Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Survival of primary molars with pulpotomy interventions: public oral health practice-based study in Helsinki

Abstract Objectives To assess long-term survival of pulpotomized primary molars and factors related to the survival of the teeth. Materials and methods This retrospective longitudinal study was based on electronic dental health records of children who attended public health service. Eligible children were <12 years and had a pulpotomy procedure code in their dental treatment history. Data were obtained in the period between 2002 and 2016. Chi-squared test, t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used to assess for statistical differences. Kaplan–Meier analyses were performed to create survival estimates, and the log-rank test was performed to compare differences in survival distributions. A multivariate Cox regression was conducted, and hazard ratios were calculated to estimate the hazard rate for failure. Results Of interventions, 40% were registered in children 3–6 years of age; 56% were boys. Mean estimated survival of such molars was 82 months (SEM = 0.6) and differed by dental operator’s work setting and choice of restorative materials used after pulpotomy intervention. Using a stainless steel crown (SSC) to restore pulp-intervened primary molars had the strongest effect on survival (111 months with SEM = 1.8), followed by if the intervention was performed by a specialist or specializing dentist in paediatric dentistry (99 months with SEM = 2.6). Conclusions The estimated survival time of pulpotomized primary molars is affected by dental operator-related factors, which should be considered in management of extensively carious primary molars of paediatric patients, both at the clinical and organizational decision-making levels. An increased focus on the use of SSC is recommended to be in the learning objectives of dental education programs.
Identification and construction of lncRNA-associated ceRNA network in diabetic kidney disease

Abstract Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has become the major contributor to end-stage renal disease with high incidence and mortality. The functional roles and exact mechanisms of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-associated competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in DKD are still largely unknown. This study sought to discover novel potential biomarkers and ceRNA network for DKD. The candidate differentially expressed genes (DEGs), lncRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs) in human glomerular and tubular tissues derived from Gene Expression Omnibus database were systematically selected and analyzed. Functional enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction network analysis were conducted to identify hub genes and reveal their regulatory mechanisms involved in DKD. Following this, the integrated ceRNA network was constructed by bioinformatics methods. A total of 164 DEGs, 6 lncRNAs and 18 miRNAs correlated with DKD were finally filtered and identified. It is noteworthy that the global lncRNA-associated ceRNA network related to DKD was constructed, among which lnc-HIST2H2AA4-1, VCAN-AS1 and MAGI2-AS1 were identified as the 3 key lncRNAs, and VCAN, FN1, CCL2, and KNG1 were identified as the predominant genes. Consistent with that observed in the training set, 3 of the key genes also showed significant differences in the 2 validation datasets. Integrating with functional enrichment analysis results, these key genes in the ceRNA network were mainly enriched in the immune and inflammation-related pathways. This study first identified key lncRNAs, miRNAs and their targets, and further revealed a global view of lncRNA-associated ceRNA network involved in DKD by using whole gene transcripts analysis.
Short-Term Effects of Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Learning and Evoked Activity in Auditory Cortex

Abstract Chronic vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been shown to facilitate learning, but effects of acute VNS on neural coding and behavior remain less well understood. Ferrets implanted with cuff electrodes on the vagus nerve were trained by classical conditioning on an auditory tone frequency-reward association. One tone was associated with reward while another tone was not. Tone frequencies and reward associations were changed every 2 d, requiring learning of a new relationship. When tones were paired with VNS, animals consistently learned the new association within 2 d. When VNS occurred randomly between trials, learning within 2 d was unreliable. In passively listening animals, neural activity in primary auditory cortex (A1) and pupil size were recorded before and after acute VNS-tone pairing. After pairing with a neuron’s best-frequency (BF) tone, responses by a subpopulation of neurons were reduced. VNS paired with an off-BF tone or during intertrial intervals had no effect. The BF-specific reduction in neural responses after VNS remained, even after regressing out changes explained by pupil-indexed arousal. VNS induced brief dilation in the pupil, and the size of this change predicted the magnitude of persistent changes in the neural response. This interaction suggests that fluctuations in neuromodulation associated with arousal gate the long-term VNS effects on neural activity.
Mental disorders, length of hospitalization, and psychopharmacy–New approaches to identify barriers to psychological support for patients with cancer

Despite abundant evidence that emotional distress is frequent in cancer patients and associated with adverse health outcomes, distress screening rates and adequate referrals to psychological support programs among those in need are insufficient in many cancer centers. We therefore aimed to analyze patient‐ and treatment‐related barriers to distress screening and referrals to psychological support as a mandatory component of best‐practice cancer care.
Membrane Charge Oscillations During Ultrasonic Neuromodulation by Intramembrane Cavitation

