Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mortality After Osteoporotic Fractures: What Proportion Is Caused by Fracture and Is Preventable?

Our knowledge of the association between low-trauma fractures and mortality has evolved considerably over the past half century. An early spike of mortality during the first several months after hip fracture was first established in the 1960s and was recognized as more likely for males and those with more preexisting comorbid conditions. Clinical vertebral fractures were first noted to be associated with higher than expected mortality rates in the early 1990s, and subsequently Center and colleagues demonstrated in the Dubbo observational cohort study that other major osteoporotic fractures (pelvis, proximal humerus, distal femur, proximal tibia, and multiple ribs) were also associated with higher than expected mortality rates, especially inmen. Other fractures such as those at the distal forearm were not shown in earlier studies to be associated with excess mortality. However, a subsequent analysis of the Dubbo cohort showed excess mortality associated with distal forearm and other minor low-trauma fractures among men and women aged 75 years and older, and excess mortality after distal forearm fractures has been shown among men in the Manitoba Bone Density Database cohort. The latter study also showed the risk of excess mortality after all fracture types (with the exception of distal forearm fractures among women) to be highest in the first year after fracture. However, there remains considerable debate and uncertainty as to what proportion of the excess mortality after low-trauma fractures is caused by the fracture itself (and is therefore preventable by preventing the fracture) and what proportion is caused by associated comorbid conditions and poor health status that predate the fracture. Kanis and colleagues postulated that the early spike of mortality during the first few months followed by a decreasing rate of mortality during the second 6 months after hip fracture indicated that the majority of these early deaths were caused by the fracture itself and that any excess deaths beyond this time point would likely be due to preexisting poor health status related to comorbid conditions. Two observational cohort studies reported in this issue of JBMR, by Andrich and colleagues and by Tran and colleagues, shed additional light on the association of low-trauma fractures and mortality but leave many questions unanswered.
Moderate maternal vitamin A deficiency affects perinatal organ growth and development in rats

Vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy is associated with detrimental effects in the offspring. We have developed a rat model to examine specific effects of maternal vitamin A status on perinatal growth and development. A total of 54 female rats were fed a vitamin A-free (VAF), -marginal (VAM) or -sufficient (VAS) diet from weaning until mating (at 7 weeks) and throughout pregnancy. Half of the rats in each group were injected with a single large dose of vitamin A on day 10 of pregnancy. Fetal and neonatal samples were taken on day 20 of pregnancy and the day of birth respectively. Maternal plasma retinol concentrations on day 20 and at birth were 50 % and 30 % lower in the VAF and VAM when compared to the VAS group. Fetal weight and survival did not differ between groups although placental: fetal ratio was higher in the VAF group than in the VAS group (0·195 (SE 0·005) V. 0·175 (se 0·004), P < 0·05). Rats fed the VAF diet gave birth at 23·5 d, an average of 1 d later than the other groups, and had lower number of live neonates at birth. Fetal liver, heart and lung weights relative to total body weight were lower in the VAF group and had altered growth trajectories. In neonates, only the relative lung weight was reduced. In addition, an increased protein: DNA ratio indicated hypertrophy in fetal kidneys. Vitamin A injection had no additional effect on length of gestation and fetal or neonatal number. However, injection increased relative fetal organ weights in the VAF group but did not alter the effects of vitamin A deficiency in the neonate. These data suggest that chronic vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy compromises liver, heart and kidney and impairs lung growth and development during the last few days of gestation and reduces number of live neonates at birth.
Overexpression of a Plasma Membrane-Localized SbSRP-Like Protein Enhances Salinity and Osmotic Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Tobacco

