Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of C-phycocyanin and Spirulina on Salicylate-Induced Tinnitus, Expression of NMDA Receptor and Inflammatory Genes

Effects of C-phycocyanin (C-PC), the active component of Spirulina platensis water extract on the expressions of N-methyl D-aspartate receptor subunit 2B (NR2B), tumor necrosis factor–α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and cyclooxygenase type 2 (COX-2) genes in the cochlea and inferior colliculus (IC) of mice were evaluated after tinnitus was induced by intraperitoneal injection of salicylate. The results showed that 4-day salicylate treatment (unlike 4-day saline treatment) caused a significant increase in NR2B, TNF-α, and IL-1β mRNAs expression in the cochlea and IC. On the other hand, dietary supplementation with C-PC or Spirulina platensis water extract significantly reduced the salicylate-induced tinnitus and down-regulated the mRNAs expression of NR2B, TNF-α, IL-1β mRNAs, and COX-2 genes in the cochlea and IC of mice. The changes of protein expression levels were generally correlated with those of mRNAs expression levels in the IC for above genes.
Can a Chatbot Determine My Diet?: Addressing Challenges of Chatbot Application for Meal Recommendation

Poor nutrition can lead to reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease, impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity. A conversational agent can support people as a virtual coach, however building such systems still have its associated challenges and limitations. This paper describes the background and motivation for chatbot systems in the context of healthy nutrition recommendation. We discuss current challenges associated with chatbot application, we tackled technical, theoretical, behavioural, and social aspects of the challenges. We then propose a pipeline to be used as guidelines by developers to implement theoretically and technically robust chatbot systems.
Outbreak of CTX-M-15-Producing Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli O159:H20 in the Republic of Korea in 2016

ABSTRACT We investigated an outbreak of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) O159:H20 associated with the consumption of a tossed-noodle dish in a high school in 2016. Thirty-three ETEC strains isolated from clinical and food samples were genetically indistinguishable. The outbreak strains were resistant to third-generation cephalosporins and harbored a blaCTX-M-15 gene on a 97-kb self-transferable IncK plasmid. This is the first outbreak caused by CTX-M-15-producing ETEC strains.
Cognitive Training Interventions for Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND Cognitive training (CT) refers to guided cognitive exercises designed to improve specific cognitive functions, as well as enhance performance in untrained cognitive tasks. Positive effects of CT on cognitive functions in healthy elderly people and persons with mild cognitive impairment have been reported, but data regarding the effects of CT in patients with dementia is unclear. OBJECTIVE We systematically reviewed the current evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to find out if CT improves or stabilizes cognition and/or everyday functioning in patients with mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease. RESULTS Altogether, 31 RCTs with CT as either the primary intervention or part of a broader cognitive or multi-component intervention were found. A positive effect was reported in 24 trials, mainly on global cognition and training-specific tasks, particularly when more intensive or more specific CT programs were used. Little evidence of improved everyday functioning was found. CONCLUSIONS Despite some positive findings, the inaccurate definitions of CT, inadequate sample sizes, unclear randomization methods, incomplete datasets at follow-up and multiple testing may have inflated the results in many trials. Future high quality RCTs with appropriate classification and specification of cognitive interventions are necessary to confirm CT as an effective treatment option in Alzheimer's disease.
Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Slabs Strengthened with Fiber-Reinforced Polymer or Steel Plates

This study presents finite element models for strengthened two-way slab-column connections. Two different strengthening techniques are modeled using steel plates or fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) strips or laminates. The connections are categorized according to the strengthening type as flexural or punching shear specimens. FRP-strengthened connections are subjected to central axial loads. The connections that use an assembly of steel plates and bolts are subjected to a central load or a combination of central load and moment. The three-dimensional assembly of the slab and column of the connections is simulated. The interfacial behavior between the FRP materials and concrete is taken into account. A user-defined subroutine for the microplane model for concrete is incorporated in the finite element package. Results are presented in terms of the ultimate load capacities, load-slip relationships, load-interfacial stress relationships, and stress distributions in the strengthening materials. The models presented in this paper showed good agreement with experimental results.
“We’re not going to say it’s suffering; we’re going to say it’s an experience”: The lived experience of maternal caregivers in pediatric kidney transplantation

