Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Respiratory Bordetella bronchiseptica Carriage is Associated with Broad Phenotypic Alterations of Peripheral CD4+CD25+ T Cells and Differentially Affects Immune Responses to Secondary Non-Infectious and Infectious Stimuli in Mice

The respiratory tract is constantly exposed to the environment and displays a favorable niche for colonizing microorganisms. However, the effects of respiratory bacterial carriage on the immune system and its implications for secondary responses remain largely unclear. We have employed respiratory carriage with Bordetella bronchiseptica as the underlying model to comprehensively address effects on subsequent immune responses. Carriage was associated with the stimulation of Bordetella-specific CD4+, CD8+, and CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cell responses, and broad transcriptional activation was observed in CD4+CD25+ T cells. Importantly, transfer of leukocytes from carriers to acutely B. bronchiseptica infected mice, resulted in a significantly increased bacterial burden in the recipient’s upper respiratory tract. In contrast, we found that respiratory B. bronchiseptica carriage resulted in a significant benefit for the host in systemic infection with Listeria monocytogenes. Adaptive responses to vaccination and influenza A virus infection, were unaffected by B. bronchiseptica carriage. These data showed that there were significant immune modulatory processes triggered by B. bronchiseptica carriage, that differentially affect subsequent immune responses. Therefore, our results demonstrated the complexity of immune regulation induced by respiratory bacterial carriage, which can be beneficial or detrimental to the host, depending on the pathogen and the considered compartment.
Composition of School Meals in Sweden, Finland, and Iceland: Official Guidelines and Comparison With Practice and Availability.

BACKGROUND Nutritious and attractive school meals can improve health equality and public health. Current official guidelines and recommendations on food and nutrient composition of school meals in 3 Nordic countries; Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, are described and compared with actual practice, ie, availability of foods and nutrients in served reference meals in 3 selected areas in each country. METHODS A country comparison was made between official guidelines, and actual practice was studied in participating schools. Reference portions of school meals (N = 170) provided in 24 compulsory schools were photographed and weighed. Food and nutrient availability were compared with official guidelines in each country. RESULTS Emphasis of recommendations on whole-grain bread in Sweden, whole grains in Finland, and fish in Iceland were reflected in food availability. The energy content of the meals provided was lower than guidelines and there was a large variation in energy content between days. CONCLUSIONS The guidelines regarding food availability were quite well followed, but the large variation in energy and nutrient content of provided school meals between days indicates a need for standardization.
Risk Factors for Facial Pain: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative Study

Aims: Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is believed to be co-morbid with rheumatologic conditions such as Osteoarthritis (OA). We determine 30-day prevalence and cumulative incidence, and risk factors for facial pain in a cohort of subjects who either had or were at risk of developing symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis (SRKOA). Methods: Poisson regression models examined whether age, sex, race, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) score, number of painful joints, and presence of SRKOA were risk factors for facial pain in 4,423 subjects at baseline and in 3,472 subjects at 24 and/or 48 months follow-up. Results: At baseline, 30-day period prevalence of facial pain was 9.25%; and 30-day cumulative incidence at 24-months and at 48-months was 5.9% and 4.9%, respectively. Factors associated with prevalence and incidence of facial pain were: younger age, female sex, (CES-D) score, and a larger number of painful joints. For each increase in age of one year, the incidence of facial pain decreased by 1%. Women had a 96% higher incidence than men, and each unit increase of (CES-D) score was associated with a 2% increase in the incidence of facial pain. For every additional painful joint, there was a 21% increase in the incidence of facial pain. Subjects with SRKOA had a 33% increase in the incidence of facial pain compared to those with risk factors for SRKOA. Conclusion: OA and TMD share several risk factors. The risk factors identified in cross-sectional analysis of prevalence are similar to those identified in longitudinal analysis on incidence.
Effects of Graded Whey Supplementation During Extreme-Volume Resistance Training

