Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impacts of types and degree of obesity on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and related dyslipidemia in Chinese school-age children?

OBJECTIVE To explore the impacts of types and degree of obesity on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and related lipids disturbance in Chinese school-age children. METHODS A total of 1 452 school-age Children of 7 to 17 years were recruited in Beijing with representative cluster sampling method. Data of anthropometric measurements including weight, height and waist circumference were collected from March to May of 2007. Body mass index(BMI)was calculated. Blood samples were obtained and lipid profiles including triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were measured, while glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (ALT) and glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase (AST) were determined to evaluate liver function. The liver was also scanned by sonography, and abnormal hepatic sonograms were documented. NAFLD was diagnosed according to the criteria recommended by the Fatty Liver and Alcoholic Liver Disease Study Group under the Chinese Liver Disease Association. Analysis of covariance (ANOVA), Chi-square test for trend and binary logistic regression analysis were performed. RESULTS The dyslipidemia and ultrasonographic fatty liver deteriorated with the degree of obesity defined either by BMI or waist circumference. Compared with BMI, waist circumference contributed more to the development of dyslipidemia, fatty liver and NAFLD. The highest levels of TG, TC, LDL-C, and lowest level of HDL-C were seen in the mixed obese group followed by abdominal obese, peripheral obese and non-obese ones. Adjusted for gender and age, the odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals of peripheral obesity, abdominal obesity and mixed obesity were 0, 10.93 (0.98-121.96) and 79.16 (10.95-572.44) for predicting NAFLD; 12.61 (1.24-127.78), 19.39 (5.23-71.85), and 93.21 (29.56-293.90) for predicting ultrasonographic fatty liver; 1.78 (0.59-5.44), 3.01 (1.91-4.77), and 4.64 (3.52-6.12) for predicting dyslipidemia, respectively compared with the non-obese control group. The trend of hazards over groups was statistically significant (P<0.01). CONCLUSION The levels of lipid profile and the prevalence of NAFLD and dyslipidemia increased in parallel with the degree of obesity; As compared with the non-obese control, the mixed obesity had the strongest association with NAFLD and dyslipidemia, followed by abdominal obesity and peripheral obesity in Chinese school-age Children.
The influence of incubation conditions on the adherence of oral Enterobacteriaceae to HeLa cells

The adherence of 12 oral isolates and 4 type strains of Enterobacteriaceae (equally representing Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Citrobacter freundii) to HeLa cell monolayers following five different incubation conditions (sucrose, d‐mannose, serum, MEM and Candida albicans GDH 1957) was investigated. Incubation with sucrose and d‐mannose resulted in the greatest and least adherence, respectively. The presence of preadherent C. albicans GDH 1957 on the HeLa cells tended to enhance the adherence of certain strains of E. cloacae and C. freundii, but had no overall impact on Enterobacteriaceae adherence. While heterogeneity of behaviour existed between strains within species, E. cloacae was the most, and K. pneumoniae the least, adherent species irrespective of incubation conditions. Haemagglutination assays indicated the presence of mannose‐resistant type 1 fimbriae associated with all Enterobacteriaceae. In clinical terms, the variations in adherence properties observed in vitro may contribute to an understanding of the different prevalence rates of oral Enterobacteriaceae reported in the literature.
Anaerobic Degradation of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene Compounds by Dechloromonas Strain RCB

ABSTRACT Dechloromonas strain RCB has been shown to be capable of anaerobic degradation of benzene coupled to nitrate reduction. As a continuation of these studies, the metabolic versatility and hydrocarbon biodegradative capability of this organism were investigated. The results of these revealed that in addition to nitrate, strain RCB could alternatively degrade benzene both aerobically and anaerobically with perchlorate or chlorate [(per)chlorate] as a suitable electron acceptor. Furthermore, with nitrate as the electron acceptor, strain RCB could also utilize toluene, ethylbenzene, and all three isomers of xylene (ortho-, meta-, and para-) as electron donors. While toluene and ethylbenzene were completely mineralized to CO2, strain RCB did not completely mineralize para-xylene but rather transformed it to some as-yet-unidentified metabolite. Interestingly, with nitrate as the electron acceptor, strain RCB degraded benzene and toluene concurrently when the hydrocarbons were added as a mixture and almost 92 μM total hydrocarbons were oxidized within 15 days. The results of these studies emphasize the unique metabolic versatility of this organism, highlighting its potential applicability to bioremediative technologies.
Transient Neonatal-Onset Hypothyroidism Boosts Estradiol Synthesis in the Testis of Adult Wistar Rat

