Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Scoping Review of Respirator Literature and a Survey among Dental Professionals

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus was discovered in China in late 2019 and subsequently triggered a global pandemic. Dentists, like many other health professionals, are at an increased risk of contracting the virus as they work in close proximity to patients, especially when performing aerosol-generating procedures. Thus, in order for dentists to protect themselves and their patients, it is recommended that practitioners wear filtering facepiece 2 (FFP2) respirators. The prolonged use of these FFP2 respirators has been linked to several side effects. The aim of this paper is to assess the perceived experience associated with N95/FFP2 respirators based on the available literature and data collected through an online survey completed by Italian dental professionals. Articles were included up to May 2020 and literature searches were conducted through The National Library of Medicine, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Embase databases. The search terms included COVID-19, respirators, masks, and discomfort. An online survey was administered to 256 Italian dentists. The results from this survey were in agreement with the available literature. The findings concurred that the prolonged use of respirators was associated with headaches (47.5%), severe exertion and discomfort (50.8%), moderate concentration problems (54.3%), moderate breathing difficulties (63.5%), and consequently, an impaired work ability (85.5%). These findings were not influenced by the number of hours spent wearing the respirator. Despite several side effects, FFP2 respirators are fundamental in protecting dentists and their importance was acknowledged.
Electrospun Scaffolds Containing Silver-Doped Hydroxyapatite with Antimicrobial Properties for Applications in Orthopedic and Dental Bone Surgery

Preventing the development of osteomyelitis while enhancing bone regeneration is challenging, with relatively little progress to date in translating promising technologies to the clinic. Nanoscale hydroxyapatite (nHA) has been employed as a bone graft substitute, and recent work has shown that it may be modified with silver to introduce antimicrobial activity against known pathogens. The aim of this study was to incorporate silver-doped nHA into electrospun scaffolds for applications in bone repair. Silver-doped nHA was produced using a modified, rapid mixing, wet precipitation method at 2, 5, 10 mol. % silver. The silver-doped nHA was added at 20 wt. % to a polycaprolactone solution for electrospinning. Bacteria studies demonstrated reduced bacterial presence, with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus undetectable after 96 h of exposure. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were used to study both toxicity and osteogenicity of the scaffolds using PrestoBlue® and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assays. Innovative silver nHA scaffolds significantly reduced E. coli and S. aureus bacterial populations while maintaining cytocompatibility with mammalian cells and enhancing the differentiation of MSCs into osteoblasts. It was concluded that silver-doped nHA containing scaffolds have the potential to act as an antimicrobial device while supporting bone tissue healing for applications in orthopedic and dental bone surgery.
The Clinical Significance of RAS, PIK3CA, and PTEN Mutations in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Using Cell-Free DNA

Mutations in the EGFR gene downstream signaling pathways may cause receptor-independent pathway activation, making tumors unresponsive to EGFR inhibitors. However, the clinical significance of RAS, PIK3CA or PTEN mutations in NSCLC is unclear. In this study, patients who were initially diagnosed with NSCLC or experienced recurrence after surgical resection were enrolled, and blood samples was collected. Ultra-deep sequencing analysis of cfDNA using Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel v2 with Proton platforms was conducted. RAS/PIK3CA/PTEN mutations were frequently detected in cfDNA in stage IV NSCLC (58.1%), and a high proportion of the patients (47.8%) with mutations had bone metastases at diagnosis. The frequency of RAS/PIK3CA/PTEN mutations in patients with activating EGFR mutation was 61.7%. The median PFS for EGFR-TKIs was 15.1 months in patients without RAS/PIK3CA/PTEN mutations, and 19.9 months in patients with mutations (p = 0.549). For patients with activating EGFR mutations, the overall survival was longer in patients without RAS/PIK3CA/PTEN mutations (53.8 months vs. 27.4 months). For the multivariate analysis, RAS/PIK3CA/PTEN mutations were independent predictors of poor prognosis in patients with activating EGFR mutations. In conclusion, RAS, PIK3CA and PTEN mutations do not hamper EGFR-TKI treatment outcome; however, they predict a poor OS when activating EGFR mutations coexist.
Hypoxia Predicts Poor Prognosis in Neuroblastoma Patients and Associates with Biological Mechanisms Involved in Telomerase Activation and Tumor Microenvironment Reprogramming

