Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CEP55 promotes the proliferation, migration and invasion of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via the PI3K/Akt pathway

Background Centrosomal protein 55 (CEP55) is an important prognostic biomarker that plays an essential role in the proliferation, migration and invasion of multiple tumors. We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of CEP55 in pN0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and explore its biological function in ESCC cells. Methods We used immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis to detect the expression of CEP55 in ESCC. Furthermore, both in vitro and in vivo assays were used to determine the effect of CEP55 on malignant behavior in ESCC cells. Results As expected, we found that CEP55 was overexpressed in ESCC. Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that patients with CEP55 overexpression had a poor prognosis. Additionally, the abilities of proliferation, migration and invasion of cells, as well as the epithelial–mesenchymal transition markers, were all altered with the changed CEP55 expression levels in ESCC cells. Further study elucidated that CEP55 facilitated ESCC via the PI3K/Akt pathway. Blockade of this pathway markedly attenuated CEP55-mediated proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition of ESCC cells. Conclusion Oncogenic CEP55 correlates with a poor prognosis by regulating tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion via the PI3K/Akt pathway. It can serve as a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target of pN0 ESCC after Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy.
Levels of Organochlorine Pesticides in Brackish Water Fish from Niger River, Nigeria

Investigation of the levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in fish samples was carried out to assess the contamination status of Niger River. Ten different brackish water species of fish (6 samples for each, making a total of 60) were purchased from landing sites at the Delta area of Niger River. These were Drapane africana, Mochokus niloticus, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, Pristipoma jubelini, Vomer septapinis, Pseudotolithus senegalensis, Mugil cephalus, Pseudotolithus elongatus, Sphyraena piscatorum, and Lutjanus goreensis. OCPs were determined using standard methods. Certified reference standards from Accustandard USA were used for the instrument calibration and quantification of OCPs. Twenty OCPs, namely, α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, δ-HCH, endrin, endrin aldehyde, endrin ketone, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, aldrin, dieldrin, endosulfan I, endosulfan II, endosulfan sulfate, methoxychlor, α-chlordane, γ-chlordane, DDE, DDT, and DDT, were identified/quantified using Gas Chromatography (GC) (Hewlett Packard GC 5890 series 11 with electron capture detector). Confirmation was done using Shimadzu GCMS QP2010. The highest concentration of ∑OCPs in the brackish fish samples of the Niger River, 4302±2066 µg/kg fresh weight, with a range of 2237-6368 µg/kg, was detected in Drapane africana, while the lowest concentration, 2320±876.4, with a range of 1006-3288 µg/kg, was found in Mochokus niloticus. The concentration of total OCP compounds varied markedly amongst the different fish species. The guideline value of 2000 µg/kg fresh weight by WHO/FAO was exceeded and therefore implied potential harmful effects on humans. Since contamination of the fish samples was an indication of contamination of the river, the quality of the water for public water supply should be of concern; and therefore further monitoring is suggested.
A framework for the extended monitoring of levels of cognitive function in unresponsive patients

Generally, prognostication of coma outcome currently combines behavioral, reflex, and possibly neuroimaging tests that are interpreted by an attending physician. Electroencephalography, particularly, event-related brain potentials (ERP) have received attention due to evidence demonstrating the positive predictive value of certain ERP including the mismatch negativity (MMN) and the P3a, for coma emergence. We describe a set of ERP paradigms designed to require and reflect increasing levels of cognitive processing with the added objective of determining the influence of each paradigm’s context strength on its ability to elicit ERPs. These paradigms were then used without explicit instructions to participants to attend to the stimuli to determine which paradigms possessed sufficient context “strength” to elicit ERPs in the absence of active participation on the part of the subject; a circumstance often encountered in brain injury patients. These paradigms were then validated on two groups of adults–younger and older, and the difference due to active participation was validated on another group of younger adults. Results show that paradigms with stronger stimulus context features performed better than those with weaker contexts, and that older adults generally had significantly attenuated and delayed responses compared to younger adults. Based on these findings, it is recommended the use of the auditory oddball paradigm that includes novel stimuli to elicit the mismatch negativity and P300, and semantic violation sentences to elicit the N400. These findings also reinforce the procedure of instructing participants about the requirements of a protocol–regardless of the patient’s diagnosis or apparent state–in order to help those who are able to attend to show the most robust responses possible.
Regulation of locomotor pointing across the lifespan: Investigating age-related influences on perceptual-motor coupling

