Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patient-Derived Ex Vivo Cultures and Endpoint Assays with Surrogate Biomarkers in Functional Testing for Prediction of Therapeutic Response

Simple Summary Studies aimed at prediction of chemotherapeutic efficacy using patient-derived ex vivo cultures (referred to here as “functional testing”) have been increasing. The present review provides information on the various types of ex vivo cultures and endpoint assays that employ a range of surrogate biomarkers of drug response. As ex vivo cultures for functional testing, two-dimensional cultures, spheroids, organoids, explants (including histoculture), microfluid-based culture, and micro-organospheres are introduced. The endpoint assays described include ATP-based bulk assay, dynamic BH3 profiling, optical metabolic imaging, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, fluorescent dye-based assay, mass accumulation rate assay, live cell imaging-based assay, and immunostaining for drug-specific response biomarkers. The advantages and disadvantages of these culture systems and endpoint assays are discussed. Abstract Prediction of therapeutic outcomes is important for cancer patients in order to reduce side effects and improve the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs. Currently, the most widely accepted method for predicting the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs is gene panel testing based on next-generation sequencing. However, gene panel testing has several limitations. For example, only 10% of cancer patients are estimated to have druggable mutations, even if whole-exome sequencing is applied. Additionally, even if optimal drugs are selected, a significant proportion of patients derive no benefit from the indicated drug treatment. Furthermore, most of the anti-cancer drugs selected by gene panel testing are molecularly targeted drugs, and the efficacies of cytotoxic drugs remain difficult to predict. Apart from gene panel testing, attempts to predict chemotherapeutic efficacy using ex vivo cultures from cancer patients have been increasing. Several groups have retrospectively demonstrated correlations between ex vivo drug sensitivity and clinical outcome. For ex vivo culture, surgically resected tumor tissue is the most abundant source. However, patients with recurrent or metastatic tumors do not usually undergo surgery, and chemotherapy may be the only option for those with inoperable tumors. Therefore, predictive methods using small amounts of cancer tissue from diagnostic materials such as endoscopic, fine-needle aspirates, needle cores and liquid biopsies are needed. To achieve this, various types of ex vivo culture and endpoint assays using effective surrogate biomarkers of drug sensitivity have recently been developed. Here, we review the variety of ex vivo cultures and endpoint assays currently available.
L-Aminoguanidine Induces Imbalance of ROS/RNS Homeostasis and Polyamine Catabolism of Tomato Roots after Short-Term Salt Exposure

Polyamine (PA) catabolism mediated by amine oxidases is an important process involved in fine-tuning PA homeostasis and related mechanisms during salt stress. The significance of these amine oxidases in short-term responses to salt stress is, however, not well understood. In the present study, the effects of L-aminoguanidine (AG) on tomato roots treated with short-term salt stress induced by NaCl were studied. AG is usually used as a copper amine oxidase (CuAO or DAO) inhibitor. In our study, other alterations of PA catabolism, such as reduced polyamine oxidase (PAO), were also observed in AG-treated plants. Salt stress led to an increase in the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in tomato root apices, evidenced by in situ fluorescent staining and an increase in free PA levels. Such alterations were alleviated by AG treatment, showing the possible antioxidant effect of AG in tomato roots exposed to salt stress. PA catabolic enzyme activities decreased, while the imbalance of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric oxide (NO), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations displayed a dependence on stress intensity. These changes suggest that AG-mediated inhibition could dramatically rearrange PA catabolism and related reactive species backgrounds, especially the NO-related mechanisms. More studies are, however, needed to decipher the precise mode of action of AG in plants exposed to stress treatments.
The Relationship between Narrative Skills and Executive Functions across Childhood: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Executive functions (EFs) and narrative competence (NC) are two important predictors of many outcomes in human development. To date, however, it is unclear whether these skills develop synergistically—supporting or opposing each other—or whether they are independent of each other. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to understand if these skills are related to over development and if the magnitude of their association changes over time; differs in typical and atypical development; and changes with EF (inhibition, working memory, flexibility, planning) and NC (oral, written; micro and macrostructural level). For this purpose, 30 studies containing 285 effect sizes were selected and combined. The results show that EFs and NC are weakly associated with each other (r = 0.236, p < 0.001) and that this association decreases with age (b(267) = −0.0144, p = 0.001). They are more associated in preschool and early elementary school grades, becoming more independent after seven years old. Between 3 and 7 years of age, the association seems stronger in atypically developing children and for macrostructural NC. Additionally, before 7 years old, the various EF domains seem to associate indistinctly with NC, and only later specific links between EFs and NC would be observed.
EFFECT OF SELECTION FOR SKELETAL TRAITS ON BODY WEIGHT IN ALEXANDRIA LOCAL CHICKENS

