Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Children and Adolescents Show Altered Visual Working Memory Related Brain Activity More Than One Decade After Arterial Switch Operation for D-Transposition of the Great Arteries

ABSTRACT This pilot study investigated neural correlates of visual working memory using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in seven patients more than one decade after neonatal arterial switch operation for surgical correction of d-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA, aged 10–18 years, 1 female). Compared with age and sex matched healthy controls patients showed similar visual working memory performance and a smaller increase in brain activity in the posterior parietal cortex with higher visual working memory load. These findings suggest that patients exhibit altered neural activity within a network that is known to support visuospatial memory and cognition.
Cancer‐testis gene PIWIL1 promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in lung adenocarcinoma

Piwi‐like RNA‐mediated gene silencing 1 (PIWIL1) has been identified as a novel extremely highly expressed cancer‐testis (CT) gene in lung adenocarcinoma. However, the exact function and mechanism of PIWIL1 in lung adenocarcinoma remains unclear. Herein, we sought to investigate the role of PIWIL1 in the occurrence and development of lung adenocarcinoma. We examined the expression pattern of PIWIL1 in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) lung adenocarcinoma samples, and validated it by Real‐Time PCR (RT‐PCR) in additional 21 paired lung adenocarcinoma tissues and 16 normal tissues. Subsequently, we explored the biological function of PIWIL1 in A549 and H1299 cell lines by gain and loss‐of‐function analyses. Using TCGA lung adenocarcinoma data, we further performed coexpression and Gene Ontology (GO) analyses, and analyzed the association of DNA methylation levels in PIWIL1 promoter region with its expression. Finally, we evaluated its expression in different mutation status of significantly mutated genes (SMGs) in TCGA lung adenocarcinoma data. We observed that PIWIL1 was expressed in testis and lung adenocarcinoma but not in other normal tissues, and its high expression was associated with shortened survival of lung cancer patients. Overexpression of PIWIL1 could facilitate the proliferation, invasion and migration of lung adenocarcinoma cells and vice versa. GO analysis revealed that PIWIL1 upregulated genes were enriched in embryonic development, cell proliferation and regulation of transcription. Moreover, promoter DNA hypomethylation of PIWIL1 could contribute to its aberrant expression in tumors. Interestingly, PIWIL1 expression was significantly higher in patients without hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) or serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11) mutation (P = 0.006 and 0.005, respectively). PIWIL1 is an epidriver gene in lung adenocarcinoma, indicating a potential target for further therapy.
Diagnosis of diabetes mellitus using PSO and KNN classifier

Diabetes is a complex disease whose prevalence is constantly increasing due to lifestyle changes and an aging population. This paper presents a pre-processing step "the selection of attributes” that plays an important role in data mining. It allows to build a model describing the data by removing the redundant, irrelevant or noisy attributes. Applied to the task of classification in data mining, it ensures a reduction in the size of the problem, which reduces the duration of learning and simplifies the learned model. This simplification generally facilitates the interpretation of this model. It also makes it possible to avoid the phenomenon of over-learning improving the accuracy of the prediction and the understanding of the classifier. In this approach the KNN classifier is used for classification.
Awareness and barriers to adoption of assistive technologies among visually impaired people in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Assistive technology (AT), broadly defined as specialist equipment designed to promote computer access for people with disabilities, is increasingly becoming popular among people with vision impairment as computer use becomes commonplace in society. In developing and emerging economies, however, the adoption of ATs continues to lag behind the developed countries. This study explored barriers to adoption of assistive technologies among visually impaired people in five southern states in Nigeria. A mixed-method approach that employed qualitative interviews with 20 participants and structured questionnaires among 423 participants aged between 20 and 92 was employed. Participants were categorized into two groups: Visually Impaired Adults (VIAs, age range: 20–59 years) and Visually Impaired Older Adults (VIOAs, age range: 60 years and over). The findings show that while 36% of VIA had good awareness of the existence of ACTs, only 17.4% of them had good knowledge of usage. Among VIOA, 20% of them were aware of the existence of ACTs while only 8.07% had a good knowledge of how to use them. Implications of findings for interventions promoting barrier-free digital environment as well as strategies that could foster development of locally specific interventions for digital inclusion are discussed.
The 12-item Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease Questionnaire: Construct Validity, Reliability, and Interpretability in a Clinical Setting

