Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does acupuncture therapy improve language function of patients with aphasia following ischemic stroke? A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Aphasia is one of the most common complications in patients with ischemic stroke. Studies have shown that acupuncture can improve the symptoms of aphasia patients. However, the effect of acupuncture on language function in patients with ischemic stroke is still controversial. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to critically assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for aphasia following ischemic stroke. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science Core Collection, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Digital Periodicals, and Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals database were searched. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that met the criteria were included. RESULTS: Meta-analyses showed that mean difference in change of auditory comprehension score (MD = 7.71, 95% CI: 1.83 to 13.59, P = 0.01), spontaneous speech (MD = 2.77, 95% CI: 0.59 to 4.95, P = 0.01), repetition score (MD = 14.48, 95% CI: 11.04 to 17.91, P < 0.00001) and naming score (MD = 14.60, 95% CI: 11.33 to 17.88, P < 0.00001) measured by WAB scale were statistically significant. Subgroup analyses demonstrated that there were statistically significant mean differences in four items of WAB scale in patients with sub-acute stroke, and no statistically significant differences in patients with acute stroke. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that acupuncture may improve the language function of patients with aphasia following ischemic stroke, especially during the sub-acute phase. However, due to insufficient sample sizes and information on the safety, more high-quality RCTs are still needed
Prediction of Bilaterality in Patients With 1 Posterosuperior Rotator Cuff Tear

Background: In patients with a known unilateral posterosuperior rotator cuff tear (PSRCT), the ability to predict a contralateral PSRCT may assist in earlier diagnosis and improved patient outcomes. Purpose: To determine factors associated with bilateral PSRCT and their most predictive combinations using a nonhospitalized general population. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: This study involved 736 individuals (n = 1472 shoulders) drawn from a rural cohort. PSRCT was diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging. Symptoms of the contralateral shoulder were not considered. The demographic, physical, social, metabolic, and imaging factors, as well as comorbidities, were evaluated using logistic regression analysis. Cutoff values for the significantly associated variables obtained from multivariable logistic regression analysis were calculated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) of the combinations of significantly associated variables were compared using the DeLong method to determine the combination most predictive of bilateral PSRCT. The likelihood ratio and the posttest probability for each of the combinations were assessed. Results: Age ≥61 years, manual labor, critical shoulder angle (CSA) ≥35°, retraction degree of Patte ≥ grade 2, biceps tendon injury, and metabolic syndrome were significantly associated with bilateral PSRCT in multivariable analysis (P < .001). The 1-by-1 combination of any 4 of the 6 associated factors significantly increased the AUC of any smaller combinations of those 6 factors (P < .001). The AUCs of the 4-somes were all similar (P ≥ .383) and were not significantly increased by further addition of identified associated factors (P ≥ .422). Any combination of 4 of the 6 associated factors was highly predictive of bilateral PSRCT, each having a minimum AUC of 0.70, a likelihood ratio of >10, and a minimum posttest probability of 80%. Conclusion: Unilateral PSRCT, accompanied by any 4 of the variables of age ≥61 years, manual labor, CSA ≥35°, retraction degree of Patte ≥ grade 2, biceps tendon injury, and metabolic syndrome, is highly predictive of PSRCT in the other shoulder.
Trends in adolescent psychosomatic complaints: a quantile regression analysis of Swedish HBSC data 1985–2017

