Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends of Blood Cadmium Concentration among Workers and Non-Workers in the United States (NHANES 2003-2012).

OBJECTIVE We aimed to explore the trend of blood cadmium (bCd) concentrations among workers and non-workers in US. METHODS We used serial cross-sectional data from the NHANES (2003-2012), including 23,243 subjects aged 20 and above. We used linear regression to analyze the trends of bCd levels adjusting for demographic variables and smoking status, stratified by occupations. RESULTS The geometric mean of bCd levels was 0.362 μg/L. Only 0.21% had elevated bCd concentrations (≥ 5 μg/L). Women, older age, ethnic minorities, people of lower SES, current smokers, blue-collars, and non-workers tended to have higher bCd levels. The bCd concentrations were stable through years in workers (n = 12,787), but had a decline from 0.532 to 0.476 μg/L (p-trend = 0.006) in non-workers (n = 10,456). CONCLUSIONS Cd exposure in US has been controlled to a safe level. Special protective measures should be taken for the lower SES group and blue-collars.
Using Transcriptome Analysis to Screen for Key Genes and Pathways Related to Cytoplasmic Male Sterility in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is one of the most important cash crops worldwide. Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is an excellent breeding system for exploitation of heterosis, which has great potential to increase crop yields. To understand the molecular mechanism of CMS in cotton, we compared transcriptome, cytomorphological, physiological and bioinformatics data between the CMS line C2P5A and its maintainer line C2P5B. By using high-throughput sequencing technology, 178,166 transcripts were assembled and 2013 differentially expression genes (DEGs) were identified at three different stages of C2P5A anther development. In this study, we identified DEGs associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS), peroxisomes, aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH), cytochrome oxidase subunit VI, and cytochrome P450, and DEGs associated with tapetum development, Jojoba acyl-CoA reductase-related male sterility protein, basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) and MYB transcription factors. The abnormal expression of one of these genes may be responsible for the CMS C2P5A line. In gene ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment, DEGs were mainly related to carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, transport and catabolism, and signal transduction. Carbohydrate metabolism provides energy for anther development, starch and sucrose metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and metabolism and ascorbate and aldarate metabolism. These results showed that numerous genes and multiple complex metabolic pathways regulate cotton anther development. Weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) indicated that three modules, ‘turquoise,’ ‘blue,’ and ‘green,’ were specific for the CMS C2P5A line. The ‘turquoise’ and ‘blue’ modules were mainly related to carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, peroxisomes, pyruvate metabolism as well as fatty acid degradation. The ‘green’ module was mainly related to energy metabolism, carbon metabolism, translation, and lipid metabolism. RNA-sequencing and WGCNA polymerization modules were screened for key genes and pathways related to CMS in cotton. This study presents a new perspective for further research into the metabolic pathways of pollen abortion in the CMS C2P5A line and also provides a theoretical basis for its breeding and production.
Induction of CIRBP expression by cold shock on bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes.

The aim of this study was to induce the cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRBP) expression on cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) through exposure to a sub-lethal cold shock and determine the effects of hypothermic temperatures during the in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes. Nuclear maturation, cortical granule redistribution and identification of cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRBP) were assessed after 24 hr of in vitro maturation of control (38.5°C) and cold-stressed oocytes (33.5°C). The presence of CIRBP was assessed by Western blot in COCs or denuded oocytes and their respective cumulus cells. Based on the odds ratio, cold-stressed oocytes presented higher abnormal cytoplasmic distribution of cortical granules and nuclear maturation than the control group. Although CIRBP was detected in both control and cold-stressed groups, cold-stressed COCs had 2.17 times more expression of CIRBP than control COCs. However, when denuded oocytes and cumulus cells were assessed separately, CIRBP only was detected in cumulus cells in both groups. In conclusion, cold shock induced CIRBP expression, but it negatively affected nuclear maturation and cortical granule distribution of bovine oocytes. Moreover, the expression of CIRBP was only identified in cumulus cells but not in oocytes.
The Antitumor Effect of Lipophilic Bisphosphonate BPH1222 in Melanoma Models: The Role of the PI3K/Akt Pathway and the Small G Protein Rheb

