Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic Changes and Nomogram Prediction for Sinistral Portal Hypertension in Moderate and Severe Acute Pancreatitis

Objectives To investigate the dynamic changes in gastric varices in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) and to develop a novel nomogram for the early prediction of sinistral portal hypertension (SPH). Methods This was a retrospective, case-control study with an analysis of the quantitative, dynamic computed tomography imaging results of SPH in patients with moderate and severe AP with a long-term follow-up. Multivariate logistic regression analysis and nomogram were employed. Results The SPH group (n = 94) and non-SPH group (n = 94) were matched. The dynamic changes showed an increasing trend in the diameter of gastric fundus, short gastric, gastric coronary, and gastroepiploic veins, which did not recover during the one-year follow-up. Multivariate analysis showed that male (adjusted odds ratio (adjOR), 8.71; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.86–26.53; P < 0.001), body mass index ≥27.5 kg/m2 (adjOR, 5.49; 95% CI, 1.85–16.29; P = 0.002), prothrombin time ≥12.6 s (adjOR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.11–7.17; P = 0.03), and the patency of splenic vein [stenosis (adjOR, 8.48; 95% CI, 2.13–33.71; P = 0.002), and occlusion (adjOR, 34.57; 95% CI, 10.87–110.00; P < 0.001)] were independently associated with the development of SPH. The nomogram incorporating these factors demonstrated good discrimination, calibration and clinical utility. The area under the curve was as high as 0.92 (95% CI, 0.87–0.95). Conclusion The dynamic changes in varices in SPH are long-term and slowly progressing. Males and obese patients with abnormal splenic veins and coagulopathies are at high risk for developing SPH. A simple nomogram tool helps in the early, accurate prediction of SPH.
Oscillatoria sp. as a Potent Anti-phytopathogenic Agent and Plant Immune Stimulator Against Root-Knot Nematode of Soybean cv. Giza 111

Background Plant-parasitic nematodes are one of the major constraints to soybean production around the world. Plant-parasitic nematodes cause an estimated $78 billion in annual crop losses worldwide, with a 10–15% crop yield loss on average. Consequently, finding and applying sustainable methods to control diseases associated with soybean is currently in serious need. Methods In this study, we isolated, purified, characterized, and identified a novel cyanobacterial strain Oscillatoria sp. (blue-green alga). Based on its microscopic examination and 16S rRNA gene sequence, the aqueous and methanolic extracts of Oscillatoria were used to test their nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne incognita hatchability of eggs after 72 h of exposure time and juvenile mortality percentage in vitro after 24, 48, and 72 h of exposure time and reduction percentage of galls, eggmass, female number/root, and juveniles/250 soil. Also, the efficacy of the extract on improving the plant growth parameter and chlorophyll content under greenhouse conditions on soybean plant cv. Giza 111 was tested. Finally, the expression of PR-1, PR-2, PR-5, and PR15 (encoding enzymes) genes contributing to plant defense in the case of M. incognita invasion was studied and treated with Oscillatoria extract. Results The aqueous and methanolic extracts of Oscillatoria sp. had nematicidal activity against M. incognita. The percentage of mortality and egg hatching of M. incognita were significantly increased with the increase of time exposure to Oscillatoria extract 96.7, 97, and 98 larvae mortality % with S concentration after 24, 48, and 72 h of exposure time. The aqueous extract significantly increased the percentage of Root-Knot nematodes (RKN) of egg hatching, compared with Oxamyl and methanol extract at 96.7 and 97% after 72 h and 1 week, respectively. With the same concentration in the laboratory experiment. Furthermore, water extracts significantly reduced the number of galls in soybean root, egg masses, and female/root by 84.1, 87.5, and 92.2%, respectively, as well as the percentage of J2s/250 g soil by 93.7%. Root, shoot lengths, dry weight, number of pods/plant, and chlorophyll content of soybean treated with Oscillatoria water extract were significantly higher than the control increasing by 70.3, 94.1, 95.5, and 2.02%, respectively. The plant defense system's gene expression was tracked using four important pathogenesis-related genes, PR-1, PR-2, PR-5, and PR15, which encode enzymes involved in plant defense. Conclusions Oscillatoria extract is a potential nematicide against root-knot nematode invasion in soybean.
SparNet: A Convolutional Neural Network for EEG Space-Frequency Feature Learning and Depression Discrimination

