Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of Emotional Intelligence With Malpractice Claims: A Review

Importance Approximately 8% of physicians experience a malpractice claim annually. Most malpractice claims are a result of adverse events, which may or may not be a result of medical errors. However, not all medicolegal cases are the result of medical errors or negligence, but rather, may be associated with the individual nature of the patient-physician relationship. The strength of this relationship may be partially determined by a physician’s emotional intelligence (EI), or his or her ability to monitor and regulate his or her emotions as well as the emotions of others. This review evaluates the role of EI in developing the patient-physician relationship and how EI may influence patient decisions to pursue medicolegal action. Observations Several physician characteristics are associated with increased medicolegal risk. Some of these traits, such as sex, age, level of experience, and specialty, are inherent. Other characteristics, such as patient interaction, patient satisfaction, and prior legal history, appear to be related to physicians themselves, yet they are modifiable if such physicians can be identified. Numerous tools exist that provide general measures of different aspects of EI. Furthermore, identification of those with lower EI and intervention with specific training has been shown to improve both EI and patient satisfaction. Conclusions and Relevance The study and effect of EI within medicine offers great opportunity to investigate how physician characteristics may influence one’s EI, as well as medicolegal risk. This review suggests an indirect negative correlation between a physician’s level of EI and his or her risk of litigation. Studies directly linking physicians with low EI to a higher risk of litigation are lacking and may provide valuable insight. Demonstrating such a correlation should prompt the development of interventions that may enhance a physician’s level of EI early in his or her career and may limit future legal action.
Identification and Prioritization of Environmental Reproductive Hazards: A First Step in Establishing Environmental Perinatal Care

In 2015, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics established the prevention of exposures to environmental reprotoxic substances as a priority for health professionals. However, available information about reproductive hazards is voluminous, dispersed, and complex, and this is a severe limitation for physicians to incorporate the prevention of environmental exposure into standard preventive care. One difficulty frequently cited by physicians is the lack of evidence-based information. The objective of our study was to identify a list of environmental chemical hazards to reproduction. We used lists present in relevant regulations or included in scientific reports or databases to identify reproductive hazards. The reproductive hazards were prioritized according to the strength of evidence concerning their impact on fertility or development of the offspring. We identified 1251 reproductive hazards. Our prioritization approach resulted in a high-priority classification for 462 risk factors belonging to the following eight classes: drugs (n = 206), metals (n = 116), pesticides (n = 38), organic solvents (n = 27), synthesizing and/or processing agents in industrial processes (n = 23), phthalates (n = 13), perfluorinated compounds (n = 13), and other compounds (n = 26). Despite the limitations of this work, the generated lists constitute a useful working basis to put in place innovative environmental preventive measures according to the principle of evidence-based medicine.
Venlafaxine stimulates PNN proteolysis and MMP-9 dependent enhancement of gamma power; relevance to antidepressant efficacy

Drugs that target monoaminergic transmission represent a first-line treatment for major depression. Though a full understanding of the mechanisms that underlie antidepressant efficacy is lacking, evidence supports a role for enhanced excitatory transmission. This can occur through two non-mutually exclusive mechanisms. The first involves increased function of excitatory neurons through relatively direct mechanisms such as enhanced dendritic arborization. Another mechanism involves reduced inhibitory function, which occurs with the rapid antidepressant ketamine. Consistent with this, GABAergic interneuron-mediated cortical inhibition is linked to reduced gamma oscillatory power, a rhythm also diminished in depression. Remission of depressive symptoms correlates with restoration of gamma power. Due to strong excitatory input, reliable GABA release and fast firing, PV neurons represent critical pacemakers for synchronous oscillations. PV neurons also represent the predominant GABAergic population enveloped by perineuronal nets (PNNs), lattice-like structures that localize glutamatergic input. Disruption of PNNs enhances lateral diffusion of glutamate receptors, reduces PV excitability, and enhances gamma activity. Studies suggest that monoamine reuptake inhibitors reduce integrity of the PNN. Mechanisms by which these inhibitors reduce PNN integrity, however, remain largely unexplored. A better understanding of these issues might encourage development of therapeutics that best upregulate PNN modulating proteases. We observe that the serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor venlafaxine reduces PNN integrity in murine brain. Moreover, venlafaxine treated mice (30 mg/kg/day) show an increase in carbachol-induced gamma power in hippocampal slices. Studies with mice deficient in matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), a protease linked to PNN disruption in other settings, suggest that MMP-9 contributes to venlafaxine-enhanced gamma activity.
The prokaryotic Argonaute proteins enhance homology sequence-directed recombination in bacteria

