Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exercise intensity independently modulates thermal behavior during exercise recovery but not during exercise.

We tested the hypothesis that thermal behavior is greater during and after high- compared with moderate-intensity exercise. In a 27°C, 20% relative humidity environment, 20 participants (10 women, 10 men) cycled for 30 min at moderate [53% (SD 6) peak oxygen uptake (V̇o2peak) or high [78% (SD 6) V̇o2peak] intensity, followed by 120 min of recovery. Mean skin and core temperatures and mean skin wettedness were recorded continuously. Participants maintained thermally comfortable neck temperatures with a custom-made neck device. Neck device temperature provided an index of thermal behavior. The weighted average of mean skin and core temperatures and mean skin wettedness provided an indication of the afferent stimulus to thermally behave. Mean skin and core temperatures were greater at end-exercise in high intensity (P < 0.01). Core temperature remained elevated in high intensity until 70 min of recovery (P = 0.03). Mean skin wettedness and the afferent stimulus were greater at 10-20 min of exercise in high intensity (P ≤ 0.03) and remained elevated until 60 min of recovery (P < 0.01). Neck device temperature was lower during exercise in high versus moderate intensity (P ≤ 0.02). There was a strong relation between the afferent stimulus and neck device temperature during exercise (high: R2 = 0.82, P < 0.01; moderate: R2 = 0.95, P < 0.01) and recovery (high: R2 = 0.97, P < 0.01; moderate: R2 = 0.93, P < 0.01). During exercise, slope (P = 0.49) and y-intercept (P = 0.91) did not differ between intensities. In contrast, slope was steeper (P < 0.01) and y-intercept was higher (P < 0.01) during recovery from high-intensity exercise. Thermal behavior is greater during high-intensity exercise because of the greater stimulus to behave. The withdrawal of thermal behavior is augmented after high-intensity exercise. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first study to determine the effects of exercise intensity on thermal behavior. We show that exercise intensity does not independently modulate thermal behavior during exercise but is dependent on the magnitude of afferent stimuli. In contrast, the withdrawal of thermal behavior after high-intensity exercise is augmented. This may be a consequence of an attenuated perceptual response to afferent stimuli, which may be due to processes underlying postexercise hypoalgesia.
Rapamycin-mediated mTOR inhibition impairs silencing of sex chromosomes and the pachytene piRNA pathway in the mouse testis

Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) controls cell growth and metabolism in response to environmental and metabolic signals. Rapamycin robustly extends the lifespan in mammals and has clinical relevance in organ transplantation and cancer therapy but side effects include male infertility. Here, we report that chronic rapamycin treatment causes spermatogenic arrest in adult male mice due to defects in sex body formation and meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI). Many sex chromosome-linked genes were up-regulated in isolated pachytene spermatocytes from rapamycin-treated mice. RNA-Seq analysis also identified mRNAs encoding the core piRNA pathway components were decreased. Furthermore, rapamycin treatment was associated with a drastic reduction in pachytene piRNA populations. The inhibitory effects of rapamycin on spermatogenesis were partially reversible, with restoration of testis mass and sperm motility within 2 months of treatment cessation. Collectively, we have defined an essential role of mTOR in MSCI and identified a novel function as a regulator of small RNA homeostasis in male germ cells.
On the unfounded enthusiasm for soft selective sweeps II: Examining recent evidence from humans, flies, and viruses

Since the initial description of the genomic patterns expected under models of positive selection acting on standing genetic variation and on multiple beneficial mutations—so-called soft selective sweeps—researchers have sought to identify these patterns in natural population data. Indeed, over the past two years, large-scale data analyses have argued that soft sweeps are pervasive across organisms of very different effective population size and mutation rate—humans, Drosophila, and HIV. Yet, others have evaluated the relevance of these models to natural populations, as well as the identifiability of the models relative to other known population-level processes, arguing that soft sweeps are likely to be rare. Here, we look to reconcile these opposing results by carefully evaluating three recent studies and their underlying methodologies. Using population genetic theory, as well as extensive simulation, we find that all three examples are prone to extremely high false-positive rates, incorrectly identifying soft sweeps under both hard sweep and neutral models. Furthermore, we demonstrate that well-fit demographic histories combined with rare hard sweeps serve as the more parsimonious explanation. These findings represent a necessary response to the growing tendency of invoking parameter-heavy, assumption-laden models of pervasive positive selection, and neglecting best practices regarding the construction of proper demographic null models.
Angiotensinogen and Megalin Interactions Contribute to Atherosclerosis—Brief Report

