Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
UHRF1 suppression promotes cell differentiation and reduces inflammatory reaction in anaplastic thyroid cancer

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), an undifferentiated subtype of thyroid cancer, is one of the most malignant endocrine cancer with low survival rate, and resistant to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Here we found that UHRF1 was highly expressed in human ATC compared with normal tissue and papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Knockdown of UHRF1 inhibited proliferation of ATC in vitro and in vivo. Consistently, overexpression of UHRF1 promoted the proliferation of thyroid cancer cells. Moreover, UHRF1 suppression induced differentiation of three-dimensional (3D) cultured ATC cells and down-regulated the expression of dedifferentiation marker (CD97). The stem cell markers (Sox2, Oct4 and Nanog) were suppressed simultaneously. In addition, UHRF1 knockdown reduced the transcription of cytokines (IL-8, TGF-α and TNF-α), which might relieve the inflammatory reaction in ATC patients. This study demonstrated a role of UHRF1 in ATC proliferation, dedifferentiation and inflammatory reaction, presenting UHRF1 as a potential target in ATC therapy.
Spinopelvic Orientation on Radiographs in Various Body Postures: Upright Standing, Chair Sitting, Japanese Style Kneel Sitting, and Korean Style Cross-Legged Sitting

Background Several previous studies reported on the impact of upright standing and chair sitting on the sagittal spinopelvic alignment. However, there are no studies on the impact of the two Asian (Korean and Japanese) style floor-sitting positions on the sagittal spinopelvic alignment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of four different body postures (standing, chair sitting, kneel sitting, and cross-legged sitting) on the sagittal spinopelvic alignment. Methods Sixteen selected healthy volunteers (10 males and six females) were subjects of this pilot study. In all subjects, radiographs were taken in comfortable standing and sitting positions. All spinal curvatures including lumbar lordotic angle (LLA), sacral slope (SS), pelvic tilt (PT), and pelvic incidence (PI) were measured on the radiographs. Results In standing position, the average LLA, SS, PT, and PI were 37.1°, 35.3°, 15.7°, and 51.0°, respectively. In chair sitting, the average LLA, SS, PT, and PI were 17.9°, 20.3°, 28.2°, and 49.5°, respectively. In kneel sitting (Japanese style), the average LLA, SS, PT, and PI were 31.8°, 38.3°, 14.2°, and 52.5°, respectively. In cross-legged sitting (Korean style), the average LLA, SS, PT, and PI were 9.8°, 13.4°, 38.3°, and 51.7°, respectively. LLA in standing (37.1°) and kneel sitting (31.8°) were very similar. Remarkable reduction in LLA was observed in Korean-style cross-legged sitting (9.8°), and LLA in chair sitting (17.9°) was about half of that in standing. SS was similar in standing (35.3°) and kneel sitting (38.3°), and it was reduced remarkably in cross-legged sitting (13.4°). PT was largest in cross-legged sitting (38.3°), and it was similar between standing (15.7°) and kneel sitting (14.2°). PIs were similar in all positions. Conclusions The kneel sitting position did not show significant differences with the standing position when assessed using four parameters related to the sagittal spinopelvic alignment, whereas chair sitting and cross-legged sitting positions significantly altered the spinopelvic alignment compared to the standing position.
The Effects of Presurgical Nasoalveolar Molding on the Midface Symmetry of Children with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: A Long-term Follow-up Study

Background: Midface symmetry is an important indicator of success of complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (CUCLP) treatment. There is little literature on the long-term effects of presurgical nasoalveolar molding (PNAM) on midface symmetry in children treated for CUCLP. This study aimed to compare children with CUCLP who underwent PNAM before surgical interventions, children who did not receive PNAM, and age- and sex-matched controls in terms of midface symmetry. Methods: We evaluated 39 frontal facial photographs of 13 patients with CUCLP who underwent PNAM as part of the treatment (group 1: PNAM), 13 patient with CUCLP who did not undergo PNAM (group 2: no nasoalveolar molding), and 13 age- and sex-matched controls. The children were evaluated in their fifth year of life. Three midline and 3 bilateral orthopometric midface landmarks were programmed using a custom software (OnyxCeph3, Image Instruments GmbH, Germany), and corresponding linear measurements from the midline were obtained and compared between the groups using 1-way analysis of variance and Scheffe’s post hoc test. Results: Significant differences were observed between the control and CUCLP groups for the measurements of the proanasale, subnasale, and zygion. However, there were no significant differences between the PNAM and no nasoalveolar molding groups for the 6 midface landmarks. Conclusions: PNAM does not seem to significantly impact the long-term midface symmetry in children with CUCLP.
Human Pavlovian fear conditioning conforms to probabilistic learning

