Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Minerals from Macroalgae Origin: Health Benefits and Risks for Consumers

Seaweeds are well-known for their exceptional capacity to accumulate essential minerals and trace elements needed for human nutrition, although their levels are commonly very variable depending on their morphological features, environmental conditions, and geographic location. Despite this variability, accumulation of Mg, and especially Fe, seems to be prevalent in Chlorophyta, while Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta accumulate higher concentrations of Mn and I, respectively. Both red and brown seaweeds also tend to accumulate higher concentrations of Na, K, and Zn than green seaweeds. Their valuable mineral content grants them great potential for application in the food industry as new ingredients for the development of numerous functional food products. Indeed, many studies have already shown that seaweeds can be used as NaCl replacers in common foods while increasing their content in elements that are oftentimes deficient in European population. In turn, high concentrations of some elements, such as I, need to be carefully addressed when evaluating seaweed consumption, since excessive intake of this element was proven to have negative impacts on health. In this regard, studies point out that although very bioaccessible, I bioavailability seems to be low, contrarily to other elements, such as Na, K, and Fe. Another weakness of seaweed consumption is their capacity to accumulate several toxic metals, which can pose some health risks. Therefore, considering the current great expansion of seaweed consumption by the Western population, specific regulations on this subject should be laid down. This review presents an overview of the mineral content of prevalent edible European macroalgae, highlighting the main factors interfering in their accumulation. Furthermore, the impact of using these marine vegetables as functional ingredients or NaCl replacers in foods will be discussed. Finally, the relationship between macroalgae’s toxic metals content and the lack of European legislation to regulate them will be addressed.
Contrasting Antibacterial Capabilities of the Surface Mucus Layer From Three Symbiotic Cnidarians

Coral reefs are affected by the deterioration of the oceans due to global warming and other anthropogenic perturbations, increasing the frequency and severity of bleaching and disease. To overcome some of these conditions, reef corals and other cnidarians rely on a mucus layer housing a diverse community of beneficial microorganisms and mechanisms of innate immune response. The antimicrobial defense has been associated with the bacterial community in these organisms, but the potential antimicrobial activity of the mucus layer itself has not been explored fully. We hypothesized that the bacteria-free mucus layer of different cnidarians would show differential and specific antimicrobial and immunological responses when challenged with two potentially pathogenic bacteria. We evaluated this capability through antimicrobial properties, immune response and biochemical composition of the mucus. Results clearly showed that the mucus of healthy cnidarians has the capability of inhibiting the growth of Serratia marcescens and Aurantimonas sp. in a species-specific way that includes differences in the potency of the response. The anemone Exaiptasia pallida was particularly potent against Aurantimonas sp. while the coral Pseudodiploria strigosa and the medusa Cassiopea xamachana had similar capabilities against both bacterial strains. In coral affected by black band disease, this antibacterial capability diminished in the mucus layer, but the associated bacteria remained potent. Results showed that hydroxyproline and phenoloxidase increased in the transition zone of diseased corals, although melanin was not detected in any of the animals tested. Bleaching of anemones and medusas also diminished the antibacterial capability of the surface mucus layer, but in anemones, the associated bacteria did not show a significant reduction in their ability to inhibit the growth of the bacterial strains. The mucus of bleached medusas showed an increased inhibitory activity against Aurantimonas sp. that may be associated with a specific bacterial strain we isolated. Mucus collected from bleached anemones and medusas did not show a significant immune response. In this work, we show that the surface mucus layer itself has antibacterial properties not associated with the bacteria this layer houses; such properties diminished due to disease or bleaching, while immunological responses increased in the mucus of diseased animals.
Whole‐tree nonstructural carbohydrate storage and seasonal dynamics in five temperate species

