Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease.

OBJECTIVE To describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Jordanian patients with chronic illnesses towards prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease. BACKGROUND Patients with chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes need to adopt healthy attitudes and practices and gain knowledge regarding prevention and early detection of kidney disease to decrease the prevalence of dialysis-related complications and costs. METHODS A total of 740 patients were recruited from out-patients clinics in Jordan. Knowledge, attitudes and practices about kidney disease prevention and early detection were measured using the Chronic Kidney Disease Screening Index which was developed by the researcher and tested for validity and reliability. RESULTS The results revealed that most of the participants have knowledge about kidney disease; however, half of them had wrong information related to signs and symptoms of chronic kidney disease. The majority of the participants were not aware about the importance of discovering health problems at early stages. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS Improvement in population understanding about chronic kidney disease is needed to advance their awareness and practices to make appropriate decisions towards health promotion and better quality of life. IMPLICATION FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT Nurses need to be involved in development of protocols for screening and intervention programmes, taking into consideration the cultural issues and the financial status of individuals at risk for kidney disease. Governments should adopt a public health policy for chronic kidney disease that supports programmes for screening and programmes for improving public awareness for kidney disease prevention.
Silencing of ALA dehydratase affects ALA-photodynamic therapy efficacy in K562 erythroleukemic cells

Synthesis of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) by malignant cells is essential for the success of ALA-based photodynamic therapy (PDT). Two key enzymes that were described as affecting PpIX accumulation during ALA treatment are porphobilinogen deaminase (PBGD) and ferrochelatase. Here, we show that down regulation of ALA dehydratase (ALAD) expression and activity by specific shRNA induced a marked decrease in PpIX synthesis in K562 erythroleukemic cells. Photo-inactivation efficacy following ALA-PDT was directly correlated with ALAD-silencing and cellular levels of PpIX. MTT metabolism following ALA-PDT was shown to be 60% higher in ALAD-silenced cells in comparison to control cells, indicating that mitochondria were protected in the silenced cells. Morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of cells treated by ALA-PDT showed no morphological changes in ALAD-silenced cells, in contrast to controls exhibiting cell deformations and lysis. Membrane integrity following ALA-PDT was kept intact and undamaged in ALAD-silenced cells as examined by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining and LDH-L leakage. We conclude that ALAD, although it is present in the cell at abundant levels, has a major and limiting role in regulating PpIX synthesis and ALA-PDT outcome.
Void growth in shear

The growth of an isolated void is analysed for a void contained in a block of material undergoing simple shearing combined with superimposed hydrostatic tension. The evolution of the size, shape and orientation of two- and three-dimensional voids in an incompressible, linearly viscous solid is first discussed. The main problem addressed is the behaviour of a two-dimensional cylindrical void in an incompressible, nonlinearly viscous solid for which the strain rate varies as the stress to a power. The growth rate of the void and its shape evolution are strong functions of the degree of material nonlinearity. Relatively simple approximate formulas are obtained for the dilatation rate of a circular void as well as for the void potential. The constitutive relation of a block of material containing a dilute distribution of circular cylindrical voids is obtained directly using the isolated void potential. The paper concludes with a summary of available results for the dilatation rates of voids and cracks under combinations of shear and hydrostatic tension.
Telomere length and reactive oxygen species levels are positively associated with a high risk of mortality and recurrence in hepatocellular carcinoma

Telomeres protect chromosomal ends from deterioration and have been shown to be susceptible to shortening by reactive oxygen species (ROS)‐induced damage. ROS levels increase during the progression from early to advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). An independent study found that the telomeres in most HCC tissues lengthened during carcinogenic advancement. Activated telomerase has been hypothesized to elongate telomeres during the progression of malignant HCC, but it remains unclear which signaling pathway is necessary for telomerase activation in HCC. Here, we showed using cell lines derived from human HCC that H2O2, which is a major component of ROS in living organisms, elongates telomeres by increasing telomerase activity through protein kinase B (AKT) activation. The AKT inhibitor, perifosine, decreased telomere length, cellular viability, and H2O2‐mediated migration and invasion capacity in HCC cells while also inhibiting AKT activation, telomere maintenance, and tumor growth in nude mice. Advanced HCC tissues showed a positive correlation among ROS levels, phosphorylated AKT (pAKT) levels, and telomere length. Furthermore, patients with HCC tumors that have high ROS levels and long telomeres displayed poorer survival rates. These data demonstrate the significant utilities of ROS levels, pAKT levels, and telomere length for predicting a poor prognosis in patients with HCC. Taken together, AKT activation could be essential for telomere maintenance in advanced HCC tumors as well as being an important contributor to malignant HCC progression. Conclusion: We showed that H2O2 contributes to telomere elongation through AKT activation in advanced HCC, suggesting that an AKT inhibitor such as perifosine may be useful for treating patients with malignant HCC. (Hepatology 2018;67:1378‐1391).
Targeting the multidrug transporter Patched potentiates chemotherapy efficiency on adrenocortical carcinoma in vitro and in vivo

