Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Utility of obesity indices in screening Chinese postmenopausal women for metabolic syndrome

ObjectiveAlthough a variety of indices have been used to assess obesity, which is closely associated with the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS), the best indicator of the effects of fat accumulation on Chinese postmenopausal women is still uncertain. Thus, the objectives of this study were to analyze the potential of different obesity indices and to explore which index is best for predicting MetS in Chinese postmenopausal women. MethodsA cross-sectional analysis of the baseline data of 1,234 Chinese postmenopausal women (aged 42-79 y) who participated in the annual health checkup was performed. The obesity indices of all participants, including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), percent body fat (PBF), and fat mass index (FMI), were measured or calculated. The updated National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III criteria were used to assess MetS risk factors. Spearman and partial correlations were used to assess correlations between obesity indices and MetS components. The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the optimal cutoff values of all indicators of MetS development. The values of BMI, WC, WHR, WHtR, PBF, and FMI that resulted in the maximization of the Youden index (sensitivity + specificity − 1) were defined as optimal. ResultsAmong the participants, 38.8% (n = 479) were identified as having two or more nonadipose MetS risk components (excluding a positive WC component). These women had higher obesity indices than women with fewer metabolic risk factors. All indices were significantly associated with all MetS components even after controlling for age and C-reactive protein. A BMI of 24.0 kg/m2, a WHR of 0.85, a WC of 79.9 cm, a WHtR of 0.49, a PBF of 29.9%, and an FMI of 7.2 kg/m2 were the optimal cutoff values for predicting at least two other MetS components according to ROC curve analysis. However, among the indicators of central obesity, WHR and WHtR showed the greatest area under the ROC curve. ConclusionsWHR and WHtR are the best indicators of MetS development. A WHR of 0.85 or higher and a WHtR of 0.49 or higher should be incorporated into the identification of MetS risk in Chinese postmenopausal women.
Cisternal maturation and vesicle transport: join the band wagon! (Review)

'No cellular organelle has been the subject of as many, as long-lasting or as diverse polemics as the Golgi apparatus'. This statement was made by Whaley almost 30 years ago in the book The Golgi Apparatus and still holds true today, perhaps more then ever. Why is this? How come something as mundane as a series of intracellular membrane bound structures continues to fascinate and captivate a large section of the cell biology community? One simple reason (putting polemics aside) is that the secretory pathway appears deceptively simple. Once probed, however, it has a persistent habit of developing into an enigma. Is one then not closer than 30 years ago? In a sense yes, in that one has more components and a better understanding of inherent membrane dynamics, but it is still not known how newly synthesized proteins and lipids make their way from the ER to the plasma membrane. Is it by vesicles, cisternal carriers or transient tubular connections? It has also been learned that newly synthesized proteins are segregated away from the resident components throughout the pathway, but not how. Do coat proteins hold the key? It is understood that the cytoskeleton is important, but not really why. It is known that each Golgi stack is a fully functional unit, but not why stacks are connected laterally into a large ribbon (the Golgi apparatus). This review focuses on how proteins make their way through the pathway, a basic question that remains to be answered.
An overview of experimental and investigational multikinase inhibitors for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer

Introduction: The era of molecular-targeted agents, particularly bevacizumab and cetuximab, has revolutionized the treatment paradigm for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Amongst the multikinase inhibitors (MKIs) examined, regorafenib was the first to establish its role in mCRC. Despite its modest efficacy, this finding had reignited interest in exploring MKIs with the hope of maximizing their therapeutic potential in mCRC. Areas covered: This review summarizes the previous studies of MKIs in mCRC, targeting two signaling pathways activated through vascular endothelial growth factor receptors and epidermal growth factor receptors. The article provides discussion with a focus on: the challenges encountered when combining MKI with chemotherapy, the lack of predictive markers, and strategies utilized to address escape pathways through combining MKIs with other targeted agents. Expert opinion: Clinical progress using MKIs in mCRC has been disappointing due to their limited efficacy. The exact role of regorafenib, apart from in chemo-refractory disease setting, requires further delineation. The role of MKIs in combination with other targeted agents or chemotherapy and in the maintenance setting is still considered experimental and warrants further investigation. The broader role of the current generation of MKIs will depend upon the accurate identification of patients with specific molecular phenotypes and better pharmacodynamic understanding of these agents to minimize toxicity.
Development and implementation of a participative intervention to improve the psychosocial work environment and mental health in an acute care hospital

