Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Who Caesarean Section Rate: Relevance and Ubiquity at the Present Day – A Review Article

Background: In 1985 the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed that there were no reasons for any region in the world to have a caesarean section (CS) rate above 10-15%. Even so, many of the developed countries present superior CS rate. Although CS rate rise in countries with high maternal and neonatal morbi-mortality is benefice, doubts exist about countries that already present a high CS rate, because some concern exist that above a certain limit, the risks are superior to the benefits. The aim of this review is to analyse the CS rate in different countries and to determinate if the WHO limit can be applied to all. Also to compare the maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality between vaginal and CS birth, trying to evaluate the best way to deliver. Methods: Data about CS rate, maternal mortality, neonatal mortality and Human Development Index (HDI) was collected from official reports and scientific papers. Results: The world CS rates varies from 1.5% in Ethiopia to 56.6% in Brazil. The rate is superior in countries with high HDI, and inferior in poor countries. In general, countries with high CS rate present a low maternal and neonatal mortality. The opposite is observed in poor countries. Conclusion: Since the WHO declaration many changes occurred in society, in the women status and in medicine, making us question if the 15% limit is still updated. The different social-economic, cultural and ethnographic reality of each country suggests that a global CS rate should not exist. Instead, each country should adjust CS rate to its necessities and focus on providing this option to any women who needs it. Some evidence suggests that CS can have a higher maternal and neonatal morbi-mortality when compared with vaginal delivery, however it has also positive aspects that should be taken in consideration.
Role of Nitric Oxide in the Antipruritic Effect of WIN 55,212-2, a Cannabinoid Agonist

Introduction: For centuries, cannabinoids are known to be effective in pain relief. Itch is an unpleasant sensation that provokes a desire to scratch. Since itch and pain are two sensations sharing a lot in common, we aimed to investigate whether the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 reduces serotonin-induced scratching behavior and also observe whether modulation of Nitric Oxide (NO) production mediates the antipruritic effect of WIN 55,212-2. Methods: Scratching behavior is induced by intradermal injection of serotonin (50 μg/50 μL/mouse) to BALB/c mice. The cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 (1, 3, 10 mg/kg, IP) was given 30 min before serotonin injection. To observe the effect of NO modulation on the antipruritic effect of cannabinoids, the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor L-NAME (3 mg/kg, IP), the neuronal NOS inhibitor 7-nitroindazole (3 mg/kg, IP), and the NO precursor L-arginine (100 mg/kg, IP) were administered together with WIN 55,212-2. Results: WIN 55,212-2 reduced serotonin-induced scratches at higher doses (3, 10 mg/ kg; P<0.0001). The endothelial NOS inhibitor L-NAME, the neuronal NOS inhibitor 7-nitroindazole, and the nitric oxide precursor L-arginine did not influence the antipruritic action of WIN 55,212-2. When NO modulators were used alone, only the neuronal NOS inhibitor 7-nitroindazole attenuated serotonin-induced scratches (P<0.0001). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that exogenous cannabinoids may attenuate serotonininduced scratches and NO does not mediate the antipruritic effect of WIN 55,212-2. On the other hand, neuronal NOS inhibition may play a role in the production of serotonin-induced scratches.
Organizational behavior: psychophysiology assessment of leadership and management in team work and conflict resolution

