Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Peptides to Tackle Leishmaniasis: Current Status and Future Directions

Peptide-based drugs are an attractive class of therapeutic agents, recently recognized by the pharmaceutical industry. These molecules are currently being used in the development of innovative therapies for diverse health conditions, including tropical diseases such as leishmaniasis. Despite its socioeconomic influence on public health, leishmaniasis remains long-neglected and categorized as a poverty-related disease, with limited treatment options. Peptides with antileishmanial effects encountered to date are a structurally heterogeneous group, which can be found in different natural sources—amphibians, reptiles, insects, bacteria, marine organisms, mammals, plants, and others—or inspired by natural toxins or proteins. This review details the biochemical and structural characteristics of over one hundred peptides and their potential use as molecular frameworks for the design of antileishmanial drug leads. Additionally, we detail the main chemical modifications or substitutions of amino acid residues carried out in the peptide sequence, and their implications in the development of antileishmanial candidates for clinical trials. Our bibliographic research highlights that the action of leishmanicidal peptides has been evaluated mainly using in vitro assays, with a special emphasis on the promastigote stage. In light of these findings, and considering the advances in the successful application of peptides in leishmaniasis chemotherapy, possible approaches and future directions are discussed here.
A Questionnaire-Based Survey to Assess the Level of Knowledge and Awareness about Drug–Food Interactions among General Public in Western Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Various drug–food interactions exist that may hinder treatment and can sometimes be lethal. Our aim was to assess the level of public knowledge and awareness in Jeddah city, Western Saudi Arabia, about drug–food interactions, along with the effects of demographics on their knowledge. Methods: A survey questionnaire was administered in this cross-sectional study to participants spread across multiple locations in Jeddah, including in malls and public gatherings. Participants included both males and females. Sample size was calculated through Raosoft® software. Data analysis was executed using IBM Statistic SPSS and the level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 410 people participated in the study and only 92.68% (380) of responses were enrolled in the study; 7.32% (30) were not enrolled due to the exclusion criteria. Surprisingly, only six out of eighteen questions regarding drug–food interactions in the administered questionnaire were correctly answered by 380 participants. Data indicated that the participants had a poor to intermediate level of both knowledge and awareness with respect to drug–food interactions. Furthermore, participants showed moderate to strong awareness of the effects of alcohol and tea generally, and their interaction with medication. Conclusion: Participants in our study showed inadequate knowledge of basic and fundamental information about drug–food interactions, which highlights the dire need to increase awareness.
The Role of Exercise, Diet, and Cytokines in Preventing Obesity and Improving Adipose Tissue

The prevalence of obesity continues to rise worldwide despite evidence-based public health recommendations. The promise to adopt a healthy lifestyle is increasingly important for tackling this global epidemic. Calorie restriction or regular exercise or a combination of the two is accepted as an effective strategy in preventing or treating obesity. Furthermore, the benefits conferred by regular exercise to overcome obesity are attributed not only to reduced adiposity or reduced levels of circulating lipids but also to the proteins, peptides, enzymes, and metabolites that are released from contracting skeletal muscle or other organs. The secretion of these molecules called cytokines in response to exercise induces browning of white adipose tissue by increasing the expression of brown adipocyte-specific genes within the white adipose tissue, suggesting that exercise-induced cytokines may play a significant role in preventing obesity. In this review, we present research-based evidence supporting the effects of exercise and various diet interventions on preventing obesity and adipose tissue health. We also discuss the interplay between adipose tissue and the cytokines secreted from skeletal muscle and other organs that are known to affect adipose tissue and metabolism.
A Preliminary Investigation of Social Network Analysis Applied to Dairy Cow Behavior in Automatic Milking System Environments

Simple Summary Cows are social animals, therefore understanding the ways that they interact can help improve their management and welfare. We used social network analysis (SNA) to data on voluntary cow movement through a sort gate in an automatic milking system to identify pairs of cows that repeatedly passed through a sort gate in close succession (affinity pairs). Results from this exploratory study showed that when cows were separated from their affinity-pair cow the day-day variability in milk production increased by a factor of 3, a possible indicator of stress. The results of this exploratory study suggest that SNA could be used as a tool to better understand the social dynamics of dairy cows and inform group and regrouping process to produce positive outcomes. Abstract We have applied social network analysis (SNA) to data on voluntary cow movement through a sort gate in an automatic milking system to identify pairs of cows that repeatedly passed through a sort gate in close succession (affinity pairs). The SNA was applied to social groups defined by four pens on a dairy farm, each served by an automatic milking system (AMS). Each pen was equipped with an automatic sorting gate that identified when cows voluntarily moved from the resting area to either milking or feeding areas. The aim of this study was two-fold: to determine if SNA could identify affinity pairs and to determine if milk production was affected when affinity pairs where broken. Cow traffic and milking performance data from a commercial guided-flow AMS dairy farm were used. Average number of milked cows was 214 ± 34, distributed in four AMS over 1 year. The SNA was able to identify clear affinity pairs and showed when these pairings were formed and broken as cows entered and left the social group (pen). The trend in all four pens was toward higher-than-expected milk production during periods of affinity. Moreover, we found that when affinities were broken (separation of cow pairs) the day-to-day variability in milk production was three times higher than for cows in an affinity pair. The results of this exploratory study suggest that SNA could be potentially used as a tool to reduce milk yield variation and better understand the social dynamics of dairy cows supporting management and welfare decisions.
Dynamic Biomechanical Analysis of Vocal Folds Using Pipette Aspiration Technique

