Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring the potential value of miR-148b-3p, miR-151b and miR-27b-3p as biomarkers in acute ischemic stroke

Cerebrovascular disease is the main cause of death in the world. Here, we explored whether circulating serum miR-148b-3p, miR-151b and miR-27b-3p could be as potential diagnostic biomarkers for diagnosing acute ischemic stroke. Seventy-seven IS patients and forty-two healthy controls matched for age and sex were enrolled in the present study. Blood samples were drawn from IS patients within the 24 h. The correlation analysis was performed by Spearman. The ability to distinguish patients from healthy controls was determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The expression of circulating serum miR-148b-3p was significantly decreased, whereas miR-151b and miR-27b-3p were elevated significantly compared with controls. ROC analysis showed area under the ROC curve (AUC) of miR-148b-3p, miR-151b and miR-27b-3p to be 0.6647, 0.6852 and 0.6657, respectively. While the AUC increased to 0.8103 for the combination of miR-148b-3p and miR-27b-3p. Blood miR-151b level was negatively correlated with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and miR-27b-3p level was negatively correlated with IGF-1 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, respectively. Our findings suggest that miR-148b-3p, miR-151b and miR-27b-3p may serve as blood-based biomarkers for diagnosing ischemic stroke patients, and the combination of miR-148b-3p and miR-27b-3p may be more powerful.
Anthracimycin B, a Potent Antibiotic against Gram-Positive Bacteria Isolated from Cultures of the Deep-Sea Actinomycete Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus M-169

The potent antimicrobial extract of a culture of the marine derived actinomycete Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus M-169 was fractionated by reversed phase flash chromatography and preparative HPLC to yield the new Gram-positive antibiotic, anthracimycin B (1), together with its congener, anthracimycin (2). The structure of the new compound was established by analysis of its ESI-TOF MS and 1D and 2D NMR spectra, and comparison with data published for anthracimycin and anthracimycin BII-2619 (3). Notably, anthracimycin seemed to be the major and almost unique component of the extract detected by HPLC-UV-MS, making our S. cyanofuscatus strain an excellent candidate for further biosynthetic studies of this potent antibiotic.
The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the motor placebo effect

The neural correlates of the placebo effect in the motor domain are still unknown. The aim of this study was to tackle the role of a frontal cortical region, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). To this end, we stimulated the cortical site corresponding to the left dlPFC with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during a placebo procedure and measured any change in the motor placebo effect in all the participants and more specifically in placebo‐responders. Three different experiments were conducted in which healthy volunteers performed a force motor task with the index finger. The placebo treatment consisted of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). In Experiment 1 (expectation alone), participants were only verbally suggested about the positive effects of TENS. In Experiment 2 (expectation and conditioning), participants were verbally suggested about TENS and conditioned with a surreptitious increase in a visual feedback of force. In Experiment 3 (control procedure), participants were told that TENS was inefficient. Each participant was tested in three different days with anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS over the dlPFC. Results showed that in Experiment 1 and 2 force increased after the procedure, independently of tDCS. By focusing on placebo‐responders, we found that in Experiment 1 force remained stable after active tDCS, whereas it increased after inactive tDCS. These findings bring new evidence on the neural underpinnings of the motor placebo effect, by showing that independently of the polarity, active tDCS over the left dlPFC may undermine the expectation‐induced enhancement of force in placebo‐responders.
Pre‐screening of sleep‐disordered breathing after stroke: A systematic review

Sleep‐Disordered Breathing (SDB) is frequent in stroke patients. Polysomnography (PSG) and cardiorespiratory polygraphy are used to confirm SDB, but the need for PSG exceeds the available resources for systematic testing. Therefore, a simple and robust pre‐screening instrument is necessary to identify the patients with an urgent need for a targeted PSG. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate the available methods to pre‐screen stroke patients possibly suffering from SDB.
The Role of Inhomogeneities for Understanding Current–Voltage Characteristics of Solar Cells

All solar cells show more or less inhomogeneous electronic properties. This holds in particular for multicrystalline silicon cells, where local differences of the lifetime of more than an order of magnitude exist. This contribution explains how these inhomogeneities can be imaged and quantified, and the physical origins and the efficiency degradation potential of <italic>J</italic><sub>01</sub>-, <italic>J</italic><sub>02</sub>-, and ohmic inhomogeneities are reviewed. It is found that <italic>J</italic><sub>02</sub> and ohmic currents are always highly localized, in contrast with <italic>J</italic><sub>01</sub> currents. Hence, for describing most of the area of silicon solar cells, a one-diode model is sufficient, but <italic>J</italic><sub>02</sub> and ohmic currents reduce the efficiency at low illumination intensity. Moreover, the physical origins of known prebreakdown phenomena are reviewed and a new breakdown type dominating in monocrystalline silicon cells is proposed.
Oxysterols and Retinal Degeneration in a Rat Model of Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome: Implications for an Improved Therapeutic Intervention

