Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A multidisciplinary approach to peritoneal metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma: clinical features, management and outcomes

Aim of the study Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a lethal malignancy with heterogeneous behavior determined by liver function, clinical presentation and treatment response. Peritoneal metastasis (PM) from HCC is rare and management is challenging. We aim to report a cohort of patients with advanced HCC and describe demographic characteristics, treatment and outcomes of patients with PM. Material and methods We analyzed data from a retrospective cohort of patients with HCC. Patients with PM were analyzed individually. Baseline characteristics, treatment strategy and median overall survival (OS) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were reported. Results 238 patients with advanced HCC were evaluated. Eleven patients had PM: 7 patients were treated with systemic treatment and 4 were treated with upfront peritonectomy followed by systemic treatment at recurrence. These 4 patients had well-preserved liver function and low disease burden and were younger compared to the total cohort. The median time to recurrence after peritonectomy was 30.25 months (interquartile range [IQR]: 13.53-46.92): 3 of them presented peritoneal recurrence (2 with diffuse peritoneal spread and 1 with concomitant hepatic recurrence) and 1 presented pulmonary recurrence. Overall, patients with PM showed similar OS compared to patients with other metastatic sites (11.8 months; 95% CI: 1.5-19.8 vs. 8 months; 95% CI: 6.7-10, p = 0.901). Patients with PM treated with upfront surgery had a median OS of 60 months (95% CI: 16.7-not reached). Conclusions Resection of PM from HCC may provide long-term survival in selected patients. A multidisciplinary approach is the optimal strategy for managing PM from HCC.
Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Measures for Patients Discharged from Acute Psychiatric Care: Four-Arm Peer and Text Messaging Support Controlled Observational Study

Background: Peer support workers (PSW) and text messaging services (TxM) are supportive health services that are frequently examined in the field of mental health. Both interventions have positive outcomes, with TxM demonstrating clinical and economic effectiveness and PSW showing its utility within the recovery-oriented model. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of PSW and TxM in reducing psychological distress of recently discharged patients receiving psychiatric care. Methods: This is a prospective, rater-blinded, pilot-controlled observational study consisting of 181 patients discharged from acute psychiatric care. Patients were randomized into one of four conditions: daily supportive text messages only, peer support only, peer support plus daily text messages, or treatment as usual. Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation—Outcome Measure (CORE-OM), a standardized measure of mental distress, was administered at four time points: baseline, six weeks, three months, and six months. MANCOVA was used to assess the impact of the interventions on participants’ scores on four CORE-OM subscales across the three follow-up time points. Recovery, clinical change, and reliable change in CORE-OM all-item analysis were examined across the four groups, and the prevalence of risk symptoms was measured. Results: A total of 63 patients completed assessments at each time point. The interaction between PSW and TxM was predictive of differences in scores on the CORE-OM functioning subscale with a medium effect size (F1,63 = 4.19; p = 0.045; ηp2 = 0.07). The PSW + TxM group consistently achieved higher rates of recovery and clinical and reliable improvement compared to the other study groups. Additionally, the text message group and the PSW + TxM group significantly reduced the prevalence of risk of self/other harm symptoms after six months of intervention, with 27.59% (χ2(1) = 4.42, p = 0.04) and 50% (χ2(1) = 9.03, p < 0.01) prevalence reduction, respectively. Conclusions: The combination of peer support and supportive text messaging is an impactful intervention with positive clinical outcomes for acute care patients. Adding the two interventions into routine psychiatric care for patients after discharge is highly recommended.
Molecular Genetics and Cytotoxic Responses to Titanium Diboride and Zinc Borate Nanoparticles on Cultured Human Primary Alveolar Epithelial Cells

Titanium diboride (TiB2) and zinc borate (Zn3BO6) have been utilized in wide spectrum industrial areas because of their favorable properties such as a high melting point, good wear resistance, high hardness and thermal conductivity. On the other hand, the biomedical potentials of TiB2 and Zn3BO6 are still unknown because there is no comprehensive analysis that uncovers their biocompatibility features. Thus, the toxicogenomic properties of TiB2 and Zn3BO6 nanoparticles (NPs) were investigated on human primary alveolar epithelial cell cultures (HPAEpiC) by using different cell viability assays and microarray analyses. Protein-Protein Interaction Networks Functional Enrichment Analysis (STRING) was used to associate differentially expressed gene probes. According to the results, up to 10 mg/L concentration of TiB2 and Zn3BO6 NPs application did not stimulate a cytotoxic effect on the HPAEpiC cell cultures. Microarray analysis revealed that TiB2 NPs exposure enhances cellular adhesion molecules, proteases and carrier protein expression. Furthermore, Zn3BO6 NPs caused differential gene expressions in the cell cycle, cell division and extracellular matrix regulators. Finally, STRING analyses put forth that inflammation, cell regeneration and tissue repair-related gene interactions were affected by TiB2 NPs application. Zn3BO6 NPs exposure significantly altered inflammation, lipid metabolism and infection response activator-related gene interactions. These investigations illustrated that TiB2 and Zn3BO6 NPs exposure may affect different aspects of cellular machineries such as immunogenic responses, tissue regeneration and cell survival. Thus, these types of cellular mechanisms should be taken into account before the use of the related NPs in further biomedical applications.
In Vitro Erythropoiesis at Different pO2 Induces Adaptations That Are Independent of Prior Systemic Exposure to Hypoxia

