Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COPD Overdiagnosis and Its Effect on 30-Day Hospital Readmission Rates

BACKGROUND: Although specific guidelines exist for diagnosing COPD on the basis of spirometry testing data (FEV1/FVC < 0.70 or above the lower limit of normal), the literature suggests that overdiagnosis is common. Whether overdiagnosis increases 30-d readmission rates has not yet been explored. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of COPD overdiagnosis and its effect on 30-d hospital readmission rates in our institution. METHODS: We retrospectively identified all subjects who were coded with a COPD hospital discharge in 2018 at Cleveland Clinic main campus and had spirometry data available, including FEV1 and FVC. FEV1/FVC was calculated and compared with the predicted lower limit of normal values. Hospital discharge diagnosis and 30-d hospital readmission data were captured along with comorbidities and other demographics. RESULTS: In 2018, there were 424 hospital discharges with a COPD diagnosis with spirometry testing available. Of these subjects, 124 (29%) were overdiagnosed in the lower limit of normal group and 99 (23.3%) were in the ≥ 0.70 group. One hundred subjects (23.6%) had a 30-d hospital readmission. Of these subjects, 35 had FEV1/FVC that was greater than their predicted lower limit of normal on spirometry. Of the 324 subjects who were not readmitted within 30 d, 89 (27.5%) had FEV1/FVC greater than the lower limit of normal. If the 35 readmitted subjects had not been coded with COPD, the 30-d readmission rate would have decreased significantly from 23.6% to 16.7% (100 of 424 vs 65 of 389, P = .01). Even if all of the 124 subjects who had pulmonary function test data greater than the lower limit of normal had not been counted, the readmission rate would still have decreased from 23.6% to 21.7%, but this was not significant (from 100 of 424 to 65 of 300, P = .3). CONCLUSIONS: COPD was overdiagnosed in our cohort of subjects; this was true whether the FEV1/FVC < 0.70 standard or the lower limit of normal standard was used. Furthermore, this overdiagnosis artificially inflated the 30-d readmission rate. These results illustrate the caution providers should use when making a COPD diagnosis.
Addition of Graphene Oxide in Different Stages of the Synthesis of Waterborne Polyurethane-Urea Adhesives and Its Influence on Their Structure, Thermal, Viscoelastic and Adhesion Properties

In this study, 0.04 wt % graphene oxide (GO) was added in different stages (before and after prepolymer formation, and during water addition) of the synthesis of waterborne polyurethane-urea dispersions (PUDs) prepared by using the acetone method. The structural, thermal, mechanical, viscoelastic, surface and adhesion properties of the polyurethane-ureas (PUUs) containing 0.04 wt % GO were studied. The addition of GO before and after prepolymer formation produced covalent bonds between the GO sheets and the NCO groups of the isocyanate, whereas the GO sheets were trapped between the polyurethane chains when added during water addition step. As a consequence, depending on the stage of the PUD synthesis in which GO was added, the degree of micro-phase separation between the hard and soft segments changed differently. The addition of GO before prepolymer formation changed more efficiently the polyurethane-urea structure, i.e., the covalently bonded GO sheets disturbed the interactions between the hard segments causing lower percentage of free urethane groups, higher crystallinity, lower storage modulus, higher yield stress and T-peel strength. The interactions between the GO sheets and the polymeric chains have been evidenced by plate-plate rheology, thermal gravimetric analysis and spectroscopy. On the other hand, physical interactions between GO and the polyurethane-urea chains were produced when GO was added in water during the synthesis, i.e., GO was acting as a nanofiller, which justified the improved mechanical properties and high lap-shear strength, but poor T-peel strength.
Germination of three Namaqualand pioneer species, as influenced by salinity, temperature and light

