Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurocognitive Function, Psychosocial Outcome, and Health-Related Quality of Life of the First-Generation Metastatic Melanoma Survivors Treated with Ipilimumab

Purpose To assess neurocognitive function (NCF), psychosocial outcome, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and long-term effects of immune-related adverse events (irAE) on metastatic melanoma survivors treated with ipilimumab (IPI). Methods Melanoma survivors were identified within two study populations (N = 104), at a single-center university hospital, and defined as patients who were disease-free for at least 2 years after initiating IPI. Data were collected using 4 patient-reported outcome measures, computerized NCF testing, and a semistructured interview at the start and 1-year follow-up. Results Out of 18 eligible survivors, 17 were recruited (5F/12M); median age is 57 years (range 33-86); and median time since initiating IPI was 5.6 years (range 2.1-9.3). The clinical interview revealed that survivors suffered from cancer-related emotional distress such as fear of recurrence (N = 8), existential problems (N = 2), survivor guilt (N = 2), and posttraumatic stress disorder (N = 6). The mean EORTC QLQ-C30 Global Score was not significantly different from the European mean of the healthy population. Nine survivors reported anxiety and/or depression (Hospitalization Depression Scale) during the survey. Seven survivors (41%) reported fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale). Seven patients (41%) had impairment in NCF; only three out of seven survivors had impairment in subjective cognition (Cognitive Failure Questionnaire). Anxiety, depression, fatigue, and neurocognitive symptoms remained stable at the 1-year follow-up. All cases of skin toxicity (N = 8), hepatitis (N = 1), colitis (N = 3), and sarcoidosis (N = 1) resolved without impact on HRQoL. Three survivors experienced hypophysitis; all suffered from persistent fatigue and cognitive complaints 5 years after onset. One survivor who experienced a Guillain-Barré-like syndrome suffered from persisting depression, fatigue, and impairment in NCF. Conclusion A majority of melanoma survivors treated with IPI continue to suffer from emotional distress and impairment in NCF. Timely detection in order to offer tailored care is imperative, with special attention for survivors with a history of neuroendocrine or neurological irAE. The trial is registered with B.U.N. 143201421920.
Symbionts associated with the salivary glands of the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae, and their function when feeding on leguminous hosts

Title of dissertation: SYMBIONTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SALIVARY GLANDS OF THE POTATO LEAFHOPPER, EMPOASCA FABAE, AND THEIR FUNCTION WHEN FEEDING ON LEGUMINOUS HOSTS Bridget Diane DeLay, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation directed by: Professor William O. Lamp Department of Entomology Many species of phloem feeding insects are host to symbiotic bacteria, which provide their hosts with nutrients lacking from phloem. The potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae, feeds on the phloem and cell contents of a wide variety of plants. In this study, I identified two taxa of symbiotic bacteria present in the salivary glands, midgut, bacteriomes and saliva of the potato leafhopper: Sulcia muelleri and Wolbachia. Treatment of the leafhoppers with 0.01% oxytetracycline-HCl resulted in the creation of aposymbiotic leafhoppers. Longevity and fecundity of aposymbiotic leafhoppers on alfalfa, Medicago sativa, and fava bean, Vicia faba, were significantly lower than that of symbiotic leafhoppers. In addition, aposymbiotic leafhoppers caused less of a decrease in photosynthesis rates on both alfalfa and fava bean in comparison to symbiotic leafhoppers. The salivary gland transcriptome of the potato leafhopper revealed the presence of potential salivary components, including lipase, pectin lyase and alkaline phosphatase, all of which were expressed at higher levels in salivary glands than in midgut or hind femur tissue. In addition, transcripts attributed to Wolbachia were discovered in the sialotranscriptome, providing more evidence that this bacterium is present in the salivary glands of the potato leafhopper. Finally, expression of alfalfa wound response genes after exposure to potato leafhopper saliva was measured. Endo 1-3 ß-D-glucanase, isoflavone reductase, chalcone synthase and phenylalanine ammonialyase gene expression were higher in plants exposed to leafhopper saliva than in unexposed controls. Treatment of saliva with heat, filter sterilization, DTT, EDTA and K2HPO4 led to different plant wound response gene expression patterns. I conclude that the symbionts present in the potato leafhopper are necessary for the normal development and reproduction of this species, in addition to playing a potential role in plant wound response to feeding. SYMBIONTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SALIVARY GLANDS OF THE POTATO LEAFHOPPER, EMPOASCA FABAE, AND THEIR FUNCTION WHEN FEEDING ON LEGUMINOUS HOSTS
Pomegranate peel extract protects against carbon tetrachloride-induced nephrotoxicity in mice through increasing antioxidants status

