Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Mutations and Clinical Variability in Maternally Inherited Diabetes and Deafness: An Analysis of 161 Patients

Aims To investigate the clinical features and mitochondrial mutations for maternally inherited diabetes and deafness. Methods PubMed, Embase, Medline, Web of Science, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang were searched with the following search terms: “Maternally inherited diabetes and deafness” OR “MIDD” OR “Mitochondrial diabetes”. The mutations and clinical features were analyzed. Correlation between the heteroplasmy levels of the m.3243A>G mutation in the peripheral blood and age at the onset of diabetes was conducted by Spearman test. The significance level was set as p < 0.05. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26 for Windows. Results Totally 161 patients with 21 different mitochondrial mutations were enrolled. The most common mutation was the m.3243A>G mutation in 136 cases. Of 142 patients, 120 (84.51%) had family histories of diabetes or hearing loss. Hearing loss presented in 85.71% of the patients with mitochondrial mutations. Central nervous system diseases were found in 29.19%, myopathy in 22.98%, oculopathy in 23.60%, cardiac disease in 23.60%, and nephropathy in 13.66% of the patients. Forty-two of 101 (41.58%) patients were underweight. A significant negative correlation was found between the heteroplasmy levels of the m.3243A>G mutation in the peripheral blood and age at the onset of diabetes. Conclusions The young onset of diabetes with low or normal BMI, maternal inheritance, and presence of impairments of multiple systems should prompt a genetic testing in order to differentiate MIDD from other types of diabetes earlier.
Biopsy or Biomarker? Children With Minimal Change Disease Have a Distinct Profile of Urinary Epidermal Growth Factor

Background: In this study, the profile of urinary EGF excretion (uEGF/uCreat) was mapped in children presenting with prolonged proteinuria or with nephrotic syndrome refractory to or dependent of steroids. We investigated whether uEGF/uCreat could be linked to the underlying biopsy result, taking into account its response to immunosuppressive medication and to ACE inhibition, as well as genetic predisposition. Methods: Ninety-eight pediatric patients with initial presentation of nephrotic syndrome or prolonged proteinuria were included in this study, along with 49 healthy controls and 20 pediatric Alport patients. All patients had a normal kidney function and were normotensive during the course of the study, whether or not under ACE inhibition. In repeated urine samples, uEGF was measured and concentration was normalized by urine creatinine. In order to compare diagnosis on kidney biopsy, genetic predisposition and response of uEGF/uCreat to immunosuppression and to ACE inhibition, uEGF/uCreat is studied in a linear mixed effects model. Results: Patients with Minimal Change Disease (MCD) showed a significantly different profile of uEGF/uCreat in comparison to healthy children, as well as compared to patients with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) or another glomerulopathy on kidney biopsy. The response of uEGF/uCreat to ACE inhibition was absent in minimal change disease and contrasted with an impressive beneficial effect of ACE inhibition on uEGF/uCreat in FSGS and other proteinuric glomerulopathies. Absence of a genetic predisposition was also associated with a significantly lower uEGF/uCreat. Conclusions: Despite preserved kidney function, children with a proteinuric or nephrotic glomerular disease on kidney biopsy show a significantly lower uEGF/uCreat, indicative of early tubulo-interstitial damage, which appears reversible under ACE inhibition in any underlying glomerulopathy except in minimal change disease. In view of the distinct profile of uEGF/uCreat in minimal change disease compared to other glomerulopathies, and the link between genetic predisposition and uEGF/uCreat, our study suggests that uEGF/uCreat can be a helpful tool to decide on the need for a renal biopsy in order to differentiate minimal change disease from other proteinuric glomerular diseases.
Development of Real-Time PCR Based on A137R Gene for the Detection of African Swine Fever Virus

African swine fever virus (ASFV) can infect domestic pigs and wild boars and causes huge economic losses in global swine industry. Therefore, early diagnosis of ASFV is important for the control and eradication of African swine fever (ASF). In this study, a SYBR Green-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the viral encoded A137R gene was established for the detection of ASFV infection. For the evaluation of the established real-time PCR, 34 clinical samples were assessed by both the A137R gene-based real-time PCR and OIE-recommended TaqMan PCR. The results showed that 85.29% (29/34) were detected by A137R gene-based real-time PCR, but only 79.41% (27/34) positive using OIE-recommended TaqMan PCR. Moreover, no cross-reaction with other common swine pathogens was found in the A137R gene-based real-time PCR. These results demonstrated that the established real-time PCR assay in this study showed better performance than the OIE-recommended method in detecting ASFV from clinical samples, which could be applied for control and eradication programs of ASF.
Entering Into the Story: Implications for Emergent Literacy

