Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Fun, Food, and Fitness Project (FFFP): the Baylor GEMS pilot study.

OBJECTIVE The Girls health Enrichment Multisite Studies (GEMS) Fun, Food, and Fitness Project (FFFP) was designed to prevent obesity among 8-year-old African-American girls. DESIGN Twelve-week, two-arm parallel group randomized controlled pilot study. SETTING Summer day camp and homes in Houston, Texas. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-five girls and their parents or caregivers were randomly assigned to treatment (N=19) or control groups (N=16). INTERVENTION Girls in the intervention group attended a special 4-week summer day camp, followed by a special 8-week home Internet intervention for the girls and their parents. Control group girls attended a different 4-week summer day camp, followed by a monthly home Internet intervention, neither of which components included the GEMS-FFFP enhancements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Body mass index (BMI), consumption of fruit, 100% fruit juice, and vegetables (FJV), physical activity. RESULTS After adjusting for baseline BMI, there were no significant differences in BMI between treatment and control group girls, either at the end of the 4-week summer day camp, or after the full 12-week intervention. By the end of the summer camp, the subgroup of treatment group girls heavier at baseline exhibited a trend (P<.08) toward lower BMI, compared to their heavier counterparts in the control group. Overall results at the end of the 12-week program demonstrated substantial, although not significant, differences between treatment and control groups in the hypothesized directions. On average, less than half the treatment sample logged onto the Website, which limited intervention dose. CONCLUSIONS Summer day camp appears to offer promise for initiating health behavior change. Effective methods must be developed and tested to enhance log-on rates among healthy children and their parents before Internet programs can achieve their potential.
Prevalence of Vertebral Fractures by Semiautomated Morphometry in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis

Objective. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease mainly affecting the axial skeleton and characterized by ossification of the spinal disc, joints, and ligaments leading to progressive ankylosis. Vertebral osteoporosis is a recognized feature of AS. Studies have confirmed a moderate to high prevalence of vertebral fractures with extremely varying ranges in patients with AS. Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of vertebral fractures in a representative Spanish population of patients with AS using a validated semiquantitative method, MorphoXpress®. Methods. Patients were randomly selected from the 10 initial participating centers of the Spanish National Registry of Spondyloarthropathies (REGISPONSER) by consecutive sampling. All patients fulfilled the New York modified criteria for AS and had a baseline thoracolumbar radiograph. A prevalent vertebral fracture was defined according to the Genant classification criteria. Results. The estimated prevalence of vertebral fractures was 32.4% (95% CI 25.5%–39.3%). The majority of fractures were localized in the thoracic segment (n = 100; 82.%) and were mild (n = 79; 64.8%). In logistic regression analysis, age (odds ratio per year 1.05, 95% CI 1.03–1.08, p < 0.001), disease duration (OR per year 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.06, p = 0.011), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index score (OR per score 1.16, 95% CI 1.03–1.30, p = 0.015), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Radiographic Index-TS (OR per score 1.25, 95% CI 1.12–1.39, p < 0.001), and wall-occiput distance (OR per cm 1.15, 95% CI 1.08–1.23, p < 0.001) were all associated with prevalent fracture. Conclusion. Semiquantitative methods are needed to improve the diagnosis of vertebral fractures in AS in order to start early treatment and to avoid complications arising from osteoporosis.
The Effect of Business Cycles and Parental Indebtedness on Childhood Obesity

In this paper we examine how business cycles affect obesity among children, and whether the effect is different for a subsample of households with consumer debt. We use data from three waves of the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics spanning from 1997 to 2007, along with monthly state-level unemployment data. These data have measures of household debt and child obesity, as well as food expenditures and time use data. We find that a higher unemployment rate is associated with a lower weight for children in households with debt. While we find that the children in households with debt appear to exercise more during recessions, this relationship does not explain the relationship between recessions and childhood obesity. We speculate that households may be using debt to smooth consumption and protect health during recessions.
Identiﬁcation and Characterization of a Drosophila Proteasome Regulatory Network†