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is an autosomal recessive human disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding 7-dehydrocholesterol (7DHC) reductase (DHCR7), resulting in abnormal accumulation of 7DHC and reduced levels of cholesterol in bodily tissues and fluids. A rat model of the disease has been created by treating normal rats with the DHCR7 inhibitor, AY9944, which causes progressive, irreversible retinal degeneration. Herein, we review the features of this disease model and the evidence linking 7DHC-derived oxysterols to the pathobiology of the disease, with particular emphasis on the associated retinal degeneration. A recent study has shown that treating the rat model with cholesterol plus suitable antioxidants completely prevents the retinal degeneration. These findings are discussed with regard to their translational implications for developing an improved therapeutic intervention for SLOS over the current standard of care.
Transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity of polyethyleneimine‐coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in rooster sperm cells

Since the morphology of the rooster spermatozoa is different to other animal spermatozoa, the aim of the current study was to investigate the transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity of polyethyleneimine (PEI) coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MION) on these cells. Liposome/nucleic acid (NA) complexes and PEI‐coated MION linked to the labeled oligonucleotides were used. Viability and percentage of exogenous nucleic acid uptake of spermatozoa were measured by flow cytometry analyses. The results showed a significant increase in exogenous nucleic acid uptake by rooster spermatozoa (P < 0.001) when treated with MION‐NA complexes in comparison to liposome/NA. There were no significant differences between efficiency of lipid‐based transfection agent and MION (P > 0.05) during short incubation period. MION with or without magnetic field, did not show significant cytotoxicity while the lipid‐based transfection agent significantly decreased (P < 0.05) the viability of rooster spermatozoa. Results of this study showed that magnetofection and lipofection were both effective methods which increased exogenous nucleic acid uptake by rooster spermatozoa. However, the magnetofection method was more successful in maintaining the cell's survival than lipofection method.
5‐Azacytydine and resveratrol reverse senescence and ageing of adipose stem cells via modulation of mitochondrial dynamics and autophagy

Obesity and endocrine disorders have become prevalent issues in the field of both human and veterinary medicine. Equine metabolic syndrome is a complex disorder involving alternation in metabolism and chronic systemic inflammation. It has been shown that unfavourable microenvironment of inflamed adipose tissue negatively affects adipose stem cell population (ASC) residing within, markedly limiting their therapeutic potential. ASCsEMS are characterized by increased senescence apoptosis, excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondria deterioration and “autophagic flux. ” The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether treatment of ASCsEMS with a combination of 5‐azacytydine (AZA) and resveratrol (RES) would reverse aged phenotype of these cells. For this reason, we performed the following analyzes: molecular biology (RT‐PCR), microscopic (immunofluorescence, TEM) and flow cytometry (JC‐1, ROS, Ki67). We evaluated the mitochondrial status, dynamics and clearance as well as autophagic pathways. Furthermore, we investigated epigenetic alternations in treated cells by measuring the expression of TET genes and analysis of DNA methylation status. We have demonstrated that AZA/RES treatment of ASCsEMS is able to rejuvenate these cells by modulating mitochondrial dynamics, in particular by promoting mitochondrial fusion over fission. After AZA/RES treatment, ASCsEMS were characterized by increased proliferation rate, decreased apoptosis and senescence and lower ROS accumulation. Our findings offer a novel approach and potential targets for the beneficial effects of AZA/RES in ameliorating stem cell dysfunctions.
Investigation of the Microstructures of Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Photoluminescence (PL) is the most significant feature of graphene quantum dots (GQDs). However, the PL mechanism in GQDs has been debated due to the fact that the microstructures, such as edge and in-plane defects that are critical for PL emission, have not been convincingly identified due to the lack of effective detection methods. Conventional measures such as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy only show some localized lattice fringes of GQDs and the structures of some substituents, which have little significance in terms of thoroughly understanding the PL effect. Here, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was introduced as a highly sensitive surface technique to study the microstructures of GQDs. Pure GQDs were prepared by laser ablating and cutting highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) parallel to the graphite layers. Consequently, abundant SERS signals of the GQDs were obtained on an Ag electrode in an electrochemical environment for the first time. The results convincingly and experimentally characterized the typical and detailed features of GQDs, such as the crystallinity of sp2 hexagons, the quantum confinement effect, various defects on the edges, sp3-like defects and disorders on the basal planes, and passivated structures on the periphery and surface of the GQDs. This work demonstrates that SERS is thus by far the most effective technique for probing the microstructures of GQDs.
Pharmacogenetics and levodopa induced motor complications

