Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pathophysiology and Management of Alcoholic Liver Disease: Update 2016

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and acute and chronic liver failure and as such causes significant morbidity and mortality. While alcohol consumption is slightly decreasing in several European countries, it is rising in others and remains high in many countries around the world. The pathophysiology of ALD is still incompletely understood but relates largely to the direct toxic effects of alcohol and its main intermediate, acetaldehyde. Recently, novel putative mechanisms have been identified in systematic scans covering the entire human genome and raise new hypotheses on previously unknown pathways. The latter also identify host genetic risk factors for significant liver injury, which may help design prognostic risk scores. The diagnosis of ALD is relatively easy with a panel of well-evaluated tests and only rarely requires a liver biopsy. Treatment of ALD is difficult and grounded in abstinence as the pivotal therapeutic goal; once cirrhosis is established, treatment largely resembles that of other etiologies of advanced liver damage. Liver transplantation is a sound option for carefully selected patients with cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis because relapse rates are low and prognosis is comparable to other etiologies. Still, many countries are restrictive in allocating donor livers for ALD patients. Overall, few therapeutic options exist for severe ALD. However, there is good evidence of benefit for only corticosteroids in severe alcoholic hepatitis, while most other efforts are of limited efficacy. Considering the immense burden of ALD worldwide, efforts of medical professionals and industry partners to develop targeted therapies in ALF has been disappointingly low.
An improved strategy for transferring and adhering thin nanoporous alumina membranes onto conducting transparent electrodes for template assisted electrodeposition of high aspect ratio semiconductor nanowires with increased optical absorption

This article presents a new method for transferring and enhancing the adhesion of thin nanoporous alumina (NPA) membranes onto non-atomically flat substrates like fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass. The study reports use of glycerol as an additive to reduce the brittleness of the polystyrene filler that was used to fill the pores of the NPA membrane. Additionally, a new reflux-based method is reported here for the complete removal of the polystryrene filler from the porous channels of alumina. The adhesion between an NPA membrane and an underlying electrode was enhanced by electrodepositing a thin (∼40 nm) intermediate layer of the conducting polymer polyaniline (PANI). The PANI layer acts as an efficient electrostatic adhesive between the NPA and the conducting glass electrode and ensures ultra-strong adhesion of the NPA membrane, which can survive the harsh conditions of CdTe nanowire electrodeposition (60 °C temperature and an acidic electrolyte) without delamination for 30 min. The resulting nanowires clearly templated the structure of NPA and displayed free-standing nanowires over a large area with a diameter of around 60 nm, a length of approximately 2.8 μm (aspect ratio ∼47) and an areal density of 5.9 × 1012 nanowires cm−2. Total optical absorption measurement on the free-standing CdTe nanowires exhibited a 45% enhancement over a wavelength range of 350–1400 nm as compared to a CdTe planar thin film of same thickness.
A Meta-Analysis of Interleukin-8 -251 Promoter Polymorphism Associated with Gastric Cancer Risk

Background Potential functional allele A/T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of Interleukin 8 (IL-8) promoter -251has been implicated in gastric cancer risk. Methods We aimed to explore the role of A/T SNP of IL-8 -251 in the susceptibility to gastric cancer through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Each initially included article was scored for quality appraisal. Desirable data were extracted and registered into databases. Eighteen studies were ultimately eligible for the meta-analysis of IL-8 - 251 A/T SNP. We adopted the most probably appropriate genetic model (codominant model). Potential sources of heterogeneity were sought out via stratification and sensitivity analyses, and publication biases were estimated. Results Between IL-8 -251 AA genotype with gastric cancer risk, statistically significant association could be noted with overall gastric cancer, evidently noted in Asians, witnessed in high quality subgroup, and apparently noted in intestinal-type gastric cancer. Conclusions Our meta-analysis indicates that IL-8 -251 AA genotype is associated with the overall risk of developing gastric cancer and may seem to be more susceptible to overall gastric cancer in Asian populations. IL-8 -251 AA genotype is more associated with the intestinal-type gastric cancer. IL-8 -251 AA genotype is not associated with Helicobacter Pylori infection status in our meta-analysis. Impact The analyses suggest that IL-8 -251 AA genotype may be an important biomarker of gastric cancer susceptibility for Asians, especially for Chinese Han population, the assumption that needs to be further confirmed in future well-designed studies in China.
Missing Satellites Problem: Completeness Corrections to the Number of Satellite Galaxies in the Milky Way are Consistent with Cold Dark Matter Predictions.

