Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lifelong Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Autonomic Function in Midlife.

PURPOSE Physical activity (PA) associates with cardiovascular autonomic function, but the relationship with lifelong PA is unclear. We hypothesized that lifelong PA would associate with cardiovascular autonomic function in midlife. METHODS At the age of 46 yr, the subjects of the prospective Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 were invited to examinations where vagally mediated heart rate variability (root mean square of the successive differences in RRi [rMSSD]) and cross-spectral baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) were analyzed from 3-min recordings of ECG and blood pressure in seated and standing positions. Three lifelong PA trajectory groups (active, semiactive, and inactive) were formed according to their self-reported frequencies of participation in PA at the ages of 14, 31, and 46 yr. Finally, 1283 men and 1779 women without cardiorespiratory diseases and diabetes had complete data on lifelong PA, covariates, and rMSSD, and 662 men and 807 women for BRS. RESULTS In both sexes and measurement conditions, the active (P < 0.01) and semiactive groups (P < 0.05) had greater rMSSD than the inactive group, and the highest BRS was observed in the active group (ANOVA P = 0.001-0.032). In men, these differences were not significant when adjusted for 46-yr lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep, and sitting time), body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, lipid status, and glucose status. In women, lifelong PA remained a significant independent determinant of seated and standing rMSSD and standing BRS. CONCLUSION Higher lifelong PA was associated with better cardiovascular autonomic function in midlife. In women, this effect was independent, but in men, it seemed to be mediated by the other lifestyle and cardiometabolic factors.
Mutation analysis in 46 German families with familial hypercholesterolemia: Identification of 8 new mutations

In order to obtain a survey of the mutations being prevalent in Northern Germany and to enable molecular genetic testing for families with clinically diagnosed familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), we screened 46 unrelated German individuals with elevated LDL levels for mutations in the 18 exons and their flanking intron sequences including the promotor region of the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene. In addition, we tested all patients for the presence of mutations in the gene coding for apolipoprotein B‐100 (apoB‐100). We detected 15 mutations affecting the LDLR gene, 8 of which, designated A29S, 195insAT, 313+1insG, 553insG, 680insGGACAAATCTG, D200N, E267K and L411V have not yet been reported. One patient is heterozygous for the double mutant N543H and 2393del9Bp. Two patients carried the mutation R3500Q (Arg→Glu) within the apoB‐100 gene. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
对Java 2 Enterprise Edition主要设计模式的探讨

本文对模式、设计模式的概念和特征进行简单的介绍。 对有代表性的几种设计模式进行深入的讨论。 主要有表示层模式包含与JSP技术相关的模式，业务层模式包含与EJB技术相关的模式，集成层模式包含与JMS和JDBC相关的模式。
Purinergic Receptor Ligands Stimulate Pro‐Opiomelanocortin Gene Expression in AtT‐20 Pituitary Corticotroph Cells

Although recent studies have suggested that purinergic receptors are expressed in the anterior pituitary gland, their involvement in the regulation of pituitary hormone gene expression is not completely understood. In the present study, we examined the expression of purinergic receptors and the effects of purinergic receptor ligands on pro‐opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene expression, in AtT20 mouse corticotroph cells. We identified the expression of most of the purinergic receptor subtypes (A1, A2, P2X1, 3‐7, P2Y1, 2, 4) mRNAs, analysed by the reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction. We also found that adenosine and ATP, two representative and endogenous agonists of A1‐3 and P2X/P2Y receptors, respectively, stimulated the 5′‐promoter activity of the POMC gene in a dose‐ and time‐related manner. When these ligands were simultaneously used with corticotrophin‐releasing hormone (CRH), effects that were more than additive were observed, suggesting an enhancing role of these compounds in CRH‐mediated adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) synthesis. These ligands also stimulated the expression of transcription factors involved in the regulation of the POMC gene, but did not enhance ACTH secretion. Finally, the positive effect of adenosine as well as CRH was completely inhibited by the protein kinase A inhibitor H89, whereas that of ATP was not influenced, indicating that different intracellular signalling pathways mediate these effects. Altogether, our results suggest a stimulatory role for these purinergic receptor ligands in the regulation of POMC gene expression in corticotroph cells. Because adenosine and ATP are known to be produced within the pituitary gland, it is possible they may be acting in an autocrine/paracrine fashion.
Evaluation of WLBU2 Peptide and 3-O-Octyl-sn-Glycerol Lipid as Active Ingredients for a Topical Microbicide Formulation Targeting Chlamydia trachomatis

ABSTRACT Topical microbicides for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) would be especially useful for women who are not able to persuade their partner(s) to take precautions. Many topical microbicides are in various stages of development, based on a variety of active ingredients. We investigated the in vitro activity of an engineered antimicrobial peptide (WLBU2) and a lipid (3-O-octyl-sn-glycerol [3-OG]) which could potentially be used as active ingredients in such a product. Using commercially available cytotoxicity reagents [Alamar Blue, 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)], we first determined the toxicity of WLBU2 and 3-OG to the host cells in our assay procedure and excluded toxic concentrations from further testing. To determine activity against Chlamydia trachomatis, we used an assay previously developed by our laboratory in which chlamydial elementary bodies (EBs) were exposed to microbicides prior to contact with epithelial cells: the minimum (microbi)cidal concentration (MCC) assay. To further simulate conditions of transmission, we carried out the same assay in the presence of a simulated vaginal fluid, a simulated seminal fluid, human serum albumin, and a range of pH values which might be found in the human vagina at the time of exposure. Last, we tested WLBU2 and 3-OG in combination to determine if adding them together resulted in synergistic activity. We found that WLBU2 and 3-OG both have excellent activity in vitro against C. trachomatis and significantly more activity when added together. The simulated fluids reduced activity, but the synergy seen is good evidence that they would be effective when combined in a microbicide formulation.
Factors associated with changes in gait speed in older adults.

BACKGROUND The study addressed whether changes in gait speed in community-dwelling older adults were associated with changes in fitness (strength and aerobic capacity), physical health status, and/or depressive symptoms. METHODS The study sample comprised 152 community-dwelling adults aged 68-85 who had participated in an exercise study. Study measures at baseline and 6-month follow-up included gait speed, a leg strength score, maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max), CES-Depression scale, and physical health status (SIP Physical Dimension). RESULTS In cross-sectional regression analyses, leg strength, VO2max, weight, and the strength by VO2max interaction term were significant independent predictors of gait speed (R2 = 26%). Based upon the observed 7% increase in VO2max and 8% increase in strength in the exercise groups, the regression model predicted only a 2% (1.5 m/min) increase in gait speed, which did not differ significantly from the observed increase of 0% (.32 m/min). The strongest correlate of change in gait speed was change in CES-D scores (partial R = -.37). Change in physical health status also correlated with change in gait speed (partial R = -.28), while change in fitness did not. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest, in the range of fitness of the study sample, that changes in gait speed are related to changes in depressive symptoms and physical health status, but not to modest changes in fitness. A model assuming nonlinear relationships may be appropriate for understanding how strength and aerobic capacity affect gait speed.
Experiências curriculares com história e Filosofia da Física

I. Introducao Este trabalho apresenta um retrospecto da participacao de disciplinas que abordam questoes da historia e da filosofia da ciencia na graduacao em fisica no Brasil, levanta as justificativas mais recentes de sua introducao nos curriculos, relata o projeto que se desenvolve na UNESP acerca do assunto e discute alguns resultados dessa experiencia. A graduacao em fisica no Brasil teve seu inicio reguIar em 1934, com a criacao do curso de “Sciencias Physicas” na Faculdade de Philosophia, Sciencias e Letras da Universidade de Sao Paulo, com tres anos de duracao e que continha, no ultimo ano, a materia “Teorias Fisicas e Historia da Fisica”, sob responsabilidade do Prof. Gleb Wataghin, um russo naturalizado italiano. Essa disciplina desaparece do curriculo a partir de 1942, retornando em 1966-7 como “Historia das Ciencias Fisicas”. Com a implantacao da reforma universitaria de 1968, a disciplina passou para o Departamento de Historia; porem, como havia interesse do entao Departamento de Fisica da USP em manter consigo a disciplina, criou-se a “Evolucao dos Conceitos da Fisica” uma vez que, com essa denominacao, ficaria vinculada aos fisicos. Isto e o que se encontra hoje em diversas universidades brasileiras.
Trends in diagnosis of bipolar disorder: Have the boundaries changed?

Objective: There are concerns that the diagnostic boundaries of bipolar disorder have expanded. This study seeks evidence of change in diagnostic practice at three boundaries: the ‘lower’ boundary with subclinical mood conditions, the ‘lateral’ boundary with other mental health conditions (psychotic, anxiety, substance and personality disorders) and the ‘internal’ boundary within affective disorders. Methods: Diagnoses recorded in health system administrative data collections were used as a measure of clinician diagnostic behaviour. We examined all diagnoses made by public (state operated) inpatient and community mental health services in New South Wales, Australia, from 2003 to 2014. Results: A total of 31,746 people had at least one recorded diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the period. There was a significant upward trend in the age-standardised population rate of diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorders made up an increasing proportion of psychosis diagnoses. There was no increase in the rate of comorbid diagnosis of bipolar disorders with non-psychotic disorders or in the likelihood of diagnosis of bipolar disorder at first or subsequent episodes of depression. There were significant reductions in diagnoses of schizophrenia, particularly in younger people. Conclusion: There may be some increase in diagnoses of bipolar disorder in New South Wales public mental health services. However, some changes in diagnosis, particularly in younger adults, may reflect movement away from diagnoses of schizophrenia towards a range of other diagnoses, rather than specific movement towards bipolar disorder. Expansion of bipolar disorder may have been more marked in private practice settings and may have involved the poorly defined bipolar II subtype.
Recovery and relapse in anorexia and bulimia nervosa: a 7.5-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVE To assess the course and outcome of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) at a median of 90 months of follow-up in a large cohort of women with eating disorders. METHOD A prospective, naturalistic, longitudinal design was used to map the course of AN and BN in 246 women. Follow-up data are presented in terms of full and partial recovery, predictors of time to recovery, and rates and predictors of relapse. RESULTS The full recovery rate of women with BN was significantly higher than that of women with AN, with 74% of those with BN and 33% of those with AN achieving full recovery by a median of 90 months of follow-up. Intake diagnosis of AN was the strongest predictor of worse outcome. No predictors of recovery emerged among bulimic subjects. Eighty-three percent of women with AN and 99% of those with BN achieved partial recovery. Approximately one third of both women with AN and women with BN relapsed after full recovery. No predictors of relapse emerged. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that the course of AN is characterized by high rates of partial recovery and low rates of full recovery, while the course of BN is characterized by higher rates of both partial and full recovery.
Role of Microcirculation in Transplantation

Microcirculatory derangements in organ transplantation, characterized by capillary perfusion failure and inflammation‐associated leukocyte recruitment, are major determinants for the manifestation of graft dysfunction and destruction. Although preservation/cold storage, posttransplant reperfusion, and rejection have to be considered as individual factors that contribute to injury, recent studies have indicated that ischemia‐reperfusion‐associated events may trigger immune‐response‐mediated late rejection. There is major evidence that the microcirculatory derangements induced by cold preservation and reperfusion involve oxygen radicals, complement, phospholipase A2, leukotrienes, thromboxane, platelet‐activating factor, and endothelin‐1 as well as the activation and function of leukocytic and endothelial selectins, β2‐integrins, and ICAM‐1. This view is based on the fact that blockade or neutralization of these inflammatory mediators and adhesion molecules results in significant amelioration of microvascular graft dysfunction. In parallel, rejection‐mediated microcirculatory derangements may not only be ameliorated by immunosuppressive agents, such as cyclosporin, deoxyspergualin, or RS61443, but may, in addition, effectively be inhibited by counteracting oxygen radicals, complement, platelet‐activating factor, and adhesion molecules. The introduction of novel techniques for the study of the microcirculation in men, such as thermodiffusion and orthogonal polarization spectral imaging, may in the future assist in improving both early diagnosis of microcirculatory derangements and monitoring of appropriateness of therapy in clinical transplantation surgery.
Maintaining consistency of monolingual verb entries with interannotator agreement

We study the verb throw from the point of the inter-annotator agreement in the Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) discipline. The most frequently used verbs are often polysemous. This poses a challenge when creating manually annotated data for machine learning, since polysemy threatens inter-annotator agreement. We argue that the classical WSD setup (selecting just one matching sense from a list) is inadequate for semantically complex verbs.
Blockade of 5-HT(2A) receptors by sarpogrelate protects the heart against myocardial infarction in rats.

BACKGROUND It has been shown that serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is involved in exacerbating vascular abnormalities; however, its role in mediating changes in cardiac function due to myocardial injury has yet to be established. This study examined the effect of sarpogrelate, a 5-HT(2A) receptor blocker, in preventing cardiac dysfunction due to myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS AND RESULTS Rats were treated 3 days before surgery with or without 5 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1) sarpogrelate, and the left coronary artery was ligated for 3 weeks to induce MI. Sarpogrelate reduced the mortality from 40% to 30%, infarct size from 35% to 25%, and left ventricular end diastolic pressure from 15 mm Hg to 10 mm Hg in MI rats. Electrocardiographic (ECG) tracings showed a marked deviation in the ST-segment and prolongation of the QTc interval in MI rats during the 3 weeks; these changes were attenuated by sarpogrelate pretreatment. In another set of experiments, MI rats were treated with 5 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1) sarpogrelate 1 hour after the surgery, and the hemodynamic and electrocardiograph changes were assessed at 3 weeks. This posttreatment was also found to reduce infarct size, improve cardiac function, and attenuate ECG changes. CONCLUSIONS Sarpogrelate attenuates cardiac dysfunction, infarct size, and changes in the ECG due to MI. These results also support the view that serotonin and 5-HT(2A) may contribute to the deleterious effects of ischemic injury in the heart.
Randomized clinical trial of laparoendoscopic single‐site versus conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Conventional laparoscopy with three or more ports remains the ‘gold standard’ for cholecystectomy, but a laparoendoscopic single‐site (LESS) approach is emerging, designed to decrease parietal trauma and improve cosmesis. This study compared conventional laparoscopic (CL) with LESS cholecystectomy, with short‐term clinical results as the main outcomes.
Hormonal and psychological effects of examination stress.

