Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PTSD and Depressive Symptoms as Potential Mediators of the Association between World Trade Center Exposure and Subjective Cognitive Concerns in Rescue/Recovery Workers

We observed that World Trade Center (WTC) exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and depressive symptoms were associated with subjective cognitive concerns in Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) rescue/recovery workers. This follow-up study examined whether PTSD symptoms and/or depressive symptoms mediate the observed association between WTC exposure and subjective cognitive concerns. We included WTC-exposed FDNY workers who completed the Cognitive Function Instrument (CFI), measuring self-perceived cognitive decline (N = 9516). PTSD symptoms and depressive symptoms were assessed using the PCL-S and CES-D, respectively. Multivariable linear regression estimated the association between WTC exposure and CFI score, adjusting for confounders. Mediation analyses followed the methods of Vanderweele (2014). Participants’ average age at CFI assessment was 56.6 ± 7.6 years. Higher-intensity WTC exposure was associated with worse CFI score, an effect that was entirely mediated by PTSD symptoms (%mediated: 110.9%; 95%CI: 83.1–138.9). When substituting depressive symptoms for PTSD symptoms, the WTC exposure–CFI association was largely mediated (%mediated: 82.1%; 95%CI: 60.6–103.7). Our findings that PTSD symptoms and depressive symptoms mediate the association between WTC exposure and subjective cognitive concerns indicate that in the absence of these symptoms, WTC exposure in rescue/recovery workers would not be associated with subjective cognition. Interventions targeting PTSD and depression may have additional value in mitigating cognitive decline in WTC-exposed populations.
Iodine Deficiency and Mortality in Spanish Adults: Di@bet.es Study

Background: Longitudinal data assessing the impact of iodine deficiency (ID) on mortality are scarce. We aimed to study the association between the state of iodine nutrition and the risk of total and cause-specific mortality in a representative sample of the Spanish adult population. Methods: We performed a longitudinal observational study to estimate mortality risk according to urinary iodine (UI) concentrations using a sample of 4370 subjects >18 years representative of the Spanish adult population participating in the nationwide study Di@bet.es (2008–2010). We used Cox regression to assess the association between UI at the start of the study (<50, 50–99, 100–199, 200–299, and ≥300 μg/L) and mortality during follow-up (National death registry—end of follow-up December 2016) in raw models, and adjusted for possible confounding variables: age, sex, educational level, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, thyroid dysfunction, diagnosis of cardiovascular disease or cancer, area of residence, physical activity, adherence to Mediterranean diet, dairy and iodinated salt intake. Results: A total of 254 deaths were recorded during an average follow-up period of 7.3 years. The causes of death were cardiovascular 71 (28%); cancer 85 (33.5%); and other causes 98 (38.5%). Compared with the reference category with adequate iodine nutrition (UI 100–300 μg/L), the hazard ratios (HRs) of all-cause mortality in the category with UI ≥300 μg/L were 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI 0.54–1.98]); however, in the categories with 50–99 UI and <50 μg/L, the HRs were 1.29 [CI 0.97–1.70] and 1.71 [1.18–2.48], respectively (p for trend 0.004). Multivariate adjustment did not significantly modify the results. Conclusions: Our data indicate an excess mortality in individuals with moderate-severe ID adjusted for other possible confounding factors.
Point of care ultrasound and ocular injuries: A case of lens dislocation and a comprehensive review of the literature

Point‐of‐care ultrasound (POCUS) can help the clinician diagnose different ocular pathologies including retinal detachment, vitreous detachment, lens dislocation, and intraocular foreign bodies. Ocular pathologies such as blurry vision, double vision, loss of vision, and eye trauma are common chief complaints and require a comprehensive evaluation in order to determine the etiology and choose the correct treatment. Specifically ultrasound can help the clinician decide whether an urgent ophthalmology consult is appropriate. We present a case in which a lens dislocation was diagnosed using POCUS and review the available literature.
The development of antimicrobial peptides as an approach to prevention of antibiotic resistance

