Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Curcumin Inhibits Polyethylene-Induced Osteolysis via Repressing NF-κB Signaling Pathway Activation

Background/Aims: Aseptic loosening is a common reason for failed artificial hip replacement after total hip arthroplasty. Aseptic loosening is mostly the result of wear debris that causes osteolysis and weakens the structures that support the prosthesis. Wear debris plays a crucial role in osteolysis during the loosening process, and polyethylene (PE) particles are found as wear debris more frequently than any other type of particle. In the absence of effective therapeutic agents, osteolysis has been hard to treat. Previous studies have demonstrated that curcumin influences signalosome-associated kinases and the proteasome-ubiquitin system during osteoclastogenesis. The aims of this study were to explore the anti-osteolysis effect of curcumin and if possible to identify the signaling pathway involved in a model of PE-induced osteolysis. Methods: Differentiation of osteoclasts was induced in vitro by PE particles in RAW264.7 (monocyte/macrophage) cells and in vivo by calvarial and air pouch models of osteolysis established by PE stimulation in mice. We performed a set of TRAP staining, realtime polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Western blot experiments to evaluate the anti-osteolytic effect of curcumin by comparing specimens that were exposed and not exposed to curcumin. Results: Curcumin had a promising inhibitory effect on osteolysis induced by wear debris and suppressed the RANK/c-Fos/NFATc1 signaling pathway. Conclusion: Curcumin can prevent PE-induced osteolysis and bone loss. An inhibitory effect on the RANK/c-Fos/NFATc1 signaling pathway may explain the anti-osteolysis activity of curcumin.
iRest Meditation for Older Adults with Depression Symptoms: A Pilot Study.

Older adults, a rapidly growing population in the United States, have fewer physiological reserves and are more likely to be affected by stress, making them especially susceptible to depression symptoms. Meditation offers promising potential as an effective treatment; however, few studies have evaluated meditation interventions for this demographic. The objectives of this pilot study were to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an iRest meditation program in older adults with depression symptoms and to collect preliminary data on its effect on depression and depression- related symptoms compared to a vacation control. The study occurred at the Institute of Noetic Sciences EarthRise Retreat Center and participants' homes. Thirty generally healthy older adults, aged 55-90, with depression symptoms were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to a 2-day retreat of either iRest meditation training or vacation. After the retreat, participants were asked to complete 20 minutes of home practice per day for 6 weeks; this consisted of either guided meditations (iRest) or music (vacation). Data were collected pre- and post-retreat and then 6 weeks later. Measures included depression-related variables (expectancy, depression symptoms, perceived stress, resilience, pain, sleep quality, and spirituality) and biomarkers (voice stress analysis, heart rate, heart rate variability). We found the iRest intervention for older adults with depression symptoms to be feasible and acceptable. Preliminary results at 6 weeks demonstrated improvements in sleep impairment in older adults compared to the control group and promising trends in improvements in depression symptoms and pain severity.
Dengue in the Philippines: model and analysis of parameters affecting transmission

ABSTRACT Dengue is endemic in the Philippines and poses a substantial economic burden in the country. In this work, a compartmentalized model which includes healthcare-seeking class is developed. The reproduction number is determined to investigate critical parameters influencing transmission. Partial rank correlation coefficient (PRCC) technique is performed to address how the model output is affected by changes in a specific parameter disregarding the uncertainty over the rest of the parameters. Results show that mosquito biting rate, transmission probability from mosquito to human, respectively, from human to mosquito, and fraction of individuals who seek healthcare at the onset of the disease, posted high PRCC values. In order to obtain the values for the desired parameters, the reported dengue cases by morbidity week in the Philippines for the year 2014 and 2015 are used. The reliability of parameters is then verified via parametric bootstrap.
Lung cancer biopsy: Can diagnosis be changed after immunohistochemistry when the H&E-Based morphology corresponds to a specific tumor subtype?

OBJECTIVES: Advancements in non-small cell lung cancer treatment based on targeted therapies have made the differentiation between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma increasingly important. Pathologists are challenged to make the correct diagnosis in small specimens. We studied the accuracy of an immunohistochemical panel in subclassifying non-small cell lung cancer in routine small biopsies and compared the results with the diagnosis from resected lung specimens, autopsy samples or biopsied/resected metastases. METHODS: In total, 340 lung cancer biopsies were investigated for the expression of CK5, TTF1, p63 and surfactant. RESULTS: We characterized 166 adenocarcinomas and 124 squamous cell carcinomas. Overall, 85% of cases displayed binary staining (TTF1 positive/p63 negative, and vice versa). The diagnoses of ten cases with a morphology that indicated a specific tumor subtype were changed after immunohistochemistry (IHC). A second specimen was available for 71 patients, and the first diagnosis at biopsy was confirmed in 95% of these cases. Most non-small cell lung cancer cases present a binary immunohistochemical profile in small biopsies, contributing to good diagnostic accuracy with routine markers. In a small proportion of cases, the diagnosis can be changed after IHC even when the morphological aspects indicate one specific tumor subtype. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend that routine small biopsies of lung cancer without classic morphology should be subjected to a minimum immunohistochemical panel to differentiate adenocarcinoma from squamous cell carcinoma.
A study of the application of fiberoptic bronchoscopy combined with liquid-based cytology test in the early diagnosis of lung cancer