One of the crucial challenges in the clinical management of cancer is the resistance to chemotherapeutics. We recently demonstrated that the Hedgehog receptor Patched, which is overexpressed in many recurrent and metastatic cancers, is a multidrug transporter for chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin. The present work provides evidences that Patched is expressed in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) patients, and is a major player of the doxorubicin efflux and the doxorubicin resistance in the human ACC cell line H295R. We discovered that methiothepin inhibits the doxorubicin efflux activity of Patched. This drug‐like molecule enhances the cytotoxic, pro‐apoptotic, antiproliferative and anticlonogenic effects of doxorubicin on ACC cells which endogenously overexpress Patched, and thereby mitigates the resistance of these cancer cells to doxorubicin. Moreover, we report that in mice the combination of methiothepin with doxorubicin prevents the development of xenografted ACC tumors more efficiently than doxorubicin alone by enhancing the accumulation of doxorubicin specifically in tumors without obvious undesirable side effects. Our results suggest that the use of an inhibitor of Patched drug efflux such as methiothepin in combination with doxorubicin could be a promising therapeutic option for adrenocortical carcinoma, and most likely also for other Patched‐expressing cancers.
Peripheral vision can influence eye growth and refractive development in infant monkeys.

PURPOSE Given the prominence of central vision in humans, it has been assumed that visual signals from the fovea dominate emmetropization. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of peripheral vision on emmetropization. METHODS Bilateral, peripheral form deprivation was produced in 12 infant monkeys by rearing them with diffusers that had either 4- or 8-mm apertures centered on the pupils of each eye, to allow 24 degrees or 37 degrees of unrestricted central vision, respectively. At the end of the lens-rearing period, an argon laser was used to ablate the fovea in one eye of each of seven monkeys. Subsequently, all the animals were allowed unrestricted vision. Refractive error and axial dimensions were measured along the pupillary axis by retinoscopy and A-scan ultrasonography, respectively. Control data were obtained from 21 normal monkeys and 3 infants reared with binocular plano lenses. RESULTS Nine of the 12 treated monkeys had refractive errors that fell outside the 10th- and 90th-percentile limits for the age-matched control subjects, and the average refractive error for the treated animals was more variable and significantly less hyperopic/more myopic (+0.03 +/- 2.39 D vs. +2.39 +/- 0.92 D). The refractive changes were symmetric in the two eyes of a given animal and axial in nature. After lens removal, all the treated monkeys recovered from the induced refractive errors. No interocular differences in the recovery process were observed in the animals with monocular foveal lesions. CONCLUSIONS On the one hand, the peripheral retina can contribute to emmetropizing responses and to ametropias produced by an abnormal visual experience. On the other hand, unrestricted central vision is not sufficient to ensure normal refractive development, and the fovea is not essential for emmetropizing responses.
Peculiar combinations of individually non-pathogenic missense mitochondrial DNA variants cause low penetrance Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy

We here report on the existence of Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) associated with peculiar combinations of individually non-pathogenic missense mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variants, affecting the MT-ND4, MT-ND4L and MT-ND6 subunit genes of Complex I. The pathogenic potential of these mtDNA haplotypes is supported by multiple evidences: first, the LHON phenotype is strictly inherited along the maternal line in one very large family; second, the combinations of mtDNA variants are unique to the two maternal lineages that are characterized by recurrence of LHON; third, the Complex I-dependent respiratory and oxidative phosphorylation defect is co-transferred from the proband’s fibroblasts into the cybrid cell model. Finally, all but one of these missense mtDNA variants cluster along the same predicted fourth E-channel deputed to proton translocation within the transmembrane domain of Complex I, involving the ND1, ND4L and ND6 subunits. Hence, the definition of the pathogenic role of a specific mtDNA mutation becomes blurrier than ever and only an accurate evaluation of mitogenome sequence variation data from the general population, combined with functional analyses using the cybrid cell model, may lead to final validation. Our study conclusively shows that even in the absence of a clearly established LHON primary mutation, unprecedented combinations of missense mtDNA variants, individually known as polymorphisms, may lead to reduced OXPHOS efficiency sufficient to trigger LHON. In this context, we introduce a new diagnostic perspective that implies the complete sequence analysis of mitogenomes in LHON as mandatory gold standard diagnostic approach.
On Rational Delegations in Liquid Democracy