ABSTRACT Advances in the surgical and immunological aspects of pediatric kidney transplantation have resulted in significant improvements in long-term outcome and survival rates. However, there continues to be a negative impact reported on overall family functioning despite the reported good health and quality of life for the transplanted child. This research utilizes a phenomenological approach to examine the lived experiences of seven mothers of children who had undergone kidney transplantation. Findings of the study illuminate that the experience of mothering in the context of pediatric kidney transplantation is reflected in (1) the significance of relationships to the experience of self; (2) the lived experience of time; and (3) opportunities for growth and personal development. This research identifies that, while maternal caregiving in this context is fraught with challenges, there are opportunities for the development of skills and personal growth within the experience. By embracing a strength-based perspective, social work is well positioned to offer support for maternal meaning-making and adjustment during times of stress and uncertainty.
Physiological Load and Psychological Stress During a 24-hour Work Shift Among Finnish Firefighters

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe physiological load and psychological stress of Finnish firefighters during a 24-hour work shift. Methods: R-R intervals were recorded during 24-hour work shifts. Short-time Fourier transform was used to analyze heart rate variability during shifts. Results: HRmean, HRpeak, and square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of the differences between adjacent R-to-R peak intervals of the 24-hour shift was 73 ± 7 bpm (38 ± 4% of HRmax), 156 ± 16 bpm (82 ± 8% of HRmax), and 42 ± 14 ms. Mean VO2 was 11 ± 2 (% of VO2max) and VO2peak 72 ± 11 (% of VO2max). Conclusions: Physiological load and psychological stress were temporarily high, even in young, fit firefighters. As the relative work load may increase and recovery processes slow down among aging employees, fatigue may occur unless work arrangements are well-designed.
Temperature distribution effect on relation between welding heat input and angular distortion

Conventional and activated tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding were conducted under the same welding conditions in an experiment to compare the weld penetration, temperature distribution and angular distortion. The results showed that the quantities of heat input per unit welding length were almost the same, but the shapes of the weld penetration and heat-affected zones changed drastically. The difference in angular distortion between conventional and activated TIG welding was strongly dependent on the thickness of the welded plate. A distortion analysis was developed by considering convective heat transfer in the weld pool to obtain a more detailed understanding of the temperature distribution effect on the relation between welding heat input and angular distortion. The resulting distinguishable curves for conventional and activated TIG welding, which can lead to the thickness dependence of differences in angular distortion, showed the traditional relation between the heat input parameter and the angular distortion.
Adoptive Transfer of EBV Specific CD8+ T Cell Clones Can Transiently Control EBV Infection in Humanized Mice

Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection expands CD8+ T cells specific for lytic antigens to high frequencies during symptomatic primary infection, and maintains these at significant numbers during persistence. Despite this, the protective function of these lytic EBV antigen-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells remains unclear. Here we demonstrate that lytic EBV replication does not significantly contribute to virus-induced B cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo in a mouse model with reconstituted human immune system components (huNSG mice). However, we report a trend to reduction of EBV-induced lymphoproliferation outside of lymphoid organs upon diminished lytic replication. Moreover, we could demonstrate that CD8+ T cells against the lytic EBV antigen BMLF1 can eliminate lytically replicating EBV-transformed B cells from lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) and in vivo, thereby transiently controlling high viremia after adoptive transfer into EBV infected huNSG mice. These findings suggest a protective function for lytic EBV antigen-specific CD8+ T cells against EBV infection and against virus-associated tumors in extra-lymphoid organs. These specificities should be explored for EBV-specific vaccine development.
Banana MaMADS Transcription Factors Are Necessary for Fruit Ripening and Molecular Tools to Promote Shelf-Life and Food Security1[OPEN]

Repression of either MaMADS1 or MaMADS2 results in delayed ethylene synthesis and maturation, although the fruit ripen normally when treated with ethylene. Genetic solutions to postharvest crop loss can reduce cost and energy inputs while increasing food security, especially for banana (Musa acuminata), which is a significant component of worldwide food commerce. We have functionally characterized two banana E class (SEPALLATA3 [SEP3]) MADS box genes, MaMADS1 and MaMADS2, homologous to the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) RIN-MADS ripening gene. Transgenic banana plants repressing either gene (via antisense or RNA interference [RNAi]) were created and exhibited specific ripening delay and extended shelf-life phenotypes, including delayed color development and softening. The delay in fruit ripening is associated with a delay in climacteric respiration and reduced synthesis of the ripening hormone ethylene; in the most severe repressed lines, no ethylene was produced and ripening was most delayed. Unlike tomato rin mutants, banana fruits of all transgenic repression lines responded to exogenous ethylene by ripening normally, likely due to incomplete transgene repression and/or compensation by other MADS box genes. Our results show that, although MADS box ripening gene necessity is conserved across diverse taxa (monocots to dicots), unlike tomato, banana ripening requires at least two necessary members of the SEPALLATA MADS box gene group, and either can serve as a target for ripening control. The utility of such genes as tools for ripening control is especially relevant in important parthenocarpic crops such as the vegetatively propagated and widely consumed Cavendish banana, where breeding options for trait improvement are severely limited.
Androgen deprivation therapy did not increase the risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease in patients with prostate cancer

