Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multidimensional assessment of quality of life of children and problems of parents in Indian society after pediatric renal transplant: Beyond the conventional thoughts

This study evaluated multidimensional QoL after renal transplant to find the physical, psychosocial, and economic issues after pediatric transplant. Sixty‐two patients under the age of 18 at the time of assessment were asked to complete WHOQOL questionnaires. Assessment of behavioral, emotional status of child, problems of parents, and SEC of family were also performed. The beneficial effect of transplantation was observed across all domains of QoL (physical, psychological, social, environmental, and overall QoL). The greatest change was observed in QoL domains that dealt with overall satisfaction (81.28±15.76 vs 45.32±10.98; P<.0001). The domain dealing with environmental factors showed the least variation after transplantation (65.58±17.45 vs 51.34±17.81; P<.0001). Feelings of happiness and peer group socialization were reported in 81% and 69% of patients, respectively. There was no marital disharmony in 52% of families. However, SEC deteriorated in 16% of families and 59% of the families availed financial assistance. Sixty‐nine percent of children had not attended school after one year of transplantation, but return to school after transplant was reduced to 8% at 5 years. Pre‐ and post‐transplant social and psychological support may help these patients and their families adjust in society and have a positive outlook for their future.
Serum‐based miRNAs in the prediction and detection of recurrence in melanoma patients

Identification of primary melanoma patients at the highest risk of recurrence remains a critical challenge, and monitoring for recurrent disease is limited to costly imaging studies. We recently reported our array‐based discovery of prognostic serum miRNAs in melanoma. In the current study, we examined the clinical utility of these serum‐based miRNAs for prognosis as well as detection of melanoma recurrence.
Comparison of Efficacy and Safety between First and Second Generation Drug-eluting Stents in Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease: A Single-center Retrospective Study

Background: Lots of trials demonstrate that second-generation drug-eluting stents (G2-DES), with their improved properties, offer significantly superior efficacy and safety profiles compared to first generation DES (G1-DES) for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study aimed to verify the advantage of G2-DES over G1-DES in Chinese patients with stable CAD (SCAD). Methods: For this retrospective observational analysis, 2709 SCAD patients with either G1-DES (n = 863) or G2-DES (n = 1846) were enrolled consecutively throughout 2013. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to control differing baseline factors. Two-year outcomes, including major adverse coronary events as well as individual events, including target vessel-related myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization (TLR), target vessel revascularization, and cardiogenic death were evaluated. Results: The incidence of revascularization between G1- and G2-DES showed a trend of significant difference with a threshold P - value (8.6% vs. 6.7%, &khgr;2 = 2.995, P = 0.084). G2-DES significantly improved TLR-free survival compared to G1-DES (96.6% vs. 97.9%, P = 0.049) and revascularization-free survival curve showed a trend of improvement of G2-DES (92.0% vs. 93.8%, P = 0.082). These differences diminished after PSM. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed a trend for G1-associated increase in revascularization (hazard ratio: 1.28, 95% confidence interval: 0.95–1.72, P = 0.099) while no significance was found after PSM. Other endpoints showed no significant differences after multivariate adjustment regardless of PSM. Conclusions: G1-DES showed the same safety as G2-DES in this large Chinese cohort of real-world patients. However, G2-DES improved TLR-free survival of SCAD patients 2 years after PCI. The advantage was influenced by baseline clinical factors. G1-DES was associated with a trend of increase in revascularization risk and was not an independent predictor of worse medium-term prognosis compared with G2-DES.
Regulation of USP37 Expression by REST-Associated G9a-Dependent Histone Methylation

