Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-SMC Condensin I Complex Subunit H (NCAPH) Is Associated with Lymphangiogenesis and Drug Resistance in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: Head and neck cancer, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), is the sixth most common malignancy. OSCC has strong invasive ability, and its malignant potential is closely associated with local expansion and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, local or nodal recurrence worsens OSCC prognosis. In our previous cDNA microarray analysis, non-structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) condensin I complex subunit H (NCAPH) was identified as an upregulated gene in recurrent OSCC. Although NCAPH has several functions in tumors, its role in OSCC is unknown. Methods: In this study, we examined NCAPH expression in OSCC and performed a functional analysis of human OSCC cells. Results: NCAPH expression was higher in OSCC than in normal oral mucosa. In immunohistochemistry using 142 OSCC specimens, the immunostaining of NCAPH was strongly associated with nodal metastasis and lymphatic infiltration. In multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model, NCAPH expression was an independent poor prognostic indicator for OSCC. Moreover, NCAPH promoted the migration and adhesion of endothelial cells to OSCC cells and promoted the resistance to platinum anticancer drugs. Conclusions: Our present findings suggest that NCAPH is a novel diagnostic and therapeutic target in OSCC.
R0 Estimation for the African Swine Fever Epidemics in Wild Boar of Czech Republic and Belgium

African swine fever (ASF) is a contagious haemorrhagic fever that affects both domesticated and wild pigs. Since ASF reached Europe wild boar populations have been a reservoir for the virus. Collecting reliable data on infected individuals in wild populations is challenging, and this makes it difficult to deploy an effective eradication strategy. However, for diseases with high lethality rate, infected carcasses can be used as a proxy for the number of infected individuals at a certain time. Then R0 parameter can be used to estimate the time distribution of the number of newly infected individuals for the outbreak. We estimated R0 for two ASF outbreaks in wild boar, in Czech Republic and Belgium, using the exponential growth method. This allowed us to estimate both R0 and the doubling time (Td) for those infections. The results are R0 = 1.95, Td = 4.39 for Czech Republic and R0 = 1.65, Td = 6.43 for Belgium. We suggest that, if estimated as early as possible, R0 and Td can provide an expected course for the infection against which to compare the actual data collected in the field. This would help to assess if passive surveillance is properly implemented and hence to verify the efficacy of the applied control measures.
Anti-Cytokine Autoantibodies in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Cytokine dysregulation is characteristic of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disease of considerable heterogeneity. Insights gained about the cytokine dysregulation in SLE have the potential for identifying patient subsets before the onset of clinical disease and during established disease. Clustering patients by cytokine and disease activity subsets is more informative than isolated cytokine studies, as both pro inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines contribute to the cytokine dysregulated state in SLE. Endogenous anti-cytokine autoantibodies (ACAAs) may be involved in the regulation of cytokine biology by reducing excessive production or by prolonging their half-life in the circulation through the formation of cytokine-antibody immune complexes. Although endogenous ACAAs may have deleterious effects such as contributing to immunodeficiency states, their role in the pathophysiology of autoimmune conditions such as SLE has yet to be clearly elucidated. The aim of the present article is to provide a focused review of the current knowledge of ACAAs in SLE.
Adolescents’ Views on Seeking Help for Emotional and Behavioral Problems: A Focus Group Study

This study aimed to get insight into adolescents’ views on help-seeking for emotional and behavioral problems. Fourteen focus groups were conducted. Two vignettes, depicting one healthy adolescent with few issues and one adolescent with severe psychosocial problems, were used to structure the focus groups. The focus groups were framed within a youth help-seeking model. Adolescents (mean age of 15.0 years) generally reported seeking help from friends or the internet for mild issues and from a person they trust like a parent or school mentor, for more severe problems. Adolescents correctly recognized the issues in vignette one as surmountable and the problems in vignette two as severe. A bond of trust with a help source was regarded as the main facilitator for the decision to seek help. Adolescents reported a preference for help sources who clearly displayed their expertise for the issue at hand and for informal help-sources, particularly friends.
Evaluation of Marginal Adaptation and Microleakage of Three Glass Ionomer-Based Class V Restorations: In Vitro Study

