Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biofouling of Polymer Hydrogel Materials and its Effect on Diffusion and Enzyme-Based Luminescent Glucose Sensor Functional Characteristics

Background: Continuous glucose monitoring is crucial to developing a successful artificial pancreas. However, biofouling and host response make in vivo sensor performance difficult to predict. We investigated changes in glucose diffusivity and sensor response of optical enzymatic glucose sensors due to biological exposure. Method: Three hydrogel materials, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA), poly(acrylamide) (pAM), and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-co-poly(acrylamide) (p(HEMA-co-AM)), were tested for glucose diffusivity before and after exposure to serum or implantation in rats for 1 month. Luminescent sensors based on these materials were measured to compare the response to glucose before and after serum exposure. Results: Glucose diffusivity through the pHEMA [(8.1 ± 0.38) × 10−8 cm2/s] slabs was much lower than diffusivity through pAM [(2.7 ± 0.15) × 10−6 cm2/s] and p(HEMA-co-AM) [(2.5 ± 0.08) × 10−6]. As expected from these differences, sensor response was highly dependent on material type. The pHEMA sensors had a maximum sensitivity of 2.5%/(mg/dl) and an analytical range of 4.2–356 mg/dl, while the p(HEMA-co-AM) sensors had a higher sensitivity [14.9%/(mg/dl)] and a narrower analytical range (17.6–70.5 mg/dl). After serum exposure, the pHEMA sensors were unaffected, whereas the p(HEMA-co-AM) sensors exhibited significantly decreased sensitivity and increased analytical range. Conclusions: Decreases in glucose diffusivity in the polymers resulting from in vitro serum exposure and residence in vivo were shown to be similar, suggesting that serum incubation was a reasonable approximation of in vivo fouling. While biofouling is expected to affect the response of flux-based sensors, we have shown that this depended on the type of sensor and matrix used. Therefore, proper design and materials selection may minimize response alterations occurring upon implantation.
Two methods of pre-operative hair removal and their effect on post operative period -

Background: Preparation for surgery has traditionally included the routine removal of body hair from the intended surgical wound site. Hair is removed as its presence can interfere with the exposure of the incision and subsequent wound, the suturing of the incision and the application of adhesive drapes and wound dressings. Hair is also perceived to be associated with a lack of cleanliness and hair removal is thought to reduce the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs). SSIs are experienced by around 10% of patients in the UK each year and can result in delayed wound healing, increased hospital stays, unnecessary pain and in extreme cases the death of the patient. Three methods of hair removal are currently used: shaving, clipping and chemical depilation. When a surgical operation is to be conducted through a hair bearing part of the body, hair removal is often performed. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship of two methods (shaving and depilation cream) of preoperative hair removal to adequacy of hair removal, skin injury and reaction during hair removal, postoperative wound infection in a developing country where razor shaving is very popular. Materials and methods: Consecutive consenting patients scheduled to have such operations were randomized into two groups. One group had hair removal by shaving with a razor blade while the other had hair removed by depilatory cream. Adequacy of hair removal and presence of skin injuries and/or reactions were noted preoperatively. Details of the procedures were recorded and patients were then assessed for postoperative wound infection. Results: A total 215 patients were studied. Of the 103 patients who had hair removal by depilatory cream, hair was completely removed in 93 (91%) compared to 69 (62%) of the 112 patients who had razor hair shaving. Skin injuries were noted in 32 (29%) of the razor group and 4 (4%) of patients who had depilatory cream. 18 patients (8%) had postoperative wound infection including 3 (3%) in the depilatory cream group and 15 (13%) of the razor group. A significant association was found between preoperative skin injuries and postoperative wound infections. Conclusion: Preoperative hair removal with razor shaving predisposes to skin injuries which in turn significantly influence postoperative wound infection rates. Such injuries and resultant wound infection are fewer when depilatory cream is used for hair removal.
Becoming Recursive: Toward a Computational Neuroscience Account of Recursion in Language and Thought

