Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of KIR + NK cell subsets with a monoclonal antibody selectively recognizing KIR2DL1 and blocking the specific interaction with HLA‐C

The phenotypic identification of different NK cell subsets allows more in‐depth characterization of KIR repertoire and function, which are of potential interest in KIR and disease association studies. KIR genes are highly polymorphic, but a great homology exists among the various sequences and few monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specifically recognize a single KIR. This is the case of HP‐DM1 which was demonstrated by analysis of cell transfectants and epitope mapping to be exclusively KIR2DL1‐specific, covering all allotypes identified to date, except for KIR2DL1*022 and *020, and also to react with KIR2DS1*013. Here, we compared in immunofluorescence analyses the staining of HP‐DM1 with other available mAbs to precisely identify KIR2DL1+ NK cells in potential donors for αβT/B‐depleted haplo‐HSCT, with known KIR genotype. HP‐DM1 mAb was used in combination with EB6 or 11PB6 (anti‐KIR2DL1/S1 and anti‐KIR2DL3*005), 143211 (anti‐KIR2DL1/S5), and HP‐MA4 (anti‐KIR2DL1/S1/S3/S5) mAbs, allowing the accurate identification of different KIR+ NK cell subsets. These phenotypic evaluations appeared useful to dissect the expression pattern of various KIR2D in NK cells from KIR2DL3*005+ individuals, particularly if KIR2DS1 is present. HP‐DM1 mAb remarkably refined NK cell phenotyping of donors carrying KIR2DS5, either in the centromeric or telomeric region. Functional assays with KIR2DL1+/S1+/S5+ NK cells confirmed that only HP‐DM1 exclusively reacts with KIR2DL1. Finally, we demonstrated that HP‐DM1 mAb blocked KIR2DL1 recognition of C2+ HLA‐C. Altogether, the data support that HP‐DM1 is a unique reagent valuable for characterizing KIR+ NK cell subsets.
To come back or not to come back during the coronavirus crisis—A cross‐sectional online survey of inactive nurses

Abstract Aims To examine whether inactive nurses are willing to return to nursing during the COVID‐19 pandemic, the reasons for or against their decision and further, possibly relevant factors. Design Cross‐sectional online survey. Methods We developed a questionnaire, addressing registration, professional experiences, anticipations, and internal and external factors that might affect the decision of inactive nurses to return to nursing during the pandemic. Between 27 April and 15 June 2020, we recruited participants in Germany via social networks, organizations and institutions and asked them to forward the link to wherever other inactive nurses might be reached. Results Three hundred and thirty‐two participants (73% female) could be included in the analysis. The majority of the participants (n = 262, 79%) were general nurses. The main reason for registering was ‘want to do my bit to manage the crisis’ (n = 73, 22.8%). More than two thirds of the participants (n = 230, 69%) were not or not yet registered. One hundred and twelve (49%) out of 220 participants, who gave reasons why they did not register, selected they ‘could not see a necessity at that time’. The few inactive nurses who were deployed reported a variety of experiences. Conclusions Different factors influence the nurses’ decision to register or not. A critical factor for their decision was previous experiences that had made them leave the job and prevented a return—even for a limited time in a special situation. Impact From the responses of the participants in this study, it can be deduced that: negative experiences made while working in nursing influence the willingness to volunteer for a deployment; only one‐third of the inactive nurses would be willing to return to the nursing profession to help manage the Corona pandemic; policymakers and nursing leaders should not rely on the availability of inactive nurses in a crisis.
Head-to-Head Comparison of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT and 99mTc-MDP Bone Scintigraphy for the Detection of Bone Metastases in Patients With Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Bone scintigraphy (BS) using 99mTc-MDP remains the recommended imaging modality for the detection of bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). However, PET/CT using prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) ligands is increasingly recognized for evaluating disease extent in patients with PCa, including as a possible standalone test in high-risk patients. Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of 68Ga-PSMA-PET/CT and 99mTc-MDP BS for the detection of bone metastases in patients with PCa. Evidence Acquisition: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched through October 2021 for studies reporting a head-to-head comparison of 68Ga-PSMA-PET/CT and 99mTc-MDP BS for the detection of bone metastases in patients with PCa. Only studies with a well-defined reference standard (including various combinations of imaging and/or clinical follow-up) were included. Pooled diagnostic performance was calculated using bivariate random-effects model, and AUC was derived for each test from hierarchical summary ROC analysis. The two tests' complementary roles in identifying bone metastases in patients in whom the other test was negative were summarized. Evidence Synthesis: Six studies with 546 patients were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 98% (95% CI: 94%-99%) and 97% (95% CI: 91%-99%) for 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT versus 83% (95% CI: 69%-91%) and 68% (95% CI: 41%-87%) for 99mTc-MDP BS. The AUC was 0.99 (95% CI: 0.96-1.00) for 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.81-0.87) for 99mTc-MDP BS. In 408 patients from five included studies, 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT correctly identified bone metastases in 43 (22.3%) of 193 patients with negative 99mTc-MDP BS results, whereas 99mTc-MDP BS correctly identified bone metastases in 4 (1.9%) of 210 patients with negative 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT results. Conclusion: On a per-patient basis, 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT has superior diagnostic performance than 99mTc-MDP BS for the detection of prostate cancer bone metastases. Furthermore, 99mTc-MDP BS offers limited additional information in patients with negative 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT results. Clinical impact: According to current evidence, 99mTc-MDP BS is highly unlikely to be additive to 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in identifying bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer.
Longitudinal analysis of T cell receptor repertoires reveals shared patterns of antigen-specific response to SARS-CoV-2 infection