Summary Despite the importance of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) for growth and survival in woody plants, we know little about whole‐tree NSC storage. The conventional theory suggests that NSC reserves will increase over the growing season and decrease over the dormant season. Here, we compare storage in five temperate tree species to determine the size and seasonal fluctuation of whole‐tree total NSC pools as well as the contribution of individual organs. NSC concentrations in the branches, stemwood, and roots of 24 trees were measured across 12 months. We then scaled up concentrations to the whole‐tree and ecosystem levels using allometric equations and forest stand inventory data. While whole‐tree total NSC pools followed the conventional theory, sugar pools peaked in the dormant season and starch pools in the growing season. Seasonal depletion of total NSCs was minimal at the whole‐tree level, but substantial at the organ level, particularly in branches. Surprisingly, roots were not the major storage organ as branches stored comparable amounts of starch throughout the year, and root reserves were not used to support springtime growth. Scaling up NSC concentrations to the ecosystem level, we find that commonly used, process‐based ecosystem and land surface models all overpredict NSC storage.
Brain mechanisms underlying apathy

The past few decades have seen growing interest in the neuropsychiatric syndrome of apathy, conceptualised as a loss of motivation manifesting as a reduction of goal-directed behaviour. Apathy occurs frequently, and with substantial impact on quality of life, in a broad range of neurological and psychiatric conditions. Apathy is also consistently associated with neuroimaging changes in specific medial frontal cortex and subcortical structures, suggesting that disruption of a common systems-level mechanism may underlie its development, irrespective of the condition that causes it. In parallel with this growing recognition of the clinical importance of apathy, significant advances have been made in understanding normal motivated behaviour in humans and animals. These developments have occurred at several different conceptual levels, from work linking neural structures and neuromodulatory systems to specific aspects of motivated behaviour, to higher order computational models that aim to unite these findings within frameworks for normal goal-directed behaviour. In this review we develop a conceptual framework for understanding pathological apathy based on this current understanding of normal motivated behaviour. We first introduce prominent theories of motivated behaviour—which often involves sequences of actions towards a goal that needs to be maintained across time. Next, we outline the behavioural effects of disrupting these processes in animal models, highlighting the specific effects of these manipulations on different components of motivated behaviour. Finally, we relate these findings to clinical apathy, demonstrating the homologies between this basic neuroscience work and emerging behavioural and physiological evidence from patient studies of this syndrome.
Embracing the Universal Design for Learning Framework in Digital Game Based Learning - A Set of Game Design Principles

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework emphasizes multiplicity of representation, expression and engagement to cater for the widest possible set of learning styles and abilities. Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL) can slot into a universally designed approach to education as one of several alternative ways of learning that will suit some learning preferences, such as those who prefer to learn in an active way. However, DGBL can itself encapsulate the principles of UDL if the game designer embraces UDL as a fundamental set of game design principles. This paper discusses, with examples, the ways in which a game designer can universally design a DGBL solution with respect to game mechanics, representation and personalization, with an emphasis on the use of gameplay data for formative and summative evaluation during the design, build and retrospective phases, as well as for adaptive learning and formative feedback during the delivery phase.
A New Model for Risk Stratification of Patients With Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with mortality. There are many clinical prediction tools to predict early mortality in acute PE but little consensus on which is best. Our study aims to validate existing prediction tools and derive a predictive model that can be applied to all patients with acute PE in both inpatient and outpatient settings. This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with acute PE. For each patient, the Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI), simplified PESI (sPESI), European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and Angriman scores were calculated. Scores were assessed by the area under the receive-operating curve (AUC) for 30-day, all-cause mortality. To develop a new prognostic model, elastic logistic regression was used on the derivation cohort to estimate β-coefficients of 8 different variables; these were normalized to weigh them. A total of 321 patients (mean age 60±17 years) were included. Overall 30-day mortality was 10.3%. None of the scores performed well; the AUCs for the PESI, sPESI, ESC, and Angriman scores were 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57-0.77), 0.58 (0.48-0.69), 0.65 (0.55-0.75), and 0.67 (0.57-0.76), respectively. Our new prediction model outperformed PESI, with an AUC of 0.82 (95% CI, 0.76-0.88). At a cutoff score of 100, 195 (60.1%) patients were classified as low risk. Thirty-day mortality was 2.1% (95% CI, 0.8%-5.2%) and 23.0% (16.5%-31.1%) for low- and high-risk groups, respectively (P < .001). In conclusion, we have developed a new model that outperforms existing prediction tools in all comers with PE. However, further validation on external cohorts is required before application.
Studies on clinical anatomy of the maxillofacial and mandibular regions of the Madras Red sheep (Ovis aries) in India.