We examined hypertrophic outcomes of weekly graded whey protein dosing (GWP) vs. whey protein (WP) or maltodextrin (MALTO) dosed once daily during 6 weeks of high-volume resistance training (RT). College-aged resistance-trained males (training age = 5 ± 3 years; mean ± SD) performed 6 weeks of RT wherein frequency was 3 d/week and each session involved 2 upper- and 2 lower-body exercises (10 repetitions/set). Volume increased from 10 sets/exercise (week 1) to 32 sets/exercise (week 6), which is the highest volume investigated in this timeframe. Participants were assigned to WP (25 g/d; n = 10), MALTO (30 g/d; n = 10), or GWP (25–150 g/d from weeks 1–6; n = 11), and supplementation occurred throughout training. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps brachii ultrasounds for muscle thicknesses, and bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS) were performed prior to training (PRE) and after weeks 3 (MID) and 6 (POST). VL biopsies were also collected for immunohistochemical staining. The GWP group experienced the greatest PRE to POST reduction in DXA fat mass (FM) (−1.00 kg, p < 0.05), and a robust increase in DXA fat- and bone-free mass [termed lean body mass (LBM) throughout] (+2.93 kg, p < 0.05). However, the MALTO group also experienced a PRE to POST increase in DXA LBM (+2.35 kg, p < 0.05), and the GWP and MALTO groups experienced similar PRE to POST increases in type II muscle fiber cross-sectional area (~+300 μm2). When examining the effects of training on LBM increases (ΔLBM) in all participants combined, PRE to MID (+1.34 kg, p < 0.001) and MID to POST (+0.85 kg, p < 0.001) increases were observed. However, when adjusting ΔLBM for extracellular water (ECW) changes, intending to remove the confounder of edema, a significant increase was observed from PRE to MID (+1.18 kg, p < 0.001) but not MID to POST (+0.25 kg; p = 0.131). Based upon DXA data, GWP supplementation may be a viable strategy to improve body composition during high-volume RT. However, large LBM increases observed in the MALTO group preclude us from suggesting that GWP supplementation is clearly superior in facilitating skeletal muscle hypertrophy. With regard to the implemented RT program, ECW-corrected ΔLBM gains were largely dampened, but still positive, in resistance-trained participants when RT exceeded ~20 sets/exercise/wk.
Liver transplantation for Hepatitis‐B‐associated liver disease ‐ Three decades of experience

Hepatitis B (HBV)‐associated end‐stage liver disease used to be a relevant indication for liver transplantation (LT). After transplantation, HBV‐reinfection remains a serious issue. Different strategies to prevent HBV‐reinfection range from the single application of immunoglobulins (HBIG), to the use of modern nucleoside/nucleotide analogues (NUC) in combination with HBIG, followed by HBIG‐discontinuation. The aim of this analysis was to compare different strategies and to sum up the results of 30 years at a high‐volume transplant center and deliver additional information on the histopathological level.
Efficacy of PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors and PD-L1 expression status in cancer: meta-analysis

Abstract Objective To evaluate the relative efficacy of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) or programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors versus conventional drugs in patients with cancer that were PD-L1 positive and PD-L1 negative. Design Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Data sources PubMed, Embase, Cochrane database, and conference abstracts presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology and European Society of Medical Oncology up to March 2018. Review methods Studies of PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors (avelumab, atezolizumab, durvalumab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab) that had available hazard ratios for death based on PD-L1 positivity or negativity were included. The threshold for PD-L1 positivity or negativity was that PD-L1 stained cell accounted for 1% of tumour cells, or tumour and immune cells, assayed by immunohistochemistry staining methods. Results 4174 patients with advanced or metastatic cancers from eight randomised controlled trials were included in this study. Compared with conventional agents, PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors were associated with significantly prolonged overall survival in both patients that were PD-L1 positive (n=2254, hazard ratio 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.59 to 0.74) and PD-L1 negative (1920, 0.80, 0.71 to 0.90). However, the efficacies of PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade treatment in patients that were PD-L1 positive and PD-L1 negative were significantly different (P=0.02 for interaction). Additionally, in both patients that were PD-L1 positive and PD-L1 negative, the long term clinical benefits from PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade were observed consistently across interventional agent, cancer histotype, method of randomisation stratification, type of immunohistochemical scoring system, drug target, type of control group, and median follow-up time. Conclusions PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade therapy is a preferable treatment option over conventional therapy for both patients that are PD-L1 positive and PD-L1 negative. This finding suggests that PD-L1 expression status alone is insufficient in determining which patients should be offered PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade therapy.
Immune-Phenotyping and Transcriptomic Profiling of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells From Patients With Breast Cancer: Identification of a 3 Gene Signature Which Predicts Relapse of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Background: Interactions between the immune system and tumors are highly reciprocal in nature, leading to speculation that tumor recurrence or therapeutic resistance could be influenced or predicted by immune events that manifest locally, but can be detected systemically. Methods: Multi-parameter flow cytometry was used to examine the percentage and phenotype of natural killer (NK) cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), monocyte subsets and regulatory T (Treg) cells in the peripheral blood of of 85 patients with breast cancer (50 of whom were assessed before and after one cycle of anthracycline-based chemotherapy), and 23 controls. Transcriptomic profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in 23 patients were generated using a NanoString gene profiling platform. Results: An increased percentage of immunosuppressive cells such as granulocytic MDSCs, intermediate CD14++CD16+ monocytes and CD127negCD25highFoxP3+ Treg cells was observed in patients with breast cancer, especially patients with stage 3 and 4 disease, regardless of ER status. Following neoadjuvant chemotherapy, B cell numbers decreased significantly, whereas monocyte numbers increased. Although chemotherapy had no effect on the percentage of Treg, MDSC and NK cells, the expression of inhibitory receptors CD85j, LIAR and NKG2A and activating receptors NKp30 and NKp44 on NK cells increased, concomitant with a decreased expression of NKp46 and DNAM-1 activating receptors. Transcriptomic profiling revealed a distinct group of 3 patients in the triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cohort who expressed high levels of mRNA encoding genes predominantly involved in inflammation. The analysis of a large transcriptomic dataset derived from the tumors of patients with TNBC revealed that the expression of CD163, CXCR4, THBS1 predicted relapse-free survival. Conclusions: The peripheral blood immunome of patients with breast cancer is influenced by the presence and stage of cancer, but not by molecular subtypes. Furthermore, immune profiling coupled with transcriptomic analyses of peripheral blood cells may identify patients with TNBC that are at risk of relapse after chemotherapy.
Optimization of Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Major Phenolic Compounds from Olive Leaves (Olea europaea L.) Using Response Surface Methodology

The ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of oleuropein (OLE), verbascoside (VER), and luteolin-4′-O-glucoside (L4OG), as the major phenolics from olive leaves, was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). A Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used to monitor the effect of different modes of ultrasound operation (pulsed and continuous), liquid–solid (L–S) ratio, and sonication time on each phenolic yield. The yield of UAE and conventional solid extraction (CSE) was determined after performing ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector (UHPLC-DAD) analysis on the extracts. The results suggested that, under optimal conditions, the concentrations of OLE, VER, and L4OG were 13.386, 0.363, and 0.527 mg/g of dry powdered olive leaves (DPOL), respectively. Verification of experiments was carried out under the modified optimal conditions and the relative errors between the predicted and experimental values were dependent on the examined phenolic compound (OLE 8.63%, VER 11.3%, and L4OG 22.48%). In comparison with CSE, UAE improved the yields of OLE, VER, and L4OG (32.6%, 41.8%, and 47.5%, respectively, after 1 min) at a temperature of 60 °C, an L–S ratio of 15 (v/w), and in the continuous mode of UAE. We demonstrated that the UAE technique is an efficient method for enhancing yields of OLE, VER, and L4OG in olive-leaf extracts, while the chosen model was adequate to optimize the extraction of major phenolic compounds from olive leaves.
Aquatic High Intensity Interval Training for Cardiometabolic Health

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has emerged as an attractive alternative to traditional continuous exercise training (CT) programs for clinical and healthy populations who find that they can achieve equal or greater fitness benefits in less time. Land-based HIIT may not be an appropriate choice for some participants. Few studies have explored the acute responses and chronic adaptations of HIIT in an aquatic environment, and no study has compared the cardiometabolic responses of an aquatic-based program to a land-based HIIT program. Shallow-water aquatic exercise (AE) programs utilizing HIIT have elicited comparable and, in some cases, greater physiological responses compared with constant-intensity or continuous AE regimens. Factors that may explain why HIIT routines evoke greater cardiometabolic responses than CT protocols may be based on the types of exercises and how they are cued to effectively manipulate hydrodynamic properties for greater intensities. Favorable aquatic HIIT protocols such as the S.W. E.A. T. system may serve as a beneficial alternative to land-based HIIT programs for clinical, and athletic populations, potentially reducing the likelihood of associated musculoskeletal and orthopedic complications. Hence, the purpose of this review is to examine the role of AE as an alternative safe and effective HIIT modality.
Deception Techniques in Computer Security

A recent trend both in academia and industry is to explore the use of deception techniques to achieve proactive attack detection and defense—to the point of marketing intrusion deception solutions as zero-false-positive intrusion detection. However, there is still a general lack of understanding of deception techniques from a research perspective, and it is not clear how the effectiveness of these solutions can be measured and compared with other security approaches. To shed light on this topic, we introduce a comprehensive classification of existing solutions and survey the current application of deception techniques in computer security. Furthermore, we discuss the limitations of existing solutions, and we analyze several open research directions, including the design of strategies to help defenders to design and integrate deception within a target architecture, the study of automated ways to deploy deception in complex systems, the update and re-deployment of deception, and, most importantly, the design of new techniques and experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing deception techniques.
Rapid freezing versus Cryotop vitrification of mouse two-cell embryos