Objectives: To describe the development and implementation phases of a participative intervention aimed at reducing four theory grounded and empirically supported adverse psychosocial work factors (high psychological demands, low decision latitude, low social support, and low reward), and their mental health effects. Methods: The intervention was realised among 500 care providers in an acute care hospital. A prior risk evaluation was performed, using a quantitative approach, to determine the prevalence of adverse psychosocial work factors and of psychological distress in the hospital compared to an appropriate reference population. In addition, a qualitative approach included observation in the care units, interviews with key informants, and collaborative work with an intervention team (IT) including all stakeholders. Results: The prior risk evaluation showed a high prevalence of adverse psychosocial factors and psychological distress among care providers compared to a representative sample of workers from the general population. Psychosocial variables at work associated with psychological distress in the prior risk evaluation were high psychological demands (prevalence ratio (PR) = 2.27), low social support from supervisors and co-workers (PR = 1.35), low reward (PR = 2.92), and effort-reward imbalance (PR = 2.65). These results showed the empirical relevance of an intervention on the four selected adverse psychosocial factors among care providers. Qualitative methods permitted the identification of 56 adverse conditions and of their solutions. Targets of intervention were related to team work and team spirit, staffing processes, work organisation, training, communication, and ergonomy. Conclusion: This study adds to the scarce literature describing the development and implementation of preventive intervention aimed at reducing psychosocial factors at work and their health effects. Even if adverse conditions in the psychosocial environment and solutions identified in this study may be specific to the healthcare sector, the intervention process used (participative problem solving) appears highly exportable to other work organisations.
The early phase of an HIV epidemic in a population exposed previously to HCV in the Philippines

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) sentinel surveillance program for injecting drug users has been conducted in Metro Cebu, the Philippines. A low prevalence (0–0.52%) of anti‐HIV‐positivity had been detected in this population from 2002 to 2007. However, a 10‐fold increase in HIV prevalence was detected in the 2009 national HIV sentinel surveillance program. It prompted an additional outreach program to be conducted in Metro Cebu in January 2010, which recorded the highest HIV prevalence rate ever documented in the Philippines (75%, 44/59). HIV genes from fourteen 2009 to 2010 Metro Cebu strains were clustered closely in the phylogenetic tree, but no other strain collected outside Metro Cebu and none stored in the International Nucleotide Sequence Database was allocated to the same phylogenetic cluster. All these HIV infections have emerged in the anti‐hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐positive population (100%, 62/62) in Metro Cebu from 2009 to 2010. The five HCV strains from the individuals harboring the closely related HIV strains were categorized into different subtypes. These results strongly suggest that HIV infections occurred recently and spread rapidly among injecting drug users, while HCV had been circulating previously among them. Considering the fact that injecting drug use was the first mode of HIV transmission in Asia, extensive monitoring of injecting drug users and associated bridging populations is necessary. Therefore, HCV‐guided characterization of the spread of HIV to populations that are vulnerable to blood‐borne infections could play an important role in alerting health authorities to the early phase of an HIV epidemic. J. Med. Virol. 83:941–947, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Real-Time Scalable Visual Tracking via Quadrangle Kernelized Correlation Filters

Correlation filter (CF) has been widely used in tracking tasks due to its simplicity and high efficiency. However, conventional CF-based trackers fail to handle the scale variation that occurs when the targeted object is moving, which is one of the most notable unsolved problems of visual object tracking. In this paper, we propose a scalable visual tracking algorithm based on kernelized correlation filters, referred to as quadrangle kernelized correlation filters (QKCF). Unlike existing complicated scalable trackers that either perform the correlation filtering operation multiple times or extract many candidate windows at various scales, our tracker intends to estimate the scale of the object based on the positions of its four corners, which can be detected using a new Gaussian training output matrix within one filtering process. After obtaining four peak values corresponding to the four corners, we measure the detection confidence of each part response by evaluating its spatial and temporal smoothness. On top of it, a weighted Bayesian inference framework is employed to estimate the final location and size of the bounding box from the response matrix, where the weights are synchronized with the calculated detection likelihoods. Experiments are performed on the OTB-100 data set and 16 benchmark sequences with significant scale variations. The results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in terms of both effectiveness and robustness, compared with the state-of-the-art methods.
Caring for people with eating disorders: factors associated with psychological distress and negative caregiving appraisals in carers of people with eating disorders.

OBJECTIVES Carers of people with eating disorders (ED) have high levels of distress, but little is known about the contributing factors. The aim of this study was to examine predictors of carers' distress and caregiving appraisals using a model of caregiving adapted from the previous literature. DESIGN A cross-sectional design was used. METHODS A sample of 115 individuals currently caring for someone with an ED participated in the study. Carers completed self-report assessments of psychological distress (GHQ-12; Goldberg & Williams, 1988), experience of caregiving (Szmukler et al., 1996), illness representations (IPQ-SCV; Barrowclough, Lobban, Hatton, & Quinn, 2001) and caregiving needs (CaNAM; Haigh & Treasure, 2003). Simple and multiple hierarchical regressions were conducted. RESULTS Approximately 36% (39/109) of carers had scores on the GHQ which indicated mental health difficulties, with 17% (19/109) experiencing high psychological distress. A negative experience of caregiving was associated with carers' distress. The dependency of the individual with the ED and stigma associated with the illness were most highly predictive of carers' distress. Shorter illness duration, higher levels of needs (lower levels of support) and perceptions of high illness consequences contributed to greater negative caregiving appraisals. The belief that the illness was attributable to the sufferers' personality was related to fewer positive appraisals. CONCLUSIONS Adjusting to the impact of a family member experiencing an ED is problematic, as suggested by the relationship between shorter illness duration and greater negative appraisals of caregiving. Interventions to help reduce dependency and alleviate stigma may help to decrease carers' distress.
A New Look at Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Postcapillary Pathophysiology and Cardiac Dysfunction

