Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative role of hematological indices for the assessment of in-hospital outcome of heart failure patients

Abstract Background. The mutual relation between heart failure (HF) and inflammation is reflected in blood cell homeostasis. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were linked to HF severity and prognosis. Aims. Our objective was to compare the three ratios for predicting in-hospital outcome of HF patients, in order to establish which is best suited for clinical practice. Methods. Consecutive HF patients admitted to a Cardiology Department from a tertiary hospital were retrospectively evaluated for inclusion. Readmissions and pathologies modifying the hematological indices were excluded. Extended length of hospital stay (LOS) was considered over 7 d. In-hospital all-cause mortality was evaluated. Results: The hematological indices in heart failure (HI-HF) cohort included 1299 patients with a mean age of 72.35 ± 10.45 years, 51.96% women. 2.85% died during hospitalization. 22.17% had extended LOS. In Cox regression for in-hospital mortality alongside parameters from the OPTIMIZE-HF proposed model, all three ratios were independent predictors of mortality. In Cox regression including NT-proBNP, dyspnea at rest, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), age and systolic blood pressure, only MLR was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.22 − 2.32, p = .002). In multivariable logistic regression, all three ratios independently predicted extended LOS. MLR > 0.48 associated the highest probability (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.25 − 2.46, p = .001). Conclusions. Hematological indices could be cost-effective and easily available auxiliary biomarkers for in-hospital prognosis of HF patients. We propose MLR > 0.48 as the strongest predictor of in-hospital mortality and prolonged hospitalization.
Characterization of a novel COL10A1 variant associated with Schmid‐type metaphyseal chondrodysplasia and a literature review

Schmid‐type metaphyseal chondrodysplasia (SMCD) is a rare autosomal dominant skeletal dysplasia caused by heterozygous mutations in COL10A1, the gene which encodes collagen type X alpha 1 chain. However, its genotype–phenotype relationship has not been fully determined.
Zero contrast optical coherence tomography‐guided percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with non‐ST segment elevation myocardial infarction and chronic kidney disease

To investigate a strategy for ultra‐low volume contrast percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with the aims of preserving renal function and observing the 90‐day clinical endpoint in patients with non‐ST‐elevated myocardial infarction (non‐STEMI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Occupational Exposure to Extremely Low‐Frequency Magnetic Fields and Risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Results of a Feasibility Study for a Pooled Analysis of Original Data

Previous meta‐analyses have suggested an increased risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) associated with occupational exposure to extremely low‐frequency magnetic fields (ELF‐MF). However, results should be interpreted with caution since studies were methodologically heterogeneous. Here, we assessed the feasibility of a pooling study to harmonize and re‐analyze available original data. A systematic literature search was conducted. Published epidemiological studies were identified in PubMed and EMF‐Portal from literature databases′ inception dates until January 2019. The characteristics of all studies were described, including exposure metrics, exposure categories, and confounders. A survey among the principal investigators (PI) was carried out to assess their willingness to provide their original data. The statistical power of a pooling study was evaluated. We identified 15 articles published between 1997 and 2019. Studies differed in terms of outcome, study population, exposure assessment, and exposure metrics. Most studies assessed ELF‐MF as average magnetic flux density per working day; however, exposure categories varied widely. The pattern of adjustment for confounders was heterogeneous between studies, with age, sex, and socioeconomic status being most frequent. Eight PI expressed their willingness to provide original data. A relative risk of ≥1.14 for ALS and occupational exposure to ELF‐MF can be detected with a power of more than 80% in a pooled study. The pooling of original data is recommended and could contribute to a better understanding of ELF‐MF in the etiology of ALS based on a large database and reduced heterogeneity due to a standardized analysis protocol with harmonized exposure metrics and exposure categories. Bioelectromagnetics. © 2021 Bioelectromagnetics Society.
Desarrollo y validación de modelos de pronóstico para estimar la pérdida de peso corporal en personas con sobrepeso y obesidad Development and validation of prognostic models to estimate body weight loss in overweight and obese people