Introduction The regulation of one’s step length by placing one’s foot at a specific position within gait, otherwise known as ‘locomotor pointing’, is well understood in walking and running gait. The current study was the first to broaden this understanding to a larger cohort and to describe the influence of age on the regulation of locomotor pointing when walking up to and stepping onto a curb-like platform. Methods Younger (n = 17, mean age: 25.35 years, range: 19–33) and older adults (n = 105, mean age: 71.49 years, range: 61–86) participated in a walking experiment, requiring them to approach and step onto a curb-like platform. Linear mixed effects modeling was used to study the main outcome variables: onset of regulation, the regulation strategy and the strength of perceptual-motor coupling. Results Results showed that with older age, participants showed less variability in foot placement during their approach and seemed to prefer to shorten their steps. Furthermore, the strength of the perceptual-motor relationship was found to be related to age; regulation of step length of both younger and older participants was based on a participant’s current foot position. The strength of this relationship increased as participants got closer to the curb and was stronger with increasing age. Furthermore, younger adults on average lengthened their steps as they got closer to the curb, whereas older adults showed significantly less lengthening compared to their younger counterparts. No age-related differences were found in terms of onset of regulation. Discussion The results suggest that the strength of the perceptual-motor relationship in gait is related to age. It is argued that this age-related increase in the strength of perceptual-motor coupling is required to cope with increasing demands linked to the age-related declines of action capabilities. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of increased falls risks and deficits in perceptual-motor functioning.
Descriptor : Age-related dataset on the mechanical properties and collagen fi bril structure of tendons from a murine model

Connective tissues such as tendon, ligament and skin are biological fibre composites comprising collagen fibrils reinforcing the weak proteoglycan-rich ground substance in extracellular matrix (ECM). One of the hallmarks of ageing of connective tissues is the progressive and irreversible change in the tissue mechanical properties; this is often attributed to the underlying changes to the collagen fibril structure. This dataset represents a comprehensive screen of the mechanical properties and collagen fibril structure of tendon from the tails of young to old (i.e. 1.6–35.3 month-old) C57BL6/B mice. The mechanical portion consists of the load-displacement data, as well as the derived tensile properties; the structure data consists of transmission electron micrographs of collagen fibril cross section, as well as the derived cross-sectional parameters. This dataset will allow other researchers to develop and demonstrate the utility of innovative multiscale models and approaches of the extra-cellular and physiological events of ageing of current interest to ageing research, by reducing the current reliance on conducting new mammalian experiments.
Impact of congenital cytomegalovirus infection on transcriptomes from archived dried blood spots in relation to long-term clinical outcome

Congenital Cytomegalovirus infection (cCMV) is the leading infection in determining permanent long-term impairments (LTI), and its pathogenesis is largely unknown due to the complex interplay between viral, maternal, placental, and child factors. The cellular activity, considered to be the result of the response to exogenous and endogenous factors, is captured by the determination of gene expression profiles. In this study, we determined whole blood transcriptomes in relation to cCMV, CMV viral load and LTI development at 6 years of age by using RNA isolated from neonatal dried blood spots (DBS) stored at room temperature for 8 years. As DBS were assumed to mainly reflect the neonatal immune system, particular attention was given to the immune pathways using the global test. Additionally, differential expression of individual genes was performed using the voom/limma function packages. We demonstrated feasibility of RNA sequencing from archived neonatal DBS of children with cCMV, and non-infected controls, in relation to LTI and CMV viral load. Despite the lack of statistical power to detect individual genes differences, pathway analysis suggested the involvement of innate immune response with higher CMV viral loads, and of anti-inflammatory markers in infected children that did not develop LTI. Finally, the T cell exhaustion observed in infected neonates, in particular with higher viral load, did not correlate with LTI, therefore other mechanisms are likely to be involved in the long-term immune dysfunction. Despite these data demonstrate limitation in determining prognostic markers for LTI by means of transcriptome analysis, this exploratory study represents a first step in unraveling the pathogenesis of cCMV, and the aforementioned pathways certainly merit further evaluation.
Micro-computed tomography assessment of different obturation techniques for filling lateral canals

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate obturation depth and volume by means of micro-CT when filling lateral canals. Material and Methods Thirty single-rooted teeth were used. After instrumentation, three artificial lateral canals were created on each mesial and distal surface (one on each third). The samples were then separated randomly into three groups according to the obturation technique used (n=10): lateral condensation (Group 1), Tagger’s hybrid technique (Group 2) and GuttaCore™ (Group 3). Samples were scanned and data was processed with Avizo software. Depth and volume of the infilling were measured in each lateral canal. Values were expressed as percentages and were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results Mean depth showed statistically significant differences between Group 3 and Groups 1 (p=0.001) and 2 (p=0.003), whereas no significant difference was found between Groups 1 and 2 (p≈1). As for mean volume, significant differences were found between Group 3 and Groups 1 (p=0.01) and 2 (p=0.003) but no differences were found between Groups 1 and 2 (p=1.00). Conclusions GuttaCore provided the best lateral canal sealing among the three techniques compared. Key words:Lateral canals, Micro-CT, obturation.
High-impact and transformative science (HITS) metrics: Definition, exemplification, and comparison

