Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Translation of Simultaneous Vessel Wall Motion and Vectorial Blood Flow Imaging in Healthy and Diseased Carotids to the Clinic: A Pilot Study

This study aims to investigate the clinical feasibility of simultaneous extraction of vessel wall motion and vectorial blood flow at high frame rates for both extraction of clinical markers and visual inspection. If available in the clinic, such a technique would allow a better estimation of plaque vulnerability and improved evaluation of the overall arterial health of patients. In this study, both healthy volunteers and patients were recruited and scanned using a planewave acquisition scheme that provided a data set of 43 carotid recordings in total. The vessel wall motion was extracted based on the complex autocorrelation of the signals received, while the vector flow was extracted using the transverse oscillation technique. Wall motion and vector flow were extracted at high frame rates, which allowed for a visual appreciation of tissue movement and blood flow simultaneously. Several clinical markers were extracted, and visual inspections of the wall motion and flow were conducted. From all the potential markers, young healthy volunteers had smaller artery diameter (7.72 mm) compared with diseased patients (9.56 mm) ( ${p}$ -value ≤ 0.001), 66% of diseased patients had backflow compared with less than 10% for the other patients ( ${p}$ -value ≤ 0.05), a carotid with a pulse wave velocity extracted from the wall velocity greater than 7 m/s was always a diseased vessel, and the peak wall shear rate decreased as the risk increases. Based on both the pathological markers and the visual inspection of tissue motion and vector flow, we conclude that the clinical feasibility of this approach is demonstrated. Larger and more disease-specific studies using such an approach will lead to better understanding and evaluation of vessels, which can translate to future use in the clinic.
Prevalence and Clinical Manifestations of Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection in a Screening Program in Madrid (PICCSA Study).

BACKGROUND Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the leading cause of congenital infection worldwide. Up to 15%-20% of infected newborns will develop long-term sequelae such as hearing loss and neurologic abnormalities. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of congenital CMV infection (cCMV) and associated clinical abnormalities in Spain. METHODS A prospective screening for cCMV by viral load in saliva was performed. Saliva samples were obtained within the first 72 hours of life in a maternity ward in Madrid (Spain), during a 1-year period. All positive screening tests were confirmed with viral load in urine. Clinical, laboratory, auditory, visual and cerebral imaging assessments were performed in all children with cCMV. RESULTS Of the 4097 neonates born during the study period, 3190 (78%) were included. CMV viral load in saliva was detectable in 24/3190 (0.75%) children, and congenital infection was confirmed in 15/3190 (0.47%, CI 95%: 0.29%-0.77%). Positive predictive value was 62.5% (CI 95%: 46.5%-76.1%). Two infants presented symptoms at birth. Eight (53.3%) children showed abnormalities in magnetic resonance imaging; most of them isolated white matter abnormalities. Newborns with abnormalities in magnetic resonance imaging showed higher viral loads in blood and saliva (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS One in 200 neonates born in our hospital presented a cCMV infection. CMV viral load in saliva has been shown to be a simple and highly accepted screening method but should be confirmed by CMV detection in urine. In spite of the fact that half of infected children had abnormalities in cerebral imaging, diagnosis during the neonatal period would have been impossible without a screening program in most cases.
Structural and dynamic basis for the cAMP-mediated allosteric control of the catabolite activator protein (CAP)

The E.coli catabolite activator protein (CAP) is a universal transcriptional activator that regulates more than half of the cell’s transcription units by responding to fluctuations of the cellular concentration of cAMP. Cyclic 3’-5’-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) binding to CAP elicits an allosteric transition that switches CAP from the “off” state, which binds DNA weakly and nonspecifically, to the “on” state that binds DNA strongly and specifically. In the cAMP-bound state CAP binds to DNA sites located at or close to promoter sites and enhances RNA polymerase binding to the promoter by a simple recruitment mechanism thereby activating transcription. The solution structure of CAP in the absence of cAMP (apo-CAP) was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Multidimensional heteronuclear NMR experiments in combination with a series of specifically labeled samples were used to accomplish structure determination. The structure of the 50-kDa apo-CAP provides atomic details of the allosteric transition that leads to activation of CAP for DNA binding. cAMP elicits a coil-to-helix transition that stabilizes a suboptimal coiled coil, which is extensively unwound in apo-CAP. Coiled-coil winding causes the DNA-binding domain to undergo a large rigid-body translation and rotation that poise the recognition helices for specific DNA binding. The results highlight the unique structural mechanisms that underlie activation of this prototypic transcription factor and provide an example of how effector-mediated structural changes can control the activity of regulatory proteins. In addition, we have also characterized a number of CAP* mutants in order to further understand the mechanism underlying the activation of CAP. NMR spectroscopy in combination with isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was used to delineate the structural and dynamic features of distinct conformational states in cAMP binding to CAP. The intrinsically cooperative binding of cAMP to CAP was characterized using the isolated effector binding domain CAPN (residues 1-138) in three conformational states: in the absence of cAMP (apo-CAPN), in singly liganded state (intermediate, cAMP1-CAPN), and in the doubly liganded state (cAMP2-CAPN). We have shown that allosteric interactions can be mediated exclusively by transmitted changes in protein motions. Thus, the observed protein allostery is exclusively dynamically driven. %%%%
DAMPING COEFFICIENTS FOR THE SINGLE-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM (SDOF) SYSTEM SUBJECTED TO NEAR-FAULT SEISMIC EXCITATIONS