Depression affects many people around the world today and is considered a global problem. Electroencephalogram (EEG) measurement is an appropriate way to understand the underlying mechanisms of major depressive disorder (MDD) to distinguish depression from normal control. With the development of deep learning methods, many researchers have adopted deep learning models to improve the classification accuracy of depression recognition. However, there are few studies on designing convolution filters for spatial and frequency domain feature learning in different brain regions. In this study, SparNet, a convolutional neural network composed of five parallel convolutional filters and the SENet, is proposed to learn EEG space-frequency domain characteristics and distinguish between depressive and normal control. The model is trained and tested by the cross-validation method of subject division. The results show that SparNet achieves a sensitivity of 95.07%, a specificity of 93.66%, and an accuracy of 94.37% in classification. Therefore, our results can conclude that the proposed SparNet model is effective in detecting depression using EEG signals. It also indicates that the combination of spatial information and frequency domain information is an effective way to identify patients with depression.
Impact of Lung Function Decline on Mortality in Lung Transplant Recipients: Long-Term Results From the L-CsA-i Study for the Prevention of Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome

Background Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) is defined by a progressive loss of FEV1 and is associated with premature mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the direct association between FEV1 decline and risk of mortality in patients after lung transplantation (LTx). Methods 10-year follow up data from lung transplant recipients participating in randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial investigating the role of liposomal Cyclosporine A for inhalation (L-CsA-i) in the prevention of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (NCT01334892) was used. The association between the course of FEV1 over time and the risk of mortality was assessed using joint modeling and Cox regression analysis. Results A total of 130 patients were included. Predictors of FEV1 decline were a higher absolute FEV1 at baseline and male sex. The joint model analysis indicated a significant association of change of FEV1 and risk of mortality (p < 0.001), with a predicted 3.4% increase in mortality risk for each 1% decline in FEV1. Significant predictors of a progressive phenotype were single LTx and treatment with placebo (as opposed to L-CsA-i). At the end of follow-up, 82 patients (63.1%) were still alive. Cox regression analyses for mortality identified only single LTx as a predictor of higher risk. Conclusion Based on our observation of a close association between FEV1 and mortality over a period of 10 years we suggest FEV1 as a valid predictor of mortality and a suitable surrogate endpoint in the investigation of early interventions.
Impact of in Utero Rat Exposure to 17Alpha-Ethinylestradiol or Genistein on Testicular Development and Germ Cell Gene Expression

Although the decline in male fertility is believed to partially result from environmental exposures to xenoestrogens during critical developmental windows, the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. Experimental in utero exposures in rodents have demonstrated the negative impact of xenoestrogens on reproductive development, long-term adult reproductive function and offspring health. In addition, transcriptomic studies have demonstrated immediate effects on gene expression in fetal reproductive tissues, However, the immediate molecular effects on the developing germ cells have been poorly investigated. Here, we took advantage of a transgenic rat expressing the green fluorescent protein specifically in germ cells allowing purification of perinatal GFP-positive germ cells. Timed-pregnant rats were exposed to ethinylestradiol (EE2, 2 μg/kg/d), genistein (GE, 10 mg/kg/d) or vehicle by gavage, from gestational days (GD) 13–19; testes were sampled at GD20 or post-natal (PND) 5 for histological analysis and sorting of GFP-positive cells. While EE2-exposed females gained less weight during treatment compared to controls, neither treatment affected the number of pups per litter, sex ratio, anogenital distance, or body and gonadal weights of the offspring. Although GE significantly decreased circulating testosterone at GD20, no change was observed in either testicular histology or germ cell and sertoli cell densities. Gene expression was assessed in GFP-positive cells using Affymetrix Rat Gene 2.0 ST microarrays. Analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (p < 0.05; fold change 1.5) identified expression changes of 149 and 128 transcripts by EE2 and GE respectively at GD20, and 287 and 207 transcripts at PND5, revealing an increased effect after the end of treatment. Only about 1% of DEGs were common to both stages for each treatment. Functional analysis of coding DEG revealed an overrepresentation of olfactory transduction in all groups. In parallel, many non-coding RNAs were affected by both treatments, the most represented being small nucleolar and small nuclear RNAs. Our data suggest that despite no immediate toxic effects, fetal exposure to xenoestrogens can induce subtle immediate changes in germ cell gene expression. Moreover, the increased number of DEGs between GD20 and PND5 suggests an effect of early exposures with latent impact on later germ cell differentiation.
The Application of Deep Brain Stimulation for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: A Systematic Review

