Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Direct and Indirect Effects of Serum Uric Acid on Blood Sugar Levels in Patients with Prediabetes: A Mediation Analysis

Purpose To estimate both direct and indirect effects (through obesity) of serum uric acid (SUA) on blood sugar in prediabetes patients. Methods Prediabetes patients who came to the outpatient clinic of the Department of Family Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, were included in this cross-sectional study. Mediation analysis was applied to determine direct and indirect effects of SUA on glycemic parameters (fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA1c) through waist circumference (WC). A mediation effect was estimated using the product-of-coefficient method with a bootstrap analysis of 1000 replications. Results 1043 patients were eligible for this study. Every 1 mg/dl increase in SUA was associated with an increase in WC and then was significantly associated with an increase in FPG by 0.082 mg/dl (95% CI: 0.010, 0.154). SUA was directly associated with FPG with a coefficient of 0.413 (95% CI: 0.049, 0.776). For HbA1c, every one mg/dl increase in SUA was associated with an increase in HbA1c level through WC by 0.006 (95% CI: 0.003, 0.010). However, SUA was not directly associated with HbA1c. Conclusions We found that an increase in SUA was directly and indirectly associated with increased FPG but the effect of SUA on HbA1c was shown when it was mediated through WC.
Flexible transparent touch panel mounted on round surface

A flexible transparent touch panel based on conductive liquid channels was developed by a molding process. Transparent silicone rubber was used for producing the channel structures. The height, width, and length of the flow channel were 0.1, 1.0, and 40 mm, respectively. The pitch of the channels was 10 mm. Fabricated two-lined touch panels were stacked at an angle of 90 degrees on a flexible polyimide film. Fabricated flexible transparent touch panels were mounted on both the flat and round surfaces, and touch force detection was evaluated. When a metal rod touched and pushed the surface of the touch panel, the channel structure under the finger elastically deformed. As a result, the electrical resistance in the liquid channel increased with increasing applied normal force.
Sacral Malformations - Implications in Sacral Nerve Stimulation

One of the most important steps of this technique is the correct topographic anatomic identification of the posterior sacral foramina on the body surface of the sacrum [6,7]. Although the sacrum’s anatomy is recognized to be highly variable. In the literature there are several studies regarding the variable morphology of the sacrum that also shows high incidence of sacral malformations, ranging between 10% and 58% [8]. A variety of the anatomic malformations are clinically imperceptible. SNS can be difficult or impossible to be performed in these patients with an unknown or undetected malformation of the sacrum [1,3,4].
Stress and Interpopulation Variation in Glycolytic Enzyme Activity and Expression in a Teleost Fish Fundulus heteroclitus

Northern populations of Fundulus heteroclitus have twofold greater activity of lactate dehydrogenase‐B (LDH‐B) than southern populations, but exposure to stress increases LDH‐B in southern populations, abolishing this difference. To test whether differences in the activity of other hepatic glycolytic enzymes between populations are sensitive to stress, we injected fish with a pharmacological dose of cortisol in coconut oil (400 μg g−1) or exposed them to handling stress and measured the activities of all the glycolytic enzymes. At rest, liver phosphofructokinase (PFK) and aldolase (ALD) activities were greater in southern fish, whereas LDH‐B activity was greater in northern fish. No other glycolytic enzymes differed in activity between populations in control fish. Cortisol injection and handling stress decreased PFK and ALD and increased LDH activities in the southern but not the northern population, such that the populations no longer differed in the activity of any enzyme following treatment. Unlike Ldh‐B mRNA, Pfk and Ald mRNA levels did not parallel enzyme activity, suggesting complex kinetics or regulation at multiple levels. Plasma cortisol did not differ between populations at rest but was significantly different between populations in treated fish. These data suggest that differences in liver enzyme activity may be related to differences in stress hormone physiology between populations.
Food composition issues – implications for the development of food-based dietary guidelines