Abstract Aim: L-dopa remains the most effective symptomatic therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD) but unfortunately, its chronic use is often associated with motor complications. This review highlights the importance of pharmacogenetics in an individualised PD therapeutic approach. Material and Methods: review of the literature was done. Results: PD patients show remarkable heterogeneity in their response to L-dopa and this profound interindividual heterogeneity suggests that there is a genetic predisposition. Conclusions: The impact of the genetic makeup of every individual on PD treatment appears to be of great importance in order to achieve not only the optimum therapeutic effect, but also with minimal side effects.
Curcumin nanofibers for the purpose of wound healing

Poor wound healing is a highly prevalent clinical problem with, as yet, no entirely satisfactory solution. A new technique, termed electrospinning, may provide a solution to improve wound healing. Due to their large surface area to volume ratio and porosity, the nanofibers created by electrospinning are able to deliver sustained drug release and oxygen to the wound. Using different types of polymers with varying properties helps strengthening nanofiber and exudates absorption. The nanofibers appear to have an ideal structure applicable for wound healing and, in combination with curcumin, can blend the anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant properties of curcumin into a highly effective wound dressing. The use of suitable curcumin solvents and the slow release of curcumin from the nanofiber help in overcoming the known limitations of curcumin, specifically its low stability and limited bioavailability. Here, we review the studies which have been done on synthesized nanofibers containing curcumin, produced by the electrospinning technique, for the purpose of wound healing.
A Ballistographic Approach for Continuous and Non-Obtrusive Monitoring of Movement in Neonates

Continuously monitoring body movement in preterm infants can have important clinical applications since changes in movement-patterns can be a significant marker for clinical deteriorations including the onset of sepsis, seizures, and apneas. This paper proposes a system and method to monitor body movement of preterm infants in a clinical environment using ballistography. The ballistographic signal (BSG) is acquired using a thin and a film-like sensor that is placed underneath an infant. Manual annotations based on video-recordings served as a reference standard for identifying movement. We investigated the performance of multiple features, constructed from the BSG waveform, to discriminate movement from no movement based on data acquired from 10 preterm infants. Since routine cardiorespiratory monitoring is prone to movement artifacts, we also compared the application of these features on the simultaneously acquired cardiorespiratory waveforms, i.e., the electrocardiogram, the chest impedance, and the photoplethysmogram. The BSG-based-features consistently outperformed those based on the routinely acquired cardiorespiratory waveforms. The best performing BSG-based feature-the signal instability index-had a mean (standard deviation) effect size of 0.90 (0.06), as measured by the area under the receiver operating curve. The proposed system for monitoring body movement is robust to noise, non-obtrusive, and has high performance in clinical settings.
Intravenous human endothelial progenitor cell administration into aged mice enhances embryo development and oocyte quality by reducing inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis

Stem cell therapy has been proposed to restore the function and structure of injured tissues. In the present study, we investigated the ability of human endothelial progenitor cells (hEPCs) to attenuate ovarian aging and dysfunction. Female ICR mice aged 4 and 6 months were injected with cultured hEPCs. Cultured hEPCs were injected intravenously twice with 5 × 104 cells with a 4 day interval. After pregnant mare serum gonadotropin and human chorionic gonadotropin stimulation, oocytes and ovaries of aged mice were collected, cumulus-free oocytes were activated by SrCl2 and gene expression levels related to inflammation, apoptosis, follicle development and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in ovaries were compared. Administration of hEPCs attenuated the level of inflammatory cytokines and adverse apoptotic factor, as well as reducing ER stress in the ovaries. Increased cleavage and blastocyst formation rates and cell numbers in blastocysts from hEPCs-treated aged mice vs. same aged control mice demonstrated a protective function of hEPCs against reproductive aging. Based on these data, we suggest that treatment with hEPCs attenuates reproductive aging and dysfunction potentially via regulation of inflammation, apoptosis and ER stress.
Collaborating to assess the role of stereotactic body radiation therapy in medically operable stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

We appreciate the editorial by Drs. Stokes and Rusthoven about our recent publication that compared the outcomes of patients treated with either a video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy or stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at a single Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center (1,2).
Long-term effects of NO3- on the relationship between oxygen uptake and power after three weeks of supplemented HIHVT.

