Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Total Bioactive Contents, Metabolic Profiling, Docking Studies, Antioxidant and Enzyme Inhibition Activities of Convolvulus Arvensis L. and Multivariate Analysis to Unravel a Potential Herb as Natural Resource for Pharmaceutical Industry

Convolvulus arvensis L. is an evergreen herb growing in various regions of Pakistan. Despite of several medicinal properties associated to this herb, it was not investigated scientifically for its bioactive compounds and detailed pharmaceutical properties. Therefore, its methanolic extract was divided into hexane (CA−H), chloroform (CA−C), ethyl acetate (CA−E) and butanol (CA−B) soluble fractions. CA−H and CA−C were found rich in phenolics (30.73±0.63 and 20.15±0.59 mg GAE/g of the extract, respectively), and the same fractions exhibited significant antioxidant activities (DPPH: 5.23±0.11 & 12.34±0.17 mg TE/g extract, respectively; ABTS: 36.82±0.04 & 56.74±0.61 mg TE/g extract, respectively). Also in CUPRAC activity assay, CA−H and CA−C exhibited highest activities as 87.30±0.46 and 56.74±0.61 mg TE/g extract, respectively, while CA−C was most active in FRAP activity assay with value of 40.21±2.19 mg TE/g extract. Total antioxidant capacity (1.23±0.033 mmol TE/g extract) was also found higher for CA−C, while CA−H activity was also comparable, however, CA−H showed higher metal chelating activity (22.74±0.001 mg EDTAE/g extract) than that of CA−C (17.55±0.22 mg EDTAE/g extract). These activities clearly revealed a direct relation between antioxidant potential and phenolic contents of CA−H and CA−C. In AChE and BChE inhibitory assay, CA−H and CA−E showed better inhibition (AChE: 8.24±0.77 & 4.46±0.007 mg GALAE/g extract; BChE: 5.40±0.02 & 1.92±0.24 mg GALAE/g extract) as compared to other fractions, whereas, against tyrosinase, CA−B was most active (37.35±0.53 mg KAE/g extract). CA−H and CA−C also showed higher inhibitory potential (0.98±0.08 & 0.58±0.01 mmol ACAE/g extract) against α‐Amylase; while against α‐Glucosidase, CA−E was the most active fraction. UHPLC/MS analysis of the methanolic extract of C. arvensis disclosed the presence of 62 compounds as sterols, triterpenes, flavonoids, fatty acids, alkaloids and coumarins. In Multivariate Analysis, the total phenolic contents were correlated strongly with all antioxidant assays except FRAP and DPPH. Regarding enzyme inhibitory properties, only AChE, BChE and α‐amylase were correlated with the total phenolic contents in the extracts. Docking analyses confirmed these findings, as identified compounds had high binding free energy and inhibition constants with the enzymes studied. It was finally concluded that C. arvensis is a potential industrial crop, which can be a component of nutraceuticals and functional foods, if evaluated for its toxicity.
Feature enhancement network for CNV typing in optical coherence tomography images

Objective. Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is a characteristic feature of wet age-related macular degeneration, which is one of the main causes of blindness in the elderly. Automatic classification of CNV in optical coherence tomography images plays an auxiliary role in the clinical treatment of CNV. Approach. This study proposes a feature enhancement network (FE-net) to discriminate between different CNV types with high inter-class similarity. The FE-net consists of two branches: discriminative FE and diverse FE. In the discriminative FE branch, a novel class-specific feature extraction module is introduced to learn class-specific features, and the discriminative loss is introduced to make the learned features more discriminative. In the diverse FE branch, the attention region selection is used to mine the multi-attention features from feature maps in the same class, and the diverse loss is introduced to guarantee that the attention features are different, which can improve the diversity of the learned features. Main results. Experiments were conducted on our CNV dataset, with significant accuracy of 92.33%, 87.45%, 90.10%, and 91.25% on ACC, AUC, SEN, and SPE, respectively. Significance. These results demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively learn the discriminative and diverse features to discriminate subtle differences between different types of CNV. And accurate classification of CNV plays an auxiliary role in clinical treatmen.
Regulation of Nodal signaling propagation by receptor interactions and positive feedback

