Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SWEET AND BITTER GLYCOSIDES OF THE CHINESE PLANT DRUG, BAI-YUN-SHEN (ROOTS OF SALVIA DIGITALOIDES)

From a Chinese plant drug, Bai-Yun-Shen (roots of Salvia digitaloides), a new sweet glycoside named baiyunoside (1) was isolated. The structure of the acid-unstable aglycone of 1 named baiyunol (2) was elucidated by MS and NMR spectroscopy especially by comparison with the 13C chemical shifts of β-onocerin (3). The structure of 1 was determined to be β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside of 2 by MS and NMR spectroscopy. Besides this sweet principle (1), several bitter iridoid glucosides were also isolated from this plant. Two of these glucosides were identified as shanzhiside methyl ester (13) and its 8-O-acetate (=acetylbarlerin, 10), respectively. A new glucoside (9) was formulated as 6-O-syringyl-8-O-acetyl shanzhiside methyl ester by the correlation with 13.
Psoas muscle mass, nutritional status, inflammation, and their relationship with prognosis in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

INTRODUCTION some factors have been shown to be associated with survival in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Recently, some studies suggested that malnutrition, muscle mass, and inflammation might have an effect on survival in patients with pancreatic malignancy. OBJECTIVES to investigate the association between psoas muscle mass, inflammation, nutritional status at the time of diagnosis, and survival in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. METHODS this retrospective study included 219 patients diagnosed with pancreatic carcinoma. The nutritional status, inflammation, and psoas muscle mass of the patients at the time of diagnosis were evaluated. Nutritional status was assessed using the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI). Leucocyte count and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were used for inflammation assessment. Psoas muscle mass was calculated by using abdominal computed tomography images of the patients. RESULTS the mean age of patients (80 female and 139 male) was 66.6 ± 11.7 years. According to the PNI results, 155 patients had a normal nutritional status (70 %), whereas 64 patients were malnourished (30 %). The survival of the patients with normal nutritional status was significantly longer than that of those who were malnourished (p < 0.001). There was no significant relationship between psoas muscle area, leucocyte count, NLR, and survival time. CONCLUSION the survival of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients with malnutrition at the time of diagnosis was significantly shorter than for patients without malnutrition.
Determination of Marked Components - aloin and aloe-emodin - in Aloe vera before and after hydrolysis

This article proposed an optimal hydrolysis condition and a chromatographic method for the analysis of polyphenol glycosides in aloe extract and its hydrolysates, The aglycones assayed were aloin and aloe-emodin, The linearity (r ＞ 0.9997) and validation (＜ 10%) of the calibration curves were excellent. The amounts of aloin were 76.1 ± 5.9 and 77.7 ± 2.8 μmol/g in decoction and hydrolysate, respectively, while those of aloe-emodin were 8.3 ± 0.5 and 8.1 ± 0.3 μmol/g, The contents of aloin and aloe-emodin in aloe showed no significant difference before and after hydrolysis, This may be due to that aloe sold in Chinese medicine retailer was processed and the glycosides have already been transferred to aglycones. In addition, the components may be decomposed during processing. The method developed here can be applied to determine aglycones and their glycosides in aloe for the quality control.
Antiinflammatory effects of adalimumab, tocilizumab, and steroid on lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury

Background/aim Acute lung injury (ALI) is a major cause of death in the intensive care unit. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced lung injury is the most widely used experimental ALI model and provides opportunities for new targeting therapy. In this study, we investigated the effects of tocilizumab, adalimumab, and methylprednisolone in LPS-induced acute lung injury. Materials and methods Lung injury was established by intratracheal instillation of LPS. The rats were randomly divided into six groups: LPS, control, and treatment groups (adalimumab, tocilizumab, methylprednisolone, adalimumab + tocilizumab). Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and lung tissues were collected at 48 h and 96 h following LPS administration from each group. For histological analysis, hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining was performed. The sections were obtained for immunohistochemical analysis. IL-6 and TNF-alpha immunoreactivity were measured. Results Intratracheal LPS application resulted in inflammatory cell infiltration of interstitial and alveolar spaces and thickening of the alveolar wall. All treatment groups showed signiﬁcantly amelioration compared to LPS at 48 h. Interestingly, adalimumab and adalimumab + tocilizumab groups showed a significant amelioration of the lung histoarchitecture, compared to the prednisolone group at 96 h (p = 0.028, p = 0.025, respectively). Compared to the control group, LPS stimulation resulted in a significant increase in IL-6 and TNF-alpha immunoreactivity (p < 0.001). IL-6 and TNF-alpha expression were markedly reduced in all treatment groups at 48 h but the reduction was greater in the adalimumab and tocilizumab group than in the steroid. Administration with adalimumab and/or tocilizumab effectively decreased expression of TNF-alpha (p = 0.001) and IL-6 (p < 0.001) at 96 h, but prednisolone did not exert an effective decrease (p > 0.05). Conclusion Adalimumab and/or tocilizumab significantly reduce the release of proinflammatory cytokines and improve the tissue inflammation in the experimental model of ALI. Our results suggest that adalimumab and/or tocilizumab have a more potent antiinflammatory effect on lung injury than the steroid.
Determining the shape of a liquid droplet: from microscopic theory to coarse grained models