Hypoxia is associated with increased erythropoietin (EPO) release to drive erythropoiesis. At high altitude, EPO levels first increase and then decrease, although erythropoiesis remains elevated at a stable level. The roles of hypoxia and related EPO adjustments are not fully understood, which has contributed to the formulation of the theory of neocytolysis. We aimed to evaluate the role of oxygen exclusively on erythropoiesis, comparing in vitro erythroid differentiation performed at atmospheric oxygen, a lower oxygen concentration (three percent oxygen) and with cultures of erythroid precursors isolated from peripheral blood after a 19-day sojourn at high altitude (3450 m). Results highlight an accelerated erythroid maturation at low oxygen and more concave morphology of reticulocytes. No differences in deformability were observed in the formed reticulocytes in the tested conditions. Moreover, hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells isolated from blood affected by hypoxia at high altitude did not result in different erythroid development, suggesting no retention of a high-altitude signature but rather an immediate adaptation to oxygen concentration. This adaptation was observed during in vitro erythropoiesis at three percent oxygen by a significantly increased glycolytic metabolic profile. These hypoxia-induced effects on in vitro erythropoiesis fail to provide an intrinsic explanation of the concept of neocytolysis.
Comparison of growth features and cancer stem cell prevalence in intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cell lines

Aim of the study Intra- and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (I-CCA and E-CCA respectively) exhibit different growth features that contribute to different clinical outcomes. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) influence tumor growth and thereby may be responsible for these differences. The aim of this study was to document and compare the growth features of human I-CCA and E-CCA cell lines and determine whether any differences observed could be explained by differences in the prevalence and/or stem cell surface marker (SCSM) expression profiles of CSCs within the tumor cell lines. Material and methods Six CCA cells lines, three I-CCA and three E-CCA, were studied. Tumor cell growth features including cell proliferation, colony/spheroid formation, migration and invasion were documented. CSC prevalence and SCSM expression profiles were examined by flow cytometry. Results I-CCA cells had significantly increased proliferative activity, shorter doubling times and were more invasive than E-CCA cells, while colony/spheroid formation and migration were similar in the two cell populations. There were no significant differences in CSC prevalence rates or SCSM expression profiles. Conclusions These findings suggest that I-CCA cells proliferate at a more rapid rate and are more invasive than E-CCA cells but the differences cannot be explained by differences in the prevalence or SCSM expression profiles of CSCs within the tumor cell population.
Spherical Nucleic Acids as Precision Therapeutics for the Treatment of Cancer—From Bench to Bedside

Simple Summary Nanotechnology enables new ways to diagnose and treat cancer. Nanomedicines can increase payload concentration at the disease site, reduce toxicity, and enhance therapeutic effects compared to drugs in their “free” form. Spherical Nucleic Acids (SNAs) emerged as a new class of oligonucleotide nanotherapeutics that are currently being explored as gene-regulatory and immunostimulatory architectures to overcome drug resistance and immunosuppression in solid tumors. This review highlights seminal studies that identified SNAs as a powerful platform for gene regulation, the activation of innate immunity, and the development of next-generation cancer vaccines, discusses recent efforts to translate fundamental discovery from the laboratory into the clinic, and provides an outlook on future research aimed at harnessing the full therapeutic potential of the SNA platform. Abstract Spherical Nucleic Acids (SNAs) emerged as a new class of nanotherapeutics consisting of a nanoparticle core densely functionalized with a shell of radially oriented synthetic oligonucleotides. The unique three-dimensional architecture of SNAs protects the oligonucleotides from nuclease-mediated degradation, increases oligonucleotide bioavailability, and in the absence of auxiliary transfection agents, enables robust uptake into tumor and immune cells through polyvalent association with cell surface pattern recognition receptors. When composed of gene-regulatory small interfering (si)RNA or immunostimulatory DNA or RNA oligonucleotides, SNAs silence gene expression and induce immune responses superior to those raised by the oligonucleotides in their “free” form. Early phase clinical trials of gene-regulatory siRNA-based SNAs in glioblastoma (NCT03020017) and immunostimulatory Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9)-agonistic SNAs carrying unmethylated CpG-rich oligonucleotides in solid tumors (NCT03086278) have shown that SNAs represent a safe, brain-penetrant therapy for inhibiting oncogene expression and stimulating immune responses against tumors. This review focuses on the application of SNAs as precision cancer therapeutics, summarizes the findings from first-in-human clinical trials of SNAs in solid tumors, describes the most recent preclinical efforts to rationally design next-generation multimodal SNA architectures, and provides an outlook on future efforts to maximize the anti-neoplastic activity of the SNA platform.
Effect of Different Carbohydrate Intakes within 24 Hours after Glycogen Depletion on Muscle Glycogen Recovery in Japanese Endurance Athletes

