Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment Using Convolutional Neural Network: Temporal-Feature Maps of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the clinical precursor of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is considered the most common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly. Some MCI patients tend to remain stable over time and do not evolve to AD. It is essential to diagnose MCI in its early stages and provide timely treatment to the patient. In this study, we propose a neuroimaging approach to identify MCI using a deep learning method and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). For this purpose, fifteen MCI subjects and nine healthy controls (HCs) were asked to perform three mental tasks: N-back, Stroop, and verbal fluency (VF) tasks. Besides examining the oxygenated hemoglobin changes (ΔHbO) in the region of interest, ΔHbO maps at 13 specific time points (i.e., 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, and 65 s) during the tasks and seven temporal feature maps (i.e., two types of mean, three types of slope, kurtosis, and skewness) in the prefrontal cortex were investigated. A four-layer convolutional neural network (CNN) was applied to identify the subjects into either MCI or HC, individually, after training the CNN model with ΔHbO maps and temporal feature maps above. Finally, we used the 5-fold cross-validation approach to evaluate the performance of the CNN. The results of temporal feature maps exhibited high classification accuracies: The average accuracies for the N-back task, Stroop task, and VFT, respectively, were 89.46, 87.80, and 90.37%. Notably, the highest accuracy of 98.61% was achieved from the ΔHbO slope map during 20–60 s interval of N-back tasks. Our results indicate that the fNIRS imaging approach based on temporal feature maps is a promising diagnostic method for early detection of MCI and can be used as a tool for clinical doctors to identify MCI from their patients.
Dendritic Cells and Their Role in Immunotherapy

Despite significant advances in the field of cancer immunotherapy, the majority of patients still do not benefit from treatment and must rely on traditional therapies. Dendritic cells have long been a focus of cancer immunotherapy due to their role in inducing protective adaptive immunity, but cancer vaccines have shown limited efficacy in the past. With the advent of immune checkpoint blockade and the ability to identify patient-specific neoantigens, new vaccines, and combinatorial therapies are being evaluated in the clinic. Dendritic cells are also emerging as critical regulators of the immune response within tumors. Understanding how to augment the function of these intratumoral dendritic cells could offer new approaches to enhance immunotherapy, in addition to improving the cytotoxic and targeted therapies that are partially dependent upon a robust immune response for their efficacy. Here we will discuss the role of specific dendritic cell subsets in regulating the anti-tumor immune response, as well as the current status of dendritic cell-based immunotherapies, in order to provide an overview for future lines of research and clinical trials.
Phylogenetic relationships among the subfamily Coregoninae as revealed by mitochondrial DNA restriction analysis

Mitochondria1 DNA (mtDNA) restriction analysis was used to assess phylogenetic patterns among 2 1 taxa of the subfamily Coregoninae. The genus Prosopium formed a very distinct group differing by 10% (sequence divergence estimate) from other species. Coregonus and Stenodus species were closely related, diverging by sequence divergence estimates of less than 5.6%. These species split into two major sister groups. One comprised all ‘ true whitefish ’ (subgenus Coregonus) and four cisco species (subgenus Leucichrhys). The most distant species within this assemblage was the Acadian whitefish (C. huntsmuni). The other group included all other cisco species and also the Inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys). These results supported a polyphyletic origin of the ciscoes, and did not support Stenodus as a sister taxon of the genus Coregonus. The levels of sequence divergence observed suggested that most extant coregonines radiated during the Pleistocene.
Multilevel Job Demands and Resources: Cross-Level Effects of Competing Organizational Facet-Specific Climates on Risky Safety Behaviors