The aim of this study was to investigate the later effects of daily NO3- supplementation over 3 wk of training on the relationship between O2 uptake and power at different intensities with an incremental test (IT), a double-wingate test (WT), and an endurance capacity test at 80% Wmax (ECT) before and after the supplementation period. Seventeen male recreational athletes participated in this double-blind placebo (PL)-controlled study. Subjects participated in a 3-wk intermittent high-intensity, high-volume training period with 45 intervals of Wmax - 10 W and an active recovery period of 10 W in between with dietary NO3- (NaNO3) or placebo supplementation (NaCl) (both 8.5 mg·kg-1·day-1) on a cycle ergometer. During a training session, plasma [ NO3- ] ( P < 0.001) and plasma [ NO2- ] ( P < 0.01) were higher in nitrate (N), whereas in pre- and posttests mean plasma [ NO3- ] and [ NO2- ] were not different between groups. In the WT [48 h after cessation of supplementation (C)], the ratio between V̇o2 and power decreased in N ( P < 0.01) with no changes in PL. Endurance capacity (4-5 days after C) similarly increased in both groups ( P < 0.01). However, the total oxygen consumption decreased by 5% ( P < 0.01) in N, with no change in PL. The slope of V̇o2·W-1 in IT (5-7 days after C) decreased in N ( P < 0.01), whereas no changes were found in PL. During low- and moderate-intensity workloads, no changes and differences in V̇o2 could be detected. We conclude that nitrate supplementation causes a sustaining reduction of the oxygen cost per watt during exercise with a large recruitment of type II muscle fibers without affecting endurance capacity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Because most studies focused on the acute effects of NO3- supplementation on exercise performance during a supplementation period, the sustainability of the effects of the NO3- supplementation remain unknown. We followed the development of V̇o2/W at different intensities during the first week after cessation of daily NO3- supplementation over 3 wk. The results indicate that NO3- supplementation has a long-term effect for at least 7 days after cessation during heavy all-out workloads without affecting endurance capacity.
Downregulation of microRNA‐143‐5p is required for the promotion of odontoblasts differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells through the activation of the mitogen‐activated protein kinases 14‐dependent p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinases signaling pathway

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in various biological processes including cell differentiation. Some researchers suggested that the p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathway had an effect on regulating the odontoblastic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). This study focuses on the effects of miR‐143‐5p on hDPSCs by regulating the p38 MAPK signaling pathway. The targeting relationship of MAPK14 and miR‐143‐5p targets were verified by TargetScan and dual‐luciferase reporter gene assay. Through overexpression of miR‐143‐5p or silencing of miR‐143‐5p, expressions of miR‐143‐5p, MAPK14, Ras, MAPK kinase (MKK) 3/6, dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and osteocalcin (OCN) were detected by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Protein expressions of MAPK14, Ras, and MKK3/6 were determined by western blot analysis. ALP and alizarin red S staining were used to detect mineralization. Initially, MAPK14 was found to be negatively regulated by miR‐143‐5p. Meanwhile, the upregulated miR‐143‐5p decreased the p38 MAPK signaling pathway related genes (MAPK14, Ras, and MKK3/6) and odontoblastic differentiation markers (ALP, DSPP, and OCN) expression. On the contrary, the downregulated miR‐143‐5p increased the p38 MAPK signaling pathway related genes (MAPK14, Ras, and MKK3/6) and odontoblastic differentiation markers (ALP, DSPP, and OCN) expression. Furthermore, ALP activity and mineralized nodules increased after downregulation of miR‐143‐5p, and after its upregulation, ALP activity and mineralized nodules decreased. Our data suggest that poor expression of miR‐143‐5p promotes hDPSCs odontoblastic differentiation through the activation of the p38 MAPK signaling pathway by upregulating MAPK14.
High-Index. Low-Loss Nd3+: Oxyfluorosilicate Glasses for THz Applications

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy was used to investigate the optical properties of oxyfluorosilicate glasses doped with neodymium (Nd<sup>3</sup>+) ions. The refractive indices and absorption coefficients of such glass samples were found to be ~3.7 and below 10 cm<sup>−1</sup>at 0.5 THz. Exhibiting high-refractive index and low loss, the Nd<sup>3</sup>+:Oxyfluorosilicate glasses are attractive for THs device applications.
Challenges Faced by Patients With Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and their Families

The literature is inadequate for understanding the challenges experienced by people with PSP and their families. Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand the challenges of people with PSP and their caregivers and identify their priority need. In this qualitative study, five focus groups were conducted with people with PSP and/or their family caregivers, one group with long‐term care staff, and one with community caregivers. Data were analyzed using fundamental qualitative description. Four themes were identified: knowledge, services, research, and symptoms. Knowledge challenges were identified as the priority need, with the most common challenges in this category being lack of knowledge of PSP among community workers, physicians, patients, and family members. Service challenges involved service access and interactions with physicians, community workers, private caregivers, and long‐term care staff. Research challenges related to the lack of research and the failure of health care providers or PSP organizations to communicate research findings. Symptoms most often identified as challenging were falls, mobility, vision, mood or thinking, speech, and swallowing. Participants identified their priority need as dissemination of information about PSP. This has not been captured in previous research. This information needs to reach doctors, long‐term care staff, community workers, patients, families, and the general public. Subsequent activities to meet this need are summarized. These activities resulted in three new resources: a brochure for patients and families; an information packet for physicians; and a webinar for staff in long‐term care and community.