Background and aims: According to recent criticism, survey-based measures of adolescent psychosomatic complaints have poor content validity insofar as they conflate trivial with severe complaints. It is argued that this means that estimates of prevalence and trends in complaints may reflect trivial complaints that are not indicators of health problems. In this study, two observable implications of this criticism were investigated: (a) that self-reported psychosomatic complaints should have a bimodal distribution; and (b) that the increase in complaints over time should be of approximately equal size throughout the distribution of complaints. Methods: Three decades (1985/1986–2017/2018) of repeated cross-sectional data from the Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey were used. Psychosomatic complaints were measured using the screening instrument Health Behaviour in School-aged Children symptom checklist. Histograms, bar charts and quantile regression models were used for the analysis. Results and conclusions: With regard to the first implication, the results showed that the distribution of complaints was not bimodal and that there were no clusters of respondents. This suggests that binary categorisations of students can be reductive and conceal important variations across students. With regard to the second implication, the results showed that the increase in complaints was greatest among students who report frequent and co-occurring complaints. This suggests that reports of increasing complaints in adolescents cannot be explained as being primarily due to a greater inclination to report trivial complaints. It is concluded that any conflation of trivial and more severe complaints in surveys of psychosomatic complaints is not reflected in population-based estimates.
COVID-19 pandemic-related anxiety, stress, and depression among teachers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND As millions of teachers have been forced to rely upon remote teaching due to the closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is particularly important to understand the extent to which teacher's psychological wellbeing has been affected by this global health crisis. OBJECTIVE The aim of this comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis was twofold: 1) ascertain the prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression among teachers during the COVID-19 outbreak; 2) identify the associated factors of these psychological wellbeing domains of the teachers. METHODS Academic Search Premier, Eric, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for articles published from December 2019 and July 2021, using search terms including "COVID-19" "anxiety" "depression" "stress", and "teachers". RESULTS This study included 54 studies synthesising data from 256,896 teachers across 22 countries. The meta-analysis showed higher prevalence of stress (62.6%, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 46.1-76.6), compared to anxiety (36.3%, 95% CI: 28.5-44.9) and depression (59.9%, 95% CI: 43.4-74.4) among teachers. Teachers' experiences of these psychological issues were associated with various socio-demographic and institutional factors, including gender, nature of online teaching, job satisfaction, teaching experience, and the volume of workload. Additionally, several protective factors, such as regular exercises and provision of technical support for online teaching, reduced teachers' negative psychological experiences. CONCLUSION There is a need for authorities to formulate educational policies to improve teachers' wellbeing at the time of global crisis. Special attention should be paid to assist female teachers in overcoming physical and mental stressors.
The splicing‐regulatory lncRNA NTRAS sustains vascular integrity

Vascular integrity is essential for organ homeostasis to prevent edema formation and infiltration of inflammatory cells. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression and often expressed in a cell type‐specific manner. By screening for endothelial‐enriched lncRNAs, we identified the undescribed lncRNA NTRAS to control endothelial cell functions. Silencing of NTRAS induces endothelial cell dysfunction in vitro and increases vascular permeability and lethality in mice. Biochemical analysis revealed that NTRAS, through its CA‐dinucleotide repeat motif, sequesters the splicing regulator hnRNPL to control alternative splicing of tight junction protein 1 (TJP1; also named zona occludens 1, ZO‐1) pre‐mRNA. Deletion of the hnRNPL binding motif in mice (Ntras∆CA/∆CA) significantly repressed TJP1 exon 20 usage, favoring expression of the TJP1α‐ isoform, which augments permeability of the endothelial monolayer. Ntras∆CA/∆CA mice further showed reduced retinal vessel growth and increased vascular permeability and myocarditis. In summary, this study demonstrates that NTRAS is an essential gatekeeper of vascular integrity.
Is winter coming? Minor effect of the onset of chilling accumulation on the prediction of endodormancy release and budbreak.