Both individual demands (i.e., workload) and organizational demands and resources (i.e., production pressure and safety climates) may affect the likelihood that employees undertake risky safety behaviors in different ways. Adopting an organizational multilevel perspective, the aim of the present research was fourfold: (1) to examine the impact of individual-level job demands (i.e., workload) on the enactment of risky safety behaviors; (2) to evaluate the effects of coexisting and competing organizational facet-specific climates (i.e., for safety and for production pressure) on the above outcome; (3) to assess their cross-level interactions with individual job demands, and (4) to test the interaction among such organizational demands and resources in shaping risky behaviors. A series of multilevel regression models tested on surveydata from 1375 employees nested within 33 organizations indicated that high workload increases the likelihood of employees enacting risky safety behaviors, while organizational safety and production pressure climates showed significant and opposite direct effects on this safety outcome. Moreover, organizational safety climate significantly mitigated the effect of individual job demands on risky safety behaviors, while organizational production pressure climate exacerbated this individual-level relationship. Finally, organizational safety climate mitigates the cross-level direct effect of organizational production pressure climate on the enactment of risky safety behaviors.
A Possible Antioxidant Role for Vitamin D in Soccer Players: A Retrospective Analysis of Psychophysical Stress Markers in a Professional Team

The health benefits of physical activity are recognized, however, high levels of exercise may lead to metabolic pathway imbalances that could evolve into pathological conditions like the increased risk of neurological disease observed in professional athletes. We analyzed the plasma/serum levels of 29 athletes from a professional soccer team playing in the Italian first league and tested the levels of psychophysical stress markers (vitamin D, creatine kinase, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and testosterone/cortisol ratio) during a period of 13 months. The testosterone/cortisol ratio was consistent with an appropriate training program. However, most of the athletes showed high levels of creatine kinase and ROS. Despite the large outdoor activity, vitamin D values were often below the sufficiency level and, during the “vitamin D winter”, comparable with those of the general population. Interestingly, high vitamin D values seemed to be associated to low levels of ROS. Based on the results of our study we proposed a vitamin D supplementation as a general practice for people who perform high levels of physical exercise. Beside the known effect on calcium and phosphate homeostasis, vitamin D supplementation should mitigate the high reactivity of ROS which might be correlated to higher risk of neurodegenerative diseases observed in professional athletes.
Streetlights Disrupt Night-Time Sleep in Urban Black Swans

Artificial light at night could have widespread and detrimental impacts on sleep. To reduce disruptive effects of artificial light on sleep in humans, most smartphones and computers now have software that reduces blue light emissions at night. Little is known about whether reducing blue light emissions from city lights could also benefit urban wildlife. We investigated the effects of blue-rich (white) and blue-reduced (amber) LED streetlights on accelerometry-defined rest, electrophysiologically-identified sleep, and plasma melatonin in a diurnal bird, the black swan (Cygnus atratus). Urban swans were exposed to 20 full nights of each lighting type in an outdoor, naturalistic environment. Contrary to our predictions, we found that night-time rest was similar during exposure to amber and white lights but decreased under amber lights compared with dark conditions. By recording brain activity in a subset of swans, we also demonstrated that resting birds were almost always asleep, so amber light also reduced sleep at night. We found no effect of light treatment on total (24 h) daily rest or plasma melatonin. Our study provides the first electrophysiologically-verified evidence for effects of streetlights on sleep in an urban animal, and furthermore suggests that reducing blue wavelengths of light might not mitigate these effects.
The work of older people and their informal caregivers in managing an acute health event in a hospital at home or hospital inpatient setting

