Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Brain networks of happiness: dynamic functional connectivity among the default, cognitive and salience networks relates to subjective well-being

Abstract Subjective well‐being (SWB) reflects the cognitive and emotional evaluations of an individual's life and plays an important role in individual's success in health, work and social relationships. Although previous studies have revealed the spontaneous brain activity underlying SWB, little is known about the relationship between brain network interactions and SWB. The present study investigated the static and dynamic functional connectivity among large‐scale brain networks during resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in relation to SWB in two large independent datasets. The results showed that SWB is negatively correlated with static functional connectivity between the salience network (SN) and the anterior default mode network (DMN). Dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) analysis found that SWB is negatively correlated with the fraction of time that participants spent in a brain state characterized by weak cross‐network connectivity (between the DMN, SN and frontal‐parietal network [FPN]) and strong within‐network connectivity (within the DMN and within the FPN). This connectivity profile may account for the good mental adaptability and flexible information communication of people with high levels of SWB. The dFNC results were well replicated with different analysis parameters and further validated in an independent sample. Taken together, these findings reveal that the dynamic interaction between networks involved in self‐reflection, emotional regulation and cognitive control underlies SWB.
Factors predicting remission in thymectomized patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody‐positive myasthenia gravis

Introduction: Although thymectomy is an important therapeutic option for myasthenia gravis (MG), factors predicting remission after thymectomy are not well known. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChR‐Ab)‐positive MG who had undergone thymectomy. Prognostic factors predicting remission were investigated. Changes in AChR‐Ab titer before and after thymectomy were also evaluated. Results: Among the 179 patients, 52.5% achieved complete stable or pharmacologic remission. Nonthymomatous pathology and mild preoperative status were favorable predictors of remission. The decrease in AChR‐Ab titer after thymectomy was significant in nonthymomatous MG but not in thymomatous MG. Discussion: Nonthymomatous pathology and mild preoperative status are prognostic factors that may predict remission after thymectomy. The decrease in AChR‐Ab titer after thymectomy was significant in nonthymomatous MG but not in thymomatous MG, suggesting that the pathogenic role of the thymus differs according to pathology. Muscle Nerve 58:796–800, 2018
Transforming concepts in patient safety: a progress report

In 2009, the National Patient Safety Foundation’s Lucian Leape Institute (LLI) published a paper identifying five areas of healthcare that require system-level attention and action to advance patient safety.The authors argued that to truly transform the safety of healthcare, there was a need to address medical education reform; care integration; restoring joy and meaning in work and ensuring the safety of the healthcare workforce; consumer engagement in healthcare and transparency across the continuum of care. In the ensuing years, the LLI convened a series of expert roundtables to address each concept, look at obstacles to implementation, assess potential for improvement, identify potential implementation partners and issue recommendations for action. Reports of these activities were published between 2010 and 2015. While all five areas have seen encouraging developments, multiple challenges remain. In this paper, the current members of the LLI (now based at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement) assess progress made in the USA since 2009 and identify ongoing challenges.
The Genetic Relationship Between Psychological Distress, Somatic Distress, Affective Disorders, and Substance Use in Young Australian Adults: A Multivariate Twin Study

Psychological distress (PSYCH), somatic distress (SOMA), affective disorders (AD), and substance use (SU) frequently co-occur. The genetic relationship between PSYCH and SOMA, however, remains understudied. We examined the genetic and environmental influences on these two disorders and their comorbid AD and SU using structural equation modeling. Self-reported PSYCH and SOMA were measured in 1,548 twins using the two subscales of a 12-item questionnaire, the Somatic and Psychological Health Report. Its reliability and psychometric properties were examined. Six ADs, involvement of licit and illicit substance, and two SU disorders were obtained from 1,663–2,132 twins using the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview and/or from an online adaption of the same. SU phenotypes (heritability: 49–79%) were found to be more heritable than the affective disorder phenotypes (heritability: 32–42%), SOMA (heritability: 25%), and PSYCH (heritability: 23%). We fit separate non-parametric item response theory models for PSYCH, SOMA, AD, and SU. The IRT scores were used as the refined phenotypes for fitting multivariate genetic models. The best-fitting model showed the similar amount of genetic overlap between PSYCH–AD (genetic correlation rG = 0.49) and SOMA–AD (rG =0.53), as well as between PSYCH–SU (rG = 0.23) and SOMA–SU (rG = 0.25). Unique environmental factors explained 53% to 76% of the variance in each of these four phenotypes, whereas additive genetic factors explained 17% to 46% of the variance. The covariance between the four phenotypes was largely explained by unique environmental factors. Common genetic factor had a significant influence on all the four phenotypes, but they explained a moderate portion of the covariance.
Prognostic Significance of EPHB2 Expression in Colorectal Cancer Progression

