Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Association between Eating Behaviors and Weight Loss after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Setting: In a private medical center, 300 patients who underwent a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) were classified into 4 groups according to their eating behaviors (EB) preoperatively. During a 3-year postoperative follow-up, dietary changes in relation to weight loss were studied. Objectives: To explore the influence of abnormal EB on the outcome of sleeve gastrectomy. Background: Patients with morbid obesity often suffer from abnormal EB. After LSG, the outcome depends largely on improvement of the feeding behaviors acquired. Methods:This prospective study includes 300 patients who underwent LSG from 2013 to 2014, divided into the following 4 groups: binge eaters, snack eaters, sweet eaters, and volume eaters. Results: The average age was 41.65 years, the ratio of male to females was 1 to 2. The average baseline body mass index (BMI) was 42.02. After 3 years, no significant change was found in the number of binge eaters (p = 0.396), but there was an 8.9% increase in snack eaters (p < 0.001), a 12.9% increase in sweet eaters (p < 0.001), and 17.2% increase in healthy eating habits (p < 0.001). Sixty-five (24.8%) patients did not experience changes in their eating patterns. However, after surgery, 24.6% of the patients continued with the same EB and 125 (49.5%) patients changed from one EB to another unhealthy EB. Weight loss, measure as ΔBMI, was similar in each group after 3 years, with a mean BMI of 29.8. When eating habits were related to different features such as gender, sports practice, type of work, smoking, marital status, comorbidities, no influence on the operative results were found. Conclusion: LSG promotes the reduction of overeaters; however, it promotes a switch between other unhealthy EB. The significant increase in snack eaters and sweet eaters is outstanding, although it did not affect weight loss in the midterm follow-up. Worsening of eating habits after LSG is a common fact.
Coix lachryma-jobi extract ameliorates inflammation and oxidative stress in a complete Freund’s adjuvant-induced rheumatoid arthritis model

Abstract Context: Adlay seed [Job’s tears, Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf (Poaceae)] is a Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has been investigated to treat inflammatory diseases and rheumatism. Objective: This study evaluates the ameliorative effects of adlay seed extract (ASE) in a complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA)-induced rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats. Materials and methods: The RA Sprague–Dawley rat model was induced and randomly divided into six groups with or without ASE treatment (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg). After 28 d administration, the symptoms, biochemical parameters and molecular mechanisms were investigated. Results: The values of paw oedema, PGE2 and MMP-3 decreased from 1.46 ± 0.04 to 0.66 ± 0.07 cm3, from 126.2 ± 11.48 to 79.71 ± 6.8 pg/mL and from 142.7 ± 8.36 to 86.51 ± 5.95 ng/mL, respectively; the values of body weight increased from 177.25 ± 5.94 to 205 ± 6.52 g in HASE group. In addition, treatment of ASE reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1), and increased the activities of antioxidant enzyme (GSH-Px, SOD, and CAT). Furthermore, ASE could suppress the mRNA expression of COX-2 and CHI3L1 and improve the mRNA expression of CAT and GPx-1 in ankle tissues of RA rats. Discussion and conclusions: For the first time, our results indicated ASE exerts anti-RA effects via inhibiting pro-inflammatory factors and alleviating oxidative stress. Our finding sheds light on the research and development of anti-RA functional foods from adlay seed.
Emission Tomography Is Prognostically Superior to International Prognostic Score in Advanced-Stage Hodgkin's Lymphoma: A Report From a Joint Italian-

Purpose Starting from November 2001, 260 newly diagnosed patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) were consecutively enrolled in parallel Italian and Danish prospective trials to evaluate the prognostic role of an early interim 2-[ 18 F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan and the International Prognostic Score (IPS) in advanced HL, treated with conventional ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) therapy.
The ribosomal P-stalk couples amino acid starvation to GCN2 activation in mammalian cells