Abstract Background There is limited understanding of the contribution made by older people and their caregivers to acute healthcare in the home and how this compares to hospital inpatient healthcare. Objectives To explore the work of older people and caregivers at the time of an acute health event, the interface with professionals in a hospital and hospital at home (HAH) and how their experiences relate to the principles underpinning comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). Design A qualitative interview study within a UK multi-site participant randomised trial of geriatrician-led admission avoidance HAH, compared with hospital inpatient care. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with 34 older people (15 had received HAH and 19 hospital care) alone or alongside caregivers (29 caregivers; 12 HAH, 17 hospital care), in three sites that recruited participants to a randomised trial, during 2017–2018. We used normalisation process theory to guide our analysis and interpretation of the data. Results Patients and caregivers described efforts to understand changes in health, interpret assessments and mitigate a lack of involvement in decisions. Practical work included managing risks, mobilising resources to meet health-related needs, and integrating the acute episode into longer-term strategies. Personal, relational and environmental factors facilitated or challenged adaptive capacity and ability to manage. Conclusions Patients and caregivers contributed to acute healthcare in both locations, often in parallel to healthcare providers. Our findings highlight an opportunity for CGA-guided services at the interface of acute and chronic condition management to facilitate personal, social and service strategies extending beyond an acute episode of healthcare.
Reporting of D-dimer data in COVID-19: some confusion and potential for misinformation

Abstract Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represents a new pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome virus coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A previous pooled analysis clearly identified elevated D-dimer levels as being associated with severity of COVID-19. Since then, several other studies have provided clearer support for this initial evidence. However, potentially under-recognized by those reporting on D-dimer is the considerable variation in reporting units for D-dimer, and thus also the potential for misreporting of D-dimer data based on poor or incomplete reporting. A PubMed search was used to identify recent papers reporting on D-dimers in COVID-19-based studies. We report that: (1) most publications did not identify either the manufacturer or D-dimer product used; (2) most did not identify whether D-dimer values were reported as D-dimer units (DDU) or fibrinogen equivalent units (FEU) (~2 × differences); (3) nearly half did not identify normal cut-off values; (4) some did not report numerical findings or units for D-dimer; (5) where reported, most identified units as either mg/L or μg/mL; (6) we identified at least four errors in reporting from 21 papers. It may not be possible to truly standardize D-dimer assays, but it should be feasible to harmonize D-dimer assays to a single unit of measurement.
Hydrogen Permeation in X65 Steel under Cyclic Loading

This experimental work analyzes the hydrogen embrittlement mechanism in quenched and tempered low-alloyed steels. Experimental tests were performed to study hydrogen diffusion under applied cyclic loading. The permeation curves were fitted by considering literature models in order to evaluate the role of trapping—both reversible and irreversible—on the diffusion mechanism. Under loading conditions, a marked shift to the right of the permeation curves was noticed mainly at values exceeding the tensile yield stress. In the presence of a relevant plastic strain, the curve changes due to the presence of irreversible traps, which efficiently subtract diffusible atomic hydrogen. A significant reduction in the apparent diffusion coefficient and a considerable increase in the number of traps were noticed as the maximum load exceeded the yield strength. Cyclic loading at a tensile stress slightly higher than the yield strength of the material increases the hydrogen entrapment phenomena. The tensile stress causes a marked and instant reduction in the concentration of mobile hydrogen within the metal lattice from 55% of the yield strength, and it increases significantly in the plastic field.
SARS‐CoV‐2‐related myocarditis‐like syndromes Shakespeare's question: what's in a name?

1Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Charité, University Medicine Berlin, Campus Virchow Clinic, Berlin, Germany; 2German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 3Cardiopathology, Institute for Pathology and Neuropathology, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; and 4Department of Cardiology, Charité, University Medicine Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Berlin, Germany
Integrated models of livestock systems for climate change studies. 1. Grazing systems

The potential impact of climate change by the year 2050 on British grazing livestock systems is assessed through the use of simulation models of farming systems. The submodels, consisting of grass production, livestock feeding, livestock thermal balance, the thermal balance of naturally ventilated buildings and a stochastic weather generator, are described. These are integrated to form system models for sheep, beef calves and dairy cows. They are applied to scenarios representing eastern (dry) lowlands, western (wet) lowlands and uplands. The results show that such systems should be able to adapt to the expected climatic changes. There is likely to be a small increase in grass production, possibly allowing an increase in total productivity in some cases.
Methodological Issues in the Study of the Development of Pain Responsivity in Preterm Neonates: A Systematic Review

