Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The rise of health biotechnology research in Latin America: A scientometric analysis of health biotechnology production and impact in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico

This paper analyzes the patterns of health biotechnology publications in six Latin American countries from 2001 to 2015. The countries studied were Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico. Before our study, there were no data available on HBT development in half of the Latin-American countries we studied, i.e., Argentina, Colombia and Chile. To include these countries in a scientometric analysis of HBT provides fuller coverage of HBT development in Latin America. The scientometric study used the Web of Science database to identify health biotechnology publications. The total amount of health biotechnology production in the world during the period studied was about 400,000 papers. A total of 1.2% of these papers, were authored by the six Latin American countries in this study. The results show a significant growth in health biotechnology publications in Latin America despite some of the countries having social and political instability, fluctuations in their gross domestic expenditure in research and development or a trade embargo that limits opportunities for scientific development. The growth in the field of some of the Latin American countries studied was larger than the growth of most industrialized nations. Still, the visibility of the Latin American research (measured in the number of citations) did not reach the world average, with the exception of Colombia. The main producers of health biotechnology papers in Latin America were universities, except in Cuba were governmental institutions were the most frequent producers. The countries studied were active in international research collaboration with Colombia being the most active (64% of papers co-authored internationally), whereas Brazil was the least active (35% of papers). Still, the domestic collaboration was even more prevalent, with Chile being the most active in such collaboration (85% of papers co-authored domestically) and Argentina the least active (49% of papers). We conclude that the Latin American countries studied are increasing their health biotechnology publishing. This strategy could contribute to the development of innovations that may solve local health problems in the region.
Efficacy and safety of extended thromboprophylaxis for medically ill patients

Summary Compelling evidence suggests that the risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) persists after hospital discharge in acutely-ill medical patients. However, no studies consistently supported the routine use of extended-duration thromboprophylaxis (ET) in this setting. We performed a meta-analysis to assess efficacy and safety of ET in acutely-ill medical patients. Efficacy outcome was defined by the prevention of symptomatic DVT, PE, venous thromboembolism (VTE) and VTE-related mortality. Safety outcome was the occurrence of major bleeding (MB) and fatal bleeding (FB). Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 %CI) were calculated for each outcome using a random effects model. Four RCTs for a total of 28,105 acutely-ill medical patients were included. ET was associated with a significantly lower risk of DVT (0.3 % vs 0.6 %, OR 0.504, 95 %CI: 0.287–0.885) and VTE (0.5 % vs 1.0 %, OR: 0.544, 95 %CI: 0.297–0.997); a non-significantly lower risk of PE (0.3 % vs 0.4 %, OR 0.633, 95 %CI: 0.388–1.034) and of VTE-related mortality (0.2 % vs 0.3 %, OR 0.687, 95 %CI: 0.445–1.059) and with a significantly higher risk of MB (0.8 % vs 0.4 %, OR 2.095, 95 %CI: 1.333–3.295). No difference in FB was found (0.06 % vs 0.03 %, OR 1.79, 95 %CI: 0.384–8.325). The risk benefit analysis showed that the NNT for DVT was 339, for VTE was 239, and the NNH for MB was 247. Results of our meta-analyses focused on clinical important outcomes did not support a general use of antithrombotic prophylaxis beyond the period of hospitalization in acutely-ill medical patients.
Influence of BII Backbone Substates on DNA Twist: A Unified View and Comparison of Simulation and Experiment for All 136 Distinct Tetranucleotide Sequences

Reliable representation of the B-DNA base-pair step twist is one of the crucial requirements for theoretical modeling of DNA supercoiling and other biologically relevant phenomena in B-DNA. It has long been suspected that the twist is inaccurately described by current empirical force fields. Unfortunately, comparison of simulation results with experiments is not straightforward because of the presence of BII backbone substates, whose populations may differ in experimental and simulation ensembles. In this work, we provide a comprehensive view of the effect of BII substates on the overall B-DNA helix twist and show how to reliably compare twist values from experiment and simulation in two scenarios. First, for longer DNA segments freely moving in solution, we show that sequence-averaged twists of different BI/BII ensembles can be compared directly because of approximate cancellation of the opposing BII effects. Second, for sequence-specific data, such as a particular base-pair step or tetranucleotide twist, can be compared only for a clearly defined BI/BII backbone conformation. For the purpose of force field testing, we designed a compact set of fourteen 22-base-pair B-DNA duplexes (Set 14) containing all 136 distinct tetranucleotide sequences and carried out a total of 84 μs of molecular dynamics simulations, primarily with the OL15 force field. Our results show that the ff99bsc0εζOL1χOL4, parmbsc1, and OL15 force fields model the B-DNA helical twist in good agreement with X-ray and minicircle ligation experiments. The comprehensive understanding obtained regarding the effect of BII substates on the base-pair step geometry should aid meaningful comparisons of various conformational ensembles in future research.
Editing of VerbaLex