BACKGROUND The present study aimed to study the clinical anatomy of the maxillofacial and mandibular regions of the Madras Red sheep through the morphometric analysis of some clinically important parameters pertaining to the regional anaesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in 20 male and 20 female adult Madras Red sheep around 20-25 kg body weight. Eleven parameters re- lated to the clinical regional anaesthesia of the maxillofacial and the mandibular regions were recorded. RESULTS The distance between the facial tuberosity to the infraorbital canal was 2.25 ± 0.14 cm in males and 2.14 ± 0.15 cm in females. The distance from the infraorbital canal to the root of the alveolar tooth was 1.73 ± 0.28 cm in males and 1.73 ± 0.13 cm in females. The length and height of the mandibles were 15.37 ± 0.56 cm, 9.00 ± 0.24 cm and in males 14.53 ± 0.24 cm, 9.68 ± 0.16 cm in females, respectively. The maximum height of the mandible to the coro- noid process, width or height of the mandibular foramen and the distance from the condyloid process to the base of the mandible were recorded as 9.0 ± 24, 0.82 ± 0.05, 6.68 ± 0.19 cm in males and 9.68 ± 0.16, 0.83 ± 0.04, 6.25 ± ± 0.28 cm in females, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The present study revealed that most of the parameters showed statistically significant difference between the sexes i.e. the males had higher values. However, from the practical point of view, these differences were meagre. The results were discussed with regard to their clinical applications in various regional anaesthesia performed in maxillofacial and mandibular regions of the Madras Red sheep.
Clinical Outcomes for Diabetic Foot Ulcers Treated with Clostridial Collagenase Ointment or with a Product Containing Silver

Objective: To compare outcomes of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) treated with clostridial collagenase ointment (CCO) or silver-containing products, both in combination with sharp debridement as needed. Approach: One hundred two subjects with qualifying DFUs were randomized to daily treatment with either CCO or a silver-containing product for 6 weeks followed by a 4 -week follow-up period. The primary outcome was the mean percent reduction in DFU area. A secondary outcome was the incidence of ulcer infections between groups. Results: At the end of treatment, the mean percent reduction in area from baseline of DFUs treated with CCO was 62% (p < 0.0001) and with silver was 40% (p < 0.0001). The difference between groups—22%—was not statistically significant (p = 0.071). Among ulcers closed by the end of treatment, the mean time to closure was 31.1 ± 9.0 days versus 37.1 ± 7.7 days, respectively (not statistically significant). There was a numerically greater incidence of target ulcer infections in the silver group (11, 21.6%) than in the CCO group (5, 9.8%; p = 0.208). No clinically relevant safety signals were identified in either group. Innovation: CCO treatment can progress a wound toward closure. Ulcer infection prophylaxis may not be sacrificed when treating DFU with CCO in lieu of silver-containing products. Conclusion: Both CCO and silver-containing products promote significant reduction in DFU area over 6 weeks of treatment with no clinically relevant safety concerns. Mean percent reduction in lesion area was numerically (22%) but not significantly greater with CCO compared to silver, as was time to ulcer closure, with an incidence of ulcer infection at least as low as for silver-containing products.
Comments on the US National Toxicology Program technical reports on toxicology and carcinogenesis study in rats exposed to whole-body radiofrequency radiation at 900 MHz and in mice exposed to whole-body radiofrequency radiation at 1,900 MHz