Objective— AGT (Angiotensinogen) is the unique precursor of the renin-angiotensin system that is sequentially cleaved by renin and ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) to produce Ang II (angiotensin II). In this study, we determined how these renin-angiotensin components interact with megalin in kidney to promote atherosclerosis. Approach and Results— AGT, renin, ACE, and megalin were present in the renal proximal convoluted tubules of wild-type mice. Hepatocyte-specific AGT deficiency abolished AGT protein accumulation in proximal tubules and diminished Ang II concentrations in kidney, while renin was increased. Megalin was most abundant in kidney and exclusively present on the apical side of proximal tubules. Inhibition of megalin by antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) led to ablation of AGT and renin proteins in proximal tubules, while leading to striking increases of urine AGT and renin concentrations, and 70% reduction of renal Ang II concentrations. However, plasma Ang II concentrations were unaffected. To determine whether AGT and megalin interaction contributes to atherosclerosis, we used both male and female low-density lipoprotein receptor−/− mice fed a saturated fat-enriched diet and administered vehicles (PBS or control ASO) or megalin ASO. Inhibition of megalin did not affect plasma cholesterol concentrations, but profoundly reduced atherosclerotic lesion size in both male and female mice. Conclusions— These results reveal a regulatory role of megalin in the intrarenal renin-angiotensin homeostasis and atherogenesis, positing renal Ang II to be an important contributor to atherosclerosis that is mediated through AGT and megalin interactions.
A transparent cancer classifier

Recently, many neural network models have been successfully applied for histopathological analysis, including for cancer classifications. While some of them reach human–expert level accuracy in classifying cancers, most of them have to be treated as black box, in which they do not offer explanation on how they arrived at their decisions. This lack of transparency may hinder the further applications of neural networks in realistic clinical settings where not only decision but also explainability is important. This study proposes a transparent neural network that complements its classification decisions with visual information about the given problem. The auxiliary visual information allows the user to some extent understand how the neural network arrives at its decision. The transparency potentially increases the usability of neural networks in realistic histopathological analysis. In the experiment, the accuracy of the proposed neural network is compared against some existing classifiers, and the visual information is compared against some dimensional reduction methods.
The Impact of Nasalance on Cepstral Peak Prominence and Harmonics‐to‐Noise Ratio

Cepstral peak prominence (CPP) has been reported as a reliable measure of dysphonia and a preferred alternative to harmonics‐to‐noise ratio (HNR). However, CPP has been observed to be sensitive to articulatory variation and vocal intensity. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of nasalance on CPP and HNR of voice signals. It was hypothesized that increased nasalance would be associated with decreased CPP.
Estudo mecnico de implante para fixao do segmento lombossacro da coluna vertebral

This work consists of a mechanical analysis of the resistance and critical points of a stainless steel device for lumbossacral spinal fixation. The device was fixed into a wooden model representing the spinal lumbossacral segment. The experiment comprised seven tests of flexo-compression, seven tests of axial rigidity, seven tests of radial rigidity, and one destructive test. The critical points are the intersection of the pedicular screws threads and the attrition rate between the vise and the rod. The results demonstrated the device to be efficient and safe when used in human beings.
CBFA2T3‐GLIS2‐positive acute myeloid leukaemia. A peculiar paediatric entity

The scenario of paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), particularly non‐Down syndrome acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia (non‐DS‐AMKL), has been recently revolutionized by the advent of large‐scale, genomic sequencing technologies. In this changing landscape, a significantly relevant discovery has been represented by the identification of the CBFA2T3‐GLIS2 fusion gene, which is the result of a cryptic inversion of chromosome 16. It is the most frequent chimeric oncogene identified to date in non‐DS‐AMKL, although it seems not to be exclusively restricted to the French‐American‐British M7 subgroup. The CBFA2T3‐GLIS2 fusion gene characterizes a subtype of leukaemia that is specific to paediatrics, having never been identified in adults. It characterizes an extremely aggressive leukaemia, as the presence of this fusion is associated with a grim outcome in almost all of the case series reported, with overall survival rates ranging between 15% and 30%. Although the molecular basis that underlies this leukaemia subtype is still far from being completely elucidated, unique functional properties induced by CBFA2T3‐GLIS2 in the leukaemogenesis driving process have been recently identified. We here review the peculiarities of CBFA2T3‐GLIS2‐positive AML, describing its intriguing clinical and biological behaviour and providing some challenging targeting opportunities.
Missing Data in Marginal Structural Models: A Plasmode Simulation Study Comparing Multiple Imputation and Inverse Probability Weighting

