Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical activity and self‐reported symptoms of insomnia, restless legs syndrome, and depression: The comprehensive dialysis study

Symptoms of sleep and mood disturbances are common among patients on dialysis and are associated with significant decrements in survival and health‐related quality of life. We used data from the Comprehensive Dialysis Study (CDS) to examine the association of self‐reported physical activity with self‐reported symptoms of insomnia, restless legs syndrome (RLS), and depression in patients new to dialysis. The CDS collected data on physical activity, functional status, and health‐related quality of life from 1678 patients on either peritoneal (n = 169) or hemodialysis (n = 1509). The Human Activity Profile was used to measure self‐reported physical activity. Symptoms were elicited in the following manner: insomnia using three questions designed to capture difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep, RLS using three questions based on the National Institutes of Health workshop, and depression using the two‐item Patient Health Questionnaire. We obtained data on symptoms of insomnia and depression for 1636, and on symptoms of RLS for 1622 (>98%) patients. Of these, 863 (53%) reported one of three insomnia symptoms as occurring at a persistent frequency. Symptoms of RLS and depression occurred in 477 (29%) and 451 (28%) of patients, respectively. The Adjusted Activity Score of the Human Activity Profile was inversely correlated with all three conditions in models adjusting for demographics, comorbid conditions, and laboratory variables. Sleep and mood disturbances were commonly reported in our large, diverse cohort of patients new to dialysis. Patients who reported lower levels of physical activity were more likely to report symptoms of insomnia, RLS, and depression.
The vesicular integral protein‐like gene is essential for development of a mechanosensory system in zebrafish

The zebrafish hi472 mutation is caused by a retroviral insertion into the vesicular integral protein‐like gene, or zVIPL, a poorly studied lectin implicated in endoplasmic reticulum (ER)‐Golgi trafficking. A mutation in the shorter isoform of zVIPL (zVIPL‐s) results in a reduction of mechanosensitivity and consequent loss of escape behavior. Here we show that motoneurons and hindbrain reticulospinal neurons, which normally integrate mechanosensory inputs, failed to fire in response to tactile stimuli in hi472 larvae, suggesting a perturbation in sensory function. The hi472 mutant larvae in fact suffered from a severe loss of functional neuromasts of the lateral line mechanosensory system, a reduction of zVIPL labeling in support cells, and a reduction or even a complete loss of hair cells in neuromasts. The Delta‐Notch signaling pathway is implicated in cellular differentiation of neuromasts, and we observed an increase in Notch expression in neuromasts of hi472 mutant larvae. Treatment of hi472 mutant larvae with DAPT, an inhibitor of Notch signaling, or overexpression of the Notch ligand deltaB in hi472 mutant blastocysts produced partial rescue of the morphological defects and of the startle response behavior. We conclude that zVIPL‐s is a necessary component of Delta‐Notch signaling during neuromast development in the lateral line mechanosensory system. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2008
Flotillin‐1 promotes formation of glutamatergic synapses in hippocampal neurons

Synapse malformation underlies numerous neurodevelopmental illnesses, including autism spectrum disorders. Here we identify the lipid raft protein flotillin‐1 as a promoter of glutamatergic synapse formation. We cultured neurons from the hippocampus, a brain region important for learning and memory, and examined them at two weeks in vitro, a time period rich with synapse formation. Double‐label immunocytochemistry of native flot‐1 with glutamatergic and GABAergic synapse markers showed that flot‐1 was preferentially colocalized with the glutamatergic presynaptic marker vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1), compared to the GABAergic presynaptic marker glutamic acid decarboxylase‐65 (GAD‐65). Triple‐label immunocytochemistry of native flot‐1, VGLUT1, and NR1, the obligatory subunit of NMDA receptors, indicates that Flot‐1 was preferentially localized to synaptic rather than extrasynaptic NR1. Furthermore, electrophysiological results using whole‐cell patch clamp showed that Flot‐1 increased the frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) but not miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs), whereas amplitude and decay kinetics of either type of synaptic current was not affected. Corresponding immunocytochemical data confirmed that the number of glutamatergic synapses increased with flot‐1 overexpression. Overall, our anatomical and physiological results show that flot‐1 enhances the formation of glutamatergic synapses but not GABAergic synapses, suggesting that the role of flot‐1 in neurodevelopmental disorders should be explored. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 70: 875–883, 2010
Home Visiting with Families in Poverty: Introducing the Concept of Culture.

