Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depressive Symptoms and Heart Rate Variability: Evidence for a Shared Genetic Substrate in a Study of Twins

Objective: To clarify the relationship between depression and heart rate variability (HRV) in a sample of twins. Reduced HRV, a measure of autonomic dysfunction, has been linked to depression but many studies have inadequately controlled for familial and environmental factors. Furthermore, little is known about whether depression and HRV share common genetic pathways. Methods: We performed power spectral analysis on 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiograms in 288 middle-aged male twins. Log-normalized ultra low, very low, low, high frequency, and total power were calculated. A lifetime history of major depressive disorder (MDD) was determined, using the Structured Clinical Interview for Psychiatry Disorders, and current depressive symptoms were measured with the Beck Depression Inventory. Mixed-effect regression models were used to account for intrapair variability and estimate within-pair effects at the same time controlling for potential confounders. Results: Both current depressive symptoms and a history of MDD were significantly associated with lower HRV. There was a graded effect, and power in each frequency band was 29% to 36% lower in the lowest band compared with the highest BDI category. All HRV measures except high frequency remained significantly associated with current depressive symptoms in multivariable analysis, but not with lifetime history of MDD. When analyses were stratified by zygosity, a significant within-pair association between BDI score and HRV was found in the dizygotic but not in the monozygotic twins, suggesting a genetic influence on the association. Conclusions: A shared, genetically influenced biological pathway underlies the association between depression and lower HRV. These two phenotypes may be the expression of a generalized neurobiological perturbation. BDI = Beck Depression Inventory; CAD = coronary artery disease; DZ = dizygotic; HRV = heart rate variability; MDD = major depressive disorder; MZ = monozygotic; PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder.
Theoretical Investigation Of The Insulator-Metal Transition Point Of Nickel Monoxide

The study of the effects of applying high pressure by compression on materials is fundamental to a range of problems in condensed matter physics, materials science, technology, etc. Transition of an insulator into a metallic state is in general a basic phenomenon related to a wide range of physical systems. Nickel monoxide has been studied at different volume compression ratios by employing optical spectra and electronic structure calculations using the density functional theory implemented in the MindLab 5 code that made use of the local density approximation plus the Hubbard on-site Coulomb interaction parameter. Insulator-metal transition point was recorded at 0.60 volume compression ratio from both calculations and a transition pressure of 271 GPa was obtained using the Murnaghan equation of state.
Social environment alters opioid‐induced hyperalgesia and antinociceptive tolerance in adolescent mice

Chronic opioid treatment is complicated by the development of tolerance and hyperalgesia. Social environment alters both opioid‐induced behaviours and nociceptive mechanisms. Our previous studies demonstrated that, in adolescent rodents, the susceptibility to acquire opioid dependence and reward is dependent on the nature of social housing conditions. Specifically, our previous studies demonstrate that housing morphine‐treated mice with drug‐naïve animals mitigates the abuse liability of opioids. Thus, this study tested the effect of social housing conditions on the development of adaptive processes to morphine antinociception.
Gender differences in hypertension

Purpose of review The review is a short discussion of sex/gender differences in blood pressure control with a focus on gender differences in hypertension awareness, prevalence, and treatment, the new American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines, and recent discoveries in animal models and humans on mechanisms responsible for sex/gender differences in hypertension. Recent findings Hypertension awareness is greater in women than men, the prevalence of hypertension is higher in men than women until after menopause, and although the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines recommend similar treatment for men and women, this is not currently the case in practice. New studies into mechanisms responsible for sex/gender differences in hypertension include the role of the kidneys, the renin–angiotensin system, relaxin, and developmental programming. Summary Specific guidelines for hypertension treatment in women and men have yet to be developed. However, numerous animal and human studies have shown differences in the mechanisms responsible for blood pressure control between the sexes. Thus more research into the sex/gender differences in mechanisms responsible for hypertension are needed to determine the best treatment options that will reduce the risk of hypertension and subsequent cardiovascular diseases in both genders.
Unified framework for information integration based on information geometry