The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) kinase GCN2 is activated by amino acid starvation to elicit a rectifying physiological program known as the Integrated Stress Response (ISR). A role for uncharged tRNAs as activating ligands of yeast GCN2 is supported experimentally. However, mouse GCN2 activation has recently been observed in circumstances associated with ribosome stalling with no global increase in uncharged tRNAs. We report on a mammalian CHO cell-based CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis screen for genes that contribute to ISR activation by amino acid starvation. Disruption of genes encoding components of the ribosome P-stalk, uL10 and P1, selectively attenuated GCN2-mediated ISR activation by amino acid starvation or interference with tRNA charging without affecting the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein stress-induced ISR, mediated by the related eIF2α kinase PERK. Wildtype ribosomes isolated from CHO cells, but not those with P-stalk lesions, stimulated GCN2-dependent eIF2α phosphorylation in vitro. These observations support a model whereby lack of a cognate charged tRNA exposes a latent capacity of the ribosome P-stalk to activate GCN2 in cells and help explain the emerging link between ribosome stalling and ISR activation.
Treatment of Poikiloderma of Civatte with ablative fractional laser resurfacing: prospective study and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Previous laser treatments for Poikiloderma of Civatte (PC) (i.e., Pulsed dye, Intense Pulsed Light, KTP and Argon) are limited by side effect profiles and/or efficacy. Given the high degree of safety and efficacy of ablative fractional photothermolysis (AFP) for photoaging, we set out to assess the efficacy of PC with AFP. DESIGN: A prospective pilot study for PC in 10 subjects with a series of 1-3 treatment sessions. Treatment sessions were administered at 6-8 week intervals with blinded physician photographic analysis of improvement at 2 months post-treatment. Evaluation was performed of five clinical indicators, erythema/telangiecatasia, dyschromia, skin texture, skin laxity and cosmetic outcome. RESULTS: The number of treatments required for improvement of PC ranged from 1 to 3, with an average of 1.4. For erythema/telangiecatasia, the mean score improved 65.0% (95% CI: 60.7%, 69.3%) dyschromia, 66.7% (95% CI: 61.8%, 71.6%), skin texture, 51.7% (95% CI: 48.3%, 55.1%) and skin laxity, 52.5% (95% CI: 49.6%, 55.4%). For cosmetic outcome, the mean score improved 66.7% (95% CI: 62.6%, 70.8%) at 2 months post treatment. CONCLUSION: In this prospective study, AFP was both safe and effective for the treatment of the vascular, pigmentary and textural components of PC. The degree of improvement observed in wrinkling, creping and laxity after AFP has not been reported with prior laser treatments for PC.
Inter-Sensor Calibration between HY-2B and AMSR2 Passive Microwave Data in Land Surface and First Result for Snow Water Equivalent Retrieval

The self-designed HaiYang-2B (HY-2B) satellite was launched on 24 October 2018 in China at 22:57 UT in a 99.34° inclination sun-synchronous orbit. The Scanning Microwave Radiometer (SMR) on the core observatory has the capability to provide near-real-time multi-channel brightness temperature (Tb) observations, which are designed mainly for improving the level of marine forecasting and monitoring, serving the development and utilization of marine resources. After internal calibration and ocean calibration, the first effort to retrieve land surface snow parameters was performed in this study, which obtained extremely low accuracy both in snow extent and snow mass. Accordingly, land inter-sensor calibration was carried out between SMR and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) in order to broaden the research and application of SMR data on the Earth’s land surface. Finally, we evaluated the consistency of the snow extent and snow mass derived from the initial and land-calibrated SMR data. The results indicated that a systematic SMR cold deviation whose magnitude depends on the channel is present for all the compared channels. After intercalibration, the conformity of the snow extent and snow mass were substantially improved compared to before; the relative bias of the snow extent and snow mass decreased from −49.97% to 2.97% and from −51.71% to 3.01%, respectively.
Real-time visualization of titin dynamics reveals extensive reversible photobleaching in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) has been useful in delineating cardiac myofilament biology and innovations in fluorophore chemistry have expanded the array of microscopic assays used. However, one assumption in FRAP is the irreversible photobleaching of fluorescent proteins after laser excitation. Here we demonstrate reversible photobleaching regarding the photoconvertible fluorescent protein, mEos3.2. We used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) to knock-in mEos3.2, into the C-terminus of titin to visualize sarcomeric titin incorporation and turnover. Upon cardiac induction, the titin-mEos3.2 fusion protein is expressed and integrated in the sarcomeres of hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes. STORM imaging shows M-band clustered regions of bound titin-mEos3.2 with few soluble titin-mEos3.2 molecules. FRAP revealed a baseline titin-mEos3.2 fluorescence recovery of 68% and half-life of ~1.2 hours, suggesting a rapid exchange of sarcomeric titin with soluble titin. However, paraformaldehyde fixed and permeabilized titin-mEos3.2 hiPSC-CMs surprisingly revealed a 55% fluorescence recovery. Whole cell FRAP analysis in paraformaldehyde fixed, cycloheximide treated and untreated titin-mEos3.2 hiPSC-CMs displayed no significant differences in fluorescence recovery. FRAP in fixed HEK 293T expressing cytosolic mEos3.2 demonstrates a 58% fluorescence recovery. These data suggest that titin-mEos3.2 is subject to reversible photobleaching following FRAP. Using a mouse titin-eGFP model, we demonstrate that no reversible photobleaching occurs. Our results reveal that reversible photobleaching accounts for the majority of titin recovery in the titin-mEos3.2 hiPSC-CM model and should warrant as a caution in the extrapolation of reliable FRAP data from specific fluorescent proteins in long-term cell imaging.
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in canine melanocytic tumors: an investigation on the prognostic role of CD3+ and CD20+ lymphocytic populations.