Abstract Argonaute proteins are present and conserved in all domains of life. Recently characterized prokaryotic Argonaute proteins (pAgos) participates in host defense by DNA interference. Here, we report that the Natronobacterium gregoryi Argonaute (NgAgo) enhances gene insertions or deletions in Pasteurella multocida and Escherichia coli at efficiencies of 80–100%. Additionally, the effects are in a homologous arms-dependent but guide DNA- and potential enzyme activity-independent manner. Interestingly, such effects were also observed in other pAgos fragments including Thermus thermophilus Argonaute (TtAgo), Aquifex aeolicus Argonaute (AaAgo) and Pyrococcus furiosus Argonaute (PfAgo). The underlying mechanism of the NgAgo system is a positive selection process mainly through its PIWI-like domain interacting with recombinase A (recA) to enhance recA-mediated DNA strand exchange. Our study reveals a novel system for enhancing homologous sequence-guided gene editing in bacteria.
Dentoalveolar Arch Dimensions in UCLP Boys After Neonatal Cheiloplasty or After Lip Surgery at the Age of 3 or 6 Months

Objective: To compare the influence of 3 different time protocols of cleft lip and palate operations on the growth of the dentoalveolar arch in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Materials and Methods: We evaluated 64 plaster casts of 8-year-old boys with UCLP operated on according to 3 different time protocols: lip repair at the age of 6 months and palate repair at 4 years, lip repair at 3 months and palate repair at 9 months, and neonatal lip repair and palate repair at 9 months. The control group contained 13 plaster casts of 8-year-old boys. The dentoalveolar arch width was measured between deciduous canines and between the second deciduous molars; the length was measured between incisive papilla and the line connecting both tuber maxillae. Results: All measured distances were statistically significantly smaller in boys with UCLP than in the control group. Intercanine width was not statistically significantly different between the patients operated on according to the different time protocols. In comparison to the lip repair at 6 months and palate repair at 4 years, the intermolar width was statistically significantly smaller in the group with neonatal lip repair; the alveolar arch length was statistically significantly shorter in both groups with lip repair performed neonatally or at 3 months. Conclusions: The length of the dentoalveolar arch is shorter after surgical repair of cleft lip neonatally or at the age of 3 months. Cleft palate repair at 9 months can contribute to a reduction in the width of the dentoalveolar arch.
EEG dataset and OpenBMI toolbox for three BCI paradigms: an investigation into BCI illiteracy

Abstract Background Electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) systems are mainly divided into three major paradigms: motor imagery (MI), event-related potential (ERP), and steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP). Here, we present a BCI dataset that includes the three major BCI paradigms with a large number of subjects over multiple sessions. In addition, information about the psychological and physiological conditions of BCI users was obtained using a questionnaire, and task-unrelated parameters such as resting state, artifacts, and electromyography of both arms were also recorded. We evaluated the decoding accuracies for the individual paradigms and determined performance variations across both subjects and sessions. Furthermore, we looked for more general, severe cases of BCI illiteracy than have been previously reported in the literature. Results Average decoding accuracies across all subjects and sessions were 71.1% (± 0.15), 96.7% (± 0.05), and 95.1% (± 0.09), and rates of BCI illiteracy were 53.7%, 11.1%, and 10.2% for MI, ERP, and SSVEP, respectively. Compared to the ERP and SSVEP paradigms, the MI paradigm exhibited large performance variations between both subjects and sessions. Furthermore, we found that 27.8% (15 out of 54) of users were universally BCI literate, i.e., they were able to proficiently perform all three paradigms. Interestingly, we found no universally illiterate BCI user, i.e., all participants were able to control at least one type of BCI system. Conclusions Our EEG dataset can be utilized for a wide range of BCI-related research questions. All methods for the data analysis in this study are supported with fully open-source scripts that can aid in every step of BCI technology. Furthermore, our results support previous but disjointed findings on the phenomenon of BCI illiteracy.
It’s all about the CA-19-9. A longitudinal qualitative study of patients’ experiences and perspectives on follow-up after curative surgery for cancer in the pancreas, duodenum or bile-duct

