Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New Actors Driving the Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition in Cancer: The Role of Leptin

Leptin is a hormone secreted mainly by adipocytes; physiologically, it participates in the control of appetite and energy expenditure. However, it has also been linked to tumor progression in different epithelial cancers. In this review, we describe the effect of leptin on epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in different study models, including in vitro, in vivo, and patient studies and in various types of cancer, including breast, prostate, lung, and ovarian cancer. The different studies report that leptin promotes the expression of mesenchymal markers and a decrease in epithelial markers, in addition to promoting EMT-related processes such as cell migration and invasion and poor prognosis in patients with cancer. Finally, we report that leptin has the greatest biological relevance in EMT and tumor progression in breast, lung, prostate, esophageal, and ovarian cancer. This relationship could be due to the key role played by the enriched tumor microenvironment in adipose tissue. Together, these findings demonstrate that leptin is a key biomolecule that drives EMT and metastasis in cancer.
Microwave Irradiation Technology In Waste Sludge And Wastewater Treatment Research

In pursuit of a green and sustainable world, wastewater remediation and sludge treatment have equally become a growing global environmental concern. Several innovative treatment processes have been designed throughout the last few decades for treating wastewaters and sludges but many of them are very costly and operate at low efficiencies. In view to find novel treatment processes, active research is being conducted globally. Microwave irradiation technology is gradually making a modest but promising mark of its own in enhancing to significant extents the ease, fastness, and efficiency of certain treatment processes involved in wastewater and sludge management. The authors focus on and appraise the budding use and application of microwave irradiation in chemical research undertaken for sludge and wastewater treatment. The related aspects of microwave-assisted heavy metal stabilization, pathogen inactivation, wastewater parameter analysis, and wastewater treatment polymers synthesis are also discussed.
Timing and Success of Postoperative Voiding Trial After Colpocleisis With and Without Concomitant Midurethral Sling

Objective The aim of this study was to compare failure rates of first voiding trial (VT) within 7 days and on postoperative day (POD) 1 after colpocleisis with versus without concomitant midurethral sling (MUS). Predictors of POD 1 VT failure were also examined. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of women undergoing colpocleisis from January 2012 to October 2019 comparing VT outcomes with versus without MUS. Primary outcome was first VT failure within 7 days; outcomes of VTs performed on POD 1 were also assessed. Association between MUS and VT failure and predictors of POD 1 VT failure were assessed via logistic regression. Results Of 119 women, 45.4% had concomitant MUS. First VT was performed on mean POD 3.1 ± 2.2 in the MUS group versus POD 1.8 ± 1.8 in the no MUS group (P < 0.01). The MUS group was less likely to undergo POD 1 VT (50% vs 83%, P < 0.01). Failure of the first VT did not differ (22.2% with MUS vs 32.8% without MUS, P = 0.20); no association between VT failure and MUS was noted (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18–2.1). There were 68.1% (81/119) of participants who underwent POD 1 VT, MUS was performed in 33.3% (27/81). The POD 1 failure did not differ between those with 33.3% versus 40.7% without MUS (P = 0.52). Midurethral sling was not associated with POD 1 VT failure (aOR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.27–3.23). In women undergoing POD 1 VT, preoperative postvoid residual was associated with VT failure (aOR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.01–1.92). Conclusions In women undergoing colpocleisis, MUS was not associated with VT failure within 7 days or on POD 1. Increased preoperative postvoid residual was associated with POD 1 VT failure.
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Increase Cisplatin, Paclitaxel, and Doxorubicin Efficacy against Human Cervix Cancer Cells

