Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electroacupuncture pretreatment promotes angiogenesis via hypoxia-inducible factor 1α and vascular endothelial growth factor in a rat model of chronic myocardial ischemia

Objective: Electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment appears useful in the treatment of chronic myocardial ischemia (CMI). The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of EA preconditioning on the regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) proteins in a CMI model of vascular regeneration. Methods: A CMI model was established by subcutaneous injection of isoprinosine hydrochloride (ISO) for 14 days in 45 Wistar rats, which had been randomly divided into a model group (n = 15), a CMI group pretreated with sham EA for 21 days (CMI + Sham group, n = 15) and a CMI group pretreated with verum EA for 21 days (CMI + EA, n = 15) prior to modeling. An additional 15 Wistar rats received 0.9% sodium chloride via intraperitoneal injection for 14 consecutive days (control group). Serum levels of VEGF and HIF-1α were measured by ELISA, while protein expression of VEGF and HIF-1α in the area of myocardial infarction was measured by Western blotting. The area of myocardial infarction and fibrosis of the myocardial tissue in the study groups were visualized by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Masson staining, respectively. Results: EA pretreatment improved cardiac function by regulating left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and left ventricular end-systolic diameter, left ventricular ejection fraction and the ST segment voltage of the electrocardiogram. EA pretreatment promoted vascular regeneration by increasing serum levels of VEGF and HIF-1α and by increasing protein expression of HIF-1α and VEGF in the infarcted region of the myocardium, leading to a reduction in the area of myocardial infarction on HE staining and reduction of myocardial fibrosis on Masson staining. Conclusion: EA pretreatment promotes protein expression of HIF-1α and VEGF in areas of ischemic myocardium, which may represent useful biomarkers for coronary collateral establishment and offer potential targets for therapeutic angiogenesis in patients with CMI.
Ferritin as a Marker of Severity in COVID-19 Patients: A Fatal Correlation.

BACKGROUND Ferritin, the cellular protein storage for iron, has emerged as a key molecule in the immune system, orchestrating the cellular defense against inflammation. At the end of 2019, the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) rapidly spread throughout China and other countries around the world, resulting in a viral pandemic. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the correlation between ferritin and disease severity in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we obtained clinical and laboratory data regarding 39 hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 from two hospitals in Israel. RESULTS A significant increase in ferritin levels was demonstrated in patients with moderate and severe disease, compared to patients with mild disease (P = 0.006 and 0.005, respectively). Severe patients had significantly higher levels of ferritin (2817.6 ng/ml) than non-severe patients (708.6 ng/ml) P = 0.02. CONCLUSIONS In this preliminary cross-sectional study, elevated ferritin levels were shown to correlate with disease severity in 39 patients from Israel with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Our results further strengthen the hypothesis that severe COVID-19 disease might be due to an underlying dysregulated hyperimmune response. In order to identify these patients early and prioritized resources, we believe that all patients with COVID-19 should be screened for hyperferritinemia.
Gender Differences in Prevalence and Patterns of Dietary Supplement Use in Elite Athletes

ABSTRACT Purpose: Dietary supplement use by athletes has been the topic of previous research; however, the lack of homogeneity among published studies makes it difficult to analyze the differences, if any, in the patterns of use between male and female athletes. The aim of this study was to determine gender differences in the patterns of dietary supplement use by elite athletes. Methods: A total of 504 elite athletes (329 males and 175 females) participating in individual and team sports completed a validated questionnaire on dietary supplement use during the preceding season. The dietary supplements were categorized according to the latest IOC consensus statement. Results: A higher proportion of male versus female athletes (65.3 versus 56.5%, p < .05) consumed dietary supplements. Both male and female athletes reported a similar mean consumption of dietary supplements (3.2 ± 2.1 versus 3.4 ± 2.3 supplements/season, respectively; p = .45). Protein supplements were the most commonly consumed supplements in male athletes (49.8%) and their prevalence was higher than in female athletes (29.3%, p < .01). In females, multivitamins (39.4%) and branched-chain amino acids (39.4%) were the most commonly consumed supplements and iron supplementation was more prevalent than in males (22.2% versus 10.2%, p = .01). A higher proportion of male athletes relied on themselves to plan dietary supplements use (48.0%), while female appeared to rely more on doctors (34.0%, p < .01). Conclusion: In summary, male athletes had a slightly higher prevalence in the use of supplements than their female counterparts, specifically regarding protein supplements, and were more involved in the self-prescription of supplements.
Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is associated with visceral fat in children

