Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teleexercise for Persons With Spinal Cord Injury: A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Case Series

Background Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in significant loss of function below the level of injury, often leading to restricted participation in community exercise programs. To overcome commonly experienced barriers to these programs, innovations in technology hold promise for remotely delivering safe and effective bouts of exercise in the home. Objective To test the feasibility of a remotely delivered home exercise program for individuals with SCI as determined by (1) implementation of the intervention in the home; (2) exploration of the potential intervention effects on aerobic fitness, physical activity behavior, and subjective well-being; and (3) acceptability of the program through participant self-report. Methods Four adults with SCI (mean age 43.5 [SD 5.3] years; 3 males, 1 female; postinjury 25.8 [SD 4.3] years) completed a mixed-methods sequential design with two phases: an 8-week intervention followed by a 3-week nonintervention period. The intervention was a remotely delivered aerobic exercise training program (30-45 minutes, 3 times per week). Instrumentation included an upper body ergometer, tablet, physiological monitor, and custom application that delivered video feed to a remote trainer and monitored and recorded exercise data in real time. Implementation outcomes included adherence, rescheduled sessions, minutes of moderate exercise, and successful recording of exercise data. Pre/post-outcomes included aerobic capacity (VO2 peak), the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities (PASIPD), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Quality of Life Index modified for spinal cord injury (QLI-SCI). Acceptability was determined by participant perceptions of the program features and impact, assessed via qualitative interview at the end of the nonintervention phase. Results Participants completed all 24 intervention sessions with 100% adherence. Out of 96 scheduled training sessions for the four participants, only 8 (8%) were makeup sessions. The teleexercise system successfully recorded 85% of all exercise data. The exercise program was well tolerated by all participants. All participants described positive outcomes as a result of the intervention and stated that teleexercise circumvented commonly reported barriers to exercise participation. There were no reported adverse events and no dropouts. Conclusion A teleexercise system can be a safe and feasible option to deliver home-based exercise for persons with SCI. Participants responded favorably to the intervention and valued teleexercise for its ability to overcome common barriers to exercise. Study results are promising but warrant further investigation in a larger sample.
A multi-dimensional stability model for predicting shallow 1 landslide size and shape across landscapes 2

16 The size of a shallow landslide is a fundamental control on both its hazard and geomorphic 17 importance. Existing models are either unable to predict landslide size or are computationally intensive such 18 that they cannot practically be applied across landscapes. We derive a model appropriate for natural slopes 19 that is capable of predicting shallow landslide size but simple enough to be applied over entire watersheds. It 20 accounts for lateral resistance by representing the forces acting on each margin of potential landslides using 21 earth pressure theory, and by representing root reinforcement as an exponential function of soil depth. We 22 test our model’s ability to predict failure of an observed landslide where the relevant parameters are well 23 constrained by field data. The model predicts failure for the observed scar geometry and finds that larger or 24 smaller conformal shapes are more stable. Numerical experiments demonstrate that friction on the 25 boundaries of a potential landslide increases considerably the magnitude of lateral reinforcement, relative to 26 that due to root cohesion alone. We find that there is a critical depth in both cohesive and cohesionless soils, 27 resulting in a minimum size for failure, which is consistent with observed size frequency distributions. 28 Furthermore, the differential resistance on the boundaries of a potential landslide is responsible for a critical 29 landslide shape which is longer than it is wide, consistent with observed aspect ratios. Finally, our results 30 show that minimum size increases as approximately the square of failure surface depth, consistent with 31 observed landslide depth-area data. 32
Design and fabrication of scaffold-based tissue engineering

