Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiac matrix remodelling in congestive heart failure: the role of matrix metalloproteinases.

BACKGROUND Congestive heart failure (CHF), the most frequent reason for hospital admission of elderly patients, is an important and rapidly increasing cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Its development is accompanied by left-ventricle (LV) dilatation and pump dysfunction. The extracellular space in the heart is now recognized as an essential element of myocardial structure and function, and a dynamic participant in remodelling. The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are an endogenous enzyme system responsible for extracellular collagen degradation and remodelling. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the potential role of several MMPs (MMP-1, MMP-3 and MMP-9) in CHF. PATIENTS AND METHODS We recruited 30 consecutive patients with moderate to severe CHF who presented for heart-failure management, along with 15 age- and sex-matched control participants. Two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiographic studies were used to assess LV size and function and hence assess LV remodelling. MMP-1, -3 and -9 concentrations in serum were measured by ELISA at the time of admission and diagnosis. RESULTS Serum levels of all 3 metalloproteinases were higher in patients with CHF than in controls; those of MMP-3 were markedly increased in patients with severe CHF. CONCLUSIONS The association found between LV performance and MMP levels suggests that MMPs are implicated in CHF, that serum concentrations of MMPs may serve as markers for CHF, and that MMPs are a potential novel therapeutic target.
Prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder in general practice in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

OBJECTIVES This study assessed the prevalence rate of generalized anxiety disorder among patients of general practitioners in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden and determined whether general practitioners recognize the condition and its correlates. METHODS Data were gathered in September 2001. Participating patients received a questionnaire that included the Generalized Anxiety Questionnaire and the Depression Screening Questionnaire. The scale used DSM-IV criteria to identify generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive episode. General practitioners filled in a questionnaire about their patients' mental and physical illnesses, including generalized anxiety and major depressive episode. General practitioners' basic sociodemographic data and professional career information were also gathered. RESULTS A total of 648 general practitioners and 8,879 patients participated in the study. The age-standardized rates for generalized anxiety disorder ranged from 4.1 to 6.0 percent for males and from 3.7 to 7.1 percent for females; for major depressive episode the rates ranged from 7.2 to 11.5 percent for males and from 9.9 to 14.2 percent for females. The proportion of generalized anxiety disorder cases recognized by general practitioners varied from 33 percent in Denmark to 53 percent in Norway. Recognition of generalized anxiety disorder by general practitioners was associated with presentation of anxiety problems by the patients. Physical symptoms as a reason for a consultation was associated with lowered recognition of generalized anxiety disorder. Previous diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder or anxiety neurosis were associated with increased recognition of generalized anxiety disorder. CONCLUSIONS Of the total percentage of cases of generalized anxiety disorder in general practice (4.8 percent for males and 6.0 percent for females), only one-third to one-half of the cases were identified by the general practitioners.
Women's experiences of fatigue in chronic illness.

AIM The aim of this paper is to add a qualitative dimension to the body of knowledge about fatigue by revealing the meaning given by women living with chronic illness to the experience of fatigue. BACKGROUND Fatigue is a common symptom experienced by people who live with chronic illness. It pervades every aspect of life and may be experienced in physical, psychological, emotional or social dimensions. Management of fatigue relies heavily on the individual's ability to employ self-care actions. The invisibility of fatigue is recognized as one of the most frustrating aspects, which can lead to lack of understanding and misunderstanding by others. METHOD We report the findings of data from research in progress (2003-2005). Data were generated via email group conversations between us and 30 women who live with long-term illness. FINDINGS A recurring conversational thread has been women's experiences of fatigue when living with long-term illness. Although fatigue has been reported to be a major obstacle to maintaining usual daily activities and quality of life, few studies have explored this common symptom from the perspective of people themselves. Common themes found in the experience of fatigue as described by women are the meaning of fatigue, awareness as self-care, fatigue as invisible to others, seeking medical validation and accountability for self-care. CONCLUSION It is vital for healthcare workers to give opportunities for women to talk about fatigue, validate their experiences and provide support with self-care. Healthcare workers are encouraged to challenge their own meanings and expectations surrounding a person's report of fatigue so that opportunities for therapeutic intervention can be facilitated.
Sequence Elements in cis Influence Heterochromatic Silencing in trans