Objective. To study, in a real-life setting, the construct validity, the reliability, and the interpretability of the 12-item Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID-12) questionnaire in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods. In 144 consecutive patients with PsA (81 men and 63 women, mean age of 51.4 ± 12.8 yrs, and 77 receiving biologic treatment), the PsAID-12 and other patient-reported outcomes (PRO) were collected, such as the Dermatology Life Quality Index. Each patient underwent articular and skin assessment. Results. Construct validity: Factor analysis revealed a 2-factor result defined as the PsAID Symptom Score and the PsAID Skin Score. In determining convergent validity, significant correlations were found between the PsAID-12 and the clinical Disease Activity index for Psoriatic Arthritis (cDAPSA; ρ = 0.867, p < 0.0001). Multivariable analysis showed that the PsAID-12 is determined by the articular disease activity (cDAPSA, p < 0.0001), severity of psoriasis (PsO; physician’s global assessment, p < 0.0001), and the presence of a coexisting fibromyalgia (FM; p < 0.0001). Reliability: Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.93 for the total PsAID-12. Interpretability: Applying the cDAPSA categorization of disease activity states, the PsAID-12 cutoff values resulted in 1.4 between remission and low disease activity (LDA), 4.1 between LDA and moderate disease activity (MDA), and 6.7 between MDA and high disease activity. Conclusion. The PsAID-12 is an excellent PRO to evaluate the effect of PsA. It should be carefully handled in patients with coexisting FM.
Effect of land-based and water-based fitness programs on the cardiovascular fitness, strength and flexibility of women aged 65-75 years.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a generalized water-based exercise program (WBE) compared to a land-based exercise program (LBE) on improving cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, forward trunk flexion and strength measurements of elderly women aged 70 +/- 3.2 years (mean +/- SD). Forty-one healthy, sedentary women were selected to participate in the study and were randomly assigned to the LBE or WBE. The 2 groups exercised for 12 weeks, 3 times/week for 45 min. Fitness testing was done before, during and after training, and included measurements of peak aerobic power (VO2 peak), forward trunk flexion, sum of skinfolds, grip strength, curl-ups and push-ups. Between the tests performed before and after training, there were significant improvements in VO2 peak in both groups (p < 0.05) with no significant differences between the groups (p > 0.05). The LBE group also showed a significant improvement in the total number of curl-ups performed (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in trunk forward flexion, total (right plus left) grip strength, push-ups, waist to hip ratio, sum of skinfolds or body mass index between the tests performed before and after training over time within groups or between groups (p > 0.05). The results show that general exercise interventions resulted in improvements in cardiovascular fitness (for both groups) and abdominal endurance (in the LBE only), but the two exercise programs used were not specific enough or long enough to cause improvements in muscular strength, flexibility or body composition. Furthermore, except for changes in abdominal endurance, the type of exercise venue (land vs. water) did not have a significant effect on the results obtained.
Electrophysiological effects of propofol on the normal cardiac conduction system.