Background: predicting weight loss outcomes from information collected from subjects before they start a weight management program is an objective strongly pursued by scientists who study energy balance. Objective: to develop and validate two prognostic models for the estimation of final body weight after a six-month intervention period. Material and Methods: the present work was developed following the TRIPOD standard to report prognostic multivariable prediction models. A multivariable linear regression analysis was applied to 70 % of participants to identify the most relevant variables and develop the best prognostic model for body weight estimation. Then, 30 % of the remaining sample was used to validate the model. The study involved a 6-month intervention based on 25-30 % caloric restriction and exercise. A total of 239 volunteers who had participated in the PRONAF study, aged 18 to 50 years, with overweight or obesity (body mass index: 25-34.9 kg/m2), were enrolled. Body composition was estimated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and by hand-tofoot bioelectrical impedance (BIA) analysis. Results: prognostic models were developed and validated with a high correlation (0.954 and 0.951 for DXA and BIA, respectively), with the paired t-tests showing no significant differences between estimated and measured body weights. The mean difference, standard error, and 95 % confidence interval of the DXA model were 0.067 ± 0.547 (-1.036-1.170), and those of the BIA model were -0.105 ± 0.511 (-1.134-0.924). Conclusions: the models developed in this work make it possible to calculate the final BW of any participant engaged in an intervention like the one employed in this study based only on baseline body composition variables.
A Novel Risk Stratification System for Ischemic Stroke in Japanese Patients With Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation.

BACKGROUND Recently, identification of independent risk factors for ischemic stroke in Japanese non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients was made by analyzing the 5 major Japanese registries: J-RHYTHM Registry, Fushimi AF Registry, Shinken Database, Keio interhospital Cardiovascular Studies, and the Hokuriku-Plus AF Registry.Methods and Results:The predictive value of the risk scheme in Japanese NVAF patients was assessed. Of 16,918 patients, 12,289 NVAF patients were analyzed (mean follow up, 649±181 days). Hazard ratios (HRs) of each significant, independent risk factor were determined by using adjusted Cox-hazard proportional analysis. Scoring system for ischemic stroke was created by transforming HR logarithmically and was estimated by c-statistic. During the 21,820 person-years follow up, 241 ischemic stroke events occurred. Significant risk factors were: being elderly (aged 75-84 years [E], HR=1.74), extreme elderly (≥85 years [EE], HR=2.41), having hypertension (H, HR=1.60), previous stroke (S, HR=2.75), type of AF (persistent/permanent) (T, HR=1.59), and low body mass index <18.5 kg/m2(L, HR=1.55) after adjusting for oral anticoagulant treatment. The score was assigned as follows: 1 point to H, E, L, and T, and 2 points to EE and S (HELT-E2S2score). The C-statistic, using this score, was 0.681 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.647-0.714), which was significantly higher than those using CHADS2(0.647; 95% CI=0.614-0.681, P=0.027 for comparison) and CHA2DS2-VASc scores (0.641; 95% CI=0.608-0.673, P=0.008). CONCLUSIONS The HELT-E2S2score may be useful for identifying Japanese NVAF patients at risk of ischemic stroke.
Simultaneous and proportional control of wrist and hand movements by decoding motor unit discharges in real time