Damping coefficients for the single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system subjected to near-fault ground motions are calculated for a wide range of periods and damping levels. The results indicate that damping coefficients proposed in design codes and previous studies based on far-field ground motion records are not conservative for near-fault seismic excitations. A new approach is recommended for the derivation of damping coefficients appropriate for engineering analysis and design in the immediate vicinity of the earthquake fault. This includes the normalization of the period axis with respect to the duration of the ground velocity pulses recorded in the near-fault region. The pulse duration is controlled by the rise time on the fault plane and scales directly with earthquake magnitude.
Psychiatric symptoms and emotion regulation strategies among the unemployed people in Korea: A latent profile analysis

This study aimed to explore the profiles of emotion regulation strategies among unemployed people, and to examine the association of latent profiles with demographics and psychiatric symptoms. The study included 136 men (42.8%) and 182 women (57.2%). The average age of the participants was 35.84 years (SD = 26.83). Latent profile analysis was used to determine emotion regulation strategy profiles. Associated factors of profile membership were identified with multinomial logistic regression. The four-profile model (low adaptive emotion regulation class, low negative emotion regulation/moderate positive regulation class, high negative emotion regulation/support-seeking class, adaptive emotion regulation class) was selected as the best solution. As a result of examining the probability of being classified into each class according to emotional difficulties, the lower the level of anxiety and somatization, the higher the probability of belonging to the class 2 adaptive emotion regulation class (n = 56, 18%). The higher the depression, the higher the probability of being classified into class 4 (n = 65, 20%) using a lot of negative emotion regulation strategies. The results of this study indicate that unemployed people can be classified into various subgroups according to their emotion regulation strategies. Also, the probability of being classified into each subgroup was different based on the types of emotional difficulties such as depression, anxiety, and somatization. Through the results of this study, it is possible to understand the relationship between the psychiatric symptoms of unemployed people and emotion regulation strategies and to suggest methods for promoting effective emotion regulation strategies among this population group.
Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase Knockdown Leads to Lipid Accumulation in HepG2 Cells through The SIRT1-AMPK Pathway

Objective Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), which is responsible for biosynthesis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), has a regulatory role in cellular metabolism and thus, might be implicated in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aimed to show how NAMPT down-regulation in liver cells influences lipid metabolism and sirtiun 1 (SIRT1), as the main NAD-dependent deacetylase enzyme. Materials and Methods In this experimental study, HepG2 cells were transfected with NAMPT siRNA and hepatic triglyceride (TG) content and SIRT1 deacetylase activity were measured by colorimetric and fluorometric methods, respectively. Gene expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP- 1c) was evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Total protein level and the phosphorylated form of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) were also investigated by western blotting. Results Knockdown of NAMPT significantly promoted the accumulation of TG in HepG2 cells, accompanied by a remarkable decline in SIRT1 deacetylase activity. A significant rise in the gene expression of two key lipogenic factors, FAS and SREBP-1c was also observed. These effects were also accompanied by decreased phosphorylation of ACC and AMPK. On the other hand, treatment of transfected cells with either NAD, as the SIRT1 substrate or resveratrol, as the SIRT1 activator reversed the outcomes. Conclusion These results demonstrated a protective role for NAMPT against NAFLD and its involvement in the regulation of de novo lipogenesis through the SIRT1/AMPK pathway.
SOIL MICROBIAL DYNAMICS AND ASSOCIATIVE NITROGEN FIXATION IN KANSAN TALLGRASS PRAIRIES