During vertebrate embryogenesis, the germ layers are patterned by secreted Nodal signals. In the classical model, Nodals elicit signaling by binding to a complex comprising Type I/II Activin receptors (Acvr) and the co-receptor Tdgf1. However, it is currently unclear whether receptor binding can also affect the distribution of Nodals themselves through the embryo, and it is unknown which of the putative Acvr paralogs mediate Nodal signaling in zebrafish. Here, we characterize three Type I (Acvr1) and four Type II (Acvr2) homologs and show that – except for Acvr1c – all receptor-encoding transcripts are maternally deposited and present during zebrafish embryogenesis. We generated mutants and used them together with combinatorial morpholino knockdown and CRISPR F0 knockout (KO) approaches to assess compound loss-of-function phenotypes. We discovered that the Acvr2 homologs function partly redundantly and partially independently of Nodal to pattern the early zebrafish embryo, whereas the Type I receptors Acvr1b-a and Acvr1b-b redundantly act as major mediators of Nodal signaling. By combining quantitative analyses with expression manipulations, we found that feedback-regulated Type I receptors and co-receptors can directly influence the diffusion and distribution of Nodals, providing a mechanism for the spatial restriction of Nodal signaling during germ layer patterning.
Time to non-adherence to iron and folic acid supplementation and associated factors among pregnant women in Hosanna town, South Ethiopia: Cox-proportional hazard model

Backgrounds Micronutrient deficits in women of reproductive age have been linked to poor pregnancy outcomes. The most common micronutrient deficits in women are iron and folate. The World Health Organization recommends daily oral iron and folic acid supplementation (IFAS) as part of routine antenatal care to lower the risk of maternal anemia and adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, the effectiveness of the supplementation relies on client’s strict adherence. The aim of this study was to determine time- to- non-adherence to IFAS and associated factors among pregnant women in Hosanna Town, South Ethiopia. Methods A community based cross sectional study design was employed from May 15-June11, 2021. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. The Cox regression hazard model was applied. The threshold of statistical significance was declared at a p-value <0.05 and adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were used to report. Result The median time-to-non-adherence was 74 days (95 percent CI: 65.33–82.67). After adjusting for the confounders, age (AHR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.01–1.09), education status (AHR = 2.43 95%CI 1.34–4.40, AHR 3.00, 95% CI: 2.09–4.31, AHR 1.91, 95% CI: 1.32–2.77), household’s wealth index (AHR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.19–2.51, AHR = 1.64, 95% CI:1.15–2.35), and counseling at service delivery (AHR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.88–3.41) were independent predictors of time to non-adherence to IFAS among pregnant women. Conclusion The median time to non-adherence was short and women became non-adherent before the recommended duration. Improving women’s education and counseling pregnant women on IFAS during pregnancy would make a change.
High expression of CD8 in the tumor microenvironment is associated with PD-1 expression and patient survival in high-grade serous ovarian cancer

Objective: The current study assesses programmed death-1 (PD-1) receptor expression and CD3, CD4, and CD8 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) and associates our results with neoadjuvant chemotherapy history and disease prognosis. Materials and Methods: We included cases diagnosed with primary HGSOC with biopsy or surgical resection materials in this study. The immunoreactivity of CD3, CD4, CD8, and PD1 was assessed immunohistochemically in tumor tissue. We analyzed TILs in two predetermined groups of high and low TIL. The relationships between clinical characteristics, PD-1, and TIL were assessed. by the χ(2) test or Fisher’s Exact test. We used Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression model to the connection between survival and the amounts of TIL, and PD1. Results: Univariate analysis demonstrated that optimal debulking (p<0.001), early International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage (p=0.046), and higher scores of stromal CD8+ TIL expression (p=0.028) in tumor cells were all substantially correlated with longer disease-free survival (DFS), whereas the remaining variables analyzed, including PD-1 positivity, stromal CD3+, and CD4+ TILs, and intraepithelial CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ TILs, were not correlated with DFS. Also, univariate analysis revealed that optimal debulking (p=0.010), and higher scores of stromal CD8+ TIL expression (p=0.021) in tumor cells were all substantially correlated with longer overall survival (OS). Conclusion: Higher scores of stromal CD8+ TILs are substantially correlated with DFS and OS in univariate analyses, whereas scores of stromal CD3+ and CD4+ TILs, and intraepithelial CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ TILs are not correlated with DFS and OS in both univariate and multivariate analyses. Also, we found a significant association between PD-1 positivity and the scores of stromal CD3+ TILs and intraepithelial CD8+ TILs. However, no remarkable relationship was revealed between PD-1 positivity and the survival of HGSOC cases.
A Comparative Analysis of Knife and Firearm Homicides in the United States

In the United States of America firearms are the most common weapons used to commit homicide. This has led the public, academics, media, and policy makers to largely neglect other means of homicide. The second most common weapon used in the commission of a homicide in the USA are knives. On average more than 1,500 people are murdered with a knife each year in the USA. Little attention in the USA is focused on knife violence. However, the same is not true across the globe. After reviewing an international selection of literature, the current study aims to analyze both the victims and offenders of knife homicide in the USA by comparing them to the offenders and victims of firearm homicide. This was accomplished by analyzing data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports from 2014 to 2016. Comparisons between firearm and knife homicides included victim and offender demographics, as well as the relationship between the victim and offender. Bivariate and multivariate analysis are used to show that the victims and offenders of knife homicides are a significantly different group from the victims and offenders of firearm homicide. In the USA victims and offenders of knife violence are more likely to be female, less likely to be minorities, and are significantly older than firearm victims and offenders. The victim and offender in the case of a knife homicide are also significantly more likely to be closely related to one another. Unlike many other countries, in the USA the problem of knife violence appears much more similar to domestic violence than the typical street crime involving firearms. Because of this, knife homicides should not be approached with the same theoretical framework as firearm homicide. Additionally, the policies needed to effectively counter this problem will be different from those intended to deter firearm homicide.
A cone-beam computed tomography study on strategic uprighting of mandibular molars using a biocreative reverse curve system