To determine the electrophysiological effects of propofol and to explain the potential mechanism(s) whereby it causes bradyarrhythmias, 10 closed-chest pigs weighing 20-25 kg were studied. Each animal was premedicated by intramuscular administration of ketamine hydrochloride, intubated, and mechanically ventilated. Femoral arterial and venous catheters were placed, and a comprehensive electrophysiologic evaluation was performed at baseline and after two doses (1 mg/kg i.v. bolus and 0.1 mg/kg/min infusion and an extra 1- mg/kg i.v. bolus and 0.2 mg/kg/min infusion) of propofol. The electrophysiological effects obtained on low-and high-dose propofol were compared to baseline values. Propofol caused a dose-related decrease in sinus cycle length (baseline 565 +/- 36 ms, low-dose propofol 541 +/- 28, high-dose propofol 527 +/- 26 ms; p < 0.05), a prolongation of the corrected sinus node recovery time (baseline 119 +/- 35 ms, low-dose propofol 126 +/- 32, high-dose propofol 130 +/- 30 ms; p < 0.01), and an increase in the His-ventricular interval (baseline 33 +/- 4 ms, low-dose propofol 36 +/- 4, high-dose propofol 40 +/- 3 ms; p < 0.005). All other electrophysiological parameters remained unchanged, and there were no cases of spontaneous atrioventricular block or sinus pauses. We conclude that propofol causes dose-related depression of sinus node and His-Purkinje system functions, but has no effect on the atrioventricular node function and on the conduction properties of atrial and ventricular tissues in normal pig hearts.
The Test–Retest Reliability of the Visually Evoked Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) in Children and Adults

ABSTRACT Establishing the reliability of event-related potentials is critical for future applications to biomarker development and clinical research. Few studies have examined the reliability of the contingent negative variation (CNV), and only in adults. The current study explored test–retest reliability of the visually evoked CNV and its embedded components, the O-wave and the E-wave, in children (7–13 years) and young adults (19–28 years) during a visual Go/No-Go task over 1–2 weeks. Test–retest reliability of the components was moderate for children, and low-to-moderate for adults. These findings were in contrast to previous work with adults showing moderate-to-high reliability of the auditory-evoked CNV.
The prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis infections in the population of Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeship (North-Eastern Poland)

INTRODUCTION Trichomonas vaginalis is considered to be the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection. Trichomoniasis is not a reportable disease and due to this fact only estimates can be made about its incidence AIM OF THE STUDY The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of T. vaginalis in the female population of north-eastern Poland as well as to conduct an epidemiological analysis on the basis of the data from the years of 2009 – 2015 derived from the registers of the National Health Fund MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study 300 women aged 19 – 50 were examined. Two vaginal swabs were taken from each patient. The first swab was used to prepare microscope slides, and stained with Giemsa stain. The second swab was used for a diagnostic immunochromatographic rapid test (OSOM Trichomonasis test). Each woman was also asked to complete a questionnaire. Additionally, on the basis of the data from the National Health Fund, epidemiological analysis was conducted. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS Statistics ver. 24 using Fisher test RESULTS T. vaginalis infection was confirmed in two women. The diagnosis of trichomoniasis was confirmed as a result of T.vaginalis antigen detection with the use of immunochromatographic diagnostic test (OSOM Trichomonas test). The data from the National Health Fund show that 160 cases of trichomoniasis were reported, of which women accounted for 135 (84%), and men for 25 (16%). The highest infection rate was found in women aged 50 – 59 and those over 60 years old CONCLUSIONS Our results show that the prevalence of T. vaginalis infection remains low, the infection occurs mainly in elderly women. However, one should pay attention to the differences in the detection of T. vaginalis connected with a particular method used. Conducting screen tests on a larger scale using more advanced tests would allow a more accurate assessment of the scale of the problem in our country
Immunotherapy in managing metastatic melanoma: which treatment when?

