Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Association of Pediatric Obesity With Nocturnal Non-Dipping on 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring.

BACKGROUND Obesity has been linked with abnormal nocturnal dipping of blood pressure (BP) in adults, which in turn is associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes. There are few data regarding abnormal dipping status in the obese pediatric population. The goal of this study was to further describe the relationship between obesity and non-dipping status on ambulatory blood pressure monitor (ABPM) in children. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study using a database of patients aged 5-21 years who had undergone 24-hour ABPM at Seattle Children's Hospital from January 2008 through May 2014. Subjects were grouped by body mass index (BMI) into lean (BMI 15th-85th percentile) and obese (BMI >95th percentile) groups. RESULTS Compared to lean subjects (n = 161), obese subjects (n = 247) had a prevalence ratio (PR) for non-dipping of 2.15, adjusted for race (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.25-3.42). Increasing severity of obesity was not further associated with nocturnal non-dipping. Nocturnal non-dipping was not associated with left ventricular hypertrophy (PR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.71-1.44). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that in children, just as in adults, obesity is related to a relatively decreased dipping in nocturnal BP.
Waist circumference and not body mass index explains obesity-related health risk.

BACKGROUND The addition of waist circumference (WC) to body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) predicts a greater variance in health risk than does BMI alone; however, whether the reverse is true is not known. OBJECTIVE We evaluated whether BMI adds to the predictive power of WC in assessing obesity-related comorbidity. DESIGN Subjects were 14 924 adult participants in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, grouped into categories of BMI and WC in accordance with the National Institutes of Health cutoffs. Odds ratios for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and the metabolic syndrome were compared for overweight and class I obese BMI categories and the normal-weight category before and after adjustment for WC. BMI and WC were also included in the same regression model as continuous variables for prediction of the metabolic disorders. RESULTS With few exceptions, overweight and obese subjects were more likely to have hypertension, dyslipidemia, and the metabolic syndrome than were normal-weight subjects. After adjustment for WC category (normal or high), the odds of comorbidity, although attenuated, remained higher in overweight and obese subjects than in normal-weight subjects. However, after adjustment for WC as a continuous variable, the likelihood of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and the metabolic syndrome was similar in all groups. When WC and BMI were used as continuous variables in the same regression model, WC alone was a significant predictor of comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS WC, and not BMI, explains obesity-related health risk. Thus, for a given WC value, overweight and obese persons and normal-weight persons have comparable health risks. However, when WC is dichotomized as normal or high, BMI remains a significant predictor of health risk.
Intakes of 4 dietary lignans and cause-specific and all-cause mortality in the Zutphen Elderly Study.

BACKGROUND Plant lignans are converted to enterolignans that have antioxidant and weak estrogen-like activities, and therefore they may lower cardiovascular disease and cancer risks. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether the intakes of 4 plant lignans (lariciresinol, pinoresinol, secoisolariciresinol, and matairesinol) were inversely associated with coronary heart disease (CHD), cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancer, and all-cause mortality. DESIGN The Zutphen Elderly Study is a prospective cohort study in which 570 men aged 64-84 y were followed for 15 y. We recently developed a database and used it to estimate the dietary intakes of 4 plant lignans. Lignan intake was related to mortality with the use of Cox proportional hazards analysis. RESULTS The median total lignan intake in 1985 was 977 microg/d. Tea, vegetables, bread, coffee, fruit, and wine were the major sources of lignan. The total lignan intake was not related to mortality. However, the intake of matairesinol was inversely associated with CHD, CVD, and all-cause mortality (P </= 0.05 for all) and cancer (P = 0.06). Multivariate-adjusted rate ratios (95% CI) per 1-SD increase in intake were 0.72 (0.53, 0.98) for CHD, 0.83 (0.69, 1.00) for CVD, 0.86 (0.76, 0.97) for all-cause mortality, and 0.81 (0.65, 1.00) for cancer. CONCLUSIONS Total lignan intake was not associated with mortality. The intake of matairesinol was inversely associated with mortality due to CHD, CVD, cancer, and all causes. We cannot exclude the possibility that the inverse association between matairesinol intake and mortality is due to an associated factor, such as wine consumption.
TAILS N-terminomics and proteomics reveal complex regulation of proteolytic cleavage by O-glycosylation

