Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Racial differences of heart failure with midrange ejection fraction (HFmrEF): a large urban centre-based retrospective cohort study in the USA

Objectives We aimed to study the racial differences in clinical presentations, survival outcomes and outcome predictors among patients with heart failure (HF) with midrange ejection fraction (HFmrEF, EF 40%–49%). Design This is a retrospective study. Setting Adults with HF diagnosis at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York between 2008 and 2012, with an inpatient echocardiogram showing left ventricular ejection fraction of 40%–49% were included as HFmrEF population. Participants 1,852 HFmrEF patients are included in the study (56% male, mean age 67 years). There were 493 (26.5%) non-Hispanic whites, 541 (29.2%) non-Hispanic black, 489 (26.4%) Hispanics and 329 (17.8%) other racial populations. Outcome measures Cumulative probabilities of all-cause mortality among different racial groups were estimated and multivariable adjusted Cox proportional regressions were performed to assess predictors of mortality. Results Among the HFmrEF patients, white patients were older and were less likely to be on guideline-directed medications. Blacks had a lower prevalence of prior myocardial infarction comparing to other groups. Hispanics had more chronic diseases and yet better survival comparing to whites and blacks after adjustment for age, sex and comorbidities. Distinct sets of survival predictors were revealed in individual racial groups. Baseline use of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) was associated with lower mortality among HFmrEF patients in general (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.99). Conclusions There are significant racial/ethnic differences in clinical phenotypes, survival outcomes and mortality predictors of HFmrEF. Furthermore, the use of MRA predicted a reduced mortality in HFmrEF patients.
Does Virulence Assessment of Vibrio anguillarum Using Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) Larvae Correspond with Genotypic and Phenotypic Characterization?

Background Vibriosis is one of the most ubiquitous fish diseases caused by bacteria belonging to the genus Vibrio such as Vibrio (Listonella) anguillarum. Despite a lot of research efforts, the virulence factors and mechanism of V. anguillarum are still insufficiently known, in part because of the lack of standardized virulence assays. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated and compared the virulence of 15 V. anguillarum strains obtained from different hosts or non-host niches using a standardized gnotobiotic bioassay with European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) larvae as model hosts. In addition, to assess potential relationships between virulence and genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, the strains were characterized by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (rep-PCR) analyses, as well as by phenotypic analyses using Biolog’s Phenotype MicroArray™ technology and some virulence factor assays. Conclusions/Significance Virulence testing revealed ten virulent and five avirulent strains. While some relation could be established between serotype, genotype and phenotype, no relation was found between virulence and genotypic or phenotypic characteristics, illustrating the complexity of V. anguillarum virulence. Moreover, the standardized gnotobiotic system used in this study has proven its strength as a model to assess and compare the virulence of different V. anguillarum strains in vivo. In this way, the bioassay contributes to the study of mechanisms underlying virulence in V. anguillarum.
Looking Inward

Selective attention plays a fundamental role in emotion regulation. To date, research has examined individuals’ use of selective attention to regulate emotional responses during stimulus presentation. In the present study, we examined whether selective attention can be used to regulate emotional responses during a poststimulus period when representations are active within working memory (WM). On each trial, participants viewed either a negative or a neutral image. After the offset of the image, they maintained a representation of it in WM and were cued to focus their attention on either neutral or arousing aspects of that representation. Results showed that, relative to focusing on an arousing portion of a negative-image representation within WM, focusing on a neutral portion of the representation reduced both self-reported negative emotion and the late positive potential, a robust neural measure of emotional reactivity. These data suggest that selective attention can alter emotional responses arising from affective representations active within WM.
Jordanian nursing faculty experiences of participation in international exchange programmes with Sweden

The purpose of this study was to apply the principles of phenomenography to describe Jordanian nurse faculty members’ experiences of participation in international exchange programmes (IEPs) with Sweden. Five faculty members from a large university in Jordan participated in focus group interviews. The findings highlighted the importance of careful planning before the exchange, of developing a programme, and of trying to implement the experiences gained on returning home. The findings suggest that IEPs should be well thought out, particularly in terms of selecting the right people and the right time for the exchange. Developing a programme at the host site, and clear goals, objectives, and activities that incorporate social and cultural events are also important. Participation in IEPs can enhance interest in and awareness of cultural and educational differences as well as similarities. However, sometimes it is difficult to implement experiences gained from the exchange when back at home. A plan for implementation should therefore be included in future programmes. In addition, further research is needed into the giver–receiver relationships inherent in IEPs, and how these relationships influence participants’ feelings about their exchange experience.
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Articles Exascale Challenges for Optimization Andreas Grothey . 1 Mathematical Optimization for Packing Problems Fernando M. de Oliveira Filho and Frank Vallentin . 5 In Memoriam Che-Lin Su Richard W. Cottle . 14 Bulletin Event Announcements SIAM Combinatorial Scientific Computing 2016 . 16 ICCOPT 2016 . 16 Book Announcements . 17 Other Announcements 2016-17 SAMSI Research Program on Optimization . 18 Comments from the Editors Jennifer Erway & Stefan M. Wild . 18
Critical Role for Tumor Necrosis Factor–related Apoptosis-inducing Ligand in Immune Surveillance Against Tumor Development