This study shows that the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) celecoxib and its non-cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) analogue dimethylcelecoxib (DMC) exert a potent inhibitory effect on the growth of human cervix HeLa multi-cellular tumor spheroids (MCTS) when added either at the beginning (“preventive protocol”; IC50 = 1 ± 0.3 nM for celecoxib and 10 ± 2 nM for DMC) or after spheroid formation (“curative protocol”; IC50 = 7.5 ± 2 µM for celecoxib and 32 ± 10 µM for DMC). These NSAID IC50 values were significantly lower than those attained in bidimensional HeLa cells (IC50 = 55 ± 9 µM celecoxib and 48 ± 2 µM DMC) and bidimensional non-cancer cell cultures (3T3 fibroblasts and MCF-10A mammary gland cells with IC50 from 69 to >100 µM, after 24 h). The copper-based drug casiopeina II-gly showed similar potency against HeLa MCTS. Synergism analysis showed that celecoxib, DMC, and casiopeinaII-gly at sub-IC50 doses increased the potency of cisplatin, paclitaxel, and doxorubicin to hinder HeLa cell proliferation through a significant abolishment of oxidative phosphorylation in bidimensional cultures, with no apparent effect on non-cancer cells (therapeutic index >3.6). Similar results were attained with bidimensional human cervix cancer SiHa and human glioblastoma U373 cell cultures. In HeLa MCTS, celecoxib, DMC and casiopeina II-gly increased cisplatin toxicity by 41–85%. These observations indicated that celecoxib and DMC used as adjuvant therapy in combination with canonical anti-cancer drugs may provide more effective alternatives for cancer treatment.
Pregabalin does not decrease acute pain or postoperative nausea and vomiting after hysterectomy: a meta-analysis

Objective Hysterectomy is associated with severe postoperative pain. The relative efficacy of pregabalin compared with other treatments for post-hysterectomy pain is unclear. Methods We searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases for studies that compared the use of pregabalin and placebo for reducing pain in patients undergoing hysterectomy. Results This meta-analysis showed that pregabalin had limited pain-relieving effects at 2, 6, 24, and 48 hours after hysterectomy compared with placebo. Pregabalin significantly reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting. However, there was no significant difference in postoperative sedation or visual disturbances between patients treated with pregabalin and placebo. Conclusions Pregabalin is not clinically superior to placebo in terms of reducing pain intensity and morphine consumption in patients undergoing hysterectomy. However, the limitations of this meta-analysis mean that more high-quality randomized controlled trials are necessary to verify our pooled results.
Cascaded residual U-net for fully automatic segmentation of 3D carotid artery in high-resolution multi-contrast MR images

Accurate and automatic carotid artery segmentation for magnetic resonance (MR) images is eagerly expected, which can greatly assist a comprehensive study of atherosclerosis and accelerate the translation. Although many efforts have been made, identification of the inner lumen and outer wall in diseased vessels is still a challenging task due to complex vascular deformation, blurred wall boundary, and confusing componential expression. In this paper, we introduce a novel fully automatic 3D framework for simultaneously segmenting the carotid artery from high-resolution multi-contrast MR sequences based on deep learning. First, an optimal channel fitting structure is designed for identity mapping, and a novel 3D residual U-net is used as a basic network. Second, high-resolution MR images are trained using both patch-level and global-level strategies, and the two pre-segmentation results are optimized based on structural characteristics. Third, the optimized pre-segmentation results are cascaded with the patch-cropped MR volume data and trained to segment the carotid lumen and wall. Extensive experiments demonstrate the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art 3D Unet-based segmentation models.
Identification and characterization of a novel multi-stress responsive gene in Arabidopsis

