Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Research priorities for gender nonconforming/transgender youth: gender identity development and biopsychosocial outcomes

Purpose of reviewThe review summarizes relevant research focused on prevalence and natural history of gender nonconforming/transgender youth, and outcomes of currently recommended clinical practice guidelines. This review identifies gaps in knowledge, and provides recommendations foci for future research. Recent findingsIncreasing numbers of gender nonconforming youth are presenting for care. Clinically useful information for predicting individual psychosexual development pathways is lacking. Transgender youth are at high risk for poor medical and psychosocial outcomes. Longitudinal data examining the impact of early social transition and medical interventions are sparse. Existing tools to understand gender identity and quantify gender dysphoria need to be reconfigured to study a more diverse cohort of transgender individuals. Increasingly, biomedical data are beginning to change the trajectory of scientific investigation. SummaryExtensive research is needed to improve understanding of gender dysphoria, and transgender experience, particularly among youth. Recommendations include identification of predictors of persistence of gender dysphoria from childhood into adolescence, and a thorough investigation into the impact of interventions for transgender youth. Finally, examining the social environments of transgender youth is critical for the development of appropriate interventions necessary to improve the lives of transgender people.
Impact of Terrorism on Mental Health

Objective: To find out the impact of terrorism on mental health and behavioral patterns of men and women. Place and Duration of Study: It was conducted in Islamabad (capital city of Pakistan) over a period of one month in September – October 2011. Study Design: It was a cross sectional survey. Materials & Methods: The main study sample comprised of equal number of male and females (25 males and 25 females). Their age ranging from 22 to 60 and their education level was Bachelors to PhD level. The target population belonged to various professions like doctors, engineers, lawyers, students (Colleges and Universities) and others. Purposive sampling technique was used and data were collected with the help of questionnaire on : Concerns and Fears about Terrorism, Thinking and Talking about Terrorism, Measuring Attitudes about Terrorism, Mental Health Impacts of Terrorism, Behavioral Impacts of Terrorism and Effectiveness of Public Institutions. Participants were approached personally and their consent was taken before administration of questionnaires. T-test was computed to see the effects of terrorism on mental health and behavior patterns. Results: There was a significant difference shown by male and female included in the sample on Concerns about Threat of Terrorism (Mean score males = 8.00 and Mean score females = 8.48). Male and female showed a significant difference on Thinking and Talking about Terrorism. A significant difference among the attitudes of male and female was found. A non significant difference on the impacts of Terrorism on Mental Health was seen among male and female participants. Regarding Impacts of Terrorism on the behavior of males and females, a non significant difference was shown. Significant difference was seen in male and female on the Effectiveness of Public Institutions. Conclusion: The terrorist attacks significantly affect the mental health of the individuals. They became depressed, anxious and worried. These psychological feelings also affect
The evolving role of chemotherapy for muscle infiltrating bladder cancer.

In order to improve survival in a disease where the majority of deaths occur from metastases, the integration of systemic chemotherapy is crucial. Research efforts must continue to focus on refining case selection criteria, improving complete response proportions, and overcoming drug resistance. The blanket recommendation of a single therapeutic strategy such as radical surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy to all patients is quickly becoming an outdated approach. Refinements in the understanding of the clinical, pathologic, and molecular features of urothelial tumors will ultimately improve case selection. Evaluation of NM23 RNA levels, or DNA ploidy and T138 surface antigen expression, which have been shown to correlate with metastatic potential, may hold important therapeutic implications. The use of hematopoietic growth factors has the potential to improve both the tolerance of chemotherapy and complete response proportions, a prerequisite for cure. A recent report from Japan of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor with MVAC and other chemotherapy regimens for urothelial tumors corroborated an initial report in reducing the duration of neutropenia. However, the dose response curves for most of the known active agents are not well defined and, ultimately, new agents and strategies will be required. Gallium nitrate, when administered by continuous intravenous infusion, has significant single agent activity in cisplatin-refractory patients with 9/31 responses (29%), including 6 CRs (19%) and further studies are warranted. Drug resistance remains a major obstacle, and as the mechanisms are unravelled, more rational therapies can be designed. For example, resistance to Adriamycin (doxorubicin; Adria Laboratories, Columbus, OH) and vinblastine, two components in the MVAC regimen, are mediated in part by the MDR1 gene. Attempts are ongoing to identify prospectively those tumors with high levels of expression that may be more amenable to treatment with drugs that are not affected by this mechanism. The neoadjuvant approach allows an in vivo assessment of response to chemotherapy as well as the potential for bladder preservation. In most cases additional therapy directed at the primary is required as clinical understaging is a significant problem and pCR proportions are less than 30%. For some patients, initial surgery followed by treatment based on pathologic criteria may represent a better strategy. In these cases the recommendation for adjuvant treatment potentially limits therapy to a population of patients for whom therapy is essential. Based on available data, this would include patients with positive lymph nodes at the time of surgery. Ideally, patients with invasive bladder cancer should be entered into clinical trials designed to assess the impact of these strategies on survival. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Localization of Xenin-immunoreactive Cells in the Duodenal Mucosa of Humans and Various Mammals