Objective. Surface electromyography (EMG) decomposition techniques can be used to establish human-machine interfacing (HMI), but most investigations are implemented offline due to the computational load of the approach. Here, we generalize the offline decomposition algorithm to identify the motor unit (MU) activities in real time, and we propose a MU-based approach for online simultaneous and proportional control (SPC) of multiple motor tasks. Approach. High-density surface EMG signals recorded from forearm muscles were decomposed into motor unit spike trains (MUSTs) with the proposed decomposition method. The MUSTs were first pooled into clusters in the calibration phase and the cumulative discharges of active MUs in each group were extracted as the control signal for each motor task. Then the subjects were instructed to control a virtual cursor with multiple motor tasks involving grasp and wrist movements. Fifteen able-bodied subjects and two patients with limb deficiency participated in the experiments to validate the proposed control scheme. Main results. On average, over 20 MUSTs were identified in real time with an estimated decomposition accuracy > 85%. The cumulative discharge in each pool was highly correlated with the activation of the specific motion (R = 0.93 ± 0.05). Moreover, the proposed MU-based method had superior performance in online tests than conventional myo-control methods based on global EMG features. Significance. These results indicate the feasibility of real-time neural decoding in a non-invasive way. Moreover, the superior performance in online tests proves the potential of the MU-based approach for the SPC, promoting the application of EMG decomposition for HMI systems.
The Structural, Physical, and In Vitro Biological Performance of Freshly Mixed and Set Endodontic Sealers

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro performance of endodontic sealers in their freshly mixed and set forms. Methods: The commercially used endodontic sealers (AH Plus, Dia-ProSeal, GuttaFlow 2, and Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer) were investigated and the chemical structure of freshly mixed and set sealers were assessed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The surface morphology and elemental analysis were assessed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The pH and solubility analysis were performed and the cytotoxicity was done on extracts of freshly mixed and set materials using Alamar blue assay. One way ANOVA and Post Hoc Tukey analysis was used to do multiple comparison analysis of the mean values and standard deviation results through SPSS version 20 (IBM Software, NY, USA) for pH, solubility, and cytotoxicity analysis. Results: FTIR analysis revealed the structural pattern and the difference in freshly mixed and set samples was observed with the change in intensities of the peaks. The morphological pattern revealed the presence of micro/nano-particles with pores distributed throughout their structure. The sealer with the least solubility was AH Plus (0.10±0.01) followed by Dia-ProSeal (0.77±0.25), GuttaFlow 2 (1.88±0.82) and Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer (3.03±0.18). The solubility of AH plus was significantly lower (P<0.05) in comparison to GuttaFlow 2 and Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer. The highest pH (10.09±0.034) in the freshly mixed state and highest cytotoxicity in the freshly mixed (70.08±5.852) and set sealers (83.87±5.409) (P<0.05) at day 7 was observed in Dia-ProSeal. GuttaFlow 2 was the most biocompatible sealer in the set state and AH Plus was the most biocompatible sealer in the freshly mixed state at day 7. Conclusion: Clinically, the sealer is applied in fresh state, whereby this study signifies that which material is more biocompatible in fresh state and provides insight information to clinicians. AH Plus showed least solubility and cytocompatibility in fresh state compared to other groups.
Efficacy and safety of fire acupuncture for psoriasis vulgaris

Abstract Introduction: Fire acupuncture is commonly used for the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris, but the efficacy and safety of fire acupuncture for psoriasis vulgaris remain unclear. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis will be conducted and reported strictly according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Five databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, VIP, Chinese biomedical literature, and Pubmed will be retrieved for potentially eligible studies from their inception to Jan. 2021. All randomized clinical trials comparing fire acupuncture versus no fire acupuncture in the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris will be retrieved and assessed for inclusion. RevMan5.3 software provided by Cochrane collaboration will be used for the analysis. Randomized Clinical Trials Data will be extracted by 2 researchers independently, risk of bias of the meta-analysis will be evaluated based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The primary endpoint is the total effective rate, the secondary outcomes are the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score, the recurrence rate and the adverse reactions. Results: This study will systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of fire acupuncture for psoriasis vulgaris. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Conclusion: This systematic review will evaluate the effects of fire acupuncture in patients with psoriasis vulgaris, thus providing evidence to the clinical application of this therapy.
Radiation Safety for Yttrium-90-polymer Composites (RadioGel™) in Therapy of Solid Tumors