: The present study aimed to improve the body weight in the Alexandria chickens by selection for the skeletal traits of the high breast width, breast length and leg length at eight weeks of age. 2500 birds at a day of hatch were obtained from 5 consecutive hatching weekly hatches were taken for one generation. The results of this study showed that the overall means for body weight at four weeks (BW 4 ), body weight at eight weeks (BW 8 ) and body weight at twelve weeks (BW 12 ) were (204.699 and 190.02 g), (718.559 and 610.20 g) and (1289.99 and 1049.002 g) for males and females, respectively. These results showed that the differences among line were highly significant (P ≤ 0.01) in selected line than control line in BW 8 and BW 12 . Also, the overall means of shank length in eight weeks of age (SL 8 ), breast length in eight weeks of age (BRL 8 ) and breast width in eight weeks of age (BRW 8 ) were (6.81 and 6.38 cm), (11.85 and 11.23 cm) and (11.24 and 10.78 cm) for males and females, respectively. The selection for the skeletal traits in Alexandria chickens in eight weeks of age showed that
A Compact Dual-Polarized Array Antenna for Automotive Radar Application

The design method of a dual-polarized array antenna is investigated and presented in this communication. The antenna consists of a series-fed patch array (SFPA) antenna for vertically polarized (VP) radiation and a slotted microstrip first higher order mode (EH1-mode) periodic leaky-wave antenna (P-LWA) for horizontally polarized (HP) radiation. These two antennas are both analyzed by using the leaky-wave antenna method. It is revealed that the SFPA/EH1-mode element is expected to be operated under the short-/open-circuited condition, at which the desired VP/HP broadside radiation can be realized. Afterward, by reusing the radiator of the EH1-mode element as the ground of the SFPA one, the radiation apertures of these two elements can be designed in an overlapped style. Finally, a dual-polarized array antenna operated at 24.0 GHz is fabricated and tested for verification. The measurements demonstrate and validate that both the desired high-gain VP and HP radiation patters are achieved at broadside.
Colonization of the Gastrointestinal Tract of Chicks with Different Bacterial Microbiota Profiles

