Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pyripyropene A, an Acyl–Coenzyme A: Cholesterol Acyltransferase 2–Selective Inhibitor, Attenuates Hypercholesterolemia and Atherosclerosis in Murine Models of Hyperlipidemia

Objective—Pyripyropene A (PPPA) of fungal origin is the first compound that has been found to strongly and selectively inhibit acyl–coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase 2 (ACAT2) isozyme activity in vitro. The purpose of the present study was to investigate in vivo efficacy of the ACAT2-selective inhibitor in atherosclerosis. Methods and Results—PPPA treatment (10 to 100 mg/kg) caused 30.5±4.7% to 55.8±3.3% inhibition of the cholesterol absorption from the mouse intestine. When PPPA (10 to 50 mg/kg per day) was orally administered to apolipoprotein E–knockout mice for 12 weeks, the levels of plasma cholesterol, very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and hepatic cholesterol content were lowered. Furthermore, the ratio of cholesteryl oleate (exclusively synthesized in hepatic ACAT2) to cholesteryl linoleate in VLDL- and LDL-derived cholesteryl ester decreased, indicating that hepatic ACAT2 activity was inhibited by PPPA. PPPA-treated mice had reduced atherogenic lesion areas that were lowered by 26.2±3.7% to 46±3.8% in the aortae and by 18.9±3.6% to 37.6±6.0% in the hearts. Conclusion—Our findings indicate that ACAT2-selective inhibition in the intestine and the liver can be effective against atherosclerosis and that PPPA appears to be a potential antiatherogenic lead compound. This study is the first demonstration of the in vivo efficacy of PPPA, an ACAT2-selective inhibitor, in atherosclerosis. PPPA-treated atherogenic mice showed a decrease in intestinal cholesterol absorption and cholesterol and cholesteryl oleate levels in both LDL and VLDL, resulting in protection of atherosclerosis development.
Microbiological Degradation of Malodorous Substances of Swine Waste under Aerobic Conditions

Phenol, p-cresol, and volatile fatty acids (VFA; acetic, propionic, isobutyric, butyric, isovaleric, and valeric acids) were used as odor indicators of swine waste. Aeration of the waste allowed the indigenous microorganisms to grow and degrade these malodorous substances. The time required for degradation of these substances varied according to the waste used, and it was not necessarily related to their concentrations. Using a minimal medium which contained one of the malodorous compounds as sole carbon source, we have selected from swine waste microorganisms that can grow in the medium. The majority of these microorganisms were able to degrade the same substrate when inoculated in sterilized swine waste but with an efficiency varying from one strain to the other. None of these strains was able to degrade all malodorous substances studied. Within 6 days of incubation these selected strains degraded the following: Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, phenol and all VFA; Alcaligenes faecalis, p-cresol and all VFA; Corynebacterium glutamicum and Micrococcus sp. , phenol, p-cresol, and acetic and propionic acids; Arthrobacter flavescens, all VFA. On a laboratory scale, the massive inoculation of swine waste with C. glutamicum or Micrococcus sp. accelerated degradation of the malodorous substances. However, this effect was not observed with all of the various swine wastes tested. These results suggest that an efficient deodorization process of various swine wastes could be developed at the farm level based on the aerobic indigenous microflora of each waste.
Intentional and Unintentional Nonadherence to Antihypertensive Medication

BACKGROUND Hypertension is poorly controlled in the US due to medication nonadherence. Recent evidence suggests that nonadherence can be classified as intentional or unintentional and different patient characteristics, such as the experience of adverse effects, may be associated with each. OBJECTIVE To examine associations between patient characteristics, including reported adverse effects, and both intentional and unintentional nonadherence among 588 hypertensive patients. METHODS Baseline data from a clinical trial, the Veterans' Study To Improve the Control of Hypertension, were examined. Intentional and unintentional nonadherence were assessed using a self-report measure. Participants were presented with a list of adverse effects commonly associated with antihypertensive medication and asked to indicate which symptoms they had experienced. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine adjusted associations between patient characteristics and type of nonadherence. RESULTS Approximately 31% of patients reported unintentional nonadherence and 9% reported intentional nonadherence. Non-white participants, individuals without diabetes mellitus, and individuals reporting ≥5 adverse effects were more likely to report intentional nonadherence than their counterparts. Individuals with less than a 10th-grade education and non-white participants were more likely to report unintentional nonadherence than their counterparts. When symptoms of increased urination and wheezing/shortness of breath were reported, patients were more likely to report intentional and unintentional nonadherence compared with those who were adherent. Unintentional nonadherence was also associated with reports of dizziness and rapid pulse. CONCLUSIONS Both intentional and unintentional nonadherence are common and related to perceived adverse effects. Furthermore, different interventions may be necessary to improve adherence in unintentionally and intentionally nonadherent patients.
Tubercular meningitis in children: Clinical, pathological, and radiological profile and factors associated with mortality