Abstract Yttrium-90 (90Y)-polymer composite (RadioGel™) is a new cancer therapeutic agent for treating solid tumors by direct interstitial injection. The 90Y-composite comprises insoluble, microscopic yttrium-phosphate particles carried by a sterile, injectable water-polymer (hydrogel) solution that can be placed directly by needle injection into solid tumors. The yttrium-90-RadioGel™ agent was designed to provide a safe, effective, localized, high-dose beta radiation for treating solid tumors. The properties of 90Y-RadioGel™ also make it a relatively safe agent for health care personnel who prepare, handle, and administer the material. The purpose of this work was to demonstrate and characterize radiation safety of the injectable 90Y-RadioGel™ therapeutic agent. Safety in the patient is defined by its ability to target precisely and remain confined within tumor tissue so that radiation doses are imparted to the tumor and not to normal organs and tissues. Radiation safety for health care personnel is defined by the low radiation doses received by persons who prepare and administer the agent. These safety features were demonstrated during experiments, first involving laboratory rabbits and second in cat and dog animal patients that were treated clinically for sarcoma tumors. This paper focuses mainly on the rabbit tissue biodistribution study; follow-on clinical application in cat and dog subjects confirmed the rabbit results. Implanted VX2 liver tumors in the hind limbs of 26 New Zealand White rabbits were treated using tracer amounts of either (a) 90Y-RadioGel™ or (b) 90Y-microparticles in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) without the gel carrier. Tumor and margin injections were interstitial. Rabbits were euthanized at 48 h or 10 d following injection. Blood and tissues (tumor or tumor margins, liver, lymph nodes, rib bone, kidney, spleen) were collected for liquid scintillation counting using wet-ash procedures. Biodistribution was also analyzed at 10 d post-injection using micro-computed tomography. Thirteen cat and dog subjects were also treated clinically for sarcomas. Liquid scintillation counting at 48 h post-injection of tumors or margins with 90Y-RadioGel™ showed that significant radioactivity was measurable only at the site of administration and that radioactivity above detector background was not found in blood or peripheral organs and tissues. At 10 d post-injection, microCT showed that yttrium phosphate microparticles were confined to the injection site. Yttrium-90 remained where placed and did not migrate away in significant amounts from the injection site. Radiation doses were confined mainly to tumors and margin tissues. During preparation and administration, radiation doses to hands and body of study personnel were negligible. This work showed that 90Y-RadioGel™ can be safely prepared and administered and that radiation doses to cancer patients are confined to tumor and margin tissues rather than to critical normal organs and tissues.
Graph-based ahead monitoring of vulnerabilities in large dynamic transportation networks

Betweenness Centrality (BC) has proven to be a fundamental metric in many domains to identify the components (nodes) of a system modelled as a graph that are mostly traversed by information flows thus being critical to the proper functioning of the system itself. In the transportation domain, the metric has been mainly adopted to discover topological bottlenecks of the physical infrastructure composed of roads or railways. The adoption of this metric to study the evolution of transportation networks that take into account also the dynamic conditions of traffic is in its infancy mainly due to the high computation time needed to compute BC in large dynamic graphs. This paper explores the adoption of dynamic BC, i.e., BC computed on dynamic large-scale graphs, modeling road networks and the related vehicular traffic, and proposes the adoption of a fast algorithm for ahead monitoring of transportation networks by computing approximated BC values under time constraints. The experimental analysis proves that, with a bounded and tolerable approximation, the algorithm computes BC on very large dynamically weighted graphs in a significantly shorter time if compared with exact computation. Moreover, since the proposed algorithm can be tuned for an ideal trade-off between performance and accuracy, our solution paves the way to quasi real-time monitoring of highly dynamic networks providing anticipated information about possible congested or vulnerable areas. Such knowledge can be exploited by travel assistance services or intelligent traffic control systems to perform informed re-routing and therefore enhance network resilience in smart cities.
Behavioral and Neurophysiological Markers of ADHD in Children, Adolescents, and Adults: A Large-Scale Clinical Study