T cells play a prominent role in orchestrating the immune response to viral diseases, but their role in the clinical presentation and subsequent immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection remains poorly understood. As part of a population-based survey of the municipality of Vo’, Italy, conducted after the initial SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, we sampled the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires of the population 2 months after the initial PCR survey and followed up positive cases 9 and 15 months later. At 2 months, we found that 97.0% (98 of 101) of cases had elevated levels of TCRs associated with SARS-CoV-2. T cell frequency (depth) was increased in individuals with more severe disease. Both depth and diversity (breadth) of the TCR repertoire were positively associated with neutralizing antibody titers, driven mostly by CD4+ T cells directed against spike protein. At the later time points, detection of these TCRs remained high, with 90.7% (78 of 96) and 86.2% (25 of 29) of individuals having detectable signal at 9 and 15 months, respectively. Forty-three individuals were vaccinated by month 15 and showed a significant increase in TCRs directed against spike protein. Taken together, these results demonstrate the central role of T cells in mounting an immune defense against SARS-CoV-2 that persists out to 15 months.
Frailty and checkpoint inhibitor toxicity in older patients with melanoma

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can cause immune‐related adverse events (irAEs) that range from mild to life‐threatening. Age itself does not seem to be a predictor for the occurrence of irAEs. It is unknown whether frailty plays a role in the occurrence of irAEs. Therefore, the authors assessed whether irAEs and their sequelae occur more often in frail patients than in fit patients according to the Geriatric 8 (G8) assessment.
Acceptability for COVID-19 vaccination: perspectives from Muslims