The buds of perennial plants become dormant in autumn and must integrate the information related to chilling and forcing temperatures to resume their growth in spring. In many studies, the initial date for chilling accumulation (DCA ) is set arbitrarily using various rules resulting in high variability across studies and sites. To test the relevancy of different rules to set DCA , sequential models (taking into account or not the negative effect of warm temperature) were optimized by minimizing the sums of squares between observed and predicted values for 34 endodormancy release and 77 budbreak dates for the walnut Juglans regia L. cv Franquette across France. Optimization of these different models highlighted that many of the DCA rules, incorporating a photoperiod signal on endodormancy induction, were effective (predicted root mean square standard error less than 10 and 8 days for endodormancy onset and bud break, respectively). Furthermore, the use of functions that compute negative chilling accumulation did not improve the performance of the models. Among the different rules, the projections of the best models were explored under different climates (current climate and Representative Concentration Pathways RCP scenarios). The projections revealed a tipping point at a mean annual temperature between 13 and 15°C, beyond which the advance in ontogenic development during ecodormancy does not compensate for the delay in endodormancy release. Although the physiological mechanisms driving the onset of endodormancy may be profoundly altered by global change, they appear to have minimal impact on the way current models predict dormancy and budbreak dates in walnut. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Comparison of the Value of Multiple Preoperative Objective Nutritional Indices for the Evaluation of Prognosis after Hepatectomy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract Objective: To investigate the impact of preoperative objective nutritional indices on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent radical hepatectomy and to compare their predictive value for prognosis. Methods: The clinical data of 661 patients were retrospectively reviewed to analyze the risk factors associated with prognosis; explore the role of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), nutritional risk index (NRI), and control nutritional status (CONUT) in HCC prognosis; and compare their predictive value. Results: Several independent risk factors for overall survival (OS) were identified, including neutrophil count, prealbumin level, microvascular invasion (MVI), Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, and PNI. The following factors were confirmed to be associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS): alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level, prothrombin time (PT), tumor size, tumor capsule, MVI, BCLC stage, and PNI. Compared with the corresponding subgroups, patients in the high PNI (>45) group and the high NRI (>100) group had better RFS and OS (P < 0.05). However, patients in the low CONUT score (≤3) group had a similar prognosis to patients in the high CONUT (>3) group (P = 0.050). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the PNI was significantly higher than that of the CONUT for RFS or OS but similar to that of the NRI. Conclusions: The predictive ability of the PNI for HCC prognosis was significantly better than that of the CONUT but similar to that of the NRI.
Correlation between stress and lifestyle in teachers at some schools in lima, Peru, during telework in 2020.

BACKGROUND Stress and unhealthy lifestyle are serious problems in public health and education, particularly due to their significant relevance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVES To determine the correlation between stress and lifestyle in teachers at some schools in Lima, Peru, during telework in 2020. METHODS This observational, quantitative, analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted in 217 school teachers from Lima. Lifestyle was measured using the FANTASTIC questionnaire; stress was measured using the Teaching Stress Scale (ED-6), comprised of the anxiety, depression, maladaptive beliefs, work pressure and poor coping dimensions. The Spearman correlation between numerical variables, and the difference of the FANTASTIC score according to the categorical variables, were analyzed with the Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test, as necessary. Multivariable analysis was done with a multiple linear regression model to find raw and adjusted β (βa). RESULTS The median of the ED-6 scale was 81 (RI: 64-105). Sixty-four percent of the teachers had a good-excellent lifestyle; 27.2%, regular; and 8.49%, bad-dangerous. The FANTASTIC score had an inverse correlation with ED-6 (β a: -0.16, 95% ; CI: -0.20 to -0.12) adjusted for age and cohabitation with children. Likewise, teachers between 40 and 49 years old (β a: 2.89, 95% ; CI: 0.17 to 5.62) had a better lifestyle; and teachers who lived with children (βa: -5.48, 95% ; CI: -7.89 to -3.06), a worse lifestyle. CONCLUSIONS As stress increased, the lifestyle quality worsened in teachers at some schools in Lima, Peru, during telework in 2020.
Combined effects of cerebellar tDCS and task-oriented circuit training in people with multiple sclerosis: A pilot randomized control trial.

