Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Telomere length, telomerase expression, and oxidative stress in lead smelters

The negative health effects caused by lead (Pb) exposure are widely recognized; however, the molecular mechanisms remain unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of occupational Pb exposure on telomere length and to investigate the potential mechanisms leading to telomere shortening. A cohort of 334 male Pb smelters (exposed group) and 60 age-adjusted males unexposed to Pb (control group) were examined. Assessments of relative telomere length (rTL) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene expression were performed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions. Assessments of whole blood Pb (B-Pb) and whole blood cadmium (B-Cd) concentrations and serum selenium concentration (S-Se) were performed using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. We analyzed total oxidation status (TOS), lipid hydroperoxides (LHPs), malonylodialdehyde levels in serum (MDA) and in erythrocyte hemolysates (MDA-hgb), and 8-hydroxy-deoxy-guanosine (8-OHdG). The Pb-exposed group had higher B-Pb values and shorter rTL than the control group. The arithmetic mean values calculated for B-Pb were 33 µg/dL versus 2.2 µg/dL (p < 0.0001), and the rTL values were 0.928 and 1.126 relative units (p = 0.001), respectively, for the Pb-exposed and control groups. The rTL was found to gradually shorten in response to the increasing levels of Pb exposure. The Pb-exposed group also demonstrated a higher level of oxidative stress than the control group, which was indicated by increased TOS and MDA-hgb values. rTL was negatively associated with parameters that indicated increased oxidative stress, including TOS (Spearman’s rank coefficient (rS) = −0.16; p < 0.01) and MDA-hgb (rS = −0.17; p < 0.001). No correlations were found between rTL and B-Cd and S-Se or smoking and MDA and LHP levels. Univariate analysis indicated that B-Pb was associated with decreased rTL (β =−0.0041; p = 0.0063) and that the association between B-Pb and rTL remained significant, even when adjusting for age (β = −0.0041; p = 0.0065) and in multivariable-adjusted model (β = −0.0042; p = 0.0063). In conclusion, occupational Pb exposure resulted in decreased rTL and may represent a mechanism that contributes to Pb-related diseases.
Impact of individual-, environmental-, and policy-level factors on health care utilization among US farmworkers.

OBJECTIVES We examined individual-, environmental-, and policy-level correlates of US farmworker health care utilization, guided by the behavioral model for vulnerable populations and the ecological model. METHODS The 2006 and 2007 administrations of the National Agricultural Workers Survey (n = 2884) provided the primary data. Geographic information systems, the 2005 Uniform Data System, and rurality and border proximity indices provided environmental variables. To identify factors associated with health care use, we performed logistic regression using weighted hierarchical linear modeling. RESULTS Approximately half (55.3%) of farmworkers utilized US health care in the previous 2 years. Several factors were independently associated with use at the individual level (gender, immigration and migrant status, English proficiency, transportation access, health status, and non-US health care utilization), the environmental level (proximity to US-Mexico border), and the policy level (insurance status and workplace payment structure). County Federally Qualified Health Center resources were not independently associated. CONCLUSIONS We identified farmworkers at greatest risk for poor access. We made recommendations for change to farmworker health care access at all 3 levels of influence, emphasizing Federally Qualified Health Center service delivery.
GEOMORPHOLOGICAL MAPPING WITH TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING AND UAV-BASED IMAGING

High-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) are useful for the detailed mapping of geomorphological features. Nowadays various sensors and platforms are available to collect 3D data. The presented study compares terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)-based imaging in terms of their usability for capturing small-scale surface structures. In October 2014 and June 2015 measurements with both systems were carried out in an episodically water-filled karst depression under pasture farming in the region of Hohenlohe (Southwest Germany). The overall aims were to establish high-resolution DEMs and monitor changes of the relief caused by dissolution and compare the advantages and drawbacks of both systems for such studies. Due to the short time between the campaigns the clear detection of temporal changes was hardly possible. However, the multi-temporal campaigns allowed an extensive investigation of the usability of both sensors under different environmental conditions. In addition to the remote sensing measurements, the coordinates of several positions in the study area were measured with a RTK-DGPS system as independent reference data sets in both campaigns. The TLS- and UAV-derived DEM heights at these positions were validated against the DGPS-derived heights. The accuracy of the TLS-derived values is supported by low mean differences between TLS and DGPS measurements while the UAV-derived models show a weaker performance. In the future years additional simultaneous measurements with both approaches under more similar vegetation conditions are necessary to detect surface movements. Moreover, by investigating the subsurface the interaction of above and below ground processes might be detected.
Monitoring a mouse colony for Helicobacter bilis using a Helicobacter-genus-specific nested PCR

