Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of Heart Rate and Respiratory Rate from PPG Signal Using Complementary Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with both Independent Component Analysis and Non-Negative Matrix Factorization

This paper proposes a framework combining the complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition with both the independent component analysis and the non-negative matrix factorization for estimating both the heart rate and the respiratory rate from the photoplethysmography (PPG) signal. After performing the complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition on the PPG signal, a finite number of intrinsic mode functions are obtained. Then, these intrinsic mode functions are divided into two groups to perform the further analysis via both the independent component analysis and the non-negative matrix factorization. The surrogate cardiac signal related to the heart activity and another surrogate respiratory signal related to the respiratory activity are reconstructed to estimate the heart rate and the respiratory rate, respectively. Finally, different records of signals acquired from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care database downloaded from the Physionet Automated Teller Machine (ATM) data bank are employed for demonstrating the outperformance of our proposed method. The results show that our proposed method outperforms both the digital filtering approach and the conventional empirical mode decomposition based methods in terms of reconstructing both the surrogate cardiac signal and the respiratory signal from the PPG signal as well as both achieving the higher accuracy and the higher reliability for estimating both the heart rate and the respiratory rate.
Design and Pilot Implementation of an Electronic Health Record-Based System to Automatically Refer Cancer Patients to Tobacco Use Treatment

Continued tobacco use after cancer diagnosis is detrimental to treatment and survivorship. The current reach of evidence-based tobacco treatments in cancer patients is low. As a part of the National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Cessation Initiative, the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center designed an electronic health record (EHR, Epic©)-based process to automatically refer ambulatory oncology patients to tobacco use treatment, regardless of intent to cease tobacco use(“opt out”). The referral and patient scheduling, accomplished through a best practice advisory (BPA) directed to staff who room patients, does not require a co-signature from clinicians. This process was piloted for a six-week period starting in July of 2019 at the Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. All oncology patients who were tobacco users were referred for tobacco treatment by the rooming staff (n = 210). Of these, 150 (71%) had a tobacco treatment appointment scheduled, and 25 (17%) completed their appointment. We conclude that an EHR-based “opt-out” approach to refer patients to tobacco dependence treatment that does not require active involvement by clinicians is feasible within the oncology clinical practice. Further work is needed to increase the proportion of scheduled patients who attend their appointments.
Effects of dapagliflozin and gliclazide on the cardiorenal axis in people with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVES There is a bidirectional relationship between cardiovascular and renal disease. The drug-class of SGLT2 inhibitors improves outcomes at both ends of this so called cardiorenal axis. We assessed the effects of SGLT2 inhibition and sulfonylurea treatment on systemic hemodynamic function and investigated whether SGLT2 inhibitor-induced changes in systemic hemodynamics correlate with changes in renal hemodynamics. METHODS Forty-four people with type 2 diabetes were randomized to 12 weeks of dapagliflozin 10 mg/day or gliclazide 30 mg/day treatment. Systemic hemodynamic function, autonomic nervous system activity, and vascular stiffness were measured noninvasively, whereas renal hemodynamics, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and effective renal plasma flow, were assessed with gold-standard urinary clearances of inulin or iohexol and para-aminohippuric acid, respectively. Correlation analyses were performed to assess relationships between dapagliflozin-induced changes in cardiovascular and renal variables. RESULTS Dapagliflozin reduced stroke volume by 4%, cardiac output by 5%, vascular stiffness by 11%, and mean arterial pressure by 5% from baseline, without increasing heart rate or sympathetic activity, while simultaneously lowering glomerular filtration rate by 8%. Despite similar improvements in glycemic control by dapagliflozin and gliclazide (-0.5 ± 0.5 versus-0.7 ± 0.5%; P = 0.12), gliclazide did not affect any of these measurements. There was no clear association between the dapagliflozin-induced changes in cardiovascular and renal physiology. CONCLUSION Dapagliflozin seemingly influences systemic and renal hemodynamics independently and beyond glucose lowering in people with type 2 diabetes.This clinical trial was registered at https://clinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT02682563).
Identification of novel seed longevity genes related to oxidative stress and seed coat by genome-wide association studies and reverse genetics.

