Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Moderate Zinc Deficiency Influences Arterial Blood Pressure and Vascular Nitric Oxide Pathway in Growing Rats

There is an increasing interest in the involvement of trace elements such as zinc in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. This study was designed to examine whether moderate zinc deficiency during growth influences blood pressure (BP) and vascular nitric oxide (NO) pathway. Three-week-old weaned male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two dietary groups and fed either a moderately zinc-deficient diet (zinc content 9 mg/kg; n = 12) or a control diet (zinc content 30 mg/kg; n = 12) for 60 d. The following were measured: systolic BP, nitrates and nitrites urinary excretion, urinary chemiluminescence intensity, NADPH-diaphorase activity in the thoracic aorta and intestinal arterioles, and NO synthase (NOS) catalytic activity using l-[U14C]-arginine as substrate in the thoracic aorta. Zinc deficiency during growth induced an increase in BP from day 30 of the experimental period, leading to hypertension on day 60. Animals that were fed the zinc-deficient diet had lower urinary excretion levels of nitrates and nitrites and higher intensity of spontaneous luminescence on day 60. At the end of the experiment, zinc-deficient rats showed decreased NADPH diaphorase activity in endothelium and smooth muscle of the thoracic aorta and intestinal arterioles and decreased activity of NOS in thoracic aortic tissue. An imbalance in zinc bioavailability during postnatal and growing periods may be may be a risk factor in development of cardiovascular alterations in adult life. The mechanisms involved may include an impaired vascular NO system as a result of decreased NOS activity and higher systemic oxidative stress.
A Mobile Compression Device Compared With Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin for Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism in Total Hip Arthroplasty

INTRODUCTION: Prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), has been at the forefront of orthopaedic care for many years for lower extremity arthroplasty, which is at high risk for VTE. Risk of bleeding increases in total hip arthroplasty (THA) with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) prophylaxis. A mobile compression device (MCD) that allows patients to move freely in hospital and at home may be safer. HYPOTHESIS: The study hypothesized that patients using MCD would have less major bleeding than patients using LMWH without affecting the efficacy of thrombosis prevention in THA. SAMPLE: Following THA, 395 patients at 9 healthcare sites in the United States were randomized to receive either MCD or LMWH for VTE prophylaxis. METHODS: A mobile compression device was applied in the operating room and continued for 10 days with or without aspirin 81 mg daily. Low-molecular-weight heparin was started the morning after surgery and continued for 10 days. Days 10–12 following surgery, bilateral duplex ultrasound was performed on all patients. Bleeding events were recorded during treatment and VTE events were recorded for 3 months. Number of hours of device use was recorded. FINDINGS: Major bleeding events occurred in 11 patients, all in the LMWH group (6%). Venous thromboembolism occurrence was similar, 5.1% in the MCD group and 5.3% in the LMWH group. The MCD group used the device 83% of possible usable time. DISCUSSION: Findings of significantly less major bleeding in the MCD group than the LMWH group supported our hypothesis with no significant difference in VTE.
Low Ejection Fraction: Effect on the Rehabilitation Progress and Outcome of Stroke Patients

Kevorkian GC, Nambiar SV, Rintala DH: Low ejection fraction: Effect on the rehabilitation progress and outcome of stroke patients. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2005;84:655–661. Objective: To determine the effect of low ejection fraction (≤35%) on the rehabilitation progress and outcome of stroke patients and compare these variables with patients with high ejection fraction (>35%). Design: A retrospective chart review of the 332 stroke patients admitted to the inpatient rehabilitation unit of an acute tertiary general hospital during a 36-mo period. A total of 262 (79%) of these patients (126 men and 136 women) had an ejection fraction study performed and are the subjects of this analysis. They were classified into two groups: low ejection fraction (n = 36) and high ejection fraction (n = 226). The main outcome measures included discharge total FIM score, FIM gain, FIM efficiency, length of stay, and discharge disposition. Results: Patients with low ejection fraction had lower discharge FIM scores (82.9 vs. 89.1, t = 2.09, P < 0.04), lower FIM gain (15.9 vs. 19.3, t = 1.99, P < 0.05), and lower FIM efficiency (1.2 vs. 1.7, t = 232, P < 0.03), and they were less likely to return home (69% vs. 85%, &khgr;2 = 5.25, P < 0.04) as compared with patients with high ejection fraction. Lengths of stay were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: Compared with patients in the high ejection fraction cohort, the low ejection fraction subjects had lower discharge FIM scores, FIM gains, and FIM efficiency. However, almost 70% progressed well enough to be discharged to home. Low ejection fraction in stroke patients may well serve as an indicator of a patient population with greater medical and social needs.
Vulnerable road users are at greater risk during Ramadan -- results from road traffic surveillance data.