Application value of fiberoptic bronchoscopy combined with liquid-based cytology test (LCT) in the early diagnosis of lung cancer was investigated. Clinical data of 901 patients who had suspicious lung space-occupying lesions and underwent bronchoscopy combined with LCT in Shanxi Provincial Cancer Hospital from June 2012 to June 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into four groups to receive different fiberoptic bronchoscopies combined with LCT. Patients in Group A (n=276) received bronchoscopic washing cultures (BWC), Group B (n=204) received bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), Group C (n=187) underwent endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) and Group D (n=234) underwent transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB). All patients received pathological biopsy to confirm the lesions. The diagnostic results of lung cancer and the incidence rates of postoperative adverse reactions/complications were analyzed and compared among the four groups. Among 901 patients, 741 cases were pathologically diagnosed with lung cancer. In Group A, there were 224 cases diagnosed with lung cancer, of which 193 cases were successfully detected with a detection rate of 86.17% and a κ-value of 0.426. In Group B, 171 cases were diagnosed with lung cancer, of which 149 cases were successfully detected with a detection rate of 87.13% and a κ-value of 0.430. In Group C, 154 cases were diagnosed with lung cancer, of which 146 cases were successfully detected with a detection rate of 94.81% and a κ-value of 0.769. In Group D, 192 cases were diagnosed with lung cancer, of which 170 cases were successfully detected with a detection rate of 88.54% and a κ-value of 0.440. Therefore, we conclude that fiberoptic bronchoscopy combined with LCT technique is safe and reliable for the diagnosis of the early-stage lung cancer.
Pornography Consumption, Modality and Function in a Large Internet Sample

Pornography consumption research often contains measurement inconsistencies that make the literature difficult to integrate. We investigated measurement issues relating to four key areas of pornography research simultaneously in a single data set: (a) differential endorsement across commonly used pornography consumption measures; (b) common modalities of pornography use (e.g., pictures, videos); (c) function of pornography use; and (d) association of age and gender with the above. The sample (n = 1,392) of adults in the United States was collected using Amazon Mechanical Turk and included a much wider age range (ages 18–73) than in typical pornography research. Using all modalities of pornography, 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women herein reported having consumed pornography in the past month. The three primary modalities of pornography consumed were written pornography, pictures, and videos. Videos were consumed most often, but women were much more likely to consume written pornography than men. The primary function of viewing pornography was to enhance masturbation, but notably there was endorsement of many other uses. Cross-sectional age trends and gender differences are discussed with suggestions for future research. Empirical concerns for research in pornography are addressed, with special attention to considerations for estimates of pornography consumption rates and research definitions of pornography.
Exercise rehabilitation programmes for pulmonary hypertension: a systematic review of intervention components and reporting quality

Objectives To identify the components, and assess the reporting quality, of exercise training interventions for people living with pulmonary hypertension. Design Systematic review with analysis of intervention reporting quality using the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT). Data sources Eligible studies in the Cochrane Systematic Review of exercise-based rehabilitation for pulmonary hypertension, updated with a new search of relevant databases from 1 August 2016 to 15 January 2018. Eligibility criteria Peer-reviewed journal articles of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials, and non-controlled prospective observational studies, investigating dynamic exercise training interventions in adult humans with diagnosed pulmonary hypertension, reporting on at least one physiological and/or psychosocial outcome. Results Interventions typically involved cycle ergometry and walking. They were delivered as 3-week inpatient, or outpatient and/or home-based programmes, lasting for 4–15 weeks. Components relating specifically to exercise prescription were described satisfactorily and in more detail than motivational/behavioural change strategies, adherence and fidelity. Mean CERT score was 13.1 (range 8–17) out of a possible maximum score of 19. No studies fully reported every aspect of an exercise intervention to the standard recommended by CERT. Summary/conclusion Considerable variability was evident in the components and reporting quality of interventions for exercise rehabilitation studies in pulmonary hypertension. Interventional studies using exercise training should pay greater attention to describing motivational/behavioural change strategies, adherence and fidelity. Detailed description of these parameters is essential for the safe and effective replication of exercise rehabilitation interventions for pulmonary hypertension in clinical practice. Trial registration number CRD42018085558.
The Plant Proteinase Inhibitor CrataBL Plays a Role in Controlling Asthma Response in Mice