Abstract Sound food composition databases that are both comprehensive and representative of available foods are an essential basic tool to develop Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG). The main drawbacks of current food composition databases available in the European Union are: partial coverage of foods and nutrients, variability of analytical data, lack of accuracy in the description of food items, need for harmonisation of the expression of nutrients. An inappropriate use of these databases could lead to gross errors in the assessment of the nutrient intake levels, in the identification of the major sources of a nutrient, in the comparison of data between countries and in the analysis of time trends. Inadequacy of food composition data is, in part, responsible for the failure to understand some relationships between nutrient intakes and health or disease and for difficulties in establishing quantitative dietary guidelines in terms of nutrients. Recommendations are made for the compilation of future food composition databases and tools are proposed to enhance the quality of existing data. A careful study of the food composition databases is always necessary before nutrition recommendations are given and before trends in nutrient intakes are interpreted.
Inhaled nitric oxide in preterm infants: An updated meta-analysis

Background: In the past several years, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have indicated that inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) can potentially lower for both the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and mortality in affected infants. Other research has, however, disagreed with these findings. Materials and Methods: We performed an updated meta analysis of all relevant RCTs to assess the benefits of iNO in preterm infants by searching PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane databases, Wanfang, VIP, and CNKI databases for English and Chinese references. Results: Ultimately, 22 RCTs were incorporated. (1) Risk of BPD was significantly lower in preterm infants supplemented with iNO (relative risk [RR] = 0.88; P = 0.0007). There are no differences concerning pulmonary hemorrhage (PH) (RR = 0.94; P = 0.72). (2) Incidences of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and severe intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) were compared. No significant difference was discovered concerning these risks (RR = 1.21, P = 0.08; RR = 1.01, P = 0.89; and RR = 0.99, P = 0.86). (3) In addition, no significant differences were found between experimental and control groups with respect to morality. (RR = 1.00, P = 0.98). Conclusion: Our meta analysis has shown a beneficial effect in BPD and morality. In addition, our meta analysis suggests that iNO therapy does not increase the risk of common complications, such as NEC and ROP, and that it may also have no adverse effect on bleeding tendency diseases (severe ICH and PH).
Personal, professional, and work factors associated with Australian clinical medical practitioners' experiences of workplace aggression.

OBJECTIVES This study examined the extent to which a range of personal, professional, and work factors are associated with workplace aggression experienced by medical practitioners in Australian clinical practice settings. METHODS An exploratory, descriptive study of cross-sectional, self-report survey design was undertaken in the third wave of the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life survey during 2010-2011. Of 16 327 medical practitioners sampled, 9951 (60.9%) responded and 9449 (57.9%) worked in clinical practice. Logistic regression was undertaken to detect statistically significant associations between a suite of personal, professional, and work variables and eight binary outcome variables measuring exposure to verbal or written and physical aggression from patients, patients' relatives or carers, co-workers and others external to the workplace during the previous year. RESULTS Age was consistently negatively associated and external control orientation was consistently positively associated with workplace aggression exposure from each source. Key variables related to work conditions (total hours worked, unpredictable work hours, a poor support network of other doctors, patients with unrealistic expectations, patients with complex health and social problems) and the presence of workplace aggression prevention and minimization strategies (alerts to high risk of aggression, restricting or withdrawing access for aggressive persons and optimized patient waiting) were also associated with aggression exposure. CONCLUSIONS A broader implementation of strategies to prevent and minimize the likelihood and consequences of workplace aggression is required and needs to take account of both the individual and sub-group profiles of medical practitioners. Strategies need to mitigate the more challenging aspects of medical work, including excessive work hours, inadequate access to professional support networks, and larger caseloads of patients with complex conditions.
Combination immunotherapy with prostatic acid phosphatase pulsed antigen‐presenting cells (provenge) plus bevacizumab in patients with serologic progression of prostate cancer after definitive local therapy