Liquid democracy is a proxy voting method where proxies are delegable. We propose and study a game-theoretic model of liquid democracy to address the following question: when is it rational for a voter to delegate her vote? We study the existence of pure-strategy Nash equilibria in this model, and how group accuracy is affected by them. We complement these theoretical results by means of agent-based simulations to study the effects of delegations on group’s accuracy on variously structured social networks.
Sexual orientation disclosure in health care: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND Significant health disparities between sexual minority individuals (that is, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender [LGBT]) and heterosexual individuals have been demonstrated. AIM To understand the barriers and facilitators to sexual orientation (SO) disclosure experienced by LGBT adults in healthcare settings. DESIGN AND SETTING Mixed methods systematic review, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods papers following PRISMA guidelines. METHOD Study quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) and a qualitative synthesis was performed. Studies were included if their participants were aged ≥18 years who either identified as LGBT, had a same-sex sexual relationship, or were attracted to a member of the same sex. RESULTS The review included 31 studies representing 2442 participants. Four overarching themes were identified as barriers or facilitators to SO disclosure: the moment of disclosure, the expected outcome of disclosure, the healthcare professional, and the environment or setting of disclosure. The most prominent themes were the perceived relevance of SO to care, the communication skills and language used by healthcare professionals, and the fear of poor treatment or reaction to disclosure. CONCLUSION The facilitators and barriers to SO disclosure by LGBT individuals are widespread but most were modifiable and could therefore be targeted to improve healthcare professionals' awareness of their patients' SO. Healthcare professionals should be aware of the broad range of factors that influence SO disclosure and the potential disadvantageous effects of non-disclosure on care. The environment in which patients are seen should be welcoming of different SOs as well as ensuring that healthcare professionals' communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal, are accepting and inclusive.
GATA6‐positive lung adenocarcinomas are associated with invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma morphology, hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α expression, and KRAS mutations

GATA6 is known to play a role in lung development. However, its role in the carcinogenesis of lung cancer is not well studied. The aim of this study was to analyse GATA6 expression in lung adenocarcinomas (LAs) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in order to define its association with clinicopathological characteristics.
Comparison of Whole Body SOD1 Knockout with Muscle-Specific SOD1 Knockout Mice Reveals a Role for Nerve Redox Signaling in Regulation of Degenerative Pathways in Skeletal Muscle.

AIMS Lack of Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) in homozygous knockout mice (Sod1-/-) leads to accelerated age-related muscle loss and weakness, but specific deletion of CuZnSOD in skeletal muscle (mSod1KO mice) or neurons (nSod1KO mice) resulted in only mild muscle functional deficits and failed to recapitulate the loss of mass and function observed in Sod1-/- mice. To dissect any underlying cross-talk between motor neurons and skeletal muscle in the degeneration in Sod1-/- mice, we characterized neuromuscular changes in the Sod1-/- model compared with mSod1KO mice and examined degenerative molecular mechanisms and pathways in peripheral nerve and skeletal muscle. RESULTS In contrast to mSod1KO mice, myofiber atrophy in Sod1-/- mice was associated with increased muscle oxidative damage, neuromuscular junction degeneration, denervation, nerve demyelination, and upregulation of proteins involved in maintenance of myelin sheaths. Proteomic analyses confirmed increased proteasomal activity and adaptive stress responses in muscle of Sod1-/- mice that were absent in mSod1KO mice. Peripheral nerve from neither Sod1-/- nor mSod1KO mice showed increased oxidative damage or molecular responses to increased oxidation compared with wild type mice. Differential cysteine (Cys) labeling revealed a specific redox shift in the catalytic Cys residue of peroxiredoxin 6 (Cys47) in the peripheral nerve from Sod1-/- mice. Innovation and Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that neuromuscular integrity, redox mechanisms, and pathways are differentially altered in nerve and muscle of Sod1-/- and mSod1KO mice. Results support the concept that impaired redox signaling, rather than oxidative damage, in peripheral nerve plays a key role in muscle loss in Sod1-/- mice and potentially sarcopenia during aging. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 28, 275-295.
Novel afferent terminal structure in the crista ampullaris of the goldfish, Carassius auratus

