Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of different doses of physical activity on cardiorespiratory fitness among sedentary, overweight or obese postmenopausal women with elevated blood pressure: a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT Low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with high risk of mortality, and improvements in fitness are associated with reduced mortality risk. However, a poor understanding of the physical activity-fitness dose response relation remains. OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of 50%, 100%, and 150% of the NIH Consensus Development Panel recommended physical activity dose on fitness in women. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Randomized controlled trial of 464 sedentary, postmenopausal overweight or obese women whose body mass index ranged from 25.0 to 43.0 and whose systolic blood pressure ranged from 120.0 to 159.9 mm Hg. Enrollment took place between April 2001 and June 2005 in the Dallas, Tex, area. INTERVENTION Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: 102 to the nonexercise control group and 155 to the 4-kcal/kg, 104 to the 8-kcal/kg, and 103 to the 12-kcal/kg per week energy-expenditure groups for the 6-month intervention period. Target training intensity was the heart rate associated with 50% of each woman's peak Vo2. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The primary outcome was aerobic fitness assessed on a cycle ergometer and quantified as peak absolute oxygen consumption (Vo2abs, L/min). RESULTS The mean (SD) baseline Vo2abs values were 1.30 (0.25) L/min. The mean (SD) minutes of exercising per week were 72.2 (12.3) for the 4-kcal/kg, 135.8 (19.5) for the 8-kcal/kg, and 191.7 (33.7) for the 12-kcal/kg per week exercise groups. After adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, weight, and peak heart rate, the exercise groups increased their Vo2abs compared with the control group by 4.2% in the 4-kcal/kg, 6.0% in the 8-kcal/kg, and 8.2% in the 12-kcal/kg per week groups (P<.001 for each vs control; P for trend <.001). There was no treatment x subgroup interaction for age, body mass index, weight, baseline Vo2abs, race/ethnicity, or baseline hormone therapy use. There were no significant changes in systolic or diastolic blood pressure values from baseline to 6 months in any of the exercise groups vs the control group. CONCLUSION In this study, previously sedentary, overweight or obese postmenopausal women experienced a graded dose-response change in fitness across levels of exercise training. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00011193.
Minimizing Distribution and Data Loading Overheads in Parallel Training of DNN Acoustic Models with Frequent Parameter Averaging

In the paper we investigate the performance of parallel deep neural network training with parameter averaging for acoustic modeling in Kaldi, a popular automatic speech recognition toolkit. We describe experiments based on training a recurrent neural network with 4 layers of 800 LSTM hidden states on a 100-hour corpora of annotated Polish speech data. We propose a MPI-based modification of the training program which minimizes the overheads of both distributing training jobs and loading and preprocessing training data by using message passing and CPU/GPU computation overlapping. The impact of the proposed optimizations is greater for the more frequent neural network model averaging. To justify our efforts, we examine the influence of averaging frequency on the trained model efficiency. We plot learning curves based on the average log-probability per frame of correct paths for utterances in the validation set, as well as word error rates of test set decodings. Based on experiments with training on 2 workstations with 4 GPUs each we point that for the given network architecture, dataset and computing environment there is a certain range of averaging frequencies that are optimal for the model efficiency. For the selected averaging frequency of 600k frames per iteration the proposed optimizations reduce the training time by 54.9%.
Binding of T lymphocytes to hippocampal neurons through ICAM‐5 (telencephalin) and characterization of its interaction with the leukocyte integrin CD11a / CD18