Background A receptor tyrosine kinase for ephrin ligands, EPHB2, is expressed in normal colorectal tissues and colorectal cancers (CRCs). The aim of this study was to investigate EPHB2 expression over CRC progression and determine its prognostic significance in CRC. Methods To measure EPHB2 mRNA and protein expression, real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were performed in 32 fresh-frozen and 567 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded CRC samples, respectively. We further investigated clinicopathological features and overall and recurrence-free survival according to EPHB2 protein expression. Results The EPHB2 level was upregulated in CRC samples compared to non-cancerous tissue in most samples and showed a strong positive correlation with AXIN2. Notably, CD44 had a positive association with both mRNA and protein levels of EPHB2. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed no difference in EPHB2 expression between adenoma and carcinoma areas. Although EPHB2 expression was slightly lower in invasive fronts compared to surface area (p < .05), there was no difference between superficial and metastatic areas. EPHB2 positivity was associated with lymphatic (p < .001) and venous (p = .001) invasion, TNM stage (p < .001), and microsatellite instability (p = .036). Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated that CRC patients with EPHB2 positivity showed better clinical outcomes in both overall (p = .049) and recurrence-free survival (p = .015). However, multivariate analysis failed to show that EPHB2 is an independent prognostic marker in CRCs (hazard ratio, 0.692; p = .692). Conclusions Our results suggest that EPHB2 is overexpressed in a subset of CRCs and is a significant prognostic marker.
Climate structuring of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection in the threatened amphibians of the northern Western Ghats, India

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a pathogen killing amphibians worldwide. Its impact across much of Asia is poorly characterized. This study systematically surveyed amphibians for Bd across rocky plateaus in the northern section of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India, including the first surveys of the plateaus in the coastal region. These ecosystems offer an epidemiological model system since they are characterized by differing levels of connectivity, edaphic and climatic conditions, and anthropogenic stressors. One hundred and eighteen individuals of 21 species of Anura and Apoda on 13 plateaus ranging from 67 to 1179 m above sea level and 15.89 to 17.92° North latitude were sampled. Using qPCR protocols, 79% of species and 27% of individuals tested were positive for Bd. This is the first record of Bd in caecilians in India, the Critically Endangered Xanthophryne tigerina and Endangered Fejervarya cf. sahyadris. Mean site prevalence was 28.15%. Prevalence below the escarpment was 31.2% and 25.4% above. The intensity of infection (GE) showed the reverse pattern. Infection may be related to elevational temperature changes, thermal exclusion, inter-site connectivity and anthropogenic disturbance. Coastal plateaus may be thermal refuges from Bd. Infected amphibians represented a wide range of ecological traits posing interesting questions about transmission routes.
A Discriminative Approach to Bayesian Filtering with Applications to Human Neural Decoding

Given a stationary state-space model that relates a sequence of hidden states and corresponding measurements or observations, Bayesian filtering provides a principled statistical framework for inferring the posterior distribution of the current state given all measurements up to the present time. For example, the Apollo lunar module implemented a Kalman filter to infer its location from a sequence of earth-based radar measurements and land safely on the moon. To perform Bayesian filtering, we require a measurement model that describes the conditional distribution of each observation given state. The Kalman filter takes this measurement model to be linear, Gaussian. Here we show how a nonlinear, Gaussian approximation to the distribution of state given observation can be used in conjunction with Bayes’ rule to build a nonlinear, non-Gaussian measurement model. The resulting approach, called the Discriminative Kalman Filter (DKF), retains fast closed-form updates for the posterior. We argue there are many cases where the distribution of state given measurement is better-approximated as Gaussian, especially when the dimensionality of measurements far exceeds that of states and the Bernstein—von Mises theorem applies. Online neural decoding for brain-computer interfaces provides a motivating example, where filtering incorporates increasingly detailed measurements of neural activity to provide users control over external devices. Within the BrainGate2 clinical trial, the DKF successfully enabled three volunteers with quadriplegia to control an on-screen cursor in real-time using mental imagery alone. Participant “T9” used the DKF to type out messages on a tablet PC. Nonstationarities, or changes to the statistical relationship between states and measurements that occur after model training, pose a significant challenge to effective filtering. In brain-computer interfaces, one common type of nonstationarity results from wonkiness or dropout of a single neuron. We show how a robust measurement model can be used within the DKF framework to effectively ignore large changes in the behavior of a single neuron. At BrainGate2, a successful online human neural decoding experiment validated this approach against the commonly-used Kalman filter.
Extracellular adenosine reversibly inhibits the activation of human regulatory T cells and negatively influences the achievement of the operational tolerance in liver transplantation

