Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Refractive error, cognitive demand and nearwork-induced transient myopia

Purpose. Whereas many previous studies have identified the association between sustained near work and myopia, few have assessed the influence of concomitant levels of cognitive effort. This study investigates the effect of cognitive effort on near-work induced transient myopia (NITM). Methods. Subjects comprised of six early onset myopes (EOM; mean age 23.7 yrs; mean onset 10.8 yrs), six late-onset myopes (LOM; mean age 23.2 yrs; mean onset 20.0 yrs) and six emmetropes (EMM; mean age 23.8 yrs). Dynamic, monocular, ocular accommodation was measured with the Shin-Nippon SRW-5000 autorefractor. Subjects engaged passively or actively in a 5 minute arithmetic sum checking task presented monocularly on an LCD monitor via a Badal optical system. In all conditions the task was initially located at near (4.50 D) and immediately following the task instantaneously changed to far (0.00 D) for a further 5 minutes. The combinations of active (A) and passive (P) cognition were randomly allocated as P:P; A:P; A:A; P:A. Results. For the initial near task, LOMs were shown to have a significantly less accurate accommodative response than either EOMs or EMMs (p < 0.001). For the far task, post hoc analyses for refraction identified EOMs as demonstrating significant NITM compared to LOMs (p < 0.05), who in turn showed greater NITM than EMMs (p < 0.001). The data show that for EOMs the level of cognitive activity operating during the near and far tasks determines the persistence of NITM; persistence being maximal when active cognition at near is followed by passive cognition at far. Conclusions. Compared with EMMs, EOMs and LOMs are particularly susceptible to NITM such that sustained near vision reduces subsequent accommodative accuracy for far vision. It is speculated that the marked NITM found in EOM may be a consequence of the crystalline lens thinning shown to be a developmental feature of EOM. Whereas the role of small amounts of retinal defocus in myopigenesis remains equivocal, the results show that account needs to be taken of cognitive demand in assessing phenomena such as NITM.
Behavioral risk factors: a comparison of Latinos and non-Latino whites in San Francisco.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the study was to evaluate differences between Latino and non-Latino White adults in health-related behavioral risk factors. METHODS Telephone interviews were conducted with 652 Latinos and 584 non-Latino Whites in San Francisco selected by random-digit dialing. RESULTS Latino men and women, compared with their non-Latino White counterparts, were less likely to have consumed any alcoholic beverage in the previous month (59% and 29% vs 77% and 75%, respectively), consumed fewer drinks per week (6.6 and 3.0 vs 8.9 and 5.1, respectively), and were more likely to be sedentary (40% and 46% vs 17% and 23%). Latina women were less likely than non-Latina Whites to smoke cigarettes (8% vs 29%), to have ever had a Pap smear (76% vs 93%), and to have ever had a clinical breast examination (81% vs 96%). Multivariate analyses adjusting for sex, age, education, and employment confirmed univariate findings. CONCLUSIONS Behavioral risk factor profiles by ethnicity help emphasize priorities of health promotion programs for a community. Latino needs include maintenance of limited consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, promotion of regular physical activity, and increasing use of low-cost cervical and breast cancer screening tests.
Agrarian political economy and modern world capitalism: the contributions of food regime analysis

This paper provides a selective survey of food regimes and food regime analysis since the seminal article by Harriet Friedmann and Philip McMichael in 1989, and further traced through their subsequent (individual) work. It identifies eight key elements or dimensions of food regime analysis, namely the international state system; international divisions of labour and patterns of trade; the ‘rules’ and discursive (ideological) legitimations of different food regimes; relations between agriculture and industry, including technical and environmental change in farming; dominant forms of capital and their modalities of accumulation; social forces (other than capitals and states); the tensions and contradictions of specific food regimes; and transitions between food regimes. These are used to summarise three food regimes in the history of world capitalism to date: a first regime from 1870 to 1914, a second regime from 1945 to 1973, and a third corporate food regime from the 1980s proposed by McMichael within the period of neoliberal globalisation. Questions of theory, method and evidence are noted in the course of the exposition and pulled together in a final section which criticises the ‘peasant turn’ of the ‘corporate food regime’ and the analytical and empirical weaknesses associated with it.
Changes in glucose and lipid metabolism following weight loss produced by a very low calorie diet in obese subjects.