Objective To compare our in-house method of embryo freezing with Cryotop vitrification in terms of immediate survival, subsequent cleavage and blastocyst formation, and cell numbers in blastocysts. Methods Two-cell mouse embryos were randomly allocated into three groups: a non-frozen control group (group 1, n=300), a group that underwent Cryotop vitrification (group 2, n=300), and a group that underwent our in-house freezing method (group 3, n=300). Results There were no significant differences between groups 2 and 3 in the immediate survival rate (96.3% vs. 98.6%, respectively; p=0.085), the further cleavage rate (91.7% vs. 95.0%, respectively; p=0.099), or the blastocyst formation rate (80.7% vs. 78.6%, respectively; p=0.437). The cell numbers in the blastocysts from groups 1, 2, and 3 were comparable (88.99±10.44, 88.29±14.79, and 86.42±15.23, respectively; p=0.228). However, the percentage of good-quality blastocysts in the Cryotop vitrification group was significantly higher than in the group in which our in-house method was performed, but was lower than in the control group (58.0%, 37.0%, and 82.7%, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusion At present, our method is inferior to the commercial Cryotop vitrification system. However, with further improvements, it has the potential to be useful in routine practice, as it is easier to perform than the current vitrification system.
Outcomes After Spine Surgery Among Patients Who Have Had Prior Bariatric Surgery

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Objectives: We hypothesized that spine surgery patients with a history of bariatric surgery do not differ in expectations of surgery, perceived benefit of surgical intervention, or physician determined outcome of surgery from patients with no history of bariatric surgery. Methods: Patients seen in our spine clinic between January 1, 2 009 and December 30, 2 010 were reviewed. Included patients had a history of bariatric surgery and were 18 to 89 years old. We compared their expectations for recovery, self-perceived clinical outcome (Oswestry Disability Index [ODI] or Neck Disability Index [NDI] and visual analog scale [VAS]), satisfaction with surgery, and physician-perceived clinical outcome (Odom’s criteria) to a matched cohort with no such history. Patients were matched by type of surgery (approach, levels, and procedure), diagnosis, sex, body mass index (BMI), weight category, age, and smoking status. Results: Of 210 included patients, 89 underwent spine surgery. One bariatric patient could not be matched. Seventeen received cervical spine surgery; 71 received lumbar spine surgery. The 2 cohorts had similar expectations and satisfaction. Patients with no history of bariatric surgery tended to be more satisfied than the bariatric surgery patients, but not significantly so. ODI/NDI and VAS scores were statistically worse for the bariatric cohort. Differences were attributed to differences among lumbar spine surgery patients; neck surgery patients were not different. Odom’s scores were not different between the two. Conclusions: Postoperative expectations and satisfaction of bariatric patients are similar to those of nonbariatric patients. Bariatric patients receiving lumbar spine surgery experienced inferior clinical outcomes compared with nonbariatric patients. Cervical spine surgery bariatric patients have similar clinical outcomes as nonbariatric patients.
Growth of Epithelial Organoids in a Defined Hydrogel

Epithelial organoids are simplified models of organs grown in vitro from embryonic and adult stem cells. They are widely used to study organ development and disease, and enable drug screening in patient‐derived primary tissues. Current protocols, however, rely on animal‐ and tumor‐derived basement membrane extract (BME) as a 3D scaffold, which limits possible applications in regenerative medicine. This prompted us to study how organoids interact with their matrix, and to develop a well‐defined hydrogel that supports organoid generation and growth. It is found that soft fibrin matrices provide suitable physical support, and that naturally occurring Arg‐Gly‐Asp (RGD) adhesion domains on the scaffold, as well as supplementation with laminin‐111, are key parameters required for robust organoid formation and expansion. The possibility to functionalize fibrin via factor XIII‐mediated anchoring also allows to covalently link fluorescent nanoparticles to the matrix for 3D traction force microscopy. These measurements suggest that the morphogenesis of budding intestinal organoids results from internal pressure combined with higher cell contractility in the regions containing differentiated cells compared to the regions containing stem cells. Since the fibrin/laminin matrix supports long‐term expansion of all tested murine and human epithelial organoids, this hydrogel can be widely used as a defined equivalent to BME.
How many of the rhesus D-Negative cases are actually weak D positive?

Even though the prevalence of weak D is low, it is very important to screen all RhD-negative individuals for the same, keeping in mind the theoretical risk of hemolysis. All donors who test positive with weak D reagent should be considered D positive. The latter is to prevent alloimmunization of D-negative patients when transfused with weak D donor’s blood. On the other hand, all weak D recipients should be treated as D negative.
Exploring Client Perceptions and Intentions in Emerging Economies: The Case of Green Banking Technology

This article describes how in response to the global initiative to save the environment, many emerging economies today promote environmental-friendly practices by implementing various forms of green banking services. Beyond its usefulness for the environment, green banking also benefits the clients by offering new channels of financial services delivery. As such, there may be various factors which can shape the behavioral intentions of clients for adopting green banking, including their environmental concerns, perceived financial cost and timeliness factor attached to these services. Using UTAUT model and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), this paper thus proposes a model to identify such adoption factors in the context of an emerging economy. The article finds that timeliness, facilitating conditions, environmental concerns, effort expectancy and performance expectancy, plays an important role in capturing clients' overall perceptions of green banking. Results therefore indicate clients may be fairly pragmatic in developing general attitudes towards the use of green banking.