Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incidence, Management, and Clinical Outcomes of Prostate Cancer in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

OBJECTIVES We reviewed the incidence, management, and survival outcomes of prostate cancer among kidney transplant recipients and compared these characteristics with a national population (nonrecipients). MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective study was performed on all kidney transplant recipients from a National Kidney Transplant Centre who were subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Primary outcome variables included comparisons of incidence and 5-year overall survival in kidney transplant recipients versus nonrecipients after treatment of prostate cancer. Secondary outcome variables were prostate-specific antigen levels at diagnosis, Gleason grade, treatment strategy, and morbidity from treatment among kidney transplant recipients. RESULTS Of 4048 kidney transplants performed, 3020 were male recipients (63.9%). In total, 34 kidney transplant recipients (1.1%) were diagnosed with prostate cancer 109 ± 83 months (range, 7-372 mo) after transplant. The mean age at prostate cancer diagnosis was 64 ± 7 years, median prostate-specific antigen level was 10 ng/dL (range, 2.6-771 ng/dL), and 76% (n = 26/34) were diagnosed with localized disease. The incidence of prostate cancer was 1126/100 000 in kidney transplant recipients compared with 160/100 000 nonrecipients in Ireland (P = .01). Treatment strategies included curative radiotherapy (n = 18), curative surgery (n = 2), androgen deprivation therapy (n = 8), and watchful waiting (n = 6). Overall survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were not significantly different between kidney transplant recipients with prostate cancer versus nonrecipients with prostate cancer (98% vs 98%, 80% vs 79%, and 77% vs 72%, respectively, P = .8). CONCLUSIONS The incidence of prostate cancer is significantly higher among kidney transplant recipients compared with nonrecipients in the general population, with most diagnosed with localized disease. Definitive management guidelines should be developed to increase awareness and optimize treatment options in this unique patient cohort.
Uterine artery embolization versus cesarean hysterectomy in the management of postpartum hemorrhage

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and complications between cesarean hysterectomy and uterine artery embolization (UAE) in the management of postpartum bleeding. Material and methods: We analyzed the outcomes of 48 patients who underwent cesarean hysterectomy from October 2007 to January 2017, and 333 patients who underwent UAE for postpartum bleeding which was unresponsive to conservative management. We reviewed all medical records retrospectively, and assessed the length of hospital stay, amount of blood transfused, operative time, and all procedural-related complications. Results: There was a significant difference between the two groups in the mean hospital stay between the cesarean hysterectomy group and the UAE group (12.88 ± 15.37 days vs. 7.37 ± 15.92 days, respectively). The number of transfusions received by those in the cesarean hysterectomy group was larger than that in the UAE group, and this difference was also statistically significant (16.81 ± 11.23 pints vs. 5.59 ± 7.02 pints). The mean operative time of the UAE procedure was significantly shorter than the cesarean hysterectomy procedure (83 min vs. 179 min, respectively). We also closely compared complications during and after the procedures. Conclusion: We concluded that UAE is safer and more effective than cesarean hysterectomy for the management of postpartum hemorrhage unresponsive to conservative management.
The Bcl‐2 inhibitor venetoclax inhibits Nrf2 antioxidant pathway activation induced by hypomethylating agents in AML

Induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), an important process for the cytotoxicity of various acute myeloid leukemia (AML) therapies including hypomethylating agents (HMAs), concurrently activates the NF‐E2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) antioxidant response pathway which in turn results in induction of antioxidant enzymes that neutralize ROS. In this study, we demonstrated that Nrf2 inhibition is an additional mechanism responsible for the marked antileukemic activity in AML seen with the combination of HMAs and venetoclax (ABT‐199). HMA and venetoclax combined treatment augmented mitochondrial ROS induction and apoptosis compared with treatment HMA alone. Treatment of AML cell lines as well as primary AML cells with venetoclax disrupted HMA decitabine‐increased nuclear translocation of Nrf2 and induction of downstream antioxidant enzymes including heme oxygenase‐1 and NADP‐quinone oxidoreductase‐1. Venetoclax treatment also leads to dissociation of B‐cell lymphoma 2 from the Nrf2/Keap‐1 complex and targets Nrf2 to ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Thus, our results here demonstrated an undiscovered mechanism underlying synergistic effect of decitabine and venetoclax in AML cells, elucidating for impressive results in antileukemic activity against AML in preclinical and early clinical studies by combined treatment of these drugs.
A simplicial analysis of the fMRI data from human brain dynamics under functional cognitive tasks

