Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Full-field electroretinogram in evaluation of the outer retina in patients with multiple sclerosis

Background: Background: Optic nerve inflammation may contribute to the pathology of multiple sclerosis (MS) (retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration) However, within the past ten years, some investigations have indicated that primary retinopathy may be brought on by MS. This study used a full-field electroretinogram to test the function of the outer retinal layers in people with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) (ff-ERG). Methods: This is a case- control study, conducted on 30 RRMS patients and 30 healthy controls. RRMS patients were subjected to neurological, ophthalmological, and radiological assessment. Both RRMS patients and controls were subjected to full field ERG. Results: The ff-ERG showed a significant delay of latencies of a and b-waves of both light and dark-adapted condition with reduction of their amplitudes compared to control. ERG responses were significantly affected in MS patients with or without optic neuritis compared to control. Most of ff-ERG parameters showed non statistically significant difference between optic neuritis and non-optic neuritis eyes. Conclusion: There is functional affection of the bipolar and the photoreceptors layers in the outer retina in optic neuritis and non-optic neuritis eyes of MS. Therefore, the outer retina could be a site for primary pathology in MS, unrelated to the optic nerve affection.
Planning for Prevention of Parkinson Disease

Parkinson disease (PD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease with increasing worldwide prevalence. Despite many trials of neuroprotective therapies in manifest PD, no disease-modifying therapy has been established. Over the past several decades, a series of breakthroughs have identified discrete populations at substantially increased risk of developing PD. Based on this knowledge, now is the time to design and implement PD prevention trials. This endeavor builds on experience gained from early prevention trials in Alzheimer disease and Huntington disease. This article first reviews prevention trial precedents in these other neurodegenerative diseases before focusing on the critical design elements for PD prevention trials, including whom to enroll for these trials, what therapeutics to test, and how to measure outcomes in prevention trials. Our perspective reflects progress and remaining challenges that motivated a 2021 conference, “Planning for Prevention of Parkinson: A Trial Design Symposium and Workshop. ”
Dissection of Crop Metabolome Responses to Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Other Nutrient Deficiencies

Crop growth and yield often face sophisticated environmental stresses, especially the low availability of mineral nutrients in soils, such as deficiencies of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and others. Thus, it is of great importance to understand the mechanisms of crop response to mineral nutrient deficiencies, as a basis to contribute to genetic improvement and breeding of crop varieties with high nutrient efficiency for sustainable agriculture. With the advent of large-scale omics approaches, the metabolome based on mass spectrometry has been employed as a powerful and useful technique to dissect the biochemical, molecular, and genetic bases of metabolisms in many crops. Numerous metabolites have been demonstrated to play essential roles in plant growth and cellular stress response to nutrient limitations. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to summarize the recent advances in the dissection of crop metabolism responses to deficiencies of mineral nutrients, as well as the underlying adaptive mechanisms. This review is intended to provide insights into and perspectives on developing crop varieties with high nutrient efficiency through metabolite-based crop improvement.
TAQS: An Arabic Question Similarity System Using Transfer Learning of BERT With BiLSTM

With the rapid increase of Arabic content on the web comes an increased need for short and accurate answers to queries. Machine question answering has appeared as an important emerging field for progress in natural language processing techniques. Machine learning performance surpasses that of humans in some areas, such as natural language processing and text analysis, especially with large amounts of data. There are two main contributions of this research. First, we propose the Tawasul Arabic question similarity (TAQS) system with four Arabic semantic question similarity models using deep learning techniques. Second, we curated and used an Arabic customer service question-similarity dataset with a 44,404 entries of question–answer pairs, called “Tawasul. ” For TAQS, first, we use transfer learning to extract the contextualized bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) embedding with bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) in two different ways. Specifically, we propose two architectures: the BERT contextual representation with BiLSTM (BERT-BiLSTM) and the hybrid transfer BERT contextual representation with BiLSTM (HT-BERT-BiLSTM). The hybrid transfer representation combines two transfer learning techniques. Second, we fine-tuned two versions of bidirectional encoder representations from transformers for Arabic language (AraBERT). The results show that the HT-BERT-BiLSTM with the features of Layer 12 reaches an accuracy of 94.45%, where the fine-tuning of AraBERTv2 and AraBERTv0.2 achieve 93.10% and 93.90% accuracy, respectively, for the Tawasul dataset. Our proposed TAQS model surpassed the performance of the state-of-the-art BiLSTM with SkipGram by a gain of 43.19% in accuracy.
PI3K/AKT/mTOR-Targeted Therapy for Breast Cancer

