Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surveillance and prevention of residential-fire injuries.

BACKGROUND The majority of severe and fatal burn injuries result from residential fires. We studied the effectiveness of a smoke-alarm-giveaway program in the prevention of burn injuries in an area with a high rate of such injuries. METHODS We collected data on burn injuries in Oklahoma City from September 1987 through April 1990. The target area for the intervention was an area of 24 square miles (62 km2) with the highest rate of injuries related to residential fires in the city. We distributed smoke alarms door to door in the target area and then surveyed alarm use and function in a sample of the homes that had received an alarm. We also calculated the rates of fire injury per 100,000 population and per 100 fires for both the target area and the rest of the city before and after the smoke-alarm giveaway. RESULTS Before the intervention the rate of burn injuries per 100,000 population was 4.2 times higher in the target area than in the rest of Oklahoma City. An initial survey indicated that 11,881 of the 34,945 homes in the target area (34 percent) did not have smoke alarms. A total of 10,100 smoke alarms were distributed to 9291 homes; 45 percent were functioning four years later. The annualized fire-injury rates declined by 80 percent in the target area during the four years after the intervention (from 15.3 to 3.1 per 100,000 population), as compared with a small increase in the rest of the city (from 3.6 to 3.9 per 100,000 population). There was also a 74 percent decline in the target area in the injury rate per 100 fires (from 5.0 to 1.3; rate ratio, 0.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.1 to 0.6), as compared with a small increase in the rest of the city. CONCLUSIONS A targeted intervention involving a smoke-alarm-giveaway program can reduce the incidence of injuries from residential fires.
$\hbox{HfO}_{x}$ Bipolar Resistive Memory With Robust Endurance Using AlCu as Buffer Electrode

A novel method of fabricating HfOx-based resistive memory device with excellent nonvolatile characteristics is proposed. By using a thin AlCu layer as the reactive buffer layer into the anodic side of a capacitor-like memory cell, excellent memory performances, which include reliable programming/erasing endurance (> 105 cycles), robust data retention at high temperature, and fast operation speed (< 50 ns), have been demonstrated. The resistive memory based on AlCu/HfOx stacked layer in this letter shows promising application in the next generation of nonvolatile memory.
Chemical Hair Relaxers Have Adverse Effects a Myth or Reality

Context: Hair plays an important role in one's personality and builds confidence. Now-a-days, chemical hair relaxers are used very commonly in the society. We document the adverse effects reported by the sample that have used any one of the professional chemical hair relaxers. Aim: To study the adverse effects reported by the sample who underwent repeated chemical hair relaxing. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire based study done on a sample taken from a medical college and hospital campus in Mangalore. Materials and Methods: The sample was restricted to females and to those who underwent it more than once. A questionnaire was given to a sample of 90, which matched our criteria. Statistical Analysis: SPSS software 17. Results: Adverse effects reported by the sample after undergoing the procedure were found to be a high 95.56%, out of which the following are the common adverse effects reported; frizzy hair in 67%, dandruff in 61%, hair loss in 47%, thinning and weakening of hair in 40%, greying of hair 22%, and split ends in only 17%. Conclusions: Very few studies have been conducted on the adverse effects of hair straightening products in India. From our study, it can be stated that most of the samples had adverse effects, which was as high as 95.56%. Hence from the details elicited from this study, we can conclude that, usage of chemical hair relaxers does cause adverse effects and is “not a myth. ” Thus, it is necessary to make available a less harmful chemical hair relaxer to the society.
Validation Is Critical for Genome‐Wide Association Study–Based Associations

One goal of a genome wide association study (GWAS) is to associate an allele, or multiple alleles, of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) to a clinical outcome or phenotype. The hope is to identify risk alleles in individuals to better predict their genetic predisposition to that clinical outcome and individualize treatment to decrease this risk. To this end there have been many successful associations which are documented at the National Human Genome Research Institute-European Bioinformatics Institute (NHGRI-EBI) catalog of published genome-wide association studies (http : // www . ebi . ac . uk/gwas/). Unfortunately there have been many more GWAS based results that have been later found to be false positives. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy

Two loci for the dystrophic myotonias are known and described as DM1 and DM2. At both loci inheritance is autosomal dominant, with DM1 associated with a CTG trinucleotide expansion on chromosome 19q13.3 and DM2 with a CCTG tetranucleotide expansion at 3q21. DM2 is not associated with a CDM phenotype, (although neonatal club foot has been once reported [1]) and so it will not be discussed further, however much of the discussion on pathogenesis related to DM1 is applicable to DM2, as will become evident below.
Rehabilitation for dementia using enjoyable video-sports games

The aging of society inevitably leads to an increase in the numbers of elderly with dementia who reside in nursing homes, and delaying disease progression of residents with dementia has become a big concern. Rehabilitation that focuses directly on training cognitive function (e.g. memory training) reveals what patients are unable to do. Realization of their cognitive deficits can devastate their self-confidence and lead to anxiety, depression and the lowering of self-esteem (Small et al., 1997). We propose rehabilitation that encourages patients' motivation for self-improvement through social interaction based on five principles as follows: (1) the activities should be enjoyable and comfortable for patients, (2) therapists should praise the patients naturally to motivate them, (3) the activities should be associated with empathetic two-way communication to make patients feel valued and safe, (4) therapists should encourage the patients to play “social roles” to restore self-worth, and (5) error-less learning based on brain-activating rehabilitation (BAR; Yamaguchi et al., in press) should be adopted wherever possible. It is suggested that the positive feelings activate those areas of the brain related to reward, which plays a critical role in motivation (Berridge et al., 2003), and it is a typical social reward to be praised and appreciated in public.
Agr Interference between Clinical Staphylococcus aureus Strains in an Insect Model of Virulence

ABSTRACT Repression of virulence by Staphylococcus aureus strains from different Agr groups has been demonstrated in vitro and is proposed as a means of competitive interference. Here, using the insect Manduca sexta, we show for the first time that this interference also occurs in vivo within a mixed population.
Age-related differences in cognitive function for interlimb coordination during split-belt walking: A pilot study

While walking is considered a task demanding cognitive functions rather than an automatic motor task, it is still unclear whether cognitive tasks influence interlimb coordination during walking. The present study revealed that the elderly require cognitive function to control temporal interlimb coordination under difficult walking conditions. Risk of falls is thus likely to be increased in the elderly when performing attention-demanding tasks while walking.
Understanding antimicrobial use and prescribing behaviours by pig veterinary surgeons and farmers: a qualitative study

Increasing awareness of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in human beings and veterinary medicine has raised concerns over the issue of overprescribing and the indiscriminate use of antimicrobials. Their use in food-producing animals is under scrutiny due to the perceived risk from the zoonotic transfer of resistant pathogens from animals to human beings. This study used focus groups to explore the drivers and motivators behind antimicrobial use and prescribing by veterinary surgeons and farmers in the pig industry in the UK. Studies of two veterinary and four farmer focus groups were undertaken, each with between three and six participants, in three geographically distinct regions of low, moderate and high pig density in England. Thematic analysis of the focus group transcriptions revealed convergent themes, both within and across, the veterinary and farmer focus groups. Veterinary opinion was such that ‘external pressures’, such as pressure from clients, legislation and public perception, were considered to strongly influence prescribing behaviour, whereas, farmers considered issues surrounding farming systems and management to be greater drivers towards antimicrobial use. Acquiring such in-depth insight into the antimicrobial prescribing behaviours in veterinary medicine provides more detailed understanding of prescribing practice and will aid the development of interventions to promote the responsible use of antimicrobials.
Obese Gene Expression Alters the Ability of 30A5 Preadipocytes to Respond to Lipogenic Hormones*