After remaining more or less in the background for several decades, the issue of recursion in human languages has returned to the fore. The current, vigorous debate is about not just recursion, but the very idea of linguistic universals as a coherent scientific notion, and the nature of language itself. The prevailing view is that recursion – the ability to produce an unbounded number of well-formed sentences through the combinatorial operations of syntax – is a fundamental property of the “faculty of language in the narrow sense” (FLN), i.e., that recursion is what differentiates human language from other forms of animal communication (Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch 2002). As an explicit challenge this view, Everett (2005) has documented the syntax of Piraha, a language that appears to have no embedded clauses, recursive possessives, or other syntactic structures suggesting this capacity. Everett offers Piraha as a fatal counterexample to the universality of recursion, and questions the utility of searching for other sorts of linguistic universals as well. Although this debate has involved linguistics, and sometimes politics, we suggest that it might also be fruitfully informed by neuroscience. In particular, we will present a model of event semantics based on neurally plausible role/filler bindings, and describe how recursion, like other syntactic processes, can be viewed as the by-product of “unpacking” and serializing the contents of these representations. A rough outline of our argument: we start by enumerating some basic assumptions or ground rules about what any model of human language and cognition should look like. We then provide a review of simple vector arithmetic for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with this branch of mathematics, and we show how high-dimensional vectors can be used as a plausible model of role/filler semantics and other mental representations without violating any of our stated assumptions. Next we sketch the rudiments of a model of language that treats grammar as a process of transduction between these mental representations and sequences of symbols. We present a brief account of how this language model can be related to traditional syntactic categories like agent and theme, and conclude by setting the model in the context of current research on the sources of linguistic universals.
Associations between health literacy, diabetes knowledge, self-care behaviors, and glycemic control in a low income population with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE This study assessed associations among health literacy, diabetes knowledge, self-care, and glycemic control in a low income, predominately minority population with type 2 diabetes. METHODS One hundred twenty-five adults with diabetes were recruited from a primary care clinic. Subjects completed validated surveys to measure health literacy, diabetes knowledge, and self-care (medication adherence, diet, exercise, blood sugar testing, and foot care). Hemoglobin A1c values were extracted from the medical record. Spearman's correlation and multiple linear regression were used to assess the relationship among health literacy, diabetes knowledge, self-care, and glycemic control controlling for covariates. RESULTS Cronbach's α was 0.95 for the Revised Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine. The majority of the sample was <65 years old (50.7%), female (72.5%), and African American (71.4%), had less than a high school education (68.2%) and a household income < $15,000 (64.2%), and reported their health status as worse than last year (73.9%). In adjusted models that examined the associations among health literacy, diabetes knowledge, medication adherence, and self-care, health literacy was only significantly associated with diabetes knowledge (β = 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.29, 0.82). In the final adjusted model for independent factors associated with glycemic control, both diabetes knowledge (β = 0.12; 95% CI 0.01, 0.23) and perceived health status (β = 1.14; 95% CI 0.13, 2.16) were significantly associated with glycemic control, whereas health literacy was not associated with glycemic control (β = -0.03; 95% CI -0.19, 0.13). CONCLUSIONS Diabetes knowledge and perceived health status are the most important factors associated with glycemic control in this population. Health literacy appears to exert its influence through diabetes knowledge and is not directly related to self-care or medication adherence.
Retrospective database analysis of cancer risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in China

