Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Static evaluation of scapular positioning in healthy individuals

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the static positioning of the scapula on the rib cage in healthy subjects by means of clinical and radiographic evaluation to assess inter-examiner reliability of clinical examination and verify the reliability of this evaluation method compared to the radiographic examination. METHODS: We selected 30 adult individuals of both sexes with no diagnosis of shoulder pathology. The static clinical examination, following the protocol suggested by Burkhart et al, was performed repeatedly by two independent examiners, followed by the radiographic examination, which was later examined by the first evaluator. RESULTS: 73.3% of the subjects showed positioning of the scapula considered normal. The inter-examiner reliability and that of the clinical examination in relation to radiography were considered low and very low, respectively. CONCLUSION: The reproducibility of the evaluation performed by Burkhart was considered satisfactory to good, while the inter-examiner reproducibility of the clinical examination and the static reproducibility of the clinical examination with radiography were considered poor to satisfactory. Level of Evidence III, Study of Nonconsecutive Patients.
Land Management Practices Associated with House Loss in Wildfires

Losses to life and property from unplanned fires (wildfires) are forecast to increase because of population growth in peri-urban areas and climate change. In response, there have been moves to increase fuel reduction—clearing, prescribed burning, biomass removal and grazing—to afford greater protection to peri-urban communities in fire-prone regions. But how effective are these measures? Severe wildfires in southern Australia in 2009 presented a rare opportunity to address this question empirically. We predicted that modifying several fuels could theoretically reduce house loss by 76%–97%, which would translate to considerably fewer wildfire-related deaths. However, maximum levels of fuel reduction are unlikely to be feasible at every house for logistical and environmental reasons. Significant fuel variables in a logistic regression model we selected to predict house loss were (in order of decreasing effect): (1) the cover of trees and shrubs within 40 m of houses, (2) whether trees and shrubs within 40 m of houses was predominantly remnant or planted, (3) the upwind distance from houses to groups of trees or shrubs, (4) the upwind distance from houses to public forested land (irrespective of whether it was managed for nature conservation or logging), (5) the upwind distance from houses to prescribed burning within 5 years, and (6) the number of buildings or structures within 40 m of houses. All fuel treatments were more effective if undertaken closer to houses. For example, 15% fewer houses were destroyed if prescribed burning occurred at the observed minimum distance from houses (0.5 km) rather than the observed mean distance from houses (8.5 km). Our results imply that a shift in emphasis away from broad-scale fuel-reduction to intensive fuel treatments close to property will more effectively mitigate impacts from wildfires on peri-urban communities.
Quality of Life for Patients with Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma Treated with Hedgehog Signaling Pathway Inhibitors

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the most common form of cancer, affects approximately 2 million people annually in the US. Aberrant activation of the hedgehog signaling pathway plays an important role in BCC. Two inhibitors of the SMO component of hedgehog signaling, vismodegib and sonidegib, are currently approved for use in advanced BCC, including locally advanced BCC (laBCC) and metastatic BCC (mBCC), depending on the country of approval. Location of lesions and fears about changes in appearance may affect the quality of life (QoL) of patients with advanced BCC. In addition, QoL itself is an outcome for advanced BCC. The key clinical trials for vismodegib (ERIVANCE and STEVIE) and for sonidegib (BOLT) included QoL as secondary end points, using different questionnaires for assessment. In ERIVANCE, Short Form-36 for assessing QoL showed no changes from baseline on either the physical or emotional domains. In STEVIE, the Skindex-16 for assessing QoL showed that treatment with vismodegib was associated with clinically meaningful improvement in the emotional domain. To determine QoL, BOLT used predetermined subscales related to skin specifically from the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and the EORTC H&N35. Both the QLQ-C30 and H&N35 selected subscales showed either maintenance or improvement from baseline. Factors affecting QoL during treatment of patients with advanced BCC include baseline QoL, having fewer comorbidites, and having better initial mental health status. In addition, patients whose lesions were advanced, but were not as large as others or not located in visible areas (ie, head and neck) reported better QoL. Treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) have an impact on QoL in patients with advanced BCC. Most of the AEs reported in trials for vismodegib and sonidegib were grade 1-2. Using techniques to manage AEs effectively may help improve QoL for those whose QoL decreases during treatment.
Drug delivery options to increase patient adherence and satisfaction in the management of rheumatoid arthritis – focus on subcutaneous tocilizumab

