Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abnormal Functional Connectivity in Cognitive Control Network, Default Mode Network, and Visual Attention Network in Internet Addiction: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Internet addiction (IA) has become a global mental and social problem, which may lead to a series of psychiatric symptoms including uncontrolled use of internet, and lack of concentration. However, the exact pathophysiology of IA remains unclear. Most of functional connectivity studies were based on pre-selected regions of interest (ROI), which could not provide a comprehensive picture of the communication abnormalities in IA, and might lead to limited or bias observations. Using local functional connectivity density (lFCD), this study aimed to explore the whole-brain abnormalities of functional connectivity in IA. We evaluated the whole-brain lFCD resulting from resting-state fMRI data in 28 IA individuals and 30 demographically matched healthy control subjects (HCs). The correlations between clinical characteristics and aberrant lFCD were also assessed. Compared with HCs, subjects with IA exhibited heightened lFCD values in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), and cerebellum, and the bilateral middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and superior temporal pole (STP), as well as decreased lFCD values in the right inferior parietal lobe (IPL), and bilateral calcarine and lingual gyrus. Voxel-based correlation analysis revealed the significant correlations between the Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) score and altered lFCD values in the left PHG and bilateral STP. These findings revealed the hyper-connectivity in cognitive control network and default mode network as well as the hypo-connectivity in visual attention network, verifying the common mechanism in IA and substance addiction, and the underlying association between IA, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in terms of neurobiology.
Ticagrelor versus clopidogrel in the management of acute myocardial infarction

ABSTRACT Hypothesis: In the care of acute myocardial infarction, ticagrelor attenuates post-ischemic myocardial damage and inhibits platelet activity to a greater extent than clopidogrel. Methods: Scholarly articles published in the last 10 years were compiled from a PubMed MeSH search focusing on acute coronary infarction and the antiplatelet therapies clopidogrel and ticagrelor. The databases used were PubMed, Google Scholar, Dynamed, and EBSCOhost. Eight articles were chosen based on subject matter related to the hypothesis, including cardioprotective effects, mortality benefits, platelet reactivity, angiographic effects, and electrocardiography changes. Results: Evidence from randomized clinical trials demonstrates that ticagrelor reduces infarct size, prevents remodeling, and reduces mortality rate after acute myocardial infarction to a greater extent than clopidogrel. However, some angiography studies show no difference between the two treatment regimes. Two articles show that ticagrelor is more effective in treating individuals with high platelet reactivity (HPR). In addition, there is some evidence of increased dyspnea and significant bleeding with ticagrelor. Discussion: Although there is growing evidence that ticagrelor is the better antiplatelet drug post-acute coronary infarction, more research needs to be done to determine the situations in which ticagrelor provides the optimal treatment regime in regards to cardioprotective effects, antiplatelet effects and an overall decrease in mortality. Conclusion: Ticagrelor was found to be superior to clopidogrel in relation to cardioprotective effects, mortality, and antiplatelet activity.
Comparative analysis of APACHE-II and P-POSSUM scoring systems in predicting postoperative mortality in patients undergoing emergency laparotomy

BACKGROUND Laparotomy remains one of the commonest emergency surgical procedures. Early prognostic evaluation would aid in selecting the high-risk patients for an aggressive treatment. Awareness about risks could potentially contribute to the quality of perioperative care and optimum utilization of resources. Portsmouth modification of Physiological and operative severity for the enumeration of mortality and morbidity (P-POSSUM) and the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE-II) have been the most widely used scoring systems for emergency laparotomies. It is always better to have a single scoring system to predict outcomes and audit healthcare organizations. AIM To compare the ability of APACHE-II and P-POSSUM to predict postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing emergency laparotomy. METHODS All patients undergoing emergency laparotomy at the Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur between December 2013 and November 2014 were included in the study. In this observational study, P-POSSUM and APACHE-II scoring were done, and the outcome analysis evaluated with mortality being the primary outcome. RESULTS For P-POSSUM, at a cut off value of 63 to predict mortality using receiver operating characteristics curve analysis, the area under the curve was 0.989; and for APACHE-II, at the cut off value of 24, the area under the curve was 0.965. CONCLUSION Because the ability of APACHE-II to predict mortality was similar to P-POSSUM and APACHE-II does not need scoring for intra-operative findings and histopathology reports, APACHE-II can be used pre-operatively to assess the risk in patients undergoing emergency laparotomy. However, for audit purposes, either of the two scoring systems can be used.
Correlation between transabdominal ultrasound features of ectopic gestation and surgical findings at the university college hospital, Ibadan: A preliminary review

