Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application des méthodes automatiques de mesure électrocardiographique continues pour l'évaluation des risques torsadogènes lors des essais cliniques : Une alternative fiable aux méthodes conventionnelles ?

Les medicaments qui provoquent un allongement de la repolarisation cardiaque, mesure sur l’electrocardiogramme (ECG) par la prolongation de l’intervalle QT, ont ete associes a une augmentation du risque pro-arythmique, et plus particulierement a la survenue de Torsades de pointes, une tachycardie ventriculaire polymorphe potentiellement mortelle. Les methodes d'analyse du QT conventionnelles se restreignent a l’extraction de quelques complexes ECG. Cette pratique se traduit par de nombreuses limitations. L’inclusion de tous les battements enregistres sur 24h et mesures par des methodes automatiques de mesure ECG a le potentiel de resoudre ces inconvenients. Ce travail de these a demontre que les methodes de mesure ECG automatisees et les analyses continues peuvent supplanter les methodes conventionnelles pour l'analyse de la prolongation du QT lors des essais cliniques. Des recommandations ont ete etablis afin de permettre une utilisation optimale des methodes d'analyse ECG continues.
Rickettsia-like-organisms and phytoplasmas associated with diseases in Australian strawberries

Strawberry lethal yellows (SLY) disease in Australia is associated with the phytoplasmas Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense and tomato big bud, and a rickettsia-like-organism (RLO). Ca. P. australiense is also associated with strawberry green petal (SGP) disease. This study investigated the strength of the association of the different agents with SLY disease. We also documented the location of SLY or SGP plants, and measured whether they were RLO or phytoplasma positive. Symptomatic strawberry plants collected from south-east Queensland (Australia) between January 2000 and October 2002 were screened by PCR for both phytoplasmas and the RLO. Two previously unreported disease symptoms termed severe fruit distortion (SFD) and strawberry leaves from fruit (SLF) were observed during this study but there was no clear association between these symptoms and phytoplasmas or the RLO. Only two SGP diseased plants were observed and collected, compared with 363 plants with SLY disease symptoms. Of the 363 SLY samples, 117 tested positive for the RLO, 67 tested positive for Ca. P. australiense AGY strain and 11 plants tested positive for Ca. P. australiense PYL variant strain. On runner production farms at Stanthorpe, Queensland the RLO was detected in SLY diseased plants more frequently than for the phytoplasmas. On fruit production farms on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Ca. P. australiense was detected in SLY disease plants more frequently than the RLO.
Obesity is associated with increased red blood cell folate despite lower dietary intakes and serum concentrations.

BACKGROUND Folates are essential cofactors in metabolic pathways that facilitate biological methylation and nucleotide synthesis, and therefore have widespread effects on health and diseases. Although obesity is prevalent worldwide, few studies have investigated how obesity interacts with folate status. OBJECTIVE Based on data from the NHANES, this study aims to examine the association between body mass index (BMI) and obesity-related metabolic factors with blood folate status. METHODS A nationally representative sample of 3767 adults from the NHANES (2003-2006) was used as the study population. Regression analyses, with and without adjustment for demographic factors and dietary intakes, were performed to examine associations between BMI and metabolic factors with serum and RBC folate. RESULTS The results indicate serum folate concentrations were lower in obese groups compared to the desirable BMI and overweight categories, paralleling lower intakes in this group. In contrast, RBC folate increased incrementally with BMI. Regression analyses demonstrated an inverse relation between BMI and serum folate but a positive relation for RBC folate (P < 0.01). Waist circumference, serum triglycerides, and fasting plasma glucose each displayed significant positive relations with RBC folate (P < 0.01), although relations with serum folate were not significant and consistent. CONCLUSIONS In summary, obesity is associated with decreased serum folate, which parallels decreased folate intakes. In contrast, obesity is positively associated with RBC folate. Therefore, RBC folate, in addition to serum folate, should also be considered as a critical biomarker for folate status, especially in the obese population. Future research is needed to understand how obesity differentially alters serum and RBC folate status because they are associated with a variety of medical complications.
The tumor suppressor Nf 2 regulates corpus callosum development by inhibiting the transcriptional coactivator

The corpus callosum connects cerebral hemispheres and is the largest axon tract in the mammalian brain. Callosal malformations are among the most common congenital brain anomalies and are associated with a wide range of neuropsychological deficits. Crossing of the midline by callosal axons relies on a proper midline environment that harbors guidepost cells emitting guidance cues to instruct callosal axon navigation. Little is known about what controls the formation of themidline environment.We find that two components of the Hippo pathway, the tumor suppressor Nf2 (Merlin) and the transcriptional coactivator Yap (Yap1), regulate guidepost development and expression of the guidance cue Slit2 in mouse. During normal brain development, Nf2 suppresses Yap activity in neural progenitor cells to promote guidepost cell differentiation and prevent ectopic Slit2 expression. Loss of Nf2 causes malformation of midline guideposts and Slit2 upregulation, resulting in callosal agenesis. Slit2 heterozygosity and Yap deletion both restore callosal formation in Nf2 mutants. Furthermore, selectively elevating Yap activity in midline neural progenitors is sufficient to disrupt guidepost formation, upregulate Slit2 and prevent midline crossing. The Hippo pathway is known for its role in controlling organ growth and tumorigenesis. Our study identifies a novel role of this pathway in axon guidance. Moreover, by linking axon pathfinding and neural progenitor behaviors, our results provide an example of the intricate coordination between growth and wiring during brain development.
Meta-Analysis of Rare Binary Adverse Event Data

We examine the use of fixed-effects and random-effects moment-based meta-analytic methods for analysis of binary adverse-event data. Special attention is paid to the case of rare adverse events that are commonly encountered in routine practice. We study estimation of model parameters and between-study heterogeneity. In addition, we examine traditional approaches to hypothesis testing of the average treatment effect and detection of the heterogeneity of treatment effect across studies. We derive three new methods, a simple (unweighted) average treatment effect estimator, a new heterogeneity estimator, and a parametric bootstrapping test for heterogeneity. We then study the statistical properties of both the traditional and the new methods via simulation. We find that in general, moment-based estimators of combined treatment effects and heterogeneity are biased and the degree of bias is proportional to the rarity of the event under study. The new methods eliminate much, but not all, of this bias. The various estimators and hypothesis testing methods are then compared and contrasted using an example dataset on treatment of stable coronary artery disease.
The effect of humic substances on germination and early growth of Lamb’s Quarters (Chenopodium album agg.)

In order to understand the biological activity of humic substances (HS), the effect of four humic acids (HA) and one fulvic acid (FA) on seed germination and early growth of cosmopolitan weed Chenopodium album agg. were tested. Humic substances of diverse origin were used, namely purified commercial HA, HA isolated from lignite, cambisol and podzol, and FA from mountain spruce forest soil. Data processing by two-way ANOVA has shown that type of the tested substances was a more important factor on seed development than used concentration. The major differences in germination and length of shoots were found in the first days of the experiment. Commercial and lignite HA stimulated the seed germination and growth, while podzol HA inhibited them. After this initial phase, all humic substances stimulated the seed development, but these stimulations were not significant (P < 0.05). At the end of germination test, the greatest stimulation effect (up to 20%) was achieved with the lignite HA.
Pre-treatment with GnRHa or ulipristal acetate prior to laparoscopic and laparotomic myomectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Myomectomy has potential risks of complications. To reduce these risks, medical pre-treatment can be applied to reduce fibroid size and thereby potentially decrease intra-operative blood loss, the need for blood transfusion and emergency hysterectomy. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to study the effectiveness of medical pre-treatment with Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) or ulipristal acetate prior to laparoscopic or laparotomic myomectomy on intra-operative and post-operative outcomes. Methods We performed an extensive search in Embase.com, Wiley/Cochrane Library and PubMed in accordance with the Prisma guidelines. All studies published as full papers in peer reviewed journals using GnRHa or ulipristal acetate as medical pre-treatment independent of route of administration or dosage before laparotomic or laparoscopic myomectomy were included. The primary outcome was duration of surgery. Secondary outcomes were duration of enucleation, blood loss, degree of difficulty of surgery, identification of cleavage planes, proportion of vertical incisions, conversion rate, frequency of blood transfusions, post-operative complications, duration of hospital stay, frequency of recurrence of fibroids, frequency of uterine adhesions, recovery time and quality of life. No language restrictions were applied. Meta-analysis were performed where possible. Findings Twenty-three studies were included. In laparotomic myomectomy, pre-treatment with GnRHa decreases intra-operative blood loss with 97.39ml (95% CI -111.80 to -82.97) compared to no pre-treatment or placebo. Pre-treatment with GnRHa before laparoscopic myomectomies also shows a reduction in intra-operative blood loss by 23.03ml (95% CI -40.79 to -5.27) and in the frequency of blood transfusions (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.55) compared to no pre-treatment. Only two retrospective cohort studies reported on pre-treatment with ulipristal acetate compared to no pre-treatment before laparoscopic myomectomy showing a statistically significant reduction in intra-operative blood loss, duration of surgery and frequency of blood transfusions after pre-treatment with ulipristal acetate. Conclusion Administration of GnRHa prior to laparotomic myomectomy reduces blood loss and might decrease uterine adhesion formation. Pre-treatment with GnRHa before laparoscopic myomectomy reduces blood loss, the frequency of blood transfusions and might increase recurrence rate of fibroids, however it should be taken into account that some results are mainly based on cohort studies. Other pre-treatment agent ulipristal acetate has not been investigated sufficiently for relevant surgical outcomes.
Longitudinal invariance and information of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales.

OBJECTIVES The study investigates the psychometric properties of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21). METHOD The DASS-21 was administered to a community sample twice over the course of 7 months ( N T 1 = 235 and N T 2 = 171; 51% female, Mage = 22 years). A partial credit Rasch model was used to determine the scales' longitudinal invariance and reliability. RESULTS The DASS-21 mostly demonstrated longitudinal invariance across administrations. The Depression and Anxiety subscales were sufficiently reliable to distinguish among the suggested severity categories, but the Stress scale was not. CONCLUSION Several revisions of the DASS are recommended. It is also suggested that the Stress scale should be used with caution, given its low reliability.
Single-Camera Automatic Landmarking for People Recognition with an Ensemble of Regression Trees

Active Appearance Model (AAM) is a computer vision procedure for statistical matching of object shape and appearance between images. A main drawback in this technique comes from the construction of the shape mesh. Since landmarks must be manually placed when training shapes, AAM is a very time consuming procedure and it cannot be automatically applied on new objects observed in the images. An approach for automatic landmarking of body shapes on still images for AAM training is introduced in this paper. Several works exist applying automatic landmarking on faces or body joints. Here, we explore the possibility to extend one of these methods to full body contours and demonstrate it is a plausible approach in terms of accuracy and speed measures in experimentation. Our proposal represents a new research line in human body pose tracking with a single-view camera. Hence, implementation in real-time would lead to people being recognized by robots endowed with minimal vision resources, like a webcam, in human-robot interaction tasks.
Role of NF-κB in immune and inflammatory responses in the gut

NF-κB is a pleiotropic transcription factor with key functions in the intestinal immune system. NF-κB family members control transcriptional activity of various promoters of proinflammatory cytokines, cell surface receptors, transcription factors, and adhesion molecules that are involved in intestinal inflammation. The perpetuated activation of NF-κB in patients with active inflammatory bowel disease suggests that regulation of NF-κB activity is a very attractive target for therapeutic intervention. Such strategies include antioxidants, proteasome inhibitors, inhibition of NF-κB by adenoviral IκBα expression vectors, and antisense DNA targeting of NF-κB. These approaches will hopefully permit the design of new treatment strategies for chronic intestinal inflammation.
Characteristic and shelf life of fish sausage: fortification with fish oil through emulsion and gelled emulsion incorporated with green tea extract.

BACKGROUND Silver carp fish sausages (Hypophthalmichthys moltrix) incorporated with three forms of the refined cod liver oil (as a source of PUFA) (fish oil (FO), O/W emulsion (E), gelled oil-in-water emulsion (G)) and lyophilized aqueous extract of green tea (Camellia sinensis) (700 and 900 mg kg-1 ) was developed. The composition, technological properties (cooking loss, pH, texture, and color), sensory analysis, microbial and oxidative stability of fish sausages were evaluated during storage (4°C). RESULTS The lower value of cooking loss and TBA value were observed by addition fish oil in emulsions forms. The incorporation of GT showed no significant differences in preventing of oxidation in related samples. Gelled-emulsified fish oil had better textural properties including hardness and decreased the springiness of the sausages. The G and E sausages showed higher values of lightness (L*) as compared to control. Emulsification had no significant effect on total viable count. The panellist could not distinguish between samples incorporated by fish oil whether in emulsified, gelled-emulsified and control. Gelled-emulsified treatments awarded higher scores by panelist at all of the sensory attributes (p< 0.05). EPA and DHA quantities significantly increased from control (0.48 & 0.46 mg g-1 sample) to the enriched batches (>1.50 mg g-1 sample). The lowest ratio of ω6 to ω3 in batches was observed at gelled-emulsified. CONCLUSION Overall, the addition of the free fish oil could affect the properties of the sausages. Therefore, the gelled-emulsified was a suitable fish oil delivery systems in fish sausages, which maintaining sensory properties during refrigerated storage. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Regulation of Mitochondrial Carbamoyl-phosphate Synthetase 1 Activity by Active Site Fatty Acylation*

In addition to its role in reversible membrane localization of signal-transducing proteins, protein fatty acylation could play a role in the regulation of mitochondrial metabolism. Previous studies have shown that several acylated proteins exist in mitochondria isolated from COS-7 cells and rat liver. Here, a prominent fatty-acylated 165-kDa protein from rat liver mitochondria was identified as carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 1 (CPS 1). Covalently attached palmitate was linked to CPS 1 via a thioester bond resulting in an inhibition of CPS 1 activity at physiological concentrations of palmitoyl-CoA. This inhibition corresponds to irreversible inactivation of CPS 1 and occurred in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Fatty acylation of CPS 1 was prevented by preincubation with N-ethylmaleimide and 5′-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine, an ATP analog that reacts with CPS 1 active site cysteine residues. Our results suggest that fatty acylation of CPS 1 is specific for long-chain fatty acyl-CoA and very likely occurs on at least one of the essential cysteine residues inhibiting the catalytic activity of CPS 1. Inhibition of CPS 1 by long-chain fatty acyl-CoAs could reduce amino acid degradation and urea secretion, thereby contributing to nitrogen sparing during starvation.
Flavonoids isolated from Lespedeza cuneata G. Don and their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated BV-2 microglia cells

Background: Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don, a perennial legume native to Eastern Asia, has been used therapeutically in traditional Asian medicine to protect the function of liver, kidneys and lungs. However, its effect on inflammatory nitric oxide (NO) production and the active constituents have not yet been explored. Objective: In this study, we investigated the phytochemical constituents of L. cuneata and evaluated their effect on NO production using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV2 cells. Materials and Methods: The 80% methanol extract of the aerial part of L. cuneata were used for the isolation of flavonoids. The isolated compounds were elucidated by various spectroscopic methods including nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry spectrometry. To evaluate the effect on inflammatory NO production, LPS-stimulated murine microglia BV-2 cells were used as a screening system. Results: Nine flavonoids were isolated from the aerial parts of L. cuneata. Among the isolated flavonoids, compounds 4, 5, 7 and 9 are reported from the genus Lespedeza for the first time. Moreover, compounds 1 and 6 showed significant inhibitory effects on NO production in LPS-stimulated BV2 cells without cell toxicity. Conclusion: In this study, nine flavonoids were isolated from L. cuneata. Among the compounds, only 1 and 6, which have free hydroxyl groups at both C3 and C7 showed significant inhibitory activity on NO production in LPS-stimulated BV2 cells. These results suggested L. cuneata and its flavonoid constituents as possible candidate for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases.
Developmental changes in facial expression recognition in Japanese school-age children.

PURPOSE Facial expressions hold abundant information and play a central part in communication. In daily life, we must construct amicable interpersonal relationships by communicating through verbal and nonverbal behaviors. While school-age is a period of rapid social growth, few studies exist that study developmental changes in facial expression recognition during this age. This study investigated developmental changes in facial expression recognition by examining observers' gaze on others' expressions. SUBJECTS 87 school-age children from first to sixth grade (41 boys, 46 girls). METHOD The Tobii T60 Eye-tracker(Tobii Technologies, Sweden) was used to gauge eye movement during a task of matching pre-instructed emotion words and facial expressions images (neutral, angry, happy, surprised, sad, disgusted) presented on a monitor fixed at a distance of 50 cm. RESULTS In the task of matching the six facial expression images and emotion words, the mid- and higher-grade children answered more accurately than the lower-grade children in matching four expressions, excluding neutral and happy. For fixation time and fixation count, the lower-grade children scored lower than other grade children, gazing on all facial expressions significantly fewer times and for shorter periods. CONCLUSION It is guessed that the stage from lower grades to middle grades is a turning point in facial recognition.
Some considerations in the use of point quadrats for the analysis of vegetation.

The use of vertical pins or point quadrats in the analysis of vegetation, and the statistical treatment of results obtained with them, are discussed on the basis of data collected in different parts of Victoria. Results are expressed in terms of the proportion of the ground covered by each species ("percentage cover"), the average number of layers of foliage covering each point of ground ("cover repetition"), and the proportion of each species in the vegetation as· a whole ("percentage of sward").
10 Pharmacogenetics of Immunosuppressive Drugs in Renal Transplantation

Still, there is no ideal solution to many of the diseases faced by health professionals in daily clinical practice, so we still have to look for alternatives to the established treatments. The idea of a targeted and personalized therapy to achieve therapeutic success is a goal that is getting more and more important every day. In this context there arises the concept of personalized medicine which is related in our case to the genetic variability associated with different individual response to the same treatment. That is, there is a difference in the response to the same drug in different patients that appears to be related to the different versions of each patient's genes coding for transport proteins, for enzymes involved in metabolism and those genes responsible for the drug mechanism of action, all necessary for the drug to perform its therapeutic effect. This kind of research is developed by two disciplines: pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics. These two terms are often mixed and difficult to distinguish, so the international regulatory organizations have tried to fix the proper definitions of both terms. The European Medicines Agency shows the definitions on its web site (www.ema.europa.eu, EMEA/CHMP/ICH/437986/2006) where according to the the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH), Pharmacogenomics is defined as the study of variations of DNA and RNA characteristics as related to drug response, while Pharmacogenetics is a subset of pharmacogenomics and is defined as the study of variations in DNA sequence as related to drug response.