Although Helicobacter infections of laboratory mice are usually subclinical, they may interfere with in vivo experiments and thus may lead to misinterpretation of data. As such, it is important to provide a means to unequivocally identify infections with murine Helicobacter spp. In the present study, a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was established and shown to be 10 to 100 times more sensitive than the single-step PCR commonly used for routine diagnosis of Helicobacter spp. Experimental infection of Helicobacter-free mice demonstrated that faeces, caecum, colon and rectum but not liver are equally suitable for the detection of H. bilis. However, use of faecal pellets is advantageous since detection of H. bilis is possible one week after infection and analysis of faeces instead of tissues avoids euthanasia of animals. Furthermore, it generates representative data for all animals housed in the same cage and analysis can be repeatedly performed. Use of samples from breeding pairs but not offspring provides representative information about the Helicobacter status of a mouse colony. Both C3H/HeJ and C57BL/6 mice appear to be susceptible to H. bilis and persistent infection was observed during the 20-week experimental period. Analysis of pooled faecal pellets by nested PCR seems to be the most sensitive approach for H. bilis monitoring of the given breeding colony.
Carotid artery stenting: it's all about appropriate patient selection and keeping to the indications

With increasing carotid artery stenting (CAS) expertise and improved CAS equipment, recent trials have demonstrated better results for CAS compared with earlier studies. As a result, it may be argued that CAS is currently non-inferior to carotid endarterectomy (CEA), at least in some patient subgroups. Consequently, there have been recent calls for extending CAS indications to include average surgical risk patients with symptomatic or asymptomatic carotid stenosis. However, CAS remains a less cost-effective option than CEA. Opening the floodgates to unrestricted CAS for both symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid patients would have considerable cost implications for any health system. Appropriate patient selection and keeping to the indications are crucial to optimize CAS outcomes.
q-Enumeration of up-down words by number of rises

In an earlier paper, Carlitz [1] obtained generating functions for the number of up-down permutations counting the number of rises among the “peaks”. In the present paper we study different types of random up-down words over the infinite alphabet {1, 2, . }, where the letters have geometric probabilities. We are interested in the probabilities of up-down words of given length to have a given number of rises on the lower level. To get explicit expressions for certain generating functions, it is not necessary to solve differential equations, as opposed to Cartlitz’s treatment. Moreover, in the corresponding particular cases we regain the results found by Carlitz.
In vitro activation of rainbow trout macrophages stimulates inhibition of Renibacterium salmoninarum growth concomitant with augmented generation of respiratory burst products

Rainbow trout head kidney macrophages pretreated for 48 h with a supernatant which contained macrophage activating factor (MAF) obtained from Concanavalin A/phorbol mynstate acetate stimulated rainbow trout leucocytes express an enhanced ability to inhibit Renibacterium salmoninarum growth in vitro compared with untreated controls. Enhanced 'killing' capacity of these macrophages was detectable after 24 h exposure to R. salmoninarum in vitro. Additlon of NG-methylL-arginine in vitro did not diminish bacterial growth inhibition by MAF-activated macrophages, suggesting that nitric oxide radicals were not involved in this event. However, MAF-treated macrophages expressed enhanced respiratory burst activity compared with control macrophages after a 3 d exposure to R. salmoninarum in vitro. In addition, it was demonstrated that R. salmoninarum was susceptible to hydrogen peroxide (H,02) in vitro using a cell-free assay. Introduction of catalase to the in vitro macrophage assay abrogated the 'killing' activity, suggesting that H20z release from activated macrophages was involved in the Inhibition of R. salmoninarum growth. The results are discussed in relation to other intracellular pathogens and the possible importance of cell-mediated immunity for protection against bacterial kidney disease.
Using ecological thresholds to evaluate the costs and benefits of set-asides in a biodiversity hotspot