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a notorious environmental pollutant known for its toxicity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible protective effects of aqueous pomegranate peel extract (PPE) against CCl4 induced nephrotoxicity in mice. Adult male mice were divided into four groups: Group one was used as the control; Group two was treated with a daily oral dose of PPE (400 mg/kg) for 15 days; the third group was intraperitoneally injected with a dose (1 ml/kg) of CCl4 twice a week for two weeks; and the final group was injected with the same dose of CCl4 twice a week concomitantly with a daily oral dose of PPE (400 mg/kg). Biochemical and histopathological data were analyzed along with the gene expression levels of the antioxidant enzymes and immunohistochemistry of the kidney tissue. CCl4 resulted in a significant increase in the serum urea and creatinine levels with detectable degenerative changes in the Bowman's capsule and glomerulus, with cells exhibiting vacuolization and evidence of necrosis. Co-administration of animals with CCl4 and PPE resulted in improved biochemical and histopathological conditions. Similarly, increased production of the Caspase-3 and collagen fibers were reduced in mice treated with PPE. Quantitative analysis of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase further accentuated the effects of PPE treatment significantly improving the conditions of the CCl4-administered group. The results of the present study demonstrate that the phenolic derivative rich PPE is a potent nephroprotective agent and suppresses CCl4-induced nephrotoxicity in mice.
Foraging Time Optimization and Interactions in Food Webs

The consequences of foraging time optimization by one species in a food web on interactions in the food web are investigated using several simple mathematical models. The situation modeled is one in which a forager must expose itself to a greater risk of predation while foraging, and it adjusts foraging time adaptively to maximize fitness. In this system the forager's behavior results in a number of indirect effects between species: it causes interactions between the forager's predator and the forager's food; it causes predator self-limitation; and it may cause interactions between different food species. Some simple models are used to show that these trophically mediated indirect effects theoretically can be comparable to or larger in magnitude than the direct interactions between adjacent trophic levels. The possibility of such indirect effects has important implications for theoretical and empirical studies of food webs.
Automated Detection of Field Monuments in Digital Terrain Models of Westphalia Using OBIA

While Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) revolutionized archaeological prospection and different visualizations were developed, an automated detection of cultural heritage still poses a significant challenge. Therefore, geographers and archaeologists from Westphalia, Germany are developing automated workflows for classifying field monuments from special terrain models. For this project, a combination of GIS, Python, and Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) is used. It focuses on three common types of monuments: Ridge and Furrow areas, Burial Mounds, and Motte-and-Bailey castles. The latter two are not classified binary, but in multiple classes, depending on their degree of erosion. This simplifies interpretation by highlighting the most interesting structures without losing the others. The results confirm that OBIA is suitable for detecting field monuments with hit rates of ~90%. A drawback is its dependency on the use of special terrain models like the Difference Map. Further limitations arise in complex terrain situations.
Effect of exogenous glucocorticoids on male hypogonadism

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of exogenous glucocorticoids (GCs), a potent cause of male hypogonadism, on the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, and to determine their secondary effects in male patients. The present study was a case-controlled study conducted in Basrah, Iraq. Of the 152 participants who met the inclusion criteria, 100 patients used different types of GCs. Of these 100 patients, 57 patients (57%) were current GC users, and 43 patients (43%) were not currently using GCs (had not used GCs in the past 30 days). The control group was comprised of 52 men (34.21%), considered as healthy participants, although 7 men (13.65%) were biochemically diagnosed with hypogonadism. Current GC exposure significantly decreased the total and free testosterone levels, whereas previous GC exposure increased estradiol (E2) levels, with the 31 patients on oral dexamethasone (cumulative dose, 18.9 mg) exhibiting a 7.5-fold increased risk of being diagnosed with hypogonadism. For previous GC users, a significant increase in the E2 level was observed, whereas all other gonadal hormonal levels were within normal reference ranges, including the total and free testosterone levels. The total cumulative dose of equivalent GCs was 240 mg, which resulted in a decrease in total testosterone levels, and subsequent hypogonadism. Oral dexamethasone at a lower total cumulative dose resulted in hypogonadism.
Macrophage Immunometabolism and Inflammaging: Roles of Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Cellular Senescence, CD38, and NAD

Aging is a complex process that involves dysfunction on multiple levels, all of which seem to converge on inflammation. Macrophages are intimately involved in initiating and resolving inflammation, and their dysregulation with age is a primary contributor to inflammaging—a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation that develops during aging. Among the age-related changes that occur to macrophages are a heightened state of basal inflammation and diminished or hyperactive inflammatory responses, which seem to be driven by metabolic-dependent epigenetic changes. In this review article we provide a brief overview of mitochondrial functions and age-related changes that occur to macrophages, with an emphasis on how the inflammaging environment, senescence, and NAD decline can affect their metabolism, promote dysregulation, and contribute to inflammaging and age-related pathologies.
Achievable Sum Rate and Degrees of Freedom of Opportunistic Interference Alignment in MIMO Interfering Broadcast Channels

