Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iodine-131 Given for Therapeutic Purposes Modulates Differently Interferon-γ-Inducible α-Chemokine CXCL10 Serum Levels in Patients with Active Graves’ Disease or Toxic Nodular Goiter

Context: The mechanism of activation of the immune system after iodine-131 (131I) treatment of hyperthyroidism is still not fully clarified. Serum levels of CXCL10, a prototype of the CXC family of chemokines, are increased in several endocrine autoimmune conditions, and this chemokine plays a role at least in the initial phases of thyroid autoimmune disease and in Graves’ disease (GD). Objective, Design, and Patients: The aim of the present study was to measure the serum CXCL10 levels in 20 patients with GD and 10 patients with toxic nodular goiter (TNG) before and 6 months after 131I treatment, when patients had achieved euthyroidism. Forty healthy subjects and 40 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis served as control groups. Results: Before 131I, mean CXCL10 was significantly higher in patients with GD and thyroiditis than controls or those with TNG. Serum CXCL10 levels significantly decreased in GD patients 6 months after 131I treatment, whereas they remained within normal limits in TNG patients after.
Update: the role of FoxP3 in allergic disease

Purpose of reviewT-regulatory cells play a key role in allergic and asthmatic inflammatory airway diseases. This review discusses the importance of a critical gene associated with T-regulatory cells. Forkhead box P3 is a forkhead-winged helix transcription factor gene involved in immune function in allergy and asthma. Recent findingsRecently, many functions of forkhead box P3 and its influence on the immune system have been elucidated. T-regulatory cells that are CD4+CD25+ and express forkhead box P3, influence the development and expression of atopy and allergic response. The exact mechanisms are not yet delineated, but multiple recent studies provide greater understanding of the mechanism of forkhead box P3 and its influence on these T-regulatory cells. SummaryGreater understanding of the molecular and immunological mechanisms underlying the T-regulatory cells and forkhead box P3 will permit the development of targeted treatment modalities to influence disease processes such as allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma.
Longitudinal changes and correlations of bioimpedance and anthropometric measurements in pregnancy: Simple possible bed-side tools to assess pregnancy evolution

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess longitudinal changes of bioimpedance analysis compared with anthropometric measurements in low-risk pregnant woman recruited in the first trimester and to observe possible differences in these indices in women who developed high-risk pregnancies. Materials and methods: Bioimpedance indices for the three trimesters of pregnancies were calculated separately for uneventful pregnancies delivered of newborns > the 10th centile. These findings were compared with anthropometric measurements. Data of women who developed hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) or delivered SGA newborns were calculated and compared. Results: Significantly longitudinal increases were observed in these pregnancies for total body water (TBW), free fat mass, fat mass, and extra-cellular water. These increases were paralleled body mass index (BMI), skinfolds, and waist measurements. The correlations between these two sets of findings were poor. Women who developed HDP with AGA fetuses showed significantly different bioimpedance from normal cases. TBW indices were highly significantly different since the first trimester. In pregnancies delivered of SGA newborns, these indices were opposite of the values observed in patients with HDP-AGA, TBW in these patients was significantly reduced compared with normal pregnancies. Conclusions: The bioelectrical impedance is a fast, simple, noninvasive way to assess the TBW content in pregnancy. Our findings are in agreement with the hypothesis that bioimpedance might help to identify early in gestation patients at risk of developing different clinical phenotypes of hypertensive disease of pregnancy and SGA fetuses.
Neonatal protection and preterm birth reduction following maternal group B streptococcus vaccination in a mouse model

Abstract Purpose: Evaluate effects of maternal immunization in a mouse model of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaginal colonization using clinical isolates. Materials and methods: Female pregnant mice were immunized with heat-killed GBS 21 days before pregnancy and were inoculated intravaginally with GBS cultures (5 × 107 CFU twice a day for three days) from the 16th day of pregnancy. Gestation period and mice survival were monitored. Maternal anti-GBS IgG levels have been determined by ELISA analysis in vaccinated, unvaccinated mothers and newborns. Results: Maternal immunization before pregnancy provided protection to newborns for three of the four GBS strains used. Evaluation of the immunogenicity showed that this vaccination induced higher levels of IgG in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated dams and the presence of antibodies in the offspring at embryonic and postnatal age, and a Th1 response and high levels of IgG2a subclass antibody and IFN-γ were detected. A significant reduction of preterm births was observed in vaccinated mothers (p< 0.05). Conclusions: Our finding suggest that vaccinated mothers could protect their progeny from GBS infection and preterm birth through passive immunization. The proposed mouse model may represent a noninvasive and effective tool to investigate pathogenetic mechanisms of GBS ascending infection and for vaccine protection studies.
Effect of linkage disequilibrium on the identification of functional variants