A critical challenge to the cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm is that there are fewer satellites observed around the Milky Way than found in simulations of dark matter substructure. We show that there is a match between the observed satellite counts corrected by the detection efficiency of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (for luminosities L≳340 L_{⊙}) and the number of luminous satellites predicted by CDM, assuming an empirical relation between stellar mass and halo mass. The "missing satellites problem," cast in terms of number counts, is thus solved. We also show that warm dark matter models with a thermal relic mass smaller than 4 keV are in tension with satellite counts, putting pressure on the sterile neutrino interpretation of recent x-ray observations. Importantly, the total number of Milky Way satellites depends sensitively on the spatial distribution of satellites, possibly leading to a "too many satellites" problem. Measurements of completely dark halos below 10^{8} M_{⊙}, achievable with substructure lensing and stellar stream perturbations, are the next frontier for tests of CDM.
Feed processing and structural components affect starch digestion dynamics in broiler chickens

ABSTRACT 1. A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to test the hypothesis that impaired intestinal starch digestibility is attributable to rapid passage of digesta from the gizzard to the intestine, and that, compared to steam pelleting, increasing the availability of starch through extrusion cooking may alleviate the potential negative effect of rapid digesta flow on starch utilisation. 2. Thus, 7-d-old-broiler chickens were distributed to 48 cages and given a wheat-based (WB) pelleted diet containing either coarse oat hulls (OH-Pel) or fine cellulose (Cel-Pel) until d 19 to stimulate divergent development of the gizzard. Thereafter, both groups were further subdivided and challenged with a WB diet containing cellulose in either pelleted (Cel-Pel) or extruded (Cel-Ext) form on d 20 and 22. Either excreta or intestinal contents were collected at time intervals after feeding and analysed for marker and starch. 3. OH-Pel increased gizzard size and holding capacity. No excessively high starch levels (maximum 25 g/kg) were detected in the excreta. However, 8 h feed-deprived birds given Cel-Pel and challenged with Cel-Pel exhibited higher starch excretion and showed large individual variation during the first 135 min of collection. 4. Contrary to the OH-Pel group, more digesta and starch passed to the jejunum at 1 and 2 h and ileum at 2 and 3 h after feeding for birds given Cel-Pel, resulting in lower jejunal and ileal starch digestibility. 5. Increased starch gelatinisation through extrusion processing significantly improved starch digestibility regardless of gizzard function. However, at 1, 2 and 3 h after feeding, more digesta was retained in the foregut of birds given Cel-Ext. 6. The current data showed that starch degradation rate is associated with the flow of digesta which is linked to gizzard development, and that enzymatic hydrolysis of intact starch granules may be limited with more rapid feed passage through the gut.
Extremophiles and their application to veterinary medicine

Extremophiles can be defined as organisms that can survive in extreme environments that cannot support mammalian life. They include microorganisms that can tolerate temperature extremes, extremes of pH, salinity, hydrostatic pressure and ionizing radiation, as well as low oxygen tension, desiccation and the presence of heavy metals. Psychrophilic organisms also include fish in polar waters and animals that withstand freezing. Rare examples of thermophilic pathogens exist, and the main category of extremophilic animal pathogens comprises psychrophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms that cause fish diseases, e.g. Flavobacterium psychrophilum, Moritella viscosa, Aliivibrio wodanis and Aliivibrio salmonicida. The most widely known application of an extremophile product in veterinary medicine is DNA polymerase from thermophiles, which is a mainstay of PCR‐based diagnostics for an extensive range of animal pathogens. DNA polymerases and other extremophile enzymes are also used in many molecular biology applications and animal genomics. Other extremophile products may find application in veterinary medicine in the future. These include enzymes in biosensors, compatible solutes in skin care products, drug excipients, treatments for respiratory disease, radioprotectants, peptide antibiotics, archaeal lipids for drug delivery and anti‐cancer therapeutics.
Foreground Detection with Deeply Learned Multi-Scale Spatial-Temporal Features