Objective: To investigate the importance of membrane charge oscillations and redistribution in multi-compartmental ultrasonic neuromodulation (UNMOD) intramembrane cavitation models. Methods: The Neuronal Intramembrane Cavitation Excitation (NICE) model and multiScale Optimized model of Neuronal Intramembrane Cavitation (SONIC) of UNMOD are compared for a nanoscale multi-compartmental and point neuron approximation of the bilayer sonophore and surrounding proteins. The temporal dynamics of charge oscillations and their effect on the resulting voltage oscillations are investigated by fourier series analysis. Results: Comparison of excitation thresholds and neuronal response between nanoscale multi-compartmental and point models, implemented in the SONIC and NICE framework, demonstrates that the explicit modeling of fast spatial charge redistribution is critical for an accurate multi-compartmental UNMOD-model. Furthermore, the importance of modeling partial protein coverage is quantified by the excitability thresholds. Subsequently, we establish by fourier analysis that these charge oscillations are slowly changing in time. Conclusion: Fast charge redistribution significantly alters neuronal excitability in a multi-compartmental nanoscale UNMOD-model. Also the mutual exclusivity between protein and sonophore coverage should be taken into account, when simulating the dependency of neuronal excitability on coverage fractions. Charge oscillations are periodic and their fourier components change on a slow timescale. Furthermore, the resulting voltage oscillations decrease in energy with overtone number, implying that an extension of the existing multiscale model (SONIC) to multi-compartmental neurons is possible by taking into account a limited number of fourier components. Significance: First steps are taken towards a morphologically realistic and computationally efficient UNMOD-model, improving our understanding of the underlying ultrasonic neuromodulation mechanisms.
Update on management of atrial fibrillation in heart failure: a focus on ablation

Atrial fibrillation is increasingly encountered in patients with heart failure. Both diseases have seen tremendous rises in incidence in recent years. In general, the treatment of atrial fibrillation is focused on relieving patients from atrial fibrillation-related symptoms and risk reduction for thromboembolism and the occurrence or worsening of heart failure. Symptomatic relief may be accomplished by either (non-)pharmacological rate or rhythm control in combination with optimal therapy of underlying cardiovascular morbidities and risk factors. Atrial fibrillation ablation has been performed in patients without overt heart failure successfully for many years. However, in recent years, attempts have been made for patients with heart failure as well. In this review, we discuss the current literature describing the treatment of atrial fibrillation in heart failure. We highlight the early rate versus rhythm control studies, the importance of addressing underlying conditions and treatment of risk factors. A critical evaluation will be performed of the catheter ablation studies that have been performed so far in light of larger (post-hoc) ablation studies. Furthermore, we will hypothesise the role of patient selection as next step in optimising outcome for patient with atrial fibrillation and heart failure.
Effect of transportation and social isolation on facial expressions of healthy horses

Horses have the ability to generate a remarkable repertoire of facial expressions, some of which have been linked to the affective component of pain. This study describes the facial expressions in healthy horses free of pain before and during transportation and social isolation, which are putatively stressful but ordinary management procedures. Transportation was performed in 28 horses by subjecting them to short-term road transport in a horse trailer. A subgroup (n = 10) of these horses was also subjected to short-term social isolation. During all procedures, a body-mounted, remote-controlled heart rate monitor provided continuous heart rate measurements. The horses’ heads were video-recorded during the interventions. An exhaustive dataset was generated from the selected video clips of all possible facial action units and action descriptors, time of emergency, duration, and frequency according to the Equine Facial Action Coding System (EquiFACS). Heart rate increased during both interventions (p<0.01), confirming that they caused disruption in sympato-vagal balance. Using the current method for ascribing certain action units (AUs) to specific emotional states in humans and a novel data-driven co-occurrence method, the following facial traits were observed during both interventions: eye white increase (p<0.001), nostril dilator (p<0.001), upper eyelid raiser (p<0.001), inner brow raiser (p = 0.042), tongue show (p<0.001). Increases in ‘ear flicker’ (p<0.001) and blink frequency (p<0.001) were also seen. These facial actions were used to train a machine-learning classifier to discriminate between the high-arousal interventions and calm horses, which achieved at most 79% accuracy. Most facial features identified correspond well with previous findings on behaviors of stressed horses, for example flared nostrils, repetitive mouth behaviors, increased eye white, tongue show, and ear movements. Several features identified in this study of pain-free horses, such as dilated nostrils, eye white increase, and inner brow raiser, are used as indicators of pain in some face-based pain assessment tools. In order to increase performance parameters in pain assessment tools, the relations between facial expressions of stress and pain should be studied further.
Present and future self in memory: the role of vmPFC in the self-reference effect