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of a very low calorie diet (VLCD) on glucose and lipid metabolism in obese subjects, in particular, the effects on insulin sensitivity and the activities of the key enzymes of glucose disposal, glycogen synthase (GS) and the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC). DESIGN Clinical dietary intervention study (1.67 MJ (400 kcal)/day) until weight loss of > 10%. SUBJECTS 11 (seven male, four female) non-diabetic, obese subjects (age: 27-62 y; BMI: 40.5 +/- 1.4 kg/m2). MEASUREMENTS Whole body glucose disposal (by euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp), respiratory quotient (RQ), resting energy expenditure (REE), glucose and lipid oxidation (by indirect calorimetry), insulin-stimulated PDHC and GS activity (in muscle biopsies) both before and immediately after VLCD (i.e. while still in a hypocaloric state), serum hormone and metabolite levels throughout the dietary period. RESULTS Weight loss was accompanied by reduced insulin and elevated NEFA levels, improved insulin sensitivity due to increased nonoxidative glycolysis with no increase in PDHC or GS activities. The rate of weight loss was inversely related to the initial RQ. PDHCa was strongly age-related. CONCLUSION A low RQ may be used as a predictor of the efficacy of VLCD treatment and that while VLCD improves nonoxidative glycolytic flux, changes in oxidative glucose disposal and muscle glucose storage are prevented by high NEFA availability during this catabolic phase of dietary intervention.
β2-1 Fructan supplementation alters host immune responses in a manner consistent with increased exposure to microbial components: results from a double-blinded, randomised, cross-over study in healthy adults

Abstract β2-1 Fructans are purported to improve health by stimulating growth of colonic bifidobacteria, increasing host resistance to pathogens and stimulating the immune system. However, in healthy adults, the benefits of supplementation remain undefined. Adults (thirteen men, seventeen women) participated in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomised, cross-over study consisting of two 28-d treatments separated by a 14-d washout period. Subjects’ regular diets were supplemented with β2-1 fructan or placebo (maltodextrin) at 3×5 g/d. Fasting blood and 1-d faecal collections were obtained at the beginning and at the end of each phase. Blood was analysed for clinical, biochemical and immunological variables. Determinations of well-being and general health, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, regularity, faecal SCFA content, residual faecal β2-1 fructans and faecal bifidobacteria content were undertaken. β2-1 Fructan supplementation had no effect on blood lipid or cholesterol concentrations or on circulating lymphocyte and macrophage numbers, but significantly increased serum lipopolysaccharide, faecal SCFA, faecal bifidobacteria and indigestion. With respect to immune function, β2-1 fructan supplementation increased serum IL-4, circulating percentages of CD282+/TLR2+ myeloid dendritic cells and ex vivo responsiveness to a toll-like receptor 2 agonist. β2-1 Fructans also decreased serum IL-10, but did not affect C-reactive protein or serum/faecal Ig concentrations. No differences in host well-being were associated with either treatment, although the self-reported incidence of GI symptoms and headaches increased during the β2-1 fructan phase. Although β2-1 fructan supplementation increased faecal bifidobacteria, this change was not directly related to any of the determined host parameters.
Divalent metal transporter 1