Xenin is a 25-amino-acid peptide extractable from mammalian tissue. This peptide is biologically active. It stimulates exocrine pancreatic secretion and intestinal motility and inhibits gastric secretion of acid and food intake. Xenin circulates in the human plasma after meals. In this study, the cellular origin of xenin in the gastro-entero-pancreatic system of humans, Rhesus monkeys, and dogs was investigated by immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy. Sequence-specific antibodies against xenin detected specific endocrine cells in the duodenal and jejunal mucosa of all three species. These xenin-immunoreactive cells were distinct from enterochromaffin, somatostatin, motilin, cholecystokinin, neurotensin, and secretin cells, and comprised 8.8% of the chromogranin A-positive cells in the dog duodenum and 4.6% of the chromogranin A-positive cells in human duodenum. In all three species, co-localization of xenin was found with a subpopulation of gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP)-immunoreactive cells. Immunoelectron microscopy in the canine duodenal mucosa demonstrated accumulation of gold particles in round, homogeneous, and osmiophilic secretory granules with a closely adhering membrane of 187 ± 19 nm diameter (mean ± SEM). This cell type was found to be identical to the previously described canine GIP cell. Immunocytochemical expression of the peptide xenin in a subpopulation of chromogranin A-positive cells as well as the localization of xenin immunoreactivity in ultrastructurally characterized secretory granules permitted the identification of a novel endocrine cell type as the cellular source of circulating xenin.
When does quality improvement count as research? Human subject protection and theories of knowledge

The publication of insights from a quality improvement project recently precipitated a ruling by the lead federal regulatory agency that regulations providing protection for human subjects of research should apply. The required research review process did not match the rapid changes, small samples, limited documentation, clinician management, and type of information commonly used in quality improvement. Yet quality improvement can risk harm to patients, so some review might be in order. The boundaries and processes are not clear. Efforts have been made to determine what constitutes “research”, but this has proved difficult and often yields irrational guidance with regard to protection of patients. Society needs a workable way to separate activities that will improve care, on the one hand, and those that constitute research, on the other. Practitioners who lead both quality improvement and research projects claim that those which rapidly give feedback to the care system that generated the data, aiming to change practices within that system, are “quality improvement” no matter whether the findings are published, whether the project is grant funded, and whether contemporaneous controls do not have the intervention. This criterion has not previously been proposed as a possible demarcation. The quandaries of which projects to put through research review and how to ensure ethical implementation of quality improvement need to be resolved.
In search of female IT-students

This article looks at the problem of retaining female students in IT educations. It is argued that there are changes to be made at the university were the male domination is resulting in a limited approach to teaching IT both with regard to content and methods. Emphasis on more modern teaching methods and application of technology is needed as well as elimination of female hostile attitudes. The findings are based on a literature review supplemented with results from a work shop with students from a technical university.
Inflammatory markers are associated with ventilatory limitation and muscle dysfunction in obstructive lung disease in well functioning elderly subjects

