Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Loss of consciousness and altered mental state predicting depressive and post-concussive symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury

ABSTRACT Objective: Limited studies exist on the association between loss of consciousness (LOC) and altered mental state (AMS) and development of depressive and post-concussive symptoms within six months after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). We tested the hypothesis that presence of both LOC and AMS predict the highest risk of symptoms within the first six months post-mTBI compared to either variable alone, and that LOC alone is more strongly associated with these symptoms. Research design: We analyzed data from 407 subjects with mTBI from the Head injury Serum Markers for Assessing Response to Trauma (HeadSMART) cohort, a prospective cohort of patients post-TBI presenting to two urban emergency departments. Results: There were higher rates of depressive (44%) and post-concussive symptoms (54%) at 1 month post-injury, among participants with both LOC and AMS compared to other groups. AMS was associated with depressive symptoms at one and six months (OR = 1.59, p = .038; OR = 1.60; p = .060) and post-concussive symptoms at one month (OR = 1.56, p = .053). LOC was associated only with post-concussive symptoms at one month (OR = 1.55;p = .048). Among those without LOC, AMS was associated with depressive symptoms at one month (OR = 2.24; p = .028). Conclusions: AMS predicts post-mTBI depressive symptoms both in the acute and chronic mTBI phases whereas LOC is a more sensitive predictor of post-concussive symptoms in the acute mTBI period.
Nature of halogen‐centered intermolecular interactions in crystal growth and design: Fluorine‐centered interactions in dimers in crystalline hexafluoropropylene as a prototype

The wide occurrence of halogen‐centered noncovalent interactions in crystal growth and design prompted this study, which includes a mini review of recent advances in the field. Particular emphasis is placed on providing compelling theoretical evidence of the formation of these interactions between sites of positive electrostatic potential, as well as between sites of negative electrostatic potential, localized on the electrostatic surfaces of the bound fluorine atoms in a prototypical system, hexafluoropropylene (C3F6), upon its interaction with another same molecule to form (C3F6)2 dimers. The existence of σ‐ and π‐hole interactions is shown for the stable dimers. Even so, weakly bound interactions locally responsible in holding the molecular fragments together cannot and should not be overlooked since they are partly responsible for determining the overall geometry of the crystal. The results of combined quantum theory of atoms in molecules, molecular electrostatic surface potential, and reduced density gradient noncovalent interaction analyses showed that these latter interactions do indeed play a role in the stability and growth of crystalline C3F6 itself and the (C3F6)2 dimers. A symmetry adapted perturbation theory energy decomposition analysis leads to the conclusion that a great majority of the (C3F6)2 dimers examined are the consequence of dispersion (and electrostatics), with nonnegligible contribution from polarization, which together competes with an exchange repulsion component to determine the equilibrium geometries. In a few structures of the (C3F6)2 dimer, the fluorine is found to serve as a six‐center five‐bond donor/acceptor, as found for carbon in other systems (Malischewski and Seppelt, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 368). © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Time to diagnosis of retinoblastoma in Latin America: A systematic review

Abstract Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common intraocular tumor of childhood. In low income countries, Time to diagnosis (TTD: interval between first symptom and diagnosis) has been associated with extraocular disease, metastasis and mortality. However, the relationship between TTD and prognosis is complex and not simply a linear correlation, particularly if TTD is <6 months. This systematic review aims to identify studies reporting TTD of retinoblastoma in Latin America, highlighting factors affecting TTD, alongside proposals and initiatives to obtain shorter intervals. The review also aims to discuss the methodology linked to cancer pathways studies. The study respected PRISMA recommendations, was registered on Prospero, an international database for systematic review registries under number CRD42017076777. MEDLINE/PUBMED, LILACS and SCIELO databases were searched. Studies from Latin America and the Caribbean, published between 1997 and 2017, reporting TTD and age at diagnosis of patients with retinoblastoma were selected. Nine studies were selected, concerning 1560 patients from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Honduras, Mexico and Peru. The median TTD ranged from 3 to 5 months and the median age at diagnosis ranged from 16.5 to 22.2 months. A prolonged TTD was observed and was associated to damaging results on retinoblastoma outcomes, particularly increasing extraocular disease, and mortality rates. Methodological heterogeneity was observed and reiterates the importance of standardization of TTD studies, allowing more reliable comparisons and greater knowledge about retinoblastoma pathways before diagnosis. Reports on successful initiatives against delayed diagnosis were scarce, emphasizing a need for further studies.
Reciprocal abundance shifts of the intertidal sea stars, Evasterias troschelii and Pisaster ochraceus, following sea star wasting disease

