Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
"The Thrill of Victory . . . and the Agony of Defeat": Passion and Emotional Reactions to Success and Failure Among Recreational Golfers.

The dualistic model of passion proposes two distinct forms of passion: obsessive (OP) and harmonious (HP). The purpose of this research was to test if emotional reactivity following athletic successes and failures was related to one's levels of HP and OP for sport. The authors recruited recreational golfers (N = 115) to report how they typically felt after they experienced successes and failures on the golf course. Results of multilevel modeling analyses supported the hypotheses and revealed that OP moderated the effects of success and failure on both positive and negative affect: OP was associated with higher levels of positive affect following success, as well as higher levels of negative affect following failure. These results suggest that OP, but not HP, is associated with greater emotional reactivity to the experience of success and failure in sport.
Outcomes of very high‐risk prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy: Validation study from 3 centers

Among men with localized high‐risk prostate cancer (PCa), patients who meet very high‐risk (VHR) criteria have been shown to experience worse outcomes after radical prostatectomy (RP) in a previous study. Variations of VHR criteria have been suggested to be prognostic in other single‐center cohorts, but multicenter outcomes validating VHR criteria have not been described. This study was designed to validate VHR criteria for identifying which PCa patients are at greatest risk for cancer progression.
No-Frills Human-Object Interaction Detection: Factorization, Appearance and Layout Encodings, and Training Techniques

We show that with an appropriate factorization, and encodings of layout and appearance constructed from outputs of pretrained object detectors, a relatively simple model outperforms more sophisticated approaches on human-object interaction detection. Our model includes factors for detection scores, human and object appearance, and coarse (box-pair configuration) and optionally fine-grained layout (human pose). We also develop training techniques that improve learning efficiency by: (i) eliminating train-inference mismatch; (ii) rejecting easy negatives during mini-batch training; and (iii) using a ratio of negatives to positives that is two orders of magnitude larger than existing approaches while constructing training mini-batches. We conduct a thorough ablation study to understand the importance of different factors and training techniques using the challenging HICO-Det dataset.
“TRPV1 is a component of the atrial natriuretic signaling complex, and using orally delivered antagonists, presents a valid therapeutic target in the longitudinal reversal and treatment of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure”

ABSTRACT Activation of the atrial natriuretic signaling pathway is intrinsic to the pathological responses associated with a range of cardiovascular diseases that stress the heart, especially those involved in sustained cardiac pressure overload which induces hypertrophy and the pathological remodeling that frequently leads to heart failure. We identify transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily V, member 1, as a regulated molecular component, and therapeutic target of this signaling system. Data show that TRPV1 is a physical component of the natriuretic peptide A, cGMP, PKG signaling complex, interacting with the Natriuretic Peptide Receptor 1 (NPR1), and upon binding its ligand, Natriuretic Peptide A (NPPA, ANP) TRPV1 activation is subsequently suppressed through production of cGMP and PKG mediated phosphorylation of the TRPV1 channel. Further, inhibition of TRPV1, with orally delivered drugs, suppresses chamber and myocyte hypertrophy, and can longitudinally improve in vivo heart function in mice exposed to chronic pressure overload induced by transverse aortic constriction, reversing pre-established hypertrophy induced by pressure load while restoring chamber function. TRPV1 is a physical and regulated component of the natriuretic peptide signaling system, and TRPV1 inhibition may provide a new treatment strategy for treating, and reversing the loss of function associated with cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.
MicroRNA‐141 binds to the nerve growth factor receptor associated protein 1 gene and restores the erectile function of diabetic rats through down‐regulating the nerve growth factor/neurotrophin receptor p75 (NGF/p75NTR) signaling

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the major complications in diabetes mellitus (DM). We have previously reported that the nerve growth factor (NGF)/tyrosine kinase receptor (TrkA) signaling is actively involved in DM‐induced ED (DMED). Here, we investigate the effect of micro‐RNA‐141 (miR‐141) on the NGF/p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) signaling and erectile function of diabetic rats.
The effect of omalizumab treatment on IgE and other immunoglobulin levels in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria and its association with treatment response

