Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Report of two pedigrees with heterozygous HTRA1 variants‐related cerebral small vessel disease and literature review

Biallelic HTRA1 pathogenic variants are associated with autosomal recessive cerebral arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL). Recent studies have indicated that heterozygous HTRA1 variants are related to autosomal dominant hereditary cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). However, few studies have assessed heterozygous HTRA1 carriers or the genotype–phenotype correlation.
Health literacy, illness perception, depression, and self-management among African Americans with type 2 diabetes

ABSTRACT Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) causes significant morbidity and mortality. Compared with non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans are more likely to suffer and die from T2DM. Purpose: This study examines the associations between health literacy, illness perception, depression, working memory, executive function, and self-management among African Americans (18–65 years) with T2DM. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Data were collected through Research Electronic Data Capture and transferred to the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 26 for statistical analysis. Fifty-three participants met study eligibility criteria. Results: Health literacy was associated with depression (r = −0.433, p = .003), more concerns about illness (r = −0.357, p = .02), and better medication adherence (r = 0.487, p = .001). Higher levels of depression were inversely associated with medication adherence (r = −0.449, p = .002; r = 0.449, p = .003). Higher concern about illness was associated with lower medication adherence (r = −0.414, p = .005). Conclusions: Lower health literacy coupled with illness perception and depression is associated with lower self-management behaviors among African Americans which can lead to complications of T2DM. More studies are needed to examine the association of cognitive factors with self-management activities among African Americans with T2DM. Implications: Limited health literacy is associated with lower medication adherence among African Americans with T2DM. Illness perception is a significant factor that influences self-management of T2DM among African Americans. Using screening tools that assess health literacy and illness perception may address underlying concerns regarding adherence to T2DM treatment regimens in African Americans.
Enzyme activity inhibition properties of new cellulose nanocrystals from Citrus medica L. Pericarp: A perspective of cholesterol lowering.

As a waste material, the amazing potential of CNCs isolated from Citrus medica L. pericarp in being the natural resource of lingo-cellulosic products was never investigated before. In the present study, an alkaline pretreatment and a two-step bleaching procedure were applied to conduct the desired acid hydrolysis by the usage of 64% sulfuric acid at 50 °C for 105 minutes. The extracted CNCs were distinguished through the means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Field Emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The elimination of peaks, which were accountable for the inducement of hemicelluloses and lignin, was confirmed by the FTIR results and were also validated by the outcomes of XRD that proved the gentle removal of non-cellulosic components. The morphology and size of CNCs were indicated through the FESEM and TEM results. In addition, the spherical forms of synthesized CNCs were observed with a diameter of 46 nm throughout the FESEM images, while displaying a value of 42.54 nm as well due to TEM micrographs. The obtained Zeta potential displayed a reasonable negative surface charge for CNCs. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity assessment of this product on fibroblast cells was performed to study their susceptibility for bio-medical and cosmetic industrial applications, which resulted in the lack of exhibiting any cytotoxic effects. In conformity to the outcomes of TEM and FESEM, the results of AFM revealed the fine dispersion and spherical form of cellulose nano-particles. The interaction between HMG-CoA reductase and CNC was studied by the usage of multi-spectroscopic methods and enzyme kinetics to explore the binding mechanism of HMG-CoA reductase-CNC system. Reduced catalytic activity of the occurrence of changes in the secondary structure of HMG-CoA reductase was as a result of interacting with CNC caused a reduction in its catalytic activity.
Co-optimization of robotic design and skill inspired by human hand evolution

During evolution of the human hand, evolutionary morphology has been closely related to behavior in complicated environments. Numerous researchers have revealed that learned skills have affected hand evolution. Inspired by this phenomenon, a co-optimization approach for underactuated hands is proposed that takes grasping skills and structural parameters into consideration. In our proposal, hand design, especially the underactuated mechanism, can be parameterized and shared with all the local agents. These mechanical parameters can be updated globally by the independent agents. In addition, we also train human-like ‘feeling’ of grasping: grasping stability is estimated in advance before the object drops, which can speed up grasping training. In this paper, our method is instantiated to address the optimization problem for the torsion spring mechanical parameters of an underactuated robotic hand with multi-actuators, and then the optimized results are transferred to the actual physical robotic hand to test the improvement of grasping. This collaborative evolution process leverages the dexterity of the multi-actuators and the adaptivity of the underactuated mechanism.
Arabinosyltransferase C Mediates Multiple Drugs Intrinsic Resistance by Altering Cell Envelope Permeability in Mycobacterium abscessus

