Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Insights into the impact of genetic variation in bitter taste sensitivity on young children’s acceptance of vegetables and body mass index: an update until 2010

Vegetable consumption by young children does not meet national recommendations in either the United States or in Europe due in part to the bitter taste of vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables contain natural bitter-tasting substances that share the same chemical structure as phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and its chemical derivative 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). The degree to which the bitter taste from PTC/PROP is perceived is genetically determined and individual food likes are associated with this genetic trait, especially in children. The ability to taste calcium (Ca) influences the ability to taste the bitterness of vegetables in adults but this influence has not yet been studied in young children. Therefore, a critical analysis of the impact of young children’s PTC/PROP taster status on their vegetable acceptance is required. Furthermore, evidence that young children typically develop obesity because of their high consumption of high calorie content foods instead of vegetables requires critical analysis of the same impact on young children’s body mass index (BMI). This two-fold analysis found conflicting results in studies that have examined ad hoc the relationship between PTC/PROP taste sensitivity and young children’s vegetable acceptance and BMI. Genetic variation in the ability of young children to taste Ca might modulate the relationship between PTC/PROP taste sensitivity and vegetable acceptance in young children while socioeconomic status (SES) might modulate the relationship between PTC/PROP taste sensitivity and BMI. Thus, further research on these possible modulations is recommended. Abbreviations: AAI: Alanine, Alanine and Isoleucine; AAV: Alanine, Alanine and Valine; AVI: Alanine, Valine and Isoleucine; BMI: Body Mass Index; C: Calcium; CD36: Cluster of Differentiation 36; Gpcrs: G-Protein Coupled Receptors; PAV: Proline, Alenine and Valine; PKD1L3: Polycystic Kidney Disease 1-Like 3; PKD2L1: Polycystic Kidney Disease 2-Like 1; PRO: 6-N-Propylthiouracil; PTC: Phenylthiocarbamide; PVI: Proline, Valine and Isoleucine; SES: Socio Economic Status; TAS2R38: Taste Receptor 2 Member 38; TAS1R3: Taste Receptor 1 Member 3
Causes of mortality in schizophrenia: An updated review of European studies.

BACKGROUND The excess mortality in schizophrenia is still a phenomenon insufficiently studied on the cross-national level. It is important to analyse current studies on morality in schizophrenia since significant changes have recently taken place in psychiatric health care systems and guidelines of pharmacological treatment have been developed in European countries. SUBJECTS AND METHODS This article reviews studies addressing mortality in schizophrenia in Europe that were published in English in the Pubmed database in 2009-2014. It aimed at determining countries where studies were conducted, methodologies and tools used, and current main mortality rates, as well as direction of causality in this group of patients. RESULTS The recently published studies were conducted only in few European countries. The majority of data was obtained from general medical records and death records. The studies indicate that schizophrenia patients are characterized by higher mortality rate than the general population, with natural causes (cardiovascular diseases and cancers) and suicides predominating. The increasing mortality gap with significantly shorter life expectancy of patients with schizophrenia in comparison with the general population is considerable. CONCLUSIONS Death records are a crucial tool in studies on mortality in schizophrenia patients; however they are insufficiently employed. Recent European reports do not show positive tendencies, indicating that standardized mortality rates in schizophrenia remain on the same level or even increase, particularly for deaths resulting from natural causes. Due to various methodologies used in studies, their direct comparison is difficult. This limitation warrants further discussion on methods used in future studies on schizophrenia mortality in Europe.
Determination of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of green, black and white teas of Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze, Theaceae

