Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Heritability and intrafamilial aggregation of arterial characteristics

Background We investigated the heritability and familial aggregation of various indexes of arterial stiffness and wave reflection and we partitioned the phenotypic correlation between these traits into shared genetic and environmental components. Methods Using a family-based population sample, we recruited 204 parents (mean age, 51.7 years) and 290 offspring (29.4 years) from the population in Cracow, Poland (62 families), Hechtel-Eksel, Belgium (36), and Pilsen, the Czech Republic (50). We measured peripheral pulse pressure (PPp) sphygmomanometrically at the brachial artery; central pulse pressure (PPc), the peripheral augmentation indexes (PAIxs) and central augmentation indexes (CAIxs) by applanation tonometry at the radial artery; and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) by tonometry or ultrasound. In multivariate-adjusted analyses, we used the ASSOC and PROC GENMOD procedures as implemented in SAGE and SAS, respectively. Results We found significant heritability for PAIx, CAIx, PPc and mean arterial pressure ranging from 0.37 to 0.41; P ≤ 0.0001. The method of intrafamilial concordance confirmed these results; intrafamilial correlation coefficients were significant for all arterial indexes (r ≥ 0.12; P ≤ 0.02) with the exception of PPc (r = −0.007; P = 0.90) in parent–offspring pairs. The sib–sib correlations were also significant for CAIx (r = 0.22; P = 0.001). The genetic correlation between PWV and the other arterial indexes were significant (ρG ≥ 0.29; P < 0.0001). The corresponding environmental correlations were only significantly positive for PPp (ρE = 0.10, P = 0.03). Conclusion The observation of significant intrafamilial concordance and heritability of various indexes of arterial stiffness as well as the genetic correlations among arterial phenotypes strongly support the search for shared genetic determinants underlying these traits.
An effective approach to decrease antipsychotic and benzodiazepine use in nursing homes: the RedUSe project

ABSTRACT Background: This study evaluated a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary intervention to reduce the use of benzodiazepines and antipsychotics in nursing homes – the “RedUSe” (Reducing Use of Sedatives) project. Methods: The RedUSe project was a controlled trial conducted in 25 nursing homes in Tasmania, with 13 intervention and 12 control homes. A series of pharmacist-led strategies were provided to intervention homes including two medication audit and feedback cycles, educational sessions for staff and an interdisciplinary sedative review. Data on psychotropic drug use at each nursing home were collected utilizing a customized computer program at baseline, 12 and 26 weeks. The RedUSe project was registered as a controlled trial at the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, registration number: ACTRN12608000221358. Results: For each measure, an average of 1591 residents were audited. Over the six-month trial, there was a significant reduction in the percentage of intervention home residents regularly taking benzodiazepines (31.8% to 26.9%, p < 0.005) and antipsychotics (20.3% to 18.6%, p < 0.05), whereas control home psychotropic use did not alter significantly. For residents taking benzodiazepines and antipsychotics at baseline, there were significantly more dose reductions/cessations in intervention homes than in control homes (benzodiazepines: 39.6% vs. 17.6%, p < 0.0001; antipsychotics: 36.9% vs. 20.9%, p < 0.01). Conclusions: RedUSe led to a significant reduction in the proportion of residents in nursing homes taking benzodiazepines and antipsychotics, and a significant increase in the number of dose reductions of these agents. Our findings suggest that a multi-faceted program, coordinated through a community pharmacy, can offer an effective approach in reducing psychotropic use in nursing homes.
The Landscape of the Emergence of Life

This paper reports on the various nuances of the origins of life on Earth and highlights the latest findings in that arena as reported at the Network of Researchers on Horizontal Gene Transfer and the Last Universal Common Ancestor (NoR HGT and LUCA) which was held from the 3–4th November 2016 at the Open University, UK. Although the answers to the question of the origin of life on Earth will not be fathomable anytime soon, a wide variety of subject matter was able to be covered, ranging from examining what constitutes a LUCA, looking at viral connections and “from RNA to DNA”, i.e., could DNA have been formed simultaneously with RNA, rather than RNA first and then describing the emergence of DNA from RNA. Also discussed are proteins and the origins of genomes as well as various ideas that purport to explain the origin of life here on Earth and potentially further afield elsewhere on other planets.
Variance in attributes assessed by the multiple mini-interview