Intercellular adhesion molecule‐5 (ICAM‐5, telencephalin) is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily expressed on telencephalic neurons, and serves as a ligand for the leukocyte integrin CD11a/CD18. We studied here the binding site in ICAM‐5 for CD11a/CD18. Protein constructs containing the first immunoglobulin domain of ICAM‐5 were able to support CD11a/CD18 interaction, while deletion of the first domain abolished binding. Monoclonal antibodies reacting with the first domain of ICAM‐5 also completely blocked the interaction. The soluble first domain of ICAM‐5 inhibited the binding of T cells to immobilized ICAM‐5 at concentrations of 50 nM and higher. Interestingly, the sixth domain of ICAM‐5 was also able to support leukocyte binding, but this binding activity may not involve leukocyte integrins. To test the involvement of ICAM‐5 in leukocyte‐neuron interactions, an assay using human T cells binding to rat hippocampal neurons was established. This binding was blocked by monoclonal antibodies against CD11a/CD18 and ICAM‐5. Thus ICAM‐5 may act as a major adhesion molecule for leukocyte binding to neurons in the central nervous system.
Thermodynamics of intersubunit interactions in cholera toxin upon binding to the oligosaccharide portion of its cell surface receptor, ganglioside GM1.

The binding and the energetics of the interaction of cholera toxin with the oligosaccharide portion of ganglioside GM1 (oligo-GM1), the toxin cell surface receptor, have been studied by high-sensitivity isothermal titration calorimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. Previously, we have shown that the association of cholera toxin to ganglioside GM1 enhances the cooperative interactions between subunits in the B-subunit pentamer [Goins, B. , & Freire, E. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 2046-2052]. New experiments presented in this paper reveal that the oligosaccharide portion of the receptor is by itself able to enhance the intersubunit cooperative interactions within the B pentamer. This effect is seen in the protein unfolding transition as a shift from independent unfolding of the B promoters toward a cooperative unfolding. To identify the origin of this effect, the binding of cholera toxin to oligo-GM1 has been measured calorimetrically under isothermal conditions. The binding curve at 37 degrees C is sigmoidal, indicating cooperative binding. The binding data can be described in terms of a nearest-neighbor cooperative interaction binding model. In terms of this model, the association of a oligo-GM1 molecule to a B protomer affects the association to adjacent B promoters within the pentameric ring. The measured intrinsic binding enthalpy per protomer is -22 kcal/mol and the cooperative interaction enthalpy -11 kcal/mol. The intrinsic binding constant determined calorimetrically is 1.05 x 10(6) M-1 at 37 degrees C and the cooperative Gibbs free energy equal to -850 cal/mol. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Distinguishing obstructive from central sleep apnea events: diaphragm electromyogram and esophageal pressure compared.

BACKGROUND Distinguishing central sleep apnea (CSA) from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can be clinically important because different types of apnea may require different treatment approaches. Academically, this distinction is important for investigating the pathological mechanism of different types of sleep apnea. Conventional polysomnography (PSG) with recording of chest and abdominal movement may overestimate the frequency of CSA, leading to inappropriate treatment of sleep-disordered breathing. We hypothesized that diaphragm electromyogram (EMGdi) could be a useful technique to assess neural respiratory drive and respiratory effort and, therefore, to distinguish accurately CSA from OSA. METHODS A multipair esophageal electrode catheter mounted with a balloon was used to record the EMGdi and esophageal pressure (Pes) during overnight PSG. Nineteen patients were included in the study, 12 of whom had previously been identified as having central apnea-hypopnea on a diagnostic PSG undertaken for symptoms that suggest OSA and 7 of whom were known to have heart failure. RESULTS A good relationship was found between the swing of Pes and the root mean (+/- SD) square of the EMGdi during OSA events (0.89 +/- 0.10). About one third of CSA events diagnosed by uncalibrated respiratory inductance plethysmography could not be confirmed by Pes or EMGdi. No difference was found in the number of CSAs diagnosed by Pes (1,319) vs EMGdi (1,293; p > 0.01). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that both Pes and EMGdi measurements are useful in accurately differentiating central from obstructive respiratory events. Conventional PSG with recording of chest and abdominal movement overestimates the frequency of CSA events.
Cost of dementia: impact of disease progression estimated in longitudinal data

