Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in relation to serum cadmium concentrations: cross-sectional study using Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data

Objectives It has been suggested that exposure to heavy metal cadmium (Cd) may contribute to a high risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study was to investigate the association of RA prevalence and serum concentrations of Cd and other heavy metals through large survey data analysis. Design A retrospective cross-sectional survey study. Setting Large population survey in Korea. Participants 53 829 subjects participated in Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2008 to 2013. Interventions Heavy metals were measured in different time periods of the survey programme which resulted in three different data sets for analysis: Cd, mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) from 2008 to 2012 survey; serum manganese (Mn) and urine arsenic (As) from 2008 to 2009 survey; and serum zinc (Zn) from 2010 survey. RA prevalence and its associations with serum heavy metals were analysed using a general linear/logistic regression model of complex sample design. Results Serum Cd was elevated in patients with RA (RA vs control: 1.30±0.07 µg/L vs 1.17±0.01 µg/L, p<0.01). There were no significant differences in urine levels of As or serum levels of Pb, Hg, Mn or Zn between patients with RA and controls. OR (95% CI) of RA prevalence according to 1 µg/L increase of serum Cd level was 1.28(95% CI 1.03 to 1.61). Prevalence of RA in women was increased with increasing quartiles of Cd levels, with a 19-fold difference in female RA prevalence between individuals in the lowest quartile of serum Cd level and those in the highest quartile (0.18% vs 3.42%). Cubic spline curve of prevalence OR showed increased risk of RA according to increased serum Cd level. Increased risk of RA in men was not observed with increased serum Cd levels. Conclusion There was an increased prevalence of RA in females associated with increased serum levels of Cd in the Korean population.
Previous coronary artery bypass graft is not associated with higher mortality in transcatheter aortic valve replacement: systemic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Introduction: Patients with previous coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) are usually considered as high-risk groups perioperatively. Recent studies suggest that previous CABG is not associated with mortality in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). However, systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature has not been done. Thus, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between previous CABG and mortality in patients undergoing TAVR. Methods: We comprehensively searched the databases of MEDLINE and EMBASE from inception to July 2018. Included studies were published prospective or retrospective cohort studies that evaluated the effects of previous CABG status on mortality risk among patients undergoing TAVR. Data from each study were combined using the random-effects, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird to calculate risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: Eleven cohort studies from March 2010 to April 2018 were included in this meta-analysis involving 7299 subjects with severe AS undergoing TAVR (1890 with and 5409 without previous CABG). Previous CABG was not associated with all-cause mortality (pooled risk ratio = 0.96, 95% confidence interval: 0.80–1.16, p=.66, I2=21%) and cardiovascular (CV) mortality (pooled risk ratio = 1.23, 95% confidence interval: 0.64–2.39, p=.72, I2=35%). Conclusions: Previous CABG is not associated with either all-cause mortality or CV mortality in patients with severe AS undergoing TAVR. TAVR should be considered as an alternative or first-line treatment option among severe AS patient, regardless of previous CABG status.
A UGT1A1 genotype‐guided dosing study of modified FOLFIRINOX in previously untreated patients with advanced gastrointestinal malignancies

FOLFIRINOX (5‐fluorouracil [5‐FU], leucovorin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) is an effective but toxic therapy for pancreatic cancer. UGT1A1 (UDP glucuronosyltransferase 1A1) eliminates the active metabolite of irinotecan. Polymorphisms reduce UGT1A1 activity, leading to toxicity. The primary objective was to determine the dose‐limiting toxicity (DLT) rate in cycle 1 of modified FOLFIRINOX (mFOLFIRINOX) using genotype‐guided dosing of irinotecan for the most common UGT1A1 genotypes (*1/*1, *1/*28) in advanced gastrointestinal malignancies, with expansion in pancreatic and biliary tract cancers.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ABOUT THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN LIBYAN CONTEXT

This study was primarily conducted to explore the nature of current professional development programs implemented for secondary school teachers in the context of Libya. For this purpose, four purposively selected English language teachers were interviewed to explore their views regarding the effectives of the professional development activities and their supervisors. The findings of this investigation indicated that Libyan supervisors are doing well in terms of implementing the professional development programs in their respective schools. However, teachers reported that they receive very minimal support from the government although it has a line up in-service training programs for faculty and staff. This implies that school supervisors should serve as the prime movers or leaders in the design, delivery and evaluation of professional development programs with the support of the local and/or national government of Libya. Key words: English language teachers, professional development program, in-service training.
High Prevalence of Bedaquiline Resistance in Treatment-Naive Tuberculosis Patients and Verapamil Effectiveness