Abstract In the last few years, the field of iron metabolism has exploded with the discovery of many new proteins including ferroportin, hephaestin, hepcidin, duodenal cytochrome b and the topic of this review, divalent metal ion transporter 1 (DMT1). DMT1 functions in transport of ferrous iron, and some, but not all divalent metal ions across the plasma membrane and/or out of the endosomal compartment. DMT1 mRNA has been found in every cell type in which it has been sought and its structure is highly conserved in evolution with similar proteins expressed in plants, insects, microorganisms and vertebrate animals. Rodents with defects in iron absorption and utilization were identified long before it was determined that the defect was due to a single nucleotide mutation in DMT1. Study of these animals reveals that transport of iron and other divalent metal ions by DMT1 is pH dependent, but the exact manner in which pH exerts its effect is unknown. The structure of the DMT1 gene is complex. Alternative usage of 3' exons, results in forms with and without iron responsive elements (IREs), while alternative usage of 5' exons and less well defined products of alternative splicing results in an array of isoforms with incompletely defined function. Expression of some isoforms is tissue specific and appears to affect subcellular targeting of the protein. At least one signal for DMT1 expression appears to be intracellular iron status, however, other, as yet undefined signals may also contribute to DMT1 expression. Interestingly, DMT1 function may differ subtly between humans and other animals; the spontaneous DMT1 mutation found in mice and rats appears to limit iron uptake in the intestine and iron utilization in red cell precursors, whereas the only known human mutation has its primary effect on iron utilization by erythroid cells. The importance of DMT1 function at the level of the whole organism and the individual cell and mechanisms of its regulation on a molecular scale are only beginning to be understood; an appreciation of these process will lead to an understanding of the role of iron in various cellular processes and improved treatments for both anemia and iron-overload.
Protein Kinase C and Its 80‐Kilodalton Substrate Protein in Neuroblastoma Cell Neurite Outgrowth

Abstract: A potential role of the protein kinase C (PKC) system in differentiation of human neuroblastoma cell line LA‐N‐5 was investigated. It was found that neurite outgrowth induced by 12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol 13‐acetate (TPA, 81 nM) was associated with a down‐regulation of PKC as determined independently by immunocytochemistry, immunoblot, and enzyme activity assay. Down‐regulation of PKC in cells induced to differentiate by retinoic acid (1 μM) was less pronounced, whereas it was undetected in cells induced to differentiate by nerve growth factor (100 ng/ml). The in vitro phosphorylation of an 80‐kilodalton protein present in control LA‐N‐5 cells or in cells treated with TPA, retinoic acid, or nerve growth factor for 1 day decreased to various extents at days 4 or 7 concomitant with neuritogenesis. Pretreatment of LA‐N‐5 cells with a high concentration (1 μM) of TPA to deplete cellular PKC rendered the cells unresponsive to the differentiating effect of the agents. It was observed that CHP‐100 cells, another human neuroblastoma line shown to be resistant to differentiation induced by the agents, had a reduced PKC level and the amount of in vitro phosphorylation of the 80‐kilodalton protein was greatly reduced in control cells and remained relatively unchanged when the cells were treated with the agents for up to 7 days. The present studies suggested that PKC and its 80‐kilodalton substrate protein were likely involved in initiation and/or progression of LA‐N‐5 cell differentiation induced by TPA and that separate PKC‐independent pathways might also be involved in the differentiating effect of retinoic acid or nerve growth factor.
Impact of ETIF Deletion on Safety and Immunogenicity of Equine Herpesvirus Type 1-Vectored Vaccines

ABSTRACT Heterologous gene transfer by viral vector systems is often limited by factors such as preexisting immunity, toxicity, low packaging capacity, or weak immunogenic potential. A novel viral vector system derived from equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) not only overcomes some of these obstacles but also promotes the robust expression of a delivered transgene and the induction of antigen-specific immune responses. Regarding an enhanced safety profile, we assessed the impact of the gene encoding the sole essential tegument protein, ETIF, on the replication and immunogenicity of recombinant EHVs. The deletion of ETIF severely attenuates replication in permissive RK13 cells and a human lung epithelial cell line but without influencing transgene expression. Whereas the intranasal administration of a recombinant luciferase EHV in BALB/c mice resulted in transgene expression in nasal cavities and lungs for 5 to 6 days, the ETIF deletion limited expression to 2 days and resulted in 30-fold-less luminescence. Attenuated replication was accompanied by a decreased capacity to induce CD8+ T cells against a delivered HIV Gag transgene in BALB/c mice following repeated intranasal application. However, a single subcutaneous immunization with a gag DNA vaccine primed specific T cells for substantial expansion by two subsequent intranasal booster immunizations with either the gag recombinant ETIF mutant or the parental virus. In addition to inducing Gag-specific serum antibodies, this prime-boost strategy clearly outperformed three sequential immunizations with the parental or EHV-ΔETIF virus or repeated DNA vaccination by inducing substantial specific secretory IgA (sIgA) titers.
Measurement of antibodies against meningococcal capsular polysaccharides B and C in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays: towards an improved surveillance of meningococcal disease

