Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sex Differences in Portopulmonary Hypertension

BACKGROUND: Portopulmonary hypertension (POPH), pulmonary arterial hypertension that develops in the setting of portal hypertension, can lead to right-sided heart failure and death. Being female is a known risk factor for POPH, but little is known about the effect of sex on clinical manifestations, hemodynamics, treatment response, and survival. RESEARCH QUESTION: We sought to characterize sex differences in clinical characteristics, pulmonary hemodynamics, treatment response, and survival in patients with POPH. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult candidates for liver transplant (LT) who had POPH within the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network database. Females and males were compared. Multivariate regression was performed to assess the association between sex and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and survival. Patients were also strati ﬁ ed by age (50 years) to determine how age modi ﬁ es the relationship between sex and hemodynamics and survival. RESULTS: We included 190 adults (103 male, 87 female). Compared with men, women had a lower model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score (12.1 (cid:1) 4.2 vs 13.8 (cid:1) 4.9; P ¼ . 01) and were more likely to have autoimmune liver disease. Women had a higher baseline PVR (610.6 (cid:1) 366.6 vs 461.0 (cid:1) 185.3 dynes-s-cm (cid:3) 5 ; P < . 001) and posttreatment PVR (244.6 (cid:1) 119.5 vs 202.0 (cid:1) 87.7 dynes-s-cm (cid:3) 5 ; P ¼ . 008) and a greater treatment response ( D PVR) ( (cid:3) 359.3 (cid:1) 381.9 vs (cid:3) 260.2 (cid:1) 177.3 dynes-s-cm (cid:3) 5 ; P ¼ . 03). In multivariate analysis, female sex (or gender) remained associated with a higher baseline PVR ( P ¼ .008). Women and men had overall similar survival ( P > .05). When patients were strati ﬁ ed by age, being female was independently associated with worse waiting list survival after adjusting for MELD and PVR in younger patients (HR, 6.61; 95% CI, 1.25-35.08; P ¼ .03) but not in older patients. INTERPRETATION: Compared with male candidates, female candidates for LT who had POPH had a higher PVR and lower MELD score and were more likely to have autoimmune liver disease. Women and men had similar overall survival, but female sex (or gender) was associated with worse survival in younger patients.
Cytochrome P450 Epoxygenases Protect Endothelial Cells from Apoptosis Induced by Tumor Necrosis Factor- α via MAPK and PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathways

Endothelial cells play a vital role in the maintenance of cardiovascular homeostasis. Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), cytochrome P450 (CYP) epoxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid in endothelial cells, possess potent and diverse biological effects within the vasculature. We evaluated the effects of overexpression of CYP epoxygenases on tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- α induced apoptosis in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs). CYP epoxygenase overexpression significantly increased endothelial cell viability and inhibited TNF- α induction of endothelial cell apoptosis as evaluated by DNA laddering and FACS analysis. CYP epoxygenase overexpression also significantly inhibited caspase-3 activity and downregulation of Bcl-2 expression induced by TNF- α . The anti-apoptotic effects of CYP epoxygenase overexpression were significantly attenuated by inhibition of the PI3K/Akt and MAPK signaling pathways; however, inhibition of endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity had no effect. Furthermore, CYP epoxygenase overexpression significantly attenuated the extent of TNF- α induced ERK1/2 dephosphorylation in a time-dependent manner, and significantly increased PI3K expression and Akt phosphorylation in both the presence and absence of TNF- α . Collectively, these results suggest that CYP epoxygenase overexpression, which is known to increase EET biosynthesis, significantly protects endothelial cells from apoptosis induced by TNF- α . This effect is mediated, at least in part, through inhibition of ERK dephosphorylation and activation of PI3K/Akt signaling. we utilized cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) transfected with CYP epoxygenases CYP102 F87V, CYP2C11-CYPOR, and CYP2J2 to investigate the role of endogenously formed EETs on tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- α induced apoptosis. We demonstrate that these CYP epoxygenases markedly attenuate apoptosis and prevent both TNF-α activation of caspase-3 and TNF- α reduction of Bcl-2 expression. In addition, our data suggest that anti-apoptotic through activation of the MAPK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. caspase-3 activity down-regulation of Bcl-2 expression by TNF- of endothelial our implicate the CYP epoxygenase pathway as an important regulator of endothelial cell apoptosis. the observed anti-apoptotic effects related to epoxygenase overexpression could be due to increased synthesis of a non-EET product, we demonstrated that increased epoxygenase was also associated with increased 14,15-DHET production (a stable EET metabolite), with our previous studies using these transfected epoxygenases.
Bone Versus All Soft Tissue Quadriceps Tendon Autografts for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Systematic Review