OBJECTIVE To assess how the frequency, nature and outcome of road traffic crashes differ during the fasting month of Ramadan. METHODS The retrospective study was conducted in Karachi and comprised data from the Road Traffic Injury Surveillance Project which entailed information on all road traffic injury victims presenting to Emergency Departments in the city between September 2006 and September 2011. Data was analysed to find the frequency of road traffic crashes according to time of incident, road user group and survival. Ramadan and Non-Ramadan groups were compared with respect to time and frequency of incidents, road user group and mortality. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS There were 163,022 subjects from whom 13,640(8.36%) came during Ramadan and 149,382 (91.6%) during the non-Ramadan months. Frequency of road traffic crashes did not change significantly during Ramadan, but was clustered around the breaking of Fast and the Taravih prayers. The most commonly affected road user group was motorbike riders followed by pedestrians. Overall survival of the RTI victims was 96.1% with a mortality rate of 4.1% which was higher than the figure of 3.5% in the non-Ramadan period. CONCLUSIONS Vulnerable road users were more frequently involved in road traffic injuries during Ramadan. Moreover, the frequency of crashes increased around evening which requires more careful planning of traffic controls, especially for the vulnerable road users.
Nogo Receptor Inhibition Enhances Functional Recovery following Lysolecithin-Induced Demyelination in Mouse Optic Chiasm

Background Inhibitory factors have been implicated in the failure of remyelination in demyelinating diseases. Myelin associated inhibitors act through a common receptor called Nogo receptor (NgR) that plays critical inhibitory roles in CNS plasticity. Here we investigated the effects of abrogating NgR inhibition in a non-immune model of focal demyelination in adult mouse optic chiasm. Methodology/Principal Findings A focal area of demyelination was induced in adult mouse optic chiasm by microinjection of lysolecithin. To knock down NgR levels, siRNAs against NgR were intracerebroventricularly administered via a permanent cannula over 14 days, Functional changes were monitored by electrophysiological recording of latency of visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Histological analysis was carried out 3, 7 and 14 days post demyelination lesion. To assess the effect of NgR inhibition on precursor cell repopulation, BrdU was administered to the animals prior to the demyelination induction. Inhibition of NgR significantly restored VEPs responses following optic chiasm demyelination. These findings were confirmed histologically by myelin specific staining. siNgR application resulted in a smaller lesion size compared to control. NgR inhibition significantly increased the numbers of BrdU+/Olig2+ progenitor cells in the lesioned area and in the neurogenic zone of the third ventricle. These progenitor cells (Olig2+ or GFAP+) migrated away from this area as a function of time. Conclusions/Significance Our results show that inhibition of NgR facilitate myelin repair in the demyelinated chiasm, with enhanced recruitment of proliferating cells to the lesion site. Thus, antagonizing NgR function could have therapeutic potential for demyelinating disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis.
Information-Theoretic Security in Stochastic Control Systems

Infrastructural systems such as the electricity grid, healthcare, and transportation networks today rely increasingly on the joint functioning of networked information systems and physical components, in short, on cyber-physical architectures. Despite tremendous advances in cryptography, physical-layer security and authentication, information attacks, both passive such as eavesdropping, and active such as unauthorized data injection, continue to thwart the reliable functioning of networked systems. In systems with joint cyber-physical functionality, the ability of an adversary to monitor transmitted information or introduce false information can lead to sensitive user data being leaked or result in critical damages to the underlying physical system. This paper investigates two broad challenges in information security in cyber-physical systems (CPSs): preventing retrieval of internal physical system information through monitored external cyber flows, and limiting the modification of physical system functioning through compromised cyber flows. A rigorous analytical framework grounded on information-theoretic security is developed to study these challenges in a general stochastic control system abstraction-a theoretical building block for CPSs-with the objectives of quantifying the fundamental tradeoffs between information security and physical system performance, and through the process, designing provably secure controller policies. Recent results are presented that establish the theoretical basis for the framework, in addition to practical applications in timing analysis of anonymous systems, and demand response systems in a smart electricity grid.
How Accessible is Medical Care for Homeless Women?

