Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of flow cytometry to investigate the cytokine response pattern in infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection and bronchiolitis

Objective: To investigate the cytokine response pattern (IL-4/IFN-γ) in infants with RSV infections and bronchiolitis during the acute phase. Methods: Four-color flow cytometry was used to measure intracellular IL-4 and IFN-γ expressions in peripheral blood CD3+ and CD8+ lymphocytes from RSV-infected and bronchiolitis infants. Serum IL-4 and IFN-γ levels were also determined. Results: RSV-infected and bronchiolitis infants showed no statistical differences from not-RSV-infected or pneumonia infants and control in the frequency of IL-4 and IFN-γ expressions in CD3+CD8-lymphocytes, showed no obvious Th1/Th2 imbalance, while IFN-γ was expressed much more frequently in CD3+CD8+ lymphocytes. Systematically, RSV-infected and bronchiolitis infants showed much lower levels of serum IL-4 and IL-4/IFN-γ ratios and much higher serum IFN-γ levels than control. Howevr, there were no statistical differences in the above three indices between RSV-infected and not-RSV infected infants or between bronchiolitis and pneumonia infants, except that bronchiolitis infants had a higher level of serum IFN-γ than pneumonia infants statistically. Conclusions: There is not type-2 cytokine response predominance in the acute phase of RSV infection and bronchiolitis. IL-4 production is suppressed and IFN-γ production upregulated, the latter being most prominent inbronchiolitis infants.
The Relationship Between Expression of EpCAM Cancer Stem Cell Marker with Histopathological Grading, Lymphovascular Invasion, and Metastases in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of EpCAM in the colorectal adenocarcinoma. Material and methods: This study used a cross-sectional design. One hundred and thirteen paraffin embedded block of Colorectal Adenocarcinoma were assessed using anti-EpCAM/Epithelial Specific Antigen (Ber-EP4) mouse monoclonal antibody and their expression were performed using Olympus CX-43 light microscope. The relationship between EpCAM expression with histopathological grade of colorectal adenocarcinoma, lymphovascular invasion and metastases ability were statistically analyzed by Chi-Square tests and presented in tables using SPSS 18. Results: From 113 samples, in samples with lymphovascular invasion there were 37 samples (32.7%) with strong expression, while those with weak expression were 19 samples (16.8%). There were 39 samples with metastases and strong expression of EpCAM (34.5%), while 21 samples with weak expression (18.6%). There was a significant relationship between the expression of cancer stem cell marker EpCAM with lymphovascular invasion and colorectal adenocarcinoma metastases (p = 0.002), but there was no significant relationship with histopathological grade (p = 0.574). Conclusion: The EpCAM expression can be used as a prognostic factor, and can be considered as a predictive or an option for target therapy in colorectal adenocarcinoma.
Centrality and system size dependence of multiplicity fluctuations in nuclear collisions at 158A GeV

The centrality and system size dependence of multiplicity fluctuations of charged particles produced in nuclear collisions at 158A GeV was studied by the NA49 Collaboration. Centrality selected Pb+Pb collisions, semicentral C+C and Si+Si collisions as well as inelastic p+p interactions were analyzed. The number of projectile participants determined on an event-by-event basis was used to characterize the collision centrality. The scaled variance of the multiplicity distribution obtained in the forward rapidity region (1.1<y{sub c.m.}<2.6) shows a significant increase toward peripheral collisions. The results are similar for negatively and positively charged particles and about 50% larger for all charged particles. String-hadronic models of nuclear reactions without the fusion process do not reproduce the rise of fluctuations from central toward peripheral collisions. The measured centrality dependence can be reproduced in superposition models with the assumption of contributions from target participants to particle production in the forward hemisphere or in string models with fusion.
Intra‐ and interbrain synchrony and hyperbrain network dynamics of a guitarist quartet and its audience during a concert

