Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preventing vertical HIV virus transmission: hospital care assessment.

OBJECTIVES assess the implementation of actions to prevent vertical transmission of HIV. METHODS a retrospective cohort study conducted in two maternity hospitals in the city of Montes Claros, State of Minas Gerais. All women admitted for childbirth diagnosed with HIV and their respective newborns were included from 2014 to 2017. Data were collected from medical records and analyzed descriptively. RESULTS population consisted of 46 pairs of mothers and newborns. Management was considered inadequate in 30 cases of parturient/postpartum women (65.2%) and 14 cases of newborns (30.4%). The main reasons for inadequate maternal management were lack of pharmacological inhibition of lactation (53.3%) and counseling/consent for HIV testing (43.3%). For newborns, late onsetoffirst dose ofZidovudine (50.0%) and no prescriptionofNevirapine (28.6%). CONCLUSIONS important prevention opportunities were missed, pointing to the need for improved care.
Phenotypic and functional translation of IL1RL1 locus polymorphisms in lung tissue and asthmatic airway epithelium

The IL1RL1 (ST2) gene locus is robustly associated with asthma; however, the contribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in this locus to specific asthma subtypes and the functional mechanisms underlying these associations remain to be defined. We tested for association between IL1RL1 region SNPs and characteristics of asthma as defined by clinical and immunological measures and addressed functional effects of these genetic variants in lung tissue and airway epithelium. Utilizing 4 independent cohorts (Lifelines, Dutch Asthma GWAS [DAG], Genetics of Asthma Severity and Phenotypes [GASP], and Manchester Asthma and Allergy Study [MAAS]) and resequencing data, we identified 3 key signals associated with asthma features. Investigations in lung tissue and primary bronchial epithelial cells identified context-dependent relationships between the signals and IL1RL1 mRNA and soluble protein expression. This was also observed for asthma-associated IL1RL1 nonsynonymous coding TIR domain SNPs. Bronchial epithelial cell cultures from asthma patients, exposed to exacerbation-relevant stimulations, revealed modulatory effects for all 4 signals on IL1RL1 mRNA and/or protein expression, suggesting SNP-environment interactions. The IL1RL1 TIR signaling domain haplotype affected IL-33–driven NF-κB signaling, while not interfering with TLR signaling. In summary, we identify that IL1RL1 genetic signals potentially contribute to severe and eosinophilic phenotypes in asthma, as well as provide initial mechanistic insight, including genetic regulation of IL1RL1 isoform expression and receptor signaling.
MicroRNA-4290 suppresses PDK1-mediated glycolysis to enhance the sensitivity of gastric cancer cell to cisplatin

The development of chemotherapy resistance significantly impairs the efficiency of chemotherapy, but the underlying mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in gastric cancer (GC) are complicated and still need to be further explored. Here, we aimed to reveal the effects of miR-4290/PDK1 (pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1) axis on chemotherapy resistance of GC in vitro. The expression patterns of miR-4290 in GC tissues and cell lines were determined by real-time quantitative PCR. Kaplan-Meier was used to assess the relationship between miR-4290 expression levels and patients' overall survival. CCK-8 and flow cytometry technologies were applied to detect cell proliferation and apoptosis. The luciferase gene reporter assay was used to evaluate the interaction between miR-4290 and PDK1. miR-4290 was lowly expressed in GC tissues and cell lines, which was closely associated with the shorter overall survival of GC patients. miR-4290 mimics significantly inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis, as well as induced a significant reduction in the expression of PDK1. Moreover, miR-4290 significantly inhibited glycolysis and decreased the IC50 value to cisplatin in SGC7901 cells, whereas these effects were abolished and cell apoptosis was promoted when PDK1 was overexpressed. In conclusion, this study revealed that miR-4290 suppressed PDK1-mediated glycolysis to enhance the sensitivity of GC cells to cisplatin.
Stimulus Uncertainty Affects Perception in Human Echolocation: Timing, Level, and Spectrum