Background. Women have become a major segment of the homeless population, yet little is known about their access to health care or the relationship between access to care and vulnerability of homelessness. Objective. To examine homeless women’s access to health care using the Expanded Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations. Research Design. Population-based cross-sectional study using a probability sample of homeless women. Setting. Seventy-eight homeless shelters and soup lines in Los Angeles County. Subjects. Nine hundred seventy-four homeless women interviewed between January and October of 1997. Outcome Measures. Hospitalization, not for delivery, in the past 12 months; number of outpatient visits in the past 12 months; and number of preventive health screens in the past 12 months. Results. Among homeless women, those living on the streets were least likely to be hospitalized and had the fewest ambulatory visits and health screens. Multivariate analyses showed that key enabling factors associated with improved access were having: (1) health insurance, which increased the odds of being hospitalized by almost 3 times, and the number of ambulatory visits received; and (2) a regular source of care which increased the number of outpatient visits and health screens (all at P <0.01). Conclusions. The findings from the analysis of this large representative sample of homeless women indicate that women living on the streets have especially limited access to all types of medical care. The provision of health insurance and a regular source of care may substantially improve access for this vulnerable population.
To what extent the practice on living labs match with the theoretical framework? The case of VINCENTE Living Lab for the creation of technology entrepreneurship

On the basis of a synthetic review of the literature about the Living Labs phenomenon, the article investigates to what extent the theoretical approach finds a coherent application in the reality. Focusing on 15 Italian living labs associated to the ENoLL, the study addresses a comparative analysis based on a set of features extracted from the literature. In providing a significant overview of the Italian experience in terms of Living Labs, the study focuses on their implications for the development of entrepreneurial competencies by leveraging on user centrality and public-private networking. Starting from this analysis, the case of VINCENTE Living Lab is presented, by highlighting the technology entrepreneurship dimension that represents the core process for the intelligent growth in the knowledge economy scenarios.
Neurotic Perfectionism, Perceived Stress, and Self-Esteem among Japanese Men: A Prospective Study

The present study examined the relationship between self-report scores of neurotic perfectionism and of perceived stress and self-esteem 6 wk. later among 146 Japanese male college students. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that scores for neurotic perfectionism accounted for statistically significant but functionally small variance (4% and 3%) in scores for perceived stress and self-esteem obtained at Time 2 (6 wk. later), after controlling for the scores for perceived stress and self-esteem at Time 1, respectively.
Effective epidemic control and source tracing through mobile social sensing over WBANs

Accurate and real-time tracing of epidemic sources is critical for epidemic origin analyses and control when outbreaks of epidemic diseases occur. Such tracing requires the simultaneous availability of information about social interactions among people as well as their body vital signs. Existing epidemic control methods are limited due to their inability to collect the above two types of information at the same time. In this paper, for the first time, we propose integrating wireless body area networks (WBANs) for body vital signs collection with mobile phones for social interaction sensing to achieve the desired epidemic source tracing. In particular, we design a mobile phone capability driven hierarchical social interaction detection framework integrated with WBANs. With this framework, we further propose a set of epidemic source tracing and control algorithms including genetic algorithm based search and dominating set identification algorithms to effectively identify epidemic sources and inhibit epidemic spread. We have also conducted extensive simulations, analyses, and case studies based on real data sets, which demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of our proposed solutions.
G-quadruplex interacting small molecules and drugs: from bench toward bedside

G-quadruplexes are non-Watson-Crick four-stranded nucleic acid structures. Recent evidence points toward their existence in vivo and their implication in various biological processes. Over the past two decades, small molecules have been developed to specifically and selectively target these structures in order to dissect mechanisms they have been linked to. This has led to the development of potential therapeutic agents, particularly for anti-carcinogenic activity. Here, we first present how major biological roles of G-quadruplexes have been uncovered by the use of specifically designed small molecule probes. We use this to highlight how fundamental research has contributed to identifying biological functions of G-quadruplexes and their potential as therapeutic targets. We then discuss the development of G-quadruplex interacting small molecules as potential drug candidates.
Vanadium Oxide Thin-Film Variable Resistor-Based RF Switches

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a unique phase change material (PCM) that possesses a metal-to-insulator transition property. Pristine VO2 has a negative temperature coefficient of resistance, and it undergoes an insulator-to-metal phase change at a transition temperature of 68 °C. Such a property makes the VO2 thin-film-based variable resistor (varistor) a good candidate in reconfigurable electronics to be integrated with different RF devices such as inductors, varactors, and antennas. Series single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches with integrated VO2 thin films were designed, fabricated, and tested. The overall size of the device is 380 μm × 600 μm. The SPST switches were fabricated on a sapphire substrate with integrated heating coil to control VO2 phase change. During the test, when VO2 thin film changed from insulator at room temperature to metallic state (low-resistive phase) at 80 °C, the insertion loss of the SPST switch was <;3 dB at 10 GHz. In addition, the isolation of the SPST improved to better than 30 dB when the temperature dropped to 20 °C. These tunable characteristics of the RF switch provide evidence for VO2 as a useful PCM for the broad range of applications in reconfigurable electronics.
Identification of a Peroxisomal Acyl-activating Enzyme Involved in the Biosynthesis of Jasmonic Acid in Arabidopsis*♦