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory disease associated with joint destruction. Tocilizumab (TCZ) is a humanized monoclonal anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody that was initially developed for use as an intravenous (IV) infusion. Previous studies have shown that TCZ-IV is an important treatment option in patients with moderate-to-severe RA. A subcutaneous (SC) formulation of 162 mg TCZ that was recently developed and approved provides an additional treatment option for RA patients. In the present review, we provide an update on the efficacy and safety of TCZ-SC, compared with TCZ-IV. The TCZ-SC doses of 162 mg every 2 weeks (q2w) or weekly (qw) were selected based on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies. Both TCZ-SC q2w and qw regimens showed equivalent effects to TCZ-IV in most patients; however, the TCZ-SC qw regimen consistently showed a more rapid effect in terms of C-reactive protein normalization. Randomized controlled studies showed that TCZ-SC monotherapy or combined with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs demonstrated comparable efficacy to TCZ-IV in patients who were both biologic-naïve and refractory to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. TCZ-SC at both qw and q2w were generally well-tolerated for up to 24 weeks. There was a low rate of withdrawal due to adverse events, and their incidence was comparable with that seen with TCZ-IV. An injection site reaction was seen in approximately 10% of patients who received the subcutaneous formulation. In conclusion, although clinical results are still limited, the currently available evidence suggests that TCZ-SC is a promising treatment for moderate-to-severe RA, both as monotherapy and combination therapy. More data is needed to determine the optimal dosing schedule.
Determinants of bacterial communities in Canadian agroforestry systems.

Land-use change is one of the most important factors influencing soil microbial communities, which play a pivotal role in most biogeochemical and ecological processes. Using agroforestry systems as a model, this study examined the effects of land uses and edaphic properties on bacterial communities in three agroforestry types covering a 270 km soil-climate gradient in Alberta, Canada. Our results demonstrate that land-use patterns exert stronger effects on soil bacterial communities than soil zones in these agroforestry systems. Plots with trees in agroforestry systems promoted greater bacterial abundance and to some extent species richness, which was associated with more nutrient-rich soil resources. While Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla and subphyla across land uses, Arthrobacter, Acidobacteria_Gp16, Burkholderia, Rhodanobacter and Rhizobium were the keystone taxa in these agroforestry systems. Soil pH and carbon contents emerged as the major determinants of bacterial community characteristics. We found non-random co-occurrence and modular patterns of soil bacterial communities, and these patterns were controlled by edaphic factors and not their taxonomy. Overall, this study highlights the drivers and co-occurrence patterns of soil microbial communities in agroforestry systems.
Generation of Pet1210-Cre Transgenic Mouse Line Reveals Non-Serotonergic Expression Domains of Pet1 Both in CNS and Periphery

