Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A multi-parameterized artificial neural network for lung cancer risk prediction

The objective of this study is to train and validate a multi-parameterized artificial neural network (ANN) based on personal health information to predict lung cancer risk with high sensitivity and specificity. The 1997-2015 National Health Interview Survey adult data was used to train and validate our ANN, with inputs: gender, age, BMI, diabetes, smoking status, emphysema, asthma, race, Hispanic ethnicity, hypertension, heart diseases, vigorous exercise habits, and history of stroke. We identified 648 cancer and 488,418 non-cancer cases. For the training set the sensitivity was 79.8% (95% CI, 75.9%-83.6%), specificity was 79.9% (79.8%-80.1%), and AUC was 0.86 (0.85-0.88). For the validation set sensitivity was 75.3% (68.9%-81.6%), specificity was 80.6% (80.3%-80.8%), and AUC was 0.86 (0.84-0.89). Our results indicate that the use of an ANN based on personal health information gives high specificity and modest sensitivity for lung cancer detection, offering a cost-effective and non-invasive clinical tool for risk stratification.
Targeted ballet program mitigates ataxia and improves balance in females with mild-to-moderate multiple sclerosis

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system that causes ataxia and deficits in balance. Exercise-based therapies have been identified as integral to the recovery of motor function in MS, but few studies have investigated non-traditional movement interventions. We examined a targeted ballet program (TBP) designed to mitigate ataxia and improve balance in females with mild-to-moderate relapsing-remitting MS. Methods and findings Twelve females with mild-to-moderate disability due to MS were assessed for study eligibility for the study. Ten participants met the inclusion criteria. Two were lost to unrelated health complications. Eight participants completed the TBP. The TBP met twice a week for 60 minutes for 16 weeks. Assessments included (a) the International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS), (b) the Mini-Balance Evaluations Systems Test (Mini-BESTest), (c) smoothness of movement during a five-meter walk, and (d) balance in a step to stand task before and after the TBP. There were no TBP-related adverse events. Single-tailed paired samples t-tests and Wilcoxon tests were conducted. Improvements were observed in ICARS (p = 7.11E-05), Mini-BESTest (p = 0.001), smoothness of movement in the left (p = 0.027) and right (p = 0.028) sides of the body, and balance in a step-to-stand task in the back (p = 0.025) direction. Results yielded 42% and 58% improvements in the mean Mini-BESTest and ICARS scores, respectively. Conclusions This study adds to current research by providing support for a TBP intervention targeting ataxia and balance in MS. The TBP was well tolerated, improved balance, and mitigated ataxia. Clinical improvements were larger than those of previous studies on physical rehabilitation in MS with similar outcome measures. Trial registration ISRCTN ISRCTN67916624.
Incentive and constraint regulations of rating inflation in collusion over the separation of economic cycles - Markov rating shopping dual reputation model

Economic cycles may lead to changes in corporate bond credit ratings. This paper utilizes the Markov model to describe transition probability matrixes of economic states for the separation of economic cycles. We develop a new model, which we term the Markov rating shopping dual reputation model, incorporating two reputation effects. This model is well suited to analyze the conditions of the dual rating incentive regulation and the constraint regulation for preventing rating inflation in collusion among credit rating agencies. Then, we apply the Markov regime switching-vector auto-regression (MS-VAR) to estimate the transition probability matrixes of America, England, Japan and China. Based on the numerical analysis and the simulations, the results show that a dual rating regulation can prevent the collusion of inflated ratings, as well as increased rating fees with the separation of economic cycles; additionally, when separating the economic cycles, a constraint regulation is more effective at reducing the risk of rating inflation in collusion and regulatory cost.
Identification of gene expression predictors of occupational benzene exposure

