Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Independent and Joint Associations of Physical Activity and Dietary Behavior with Older Adults’ Lower Limb Strength

Studies have indicated that sufficient physical activity levels and balanced dietary behavior are independently related to physical function in older populations; however, their joint association with physical function remain unclear. This study examined the independent and combined associations of sufficient physical activity and balanced selection of foods with lower limb strength among 122 older Taiwanese adults living in community (mean age: 69.9 ± 5.0 years). The assessments included accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and self-reported selection of foods. Lower limb strength performance was measured using the five times sit-to-stand test. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the associations in question before and after adjusting for potential confounders. The results showed that in the adjusted model, lower limb strength had no significant independent association with either meeting the recommended level of MVPA or balanced selection of foods. Compared to older adults who neither met the recommended MVPA level nor reported a balanced selection of foods, those who conformed to both these criteria were more likely to have better lower limb strength (odds ratio = 6.28, 95% confidence interval = 1.36–29.01) after adjusting for covariates. Health promotion initiatives addressing disability prevention for older adults need to consider promoting both MVPA and food selection.
Are There Any Differences between First Grade Boys and Girls in Physical Fitness, Physical Activity, BMI, and Sedentary Behavior? Results of HCSC Study

The transition from kindergarten to school is associated with a variety of negative changes. After entry to elementary school physical activity level decreases. Moreover, physical fitness level of children over the past decades have rapidly declined. Children are spending an increasing amount of time in the environments that require constant sitting. We evaluated the differences between boys and girls in physical fitness, frequency of undertaking of different forms of physical activity, prevalence of underweight and overweight, and time spent on sedentary behavior. A total of 212 first grade pupils (mean age 6.95 ± 0.43) from two standard urban schools in Poznań participated in the study. Compared to girls, boys obtained better results in 20-meter run (4.9 s and 5.0 s, p < 0.01), sit-ups (16.8 and 15.3, p < 0.05), six-minute run (829.7 m and 766.4 m, p < 0.001), and standing broad jump (106.8 cm and 99.7 cm, p < 0.01). In the sit-and-reach test girls achieved higher results than boys (17.0 cm and 14.4 cm, p < 0.001). There were no gender differences in prevalence of underweight and overweight. In conclusions, difference between genders should be taken into consideration during designing physical activity programs in the aspects of intensity and forms of physical activities.
Neurocognitive Function and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Offenders with Mental Disorders

Individuals with a history of offending behavior show high rates of mental disorder as well as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Neurocognitive impairments are common in both mental disorders and FASD and may interface with offending behavior. Understanding these impairments could effectively inform clinical considerations among this population. The purpose of this study was to characterize the life experiences and examine the neurocognitive profile of a group of adult forensic psychiatric outpatients. We also investigated potential differences between offenders with FASD and the rest of the sample. Data were collected on 45 subjects on numerous variables, including demographics, background information, offending histories, and comorbidities. Subjects also completed extensive neurocognitive testing. The sample was primarily male (82.2%) with a mean age of 42 years. There was a high prevalence of lifetime adversity and varied offense histories. Subjects showed the most significant neurocognitive impairment in executive function, visual memory (immediate and delayed recall), and full-scale IQ. The FASD group (n = 12) did not differ significantly from the No-FASD group (n = 33) on any background variables. The FASD group showed significantly lower neurocognitive scores in the areas of verbal IQ, full-scale IQ, working memory, processing speed, and expressive vocabulary.
Dopamine D2 up-regulation in psychosis patients after antipsychotic drug treatment.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Recently, it has been questioned whether the re-emergence of psychotic symptoms following antipsychotic discontinuation or dose reduction is attributable to underlying psychotic vulnerability or to rebound effects of chronic use of antipsychotic medication. It was repeatedly shown that relapse rates are high after discontinuation of maintenance treatment. A potential contributing factor could be the increase in density of postsynaptic dopamine D2 receptors in the striatum and the higher affinity of D2 receptors for dopamine after chronic blockade. RECENT FINDINGS To date, little clinical evidence is available for the mechanisms involved in postsynaptic striatal D2 receptor up-regulation after use of antipsychotic medication, and most knowledge comes from animal studies. SUMMARY Further research is needed to investigate whether antipsychotic medication causes neuroadaptations leading to a dopamine supersensitive state in humans, how long such hypersensitive states may last and what differences exist between high and low D2 affinity antipsychotic drugs. Further, information is needed on discontinuation schedules that provide optimal protection for relapse during hypersensitive periods.
The Role of Connexin Channels in the Response of Mechanical Loading and Unloading of Bone