The voice producing process is a complex interplay between glottal pressure, vocal folds, their elasticity and tension. The material properties of vocal folds are still insufficiently studied, because the determination of material properties in soft tissues is often difficult and connected to extensive experimental setups. To shed light on this less researched area, in this work, a dynamic pipette aspiration technique is utilized to measure the elasticity in a frequency range of 100–1000 Hz. The complex elasticity could be assessed with the phase shift between exciting pressure and tissue movement. The dynamic pipette aspiration setup has been miniaturized with regard to a future in-vivo application. The techniques were applied on 3 different porcine larynges 4 h and 1 d postmortem, in order to investigate the deterioration of the tissue over time and analyze correlation in elasticity values between vocal fold pairs. It was found that vocal fold pairs do have different absolute elasticity values but similar trends. This leads to the assumption that those trends are more important for phonation than having same absolute values.
What Do You Want to Eat? Influence of Menu Description and Design on Consumer’s Mind: An fMRI Study

The main objective of this research was to analyse the active regions when processing dishes with a pleasant (vs. unpleasant) design and the effect of the previously read rational (vs. emotional) description when visualising the dish. The functional magnetic resonance image technique was used for the study. The results showed that participants who visualised pleasant vs. unpleasant dishes became active in several domains (e.g., attention, cognition and reward). On the other side, visualisation of unpleasant dishes activated stronger regions linked to inhibition, rejection, and related ambiguity. We found that subjects who read rational descriptions when visualising pleasant dishes activated regions related to congruence integration, while subjects who visualised emotional descriptions showed an increased neuronal response to pleasant dishes in the regions related to memory, emotion and congruence.
Characterization of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Systemic Sclerosis Monocytes: A Potential Role for PSMB8-AS1 in Altered Cytokine Secretion

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disease mainly affecting the connective tissue. In SSc patients, monocytes are increased in circulation, infiltrate affected tissues, and show a pro-inflammatory activation status, including the so-called interferon (IFN) signature. We previously demonstrated that the dysregulation of the IFN response in SSc monocytes is sustained by altered epigenetic factors as well as by upregulation of the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) NRIR. Considering the enormously diverse molecular functions of lncRNAs in immune regulation, the present study investigated the genome-wide profile of lncRNAs in SSc monocytes, with the aim to further unravel their possible role in monocyte dysregulation and disease pathogenesis. Transcriptomic data from two independent cohorts of SSc patients identified 886 lncRNAs with an altered expression in SSc monocytes. Differentially expressed lncRNAs were correlated with neighboring protein coding genes implicated in the regulation of IFN responses and apoptotic signaling in SSc monocytes. In parallel, gene co-expression network analysis identified the lncRNA PSMB8-AS1 as a top-ranking hub gene in co-expression modules implicated in cell activation and response to viral and external stimuli. Functional characterization of PSMB8-AS1 in monocytes demonstrated that this lncRNA is involved in the secretion of IL-6 and TNFα, two pivotal pro-inflammatory cytokines altered in the circulation of SSc patients and associated with fibrosis and disease severity. Collectively, our data showed that lncRNAs are linked to monocyte dysregulation in SSc, and highlight their potential contribution to disease pathogenesis.
Knowledge and Attitude of Pharmacy Students toward People with Mental Illnesses and Help-Seeking: A Cross-Sectional Study from Saudi Arabia

