Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Review of Autologous Conditioned Serum and Autologous Protein Solution for Treatment of Osteoarthritis in Horses

Many alternative treatments aimed at modulating osteoarthritis (OA) progression have been developed in the past decades, including the use of cytokine inhibitors. IL-1β is considered one of the most impactful cytokines in OA disease and therefore, its blockage offers a promising approach for the modulation of OA. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) is a naturally occurring anti-inflammatory protein belonging to the IL-1 family that competes with IL-1β for occupancy of its receptors, without triggering the same downstream inflammatory response. Because of its natural anti-inflammatory properties, different methods have been proposed to use IL-1Ra therapeutically in OA. Autologous conditioned serum (ACS) and autologous protein solution (APS) are blood-derived products produced with the use of specialized commercial kits. These processes result in hemoderivatives with high concentrations of IL-1Ra and other cytokines and growth factors with potential modulatory effects on OA progression. Several studies have demonstrated potential anti-inflammatory effect of these therapies with promising clinical results. However, as with any hemoderivatives, clinical outcomes may vary. For optimal therapeutic use, further research is warranted for a more comprehensive understanding of the product's composition and interaction of its components in joint inflammation. Additionally, differences between ACS and APS treatments may not be clear for many clients and clinicians. Thus, the objective of this narrative review is to guide the reader in important aspects of ACS and APS therapies, in vitro and in vivo applications and to compare the use of both treatments in OA.
The Effects of an In-vehicle Collision Warning System on Older Drivers' On-road Head Movements at Intersections

With age might come a decline in crucial driving skills. The effect of a collision warning system (CWS) on older drivers' head movements behavior at intersections was examined. Methods: Twenty-six old-adults, between 55 and 64 years of age, and 16 Older drivers between 65 and 83 years of age, participated in the study. A CWS (Mobileye Inc.) and a front-back in-vehicle camera (IVC) were installed in each of the participants' own vehicles for 6 months. The CWS was utilized to identify unsafe events during naturalistic driving situations, and the IVC was used to capture head direction at intersections. The experimental design was conducted in three phases (baseline, intervention, and carryover), 2 months each. Unsafe events were recorded by the CWS during all phases of the study. In the second phase, the CWS feedback was activated to examine its effect on drivers' head movement' behavior at intersections. Results: Older drivers (65+) drove significantly more hours in total during the intervention phase (M = 79.1 h, SE = 10) than the baseline phase (M = 39.1 h, SE = 5.3) and the carryover phase (M = 37.7 h, SE = 5.4). The study revealed no significant differences between the head movements of older and old-adult drivers at intersections. For intersection on the left direction, a significant improvement in drivers' head movements' behavior was found at T-junctions, turns and four-way intersections from phase 1 to phase 3 (p < 0.01), however, two intersection types presented a decrease along the study phases. The head movements' behavior at roundabouts and merges was better at phase 1 compared to phase 3 (p < 0.01). There was no significant reduction of the mean number of CWS unsafe events across the study phases. Conclusions: The immediate feedback provided by the CWS was effective in terms of participants' head movements at certain intersections but was harmful in others. However, older drivers drove many more hours during the active feedback phase, implying that they trusted the system. Therefore, in the light of this complex picture, using the technological feedback with older drivers should be followed with an additional mediation or follow-up to ensure safety.
Platelets in Multiple Sclerosis: Early and Central Mediators of Inflammation and Neurodegeneration and Attractive Targets for Molecular Imaging and Site-Directed Therapy

Platelets are clearly central to thrombosis and hemostasis. In addition, more recently, evidence has emerged for non-hemostatic roles of platelets including inflammatory and immune reactions/responses. Platelets express immunologically relevant ligands and receptors, demonstrate adhesive interactions with endothelial cells, monocytes and neutrophils, and toll-like receptor (TLR) mediated responses. These properties make platelets central to innate and adaptive immunity and potential candidate key mediators of autoimmune disorders. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic autoimmune central nervous system (CNS) disease. An association between platelets and MS was first indicated by the increased adhesion of platelets to endothelial cells. This was followed by reports identifying structural and functional changes of platelets, their chronic activation in the peripheral blood of MS patients, platelet presence in MS lesions and the more recent revelation that these structural and functional abnormalities are associated with all MS forms and stages. Investigations based on the murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) MS model first revealed a contribution to EAE pathogenesis by exacerbation of CNS inflammation and an early role for platelets in EAE development via platelet-neuron and platelet-astrocyte associations, through sialated gangliosides in lipid rafts. Our own studies refined and extended these findings by identifying the critical timing of platelet accumulation in pre-clinical EAE and establishing an initiating and central rather than merely exacerbating role for platelets in disease development. Furthermore, we demonstrated platelet-neuron associations in EAE, coincident with behavioral changes, but preceding the earliest detectable autoreactive T cell accumulation. In combination, these findings establish a new paradigm by asserting that platelets play a neurodegenerative as well as a neuroinflammatory role in MS and therefore, that these two pathological processes are causally linked. This review will discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of MS, for future applications for imaging toward early detection of MS, and for novel strategies for platelet-targeted treatment of MS.
A Theoretical and Evidence-Based Conceptual Design of MetaDash: An Intelligent Teacher Dashboard to Support Teachers' Decision Making and Students’ Self-Regulated Learning