Foreground detection, which extracts moving objects from videos, is an important and fundamental problem of video analysis. Classic methods often build background models based on some hand-craft features. Recent deep neural network (DNN) based methods can learn more effective image features by training, but most of them do not use temporal feature or use simple hand-craft temporal features. In this paper, we propose a new dual multi-scale 3D fully-convolutional neural network for foreground detection problems. It uses an encoder–decoder structure to establish a mapping from image sequences to pixel-wise classification results. We also propose a two-stage training procedure, which trains the encoder and decoder separately to improve the training results. With multi-scale architecture, the network can learning deep and hierarchical multi-scale features in both spatial and temporal domains, which is proved to have good invariance for both spatial and temporal scales. We used the CDnet dataset, which is currently the largest foreground detection dataset, to evaluate our method. The experiment results show that the proposed method achieves state-of-the-art results in most test scenes, comparing to current DNN based methods.
High percentage of microbial colonization of osteosynthesis material in clinically unremarkable patients

Stabilization of fractures with internal fixation devices is a common procedure and implant‐associated infections are a dreaded complication. The exact pathomechanism is not completely understood; however, microbial colonization of osteosynthesis material is considered a trigger for infection. This study aimed to determine the colonization rate of osteosynthesis implants in patients with no clinical or laboratory signs of infection, using two methods, conventional culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of sonication fluid. Fifty‐seven patients aged between 18 and 79 years without signs of infection who underwent routine removal of osteosynthesis devices between March 2015 and May 2017 were included in this study. Osteosynthesis material was investigated by sonication followed by cultivation of the sonication fluid in blood culture bottles and PCR analysis, simultaneously. Additionally, electron scanning microscopy was performed in nine representative implants to evaluate biofilm production. Thirty‐two (56.1%) implants showed a positive result either by culture or PCR with coagulase‐negative staphylococci being the most commonly identified microorganism (68.1%). Furthermore, the detection rate of the culture (50.9%) was significantly higher compared to PCR (21.1%). The scanning electron microscopy imaging demonstrated biofilm‐like structures in four of six culture and/or PCR‐positive samples. This study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to demonstrate bacterial colonization of osteosynthesis implants in healthy patients with no clinical or laboratory signs of infection. Colonization rate was unexpectedly high and conventional culture was superior to PCR in microbial detection. The common understanding that colonization is a trigger for infection underlines the need for strategies to prevent colonization of implant material like antibiotic‐loaded coating or intraoperative gel application.
Characterization of a multidrug‐resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae ST607‐K25 clone responsible for a nosocomial outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Purpose. Multidrug‐resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains are regularly involved in hospital outbreaks. This study describes an ESBL‐producing K. pneumoniae clone (ST607‐K25) responsible for a nosocomial outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit. Methodology. Fourteen strains isolated from 13 patients were included. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by the agar diffusion method. A clonal link was first investigated by fingerprinting (ERIC‐PCR and REP‐PCR) then confirmed by MLST. Characterization was performed by molecular detection and identification of several drug resistance and virulence determinants. Results. All strains expressed the same antibiotype, combining ESBL production, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycoside resistance, except for one which remained susceptible to fluoroquinolones. Fingerprinting methods confirmed the clonal link and MLST identified a ST607 clone. Molecular investigations revealed: (I) genes encoding for two narrow‐spectrum beta‐lactamases (SHV‐1 and TEM‐1) and an ESBL (CTX‐M‐15); (II) absence of any chromosomal mutation in quinolone resistance‐determining‐ regions (QRDR) of gyrA/gyrB and parC/parE genes; (III) genes encoding for three plasmid‐mediated quinolone‐resistance (PMQR) determinants: oqxAB (14/14), aac(6′)‐Ib‐cr (14/14) and qnrB (13/14); (IV) production of a K25 capsule; and (V) carriage of three genes encoding for virulence factors: mrkD (type 3 fimbriae) (14/14), ybts (yersiniabactin) (12/14) and entB (enterobactin) (14/14). Conclusion. We described a multidrug‐resistant Kp ST607 clone responsible for a nosocomial outbreak in vulnerable and premature newborns. Molecular investigations allowed us to identify several resistance factors responsible for ESBL production (CTX‐M‐15) and quinolone resistance (three PMQR determinants). The detection of a gene (ybtS) belonging to the high‐pathogenicity island yersiniabactin could partly explain its high colonization and diffusion potential.
Clinical aspects of circulating miRNA‐335 in breast cancer patients: A prospective study

