Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PD1 protein expression in tumor infiltrated lymphocytes rather than PDL1 in tumor cells predicts survival in triple-negative breast cancer

ABSTRACT To determine PD1/PDL1 expression status in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) at both protein and mRNA levels, and to analyze the relationship between their expression and clinical parameters of the TNBC patients. Immunohistochemistry and RNAscope were used to semi quantitively evaluate PD1/PDL1 protein and mRNA expression in 195 TNBC cases on tissue microarrays. Tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TILs) abundance was assessed using hematoxylin-eosin staining. Both tumor cells and TILs expressed PDL1. PDL1 protein and mRNA positivity was 6.7% and 74.4% respectively in tumor cells, and 31.3% and 50.9% respectively in TILs. PDL1 protein and mRNA expressions had no significant association with patient prognosis. PD1 protein was only detected in TILs (70.3% positivity). PD1 protein expression was significantly related to PDL1 expression, higher TIL abundance, Ki-67 index, basal-like subtypes, and distant metastasis. Furthermore, it was significantly associated with longer disease free survival (P<0.001) and overall survival (P = 0.004). There was no significant association between PD1 mRNA expression and clinicopathological characteristics. PD1/PDL1 protein and mRNA expressions were inconsistent (kappa = 0.705 and 0.061, respectively). PD1 protein expression in TILs, but not PDL1 in tumor cells, was a favorable prognostic factor in TNBC. PD1/PDL1 mRNA and protein expressions were inconsistent.
The relation of trait and state mindfulness with satisfaction and physical activity: A cross-sectional study in 305 Dutch participants

Previous research has shown that satisfaction mediates the relationship of state mindfulness (i.e. during physical activity) with physical activity. This study aimed to replicate this finding and to explore the role of trait mindfulness with a cross-sectional design. In all, 305 participants completed measures on trait and state mindfulness, satisfaction with physical activity, and physical activity. Mediation analyses were used. Satisfaction mediated the effect of state mindfulness on physical activity. Trait mindfulness related to physical activity via an indirect path, namely through two consecutive mediators, first state mindfulness and then satisfaction. Our results suggest that to enhance satisfaction, both state and trait mindfulness should be considered.
Impact of point sources on antibiotic resistance genes in the natural environment: a systematic review of the evidence

Abstract There is a growing concern about the role of the environment in the dissemination of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARG). In this systematic review, we summarize evidence for increases of ARG in the natural environment associated with potential sources of ARB and ARG such as agricultural facilities and wastewater treatment plants. A total of 5247 citations were identified, including studies that ascertained both ARG and ARB outcomes. All studies were screened for relevance to the question and methodology. This paper summarizes the evidence only for those studies with ARG outcomes (n = 24). Sixteen studies were at high (n = 3) or at unclear (n = 13) risk of bias in the estimation of source effects due to lack of information or failure to control for confounders. Statistical methods were used in nine studies; three studies assessed the effect of multiple sources using modeling approaches, and none reported effect measures. Most studies reported higher ARG concentration downstream/near the source, but heterogeneous findings hindered making any sound conclusions. To quantify increases of ARG in the environment due to specific point sources, there is a need for studies that emphasize analytic or design control of confounding, and that provide effect measure estimates.
Patterns of treatment and costs associated with transfusion burden in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes

Abstract Transfusion dependence (TD) among myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients negatively impacts survival and health-related quality of life. We evaluated cost patterns of MDS care during TD and transfusion independence (TI). MDS patients were identified from a US claims database (2008–2013). TD was defined as ≥2 consecutive 8-week periods with ≥1 claim during each, and no interim 56-day period without transfusion; TI as 8 subsequent transfusion-free weeks; and transfusion frequency as the mean interval between transfusions during the TD period. 13,741 patients were included; 19% were TD and 70% had a mean interval between transfusions of ≤28 days. During a 2-year period, TD patients incurred a mean total cost of $17,815/patient-month; 53% higher for those with ≤28 days ($19,498) vs. >28 days ($12,717) between transfusions. Among patients who achieved TI, mean total cost was $7874/patient-month. For TD-MDS patients, cost increases are proportional to transfusion frequency and achieving TI yields economic benefits.
Histone H3K4 methylation regulates deactivation of the spindle assembly checkpoint through direct binding of Mad2

Schibler et al. show that both Set1 and H3K4 mutants display a benomyl resistance phenotype that requires components of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), including Bub3 and Mad2. Interactions between Mad2 and H3K4 regulate resolution of the SAC by limiting closed Mad2 availability for Cdc20 inhibition.
Experimental evaluation of forming limit diagram and mechanical properties of nano/ultra-fine grained aluminum strips fabricated by accumulative roll bonding