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) and right ventricular function are the focus of cardiovascular effects of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). We assessed cardiac indexes reflecting systemic afterload and pulmonary venous back pressure as pathophysiologic factors. Cardiac parameters were measured by conventional echocardiography in 20 preterm infants with severe BPD and compared with those of 10 preterm infants with no BPD and 20 healthy term infants. In infants with severe BPD, PH was noted in 5 (25%) by tricuspid regurgitation Doppler jet ≥2.8 m/s and in 15 (75%) by time to peak velocity/right ventricular ejection time <0.34. Among systemic cardiac indexes, significant impairment of diastolic measures was noted in the BPD group compared with infants with no BPD and term infants. The significance persisted after adjusting for gestational age and birth weight. These included transmitral E/A ratio (1.07 ± 0.07 vs. 0.91 ± 0.04 vs. 0.89 ± 0.09; P < 0.0001), isovolumic relaxation time (68.8 ± 3.9 vs. 58.5 ± 7.8 vs. 54.2 ± 5.7 ms; P < 0.0001), mitral valve stroke volume (4.7 ± 0.7 vs. 5.6 ± 0.6 vs. 5.9 ± 0.1; P = 0.002), and myocardial performance index (0.33 ± 0.05 vs. 0.28 ± 0.01 vs. 0.27 ± 0.05; P = 0.03). Left ventricular output was significantly lower in the BPD cohort (183 ± 45 vs. 189 ± 9 vs. 191 ± 32 mL/kg/min; P = 0.03). Altered systemic (left-sided) cardiac function was noted in infants with BPD, which may lead to pulmonary venous congestion contributing to a continued need for respiratory support.
Effect of high concentration of Co (II) on Enterobacter liquefaciens strain C‐1: A bacterium highly resistant to heavy metals with an unknown genome.

Heavy metals are required as nutrients for essential functions in microorganisms. However, higher concentrations of these cations are generally toxic and may produce contrasting effects on living organisms. Enterobacter liquefaciens strain C‐1, a bacterium isolated from the Moa mine in Cuba, is able to survive in the presence of high concentrations of heavy metals. The proteomes of Enterobacter liquefaciens strain C‐1, grown under aerobic conditions in the presence and absence of Co (II) were compared using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis analysis in the isoelectric point range of 4–7 and the mass range of 15–120 kDa. Significant changes in the expression level (> two‐fold) were detected for 13 spots: seven and six were up‐ and down‐regulated, respectively. Because the genome of this bacterium is unknown, identification by peptide mass fingerprinting only succeeded in four cases and most of the cross‐species identifications were supported by de novo sequencing of tryptic peptides followed by sequence alignment using the MS BLAST program. Twelve different proteins were identified, ten are involved in cellular antioxidant defence probably induced by the presence of Co (II). This is the first step towards understanding the role of proteins participating in the mechanism of resistance to heavy metals in this bacterium.
Trauma patients receiving CPR: predictors of survival.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether prehospital clinical assessments are associated with the survival of traumatic cardiopulmonary arrest (TCPA) patients and to test recently issued clinical guidelines for prehospital cessation of resuscitative efforts published by the National Association of Emergency Physicians and the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was done of all TCPA patients who had transported to a Level I trauma center by a municipal EMS provider between January 1, 1994 and April 1, 2001. Data regarding mechanism of injury, clinical assessments and care provided by EMS and the emergency department (ED), hospital care, survival, and neurologic outcome was collected. RESULTS 184 patients met exclusion criteria, with 14 (7.6%) surviving to discharge. Pupillary response to light, presence of a prehospital pulse or respiratory effort, a sinus electrocardiogram, and a Glascow Coma Scale greater than three were all significantly associated with survival but were not exclusive. 28.6% of patients admitted to the trauma center from the ED survived. There were frequent discrepancies between prehospital and ED clinical assessments. Several survivors met criteria for non-treatment according to the proposed clinical guidelines. CONCLUSIONS +/- Prehospital clinical assessments are not reliable for the triage of TCPA patients. Patients should be transported to the ED for further evaluation and care. The guidelines should not adopted until more thorough studies are conducted.
Automated quantification of Zebrafish tail deformation for high-throughput drug screening

