Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Non-specific Immunity to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) by the Novelty, Diversity, and Quantity of Antigen

The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim thousands of lives around the world. The current challenge for the scientific community, along with governments, is to quickly find solutions to save lives and limit the consequences of the crisis. The scientific community is currently tackling the problem primarily by aiming to develop a vaccine to enable the body to develop an antigen-specific immune response to COVID-19. This approach requires time-consuming studies in order to understand the underlying properties of COVID-19 and to deploy the vaccine (1), which is very challenging to achieve at pandemic speed (2). Moreover, it could be compromised by mutations in the COVID-19 genome (3). However, it is essential to note that the problem could be approached from at least one other front for more rapid deployment in a pandemic context. Too little consideration has been devoted to the roles of the non-specific immune response via natural killer (NK) cells, which continue to be neglected in research into vaccines (4).
The eIF3 complex of Leishmania—subunit composition and mode of recruitment to different cap-binding complexes

Eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3) is a multi-protein complex and a key participant in the assembly of the translation initiation machinery. In mammals, eIF3 comprises 13 subunits, most of which are characterized by conserved structural domains. The trypanosomatid eIF3 subunits are poorly conserved. Here, we identify 12 subunits that comprise the Leishmania eIF3 complex (LeishIF3a-l) by combining bioinformatics with affinity purification and mass spectrometry analyses. These results highlight the strong association of LeishIF3 with LeishIF1, LeishIF2 and LeishIF5, suggesting the existence of a multi-factor complex. In trypanosomatids, the translation machinery is tightly regulated in the different life stages of these organisms as part of their adaptation and survival in changing environments. We, therefore, addressed the mechanism by which LeishIF3 is recruited to different mRNA cap-binding complexes. A direct interaction was observed in vitro between the fully assembled LeishIF3 complex and recombinant LeishIF4G3, the canonical scaffolding protein of the cap-binding complex in Leishmania promastigotes. We further highlight a novel interaction between the C-terminus of LeishIF3a and LeishIF4E1, the only cap-binding protein that efficiently binds the cap structure under heat shock conditions, anchoring a complex that is deficient of any MIF4G-based scaffolding subunit.
Pregnancy Outcomes After Different Cycle Regimens for Frozen-Thawed Embryo Transfer: A Retrospective Study Using Propensity Score Matching

Background: Nowadays, the choice of frozen embryo transfer (FET) regimens is mainly guided by personal convenience. Clinicians prefer the predictability and reliability of artificial cycle (AC) FET and have extended its usage to general in vitro fertilization population. More recent primary studies are beginning to challenge the comparability of AC-FET and suggest reduced clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate (LBR) compared with those in modified natural cycle (mNC) FET (ovulation triggered by human chorionic gonadotrophin) and stimulated cycle (SC) FET. Objective: To assess the pregnancy outcomes within matched mNC-FET, SC-FET, and AC-FET cycles by using propensity score matching (PSM) in a larger cohort. Methods: A total of 16,946 women who underwent their first autologous FET cycle between July 2014 and July 2017 were evaluated. PSM, using the nearest neighbor matching, were established to adjust the baseline features within the three protocols in proportion of 1:1 (mNC-FET vs. SC-FET, mNC-FET vs. AC-FET, SC-FET vs. AC-FET). Furthermore, there were 3,567, 2,917, and 3,964 cycles compared between matched mNC-FET and SC-FET, mNC-FET and AC-FET, and SC-FET and AC-FET after the PSM, respectively. Results: LBR was significant lower in the AC-FET group than that in the mNC-FET (40.0 vs. 43.3%) and SC-FET groups (40.9 vs. 46.5%). The adjusted odds ratios (95% CIs) were 1.11 (1.00, 1.24) for mNC/AC (P = 0.044) and 0.84 (0.76, 0.92) for AC/SC (P < 0.001), which indicated that the AC-FET group was associated with lowest LBR. The LBR was comparable between matched mNC-FET and SC-FET after adjusting for endometrial thickness. Moreover, a lower clinical pregnancy rate and a higher risk of early pregnancy loss were discovered in AC-FET cycles compared with those in SC-FET. Conclusion: In view of our data, AC used for scheduling FET was associated with lower LBR compared with SC and modified natural cycle. This interpretation requires future verification from well-designed prospective multicenter randomized clinical trials, although the comparisons in our study were conducted in the homogenous population after the PSM.
Frequency and cost of serious adverse drug reactions in a department of general medicine.

