Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Age, waist circumference, and blood pressure are associated with skin microvascular flow motion: The Maastricht Study

Objective: Skin microvascular flow motion (SMF) – blood flow fluctuation attributed to the rhythmic contraction and dilation of arterioles – is thought to be an important component of the microcirculation, by ensuring optimal delivery of nutrients and oxygen to tissue and regulating local hydraulic resistance. There is some evidence that SMF is altered in obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Nevertheless, most studies of SMF have been conducted in highly selected patient groups, and evidence how SMF relates to other cardiovascular risk factors is scarce. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine in a population-based setting which cardiovascular risk factors are associated with SMF. Methods: We measured SMF in 506 participants of the Maastricht Study without prior cardiovascular event. SMF was investigated using Fourier transform analysis of skin laser Doppler flowmetry at rest within five frequency intervals in the 0.01–1.6-Hz spectral range. The associations with SMF of the cardiovascular risk factors age, sex, waist circumference, total-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, 24-h SBP, and cigarette smoking were analysed by use of multiple linear regression analysis. Results: Per 1 SD higher age, waist circumference and 24-h SBP, SMF was 0.16 SD higher [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.07, 0.25; P < 0.001), −0.14 SD lower (95% CI −0.25, −0.04; P = 0.01), and 0.16 SD higher (95% CI 0.07, 0.26; P < 0.001), respectively, in fully adjusted analyses. We found no significant associations of sex, fasting plasma glucose levels, total-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, or pack years of smoking with SMF. Conclusion: Age and 24-h SBP are directly, and waist circumference is inversely associated with SMF in the general population. The exact mechanisms underlying these findings remain elusive. We hypothesize that flow motion may be an important component of the microcirculation by ensuring optimal delivery of nutrients and oxygen to tissue and regulating local hydraulic resistance not only under physiological conditions but also under pathophysiological conditions when microcirculatory perfusion is reduced, such as occurs with ageing and higher blood pressure. In addition, obesity may result in an impaired flow motion with negative effects on the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to tissue and local hydraulic resistance.
Increases in Plasma Carotenoid Concentrations in Response to a Major Dietary Change in the Women's Healthy Eating and Living Study

Background: Cohort studies suggest that higher circulating carotenoid concentrations through food sources may reduce breast cancer events. Other intervention studies have not achieved the level of change in circulating carotenoids required to properly test this hypothesis. Methods: In a randomized trial of 2,922 breast cancer survivors, we examined blood and self-reported diet at baseline and 1 year. Intensive telephone counseling encouraged a plant-based diet in the intervention group. Diet was measured via 24-hour recalls, and a panel of plasma carotenoid concentrations was assessed at both time points. Results: The study intervention was associated with a 51% increase in total carotenoid concentration, from 2.272 ± 1.294 to 3.440 ± 2.320 μmol/L, achieved mainly by marked increases in targeted carotenoids: α-carotene, β-carotene, and lutein. For each of these targeted carotenoids, the proportion of the intervention sample remaining below the cutpoint for the lowest baseline quartile decreased by one third to one half. After 1 year of study, half of the intervention group was in the highest baseline quartile. No change in distribution was observed in comparison group. Intervention participants achieved this change by both dietary pattern and vegetable juice consumption. Participants who chose to change dietary pattern without consuming significant quantities of vegetable juice achieved 75% of the level of change observed in other intervention participants. Conclusions: Innovative telephone counseling intervention and dietary targets in the Women's Healthy Eating and Living study were associated with the level of change in circulating carotenoid concentration necessary to test the diet and breast cancer hypothesis suggested by cohort studies. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(10):1886–92)
trans-Activation of PPARalpha and PPARgamma by structurally diverse environmental chemicals.