Purpose: To examine existing literature on objective and patient-reported outcomes and complications after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with bone-quadriceps-tendon (B-QT) or soft tissue-quadriceps tendon (S-QT) to further clarify the role of graft type in primary ACLR. Methods: In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, PubMed, Embase, and Medline were searched in October 2019 for English-language, human studies of all evidence levels on patients undergoing primary ACLR with B-QT or S-QT autograft. Results: 24 of 1,381 studies satisfied criteria, with 20 using B-QT (1,534 patients, mean age 29.6 years [range 14 to 59], mean follow-up 41.2 months [range 12 to 120]) and 5 using S-QT (181 patients, mean age 32.4 years [range 15 to 58), mean follow-up 25.5 months [range 12 to 46]). International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scores were 67.3 to 89.5 with B-QT and 80.4 to 81.6 with S-QT. Lysholm scores were 85.7 to 97.4 with B-QT and 81.6 to 89.2 with S-QT.
A TR β -selective agonist confers resistance to diet-induced obesity

Thyroid hormone receptor β (TR β also listed as THRB on the MGI Database)-selective agonists activate brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, while only minimally affecting cardiac activity or lean body mass. Here, we tested the hypothesis that daily administration of the TR β agonist GC-24 prevents the metabolic alterations associated with a hypercaloric diet. Rats were placed on a high-fat diet and after a month exhibited increased body weight (BW) and adiposity, fasting hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance, increased plasma levels of triglycerides, cholesterol,
Reply to Mantha OL et al

fish, meat, and sugar-sweetened beverage intake in a 12-wk inpatient feeding study. ” The main aim was to evaluate plasma, RBCs, and hair carbon and nitrogen natural isotopic abundances (NIAs) as biomarkers of fish, meat, and sugar-sweetened beverage intake in a 12-wk dietary intervention. The conclusions are very interesting but do not mention other variation factors of these biomarkers. In fact, metabolic activity as well as diet determine 13C and 15N NIAs in many biological media in health and disease (2–5). If the study by Votruba et al. (1) would have included groups ingesting diets of different macronutrient or calorie contents, there would undoubtedly have been a metabolic impact on NIAs as seen in other studies (4, 6). Carefully controlled experiments have indeed shown that reducing carbohydrate intake while increasing fat intake and calorie restriction lowers the 13C NIA of tissue proteins relative to dietary proteins due to a higher use of lipids for de novo amino acid synthesis (4, 6). In addition, 15N NIA reflected the level of amino acid oxidation during calorie restriction (6). Since changes in macronutrient and calorie contents are common in dietary interventions and likely to accompany changes in fish, meat, and sugar-sweetened beverage intake, such a metabolic influence on NIAs would be expected. There are many other findings in many fields relating metabolism to NIAs. In pediatrics, for instance, although the 15N NIA of the offspring is related to the 15N NIA of the diet of the mother, relations were also observed with head circumference in human newborns (2) and growth in rodents [i.e., pups in controlled dietary conditions displayed variations of their 15N NIA during growth (3)]. The difference in NIA between biomolecules and the diet due to metabolism is generally referred to as the trophic step or discrimination factor. As previously discussed in the Journal (7, 8), compound-specific instead of bulk isotope analyses may help to further discriminate metabolic influence on NIAs. We want to stress that NIAs could be useful “biomarkers” not only to assess compliance in nutrition trials but also to interpret the main clinical outcomes. As observed in previous papers, the effect of metabolism, assessable via the trophic step, must be taken into account when considering NIAs as compliance markers or a dietary intake biomarkers.
Two-dimensional Bose fluids: An atomic physics perspective

The properties of phase transitions and the types of order present in the low-temperature states of matter are fundamentally dependent on the dimensionality of physical systems. Generally, highly ordered states are more robust in higher dimensions, while thermal and quantum fluctuations, which favour disordered states, play a more important role in lower dimensions. The case of a two-dimensional (2d) Bose fluid is particularly fascinating because of its "marginal" behaviour. In an infinite uniform 2d fluid thermal fluctuations at any non-zero temperature are strong enough to destroy the fully ordered state associated with Bose--Einstein condensation, but are not strong enough to suppress superfluidity in an interacting system at low, but non-zero temperatures. Further, the presence of residual "quasi-long-range" order at low temperatures leads to an interesting interplay between superfluidity and condensation in all experimentally relevant finite-size systems. In these notes we give an introduction to the physics of 2d Bose fluids from an atomic physics perspective. Our goal is to summarize the recent progress in theoretical understanding and experimental investigation of ultra-cold atomic gases confined to 2d geometry, and we also hope to provide a useful introduction to these systems for researchers working on related topics in other fields of physics.
Signals for defocus from longitudinal chromatic aberration in chick