Teachers’ ability to self-regulate their own learning is closely related to their competency to enhance self-regulated learning (SRL) in their students. Accordingly, there is emerging research for the design of teacher dashboards that empower instructors by providing access to quantifiable evidence of student performance and SRL processes. Typically, they capture evidence of student learning and performance to be visualized through activity traces (e.g., bar charts showing correct and incorrect response rates, etc.) and SRL data (e.g., eye-tracking on content, log files capturing feature selection, etc.) in order to provide teachers with monitoring and instructional tools. Critics of the current research on dashboards used in conjunction with advanced learning technologies (ALTs) such as simulations, intelligent tutoring systems, and serious games, argue that the state of the field is immature and has 1) focused only on exploratory or proof-of-concept projects, 2) investigated data visualizations of performance metrics or simplistic learning behaviors, and 3) neglected most theoretical aspects of SRL including teachers’ general lack of understanding their’s students’ SRL. Additionally, the work is mostly anecdotal, lacks methodological rigor, and does not collect critical process data (e.g. frequency, duration, timing, or fluctuations of cognitive, affective, metacognitive, and motivational (CAMM) SRL processes) during learning with ALTs used in the classroom. No known research in the areas of learning analytics, teacher dashboards, or teachers’ perceptions of students’ SRL and CAMM engagement has systematically and simultaneously examined the deployment, temporal unfolding, regulation, and impact of all these key processes during complex learning. In this manuscript, we 1) review the current state of ALTs designed using SRL theoretical frameworks and the current state of teacher dashboard design and research, 2) report the important design features and elements within intelligent dashboards that provide teachers with real-time data visualizations of their students’ SRL processes and engagement while using ALTs in classrooms, as revealed from the analysis of surveys and focus groups with teachers, and 3) propose a conceptual system design for integrating reinforcement learning into a teacher dashboard to help guide the utilization of multimodal data collected on students’ and teachers’ CAMM SRL processes during complex learning.
Assessment of Causal Direction Between Gut Microbiota and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis

Background Recent studies have shown that the gut microbiota is closely related to the pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), but the causal nature is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the causal relationship between intestinal bacteria and IBD and to identify specific pathogenic bacterial taxa via the Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Materials and Methods MR analysis was performed on genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics of gut microbiota and IBD. Specifically, the TwinsUK microbiota GWAS (N = 1,126 twin pairs) was used as exposure. The UK inflammatory bowel disease (UKIBD) and the Understanding Social Program (USP) study GWAS (N = 48,328) was used as discovery outcome, and the British IBD study (N = 35,289) was used as replication outcome. SNPs associated with bacteria abundance at the suggestive significance level (α = 1.0 × 10–5) were used as instrumental variables. Bacteria were grouped into families and genera. Results In the discovery sample, a total of 30 features were available for analysis, including 15 families and 15 genera. Three features were nominally significant, including one family (Verrucomicrobiaceae, 2 IVs, beta = −0.04, p = 0.05) and two genera (Akkermansia, 2 IVs, beta = 0.04, p = 0.05; Dorea, 2 IVs, beta = −0.07, p = 0.04). All of them were successfully replicated in the replication sample (Verrucomicrobiaceae and Akkermansia Preplication = 0.02, Dorea Preplication = 0.01) with consistent effect direction. Conclusion We identified specific pathogenic bacteria features that were causally associated with the risk of IBD, thus offering new insights into the prevention and diagnosis of IBD.
Comparing Surgical and Conservative Treatment on Achilles Tendon Rupture: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of RCTs