Seed longevity is a polygenic trait of relevance for agriculture and for understanding the effect of environment on the aging of biological systems. In order to identify novel longevity genes we have phenotyped the natural variation of 270 ecotypes of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana for natural aging and for three accelerated aging methods. Genome-wide analysis, using publicly available single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) data sets, identified multiple genomic regions associated with variation in seed longevity. Reverse genetics of twenty candidate genes in Columbia ecotype resulted in seven genes positive for seed longevity (PSAD1, SSLEA, SSTPR, DHAR1, CYP86A8, MYB47 and SPCH) and five negative ones (RBOHD, RBOHE, RBOHF, KNAT7 and SEP3). In this uniform genetic background, natural and accelerated aging methods provided similar results for seed-longevity in knock-out mutants. The NADPH oxidases (RBOHs), the dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR1) and the photosystem I subunit (PSAD1) highlight the important role of oxidative stress on seed aging. The cytochrome P-450 hydroxylase CYP86A8 and the transcription factors MYB47, KNAT7 and SEP3 support the protecting role of the seed coat during seed aging. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Short-Term Effects of Intra-Articular Hyaluronic Acid Administration in Patients with Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

The study described in this paper was conducted to assess the short-term outcomes of intra-articular administration of hyaluronic acid in patients with symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorders. A group of 40 patients suffering from temporomandibular joint disorders underwent a series of hyaluronic acid intra-articular injections. Questionnaires and clinical examinations were conducted to assess stress exposure of the subjects and to evaluate short-term treatment outcomes, i.e., reducing joint and muscle pain and increasing the mobility of the mandible. A weak positive correlation between stress exposure and pain was observed. As a result of treatment, 61% of subjects revealed a total reduction of muscle pain, while joint pain completely resolved in 88% of patients. Mandibular mobility increased by 11%, 31%, 9%, and 11% regarding opening, protrusive, and lateral right and left movements, respectively. The study confirms the short-term effectiveness of intra-articular administration of hyaluronic acid on reducing joint and muscle pain in patients with articular disc displacement. The treatment positively affected the mobility of the mandible in all directions. The verification of late treatment effects of hyaluronic acid viscosupplementation requires the continuation of the research.
High-Fidelity Potential Energy Surfaces for Gas Phase and Gas-Surface Scattering Processes from Machine Learning.

In this Perspective, we review recent advances in constructing high-fidelity potential energy surfaces (PESs) from discrete ab initio points, using machine learning tools. Such PESs, albeit with substantial initial investments, provide significantly higher efficiency than direct dynamics methods and/or high accuracy at a level that is not affordable by on-the-fly approaches. These PESs not only are a necessity for quantum dynamical studies due to delocalization of wave packets, but also enable the study of low-probability and long-time events in (quasi-)classical treatments. Our focus here is on inelastic and reactive scattering processes, which are more challenging than bound systems because of the involvement of continua. Relevant applications and developments for dynamical processes in both the gas phase and at gas-surface interfaces are discussed.
Bias, coverage, and asymptotic behaviour of random effects meta-analysis: a clinically driven simulation study.

AIMS The study of foundational features of meta-analysis is incomplete and continues to remain important. Using simulations we study bias and coverage and the asymptotic behaviour of the DerSimonian and Laird (D&L) meta-analysis with varying trial numbers and sizes, levels of risk, and extent of treatment effects. METHODS With simulated data we model risk of untoward events in randomized controlled trials in meta-analyses. Treatment effect is expressed as relative risk reduction, with effect size estimated by the odds ratio which is then compared with the known population odds ratio. Performance is measured as bias, standardized bias and coverage, with thresholds for desirable results being prespecified. RESULTS Bias, standardized bias, and coverage varied substantially across meta-analyses of different trial size and number, risk mean and distribution, and relative risk reduction. Although improvements were observed with increasing trial size and number, there was widespread lack of satisfactory performance. Performance using normal risk distributions was worse compared with performance using constant or narrow uniform risk distributions. Asymptotic behaviour using very large trial numbers failed to show bias that appeared to approach zero for any distribution. CONCLUSION The D&L random effects meta-analysis method performed modestly at best. We were unable to demonstrate asymptotic normality. These results question the validity of the random effects method. The findings need replication and extension, which, if confirmed, would warn against generic use of the D&L method.
Ultrastructural changes in the cuticle of the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum, induced by the insect growth inhibitor, buprofezin

Buprofezin (Applaud| 2-tert-butylimino-3-isopropyl-5-phenyl3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2H1,3,5thiadiazin-4-one, an insect growth regulator (Kanno etal., 1981; Uchida etaL, 1985) acts specifically on sucking insects such as the whiteflies Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Yasui et al., 1985, 1987) and Bemisia tabaci (Ishaaya etal., 1988; De Cock et aL, 1990), the brown rice planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Izawa et al., 1985; Nagata, 1986), and the scale insects Unarpsis yananessis, Aonidiella aurantii and Saissetia oleae (Yarom et aL, 1988; Kanno etal., 1981). This is in contrast to benzoylphenyl ureas, another group of insect growth regulators which are mainly active against non-sucking insects. The benzoylphenyl ureas have a strong influence on the ultrastructure of the insect integument (Degheele, 1990). The aim of this study was to describe the effect of buprofezin on the ultrastructure of the integument of T. vaporariorum.
MRI Segmentation and Classification of Human Brain Using Deep Learning for Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease: A Survey