Chicks respond to two signals from longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA): a wavelength defocus signal and a chromatic signal. Wavelength defocus predicts reduced axial eye growth in monochromatic short-wavelength light, compared to monochromatic long-wavelength light. Wavelength defocus may also influence growth in broadband light. In contrast, a chromatic signal predicts increased growth when short-wavelength contrast > long-wavelength contrast, but only when light is broadband. We aimed to investigate the influence of blue light, temporal frequency and contrast on these signals under broadband conditions. Starting at 12 to 13 days-old, 587 chicks were exposed to the experimental illumination conditions for three days for 8h/day and spent the remainder of their day in the dark. The stimuli were flickering lights, with a temporal frequency of 0.2 or 10 Hz, low (30%) or high contrast (80%), and a variety of ratios of cone contrast simulating the effects of defocus with LCA. There were two color conditions, with blue contrast (bPlus) and without (bMinus). Stimuli in the “bPlus” condition varied the amounts of long- (L-), middle- (M-) and double- (D-) cone contrast, relative to short- (S-) and ultraviolet (UV-) cone contrast, to simulate defocus. Stimuli in the “bMinus” condition only varied the relative modulations of the L +D vs. M cones. In all cases, the average of the stimuli was white, with an illuminance of 777 lux, with cone contrast created through temporal modulation. A Lenstar LS 900 and a Hartinger refractometer were used to measure ocular components and refraction. Wavelength defocus signals with relatively high S-cone contrast resulted in reduced axial growth, and more hyperopic refractions, under low-frequency conditions (p = 0.002), in response to the myopic defocus
Near-Field Coherent Radar Sensing Using a Massive MIMO Communication Testbed

This paper considers the problem of radar sensing by using a large number of antennas. We use the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, and show that the large arrays used in massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications enable accurate localization in the array near-field, even at the narrow bandwidths typically encountered at low carrier frequencies. We validate our findings experimentally with a massive MIMO testbed operating at 3.5 GHz carrier frequency and 18 MHz OFDM bandwidth in an indoor environment. We consider a single moving cylinder, and demonstrate a median accuracy of (3.4, 5.6) cm in (x, y) in the near-field. We show that the accuracy is maintained with only a single subcarrier, and that the resolution increases with an order of magnitude when combining all antennas, effectively surpassing the 16.67 m bistatic range resolution set by the OFDM waveform. We use a radar symbol duration of 71.88 μs at an effective transmission period of 2.5 ms, which indicates that the radar and communication systems can be implemented in time-division with a capacity loss of only 2.9%. Our results suggest that near-field radar sensing can be integrated into future massive MIMO systems operating at low carrier frequencies and narrow bandwidths.
von Willebrand disease type B: A missense mutation selectively abolishes ristocetin-induced von Willebrand factor binding to platelet glycoprotein lb

von Willebrand factor (vWF) is a multimeric glycoprotein that mediates the adhesion of platelets to the subendothelium by binding to platelet glycoprotein Ib. For human vWF, this interaction can be induced in vitro by the antibiotic ristocetin or the snake venom protein botrocetin. A missense mutation, Gly-561 -- Ser, was identified within the proposed glycoprotein lb binding domain of vWF in the proband with von Willebrand disease type B, a unique variant characterized by no ristocetin-induced, but normal botrocetin-induced, binding to glycoprotein lb. The corresponding mutant recombinant protein, rvWF(G561S), formed normal multimers and exhibited the same functional defect as the patient's plasma vWF, confirming that this mutation causes von Willebrand disease type B. These data show that botrocetin and ristocetin cofactor activities of vWF can be dissociated by a point mutation and confirm that these mediators promote vWF binding to platelets by different mechanisms. The normal botrocetin-induced binding and the defective ristocetin-induced binding of rvWF(G561S)
Higher homocysteine associated with thinner cortical gray matter in 803 ADNI subjects

A significant portion of our risk for dementia in old age is associated with lifestyle factors (diet, exercise, and cardiovascular health) that are modifiable, at least in principle. One such risk factor – high homocysteine levels in the blood – is known to increase risk for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular disorders. Here we set out to understand how homocysteine levels relate to 3D surface-based maps of cortical gray matter distribution (thickness, volume, surface area) computed from brain MRI in 803 elderly subjects from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset. Individuals with higher plasma levels of homocysteine had lower gray matter thickness in bilateral frontal, parietal, occipital and right temporal regions; and lower gray matter volumes in left frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital regions, after controlling for diagnosis, age, and sex, and after correcting for multiple comparisons. No significant within-group associations were found in cognitively healthy people, mild cognitive impairment, or Alzheimer’s disease. These regional differences in gray matter structure may be useful biomarkers to assess the effectiveness of interventions, such as vitamin B supplements, that aim to prevent homocysteine-related brain atrophy by normalizing homocysteine levels.
Mobile survey engagement by older adults is high during multiple phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and is predicted by baseline and structural factors

