Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fecal microbiota and inflammatory and antioxidant status of obese and lean dogs, and the effect of caloric restriction

Introduction Obesity is the most common nutritional disease in dogs, and is generally managed by caloric restriction. Gut microbiota alteration could represent a predisposing factor for obesity development, which has been associated with a low-grade inflammatory condition and an impaired antioxidant status. Besides, weight loss has been shown to influence the gut microbiota composition and reduce the inflammatory response and oxidative stress. Method However, these insights in canine obesity have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to assess the differences in serum and inflammatory parameters, antioxidant status, fecal microbiota and bacterial metabolites in 16 obese and 15 lean client-owned dogs and how these parameters in obese may be influenced by caloric restriction. First, for 30 days, all dogs received a high-protein, high-fiber diet in amounts to maintain their body weight; later, obese dogs were fed for 180 days the same diet in restricted amounts to promote weight loss. Results Before the introduction of the experimental diet (T0), small differences in fecal microbial populations were detected between obese and lean dogs, but bacterial diversity and main bacterial metabolites did not differ. The fecal Dysbiosis Index (DI) was within the reference range (< 0) in most of dogs of both groups. Compared to lean dogs, obese dogs showed higher serum concentrations of acute-phase proteins, total thyroxine (TT4), and antioxidant capacity. Compared to T0, dietary treatment affected the fecal microbiota of obese dogs, decreasing the abundance of Firmicutes and increasing Bacteroides spp. However, these changes did not significantly affect the DI. The caloric restriction failed to exert significative changes on a large scale on bacterial populations. Consequently, the DI, bacterial diversity indices and metabolites were unaffected in obese dogs. Caloric restriction was not associated with a reduction of inflammatory markers or an improvement of the antioxidant status, while an increase of TT4 has been observed. Discussion In summary, the present results underline that canine obesity is associated with chronic inflammation. This study highlights that changes on fecal microbiota of obese dogs induced by the characteristics of the diet should be differentiated from those that are the consequence of the reduced energy intake.
Piper sarmentosum Roxb. methanolic extract prevents stress-induced gastric ulcer by modulating oxidative stress and inflammation

This study investigated the gastroprotective effect of Piper sarmentosum (PS) on stress-induced gastric ulcers in rats by measuring its effect on oxidative stress, gastric mucosal nitric oxide (NO), and inflammatory biomarkers. Twenty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups; two control groups (non-stress and stress) and two treated groups supplemented with either methanolic PS extract (500 mg/kg body weight) or omeprazole (OMZ; 20 mg/kg) orally. After 28 days of treatment, the stress control, PS, and OMZ groups were subjected to water-immersion restrain stress (WIRS) for 3.5 h. Gastric tissue malondialdehyde (MDA), NO, superoxide dismutase (SOD), inducible NO synthase (iNOS), SOD mRNA, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 levels were measured. WIRS significantly increased gastric MDA, NO, and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels compared to the non-stressed control group. PS and omeprazole supplementation significantly reduced WIRS-exposure-induced gastric ulcers and MDA, iNOS, and IL-1β levels. However, only PS reduced NO, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels, which were upregulated in this ulcer model. In conclusion, the gastroprotection afforded by PS is possibly mediated by gastric mucosal NO normalization through reduced iNOS expression and attenuation of inflammatory cytokines. PS showed a greater protective effect than omeprazole in reducing gastric lesions and NO, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels, and iNOS expression.
Elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis vs. polymyalgia rheumatica: Differences in pathogenesis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that mainly affects the facet joints. Elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis appears to exhibit symptoms similar to those of polymyalgia rheumatica, characterized by morning stiffness and pain in the shoulder and hip joints. Both diseases develop in the elderly, and it is sometimes challenging to distinguish them. Here, we identify the differences in pathogenesis between elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis and polymyalgia rheumatica to assist with a clear differential diagnosis and effective early intervention.
Activities and metabolomics of Cordyceps gunnii under different culture conditions

Many active metabolites have been identified from various species of the fungal genus Cordyceps. A predominant species of this genus is Cordyceps gunnii, but there are limited reports on the active ingredients from this species. This study aimed to conduct activity assays and metabolome analysis on extracts of C. gunnii obtained under different culture conditions. Five different solid media were selected to culture the mycelium of C. gunnii and the metabolites were extracted with organic solvents; concurrently, the wild stroma and host complexes of C. gunnii were extracted by ethyl acetate. Extracts were subsequently assayed for various biological activities and were analyzed by untargeted metabolomics. There were significant differences in the activities and metabolites of C. gunnii extracts from different culture conditions and from wild stroma and host complexes. The extracts of stroma and host complexes and mycelia cultured on WGA medium for 21 days exhibited similar effective inhibitory activity against five cell lines. A total of 51 metabolites were annotated and included various structural types. The literatures indicate that most of the identified compounds have a variety of different biological activities. These findings provide the basis for further systematic excavation of C. gunnii and improved utilization of this fungal species.
Maternal pre-eclampsia serum increases neurite growth and mitochondrial function through a potential IL-6-dependent mechanism in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells

Introduction: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a common and serious hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, which affects 3%–5% of first-time pregnancies and is a leading cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Prenatal exposure to PE is associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in affected offspring, although the cellular and molecular basis of this increased risk is largely unknown. Methods: Here, we examined the effects of exposure to maternal serum from women with PE or a healthy uncomplicated pregnancy on the survival, neurite growth and mitochondrial function of neuronally differentiated human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, which are commonly used to study neurite growth. Neurite growth and mitochondrial function are two strongly linked neurodevelopmental parameters in which alterations have been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. Following this, we investigated the pleiotropic cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels as a potential mechanism. Results: Cells exposed to 3% (v/v) PE serum for 72 h exhibited increased neurite growth (p < 0.05), which was validated in the human neural progenitor cell line, ReNcell® VM (p < 0.01), and mitochondrial respiration (elevated oxygen consumption rate (p < 0.05), basal mitochondrial respiration, proton leak, ATP synthesis, and non-mitochondrial respiration) compared to control serum-treated cells. ELISA analysis showed elevations in maternal IL-6 in PE sera (p < 0.05) and placental explants (p < 0.05). In support of this, SH-SY5Y cells exposed to 3% (v/v) PE serum for 24 h had increased phospho-STAT3 levels, which is a key intracellular mediator of IL-6 signalling (p < 0.05). Furthermore, treatment with anti-IL-6 neutralizing antibody blocked the effects of PE serum on neurite growth (p < 0.05), and exposure to IL-6 promoted neurite growth in SH-SY5Y cells (p < 0.01). Discussion: Collectively these data show elevated serum levels of maternal IL-6 in PE, which increases neurite growth and mitochondrial function in SH-SY5Y cells. This rationalizes the further study of IL-6 as a potential mediator between PE exposure and neurodevelopmental outcome in the offspring.
Brief repeated virtual nature contact for three weeks boosts university students' nature connectedness and psychological and physiological health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A pilot study

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated uncertainties and restrictions have adverse impacts on university students' mental wellbeing. Evidence shows that virtual nature contact has mental health benefits. However, little is known about the potential beneficial health impacts of virtual nature contact during times of social distancing, when access to the natural environment is restricted. This pilot study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a 3-week virtual nature contact in improving nature connectedness and reducing psychophysiological stress. A sample of 56 university students in Hong Kong was randomly assigned to control and nature interventions using 2-D video played for 15 min three times a week for 3 weeks. Nature connectedness, perceived restorativeness and psycho-physiological wellbeing were measured. Our findings show significant changes in psychological stress levels after nature interventions compared with the baseline, including increased happiness and stronger emotions of comfort and relaxation. When compared with the control group, the results show the nature intervention group has significantly higher levels of nature connectedness, happiness, and positive affect, but no significant effects on other psychological and physiological variables (e.g., cardiovascular responses). Our preliminary findings highlight the potential use of virtual nature contacts in bolstering university students' wellbeing at times of pandemic or when in-person visit to the natural environment is not feasible.
Genomic characterization and assessment of pathogenic potential of Legionella spp. isolates from environmental monitoring

Several species in the genus Legionella are known to cause an acute pneumonia when the aerosols containing the bacteria from man-made water systems are inhaled. The disease is usually caused by Legionella pneumophila, but other species have been implicated in the infection. The disease is frequently manifested as an outbreak, which means several people are affected when exposed to the common source of Legionella contamination. Therefor environmental surveillance which includes isolation and identification of Legionella is performed routinely. However, usually no molecular or genome-based methods are employed in further characterization of the isolates during routine environmental monitoring. During several years of such monitoring, isolates from different geographical locations were collected and 39 of them were sequenced by hybrid de novo approach utilizing short and long sequencing reads. In addition, the isolates were typed by standard culture and MALDI-TOF method. The sequencing reads were assembled and annotated to produce high-quality genomes. By employing discriminatory genome typing, four potential new species in the Legionella genus were identified, which are yet to be biochemically and morphologically characterized. Moreover, functional annotations concerning virulence and antimicrobial resistance were performed on the sequenced genomes. The study contributes to the knowledge on little-known non-pneumophila species present in man-made water systems and establishes support for future genetic relatedness studies as well as understanding of their pathogenic potential.
Observations and scaling of travelling bubble cavitation