Many neurological diseases and delineating pathological regions have been analyzed, and the anatomical structure of the brain researched with the aid of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is important to identify patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) early so that preventative measures can be taken. A detailed analysis of the tissue structures from segmented MRI leads to a more accurate classification of specific brain disorders. Several segmentation methods to diagnose AD have been proposed with varying complexity. Segmentation of the brain structure and classification of AD using deep learning approaches has gained attention as it can provide effective results over a large set of data. Hence, deep learning methods are now preferred over state-of-the-art machine learning methods. We aim to provide an outline of current deep learning-based segmentation approaches for the quantitative analysis of brain MRI for the diagnosis of AD. Here, we report how convolutional neural network architectures are used to analyze the anatomical brain structure and diagnose AD, discuss how brain MRI segmentation improves AD classification, describe the state-of-the-art approaches, and summarize their results using publicly available datasets. Finally, we provide insight into current issues and discuss possible future research directions in building a computer-aided diagnostic system for AD.
The Lymphatic Cell Environment Promotes Kaposi Sarcoma Development by Prox1-Enhanced Productive Lytic Replication of Kaposi Sarcoma Herpes Virus

This study defines the mechanism by which Kaposi's sarcoma could be maintained by virus constantly produced by lymphatic cells in HIV-positive individuals. Kaposi sarcoma is the most common cancer in human immunodeficiency virus–positive individuals and is caused by Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV). It is believed that a small number of latently infected Kaposi sarcoma tumor cells undergo spontaneous lytic reactivation to produce viral progeny for infection of new cells. Here, we use matched donor-derived human dermal blood and lymphatic endothelial cells (BEC and LEC, respectively) to show that KSHV-infected BECs progressively lose viral genome as they proliferate. In sharp contrast, KSHV-infected LECs predominantly entered lytic replication, underwent cell lysis, and released new virus. Continuous lytic cell lysis and de novo infection allowed LEC culture to remain infected for a prolonged time. Because of the strong propensity of LECs toward lytic replication, LECs maintained virus as a population, despite the death of individual host cells from lytic lysis. The master regulator of lymphatic development, Prox1, bound the promoter of the RTA gene to upregulate its expression and physically interacted with RTA protein to coregulate lytic genes. Thus, LECs may serve as a proficient viral reservoir that provides viral progeny for continuous de novo infection of tumor origin cells, and potentially BECs and mesenchymal stem cells, which give rise to Kaposi sarcoma tumors. Our study reveals drastically different host cell behaviors between BEC and LEC and defines the underlying mechanisms of the lymphatic cell environment supporting persistent infection in Kaposi sarcoma tumors. Significance: This study defines the mechanism by which Kaposi's sarcoma could be maintained by virus constantly produced by lymphatic cells in HIV-positive individuals.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms of ADIPOQ gene associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors in European adolescents: the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence study.

OBJECTIVES Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are responsible of 31% of all deaths worldwide. Genetic predisposition to CVDs in adolescents remains largely unknown. Aims of present research are to examine the association of ADIPOQ gene polymorphisms with cardiovascular disease risk factors in European adolescents. METHODS A total of 14 polymorphisms in the ADIPOQ gene were genotyped in 1057 European adolescents (12-18 years old) from the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence Cross-Sectional Study. We measured serum lipids and a CVD risk score, along with weight, height, triceps, and subscapular skinfold thickness, leptin, insulin and other markers of glucose regulation. RESULTS The rs822393, rs822395 and rs7649121 polymorphisms of ADIPOQ gene were significantly associated with several CVD risk factors [i.e. high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein (Apo) A1, SBP and CVD risk score] in European adolescents. We also found an association of the TGAAGT ADIPOQ haplotype (rs822393, rs16861210, rs822395, rs822396, rs12495941 and rs7649121) with HDL-C and ApoA1 levels. CONCLUSION Several individual polymorphisms (rs822393, rs822395 and rs7649121) and a haplotype of ADIPOQ gene were significantly associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors in European adolescents.
Paper based electrochemical sensors using paper as scaffold to create porous carbon nanotube electrodes.