Proteolytic processing is an irreversible post-translational modification functioning as a ubiquitous regulator of cellular activity. Protease activity is tightly regulated via control of gene expression, enzyme and substrate compartmentalization, zymogen activation, enzyme inactivation, and substrate availability. Emerging evidence suggests that proteolysis can also be regulated by substrate glycosylation and that glycosylation of individual sites on a substrate can decrease or, in rare cases, increase its sensitivity to proteolysis. Here, we investigated the relationship between site-specific, mucin-type (or GalNAc-type) O-glycosylation and proteolytic cleavage of extracellular proteins. Using in silico analysis, we found that O-glycosylation and cleavage sites are significantly associated with each other. We then used a positional proteomic strategy, terminal amine isotopic labeling of substrates (TAILS), to map the in vivo cleavage sites in HepG2 SimpleCells with and without one of the key initiating GalNAc transferases, GalNAc-T2, and after treatment with exogenous matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) or neutrophil elastase. Surprisingly, we found that loss of GalNAc-T2 not only increased cleavage, but also decreased cleavage across a broad range of other substrates, including key regulators of the protease network. We also found altered processing of several central regulators of lipid homeostasis, including apolipoprotein B and the phospholipid transfer protein, providing new clues to the previously reported link between GALNT2 and lipid homeostasis. In summary, we show that loss of GalNAc-T2 O-glycosylation leads to a general decrease in cleavage and that GalNAc-T2 O-glycosylation affects key regulators of the cellular proteolytic network, including multiple members of the serpin family.
Effect of ventricular stretch on contractile strength, calcium transient, and cAMP in intact canine hearts.

Isovolumic contractions were imposed by intraventricular balloon in 39 isolated, blood-perfused canine hearts to investigate the effects of myocardial stretch on contractile force. After stabilization at 37°C, left ventricular volume was increased so that end-diastolic pressure increased from 0 to 5 mmHg. After the immediate increase in developed pressure [DP; from 37 ± 14 to 82 ± 22 mmHg (means ± SD)], there was a slow secondary rise in DP (97 ± 27 mmHg) that peaked at 3 min. However, DP subsequently decreased over the next 7 min back to the initial value (84 ± 25 mmHg). Light emission from macroinjected aequorin ( n = 10 hearts) showed that changes in intracellular calcium [3 min: 124 ± 15% ( P < 0.01); 10 min: 99 ± 18% of baseline] paralleled DP changes. Increases in myocardial adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) content ( n = 12) accompanied the secondary rise in DP. In contrast, the gradual elevation of DP after the stretch was not exerted during continuous β-adrenergic stimulation by isoproterenol. Thus, in contrast to isolated muscle, stretch only transiently increases intracellular calcium and contractile strength in intact hearts. The findings of changes in cAMP and abolition of the phenomena by β-stimulation suggest that a primary stretch-mediated influence on cAMP metabolism may underlie these phenomena.
Inhibition of liver protein synthesis during laparoscopic surgery.

Previous studies have indicated that laparoscopic surgery is associated with a decline in liver protein synthesis. In this study, the fractional synthesis rate (FSR) of total liver protein and albumin was measured in patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy at different times after commencing the procedure ( n = 8 + 8). Liver biopsy specimens were taken after 15 min of surgery in an "early" group and after 49 min of surgery in a "late" group. The liver FSR was higher in the early group (24.1 ± 4.7%/day) compared with the late group (19.0 ± 2.8%/day, P < 0.02). The fractional and absolute synthesis rates of albumin were similar in the two groups, 6.4 ± 1.5 vs. 6.5 ± 1.0%/day and 97 ± 19 vs. 96 ± 18 mg ⋅ kg-1 ⋅ day-1for the early and late groups, respectively. It is concluded that laparoscopic surgery was accompanied by a decrease in total liver protein synthesis rate, which developed rapidly during surgery. In contrast, no change in the synthesis rate of albumin was apparent during the course of surgery.
Why Do Teachers Not Practice What They Believe Regarding Technology Integration?