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the marginal adaptation and microleakage of class V cavities restored with conventional glass ionomer cement (GIC), resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGI), and bioactive ionic resin (BIR) restorative materials after 6 months of water storage. Materials and Methods One hundred twenty standardized class V cavities (2 mm deep, 4 mm in width, and 3 mm in height) were prepared in sound extracted human molar teeth, where the coronal margins were in enamel while the cervical margins were in dentin. Three glass ionomer-based restorations were tested (n = 40): GIC (Equia Fil), RMGI (Fuji II LC), and BIR (ACTIVA Bioactive Restorative). Half of the teeth from each group (n = 20) were evaluated for their marginal adaptation with scanning electron microscopy and the other half submitted to dye penetration test to examine microleakage. Further division for each subgroup (n = 10) occurred to be tested immediately, while the remaining teeth were examined after keeping for 6 months and thermocycling. Statistical analysis The outcomes were analyzed by Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results No statistically significant differences were observed among the three studied restorative materials. However, the differences were statistically significant in microleakage test between enamel and dentin and after water aging. Conclusion All tested restorative materials exhibited the same marginal adaptation and microleakage. Dentin substrate revealed greater microleakage than enamel, especially with BIR restorative material. Water aging had a negative effect on RMGI with respect to microleakage.
Prognostic Value of Hematological Parameters in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Patients Treated With Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy

Background/Aim: We evaluated the clinical implications of pre- and post-treatment hematological parameters as prognostic factors in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) who received definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 125 patients with LACC (FIGO stage IIB to IIIB) who received definitive CCRT. Clinical factors and hematological parameters, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were assessed pre- and post-CCRT. Univariate and multivariate analysis for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were performed using clinicopathological and hematological parameters. Results: Disease recurred in 46 (36.8%) patients, and 24 patients (19.2%) died. On multivariate analysis, post-treatment NLR, ΔNLR (pre-treatment NLR/post-treatment NLR) and ΔPLR (platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio) (pretreatment PLR/post-treatment PLR) were significant prognostic factors for DFS, and only post-treatment NLR was a significant prognostic factor for OS (p<0.001). However, pre-treatment hematological parameters were not associated with prognosis. Conclusion: Post-treatment hematological parameters, particularly NLR, may serve as a prognostic indicator in patients with LACC who received definitive CCRT.
METTL3 Regulates Osteoblast Differentiation and Inflammatory Response via Smad Signaling and MAPK Signaling

Osteoblasts are crucial bone-building cells that maintain bone homeostasis, whereas inflammatory stimuli can inhibit osteogenesis and activate inflammatory response. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant mRNA modification in eukaryotes and plays important roles in multiple biological processes. However, whether m6A modification affects osteoblast differentiation and inflammatory response remains unknown. To address this issue, we investigated the expression of the N6-adenosine methyltransferase METTL3 and found that it was upregulated during osteoblast differentiation and downregulated after LPS stimulation. We then knocked down METTL3 and observed decreased levels of osteogenic markers, ALP activity, and mineralized nodules, as well as Smad1/5/9 phosphorylation, in LPS-induced inflammation. METTL3 knockdown promoted the mRNA expression and stability of negative regulators of Smad signaling, Smad7 and Smurf1, the same regulatory pattern identified when the m6A-binding protein YTHDF2 was silenced. Moreover, METTL3 depletion enhanced proinflammatory cytokine expression and increased the phosphorylation of ERK, p38, JNK, and p65 in MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways. The increase in cytokine expression was inhibited after MAPK signaling inhibitor treatment. All data suggest that METTL3 knockdown inhibits osteoblast differentiation and Smad-dependent signaling by stabilizing Smad7 and Smurf1 mRNA transcripts via YTHDF2 involvement and activates the inflammatory response by regulating MAPK signaling in LPS-induced inflammation.
Tight Junctions of the Outer Blood Retina Barrier