Mycobacterium abscessus is intrinsically resistant to most antibiotics, and treatment of its infections is highly challenging. The mechanisms of its intrinsic resistance remain not fully understood. ABSTRACT Mycobacterium abscessus is an emerging human pathogen leading to significant morbidity and even mortality, intrinsically resistant to almost all the antibiotics available and so can be a nightmare. Mechanisms of its intrinsic resistance remain not fully understood. Here, we selected and confirmed an M. abscessus transposon mutant that is hypersensitive to multiple drugs including rifampin, rifabutin, vancomycin, clofazimine, linezolid, imipenem, levofloxacin, cefoxitin, and clarithromycin. The gene MAB_0189c encoding a putative arabinosyltransferase C was found to be disrupted, using a newly developed highly-efficient strategy combining next-generation sequencing and multiple PCR. Furthermore, selectable marker-free deletion of MAB_0189c recapitulated the hypersensitive phenotype. Disruption of MAB_0189c resulted in an inability to synthesize lipoarabinomannan and markedly enhanced its cell envelope permeability. Complementing MAB_0189c or M. tuberculosis embC restored the resistance phenotype. Importantly, treatment of M. abscessus with ethambutol, a first-line antituberculosis drug targeting arabinosyltransferases of M. tuberculosis, largely sensitized M. abscessus to multiple antibiotics in vitro. We finally tested activities of six selected drugs using a murine model of sustained M. abscessus infection and found that linezolid, rifabutin, and imipenem were active against the MAB_0189c deletion strain. These results identified MAB_0189 as a crucial determinant of intrinsic resistance of M. abscessus, and optimizing inhibitors targeting MAB_0189 might be a strategy to disarm the intrinsic multiple antibiotic resistance of M. abscessus. IMPORTANCE Mycobacterium abscessus is intrinsically resistant to most antibiotics, and treatment of its infections is highly challenging. The mechanisms of its intrinsic resistance remain not fully understood. Here we found a transposon mutant hypersensitive to a variety of drugs and identified the transposon inserted into the MAB_0189c (orthologous embC coding arabinosyltransferase, EmbC) gene by using a newly developed rapid and efficient approach. We further verified that the MAB_0189c gene played a significant role in its intrinsic resistance by decreasing the cell envelope permeability through affecting the production of lipoarabinomannan in its cell envelope. Lastly, we found the arabinosyltransferases inhibitor, ethambutol, increased activities of nine selected drugs in vitro. Knockout of MAB_0189c made M. abscessus become susceptible to 3 drugs in mice. These findings indicated that potential powerful M. abscessus EmbC inhibitor might be used to reverse the intrinsic resistance of M. abscessus to multiple drugs.
Association Between Brain Structure and Alcohol Use Behaviors in Adults

Key Points Question Are there directional associations between cortical or subcortical macrostructure and alcohol use? Findings This mendelian randomization study including 763 874 participants in UK Biobank, Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta Analysis (ENIGMA), Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC), and GWAS & Sequencing Consortium of Alcohol and Nicotine use (GSCAN) studies identified a significant negative association between genetically predicted global cortical thickness and alcohol consumption and binge drinking. Downstream multiomic analyses indicate that 17q21.31 genes and glutamatergic cortical neurons contribute to this association. Meaning The results from this study support emerging literature suggesting that cortical structure is associated with alcohol use and identify transcriptomic and cellular associations between these phenotypes that warrant further investigation.
Online patient feedback as a safety valve: An automated language analysis of unnoticed and unresolved safety incidents

Safety reporting systems are widely used in healthcare to identify risks to patient safety. But, their effectiveness is undermined if staff do not notice or report incidents. Patients, however, might observe and report these overlooked incidents because they experience the consequences, are highly motivated, and independent of the organization. Online patient feedback may be especially valuable because it is a channel of reporting that allows patients to report without fear of consequence (e.g., anonymously). Harnessing this potential is challenging because online feedback is unstructured and lacks demonstrable validity and added value. Accordingly, we developed an automated language analysis method for measuring the likelihood of patient‐reported safety incidents in online patient feedback. Feedback from patients and families (n = 146,685, words = 22,191,427, years = 2013–2019) about acute NHS trusts (hospital conglomerates; n = 134) in England were analyzed. The automated measure had good precision (0.69) and excellent recall (0.98) in identifying incidents; was independent of staff‐reported incidents (r = −0.04 to 0.19); and was associated with hospital‐level mortality rates (z = 3.87; p < 0.001). The identified safety incidents were often reported as unnoticed (89%) or unresolved (21%), suggesting that patients use online platforms to give visibility to safety concerns they believe have been missed or ignored. Online stakeholder feedback is akin to a safety valve; being independent and unconstrained it provides an outlet for reporting safety issues that may have been unnoticed or unresolved within formal channels.
Adaptive Modified PCA for Face Recognition