Abstract Introduction: While the extant literature has explored the impact of stations on multiple mini- interview (MMI) scores, the influence of station scenarios has been largely overlooked. Method: A subset of MMI scores was purposively sampled from admissions data at one US medical school. Generalizability (G) theory was used to estimate variance components attributable to applicants and two facets of generalization – scenarios, the content of the station, and items, the attributes assessed. Results: G study suggests that the greatest amount of variance is attributable to the main effect of the scenario (s) facet and the interaction between applicant and scenario (ps), which account for 77% of the total variance. The item facet (i) accounts for only 0.6% of total variance; likewise, the scenario-item interaction (si) accounts for only 1.4% of the total variance. Discussion: While the researchers expected to find a large variance component associated with the scenario-item interaction, this analysis does not support this assumption. The researchers interpret the small scenario-item interaction as a result of variance attributable to the item facet being subsumed by the variance attributable to the content of the scenarios. Conclusions: The results of this study reinforce the need to examine psychometric properties of the MMI.
Structural Break Tests Robust to Regression Misspecification

Structural break tests developed in the literature for regression models are sensitive to model misspecification. We show - analytically and through simulations - that the sup Wald test for breaks in the conditional mean and variance of a time series process exhibits severe size distortions when the conditional mean dynamics are misspecified. We also show that the sup Wald test for breaks in the unconditional mean and variance does not have the same size distortions, yet benefits from similar power to its conditional counterpart. Hence, we propose using it as an alternative and complementary test for breaks. While the conditional tests based on dynamic regression models detect breaks in the mean and variance of the US unemployment growth and interest rate growth series around the Great Moderation, the evidence for these breaks disappears when using the unconditional tests. Therefore, there is no evidence of long-run mean or volatility shifts in unemployment growth and interest rate growth.
Inference and forecast of H7N9 influenza in China, 2013 to 2015

The recent emergence of A(H7N9) avian influenza poses a significant challenge to public health in China and around the world; however, understanding of the transmission dynamics and progression of influenza A(H7N9) infection in domestic poultry, as well as spillover transmission to humans, remains limited. Here, we develop a mathematical model–Bayesian inference system which combines a simple epidemic model and data assimilation method, and use it in conjunction with data on observed human influenza A(H7N9) cases from 19 February 2013 to 19 September 2015 to estimate key epidemiological parameters and to forecast infection in both poultry and humans. Our findings indicate a high outbreak attack rate of 33% among poultry but a low rate of chicken-to-human spillover transmission. In addition, we generated accurate forecasts of the peak timing and magnitude of human influenza A(H7N9) cases. This work demonstrates that transmission dynamics within an avian reservoir can be estimated and that real-time forecast of spillover avian influenza in humans is possible.
Relationships between the Hepatic Intrinsic Clearance or Blood Cell‐Plasma Partition Coefficient in the Rabbit and the Lipophilicity of Basic Drugs

The relationships between drug lipophilicity and hepatic intrinsic clearance (CLint,h) or red blood cell‐plasma partition coefficients (D) have been elucidated for ten highly lipophilic basic drugs with apparent octanol‐water partition coefficients at pH 7.4 (Papp, oct) of 150 or above.
Torque ripple reduction of novel segment type Switched reluctance motor by increasing phase number

The authors proposed a novel segment type switched reluctance motor (SRM) and showed the torque ripple could be reduced by increasing the phase number. This paper presents the relationship between the exciting current and the number of phases and segment cores. Transient analysis by the finite element method is carried out when the number of phases is 4 to 6. For torque ripple reduction the best number of phases is 4. It is also confirmed that the average torque is increased by making the number of phases increase.
Utilization of renewables for lactic acid fermentation