People with mental illnesses (MIs) face several challenges in addition to their disease. People’s negative views of those with MIs impact patients’ decisions to seek professional help. The aims of this study were to assess pharmacy students’ attitudes toward people with MIs and seeking help for mental health, as well as their knowledge about the causes of MIs. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on pharmacy students at Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. Out of the 460 distributed questionnaires, 330 complete questionnaires were received, giving a response rate of 71.7%. Overall, the mean total score for attitude towards people with MIs was 60.16 ± 10.48 (maximum attainable score: 105). In this study, 51.12% believed that people with MIs are more likely to harm others than a person without MIs and 66.9% mentioned that they did not trust the work of a mentally ill person as part of their work team. However, only 35.45% believed that it is difficult for mentally ill individuals to follow social rules. In terms of attitudes toward help-seeking, the mean total score of was 12.83 ± 3.16 out of the maximum score of 25. In addition, the mean total score for knowledge about causes of mental illness was 2.92 ± 1.76 out of the maximum score of 8. The participants reported that MIs could be due to genetic inheritance (56%), substance abuse (54.5%), or brain disease (66.1%). The findings showed that there are some negative attitudes toward people with MIs and negative attitudes towards seeking help for mental health. In addition, some misconceptions about the causes of MIs are prevalent. Consequently, the incorporation of more topics concerning mental health in pharmacy curricula could help improve the awareness of and knowledge about mental health.
A Facile Aptasensor for Instantaneous Determination of Cadmium Ions Based on Fluorescence Amplification Effect of MOPS on FAM-Labeled Aptamer

Analytical performance and efficiency are two pivotal issues for developing an on-site and real-time aptasensor for cadmium (Cd2+) determination. However, suffering from redundant preparations, fabrications, and incubation, most of them fail to well satisfy the requirements. In this work, we found that fluorescence intensity of 6-carboxyfluorescein(FAM)-labeled aptamer (FAM-aptamer) could be remarkably amplified by 3-(N-morpholino)propane sulfonic acid (MOPS), then fell proportionally as Cd2+ concentration introduced. Importantly, the fluorescence variation occurred immediately after addition of Cd2+, and would keep stable for at least 60 min. Based on the discovery, a facile and ultra-efficient aptasensor for Cd2+ determination was successfully developed. The sensing mechanism was confirmed by fluorescence pattern, circular dichroism (CD) and intermolecular interaction related to pKa. Under the optimal conditions, Cd2+ could be determined rapidly from 5 to 4000 ng mL−1. The detection limit (1.92 ng mL−1) was also lower than the concentration limit for drinking water set by WHO and EPA (3 and 5 ng mL−1, respectively). More than a widely used buffer, MOPS was firstly revealed to have fluorescence amplification effect on FAM-aptamer upon a given context. Despite being sensitive to pH, this simple, high-performance and ultra-efficient aptasensor would be practical for on-site and real-time monitoring of Cd2+.
Mediating Roles of Cognitive Complaints on Relationships between Insomnia, State Anxiety, and Presenteeism in Japanese Adult Workers

Complaints of cognitive functions (CCFs), defined as subjective cognitive dysfunction, affect social function; additionally, for workers, this condition is an important factor in presenteeism and mediates the effect of depressive symptoms on presenteeism. This study aimed to investigate whether CCFs mediate the relationships among insomnia, state anxiety (SA), and presenteeism. Participants were 471 Japanese adult workers evaluated using the Athens Insomnia Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y), Cognitive Complaints in Bipolar Disorder Rating Assessment, and Work Limitations Questionnaire 8 to assess insomnia, SA, CCFs, and presenteeism, respectively. Path analysis was used to evaluate the correlations between variables. CCFs significantly mediated the associations among insomnia, SA, and presenteeism. To address the presenteeism associated with insomnia and SA, it may be useful to assess the mediating roles of CCFs.
Binding Costs in Processing Efficiency as Determinants of Cognitive Ability

Performance in elementary cognitive tasks is moderately correlated with fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. These correlations are higher for more complex tasks, presumably due to increased demands on working memory capacity. In accordance with the binding hypothesis, which states that working memory capacity reflects the limit of a person’s ability to establish and maintain temporary bindings (e.g., relations between items or relations between items and their context), we manipulated binding requirements (i.e., 2, 4, and 6 relations) in three choice reaction time paradigms (i.e., two comparison tasks, two change detection tasks, and two substitution tasks) measuring mental speed. Response time distributions of 115 participants were analyzed with the diffusion model. Higher binding requirements resulted in generally reduced efficiency of information processing, as indicated by lower drift rates. Additionally, we fitted bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis to the elementary cognitive tasks to separate basal speed and binding requirements of the employed tasks to quantify their specific contributions to working memory capacity, as measured by Recall−1-Back tasks. A latent factor capturing individual differences in binding was incrementally predictive of working memory capacity, over and above a general factor capturing speed. These results indicate that the relation between reaction time tasks and working memory capacity hinges on the complexity of the reaction time tasks. We conclude that binding requirements and, therefore, demands on working memory capacity offer a satisfactory account of task complexity that accounts for a large portion of individual differences in ability.
Elevated Interleukin-18 Receptor Accessory Protein Mediates Enhancement in Reactive Oxygen Species Production in Neutrophils of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