The effects of salinity (simulated sea-water), temperature and light on seed germination of three Namaqualand pioneer species, were investigated. Increased salinity caused a significant decrease in germination percentages and delayed mean germination time. The highest germination percentages occured at temperatures of 15 o C for Senecio elegans, 20 o C for Dimorphotheca sinuata, and 25 o C for Atriplex semibaccata. The effect of light differed depending on species, temperature and salinity
KETERTARIKAN HAMA Sitophilus oryzae PADA BERAS, JAGUNG PIPILAN KACANG TANAH, KACANG KEDELAI, DAN KOPRA

ABSTRACT The purpose of research is to know the preferences of Sitophilus oryzae in rice, corn, peanut, soybeans, and copra. Experiments using observational and substitutional methods with research objeck is the interest of S. oryzae in some kind of postharvest material. Parameters measured were population density of pests, feeding damage caused by pests, and the relationship between population densty of pests and postharvest material damage caused by pests feed of S. oryzae . The results showed that S. oryzae choose food according to its main host. Population density are highest at 20.8 tail in rice, corn followed by14.0 tail, 8.2 tail in peanuts, 7,0 tail in soybeans and the lowest in copra is 4.0 tail. The results of feeding test showed that S. oryzae can not live in peanut, soybeans, and copra. Damage to feed straight to the population density S.oryzae . The amount of damage depends on the amount of feed that is higher pest populations, the greater damage in flicted on feed. Key words : preferences, Sitophylusoryzae, rice, corn, peanut, peanut soya, copra
Growth and yield of soybean cultivars as affected by ground water levels and phosphorus rates grown under greenhouse and field conditions

Experiments were conducted under greenhouse and field conditions to investigate the effects of P application rates and the responses of soybean cultivars to different ground water levels. The results of the greenhouse experiment showed that ground water level recession reduced root dry weight, root length density, shoot growth, yield components, and consequently, the grain yields of KKU74 and SJ5cultivars. Rapid ground water recession affected soybean yield reduction more than slow recession. P application increased both root and shoots growth, and tended to produce higher grain yields than the absence of P application. With P application, KKU74 had a higher grain yield than SJ5. The results of field conditions showed that P application rates had no significant effect on leaf area, LAI, shoot dry weight and the grain yields of the three soybean cultivars. However, KKU74 with P applications at the maximum rate of 58 kg p2o5ha-1 tended to produce the highest grain yields. Under both greenhouse and field conditions, KKU74 with P application had the highest grain yields, shoot growth and root length density (lower than the 75-cm depth from the soil's surface) with ground water level recession. These results indicate that this cultivar is better adapted to water stress and appropriate to growing after rice in a paddy field without irrigation. However, it is suggested that the ground water level before planting should be higher than 80 cm depth from the soil's surface.
Antisense Oligonucleotides: An Emerging Area in Drug Discovery and Development

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) bind sequence specifically to the target RNA and modulate protein expression through several different mechanisms. The ASO field is an emerging area of drug development that targets the disease source at the RNA level and offers a promising alternative to therapies targeting downstream processes. To translate ASO-based therapies into a clinical success, it is crucial to overcome the challenges associated with off-target side effects and insufficient biological activity. In this regard, several chemical modifications and diverse delivery strategies have been explored. In this review, we systematically discuss the chemical modifications, mechanism of action, and optimized delivery strategies of several different classes of ASOs. Further, we highlight the recent advances made in development of ASO-based drugs with a focus on drugs that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for clinical applications. We also discuss various promising ASO-based drug candidates in the clinical trials, and the outstanding opportunity of emerging microRNA as a viable therapeutic target for future ASO-based therapies.
Association between rotavirus gastroenteritis and intussusception: suggested evidence from a retrospective study in claims databases in the United States