This thesis investigates the wetting of simple liquids using two density functional theory (DFT) models. The first model is a discrete lattice-gas model and the second a continuum DFT model of a hard-sphere reference system with an additional attractive perturbation. The wetting properties of liquids are principally investigated by studying the binding, or interface, potential of the fluid and this thesis presents a method by which a binding potential can be fully calculated from the microscopic DFT. The binding potentials are used to investigate the behaviour of the model fluid depending on the range to which particle interactions are truncated. Long ranged particle interactions are commonly truncated to increase computational efficiency but the work in this thesis shows that in making this truncation some important aspects of the interfacial phase behaviour are changed. It is demonstrated that in some instances by reducing the interaction range of fluid particles a shift in phase behaviour from wetting to non wetting occurs. The binding potential is an input to larger scale coarse grained models and this is traditionally given as an asymptotic approximation of the binding potential. By using the full binding potential, calculated from the DFT model, as an input, excellent agreement can be found between the results from the microscopic DFT model and the larger scale models. This is first verified with the discrete lattice-gas model where the discrete nature of the model causes some non-physical behaviour in the binding potentials. The continuum DFT model is then applied which corrects this behaviour. An adaptation to this continuum model is used to study short ranged systems at high liquid densities at state points below the `Fisher-Widom' line. The form of the decay of the density profiles and binding potentials now switches from monotonic to oscillatory. This model leads to highly structured liquid droplets exhibiting a step-like structure.
Series of cases of acute acquired comitant esotropia in children associated with excessive online classes on smartphone during COVID-19 pandemic; digital eye strain among kids (DESK) study-3

ABSTRACT Extra time of sitting in front of a digital device is required for e-learning by children during Corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic which can lead to many ocular problems including digital eye strain (DES). In view of increased incidence of DES in children, multiple studies had been conducted in central India to assess the eye strain in children due to excessive online classes as a research project named “Digital eye strain among kids (DESK) study. ” This study DESK-3 aimed to report series of cases of acute acquired comitant esotropia (AACE) in children attending online classes during COVID-19 pandemic. Children aged 6–18 years with recent onset of esotropia of < 1-month duration without any similar history in past presented in month of July-August 2020 at a tertiary children eye care hospital were evaluated. Data collection included age and gender of child, presence or absence of diplopia, visual acuity, duration of smartphone use, duration of online classes, angle of deviation for near and distance and cycloplegic refraction. Total eight children of AACE were included in the study. The mean age of children was 12.5 ± 4.2 years. All eight were males. The mean duration of smartphone use was 4.6 + 0.7 hours per day. All children were attending online classes > 4 hours per day on smartphone of average size 5.5 inches. Five children were emmetropic, one myopic, one pseudomyopic and one hyperopic. The angle of deviation for near and distance were 48.1 ± 16.4 PD and 49.3 ± 15.9 PD respectively with normal ocular motility. Seven children complained of horizontal diplopia in all gazes. Neurological examination and CT scan of brain and orbit was normal in all patients. Two months before the lockdown only one case was identified as compared to eight during the lockdown. Prolonged near work during smart phone use for e-learning might lead to the development of AACE in children.
Sarcopenia and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults from Six Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the relationship between sarcopenia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate this association among community-dwelling adults aged≥65 years from six LMICs. METHODS Cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) were analyzed. These data were obtained in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa in 2007-2010. Participants were considered to have sarcopenia if they had low skeletal muscle mass (i.e., lower skeletal mass index) and a weak handgrip strength. MCI was defined using the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association criteria. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess associations. RESULTS The final analytical sample consisted of 12,912 individuals aged≥65 years with preservation in functional abilities without stroke (mean [standard deviation] age 72.2 [10.8] years; 45.2% males). The overall prevalence of sarcopenia and MCI were 11.3% and 18.1%, respectively. After adjusting for potential confounders, there was a positive association between sarcopenia and MCI in all countries (i.e., odds ratio [OR] > 1) with the exception of South Africa, and the overall estimate was OR = 1.60 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32-1.93) with a low level of between-country heterogeneity (I2 = 0.0%). CONCLUSION There was a positive association between sarcopenia and MCI in this sample of older adults living in LMICs. Causality should be assessed in future longitudinal research, while the utility of sarcopenia as a marker of MCI should also be investigated.
Comparison of on Site versus Online Psycho Education Groups and Reducing Caregiver Burden