Leptin, the product of the ob gene, controls food-intake and weight loss in the ob mouse. Although the target(s) of the circulating leptin is presumed to be the brain which then orchestrates food-intake and weight loss, how leptin functions in the process of weight loss is unknown. In this report, we present evidence that ob gene expression in cultured cells suppresses acetyl-CoA carboxylase gene expression and lipid synthesis which are induced by hormone treatment. This is the first example in which leptin has been found to suppress defined biochemical reactions that contribute to lipid accumulation without the participation of the brain.
The Demonization of Aboriginal Child Welfare Authorities in the News

Abstract: This study compares news representations of Aboriginal child welfare agencies with those of provincial authorities such as BC's Ministry of Children and Family Development. News coverage of critical incidents involving children under the care of provincial bodies focused on systemic problems such as programs cuts, scarcity of resources and organizational deficiencie-conditions over which individual social workers had little control. In contrast, these contextual factors were largely absent from reportage of delegated Aboriginal agencies. Instead, most news reports and opinion pieces focused on blaming Aboriginal social workers and agency officials as well as questioning the competence of Aboriginal service providers in general. On the other hand, opinion pieces written by Aboriginal people introduced structural issues and contextual factors not included in the news. Resume : Cette etude compare des representations de nouvelles des agences d'assistance sociale d'enfant indigenes a ceux des autorites provinciales telles que le ministere du developpement d'enfant et de famille de Columbie Brittanique. Le reportage des incidents critiques faisant participer des enfants sous le soin des corps provinciaux s'est concentre sur des problemes systemiques tels que les coupes de programmes, la penurie des ressources et les insuffisances ou l'excedent d'organisation de conditions que les differents ouvriers sociaux ont eu peu de commande. En revanche, ces facteurs contextuels etaient absents du reportage des agences indigenes deleguees. Au lieu de cela, rapports de nouvelles concentres sur blâmer les ouvriers et les fonctionnaires sociaux indigenes d'agence et remettre en cause la competence des fournisseurs de service indigenes en general. D'autre part, avis pieces ecrites par les peuples autochtones a introduit les questions structurelles et facteurs contextuels ne pas inclus dans l'actualite.
The fate of virulent and attenuated Mycobacteria in guinea pigs infected by the respiratory route.

SUMMARY Guinea pigs infected by the respiratory route with small numbers of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, strain H37Rv or strain H37Ra, or with Mycobacterium smegmatis were sacrificed at weekly inter­ vals after infection, and the number of mycobacteria recoverable from the lung, bronchotracheal lymph node, and spleen was determined. Strain H37Ra increased 1,OOO-fold in the lung during the first 3 weeks of infection; then, after a short stationary phase, the organisms were eliminated from the lung by the twelfth week. Strain H37Rv increased somewhat more rapidly in the lung, achiev­ ing a stationary level IOtl-fold greater than that for H37Ra. In contrast to the fate of H37Ra, this stationary high level of H37Rv was maintained to the termination of the experiment, 18 weeks after infection. Both H37Ra and H37Rv were recovered from the lymph nodes and spleen. Myco­ bacterium smegmatis failed to multiply in the lungs of guinea pigs that had inhaled and retained approximately 2,000 viable bacilli.
Extrinsic sialylation is dynamically regulated by systemic triggers in vivo