Organizational behavior and organizational cognitive neuroscience are newly established interdisciplinary fields that use scientific techniques to answer questions about behaviors within organizations. Clarifying the more precise role of emotions and their regulation in forming a judgment in different managerial decision-making contexts, exploring how team members function synchronously, and the links between psychophysiological traits and how they relate to leadership, have been recurring subjects of interest. In this document, we present the psychophysiological response of eight senior project managers and eight junior project managers as they are faced with a challenging situation designed to assess some of the most relevant personal skills in project management: teamwork, management, problem, and conflicts resolution. Noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG), voice recording (VoR) and video recording (ViR) were performed during the application of an Assessment Center evaluation in addition to before and after heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and pulse oximetry (SpO2) measurements. The results suggest that the voice frequency is related to the task that a subject performs. In this case, an activity that requires active discussion causes a person to talk at a higher pitch, which is the mean value of the fundamental frequency of the voice. In relation to the analysis of the voice depending on the project management expertise, no significant differences were found for calculated voice features. These results suggest that the voice features are not related with the project management expertise. On the other hand, the coefficient of variation of facial redness for junior project managers groups was higher than those of the senior manager groups. This indicates that even though facial readiness was not universally higher for the junior project manager, it is much more prevalent in those with the shorter project management expertise. With respect to the estimation of subject’s task engagement, measured through head movement cue analysis, it can be said that this method of engagement estimation proved to be in accordance with the expert psychology’s opinion. In concern with EEG, no statistically significant differences were found in frontal asymmetry value between the discussion stage and the presentation and ideation stage and between Senior and Junior managers in the discussion stage. Regarding the before and after heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and pulse oximetry (SpO2) measurements, even though, in general all three variables had a discernible behavior (HR and BP increased while SpO2 decreased), no statistical relevant differences were found in the pre and pose measurements. However, it can be said that the Assessment Center evaluation induced a physiological response on the subjects since, at least one of three variables varied for each subject.
Machine learning models reproducibility and validation for MR images recognition

In the present work, we introduce a data processing and analysis pipeline, which ensures the reproducibility of machine learning models chosen for MR image recognition. The proposed pipeline is applied to solve the binary classification problems: epilepsy and depression diagnostics based on vectorized features from MR images. This model is then assessed in terms of classification performance, robustness and reliability of the results, including predictive accuracy on unseen data. The classification performance achieved with our approach compares favorably to ones reported in the literature, where usually no thorough model evaluation is performed.
Taxonomy and Phylogenetics of Nanometinae and Other Australasian Orb-Weaving Spiders (Araneae: Tetragnathidae)

ABSTRACT The spider family Tetragnathidae Menge is a cosmopolitan, relatively well-studied spider clade with some members readily identifiable by their elongate chelicerae and/or their horizontal orb webs. It has four recognized subfamilies—Tetragnathinae, Metainae, Leucauginae, and the Australasian endemic Nanometinae—although many genera remain unassigned to subfamilial groups. Nanometinae alpha taxonomy is the least well understood of these lineages despite the inclusion of members of the subfamily in a number of phylogenetic analyses over the past decade. Here we describe 10 new species and revise seven additional tetragnathids from Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Papua New Guinea in the genera Nanometa, Taraire, gen. nov., Tawhai, gen. nov., Harlanethis, gen. nov., and Iamarra, gen. nov. These 17 species are: Nanometa gentilis Simon, 1908, N. trivittata (Keyserling, 1887), comb. nov., N. sarasini (Berland, 1924), comb. nov., N. lagenifera (Urquhart, 1888), comb. nov., N. purpurapunctata (Urquhart, 1889), comb. nov., N. fea, sp. nov., N. tasmaniensis, sp. nov., N. tetracaena, sp. nov., N. dimitrovi, sp. nov., N. dutrorum, sp. nov., N. forsteri, sp. nov., Taraire rufolineata (Urquhart, 1889), comb. nov., Taraire oculta, sp. nov., Tawhai arborea (Urquhart, 1891), comb. nov., Harlanethis lipscombae, sp. nov., H. weintrauborum, sp. nov., and Iamarra multitheca, sp. nov. We also synonymize Nediphya Marusik and Omelko, 2017, and the monotypic genus Eryciniolia Strand, 1912, with Nanometa, bringing the total number of species in the genus from one to 14. Using an expanded taxon sampling for prior studies based on six molecular markers—12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, and histone H3—and both maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, we place these taxa in the tetragnathid tree of life. Nanometinae and its constituent genera Nanometa and Pinkfloydia are reciprocally monophyletic. Harlanethis belongs to Leucauginae. The genera Taraire, Tawhai, and Iamarra defy robust phylogenetic placement and are not yet assigned to subfamily.
Morphological ontogeny of Limnozetes solhoyorum sp. nov. (Acari: Oribatida: Limnozetidae) from Norway, with comments on Limnozetes Hull