Aims: Several studies have shown that health care costs are higher for demented than for non-demented persons and that health care costs are higher for more severe demented persons than less severe demented persons. However, most studies report on cross-sectional study designs, and thus fail to examine the influence of disease progression on changes in health care costs to individual persons. The objective of this study was, using longitudinal data, to examine changes in total health care costs with disease progression in demented persons. Methods: We assumed that disease progression could be characterised by transitions between different states of dementia which reflected the degree to which the disease progressed over time. Then, changes in health care costs were regressed on a set of explanatory variables including disease progression. A total of 465 demented and non-demented persons were interviewed twice. The time between interviews was about three years. Before each interview, the participant was examined for dementia and classified by type of dementia (Alzheimer's disease, vascular or other types of dementia) and degree of dementia (very mild, mild, moderate, severe). Results: The results of this longitudinal study confirmed that health care costs increased over time for non-demented as well as for demented persons and that health care costs increased with disease progression. In particular, the health care costs increased when the disease had progressed into the severe state of the dementia. Also, decline in functional abilities was an important factor for explaining changes in health care costs.
Rome II Versus Rome III Classification of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in Pediatric Chronic Abdominal Pain

Objectives: The updated Rome III criteria for pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) include new FGID categories and changes to the Rome II criteria for various FGIDs. To our knowledge, the implications of these revisions for patient classification have not been identified. The purpose of this study was to compare classification results using Rome II versus Rome III criteria for FGIDs associated with chronic abdominal pain. Patients and Methods: Participants were 368 pediatric patients whose subspecialty evaluations for chronic abdominal pain yielded no evidence of organic disease. The children's gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed with the parent-report version of the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms (QPGS). Results: More patients met the criteria for a pediatric pain-related FGID according to the Rome III criteria (86.6%) than the Rome II criteria (68.0%). In comparison with the results from the Rome II criteria, the Rome III criteria classified a greater percentage of children as meeting criteria for Abdominal Migraine (23.1% vs 5.7%) and Functional Abdominal Pain (11.4% vs 2.7%). Irritable Bowel Syndrome was the most common diagnosis according to both Rome II (44.0%) and Rome III (45.1%). Conclusions: Changes to the Rome criteria make the Rome III criteria more inclusive, allowing classification of 86.6% of pediatric patients with medically unexplained chronic abdominal pain.
Thermal and spatial design of a high power density drive

Industrial drives, like many other power electronics applications are experiencing an ever increasing demand for high power densities. Only through a system integration approach which involves an integrated thermal and spatial design and using integration technologies can this goal be achieved. Hybrid integration in the form of integrated power electronics modules (IPEMs) is one of the key elements of this approach. Advanced thermal management with optimised air flow and a special heat sink structure is the other key element. In this paper a thermal management concept for high power density drives is investigated and a novel method, i.e. the integrated I-Housing, is utilized to implement the heat removal system. The complex thermal management structure consisting of an impingement cooled pin fin heatsink and heat exhaust paths, which significantly reduce the amount of air required for cooling, are modelled. The model presented in this paper is experimentally verified with a thermal dummy. The model is ultimately to be used to design the thermal management for a fully functional 2.2 kW inverter with a total volume of 500 cm3 - four times smaller than the current state of the art.
Impact evaluation of the Northern Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Programme – a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Abstract Objective The purpose of this impact evaluation was to measure the influence of a government of Ontario, Canada health promotion initiative, the Northern Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Programme (NFVPP), on elementary school-aged children’s psychosocial variables regarding fruit and vegetables, and fruit and vegetable consumption patterns. Design A cluster-randomised controlled trial design was used. The NFVPP consisted of three intervention arms: (i) Intervention I: Free Fruit and Vegetable Snack (FFVS) + Enhanced Nutrition Education; (ii) Intervention II: FFVS-alone; and (iii) Control group. Using the Pro-Children Questionnaire, the primary outcome measure was children’s fruit and vegetable consumption, and the secondary outcome measures included differences in children’s awareness, knowledge, self-efficacy, preference, intention and willingness to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. Setting/Subjects Twenty-six elementary schools in a defined area of Northern Ontario were eligible to participate in the impact evaluation. A final sample size of 1277 students in grades five to eight was achieved. Results Intervention I students consumed more fruit and vegetables at school than their Control counterparts by 0·49 serving/d (P < 0·05). Similarly, Intervention II students consumed more fruit and vegetables at school than Control students by 0·42 serving/d, although this difference was not statistically significant. Among students in both intervention groups, preferences for certain fruit and vegetables shifted from ‘never tried it’ towards ‘like it’. Conclusions The NFVPP resulted in positive changes in elementary school-aged children’s fruit and vegetable consumption at school, and favourable preference changes for certain fruit and vegetables.
Payeeship, financial leverage, and the client-provider relationship.