In this article we explore the ways in which three young children from a non-mainstream cultural group created stories with the assistance of their caregivers and siblings in the social contexts of their homes. We assert that these children’s oral narrations show us important dimensions of early experience with decontextualized content as practiced in their families that may offer suggestions for analysis of culturally sensitive experiences with literacy for all children. The dimensions we highlight are the tangibility of the elements around which the story is created, the interlocutor support children receive for beginning and continuing their stories, and the interaction between the storytelling process and the child’s self-interest. These three dimensions illustrate how children “enter” into stories and storytelling and broaden our understanding for fostering culturally sustaining pedagogy within schools.
Acute Maternal Stress Disrupts Infant Regulation of the Autonomic Nervous System and Behavior: A CASP Study

Exposure to maternal stress is assumed to influence infant health and development across the lifespan. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is especially sensitive to the effects of the early caregiving environment and linked to predictors of later mental health. Understanding how exposure to maternal stress adversely affects the developing ANS could inform prevention. However, there is no agreed upon definition of maternal stress making its study difficult. Here we use the Caretaker Acute Stress Paradigm (CASP) to study the effects of maternal stress in an experimentally controlled laboratory setting. The CASP has 5 episodes, a natural play, followed by a caretaker stressor (or control) condition, another play, a classic still face episode, followed by another play. A total of 104 4-months-old infants and their mothers were randomly assigned to either the caretaker-stress or caretaker-control condition. Changes in behavior, heart rate (HR), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) before and after the introduction of the stressor (or control condition) were recorded and compared. Infants in the maternal stress condition showed significantly more behavioral distress [X2 = (1, N = 104) = 4.662, p = 0.031]. Moreover, infants whose mothers were in the stress condition showed an significant increase in heart rate after the caretaker condition [F(1, 102) = 9.81, p = 0.002]. Finally we observed a trend to faster RSA recovery in infants of the control condition [F(1, 75) = 3.539, p = 0.064]. Results indicate that exposure to acute maternal stress affects infant regulation of the autonomic nervous system and behavior.
Nutrient Regulation of Relative Dominance of Cylindrospermopsin-Producing and Non-cylindrospermopsin-Producing Raphidiopsis raciborskii

Raphidiopsis raciborskii (previously Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii) can produce cylindrospermopsin (CYN) which is of great concern due to its considerable toxicity to human and animals. Its CYN-producing (toxic) and non-CYN-producing (non-toxic) strains co-exist commonly in natural water bodies, while how their relative dominance is regulated has not been addressed. In this study, we combined field investigation with laboratory experiments to assessed the relationship between toxic and non-toxic R. raciborskii abundances under different nutrient levels. The rpoC1- and cyrJ-based qPCR was applied for quantifying total and toxic R. raciborskii abundances, respectively. The field survey showed that toxic R. raciborskii was detected in 97 of 115 reservoirs where its proportion ranged from 0.3% to 39.7% within the R. raciborskii population. Both total and toxic R. raciborskii abundances increased significantly with trophic level of these reservoirs, consistent with our monoculture and co-culture experiments showing in an increase in R. raciborskii growth with increasing nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) concentrations. In the monoculture experiments, growth rates of non-toxic and toxic strains from Australia or China were not significantly different under the same culture conditions. On the other hand, in the co-culture experiments, the toxic strains displayed a significantly faster growth than non-toxic strains under nutrient-replete conditions, resulting in an obvious shift toward the dominance by toxic strains from day 3 to the end of the experiments, regardless of the strain originating from Australia or China. The reverse was found under N- or P-limited conditions. Our results indicated that the toxic strains of R. raciborskii have a competitive advantage relative to the non-toxic strains in a more eutrophic world. In parallel to an increase in dominance, both toxic strains grown in the mixed population significantly increased CYN production under nutrient-replete conditions as compared to nutrient-limited conditions, suggesting that CYN may be of significance for ecological advantage of toxic R. raciborskii. These results highlight the importance of nutrient availability in regulating abundances and strain dominance of two genotypes of R. raciborskii. Our findings demonstrated that elevated nutrients would favor the growth of CYN-producing R. raciborskii and CYN production, leading to more blooms with higher toxicity at global scale.
CycleStyleGAN-Based Knowledge Transfer for a Machining Digital Twin