This paper presents a novel hybrid method for extracting license plates and recognizing characters from low-quality videos using morphological operations and Adaboost algorithm. First of all, the hybrid method uses the Adaboost algorithm for training a detector to detect license plates. This algorithm works well to detect license plates having lower intensities but fails to detect license plates if they are skewed. Thus, we use a morphology-based scheme to detect inclined license plates. The morphology-based scheme extracts important contrast features for searching possible license plate candidates. The contrast feature is robust to lighting changes and invariant to different transformations. The hybrid method can avoid the significant growth of training samples for training the detector to detect any oriented license plates. Then, a new segmentation method is proposed for character segmentation and recognition. Even though lower-quality video frames are handed, our method still performs very well to recognize desired license plates. The proposed technique can locate and recognize multiple plates in real time even if they have different orientations or lower intensities. Experimental results show that the proposed method improves the state-of-the-art work in terms of effectiveness and robustness for license plate recognition in low resolution and low quality source.
Mental health of helpline staff in Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion

Institute of Psychiatry, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine; Department of Pediatrics, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; Regional Centre for Children and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare Central Norway, IPH, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section, World Psychiatric Association (WPA), Geneva, Switzerland
Consistency of various phi-divergence statistics

1 Divergences and divergence statistics Let M (k) be the simplex of all discrete probability distributions P = (pj : 1 j k) and Pn = pnj = Xnj n : 1 j k (1) a statistic based on the multinomially distributed observations Xn = (Xnj : 1 j k) Multk(n; Pn) for Pn = (pnj : 1 j k) 2M (k) ; n = 1; 2; : : : (2) If the distributions Pn are unknown, then it is often important to decide whether the uniform hypothesis H : Pn = U = (1=k : 1 j k) 2M (k) ; n = 1; 2; : : : (3) holds or not. The decision is usually based on the value of one of the -divergence statistics T = T ;n = 2nD (Pn; U) (4) where on the right is the -divergence of the empirical distribution Pn and the hypothetical distribution U corresponding to a convex function (t); t > 0 with (1) = 0 and with (0) de ned as the limit for t # 0. For arbitrary distributions P = (pj : 1 j k) and Q = (qj : 1 j k) 2 M (k) the -divergence D (P;Q) 0 is de ned by the formula
Preweaning environmental enrichment alters neonatal ultrasonic vocalisations in a rat model for prenatal infections

Objective Maternal infections are a well-known risk factor for neurodevelopmental defects. Such defects are associated with a range of symptoms, and environmental enrichment (EE) could be a promising approach to rehabilitate these. We used the well-established prenatal poly I:C (polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid) model in rats to examine the effects of preweaning EE on rat pups’ ultrasonic vocalisations (USVs) when separated from their mothers. USVs are one of the earliest indicators of a pup’s functional level and, thus, well-suited as a marker of neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Methods We used a two-by-two factorial design in which pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats received either saline or the viral mimic poly I:C, and one group of pups was exposed to preweaning enrichment. We measured maternal separation-induced USVs both before postnatal day (PND) 7 and after preweaning enrichment on PND 14. Results Poly I:C significantly reduced the number of USVs on PND 7. EE interacted with the poly I:C treatment in that poly I:C pups in the enrichment group called more, whereas saline pups in the enriched environment called less on PND 14 than the respective controls. Conclusion We showed that the effects of maternal poly I:C on the offspring’s USVs could be reduced by early EE. If replicated, it could open novel and safe avenues for treating children of mothers who were exposed to infections during pregnancy.
Marker assessments in ER‐positive breast cancers: old markers, new applications?

Evaluation of oestrogen receptor (ER) expression by immunostaining is essential in the pathological assessment of breast cancer. Its expression is intercorrelated with clinicopathological features, molecular typing, and treatment selection. The development of novel therapeutic agents related to ER status, the recent ASCO introduction of an ER‐low positive category of breast cancers, and the ever‐increasing plethora of diagnostic and theragnostic markers call for a timely update. In this article we aim to review the clinicopathological features of ER‐positive breast cancers, with an emphasis on ER‐low positive breast cancers, and a focus on updating the (i) assessment, reporting and interpretation of ER immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, (ii) correlations of ER status with other diagnostic and theragnostic markers, and (iii) implications for treatment selection and response. In the face of the developments in IHC and molecular techniques and targeted therapy, ER immunostaining is still expected to remain as the core component of prognostic and theragnostic assessment of breast cancers.
Correlates of Bystander Intervention Among Heavy Drinking College Men

