Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of acute hypoxia exposure with different durations on activation of Nrf2-ARE pathway in mouse skeletal muscle

Background Hypoxia training enhances the endurance capacity of athletes. This response may in part be attributed to the hypoxia-induced increase in antioxidant capacity in skeletal muscles. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a key transcription factor which regulates the expression of genes via binding to the antioxidant-response element (ARE) of these genes, plays a crucial role in stimulating the body’s defense system and potentially responds to hypoxia. Meanwhile, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is an important player in protecting cells from hypoxic stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute hypoxia exposure with different durations on the activation of Nrf2-ARE pathway and a possible regulatory role of HIF-1α in these responses. Methods C57BL/6J mice were allocated into the non-hypoxia 0-hour, 6-hour, 24-hour, and 48-hour hypoxic exposure (11.2% oxygen) groups. The quadriceps femoris was collected immediately after hypoxia. Further, to investigate the possible role of HIF-1α, C2C12 myoblasts with HIF-1α knockdown by small interfering RNA (siRNA) and the inducible HIF-1α transgenic mice were employed. Results The results showed that 48-hour hypoxia exposure up-regulated protein expression of Nrf2, Nrf2/ARE binding activity and the transcription of antioxidative genes containing ARE (Sod1 and others) in mouse skeletal muscle. Moreover, HIF-1α siRNA group of C2C12 myoblasts showed a remarkable inhibition of Nrf2 protein expression and nuclear accumulation in hypoxia exposure for 72 hours compared with that in siRNA-Control group of the cells. In addition, HIF-1α transgenic mice gave higher Nrf2 protein expression, Nrf2/ARE binding activity and expressions of Nrf2-mediated antioxidative genes in their skeletal muscle, compared with those in the wild-type mice. Conclusions The findings suggested that the acute hypoxia exposure could trigger the activation of Nrf2-ARE pathway, with longer duration associated with higher responses, and HIF-1α expression might be involved in promoting the Nrf2-mediated antioxidant responses in skeletal muscle.
Quantum dot induced acute changes in lung mechanics are mouse strain dependent

Abstract Introduction: Concerns have been raised regarding occupational exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). Potential impacts on lung function from inhalation exposures are of concern as the lung is a sensitive ENM target in animals. Epidemiological data suggest that occupational exposure to ENMs may impact respiratory and cardiovascular health. Quantum dots (QDs) are ENMs with outstanding semiconductor and fluorescent properties with uses in biomedicine and electronics. QDs are known to induce inflammation and cytotoxicity in rodents and high dose exposures impact lung function 2 weeks after exposure. However, effects of mouse strain and the temporality of QD effects on lung function at more occupationally relevant doses have not been well-established. Objective: We evaluated the impact of QD exposure on respiratory mechanics in C57BL/6J and A/J mice. Previous work found a greater initial inflammatory response to QD exposure in A/J mice compared to C57BL/6J mice. Thus, we hypothesized that A/J mice would be more sensitive to QD-induced effects on lung mechanics. Methods: C57BL/6J and A/J mice were exposed to 6 μg/kg Cd equivalents of amphiphilic polymer-coated Cd/Se core, ZnS shell QDs via oropharyngeal aspiration. Lung mechanics were measured using forced oscillation, and inflammation was characterized by neutrophils and cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Results: Both strains showed signs of QD-induced acute lung inflammation. However, lung mechanics were impacted by QD exposure in A/J mice only. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that susceptibility to QDs and similar ENM-induced changes in lung function may depend at least in part on genetic background.
Distribution Of Heavy Metals in Surface Sediments from Streams and Their Associated Fishponds in Osun State, Nigeria.