Digitalisation of manufacturing is a crucial component of the Industry 4.0 transformation. The digital twin is an important tool for enabling real-time digital access to precise information about physical systems and for supporting process optimisation via the translation of the associated big data into actionable insights. Although a variety of frameworks and conceptual models addressing the requirements and advantages of digital twins has been suggested in the academic literature, their implementation has received less attention. The work presented in this paper aims to make a proposition that considers the novel challenges introduced for data analysis in the presence of heterogeneous and dynamic cyber-physical systems in Industry 4.0. The proposed approach defines a digital twin simulation tool that captures the dynamics of a machining vibration signal from a source model and adapts them to a given target environment. This constitutes a flexible approach to knowledge extraction from the existing manufacturing simulation models, as information from both physics-based and data-driven solutions can be elicited this way. Therefore, an opportunity to reuse the costly established systems is made available to the manufacturing businesses, and the paper presents a process optimisation framework for such use case. The proposed approach is implemented as a domain adaptation algorithm based on the generative adversarial network model. The novel CycleStyleGAN architecture extends the CycleGAN model with a style-based signal encoding. The implemented model is validated in an experimental scenario that aims to replicate a real-world manufacturing knowledge transfer problem. The experiment shows that the transferred information enables the reduction of the required target domain data by one order of magnitude.
Future Anxiety Among Young People Affected by War and Armed Conflict: Indicators for Social Work Practice

Strengthening the evidence base for professional social work intervention that contributes to providing psychosocial support to international students affected by war and conflict is a major priority as this vulnerable group of youth increases. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of future anxiety among international students coming from areas experiencing war and conflict. This study used the descriptive correlative approach, where the future anxiety scale was applied to a sample of 287 international students affected by war and conflicts. Findings showed that there are statistically significant differences between males and females (in favor of females) in the level of the social dimension of future anxiety. The current study results showed a statistically significant relationship between future anxiety and some variables related to war and conflict (living in a war environment - direct and indirect exposure to damage). There are statistically significant differences between those who lived in Yemen at the time of wars and those who did not live (in favor of those who lived in Yemen at the time of wars) in the level of future anxiety. There are also statistically significant differences between those exposed to harm or their family because of the war and those who were not exposed (in favor of those who were exposed) in the level of future anxiety as a whole. The study recommends developing psychosocial support services for this vulnerable group, considering the cultural context to promote women and protect them from discrimination in the services they deserve on an equal basis with men.
The Feasibility of Targeted Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoagent for Noninvasive IgA Nephropathy Diagnosis

IgA nephropathy is the most common glomerular disease in the world and has become a serious threat to human health. Accurate and non-invasive molecular imaging to detect and recognize the IgA nephropathy is critical for the subsequent timely treatment; otherwise, it may progress to end-stage renal disease and lead to glomerular dysfunction. In this study, we have developed a sensitive, specific, and biocompatible integrin αvβ3-targeted superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) for the noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of integrin αvβ3, which is overexpressed in glomerular mesangial region of IgA nephropathy. The rat model of IgA nephropathy was successfully established and verified by biochemical tests and histological staining. Meanwhile, the clinical 18F-AlF-NOTA-PRGD2 probe molecule was utilized to visualize and further confirmed the IgA nephropathy in vivo via positron emission computed tomography. Subsequently, the Fe3O4 NPs were conjugated with arginine–glycine–aspartic acid (RGD) molecules (Fe3O4-RGD), and their integrin αvβ3-targeted T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) potential has been carefully evaluated. The Fe3O4-RGD demonstrated great relaxation in vivo. The T2WI signal of renal layers in the targeted group at 3 h after intravenous injection of Fe3O4-RGD was distinctly lower than baseline, indicating MRI signal decreased in the established IgA nephropathy rat model. Moreover, the TEM characterization and Prussian blue staining confirmed that the Fe3O4-RGD was located at the region of glomerulus and tubular interstitium. Moreover, no obvious signal decreased was detected in the untargeted Fe3O4 treated and normal groups. Collectively, our results establish the possibility of Fe3O4-RGD serving as a feasible MRI agent for the noninvasive diagnosis of IgA nephropathy.
Strength Properties of Paper Containing Polyacrylamide-based Dry Strength Resin - Effect of Its Z-directional Distribution

The effects of z-directional distribution of a dry strength resin in paper on the strength properties of paper and the occurrence of microfailures during tensile loading were examined in this study. Paper having heterogeneous z-directional distribution of a cationic polyacrylamide (PAM) as a dry strength resin was prepared using an external coating method by which PAM was applied to dried paper. In order to investigate the effect of differences in the distribution, paper having homogeneous z-directional distribution of PAM was also made using both conventional internal and impregnation methods. The results obtained suggested that the positions of quasi-layers containing PAM in the zdirection of paper significantly affected the tensile strength. The strength using the internal method was superior to that with the external method at the same level of PAM content, at least in the range of PAM content in this study. With external application methods (coating and impregnation), however, proper controls over the pattern of z-directional distribution of PAM could be shown to improve the strength of the paper. In summary, the strength of paper having double sided quasi-layers was superior to that having a single sided quasi-layer, and in turn was superior to that using impregnation, at the same overall level of PAM content. Acoustic emission (AE) analysis, which was focused on the maximum amplitude of AE signals and the relation between tensile load and cumulative AE counts, was conducted up to the maximum load. The analysis suggested that the two quasi-layers (i.e. PAM on both sides) might reduce the development of microfailures (that could lead to sheet failure during the straining) and this could be a possible reason the higher tensile strength.
Discovering the Potent Inhibitors Against Babesia bovis in vitro and Babesia microti in vivo by Repurposing the Natural Product Compounds