Disease emergence occurs within the context of ecological communities, and disease driven declines in host populations can lead to complex direct and indirect ecological effects. Varying effects of a single disease among multiple susceptible hosts could benefit relatively resistant species. Beginning in 2013, an outbreak of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) led to population declines of many sea star species along the west coast of North America. Through field surveys and laboratory experiments, we investigated how and why the relative abundances of two co-occurring sea star species, Evasterias troschelii and Pisaster ochraceus, shifted during the ongoing wasting epidemic in Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. We hypothesized that Evasterias is competitively inferior to Pisaster but more resistant to SSWD. Thus, we predicted that SSWD-induced declines of Pisaster could mitigate the negative effects of SSWD on Evasterias, as the latter would experience competitive release. We document shifts in sea star abundance from 2008–2017: Pisaster abundance and mean size declined during the outbreak, while Evasterias abundance increased from relatively rare to numerically dominant within the intertidal. When exposed to symptomatic sea stars, Pisaster and Evasterias both showed signs of SSWD, but transmission and susceptibility was lower in Evasterias. Despite diet overlap documented in our field surveys, Evasterias was not outcompeted by Pisaster in laboratory trails conducted with the relatively small Pisaster available after the outbreak. Interference competition with larger Pisaster, or prey exploitation by Pisaster during the summer when Evasterias is primarily subtidal, may explain the rarity of Evasterias prior to Pisaster declines. Our results suggest that indirect effects mediated by competition can mask some of the direct effects of disease outbreaks, and the combination of direct and indirect effects will determine the restructuring of a community after disturbance.
Everyday ethical challenges of nurse-physician collaboration

Background: Collaboration between physicians and nurses is key to improving patient care. We know very little about collaboration and interdisciplinary practice in African healthcare settings. Research question/aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the ethical challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration in clinical practice and education in Botswana Participants and research context: This qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 39 participants (20 physicians and 19 nurses) who participated in semi-structured interviews at public hospitals purposely selected to represent the three levels of hospitals in Botswana (referral, district, and primary). Ethical considerations: Following Institutional Review Board Approval at the University of Pennsylvania and the Ministry of Health in Botswana, participants’ written informed consent was obtained. Findings: Respondents’ ages ranged from 23 to 60 years, and their duration of work experience ranged from 0.5 to 32 years. Major qualitative themes that emerged from the data centered on the nature of the work environment, values regarding nurse–doctor collaboration, the nature of such collaboration, resources available for supporting collaboration and the smooth flow of work, and participants’ views about how their work experiences could be improved. Discussion: Participants expressed concerns that their work environment compromised their ability to provide high-quality and safe care to their patients. The physician staffing structure was described as consisting of a few specialists at the top, a vacuum in the middle that should be occupied by senior doctors, and junior doctors at the bottom—and not a sufficient number of nursing staff. Conclusion: Collaboration between physicians and nurses is critical to optimizing patients’ health outcomes. This is true not only in the United States but also in developing countries, such as Botswana, where health care professionals reported that their ethical challenges arose from resource shortages, differing professional attitudes, and a stressful work environment.
The Upside Down: French Banks, Deposits and Negative Policy Rates∗