Natural killer (NK) cells and interferon (IFN)-γ have been implicated in immune surveillance against tumor development. Here we show that tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) plays a critical role in the NK cell–mediated and IFN-γ–dependent tumor surveillance. Administration of neutralizing monoclonal antibody against TRAIL promoted tumor development in mice subcutaneously inoculated with a chemical carcinogen methylcholanthrene (MCA). This protective effect of TRAIL was at least partly mediated by NK cells and totally dependent on IFN-γ. In the absence of TRAIL, NK cells, or IFN-γ, TRAIL-sensitive sarcomas preferentially emerged in MCA-inoculated mice. Moreover, development of spontaneous tumors in p53+/− mice was also promoted by neutralization of TRAIL. These results indicated a substantial role of TRAIL as an effector molecule that eliminates developing tumors.
Evaluation of changes of serum hepatitis B surface antigen from a different perspective.

AIM To investigate the dynamic changes of serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels apportioned by the same hepatic parenchyma cell volume (HPCV), namely, hepatic cell quantities. METHODS Serum HBsAg levels were detected by electrochemiluminescence and serum HBsAg levels apportioned by the same HPCV were figured out according to the theory of sphere geometry. HBsAg levels were compared among different liver inflammation grades, as well as different hepatic fibrosis stages. RESULTS In hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B, serum HBsAg levels in liver histological inflammation grades 1-4 were 3.66 ± 0.40, 3.74 ± 0.35, 3.74 ± 0.26 and 3.71 ± 0.34 log10 COI (cut off index), respectively, and there were no differences before apportion (P = 0.640). Serum HBsAg levels apportioned by the same HPCV were 5.57 ± 0.62, 5.98 ± 0.65, 6.59 ± 0.50 and 6.81 ± 0.84 log10 COI, respectively, and there were significant differences after apportion (P < 0.001). Serum HBsAg levels in hepatic fibrosis stages I-IV were 3.66 ± 0.43, 3.75 ± 0.33, 3.71 ± 0.28 and 3.75 ± 0.26 log10 COI, respectively, and there were no differences before apportion (P = 0.513). Serum HBsAg levels apportioned by the same HPCV were 5.53 ± 0.66, 5.98 ± 0.53, 6.29 ± 0.46 and 7.06 ± 0.48 log10 COI, respectively, and there were significant differences after apportion (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Serum HBsAg levels apportioned by the same HPCV (hepatic cell quantities), rather than serum HBsAg levels, increase with liver inflammation grades and hepatic fibrosis stages.
Bmc Medical Informatics and Decision Making Disease Surveillance Using a Hidden Markov Model

Background: Routine surveillance of disease notification data can enable the early detection of localised disease outbreaks. Although hidden Markov models (HMMs) have been recognised as an appropriate method to model disease surveillance data, they have been rarely applied in public health practice. We aimed to develop and evaluate a simple flexible HMM for disease surveillance which is suitable for use with sparse small area count data and requires little baseline data.
Genetic associations between genes in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and renal disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined by abnormalities in kidney structure and/or function present for more than 3 months. Worldwide, both the incidence and prevalence rates of CKD are increasing. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) regulates fluid and electrolyte balance through the kidney. RAAS activation is associated with hypertension, which is directly implicated in causation and progression of CKD. RAAS blockade, using drugs targeting individual RAAS mediators and receptors, has proven to be renoprotective. Objectives To assess genomic variants present within RAAS genes, ACE, ACE2, AGT, AGTR1, AGTR2 and REN, for association with CKD. Design and data sources A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational research was performed to evaluate the RAAS gene polymorphisms in CKD using both PubMed and Web of Science databases with publication date between the inception of each database and 31 December 2018. Eligible articles included case–control studies of a defined kidney disease and included genotype counts. Eligibility criteria Any paper was removed from the analysis if it was not written in English or Spanish, was a non-human study, was a paediatric study, was not a case–control study, did not have a renal disease phenotype, did not include data for the genes, was a gene expression-based study or had a pharmaceutical drug focus. Results A total of 3531 studies were identified, 114 of which met the inclusion criteria. Genetic variants reported in at least three independent publications for populations with the same ethnicity were determined and quantitative analyses performed. Three variants returned significant results in populations with different ethnicities at p<0.05: ACE insertion, AGT rs699-T allele and AGTR1 rs5186-A allele; each variant was associated with a reduced risk of CKD development. Conclusions Further biological pathway and functional analyses of the RAAS gene polymorphisms will help define how variation in components of the RAAS pathway contributes to CKD.
Circadian clock regulation of the glycogen synthase (gsn) gene by WCC is critical for rhythmic glycogen metabolism in Neurospora crassa