Cost-effective conservation on private land How affordable is biodiversity conservation in a fragmented landscape? Banks-Leite et al. asked this question for the biodiversity hotspot of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. An annual investment of <10% of Brazil's agricultural subsidies could support effective ecological restoration on private lands. This would increase biodiversity in set-aside land to the same level observed in protected areas. The cost-effectiveness of this scheme suggests a path forward for conservation strategies in other similarly mixed landscapes, too. Science, this issue p. 1041 A small portion of Brazil’s agricultural subsidies would be enough to preserve private land in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Ecological set-asides are a promising strategy for conserving biodiversity in human-modified landscapes; however, landowner participation is often precluded by financial constraints. We assessed the ecological benefits and economic costs of paying landowners to set aside private land for restoration. Benefits were calculated from data on nearly 25,000 captures of Brazilian Atlantic Forest vertebrates, and economic costs were estimated for several restoration scenarios and values of payment for ecosystem services. We show that an annual investment equivalent to 6.5% of what Brazil spends on agricultural subsidies would revert species composition and ecological functions across farmlands to levels found inside protected areas, thereby benefiting local people. Hence, efforts to secure the future of this and other biodiversity hotspots may be cost-effective.
Chronic intermittent injections of high-dose ethanol during adolescence produce metabolic, hypnotic, and cognitive tolerance in rats.

BACKGROUND Many humans are first exposed to ethanol during adolescence, the time at which they are most likely to binge drink ethanol. Chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure produces ethanol tolerance in adolescent rodents. Recent studies suggested that adolescent animals administered CIE experienced increased cognitive impairment following an ethanol challenge. These studies further explore development of ethanol tolerance caused by CIE in adolescence, and whether CIE during adolescence leads to altered ethanol response in adulthood. METHODS Beginning postnatal day (P) 30, adolescent rats were administered 5.0 g/kg ethanol or saline every 48 hours for 20 days. In experiment I, animals were tested for differential weight gain. In experiment II, loss of righting reflex (LORR) was observed after each injection, then at completion of pretreatment all animals were tested with 5.0 g/kg ethanol and LORR was observed. In experiment III, blood ethanol levels were observed and elimination rates calculated after the first and fifth pretreatments. All animals were tested with 5.0 g/kg at completion of pretreatment and elimination rates were recalculated. In experiment IV, animals were trained on the spatial version of the Morris Water Maze Task (MWMT) on non-treatment days. Following completion of pretreatment and training, animals were tested after receiving an ethanol (1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 g/kg), or saline. Tests for experiments II, III, and IV were repeated in the same animals following 12 ethanol-free days. RESULTS Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure during adolescence caused differential weight gain (experiment I). Adolescent rats developed tolerance to ethanol-induced LORR (experiment II) and metabolic tolerance to ethanol (experiment III). This tolerance was seen after 12 ethanol-free days. CIE also attenuated ethanol-induced spatial memory deficits in the MWMT (experiment IV). This effect was not long-lasting. CONCLUSIONS Following CIE pretreatment during adolescence, tolerance developed to the hypnotic and cognitive impairing effects of ethanol, along with increased metabolic rate and decreased weight gain. These results further emphasize the ability of CIE to produce a variety of effects during adolescence, some having long-lasting consequences.
Removal of Methylene Blue from Water Using Hydroxyapatite Submitted to Microwave Irradiation

This study investigated the power of hydroxyapatite adsorbent prepared by a combined precipitation-microwave method, for removing a cationic dye methylene blue in aqueous media. The used adsorbent was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (IR). The adsorption tests were conducted in batch mode. The effect of temperature, the pH of the solution and the mass of the adsorbent on the adsorption were determined. It is found that the adsorption was pH and temperature dependent. The kinetic study showed that the second-order model gives a better description of the kinetics of the adsorption reaction than the first-order model. Analysis of adsorption isotherms using different classical models showed that adsorption may be governed by the isotherms of Langmuir. The thermodynamic parameters were determined from the values of the maximum adsorption capacity and equilibrium constants.
DHEA supplementation positively affects spontaneous pregnancies in women with diminished ovarian function

Abstract The aim of this article is to describe unexpected spontaneous pregnancies in poor responder patients with long-term infertility, when treated with dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation prior to in vitro fertilization (IVF). Our evaluation was carried out in two groups of women. The first group included 39 young women with <40 years, all treated with DHEA because of a previous poor response. The second group included 38 women over 40 years who received DHEA supplementation. Controls for latter group were 24 comparable women who had not been treated with DHEA before the first IVF cycle to evaluate the spontaneous pregnancy rate during preparation to IVF. Three tablets daily of 25 mg micronized DHEA were administered for at least 12 weeks before starting a long stimulation protocol for IVF. Surprisingly, spontaneous pregnancy rate significantly increased after DHEA treatment, allowing to achieve 10 spontaneous pregnancies and 9 spontaneous ongoing pregnancies among young poor responders. Pregnancy rate and ongoing pregnancy rate obtained before starting the IVF cycle were also significantly higher in older women treated with DHEA than in the control group: 21.05% and 13.15% and 4.1% and 0, respectively. Our results show that DHEA supplementation improves the ovarian function in poor responders and in women over 40 years, suggesting that this molecule alone can raise fecundity and fertility treatment success in women with poor prognosis for pregnancy.
Occupational Injury Trends Derived From Trauma Registry and Hospital Discharge Records: Lessons for Surveillance and Research