Originally, lactic acid was produced from pure substrates like glucose. Increasingly, however, agricultural feedstocks such as grains and green biomass are also being used as raw materials for the biotechnological production of lactic acid. A high‐productivity lactic acid bacterium strain was selected, process parameters were optimized for the batch fermentation on a laboratory scale, and its performance at cultivation on a barley hydrolysate medium together with different supplements was examined. The present results for the cultivation of the Lactobacillus paracasei on complex nutrient broth are in the same range as those for another strain of the same species with pure glucose, de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe medium (MRS) minerals, peptone and yeast extract. Under these conditions, this strain was able to accumulate more than 100 g lactate/L in the MRS medium. Medium optimization experiments showed that the main part of the nitrogen‐containing nutrients in the medium (peptone, yeast extract) can be replaced by protein extracts from green biomass (lucerne green juice). The green juice after pressing fresh biomass contains a series of nitrogen‐containing compounds and inorganic salts, which are essential for cell growth. Thus, on laboratory scale, we have demonstrated that it is possible to substitute synthetic nutrients by renewable resources like cereals and green biomass without any loss of productivity. This high biomass concentration together with the number of living cells could increase the productivity to higher levels compared to the well‐adapted synthetic nutrients of MRS.
Sex differences in subjective and objective measures of pain, functional impairment, and health-related quality of life in patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease

Abstract Sex differences in pain perception are known to exist; however, the exact pathomechanism remains unclear. This work aims to elucidate sex differences in subjective and objective measures of pain, functional impairment, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease. In a prospective 2-center study, back and leg pain (visual analogue scale [VAS]), functional disability (Oswestry Disability Index and Roland–Morris Disability Index), and HRQoL (EuroQol-5D and Short Form [SF12]) were collected for consecutive patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery. Objective functional impairment (OFI) was estimated using age-adjusted and sex-adjusted cutoff values for the timed-up-and-go (TUG) test. A healthy cohort of n = 110 subjects served as the control group. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to test the association between sex and pain, subjective and OFIs, and HRQoL. The study comprised n = 305 patients (41.6% females). Female patients had more VAS back pain (P = 0.002) and leg pain (P = 0.014). They were more likely to report higher functional impairment in terms of Oswestry Disability Index (P = 0.005). Similarly, HRQoL measured with the EuroQol-5D index (P = 0.012) and SF12 physical composite score (P = 0.005) was lower in female patients. Female patients reported higher VAS back and leg pain, functional impairment, and reduced HRQoL than male patients. However, there were no sex differences with respect to the presence and degree of OFI measured by the TUG test using age-adjusted and sex-adjusted cutoff values. As such, the TUG may be a good test to overcome sex bias for the clinical assessment of patients with degenerative disc disease.
DNA repair in the c-myc proto-oncogene locus: possible involvement in susceptibility or resistance to plasmacytoma induction in BALB/c mice

This report describes an unexpected difference in the efficiency of removal of UV-induced DNA damage in the c-myc locus in splenic B lymphoblasts from two inbred strains of mice. In cells from plasmacytoma-resistant DBA/2N mice, 35% of UV-induced damage in the regulatory and 5' flank of c-myc is removed by 12 h. However, in cells from plasmacytoma-susceptible BALB/cAn mice, damage is not removed from this region. In the protein-encoding region and 3' flank of c-myc as well as in two dihydrofolate reductase gene fragments, UV damage is repaired with similar efficiency in B lymphoblasts from both strains of mice. Furthermore, in the protein-encoding portion and 3' flank of c-myc, damage is selectively removed from only the transcribed strand. No repair is detected in the nontranscribed strand. In contrast, DNA repair in the 5' flank of c-myc is not strand specific; in DNA from DBA/2N cells, UV damage is rapidly removed from both the transcribed and nontranscribed strands. In BALB/cAn cells no repair was detected in either strand in the 5'flank, consistent with the results with double-stranded, nick-translated probes to this region of c-myc. In addition to the repair studies, we have detected post-UV-damage formation: in most of the genes studied, we find that additional T4 endonuclease-sensitive sites are formed in the DNA 2 h after irradiation. Our findings provide new insights into the details of gene-specific and strand-specific DNA repair and suggest that there may be close links between DNA repair and B-cell neoplastic development.
Smaller cerebral aneurysms producing more extensive subarachnoid hemorrhage following rupture: a radiological investigation and discussion of theoretical determinants.