Abiotic stresses especially salinity, drought and high temperature result in considerable reduction of crop productivity. In this study, we identified AT4G18280 annotated as a glycine-rich cell wall protein-like (hereafter refer to as GRPL1) protein as a potential multistress-responsive gene. Analysis of public transcriptome data and GUS assay of pGRPL1::GUS showed a strong induction of GRPL1 under drought, salinity and heat stresses. Transgenic plants overexpressing GRPL1-3HA showed significantly higher germination, root elongation and survival rate under salt stress. Moreover, the 35S::GRPL1-3HA transgenic lines also showed higher survival rates under drought and heat stresses. GRPL1 showed similar expression patterns with Abscisic acid (ABA)-pathway genes under different growth and stress conditions, suggesting a possibility that GRPL1 might act in the ABA pathway that is further supported by the inability of ABA-deficient mutant (aba2-1) to induce GRPL1 under drought stress. Taken together, our data presents GRPL1 as a potential multi-stress responsive gene working downstream of ABA.
A tuberculin skin test survey among healthcare workers in two public tertiary care hospitals in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, there is currently no data on the burden of latent TB infection (LTBI) amongst hospital healthcare workers (HCWs). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of LTBI and compare the prevalence among HCWs in two public tertiary care hospitals. Between September 2018 and August 2019, we conducted a cross-sectional study in two public tertiary care general hospitals. Using a survey and tuberculin skin test (TST), we assessed risk factors for LTBI, adjusting for known and plausible confounders. In addition, a facility assessment was undertaken to understand the implementation of relevant IPC measures. The prevalence of LTBI among HCWs was 42%. HCWs spent a median of 6 hours (SD = 1.76, IQR 2.00) per day and attended an average of 1.87 pulmonary TB patients per week. HCWs did not receive any TB IPC training, the wards lacked a symptom checklist to screen patients for TB, and no masks were available for coughing patients. Seventy-seven percent reportedly did not use any facial protection (masks or respirators) while caring for patients. In the multivariable model adjusting for hospital level clustering effect, TST positivity was significantly higher among HCWs aged 35–45 years (aOR1.36, 95% CI: 1.06–1.73) and with >3 years of service (aOR 1.67, 95% CI: 1.62–1.72). HCWs working in the medicine ward had 3.65 (95% CI: 2.20–6.05) times, and HCWs in the gynecology and obstetrics ward had 2.46 (95% CI: 1.42–4.27) times higher odds of TST positivity compared to HCWs working in administrative areas. This study identified high prevalence of LTBI among HCWs. This may be due to the level of exposure to pulmonary TB patients, and/or limited use of personal protective equipment along with poor implementation of TB IPC in the hospitals. Considering the high prevalence of LTBI, we recommend the national TB program consider providing preventative therapy to the HCWs as the high-risk group, and implement TB IPC in the hospitals.
Nationwide Outcomes of Advanced Melanoma According to BRAFV600 Status

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate treatment patterns and overall survival (OS) of patients with BRAFV600 wild-type and BRAFV600-mutant advanced melanoma in the Netherlands. Methods: We selected patients of 18 years and over, diagnosed between 2016 and 2017 with unresectable stage IIIC or IV melanoma, registered in the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry. To assess the association of BRAFV600-mutation status with OS we used the Cox proportional-hazards model. Results: A total of 642 BRAFV600 wild-type and 853 mutant patients were included in the analysis. Median OS did not differ significantly between both groups, 15.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 13.2-19.2) versus 20.6 months (95% CI: 18.3-25.0). Survival rates at 6 and 12 months were significantly lower for BRAFV600 wild-type patients compared with BRAFV600-mutant patients, 72.0% (95% CI: 68.6-75.6) and 56.0% (95% CI: 52.2-60.0) versus 83.4% (95% CI: 80.9-85.9) and 65.7% (95% CI: 62.6-69.0). Two-year survival was not significantly different between both groups, 41.1% (95% CI: 37.2-45.3) versus 47.0% (95% CI: 43.6-60.6). Between 0 and 10 months, BRAFV600 wild-type patients had a decreased survival with a hazard ratio for OS of 2.00 (95% CI: 1.62-2.46) but this effect disappeared after 10 months. At 12 months, BRAFV600-mutant patients had started with second-line systemic treatment more often compared with BRAFV600 wild-type patients (50% vs. 19%). Conclusion: These results suggest that advanced BRAFV600 wild-type melanoma patients have worse survival than BRAFV600-mutated patients during the first 10 months after diagnosis because of less available treatment options.
Effects of HRT and nitrite/ammonia ratio on anammox discovered in a sequencing batch biofilm reactor