The analysis of T-RFLP data has developed considerably over the last decade, but there remains a lack of consensus about which statistical analyses offer the best means for finding trends in these data. In this study, we empirically tested and theoretically compared ten diverse T-RFLP datasets derived from soil microbial communities using the more common ordination methods in the literature: principal component analysis (PCA), non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) with Sørensen, Jaccard and Euclidean distance measures, correspondence analysis (CA), detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), and a technique new to T-RFLP data analysis, the Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) model. Our objectives were i) to determine the distribution of variation in T-RFLP datasets using analysis of variance (ANOVA), ii) to determine the more robust and informative multivariate ordination methods for analyzing T-RFLP data, and iii) compare the methods based on theoretical considerations. For the 10 datasets examined in this study, ANOVA revealed the variation from Environment main effects was always small, variation from T-RFs main effects was large, and variation from T-RF × Environment (T×E) interactions was intermediate. Larger variation due to T×E indicated larger differences in microbial communities between environments/ treatments and thus demonstrated the utility of ANOVA to provide an objective assessment of community dissimilarity. The comparison of statistical methods 4 The chapter is currently in press in the Journal of Microbiological Methods.
Characterization and application of monoclonal antibodies against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes acute diarrhea to pigs at all ages, resulting in high mortality rate of 80-100% in piglets less than one week old. Within one year after the outbreak in April 2013, PEDV has rapidly spread in the US and causes the loss of over 10% of the US pig population. Monoclonal antibody (mAb) is a key reagent for rapid diagnosis of PEDV infection. In this study, we produced a panel of mAbs against nonstructural protein 8 (nsp8), spike(S) protein, and nucleocapsid (N) protein of PEDV. Four mAbs were selected, which can be used in various diagnostic assays, including indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA), Western Blot, immunoprecipitation (IP), immunohistochemistry (IHC) test and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The mAb 51-79 recognizes amino acid (aa) 33-60 of nsp8, mAb 70-100 recognizes aa1371-1377 of S2 protein, and mAb 66-155 recognizes aa 241-360 of N protein, while mAb 13-519 is conformational. Using the mAb70-100, the immunoprecipitated S2 fragment was examined by protein N-terminal sequencing, and cleavage sites between S1 and S2 was identified. In addition, this panel of mAbs was further applied to determine the infection site of PEDV in the pig intestine. IHC test result showed that PEDV mainly located at the mid jejunum, distal jejunum and ileum. Results from this study demonstrated that this panel of mAbs provides a useful tool for PEDV diagnostics and pathogenesis studies.
Effect of nanostructured lipid carriers on transdermal delivery of tenoxicam in irradiated rats

Abstract Transdermal delivery of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is an effective route of drug administration, as it directs the drug to the inflamed site with reduced incidence of systemic adverse effects such as gastric hemorrhage and ulcers. Tenoxicam (TNX) is a member of NSAIDs that are marketed only as oral tablets due to very poor absorption through the skin. The current study intended to formulate and characterize a hydrogel loaded with nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) to enhance the transdermal delivery of TNX. Six formulations of TNX were formulated by slight modifications of high shear homogenization and ultrasonication method. The selected formula was characterized for their particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, entrapment efficiency (EE), in-vitro drug release and ex-vivo skin permeation studies. Moreover, the effectiveness of the developed formula was studied in-vivo using carrageenan-induced paw edema and hyperalgesia model in irradiated rats. Formula F4 was chosen from six formulations, as the average diameter was 679.4 ± 51.3 nm, PDI value of about 0.02, zeta potential of −4.24 mV, EE of 92.36%, globules nanoparticles without aggregations and absence of interactions in the developed formula. Additionally, the in-vivo study showed the efficacy of formula F4 (TNX-NLCs hydrogel) equivalent to oral TNX in reducing the exaggerated inflammatory response induced by carrageenan after irradiation. In conclusion, the present findings suggest that TNX-NLCs hydrogel could be a potential transdermal drug delivery system alternative to the oral formulation for the treatment of various inflammatory conditions.
Differences in Electronic Personal Health Information Tool Use Between Rural and Urban Cancer Patients in the United States: Secondary Data Analysis

Background Studies have previously shown that rural cancer patients are diagnosed at later stages of disease. This delay is felt throughout treatment and follow-up, reflected in the fact that rural patients often have poorer clinical outcomes compared with their urban counterparts. Objective Few studies have explored whether there is a difference in cancer patients’ current use of health information technology tools by residential location. Methods Data from 7 cycles of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS, 2003-2017) were merged and analyzed to examine whether differences exist in managing electronic personal health information (ePHI) and emailing health care providers among rural and urban cancer patients. Geographic location was categorized using Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCCs). Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression were used to determine whether associations existed between rural/urban residency and use of health information technology among cancer patients. Results Of the 3031 cancer patients/survivors who responded across the 7 cycles of HINTS, 797 (26.9%) resided in rural areas. No difference was found between rural and urban cancer patients in having managed ePHI in the past 12 months (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.43-1.40). Rural cancer patients were significantly less likely to email health care providers than their urban counterparts (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.32-0.84). Conclusions The digital divide between rural and urban cancer residents does not extend to general ePHI management; however, electronic communication with providers is significantly lower among rural cancer patients than urban cancer patients. Further research is needed to determine whether such disparities extend to other health information technology tools that might benefit rural cancer patients as well as other chronic conditions.
Data-Driven Evolutionary Algorithm With Perturbation-Based Ensemble Surrogates