Background Heavy metals in water systems are a human health concern as they can enter the food chain. Objectives Heavy metal and particle size determinations were used to determine the sediment quality of three fishponds in Osun State, Nigeria and their feeder streams. Methods Sediment samples were collected in triplicates from the streams and their associated fishponds and the accumulations of nine heavy metals (lead (Pb), cobalt (Co), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), manganese (Mg), zinc (Zn)) in the sediment were investigated seasonally. Particle size distribution and textural class of the samples were also determined. Results Metal concentrations recorded in bottom sediment varied widely and exhibited fluctuations among the different ponds and streams, especially in the values of Fe, Cu, Mn, Cr, Zn and Pb. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the concentrations of metals across the three investigated locations. The metals in the sediments occurred in the order of Fe>Cu>Ni>Zn>Pb>Cr>Mn>Co in Ilesha, Fe>Cu>Ni>Zn>Mn>Co>Pb>Cr in Osogbo and Zn>Fe>Ni>Mn>Cu>Co>Cr>Pb in Yakoyo. A closely related order of Fe>Mn>Ni>Zn>Cr>Cu>Se>Pb>Mo>Cd was observed in River Eku. The selected streams and their associated fishponds were fairly polluted, with the Yah fishpond (Ilesha) having the highest heavy metal pollution compared to Arula fishpond (Osogbo) and Ewuru/Rara fishpond (Yakoyo). The concentrations of accumulated heavy metals depended on the textural class of the sediment. Conclusion Pollution has reached levels hazardous to human health compared to standard limits for aquaculture development. Stream and fishpond sediments should be analyzed at regular intervals as a quality assurance process to ensure that there are no toxic substances in the ponds, leading to possible bio-accumulation and magnification. This will help guarantee the health of the aquatic ecosystem, humans and the environment.
Heart Rate Variability Predicts Older Adults' Avoidance of Negativity.

Objectives The ability to produce situation-appropriate cognitive and emotional responses is dependent on autonomic nervous system (ANS) functionality. Heart rate variability (HRV) is an index of ANS functionality, and resting HRV levels have been associated with cognitive control and inhibitory capacity in young adults, particularly when faced with emotional information. As older adults' greater preference for positive and avoidance of negative stimuli (positivity effect) is thought to be dependent on cognitive control, we hypothesized that HRV could predict positivity-effect magnitude in older adults. Method We measured resting-level HRV and gaze preference for happy and angry (relative to neutral) faces in 63 young and 62 older adults. Results Whereas young adults showed no consistent preference for happy or angry faces, older adults showed the expected positivity effect, which predominantly manifested as negativity avoidance rather than positivity preference. Crucially, older but not young adults showed an association between HRV and gaze preference, with higher levels of HRV being specifically associated with stronger negativity avoidance. Discussion This is the first study to demonstrate a link between older adults' ANS functionality and their avoidance of negative information. Increasing the efficiency of the cardiovascular system might selectively improve older adults' ability to disregard negative influences.
Motor control strategies and the effects of fatigue on golf putting performance

This study investigated the strategies used by elite golfers to scale their putting actions to achieve putts of different distances. There were three aims; to determine if putting actions are scaled by manipulating swing amplitude as predicted by Craig etal. (2000), to establish the test–retest reliability of the Craig et al. model, and to evaluate whether elite golfers changed their putting scaling strategies when fatigued. Putting actions were recorded at baseline (time 1) and 6 months later (time 2) and after walking at 70% of maximum heart rate for 1 h (time 3). Participants performed a total of 80 putts which varied in distance (1 m, 2 m, 3 m, and 4 m) at time 1 and time 2, and 100 putts to the same distances when they were fatigued (time 3). Multiple regression was used to examine how the golfers systematically changed the movement control variables in the Craig etal. (2000) model to achieve golf putts of different distances. Although swing amplitude was a strong predictor of putterhead velocity at ball impact for all of the participants at baseline (time 1), each golfer systematically changed aspects of the timing of their action. A comparison of the regression models between time 1 and time 2 showed no significant changes in the scaling strategies used, indicating that the Craig etal. (2000) model had good test–retest reliability. Fatigue was associated with a decrease in the number of putts that were successfully holed and significant changes in the scaling strategies used by three of the golfers, along with a trend for increasing the putterhead velocity at ball impact. These motor control changes in performance when fatigued were evident in successful putts indicating that even when these elite golfers were able to achieve the goal of holing the putt, moderate levels of fatigue were influencing the consistency of their performance. Theoretical implications for the Craig etal. (2000) model and practical implications for elite golfers are discussed.
Association of Chemoradiotherapy With Outcomes Among Patients With Stage I to II vs Stage III Small Cell Lung Cancer

