Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Eating breakfast and its impact on children's daily diet

Objective: To describe the impact of breakfast eating on the nutrient intakes of New Zealand children aged 5–14 years. Design: Secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional national survey. Subjects: A total of 3275 children aged 5–14 years. Setting: Dietary data were collected primarily in the homes of the children. Main outcome measures: ‘Breakfast consumption’ was based on whether any food items were consumed between 6 and 9 a.m. from 24-hour diet recall data. Nutrient intake was also based on 24-hour diet recall. Data analyses: Demographic profile of breakfast eaters was determined. Difference in daily nutrient intakes between breakfast and non-breakfast eaters was determined. Results: In total, 84% of New Zealand children reported eating breakfast. Younger children were more likely to eat breakfast than older children. Breakfast habits differed between Māori, Pacific and ‘New Zealand European & Others’ children. When intakes were adjusted for the demographic variables that significantly affected breakfast consumption patterns, daily nutrient intake of children who ate breakfast compared with those who did not, was significantly better. This was true for all ethnic groups. Cereal (including cold, ready-to-eat and cooked) was the most common breakfast food. Conclusion: Although the majority of New Zealand children consume breakfast, a significant improvement in daily nutrient intake could be achieved for children of all ethnic groups who currently do not consume breakfast.
Spatio-temporal re-organization of replication foci accompanies replication domain consolidation during human pluripotent stem cell lineage specification

ABSTRACT Lineage specification of both mouse and human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) is accompanied by spatial consolidation of chromosome domains and temporal consolidation of their replication timing. Replication timing and chromatin organization are both established during G1 phase at the timing decision point (TDP). Here, we have developed live cell imaging tools to track spatio-temporal replication domain consolidation during differentiation. First, we demonstrate that the fluorescence ubiquitination cell cycle indicator (Fucci) system is incapable of demarcating G1/S or G2/M cell cycle transitions. Instead, we employ a combination of fluorescent PCNA to monitor S phase progression, cytokinesis to demarcate mitosis, and fluorescent nucleotides to label early and late replication foci and track their 3D organization into sub-nuclear chromatin compartments throughout all cell cycle transitions. We find that, as human PSCs differentiate, the length of S phase devoted to replication of spatially clustered replication foci increases, coincident with global compartmentalization of domains into temporally clustered blocks of chromatin. Importantly, re-localization and anchorage of domains was completed prior to the onset of S phase, even in the context of an abbreviated PSC G1 phase. This approach can also be employed to investigate cell fate transitions in single PSCs, which could be seen to differentiate preferentially from G1 phase. Together, our results establish real-time, live-cell imaging methods for tracking cell cycle transitions during human PSC differentiation that can be applied to study chromosome domain consolidation and other aspects of lineage specification.
Evolutionary changes to transthyretin: evolution of transthyretin biosynthesis

Thyroid hormones are involved in growth and development, particularly of the brain. Thus, it is imperative that these hormones get from their site of synthesis to their sites of action throughout the body and the brain. This role is fulfilled by thyroid hormone distributor proteins. Of particular interest is transthyretin, which in mammals is synthesized in the liver, choroid plexus, meninges, retinal and ciliary pigment epithelia, visceral yolk sac, placenta, pancreas and intestines, whereas the other thyroid hormone distributor proteins are synthesized only in the liver. Transthyretin is synthesized by all classes of vertebrates; however, the tissue specificity of transthyretin gene expression varies widely between classes. This review summarizes what is currently known about the evolution of transthyretin synthesis in vertebrates and presents hypotheses regarding tissue‐specific synthesis of transthyretin in each vertebrate class.
CD59 incorporation protects hepatitis C virus against complement‐mediated destruction