OBJECT The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between aneurysm size and the volume of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS One hundred consecutive patients who presented with acute SAH, which was diagnosed on the basis of a computerized tomography (CT) scan within 24 hours postictus and, subsequently, confirmed to be aneurysmal in origin by catheter angiography, were included in this study. The data were collected prospectively in 32 patients and retrospectively in 68. The volume of SAH on the admission CT scan was scored in a semiquantitative manner from 0 to 30, according to a previously published method. The mean aneurysm size was 8.3 mm (range 1-25 mm). The mean SAH volume score was 15 (range 0-30). Regression analysis revealed that a smaller aneurysm size correlated with a more extensive SAH (r(2) = 0.23, p < 0.0001). Other variables including patient sex and age, intraparenchymal or intraventricular hemorrhage, multiple aneurysms, history of hypertension, and aneurysm location were not statistically associated with a larger volume of SAH. CONCLUSIONS Smaller cerebral aneurysm size is associated with a larger volume of SAH. The pathophysiological basis for this correlation remains speculative.
Dependence on glucose limitation of the pCO2 influences on CHO cell growth, metabolism and IgG production

The culture levels of glucose and CO2 have been reported to independently have important influences on mammalian cell processes. In this work the combined effects of glucose limitation and CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) on monoclonal antibody (IgG) producing Chinese Hamster Ovary cells were investigated in a perfusion reactor operated with controlled cell specific medium feed rate, pH and osmolality. Under high glucose conditions (14.3 ± 0.8 mM), the apparent growth rate decreased (from 0.021 to 0.009 h−1) as the pCO2 increased to ∼220 mmHg, while the cell specific IgG productivity was almost unchanged. The lactate yield from glucose was not affected by pCO2 up to ∼220 mmHg and glucose was mainly converted to lactate. A feed medium modification from high (33 mM) to low (6 mM) glucose resulted in <0.1 mM glucose in the culture. As a result of apparently shifting metabolism towards the conversion of pyruvate to CO2, both the ratio of lactate to glucose and the alanine production rate were lowered (1.51–1.14 and 17.7–0.56 nmol/106 cells h, respectively). Interestingly, when the pCO2 was increased to ∼140 mmHg, limiting glucose resulted in 1.7‐fold higher growth rates, compared to high glucose conditions. However, at ∼220 mmHg pCO2 this beneficial effect of glucose limitation on these CHO cells was lost as the growth rate dropped dramatically to 0.008 h−1 and the IgG productivity was lowered by 15% (P < 0.01) relative to the high glucose condition. The IgG galactosylation increased under glucose‐ limited compared to high‐glucose conditions Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;97:1479–1488. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Quantitative detection of cytokeratin 20 mRNA in urine samples as diagnostic tools for bladder cancer by real-time PCR.