ABSTRACT Introduction: Ten to fifteen percent of melanoma patients develop distant or unresectable metastasis requiring systemic treatment. Around 45% of the patients diagnosed with metastatic cutaneous melanoma harbor a BRAFV600 mutation and derive benefit from combined targeted therapy with MAPK pathway inhibitors. These offer a rapid response that translates into improvement of symptoms and increased quality of life. However, resistance often develops with subsequent progressive disease. Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors may be offered to BRAF-mutated and wild-type patients and is associated with longer and durable responses that can continue over years. Areas covered: In this review, the authors discuss the late evidence for targeted and immunotherapy in melanoma patients, as well as therapy sequencing. Immunotherapy in special populations is also addressed. Expert opinion: Effective treatments are currently available. However, there are still unanswered questions of the best therapy sequence, the clear superiority of combined immunotherapy versus monotherapy in all patients, and therapy duration. Since different promising treatments will become available, clinical trials comparing the diverse options in terms of safety, efficacy and cost- effectiveness are required to make the right decisions. Consequently, patients should be encouraged to participate in clinical trials, whenever possible.
Clinical Evaluation, Hematology, and Serum Chemistry of Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Abstract During the last three decades, much research has illustrated the potential impact of diseases on wild animal populations. However, few studies focused on establishing parameters to reliably differentiate healthy from sick animals. We present clinical, hematologic, and serum chemistry data from nine healthy ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) and one ill ocelot captured in 2012 and 2013 in Brazil. Laboratory results were compared to mean values of captive ocelots and reference ranges for domestic cats (Felis catus). Free-ranging ocelots had overall higher white blood cells, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine phosphokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, urea nitrogen, and triglycerides, probably due to handling. Free-ranging ocelots also presented hyperproteinemia, hyperglobulinemia, hypoalbuminemia, and hyperuricemia.
Uniform gene expression in embryos is achieved by temporal averaging of transcription noise

Here, Stapel et al. investigated how stochastic transcription activation can result in uniform expression during development of cellularized embryos. Using smFISH and mathematical modeling, the authors show that during zebrafish embryogenesis, transcription activation is stochastic due to (1) genes acquiring transcriptional competence at different times in different cells, (2) differences in cell cycle stage between cells, and (3) the stochastic nature of transcription.
Low dose radiation prevents doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity

This study aimed to develop a novel and non-invasive approach, low-dose radiation (LDR, 75 mGy X-rays), to prevent doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity. BALB/c mice were randomly divided into five groups, Control, LDR (a single exposure), Sham (treated same as LDR group except for irradiation), DOX (a single intraperitoneal injection of DOX at 7.5 mg/kg), and LDR/DOX (received LDR and 72 h later received DOX). Electrocardiogram analysis displayed several kinds of abnormal ECG profiles in DOX-treated mice, but less in LDR/DOX group. Cardiotoxicity indices included histopathological changes, oxidative stress markers, and measurements of mitochondrial membrane permeability. Pretreatment of DOX group with LDR reduced oxidative damages (reactive oxygen species formation, protein nitration, and lipid peroxidation) and increased the activities of antioxidants (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) in the heart of LDR/DOX mice compared to DOX mice. Pretreatment of DOX-treated mice with LDR also decreased DOX-induced cardiac cell apoptosis (TUNEL staining and cleaved caspase-3) and mitochondrial apoptotic pathway (increased p53, Bax, and caspase-9 expression and decreased Bcl2 expression and ΔΨm dissipation). These results suggest that LDR could induce adaptation of the heart to DOX-induced toxicity. Cardiac protection by LDR may attribute to attenuate DOX-induced cell death via suppressing mitochondrial-dependent oxidative stress and apoptosis signaling.
Virtual screening of natural inhibitors targeting ornithine decarboxylase with pharmacophore scaffolding of DFMO and validation by molecular dynamics simulation studies