Background Previously, using microarrays and mRNA-Sequencing (mRNA-Seq) we found that occupational exposure to a range of benzene levels perturbed gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Objectives In the current study, we sought to identify gene expression biomarkers predictive of benzene exposure below 1 part per million (ppm), the occupational standard in the U.S. Methods First, we used the nCounter platform to validate altered expression of 30 genes in 33 unexposed controls and 57 subjects exposed to benzene (<1 to ≥5 ppm). Second, we used SuperLearner (SL) to identify a minimal number of genes for which altered expression could predict <1 ppm benzene exposure, in 44 subjects with a mean air benzene level of 0.55±0.248 ppm (minimum 0.203ppm). Results nCounter and microarray expression levels were highly correlated (coefficients >0.7, p<0.05) for 26 microarray-selected genes. nCounter and mRNA-Seq levels were poorly correlated for 4 mRNA-Seq-selected genes. Using negative binomial regression with adjustment for covariates and multiple testing, we confirmed differential expression of 23 microarray-selected genes in the entire benzene-exposed group, and 27 genes in the <1 ppm-exposed subgroup, compared with the control group. Using SL, we identified 3 pairs of genes that could predict <1 ppm benzene exposure with cross-validated AUC estimates >0.9 (p<0.0001) and were not predictive of other exposures (nickel, arsenic, smoking, stress). The predictive gene pairs are PRG2/CLEC5A, NFKBI/CLEC5A, and ACSL1/CLEC5A. They play roles in innate immunity and inflammatory responses. Conclusions Using nCounter and SL, we validated the altered expression of multiple mRNAs by benzene and identified gene pairs predictive of exposure to benzene at levels below the US occupational standard of 1ppm.
Activity of cycloartane-type triterpenes and sterols isolated from Musa paradisiaca fruit peel against Leishmania infantum chagasi

The aim of the study was to evaluate in vitro the antileishmanial activity of triterpenes and sterols isolated from Musa paradisiaca (banana) fruit peel used traditionally to treat leishmaniasis. The compounds were isolated from the ethanolic extract of the peel of the banana fruit by column chromatography. The chemical structure of compounds was determined by 1H and 13C – nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The cytotoxicity was measured in RAW 264.7 cells and LLC-MK2. Leishmanicidal activity against L. infantum chagasi promastigotes was performed by the MTT colorimetric method and activity against amastigotes was assayed in mammalian cells using in situ ELISA method. Five compounds were identified, consisting of three triterpenes: cycloeucalenone, 31-norcyclolaudenone and 24-methylene-cicloartanol and a mixture of two sterols: beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol. With the exception of cycloeucalenone, all compounds showed statistically similar activity against promastigote to pentamidine. While, acting against amastigotes, excluding 31-norcyclolaudenone, other compounds showed activity similar to amphotericin B. All compounds showed low cytotoxicity in mammalian cells. Conclusion: This study partially confirms the use of Musa paradisiaca in folk medicine against leishmaniasis. Further in vivo studies are necessary to evaluate the efficacy.
Mastitis in Camels in African and Middle East Countries

Mastitis has been and still is the first health concern regarding dairy animals and their milk production industry. Mastitis affects all dairy animals without discrimination, even camels. It causes great economic losses if not detected and treated promptly. The major causes of both contagious and environmental mastitis are; Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, E. coli, and Klebsiella. Mastitis could be acquired by animal either contagiously or through the environment, each type has their own causative agents but the same pathogenic mechanism. The pathogen usually enters through the teat end and continues to reach the mammary gland inside the udder, then starts multiplying and producing toxins that evoke the immune responses in the animal to fight the infections, which eventually causes the mastitis symptoms from fever, inflammation, swelling, milk composition and color changes, and presence of somatic cells etc. This inflammation might differ in severity due to many factors such as pathogen type, animal health status and age, and lactation cycle of the animal as well. Inflammation could be either clinical, subclinical, or the most severe chronic mastitis. There are many techniques that detect the presence of mastitis, but still culturing techniques are considered the most accurate techniques to be used. Camels are the most important dairy animal in the Middle Eastern Countries as well as the African Horn Countries because of the desert areas they have which are mostly inhabited by Arabic tribes. Camels are considered the major source for both milk and meat production in these areas. Also, they are considered as wealth investment and insurance against natural disasters that usually occur in the desert and lead to livestock mortality. Camels represent high significance in the lives of people living in the desert and protecting them and their products from mastitis is the most challenging task they are facing. Although, it was always believed that camels are immune against many different infectious diseases, it was shown that they could acquire mastitis. Literature for the exact prevalence of camel mastitis is few, but indicates its presence almost in all Arabic countries. Practicing good sanitization techniques and control and management procedures as recommended by the respective organizations helps preventing mastitis infection in camels and ensures their healthy survival. In conclusion, camel mastitis although represent lower prevalence compared to other concerning disease within camels, it must be addressed carefully to avoid its spread and transformation into endemic infection in order to protect the camel population in these countries because of their extreme importance.
Physiological Determinants of Sprint Swimming Performance in Children and Young Adults

