Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Branched chain amino acids supplementation modulates TGF‐β1/Smad signaling pathway and interleukins in CCl4‐induced liver fibrosis

The alterations and low levels of circulating branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), leucine, isoleucine, and valine, are associated with liver diseases. The study was designed to evaluate hepatoprotective effect of BCAAs on CCl4‐induced liver fibrosis and to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects in rats. In all, 30 male rats were divided into three groups. Control group (n = 10) and CCl4 group (n = 10), where rats were injected with CCl4 (1 mL/kg of 0.5 : 1 v/v injected i.p. twice weekly for 12 weeks). In CCl4 + BCAAs group (n = 10), rats were injected with similar doses of CCl4 and supplemented with a mixture of 600 mg/kg BCAAs (2 : 1 : 1.2 leucine : isoleucine : valine) by oral gavage, three times/week for 12 weeks. Liver fibrosis was assessed by measuring total bilirubin, total protein, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase, hydroxyproline content, and serum IL‐6 and IL‐10. Histopathologic studies and α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) were detected immunohistochemically in liver. Serum insulin level, blood glucose, liver malodialdehyde concentration (MDA), glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were quantified. TGF‐β1, Smad3, and Smad7 gene expressions were estimated by qRT‐PCR. BCAAs suppressed liver fibrosis induced by CCl4 treatment. BCAAs modulated liver indices and downregulated TGF‐β1, Smad3, and Smad7 expressions in hepatocytes. BCAAs enhanced liver antioxidant enzyme activities (P < 0.001), reduced serum levels of TGF‐β1, IL‐6, and IL‐10 compared to CCL4 group and ameliorated histopathologic changes in rat liver. BCAAs may have a protective role against liver fibrosis via antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory mechanisms.
Dental caries, but not malocclusion or developmental defects, negatively impacts preschoolers' quality of life.

BACKGROUND Oral diseases can negatively influence the quality of life causing harm in the development of routine activities, child development and their well-being. AIM To investigate the impact of dental caries, malocclusion and developmental defects of enamel (DDE) on the oral health-related quality of life of preschool children and their parents. DESIGN A cross-sectional study was carried out with 646 children aged 2-6 years in Diamantina, Brazil. Calibrated dental examiners performed the oral examinations. Parents answered the Brazilian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (B-ECOHIS) and a questionnaire on socio-economic indicators. Statistical analyses involved the chi-square test and Poisson regression. RESULTS Malocclusion and DDE did not cause a negative impact on the children's quality of life. Children with dental caries (PR: 1.92; 95%CI: 1.56-2.35) and those aged 5 (PR: 1.51; 95%CI: 1.13-2.02) and 6 years (PR: 1.51; 95%CI: 1.02-2.23) were more likely to have a negative quality of life impact on the total B-ECOHIS. CONCLUSIONS Dental caries was associated with a negative impact on the quality of life of children. Malocclusion and DDE did not cause a negative impact on the children's quality of life. Older children had higher frequency of negative impact on OHRQoL.
Correlation study on postoperative changes in renal hemodynamics and renal function of patients with traumatic brain surgery by color doppler flow imaging ( CDFI )

