Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phonological Task Enhances the Frequency-Following Response to Deviant Task-Irrelevant Speech Sounds

In electroencephalography (EEG) measurements, processing of periodic sounds in the ascending auditory pathway generates the frequency-following response (FFR) phase-locked to the fundamental frequency (F0) and its harmonics of a sound. We measured FFRs to the steady-state (vowel) part of syllables /ba/ and /aw/ occurring in binaural rapid streams of speech sounds as frequently repeating standard syllables or as infrequent (p = 0.2) deviant syllables among standard /wa/ syllables. Our aim was to study whether concurrent active phonological processing affects early processing of irrelevant speech sounds reflected by FFRs to these sounds. To this end, during syllable delivery, our healthy adult participants performed tasks involving written letters delivered on a computer screen in a rapid stream. The stream consisted of vowel letters written in red, infrequently occurring consonant letters written in the same color, and infrequently occurring vowel letters written in blue. In the phonological task, the participants were instructed to press a response key to the consonant letters differing phonologically but not in color from the frequently occurring red vowels, whereas in the non-phonological task, they were instructed to respond to the vowel letters written in blue differing only in color from the frequently occurring red vowels. We observed that the phonological task enhanced responses to deviant /ba/ syllables but not responses to deviant /aw/ syllables. This suggests that active phonological task performance may enhance processing of such small changes in irrelevant speech sounds as the 30-ms difference in the initial formant-transition time between the otherwise identical syllables /ba/ and /wa/ used in the present study.
Purinergic Signaling in Pulmonary Inflammation

Purine nucleotides and nucleosides are at the center of biologic reactions. In particular, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the fundamental energy currency of cellular activity and adenosine has been demonstrated to play essential roles in human physiology and pathophysiology. In this review, we examine the role of purinergic signaling in acute and chronic pulmonary inflammation, with emphasis on ATP and adenosine. ATP is released into extracellular space in response to cellular injury and necrosis. It is then metabolized to adenosine monophosphate (AMP) via ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (CD39) and further hydrolyzed to adenosine via ecto-5′-nucleotidase (CD73). Adenosine signals via one of four adenosine receptors to exert pro- or anti-inflammatory effects. Adenosine signaling is terminated by intracellular transport by concentrative or equilibrative nucleoside transporters (CNTs and ENTs), deamination to inosine by adenosine deaminase (ADA), or phosphorylation back into AMP via adenosine kinase (AK). Pulmonary inflammatory and hypoxic conditions lead to increased extracellular ATP, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine levels, which translates to increased adenosine signaling. Adenosine signaling is central to the pulmonary injury response, leading to various effects on inflammation, repair and remodeling processes that are either tissue-protective or tissue destructive. In the acute setting, particularly through activation of adenosine 2A and 2B receptors, adenosine signaling serves an anti-inflammatory, tissue-protective role. However, excessive adenosine signaling in the chronic setting promotes pro-inflammatory, tissue destructive effects in chronic pulmonary inflammation.
A Possible Mechanism: Genistein Improves Metabolism and Induces White Fat Browning Through Modulating Hypothalamic Expression of Ucn3, Depp, and Stc1

Bioactive food components have gained growing attention in recent years. Multiple studies demonstrated that genistein had beneficial effects on metabolism. However, the exact mechanism by which genistein improves metabolism remains unclear, especially the central regulation. This study was designed to evaluate whether addition of genistein to the high-fat diet could counter metabolic disorders and whether these alterations were associated with gene expression in hypothalamus. C57BL/6 mice were fed either a high-fat diet (HF), high-fat diet with genistein (0.25 g/kg diet) (HFG) or a normal control diet (CON) for 8 weeks. Body weight was assessed during the study. After 8-week intervention, content of inguinal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), perirenal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT) were weighed. Glucose tolerance test, the serum levels of insulin and lipid were assessed. The mRNA of browning marker was detected in the white fat. The hypothalamus was collected for whole transcriptome sequencing and reverse transcription quantitative PCR validation. The results demonstrated that mice fed HFG diet had lower body weight and SAT mass, decrease levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and free fatty acids, higher browning marker of Ucp1 and Cidea in WAT and an improvement in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity compared with those in HF group. Transcriptome sequencing showed that there were three differentially expressed genes in hypothalamus among the three groups, including Ucn3, Depp, and Stc1, which were significantly correlated with the browning markers in WAT and insulin sensitivity. Thus, regulating gene expressions in hypothalamus is a potential mechanism for genistein improving metabolism and inducing WAT browning, which may provide a novel target for the precaution and treatment of T2DM.
Differences of FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System and Finger Pricks on Clinical Characteristics and Glucose Monitoring Satisfactions in Type 1 Diabetes Using Insulin Pump