Abstract Self-related information is remembered better than other-related information (self-reference effect; SRE), a phenomenon that has been convincingly linked to the medial prefrontal cortex. It is not clear whether information related to our future self would also have a privileged status in memory, as medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) regions respond less to the future than to the present self, as if it were an ‘other’. Here we ask whether the integrity of the ventral mPFC (vmPFC) is necessary for the emergence of the present and future SRE, if any. vmPFC patients and brain-damaged and healthy controls judged whether each of a series of trait adjectives was descriptive of their present self, future self, another person and that person in the future and later recognized studied traits among distractors. Information relevant to the present (vs future) was generally recognized better, across groups. However, whereas healthy and brain-damaged controls exhibited strong present and future SREs, these were absent in vmPFC patients, who concomitantly showed reduced certainty about their own present and anticipated traits compared to the control groups. These findings indicate that vmPFC is necessary to impart a special mnemonic status to self-related information, including our envisioned future self, possibly by instantiating the self-schema.
Misclassification of calcium status in end‐stage kidney disease using albumin‐adjusted calcium levels

Albumin‐adjusted calcium remains widely used in clinical practice with guidelines for chronic kidney disease (CKD) mineral bone disorder recommending the use of serum calcium for monitoring. This is despite ionized calcium being the biologically active fraction. This study aimed to investigate the ability of total calcium and albumin‐adjusted calcium to correctly assign calcium status in stage 5/5D CKD across non‐dialysis, haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients.
The Role of Mass and Length in the Sonochemistry of Polymers

The ultrasound-induced cleavage of macromolecules has become a routine experiment in the emerging field of polymer mechanochemistry. To date, it has not been conclusively proven whether the molecular weight of a polymer or its contour length is the determining factor for chain scission upon ultrasonication. Here we report comparative experiments that confirm unequivocally that the contour length is the decisive parameter. We utilized postpolymerization modifications of specifically designed precursor polymers to create polymers with identical chain length but different molecular mass. To demonstrate the universality of the findings, two different polymer backbones were utilized—poly(styrene) and poly(norbornene imide alkyne)—whose molecular weights were altered by bromination and removal of pendant triisopropylsilyl protecting groups, respectively. Solutions of the respective polymer pairs were subjected to pulsed ultrasound at 20 kHz and 10.4 W/cm2 in order to investigate the chain scission trends. The e.
Determinants of change in timely first antenatal booking among pregnant women in Ethiopia: A decomposition analysis

Background Even though maternal health was highly targeted in different global strategies, maternal mortality could not be decreased as was expected. Besides this, prior decomposition analysis to the possible cause of changes to timely first antenatal booking has not been conducted. Therefore, this study aimed to assess determinants of change in timely first antenatal booking among pregnant women in Ethiopia. Methods The study utilized three consecutive Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) datasets which were collected through cross-sectional study design. The number of pregnant women who gave birth in 2005, 2011 and 2016 survey included in the analysis was 7,307, 7,908 and 7,590 respectively. The data were analyzed by using Stata/SE version 14.0. Logit-based decomposition analysis was done to identify contributing factors for change in timely first antenatal booking and statistical significance was determined by using P-value. Results The trend of timely first antenatal booking was increased from 6% to 20% in the last ten years. The analysis revealed that 14% of the overall change was because of the change in women’s composition. Changes in the composition of women according to region, education and occupation status were the major sources of this change. The remaining, 86% of the change was due to differences in the coefficient. Mostly, the change in behaviors of the Oromia population, those who have lived in the rural areas and male household head were some of the contributing factors for the increase in timely first antenatal booking. Conclusions There was a significant increase in timely first antenatal booking among pregnant women in Ethiopia from 2005 to 2016 EDHS. The change in the women composition according to residency, education and occupation status of women and the difference in behaviors like: behavior of rural residents and male household head contributed to the majority of the change. Interventions targeting the male household head, rural residents and those women who lived in the Oromia region should be emphasized to increase further timely booking. In addition, promoting women in terms of education and creating job opportunities could be the other recalled intervention areas of the country.
Nutritional deficiency in scarlet eggplant limits its growth by modifying the absorption and use efficiency of macronutrients