APC8015 (sipuleucel‐T) is a cellular prostate cancer vaccine containing autologous antigen‐presenting cells (APC) loaded with PA2024, a recombinant prostatic acid phosphatase/granulocyte‐macrophage–colony‐stimulating factor fusion protein, as the immunogen. Bevacizumab is a recombinant antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, a proangiogenic protein with inhibitory effects on APC. A clinical trial was conducted to determine the prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) and immunomodulatory effects of this combination immunotherapy.
Lactobacilli from human gastrointestinal mucosa are strong stimulators of IL‐12 production

Interaction of macrophages with bacteria is a stimulus for production of cytokines such as IL‐10 and IL‐12. IL‐12 stimulates T cell and natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) production. IL‐10 opposes the T cell‐stimulating action of IL‐12, decreases the release of proinflammatory cytokines from macrophages, and stimulates B cells. We have studied the capacity of human intestinal isolates from the three Lactobacillus species dominating on the human gastrointestinal mucosa, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus and L. paracasei ssp. paracasei, to induce production of IL‐10 and IL‐12 from human blood mononuclear cells, or monocytes. Whole killed lactobacilli were potent stimulators of IL‐12 over a wide range of bacterial concentrations. Lactobacillus paracasei gave the highest levels of IL‐12 (1.5 ng/ml in response to 5 × 106 bacteria/ml), roughly 10 times more than obtained by stimulation with L. rhamnosus or L. plantarum. Escherichia coli induced on average < 50 pg/ml of IL‐12 regardless of the bacterial concentration used. The secretion of free p40 subunit IL‐12 followed the same pattern as the secretion of p70 (bioactive IL‐12) with regard to the efficiency of different bacteria as stimulators. Escherichia coli was the most efficient trigger of IL‐10 production, inducing 0.5 ng/ml IL‐10 after stimulation with 5 × 106 bacteria/ml. Lactobacillus rhamnosus induced the highest levels of IL‐10 among the lactobacilli (0.5 ng/ml) compared with 0.1 ng/ml evoked by L. plantarum or L. paracasei, but 10 times more bacteria were required for optimal stimulation than with E. coli. When neutralizing anti‐IL‐10 antibodies were added to the cultures, the IL‐12‐inducing capacity of L. rhamnosus was increased markedly, while that of E. coli remained low. The results show that mucosa‐associated lactobacilli can be potent stimulators of IL‐12, and thus potentially of cell‐mediated immunity, if they pass over the gut epithelial barrier and interact with cells of the gut immune system.
Molecular analysis of bacterial communities in uranium ores and surrounding soils from Banduhurang open cast uranium mine, India: A comparative study

Bacterial community structure of heavy metal rich- uranium ores and surrounding soils was explored using 16S rRNA gene based clone library analysis and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to provide baseline microbial diversity data on autochthonous communities. Sequence analysis of major ribotypes and/or DGGE bands revealed Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria as the two most frequently present bacterial phyla across the samples, although relative abundance of each phyla and identity of their members at lower taxonomic level showed marked difference. Gammaproteobacteria (Pseudomonas and Escherichia) was most abundant in U-ore samples along with the lineages of β-Proteobacteria (Burkholderia and Janthinobacterium), α-Proteobacteria (Brevundimonas), Bacteroidetes (Spingobacterium), Firmicutes (Peptoniphilus), Actinobacteria (Corynebacterium), uncultured -Acidobacteria, -Chloroflexi and -Cyanobacterium. In contrast to this soil communities were represented by mixed populations predominated by uncultured Acidobacteria along with Gammaproteobacteria (Succinivibrio, Cellovibrio and Legionella), β-Proteobacteria (Rhodocyclus), α-Proteobacteria (Methylocystis and Phenylobacterium), δ-Proteobacteria, unclassified bacteria, uncultured Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes (Bacillus), Cyanobacteria (Scytonema), Actinobacteria (Actinomadura) and candidate division TM7. Principle Component Analyis (PCA) of geochemical data and UPGMA cluster analysis of DGGE profiles were in close agreement showing characteristic relatedness of samples obtained from either ores or soils. Our analysis indicated that soils surrounding the ore deposit bear specific geochemical as well as microbiologial characteristics distinct from the ore deposit and therefore these data obtained at the onset of mining could serve as a baseline of information to gauge the subsequent environmnetal impact of U-mining.
Serendipity-based Points-of-Interest Navigation