ABSTRACT The etiology of intussusception (IS), a serious gastrointestinal obstruction, remains unclear. Limited evidence suggests a role for viral infection. We investigated the risk of IS after rotavirus gastroenteritis (RV GE) in the first year of life. In this retrospective, self-controlled case series (SCCS), we assessed the risk of IS after RV GE using data from United States administrative claims databases. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) of IS were calculated for the 7- and 21-day risk periods after RV GE (main analysis) or after fracture (sensitivity analysis). A total of 290,912,068 subjects were screened; 42 presented claims for RV GE and IS, and 66 for fracture and IS. The IRRs of IS after RV GE were 79.6 (95% confidence interval, CI: 38.6–164.4) and 25.5 (95% CI: 13.2–49.2) in the 7- and 21-day risk periods. The sensitivity analysis showed an association between IS and fracture for both periods, suggesting potential confounding. Post-hoc analyses did not confirm the association between fracture and IS but suggested a potential association between RV GE and IS. A temporal association between RV GE and IS was detected using claims databases. Due to some limitations of the data sources, this association should be further investigated.
Beauty before age: landscape factors influence bird functional diversity in naturally regenerating fragments, but regeneration age does not

Effective ecological restoration actions should be able to recover ecosystem processes that influence community development in the long term. However, there is scarce information on how landscape factors promote or accelerate fauna recovery. We used a landscape framework to evaluate how functional groups respond to natural regeneration in a highly fragmented region of Atlantic Forest. Using bird functional groups sampled in 15 regenerating forest fragments, we built and ranked models using a model selection approach to test the relative effect of landscape variables on each group. Our results showed that bird community recovery is not determined by the duration of the regeneration process (i.e. forest age), but by how the species responds to the landscape context. Functional diversity and the abundance of the functional groups were mainly related to composition metrics, whereas the functional metric affected only specific groups. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the landscape level to ensure both the colonization of fauna and the restoration of ecological functions.
A Policy Paradox from Paternalism to Populism: The Case of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in South Korea

The central and local governments of Korea decided upon a massive slaughtering and compensation policy to combat the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the Andong region in 2010 and 2011. This policy action featured a policy paradox involving the Korean government’s paternalistic intervention in farmers’ decisions. Although this paternalism was legally justified, the public criticized the extravagant expenditure to achieve an FMD-free country, and environmental, religious, and civic organizations opposed the indiscriminate slaughter of animals. In the end, the Korean government declared the end of the Andong FMD disaster and publicly announced the policy termination upon the country’s return to being FMD clean. This policy paradox was reinforced by Korea’s populist populism, in which the policy was initiated for economic reasons to recover the country’s devastated livestock farming, not as a consequence of farmers’ united or organized political revolt. This populism was originally captured by Korean politicians’ compassion for those undergoing economic hardship and by the Korean media’s and netizens’ sympathetic attitudes toward farmers. In addition, the populism paved a middle path or an acquittal of the paternalistic policy. Eventually the slaughtering and compensation policy became more perplexing and self-contradictory.
Cadmium in bone cement induces necrosis and decreases the viability of residual osteosarcoma cells: A xenograft study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to show whether local application of cadmium-impregnated bone cement can induce apoptosis and decrease the viability of residual osteosarcoma (OS) cells in nude mice. METHODS K7M2 tumorigenic OS cell line was cultivated in vitro. The xenograft tumor model was formed by subcutaneously adding the tumor cells to athymic nude mice. Tumor was formed within 1 month. Then, mice were randomly assigned to five groups, each containing seven nude mice: control (group 1), wide resection (group 2), intralesional resection (group 3), intralesional resection + bone cement (group 4), and intralesional resection + cadmium embedded in bone cement (group 5). Tumor resection with 1 cm surgical margins was performed in the wide resection group. In intralesional resection groups, tumor tissue was resected with positive margins aiming to leave 15 mm3 of macroscopic tumor tissue. In group 3, the defect was left empty; groups 4 and 5 received bone cements prepared with saline and cadmium solutions, respectively. After the resection, mice were observed for 15 days and sacrificed. Next, surgical resection sites were evaluated histopathologically in each group. RESULTS Recurrent tumor was formed in all mice in the wide resection group, and apparent progression of residual tumor was observed in groups 3 and 4. On the contrary, only a thin layer of residual tumor was observed around the bone cement in group 5. Histological evaluation revealed remarkable necrosis in group 5 and lowest viability compared to other groups. No systemic toxic effect related to cadmium was observed. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that local application of cadmium in bone cement has a significant potential to increase tumor necrosis and decrease the viability of residual OS cells.
The Movement of Hormosira banksii (Fucales, Phaeophyta) Spermatozoids in Response to Sexual Pheromone