The deubiquitylase (DUB) USP37 is a component of the ubiquitin system and controls cell proliferation by regulating the stability of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B, (CDKN1B/p27Kip1). The expression of USP37 is downregulated in human medulloblastoma tumor specimens. In the current study, we show that USP37 prevents medulloblastoma growth in mouse orthotopic models, suggesting that it has tumor-suppressive properties in this neural cancer. Here, we also report on the mechanism underlying USP37 loss in medulloblastoma. Previously, we observed that the expression of USP37 is transcriptionally repressed by the RE1 silencing transcription factor (REST), which requires chromatin remodeling factors for its activity. Genetic and pharmacologic approaches were employed to identify a specific role for G9a, a histone methyltransferase (HMT), in promoting methylation of histone H3 lysine-9 (H3K9) mono- and dimethylation, and surprisingly trimethylation, at the USP37 promoter to repress its gene expression. G9a inhibition also blocked the tumorigenic potential of medulloblastoma cells in vivo. Using isogenic low- and high-REST medulloblastoma cells, we further showed a REST-dependent elevation in G9a activity, which further increased mono- and trimethylation of histone H3K9, accompanied by downregulation of USP37 expression. Together, these findings reveal a role for REST-associated G9a and histone H3K9 methylation in the repression of USP37 expression in medulloblastoma. Implications: Reactivation of USP37 by G9a inhibition has the potential for therapeutic applications in REST-expressing medulloblastomas. Mol Cancer Res; 15(8); 1073–84. ©2017 AACR.
Tribology Investigation of Automotive Air Condition (AAC) Compressor by using Al2O3/PAG Nanolubricant

Lubrication is a requisite for any mechanical equipment that moved to avoid wear of sliding parts and enhance the equipment operation consistency. The objective of this study was to seek a new improved automotive air conditioning (AAC) compressor lubricant to enhanced AAC performances. The type of compressor is piston type, Sanden SD 7H10, that normally used by Malaysia compact car. The tribological investigation was focusing on Coefficient of friction and wear rate. The wear rate and coefficient of friction (COF) of Alumina/Polyalkylene glycol (Al2O3/PAG) nanolubricant were evaluated employing reciprocating test conditions to replicate a piston ring/cylinder liner contact following the ASTM G 181-11 Standard. Al2O3 nanoparticle was dispersed in PAG lubricant for volume concentrations between 0.006 to 0.014 vol %. Al2O3/PAG nanolubricant with 0.010 % vol. concentration showed the best reduction of frictional power loss. The enhancement of power saving due to frictional losses was up to 7.59 % compared to pure PAG lubricant.
Quantitative Modeling and Simulation in PMDA: A Japanese Regulatory Perspective

In Japan in October 2016, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) began to receive electronic data in new drug applications (NDAs). These electronic data are useful to conduct regulatory assessment of sponsors’ submissions and contribute to the PMDA's research. In this article, we summarize the number of submissions of quantitative modeling and simulation (M&S) documents in NDAs in Japan, and we describe our current thinking and activities about quantitative M&S in PMDA.
Greater Cognitive Deficits with Sleep‐disordered Breathing among Individuals with Genetic Susceptibility to Alzheimer Disease. The Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Rationale: There are conflicting findings regarding the link between sleep apnea and cognitive dysfunction. Objectives: Investigate associations between indicators of sleep‐disordered breathing (SDB) and cognitive function in the Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and assess effect modification by the apolipoprotein &egr;‐4 (APOE‐&egr;4) allele. Methods: A diverse population (N = 1,752) underwent type 2 in‐home polysomnography, which included measurement of percentage sleep time less than 90% oxyhemoglobin saturation (%Sat < 90%) and apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI). Epworth Sleepiness Scale score (ESS) and sleep apnea syndrome (SAS; AHI ≥ 5 and ESS > 10) were also analyzed. Cognitive outcomes included the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument; Digit Symbol Coding (DSC) test; and Digit Span Tests (DST) Forward and Backward. Results: Participants were 45.4% men, aged 68.1 years (SD, 9.1 yr) with a median AHI of 9.0 and mean ESS of 6.0. Approximately 9.7% had SAS, and 26.8% had at least one copy of the APOE‐&egr;4 allele. In adjusted analyses, a 1‐SD increase in %Sat < 90% and ESS score were associated with a poorer attention and memory assessed by the DST Forward score (&bgr; = ‐0.12 [SE, 0.06] and &bgr; = ‐0.13 [SE, 0.06], respectively; P ≤ 0.05). SAS and higher ESS scores were also associated with poorer attention and processing speed as measured by the DSC (&bgr; = ‐0.69 [SE, 0.35] and &bgr; = ‐1.42 [SE, 0.35], respectively; P < 0.05). The presence of APOE‐&egr;4 allele modified the associations of %Sat < 90% with DST forward and of ESS with DSC (Pinteraction ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: Overnight hypoxemia and sleepiness were associated with cognition. The average effect estimates were small, similar to effect estimates for several other individual dementia risk factors. Associations were strongest in APOE‐&egr;4 risk allele carriers. Our results (1) suggest that SDB be considered among a group of modifiable dementia risk factors, and (2) highlight the potential vulnerability of APOE‐&egr;4 risk allele carriers with SDB.
Large-scale proteomics identifies MMP-7 as a sentinel of epithelial injury and of biliary atresia

