Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Instrumental Balinese Flute Music Therapy Improves Cognitive Function and Serum Dopamine Level in the Elderly Population of West Denpasar Primary Health Care Center

BACKGROUND: Musical artwork using Balinese flutes made from bamboo (timing buluh) by Agus Teja Sentosa, S.Sn is a combination of music played with flute as the main instrument which contains certain components resembling music therapy such as in western classical music by Antonio Lucio Vivaldi. AIM: This study aims to determine the improvement of cognitive function and increase in serum dopamine in the elderly after listening to music with Balinese flute as the main instrument. METHOD: The current study allocated 18 subjects in the control group listened to western classical music by Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, while 18 subjects in the intervention group listened to western classical music and music from Balinese flute as the main instrument by Agus Teja Sentosa, S.Sn. MoCA-Ina assessment and examination of serum dopamine levels were carried out initially and 21 days after listening to music intervention. RESULTS: The mean increase in cognitive function score was higher in the intervention group (5.22; p < 0.001) than in the control group (4.67; p < 0.001), this increase was not statistically significant with a value of p = 0.562 (p > 0.005). The mean increase in dopamine levels in the control group (3.60) was greater than in the treatment group (3.56), but the mean increase was not statistically significant (p = 0.085). CONCLUSION: There was a significant relationship between listening to the main instrumental Balinese flute music and the improvement of cognitive function, especially in the memory domain in all study subjects, but the mean increase in cognitive function and serum dopamine level did not reach statistical significance.
Life-long endogenous estrogen exposure is associated with prevalence of allergic rhinitis in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of life-long endogenous estrogen exposure on prevalence of chronic rhinitis including allergic rhinitis (AR) in the postmenopausal period. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, a total of 3,043 postmenopausal women who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V were included. Participants with symptoms including sneezing, rhinorrhea, nasal obstruction, or nasal itching were considered to have chronic rhinitis. In subgroup analysis, the AR group comprised participants with rhinitis with positive findings in at least one of three specific immunoglobulin E. Univariable and multivariable logistic analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between rhinitis and estrogen-related factors including age at menarche, age at menopause, age at first delivery, parity, and duration of breast-feeding. RESULTS Participants with chronic rhinitis (17.6%) had higher parity (odd ratio [OR] = 1.17, P = 0.0135) and shorter duration of breast-feeding (OR = 0.98, P = 0.0388) than controls. In subgroup analysis, participants with AR (7.1%) had younger age at menarche (OR = 0.56, P = 0.0028) and older age at menopause (OR = 1.42, P = 0.0060) after adjustment of confounding factors. There was a positive association between age at menopause and specific immunoglobulin E for both cockroach (OR = 1.38, P = 0.0132) and dogs (OR = 1.38, P = 0.0302). Longer postmenopausal duration was positively associated with cockroach allergen sensitization (OR = 1.25, P = 0.201). CONCLUSIONS Longer duration of reproductive period was associated with higher prevalence of AR and aeroallergen sensitization in the postmenopausal period. Moreover, cockroach allergen sensitization was associated with a longer postmenopausal period.
Higher blood pressure and lower cardiac vagal activity in obese young individuals in supine and seated position