Background: Inflammatory markers are increased in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and are hypothesised to play an important part in muscle dysfunction and exercise intolerance. Methods: The Health Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study is a prospective observational cohort of well functioning individuals aged 70–79 years. A cross sectional analysis of the baseline data was conducted to examine the association between inflammatory markers and ventilatory limitation, muscle strength, and exercise capacity. These associations were compared in participants with and without obstructive lung disease (OLD). Results: Of the 3075 participants enrolled in the Health ABC cohort, OLD was identified by spirometric testing in 268 participants and 2005 participants had normal spirometric results. Of the participants with OLD, 35%, 38%, and 27% participants had mild, moderate, and severe OLD, respectively. Participants with OLD had lower quadriceps strength (102.5 Nm v 108.9 Nm, p = 0.02), lower maximum inspiratory pressure (64.7 cm H2O v 74.2 cm H2O, p<0.0001), higher systemic interleukin (IL)-6 levels (2.6 pg/ml v 2.2 pg/ml, p<0.0001), and higher C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (3.5 mg/l v 2.5 mg/l, p<0.0001) than those with normal spirometry. In participants with OLD and those with normal spirometry, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) was associated with IL-6 (adjusted regression coefficients (β) = −5.3 (95% CI −9.1 to−1.5) and −3.1 (95% CI −4.3 to −1.9), respectively). IL-6 and TNF were also associated with quadriceps strength among participants with OLD and those with normal spirometry (β = −6.4 (95% CI −12.8 to −0.03) and −3.4 (95% CI −5.4 to −1.3), respectively, for IL-6 and β = −10.1 (95% CI −18.7 to −1.5) and −3.8 (95% CI −7 to −0.6), respectively, for TNF). IL-6, quadriceps strength, and maximum inspiratory pressures were independent predictors of reduced exercise capacity in both groups. Conclusions: In well functioning elderly subjects with or without OLD, IL-6 is associated with reduced FEV1, quadriceps strength, and exercise capacity.
Parenteral transmission of HIV among injection drug users: assessing the frequency of multiperson use of needles, syringes, cookers, cotton, and water.

OBJECTIVES To describe and estimate the frequency of different types of drug preparation and injection practices that could result in the transfer of blood and blood-borne infections among injection drug users (IDUs). METHODS We analyzed data from interviews administered to 12,323 active IDUs recruited from 19 sites in the United States. The interviews ascertained drug-related behaviors during the previous 30 days. RESULTS 31.9% of IDUs reported that they engaged in the use of both needle/syringes and cookers/cotton/water previously used by another IDU; 8.6% engaged only in the use of needle/syringes previously used by another IDU; 17.5% engaged only in the use of cookers/cotton/water previously used by another IDU; and 42.0% reported using neither needle/syringes nor cookers/cotton/water previously used by another IDU. Only 12.6% reported use of new (never-used) needle/syringes. The 3935 IDUs who used both needle/syringes and cookers/cotton/water that had been previously used by another IDU had more than 311.000 potential exposures to blood-borne infections from these high-risk practices in 30 days; about 64% of these exposures were from multiperson use of cookers/cotton/water. CONCLUSIONS Programs to limit parenteral transmission of HIV and other blood-borne infections among IDUs must consider all drug preparation and injection practices that could allow transfer of blood and blood-borne infections among IDUs.
No Evidence for Genetic Contribution of Ocular Dominance: The Guangzhou Twin Eye Study

