Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bone mineral density in postmenopausal Mexican-Mestizo women with normal body mass index, overweight, or obesity

ObjectiveObesity and osteoporosis are two important public health problems that greatly impact mortality and morbidity. Several similarities between these complex diseases have been identified. The aim of this study was to analyze if different body mass indexes (BMIs) are associated with variations in bone mineral density (BMD) among postmenopausal Mexican-Mestizo women with normal weight, overweight, or different degrees of obesity. MethodsWe studied 813 postmenopausal Mexican-Mestizo women. A structured questionnaire for risk factors was applied. Height and weight were used to calculate BMI, whereas BMD in the lumbar spine (LS) and total hip (TH) was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. We used ANCOVA to examine the relationship between BMI and BMDs of the LS, TH, and femoral neck (FN), adjusting for confounding factors. ResultsBased on World Health Organization criteria, 15.13% of women had normal BMI, 39.11% were overweight, 25.96% had grade 1 obesity, 11.81% had grade 2 obesity, and 7.99% had grade 3 obesity. The higher the BMI, the higher was the BMD at the LS, TH, and FN. The greatest differences in size variations in BMD at these three sites were observed when comparing women with normal BMI versus women with grade 3 obesity. ConclusionsA higher BMI is associated significantly and positively with a higher BMD at the LS, TH, and FN.
Protecting Touch: Authenticated App-To-Server Channels for Mobile Devices Using NFC Tags

Traditional authentication methods (e.g., password, PIN) often do not scale well to the context of mobile devices in terms of security and usability. However, the adoption of Near Field Communication (NFC) on a broad range of smartphones enables the use of NFC-enabled tokens as an additional authentication factor. This additional factor can help to improve the security, as well as usability of mobile apps. In this paper, we evaluate the use of different types of existing NFC tags as tokens for establishing authenticated secure sessions between smartphone apps and web services. Based on this evaluation, we present two concepts for a user-friendly secure authentication mechanism for mobile apps, the Protecting Touch (PT) architectures. These two architectures are designed to be implemented with either end of the spectrum of inexpensive and widely-available NFC tags while maintaining a reasonable trade-off between security, availability and cost.
Dopaminergic Phenotype Induced by Oestrogens in a Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line

Oestrogens are the key factor in the sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain and play an important role in the activity of selected areas of the mature brain. To pursue the study of oestrogen action on neural cells at the molecular level, we developed a human neuroblastoma cell line (SK‐ER3) expressing the oestrogen receptor (ER). Treatment of these cells with 17β‐oestradiol causes growth arrest and morphological and biochemical differentiation. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether oestrogen‐differentiated SK‐ER3 neuroblastoma cells acquire the ability to synthesize a specific neurotransmitter and whether the growth arrest previously reported can be ascribed to the blockage of the cells at a specific stage of the cell cycle. The results presented here indicate that oestrogens induce accumulation of SK‐ER3 cells in the GO phase of the cell cycle, underscoring the acquisition of a mature neural phenotype upon hormonal treatment. Most importantly, we show that in the differentiated cells the content of tyrosine hydroxylase and Na+‐dependent dopamine uptake is significantly augmented, proving that the oestrogen‐differentiated SK‐ER3 cells can synthesize and store a specific neurotransmitter. In addition, we prove that the dopamine accumulated in differentiated SK‐ER3 cells can be released. These studies therefore suggest that oestrogen treatment results in the acquisition of a fully functional dopaminergic phenotype of SK‐ER3 cells. Ample evidence shows a link between dopaminergic neurons and oestrogen activity in hypothalamic and non‐hypothalamic areas of the mammalian brain. Our study indicates that oestrogens might play a primary role in committing undifferentiated neuroblasts towards the dopaminergic phenotype.
Catching Goldfish: Quality in Qualitative Research