Several enveloped viruses including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1), cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV‐1), Ebola virus, vaccinia virus, and influenza virus have been found to incorporate host regulators of complement activation (RCA) into their viral envelopes and, as a result, escape antibody‐dependent complement‐mediated lysis (ADCML). Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an enveloped virus of the family Flaviviridae and incorporates more than 10 host lipoproteins. Patients chronically infected with HCV develop high‐titer and crossreactive neutralizing antibodies (nAbs), yet fail to clear the virus, raising the possibility that HCV may also use the similar strategy of RCA incorporation to escape ADCML. The current study was therefore undertaken to determine whether HCV virions incorporate biologically functional CD59, a key member of RCA. Our experiments provided several lines of evidence demonstrating that CD59 was associated with the external membrane of HCV particles derived from either Huh7.5. 1 cells or plasma samples from HCV‐infected patients. First, HCV particles were captured by CD59‐specific Abs. Second, CD59 was detected in purified HCV particles by immunoblot analysis and in the cell‐free supernatant from HCV‐infected Huh7.5. 1 cells, but not from uninfected or adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) (a nonenveloped cytolytic virus)‐infected Huh7.5. 1 cells by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Last, abrogation of CD59 function with its blockers increased the sensitivity of HCV virions to ADCML, resulting in a significant reduction of HCV infectivity. Additionally, direct addition of CD59 blockers into plasma samples from HCV‐infected patients increased autologous virolysis. Conclusion: Our study, for the first time, demonstrates that CD59 is incorporated into both cell line‐derived and plasma primary HCV virions at levels that protect against ADCML. This is also the first report to show that direct addition of RCA blockers into plasma from HCV‐infected patients renders endogenous plasma virions sensitive to ADCML. (HEPATOLOGY 2012)
A cross sectional study on the prevalence of reproductive tract infections amongst married women in the rural area of Surendranagar district

Background: In the recent years, the issue of gynaecological problems of poor women in the developing countries has been receiving increasing attention. High levels of gynaecological morbidity, especially reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted infections may turn out to be fatal if not treated properly. Objectives of current study were to find out the prevalence of reproductive tract infections amongst married women, to co-relate the disease with certain socio demographic variables and to assess the awareness about reproductive tract infections in the study population. Methods: Sample size - Various community based studies carried out in the different regions world showed the prevalence of reproductive tract infections 36-84%. The sample size of study as per statistical calculation (4pq/l 2 , where p =50, q=100-p and l= 10% of p) came out to be 400. Method of Sampling - Prior enlisting all villages of Surendranagar district, one village was selected randomly. After random selection the village found was Khodu. Results: 56.5% of women reported either one or more symptoms of reproductive tract infections; vaginal discharge (29.7%) was the commonest symptom. Basic awareness about disease was 64.0%; Maximum prevalence of reproductive tract infections (62.90%) was found in the age group of 25-34 years. Conclusions: There is a significant association between socio-economic class, educational status and women having symptoms of reproductive tract infections.
Spectroscopic investigation of the reaction mechanism of CopB‐B, the catalytic fragment from an archaeal thermophilic ATP‐driven heavy metal transporter

The mechanism of ATP hydrolysis of a shortened variant of the heavy metal‐translocating P‐type ATPase CopB of Sulfolobus solfataricus was studied. The catalytic fragment, named CopB‐B, comprises the nucleotide binding and phosphorylation domains. We demonstrated stoichiometric high‐affinity binding of one nucleotide to the protein (Kdiss 1–20 μm). Mg is not necessary for nucleotide association but is essential for the phosphatase activity. Binding and hydrolysis of ATP released photolytically from the caged precursor nitrophenylethyl‐ATP was measured at 30 °C by infrared spectroscopy, demonstrating that phosphate groups are not involved in nucleotide binding. The hydrolytic kinetics was biphasic, and provides evidence for at least one reaction intermediate. Modelling of the forward reaction gave rise to three kinetic states connected by two intrinsic rate constants. The lower kinetic constant (k1 = 4.7 × 10−3 s−1 at 30 °C) represents the first and rate‐limiting reaction, probably reflecting the transition between the open and closed conformations of the domain pair. The subsequent step has a faster rate (k2 = 17 × 10−3 s−1 at 30 °C), leading to product formation. Although the latter appears to be a single step, it probably comprises several reactions with presently unresolved intermediates. Based on these data, we suggest a model of the hydrolytic mechanism.
Study on Causes and Ratio of the Liver Function Abnormalities in General Health Check-up