To investigate the correlation of renal hemodynamic changes with renal function following traumatic brain surgery in order to provide clinical evidences for early diagnosis and treatment of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). 51 cases of adult with craniotomy evacuation of hematoma were divided into AKI group and non-AKI group. Hemodynamic parameters in interlobar arteries of bilateral kidneys including peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV), resistance index (RI) were detected by CDFI at different time points before and after operation. Blood sample was collected for detection of creatinine (Crea), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), uric acid (UA). The sensitivity and specificity of postoperative 1 h RI, Crea, BUN, UA for diagnosis of AKI following traumatic brain surgery were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under ROC curve. Compared with non-AKI group, patients in AKI group were older and underwent longer operative time (P < 0.05). Compared with preoperative parameters, postoperative 9-48 h Crea and BUN were increased in non-AKI group, while postoperative 9-48 h Crea, 4-48 h BUN and 9-16 h UA was increased in AKI group (P < 0.05). Compared with preoperative parameters, postoperative 1-4 h PSV was increased, postoperative 1-16 h EDV was decreased and postoperative 1-48 h RI was increased in non-AKI group while postoperative 1 h PSV was increased, postoperative 1-48 h EDV was decreased and postoperative 1-48 h RI was increased in AKI group. Furthermore, correlation analysis showed that EDV was negatively correlated with Crea, BUN and UA, while RI was positively correlated with Crea, BUN and UA in both groups (P < 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that age, operative time, postoperative 1 h Crea, EDV and RI was correlated with AKI (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that age and postoperative 1 h RI was correlated with AKI (P < 0.05). The area under ROC curve of postoperative 1 h RI for predicting AKI after traumatic brain surgery was 0.805, and the sensitivity was 90.00%, the specificity 67.70%, the optimal judgment value 0.70. In conclusion, after traumatic brain surgery, RI of interlobar renal artery can reflect the changes in renal function earlier than Crea, BUN and UA, it can be an important index for early prediction of AKI.
Empowering Parents of Australian Infants and Children in Hospital: Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Validation of the EMpowerment of PArents in The Intensive Care-30-AUS Questionnaire

Objectives: To translate, culturally adapt, and psychometrically test the EMpowerment of PArents in The Intensive Care-30 questionnaire in Australian pediatric critical care, neonatal, and pediatric ward settings. Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive, multicenter study conducted in two phases; 1) translation and cultural adaptation and 2) validation of the EMpowerment of PArents in The Intensive Care-30 questionnaire. Settings: Two Western Australian sites, the PICU and two pediatric wards of a children’s hospital and the neonatal unit of a women’s and newborn hospital. Participants: Parents whose baby or child was admitted to the participating wards or units with a length of hospital stay greater than 24 hours. Intervention: None. Measurements and Main Results: Phase 1: A structured 10-step translation process adhered to international principles of good practice for translation and cultural adaptation of patient-reported outcomes. Thirty parents participated in cognitive debriefing. Phase 2: A total of 328 parents responded to the EMpowerment of PArents in The Intensive Care-30-AUS questionnaire. Reliability was sufficient (Cronbach &agr; at domain level 0.70 –0.82, for each clinical area 0.56–0.86). Congruent validity was adequate between the domains and three general satisfaction items (rs 0.38–0.69). Nondifferential validity showed no significant effect size between three patient or parent demographic characteristics and the domains (Cohen’s d < 0.36). Between the different clinical areas, significant differences in responses were found in all domains. Conclusions: The translated and culturally adapted EMpowerment of PArents in The Intensive Care-30-AUS is a reliable and valid questionnaire to measure parent-reported outcomes in pediatric critical care, pediatric ward, and neonatal hospital settings. Using this questionnaire can provide a framework for a standardized quality improvement approach and identification of best practices across specialties, hospital services and for benchmarking similar health services worldwide.
Metabolic syndrome is associated with hearing loss among a middle-aged and older Chinese population: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Although the association of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and hearing loss has been evaluated, findings are controversial. This study investigated this association in a Chinese population. Methods: A cross-sectional study including a total of 18,824 middle-aged and older participants from the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort study was conducted. Hearing loss was defined as the pure-tone average (PTA) of frequencies 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 kHz >25 decibels hearing level (dB HL) in the better ear and graded as mild (PTA 26–40 dB HL), moderate (PTA >40 to ≤60 dB HL), and severe (PTA >60 dB HL). MetS was defined according to the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF) criteria of 2005. Association analysis was performed by logistic regression. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, participants with MetS showed higher OR of hearing loss (OR, 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03–1.19). The MetS components including central obesity (OR, 1.07; 95% CI: 1.01–1.15) and hyperglycemia (OR, 1.12; 95% CI: 1.04–1.20) were also positively associated with hearing loss. Low HDL-C levels were also associated with higher OR of moderate/severe hearing loss (OR, 1.21; 95% CI: 1.07–1.36). Conclusions: The MetS, including its components central obesity, hyperglycemia, and low HDL-C levels were positively associated with hearing loss. Key messages Studies indicated that cardiovascular disease and diabetes might be risk factors of hearing loss. However, few efforts have been made to establish a direct relationship between metabolic syndrome and hearing loss, especially in Chinese population. In the present study, a cross-sectional design using data from the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort study was conducted to assess the association between metabolic syndrome and hearing loss. The metabolic syndrome, as well as its components central obesity, hyperglycemia, and low HDL-C levels were positively associated with hearing loss.
Policy Optimization with Second-Order Advantage Information