The biological and clinical heterogeneity of neuroblastoma (NB) demands novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in order to drive the most appropriate treatment for each patient. Hypoxia is a condition of low-oxygen tension occurring in poorly vascularized tumor tissues. In this study, we aimed to assess the role of hypoxia in the pathogenesis of NB and at developing a new clinically relevant hypoxia-based predictor of outcome. We analyzed the gene expression profiles of 1882 untreated NB primary tumors collected at diagnosis and belonging to four existing data sets. Analyses took advantage of machine learning methods. We identified NB-hop, a seven-gene hypoxia biomarker, as a predictor of NB patient prognosis, which is able to discriminate between two populations of patients with unfavorable or favorable outcome on a molecular basis. NB-hop retained its prognostic value in a multivariate model adjusted for established risk factors and was able to additionally stratify clinically relevant groups of patients. Tumors with an unfavorable NB-hop expression showed a significant association with telomerase activation and a hypoxic, immunosuppressive, poorly differentiated, and apoptosis-resistant tumor microenvironment. NB-hop defines a new population of NB patients with hypoxic tumors and unfavorable prognosis and it represents a critical factor for the stratification and treatment of NB patients.
Effect of Pheromone-Mediated Mating Disruption on Pest Population Density of Maruca vitrata (Fabricius) (Crambidae: Lepidoptera)

Simple Summary The legume pod borer is one of the most serious legume pests widely distributed in Asia, Africa, Australia, America, and Oceania. The use of synthetic pheromone lures has been developed as a more environmentally friendly alternative for its control. In this study, we evaluated the potential of the pheromone components as a mating disruption tool under laboratory and small-scale field conditions by identifying effective blends made out of single pheromone components or a different mix of them. The results from the laboratory experiment show that insects challenged with the blend ratio of 1:1:1 had lower fecundity and egg eclosion. A small-scale caged field experiment also showed a significantly disruption of normal mating with the above-mentioned ratio, leading to lower flower and pod damage, and higher mungbean yield. This study provides new evidence about the possibility to use pheromone components for mating disruption; however, more research is needed to determine appropriate ratios of pheromone blend to increase the effect of disruption. From an applied research perspective, more studies are needed to investigated the effectiveness of mating disruption strategy on different legume crops, dispenser types, release points in the field, and compatibility with conventional insecticides as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) combined approach. Abstract The legume pod borer (Maruca vitrata) is one of the most serious legume pests due to its wide host range and high damage potential. Pheromone components on M. vitrata have been previously identified, allowing research on more environmentally friendly IPM tools for its control. M. vitrata produces a three-component pheromone blend containing (E, E)-10,12-hexadecadienal (major), (E, E)-10,12-hexadecadienol (minor), (E)-10-hexadecenal (minor). This study focused on the efficacy of synthetic pheromone lures and their blend components for mating disruption in M. vitrata. Under laboratory conditions, the mating behavior of M. vitrata pairs was observed from 18:00 to 02:00 h in an interval of 20 min to assess the efficacy of different pheromone lures. The scotophase behavior results show that the complete pheromone blend (E, E)-10,12-hexadecadienal + (E, E)-10,12-hexadecadienol + (E)-10-hexadecenal with a blend ratio of 1:1:1 effectively disrupted mating. The impact on mating disruption was evident from the lower fecundity and egg hatch/eclosion. The same lures were evaluated in a small-scale caged field study. The results show that the pheromone blend of (E, E)-10,12-hexadecadienal + (E, E)-10,12-hexadecadienol + (E)-10-hexadecenal in a1:1:1 ratio significantly disrupted the normal mating, leading to lower flower and pod damage and higher mung bean yield.
A retrospective analysis of congenital anomalies in congenital hypothyroidism

Abstract Objectives We evaluated the spectrum of diseases accompanying congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in the United Arab Emirates and compared them with internationally studied patterns. Methods The presented retrospective cross-sectional study took place in two government tertiary care centres. In total, 204 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CH and a minimum period of follow-up of 1 year were included. Patients with Down syndrome, infants born at <35 weeks of gestation, and babies with TORCH (Toxoplasma gondii, Other viruses [HIV, measles, etc.], Rubella, Cytomegalovirus, and Herpes simplex) infections were subsequently excluded from the study. Results Of the subjects with CH, 39% had associated extrathyroidal anomalies (ETAs); among these, 25% had a single anomaly. A significant proportion of Arab males were affected by CH as compared to other ethnic groups. Dyshormonogenesis was the commonest aetiological cause (55%) of CH. Males with an ectopic lingual thyroid gland had significant ETAs as compared to females of the same cohort. The most common ETAs were congenital heart disease (16%), followed by urogenital tract anomalies (14%). Conclusions Detection of a high rate and variability of ETAs associated with CH necessitates the formulation of a structured screening programme including appropriate clinical, laboratory, and imaging tools to detect ETAs at an earlier stage.
From Ivacaftor to Triple Combination: A Systematic Review of Efficacy and Safety of CFTR Modulators in People with Cystic Fibrosis