Neurons producing serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) constitute one of the most widely distributed neuronal networks in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) and exhibit a profuse innervation throughout the CNS already at early stages of development. Serotonergic neuron specification is controlled by a combination of secreted molecules and transcription factors such as Shh, Fgf4/8, Nkx2.2, Lmx1b and Pet1. In the mouse, Pet1 mRNA expression appears between 10 and 11 days post coitum (dpc) in serotonergic post-mitotic precursors and persists in serotonergic neurons up to adulthood, where it promotes the expression of genes defining the mature serotonergic phenotype such as tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (Tph2) and serotonin transporter (SERT). Hence, the generation of genetic tools based on Pet1 specific expression represents a valuable approach to study the development and function of the serotonergic system. Here, we report the generation of a Pet1210-Cre transgenic mouse line in which the Cre recombinase is expressed under the control of a 210 kb fragment from the Pet1 genetic locus to ensure a reliable and faithful control of somatic recombination in Pet1 cell lineage. Besides Cre-mediated recombination accurately occurred in the serotonergic system as expected and according to previous studies, Pet1210-Cre transgenic mouse line allowed us to identify novel, so far uncharacterized, Pet1 expression domains. Indeed, we showed that in the raphe Pet1 is expressed also in a non-serotonergic neuronal population intermingled with Tph2-expressing cells and mostly localized in the B8 and B9 nuclei. Moreover, we detected Cre-mediated recombination also in the developing pancreas and in the ureteric bud derivatives of the kidney, where it reflected a specific Pet1 expression. Thus, Pet1210-Cre transgenic mouse line faithfully drives Cre-mediated recombination in all Pet1 expression domains representing a valuable tool to genetically manipulate serotonergic and non-serotonergic Pet1 cell lineages.
In Vivo Validation of In Silico Predicted Metabolic Engineering Strategies in Yeast: Disruption of α-Ketoglutarate Dehydrogenase and Expression of ATP-Citrate Lyase for Terpenoid Production

Background Engineering of the central carbon metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to redirect metabolic flux towards cytosolic acetyl-CoA has become a central topic in yeast biotechnology. A cell factory with increased flux into acetyl-CoA can be used for heterologous production of terpenoids for pharmaceuticals, biofuels, fragrances, or other acetyl-CoA derived compounds. In a previous study, we identified promising metabolic engineering targets in S. cerevisiae using an in silico stoichiometric metabolic network analysis. Here, we validate selected in silico strategies in vivo. Results Patchoulol was produced by yeast via a heterologous patchoulol synthase of Pogostemon cablin. To increase the metabolic flux from acetyl-CoA towards patchoulol, a truncated HMG-CoA reductase was overexpressed and farnesyl diphosphate synthase was fused with patchoulol synthase. The highest increase in production could be achieved by modifying the carbon source; sesquiterpenoid titer increased from glucose to ethanol by a factor of 8.4. Two strategies predicted in silico were chosen for validation in this work. Disruption of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase gene (KGD1) was predicted to redirect the metabolic flux via the pyruvate dehydrogenase bypass towards acetyl-CoA. The metabolic flux was redirected as predicted, however, the effect was dependent on cultivation conditions and the flux was interrupted at the level of acetate. High amounts of acetate were produced. As an alternative pathway to synthesize cytosolic acetyl-CoA, ATP-citrate lyase was expressed as a polycistronic construct, however, in vivo performance of the enzyme needs to be optimized to increase terpenoid production. Conclusions Stoichiometric metabolic network analysis can be used successfully as a metabolic prediction tool. However, this study highlights that kinetics, regulation and cultivation conditions may interfere, resulting in poor in vivo performance. Main sites of regulation need to be released and improved enzymes are essential to meet the required activities for an increased product formation in vivo.
Effect of The Atmosphere on UVB Radiation Reaching the Earth's Surface: Dependence on Solar Zenith Angle

The atmosphere protects humans,plants,animals,and microorganisms from damaging doses of ultraviolet-B(UVB) solar radiation(280-320 nm) because it modifies the UVB reaching the Earth's surface.This modification is a function of the solar radiation's path length through the atmosphere and the amount of each attenuator along the path length.The path length is determined by solar zenith angle(SZA). The present work explains the dependence of hemispherical transmittance of UVB on SZA.The database used consists of five years of hourly UVB and global solar radiation measurements.From 2001 to 2005,the South Valley University(SVU) meteorological research station(26.20°N,32.75°E) carried out these measurements on a horizontal surface.In addition,the corresponding extraterrestrial UVB(UVBext) and broadband solar radiation(Gext) were estimated.Consequently,the hemispherical transmittance of UVB(KtUVB) and the hemispherical transmittance of global solar radiation(Kt) were estimated.Furthermore,the UVB redaction due to the atmosphere was evaluated.An analysis of the dependence between KtUVB and SZA at different ranges of Kt was performed.A functional dependence between KtUVB and SZA(KtUVB=-a(SZA)+b) for very narrow Kt-ranges(width of ranges was 0.01) was developed.The results are discussed,and the sensitivity of △KtUVB to △SZA for very narrow Kt-ranges was studied.It was found that the sensitivity of △KtUVB to △SZA slightly increases with increased Kt,which means KtUVB is sensitive to SZA as Kt increases.The maximum correlation(R) between KtUVB and SZA was equal to-0.83 for Kt= 0.76.
Diffusion in Iron Oxide Melts