Transient neonatal hypothyroidism is known to boost Sertoli cell (SC), Leydig cell (LC) and germ cell (GC) number at adult age. Existing reports attribute decreased steroidogenic potential of LCs to unaltered/decreased serum testosterone in such rats, despite a boost in the cell number. However, these studies have ignored the status of estradiol in such conditions. In this present study, we tested the hypothesis "transient neonatal-onset hypothyroidism may lead to a temporal shift in adult rat testicular steroidogenesis towards estradiol production". Hypothyroidism was induced in neonates by providing methimazole (MMI) in drinking water (0.05%) to lactating mothers and pups for a transient period from postnatal day 1 (PND 1) to PND 14 or from PND 1 to PND 29. After the experimental period, the pups were provided drinking water free of MMI and sacrificed on PND 91. Coeval rats without MMI exposure served as control. Radioimmunoassay revealed decreased serum titres of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL); while serum testosterone remained unaltered, its level in testicular interstitial fluid (TIF) decreased. Between the two major metabolites of testosterone, 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) concentration decreased in serum and TIF, whereas estradiol recorded a significant increase in both. Transient neonatal-onset hypothyroidism decreased 3β-hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) in LCs but augmented 17β-HSD activity. Radio-receptor assay revealed decreased concentration of LHR and ER in LCs of hypothyroid groups, whereas AR and PRLR increased. While aromatase activity decreased in LCs, it increased along with FSHR in SCs, when compared to control rats. The changes in LHR and FSHR levels and aromatase were consistent with the expression level of the respective genes. The present study supports the proposed hypothesis and suggests that transient neonatal-onset hypothyroidism-induced boost in estradiol in adult rat testis may be due to augmented expression and activity of aromatase, and FSHR content in SCs of these rats.
Structure‐activity relation of pyrimidine nucleotides and nucleoside in canine isolated cerebral vessels *

The vasoactivity of adenine nucleotides has been @died in a variety of vascular preparations (Burn1972). In contrast, relatively little is known #ut the vascular effects of pyrimidine nucleotides @N). The present paper, of which a preliminary report bas appeared elsewhere (Urquilla, Van Dyke & Trush, 1977) describes the contractile activity of pyrimidine pucleotides on isolated cerebral arteries of the dog, extends some previous observations by Hashimoto p o a k u r a & Tanemura (1964) on other arteries. Mongrel dogs of either sex (10 to 15 kg) were anaes&&zed with sodium pentobarbitone (40 mg kg-l, i.v.) md then exsanguinated. The brain was removed and fie middle cerebral arteries dissected. Cylindrical @@ents of the vessels of approximately 5 mm length 500 pm in outside diameter were set up for isoWtdc recording in an organ bath according to Nielsen & Owman (1971). The bath contained 10 ml of KrebsHcmeleit solution at 37" bubbled with 5 % carbon ,$oxide in oxygen. The recording system consisted of force-displacement transducers and a polygraph. A mting tension of 0.5 g was applied to the tissue and bdjusted every 15 min during a 1 h equilibration. me-response curves for PN and uridine were deterd e d in a cumulatively manner. Chemical substances & were: uridine 5'-triphosphate (UTP), uridine 5'&phosphate (UDP), uridine 5'-monophosphate (UMP), uridine, cytidine 5'-triphosphate (CTP) and thymidine 5'-triphosphate (TTP). TTP was purchased from Nutritional Biochemical Corp., and the other subc$nces were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. Solutions of PN and uridine were prepared in saline immediately before use and kept surrounded by ice. Concentrations are expressed in molar terms. The dose-response curves for the different PN and widine are presented in Fig. 1 . All agents were tested btheconcentrationrangeof 1.7 x 1 0 6 to 1.7 x 1 0 4 ~ . 'k contractions induced by UTP, UDP, UMP and were dose-dependent; UTP and UDP displayed highest potency of all the agents tested. The potenof UTP and UDP were identical and their maximal gets were, respectively, 1.57 f 0.12 and 1.49 & ozl 8 (P>O.O5); these effects were 37.3 and 35.4%, *tively, of the response elicited with 150 niM of b s i u m chloride. These findings indicate that reb o n of the phosphate chain by one phosphate POUP did not alter the potency of the parent comb d (UTP), suggesting that hydrolysis of the high
Biofeedback: the clinical tool behind the catchword*