Maintaining adequate proteasomal proteolytic activity is essential for eukaryotic cells. For metazoan cells, little is known about the composition of genes that are regulated in the proteasome network or the mechanisms that modulate the levels of proteasome genes. Previously, two distinct treatments have been observed to induce 26S proteasome levels in Drosophila melanogaster cell lines, RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated inhibition of the 26S proteasome subunit Rpn10/S5a and suppression of proteasome activity through treatment with active-site inhibitors. We have carried out genome array proﬁles from cells with decreased Rpn10/S5a levels using RNAi or from cells treated with proteasome inhibitor MG132 and have thereby identiﬁed candidate genes that are regulated as part of a metazoan proteasome network. The proﬁles reveal that the majority of genes that were identiﬁed to be under the control of the regulatory network consisted of 26S proteasome subunits. The 26S proteasome genes, including three new subunits, Ubp6p, Uch-L3, and Sem1p, were found to be up-regulated. A number of genes known to have proteasome-related functions, including Rad23, isopepti- dase T, sequestosome, and the genes for the segregase complex TER94/VCP-Ufd1-Npl4 were also found to be up-regulated. RNAi-mediated inhibition against the
Determination of the Affinity and Kinetic Constants for the Interaction between the Human Virus Echovirus 11 and Its Cellular Receptor, CD55*

The biochemical properties of the molecular interactions mediating viral-cell recognition are poorly characterized. In this study, we use surface plasmon resonance to study the affinity and kinetics of the interaction of echovirus 11 with its cellular receptor decay-accelerating factor (CD55). As reported for interactions between cell-cell recognition molecules, the interaction has a low affinity (K D ∼3.0 μm) as a result of a very fast dissociation rate constant (k on∼105 m −1·s−1,k off ∼0.3 s−1). This contrasts with the interaction of soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1, CD54) with human rhinovirus 3 which has been reported to have a similar affinity but 102–103-fold slower kinetics (Casasnovas, J. M., and Springer, T. A. (1995) J. Biol. Chem.270, 13216–13224). The extracellular portion of decay-accelerating factor comprises four short consensus repeat domains (domains 1–4) and a mucin-like stalk. By comparison of the binding affinity for echovirus 11 of various fragments of decay-accelerating factor, we are able to conclude that short consensus repeat domain 3 contributes ∼80% of the binding energy.
The Determinants of Health Status in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ssa)

This study examines the determinants of health status (as measured by life expectancy at birth) in SSA based on the Grossman (1972) theoretical model which considers the economic (the ratio of health expenditure to GDP and the per capita food availability index), social (the illiteracy rate and alcohol consumption), and environmental factors (urbanization rate and carbon dioxide emission per capita index). The coefficients of the health status function are estimated by one-way and two-way panel data analyses. The two-way random-effect model results suggest that a decrease in illiteracy rate and an increase in the food availability index are well positively associated with improvements in life expectancy at birth. Overall results also suggest that a health policy that may focus on the provision of health services, family planning programs, and emergency aids to the exclusion of other demographic issues may serve little in schemes aimed at improving the current health status of the region.
The independent association of anxiety with non-cardiac chest pain