Background: Obesity triggers alterations in hemodynamic and autonomic control. There are few studies that investigate the effects of overweight and obesity in early adulthood on hemodynamic and autonomic variables. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether overweight and obesity in young individuals cause alterations in hemodynamic parameters and heart rate variability (HRV) in supine and seated position, and to correlate these variables with anthropometric features. Methods: Measurements were performed in 40 young untrained male study participants. The subjects were eutrophic (22.8 ± 0.3 kg/m2, N = 19), overweight (27.0 ± 0.5 kg/m2, N = 10), and obese (33.5 ± 0.8 kg/m2, N = 11). After 5 min in supine and seated position, the R-R intervals and blood pressure (BP) were recorded. Results: The systolic blood pressure were higher in overweight (supine, 122.9 ± 2.3 mmHg) and obese (supine, 123.9 ± 2.2; seated, 121.7 ± 2.3 mmHg) individuals compared to eutrophic individuals (supine, 111.8 ± 1.64; seated, 111.3 ± 1.8 mmHg) (p ⩽ 0.05). Obese subjects exhibited lower HRV (SD1, RMSSD, pNN50) compared to eutrophic individuals when seated. In obese subjects, the heart rate (HR) increased and HRV decreased (p ≤ 0.05) when seated versus supine position. The body mass, body mass index (BMI), and waist and abdominal circumferences correlated positively with BP (r = 0.40-0.64, p ≤ 0.05), while the BMI, waist circumference, BP, and HR were negatively correlated (r = -0.32 -0.62, p ≤ 0.05) with HRV (pNN50 and HF) in both body positions. BMI, waist circumference, BP and HR correlated negat- ively with additional HRV indices (SD1, SD2, RMSSD, TP, and LF) when seated. Conclusions: Obese and overweight individuals presented higher SBP, and obese individuals had lower HRV and cardiac vagal activity, associated with anthropometric variables. Relevance for patients: The monitoring of HRV in obese subjects in seated position allows improved prognosis of metabolic consequences to cardiac autonomic control.
Lineage context switches the function of a C. elegans Pax6 homolog in determining a neuronal fate

ABSTRACT The sensory nervous system of C. elegans comprises cells with varied molecular and functional characteristics, and is, therefore, a powerful model for understanding mechanisms that generate neuronal diversity. We report here that VAB-3, a C. elegans homolog of the homeodomain-containing protein Pax6, has opposing functions in regulating expression of a specific chemosensory fate. A homeodomain-only short isoform of VAB-3 is expressed in BAG chemosensory neurons, where it promotes gene expression and cell function. In other cells, a long isoform of VAB-3, comprising a Paired homology domain and a homeodomain, represses expression of ETS-5, a transcription factor required for expression of BAG fate. Repression of ets-5 requires the Eyes Absent homolog EYA-1 and the Six-class homeodomain protein CEH-32. We determined sequences that mediate high-affinity binding of ETS-5, VAB-3 and CEH-32. The ets-5 locus is enriched for ETS-5-binding sites but lacks sequences that bind VAB-3 and CEH-32, suggesting that these factors do not directly repress ets-5 expression. We propose that a promoter-selection system together with lineage-specific expression of accessory factors allows VAB-3/Pax6 to either promote or repress expression of specific cell fates in a context-dependent manner. This article has an associated ‘The people behind the papers’ interview. Highlighted Article: Variants of VAB-3, the C. elegans homolog of Pax6 and Eyeless, have opposing functions in controlling expression of a specific neuronal fate that might also be recapitulated in the vertebrate nervous system.
Bioinformatic analysis to explore key genes associated with brain ischemia–reperfusion injury in rats

Abstract Objectives: Ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury can aggravate the dysfunction and structural damage of tissues and organs. This study aimed at investigating the pathogenesis of I/R injury. Methods: GSE82146 was extracted from Gene Expression Omnibus database, which included 12 nonischemic control (NIC) hippocampal tissues and 15 complete global brain ischemia (CGBI)–reperfusion hippocampal tissues. After processing the original data using the affy package, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between CGBI and NIC samples were analysed by the limma package. An enrichment analysis for the DEGs was implemented based on the MATHT online tool. Using Cytoscape software, a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was built and significant network modules were obtained. Finally, miRNA-gene pairs were predicted using the miRWalk2.0 tool, and the miRNA-gene regulatory network was built using the Cytoscape software. Results: Overall, 322 DEGs (279 upregulated and 43 downregulated) were present in the CGBI samples. In PPI network, JUN, STAT3, ATF3, VEGFA and ATF4 had higher degrees. Four significant modules (modules a, b, c and d) were obtained from PPI network. Enrichment analysis suggested that FGF2 in module d was involved in MAPK signalling pathway. In the miRNA-gene regulatory network, rno-miR-125a-5p and rno-miR-125b-5p were among the top 10 miRNAs. Conclusion: JUN, STAT3, ATF3, VEGFA, ATF4, FGF2, rno-miR-125a-5p and rno-miR-125b-5p might affect the development and progression of I/R injury.
Suicide in the elderly: a 37-years retrospective study