Abstract Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption has been associated with visceral fat partitioning in adults; however, the underlying mechanisms in childhood remain unclear and warrant exploration. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between SSB consumption and body fat in children aged 9–13 years and the potential modifying effect of children’s sex and serum cortisol levels. A sample of 2665 Greek schoolchildren participated in the ‘Healthy Growth Study’, and anthropometric, body composition, dietary intake and serum cortisol data were assessed. SSB consumption was defined as low (<1 serving/d), medium (1–2 servings/d) or high (>2 servings/d). We used linear regression models to assess the association between SSB consumption and measures of adiposity and to assess effect modification; models were stratified by sex and tertiles of morning serum cortisol. A significant positive association was observed between high SSB consumption and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) (β = 1·4, 95 % CI 0·4, 2·3, P = 0·01) but not BMI or BMI z-score. When stratified by sex, the association was observed in boys (β = 1·8, 95 % CI 0·3, 3·4, P = 0·02) but not in girls. When stratified by cortisol levels, SSB consumption was associated with VAT in children with cortisol levels in the lowest tertile (β = 2·8, 95 % CI 1·0, 4·6, P < 0·01). These results indicate that increased SSB consumption is associated with visceral adiposity in schoolchildren and this association may be modified by sex and morning serum cortisol. To prevent VAT accumulation and concomitant disease risk, dietary interventions should target SSB consumption during childhood.
Carbonic anhydrase influences asymmetric sodium and acetate transport across omasum of sheep

Objective Omasum is an important site for the absorption of short chain fatty acids. The major route for the transport of acetate is via sodium hydrogen exchanger (NHE). However, a discrepancy in the symmetry of sodium and acetate transport has been previously reported, the mechanism of which is unclear. In this study, we investigated the possible role of carbonic anhydrase (CA) for this asymmetry. Methods Omasal tissues were isolated from healthy sheep (N = 3) and divided into four groups; pH 7.4 and 6.4 alone and in combination with Ethoxzolamide. Electrophysiological measurements were made using Ussing chamber and the electrical measurements were made using computer controlled voltage clamp apparatus. Effect(s) of CA inhibitor on acetate and sodium transport flux rate of Na22 and 14C-acetate was measured in three different flux time periods. Data were presented as mean±standard deviation and level of significance was ascertained at p≤0.05. Results Mucosal to serosal flux of Na (JmsNa) was greater than mucosal to serosal flux of acetate (JmsAc) when the pH was decreased from 7.4 to 6.4. However, the addition of CA inhibitor almost completely abolished this discrepancy (JmsNa ≈ JmsAc). Conclusion The results of the present study suggest that the additional protons required to drive the NHE were provided by the CA enzyme in the isolated omasal epithelium. The findings of this study also suggest that the functions of CA may be exploited for better absorption in omasum.
The Genus Schizophyllum

Specimens of fungi assignable to the genus Schizophyllum have been collected in all parts of the world where woody plants grow. They have aroused the interest of people from very early times as evidenced by the fact that primitive people in widely scattered areas know S. commune by specific common names and even use it as a food or as a type of "chewing gum. " Specimens of Schizophyllum have aroused the interest of collectors ever since fungus fruit bodies have been collected and preserved in herbaria. Because of the similarity of species of Schizophyllum to agarics, especially in the fresh or revived condition, mycologists have classified Schizophyllum in the Agaricaceae (Killermann, 1928; Kauffman, 1918; etc.) or in the Tricholomataceae of the Agaricales (Singer, 1949). There has been some discussion (reviewed by Lohwag, 1941) in which it has been attempted to derive the genus from Skepperia, a stipitate, spathulate, stereaceous fungus usually assigned to the Thelephoraceae (sensu lato), by assuming that a lateral fusion of pilei took place.
Quantitative Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Chicken Egg Vitelline Membrane Proteins during High-temperature Storage.

To explore the thermally induced alterations in chicken egg vitelline membrane (CEVM) protein abundances, a comparative proteomic analysis of CEVM after 10 days of storage at 30 °C was performed. Altogether, 981 proteins were identified, of which 124 protein abundances were decreased and 79 were increased. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that the altered proteins were related to structure (n = 10), mechanical properties (n = 13), chaperone (n = 15), antibacterial (n = 12), and antioxidant (n = 3). Alterations in abundances of structural proteins, possibly resulting from the disintegration of these complexes, were observed in this study, suggesting a loss in fibrous structure. Several proteins involved in mechanical strength (n = 10), elasticity (n = 3), and chaperone were decreased in abundances, which indicated that deficits in these proteins might affect the CEVM mechanical properties. These findings will extend our understanding of the CEVM deterioration during high-temperature storage from a proteomic perspective.
Shifting roles: physiotherapists’ perception of person-centered care during a pre-implementation phase in the acute hospital setting - A phenomenographic study