Policy optimization on high-dimensional continuous control tasks exhibits its difficulty caused by the large variance of the policy gradient estimators. We present the action subspace dependent gradient (ASDG) estimator which incorporates the Rao-Blackwell theorem (RB) and Control Variates (CV) into a unified framework to reduce the variance. To invoke RB, our proposed algorithm (POSA) learns the underlying factorization structure among the action space based on the second-order advantage information. POSA captures the quadratic information explicitly and efficiently by utilizing the wide \& deep architecture. Empirical studies show that our proposed approach demonstrates the performance improvements on high-dimensional synthetic settings and OpenAI Gym's MuJoCo continuous control tasks.
Development of Right-hemispheric Dominance of Inferior Parietal Lobule in Proprioceptive Illusion Task

Abstract Functional lateralization can be an indicator of brain maturation. We have consistently shown that, in the adult brain, proprioceptive processing of muscle spindle afferents generating illusory movement of the right hand activates inferior frontoparietal cortical regions in a right‐side dominant manner in addition to the cerebrocerebellar motor network. Here we provide novel evidence regarding the development of the right‐dominant use of the inferior frontoparietal cortical regions in humans using this task. We studied brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging while 60 right‐handed blindfolded healthy children (8‐11 years), adolescents (12‐15 years), and young adults (18‐23 years) (20 per group) experienced the illusion. Adult‐like right‐dominant use of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) was observed in adolescents, while children used the IPL bilaterally. In contrast, adult‐like lateralized cerebrocerebellar motor activation patterns were already observable in children. The right‐side dominance progresses during adolescence along with the suppression of the left‐sided IPL activity that emerges during childhood. Therefore, the neuronal processing implemented in the adult's right IPL during the proprioceptive illusion task is likely mediated bilaterally during childhood, and then becomes right‐lateralized during adolescence at a substantially later time than the lateralized use of the cerebrocerebellar motor system for kinesthetic processing.
A Flexible Temperature Sensor Based on Reduced Graphene Oxide for Robot Skin Used in Internet of Things

Flexible electronics, which can be distributed on any surface we need, are highly demanded in the development of Internet of Things (IoT), robot technology and electronic skins. Temperature is a fundamental physical parameter, and it is an important indicator in many applications. Therefore, a flexible temperature sensor is required. Here, we report a simple method to fabricate three lightweight, low-cost and flexible temperature sensors, whose sensitive materials are reduced graphene oxide (r-GO), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). By comparing linearity, sensitive and repeatability, we found that the r-GO temperature sensor had the most balanced performance. Furthermore, the r-GO temperature sensor showed good mechanical properties and it could be bent in different angles with negligible resistance change. In addition, the performance of the r-GO temperature sensor remained stable under different kinds of pressure and was unaffected by surrounding environments, like humidity or other gases, because of the insulating layer on its sensitive layer. The easy-fabricated process and economy, together with the remarkable performance of the r-GO temperature sensor, suggest that it is suitable for use as a robot skin or used in the environment of IoT.
Immobilization of lipase from Candida rugosa on chitosan beads for transesterification reaction.