Abstract In this research, for the first time, forming limit diagrams (FLDs) of ultra-fine grained Al/Al samples produced by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process were evaluated. The samples were successfully prepared through ARB up to the 7th pass. Mechanical properties, tensile fracture surfaces, and crystallite size of samples were investigated. The level of the FLD and elongation at first decreased and then increased, continuously. The results of tensile testing revealed that by increasing the number of ARB passes, the tensile strength increased continuously. Microhardness of Al strips increased and reached a value of 51 VHN after the seventh pass. Results of X-ray diffraction demonstrated that crystallite size decreased from 1 341 nm for annealed condition and it reached to 175 nm for ARBed samples after the 7th pass. SEM images showed that the fracture mode in the ARBed samples was a shear ductile fracture with elongated sophomoric shear dimples.
Relationship with the deceased as facilitator of posttraumatic growth among suicide-loss survivors

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the role of ongoing relationships with the deceased in facilitating posttraumatic growth among suicide-loss survivors. The sample comprised 58 suicide-loss survivors, 48 sudden-death, and 53 natural-death bereaved individuals, who completed questionnaires assessing the two-track model of bereavement, grief, and growth-related characteristics. Suicide-loss survivors reported lower levels of positive relationships with the deceased than did the other groups. An interaction was found between relational-active grieving and type of death in predicting posttraumatic growth. The study concluded that intense grief along with preoccupation with the deceased lessened positive personal transformation, especially among those struggling with a loved one’s suicide.
Assisted reproductive technology has no association with autism spectrum disorders: The Taiwan Birth Cohort Study

The use of assisted reproduction technology has increased over the last two decades. Autism spectrum disorders and assisted reproduction technology share many risk factors. However, previous studies on the association between autism spectrum disorders and assisted reproduction technology have shown inconsistent results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in a national birth cohort database. Furthermore, the results from the assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder propensity score matching exact matched datasets were compared. For this study, the 6- and 66-month Taiwan Birth Cohort Study datasets were used (N = 20,095). In all, 744 families were propensity score matching exact matched and selected as the assisted reproduction technology sample (ratio of assisted reproduction technology to controls: 1:2) and 415 families as the autism spectrum disorder sample (ratio of autism spectrum disorder to controls: 1:4). Using a national birth cohort dataset, controlling for the confounding factors of assisted reproduction technology conception and autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, both assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder propensity score matching matched datasets showed the same results of no association between assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder. Further study on the detailed information regarding the processes and methods of assisted reproduction technology may provide us with more information on the association between assisted reproduction technology and autism spectrum disorder.
American Society of Clinical Oncology Multidisciplinary Cancer Management Course: Connecting Lives, Cancer Care, Education, and Compassion in Zimbabwe—A Pilot for Efforts of Sustainable Benefit?

The burden of cancer in low- to middle-income countries is growing and is expected to rise dramatically while resources to manage this disease remain inadequate. All authorities for the management of cancer recommend multidisciplinary care. Educational efforts by international organizations to assist local professionals in caring for their patients tend to have a lasting impact because they empower local professionals and enhance their skills. A multidisciplinary cancer management course was designed by American Society of Clinical Oncology staff and local experts to provide a roadmap for cross-specialty interaction and coordination of care in Zimbabwe. The outcome of the course was measured through feedback obtained from participants and impact on local workforce. The cancer management course was relevant to daily practice and fostered long-lasting partnerships and collaborations. Furthermore, it resulted in a more motivated local workforce and strengthened existing multidisciplinary practices. Cancer care is in a critical state in low- to middle-income countries. Educational efforts and collaborative partnerships may provide a cost-effective strategy with sustainable benefits. A multidisciplinary approach to optimize therapy is desirable. Evaluation of the course impact after a period of 6 months to 1 year is needed to determine the sustainability and impact of such efforts.
Research advances on structural characterization of resistant starch and its structure-physiological function relationship: A review

ABSTRACT Resistant starch (RS) is defined as the fraction of starch that escapes digestion in the small intestine due to either difficult enzyme/starch contact or to the strength of the crystalline regions formed both in native starch and in those retrograded starch. RS occurs naturally in some foods, and some may be generated in others as the results of several processing conditions. Varieties of techniques have been employed to obtain structural characteristics of RS such as their crystallinity, structural order, chain-length distribution and conformation, helicity, and double-helical structures. These structures play an important role in determining the physiological properties of RS such as their prebiotic and hypoglycaemic properties. However, such topic on structural characterization of RS and their structure-physiological function relationship have not been reviewed in previous literatures. Therefore, this review focuses on the past and current achievements of research on structural characterizations of a range of RS prepared from different sources of native starches as a result of a variety of processing conditions. The potential relationships between the structure and the physiological properties of RS, which is of paramount importance for the furtherance understanding and application of RS, are also reviewed in this study.
Growth Differentiation Factor 6 Promotes Vascular Stability by Restraining Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Signaling