The skeleton adapts to mechanical loading to promote bone formation and remodeling. While most bone cells are involved in mechanosensing, it is well accepted that osteocytes are the principal mechanosensory cells. The osteocyte cell body and processes are surrounded by a fluid-filled space, forming an extensive lacuno-canalicular network. The flow of interstitial fluid is a major stress-related factor that transmits mechanical stimulation to bone cells. The long dendritic processes of osteocytes form a gap junction channel network connecting not only neighboring osteocytes, but also cells on the bone surface, such as osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Mechanosensitive osteocytes also form hemichannels that mediate the communication between the cytoplasmic and extracellular microenvironment. This paper will discuss recent research progress regarding connexin (Cx)-forming gap junctions and hemichannels in osteocytes, osteoblasts, and other bone cells, including those richly expressing Cx43. We will then cover the recent progress regarding the regulation of these channels by mechanical loading and the role of integrins and signals in mediating Cx43 channels, and bone cell function and viability. Finally, we will summarize the recent studies regarding bone responses to mechanical unloading in Cx43 transgenic mouse models. The osteocyte has been perceived as the center of bone remodeling, and connexin channels enriched in osteocytes are a likely major player in meditating the function of bone. Based on numerous studies, connexin channels may present as a potential new therapeutic target in the treatment of bone loss and osteoporosis. This review will primarily focus on Cx43, with some discussion in other connexins expressed in bone cells.
Cephalometric and Anthropometric Changes and Their Relation to Patients' Satisfaction after Orthognathic Surgery.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the correlation between cephalometric and anthropometric facial changes and satisfaction level of class III patients after bimaxillary orthognathic surgery. METHODS AND MATERIALS Totally, 29 class III patients (mean age = 24.23 ± 4.2) undergoing one-piece Lefort 1 osteotomy and mandibular setback were included. Pre- and postoperative lateral cephalograms were taken. Thirteen cephalometric and 17 anthropometric facial measurements were evaluated. A 6-item questionnaire of Rustemeyer's study was used to assess patient's satisfaction after surgery. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test, paired sample t test and Spearman's correlation analysis were used as statistical analysis. RESULTS Facial aesthetic and masticatory improvement was highly significant (P < 0.001), while opinion differences between patients and relatives/friends were not significant (P = 0.334). Increased upper lip length (P = 0.037) and decreased nasal tip protrusion-nose height index (P = 0.017) correlated positively with aesthetic improvements after surgery. CONCLUSION Although the association between parameters and satisfaction questionnaire was found, other influential factors should be considered before surgery as well.
Outstanding performances during elite-standard short and middle-distance finals and the hyperandrogenism regulation—A detailed analysis of Caster Semenya’s results

ABSTRACT Recently, there has been much controversy over the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) regulations regarding eligibility to compete and natural testosterone levels in female athletes. Much interest lies in the analysis of Caster Semenya's extraordinary performance. The objective of this work were, a) Complete an analysis of Caster Semenya's results during the 800m finals and b) search for existing similar performances by other female athletes. We analysed the results of the finals of all IAAF World Championships and Olympic Games from 1984–2016, including the 800m results of the Diamond Leagues 2016–2018. Exponential curves were fit to the data to characterise and predict performance for each event. Caster Semenya's finishing times before her ineligibility to compete and after the suspension of the IAAF hyperandrogenism regulation were found to be 1.24% and 1.49%, respectively, faster than the characteristic performance of the elite-standard in the women’s 800m final. Other female athletes, with finishing times faster than the ones predicted by the characteristic curves were also discovered. The percentage difference in performance between Caster Semenya and the other participants did not reach 3% in the 800m event. No conclusions can be drawn regarding extraordinary results ever performed during the 100m, 200m or 400m finals.
A multi-timescale, multi-method perspective on older adult neurocognitive adaptability