Abstract The morphological ontogeny of Limnozetes solhoyorum sp. nov. from Norway is described and illustrated. This species is most similar to L. guyi Behan-Pelletier, 1989 as adult, but differs from it mainly by the sculpture of notogaster, shorter prodorsal seta in and notogastral setae, especially p1, and the distribution of posterior notogastral setae. The tritonymph of L. solhoyorum differs from that of L. guyi by shorter gastronotal setae c3, dm, dp, lm and lp. In the deutonymph, tritonymph and adult of both species, setae d and l' from genu IV are absent.
Soft Rehabilitation Actuator With Integrated Post-stroke Finger Spasticity Evaluation

Strokes cause severe impairment of hand function because of the spasticity in the affected upper extremities. Proper spasticity evaluation is critical to facilitate neural plasticity for rehabilitation after stroke. However, existing methods for measuring spasticity, e.g. Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), highly depends on clinicians’ experiences, which are subjective and lacks quantitative details. Here, we introduce the first rehabilitation actuator that objectively reflects the condition of post-stroke finger spasticity. The actuator is 3D printed with soft materials. By considering the finger and the actuator together, the spasticity, i.e. stiffness, in finger is obtained from the pressure–angle relationship. The method is validated by simulations using finite element analysis (FEA) and experiments on mannequin fingers. Furthermore, it is examined on four stroke subjects and four healthy subjects. Results show the finger stiffness increases significantly from healthy subjects to stroke subjects, particularly those with high MAS score. For patients with the same MAS score, stiffness variation can be a few times. With this soft actuator, a hand rehabilitation robot that may tell the therapeutic progress during the rehabilitation training is readily available.
A Ktrans deep characterization to measure clinical significance regions on prostate cancer

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a valuable role in many task related with characterization of prostate cancer lesions. Recently, the DCE-MRI (Dynamic contrast Enhanced) has allowed to visualize and localize potential tumor regions. Specifically, Ktrans, from DCR-MRI, has shown to be a powerful pharmacokinetic parameter that allows to characterize tumor biology and to detect treatment responses from reconstructed coefficient maps of capillary permeability. Nevertheless, even expert-based analysis of Ktrans sequences are subject to a large false positive findings (FPF). In much of such cases, the prostate angiogenesis, or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) regions are misclassified as cancer findings. This work introduces a robust deep convolutional strategy that characterizes Ktrans regions and allows an automatic prediction of cancer findings. The proposed strategy was validated over the SPIE-AAPM-NCI PROSTATEx public dataset with 320 multimodal images on peripheral, transitional and anterior fibromuscular stroma regions. The best configuration of proposal strategy achieved an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.74. Additionally, the proposed strategy achieved a proper characterization by using mainly Ktrans information that together with T2-MRI-transaxial overcome baseline strategies that use additional modalities of MRI.
Individual-subject functional localization increases univariate activation but not multivariate pattern discriminability in the ‘multiple-demand’ frontoparietal network