In recent years, the widespread use of conventional antibiotics has led to many microbial pathogens becoming resistant to these antibiotics. Therefore, the development of novel and alternative therapeutic strategies for controlling and reducing the effects of these pathogens is urgently needed. Studies have shown that antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and proteins are important members of the host defense system in eukaryotes. These peptides are potent agents with broad-spectrum activity against many Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In this review, we discuss the diversity, the broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity and related properties of AMPs that could be exploited for their application as potential drug candidates in therapeutic strategies against multiresistant pathogens.
Two new Morganella species from the Brazilian Amazon rainforest

Programa de Pos-graduacao em Sistematica e Evolucao, Centro de Biociencias, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Campus Universitario, CEP 59072–970, Natal, RN, Brazil (donis.alfredo@yahoo.com.br) Departamento Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Biociencias, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Campus Universitario, CEP 59072–970, Natal, RN, Brazil Departamento de Ecologia, Coordenacao de Pesquisas em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa da Amazonia, Av. Efigenio Sales, 2239, BOX 2239, Coroado, CEP 69011–970, Manaus, AM, Brazil
Influence of Water Stress on Grapevines Growing in the Field: From Leaf to Whole-Plant Response

A comparative study of soil-plant water relations was conducted on three grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L. cvv. carignane, merlot, shiraz) to investigate their adjustment to short-term and long-term water stress under field conditions. Adjustment was a function of the relative stability of the internal plant water status on diurnal and seasonal scales. On a diurnal scale, stomatal closure in response to water vapour pressure directly contributed to this stability. Indirect evidence suggested an influence of the soil water status on the diurnal stomatal activity. On a seasonal scale, sufficient leaf hydration required high whole-plant hydraulic conductance. This was achieved by either daily stomatal regulation or limitation of leaf area. Physiological adjustment to water stress through stomatal control was well developed in cv. carignane, which originated in a Mediterranean environment. However, cv. shiraz, which was of mesic origin, apparently adjusted to water stress by reducing leaf area. Our study demonstrates the utility of integrating data on stomatal conductance, leaf water potential and whole-plant hydraulic conductance to interpret whole plant adaptation to water stress, and elucidates two mechanisms by which genotypes differentially acclimate to water stress.
Examining the effects of applying ActiGraph Low Frequency Extension feature to analyze the sleeping behaviours of preschool aged children.

This study compares sleep outcome measures obtained using normal and low frequency extension settings (LFE; Actilife). Forty-two children (3-6 years), were instructed to wear an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer on their hip for 7 days, 24 hours/day. Total sleep time (min) sleep efficiency (%), number and cumulative length (min) of awakening were used to compare the settings. Results suggest that the LFE setting results in significant, but relatively small reductions in the sleep metrics of children. Trial Registration Number: clincialtrials.gov; ID #NCT02223234 Novelty Bullet: Low frequency extension setting available through ActiGraph, estimates a significantly reduced total sleep time and efficiency.
Chromosomal‐level genomes of three rice planthoppers provide new insights into sex chromosome evolution

The brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, white‐backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera, and small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus are three major insect pests of rice. They are genetically close; however, they differ in several ecological traits such as host range, migration capacity, and in their sex chromosomes. Though the draft genome of these three planthoppers have been previously released, the quality of genome assemblies need to be improved. The absence of chromosome‐level genome resources has hindered in‐depth research of these three species. Here, we performed a de novo genome assembly for N. lugens to increase its genome assembly quality with PacBio and Illumina platforms, increasing the contig N50 to 589.46 Kb. Then, with the new N. lugens genome and previously reported S. furcifera and L. striatellus genome assemblies, we generated chromosome‐level scaffold assemblies of these three planthopper species using HiC scaffolding technique. The scaffold N50s significantly increased to 77.63 Mb, 43.36 Mb and 29.24 Mb for N. lugens, S. furcifera and L. striatellus, respectively. To identify sex chromosomes of these three planthopper species, we carried out genome re‐sequencing of males and females and successfully determined the X and Y chromosomes for N. lugens, and X chromosome for S. furcifera and L. striatellus. The gene content of the sex chromosomes showed high diversity among these three planthoppers suggesting the rapid evolution of sex‐linked genes, and all chromosomes showed high synteny. The chromosome‐level genome assemblies of three planthoppers would provide a valuable resource for a broad range of future research in molecular ecology, and subsequently benefits development of modern pest control strategies.
Chaperna: linking the ancient RNA and protein worlds