Introduction: Ectopic pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa has an incidence of 1%-5% of all deliveries and 5%-10% of all gynaecological admissions. The fallopian tube is the most common site of occurrence of an ectopic pregnancy and ruptured ectopic is the commonest variety seen in low resource settings. Materials and Method: This is a 2-year retrospective diagnostic accuracy test of transabdominal ultrasonographic findings in ectopic pregnancy, using surgical findings as the gold-standard. The study was conducted at the Radiology Department of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2014. Radiological request cards of 41 women who were clinically suspected to have an ectopic pregnancy and had a transabdominal ultrasound scan were retrieved, however, only 34 were suitable for analysis. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 (Chicago, IL, USA). A P value of <0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. Results: The ages of the women ranged between 20 and 40 years with a mean age of 29.94 ± 5.06 years. The mean gestational age at time of scan was 44.8 days (6 weeks + 3 days). Out of 34 patients reviewed in this study, 29 had surgical interventions in the course of their management and 26 had ectopic gestation confirmed at surgery. This study found a Sensitivity of 88.4%, Specificity of 37.5% and Positive and Negative predictive values of 82.1% and 50%, respectively. Conclusion: This preliminary study suggests that transabdominal ultrasonography is a useful and reliable means of diagnosing ectopic pregnancy particularly in low-resource settings where availability and or technical skill for transvaginal ultrasonography is not readily available.
Effectiveness of core stability exercises in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain: A review of randomized controlled trials

Individual studies have shown that core stability exercise (CSE) program is effective at improving pain and function in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain (LBP) and the use of this intervention has become increasingly popular. However, there is still a further need for systematic review to infer the precise efficacy of CSEs for chronic nonspecific LBP (CNLBP). The aim of this study was to systematically review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of CSEs in patients with CNLBP. A systematic review of RCTs was done using published articles. Recognized databases such as CINAHL, AMED, MEDLINE, PEDro, and The Cochrane Library were used to search for RCTs published between 2010 and 2015 in which pain and disability were evaluated as outcomes. Methodological quality was assessed using the PEDro scale. Six studies met the criteria for this review. The included studies randomised participants into two different exercise groups. All studies had PEDro scores of >5/10. Five out of the six studies showed benefits of CSEs over other intervention or control for pain and disability while the other study shows both CSEs and traditional trunk exercises to be effective. The result of this review supports the effectiveness of CSEs at improving pain and disability in patients with CNLBP. Further studies with robust methodology are warranted to assess the longterm effects of this intervention in patients with CNLBP.
C-Reactive Protein Promotes the Expansion of Myeloid Derived Cells With Suppressor Functions

Previously we established that human C-reactive protein (CRP) exacerbates mouse acute kidney injury and that the effect was associated with heightened renal accumulation of myeloid derived cells with suppressor functions (MDSC). Herein we provide direct evidence that CRP modulates the development and suppressive actions of MDSCs in vitro. We demonstrate that CRP dose-dependently increases the generation of MDSC from wild type mouse bone marrow progenitors and enhances MDSC production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (iROS). When added to co-cultures, CRP significantly enhanced the ability of MDSCs to suppress CD3/CD28-stimulated T cell proliferation. Experiments using MDSCs from FcγRIIB deficient mice (FcγRIIB−/−) showed that CRP's ability to expand MDSCs and trigger their increased production of iROS was FcγRIIB-independent, whereas its ability to enhance the MDSC T cell suppressive action was FcγRIIB-dependent. Importantly, CRP also enabled freshly isolated primary human neutrophils to suppress proliferation of autologous T cells. These findings suggest that CRP might be an endogenous regulator of MDSC numbers and actions in vivo.
Multi-Laboratory Hazard Assessment of Contaminated Microplastic Particles by Means of Enhanced Fish Embryo Test With the Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

As wide-spread pollutants in the marine environment, microplastics (MPs) have raised public concern about potential toxic effects in aquatic organisms, and, among others, MPs were suspected to act as a vector for organic pollutants to biota. The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects by three model pollutants, oxybenzone (BP3), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) adsorbed to polyethylene MPs on the basis of a standard assay, the acute fish embryo toxicity test (FET; OECD TG 236) with zebrafish (Danio rerio) supplemented by additional endpoints such as induction of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, modification of cyp1a gene transcription and changes in larval swimming behavior. FET assays were performed in three laboratories using slightly different husbandry and exposure conditions, which, however, were all fully compatible with the limits defined by OECD TG 236. This allowed for testing of potential changes in the FET assay due to protocol variations. The standard endpoints of the FET (acute embryotoxicity) did not reveal any acute toxicity for both virgin MPs and MPs spiked with BP3, BaP and PFOS. With respect to sublethal endpoints, EROD activity was increased after exposure to MPs spiked with BP3 (3 h pulse) and MPs spiked with BaP (96 h continuous exposure). Cyp1a transcription was increased upon exposure to MPs spiked with BP3 or BaP. For the selected combination of MPs particles and contaminants, the basic FET proved not sensitive enough to reveal effects of (virgin and spiked) MPs. However, given that the FET can easily be supplemented by a broad variety of more subtle and sensitive endpoints, an enhanced FET protocol may provide a relevant approach with developmental stages of a vertebrate animal model, which is not protected by current EU animal welfare legislation (Directive EU 2010/63).
Universal Newborn Screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)

Patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) are born with profound deficiency of functional T-lymphocytes. Early detection and diagnosis would allow for prompt institution of isolation from infection and referral for definitive treatment with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Universal newborn screening for SCID, using an assay to detect T-cell receptor excision circles (TREC) in dried blood spots (DBS), is now being performed in all states in the United States. In this review, we discuss the development and outcomes of TREC screening, and continued challenges to implementation.
Handicapping Males Does Not Affect Their Rate of Parental Provisioning, but Impinges on Their Partners' Turn Taking Behavior

Parents in biparental bird species have a conflict about how much each of them should invest in the current brood to optimize their reproductive success while not being exploited. Recently, it has been hypothesized that parents might attempt to resolve this conflict via taking turns in their provisioning visits. This implies that an individual will increase its working rate when their partner does, and that they will react with a delay in feeding if the partner starts delaying its visit. Experimental studies testing whether turn taking represents a behavioral strategy are surprisingly scarce and focus on the outcome of turn taking which are alternated visits. However, the adaptive significance of turn taking strongly relies on the response to a partner that increases or reduces care. Therefore, we investigate whether parents use the turn taking rules by performing an experimental manipulation on only one of the parents. To this end, we handicapped male blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) by feather clipping and recorded parental feeding behavior. Surprisingly, handicapped males did not have lower visit rates or altered turn taking levels, whilst their female partners had higher visit rates and lower turn taking levels when compared to the control. Females responded to the handicap of their partners, which likely reduced the males’ parental capacity, but the females’ response was independent of the males’ rate of provisioning. Our study highlights that behavioral strategies are flexible within pairs and that these can change at the individual level in response to sudden changes in individual state.
An online infertility clinical decision support system

The future of medicine and healthcare cannot be imagined without considering an extensive use of computer applications. As a matter of fact, computers are already present in the daily lives of physicians, as well as in the routines of other healthcare professionals[1-5]. Computer applications can be used as tools to assist healthcare professionals in delivering better and safer healthcare services to patients, and also as an aide for their professional development and training. In fact, recent publications have discussed some types of computer applications in medicine that have showed potential to improve the quality of healthcare delivered to patients and reduce the occurrence of medical errors and adverse drug events[1-5]. Some examples of computer applications in medicine and healthcare are: electronic medical records, bar-code-enabled & point-of-care systems, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems, automated medication administration records, and clinical decision support systems (CDSS)[1-5]. Electronic medical records are computerized medical information systems that collect, store and display patient information, and Objective: To explore some possibilities of computer applications in medicine, and to discuss an online infertility clinical decision support system. Methods: Retrospective data were obtained from 52 couples, and then entered into the online tool. Both its results and the initial diagnoses obtained by the treating physicians were compared with the final diagnoses established by laparoscopy and other diagnostic tests (semen analysis, hormone analysis, endometrial biopsy, ultrasound and hysteroscopy). The initial hypothesis of the research was that the online tool’s output was statistically associated with the final diagnoses. In order to verify that hypothesis, a chi-square (氈) test with Yates’ correction for continuity (P<0.05) was performed to verify if the online tool’s and the doctor’s diagnoses were statistically associated with the final diagnoses. Results: Four etiological factors were present in more than 50% of the couples (ovarian, tubal-peritoneal, uterine, and endometriosis). The statistical results confirmed the research hypothesis for eight out of the nine etiological factors (ovarian, tubal-peritoneal, uterine, cervical, male, vaginal, psychosomatic, and endometriosis; P<0.05). Since there were no cases related to the immune factor in the sample, further clinical data are necessary in order to assess the online tool’s performance for that factor. Conclusions: The online tool tends to present more false-positives than false-negatives, whereas the expert physician tends to present more false-negatives than false-positives. Therefore, the online tool and the doctor seem to complement each other. Finally, the obtained results suggest that the infertility online tool discussed herein might be a useful research and instructional tool. Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction 2017; 6(5): 221-225
Core Self-Evaluation and Work Engagement: Moderated Mediation Model of Career Adaptability and Job Insecurity