Data-driven evolutionary algorithms (DDEAs) aim to utilize data and surrogates to drive optimization, which is useful and efficient when the objective function of the optimization problem is expensive or difficult to access. However, the performance of DDEAs relies on their surrogate quality and often deteriorates if the amount of available data decreases. To solve these problems, this article proposes a new DDEA framework with perturbation-based ensemble surrogates (DDEA-PES), which contain two efficient mechanisms. The first is a diverse surrogate generation method that can generate diverse surrogates through performing data perturbations on the available data. The second is a selective ensemble method that selects some of the prebuilt surrogates to form a final ensemble surrogate model. By combining these two mechanisms, the proposed DDEA-PES framework has three advantages, including larger data quantity, better data utilization, and higher surrogate accuracy. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework, this article provides both theoretical and experimental analyses. For the experimental comparisons, a specific DDEA-PES algorithm is developed as an instance by adopting a genetic algorithm as the optimizer and radial basis function neural networks as the base models. The experimental results on widely used benchmarks and an aerodynamic airfoil design real-world optimization problem show that the proposed DDEA-PES algorithm outperforms some state-of-the-art DDEAs. Moreover, when compared with traditional nondata-driven methods, the proposed DDEA-PES algorithm only requires about 2% computational budgets to produce competitive results.
Eight years of sales surveillance of antimicrobials for veterinary use in Germany—What are the perceptions?

A surveillance system for sales volumes of antimicrobial agents for veterinary use was established in Germany in 2011. Since then, pharmaceutical companies and wholesalers have been legally obliged to report annual volumes of veterinary antimicrobial products sold to veterinary practices or clinics located in Germany. The evaluation of sales volumes for eight consecutive years resulted in a considerable total decrease by 58% from 1706 tons to 722 tons. During the investigation period, two legally binding measures to control the risk of antimicrobial resistance resulting from the veterinary use of antimicrobials were introduced, a) the German treatment frequencies benchmarking in 2014 and b) the obligation to conduct susceptibility testing for the use of cephalosporins of the 3rd and 4th generation and of fluoroquinolones in 2018. Both had a marked impact on sales volumes. Nonetheless, the category of Critically Important Antimicrobials as defined by the World Health Organization kept accounting for the highest share on sales volumes in Germany in 2018 with 403 tons, despite an overall reduction by 53%. Sales surveillance is considered essential for data retrieval on a global scale and inter-country comparison. However, the usability of a surveillance system based on sales data for risk management of antimicrobial resistance has limitations. The German system does not include off-label use of antimicrobial products authorized for human medicine and does not allow for identification of areas of high risk according to animal species, farm and production types and indications for treatment. For further reduction and enhanced promotion of a prudent use of antimicrobials, targeted measures would be required that could only be deducted from use data collected at farm or veterinary practice level. A surveillance system based on use data is currently lacking in Germany but will be established according to Regulation (EU) 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products.
Influence of vitamin D supplementation on lipid levels in polycystic ovary syndrome patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Objective Observational studies have shown that circulating vitamin D (VitD) deficiency is associated with atherogenic lipid patterns among polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients. However, interventional studies have shown inconsistent results. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate how VitD supplementation influences lipid indices in PCOS patients. Methods The authors searched four electronic databases through August 2019 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the effect of VitD intervention on serum lipids among PCOS patients. Mean differences were generated for statistical evaluation. Results We included eight studies and performed nine comparisons across 467 participants. VitD supplementation reduced serum triglyceride levels (−11.88 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −17.03 to −6.73), total cholesterol (−9.09 mg/dL; 95% CI: −14.90 to −3.29), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (−5.22 mg/dL; 95% CI: −10.32 to −0.13), and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (−2.43 mg/dL; 95% CI: −3.69 to −1.17) compared with no VitD supplementation. However, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels showed no differences with or without VitD supplementation (−0.39 mg/dL; 95% CI: −1.39 to 0.61). Conclusions VitD supplementation improved serum lipid levels among PCOS patients, but serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were not changed. VitD intervention might benefit PCOS patients who are at high risk of an atherogenic lipid profile.