Significance Measuring the degree of causal influences among multiple elements of a system is a fundamental problem in physics and biology. We propose a unified framework for quantifying any combination of causal relationships between elements in a hierarchical manner based on information geometry. Our measure of integration, called geometrical integrated information, quantifies the strength of multiple causal influences among elements by projecting the probability distribution of a system onto a constrained manifold. This measure overcomes mathematical problems of existing measures and enables an intuitive understanding of the relationships between integrated information and other measures of causal influence such as transfer entropy. Inspired by the integration of neural activity in consciousness studies, our measure should have general utility in analyzing complex systems. Assessment of causal influences is a ubiquitous and important subject across diverse research fields. Drawn from consciousness studies, integrated information is a measure that defines integration as the degree of causal influences among elements. Whereas pairwise causal influences between elements can be quantified with existing methods, quantifying multiple influences among many elements poses two major mathematical difficulties. First, overestimation occurs due to interdependence among influences if each influence is separately quantified in a part-based manner and then simply summed over. Second, it is difficult to isolate causal influences while avoiding noncausal confounding influences. To resolve these difficulties, we propose a theoretical framework based on information geometry for the quantification of multiple causal influences with a holistic approach. We derive a measure of integrated information, which is geometrically interpreted as the divergence between the actual probability distribution of a system and an approximated probability distribution where causal influences among elements are statistically disconnected. This framework provides intuitive geometric interpretations harmonizing various information theoretic measures in a unified manner, including mutual information, transfer entropy, stochastic interaction, and integrated information, each of which is characterized by how causal influences are disconnected. In addition to the mathematical assessment of consciousness, our framework should help to analyze causal relationships in complex systems in a complete and hierarchical manner.
Assessing Cognitive Ability and Simulator-Based Driving Performance in Poststroke Adults

Driving is an important activity of daily living, which is increasingly relied upon as the population ages. It has been well-established that cognitive processes decline following a stroke and these processes may influence driving performance. There is much debate on the use of off-road neurological assessments and driving simulators as tools to predict driving performance; however, the majority of research uses unlicensed poststroke drivers, making the comparability of poststroke adults to that of a control group difficult. It stands to reason that in order to determine whether simulators and cognitive assessments can accurately assess driving performance, the baseline should be set by licenced drivers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess differences in cognitive ability and driving simulator performance in licensed community-dwelling poststroke drivers and controls. Two groups of licensed drivers (37 poststroke and 43 controls) were assessed using several cognitive tasks and using a driving simulator. The poststroke adults exhibited poorer cognitive ability; however, there were no differences in simulator performance between groups except that the poststroke drivers demonstrated less variability in driver headway. The application of these results as a prescreening toolbox for poststroke drivers is discussed.
Reduction in Vegetable Intake Disparities With a Web-Based Nutrition Education Intervention Among Lower-Income Adults in Japan: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background No existing Web-based nutrition education interventions have been evaluated in light of socioeconomic status just in Japan. Objective The aim was to investigate the effect of a Web-based intervention program on reducing vegetable intake disparities between low- and middle-income Japanese adults. Methods In this randomized controlled trial, participants were assessed at three time points—baseline, postintervention (5 weeks later), and a follow-up after 3 months—from October 2015 to March 2016. We collected data via a Japanese online research service company from 8564 adults aged 30 to 59 years. Participants were stratified according to national population statistics for gender and age, and randomly selected. They were then randomly allocated into intervention (n=900) and control (n=600) groups such that both groups contained an equal number of individuals with low and middle income. The intervention program encouraged behavior change using behavioral theories and techniques tailored to their assumed stage of change. The outcome was vegetable intake servings per day (1 serving being approximately 70 g). Results Out of 900 participants who started, 450 were from the middle income group (of which 386 or 85.7% completed the intervention), and 450 were from the low income group (of which 371 or 82.4% completed). In the intervention group, vegetable intake increased in the low-income participants from baseline to postintervention (0.42 servings, 95% CI 0.11-0.72). A two-way analysis of variance showed that low-income participants had significant main effects of group (η2=0.04, P=.01) and time (η2=0.01, P<.001), and a significant interaction (η2=0.01, P=.009). Middle-income participants also had a significant main effect of time (η2=0.01, P=.006) and a significant interaction (η2=0.01, P=.046). Conclusions This Web-based nutritional education intervention could fill the vegetable intake gap between low- and middle-income adults in Japan, and is expected to prevent noncommunicable and lifestyle-related diseases. Further intervention program improvements are necessary to maintain and increase vegetable intake for other groups. Trial Registration Current Controlled Trials (UMIN-ICDR): UMIN000019376; https://upload.umin. ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ icdr_e/ctr_view. cgi? recptno=R000022404 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6u9wihBZU)
Identifying Best-Fitting Inputs in Health-Economic Model Calibration

