Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of clap-and-fling mechanism on force generation in flapping wing micro aerial vehicles

The clap-and-fling effect, first observed in a number of insects, serves as a lift-enhancing mechanism for bio-inspired flapping wing micro aerial vehicles (MAV). In our comprehensive literature survey, we observe that the effect manifests differently in insects and contemporary MAVs; insects have active control over the angle of attack and stroke plane of the wing, whereas a number of kinematic parameters of an MAV’s flexible wings are determined passively. Although there is consensus that flinging motion significantly enhances aerodynamic lift, the effect of clapping motion is not well-studied. To address this gap, we experimentally quantify the contribution of clapping motion using force measurement and particle image velocimetry. No significant enhancement in lift was observed due to clapping motion, because the momentum jet was too weak. However, the kinematics and flow conditions in our study were notably different from those in the previous studies on insect models. The wings of the MAV are flexible, and deform passively. Hence, the clapping of the trailing edges, and the appearance of a trailing edge momentum jet, was delayed and significantly suppressed. Using force measurement and CFD simulations, it was also found that the lesser the distance between the leading edges of the wings at the end of clap, the higher is the lift due to the subsequent fling.
Psychometric evaluation of the culturally and linguistically translated Vietnamese chronic kidney disease self-management instrument.

AIMS To translate and psychometrically test the modified chronic kidney disease self-management instrument in Vietnamese language. BACKGROUND Research on chronic kidney disease self-management is increasing although few patient-reported outcome measures are available in other languages. DESIGN This study involved instrument modification, translation, and cultural adaptation into Vietnamese followed by psychometric evaluation in a target population. METHODS Following modification, the instrument was translated by bilingual independent translators, and then an expert panel assessed content face validity. Reliability of the instrument was assessed by internal consistency and test-retest reliability in a sample of 293 people with chronic kidney disease. Then exploratory factor analysis was used to evaluate construct validity of the Vietnamese version. RESULTS The Vietnamese chronic kidney disease self-management instrument demonstrated excellent content face validity and internal consistency. The test-retest indicated good stability of the instrument over a 2-week period. Four factors were identified using exploratory factor analysis and were named understanding my kidney disease, taking action to manage my kidney disease, seeking social support, and adhering to a healthy diet. CONCLUSIONS The translated and modified version is a valid, reliable, and feasible patient-reported outcome measure of self-management behaviour in Vietnamese-speaking populations.
Development and validation of a nomogram to individually predict survival of young patients with nonmetastatic gastric cancer: A retrospective cohort study

Background/Aims: Evidence regarding gastric cancer (GC) patients <40 years old is limited. The aim of the study was to identify risk factors affecting overall survival (OS) of young patients with nonmetastatic GC and to establish a nomogram for prognostic prediction using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. Furthermore, this study sought to externally validate this nomogram in an independent patient cohort. Patients and Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the records of patients aged <40 years with nonmetastatic GC (n = 559), from the SEER database, between 2006 and 2015, were examined. The nomogram was established based on the Cox proportional hazards regression model using the SEER dataset. Patients with nonmetastatic GC (n = 201) in our department between 2009 and 2015 were selected as an external validation set. Discrimination and calibration were performed in both cohorts. Results: The multivariate Cox model identified race, tumor subsites, tumor size, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, number of examined lymph nodes, and surgery as independent covariates associated with OS. The nomogram exhibited superior discriminative power than the eighth tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) staging system in both the training set [Harrell's concordance index (C index): 0.762 vs. 0.635,P < 0.001] and validation set (C index: 0.805 vs. 0.712,P= 0.176). Calibration of the nomogram was good in both cohorts. Conclusions: We developed a nomogram predicting 3- and 5-year OS rates in young patients with nonmetastatic GC. Both the training set and validation set showed good discrimination and calibration, suggesting good clinical applicability.
The Mobilome of Reptiles: Evolution, Structure, and Function

Transposable elements (TE) constitute one of the most variable genomic features among vertebrates, impacting genome size, structure, and composition. Despite their important role in shaping genomic diversity, they have mostly been studied in mammals, which display one of the least diverse genomes in terms of TE diversity. Recent new resources in reptilian genomics have opened a broader perspective about TE evolution in amniotes. We discuss these recent results by showing that TE diversity is high in reptiles, particularly in squamates, with strong heterogeneity in the number of TE classes retained in each lineage, even at short evolutionary scales. More research is needed to uncover the exact mechanisms that regulate TE proliferation in reptiles and to what extent these selfish elements can play a role in local adaptation or in the emergence of barriers to gene flow.
Dietary interventions in fibromyalgia: a systematic review