Recent reports have documented that extracellular sialyltransferases can remodel both cell-surface and secreted glycans by a process other than the canonical cell-autonomous glycosylation that occurs within the intracellular secretory apparatus. Despite association of the abundance of these extracellular sialyltransferases, particularly ST6Gal-1, with disease states such as cancer and a variety of inflammatory conditions, the prevalence of this extrinsic glycosylation pathway in vivo remains unknown. Here we observed no significant extrinsic sialylation in resting mice, suggesting that extrinsic sialylation is not a constitutive process. However, extrinsic sialylation in the periphery could be triggered by inflammatory challenges, such as exposure to ionizing radiation or to bacterial lipopolysaccharides. Sialic acids from circulating platelets were used in vivo to remodel target cell surfaces. Platelet activation was minimally sufficient to elicit extrinsic sialylation, as demonstrated with the FeCl3 model of mesenteric artery thrombosis. Although extracellular ST6Gal-1 supports extrinsic sialylation, other sialyltransferases are present in systemic circulation. We also observed in vivo extrinsic sialylation in animals deficient in ST6Gal-1, demonstrating that extrinsic sialylation is not mediated exclusively by ST6Gal-1. Together, these observations form an emerging picture of glycans biosynthesized by the canonical cell-autonomous glycosylation pathway, but subjected to remodeling by extracellular glycan-modifying enzymes.
Use of chimeric nectin-1(HveC)-related receptors to demonstrate that ability to bind alphaherpesvirus gD is not necessarily sufficient for viral entry.

Human nectin-1 (HveC, Prr1), a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and a receptor for the entry of herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1, HSV-2), pseudorabies virus (PRV), and bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1), binds to viral gD. For HSV-1, HSV-2, and PRV, the gD-binding region of nectin-1 has been localized to the N-terminal V-like domain. To determine whether the two C-like domains of nectin-1 influenced gD binding and entry activity, genes encoding chimeric proteins were constructed. Portions of nectin-1 were replaced with homologous regions from nectin-2 (HveB, Prr2), a related protein with ability to mediate the entry of PRV, HSV-2, and Rid mutants of HSV-1, but not HSV-1 or BHV-1. Also, one or more domains of nectin-1 were fused to the two membrane-proximal Ig domains of CD4, a protein with no herpesvirus entry or gD-binding activity. The chimeric proteins were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, which normally lack alphaherpesvirus entry receptors, and detected on the cell surface by one or more anti-nectin-1 monoclonal antibodies. One chimeric protein (nectin-1 amino acids 1-124 fused to CD4) failed to bind to soluble forms of HSV-1, HSV-2, PRV, and BHV-1 gD and, as expected, also failed to mediate entry of the viruses from which these gDs were derived. The other chimeric receptors bound all forms of gD. Some mediated the entry of all the viruses tested but others mediated entry of some but not all the viruses. We conclude that binding of gD to the nectin-1 V domain is not sufficient for entry activity, that there are structural requirements for entry activity independent of gD binding, and that these requirements are different for the several alphaherpesviruses that can use nectin-1 as a receptor.
Timing of onset of antidepressant response with fluoxetine treatment.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the time until onset of antidepressant response with fluoxetine treatment. METHOD The authors evaluated 182 outpatients with major depression who had a sustained acute response to fluoxetine treatment. The outpatients received 8 weeks of treatment with 20 mg/day of fluoxetine and were assessed biweekly with the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The onset of response was defined as a 30% decrease in score on the Hamilton depression scale that persisted and led to a 50% decrease by week 8. The Kaplan-Meier product limit and Cox regression analysis were used to model the relationship between relevant variables and time until onset of response. RESULTS The authors found that at weeks 2, 4, and 6, the probabilities of having an onset of response (for responders) were 55.5%, 24.7%, and 9.3%, respectively. The cumulative probabilities of onset of response at each time point were 55.5%, 80.2%, and 89.5%. Neither demographics nor clinical characteristics of depression predicted time until initial response. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that more than half of eventual responders to fluoxetine treatment at 8 weeks start to respond by week 2; over 75% start to respond by week 4. Conversely, the lack of onset of response at 4-6 weeks was associated with about a 73%-88% chance that patients would not have an onset of response by 8 weeks.
Solution Structure of a Novel Tryptophan-Rich Peptide with Bidirectional Antimicrobial Activity