There are three key aspects of substrate effect on anaerobic ammonia oxidizing (anammox) bacteria: (1) substrate concentration-based nitrogen loading rate (NLR), (2) hydraulic retention time (HRT)-based NLR and (3) nitrite/ammonia ratio. The first part has been fully investigated in the past, while the latter two are still not properly understood. In this study, two types of substrate effects (HRT-based NLR and nitrite/ammonia ratio) were experimentally proved based on a 226 day operation of a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) that was dominated by anammox bacteria. A modified first-order substrate removal kinetic model was developed, which efficiently fits to the experimental results. Decreasing HRTs from 72 h to 6 h were applied to the SBBR, and the HRT = 6 h was proven to be optimal for the highest nitrogen removal rate (NRR) (1.62 kg N m−3 d−1 and the total nitrogen removal efficiency >90%). In addition, the influent nitrite/ammonia ratio of 1.2 resulted in a stable and effective operation of anammox SBBR with an improved ammonia removal efficiency (by 17%) and an enhanced NRR (from 0.93 kg N m−3 d−1 to 1.14 kg N m−3 d−1).
Spine Metastasis in Elderly

Mini The incidence of spinal metastasis (SpM) is increasing, and life expectancy for patients with malignancy is also rising. The “elderly" represent a population with steady growth in SpM proportion. Bracing is associated with lower survival. We believe that surgery should be considered, regardless of the patient's age. Study Design. Multicentric prospective study. Objective. Through this study, we aimed to clarify and update the prognostic assessment of elderly with spine metastasis (SpM). Summary of Background Data. The incidence SpM is rising, in parallel life expectancy is getting longer and the number of elderly patients presenting malignancy is increasing. Elderly patients with SpM constitute a growing heterogeneous population Methods. The patient data used in this study were obtained from a French national multicenter database of patients treated for SpM between 2014 and 2017. Two hundred and forty-three consecutive patients >70 years’ old were diagnosed. Results. Median overall survival (OS) time for elderly patients following the event of SpM was 16.3 months. First, we identified significantly worse survival prognostic factors for elderly patients with SpM: poor WHO status 3/4: (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.245, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.899–2.655; P < 0.0001), >80 years (HR: 1.758, 95% CI 1.117–2.765; P = 0.015) no-ambulatory neurological status (Franckel A/B status [HR: 3.219, 95% CI 1.621–6.390; P < 0.0001)], gastrointestinal cancer (HR: 3.530, 95% CI 1.75–7.1; P < 0.0001), lung cancer (HR: 3.452, 95% CI 1.784–6.680; P < 0.0001), orthopedic brace treatment (HR: 1.329; 95% CI 1.050–1.683; P = 0.018), and epiduritis (HR: 1.52, 95% CI 1.041–2.22; P = 0.03) were independently poor prognostic factors of survival. The only good prognosis factor identified was thyroid cancer (HR: 0.257, 95% CI 0.07–0.952; P = 0.04). Conclusion. Prognosis factors concerning the survival of elderly patients seem to be the same as those for the general population such as primary cancer histology, neurological status, WHO status, and epiduritis. Age >80 years also appears to be an independently poor prognosis factor. Our data suggest that orthopedic brace treatment is also associated with lower survival. Level of Evidence: 2
Heart rate variability is enhanced during mindfulness practice: A randomized controlled trial involving a 10-day online-based mindfulness intervention

Objectives The goal of the present study was to probe the effects of mindfulness practice in a naturalistic setting as opposed to a lab-based environment in the presence of continuous heart rate variability (HRV) measurements. The specific experimental goals were to examine the effects of a brief 10-day online-based mindfulness intervention on both chronic and acute HRV responses. Method We conducted a fully randomized 10-day longitudinal trial of mindfulness practice, explicitly controlling for practice effects with an active-control group (music listening) and a non-intervention control group. To assess chronic cardiovascular effects, we asked participants in the 3 groups to complete 2-day HRV pre- and post-intervention measurement sessions. Using this experimental setup enabled us to address training effects arising from mindfulness practice to assess physiological impact on daytime as well as nighttime (i.e. assessing sleep quality) on the underlying HRV response. To assess acute cardiovascular effects, we measured HRV in the 2 active intervention groups during each of the 10 daily mindfulness or music sessions. This allowed us to track the development of purported training effects arising from mindfulness practice relative to the active-control intervention in terms of changes in the HRV slope over the 10-day time-course. Results Firstly, for the acute phase we found increased HRV during the daily practice sessions in both the mindfulness and active-control group indicating that both interventions were effective in decreasing acute physiological stress. Secondly, for the chronic phase we found increased HRV in both the day- and nighttime indicating increased sleep quality, specifically in the mindfulness group. Conclusion These results suggest causal effects in both chronic and acute phases of mindfulness practice in formerly naïve subjects and provides support for the argument that brief online-based mindfulness interventions exert positive impact on HRV.
Predictors of virologic failure among people living with HIV in Oman: a national study from the Middle East