Non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) is common in clinical cardiology. Anxiety is an important factor in NCCP because of its role in the neurobehavioural processes of pain regulation. It is not well established that which specific anxiety symptoms are disproportionately elevated in NCCP and whether the association between anxiety and NCCP is independent of personality factors. Participants with NCCP (N = 46; mean age 44.9 ± 14.7; 67% women) were evaluated for anxiety (Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory[STAI]), clinical measures and personality factors (negative affectivity and social inhibition measured by the Type D inventory). Item analysis was conducted for each of the anxiety symptoms. A healthy reference group was used for comparison purposes (N = 1233; mean age 55.2 ± 14.3; 50% women). Results showed that NCCP was associated with elevated anxiety levels (STAI ≥ 45) compared to the reference group (OR = 3.27, 95% CI = 1.68–6.36; p < .001). Item analyses revealed that all anxiety symptoms were associated with NCCP (median rho = .125, range .08–.18), particularly worry, tension and feeling frightened. Associations between anxiety and NCCP remained significant when adjusting for demographic, clinical and personality factors (OR = 2.52; 95% CI = 1.17–5.40). It is concluded that anxiety is strongly associated with NCCP. This association is not limited to physical anxiety symptoms and is independent of personality factors.
Cerebellum and processing of negative facial emotions: Cerebellar transcranial DC stimulation specifically enhances the emotional recognition of facial anger and sadness

Some evidence suggests that the cerebellum participates in the complex network processing emotional facial expression. To evaluate the role of the cerebellum in recognising facial expressions we delivered transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex. A facial emotion recognition task was administered to 21 healthy subjects before and after cerebellar tDCS; we also tested subjects with a visual attention task and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for mood. Anodal and cathodal cerebellar tDCS both significantly enhanced sensory processing in response to negative facial expressions (anodal tDCS, p=.0021; cathodal tDCS, p=.018), but left positive emotion and neutral facial expressions unchanged (p>.05). tDCS over the right prefrontal cortex left facial expressions of both negative and positive emotion unchanged. These findings suggest that the cerebellum is specifically involved in processing facial expressions of negative emotion.
Prevention of rotavirus infections in vitro with aqueous extracts of Quillaja Saponaria Molina.

BACKGROUND Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea disease in newborns and young children worldwide, estimated to be responsible for over 300,000 childhood deaths every year, mostly in developing countries. Rotavirus-related deaths represent approximately 5% of all deaths in children younger than 5 years of age worldwide. Saponins are readily soluble in water and are approved by the US FDA for inclusion in beverages intended for human consumption. The addition of saponins to existing water supplies offers a new form of intervention into the cycle of rotavirus infection. We believe that saponins will 'coat' the epithelium of the host's small intestine and prevent attachment of rotavirus. DISCUSSION This experiment provides in vitro data for the possibility of including saponin in drinking water to prevent infections of rotavirus. We demonstrate that microgram amounts of extract, while exhibiting no cell cytotoxicity or direct virucidal activity, prevent rotavirus from infecting its host cells. In addition, the presence of residual amounts of extract continue to block viral infection and render cells resistant to infection for at least 16 h after the removal of the extract from the cell culture media. CONCLUSION We demonstrate that two Quillaja extracts possess strong antiviral activity at concentrations more than 1000-fold lower than concentrations exhibiting cell cytotoxicity. Extract concentrations as high as 1000 μg/ml are not cytotoxic, but concentrations as low as 1.0 μg/ml are able to block rotavirus and reovirus attachment and infection.
Phenotypic persistence after reoxygenation of hypoxic neuroblastoma cells

Fast‐growing solid tumors are usually insufficiently vascularized, leading to areas with necrosis and/or poorly oxygenated cells. Tumor cells adapt to acute hypoxic stress. Central to this adaptation are the hypoxia‐inducible transcription factors (HIFs), which are degraded at normoxic but become stabilized at hypoxic conditions. Hypoxic (1% O2) neuroblastoma cells downregulate sympathetic nervous system marker genes, whereas neural crest cell markers are upregulated, suggesting that hypoxic tumor cells adopt a less mature phenotype, which in the clinical setting would translate to more aggressive tumors with increased metastatic potential. Here, we compared gene expression patterns in neuroblastoma cells grown at 1%, 5% (a physiologic oxygen level) and 21% O2. At 5% O2, cells developed a weak hypoxic phenotype and HIF‐2 α, but not HIF‐1 α, was acutely stabilized. At 1% O2, HIF‐2 α protein remained present in long‐term cultures, while HIF‐1 α was present only transiently. The stability of the hypoxia‐induced dedifferentiated phenotype in cells acutely reoxygenated at either 21% or 5% O2 persisted for at least 24 hr. Genes associated with a differentiated state, like NPY, ChrA and ChrB, were still downregulated and hypoxia‐induced genes, like TH and Id2, remained upregulated. Thus, if these culture conditions are viewed as models for acute reoxygenation of metastasizing hypoxic tumor cells, our data suggest that an aggressive hypoxic phenotype persists for 24 hr or more, which might be long enough for the cells to be able to home to secondary sites, in part as a consequence of their immature hypoxic characteristics. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Novel 3-D Model of Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane for Ameliorated Studies in Angiogenesis