Countries, research institutions, and scholars are interested in identifying and promoting high-impact and transformative scientific research. This paper presents a novel set of text- and citation-based metrics that can be used to identify high-impact and transformative works. The 11 metrics can be grouped into seven types: Radical-Generative, Radical-Destructive, Risky, Multidisciplinary, Wide Impact, Growing Impact, and Impact (overall). The metrics are exemplified, validated, and compared using a set of 10,778,696 MEDLINE articles matched to the Science Citation Index ExpandedTM. Articles are grouped into six 5-year periods (spanning 1983–2012) using publication year and into 6,159 fields constructed using comparable MeSH terms, with which each article is tagged. The analysis is conducted at the level of a field-period pair, of which 15,051 have articles and are used in this study. A factor analysis shows that transformativeness and impact are positively related (ρ = .402), but represent distinct phenomena. Looking at the subcomponents of transformativeness, there is no evidence that transformative work is adopted slowly or that the generation of important new concepts coincides with the obsolescence of existing concepts. We also find that the generation of important new concepts and highly cited work is more risky. Finally, supporting the validity of our metrics, we show that work that draws on a wider range of research fields is used more widely.
A study on the dynamics of temporary HIV treatment to assess the controversial outcomes of clinical trials: An in-silico approach

It is still unclear under which conditions temporary combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) results in a prolonged remission after interruption. Clinical trials have contradicting reposts about the effect of cART during primary HIV infection on the disease progression. Here we propose that the apparent contradiction is due the presence of a window of opportunity for cART treatment observed in the in silico studies. We study non-linear correlations in the HIV dynamics over time using information theory. This approach requires a large dataset of CD4+ T lymphocytes and viral load concentrations over time. Since it is unfeasible to collect the required amount of data in clinical trials we use C-ImmSim, a clinically validated in silico model of the HIV infection, to simulate the HIV infection and temporary cART in 500 virtual patients for a period of 6 years post infection in time steps of 8 hours. We validate the results of our model with two published clinical trials of temporary cART in acute infection and analyse the impact of cART on the immune response. Our quantitative analysis predicts a “window of opportunity” of about ten months after the acute phase during which a temporary cART has significantly longer-lasting beneficial effects on the immune system as compared to treatment during the chronic phase. This window may help to explain the controversial outcomes of clinical trials that differ by the starting time and duration of the short-term course cART and provides a critical insight to develop appropriate protocols for future clinical trials.
Development of Commercial Health Insurance in China: A Systematic Literature Review

Facing difficulties like increasing health burden and health inequity, China government started to promote commercial health insurance (CHI) in recent decades. Several policies and announcement have been issued to build up a favorable environment for development of commercial health insurance. Meanwhile, scholar tried to investigate the related issues in purpose to further improve the situation in China. Therefore, we performed this systematic review in order depict a comprehensive picture on the current evidence-based researches of CHI in China. We searched PubMed, ScienceDirect, and CNKI, supplemented with hand search in reference lists, for eligible studies published from 1990 January to 2018 April. Also, hand search was conducted to select suitable articles from international organization and reference list of eligible articles. Two independent reviewers extracted the data from eligible articles and input into a standardized form. Based on the inclusion criteria, 35 articles were included in this systematic review. Most of the studies were quantitative researches with topics such as the development level of commercial health insurance in China, the demand and supply issues related, and the relationship and influence of social health insurance, as well as the moral issues evolved from commercial health insurance system. In summary, CHI in China is still at the early development stage. Among those few evidence-based articles, the findings suggested several policy implication and different market strategy. With the initiation of new health reforms and implementation of taxes policy, more empirical researches should be conducted on issues relating to the practical operation of CHI.
Violence, abuse and discrimination: key factors militating against control of HIV/AIDS among the LGBTI sector