Abstract Objective: Ethical and economic values compel us to improve the screening, monitoring, and enhancement of older adult neurocognitive adaptability. Diverse contemporary theoretical and empirical perspectives highlight the multi-timescale, multi-mechanistic nature of neurocognitive adaptability. Still lacking are frameworks and methodologies that demonstrate this convergence to allow for new paradigms that harness the clinical utility of neurocognitive adaptability. Method: We present a multi-method, multi-timescale analysis of neurocognitive adaptability in a group of healthy, community-dwelling older adults from the Victoria, British Columbia region. Each participant completed a 96-trial computerized cognitive flexibility task at 4 to 6 separate laboratory visits spanning about a month. This captured within-person changes at the within-occasion and across-occasion levels (timescales of seconds and days/weeks, respectively). We used standardized clinical assessments of cognitive reserve (i.e., estimated premorbid function) and conscientiousness (a personality dimension) as cross-sectional (time-invariant) predictors in multi-level linear regression to illustrate between-person differences in within-person cognitive performance trajectories. Results: Reserve predicted cognitive performance differences at the timescale of seconds (within occasions) but did not relate to differences at the timescale of days/weeks (across occasions); in contrast, conscientiousness predicted cognitive performance differences at both timescales. Distinct processes operating within the same task (stimulus-classification vs. set-shifting) improved with practice at discrepant rates. Conclusions: Neurocognitive adaptability is underlain by multiple biopsychosocial mechanisms. Certain widely-used clinical indices (e.g., of reserve or conscientiousness) may estimate distinct types of neurocognitive adaptability relevant to maintaining functional independence into old age. Our methodology and theoretical framework assume that neurocognitive adaptability unfolds at multiple hierarchical scales of time.
Reverse Genetics Reveals a Role of Rotavirus VP3 Phosphodiesterase Activity in Inhibiting RNase L Signaling and Contributing to Intestinal Viral Replication In Vivo

Rotaviruses are significant human pathogens that result in diarrhea, dehydration, and deaths in many children around the world. Rotavirus vaccines have suboptimal efficacy in low- to middle-income countries, where the burden of the diseases is the most severe. With the ultimate goal of improving current vaccines, we aim to better understand how rotavirus interacts with the host innate immune system in the small intestine. Here, we demonstrate that interferon-activated RNase L signaling blocks rotavirus replication in a strain-specific manner. In addition, virus-encoded VP3 antagonizes RNase L activity both in vitro and in vivo. These studies highlight an ever-evolving arms race between antiviral factors and viral pathogens and provide a new means of targeted attenuation for next-generation rotavirus vaccine design. ABSTRACT Our understanding of how rotavirus (RV) subverts host innate immune signaling has greatly increased over the past decade. However, the relative contribution of each virus-encoded innate immune antagonist has not been fully studied in the context of RV infection in vivo. Here, we present both in vitro and in vivo evidence that the host interferon (IFN)-inducible 2′-5′-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) and RNase L pathway effectively suppresses the replication of heterologous RV strains. VP3 from homologous RVs relies on its 2′-5′-phosphodiesterase (PDE) domain to counteract RNase L-mediated antiviral signaling. Using an RV reverse-genetics system, we show that compared to the parental strain, VP3 PDE mutant RVs replicated at low levels in the small intestine and were shed less in the feces of wild-type mice, and such defects were rescued in Rnasel−/− suckling mice. Collectively, these findings highlight an important role of VP3 in promoting viral replication and pathogenesis in vivo in addition to its well-characterized function as the viral RNA-capping enzyme. IMPORTANCE Rotaviruses are significant human pathogens that result in diarrhea, dehydration, and deaths in many children around the world. Rotavirus vaccines have suboptimal efficacy in low- to middle-income countries, where the burden of the diseases is the most severe. With the ultimate goal of improving current vaccines, we aim to better understand how rotavirus interacts with the host innate immune system in the small intestine. Here, we demonstrate that interferon-activated RNase L signaling blocks rotavirus replication in a strain-specific manner. In addition, virus-encoded VP3 antagonizes RNase L activity both in vitro and in vivo. These studies highlight an ever-evolving arms race between antiviral factors and viral pathogens and provide a new means of targeted attenuation for next-generation rotavirus vaccine design.
Short Duplex Module Coupled to G-Quadruplexes Increases Fluorescence of Synthetic GFP Chromophore Analogues