In this era of exotic nonpharmaceutical treatments, physicians are rightly suspicious of novelties that they first read about in the public press. Biofeedback may appear at first to be just another such fad, and it i s true that i t s popularity has been promoted by both self-serving and sincere adherents. However, biofeedback’s popular image masks i t s significance as a new tool in medicine, especially in rehabilitation of physcially handicapped patients and in psychotherapy. Certain types of clinical biofeedback almost wholly unrelated t o the popular varietyhave been proved at the scientific and practical level to be useful for alleviating serious neurologic symptoms, particularly in patients with upper motor neuron paresis and spasticity. The unfortunate and apparently unbreakable link of clinical biofeedback with the fad of the same name should not alienate physicians. Biofeedback i s the technique of using equipment (usually electronic) t o reveal to human beings some of their internal physiologic events, normal and abnormal, in the form of visual and auditory signals and teaching subjects to man i pu I ate these otherwise involuntary events by manipulating the displayed signals. The technique provides a feedback loop in which the person’s volition i s essential; unlike conditioned responses, the subject must want t o produce the change in the signals because they meet some goals. The popularization of biofeedback as a part of the socalled human potential movement, along with such sound business propositions as transcendental meditation, or T M (which also means trademarked, which it is), est, and acupuncture, is irrelevant to this discussion. The word biofeedback was invented by a small group of investigators (including myself, I confess) t o describe our back-room research on biologic feedback mechanisms for controlling involuntary internal events. We had been working with electromyography, electrocardiography, cardiotachometry, skin temperature, and electroencephalographic devices. These disparate interests came together in the Biofeedback Research Society. The easiest from of do-it-yourself biofeedbackbrainwave feedback is the least understood scientifically.
First-principles study on the piezoresistive effect of Ge/Si core/shell Nanowires

We have simulated the piezoresistance coefficients (Pie Coefficients) in some certain Germanium nanowire (GeNW), Silicon nanowire (SiNW) and several Ge/Si core/shell nanowires based on the first-principles calculations. All the nanowires are with a same diameter in <;111>; direction and remain unsaturated on surface. In these <;111>; nanowires, It was found that the Pie Coefficients of the SiNW and the Ge<sub>1</sub>Si<sub>3</sub> (Ge/Si core/shell nanowire with three layers of silicon atoms) can reach as much as 35.26 × 10<sup>-11</sup>Pa<sup>-1</sup> and 30.0 × 10<sup>-11</sup>Pa<sup>-1</sup> under 2.5% tension in the longitudinal direction. And all those of the GeNW and the Ge<sub>3</sub>Si<sub>1</sub> (with only one silicon atom layer) almost kept negative values from -1 × 10<sup>-11</sup> Pa<sup>-1</sup> to -9 × 10<sup>-11</sup> Pa<sup>-1</sup>, whether under compressions or tensions. However, under compressions, the Ge<sub>2</sub>Si<sub>2</sub> (with two layers of silicon atoms surrounded outside) almost had no piezoresistive effect.
Moby Dick meets GEOCR: lexical considerations in word recognition