Importance There is limited evidence to guide stage I to II small cell lung cancer (SCLC) treatment. Objective To examine the characteristics and outcomes among patients with stage I to II SCLC treated with modern chemoradiotherapy. Design, Setting, and Participants In this post hoc secondary analysis of the Concurrent Once-Daily vs Twice-Daily Radiotherapy Trial (CONVERT), a multicenter phase 3 trial conducted in patients with limited-stage SCLC from April 7, 2008, to November 29, 2013, patients with TNM stage I to II SCLC were compared with those with stage III disease. Data analysis was performed from November 1, 2017, to February 28, 2018. Interventions In CONVERT, patients were randomized to receive twice-daily (45 Gy in 30 fractions) or once-daily (66 Gy in 33 fractions) chemoradiotherapy. Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) was offered, if indicated. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary trial end point was overall survival (OS). TNM staging information was collected prospectively; this was an unplanned analysis because stratification was not performed according to TNM stage. Results A total of 509 (277 [54.4%] men; mean [SD] age, 61.5 [8.3] years) of 543 patients (93.7%) with TNM staging information were eligible for this subgroup analysis, and 86 of the 509 (16.9%) had TNM stage I to II disease. The median gross tumor volume was smaller in patients with stage I to II disease (38.4 cm3; range, 2.2-593.0 cm3) compared with patients with stage III disease (93 cm3; range, 0.5-513.4 cm3) (P < .001). No other significant differences were found in baseline and treatment characteristics and chemoradiotherapy adherence between the 2 groups or the number of patients with stage I to II disease (78 [90.7%]) and stage III disease (346 [81.8%]) who received PCI (P = .10). Patients with stage I to II disease achieved longer OS (median, 50 months [95% CI, 38 to not reached months] vs 25 months [95% CI, 21-29 months]; hazard ratio, 0.60 [95% CI, 0.44-0.83]; P = .001) compared with patients with stage III disease. In patients with stage I to II disease, no significant survival difference was found between the trial arms (median, 39 months in the once-daily arm vs 72 months in the twice-daily arm; P = .38). Apart from lower incidence of acute esophagitis in patients with stage I to II disease compared with patients with stage III disease (grade ≥3, 9 [11.3%] vs 82 [21.1%]; P < .001), the incidences of acute and late toxic effects were not significantly different. Conclusions and Relevance Patients with stage I to II SCLC in CONVERT achieved long-term survival with acceptable toxic effects after chemoradiotherapy and PCI. This study suggests that patients with stage I to II small cell lung cancer treated with modern chemoradiotherapy have better outcomes compared with patients with stage III disease, providing information that practitioners can potentially give their patients to aid clinical decisions. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00433563
Impact of anxiety and depression on morbidity and mortality of patients with coronary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE Evaluate the impact of anxiety and depression on morbidity and mortality of patients with acute coronary syndrome. METHOD Retrospective cohort study, with follow-up of two years, conducted with 94 patients. The morbidity and mortality (readmission, myocardial revascularization, and death) was evaluated immediately after discharge and after one and two years. Anxiety and depression were evaluated by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and by Beck's Depression Inventory. The Kaplan-Meier estimator and the Logrank test were used. The significance level adopted was 0.05. RESULTS We observed that 76.6% of the patients did not present symptoms of depression or had mild signs, while 78.8% had low to moderate anxiety. The symptoms of depression and anxiety were not related to morbidity (need for MR p=0.098 and 0.56, respectively; readmission p=0.962 and 0.369, respectively) and mortality (p=0.434 and 0.077, respectively). CONCLUSION No relationship was found between levels of anxiety and depression with the morbidity and mortality of patients.
On-Orbit Relative Radiometric Calibration of the Night-Time Sensor of the LuoJia1-01 Satellite