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to determine HIV virologic failure and its associated factors among Omani people living with HIV who are on ART for > 6 months. Patients (n = 1427) were identified from a central national HIV surveillance dataset. Two-thirds (67%) of patients were male, and the median age was 39 years (IQR, 32-48 years). Out of 1427 patients, 14.4% had virologic failure (HIV viral load [VL] ≥ 200 copies/ml). The multivariate analysis showed that patients aged 25-49 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.01-3.08) were significantly more likely to fail treatment, compared to those aged ≥ 50 years. Besides, having “Other” HIV risk factor (compared to heterosexuals, aOR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.02-3.24) and receiving HIV care outside the capital Muscat (compared to those cared for in Muscat, aOR: 1.73, 95% CI: 1.11-2.7) were independently associated with virologic failure. HIV viral suppression (85.6%) in Oman is encouraging; however, further strategies, mainly targeting patients who are young (<50 years), those not disclosing their HIV risk factor and those attending HIV treatment centres outside Muscat, are required to enhance HIV treatment outcome in Oman.
Fog deposition fluxes of water and ions to a mountainous site in Central Europe

Fog and precipitation composition and deposition were measured over a 1-yr period. Ion concentrations were higher in fog than in precipitation by factors of between 6 and 18. The causes of these differences were less dilution of fog water due to non-availability of condensable water vapour, and more efficient transfer of surface emissions to fog water as compared to rain water or snow. Fogwater and dissolved ions depositions were measured with eddy covariance in combination with a bulk fogwater collector. Annual fogwater deposition was 9.4% that of precipitation. The annual deposition of ions through fog was of the same order as that for precipitation. Ammonium, representing local emission sources, had 46% more annual deposition through fog than through precipitation. The fog droplet number and mass size distributions are reported. Fog droplets of 15 μm diameter contribute most to the deposition flux. The variability of processes and parameters contributing to deposition of ions through fog (ion concentrations in fog water, liquid water content in air, fog duration and turbulence) is high.
Short range ballistic motion in fluid lipid bilayers studied by quasi-elastic neutron scattering

Diffusion is the primary mechanism for movement of lipids and proteins in the lateral direction of a biological membrane. In this paper we have used quasi-elastic neutron scattering to examine the diffusion process of lipid molecules in fluid DMPC membranes. We found that the motion over length scales greater than the lipid diameter could be characterized as a continuous diffusion process, with a diffusion coefficient of D = 64 × 10−12 m2/s. The continuous diffusion model has been successfully used in the past to describe the motion of lipid over long length scales. However, the focus of this measurement was to determine how the character of the molecular motion changes on length scales shorter than the nearest neighbour distance. At very short length scales (<2.37 A), we see first experimental evidence for a short-range flow-like ballistic motion.
Hydrazine and Thermal Reduction of Graphene Oxide: Reaction Mechanisms, Product Structures, and Reaction Design

The density functional theory method (M05-2X/6-31G(d)) was used to investigate reaction mechanisms for deoxygenation of graphene oxides (GOs) with hydrazine or heat treatment. Three mechanisms were identified as reducing epoxide groups of GO with hydrazine as a reducing agent. No reaction path was found for the hydrazine-mediated reductions of the hydroxyl, carbonyl, and carboxyl groups of GO. We instead discovered the mechanisms for dehydroxylation, decarbonylation, and decarboxylation using heat treatment. The hydrazine de-epoxidation and thermal dehydroxylation of GO have opposite dependencies on the reaction temperature. In both reduction types, the oxygen functionalities attached to the interior of an aromatic domain in GO are removed more easily, both kinetically and thermodynamically, than those attached at the edges of an aromatic domain. The hydrazine-mediated reductions of epoxide groups at the edges are suspended by forming hydrazino alcohols. We provide atomic-level elucidation for the deoxyge.