The topological analysis of fMRI time series data has recently been used to characterize the identification of patterns of brain activity seen during specific tasks carried out under experimentally controlled conditions. This study uses the methods of algebraic topology to characterize time series networks constructed from fMRI data measured for adult and children populations carrying out differentiated reading tasks. Our pilot study shows that our methods turn out to be capable of identifying distinct differences between the activity of adult and children populations carrying out identical reading tasks. We also see differences between activity patterns seen when subjects recognize word and nonword patterns. The results generalize across different populations, different languages and different active and inactive brain regions.
Fluoropolymer-Containing Opals and Inverse Opals by Melt-Shear Organization

The preparation of highly ordered colloidal architectures has attracted significant attention and is a rapidly growing field for various applications, e.g., sensors, absorbers, and membranes. A promising technique for the preparation of elastomeric inverse opal films relies on tailored core/shell particle architectures and application of the so-called melt-shear organization technique. Within the present work, a convenient route for the preparation of core/shell particles featuring highly fluorinated shell materials as building blocks is described. As particle core materials, both organic or inorganic (SiO2) particles can be used as a template, followed by a semi-continuous stepwise emulsion polymerization for the synthesis of the soft fluoropolymer shell material. The use of functional monomers as shell-material offers the possibility to create opal and inverse opal films with striking optical properties according to Bragg’s law of diffraction. Due to the presence of fluorinated moieties, the chemical resistance of the final opals and inverse opals is increased. The herein developed fluorine-containing particle-based films feature a low surface energy for the matrix material leading to good hydrophobic properties. Moreover, the low refractive index of the fluoropolymer shell compared to the core (or voids) led to excellent optical properties based on structural colors. The herein described fluoropolymer opals and inverse opals are expected to pave the way toward novel functional materials for application in fields of coatings and optical sensors.
Adipose tissue senescence and inflammation in aging is reversed by the young milieu.

Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) inflammation plays a central role in longevity and multiple age-related disorders. Cellular Senescence (SEN) is a fundamental aging mechanism that contributes to age-related chronic inflammation and organ dysfunction, including VAT. Recent studies using heterochronic parabiosis models strongly suggested that circulating factors in young plasma alter the aging phenotypes of old animals. Our study investigated if young plasma rescued SEN phenotypes in the VAT of aging mice. With heterochronic parabiosis model using young (3 m) and old (18 m) mice, we found significant reduction in the levels pro-inflammatory cytokines and altered adipokine profile that are protective of SEN in the VAT of old mice. These data are indicative of protection from SEN of aging VAT by young blood circulation. Old parabionts also exhibited diminished expression of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKi) genes p16 (Cdkn2a) and p21 (Cdkn1a/Cip1) in the VAT. In addition, when exposed to young serum condition in an ex-vivo culture system, aging adipose tissue-derived stromovascular fraction cells (SVFs) produced significantly lower amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines (Mcp-1 and IL-6) compared to old condition. Expressions of p16 and p21 genes were also diminished in the old SVFs under young serum condition. Finally, in 3T3 pre-adipocytes culture system; we found reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines (Mcp-1 and IL-6) and diminished expression of CDKi genes in the presence of young serum compared to old serum. In summary, current study demonstrates that young milieu is capable of protecting aging adipose tissue from SEN and thereby inflammation.
Horde Battle III or How to Dismantle a Swarm

In this demo paper, we present the design of a virtual reality (VR) first-person shooter (FPS) in which the player fends off waves of hostile flying swarm robots that took over the Earth. The purpose of this serious game is to train the player in understanding networks by learning how to dismantle them. We explain the play and game mechanics and the level designs tailored to provide an engaging experience and to re-enforce the network perspective of the swarm dynamics.
Targeting Smox Is Neuroprotective and Ameliorates Brain Inflammation in Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Rats

Spermine oxidase (Smox) is a member of the polyamine oxidases and has been demonstrated to be involved in ischemic brain damage. In this study, we found that Smox expression was increased in a rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model and in cultured primary neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R). Smox downregulation by the adeno-associated virus RNA interference system significantly reduced the MCAO-induced brain infarct volume and neurological deficits and decreased neuronal apoptosis and inflammatory reactions. In addition, significant microglial activation and increased IL-6 and TNF-α expression were observed in microglia treated with supernatant from neurons after OGD/R. However, a significant reduction in microglial activation as well as IL-6 and TNF-α expression was observed in microglia treated with supernatant from Smox downregulated neurons after OGD/R. Therefore, the results indicated that Smox is an important mediator of cerebral ischemia injury and may be a therapeutic target for cerebral ischemia patients.
Acupotomy for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis

Introduction: This systematic review protocol describes the methods that will be used to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupotomy for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis. Methods and analysis: The following electronic databases will be searched until December 2018 without language or publication status restrictions: five English databases, that is Medline, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL); three Korean databases, that is Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), Research Information Service System (RISS), and Korea Citation Index (KCI); and three Chinese databases, that is China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, and VIP. Any clinical, randomized controlled trials using acupotomy for lumbar spinal stenosis treatment will be included. Changes in the degrees of pain and function will be assessed as primary outcomes. The total effective rate, changes in quality of life, adverse events, and amount of rescue medication used will be evaluated as secondary outcomes. Two independent researchers will perform study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment. If applicable, a meta-analysis will be performed using RevMan version 5.3, with the results expressed as risk ratios or mean differences with 95% confidence intervals. According to a heterogeneity test or the number of studies included, fixed effects or random effects model will be used. The risk of bias tool from the Cochrane group will be used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required because individual patient data will not be included in this study. The findings of this systematic review will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication or conference presentations. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018116567.
Effects of rapid evolution on species coexistence

Significance Understanding the dynamics of competing species is essential for explaining the origin and maintenance of species diversity. However, ecologists have typically ignored the potential for rapid evolution to alter the contemporary population dynamics of competing species. By disrupting the ability of aquatic plants to evolve in response to interspecific competition, we show that competition drives evolutionary change and this evolutionary change simultaneously feeds back to alter the abundance of competing species over just a few generations. Rather than increasing niche differences as classic theory predicts, evolution causes population trajectories to converge by changing the competitive hierarchy. Our results suggest that understanding how species diversity is maintained requires explicitly accounting for the effects of rapid evolution on competitive population dynamics. Increasing evidence for rapid evolution suggests that the maintenance of species diversity in ecological communities may be influenced by more than purely ecological processes. Classic theory shows that interspecific competition may select for traits that increase niche differentiation, weakening competition and thus promoting species coexistence. While empirical work has demonstrated trait evolution in response to competition, if and how evolution affects the dynamics of the competing species—the key step for completing the required eco-evolutionary feedback—has been difficult to resolve. Here, we show that evolution in response to interspecific competition feeds back to change the course of competitive population dynamics of aquatic plant species over 10–15 generations in the field. By manipulating selection imposed by heterospecific competitors in experimental ponds, we demonstrate that (i) interspecific competition drives rapid genotypic change, and (ii) this evolutionary change in one competitor, while not changing the coexistence outcome, causes the population trajectories of the two competing species to converge. In contrast to the common expectation that interspecific competition should drive the evolution of niche differentiation, our results suggest that genotypic evolution resulted in phenotypic changes that altered population dynamics by affecting the competitive hierarchy. This result is consistent with theory suggesting that competition for essential resources can limit opportunities for the evolution of niche differentiation. Our finding that rapid evolution regulates the dynamics of competing species suggests that ecosystems may rely on continuous feedbacks between ecology and evolution to maintain species diversity.
Existing Science on Human Factors and Ergonomics in the Design of Ambulances and EMS Equipment

Abstract Background: Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel face a disproportionally high risk for fatality and injury due to the nature of their work; and current ambulance and EMS equipment design standards do not adequately safeguard EMS personnel from sacrificing personal safety for patient care, a known human factors and ergonomic (HFE) design challenge. Despite the desire to include HFE interventions or considerations into a standard, the effectiveness of existing HFE interventions for EMS is unclear. Objective: Therefore, this study aimed to synthesize the peer-reviewed literature on the design features of patient compartments and EMS equipment that affect EMS personnel’s performance or well-being. Methods: A scoping review methodology was applied to systematically search and screen for relevant articles, and extract data. Three databases (EmBase, Scopus, and PubMed) were searched, and search results were screened for articles that pertained to the performance or well-being of EMS personnel when interacting with the patient compartment or its associated equipment. Results and Discussion: Of the 4,125 search results, 48 relevant articles were retained, and then sorted into one of 3 categories: general design, patient handling, and patient transport. It was concluded that, although research has progressed over the past 15 years, more research, development, and resources are needed. Newer generations of ambulances have not been shown to be safer during collisions and there is a knowledge gap in how occupants and contents of a patient compartment behave during a collision. Crash-tests have been performed with restrained occupants and supplies; however, that scenario is unrealistic in the field. While the existing literature provided initial ideas and innovations for improving the HFE of patient handling and patient transport, it is important for future research to convey findings in a manner that can be used to inform design standards.
Magnetic Nanofiber Mats for Data Storage and Transfer