Context: Childhood tuberculosis is a major public health problem in developing countries with tubercular meningitis being a serious complication with high mortality and morbidity. Aim: To study the clinicopathological as well as radiological profile of childhood tuberculous meningitis (TBM) cases. Settings and Design: Prospective, observational study including children <14 years of age with TBM admitted in a tertiary care hospital from Western India. Subjects and Methods: TBM was diagnosed based on predefined criteria. Glassgow coma scale (GCS) and intracranial pressure (ICP) was recorded. Staging was done as per British Medical Council Staging System. Mantoux test, chest X-ray, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination, neuroimaging, and other investigations were done to confirm TB. Statistical Analysis Used: STATA software (version 9.0) was used for data analysis. Various risk factors were determined using Chi-square tests, and a P< 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Forty-seven children were included, of which 11 (24.3%) died. Fever was the most common presenting symptom, and meningismus was the most common sign. Twenty-nine (62%) children presented with Stage III disease. Stage III disease, low GCS, and raised ICP were predictors of mortality. Findings on neuroimaging or CSF examination did not predict mortality. Conclusions: Childhood TBM presents with nonspecific clinical features. Stage III disease, low GCS, lack of Bacillus Calmette–Gu͹rin vaccination at birth and raised ICP seem to the most important adverse prognostic factors.
Altered kinetics of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, and KGF-1 gene expression in early wounds of restrained mice.

Inflammatory processes that occur after injury contribute to wound closure. Previous studies showed that wounds of restraint-stressed (RST) mice had a reduced number of inflammatory cells and healed more slowly compared to controls. To investigate the molecular mechanisms between stress and wound healing, we studied cutaneous gene expression of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, and KGF-1. Female SKH-1 mice were restrained for 3 days before and for 5 days following placement of cutaneous wounds. Wounds were subjected to competitive RT-PCR. At day 1, RST mice had significantly lower IL-1 beta and KGF-1 mRNA than controls. At day 5, RST mice had significantly higher IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta mRNA than controls. Treatment of RST mice with the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486 restored IL-1 beta mRNA expression at day 1. Our results suggest that stress induces alterations in the kinetics of cutaneous proinflammatory cytokine and growth factor gene expression which could impair the quality of healing tissues.
The Price of Abundance

We investigated the long-standing—yet previously untested—idea that an abundance of desirable life experiences may undermine people’s ability to savor simpler pleasures. In Study 1, we found that the more countries individuals had visited, the less inclined they were to savor a future trip to a pleasant but ordinary destination. In Study 2, we conducted a field experiment at a popular tourist attraction, where we manipulated participants’ perceptions of their own experiential backgrounds; when participants were led to feel well-traveled, they devoted significantly less time to their visit compared with individuals who were led to feel less worldly. We replicate these findings in Study 3 and found evidence that the observed effect could not be easily explained by other mechanisms. Being a world traveler—or just feeling like one—may undermine the proclivity to savor visits to enjoyable but unextraordinary destinations by endowing individuals with a sense of abundance.
On Association Analysis of Rare Variants Under Population Substructure: An Approach for the Detection of Subjects That Can Cause Bias in the Analysis—Topt: An Outlier Detection Method

For the analysis of rare‐variant data in population‐based designs, we propose a method to detect study subjects that may create population substructure in the study sample. Our approach is computationally fast and simple, permitting applications to whole‐genome sequencing studies. The method does not require the variants to be in linkage equilibrium and can be applied to all the genetic loci that are available in the study. For both rare and common variants, we assess the performance of our approach by its application to the 1000 Genome Project data, and in simulation studies. The results are compared to the commonly used outlier detection algorithm based on principal component analysis (PCA). The statistical power of both approaches to detect outliers are comparable in most of the scenarios, but the power of PCA to detect outliers is lower than the novel approach in the presence of linkage disequilibrium and for subpopulations that are genetically similar. The data analysis and the simulation studies suggest that the number of false‐positive results appears to be different for the two approaches. Our approach maintains the type I error rate while the outlier detection approach based on PCA does not. Taking additionally into account the minimal computational requirements of our approach and the ability to incorporate all the marker information, the proposed method will have important application in sequencing studies and genome‐wide association studies.
Virus Wild-Type versus Vaccine Strains of Measles Differential Type I IFN-Inducing Abilities of