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (PKB/AKT) and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) (PAM) pathways play important roles in breast tumorigenesis and confer worse prognosis in breast cancer patients. The inhibitors targeting three key nodes of these pathways, PI3K, AKT and mTOR, are continuously developed. For breast cancer patients to truly benefit from PAM pathway inhibitors, it is necessary to clarify the frequency and mechanism of abnormal alterations in the PAM pathway in different breast cancer subtypes, and further explore reliable biomarkers to identify the appropriate population for precision therapy. Some PI3K and mTOR inhibitors have been approved by regulatory authorities for the treatment of specific breast cancer patient populations, and many new-generation PI3K/mTOR inhibitors and AKT isoform inhibitors have also been shown to have good prospects for cancer therapy. This review summarizes the changes in the PAM signaling pathway in different subtypes of breast cancer, and the latest research progress about the biomarkers and clinical application of PAM-targeted inhibitors.
Identification and quantification of flavonoids in 207 cultivated lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) and their contribution to different colors

Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is a large economic crop, which is also cultivated as a horticultural crop. This study performed a systematic qualitative and quantitative determination of five anthocyanins and 18 non-anthocyanin flavonoids from the petals of 207 lotus cultivars. Among the compounds identified in this study, quercetin 3-O-pentose-glucuronide, quercetin 7-O-glucoside, laricitrin 3-O-hexose, and laricitrin 3-O-glucuronide were discovered for the first time in sacred lotus. The relationships between these pigments and petals colors were also evaluated. A decrease in the total content of anthocyanins and increase in the content of myricetin 3-O-glucuronide resulted in a lighter flower color. Furthermore, petals were yellow when the content of quercetin 3-O-neohesperidoside and myricetin 3-O-glucuronide were increased, whereas petals were red when the total anthocyanin content was high and the quercetin 3-O-sambubioside content was low. These investigations contribute to the understanding of mechanisms that underlie the development of flower color and provide a solid theoretical basis for the further study of sacred lotus.
Evaluation of the Formulation Parameter-Dependent Redispersibility of API Nanoparticles from Fluid Bed Granules

The production of nanosuspensions of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is a popular technique to counteract challenges regarding bioavailability of such active substances. A subsequent drying of the nanosuspensions is advantageous to improve the long-term stability and the further processing into solid oral dosage forms. However, associated drying operations are critical, especially with regard to nanoparticle growth, loss in redispersibility and associated compromised bioavailability. This work extends a previous study regarding the applicability of an API (itraconazole) nanosuspension as a granulation liquid in a fluidized bed process with focus on the influence of applied formulation parameters on the structure of obtained nanoparticle-loaded granules and their nanoparticle redispersibility. Generally, a higher dissolution rate of the carrier material (glass beads, lactose, mannitol or sucrose) and a higher content of a matrix former/hydrophilic polymer (PVP/VA or HPMC) in the granulation liquid resulted in the formation of coarser and more porous granules with improved nanoparticle redispersibility. HPMC was found to have advantages as a polymer compared with PVP/VA. In general, a better redispersibility of the nanoparticles from the granules could be associated with better dispersion of the API nanoparticles at the surface of the granules as deduced from the thickness of nanoparticle-loaded layers around the granules. The layer thickness on granules was assessed by means of confocal Raman microscopy. Finally, the dispersion of the nanoparticles in the granule layers was exemplarily described by calculation of theoretical mean nanoparticle distances in the granule layers and was correlated with data obtained from redispersibility studies.
Antagonistic Skin Toxicity of Co-Exposure to Physical Sunscreen Ingredients Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles

Being the main components of physical sunscreens, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) are often used together in different brands of sunscreen products with different proportions. With the broad use of cosmetics containing these nanoparticles (NPs), concerns regarding their joint skin toxicity are becoming more and more prominent. In this study, the co-exposure of these two NPs in human-derived keratinocytes (HaCaT) and the in vitro reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) model EpiSkin was performed to verify their joint skin effect. The results showed that ZnO NPs significantly inhibited cell proliferation and caused deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage in a dose-dependent manner to HaCaT cells, which could be rescued with co-exposure to TiO2 NPs. Further mechanism studies revealed that TiO2 NPs restricted the cellular uptake of both aggregated ZnO NPs and non-aggregated ZnO NPs and meanwhile decreased the dissociation of Zn2+ from ZnO NPs. The reduced intracellular Zn2+ ultimately made TiO2 NPs perform an antagonistic effect on the cytotoxicity caused by ZnO NPs. Furthermore, these joint skin effects induced by NP mixtures were validated on the epidermal model EpiSkin. Taken together, the results of the current research contribute new insights for understanding the dermal toxicity produced by co-exposure of different NPs and provide a valuable reference for the development of formulas for the secure application of ZnO NPs and TiO2 NPs in sunscreen products.
The Chloronium Cation [(C2H3)2Cl+] and Unsaturated C4-Carbocations with C=C and C≡C Bonds in Their Solid Salts and in Solutions: An H1/C13 NMR and Infrared Spectroscopic Study

Solid salts of the divinyl chloronium (C2H3)2Cl+ cation (I) and unsaturated C4H6Cl+ and C4H7+ carbocations with the highly stable CHB11Hal11− anion (Hal=F, Cl) were obtained for the first time. At 120 °C, the salt of the chloronium cation decomposes, yielding a salt of the C4H5+ cation. This thermally stable (up to 200 °C) carbocation is methyl propargyl, CH≡C-C+-H-CH3 (VI), which, according to quantum chemical calculations, should be energetically much less favorable than other isomers of the C4H7+ cations. Cation VI readily attaches HCl to the formal triple C≡C bond to form the CHCl=CH-C+H-CH3 cation (VII). In infrared spectra of cations I, VI, and VII, frequencies of C=C and C≡C stretches are significantly lower than those predicted by calculations (by 400–500 cm−1). Infrared and 1H/13C magic-angle spinning NMR spectra of solid salts of cations I and VI and high-resolution 1H/13C NMR spectra of VII in solution in SO2ClF were interpreted. On the basis of the spectroscopic data, the charge and electron density distribution in the cations are discussed.
Conducting Composite Material Based on Chitosan and Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes for Cellular Technologies

Biocompatible electrically conducting chitosan-based films filled with single-wall carbon nanotubes were obtained. Atomic force microscopic studies of the free surface topography revealed a change in the morphology of chitosan films filled with single-wall carbon nanotubes. Introducing 0.5 wt. % of single-wall carbon nanotubes into chitosan results in an increase in tensile strength of the films (up to ~180 MPa); the tensile strain values also rise up to ~60%. It was demonstrated that chitosan films containing 0.1–3.0 wt. % of single-wall carbon nanotubes have higher conductivity (10 S/m) than pure chitosan films (10−11 S/m). The investigation of electrical stimulation of human dermal fibroblasts on chitosan/single-wall carbon nanotubes film scaffolds showed that the biological effect of cell electrical stimulation depends on the content of single-walled carbon nanotubes in the chitosan matrix.
Diffusion approximations for periodically arriving expert opinions in a financial market with Gaussian drift

Abstract In this paper we study a financial market in which stock returns depend on an unobservable Gaussian drift process. Investors obtain information on that drift from return observations and discrete-time expert opinions as an external source of information. Estimates of the hidden drift process are based on filtering techniques. Our focus is the case of high-frequency experts periodically providing their views on the drift with variances growing linearly with the arrival frequency. The latter condition guarantees that the delivered information per time is limited. The asymptotic behavior of the filter as the arrival frequency tends to infinity is described by limit theorems. These state that the information obtained from observing the discrete-time expert opinions is asymptotically the same as that from observing a certain diffusion process. We apply these diffusion approximations of the filter for deriving simplified approximate solutions of utility maximization problems with logarithmic and power utility.
Predictive Significance of Two MMP-9 Promoter Polymorphisms and Acetylated c-Jun Transcription Factor for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Advancement

