Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived Sexual Orientation of Men and Women with Eating Disorders and Obesity

ABSTRACT The present study explores the perceived sexual orientation of hypothetical men and women with various eating disorders and obesity. Undergraduates were randomly provided with one vignette describing a male or female with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge-eating disorder, or obesity and were asked about the target’s likely sexual orientation. Significant differences emerged between male and female targets with AN and BN on the forced-choice question, with a greater percentage of participants indicating that the male targets were probably non-heterosexual. On continuous items, participants rated the female targets as significantly more likely to be heterosexual and significantly less likely to be homosexual than male targets. The general public may be more likely to perceive men with eating disorders as gay or bisexual relative to females with eating disorders. Perceived sexual orientation might be an important factor to consider when exploring the potentially unique perspectives of men with eating disorders.
Myocardial infarction and alcohol consumption: A case-control study

Background Although epidemiological evidence for the beneficial effect of low alcohol consumption on myocardial infarction is strong, the impact of heavy drinking episodes is less clear. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between the risk for acute myocardial infarction occurrence and alcohol consumption. Methods Our hospital-based case-control study comprised 374 participants (187 newly diagnosed patients with myocardial infarction and 187 controls, individually matched by gender, age, and place of residence). This study was performed in Kragujevac (a city in Serbia) during 2010. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results The history of alcohol consumption in patients with acute myocardial infarction and their controls did not differ significantly: the percentage of those that were consuming alcohol was slightly higher in cases (54.5%) than in controls (50.3%). The habit of binge drinking during the previous 12 months was significantly more common in cases (25.1%) than in controls (12.8%): adjusted OR = 2.2 (95%CI = 1.2–4.2, p = 0.017), p for trend = 0.015. Analysis of binge drinking by age, gender and place of residence revealed that the increase in risk for acute myocardial infarction was associated with older age (adjusted OR = 5.1, 95%CI = 1.7–15.1, p for trend = 0.010), male gender (adjusted OR = 2.3, 95%CI = 1.1–5.2, p for trend = 0.028) and rural place of residence (adjusted OR = 4.8, 95%CI = 1.3–18.5, p for trend = 0.033). Conclusion Our results suggest that binge drinking is associated with twice the risk for myocardial infarction compared to not drinking. Since consumption of alcohol is very common in the Serbian population, the effect of binge drinking on myocardial infarction should be considered an important public health issue.
High-throughput screen, using time-resolved FRET, yields actin-binding compounds that modulate actin–myosin structure and function

We have used a novel time-resolved FRET (TR-FRET) assay to detect small-molecule modulators of actin–myosin structure and function. Actin–myosin interactions play crucial roles in the generation of cellular force and movement. Numerous mutations and post-translational modifications of actin or myosin disrupt muscle function and cause life-threatening syndromes. Here, we used a FRET biosensor to identify modulators that bind to the actin–myosin interface and alter the structural dynamics of this complex. We attached a fluorescent donor to actin at Cys-374 and a nonfluorescent acceptor to a peptide containing the 12 N-terminal amino acids of the long isoform of skeletal muscle myosin's essential light chain. The binding site on actin of this acceptor-labeled peptide (ANT) overlaps with that of myosin, as indicated by (a) a similar distance observed in the actin–ANT complex as in the actin–myosin complex and (b) a significant decrease in actin–ANT FRET upon binding myosin. A high-throughput FRET screen of a small-molecule library (NCC, 727 compounds), using a unique fluorescence lifetime readout with unprecedented speed and precision, showed that FRET is significantly affected by 10 compounds in the micromolar range. Most of these “hits” alter actin-activated myosin ATPase and affect the microsecond dynamics of actin detected by transient phosphorescence anisotropy. We conclude that the actin–ANT TR-FRET assay enables detection of pharmacologically active compounds that affect actin structural dynamics and actomyosin function. This assay establishes feasibility for the discovery of allosteric modulators of the actin–myosin interaction, with the ultimate goal of developing therapies for muscle disorders.
Conceptual Factors Influence Children's Distributivity Bias

ABSTRACT Sentences such as “The girls read a book” can lead to multiple interpretations: They could be reading the same book (collective) or they could each be reading their own book (distributive). In ambiguous contexts, adults prefer the collective interpretation, and preschool children show a slight bias for a distributive interpretation. The current research investigated whether conceptual factors (number of actors) influences interpretations of these kinds of predicates. The data with children show a stronger collective bias when there are four actors compared to two actors. This may be because children are more likely to conceptualize groups of four (vs. two) as sets rather than collections of individuals. These data are discussed with reference to research on visual and conceptual integration abilities, showing that children lag behind in their ability to combine components into a whole in comparison to parsing objects into their component parts.
SPECT/CT imaging of chemotherapy-induced tumor apoptosis using 99mTc-labeled dendrimer-entrapped gold nanoparticles

Abstract Non-invasive imaging of apoptosis in tumors induced by chemotherapy is of great value in the evaluation of therapeutic efficiency. In this study, we report the synthesis, characterization, and utilization of radionuclide technetium-99m (99mTc)-labeled dendrimer-entrapped gold nanoparticles (Au DENPs) for targeted SPECT/CT imaging of chemotherapy-induced tumor apoptosis. Generation five poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers (G5.NH2) were sequentially conjugated with 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA), polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified duramycin, PEG monomethyl ether, and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FI) to form the multifunctional dendrimers, which were then utilized as templates to entrap gold nanoparticles. Followed by acetylation of the remaining dendrimer surface amines and radiolabeling of 99mTc, the SPECT/CT dual mode nanoprobe of tumor apoptosis was constructed. The developed multifunctional Au DENPs before and after 99mTc radiolabeling were well characterized. The results demonstrate that the multifunctional Au DENPs display favorable colloidal stability under different conditions, own good cytocompatibility in the given concentration range, and can be effectively labeled by 99mTc with high radiochemical stability. Furthermore, the multifunctional nanoprobe enables the targeted SPECT/CT imaging of apoptotic cancer cells in vitro and tumor apoptosis after doxorubicin (DOX) treatment in the established subcutaneous tumor model in vivo. The designed duramycin-functionalized Au DENPs might have the potential to be employed as a nanoplatform for the detection of apoptosis and early tumor response to chemotherapy.
Efficient Synthesis of Immunomodulatory Drug Analogues Enables Exploration of Structure–Degradation Relationships

The immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) thalidomide, pomalidomide, and lenalidomide have been approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma for many years. Recently, their use as E3 ligase recruiting elements for small‐molecule‐induced protein degradation has led to a resurgence in interest in IMiD synthesis and functionalization. Traditional IMiD synthesis follows a stepwise route with multiple purification steps. Herein we describe a novel one‐pot synthesis without purification that provides rapid access to a multitude of IMiD analogues. Binding studies with the IMiD target protein cereblon (CRBN) reveals a narrow structure–activity relationship with only a few compounds showing sub‐micromolar binding affinity in the range of pomalidomide and lenalidomide. However, anti‐proliferative activity as well as Aiolos degradation could be identified for two IMiD analogues. This study provides useful insight into the structure–degradation relationships for molecules of this type as well as a rapid and robust method for IMiD synthesis.
HIV-associated nephropathy: links, risks and management

Despite the decreased incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated nephropathy due to the widespread use of combined active antiretroviral therapy, it remains one of the leading causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in HIV-1 seropositive patients. Patients usually present with low CD4 count, high viral load and heavy proteinuria, with the pathologic findings of collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Increased susceptibility exists in individuals with African descent, largely due to polymorphism in APOL1 gene. Other clinical risk factors include high viral load and low CD4 count. Advanced kidney disease and nephrotic range proteinuria have been associated with progression to ESRD. Improvement in kidney function has been observed after initiation of combined active antiretroviral therapy. Other treatment options, when clinically indicated, are inhibition of the renin–angiotensin system and corticosteroids. Further routine management approaches for patients with chronic kidney disease should be implemented. In patients with progression to ESRD, kidney transplant should be pursued, provided that viral load control is adequate. Screening for the presence of kidney disease upon detection of HIV-1 seropositivity in high-risk populations is recommended.
Cooperative reliable response from sloppy gene-expression dynamics

Gene expression dynamics satisfying given input-output relationships were investigated by evolving the networks for an optimal response. We found three types of networks and corresponding dynamics, depending on the sensitivity of the gene expression dynamics: direct response with straight paths, amplified response by a feed-forward network, and cooperative response with a complex network. When the sensitivity of each gene's response is low and expression dynamics is sloppy, the last type is selected, in which many genes respond collectively to inputs, with local-excitation and global-inhibition structures. Robustness to noise is also demonstrated. The result provides an insight into how a reliable response is achieved with unreliable units, and on why complex networks are adopted in cells.
Identity in adolescence and emerging adulthood: relationships with emotional and educational factors