Malignant melanoma is one of the most metastatic cancer types, and despite recent success with novel treatment strategies, there is still a group of patients who do not respond to any therapies. Earlier, the prenylation inhibitor hydrophilic bisphosphonate zoledronic acid (ZA) was found to inhibit melanoma growth in vitro, but only a weaker effect was observed in vivo due to its hydrophilic properties. Recently, lipophilic bisphosphonates (such as BPH1222) were developed. Accordingly, for the first time, we compared the effect of BPH1222 to ZA in eight melanoma lines using viability, cell-cycle, clonogenic and spheroid assays, videomicroscopy, immunoblot, and xenograft experiments. Based on 2D and spheroid assays, the majority of cell lines were more sensitive to BPH. The activation of Akt and S6 proteins, but not Erk, was inhibited by BPH. Additionally, BPH had a stronger apoptotic effect than ZA, and the changes of Rheb showed a correlation with apoptosis. In vitro, only M24met cells were more sensitive to ZA than to BPH; however, in vivo growth of M24met was inhibited more strongly by BPH. Here, we present that lipophilic BPH is more effective on melanoma cells than ZA and identify the PI3K pathway, particularly Rheb as an important mediator of growth inhibition.
Non-specific effects of MMR vaccines on infectious disease related hospitalizations during the second year of life in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Children who had received MMR as the most recent vaccine had a pooled 35% (95%CI: 12–53%) lower risk for hospitalization due to any infectious disease, compared to children who had received DTaP as the most recent vaccine (three studies, 1,919,192 children). The effect was stronger for respiratory tract infections than for gastrointestinal infections. Two studies investigated MMR alone, compared to concurrent administration of MMR and DTaP vaccines. Here, the pooled estimate for reduction in risk of hospitalization for any infectious disease was smaller and not significant (15%; 95%CI: −9% to 34%). Risk of bias was serious to critical in all studies. Moreover, two of the five studies demonstrated a significantly reduced risk for a control outcome (hospitalization for injuries), strongly indicating healthy vaccinee bias or residual confounding. The available evidence is insufficient to support a change in current vaccination schedules.
"Walkabout Together": A lifestyle intervention program developed for Townsville's overweight Indigenous people.

The lifestyle intervention program “Walkabout Together” was developed due to concerns within the Townsville Indigenous community that obesity and chronic illness such as diabetes and hypertension were disproportionately high. It was felt that the impact of these conditions could be attenuated through lifestyle modification such as increased physical activity and improved nutrition. With this aim, Townsville Aboriginal and Islanders Health Services (TAIHS) developed an integrated model for lifestyle intervention for overweight Indigenous adults. This involved a baseline assessment with general practitioner (GP) and program coordinator, recording blood sugar (BSL), cholesterol, glycosylated hemoglobin (HBA1c) and Haemoglobin; nutrition assessment, physical activity assessment, and a well-being survey. Patients returned for regular follow-ups with health workers, a GP, and a dietitian. At 12 months patients were reassessed as for baseline.
Inferring subgroup-specific driver genes from heterogeneous cancer samples via subspace learning with subgroup indication

MOTIVATION Detecting driver genes from gene mutation data is a fundamental task for tumorigenesis research. Due to the fact that cancer is a heterogeneous disease with various subgroups, subgroup specific driver genes are the key factors in the development of precision medicine for heterogeneous cancer. However, the existing driver gene detection methods are not designed to identify subgroup specificities of their detected driver genes, and therefore cannot indicate which group of patients are associated with the detected driver genes, which is difficult to provide specifically clinical guidance for individual patients. RESULTS By incorporating the subspace learning framework, we propose a novel bioinformatics method called DriverSub, which can efficiently predict subgroup specific driver genes in the situation where the subgroup annotations are not available. When evaluated by simulation datasets with known ground truth and compared with existing methods, DriverSub yields the best prediction of driver genes and the inference of their related subgroups. When we apply DriverSub on the mutation data of real heterogeneous cancers, we can observe that the predicted results of DriverSub are highly enriched for experimentally validated known driver genes. Moreover, the subgroups inferred by DriverSub are significantly associated with the annotated molecular subgroups, indicating its capability of predicting subgroup specific driver genes. AVAILABILITY The source code are publicly available at https://github.com/JianingXi/DriverSub. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Effects of the menstrual and oral contraceptive cycle phases on microvascular reperfusion

What is the central question of this study? What are the effects of the menstrual (early follicular and mid‐luteal) or monophasic oral contraceptive (inactive‐ and active‐pill) cycle phases on vascular reperfusion of lower limb microvasculature in healthy, active women using the near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) vascular occlusion test (VOT) technique? What is the main finding and its importance? We demonstrated that vascular responsiveness in the lower limb microvasculature remained unchanged between the early follicular and mid‐luteal phases of the menstrual cycle and inactive‐ and active‐pill phases of the oral contraceptive cycle. These data support that controlling for the cycle phases, within the specific times evaluated in this study, might not be necessary when assessing NIRS‐VOT reperfusion rates.
Soil hydrology drives ecological niche differentiation in a native prairie microbiome.