In the regions where bedaquiline (BDQ) is introduced into the regimen, analysis of MIC and screening for preexisting resistance mutations could be crucial. The high prevalence of isolates with high BDQ MICs without prior exposure to BDQ was worrisome. ABSTRACT In the regions where bedaquiline (BDQ) is introduced into the regimen, analysis of MIC and screening for preexisting resistance mutations could be crucial. The high prevalence of isolates with high BDQ MICs without prior exposure to BDQ was worrisome. It was also concluded that efflux pumps play a pivotal role in intrinsic BDQ resistance; therefore, the potential of verapamil as an adjunctive therapy to combat BDQ resistance should be investigated.
Sensory Representations Supporting Memory Specificity: Age Effects on Behavioral and Neural Discriminability

Older adults' difficulty in distinguishing between old and new information contributes to memory decline, which may occur because older adults are less likely than young adults to retrieve specific sensory details necessary to distinguish between similar items. In male and female human subjects, the present study measured the extent of age differences in the specificity of memory representations using a false memory paradigm in which studied items were linked to retrieval items at multiple levels of similarity. Older adults showed poorer behavioral discrimination than young adults, driven primarily by false recognition of lures that differed from targets only in perceptual details. Patterns of activation across several regions within ventral visual cortex could be used to distinguish between targets and lures when they differed in both perceptual details and a semantic label. However, of ventral visual regions, only signals in the midline occipital cortex could be used to distinguish targets from lures when they differed only in perceptual details. Although there was an overall age deficit for this neural discrimination in this region, the positive relationship between neural and behavioral discriminability did not differ across age groups. In contrast, age moderated the relationship between neural and behavioral discriminability in lateral occipital and fusiform cortices, suggesting that activation patterns within these regions represent different types of information in each age group. Therefore, the quality of perceptual signals is a key contributor to memory discrimination across age groups, with evidence that age differences in the nature of representations emerges outside early visual cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Age-related memory decline is due in part to older adults' difficulties in discriminating between old and new information. We tested whether this deficit arises from lack of specificity in the sensory representations underlying older adults' recognition judgments. Using pattern classification analyses in ventral visual cortices, we found that signals in a region early in the visual stream could distinguish between targets and lures at the highest level of similarity. The discriminability of targets and lures in this region was positively related to behavioral discriminability across age groups despite an overall age deficit in classification accuracy. Together, results showed that older adults' memory deficits are related to reduced discriminability of cognitive processes (old/new recognition) in portions of visual cortex.
Determination of microbiological characteristics in the digestive tract of different ruminant species

Holstein dairy cows, Chinese Luxi Yellow cattle, Chinese Laoshan dairy goats, and Chinese Bohai Black cattle were selected for the study. The 16S rDNA sequencing technique was used to analyze the microflora in the digestive tract. The rumen flora in high milk‐yield Holstein dairy cows showed significantly higher proportions of Treponema, Butyrivibrio, Coprococcus, Shuttleworthia, Lachnospira, and Selenomonas, compared with the rumen flora in Chinese Bohai Black cattle and Chinese Luxi Yellow cattle (p < 0.05). In addition, the abundances of Succiniclasticum, Ruminococcus, and Fibrobacter in the rumen fluid of high‐yield dairy cows were significantly higher than those in rumen flora of dairy goats. Compared with ruminal flora in Chinese Luxi Yellow cattle, the rumen flora in high‐yield dairy cattle showed significantly higher Prevotella. Compared with the rumen flora in Chinese Laoshan dairy goats, Chinese Bohai Black cattle, and Chinese Luxi Yellow cattle, the flora in high‐yielding dairy cows showed significantly lower proportions of CF231, 02d06, Oscillospira, RFN20, Desulfovibrio, Methanobrevibacter, and SHD‐231. In addition, compared with the rumen flora in dairy goats, the rumen flora in high‐yielding dairy cattle displayed significantly lower proportion of Enterococcus. Compared with the rumen flora in Chinese Bohai Black cattle, the flora in high‐yielding dairy cattle exhibited significantly lower Ruminococcus, YRC22, Pseudobutyrivibrio, L7A_E11, BF311, p‐75‐a5, and Dehalobacterium. Compared with the rumen flora in Chinese Luxi Yellow cattle, the flora in the high‐yield dairy cows also displayed significantly lower proportions of Ruminococcus, YRC22, BF311, Paludibacter, and Dehalobacterium.
A Preliminary Assessment of Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Technology for Mapping Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Upper Delaware River National Parks (USA)