ABSTRACT Trp-rich antimicrobial peptides play important roles in the host innate defense mechanisms of many plants, insects, and mammals. A new type of Trp-rich peptide, Ac-KWRRWVRWI-NH2, designated Pac-525, was found to possess improved activity against both gram-positive and -negative bacteria. We have determined that the solution structures of Pac-525 bound to membrane-mimetic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles. The SDS micelle-bound structure of Pac-525 adopts an α-helical segment at residues Trp2, Arg3, and Arg4. The positively charged residues are clustered together to form a hydrophilic patch. The three hydrophobic residues Trp2, Val6, and Ile9 form a hydrophobic core. The surface electrostatic potential map indicates the three tryptophan indole rings are packed against the peptide backbone and form an amphipathic structure. Moreover, the reverse sequence of Pac-525, Ac-IWRVWRRWK-NH2, designated Pac-525rev, also demonstrates similar antimicrobial activity and structure in membrane-mimetic micelles and vesicles. A variety of biophysical and biochemical methods, including circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, and microcalorimetry, were used to show that Pac-525 interacted strongly with negatively charged phospholipid vesicles and induced efficient dye release from these vesicles, suggesting that the antimicrobial activity of Pac-525 may be due to interactions with bacterial membranes.
Evaluation of Methods to Assess Reduced Body Fat in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

Objective: To evaluate skinfold anthropometry and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to estimate percentage of body fat (%BF) in adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Methods: We examined 80 female AN patients (age 15.6 ± 1.4 years) and 31 healthy, normal weight sex- and age-matched controls with DXA and skinfold anthropometry to estimate %BF. Reference values for %BF of the same participants were obtained from a 4-compartment (4C) model, which was based on measurements of total body protein (with in vivo neutron activation), total body water (with deuterium dilution), and mineral content (with DXA). We compared the different methods to assess %BF with Bland-Altman analysis of agreement. Results: In the AN group, average %BF was well predicted with DXA and skinfold measurements in combination with the Deurenberg equation based on 2 skinfolds (DXA 13.9 ± 6.2 %BF; skinfold 14.5 ± 4.3 vs 14.1 ± 6.8 %BF by the 4C model). In the control group, average %BF was closely predicted by skinfold measurements in combination with the Slaughter formula (26.1 ± 4.5 vs 25.2 ± 5.2 %BF by the 4C model) but was overestimated with DXA (31.3 ± 5.8 %BF). When compared with the 4C model, all methods under investigation showed considerable limits of agreement when predicting %BF in any given individual. Conclusions: In our group of patients with AN, the Deurenberg skinfold model and DXA were similar in performance; however, DXA overestimated %BF in healthy subjects.
Incidence of tuberculosis in Korean patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA): effects of RA itself and of tumor necrosis factor blockers.

OBJECTIVE To elucidate the incidence rate and relative risk of tuberculosis (TB) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in patients with RA treated with tumor-necrosis-factor (TNF) blockers in Korea. METHODS Using data from the Korean National Tuberculosis Association (KNTA) as a control and data from a single-center cohort of patients with RA, we conducted an evaluation of 1285 patients with RA not exposed to TNF blockers and reviewed medical records of 90 and 103 patients with RA treated with infliximab and etanercept, respectively, between 2001 and 2005. RESULTS The mean incidence rate of TB, reported by the KNTA, was 67.2 per 100,000 person years (PY) from 2001 to 2004. In the TNF-blocker-naïve RA cohort, 9 cases of TB developed during 3497 PY of followup (257 per 100,000). In the infliximab-treated RA group, 2 cases of TB developed during 78.17 PY of followup (2558 per 100,000 PY), and there was no case of TB during 73.67 PY of followup in the etanercept-treated RA group. The risk of TB was higher in RA patients not treated with TNF blockers (sex- and age-adjusted risk ratio 8.9; 95% confidence interval 4.6-17.2), and in those treated with infliximab (sex- and age-adjusted risk ratio, 30.1; 95% confidence interval, 7.4-122.3) compared with the general Korean population. CONCLUSION The risk of TB infection is 8.9-fold higher in Korean patients with RA and 30.1-fold higher in RA patients treated with infliximab, compared with the general Korean population.