Background. To identify best-fitting input sets using model calibration, individual calibration target fits are often combined into a single goodness-of-fit (GOF) measure using a set of weights. Decisions in the calibration process, such as which weights to use, influence which sets of model inputs are identified as best-fitting, potentially leading to different health economic conclusions. We present an alternative approach to identifying best-fitting input sets based on the concept of Pareto-optimality. A set of model inputs is on the Pareto frontier if no other input set simultaneously fits all calibration targets as well or better. Methods. We demonstrate the Pareto frontier approach in the calibration of 2 models: a simple, illustrative Markov model and a previously published cost-effectiveness model of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). For each model, we compare the input sets on the Pareto frontier to an equal number of best-fitting input sets according to 2 possible weighted-sum GOF scoring systems, and we compare the health economic conclusions arising from these different definitions of best-fitting. Results. For the simple model, outcomes evaluated over the best-fitting input sets according to the 2 weighted-sum GOF schemes were virtually nonoverlapping on the cost-effectiveness plane and resulted in very different incremental cost-effectiveness ratios ($79,300 [95% CI 72,500–87,600] v. $139,700 [95% CI 79,900–182,800] per quality-adjusted life-year [QALY] gained). Input sets on the Pareto frontier spanned both regions ($79,000 [95% CI 64,900–156,200] per QALY gained). The TAVR model yielded similar results. Conclusions. Choices in generating a summary GOF score may result in different health economic conclusions. The Pareto frontier approach eliminates the need to make these choices by using an intuitive and transparent notion of optimality as the basis for identifying best-fitting input sets.
Transcriptomic and proteomic landscape of mitochondrial dysfunction reveals secondary coenzyme Q deficiency in mammals

Dysfunction of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system is a major cause of human disease and the cellular consequences are highly complex. Here, we present comparative analyses of mitochondrial proteomes, cellular transcriptomes and targeted metabolomics of five knockout mouse strains deficient in essential factors required for mitochondrial DNA gene expression, leading to OXPHOS dysfunction. Moreover, we describe sequential protein changes during post-natal development and progressive OXPHOS dysfunction in time course analyses in control mice and a middle lifespan knockout, respectively. Very unexpectedly, we identify a new response pathway to OXPHOS dysfunction in which the intra-mitochondrial synthesis of coenzyme Q (ubiquinone, Q) and Q levels are profoundly decreased, pointing towards novel possibilities for therapy. Our extensive omics analyses provide a high-quality resource of altered gene expression patterns under severe OXPHOS deficiency comparing several mouse models, that will deepen our understanding, open avenues for research and provide an important reference for diagnosis and treatment.
Stability of Cucumber Necrosis Virus at the Quasi-6-Fold Axis Affects Zoospore Transmission

ABSTRACT Cucumber necrosis virus (CNV) is a member of the genus Tombusvirus and has a monopartite positive-sense RNA genome. CNV is transmitted in nature via zoospores of the fungus Olpidium bornovanus. As with other members of the Tombusvirus genus, the CNV capsid swells when exposed to alkaline pH and EDTA. We previously demonstrated that a P73G mutation blocks the virus from zoospore transmission while not significantly affecting replication in plants (K. Kakani, R. Reade, and D. Rochon, J Mol Biol 338:507–517, 2004, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2004.03.008 ). P73 lies immediately adjacent to a putative zinc binding site (M. Li et al., J Virol 87:12166–12175, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01965-13 ) that is formed by three icosahedrally related His residues in the N termini of the C subunit at the quasi-6-fold axes. To better understand how this buried residue might affect vector transmission, we determined the cryo-electron microscopy structure of wild-type CNV in the native and swollen state and of the transmission-defective mutant, P73G, under native conditions. With the wild-type CNV, the swollen structure demonstrated the expected expansion of the capsid. However, the zinc binding region at the quasi-6-fold at the β-annulus axes remained intact. By comparison, the zinc binding region of the P73G mutant, even under native conditions, was markedly disordered, suggesting that the β-annulus had been disrupted and that this could destabilize the capsid. This was confirmed with pH and urea denaturation experiments in conjunction with electron microscopy analysis. We suggest that the P73G mutation affects the zinc binding and/or the β-annulus, making it more fragile under neutral/basic pH conditions. This, in turn, may affect zoospore transmission. IMPORTANCE Cucumber necrosis virus (CNV), a member of the genus Tombusvirus, is transmitted in nature via zoospores of the fungus Olpidium bornovanus. While a number of plant viruses are transmitted via insect vectors, little is known at the molecular level as to how the viruses are recognized and transmitted. As with many spherical plant viruses, the CNV capsid swells when exposed to alkaline pH and EDTA. We previously demonstrated that a P73G mutation that lies inside the capsid immediately adjacent to a putative zinc binding site (Li et al., J Virol 87:12166–12175, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01965-13 ) blocks the virus from zoospore transmission while not significantly affecting replication in plants (K. Kakani, R. Reade, and D. Rochon, J Mol Biol 338:507–517, 2004, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2004.03.008 ). Here, we show that the P73G mutant is less stable than the wild type, and this appears to be correlated with destabilization of the β-annulus at the icosahedral 3-fold axes. Therefore, the β-annulus appears not to be essential for particle assembly but is necessary for interactions with the transmission vector.
Persistent and growing socioeconomic disparities in disability among the elderly: 1982-2002.