Simple Summary This study investigated the effects of transplanting different bacterial profiles into newly hatched broiler chicks. We hypothesized that chicks receiving gut bacteria from organic hens would have a distinct microbiota compared to those receiving bacteria from conventionally raised broilers. It was found that the chicks developed a gut microbiota similar to that of the donors from whom they received their bacteria. Over time, the microbiota from a control group resembled the microbiota of conventionally raised broilers, but the bacteria received from organic hens remained different from the other groups until 42 days of live. The chicks that received bacteria from conventionally raised broilers showed higher inflammation due to Eimeria infestation. The study concluded that gut bacteria transplantation can persistently colonize chicks. This information could be used in the future to select species of importance that are more adapted to the intestinal tract of chickens, and it highlights the importance of the strict screening of donors used in microbiota transplantation. Abstract This study aimed to investigate the consequences of early-life microbiota transplantation using different caecal content sources in broiler chicks. We hypothesized that chicks receiving at-hatch microbiota from organic hens would harbour a distinct microbiota from chicks receiving industry-raised broiler microbiota after six weeks of age. Three hundred Cobb broilers eggs were randomly assigned to one of four groups according to the caecal content received: organic laying hens (Organic); autoclaved caecal content of organic laying hens (Autoclaved); conventionally grown broilers (Conventional); and sterile saline (Control). caecal microbiota transplantation was given by gavage on day 1. Ten birds/group were euthanized on days 2, 7, 14, 28, and 42. The caecal tonsils and contents were collected for cytokines and microbiota analyses. The microbiota from chicks receiving live inocula resembled the donors’ microbiota from day seven until day 42. The microbiota composition from the chickens who received the Organic inoculum remained markedly different. Starting on day 7, the Organic group had higher richness. Simpson and Shannon’s indices were higher in the Conventional group on days 2 and 7. Chickens in the Conventional group presented higher production of IL-1β and IL-6 in plasma on days 2 and 28, increased IL-6 expression in the caecal tonsils at days 7 and 42, and increased IL-12 expression on day 7. However, the Conventional group was infected with Eimeria spp. , which likely caused inflammation. In conclusion, microbiota transplantation using different microbiota profiles persistently colonized newly hatched broiler chicks. Future studies evaluating the importance of microbiota composition during infections with common enteropathogens are necessary. This study also highlights the need for a strict screening protocol for pathogens in the donors’ intestinal content.
On the optimal combination of corporate social responsibility practices of unlisted small and medium enterprises

: There is vast empirical literature concerning the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance. This literature, however, applies mainly to large corporations and/or listed firms. To the best of our knowledge, the question of whether meeting CSR requirements impacts the financial performance of small and medium-sized unlisted SMEs has not so far been analyzed. This paper aims to explore, for the first time, the effect of CSR on the financial performance of SMEs. Using an original database including 5,257 French SMEs, we show that adopting CSR practices positively but weak affects SMEs’ financial performance. To develop this further, we analyzed CSR practices interactions assessing the best combination of CSR components that positively influence SME financial performance. Our results show that French SMEs benefit more from their pro-social behavior when choosing a combination of CSR components best adapted to their characteristics.
Sleep and Stroke-Related Delirium: A Systematic Review

Study objectives: Sleep and circadian rhythms disorders are frequent in the acute stroke. Sleep modifications are likely to contribute to the development of stroke-related delirium, a common neuropsychiatric complication of acute stroke. This systematic review aimed to clarify the association between sleep modifications and the occurrence of delirium in patients with acute stroke. Methods: The current systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The search was performed on PubMed and Scopus databases. Only studies that provided data concerning sleep, or pre-existing sleep disorders, in acute stroke and performed a formal evaluation of delirium were included. Results: The literature search enabled the identification of 15 studies, which exhibited high heterogeneity in terms of study design, settings, sleep assessments, delirium measures, and types of sleep intervention. In the study quality assessment, the majority of the studies were rated as weak or moderate. In most of the cases, sleep was subjectively assessed by the patients or rated by clinicians. None of the studies performed polysomnography for the evaluation of sleep. Only four of the studies assessed the impact of a sleep intervention on delirium, suggesting the potentially protective role of sleep promotion in reducing the prevalence and severity of stroke-related delirium. Conclusions: The evidence arising from the present systematic review supports that sleep disruption is a potential promoting factor for stroke-related delirium. We suggest that a formal sleep assessment and sleep promotion should be included in routine stroke care.
Risk-Adapted Treatment Strategies with Pre-Irradiation Chemotherapy in Pediatric Medulloblastoma: Outcomes from the Polish Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Group