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare neurodegenerative disease and currently no effective symptomatic or neuroprotective treatment is available for PSP. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), as a neurosurgical procedure, plays a role in a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, and a series of case reports have applied DBS in PSP patients. However, there are no systematic investigations about the application of DBS in PSP patients; we therefore performed a systematic review to evaluate the efficacy of DBS for PSP. PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane library were systematically searched from database inception to July 31, 2021. Additional, reference lists of included studies were hand-searched. Of 155 identified studies, 14 were eligible and were included in our analysis (N = 39 participants). We assessed the data between DBS-OFF and DBS-ON conditions, as measured by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and other clinical rating scales. A reduction of UPDRS III scores under DBS-ON conditions in most PSP cases was observed, but the differences yielded no statistical significance. There wasn't sufficient evidence proving DBS was effective for PSP patients though part of PSP cases could benefit from DBS and our findings could give up-to-date information about the possible role of DBS in PSP which would provide design strategies for following clinical trials and might ultimately help to promote the clinical application of DBS in PSP patients.
Aboveground Carbon Fixation and Nutrient Retention in Temporary Spontaneous Cover Crops in Olive Groves of Andalusia

In Southern Spain, olive trees have traditionally been cultivated in marginal areas with relatively shallow and bare soils under rainfed conditions, resulting in heavy soil losses and soil degradation. The implementation of temporary spontaneous cover crops in the inter-rows of olive groves, has proven to be a suitable diversification strategy to reduce soil erosion but it can also contribute to climate change mitigation and the boosting of internal nutrient recycling. However, information on the contribution of cover crops to atmospheric CO2 fixation and on nutrient retention in olive groves is scarce, which is a major drawback when it comes to modelling on larger spatial scales. In this study, we aimed to assess the potential effects of temporary spontaneous cover crops in olive groves on CO2 fixation and nutrient retention. The aerial biomass of cover crops (0.25m2 frames) and contents of carbon and nitrogen (CNHS analyser), phosphorus and potassium (IPC-MS) were analyzed in 46 commercial olive groves with different tree densities and cover crop layouts; the whole farm (WCC), the whole farm except the area below the tree canopy (CCC) or in bands of a given width in the inter-row area (BCC). Cover crops of 56% of the olive groves were under BCC whereas only 17% were under WCC. The annual net primary production of cover crops under WCC (1,707.4 kg DM ha−1 y−1) was significantly higher than that of CCC (769.5 kg DM ha−1 y−1) and with intermediate values for BCC (1,186.4 kg DM ha−1 y−1). Similarly, the annual rate of C-CO2 fixation in the annual net primary production of olive groves with WCC (642.1 kg C ha−1 y−1) was 1.35 and 2.1 times higher than the olive groves with BCC and CCC, respectively. On average, 19.5 kg N ha−1 y−1, 2.48 kg P ha−1 y−1 and 24.30 kg K ha−1 y−1 was accumulated in the biomass of the cover crops. This study demonstrates that cover crops contribute significantly to CO2 reduction and the retention of significant amounts of tree-unused nutrients. In addition, the higher the area covered by cover crops, the higher the contribution to these ecosystem services.
Pregnancy-Related Stress Among Pregnant Women Receiving Tocolytic and Non-Tocolytic Treatments Where Both Used Complementary Medicine