Paper-based sensors and assays have evolved rapidly due to the conversion of paper-based microfluidics, functional paper coatings, as well as new electrical and optical readout techniques. Nanomaterials have gained substantial traction as key components in paper-based sensors, as they can be coated or printed relatively easily on paper to locally control the device functionality. Here we report a new combination of methods to fabricate carbon nanotube based (CNT) electrodes for paper-based electrochemical sensors using a combination of laser cutting, drop-casting and origami. We applied this process to a range of filter papers with different porosities, and used their differences in three-dimensional cellulose networks to study the influence of the cellulose scaffold on the final CNT network and the resulting electrochemical detection of glucose. We found that an optimal porosity exists which balances the benefits of surface enhancement and electrical connectivity within the cellulose scaffold of the paper-based device and demonstrate a cost-effective process for fabrication of device arrays.
Andean Sacha Inchi (Plukenetia Volubilis L.) Leaf-Mediated Synthesis of Cu2O Nanoparticles: A Low-Cost Approach

In this work, Andean sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) leaves were used to prepare monodispersed cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles under heating. Visual color changes and UV-visible spectroscopy of colloidal nanoparticles showed λmax at 255 nm, revealing the formation of copper oxide nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering analysis indicated that the prepared nanoparticles were spherical with an average size of 6–10 nm. The semi-crystalline nature and Cu2O phase of as-prepared nanoparticles were examined by X-ray diffraction. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the presence of polyphenols, alkaloids and sugar in the sacha inchi leaf, allowing the formation of Cu2O nanoparticles from Cu2+. Additionally, as-synthesized Cu2O nanoparticles exhibited good photocatalytic degradation activity against methylene blue (>78%, 150 min) with rate constant 0.0219106 min−1. The results suggested that the adopted method is low-cost, simple, ecofriendly and highly selective for the synthesis of small Cu2O nanoparticles and may be used as a nanocatalyst in the future in the efficient treatment of organic pollutants in water.
Cognitive and Social Rehabilitation in Schizophrenia—From Neurophysiology to Neuromodulation. Pilot Study

The aim of this pilot study was to analyse the influence of Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) Biofeedback training in a group of 18 men with schizophrenia at the remission stage. The results were verified according to: Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS), Self-efficacy Scale (GSES), Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) scales, Colour Trial Test (CTT-1, CTT-2), d2 psychological tests, Quantitative Electroencephalogram (QEEG) Biofeedback, auditory event-related potentials (ERPs), and serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The results were compared in the same patients after 3 months. Statistically significant changes were noted in results for the variables on the PANSS scale. For the BDNF variable, a statistically significant increase occurred, indicating that GSR Biofeedback training may influence serum levels of the neurotrophic factor. Statistically significant changes were noted in results for the variables on the BCIS, AIS, and GSES indicating an improvement in the cognitive and social functioning. Changes were noted for results for theta/beta and theta/Sensory Motor Rhythm (SMR) ratios, which indicate an improvement in concentration and attention. Changes were noted for the N1 wave amplitude in the frontal brain region (F-z), and for the P2 wave latency in the central brain region (C-z), which indicates an improvement in the initial perceptual analysis. The use of GSR Biofeedback in a group of patients with schizophrenia gives interesting results, but requires further in-depth research.
Analgesia Additive Interaction between Tadalafil and Morphine in Experimental Animal Model.

Since both morphine and tadalafil have been proven to exert some of their analgesic activity through modulation of the NO-cGMP pathway, the aim of the current study is to evaluate the pharmacologic interaction between tadalafil and morphine in order to decrease the dose of morphine and subsequently its side effects. The assessment was carried out through isobolographic analysis relative to ED50s of both morphine and tadalafil obtained by tail-flick test on BALB/c mice. Morphine and tadalafil ED50s calculated from the dose-response curves were 8303 µg/kg and 2080 µ/kg, respectively. The experimental ED50 values of morphine and tadalafil in their mixture were 4800 µ/kg and 1210 µ/kg, respectively. Those results showed an additive interaction between morphine and tadalafil presented by a total fraction value for the mixture of 1160 µ/kg. This outcome can be interpreted by the fact that both drugs share common pathways namely, NO-cGMP and opioid receptors. As a conclusion, morphine and tadalafil combination showed an additive effect against acute pain, which is mediated through the central nervous system, thus providing a rationale for combining them in order to decrease morphine dose and thus minimizing its side effect.
Gene flow and hybridization following introduction of Mus domesticus into an established population

Seventy-seven house mice (Mus domesticus) from Eday, Orkney were released into a long-established population on the Isle of May (56o 12'N) in 1982. Introduced allozymes, mt and Y-chromosome DNA, and Robertsonian chromosomes spread rapidly, reaching approximate stability c. 3 years later at frequencies different to those in both parental populations. The hybrid population was morphometrically intermediate between the two parents. This is a preliminary summary only; full details will be published elsewhere.