Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic evaluation of magnetic hyperthermia using Fe3O4-aminosilane-coated iron oxide nanoparticles in glioblastoma animal model

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the potential of magnetic hyperthermia using aminosilane-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in glioblastoma tumor model. Methods: The aminosilane-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were analyzed as to their stability in aqueous medium and their heating potential through specific absorption rate, when submitted to magnetic hyperthermia with different frequencies and intensities of alternating magnetic field. In magnetic hyperthermia in vitro assays, the C6 cells cultured and transduced with luciferase were analyzed by bioluminescence in the absence/presence of alternating magnetic field, and also with and without aminosilane-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. In the in vivo study, the measurement of bioluminescence was performed 21 days after glioblastoma induction with C6 cells in rats. After 24 hours, the aminosilane-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were implanted in animals, and magnetic hyperthermia was performed for 40 minutes, using the best conditions of frequency and intensity of alternating magnetic field tested in the in vitro study (the highest specific absorption rate value) and verified the difference of bioluminescence before and after magnetic hyperthermia. Results: The aminosilane-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were stable, and their heating capacity increased along with higher frequency and intensity of alternating magnetic field. The magnetic hyperthermia application with 874kHz and 200 Gauss of alternating magnetic field determined the best value of specific absorption rate (194.917W/g). When these magnetic hyperthermia parameters were used in in vitro and in vivo analysis, resulted in cell death of 52.0% and 32.8%, respectively, detected by bioluminescence. Conclusion: The magnetic hyperthermia was promissing for the therapeutical process of glioblastoma tumors in animal model, using aminosilane-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, which presented high specific absorption rate.
Feasibility Study of SBR-Modified Cementitious Mixtures for Use as 3D Additive Construction Materials

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of applying polymeric cementitious materials to three-dimensional additive construction (3DAC). Specifically, styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) latex was employed as an admixture to produce SBR-modified cementitious mixtures, and their fresh properties were experimentally investigated to determine the feasibility of their use in the 3DAC process. The SBR/cement ratio was controlled based on four main materials (i.e., cement, sand, silica fume, and fly ash) in order to determine the optimal fresh properties. The test results revealed that the SBR-modified cementitious mixtures showed excellent flowability, extrudability, buildability, and open time, all of which are required for 3DAC materials. The optimal flow of the SBR-modified cementitious mixtures was 70% ± 1%, which is appropriate for 3DAC applications. According to the experiment results, the SBR-modified cementitious mixtures were sufficiently competitive to serve as a new class of materials for 3D additive construction.
Phytochemical Investigation, Antioxidant and Antimycobacterial Activities of Schkuhria pinnata (Lam) Thell Extracts Against Mycobacterium smegmatis

The focus of this study was to evaluate the antioxidants and antimycobacterial activities of extracts of Schkuhria pinnata. Serial exhaustive extraction procedure was employed using solvents of varying polarity to obtain the desired extracts. Thin layer chromatography and standard chemical tests were used to analyze phytochemicals constituents. Free radical scavenging 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods were used to detect the presence of antioxidant compounds. Antimycobacterial activity was evaluated using microdilution and bioautography assays. A variety of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, tannins, and alkaloids were detected in the extract. Ethyl acetate and acetone extracts had high antioxidant activity on chromatograms eluted in ethyl acetate/methanol/water while methanol extract at various concentrations had the best scavenging activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from 0.02 to 2.50 mg/mL. Total phenol content was 55.33 ± 3.51 mg of gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g and higher when compared with flavonoids (4.00 ± 0.35 mg of quercetin equivalent [QE]/mg) and tannin content (28.00 ± 1.73 mg of GAE/g). The most effective antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis was observed with the lowest inhibitory concentrations of acetone (0.27 mg/mL), dichloromethane (0.32 mg/mL), and ethyl acetate (0.32 mg/mL) in that order. In massive extraction, hexane and dichloromethane had the greatest inhibitory bands on benzene/ethanol/ammonium hydroxide bioautograms. Antimmycobacterial activity gives promising potential leads of S pinnata extracts to be used in the development of antimycobacterial drugs. The presence of antioxidant and antimycobacterial compounds requires further isolation and purification.
Community Profiling for Crowdsourcing Queries

Crowdsourcing has recently gained momentum as a means for outsourcing tasks to human workers with no specific expertise. This is a viable option for tasks that are difficult to achieve correctly using machines or that are too expensive to be carried out by expert professionals. This leads to the possibility of addressing large campaigns of jobs without facing extremely high cost. While this technique has proven to be effective for simple labeling tasks, such as text recognition, the quality of results it delivers for relatively sophisticated tasks such as scientific paper translation, may appear as deteriorated. The objective of our work is instead to define in a rich way the concept of community of workers, defining a way to properly match crowdsourcing tasks to the communities based on expertise of workers and field/topic of tasks. We describe a set of conceptual models for queries, communities and workers, a high level architecture of the approach, and outline a set of possible strategies for addressing various aspects of expert-targeted crowdsourcing.
Associations between gastric cancer risk and virus infection other than Epstein-Barr virus

Abstract Background: Gastric cancer is one of the infection associated malignancies. In addition to Helicobacter pylori and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), other oncoviruses might play potential roles in the development of gastric cancer. Associations of oncoviruses other than EBV with gastric cancer risk are aimed to be comprehensively reviewed and assessed in this systematic review and meta-analysis, to identify any potentially causative oncovirus. It might be informative to identify or deny certain oncoviruses which are candidates of risk factor for gastric cancer. To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review on oncoviruses other than EBV associated with gastric cancer risk. Positive findings might be helpful to suggest further mechanism investigation and high-risk subpopulation recommendation. Methods: PubMed database will be searched up to Dec 31, 2018. The studies, compared the positivity of any oncovirus other than EBV between cases with histologically proven gastric cancer and healthy or nonmalignant controls, are eligible. The detection of oncovirus either in tissue or blood is acceptable. Selection, quality assessment (Newcastle-Ottawa Scale), and data extraction of eligible studies will be performed by 2 independent reviewers. Pooled prevalence of any oncovirus will be combined by meta-analysis for rate. Pooled odds ratio between gastric cancer cases and controls will be estimated by meta-analysis. Heterogeneity and publication bias will be tested. In sensitivity analysis, the leave-one-out method and exclusion of low power studies will be applied where applicable. Results: This review was not submitted for any ethical approval due to the literature-based nature. The results will be published in a journal and presented at conferences for academic purposes. Registration number was CRD42015029703 in the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. Conclusions: To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review on oncoviruses other than EBV associated with gastric cancer risk. Positive findings might be helpful to suggest further mechanism investigation and high-risk subpopulation recommendation.
Selecting the Best Instrument to Measure Family Perceptions of End-of-Life Communication in Intensive Care Units

Background: Good communication with the family is a clinical imperative for high quality end-of-life (EOL) care in intensive care unit (ICU). Many interventions aim to improve EOL communication, and the choice of an outcome instrument has important implications for evaluating interventions. The purpose of this project is to search and review available instruments’ psychometric properties and determine which best measures family–clinician communication in the ICU. Method: A stepwise method was used by searching 2 databases (PsycInfo and Web of Science) to identify instruments and articles that provide information about scale psychometric properties. Instruments: Three instruments were identified, including Family Inpatient Communication Survey, Family Perception of Physician–Family Caregiver Communication, and Quality of Communication (QOC). Results: Reliability estimates were high (≥ 0.79) in all 3 instruments. The QOC’s convergent validity estimates exceed its discriminant validity values, and the QOC is an intervention-sensitive measure used to examine families’ treatment response in randomized control trials. Conclusion: Quality of Communication is the most suitable instrument to measure family’s perceptions of EOL communication in the ICU. Quality of Communication scores provide a deeper understanding of family–clinician communication and data about how to improve EOL care in ICUs.
Thermodynamically stabilized β-CsPbI3–based perovskite solar cells with efficiencies >18%