Using confidential bank-firm level data on France, we show that the introduction of negative rates is associated with an increase in lending by banks with greater reliance on deposits, especially by those with lower capital and larger shares of overnight households deposits. Negative rates also elicit reallocation toward riskier and long-term assets, as banks shrink their share of interbank loans and grow that of corporate loans and debt securities. These results suggest that negative rates encourage banks to engage in riskier activities to restore profitability and that deposits play a key role in the transmission of monetary policy rates below the zero lower bound.
A prospective pilot study of thigh‐administered intermittent pneumatic compression in the management of hard‐to‐heal lower limb venous and mixed aetiology ulcers

This was a prospective observational pilot study of a unique intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) device designed to be applied in the thigh region of the affected limb in patients with lower limb ulceration of both venous and mixed (venous and arterial) aetiologies. This compression system consists of a circumferential three‐chamber thigh garment and an electronic pneumatic compression pump operating over a repeated 4‐minute cycle. Patients were recruited from outpatient wound clinics. Those recruited were treated with standard therapy in addition to IPC, which was applied for 2 hours per day, and followed up for a total of 8 weeks. The primary objective of the study was to examine the effects of IPC on wound healing over an 8‐week period. The other objectives were to assess patients’ experiences of pain and the acceptability of IPC device. Twenty‐one patients were recruited, and wounds progressed towards healing in 95.24% (20/21) of the patients. Pain scores decreased in 83.33% (15/18) of the patients. Most patients felt that the thigh‐applied IPC device was comfortable and easy to apply and remove. The thigh‐administered IPC device can be recommended for use in routine clinical practice, especially when other treatment options are limited.
Cheap Maids and Nannies: How Low-skilled immigration is changing the labor supply of high-skilled American women

Low-skilled immigrants, who have in recent decades doubled their share in the US labor force, represent a signi…cant fraction of the labor employed in service sectors, particularly in close substitutes of household work like housekeeping, gardening and babysitting services. This paper studies whether the increased supply of low skilled immigrants, has led highskilled women, who have the highest opportunity cost of their time, to change their time use decisions. We …nd evidence that low-skilled immigration has increased hours worked by women with a graduate degree, especially those with a professional degree or a PhD, and those with children. The estimated magnitudes suggest that the low-skilled immigration ‡ow of the 1990s increased by 7 and 33 minutes a week the average time of market work of women with a Master’s degree and women with a professional degree or a PhD, respectively. Consistently, we …nd a decrease in the time highly skilled women spend in household work and an increase in their reported expenditures on housekeeping services. We also …nd that the fraction of women in this group working more than 50 (and 60) hours a week increases with low-skilled immigration, but that labor force participation decreases at the same time. [�] [�]
The relationship between biological and psychosocial risk factors and resting‐state functional connectivity in 2‐month‐old Bangladeshi infants: A feasibility and pilot study

Abstract Childhood poverty has been associated with structural and functional alterations in the developing brain. However, poverty does not alter brain development directly, but acts through associated biological or psychosocial risk factors (e.g. malnutrition, family conflict). Yet few studies have investigated risk factors in the context of infant neurodevelopment, and none have done so in low‐resource settings such as Bangladesh, where children are exposed to multiple, severe biological and psychosocial hazards. In this feasibility and pilot study, usable resting‐state fMRI data were acquired in infants from extremely poor (n = 16) and (relatively) more affluent (n = 16) families in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Whole‐brain intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) was estimated using bilateral seeds in the amygdala, where iFC has shown susceptibility to early life stress, and in sensory areas, which have exhibited less susceptibility to early life hazards. Biological and psychosocial risk factors were examined for associations with iFC. Three resting‐state networks were identified in within‐group brain maps: medial temporal/striatal, visual, and auditory networks. Infants from extremely poor families compared with those from more affluent families exhibited greater (i.e. less negative) iFC in precuneus for amygdala seeds; however, no group differences in iFC were observed for sensory area seeds. Height‐for‐age, a proxy for malnutrition/infection, was not associated with amygdala/precuneus iFC, whereas prenatal family conflict was positively correlated. Findings suggest that it is feasible to conduct infant fMRI studies in low‐resource settings. Challenges and practical steps for successful implementations are discussed.
Abnormal arachidonic acid metabolic network may reduce sperm motility via P38 MAPK