Background: The Achilles tendon is the strongest tendon in human and is frequently injured, mainly in the young to middle age active population. Increasing incidence of Achilles tendon rupture (ATR) is still reported in several studies. Surgical repair and conservative treatment are two major management strategies widely adopted in ATR patients, but the consensus of the optimal treatment strategy is still debated. We aimed at thoroughly reviewing the ATR topic with additional assessments and performed a most comprehensive meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Method: We comprehensively searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and ClinicalTrial.gov and retrieved all RCTs comparing surgical and conservative treatment on ATR for further analysis. Two independent reviewers performed data extraction and random effect model was adopted when I2 > 50%, with data presentation of risk ratio, risk difference, or mean difference and 95% confidence interval. Results: A total of 13 RCTs were included in this meta-analysis. A significant difference was observed in re-rupture, complication rate, adhesion to the underlying tendon, sural nerve injury, and superficial infection. A substantial reduction in re-rupture rate could be observed for surgical treatment while the complication rate was higher compared with conservative treatment. Conclusion: Surgical treatment revealed significance in reducing the re-rupture rate but was associated with a higher complication rate, while conservative treatment showed similar outcomes with a lower complication rate. Collectively, we recommend conservative treatment if patients' status and expectations are suitable, but surgeon and physician discretion is also crucial in decision making.
Case Report: Early-Onset Guillain–Barre Syndrome Mimicking Stroke

Introduction: Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS) is an acute immune-mediated inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy characterized by symmetrical limb weakness and areflexia. GBS can have different clinical manifestations; hence, the initial symptoms are also varied. Here, we describe a rare case of GBS presenting as hemiparesis and cranial nerve palsy, which mimic brainstem stroke. Case Presentation: A 53-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with a 3-h history of left-arm weakness, glossolalia, and right eyelid droop. After admission, his condition suddenly worsened, with quadriplegia, bilateral peripheral facial palsy, bilateral ophthalmoplegia, and other neurological symptoms. Based on the findings from a neurological examination, MRI, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, and nerve conduction study, a diagnosis of GBS was made. He received intravenous immunoglobulin (0.4 kg/day) for 5 days. After 20 days of systematic therapy, his dysphagia, dyspnea, facial paralysis, ocular movement disorder, and leg weakness recovered almost completely, but his arms were still moderately impaired, with a power of 4/5. Fortunately, the patient recovered well without any sequelae after 2 years of follow-up. Conclusions: In patients with an atypical presentation, the diagnosis of GBS is often delayed. With this case report, we intend to highlight the fact that some symptoms mimicking stroke may be a feature of GBS at onset; close observation and timely diagnosis are crucial for clinicians. Neuroimaging is a valuable diagnostic tool in differentiating stroke from GBS.
Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci Associated With Graft (In)Compatibility in Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.)

Graft incompatibility (GI) between the most popular Prunus rootstocks and apricot cultivars is one of the major problems for rootstock usage and improvement. Failure in producing long-leaving healthy grafts greatly affects the range of available Prunus rootstocks for apricot cultivation. Despite recent advances related to the molecular mechanisms of a graft-union formation between rootstock and scion, information on genetic control of this trait in woody plants is essentially missing because of a lack of hybrid crosses, segregating for the trait. In this study, we have employed the next-generation sequencing technology to generate the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and construct parental linkage maps for an apricot F1 population “Moniqui (Mo)” × “Paviot (Pa)” segregating for ability to form successful grafts with universal Prunus rootstock “Marianna 2624”. To localize genomic regions associated with this trait, we genotyped 138 individuals from the “Mo × Pa” cross and constructed medium-saturated genetic maps. The female “Mo” and male “Pa” maps were composed of 557 and 501 SNPs and organized in eight linkage groups that covered 780.2 and 690.4 cM of genetic distance, respectively. Parental maps were aligned to the Prunus persica v2.0 genome and revealed a high colinearity with the Prunus reference map. Two-year phenotypic data for characters associated with unsuccessful grafting such as necrotic line (NL), bark and wood discontinuities (BD and WD), and an overall estimate of graft (in)compatibility (GI) were collected for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on both parental maps. On the map of the graft-compatible parent “Pa”, two genomic regions on LG5 (44.9–60.8 cM) and LG8 (33.2–39.2 cM) were associated with graft (in)compatibility characters at different significance level, depending on phenotypic dataset. Of these, the LG8 QTL interval was most consistent between the years and supported by two significant and two putative QTLs. To our best knowledge, this is the first report on QTLs for graft (in)compatibility in woody plants. Results of this work will provide a valuable genomic resource for apricot breeding programs and facilitate future efforts focused on candidate genes discovery for graft (in)compatibility in apricot and other Prunus species.
Ebolavirus: Comparison of Survivor Immunology and Animal Models in the Search for a Correlate of Protection

Ebola viruses are enveloped, single-stranded RNA viruses belonging to the Filoviridae family and can cause Ebola virus disease (EVD), a serious haemorrhagic illness with up to 90% mortality. The disease was first detected in Zaire (currently the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1976. Since its discovery, Ebola virus has caused sporadic outbreaks in Africa and was responsible for the largest 2013–2016 EVD epidemic in West Africa, which resulted in more than 28,600 cases and over 11,300 deaths. This epidemic strengthened international scientific efforts to contain the virus and develop therapeutics and vaccines. Immunology studies in animal models and survivors, as well as clinical trials have been crucial to understand Ebola virus pathogenesis and host immune responses, which has supported vaccine development. This review discusses the major findings that have emerged from animal models, studies in survivors and vaccine clinical trials and explains how these investigations have helped in the search for a correlate of protection.
MindLink-Eumpy: An Open-Source Python Toolbox for Multimodal Emotion Recognition