In this paper, the sum rate of opportunistic interference alignment (OIA) is analyzed in multiple-input-multiple-output interfering broadcast channels. The alignment metric upon which users are scheduled is based on the chordal distance between certain interfering subspaces at each receiver, and the closed-form expressions for the rates of the scheduled users are derived. Furthermore, we show that for a system in which each user has <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N$ </tex-math></inline-formula> receive antennas and the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$j$ </tex-math></inline-formula>th base station transmits <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d_{j}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> data streams, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sum _{j=1}^{I}d_{j}={N}+1$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${N}\ge 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, the rate for each user can be approximated by the mean of a Gumbel random variable. Further analysis reveals that if the number of users in cell <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$i$ </tex-math></inline-formula> scales as <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\rho ^{\alpha }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\rho $ </tex-math></inline-formula> is the normalized transmit power and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha \in [{0,1}]$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, then cell <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$i$ </tex-math></inline-formula> can achieve <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha d_{i}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> degrees of freedom. The simulation results confirm the validity of the theoretical analysis and the accuracy of the approximation. Thus, the sum rate analysis provided herein is an effective performance evaluation method for multi-cell OIA.
On the projection of the presupposition of embedded questions

The projection patterns of the existential/uniqueness presupposition of a wh-complement varies depending on the predicate that embeds it. This variation poses problems for existing accounts that treat the presupposition as a semantic contribution of an operator merging with the wh-complement (Dayal 1996) or by the embedding predicate (Uegaki 2015). Rather, the patterns suggest an analysis that treats the presupposition as contributed by the propositions corresponding to the answers of the embedded question.
Complicated prognostic values of CCL28 in breast cancer by subtype.

Background The expression of CCL28 and its relationship with clinical outcomes remain unclear in the setting of heterogeneous breast cancer. The purpose of the current study was to identify the expression characteristics of chemokine CCL28 in breast cancer, with a focus on its prognostic relevance to different subtypes. Methods First, we investigated the expression of CCL28 in 150 breast cancer patients immunohistochemically and assessed the impact of CCL28 on relapse-free survival (RFS) in the whole cohort and different clinical subtypes [defined by hormone receptor (HR), and HER-2 status] by univariate and multivariate analysis. Furthermore, the other two cohorts comprised of 863 patients from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and 1,764 patients from the Kaplan-Meier plotter database, respectively, were chosen to validate the prognostic values of CCL28 in breast cancer. Results Those with positive CCL28 expression had improved RFS in luminal-like (HR positive, any HER-2 status) subtype (P=0.052) but had impaired RFS in triple-negative cases (P=0.019), after adjustment with tumor size and lymph node status. Consistently, multivariate analysis in the TCGA cohort revealed improved disease-free survival (DFS) among patients with high expression of CCL28 in luminal-like subtype (P=0.043) and decreased DFS in patients expressing high CCL28 in triple-negative cases (P=0.010). The subsequent analysis of the Kaplan-Meier plotter cohort also demonstrated that CCL28 was a favorable prognostic factor for luminal-like cases [luminal A (P<0.001) and luminal B (P=0.031)], but a poor prognostic indicator for the patients with triple-negative phenotype (P<0.001). Conclusions CCL28 was a favorable prognostic factor for luminal-like cases and detrimental for triple-negative subtype, indicating that the same chemokine may play different or even opposite roles in the recurrence and metastasis of different molecular subtypes of breast cancer.
Follow-Up and Monitoring of Malaria Treated Cases Toward Malaria Elimination Program in Bashagard District, Hormozgan Province, Iran, in 2016

Background: Malaria elimination program has been launched in Iran with the technical support of theWorld Health Organization since 2009. To achieve the goal of malaria eradication, not only all positive cases should be diagnosed and treated promptly but also treated patients might be considered asymptomatic reservoirs in the establishment of the malaria transmission cycle. Objectives: The present study aimed to follow up and monitor malaria-treated cases using sensitive molecular tools, as well as microscopic and rapid diagnostic test (RDT) techniques, in Bashagard district, Hormozgan province, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in Bashagard district of Hormozgan province for 12 months from 2015 to 2016. A total number of 208 malaria cases treated according to the national malaria treatment guideline (I.R. Iran, 3rd edition) were randomly selected from databases to be evaluated for Plasmodium infection using microscopic, RDT, and nested-PCR (using 18ssrRNA) techniques. Results: Of the total number of 208 participants in the study, 39.9% were male and 61.1% were male. None of the participants had symptoms of malaria before sampling. Based on the results of microscopic methods, RDT, and molecular analysis for the detection of malaria parasites, no positive malaria treated cases were found. Conclusions: The results of the studyshowedthat a robust malaria surveillance system including screening, diagnosis, timely treatment, and follow-up of treated cases plays an important role in the malaria elimination program to be implemented successfully
Engagement and Injuries in Wrestling Athletes