Asthenozoospermia is a common cause of male infertility, the aetiology of which remains unclear in 50–60% of cases. The current study aimed to characterize metabolic alterations in asthenozoospermic seminal plasma and to explore the signalling pathways involved in sperm motility regulation. At first, high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry was used to detect the targeted metabolic network of arachidonic acid (AA). Metabolomic multivariate data analysis showed significant distinction of AA metabolites between asthenozoospermic and healthy seminal plasma. AA as well as its lipoxygenase (LOX) and cytochrome P450 metabolites were found to be abnormally increased, while cyclooxygenase (COX) metabolites were complicatedly disturbed in asthenozoospermic volunteers compared with those in healthy ones. In vitro experiments and western blot analysis of sperm cells revealed a decrease in sperm motility and upregulation of sperm phosphor-P38 induced by AA. P38 inhibitor could increase AA-reduced sperm motility. Also, all the inhibitors of the three metabolic pathways of AA could block AA-induced P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation and further improve sperm motility. We report here for the first time that an abnormal AA metabolic network could reduce sperm motility via P38 MAPK activation through the LOX, cytochrome P450 and COX metabolic pathways, which might be an underlying pathomechanism of asthenozoospermia.
Novel RNA and DNA strand exchange activity of the PALB2 DNA binding domain and its critical role for DNA repair in cells

BReast Cancer Associated proteins 1 and 2 (BRCA1, −2) and Partner and Localizer of BRCA2 (PALB2) protein are tumour suppressors linked to a spectrum of malignancies, including breast cancer and Fanconi anemia. PALB2 coordinates functions of BRCA1 and BRCA2 during homology-directed repair (HDR) and interacts with several chromatin proteins. In addition to protein scaffold function, PALB2 binds DNA. The functional role of this interaction is poorly understood. We identified a major DNA-binding site of PALB2, mutations in which reduce RAD51 foci formation and the overall HDR efficiency in cells by 50%. PALB2 N-terminal DNA-binding domain (N-DBD) stimulates the function of RAD51 recombinase. Surprisingly, it possesses the strand exchange activity without RAD51. Moreover, N-DBD stimulates the inverse strand exchange and can use DNA and RNA substrates. Our data reveal a versatile DNA interaction property of PALB2 and demonstrate a critical role of PALB2 DNA binding for chromosome repair in cells.
Investigation of Staphylococcus aureus positive for Staphylococcal enterotoxin S and T 4 genes 5

27 Staphylococcus aureus produces staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) and causes food 28 poisoning. It is known that almost all SE-encoding genes are present on various types of 29 mobile genetic elements and can mobilize among S. aureus populations. Further, plasmids 30 comprise one of SE gene carriers. Previously, we reported novel SEs, SES and SET, harbored 31 by the plasmid pF5 from Fukuoka5. In the present study, we analyzed the distribution of these 32 SEs in various S. aureus isolates in Japan. We used 526 S. aureus strains and found 311 33 strains positive for at least one SE/SE-like toxin gene, but only two strains (Fukuoka5 and 34 Hiroshima3) were positive for ses and set among the specimens. We analyzed two plasmids 35 (pF5 and pH3) from these strains and found that they were different. Whereas these plasmids 36 partially shared similar sequences involved in the ser / selj / set / ses gene cluster, other sequences 37 were different. A comparison of these plasmids with those deposited in the NCBI database 38 revealed that only one plasmid had the ser / selj / set / ses cluster with a stop mutation in set 39 similar to that in pH3. In addition, the chromosomes of Fukuoka5 and Hiroshima3, positive 40 for ses and set , were classified into different genotypes. Despite the low rate of gene positivity 41 for these SEs, it is suggested that there is diversity in plasmids and strains carrying these two 42 SEs. Consequently, regarding the entire feature of SE prevalence, we improved the multiplex PCR detection method for the SE superfamily to obtain further insight.
Public Health Surveillance Studies of Alcohol Industry Market and Political Strategies: A Systematic Review