Objective To analyze the overall treatment effects in terms of the amount of uprighting with changes in the three-dimensional positions of the mandibular posterior teeth after applying the biocreative reverse curve (BRC) system. Methods Thirty-four patients (mean age, 20.5 ± 8.56 years) were treated using the BRC system (mean period, 8.17 ± 2.19 months). Cone-beam computed tomography was performed before treatment and after treatment with the BRC system. The three-dimensional movement of each tooth was analyzed in the coordinate system at points on the crown and root apex. A paired t-test was used to analyze the treatment effects of the BRC system. Results The application of the BRC system spanning from the first premolar to the second molar resulted not only in buccal and distal uprighting, but also in increased buccal and distal tipping of the teeth. The premolars and the first molar were extruded, and the second molar was intruded. Conclusions When the BRC system is applied, simultaneous distal and buccal uprighting of the premolars and molars can be achieved bilaterally using a temporary skeletal anchorage device without unnecessary movement of the anterior teeth.
Emerging Tickborne Bacteria in Cattle from Colombia

Ehrlichia minasensis is a new pathogenic bacterial species that infects cattle, and Borrelia theileri causes bovine borreliosis. We detected E. minasensis and B. theileri DNA in cattle from southwestern Colombia by using PCR. E. minasensis and B. theileri should be considered potential etiologies of febrile syndrome in cattle from Colombia.
Albuminuria as a marker of systemic congestion in patients with heart failure

Abstract Aims Albuminuria is common in patients with heart failure and associated with worse outcomes. The underlying pathophysiological mechanism of albuminuria in heart failure is still incompletely understood. The association of clinical characteristics and biomarker profile with albuminuria in patients with heart failure with both reduced and preserved ejection fractions were evaluated. Methods and results Two thousand three hundred and fifteen patients included in the index cohort of BIOSTAT-CHF were evaluated and findings were validated in the independent BIOSTAT-CHF validation cohort (1431 patients). Micro-albuminuria and macro-albuminuria were defined as urinary albumin–creatinine ratio (UACR) >30 mg/gCr and >300 mg/gCr in spot urines, respectively. The prevalence of micro- and macro-albuminuria was 35.4% and 10.0%, respectively. Patients with albuminuria had more severe heart failure, as indicated by inclusion during admission, higher New York Heart Association functional class, more clinical signs and symptoms of congestion, and higher concentrations of biomarkers related to congestion, such as biologically active adrenomedullin, cancer antigen 125, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) (all P < 0.001). The presence of albuminuria was associated with increased risk of mortality and heart failure (re)hospitalization in both cohorts. The strongest independent association with log UACR was found for log NT-proBNP (standardized regression coefficient 0.438, 95% confidence interval 0.35–0.53, P < 0.001). Hierarchical clustering analysis demonstrated that UACR clusters with markers of congestion and less with indices of renal function. The validation cohort yielded similar findings. Conclusion In patients with new-onset or worsening heart failure, albuminuria is consistently associated with clinical, echocardiographic, and circulating biomarkers of congestion.
Engagement of Sexual Violence Survivors in Research: Trauma-Informed Research in the THRIVE Study

Given the potential for retraumatization among survivors of sexual violence engaged in research, we aimed to provide pertinent knowledge and exemplification of the integration of trauma-informed practice to research with survivors. Grounded in trauma-informed care, we discuss the need for trauma-informed research, drawing upon experiences and data from a longitudinal case-control study on sexual violence. Through trauma-informed research settings, we can improve research experiences for survivors of sexual violence, as demonstrated by positive experiences of participants in The THRIVE Study. By meeting the needs of survivors, researchers can increase participation while maximizing the research quality and advancement of research.
Dynamic livelihood impacts of COVID-19 on different rural households in mountainous areas of China