This study examined the moderated mediation roles of job insecurity through career adaptability on the relation between core self-evaluation (CSE) and work engagement. A total of 335 Korean full-time employees who had been employed for <3 years responded to the questionnaire survey. Excluding missing data and outliers, data from 324 participants (men = 82, women = 242) were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and SPSS PROCESS Macro. The results indicated that job insecurity moderated the indirect association between CSE and work engagement via career adaptability. This study further expanded the understanding of newly employed employees’ adaptation. Implications and limitations of the study and suggestions for further study were discussed.
Toward the Existence of a Sympathetic Neuroplasticity Adaptive Mechanism Influencing the Immune Response. A Hypothetical View—Part II

In the preceding work, a hypothesis on the existence of a specific neural plasticity program from sympathetic fibers innervating secondary lymphoid organs was introduced. This proposed adaptive mechanism would involve segmental retraction and degeneration of noradrenergic terminals during the immune system (IS) activation followed by regeneration once the IS returns to the steady-state. Starting from such view, this second part presents clinical and experimental evidence allowing to envision that this sympathetic neural plasticity mechanism is also operative on inflamed non-lymphoid peripheral tissues. Importantly, the sympathetic nervous system regulates most of the physiological bodily functions, ranging from cardiovascular, respiratory and gastro-intestinal functions to endocrine and metabolic ones, among others. Thus, it seems sensible to think that compensatory programs should be put into place during inflammation in non-lymphoid tissues as well, to avoid the possible detrimental consequences of a sympathetic blockade. Nevertheless, in many pathological scenarios like severe sepsis, chronic inflammatory diseases, or maladaptive immune responses, such compensatory programs against noradrenergic transmission impairment would fail to develop. This would lead to a manifest sympathetic dysfunction in the above-mentioned settings, partly accounting for their underlying pathophysiological basis; which is also discussed. The physiological/teleological significance for the whole neural plasticity process is postulated, as well.
Neurobehavioral Interpersonal Synchrony in Early Development: The Role of Interactional Rhythms

Social interactions are essential for understanding others’ actions and their mental and affective states. Specifically, interpersonal coordination – also referred to as synchrony – allows actors to adjust their behaviors to one another and thus demonstrate their connectedness to each other. Much behavioral research has demonstrated the primacy of mutually synchronized social exchanges in early development. Additionally, new methodological advances now allow us to examine interpersonal synchrony not only at the behavioral and physiological but also neural level. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how infants and their caregivers actually achieve interpersonal synchrony in their exchanges. Here we discuss recent evidence showing that adults provide rhythmical information during early social interactions with their infants, such as affective touch and singing. We propose that entrainment to these social rhythms underlies the formation of interpersonal synchrony and thus stimulates reciprocal interactions between infants and their caregivers.
Transcriptomics Analysis of Porcine Caudal Dorsal Root Ganglia in Tail Amputated Pigs Shows Long-Term Effects on Many Pain-Associated Genes

Tail amputation by tail docking or as an extreme consequence of tail biting in commercial pig production potentially has serious implications for animal welfare. Tail amputation causes peripheral nerve injury that might be associated with lasting chronic pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the short- and long-term effects of tail amputation in pigs on caudal DRG gene expression at different stages of development, particularly in relation to genes associated with nociception and pain. Microarrays were used to analyse whole DRG transcriptomes from tail amputated and sham-treated pigs 1, 8, and 16 weeks following tail treatment at either 3 or 63 days of age (8 pigs/treatment/age/time after treatment; n = 96). Tail amputation induced marked changes in gene expression (up and down) compared to sham-treated intact controls for all treatment ages and time points after tail treatment. Sustained changes in gene expression in tail amputated pigs were still evident 4 months after tail injury. Gene correlation network analysis revealed two co-expression clusters associated with amputation: Cluster A (759 down-regulated) and Cluster B (273 up-regulated) genes. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis identified 124 genes in Cluster A and 61 genes in Cluster B associated with both “inflammatory pain” and “neuropathic pain. ” In Cluster A, gene family members of ion channels e.g., voltage-gated potassium channels (VGPC) and receptors e.g., GABA receptors, were significantly down-regulated compared to shams, both of which are linked to increased peripheral nerve excitability after axotomy. Up-regulated gene families in Cluster B were linked to transcriptional regulation, inflammation, tissue remodeling, and regulatory neuropeptide activity. These findings, demonstrate that tail amputation causes sustained transcriptomic expression changes in caudal DRG cells involved in inflammatory and neuropathic pain pathways.