Green, black and white teas are all produced from leaves and shoots of Camellia sinensis, the only difference is how they are processed. The aim of this study was to compare the total phenols and flavonoid contents and antioxidant capacity of green, black and white tea bags of different brands. The morphodiagnosis of leaves was used to identification of plant material. HPLC-DAD fingerprinting coupled with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to analyze similarities of the tea samples. The results showed considerable variability between tea brands in both total phenols (30.55 to 60.85 mg of pyrogallol/g) and flavonoids (6.35 to 8.92 mg of quercetin/g). Green and white teas demonstrated the highest ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities.
Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering EFFECT OF DRYING TEMPERATURE ON THE NUTRITIONAL AND ANTIOXIDANT QUALITIES OF CUMARI PEPPERS FROM PARÁ ( Capsicum chinense Jacqui )

This study evaluated the proximate components, concentration of total polyphenols, antioxidant activity, and capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in the Cumari chili pepper from Pará, Brazil (Capsicum chinense Jacqui) both fresh and after subjected to three different drying temperatures. The results showed that the contents of ash and vitamin C for the dried pepper differed significantly (P <0.05) compared with the fresh pepper. There was a significant difference in concentrations of total phenolics, antioxidant activity and capsaicinoids between the fresh pepper and those submitted to the drying treatments. It was concluded that higher temperatures increase shelf life and decrease the volume of the product, preserve macronutrients and degrade micronutrients, antioxidants and the spicy hotness of the Cumari pepper.
Long-term Prognosis of Postinfectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Gut 2010;59:605-611)

Marshall et al1 has reported a study entitled "Eight year prognosis of postinfectious irritable bowel syndrome following waterborne bacterial dysentery" in the May issue of Gut 2010. This report was a cohort study from the population of Walkerton Health Study, of which participants were residents of Walkerton at the time of the outbreak in May 2000. They were invited for annual assessments of a postinfectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) study at a research clinic until 2008. A modified Bowel Disease Questionnaire was used to diagnose IBS by Rome I criteria and to identify IBS subtypes. Of 4,561 Walkerton Health Study participants, 1,166 were eligible for this study (688 females, mean age 46.2 years). The prevalence of IBS among 742 eligible subjects who suffered acute gastroenteritis during the outbreak declined from 28.3% after 2-3 years from the infection to 15.4% after 8 years, but it remained significantly increased compared with controls who did not have history of acute gastroenteritis (OR, 3.12; 95% CI, 1.99-5.04). Independent risk factors for PI-IBS at 8 years included female gender, younger age, prior anxiety/depression and fever or weight loss during the acute enteric illness. Authors have concluded that acute gastroenteritis could trigger IBS symptoms which persisted for at least 8 years, and the characteristics of the host and acute enteric illness could predict the long-term risk of PI-IBS.
Herbal medicines in the treatment of psychiatric disorders: a systematic review

This paper reports a critical review of 27 herbal medicines and formulas in treating a broad range of psychiatric disorders (in addition to anxiety and depression), including obsessive‐compulsive, seasonal affective, bipolar depressive, psychotic, phobic and somatoform disorders. Ovid Medline, Pubmed and the Cochrane Library were searched for pharmacological and clinical evidence of herbal medicines with psychotropic activity. A forward search of later citations was also conducted. Whilst substantial high‐quality evidence exists for the use of kava and St John's wort in the treatment of anxiety and depression respectively, currently there is insufficient robust clinical evidence for the use of many other herbal medicines in psychiatric disorders. Phytotherapies which potentially have significant use in psychiatry, and urgently require more research are Rhodiola rosea (roseroot) and Crocus sativus (saffron) for depression; Passiflora incarnata (passionflower), Scutellaria lateriflora (scullcap) and Zizyphus jujuba (sour date) for anxiety disorders; and Piper methysticum (kava) for phobic, panic and obsessive‐compulsive disorders. While depression and anxiety are commonly researched, the efficacy of herbal medicines in other mental disorders requires attention. The review addresses current issues in herbal psychotherapy: herbal safety, future areas of application, the relationship of herbal medicine with pharmaceuticals and the potential prescriptive integration of phytomedicines with synthetic psychotropic medicines. Particular attention is given to clinical and safety issues with St John's wort and kava. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hypertension epidemiology in India: lessons from Jaipur Heart Watch