This paper reviews the contribution of qualitative methods to health services research (HSR) and discusses some of the issues involved in recognizing quality in such work. The place of qualitative work is first defined by reference to Archie Cochrane's agenda for HSR and the limitations of the recent focus on randomized trials as the standard method. Health care practice involves large elements of improvisation which cannot be captured by evidence-based approaches. Qualitative methods offer ways of understanding this improvisation and of identifying more efficient and effective practices, as well as considering the traditional topics of equity and humanity. The methodological procedures of qualitative work reflect a long-established inductive tradition in scientific practice. The logic of grounded theory provides a contemporary specification. In its application, it is quite different from the methodological anarchy of postmodernism. The use of qualitative research and the theoretically stated generalizations which arise from it inform reflective work by health service managers, planners and clinicians.
Robust Utility Maximization without Model Compactness

We formulate conditions for the solvability of the problem of robust utility maximization from final wealth in continuous time financial markets, without assuming weak compactness of the densities of the uncertainty set, as customarily done in the literature. Relevant examples of such a situation typically arise when the uncertainty set is determined through moment constraints. Our approach is based on identifying functional spaces naturally associated with the elements of each problem. For general markets these are convex modular spaces, which we can use to prove a minimax equality and the existence of optimal strategies, by establishing and exploiting the compactness of the image through the utility function of the set of attainable wealths. In complete markets we additionally obtain the existence of a worst-case measure, and, combining our ideas with abstract entropy minimization techniques, we moreover provide a novel and general methodology to characterize it.
A MELD-based model to determine risk of mortality among patients with acute variceal bleeding.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Patients with cirrhosis with acute variceal bleeding (AVB) have high mortality rates (15%-20%). Previously described models are seldom used to determine prognoses of these patients, partially because they have not been validated externally and because they include subjective variables, such as bleeding during endoscopy and Child-Pugh score, which are evaluated inconsistently. We aimed to improve determination of risk for patients with AVB. METHODS We analyzed data collected from 178 patients with cirrhosis (Child-Pugh scores of A, B, and C: 15%, 57%, and 28%, respectively) and esophageal AVB who received standard therapy from 2007 through 2010. We tested the performance (discrimination and calibration) of previously described models, including the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), and developed a new MELD calibration to predict the mortality of patients within 6 weeks of presentation with AVB. MELD-based predictions were validated in cohorts of patients from Canada (n = 240) and Spain (n = 221). RESULTS Among study subjects, the 6-week mortality rate was 16%. MELD was the best model in terms of discrimination; it was recalibrated to predict the 6-week mortality rate with logistic regression (logit, -5.312 + 0.207 • MELD; bootstrapped R(2), 0.3295). MELD values of 19 or greater predicted 20% or greater mortality, whereas MELD scores less than 11 predicted less than 5% mortality. The model performed well for patients from Canada at all risk levels. In the Spanish validation set, in which all patients were treated with banding ligation, MELD predictions were accurate up to the 20% risk threshold. CONCLUSIONS We developed a MELD-based model that accurately predicts mortality among patients with AVB, based on objective variables available at admission. This model could be useful to evaluate the efficacy of new therapies and stratify patients in randomized trials.
Advanced collimator engineering for the nlc

The high beam intensities in the Next Linear Collider can damage the collimation system jaws if a failure of the electronic machine protection system allows the acceleration of a mis-launched pulse. We are developing a prototype collimator that will allow a new jaw surface to be moved into place after beam damage. We are also developing a prototype collimator based on continuously reforming the collimator jaws out of liquid metal. This second system would allow the use of smaller beam sizes, and thereby shorter beam line lengths in the collimation system. The status of both prototypes is presented.
Pathogenesis of 1918 Pandemic and H5N1 Influenza Virus Infections in a Guinea Pig Model: Antiviral Potential of Exogenous Alpha Interferon To Reduce Virus Shedding