Emotion recognition plays an important role in intelligent human–computer interaction, but the related research still faces the problems of low accuracy and subject dependence. In this paper, an open-source software toolbox called MindLink-Eumpy is developed to recognize emotions by integrating electroencephalogram (EEG) and facial expression information. MindLink-Eumpy first applies a series of tools to automatically obtain physiological data from subjects and then analyzes the obtained facial expression data and EEG data, respectively, and finally fuses the two different signals at a decision level. In the detection of facial expressions, the algorithm used by MindLink-Eumpy is a multitask convolutional neural network (CNN) based on transfer learning technique. In the detection of EEG, MindLink-Eumpy provides two algorithms, including a subject-dependent model based on support vector machine (SVM) and a subject-independent model based on long short-term memory network (LSTM). In the decision-level fusion, weight enumerator and AdaBoost technique are applied to combine the predictions of SVM and CNN. We conducted two offline experiments on the Database for Emotion Analysis Using Physiological Signals (DEAP) dataset and the Multimodal Database for Affect Recognition and Implicit Tagging (MAHNOB-HCI) dataset, respectively, and conducted an online experiment on 15 healthy subjects. The results show that multimodal methods outperform single-modal methods in both offline and online experiments. In the subject-dependent condition, the multimodal method achieved an accuracy of 71.00% in the valence dimension and an accuracy of 72.14% in the arousal dimension. In the subject-independent condition, the LSTM-based method achieved an accuracy of 78.56% in the valence dimension and an accuracy of 77.22% in the arousal dimension. The feasibility and efficiency of MindLink-Eumpy for emotion recognition is thus demonstrated.
Delving Into the Working Mechanism of Prediction in Sentence Comprehension: An ERP Study

The present study aims to delineate the working mechanism of prediction in sentence comprehension, by disentangling the influence of the facilitated general memory retrieval from the coexistent influence of the predicted language-specific semantic and/or syntactic information for the first time. The results support that prediction might influence the downstream cognitive processing in two aspects: (1) the pre-activated information facilitates the retrieval of a matched input in memory and, (2) the pre-activated information interacts with higher-level semantic/syntactic processing. More importantly, the present findings suggest that these two types of influences seem to occur at different stages of sentence comprehension: the facilitated memory retrieval of the input modulates N400 amplitude and the latency of post-N400 late central-parietal positivity/P600, while the predicted semantic/syntactic information and/or their interactions modulate the amplitude of the late positivity. The present findings would be helpful for interpreting the underlying mechanism of observed effects in prediction studies.
G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor Correlates With Dkk2 Expression and Has Prognostic Impact in Ovarian Cancer Patients

Purpose Wnt pathway modulator Dickkopf 2 (Dkk2) and signaling of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) seem to have essential functions in numerous cancer types. For epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), it has not been proven if either Dkk2 or the GPER on its own have an independent impact on overall survival (OS). So far, the correlation of both factors and their clinical significance has not systematically been investigated before. Methods Expression levels of Dkk2 were immunohistochemically analyzed in 156 patient samples from different histologic subtypes of EOC applying the immune-reactivity score (IRS). Expression analyses were correlated with clinical and pathological parameters to assess for prognostic relevance. Data analysis was performed using Spearman’s correlations, Kruskal-Wallis-test and Kaplan-Meier estimates. Results Highest Dkk2 expression of all subtypes was observed in clear cell carcinoma. In addition, Dkk2 expression differed significantly (p<0.001) between low and high grade serous ovarian cancer. A significant correlation of Dkk2 with the cytoplasmic GPER expression was noted (p=0.001) but not for the nuclear estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) or beta (ERβ). Patients exhibiting both, high expression Dkk2 (IRS>4) and GPER (IRS>8), had a significantly better overall survival compared to patients with low expression (61 months vs. 33 months; p=0.024). Conclusion Dkk2 and GPER expression correlates in EOC and combined expression of both is associated with improved OS. These findings underline the clinical significance of both pathways and indicate a possible prognostic impact as well as a potential for treatment strategies addressing interactions between estrogen and Wnt signaling in ovarian cancer.
Can You Activate Me? From Robots to Human Brain

Research Unit on Theory of Mind, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, Humane Technology Lab, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, DISEIS, Department of International Economics, Institutions and Development, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, CSCC, Cognitive Science and Communication research Center, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, Applied Technology for NeuroPsychology Laboratory, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy