Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A paracrine activin A–mDia2 axis promotes squamous carcinogenesis via fibroblast reprogramming

Cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are key regulators of tumorigenesis and promising targets for next‐generation therapies. We discovered that cancer cell‐derived activin A reprograms fibroblasts into pro‐tumorigenic CAFs. Mechanistically, this occurs via Smad2‐mediated transcriptional regulation of the formin mDia2, which directly promotes filopodia formation and cell migration. mDia2 also induces expression of CAF marker genes through prevention of p53 nuclear accumulation, resulting in the production of a pro‐tumorigenic matrisome and secretome. The translational relevance of this finding is reflected by activin A overexpression in tumor cells and of mDia2 in the stroma of skin cancer and other malignancies and the correlation of high activin A/mDia2 levels with poor patient survival. Blockade of this signaling axis using inhibitors of activin, activin receptors, or mDia2 suppressed cancer cell malignancy and squamous carcinogenesis in 3D organotypic cultures, ex vivo, and in vivo, providing a rationale for pharmacological inhibition of activin A‐mDia2 signaling in stratified cancer patients.
Cyber Sextortion: An Exploratory Analysis of Different Perpetrators Engaging in a Similar Crime

Sextortion, a portmanteau of “sexual” and “extortion,” is the threat to distribute intimate, sexual materials unless a victim complies with certain demands. Cyber sextortion is part of a larger continuum of image-based sexual offending in which images are used for harm. Despite the serious nature of this crime, there exists a dearth of empirical knowledge of sextortion. This article employed a qualitative content analysis of media articles and court documents to explore the crimes of 152 cyber sextortion offenders. Characteristics of offenders, victims, demands, and methodology were identified and synthesized to generate a qualitative understanding of offenders who employed cyber sextortion. The results revealed four different themes of offenders based on crime characteristics: minor-focused cyber sextortion offenders, cybercrime cyber sextortion offenders, intimately violent cyber sextortion offenders, and transnational criminal cyber sextortion offenders. The diverse nature of cyber sextortion has implications for crime control policies. Certain offenders are more likely to be apprehended and prosecuted depending on the crime victim and methodology. In addition, there has been a lack of legislative action targeting cyber sextortion, which limits legal recourse available for victims. We discuss the contribution of this work to the broader literature on cyber sextortion and address some of the challenges that this crime presents to the criminal justice system.
Connecting EEG signal decomposition and response selection processes using the theory of event coding framework

The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the integration of perception and action are an important topic in cognitive neuroscience. Yet, connections between neurophysiology and cognitive theoretical frameworks have rarely been established. The theory of event coding (TEC) details how perceptions and actions are associated (bound) in a common representational domain (the “event file”), but the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying these processes are hardly understood. We used complementary neurophysiological methods to examine the neurophysiology of event file processing (i.e., event‐related potentials [ERPs], temporal EEG signal decomposition, EEG source localization, time‐frequency decomposition, EEG network analysis). We show that the P3 ERP component and activity modulations in inferior parietal regions (BA40) reflect event file binding processes. The relevance of this parietal region is corroborated by source localization of temporally decomposed EEG data. We also show that temporal EEG signal decomposition reveals a pattern of results suggesting that event file processes can be dissociated from pure stimulus and response‐related processes in the EEG signal. Importantly, it is also documented that event file binding processes are reflected by modulations in the network architecture of theta frequency band activity. That is, when stimulus–response bindings in event files hamper response selection this was associated with a less efficient theta network organization. A more efficient organization was evident when stimulus–response binding in event files facilitated response selection. Small‐world network measures seem to reflect event file processing. The results show how cognitive‐theoretical assumptions of TEC can directly be mapped to the neurophysiology of response selection.
Respiratory muscle training in stroke patients with respiratory muscle weakness, dysphagia, and dysarthria – a prospective randomized trial

Abstract Objective: To examine the efficacy of combined inspiratory and expiratory respiratory muscle training (RMT) with respect to the swallowing function, pulmonary function, functional performance, and dysarthria in patients with stroke. Design: Prospective, randomized controlled trial. Setting: Tertiary hospital. Participants: The trial included 21 subjects (12 men, 9 women) aged 35 to 80 years presenting with 6 months history of unilateral stroke, respiratory muscle weakness (≥70% predicted maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) and/or ≤70% maximal expiratory pressure (MEP)), dysphagia, or dysarthria. These subjects were randomly assigned to the control (n = 10, rehabilitation) and experimental (n = 11, rehabilitation with RMT) groups. Intervention: Inspiratory RMT starting from 30% to 60% of MIP and expiratory RMT starting from 15% to 75% of MEP for 5 days/week for 6 weeks. Main outcome measures: MIP, MEP, pulmonary function, peak cough flow, perception of dyspnea, Fatigue Assessment Scale, Modified Rankin Scale, Brunnstrom stage, Barthel index, Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS), and parameters of voice analysis. Results: Significant differences were observed between both groups in terms of MIP, forced vital capacity (FVC), and forced expiratory volume per second (FEV1) of the percentage predicted. Significant difference was found with respect to the change in fatigue, shimmer percent, amplitude perturbation quotient, and voice turbulence index (VTI) according to the acoustic analysis in the RMT group. The FEV1/FVC ratio was negatively correlated with jitter percent, relative average perturbation, pitch perturbation quotient, and VTI; the maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF) and MMEF% were also negatively correlated with VTI. Significant differences among participants of the same group were observed while comparing the Brunnstrom stage before and after training of the affected limbs and the Barthel scale and FOIS scores in both the groups. Conclusions: Altogether, 6-week combined inspiratory and expiratory RMT is feasible as adjuvant therapy for stroke patients to improve fatigue level, respiratory muscle strength, lung volume, respiratory flow, and dysarthria. Clinical trial registration number (Clinical Trial Identifier): NCT03491111.
Dual MicroRNA Blockade Increases Expression of Antioxidant Protective Proteins: Implications for Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding RNAs which each cause repression of many target genes. Previous work has demonstrated that therapeutic blockade of single miRNAs is possible. miR-24-3p and miR-145-5p are reported to have a detrimental role in ischemia-reperfusion injury. As the action of miRNAs is inhibitory, we hypothesized that dual blockade of both miRNAs could synergistically upregulate shared target genes. Methods. Quantification of miRNA expression in donated kidneys was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panels. Ischemia-reperfusion injury was modeled in vitro by placing human umbilical vein endothelial cells into a hypoxic incubator (1% O2) for 24 hours, with reoxygenation for 6 hours. RNA expression was quantified with reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and protein expression assessed with Western blot. Antisense oligonucleotides were used to inhibit miRNAs. Results. miR-24-3p and miR-145-5p were highly expressed in human kidneys following extended cold ischemia. In vitro, hypoxia caused significant upregulation of miR-24-3p (P ≤ 0.001) and miR-145-5p (P ≤ 0.001) and significant downregulation in messenger RNA of shared targets superoxide dismutase 2 (P ≤ 0.001) and heme oxygenase 1 (P ≤ 0.001). These changes were mirrored at the protein level. Dual inhibition of both miR-24-3p and miR-145-5p caused significant upregulation of superoxide dismutase 2 and heme oxygenase 1 protein following hypoxia-reoxygenation; fold change of 3.17 (P ≤ 0.05) and 6.97 (P ≤ 0.05) respectively. Dual inhibition resulted in reduced cellular reactive oxygen species production compared with negative control (P ≤ 0.05) and single blockade of miR-24-3p (P ≤ 0.01) or miR-145-5p (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions. Dual blockade of 2 miRNAs can act synergistically to increase the expression of shared gene targets. Dual blockade of miR-24-3p and miR-145-5p represents a novel therapeutic option worthy of further research.
A cross-sectional study

