attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and psychiatric comorbidities at adolescence, and mother-child agreement on reports of ADHD symptoms among children with ADHD as compared to unaffected controls. Methods: The participants included 93 patients (male, 82.8%) aged 11–16, who were clinically diagnosed with ADHD at the mean age of 7.3 ± 2.8 years, and 93 age-, sex-, and parental education-matched school controls. The participants and their mothers were frist interviewed separately for baseline psychopathology at childhood, followed by current psychopathology using the Chinese Kiddie Epidemiologic version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Results: At adolescence, 46 patients (49.5%) met full DSM-IV ADHD criteria, 31 (33.3%) had subthreshold ADHD, and 16 (17.2%) had recovered from ADHD. We found a significant progressive decline in the three ADHD core symptoms for the ADHD group: hyperactivity had the greatest effect size, followed by inattention, and then impulsivity. Children with ADHD tended to report less severe ADHD symptoms at childhood and adolescence than their mothers. They were more likely than the controls to have oppositional defiant disorder (odds ratio (OR)=18.0; 95% confidence interval (CI)=8.3–38.9), conduct disorder (OR=23.1, 95%CI =5.3–100.2), mood disorders (OR=3.8, 95%CI = 1.5–9.4), bipolar disorders (Fisher's exact p < 0.001), and sleep disorders (OR=3.1, 95%CI = 1.6–6.0) at adolescence. Conclusions: The present findings are similar to those of Western studies, regarding the patterns of comorbidity, stability of core symptoms, and mother–child differences on symptom reports.
Global Innovation Index 2017

The Global Innovation Index provides detailed metrics about the innovation performance of 127 countries and economies around the world. Its 81 indicators explore a broad vision of innovation, including political environment, education, infrastructure and business sophistication. This year’s report reviews the state of innovation in agriculture and food systems across sectors and geographies. Chapters of the report provide more details on this year’s theme from academic, business, and particular country perspectives from leading experts and decision makers
The importance of working capital management for hospital profitability: Evidence from bond-issuing, not-for-profit U.S. hospitals

Background: Increased financial pressures on hospitals have elevated the importance of working capital management, that is, the management of current assets and current liabilities, for hospitals’ profitability. Efficient working capital management allows hospitals to reduce their holdings of current assets, such as inventory and accounts receivable, which earn no interest income and require financing with short-term debt. The resulting cash inflows can be reinvested in interest-bearing financial instruments or used to reduce short-term borrowing, thus improving the profitability of the organization. Purpose: This study examines the relationship between hospitals’ profitability and their performance at managing two components of working capital: accounts receivable, measured in terms of hospitals’ average collection periods, and accounts payable, measured in terms of hospitals’ average payment periods. Methodology/Approach: Panel data derived from audited financial statements for 1,397 bond-issuing, not-for-profit U.S. hospitals for 2000–2007 were analyzed using hospital-level fixed-effects regression analysis. Findings: The results show a negative relationship between hospitals’ average collection period and profitability. That is, hospitals that collected on their patient revenue faster reported higher profit margins than did hospitals that have larger balances of accounts receivable outstanding. We also found a negative relationship between hospitals’ average payment period and their profitability. Hospital managers did not appear to delay paying their vendors. Rather, the findings indicated that more profitable hospitals paid their suppliers faster, possibly to avoid high effective interest rates on outstanding accounts payable, whereas less profitable hospitals waited longer to pay their bills. Practice Implications: The findings of this study suggest that working capital management indeed matters for hospitals’ profitability. Efforts aimed at reducing large balances in both accounts receivable and accounts payable may frequently be worthwhile investments that have the potential to reduce the costs associated with working capital management and thus improve the profitability of an organization.
Improved Xenogenic Hepatocyte Implantation into Nude Mouse Liver Parenchyma with Acute Liver Failure when Followed by Repeated Anti-Fas Antibody (Jo2) Treatment

Hepatocyte transplantation is a promising therapy for acute liver failure in humans. Recently, we succeeded in inducing various acute and chronic liver failures in nude mice. Engraftment of transplanted xenogeneic rat hepatocytes, visualized in the host liver by anti-MHC class I immunohistochemistry, revealed that liver repopulation was limited, and equivalent in nude mice with and without acute liver failure. In the present study, acute liver failure was induced in nude mice by a single injection of sublethal anti-Fas antibody Jo2, followed 24 h later by rat hepatocyte transplantation and than by a weekly repeated injection of Jo2. Rat hepatocyte engraftment into the recipient liver parenchyma 3 weeks following hepatocyte transplantation was about sevenfold increased when nude mice were subsequently subjected to weekly repeated Jo2 injection. Genomic analysis of these mice showed an overall transcriptome profile of upregulation of cellular cycle blocking transcripts, activation of liver injury inducing IFN-γ/STAT1 pathway, and circadian transcript signature of antiproliferative cell status compared to mice submitted to hepatocyte transplantation only. The findings of the present study suggest that the induction of cell proliferation blockade in recipient livers could promote sufficient engraftment of transplanted hepatocytes to allow transient or definitive treatment of liver failure in humans.
Hyperaemic blood‐flow velocities in systole and diastole relate to coronary risk in divergent ways

