Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corticospinal excitability during motor imagery is diminished by continuous repetition-induced fatigue

Application of continuous repetition of motor imagery can improve the performance of exercise tasks. However, there is a lack of more detailed neurophysiological evidence to support the formulation of clear standards for interventions using motor imagery. Moreover, identification of motor imagery intervention time is necessary because it exhibits possible central fatigue. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to elucidate the development of fatigue during continuous repetition of motor imagery through objective and subjective evaluation. The study involved two experiments. In experiment 1, 14 healthy young volunteers were required to imagine grasping and lifting a 1.5-L plastic bottle using the whole hand. Each participant performed the motor imagery task 100 times under each condition with 48 hours interval between two conditions: 500 mL or 1500 mL of water in the bottle during the demonstration phase. Mental fatigue and a decrease in pinch power appeared under the 1500-mL condition. There were changes in concentration ability or corticospinal excitability, as assessed by motor evoked potentials, between each set with continuous repetition of motor imagery also under the 1500-mL condition. Therefore, in experiment 2, 12 healthy volunteers were required to perform the motor imagery task 200 times under the 1500-mL condition. Both concentration ability and corticospinal excitability decreased. This is the first study to show that continuous repetition of motor imagery can decrease corticospinal excitability in addition to producing mental fatigue. This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee at the Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences (approval No. 18121302) on January 30, 2019.
Concerns and stress-related problems among medical personnel during COVID-19 lockdown phase in a general hospital in Mumbai

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in heightened stress, anxiety, and depression in doctors. This research was undertaken during the lockdown period in Mumbai to study the differences in perceptions of the various concerns related to the pandemic, viz., concerns related to area of residence, workplace, personal, and educational and stress faced by the 3 groups of health-care workers, medical interns, resident doctors, and medical teachers, during the pandemic. Materials and Methods: 1011 residents participated in this online cross-sectional survey after informed consent and ethics approval and 494 completed the survey via a Google Form sent on the WhatsApp groups. Results: Significant differences were noted with interns and residents staying in COVID hotspots, sealed homes, being ostracized, and having difficulty in procuring food as compared to the teachers. Workplace concerns significantly revealed that 90% interns and residents had training before duty, wore personal protective equipment, had difficulty in donning, doffing, were uncomfortable, anxious about being dehydrated, and used frequent sanitizer as compared to teachers. Interns and residents were also significantly anxious about not following social distancing, being preoccupied about the same, and having sleep problems as compared to teachers. They also were concerned about financial issues, travel plans, exams, and missing skill training as compared to teachers. Conclusion: It highlights the difficulties faced by the participants during the lockdown and its impact on their emotional well-being.
Peritoneal macrophages attenuate retinal ganglion cell survival and neurite outgrowth

Inflammation is a critical pathophysiological process that modulates neuronal survival in the central nervous system after disease or injury. However, the effects and mechanisms of macrophage activation on neuronal survival remain unclear. In the present study, we co-cultured adult Fischer rat retinas with primary peritoneal macrophages or zymosan-treated peritoneal macrophages for 7 days. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that peritoneal macrophages reduced retinal ganglion cell survival and neurite outgrowth in the retinal explant compared with the control group. The addition of zymosan to peritoneal macrophages attenuated the survival and neurite outgrowth of retinal ganglion cells. Conditioned media from peritoneal macrophages also reduced retinal ganglion cell survival and neurite outgrowth. This result suggests that secretions from peritoneal macrophages mediate the inhibitory effects of these macrophages. In addition, increased inflammation- and oxidation-related gene expression may be related to the enhanced retinal ganglion cell degeneration caused by zymosan activation. In summary, this study revealed that primary rat peritoneal macrophages attenuated retinal ganglion cell survival and neurite outgrowth, and that macrophage activation further aggravated retinal ganglion cell degeneration. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Joint Shantou International Eye Center of Shantou University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China, on March 11, 2014 (approval no. EC20140311(2)-P01).
Adolescent sexual behaviour and its determinants: A hospital-based study