Background: To evaluate the different experience of freestyle libre and finger pricks on clinical characteristics and glucose monitoring satisfaction (GMS) in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using insulin pump (IP). Methods: A prospective study was carried out on 47 (aged 17-21 years) T1D, who used conventional finger-pricking method for self-testing the glucose. The experiments were conducted between March 2018 and September 2018. For carrying out the study, the flash glucose monitoring (FGM) sensors were placed on each participant, at the baseline visit, by a trained diabetes educator. Furthermore, to determine the total number of scans conducted during the study period, the respective ambulatory glucose profiles were generated by computing the data collected from the sensors. In addition, a trained interviewer handed over the GMS questionnaire to each patient, at the baseline and at 12 weeks of the study. Results: In comparison to the baseline (finger pricks), various parameters such as: HbA1c (P = .042), hypoglycemia (P = .001), mean capillary glucose (P = .004), total daily insulin dose (P = .0001), percentage of bolus insulin (P = .0001), daily bolus frequency (P = .0001), and daily carbohydrates intake (P = .0001) showed a significant improvement at 12 weeks. Similarly, substantial augmentation was noticed, in the sub domains of GMS, that is, openness (P = .0001), emotional burden (P = .0001), behavioral burden (P = .0001), and trust (P = .0001) at 12 weeks as compared to baseline. Overall, total GMS score at baseline was 1.72 ± 0.37, which increased up to 3.41 ± 0.49 (P = .0001) in the time period of 12 weeks. The HbA1c (r2 = 0.45), hypoglycemia (r2 = 0.58), and the mean number of FGM scans, exhibited a negative correlation, while GMS (r2 = 0.52) and the mean number of FGM scans, exhibited a positive correlation. Conclusion: The frequency of hypoglycemia, HbA1c level, capillary glucose, daily carbohydrates intake decreased, while the total daily insulin dose, daily bolus insulin and total GMS score increased with the use of FGM scanning for 12 weeks.
Quality of Life after Hysterectomy and Uterus-Sparing Hysteroscopic Management of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding or Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

Study Objective: To compare the effect on quality of life (QOL) of uterus-sparing hysteroscopic targeted therapy with that of hysterectomy as therapeutic surgical procedure for heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB). Methods/Methodology: This was a prospective observational study. Setting: Endoscopy unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences Wardha, Maharashtra, India. Patients: A total of 354 women meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study, of which 178 women had undergone hysteroscopic targeted therapy while 176 women had undergone abdominal hysterectomy as surgical treatment for HMB. Interventions: Group I – Hysteroscopic surgical procedure – polypectomy, endometrial resection, myomectomy. Group II – Hysterectomy – abdominal hysterectomy, vaginal hysterectomy, laparoscopic hysterectomy. ) Results: Health-related QOL assessed by Short Form 36 questionnaire response score was significantly better for women who underwent hysteroscopic targeted therapy was significantly better at both short-term and long-term follow-up. Conclusions: Both hysteroscopic procedures and hysterectomy when used as therapeutic modality for abnormal uterine bleeding/HMB (AUB/HMB) improve the quality of life when used as therapeutic option, and the improvement in QOL is significantly different at 6 months and 1 year while the improvement in QOL 1 week after surgery is better in hysteroscopy group when compared to hysterectomy group suggesting early improvement in QOL when hysteroscopic therapies are used as treatment modality for surgical management of HMB/AUB.
Rhizophagus irregularis MUCL 41833 Improves Phosphorus Uptake and Water Use Efficiency in Maize Plants During Recovery From Drought Stress

Irregular precipitations are likely to affect maize production in the future. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been reported to increase maize resistance to drought, but their role on the short-term inorganic phosphorus (Pi) uptake, leaf gas exchange parameters and water content during recovery after drought remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated these parameters in maize plants colonized or not by Rhizophagus irregularis MUCL 41833. The mycorrhizal (M) and non-mycorrhizal (NM) plants were grown for a 3-week period in a circulatory semi-hydroponic cultivation system and were submitted to well-, moderately-, or poorly-watered conditions (WW, MW, and PW, respectively), the two latter conditions corresponding to moderate and severe droughts. The plants were then watered at field capacity for 42 h with a Pi impoverished Hoagland nutrient solution and the dynamic of Pi depletion in the nutrient solution, corresponding to Pi uptake/immobilization by the maize-AMF associates, was evaluated at 0, 9, 21, and 42 h. The CO2 assimilation rate (A), stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration (E), and instantaneous water use efficiency (WUEi) were also assessed at 0 and 42 h of circulation. Plant biomass, plant water content, phosphorus concentration and content, and leaf relative water content were evaluated at harvest. During recovery, Pi uptake was significantly higher in M versus NM plants whatever the water regime (WR) applied before recovery. AMF did not affect leaf gas exchange parameters before recovery but modulated gs and E, and improved WUEi after 42 h of recovery. At harvest, no significant difference in dry biomass was found between M and NM plants but shoot fresh weight was significantly higher in M plants. This resulted in an increased shoot water content in M plants grown in the MW and PW treatments. Surprisingly, leaf relative water content was significantly lower in M plants when compared with NM plants. Finally, P content and concentration were significantly higher in roots but not in shoots of M plants. Our results suggested that AMF can play a role in drought resistance of maize plants by increasing the Pi uptake and WUEi during recovery after drought stress.
Block allocation of a sequential resource