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is an enzyme that initiates polyamine synthesis in human. Polyamines play key roles in cell–cell adhesion, cell motility and cell cycle regulation. Higher synthesis of polyamines also occurs in rapidly proliferating cancer cells are mediated by ODC. As per earlier studies, di-flouro-methyl-orninthine (DFMO) is a proven efficient inhibitor ODC targeting the catalytic activity, however, its usage is limited due to side effects. Targeting ODC is considered as a potential therapeutic modality in the treatment of cancer. In this study, it is attempted to use DFMO scaffold to build a ligand-based pharmocophore query using MOE to screen similar active compounds from Universal Natural Products Database with better ADMET properties. The identified compounds were virtually screened against the active cavity of ODC using Glide. Further, potential natural hits targeting ODC were shortlisted based on Molecular Mechanics/Generalized-Born/Surface Area (MM-GBSA) score. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations were performed for the natural molecule hit and DFMO in complex with ODC using Desmond. Among the hits shortlisted, 2-amino-5, 9, 13, 17-tetramethyloctadeca-8, 16-diene-1, 3, 14-triol (UNPD208110) was found to be highly potential, as it showed a higher binding affinity in terms of interactions with key active cavity residues, and also showed better ADMET property, HUMO–LUMO gap energy and more stable complex formation with ODC compared to DFMO. Hence, the proposed molecule (UNPD208110) shall be favourably considered as a potential natural inhibitor targeting ODC-mediated disease conditions.
Serine/threonine kinase PpkA coordinates the interplay between T6SS2 activation and quorum sensing in the marine pathogen Vibrio alginolyticus

Type VI secretion systems (T6SS) are multiprotein secretion machines that can mediate killing of bacterial cells and thereby modify the composition of bacterial communities. The mechanisms that control the production of and secretion of these killing machines are incompletely understood, although quorum sensing (QS) and the PpkA kinase modulate T6SS activity in some organisms. Here we investigated control the T6S in the marine organism Vibrio alginolyticus EPGS, which encodes two T6SS systems (T6SS1 and T6SS2). We found that the organism principally relies on T6SS2 for interbacterial competition. We further carried out a phosphoproteomic screen to identify substrates of the T6SS2-linked PpkA2 kinase. Substrates of PpkA2 encoded within the T6SS2 cluster as well proteins that are apparently not linked to T6SS-related processes were identified. Similar to other organisms, PpkA2 autophosphorylation was critical for T6SS2 function. Notably, phosphorylation of a polypeptide encoded outside of the T6SS2 cluster, VtsR, was critical for T6SS2 expression and function because it augments the expression of luxR, a key regulator of QS that also promotes T6SS2 gene expression. Thus, PpkA2 controls a phosphorylation cascade that mediates a positive regulatory loop entwining T6SS and QS, thereby coordinating these pathways to enhance the competitive fitness of V. alginolyticus.
Detection of transmissible viral proventriculitis and chicken proventricular necrosis virus in the UK

ABSTRACT Increasing evidence suggests that a new birnavirus, named chicken proventricular necrosis virus (CPNV), is the aetiological agent of transmissible viral proventriculitis (TVP). The present work aimed to explore the possible presence of both TVP and CPNV in the UK. Forty-four chickens showing TVP-compatible gross lesions were classified into three groups based on the histological lesions: (i) TVP-affected chickens: lymphocytic infiltration and glandular necrosis (n = 15); (ii) lymphocytic proventriculitis (LP)-affected chickens: lymphocytic infiltration without necrosis (n = 18); and (iii) without proventriculitis (WP): no lymphocytic infiltration or necrosis (n = 11). Nine proventriculi (seven out of 15 corresponding to TVP, and two out of 11 corresponding to LP) were positive for CPNV by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). These results support the previously suggested idea of CPNV as causative agent of TVP. Moreover, these data show that CPNV can also be detected in a number of cases with LP, which do not fulfil the histological TVP criteria. Phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences of gene VP1 showed that British CPNV sequences were closer to other European CPNV sequences and might constitute a different lineage from the American CPNV. TVP cases with negative CPNV PCR results may be due to chronic stages of the disease or to the reduced PCR sensitivity on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. However, involvement of other agents in some of the cases cannot totally be ruled out. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first peer-reviewed report of TVP as well as of CPNV in the UK, and the first exploratory CPNV phylogenetic study.