Daily muscle glycogen recovery after training is important for athletes. Few studies have reported a continuous change in muscle glycogen for 24 h. We aimed to investigate the changes in carbohydrate intake amount on muscle glycogen recovery for 24 h after exercise using 13C-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C-MRS). In this randomized crossover study, eight male participants underwent prolonged high-intensity exercise, and then consumed one of the three carbohydrate meals (5 g/kg body mass (BM)/d, 7 g/kg BM/d, or 10 g/kg BM/d). Glycogen content of thigh muscle was measured using 13C-MRS before, immediately after, and 4 h, 12 h and 24 h after exercise. Muscle glycogen concentration decreased to 29.9 ± 15.9% by exercise. Muscle glycogen recovery 4–12 h after exercise for the 5 g/kg group was significantly lower compared to those for 7 g/kg and 10 g/kg groups (p < 0.05). Muscle glycogen concentration after 24 h recovered to the pre-exercise levels for 7 g/kg and 10 g/kg groups; however, there was a significant difference for the 5 g/kg group (p < 0.05). These results suggest that carbohydrate intake of 5 g/kg BM/d is insufficient for Japanese athletes to recover muscle glycogen stores 24 h after completing a long-term high-intensity exercise.
Comparison of LC-MS and LC-DAD Methods of Detecting Abused Piperazine Designer Drugs

Recreational use of piperazine designer drugs is a serious threat to human health. These compounds act on the body in a similar fashion to illegal drugs. They induce psychostimulatory effects as well as visual and auditory hallucinations to varying degrees. In many cases of poisoning and deaths, the presence of two or even several psychoactive substances have been demonstrated. Piperazine derivatives are often found in such mixtures and pose a great analytical problem during their identification. Additionally, some piperazine derivatives can be detected in biological material as a result of metabolic changes to related drugs. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly identify these compounds and ensure repeatability of determinations. This article presents a comparison of the methods used to detect abused piperazine designer drugs using liquid chromatography in combination with a diode-array detector (LC-DAD) or mass spectrometer (LC-MS). Each of methods can be used independently for determinations, obtaining reliable results in a short time of analysis. These methods can also complement each other, providing qualitative and quantitative confirmation of results. The proposed methods provide analytical confirmation of poisoning and may be helpful in toxicological diagnostics.
What Influences Miners’ Safety Risk Perception?

The risks faced by the mining industry have always been prominent for every walk of life in China. As the direct cause of accidents, individual unsafe behaviors are closely related to their risk perception. So, it is important to explore the factors affecting miners’ risk perception and analyze the influencing mechanisms between these factors and risk perception. The questionnaire survey method was used to collect the data of risk perception from nearly 400 respondents working in metal mines in China. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to analyze and process collected data. The impact of four factors affecting miners’ risk perception was verified, namely: organizational safety atmosphere, organizational trust, knowledge level, and risk communication. Then, regression analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and structural equation model analysis were used to examine the effect of the four influencing factors on miners’ risk perception. The four influencing factors all have a positive impact on miners’ risk perception; knowledge level has the largest explained variation of miners’ risk perception, followed by risk communication. Organizational trust and organizational safety atmosphere have an indirect and positive impact on miners’ risk perception intermediated by knowledge level and risk communication. The results offer four important aspects of mine safety management to help miners establish quick and accurate risk perception, thereby reducing unsafe behaviors and avoiding accidents.
Design of Air Pressure Altitude Measuring System in Pilotless Aircraft Based on Microcontroller