An H -packing of G is a collection of vertex-disjoint subgraphs of G such that each component is isomorphic to H . An H -packing of G is maximal if it cannot be extended to a larger H -packing of G . In this paper we consider problem of random allocation of a sequential resource into blocks of m consecutive units and show how it can be successfully modeled in terms of maximal P m -packings. We enumerate maximal P m -packings of P n of a given cardinality and determine the asymptotic behavior of the enumerating sequences. We also compute the expected size of m -packings and provide a lower bound on the efficiency of block-allocation.
Household disaster management capacities in disaster prone II area of Mt. Slamet

Disaster prone II in Mt. Slamet, Indonesia presents the highest risk for human settlement. To live in this natural disaster-prone area, specific household characteristics are essential. Household capitals and transformation in process and structure were supported by the disaster management framework. However, households in disaster prone II area had limited assets and were required to identify factors influencing disaster management. To study the factors influencing household disaster management capacities, this research, using the sample measurement of Becker and Hursh-Cesar, collected data of 538 households spread across five villages in the disaster prone II area of Mt. Slamet. Sequential mixed methodology combining both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used: samples in the Rukun-Warga-level area were collected by a two-stage stratified random sampling, and to choose the sample of households systematic random sampling was employed. Path analysis through Stata was carried out to analyse the direct and indirect factors supporting disaster management capacity, and multicollinearity was tested before path analysis. This research found direct and indirect effects of household characteristics and household capitals on disaster management. This could be influenced by the transformation in process and the structure of the local government. The quantitative result has been confirmed by the result of the qualitative methodology. Social capital owned by households in disaster-prone area supports disaster management practices. The household relationship and networking access has been strongly supported by disaster management capacities. Disaster management capacities of households in disaster prone II areas could be improved by both internal and external factors. Internal factors include supporting the household members’ health and increasing the size of land and vehicle owning. Meanwhile, external factors has been applied by the policy published by government as to improve the social and cultural belief of households.
The Role of Growth Hormone on Ovarian Functioning and Ovarian Angiogenesis

Although not yet well-understood, today it is clear that Growth Hormone (GH) exerts a relevant role in the regulation of ovulation and fertility; in fact, fertility is lower in women with GH deficiency (GHD), and GH receptors (GHR) and GH mRNA have been found in the ovary since the onset of follicular development in humans. However, despite the strong evidence of GH in the regulation of fertility, many aspects of GH actions at this level are still not well-established, and it is likely that some controversial data depend on the species analyzed, the dose of the hormone and the duration of use of GH. Folliculogenesis, ovulation, and corpus luteum formation and maintenance are processes that are critically dependent on angiogenesis. In the ovary, new blood vessel formation facilitates oxygen, nutrients, and hormone substrate delivery, and also secures transfer of different hormones to targeted cells. Some growth factors and hormones overlap their actions in order to control the angiogenic process for fertility. However, we still know very little about the factors that play a critical role in the vascular changes that occur during folliculogenesis or luteal regression. To promote and maintain the production of VEGF-A in granulosa cells, the effects of local factors such as IGF-I and steroids are needed; that VEGF-A-inducing effect cannot be induced by luteinizing hormone (LH) or chorionic gonadotropin (CG) alone. As a result of the influences that GH exerts on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, facilitating the release of gonadotropins, and given the relationship between GH and local ovarian factors such as VEGF-A, FGF-2, IGF-1, or production of sex steroids, we assume that GH has to be a necessary factor in ovarian angiogenesis, as it happens in other vascular beds. In this review we will discuss the actions of GH in the ovary, most of them likely due to the local production of the hormone and its mediators.
Prediction of chemotherapy adverse reactions and mortality in older patients with primary lung cancer through frailty index based on routine laboratory data