We summarize the contributions of Group 9 of Genetic Analysis Workshop 17. This group addressed the problems of linkage disequilibrium and other longer range forms of allelic association when evaluating the effects of genotypes on phenotypes. Issues raised by long‐range associations, whether a result of selection, stratification, possible technical errors, or chance, were less expected but proved to be important. Most contributors focused on regression methods of various types to illustrate problematic issues or to develop adaptations for dealing with high‐density genotype assays. Study design was also considered, as was graphical modeling. Although no method emerged as uniformly successful, most succeeded in reducing false‐positive results either by considering clusters of loci within genes or by applying smoothing metrics that required results from adjacent loci to be similar. Two unexpected results that questioned our assumptions of what is required to model linkage disequilibrium were observed. The first was that correlations between loci separated by large genetic distances can greatly inflate single‐locus test statistics, and, whether the result of selection, stratification, possible technical errors, or chance, these correlations seem overabundant. The second unexpected result was that applying principal components analysis to genome‐wide genotype data can apparently control not only for population structure but also for linkage disequilibrium. Genet. Epidemiol. 35:S115–S119, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Cervical pessary for preventing preterm birth in twin pregnancies with short cervical length: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of cervical pessary for preventing spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) in twin pregnancies with an asymptomatic transvaginal ultrasound cervical length (TVU CL) in the second trimester. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis including all randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing the use of cervical pessary (i.e. intervention group) with expectant management (i.e. control group). The primary outcome was incidence of SPTB <34 weeks. Results: Three trials, including 481 twin pregnancies with short cervix, were analyzed. Two RCTs defined short cervix as TVU CL ≤25 mm and one as TVU CL ≤38 mm. Pessary was not associated with prevention of SPTB, and the mean gestational age at delivery and the mean latency were similar in the pessary group compared to the control group. Moreover, no benefits were noticed in neonatal outcomes. Conclusions: Use of the Arabin pessary in twin pregnancies with short TVU CL at 16–24 weeks does not prevent SPTB or improve perinatal outcome.
Fibromyalgia Syndrome in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Objective: To determine the incidence of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and to compare the characteristics of patients with only CLBP and patients with CLBP and FMS. Materials and Methods: Fifty five patients with CLBP were enrolled to the study. The low back pain was assessed with Visual Analog Scale (VAS), emotional, social and physical health conditions were assessed with Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), general health condition was assessed with Health Assessment Questionnare (HAQ) and severity of depression was assessed with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: The diagnosis of FMS was estabilished in 15 of 55 (27.3%) patients with CLBP according to American College of Rheumatology criteria. VAS and HAQ scores were higher (p=0.014 and p=0.017 respectively), energy level of NHP was lower (p=0.009) in patients with FMS when they were compared to patients with only CLBP. There were not any significant differences in BDI between groups. Conclusion: The VAS scores of patients with CLBP and FMS were higher and energy levels of this group were lower. These results should be considered while making treatment programs. (Turk J Rheumatol 2010; 25: 37-40)
Loss of Power in Two‐Stage Residual‐Outcome Regression Analysis in Genetic Association Studies

In the area of genetic epidemiology, investigating the association between genetic risk factors and phenotypic outcomes is an important challenge. Often in such studies, the analysis approach needs to control for potentially confounding factors, such as clinical, demographic, or environmental variables. Multiple linear regression (MLR) is often used for such analysis when the outcome of interest is a quantitative trait. Under this model, the effects of genetic factors are estimated effectively and covariates are adjusted correctly. In large-scale genome-wide studies with a relatively large number of genetic and environmental factors present, some alternative analytic strategies are being used to address the issues of covariate adjustment. One such approach is a two-stage residual-outcome regression analysis (2SR). At stage one, the outcome is regressed on all the covariates. At stage two, the residual-adjusted outcome is then regressed on genetic factors. 2SR has been employed in genetic association studies [Choy et al., 2008], as well as genetic linkage studies [Slager and Iturria, 2003]. Zeegers and colleagues have demonstrated that the 2SR has equal power with other covariate-adjusted methods in genetic linkage studies [Zeegers et al., 2004], but the use of such a two-stage approach in association analyses is less well understood. While there may be some potential advantages with the 2SR approach in both ease of use and computational and data management efficiency, some issues, such as the bias of estimates, power, and type I error, need to be thoroughly investigated.
Extracting Actionable Information From Genome Scans