Research findings indicate that teachers' beliefs play an important role in their deciding how they will integrate technology into the classroom. The author used qualitative research methods to explore the relations between teachers' pedagogical beliefs and technology integration. Participants were 12 Taiwanese high school teachers, and findings indicated inconsistency between the teachers' expressed beliefs and their practices. The author categorized the reasons for the inconsistency into 3 interrelated aspects: (a) the influence of external factors, (b) teachers' limited or improper theoretical understanding, and (c) teachers' other conflicting beliefs. The author presents suggestions for school settings, professional development, and future research.
Study of the Temperature Interface Between Niobium and Superfluid Helium. Temperature Waves Measurements from Heat Sources

One of the most important properties of Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities is their ability to disperse generated heat from the internal cavity wall to the external super fluid helium bath. If the generated heat is not removed fast enough, an effect known as thermal feedback dominates, resulting in medium field Q-slope and a cavity quench. This generated medium field Q-slope has the ability to negatively impact the Q factor should it become strong enough. To determine what physical factors affect the creation of the medium field Q-slope we will be computationally modelling the medium field Q-slope with varying parameters, such as thermal boundary resistance, called Kapitza resistance [1], wall thickness, RF frequency, bath temperature, residual resistivity ratio, residual resistance, and phonon mean path. For already prepared cavities, the Kapitza resistance and wall thickness near quenching area are the only parameters that can be modified. Our results show that the medium-field Q slope is highly dependent on the Kapitza conductivity and that by increasing the Kapitza conductivity the medium field Qslope reduces significantly. Understanding and controlling the medium field Q-slope will benefit future continuous wave (CW) applications such as the Energy Recovery Linacs (ERL) where cryogenics costs dominate due to CW operation at medium fields (< 20 MV/m).
A Meta-analysis of antihypertensive effect of telmisartan versus candesartan in patients with essential hypertension

ABSTRACT Objective: The comparison of antihypertensive effects between telmisartan and candesartan in patients with essential hypertension has been investigated in several small studies. The results were not consistent. We performed this meta-analysis determining the antihypertensive effect of telmisartan versus candesartan in these patients. Methods: We searched Pubmed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central for all published studies comparing the antihypertensive effects between telmisartan and candesartan in patients with essential hypertension. Results: The antihypertensive effects were assessed in 302 patients included in 4 trials with a mean follow-up of 10 ± 4 weeks. There were no significant differences between telmisartan and candesartan in reduction of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) in patients with essential hypertension (weighted mean differences (WMD) for SBP 1.98 mm Hg (95% confidence interval (CI), −0.53, 4.49), p > 0.05; WMD for DBP 0.26 mm Hg (95% CI, −1.65, 2.16), p > 0.05), respectively. In a sub-analysis including 2 randomized studies, there was not a significant difference for the reduction of SBP (WMD 0.90 (95% CI, −2.88, 4.68) mm Hg, p > 0.05) or DBP (WMD −0.80 (95% CI, −3.40, 1.81) mm Hg, p > 0.05) treated with telmisartan or candesartan. Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides the evidence that the antihypertensive effects of telmisartan and candesartan are similar on SBP and DBP reduction in patients with essential hypertension, suggesting that strict designed randomized controlled trial would be helpful to compare antihypertensive effects of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) and improve the choice of ARBs in antihypertensive therapy.
Differential signaling pathways of HO-1 gene expression in pulmonary and systemic vascular cells.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is induced by oxidative stress and plays an important role in cellular protection against oxidant injury. Increasing evidence also suggests that HO-1 is markedly modulated by hypoxia in vitro and in vivo. Our group has previously demonstrated that the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 mediates hypoxia-induced HO-1 gene transcription and expression in systemic (aortic) vascular smooth muscle (AoVSM) cells (P. J. Lee, B.-H. Jiang, B. Y. Chin, N. V. Iyer, J. Alam, G. L. Semenza, and A. M. K. Choi. J. Biol. Chem. 272: 5375-5381, 1997). Because the pulmonary circulation is an important target of hypoxia, this study investigated whether HO-1gene expression in pulmonary arterial vascular smooth muscle was differentially regulated by hypoxia in comparison to AoVSM cells. Interestingly, hypoxia neither induced HO-1 gene expression nor increased HIF-1 DNA binding activity in pulmonary arterial vascular smooth muscle cells. Conversely, pulmonary arterial endothelial cells (PAECs) demonstrated a marked induction of HO-1 gene expression after hypoxia. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays detected an increase in activator protein-1 rather than in HIF-1 DNA binding activity in nuclear extracts of hypoxic PAECs. Analyses of the promoter and 5'-flanking regions of the HO-1 gene were performed by transiently transfecting PAECs with either the hypoxia response element (HIF-1 binding site) or the HO-1 gene distal enhancer element (AB1) linked to a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene. Increased chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity was observed only in transfectants containing the AB1 distal enhancer, and mutational analysis of this enhancer suggested that the activator protein-1 regulatory element was critical for hypoxia-induced HO-1 gene transcription. Collectively, our data demonstrate that the molecular regulation of HO-1 gene transcription during hypoxia differs between the systemic and pulmonary circulations and also provide evidence that hypoxia-induced HO-1 gene expression in PAECs and AoVSM cells is regulated through two discrete signaling pathways.
A rabbit model of progressive chronic right ventricular pressure overload.