ABSTRACT Although highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses have yet to acquire the ability to transmit efficiently among humans, the increasing genetic diversity among these viruses and continued outbreaks in avian species underscore the need for more effective measures for the control and prevention of human H5N1 virus infection. Additional small animal models with which therapeutic approaches against virulent influenza viruses can be evaluated are needed. In this study, we used the guinea pig model to evaluate the relative virulence of selected avian and human influenza A viruses. We demonstrate that guinea pigs can be infected with avian and human influenza viruses, resulting in high titers of virus shedding in nasal washes for up to 5 days postinoculation (p.i.) and in lung tissue of inoculated animals. However, other physiologic indicators typically associated with virulent influenza virus strains were absent in this species. We evaluated the ability of intranasal treatment with human alpha interferon (α-IFN) to reduce lung and nasal wash titers in guinea pigs challenged with the reconstructed 1918 pandemic H1N1 virus or a contemporary H5N1 virus. IFN treatment initiated 1 day prior to challenge significantly reduced or prevented infection of guinea pigs by both viruses, as measured by virus titer determination and seroconversion. The expression of the antiviral Mx protein in lung tissue correlated with the reduction of virus titers. We propose that the guinea pig may serve as a useful small animal model for testing the efficacy of antiviral compounds and that α-IFN treatment may be a useful antiviral strategy against highly virulent strains with pandemic potential.
Diabetes and Coronary Heart Disease in Filipino-American Women

OBJECTIVE—To investigate associations between adult markers of childhood growth and the prevalence of diabetes and coronary heart disease (CHD) in Filipino-American women and to determine the role of social and educational differences, including the influence of social mobility between childhood and adulthood. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Socioeconomic disadvantage and poor infant growth, resulting in short leg length, may contribute to the dramatically increased risk of diabetes and CHD in Filipino-American women, but this has not been investigated. This study is a cross-sectional study of 389 Filipino-American women (age 58.7 ± 9.4 years [mean ± SD]). Diabetes was defined by 1999 World Health Organization criteria and CHD by ischemic electrocardiogram changes, Rose angina, a history of myocardial infarction, or revascularization surgery. A score of social mobility (0–4) was calculated by summarizing childhood and adult financial circumstances. RESULTS—Diabetes prevalence (31.4%) was not associated with measures of growth but was significantly lower in women with greater education, childhood and adult income, or social mobility score. Compared with Filipinas who were poorest in childhood and adulthood, respective odds ratios (95% CI) for diabetes were 0.55 (0.18–1.68), 0.19 (0.06–0.62), and 0.11 (0.03–0.42), down to 0.07 (0.01–0.51) in the most advantaged women (P < 0.0001). Family history of diabetes [5.14 (2.72–9.70)] and larger waist [1.07 per cm (1.03–1.10)] were also significant predictors in multiple adjusted models. In contrast, CHD prevalence (22.4%) was most strongly associated with leg length, but not trunk length; compared with individuals with the shortest legs, respective odds ratios (95% CI) for CHD were 0.60 (0.31–1.19), 0.53 (0.26–1.05), and 0.44 (0.22–0.91) in the tallest group, in age- (Ptrend = 0.02) and multiple-adjusted models (Ptrend = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS—Socioeconomic disadvantage contributes to the high prevalence of diabetes in Filipinas. Factors limiting early growth of the legs may increase the risk of CHD in this comparatively short population.
An fMRI study of executive functioning after severe diffuse TBI

Primary objective: Preliminary study of whether severe diffuse traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases extent of frontal tissue recruited by cognitive control tasks. Research design: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on N-back working memory (WM) and arrows inhibition tasks in a 46 year old man who had severe diffuse TBI 1 year earlier, a 44 year old man (inhibition task) and three women (working memory task), age 20-26 years. Images were acquired by 1.5 T magnet with BOLD method and PRESTO pulse sequence and analysed using SPM. Main outcomes and results: Frontal activation increased under 2-back relative to 1-back condition of working memory in all participants with more extensive activation in the TBI patient relative to controls. Frontal activation increased with inhibition on the arrows task, but was greater in the TBI patient. Conclusion: Severe diffuse TBI results in recruitment of additional neural resources for cognitive control.
Sensing hot and cold with TRP channels