Aptasensors became popular instruments in bioanalytical chemistry and molecular biology. To increase specificity, perspective signaling elements in aptasensors can be separated into a G-quadruplex (G4) part and a free fluorescent dye that lights up upon binding to the G4 part. However, current systems are limited by relatively low enhancement of fluorescence upon dye binding. Here, we added duplex modules to G4 structures, which supposedly cause the formation of a dye-binding cavity between two modules. Screening of multiple synthetic GFP chromophore analogues and variation of the duplex module resulted in the selection of dyes that light up after complex formation with two-module structures and their RNA analogues by up to 20 times compared to parent G4s. We demonstrated that the short duplex part in TBA25 is preferable for fluorescence light up in comparison to parent TBA15 molecule as well as TBA31 and TBA63 stabilized by longer duplexes. Duplex part of TBA25 may be partially unfolded and has reduced rigidity, which might facilitate optimal dye positioning in the joint between G4 and the duplex. We demonstrated dye enhancement after binding to modified TBA, LTR-III, and Tel23a G4 structures and propose that such architecture of short duplex-G4 signaling elements will enforce the development of improved aptasensors.
A Conserved Carboxylesterase Inhibits Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) Accumulation in Nicotiana benthamiana Plants

A carboxylesterase (CXE) or carboxylic-ester hydrolase is an enzyme that catalyzes carboxylic ester and water into alcohol and carboxylate. In plants, CXEs have been implicated in defense, development, and secondary metabolism. We discovered a new CXE gene in Nicotiana benthamiana that is related to virus resistance. The transcriptional level of NbCXE expression was significantly increased after Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection. Transient over-expression of NbCXE inhibited TMV accumulation in N. benthamiana plants. Conversely, when the NbCXE gene was silenced with a Tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based gene silencing system, TMV RNA accumulation was increased in NbCXE-silenced plants after infection. NbCXE protein was shown to interact with TMV coat protein (CP) in vitro. Additionally, the expressions of host defense-related genes were increased in transient NbCXE-overexpressed plants but decreased in NbCXE silenced N. benthamiana plants. In summary, our study showed that NbCXE is a novel resistance-related gene involved in host defense responses against TMV infection.
Autoantibodies as diagnostic markers and potential drivers of inflammation in ulcerative colitis