In the processual approach to identity, the role of the interaction between subjective and contextual factors in the process of its development is emphasized. Based on the model of Luyckx et al. (2008) relationships between identity and educational context, as well as the tendency to experience shame and guilt were analyzed. 821 people aged from 14-25 and belonging to six educational groups: (1) lower secondary school, (2) basic vocational school, (3) technical upper secondary school, (4) general upper secondary school, (5) post-secondary school (medical rescue, massage therapy, cosmetology, occupational therapy) and (6) university, took part in the research. Two questionnaires were used: The Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS), to allow the measurement of the five dimensions of identity postulated by Luyckx et al (2008) and The Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ-2, Harder, Zalma, 1990) to measure of the shame and guilt proneness. The results show that general upper secondary school students in terms of the dimensions of identity are closer to lower secondary school students rather than to their peers from technical and vocational schools. Among general upper secondary school students not only was a higher intensity of an identity crisis observed, but also a strong tendency to experience shame and guilt. Among lower secondary school students and general upper secondary school students, people with diffusion and moratorium as identity statuses prevailed, while in the remaining groups the achievement and foreclosure identity were observed more frequently. A general relationship was also observed, namely, a greater tendency to experience shame was associated with a higher intensity of an identity crisis.
The Rise and Fall of Cryptocurrencies

Since Bitcoin’s introduction in 2009, interest in cryptocurrencies has soared. One manifestation of this interest has been the explosion of newly created coins. This paper examines the dynamics of coin creation, competition and destruction in the cryptocurrency industry. In order to conduct the analysis, we develop a methodology to identify peaks in prices and trade volume, as well as when coins are abandoned and subsequently “resurrected”. We study trading activity associated with 1 082 coins over a nearly five-year period. We present evidence that the more frequently traded coins experience the biggest price rises. They are also much less likely to be abandoned, that is, to experience a drop in average trading volume to below 1% of a prior peak value. Overall, we find that 44% of publicly-traded coins are abandoned, at least temporarily. 71% of abandoned coins are later resurrected, leaving 18% of coins to fail permanently. We then examine the association between entry and exit and other key variables such as price, volume, and market capitalization in order to analyze and provide intuition underpinning the fundamentals in this market. We conclude by examining the bursting of the Bitcoin bubble in December 2017. Unlike the end of the 2013 bubble, some alternative cryptocurrencies continue to flourish after the fall of Bitcoin. ∗Authors listed in alphabetical order.
Attention Process Training-3 to improve reading comprehension in mild aphasia: A single-case experimental design study

ABSTRACT People with aphasia frequently present with nonlinguistic deficits, in addition to their compromised language abilities, which may contribute to their problems with reading comprehension. Treatment of attention, working memory and executive control may improve reading comprehension in individuals with aphasia, particularly those with mild reading problems. This single-case experimental design study evaluated the efficacy of Attention Process Training-3, an intervention combining direct attention training and metacognitive facilitation, for improving reading comprehension in individuals with mild aphasia. A multiple baseline design across six participants was used to evaluate treatment effects. The primary outcome measure was a maze reading task. Cognitive measures were administered pre- and post-treatment. Visual inspection of graphed maze reading performance data indicated a basic effect between APT-3 and improved maze reading for three of the six participants. Quantitative analyses, using Tau-U, corroborated findings identified through visual analysis. The overall effect size was significant (Tau = .48, p = .01). Results suggest that APT-3 has the potential to improve reading in individuals with aphasia, but that it may be more efficacious under certain conditions. Treatment and participant variables, including intensity of treatment and metacognitive strategy usage, are discussed as potential influences on participants’ responsiveness to APT-3.
Ibogaine Detoxification Transitions Opioid and Cocaine Abusers Between Dependence and Abstinence: Clinical Observations and Treatment Outcomes

Ibogaine may be effective for transitioning opioid and cocaine dependent individuals to sobriety. American and European self-help groups provided public testimonials that ibogaine alleviated drug craving and opioid withdrawal symptoms after only a single dose administration. Preclinical studies in animal models of addiction have provided proof-of-concept evidence in support of these claims. However, the purported therapeutic benefits of ibogaine are based on anecdotal reports from a small series of case reports that used retrospective recruitment procedures. We reviewed clinical results from an open label case series (N = 191) of human volunteers seeking to detoxify from opioids or cocaine with medical monitoring during inpatient treatment. Whole blood was assayed to obtain pharmacokinetic measures to determine the metabolism and clearance of ibogaine. Clinical safety data and adverse events (AEs) were studied in male and female subjects. There were no significant adverse events following administration of ibogaine in a dose range that was shown to be effective for blocking opioid withdrawal symptoms in this study. We used multi-dimensional craving questionnaires during inpatient detoxification to test if ibogaine was effective in diminishing heroin and cocaine cravings. Participants also completed standardized questionnaires about their health and mood before and after ibogaine treatment, and at program discharge. One-month follow-up data were reviewed where available to determine if ibogaine’s effects on drug craving would persist outside of an inpatient setting. We report here that ibogaine therapy administered in a safe dose range diminishes opioid withdrawal symptoms and reduces drug cravings. Pharmacological treatments for opioid dependence include detoxification, narcotic antagonists and long-term opioid maintenance therapy. Our results support product development of single oral dose administration of ibogaine for the treatment of opioid withdrawal during medically supervised detoxification to transition drug dependent individuals to abstinence.
Beyond Joints: Learning Representations From Primitive Geometries for Skeleton-Based Action Recognition and Detection