The intensity damages caused by nutritional deficiency in growing plants can vary with nutrients. The effects caused by nutrient omission in the plant nutritional efficiency in relation to the absorption and use of the missing nutrient, and the reasons why these damages reflect in other nutrients have not yet been reported in the culture of scarlet eggplant. A better understanding of the nutritional mechanisms involved may clarify why certain nutrients cause greater limitations than other during plants growth. Thus, this study was designed with the aim of evaluating the damages caused by macronutrients deficiency in the culture of scarlet eggplant in the accumulation of these nutrients, nutritional deficiency, plants growth and in visual symptoms. The experiment was carried out in a controlled environment where plants were cultivated in a hydroponic system. Treatments consisted of supplying a complete Hoagland and Arnon solution (CS), and other nutrient solutions with individual omissions of nitrogen (-N), phosphorus (-P), potassium (-K), calcium (-Ca), magnesium (-Mg) and sulphur (-S). When a nutrient deficiency arose, nutritional analyses, growth and visual symptoms were analyzed. The omissions of N, S and K in the nutrient solution resulted in lower accumulation of all macronutrients in both the above and below ground biomass. Individual omissions resulted in nutritional imbalances with reflexes in the absorption efficiencies and use of the missing nutrient, as well as of other nutrients, revealing that the metabolism involves multiple nutritional interactions. Losses of nutritional efficiencies of macronutrients caused detrimental effects on plants growth, with reduced height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, and biomass production in above ground and below ground. From the losses in production in above ground biomass, the order of macronutrients limitation was N, S, K, Ca, Mg, and P, with reductions of 99, 96, 94, 76, 51 and 46%, respectively, in comparison to plants cultivated in CS. The most limiting nutrients were N, S, and K, seen that its deficiencies affected the metabolism of all other nutrients. This study demonstrates the importance of an adequate nutritional management of N, S, and K in the cultivation of scarlet eggplant.
Gender differences in job satisfaction among disabled workers

This paper explores the association between job satisfaction and gender for workers with disabilities, using data from the Panel Survey of Employment for the Disabled, which interviews officially registered persons with disabilities in Korea. To take full advantage of the longitudinal data, we apply random-effects ordered probit models to investigate the underlying factors that affect gender differentials in job satisfaction. Our findings reveal that merely different work values between women and men do not account for the significantly higher job satisfaction among women. We suggest that workers’ expectations play a role in explaining why female workers are happier in the workplace than their male counterparts; that is, holding other factors constant, women’s expectations from jobs are lower than men’s. This hypothesis is partially supported by the empirical analyses that gender differentials diminish among the highly educated workers, for whom there is less likely to be a gender gap in terms of job expectations.
Integrated analysis of ceRNA network in hepatocellular carcinoma using bioinformatics analysis

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Abstract Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) can work as microRNA (miRNA) sponges through a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanism. LncRNAs and miRNAs are important components of competitive endogenous binding, and their expression imbalance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is closely related to tumor development, diagnosis, and prognosis. This study explored the potential impact of the ceRNA regulatory network in HCC on the prognosis of HCC patients. Methods: We thoroughly researched the differential expression profiles of lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs from 2 HCC Gene Expression Omnibus datasets (GSE98269 and GSE60502). Then, a dysregulated ceRNA network was constructed by bioinformatics. In addition, hub genes in the ceRNA network were screened by Cytoscape, these hub genes functional analysis was performed by gene set enrichment analysis, and the expression of these hub genes in tumors and their correlation with patient prognosis were verified with Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis. Results: A ceRNA network was successfully constructed in this study including 4 differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs, 7 DEmiRNAs, and 166 DEmRNAs. Importantly, 4 core genes (CCNA2, CHEK1, FOXM1, and MCM2) that were significantly associated with HCC prognosis were identified. Conclusions: Our study provides comprehensive and meaningful insights into HCC tumorigenesis and the underlying molecular mechanisms of ceRNA. Furthermore, the specific ceRNAs can be further used as potential therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for HCC.
Comparison between acupuncture and antidepressant therapy for the treatment of poststroke depression

Abstract Background: In this paper, a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to compare the efficacies of acupuncture and antidepressant therapy for the treatment of poststroke depression (PSD). Methods: The research team searched RCTs published on PubMed; Medline; Cochrane library; Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI); Wanfang; Embase; Scopus, and Sinomed from their respective establishments to January 2019. We evaluated the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores, Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) scores, National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, and total clinical efficacy using fixed effects models. Results: Fourteen RCTs, representing a total of 1124 patients, were studied. Results showed that acupuncture was more effective in improving HAMD scores at 3 weeks after administration (mean difference [MD] = −1.17, 95%CI = −2.18 to −0.16), at 4 weeks (MD = −4.44, 95% CI = −5.64 to −3.23), at 6 weeks (MD = −1.02, 95% CI = −1.68 to −0.36), and at 8 weeks (MD = −4.33, 95% CI = −4.96 to −3.70). Similarly, acupuncture more dramatically decreased NIHSS scores (MD = −2.31, 95% CI = −2.53 to −2.09), and TESS scores (MD = −4.70, 95% CI = −4.93 to −4.48) than conventional Western medicinal therapy. Further, the total clinical efficacy in the acupuncture group was significantly higher than in the antidepressants group (risk ratio [RR] = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.08–1.21). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that acupuncture not only can reduce the severity of PSD, but also has significant effects on decreasing the appearance of other adverse events.