In this article we would like to point out some problems in editing of the valency database VerbaLex. Editing is mostly manual and time-consuming work, requiring experienced annotators. We propose a solution in the form of a new editing interface, which can be used by new annotators without unnecessary mistakes. A good way is also creating new and modifying existing tools (WordNet Assistant), which can accelerate the work on VerbaLex and eliminate errors in the editing to a minimum.
Decision mechanisms underlying mood-congruent emotional classification

ABSTRACT There is great interest in understanding whether and how mood influences affective processing. Results in the literature have been mixed: some studies show mood-congruent processing but others do not. One limitation of previous work is that decision components for affective processing and responses biases are not dissociated. The present study explored the roles of affective processing and response biases using a drift-diffusion model (DDM) of simple choice. In two experiments, participants decided if words were emotionally positive or negative while listening to music that induced positive or negative mood. The behavioural results showed weak, inconsistent mood-congruency effects. In contrast, the DDM showed consistent effects that were selectively driven by an a-priori bias in response expectation, suggesting that music-induced mood influences expectations about the emotionality of upcoming stimuli, but not the emotionality of the stimuli themselves. Implications for future studies of emotional classification and mood are subsequently discussed.
Seasonal differences of corticosterone metabolite concentrations and parasite burden in northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita): The role of affiliative interactions

The reproductive season is energetically costly as revealed by elevated glucocorticoid concentrations, constrained immune functions and an increased risk of infections. Social allies and affiliative interactions may buffer physiological stress responses and thereby alleviate associated effects. In the present study, we investigated the seasonal differences of immune reactive corticosterone metabolite concentrations, endoparasite burden (nematode eggs and coccidian oocysts) and affiliative interactions in northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), a critically endangered bird. In total, 43 individually marked focal animals from a free-ranging colony were investigated. The analyses included a description of initiated and received affiliative interactions, pair bond status as well as seasonal patterns of hormone and endoparasite levels. During the reproductive season, droppings contained parasite eggs more often and corticosterone metabolite levels were higher as compared to the period after reproduction. The excretion rate of endoparasite products was lower in paired individuals than in unpaired ones, but paired animals exhibited higher corticosterone metabolite concentrations than unpaired individuals. Furthermore, paired individuals initiated affiliative behaviour more frequently than unpaired ones. This suggests that the reproductive season influences the excretion patterns of endoparasite products and corticosterone metabolites and that affiliative interactions between pair partners may positively affect endoparasite burden during periods of elevated glucocorticoid levels. Being embedded in a pair bond may have a positive impact on individual immune system and parasite resistance.
OnlynessIsLoneliness (OIL)

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. OnlynessIsLoneliness (OIL) O. Corcho, Catherine Roussey
Normative Basal Values of Hormones and Proteins of Gonadal and Adrenal Functions from Birth to Adulthood

In clinical practice, it is fundamental to compare the results of hormonal examinations obtained in the laboratory with reliable reference values. This is particularly difficult when faced with rare conditions, such as disorders of sex development, where not routinely assayed peptide hormones as well as intermediate steroid metabolites are often needed and local reliable reference values are not available. There are considerable differences among techniques and assays used in clinical and research laboratories. In fact, laboratory hormonology is undergoing a critical transition between techniques for quantitative determination: established immunoassays and mass spectrometry. Harmonizing results from different laboratories is a major challenge along the path leading to the establishment of consensus reference intervals for steroid hormones. Most of the efforts are being concentrated on testosterone, with very encouraging results being provided by the harmonization of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry results. However, this goal is still far from being achieved for the other steroid and small-molecule hormones, and a much more challenging perspective is foreseeable for protein hormones. In addition to technical issues, the importance of the definition and of the characterization of the reference population as well as sampling and processing methodology should not be underestimated, as these aspects may impact on hormonal axis and compound stability. The aim of the present review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the circulating reference values in basal condition of the hormones and proteins involved in sex development reported to date in the peer-reviewed literature. We present a series of tables where we have collected the reference intervals for each specific hormone and protein.
Combined rTMS and virtual reality brain–computer interface training for motor recovery after stroke