Background: A recent study suggested blood‐flow velocity in diastole during reactive hyperaemia as a major driver of flow‐mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the brachial artery, also being related to cardiovascular risk factors. The present study aimed to investigate the relative importance of hyperaemic systolic and diastolic blood‐flow velocity in the forearm regarding both FMD and cardiovascular risk factors.
Malignancy after Transplantation

As newer immunosuppressive regimens have steadily reduced the incidence of acute rejection and have extended the life expectancy of allograft recipients, posttransplant malignancy has become an important cause of mortality. In fact, it is expected that cancer will surpass cardiovascular complications as the leading cause of death in transplant patients within the next 2 decades. An understanding of the underlying pathobiology and how to minimize cancer risks in transplant recipients are essential. The etiology of posttransplant malignancy is believed to be multifactorial and likely involves impaired immunosurveillance of neoplastic cells as well as depressed antiviral immune activity with a number of common posttransplant malignancies being viral-related. Although calcineurin inhibitors and azathioprine have been linked with posttransplant malignancies, newer agents such as mycophenolate mofetil and sirolimus have not and indeed may have antitumor properties. Long-term data are needed to determine if the use of these agents will ultimately lower the mortality due to malignancy for transplant recipients.
Gait Disorders

Purpose of ReviewThis article provides insight and reviews useful tools for the clinical assessment, understanding, and management of neurologic gait disorders. Recent FindingsIn recent years, our understanding of the physiology of human walking has steadily increased. The recognition of gait as a complex, “higher-order” form of motor behavior with prominent influence of mental processes has been an important new insight, and the clinical implications of gait disorders are increasingly being recognized. Better classification schemes, the redefinition of established entities (eg, senile gait), and new insights from research on degenerative disorders primarily affecting gait (eg, primary progressive freezing of gait) have become available. SummaryGait disorders are directly correlated with poor quality of life and increased mortality. Because gait is very sensitive to any insult to the nervous system, its assessment should be carried out carefully in routine clinical practice.Disorders of locomotion are easily discernible to the naked eye. However, when examining gait, clinicians should bear in mind that the clinical phenotype is the net result of changes induced by the disease itself plus any compensations adopted by the patient to improve stability. This review presents a clinically oriented approach to gait disorders based on the dominant phenomenology and underlying pathophysiology, which are tightly connected. The authors conclude by proposing a practical management approach.
Review Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

www.expert-reviews.com ISSN 1473-7175 © 2010 Expert Reviews Ltd 10.1586/ERN.10. 95 Transcranial magnetic stimulation Description of the method & devices Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) involves inducing an electrical current within the brain using pulsating magnetic fields, which are generated outside the brain near the scalp. The essential feature is using electricity to generate a rapidly changing electromagnetic field, which in turn produces electrical impulses in the brain. A typical TMS device produces a fairly powerful magnetic field (~1.5–3 Tesla), but only very briefly (a fraction of a millisecond for each pulse). TMS is not simply applying a static or constant magnetic field to the brain, and differs from the other brain stimulation techniques that are either invasive (e.g., deep brain stimulation), or require a seizure for therapeutic effects (electroconvulsive therapy [ECT]). There are now entire journals devoted to the field of brain stimulation [1], and books devoted to each of the individual techniques [2], as well as in-depth overviews [3]. The interested reader is referred to these references for reviews of the other brain stimulation methods or about TMS in other clinical or research applications. This article is limited to covering TMS as a clinical antidepressant. With respect to TMS, by the year 1820, scientists had discovered that passing an electric current though a wire induces a magnetic field. In 1832, Michael Faraday demonstrated that the inverse was also true – passing a wire through a magnetic field generates an electrical current [4]. Thus, a changing magnetic field can generate electrical current in nearby wires, nerves or muscles. A static magnet will not generate a current. For most TMS applications, it is probably is the electricity induced in the brain from the pulsating magnet, and not the magnetic field itself, that produces neurobiological effects. In fact, most people assume that the neurobiological effects of most TMS applications stem from the actual depolarization of neurons, causing them to fire, and that massively subthreshold TMS, far Mark S George