In this article Diana Slaughter-Defoe asserts that those planning home visiting programs must pay careful attention to the cultural context in which the services will be delivered. She illustrates this assertion by relating her experience with programs serving African-American families and discussing how cultural characteristics of this group have implications for the design of home visiting programs. Slaughter-Defoe also recommends additional steps for program planners to take to ensure a culturally consonant program. They should encourage ongoing dialogue between providers and participants about how well the program is meeting their needs and expectations. They should pay careful attention to the culture of the program staff, with the goals of fostering positive staff attitudes and a realistic and clearly understood mission. Finally, program planners should be open to altering the home visiting format, introducing group- and center-based care when the culture of the program participants suggests that these service delivery formats can be effective. Throughout her article, Slaughter-Defoe observes that too often home visiting services are used inappropriately, to respond to multiply vulnerable families in a treatment or crisis mode. In these situations, home visitors do not have the time, resources, or mission to assess carefully the adaptive strengths and cultural ecology of participating children and families. As a result, home visiting as a strategy is neither useful nor effective.
Treating surface water with low nutrients concentration by mixed substrates constructed wetlands

Constructed wetland (CW) has been widely applied in nutrients reduction for eutrophication control, especially in the advanced treatment of effluent of municipal sewage plants or the in-lake river treatment with high hydraulic loads and low nutrient concentrations. But in real application, it shows lower nutrient removal efficiency. The main reason is that traditional substrates, such as soil and gravel have low capacity for nitrogen and phosphorus removal. This study aims to enhance nutrients removal in constructed wetland systems by using series of substrates including calcium silicate hydrate (CSH), vermiculite and ceramsite which are all investigated individually in static experiment or mixed in batch and continuous flow experiments. The result showed that the efficiency of phosphorus removal by CSH could reach 97%, much higher than the other substrates. However, when it was applied in CW, the removal efficiency decreased. Although vermiculite showed the highest ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency of 65.91%, the ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency may have depended on the action of microorganism. High total nitrogen removal efficiency was obtained in continuous-flow mixed substrate CW. Under a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 18h and hydraulic loading rate (HLR) of 0.496 m3/m3.d, average total nitrogen removal efficiency of above 91% was achieved, but the average phosphorus removal efficiency was around 65% and this needs to be improved further.
Avaliação do metabolismo da glicose em pacientes acromegálicos antes e após tratamento com octreotide LAR

AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the glucose metabolism in acromegalic patients before and after treatment with octreotide LAR. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective and longitudinal study involving 30 patients from the acromegaly research outpatient clinic of the Endocrinology unit of the HUCFF/UFRJ. They underwent clinical and laboratorial evaluations, with measurements of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor type I (IGF-I), insulin, proinsulin, C peptide, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), IGF binding protein type 1 (IGFBP-1) and glucose, during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), before and after six months of treatment with octreotide LAR. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used and values of 5% were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: We found 16 (54%) patients with normal glucose tolerance, 7 (23%) with impaired glucose tolerance and 7 (23%) diabetics. Twelve patients completed the six-month treatment, out of which three showed worsening of glucose tolerance and two (diabetics) had worse blood glucose control. Whereas there was an increase in waist circumference (p=0.03), there was a decrease in GH (p=0.04), with %IGF-I above the upper limit of reference values (% ULRV) [p=0.001], insulin (p=0.019), C peptide levels (p=0.002) and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) [p=0.039]. CONCLUSIONS: In this series, treatment with octreotide LAR led to a worsening of glucose tolerance in three non-diabetic patients and worsened glycemic control in two diabetics, in spite of reducing insulin resistance.
Ethnicity and newborn outcomes: the case of African American women.