Background. CrataBL is a protein isolated from Crataeva tapia bark. It has been shown to exhibit several biological properties, including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antitumor, and insecticidal activities. There are no studies evaluating the role of CrataBL in experimental asthma models. Aim. To evaluate the effects of CrataBL on lung mechanics, inflammation, remodeling, and oxidative stress activation of mice with allergic pulmonary inflammation. Materials and Methods. BALB/c mice (6-7 weeks old, 25-30g) were divided into four groups: nonsensitized and nontreated mice (C group, n=8); ovalbumin- (OVA-) sensitized and nontreated mice (OVA group, n=8); nonsensitized and CrataBL-treated mice (C+CR group, n=8); OVA-sensitized and CrataBL-treated mice (OVA+CR group, n=8). We evaluated hyperresponsiveness to methacholine, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), pulmonary inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and oxidative stress markers. Results. CrataBL treatment in OVA-sensitized mice (OVA+CR group) attenuated the following variables compared to OVA-sensitized mice without treatment (OVA group) (all p<0.05): (1) respiratory system resistance (Rrs) and elastance (Ers) after methacholine challenge; (2) total cells, macrophages, polymorphonuclear cells, and lymphocytes in BALF; (3) eosinophils and volume fraction of collagen and elastic fibers in the airway and alveolar wall according to histopathological and morphometry analysis; (4) IL-4-, IL-5-, IL-13-, IL-17-, IFN-γ-, MMP-9-, TIMP-1-, TGF-β-, iNOS-, and NF-kB-positive cells and volume of 8-iso-PGF2α in airway and alveolar septa according to immunohistochemistry; and (5) IL-4, IL-5, and IFN-γ according to an ELISA. Conclusion. CrataBL contributes to the control of hyperresponsiveness, pulmonary inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and oxidative stress responses in an animal model of chronic allergic pulmonary inflammation.
Learning to Predict Lane Changes in Highway Scenarios Using Dynamic Filters On a Generic Traffic Representation

In highway driving scenarios it is important for highly automated driving systems to be able to recognize and predict the intended maneuvers of other drivers in order to make robust and informed decisions. Many methods utilize the current kinematics of vehicles to make these predictions, but it is possible to examine the relations between vehicles as well to gain more information about the traffic scene and make more accurate predictions. The work presented in this paper proposes a novel method of predicting lane change maneuvers in highway scenarios using deep learning and a generic visual representation of the traffic scene. Experimental results suggest that by operating on the visual representation, the spacial relations between arbitrary vehicles can be captured by our method and used for more informed predictions without the need for explicit dynamic or driver interaction models. The proposed method is evaluated on highway driving scenarios using the Interstate-80 dataset and compared to a kinematics based prediction model, with results showing that the proposed method produces more robust predictions across the prediction horizon than the comparison model.
Mastery Achievement of Intellectual Skills

"ABSTRACT In an investigation of the improvement of mastery learning techniques through instruction based on a validated learning hierarchy, it was found that it was highly effective to present tasks in a sequence consistent with the requirements of the hierarchy, and to require learners to demonstrate clearly their achievement of each task in turn before being allowed to proceed to the next. With this technique, nearly all of a group of relatively young students were able to perform the skill better than a group of students three grades higher who had been taught the skill as part of their normal lessons.
Incremental Verification of Complex Event Processing Applications for System Monitoring

Complex Event Processing (CEP) facilitates monitoring large-scale, distributed systems. CEP applications analyze real-time streams of events to detect patterns that indicate problems that may require an adaptation of the running system. Like for any software system, developers may introduce faults when designing and implementing CEP applications. Such faults may imply that true problems may not be detected during systems operation, or false alarms may be raised even though no problem exists. Therefore, verifying the CEP application during design time is critical to ensure correct system monitoring at run-time. To address the scalability problem of verifying CEP applications, we propose an incremental verification approach building on recent advances in model checking. Results of an initial evaluation indicate under which assumptions our approach scales better than standard model checking.
α-Linolenic acid prevents hepatic steatosis and improves glucose tolerance in mice fed a high-fat diet