Recent observations of growing and collapsing bubbles in flows over axisymmetric headforms have revealed the complexity of the ‘micro-fluid-mechanics’ associated with these bubbles (van der Meulen & van Renesse 1989; Briancon-Marjollet et al. 1990; Ceccio & Brennen 1991). Among the complex features observed were the bubble-to-bubble and bubble-to-boundary-layer interactions which leads to the shearing of the underside of the bubble and alters the collapsing process. All of these previous tests, though, were performed on small headform sizes. The focus of this research is to analyse the scaling effects of these phenomena due to variations in model size, Reynolds number and cavitation number. For this purpose, cavitating flows over Schiebe headforms of different sizes (5.08, 25.4 and 50.8 cm in diameter) were studied in the David Taylor Large Cavitation Channel (LCC). The bubble dynamics captured using high-speed film and electrode sensors are presented along with the noise signals generated during the collapse of the cavities. In the light of the complexity of the dynamics of the travelling bubbles and the important bubble/bubble interactions, it is clear that the spherical Rayleigh-Plesset analysis cannot reproduce many of the phenomena observed. For this purpose an unsteady numerical code was developed which uses travelling sources to model the interactions between the bubble (or bubbles) and the pressure gradients in the irrotational flow outside the boundary layer on the headform. The paper compares the results of this numerical code with the present experimental results and demonstrates good qualitative agreement between the two.
The Minnaert bubble: an acoustic approach

We propose an ab initio introduction to the well-known Minnaert pulsating bubble at graduate level. After a brief recall of the standard stuff, we begin with a detailed discussion of the radial movements of an air bubble in water. This discussion is managed from an acoustic point of view, and using the Lagrangian rather than the Eulerian variables. In unbounded water, the air–water system has a continuum of eigenmodes, some of them correspond to regular Fabry–Pérot resonances. A singular resonance, the lowest one, is shown to coincide with that of Minnaert. In bounded water, the eigenmodes spectrum is discrete, with a finite fundamental frequency. A spectacular quasi-locking of the latter occurs if it happens to exceed the Minnaert frequency, which provides an unforeseen one-bubble alternative version of the famous ‘hot chocolate effect’. In the (low) frequency domain in which sound propagation inside the bubble reduces to a simple ‘breathing’ (i.e. inflation/deflation), the light air bubble can be ‘dressed’ by the outer water pressure forces, and is turned into the heavy Minnaert bubble. Thanks to this unexpected renormalization process, we demonstrate that the Minnaert bubble definitely behaves like a true harmonic oscillator of the spring-bob type, but with a damping term and a forcing term in apparent disagreement with those commonly admitted in the literature. Finally, we underline the double role played by the water. In order to tell the water motion associated with water compressibility (i.e. the sound) from the simple incompressible accompaniment of the bubble breathing, we introduce a new picture analogous to the electromagnetic radiative picture in Coulomb gauge, which naturally leads us to split the water displacement in an instantaneous and a retarded part. The Minnaert renormalized mass of the dressed bubble is then automatically recovered.
Pulmonary Edema Severity Estimation in Chest Radiographs Using Deep Learning

The detection of pulmonary edema in chest radiographs is critical for the physician to make timely treatment decisions for patients with congestive heart failure. However, assessing the severity of pulmonary edema is a challenging task that leads to low inter-rater agreement among experienced radiologists. We compare a number of deep learning approaches to estimate the severity of pulmonary edema using the large-scale MIMIC-CXR database of chest x-ray images and radiology reports.
GABAA receptor subtypes and benzodiazepine use, misuse, and abuse

Benzodiazepines have been in use for over half a century. While they remain highly prescribed, their unfavorable side-effect profile and abuse liability motivated a search for alternatives. Most of these efforts focused on the development of benzodiazepine-like drugs that are selective for specific GABAA receptor subtypes. While there is ample evidence that subtype-selective GABAA receptor ligands have great potential for providing symptom relief without typical benzodiazepine side-effects, it is less clear whether subtype-selective targeting strategies can also reduce misuse and abuse potential. This review focuses on the three benzodiazepine properties that are relevant to the DSM-5-TR criteria for Sedative, Hypnotic, or Anxiolytic Use Disorder, namely, reinforcing properties of benzodiazepines, maladaptive behaviors related to benzodiazepine use, and benzodiazepine tolerance and dependence. We review existing evidence regarding the involvement of different GABAA receptor subtypes in each of these areas. The reviewed studies suggest that α1-containing GABAA receptors play an integral role in benzodiazepine-induced plasticity in reward-related brain areas and might be involved in the development of tolerance and dependence to benzodiazepines. However, a systematic comparison of the contributions of all benzodiazepine-sensitive GABAA receptors to these processes, a mechanistic understanding of how the positive modulation of each receptor subtype might contribute to the brain mechanisms underlying each of these processes, and a definitive answer to the question of whether specific chronic modulation of any given subtype would result in some or all of the benzodiazepine effects are currently lacking from the literature. Moreover, how non-selective benzodiazepines might lead to the maladaptive behaviors listed in DSM and how different GABAA receptor subtypes might be involved in the development of these behaviors remains unexplored. Considering the increasing burden of benzodiazepine abuse, the common practice of benzodiazepine misuse that leads to severe dependence, and the current efforts to generate side-effect free benzodiazepine alternatives, there is an urgent need for systematic, mechanistic research that provides a better understanding of the brain mechanisms of benzodiazepine misuse and abuse, including the involvement of specific GABAA receptor subtypes in these processes, to establish an informed foundation for preclinical and clinical efforts.
Handwriting fluency, latency, and kinematic in Portuguese writing system: Pilot study with school children from 3rd to 5th grade