Aim: To know the prevalence of sexual activity, their sexual behaviour and attitude towards sex among unmarried adolescent females. Materials and Methods: It was a hospital-based prospective observational study. The study duration was 1 year. The study participants were unmarried girls between the age group of 10–19 years who gave written informed consent. In the case of a minor, consent was obtained from parents also. Pre-designed, pre-structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to evaluate the sexual behaviour. Results: Out of the 320 adolescents presented to the OPD, only 165 consented to participate in the study. Prevalence of sexual activity was 16.9% (28/165) in the study. Eight (8/165) adolescent girls have not attained menarche and all were not having any knowledge of sex. Three girls were the victims of sexual exploitation. Around 64% of these girls were sexually active with their classmates. All the sexually active females were having intercourse through the vaginal route, however non-vaginal route was also practiced by 6 girls. Home (11, 39%) was the preferred place followed by the hotel (10, 35.7%) for sexual activity. Conclusion: Prevalence of sexual activity is low among Indians as compared to the western world but it may be a tip of iceberg as it is a hospital-based study. This is the first study that assessed the route of intercourse, frequency of sexual activity, and place preferred by these adolescents to evaluate the sexual health behaviour.
Lumbar facet distraction and fixation in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis: Long-term clinical outcome and reoperation rates

Objective: Symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) unresponsive to conservative therapy is commonly treated by surgical decompression. In this study, we compared clinical outcomes after decompressive surgery for LSS in patients implanted with interarticular spacers along with microdecompression (MD) with those receiving only MD. Methods: A retrospective study was analyzed 40 patients (Group A) affected by LSS treated by MD and implant of interarticular spacers comparing the outcome with a homogeneous group of 40 patients with LSS treated with MD alone (Group B). Clinical outcome was evaluated using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and visual analog scale (VAS) scores, as well as Macnab's criteria. Results: At 1-year follow-up, ODI improved in both groups with statistically significant differences as compared to baseline and both Groups (P < 0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed at 3-year follow-up (P < 0.05), without further variation at 5-year follow-up. At 1-year follow-up, VAS for back and leg pain scores was significantly better than that of Group B (P < 0.05). At 3-year follow-up, back and leg pain scores were no longer significantly improved (P > 0.01), resulting almost the same at 5-year follow-up. A comparison of functional outcomes between the groups showed significant improvements in Group A as compared to Group B (P < 0.05). The reoperation rate was 10% in Group A and 30% in Group B. In implanted patients, successful fusion was obtained in 90% of the cases. Conclusions: Interarticular spacers showed significant and clinically meaningful improvements in pain and disability, even in a long follow-up.
The Yin-Yang of osteopontin in nervous system diseases: damage versus repair

Osteopontin is a broadly expressed pleiotropic protein, and is attracting increased attention because of its role in the pathophysiology of several inflammatory, degenerative, autoimmune, and oncologic diseases. In fact, in the last decade, several studies have shown that osteopontin contributes to tissue damage not only by recruiting harmful inflammatory cells to the site of lesion, but also increasing their survival. The detrimental role of osteopontin has been indeed well documented in the context of different neurological conditions (i.e., multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases). Intriguingly, recent findings show that osteopontin is involved not only in promoting tissue damage (the Yin), but also in repair/regenerative mechanisms (the Yang), mostly triggered by the inflammatory response. These two apparently discordant roles are partly related to the presence of different functional domains in the osteopontin molecule, which are exposed after thrombin or metalloproteases cleavages. Such functional domains may in turn activate intracellular signaling pathways and mediate cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. This review describes the current knowledge on the Yin and Yang features of osteopontin in nervous system diseases. Understanding the mechanisms behind the Yin/Yang would be relevant to develop highly specific tools targeting this multifunctional protein.
Preoperative analysis of risk of malignancy indices in the distinction of malignant ovarian tumors