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an important vertebrate model organism in biomedical research thanks to its ease of handling and translucent body, enabling in vivo imaging. Zebrafish embryos undergo spinal deformation upon exposure to chemical agents that inhibit DNA repair. Automated image-based quantification of spine deformation is therefore attractive for whole-organism based assays for use in early-phase drug discovery. We propose an automated method for accurate high-throughput measurement of tail deformations in multi-fish micro-plate wells. The method generates refined medial representations of partial tail-segments. Subsequently, these disjoint segments are analyzed and fused to generate complete tails. Based on estimated tail curvatures we reach a classification accuracy of 91% on individual animals as compared to known control treatment. This accuracy is increased to 95% when combining scores for fish in the same well.
Association study between brain‐derived neurotrophic factor gene polymorphisms and methamphetamine abusers in Japan

Several lines of evidence suggest that genetic factors might contribute to drug abuse vulnerability. Recent genomic scans for association demonstrated that the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene was associated with drug abuse vulnerability. In this study, we analyzed association of two BDNF gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 132C > T (C270T named formerly) in the noncoding region of exon V and 196G > A (val66met) in the coding region of exon XIIIA, with methamphetamine (MAP) abuse in Japan. No significant differences were found in the frequency of the genotype or allele in these two SNPs between MAP abusers and controls (132C > T in exon V: genotype, P = 0.586, allele, P = 0.594; 196G > A (val66met) in exon XIIIA: genotype, P = 0.889, allele, P = 0.713). Furthermore, there was no difference between clinical parameters (e.g., prognosis psychosis, spontaneous relapse, or poly‐substance abuse) and the two SNPs of BDNF gene. These results suggest that the two SNPs (132C > T in exon V and 196G>A (val66met) in exon XIIIA) of the BDNF gene may not be associated with Japanese MAP abusers. This article contains supplementary material, which may be viewed at the American Journal of Medical Genetics website at http://www.interscience. wiley.com/jpages/0148‐7299:1/suppmat/index.html. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Structure of the nacreous organic matrix of a bivalve mollusk shell examined in the hydrated state using cryo-TEM.

During mollusk shell formation, the mineral phase forms within an organic matrix composed of beta-chitin, silk-like proteins, and acidic glycoproteins rich in aspartic acid. The matrix is widely assumed to play an important role in controlling mineralization. Thus, understanding its structure is of prime importance. Cryo-transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) studies of the matrix of the bivalve Atrina embedded in vitrified ice show that the interlamellar sheets are composed mainly of highly ordered and aligned beta-chitin fibrils. The silk, which is quantitatively an important component of the matrix, could not be imaged within the sheets. Organic material was, however, observed between sheets. We infer that this is the location of the silk. As this material reveals no regular structure, we suggest that at least prior to mineralization the silk is in the form of a hydrated gel. This is supported by cryo-TEM structural observations of an artificial assembly of beta-chitin with and without silk. This view of the nacreous organic matrix significantly changes previous models of the matrix structure and hence hypotheses pertaining to the mechanisms by which mineral formation occurs.
Nitrosylated bovine serum albumin derivatives as pharmacologically active nitric oxide congeners.

Although nitrosothiols have been suggested to act as regulators of cell (patho)physiology, little is known about the pharmacology of nitrosylated proteins as nitric oxide (NO.) congeners. We describe the molecular consequences of nitrosylating bovine serum albumin (BSA) at multiple specific sites and demonstrate that the product S-nitrosoproteins exert NO.-like activity. The content of nucleophilic nitrosylation sites (i.e., free sulfhydryl groups) in native BSA was increased by either reduction with dithiothreitol or thiolation with N-acetylhomocysteine. Fourteen moles of nitrogen monoxide (NO)/mol BSA equivalent were then selectively positioned on either the endogenous sulfhydryl groups of reduced BSA or the homocysteine moieties of thiolated BSA, respectively. Each resulting S-nitrosoprotein adduct was an oligomeric mixture across the >2000 kDa to approximately 66 kDa molecular mass range. The BSA-derived S-nitrosoproteins were immunoreactive with antibodies against native BSA but evidenced compromised long-chain fatty acid binding. Both types of BSA-derived S-nitrosoproteins suppressed human coronary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation to a similar degree (IC50 approximately 70 microM NO. equivalents) and were significantly more effective antiproliferative agents than a standard NO. donor, DETA NONOate. Antiproliferative bioactivity reflected the NO functionalities carried by each protein, but was independent of molecular mass of the nitrosylated BSA adducts. These data exemplify the rational design and characterization of protein-based S-nitrosothiols as NO. congeners and suggest that such agents could have therapeutic potential as NO delivery systems.