Tetragonal phases for perovskite solar cells The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of all-inorganic perovskites are lower than those of materials with organic cations. This is in part because these materials have larger bandgaps. The cubic crystal phases of these materials also exhibit poor stability. Wang et al. synthesized the tetragonal β-phase of CsPbI3 from HPbI3 and CsI. The material exhibited higher stability and a more favorable bandgap, which allowed for PCEs of 15%. Passivation of the surface trap state with choline iodide boosted PCEs to 18%. Science, this issue p. 591 The more stable orthorhombic phase of CsPbI3 yields more efficient solar cells. Although β-CsPbI3 has a bandgap favorable for application in tandem solar cells, depositing and stabilizing β-CsPbI3 experimentally has remained a challenge. We obtained highly crystalline β-CsPbI3 films with an extended spectral response and enhanced phase stability. Synchrotron-based x-ray scattering revealed the presence of highly oriented β-CsPbI3 grains, and sensitive elemental analyses—including inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry—confirmed their all-inorganic composition. We further mitigated the effects of cracks and pinholes in the perovskite layer by surface treating with choline iodide, which increased the charge-carrier lifetime and improved the energy-level alignment between the β-CsPbI3 absorber layer and carrier-selective contacts. The perovskite solar cells made from the treated material have highly reproducible and stable efficiencies reaching 18.4% under 45 ± 5°C ambient conditions.
Spatial Layout of Displayed Information: Three Steps toward Developing Quantitative Models

Subjects viewed a series of alphanumeric tables containing information regarding the attributes (cost, amount, etc.) of different objects (utilities such as gas and electricity). They answered questions that required them to locate specific pieces of information in the table, perform simple integration between pieces, or complex integration (division, multiplication), and information for questions was either located within a table panel (close separation) or between panels (distant separation). The table was either organized by objects within attributes, or attributes within objects. Table organization had no effect on response time or accuracy. However, accuracy suffered with increased separation, but only for the complex integration questions, a finding that implicates the interference between visual search and the working memory demands of information integration. A computational model of the mental operations required for task performance accounted for 69% of the variance in response time, and provides a useful basis for developing more elaborate models of display layout.
Epilepsy Seizure Prediction on EEG Using Common Spatial Pattern and Convolutional Neural Network

Epilepsy seizure prediction paves the way of timely warning for patients to take more active and effective intervention measures. Compared to seizure detection that only identifies the inter-ictal state and the ictal state, far fewer researches have been conducted on seizure prediction because the high similarity makes it challenging to distinguish between the pre-ictal state and the inter-ictal state. In this paper, a novel solution on seizure prediction is proposed using common spatial pattern (CSP) and convolutional neural network (CNN). Firstly, artificial pre-ictal EEG signals based on the original ones are generated by combining the segmented pre-ictal signals to solve the trial imbalance problem between the two states. Secondly, a feature extractor employing wavelet packet decomposition and CSP is designed to extract the distinguishing features in both the time domain and the frequency domain. It can improve overall accuracy while reducing the training time. Finally, a shallow CNN is applied to discriminate between the pre-ictal state and the inter-ictal state. Our proposed solution is evaluated on 23 patients’ data from Boston Children's Hospital-MIT scalp EEG dataset by employing a leave-one-out cross-validation, and it achieves a sensitivity of 92.2% and false prediction rate of 0.12/h. Experimental result demonstrates that the proposed approach outperforms most state-of-the-art methods.
Feasibility of conducting an early pregnancy diet and lifestyle e-health intervention: the Pregnancy Lifestyle Activity Nutrition (PLAN) project

Abstract Background: Childhood obesity is a global issue. Excessive weight gain in early pregnancy is independently associated with obesity in the next generation. Given the uptake of e-health, our primary aim was to pilot the feasibility of an e-health intervention, starting in the first trimester, to promote healthy lifestyle and prevent excess weight gain in early pregnancy. Methods: Women were recruited between 8 and 11 weeks gestation and randomised to the intervention or routine antenatal care. The intervention involved an e-health program providing diet, physical activity and well-being advice over 12 weeks. Results: Women (n = 57, 43.9% overweight/obese) were recruited at 9.38 ± 1.12 (control) and 9.06 ± 1.29 (intervention) weeks’ gestation, mainly from obstetric private practices (81.2%). Retention was 73.7% for the 12-week intervention, 64.9% at birth and 55.8% at 3 months after birth. No difference in gestational weight gain or birth size was detected. Overall treatment effect showed a mean increase in score ranking the perceived confidence of dietary change (1.2 ± 0.46, p = 0.009) and score ranking readiness to exercise (1.21 ± 0.51, p = 0.016) over the intervention. At 3 months, infants weighed less in the intervention group (5405 versus 6193 g, p = 0.008) and had a lower ponderal index (25.5 ± 3.0 versus 28.8 ± 4.0 kg/m3) compared with the control group. Conclusion and Discussion: A lifestyle intervention starting in the first-trimester pregnancy utilising e-health mode of delivery is feasible. Future studies need strategies to target recruitment of participants of lower socio-economic status and ensure maximal blinding. Larger trials (using technology and focused on early pregnancy) are needed to confirm if decreased infant adiposity is maintained.
A molecular switch in mouse CD1d modulates natural killer T cell activation by α-galactosylsphingamides

Type I natural killer T (NKT) cells are a population of innate like T lymphocytes that rapidly respond to α-GalCer presented by CD1d via the production of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. While developing novel α-GalCer analogs that were meant to be utilized as potential adjuvants because of their production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (Th1 skewers), we generated α-galactosylsphingamides (αGSA). Surprisingly, αGSAs are not potent antigens in vivo despite their strong T-cell receptor (TCR)–binding affinities. Here, using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), antigen presentation assays, and X-ray crystallography (yielding crystal structures of 19 different binary (CD1d-glycolipid) or ternary (CD1d-glycolipid-TCR) complexes at resolutions between 1.67 and 2.85 Å), we characterized the biochemical and structural details of αGSA recognition by murine NKT cells. We identified a molecular switch within murine (m)CD1d that modulates NKT cell activation by αGSAs. We found that the molecular switch involves a hydrogen bond interaction between Tyr-73 of mCD1d and the amide group oxygen of αGSAs. We further established that the length of the acyl chain controls the positioning of the amide group with respect to the molecular switch and works synergistically with Tyr-73 to control NKT cell activity. In conclusion, our findings reveal important mechanistic insights into the presentation and recognition of glycolipids with polar moieties in an otherwise apolar milieu. These observations may inform the development αGSAs as specific NKT cell antagonists to modulate immune responses.
Early Childhood Vaccination Status of Preterm Infants