Objective. Combining repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with brain–computer interface (BCI) training can address motor impairment after stroke by down-regulating exaggerated inhibition from the contralesional hemisphere and encouraging ipsilesional activation. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of combined rTMS + BCI, compared to sham rTMS + BCI, on motor recovery after stroke in subjects with lasting motor paresis. Approach. Three stroke subjects approximately one year post-stroke participated in three weeks of combined rTMS (real or sham) and BCI, followed by three weeks of BCI alone. Behavioral and electrophysiological differences were evaluated at baseline, after three weeks, and after six weeks of treatment. Main results. Motor improvements were observed in both real rTMS + BCI and sham groups, but only the former showed significant alterations in inter-hemispheric inhibition in the desired direction and increased relative ipsilesional cortical activation from fMRI. In addition, significant improvements in BCI performance over time and adequate control of the virtual reality BCI paradigm were observed only in the former group. Significance. When combined, the results highlight the feasibility and efficacy of combined rTMS + BCI for motor recovery, demonstrated by increased ipsilesional motor activity and improvements in behavioral function for the real rTMS + BCI condition in particular. Our findings also demonstrate the utility of BCI training alone, as shown by behavioral improvements for the sham rTMS + BCI condition. This study is the first to evaluate combined rTMS and BCI training for motor rehabilitation and provides a foundation for continued work to evaluate the potential of both rTMS and virtual reality BCI training for motor recovery after stroke.
Location-Enhanced Activity Recognition in Indoor Environments Using Off the Shelf Smart Watch Technology and BLE Beacons

Activity recognition in indoor spaces benefits context awareness and improves the efficiency of applications related to personalised health monitoring, building energy management, security and safety. The majority of activity recognition frameworks, however, employ a network of specialised building sensors or a network of body-worn sensors. As this approach suffers with respect to practicality, we propose the use of commercial off-the-shelf devices. In this work, we design and evaluate an activity recognition system composed of a smart watch, which is enhanced with location information coming from Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons. We evaluate the performance of this approach for a variety of activities performed in an indoor laboratory environment, using four supervised machine learning algorithms. Our experimental results indicate that our location-enhanced activity recognition system is able to reach a classification accuracy ranging from 92% to 100%, while without location information classification accuracy it can drop to as low as 50% in some cases, depending on the window size chosen for data segmentation.
Effective dispersal and density-dependence in mesophotic macroalgal forests: Insights from the Mediterranean species Cystoseira zosteroides

Dispersal and recruitment are fundamental processes for population recovery following disturbances in sessile species. While both processes are well understood for many terrestrial species, they still remain poorly resolved for some macroalgal species. Here we experimentally investigated the effective dispersal and recruit survival of a mesophotic Mediterranean fucoid, Cystoseira zosteroides. In three isolated populations, four sets of settlement collectors were placed at increasing distances (from 0 to 10 m) and different orientations (North, South, East and West). We observed that effective dispersal was restricted to populations’ vicinity, with an average of 6.43 m and not further than 13.33 m, following a Weibull distribution. During their first year of life, survival was up to 50%, but it was lower underneath the adult canopy, suggesting a negative density-dependence. To put our results in a broader context we compared the effective dispersal of other fucoid and kelp species reported in the literature, which confirmed the low dispersal ability of brown algae, in particular for fucoids, with an effective dispersal of few meters. Given the importance of recruitment for the persistence and recovery of populations after disturbances, these results underline the vulnerability of C. zosteroides and other fucoid species to escalating threats.
Noninvasive Evaluation of Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

|Only 20% of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) progress to cirrhosis [1]. Progressive fibrosis is the hallmark of an unfavorable course and is related to several factors such as male gender, contracting the disease at an older age, features of the metabolic syndrome, iron overload, ethanol abuse, and co-infection with hepatitis B or human acquired immunodeficiency viruses. However, the course of the disease is highly variable from individual to individual. Liver biopsy remains the gold standard for evaluating necroinflammation (grade) and fibrosis (stage) in CHC [2]; however, this pre-eminence is currently being examined due to its intrinsic risks and limitations. Liver biopsy is an invasive procedure that carries a risk of complications, although rarely severe. The biopsy provides a very small specimen of liver tissue and has both a significant rate of sampling error, especially when the cylinder obtained is less than 25 mm in length, and interobserver variability. The risk-benefit ratio of liver biopsy is insufficient to maintain it as a firstline procedure, and new and non-invasive criteria for the evaluation of liver fibrosis are urgently needed [3]. A discussion on the molecular pathobiology of liver fibrogenesis is beyond the scope of this article (for a review see references [4] and [5]. The ideal marker for liver fibrosis must be specific to fibrosis of the liver, not influenced by co-morbidities, sensitive, reproducible, and informative for both the current stage of fibrosis as well as the rate of fibrogenesis activity [6]. For practical purposes, non-invasive fibrosis markers can be classified as direct (Class I biomarkers), indirect (Class II biomarkers), and imaging methods [7].
Exploring Effective Contextual Factors for Regular Cervical Cancer Screening in Iranian Women: A Qualitative Study