PURPOSE Although previous studies have confirmed the relationship between socioeconomic status, ethnicity, education, and occupation on birth outcomes, less is known about the relationship of providers influence or hospital characteristics on birth outcomes for minority women. It is not well understood whether hospital or physician characteristics exert an equal or greater affect compared with maternal sociodemographic factors, particularly for Black childbearing women known to be at particular risk for adverse birth outcomes. DESIGN This retrospective descriptive study sought to determine whether variation in neonatal birth outcomes for Black women was attributable to hospital characteristics, physician influence, or patient sociodemographics. METHODS Fixed and random effects were conducted to empirically determine the relative importance of hospital, physician, and patient characteristics (partitioning the variation of differences in birth outcome to each component) using a large administrative dataset. FINDINGS Considerable variability existed among hospitals over and above hospital ownership or number of hospital beds. CONCLUSIONS Ethnicity was a statistically significant predictor of adverse outcomes, as was the number of prenatal visits and maternal education. There is a significant relationship between adverse newborn outcomes and ethnicity after controlling for hospital and physician characteristics. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Ongoing birth disparities in African American childbearing women are a significant public policy issue with important research and clinical implications. This research adds to nursing knowledge by helping eliminate some factors previously thought to have contributed to the high incidence of perinatal complications for African American women and their newborns.
Modified kraft lignin for bioremediation applications

Kraft lignin (KL) from industrial pulping of E. globulus wood was subjected to the oxidative modification with the aim to produce sorbent mimicking humic matter for the bioremediation purposes. Lignin was oxidized by polyoxometalate Na5[PMo10V2O40] (POM), solely or in the presence of laccase, under pre-selected aerobic conditions (50–60°C, 1–2h, oxygen pressure 5 bar). The most pronounced lignin oxidation without its depolymerisation was observed in the reaction system POM/O2. Modified lignins possessed increased amounts of COOH (up to 15 %) and CO (up to 500 %) groups, when compared to unmodified KL, and significantly higher molecular weights. Sorption capacity of KL before and after modification towards transition metals (cadmium (II) and mercury (II)) and triazine pesticide (atrazine) was assessed in batch experiments under equilibrium conditions. KL oxidation improved sorption capacity towards transition metals (up to 15 %) but not necessarily the uptake of atrazine that was higher for unmodified KL.
Eighth Cooley's Anemia Symposium: Summation and Perspective

Abstract: The Eighth Cooley's Anemia Symposium provided an outstanding summary of current knowledge about the thalassemia syndromes and their treatment. The known spectrum of disease is changing due to growing knowledge about the thalassemias in developing countries, due to immigration patterns throughout the world, and due to improved outcome for transfusion‐dependent patients based on the development of effective chelation regimens. Much progress has been made in the development of noninvasive measurement of tissue iron concentration, which has provided new insights into the effects of iron chelation. Although subcutaneous deferoxamine remains the mainstay of treatment, oral deferiprone seems particularly effective at removing cardiac iron and preventing cardiac complications. Additional oral iron chelators are in the pipeline. Growing knowledge and insights into the mechanisms of gene regulation arising from the study of the globin gene clusters have not yet resulted in a full understanding of hemoglobin switching mechanisms. Efforts continue to develop and evaluate drugs for inducing fetal hemoglobin, although progress has been slow. In contrast, there has been substantial progress in the development of vectors for gene therapy of thalassemia and the first clinical trial has been proposed. However, proto‐oncogene activation and neoplastic transformation, potential risks of vector insertional mutagenesis, have now been observed in a clinical trial for severe combined immunodeficiency, adding a note of caution. Allogenetic stem cell transplantation from a matched sibling has cured many thalassemia patients and progress is being made in the use of alternative donors for this purpose.
The Myocardial Protection of HTK Cardioplegic Solution on the Long-Term Ischemic Period In Pediatric Heart Surgery