A large number of industrial chemicals and environmental pollutants, including trichloroethylene (TCE), di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and various phenoxyacetic acid herbicides, are nongenotoxic rodent hepatocarcinogens whose human health risk is uncertain. Rodent model studies have identified the receptor involved in the hepatotoxic and hepatocarcinogenic actions of these chemicals as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha), a nuclear receptor that is highly expressed in liver. Humans exhibit a weak response to these peroxisome proliferator chemicals, which in part results from the relatively low level of PPARalpha expression in human liver. Cell transfection studies were carried out to investigate the interactions of peroxisome proliferator chemicals with PPARalpha, cloned from human and mouse, and with PPARgamma, a PPAR isoform that is highly expressed in multiple human tissues and is an important regulator of physiological processes such as adipogenesis and hematopoiesis. With three environmental chemicals, TCE, perchloroethylene, and DEHP, PPARalpha was found to be activated by metabolites, but not by the parent chemical. A decreased sensitivity of human PPARalpha compared to mouse PPARalpha to trans-activation was observed with some (Wy-14, 643, PFOA), but not other, peroxisome proliferators (TCE metabolites, trichloroacetate and dichloroacetate; and DEHP metabolites, mono[2-ethylhexyl]phthalate and 2-ethylhexanoic acid). Investigation of human and mouse PPARgamma revealed the transcriptional activity of this receptor to be stimulated by mono(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, a DEHP metabolite that induces developmental and reproductive organ toxicities in rodents. This finding suggests that PPARgamma, which is highly expressed in human adipose tissue, where many lipophilic foreign chemicals tend to accumulate, as well as in colon, heart, liver, testis, spleen, and hematopoietic cells, may be a heretofore unrecognized target in human cells for a subset of industrial and environmental chemicals of the peroxisome proliferator class.
Building Statewide Infrastructure for Effective Educational Services for Students With TBI: Promising Practices and Recommendations

Objective:To identify promising practices in educational service delivery. Methods:Consensus-building process with a multidisciplinary group of researchers, policy makers, and state Department of Education personnel. Results:This white paper presents the group's consensus on the essential components of a statewide educational infrastructure to support students with traumatic brain injury across the spectrum of injury severity: (a) identification, screening, and assessment practices; (b) systematic communication between medical and educational systems; (c) tracking of child's progress over time; and (d) professional development for school personnel. The white paper also presents key outcomes for measuring success and provides recommendations both for policy change and for furthering research in childhood brain injury.
CAESAR: A criticality-aware ECDSA signature verification scheme with Markov model

Intelligent transport systems (ITS) facilitate road traffic by periodically exchanging messages with neighbouring vehicles, road side units (RSUs) and ITS stations. For security reasons these messages will be encapsulated with security credentials to form secured messages (SMs) and will be inoperative until the authentication completes. This creates a challenge in a dynamic and dense road network where many SMs are awaiting authentication. To address this problem, we propose CAESAR, a criticality-aware Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) signature verification scheme that utilizes multi-level priority queues (MLPQs) and Markov model to dispatch and schedule SMs. Simulation results verify the accuracy of CAESAR and the enhancements in terms of several safety awareness metrics compared with the existing schemes.
Efficient Computation of the Impedance Matrix of Magnetic Field Integral Equation for Polyhedral Conductors

The vertical improper integral method is used to formulate a polyhedral magnetic field integral equation, which can decrease the number of singular integrals compared with the traditional magnetic field integral equation. Each element in the impedance matrix resulted from the equation's moment method solution based on Rao-Wilton-Glisson basis function is divided into two parts: the induced surface current part and the scattered field part. We obtain the analytical expressions of the induced surface current part through mathematical manipulations, and indicate that some of the integrals in the scattered field part are zero and the remaining nonzero integrals are nonsingular. These results can greatly improve the efficiency of the numerical solution. Numerical results show that our new method is more accurate and efficient than the traditional method in computing the impedance matrices.
EEG-based usability assessment of 3D shutter glasses