The frontoparietal ‘multiple-demand’ (MD) control network plays a key role in goal-directed behavior. Recent developments of multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) for fMRI data allows for more fine-grained investigations into the functionality and properties of brain systems. In particular, MVPA in the MD network was used to gain better understanding of control processes such as attentional effects, adaptive coding, and representation of multiple task-relevant features, but its use for this network has been limited by overall low decoding levels. A common practice of applying MVPA is by investigating pattern discriminability within a region-of-interest (ROI) using a template mask, thus ensuring that the same brain areas are studied in all participants. This approach offers high sensitivity, but does not take into account differences between individuals in the spatial organization of brain regions. An alternative approach uses independent localizer data for each subject to select the most responsive voxels and define individual ROIs within the boundaries of a group template. Such an approach allows for a refined and targeted localization based on the unique pattern of activity of individual subjects while ensuring that functionally similar brain regions are studied for all subjects. In the current study we tested whether using individual ROIs leads to changes in decodability of task-related neural representations as well as univariate activity across the MD network compared to when using a group template. We used three localizer tasks to separately define subject-specific ROIs: spatial working memory, verbal working memory, and a Stroop task. We then systematically assessed univariate and multivariate results in a separate rule-based criterion task. All the localizer tasks robustly recruited the MD network and evoked highly reliable activity patterns in individual subjects. Consistent with previous studies, we found a clear benefit of the subject-specific ROIs for univariate results from the criterion task, with increased activity in the individual ROIs based on the localizers’ data, compared to the activity observed when using the group template. In contrast, there was no benefit of the subject-specific ROIs, as well as no cost, for multivariate results. Both univariate and multivariate results were similar in the individual ROIs defined by each of the three localizers. Our results provide an important empirical evidence for researchers in the field of cognitive control for the use of individual ROIs in the frontoparietal network for both univariate and multivariate analysis of fMRI data, and serve as another step towards standardization and increased comparability across studies.
Genetic Divergence and Relationship Among Opisthopappus Species Identified by Development of EST-SSR Markers

Opisthopappus Shih is an endemic and endangered genus restricted to the Taihang Mountains that has important ornamental and economic value. According to the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (FRPS, Chinese version), this genus contains two species (Opisthopappus longilobus and Opisthopappus taihangensis), whereas in the Flora of China (English version) only one species O. taihangensis is present. The interspecific phylogenetic relationship remains unclear and undefined, which might primarily be due to the lack of specific molecular markers for phylogenetic analysis. For this study, 2644 expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) from 33,974 unigenes using a de novo transcript assembly of Opisthopappus were identified with a distribution frequency of 7.78% total unigenes. Thereinto, mononucleotides (1200, 45.39%) were the dominant repeat motif, followed by trinucleotides (992, 37.52%), and dinucleotides (410, 15.51%). The most dominant trinucleotide repeat motif was ACC/GGT (207, 20.87%). Based on the identified EST-SSRs, 245 among 1444 designed EST-SSR primers were selected for the development of potential molecular markers. Among these markers, 63 pairs of primers (25.71%) generated clear and reproducible bands with expected sizes. Eventually, 11 primer pairs successfully amplified all individuals from the studied populations. Through the EST-SSR markers, a high level of genetic diversity was detected between Opisthopappus populations. A significant genetic differentiation between the O. longilobus and O. taihangensis populations was found. All studied populations were divided into two clusters by UPGMA, NJ, STRUCTURE, and PCoA. These results fully supported the view of the FRPS, namely, that O. longilobus and O. taihangensis should be regarded as two distinct species. Our study demonstrated that transcriptome sequences, as a valuable tool for the quick and cost-effective development of molecular markers, was helpful toward obtaining comprehensive EST-SSR markers that could contribute to an in-depth assessment of the genetic and phylogenetic relationships between Opisthopappus species.
Pectin homogalacturonan nanofilament expansion drives morphogenesis in plant epidermal cells

Wavy walls built by nanofilaments In the model plant Arabidopsis, pavement cells fit together with the lobes and curves of jigsaw puzzle pieces. Such complex cell shapes, in plants, were generally thought to be driven by turgor pressure. Haas et al. now show that the extracellular cell wall can actively shape the cell it contains without relying on turgor pressure. Nanofilaments of pectin homogalacturonan in the cell wall shift between crystalline and anisotropic phases according to whether they are methylated. The shift in form drives changes in cell wall shape that stand independent of turgor pressure. Science, this issue p. 1003 Methylation of crystalline aligned pectin drives changes in plant cell wall shape. The process by which plant cells expand and gain shape has presented a challenge for researchers. Current models propose that these processes are driven by turgor pressure acting on the cell wall. Using nanoimaging, we show that the cell wall contains pectin nanofilaments that possess an intrinsic expansion capacity. Additionally, we use growth models containing such structures to show that a complex plant cell shape can derive from chemically induced local and polarized expansion of the pectin nanofilaments without turgor-driven growth. Thus, the plant cell wall, outside of the cell itself, is an active participant in shaping plant cells. Extracellular matrix function may similarly guide cell shape in other kingdoms, including Animalia.
Splitting speech and music