Electrospun nanofiber mats may serve as new hardware for neuromorphic computing. To enable data storage and transfer in them, they should be magnetic, possibly electrically conductive and able to respond to further external impulses. Here we report on creating magnetic nanofiber mats, consisting of magnetically doped polymer nanofibers for data transfer and polymer beads containing larger amounts of magnetic nanoparticles for storage purposes. Using magnetite and iron nickel oxide nanoparticles, a broad range of doping ratios could be electrospun with a needleless technique, resulting in magnetic nanofiber mats with varying morphologies and different amounts of magnetically doped beads.
Evaluation of fiber posts vs metal posts for restoring severely damaged endodontically treated teeth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES This review was undertaken to answer a controversial clinical question with high-quality evidence: When severely damaged teeth are restored, which type of post (metal or fiber) demonstrates superior clinical performance? DATA SOURCES The meta-analysis was conducted according to the guidelines in the Cochrane handbook. Electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL) and gray literatures were screened up to January 2018. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with follow-up of at least 3 years were included. The quality of included studies was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. Meta-analysis compared survival, success, post debonding, and root fracture incidence of teeth restored with fiber and metal posts. The GRADE system (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations) was used to assess the strength of the evidence. Of 1,511 records, 14 full texts were obtained. Only four RCTs with follow-up times of 3 to 7 years met the selection criteria. The methodologic quality of included RCTs was low risk of bias. Fiber posts presented significantly higher survival rates than did metal posts (RR 0.57, 95% CI: 0.33 to 0.97, P = .04), while no difference was observed in success rates, post debonding rates, or root fracture rates. The GRADE assessment indicated a high quality of evidence for survival rates and a moderate quality for success rates. CONCLUSION It was concluded that fiber posts displayed higher medium-term (3 to 7 years) overall survival rates than did metal posts when used in the restoration of endodontically treated teeth with no more than two coronal walls remaining.
Application of Dirichlet-to-Neumann Map Boundary Condition for Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Problems

In this article, we present a differential formulation combined with an exact boundary condition based on a Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) operator, and its applications to eddy current problems. A numerical model for the eddy current problem is derived using a reduced vector potential formulation combined with analytic expression of a DtN operator on an appropriate canonical boundary. The main advantage of this method is the improved accuracy and reduced computational cost compared to conventional approaches. The effectiveness of the proposed formulation is demonstrated in eddy current nondestructive testing applications for predicting the induced current density distribution. The numerical results for two model problems are presented: a conducting sphere in a uniform magnetic field and an eddy current probe inspection of a conducting plate with a volumetric defect.
Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Funding information Novo Nordisk, Grant/Award Number: NNF10CC1016517; Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Grant/Award Number: KAW 2015.0279; Novo Nordisk Foundation, Grant/Award Number: NNF10CC1016517 Abstract To achieve large‐scale, high‐throughput experiments for systems biology research of microorganisms, reliable data from robust cultivation systems are needed. Chemostats are such systems, ensuring reproducibility and quality by providing a stable, well‐controlled environment for the cells. However, many of the available chemostat systems require large amounts of media and are complex to set up and expensive to purchase and maintain. To address these concerns, we developed a mini‐chemostat (MC) system with 16 reactors, each at a working volume of 40ml. Sensors measure dissolved oxygen in the reactor, while OD600 is measured in the outflow. We further developed a CO2 and pH sensor array that can be plugged into the outflow of the reactors. The system was used to characterize yeast physiology at four metabolically different conditions: limitations of glucose, both aerobic and anaerobic, nitrogen, and ethanol. The physiology of yeast cells grown at the four different conditions in the MC system was compared with the yeast cells grown in a DASGIP 1 L system using RNAseq analysis. The results show that the MC system provides the same environmental conditions as the DASGIP system and that the MC system is reproducible between different runs. The system is built to be easily scalable with more reactors and to include more sensors, if available. Our study shows that a robust, reproducible chemostat system for high‐throughput and large‐scale experiments can be built at low costs.