This study aimed to re-evaluate the possible differences between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) subjects and healthy controls in the context of a standard Go/NoGo task (visual continuous performance test [VCPT]), frequently used to measure executive functions. In contrast to many previous studies, our sample comprises children, adolescents, and adults. We analyzed data from 447 ADHD patients and 227 healthy controls. By applying multivariate linear regression analyses, we controlled the group differences between ADHD patients and controls for age and sex. As dependent variables we used behavioral (number of omission and commission errors, reaction time, and reaction time variability) and neurophysiological measures (event-related potentials [ERPs]). In summary, we successfully replicated the deviations of ADHD subjects from healthy controls. The differences are small to moderate when expressed as effect size measures (number of omission errors: d = 0.60, reaction time variability: d = 0.56, contingent negative variation (CNV) and P3 amplitudes: −0.35 < d < −0.47, ERP latencies: 0.21 < d < 0.29). Further analyses revealed no substantial differences between ADHD subtypes (combined, inattentive, and hyperactive/impulsive presentation), subgroups according to high- and low-symptomatic burden or methylphenidate intake for their daily routine. We successfully replicated known differences between ADHD subjects and controls for the behavioral and neurophysiological variables. However, the small-to-moderate effect sizes limit their utility as biomarkers in the diagnostic procedure. The incongruence of self-reported symptomatic burden and clinical diagnosis emphasizes the challenges of the present clinical diagnosis with low reliability, which partially accounts for the low degree of discrimination between ADHD subjects and controls.
Defining Stable Reference Genes in HIV Latency Reversal Experiments

Latency-reversing agents (LRAs) are ubiquitously used in the “shock-and-kill” HIV cure strategy, and their performance is often evaluated by ex vivo quantification of cell-associated HIV RNA. HIV RNA, measured by quantitative PCR (qPCR), is often normalized to internal reference genes, but the expression of these genes should not be influenced by the experimental settings. ABSTRACT Quantification of cell-associated HIV RNA (ca-RNA) is one of the most important and commonly used methods to evaluate the performance of latency-reversing agents (LRAs). Copies of HIV RNA measured by quantitative PCR (qPCR) are often normalized to the input RNA or cell number. However, these could be affected by biological variability and/or technical errors, which can be avoided by using an internal reference gene. To obtain reliable data, it is essential to select stable reference genes (RGs) of which the expression is not influenced by biological variability, the type of cells, or the LRAs used. However, to date, no study has carefully evaluated RG stability following LRA exposure. We analyzed the stability of six widely used RGs (GAPDH, TBP, YWHAZ, UBE2D2, HPRT1, and RPL27A) in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and CD4+ T cells. LRA exposure significantly influenced the stability of these RGs. Overall, TBP, UBE2D2, and RPL27A were the most stable RGs under all tested conditions. TBP was generally the most stable RG, whereas GAPDH varied the most. Finally, we evaluated the impact of applying different RG normalizers to host genes and HIV ca-RNA data. Altered results were observed both in host and HIV gene expression when unstable RGs were used. Our data underline the importance of testing the stability of RGs utilized to evaluate LRA-induced HIV ca-RNA expression. To our knowledge, this is the first careful evaluation of the stability of RGs after LRA exposure and will significantly contribute to the quality of data analysis in regard to gene expression. IMPORTANCE Latency-reversing agents (LRAs) are ubiquitously used in the “shock-and-kill” HIV cure strategy, and their performance is often evaluated by ex vivo quantification of cell-associated HIV RNA. HIV RNA, measured by quantitative PCR (qPCR), is often normalized to internal reference genes, but the expression of these genes should not be influenced by the experimental settings. We found that treatment of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and CD4+ T cells with LRAs significantly altered the expression of several commonly used reference genes, such as GAPDH. Finally, we evaluate the impact of different reference genes on the normalization of host genes and HIV cell-associated RNA expression and demonstrated that using unstable reference genes dramatically altered experimental outcome. Our data highlight the importance of using reference genes that are unaffected by LRAs under study to correctly evaluate host gene and cell-associated HIV RNA expression induced by latency-reversing agents.