Purpose Since most of chronic liver diseases progress with no symptoms, health check-up plays an important role as trig-gers for further examinations and treatments. Here, we studied the proportion of liver dysfunction among patients receiving health check-up, and investigated the causes. Method The study targeted 42,003 subjects who underwent health check-up at the PL Tokyo Health Care Center between April 2007 and March 2008. We selected subjects showing liver dysfunctions with readings of GPT40–79 IU/m l and 80IU/ l or more, divided by gender and age speciﬁ c group in every 10-year intervals. We then took those with positive serum HBs antigen and HCV antibody as HBV ( (cid:2) ) and HCV ( (cid:2) ), those who drank more than 40 g of ethanol per day at least six days a week as alcohol consumption ( (cid:2) ), and those who satisfied diagnostic criteria for fatty liver under the abdominal ultrasound examination as fatty liver ( (cid:2) ), and ana-lyzed the proportions of each. Results GPT40–79 IU/ l liver dysfunction were found in 13.1% of males and 2.5% of females, and GPT80 IU/ l or more in 2.3% of males and 0.4% of females, both showing higher levels in males. In the analysis by age, males with liver dysfunction ended to be most numerous in their 30s with 22.5% but gradually decreased with age, while females tended to gradually increase with age, peaking at 7.8% in their 70s. The most common cause of liver dysfunction was fatty liver in both men and women, this accounting for liver dysfunction in 13.0% of male cases and 17.6% of females. The next most common for males was alcohol consumption with 10.4%, while for women it was HCV ( (cid:2) ) with 6.0%. NAFLD was 1.7% in males and 2.3% in females. Cases thought to be non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) combined with liver dysfunction were found in 0.4% of males and 0.5% females. Conclusions Liver dysfunction were found in about 15% of males and 3% of females undergoing health checkups, the most common cause being fatty liver. NAFLD, a subject of some attention in recent years, was seen in about 2% of the whole group. A quarter of those were thought to be NASH accompanied by liver dysfunction.
Características de idosos acometidos pela doença de Alzheimer e seus familiares cuidadores principais

This study aimed at characterizing older adults who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and their main family caregivers. It consists of a descriptive study, carried out in the municipality of Maringa-PR in the period between December 2010 and March 2011, involving eight caregivers. Data were collected through interviews and analyzed through statistical procedures, with analysis by simple frequency and absolute percentage. Most caregivers were female, with a mean age of 54.8 years, married, with 8 years of education or more, who had a health condition. Among the older adults, most of them were female with a mean age of 80.8 years, having 3 years of education or less, with comorbidities and in a moderate stage of the disease. Knowing the profile of caregivers and patients may contribute to the adoption of intervention strategies by health professionals in order to meet their needs in an individualized and humanized manner. Descriptors: Alzheimer Disease; Caregivers; Aged; Nursing.
Memory for Speech and Voice Identity in Schizophrenia

Memories of conversations are composed of what was said (speech content) and information about the speaker's voice (speaker identity). In the current study, we examined whether patients with schizophrenia would show difficulties integrating speech content and speaker identity in memory, as measured in a gender-identity (male/female) recognition task. Forty-one patients and a comparison group of 20 healthy controls took part in the study. In contrast to controls, patients demonstrated greater impairments in memory for female, but not male, voices. These results are consistent with studies of speech perception that show that female voices have more complex “vocal” characteristics and require greater integration compared with male voices, and with the context memory hypothesis of schizophrenia which suggests that memory binding impairments may result in degraded or incomplete representations of memory traces as the task requirements become increasing complex.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV)‐specific T‐cell responses are associated with control of HEV infection