ABSTRACT As a mental framework for the transition of self-replicating biological forms, the RNA world concept stipulates a dual function of RNAs as genetic substance and catalyst. The chaperoning function is found intrinsic to ribozymes involved in protein synthesis and tRNA maturation, enriching the primordial RNA world with proteins of biological relevance. The ribozyme-resident protein folding activity, even before the advent of protein-based molecular chaperone, must have expedited the transition of the RNA world into the present protein theatre.
The SNARE regulator Complexin3 is a target of the cone circadian clock

BMAL1 is a core component of the mammalian circadian clockwork. Removal of BMAL1 from the retina significantly affects visual information processing in both rod and cone pathways. To identify potential pathways and/or molecules through which BMAL1 alters signal transmission at the cone pedicle, we performed an RNA‐seq differential expression analysis between cone‐specific Bmal1 knockout cones (cone‐Bmal1−/−) and wild‐type (WT) cones. We found 88 genes differentially expressed. Among these, Complexin3 (Cplx3), a SNARE regulator at ribbon synapses, was downregulated fivefold in the mutant cones. The purpose of this work was to determine whether BMAL1 and/or the cone clock controls CPLX3 protein expression at cone pedicles. We found that CPLX3 expression level was decreased twofold in cone‐Bmal1−/− cones. Furthermore, CPLX3 expression was downregulated at night compared to the day in WT cones but remained constitutively low in mutant cones both day and night. The transcript and protein expression levels of Cplx4—the other complexin expressed in cones—were similar in WT and mutant cones; in WT cones, CPLX4 protein level did not change with the time of day. In silico analysis revealed four potential BMAL1:CLOCK binding sites upstream from exon one of Cplx3 and none upstream of exon one of Cplx4. Our results suggest that CPLX3 expression is regulated at the transcriptional level by the cone clock. The modulation of CPLX3 may be a mechanism by which the clock controls the cone synaptic transfer function to second‐order cells and thereby impacts retinal signal processing during the day/night cycle.
An Efficient Image Categorization Method With Insufficient Training Samples

Image classification is an important part of pattern recognition. With the development of convolutional neural networks (CNNs), many CNN methods are proposed, which have a large number of samples for training, which can have high performance. However, there may exist limited samples in some real-world applications. In order to improve the performance of CNN learning with insufficient samples, this article proposes a new method called the classifier method based on a variational autoencoder (CFVAE), which is comprised of two parts: 1) a standard CNN as a prior classifier and 2) a CNN based on variational autoencoder (VAE) as a posterior classifier. First, the prior classifier is utilized to generate the prior label and information about distributions of latent variables; and the posterior classifier is trained to augment some latent variables from regularized distributions to improve the performance. Second, we also present the uniform objective function of CFVAE and put forward an optimization method based on the stochastic gradient variational Bayes method to solve the objective model. Third, we analyze the feasibility of CFVAE based on Hoeffding’s inequality and Chernoff’s bounding method. This analysis indicates that the latent variables augmentation method based on regularized latent variables distributions can generate samples fitting well with the distribution of data such that the proposed method can improve the performance of CNN with insufficient samples. Finally, the experiments manifest that our proposed CFVAE can provide more accurate performance than state-of-the-art methods.
α-Conotoxin Peptidomimetics: Probing the Minimal Binding Motif for Effective Analgesia