Objective. Neurotechnology can contribute to the usability assessment of products by providing objective measures of neural workload and can uncover usability impediments that are not consciously perceived by test persons. In this study, the neural processing effort imposed on the viewer of 3D television by shutter glasses was quantified as a function of shutter frequency. In particular, we sought to determine the critical shutter frequency at which the ‘neural flicker’ vanishes, such that visual fatigue due to this additional neural effort can be prevented by increasing the frequency of the system. Approach. Twenty-three participants viewed an image through 3D shutter glasses, while multichannel electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. In total ten shutter frequencies were employed, selected individually for each participant to cover the range below, at and above the threshold of flicker perception. The source of the neural flicker correlate was extracted using independent component analysis and the flicker impact on the visual cortex was quantified by decoding the state of the shutter from the EEG. Main Result. Effects of the shutter glasses were traced in the EEG up to around 67 Hz—about 20 Hz over the flicker perception threshold—and vanished at the subsequent frequency level of 77 Hz. Significance. The impact of the shutter glasses on the visual cortex can be detected by neurotechnology even when a flicker is not reported by the participants. Potential impact. Increasing the shutter frequency from the usual 50 Hz or 60 Hz to 77 Hz reduces the risk of visual fatigue and thus improves shutter-glass-based 3D usability.
Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α–Dependent Protection from Intestinal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury Involves Ecto-5′-Nucleotidase (CD73) and the A2B Adenosine Receptor

Intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IR) is characterized by intermittent loss of perfusion to the gut, resulting in dramatic increases in morbidity and mortality. Based on previous studies indicating an anti-inflammatory role for hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1–elicited enhancement of extracellular adenosine production via ecto-5′-nucleotidase (CD73) and signaling through the A2B adenosine receptor (A2BAR), we targeted HIF-1 during IR using pharmacological or genetic approaches. Initial studies with pharmacological HIF activation indicated attenuation of intestinal injury with dimethyloxallyl glycine (DMOG) treatment during murine IR. Although DMOG treatment was associated with induction of CD73 transcript and protein, DMOG protection was abolished in cd73−/− mice. Similarly, DMOG treatment enhanced A2BAR transcript and protein levels, whereas DMOG protection was abolished in A2BAR−/− mice. Finally, studies of mice with conditional HIF-1α deletion in intestinal epithelia or pharmacological inhibition of HIF-1 with 17-(dimethylaminoethylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin revealed enhanced tissue injury during IR. These studies indicated a tissue-protective role of HIF-dependent enhancement of intestinal adenosine generation and signaling during intestinal IR.
Expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR3 in human renal allografts--a prospective study.

BACKGROUND Mechanisms involved in the recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells during renal allograft injury are still incompletely understood. Since chemokines play pivotal roles in this process, our prospective study was performed to evaluate further the role of the chemokine receptor CXCR3. METHODS A total of 138 biopsies were included from patients without rejection and unaltered morphology (according to Banff 97 classification grade 1, n = 49), with acute interstitial rejection (Banff grade 4 type I, n = 8), with acute vascular rejection (Banff grade 4 type II, n = 23), with chronic allograft nephropathy (Banff grade 5, n = 16), without rejection but with various other lesions (Banff grade 6, n = 36) and from pre-transplant kidneys (n = 6). The expression of CXCR3-, CD4- and CD8-positive cells was localized by immunohistochemistry and quantified by image analysis. RESULTS CXCR3 was expressed by infiltrating inflammatory cells, but not by intrinsic renal structures. CXCR3-positive cells were found to be involved in tubulitis and vascular rejection. The area of CXCR3-positive staining was significantly larger in biopsies with acute interstitial rejection (P<0.001) and acute vascular rejection (P<0.001) as compared with normal renal graft biopsies. There was a strong morphological and numerical correlation between CXCR3 and both CD4- and CD8-positive T cells, respectively. CONCLUSIONS A significant part of both CD4- and CD8-positive T cells express the chemokine receptor CXCR3. During renal allograft rejection, the number of these cells increases significantly at the site of injury and might be targeted by CXCR3 blocking agents.
Insufficient Statin Therapy in Coronary Heart Disease Is Related to the Time of the Last Coronary Angiography

