Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deciphering the Relationship between Obesity and Various Diseases from a Network Perspective

The number of obesity cases is rapidly increasing in developed and developing countries, thereby causing significant health problems worldwide. The pathologic factors of obesity at the molecular level are not fully characterized, although the imbalance between energy intake and consumption is widely recognized as the main reason for fat accumulation. Previous studies reported that obesity can be caused by the dysfunction of genes associated with other diseases, such as myocardial infarction, hence providing new insights into dissecting the pathogenesis of obesity by investigating its associations with other diseases. In this study, we investigated the relationship between obesity and diseases from Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) databases on the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. The obesity genes and genes of one OMIM disease were mapped onto the network, and the interaction scores between the two gene sets were investigated on the basis of the PPI of individual gene pairs, thereby inferring the relationship between obesity and this disease. Results suggested that diseases related to nutrition and endocrine are the top two diseases that are closely associated with obesity. This finding is consistent with our general knowledge and indicates the reliability of our obtained results. Moreover, we inferred that diseases related to psychiatric factors and bone may also be highly related to obesity because the two diseases followed the diseases related to nutrition and endocrine according to our results. Numerous obesity–disease associations were identified in the literature to confirm the relationships between obesity and the aforementioned four diseases. These new results may help understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of obesity–disease co-occurrence and provide useful insights for disease prevention and intervention.
The relationship between emotional intelligence and depression in a clinical sample

Background and Objectives: Although depression is a commonly occurring mental illness, research concerning strategies for early detection and prophylaxis has not until now focused on the possible utility of measures of Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a potential predictive factor. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between EI and a clinical diagnosis of depression in a cohort of adults. Methods: Sixty-two patients (59.70% female) with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of a major affective disorder and 39 aged matched controls (56.40% female) completed self-report instruments assessing EI and depression in a cross-sectional study. Results: Significant associations were observed between severity of depression and the EI dimensions of Emotional Management (r = -0.56) and Emotional Control (r = -0.62). The results show a reduced social involvement, an increased prior institutionalization and an increased incidence of "Schizophrenic Psychosis" and "Abnormal Personalities" in the sub-group of repeated admissions. Conclusions: Measures of EI may have predictive value in terms of early identification of those at risk for developing depression. The current study points to the potential value of conducting further studies of a prospective nature.
Multimodality imaging of carotid atherosclerotic plaque: Going beyond stenosis

Abstract Apart from the degree of stenosis, the morphology of carotid atherosclerotic plaques and presence of neovascularization are important factors that may help to evaluate the risk and ′vulnerability′ of plaques and may also influence the choice of treatment. In this article, we aim to describe the techniques and imaging findings on CTA, high resolution MRI and contrast enhanced ultrasound in the evaluation of carotid atherosclerotic plaques. We also discuss a few representative cases from our institute with the related clinical implications.
Equi-Osmolal Opening of the Blood-Brain Barrier in the Rabbit by Different Contrast Media

Neurotoxicity of contrast media used in carotid angiography may follow opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and entry of the media into the brain parenchyma (ROSENTHALL et coll. 1969, LAMPE et colI. 1970, ALMEN 1971). Severity of the barrier disturbance is related to the concentration of the contrast medium and the period of time in which it acts on the cerebral vessels. Although severity can differ from one contrast medium to another, this difference is thought to depend on specific effects of the medium on blood viscosity or on endothelium of the vessels, and to be related mainly to the ionic and chemical content of the medium. Of the many factors that may contribute to BBB damage, however, solution osmolality is considered relatively unimportant (HARRINGTON et coll, 1966, ALMEN 1971). For example, BROMAN & OLSSON (1949) and BASSETT et coIl. (1953) concluded that thresholds for BBB damage by different agents were independent of solution osmolality, when they compared the effects of glucose, NaCI, Diodrast, Dijodon and Umbradil Forte.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: hooked appearance of the soft palate in awake patients--cephalometric and CT findings.

PURPOSE To determine whether a hooked appearance of the soft palate can be seen in awake patients with snoring with or without obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) on cephalometric radiographs and computed tomographic (CT) scans. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred thirty-one patients with snoring underwent cephalometric radiography, with which the posterior airway space, soft palate length and width, and distance between the hyoid bone and mandibular plane were measured, and/or pharyngeal CT, with which the luminal areas of the airway at the naso-, oro-, and hypopharyngeal levels were measured. RESULTS Of the 131 patients, 96 had OSAS, and 35 had snoring. Nine of 96 patients with OSAS had soft palate hooking on awake pharyngeal CT or cephalometric images. No patient with snoring alone had hooking. Patients with hooking had a larger posterior airway space than did patients with OSAS without hooking (P = .05), and an enlarged (> or = 15-mm) posterior airway space was more frequent in patients with hooking (eight of nine patients) than in those without hooking (34 of 87) (P < .01). Oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal areas were significantly larger in patients with hooking than in patients without hooking or in patients with snoring (P < or = .04). CONCLUSION Cephalometric radiography and CT can demonstrate hooking of the soft palate in awake patients. This finding indicates a high risk for OSAS.
Effect of stimulation of the human thalamus and parietal and temporal white matter on short-term memory.