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is usually self‐limited but may lead to acute hepatitis and rarely to fulminant hepatic failure. Persistent HEV infections have recently been described in organ transplant recipients receiving immunosuppressive medications, suggesting that HEV is controlled by adaptive immune responses. However, only few studies have investigated HEV‐specific T‐cell responses and immune correlates for the failure to clear HEV infection have not been established so far. We investigated T‐cell responses against HEV in 38 subjects including anti‐HEV‐positive (exposed, n = 9) and anti‐HEV‐negative (n = 10) healthy controls, 12 anti‐HEV‐positive but HEV RNA‐negative organ transplant recipients, and seven transplant recipients with chronic hepatitis E. Proliferation as well as cytokine production of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was studied after stimulation with overlapping peptides spanning all proteins encoded by HEV‐open reading frame (ORF)2 and HEV‐ORF3. We show that (1) strong and multispecific HEV‐specific T‐cell responses are present in exposed healthy controls, and to a lesser extent also in recovered patients after transplantation; (2) that these responses are absent in patients with chronic hepatitis E but become detectable after viral clearance; and (3) that HEV‐specific T‐cell responses can be restored in vitro by blocking the PD‐1 or CTLA‐4 pathways. However, a combination of PD‐1 and CTLA‐4 blockade had no synergistic effects. We conclude that chronic hepatitis E is associated with impaired HEV‐specific T‐cell responses and suggest that enhancing adaptive cellular immunity against HEV might prevent persistent HEV infections. (HEPATOLOGY 2012)
Long noncoding RNA HIT000218960 promotes papillary thyroid cancer oncogenesis and tumor progression by upregulating the expression of high mobility group AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) gene

ABSTRACT Accumulating evidence suggests that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in oncogenesis and tumor progression. However, our knowledge of lncRNAs in thyroid cancer is still limited. To explore the crucial lncRNAs involved in oncogenesis of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), we acquired data of differentially expressed lncRNAs between PTC tissues and paired adjacent noncancerous thyroid tissues through lncRNA microarray. In the microarray data, we observed that a newly identified lncRNA, HIT000218960, was significantly upregulated in PTC tissues and associated with a well-known oncogene, high mobility group AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) gene. Both in normal thyroid tissues and PTC tissues, the expression of HIT000218960 was significantly positively correlated with that of HMGA2 mRNA. Knockdown of HIT000218960 in PTC cells resulted in downregulation of HMGA2. In addition, functional assays indicated that inhibition of HIT000218960 in PTC cells suppressed cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion in vitro. Increased HIT000218960 expression in PTC tissues was obviously correlated with lymph node metastasis and multifocality, as well as TNM stage. Those findings suggest that HIT000218960 might acts as a tumor promoter through regulating the expression of HMGA2.
Cognitive Functioning in Children and Adolescents in Their First Episode of Psychosis: Differences Between Previous Cannabis Users and Nonusers

To investigate the relationship between cognition and prior cannabis use in children and adolescents presenting a first episode of psychosis. A total of 107 patients with first episode of psychosis and 96 healthy controls, aged 9 to 17 years, were interviewed about their previous substance use and to assess their cognitive functions. Patients were assessed while not using cannabis by means of a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. They were divided into 2 groups depending on the history of prior cannabis use: cannabis users (CU) and cannabis nonusers (CNU). Significant differences were found in all areas evaluated between the 3 groups. Both CU and CNU patients obtained lower scores than controls on verbal learning and memory and working memory. Patients with prior cannabis use performed better on some tests of attention (Continuous performance test (CPT) number of correct responses, p = 0.002; CPT average reaction time, p < 0.001) and executive functions (Trail Making Test, part B (TMT-B) number of mistakes, p < 0.001; Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) number of categories completed, p < 0.001) than CNU patients. CU patients performed better than CNU subjects on some cognitive measures. This may indicate lower individual vulnerability for psychosis in CU patients in whom cannabis use can be a precipitating factor of psychotic episodes.
Activation of chemokine and inflammatory cytokine response in hepatitis C virus–infected hepatocytes depends on toll‐like receptor 3 sensing of hepatitis C virus double‐stranded RNA intermediates