Objective: The suitability of the Washington State Trauma Registry (WTR) for occupational injury surveillance was assessed via comparing estimated rates and trends with those derived from state hospital discharge data. Methods: Descriptive methods and negative binomial regression were used to model occupational injury trends (1998 to 2009). Results: Nonlinear trends based on WTR data closely tracked those based on hospital discharge data, beginning about 2002. Rate estimates differed somewhat by data source and were most similar when a severity threshold was applied. Conclusions regarding temporal trends in work-related injury rates were the same using either data source. Conclusions: This study found substantial similarity between occupational injury trends estimated using either WTR or hospital discharge data. We conclude that a mature state trauma registry with mandatory reporting requirements can be used for surveillance of severe work-related traumatic injuries.
Abnormalities of object visual processing in body dysmorphic disorder

Background Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) may have perceptual distortions for their appearance. Previous studies suggest imbalances in detailed relative to configural/holistic visual processing when viewing faces. No study has investigated the neural correlates of processing non-symptom-related stimuli. The objective of this study was to determine whether individuals with BDD have abnormal patterns of brain activation when viewing non-face/non-body object stimuli. Method Fourteen medication-free participants with DSM-IV BDD and 14 healthy controls participated. We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants matched photographs of houses that were unaltered, contained only high spatial frequency (HSF, high detail) information or only low spatial frequency (LSF, low detail) information. The primary outcome was group differences in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes. Results The BDD group showed lower activity in the parahippocampal gyrus, lingual gyrus and precuneus for LSF images. There were greater activations in medial prefrontal regions for HSF images, although no significant differences when compared to a low-level baseline. Greater symptom severity was associated with lower activity in the dorsal occipital cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex for normal spatial frequency (NSF) and HSF images. Conclusions Individuals with BDD have abnormal brain activation patterns when viewing objects. Hypoactivity in visual association areas for configural and holistic (low detail) elements and abnormal allocation of prefrontal systems for details are consistent with a model of imbalances in global versus local processing. This may occur not only for appearance but also for general stimuli unrelated to their symptoms.
An alternative formulation of finite difference WENO schemes with Lax-Wendroff time discretization for conservation laws

We develop an alternative formulation of conservative finite difference weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) schemes to solve conservation laws. In this formulation, the WENO interpolation of the solution and its derivatives are used to directly construct the numerical flux, instead of the usual practice of reconstructing the flux functions. Even though this formulation is more expensive than the standard formulation, it does have several advantages. The first advantage is that arbitrary monotone fluxes can be used in this framework, while the traditional practice of reconstructing flux functions can be applied only to smooth flux splitting. The second advantage, which is fully explored in this paper, is that it is more straightforward to construct a Lax-Wendroff time discretization procedure, with a Taylor expansion in time and with all time derivatives replaced by spatial derivatives through the partial differential equations, resulting in a narrower effective stencil compared with previous high order finite difference WENO scheme based on the reconstruction of flux functions with a Lax-Wendroff time discretization. We will describe the scheme formulation and present numerical tests for oneand two-dimensional scalar and system conservation laws demonstrating the designed high order accuracy and non-oscillatory performance of the schemes constructed in this paper.
Oral heparin results in the appearance of heparin fragments in the plasma of rats.

We have previously shown that angiogenesis inhibition and tumor regression can be accomplished by combinations of heparin or heparin fragments with cortisone [Folkman, J., Langer, R. , Linhardt, R. J., Haudenschild, C. & Taylor, S. (1983) Science 221, 719-725]. Oral heparin was also effective in combination with cortisone. We now show that a single oral dose of [35S]heparin or [3H]heparin (15,000 units/kg) results in continuous release of radioactive material into the bloodstream for at least 12 hr. This is associated with the presence of anti-factor Xa activity at a level of approximately equal to 0.1 unit/ml. The radioactive material is identified as oligo-, di-, and monosaccharides by its behavior in chromatographic systems, its possession of anti-factor Xa activity, and the effect of treatment with bacterial heparinase. The heparin fragments are extensively metabolized to fragments without anti-factor Xa activity that are readily subject to urinary excretion.