OBJECTIVES: Dietary omega-3 fatty acids have been efficacious in decreasing serum cholesterol levels and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the metabolic and molecular changes induced by the omega-3 fatty acid α-linolenic acid (ALA), which is found in linseed oil, are not fully understood. In this study, we showed a correlation between ALA and insulin resistance, inflammation and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). METHODS: We studied 40 male mice (C57/BL6) divided into 4 groups: a control (C) group, a control + omega-3/ALA (CA) group, a high-fat diet (HFD) (H) group and a high-fat diet + omega-3/ALA (HA) group. For 8 weeks, the animals in the H and HA groups were fed a high-fat (60%) diet, while the animals in the C and CA groups received regular chow. The diets of the CA and HA groups were supplemented with 10% lyophilized ALA. RESULTS: ALA supplementation improved glucose tolerance and reduced insulin resistance, as measured by intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests and the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance, respectively. In addition, ALA reduced hepatic steatosis and modified the standard fat concentration in the liver of animals fed an HFD. Dietary ALA supplementation reduced the serum levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), increased the expression of important chaperones such as binding immunoglobulin protein (BIP) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and reduced the expression of C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) and X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) in hepatic tissues, suggesting an ERS adaptation in response to ALA supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary ALA supplementation is effective in preventing hepatic steatosis; is associated with a reduction in insulin resistance, inflammation and ERS; and represents an alternative for improving liver function and obtaining metabolic benefits.
3′-Deoxy-3′-[18F]Fluorothymidine Positron Emission Tomography Depicts Heterogeneous Proliferation Pathology in Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Patient Lung: A Potential Biomarker for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Background: Pulmonary vascular cell hyperproliferation is characteristic of pulmonary vascular remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension. A noninvasive imaging biomarker is needed to track the pathology and assess the response to novel treatments targeted at resolving the structural changes. Here, we evaluated the application of radioligand 3′-deoxy-3′-[18F]-fluorothymidine (18FLT) using positron emission tomography. Methods and Results: We performed dynamic 18FLT positron emission tomography in 8 patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and applied in-depth kinetic analysis with a reversible 2-compartment 4k model. Our results show significantly increased lung 18FLT phosphorylation (k3) in patients with IPAH compared with nonpulmonary arterial hypertension controls (0.086±0.034 versus 0.054±0.009 min−1; P<0.05). There was heterogeneity in the lung 18FLT signal both between patients with IPAH and within the lungs of each patient, compatible with histopathologic reports of lungs from patients with IPAH. Consistent with 18FLT positron emission tomographic data, TK1 (thymidine kinase 1) expression was evident in the remodeled vessels in IPAH patient lung. In addition, hyperproliferative pulmonary vascular fibroblasts isolated from patients with IPAH exhibited upregulated expression of TK1 and the thymidine transporter, ENT1 (equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1). In the monocrotaline and SuHx (Sugen hypoxia) rat pulmonary arterial hypertension models, increased lung 18FLT uptake was strongly associated with peripheral pulmonary vascular muscularization and the proliferation marker, Ki-67 score, together with prominent TK1 expression in remodeled vessels. Importantly, lung 18FLT uptake was attenuated by 2 antiproliferative treatments: dichloroacetate and the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, imatinib. Conclusions: Dynamic 18FLT positron emission tomography imaging can be used to report hyperproliferation in pulmonary hypertension and merits further study to evaluate response to treatment in patients with IPAH.
Magnetism at Depth: A View from an Ancient Continental Subduction and Collision Zone

Recent sophisticated global data compilations and magnetic surveys have been used to investigate the nature of magnetization in the lower crust and upper mantle. Two approaches to constraining magnetizations are developed, providing minimum (0.01 SI) and maximum (0.04 SI) susceptibility estimates, given some assumed thickness (15+ km here). These values are higher than are found in many continental rocks. Are there rocks deeper in the crust or upper mantle that are more magnetic than expected, or are the model assumptions incomplete? What is the magnetic behavior of deep‐crustal and upper mantle rocks, when slightly cooler than the Curie or Néel temperatures of their magnetic minerals, after being exhumed from locations of high‐grade metamorphism at greater depth? Different sets of equilibrium metamorphic minerals can be considered that would form under different conditions. Results on 1,501 samples from the Western Gneiss Region (WGR) Norway, mainly from mafic and ultramafic bodies subducted to depths of 60–200 km and temperatures of 750 up to 950°C at the very highest pressures, show that rocks did not fully equilibrate to the dominant metamorphic‐facies conditions. There is a large variation in petrophysical properties, oxide minerals, and mineral assemblages in WGR samples, though they cannot explain the broad high‐amplitude (deep‐seated) anomalies measured in this region. The presence of magnetite, and exsolved titanohematite and hemoilmenite in samples, shows those magnetic phases are preserved even at eclogite‐facies conditions, in part because complete eclogite‐facies equilibrium was rarely achieved.