The past decade has witnessed the cloning of a new family of ion channels that are responsive to temperature. Six of these transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are proposed to be involved in thermosensation and are located in sensory nerves and skin. The TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV3, and TRPV4 channels have incompletely overlapping functions over a broad thermal range from warm to hot. Deletion of the individual TRPV1, TRPV3, and TRPV4 channels in mice has established their physiological role in thermosensation. In all cases thermosensation is not completely abolished – suggesting some functional redundancy among the channels. Notably, the TRPV2 channel is responsive to hot temperatures in heterologous systems, but its physiological relevance in vivo has not been established. Cool and cold temperatures are sensed by TRPM8 and TRPA1 family members. Currently, the pharmaceutical industry is developing agonists and antagonists for the various TRP channels. For instance, TRPV1 receptor agonists produce hypothermia, while antagonists induce hyperthermia. Recent investigations have found that different regions of the TRPV1 receptor are responsive to temperature, nociceptive stimuli, and various chemical agents. With this information, it has been possible to develop a TRPV1 compound that blocks responses to capsaicin and acid while leaving temperature sensitivity intact. These channels have important implications for hyperthermia research and may help to identify previously unexplored mechanisms in different tissues that are responsive to thermal stress.
Novel Role of Platelets in Mediating Inflammatory Responses and Ventricular Rupture or Remodeling Following Myocardial Infarction

Objective—The goal of this study was to investigate the role of platelets in systemic and cardiac inflammatory responses and the development of postinfarct ventricular complications, as well as the efficacy of antiplatelet interventions. Methods and Results—Using a mouse myocardial infarction (MI) model, we determined platelet accumulation and severity of inflammation within the infarcted myocardium by immunohistochemistry and biochemical assays, analyzed peripheral blood platelet-leukocyte conjugation using flow cytometry, and tested antiplatelet interventions, including thienopyridines and platelet depletion. Platelets accumulated within the infarcted region early post-MI and colocalized with inflammatory cells. MI evoked early increase in circulating platelet-leukocyte conjugation mediated by P-selectin/P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1. Antiplatelet interventions inhibited platelet-leukocyte conjugation in peripheral blood, inflammatory infiltration, content of matrix metalloproteinases or plasminogen activation, and expression of inflammatory mediators in the infarcted myocardium (all P<0.05) and lowered rupture incidence (P<0.01). Clopidogrel therapy alleviated the extent of chronic ventricular dilatation by serial echocardiography. Conclusion—Platelets play a pivotal role in promoting systemic and cardiac inflammatory responses post-MI. Platelets accumulate within the infarcted myocardium, contributing to regional inflammation, ventricular remodeling, and rupture. Antiplatelet therapy reduces the severity of inflammation and risk of post-MI complications, demonstrating a previously unrecognized protective action.
How does psychological processing relate to compliance behaviour after lung transplantation? A content analytical study

Abstract Non-compliance is one of the crucial problems impairing outcome after transplantation. Fourteen lung transplant recipients were interviewed about their thoughts regarding transplant-related topics. Compliance was assessed by doctors. The psychological processing was investigated by content analysis. Highly compliant patients perceived more advantages by transplantation. In contrast, low-compliant patients reported either an emotional distance to the lung or a closer relationship to the donor. Furthermore, they showed a contradictory relationship to the medical staff. There are some indications that perception of advantages by transplantation is crucial to compliance. This experience takes place in the context of a good staff – patient relationship. Emotional distance to the lung or nearness to the donor are further contributing factors of non-compliance.
ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 Is Involved in Cold Response and Freezing Tolerance Regulation in Physcomitrella patens