The present study utilized survey assessments to examine correlates of bystander intervention intentions among heavy drinking college men (N = 210). Intentions to engage in bystander intervention were associated with fewer heavy drinking days, lower alcohol-related consequences, greater use of strategies to limit drinking, and lower endorsement of alcohol expectancies. A range of constructs commonly associated with perpetration of sexual aggression demonstrated a negative association with intentions to engage in bystander intervention. Multivariate analyses revealed that greater use of strategies to limit drinking and lower pornography use emerged as predictors of intentions to engage in bystander intervention.
High‐throughput assay for effect screening of amphotericin B and bioactive components on filamentous Candida albicans

The aim of this study was to develop a high‐throughput robotic microtiter plate‐based screening assay for Candida albicans, optimizing growth conditions to replicate the filamentous biofilm growth found in vivo, and subsequently, to demonstrate the assay by evaluating the effect of nutritional drinks alone and in combination with the antifungal amphotericin B (AmB).
Creating persuasive health messages on social media: Effects of humor and perceived efficacy on health attitudes and intentions

Abstract This study examined how humor (incongruity humor vs. no humor) interacts with individual differences in perceived efficacy to influence health attitudes and behavioral intentions. Results of a controlled experiment (N = 294) revealed that among individuals with lower levels of perceived efficacy, incongruity humor, relative to no humor condition, resulted in greater source liking, which in turn, enhanced their attitudes and intentions to perform preventive health behaviors. However, for individuals higher in perceived efficacy, incongruity humor (vs. no humor) had an indirect negative effect on intentions via decreased attitudes. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Nonmotile Tremellomycetes Yeast Naganishia albida, Isolated from Aircraft

The Basidiomycota yeast Naganishia albida strain 5307AI was isolated from an aircraft polymer-coated surface. The genome size is 20,642,279 bp, with a G+C content of 53.99%. The genome contains fatty acid transporters, cutinases, hydroxylases, and lipases that are likely used for survival on polymer coatings on aircraft. ABSTRACT The Basidiomycota yeast Naganishia albida strain 5307AI was isolated from an aircraft polymer-coated surface. The genome size is 20,642,279 bp, with a G+C content of 53.99%. The genome contains fatty acid transporters, cutinases, hydroxylases, and lipases that are likely used for survival on polymer coatings on aircraft.
Low condom use at the last sexual intercourse among university students in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background There is inconsistent data about condom use at the last sexual intercourse (LSI) among university students in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and its association with sex, age, and condom negotiation efficacy. The primary objective of this study was to summarize the proportion of condom use at the LSI among university students in SSA. The secondary objective was to determine the association between condom use at the LSI with sex, age, and condom negotiation efficacy among university students in SSA. Methods In this systematic review and meta-analysis, two reviewers independently searched electronic databases and grey literature for eligible studies published until July 30, 2020, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias in the included studies. We used the Dersimonian-Liard random-effects model to pool the proportion of condom use at the LSI and the association between condom use at the LSI with sex, age, and condom negotiation efficacy, reported using risk ratio (RR). We assessed publication bias using funnel plot and Egger’s test, and explored sources of heterogeneity using sub-group and meta-regression analyses. Results We meta-analyzed 44 studies with a combined sample size of 27,948 participants.Of 14,778 sexually active participants, 8,744 (pooled proportion, 52.9%; 95% CI, 45.0–60.7; 95% prediction interval, 2.8–98.9; I-squared = 99.0%, p< 0.0001) reported condom use at the LSI and the proportion of condom use at the LSI remained stagnant between 2000 and 2019 (p = 0.512). Condom use at the LSI was not associated with being a female compared to a male (pooled RR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.68–1.71), being of a younger age (≤24 years old) compared to older age (25 years and more) (pooled RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0-85-1.57), and having a higher condom negotiation efficacy compared to a lower condom negotiation efficacy (pooled RR, 1.54; 95% CI, 0-81-2.94). Conclusions We found a low and heterogenous use of a condom at the LSI among university students in SSA which was not associated with sex, age, or condom negotiation efficacy. Accordingly, context-relevant interventions are needed to improve condom use at the LSI among university students in SSA.
Sequence analysis PolyMarker : A fast polyploid primer design pipeline

Summary: The design of genetic markers is of particular relevance in crop breeding programs. Despite many economically important crops being polyploid organisms, the current primer design tools are tailored for diploid species. Bread wheat, for instance, is a hexaploid comprising of three related genomes and the performance of genetic markers is diminished if the primers are not genome specific. PolyMarker is a pipeline that generates SNP markers by selecting candidate primers for a specified genome using local alignments and standard primer design tools to test the viability of the primers. A command line tool and a web interface are available to the community. Availability and implementation: PolyMarker is available as a ruby BioGem: bio-polyploidtools. Web interface: http://polymarker.tgac.ac.uk. Contact: Ricardo.Ramirez-Gonzalez@tgac.ac.uk Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.