ABSTRACT The brown Dominant (bw D ) allele contains a large insertion of heterochromatin, which causes the locus to aberrantly associate with heterochromatin in interphase nuclei and silences the wild-type allele in heterozygotes. Transgenes placed near the bw + locus, in trans to bw D , can also be silenced. The strength of silencing (called trans inactivation) varies with the regulatory sequences of the transgene and its distance away from the bw D insertion site in trans. In this study, we examine endogenous sequences in cis that influence susceptibility of a reporter gene to trans inactivation. Flanking deletions were induced in two parental lines containing P-element transgenes showing trans inactivation of the mini-white reporter. These new lines, which have mini-white under the influence of different endogenous sequence elements, now show varied ability to be silenced by bw D . Determination of the deleted regions and the levels of mini-white expression and trans inactivation has allowed us to explore the correlation between cis sequence elements and susceptibility to trans inactivation and to identify a 301-bp sequence that acts as an enhancer of trans inactivation. Intriguingly, this region encompasses the upstream regions of two divergently transcribed genes and contains a sequence motif that may bind BEAF, a protein involved in delimiting chromatin boundaries.
Employment, social capital, and community participation among Israelis with disabilities.

BACKGROUND Employment, social capital, and community participation have emerged in recent years as significant concepts for realizing the human rights of individuals with disabilities. Yet the theoretical interrelationship of these concepts remains largely overlooked, as does the empirical basis for understanding the underlying connections. OBJECTIVES This study explores the relationship between employment status, social capital, community participation, and well-being among Israelis with disabilities. It also explores the unique contribution of social capital to the well-being and integration of individuals with disabilities. METHOD 274 participants with self-reported disabilities completed a questionnaire containing measures of individual social capital, community participation, well-being, and background data. Correlation and Univariate analysis were used to compare scores between employed (n=131) and non-employed (n=143) participants, and logistic regression analysis was conducted to test the unique contribution of employment to social inclusion and well-being. RESULTS Employed participants reported significantly higher levels of social capital and were more integrated in leisure and civic activities than their non-employed counterparts. Moreover, employment status was found to have a significant contribution to the variance in the subjective well-being of participants. CONCLUSIONS By more fully understanding the importance of social capital for community inclusion, practitioners can better address the importance of network-building during the rehabilitation process as a means of promoting social and vocational integration.
Pharmacotherapy for body dysmorphic disorder: treatment received and illness severity.

BACKGROUND Research on pharmacotherapy received by individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a relatively common and impairing disorder, is very limited. METHODS We examined past and current pharmacotherapy received by 151 individuals with BDD who were recruited from diverse sources. RESULTS 72.9% of subjects had received psychotropic medication. The most common type ever received was an SRI (65.6%), followed by non-SRI antidepressants (41.1%) and benzodiazepines (27.2%). Subjects with greater lifetime impairment due to BDD were more likely to have received pharmacotherapy, and subjects with lifetime OCD or greater lifetime impairment due to BDD were more likely to have received an SRI specifically. Subjects revealed their BDD symptoms to only 41.0% of pharmacotherapists. Only 12.9% of SRI trials were considered optimal for BDD, and an additional 21.5% were considered minimally adequate. SRI trials that were considered optimal or at least minimally adequate for BDD were associated with greater improvement in BDD and less severe current BDD symptoms than non-optimal or inadequate SRI trials. CONCLUSIONS A high proportion of individuals with BDD receive pharmacotherapy, primarily SRIs, although most SRI trials appear inadequate for BDD. SRI treatment that was considered adequate was associated with greater improvement in BDD and less severe BDD symptoms.
Evaluation of eccentric exercise in treatment of patellar tendinitis.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a quadriceps femoris muscle eccentric training program on strength gain in patients with patellar tendinitis. The effect of an eight-week eccentric exercise program on quadriceps femoris muscle work was evaluated in four groups of subjects--two groups of "normal" (healthy) subjects and two groups of patients with patellar tendinitis. All four groups participated in a home muscle stretching exercise program, but only two groups--one group of normal subjects (N-A) and one group of subjects with tendinitis (T-A)--received additional eccentric training on an eccentric isokinetic dynamometer. The eccentric quadriceps femoris muscle work ratio (involved limb/uninvolved limb x 100) was used to quantify strength in the N-A and T-A Groups. Pain ratings were recorded for subjects with tendinitis before and after the eight-week experiment and were correlated with the dependent variable using a Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient. The N-A Group performed significantly better than all subjects with tendinitis (p less than .05). Subjects in the T-A Group, however, showed a trend toward increasing eccentric quadriceps femoris muscle work capacity over the eight-week training period. As pain ratings in the T-A Group increased, work ratios decreased. We concluded that eccentric exercise may be an effective treatment for patellar tendinitis, but that knee pain may limit optimal gains in strength.
Validity of Level of Supervision Scales for Assessing Pediatric Fellows on the Common Pediatric Subspecialty Entrustable Professional Activities