2 ), central obesity (waist : hip ratio >0.95 men, >0.85 women), hypertension, dyslipidemias, metabolic syn- drome and diabetes was determined. Trends were analysed using least squares linear analyses. Results show that mean systolic BP increased with age in all the study cohorts, while there was no significant dif- ference in diastolic BP. Age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension in JHW-R, JHW-1, JHW-2, JHW-3 and JHW-4 studies in men was 21.6, 29.1, 29.6, 42.5 and 45.1% and in women it was 15.7, 21.7, 25.5, 35.2 and 38.2% (P for trend <0.05). There was a significant association of escalating hypertension with obesity and truncal obesity in both men (two-line regression analysis, unadjusted r 2 = 0.91 and 0.50 respectively) and women (r 2 = 0.88 and 0.57; P < 0.05). Increasing hypertension in India is related to increasing adiposity levels. Population and individual-based measures to prevent and control high BP should focus on measures to prevent obesity.
Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in pistachios sampled in Spain: occurrence and presence of mycotoxigenic fungi

A survey of the fungal contamination and occurrence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A (OTA) in 50 pistachio nut samples collected from commercial stores around Catalonia (Spain) was carried out. Aspergillus flavus was found in 30% of samples, whereas Aspergillus section Nigri, Aspergillus ochraceus, and Penicillium verrucosum were found in 40%, 2% and 26% of samples, respectively. A total of 204 fungal isolates were obtained; 70.8% of A. flavus isolates were able to produce aflatoxin B1 and B2, whereas OTA production capacity was detected in 54.4% of the A. section Nigri biseriate isolates. Aflatoxins were detected in five samples (10% of total), all exceeding the maximum legal limit set for aflatoxin B1 (2 µg kg−1) or for total aflatoxins (4 µg kg−1), with one sample having a very high level of contamination (1134.5 µg kg−1). Only one sample of pistachio showed OTA contamination at 0.67 µg kg−1. Simultaneous contamination by aflatoxins and OTA was not observed in these samples. It was concluded that the frequency of aflatoxins and OTA contamination in pistachio samples available in the Spanish market is relatively low. Thus, no significant contribution to health risk should be expected from aflatoxin consumption through pistachios among healthy consumers. However, the existence of single samples with an extremely high aflatoxin concentration reinforces the need for effective prevention strategies in pistachio processing and commercialization.
Relative amounts of antagonistic splicing factors, hnRNP A1 and ASF/SF2, change during neoplastic lung growth: Implications for pre‐mRNA processing

Pre‐mRNA processing is an important mechanism for globally modifying cellular protein composition during tumorigenesis. To understand this process during lung cancer, expression of two key pre‐mRNA alternative splicing factors was compared in a mouse model of early lung carcinogenesis and during regenerative growth following reversible lung injury. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A1 and alternative splicing factor/splicing factor 2 (ASF/SF2) act antagonistically to modulate splice site selection. Both hnRNP A1 and ASF/SF2 contents rose in adenomas and during injury‐induced hyperplasia compared to control lungs, as measured by immunoblotting. While both proteins increased similarly during compensatory hyperplasia, hnRNP A1 increased to a much greater extent than ASF/SF2 in tumors, resulting in a 6‐fold increase of the hnRNP A1 to ASF/SF2 ratio. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that hnRNP A1 localized exclusively within tumor nuclei, while ASF/SF2 appeared in cytoplasm and/or nuclei, depending on the growth pattern of the tumor cells. We also demonstrated cancer‐associated changes in the pre‐mRNA alternative splicing of CD44, a membrane glycoprotein involved in cell‐cell and cell‐extracellular matrix interactions. hnRNP A1 and ASF/SF2 expression is thus differentially altered in neoplastic lung cells by mechanisms that do not strictly arise from increased cell division. These changes are influenced by tumor histology and may be associated with production of variant CD44 mRNA isoforms. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Graph Matching Using Hierarchical Fuzzy Graph Neural Networks