Abstract Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic non-degenerative disease, whose nutritional therapy seems controversial. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the knowledge about the effect of dietary interventions on patient-reported outcomes (PRO) and inflammation in patients with FM. Six electronic databases – PubMed, BioMed Central, Cochrane library, EMBASE, LILACS and ISI – were searched for clinical trials, in which a dietary intervention in patients with FM diagnosed was conducted. Quality of evidence assessment was measured in accordance with GRADE methodology. Seven clinical trials – 3 randomized controlled trials, 1 unrandomized clinical trial and 3 uncontrolled clinical trials were identified. Dietary approaches included gluten-free diet (n = 1), raw vegetarian diet (n = 2), low Fermentable oligo-, di- and monossacharides, alcohols and polyols (FODMAPs) diet (n = 1), hypocaloric diet (n = 2) and monosodium glutamate- and aspartame-free diet interventions (n = 1). The major PRO were pain and functional repercussion, with 5 out of 7 studies reporting an improvement. The progress in secondary outcomes was reported for fatigue (2/5 studies), sleep quality (2/3 studies), depression and anxiety (3/6 studies), quality of life (4/5 studies), gastrointestinal symptoms (1/2 studies) and inflammatory biomarkers (1/1 study). However, according to Cochrane Risk of Bias, these studies had poor statistical quality. Well-designed studies should be performed to investigate the dietary interventions effect on FM. Key messages Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic non-degenerative disease, whose nutritional therapy seems controversial but promising. Pain and functional repercussion in FM patients seem to improve with a hypocaloric diet, a raw vegetarian diet or a low FODMAPs diet, as much as quality of life, quality of sleep, anxiety and depression and inflammatory biomarkers. Existing studies in this subject are scarce and low quality, which does not allow conclusions to be drawn.
C8orf76 Promotes Gastric Tumorigenicity and Metastasis by Directly Inducing lncRNA DUSP5P1 and Associates with Patient Outcomes

Purpose: We identified for the first time that C8orf76 (chromosome 8 open reading frame 76) is preferentially amplified in gastric cancer. We elucidated its role and clinical significance in gastric carcinogenesis. Experimental Design: The clinical impact of C8orf76 was assessed in 592 patients with gastric cancer. The biological function of C8orf76 was studied in vitro, in vivo, and in gastric cancer patient-derived organoid models. C8orf76 downstream effector and pathways were identified by RNA sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, luciferase reporter, and electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Results: C8orf76 was upregulated in 69.74% and 65.71% of two independent cohorts of gastric cancers and was positively associated with C8orf76 amplification. Multivariate analysis showed that gastric cancer patients with C8orf76 amplification (cohort I, n = 129; cohort II, n = 107) or overexpression (n = 356) had a significantly shortened survival. C8orf76 significantly promoted gastric cancer cell proliferation, cell-cycle transformation, and migration/invasion, but suppressed cell apoptosis. Silencing C8orf76 expression exerted opposite effects in vitro and significantly inhibited xenograft tumor growth, lung metastasis, and liver metastasis in nude mice. Silencing C8orf76 also significantly suppressed the growth of patient-derived organoids. Mechanically, C8orf76 activated MAPK/ERK signaling cascade. C8orf76 directly bound to the promoter region of lncRNA dual specificity phosphatase 5 pseudogene 1 (DUSP5P1) with a binding motif of AGGCTG and activated DUSP5P1 transcription. DUSP5P1 induced MAPK/ERK signaling and promoted gastric tumorigenesis. Knockdown DUSP5P1 abrogated the effect of C8orf76 in activating MAPK/ERK cascade and the tumor-promoting function. Conclusions: C8orf76 directly binds to oncogenic lncRNA DUSP5P1 to induce its expression and activates MAPK signaling. C8orf76 plays a pivotal oncogenic role in gastric carcinogenesis and is an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer patients.
Recent advances in cardiac SPECT instrumentation and imaging methods

Cardiac SPECT continues to play a critical role in detecting and managing cardiovascular disease, in particularly coronary artery disease (CAD) (Jaarsma et al 2012 J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 59 1719–28), (Agostini et al 2016 Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 43 2423–32). While conventional dual-head SPECT scanners using parallel-hole collimators and scintillation crystals with photomultiplier tubes are still the workhorse of cardiac SPECT, they have the limitations of low photon sensitivity (~130 count s−1 MBq−1), poor image resolution (~15 mm) (Imbert et al 2012 J. Nucl. Med. 53 1897–903), relatively long acquisition time, inefficient use of the detector, high radiation dose, etc. Recently our field observed an exciting growth of new developments of dedicated cardiac scanners and collimators, as well as novel imaging algorithms for quantitative cardiac SPECT. These developments have opened doors to new applications with potential clinical impact, including ultra-low-dose imaging, absolute quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and coronary flow reserve (CFR), multi-radionuclide imaging, and improved image quality as a result of attenuation, scatter, motion, and partial volume corrections (PVCs). In this article, we review the recent advances in cardiac SPECT instrumentation and imaging methods. This review mainly focuses on the most recent developments published since 2012 and points to the future of cardiac SPECT from an imaging physics perspective.
A Microbial Survey of Various Fresh and Frozen Seafood Products.