Cardioplegic reperfusion during a long term ischemic period interrupts cardiac surgery and also increase cellular edema due to repeated administration. We reviewed the clinical experiences on myocardial protection of one single perfusion with histidine-ketoglutarate-tryptophan (HTK) for infants. This retrospective study included 118 infants who underwent open-heart surgery between January 2004 and December 2007. We divided the entire cohort into two groups: In group H (n = 63), myocardial protection was carried out with one single perfusion with HTK solution, and in group S (n = 55) with conventional St. Thomas crystalloid cardioplegia. The duration of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) did not differ between these two groups, but the duration of aortic cross-clamping time in group H was significantly shorter than that in group S (p < 0.05). During reperfusion, the spontaneous re-beating rate was higher in group H (p < 0.05). There were no differences in doses of inotropic agent and creatinekinase (CK) values on postoperative day 1 between these two groups, but the level of CK in group H was significantly less than that in group S on postoperative day 2 (p < 0.01). The mortality in group H was lower than in group S (p < 0.05). The HTK group had shorter cross-clamping time and more frequent spontaneous defibrillation than St. Thomas group. We propose that HTK is valid for some complicated cardiac surgeries with long term cross-clamping time.
Age dependency on some physiological and biochemical parameters of male Wistar rats in controlled environment

The aim of the study was to assess the age dependence on some physiological and serum chemistry parameters of male Wistar rats for the estimation of reference values in controlled environment. We are presenting values obtained from a large number of animals such as survival, average life span, body mass, food and water intake, serum chemistry parameters as total protein, albumin, transferrin and ferritin in serum. One part of this work compares the relationship between rat and human age. The maximal life span of our rats was determined to be about 4.4 years. The average life span was 3.75 years. The body weight quickly rose to the 85th week of life and then remained in the range of about 640–660 g up to the 163rd week when it began to decline. Food intake rose from the beginning to the maximum of about 39 g in the 33rd week and then decreased to about 20 g in the 163rd week. The water intake had a similar dynamics (about 43 mL in the 33rd week and 33 mL in the 163rd week). Levels of total protein in serum increased with age, in contrast, albumin levels decreased. Transferrin and ferritin decreased to approximately the 160th week of life and then increased.
Characterization of brain cell nuclei with decondensed chromatin

Although multipotent cell types have enlarged nuclei with decondensed chromatin, this property has not been exploited to enhance the characterization of neural progenitor cell (NPC) populations in the brain. We found that mouse brain cell nuclei that expressed exceptionally high levels of the pan neuronal marker NeuN/FOX3 (NeuN‐High) had decondensed chromatin relative to most NeuN‐Low or NeuN‐Neg (negative) nuclei. Purified NeuN‐High nuclei expressed significantly higher levels of transcripts encoding markers of neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and learning and memory (ARC, BDNF, ERG1, HOMER1, NFL/NEF1, SYT1), subunits of chromatin modifying machinery (SIRT1, HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC11, KAT2B, KAT3A, KAT3B, KAT5, DMNT1, DNMT3A, Gadd45a, Gadd45b) and markers of NPC and cell cycle activity (BRN2, FOXG1, KLF4, c‐MYC, OCT4, PCNA, SHH, SOX2) relative to neuronal NeuN‐Low or to mostly non‐neuronal NeuN‐Neg nuclei. NeuN‐High nuclei expressed higher levels of HDAC1, 2, 4, and 5 proteins. The cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens contained high percentages of large decondensed NeuN‐High nuclei, while the cerebellum, and pons contained very few. NeuN‐High nuclei have the properties consistent with their being derived from extremely active neurons with elevated rates of chromatin modification and/or NPC‐like cells with multilineage developmental potential. The further analysis of decondensed neural cell nuclei should provide novel insights into neurobiology and neurodegenerative disease. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 75: 738–756, 2015
Chick embryos have the same pattern of hypoxic lower‐brain activation as fetal mammals