Hyperspectral remote sensing of submerged aquatic vegetation is a complex and difficult process that is affected by unique constraints on the energy flow profile near and below the water surface. In addition, shallow, winding, lotic systems, such as the Upper Delaware River, present additional remote sensing problems in the form of specular reflectance, variable depth and constituents in the water column and sometimes extremely weak signal strength due to absorption and scattering in the water column that can be statistically overwhelmed by the reflectance from upland vegetation in any individual image scene. Here we test hyperspectral imagery from the Civil Air Patrol’s (CAP), Airborne Real-time Cueing Hyperspectral Enhanced Recon (ARCHER) system in the scenic waters of two National Parks on the Upper Delaware River. A number of unique image processing problems were encountered, including specular reflectance from winding lotic systems, variable depth and flow dynamics of the riverine environment, and disproportionate signal strength from surface reflectance in this riverine environment. These problems were solved by applying a specular reflectance removal algorithm, applying field data collections to classification results and masking upland vegetation so as to not statistically overwhelm the weak reflectance signal from surface and near-surface water. Much was learned about conducting imaging spectroscopy in such difficult conditions. Important results include successful mapping of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) presence/absence, advantages of upland masking of the reflectance signal, and a number of processing approaches that are unique to this environment. In this paper we summarize our results and identify unique issues that must be addressed in this environment.
Major contribution of transcription initiation to 5’-end formation of mitochondrial steady-state transcripts in maize

ABSTRACT In plant mitochondria, some steady-state transcripts contain primary 5ʹ ends derived from transcription initiation, while the others have processed 5ʹ termini generated by post-transcriptional processing. Differentiation and mapping of the primary and processed transcripts are important for unraveling the molecular mechanism(s) underlying transcription and transcript end maturation. However, previous efforts to systematically differentiate these two types of transcripts in plant mitochondria failed. At present, it is considered that the majority of mature mRNAs may have processed 5ʹ ends in Arabidopsis. Here, by combination of circular RT-PCR, quantitative RT-PCR, RNA 5ʹ-polyphosphatase treatment and Northern blot, we successfully discriminated and mapped the primary and processed transcripts in maize mitochondria. Among the thirty-five mature and eight precursor RNAs analyzed in this study, about one half (21/43) were found to have multiple isoforms. In total, seventy-seven steady-state transcripts were determined, and forty-seven of them had primary 5ʹ ends. Most transcription initiation sites (126/167) were downstream of a crTA-motif. These data suggested a major contribution of transcription initiation to 5ʹ-end formation of steady-state transcripts in maize mitochondria. Moreover, the mapping results revealed that mature RNA termini had largely been formed before trans-splicing, and C→U RNA editing was accompanied with trans-splicing and transcript end formation in maize mitochondria.
Kidney Disease Profiles Among Adolescents In Indonesia.

BACKGROUND Each kidney injury may develop into chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end stage renal disease (ESRD) that associates with high mortality and socio-economic burden. There is limited data about clinical characteristics of children having CKD in developing countries, espesially in Indonesia. OBJECTIVE To describe clinical profiles and characteristics of kidney diseases in adolescents aged 15-18 years. METHODS This study was a cross-sectional study which used data from National Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas) 2013. There were 2 data groups. The first data group included questionnaires about history of kidney stone disease, hypertension, chronic renal failure, antihypertension administration, and blood pressure measurement. The second data group included subsamples of the first group which had laboratory test results, i.e. hemoglobin and serum creatinine levels. All of the data were classified by nutritional status, estimated glomerulofiltration rate (eGFR), blood pressure classification, and hemoglobin level. RESULTS Among 52,454 adolescents in the first data group, 20,537 (39%) had kidney diseases with female predominance and good nutritional status. Other findings found were history of kidney stone disease (0.2%), chronic renal failure (0.1%), history of hypertension (0.6%), antihypertensive agents consumption (0.1%). Prehypertension and hypertension were found in 51% and 48.3% of adolescents, respectively. Adolescents with decreased eGFR were accounted for 1.4%. CONCLUSION The proportion of prehypertension and hypertension in adolescents aged 15-18 years in Indonesia is high. Hence, routine blood pressure measurement is important for early detection and prevention of kidney disease progression.
A parent intervention with a growth mindset approach improves children's early gesture and vocabulary development.

Socioeconomic disparities in children's early vocabulary skills can be traced back to disparities in gesture use at age one and are due, in part, to the quantity and quality of communication children are exposed to by parents. Further, parents' mindsets about intelligence contribute to their interactions with their children. We implemented a parent gesture intervention with a growth mindset component with 47 parents of 10-month-olds to determine whether this approach would increase parents' use of the pointing gesture, infants' use of pointing, and child vocabulary growth. The intervention had an effect on parent gesture such that by child age 12-months, parents who received the intervention increased in their pointing more than parents in the control condition. Importantly, the intervention also had a significant effect on child gesture use with parents. There was no main effect of the intervention on child vocabulary. Further, the effect of the intervention on pointing was stronger for parents who endorsed fixed mindsets at baseline, and had an added benefit of increased vocabulary growth from 10-18 months for children of those parents who endorsed fixed mindsets. Incorporating growth mindset approaches into parenting interventions is encouraged.
The Sustainability of a Workplace Wellness Program That Incorporates Gamification Principles: Participant Engagement and Health Benefits After 2 Years