Serum MMP-7 is released upon bile duct injury and has high diagnostic performance for biliary atresia. Bile duct injury marker to the rescue Biliary atresia is a poorly understood pediatric disease, which is associated with progressive bile duct obstruction and liver injury in young infants. Early diagnosis of this condition is crucial for restoring bile flow and protecting the liver from irreversible damage, but the disease can be difficult to distinguish from more common causes of cholestasis. By performing proteomics on large sets of patient samples, Lertudomphonwanit et al. identified the serum concentration of a protein called matrix metalloproteinase-7 as a promising diagnostic marker of this disease, especially when used together with γ-glutamyltranspeptidase, a less specific marker of cholestasis. The authors also investigated the mechanistic role of matrix metalloproteinase-7 in bile ducts, supporting the biological relevance of this marker. Biliary atresia is a progressive infantile cholangiopathy of complex pathogenesis. Although early diagnosis and surgery are the best predictors of treatment response, current diagnostic approaches are imprecise and time-consuming. We used large-scale, quantitative serum proteomics at the time of diagnosis of biliary atresia and other cholestatic syndromes (serving as disease controls) to identify biomarkers of disease. In a discovery cohort of 70 subjects, the lead biomarker was matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7), which retained high distinguishing features for biliary atresia in two validation cohorts. Notably, the diagnostic performance reached 95% when MMP-7 was combined with γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT), a marker of cholestasis. Using human tissue and an experimental model of biliary atresia, we found that MMP-7 is primarily expressed by cholangiocytes, released upon epithelial injury, and promotes the experimental disease phenotype. Thus, we propose that serum MMP-7 (alone or in combination with GGT) is a diagnostic biomarker for biliary atresia and may serve as a therapeutic target.
Paeoniflorin exerts neuroprotective effects against glutamate-induced PC12 cellular cytotoxicity by inhibiting apoptosis

Paeoniflorin (PF) is an active ingredient of Radix Paeoniae, which is known to exert neuroprotective effects. However, the mechanims behind the neuroprotective effects of PF are not yet fully understood. The apoptosis of neurons plays an important role in the cerebral ischemia-induced cascade response. This study aimed to investigate neuroprotective effects of PF against glutamate-induced PC12 cellular cytotoxicity and to determine whether these effects are mediated via the inhibition of apoptosis in vitro and the activity of mitochondrial apoptosis-associated proteins in PC12 cells. Exposure of the PC12 cells to glutamate induced cell morphological changes, significantly decreased cell viability and induced apoptosis, with similar results being observed from the Hoechst 33342 staining and Annexin V/PI staining experiments. Glutamate also increased the lactate dehydrogenase release by the PC12 cells. However, treatment with PF prevented these effects. Furthermore, PF inhibited Bax and Bad expression and increased Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expression; it also decreased the levels of downstream protein (caspase-3 and caspase-9). Collectively, our results indicate that PF protects PC12 cells against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity possibly through the inhibition of the expression of mitochondrial apoptosis-associated proteins.
Is Emotional Intelligence Impaired in Unaffected Siblings of Patients with Schizophrenia?