cFos expression (indicating a particular kind of neuronal activation) was examined in embryonic day (E) 18 chick embryos after exposure to 4 h of either normoxia (21% O2), modest hypoxia (15% O2), or medium hypoxia (10% O2). Eight regions of the brainstem and hypothalamus were surveyed, including seven previously shown to respond to hypoxia in late‐gestation mammalian fetuses (Breen et al., 1997; Nitsos and Walker, 1999b). Hypoxia‐related changes in chick embryo brain activation mirrored those found in fetal mammals with the exception of the medullary Raphe, which showed decreased hypoxic activation, compared with no change in mammals. This difference may be explained by the greater anapyrexic responses of chick embryos relative to mammalian fetuses. Activation in the A1/C1 region was examined in more detail to ascertain whether an O2‐sensitive subpopulation of these cells containing heme oxygenase 2 (HMOX2) may drive hypoxic brain responses before the maturation of peripheral O2‐sensing. HMOX2‐positive and ‐negative catecholaminergic cells and interdigitating noncatecholaminergic HMOX2‐positive cells all showed significant changes in cFos expression to hypoxia, with larger population responses seen in the catecholaminergic cells. Hypoxia‐induced activation of lower‐brain regions studied here was significantly better correlated with activation of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) than with that of HMOX2‐containing A1/C1 neurons. Together, these observations suggest that (1) the functional circuitry controlling prenatal brain responses to hypoxia is strongly conserved between birds and mammals, and (2) NTS neurons are a more dominant driving force for prenatal hypoxic cFos brain responses than O2‐sensing A1/C1 neurons. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 76: 64–74, 2016
Early developmental stress negatively affects neuronal recruitment to avian song system nucleus HVC

Adverse environmental conditions can impact the life history trajectory of animals. Adaptive responses enable individuals to cope with unfavorable conditions, but altered metabolism and resource allocation can bear long‐term costs. In songbirds, early developmental stress can cause lifelong changes in learned song, a culturally transmitted trait, and nestlings experiencing developmental stress develop smaller song control nucleus HVCs. We investigated whether nutrition‐related developmental stress impacts neurogenesis in HVC, which may explain how poor nutrition leads to smaller HVC volume. We provided different quality diets (LOW and HIGH) by varying the husks‐to‐seeds ratio to zebra finch families for the first 35 days after the young hatched (PHD). At PHD14–18 and again at nutritional independence (PHD35), juveniles were injected with different cell division markers. To monitor growth, we took body measures at PHD10, 17, and 35. At PHD35 the number of newly recruited neurons in HVC and the rate of proliferation in the adjacent ventricular zone (VZ) were counted. Males raised on the LOW diet for their first weeks of life had significantly fewer new neurons in HVC than males raised on the HIGH diet. At the time when these new HVC neurons were born and labeled in the VZ (PHD17) the birds exposed to the LOW diet had significantly lower body mass. At PHD35 body mass or neuronal proliferation no longer differed. Our study shows that even transitory developmental stress can have negative consequences on the cellular processes underlying the development of neural circuits. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 76: 107–118, 2016
Conserved Meiotic Genes Point to Sex in the Choanoflagellates

ABSTRACT. The choanoflagellates are a widespread group of heterotrophic aquatic nanoflagellates, which have recently been confirmed as the sister‐group to Metazoa. Asexual reproduction is the only mode of cell division that has been observed within the group; at present the range of reproductive modes, as well as the ploidy level, within choanoflagellates are unknown. The recent discovery of long terminal repeat retrotransposons within the genome of Monosiga brevicollis suggests that this species also has sexual stages in its life cycle because asexual organisms cannot tolerate retrotransposons due to the rapid accumulation of deleterious mutations caused by their transposition. We screened the M. brevicollis genome for known eukaryotic meiotic genes, using a recently established “meiosis detection toolkit” of 19 genes. Eighteen of these genes were identified, none of which appears to be a pseudogene. Four of the genes were also identified in expressed sequence tag data from the distantly related Monosiga ovata. The presence of these meiosis‐specific genes provides evidence for meiosis, and by implication sex, within this important group of protists.