Chemokines and inflammatory cytokines are key regulators of immunity and inflammation during viral infections. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a hepatotropic RNA virus frequently associated with chronic liver inflammation and hepatocellular carcinoma. Intrahepatic levels of chemokines and cytokines are elevated in chronic HCV infections, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We found that Toll‐like receptor‐3 (TLR3) senses HCV infection in cultured hepatoma cells, leading to nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB) activation and the production of numerous chemokines and inflammatory cytokines, such as regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)‐1α, MIP‐1β, IP‐10, and interleukin‐6. The chemokine/cytokine induction occurred late in HCV infection and was abrogated when HCV was ultraviolet‐inactivated before infection, indicating a dependence on the cellular recognition of HCV replication products. Gel‐shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that NF‐κB plays a pivotal role in HCV‐induced chemokine/cytokine transcription. Mutations specifically disrupting the double‐stranded RNA (dsRNA)‐binding activity of TLR3 ablated the chemokine/cytokine response to HCV infection, indicating that HCV dsRNA was the pathogen‐associated molecular pattern triggering TLR3 signaling. In vitro synthesized HCV dsRNAs, with a minimal length of ∼80‐100 base pairs, activated TLR3‐dependent chemokine expression, regardless of the genome position from which they derived. In contrast, HCV single‐stranded RNAs, including those derived from the structured 3'nontranslated region highly potent for RIG‐I activation, failed to do so. Moreover, robust production of chemokines and inflammatory cytokines was also observed in primary human hepatocytes after stimulation with extracellular poly‐I:C, a TLR3 ligand. Conclusion: Our data suggest that TLR3‐mediated chemokine and inflammatory cytokine responses may play an important role in host immune responses to HCV and the pathogenesis of HCV‐associated liver diseases. (HEPATOLOGY 2011)
Identification and characterization of the BmCyclin L1-BmCDK11A/B complex in relation to cell cycle regulation

ABSTRACT Cyclin proteins are the key regulatory and activity partner of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), which play pivotal regulatory roles in cell cycle progression. In the present study, we identified a Cyclin L1 and 2 CDK11 2 CDK11 splice variants, CDK11A and CDK11B, from silkworm, Bombyx mori. We determined that both Cyclin L1 and CDK11A/B are nuclear proteins, and further investigations were conducted to elucidate their spatiofunctional features. Cyclin L1 forms a complex with CDK11A/B and were co-localized to the nucleus. Moreover, the dimerization of CDK11A and CDK11B and the effects of Cyclin L1 and CDK11A/B on cell cycle regulation were also investigated. Using overexpression or RNA interference experiments, we demonstrated that the abnormal expression of Cyclin L1 and CDK11A/B leads to cell cycle arrest and cell proliferation suppression. Together, these findings indicate that CDK11A/B interacts with Cyclin L1 to regulate the cell cycle.
NEDD4 is involved in acquisition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cisplatin-resistant nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

ABSTRACT Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a highly invasive head-neck cancer derived from the nasopharyngeal epithelium, mainly prevalent in southern China and Southeast Asia. Radiotherapy and adjuvant cisplatin (DDP) chemotherapy are standard administrations applied in the treatment of NPC. However, resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs has recently become more common, resulting in worse treatment outcome for NPC therapy. To elucidate the underlying molecular basis of drug resistance to DDP in NPC cells, we examined the morphocytology, cell motility and molecular changes in DDP-resistant NPC cells with respect to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) features. We found that EMT is closely associated with DDP-induced drug resistance in NPC cells, as DDP-resistant cells displayed morphological and molecular markers changes consistent with EMT. Wound healing and Transwell Boyden chamber assays revealed an enhanced migration and invasion potential in DDP-resistant NPC cells. Mechanistically, upregulation of NEDD4 was observed to relate to EMT in DDP-resistant cells. More importantly, depletion of NEDD4 in resistant cells led to a partial reversion of EMT phenotypes to MET characteristics. These data suggest that NEDD4 is largely involved in EMT features and chemoresistance of NPC cancer cells. NEDD4 could be a novel therapeutic target to overcome drug resistance in successful administrations of NPC.