Referenceshttp://www.jimmunol. org/content/179/9/6123.full. html#related-urls Article cited in: €http://www.jimmunol. org/content/179/9/6123.full. html#ref-list-1 This article cites 59 articles, 27 of which can be accessed free at:Subscriptionshttp://www.jimmunol. org/subscriptions Information about subscribing to The Journal of Immunology is online at Permissionshttp://www.aai. org/ji/copyright.html Submit copyright permission requests atEmail Alertshttp://www.jimmunol. org/etoc/subscriptions.shtml/ Receive free email-alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up at
Variability of fatigue during the day in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES Fatigue is a common complaint of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to examine and compare in patients with these diseases the course of fatigue within the first hour after awakening and during the day, and to examine sleep disturbance as a potential determinant of fatigue. METHODS Eight repeated measurements at 5 fatigue dimensions were assessed on 2 consecutive days in the natural environment of female patients with pSS (n=29), SLE (n=23), RA (n=19), and healthy women (n=52). Sleep disturbance of the previous night was assessed. Fatigue levels and the change of fatigue after awakening and during the day were analysed with analyses of variance (adjusted for age). RESULTS The patients showed significantly elevated levels at all fatigue dimensions as compared to healthy participants. Fatigue levels decreased in the first hour after awakening in patients with SLE and RA, but increased or did not change in patients with pSS. Fatigue progressively increased during the remainder of the day for all patient groups. Sleep disturbance correlated with overall fatigue levels, but hardly with the change of fatigue within the first hour after awakening. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirms the presence of increased fatigue in patients with pSS, SLE, and RA. Patients with pSS failed to show a decrease in fatigue in the first hour after awakening. Future research should examine the causes of this difference in fatigue after awakening.
Airborne contact dermatitis from Ambrosia deltoidea (triangle‐leaf bursage)

3 cases of contact dermatitis due to exposure to airborne allergens from Ambrosia deltoidea (triangle‐leaf bursage) are presented. Although airborne plant dermatitis was suggested in each case by a history of aggravation of the rash by outdoor exposure and typical skin lesions, patch testing with an oleoresinous extract of A. deltoidea leaves identified the source of the sensitizer, not previously reported. As A. deltoidea is a ragweed that probably contains sesquiterpene lactones nearly identical to those of ragweeds widely prevalent in most of North America, the patients presented indicate the need for commercially available, standardized, plant extracts for patch testing in this country. The finding of positive patch tests with filters from an air sampler placed in 1 patient's domestic environment suggests a new avenue of investigation in airborne contact dermatitis.
Jurisdictional issues concerning online child pornography

The Internet has posed a number of challenges to the concept of jurisdiction in respect of many crimes. The inherent architecture of the Internet means that questions have been raised as to whether ‘cyberspace’ should be recognised as a new form of international space. This article questions whether this is necessary or desirable and then considers how two countries, England & Wales and the United States of America, have interpreted their domestic law to provide for securing jurisdiction not only where people access child pornography from within the territorial borders of the country but even where material, hosted abroad, is accessible from within the territorial borders. The article considers the implication this has on laws seeking to tackle child pornography and whether it has extended the law of jurisdiction beyond that which is commonly understood.
Superdirective and low profile metamaterial-inspired antenna

In this paper, a superdirective and low profile metamaterial-inspired antenna is reported. The proposed structure consists of the association of Split-Ring Resonator (SRR) and a monopole. This antenna of ka = 0.65 size works in the UHF band and exhibits a high directivity of 4.41dBi in the matched bandwidth of 25 MHz (-10dB). Simulated and measured results are presented for the return loss and radiation pattern.
The Antecedents and Outcomes of Art Marketing: Focus on the Moderation Effect of Premium Price

The representative and emerging elements of cultural marketing are cultural promotion, cultural synthesis and cultural style. This study not only analyzes empirical effects of cultural marketing on art marketing but also reveals how the art marketing influences on recommendation. In addition, we analyze empirical effects of cultural marketing and art marketing on recommendation depending on premium price as well as show the strategies to enlarge the company identity being based on cultural context. The conclusion of this study shows that the cultural marketing has partially effects on the art marketing. It also has partially effects on art marketing depending on the premium price. Finally, the premium price has positive modulation effects on recommendation of art marketing.
Low-Cost Vibration Sensor for Condition-Based Monitoring Manufactured From Polyurethane Foam

Ubiquitous vibration sensing forms a core requirement of Internet of Things (IoT) applications in condition-based monitoring (CbM). Such sensors can enable cost savings by identifying incipient failures in industrial machinery and, thereby, optimized maintenance schedule planning. Conventional piezoelectric and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based vibration sensors developed for such applications cost upwards of tens and hundreds of dollars, limiting the scale of their deployment. In this article, we present an extremely inexpensive vibration sensor prepared with commercially available polyurethane foam that is commonly used for packaging of fragile goods. We present a process to coat the pores of the foam with conductive carbon ink to impart piezo-resistive properties to the material. A proof of concept realization of vibration sensor with 80-Hz sensing bandwidth is presented, along with experimental data demonstrating classification of vibration signals for different machine operating conditions. The spectral content of the measured vibration signal shows good agreement with spectral content of the audio recordings of corresponding acoustic measurements.
Aortic Diameter ≥5.5 cm Is Not a Good Predictor of Type A Aortic Dissection: Observations From the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (IRAD)