Craniospinal irradiation (CSI) has been a major component of the standard of care treatment backbone for childhood medulloblastoma. However, chemotherapy regimens have varied based on protocol, patient age, and molecular subtyping. In one of the largest studies to date, we analyzed treatment outcomes in children with newly-diagnosed medulloblastoma treated with pre-irradiation chemotherapy followed by risk-adapted radiotherapy and maintenance chemotherapy. A total of 153 patients from the Polish Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Group were included in the analysis. The median age at diagnosis was 8.0 years, and median follow-up time was 6.4 years. Sixty-seven patients were classified as standard-risk and eighty-six as high-risk. Overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) for standard-risk patients at 5 years (±standard error) were 87 ± 4.3% and 84 ± 4.6%, respectively, while 5-year OS and EFS for high-risk patients were 81 ± 4.3% and 79 ± 4.5%, respectively. Only one patient had disease progression prior to radiotherapy. This study demonstrates promising survival outcomes in patients treated with pre-irradiation chemotherapy followed by risk-adapted CSI and adjuvant chemotherapy. Such an approach may be useful in cases where the initiation of radiotherapy may need to be delayed, a common occurrence in many institutions globally.
Short containers in Cayley graphs

The star diameter of a graph measures the minimum distance from any source node to several other target nodes in the graph. For a class of Cayley graphs from abelian groups, a good upper bound for their star diameters is given in terms of the usual diameters and the orders of elements in the generating subsets. This bound is tight for several classes of graphs including hypercubes and directed $n$-dimensional tori. The technique used is the so-called disjoint ordering for a system of subsets, due to Gao, Novick and Qiu (1998).
The influence of nutrient manipulation on growth and cultivation constituents of Anabaena variabilis

: The cyanobacterium identified as Anabaena variabilis is a filamentous cyanobacterium that is capable of differentiating specialized cells, the heterocysts and akinetes, to survive under different stress conditions. The objective of the present study is to investigate the impact of abiotic stresses, namely nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulphur (S), on the axenic culture of Anabaena variabilis and its production of pigments such as chl a and carotenoids, as well as metabolites like proteins, carbohydrates, phenols, and flavonoids. The growth rate was evaluated using optical density (OD)750 nm, and the nutrient supplementation of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulphur (S) at 2.5 g/L, 0.06 g/L, and 0,095g/L, respectively, resulted in the highest algal dry weight and maximum production of pigments and biochemical productivity. This demonstrated that the composition of the culture constituents changes as a result of the growth of A. variabilis when exposed to different nutritional compositions.
Marcha de absorção e balanço de nutrientes no sistema soloplanta para o meloeiro fertirrigado.

Um dos fatores que mais contribuem para o encarecimento da producao do meloeiro e o custo com fertilizantes. Assim, para a otimizacao das doses a serem aplicadas visando a maxima produtividade economica, faz-se necessario conhecer as demandas nutricionais da cultura, bem como as quantidades exigidas dos nutrientes em fases fenologicas chaves. No presente trabalho objetivou-se determinar a marcha de acumulacao de macro e de micronutrientes e o balanco nutricional do meloeiro cultivado sob fertirrigacao. O experimento foi realizado em area pertencente a Empresa Ecofertil Agropecuaria LTDA localizada no municipio de Aracati (CE). O experimento foi instalado em delineamento de blocos casualizados com 9 tratamentos, correspondentes a 9 periodos de avaliacao 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, 70 dias apos transplantio (DAT) com quatro repeticoes. A parcela util para fins de coleta foi constituida de 8 plantas tornando-se as quatro centrais de cada fileira. Em intervalos de sete em sete dias, as plantas foram coletadas e separadas em folha, caule, fruto e semente para fins da determinacao de N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, B, Zn e Cu, para a quantificacao dos totais acumulados destes nutrientes. Na ocasiao da coleta de planta, uma amostra de solo foi coletada em cada parcela para a determinacao dos nutrientes. De acordo com os resultados, o acumulo de massa seca nas partes reprodutivas foi maior que nas partes vegetativas, sendo os frutos os orgaos de maior acumulo de massa seca. Ja a marcha de acumulo de nutrientes seguiu a seguinte ordem: K>Ca>N>Mg>P>S>Fe>Cu>B>Zn>Mn. Os valores do balanco nutricional foram negativos para o potassio, nitrogenio e cobre, sendo recomendado ajuste na fertirrigacao em relacao a esses nutrientes.
Insulin Resistance and Hypertension: Mechanisms Involved and Modifying Factors for Effective Glucose Control