Objective: This study aimed to compare the pregnancy stress among pregnant women in receiving tocolytic and non-tocolytic treatments where both used complementary medicine. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 35 pregnant women receiving tocolytic treatment and 35 receiving non-tocolytic treatment, where both used complementary medicine in a medical center in central Taiwan. A basic information questionnaire that contained demographic variables and types of complementary medicine used and the Pregnancy Stress Rating Scale were used for the analysis. Results: The types of complementary medicines were surveyed using the multiple-choice questionnaire. Natural products (77.5%) were most commonly used by pregnant women receiving tocolytic treatment, followed by alternative medicine (13.75%), manipulative and body-based practices (5%), and mind and body medicine (3.75%). In pregnant women who were receiving non-tocolytic treatment, natural products (59.1%) were most commonly used, followed by manipulative and body-based practices (16.4%), alternative medicine (15.4%), mind and body medicine (7.3%), and energy therapy (1.8%). According to the analysis of covariance test results, while both used complementary medicine in groups, pregnant women receiving tocolytic treatment were less stressed than those who were receiving non-tocolytic treatment (Pregnancy Stress Rating Scale score, p = 0.038), especially in dimension 2 (stress caused by infant care and changes in family relationships) (p = 0.015) and dimension 5 (stress caused by changes in physical appearance and function) (p = 0.008), which showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). Linear regression analysis results showed that the gestational age significantly associated with pregnancy stress (Pregnancy Stress Rating Scale score, p = 0.029; dimension 2, p = 0.016; and dimension 5, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Among both who used complementary medicine, pregnancy stress was significantly lower in pregnant women who were receiving tocolytic treatment than in those who were receiving non-tocolytic treatment. This finding can be used as a reference for future pregnant women’s health studies.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum Extract and its Bioactive Component Cinnamaldehyde Show Anti-Tumor Effects via Inhibition of Multiple Cellular Pathways

Cinnamomum zeylanicum is a tropical plant with traditional medicinal significance that possesses antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-parasitic, and anti-tumor properties. Here, we have elucidated the anti-tumor effects of Cinnamomum zeylanicum extract (CZE) and its bioactive compound cinnamaldehyde (CIN) on oral cancer and elucidated underlying molecular mechanisms. Anti-tumor activities of CZE and CIN were demonstrated by various in vitro experiments on oral cancer cells (SCC-4, SCC-9, SCC-25). The cell proliferation, growth, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and autophagy were analyzed by MTT, clonogenic assay, propidium iodide, annexin-V-PI, DAPI, and acridine orange staining, respectively. The binding affinity of CIN towards dihydrofolate reductase and p38-MAP kinase alpha was analyzed by molecular docking. Western blot assay was performed to assess the alteration in the expression of various proteins. CZE and CIN treatment significantly inhibited the growth and proliferation of oral cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. These treatments further induced apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and autophagy. CZE and CIN inhibited the invasion and cytoplasmic translocation of NF-κB in these cell lines. CIN showed a high affinity to MAP kinase P38 alpha and dihydrofolate reductase with binding affinities of −6.8 and −5.9 kcal/mol, respectively. The cancer cells showed a decreased expression of various PI3k-AKT-mTOR pathways related to VEGF, COX-2, Bcl-2, NF-κB, and proteins post-treatment.
Effectiveness of Dietary Supplement for Skin Moisturizing in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background The dietary supplement industry offers many oral cosmetics that purportedly assist in skin moisturization often with unclear evidence supporting efficacy and safety. To update the accessible proofs pertaining to the safety and effectiveness of oral dietary supplements to facilitate skin moisturizing via an all-around review and meta-analysis. Methods Three on-line databases [Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library (CENTRAL)] were retrieved from January 2000 to November 2021. An overall 66 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of skin care were recognized. Meta-analysis was performed for dietary supplements with four or more available research. Results Oral collagen or ceramide resulted in a statistically significant increase in skin hydration and a decrease in transepidermal water loss (TEWL) compared to placebo. No benefits regarding the improvement of skin conditions in terms of water content and TEWL were observed for lactic acid bacteria or Lactobacillus fermented foods. A statistically significant and positive effect on skin hydration was observed for both hyaluronan and procyanidin, with an unknown effect on TEWL due to insufficient RCTs. There was a non-significant improvement in the water content of stratum corneum for astaxanthin based on subgroup analyses. Among the dietary supplements trialed in ≤ 3 RCTs, the judgment regarding their effects on skin moisturizing was prevented by inconsistent conclusions as well as insufficient research. All food supplements were safe throughout the research (normally ≤ 24 weeks). Conclusion Oral dietary supplements, including collagen, ceramides, hyaluronan, and procyanidin, were proven to be effective for skin moisturization. At present, for skin moisturization, the proofs supporting the recommendation of other dietary supplements, such as lactic acid bacteria and astaxanthin, are insufficient. Systematic Review Registration http://www.crd. york.ac. uk/PROSPERO/ identifier CRD42021290818
O-Net: A Novel Framework With Deep Fusion of CNN and Transformer for Simultaneous Segmentation and Classification