Jasmonic acid (JA) is a lipid-derived signal that regulates a wide variety of developmental and defense-related processes in higher plants. JA is synthesized from linolenic acid via an enzymatic pathway that initiates in the plastid and terminates in peroxisomes. The C18 JA precursor 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA) is converted in the peroxisome to 3-oxo-2-(2′-[Z]-pentenyl)cyclopentane-1-octanoic acid (OPC-8:0), which subsequently undergoes three rounds of β-oxidation to yield JA. Although most JA biosynthetic enzymes have been identified, several key steps in the pathway remain to be elucidated. To address this knowledge gap, we employed co-expression analysis to identify genes that are coordinately regulated with known JA biosynthetic components in Arabidopsis. Among the candidate genes uncovered by this approach was a 4-coumarate-CoA ligase-like member of the acyl-activating enzyme (AAE) gene family, which we have named OPC-8:0 CoA Ligase1 (OPCL1). In response to wounding, opcl1 null mutants exhibited reduced levels of JA and hyperaccumulation of OPC-8:0. Recombinant OPCL1 was active against both OPDA and OPC-8:0, as well as medium-to-long straight-chain fatty acids. Subcellular localization studies with green fluorescent protein-tagged OPCL1 showed that the protein is targeted to peroxisomes. These findings establish a physiological role for OPCL1 in the activation of JA biosynthetic precursors in leaf peroxisomes, and further indicate that OPC-8:0 is a physiological substrate for the activation step. The results also demonstrate the utility of co-expression analysis for identification of factors that contribute to jasmonate homeostasis.
Removal of the Cardiac Troponin I N-terminal Extension Improves Cardiac Function in Aged Mice*

The cardiac troponin I (cTnI) isoform contains a unique N-terminal extension that functions to modulate activation of cardiac myofilaments. During cardiac remodeling restricted proteolysis of cTnI removes this cardiac specific N-terminal modulatory extension to alter myofilament regulation. We have demonstrated expression of the N-terminal-deleted cTnI (cTnI-ND) in the heart decreased the development of the cardiomyopathy like phenotype in a β-adrenergic-deficient transgenic mouse model. To investigate the potential beneficial effects of cTnI-ND on the development of naturally occurring cardiac dysfunction, we measured the hemodynamic and biochemical effects of cTnI-ND transgenic expression in the aged heart. Echocardiographic measurements demonstrate cTnI-ND transgenic mice exhibit increased systolic and diastolic functions at 16 months of age compared with age-matched controls. This improvement likely results from decreased Ca2+ sensitivity and increased cross-bridge kinetics as observed in skinned papillary bundles from young transgenic mice prior to the effects of aging. Hearts of cTnI-ND transgenic mice further exhibited decreased β myosin heavy chain expression compared to age matched non-transgenic mice as well as altered cTnI phosphorylation. Finally, we demonstrated cTnI-ND expressed in the heart is not phosphorylated indicating the cTnI N-terminal is necessary for the higher level phosphorylation of cTnI. Taken together, our data suggest the regulated proteolysis of cTnI during cardiac stress to remove the unique cardiac N-terminal extension functions to improve cardiac contractility at the myofilament level and improve overall cardiac function.
Effects of Calorie Restriction on Polymicrobial Peritonitis Induced by Cecum Ligation and Puncture in Young C57BL/6 Mice

ABSTRACT Calorie restriction (CR) is known to prolong the life span and maintain an active immune function in aged mice, but it is still not known if rodents under CR can respond optimally to bacterial infection. We report here on the influence of CR on the response of peritoneal macrophages to lipopolysaccharide, splenic NF-κB and NF–interleukin-6 (IL-6) activities, and mortality in polymicrobial sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Macrophages from 6-month-old C57BL/6 mice on a calorie-restricted diet were less responsive to lipopolysaccharide, as evidenced by lower levels of IL-12 and IL-6 protein and mRNA expression. Furthermore, in vitro lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages from mice under CR also expressed decreased lipopolysaccharide receptor CD14 levels as well as Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 mRNA levels. In addition, the phagocytic capacity and class II (I-Ab) expression of macrophages were also found to be significantly lower in mice under CR. Mice under CR died earlier (P < 0.005) after sepsis induced by CLP, which appeared to be a result of increased levels in serum of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha and IL-6 and splenic NF-κB and NF–IL-6 activation 4 h after CLP. However, mice under CR survived significantly (P < 0.005) longer than mice fed ad libitum when injected with paraquat, a free radical-inducing agent. These data suggest that young mice under CR may be protected against oxidative stress but may have delayed maturation of macrophage function and increased susceptibility to bacterial infection.