The author has previously (Proc. Int. Conf. on Doc. Anal. and Recognition, Montreal, pp. 723-728, 1995) described a high-speed, lexically driven OCR called GEOCR (Good Enough Optical Character Recognition). This paper expands on that work by describing the effects of lexical content, structure and processing on the performance of GEOCR as a word recognition engine, describing the recognition of a particular text, Moby Dick. Word recognition performance is shown to be enhanced by the application of an appropriate lexicon. Recognition speed is essentially independent of the details of lexical content, provided that the intersection of the occurrences of words in the document and the lexicon is high. Word recognition accuracy is dependent on both the intersection and specificity of the lexicon.
MYH9 related disease: A novel missense Ala95Asp mutation of the MYH9 gene

MYH9-related disease (MYH9-RD) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder caused by mutations in MYH9, the gene encoding the heavy chain of non-muscle myosin IIA. Patients present with congenital macrothrombocytopenia and inclusion bodies in neutrophils and might develop sensorineural deafness, presenile cataract, and/or progressive nephritis leading to end-stage renal failure. In a family with eight individuals suffering from macrothrombocytopenia and hearing impairment we identified a novel c.Ala95Asp mutation. Affecting the motor domain of the protein, the mutation is likely to be associated with a severe phenotype. Therefore, this family should be carefully monitored to follow-up the renal status even though the affected members do not seem to be at risk of early kidney disease.
Immigration and Socio-economy as Predictors of Early Retirement Pensions

The purpose of this study, performed in a Swedish municipality, was to obtain a view of early retirement pensioners, focusing on immigration and socio-economy as predictors of early retirement pensions. A questionnaire was sent to 453 early retirement pensioners with disorders of the musculoskeletal system. A corresponding questionnaire was sent to a randomly selected, age- and sex-matched control group of the same size. The response rate was 83%. The study concludes that immigration and low socio-economy are predictors of early retirement pension (ERP). The rate of immigrants was 19% among the ERPs compared to 5% among the controls. The early retired immigrants were comparatively young, and some of them were overqualified for their previous jobs. Of the ERPs 74% were blue-collar workers compared to 39% of the controls. Neither work satisfaction nor unemployment was found to predict ERP.
Co-designing a compact antenna with a variable matching network using varactors

In this paper, we present a compact antenna based on a spiral-shaped printed monopole integrated with a variable matching network. The designed antenna achieves the small size, while obtaining a high efficiency of 92.1 %, a gain of 2.1dB at 1.6 GHz. The variable circuit is built with varactors in order to sweep the resonance frequency of the antenna over a large frequency range from 0.9 GHz to 1.8 GHz. With the advantage of small size and the ability to operate at different frequencies, this can be a good candidate for any slim and light cell phone.
Time to Virological Failure, Treatment Change and Interruption for Individuals Treated within 12 Months of HIV Seroconversion and in Chronic Infection

Background Estimates of treatment failure, change and interruption are lacking for individuals treated in early HIV infection. Methods Using CASCADE data, we compared the effect of treatment in early infection (within 12 months of seroconversion) with that seen in chronic infection on risk of virological failure, change and interruption. Failure was defined as two subsequent measures of HIV RNA>1,000 copies/ml following suppression (<500 copies/ml), or >500 copies/ml 6 months following initiation. Treatment change and interruption were defined as modification or interruption lasting >1 week. In multivariable competing risks proportional subdistribution hazards models, we adjusted for combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) class, sex, risk group, age, CD4+ T-cell count, HIV RNA and calendar period at treatment initiation. Results Of 1,627 individuals initiating cART early (median 1.8 months from seroconversion), 159, 395 and 692 failed, changed and interrupted therapy, respectively. For 2,710 individuals initiating cART in chronic infection (median 35.9 months from seroconversion), the corresponding values were 266, 569 and 597. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs; 95% CIs) for treatment failure and change were similar between the two treatment groups (0.93 [0.72, 1.20] and 1.06 [0.91, 1.24], respectively). There was an increasing trend in rates of interruption over calendar time for those treated early, and a decreasing trend for those starting treatment in chronic infection. Consequently, compared with chronic infection, treatment interruption was similar for early starters in the early cART period, but the relative hazard increased over calendar time (1.54 [1.33, 1.79] in 2000). Conclusions Individuals initiating treatment in early HIV infection are more likely to interrupt treatment than those initiating later. However, rates of failure and treatment change were similar between the two groups.
Inflammometry: the current state of play