Playing music in a concert represents a multilevel interaction between musicians and the audience, where interbrain synchronization might play an essential role. Here, we simultaneously recorded electroencephalographs (EEGs) from the brains of eight people during a concert: a quartet of professional guitarists and four participants in the audience. Using phase synchronization analyses between EEG signals within and between brains, we constructed hyperbrain networks, comprising synchronized brain activity across the eight brains, and analyzed them using a graph‐theoretical approach. We found that strengths within and between brains in the delta band were higher in the quartet than in the public. Within‐brain strengths were higher and between‐brain strengths were lower in the music than in the applause condition, both particularly in the quartet group. These changes in coupling strength were accompanied by corresponding changes in the hyperbrain network topology, which were also frequency‐specific. Moreover, the network topology and the dynamical structure of guitar sounds showed specific guitar–brain, guitar–guitar, and brain–brain directional associations, indicating multilevel dynamics with upward and downward causation. Finally, the hyperbrain networks exhibit modular structures that were more stable during music performance than during applause. Our findings illustrate complex hyperbrain network interactions in a quartet and its audience during a concert.
Assessing health, psychological distress and financial well-being in informal young adult caregivers compared to matched young adult non-caregivers

ABSTRACT Young adult caregivers (YACs) are faced with the atypical challenge of providing informal (i.e. not paid) care to a family member, while simultaneously at a critical developmental stage in which many major life decisions and milestones are taking place. Adding the challenge of caring for a family member during this already complex time period may have a detrimental impact on young adults’ (YAs) own overall health and well-being. The aim of this study was to examine differences in overall health, psychological distress, and financial strain among a propensity matched sample of YACs compared to young adult non-caregivers (YANCs) from a nationally representative database and to examine differences in these outcomes by caregiving role (caring for a child vs. other family member). YAs (aged 18–39, N = 178) identifying as a caregiver (n = 74) were matched with YANCs (n = 74) on age, gender, and race. Results revealed that YACs exhibited higher psychological distress, lower overall health and more sleep disturbance and higher financial strain compared to YANCs. YAs caring for family members other than children also reported higher anxiety and fewer hours spent caregiving compared to YAs caring for a child. YACs appear to be at risk for impairments in health and well-being compared to their matched peers. Longitudinal research is needed to understand how caregiving during young adulthood impacts health and well-being across time.
A flexible instrumental variable approach

Classical regression model literature has generally assumed that measured and unmeasured covariates are statistically independent. For many applications, this assumption is clearly tenuous. When unobservables are associated with included regressors and have an impact on the response, standard estimation methods will not be valid. This means that estimation results from observational studies, whose aim is to evaluate the impact of a treatment of interest on a response variable, will be biased and inconsistent in the presence of unmeasured confounders. One method for obtaining consistent estimates of treatment effects when dealing with linear models is the instrumental variable (IV) approach. Linear models have been extended to generalized linear models (GLMs) and generalized additive models (GAMs), and although IV methods have been proposed to deal with GLMs, fitting methods to carry out IV analysis within the GAM context have not been developed. We propose a simple but effective two-stage procedure for IV estimation when dealing with GAMs represented using any penalized regression spline approach and a correction procedure for confidence intervals. We explain under which conditions the proposed method works and illustrate its empirical validity through an extensive simulation experiment and a health study where unmeasured confounding is suspected to be present.
The role of cytoreductive nephrectomy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the targeted therapy and immunological therapy era: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The role of cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) remains controversial. In addition, several unanswered questions regarding the use of CN remain: Can CN provide survival benefits for patients with mRCC? Where do we place CN in the treatment sequence paradigm among patients with mRCC? How do we best stratify patients with mRCC for CN therapy? Materials and Methods: A search strategy was conducted in the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases. Studies were included only in the English language. The risk of bias assessment was made by using ROBINS-I (Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions) and RoB 2 (Risk of Bias 2) tools. The expected outcomes were analyzed by meta-analyses with the fixed-effects model or random effects model, including overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). The measure of effect was the hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% CI, and sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the reliability of the final results. Results: A total of 30 studies were included in the qualitative analysis. The HR for OS was 0.55 (95% CI, 0.50–0.61), and PFS was 0.72 (95% CI, 0.66–0.80), favoring CN compared with no CN. The upfront CN plus targeted therapy (TT) group had superior OS (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.51–0.64) compared with the TT alone group. Furthermore, upfront CN plus systemic therapy (ST) was associated with numerically inferior OS compared with ST plus deferred CN in patients with mRCC (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.98–1.74). Finally, the leave-one-out test of sensitivity analysis indicated that the results of this meta-analysis were stable and reliable in the overall HR estimates for these survival outcomes. Conclusions: First, CN was associated with better survival than no CN in patients with mRCC. Second, the combination of upfront CN and TT may lead to superior survival outcomes compared to TT alone in patients with mRCC. Survival outcomes were similar between the upfront CN+ST group and the ST+deferred CN group in patients with mRCC. Exact patient selection based on baseline prognostic factors is needed to promise maximal survival for patients with mRCC.
Extensive studies of large‐amplitude Kelvin–Helmholtz billows in the lower atmosphere with VHF middle and upper atmosphere radar