OBJECTIVES Right ventricular (RV) failure from increased pressure loading is a frequent consequence of acquired and congenital heart diseases. However, the mechanisms involved in their pathophysiology are still unclear, and few data exist on RV pressure-loading models and early versus late effects on RV and left ventricular responses. We characterized a rabbit model of chronic RV pressure overload and early-late effects on biventricular function. METHODS Twenty-one New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into 3 groups: (i) sham, (ii) pulmonary artery (PA) banding (PAB) for 3 weeks (PAB3W) and (iii) PAB for 6 weeks (PAB6W). Progressive RV pressure overload was created by serial band inflation using an adjustable device. Molecular, echocardiographic and haemodynamic studies were performed. RESULTS RV pressure overload was achieved with clinical manifestations of RV failure. Heart and liver weights were significantly higher after PAB. PAB-induced echocardiographic ventricular remodelling increased wall thickness and stress and ventricular dilation. Cardiac output (ml/min) (sham 172.4 ± 42.86 vs PAB3W 103.1 ± 23.14 vs PAB6W 144 ± 60.9, P = 0.0027) and systolic and diastolic functions decreased; with increased RV end-systolic and end-diastolic pressures (mmHg) (sham 1.6 ± 0.66 vs PAB3W 3.9 ± 1.8 vs PAB6W 5.2 ± 2.2, P = 0.0103), despite increased contractility [end-systolic pressure-volume relationship (mmHg/ml), sham 3.76 ± 1.76 vs PAB3W 12.21 ± 3.44 vs PAB6W 19.4 ± 6.88, P < 0.0001]. Functional parameters further worsened after PAB6W versus PAB3W. LV contractility increased in both the PAB groups, despite worsening of other invasive measures of systolic and diastolic functions. CONCLUSIONS We describe a novel, unique model of chronic RV pressure overload leading to early biventricular dysfunction and fibrosis with further progression at 6 weeks. These findings can aid in guiding management.
Prospective study of abdominal adiposity and gallstone disease in US men.