The human brain may use recent sensory experience to create sensory templates that are then compared to incoming sensory input, that is, “knowing what to listen for. ” This can lead to greater perceptual sensitivity, as long as the relevant properties of the target stimulus can be reliably estimated from past sensory experiences. Echolocation is an auditory skill probably best understood in bats, but humans can also echolocate. Here we investigated for the first time whether echolocation in humans involves the use of sensory templates derived from recent sensory experiences. Our results showed that when there was certainty in the acoustic properties of the echo relative to the emission, either in temporal onset, spectral content or level, people detected the echo more accurately than when there was uncertainty. In addition, we found that people were more accurate when the emission’s spectral content was certain but, surprisingly, not when either its level or temporal onset was certain. Importantly, the lack of an effect of temporal onset of the emission is counter to that found previously for tasks using nonecholocation sounds, suggesting that the underlying mechanisms might be different for echolocation and nonecholocation sounds. Importantly, the effects of stimulus certainty were no different for people with and without experience in echolocation, suggesting that stimulus-specific sensory templates can be used in a skill that people have never used before. From an applied perspective our results suggest that echolocation instruction should encourage users to make clicks that are similar to one another in their spectral content.
Cimetidine a promising radio‐protective agent through modulating Bax/Bcl2 ratio: An in vivo study in male rats

Radiotherapy is one of the most effective modalities for treatment of neoplastic diseases. Radiation damage is to a large extent caused by overproduction of reactive oxygen species. To improve the therapeutic index, identifying effective substances for prevention or treatment of postirradiation intestinal and bone marrow injury should be prompted. This study was designed to evaluate the protective effects of cimetidine on the in rats exposed to γ‐irradiation (5 Gy) and exploring the B‐cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2)/Bcl2 associated X (bax) pathway as a probable underlying mechanism. Eighteen adult male rats were randomly grouped into three: control, untreated irradiated rats, and irradiated rats pretreated with cimetidine. Seven days postirradiation the rats were culled, the bone marrow (BM) and jejunum tissue samples were collected for biochemical, histological, and immunohistological evaluation of BM cell count (BMCs), intestinal fibrosis, oxidative stress, tumor necrosis factor‐α, Bcl2, and Bax. Cimetidine pretreatment significantly reversed the loss of BMCs, intestinal lining destruction, and fibrosis seen in the untreated irradiated rats and significantly decreased the underlying oxidative stress, inflammation, and Bax/Bcl2 ratio. There was a significant differential correlation between Bax/Bcl2 ratio, tissue oxidative stress level, and tissue injury. Cimetidine represents a very promising radioprotective agent with a potential differential beneficial effect on both cancer cells (inducing apoptosis) as previously proved through different studies and adjacent healthy cells (providing radioprotection via inhibiting apoptosis) as clearly demonstrated through this study, via its antioxidant effect and subsequent regulation of type 2 apoptotic pathway through modulation of Bax/Bcl2 ratio.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and development of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in workers.

OBJECTIVES to identify the scientific evidence on the development of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases due to workplace contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. METHODS integrative literature review. The search for primary articles was held in October 2017 in the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (through Pubmed), Web of Science and Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS). RESULTS the 16 studies analyzed showed that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was associated with cardiovascular diseases, such as increased blood pressure, heart rate variation, and ischemic heart disease; and respiratory disorders, such as decreased lung function, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, wheeze, coughing, pulmonary wheezing, chest tightness, effort dyspnea, and sore throat. CONCLUSIONS polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons cause deleterious effects on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems through mutations and cellular inflammation, being a risk to exposed individuals.
Long non-coding RNA NORAD regulates angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells via miR-590-3p under hypoxic conditions