Interleukin-18 receptor accessory protein (IL18RAP) is an indispensable subunit for the IL-18 receptor (IL-18R) complex’s ability to mediate high-affinity IL-18 binding and signalling transduction. Interest in IL-18 in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been mostly focused on its role as a type 1 T helper cell-driving cytokine. The functional significance of IL18RAP in mediating the IL-18-driven response in myeloid cells in SLE remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the expression and function significance of IL18RAP in neutrophils of SLE patients. By qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses, elevated expressions of IL18RAP mRNA and protein were observed in neutrophils from SLE patients—particularly those with a history of nephritis. IL18RAP expression correlated negatively with complement 3 level and positively with disease activity, with higher expression in patients exhibiting renal and immunological manifestations. The increased IL18RAP expression in SLE neutrophils could be attributed to elevated type I interferon level in sera. Functionally, neutrophils from SLE patients showed higher IL-18-mediated enhancement in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, which showed positive correlation with IL18RAP expression and could be neutralized by anti-IL18RAP blocking antibodies. Taken together, our findings suggest that IL-18 could contribute to SLE pathogenesis through mediation of neutrophil dysfunction via the upregulation of IL18RAP expression.
Effect of Walnut Meal Peptides on Hyperlipidemia and Hepatic Lipid Metabolism in Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet

As a natural active substance that can effectively improve blood lipid balance in the body, hypolipidemic active peptides have attracted the attention of scholars. In this study, the effect of walnut meal peptides (WMP) on lipid metabolism was investigated in rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD). The experimental results show that feeding walnut meal peptides counteracted the high-fat diet-induced increase in body, liver and epididymal fat weight, and reduce the serum concentrations of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL-cholesterol and hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride content. Walnut meal peptides also resulted in increased HDL-cholesterol while reducing the atherosclerosis index (AI). Additionally, the stained pathological sections of the liver showed that the walnut meal peptides reduced hepatic steatosis and damage caused by HFD. Furthermore, walnut meal peptide supplementation was associated with normalization of elevated apolipoprotein (Apo)-B and reduced Apo-A1 induced by the high-fat diet and with favorable changes in the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism (LCAT, CYP7A1, HMGR, FAS). The results indicate that walnut meal peptides can effectively prevent the harmful effects of a high-fat diet on body weight, lipid metabolism and liver fat content in rats, and provide, and provide a reference for the further development of walnut meal functional foods.
The Spatial Interaction Effect of Environmental Regulation on Urban Innovation Capacity: Empirical Evidence from China

This paper applies a spatial econometric model to measure the impact of environmental regulation on urban innovation capacity from a spatial interaction perspective by using panel data from 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration from 2009 to 2018. The study findings are as follows: first, environmental regulation has a significant positive impact on urban innovation capacity and a significant positive spatial spillover effect; second, innovation capacity has significant positive spatial dependence; third, city informatization level, government expenditures on science and technology, city economic scale, and industrial development level all positively affect the innovation capacity of neighboring cities and all have positive spatial spillover effects on the innovation capacity of neighboring cities; and finally, city expansion reduces the innovation capacity of a city and has negative spatial spillover effects on the innovation capacity of neighboring cities.
The Development of a Personalized Symptom Management Mobile Health Application for Persons Living with HIV in China

Persons living with HIV (PLWH) continuously experience symptom burdens. Their symptom prevalence and severity are also quite different. Mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) offer exceptional opportunities for using personalized interventions when and where PLWH are needed. This study aimed to demonstrate the development process of the symptom management (SM) app and the structure and content of it. Our research team systematically searched for evidence-based resources and summarized up-to-date evidence for symptom management and health education. Our multidisciplinary research team that included physicians, nurses, software engineers, and nursing professors, evaluated the structure and content of the drafted app. Both quantitative data and qualitative results were collected at a group discussion meeting. Quantitative data were scores of sufficient evidence, situational suitability, practicability, cost-effectiveness, and understandability (ranged from one to four) for 119 items of the app contents, including the health tracking module, the self-assessment module, coping strategies for 18 symptoms (80 items), medication management, complementary therapy, diet management, exercise, relaxation techniques, and the obtaining support module. The SM app was comprised of eight modules and provided several personalized symptom management functions, including assessing symptoms and receiving different symptom management strategies, tracking health indicators, and communicating with medical staff. The SM app was a promising and flexible tool for HIV symptom management. It provided PLWH with personalized symptom management strategies and facilitated the case management for medical staff. Future studies are needed to further test the app’s usability among PLWH users and its effects on symptom management.