The outer blood retina barrier (oBRB) formed by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is critical for maintaining retinal homeostasis. Critical to this modified neuro-epithelial barrier is the presence of the tight junction structure that is formed at the apical periphery of contacting cells. This tight junction complex mediates size-selective passive diffusion of solutes to and from the outer segments of the retina. Unlike other epithelial cells, the apical surface of the RPE is in direct contact with neural tissue and it is centrally involved in the daily phagocytosis of the effete tips of photoreceptor cells. While much is known about the intracellular trafficking of material within the RPE, less is known about the role of the tight junction complexes in health and diseased states. Here, we provide a succinct overview of the molecular composition of the RPE tight junction complex in addition to highlighting some of the most common retinopathies that involve a dysregulation of RPE integrity
Changes in Ecophysiology, Osmolytes, and Secondary Metabolites of the Medicinal Plants of Mentha piperita and Catharanthus roseus Subjected to Drought and Heat Stress

Global warming contributes to higher temperatures and reduces rainfall for most areas worldwide. The concurrent incidence of extreme temperature and water shortage lead to temperature stress damage in plants. Seeking to imitate a more natural field situation and to figure out responses of specific stresses with regard to their combination, we investigated physiological, biochemical, and metabolomic variations following drought and heat stress imposition (alone and combined) and recovery, using Mentha piperita and Catharanthus roseus plants. Plants were exposed to drought and/or heat stress (35 °C) for seven and fourteen days. Plant height and weight (both fresh and dry weight) were significantly decreased by stress, and the effects more pronounced with a combined heat and drought treatment. Drought and/or heat stress triggered the accumulation of osmolytes (proline, sugars, glycine betaine, and sugar alcohols including inositol and mannitol), with maximum accumulation in response to the combined stress. Total phenol, flavonoid, and saponin contents decreased in response to drought and/or heat stress at seven and fourteen days; however, levels of other secondary metabolites, including tannins, terpenoids, and alkaloids, increased under stress in both plants, with maximal accumulation under the combined heat/drought stress. Extracts from leaves of both species significantly inhibited the growth of pathogenic fungi and bacteria, as well as two human cancer cell lines. Drought and heat stress significantly reduced the antimicrobial and anticancer activities of plants. The increased accumulation of secondary metabolites observed in response to drought and/or heat stress suggests that imposition of abiotic stress may be a strategy for increasing the content of the therapeutic secondary metabolites associated with these plants.
Clinical Indications of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Suspected Malignant Breast Lesions

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed life threatening cancer in females and the leading cause of cancer death among them. About one third of cancers in females arise in the breast. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used as an important diagnostic tool for the breast, and the role of MRI in breast cancer is progressing. Many techniques are developed for beast MRI, the most useful of them is dynamic contrast enhanced technique. MRI improves the detection of primary and recurrent breast malignancy and evaluation of the response to treatment. It offers high sensitivity for the detection of multifocal and multicentric lesions, which is important in selecting patient candidates for conservative breast surgery. MRI is an ideal tool in screening young women with strong family history of breast cancer. Aim of work: The aim of our work was to study clinical indications for the use of MRI in suspicious malignant breast lesions, and its impact on patients' outcome. Materials and method: We collected data of 50 female patients who had breast MRI after mammography. The mean age was 44.5 years (range = 23-69 years). Patients presented with various clinical indications for breast MRI. Correlations of MRI findings with histopathology results were analyzed. Conclusions: The sensitivity of MRI in detecting malignant breast lesions was 90%. MRI showed statistically significant sensitivity for post-operative, post chemotherapy cases as well as in screening high risk patients.
An Up-To-Date Review on Biomedical Applications of Palladium Nanoparticles

Palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) have intrinsic features, such as brilliant catalytic, electronic, physical, mechanical, and optical properties, as well as diversity in shape and size. The initial researches proved that PdNPs have impressive potential for the development of novel photothermal agents, photoacoustic agents, antimicrobial/antitumor agents, gene/drug carriers, prodrug activators, and biosensors. However, very few studies have taken the benefit of the unique characteristics of PdNPs for applications in the biomedical field in comparison with other metals like gold, silver, or iron. Thus, this review aims to highlight the potential applications in the biomedical field of PdNPs. From that, the review provides the perceptual vision for the future development of PdNPs in this field.
The familial hypercholesterolaemia phenotype: Monogenic familial hypercholesterolaemia, polygenic hypercholesterolaemia and other causes

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is a monogenic disorder characterised by high low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) concentrations and increased cardiovascular risk. However, in clinically defined FH cohorts worldwide, an FH‐causing variant is only found in 40%‐50% of the cases. The aim of this work was to characterise the genetic cause of the FH phenotype in Portuguese clinical FH patients. Between 1999 and 2017, 731 index patients (311 children and 420 adults) who met the Simon Broome diagnostic criteria had been referred to our laboratory. LDLR, APOB, PCSK9, APOE, LIPA, LDLRAP1, ABCG5/8 genes were analysed by polymerase chain reaction amplification and Sanger sequencing. The 6‐SNP LDL‐C genetic risk score (GRS) for polygenic hypercholesterolaemia was validated in the Portuguese population and cases with a GRS over the 25th percentile were considered to have a high likelihood of polygenic hypercholesterolaemia. An FH‐causing mutation was found in 39% of patients (94% in LDLR, 5% APOB and 1% PCSK9), while at least 29% have polygenic hypercholesterolaemia and 1% have other lipid disorders. A genetic cause for the FH phenotype was found in 503 patients (69%). All known causes of the FH phenotype should be investigated in FH cohorts to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate management.
Implication of Transforming Growth Factor1 in Chagas Disease Myocardiopathy

Tania C. Araújo-Jorge, Mariana C. Waghabi, Alejandro M. Hasslocher-Moreno, Sérgio S. Xavier, Maria de Lourdes Higuchi, Michelle Keramidas, Sabine Bailly, and Jean-Jacques Feige Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Ultrastructure and Cell Biology, and Department of Clinical Research, Institute of Clinical Research Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, and Service of Pathology, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Équipe Mixte INSERM 105, Department of Cellular Responses and Dynamics, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, Grenoble, France
The Cost of the Legal System and the Hidden Economy

I propose a dynamic model of industry equilibrium to study the effect of the costs of access and participation to the legal system on the size of the hidden economy. The cost of access is related to the monetary expenses that are necessary to start a business and to the opportunity cost of the bureaucratic procedures involved. The cost of participation is related to tax payments and to labor market regulations. The model implies that, on average, two thirds of the observed cross sectional differentials in the size of the hidden economy can be accounted for by differences in the costs of access. Furthermore the model delivers a measure of the hidden economy that is highly correlated with all the available estimates. I also show that a regression analysis confirms all the results of the numerical analysis. (JEL O17, L51) I would like to thank F. Gourio, T. Jappelli, L. Kotlikoff, G. Llobet, R. Margo, D. Mookherjee, M. Pagano, D. Paserman, J. Smith, J. Calfee Stahl, A. Verdelhan and the seminar participants at Boston University for helpful comments. All remaining errors are mine. Department of Economics Boston University, 270 Bay State Road, 02115 Boston (Ma). e-mail: russoffr@bu.edu Webpage: people.bu.edu/russoffr
Where There is Fire There is Haze: The Economic and Political Causes of Indonesia’s Forest Fires∗