In order to improve the surveillance of serogroup B and C meningococcal diseases, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) specific for anti-B immunoglobulin M (IgM) and anti-C IgM and IgG antibodies were developed. The tests were evaluated by using paired sera from 122 patients with and 101 patients without laboratory evidence of meningococcal disease. Fifty-three of 67 patients (79%) with culture-confirmed serogroup B disease had an anti-B IgM antibody response; anti-B IgM levels waned rapidly in children < or = 4 years of age. Twenty-four of 25 patients (96%) with culture-confirmed serogroup C disease had an anti-C IgM and/or IgG antibody response (IgM, 92%; IgG, 68%). In patients without evidence of meningococcal disease, 19% of children < or = 4 years of age and 69% of those > 4 years of age had intermediate anti-B IgM titers. In contrast, only 1 and 5% of these patients had intermediate titers of anti-C IgM and anti-C IgG, respectively. The ELISAs were shown to be powerful tools for discriminating between serogroup B and C diseases in 96 to 100% of culture-confirmed cases. For 90% of patients with culture-negative meningococcal disease, a serogroup-specific diagnosis could be established by examination of paired sera in the ELISAs. As serogroup B and C meningococci account for practically all cases of meningococcal disease in industrialized countries, the availability of these tests may improve surveillance and prevention.
Survey on the UCD integration in the industry

The primary contribution of this paper is investigating how the User Centered Design approach is integrated into the industry. Employing a structured web-survey, targeted to the usability practitioners, we find out that UCD is particularly employed in big companies, but with a relatively low ratio: practitioners represent less than one percent of the company employees. User interviews and both low and high fidelity prototyping are the most frequently used techniques. We eventually validate our hypothesis that UCD integration is facilitated by factors related to management support, infrastructure and communication; companies interested in producing better usable and fit-for-use products should take all of these issues into serious consideration.
Phenotypic flexibility of the avian gizzard: rapid, reversible and repeated changes of organ size in response to changes in dietary fibre content

Evolutionary biology presumes that organ capacities match their natural loads. Therefore, in fluctuating conditions, organ systems are expected to show a reversible, repeatable and rapid phenotypic response that is directional and scaled. In this study, phenotypic responses of the gizzard of adult Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) to experimental mismatches of load and capacity were tested by a series of diet-switching experiments, involving an increased content of non-digestable fibre (NDF) in the diet. The results of all experiments were in accordance with the predictions of the hypothesis that there is matching between loads and capacities. (1) The observed phenotypic responses are directional and scaled to the demands, i.e. increasing NDF elicits an increase in gizzard size. When the proportion of NDF in the diet was raised from 1 % to 45 %, the gizzard was more than twice as large as in the control group. (2) Size responses were reversible, and reduced NDF was followed by a decrease of gizzard size. (3) Phenotypic responses could be elicited repeatedly in three successive trials. (4) Excess capacities were downregulated and insufficient capacities were upregulated. (5) The responses followed changes of loads with almost no time lag, with size changes measurable within 24 h.
Exercise and Implicit Memory: A Brief Systematic Review