The artificial induction of tolerance in transplantation is gaining strength. In mice, a differential role of extracellular adenosine (eADO) for regulatory and effector T cells (Tregs and Teffs, respectively) has been proposed: inhibiting Teffs and inducing Tregs. The aim of this study was to analyze the action of extracellular nucleotides in human T cells and, moreover, to examine the influence of CD39 and CD73 ectonucleotidases and subsequent adenosine signaling through adenosine 2 receptor (A2R) in the induction of clinical tolerance after liver transplant. The action of extracellular nucleotides in human T cells was analyzed by in vitro experiments with isolated T cells. Additionally, 17 liver transplant patients were enrolled in an immunosuppression withdrawal trial, and the differences in the CD39‐CD73‐A2R axis were compared between tolerant and nontolerant patients. In contrast to the mice, the activation of human Tregs was inhibited similarly to Teffs in the presence of eADO. Moreover, the expression of the enzyme responsible for the degradation of ADO, adenosine deaminase, was higher in tolerant patients with respect to the nontolerant group along the immunosuppression withdrawal. Our data support the idea that eADO signaling and its degradation may play a role in the complex system of regulation of liver transplant tolerance.
Crystal structure of dimeric human PNPase reveals why disease-linked mutants suffer from low RNA import and degradation activities

Abstract Human polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase) is an evolutionarily conserved 3′-to-5′ exoribonuclease principally located in mitochondria where it is responsible for RNA turnover and import. Mutations in PNPase impair structured RNA transport into mitochondria, resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction and disease. PNPase is a trimeric protein with a doughnut-shaped structure hosting a central channel for single-stranded RNA binding and degradation. Here, we show that the disease-linked human PNPase mutants, Q387R and E475G, form dimers, not trimers, and have significantly lower RNA binding and degradation activities compared to wild-type trimeric PNPase. Moreover, S1 domain-truncated PNPase binds single-stranded RNA but not the stem–loop signature motif of imported structured RNA, suggesting that the S1 domain is responsible for binding structured RNAs. We further determined the crystal structure of dimeric PNPase at a resolution of 2.8 Å and, combined with small-angle X-ray scattering, show that the RNA-binding K homology and S1 domains are relatively inaccessible in the dimeric assembly. Taken together, these results show that mutations at the interface of the trimeric PNPase tend to produce a dimeric protein with destructive RNA-binding surfaces, thus impairing both of its RNA import and degradation activities and leading to mitochondria disorders.
Urinary measurement of circulating tumor DNA for treatment monitoring and prognosis of metastatic colorectal cancer patients

Abstract Background Solid tumor tissue testing is the gold standard for molecular-based assays for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). This poses challenges during treatment monitoring. Total DNA derived from urine specimens offers clear advantages to track the disease dynamics. Our study aims to evaluate the sensitivity for total DNA recovered from urine and its clinical relevance to mCRC. Methods KRAS mutations in urine specimens were examined in 150 mCRC patients. Baseline concordance was established to determined clinical relevance. The total DNA quantities were also prospectively examined in serial samplings during treatment. Results Analysis of the genetic mutations showed good agreement for baseline samples. Matched tumor and urine specimens’ molecular profiles were observed to have 90% concordance. Comparing with healthy volunteers, we established a cutoff of 8.15 ng that demonstrated elevated total DNA levels was associated with mCRC patients (sensitivity: 90.7%; specificity: 82.0%). For patients treated with chemotherapy or anti-epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors, DNA quantity mirrored early treatment response. Survival analysis showed that patients with sustained elevated quantities of KRAS mutations had poorer outcome. Conclusions Total urine DNA offers a viable complement for mutation profiling in mCRC patients, given the good agreement with matched tumor samples. Our study also established that this is specific based on the results from healthy individuals. Serial monitoring of total DNA levels allowed early prediction to treatment response and was effective to identify high risk patients. This is potentially useful to complement current disease management.
HULC and 7SL RNA expression levels in patients with Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever

Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick‐borne disease caused by the Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are generally classified as transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides (nt). The various lncRNAs expressed in infected cells are responsible for regulating the expression of viral and host genes. This is the first study to investigate hepatocellular carcinoma upregulated long non‐coding RNA (HULC) and 7SL RNA expression levels in patients with CCHF. Blood samples were taken from 100 individuals (60 patients and 40 controls), and total RNA isolation was performed. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was performed using the SYBR Green method to determine HULC and 7SL RNA expression levels in the study population. Compared the patient and control groups, HULC was upregulated statistically significantly (P = 0.04) and 7SL RNA was downregulated (P = 0.93) in patients. Also, there was a statistically significant difference between fatal cases and surviving patients for HULC and 7SL RNA (P < 0.01 and P = 0.03, respectively). In addition, HULC expression was increased statistically significantly in fatal cases compared with surviving patients in terms of clinical parameters such as aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.01), alanine aminotransferase (P < 0.01), international normalized ratio (P = 0.05), prothrombin time (P = 0.01), active partial thromboplastin time (P < 0.01), and lactate dehydrogenase (P < 0.01). These findings highlighted that HULC and 7SL RNA could be important mediators for studying the pathogenesis of CCHF and significant therapeutic targets of the disease.
High-performance single-walled carbon nanotube transparent conducting film fabricated by using low feeding rate of ethanol solution

We report floating catalyst chemical vapour deposition synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for high-performance transparent conducting films (TCFs) using low feeding rate of precursor solution. Herein, ethanol acts as carbon source, ferrocene and thiophene as catalyst precursor and growth promoter, respectively. By adopting a low feeding rate of 4 µl min−1, the fabricated TCFs present one of the lowest sheet resistances of ca 78 Ω sq. −1. at 90% transmittance. Optical characterizations demonstrate that the mean diameter of high-quality SWCNTs is up to 2 nm. Additionally, electron microcopy observations provide evidence that the mean length of SWCNT bundles is as long as 28.4 µm while the mean bundle diameter is only 5.3 nm. Moreover, very few CNT loops can be found in the film. Remarkably, the fraction of individual SWCNTs reaches 24.6%. All those morphology data account for the superior optoelectronic performance of our SWCNT TCFs.
A decade lost: does educational success mitigate the increased risks of premature death among children with experience of out-of-home care?

Background Past research has consistently identified children with out-of-home care (OHC) experience as a high-risk group for premature mortality. While many have argued that educational success is a key factor in reducing these individuals’ excessive death risks, empirical evidence has hitherto been limited. The aim of the current study was therefore to examine the potentially mitigating role of educational success in the association between OHC experience and premature mortality. Methods Drawing on a Stockholm cohort born in 1953 (n=15 117), we analysed the associations among placement in OHC (ages 0–12), school performance (ages 13, 16 and 19) and premature all-cause mortality (ages 20–56) by means of Cox and Laplace regression analyses. Results The Cox regression models confirmed the increased risk of premature mortality among individuals with OHC experience. Unadjusted Laplace regression models showed that, based on median survival time, these children died more than a decade before their majority population peers. However, among individuals who performed well at school, that is, those who scored above-average marks at the age of 16 (grade 9) and at the age of 19 (grade 12), the risks of premature mortality did not significantly differ between the two groups. Conclusion Educational success seems to mitigate the increased risks of premature death among children with OHC experience.
Relationships between certain individual characteristics and occupational accidents

Background. Work accidents and injuries are an occupational health and safety problem. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted for 404 frontline workers who were randomly selected from the Arya Sasol Petrochemical Company in Bushehr, Iran, during 2016. A statistical analysis was performed using the χ2 test and the logistic regression model with SPSS version 18. Results. The overall occupational accident rate among the participants was found to be 9.2%. Statistically significant differences were observed for body mass index, education, job experience, smoking habit, consumption of sedative pills and presence of sleep disorders. Three factors had significant adjusted odds ratios (ORs): body mass index (OR 2.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.16, 5.04]), education (OR 0.25, 95% CI [0.07, 0.85]) and job experience (OR 0.29, 95% CI [0.15, 0.57]). Conclusions. Preventive programs should be implemented for industrial workers, especially young workers, workers who smoke, overweight workers and workers with psychosomatic disease.
What is dyslexia? An exploration of the relationship between teachers' understandings of dyslexia and their training experiences

Given that an estimated 5–10% of the worldwide population is said to have dyslexia, it is of great importance that teachers have an accurate understanding of what dyslexia is and how it effects their students. Using results from a large‐scale survey of teachers in England and in Wales (N ≈ 2,600), this paper demonstrates that teachers held a basic understanding of dyslexia, based on the behavioural issues that it is associated with. Teachers lacked the knowledge of the biological (i.e., neurological) and cognitive (i.e., processing) aspects of dyslexia. Moreover, a number of teachers mentioned visual factors in their description of dyslexia, despite there being inconclusive evidence to suggest a direct relationship between visual functioning and dyslexia. Further findings demonstrate the importance of good‐quality teacher training in increasing teachers' confidence working with those with dyslexia, while increasing their knowledge of the cognitive aspects of dyslexia. This paper argues that evidence‐based teacher training, which informs teachers of the up‐to‐date research on the biological, cognitive, and behavioural aspects of dyslexia, is essential to combat misconceptions and ensure that teachers have more nuanced and informed understandings of dyslexia.