Decisive indulgence of angiogenesis requires a more holistic assessment and several in vivo assays have been developed that permit a more realistic appraisal of the angiogenic response. One of the most popular assays to study angiogenic activity is the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). Although CAM assay is a vital technique used to study normal and putative angiogenesis, a serious drawback in its utilization is the lack of quantitative assessment of vascularization. In this study, we proposed a new 3-D model of the developing CAM for precise quantification of normal vasculature of CAM from Day 4 to Day 13 of incubation. Image probing technique was used to quantify different 3-D parameters of vascular microarchitecture. A significant increase (P < 0.05) in surface roughness (Sa) was observed at Day 5 of incubation, while highly significant increase (P < 0.01) in Sa values was observed at Day 6 of incubation. Maximum increase (P < 0.001) in Sa values was observed from Day 7 to Day 9 of incubation and slight decrease in Sa values was observed in successive days. Similar results were observed for root mean square values (Sq), absolute heights of the surface (Sz), and amount of lowest valleys (Sy) on CAM. A significant increase (P < 0.05) in developed surface area (Sdr) from Day 5 of incubation, reaching to its maximum (P < 0.01) at Day 9 also was noted. Similarly, significant increase (P < 0.05) in fluid core retention (Sci) illustrates presence of copious fluid in blood vessels. Image probing technique offers a useful modality for visualizing 3-D microvascular architecture of CAM to exaggerate the fine details and reveal the hidden information that can be helpful for precise quantification of angiogenesis. This approach can be used to evaluate the angiogenic and antiangiogenic potential of different biological substances and also can be a valuable independent prognostic indicator in a wide variety of human cancers.
Waitlist Hospital Admissions Predict Resource Utilization and Survival After Renal Transplantation

Objective: To determine whether fitness for transplant can be determined by candidates’ hospitalizations although waitlisted. Background: Renal transplantation must increasingly serve a population of multiply comorbid patients in an environment defined by organ scarcity and premiums on value-based care. Determining those at excess risk for transplant is critical to these imperatives. Methods: United States Renal Data Systems patient and claims data for all adult renal transplant recipients between 2000 and 2010 with continuous primary Medicare coverage for 1 year before and after transplantation were examined. Outcomes included readmissions within the first-year post-transplant and 3-year graft and patient survival. Chi-square statistics, Kaplan-Meier methods (log-rank test), and goodness of fit calculations (c-statistics) were performed for models of transplant outcome. Results: Among 37,623 patients, the percentages of patients admitted for 0, 1 to 7, 8 to 14, or 15 or more days in the pretransplant year were 51%, 25%, 11%, and 13%. Overall readmission-free survival at 1 year was 31%. Heavily preadmitted patients were more likely to have a greater length of stay during their transplant admission, and had a greater service needs at discharge. Pretransplant admission strongly predicted more frequent post-transplant admission. Among all factors studied, preadmission was the strongest predictor of post-transplant death, and had a dose-dependent effect on both death and graft loss. Conclusions: In summary, hospitalization in the year before transplant is an objective, readily ascertainable, and powerful predictor of excess resource utilization and inferior outcome. Incorporation of a rolling assessment of patient hospitalization has potential policy implications for maximizing value in renal transplantation.
Piroxicam nanoparticles for ocular delivery: Physicochemical characterization and implementation in endotoxin-induced uveitis