Background: Ovarian cancers are three times more lethal than breast cancer, despite its lower prevalence rate. Thus, it is imperative to determine if an ovarian mass is benign or malignant to structure a pertinent management protocol. Aim and Objective: The study proposed to preoperatively compare the predictive values of the four risk of malignancy indices (RMIs) and categorized benign and malignant ovarian masses. Methodology: The study included 60 women undergoing surgery for ovarian masses. Parameters such as age, menopausal status, ultrasound findings, tumor size, and cancer antigen (CA)-125 levels were recorded. They were assessed through 4 RMI scores and compared with postsurgical histopathological examination (HPE) report. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive values (NPVs) were calculated. The level of significance was set atP ≤ 0.05. Results: As per the HPE report, 54 (90%) patients were diagnosed with benign and 6 (10%) with malignant ovarian masses. The median levels of CA-125 were significant (P = 0.014). For the universally recommended RMI cutoff values, sensitivity was 66.7%, specificity ranged from 83.3% to 88.9%, PPV from 36.3% to 40.0%, and NPV from 95.7% to 96%. With the suggested cutoff values obtained by plotting the receiver operating characteristic from the study, sensitivity was 66.6%, specificity ranged from 87.03% to 100.0%, PPV was 100.0%, and NPV was 93.1%. The area under the curve ranged from 0.836 to 0.854. Conclusion: The results of the present study endorse the potency of the RMIs. This certifies that the RMIs are valuable diagnostic tools in discriminating ovarian masses, which could ensure appurtenant management.
From Secure to Usable and Verifiable Voting Schemes

Elections are the foundations of democracy. To uphold democratic principles, researchers have proposed systems that ensure the integrity of elections. It is a highly interdisciplinary field, as it can be studied from a technical, legal or societal points of view. While lawyers give a legal framework to the voting procedures, security researchers translate these rules into technical properties that operational voting systems must satisfy, notably privacy and verifiability. If Privacy aims to protect votesecrecy and provide coercion-resistance to the protocol, Verifiability allows voters to check that their vote has been taken into account in the general outcome, contributing to the assurance of the integrity of the elections. To satisfy both properties in a voting system, we rely on cryptographic primitives such as encryption, signatures, commitments schemes, or zero-knowledge proofs, etc. Many protocols, paper-based or electronic-based, have been designed to satisfy these properties. Although the security of some protocols, and their limits, have been analysed from a technical perspective, the usability has often been shown to have very low rates of effectiveness. The necessary cryptographic interactions have already shown to be one contributor to this problem, but the design of the interface could also contribute by misleading voters. As elections typically rarely happen, voters must be able to understand the system they use quickly and mostly without training, which brings the user experience at the forefront of the designed protocols. In this thesis, the first contribution is to redefine privacy and verifiability in the context of tracker-based verifiable schemes. These schemes, using a so-called tracking number for individual verification, need additional user steps that must be considered in the security evaluation. These security definitions are applied to the boardroom voting protocol F2FV used by the CNRS, and the e-voting protocol Selene, both use a tracker-based procedure for individual verifiability. We provide proofs of security in the symbolic model using the Tamarin prover. The second contribution is an implementation of the Selene protocol as a mobile and a web application, tested in several user studies. The goal is to evaluate the usability and the overall user experience of the verifiability features, as well as their
Tofacitinib Loaded Squalenyl Nanoparticles for Targeted Follicular Delivery in Inflammatory Skin Diseases

Tofacitinib (TFB), a Janus kinase inhibitor, has shown excellent success off-label in treating various dermatological diseases, especially alopecia areata (AA). However, TFB’s safe and targeted delivery into hair follicles (HFs) is highly desirable due to its systemic adverse effects. Nanoparticles (NPs) can enhance targeted follicular drug delivery and minimize interfollicular permeation and thereby reduce systemic drug exposure. In this study, we report a facile method to assemble the stable and uniform 240 nm TFB loaded squalenyl derivative (SqD) nanoparticles (TFB SqD NPs) in aqueous solution, which allowed an excellent loading capacity (LC) of 20%. The SqD NPs showed an enhanced TFB delivery into HFs compared to the aqueous formulations of plain drug in an ex vivo pig ear model. Furthermore, the therapeutic efficacy of the TFB SqD NPs was studied in a mouse model of allergic dermatitis by ear swelling reduction and compared to TFB dissolved in a non-aqueous mixture of acetone and DMSO (7:1 v/v). Whereas such formulation would not be acceptable for use in the clinic, the TFB SqD NPs dispersed in water illustrated a better reduction in inflammatory effects than plain TFB’s aqueous formulation, implying both encouraging good in vivo efficacy and safety. These findings support the potential of TFB SqD NPs for developing a long-term topical therapy of AA.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Methylation of the FKBP5 Gene in Patients with Psychotic Disorders