C LINICAL and experimental observations 7,~,:'~ indicate that the preservation of memory traces is dependent on specific cerebral mechanisms. Electrical excitation and lesions in the hippocampal formation 1,'-','~,8,2~ and mesial thalamus ~~,~'; have been related to memory deficits in man. Recent evidence 11 has also implicated the ventral lateral thalamus as an anatomic correlate for the storage of memory events. This report describes an attempt to determine whether other lateral thalamic and subcortical structures participate in memory functions. In a previous study 1~ a task of naming and short-term memory for pictorial memoranda was presented to patients with electrodes implanted in the thalamus for treatment of motion disorders. Electrical stimulation in the left pulvinar and deep parietal white substance in both hemispheres disrupted verbal behavior and elicited anomia. The effect of stimulation on the memory performance of these patients with thalamic electrodes and additional patients with temporal lobe electrodes is the subject of this report.
Effects of theophylline on tracheal mucociliary clearance rates in healthy cats.

OBJECTIVE To determine tracheal mucociliary clearance rate (TMCCR) by use of a standard protocol in healthy anesthetized cats and to determine the effect of theophylline on TMCCR in healthy anesthetized cats. ANIMALS 6 healthy cats. PROCEDURE Cats were anesthetized with propofol, and a droplet of the radiopharmaceutical technetium Tc 99m macroaggregated albumin was placed endoscopically at the carina. Dynamic acquisition scintigraphic imaging was performed, using the larynx as the end point. The TMCCR was determined by measuring the distance the droplet traveled by frame rate. Each cat was imaged 6 times as follows: 3 times following placebo administration and 3 times following the administration of sustained release theophylline (25 mg/kg, PO). Serum theophylline concentrations were assessed during imaging to ensure therapeutic concentrations. RESULTS The TMCCR in healthy adult cats anesthetized with propofol was 22.2 +/- 2.8 mm/min. Tracheal mucociliary clearance rate in cats receiving theophylline was 21.8 +/- 3.5 mm/min. Theophylline administration did not significantly alterTMCCR. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Theophylline has been shown to increase TMCCR in humans and dogs. In our study, we determined TMCCR in healthy anesthetized cats and found that it was not accelerated by the administration of theophylline.
Determinants of Acute Malnutrition among Children Aged 6–59 Months in Public Health Facilities of Pastoralist Community, Afar Region, Northeast Ethiopia: A Case Control Study

Background In low income countries, acute malnutrition continues to be the most important risk factor for illnesses and deaths. The aim of this study was to assess the determinants of acute malnutrition among children aged 6–59 months. Methods A facility based unmatched case control study was employed on 420 (140 cases and 280 controls) children aged 6–59 months with their caregivers between January 20 and February 20, 2014. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Children aged 12–23 months [AOR = 10.51, 95% CI = 4.93, 22.34], rural residence [AOR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.22, 4.79], illiterate father [AOR = 2.47, 95% CI = 1.32, 4.61], Monthly income of less than 1000 birr [AOR = 3.98, 95% CI 2.05, 7.69], and food served together with family [AOR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.10, 4.30] were associated with acute malnutrition. Conclusion Rural residence, illiterate father, monthly income of less than 1000 birr, and food served together with family are statistically associated with acute malnutrition. Improving practices of parents on appropriate child feeding and creating awareness related to key risk factors of acute malnutrition should be further strengthened.
First Organisms with Acquired Metallo-β-Lactamases (IMP-13, IMP-22, and VIM-2) Reported in Austria

Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) hydrolyze penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems. Organisms with acquired MBLs emerged in the late 1980s in Japan and since the mid-1990s have been identified worldwide. They include numerous species, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa playing the major role. Of several MBL families, VIM and IMP types are the most prevalent, being coded by gene cassettes inside class 1 integrons (4, 14, 17).
The effect of additives and mechanical agitation in surface modification of acrylic fibres by cutinase and esterase