Data and models can naturally be represented by graphs. Graph representation of data is used in many areas of science and engineering, making graph matching still currently important. Besides conventional graph-matching algorithms, some successful attempts of utilizing recursive neural networks in this area have been made. In this paper, we extend previous research by proposing a novel approach using a combination of fuzzy logic and recursive neural network, which we named the fuzzy graph neural network. Adding fuzzy logic to the existing recursive neural network approach enables us to interpret graph-matching result as the similarity to the learned graph. This way, we have created a neural network, which is more resilient to the introduced input noise than a classical nonfuzzy supervised-learning-based neural network. An implementation of the proposed fuzzy graph neural network is presented in this paper. Testing of the implementation is done by using standard graph-matching datasets and problems, and includes assessment of the relation between noise and recognition accuracy for the proposed fuzzy graph neural network.
Globalization and Inequality: Historical Trends

This paper surveys trends in both international economic integration and inequality over the past 150 years, as well as the links between them. In doing so, it distinguishes between (a) the different dimensions of globalization; and (b) between-country and within-country inequality. Theory suggests that globalization will have very different implications for within-country inequality, depending on the dimension of globalization involved (e.g. trade versus factor flows), on the country concerned, and on the distribution of endowments; the historical record provides ample evidence of this ambiguous relationship. Late 19th century globalization had large effects on within-country income distribution, but the effect on inequality differed greatly across countries: both trade and migration (but not capital flows) made the rich New World more unequal, and the (less rich) Old World more equal. The evidence on the links between within-country inequality and globalization in the late 20th century is mixed. The balance of evidence suggests that globalization has been a force for between-country convergence in both the late 19th and late 20th centuries; long run patterns of divergence are due to other factors (e.g. the unequal spread of the Industrial Revolution).
Molecular Classification of Breast Carcinomas Using Tissue Microarrays

The histopathologic classification of breast cancer stratifies tumors based on tumor grade, stage, and type. Despite an overall correlation with survival, this classification is poorly predictive and tumors with identical grade and stage can have markedly contrasting outcomes. Recently, breast carcinomas have been classified by their gene expression profiles on frozen material. The validation of such a classification on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor archives linked to clinical information in a high-throughput fashion would have a major impact on clinical practice. The authors tested the ability of tumor tissue microarrays (TMAs) to sub-classify breast cancers using a TMA containing 107 breast cancers. The pattern of expression of 13 different protein biomarkers was assessed by immunohistochemistry and the multidimensional data was analyzed using an unsupervised two-dimensional clustering algorithm. This revealed distinct tumor clusters which divided into two main groups correlating with tumor grade (P <0.001) and nodal status (P = 0.04). None of the protein biomarkers tested could individually identify these groups. The biological significance of this classification is supported by its similarity with one derived from gene expression microarray analysis. Thus, molecular profiling of breast cancer using a limited number of protein biomarkers in TMAs can sub-classify tumors into clinically and biologically relevant subgroups.
Evidence for changes in stratospheric transport and mixing over the past three decades based on multiple data sets and tropical leaky pipe analysis