Background: The rates of suicide increase with age and reach their highest levels in the oldest age groupings and are sufficiently large for them to constitute a public health concern. The number of deaths due to suicides after the age of 60 years in Italy is 1,775 (41.36%) in 2013; there is a constant increase of elder population over the last ten years and elderly are almost twice of young. It is in this context that suicide arises, a risk factor during old age. Method: This is a retrospective study of autopsy and police reports of suicide from January 1979 through December 2015. Data about suicides after the age of 60 years was collected from the Archives of the Legal Medicine of the University of Parma, a Northern Italian city. Trend and characteristics (age, sex, marital status, pathological factors and method of suicide) were assessed. Results: A total of 538 cases (394 males, 144 females) were identified. Male sex correlates to a higher suicidal risk, with a male-female ratio of 2.74:1. The highest risk of suicide is observed in the age between 70 and 79 years. Pathological factors were revealed in 427 cases (physical state for 194 cases, mental state for 233 cases); mental illness was related significantly to suicidal risk. Hanging is the most common suicide method (175 cases), followed by fall from height (130 cases), drowning (101 cases) and use of firearms (56 cases); differences regarding methods employed were detected between males and females. The choice of method sometimes is indicative of a clear decision, while other times it is strictly linked to the availability of the means. Conclusions: Suicidal behavior seems to be the product of the interaction of many factors, such as biological or psychological diseases or painful events. The presence of chronic and debilitating diseases, often accompanied by profound psychological suffering, is a powerful stimulus for suicide among men, whereas mental state is a significant risk factor for women, with the majority suffering from depression. The psychological and the biological changes, the cognitive deficits and the common diseases facilitate the structuring of depressive characteristics. (www.actabiomedica.it)
A Multi-Path Compensation Method for Ranging in Wearable Ultrasonic Sensor Networks for Human Gait Analysis

Gait analysis in unrestrained environments can be done with a single wearable ultrasonic sensor node on the lower limb and four fixed anchor nodes. The accuracy demanded by such systems is very high. Chirp signals can provide better ranging and localization performance in ultrasonic systems. However, we cannot neglect the multi-path effect in typical indoor environments for ultrasonic signals. The multi-path components closer to the line of sight component cannot be identified during correlation reception which leads to errors in the estimated range and which in turn affects the localization and tracking performance. We propose a novel method to reduce the multi-path effect in ultrasonic sensor networks in typical indoor environments. A gait analysis system with one mobile node attached to the lower limb was designed to test the performance of the proposed system during an indoor treadmill walking experiment. An optical motion capture system was used as a benchmark for the experiments. The proposed method gave better tracking accuracy compared to conventional coherent receivers. The static measurements gave 2.45 mm standard deviation compared to 10.45 mm using the classical approach. The RMSE between the ultrasonic gait analysis system and the reference system improved from 28.70 mm to 22.28 mm. The gait analysis system gave good performance for extraction of spatial and temporal parameters.
The juxtamembrane linker in neutral sphingomyelinase-2 functions as an intramolecular allosteric switch that activates the enzyme

Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) produces the bioactive lipid ceramide and has important roles in neurodegeneration, cancer, and exosome formation. Although nSMase2 has low basal activity, it is fully activated by phosphatidylserine (PS). Previous work showed that interdomain interactions within nSMase2 are needed for PS activation. Here, we use multiple approaches, including small angle X-ray scattering, hydrogen–deuterium exchange–MS, circular dichroism and thermal shift assays, and membrane yeast two-hybrid assays, to define the mechanism mediating this interdomain interactions within nSMase2. In contrast to what we previously assumed, we demonstrate that PS binding at the N-terminal and juxtamembrane regions of nSMase2 rather acts as a conformational switch leading to interdomain interactions that are critical to enzyme activation. Our work assigns a unique function for a class of linkers of lipid-activated, membrane-associated proteins. It indicates that the linker actively participates in the activation mechanism via intramolecular interactions, unlike the canonical linkers that typically aid protein dimerization or localization.
Evaluation of Prebiotic Potential of Three Marine Algae Oligosaccharides from Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Alginate oligosaccharides (AlgO), agarose oligosaccharides (AO), and κ-carrageenan oligosaccharides (KCO) were obtained by specific enzymatic hydrolysis method. The molecular weight distributions of the three oligosaccharides were 1.0–5.0 kDa, 0.4–1.4 kDa, and 1.0–7.0 kDa, respectively. The culture medium was supplemented with the three oligosaccharides and fermented by pig fecal microbiota in vitro, for 24 h. Each oligosaccharide was capable of increasing the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially butyric acid, and altering the microbiota composition. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis results showed that the opportunistic pathogenic bacteria Escherichia, Shigella, and Peptoniphilus, were significantly decreased in AlgO supplemented medium. AO could improve the gut microbiota composition by enriching the abundance of Ruminococcaceae, Coprococcus, Roseburia, and Faecalibacterium. Besides, KCO could increase the abundance of SCFA microbial producers and opportunistic pathogenic flora. Therefore, these results indicate that AlgO and AO can be used as gut microbial regulators and can potentially improve animal/human gastrointestinal health and prevent gut disease, whereas the physiological function of KCO needs further evaluation.
Context-dependent scaling of kinematics and energetics during contests and feeding in mantis shrimp

ABSTRACT Measurements of energy use, and its scaling with size, are critical to understanding how organisms accomplish myriad tasks. For example, energy budgets are central to game theory models of assessment during contests and underlie patterns of feeding behavior. Clear tests connecting energy to behavioral theory require measurements of the energy use of single individuals for particular behaviors. Many species of mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda: Crustacea) use elastic energy storage to power high-speed strikes that they deliver to opponents during territorial contests and to hard–shelled prey while feeding. We compared the scaling of strike kinematics and energetics between feeding and contests in the mantis shrimp Neogonodactylus bredini. We filmed strikes with high-speed video, measured strike velocity and used a mathematical model to calculate strike energy. During contests, strike velocity did not scale with body size but strike energy scaled positively with size. Conversely, while feeding, strike velocity decreased with increasing size and strike energy did not vary according to body size. Individuals most likely achieved this strike variation through differential compression of their exoskeletal spring prior to the strike. Post hoc analyses found that N. bredini used greater velocity and energy when striking larger opponents, yet variation in prey size was not accompanied by varying strike velocity or energetics. Our estimates of energetics inform prior tests of contest and feeding behavior in this species. More broadly, our findings elucidate the role behavioral context plays in measurements of animal performance. Editors' Choice: Behavioral context alters kinematic and energetic scaling in animals with spring-powered movements. Variable spring compression likely underlies these context-specific changes, which have implications for theories of contest and feeding behavior.
Pitfalls in the Diagnostic Evaluation of Hyperprolactinemia