While the impacts of soil moisture on soil microbiome diversity and composition are well characterized, the influence of hydrological regime has been overlooked. As precipitation patterns are altered by climate change, understanding the impact of soil hydrology on community structure and function is critical. In this work, water level was continuously monitored for over a year in a Midwestern prairie-wetland at 10 cm depth increments up to a depth of 120 cm in 10 locations. We analyzed microbiome composition and edaphic factors in soil cores collected from this unique spatially distributed, longitudinal dataset. We demonstrate that fraction of time that each sample was inundated explains more variability in diversity and composition across this site than other commonly assessed edaphic factors, such as soil pH or depth. Lastly, we show that these compositional changes influence abundance of ammonia oxidizers. The observed patterns in community composition and diversity are fundamentally regulated by the interaction of water with a structured landscape, particularly an elevated sand ridge characterized by drier conditions and a lower-lying wetland with more clayey soils. Similar processes are generally expected to influence the biogeography of many terrestrial environments, as morphology, hydrology, and soil properties generally co-vary.
Expression of Neurotrophic Factors, Tight Junction Proteins, and Cytokines According to the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Subtype and Sex

Background/Aims Emerging evidence shows that the mechanism of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is associated with neurotrophic factors and tight junction proteins (TJPs). It is known that there are sex differences in the pathophysiology of IBS. The aim of the present study is to determine expression levels of neurotrophic factors, TJPs, and cytokines according to IBS subtype and sex. Methods From 59 IBS (33 IBS-constipation, 21 IBS-diarrhea, and 5 IBS-mixed) and 36 control patients, colonic mucosa mRNA expression levels of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1), nerve growth factor (NGF), glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and various TJPs were assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Western blot was performed to determine levels of zonular occludens-1 (ZO-1). Serum levels of cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results TRPV1, GDNF, and NGF mRNA levels were significantly increased in those with IBS-constipation compared to those in controls (all P < 0.05). However, they showed no significant difference between those with IBS-diarrhea and controls. Expression level of TRPV1 correlated with that of GDNF (r = 0.741, P < 0.001) and NGF (r = 0.935, P < 0.001). ZO-1 RNA expression levels were lower (P = 0.021) in female IBS-diarrhea than those in controls, although they showed no significant differences between male IBS-diarrhea and controls. Serum IL-1β levels in female IBS were significantly higher than those of male IBS, especially in IBS-constipation (P < 0.001). Conclusion Our results suggest that neurotrophic factors and IL-1β are closely related to IBS-constipation and that decrease of ZO-1 is an important factor in female with IBS-diarrhea.
Pancreatic beta-cell failure in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes

As the worldwide prevalence of type 2 diabetes continues to rise, there is mounting evidence that failure of the cells which make insulin – termed pancreatic beta (or β) cells, play a fundamental role at all stages in the pathogenesis. Beta-cell defects such as loss of the initial (first) phase of insulin secretion and inefficient insulin synthesis are seen years prior to the onset of type 2 diabetes. Later, it is the failure of beta cells to adequately respond to the demand for high insulin requirements that determines the onset of hyperglycaemia leading to the clinical diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. In this chapter, we will discuss the various proposed mechanisms of beta-cell failure in type 2 diabetes and address recent controversies in this field of research.
Decrease in CMPA's legal bills

I read with interest Patrick Sullivan's recent CMAJ article[1][1] describing the issues that were discussed at the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) in August. Sullivan reports, "By last year, legal bills had declined to $83 million. " I would like to point out that
Density-aware Joint Optimization of Cell Scheduling and User Association

In mobile networks, capacity can be increased by employing small cells. This approach enlarges network infrastructures and increases the amount of energy consumption. Moreover, traffic demands in a mobile network are not fixed in time or space, and they cannot be accurately predicted in advance. Therefore, network functions such as base station scheduling, cell zooming or user-to-base-station association need to be dynamically controlled to conserve more energy. Most of the related work in the literature consider these challenges separately. In this paper, we present a joint base station scheduling, zooming and user association technique to reduce energy consumption and to enhance the quality of service. The major contribution of this paper is reducing power consumption by turning off redundant base stations and adapting transmit power of active base stations to network condition while maintaining the quality of service experienced by users. We validated the proposed technique by using MATLAB optimization toolbox. In this work, we reduced energy consumption by 47% in comparison to an alternative solution.
On the production mechanisms of the singer’s formant