Background: The use of marginal structural models (MSMs) to adjust for time-varying confounding has increased in epidemiologic studies. However, in the setting of MSMs, recommendations for how best to handle missing data are contradictory. We present a plasmode simulation study to compare the validity and precision of MSMs estimates using complete case analysis (CC), multiple imputation (MI), and inverse probability weighting (IPW) in the presence of missing data on time-independent and time-varying confounders. Materials and Methods: Simulations were based on a cohort substudy using data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative which estimated the marginal causal effect of intra-articular injection use on yearly changes in knee pain. We simulated 81 scenarios with parameter values varied on missing mechanisms (MCAR, MAR, and MNAR), percentages of missing (10%, 20%, and 30%), type of confounders (time-independent, time-varying, either or both), and analytical approaches (CC, IPW, and MI). The performance of CC, IPW, and MI methods was compared using relative bias, mean squared error of the estimates of interest, and empirical power. Results: Across scenarios defined by missing data mechanism, extent of missing data, and confounder type, MI generally produced less biased estimates (range: 1.2%–6.7%) with better precision (range: 0.17–0.18) compared with IPW (relative bias: −5.3% to 8.0%; precision: 0.19–0.53). Empirical power was constant across the scenarios using MI. Conclusions: Under simple yet realistically constructed scenarios, MI seems to confer an advantage over IPW in MSMs applications.
Assessing Quality of Syndesmotic Reduction in Surgically Treated Acute Syndesmotic Injuries: A Systematic Review

&NA; There is no universal method with cutoff values for the assessment of distal tibiofibular joint reduction in acute syndesmotic injuries. It is important to detect malreductions because they may lead to impaired functional outcome and may demand reoperations. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature to evaluate the appropriateness of different image techniques in determining syndesmotic malalignment. A literature search was conducted in Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library to search for articles assessing syndesmotic reduction. Excluded were articles where no criteria and/or measurements for syndesmotic reduction were provided, only normative values were provided and reviews. In total, 2157 articles were found, of which 1421 studies were screened for title and abstract after exclusion of duplicates. One hundred ten studies were eligible for full‐text analysis. Of these, 61 were excluded. Three studies where added after screening the included references. Fifty‐two studies were included, of which 32 were original publications and 20 were publications referring to the original publications. From the original publications, 14 used plains radiographs, 19 computed tomographic (CT) scans, and 5 used 3‐dimensional CT scans (some authors used >1 modality in their study). For each modality, a large number of parameters and different cutoff values were reported. CT scanning is superior to plain radiography in the assessment of the quality of joint reduction. Parameters used the most were fibular position in the incisura and fibular rotation. The criteria for adequate reduction should at least include the position of the fibula in the incisura and rotation of the fibula, while ensuring adequate fibular length, all equaling or at least approaching the values of the uninjured contralateral side.
Plasma Surface Functionalization of Carbon Nanofibres with Silver, Palladium and Platinum Nanoparticles for Cost-Effective and High-Performance Supercapacitors

Due to their relatively low cost, large surface area and good chemical and physical properties, carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are attractive for the fabrication of electrodes for supercapacitors (SCs). However, their relatively low electrical conductivity has impeded their practical application. To this end, a novel active-screen plasma activation and deposition technology has been developed to deposit silver, platinum and palladium nanoparticles on activated CNFs surfaces to increase their specific surface area and electrical conductivity, thus improving the specific capacitance. The functionalised CNFs were fully characterised using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and their electrochemical properties were evaluated using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results showed a significant improvement in specific capacitance, as well as electrochemical impedance over the untreated CNFs. The functionalisation of CNFs via environmental-friendly active-screen plasma technology provides a promising future for cost-effective supercapacitors with high power and energy density.
Happily Ever After? Life Satisfaction After Childhood Exposure to Violence

A plethora of research has linked exposure to violence during childhood to negative long-term physical health, mental health, and risk behavior outcomes. Yet, despite estimates that up to 60% of children in the United States will be exposed to violence, little is known about the impact on adult life satisfaction among different racial and ethnic groups, or for different types of violence exposure. This article seeks to explore factors that are associated with life satisfaction in adults who were exposed to family violence or physically abused as a child, while adjusting race, ethnicity, gender, and emotional support. Employing data from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), links are examined between childhood exposure to violence and adult life satisfaction. For this study, noninstitutionalized adults aged 18 and above in the United States were included. Adults who reported exposure to physical abuse as a child had lower odds of reporting life satisfaction, and those with both physical abuse and interpersonal violence exposure had the lowest odds of long-term life satisfaction. Higher levels of income, emotional support, and marriage were associated with higher levels of satisfaction for both adults who were not exposed to violence as children and those who were. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, adults who identified as Asian or Pacific Islander had higher odds of reporting life satisfaction than their Caucasian counterparts. Implications from these findings include targeting interventions to increase emotional support and social networks for individuals who have been exposed to violence.
Enterobacter huaxiensis sp. nov. and Enterobacter chuandaensis sp. nov., recovered from human blood.