Abstract Background: Patients undergoing curative surgery for cancers of the pancreas, duodenum or bile ducts currently attend follow-up at specialized centers. Traditionally, follow-up after cancer has focused on cancer relapse. The Danish Health and Medicines Authority has recently pushed for a wider focus incorporating patients’ individual needs and concerns during cancer rehabilitation. We aimed to explore patients’ experiences of and perspectives on the rehabilitative scope of the current follow-up within the first year after curative treatment. Material and methods: A qualitative longitudinal design was undertaken with individual semi-structured interviews. We included twelve patients attending current follow-up after treatment for cancer in the pancreas, duodenum or bile-duct. We interviewed the patients three times over a period of 9 months. Data were analyzed longitudinally using inductive content analysis. Results: The patients experienced the cancer antigen (CA-19-9) as the center piece of follow-up, with consultations revolving largely around the CA-19-9 results. Parallel to and independent of follow-up, the patients described an array of creative strategies for adapting to their altered bodies and new life situation. The strategies included homemade endeavors to minimize gut symptoms, for example mint tablets or dairy products without lactose: realizing life-long dreams and resolving financial matters; confiding with likeminded outside the family or professionals outside the hospital. First encounters with HCPs were critically important with bad first encounters haunting patients throughout follow-up and good first encounters facilitating trust and reciprocity between patients and HCPs. Conclusion: Patients in this study perceived detection of relapse through CA-19-9 as the focal point of follow-up, leaving other patient-important symptoms insufficiently addressed. We may, therefore, consider not using this relatively unprecise marker for relapse in the future. Balancing clinicians’ needs to diagnose relapse with patients’ needs for rehabilitation warrants attention in clinical practice and future research.
Barriers to and Facilitators of Engagement With mHealth Technology for Remote Measurement and Management of Depression: Qualitative Analysis

Background Mobile technology has the potential to provide accurate, impactful data on the symptoms of depression, which could improve health management or assist in early detection of relapse. However, for this potential to be achieved, it is essential that patients engage with the technology. Although many barriers to and facilitators of the use of this technology are common across therapeutic areas and technology types, many may be specific to cultural and health contexts. Objective This study aimed to determine the potential barriers to and facilitators of engagement with mobile health (mHealth) technology for remote measurement and management of depression across three Western European countries. Methods Participants (N=25; 4:1 ratio of women to men; age range, 25-73 years) who experienced depression participated in five focus groups held in three countries (two in the United Kingdom, two in Spain, and one in Italy). The focus groups investigated the potential barriers to and facilitators of the use of mHealth technology. A systematic thematic analysis was used to extract themes and subthemes. Results Facilitators and barriers were categorized as health-related factors, user-related factors, and technology-related factors. A total of 58 subthemes of specific barriers and facilitators or moderators emerged. A core group of themes including motivation, potential impact on mood and anxiety, aspects of inconvenience, and ease of use was noted across all countries. Conclusions Similarities in the barriers to and facilitators of the use of mHealth technology have been observed across Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. These themes provide guidance on ways to promote the design of feasible and acceptable cross-cultural mHealth tools.
Longitudinal multimodal imaging and clinical endpoints for frontotemporal dementia clinical trials

Frontotemporal dementia refers to a group of progressive neurodegenerative syndromes usually caused by the accumulation of pathological tau or TDP-43 proteins. The effects of these proteins in the brain are complex, and each can present with several different clinical syndromes. Clinical efficacy trials of drugs targeting these proteins must use endpoints that are meaningful to all participants despite the variability in symptoms across patients. There are many candidate clinical measures, including neuropsychological scores and functional measures. Brain imaging is another potentially attractive outcome that can be precisely quantified and provides evidence of disease modification. Most imaging studies in frontotemporal dementia have been cross-sectional, and few have compared longitudinal changes in cortical volume with changes in other measures such as perfusion and white matter integrity. The current study characterized longitudinal changes in 161 patients with three frontotemporal dementia syndromes: behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (n = 77) and the semantic (n = 45) and non-fluent (n = 39) variants of primary progressive aphasia. Visits included comprehensive neuropsychological and functional assessment, structural MRI (3 T), diffusion tensor imaging, and arterial spin labelled perfusion imaging. The goal was to identify measures that are appropriate as clinical trial outcomes for each group, as well as those that might be appropriate for trials that would include more than one of these groups. Linear mixed effects models were used to estimate changes in each measure, and to examine the correlation between imaging and clinical changes. Sample sizes were estimated based on the observed effects for theoretical clinical trials using bootstrapping techniques to provide 95% confidence intervals for these estimates. Declines in functional and neuropsychological measures, as well as frontal and temporal cortical volumes and white matter microstructure were detected in all groups. Imaging changes were statistically significantly correlated with, and explained a substantial portion of variance in, the change in most clinical measures. Perfusion and diffusion tensor imaging accounted for variation in clinical decline beyond volume alone. Sample size estimates for atrophy and diffusion imaging were comparable to clinical measures. Corpus callosal fractional anisotropy led to the lowest sample size estimates for all three syndromes. These findings provide further guidance on selection of trial endpoints for studies in frontotemporal dementia and support the use of neuroimaging, particularly structural and diffusion weighted imaging, as biomarkers. Diffusion and perfusion imaging appear to offer additional utility for explaining clinical change beyond the variance explained by volume alone, arguing for considering multimodal imaging in treatment trials.
Induction of desiccation tolerance in desiccation sensitive Citrus limon seeds