Background— Studies of aortic aneurysm patients have shown that the risk of rupture increases with aortic size. However, few studies of acute aortic dissection patients and aortic size exist. We used data from our registry of acute aortic dissection patients to better understand the relationship between aortic diameter and type A dissection. Methods and Results— We examined 591 type A dissection patients enrolled in the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection between 1996 and 2005 (mean age, 60.8 years). Maximum aortic diameters averaged 5.3 cm; 349 (59%) patients had aortic diameters <5.5 cm and 229 (40%) patients had aortic diameters <5.0 cm. Independent predictors of dissection at smaller diameters (<5.5 cm) included a history of hypertension (odds ratio, 2.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.03 to 4.57; P=0.04), radiating pain (odds ratio, 2.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.08 to 4.0; P=0.03), and increasing age (odds ratio, 1.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.05; P=0.03). Marfan syndrome patients were more likely to dissect at larger diameters (odds ratio, 14.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.7 to 100; P=0.002). Mortality (27% of patients) was not related to aortic size. Conclusions— The majority of patients with acute type A acute aortic dissection present with aortic diameters <5.5 cm and thus do not fall within current guidelines for elective aneurysm surgery. Methods other than size measurement of the ascending aorta are needed to identify patients at risk for dissection.
Radiological cavitation, sputum mycobacterial load and treatment response in pulmonary tuberculosis.

SETTING Royal Free Hospital, London. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between sputum mycobacterial load, assessed by time to positivity (TTP) in liquid culture, radiological cavitation and change in sputum bacterial load in response to anti-tuberculosis treatment. DESIGN The study was conducted on 95 patients treated for sputum culture-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), with pre-treatment TTP and baseline chest X-ray (CXR). Of these, 31 had chest computed tomography scans assessed for number and volume of cavities. The microbiological treatment response was measured in 56 patients with serial TTP, and related to baseline radiological cavitation. RESULTS Cavitation was present in 48% of patients, and was associated with a shorter TTP at baseline (P < 0.001). Patients with more cavities and greater total cavitary volume had a shorter TTP (P < 0.001 for both). No difference was demonstrated in the rate of change in TTP on treatment (P = 0.36) between patients with and without cavities. CONCLUSION This study confirms that cavitation is associated with higher baseline sputum mycobacterial load. The rate of decline in bacterial load in response to treatment is similar in patients with and without radiologically demonstrable cavities, suggesting that response to, and hence duration of, effective treatment may be predicted by the initial number of organisms present in the sputum.
Ground plan of the larval nervous system in phoronids: Evidence from larvae of viviparous phoronid

Nervous system organization differs greatly in larvae and adults of many species, but has nevertheless been traditionally used for phylogenetic studies. In phoronids, the organization of the larval nervous system depends on the type of development. With the goal of understanding the ground plan of the nervous system in phoronid larvae, the development and organization of the larval nervous system were studied in a viviparous phoronid species. The ground plan of the phoronid larval nervous system includes an apical organ, a continuous nerve tract under the preoral and postoral ciliated bands, and two lateral nerves extending between the apical organ and the nerve tract. A bilobed larva with such an organization of the nervous system is suggested to be the primary larva of the taxonomic group Brachiozoa, which includes the phyla Brachiopoda and Phoronida. The ground plan of the nervous system of phoronid larvae is similar to that of the early larvae of annelids and of some deuterostomians. The protostome‐ and deuterostome‐like features, which are characteristic of many organ systems in phoronids, were probably inherited by phoronids from the last common bilaterian ancestor. The information provided here on the ground plan of the larval nervous system should be useful for future analyses of phoronid phylogeny and evolution.
Tuberculosis control in resource‐poor countries: have we reached the limits of the universal paradigm?

The aim of TB control is to break the cycle of transmission by treating TB cases as early and efficiently as possible. In its efforts to promote a model of worldwide TB control, WHO defined specific targets and launched the ‘Directly Observed Therapy, Short‐course’ (DOTS) strategy as the main tool to reach them. However, the diversity of patients’ attitudes towards the disease and the extreme variability of access to care, especially in resource‐poor countries, are amongst the many factors of social context that profoundly affect the ability of control programmes to implement this policy effectively. There are multiple reports of TB control programmes using various types of intervention to promote adherence and enhance case‐holding, but most of these interventions depend on external funding, which bring into question their long‐term sustainability. In this paper, we address the problems related to operational variabilities in the implementation of the DOTS strategy in resource‐poor countries and question the appropriateness of a universal paradigm for global TB control. This analysis is of particular importance as programmers consider using this model in the delivery of anti‐retroviral therapies for the treatment of HIV in resource‐limited settings.