Several analgesic α-conotoxins have been isolated from marine cone snails. Structural modification of native peptides has provided potent and selective analogues for two of its known biological targets—nicotinic acetylcholine and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) G protein-coupled (GABAB) receptors. Both of these molecular targets are implicated in pain pathways. Despite their small size, an incomplete understanding of the structure-activity relationship of α-conotoxins at each of these targets has hampered the development of therapeutic leads. This review scrutinises the N-terminal domain of the α-conotoxin family of peptides, a region defined by an invariant disulfide bridge, a turn-inducing proline residue and multiple polar sidechain residues, and focusses on structural features that provide analgesia through inhibition of high-voltage-activated Ca2+ channels. Elucidating the bioactive conformation of this region of these peptides may hold the key to discovering potent drugs for the unmet management of debilitating chronic pain associated with a wide range of medical conditions.
Identifying acute lymphoblastic leukemia mimicking juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children

Objective Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may present with arthritis implying the risk of being misdiagnosed as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The aim of this study was to identify predictors for ALL based on clinical and laboratory information. Methods This cross-sectional, retrospective study compared clinical presentation and laboratory results of 26 children with ALL and arthritis versus 485 children with JIA (433 non-systemic, 52 systemic JIA). Using a Bayesian score approach the findings were evaluated by calculating odds ratios (OR) and lnOR as a measure of diagnostic weight. Results Distinction on clinical grounds was difficult, as even a high number of joints involved did not exclude ALL. One or more hematologic cell counts were low (Hb <10 g/dL, platelet count <100 x 109/L, neutrophil count < 1.0 x 109/L) in 92% with ALL, 25% with systemic JIA and 10% with non-systemic JIA. Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia had the highest ORs of 128 (95% CI 43–387) and 129 (95% CI 26–638), each giving a diagnostic weight of 4. The estimated risks of ALL were 0.2% with normal cell counts and 9%, 67% and 100% when one, two or three cell lines were affected. Conclusion A simple count of cell lines with low counts can serve as a basic diagnostic strategy. Children with tri- or bilinear involvement should be referred to a bone marrow, and those with unilinear involvement a thorough screen for further evidence of ALL (organomegaly, ESR, LDH, uric acid, and blood smear).
Brain Network Analysis by Stable and Unstable EEG Components

Objective: Previous studies have already shown that electroencephalography (EEG) brain network (BN) can reflect the health status of individuals. However, novel methods are still needed for BN analysis. Therefore, in this study, BNs were constructed based on stable and unstable EEG components, and these may be implemented for disease diagnosis. Methods: Parkinson's disease (PD) was used as an example to illustrate this method. First, EEG signals were decomposed into dynamic modes (DMs). Each DM contains one eigenvalue that can determine not only the stability of that mode, but also its corresponding oscillatory frequency. Second, the stable and unstable components of EEG signals in each frequency band (delta, theta, alpha and beta) were calculated, which are based on the stable and unstable DMs within each respective frequency band. Third, newly developed BNs were constructed, including stable brain network (SBN), unstable brain network (UBN) and inter-connected brain network (IBN). Finally, their topological attributes were extracted in order to differentiate between PD patients and healthy controls (HC). Furthermore, topological attributes were also derived from traditional brain network (TBN) for comparison. Results: Most topological attributes of SBN, UBN and IBN can significantly differentiate between PD patients and HC ($p$ value $< $ 0.05). Furthermore, the area under the curve (AUC), precision and recall values of SBN analysis are all significantly higher than TBN. Conclusion: We proposed a new perspective on EEG BN analysis. Significance: These newly developed BNs not only have biological significance, but also could be widely applied in most medical and engineering fields.
Do gaze behaviours during action observation predict interpersonal motor resonance?