Learning to predict threat from environmental cues is a fundamental skill in changing environments. This aversive learning process is exemplified by Pavlovian threat conditioning. Despite a plethora of studies on the neural mechanisms supporting the formation of associations between neutral and aversive events, our computational understanding of this process is fragmented. Importantly, different computational models give rise to different and partly opposing predictions for the trial-by-trial dynamics of learning, for example expressed in the activity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Here, we investigate human ANS responses to conditioned stimuli during Pavlovian fear conditioning. To obtain precise, trial-by-trial, single-subject estimates of ANS responses, we build on a statistical framework for psychophysiological modelling. We then consider previously proposed non-probabilistic models, a simple probabilistic model, and non-learning models, as well as different observation functions to link learning models with ANS activity. Across three experiments, and both for skin conductance (SCR) and pupil size responses (PSR), a probabilistic learning model best explains ANS responses. Notably, SCR and PSR reflect different quantities of the same model: SCR track a mixture of expected outcome and uncertainty, while PSR track expected outcome alone. In summary, by combining psychophysiological modelling with computational learning theory, we provide systematic evidence that the formation and maintenance of Pavlovian threat predictions in humans may rely on probabilistic inference and includes estimation of uncertainty. This could inform theories of neural implementation of aversive learning.
A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis

Background:Murine double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) plays an important role in the downregulation of P53 tumor suppressor gene. MDM2 inhibits P53 transcriptional activity and thereby results in accelerated tumor formation. Overexpression of MDM2 has been found in several cancer types including endometrial cancer. SNP309 is located in the promoter region of MDM2 and contributes to the overexpression of MDM2. The association between MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism and endometrial cancer risk has been investigated in several studies; however, the conclusion remains controversial. Objectives: We performed the present meta-analysis to give a comprehensive conclusion of the association between MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism and endometrial cancer susceptibility. Methods:We conducted a literature research on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, OVID, Web of Science, Wan Fang, CNKI, and CQVIP databases up to July 31, 2018. Newcastle–Ottawa scale was used to assess the quality of studies. We evaluated the strength of association by combining odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in 5 different genetic models under a fixedeffect model or random-effect model. We further conducted subgroup analysis by ethnicity, source of control, histological type, clinical type, grade, and stage of tumor. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias were also performed. Results:Nine eligible studies were finally included in our meta-analysis. We found MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism increased the risk of endometrial cancer under allele model (OR: 1.23, 95%CI: 1.06–1.41, P= .005), homozygotemodel (OR: 1.43, 95%CI: 1.13–1.81, P= .003) and recessive model (OR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.17-2.04, P= .002). Subgroup analysis suggested a similar elevated risk in both Asians and Caucasians. We identified a strong association of enhanced susceptibility to endometrial cancer in endometrioid group (OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.28–3.54, P= .004) and Type I group (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.25–2.86, P= .002) under dominant model. We identified no significant publication bias according to Egger’s test. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis suggested that MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism increased the risk of endometrial cancer significantly, especially in endometrioid and Type I endometrial cancer, indicating MDM2 could serve as a potential diagnostic factor marker for endometrial cancer. Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval, HB = hospital-based, HWE = Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, MDM2 = murine double minute 2, NOS = Newcastle–Ottawa scale, ORs = odds ratios, PB = population-based, PRISMA = Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, RAF = risk allele frequency, SNP = single nucleotide polymorphism.
Contrast-Enhanced CT with Knowledge-Based Iterative Model Reconstruction for the Evaluation of Parotid Gland Tumors: A Feasibility Study

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic utility of low-dose CT with knowledge-based iterative model reconstruction (IMR) for the evaluation of parotid gland tumors. Materials and Methods This prospective study included 42 consecutive patients who had undergone low-dose contrast-enhanced CT for the evaluation of suspected parotid gland tumors. Prior or subsequent non-low-dose CT scans within 12 months were available in 10 of the participants. Background noise (BN), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were compared between non-low-dose CT images and images generated using filtered back projection (FBP), hybrid iterative reconstruction (iDose4; Philips Healthcare), and knowledge-based IMR. Subjective image quality was rated by two radiologists using five-point grading scales to assess the overall image quality, delineation of lesion contour, image sharpness, and noise. Results With the IMR algorithm, background noise (IMR, 4.24 ± 3.77; iDose4, 8.77 ± 3.85; FBP, 11.73 ± 4.06; p = 0.037 [IMR vs. iDose4] and p < 0.001 [IMR vs. FBP]) was significantly lower and SNR (IMR, 23.93 ± 7.49; iDose4, 10.20 ± 3.29; FBP, 7.33 ± 2.03; p = 0.011 [IMR vs. iDose4] and p < 0.001 [IMR vs. FBP]) was significantly higher compared with the other two algorithms. The CNR was also significantly higher with the IMR compared with the FBP (25.76 ± 11.88 vs. 9.02 ± 3.18, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in BN, SNR, and CNR between low-dose CT with the IMR algorithm and non-low-dose CT. Subjective image analysis revealed that IMR-generated low-dose CT images showed significantly better overall image quality and delineation of lesion contour with lesser noise, compared with those generated using FBP by both reviewers 1 and 2 (4 vs. 3; 4 vs. 3; and 3–4 vs. 2; p < 0.05 for all pairs), although there was no significant difference in subjective image quality scores between IMR-generated low-dose CT and non-low-dose CT images. Conclusion Iterative model reconstruction-generated low-dose CT is an alternative to standard non-low-dose CT without significantly affecting image quality for the evaluation of parotid gland tumors.
A survey on IoT contribution in smart goods ordering cycle: Amazon buttons

Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology with a wide range of applications including smart homes, cars, offices and so on. It plays an important role in data gathering regardless of time and environment. Amazon Dash button is one of the smart outcomes of IoT technology that started to show in US market in April 2015 to enable users to shop for their frequently requested items by a press of a Wi-Fi connected button. In this paper, we present a survey about Amazon Dash button in terms of the operation itself and its marketing value in Gulf Cooperation council (GCC) countries. We highlight the limitations of its usage to enhance and automate the goods ordering cycle within the same area such as ordering without a prior notice of item price change and other technical or item delivery issues. In addition, we compare Amazon Dash buttons to the common shopping trends available in GCC. This comparison contributes in involving customers' experience while improving a tool to serve their needs. In order to build our work on actual recent data, we have conducted an internet survey that was completed by 144 internet users. We aim to understand how people can perceive these buttons and how we can improve them with extra automation enhancements to help the consumers order their items by a single click or maybe without it. This means that there is a chance to improve the buttons in the future by eliminating the button press and making it completely smart. We can also modify the architecture of the button by adding a GSM connection feature instead of Wi-Fi.
Diagnostic value of cardiac magnetic resonance and fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography for cardiac sarcoidosis with previous myocardial infarction

Rationale: Diagnostic difficulty due to overlapped clinical findings exists in cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) patients who also have coronary artery disease. Since cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) evaluate different pathological processes, that is, fibrosis and inflammation respectively, the combination may be useful in such a case. Patient concerns: A 77-year-old man was admitted due to heart failure and advanced atrioventricular block who was previously diagnosed with cutaneous sarcoidosis and old myocardial infarction (MI) with angiographical evidence. Diagnosis: He was finally diagnosed with CS using CMR and FDG-PET by specifying the myocardial lesion of sarcoidosis. Interventions: He was treated with corticosteroids based on the diagnosis. Outcomes: The focal high uptake on FDG-PET was improved and he had a better clinical course without further cardiac events. Lessons: Our case suggests that CMR and FDG-PET are complimentary, and the combination is useful for diagnosis of CS, particularly in cases that have previous MI.
Active learning experiments for the classification of smoking tweets

In automated health services based on text and voice interfaces, there is need to be able to understand what the user is talking about, and what is the attitude of the user towards a subject. Typical machine learning methods for text analysis require a lot of annotated data for the training. This is often a problem in addressing specific and possibly very personal health care needs. In this paper we propose an active learning algorithm for the training of a text classifier for a conversational therapy application in the area of health behavior change. A new active learning algorithm, Query by Embedded Committee (QBEC), is proposed in the paper. The methods is particularly suitable for the text classification task in a dynamic environment and gives a good performance with realistic test data.
BTG-based Machine Translation with Simple Reordering Model using Structured Perceptron

In this paper, we present a novel statistical machine translation method which employs a BTG-based reordering model during decoding. BTG-based reordering models for pre-ordering have been widely explored, aiming to improve the standard phrase-based statistical machine translation system. Less attention has been paid to incorporating such a reordering model into decoding directly. Our reordering model differs from previous models built using a syntactic parser or directly from annotated treebanks. Here, we train without using any syntactic information. The experiment re-sults on an English–Japanese translation task show that our BTG-based decoder achieves comparable or better performance than the more complex state-of-the-art SMT decoders.
Nuclear rupture at sites of high curvature compromises retention of DNA repair factors

The nucleus is physically linked to the cytoskeleton, adhesions, and extracellular matrix—all of which sustain forces, but their relationships to DNA damage are obscure. We show that nuclear rupture with cytoplasmic mislocalization of multiple DNA repair factors correlates with high nuclear curvature imposed by an external probe or by cell attachment to either aligned collagen fibers or stiff matrix. Mislocalization is greatly enhanced by lamin A depletion, requires hours for nuclear reentry, and correlates with an increase in pan-nucleoplasmic foci of the DNA damage marker &ggr;H2AX. Excess DNA damage is rescued in ruptured nuclei by cooverexpression of multiple DNA repair factors as well as by soft matrix or inhibition of actomyosin tension. Increased contractility has the opposite effect, and stiff tumors with low lamin A indeed exhibit increased nuclear curvature, more frequent nuclear rupture, and excess DNA damage. Additional stresses likely play a role, but the data suggest high curvature promotes nuclear rupture, which compromises retention of DNA repair factors and favors sustained damage.
Ensemble Technique Utilization for Indonesian Dependency Parser