In the present study, we screened 502 natural product compounds against the in vitro growth of Babesia (B.) bovis. Then, the novel and potent identified compounds were further evaluated for their in vitro efficacies using viability and cytotoxicity assays. The in vivo inhibitory effects of the selected compounds were evaluated using B. microti “rodent strain” in mice model. Three potent compounds, namely, Rottlerin (RL), Narasin (NR), Lasalocid acid (LA), exhibited the lowest IC50 (half-maximal inhibitory concentration) as follows: 5.45 ± 1.20 μM for RL, 1.86 ± 0.66 μM for NR, and 3.56 ± 1.41 μM for LA. The viability result revealed the ability of RL and LA to prevent the regrowth of treated parasite at 4 × IC50 and 2 × IC50, respectively, while 4 × IC50 of NR was sufficient to stop the regrowth of parasite. The hematology parameters of B. microti in vivo were different in the NR-treated groups as compared to the infected/untreated group. Interestingly, intraperitoneal administration of NR exhibiting inhibition in the growth of B. microti in mice was similar to that observed after administration of the commonly used antibabesial drug, diminazene aceturate (DA) (76.57% for DA, 74.73% for NR). Our findings indicate the richness of natural product compounds by novel potent antibabesial candidates, and the identified potent compounds, especially NR, might be used for the treatment of animal babesiosis.
Network Pharmacology-Based Analysis of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth Beneficial Effects to Alleviate Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Mice

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth/Huo Xiang (HX) is a perennial herb with unique anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and thus, can positively affect liver function. In this study, we used network pharmacology to predict the potential mechanism of HX on NAFLD. Pharmacological experiments were used to verify the effect of HX on the functions of NAFLD. Network pharmacology identified nine components that interacted with 82 NAFLD-related targets, revealing four target genes: TNF, IL6, TP53, and AKT1. HX prevents the development and progression of NAFLD through different pathways and targets with quercetin-regulated lipid metabolism, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant pathways playing an essential role in the treatment of NAFLD. Compared with feeding HFD, HX significantly attenuated lipid accumulation in vivo with mice and also in vitro with mouse liver cells. A high dose of HX decreased hepatocyte lipid accumulation and the abundance of SREBF1 and FASN. Validation experiments revealed that HX inhibited the activation of NF-κB/IκB signaling and decreased the release and levels of pro-inflammatory factors (TNF-α and IL-6). These data suggest that HX can attenuate abnormal lipid metabolic responses and enhance antioxidant mechanisms. Thus, the pharmacological effects from plants used in traditional Chinese medicine are achievde through a multi-level response.
Electroacupuncture Combined With Diet Treatment Has a Therapeutic Effect on Perimenopausal Patients With Abdominal Obesity by Improving the Community Structure of Intestinal Flora

Background: This study explored the influences of electroacupuncture combined with dietary intervention on the intestinal flora in perimenopausal patients with abdominal obesity by using the 16s rRNA sequencing technology. Methods: Perimenopausal patients with abdominal obesity were divided into the Electroacupuncture group and the Control group. Patients in the Control group received healthy lifestyle education, while those in the Electroacupuncture group received electroacupuncture combined with dietary intervention. Before and after treatment, the weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-height ratio (WHtR), waist to hip ratio (WHR), and body mass index (BMI) of the patients were recorded; the levels of serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting insulin (FINS), and fasting blood glucose (FGB) were evaluated; and the abundance, diversity, and species differences of intestinal flora were analyzed using 16s rRNA sequencing technology. Results: The body weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, BMI, WHR, and WHtR of patients in the Electroacupuncture group after treatment were lower than those before treatment. Compared with the Control group, patients in the Electroacupuncture group after treatment displayed lower waist circumference, WHtR, WHR, TG, and LDL levels as well as species abundance, higher species diversity, and lager species difference in the intestinal flora. Besides, the proportions of Klebsiella and Kosakonia in the intestinal flora of patients in the Electroacupuncture group after treatment were larger than those before treatment. Conclusion: Electroacupuncture combined with diet treatment generated a therapeutic effect on abdominal obesity in perimenopausal patients by improving the community structure of intestinal flora.