Over the last years CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) modulators have shown the ability to improve relevant clinical outcomes in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). This review aims at a systematic research of the current evidence on efficacy and tolerability of CFTR modulators for different genetic subsets of patients with CF. Two investigators independently performed the search on PubMed and included phase 2 and 3 clinical trials published in the study period 1 January 2005–31 January 2020. A final pool of 23 papers was included in the systematic review for a total of 4219 patients. For each paper data of interest were extracted and reported in table. In terms of lung function, patients who had the most beneficial effects from CFTR modulation were those patients with one gating mutation receiving IVA (ivacaftor) and patients with p.Phe508del mutation, both homozygous and heterozygous, receiving ELX/TEZ/IVA (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor) had the most relevant beneficial effects in term of lung function, pulmonary exacerbation decrease, and symptom improvement. CFTR modulators showed an overall favorable safety profile. Next steps should aim to systematize our comprehension of scientific data of efficacy and safety coming from real life observational studies.
The Model for Early COvid-19 Recognition (MECOR) Score: A Proof-of-Concept for a Simple and Low-Cost Tool to Recognize a Possible Viral Etiology in Community-Acquired Pneumonia Patients during COVID-19 Outbreak

This study aims to assess the peripheral blood cell count “signature” of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to discriminate promptly between COronaVIrus Disease 19 (COVID-19) and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We designed a retrospective case-control study, enrolling 525 patients (283 COVID-19 and 242 with CAP). All patients had a fever and at least one of the following signs: cough, chest pain, or dyspnea. We excluded patients treated with immunosuppressants, steroids, or affected by diseases known to modify blood cell count. COVID-19 patients showed a significant reduction in white blood cells (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils) and platelets. We studied these parameters univariately, combined the significant ones in a multivariate model (AUROC 0.86, Nagelkerke PSEUDO-R2 0.5, Hosmer–Lemeshow p-value 0.9) and examined its discriminative performance in an internally-randomized validation cohort (AUROC 0.84). The cut-off selected according to Youden’s Index (−0.13) showed a sensitivity of 84% and a specificity of 72% in the training cohort, and a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 73% in the validation cohort. In addition, we determined the probability of having COVID-19 pneumonia for each Model for possible Early COvid-19 Recognition (MECOR) Score value. In conclusion, our model could provide a simple, rapid, and cheap tool for prompt COVID-19 diagnostic triage in patients with CAP. The actual effectiveness should be evaluated in further, prospective studies also involving COVID-19 patients with negative nasopharyngeal swabs.
Population Biology of the Clonal Moss Hylocomium Splendens in Norwegian Boreal Spruce Forests. I. Demography

1 Hylocomium splendens is a perennial clonal moss with annual periodicity in the emergence of new modules. New growing points usually emerge in spring and develop into mature segments their second summer. Population increase is brought about by ramification (branching) of the youngest segment or by regeneration from older parts of the shoot system. 2 A technique for nondestructive re-identification of segments in permanent plots is devised. Precise demographic information on 9206 growing points and 7602 mature segments was obtained by following 119 local populations in seven Norwegian reference areas for monitoring during 3 years. The dry weight of each mature segment was estimated from morphological field measurements. 3 The potential of each mature segment for production of new growing points was strongly size-dependent; c. 40% of the variation in a segment's size was explained by the size of its mother segment. Integration within segment chains was largely restricted to neighbouring segments. The number offspring growing points (by ramification as well as regeneration) was positively size-dependent, while termination risk was negatively size-dependent. Mature segments produced by regeneration were smaller, while segments produced by ramification were larger than the average segment. Strong apical dominance was demonstrated. 4 Mortality and branching rates, averaged over populations, areas and years, are reported. Annual recruitment was 32.3%; 23.3% by regeneration, 7.5% by ramification, and 1.5% by accidentally introduced shoots. Annual mortality was 19.7%. 6.8% by loss, 1.9% by grazing, and 1 1.0% by termination for other reasons. 5 Demographic data for growing points and mature segments were analysed separately by stage-structured transition matrix models. The total population increased every year (average A = 1.10-1.11). Vital rates were strongly size-dependent. The contributions of ramification and regeneration to increase in i were equal as ramification occurred in large segments with high probability for survival. 6 Ramification is considered important for maintenance of size and risk-spreading among ramets under favourable conditions, while high regenerative ability facilitates resilience to, and recovery after, disturbance. The ecological significance of size is discussed. 7 Hylocomium splendens is closely similar to clonal forest vascular plants in major demographic traits, e.g. size-dependence of fitness and branching patterns.
Evaluation of Physical Activity and Lifestyle Interventions Focused on School Children with Obesity Using Accelerometry: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Despite the existence of global recommendations for physical activity and lifestyle to avoid childhood obesity, there are no specific recommendations for school-age children. The aim of this meta-analysis was to measure the effects of current interventions with a physical activity component on body mass index (BMI) Z-score and on the moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time, measured by accelerometry, and focused on children with obesity. Randomized controlled trial studies (RCTs) based on physical activity interventions focused on children with obesity (6 to 12 years old) from January 1991 to August 2018 were included. The post-intervention mean and standard deviation of the BMI Z-score and MVPA engaged time were extracted to calculate the results using random effects models. Of a total of 229 studies considered potentially eligible, only 10 RCTs met the inclusion criteria. There were improvements in the BMI Z-score for physical activity intervention groups, compared with non-intervention children in addition to a significant increase in time engaged in MVPA. In conclusion, interventions with a physical activity component in school-children with obesity seem to be effective at reducing BMI and producing an increase in time spent engaged in physical activity. Therefore, interventions based on physical activity should be considered one of the main strategies in treating childhood obesity.
Postprandial NMR-Based Metabolic Exchanges Reflect Impaired Phenotypic Flexibility across Splanchnic Organs in the Obese Yucatan Mini-Pig