ABSTRACT This study aims to assess COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among Muslims in Malaysia. A cross-sectional internet-based survey was to determine acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine. Other influential factors, namely socio-demographics, COVID-19 experience, self-perceived level of religiosity, support in immunization, COVID-19 immunization attitudes, and health fatalistic beliefs (measured using the Helpless Inevitability Subscale of the Religious Health Fatalism Questionnaire, RHFQ-HI) were investigated. The majority reported a definite intent to receive the COVID-19 vaccine (57.3%; 95% CI 55.0–59.6) followed by a probable intent (42.7%; 95% CI 40.4–45.0%). COVID-19 immunization attitudes measured by attitudinal barriers to vaccination scores were found to be the strongest influence of COVID-19 vaccination intent, whereby participants who have lower attitudinal barrier scores reported higher COVID-19 vaccination intent (OR = 6.75 ; 95% 5.20–8.75). Although religious health fatalism was not significantly associated with vaccination intent, a significantly higher proportion of participants with score 4–9 (61.9%) in the RHFQ-HI reported intent to receive COVID-19 vaccine than those with a score of 10–20 (53.5%), p < . 001. Intervention for people with skeptical attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination is warranted.
The Effects of Iconic Gestures and Babble Language on Word Intelligibility in Sentence Context.

PURPOSE This study investigated to what extent iconic co-speech gestures help word intelligibility in sentence context in two different linguistic maskers (native vs. foreign). It was hypothesized that sentence recognition improves with the presence of iconic co-speech gestures and with foreign compared to native babble. METHOD Thirty-two native Dutch participants performed a Dutch word recognition task in context in which they were presented with videos in which an actress uttered short Dutch sentences (e.g., Ze begint te openen, "She starts to open"). Participants were presented with a total of six audiovisual conditions: no background noise (i.e., clear condition) without gesture, no background noise with gesture, French babble without gesture, French babble with gesture, Dutch babble without gesture, and Dutch babble with gesture; and they were asked to type down what was said by the Dutch actress. The accurate identification of the action verbs at the end of the target sentences was measured. RESULTS The results demonstrated that performance on the task was better in the gesture compared to the nongesture conditions (i.e., gesture enhancement effect). In addition, performance was better in French babble than in Dutch babble. CONCLUSIONS Listeners benefit from iconic co-speech gestures during communication and from foreign background speech compared to native. These insights into multimodal communication may be valuable to everyone who engages in multimodal communication and especially to a public who often works in public places where competing speech is present in the background.
A cross-sectional and histological analysis to understand the cytological effects of cell phone radiation on buccal mucosa of children

Context: The ongoing pandemic has affected all the spheres of life and one of the severely affected avenues is the education of a child. The online education has seen an upward curve since the start of COVID-19 pandemic. Schools globally have adopted online class tutorials as the main method to impart education and directly increasing the screen time for a child. Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the cytological effects of prolonged mobile phone usage on the buccal mucosa of children. Settings and Design: Stratified sampling was used for the selection of subjects for the study. After a questionnaire regarding the usage of a mobile phone was distributed among the parents of children. Among them, 90 children were selected on the basis of pattern and frequency of mobile phone usage in the child. Materials and Methodology: The children were divided into three groups based on the per day hours of viewing of mobile phone, i.e., Group 1: Usage of 1–2 h a day, Group 2: Usage of 3–6 h a day, and Group 3: Usage of >6 h a day. The time frame taken into consideration was 1 year after the pandemic started. This was specifically to understand the impact of the online education. Swab was obtained by using the conventional ice-cream stick method from the buccal mucosa. Statistical Analysis: The samples were subjected to histological and microscopical analysis to observe for cytological changes. One-way ANOVA was used to determine the statistical significance if any. Results: The results obtained clearly showed that Group 3 (>6 h usage per day) showed the highest number of cellular and chromosomal aberrations which was significant. Conclusion: The results indicated that impact due to the prolonged screen time on the buccal mucosa is significant. A direct proportionality was seen between the apoptotic changes and chromosomal aberrations and the number of daily hour usage.
Clinical Outcomes of a Laparoscopic Total vs a 270° Posterior Partial Fundoplication in Chronic Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance The efficacy of fundoplication operations in the management of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been documented. However, few prospective, controlled series report long-term (>10 years) efficacy and postfundoplication concerns, particularly when comparing various types of fundoplication. Objective To compare long-term (>15 years) results regarding mechanical complications, reflux control, and quality of life between patients undergoing posterior partial fundoplication (PF) or total fundoplication (TF) (270° vs 360°) in surgical treatment for GERD. Design, Setting, and Participants A double-blind randomized clinical trial was performed at a single center (Ersta Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden) from November 19, 2001, to January 24, 2006. A total of 456 patients were recruited and randomized. Data for this analysis were collected from August 1, 2019, to January 31, 2021. Interventions Laparoscopic 270° posterior PF vs 360° TF. Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcome was dysphagia scores for solid and liquid food items after more than 15 years. Generic (36-Item Short-Form Health Survey) and disease-specific (Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale) quality of life and proton pump inhibitor consumption were also assessed. Results Among 407 available patients, relevant data were obtained from 310 (response rate, 76%; mean [SD] age, 66 [11.2] years; 184 [59%] men). A total of 159 were allocated to a PF and 151 to a TF. The mean (SD) follow-up time was 16 (1.3) years. At 15 years after surgery, mean (SD) dysphagia scores were low for both liquids (PF, 1.2 [0.5]; TF, 1.2 [0.5]; P = .58) and solids (PF, 1.3 [0.6]; TF, 1.3 [0.5]; P = .97), without statistically significant differences between the groups. Reflux symptoms were equally well controlled by the 2 types of fundoplications as were the improvements of quality-of-life scores. Conclusions and Relevance The long-term findings of this randomized clinical trial indicate that PF and TF are equally effective for controlling GERD and quality of life in the long term. Although PF was superior in the first years after surgery in terms of less dysphagia recorded, this difference did not prevail when assessed a decade later. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04182178.
Social integration of adolescents with chronic pain: a social network analysis.