OBJECTIVE Although representative payeeship provided within clinical settings is believed to have therapeutic benefits, its potential negative impact on the therapeutic alliance or client-provider relationship is of concern. This study examined the effects of payeeship and perceived financial leverage on positive and negative dimensions of the client-provider relationship. METHODS The sample consisted of 205 adults ages 18 to 65 with axis I disorders who were receiving mental health services from a large urban community mental health clinic. Information about money management characteristics and ratings of the client-provider relationship were collected via face-to-face interview. RESULTS Fifty-three percent of the sample had a payee or money manager, and 79% of this group had a clinician payee. Respondents with co-occurring psychotic and substance use disorders, lower functioning, and lower insight about their illness were more likely to have a clinician payee. Forty percent of those with a clinician payee reported perceived financial leverage. Having a clinician payee was also associated with perceived financial leverage and with higher levels of conflict in the case management relationship. When examined in combination, financial leverage was found to mediate the effects of payeeship on conflict in the case management relationship (mean+/-SE=2.37+/-1.33, 95% confidence interval=16-5.52, p<.05). That is, payeeship appeared to increase conflict in the therapeutic alliance when used as a source of treatment leverage. CONCLUSIONS Although payeeship provides important support and may enhance functional outcomes for the patient, decisions about using the mechanism for promoting treatment adherence should take into account the potential disruption to the client-provider relationship.
Physical activity and breast cancer

Studies of the association between physical activity and breast cancer have yielded inconsistent findings. These findings may be related to a true null association or an inability to measure physical activity with enough precision to measure a protective relation. The authors reviewed and critiqued physical activity measurement methods used in published studies of the association between physical activity and breast cancer. The authors examined the quality of physical activity measures in 20 published studies. A summary score was created to rank the quality of the activity score. Studies with higher scores had a more precise measure of physical activity. Physical activity measurement methods were different in each study. Activity was measured by job classification, occupational tasks, participation in competitive athletics, and recreational and leisure‐time pursuits. The recall period for physical activity ranged from a lifetime to the past year. Comparison of quality scores showed no associations between the precision of activity measures and the study results. Future studies of physical activity and breast cancer should utilize standardized methods to measure physical activity. Researchers should be encouraged to choose a measure based on hypotheses regarding physical activity and breast cancer mechanisms. Studies also should extend to subgroups of women with differences in other breast cancer risk factors, such as body mass, menopausal status, and hormone replacement status. Cancer 1998;83:611‐620. © 1998 American Cancer Society.
Anti-infliximab antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who require higher doses of infliximab to achieve or maintain a clinical response.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the need to use doses of infliximab greater than 3 mg/kg every 8 weeks to achieve or maintain clinical response in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with differences in baseline clinical characteristics or anti-infliximab antibodies. METHODS Baseline clinical characteristics and anti-infliximab levels were evaluated retrospectively in a cohort of 51 consecutive patients with RA treated with infliximab at a single center. Patients were divided into 2 groups for comparison: Group 1 patients achieved and maintained clinical responses with infliximab 3 mg/kg every 8 weeks; Group 2 patients required higher doses. RESULTS Thirty-two (63%) patients required infliximab dose escalation (Group 2). There were no statistically significant differences in baseline or clinical characteristics between Group 1 and Group 2 patients. Anti-infliximab antibodies occurred in 47% of Group 2 versus 27% of Group 1 patients, with higher anti-infliximab antibody concentrations in Group 2 patients (mean +/- SD: 18.3 +/- 8.9 g/ml vs 7.5 +/- 4.8 g/ml; p = 0.02). Patients who developed anti-infliximab antibodies were younger and receiving less prednisone at the time of infliximab initiation than patients who did not. CONCLUSION Finding higher anti-infliximab antibody concentrations in patients who needed dose escalation of infliximab to achieve or maintain clinical responses with lower serum trough levels of infliximab suggests that development of anti-infliximab antibodies may reduce clinical efficacy of infliximab in some patients with RA.
Inflammatory and MicroRNA Gene Expression as Prognostic Classifier of Barrett's-Associated Esophageal Adenocarcinoma