The study of the development of neonatal pain responses is of key importance, both for research and for clinical reasons, with particular regard to the population of preterm neonates, given the amount of painful procedures they are exposed to on a daily basis. The aim of this work was to systematize our knowledge about the development of pain responses in prematurely born neonates by focusing on some key methodological issues. Studies on the impact of age variables, namely gestational age (GA), postmenstrual age (PMA) and chronological age (CH), on pain responsivity in premature neonates were identified using Medline and Scopus. Studies (N = 42) were categorized based on terminological and methodological approaches towards age variables, and according to output variables considered (facial, nonfacial behavioral, physiological). Distinct multidimensional developmental patterns were found for each age-sampling strategy. Overall, each of the three age variables seems to affect pain responsivity, possibly differently across age windows. Targeted as well as integrated approaches, together with a renewed attention for methodological consistency, are needed to further our knowledge on this topic.
Characterization of Key Aroma-Active Compounds Isolated from Omija Fruit Treated Differently Based on Odor Activity Values and Descriptive Sensory Analysis

The objective of this study was to characterize the key aroma-active compounds isolated from omija fruits using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), orthonasal threshold testing, and descriptive sensory analysis techniques. Omija fruits were prepared using four different methods: raw, pureed, freeze-dried, and hot-air dried. The aromatic compounds were extracted with ethanol. Flavor compounds were further isolated using distillation under reduced pressure, followed by liquid–liquid extraction, and were then identified using GC-MS. A total of 40 volatile compounds were identified in omija fruits; nine were further identified as key aroma-active compounds found in omija fruits. The odor-active values for key flavor compounds were calculated, and aroma descriptions perceived by humans were determined using a highly trained panel. This study found that compounds high in omija fruit extracts were not necessarily the odor active compounds and 4-terpineol (1.84) and α-terpineol (2.58) were high odor-active compounds in omija fruits. Samples with high levels of the two compounds (hot air- and freeze-dried omija fruit) had high intensities of “spicy” and “wet-wood” aromatics.
Targeting epithelial expressed Sialyl Lewis glycans improves colonic mucosal wound healing and protects against colitis.

Dysregulated healing of injured mucosa is a hallmark of many pathological conditions including inflammatory bowel disease. Mucosal injury and chronic inflammation including persistent neutrophil (PMN) infiltration are also associated with alterations in epithelial glycosylation. Previous studies have revealed the inflammation induced glycan sLea on epithelial CD44v6 acts as a ligand for transmigrating PMN. Furthermore, blocking sLea-mediated binding interactions with the mAb GM35 reduced PMN transepithelial migration. Here we report that robust sialylated Lewis glycan expression is induced in colonic mucosa from individuals with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) as well as in colonic epithelium of mice with DSS colitis. Targeting of sialylated epithelial Lewis glycans with mAb GM35 reduced disease activity and improved mucosal integrity during DSS induced colitis in mice. Wound healing studies revealed increased epithelial proliferation and migration responses as well as improved mucosal repair following ligation of epithelial sialyl Lewis glycans. Finally, we show GM35-mediated increases in epithelial proliferation and migration are mediated through activation of kinases that signal downstream of CD44v6 (Src, FAK, Akt). These findings suggest that sialylated Lewis glycans on epithelial CD44v6 may represent targets for improved recovery of epithelial barrier function and restitution of mucosal homeostasis following intestinal inflammation or injury.
The importance of perfume in the discovery of food by the worker honeybee (Apis mellifera L.)