Traditional venue and tour recommendation systems do not necessarily provide a diverse set of recommendations and leave little room for serendipity. In this article, we design MPG, a Mobile Personal Guide that recommends: (i) a set of diverse yet surprisingly interesting venues that are aligned to user preferences and (ii) a set of routes, constructed from the recommended venues. We also introduce EPUI, an Experimental Platform for Urban Informatics. Our comparison with the state-of-the-art schemes indicates that MPG is capable of providing high-quality venues and route recommendations while incorporating seamlessly both the notion of diversity and that of serendipity.
Key Negotiation Downgrade Attacks on Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy

Bluetooth (BR/EDR) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) are pervasive wireless technologies specified in the Bluetooth standard. The standard includes key negotiation protocols used to generate long-term keys (during pairing) and session keys (during secure connection establishment). In this work, we demonstrate that the key negotiation protocols of Bluetooth and BLE are vulnerable to standard-compliant entropy downgrade attacks. In particular, we show how an attacker can downgrade the entropy of any Bluetooth session key to 1 byte, and of any BLE long-term key and session key to 7 bytes. Such low entropy values enable the attacker to brute-force Bluetooth long-term keys and BLE long-term and session keys, and to break all the security guarantees promised by Bluetooth and BLE. As a result of our attacks, an attacker can decrypt all the ciphertext and inject valid ciphertext in any Bluetooth and BLE network. Our key negotiation downgrade attacks are conducted remotely, do not require access to the victims’ devices, and are stealthy to the victims. As the attacks are standard-compliant, they are effective regardless of the usage of the strongest Bluetooth and BLE security modes (including Secure Connections), the Bluetooth version, and the implementation details of the devices used by the victims. We successfully attack 38 Bluetooth devices (32 unique Bluetooth chips) and 19 BLE devices from different vendors, using all the major versions of the Bluetooth standard. Finally, we present effective legacy compliant and non-legacy compliant countermeasures to mitigate our key negotiation downgrade attacks.
Alcohol intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease in middle-aged Japanese men.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Understanding the effects of alcohol intake on stroke and other cardiovascular diseases is an important issue for public health. METHODS A 10.5-year prospective study of the relationship between alcohol intake and cardiovascular disease incidence was conducted in 2890 men, aged 40 to 69 years and free of a history of stroke and coronary heart disease, in three rural communities of Japan. RESULTS One hundred seventy-eight strokes (40 intracerebral hemorrhages, 18 subarachnoid hemorrhages, 104 nonhemorrhagic strokes, and 16 unclassified strokes), 34 coronary heart disease events, and 19 sudden unclassified deaths occurred. Drinkers of > or = 70 g/d ethanol had an approximately 2.5 times higher age-adjusted risk of all stroke than never-drinkers; the excess risk was more evident for hemorrhagic stroke than nonhemorrhagic stroke. When hypertension category, serum total cholesterol level, cigarette smoking, and diabetes mellitus were taken into account, these excess risks were reduced but remained significant for all stroke (2.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 3.1) and hemorrhagic stroke (3.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 9.2). A J-shaped relationship was suggested between alcohol intake and risk of nonhemorrhagic stroke; drinkers of < 42 g/d ethanol had a slightly lower risk and heavy drinkers had a higher risk than never-drinkers. Current drinkers had a slightly lower risk of coronary heart disease than never-drinkers, although the risk difference was not statistically significant. The age-adjusted risk of sudden death was 10 times higher in heavy drinkers than never-drinkers, and the excess risk did not change when the covariates were controlled for. Total cardiovascular disease showed a similar pattern as did all stroke. CONCLUSIONS Heavy drinking appeared to increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, in part due to hypertension, and to increase the risk of sudden death, which was probably due to drinking per se. Light or moderate alcohol consumption seemed to protect against nonhemorrhagic stroke and coronary heart disease.
Molecular epidemiology of bartonella infections in patients with bacillary angiomatosis-peliosis.