BACKGROUND Obesity is an established risk factor for gallstones, but whether abdominal adiposity contributes independently to the risk, particularly in men, remains unclear. OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to examine the associations of abdominal circumference and waist-to-hip ratio, as measures of abdominal adiposity, with the risk of symptomatic gallstone disease in men. DESIGN We prospectively studied measures of abdominal obesity in relation to the incidence of symptomatic gallstone disease in a cohort of 29 847 men who were free of prior gallstone disease and who provided complete data on waist and hip circumferences. Data on weight, height, and waist and hip circumferences were collected in 1986 and in 1987 through self-administered questionnaires. As part of the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, men reported newly diagnosed symptomatic gallstone disease on questionnaires mailed to them every 2 y. RESULTS We documented 1117 new cases of symptomatic gallstone disease during 264 185 person-years of follow-up. After adjustment for body mass index and other known or suspected risk factors for gallstones, men with a height-adjusted waist circumference > or = 102.6 cm (40.4 in) had a relative risk of 2.29 (95% CI: 1.69, 3.11; P for trend < 0.001) compared with men with a height-adjusted waist circumference < 86.4 cm (34 in). Men with a waist-to-hip ratio > or = 0.99 had a multivariate relative risk of 1.78 (1.38, 2.28; P for trend < 0.001) compared with men with a waist-to-hip ratio < 0.89. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest the presence of a significant association between abdominal adiposity and the incidence of symptomatic gallstone disease. As measures of abdominal adiposity, abdominal circumference and waist-to-hip ratio predict the risk of developing gallstones independently of body mass index.
The Imprint of History on Communities of North American and Asian Warblers

The ecology of the component species of an adaptive radiation is likely to be influenced by the form of the founding ancestor to the radiation, its timing, and rates of speciation and extinction. These historical features complement environmental selection pressures. They imply that, if the history of the species’ radiations are very different, ecological communities are unlikely to be completely convergent even when placed in identical environments. We compare the adaptive radiation of the Dendroica warblers of North America with that of the Phylloscopus warblers of Asia. We consider the ecology of the species in two localities where species’ diversity is very high (New Hampshire, U.S.A., and Kashmir, India, respectively) and contrast the history of the two radiations on the basis of a molecular (mitochondrial cytochrome b) phylogeny. By comparison with the Phylloscopus, the Dendroica are on average larger and morphologically more similar to one another. Although there is some similarity between the Dendroica and Phylloscopus communities, they differ in foraging behavior and in associations of morphology with ecological variables. The Dendroica likely reflect an early Pliocene radiation and are two to four times younger than the Phylloscopus. They probably had a colorful sexually dichromatic ancestor, implicating sexual selection in the production of the many ecologically similar species. The Phylloscopus are much older and probably had a drab, monomorphic ancestor. Given the difference in ages of the two radiations, it is plausible that the close species’ packing of the Dendroica warblers is a transient phenomenon. If this is the case, community structure evolves on the timescales of millions of years. Differences in ancestry and timing of the species’ radiations can be related to the different biogeography of the two regions. This implies that the historical imprint on adaptive radiations could be predicted on the basis of the attributes of ancestors and biogeographical context.
EAA receptors in the dorsomedial hypothalamic area mediate the cardiovascular response to activation of the amygdala.

The role of excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) in mediating the cardiovascular response to activation of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) was examined using conscious rats. Microinjection of the nonselective EAA receptor antagonist kynurenic acid (0.1-10 nmol) into the DMH blocked or reversed the increases in heart rate and arterial pressure resulting from injection of the GABAA receptor antagonists bicuculline methiodide (BMI; 100 pmol) and picrotoxin (100 pmol) into the BLA. Similar injections of kynurenic acid at sites lateral or dorsal to the DMH or injection of the inactive analog xanthurenic acid into the DMH were less effective in blocking the cardiovascular changes resulting from intra-amygdalar injection of BMI. Hypothalamic injection of the NMDA receptor antagonist 3-(2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid (10 pmol) or thedl-α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-propionic acid receptor antagonist 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6-nitro-2,3-dioxo-benzo[f]quinoxaline-7-sulfonamide (50 pmol) at doses shown to be selective for their respective EAA receptor subtypes attenuated the cardiovascular changes associated with intra-amygdalar injection of BMI. Therefore, EAA receptors in the area of the DMH appear to be involved in mediating the cardiovascular changes resulting from activation of the amygdala.