Many smartphone users experience pain in the thumb/wrist. This pain can be due to certain types of hand injuries as well as inflammation of the extensor pollicis brevis and the abductor pollicis longus tendon sheaths, known as De Quervain tenosynovitis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between smartphone addiction and wrist/thumb pain and to determine the severity of the pain, as well as to calculate the prevalence of De Quervain tenosynovitis among medical students at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah. A total of 387 medical students were enrolled. The smartphone addiction scale-short version (SAS-SV) was used to divide participants into the smartphone addict group and non-addict group. Both groups completed the self-administered patient-rated wrist and hand evaluation (PRWHE) questionnaire to evaluate wrist/hand pain. The Finkelstein test was administered to those who reported pain in the thumb/wrist. Two hundred fifty-seven (66.4%) participants were smartphone addicts; 74 (19.1%) had a positive Finkelstein test. There was a significant correlation between smartphone addiction and high PRWHE scores (P= .036). Our study found the prevalence of smartphones addiction among university students to be high (66%), furthermore a correlation between heavy smartphones usage and hand pain was found which indicates that heavy usage of these devices can cause subclinical effects on the human hand. Abbreviations: CEA = Commission for English Language Program Accreditation, DRF = distal radial fracture, GPS = global positioning system, KAU=King Abdulaziz University, PRWHE-A= Arabic version of the patient-rated wrist and hand evaluation, SAS = smartphone addiction scale, SAS-SV = smartphone addiction scale short-version, SPSS = statistical package for the social sciences.
Short-term Outcomes of Elective 2-Stage Restorative Proctocolectomy for Ulcerative Colitis in Korea: Does Laparoscopy Have Benefits?

Purpose This study aimed to compare the short-term outcomes of the open and laparoscopic approaches to 2-stage restorative proctocolectomy (RPC) for Korean patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 73 patients with UC who underwent elective RPC between 2009 and 2016. Patient characteristics, operative details, and postoperative complications within 30 days were compared between the open and laparoscopic groups. Results There were 26 cases (36%) in the laparoscopic group, which had a lower mean body mass index (P = 0.025), faster mean time to recovery of bowel function (P = 0.004), less intraoperative blood loss (P = 0.004), and less pain on the first and seventh postoperative days (P = 0.029 and P = 0.027, respectively) compared to open group. There were no deaths, and the overall complication rate was 43.8%. There was no between-group difference in the overall complication rate; however, postoperative ileus was more frequent in the open group (27.7% vs. 7.7%, P = 0.043). Current smoking (odds ratio [OR], 44.4; P = 0.003) and open surgery (OR, 5.4; P = 0.014) were the independent risk factors for postoperative complications after RPC. Conclusion Laparoscopic RPC was associated with acceptable morbidity and faster recovery than the open approach. The laparoscopic approach is a feasible and safe option for surgical treatment for UC in selective cases.
Severe Maternal Morbidity Cases in Israel in a High-Volume High-Resource Referral Center: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND Admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) is an objective marker of severe maternal morbidity (SMM). OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of obstetric ICU admissions in one medical center in Israel and to characterize this population. METHODS In this retrospective study the files of women coded for pregnancy, birth, or the perinatal period and admission to the ICU were pulled for data extraction (2005-2013). RESULTS During the study period, 111 women were admitted to the ICU among 120,279 women who delivered babies (0.09%). Their average age was 30 ± 6 years, most were multigravida, a few had undergone fertility treatments, and only 27% had complicated previous pregnancies. Most pregnancies (71.2%) were uneventful prior to admission. ICU admissions were divided equally between direct (usually hemorrhage) and indirect (usually cardiac disease) obstetric causes. CONCLUSIONS The indications for obstetrics ICU admission correlated with the proximate causes of maternal arrest observed worldwide. While obstetric hemorrhage is often unpredictable, deterioration of heart disease is foreseeable. Attention should be directed specifically toward improving the diagnosis and treatment of maternal heart disease during pregnancy in Israel.
The Subnational Political Resource Curse: Allocations, Internally Generated Revenue and Spending Priorities in Nigeria