To date, no comprehensive analysis of autoantibodies in sera of patients with ulcerative colitis has been conducted. To analyze the spectrum of autoantibodies and to elucidate their role serum-IgG from UC patients (n = 49) and non-UC donors (n = 23) were screened by using a human protein microarray. Screening yielded a remarkable number of 697 differentially-reactive at the nominal 0·01 significance level (FDR<0·1) of the univariate test between the UC and the non-UC group. CD99 emerged as a biomarker to discriminate between both groups (p = 1e-04, AUC = 0·8). In addition, cytokines, chemokines and growth factors were analyzed by Olink’s Proseek® Multiplex Inflammation-I 96×96 immuno-qPCR assay and 31 genes were significant at the nominal 0.05 level of the univariate test to discriminate between UC and non-UC donors. MCP-3, HGF and CXCL-9 were identified as the most significant markers to discriminate between UC patients with clinically active and inactive disease. Levels of CXCL10 (cor = 0.3; p = 0.02), CCL25 (cor = 0.25; p = 0.04) and CCL28 (cor = 0.3; p = 0.02) correlated positively with levels of anti CD99. To assess whether autoantibodies are detectable prior to diagnosis with UC, sera from nine donors at two different time points (T-early, median 21 months and T-late, median 6 months) were analyzed. 1201 features were identified with higher reactivity in samples at time points closer to clinical UC presentation. In vitro, additional challenge of peripheral mononuclear cells with CD99 did not activate CD4+ T cells but induced the secretion of IL-10 (-CD99: 20.21±20.25; +CD99: 130.20±89.55; mean ±sd; p = 0.015). To examine the effect of CD99 in vivo, inflammation and autoantibody levels were examined in NOD/ScidIL2Rγnull mice reconstituted with PBMC from UC donors (NSG-UC). Additional challenge with CD99 aggravated disease symptoms and pathological phenotype as indicated by the elevated clinical score (-CD99: 1·85 ± 1·94; +CD99: 4·25 ± 1·48) and histological score (-CD99: 2·16 ± 0·83; +CD99: 3·15 ± 1·16, p = 0·01). Furthermore, levels of anti-CD99 antibodies increased (Control: 398 ± 323; mean MFI ± sd; Ethanol + PBS: 358 ±316; Ethanol + CD99: 1363 ± 1336; Control versus Ethanol + CD99: p = 0.03). In a highly inflammatory environment, frequencies of pro-inflammatory M1 monocytes (CD14+ CD64+: unchallenged 8.09±4.72; challenged 14.2±8.62; p = 0.07; CD14+ CD1a+: unchallenged 16.29 ±6.97; challenged 43.81±14.4, p = 0.0003) increased and levels of autoantibodies in serum decreased in the NSG-UC mouse model. These results suggest that autoantibodies are potent biomarkers to discriminate between UC and non-UC and indicate risk to develop UC. In an inflammatory environment, auto-antibodies may promote the pathological phenotype by activating M1 monocytes in the NSG-UC animal model and also in patients with UC.
Retrospective and Randomized Analysis of Influence and Correlation of Clinical and Molecular Prognostic Factors in a Mono-Operative Series of 122 Patients with Glioblastoma Treated with STR or GTR

Glioblastoma is a solid, infiltrating, and the most frequent highly malignant primary brain tumor. Our aim was to find the correlation between sex, age, preoperative Karnofsky performance status (KPS), presenting with seizures, and extent of resection (EOR) with overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and postoperative KPS, along with the prognostic value of IDH1, MGMT, ATRX, EGFR, and TP53 genes mutations and of Ki67 through the analysis of a single-operator series in order to avoid the biases of a multi-operator series, such as the lack of homogeneity in surgical and adjuvant nonsurgical treatments. A randomized retrospective analysis of 122 patients treated by a single first operator at Sapienza University of Rome was carried out. After surgery, patients followed standard Stupp protocol treatment. Exclusion criteria were: (1) patients with primary brainstem and spinal cord gliomas and (2) patients who underwent partial resections (resection < 90%) or a biopsy exclusively for diagnostic purposes. Statistical analysis with a simultaneous regression model was carried out through the use of SPSS 25® (IBM). Results showed statistically significant survival increase in four groups: (1) patients treated with gross total resection (GTR) (p < 0.030); (2) patients with mutation of IDH1 (p < 0.0161); (3) patients with methylated MGMT promoter (p < 0.005); (4) patients without EGFR amplification or EGFRvIII mutation (p < 0.035). Higher but not statistically significant survival rates were also observed in: patients <75 years, patients presenting with seizures at diagnosis, patients affected by lesions in noneloquent areas, as well as in patients with ATRX gene mutation and Ki-67 < 10%.