The interdij! usivities of iron and ox)'gen in iron oxide melts have been measured by the capillary method over the temperature range from 1 430° to 1 550°C and the composition range from r( = Fe3+ / ~" Fe ) = 0.12 to 0.42. At 1 550°C, the interdiffusivity is 4 X 10' to 5 x 105 cIll2 /sec, which is very high as com/Jared with the diffusivities of silicate slags. Activation energies for diffusion are 10.7±0.6 and 16.6±0.2kcal/mol at 1' = 0.12 and 0.33, respectively . The diffusivity decreases with increase of r. At higher Fe3+ content (r> to 0.25) , this decrease of diffusivity becomes more conspicuous. The observed reslllts arc interpreted in relation to the cOllstitution of the melts and other /Jroperties sllch as electrical condllctivity and viscosity.
The Role of Consolidation Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose The role of consolidation chemoradiation (CCRT) after systemic chemotherapy in locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) is still controversial. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of CCRT in LAPC using systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Materials and Methods Prospective clinical trials of LAPC receiving chemotherapy with or without subsequent CCRT were included in the analysis. We systematically searched in PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science. The primary outcome of interest was 1-year survival. Secondary endpoints were median overall survival, progression-free survival, toxicity, and resection rate. Results Forty-one studies with 49 study arms were included with a total of 1,018 patients receiving CCRT after induction chemotherapy (ICT) and 954 patients receiving chemotherapy alone. CCRT after ICT did not improve 1-year survival significantly in LAPC patients compared with chemotherapy alone (58% vs. 52%). ICT lasted for at least 3 months revealed significantly improved survival of additional CCRT to LAPC patients compared to chemotherapy alone (65% vs. 52%). A marginal survival benefit of consolidation CCRT was noted in studies using maintenance chemotherapy (59% vs. 52%), and fluorouracil-based CCRT (64% vs. 52%), as well as in studies conducted after the 2010 (64% vs. 55%). Conclusion The survival benefit of ICT+CCRT over chemotherapy alone in treating LAPC was noted when ICT lasted for at least 3 months. Fluorouracil-based CCRT, and maintenance chemotherapy were associated with improved clinical outcomes.
Representation of Health Conditions on Facebook: Content Analysis and Evaluation of User Engagement

Background A sizable majority of adult Internet users report looking for health information online. Social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook represent a common place to seek information, but very little is known about the representation and use of health content on SNS. Objective Our goal in this study was to understand the role of SNS in health information seeking. More specifically, we aimed to describe how health conditions are represented on Facebook Pages and how users interact with these different conditions. Methods We used Google Insights to identify the 20 most searched for health conditions on Google and then searched each of the resulting terms on Facebook. We compiled a list of the first 50 Facebook “Pages” results for each health condition. After filtering results to identify pages relevant to our research, we categorized pages into one of seven categories based on the page’s primary purpose. We then measured user engagement by evaluating the number of “Likes” for different conditions and types of pages. Results The search returned 50 pages for 18 of the health conditions, but only 48 pages were found for “anemia” and 5 pages were found for “flu symptoms”, yielding a total of 953 pages. A large number of pages (29.4%, 280/953) were irrelevant to the health condition searched. Of the 673 relevant pages, 151 were not in English or originated outside the United States, leaving 522 pages to be coded for content. The most common type of page was marketing/promotion (32.2%, 168/522) followed by information/awareness (20.7%, 108/522), Wikipedia-type pages (15.5%, 81/522), patient support (9.4%, 49/522), and general support (3.6%, 19/522). Health conditions varied greatly by the primary page type. All health conditions had some marketing/promotion pages and this made up 76% (29/38) of pages on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The largest percentage of general support pages were cancer (19%, 6/32) and stomach (16%, 4/25). For patient support, stroke (67%, 4/6), lupus (33%, 10/30), breast cancer (19%, 6/31), arthritis (16%, 6/36), and diabetes (16%, 6/37) ranked the highest. Six health conditions were not represented by any type of support pages (ie, human papillomavirus, diarrhea, flu symptoms, pneumonia, spine, human immunodeficiency virus). Marketing/promotion pages accounted for 46.73% (10,371,169/22,191,633) of all Likes, followed by support pages (40.66%, 9,023,234/22,191,633). Cancer and breast cancer accounted for 86.90% (19,284,066/22,191,633) of all page Likes. Conclusions This research represents the first attempts to comprehensively describe publicly available health content and user engagement with health conditions on Facebook pages. Public health interventions using Facebook will need to be designed to ensure relevant information is easy to find and with an understanding that stigma associated with some health conditions may limit the users’ engagement with Facebook pages. This line of research merits further investigation as Facebook and other SNS continue to evolve over the coming years.
Economic Evaluations of the Health Impacts of Weather-Related Extreme Events: A Scoping Review