The surface of an acrylic fibre containing about 7% of vinyl acetate was modified using Fusarium solani pisi cutinase and a commercial esterase, Texazym PES. The effect of acrylic solvents and stabilising polyols on cutinase operational stability was studied. The half‐life time of cutinase increased by 3.5‐fold with the addition of 15% N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMA) and by 3‐fold with 1M glycerol. The impact of additives and mechanical agitation in the protein adsorption and in the hydrolysis of vinyl acetate from acrylic fabric was investigated. The hydroxyl groups produced on the surface of the fibre were able to react specifically with Remazol Brilliant Blue R (cotton reactive dye) and to increase the colour of the acrylic‐treated fabric. The best staining level was obtained with a high level of mechanical agitation and with the addition of 1% DMA. Under these conditions, the raise in the acrylic fabric colour depth was 30% for cutinase and 25% for Texazym. The crystallinity degree, determined by X‐ray diffraction, was not significantly changed between control samples and samples treated with cutinase. The results showed that the outcome of the application of these enzymes depends closely on the reaction media conditions.
Self-Regulation in Eating Disorders and Obesity - Implications for Treatment

Summary Research has shown that the treatment of certain eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and inappropriate eating behavior in obesity, is of limited efficacy and that an elevated psychopathology persists after treatment. This necessitates the identification of other etiological and maintaining factors that, when changed, could improve the efficacy of the treatment. Based on current findings, the present narrative review aims to illustrate the role of the ability to regulate emotions and impulses in the development and maintenance of disordered eating. There is some evidence that the eating disorders anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and obesity are associated with a reduced ability of emotion and impulse regulation in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Furthermore, a reduced ability of self-regulation in childhood predicts later obesity. Up to now, there are no controlled studies about the efficacy of the inclusion of such components in the treatment of eating disorders. However, there are promising results regarding the efficacy of unspecific prevention approaches for the improvement of self-regulation.
Family‐Specific Approaches to the Analysis of Case–Control Family Data

Summary Case–control studies augmented by the values of responses and covariates from family members allow investigators to study the association between the response and genetics and environment by relating differences in the response directly to within‐family differences in covariates. However, existing approaches for case–control family data parameterize covariate effects in terms of the marginal probability of response, the same effects that one estimates from standard case–control studies. This article focuses on the estimation of family‐specific covariate effects and develops efficient methods to fit family‐specific models such as binary mixed‐effects models. We also extend the approach to cover any setting where one has a fully specified model for the vector of responses in a family. We illustrate our approach using data from a case–control family study of brain cancer and consider the use of weighted and conditional likelihood methods as alternatives.
An Evolutionarily Conserved Signaling Mechanism Mediates Far-Red Light Responses in Land Plants[C][W]

It has been assumed that only seed plants are able to sense far-red light as PHYA, which is essential for far-red light perception, specifically evolved in seed plants. Here, we show that also cryptogams, such as mosses and ferns, respond to far-red light and have phytochromes with PHYA-like properties. This suggests that far-red light sensing is an evolutionarily ancient trait. Phytochromes are plant photoreceptors important for development and adaptation to the environment. Phytochrome A (PHYA) is essential for the far-red (FR) high-irradiance responses (HIRs), which are of particular ecological relevance as they enable plants to establish under shade conditions. PHYA and HIRs have been considered unique to seed plants because the divergence of seed plants and cryptogams (e.g., ferns and mosses) preceded the evolution of PHYA. Seed plant phytochromes translocate into the nucleus and regulate gene expression. By contrast, there has been little evidence of a nuclear localization and function of cryptogam phytochromes. Here, we identified responses to FR light in cryptogams, which are highly reminiscent of PHYA signaling in seed plants. In the moss Physcomitrella patens and the fern Adiantum capillus-veneris, phytochromes accumulate in the nucleus in response to light. Although P. patens phytochromes evolved independently of PHYA, we have found that one clade of P. patens phytochromes exhibits the molecular properties of PHYA. We suggest that HIR-like responses had evolved in the last common ancestor of modern seed plants and cryptogams and that HIR signaling is more ancient than PHYA. Thus, other phytochromes in seed plants may have lost the capacity to mediate HIRs during evolution, rather than that PHYA acquired it.
Multiplex Assay Detection of Immunoglobulin G Antibodies That Recognize Babesia microti Antigens

ABSTRACT Human babesiosis, a blood-borne infection caused by several species of Babesia, including B. microti, is an emerging disease that is endemic in the Northeast, upper Midwest, and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States. Risk factors for babesiosis include exposure to the infected tick vector and blood transfusions from infected donors. In this work, we cloned and expressed two of the immunodominant antigens from B. microti and used them in a multiplex bead format assay (MBA) to detect parasite-specific IgG responses in human sera. The MBA using recombinant B. microti secreted antigen 1 (BmSA1) protein was more specific (100%) and slightly more sensitive (98.7%) than the assay using a truncated recombinant BMN1-17 construct (97.6% and 97.4%, respectively). Although some antibody reactivity was observed among sera from confirmed-malaria patients, only one Plasmodium falciparum sample was simultaneously positive for IgG antibodies to both antigens. Neither antigen reacted with sera from babesiosis patients who were infected with Babesia species other than B. microti. Both positive and negative MBA results were reproducible between assays and between instruments. Additional studies of these recombinant antigens and of the multiplex bead assay using blood samples from clinically defined babesiosis patients and from blood donors are needed to more clearly define their usefulness as a blood screening assay.
Reinforcement Learning and Causal Models