[1] Variability in the strength of the stratospheric Lagrangian mean meridional or Brewer-Dobson circulation and horizontal mixing into the tropics over the past three decades are examined using observations of stratospheric mean age of air and ozone. We use a simple representation of the stratosphere, the tropical leaky pipe (TLP) model, guided by mean meridional circulation and horizontal mixing changes in several reanalyses data sets and chemistry climate model (CCM) simulations, to help elucidate reasons for the observed changes in stratospheric mean age and ozone. We find that the TLP model is able to accurately simulate multiyear variability in ozone following recent major volcanic eruptions and the early 2000s sea surface temperature changes, as well as the lasting impact on mean age of relatively short-term circulation perturbations. We also find that the best quantitative agreement with the observed mean age and ozone trends over the past three decades is found assuming a small strengthening of the mean circulation in the lower stratosphere, a moderate weakening of the mean circulation in the middle and upper stratosphere, and a moderate increase in the horizontal mixing into the tropics. The mean age trends are strongly sensitive to trends in the horizontal mixing into the tropics, and the uncertainty in the mixing trends causes uncertainty in the mean circulation trends. Comparisons of the mean circulation and mixing changes suggested by the measurements with those from a recent suite of CCM runs reveal significant differences that may have important implications on the accurate simulation of future stratospheric climate.
Structural diversity and evolution of human receptor‐like protein tyrosine phosphatases.

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases), together with protein tyrosine kinases, regulate the tyrosine phosphorylation that controls cell activities and proliferation. Previously, it has been recognized that both cytosolic PTPases and membrane associated, receptor‐like PTPases exist. In order to examine the structural diversity of receptor‐like PTPases, we isolated human cDNA clones that cross‐hybridized to a Drosophila PTPase cDNA clone, DPTP12, under non‐stringent hybridization conditions. The cDNA clones thus isolated included LCA and six other novel receptor‐like PTPases, named HPTP alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, and zeta. The cytoplasmic regions of HPTP alpha and epsilon are highly homologous, and are composed of two tandemly duplicated PTPase‐like domains. The extracellular regions of HPTP alpha and epsilon are, respectively, 123 amino acids and 27 amino acids, and do not have obvious similarity to any known protein. The cytoplasmic region of HPTP beta contains only one PTPase domain. The extracellular region of HPTP beta, which is 1599 amino acids, is composed of 16 fibronectin type‐III repeats. HPTP delta is very similar to leukocyte common antigen related molecule (LAR), in both the extracellular and cytoplasmic regions. Partial sequences of HPTP gamma and zeta indicate that they are highly homologous and contain two PTPase‐like domains. The PTPase‐like domains of HPTP alpha, beta and delta expressed in Escherichia coli had tyrosine phosphatase activities.
Virtual Reality Flexible Sigmoidoscopy Simulator Training: Impact on Resident Performance

Background: Flexible sigmoidoscopy, a core skill for the primary care physician, requires learned hand-eye skills that can be difficult to master during residency training. With recent advances in virtual reality simulation technology, simulated flexible sigmoidoscopes are available to family medicine residents for training before their initial and subsequent live patient examinations. The purpose of the study was to determine whether a virtual reality flexible sigmoidoscope simulator would improve the hand-eye skills and various performance parameters in a live patient. Methods: Residents were assigned to a control (n = 5) or experimental group (n = 5) in which the experimental group trained on a virtual reality sigmoidoscopy simulator before their first sigmoidoscopies on live patient volunteers. After the initial live patient sigmoidoscopies, both control and experimental groups trained on the simulator so that it was possible to evaluate presimulator and postsimulator training effects on live patient performance and to compare speed and skill between the groups at different levels of training. Results: Training on the virtual reality simulator produced substantial improvements in examination times and hand-eye skill measures. After 6 to 10 hours of training on the simulator, the experimental group achieved significantly faster insertion times to 30 cm (119 versus 357 sec, P = 0.03), 40 cm (211 versus 518 sec, P = 0.03), and a shorter mean length of examination (323 versus 654 sec, P = 0.01). There was also significant improvement of hand-eye skill measures of the experimental group in directional errors (1.6 versus. 8.6, P < 0.01), percentage of colon visualized (79 versus 45 percent, P = 0.02), and viewing quality of examination when compared with the control group's initial performance on live patients. Resident survey findings after the study confirmed the trainee's perception of the benefit of the simulator training. Conclusions: This study shows the value of virtual reality simulator training for accelerating the development of the hand-eye skills to perform adequate sigmoidoscopy.