Abstract Objective: To investigate the association between type 2 diabetes (T2D) and the risk of overall cancer and site-specific cancers in a Chinese population. Research design and methods: Tianjin Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance database (2003–2014) was used to identify patients with newly onset T2D in 2009, patients with prevalent T2D prior to 2009, and general individuals without T2D. Overall and site-specific cancer incidence rates and incidence rate ratios relative to general population were calculated for both incident and prevalent T2D cohorts. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for baseline characteristics and potential bias were conducted. Subgroup analyses based on gender and age were further conducted. Results: For the year 2009, 21,208 patients with onset T2D (mean age 58.8 years; 48.1% female), 28,248 patients with prevalent T2D (mean age 63.7 years; 50.2% female) and 744,339 general individuals (mean age 43.2 years; 47.7% female) were identified. Controlling for confounders, diabetic patients had an overall 56%–59% higher risk of developing cancer, among which the highest risks by site were liver (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.80–2.48), colorectal (aHR = 2.41–2.69) and stomach (aHR = 2.02–2.51) cancers (all p < .05). Patients with prevalent T2D had increased cancer risk in the pancreas (aHR = 4.52, p < .001). Female diabetic patients had increased risk in the kidneys (aHR = 3.22–3.31, p < .01). Patients aged between 50 and 59 years had the highest relative risk (90% higher), while the relative risk was the lowest among patients ≥70 (45% higher). Conclusion: Type 2 diabetes was associated with increased overall cancer risk led by liver, colorectal and stomach cancers. Patients with longer diabetes duration were associated with higher pancreatic cancer risk and female diabetic patients had a higher risk of kidney cancer.
Stat5 Is Essential for Early B Cell Development but Not for B Cell Maturation and Function1

The two closely related Stat5 (Stat5A and Stat5B) proteins are activated by a broad spectrum of cytokines. However, with the complication of the involvement of Stat5A/5B in stem cell function, the role of Stat5A/5B in the development and function of lymphocytes, especially B cells, is not fully understood. In this study, we demonstrated that Stat5A/5B−/− fetal liver cells had severe diminution of B cell progenitors but clearly had myeloid progenitors. Consistently, the mutant fetal liver cells could give rise to hemopoietic progenitors and myeloid cells but not B cells beyond pro-B cell progenitors in lethally irradiated wild-type or Jak3−/− mice. Deletion of Stat5A/5B in vitro directly impaired IL-7-mediated B cell expansion. Of note, reintroduction of Stat5A back into Stat5A/5B−/− fetal liver cells restored their abilities to develop B cells. Importantly, CD19-Cre-mediated deletion of Stat5A/5B in the B cell compartment specifically impaired early B cell development but not late B cell maturation. Moreover, the B cell-specific deletion of Stat5A/5B did not impair splenic B cell survival, proliferation, and Ig production. Taken together, these data demonstrate that Stat5A/5B directly control IL-7-mediated early B cell development but are not required for B cell maturation and Ig production.
Focal humero-ulnar impingement following subtotal coronoid ostectomy in six dogs with fragmented medial coronoid process

Summary Objective To report acute eburnation of joint cartilage at the humeral trochlea following subtotal coronoid ostectomy (SCO) in a clinical case series of six elbows. Material and methods Six dogs (median BW 27.1 kg; median age 7.5 months) with fragmented medial coronoid process (FCP) and varying degree of radio-ulnar incongruence (RUI) (mean 2 mm) were treated with SCO using an arthroscopic burr. Second look arthroscopy 4–12 weeks later was performed either because of recurrent or persistent lameness in three dogs. In the others, second-look arthroscopy was scheduled prospectively because of RUI, which was thought to be a risk factor for the observed humero-ulnar impingement. Results All six elbows had a 1–2 mm wide line of focal full-thickness cartilage loss along the edge of the SCO, while the opposing trochlea had diffuse cartilage damage of Outerbridge grade III–IV, indicating focal humero-ulnar impingement. None of the elbows showed repeated FCP. Conclusion In some cases SCO might lead to focal humero-ulnar impingement along the osteotomy line. Clinical significance Whether this relays to variations in respect the amount of resected bone (too much vs. too less) or concomitant joint pathologies like RUI or joint instability remains unknown and warrants further studies.
Evolution of the Hemagglutinin Protein of the New Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Virus: Maintaining Optimal Receptor Binding by Compensatory Substitutions