In the present work, characteristics of large‐amplitude (>150 m) Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) billows in the lower atmosphere are analysed, with emphasis on the turbulent properties. First, past studies are reviewed. Almost all the studies reported gradient Richardson number (Ri) close to 0.25. Results of observations in the height range 1.32–20.34 km using 46.5 MHz middle and upper atmosphere radar (MUR; Japan, 34.85°N, 136.10°E) are then described. A total of ∼600 h of data at high vertical and range resolutions was used. Except for very few cases, trains of KH braids are not followed by layer splitting, which can eventually result from turbulent mixing. A particular event shows some sort of turbulent plumes at the interface between a nearly neutral layer and a stable layer in the tropopause region. These turbulent plumes likely arose as the result of entrainment at the stable layer interface produced by still active turbulent mixing. Statistics on the characteristics of the KH billows are also presented. Large‐amplitude KH billows in the lower atmosphere were only present less than 0.6% of the time and height. The typical depth, horizontal wavelength and depth‐to‐wavelength ratio of the KH braids are about 600 m, 2600 m and 0.22, respectively. They are thus relatively shallow and the quasi‐absence of layer splitting may suggest that they are more frequently generated when Ri falls just below 0.25 (so that the large‐amplitude KH billows are not sufficiently energetic for breaking and mixing). Vertical shears of horizontal wind are about 23 ms−1 km−1 on average. Finally, attempts at estimating (maximum) energy dissipation rate ε and (minimum) vertical eddy diffusivity K are made. Mean values of εmax and Kmin are typically ∼1 mW kg−1 (77% in the range 0.15–3.0 mW kg−1) and ∼5 m2 s−1 (70% in the range 1–10 m2 s−1), respectively. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society
Independent study demonstrates amyloid probability score accurately indicates amyloid pathology

The amyloid probability score (APS) is the model read‐out of the analytically validated mass spectrometry‐based PrecivityAD® blood test that incorporates the plasma Aβ42/40 ratio, ApoE proteotype, and age to identify the likelihood of brain amyloid plaques among cognitively impaired individuals being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease.
The Social Determinants of Mental Illness: A Rapid Review of Systematic Reviews

Abstract Previous research agendas have prioritised the role of biological determinants in mental illness aetiology. This is of particular concern, as endorsing biological determinants has been shown to promote negative attitudes towards people with mental illness. The aim of this review was to provide an overview of high-quality evidence of the social determinants of mental illness. A rapid review of systematic reviews was conducted. Five databases were searched: Embase, Medline, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Plus, and PsycINFO. Systematic reviews or meta-analyses that described any social determinant of mental illness, were published in peer-review journals in English, and focussed on human participants were included. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were applied for the selection procedure. Thirty-seven systematic reviews were deemed eligible for review and narrative synthesis. Determinants identified included conflict, violence and maltreatment, life events and experiences, racism and discrimination, culture and migration, social interaction and support, structural policies and inequality, financial factors, employment factors, housing and living conditions, and demographic factors. We recommend that mental health nurses ensure adequate support be provided to those affected by the evidenced social determinants of mental illness.
Firearm legislation: The association between neighboring states and crude death rates