Objective— The assembly of a functional vascular system requires a coordinated and dynamic transition from activation to maturation. High vascular endothelial growth factor activity promotes activation, including junction destabilization and cell motility. Maturation involves junctional stabilization and formation of a functional endothelial barrier. The identity and mechanism of action of prostabilization signals are still mostly unknown. Bone morphogenetic protein receptors and their ligands have important functions during embryonic vessel assembly and maturation. Previous work has suggested a role for growth differentiation factor 6 (GDF6; bone morphogenetic protein 13) in vascular integrity although GDF6’s mechanism of action was not clear. Therefore, we sought to further explore the requirement for GDF6 in vascular stabilization. Approach and Results— We investigated the role of GDF6 in promoting endothelial vascular integrity in vivo in zebrafish and in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells in vitro. We report that GDF6 promotes vascular integrity by counteracting vascular endothelial growth factor activity. GDF6-deficient endothelium has increased vascular endothelial growth factor signaling, increased vascular endothelial-cadherin Y658 phosphorylation, vascular endothelial-cadherin delocalization from cell–cell interfaces, and weakened endothelial cell adherence junctions that become prone to vascular leak. Conclusions— Our results suggest that GDF6 promotes vascular stabilization by restraining vascular endothelial growth factor signaling. Understanding how GDF6 affects vascular integrity may help to provide insights into hemorrhage and associated vascular pathologies in humans.
A brief motivational interviewing as an adjunct to periodontal therapy—A potential tool to reduce relapse in oral hygiene behaviours. A three‐year study

OBJECTIVES To evaluate (ii) whether inclusion of a single motivational interviewing (MI) session, as an adjunct to periodontal therapy, might be beneficial for preventing relapse in oral hygiene behaviours among patients treated for chronic periodontitis and (ii) whether individual and clinical characteristics can be of predictive value for retention of sufficient oral hygiene behaviours. MATERIAL & METHODS This 3-year follow-up of a previously reported randomized controlled trial (RCT) study of 6-month duration included 26 patients. Patients in the test group had received one MI session by a clinical psychologist before initiation of the periodontal treatment. Otherwise, all patients followed the same treatment protocol for conventional educational intervention and non-surgical periodontal therapy. Efficacy variables assessed for evaluation of the standard of self-performed periodontal infection control were marginal bleeding index (MBI; primary efficacy variable) and plaque score (PI). RESULTS The patterns of change in MBI and PI scores were similar for test and control groups over the observation period. At 3 years, both groups showed a desirable mean full-mouth MBI of 15%, a figure that was comparable to that at the short-term evaluation after active periodontal treatment. The post-treatment MBI was the only variable identified as a predictor of retained adequate oral hygiene behaviours. CONCLUSION A single MI session as an adjunct to conventional periodontal therapy could not be proven to be of long-term beneficial additive effect with regard to prevention of relapse in oral hygiene behaviour. Desirable standard of self-performed infection control after active periodontal treatment predicted the retention of sufficient oral hygiene behaviour over time.
The Transcription Factors COUP-TFI and COUP-TFII have Distinct Roles in Arealisation and GABAergic Interneuron Specification in the Early Human Fetal Telencephalon

Abstract In human telencephalon at 8–12 postconceptional weeks, ribonucleic acid quantitative sequencing and immunohistochemistry revealed cortical chicken ovalbumin upstream promotor-transcription factor 1 (COUP-TFI) expression in a high ventro-posterior to low anterior gradient except for raised immunoreactivity in the anterior ventral pallium. Unlike in mouse, COUP-TFI and SP8 were extensively co-expressed in dorsal sensory neocortex and dorsal hippocampus whereas COUPTFI/COUPTFII co-expression defined ventral temporal cortex and ventral hippocampus. In the ganglionic eminences (GEs) COUP-TFI immunoreactivity demarcated the proliferative zones of caudal GE (CGE), dorsal medial GE (MGE), MGE/lateral GE (LGE) boundary, and ventral LGE whereas COUP-TFII was limited to ventral CGE and the MGE/LGE boundary. Co-labeling with gamma amino butyric acidergic interneuron markers revealed that COUP-TFI was expressed in subpopulations of either MGE-derived (SOX6+) or CGE-derived (calretinin+/SP8+) interneurons. COUP-TFII was mainly confined to CGE-derived interneurons. Twice as many GAD67+ cortical cells co-labeled for COUP-TFI than for COUP-TFII. A fifth of COUP-TFI cells also co-expressed COUP-TFII, and cells expressing either transcription factor followed posterior or anterio-lateral pathways into the cortex, therefore, a segregation of migration pathways according to COUP-TF expression as proposed in mouse was not observed. In cultures differentiated from isolated human cortical progenitors, many cells expressed either COUP-TF and 30% also co-expressed GABA, however no cells expressed NKX2.1. This suggests interneurons could be generated intracortically from progenitors expressing either COUP-TF.
Alternative perspectives of safety in home delivered health care: a sequential exploratory mixed method study.