Twelve undergraduate students were tested to determine the effects of examination stress on psychological and endocrine variables. Testing was undertaken six weeks prior to a final written examination (phase I), at the time of the examination (phase II), and 12–14 days after the examination (phase III). A control group consisted of students not taking an examination. The results demonstrated an increase in state anxiety, global stress level, systolic blood pressure and serum prolactin during stress (i.e. in phase II). In phase III, the psychological responses were normalized, but both systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as serum prolactin, were still elevated.
Educational and social competencies at 8 years in children with threshold retinopathy of prematurity in the CRYO-ROP multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE To describe the educational status and special education services at 8 years among children who had threshold retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). METHODS A prospective study was conducted of a cohort of children who had birth weight of <1251 g and threshold ROP in the Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of Prematurity multicenter study. At age 5.5 years, visual status, functional skills, and social information were obtained. At 8 years, special education classes, developmental disabilities, rehabilitation therapies, and academic and social competencies were determined by questionnaire. Visual status was considered favorable/unfavorable on the basis of the better eye. RESULTS Of 255 survivors, 216 (85%) were evaluated at both 5.5 and 8 years. Major impairments were significantly more prevalent in children with unfavorable versus favorable visual status: cerebral palsy (39% vs 16%), developmental disability (57% vs 22%), autism (9% vs 1%), and epilepsy (23% vs 3%). Special education services (63% vs 27%), below-grade-level academic performance (84% vs 48%), and school-based rehabilitation services were significantly less common in children with favorable visual status. Favorable visual status, favorable functional ratings at 5.5 years, markers of higher socioeconomic status, and nonblack race were associated with significantly lower rates of both special education placement and below-grade-level academic performance at age 8. On multivariate logistic regression, only favorable visual status and functional status remained significant predictors for decreasing special education placement. CONCLUSION Threshold ROP is associated with high rates of developmental, educational, and social challenges in middle childhood; preserved vision was associated with a clear advantage, with more than half of the children with favorable visual status performing at grade level.
Star clusterings in the Carina complex: UBVRI photometry of Bochum 9, 10 and 11

We report on the first UBVRI CCD photometry of three poorly known star clusterings in the region of Eta Carinae: Bochum9, Bochum10 and Bochum11. We found that they are young, rather poor and loose open clusters. We argue that Bochum9 is probably a small and loose cluster with about 30 probable members having E(B-V)=0.63, located 4.6 kpc far from the Sun, beyond the Carina spiral arm. Similarly, Bochum10 is a sparse aggregate with 14 probable members having E(B-V)=0.47 and at a distance of 2.7 kpc from the Sun. Finally, Bochum11 is a less than 4x10^6 yrs old cluster for which we identify 24 members. It has a reddening E(B-V)=0.58, and lies between Bochum10 and 9, at 3.5 kpc from the Sun. We propose that in the field of the cluster some stars might be pre Main Sequence (MS) candidates.
cGMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylates and inactivates RhoA.

Small GTPase Rho and cGMP/cGMP-dependent protein kinase (cGK) pathways exert opposing effects in specific systems such as vascular contraction and growth. However, the direct interaction between these pathways has remained elusive. We demonstrate that cGK phosphorylates RhoA in vitro at Ser188, the same residue phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. In HeLa cells transfected with constitutively active cGK (C-cGK), stress fiber formation induced by lysophosphatidic acid or V14RhoA was blocked. By contrast, C-cGK failed to inhibit stress fiber formation in cells transfected with mutant RhoA with substitution of Ser188 to Ala. C-cGK did not affect actin reorganization induced by Rac1 or Rho-associated kinase, one of the effectors for RhoA. Furthermore, C-cGK expression inhibited the membrane translocation of RhoA. Collectively, our findings suggest that cGK phosphorylates RhoA at Ser188 and inactivates RhoA signaling. The physiological relevance of the direct interaction between RhoA and cGK awaits further investigation.
Terminal deletion of chromosome 5p in a patient with phenotypical features of Lujan–Fryns syndrome

We report a young man with phenotypical features suggestive of Lujan–Fryns syndrome and behaviour of an autistic spectrum disorder, who has a subtle terminal deletion of the short arm of chromosome 5. Individuals reported previously with a similar chromosomal abnormality have had developmental delay and a ‘breathy, raspy’ voice. It may be appropriate to consider screening patients with a phenotype suggestive of Lujan–Fryns syndrome by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) using a probe for the subtelomeric region of the short arm of chromosome 5. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.