ABSTRACT Objectives The purpose of this project was to comparatively assess the benefit from the effects of the online versus onsite psychoeducative interventions on caregivers’ emotional burden, including their sense of burden, anxiety, and depression. Methods Seventy-one caregivers of Patients with Dementia (PwD) were divided in two groups, the online versus the onsite, and participated in the 4-month psychoeducational group intervention. Psychosocial assessment was performed using Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and Zarit Burden Interview before and after the intervention. Results No significant differences were found between the online and onsite groups in anxiety (p = .531), depression (p = .577) and sense of burden (p = .623) after the interventions. Both interventions showed significant reductions across emotional variables measured over the course of the treatment study and treatment interventions. Conclusions Both online and onsite interventions are effective at improving emotional health as they reduce the level of anxiety, depression, and sense of caregiver burden. Clinical implications The use of online psychoeducative interventions is indicative for use by clinicians who work with dementia caregivers as compared to the onsite ones. Therefore, they may be assumed as having significant utility in dementia caregivers, especially when being adapted during the recent confinement measures due to the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19).
Adhering to a Mediterranean diet in a Mediterranean country: an excess cost for families?

Abstract Adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) has been decreasing in southern Europe, which could be linked to several cultural or educational factors. Our aim is to evaluate the extent to which economic aspects may also play a role, exploring the relationship between food prices in Portugal and adherence to the MD. We evaluated data from the Portuguese National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Survey (IAN-AF 2015–2016) (n 3591). Diet expenditures were estimated by attributing a retail price to each food group, and the diet was transposed into the Mediterranean Diet Score used in the literature. Prices were gathered from five supermarket chains (65 % of the Portuguese market share). Linear regression models were used to assess the association between different adherence levels to the MD levels and dietary costs. Greater adherence to the MD was associated with a 21·2 % (P < 0·05) rise in total dietary cost, which accounts for more 0·59€ in mean daily costs when compared with low adherence. High adherence individuals (v. low adherence) had higher absolute mean daily costs with fish (0·62€/+285·8 %; P < 0·05), fruits (0·26€/+115·8 %; P < 0·05) and vegetables (0·10€/+100·9 %; P < 0·05). The analysis stratified by education and income level showed significantly higher mean daily diet cost only amongst higher income groups. Our findings suggest that greater adherence to the MD was positively and significantly associated with higher total dietary cost. Policies to improve population’s diet should take into consideration the cost of healthy foods, especially for large low- and middle-income families.
The Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lifestyle Behaviors of Individuals

The study was planned and administered as a descriptive study to determine how COVID-19 pandemic affected the lifestyle behaviors of individuals. The study was administered from 30 June to 30 September by including 615 adult individuals who had been exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the healthy lifestyle behaviors scale II, the total mean score was found to be 126.37 ± 18.58. The health responsibility (p = .032) and nutrition (p = .004) subscale mean scores of women were found to be significantly higher than men, while the spiritual development subscale mean scores of men (p = .047) were found to be significantly higher than that of women. It was found in this study that individuals did not regularly maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors in general during the pandemic period according to the subscales of health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, spiritual development, interpersonal relationships, and stress management.
Temporal preparation in adults with autistic spectrum disorder: The variable foreperiod effect

Research suggested the possibility that temporal cognition may be different in autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Although there are some empirical studies examining timing ability in these individuals, to our knowledge, no one directly assessed the ability to predict when an event will occur. Here, we report a study on implicit temporal preparation in individuals with ASD as indexed by the variable foreperiod (FP) effect. We compared a group of adult ASD participants to a group of typically‐developed (TD) controls, for their respective abilities to utilize implicit temporal information in a simple detection task with three different preparatory intervals (FP, short, middle and long). Participants were given a warning tone to signal an imminent stimulus, and asked to press a key as quickly as they could upon detection of the stimulus. Both groups were able to use implicit temporal information, as revealed by both the variable‐FP effect (i.e., faster response for targets appearing after a long FP) and asymmetric sequential effects (i.e., slower response in short‐FP trials following a previous long‐FP trial). The TD group exhibited a faster response in a long‐FP trial that was preceded by short‐FP one, whereas the ASD group did not, as reflected in their higher percentage of response omissions for a target that appeared later than in the previous trial. The reduced ability of ASD participants to modulate their responses under these conditions might reflect a difficulty in time‐based monitoring of stimulus occurrence.
Governing Gene Drive Technologies: A Qualitative Interview Study