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been the standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer for many decades. Although potential adverse effects of ADT have been reported, there are no empirical studies investigating the association between ADT and Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, this retrospective cohort study explored the relationship between the use of ADT and the subsequent risk of Alzheimer's disease in men with prostate cancer using a population‐based database. We retrieved data from the “Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. ” The study included 1335 patients with prostate cancer and 4005 age‐matched comparison patients without prostate malignancy. We then individually tracked each patient (n = 5340) for a 5‐year period to discriminate those who subsequently received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The Cox proportional hazard regression showed that the hazard ratio (HR) for Alzheimer's disease during the 5‐year follow‐up period for prostate cancer patients was 1.71 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.90~3.25) over that of comparison patients. We further analyzed the hazard ratio for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease between prostate cancer patients who did and those who did not receive ADT, but we failed to observe a significant difference in the hazard ratio for both diseases during the 5‐year follow‐up period (adjusted HR = 1.76, 95% CI = 0.55~5.62, and HR = 1.13, 95% CI = 0.58~2.20, respectively). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the use of androgen deprivation therapy in patients with prostate cancer was not associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease during the follow‐up period.
Post-Myocardial Infarction Exercise Training Induces Angiogenesis in the heart

Cardiac angiogenesis after myocardial infarction (MI) is critical to the development of compensatory hypertrophy in the viable myocardium; however, compelling evidence suggests that post-MI cardiac angiogenesis is inadequate, and may promote the transition from adaptive cardiac hypertrophy to left ventricular (LV) dilation and dysfunction. Exercise, through increased vascular shear stress, potentiates a powerful antigenic stimulus. We investigated whether exercise could promote cardiac angiogenesis in post-MI rats. MI was surgically induced on 7-wk-old Sprague-Dawley rats by ligation of the coronary artery. The survivors were assigned to 3 groups (n=10/group): Sham (no MI, no exercise), MISed (MI, no exercise), and MIEx (MI + exercise). Treadmill exercise training began 1-wk post-MI and lasted for 8-wks. Cardiac tissue was harvested at the end of the experiment and capillary density was assessed using CD31 staining. Our results indicated that left ventricular (LV) capillary density (counts/mm2) of Sham and MIEx groups were significantly higher compared to the MISed group (1280 ± 66 counts/mm2, 950 ± 47, 610 ± 44, respectively, p < 0.05). In the septum, capillary density was also higher in the MIEx group compared to MISed (1220 ± 54 vs. 890 ± 43 counts/mm2). Conclusion: Our data indicate that postMI exercise training at a moderate intensity significantly increases cardiac angiogenesis, which in turn may attribute to the improvement in morbidity and mortality produced by exercise training in patients with MI.
Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Publications Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Revbayes: Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference Using Graphical Models and an Interactive Model- Specification Language Software for Systematics and Evolution Revbayes: Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference Using Gr

—Programs for Bayesian inference of phylogeny currently implement a unique and fixed suite of models. Consequently, users of these software packages are simultaneously forced to use a number of programs for a given study, while also lacking the freedom to explore models that have not been implemented by the developers of those programs. We developed a new open-source software package, RevBayes, to address these problems. RevBayes is entirely based on probabilistic graphical models, a powerful generic framework for specifying and analyzing statistical models. Phylogenetic-graphical models can be specified interactively in RevBayes, piece by piece, using a new succinct and intuitive language called Rev. Rev is similar to the R language and the BUGS model-specification language, and should be easy to learn for most users. The strength of RevBayes is the simplicity with which one can design, specify, and implement new and complex models. Fortunately, this tremendous flexibility does not come at the cost of slower computation; as we demonstrate, RevBayes outperforms competing software for several standard analyses. Compared with other programs, RevBayes has fewer black-box elements. Users need to explicitly specify each part of the model and analysis. Although this explicitness may initially be unfamiliar, we are convinced that this transparency will improve understanding of phylogenetic models in our field. Moreover, it will motivate the search for improvements to existing methods by brazenly exposing the model choices that we make to critical scrutiny. INTRODUCTION Phylogeny estimation is now widely pursued in a The success of the Bayesian approach derives largely from the availability of efficient algorithms that make it practical to compute the joint posterior probability distribution of phylogenetic model parameters (e.g., Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC); Metropolis et al. 1953; Hastings 1970), and by the development of computer programs that implement those models and algorithms. Biologists interested in Bayesian inference of phylogeny can now choose among a large number of software Yet, despite the sophistication and quality of the available software, we believe that all of the current
Clinicopathologic analysis of a large series of microinvasive breast cancers