Enterobacter strains 090008T and 090028T were recovered from the blood of two different patients at West China Hospital, Chengdu, PR China in 2017. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene and multi-locus sequence analysis of the rpoB, gyrB, infB and atpD housekeeping genes revealed that the two strains were distinct from any previously known species of the genus Enterobacter. Both average nucleotide identity (ANI) and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (isDDH) values between strains 090008T, 090028T and type strains of all known Enterobacter species were lower than the cut-off (≥95-96 % for ANI and ≥70 % for isDDH) to define a bacterial species. The major cellular fatty acids of strains 090008T and 090028T are C16 : 0, C17 : 0cyclo and C18 : 1ω7c, which are similar to other Enterobacter species, and the genomic DNA G+C content was 55.73 and 55.68 mol%, respectively. Strain 090008T can be differentiated from other Enterobacter species by its ability to ferment sucrose, melibiose and d-arabitol, but with a negative methyl α-d-mannopyranoside reaction. Strain 090028T can ferment potassium gluconate, but is negative for l-fucose, mdecarboxylase, deaminase aelibiose and d-sorbitol, which distinguishes it from all other Enterobacter species. Genotypic and phenotypic characteristics indicate that strains 090008T and 090028T represent two novel species of the genus Enterobacter, for which the names Enterobacter huaxiensissp. nov. and Enterobacter chuandaensis sp. nov. are proposed, respectively. The type strain of Enterobacter huaxiensissp. nov. is 090008T (=GDMCC1.1426T=CCTCC AB 2018174T=CNCTC 7648T) and the type strain of Enterobacter chuandaensissp. nov. is 090028T (=GDMCC1.1427T=CCTCC AB 2018173T=CNCTC 7649T).
Examining the Complex Relation Among Religion, Morality, and Death Anxiety: Religion Can Be a Source of Comfort and Concern Regarding Fears of Death

This study examined the relationship among religiosity, morality, and fear of death. Students (n = 328, 75% women, Mage = 18.9) completed measures of fear of death, frequency of immoral behavior, discrepancy between ideal and actual religious practices, strength of religious beliefs, views of God as punishing or forgiving, and behavior efficacy (the extent to which fate in the afterlife was perceived to be determined by behavior in this life). Frequency of immoral behavior was not related to fears of death, but both strength of religious views and behavior efficacy were negatively correlated with fears of death. In contrast, perceived failure to live up to religious standards was associated with more death anxiety, especially among those with punishing views of God. These findings support the idea that some aspects of religion can help protect people from death anxiety, whereas other aspects of religion can exacerbate fears of death.
Laparoscopic management of intra-hepatic gallbladder perforation

Intra-hepatic perforation of the gallbladder (GB) leading to hepatic abscess is a serious and rare complication of cholecystitis, with very few sporadically reported cases in the literature. Hence, there is no standard approach to treat it. A thorough radiological evaluation with computed tomography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography is necessary before proceeding with surgery in such cases. An early laparoscopic intervention to perform a sub-total cholecystectomy with drain placement is enough to treat both cholecystitis and liver abscess in a definitive manner. While previous reports have advocated an open surgery, our series demonstrates that early laparoscopic management is a safe and suitable approach in such cases.
Longitudinal Associations of Falls and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults.

Background and Objectives Fall incidents and associated medical costs are increasing among older adults. This study examined longitudinal associations between older adults' falls status and depression at 2 time periods to further clarify bidirectional relationships. Methods We used the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) Waves 5 and 6 data and included sample persons (N = 6,299) who resided in the community or residential care facilities (not nursing homes) at both waves (T1 and T2). We employed multinomial logistic regression analysis to examine the association of T2 falls status with T1 depressive symptoms, and negative binomial regression and logistic regression analyses to examine the association of T2 depressive symptoms with stability/change in T1-T2 falls status. Results Over the study period, 46% of older adults (18 million Medicare beneficiaries) who lived in the community or residential care facilities reported a fall. T1 depressive symptoms were significantly associated with greater odds of T2 multiple falls, and increasing falls or continuing incidents of multiple falls between T1 and T2 were significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms and probable major depression at T2. Discussion and Implications The significant bidirectional relationships between T1 depression and T2 multiple falls point to the importance of incorporating depression treatment in fall prevention programs for older adults at high risk of increasing/multiple falls.