Using transmission electron microscopy, we have identified a new type of afferent terminal structure in the crista ampullaris of the goldfish Carassius auratus. In addition to the bouton‐type afferent terminals previously described in the ear of this species, the crista also contained enlarged afferent terminals that enveloped a portion of the basolateral hair cell membrane. The hair cell membrane was evaginated and protruded into the afferent terminal in a glove‐and‐finger configuration. The membranes of the two cells were regularly aligned in the protruded region of the contact and had a distinct symmetrical electron density. The electron‐dense profiles of these contacts were easily identified and were present in every crista sampled. In some cases, efferent terminals synapsed onto the afferents at a point where the hair cell protruded into the terminal.
Concerted action of IFN-α and IFN-λ induces local NK cell immunity and halts cancer growth

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most prevalent type of liver cancer. No significant improvement has been reported with currently available systemic therapies. IFN-α has been tested in both clinic and animal models and only moderate benefits have been observed. In animal models, similar modest antitumor efficacy has also been reported for IFN-λ, a new type of IFN that acts through its own receptor complex. In the present study, the antitumor efficacy of the combination of IFN-α and IFN-λ was tested in the BNL mouse hepatoma model. This study was accomplished by using either engineered tumor cells (IFN-α/IFN-λ gene therapy) or by directly injecting tumor-bearing mice with IFN-α/IFN-λ. Both approaches demonstrated that IFN-α/IFN-λ combination therapy was more efficacious than IFN monotherapy based on either IFN-α or IFN-λ. In complement to tumor surgery, IFN-α/IFN-λ combination induced complete tumor remission. Highest antitumor efficacy has been obtained following local administration of IFN-α/IFN-λ combination at the tumor site that was associated with strong NK cells tumor infiltration. This supports the use of IFN-α/IFN-λ combination as a new cancer immunotherapy for stimulating antitumor response after cancer surgery.
Prison Inmates’ Suicidal Ideation in China: A Study of Gender Differences and Their Impact

Suicide is one of the leading causes of inmate death, and many studies have explored suicidal risks among inmates in Western countries. Such studies, however, have been extremely rare in China. Because of China’s unique cultural and social conditions, suicide displays many distinctive features and one of them is the greater percentage of women (than men) who commit suicide. With data collected from three adult prisons in China, this study tests gender differences on prison inmates’ suicidal risk factors and explores the correlation of gender’s impact with other factors. Findings show that male and female inmates present distinctive patterns of suicidal ideation, although gender fails to exert a significant direct impact on the outcome. The results call for different approaches and treatments toward both gender groups for suicide prevention in Chinese correctional facilities.
Subthalamic nucleus stimulation restores corticospinal facilitation in Parkinson's disease

We have previously shown that in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), high‐frequency stimulation (HFS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) modifies spinal excitability via subcortical reticulospinal routes. To investigate whether STN‐HFS also modifies spinal excitability via transcortical routes in PD, 10 patients with PD (9 men, 1 woman; 58.3 ± 8.3 years) were investigated in the medical OFF‐state with or without STN‐HFS. The H‐reflex of the right soleus muscle was recorded during slight plantar flexion at 20% of maximum force. A conditioning transcranial stimulus was applied at 95% of active motor threshold to the contralateral primary motor leg area (M1) 0–5 ms after eliciting the H‐reflex. The same paradigm was applied to 8 healthy individuals (5 men, 3 women; 50.8 ± 3.0 years). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) facilitated the H‐reflex amplitude in healthy controls. A facilitatory effect of the corticospinal input on the H‐reflex was also found in patients with PD, but only with STN‐HFS switched on. When STN‐HFS was discontinued, the H‐reflex was no longer facilitated by the TMS pulse. Accordingly, analysis of variance showed a main effect of stimulation (F = 11.15; P = 0.005), ISI (F = 6.1; P = 0.003), and an interaction between stimulation and group (PD vs. control) (F = 8.9; P = 0.01). STN‐HFS restores the normal facilitatory drive of a transcranially evoked motor cortical response to the spinal motoneuron pool. In addition to subcortical routes, STN‐DBS also alters spinal excitability via transcortical pathways. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society.
Selecting Interorganizational Standards - A Management Cybernetics Perspective

Interorganizational Standards (IOS) are a key-lever to digitizing business relationships within value creating networks. They provide assistance in bridging organizational borders by providing standard processes and semantics. Various IOS have been developed for supporting complex, partly domain dependent communication scenarios. Only little academic work analyzes the process of selecting a specific standard (set) out of several sufficient and therefore “rival” candidates in situations of specifying a technological infrastructure for exchange. We argue that selecting a specific standard is a profound decision problem. This research contributes to this decision problem. First, by reflecting the academic field of Management Cybernetics we illustrate how this theoretical lens helps us to understand the nature of business relationships. Based on our findings we elaborate propositions that inform the standard selection. Second, this work may inspire researchers by the way propositions are utilized in design-oriented IS research by both guiding the actual design process and serving as profound reference in artifact evaluation.