Significance Circadian rhythms enable organisms to anticipate daily environmental cycles and control the timing of numerous biological processes, including metabolism, to optimize the health and survival of organisms. Glycogen metabolism is a conserved glucose homeostatic process; however, the molecular mechanisms linking the circadian clock and glycogen metabolism remain largely unknown. In this report, we demonstrate that circadian clock-dependent transcriptional regulation of glycogen synthase, gsn, regulates circadian oscillations of GSN protein and glycogen accumulation in the model filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa. Circadian clocks generate rhythms in cellular functions, including metabolism, to align biological processes with the 24-hour environment. Disruption of this alignment by shift work alters glucose homeostasis. Glucose homeostasis depends on signaling and allosteric control; however, the molecular mechanisms linking the clock to glucose homeostasis remain largely unknown. We investigated the molecular links between the clock and glycogen metabolism, a conserved glucose homeostatic process, in Neurospora crassa. We find that glycogen synthase (gsn) mRNA, glycogen phosphorylase (gpn) mRNA, and glycogen levels, accumulate with a daily rhythm controlled by the circadian clock. Because the synthase and phosphorylase are critical to homeostasis, their roles in generating glycogen rhythms were investigated. We demonstrate that while gsn was necessary for glycogen production, constitutive gsn expression resulted in high and arrhythmic glycogen levels, and deletion of gpn abolished gsn mRNA rhythms and rhythmic glycogen accumulation. Furthermore, we show that gsn promoter activity is rhythmic and is directly controlled by core clock component white collar complex (WCC). We also discovered that WCC-regulated transcription factors, VOS-1 and CSP-1, modulate the phase and amplitude of rhythmic gsn mRNA, and these changes are similarly reflected in glycogen oscillations. Together, these data indicate the importance of clock-regulated gsn transcription over signaling or allosteric control of glycogen rhythms, a mechanism that is potentially conserved in mammals and critical to metabolic homeostasis.
Efficient Way of Emergency MessageDissemination and Reliable Broadcast inVehicular Ad-Hoc Network

In this paper, for a wide range of vehicular scenarios a efficient protocol for vehicular ad hoc networks has been proposed. Safety related message may transmission is an effective way to contain life critical information, it is a necessity that the sender as well as the message are authentic. which only employs local information acquired via periodic beacon messages, containing the both acknowledgment and emergency detection mechanisms of the circulated broadcast messages. However it is fraught with fundamental challenges such as message redundancy, hidden terminals and broadcast storms, which greatly degrade network performance. This is being tested with implemented at the road intersections without any need to even recognize inter sections . First, as no acknowledgment (ACK) mechanism is applied for broadcast messages in the medium-access-control (MAC)layer, message loss due to packet collisions or poor channel conditions cannot be easily detected. To other vehicles as fast and reliable as possible , the traditional broadcasting scheme without an (ACK) mechanism is not suitable for emergency message delivery in IVC, due to the limited transmission range, message relaying from intermediate nodes is required to reach remote vehicles. Therefore the objective of the research is to survey broadcast in vehicular networks. We analysis the different protocols and simulation using NS-2.
Combination of Aβ Secretion and Oxidative Stress in an Alzheimer-Like Cell Line Leads to the Over-Expression of the Nucleotide Excision Repair Proteins DDB2 and XPC

Repair of oxidative DNA damage, particularly Base Excision Repair (BER), impairment is often associated with Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Here, we aimed at investigating the complete Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER), a DNA repair pathway involved in the removal of bulky DNA adducts, status in an Alzheimer-like cell line. The level of DNA damage was quantified using mass spectrometry, NER gene expression was assessed by qPCR, and the NER protein activity was analysed through a modified version of the COMET assay. Interestingly, we found that in the presence of the Amyloid β peptide (Aβ), NER factors were upregulated at the mRNA level and that NER capacities were also specifically increased following oxidative stress. Surprisingly, NER capacities were not differentially improved following a typical NER-triggering of ultraviolet C (UVC) stress. Oxidative stress generates a differential and specific DNA damage response in the presence of Aβ. We hypothesized that the release of NER components such as DNA damage binding protein 2 (DDB2) and Xeroderma Pigmentosum complementation group C protein (XPC) following oxidative stress might putatively involve their apoptotic role rather than DNA repair function.
Common pulmonary vein on the recurrence of atrial tachyarrhythmia after pulmonary vein isolation

Catheter ablation has become an effective treatment modality for atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the relationship between common pulmonary vein (PV) and recurrent atrial tachyarrhythmia (ATA) after PV isolation (PVI) remains controversial. This study aimed to explore the function of common PV on the risk of recurrent ATA after PVI.
Cognitive screening instruments to identify vascular cognitive impairment: A systematic review

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is common and important to detect as controlling risk factors, particularly hypertension, may slow onset and progression. There is no consensus as to which cognitive screening instrument (CSI) is most suitable for VCI. We systematically reviewed the psychometric properties of brief CSIs for vascular mild cognitive impairment (VMCI) and vascular dementia (VaD).
Chromosome studies in workers exposed to benzene or toluene or both.