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in prevalence of disability over age 70 have widened or narrowed during the past 2 decades. METHODS We used data from the 1982-2002 National Health Interview Surveys, which are nationally representative cross-sectional surveys of the noninstitutionalized population of the United States. Participants included 172227 people aged 70 years and older. The primary outcome measure was the average annual percentage change in the prevalence of 2 self-reported disability measures: the need for help with activities of daily living ("ADL disability") and need for help with either ADL or instrumental activities of daily living ("any disability"). RESULTS All groups experienced declines in the age- and gender-adjusted prevalence of any disability during the 1982 to 2002 period. However, the average annual percent declines were smaller for the least advantaged socioeconomic groups. Differences in trends across racial/ethnic groups were not statistically significant. ADL disability prevalence decreased for the more advantaged groups but increased among the lowest income and education groups. Non-Hispanic Whites and minorities experienced similar average annual percent declines in ADL disability. CONCLUSIONS Racial/ethnic disparities in old-age disability have persisted over the last 20 years, whereas socioeconomic disparities have increased.
A Novel Method for Fast Change-Point Detection on Simulated Time Series and Electrocardiogram Data

Although Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) statistic is a widely used method, some weaknesses exist in investigating abrupt Change Point (CP) problems, e.g. it is time-consuming and invalid sometimes. To detect abrupt change from time series fast, a novel method is proposed based on Haar Wavelet (HW) and KS statistic (HWKS). First, the two Binary Search Trees (BSTs), termed TcA and TcD, are constructed by multi-level HW from a diagnosed time series; the framework of HWKS method is implemented by introducing a modified KS statistic and two search rules based on the two BSTs; and then fast CP detection is implemented by two HWKS-based algorithms. Second, the performance of HWKS is evaluated by simulated time series dataset. The simulations show that HWKS is faster, more sensitive and efficient than KS, HW, and T methods. Last, HWKS is applied to analyze the electrocardiogram (ECG) time series, the experiment results show that the proposed method can find abrupt change from ECG segment with maximal data fluctuation more quickly and efficiently, and it is very helpful to inspect and diagnose the different state of health from a patient's ECG signal.
Quality of Life of Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: Validation of the German Version of the ICECAP-O

Objectives To validate the ICECAP-O capability wellbeing measure’s German translation in older people with dementia living in a nursing home, and to investigate the influence of proxy characteristics on responses. Method Cross-sectional study. For 95 residents living in a German nursing home, questionnaires were completed by nursing professionals serving as proxy respondents. We investigated the convergent validity of the ICECAP-O with other Quality of Life (Qol) measures, the EQ-5D extended with a cognitive dimension (EQ-5D+C), the Alzheimer’s Disease Related Quality of Life (ADRQL) measures, and the Barthel-index measure of Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Discriminant validity was investigated using bivariate and multivariate stepwise regression analysis, comparing ICECAP-O scores between subgroups varying in dementia severity, care dependency, ADL status and demographic characteristics. Results Convergent validity between the ICECAP-O, EQ-5D+C, ADRQL and Barthel-Index scores was moderate to good (with correlations of 0.72, 0.69 and 0.53 respectively), but differed considerably between dimensions of the instruments. Discriminant validity was confirmed by finding differences in ICECAP-O scores between subgroups based on ADL scores (0.58 below 65 points on the Barthel-index and 0.80 above 65 points) and other characteristics. The ICECAP-O scores based on available tariffs were related to proxy characteristics gender (0.52 males versus 0.65 females) and work experience (0.61 below 2 years of experience versus 0.68 above 2 years). Discussion The results of this study suggest that the ICECAP-O is a promising generic measure for general Qol and capability of people with dementia living in a nursing home. Validity tests generally yielded favorable results. Work experience and gender appeared to influence proxy response, which raises questions regarding appropriate proxies, especially since the ICECAP-O may be completed by proxies relatively often. Further research is necessary to validate the German version of the ICECAP-O, with specific attention to proxy completion for people with dementia.