Genome‐wide association studies discovered numerous genetic variants significantly associated with various phenotypes. However, significant signals explain only a small portion of the variation in many traits. One explanation is that missing variation is found in “suggestive signals,” i.e., variants with reasonably small P‐values. However, it is not clear how to capture this information and use it optimally to design and analyze future studies. We propose to extract the available information from a genome scan by accurately estimating the means of univariate statistics. The means are estimated by: (i) computing the sum of squares (SS) of a genome scan's univariate statistics, (ii) using SS to estimate the expected SS for the means (SSM) of univariate statistics, and (iii) constructing accurate soft threshold (ST) estimators for means of univariate statistics by requiring that the SS of these estimators equals the SSM. When compared to competitors, ST estimators explain a substantially higher fraction of the variability in true means. The accuracy of proposed estimators can be used to design two‐tier follow‐up studies in which regions close to variants having ST‐estimated means above a certain threshold are sequenced at high coverage and the rest of the genome is sequenced at low coverage. This follow‐up approach reduces the sequencing burden by at least an order of magnitude when compared to a high coverage sequencing of the whole genome. Finally, we suggest ways in which ST methodology can be used to improve signal detection in future sequencing studies and to perform general statistical model selection.
Tunnel preparation: A survey of practice among Palestinian dentists

Introduction: Conservative tooth preparation has been increasingly accepted and practiced among dentist, especially when treating small sized tooth decay. This includes tunnel preparation for simple class II caries or those carious lesions located only on the proximal surface of a posterior tooth with the adjacent noncarious tooth. This study attempted to determine the practice of tooth tunnel preparations among dentists of the Palestinian Dental Association. Methods: Three hundred dentists from the Palestinian Dental Association were randomly selected and received an online questionnaire. Informed consent was also obtained. Frequency and percentage were computed for qualitative variables. Data were analyzed using SPSS Inc. Released 2009. PASW Statistics for Windows, Version 18.0. Chicago: SPSS Inc. Results: Of the 193 dentists who answered the surveys, 154 (79.8%) participants said that they were familiar with tunnel restorations. However, only 107 (55.4%) did actual cases. Most of them have been practicing dentistry for >10 years. Glass-ionomer high viscosity cement and flowable composites were usually used as filling material for this technique. Compared with class II composite restorations, tunnel restoration has more clinical success and longevity for the 74 (69.2%) of the 107 dentists, who perform the technique. Conclusion: Half of the participants with >10 years of experience perform tunnel restorations in their practice. More than half agreed that it had better clinical result than conventional class II composite restorations.
Performance and Robustness of Penalized and Unpenalized Methods for Genetic Prediction of Complex Human Disease

A central goal of medical genetics is to accurately predict complex disease from genotypes. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of simulated and real data using lasso and elastic‐net penalized support‐vector machine models, a mixed‐effects linear model, a polygenic score, and unpenalized logistic regression. In simulation, the sparse penalized models achieved lower false‐positive rates and higher precision than the other methods for detecting causal SNPs. The common practice of prefiltering SNP lists for subsequent penalized modeling was examined and shown to substantially reduce the ability to recover the causal SNPs. Using genome‐wide SNP profiles across eight complex diseases within cross‐validation, lasso and elastic‐net models achieved substantially better predictive ability in celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, and Crohn's disease, and had equivalent predictive ability in the rest, with the results in celiac disease strongly replicating between independent datasets. We investigated the effect of linkage disequilibrium on the predictive models, showing that the penalized methods leverage this information to their advantage, compared with methods that assume SNP independence. Our findings show that sparse penalized approaches are robust across different disease architectures, producing as good as or better phenotype predictions and variance explained. This has fundamental ramifications for the selection and future development of methods to genetically predict human disease.
Biomarkers for predicting spontaneous preterm birth: an umbrella systematic review

Abstract Objective: To identify all systematic reviews investigating the role of maternal and fetal biomarkers for predicting spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB). Methods: Medline and Web of Sciences databases were searched electronically. Studies exploring the association between maternal biomarkers and spontaneous delivery were considered suitable for inclusion. A synthesis of the systematic reviews was performed with the umbrella methodology. Statistical measures of association (Odd ratio, OR, relative risk, RR) and predictive accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios were used to synthesize results of the included studies. Results: 21,614 articles were identified, 542 were assessed with respect to their eligibility for inclusion and 14 systematic reviews included. Cervical fibronectin was the biomarkers which showed the highest strength of association with the occurrence of SPTB (delivery within 24 h OR 7, 95%CI 3–17; delivery <7 days (OR 12, 95%CI 8–16). Maternal serum alpha fetoprotein, was associated with an OR of 4 and 3 for early and late SPTB. C-reactive protein had an OR of 2 (95%CI 1–2) and 8 (95%CI 4–16) when detected in maternal plasma and amniotic fluid, respectively. Among cytokines, interleukin-6 had an OR and an LR + for SPTB of 2 and 12 when detected in maternal serum. Conclusions: Cervical fetal fibronectin, alpha fetoprotein, C- reactive protein and interleukin 6 can have an overall good diagnostic accuracy in identifying pregnancies at risk of SPTB. Large prospective studies in different sub-set of women are needed to ascertain whether the combination of different serological and imaging marker can improve antenatal prediction of this condition.
Lasers in nonsurgical periodontal therapy.