Papillary thyroid carcinoma represents a challenge from a prognostic standpoint. Molecular alterations responsible for PTC advancement include MMP-9 genetic promoter polymorphisms that bind transcription factors with varying degrees of affinity and, hence, constitute a predisposition for MMP-9 expression. We examined how two promoter polymorphisms (the -1562 C/T transition and -131 (CA)n tandem repeats) as well as levels of the c-Jun transcription factor and its modified form acetylated at Lys271 influence MMP-9 expression and PTC progression. A significant proportion of PTC samples were heterozygous for the (CA)n tandem repeat number, had a transcription-promoting T allele at -1562, and expressed high levels of c-Jun, acetylated c-Jun, and MMP-9 protein. The T allele at the -1562 position accompanied the elevated MMP-9 protein expression, while high acetylated c-Jun levels accompanied the high MMP-9 protein levels on mRNA. The -1562 C/T transition, MMP-9, and acetylated c-Jun were associated with the presence of extra-thyroid invasion and degree of tumor infiltration, while the T allele and acetylated c-Jun also correlated with tumor stage. We conclude that the -1562 MMP-9 polymorphism and levels of acetylated c-Jun affect PTC progression via modulation of MMP-9 levels. Genotyping the MMP-9 at -1562 and estimating the levels of MMP-9 and acetylated c-Jun in PTC may prove beneficial in identifying high-risk patients.
DIGITAL MACRO-PHOTOGRAMMETRY IN DOCUMENTATION OF OLD TURKIC RUNIFORM INSCRIPTIONS IN THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS

The article presents a method of the 3D digitization of rock surfaces ensuring a sub-millimeter resolution. The method was developed for documenting Old Turkic inscriptions of the Altai Mountains mostly made by fine engravings on rock outcrops. These are the earliest sources on the history, language and culture of ancient Turkic peoples written in an autochthonous runiform script. The method involves the digital photogrammetry technology “Structure from Motion” (SfM) based on a set of macro photos. It was tested in the laboratory and in the field conditions, the accuracy and deviations of the obtained 3D models of documented planes were determined. The data of the obtained 3D models were extracted in the bitmap format (as height maps and orthophotos), and analyzed in the GIS application. The method was applied for documenting recently discovered and not yet published Altai runiform inscriptions in the localities D’odro and Karban ; it helped to distinguish the lines of the inscriptions from those of numerous graffiti and other lines, and to decipher them. The article presents the first publication of the inscriptions D’odro I and Karban IV, includ ing the copies based on the 3D models along with their readings, interpretations and translations.
EXPLANT STERILIZATION AND IN VITRO CULTURE OF PURPLE SWEET POTATO TO OPTIMIZE NORMAL SHOOT FORMATION

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.), a tuber-producing plant, is a functional food that produces carbohydrates while meeting nutritional needs. Propagation of sweet potato through tissue culture is often hampered in the initial culture due to contamination. The study aimed to optimize sterilization of explants and growth of in vitro culture of purple sweet potato. Tubers of purple sweet potato cv. Antin 2 were ex vitro cultured through a semi-immersion system to produce shoots. The shoots as explants were sterilized with alcohol, fungicide, and sodium hypochlorite (P1); alcohol and sodium hypochlorite (P2); sodium hypochlorite (P3), and washed on sterile distilled water as control (C). The explants were then cultured on MS solid medium in tubes and jars. Growth and multiplication of shoots were carried out on MS solid medium added with cytokinins (BA and kinetin) at different concentrations. The results showed that the best sterilization method was obtained in the sodium hypochlorite (P3) and alcohol-sodium hypochlorite (P2) treatments, with sterile shoots reaching 100%. Planting the explants in jars gave higher normal shoot formation (85–100%) than that in tubes (12.5–48%). The use of kinetin at 0.5–1 mg L-1 gave good shoot vigor. The best axillary shoot multiplication was found on media with 0.5 mg L-1 BA. Growing explants on the semi-immersion system and sodium hypochlorite sterilization produced the highest sterile ones, whereas culturing three explants promotes normal growth straight after sterilization.
Wearable Technologies for Pediatric Patients with Surgical Infections—More than Counting Steps?