Abstract Scaffold-based tissue engineering approaches have been under investigation for more than 30 years now and many different techniques have been developed in order to engineer various tissues of the body. Some of them have been translated from bench to bedside, yet many are still under intensive examination. Biodegradable scaffolds applied in tissue engineering aim to temporarily substitute for the extracellular matrix and its complex biological functions during the regeneration and/or remodelling period, and are subsequently degraded and replaced by new tissue. We herein discuss how knowledge from developmental biology and collective tissue healing biology can be applied to optimise the design of scaffolds that promote fundamental steps in tissue regeneration by creating a suitable microenvironment. The review focuses on the design and fabrication of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, yet also highlights general considerations which apply to scaffolds used in any tissue engineering strategy. We then turn to scaffold manufacturing where a plethora of design and fabrication technologies have been applied to process biomaterials into scaffolds for bone tissue engineering and other applications. Each manufacturing technology has its advantages and disadvantages from a processing, material science and biological point of view. We herein review several additive manufacturing technologies, which in the authors’ opinion currently are most relevant for scaffold-based bone tissue engineering. We also provide a future outlook on Image-guided Tissue Engineering, Additive Tissue Manufacturing and Guided Tissue Regeneration with respect to tissue engineering in general and bone tissue engineering in particular.
Pyrazinamide Induced Rat Cholestatic Liver Injury through Inhibition of FXR Regulatory Effect on Bile Acid Synthesis and Transport.

Pyrazinamide (PZA) is an indispensable first-line drug used for the treatment of tuberculosis which may cause serious hepatotoxicity; however, the mechanisms underlying these toxicities are poorly understood. Cholestasis plays an important role in drug-induced liver injury. Since there were no previous published works reported cholestasis and PZA hepatotoxicity relationship, this study aimed to identify whether PZA can induce liver injury with characterized evidences of cholestasis and to clarify expression changes of proteins related to both bile acid synthesis and transport in PZA-induced liver injury. PZA (2 g/kg) was administered for 7 consecutive days by oral gavage. Results showed there were 2-fold elevation in both ALT and AST serum levels in PZA-treated rats. In addition, a 10-fold increment in serum total bile acid was observed after PZA administration. The mRNA and protein expressions of bile acid synthesis and transport parameters were markedly altered, in which FXR, Bsep, Mrp2, Mdr2, Ostα/β, Oatp1a1, Oatp1b2, and Cyp8b1 were decreased (P < .05), while Mrp3, Ntcp, Oatp1a4, and Cyp7a1 were increased (P < .05). Moreover, treatment with the FXR agonist obeticholic acid (OCA) generated obvious reductions in serum ALT, AST, and TBA levels in PZA-treated rats. Those effects were due to transcriptional regulation of pre-mentioned target genes by OCA. Taken together, these results suggested that PZA-induced cholestatic liver injury was related to FXR inhibition, leading to the dysfunction in bile acid synthesis and transport.
Tumor necrosis factor alpha is a promising circulating biomarker for the development of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a meta-analysis

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a chronic inflammatory disorder. The relationship between tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and OSAS has been widely evaluated, but the results thus far remain inconclusive. We thereby decided to quantify the changes of TNF-alpha between OSAS patients and controls by a meta-analysis. This study complies with the MOOSE guidelines. Two reviewers independently searched articles and abstracted relevant data. In total, 47 articles (59 studies) were analyzed, including 2857 OSAS patients and 2115 controls. Overall, OSAS patients had a significantly higher level of circulating TNF-alpha than controls (weighted mean difference [WMD]: 9.66 pg/mL, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.66 to 11.24, P<0.001), but with significant heterogeneity (I2: 99.7%). After adjusting for potential missing studies, the overall estimate was weakened but still significant (filled WMD: 2.63 pg/mL, 95% CI: 2.56 to 2.70, P<0.001). When studies were stratified by OSAS severity, the changes in circulating TNF-alpha between patients and controls increased gradually with the more severe grades of OSAS. In patients with mild, mild-to-moderate, moderate, moderate-to-severe and severe OSAS, circulating TNF-alpha was higher than respective controls by 0.99, 1.48. 7.79, 10.08 and 8.85 pg/mL, with significant heterogeneity (I2: 91.2%, 74.5%, 97.6%, 99.0% and 98.1%). In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that circulating TNF-alpha was significantly higher in OSAS patients than in controls, and this difference became more pronounced with the more severe grades of OSAS, indicating that TNF-alpha might be a promising circulating biomarker for the development of OSAS.
Sleep to Lower Elevated Blood Pressure: A Randomized Controlled Trial (SLEPT)

BACKGROUND Impaired sleep quality is common and associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), thought to be mediated through adverse effects on established vascular risk factors, particularly hypertension. We determined if a web-delivered sleep intervention (sleep-hygiene education, stimulus control, and cognitive behavioral therapy) reduces blood pressure compared to vascular risk factor education (standard care) alone. METHODS Phase II randomized, blinded, controlled trial of 134 participants without CVD with mild sleep impairment and blood pressure 130-160/<110 mm Hg. The primary outcome was the difference in the mean change in 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP) over 8 weeks between intervention and control groups. Secondary outcomes included measures of sleep quality and psychosocial health, namely Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). RESULTS Participants in the sleep intervention group showed significantly greater improvements in sleep quality, including ISI [difference in mean improvement 2.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.3-4.4], PSQI (1.1; 95% CI, 0.1-2.2), sleep condition indicator (0.8; 95% CI, 0.2-1.4), and psychosocial health, including BDI (2.0; 95% CI, 0.3-3.7) and BAI (1.4; 95% CI, 0.02-2.8). The mean improvement in 24-hour ambulatory SBP did not differ between the sleep intervention (0.9 mm Hg) and control (0.8 mm Hg) arms, (difference in mean improvement 0.1; 95% CI, -3.4 to 3.2). CONCLUSION A simple, low-cost, web-delivered sleep intervention is feasible and significantly improves sleep quality and measures of psychosocial health in individuals with mild sleep impairment but does not result in short-term improvements in blood pressure.
EGCG ameliorates high‐fat– and high‐fructose‐induced cognitive defects by regulating the IRS/AKT and ERK/CREB/BDNF signaling pathways in the CNS

Obesity, which is caused by an energy imbalance between calorie intake and consumption, has become a major international health burden. Obesity increases the risk of insulin resistance and age‐related cognitive decline, accompanied by peripheral inflammation. (—)‐Epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG), the major polyphenol in green tea, possesses antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and cardioprotective activities; however, few reports have focused on its potential effect on cognitive disorders. In this study, our goal was to investigate the protective effects of EGCG treatment on insulin resistance and memory impairment induced by a high‐fat and high‐fructose diet (HFFD). We randomly assigned 3‐mo‐old C57BL/6J mice to 3 groups with different diets: control group, HFFD group, and HFFD plus EGCG group. Memory loss was assessed by using the Morris water maze test, during which EGCG was observed to prevent HFFD‐elicited memory impairment and neuronal loss. Consistent with these results, EGCG attenuated HFFD‐induced neuronal damage. Of note, EGCG significantly ameliorated insulin resistance and cognitive disorder by up‐regulating the insulin receptor substrate‐1 (IRS‐1)/AKT and ERK/cAMP response element binding protein (CREB)/brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling pathways. Long‐term HFFD‐triggered neuroinflammation was restored by EGCG supplementation by inhibiting the MAPK and NF‐κB pathways, as well as the expression of inflammatory mediators, such as TNF‐α. EGCG also reversed high glucose and glucosamine‐induced insulin resistance in SH‐SY5Y neuronal cells by improving the oxidized cellular status and mitochondrial function. To our knowledge, this study is the first to provide compelling evidence that the nutritional compound EGCG has the potential to ameliorate HFFD‐triggered learning and memory loss. —Mi, Y. , Qi, G. , Fan, R. , Qiao, Q. , Sun, Y. , Gao, Y. , Liu, X. EGCG ameliorates high‐fat– and high‐fructose‐induced cognitive defects by regulating the IRS/AKT and ERK/CREB/BDNF signaling pathways in the CNS. FASEB J. 31, 4998–5011 (2017). www.fasebj. org
Pro-atrial natriuretic peptide and prediction of atrial fibrillation and stroke: The Malmö Preventive Project