Purpose: Esophageal cancer is one of the most aggressive and deadly forms of cancer; highlighting the need to identify biomarkers for early detection and prognostic classification. Our recent studies have identified inflammatory gene and microRNA signatures derived from tumor and nontumor tissues as prognostic biomarkers of hepatocellular, lung, and colorectal adenocarcinoma. Here, we examine the relationship between expression of these inflammatory genes and micro RNA (miRNA) expression in esophageal adenocarcinoma and patient survival. Experimental Design: We measured the expression of 23 inflammation-associated genes in tumors and adjacent normal tissues from 93 patients (58 Barrett's and 35 Sporadic adenocarcinomas) by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. These data were used to build an inflammatory risk model, based on multivariate Cox regression, to predict survival in a training cohort (n = 47). We then determined whether this model could predict survival in a cohort of 46 patients. Expression data for miRNA-375 were available for these patients and was combined with inflammatory gene expression. Results: IFN-γ, IL-1α, IL-8, IL-21, IL-23, and proteoglycan expression in tumor and nontumor samples were each associated with poor prognosis based on Cox regression [(Z-score)>1.5] and therefore were used to generate an inflammatory risk score (IRS). Patients with a high IRS had poor prognosis compared with those with a low IRS in the training (P = 0.002) and test (P = 0.012) cohorts. This association was stronger in the group with Barrett's history. When combining with miRNA-375, the combined IRS/miR signature was an improved prognostic classifier than either one alone. Conclusion: Transcriptional profiling of inflammation-associated genes and miRNA expression in resected esophageal Barrett's-associated adenocarcinoma tissues may have clinical utility as predictors of prognosis. Clin Cancer Res; 16(23); 5824–34. ©2010 AACR.
Sensing Mg2+ contributes to the resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to complement‐mediated opsonophagocytosis

Pseudomonas aeruginosa adaptation to survive in the host hinges on its ability to probe the environment and respond appropriately. Rapid adaptation is often mediated by two-component regulatory systems, such as the PhoP/PhoQ system that responds to Mg2+ ion concentration. However, there is limited information about the role of PhoQ in P. aeruginosa bloodstream infections. We used a murine model of systemic infection to test the virulence of a PhoQ-deficient mutant. Mutation of PhoQ impaired the virulence and the ability to cause bacteremia of P. aeruginosa. In the presence of blood concentrations of Mg2+ , a PhoQ mutant bound more C3 and was more susceptible to complement-mediated opsonophagocytosis than the parent strain, suggesting a direct effect of the Mg2+ on the modulation of expression of a bacterial component controlled by the PhoP/PhoQ system. Ligand blot analysis, C3 binding experiments and opsonophagocytosis assays identified this component as the outer membrane protein OprH, expression of which impaired the virulence of P. aeruginosa in a murine model of systemic infection. We demonstrate that expression of PhoQ is essential to detect Mg2+ and reduce the expression of OprH, a previously unrecognized C3 binding molecule that promotes the opsonophagocytosis of P. aeruginosa.