BACKGROUND Balance and mobility impairments are frequent in people with multiple sclerosis, partly due to cerebellar dysfunctions. Task-oriented behavioural approaches were previously shown to promote physical function. The possibility exists that cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (ctDCS) applied during training, known to increase the excitability of the brain, can boost rehabilitation effects through modulation of cerebellum-brain inhibition. OBJECTIVE To test the efficacy of cerebellar ctDCS stimulation combined with motor training on mobility and balance in people with multiple sclerosis. METHODS 16 subjects were randomly assigned to receive real- or sham-ctDCS and task-oriented training daily over two weeks in a double-blind, randomised clinical pilot trial. Functional mobility, balance, walking performance and quality of life were tested before and after treatment and at two-week follow-up. Effects of cerebellar stimulation on psychological and executive functions were also recorded. RESULTS Walking performance, balance and quality of life improved for both groups at post-treatment assessment which was maintained at 2-weeks follow up. A two-way ANOVA revealed a significant time effect for balance and walking performance. A significant interaction effect of time-treatment (F = 3.12, df = 2,26; p = 0.03) was found for motor aspects of quality of life assessment in patients who received real-ctDCS. CONCLUSIONS Task-oriented training improves balance and mobility in people with multiple sclerosis, but ctDCS does not boost motor training effects.
“It Was All Wrong and Shameful to Beat Her”: Discursive Analysis of Men’s Talk of Intimate Partner Violence

In this article, our aim is to foreground men's discourses on gender-based violence as linked to gendered hierarchies, power struggles, and social respectability in Ghana. Situated within decolonial feminist theories and drawing on interviews, we argue that men's interpretations of masculinity and the possibility of perpetrating violence against women is significantly mediated by such intersectional factors as sociocultural background, education, and broader societal normative requirements. The findings deepen the understanding of the ambiguities and contradictions that characterize men's talk of violence. The article discusses how these ambiguities and contradictions serve as important domains for engendering critical attitudes toward violence against women.
Complex effects of environment and Wolbachia infections on the life history of Drosophila melanogaster hosts

Wolbachia bacteria are common endosymbionts of many arthropods found in gonads and various somatic tissues. They manipulate host reproduction to enhance their transmission and confer complex effects on fitness‐related traits. Some of these effects can serve to increase the survival and transmission efficiency of Wolbachia in the host population. The Wolbachia–Drosophila melanogaster system represents a powerful model to study the evolutionary dynamics of host–microbe interactions and infections. Over the past decades, there has been a replacement of the ancestral wMelCS Wolbachia variant by the more recent wMel variant in worldwide D. melanogaster populations, but the reasons remain unknown. To investigate how environmental change and genetic variation of the symbiont affect host developmental and adult life‐history traits, we compared effects of both Wolbachia variants and uninfected controls in wild‐caught D. melanogaster strains at three developmental temperatures. While Wolbachia did not influence any developmental life‐history traits, we found that both lifespan and fecundity of host females were increased without apparent fitness trade‐offs. Interestingly, wMelCS‐infected flies were more fecund than uninfected and wMel‐infected flies. By contrast, males infected with wMel died sooner, indicating sex‐specific effects of infection that are specific to the Wolbachia variant. Our study uncovered complex temperature‐specific effects of Wolbachia infections, which suggests that symbiont–host interactions in nature are strongly dependent on the genotypes of both partners and the thermal environment.
Splenic Infarction in Patients with Philadelphia-negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Objective We retrospectively analyzed the prevalence and clinical features of splenic infarctions in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (Ph- MPNs). Patients Patients diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV), prefibrotic/early primary myelofibrosis (pre-PMF), or PMF from January 1996 to October 2020 in Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea, were reviewed. Results A total of 347 patients (143 ET, 129 PV, 44 pre-PMF, and 31 PMF patients; 201 men and 146 women) with a median age of 64 (range 15-91) years old were followed up for a median of 4.7 (range 0.1-26.5) years. Fifteen (4.3%) patients exhibited splenic infarctions at the diagnosis. These were most common in PMF patients (12.9%), followed by pre-PMF (9.1%) and PV (5.4%) patients. Multifocal infarcts (60.0%) were most common, followed by solitary (33.3%) and extensive infarcts (6.7%). The cumulative incidence of thrombosis in patients with splenic infarctions tended to be higher than in those lacking infarctions (10-year incidence 46.7% vs. 21.0% in PV; p=0.215; 33.3% vs. 17.9% in pre-PMF; p=0.473) patients, but statistical significance was lacking. Palpable splenomegaly (hazard ratio 14.89; 95% confidence interval 4.00-55.35; p<0.001) was the only independent risk factor for splenic infarction. During follow-up, 5 (1.4%) patients developed splenic infarctions. Conservative treatment adequately controlled the symptoms; no serious complications were noted in any patient. Conclusion Splenic infarctions occurred most frequently in patients with PMF; it was rare in patients with ET. The clinical courses were generally mild.
Comprehensive computational analysis reveals H5N1 influenza virus-encoded miRNAs and host-specific targets associated with antiviral immune responses and protein binding