AIMS To assess the frequency and cost of drug reactions causing or prolonging hospitalization. METHODS All patients admitted to an internal medicine ward over 6 months were evaluated to identify serious adverse reactions. The number of drug classes on admission or at the time of the adverse drug reaction (ADR) was counted. Excess ADR-related hospital stay was computed using a) raw excess duration of hospital stay, b) correction of duration of hospital stay by age, sex, and number of drug classes, and c) estimation by investigator of excess hospital stay. RESULTS Three hundred and twenty-nine patients were evaluated: 212 male, 117 female, mean age 57.2 (males: 52.2, females: 66.2 (P < 0.05)), range 17-95 years. They stayed a total of 3720 hospital days (mean stay 11.3 days). 298 had no ADR (mean age 55.8, taking a mean of 2.7 drug classes, 10.7 days hospital stay); 31 had ADRs: in 10, the ADR caused admission in patients with a mean age of 84 (P < 0.01 vs the two other groups), taking 6.3 drug classes, who stayed a mean of 15.1 days; 21 occurred in hospital in patients with a mean age of 63.6, taking 4.2 drug classes (P < 0.01), who stayed a mean of 19.2 days (P < 0.01 vs patients without ADRs). In four the ADR was fatal (13% of ADRs, 40% of deaths). Raw ADR-related excess hospital stay was 318 days (8.6% of all hospital days), after multivariate correction 282 days (7.6% of all hospital days), and with investigator estimation 197 days (5.3% of all hospital days). Point prevalence of ADRs at admission was 3%, incidence rate in hospital was 5.6/1000 patient-days. CONCLUSIONS 3% of the admissions were related to ADRs. In addition, 6.6% of hospitalized patients had significant ADRs. Between 5 and 9% of hospital costs were related to ADRs. In 24 of the 31 patients with ADRs (77%), these were related to the pharmacological properties of the involved drugs, and may possibly have been avoidable.
Physician assistants in emergency medicine: the impact of their role.

BACKGROUND Emergency medicine (EM) in North America has been undergoing significant transformation since the new century. Recent health care reform has put it center stage. Access demand for acute care is increasing at the same time the number of qualified emergency physicians entering service has reached a plateau. Physician assistants (PAs), one alternative, are employed in emergency departments (EDs), but little is known about the impact of their role. OBJECTIVES This was a literature review to identify the current role of PAs in patient treatment and the management of emergency services. METHODS All publications and designs from 1970 through 2009 were identified using multiple science citation indices. Each author reviewed the literature, and categories were developed based on consensus. RESULTS Thirty-five articles and reports were sorted into categories of interest: prevalence of PAs in EDs, efficiency and quality of care, patient satisfaction, rural emergency care, and legal issues. Each category is summarized and discussed. Evidence comparing the clinical effectiveness of PAs to mainstream management of emergency care was only fair in methodologic quality. CONCLUSIONS The use of PAs in EDs is increasing, and this expansion is due to necessity in staffing and economy of scale. Unique uses of PAs include wound management, acute care transfer management to the wards, and rural health emergency staffing. While their role seems to be expanding, this assessment identified gaps in deployment research using appropriate outcome measures in the area of clinical effectiveness of PAs.
Signalling through NK1.1 triggers NK cells to die but induces NK T cells to produce interleukin‐4

In vivo inoculation of specific antibody is an accepted protocol for elimination of specific cell populations. Except for anti‐CD3 and anti‐CD4, it is not known if the depleted cells are eliminated by signalling through the target molecule or through a more non‐specific mechanism. C57BL/6 mice were inoculated with anti‐natural killer (NK1.1) monoclonal antibody (mAb). Thereafter spleen cells were harvested, stained for both surface and intracellular markers, and analysed by flow cytometry. As early as 2 hr post inoculation, NK cells were signalled to become apoptotic while signalling through the NK1.1 molecule activated NK1.1+ T‐cell receptor (TCR)+ (NK T) cells to increase in number, and produce interleukin‐4 (IL‐4). Anti NK1.1 mAb was less efficient at signalling apoptosis in NK cells when NK T‐cell deficient [β2‐microglobulin β2m‐deficient] mice were used compared with wild type mice. Efficient apoptotic signalling was restored when β2m‐deficient mice were reconstituted with NK T cells. NK‐specific antibody best signals the apoptotic process in susceptible NK cells when resistant NK T cells are present, activated, and secrete IL‐4.
Smart MEMS Flow Sensor: Theoretical Analysis and Experimental Characterization

This paper presents analytical and experimental studies of a new microelectromechanical system (MEMS) smart flow sensor for the measurement of gas flow. The flow sensor has an array of curved-up cantilever beams that are surface-micromachined with two layers of deposition under two sets of different process parameters. The differential residual stress between the two layers of the polysilicon deposition causes the beams to curve upward from the substrate surface when the sacrificial layer is released. Each beam of the array of beams of different lengths vibrates successively as the flow rate increases, enabling more accurate sensing and identification of range of flow rates based on the vibration characteristics, thus making this a smart sensor design. Design and fabrication of these sensors are discussed. Experiments were conducted on this MEMS flow sensors to characterize the deflection of the curved cantilever beams with respect to flow rates. In addition, backflow tests were also conducted separately. Results of the analytical study are presented to investigate the cause of vibration of beams when subjected to flow. Finite-element analyses of vibration of the sensors comply with the experimental observation. Based on the analysis of fundamental natural frequencies, possible arrangement for the distribution of lengths of the beams is proposed to enhance its functionality as a sensor. Future work and plan of the on-board capacitive metrology and other practical issues are discussed
Interactions between imprinting effects: summary and review