I argue that Nigerian states’ interest in Excess Crude Account revenue is driven by a fiscal devolution stalled by allocation reliance. Allocations allow states to avoid accountability to the center and citizenry. The political curse theory predicts that allocation-reliant states reduce taxation in to reduce scrutiny and increase spending to induce apathy. In the literature also lies a silver lining: if taxes increase, increased participation may induce developmental spending. I model Nigerian state revenues and expenditures to determine whether they operate in line with these predictions. My strongest finding is that allocations displace local revenue. Findings are limited by data quality.
Predictive effects of the intercondylar notch morphology on anterior cruciate ligament injury in males

Abstract The effects of the intercondylar notch morphology on predicting anterior crucaite ligament (ACL) injury in males were unknown. We aimed to determine the risk factors of the intercondylar notch on ACL injury, and evaluate the predictive effects of the morphological parameters on ACL injury in males. Sixty-one patients with ACL injury and seventy-eight patients with intact ACLs were assigned to the case group and control group respectively. The notch width (NW), bicondylar width, notch width index (NWI), notch height (NH), notch cross-sectional area (CSA), notch angle (NA) and notch shape were obtained from the magnetic resonance images of male patients. Comparisons were performed between the case and control groups. Logistic regression model and the receiver operating characteristic curve were used to assess the predictive effects of these parameters on ACL injury. The NW, NWI, NH, CSA and NA in the case group were significantly smaller than those in the control group on the coronal magnetic resonance images. The NW and NWI were significantly smaller, while no significant differences of the NH and CSA were found between the 2 groups on the axial images. There was no significant difference in the notch shape between the 2 groups. The maximum value of area under the curve calculated by combining all relevant morphological parameters was 0.966. The ACL injury in males was associated with NW, NH, NWI, CSA, and NA. These were good indicators for predicting ACL injury in males.
Reconstruction of Continuous Brachial Arterial Pressure From Continuous Finger Arterial Pressure Using a Two-Level Optimization Strategy

<italic>Objective:</italic> We attempt to reconstruct brachial arterial pressure (BAP) waves from finger arterial pressure waves measured using the vascular unloading technique without arm-cuff calibration. A novel method called two-level optimization (TOP) strategy is proposed as follows. <italic>Methods:</italic> We first derive a simplified transfer function (TF) based on a tube-load model with only two parameters to be estimated, a coefficient <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$B$</tex-math></inline-formula> and a time delay <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta t$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Then, at level one, two minimization problems are formulated to estimate the optimal coefficient <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${B^{opt}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and time delay <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta {t^{opt}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Then, we can derive an optimal TF <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${h^{opt}}(t)$</tex-math></inline-formula>. However, this derivation requires true (or reference) BAP waves. Therefore, at level two, we apply multiple linear regression (MLR) to further model the relationship between the derived optimal parameters and subjects’ physiologic parameters. Hence, eventually, one can estimate coefficient <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${B^{MLR}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and time delay <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta {t^{MLR}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> from subject's physiologic parameters to derive the MLR-based TF <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${h^{MLR}}(t)$</tex-math></inline-formula> for the BAP reconstruction. <italic>Results:</italic> Twenty-one volunteers were recruited for the data collection. The mean ± standard deviation of the root mean square errors between the reference BAP waves and the BAP waves reconstructed by <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${h^{opt}}(t)$</tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${h^{MLR}}(t)$</tex-math></inline-formula>, and a generalized transfer function (GTF) were 3.46 ± 1.42 mmHg, 3.61 ± 2.28 mmHg, and 6.80 ± 3.73 mmHg (significantly larger with <italic>p</italic> < 0.01), respectively. <italic>Conclusions:</italic> The proposed method can be considered as a semi-individualized TF which reconstructs significantly better BAP waves than a GTF. <italic>Significance:</italic> The proposed TOP strategy can potentially be useful in more general reconstruction of proximal BP waves.
Burning-induced electrical signals influence broadband reflectance indices and water index in pea leaves