Recently, skeleton-based action recognition becomes popular owing to the development of cost-effective depth sensors and fast pose estimation algorithms. Traditional methods based on pose descriptors often fail on large-scale datasets due to the limited representation of engineered features. Recent recurrent neural networks (RNN) based approaches mostly focus on the temporal evolution of body joints and neglect the geometric relations. In this paper, we aim to leverage the geometric relations among joints for action recognition. We introduce three primitive geometries: joints, edges, and surfaces. Accordingly, a generic end-to-end RNN based network is designed to accommodate the three inputs. For action recognition, a novel viewpoint transformation layer and temporal dropout layers are utilized in the RNN based network to learn robust representations. And for action detection, we first perform frame-wise action classification, then exploit a novel multi-scale sliding window algorithm. Experiments on the large-scale 3D action recognition benchmark datasets show that joints, edges, and surfaces are effective and complementary for different actions. Our approaches dramatically outperform the existing state-of-the-art methods for both tasks of action recognition and action detection.
First Case Report of a Huge Giant Cell Tumor of Soft Tissue Originating from the Retroperitoneum

Patient: Male, 78 Final Diagnosis: Giant cell tumor of soft tissue Symptoms: Fatigue • weight loss Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Surgical resection Specialty: Surgery Objective: Rare disease Background: Giant cell tumor of soft tissue (GCT-ST) is a rare disease generally generated from superficial tissue. We report an extremely rare case of giant cell tumor of soft tissue arising from retroperitoneal tissue. Case Report: A 78-year-old man visited our medical center with the chief complaint of fatigue and weight loss for 1 month. He had a hard and immobilized mass without pain in the left upper quadrant. Contrast-enhanced CT showed a huge tumor (22×20×16 cm) in the retroperitoneal space, and it invaded into the stomach, colon, pancreas, spleen, and left kidney. MRI demonstrated the tumor had a serous cystic component as T1 was low, T2 was high, and DWI was slightly high. We diagnosed the retroperitoneal malignant tumor, and tumor resection was performed with total gastrectomy, partial colectomy, distal pancreatectomy, left nephrectomy, and left adrenal-ectomy for complete resection, without any postoperative complications. The tumor predominantly consisted of a solid mass, and had necrotic lesions, cystic lesions, and calcification. The histological exam showed it was composed of spindle and multinucleated giant cells; however, there was no cellular atypia or pleomorphism. Immunohistochemical staining characterized the tumor with CD68+, SMA+, CD34–, Desmin–, and S-100–. We finally diagnosed it as GCT-ST with the intermediate group of malignancy, according to WHO criteria. Thereafter, the patient had no recurrence at 1 year after resection. Conclusions: The huge GCT-ST arising from the retroperitoneal space, which has never before been reported, was successfully resected. We report it with pathological findings to add to the relevant literature.
New Meredithiella species from mycangia of Corthylus ambrosia beetles suggest genus-level coadaptation but not species-level coevolution

ABSTRACT Meredithiella norrisii (Microascales, Ceratocystidaceae) is an ambrosia fungus carried in mycangia of the North American ambrosia beetle, Corthylus punctatissimus. Reports on the identity of the fungal symbionts of other species of Corthylus have been inconsistent. This study tested the hypothesis that Meredithiella spp. are the primary symbionts of Corthylus spp. Cultures and/or internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA barcode sequences of Meredithiella spp. were obtained consistently from beetles and galleries of nine Corthylus spp. The ITS sequences of three putative species of Meredithiella were associated with C. consimilis and C. flagellifer in Mexico and C. calamarius in Costa Rica. The symbiont of C. columbianus in the USA was identified as M. norrisii. Two new Meredithiella spp. are described: M. fracta from C. papulans in Florida and Honduras, and M. guianensis associated with C. crassus and two unidentified Corthylus spp. in French Guyana. The Meredithiella spp. propagate in the mycangia of adult females by thallic-arthric growth, and the ambrosia growth in larval cradles comprises bead-like hyphal swellings or conidiophores, with or without terminal aleurioconidia. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of a combined 18S and 28S nuc rDNA and translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1-α) data set demonstrated that Meredithiella is a distinct monophyletic clade within the Ceratocystidaceae, but its phylogenetic placement with regard to the other ambrosial genera in the family remains ambiguous. The mycangia of C. punctatissimus and C. papulans are also compared using light microscopy and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging, revealing that they differ in both size and shape, but these differences may not correlate with different lineages of Meredithiella.