The postprandial period represents one of the most challenging phenomena in whole-body metabolism, and it can be used as a unique window to evaluate the phenotypic flexibility of an individual in response to a given meal, which can be done by measuring the resilience of the metabolome. However, this exploration of the metabolism has never been applied to the arteriovenous (AV) exploration of organs metabolism. Here, we applied an AV metabolomics strategy to evaluate the postprandial flexibility across the liver and the intestine of mini-pigs subjected to a high fat–high sucrose (HFHS) diet for 2 months. We identified for the first time a postprandial signature associated to the insulin resistance and obesity outcomes, and we showed that the splanchnic postprandial metabolome was considerably affected by the meal and the obesity condition. Most of the changes induced by obesity were observed in the exchanges across the liver, where the metabolism was reorganized to maintain whole body glucose homeostasis by routing glucose formed de novo from a large variety of substrates into glycogen. Furthermore, metabolites related to lipid handling and energy metabolism showed a blunted postprandial response in the obese animals across organs. Finally, some of our results reflect a loss of flexibility in response to the HFHS meal challenge in unsuspected metabolic pathways that must be further explored as potential new events involved in early obesity and the onset of insulin resistance.
A Cross-Language Comparison of Sentence Recognition Using American English and Mandarin Chinese HINT and AzBio Sentences

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Objectives: The aim of this study was to perform a cross-language comparison of two commonly used sentence-recognition materials (i.e., Hearing in Noise Test [HINT] and AzBio) in American English (AE) and Mandarin Chinese (MC). Designs: Sixty normal-hearing, native English-speaking and 60 normal-hearing, native Chinese-speaking young adults were recruited to participate in three experiments. In each experiment, the subjects were tested in their native language. In experiments I and II, noise and tone vocoders were used to process the HINT and AzBio sentences, respectively. The number of channels varied from 1 to 9, with an envelope cutoff frequency of 160 Hz. In experiment III, the AE AzBio and the MC HINT sentences were tested in speech-shaped noise at various signal to noise ratios (i.e., −20, −15, −10, −5, and 0 dB). The performance-intensity functions of sentence recognition using the two sets of sentence materials were compared. Results: Results of experiments I and II using vocoder processing indicated that the AE and MC versions of HINT and AzBio sentences differed in level of difficulty. The AE version yielded higher recognition performance than the MC version for both HINT and AzBio sentences. The type of vocoder processing (i.e., tone and noise vocoders) produced little differences in sentence-recognition performance in both languages. Incidentally, the AE AzBio sentences and the MC HINT sentences had similar recognition performance under vocoder processing. Such similarity was further confirmed under noise conditions in experiment III, where the performance-intensity functions of the two sets of sentences were closely matched. Conclusions: The HINT and AzBio sentence materials developed in AE and MC differ in level of difficulty. The AE AzBio and the MC HINT sentence materials are similar in level of difficulty. In cross-language comparative research, the MC HINT and the AE AzBio sentences should be chosen for the respective language as the target sentence-recognition test materials.
Annexin A2 Mediates Dysferlin Accumulation and Muscle Cell Membrane Repair

Muscle cell plasma membrane is frequently damaged by mechanical activity, and its repair requires the membrane protein dysferlin. We previously identified that, similar to dysferlin deficit, lack of annexin A2 (AnxA2) also impairs repair of skeletal myofibers. Here, we have studied the mechanism of AnxA2-mediated muscle cell membrane repair in cultured muscle cells. We find that injury-triggered increase in cytosolic calcium causes AnxA2 to bind dysferlin and accumulate on dysferlin-containing vesicles as well as with dysferlin at the site of membrane injury. AnxA2 accumulates on the injured plasma membrane in cholesterol-rich lipid microdomains and requires Src kinase activity and the presence of cholesterol. Lack of AnxA2 and its failure to translocate to the plasma membrane, both prevent calcium-triggered dysferlin translocation to the plasma membrane and compromise repair of the injured plasma membrane. Our studies identify that Anx2 senses calcium increase and injury-triggered change in plasma membrane cholesterol to facilitate dysferlin delivery and repair of the injured plasma membrane.