Purpose Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) represent the routine and essential activities that physicians perform in practice. Although some level of supervision scales have been proposed, they have not been validated. In this study, the investigators created level of supervision scales for EPAs common to the pediatric subspecialties and then examined their validity in a study conducted by the Subspecialty Pediatrics Investigator Network (SPIN). Method SPIN Steering Committee members used a modified Delphi process to develop unique scales for six of the seven common EPAs. The investigators sought validity evidence in a multisubspecialty study in which pediatric fellowship program directors and Clinical Competency Committees used the scales to evaluate fellows in fall 2014 and spring 2015. Results Separate scales for the six EPAs, each with five levels of progressive entrustment, were created. In both fall and spring, more than 300 fellows in each year of training from over 200 programs were assessed. In both periods and for each EPA, there was a progressive increase in entrustment levels, with second-year fellows rated higher than first-year fellows (P < .001) and third-year fellows rated higher than second-year fellows (P < .001). For each EPA, spring ratings were higher (P < .001) than those in the fall. Interrater reliability was high (Janson and Olsson’s iota = 0.73). Conclusions The supervision scales developed for these six common pediatric subspecialty EPAs demonstrated strong validity evidence for use in EPA-based assessment of pediatric fellows. They may also inform the development of scales in other specialties.
Longitudinal Analysis of Peritoneal Fluid Transport and Its Determinants in a Cohort of Incident Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

♦ Background and Objectives: There is a paucity of large longitudinal studies on the time course of peritoneal fluid transport. The aim of the present study was to longitudinally analyze changes in fluid transport and relevant solute transport parameters in patients treated with a conventional peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluid and, to mimic clinical reality, not selected for the presence or absence of ultrafiltration (UF) failure. ♦ Methods: This prospective single-center cohort study followed 138 consecutive incident PD patients from July 1994 until censoring in August 2004. The design was longitudinal, with repeated measures over time in each patient. Patients had undergone at least 1 and a maximum of 5 annual standard peritoneal permeability analyses (SPAs) using 3.86% glucose dialysate. A linear mixed model was used to analyze the longitudinal data. ♦ Results: No differences in patient characteristics were present at baseline in relation to the number of available SPAs. There were also no differences in patient withdrawal during the years of follow-up. A gradual decline in fluid transport, expressed as free water transport (FWT), small-pore fluid transport (SPFT), and transcapillary UF (TCUF), was observed with duration of PD. The decline was mainly attributable to patients who developed UF failure. The time courses for the determinants of fluid transport, such as the reflection coefficient (σ) and the UF coefficient (LpA), were not different. However, they were associated with an increase in the mass transfer area coefficient of creatinine, reflecting the peritoneal vascular surface area. ♦ Conclusions: Fluid profiles for FWT and SPFT during a dwell can be explained by current knowledge of the three-pore model. Fluid transport declines with the duration of PD because of an increase in the vascular surface area, leading to a rapid dissipation of glucose as the osmotic agent. The absence of a trend in the time course of osmotic conductance and its constituents—that is, LpA and σ—suggests that, in an unselected population, these parameters are affected only late in the time course of PD.
The effect of aspirin on thrombin stimulated platelet adhesion receptor expression and the role of neutrophils.

AIMS Aspirin has proven clinical efficacy in limiting the thrombotic complications of atherosclerotic vascular disease but its mechanism of action remains unclear. Recent evidence suggests the anti-platelet action of aspirin may be partly mediated by neutrophil derived nitric oxide (NO). The aim of the study was to determine the effects of aspirin on thrombin-induced platelet expression of the alpha-granule membrane protein, P-selectin, and the platelet surface glycoprotein required for aggregation, GPIIb-IIIa, and to assess whether this was enhanced by the presence of neutrophils. METHODS Platelet P-selectin and GPIIb-IIIa receptor expression were assessed by flow cytometric analysis of washed platelets stimulated with thrombin (0.025 iu ml(-1), sub aggregatory concentration) alone or after pre-incubation with aspirin (0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 mg m1(-1) either in the presence or absence of neutrophils (100 platelets per neutrophil). NO release was determined by assay of nitrite in the supernatants from parallel samples. RESULTS In preliminary aggregation studies, aspirin at all concentrations inhibited arachidonic acid but not thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. Similarly, aspirin at all concentrations failed to inhibit thrombin-induced platelet P-selectin or GPIIb-IIIa expression and this was not influenced by the presence of neutrophils. A reduction in P-selectin and GPIIb-IIIa receptor density on non-activated platelets co-incubated with unstimulated neutrophils was associated with NO release from neutrophils, but this was not enhanced by the addition of aspirin. CONCLUSIONS These results confirm that thrombin-induced platelet alpha-granule release, with consequent P-selectin expression, and platelet GPIIb-IIIa expression, are not affected by aspirin inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase and suggest that the anti-thrombotic efficacy of aspirin in vivo may partly depend on other mechanisms. This study did not demonstrate an effect of neutrophils or neutrophil derived NO on aspirin inhibition of platelet adhesion receptor expression.
Intracellular Replication of Mycobacterium marinum within Dictyostelium discoideum: Efficient Replication in the Absence of Host Coronin