Reliable vital sign assessments are crucial for the management of patients with infectious diseases. Wearable devices enable easy and comfortable continuous monitoring across settings, especially in pediatric patients, but information about their performance in acutely unwell children is scarce. Vital signs were continuously measured with a multi-sensor wearable device (Everion®, Biofourmis, Zurich, Switzerland) in 21 pediatric patients during their hospitalization for appendicitis, osteomyelitis, or septic arthritis to describe acceptance and feasibility and to compare validity and reliability with conventional measurements. Using a wearable device was highly accepted and feasible for health-care workers, parents, and children. There were substantial data gaps in continuous monitoring up to 24 h. The wearable device measured heart rate and oxygen saturation reliably (mean difference, 2.5 bpm and 0.4% SpO2) but underestimated body temperature by 1.7 °C. Data availability was suboptimal during the study period, but a good relationship was determined between wearable device and conventional measurements for heart rate and oxygen saturation. Acceptance and feasibility were high in all study groups. We recommend that wearable devices designed for medical use in children be validated in the targeted population to assure future high-quality continuous vital sign assessments in an easy and non-burdening way.
The effect of aromatase inhibitors against possible testis toxicity in pembrolizumab treated rats

Pembrolizumab is a monoclonal antibody. Anastrozole is an infertility inhibitor of aromatase. Resveratrol is an antioxidant polyphenol in the reproductive system. This study was planned to demonstrate the protective effects of anastrozole and resveratrol against pembrolizumab‐induced reproductive damage. Forty‐two Sprague–Dawley rats were used in the study. Groups: The control, Pembrolizumab (PEMB), PEMB + Anastrazol (ANAST), PEMB + Resveratrol (RES), RES, and ANAST groups. At the end of the experiment, rats were euthanased under anaesthesia. Tissue samples were taken from rats for biochemical, histological, and ELISA evaluations. Tissues were subjected to routine tissue follow‐up for histological analysis. Biochemically, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px) levels were measured. Sperm motility, abnormal sperm rate, and epididymal sperm concentration were examined spermatologically. Serum testosterone and programmed cell death‐1 (PD‐1) levels were measured using the ELISA. TBARS levels were significantly increased and GSH, SOD, GPx, and CAT levels were mitigated in PEMB‐treated rats. Histologically; Control, ANAST, and RES groups testis samples were observed with normal histological appearance. Histological damage was detected in seminiferous tubule structures in testicular tissue in the PEMB group. In treatment groups, this damage was decreased. In addition, PD‐1 and testosterone levels were evaluated by the ELISA method. ANAST and RES have therapeutic effects against reproductive damage caused by PEMB.
Burnout Syndrome among Otorhinolaryngologists during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Objectives: To determine the prevalence of burnout syndrome among otorhinolaryngologists in Lithuania and investigate associations with sociodemographic and professional factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: Burnout was measured using the validated Lithuanian version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Demographic characteristics and professional characteristics were collected utilizing an anonymous questionnaire. Results: Eighty otorhinolaryngologists (ORL group) and 30 information technology professionals (the control group) were enrolled in this study. A high level of professional burnout in at least one of the subscales was observed in 82.5% of the ORL group subjects. Depersonalization and burnout syndrome were more frequently detected with increasing age in the ORL group (r = 0.2, p < 0.04). Greater satisfaction with salary and working environment resulted in a lower burnout incidence (r = 0.31, p = 0.001). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of burnout syndrome has been high among Lithuanian otorhinolaryngologists. Demographic and professional characteristics are significantly related to burnout syndrome among Lithuanian otorhinolaryngologists.