An obligate halophyte, Salicornia brachiata grows in salt marshes and is considered to be a potential resource of salt- and drought-responsive genes. It is important to develop an understanding of the mechanisms behind enhanced salt tolerance. To increase this understanding, a novel SbSRP gene was cloned, characterized, over-expressed, and functionally validated in the model plant Nicotiana tabacum. The genome of the halophyte S. brachiata contains two homologs of an intronless SbSRP gene of 1,262 bp in length that encodes for a stress-related protein. An in vivo localization study confirmed that SbSRP is localized on the plasma membrane. Transgenic tobacco plants (T1) that constitutively over-express the SbSRP gene showed improved salinity and osmotic stress tolerance. In comparison to Wild Type (WT) and Vector Control (VC) plants, transgenic lines showed elevated relative water and chlorophyll content, lower malondialdehyde content, lower electrolyte leakage and higher accumulation of proline, free amino acids, sugars, polyphenols, and starch under abiotic stress treatments. Furthermore, a lower build-up of H2O2 content and superoxide-radicals was found in transgenic lines compared to WT and VC plants under stress conditions. Transcript expression of Nt-APX (ascorbate peroxidase), Nt-CAT (catalase), Nt-SOD (superoxide dismutase), Nt-DREB (dehydration responsive element binding factor), and Nt-AP2 (apetala2) genes was higher in transgenic lines under stress compared to WT and VC plants. The results suggested that overexpression of membrane-localized SbSRP mitigates salt and osmotic stress in the transgenic tobacco plant. It was hypothesized that SbSRP can be a transporter protein to transmit the environmental stimuli downward through the plasma membrane. However, a detailed study is required to ascertain its exact role in the abiotic stress tolerance mechanism. Overall, SbSRP is a potential candidate to be used for engineering salt and osmotic tolerance in crops.
Experimental study of the cross polarization characteristics of rectangular patch antennas

Experimental results are presented on the cross-polarization characteristics of rectangular patch antennas. The rectangular patch was fabricated on cuflon substrate with relative permittivity epsilon r=2.1 and thickness t=10 mil (0.0254 cm) and 30 mil (0.0762 cm). It is found that the dependence of mod E/sub c//E/sub x/ mod /sup 2//sub max/ on the aspect ratio is different for E and H planes. A best value can be found to yield the largest mod E/sub c//E/sub x/ mod /sup 2//sub max/ for both planes, but this value depends on the thickness of the substrate. In addition, it has been found that mod E/sub c//E/sub x/ mod /sup 2//sub max/ decreases as the resonant frequency increases. <<ETX>>
EVALUATION OF FIELD CAPACITY OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE DUMPSITE ( A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI DUMPSITE )

This paper presents the results of an evaluation of Field Capacity of municipal solid waste at the University of Maiduguri dumpsite. The work describes the methodology and the devices designed for the determination of field capacity of municipal solid waste, in which a lysimeter was constructed to simulate the activities within the refuse dumpsite. The method consisted of applying dynamic compaction to a representative sample of rubbish collected from the university waste dumpsite, to simulate three different depths, at 0.0, 0.5 and 1.0m respectively. The experimental results showed that the higher the compaction of the sample, the smaller the amount of water required to satisfy the field capacity and thus to start the leaching process. In other words, field capacity was found to be inversely proportional to the dry field density, with an Optimum value of 0.38L/kg. This is the water holding capacity of the waste per kilogram before leaching commences. The study suggest that, the results can be extrapolated to other landfills with similar characteristics, thus making it possible to design the dimensions of the device required to control the production of leachate with greater accuracy.
Control Scheme for Photovoltaic Three-Phase Inverters to Minimize Peak Currents During Unbalanced Grid-Voltage Sags

Nowadays, the majority of the photovoltaic (PV) power sources are connected to the public grid. One of the main connection problems occurs when voltage sags appear in the grid due to short circuits, lightning, etc. International standards regulate the grid connection of PV systems, forcing the source to remain connected during short-time grid-voltage faults. As a consequence, during the voltage sag, the source should operate with increasing converter currents to maintain the injection of the generated power. This abnormal operation may result in nondesired system disconnections due to overcurrents. This paper proposes a controller for a PV three-phase inverter that ensures minimum peak values in the grid-injected currents, as compared with conventional controllers. From the system analysis, a design method is presented in order to set the parameters of the control scheme. Selected experimental results are reported in order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control.
FISHing Out the Hidden Enemy: Advances in Detecting and Measuring Latent HIV-Infected Cells

ABSTRACT The indomitable aspect of HIV-1 infection is not that HIV-1 proviral DNA is integrated into host DNA but that it can also turn itself off, remaining invisible to drug or immune surveillance. Thus, the goals of eradication include ways to precisely excise HIV-1 DNA or wake up the silent HIV-1 provirus and eliminate the infected cells thus identified. Methods to identify and fish out the latently infected cells or to delineate their characteristics are being rapidly developed. In 2016, Baxter et al. (A. E. Baxter, J. Niessl, R. Fromentin, J. Richard, F. Porichis, R. Charlebois, M. Massanella, N. Brassard, N. Alsahafi, G. G. Delgado, J. P. Routy, B. D. Walker, A. Finzi, N. Chomont, and D. E. Kaufmann, Cell Host Microbe 20:368–380, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2016.07.015 ) and Martrus et al. (G. Martrus, A. Niehrs, R. Cornelis, A. Rechtien, W. García-Beltran, M. Lütgehetmann, C. Hoffmann, and M. Altfeld, J Virol 90:9018–9028, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01448-16 ) reported using the fluorescence in situ hybridization-flow cytometry technique to identify and quantify cells expressing HIV-1 RNA and Gag protein, as well as bearing unique cell surface markers. In a recent article in mBio, Grau-Expósito et al. (J. Grau-Expósito, C. Serra-Peinado, L. Miguel, J. Navarro, A. Curran, J. Burgos, I. Ocaña, E. Ribera, A. Torrella, B. Planas, R. Badía, J. Castellví, V. Falcó, M. Crespo, and M. J. Buzon, mBio 8:e00876-17, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00876-17 ) reported a similar method that they claim to be more sensitive. With these methods, researchers are one step closer to measuring latent reservoirs and eliminating critical barriers to HIV eradication.
Differences between unselected patients and participants in multiple myeloma clinical trials in US: a threat to external validity

Abstract External validity of clinical trials is affected by dissimilarities between study subjects and patient population. We identified 128 manuscripts (8,869 subjects) published between 2007 and 2014 reporting results of multiple myeloma (MM) trials performed entirely in the US. Characteristics of subjects were compared with unselected patients from SEER-18. Median of median age of subjects was 61 years vs. median age of unselected patients of 69 years. Trial subjects with untreated MM had less advanced stage than unselected patients. Racial-ethnic composition was informed in only 51 (39.8%) trials. Industry-sponsored trials were more likely to report accrual of minorities than National Cancer Institute (NCI) or investigator-sponsored trials. The observed/expected minority accrual was 0.52 (95% CI 0.49–0.55), being lower (0.43) in investigator-sponsored and higher (0.61) in industry-sponsored trials. We concluded that minorities, older individuals and persons with more advanced disease are underrepresented in MM trials, potentially compromising external validity of results.
Application of induced pluripotent stem cells to understand neurobiological basis of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

The etiology of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, usually involves complex combinations of genetic defects/variations and environmental impacts, which hindered, for a long time, research efforts based on animal models and patients’ non‐neuronal cells or post‐mortem tissues. However, the development of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology by the Yamanaka group was immediately applied to establish cell research models for neuronal disorders. Since then, techniques to achieve highly efficient differentiation of different types of neural cells following iPSC modeling have made much progress. The fast‐growing iPSC and neural differentiation techniques have brought valuable insights into the pathology and neurobiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. In this article, we first review the application of iPSC technology in modeling neuronal disorders and discuss the progress in the accompanying neural differentiation. Then, we summarize the progress in iPSC‐based research that has been accomplished so far regarding schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Macrophage-Dependent Lymphocyte Immunostimulation in Cattle Infected with Mycobacterium bovis and with Mycobacterium avium

Cultures of bovine peripheral blood leukocytes were prepared from calves inoculated with Mycobacterium bovis and with M. avium. Suitable lymphocyte stimulation was obtained with specific and nonspecific mycobacterial mitogens. Leukocyte cultures depleted of adherent, macrophage-type cells did not respond to stimulation with purified protein derivative, although they were responsive to phytohemagglutinin.
Neuroprotective effects of PDGF against oxidative stress and the signaling pathway involved

The neuroprotective effects of platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) and the major signaling pathways involved in these were examined using primary cultured mouse cortical neurons subjected to H2O2‐induced oxidative stress. The specific function of the PDGF β‐receptor (PDGFR‐β) was examined by the selective deletion of the corresponding gene using the Cre‐loxP system in vitro. In wild‐type neurons, PDGF‐BB enhanced the survival of these neurons and suppressed H2O2‐induced caspase‐3 activation. The prosurvival effect of PDGF‐AA was less than that of PDGF‐BB. PDGF‐BB highly activated Akt, extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK), c‐jun amino‐terminal kinase (JNK) and p38. PDGF‐AA activated these molecules at lesser extent than PDGF‐BB. In particular, PDGF‐AA induced activation of Akt was at very low level. The neuroprotective effects of PDGF‐BB were antagonized by inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3‐K), mitogen‐activated protein kinase kinase (MEK), JNK and p38. The PDGFR‐β‐depleted neurons showed increased vulnerability to oxidative stress, and less responsiveness to PDGF‐BB‐induced cytoprotection and signal activation, in which Akt activation was most strongly suppressed. After all, these results demonstrated the neuroprotective effects of PDGF and the signaling pathways involved against oxidative stress. The effects of PDGF‐BB were more potent than those of PDGF‐AA. This might be due to the activation and additive effects of two PDGFRs after PDGF‐BB stimulation. Furthermore, the PI3‐K/Akt pathway that was deduced to be preferentially activated by PDGFR‐β may explain the potent effects of PDGF‐BB. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Crowdfunding in the Development of Social Media Fanbase -- Case Study of Two Competing Ecosystems

The aim of the explorative study is to understand the role of crowdfunding in the development of the fanbase using data from two recent cases of competing business ecosystems. We conducted an event study that employed social set analysis (SSA) of Facebook data to uncover and better understand the users' interactions and brand associations before, during and after a crowdfunding campaign event. Key contribution of the study is the introduction of a new data source on co-creative interaction between companies and their customers, as well as an approach to support the study of ecosystems from a customer perspective. Our paper focuses especially on the role of Jolla's tablet crowdfunding campaign in the development of its fanbase in relation with Nokia's tablet launch during Slush 2014 event. We discuss the results, present substantive interpretations of the findings, implications of crowdfunding on fanbase development and conclude with directions for future work.
Incremental-dissipativity-based output synchronization of dynamical networks with switching topology

This paper studies asymptotic output synchronization for a class of dynamical networks with switching topology whose node dynamics are characterized by a quadratic form of incremental-dissipativity. The output synchronization problem of the switched network is first converted into a set stability analysis of a nonlinear dissipative system with a particular selection of input-output pair, which is related to special features of interconnected incremental-dissipative systems. Then, synchronization by designing switching among subnetworks, where none of them is self-synchronizing, is investigated by using the single Lyapunov function method. Algebraic synchronization criteria are established, and the results are applied to investigate synchronization of coupled biochemical oscillators.
Assessing Nurses' Capacity for Health Research and Policy Engagement in Nigeria

Nurses account for a significant proportion of the health care workforce in most countries. In the African continent, it is estimated that nurses constitute about 80% of the health care professionals, however they are marginally represented in health research investigations and policy/decision-making roles. A descriptive research design was used to obtain data from 120 registered nurses in Calabar municipality, Nigeria. The study aimed at assessing the extent of nurses’ involvement in research and policy development. The findings revealed that only 30(25.0%) of the respondents indicated that they had been involved in research activity. Majority 74(61.7%) utilized research findings and perceived research as a tool to enhance development of nursing. 93(77.5%) respondents were not aware of any financial support for research and only 4(3.3%) had ever received research grant to support research activities. The results also revealed minimal 8(6.7%) involvement of nurses in health care policy development. A significant relationship (P < 0.05) existed between nursing educational qualification and involvement in research activities after school. These findings therefore suggest the building of supportive research environments and strengthening nurses’ research capacity for effective participation of nurses in health care policy decisions in low and middle income countries (LMICs) and global health priorities.
Fomitiporia castilloi sp. nov. and multiple clades around F. apiahyna and F. texana in Meso- and South America evidenced by multiloci phylogenetic inferences

Fomitiporia castilloi sp. nov. from the lowland rainforest in French Guyana is described, illustrated and its phylogenetic affinities are discussed. This species is characterized by pileate basidiomata, a plicate margin, abundant, variably shaped hymenial setae and basidiospores averaging ≅ 6 × 5 μm. In phylogenetic inferences based on a DNA sequence dataset of four loci (5′ end of the LSU, ITS-5.8S, partial tef1 and rpb2), F. castilloi occupies an isolated position, basal to a clade that is composed exclusively of Neotropical species with resupinate basidiomata. The phylogenetic inferences also provide evidence of an unreported complexity within the Neotropical taxa, with multiple clades closely related to F. apiahyna and F. texana, representing additional potential species.
Modifiable barriers to adherence to inhaled steroids among adults with asthma: it's not just black and white.

BACKGROUND Sociobehavioral factors influence adherence to inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) in adults with asthma and warrant exploration as explanations of apparent racial disparities in adherence. OBJECTIVE The purposes of this study were to identify barriers to adherence, potentially modifiable by healthcare providers, in a group of African Americans and non-African Americans and to test modifiable barriers as explanations of racial-ethnic differences in adherence. METHODS We conducted a cohort study of 85 adults (mean age, 47 +/- 15 years; 61 [72%] female; 55 [65%] African American) with moderate or severe persistent asthma to determine modifiable sociobehavioral predictors of adherence. These were knowledge of the function of ICS, patient-perceived adequacy of communication with the provider, social support, attitude (perception of risks/benefits of ICS), depression, and self-efficacy. Adherence was calculated from electronic monitoring data as the mean of the number of doses recorded per 12 hours divided by the number prescribed, truncated at 100%. Past adherence, baseline severity of symptoms, and sociodemographics were treated as fixed confounders in ordinal logistic modeling. RESULTS Adherence was 60% +/- 30%. In bivariate analyses, favorable attitude to ICS (P =.01) was associated with better adherence. Of immutable predictors, African American race-ethnicity (P =.001), lower educational achievement (P =.01), lower household income (P =.002), and more baseline symptoms (P =.003) were associated with poorer adherence. In multivariable analysis, controlling for immutable predictors, favorable attitude was associated with adherence. Favorable attitude was associated with greater adherence in African Americans and non-African Americans. Controlling for immutable factors, the race-adherence relationship was not mediated by the mutable factors, but economic factors (income and insurance) were mediators. CONCLUSION Attitude is strongly related to adherence but does not mediate the effect of race-ethnicity.
Pneumococcal Surface Protein C Contributes to Sepsis Caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in Mice

ABSTRACT The role of pneumococcal surface protein C (PspC; also called SpsA, CbpA, and Hic) in sepsis by Streptococcus pneumoniae was investigated in a murine infection model. The pspC gene was deleted in strains D39 (type 2) and A66 (type 3), and the mutants were tested by being injected intravenously into mice. The animals infected with the mutant strains showed a significant increase in survival, with the 50% lethal dose up to 250-fold higher than that for the wild type. Our findings indicate that PspC affords a decisive contribution to sepsis development.