This chapter reviews the diverse roles that causal knowledge plays in reinforcement learning. The first half of the chapter contrasts a “model-free” system that learns to repeat actions that lead to reward with a “model-based” system that learns a probabilistic causal model of the environment which it then uses to plan action sequences. Evidence suggests that these two systems coexist in the brain, both competing and cooperating with each other. The interplay of two systems allows the brain to negotiate a balance between cognitively cheap but inaccurate model-free algorithms and accurate but expensive model-based algorithms. The second half of the chapter reviews research on hidden state inference in reinforcement learning. The problem of inferring hidden states can be construed in terms of inferring the latent causes that give rise to sensory data and rewards. Because hidden state inference a↵ects both model-based and model-free reinforcement learning, causal knowledge impinges upon both systems.
Photosynthetic Responses of Legume Species to Leaf-Mass Consumption Injury

Abstract Several studies have addressed plant primary physiological responses (gas exchange responses) to insect herbivory. However, relatively few plant species have been examined. It is unknown whether responses to leaf-mass removal by insects vary among plant families and species. Within the legumes, only alfalfa, Medicago sativa L. , and soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, have been examined. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that gas exchange responses to leaf-mass consumption in a broad range of cultivated legumes do not differ from those of soybean and alfalfa. The species and cultivars used were M. sativa Cimarron, Medicago scutellata (L.) Sava, Medicago truncatula Gaertner Paraggio, Melilotus officinalis (L.) Pallas, Trifolium hybridum L. , and Trifolium pratense L. Twelve greenhouse experiments were conducted and each legume species was used in a separate experiment. Depending on the experiment, there were either two or three treatments (control, simulated insect injury, and actual insect injury). For simulated and actual insect defoliation, injury was limited to a single leaf per plant. Simulated insect injury treatments were imposed by removing leaf tissue on each leaflet with scissors. For the actual insect defoliation treatment, fall armyworm larvae, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), were used. Defoliation of single leaves on the six species resulted in similar responses. Plant gas exchange variables (photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2, and transpiration) were not significantly affected by either simulated or actual insect defoliation. Our results support the hypothesis that there is a generalized primary physiological response to leaf-mass consumption injury among the cultivated legumes. More generally, the results from this experiment support that there is a generalized plant gas exchange response to leaf-mass consumption injury.
Paleodemography of the Atapuerca: Sima De Los Huesos Hominin Sample: A Revision and New Approaches to the Paleodemography of the European Middle Pleistocene Population

This article analyzes the mortality profiles of two Middle Pleistocene hominin samples, one from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) site in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain) (MNI = 28), and another (MNI = 26) selected from various other European sites. In the SH mortality distribution, 64 percent of the individuals died between the ages of 11 and 20 years, but there is only one individual under the age of 10. In the sample from other European sites, there are four individuals under 10, but the number of individuals in the 11-20 year range is lower (39 percent) than in the SH sample. In both samples, the percentage of individuals who died after the age of 30 is very similar (14.3 percent in SH and 11.5 percent at the other sites), and the differences between both distributions (when infants and children are excluded) are not statistically significant. This article considers whether these mortality distributions follow a catastrophic or an attritional pattern. The discussion is presented in the framework of our current knowledge of the life history pattern of the Homo heidelbergensis species and the age structure and mortality profile of living foraging groups.
GONADOTROPHIN LEVELS IN WOMEN WITH CUSHING'S SYNDROME BEFORE AND AFTER TREATMENT

Basal serum concentrations of LH and FSH and their response to LHRH were studied in twelve pre‐ and ten post‐menopausal women with Cushing's syndrome before and after treatment. Subnormal basal concentrations of LH were found in twelve out of twenty‐two, and of FSH in ten of the twenty untreated patients. There was a correlation between the urinary free cortisol (UFC) and basal LH values, r =−0·59 (P < 0·05), and UFC and basal FSH values, r=−0·76 (P < 0·02) in the premenopausal women. All seven patients with a UFC value > 1080 nmol/24 h (normal range < 270) had both a subnormal basal gonadotrophin level and a subnormal response of at least one gonadotrophin to the releasing hormone. In those patients in whom successful remission was obtained and who did not require replacement therapy, subnormal basal gonadotrophins were usually restored towards or into the normal range. It is concluded that while gonadotrophin levels may be normal in women with Cushing's syndrome, they are subnormal in those with the highest cortisol values. This may be due to a direct suppressive effect of cortisol on the release of stored pituitary hormone, and/or on LHRH release from the hypothalamus.