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore the heritability of ocular dominance in a classic twin study. DesignA classical twin study. MethodsTwins aged 7 to 19 years enrolled from the Guangzhou Twin Registry received comprehensive eye examinations. Ocular dominance was assessed by the “hole-in-the-card test” by trained optometrists. Zygosity of the participants was confirmed by genotyping in all same-sex twin pairs. The pairwise concordance rate was calculated as the main outcome. ResultsAfter excluding 110 children with anisometropia of 2.0 diopters or greater and 24 children with alternating ocular dominance, a total of 941 twin pairs were identified in the analysis, including 596 monozygotic and 345 dizygotic pairs. Right-eye dominance was present in 59.3% of twins with available data. The pairwise concordance rate was 0.529 and 0.530 in monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs, respectively (P > 0.5). The tetrachoric correlation was 0.043 and 0.035, respectively. When comparing the young twins and their parents, no significant difference in the percentage of offspring with left-eye dominance was found between right × right parent mating group and non–right × right parent mating groups. ConclusionsGenetic factors may not be involved in ocular dominance in Chinese teens and children.
Anti-Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 Gene Therapy Attenuates Left Ventricular Remodeling and Failure After Experimental Myocardial Infarction

Background—Increased expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) has recently been described in clinical and experimental failing heart. However, its pathophysiological significance in heart failure remains obscure. We thus determined whether MCP-1 is increased in post-myocardial infarction (MI) hearts and its blockade can attenuate the development of left ventricular (LV) remodeling and failure. Methods and Results—Anterior MI was produced in mice by ligating the left coronary artery. After 4 weeks, MI mice exerted LV dilatation and contractile dysfunction in association with myocyte hypertrophy and interstitial fibrosis of noninfarcted LV. MCP-1 mRNA levels were increased by 40-fold in noninfarcted LV 1 day after ligation, which persisted until 28 days. To block the MCP-1 signals, an N-terminal deletion mutant of the human MCP-1 gene was transfected into the limb skeletal muscle 3 days before and 14 days after ligation. This method improved the survival rate of mice with MI at 4 weeks (61% versus 87%, P <0.05) as well as attenuated LV cavity dilatation and contractile dysfunction, interstitial fibrosis, recruitment of macrophages, and myocardial gene expression of tumor necrosis factor-&agr; and transforming growth factor-&bgr; compared with the nontreated MI mice despite the comparable infarct size calculated as percent LV circumference. Conclusions—The activation of MCP-1 expression contributes to the LV remodeling and failure after MI. An anti-MCP-1 gene therapy can be a useful novel strategy for preventing post-MI heart failure.
Store‐operated Ca2+ entry during intracellular Ca2+ release in mammalian skeletal muscle

Store‐operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) is activated following the depletion of internal Ca2+ stores in virtually all eukaryotic cells. Shifted excitation and emission ratioing of fluorescence (SEER) was used to image mag‐indo‐1 trapped in the tubular (t) system of mechanically skinned rat skeletal muscle fibres to measure SOCE during intracellular Ca2+ release. Cytosolic Ca2+ transients were simultaneously imaged using the fluorescence of rhod‐2. Spatially and temporally resolved images of t system [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]t‐sys) allowed estimation of Ca2+ entry flux from the rate of decay of [Ca2+]t‐sys. Ca2+ release was induced pharmacologically to activate SOCE without voltage‐dependent contributions to Ca2+ flux. Inward Ca2+ flux was monotonically dependent on the [Ca2+] gradient, and strongly dependent on the transmembrane potential. The activation of SOCE was controlled locally. It could occur without full Ca2+ store depletion and in less than a second after initiation of store depletion. These results indicate that the molecular agonists of SOCE must be evenly distributed throughout the junctional membranes and can activate rapidly. Termination of SOCE required a net increase in [Ca2+]SR. Activation and termination of SOCE are also demonstrated, for the first time, during a single event of Ca2+ release. At the physiological [Ca2+]t‐sys, near 2 mm (relative to t system volume), SOCE flux relative to accessible cytoplasmic volume was at least 18.6 μm s−1, consistent with times of SR refilling of 1–2 min measured in intact muscle fibres.
Electrostatic Interaction of Phytochromobilin Synthase and Ferredoxin for Biosynthesis of Phytochrome Chromophore*