Introduction Suppression of free immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and an increase in total IgE levels are observed during omalizumab treatment. However, whether omalizumab has any effect on other immunoglobulins is unknown. Aim To investigate the effect of omalizumab treatment on serum IgE and other immunoglobulins, and demonstrate any association with response to treatment in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). Material and methods The study included 41 patients diagnosed with CSU. Baseline and post-12-week-treatment total IgE, IgA, IgM, and IgG levels and blood eosinophil, neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet levels were compared. Patients were grouped based on weekly urticaria activity score (UAS-7) responses and these parameters were compared. Results There was a significant increase in baseline and post-12-week-treatment total IgE levels, while there was no significant difference in other immunoglobulin levels. A significant reduction was found in neutrophil counts after the treatment, whereas there was no significant difference in eosinophil, lymphocyte and platelet levels. There was no difference in these parameters between groups with complete response and without complete response. Conclusions Omalizumab treatment can also be used in patients with immunoglobulin deficiency. Due to the observed reduction in neutrophil counts after the treatment, patients must be closely followed for whole blood parameters.
Outcome‐dependent geographic and individual variations in the access to renal transplantation in incident dialysed patients: a French nationwide cohort study

This study investigated geographical variations of access to renal transplantation using three outcomes (access to the transplant waiting list, access to renal transplantation after waitlisting and access to renal transplantation after dialysis start). Associations of patient‐related and regional variables with the studied outcomes were assessed using a Cox shared frailty model and a Fine and Gray model. At the study endpoint (December 31, 2015), 26.3% of all 18–90‐year‐old patients who started dialysis in the 22 mainland and four overseas French regions in 2012 (n = 9312) were waitlisted and 15.1% received a kidney transplant. The geographical disparities of access to renal transplantation varied according to the studied outcome. Patients from the Ile‐de‐France region had the highest probability of being waitlisted, but were less likely to receive a kidney transplant. Two regional factors were associated with the access to the waiting list and to renal transplantation from dialysis start: the incidence of preemptive kidney transplantation and of ESRD. The use of different outcomes to evaluate access to kidney transplantation could help healthcare policy‐makers to select the most appropriate interventions for each region in order to reduce treatment disparities.
Association of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration with Pulmonary Function in Young Adults

The role of vitamin D on pulmonary function is unclear and is mostly studied in patients, smokers and elderly people. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and pulmonary function in young adults. Cross-sectional analysis of 499 individuals that were evaluated at 21 years of age as part of the population-based cohort Epidemiological Health Investigation of Teenagers in Porto (EPITeen). Serum 25(OH)D was categorized according to the Institute of Medicine. Pulmonary function was evaluated using spirometry. Linear regression models were used to estimate the regression coefficients (β) and its 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), and were adjusted for confounders. Education, smoking, body mass index, and season of evaluation were determinants of serum 25(OH)D concentration. Prevalence of serum 25(OH)D concentration <50 nmol/L was 48.9%. A decrease in all pulmonary function parameters, with the decrease of serum 25(OH)D, was observed. The higher effect was found for peak expiratory flow (PEF). Having as reference participants with serum 25(OH)D concentration ≥50 nmol/L, PEF was significantly lower for those with a concentration of 30 to <50 nmol/L (β= −0.576; 95% CI: −0.943, −0.210), and for those with a concentration of <30 nmol/L (β= −0.650; 95% CI: −1.155, −0.146). Although only PEF attained statistical significance, the consistent results with the other parameters support the role of serum 25(OH)D to promote better pulmonary function in young adults.
A mixed method study evaluating the integration of pregnancy weight gain charts into antenatal care.

Monitoring pregnancy weight can reduce excess gestational weight gain (GWG), and is recommended in clinical practice guidelines as part of routine care. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of routine weight monitoring using a pregnancy weight gain chart (PWGC), and assess health care professionals (HCPs) and pregnant women's attitudes and practices around its use. A semiquantitative survey was conducted with a consecutive sample of antenatal women at 16 and 36 weeks gestation. Women were weighed, and a PWGC audit done at 36 weeks gestation to assess adherence to chart use and GWG. A cross-sectional survey of antenatal HCPs at the Australian facility assessed staff attitudes and practices relating to weight monitoring and PWGC use. Of the 291 women surveyed, 68% reported being given a PWGC. Of the audited PWGCs (n = 258), 54% had less than three weights recorded, 36% had errors, and 3% were unused. All HCPs surveyed (n = 42) were aware of the PWGC, 63% reported using it to track GWG regularly and 26% believed it to be only the woman's responsibility (i.e., not the midwife's role) to complete it. Seventy-six percent reported they needed more training in counselling pregnant women, and insufficient time was a main barrier to weighing and conversing with women. It is feasible to implement a PWGC into routine antenatal care. Clarity over women's and HCPs responsibility for monitoring GWG and completion of the PWGC is needed. Training on correct PWGC use and counselling and workforce engagement are required to overcome barriers and support healthy GWG.
Desensitizing plant EPSP synthase to glyphosate: Optimized global sequence context accommodates a glycine-to-alanine change in the active site

5-Enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) catalyzes the transfer of a carboxyvinyl group from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to shikimate-3-phosphate and in plants is the target of the herbicide glyphosate. EPSPSs with high catalytic efficiency and insensitivity to glyphosate are of microbial origin, including the enzyme from Agrobacterium strain CP4, in which insensitivity is conferred by an active site alanine. In the sequence context of plant EPSPSs, alanine in place of glycine at the equivalent position interferes with the binding of both glyphosate and PEP. We show here that iterative optimization of maize EPSPS containing the G101A substitution yielded variants on par with CP4 in terms of catalytic activity in the presence of glyphosate. The improvement relative to G101A alone was entirely due to reduction in Km for PEP from 333 to 18 μm, versus 9.5 μm for native maize EPSPS. A large portion of the reduction in Km was conferred by two down-sizing substitutions (L97C and V332A) within 8 Å of glyphosate, which together reduced Km for PEP to 43 μm. Although the original optimization was conducted with maize EPSPS, contextually homologous substitutions conferred similar properties to the EPSPSs of other crops. We also discovered a variant having the known glyphosate-desensitizing substitution P106L plus three additional ones that reduced the Km for PEP from 47 μm, observed with P106L alone, to 10.3 μm. The improvements obtained with both Ala101 and Leu106 have implications regarding glyphosate-tolerant crops and weeds.
Anticancer Activity of Natural Compounds from Plant and Marine Environment

This paper describes the substances of plant and marine origin that have anticancer properties. The chemical structure of the molecules of these substances, their properties, mechanisms of action, their structure–activity relationships, along with their anticancer properties and their potential as chemotherapeutic drugs are discussed in this paper. This paper presents natural substances from plants, animals, and their aquatic environments. These substances include the vinca alkaloids, mistletoe plant extracts, podophyllotoxin derivatives, taxanes, camptothecin, combretastatin, and others including geniposide, colchicine, artesunate, homoharringtonine, salvicine, ellipticine, roscovitine, maytanasin, tapsigargin, and bruceantin. Compounds (psammaplin, didemnin, dolastin, ecteinascidin, and halichondrin) isolated from the marine plants and animals such as microalgae, cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, invertebrates (e.g., sponges, tunicates, and soft corals) as well as certain other substances that have been tested on cells and experimental animals and used in human chemotherapy.
Enhanced Stability of DNA Oligonucleotides with Partially Zwitterionic Backbone Structures in Biological Media †

Deficient stability towards nuclease-mediated degradation is one of the most relevant tasks in the development of oligonucleotide-derived biomedical agents. This hurdle can be overcome through modifications to the native oligonucleotide backbone structure, with the goal of simultaneously retaining the unique hybridization properties of nucleic acids. The nucleosyl amino acid (NAA)-modification is a recently introduced artificial cationic backbone linkage. Partially zwitterionic NAA-modified oligonucleotides had previously shown hybridization with DNA strands with retained base-pairing fidelity. In this study, we report the significantly enhanced stability of NAA-modified oligonucleotides towards 3′- and 5′-exonuclease-mediated degradation as well as in complex biological media such as human plasma and whole cell lysate. This demonstrates the potential versatility of the NAA-motif as a backbone modification for the development of biomedically active oligonucleotide analogues.
Autoantibody Development under Treatment with Immune-Checkpoint Inhibitors

Ipilimumab induced autoantibodies in a fifth of melanoma patients. Patients who developed autoantibodies, especially thyroid autoantibodies, experienced more irAEs and had a survival and response benefit, suggesting that breaking of B-cell tolerance could indicate therapy toxicity and efficacy. Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) activate the immune system to assault cancer cells in a manner that is not antigen specific. We hypothesized that tolerance may also be broken to autoantigens, resulting in autoantibody formation, which could be associated with immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and antitumor efficacy. Twenty-three common clinical autoantibodies in pre- and posttreatment sera from 133 ipilimumab-treated melanoma patients were determined, and their development linked to the occurrence of irAEs, best overall response, and survival. Autoantibodies developed in 19.2% (19/99) of patients who were autoantibody-negative pretreatment. A nonsignificant association was observed between development of any autoantibodies and any irAEs [OR, 2.92; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85–10.01]. Patients with antithyroid antibodies after ipilimumab had significantly more thyroid dysfunction under subsequent anti–PD-1 therapy: 7/11 (54.6%) patients with antithyroid antibodies after ipilimumab developed thyroid dysfunction under anti–PD1 versus 7/49 (14.3%) patients without antibodies (OR, 9.96; 95% CI, 1.94–51.1). Patients who developed autoantibodies showed a trend for better survival (HR for all-cause death: 0.66; 95% CI, 0.34–1.26) and therapy response (OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 0.85–8.16). We conclude that autoantibodies develop under ipilimumab treatment and could be a potential marker of ICI toxicity and efficacy.
sgx-perf: A Performance Analysis Tool for Intel SGX Enclaves

Novel trusted execution technologies such as Intel's Software Guard Extensions (SGX) are considered a cure to many security risks in clouds. This is achieved by offering trusted execution contexts, so called enclaves, that enable confidentiality and integrity protection of code and data even from privileged software and physical attacks. To utilise this new abstraction, Intel offers a dedicated Software Development Kit (SDK). While it is already used to build numerous applications, understanding the performance implications of SGX and the offered programming support is still in its infancy. This inevitably leads to time-consuming trial-and-error testing and poses the risk of poor performance. To enable the development of well-performing SGX-based applications, this paper makes the following three contributions: First, it summarises identified performance critical factors of SGX. Second, it presents sgx-perf, a collection of tools for high-level dynamic performance analysis of SGX-based applications. In particular, sgx-perf performs not only fined-grained profiling of performance critical events in enclaves but also offers recommendations on how to improve enclave performance. Third, it demonstrates how we used sgx-perf in four non-trivial SGX workloads to increase their performance by up to 2.16x.
A Spatio-Temporal Pattern and Socio-Economic Factors Analysis of Improved Sanitation in China, 2006–2015

Ensuring an adequate and safe access to sanitation is essential to prevent diseases. Using provincial spatial panel data reported in the China Health Statistical Yearbook and the China Statistical Yearbook, this paper analyzed the spatio-temporal characteristics of improved rural sanitation in 30 Chinese provinces during the period 2006–2015, and analyzed factors that may affect improved sanitation rates in rural China. Spatial autocorrelations of improved sanitation rates were computed via Global and Local Moran’s I firstly, and then, inter-provincial disparities of improved sanitation were assessed by using the Theil index estimator; finally, the spatial panel model was employed to examine the potential socio-economic factors. Spatial autocorrelations results suggested that the provincial improved sanitation rates changes affect both the provinces themselves and the adjacent regions; Analysis of the spatial panel model revealed that factors such as GDP per capita, investment proportion ratio, centralized water supply, rural residents’ expenditure were positively associated with improved sanitation rates, and illiteracy rate of people older than 15 was negatively related with improved sanitation rates. Socio-economic factors had affected the improved sanitation rates in 30 provinces in rural China. Thus, a series of policies, socio-economic measures and personal latrine literacy education should be given to improve the status of improved sanitation rates in rural China.
The Effect of Functional Home-Based Strength Training Programs on the Mechano-Morphological Properties of the Plantar Flexor Muscle-Tendon Unit in Children With Spastic Cerebral Palsy.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of functional progressive resistance training (PRT) and high-intensity circuit training (HICT) on the mechano-morphological properties of the plantar flexor muscle-tendon unit in children with spastic cerebral palsy. METHODS Twenty-two children (12.8 [2.6] y old, Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I/II = 19/3) were randomly assigned to either a PRT group or an HICT group. The interventions consisted of functional lower limb exercises, which were performed at home 3 times per week for 8 weeks. Measurements at baseline, preintervention, postintervention, and follow-up were taken to assess ankle joint range of motion and the properties of the gastrocnemius medialis, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, and Achilles tendon (eg, thickness, strength, stiffness). RESULTS Despite a nonsignificant increase in active torque in the HICT group, neither gastrocnemius medialis morphology nor Achilles tendon properties were significantly altered after the interventions. Vastus lateralis thickness increased following PRT only. CONCLUSIONS Functional home-based strength training did not lead to significant changes at the muscular level in children with cerebral palsy. We therefore assume that a more specific stimulus of higher intensity combined with a longer training duration might be necessary to evoke changes in muscles and tendons in individuals with cerebral palsy.
Antihypertensive therapy prescribing patterns and correlates of blood pressure control among hypertensive patients with chronic kidney disease

We used electronic health records (EHRs) data from 5658 ambulatory chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients with hypertension and prescribed antihypertensive therapy to examine antihypertensive drug prescribing patterns, blood pressure (BP) control, and risk factors for resistant hypertension (RHTN) in a real‐world setting. Two‐thirds of CKD patients and three‐fourths of those with proteinuria were prescribed guideline‐recommended renoprotective agents including an angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) or an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB); however, one‐third were not prescribed an ACEI or ARB. CKD patients, particularly those with stages 1‐2 CKD, who were prescribed regimens including beta‐blocker (BB) + diuretic or ACEI/ARB + BB + diuretic were more likely to have controlled BP (<140/90 mm Hg) compared to those prescribed other combinations. Risk factors for RHTN included African American race and major comorbidities. Clinicians may use these findings to tailor antihypertensive therapy to the needs of each patient, including providing CKD stage‐specific treatment, and better identify CKD patients at risk of RHTN.
SDM—a server for predicting effects of mutations on protein stability and malfunction

The sheer volume of non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms that have been generated in recent years from projects such as the Human Genome Project, the HapMap Project and Genome-Wide Association Studies means that it is not possible to characterize all mutations experimentally on the gene products, i.e. elucidate the effects of mutations on protein structure and function. However, automatic methods that can predict the effects of mutations will allow a reduced set of mutations to be studied. Site Directed Mutator (SDM) is a statistical potential energy function that uses environment-specific amino-acid substitution frequencies within homologous protein families to calculate a stability score, which is analogous to the free energy difference between the wild-type and mutant protein. Here, we present a web server for SDM (http://www-cryst.bioc.cam.ac.uk/~sdm/sdm.php), which has obtained more than 10 000 submissions since being online in April 2008. To run SDM, users must upload a wild-type structure and the position and amino acid type of the mutation. The results returned include information about the local structural environment of the wild-type and mutant residues, a stability score prediction and prediction of disease association. Additionally, the wild-type and mutant structures are displayed in a Jmol applet with the relevant residues highlighted.