The design and realization of the altitude sensor measuring system in pilotless aircraft based on microcontroller C8051F352 are introduced.The hardware,software and the design principle and program flow chart of the temperature compensation algorithmic are discussed particularly.The temperature excursion of sensor is resolved by temperature compensation of the pressure sensor and nonlinear compensation of pressure-altitude,the precision of the system is also advanced.With SPI and UART of the microcontroller,the real time show of the temperature and altitude is implemented as well as communication with the PC.The system has the characters of simple frame,small solidity,high precision,efficiency and stability.
Aberrant Structural Connectivity of the Triple Network System in Borderline Personality Disorder Is Associated with Behavioral Dysregulation

Background: Core symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are associated to aberrant connectivity of the triple network system (salience network [SN], default mode network [DMN], executive control network [ECN]). While functional abnormalities are widely reported, structural connectivity (SC) and anatomical changes have not yet been investigated. Here, we explored the triple network’s SC, structure, and its association with BPD clinical features. Methods: A total of 60 BPD and 26 healthy controls (HC) underwent a multidomain neuropsychological and multimodal MRI (diffusion- and T1-weighted imaging) assessment. Metrics (fractional anisotropy [FA], mean diffusivity [MD], cortical thickness) were extracted from SN, DMN, ECN (triple network), and visual network (control network) using established atlases. Multivariate general linear models were conducted to assess group differences in metrics and associations with clinical features. Results: Patients showed increased MD in the anterior SN, dorsal DMN, and right ECN compared to HC. Diffusivity increases were more pronounced in patients with higher behavioral dysregulation, i.e., suicidal attempting, self-harm, and aggressiveness. No differences were detected in network structure. Conclusions: These results indicate that the triple network system is impaired in BPD at the microstructural level. The preferential involvement of anterior and right-lateralized subsystems and their clinical association suggests that these abnormalities could contribute to behavioral dysregulation.
The Prognostic Value of PI-RADS Score in CyberKnife Ultra-Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Localized Prostate Cancer

Simple Summary Magnetic resonance imaging is commonly used in pre-treatment prostate cancer diagnostics. The assessment includes a five-stage scale classification called Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS), routinely used to describe the probability of finding a clinically significant cancer. Less is known about the association of PI-RADS score with patients’ prognosis. Our retrospective study aimed to assess the association between pre-treatment PI-RADS score and risk of developing metastases, based on a cohort of 152 patients treated with ultra-hypofractionated CyberKnife radiotherapy for low or intermediate-risk group prostate cancer. PI-RADS score and the size of the target lesion proved to be significantly associated with the risk of developing metastases, suggesting that the introduction of PI-RADS score to initial risk assessment could improve the patient-tailored management of prostate cancer. Abstract Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) has been widely implemented as a diagnostic tool for significant prostate cancer (PCa); less is known about its prognostic value, especially in the setting of primary radiotherapy. We aimed to analyze the association between PI-RADS v. 2.1 classification and risk of metastases, based on a group of 152 patients treated with ultra-hypofractionated stereotactic CyberKnife radiotherapy for localized low or intermediate risk-group prostate cancer. We found that all distant failures (n = 5) occurred in patients diagnosed with a PI-RADS score of 5, and axial measurements of the target lesion were associated with the risk of developing metastases (p < 0.001). The best risk stratification model (based on a combination of greatest dimension, the product of multiplication of PI-RADS target lesion axial measurements, and age) achieved a c-index of 0.903 (bootstrap-validated bias-corrected 95% CI: 0.848–0.901). This creates a hypothesis that PI-RADS 5 and the size of the target lesion are important prognostic factors in early-stage PCa patients and should be considered as an adverse prognostic measure for patients undergoing early treatment such as radiation or focal therapy.
Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Techniques: Technical Principles and Applications in Nanomedicine

Simple Summary Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a consolidated imaging tool for the multiparametric assessment of tissues in various pathologies from degenerative and inflammatory diseases to cancer. In recent years, the continuous technological evolution of the equipment has led to the development of sequences that provide not only anatomical but also functional and metabolic information. In addition, there is a growing and emerging field of research in clinical applications using MRI to exploit the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of nanocompounds. This review illustrates the application of the most advanced magnetic resonance techniques in the field of nanomedicine. Abstract In the last decades, nanotechnology has been used in a wide range of biomedical applications, both diagnostic and therapeutic. In this scenario, imaging techniques represent a fundamental tool to obtain information about the properties of nanoconstructs and their interactions with the biological environment in preclinical and clinical settings. This paper reviews the state of the art of the application of magnetic resonance imaging in the field of nanomedicine, as well as the use of nanoparticles as diagnostic and therapeutic tools, especially in cancer, including the characteristics that hinder the use of nanoparticles in clinical practice.