Background The increasing prevalence of atrial fibrillation and novel therapeutic tools to prevent cardioembolic stroke has increased the need for risk markers. Objectives This study explored the relationship between the midregional sequence of pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) levels with the risk of atrial fibrillation and stroke, and whether measurement of MR-proANP improves the prediction of these outcomes. Methods MR-proANP was measured in fasting blood samples of 5130 subjects (69% men, mean age 69.2 ± 6.2 years) without a history of atrial fibrillation or stroke from the general population. The incidence of atrial fibrillation and stroke was monitored over a median follow-up of 5.6 years. C-statistics and net reclassification improvement was used to assess the predictive ability of MR-proANP in addition to conventional risk factors. Results Log-normalized MR-proANP was significantly associated with the incidence of atrial fibrillation (n = 362; hazard ratio (HR); 95% confidence interval (CI) per 1 standard deviation (SD) 2.05, 1.86–2.27) and stroke from all causes (n = 195; HR 1.30; 95% CI 1.12–1.50). The HR for stroke events related to atrial fibrillation was 1.79 (95% CI 1.25–2.58) per 1 SD. MR-proANP significantly improved the prediction of atrial fibrillation when added to a risk score of conventional risk factors (C statistic 0.69 vs. 0.75), mainly by down-classifying subjects who did not develop atrial fibrillation. A smaller improvement in predictive ability was observed for stroke (C statistic 0.66 vs. 0.68). Conclusion High plasma levels of MR-proANP are associated with the incidence of atrial fibrillation and stroke in the middle-aged and elderly population. MR-proANP may be useful to identify individuals with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation.
Patient portals and personal health information online: perception, access, and use by US adults

Background: Access to online patient portals is key to improving care, but we have limited understanding of patient perceptions of online portals and the characteristics of people who use them. Methods: Using a national survey of 3677 respondents, we describe perceptions and utilization of online personal health information (PHI) portals. Results: Most respondents (92%) considered online PHI access important, yet only 34% were offered access to online PHI by a health care provider, and just 28% accessed online PHI in the past year. While there were no differences across race or ethnicity in importance of access, black and Hispanic respondents were significantly less likely to be offered access (P = .006 and <.001, respectively) and less likely to access their online PHI (P = .041 and <.001, respectively) compared to white and non-Hispanic respondents. Conclusion: Health care providers are crucial to the adoption and use of online patient portals and should be encouraged to offer consistent access regardless of patient race and ethnicity.
Linearity Evaluation and Variable Subset Partition Based Hierarchical Process Modeling and Monitoring

Complex industrial processes may be formulated with hybrid correlations, indicating that linear and nonlinear relationships simultaneously exist among process variables, which brings great challenges for process monitoring. However, previous work did not consider the hybrid correlations and treated all the variables as a single subject in which single linear or nonlinear analysis method was employed based on prior process knowledge or some evaluation results, which may degrade the model accuracy and monitoring performance. Therefore, for complex processes with hybrid correlations, this paper proposes a linearity evaluation and variable subset partition based hierarchical modeling and monitoring method. First, linear variable subsets are separated from nonlinear subsets through an iterative variable correlation evaluation procedure. Second, hierarchical models are developed to capture linear patterns and nonlinear patterns in different levels. Third, a hierarchical monitoring strategy is proposed to monitor linear feature and nonlinear feature separately. By separating and modeling different types of variable correlations, the proposed method can explore more accurate process characteristics and thus improve the fault detection ability. Numerical examples and industrial applications are presented to illustrate its efficiency.
BmILF and i-motif structure are involved in transcriptional regulation of BmPOUM2 in Bombyx mori