Abstract Background Gene drive technologies (GDTs) bias the inheritance of a genetic element within a population of non-human organisms, promoting its progressive spread across this population. If successful, GDTs may be used to counter intractable problems such as vector-borne diseases. A key issue in the debate on GDTs relates to what governance is appropriate for these technologies. While governance mechanisms for GDTs are to a significant extent proposed and shaped by professional experts, the perspectives of these experts have not been explored in depth. Methods A total of 33 GDT experts from different professional disciplines were interviewed to identify, better understand, and juxtapose their perspectives on GDT governance. The pseudonymized transcripts were analyzed thematically. Results Three main themes were identified: (1) engagement of communities, stakeholders, and publics; (2) power dynamics, and (3) decision-making. There was broad consensus amongst respondents that it is important to engage communities, stakeholders, and publics. Nonetheless, respondents had diverging views on the reasons for doing so and the timing and design of engagement. Respondents also outlined complexities and challenges related to engagement. Moreover, they brought up the power dynamics that are present in GDT research. Respondents stressed the importance of preventing the recurrence of historical injustices and reflected on dilemmas regarding whether and to what extent (foreign) researchers can legitimately make demands regarding local governance. Finally, respondents had diverging views on whether decisions about GDTs should be made in the same way as decisions about other environmental interventions, and on the decision-making model that should be used to decide about GDT deployment. Conclusions The insights obtained in this interview study give rise to recommendations for the design and evaluation of GDT governance. Moreover, these insights point to unresolved normative questions that need to be addressed to move from general commitments to concrete obligations.
Sexual selection towards a protamine expression ratio optimum in two rodent groups?

Post‐copulatory sexual selection is thought to influence the evolution of genes involved in reproduction. However, the detection of straightforward effects has been proven difficult due to the complexity and diversity of reproductive landscapes found in different taxa. Here, we compare the possible effect of relative testes mass as a sperm competition proxy on protamine genotype (protamine 1/protamine 2 ratio) and the link to sperm head phenotype in two rodent groups, mice, and voles. In mice, protamine expression ratios were found to increase from low values toward a 1:1 ratio in a positive association with testes mass, and relative sperm head area. In contrast, in voles, decreasing protamine expression ratios were found in species with larger testes but, surprisingly, they range from high values, again toward a 1:1 ratio, and showing a negative correlation with relative sperm head area. Altogether, we found differences in the way protamines seem to be selected and involved in adaptations of the sperm head in voles and mice. However, sexual selection driven by sperm competition seems to exhibit a common evolutionary pattern in both groups toward an equilibrium in the expression of the two protamines.
Construction and demolition waste management in Australia: A mini-review

Construction and demolition activities generate huge quantities of waste with substantial impacts on environment. This mini-review article covers the literatures relating to construction and demolition waste management practice in Australia. The Scopus search engine was used in literature search and 26 journal articles relating to construction and demolition waste management in Australia were targeted for analysis. Additionally, various government acts, regulations, policies, and strategy documents were collected and analyzed. This review indicated that the inconsistencies in legislation and landfill levies across states and territories contributed to the cross-jurisdiction waste movement. Given the stakeholders’ attitude and project life cycle, this review reported that the design phase had the greatest potential to minimize waste and that the role of designers had been highlighted in various empirical studies. This review provides practitioners and academics with an understanding of the current construction and demolition waste management research in Australia and recommends directions for future research.
The bromodomain inhibitor JQ1+ reduces calcium-sensing receptor activity in pituitary cell lines

Corticotrophinomas represent 10% of all surgically removed pituitary adenomas, however, current treatment options are often not effective, and there is a need for improved pharmacological treatments. Recently, JQ1+, a bromodomain inhibitor that promotes gene transcription by binding acetylated histone residues and recruiting transcriptional machinery, has been shown to reduce proliferation in a murine corticotroph cell line, AtT20. RNA-Seq analysis of AtT20 cells following treatment with JQ1+ identified the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) gene as significantly downregulated, which was subsequently confirmed using real-time PCR and Western blot analysis. CaSR is a G protein-coupled receptor that plays a central role in calcium homeostasis but can elicit non-calcitropic effects in multiple tissues, including the anterior pituitary where it helps regulate hormone secretion. However, in AtT20 cells, CaSR activates a tumour-specific cAMP pathway that promotes ACTH and PTHrP hypersecretion. We hypothesised that the Casr promoter may harbour binding sites for BET proteins, and using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-sequencing demonstrated that the BET protein Brd3 binds to the promoter of the Casr gene. Assessment of CaSR signalling showed that JQ1+ significantly reduced Ca2+e-mediated increases in intracellular calcium (Ca2+i) mobilisation and cAMP signalling. However, the CaSR-negative allosteric modulator, NPS-2143, was unable to reduce AtT20 cell proliferation, indicating that reducing CaSR expression rather than activity is likely required to reduce pituitary cell proliferation. Thus, these studies demonstrate that reducing CaSR expression may be a viable option in the treatment of pituitary tumours. Moreover, current strategies to reduce CaSR activity, rather than protein expression for cancer treatments, may be ineffective.