We looked at the effect of firearm laws in neighboring states on firearm crude death rates in the individual states. Lenient states may benefit from at least 1 Strict neighbor while Strict states may be adversely affected only when surrounded by mostly Lenient neighbors. BACKGROUND Few studies have examined the impact of interstate differences in firearm laws on state-level firearm mortality. We aim to study the association between neighboring states' firearm legislation and firearm-related crude death rate (CDR). METHODS The CDC Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System was queried for adult all-intent (accidental, suicide, and homicide) firearm-related CDR among the 50 states from 2012 to 2020. States were divided into five cohorts based on the Giffords Law Center Annual Gun Law Scorecard, and two groups were constructed: Strict (A, B, C) and Lenient (D, F). We examined the effect of (1) a single incongruent neighbor, defined as “Different” if the state is bordered by ≥1 state with a grade score difference >1, and (2) the average grade of all neighboring states, defined as “Different” if the average of all neighboring states resulted in a grade score difference >1. RESULTS Strict states with similar average neighbors had significantly lower CDR compared with Strict states with different average neighbors (2.98 [1.91–5.06] vs. 3.87 [2.37–5.94], p = 0.02), while Lenient states with similar average neighbors had significantly higher CDR compared with Lenient states with different average neighbors (6.02 [4.56–8.11] vs. 4.7 [3.95–5.35], p = 0.002). Lenient states surrounded by all similar Lenient states had the highest CDR, which was significantly higher than Lenient states with ≥1 different neighbor (6.52 [5.09–8.96] vs. 5.19 [3.85–6.61], p < 0.001). However, Strict states with ≥1 different neighbor did not have higher CDR compared with Strict states surrounded by all similar Strict states (3.39 [2.17–5.35] vs. 3.14 [1.91–5.38], p = 0.5). CONCLUSION We report a lopsided neighboring effect whereby Lenient states may benefit from at least one Strict neighbor, while Strict states may be adversely affected only when surrounded by mostly Lenient neighbors. These findings may assist policymakers regarding the efficacy of their own state's legislation in the context of incongruent neighboring states. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level IV.
Whole-brain mapping of histaminergic projections in mouse brain

Significance Complex behavior involves the collaborative processing of multiple brain regions across 3D-space in the whole brain. Histaminergic neurons, which send its fibers to all major brain regions, is believed to regulate many physiological and pathological processes. However, the understanding of the precise 3D structural pattern of histaminergic projections is limited. Here, we reconstructed the whole-brain 3D precise structure of histaminergic projections in the mouse brain from the whole population and individual neuron perspectives, in which we quantitatively analyzed the distribution characteristics of histaminergic somata and fibers. More importantly, the direct evidence of differences between individual histaminergic neuron was provided in this work. Our findings build a solid foundation for future research studies of histaminergic neural circuits and pharmacological targets.
Progestin-primed ovarian stimulation for fertility preservation in women with cancer: A comparative study