The purpose of this study was to identify physiological determinants of sprint (91.4 m) swimming velocity that discriminated between performance levels in male children (n = 12, age = 10.26 ± 1.00) and in young adult (n = 16, age = 19.78 ± 1.61) competitors. Independent variables included stature, arm length, body mass, body density, body fat, muscularity, leg power, and measures taken during swimming, which included arm stroke force, leg kick force, peak oxygen consumption rate, stroke rate, and stroke efficiency. Discriminant analysis revealed that in the children, higher levels of leg-kick force, peak VO2, stroke efficiency, and muscularity were the most potent variables contributing to the classification of the faster swimmers. In the young adults, higher levels of stroke efficiency, body density, and muscularity, served as the significant discriminators of the faster swimmers. When compared across age groups, these results indicated that substantial differences in stroke efficiency and muscularity si.
Idiopathic pyoderma gangrenosum: successful resolution with infliximab therapy and pro-inflammatory cytokines assessment.

of primary idiopathic forms is reached following the exclusion of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), rheuma-tic disorders, monoclonal gammopathy and solid tumours (1, 2). Treatment is generally based on corticosteroid and immunosuppressive therapy; however, the recent use of biological drugs has shown their effectiveness.CASE REPORT
Functional connectivity of intrinsic cognitive networks during resting state and task performance in preadolescent children

Earlier studies on adults have shown that functional connectivity (FC) of brain networks can vary depending on the brain state and cognitive challenge. Network connectivity has been investigated quite extensively in children in resting state, much less during tasks and is largely unexplored between these brain states. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and independent component analysis to investigate the functional architecture of large-scale brain networks in 16 children (aged 7–11 years, 11 males) and 16 young adults (aged 22–29 years, 10 males) during resting state and visual working memory tasks. We identified the major neurocognitive intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) in both groups. Children had stronger FC than adults within the cingulo-opercular network in resting state, during task performance, and after controlling for performance differences. During tasks, children had stronger FC than adults also within the default mode (DMN) and right frontoparietal (rFPN) networks, and between the anterior DMN and the frontopolar network, whereas adults had stronger coupling between the anterior DMN and rFPN. Furthermore, children compared to adults modulated the FC strength regarding the rFPN differently between the brain states. The FC within the anterior DMN correlated with age and performance in children so that the younger they were, the stronger was the FC, and the stronger the FC within this network, the slower they performed the tasks. The group differences in the network connectivity reported here, and the observed correlations with task performance, provide insight into the normative development of the preadolescent brain and link maturation of functional connectivity with improving cognitive performance.
Artificial neural networks and player recruitment in professional soccer

The aim was to objectively identify key performance indicators in professional soccer that influence outfield players’ league status using an artificial neural network. Mean technical performance data were collected from 966 outfield players’ (mean SD; age: 25 ± 4 yr, 1.81 ±) 90-minute performances in the English Football League. ProZone’s MatchViewer system and online databases were used to collect data on 347 indicators assessing the total number, accuracy and consistency of passes, tackles, possessions regained, clearances and shots. Players were assigned to one of three categories based on where they went on to complete most of their match time in the following season: group 0 (n = 209 players) went on to play in a lower soccer league, group 1 (n = 637 players) remained in the Football League Championship, and group 2 (n = 120 players) consisted of players who moved up to the English Premier League. The models created correctly predicted between 61.5% and 78.8% of the players’ league status. The model with the highest average test performance was for group 0 v 2 (U21 international caps, international caps, median tackles, percentage of first time passes unsuccessful upper quartile, maximum dribbles and possessions gained minimum) which correctly predicted 78.8% of the players’ league status with a test error of 8.3%. To date, there has not been a published example of an objective method of predicting career trajectory in soccer. This is a significant development as it highlights the potential for machine learning to be used in the scouting and recruitment process in a professional soccer environment.
Caseous Lymphadenitis in a Sheep - Postmortem and Histopathological Findings

An adult male sheep 4-5 years of age was presented for postmortem to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, FVSc & AH, SKUAST, Kashmir, from a local sheep farm. Postmortem examination revealed extensive abscessation of mediastinal lymph nodes containing thick caseous greenish-yellow pus. On the basis of histopathological nature of lesion, cultural characteristics and biochemical features of the isolated organisms, the disease was confirmed as caseous lymphadenitis.
Muscle patterns underlying voluntary modulation of co-contraction