RESULTS showed that ACPs were not less popular than adolescents without chronic pain. Second, ACPs nominated each other more often as being part of the same peer group. Third, results regarding friendship quality showed that adolescents with more pain problems perceived the relationship with their friends as less positive (e.g., support) and more negative (e.g., conflict) than adolescents with less pain problems. Finally, positive and negative friendship quality moderated the relationship between pain and emotional distress.The current study contributes to the literature on the importance of ACPs' peer relationships. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Shorter serial intervals and incubation periods in SARS-CoV-2 variants than the SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain

The Delta and Omicron variants have the pooled estimates of serial interval as 3.4 days (95% CI: 3.0, 3.7) and 3.1 days (95% CI: 2.9, 3.2), respectively; incubation periods as 4.8 days (95% CI: 3.9, 5.6) and 3.6 days (95% CI: 2.3, 4.9), respectively.
Precise functional connections between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and areas recruited for physical inference

Recent work has identified brain areas that are engaged when people predict how the physical behaviour of the world will unfold—an ability termed intuitive physics. Among the many unanswered questions about the neural mechanisms of intuitive physics is where the key inputs come from: Which brain regions connect up with intuitive physics processes to regulate when and how they are engaged in service of our goals? In the present work, we targeted the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) for study based on characteristics that make it well‐positioned to regulate intuitive physics processes. The dACC is richly interconnected with frontoparietal regions and is implicated in mapping contexts to actions, a process that would benefit from physical predictions to indicate which action(s) would produce the desired physical outcomes. We collected resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data in 17 participants and used independent task‐related runs to find the pattern of activity during a physical inference task in each individual participant. We found that the strongest resting state functional connections of the dACC not only aligned well with physical inference‐related activity at the group level, it also mirrored individual differences in the positioning of physics‐related activity across participants. Our results suggest that the dACC might be a key structure for regulating the engagement of intuitive physics processes in the brain.
The predictive value of self‐compassion for psychological adjustment in left ventricular assist device patients: an observational study

Implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is an established treatment option for patients with advanced heart failure. However, apart from its challenging medical management, it comes with serious psychological implications. Empirical evidence suggests that self‐compassion, a self‐regulation strategy for countering negative self‐directed emotions, might be a promising approach in facilitating psychological adjustment also in LVAD patients. The aims of the present study were to investigate self‐compassion as a protective factor for anxiety and depressive symptoms, to test whether taking a decentred perspective mediates these effects, and to explore whether self‐compassion predicts the clinically rated functional health status.
Organ dysfunction and death in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in pandemic waves 1 to 3 in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, Canada: a cohort study