It is now 20 years since the late Freddy Hargreave and colleagues developed a valid, safe and feasible technique to assess airway inflammation using induced sputum.1–3 At around the same time Kjell Alving and colleagues reported that the concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is raised in patients with asthma.4 There has since been huge research interest in these techniques over the last 20 years and both are increasingly used in clinical practice. This has lead to a number of key and often unexpected observations which have changed the way we think about inflammatory airway disease. First, the presence of eosinophilic airway inflammation, regarded as a sine qua non of asthma, is neither closely related to the pattern nor to the severity of airway dysfunction or symptoms.5–7 Second, the presence of eosinophilic airway inflammation is more closely associated with a positive response to corticosteroids than other more traditional clinical measures, irrespective of the pattern of disease it occurs in.7–10 Thus, if the clinical question is should a patient with symptoms suggesting airway disease receive corticosteroid treatment (and it often is), then the identification of eosinophilic airway inflammation would be a better basis for making this decision than categorising the patient or applying other tests. Third, a raised FENO level appears to be just as good an indicator of a positive response to corticosteroids in a heterogeneous …
Sensor based Hyperthermia Alert Car Application

Leaving children unattended in car for few moments, especially in hot atmosphere can cause a catastrophic tragedy to occur. Even young children can die of hyperthermia after being left in hot cars for a period of time. This paper presents HACC (Hyperthermia Alert for Children in Cars) system to help in preventing tragic child death caused by hyperthermia using detection and control system inside car. HACC system has been accomplished by developing a phone application and a surveillance system connected together to monitor temperature and presence of a child inside car. The system starts to measure temperature inside car via temperature sensor. At the same time, it checks constantly the presence of child inside car via motion sensor. When system detects the presence of a child and temperature inside car reaches unsafe limit, it alerts caregiver via smartphone application and allows him/her at the same time to take an action and open windows remotely. If there is no response from caregiver, system itself reacts and windows are opened automatically.
Clinical research in OA--the NIH Osteoarthritis Initiative.

tify and characterize the disease from onset to joint replacement. There are currently data and images available for the baseline, 12and 24-month visits of the cohort. Data from the 36-month visit will be available in the coming year. The cohort is 58% female with 21% minority enrollment. There are three sub-groups: progression (29%), incidence (68%), and non-exposed (3%). The ages ranged from 45-79 at baseline and the distribution of ages ranges from 12% in the youngest to 23% in the oldest with 30% in the middle years. Biospecimens (blood and urine) are obtained at every visit and DNA has been extracted from all the baseline specimens. These specimens are available by application. The OAI clinics began the fourth and final year (in the existing contract) of follow-up visits for the cohort in 2008. The NIH and other consortium members have determined that widespread availability of validated biomarkers and other research tools arising from use of the OAI resource by third parties is necessary to maximize the public health benefit of the Initiative. Thus, renewable resources from the OAI, such as clinical data and X-ray information, are made freely available to qualified scientists everywhere. These clinical and imaging data have been released to the OAI public web site (http://www.oai.ucsf.edu) at regular intervals since June 2006. Currently there are over 850 registered users of this public web site in 47 countries. Over 1,500 clinical data sets have been downloaded and 87 image data sets have been distributed to national and international users. For OAI resources that are limited, such as the biospecimens, priority will be given to the validation of biomarkers that, in addition to demonstrating scientific merit, will be made widely available for use in accordance with the NIH Principles and Guidelines on Obtaining and Disseminating Biomedical Research Resources. The OAI relies on the following clinical centers and their principal investigators: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore: Marc Hochberg, M.D., M.P.H. ; The Ohio State University, Columbus: Rebecca Jackson, M.D.; University of Pittsburgh: C. Kent Kwoh, M.D.; Memorial J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact 2008; 8(4):313-314