Brain asymmetries for words and melodies of songs depend on opposite acoustic cues Speech and music are human universals, and people around the world often blend them together into vocal songs (1). This entwinement of the speech and music cognitive domains is a challenge for the auditory cognitive system. How do listeners extract words and melodies from a single sound wave? The split is surmised to start in the signal: Speech and musical sounds are thought to differ in details of their acoustic structure and thus activate different receptive preferences of the left and right auditory cortices of the brain (2, 3). On page 1043 of this issue, Albouy et al. (4) provide evidence for the biophysical basis of the long-debated, yet still unresolved, hemispheric asymmetry of speech and music perception in humans. They show that the left and right auditory regions of the brain contribute differently to the decoding of words and melodies in songs.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION, AND WELFARE

I was delighted to receive your friendly letter and to know of your continued interest in international health. It is fascinating to contemplate the great strides that have been taken since World War II in the development of health throughout the world, particularly in the less highly developed countries. Public health is moving forward all over the world and in some places in very dramatic fashion. The malaria eradication program is a particularly brilliant example of what can be done through a centrally conceived and coordinated worldwide program.
Medical personnel knowledge and stigmatic attitude toward HIV patients in a high-income country

ABSTRACT Negative attitudes of health care workers (HCW) toward people living with HIV (PLWH) impact patients’ care, quality-of-life, therapy adherence, and retention in care. Few publications address stigma and discrimination among HCWs in high income countries. This study aims to provide a better understanding of HCW knowledge and attitudes toward caring for PLWH, how this relates to discriminatory tendencies and professional contacts, and proposes effective strategies to reduce negative attitudes and stigmas among health care providers in a tertiary hospital in Israel. Of 321 health care personnel who responded to an electronic questionnaire, HCWs had a good level of general knowledge regarding HIV. A lack of knowledge was noted regarding antiretroviral therapy influences, HIV transmission from mother to child, and HIV risks and transmission. Cultural diversity was also noted. This study supports the need to implement a training program for HCWs on HIV-related stigma-reduction.
A microbiome and metabolomic signature of phases of cutaneous healing identified by profiling sequential acute wounds of human skin: An exploratory study

Profiling skin microbiome and metabolome has been utilised to gain further insight into wound healing processes. The aims of this multi-part temporal study in 11 volunteers were to analytically profile the dynamic wound tissue and headspace metabolome and sequence microbial communities in acute wound healing at days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28, and to investigate their relationship to wound healing, using non-invasive quantitative devices. Metabolites were obtained using tissue extraction, sorbent and polydimethylsiloxane patches and analysed using GCMS. PCA of wound tissue metabolome clearly separated time points with 10 metabolites of 346 being involved in separation. Analysis of variance-simultaneous component analysis identified a statistical difference between the wound headspace metabolome, sites (P = 0.0024) and time points (P<0.0001), with 10 out of the 129 metabolites measured involved with this separation between sites and time points. A reciprocal relationship between Staphylococcus spp. and Propionibacterium spp. was observed at day 21 (P<0.05) with a statistical correlation between collagen and Propionibacterium (r = 0.417; P = 0.038) and Staphylococcus (r = -0.434; P = 0.03). Procrustes analysis showed a statistically significant similarity between wound headspace and tissue metabolome with non-invasive wound devices. This exploratory study demonstrates the temporal and dynamic nature of acute wound metabolome and microbiome presenting a novel class of biomarkers that correspond to wound healing, with further confirmatory studies now necessary.