The impact of aberrant expression of miRNAs, small noncoding RNAs of 19 to 23 nucleotide, has been reported in different types of cancer, such as breast cancer. Authors aim to investigate the role of circulating miRNA‐335 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for breast cancer.
Factors Associated with Anemia in the Institutionalized Elderly

As a common problem in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), anemia affects 25–63% of the elderly. The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence and characteristics of anemia and its associated factors in the institutionalized elderly. The cross-sectional study was carried out with three hundred thirteen individuals aged ≥ 60 years, of both genders, living in long-term care facilities for the elderly in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Poisson regression (PR) with robust variance estimates was used to assess the factors related to anemia. The prevalence of anemia was 38%. Mild anemia was predominant in both genders (male: 26.8%; female: 21.1%), as normocytic and normochromic anemia, with no anisocytosis (69.75%). Anemia was associated with thinness (PR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.04–2.72) and with moderate (PR: 1.98; 95% CI: 1.07–3.63) and total (PR: 2.61; 95% CI: 1.34–5.07) dependence in the final model. Severe dependence exhibited borderline significance (PR: 1.94; 95% CI: 1.00–3.77). The prevalence of anemia was high in the institutionalized elderly in both genders, with characteristics suggesting chronic diseases as the causal factor, and the frequency of occurrence was higher in thinness elderly with moderate to total dependence.
Bronchiectasis and asthma: a dangerous liaison?

Purpose of review To explore the latest insight of the literature on the asthma/bronchiectasis phenotype providing an updated overview about epidemiological, clinical and biological evidence linking these two conditions. Recent findings An increasing body of literature has shown that the association of asthma and bronchiectasis is a frequent phenomenon leading to a more severe disease with frequent exacerbations. The mechanisms by which the two diseases are linked are still not well established but they share several clinical and immunological features and many comorbidities. Summary The early identification of bronchiectasis through high-definition computer tomography in patients with severe asthma is crucial in order to provide an adequate treatment for both diseases and therefore to better control symptoms, exacerbations and infections.
Staphylococcus aureus Infections in HIV-positive Children and Adolescents

Abstract: A retrospective case-control study was undertaken among patients followed at the Texas Children's Hospital Retrovirology Clinic to determine the risk factors for Staphylococcus aureus infection. A total of 28 episodes of S. aureus infection were identified from 20 patients. Case patients had more advanced HIV disease as measured by CD4 T-cell counts, log10 human immunodeficiency viral load, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention category of disease, than controls.
Maternal Blood Manganese and Early Neurodevelopment: The Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) Study