ABSTRACT Electrical signals (ESs) can be induced by local action of stressors in plants; they influence numerous physiological processes (photosynthesis, transpiration, respiration, genes expression, synthesis of phytohormones, etc.) and, thereby, induce a systemic adaptation response. Development of optical methods of a remote sensing of this response can be important for agricultural and ecological monitoring. Preliminarily, we showed (Sukhova et al., Plant Sign Behav 2019; 14:e1610301) that burning-induced ESs induced changes in leaf reflectance at broad spectral bands (400–500, 500–600, 600–700, and 700–800 nm). The aims of the present work were (i) investigation of ESs influence on difference reflectance indices (RIs) calculated on the basis of these broad spectral bands and (ii) analysis of connection of the indices with water content in plants. Pea seedlings were investigated. ESs were induced by burning of the first mature leaf; ESs had high amplitudes in the second leaf and had low amplitudes in the fourth leaf. It was shown that ESs induced significant changes in RIs, which were calculated on basis of intensities of the reflected light at (i) 400–500 and 600–700 nm, (ii) 500–600 and 700–800 nm, and (iii) 600–700 and 700–800 nm. The effect was strong in the second leaf and weak in the fourth leaf; that is, the response was dependent on the magnitude of ESs. ESs-induced changes in RI were strongly connected with ESs-induced decrease of leaf water content which was estimated on basis of decrease of water index. Thus, broadband RIs can be used for revealing the ESs-induced systemic stress response in plants.
Urban-rural Differences in the Duration of Injury-related Work Disability in Six Canadian Provinces.

OBJECTIVE To examine associations between injury-related work disability duration and urban-rural place of residence and whether associations differed across the disability distribution and by industry sector. METHODS Workers' compensation claims from six Canadian provinces were extracted between 2011 and 2015. Multivariable quantile regression models tested the associations between urban-rural place of residence and disability days paid between the 50 and 95 percentiles of the distribution. RESULTS Compared to workers residing in metropolitan areas, those in all other areas experienced more disability days paid. Urban-rural differences increased towards the upper end of disability distribution and were largest in the construction, and transportation and warehousing sectors. CONCLUSION Tailored interventions for workers in rural areas, particularly those in sectors associated with mobile work environments, may be warranted to reduce inequities in injury-related work disability duration by place of residence.
Monitoring of adverse drug reactions to antidepressant drugs in a teaching hospital

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are considered among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Adverse drug reactions are important determinants of non-adherence to antidepressant treatment, but their assessment is complicated by overlap with depressive symptoms and lack of reliable self-report measures The present study was therefore undertaken to monitor the ADRs of the antidepressant in the psychiatric outpatient unit of Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka, India Methods: Study was conducted from December 2012 to November 2013, the patients on antidepressant drugs from psychiatry out- patient department (OPD) of Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences were considered for analysis. The patients were diagnosed by consultant psychiatrist. Data was collected in standard questionnaire format. All patients diagnosed with psychiatric disorder as per ICD 10 criteria and receiving treatment with antidepressant were included. Assessment of causality and severity of recorded adverse events was done using WHO assessment scale and modified Siegel and Hartwig Scale respectively. Results: In our study 74 adverse drug reactions(ADRs) were seen among 52 cases, total 263 cases were screened.CNS and Anticholinergic side effects were most common adverse drug reactions noted. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) and Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the drugs causing maximum ADRs. Assessment of causality and severity of recorded adverse events showed possible to probable and mild to moderate severity respectively. Conclusions: CNS and Anticholinergic side effects were most common adverse drug reactions noted. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) were most commonly prescribed drugs followed by Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) and Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) accounted for most of ADRs (87.8%). Assessment of causality of recorded adverse events showed no certain cause and assessment of severity of recorded adverse events showed no severe cases.