Chromosome studies were carried out on peripheral blood lymphocytes of 34 workers of a rotogravure plant, and in 34 controls matched for sex and age. Ten of the workers were exposed to benzene before 1953 and then to toluene, and 24 have been exposed only to toluene after 1953. The proportions of unstable and stable chromosome aberrations were significantly higher statistically in the benzene group compared with the controls, and in the benzene group in comparison with the toluene group. No significant differences were found between the frequencies of chromosome changes in the toluene and control groups.
CODE: An Adaptive Algorithm for Detecting Corners and Directions of Incident Edges

Conventional derivative-based corner detection is often crippled by missing junctions, poor localizations, and showing up of false negatives and false positives with change in the control parameters. This paper presents a novel algorithm that efficiently detects corners along with the directions (orientations) of the edges associated with each corner. The algorithm is marked by some adaptive features that strengthen the robustness and usefulness of the algorithm. Experimental results on a varied set of images exhibit the stability and efficiency of the algorithm.
A modest protective association between pet ownership and cardiovascular diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose Investigate the relationship between pet ownership and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes. Methods We searched the PubMed, Ovid EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases up to August 2018. Eligible publications examining the association between pet ownership and all-cause and CV mortality (primary outcomes) and risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD), myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke (secondary outcomes) were included. We used the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale to assess the quality of the articles. Results We included 12 studies, involving 488,986 participants (52.3% female, mean age 56.1 years), in our systematic review. The mean follow-up duration was 8.7 ± 6.3 years. Pet ownership had no association with adjusted all-cause mortality (odds ratio, OR = 1.01, 95% confidence interval, CI [0.94, 1.08], I2 = 76%), adjusted CV mortality (OR = 0.87, 95% CI [0.75, 1.00], I2 = 72%), or risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (OR = 0.87, 95% CI [0.72, 1.05], I2 = 73%), myocardial infarction (MI) (OR = 0.99, 95% CI [0.97, 1.01], I2 = 0%), or stroke (OR = 0.99, 95% CI [0.98, 1.01], I2 = 0%). However, subgroup analysis showed that pet ownership was associated with a lower adjusted CV mortality in the general population (OR = 0.93, 95% CI [0.86, 0.99], I2 = 27%) than in CVD patients. In patients with established CVD, pet ownership was associated with a lower adjusted CVD risk (OR = 0.71, 95% CI [0.60, 0.84], I2 = 0%). Conclusion Pet ownership is not associated with adjusted all-cause or CV mortality, or risk of CVD, MI, or stroke, but it is associated with a lower adjusted CV mortality in the general population and a lower CVD risk in patients with established CVD.
Prenatal Maternal Depression and Neonatal Immune Responses

Objective The aim of the study was to examine the association of lifetime maternal depression with regulation of immune responses in the infant, measured by cytokine levels and lymphocyte proliferation (LP) in cord blood mononuclear cells collected at delivery. Methods We studied women recruited in early pregnancy into the Project Viva longitudinal cohort who had cord blood assayed after delivery (N = 463). Women reported about depressive symptoms in midpregnancy (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) and depression history by questionnaire. Immune responses were assayed by an index of LP, and concentrations of five cytokines (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-10, IL-13, tumor necrosis tumor necrosis factor factor &agr;, and interferon &ggr;) after incubation of cord blood mononuclear cells either in medium alone or stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA), cockroach extract, or house dust mite extract. We examined associations of maternal depression with these sets of cytokine measures using multivariable linear or tobit regression analyses. Results After adjustment for confounders (mother's age, race/ethnicity, education, household income, season of birth, and child sex), levels of IL-10 after stimulation with cockroach or dust mite allergen were lower in cord blood from ever versus never depressed women, and a similar trend was evident in IL-10 stimulated with PHA (percentage difference: cockroach extract = −41.4, p = .027; house dust mite extract = 1–36.0, p = .071; PHA = −24.2, p = .333). No significant differences were seen in levels of other cytokines or LP. Conclusions Maternal depression is associated with offspring immune responses at birth, which may have implications for later life atopic risk or immune function.