The microbiological quality of four frozen and seven fresh seafood products (597 units in total) obtained from a local retail store were analyzed. Aerobic plate count means (geometric) ranged from 3.5 × 103/g to 9.3 × 104/g for the frozen products and from 7.8 × 104/g to 2.7 × 108/g for fresh products. Average (geometric) coliform Most Probable Number (MPN) values ranged from 1.0 to 7. 7/g for the frozen items and from 7.8/g to 4.8 × 103/g for the fresh seafoods. Employing the MPN method, 4.7% of the 597 units analyzed were positive for Escherichia coli . while 7.9% were positive for Staphylococcus aureus . Two percent of the samples contained Clostridium perfringens . Neither salmonellae nor Vibrio parahaemolyticus was isolated in any of the 597 units.
Correction: New approaches for assessing squid fin motions: coupling proper orthogonal decomposition with volumetric particle tracking velocimetry (doi:10.1242/jeb.176750)

There was an error published in J. Exp. Biol. (2018) 221 , [jeb176750][1] ([doi:10.1242/jeb.176750][2]). In Figs 6–10, the vorticity magnitude colour bar was incorrect. The original bar (left) and corrected bar (right) appear below. [Graphic][3] Both the online full-text and PDF versions
Prevalence of Germline Variants in Prostate Cancer and Implications for Current Genetic Testing Guidelines

Importance Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in men in the United States. Although serious, most of these diagnoses are not terminal. Inherited risk for prostate cancer is associated with aggressive disease and poorer outcomes, indicating a critical need for increased genetic screening to identify disease-causing variants that can pinpoint individuals at increased risk for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Objective To identify positive (pathogenic, likely pathogenic, and increased risk) germline variants in a large prostate cancer cohort and to evaluate the usefulness of current practice guidelines in recognizing individuals at increased risk for prostate cancer who would benefit from diagnostic genetic testing. Design, Setting, and Participants Cross-sectional study of data from 3607 men with a personal history of prostate cancer who underwent germline genetic testing between 2013 and 2018 and were unselected for family history, stage of disease, or age at diagnosis. Referral-based testing was performed at a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments/College of American Pathologists–certified diagnostic laboratory. All analysis took place between February 2017 and August 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures The frequency and distribution of positive germline variants, and the percentage of individuals with prostate cancer who met National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for germline genetic testing. Results Of 3607 men (mean [SD] age at testing, 67 [9.51] years; mean age at diagnosis, 60 [9.05] years) with a personal diagnosis of prostate cancer who were referred for genetic testing, 620 (17.2%) had positive germline variants, of which only 30.7% were variants in BRCA1/2. Positive variants in HOXB13, a gene associated only with prostate cancer risk, were identified in 30 patients (4.5%). DNA mismatch repair variants with substantial known therapeutic implications were detected in 1.74% of variants in the total population tested. Examination of self-reported family histories indicated that 229 individuals (37%) with positive variants in this cohort would not have been approved for genetic testing using the NCCN genetic/familial breast and ovarian guidelines for patients with prostate cancer. Conclusions and Relevance Current NCCN guidelines and Gleason scores cannot reliably stratify patients with prostate cancer for the presence or absence of pathogenic germline variants. Most positive genetic test results identified in this study have important management implications for patients and their families, which underscores the need to revisit current guidelines.
Long noncoding RNA HOXD‐AS1 induces epithelial‐mesenchymal transition in breast cancer by acting as a competing endogenous RNA of miR‐421

Breast cancer (BCa) is the most common malignant tumor in females. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are deregulated in many types of human cancers, including BCa. The purpose of the present study was to examine the expression profile and biological role of HOXD cluster antisense RNA 1 (HOXD‐AS1) in BCa. Our results revealed that HOXD‐AS1 was upregulated in BCa tissues and cell lines, and high HOXD‐AS1 expression was correlated with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics of BCa patients. Further gain‐of‐function and loss‐of‐function analysis showed that HOXD‐AS1 overexpression promoted, whereas HOXD‐AS1 knockdown inhibited BCa cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, migration, and invasion, indicating that HOXD‐AS1 may function as a novel oncogene in BCa. Mechanistically, HOXD‐AS1 could activate epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) in BCa cells. We further proved that HOXD‐AS1 might serve as a competing endogenous RNA of miR‐421 in BCa cells, and miR‐421 was downregulated and negatively correlated with HOXD‐AS1 expression in BCa tissues. Besides, we confirmed that SOX4, a master regulator of EMT, was a direct target gene of miR‐421. Further, rescue experiments suggested that miR‐421 overexpression partly abrogated the oncogenic role of HOXD‐AS1 in BCa cells. Therefore, we shed light on that HOXD‐AS1/miR‐421/SOX4 axis may be considered as a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of BCa patients.
Therapeutic plasma exchange in paediatric neuroimmunology: some evidence but more is needed