Mice with uniparental disomies (uniparental duplications) for defined regions of certain chromosomes, or certain disomies, show a range of developmental abnormalities most of which affect growth. These defects can be attributed to incorrect dosages of maternal or paternal copies of imprinted genes lying within the regions involved. Combinations of certain partial disomies result in interactions between the imprinting effects that seemingly independently affect foetal and/or placental growth in different ways or modify neonatal and postnatal development. The findings are generally in accord with the ‘conflict hypothesis’ for the evolution of genomic imprinting but do not demonstrate common growth axes within which imprinted genes may interact. Instead, it would seem that any gene that favours embryonic/foetal development, at consequent cost to the mother, will have been subject to evolutionary selection for only paternal allele expression. Reciprocally, any gene that reduces embryonic/foetal growth to limit disadvantage to the mother will have been selected for only maternal allele expression. It is concluded that survival of the placenta is core to the evolution of imprinting.
The Comparative Effects of Postoperative Analgesic Therapies on Pulmonary Outcome: Cumulative Meta-Analyses of Randomized, Controlled Trials

We performed meta-analyses of randomized, control trials to assess the effects of seven analgesic therapies on postoperative pulmonary function after a variety of procedures: epidural opioid, epidural local anesthetic, epidural opioid with local anesthetic, thoracic versus lumbar epidural opioid, intercostal nerve block, wound infiltration with local anesthetic, and intrapleural local anesthetic. Measures of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), vital capacity (VC), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), PaO2, and incidence of atelectasis, pulmonary infection, and pulmonary complications overall were analyzed. Compared with systemic opioids, epidural opioids decreased the incidence of atelectasis (risk ratio [RR] 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.33-0.85) and had a weak tendency to reduce the incidence of pulmonary infections (RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.18-1.53) and pulmonary complications overall (RR 0.51, 95% CI 0.20-1.33). Epidural local anesthetics increased PaO2 (difference 4.56 mm Hg, 95% CI 0.058-9.075) and decreased the incidence of pulmonary infections (RR 0.36, 95% CI 0.21-0.65) and pulmonary complications overall (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.42-0.80) compared with systemic opioids. Intercostal nerve blockade tends to improve pulmonary outcome measures (incidence of atelectasis: RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.27-1.57, incidence of pulmonary complications overall: RR 0.47, 95% CI 0.18-1.22), but these differences did not achieve statistical significance. There were no clinically or statistically significant differences in the surrogate measures of pulmonary function (FEV1, FVC, and PEFR). These analyses support the utility of epidural analgesia for reducing postoperative pulmonary morbidity but do not support the use of surrogate measures of pulmonary outcome as predictors or determinants of pulmonary morbidity in postoperative patients. Implications: When individual trials are unable to produce significant results, it is often because of insufficient patient numbers. It may be impossible for a single institution to study enough patients. Meta-analysis is a useful tool for combining the data from multiple trials to increase the patient numbers. These meta-analyses confirm that postoperative epidural pain control can significantly decrease the incidence of pulmonary morbidity. (Anesth Analg 1998;86:598-612)
Health‐related quality of life in children with Robin sequence

This patient‐reported outcome (PRO) study reports on 102 children with Robin sequence (RS) and their parents. There has been differentiated between those with isolated RS and those with RS as part of a syndrome, and take various treatments into account. All RS families from an earlier described cohort were invited to participate. Parents and RS children completed online questionnaires regarding health‐related quality of life (HRQoL), satisfaction with appearance, parental distress, and RS specific topics. Results were compared with the Dutch norm population if available. There was no major difference in HRQoL in RS children and the Dutch norm population, nor between children with isolated RS and those with RS as part of a syndrome. The latter is likely due to the large percentage of children with Stickler syndrome, and small number of RS children with intellectual disability. Parental distress was higher in RS children with syndromes compared to parents of isolated RS children. When comparing various treatments, the subgroup treated by mandibular distraction showed a tendency of lower HRQoL scores, less satisfaction with appearance, and more parental distress. Also in the NPA group parents showed a tendency of more parental distress. Subgroups for each treatment were very small, however, and firm conclusions cannot be drawn. In this study, HRQoL in RS children is demonstrated comparable to the norm population, despite variations in treatment, possibly with less favorable outcome for children who received mandibular distraction. Markedly larger studies are needed to allow more reliable comparison of PROs in various treatments, and to incorporate PROs in management guidelines to obtain optimal patient care. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
How Nervous Systems Evolve in Relation to Their Embodiment: What We Can Learn from Octopuses and Other Molluscs