In this retrospective study, we used EHR and immunization information system data to compare early childhood vaccination of preterm and term/postterm infants born between 2008 and 2013. BrightcoveDefaultPlayer10.1542/6138653759001PEDS-VA_2018-3520 Video Abstract BACKGROUND: Preterm infants are at increased risk for vaccine-preventable infections and associated complications. Limited studies describe timely vaccination of these vulnerable infants. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included Washington State infants with birth hospitalizations at an urban academic medical center between 2008 and 2013. Demographic, clinical, and visit data from electronic health records were linked to vaccine data from the Washington State Immunization Information System. Completion of the recommended 7-vaccine series by 19 months of age was compared between preterm infants (born at <37 weeks’ gestation) and term/postterm infants (born at 37–43 weeks’ gestation) by using Pearson’s χ2 test and multivariable logistic regression. Secondary outcomes included 7-vaccine series completion by 36 months of age and receipt of individual vaccines in the series. Rotavirus, hepatitis A, and influenza vaccination was also assessed. RESULTS: Of study infants (n = 10 367), 19.3% were born prematurely. Preterm infants had lower 7-vaccine series completion compared with term/postterm infants by 19 months (47.5% vs 54.0%; adjusted odds ratio 0.77 [95% confidence interval 0.65–0.90]) and 36 months (63.6% vs 71.3%; adjusted odds ratio 0.73 [95% confidence interval 0.61–0.87]). Early preterm (23–33 weeks’ gestation) and late preterm (34–36 weeks’ gestation) infants had a lower rate of 7-vaccine series completion compared with term/postterm infants. Full influenza vaccination coverage by 19 months also differed between groups (early preterm: 47.7%; late preterm: 41.5%; term/postterm: 44.7%; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Over half of preterm infants were undervaccinated at 19 months; one-third failed to catch up by 36 months. Strategies to improve vaccination of these high-risk infants are needed.
Multiple-instance learning for text categorization based on semantic representation

Text categorization is the fundamental bricks of other related researches in NLP. Up to now, researchers have proposed many effective text categorization methods and gained well performance. However, these methods are generally based on the raw features or low level features, e.g., tf or tfidf, while neglecting the semantic structures between words. Complex semantic information can influence the precision of text categorization. In this paper, we propose a new method to handle the semantic correlations between different words and text features from the representations and the learning schemes. We represent the document as multiple instances based on word2vec. Experiments validate the effectiveness of proposed method compared with those state-of-the-art text categorization methods.
Fluorescent PCDTBT Nanoparticles with Tunable Size for Versatile Bioimaging

Conjugated polymer nanoparticles exhibit very interesting properties for use as bio-imaging agents. In this paper, we report the synthesis of PCDTBT (poly([9-(1’-octylnonyl)-9H-carbazole-2,7-diyl]-2,5-thiophenediyl-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-4,7-diyl-2,5-thiophene-diyl)) nanoparticles of varying sizes using the mini-emulsion and emulsion/solvent evaporation approach. The effect of the size of the particles on the optical properties is investigated using UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. It is shown that PCDTBT nanoparticles have a fluorescence emission maximum around 710 nm, within the biological near-infrared “optical window”. The photoluminescence quantum yield shows a characteristic trend as a function of size. The particles are not cytotoxic and are taken up successfully by human lung cancer carcinoma A549 cells. Irrespective of the size, all particles show excellent fluorescent brightness for bioimaging. The fidelity of the particles as fluorescent probes to study particle dynamics in situ is shown as a proof of concept by performing raster image correlation spectroscopy. Combined, these results show that PCDTBT is an excellent candidate to serve as a fluorescent probe for near-infrared bio-imaging.
Independence and Caregiver Preferences Among Community-Dwelling Older People in Slovenia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Although Slovenia is becoming an aging society, very little is known about the abilities and needs of home-dwelling older people or their preferences regarding assistance. The aim of the study was to explore the need for assistance in daily activities among older Slovenian people living at home. Older adults aged between 65 and 97 years (N = 358) participated in the cross-sectional survey study. A questionnaire that assessed independence in daily activities and assistance in the home environment was developed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a nonparametric test (Wilcoxon signed rank test), and the chi-square test. The results showed that older Slovenians were more independent in activities of daily living (ADLs) than instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Independence was the highest for using the toilet, feeding, and mobility transfers, and the lowest for bathing. With IADLs, assistance was most often required with shopping and housework; this assistance was usually provided by family members. The provider of assistance was generally compatible with older people’s preferences concerning assistance at home. We found no differences in care preferences between urban and rural settings. Assistance in the home environment was predominantly provided by unpaid helpers, which reflects recent developments in health and social services that put an emphasis on a person’s social network. Due to demographic changes and the decrease in the number of adult children, reliance on close relatives might soon become a challenge. These findings can help policy makers understand older people’s choices and preferences better when planning long-term care.