Abstract Interpersonal motor resonance (IMR) is a common putative index of the mirror neuron system (MNS), a network containing specialised cells that fire during both action execution and observation. Visual content inputs to the MNS, however, it is unclear whether visual behaviours mediate the putative MNS response. We aimed to examine gaze effects on IMR during action observation. Neurotypical adults (N = 99; 60 female) underwent transcranial magnetic stimulation, electromyography, and eye-tracking during the observation of videos of actors performing grasping actions. IMR was measured as a percentage change in motor evoked potentials (MEPs) of the first dorsal interosseous muscle during action observation relative to baseline. MEP facilitation was observed during action observation, indicating IMR (65.43%, SE = 11.26%, P < 0.001). Fixations occurring in biologically relevant areas (face/hand/arm) yielded significantly stronger IMR (81.03%, SE = 14.15%) than non-biological areas (63.92%, SE = 14.60, P = 0.012). This effect, however, was only evident in the first of four experimental blocks. Our results suggest that gaze fixation can modulate IMR, but this may be affected by the salience and novelty of the observed action. These findings have important methodological implications for future studies in both clinical and healthy populations.
Impact of Axial Eye Size on Retinal Microvasculature Density in the Macular Region

Mechanical tissue stresses are important contributors to the increased risk of sight-threatening pathology in larger, more myopic eyes. The contribution of altered ocular vasculature to the development of this pathology is less well defined. The current study investigated the impact of eye size on the superficial vasculature of the macula. Subjects (n = 104) aged 18–50, with no history of ocular or vascular disease, or myopia control, were recruited from university staff and student populations in Australia and Hong Kong. Refractive error, ocular size, retinal morphology and vascular morphology were quantified through open field autorefraction, ocular biometry and ocular coherence tomography angiography. Morphology of the superficial retinal capillary plexus was assessed over a 3 × 3 mm fovea-centred area. Perfusion area and vessel length densities were analysed relative to axial eye length and retinal thickness. A significant inverse association was found between axial length and vascular density measures (perfusion area density r2 = 0.186, p < 0.001; and vessel length density r2 = 0.102, p = 0.001). Perfusion area and vessel length densities were reduced by 5.8% (p = 0.001) in the longest, relative to the shortest, eyes. The aggregated ganglion cell layer inner plexiform layer thickness was also inversely associated with eye size (r2 = 0.083, p = 0.003), and reduced, by 8.1% (p < 0.001), in the longest eyes. An inverse association of eye size and superficial retinal vasculature density, that is not simply explained by retinal expansion or image magnification factors, was confirmed. These data support the hypothesis that ongoing metabolic challenges may underlie the development of myopia-related and -associated pathology in larger eyes.
Molecular and Immunological Characterization of Biliary Tract Cancers: A Paradigm Shift Towards a Personalized Medicine

Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) are a group of rare cancers that account for up to 3–5% of cancer patients worldwide. BTCs include cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), gallbladder cancer (GBC), and ampulla of Vater cancer (AVC). They are frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage when the disease is often found disseminated. A late diagnosis highly compromises surgery, the only potentially curative option. Current treatment regimens include a combination of chemotherapeutic drugs gemcitabine with cisplatin that have a limited efficiency since more than 50% of patients relapse in the first year. More recently, an inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) was approved as a second-line treatment, based on the promising results from the NCT02924376 clinical trial. However, novel secondary treatment options are urgently needed. Recent molecular characterization of CCA and GBC highlighted the molecular heterogeneity, etiology, and epidemiology in BTC development and lead to the classification of the extrahepatic CCA into four types: metabolic, proliferating, mesenchymal, and immune type. Differences in the immune infiltration and tumor microenvironment (TME) have been described as well, showing that only a small subset of BTCs could be classified as an immune “hot” and targeted with the immunotherapeutic drugs. This recent evidence has opened a way to new clinical trials for BTCs, and new drug approvals are highly expected by the medical community.