Cephalopods such as the octopus show the most advanced behavior among invertebrates, which they accomplish with an exceptionally flexible body plan. In this review I propose that the embodied organization approach, developed by roboticists to design efficient autonomous robots, is useful for understanding the evolution and development of the efficient adaptive interaction of animals with their environment, using the octopus as the leading example. The embodied organization approach explains adaptive behavior as emerging from the continuous dynamical and reciprocal physical and informational interactions between four elements: the controller, the mechanical and the sensory systems and the environment. In contrast to hierarchical organization, in embodied organization, self-organization processes can take part in the emergence of the adaptive properties. I first discuss how the embodiment concept explains covariation of body form, nervous system organization, and level of behavioral complexity using the Mollusca as an example. This is an ideal phylum to test such a qualitative correlation between body/brain/behavior, because they show the greatest variations of body plan within a single phylum. In some cases the covariation of nervous system and body structure seems to arise independently of close phylogenetic relationships. Next, I dwell on the octopus as an ideal model to test the embodiment concept within a single biological system. Here, the unusual body morphology of the octopus exposes the uniqueness of the four components comprising the octopus' embodiment. Considering together the results from behavioral, physiological, anatomical, and motor control research suggests that these four elements mutually influence each other. It is this mutual interactions and self-organization which have led to their unique evolution and development to create the unique and highly efficient octopus embodiment.
PDMS‐Based Elastomer Tuned Soft, Stretchable, and Sticky for Epidermal Electronics

A highly soft, stretchable, and sticky polydimethylsiloxane-based elastomer is achieved by adding small fractions of an amine-based polymer. The modified elastomer is tuned with a simple mixing step and shows good processability for microstructure fabrication. The modified elastomer shows excellent compatibility with an epidermal strain sensor on human skin.
High-Power Ultralow Divergence Edge-Emitting Diode Laser With Circular Beam

A recognized drawback of edge-emitting diode lasers is their high divergence and elliptical beam shape since the first diode laser was demonstrated. In this paper, we demonstrated the ultranarrow circular beam emission from the broad area diode laser based on a modified Bragg-like waveguide. The low vertical divergence of 9.8° with 95% power content and 4.91° with the full-width at half-maximum was realized in the devices with 150 μm stripe width. The maximum output power was 4.2 W under quasi-continuous-wave operation and presently limited by thermal rollover. The detailed design principle was presented and it was found that reducing the refractive index and thickness of the defect layer was able to improve the vertical divergence and achieve the stable circular beam emission by controlling the lateral current distribution using the deep stripe. The packaged device with 90 μm stripe width demonstrated a maximum continuous wave power of 4.6 W at 10 °C. A direct fiber coupling efficiency of 90.6% had been achieved with a common fiber of 105 μm core diameter.
Emerging treatment approaches for the systemic amyloidoses.

A 57-year-old man was diagnosed with AL amyloidosis after presenting with nephrotic syndrome. He had been well until 6 months earlier, when he noticed intermittent ankle swelling. He sought medical attention approximately 2 months later because of increased swelling of his legs and progressive fatigue. At that time, his urinary protein excretion was 7.4 g/day. Serum creatinine was 0.9 mg/dL and serum albumin 3.1 g/dL. A renal biopsy disclosed amorphous material in the mesangium that was birefringent under polarized light when stained with Congo red dye. Immunofluorescence was positive for lambda light chain in the glomerular capillary walls, mesangium, and tubulointerstitium. Electron microscopy revealed randomly dispersed fibrils with a diameter of 10 nm throughout the mesangium and interstitium. A monoclonal IgG lambda protein and a monoclonal free lambda light chain were evident by immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) of the serum and urine, respectively. Bone marrow biopsy had 5% plasma
Intrachromosomal homologous recombination in whole plants.

A system to assay intrachromosomal homologous recombination during the complete life‐cycle of a whole higher eukaryote was set up. Arabidopsis thaliana plants were transformed with a recombination substrate carrying a non‐selectable and quantitatively detectable marker gene. The recombination substrates contain two overlapping, non‐functional deletion mutants of a chimeric beta‐glucuronidase (uidA) gene. Upon recombination, as proven by Southern blot analysis, a functional gene is restored and its product can be detected by histochemical staining. Therefore, cells in which recombination events occurred, and their progeny, can be precisely localized in the whole plant. Recombination was observed in all plant organs examined, from the seed stage until the flowering stage of somatic plant development. Meristematic recombination events revealed cell lineage patterns. Overall recombination frequencies typically were in the range 10(‐6)‐10(‐7) events/genome. Recombination frequencies were found to differ in different organs of particular transgenic lines.