Clinical management of microinvasive breast cancer (Tmic) remains controversial. Although metastases are infrequent in Tmic carcinoma patients, surgical treatment typically includes lymph node sampling. The objective of this study was to determine the rate and predictors of lymph node metastases, recurrence, and survival in a large series of Tmic breast carcinomas. Consecutive cases of Tmic were identified within our health care system from 2001 to 2015. We reviewed results of lymph node sampling and other pathologic factors including hormone receptor/HER2 status, associated in situ tumor size/grade, margin status, number of invasive foci, surgical/adjuvant therapies, and recurrence/survival outcomes. In this cohort, 294 Tmic cases were identified with mean follow‐up of 4.6 years. Of 260 patients who underwent axillary staging, lymph node metastases were identified in 1.5% (all of which were ductal type). All Tmic cases with positive lymph node metastases had associated DCIS with size > 5 cm (5.3‐8.5 cm) compared to a median DCIS tumor size of 2.5 cm (0.2‐19.0 cm) for the entire cohort. No lymph node metastases were seen with microinvasive lobular carcinoma. During the follow‐up period, there were no regional/distant recurrences or breast cancer‐associated deaths in a mean follow‐up period of 4.6 years. Two patients developed subsequent ipsilateral breast cancer (DCIS) in a different quadrant than the original Tmic. Clinical behavior of microinvasive breast cancer in this series is similar to DCIS. Lymph node metastases are uncommon and were only seen with ductal type microinvasive carcinoma. Our data suggest limited benefit for routine node sampling and support management of Tmic similar to DCIS, particularly for patients with DCIS < 5 cm in size.
A Clinical Nurse Specialist-Led Intervention to Enhance Medication Adherence Using the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle for Continuous Self-improvement

Purpose: A clinical nurse specialist-led intervention to improve medication adherence in chronically ill adults using renal transplant recipients as an exemplar population is proposed. Background/Rationale: Meta-analyses and systematic reviews of chronically ill and transplant patients indicate that patient-specific characteristics not only are poor and inconsistent predictors for medication nonadherence but also are not amenable to intervention. Adherence has not meaningfully improved, despite meta-analyses and systematic narrative reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) dealing with medication nonadherence in acutely and chronically ill persons and RCTs dealing with transplant patients. Interventions with a superior potential to enhance medication adherence must be developed. Description of the Intervention: Use of a clinical nurse specialist-led continuous self-improvement intervention with adult renal transplant recipients is proposed. Continuous self-improvement focuses on improving personal systems thinking and behavior using the plan-do-check-act process. Electronic medication monitoring reports, one of several objective measures of medication adherence, are used by the clinician to provide patient feedback during the check process on medication-taking patterns. Conclusion: Continuous self-improvement as an intervention holds promise in supporting patient self-management and diminishing the blame that clinicians place on patients for medication nonadherence. Using an objective measure of medication adherence such as an electronic monitoring report fosters collaborative patient-clinician discussions of daily medication-taking patterns. Through collaboration, ideas for improving medication taking can be explored. Changes can be followed and evaluated for effectiveness through the continuous self-improvement process. Implications: Future studies should include RCTs comparing educational and/or behavioral interventions to improve medication adherence.
Recognition of emotional facial expressions in benzodiazepine dependence and detoxification

ABSTRACT Introduction: The study investigates how benzodiazepine (BZD) use and detoxification affects empathy and the recognition and intensity rating of emotional facial expressions. The sample comprised 43 participants in three groups: (1) during detoxification (N = 13), (2) after detoxification (N = 15), (3) a matched control group (N = 15). Clinical subjects were recruited from in-patients of an addiction treatment unit. Methods: Empathy levels were tested with the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short). Recognition accuracy and emotion intensity rating were based on a computerised task displaying static and dynamic facial expressions of joy, anger, sadness, and fear. Results: The controls proved more accurate than both experimental groups in identifying facial expressions of negative emotions. Joy recognition proved most accurate overall. Among the clinical subjects, women in particular exhibited an impaired ability to correctly identify negative emotions from facial expressions. Dynamic stimuli were better recognised than static ones albeit only in the experimental groups. No significant differences were found for emotion intensity ratings and EQ scores. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the impaired facial emotion recognition accuracy is not caused by deficits in empathy. No improvement was recorded post-detoxification which may indicate impaired interpersonal functioning among BZD users. Further research is warranted in light of this study’s limitations.