Background: There have been multiple waves in the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries. We sought to compare mortality and respiratory, cardiovascular and renal dysfunction between waves in 3 Canadian provinces. Methods: We conducted a substudy of the ARBs CORONA I study, a multicentre Canadian pragmatic observational cohort study that examined the association of pre-existing use of angiotensin receptor blockers with outcomes in adults admitted to hospital with acute COVID-19 up to April 2021 from 9 community and teaching hospitals in 3 Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec). We excluded emergency department admissions without hospital admission, readmissions and admissions for another reason. We used logistic and 0–1-inflated β regression models to compare 28-day and in-hospital mortality, and the use of invasive mechanical ventilation, vasopressors and renal replacement therapy (RRT) between the first 3 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in these provinces. Results: A total of 520, 572 and 245 patients in waves 1, 2 and 3, respectively, were included. Patients in wave 3 were on average younger and had fewer comorbidities than those in waves 1 and 2. The unadjusted 28-day mortality rate was significantly lower in wave 3 (7.8%) than in wave 1 (18.3%) (odds ratio [OR] 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24–0.78) and wave 2 (16.3%) (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.27–0.79). After adjustment for differences in baseline characteristics, the difference in 28-day mortality remained significant (adjusted OR wave 3 v. wave 1: 0.46, 95% CI 0.26–0.81; wave 3 v. wave 2: 0.52, 95% CI 0.29–0.91). In-hospital mortality findings were similar. Use of invasive mechanical ventilation or vasopressors was less common in waves 2 and 3 than in wave 1, and use of RRT was less common in wave 3 than in wave 1. Interpretation: Severity of illness decreased (lower mortality and less use of organ support) across waves among patients admitted to hospital with acute COVID-19, possibly owing to changes in patient demographic characteristics and management, such as increased use of dexamethasone. Continued application of proven therapies may further improve outcomes. Study registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, no. NCT04510623
Metal-wire-based twin one-dimensional orthogonal array configuration of PZT patches for damage assessment of two-dimensional structures

This article presents a new field-deployable algorithm harnessing the metal-wire-based variant of the electro-mechanical impedance technique, warranting drastically lesser number of piezo sensors, for damage detection and localization on large two-dimensional structures such as plates. The metal-wire-based approach is a new variant of the electro-mechanical impedance technique. Although less sensitive than the conventional electro-mechanical impedance technique, it is a panacea in situations where direct bonding of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) patches on the host structure is not possible, such as inaccessible structural locations, parts under continuous impact from external loads, brittle materials (triggering signatures without any peaks) or high-temperature locations. This article first reports detailed experimental investigations into the practical aspects of the metal-wire-based electro-mechanical impedance technique. These cover the effect of various associated parameters, such as the wire cross-section, shape, discontinuity and other related issues. Repeatability of signature is also investigated along with the effect of possible breakage in the wire and inadvertent bending. The technique is further adapted by replacing the wire by a thin foil, which is found to improve the damage sensitivity substantially. The proposed algorithm for damage localization on two-dimensional structures uses the PZT patches in the metal-wire-based orthogonal twin-array configuration. The metal-wire-based electro-mechanical impedance technique is first simulated through finite element method, coupled with the basic impedance model, to test the algorithm on the numerical model of a mild steel plate, 1200 mm×970 mm×8 mm in size. The algorithm is then validated through full-scale test on the actual plate, covering damage at various locations. The developments of this article shall pave way for practical application of the metal-wire-based electro-mechanical impedance technique on large two-dimensional structures with minimum number of sensors, especially in situations where the direct electro-mechanical impedance technique is not feasible to be used.