Objective: This review examines public health surveillance (PHS) studies of alcohol industry actors that explore the implications of the integration of business and political strategies for public health. Method: Eligible for inclusion were studies published in English language peer-reviewed journals since 1980 that sought to investigate both alcohol industry business and political strategies and their implications for public health. Studies were also required to present economic, political, and health data together. Seven databases were searched until May 2018. Results: Six studies were identified as eligible for inclusion in this review, undertaken in high-, middle-, and low-income countries and published between 2000 and 2015. Political strategies are driven largely by business interests, whether at the company, sectoral, or industry level, and corporate social responsibility activities may be integrated within overall strategies. There is a high degree of collaboration in political strategy development between companies, facilitated by growing concentration among global producers operating in increasingly oligopolistic markets. There are limited insights into the dynamics of market competition and limited methodological data available. Conclusions: PHS studies play a valuable role in identifying aspects of alcohol industry strategies that warrant more detailed and carefully designed research, as well as in elucidating global health implications. Further research in PHS and other kinds of studies will assist efforts to reduce the global burden of disease caused by alcohol.
Integrative analysis of genomic, functional and protein interaction data predicts long-range enhancer-target gene interactions

Multicellular organismal development is controlled by a complex network of transcription factors, promoters and enhancers. Although reliable computational and experimental methods exist for enhancer detection, prediction of their target genes remains a major challenge. On the basis of available literature and ChIP-seq and ChIP-chip data for enhanceosome factor p300 and the transcriptional regulator Gli3, we found that genomic proximity and conserved synteny predict target genes with a relatively low recall of 12–27% within 2 Mb intervals centered at the enhancers. Here, we show that functional similarities between enhancer binding proteins and their transcriptional targets and proximity in the protein–protein interactome improve prediction of target genes. We used all four features to train random forest classifiers that predict target genes with a recall of 58% in 2 Mb intervals that may contain dozens of genes, representing a better than two-fold improvement over the performance of prediction based on single features alone. Genome-wide ChIP data is still relatively poorly understood, and it remains difficult to assign biological significance to binding events. Our study represents a first step in integrating various genomic features in order to elucidate the genomic network of long-range regulatory interactions.
Centella asiatica Protects d-Galactose/AlCl3 Mediated Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Rats via PP2A/GSK-3β Signaling Pathway in Their Hippocampus

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder more prevalent among the elderly population. AD is characterised clinically by a progressive decline in cognitive functions and pathologically by the presence of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), deposition of beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaque and synaptic dysfunction in the brain. Centella asiatica (CA) is a valuable herb being used widely in African, Ayurvedic, and Chinese traditional medicine to reverse cognitive impairment and to enhance cognitive functions. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of CA in preventing d-galactose/aluminium chloride (d-gal/AlCl3) induced AD-like pathologies and the underlying mechanisms of action were further investigated for the first time. Results showed that co-administration of CA to d-gal/AlCl3 induced AD-like rat models significantly increased the levels of protein phosphatase 2 (PP2A) and decreased the levels of glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β). It was further observed that, CA increased the expression of mRNA of Bcl-2, while there was minimal effect on the expression of caspase 3 mRNA. The results also showed that, CA prevented morphological aberrations in the connus ammonis 3 (CA 3) sub-region of the rat’s hippocampus. The results clearly demonstrated for the first time that CA could alleviate d-gal/AlCl3 induced AD-like pathologies in rats via inhibition of hyperphosphorylated tau (P-tau) bio-synthetic proteins, anti-apoptosis and maintenance of cytoarchitecture.