The study of the immune response in several types of tumors has been rapidly increasing in recent years with the dual aim of understanding the interactions between neoplastic and immune cells and its importance in cancer pathogenesis and progression, as well as identifying targets for cancer immunotherapy. Despite being considered one of the most immunogenic tumor types, melanoma can progress in the presence of abundant lymphocytic infiltration, therefore suggesting that the immune response is not able to efficiently control tumor growth. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the density, distribution and grade of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in 97 canine melanocytic tumors is associated with histologic indicators of malignancy and can be considered a prognostic factor in the dog. As a further step in the characterization of the immune response in melanocytic tumors, an immunohistochemical investigation was performed to evaluate the two main populations of TILs, T-lymphocytes (CD3+ ) and B-lymphocytes (CD20+ ). The results of our study show that TILs are present in a large proportion of canine melanocytic tumors, especially in oral melanomas, and that the infiltrate is usually mild. The quantity of CD20+ TILs was significantly associated with some histologic prognostic factors, such as the mitotic count, the cellular pleomorphism and the percentage of pigmented cells. Remarkably, a high infiltration of CD20+ TILs was associated with tumor-related death, presence of metastasis/recurrence, shorter overall and disease-free survival, increased hazard of death and of developing recurrence/metastasis, hence representing a potential new negative prognostic factor in canine melanocytic tumors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Noise reduction mechanisms for the inclined leading edge vaned diffuser in a centrifugal fan

An experimental and numerical study to explore the noise reduction mechanism for the inclined leading edge vaned diffuser in centrifugal fans is described. Inclined leading edge vaned diffuser is useful in improving fan performance, increasing operating range, and reducing fan noise. The generation of fan noise is related to the pressure fluctuation on the diffuser vane surface, particularly the leading edge. Numerical results show that pressure fluctuation on the inclined leading edge vaned diffuser surface remarkably decreases, unlike that of the original diffuser. The pressure fluctuation is dominated by the components at the blade passing frequency and its second harmonic.
The association between sleep chronotype and obesity among black and white participants of the Bogalusa Heart Study