Abstract Objectives: Social cognitive deficits have been discussed to be endophenotypes for schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. The current study aimed to assess emotional intelligence (EI) in unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients to investigate its potential role as endophenotype for schizophrenia. Methods: EI was measured in 56 schizophrenia patients, 57 unaffected siblings, and 127 healthy control subjects by using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). In addition, non-social cognition was assessed with the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Linear mixed models with compound symmetric correlation structure were used for of the three groups with respect to EI and non-social cognition. Results: Schizophrenia patients showed significantly lower overall EI and performed significantly worse in three out of four MSCEIT branches compared to unaffected siblings and control subjects, whereas the two latter groups had comparable EI levels. Similar performance patterns (patients<unaffected siblings=control subjects) were found with respect to non-social cognition. Solely in the “Tower of London” test, siblings achieved significantly lower task scores compared to control subjects. Conclusions: Based on our results, EI as measured with the MSCEIT does not seem to represent a marker of risk for schizophrenia. Further investigations should concentrate on other EI measures to reassess this finding. (JINS, 2017, 23, 577–583)
How Transformational Leadership Influences Work Engagement Among Nurses: Does Person–Job Fit Matter?

The current study examines whether person–job fit moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement. Data were collected using cross-sectional design from 224 (15 male and 209 female) hospital nurses. Participants completed measures of transformational leadership, person–job fit, and work engagement. Moderated multiple regression results showed that transformational leadership had a significant positive predictive relationship with work engagement, and person–job fit had a significant positive predictive relationship with work engagement. Simple slope analysis showed that person–job fit moderated the relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement such that transformational leadership was more positively related to work engagement for nurses with high person–job fit compared with those with low person–job fit. Thus, all the hypotheses were confirmed. The findings were discussed, and suggestions for future research were offered.
Diagnostic accuracy of repetition tasks for the identification of specific language impairment (SLI) in bilingual children: evidence from Russian and Hebrew.

BACKGROUND Previous research demonstrates that repetition tasks are valuable tools for diagnosing specific language impairment (SLI) in monolingual children in English and a variety of other languages, with non-word repetition (NWR) and sentence repetition (SRep) yielding high levels of sensitivity and specificity. Yet, only a few studies have addressed the diagnostic accuracy of repetition tasks in bilingual children, and most available research focuses on English-Spanish sequential bilinguals. AIMS To evaluate the efficacy of three repetition tasks (forward digit span (FWD), NWR and SRep) in order to distinguish mono- and bilingual children with and without SLI in Russian and Hebrew. METHODS & PROCEDURES A total of 230 mono- and bilingual children aged 5;5-6;8 participated in the study: 144 bilingual Russian-Hebrew-speaking children (27 with SLI); and 52 monolingual Hebrew-speaking children (14 with SLI) and 34 monolingual Russian-speaking children (14 with SLI). Parallel repetition tasks were designed in both Russian and Hebrew. Bilingual children were tested in both languages. OUTCOMES & RESULTS The findings confirmed that NWR and SRep are valuable tools in distinguishing monolingual children with and without SLI in Russian and Hebrew, while the results for FWD were mixed. Yet, testing of bilingual children with the same tools using monolingual cut-off points resulted in inadequate diagnostic accuracy. We demonstrate, however, that the use of bilingual cut-off points yielded acceptable levels of diagnostic accuracy. The combination of SRep tasks in L1/Russian and L2/Hebrew yielded the highest overall accuracy (i.e., 94%), but even SRep alone in L2/Hebrew showed excellent levels of sensitivity (i.e., 100%) and specificity (i.e., 89%), reaching 91% of total diagnostic accuracy. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS The results are very promising for identifying SLI in bilingual children and for showing that testing in the majority language with bilingual cut-off points can provide an accurate classification.
Neuronal PAS domain protein 4 (Npas4) controls neuronal homeostasis in pentylenetetrazole‐induced epilepsy through the induction of Homer1a