Altered methylation of the FKBP5 gene has been observed in various mental disorders and attributed to the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). However, the level of FKBP5 methylation has not been investigated in patients with psychotic disorders. Therefore, in this study we aimed to determine the FKBP5 methylation in patients with psychosis and controls, taking into account the effects of ACEs. Participants were 85 patients with psychotic disorders, including first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and acutely relapsed schizophrenia (SCZ-AR) patients, as well as 56 controls. The level of four CpG sites at the FKBP5 gene was determined in the peripheral blood leukocytes using pyrosequencing. After controlling for potential confounding factors, the level of FKBP5 methylation at one out of four tested CpG sites was significantly lower in FEP patients compared to other groups of participants. Significant main effects of parental antipathy and sexual abuse on the level of FKBP5 methylation were observed at the differentially methylated CpG site. Participants reporting this category of ACEs had significantly lower levels of FKBP5 methylation at this CpG site. Lower levels of FKBP5 methylation were associated with better cognitive performance and higher functional capacity in patients with psychosis. In controls, lower methylation of FKBP5 was related to worse performance of immediate memory and language skills. Our findings suggest that hypomethylation of the FKBP5 appears at early stages of psychosis and might be associated with a history of ACEs as well as less severe clinical manifestation.
Cellular Nrf2 Levels Determine Cell Fate during Chemical Carcinogenesis in Esophageal Epithelium

Nrf2 is essential for cytoprotection against carcinogens, and through systemic Nrf2 knockout mice, Nrf2-deficient cells were shown to be susceptible to chemical carcinogens and prone to developing cancers. However, the oncogenic potential of Nrf2-deficient epithelial cells surrounded by normal cells in the esophagus could not be assessed by previous models, and the fate of Nrf2-deficient cells in such situations remains elusive. ABSTRACT Nrf2 is essential for cytoprotection against carcinogens, and through systemic Nrf2 knockout mice, Nrf2-deficient cells were shown to be susceptible to chemical carcinogens and prone to developing cancers. However, the oncogenic potential of Nrf2-deficient epithelial cells surrounded by normal cells in the esophagus could not be assessed by previous models, and the fate of Nrf2-deficient cells in such situations remains elusive. In this study, therefore, we generated mice that harbor almost equal levels of cells with Nrf2 deleted and those with Nrf2 intact in the basal layer of the esophageal epithelium, utilizing inducible Cre-mediated recombination of Nrf2 alleles in adults through moderate use of tamoxifen. In this mouse model, epithelial cells with Nrf2 deleted were maintained with no obvious decrease or phenotypic changes for 12 weeks under unstressed conditions. Upon exposure to the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO), the cells with Nrf2 deleted accumulated DNA damage and selectively disappeared from the epithelium, so almost all 4NQO-induced tumors originated from cells with Nrf2 intact and not from those with Nrf2 deleted. We propose that cells with Nrf2 deleted do not undergo carcinogenesis due to selective elimination upon exposure to 4NQO, indicating that cellular Nrf2 abundance and the epithelial environment determine the cell fate or oncogenic potential of esophageal epithelial cells in 4NQO-induced carcinogenesis.
The interference effects of bisphenol A on the synthesis of steroid hormones in human ovarian granulosa cells