Two of the main problems in creating an Indonesian parser with high accuracy are the lack of sentence diversity in treebank used for training and suboptimal uses of parsing techniques. To resolve these problems, we build an Indonesian dependency treebank of 2098 sentences (simple and complex sentences) and use ensemble techniques to maximize the usage of available dependency parsers. We compare the combination of seven parsing algorithms provided by MaltParser and MSTParser, which provides both transition-based and graph-based models. From our experiments, we found that the graph-based model performs better than the transition-based model for Indonesian sentences. We also found no significant accuracy difference in models between several simple ensemble models and reparsing algorithms.
Prophylactic lactoferrin for preventing late-onset sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants

Background: Currently, prophylactic use of drugs to promote a healthy gut microbiota and immune system in preterm infants is hot debated, among which lactoferrin is a promising supplementation. However, the effect and safety of lactoferrin to prevent late-onset sepsis (LOS) and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants remains controversial. [1] Methods: Databases including Medline, Ovid-Embase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, and VIP database of Chinese Journal were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about lactoferrin for preventing LOS and NEC in preterm infants. Languages of included RCTs were restricted to English and Chinese. Meta-analysis was conducted by Rev Man 5.3 software. The Mantel–Haenszel method with random-effects model was used to calculate pooled relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: A total of 9 RCTs, involving 1834 patients, were included. Pooled analysis showed that prophylactic lactoferrin could significantly reduce the incidence all culture-proven LOS (41/629 [6.5%] vs 96/659 [15.3%]; RR 0.47; 95% CI 0.33–0.67; P < .01) and NEC (stage II or more) (9/448 [2.0%] vs 26/462 [5.6%]; RR 0.40; 95% CI 0.18–0.86; P < .01). Lactoferrin was also associated with a significantly decreased hospital-acquired infection (16/139 [11.5%] vs 35/140 [25%]; RR 0.47; 95% CI 0.27–0.80; P < .01); and infection-related mortality (4/474 [0.8%] vs 25/505 [4.9%]; RR 0.24; 95% CI 0.04–1.32; P < .01, I = 53%). Lactoferrin could shorten time to reach full enteral feeding (weighted mean difference [WMD] = −2.11, 95% CI −3.12 to −1.10; P < .01) and showed a decreasing trend of duration of hospitalization (WMD = −1.69, 95% CI −6.87 to 3.50; P < .01; I = 95%). Lactoferrin did not have a significant effect on all-cause mortality (22/625 [3.5%] vs 35/647 [5.4%]; RR 0.70; 95% CI 0.38–1.30; P = .16; I = 13%). None of the included trials reported any confirmed adverse effects caused by the supplemented lactoferrin or probiotics. Conclusion: Current evidence indicates that lactoferrin could significantly reduce the incidence of NEC and LOS, and decrease the risk of hospital-acquired infection and infection-related mortality in premature infants without obvious adverse effects.
A Comparison of the Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome among Sri Lankan Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Using WHO, NCEP-ATP III, and IDF Definitions

Background Presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM) increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Therefore, recognition of MetS in type 2 DM is important in initiating the appropriate preventive and therapeutic measures. The commonly used definitions have similarities and discrepancies. Aims of this study was to investigate the prevalence of MetS among patients with type 2DM using all three well known (WHO, IDF, and NCEP-ATP III) definitions and to identify the concordance and the difference of these three definitions. Methods This cross-sectional study included patients with type 2 DM who were followed up at the regional diabetes centre in Galle, Sri Lanka. A total of 2913 type 2 DM patients were recruited by convenient sampling method, and their clinical and biochemical data were collected. Results The mean age (SD) of the sample was 49.9 (10.2) years and the mean duration of diabetes was 5.04 (5.71). Prevalence of MetS was highest by WHO (70%) followed by IDF (44%) and NCEP-ATP III (29%) definitions. The prevalence was significantly higher in women according to all three definitions, and the difference was most marked with NCEP-ATP III and IDF definitions. Around 25% were identified as having MetS by all three definitions whereas around 45% were recognized with MetS by two definitions. While concordances between WHO with IDF (0.37, p < 0.001) and NCEP-ATP III (0.24, p < 0.001) criteria were poor, they were average (0.53, p < 0.001) between NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria. Conclusions The prevalence of MetS among patients with type 2 DM can significantly be varied based on the definition used and the three definitions of MetS recognized different set of individuals. The highest prevalence of MetS was observed with WHO (70.6%) whereas lowest was observed with NCEP-ATP III definition.