Abstract Many economically important perennial species bear recalcitrant seeds, including tea, coffee, cocoa, mango, citrus, rubber, oil palm and coconut. Orthodox seeds can be dried almost completely without losing viability, but so‐called recalcitrant seeds have a very limited storage life and die upon drying below a higher critical moisture content than orthodox seeds. As a result, the development of long‐term storage methods for recalcitrant seeds is compromised. Lowering this critical moisture content would be very valuable since dry seed storage is the safest, most convenient and cheapest method for conserving plant genetic resources. Therefore, we have attempted to induce desiccation tolerance (DT) in the desiccation sensitive seeds of Citrus limon. We show that DT can be induced by paclobutrazol (an inhibitor of gibberellin biosynthesis) and we studied its associated transcriptome to delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying this induction of DT. Paclobutrazol not only interfered with gibberellin related gene expression but also caused extensive changes in expression of genes involved in the biosynthesis and signaling of other hormones. Paclobutrazol induced a transcriptomic switch encompassing suppression of biotic‐ and induction of abiotic responses. We hypothesize that this is the main driver of the induction of DT by paclobutrazol in C. limon seeds.
Factors Associated With Complications in Immediate Breast Reconstruction in 1 Stage With Completely Submuscular Implants.

BACKGROUND Immediate breast reconstruction in 1 stage using permanent implants is gaining popularity and can be performed with or without the use of acellular dermal matrices. This study aimed to investigate the results of breast implants placed submuscularly without acellular dermal matrix and assess the factors affecting surgical complications. METHODS From November 2009 to March 2018, 138 patients underwent immediate breast reconstruction with permanent submuscular implants after concomitant skin-sparing or nipple-sparing mastectomies in a single institution. All implants were covered with sufficient soft tissue under a submuscular pocket. RESULTS One hundred thirty-eight patients were enrolled, and a total of 196 breasts were operated. The average age and body mass index (BMI) of the patients were 44.9 ± 8.8 years and 23.7 ± 3.6 kg/m, respectively. The majority of the mastectomies were therapeutic (81%). The average volume of implants was 389 ± 89 mL, and the mean follow-up was 33 months. The overall complication rate was 17% (n = 23), with skin necrosis being the most common complication followed by infections. Having a BMI equal to or greater than 25 kg/m was found to be a statistically significant predictor for overall complications (P = 0.002), whereas smoking history, age, and implant volume were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Immediate breast reconstruction in 1 stage using permanent implants can be performed with acceptable complication rates and cosmetic outcomes. Our study demonstrated that high BMI is a risk factor for overall complications. With proper patient selection and surgical technique, implants could be completely covered under a submuscular pocket.
Spatial characteristics and influencing factors of river pollution in China

Based on recent water quality data collected from 763 monitoring sections nationwide, this study examined the concentration of major pollutants in China's major rivers. A spatial autocorrelation analysis confirmed that river pollution was spatially uneven and clustered. While pollution of surface water was a nationwide concern, most serious water pollution happened in the Huai, Hai, Yellow, and Liao river Basins in Northern China. The results of the spatial regression analysis showed that GDP per capita, surface water stock, population, and economic structure were all significantly correlated with surface water pollution, with population having strongest impact, followed by level of economic development. By investigating the common characteristics shared by the “hotspot” cities where serious water pollution occurred, this study recommended a regional or basin approach to assessing water quality and controlling river pollution that cuts across jurisdiction boundaries. While China has made considerable progress in improving water productivity, there is still enormous potential in water conservation. It is also imperative to restructure local economy and develop water‐efficient, less polluting industries and services.
In-utero cold stress causes elevation of blood pressure via impaired vascular dopamine D1 receptor in offspring

ABSTRACT Objective:Environmental cold stress is an important factor that leads to hypertension. The role and the mechanisms of in-utero cold stress in hypertension in adult offspring remain unknown. Methods: The pregnant rats were housed in cold (4°C) rooms from 14 to 21 days of gestation for prenatal cold exposure. The blood pressure and vascular response offspring of control and cold exposure were measured. And the receptor expression, phosphorylation and internalization were checked by immunoblotting or immunoprecipitation. Results: In the present study, we report that prenatal cold stress elevated the blood pressure via decreasing D1 receptor-associated vasodilation, which is ascribed to decreased D1 receptor expression and function. Moreover, the artery G protein-coupled receptor kinase 4 (GRK4) expression has been found to be higher in the prenatal cold stress treated offspring than the controls, which could cause the increased phosphorylation and internalization of D1 receptor in mesenteric artery from prenatal cold stress treated offspring, and led to receptor desensitization and vascular dysfunction. Conclusion: The results illustrate a new paradigm for the developmental origins of hypertension and imply that GRK4 and dopamine D1 receptor may be crucial determinants for the maternal hypertension.