Numerous studies have shown that endocrine‐disrupting chemicals are one of the important pathogenic factors in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Our previous study has revealed that bisphenol A (BPA) can cause steroid hormone imbalance, polycystic ovary, and estrus cycle disorder. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of BPA, a typical environmental estrogen, on the synthesis of steroid hormones in human ovarian granulosa KGN cells. Exposure of KGN cells to BPA (0.5, 5, 50, and 500 μg/L) resulted in the decrease of progesterone (P), estradiol (E2), and the ratio of estradiol to testosterone (E2/T). BPA affected the expression of genes related to steroid hormone synthesis in KGN cells, including the decreased expression of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, ferredoxin, and ferredoxin reductase genes during progesterone synthesis; upregulating the expression of cytochrome p450 oxidoreductase gene associated with E2 and T synthesis; and the downregulated cytochrome P450 family 1 subfamily A member 1 and cytochrome P450 family 1 subfamily B member 1 in E2 degradation. BPA also reduced the expression of stimulatory G proteins (GS) in follicle‐stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR)/GS/adenylate cyclase (AC) signaling pathway. In summary, our research has demonstrated that environment‐relevant level of BPA exposure leads to steroid hormone synthesis disorder in human ovarian granulosa cells, which might cause the reduction of gene expression in hormone synthesis and the suppression of the FSHR/GS/AC signaling pathway.
Stoichiometric Relationship Between Humic and Fulvic Acids and Flocculants

In addition to mineral turbidity, surface The typical color of surface waters is waters, lakes, and rivers contain organic between 5 and 200 color units (CU). 7 matter responsible for the yellow-brown Drinking water standards permit up to 5 color and for taste and odor. The organic CU. At pH 8.0, a solution of 1 mg/1 of matter poses special problems for waterhumic acids has 26.5 CU, while a solution treatment processes. Black1 2 isolated these of 1 mg/1 of fulvic acids is ten times less organics by low pressure evaporation of colored and has 2.8 CU. colored surface waters and subsequent The o ics inhibu remoyal of iron and
Repurposing of Fluvastatin as an Anticancer Agent against Breast Cancer Stem Cells via Encapsulation in a Hyaluronan-Conjugated Liposome

Fluvastatin (FLUVA), which is a common anti-hypercholesterolemia drug, exhibits potential anticancer activity as it suppresses the proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis of breast cancer cells via inhibiting 3-hydroxy-methyl glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. In this study, hyaluronan-conjugated FLUVA-encapsulating liposomes (HA-L-FLUVA) were evaluated for their anticancer efficacy in vitro and in vivo. The particle size, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency of HA-L-FLUVA were 158.36 ± 1.78 nm, −24.85 ± 6.26 mV, and 35%, respectively. Growth inhibition of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) by HA-L-FLUVA was more effective than that by free FLUVA. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of FLUVA, L-FLVUA, and HA-L-FLUVA were 0.16, 0.17, and 0.09 μM, respectively. The in vivo anticancer effect of HA-L-FLUVA in combination with doxorubicin (DOX) was more effective than that of free FLUVA, free DOX, and HA-L-FLUVA. The longest survival of mice was achieved by treatment with FLUVA (15 mg/kg) and HA-L-FLUVA (15 mg/kg) + DOX (3 mg/kg), followed by HA-L-FLUVA (15 mg/kg), Dulbecco’s phosphate buffered saline, and DOX (3 mg/kg). No more than 10% body weight loss was observed in the mice injected with FLUVA, indicating that the drug was not toxic. Taken together, these results indicate that HA-L-FLUVA could serve as an effective anticancer drug by inhibiting the growth of both breast cancer cells and cancer stem cells.
Evaluation of the Cu Doping Effects in CeO2 Catalytic Supports Obtained by Combustion Reaction

This work has for aim to synthesize CeO2 catalytic supports doped with Cu2+ by combustion reaction method. Thus were obtained catalytic supports with the composition Ce1-xCuxO2 and the effect caused by doped element in the structure of the CeO2 was evaluated. The concentration value (x) of the Cu doped took over the values of 0.0; 0.3 and 0.5 mol. The catalytic supports developed were submitted to the structural characterization by X-ray diffraction, morphologic analysis by SEM and textural analysis by means of adsorption-dessorption of N2 by BET method. The results showed that the doped element (Cu) was not completely incorporated in the CeO2 structure and was evidenced that how much larger the quantity of Cu larger maid the disorder of the atomic structure of the obtained material. The analyzed supports present mesoporous nature structure.