Background In women scheduled for cancer treatment, oocytes cryopreservation is a well-established procedure. Random start protocols have been a substantial improvement in this setting, allowing to prevent delay in the initiation of cancer treatments. However, there is still the need to optimize the regimen of ovarian stimulation, to make treatments more patient-friendly and to reduce costs. Methods This retrospective study compares two periods (2019 and 2020), corresponding to two different ovarian stimulation regimens. In 2019, women were treated with corifollitropin, recombinant FSH and GnRH antagonists. Ovulation was triggered with GnRH agonists. In 2020, the policy changed, and women were treated with a progestin-primed ovarian stimulation (PPOS) protocol with human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) and dual trigger (GnRH agonist and low dose hCG) Continuous data are reported as median [Interquartile Range]. To overcome expected changes in baseline characteristics of the women, the primary outcome was the ratio between the number of mature oocytes retrieved and serum anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) in ng/ml. Results Overall, 124 women were selected, 46 in 2019 and 78 in 2020. The ratio between the number of mature oocytes retrieved and serum AMH in the first and second period was 4.0 [2.3–7.1] and 4.0 [2.7–6.8], respectively (p = 0.80). The number of scans was 3 [3–4] and 3 [2–3], respectively (p<0.001). The total costs of the drugs used for ovarian stimulation were 940 € [774–1,096 €] and 520 € [434–564 €], respectively (p<0.001). Conclusions Random start PPOS with hMG and dual trigger represents an easy and affordable ovarian stimulation protocol for fertility preservation in women with cancer, showing similar efficacy and being more friendly and economical.
Estimating the Time Dependence of Air Temperature Using Daily Maxima and Minima: A Comparison of Three Methods

Abstract Many models in a variety of disciplines require air temperature throughout the day as an input, yet often the only data available are daily extrema. Several methods for estimating the diurnal change in temperature from daily extrema have been reported. This paper compares the performance of three such algorithms (a sine wave, a sine-exponential, and a linear model) at all times of the year. Each was used to generate four years of hourly temperatures using as input the daily highs and lows recorded by the National Weather Service at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for the years 1970, 1971, 1973 and 1974. The output from the models was compared with the actual hourly values recorded at the same site. Residual sums and standard errors computed for all three models, both as functions of day and month of the year, showed that all three were more accurate in summer than in winter. Differences in the overall standard errors of estimate among the three models were small relative to the sta.
Luminous variable stars in M31 and M33

Spectra and UBVRI photometry of eight luminous blue variables in M31 and M33 reveal the presence of both ultraviolet and infrared excess radiation. These supergiants, including four Hubble--Sandage variables, have spectra characterized by a strong ultraviolet continuum, no apparent Balmer discontinuity, and emission lines of H, He I, Fe II, and (Fe II). They have very low surface gravities combined with large radiated fluxes. Their luminosities are typically near low surface gravities combined with large radiated fluxes. Their luminosities are typically near -10 mag (m/sub .nu.) at maximum light. AF And in M31 was measured at 2.mu. and is the most distant single star yet observed at long wavelengths. In addition, a red variable in M31 as classified as an M supergiant with M/sub . nu. / approx. -7.2 mag at maximum. The hot, very luminous supergiants are spectroscopically and photometrically similar to eta Car and S Dor and related objects in our Galaxy and the LMC. Together they form a recognizable group of luminous blue stars in four separate galaxies in the Local Group. 4 figures, 4 tables.
The genetics of incontinence: A scoping review

The genetic causes underlying incontinence in both children and adults have begun to be unravelled during the last decades. The aim of this scoping review is to synthesize current knowledge on the genetics of childhood and adult urinary and faecal incontinence, identify similarities between different incontinence subgroups, and identify knowledge gaps to aid future research. PRISMA‐ScR was used, and 76 studies were included. Early epidemiological family and twin studies suggest high heritability of incontinence. Linkage studies provide evidence for the existence of rare genetic variants; however, these variants have not been identified. Later candidate gene association studies and recent genome‐wide association studies provide the first preliminary evidence that common risk variants also play a role. The genetics of incontinence in children and adults has predominantly been studied separately, but this review identifies for the first time the endothelin system as a potential common pathophysiological pathway. Overall, these findings strengthen the hypothesis that genetic variants play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of incontinence. Future research should include hypothesis‐free studies of rare and common variants in large well‐characterized cohorts with incontinence. Studies should include different age groups and ethnicities and both sexes to fully reveal the genetics of incontinence.