Dysregulation of angiogenesis can be caused by hypoxia, which may result in severe diseases of the heart, including coronary artery disease. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) modulates angiogenesis via the regulation of several angiogenic factors. However, the underlying mechanism of hypoxia-induced angiogenesis remains unknown. In the present study, it was hypothesized that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) non-coding RNA activated by DNA damage (NORAD) may serve a role in the process of angiogenesis via the regulation of microRNA(miR)-590-3p under hypoxic conditions. The effect of NORAD and miR-590-3p on cell viability and properties associated with angiogenesis, including cell migration and tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) under hypoxic conditions, were assessed. Potential downstream angiogenic factors of miR-590-3p were also determined by molecular experiments. It was identified that NORAD expression was upregulated and miR-590-3p expression was downregulated in hypoxia-exposed HUVECs, and also in myocardial infarction (MI) left ventricle tissues in mice. Moreover, downregulation of NORAD expression resulted in decreased cell viability and angiogenic capacity, but further knocking down miR-590-3p expression reversed these alterations, resulting in increased cell migration and tube formation in HUVECs under hypoxic conditions for 24 h. It was demonstrated that NORAD overexpression also increased cell vitality and tube-formation capacity. Furthermore, NORAD was identified to bind with miR-590-3p directly, and miR-590-3p was shown to target certain proangiogenic agents, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)A, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)1 and FGF2 directly. Therefore, the present results suggested that lncRNA NORAD may bind with miR-590-3p to regulate the angiogenic ability of HUVECs via the regulation of several downstream proangiogenic factors under hypoxia. Thus, the lncRNA NORAD/miR-590-3p axis may be a novel regulatory pathway in the angiogenic mechanisms in HUVECs, which highlights a potentially novel perspective for treating ischemia/hypoxia-induced angiogenic diseases.
Development of an in situ injectable hydrogel containing hyaluronic acid for neural regeneration

In this work, a novel enzymatically crosslinked injectable hydrogel comprising hyaluronic acid (HyA), dopamine (DA), and 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propionic acid (HPA) conjugates was successfully developed. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that HPA is conjugated to a HyA-based backbone. In situ hydrogelation of HyA-DA-HPA occurred in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as an oxidant and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a catalyst. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the chemical reactions between HyA, DA, and HPA. Gel formation completed between 3 s to 5 min depending on the concentrations of polymer, HRP, and H2O2. Crosslinked HyA-DA-HPA gels acquired storage moduli ranging from ∼100 Pa to ∼20 000 Pa (at f = 2000 rad s−1). Biocompatibility of the hydrogels was examined with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells. The hydrogels made of 2.0 w/v% HyA-DA-HPA hydrogels, 0.24 U ml−1 HRP and ≤ 0.5 µmol ml−1 H2O2 were found biocompatible with hMSCs cultured on and encapsulated within the hydrogels. Since HyA serves as a backbone of the extracellular matrix in the central nervous system (CNS) and DA acquires the ability to restore dopaminergic neurons, use of this injectable HyA-DA-HPA hydrogel for stem cell transplantation is a potential treatment strategy for CNS repair and regeneration.
Cellular and molecular impact of vitrification versus slow freezing on ovarian tissue.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a vitrification protocol from histology to gene expression to slow freezing. METHODS Ovaries from twelve pre-pubertal ewes. The same ovary was cut into fragments studied fresh, frozen and vitrified. Follicle morphology by HES staining, vitality by trypan blue and apoptosis by marking cleaved caspase-3 were studied. Expression of gene: AMH, CYP11A, and STAR (granulosa cells); GDF9 and ZP3 (oocytes); and CCND2 and CDKN1A (cell cycle regulation), was evaluated by rt-qPCR. RESULTS The slow freezing protocol had a significant negative impact on intact primordial follicles compared to fresh tissue (37.6% vs. 62.5%, p = 0.003). More intact follicles after vitrification were observed compared to slow freezing (p = 0.037). The apoptotic primordial follicles were similar after slow freezing and vitrification (12.6% vs 13.9%). Concerning granulosa cells genes, slow freezing led to a trend towards overexpression of AMH mRNA (p = 0.07); while vitrification led to a significant overexpression of CYP11A mRNA (p = 0.003), and a trend towards an overexpression of STAR mRNA (p = 0.06). Concerning oocytes genes, both techniques did not lead to a difference of GDF9 and ZP3 mRNA. Concerning cell cycle genes, slow freezing led to a significant underexpression of CCND2 (p = 0.04); while vitrification did not lead to a difference for CCND2 and CDKN1A mRNA. CONCLUSION Vitrification preserved follicular morphology better than slow freezing and led to gene overexpressed, while slow freezing led to gene underexpressed.
2-Dimensional HP Folding Structures of Coenzyme Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Synthesis Protein A