‘The issue of reliability is the last of the major scientific defects that beset contemporary epidemiologic statistics. ’ The defect Alvin Feinstein identified in his classic 1977 text, far from having been remedied during the many years that have passed since its publication, may have become more widespread, especially as it relates to replicability. In her review, Mich ele Nuijten calls the problem of replicability a crisis. Ioannidis had gone further, arguing on methodological grounds that it is provable that most published results are false (the reader should note that others have taken exception to this – many responses to this provocative article are easily found). The importance of replicability has long been understood. The British statistician Sir Austin Bradford Hill made ‘consistency of association’ one of the cornerstones of his nine criteria for causality. Though causal inference has undergone dramatic transformations in recent years, Bradford Hill’s consistency (read replicability) requirement is as relevant as ever. In addition to providing potential support for causality, replication also adds to the evidence base in favour of a given finding. Indeed, replication is a cornerstone of all experimental scientific research. Failure of replication may result for several reasons, including type I errors in an original study (false-positives); lack of power leading to type II errors (false-negatives) in attempts at replication of prior significant findings; and outright errors of statistical analysis. In addition to these, publication bias (i.e. the tendency of journals to preferentially publish significant results) may lead some researchers to be creative in their statistical analyses, which may result in otherwise null results being published as positive. Attempts to replicate such results will face an uphill battle. As Nuijten points out, publication bias may bear much of the responsibility for the current crisis of replication. The scientific community might therefore be tempted to rely on publishers to address the issue. Refreshingly, Nuijten describes concrete strategies that scientific researchers themselves can implement to help alleviate the crisis. Her focus is on the field of psychology, but the tools she provides are applicable across most areas of scientific research. The tools will not be universally applicable for a variety of reasons (e.g. limitations relating to varying data privacy laws). However, such tools will undoubtedly help alleviate this crisis, even if only to a limited extent.
E-mental health: Promising advancements in policy, research, and practice

The increasing need for mental health services in the population is posing significant challenges for the health system. It is therefore important to identify new approaches to delivering care that are sustainable and scalable in terms of reach and impact. E-mental health is one approach that shows promise in addressing the treatment gap in mental healthcare. E-mental health involves leveraging the Internet and related technologies such as smartphone apps, web sites, and social media to deliver mental health services. Over the past decade, this field has made significant advancements in Canada and internationally. In this article, the author introduces the e-mental health field and provides an overview of promising Canadian developments in relation to policy, research, and practice. In addition, the article discusses some of the challenges facing the wide-scale implementation of e-mental health and identifies priority areas of focus for health leaders to advance the field.
Intravital microscopy - A novel tool in characterizing congestive heart failure in experimental autoimmune myocarditis.

AIMS Experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) is a widely used murine model, in which cellular myocardial infiltration resembles human viral myocarditis. Although myocarditis can be readily assessed on histology, heart failure has not been fully characterized, as there are limitations in available markers and difficulties in hemodynamic measurements, especially on small rodents. We investigated whether intravital microscopy of the microcirculation can be used to characterize heart failure in EAM. METHODS BALB/c mice (n = 10 versus n = 5 controls) were immunized with alpha myosin heavy chain peptide and myocarditis was confirmed on hematoxylin-eosin (HE) histology on day 21. Echocardiography assessment included ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), mitral valve doppler, left-ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd) and diastolic intra-ventricular septum thickness (IVSd). Microcirculatory analysis was performed using a sidestream dark field (SDF) microcirculation camera. The proportion of perfused vessels (PPV) and perfused vessel density (PVD) were recorded on the intestinal mucosa of the anaesthesized mice. RESULTS Immunized mice developed EAM with typical cellular infiltration (p < 0.003), left-ventricular hypertrophy (IVSd, p = 0.027) and diastolic dysfunction (E/A, p = 0.028) without significant EF reduction (p = 0.845) or LV dilation (p = 0.854). SDF recording consisted mainly of venules, as capillaries were too small. PPV and PVD were significantly increased in EAM mice (p 0.001 and 0.01 respectively) and correlated significantly with the histological myocarditis severity score (r = 0.557, p = 0.03 and r = 0.57, p = 0.025 respectively), whereas PPV but not PVD correlated with IVSd (r = 0.588, p = 0.02) and E/A ratio (r = 0.703, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS Intravital microscopy can be used to characterize post-capillary intestinal perfusion of EAM mice. Thus we show a congestion of intestinal venules in EAM which correlates to the severity of myocarditis.