The LuoJia1-01 satellite can acquire high-resolution, high-sensitivity nighttime light data for night remote sensing applications. LuoJia1-01 is equipped with a 4-megapixel CMOS sensor composed of 2048 × 2048 unique detectors that record weak nighttime light on Earth. Owing to minute variations in manufacturing and temporal degradation, each detector’s behavior varies when exposed to uniform radiance, resulting in noticeable detector-level errors in the acquired imagery. Radiometric calibration helps to eliminate these detector-level errors. For the nighttime sensor of LuoJia1-01, it is difficult to directly use the nighttime light data to calibrate the detector-level errors, because at night there is no large-area uniform light source. This paper reports an on-orbit radiometric calibration method that uses daytime data to estimate the relative calibration coefficients for each detector in the LuoJia1-01 nighttime sensor, and uses the calibrated data to correct nighttime data. The image sensor has a high dynamic range (HDR) mode, which is optimized for day/night imaging applications. An HDR image can be constructed using low- and high-gain HDR images captured in HDR mode. Hence, a day-to-night radiometric reference transfer model, which uses daytime uniform calibration to calibrate the detector non-uniformity of the nighttime sensor, is herein built for LuoJia1-01. Owing to the lack of calibration equipment on-board LuoJia1-01, the dark current of the nighttime sensor is calibrated by collecting no-light desert images at new moon. The results show that in HDR mode (1) the root mean square of mean for each detector in low-gain (high-gain) images is better than 0.04 (0.07) in digital number (DN) after dark current correction; (2) the DN relationship between low- and high-gain images conforms to the quadratic polynomial mode; (3) streaking metrics are better than 0.2% after relative calibration; and (4) the nighttime sensor has the same relative correction parameters at different exposure times for the same gain parameters.
From Pioneer to Repressor: Bimodal foxd3 Activity Dynamically Remodels Neural Crest Regulatory Landscape In Vivo

The neural crest (NC) is a transient embryonic stem cell population characterised by its multipotency and broad developmental potential. Here, we perform NC-specific transcriptional and epigenomic profiling of foxd3-mutant versus wild type cells in vivo to define the gene regulatory circuits controlling NC specification. Together with global binding analysis obtained by foxd3 biotin-ChIP and single cell profiles of foxd3-expressing premigratory NC, our analysis shows that during early steps of NC formation, foxd3 acts globally as a pioneer factor to prime the onset of genes regulating NC specification and migration by re-arranging the chromatin landscape, opening cis-regulatory elements and reshuffing nucleosomes. Strikingly, foxd3 then switches from an activator to its canonical role as a transcriptional repressor. Taken together, these results demonstrate that foxd3 acts bimodally in the neural crest as a switch from permissive to repressive nucleosome/chromatin organisation to maintain stemness and define cell fates.
SYNERGY AMONG LYMPHOID CELLS MEDIATING THE GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST RESPONSE

Two types of thymus-derived (T) lymphocytes have been shown to cooperate in the induction of graft-versus-host responses. One cell type is found in highest concentrations in the peripheral blood and lymph node, is extremely sensitive to anti-thymocyte serum (ATS) in vivo, and is probably part of the recirculating lymphoid cell pool (3). The second cell type, found in highest concentrations in the thymus and spleen, is relatively resistant to small doses of ATS in vivo. Both cell types are substantially depleted after neonatal thymectomy. Moreover, since synergism was also obtained using appropriate mixtures of cells from either parental strain in F1 hosts, it was possible to show that the nonrecirculating cells determined the specificity of the response and were probably the precursors of effector cells in this response. The recirculating T cell appeared to amplify this response. The implications of these data are discussed.
Correlation between human milk composition and maternal nutritional status