BACKGROUND Bacillary angiomatosis and bacillary peliosis are vascular proliferative manifestations of infection with species of the genus bartonella that occur predominantly in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. Two species, B. henselae and B. quintana, have been associated with bacillary angiomatosis, but culture and speciation are difficult, and there has been little systematic evaluation of the species-specific disease characteristics. We studied 49 patients seen over eight years who were infected with bartonella species identified by molecular techniques and who had clinical lesions consistent with bacillary angiomatosis-peliosis. METHODS In this case-control study, a standardized questionnaire about exposures was administered to patients with bacillary angiomatosis-peliosis and to 96 matched controls. The infecting bartonella species were determined by molecular techniques. RESULTS Of the 49 patients with bacillary angiomatosis-peliosis, 26 (53 percent) were infected with B. henselae and 23 (47 percent) with B. quintana. Subcutaneous and lytic bone lesions were strongly associated with B. quintana, whereas peliosis hepatis was associated exclusively with B. henselae. Patients with B. henselae infection were identified throughout the study period and were epidemiologically linked to cat and flea exposure (P< or =0.004), whereas those with B. quintana were clustered and were characterized by low income (P=0.003), homelessness (P = 0.004), and exposure to lice (P= 0.03). Prior treatment with macrolide antibiotics appeared to be protective against infection with either species. CONCLUSIONS B. henselae and B. quintana, the organisms that cause bacillary angiomatosis-peliosis, are associated with different epidemiologic risk factors and with predilections for involvement of different organs.
Decreased In Vitro Susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum Isolates to Artesunate, Mefloquine, Chloroquine, and Quinine in Cambodia from 2001 to 2007

ABSTRACT This study describes the results of in vitro antimalarial susceptibility assays and molecular polymorphisms of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Cambodia. The samples were collected from patients enrolled in therapeutic efficacy studies (TES) conducted by the Cambodian National Malaria Control Program for the routine efficacy monitoring of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) (artesunate-mefloquine and artemether-lumefantrine combinations). The isolates (n = 2,041) were obtained from nine sentinel sites during the years 2001 to 2007. Among these, 1,588 were examined for their in vitro susceptibilities to four antimalarials (artesunate, mefloquine, chloroquine, and quinine), and 851 isolates were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The geometric means of the 50% inhibitory concentrations (GMIC50s) of the four drugs tested were significantly higher for isolates from western Cambodia than for those from eastern Cambodia. GMIC50s for isolates from participants who failed artesunate-mefloquine therapy were significantly higher than those for patients who were cured (P, <0.001). In vitro correlation of artesunate with the other drugs was observed. The distributions of the SNPs differed between eastern and western Cambodia, suggesting different genetic backgrounds of the parasite populations in these two parts of the country. The GMIC50s of the four drugs tested increased significantly in eastern Cambodia during 2006 to 2007. These results are worrisome, because they may signal deterioration of the efficacy of artesunate-mefloquine beyond the Cambodian-Thai border.
Levels of anxiety and sources of stress in adults with autism

Clinical reports suggest that anxiety is a pertinent issue for adults with autism. We compared 34 adults with autism with 20 adults with intellectual disabilities, utilizing informant-based measures of anxiety and stress. Groups were matched by age, gender and intellectual ability. Adults with autism were almost three times more anxious than the comparison group and gained significantly higher scores on the anxiety subscales of panic and agoraphobia, separation anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. In terms of sources of stress, significant differences between the two groups were also found, and stress was found to correlate with high anxiety levels for the autism group, particularly the ability to cope with change, anticipation, sensory stimuli and unpleasant events. That is, the more anxious the individual with autism, the less likely they were able to cope with these demands. This has important implications for clinicians in terms of both assessment and treatment.