Background The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has brought about severe negative livelihood consequences for rural households worldwide. However, the heterogeneity and dynamics of livelihood impacts have been under-researched. There is also lacking a livelihood assessment of the pandemic based on a whole pandemic cycle. This study aimed to investigate the dynamic and heterogeneous livelihood impacts of COVID-19 pandemic for rural households in 2020 based on a case study of Southeast China. Methods The pandemic in China had experienced a complete cycle from initial outbreak, to intermediate recovery and finally new normal stage in 2020. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 95 rural households randomly drawn from 2 rural villages in Xunwu County, Jiangxi Province, Southeast China. The sampled households are interviewed with a questionnaire through face-to-face surveys in February and March, 2021 to evaluate the overall livelihood impacts of the pandemic during 2020. The survey collected data on demographic and economic characteristics, governmental control measures, and effects of the COVID-19 on agricultural production, employment, income, education, and daily life. In-depth interviews are also conducted to clarify the livelihood impacts of COVID-19 on villages. Results Results showed that the pandemic tremendously caused substantially negative livelihood impacts, including decreasing household income, and disorders in daily lives. The average income loss of all survey households is 6,842 RMB, accounting for 13.01% of the total household income in 2020. Containment measures also resulted in a series of disturbances in daily lives, such as rising food price additional expenditures, travel restrictions, party restrictions, closure of schools and deceasing living standards. There is remarkable household heterogeneity in the livelihood impacts. Results also revealed that the livelihood strategies of rural households to cope with the threat of COVID-19 were different in various pandemic stages. Conclusion Our findings have illustrated the severity and heterogeneity of livelihood impacts on rural households induced by COVID-19 pandemic. The dynamics of livelihood impacts is also highlighted in the study. Several policy suggestion was proposed to mitigate these negative consequences of the pandemic.
Blinded sample size re‐estimation for comparing over‐dispersed count data incorporating follow‐up lengths

Blinded sample size re‐estimation (BSSR) is an adaptive design to prevent the power reduction caused by misspecifications of the nuisance parameters in the sample size calculation of comparative clinical trials. However, conventional BSSR methods used for overdispersed count data may not recover the power as expected under the misspecification of the working variance function introduced by the specified analysis model. In this article, we propose a BSSR method that is robust to the misspecification of the working variance function. A weighted estimator of the dispersion parameter for the BSSR is derived, where the weights are introduced to incorporate the difference in the distribution of follow‐up length between the interim analysis with BSSR and the final analysis. Simulation studies demonstrated the power of the proposed BSSR method was relatively stable under misspecifications of the working variance function. An application to a hypothetical randomized clinical trial of a treatment to reduce exacerbation rate in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is provided.
Impact of Shigella infections and inflammation early in life on child growth and school-aged cognitive outcomes: Findings from three birth cohorts over eight years

Background Shigella infections cause inflammation, which has been hypothesized to mediate the associations between Shigella and child development outcomes among children in low-resource settings. We aimed to assess whether early life inflammation and Shigella infections affect school-aged growth and cognitive outcomes from 6–8 years of age. Methodology/principal findings We conducted follow-up assessments of anthropometry, reasoning skills, and verbal fluency in 451 children at 6–8 years of age in the Brazil, Tanzania, and South Africa sites of MAL-ED, a longitudinal birth cohort study. We estimated the associations between Shigella burden and inflammation with linear growth at 2, 5, and 6–8 years of age, and with the cognitive test scores using linear regression and adjusting for potential confounding variables. We also assessed whether inflammation mediated the associations between Shigella and school-aged outcomes using a regression-based approach to mediation analysis. A high prevalence of Shigella was associated with a 0.32 (95% CI: 0.08, 0.56) z-score lower height-for-age z-score (HAZ) at 6–8 years compared to a low prevalence of Shigella. Intestinal inflammation had a smaller association with HAZ at 6–8 years. Shigella burden had small and consistently negative associations with cognitive outcomes in Brazil and Tanzania, but not South Africa, and the estimates were not statistically significant. Systemic inflammation was strongly associated with lower verbal fluency scores in Brazil (semantic fluency z-score difference: -0.57, 95% CI: -1.05, -0.10; phonemic fluency z-score difference: -0.48, 95% CI: -0.93, -0.03). There was no evidence that intestinal inflammation mediated the association between Shigella and HAZ or cognitive outcomes. Conclusions/significance While Shigella infections were consistently associated with long-term deficits in linear growth, the estimates of the negative associations between Shigella and cognitive outcomes were imprecise and only observed in the Brazil and Tanzania sites. Systemic inflammation was strongly associated with lower semantic and phonemic fluency scores in Brazil only, highlighting the site-specificity of effects.
Salphage: salvage bacteriophage therapy for a recalcitrant Klebsiella pneumoniae prosthetic shoulder infection — a case report

A healthy 70-year-old male initially presented with an irrepa-rable full-thickness rotator cuff tear treated with a left reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA). 3 weeks later a traumatic fall caused a glenoid fracture. This was treated with surgical revision of his RSA and glenoid open reduction and internal fixation. No overt infection was observed, but cultures grew extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) Klebsiella pneumoniae