Background Manganese is an essential trace element and common component of water, soil, and air. Prenatal manganese exposure may affect fetal and infantile neurodevelopment, but reports on in utero manganese exposure and infant neurodevelopment are rare. Objective This study was conducted to investigate a relationship between maternal blood manganese level and neurodevelopment of infants at 6 months of age. Methods Data were obtained from the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) birth cohort study. The study population included 232 pairs of pregnant women and their infants at 6 months of age. Maternal blood manganese was measured at term, just before delivery. Mental and psychomotor development in infancy was assessed at 6 months of age using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. The relationship between maternal blood manganese level and the mental and psychomotor development indexes (MDI and PDI) was estimated for manganese modeled as a linear and as a categorical variable and using penalized splines for nonlinear modeling. Results Mean ± SD maternal blood manganese concentration was 22.5 ± 6.5 μg/L. After adjustment for potential confounders, blood manganese was used as a continuous variable in a linear and nonlinear model. Associations between maternal blood manganese and MDI and PDI scores followed an inverted U-shape dose–response curve after adjustment for potential confounders, with lower scores associated with both low and high blood concentrations [MDI: likelihood-ratio test (LRT) p = 0.075, PDI: LRT p = 0.038]. Associations of both outcomes with increasing blood manganese shifted from positive to negative at concentrations of 24–28 μg/L in this cohort of term, normal birth weight children. Conclusion Although no cut-off point has been established to define manganese toxicity, both high and low blood manganese levels may be associated with neurobehavioral function in infants. Citation Chung SE, Cheong HK, Ha EH, Kim BN, Ha M, Kim Y, Hong YC, Park H, Oh SY. 2015. Maternal blood manganese and early neurodevelopment: the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study. Environ Health Perspect 123:717–722; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1307865
Formulation and Characterization of Native and Crosslinked Hyaluronic Acid Microspheres for Dermal Delivery of Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate: A Comparative Study

The present work evaluates for the first time the use of urea-crosslinked hyaluronic acid (HA-CL), a novel derivative of native hyaluronic acid (HA), to produce microspheres (MS) by emulsification-solvent evaporation, for dermal delivery of sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP). As the term of comparison, HA MS were prepared. A pre-formulation study—investigation of the effects of polymers solutions properties (pH, viscosity) and working conditions—led to the production of optimized HA-CL MS and HA-CL—SAP MS with: almost unimodal size distributions; mean diameter of 13.0 ± 0.7 and 9.9 ± 0.8 µm, respectively; spherical shape and rough surface; high yield, similar to HA MS and HA–SAP MS (≈ 85%). SAP was more efficiently encapsulated into HA-CL MS (78.8 ± 2.6%) compared to HA MS (69.7 ± 4.6%). Physical state, thermal properties, relative moisture stability of HA-CL MS and HA-CL–SAP MS were comparable to those of HA MS and HA–SAP MS. However, HA-CL–SAP MS exhibited an extended drug release compared to HA–SAP MS, despite the same kinetic mechanism—contemporaneous drug diffusion and polymer swelling/dissolution. Therefore, HA-CL formulation showed a greater potential as microcarrier (for encapsulation efficiency and release kinetic), that could be improved, in future, using suitable excipients.
ECT in schizophrenia: a review of the evidence

Abstract Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was initially used for the treatment of schizophrenia, but over the years with the advent of antipsychotics, its use in schizophrenia has been limited. Treatment guidelines vary in their recommendations for the use of ECT in schizophrenia. The usual indications of its use among patients with schizophrenia include treatment resistance, to augment pharmacotherapy, to manage catatonia, suicidal behaviour, severe agitation and clozapine-resistant schizophrenia. Available literature, including meta-analysis and systematic reviews, suggest that ECT is a safe and effective treatment in patients with schizophrenia. However, despite the available evidence, it is highly underutilised and is often used as one of the last resort among patients with schizophrenia. This review focuses on the indications of use of ECT in schizophrenia, studies evaluating its effectiveness, efficacy in certain special situations like first episode schizophrenia, adolescents, catatonia etc., predictors of response to ECT in schizophrenia and influence of various ECT-related parameters on efficacy/effectiveness among patients with schizophrenia. From the review, it can be concluded that ECT is not only is beneficial as an augmenting strategy in treatment-resistant schizophrenia but also can be used effectively in patients with schizophrenia in various other situations.