Transfer of current treatment guidelines for high blood cholesterol into clinical practice, especially under timely consideration of the last coronary angiography (CA), remains unclear. We therefore tested the efficiency of statin treatment in 209 patients with coronary heart disease and allocated them according to the time of the last CA in 2 groups (≤ />12 months). Median low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) of the study population was 117 mg/dL. Whereas 81% of the patients with CA ≤12 months received statins, application rate dropped to 67% in patients with angiograms >12 months (P < 0.05). Comparison of the median ratio of the applied statin dose to its equivalent dose demonstrated a higher therapy intensity in patients with recent CA (1.0 vs. 0.5; P < 0.05). Therefore, patients with CA ≤12 months had lower median LDL-C levels (102 vs. 121 mg/dL; P < 0.001) and were more likely to have LDL-C levels <100 mg/dL (40% vs. 19%; P < 0.01). The results of our study show that in patients with coronary heart disease, application and dose rates of statins are inversely related to the time of the last CA.
Supernova Olivine from Cometary Dust

An interplanetary dust particle contains a submicrometer crystalline silicate aggregate of probable supernova origin. The grain has a pronounced enrichment in 18O/16O (13 times the solar value) and depletions in 17O/16O (one-third solar) and 29Si/28Si (<0.8 times solar), indicative of formation from a type II supernova. The aggregate contains olivine (forsterite 83) grains <100 nanometers in size, with microstructures that are consistent with minimal thermal alteration. This unusually iron-rich olivine grain could have formed by equilibrium condensation from cooling supernova ejecta if several different nucleosynthetic zones mixed in the proper proportions. The supernova grain is also partially encased in nitrogen-15-rich organic matter that likely formed in a presolar cold molecular cloud.
Residues that influence in vivo and in vitro CbbR function in Rhodobacter sphaeroides and identification of a specific region critical for co‐inducer recognition

CbbR is a LysR‐type transcriptional regulator (LTTR) that is required to activate transcription of the cbb operons, responsible for CO2 fixation, in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. LTTR proteins often require a co‐inducer to regulate transcription. Previous studies suggested that ribulose 1,5‐bisphosphate (RuBP) is a positive effector for CbbR function in this organism. In the current study, RuBP was found to increase the electrophoretic mobility of the CbbR/cbbI promoter complex. To define and analyse the co‐inducer recognition region of CbbR, constitutively active mutant CbbR proteins were isolated. Under growth conditions that normally maintain transcriptionally inactive cbb operons, the mutant CbbR proteins activated transcription. Fourteen of the constitutively active mutants resulted from a single amino acid substitution. One mutant was derived from amino acid substitutions at two separate residues that appeared to act synergistically. Different mutant proteins showed both sensitivity and insensitivity to RuBP and residues that conferred constitutive transcriptional activity could be highlighted on a three‐dimensional model, with several residues unique to CbbR shown to be at locations critical to LTTR function. Many of the constitutive residues clustered in or near two specific loops in the LTTR tertiary structure, corresponding to a proposed site of co‐inducer binding.
The influence of various substances on the biomechanical behavior of lamina cribrosa and peripapillary sclera.