Background: Adherence to regular screening programs for cervical cancer in Iranian women is not common. The aim of this study was to explore contextual factors influencing behavior and compliance with guidelines. Methods: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted in 2016-2017 in Hamadan city, Iran. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 31 participants who were selected purposefully on referring to health centers. Twenty-three were women with various experiences of cervical cancer screening and 8 were health care providers (4 midwives, 1 gynecologist, 1 general practitioner and 1 family health expert). Guba and Lincoln criteria were used for tustworthiness. MAXQDA10 software was employed for data analysis. Results: Four themes were extracted from the data: an opportunity maker system, opportunities to become acquainted, concerns for healthy living, and perception of cancer. Conclusion: The results showed sensitivity of health care providers and their appropriate performance in relation to regular screening behavior of women is very important. Women’s perception of cancer and its curability is another factor with a major effect on screening behavior. Opportunities for people to become acquainted with the Pap smear in a variety of ways and concern for healthy living and the need to have a healthy life to ensure quality of life were also found to be important.
Assessment of Biomimetic Modification on a Novel Low Elastic Modulus TiNbHf Alloy for Dental Implants

A simple review of research literature and Research and Development trends (R&D) in the field of dental implants shows an exponential increase in their quantity. The impressive growth in the contributions of nanoscience, in general and nanotechnology/nanomaterials applied to dental care, in particular, also shows the priorities investments and substantive effort of the global research community in this area. Nevertheless, there are still many research challenges and huge opportunities to optimize dental implants. The essential purpose of this study is to assess biomimetic modifications on a novel low elastic modulus TiHfNb Alloy Ni-free. For the mimic surface samples were initially bioactive with Oxygen Plasma (OP) or Piranha etching (Pi). Later three different silanes were used (CPTES, GPTES or APTES+CL) and finally RGD or mixtures 1:1 of RGD:FHRRIKA or RGD:PHSRN were immobilized on the surface. To evaluate the biomimetic modification, cells adhesion studies were performed. For the chemical characterization different techniques were used, including, inter alia: X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Zinc-substitution complex technique (ZC), and immunofluorescence. Experimental results showed that the best activation method was the OP, and the biomimetic, modification is a well-grounded research strategy to improve the cell adhesion.
Novel Filamentous Fungi for Metal Removal from Spent Catalyst

The present study evaluated the ability of organic acids (leaching agent) produced by three filamentous fungi coded as MNSS-AH-5, MV-AH-2 and MV-AH-1 obtained from tailings samples to remove Ni and V from spent catalyst at 16 % (w/v) pulp density. Organic acids were produced in 500 mL Erlenmeyer flasks containing 150 mL of sucrose media where flasks were inoculated with 10% (1x107 conidia/mL) of each fungus and incubated during 6 days at 30°C, 150 rpm. The leaching agent produced by MNSS-AH-5, MV-AH-2 and MV-AH-1 in sucrose media were assayed to remove Ni and V from spent catalyst at 16% (w/v) pulp density during 7 days at 30°C, 150 rpm. At the end of incubation, Ni and V content was evaluated in bio treated catalyst samples by ICP-EOS. Controls containing sucrose media were included in order to evaluate the action of culture media on leaching; all experiments were done in duplicated. Results showed that after 7 days of incubation, the organic acids produced by MNSS-AH-5 were able to leach 2525 mg/Kg of Ni corresponding to 21 %, not significance difference was observed for organic acids of MV-AH-2 and MV-AH-1. In the case of V, all bioleaching treatments presented statistical difference observing a V leaching of 10921.8, 11099.3 and 4757.5 mg/Kg corresponding to 23.5, 24 and 10% for MNSS-AH-5, MV-AH-2 and MV-AH-1 respectively. Isolate MNSS-AH-5 was identified as Acremonium sp. , MV-AH-2 and MV-AH-1 were identified as belonging to genera Penicillium. Based on results, this study shows that leaching agent produced by fungi could be an excellent biological alternative for the removal of Ni and V spent catalyst.