In plants, phytochromobilin synthase (HY2) synthesize the open chain tetrapyrrole chromophore for light-sensing phytochromes. It catalyzes the double bond reduction of a heme-derived tetrapyrrole intermediate biliverdin IXα (BV) at the A-ring diene system. HY2 is a member of ferredoxin-dependent bilin reductases (FDBRs), which require ferredoxins (Fds) as the electron donors for double bond reductions. In this study, we investigated the interaction mechanism of FDBRs and Fds by using HY2 and Fd from Arabidopsis thaliana as model proteins. We found that one of the six Arabidopsis Fds, AtFd2, was the preferred electron donor for HY2. HY2 and AtFd2 formed a heterodimeric complex that was stabilized by chemical cross-linking. Surface-charged residues on HY2 and AtFd2 were important in the protein-protein interaction as well as BV reduction activity of HY2. These surface residues are close to the iron-sulfur center of Fd and the HY2 active site, implying that the interaction promotes direct electron transfer from the Fd to HY2-bound BV. In addition, the C12 propionate group of BV is important for HY2-catalyzed BV reduction. A possible role for this functional group is to mediate the electron transfer by interacting directly with AtFd2. Together, our biochemical data suggest a docking mechanism for HY2:BV and AtFd2.
New Insight on the Performance of Equity Long/short Investment Styles

Long-short equity strategies have recently generated exceptional performance raising a set of concerns about the strategies’ propensity to deliver alpha or beta. This paper revisits the performance of equity long-short hedge funds across investments styles. We first categorize individual hedge funds with regard to their size and/or value factor investing along the generalization of Sharpe (1992) style analysis. Style weights on size and value factors are used to split the equity long-short universe in 5x5 hedge fund style portfolios. To analyze the performance of each style, we consider two sets of innovative factors. First, we apply sequential Fama-French model of Lambert, Fays and Hubner (2015). Besides, to captures downside and extreme risk embedded in hedge fund strategies we augment the model with the co-skewness and co-kurtosis factors developed by Lambert and Hubner (2013). Under this framework, we perform cross-sectional performance analyses of individual hedge funds as well as time-series analysis on the hedge fund style broad category. Our contributions are threefold. First, our alternative framework significantly improves the explanatory power of the multi-factor model in the context of long-short equity funds, second, considering higher-moment factors aim to capture part of the abnormal return of the downside and extreme risk exposures taken by a fund manager, and finally, long-short equity hedge funds are, to some extent, less exposed to small capitalisation stocks than expected and instead rather prefer higher momentum levels in their strategies.
Randomised controlled trial of a general practice programme of home based exercise to prevent falls in elderly women

Abstract Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a home exercise programme of strength and balance retraining exercises in reducing falls and injuries in elderly women. Design: Randomised controlled trial of an individually tailored programme of physical therapy in the home (exercise group, n=116) compared with the usual care and an equal number of social visits (control group, n=117). Setting: 17 general practices in Dunedin, New Zealand. Subjects: Women aged 80 years and older living in the community and registered with a general practice in Dunedin. Main outcome measures: Number of falls and injuries related to falls and time between falls during one year of follow up; changes in muscle strength and balance measures after six months. Results: After one year there were 152 falls in the control group and 88 falls in the exercise group. The mean (SD) rate of falls was lower in the exercise than the control group (0.87 (1.29) v 1.34 (1.93) falls per year respectively; difference 0.47; 95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.90). The relative hazard for the first four falls in the exercise group compared with the control group was 0.68 (0.52 to 0.90). The relative hazard for a first fall with injury in the exercise group compared with the control group was 0.61 (0.39 to 0.97). After six months, balance had improved in the exercise group (difference between groups in change in balance score 0.43 (0.21 to 0.65). Conclusions: An individual programme of strength and balance retraining exercises improved physical function and was effective in reducing falls and injuries in women 80 years and older. Key messages Modifiable risk factors for falls in elderly people have been well defined; they include loss of muscle strength and impaired balance A programme to improve strength and balance in women aged 80 years and older can be set up safely with four home visits from a physiotherapist This programme reduced falls and moderate injuries appreciably over the subsequent year in Dunedin, New Zealand The benefit was most noticeable in elderly people who fell often