The swimming behaviour of Hormosira banksii spermatozoids was studied using videomicroscopy under different conditions, including movement on glass surfaces, on solvent droplets containing the species-specific gamete attractant at different concentrations and in relation to eggs. The results indicate a chemotaxis mechanism involving phobic responses as well as a kinesis in which the turning rate is reduced upon stimulation by pheromone. Preliminary data on respiration and carbon assimilation of spermatozoids are also reported
Evaluation of population stratification adjustment using genome‐wide or exonic variants

Population stratification may cause an inflated type‐I error and spurious association when assessing the association between genetic variations with an outcome. Many genetic association studies are now using exonic variants, which captures only 1% of the genome, however, population stratification adjustments have not been evaluated in the context of exonic variants. We compare the performance of two established approaches: principal components analysis (PCA) and mixed‐effects models and assess the utility of genome‐wide (GW) and exonic variants, by simulation and using a data set from the Framingham Heart Study. Our results illustrate that although the PCs and genetic relationship matrices computed by GW and exonic markers are different, the type‐I error rate of association tests for common variants with additive effect appear to be properly controlled in the presence of population stratification. In addition, by considering single nucleotide variants (SNVs) that have different levels of confounding by population stratification, we also compare the power across multiple association approaches to account for population stratification such as PC‐based corrections and mixed‐effects models. We find that while these two methods achieve a similar power for SNVs that have a low or medium level of confounding by population stratification, mixed‐effects model can reach a higher power for SNVs highly confounded by population stratification.
Siderophore-Mediated Interactions Determine the Disease Suppressiveness of Microbial Consortia

Soil-borne pathogens cause high losses in crop yields globally. The development of environmentally friendly approaches is urgently needed, but is often constrained by complex interactions between root-associated microbes and pathogens. Here, we demonstrate that the interactions within microbial consortia mediated by iron-scavenging siderophores play an important role in reducing pathogen infection and enhancing plant health. This study provides a promising and novel research direction for dealing with a wide range of microbial infections through iron exploitation, which is important for the colonization and infection of both plant and human hosts by pathogens. ABSTRACT Interactions between plant pathogens and root-associated microbes play an important role in determining disease outcomes. While several studies have suggested that steering these interactions may improve plant health, such approaches have remained challenging in practice. Because of low iron availability in most soils, competition for iron via secreted siderophore molecules might influence microbial interaction outcomes. Here, we tested if bacterial interactions mediated by iron-scavenging siderophores can be used to predict the disease suppressiveness of microbial consortia against soilborne Ralstonia solanacearum, a bacterial pathogen in the tomato rhizosphere. Iron availability significantly affected the interactions within inoculated consortia and between the consortia and the pathogen. We observed contrasting effects of siderophores and other nonsiderophore metabolites on the pathogen growth, while the siderophore effects were relatively much stronger. Specifically, disease incidence was reduced in vivo when the inoculated consortia produced siderophores that the pathogen could not use for its own growth. Employing siderophore-mediated interactions to engineer functionally robust microbial inoculants shows promise in protecting plants from soilborne pathogens. IMPORTANCE Soil-borne pathogens cause high losses in crop yields globally. The development of environmentally friendly approaches is urgently needed, but is often constrained by complex interactions between root-associated microbes and pathogens. Here, we demonstrate that the interactions within microbial consortia mediated by iron-scavenging siderophores play an important role in reducing pathogen infection and enhancing plant health. This study provides a promising and novel research direction for dealing with a wide range of microbial infections through iron exploitation, which is important for the colonization and infection of both plant and human hosts by pathogens.
Foxi1, an important gene for hearing, kidney function and male fertility