ABSTRACT The study of psychological factors and their relationship with injuries in wrestlers is new field of research. Specifically, this study focuses on athletes’ engagement and its association with injuries. We characterize other factors like training loads, total number of injuries, topography, and other symptoms. Thirty-five wrestlers from different ages and competitive levels respond to Athletes Engagement Questionnaire and demographic inquiry. Results indicate no association between wrestlers’ overall engagement and total number of injuries. However, total number of injuries is associated with symptoms resulting from injury states, such as physical, behavioral, and psychological. We also give some guidelines regarding prevention and promotion of healthier wrestling experiences.
ANMerge: A Comprehensive and Accessible Alzheimer’s Disease Patient-Level Dataset

Background: Accessible datasets are of fundamental importance to the advancement of Alzheimer's disease (AD) research. The AddNeuroMed consortium conducted a longitudinal observational cohort study with the aim to discover AD biomarkers. During this study, a broad selection of data modalities was measured including clinical assessments, magnetic resonance imaging, genotyping, transcriptomic profiling and blood plasma proteomics. Some of the collected data were shared with third-party researchers. However, this data was incomplete, erroneous and lacking in interoperability. Methods: We systematically addressed several limitations of the originally shared data and provide additional unreleased data to enhance the patient-level dataset. Results: In this work, we publish and describe ANMerge, a new version of the AddNeuroMed dataset. ANMerge includes multimodal data from 1702 study participants and is accessible to the research community via a centralized portal. Conclusions: ANMerge is an information rich patient-level data resource that can serve as a discovery and validation cohort for data-driven AD research, such as for example machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches. ANMerge can be downloaded here: https://doi.org/10.7303/syn22252881
A Review of Population Pharmacokinetic Studies of Levetiracetam

Background: Levetiracetam has been widely used as a treatment option for different types of epilepsy in both adults and children. Because of its large between-subject variability, several population pharmacokinetic studies have been performed to identify its pharmacokinetic covariates, and thus facilitate individualised therapy. Objective: The aim of this review was to provide a synopsis for population pharmacokinetic studies of levetiracetam and explore identified influencing covariates. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed and Embase databases from inception to June 30, 2020. The information on study designs, target population, model characteristics, and identified covariates were summarised. Moreover, the pharmacokinetic profiles were compared among neonates, children, and adults. Results: A total of 14 studies were included, among which two involved neonates, four involved children, two involved both children and adults, and six involved only adults. The median value of apparent clearance for children (0.074 [range: 0.038 to 0.079] L/h/kg) was higher than that for adults (0.054 [range: 0.039 to 0.061] L/h/kg). Body weight was found to influence the apparent clearance and volume of distribution significantly, whereas renal function influenced the clearance. Likewise, co-administration with enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs (such as carbamazepine and phenytoin) increased the drug clearance by 9 to 22%, whereas coadministration with valproate acid decreased it by 18.8%. Conclusion: Levetiracetam dose regimen is dependent on the body size and renal function of patients. Further studies are needed to evaluate levetiracetam pharmacokinetics in neonates and pregnant women.
Isolation and Elucidation of Three Triterpenoids and Its Antimycobacterial Activty of Terminalia Avicennioides

Terminalia avicennioides Guill. & Perr. (Combretaceae) has been traditionally used as traditional medicine for centuries in Nupeland, North Central Nigeria for the treatment of respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and cough. This study evaluates the in vitro antimycobacterial activities of the isolated compounds in order to support the therapeutic use of T. avicennioides for treating these infectious diseases. Chemical investigation by bioassay-guided fractionation led to the iso- lation of three triterpenoids namely, arjunolic acid (1), α-amyrin (2) and 2, 3, 23-trihydroxylolean-12-ene (3). Among them, arjunolic acid manifested the most potent antimycobacterial activity against a strain of Mycobacterium bovis (BCG). Structure elucidation of the isolated compounds were based primarily on the analysis of 1-D and 2-D NMR spectral data including HMQC, HMBC, COSY and NOESY correlations, as well as comparison with reported authentic data of arjunolic acid, α-amyrin and 2, 3, 23-trihydroxylolean-12-ene. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time these compounds (1-3) are reported from this plant. The present result further confirms the value of ethnopharmacological investigations into tradi- tional herbs for leads for potential drug development.