Objectives To assess the role of a pre-chemotherapy frailty index based on routine laboratory data in predicting mortality and chemotherapy adverse reactions among older patients with primary lung cancer. Design Retrospective cohort study Setting West China Hospital, Chengdu, China Participants We included patients aged ≥60 years with primary lung cancer receiving the first course of chemotherapy. Measurements Data were collected from medical records, local government death databases or telephone interviews. Outcomes included chemotherapy adverse reactions and all-cause mortality. We constructed a frailty index based on 44 laboratory variables (FI-LAB) before chemotherapy, and chose the following cutoff points: robust (0.0–0.2), pre-frail (0.2–0.35) and frail (≥0.35). Results We included 1,020 patients (71.4% male; median age: 65 years old). Both pre-frailty and frailty was associated with any chemotherapy adverse reactions and infections during chemotherapy (OR=3.48, 95%CI: 1.77–6.87; OR=3.58, 95%CI: 1.55–8.26, respectively). Frail patients had a shorter median overall survival rate compared to robust patients (18.05 months vs 38.89 months, log-rank p<0.001). After adjusting for some potential confounding variables, the risk of all-cause mortality was dramatically increased in frail patients (HR:2.13, 95% CI:1.51–3.00) with an average follow-up of 3.9 years. Each 0.01 or per standard deviation (SD) increase in the FI-LAB value significantly increased the HR of death by 2.0% (HR:1.02, 95% CI: 1.01–1.03) and 23.0% (HR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.13–1.34), respectively. Conclusions Frailty assessed by routine laboratory data indicates increased risks of chemotherapy adverse reactions and death in older patients with primary lung cancer receiving the first course of chemotherapy.
Incremental Value of Sestamibi SPECT/CT Over Dual-Phase Planar Scintigraphy in Patients With Primary Hyperparathyroidism and Inconclusive Ultrasound

Background: We evaluated the incremental value of [99mTc]sestamibi single photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) over planar imaging for localization of abnormal parathyroid tissue in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. Methods: Forty-six patients with biochemical evidence of hyperparathyroidism and inconclusive ultrasound underwent sestamibi dual-phase planar scintigraphy and SPECT/CT for preoperative localization of parathyroid adenoma. Imaging findings were compared with histopathological data. Decision tree analysis was performed to evaluate the value of SPECT/CT over planar scintigraphy for classifying patients with or without hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue. The added value of SPECT/CT was also evaluated by decision curve analysis. Results: Planar scintigraphy was positive for presence of hyperfunctioning parathyroid in 52% of patients, with sensitivity of 63% and specificity of 100%. SPECT/CT was positive in 80% of patients with sensitivity of 97% and specificity of 100%. At decision tree analysis, after an initial split on planar imaging results, no further split was performed in patients with positive results, while those with negative results were further stratified by SPECT/CT. At decision curve analysis, the model including SPECT/CT was associated with the highest net benefit compared to the model including only planar technique and to a strategy considering that all patients should be treated. Conclusion: Sestamibi SPECT/CT provides incremental value over dual-phase scintigraphy in preoperative localization of hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue in subjects with inconclusive ultrasound. Hybrid technique allows a better identification of pathological lesion to perform minimally invasive surgery and showed the highest net benefit, improving selection of surgical approach.
The short-term effects of intravitreal aflibercept injections and dexamethasone implant on ocular hemodynamics in retinal vein occlusions

Purpose To determine the early effects of intravitreal anti-VEGF and dexamethasone application on blood flow velocities in patients with retinal vein occlusions. Methods The ophthalmic (OA) and the central retinal arteries (CRAs) of the affected and unaffected eyes of 21 patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), and 26 patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) were investigated by Color Doppler imaging (CDI). Peak systolic volume (PSV), end diastolic volume (EDV), and average blood velocity (Vmean) of the CRA and OA were measured and resistive indexes (RI) were calculated at pre-injection and the 1st week and 1st month post-injection. Results There was no statistically significant difference between the OA values for affected and unaffected eyes in the CRVO group before treatment. The CRA, EDV, and Vmean values were significantly lower in affected eyes. Blood flow velocities of both CRA and OA were not significantly different than in the fellow unaffected eyes in the BRVO group. The differences between PSV, EDV, and Vmean measurements of OA and CRA at different times pre- and post-injection in response to anti-VEGF and dexamethasone treatment in the CRVO group were significant; but there was no difference in RI value. OA blood flow velocity measurements were not statistically different post-injection in the BRVO group; however, the values of PSV and EDV of CRA decreased post-injection. Conclusion Intravitreal anti-VEGF and dexamethasone implant may induce retinal arteriolar vasoconstriction in patients with retinal vein occlusion.