H5N1 virus (H5N1V) is highly contagious among birds and it was first detected in humans in 1997 during a poultry outbreak in Hong Kong. As the mechanism of its pathogenesis inside the host is still lacking, in this in-silico study we hypothesized that H5N1V might create miRNAs, which could target the genes associated with host cellular regulatory pathways, thus provide persistent refuge to the virus. Using bioinformatics approaches, several H5N1V produced putative miRNAs as well as the host genes targeted by these miRNAs were found. Functional enrichment analysis of targeted genes revealed their involvement in many biological pathways that facilitate their host pathogenesis. Eventually, the microarray dataset (GSE28166) was analyzed to validate the altered expression level of target genes and found the genes involved in protein binding and adaptive immune responses. This study presents novel miRNAs and their targeted genes, which upon experimental validation could facilitate in developing new therapeutics against H5N1V infection.
Combination of KIT and FLT3‐ITD mutation status with minimal residual disease levels guides treatment strategy for adult patients with inv(16) acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission

Although several studies have investigated the benefits of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo‐HSCT) for patients with inv (16) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1) individually stratified by KIT or FMS‐like tyrosine kinase 3‐internal tandem duplication (FLT3‐ITD) mutation status or minimal residual disease (MRD) levels, evaluation based on the combination of mutation status and MRD levels remains absent. This study included 157 adult patients with inv (16) AML who were consecutively diagnosed and receiving treatment at our center. A total of 50 (31.6%) patients had KIT mutations (KITMU), and the risk of relapse was significantly higher in patients with KITMU than in patients with KITWT (p < 0.001). A total of 12 patients (7.6%) had FLT3‐ITD, and FLT3‐ITD+ tended to be related to a higher risk of relapse (p = 0.14). KITMU, FLT3‐ITD and MRD3‐H (beta subunit of core binding factor–myosin heavy chain 11 levels >0.2% after course 2 of consolidation therapy) were independent adverse prognostic factors for relapse with patients who received allo‐HSCT at CR1 were censored at the time of transplantation. After combination, patients were categorized into molecularly defined high‐risk (M‐HR; KITMU or FLT3‐ITD+ with MRD3‐H; n = 30), low‐risk (M‐LR; KITWT and FLT3‐ITD‐ with MRD3‐L; n = 45) and intermediate‐risk (M‐IR; others; n = 70) groups. For the M‐HR group, allo‐HSCT significantly improved both cumulative incidence of relapse cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) and overall survival (OS) (11.1% vs. 92.6%, p < 0.001; 90.0% vs. 34.1%, p = 0.019). For the M‐IR group, allo‐HSCT significantly improved CIR but did not affect OS (14.1% vs. 62.2%, p = 0.0004; 73.3% vs. 68.3%, p = 0.43). For the M‐LR group, allo‐HSCT had no significant effect on both CIR and OS (0% vs. 35.1%, p = 0.31; 100% vs. 78.8%, p = 0.22). Therefore, the combination of KIT and FLT3‐ITD mutation status with MRD levels may identify inv (16) AML patients with high‐risk who can benefit from allo‐HSCT in CR1.