ABSTRACT Pandemic influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) virus emerged in 2009. In the subsequent 4 years, it acquired several genetic changes in its hemagglutinin (HA). Mutations may be expected while virus is adapting to the human host or upon evasion from adaptive immune responses. However, pH1N1 has not displayed any major antigenic changes so far. We examined the effect of the amino acid substitutions found to be most frequently occurring in the pH1N1 HA protein before 1 April 2012 on the receptor-binding properties of the virus by using recombinant soluble HA trimers. Two changes (S186P and S188T) were shown to increase the receptor-binding avidity of HA, whereas two others (A137T and A200T) decreased binding avidity. Construction of an HA protein tree revealed the worldwide emergence of several HA variants during the past few influenza seasons. Strikingly, two major variants harbor combinations of substitutions (S186P/A137T and S188T/A200T, respectively) with opposite individual effects on binding. Stepwise reconstruction of the HA proteins of these variants demonstrated that the mutations that increase receptor-binding avidity are compensated for by the acquisition of subsequent mutations. The combination of these substitutions restored the receptor-binding properties (avidity and specificity) of these HA variants to those of the parental virus. The results strongly suggest that the HA of pH1N1 was already optimally adapted to the human host upon its emergence in April 2009. Moreover, these results are in agreement with a recent model for antigenic drift, in which influenza A virus mutants with high and low receptor-binding avidity alternate.
EFFECT OF HARD CONTACT LENSES ON CORNEAL SENSITIVITY AND THICKNESS

Corneal sensitivity and central corneal thickness were measured on 11 subjects before and after 8 hours of hard contact lens wear. Both factors were monitored for 30 min after removal. It was found that hard contact lenses affect both corneal sensitivity and thickness, significantly. After 8 hours the reduction of sensitivity was found to be, on average, 94% in the centre and 116% in the periphery, and the average increase in thickness was 6.9%. Thirty minutes after removal corneal sensitivity had recovered 82% and 100% in the centre and periphery, respectively, and corneal thickness had decreased by 6.3%. A high correlation was found between central and peripheral corneal sensitivity. This investigation shows that corneal sensitivity measurements offer an alternative method of assessing corneal integrity which is simple and precise.
Environmental pollution and the fetus

A child is a growing and developing human being early from conception throughout the end of adolescent period. Children at any stages of growth and development need to be protected from environmental health hazards. They need safe and health promoting environment to reach their optimum growth and development that they are capable genetically. However physical, chemical, biological and social environments have changed throughout decades and children of today are living in a very different environment than from their grandparents and parents. Today they are at most risk of being exposed to new chemicals that are mostly not tested for fetus and children. Since World War II, approximately 80,000 new synthetic chemicals have been manufactured and released into the environment in large amounts, with 10 new chemicals being introduced every day. The vast majority of these chemicals have not been studied adequately for their impacts on human health or their particular impacts on fetus. Many of these synthetic chemicals are persistent and bio-accumulative, remaining in the human body long after the exposure. Parental exposures occurred before the conception threatens the fetus both because the maternal or paternal reproductive organs are affected and because chemicals that can be accumulated in the mother’s body before pregnancy may be mobilized and cross over placental barrier during pregnancy. Many synthetic chemicals are already present in cord blood and we do not know how these multi-chemical exposures affect programmed development of fetus and studies are limited on long term effects of single chemical exposure. Some examples of health effects resulting from developmental exposures include those observed prenatally and at birth such as miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight, birth defects. Establishing a causal links between specific environmental exposures and complex multifactorial health outcomes is difficult and challenging.
Role of Surface Protein SasG in Biofilm Formation by Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT The SasG surface protein of Staphylococcus aureus has been shown to promote the formation of biofilm. SasG comprises an N-terminal A domain and repeated B domains. Here we demonstrate that SasG is involved in the accumulation phase of biofilm, a process that requires a physiological concentration of Zn2+. The B domains, but not the A domain, are required. Purified recombinant B domain protein can form dimers in vitro in a Zn2+-dependent fashion. Furthermore, the protein can bind to cells that have B domains anchored to their surface and block biofilm formation. The full-length SasG protein exposed on the cell surface is processed within the B domains to a limited degree, resulting in cleaved proteins of various lengths being released into the supernatant. Some of the released molecules associate with the surface-exposed B domains that remain attached to the cell. Studies using inhibitors and mutants failed to identify any protease that could cause the observed cleavage within the B domains. Extensively purified recombinant B domain protein is very labile, and we propose that cleavage occurs spontaneously at labile peptide bonds and that this is necessary for biofilm formation.
Clinician’s Perceptions of Indicators of Amenability to Sex Offender-Specific Treatment in Juveniles