In Indonesia annual forest fires between July and November raise substantial health, environmental and economic costs for Indonesia and its neighbours. In spite of substantial media and policy interest in the fires, there is little systematic quantitative analysis of the economic and political forces behind them. We utilize data on fires, rainfall, forests, and agricultural conditions and prices to analyze the role of two prospective channels: weak governance leading to underenforcement of laws against burning, and global demand for palm oil. First, we leverage plausibly exogenous variation in governance quality (through splits of administrative districts) that may alter local government capacity and incentives. While important prior work (Burgess et al., 2012) has shown that this can be a mechanism increasing overall deforestation, primarily through illegal logging, forest burning is arguably a significantly more publicly visible form of illegal activity, so may interact differently with governance dynamics. We show that an extra district per province leads to a 3-11.7% increase in the number of fires. However this effect is concentrated immediately after the time of a district split and in newly-created districts, suggesting the primary mechanisms are temporary factors such as weakened governance capacity in newly-created districts. Furthermore we present evidence that fires account for slightly under half of all deforestation in Indonesia. Second, we interact global palm oil prices with a measure of a district’s suitability for conversion to palm oil, showing that global palm oil demand substantially increases fire activity, particularly in the areas most suitable for conversion to palm oil. These results provide insights toward efforts to predict and prevent the fires, and deforestation more broadly. ∗First version: Nov. 4, 2017. This version: May 16, 2018. We thank Teevrat Garg, Tom Pepinsky, Daniel Suryadarma, David Ubilava, and Jordi Vidal-Robert for useful feedback, Johannes Pirker and Evan Kresch for generously sharing data, and Kyle Navis and Sanji Pallegedara Dewage for assistance with ArcGIS. All errors are our own. †jmac9695@uni.sydney.edu.au. ‡Corresponding author. russell.toth@sydney.edu.au. Room 488, Merewether H04, School of Economics, The University of Sydney, 2006, Australia.
Effects of PET Fibers on Pumpability, Shootability, and Mechanical Properties of Wet-Mix Shotcrete

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber from waste plastic bottles is an environmentally friendly fiber that can improve the mechanical properties of wet-mix shotcrete. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of PET fiber parameters on pumpability, shootability, and mechanical properties of wet-mix shotcrete. For this purpose, the orthogonal test based on three factors and three levels was conducted. The width, length, and content of PET fiber were selected as the experimental variables. The tests of wet-mix shotcrete reinforced by PET fibers were carried out, along with properties tests such as slump, pressure drop, build-up thickness, compressive strength, and splitting strength. The results showed the change trend of shotcrete performances with increasing PET fiber parameters (width, length, and content). According to the orthogonal test, PET fiber parameters were determined (1 mm width, 20 mm length, and 5 kg/m3 content). Furthermore, relationships between slump and pumpability and shootability were explored, as well as the relationships between pumpability, shootability, and mechanical properties. It was found that pressure drop and compressive strength had the strongest negative linear relationship among all fitting relationships. We hoped that this study could contribute the useful information for the application of wet-mix shotcrete mixed with PET fibers.
Human infection of herpesvirus-6 and herpesvirus-7 in Iranian patients with neurological illness

Human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) and HHV-7 have been implicated as causes of meningitis and encephalitis in children and adults. In this study the presence HHV-6 and HHV-7 DNA were tested in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample taken from Iranian children, suffered from meningoencephalitis. From 2007 to 2009, 150 patients from Tehran with meningoencephalits who were referred to a pediatric ward in Rasoul Akram hospital, Tehran Iran, were enrolled in the present study. Conventional and BACTEC Ped Plus medium were used in conjunction with latex agglutination test and real time PCR for detection of HHV-6 and HHV-7 DNA in clinical specimen. All type of human herpes virus DNA was detected in 12 % (18/150) cases. HHV-6 DNA was detected in 4.7% and HHV-7 DNA was detected in 2 cases (1.4%). Human herpes virus-6 and HHV-7 DNA was detected in 6% of all studied cases. HHV-6 was slightly more frequent than HHV-7. Our findings were lower than the rate of other references but were higher than the findings of previous study in Iran. This variation might be due to differences in methods, age of study cases or epidemiologic and geographic variation.