ABSTRACT Background Person-centered care (PCC) is an acknowledged health care practice involving increased patient influence regarding decisions and deliberation. Research indicates that physiotherapists (PTs) embrace patient participation, but that PCC is difficult to grasp and fully implement. Objective To contribute to knowledge about how PCC influences physiotherapy by eliciting PTs’ experiences from the acute care setting, this study aims to describe and illuminate variations in perceptions of PCC during a pre-implementation phase, among PTs in acute hospital care. Methods Phenomenological approach: individual interviews with PTs in acute care (n = 7) combined with focus group interviews (n = 3). Findings The analysis yielded two main categories: 1) Physiotherapists perceived a transformed patient role involved in the transition from patient to person; and 2) Physiotherapists perceived a challenged professional role when departing from the expert role, and entailed restrictions to prescribing the best treatment and, instead, meant aiming for a collaborative and equal relationship with the patient. Conclusion Although the interviewed PTs embraced PCC in principle, PCC does seem to challenge the professional roles of patient and PT. The findings indicate that theories of power relations need to be considered, and further reflection may facilitate implementation. More research is needed to deepen the knowledge of how PTs perceive PCC during all implementation phases.
Recent Developments of Carbon Dots in Biosensing: A Review.

Early diagnosis of diseases is of great importance since it increases the chance of cure and significantly reduces treatment costs. Thus, development of rapid, sensitive and reliable biosensing techniques is essential for the benefits of human life and health. As such, various nanomaterials have been explored to improve performance of biosensors, among which, carbon dots (CDs) have received enormous attention due to their excellent performance. In this article, the recent advancements of CDs-based biosensors have been carefully summarized. First, biosensors are classified according to their sensing strategies, and the role of CDs in these sensors is elaborated in detail. Next, several typical CDs-based biosensors (including CDs only, enzymatic, antigen-antibody and nucleic acid biosensors) and their applications are fully discussed. Last, advantages, challenges and perspectives on the future trends of CDs-based biosensors are highlighted.
Dysregulated microRNAs in laryngeal cancer: a comprehensive meta-analysis using a robust rank aggregation approach.

We need a reasonable method of compiling data from different studies regarding the expression of microRNA (miRNA) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). The robust rank aggregation method was used to integrate the rank lists of miRNAs from 11 studies. The enrichment analysis was performed on target genes of meta-signature miRNAs. The Cancer Genome Atlas database was used to confirm the results of meta-analysis. Three meta-signature miRNAs (miR-21-5p, miR-196a-5p, miR-145-5p) were obtained. All three miRNAs could be prognostic for LSCC. The enrichment analysis showed that these miRNAs were associated significantly with multiple cancer-related signaling pathways. The robust rank aggregation approach is an effective way to identify important miRNAs from different studies. All identified miRNAs could be candidates for LSCC diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.
Incremental and online learning through extended kalman filtering with constraint weights for freeway travel time prediction

Providing travel time information to travelers on available route alternatives in traffic networks is widely believed to yield positive effects on both individual drive and (route/departure time) choice behavior as well as on collective traffic operations in terms of for example overall time savings and - if nothing else - on the reliability of travel times. As such there is an increasing need for fast and reliable online travel time prediction models. In an operational context, also adaptivity of such models is a crucial property. This paper describes a method to calibrate (train) a data driven travel time prediction model (a so-called state-space neural network - SSNN) in an incremental fashion. Since travel times are available only for realized trips, travel time prediction is not a one-step prediction task, and thus online incremental learning methods such as the extended Kalman filter (EKF) can not be applied directly. We propose a delayed EKF method which can be applied online. By constraining the model parameters within particular bounds, an automatic regularization scheme is incorporated, which guarantees a smooth mapping
MELANIN‐BASED COLORATION IS A NONDIRECTIONALLY SELECTED SEX‐SPECIFIC SIGNAL OF OFFSPRING DEVELOPMENT IN THE ALPINE SWIFT

Abstract Two mutually exclusive hypotheses have been put forward to explain the evolution and adaptive function of melanin‐based color traits. According to sexual selection theory melanism is a directionally selected signal of individual quality, whereas theory on the maintenance of genetic polymorphism proposes that alternative melanin‐based variants achieve equal fitness. Alpine swift (Apus melba) males and females have a conspicuous patch of white feathers on the breast with their rachis varying continuously from white to black, and hence the breast varies from white to striated. If this trait is a sexually selected signal of quality, its expression should be condition dependent and the degree of melanism directionally selected. If variation in melanism is a polymorphism, its expression should be genetically determined and fitness of melanin‐based variants equal. We experimentally tested these predictions by exchanging eggs or hatchlings between randomly chosen nests and by estimating survival and reproduction in relation to melanism. We found that breast melanism is heritable and that the environment and body condition do not significantly influence its expression. Between 5 and 50 days of age nestlings were heavier and their wings longer when breast feathers of their biological father were blacker, and they also fledged at a younger age. This shows that aspects of offspring quality covary positively with the degree of melanism. However, this did not result in directional selection because nestling survival and recruitment in the local breeding population were not associated with father breast melanism. Furthermore, adult survival, age at first reproduction and probability of skipping reproduction did not covary with the degree of melanism. Genetic variation in breast melanism is therefore maintained either because nonmelanic males achieve fitness similar to melanic males via a different route than producing fast‐growing offspring, or because the advantage of producing fast‐growing offspring is not sufficiently pronounced to result in directional selection.
Long noncoding RNA Hotair facilitates retinal endothelial cell dysfunction in diabetic retinopathy.