A small extra tube directly located above the glottis (laryngeal tube), which is about six times smaller in cross-sectional area than the pharyngeal-oral tube section and which has a length of about 1/6 of the overall length of the vocal tract tube seems to be responsible for producing a broad (hyper-)formant at about 3 kHz, called the singer’s formant. From an acoustic viewpoint the singer’s formant has been described as a clustering of the third, fourth and fifth formant. Using a computer simulation model for sound production, which includes a self-oscillating vocal fold model (source model), an acoustic wave propagation and radiation model (tube model or filter model) as well as source-filter interaction mechanisms it is possible to show that a further mechanism is responsible for increasing the amplitude of partials in the frequency region of 3 kHz. Our simulations indicate that in the case of normal to high subglottal pressure (normal speaking to loud singing voice) a specific source-filter interaction mechanism is an important contributor for increasing partials in the region of 2 kHz to 5 kHz.
Time-Course of Acute Exercise-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction

3 Background . 4 Endothelial Dysfunction . 6 Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS) . 7 Schematic 1.9 Oxidative Stress. 10 Schematic 2.12 SIRT1 . 13 Methods. 14 Results.17 Discussion.19 Figures. 25 Tables . 28 Figure Captions . 28 Appendix.31 References . 32
Design and Simulation of a Linear Adaptive System to Eliminate the Effect of Single-frequency Jammer in Warplane Data Link

In this study a two-stage linear adaptive filtering is designed in order to remove the single-frequency Jammer from the broadband message signal. The result of this suggested approach is a system that despite the Doppler Effect, obtains the unknown interference in inputs automatically and removes it. The design of the adaptive system is based on a version of the interference signal, in which an unknown amount of Doppler shift occurred. The proposed system is implemented based on NLMS two linear adaptive filtering due to the low complexity of NLMS algorithm on the one hand and the possibility of practical implementation on the other hand. Given the parameter μ indicates the step size of the algorithm implementation, is a key factor in signal estimation based on adaptive filter. In the first step, the NLMS algorithm with a large step size and a variable behavior over time is used to initial estimates of the interference signal. Afterwards, the NLMS algorithm with a small step size is used as an approximation of the Wiener filter to correct the reference signal amplitude and the phase shift. The simulation of the proposed interference removal system has been done for the broadband QPSK signal which is mixed with strong interferences. The results have demonstrated that the proposed system has improved the QPSK broadband message signal, which affected by the single-frequency jammer as a strong interference factor, by 60 dB in SJR. Thus, despite a strong interference, the proposed system illustrates significant improvements in signal detection (bit error).
eview lim by design : Menu strategies for promoting high-margin , ealthy foods

In a world of rising obesity, restaurants have become a regulatory target. One profitable but overlooked solution may be for restaurants to focus on menu engineering strategies that could increase sales of relatively healthier, high margin appetizers and entrées and help diners become slim by design. Recent onsumer behavior isual cues ealthier foods lab and field research in consumer psychology and behavioral economics offer promising solutions that responsible restaurants can use to profitably guide their customers to healthier decisions by using the three-step menu engineering process of (1) shifting attention, (2) enhancing taste expectations, and (3) increasing perception of value. A review of these studies provides key implications that can both increase the healthfulness of what customers order along with the profits of the restaurant. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Economic and Environmental Impacts of a Carbon Adder in New York

New York is considering additional emission regulation on top of its obligations under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to achieve its State Energy Plan targets. The proposed measure is a so-called “carbon adder” on CO2 emissions from the power sector which is set as the difference between the targeted social cost of carbon and the prevailing RGGI price for CO2 emission allowances. We investigate the potential economic and environmental impacts from the imposition of a carbon adder on New York’s power sector. While our analysis indicates the risk of excess cost through overlapping regulations, we find that the carbon adder gives the “right” price signal for New York’s power generation to turn into a greener one. Market requirements for permit price floors in the RGGI market induces carbon permit retirements across RGGI states leading to small reductions in regionand country-wide emissions levels. JEL classifications: D61, H21, H22, Q58
The Comparative Nature of Faith-Inspired Health Care Provision in Sub-Saharan Africa

This role of faith-inspired health care providers in sub-saharan Africa and public-private partnerships is comprised of a three volume series on strengthening the evidence for faith inspired engagement in health in sub-Saharan Africa. An increasing level of interest in the role of faith in development has generated much debate and dialogue at the international and national levels over the last decade. Despite difficulties in communication and differences in cultures within such debates, there has been a continued reaffirmation of the potential benefits that faith-inspired communities can bring towards efforts to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs), especially in the areas of health. This series focuses on assessing the role and market share of faith-inspired providers and on assessing the extent to which they are involved in and benefit from public-private partnerships. The purpose of this series is three HNP discussion papers is to round up various analytical perspectives and emerging research on faith engagement in health in Africa from a range of researchers and practitioners from the north as well as the south. The series is structured into three volumes: a first volume on the role and market share of faith-inspired providers and public-private partnerships, a second on satisfaction and the comparative nature of faith-inspired health provision, and the third on mapping of faith inspired provision and the extent to which faith-inspired providers reach to the poor.