The frequency and severity of extreme events is expected to increase under climate change. There is a need to understand the economic consequences of human exposure to these extreme events, to underpin decisions on risk reduction. We undertook a scoping review of economic evaluations of the adverse health effects from exposure to weather-related extreme events. We searched PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases with no restrictions to the type of evaluations. Twenty studies were included, most of which were recently published. Most studies have been undertaken in the U.S. (nine studies) or Asia (seven studies), whereas we found no studies in Africa, Central and Latin America nor the Middle East. Extreme temperatures accounted for more than a third of the pool of studies (seven studies), closely followed by flooding (six studies). No economic study was found on drought. Whilst studies were heterogeneous in terms of objectives and methodology, they clearly indicate that extreme events will become a pressing public health issue with strong welfare and distributional implications. The current body of evidence, however, provides little information to support decisions on the allocation of scarce resources between risk reduction options. In particular, the review highlights a significant lack of research attention to the potential cost-effectiveness of interventions that exploit the capacity of natural ecosystems to reduce our exposure to, or ameliorate the consequences of, extreme events.
Analysis of Bacterial Community Composition by Oligonucleotide Fingerprinting of rRNA Genes

ABSTRACT One of the first steps in characterizing an ecosystem is to describe the organisms inhabiting it. For microbial studies, experimental limitations have hindered the ability to depict diverse communities. Here we describe oligonucleotide fingerprinting of rRNA genes (OFRG), a method that permits identification of arrayed rRNA genes (rDNA) through a series of hybridization experiments using small DNA probes. To demonstrate this strategy, we examined the bacteria inhabiting two different soils. Analysis of 1,536 rDNA clones revealed 766 clusters grouped into five major taxa: Bacillus, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and two undefined assemblages. Soil-specific taxa were identified and then independently confirmed through cluster-specific PCR of the original soil DNA. Near-species-level resolution was obtained by this analysis as clones with average sequence identities of 97% were grouped in the same cluster. A comparison of these OFRG results with the results obtained in a denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of the same two soils demonstrated the significance of this methodological advance. OFRG provides a cost-effective means to extensively analyze microbial communities and should have applications in medicine, biotechnology, and ecosystem studies.
Greedy alternative for room geometry estimation from acoustic echoes: A subspace-based method

In this paper, we present a greedy subspace method for the acoustic echoes labeling problem, which occurs in applications such as source localization and room geometry estimation. The orthogonal projection into the null space of the microphones position matrix is used to filter and sort all possible combinations of echoes. A greedy strategy, based on the rank constraint of Euclidean distance matrices (EDMs), is used on the sorted subset of echo combinations to extract the feasible combinations. Numerical simulations using room impulse responses (RIRs) from shoe-box shaped rooms show that the method provides improvements in terms of computational complexity and the number of required measurements with respect to a recently published graph-based method.