It is a consensus that bio-fuel should play a more and more important role in so-called green economy. In this context, all the enzymes either being related to ethanol itself or being related to any products connecting with ethanol could be interesting objectives for studies. A prosthetic group of bacterial methanol, ethanol and glucose dehydrogenases is Pyrrolo Quinoline Quinone (PQQ), whose trianionic form comes from deprotonation of three carboxy groups [1]. Although PPQ is a prosthetic group, there are many enzymes existing in bacteria for its synthesis. Of those enzymes, coenzyme PQQ synthesis protein A (PQQA) is a 24-amino acid peptide [2].
Co-creativity in Videogame Level Design

Motivation for this work comes from the belief that there is some untapped potential in having a computer work as a colleague with the videogame level designer as a source of creative stimulus, instead of simply being a tool, in order to achieve overall more creative results than those obtained from solo development. The proposed solution consists of a co-creative level design tool, focused on fostering creativity by allowing human and computer to work together in producing content using the Legend of Grimrock 2 Level Editor, exploring the digital “peer” paradigm. Its interface can be used by the designer to preview generated suggestions and orient its behavior. Suggestions are generated and iteratively evolved by two genetic algorithms and can be guided by the designer on different domains: innovation , objective and user map . Innovation seeks to generate content different from the designer’s level, objective seeks to generate content respecting speciﬁc layout guidelines and user map seeks to generate content strongly based on the designer’s level. Results showed this approach to be promising since it takes into account the smaller nuances of the co-creative interaction as a source of a positive inﬂuence. Outlined improvements such as a better way to support designer-speciﬁc patterns, selection context or on-demand suggestion generation helped set a direction for future work. We concluded that through an intuitive interface, ﬂexible and adjustable behavior and an agile interaction process, we were able to provide some interesting contributions to the quality of the co-creative level design process.
VisBig : Visualize Big Data in Real Time

—Nowadays information devices can be found anywhere, whether in a personal computer, smartwatch or even in our appliances. These devices create relevant information to the identiﬁcation of patterns or anomalies of the systems. Given the signiﬁcant growth of those devices, some representation methods are no longer able to respond efﬁciently to users needs. Although there are solutions to visualize this type of information it’s important to look for new ways to present them in a real-time environment so users can act quickly to the abrupt change of the regular ﬂow of data so they can attempt to solve the problems of the systems. This thesis provides a solution for presenting large amounts of real-time data where users are able to identify anomalies and trends in information as well as maintain context when changes in data ﬂow exist. We propose VisMillion , a visualization interface for large amounts of data in real-time. This web solution is based on Canvas technology. Using different modules the system represents data in many ways. The more recent the data, the more detailed it is, so each module uses different techniques to aggregate and process information. This report does a state-of-the-art analysis for viewing large amounts of data in real time. Then it presents the architecture of the solution and its justiﬁcations for the options taken. Finally, carries out a detailed evaluation of the obtained results and a ﬁnal analysis and reﬂection where some of the future work is also mentioned which could improve the system.
A Very High-Order Finite Volume Technique for Convection-Diffusion Problems on Unstructured Grids