To investigate the anti-inflammatory impacts of piroxicam nanosuspension, in the current investigation, piroxicam:Eudragit®RS100 nanoformulations were used to control inflammatory symptoms in the rabbits with endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU). The nanoparticles of piroxicam:Eudragit®RS100 was formulated using the solvent evaporation/extraction technique. The morphological and physicochemical characteristics of nanoparticles were studied using particle size analysis, X-ray crystallography, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Drug release profiles were examined by fitting the data to the most common kinetic models. Selected nanosuspensions were used to assess the anti-inflammatory impacts of piroxicam nanoparticles in the rabbits with EIU. The major symptoms of EIU (i.e. inflammation and leukocytes numbers in the aqueous humor) were examined. All the prepared piroxicam formulations using Eudragit®RS100 resulted in a nano-range size particles and displayed spherical smooth morphology with positively charged surface, however, the formulated particles of drug alone using same methodology failed to manifest such characteristics. The Eudragit®RS100 containing nanoparticles displayed lower crystallinity than piroxicam with no chemical interactions between the drug and polymer molecules. Kinetically, the release profiles of piroxicam from nanoparticles appeared to fit best with the Weibull model and diffusion was the superior phenomenon. The in vivo examinations revealed that the inflammation can be inhibited by the drug:polymer nanosuspension more significantly than the microsuspension of drug alone in the rabbits with EIU. Upon these findings, we propose that the piroxicam:Eudragit®RS100 nanosuspensions may be considered as an improved ocular delivery system for locally inhibition of inflammation.
An estimate of the incidence of dementia in idiopathic Parkinson's disease

The proportion of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) who are considered demented ranges from 10% to 15%. Because dementia may affect survival in PD, the incidence rate of dementia, rather than proportion, would be a more accurate measure of disease frequency. We previously estimated the proportion of patients with PD and dementia to be 10.9% from the records of a cohort with the idiopathic form of PD in a major medical center. We reviewed the clinical records of this cohort after 4 years and 9 months to estimate the incidence rate of dementia. We identified 65 new cases of dementia from the 249 patient-records available. Using the number of person-years of follow-up for each case as the denominator, we estimated the overall incidence rate to be 69 per 1,000 person-years of observation. The mean age of this cohort was 71.4 years. The cumulative incidence of dementia increased with age. By 85 years of age, over 65% of the surviving members of the cohort were demented. The age-specific incidence rates for dementia in this cohort of PD were significantly greater than for a similarly aged cohort of healthy elderly people. The age-specific standard morbidity ratios indicated that, compared with people of similar ages, patients with PD have the highest increase in risk for dementia between ages 65 and 75.
Pyridoxine-responsive gyrate atrophy of the choroid and retina: clinical and biochemical correlates of the mutation A226V.

We discovered the missense mutation, A226V, in the ornithine-delta-aminotransferase (OAT) genes of two unrelated patients with gyrate atrophy of the choroid and retina (GA). One patient, who was a compound for A226V and for the premature termination allele R398ter, showed a significant (P < .01) decrease in mean plasma ornithine levels, following pyridoxine supplementation with a constant protein intake: 826 +/- 128 microM (n = 5; no pyridoxine supplementation) versus 504 +/- 112 microM (n = 6; 500 mg pyridoxine/d) and 546 +/- 19 microM (n = 6; 1,000 mg pyridoxine/d). In extracts of fibroblasts from a second GA patient homozygous for A226V and from Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing an OAT-cDNA-containing A226V, we found that OAT activity increased from undetectable levels to approximately 10% of normal when the concentration of pyridoxal phosphate was increased from 50 to 600 microM. A226V is the fourth disease-causing pyridoxine-responsive human mutation to be reported.