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium marinum causes tuberculosis-like disease in fish and amphibians and has been used as a model mycobacterial species because of its rapid growth and less stringent containment requirements relative to other mycobacterial species. We demonstrate here that M. marinum grows within Dictyostelium discoideum cells, allowing the genetic analysis of host factors that may modulate the replication of mycobacterial species. Intracellular growth of M. marinum was shown to mimic the properties previously observed for growth within cultured phagocytes. A defined bacterial mutant defective for growth within phagocytic cells was shown to be similarly defective for growth within D. discoideum. To test the role of host coronin, which was previously hypothesized to positively modulate mycobacterial growth within mouse macrophages, a defined D. discoideum coronin mutant was analyzed. Surprisingly, the absence of coronin resulted in enhanced intracellular replication of M. marinum relative to the control wild-type strain. Consistent with previous observations, some phagosomes showed persistence of coronin about the surface of the compartment, but colocalization of the protein was far from uniform. We conclude that in D. discoideum factors other than coronin support intracellular replication of M. marinum.
Memory, mood, and vitamin D in persons with Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND Research in recent years has suggested a role of vitamin D in the central nervous system. The final converting enzyme and the vitamin D receptor are found throughout the human brain. From animal studies vitamin D appears important in neurodevelopment, up-regulation of neurotrophic factors, stabilization of mitochondrial function, and antioxidation. OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between serum vitamin D and neuropsychiatric function in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS This is an add-on study to a longitudinal study following neuropsychiatric function in persons with PD. Baseline neuropsychiatric performance and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D were examined for 286 participants with PD. Measures of global cognitive function (MMSE, MOCA, Mattis Dementia Scale), verbal memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test), fluency (animals, vegetables, and FAS words), visuospatial function (Benton Line Orientation), executive function (Trails Making Test and Digit-Symbol Substitution), PD severity (Hoehn & Yahr and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) and depression (Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)) were administered. Multivariate linear regression assessed the association between vitamin D concentration and neuropsychiatric function, in the entire cohort as well as the non-demented and demented subsets. RESULTS Using a multivariate model, higher vitamin D concentrations were associated with better performance on numerous neuropsychiatric tests in the non-demented subset of the cohort. Significant associations were specifically found between vitamin D concentration and verbal fluency and verbal memory (t = 4.31, p < 0.001 and t = 3.04, p = 0.0083). Vitamin D concentrations also correlated with depression scores (t = -3.08, p = 0.0083) in the non-demented subset. CONCLUSIONS Higher plasma vitamin D is associated with better cognition and better mood in this sample of PD patients without dementia. Determination of causation will require a vitamin D intervention study.
Molecular dynamics of aluminum nanoparticles friction on graphene

Using molecular dynamics method and CUDA-technology for software creation, we investigate tribological properties observed when aluminum atoms are deposited on a graphene layer. During the modeling of the shear of nanoparticles, consisting of aluminum atoms, various parameters are measured the total momentum of the system, the total and potential energies, the temperature, the velocity and position of the center of mass, the dimensions of the nanoparticle, friction and substrate forces acting on the particle. We make a conclusion that tribological properties of nanoparticles strongly depend on materials. Detected heterogeneous form of dependence of substrate force is saw-like. The power dependence of averaged friction force on contact area was obtained. Since peaks of radial distribution function are blurred consequently nanoparticle has amorphous or polycrystalline form.
The moderating effect of control over work scheduling and overtime on the relationship between workload demands and perceived job risk.

BACKGROUND This study investigated the impact of workload demands on perceived job risk using the Job Demand-Control model as a research framework. OBJECTIVE The primary objective was to test the hypothesis that employee control over work scheduling and overtime would moderate the relationship between workload demands and perceived job risk. METHOD Ninety-six participants working in a variety of industries completed measures of workload demands, and of control over work scheduling and overtime, and a measure of perceived job risk. RESULTS Workload demands predicted higher perceptions of job risk. However, the results also suggest that control over overtime moderated this relationship, where those with the combination of high workload demands and low control over overtime reported higher levels of perceived risk. The results indicate that the JDC model is applicable to safety research. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that employee control over workload demands is an important variable to consider in terms of managing workplace safety. The present study also points to important areas for future research to explore in order to further understand the connection between demands and safety.