Manipulative actions involving unstable interactions with the environment require controlling mechanical impedance through muscle co-contraction. While much research has focused on how the central nervous system (CNS) selects the muscle patterns underlying a desired movement or end-point force, the coordination strategies used to achieve a desired end-point impedance have received considerably less attention. We recorded isometric forces at the hand and electromyographic (EMG) signals in subjects performing a reaching task with an external disturbance. In a virtual environment, subjects displaced a cursor by applying isometric forces and were instructed to reach targets in 20 spatial locations. The motion of the cursor was then perturbed by disturbances whose effects could be attenuated by increasing co-contraction. All subjects could voluntarily modulate co-contraction when disturbances of different magnitudes were applied. For most muscles, activation was modulated by target direction according to a cosine tuning function with an offset and an amplitude increasing with disturbance magnitude. Co-contraction was characterized by projecting the muscle activation vector onto the null space of the EMG-to-force mapping. Even in the baseline the magnitude of the null space projection was larger than the minimum magnitude required for non-negative muscle activations. Moreover, the increase in co-contraction was not obtained by scaling the baseline null space projection, scaling the difference between the null space projections in any block and the projection of the non-negative minimum-norm muscle vector, or scaling the difference between the null space projections in the perturbed blocks and the baseline null space projection. However, the null space projections in the perturbed blocks were obtained by linear combination of the baseline null space projection and the muscle activation used to increase co-contraction without generating any force. The failure of scaling rules in explaining voluntary modulation of arm co-contraction suggests that muscle pattern generation may be constrained by muscle synergies.
A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Attitudes to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in General Practice and the Utility of Spirometry for Improving its Recognition and Management

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major cause of disability and health care utilisation in Australia. The population prevalence is estimated at around 10% but up to 80% may be unrecognised. Lack of early diagnosis reduces the opportunity for better management. Clinical practice guidelines were developed in the 1990’s to improve the diagnosis and management. The recommendation in the 2003 Australian COPDX guidelines for case finding in primary care using spirometry in high-risk subjects was based on limited evidence. A preliminary qualitative-quantitative study of the attitudes of patients with (recognised) COPD and their general practitioners (GPs) to the disease and its diagnosis identified operational and behavioural barriers to earlier diagnosis, especially lack of access and expertise in spirometry among GPs. A cluster randomised crossover study was conducted over twelve months in eight practices in Southern Tasmania offering spirometry to smokers and ex-smokers aged over 35 years. The study compared a model of opportunistic spirometry provision by visiting trained nurses (TN) with usual care (UC) where practices were provided with an electronic spirometer and spirometry training. Models were evaluated quantitatively for effectiveness, acceptability and utility in increasing the diagnosis of COPD, and qualitatively through focus groups with GPs. A longitudinal cohort of smokers was recruited in TN practices to assess the effect of feedback about normal or obstructive spirometry on smoking cessation and motivation to stop smoking using the Transtheoretical Model of stages. Spirometry provision in the TN model resulted in significantly more spirometry of high quality and testing in a greater proportion of the eligible population than the UC model. Although the TN model enabled recognition of substantial numbers of individuals with previously unrecognised obstruction, this did not translate into increased doctor-recorded diagnosis of COPD. Better practice systems for follow up, support for GPs in interpretation and realistic funding of spirometry are needed to achieve better outcomes from increased spirometry in primary care. Feedback to smokers with normal lung function was not associated with backward shift in stage of change but feedback on the presence of lung damage was associated forward shift in stage of change when allowing for smoking exposure. The odds of backward shift with feedback on lung damage, was related to pre-existing perceptions about poor lung health. Although spirometry is fundamental to making a diagnosis of COPD, provision through a model in primary care that delivers a high testing rate and high quality results will not increase diagnosis in the at-risk group without an effective protocol for appropriate action on results.
Clinical and epidemiological aspects of HIV and Hepatitis C virus co-infection in KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

HIV is known to affect the epidemiology, transmission, pathogenesis and natural history of HCV infection whilst studies on the effects of HCV on HIV have shown conflicting results and are confounded by the influence of intravenous drug use and anti-retroviral therapy. This study was conducted in KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa where HIV is predominantly a sexually transmitted infection. Intravenous drug use is rare in this region and the study population was naive to anti-retroviral therapy. For this study, specimens from selected sentinel sites submitted to a central laboratory for routine HIV testing were screened for anti-HCV IgG antibodies. HIV positive HCVpositive patients were compared to HIV-positive HCV-negative patients in a subgroup of patients within this cohort in order to determine if HCV sero-prevalence was associated with clinical outcomes in a linked anonymous retrospective chart survey. The prevalence of HCV was 6.4% and that of HIV, 40.2%. There was a significantly higher prevalence of HCV among HIV infected patients as compared to HIV negative patients (13.4% vs. 1.73% respectively). HCV-HIV co-infected patients had significantly increased mortality (8.3 vs. 21%). A significant association was found between HCV serostatus and abnormal urea and creatinine levels. Hepatitis B surface antigen seropositivity was not found to be a confounding factor. This study has found that hepatitis C co-infection is more common in HIV positive individuals and is associated with an increased mortality and renal morbidity.