Neuronal intrinsic homeostatic scaling‐down of excitatory synapse has been implicated in epilepsy pathogenesis to prevent the neuronal circuits from hyperexcitability. Recent findings suggest a role for neuronal PAS domain protein 4 (Npas4), an activity‐dependent neuron‐specific transcription factor in epileptogenesis, however, the underlying mechanism by which Npas4 regulates epilepsy remains unclear. We herein propose that limbic seizure activity up‐regulates Npas4‐homer1a signaling in the hippocampus, thereby contributing to epileptogenesis in mice. The expression level of Npas4mRNA was significantly increased after the pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) treatment. Npas4KO mice developed kindling more rapidly than their wild‐type littermates. The expression of Homer1a in the hippocampus increased after seizure activity. Npas4 increased Homer1a promoter activity in COS7 cells. The PTZ‐stimulated induction of Homer1a was attenuated in the hippocampus of Npas4KO mice. The combination of fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that Homer1amRNA co‐localized with the Npas4 protein after the convulsive seizure response. PTZ reduced excitatory synaptic transmission at the associational/commissural fibers‐CA3 synapses through the Npas4‐mediated down‐regulation of postsynaptic α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid receptors in hippocampal CA3 neurons. The adeno‐associated virus (AAV)‐mediated expression of Homer1a resulted in lower α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid‐type glutamate receptor GluA1 subunit levels in the hippocampal plasma membrane fraction than in that from AAV‐EGFP‐transfected Npas4KO mice. The development of kindling was more strongly suppressed in AAV‐Homer1a‐microinjected Npas4KO mice than in AAV‐EGFP‐microinjected Npas4KO mice. These results indicate that Npas4 functions as a molecular switch to initiate homeostatic scaling and the targeting of Npas4‐Homer1a signaling may provide new approaches for the treatment of epilepsy.
Development and testing of an artificial arterial and venous pulse oximeter

The monitoring of patients healthcare is of a prime importance to ensure their efficient and effective treatment. Monitoring blood oxygen saturation is a field which has grown significantly in recent times and more specifically in tissues affected by diseases or conditions that may negatively affect the function of the tissue. This study involved the development and testing of a highly sensitive non-invasive blood oxygen saturation monitoring device. A device that can be used to continuously monitor the condition of tissue affected by diseases which affect the blood flow through the tissue, and the oxygen usage in tissue. The device's system was designed to specifically monitor occluded tissue which has low oxygen saturations and low perfusion. Although with limitted validation the system was unable to accurately measure the venous oxygenation specifically, but it was able to measure the mixed oxygen saturation. With further research it would be possible to validate the system for measuring both the arterial and venous oxygen saturations.
Graph Encryption for Top-K Nearest Keyword Search Queries on Cloud

Driven by the growing security demands of data outsourcing applications in sustainable smart cities, encrypting clients’ data has been widely accepted by academia and industry. Data encryptions should be done at the client side before outsourcing, because clouds and edges are not trusted. Therefore, how to properly encrypt data in a way that the encrypted and remotely stored data can still be queried has become a challenging issue. Though keyword searches over encrypted textual data have been extensively studied, approaches for encrypting graph-structured data with support for answering graph queries are still lacking in the literature. In this paper, we specially investigate graph encryption method for an important graph query type, called top-k Nearest Keyword (kNK) searches. We design several indexes to store necessary information for answering queries and guarantee that private information about the graph such as vertex identifiers, keywords and edges are encrypted or excluded. Security and efficiency of our graph encryption scheme are demonstrated by theoretical proofs and experiments on real-world datasets, respectively.