PURPOSE Changes in the biomechanical properties of the lamina cribrosa (LC) and of the peripapillary sclera (ppSc) may play a role in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of glyceraldehyde, methylglyoxal, and collagenase A on the mechanical properties of the LC and ppSc. METHODS Two strips of 1-mm width were cut from each of 80 porcine eyes and 24 pairs of enucleated human eyes. One strip contained the LC and the other the adjacent superior ppSc. One half of the strips was divided into groups and treated with 0.5 M glyceraldehyde, 0.5 M methylglyoxal, and 0.1% collagenase A. The other strips served as the control. The stress strain relation was measured in the stress range of 0.02 to 6.0 MPa by a biomaterial tester. RESULTS Stress values at 20% strain of the human LC changed from 1.97 +/- 1.48 to 3.40 +/- 1.60 MPa after incubation with glyceraldehyde (P = 0.029), from 2.42 +/- 2.22 to 5.46 +/- 1.91 MPa (P = 0.014) after incubation with methylglyoxal, and from 2.43 +/- 1.3 to 1.35 +/- 0.19 MPa after incubation with collagenase A. The stress values of human ppSc without glyceraldehyde were 3.40 +/- 2.59 and 7.45 +/- 4.46 MPa after incubation with glyceraldehyde (P = 0.047), 4.80 +/- 3.05 MPa without methylglyoxal and 16.10 +/- 5.53 MPa (P = 0.001) after incubation with methylglyoxal, 4.14 +/- 2.56 MPa without collagenase A, and 1.97 +/- 0.55 MPa after incubation with collagenase A. At a 20% strain, Young's moduli of the untreated LC were in the range of E = 11.8 to 15.6 MPa and E = 28.5 to 36.0 MPa of the untreated ppSc. CONCLUSIONS Glyceraldehyde and methylglyoxal increase the stiffness of the LC and of the ppSc in human and in porcine eyes. These substances induce changes in the extracellular matrix according to the Maillard reaction as it occurs during the ageing process or in case of high blood glucose levels. Collagenase reduces the stiffness of the tissues.
A qualitative study of lay beliefs about influenza immunisation in older people.

BACKGROUND Although influenza immunisation is now recommended for all people aged 65 years and over in the UK, many people in that age group still remain unimmunised. AIM To investigate lay beliefs about influenza and influenza vaccine in older people to identify appropriate ways of promoting vaccine uptake. DESIGN Qualitative study using narrative interviews. SETTING Urban and rural communities in South Wales. METHOD Participants were 54 people aged 65 years and over who were interviewed in their own home. Of these, 11 were regularly immunised, 18 had consistently refused immunisation (refusers), 15 had defaulted (defaulters), five had never been offered immunisation, and five had recently been immunised for the first time. RESULTS There was an overwhelming consensus among immunised and unimmunised individuals that they were not at risk from influenza. Even if they did catch influenza, they would not suffer from any serious consequences. Refusers and defaulters were more likely to believe that the influenza vaccine had serious side-effects, while the regularly immunised group were more likely to perceive the vaccine as effective. Multiple prompts from family, friends, or primary care staff were important triggers for receiving immunisation. CONCLUSION Many older people did not feel vulnerable to influenza, regardless of their age, and this influenced their views on the need for immunisation. Both refusers and defaulters overstated adverse effects from influenza vaccine so this is a potential target for an intervention. Individual prompts, particularly from GPs, seemed to be the most significant motivators to attend for immunisation.
Sleeping sickness in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia. A preliminary report of the 1982 outbreak at Kasyasya village.

Sleeping sickness (SS) in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia is widespread but generally sporadic and of low prevalence. Between March and June 1982 eleven SS cases were reported from Kasyasya village, a community of about 75 people in 12 households. Transmission most likely occurred in two periods between November 1981 and April 1982, when people were living in three groups of small farming homesteads adjacent to their fields and to woodland . Their main village was deserted for the duration of the cultivation season. The high incidence of SS at Kasyasya , particularly amongst adult females of one homestead , suggested that transmission occurred close to or within areas of habitation. Intimate contact between man, fly and the unknown reservoir was also indicated by the finding of only two, almost identical, T. rhodesiense zymodemes amongst Kasyasya cases. The zymodemes differed only by a single band in one enzyme (ALAT) of the twelve examined by starch-gel isoenzyme electrophoresis. There was no evidence for cyclical man-fly-man transmission, but mechanical transmission and single-fly transmission of a mature infection to several people may have occurred. Game animals feeding close to the homesteads were the most likely, but unproven, sources of the outbreak.