Synopsis This work demonstrates that PpABI3 contributes to freezing tolerance regulation in Physcomitrella patens. Transcription factor ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3) is known to play a major role in regulating seed dormancy, germination, seedling development as well as stress responses. ABI3 is conserved among land plants; however, its roles in non-seed plants under stress conditions have not been well characterized. In this study, we report that ABI3 is involved in freezing tolerance regulation during cold acclimation at least in part through ABA signaling pathway in moss Physcomitrella patens (P. patens). Deletion of PpABI3 (Δabi3-1) compromises the induction of genes related to cold response and antioxidative protection, resulting in reduced accumulation of cryoprotectants and antioxidants. In addition, photosystem II (PSII) activity is repressed in Δabi3-1 during cold acclimation partially due to alternations of photosynthetic protein complexes compositions. The gametophyte of Δabi3-1 displays severe growth inhibition and developmental deficiency under low temperature condition, while two independent complementary lines display phenotypes similar to that of wild-type P. patens (WT). Furthermore, the freezing tolerance of Δabi3-1 was significantly affected by deletion of PpABI3. These data revealed that PpABI3 plays an important role in low temperature response and freezing tolerance in P. patens.
Recuperação de trajetória de ponta de caneta em assinaturas offline com referencial online

A assinatura manuscrita e uma forma de identificacao pessoal amplamente aceita, tanto social como juridicamente, utilizada ha seculos para autenticar documentos como cheques bancarios, cartas, contratos e todo tipo de servico que necessite prova de autoria. Ao assinar, um individuo insere uma grande quantidade de informacao para transformar o movimento de sua mao em um elemento identificador. Velocidade de escrita, trajetoria percorrida, inclinacao da caneta, pressao aplicada, todos esses dados sao articulados (na forma de variaveis latentes) para resultar em uma figura estatica no documento assinado. Essa dissertacao investiga o problema de extracao de trajetoria da caneta que gera essa assinatura a partir da imagem estatica resultante. Para isso, o trabalho foi divido em tres passos principais que sao: (i) computar o esqueleto da assinatura offline; (ii) extrair suas caracteristicas utilizando um conceito abordado neste trabalho chamado UCSS, e, com o auxilio de assinaturas online registradas previamente; (iii) estimar o caminho que a caneta percorreu sobre o esqueleto. Em cada um desses passos, foi feita uma revisao de trabalhos relevantes sobre os temas para so entao iniciar as implementacoes. Foram realizados tres experimentos durante este trabalho, o primeiro foi feito com o objetivo de comparar os resultados obtidos com o algoritmo desenvolvido e os resultados obtidos em um trabalho de referencia, os outros dois foram realizados durante a producao de um artigo destinado a publicacao anexado a este trabalho.
Folding pathway dependence on energetic frustration and interaction heterogeneity for a three‐dimensional hydrophobic protein model

Monte Carlo simulations of a hydrophobic protein model of 40 monomers in the cubic lattice are used to explore the effect of energetic frustration and interaction heterogeneity on its folding pathway. The folding pathway is described by the dependence of relevant conformational averages on an appropriate reaction coordinate, pfold, defined as the probability for a given conformation to reach the native structure before unfolding. We compare the energetically frustrated and heterogeneous hydrophobic potential, according to which individual monomers have a higher or lower tendency to form contacts unspecifically depending on their hydrophobicities, to an unfrustrated homogeneous Go‐type potential with uniformly attractive native interactions and neutral non‐native interactions (called Go1 in this study), and to an unfrustrated heterogeneous potential with neutral non‐native interactions and native interactions having the same energy as the hydrophobic potential (called Go2 in this study). Folding kinetics are slowed down dramatically when energetic frustration increases, as expected and previously observed in a two‐dimensional model. Contrary to our previous results in two dimensions, however, it appears that the folding pathway and transition state ensemble can be significantly dependent on the energy function used to stabilize the native structure. The sequence of events along the reaction coordinate, or the order along this coordinate in which different regions of the native conformation become structured, turns out to be similar for the hydrophobic and Go2 potentials, but with analogous events tending to occur at lower pfold values in the first case. In particular, the transition state obtained from the ensemble around pfold = 0.5 is more structured for the hydrophobic potential. For Go1, not only the transition state ensemble but the order of events itself is modified, suggesting that interaction heterogeneity, in addition to energetic frustration, can have significant effects on the folding mechanism, most likely by modifying the probability of different contacts in the unfolded state, the starting point for the folding reaction. Although based on a simple model, these results provide interesting insight into how sequence‐dependent switching between folding pathways might occur in real proteins. Proteins 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.