ABSTRACT Research indicates that sleep duration and quality are inter-related factors that contribute to obesity, but few studies have focused on sleep chronotype, representing an individual’s circadian proclivity, nor assessed these factors in racially diverse middle-aged samples. We examined the associations between chronotype and obesity among black and white men and women participating in the Bogalusa Heart Study (BHS). Body mass index (BMI) and sleep data were available for 1,197 middle-aged men and women (mean age 48.2 ± 5.3 years) who participated in the BHS 2013–2016. Based on the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire’s cutoff values for chronotypes, we combined ‘definitely morning’ and ‘moderately morning’ types into ‘morning’ type, ‘definitely evening’ and ‘moderately evening’ types into ‘evening’ type and kept those who were “neither” type in a separate group. We used ‘morning’ type as the referent group. Obesity was defined as a BMI ≥ 30. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine associations adjusting for sex, age, education, smoking, alcohol use and drug use, depression, shift work, physical activity and sleep duration. Evening chronotype, reported by 11.1% of participants, was associated with obesity after multi-variable adjustment, including shift work, physical activity and sleep duration (OR 1.67, 95% CI: 1.08–2.56). However, once stratified by race (black/white), this association was found only among white participants (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.12–3.25) after full adjustment. In our biracial, community-based population, evening chronotype was independently associated with obesity, specifically among white participants. Further research is needed to identify behavioral, endocrine, nutritional and genetic pathways which underlie these associations.
LIN28A gene polymorphisms modify neuroblastoma susceptibility: A four‐centre case‐control study

Neuroblastoma ranks the most common seen solid tumour in childhood. Overexpression of LIN28A gene has been linked to the development of multiple human malignancies, but the relationship between LIN28A single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and neuroblastoma susceptibility is still under debate. Herein, we evaluated the correlation of four potentially functional LIN28A SNPs (rs3811464 G>A, rs3811463 T>C, rs34787247 G>A, and rs11247957 G>A) and neuroblastoma susceptibility in 505 neuroblastoma patients and 1070 controls from four independent hospitals in China. The correlation strengths were determined by using odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Among these SNPs, rs34787247 G>A exhibited a significant association with increased susceptibility in neuroblastoma (GA vs GG: adjusted OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.03‐1.64; AA vs GG: adjusted OR = 2.51, 95% CI = 1.36‐4.64, AA/GA vs GG: adjusted OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.12‐1.80, AA vs GG/GA: adjusted OR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.29‐4.42). Furthermore, the combined analysis of risk genotypes revealed that subjects carrying three risk genotypes (adjusted OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.02‐2.63) are more inclined to develop neuroblastoma than those without risk genotype, and so do carriers of 1‐4 risk genotypes (adjusted OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.01‐1.56). Stratification analysis further revealed risk effect of rs3811464 G>A, rs34787247 G>A and 1‐4 risk genotypes in some subgroups. Haplotype analysis of these four SNPs yields two haplotypes significantly correlated with increased neuroblastoma susceptibility. Overall, our finding indicated that LIN28A SNPs, especially rs34787247 G>A, may increase neuroblastoma risk.
Evolution of anosognosia in alzheimer's disease and its relationship to amyloid

Unawareness, or anosognosia, of memory deficits is a challenging manifestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that adversely affects a patient's safety and decision‐making. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding the presence, as well as the evolution, of altered awareness of memory function across the preclinical and prodromal stages of AD. Here, we aimed to characterize change in awareness of memory abilities and its relationship to beta‐amyloid (Aβ) burden in a large cohort (N = 1,070) of individuals across the disease spectrum.
Inflammatory, Structural, and Pain Biochemical Biomarkers May Reflect Radiographic Disc Space Narrowing: The Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project

The purpose of this work is to determine the relationship between biomarkers of inflammation, structure, and pain with radiographic disc space narrowing (DSN) in community‐based participants. A total of 74 participants (37 cases and 37 controls) enrolled in the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project during 2006–2010 were selected. The cases had at least mild radiographic DSN and low back pain (LBP). The controls had neither radiographic evidence of DSN nor LBP. The measured analytes from human serum included N‐cadherin, Keratin‐19, Lumican, CXCL6, RANTES, IL‐17, IL‐6, BDNF, OPG, and NPY. A standard dolorimeter measured pressure‐pain threshold. The coefficients of variation were used to evaluate inter‐ and intra‐assay reliability. Participants with similar biomarker profiles were grouped together using cluster analysis. The binomial regression models were used to estimate risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in propensity score‐matched models. Significant associations were found between radiographic DSN and OPG (RR = 3.90; 95% CI: 1.83, 8.31), IL‐6 (RR = 2.54; 95% CI: 1.92, 3.36), and NPY (RR = 2.06 95% CI: 1.62, 2.63). Relative to a cluster with low levels of biomarkers, a cluster representing elevated levels of OPG, RANTES, Lumican, Keratin‐19, and NPY (RR = 3.04; 95% CI: 1.22, 7.54) and a cluster representing elevated levels of NPY (RR = 2.91; 95% CI: 1.15, 7.39) were significantly associated with radiographic DSN. Clinical Significance: These findings suggest that individual and combinations of biochemical biomarkers may reflect radiographic DSN. This is just one step toward understanding the relationships between biochemical biomarkers and DSN that may lead to improved intervention delivery. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 38:1027‐1037, 2020
The Phenolic Compounds, Metabolites, and Antioxidant Activity of Propolis Extracted by Ultrasound-Assisted Method.