Problem statement: Further study is recommended to improve the immobilization technique and the immobilized lipase’s performance as catalysis in transesterification reaction. Approach: To investigate the ability of immobilized lipase on chitosan beads to catalyze the transesterification of cooking oil to an ester. The porous bead of chitosan was used for immobilization of lipase from Candida rugosa by physical adsorption. Parameters like reaction time and oil to methanol molar ratios were studied to compare the transesterification performance between free lipase and immobilized lipase. Results: The experimental result showed that the maximum conversion of ester using immobilized lipase and free lipase were 72.25 and 76.5% respectively which was obtained at conditions of 1:4 molar ratios and reaction time of 48 h. Conclusion: Even though the conversion of ester was higher in free lipase than in immobilized lipase, it is still feasible to use immobilized lipase to catalyze the transesterification process provided it’s easier to separate the end product and high potential to be reused. Immobilize lipase also tolerated the water content of oil and increases product yield by avoiding the soap formation.
Recurrent CNN for 3D Gaze Estimation using Appearance and Shape Cues

Gaze behavior is an important non-verbal cue in social signal processing and human-computer interaction. In this paper, we tackle the problem of person- and head pose-independent 3D gaze estimation from remote cameras, using a multi-modal recurrent convolutional neural network (CNN). We propose to combine face, eyes region, and face landmarks as individual streams in a CNN to estimate gaze in still images. Then, we exploit the dynamic nature of gaze by feeding the learned features of all the frames in a sequence to a many-to-one recurrent module that predicts the 3D gaze vector of the last frame. Our multi-modal static solution is evaluated on a wide range of head poses and gaze directions, achieving a significant improvement of 14.6% over the state of the art on EYEDIAP dataset, further improved by 4% when the temporal modality is included.
Oral mucosa as a potential source of candidemia by Candida parapsilosis sensu stricto, under pathological conditions

Over the past 10 years, there have been increasingly frequent reports of colonization of niches in the oral cavity by Non-Candida Albicans Candida (NCAC) species. Among these species, Candida parapsilosis sensu stricto plays a major part both locally and systemically. Evidence shows that it may be the second most frequent yeast isolate, after Candida albicans, as commensal in the oral cavity and as pathogen in blood cultures of patients diagnosed with fungemia. Recent reports suggest that both its distribution and its virulence may be affected by environmental conditions and may increase in situations of oral dysbiosis. Based on this background, we hypothesize that oral mucosa in pathological condition may be a source of candidemia by Candida parapsilosis sensu stricto, when promoted by the conditions in the host. We reviewed the scientific databases in search of evidence which may support such hypothesis.
Leadership Team Tool for better meaning making: Developing leadership team communication and reflexivity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a Leadership Team Tool for developing reflexivity in the context of leadership teams. Design/methodology/approach – The Leadership Team Tool is based on the theoretical premises of seeing communication as meaning making, and therefore placing discourse and conversation in the center of developing leadership teams. Findings – The paper illustrates how reflexivity can be facilitated through a structured process of using the Leadership Team Tool. An empirical investigation of using the tool in an authentic leadership team setting is warranted to further develop the Leadership Team Tool. Originality/value – The paper makes a practical contribution to several fields of studies, such as team communication and reflexivity, leadership team research and dialogic organization development. The paper addresses the need to develop solutions to enhance reflexivity, as prior research has not established the best ways to foster reflexivity.
Prognostic Value of Fractional Flow Reserve Measured Immediately After Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation

Background— The predictive value of fractional flow reserve (FFR) measured immediately after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent placement has not been prospectively investigated. We investigated the potential of post-PCI FFR measurements to predict clinical outcome in patients from FAME 1 and 2 trials (Fractional Flow Reserve or Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation). Methods and Results— All patients of FAME 1 and FAME 2 who had post-PCI FFR measurement were included. The primary outcome was vessel-oriented composite end point at 2 years, defined as vessel-related cardiovascular death, vessel-related spontaneous myocardial infarction, and ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization. Eight hundred thirty-eight vessels in 639 patients were analyzed. Baseline FFR values did not differ between vessels with versus without vessel-oriented composite end point (0.66±0.11 versus 0.63±0.14, respectively; P=0.207). Post-PCI FFR was significantly lower in vessels with vessel-oriented composite end point (0.88±0.06 versus 0.90±0.06, respectively; P=0.019). Comparing the 2-year outcome of lower and upper tertiles of post-PCI FFR significant difference was found favoring upper tertile in terms of overall vessel-oriented composite end point (9.2% versus 3.8%, respectively; hazard ratio, 1.46; 95% confidence interval, 1.02–2.08; P=0.037) and target vessel revascularization (7.0% versus 2.4%, respectively; hazard ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–2.46; P=0.037). When adjusted to sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, target vessel, serial stenosis, and baseline percentage diameter stenosis, a strong trend was preserved in terms of target vessel revascularization (harzard ratio, 1.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.97–2.46; P=0.066), favoring the upper tertile. Post-PCI FFR of 0.92 was found to have the highest diagnostic accuracy; however, the positive likelihood ratio remained low (<1.4). Conclusions— A higher post-PCI FFR value is associated with a better vessel-related outcome. However, its predictive value is too low to advocate its use as a surrogate clinical end point.
Pharmacokinetics and safety of letermovir, a novel anti‐human cytomegalovirus drug, in patients with renal impairment

AIMS Human cytomegalovirus remains a significant issue for immunocompromised patients and existing viral polymerase targeting therapies are associated with significant toxicity. Accordingly, the viral terminase complex inhibitor, letermovir, is in development. We assessed letermovir pharmacokinetics in renal impairment. METHODS This was a Phase 1, open-label, nonrandomised trial. Estimated glomerular filtration rate based on the Modification of Diet Renal Disease equation was used to create three groups of eight subjects: healthy function (estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥ 90 ml min-1 1.73m-2 ), moderate (30-59 ml min-1 1.73m-2 ) and severe (<30 ml min-1 1.73m-2 ) impairment. Oral letermovir 120 mg was dosed once-daily for 8 days and blood collected for pharmacokinetic analyses. RESULTS All 24 subjects enrolled completed the trial. Moderate and severe renal impairment increased mean unbound letermovir fractions by 11% and 26%, respectively, vs. healthy subjects. Exposure (AUCτ,ss and Css,max ) was increased with renal impairment [least square mean ratios (90% confidence intervals) total letermovir vs. healthy subjects, AUCτ,ss 192% (143-258%) and 142% (83-243%) for moderate and severe impairment, respectively; Css,max 125% (87-182%) and 106% (75-151%), respectively]. Clearance was decreased vs. healthy subjects. Correlation analyses indicated a correlation between decreasing renal function and increased unbound letermovir concentration (R2 = 0.5076, P < 0.0001). Correlations were identified between decreased clearance with both decreased renal function (R2 = 0.0662, P = 0.2249 and R2 = 0.1861, P = 0.0353 total and unbound clearance, respectively) and increased age (R2 = 0.3548, P = 0.0021 and R2 = 0.3166, P = 0.0042 total and unbound clearance, respectively). Multiple-dose letermovir 120 mg was well tolerated across groups. CONCLUSIONS Renal impairment increased exposure to letermovir, although age was a confounding factor.
Artifacts in Behavioral Research

This new combination volume of three-books-in-one, dealing with the topic of artifacts in behavioral research, was designed as both introduction and reminder. It was designed as an introduction to the topic for graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and younger researchers. It was designed as a reminder to more experienced researchers, in and out of academia, that the problems of artifacts in behavioral research, that they may have learned about as beginning researchers, have not gone away.