AIM The aim of this study was to discover and describe how patients, carers and case management nurses define safety and compare it to the traditional risk reduction and harm avoidance definition of safety. BACKGROUND Care services are increasingly being delivered in the home for patients with complex long-term conditions. However, the concept of safety remains largely unexplored. DEIGN A sequential, exploratory mixed method design. METHODS A qualitative case study of the UK National Health Service case management programme in the English UK National Health Service was deployed during 2012. Thirteen interviews were conducted with patients (n = 9) and carers (n = 6) and three focus groups with nurses (n = 17) from three community care providers. The qualitative element explored the definition of safety. Data were subjected to framework analysis and themes were identified by participant group. Sequentially, a cross-sectional survey was conducted during 2013 in a fourth community care provider (patient n = 35, carer n = 19, nurse n = 26) as a form of triangulation. FINDINGS Patients and carers describe safety differently to case management nurses, choosing to focus on meeting needs. They use more positive language and recognize the role they have in safety in home-delivered health care. In comparison, case management nurses described safety similarly to the definitions found in the literature. However, when offered the patient and carer definition of safety, they preferentially selected this definition to their own or the literature definition. CONCLUSION Patients and carers offer an alternative perspective on patient safety in home-delivered health care that identifies their role in ensuring safety and is more closely aligned with the empowerment philosophy of case management.
Modeling of Joule Heating Induced Effects in Multiwall Carbon Nanotube Interconnects

Electrothermal performance of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)-based interconnects has been studied under the influence of self-heating. The interlayer insulator is a low-k (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\varepsilon _{r}\sim 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) dielectric. Various geometries have been studied for the normal operation and breakdown conditions. Electrothermal coupled equations have been solved iteratively by solving Fourier heat diffusion equation with a finite-element method. Within the relaxation time approximation, mean free path of the electron has been calculated under different scattering mechanisms. Landauer–Büttiker formalism resistance has been used for calculating electrical resistance. Breakdown voltages for varying MWCNT lengths have been calculated and found to be higher in MWCNT with a shorter length. Breakdown voltage varies from 8.2 to 12 V for inner diameters 10–40 nm of 5-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> interconnect length and 50-nm outer diameter. Breakdown voltage decreases with the increase in the length of interconnect. For a 5-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> long interconnect, the breakdown voltage is nearly 8 V whereas for the same diameter <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> long interconnect it is nearly 22 V. Breakdown current density depends on the geometry<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\vphantom {_{\int }} $ </tex-math></inline-formula> of the MWCNT and is estimated on the order of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{8}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> A <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot $ </tex-math></inline-formula> cm<sup>−2</sup>.
Improved Transient Network Model for Wicked Heat Pipes

An existing transient network model for wicked heat pipes was extended to incorporate the effects of axial heat transfer along the wall and wick, heat transfer in the surrounding media, and non-condensable gases in the vapour region. The thermal resistance of the different components was broken down into a larger number of smaller resistances in both axial and radial directions to account for the axial conduction and to handle non-uniform boundary conditions. Two sets of experiments were performed on copper-water wicked heat pipes to evaluate the effect of non-condensable gases, axial conduction, surrounding media and non-uniform boundary conditions. In the first set of experiments, the heat pipes were electrically heated at one end and cooled on the other end using a water jacket. This set of experiments was used to investigate the effect of non-condensable gases, axial conduction and surrounding media on the steady state and transient performance. The effect of the surrounding media was investigated by heating the heat pipe through two different sized aluminum blocks mounted around the heat pipe evaporator section. In the second set of experiments, the effect of using a finned condenser on the steady state performance of the heat pipes were tested in a wind tunnel. The condenser section of the heat pipes in this case was mounted in the test section of the wind tunnel and cooled at different air velocities. Three fin densities were tested along with a heat pipe with no fins. The model predictions of the steady and transient response of the vapour and wall temperature of the heat pipes were in good agreement with the experimental results. The presence of non-condensable gases inside the heat pipe increased the overall thermal resistance of the heat pipe. While the non-condensable gases did not notably affect the transient response during the heat-up phase, it significantly slows down the cool-down phase. The axial conduction through the pipe wall and the wick structure decreases the overall thermal resistance of the heat pipe. The axial conduction did not have a great influence on the time response during the heat-up phase, but wa& very important in the cool-down phase, especially with the presence of non-condensable