Purpose: To evaluate the results of a workplace wellness program that incorporates gamification principles. Design: In this prospective cohort study, the participation rate and observed health outcomes were evaluated after approximately 2 years. Setting and participants: All permanent employees (n = 775) of a national company located in Canada were eligible to participate. Intervention: The wellness program included web-based challenges (team or individual) incorporating gamification strategies to improve exercise, nutrition, weight reduction, and mental health management behaviors. Measures and analysis: The primary outcomes were employee participation rates. The secondary pre-specified outcomes were the sustained benefits of the program on physical and mental health measures. Results: Participation rates in the health screenings were 78% (baseline), 54% (year 1), and 56% (year 2). Participation in the 4 team web-based challenges ranged from 33% to 68% with 76% to 86% of participants tracking their activity on at least half of the days. After 2 years, there were significant clinical improvements in systolic blood pressure (−1.3mm Hg), total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio (−0.14), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c; −0.1%), weekly physical activity (+264 Metabolic Equivalents [METs]), perceived stress score (−17%), insomnia severity index (−16%), general fatigue (−10%), and reductions in the cardiovascular age gap (−0.3 years). Greater benefits occurred among employees at higher risk. Conclusions: Workplace wellness programs that evolve over time and focus primarily on fun and competitive challenges may support long-term participation, behavior change, and sustained improvements in clinical outcomes.
Xanthones from a lignicolous freshwater fungus (BCC 28210)

Abstract Four xanthones (1‒4) and a known compound, mansonone D (5), were isolated from the lignicolous freshwater fungus BCC 28210 (family, Chaetosphaeriaceae). The structures of these compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis. Among the isolated metabolites, compound 2 and the known mansonone D (5) displayed antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum K1 with IC50 values of 7.75 and 0.55 μg/mL, respectively. Compound 4 displayed antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus with an MIC value of 6.25 μg/mL. Graphical Abstract
A novel one-pot three-component synthesis of benzofuran derivatives via Strecker reaction: Study of antioxidant activity

Abstract A three-component Strecker-type reactions was applied for the synthesis of benzofuran derivatives through the reaction of 1-(6-hydroxy-2-isopropenyl-1-benzofuran-yl)-1-ethanone (euparin), primary amines and trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN) in the presence of catalytic amount of ZnO-nanorods (ZnO-NR) and piperidine in acetonitrile at room temperature. The method has proved to be synthetically simple, and effective with high atom economy and yield. The catalyst also revealed significant reusability. Moreover, the antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging capacity of the newly synthesized such as 4a, 4c, 6a and 6c was screened using free radical scavenging 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays and compared with hydroxytoluene (BHT) and tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ). These compounds exhibit good DPPH radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays.
Spermine on Endothelial Extracellular Vesicles Mediates Smoking-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension Partially Through Calcium-Sensing Receptor

Objective— This study aims to determine whether and how the enriched metabolites of endothelial extracellular vesicles (eEVs) are critical for cigarette smoke-induced direct injury of endothelial cells and the development of pulmonary hypertension, rarely explored in contrast to long-investigated mechanisms secondary to chronic hypoxemia. Approach and Results— Metabonomic screen of eEVs from cigarette-smoking human subjects reveals prominent elevation of spermine—a polyamine metabolite with potent agonist activity for the extracellular CaSR (calcium-sensing receptor). CaSR inhibition with the negative allosteric modulator Calhex231 or CaSR knockdown attenuates cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary hypertension in rats without emphysematous changes in lungs or chronic hypoxemia. Cigarette smoke exposure increases the generation of spermine-positive eEVs and their spermine content. Immunocytochemical staining and immunogold electron microscopy recognize the spermine enrichment not only within the cytosol but also on the outer surface of eEV membrane. The repression of spermine synthesis, the inhibitory analog of spermine, N1-dansyl-spermine, Calhex231, or CaSR knockdown profoundly suppresses eEV exposure-mobilized cytosolic calcium signaling, pulmonary artery constriction, and smooth muscle cell proliferation. Confocal imaging of immunohistochemical staining demonstrates the migration of spermine-positive eEVs from endothelium into smooth muscle cells in pulmonary arteries of cigarette smoke-exposed rats. The repression of spermine synthesis or CaSR knockout results in attenuated development of pulmonary hypertension induced by an intravascular administration of eEVs. Conclusions— Cigarette smoke enhances eEV generation with spermine enrichment at their outer surface and cytosol, which activates CaSR and subsequently causes smooth muscle cell constriction and proliferation, therefore, directly leading to the development of pulmonary hypertension.