During the use of handheld mobile and cordless phones, the brain is the main target of radiofrequency (RF) radiation. An increased risk of developing glioma and acoustic neuroma has been found in human epidemiological studies. Primarily based on these findings, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization (WHO) classified in May, 2011 RF radiation at the frequency range of 30 kHz-300 GHz as a ‘possible’ human carcinogen, Group 2B. A carcinogenic potential for RF radiation in animal studies was already published in 1982. This has been confirmed over the years, more recently in the Ramazzini Institute rat study. An increased incidence of glioma in the brain and malignant schwannoma in the heart was found in the US National Toxicology Program (NTP) study on rats and mice. The NTP final report is to be published; however, the extended reports are published on the internet for evaluation and are reviewed herein in more detail in relation to human epidemiological studies. Thus, the main aim of this study was to compare earlier human epidemiological studies with NTP findings, including a short review of animal studies. We conclude that there is clear evidence that RF radiation is a human carcinogen, causing glioma and vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma). There is some evidence of an increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, and clear evidence that RF radiation is a multi-site carcinogen. Based on the Preamble to the IARC Monographs, RF radiation should be classified as carcinogenic to humans, Group 1.
Aortic dilatation and outcome in women with Turner syndrome

Background Women with Turner syndrome (TS) are at increased risk of aortic dissection, which is related to ascending aortic diameter. However, the relation between aortic diameter and outcome is not well determined. This study evaluates the prevalence of aortic dilatation, the growth rate of the aorta and the risk of aortic complications in adults with TS. Methods Single centre, retrospective study of all women with TS followed with a strict protocol in an outpatient TS clinic. Aortic diameters were analysed using advanced imaging. The primary outcome was a combined endpoint of aortic-related mortality, aortic dissection and preventive aortic surgery. The secondary endpoint was aortic growth and prevalence of aortic dilatation, defined as an aortic size index >20 mm/m2 at baseline. Results At least one cardiac MR/CT was available in 268 women with TS, having median age of 28.7 (IQR: 21.3–39.7) years. Aortic dilatation was present in 22%. Linear regression identified independent factors associated with larger aortic diameters: age (coefficient=0.23; p<0.001), hypertension (coefficient=2.7; p<0.001), bicuspid aortic valve (coefficient=3.3; p<0.001), 45XO karyotype (coefficient=1.7; p=0.002), weight (coefficient=0.075; p<0.001) and growth hormone treatment (coefficient=1.4; p=0.044). During follow-up (6.8±3.2 years), five women (2%) reached the primary endpoint (two dissections, three aortic surgery). Women withmore than one scan (n=171; 1015 patient-years follow-up), the median aortic growth was 0.20 (IQR: 0.00–0.44) mm/year. In multivariate analysis, aortic growth was not associated with baseline aortic diameter or other variables. Conclusions Aortic dilatation is common and known associations were confirmed in large adult TS cohort However, aortic dissection, related mortality and preventive aortic surgery are rare. Growth hormone treatment in childhood was associated with aortic dimensions.
Correction of Recalcitrant Cicatricial Lower Lid Retraction and Entropion With Transverse Tarsotomy and Tarsoconjunctival Flap.

PURPOSE To describe a novel technique to correct cicatricial lower lid entropion and retraction using a transverse lower lid tarsotomy with an interposed tarsoconjunctival flap posterior lamellar spacer. METHODS Technique description and retrospective interventional case series. RESULTS Four patients underwent the procedure-two with complications following treatment of sinonasal carcinoma and two with complications following orbital fracture repair. All patients had failed prior posterior lamellar spacer grafts, including donor sclera, dermis-fat graft, and hard palate mucosa. Average time to flap takedown was 20 (11-28) days, with an average follow-up interval of 8.4 (6.2-11.5) months. All patients had resolution of lower lid entropion and significant improvement of lower lid retraction with an average of 2.8 mm (2.0-4.3) of elevation. There were no serious complications, and all patients reported significant improvement in ocular surface symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Transverse tarsotomy combined with a tarsoconjunctival flap is effective for the correction of cicatricial lower lid retraction and entropion in eyelids that have failed surgery with traditional posterior lamellar spacer grafts.
Tissue differences revealed by gene expression profiles of various cell lines