5 LIST OF PUPLICATIONS 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS 8 INTRODUCTION 9 Inner Ear 9 Endolymph and the membranous labyrinth 10 Endolymphatic sac/duct epithelium 11 Pendred syndrome 11 The Kidney 12 Acid-base regulation in the kidney 12 Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) 14 Epididymis 15 Function of the epididymal epithelium 15 The forkhead family of transcription factors 17 Foxi1 18 Common factors of acid/base regulating cells in the inner ear, kidney and epididymis 18 Vacuolar H-ATPases 18 Pendrin (SLC26A4) 21 Anion exchanger AE1 (SLC4A1) 21 Carbonic Anhydrase type II (CAII) 22 AQP2 and AQP9 22 PRESENT INVESTIGATION 23 Aims 23 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 24 1. The importance of Foxi1 for hearing 24 Transcriptional Control of SLC26A4 Is Involved in Pendred Syndrome and Nonsyndromic Enlargement of Vestibular Aqueduct (DFNB4) (Paper I) 24 2. The importance of Foxi1 for kidney function 26 Distal renal tubular acidosis in mice that lack the forkhead transcription factor Foxi1 (Paper II) 26 3. The importance of Foxi1 for male fertility 29 Epididymal expression of the forkhead transcription factor Foxi1 is required for male fertility (Paper III) 29 4. The importance of Foxi1 for proton secretion in inner ear, kidney and epididymis 31 The forkhead transcription factor Foxi1 is a master regulator of vacuolar H-ATPase proton pump subunits in the inner ear, kidney and epididymis (Paper IV) 31 CONCLUSIONS AND CLOSING REMARKS 34 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 37 REFERENCES 39 Hilmar Vidarsson 2007
Interactions between increased intestinal viscosity, post-weaning colibacillosis and intestinal spirochaetosis in weaner pigs

Interactions between diet and enteric bacterial infections are complex and multifactorial. In production situations, more than one pathogen or disease may occur simultaneously. The intestinal environment in which pathogens proliferate can be altered by dietary manipulation and thereby can affect the outcome of disease (1). Post-weaning colibacillosis (PWC) affects newly-weaned pigs and is associated with excessive multiplication of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in the small intestine (2). Intestinal spirochaetosis (IS) is characterised by a mild typhylocolitis resulting from colonisation of the large intestine with the intestinal spirochaete Brachyspira pilosicoli (3). A previous study in weaner pigs found increased intestinal viscosity resulting from addition of carboxymethylcellulose to the diet may encourage intestinal proliferation of E. coli (4). There is also anecdotal evidence that pigs with PWC are then more commonly affected by IS. This study aimed to confirm the influence of viscosity on intestinal proliferation of E. coli, to investigate the influence of viscosity on proliferation of S. pilosicoli in the large intestine, and examine possible interactions between the two pathogens after weaning.
Dairy Fat and Cardiovascular Health

Current scientific evidence points to a neutral or positive effect of dairy fats intake on cardiovascular health. After years of controversy, with many guidelines recommending a reduced intake of dairy products, and preferably low or nonfat dairy foods, current knowledge points to the more appropriate recommendation of moderate consumption of full-fat dairy foods within a healthy lifestyle. Fermented dairy products seem to be the best option as a source of nutrients and cardiovascular health benefits. Previous recommendations were based on cholesterol, saturated fat, and caloric contents, in dairy fat, and their potential impact on serum cholesterol, fasting sugar levels, and blood pressure. However, experimental data point to a more complex scenario in which other actors may play major roles: calcium, bioactive lipids and peptides, and even the food-matrix effect from the dairy food side, and human genetics and environmental factors all impact dairy food-related health issues. Furthermore, cardiovascular health does not rely solely on serum cholesterol levels and blood pressure but also on inflammatory biomarkers. At present, little is known on the true mechanisms underlying the cardioprotective mechanism of dairy fats, and further research in needed to elucidate them.