ABSTRACT The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) South Africans continue to face considerable challenges, including societal stigma, homophobic violence (particularly corrective rape), and high rates of sexually transmitted diseases and infections (particularly Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/AIDS) even when discrimination based on sexual orientation was outlawed by South African’s post-apartheid constitution. This study was conducted to ascertain violence, abuse and discrimination against the LGBTI sector as key factors that hinder the smooth implementation of HIV/AIDS programme among sexually minority (LGBTI) group in Walter Sisulu University, South Africa. The self-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The study involved 3048 purposively selected participants (1285 male and 1763 female) aged 17–38 years. About 70.5% of the participants witnessed physical attack as a form of violence against people in same-gender relationship; 47.7% disagreed that violent targeted at this sexually minority group is justified. The LGBTI face challenges which include verbal insults (937, 32.4%), bullying (532, 18.4%) and name-calling (1389, 48%). Discrimination against members of the LGBTI sector was witnessed in various forms: non-acceptance (981, 33.9%), disapproval of act of homosexuals (1308, 45.2) and denial of rights (327, 11.3). Violence, abuse and discrimination which constitute stigmatisation among the LGBTI sector are received with mix feeling. Some respondents justified the use of one or more of these key elements of stigmatisation against the LGBTI (6.6%, supports violence), others condemned these acts of stigmatisation (28.8%), against discrimination). Social stigma which resulted from violence, abuse and discrimination exist in this institution and is responsible for the unwillingness of disclosure of sexual orientation among the LGBTI members. An enabling environment should be created where the LGBTI members could come out freely to access programmes targeted at the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS.
A Novel Life Prediction Method for Railway Safety Relays Using Degradation Parameters

In this paper, a novel life prediction method is proposed for analyzing and assessing the reliability of railway safety relays. In the life tests of railway safety relays, we blend the principal component analysis (PCA) with Mahalanobis distance to extract the key degradation features from some parameters, including the relay contact resistance, closing time, releasing time, super-path time, arc time, and bounce time. The safety relays are classified into three types according to their different failure mechanisms. The optimal identification parameters are regarded as the prediction variables using the Fisher discrimination criterion. Then, adopting the back propagation (BP) Neural Network to train the prediction model so as to predict the change trend of the parameters. Finally, the prediction model is validated against the real life data of failure relays, using wavelet transform for eliminating noise. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method has high accuracy of life prediction for railway relays and can be easily implemented in real engineering applications.
Impact of collateralisation to a concomitant chronic total occlusion in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction: a subanalysis of the EXPLORE randomised controlled trial

Objective The impact on cardiac function of collaterals towards a concomitant chronic total coronary occlusion (CTO) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has not been investigated yet. Therefore, we have evaluated the impact of well-developed collaterals compared with poorly developed collaterals to a concomitant CTO in STEMI. Methods and results In the EXPLORE trial, patients with STEMI and a concomitant CTO were randomised to either CTO percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or no-CTO PCI. Collateral grades were scored angiographically using the Rentrop grade classification. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) at 4 months were measured using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Well-developed collaterals (Rentrop grades 2–3) to the CTO were present in 162 (54%) patients; these patients had a significantly higher LVEF at 4 months (46.2±11.4% vs 42.1±12.7%, p=0.004) as well as a trend for a lower LVEDV (208.2±55.7 mL vs 222.6±68.5 mL, p=0.054) when compared with patients with poorly developed collaterals to the CTO. There was no significant difference in the total amount of scar in the two groups. Event rates were statistically comparable between patients with well-developed collaterals and poorly developed collaterals to the CTO at long-term follow-up. Conclusions In patients with STEMI and a concomitant CTO, the presence of well-developed collaterals to a concomitant CTO is associated with a better LVEF at 4 months. However, this effect on LVEF did not translate into improvement in clinical outcome. Therefore, the presence of well-developed collaterals is important, but should not solely guide in the clinical decision-making process regarding any additional revascularisation of a concomitant CTO in patients with STEMI. Clinical trial registration NTR1108.
Self-reported chronic injuries in climbing: who gets injured when?

Objectives To assess self-reported chronic injuries in climbing and possible connections with gender, experience and style of climbing. Method Retrospective survey. Setting Web-based questionnaire. Participants 667 active climbers (385 with chronic injuries, 289 males and 96 females). Main outcome measure Climbers who had experienced at least one chronic injury during the last 6 months. Result About 2/3 of male outdoor climbers had experienced a chronic injury. The three most frequent sites of injury were fingers (41.3%), shoulders (19.4%) and elbows (17.7%). The most frequent injury for the females were fingers (29.2%), shoulder (21.9%), wrist (12.5%), elbow (11.5%) and foot/ankle (10.4%). The most frequent injuries for the male were fingers (45.3%), elbow (19.7%) and shoulder (18.7%). Respondents who preferred outdoor climbing were more prone to injury than others. Conclusion Fingers were the most prevalent site of injury regardless of level of experience, gender and whether level of expertise is reported in terms of bouldering or route climbing. There seems to be a gender difference in respect of site of injury prevalence and a different prevalence of injuries according to style of climbing and different levels of expertise. Furthermore, the use of the suggested way of reporting levels of expertise to compare between bouldering and route climbing seems to be robust with no huge differences in terms of incidence level of different injuries.