Identifying and understanding the factors that predict treatment success is central to legal and clinical decision making about juveniles who commit sexual offenses. The current study surveyed 158 treatment providers who work with juvenile sexual offenders to explore empirically the construct of amenability as it relates to juvenile sex offender—specific treatment (SOST). Youths’ unwillingness to alter deviant sexual interest/attitudes and unsupportive parenting were rated as strong indicators of poor SOST amenability, whereas the youths’ motivation for change and belief in the efficacy of treatment, strong social support and positive attachments, and resilient personality traits were rated as strong indicators of good SOST amenability. Items distinctly rated as indicators of either poor or good treatment amenability (N = 48) were thematically grouped into internally consistent scales (α’s ranging from .75-.87) reflecting several possible dimensions of amenability.
In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of a Preservative-Free Cationic Emulsion of Latanoprost in Corneal Wound Healing Models

Purpose: Cationic emulsions (CEs), developed as vehicles for lipophilic drugs, have been shown to be safe and effective for the treatment of dry eye. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a preservative-free latanoprost 0.005% CE (latanoprost-CE) in in vitro and in vivo models of corneal wound healing. Methods: An in vitro wound was made by scraping through a confluent layer of human corneal epithelial cells. Cytotoxicity, cell migration, and proliferation were analyzed after an exposure to phosphate-buffered saline, CE, latanoprost-CE, 0.02% benzalkonium chloride (0.02%BAK), and Xalatan (0.02%BAKlatanoprost). In vivo, the recovery and integrity of corneal wound healing were assessed in rat eyes instilled twice a day for 5 days with the above treatments after deepithelialization of the superior cornea. Results: In vitro wound distances decreased at 2 and 24 hours for human corneal epithelial cells exposed to CE, latanoprost-CE, and phosphate-buffered saline, whereas they progressively increased for 0.02%BAK-treated and 0.02%BAKlatanoprost-treated cells. The greater wound closure was associated with a higher number of Ki67-positive cells. In CE- and latanoprost-CE-treated rats, reepithelialization of the cornea was enhanced, restoring normal appearance and function. In contrast, 0.02%BAK or 0.02%BAKlatanoprost delayed corneal healing, induced inflammation, and decreased MUC5-AC expression. Conclusions: Both models effectively evaluated the cytotoxicity and dynamic recovery of corneal wound healing, and their correlation supports the potential of the in vitro model as a reliable alternative to in vivo ocular toxicity tests. Both models demonstrated that in the face of corneal injury, CEs favored corneal healing, whereas BAK was deleterious.
Comment on “Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function”

Mani et al. (Research Articles, 30 August, p. 976) presented laboratory experiments that aimed to show that poverty-related worries impede cognitive functioning. A reanalysis without dichotomization of income fails to corroborate their findings and highlights spurious interactions between income and experimental manipulation due to ceiling effects caused by short and easy tests. This suggests that effects of financial worries are not limited to the poor.
Changes in oxygen consumption of young boys during growth and running training.

ABSTRACTFourteen boys, aged 10–15, were tested on five occasions during 22 months of distance-running training. Semi-annually, height and weight were recorded as were performances for 1− and 2-mile races. Sub-maximal and maxVo2 were also determined from expired gas samples which were collected duri