In this Thesis, a previously developed high-order finite volume scheme for unstructured grids is improved and extended to convection-diffusion problems. The method used is based on the weighted least-squares and reconstructs a high-order polynomial at each face center. A scaling technique is introduced when solving the least-squares problem resulting in a lower condition number and faster inversion time of the local least-squares matrix. The proposed algorithm is developed and studied for second, fourth, sixth and eighth orders schemes, showing a convergence order close to the theoretical one for several analytical solutions and grid topologies. A different stencil expansion algorithm, based on face neighbors, is tested, resulting in a higher accuracy while decreasing the required memory and solver run time (SRT). A new weight function is studied, having as main criteria the condition number of the global and local matrices, and also the convergence order of the mean error. Finally, a study on different meshes types (Cartesian, triangular, polyhedral, hybrid and irregular quadrilaterals) and scheme orders is done to compare the best and most efficient combinations for regular and irregular grids. This efficiency is compared by computing the memory and SRT required by each scheme versus the obtained accuracy.
Endotracheal Intubation Using McGrath Videolaryngoscope in Klippel-Feil Syndrome

report a case of successful endotracheal intubation using a videolaryngoscope in a patient with congenital anatomic defects in the cervical spine from Klippel-Feil syndrome. Patients with Klippel-Feil syndrome require much attention during anesthesia because of congenital abnormalities in head and neck regions and the high probability of neurological damage from cervical spine instability during endotracheal intubation. We report a case of successful endotracheal intubation using a videolaryngoscope in a patient with Klippel-Feil syndrome who experienced difficult transnasal intubation. (Ewha Med J 2018;41(4):86-89)
Astrophysicists on Twitter

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the tweeting behavior of 37 astrophysicists on Twitter and compares their tweeting behavior with their publication behavior and citation impact to show whether they tweet research-related topics or not. Design/methodology/approach – Astrophysicists on Twitter are selected to compare their tweets with their publications from Web of Science. Different user groups are identified based on tweeting and publication frequency. Findings – A moderate negative correlation (r1⁄4 0.339) is found between the number of publications and tweets per day, while retweet and citation rates do not correlate. The similarity between tweets and abstracts is very low (cos1⁄4 0.081). User groups show different tweeting behavior such as retweeting and including hashtags, usernames and URLs. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited in terms of the small set of astrophysicists. Results are not necessarily representative of the entire astrophysicist community on Twitter and they most certainly do not apply to scientists in general. Future research should apply the methods to a larger set of researchers and other scientific disciplines. Practical implications – To a certain extent, this study helps to understand how researchers use Twitter. The results hint at the fact that impact on Twitter can neither be equated with nor replace traditional research impact metrics. However, tweets and other so-called altmetrics might be able to reflect other impact of scientists such as public outreach and science communication. Originality/value – To the best of the knowledge, this is the first in-depth study comparing researchers’ tweeting activity and behavior with scientific publication output in terms of quantity, content and impact.
Participation of Children, Birth Parents and Foster Carers in the Matching Decision. Paternalism or Partnership?

Participation of children, birth parents and foster carers in matching decision-making has the potential to improve the outcomes of a foster care placement. When practitioners choose which foster family is the best fit for a foster child, those affected by the foster care placement should be involved in decision-making when possible. This research paper examined the influence of children, birth parents and foster carers in the matching decision from a practitioners’ perspective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 practitioners from 17 of the 28 foster care organisations in the Netherlands responsible for matching children with foster families. The analysis identified three themes that diminished the influence of children, birth parents and foster carers on the matching decision: assumptions, timing and feasibility. The findings emphasize that the influence of stakeholders on the matching decision is highly contextual. In the matching process, practitioners can be seen as key figures in facilitating the influence of stakeholders; yet, are also confronted with the difficulty of dealing with more than one stakeholder, who can have opposing interests, in an – often – compromised setting with limited choices.