Factors such as aging, an unhealthy lifestyle with decreased physical activity, snacking, a standard Western diet, and smoking contribute to raising blood pressure to a dangerous level, increasing the risk of coronary artery disease and heart failure. Atherosclerosis, or aging of the blood vessels, is a physiological process that has accelerated in the last decades by the overconsumption of carbohydrates as the primary sources of caloric intake, resulting in increased triglycerides and VLDL-cholesterol and insulin spikes. Classically, medications ranging from beta blockers to angiotensin II blockers and even calcium channel blockers were used alone or in combination with lifestyle modifications as management tools in modern medicine to control arterial blood pressure. However, it is not easy to control blood pressure or the associated complications. A low-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF) diet can reduce glucose and insulin spikes, improve insulin sensitivity, and lessen atherosclerosis risk factors. We reviewed articles describing the etiology of insulin resistance (IR) and its impact on arterial blood pressure from databases including PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar. We discuss how the LCHF diet is beneficial to maintaining arterial blood pressure at normal levels, slowing down the progression of atherosclerosis, and reducing the use of antihypertensive medications. The mechanisms involved in IR associated with hypertension are also highlighted.
Summarizing Students’ Free Responses for an Introductory Algebra-Based Physics Course Survey Using Cluster and Sentiment Analysis

In Physics Higher Education (PHE), Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) surveys are widely used to collect students’ feedback on courses and instructions. In our research, we propose a more efficient way to summarize students’ free responses from the Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG) survey, a form of the SET survey, of an algebra-based introductory physics course at a large Canadian research university. Specifically, we use cluster and sentiment analysis methods such as K-means and Valence Aware Dictionary for sEntiment Reasoning (VADER) to summarize students’ free responses. For cluster analysis, we extract popular keywords and summaries of responses in different clusters that reflect students’ dominant opinions toward each aspect of the course. Notably, we obtain an average silhouette coefficient of 0.480. In addition, we analyze sentiments in students’ free responses that are determined through applying VADER. Intriguingly, we see that VADER (micro F1 = 0.57, macro F1 = 0.55) can better classify responses with positive (F1 = 0.62) and neutral sentiment (F1 = 0.59). However, evident disagreements arise with negative sentiment responses (F1 = 0.42). In addition, our research suggests that some Likert-scale summaries deviate from the sentiment of free response summaries due to the limitations of Likert-scale responses. By creating various visualizations, we discover that Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods, such as cluster and sentiment analysis, effectively summarize students’ free responses, with several limitations.
Toward an Understanding of the Behavioral Intention to Use an Information System

Organizational investment in information systems is often large and risky given the variety of information requirements placed on systems today. To make more informed decisions and to meet the challenge of developing systems that satisfy these demands, system developers need to achieve a better understanding of factors that ultimately lead to system usage. To enhance this understanding, we posit a holistic framework to examine several constructs suggested in the literature that lead to the behavioral intention to use an information system. Our framework includes situational involvement, intrinsic involvement, argument for change, perceived usefulness, ease of use, prior usage, and attitude constructs. We extend the Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which is founded on the Theory of Reasoned Action. A diverse sample from industry is used to test our model. Structural equation modeling is used to examine the entire pattern of intercorrelations among the constructs and to test related propositions. A hierarchical structure is used to compare the explanatory ability of TAM with our extension. Our model explains a large portion of the covariance among the constructs that lead to a user's behavioral intention to use an information system and compares favorably with TAM. The results indicate that (1) the direct effect of situational involvement on behavioral intention as well as attitude is significant in the negative direction, (2) attitude seems to play a mediating role, and (3) intrinsic involvement plays a significant role in shaping perceptions. Finally, we conclude that the user involvement construct needs to be separated into its psychological as well as its participative components for developers to understand its impact on the systems development process.