The application of deep learning in the medical field has continuously made huge breakthroughs in recent years. Based on convolutional neural network (CNN), the U-Net framework has become the benchmark of the medical image segmentation task. However, this framework cannot fully learn global information and remote semantic information. The transformer structure has been demonstrated to capture global information relatively better than the U-Net, but the ability to learn local information is not as good as CNN. Therefore, we propose a novel network referred to as the O-Net, which combines the advantages of CNN and transformer to fully use both the global and the local information for improving medical image segmentation and classification. In the encoder part of our proposed O-Net framework, we combine the CNN and the Swin Transformer to acquire both global and local contextual features. In the decoder part, the results of the Swin Transformer and the CNN blocks are fused to get the final results. We have evaluated the proposed network on the synapse multi-organ CT dataset and the ISIC 2017 challenge dataset for the segmentation task. The classification network is simultaneously trained by using the encoder weights of the segmentation network. The experimental results show that our proposed O-Net achieves superior segmentation performance than state-of-the-art approaches, and the segmentation results are beneficial for improving the accuracy of the classification task. The codes and models of this study are available at https://github.com/ortonwang/O-Net.
Current Status and Future Opportunities in Modeling Clinical Characteristics of Multiple Sclerosis

Development of effective treatments requires understanding of disease mechanisms. For diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), such as multiple sclerosis (MS), human pathology studies and animal models tend to identify candidate disease mechanisms. However, these studies cannot easily link the identified processes to clinical outcomes, such as MS severity, required for causality assessment of candidate mechanisms. Technological advances now allow the generation of thousands of biomarkers in living human subjects, derived from genes, transcripts, medical images, and proteins or metabolites in biological fluids. These biomarkers can be assembled into computational models of clinical value, provided such models are generalizable. Reproducibility of models increases with the technical rigor of the study design, such as blinding, control implementation, the use of large cohorts that encompass the entire spectrum of disease phenotypes and, most importantly, model validation in independent cohort(s). To facilitate the growth of this important research area, we performed a meta-analysis of publications (n = 302) that model MS clinical outcomes extracting effect sizes, while also scoring the technical quality of the study design using predefined criteria. Finally, we generated a Shiny-App-based website that allows dynamic exploration of the data by selective filtering. On average, the published studies fulfilled only one of the seven criteria of study design rigor. Only 15.2% of the studies used any validation strategy, and only 8% used the gold standard of independent cohort validation. Many studies also used small cohorts, e.g., for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and blood biomarker predictors, the median sample size was <100 subjects. We observed inverse relationships between reported effect sizes and the number of study design criteria fulfilled, expanding analogous reports from non-MS fields, that studies that fail to limit bias overestimate effect sizes. In conclusion, the presented meta-analysis represents a useful tool for researchers, reviewers, and funders to improve the design of future modeling studies in MS and to easily compare new studies with the published literature. We expect that this will accelerate research in this important area, leading to the development of robust models with proven clinical value.