This article reviews the current and potential applications of laser technology in nonsurgical therapy for the treatment of periodontal diseases. Based on its various characteristics, such as ablation or vaporization, hemostasis, and sterilization effect, laser treatment may serve as an adjunct or alternative to conventional, mechanical periodontal therapy. The Carbon dioxide (CO2) and the Neodymiumdoped:Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers were previously approved for soft tissue treatment in periodontics (1, 2, 4), because of their superior ability of soft tissue ablation, accompanied by strong hemostatic and bactericidal effects (6, 37, 143, 170, 218). However, when these lasers are applied to dental hard tissues the result is major thermal damage, especially at a high-energy output, rendering them unsuitable for hard tissue treatment (56, 214). Recently, the Erbium-doped:Yttrium-AluminumGarnet (Er:YAG) laser was developed in dentistry (71, 85, 87). As it is capable of ablation in both soft and hard tissues, the Er:YAG laser can be used for periodontal hard tissue treatment such as root surface debridement, as well as soft tissue management (78). The use of lasers within the periodontal pocket has become a topic of much interest and is a promising field in periodontal therapy. This article deals with recent advances in nonsurgical laser therapy for periodontal disease, and will briefly describe the advantages and disadvantages of various laser types.
Evidence that a single bioluminescent system is shared by all known bioluminescent fungal lineages

Since the early 20th century, many researchers have attempted to determine how fungi are able to emit light. The first successful experiment was obtained using the classical luciferin-luciferase test that consists of mixing under controlled conditions hot (substrate/luciferin) and cold (enzyme/luciferase) water extracts prepared from bioluminescent fungi. Failures by other researchers to reproduce those experiments using different species of fungi lead to the hypothesis of a non-enzymatic luminescent pathway. Only recently, the involvement of a luciferase in this system was proven, thus confirming its enzymatic nature. Of the 100 000 described species in Kingdom Fungi, only 71 species are known to be luminescent and they are distributed unevenly amongst four distantly related lineages. The question we address is whether the mechanism of bioluminescence is the same in all four evolutionary lineages suggesting a single origin of luminescence in the Fungi, or whether each lineage has a unique mechanism for light emission implying independent origins. We prepared hot and cold extracts of numerous species representing the four bioluminescent fungal lineages and performed cross-reactions (luciferin × luciferase) in all possible combinations using closely related non-luminescent species as controls. All cross-reactions with extracts from luminescent species yielded positive results, independent of lineage, whereas no light was emitted in cross-reactions with extracts from non-luminescent species. These results support the hypothesis that all four lineages of luminescent fungi share the same type of luciferin and luciferase, that there is a single luminescent mechanism in the Fungi, and that fungal luciferin is not a ubiquitous molecule in fungal metabolism.
Increase in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D_3 in humans after solar exposure under natural conditions compared to artificial UVB exposure of hands and face

Vitamin D studies are often performed under controlled laboratory conditions and the findings may be difficult to translate to natural conditions. We aimed to determine and compare the doses of natural solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) with doses of artificial UVB radiation of hands and face needed to increase serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D_3 (25(OH)D). Furthermore, we aimed to investigate the natural course of 25(OH)D due to solar exposure from April to September. 46 Caucasian volunteers were included. 17 volunteers received solar UVR (Group 1) in their natural Danish environment. Individual daily solar UVR doses in standard erythema doses (SEDs) were determined with personal wristwatch UV-dosimeters. 29 volunteers (Group 2) received artificial UVB doses of 6 SEDs ( N = 14) and 3 SEDs ( N = 15) on hands and face during late-winter/early-spring when outdoor UVB is negligible. 25(OH)D-levels were determined around every second week during study periods. Solar-UVR doses and sun-exposure diaries with information of sun-exposed areas were available from 8 volunteers and used for comparison with artificial UVB doses. However no significant solar-induced Δ25(OH)D was observed when sun-exposed areas were limited to hands and face. Instead the earliest period (week 17–19) with significant Δ25(OH)D, occurring after a mean of 2 days of sun-exposing more than hands and face, was used to estimate an approximate UVR dose required to increase 25(OH)D. This estimate resulted in a dose of 4.1 solar SEDs required to increase 25(OH)D by 1 nmol l^−1. The artificial dose of 6 SEDs of only hands and face significantly increased 25(OH)D and resulted in a dose of 0.52 SEDs required to increase 25(OH)D significantly by 1 nmol l^−1. Artificial UVB was thus at least 8 times more efficient in increasing 25(OH)D than solar UVR at a UV-exposed area consisting of approximately hands and face. Solar UVR exposure of larger areas may lead to enhanced efficacy but was not relevant for this comparison. Significant solar-induced Δ25(OH)D was present earliest at April 8, maximal by early August and decreased by late August.