An appropriate diagnostic evaluation is essential for the most appropriate treatment to be performed. Currently, macroprolactinemia is the third most frequent cause of nonphysiological hyperprolactinemia after drugs and prolactinomas. Up to 40% of macroprolactinemic patients may present with hypogonadism symptoms, infertility, and/or galactorrhea. Thus, the screening for macroprolactin is indicated not only for asymptomatic subjects but also for those without an obvious cause for their prolactin (PRL) elevation. Before submitting patients to macroprolactin screening and pituitary magnetic resonance imaging, one should rule out pregnancy, drug-induced hyperprolactinemia, primary hypothyroidism, and renal failure. The magnitude of PRL elevation can be useful in determining the etiology of hyperprolactinemia. PRL values >250 ng/mL are highly suggestive of prolactinomas and virtually exclude nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) and other sellar masses as the etiology of hyperprolactinemia. However, they can also be found in subjects with macroprolactinemia, drug-induced hyperprolactinemia or chronic renal failure. By contrast, most patients with NFPAs, drug-induced hyperprolactinemia, macroprolactinemia, or systemic diseases present with PRL levels <100 ng/mL. However, exceptions to these rules are not rare. Indeed, up to 25% of patients harboring a microprolactinoma or a cystic macroprolactinoma may also have PRL <100 ng/mL. Falsely low PRL levels may result from the so-called “hook effect,” which should be considered in all cases of large (≥3 cm) pituitary adenomas associated with normal or mildly elevated PRL levels (≤250 ng/mL). The hook effect may be unmasked by repeating PRL measurement after a 1:100 serum sample dilution.
Exploring the bacteriome in anthropophilic ticks: To investigate the vectors for diagnosis

Objective The aim of this study was to characterize the bacterial microbiome of hard ticks with affinity to bite humans in La Rioja (North of Spain). Methods A total of 88 adult ticks (22 Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato, 27 Haemaphysalis punctata, 30 Dermacentor marginatus and 9 Ixodes ricinus) and 120 I. ricinus nymphs (CRETAV collection, La Rioja, Spain), representing the main anthropophilic species in our environment, were subjected to a metagenomic analysis of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene using an Illumina MiSeq platform. Data obtained with Greengenes database were refined with BLAST. Four groups of samples were defined, according to the four tick species. Results Proteobacteria was the predominant phylum observed in all groups. Gammaproteobacteria was the most abundant class, followed by Alphaproteobacteria for R. sanguineus, H. punctata and D. marginatus but the relative abundance of reads for these classes was reversed for I. ricinus. This tick species showed more than 46% reads corresponding to ‘not assigned’ OTUs (Greengenes), and >97% of them corresponded to ‘Candidatus Midichloriaceae’ using BLAST. Within Rickettsiales, ‘Candidatus Midichloria’, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, ‘Candidatus Neoehrlichia’ and Wolbachia were detected. I. ricinus was the most alpha-diverse species. Regarding beta-diversity, I. ricinus and H. punctata samples grouped according to their tick species but microbial communities of some R. sanguineus and D. marginatus specimens clustered together. Conclusions The metagenomics approach seems useful to discover the spectrum of tick-related bacteria. More studies are needed to identify and differentiate bacterial species, and to improve the knowledge of tick-borne diseases in Spain.
Maternal perception of children’s fear: A fMRI study in mothers of preschool children

ABSTRACT A secure attachment relationship is facilitated by a mother´s ability to perceive her child´s emotions, especially her child´s fear. Prior studies showed that maternal perception of an own child activated a neural network including amygdala, insula and nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Results for different emotions were inconsistent and there are no reports on children´s fear. The goal of this study was to investigate neural responses of 17 mothers to photos of their own and an unknown preschool child with happy and fearful expressions by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole brain analyses showed that a fearful (vs. happy) own child elicited larger activity in the visual cortex. Region of interest (ROI) analyses (amygdala, insula, NAcc) revealed stronger responses to a happy (vs. fearful) unknown child, but equally strong responses to one´s own child´s expressions. Moreover, an own (vs. unknown) fearful child elicited larger activity in the insula and NAcc. This suggests that mothers allocated more visual attention towards their own child´s fear, but showed consistent emotional involvement with their own child across expressions. Mothers might respond with stronger empathy and approach motivation towards an own (vs. unknown) fearful child, in line with a key role of fear in the attachment relationship.