There is a natural tendency for untrained scouting bees to associate certain perfumes with food (e. g. those of the flowers of Crataegus oxyacantha and Trifolium repens) whereas the perfume of some other flowers (e. g. Spirea arguta) are unattractive to the honeybee. If the perfume of a new crop of flowers is sufficiently strong it will sometimes attract scouting bees when they are still unable to see the flowers. It is often necessary for a bee to approach within an inch or so of a flower before she can discern any perfume it may possess. When a bee approaches an object closely enough any attractive perfume it may possess tends to act as a stimulus to further exploration which involves settling upon the object and possibly seeking food in any small crevice in or around it. Thus the perfume of the individual flower plays an important part in stimulating a nectar-seeking bee to enter it, whether she has learned to associate its perfume with food or not. Normal visitation of a flower which has previously been worked is suspended when the beeʼs olfactory sense is disturbed. This can be caused either by mutilation or by the presence of a strong foreign perfume. In general the results obtained from experiments with untrained bees support the conclusions reached by von Frisch (1919) in his work with trained bees, and indicate that both these categories of bees behave in a similar manner when seeking food.
Extratos de Moringa oleifera e Vernonia sp. sobre Candida albicans e Microsporum canis isolados de cães e gatos e análise da toxicidade em Artemia sp.

The increase in the incidence of fungal infections and the frequent report of resistance and therapeutic failure has promoted the performance of phytochemical screening for compounds with antifungal properties. Based on this, the present study investigated the antifungal potential of extracts of Baccharis ligustrina, B. schultzii, Croton jacobinensis, Licania rigida, Moringa oleifera, Vernonia sp. and V. brasiliana and of essential oils of Lippia alba (Chemotypes 1, 2, 3 and 4) and Ocimum gratissimum. Initially, a qualitative evaluation of the antifungal activity of each vegetal sample against strains of Candida albicans and Microsporum canis, through the agar diffusion method, was performed. Extracts of M. oleifera (MLF-C) and Vernonia sp. (TVS-H) presented activity against C. albicans and M. canis with inhibition halos =10mm. Then, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for MLF-C and TVS-H against 12 strains of C. albicans and M. canis were determined through the methodology established by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), and acute toxicity tests against Artemia sp. were performed for both extracts. MICs (80%) for MLF-C and TVS-H varied from 0.156 to 2.5mg mL-1 against C. albicans and from 0.039 to 1.25mg mL-1 and 0.039 to 0.625mg mL-1 against M. canis, respectively. MICs (100%) for MLF-C and TVS-H varied from 0.625 to 2.5mg mL-1 for C. albicans and from 0.039 to 2.5mg mL-1 and 0.078 to 1.25mg mL-1 against M. canis, respectively. Lethal doses (DL50) of MLF-C and TVS-H were 201.09 and 204.17mg mL-1, respectively, being, therefore, demonstrated the low toxicity of these extracts. M. oleifera and Vernonia sp. extracts presented in vitro antifungal activity against C. albicans and M. canis, creating perspectives for the development of studies on the characterizations of their bioactive components.
Summary-Based Methylome-Wide Association Analyses Suggest Potential Genetically Driven Epigenetic Heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no curative treatment available. Exploring the genetic and non-genetic contributors to AD pathogenesis is essential to better understand its underlying biological mechanisms, and to develop novel preventive and therapeutic strategies. We investigated potential genetically driven epigenetic heterogeneity of AD through summary data-based Mendelian randomization (SMR), which combined results from our previous genome-wide association analyses with those from two publicly available methylation quantitative trait loci studies of blood and brain tissue samples. We found that 152 probes corresponding to 113 genes were epigenetically associated with AD at a Bonferroni-adjusted significance level of 5.49E-07. Of these, 10 genes had significant probes in both brain-specific and blood-based analyses. Comparing males vs. females and hypertensive vs. non-hypertensive subjects, we found that 22 and 79 probes had group-specific associations with AD, respectively, suggesting a potential role for such epigenetic modifications in the heterogeneous nature of AD. Our analyses provided stronger evidence for possible roles of four genes (i.e., AIM2, C16orf80, DGUOK, and ST14) in AD pathogenesis as they were also transcriptionally associated with AD. The identified associations suggest a list of prioritized genes for follow-up functional studies and advance our understanding of AD pathogenesis.