The influences of ultrasound-assisted, pharmacopeia, and supercritical fluid extraction methods on bioactive compounds and biological activities of propolis were evaluated. Results showed that propolis extracted by ultrasound-assisted method contained more phenolic compounds, and showed the highest total phenolic content (245.84 ± 6.41 mg GAE/g DW), total flavonoids content (198.82 ± 5.74 mg RE/g DW), and stronger in vitro antioxidant activity (DPPH·: 1.03 ± 0.04 mmol Trolox/g DW, ABTS+·: 2.19 ± 0.05 mmol Trolox/g DW, and FRAP: 1.48 ± 0.12 mmol FeSO4 /g DW) than those of pharmacopoeia and supercritical fluid methods. A total of 36 phenolic compounds were identified in propolis. Among them, quercetin, quercetin-3-methyl-ether, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, luteolin-methyl-ether, and quercetin-7-methyl-ether could only be found in ultrasound-assisted and pharmacopoeia methods. Moreover, the phenolic compounds had the similar metabolic pathways in rats and were mainly metabolized by sulfation and glucuronidation pathways. Additionally, ultrasonic-treated propolis have good in vivo antioxidant activity and could repair D-galactose-induced oxidative damage in rats. Therefore, ultrasound-assisted method could replace pharmacopeia method to be considered as bioactive compounds extraction from propolis, taking into consideration of yield, short extraction time, and high antioxidant activity.
Prevalence and genomic characterization of Group A Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis isolated from patients with invasive infections in Toyama prefecture, Japan

Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) causes severe invasive streptococcal infections, especially in elderly people. Between 2013 and 2018, 88 streptococci were isolated from clinical blood culture in a hospital in Toyama prefecture, Japan. The collection included six Group A SDSE (ASD) strains, which are rarely isolated. Multilocus sequence typing categorized five of the six strains into ST128 and the remaining strain into a new type. Maximum‐likelihood phylogenetic analysis revealed that the six ASD strains had highly similar genome sequences. Bayesian analysis indicated that the most recent common ancestor of the strains appeared 39 years ago. The ASD strains possessed carbohydrate synthase genes that are conserved in Streptococcus pyogenes strains, whereas one strain featured a different arrangement of the gene cluster. The carbohydrate synthase genes varied by Lancefield type (A, C, and G).
Influence of smoking and barbecuing on the contents of anthraquinone and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in Frankfurter-type sausages.

The contents of anthraquinone (ATQ) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (anthracene (ANT) and PAH4) in smoked Frankfurter-style sausages were investigated depending on various smoking conditions. During smoking the smoke generator, the smoking duration, the type of wood and some more plant-specific parameters were tested. The sausages were also barbecued on a charcoal grill. The lowest mean content of all analytes was observed when friction smoke was used (ATQ: <LOQ; ANT: <LOQ; PAH4: <LOD), the highest when the setting of ventilations flaps were changed (ANT: 36.3 µg/kg; PAH4: 2.2 µg/kg) or at an intensive smoke density (ATQ: 3.2 µg/kg). The contents increased with the smoking time, but irregularities were detected after 10 minutes. The use of different types of wood had no influence on the ATQ content, but on the PAH content. In barbecued samples, ATQ and ANT contents were detected at the level of friction smoke and maximum PAH4 contents were found above the exposure during smoking. Due to the varying influence of the smoking parameters on the two analytes, there was no direct correlation between the content of ATQ and ANT in all smoking experiments.