BACKGROUND Retinal endothelial cell (REC) dysfunction induced by diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important pathological step of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as novel modulators in DR. This study aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of lncRNA Hotair in regulating DM-induced REC dysfunction. METHODS The retinal vascular preparations and immunohistochemical staining assays were conducted to assess the role of Hotair in retinal vessel impairment in vivo. The EdU, transwell, cell permeability, CHIP, luciferase activity, RIP, RNA pull-down, and Co-IP assays were employed to investigate the underlying mechanism of Hotair-mediated REC dysfunction in vitro. RESULTS Hotair expression was significantly increased in diabetic retinas and high glucose (HG)-stimulated REC. Hotair knockdown inhibited the proliferation, invasion, migration, and permeability of HG-stimulated REC in vitro and reduced the retinal acellular capillaries and vascular leakage in vivo. Mechanistically, Hotair bound to LSD1 to inhibit VE-cadherin transcription by reducing the H3K4me3 level on its promoter and to facilitate transcription factor HIF1α-mediated transcriptional activation of VEGFA. Furthermore, LSD1 mediated the effects of Hotair on REC function under HG condition. CONCLUSION The Hotair exerts its role in DR by binding to LSD1, decreasing VE-cadherin transcription, and increasing VEGFA transcription, leading to REC dysfunction. These findings revealed that Hotair is a potential therapeutic target of DR.
Effect of Aging and Direction of Impulse in Suppression Head Impulse Test

Objective: To identify differences in the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain value and the peak saccade velocity in the suppression video head impulse test paradigms according to the age of the subject and the direction of the impulse. Study Design: Retrospective chart analysis. Setting: Tertiary referral hospital. Patients/Interventions: Between October 2017 and May 2019, we enrolled subjects who had previous histories of dizziness but no dizziness over the last 1 month. Main Outcome Measure: We conducted cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential and caloric tests, as well as video head impulse tests. We excluded the subjects who had abnormal cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential results (asymmetry ratio of greater than 30%) and abnormal caloric test results (caloric paresis of greater than 25%). Results: We included 647 subjects aged 10 to 87 years. The mean VOR gain and peak saccade velocity were maintained in subjects less than 70 years old (VOR gain, 0.991 ± 0.08, peak saccade velocity, 348.47 ± 142.32). However, the decreases in VOR gain and peak saccade velocity were significant in subjects over 70 years old (VOR gain, 0.928 ± 0.09, peak saccade velocity, 315.51 ± 0.09; p < 0.001). The mean VOR gain of the rightward impulse (1.00 ± 0.09) was higher than the leftward impulse (0.96 ± 0.08, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Both the VOR gain and peak saccade velocity of suppression video head impulse test paradigms declined with increasing age over 70 years. In addition, the VOR gain of the rightward impulse was higher than the leftward impulse in the right-eye recordings.
Rapid identification and characterization of infected cells in blood during chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection

Diagnosis of EBV-driven T/NK-cell lymphoproliferative disorders and chronic active EBV diseases is often difficult. Fournier et al. report a flow-FISH cytometry assay allowing rapid identification of EBV-infected cells in blood and accurate diagnoses. It represents a powerful tool to study pathophysiological mechanisms of EBV-LPD.
Protease-activated receptor 4 causes Akt phosphorylation independently of PI3 kinase pathways

Abstract PI-3 Kinase plays an important role in platelet activation mainly through regulation of RASA3. Akt phosphorylation is an indicator for the activity of PI3 kinase. The aim of this study is to characterize the pathways leading to Akt phosphorylation in platelets. We performed concentration response curves of LY294002, a pan-PI3 kinase inhibitor, on platelet aggregation and Akt phosphorylation, in washed human and mouse platelets. At concentrations as low as 3.12 µM, LY294002 abolished Akt phosphorylation induced by 2MeSADP and SFLLRN, but not by AYPGKF. It required much higher concentrations of LY294002 (12.5–25 µM) to abolish AYPGKF-induced Akt phosphorylation, both in wild type and P2Y12 null mouse platelets. We propose that 3.12 µM LY294002 is sufficient to inhibit PI3 kinase isoforms in platelets and higher concentrations might inhibit other pathways regulating Akt phosphorylation by AYPGKF. We conclude that Protease-activated receptor 4 (PAR4) might cause Akt phosphorylation through pathways distinctly different from those of Protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1).