Background Human milk is the optimal nutrition for newborns and infants during the first period of their life – from birth to 6-th month. It contains a uniquely quantitative and qualitative balanced nutrients profile. Composition of breast milk is dynamic and may vary according to maternal nutritional status. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate associations between human milk composition and maternal nutritional status. Material and methods One-day milk samples were provided by exclusively breastfeeding mothers (n=40) at the first month of lactation. Protein – total and true, fat, carbohydrate, dry matter and energy content were determined using the Human Milk Analyzer by MIRIS. The anthropometric measurements (current body weight, height) were used to calculate current body mass index (BMI). On this basis, we assessed nutritional status of examined population. Results For the majority of women (75%, n=30) currently BMI value was in range of 18.5-24.9 kg/m2, for the rest of women it was ≥ 25 kg/m2. The median macronutrient composition per 100 ml of mature breast milk was 7.0 g for carbohydrate, 1.1 g for protein, 3.5 g for fat, 11.9 for dry matter and energy content was 66.0 kcal. Maternal body mass index was positively related to lipid, dry matter and energy breast milk content (p<0.05). Conclusions The majority of examined women in the first month of lactation was in normal state of nutrition. For the rest of women BMI values indicated for overweight. Our results confirm correlation between human milk composition and maternal nutritional status, especially in matters of energy value and fat content in human milk.
Getting “Stuck” in the Future or the Past: Relationships between Dimensions of Time Perspective, Executive Functions, and Repetitive Negative Thinking in Anxiety

Background/Aim: Anxiety disorders are associated with impairments in several aspects of cognitive processing. In this study we investigated three such aspects, i.e., time perspective, repetitive negative thinking (worry and rumination), and executive functioning, in persons with anxiety disorders compared to healthy controls and examined the influence of negative past and negative future time perspective and executive functioning on worry and rumination. Method: Thirty-six psychiatric outpatients with anxiety disorders (mean age = 30.83, SD = 11.74; 30 females and 6 males) and 44 healthy controls (mean age = 28.89, SD = 9.54; 24 females and 20 males) completed inventories of time perspective and repetitive negative thinking, and tasks measuring executive functioning (shifting and inhibition). Results: The groups (patient vs. control) differed significantly on all time perspective dimensions (past, present, and future), with largest effect sizes observed for negative past and negative future. Regression analyses with executive functioning, negative past, and negative future time perspectives as predictors, and worry and rumination as outcomes, showed that negative past time perspective was the best predictor for rumination, whereas negative future time perspective more strongly predicted worry. Executive functioning was not a significant predictor of either worry or rumination. Conclusions: Individuals with anxiety disorders demonstrated systematic biases in all time perspective dimensions, particularly negative past and negative future time perspective, which was further related to worry and rumination. Thus, interventions targeting temporal focus may be one way of reducing repetitive negative thinking. A major limitation of this study was the use of a cross-section design.
Brucella canis infection in a young dog with epididymitis and orchitis.

INTRODUCTION The following case report describes the clinical and diagnostic procedure for suspected brucellosis infection in a dog. A 21 month old intact male Border Collie was presented with an enlarged right testicle and epididymis. The dog was imported to Switzerland from Germany at the age of three months, but was never abroad since then. Clinical and laboratory diagnostic investigation included bacteriology and histology. An initial serological evaluation by means of rapid slide agglutination test (RSAT) was negative. Repeated examination of the same serum by a chromatographic immunoassay (ICT) revealed a positive result. Brucella canis infection was confirmed by culture. The present case is intended to underline the importance of the suspected diagnosis of 'brucellosis' in the presence of reproductive tract problems in dogs. In addition, Brucella canis has zoonotic potential and it is imperative to comply with strict hygiene management.