Background Emerging work demonstrates that acute exercise may enhance explicit memory function. No published systematic reviews have evaluated the totality of research examining the effects of exercise on implicit memory function, which was the purpose of this systematic review. Methods Databases (PubMed, PsychInfo, and Sports Discus) were searched to evaluate animal and human experimental studies evaluating the effects of exercise on implicit memory function. Results Among the 10 evaluated studies that met inclusionary criteria for this systematic review, 7 were conducted in animal models (rats or mice), with 3 utilizing human samples. Among the seven animal model studies, all employed a fear conditioning paradigm to evaluate implicit memory performance. All six animal studies employing a chronic exercise paradigm demonstrated evidence for associations between chronic exercise and enhanced fear conditioning. The one animal study evaluating a high-intensity acute bout of exercise showed that high-intensity acute exercise worsened implicit memory retrieval. Among the three human studies, one demonstrated a beneficial effect of acute exercise on implicit memory function. Discussion There is consistent evidence in animal models that chronic exercise enhances implicit memory, as assessed by fear conditioning. However, there have been too few human studies investigating this topic to render any meaningful conclusions regarding the relationship between exercise and cognitive-based implicit memory among humans.
Suppression of glycoprotein formation of Semliki Forest, influenza, and avian sarcoma virus by tunicamycin

Tunicamycin, a new antibiotic, halts the formation of physical particles of Semliki forest and fowl plague virus, whereas avian oncornavirus particles which show a reduction in infectivity and do not contain detectable labeled glycoprotein are released in the presence of the drug. In Semliki forest virus-infected cells only the protein moieties of the glycoproteins could be labeled. In cells infected with fowl plague and avian sarcoma virus neither intact glycoproteins nor their protein moieties could be detected. By using a protease inhibitor (N-alpha-p-tosyl-L-lysin chloromethyl ketone, TLCK) it could be shown, however, that the carbohydrate-free hemagglutinin precursor of influenza virus is synthesized but is presumably degraded by intracellular proteases in the absence of TLCK as a consequence of the lack of carbohydrate.
Optimal Closing-Price Strategy: Peculiarities and Practicalities

We derive an optimal trading strategy that benchmarks the closing price in a mean-variance optimization framework. By taking into account risk aversion, market impact, volatility and market volume, the optimal strategy specifies the quantities to be traded at each point in time in the continuous trading session as well as in the closing auction. The optimal strategy is expressed in closed form, which allows fast implementation. Because the closing price is a moving target, despite the apparent similarity with arrival-price strategies, closing-price strategies show distinctive features such unwinding of previous fills. Exploration of the efficient frontier along with the late-start VWAP strategies, which traders often use to benchmark closing prices, leads to a practical method to determine the risk aversion parameter from an effective trading rate.
Comparison of dual-source computed tomography (CT) dual-energy angiography with conventional 3D imaging towards caudomedial vessels

We aim to analyse the time consumption, image quality and efficacies of dual-source Computed Tomography (CT) Dual-Energy Angiography (DE-CTA) in diagnosing vascular stenosis. The medical records of 35 patients with clinically suspected caudomedial vascular diseases were performed DE-CTA. The residual bone images obtained in DE-CTA and conventional 3D software were compared, as well as the sensitivity and specificity of these two imaging methods in diagnosing the segment with vascular stenosis ≥ 50%. The results showed that the overall effects of Automatic Bone Remove (ABR) were better than Automatic Bone Subtraction (ABS) (P<0.05); the post-processing time consumption of ABS and plaque subtracted after Additional Manual Bone Remove (ABPS) (7.62 ± 2.13 min) was less than that in automatic bone remove after Additional Manual Bone Remove (ABR-M) (11.4 ± 2.5 min), and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The sensitivity and specificity in ABPS and ABR-B towards the segment with stenosis ≥ 50% were: 95.67%, 96.26% and 93.78%, 98.23%, respectively. In conclusion, DE-CTA had better image quality after bone subtraction, could much more accurately diagnose the vascular stenosis, the post-processing time consumption was less than the conventional 3D method, and not affected by human factors.