Abstract Guanine-rich and cytosine-rich DNA can form four-stranded DNA secondary structures called G-quadruplex (G4) and i-motif, respectively. These structures widely exist in genomes and play important roles in transcription, replication, translation and protection of telomeres. In this study, G4 and i-motif structures were identified in the promoter of the transcription factor gene BmPOUM2, which regulates the expression of the wing disc cuticle protein gene (BmWCP4) during metamorphosis. Disruption of the i-motif structure by base mutation, anti-sense oligonucleotides (ASOs) or inhibitory ligands resulted in significant decrease in the activity of the BmPOUM2 promoter. A novel i-motif binding protein (BmILF) was identified by pull-down experiment. BmILF specifically bound to the i-motif and activated the transcription of BmPOUM2. The promoter activity of BmPOUM2 was enhanced when BmILF was over-expressed and decreased when BmILF was knocked-down by RNA interference. This study for the first time demonstrated that BmILF and the i-motif structure participated in the regulation of gene transcription in insect metamorphosis and provides new insights into the molecular mechanism of the secondary structures in epigenetic regulation of gene transcription.
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing the Effects of 2 Analgesic Drug Protocols in Patients who Received 5 Dental Implants

Purpose: This randomized controlled trial compares postoperative pain and swelling after placing dental implants in patients treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) versus NSAIDs and corticosteroids. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients received 5 dental implants each in the interforaminal region of the mandible. All patients were treated with ketorolac tromethamine 10 mg, 2 tablets daily for 2 days and amoxicillin 500 mg, 3 tablets daily for 7 days starting 24 hours before surgery. Experimental patients received an im injection of betamethasone 2 mL within 10 hours after surgery. Pain perception, intraoral inflammation (InIn), and extraoral inflammation (ExIn) data were collected 3, 7, and 14 days after surgery. Patients filled out a pain visual analog scale. InIn and ExIn were recorded by observing the existence of 7 signs. Results: One patient was excluded from control group. Pain perception, InIn, and ExIn were not different between groups at each time point. However, these variables were different from the previous time point within each group. Conclusion: This study suggests that there is no difference in managing postoperative pain and swelling with betamethasone versus betamethasone and ketorolac.
Not Missing the Future: A Call to Action for Investigating the Role of Regenerative Medicine Therapies in Pediatric/Adolescent Sports Injuries

In August 2016, a group including sport medicine clinicians, researchers, and a bioethicist met in Vail, Colorado to discuss regenerative medicine and its potential role in youth sports injuries. There was consensus that a call to action is urgently needed to understand the current evidence base, the risks and rewards, and future directions of research and clinical practice for regenerative medicine therapies in youth sports. We present here a summary of our meeting, which was supported by the National Youth Sports Health and Safety Institute (NYSHSI), a partnership between the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and Sanford Health. The group’s goal is to educate practitioners and the public, and to pioneer a means of accumulating meaningful clinical data on regenerative medicine therapies in pediatric and adolescent athletes.
Flow Cytometry: An Overview

Flow cytometry is a technology that provides rapid multi‐parametric analysis of single cells in solution. Flow cytometers utilize lasers as light sources to produce both scattered and fluorescent light signals that are read by detectors such as photodiodes or photomultiplier tubes. These light signals are converted into electronic signals that are analyzed by a computer and written to a standardized format (.fcs) data file. Cell populations can be analyzed and/or purified based on their fluorescent or light scattering characteristics. A variety of fluorescent reagents are utilized in flow cytometry. These include fluorescently conjugated antibodies, nucleic acid binding dyes, viability dyes, ion indicator dyes, and fluorescent expression proteins. Flow cytometry is a powerful tool that has applications in immunology, molecular biology, bacteriology, virology, cancer biology, and infectious disease monitoring. It has seen dramatic advances over the last 30 years, allowing unprecedented detail in studies of the immune system and other areas of cell biology. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.