AIM To determine and compare cytokeratin 20 (CK20) mRNA expression in urine of patients with transitional cell carcinomas of bladder (TCCB), urological benign diseases, and healthy volunteers. METHODS Taqman probe was designed according to the sequence of CK20 cloned gene. The quantitative PCR reaction system was optimized and evaluated. The CK20 mRNA level was screened by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 95 urine samples and analyzed according to the following parameters: urinary cytology, nuclear matrix protein 22 (NMP22) expression, tumor stage and grade. RESULTS For 60 TCCB patients urinary cytology was positive in 28 (46.7%), control group had no false-positive results (specificity 100%). CK20 expression was positive in RT-PCR of 51 cases (85%) of TCCB, but control group was positive in 2 cases (specificity 94.3%) with a cutoff value of crossover point (CT) = 30. Two methods have significant variation in sensitivity (p < 0.001), NMP22 expression was positive in 47 cases (78.3%), but control group was positive in 9 cases (specificity 85%). In the simultaneous evaluation of CK20 and NMP22 mRNA expression, there were 54 positive cases (90%). CK20 mRNA values in TCCB group (mean 27712.57 copies/microl) were significantly higher than in non-cancer disease urological group (mean 74.45 copies/microl) and control group (mean 8.47 copies/microl) (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). CK20 mRNA values increased gradually with higher tumor grade and stage: G1 differs significantly from G2 (p = 0.016); T(is) /T(a) differs significantly from T(1-2) (p = 0.022). CONCLUSION Our results indicate that CK20 mRNA expression could be regarded as a potential marker for TCCB. We demonstrated correlation between CK20 expression and the clinicopathologic features of TCCB (tumor stage and grade); simultaneous use of CK20 and NMP22 markers will elevate the sensitivity of the method. CK20 RT-PCR is a sensitive, quantitative, rapid and specific method to detect free cancer cells in the urine, and could be recommended for be wide application in the diagnostics of TCCB and evaluation of therapeutic effect.
Pigmented mammary Paget disease: dermoscopic, in vivo reflectance-mode confocal microscopic, and immunohistochemical study of a case.

BACKGROUND Pigmented mammary Paget disease represents a rare variant of mammary Paget disease that clinically and dermoscopically simulates a melanoma. We report a case of pigmented mammary Paget disease mimicking a melanoma and describe the dermoscopic, reflectance-mode confocal microscopic, histological, and immunohistochemical features. OBSERVATIONS A 70-year-old woman had a 5.5x4-cm pigmented plaque with a thin, scaly surface on her left breast; the plaque had slowly but progressively grown during the preceding 10 years. Dermoscopic examination showed a diffuse, light brown pigmentation with irregular black dots, small gray-blue structures, and irregular vessels. Confocal microscopic features, such as large reflecting cells with dark nuclei spreading upward in pagetoid fashion, were suggestive of melanoma. Histological evaluation integrated with immunohistochemical staining showed pigmented mammary Paget disease. CONCLUSIONS This case demonstrates that the diagnosis of pigmented mammary Paget disease cannot be determined by clinical examination and dermoscopy alone. Therefore, immunohistochemical staining should be performed in growing lesions with equivocal clinical and dermoscopic aspects that are characterized by abundant pagetoid infiltration in hematoxylin-eosin-stained sections to avoid overlooking pigmented mammary Paget disease.
Speeding up SVM training in brain-computer interfaces

Traditional Support Vector Machine (SVM) is widely used classification method for brain-computer interface (BCI). However, SVM has a high computational complexity. In this paper, Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)-based training data reduction is proposed to reduce high computational complexity. The proposed method is configured as follows: First, wavelet-based combined feature vectors are applied for motor imagery electroencephalography (EEG) identification and principal component analysis (PCA) are used to reduce the dimension of feature vectors. Thereafter, the GMM is implemented to reduce training data sizes. Finally, a nonlinear SVM classifier is used to classify the reduced training data. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated using three different motor imagery datasets in terms of accuracy and training time. The results from the study indicate that the proposed method achieves high accuracy with faster computational time in motor imagery EEG classification.
High-Speed Position-Sensorless Drive of Permanent-Magnet Machine Using Discrete-Time EMF Estimation

This paper proposes a permanent-magnet (PM) machine position-sensorless drive for high speed (> 10-kr/min) applications. A discrete-time back electromotive force (EMF) voltage estimation method is developed to overcome several high-speed position sensing issues, including the voltage error due to the digital-to-analog conversion, inductive cross-coupling, and deviation between the estimated EMF and actual EMF resulting from the digital implementation. To overcome these problems, an observer-based EMF estimation is proposed with three implementation considerations. They are 1) a discrete-time dq current observer to remove the inductive cross-coupling effect for the EMF estimation, 2) a delay model to compensate the voltage error, and 3) a discretized model to estimate the sampled EMF in the discrete-time. A high-speed PM machine is experimentally evaluated to verify all proposed sensorless drive methods.