Digital surveys, such as mobile phone ecological momentary assessment (EMA), bear the potential to assess and target individual wellbeing in a personalized, real-time approach and allow for interaction in situations when in-person contact is not possible, such as during the coronavirus pandemic. While the use of digital technology might especially benefit research in older adults who find themselves in circumstances of reduced mobility, little is known about their barriers to adherence. We investigated baseline and structural factors that predict study withdrawal and adherence from daily smartphone EMA self-report surveys in the StayWELL Study. The StayWELL study is a longitudinal, observational study on the relationship between social restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic and mental well-being in 95 community-dwelling older aged adults (67–87 years) who were participants in a randomized clinical trial using EMA. Withdrawal was associated with less research staff changes and less likely in participants that reached the study mid-point. No baseline characteristics predicted withdrawal. Main reasons for withdrawal were communication issues, i.e. staff not being able to contact participants. We found an adherence rate of 82% and no fatigue effects. Adherence was predicted by education status, study participation duration, reaching the study midpoint and time between study start and enrollment. COVID infections or supporting people in the household was not related to adherence. To conclude, it is feasible to conduct an EMA study in older people without impacting engagement during a pandemic. Furthermore, personal characteristics and smartphone operating system (Android vs. iOS) used did not relate to engagement, allowing for a broad distribution of digital health technologies. Our study adds information on single predictive variables relevant for adherence and withdrawal from EMA smartphone surveys in older people that can inform the design of future digital EMA research to maximize engagement and reliability of study results.
Residents' perception and worldview about radon control policy in Canada: A pro-equity social justice lens

Radon is a potent indoor air pollutant, especially in radon prone areas and in countries with long winters. As the second top lung carcinogen, radon is disproportionately affecting certain population subgroups. While many provinces have taken sporadic actions, the equity issue has remained unaddressed across all policy measures. Attempts to enforce radon guidelines and enact building regulations without considering residents' views have proved ineffective. Research linking residents' radon risk perception and worldviews regarding radon control policy is lacking in Canada. We applied mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methods in a pro-equity social justice lens to examine the variations in residents' risk perception, access to risk communication messages, and worldviews about risk management across the sociodemographic strata. Triangulation of the quantitative and qualitative findings strengthened the evidence base to identify challenges and potential solutions in addressing the health risk through upstream policy actions. Enacting radon control policy requires actions from all levels of governments and relevant stakeholders to ensure equal opportunities for all residents to take the preventive and adaptive measures. Small sample size limited the scope of findings for generalization. Future studies can examine the differential impacts of radon health risk as are determined by various sociodemographic variables in a representative national cohort.
Becoming authoritarian for the greater good? Authoritarian attitudes in context of the societal crises of COVID-19 and climate change

Authoritarianism is widely conceived as destructive phenomenon that threatens liberal societies. However, some scholars suggest that authoritarianism is beneficial both for individuals' sense of control and goal attainment within groups. In line with this reasoning, collective problems, such as the COVID-19 crisis and climate change, may go hand in hand with increased levels of authoritarianism. While individuals may generally reject the abstract ideas of authoritarian rule and intolerance, societal threat may require individuals to weigh liberal values against needs for collective unity and action. Thus, individuals are expected to show less support for abstract authoritarian ideas compared to authoritarian ideas that are directed at dealing with a specific societal crisis (crisis-related authoritarianism). Following the notion that authoritarianism serves as an antiliberal means for achieving collective goals, relative increases in crisis-related authoritarianism hinge on the rejection of the means being outweighed by the perceived importance of the goal. While authoritarian disposition captures general tendencies to accept the means, trust in science serves as a proxy for the perceived importance of COVID-19 and climate change mitigation. The relative increase in crisis-related authoritarianism should be particularly pronounced among individuals who are not predisposed to authoritarianism and who trust in science. Findings from a cross-national survey experiment in Germany (N = 1,480) and Spain (N = 1,511) support this reasoning. Participants answered four items covering authoritarian submission and aggression either on an abstract level (control condition), or applied to the COVID-19 crisis or the climate change crisis. Participants were more supportive of authoritarian ideas targeted at a specific collective problem as compared to abstract authoritarian ideas. Furthermore, the differences in authoritarianism between the control condition and the two societal crisis conditions decreased with authoritarian disposition and increased with trust in science. Exploratory analyses suggest that the main differences across experimental conditions are driven by authoritarian submission while the interaction effects are rather driven by authoritarian aggression. The study underlines the role of authoritarian ideas for collective goal attainment that exists above and beyond stable personal dispositions. As such, it sheds light on the conditions under which citizens conceive authoritarianism as justifiable.