Mechanisms through which tissues are formed and maintained remain unknown but are fundamental aspects in biology. Tissue‐specific gene expression is a valuable tool to study such mechanisms. But in many biomedical studies, cell lines, rather than human body tissues, are used to investigate biological mechanisms Whether or not cell lines maintain their tissue‐specific characteristics after they are isolated and cultured outside the human body remains to be explored. In this study, we applied a novel computational method to identify core genes that contribute to the differentiation of cell lines from various tissues. Several advanced computational techniques, such as Monte Carlo feature selection method, incremental feature selection method, and support vector machine (SVM) algorithm, were incorporated in the proposed method, which extensively analyzed the gene expression profiles of cell lines from different tissues. As a result, we extracted a group of functional genes that can indicate the differences of cell lines in different tissues and built an optimal SVM classifier for identifying cell lines in different tissues. In addition, a set of rules for classifying cell lines were also reported, which can give a clearer picture of cell lines in different issues although its performance was not better than the optimal SVM classifier. Finally, we compared such genes with the tissue‐specific genes identified by the Genotype‐tissue Expression project. Results showed that most expression patterns between tissues remained in the derived cell lines despite some uniqueness that some genes show tissue specificity.
Growth and Characterization of Ge Junction for Triple Junction Solar Cell

InGaP and GaAs layers have been grown over Ge:p substrate by MOVPE to obtain the bottom cell of a triple junction solar cell. The diffusion of the group V atoms throughthe Ge is responsible for the formation of the p-n junction. In order to characterize the doping profile, electrochemical capacitance voltage measurement is performed. The quality of the deposited layer is characterized by reflectance anisotropy spectra, x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. This study will enable us to find the optimized growth condition to maximize the device performance.
Current source density estimates improve the discriminability of scalp-level brain connectivity features related to motor-imagery tasks

Recent progress in the number of studies involving brain connectivity analysis of motor imagery (MI) tasks for brain-computer interface (BCI) systems has warranted the need for pre-processing methods. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of current source density (CSD) estimation from raw electroencephalogram (EEG) signals on the classification performance of scalp level brain connectivity feature based MI-BCI. In particular, time-domain partial Granger causality (PGC) method was implemented on the raw EEG signals and CSD signals of a publicly available dataset for the estimation of brain connectivity features. Moreover, pairwise binary classifications of four different MI tasks were performed in inter-session and intra-session conditions using a support vector machine classifier. The results showed that CSD provided a statistically significant increase of the AUC: 20.28% in the inter-session condition; 12.54% and 13.92% with session 01 and session 02, respectively, in the intra-session condition. These results show that pre-processing of EEG signals is crucial for single-trial connectivity features based MI-BCI systems and CSD can enhance their overall performance.
miRNA‐155 and miRNA‐181a as prognostic biomarkers for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Mortality rates of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have improved over the past 20 years; however, a significant portion of deaths stems from the lack of prognostic biomarkers, which can direct therapy and overcome drug resistance. microRNA‐155a (miRNA‐155a) and miRNA‐181a are two single‐stranded miRNAs involved in the pathogenesis of many types of leukemia and lymphoma and is linked to drug resistance. We investigated their expression levels in 55 patients, 45 diagnosed with ALL and 10 as a control group. We found that miRNA‐155a and miRNA‐181a were significantly upregulated in the ALL group with both being linked to high levels of minimal residual disease and poor prognosis. miRNA‐155a cutoff value was significant in discriminating between high‐ and low‐risk ALL patients as well as between ALL patients and healthy controls, miRNA‐181a cutoff value, however, was not significant. Both markers levels were significantly downregulated after therapy. We conclude that miR‐155 is correlated with poor prognosis in ALL, whereas we couldn’t link miRNA‐181a to the prognosis in ALL. Moreover, the marked decrease in their expression after therapy could reflect their impact on disease outcome.