Studies have referred to the interaction between orthographic and motor aspects during the production of handwriting. However, studies with Brazilian Portuguese are still lacking. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare orthographic regularity, based on the Portuguese writing system, in high (HF) and low (LF) frequency words, in relation to latency and kinematic variables in students from the 3rd to the 5th grade of elementary school. This is a cross-sectional pilot study, with a convenience sample of 95 children participated in this study, from 3rd to 5th grade level attending a state elementary school. All were submitted to the following procedures of computerized evaluation of handwriting and submitted to the task of writing 15 HF and 15 LF words, selected according to the frequency criteria and classified according writing coding rule. Results indicated that for HF words, there was a decrease in writing and disfluencies production time, for all coding rules, from 3rd to 5th grade. However, for LF words, the more unpredictable orthographic affect production duration time, movement fluency, and students became more dependent on the use of gaze to check spelling aspects. This study revealed that lexical and sub-lexical activation affected motor production. For HF and LF words, lexical and sublexical process favored motor programming. However, for LF words, despite the maturation and school progression for the motor planes, there was an increase in latency time and in the need to search for word information, measured by the gaze variable for words with greater irregularity. This study has provided some evidence that linguistic variables such as orthographic regularity and word familiarity affect handwriting performance in Brazilian Portuguese written language.
Clinical characteristics and clinical outcome of community clusters with SARS-CoV-2 infection

Background Community clustering is one of the main features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, few studies have been conducted on the clinical characteristics and clinical outcome of clustered cases and sporadic cases with COVID-19. Methods We recruited 41 community clusters confirmed with SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with 49 sporadic cases in Zhejiang Province from 19 January 2020 to 9 June 2020. Clinical data were collected to evaluate the clinical outcome and characteristics of community clusters. Results Compared to sporadic cases, clustered cases had significantly lower Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score {5.0 [interquartile range (IQR), 2.0–7.5] vs. 7.0 [IQR, 4.0–12.5]; P = 0.005}, less members in intensive care unit (ICU) (6 [14.6%] vs. 18 [36.7%]; P = 0.018), and shorter time of viral shedding in fecal samples (18.5 [IQR, 17.0–28.3] vs. 32.0 [IQR, 24.3–35.5]; P = 0.002). Univariable logistic regression revealed that older age (odds ratios 1.078, 95% confidence intervals 1.007–1.154, per year increase; p = 0.032), high APACHE II score (3.171, 1.147–8.76; P = 0.026), elevated interleukin-2 levels (3.078, 1.145–8.279; P = 0.026) were associated with ICU admission of clustered cases. Conclusions Compared to sporadic cases, clustered cases exhibited milder disease severity and a better clinical outcome, which may be closely related to the management of early detection, early diagnosis, early treatment and early isolation of COVID-19.
Role of transcription factors and chromatin modifiers in driving lineage reprogramming in treatment-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer

Therapy-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a highly lethal variant of prostate cancer that is increasing in incidence with the increased use of next-generation of androgen receptor (AR) pathway inhibitors. It arises via a reversible trans-differentiation process, referred to as neuroendocrine differentiation (NED), wherein prostate cancer cells show decreased expression of AR and increased expression of neuroendocrine (NE) lineage markers including enolase 2 (ENO2), chromogranin A (CHGA) and synaptophysin (SYP). NEPC is associated with poor survival rates as these tumors are aggressive and often metastasize to soft tissues such as liver, lung and central nervous system despite low serum PSA levels relative to disease burden. It has been recognized that therapy-induced NED involves a series of genetic and epigenetic alterations that act in a highly concerted manner in orchestrating lineage switching. In the recent years, we have seen a spurt in research in this area that has implicated a host of transcription factors and epigenetic modifiers that play a role in driving this lineage switching. In this article, we review the role of important transcription factors and chromatin modifiers that are instrumental in lineage reprogramming of prostate adenocarcinomas to NEPC under the selective pressure of various AR-targeted therapies. With an increased understanding of the temporal and spatial interplay of transcription factors and chromatin modifiers and their associated gene expression programs in NEPC, better therapeutic strategies are being tested for targeting NEPC effectively.