Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between circulating neuregulin 4 levels and metabolic, aterogenic, and AMH profile of polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a metabolic disorder associated with obesity and energy metabolic system disturbances in adipose tissue. Neuregulin 4 (NRG4), which is secreted by adipose tissue, regulates energy metabolism. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the association between serum NRG4 levels in obese and normal weight PCOS patients. This cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Turkey from April to August 2017. We included 148 women who were divided into four groups as follows: 40 normal weight and 39 obese PCOS women diagnosed according to the Rotterdam criteria as well as 38 normal weight and 31 obese, age-matched, non-hyperandrogenemic women with a regular menstrual cycle (controls). Levels of serum NRG4, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP); lipid and hormone profiles; insulin resistance indices [homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR)];and anthropometric parameters were evaluated. Serum NRG4 levels were elevated in the normal weight PCOS group than in the control group. Moreover, serum NRG4 levels were higher in the obese PCOS group than in the normal weight PCOS and obese control groups (p < .01). Serum NRG4 levels were positively correlated with body mass index (BMI); waist/hip ratio; HOMA-IR; and levels of triglycerides, hs-CRP, FBG, insulin, AMH, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate. Multiple regression analyses revealed that serum NRG4 levels were independently associated with BMI. Obesity appears to be the most influential factor for NRG4 secretion in PCOS patients. Management of obesity may be a key factor for resolving PCOS-related metabolic abnormalities and fertility problems. Impact Sstatement What is already known on this subject? PCOS is a dynamic syndrome with different clinical and metabolic features during the reproductive age. PCOS is associated with various metabolic abnormalities, such as insulin resistance (IR), glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, and obesity (particularly visceral obesity) as well as long-term complications, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Neuregulin 4 (NRG4), which is secreted by adipose tissue, regulates energy metabolism. What do the results of this study add? To the best of our knowledge, this was the first study investigating NRG4 levels in PCOS patients with different BMIs. Obesity appears to be the most influential factor for NRG4 secretion in these patients. Managing obesity may be a key factor for resolving PCOS-related metabolic abnormalities. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Further research in PCOS is warranted to ameliorate obesity, and our study can provide basis for future studies investigating NRG4 levels in PCOS patients with different phenotypes as well as studies of gene polymorphisms, AMH, and infertility and can contribute to the elucidation of problems related to the pathophysiology of PCOS.
Magnetocardiogram Difference Between Healthy Subjects and Ischemic Heart Disease Patients

Magnetocardiography (MCG) is a device to measure the weak magnetic fields generated from the heart using a superconducting quantum interference device sensor which converts magnetic flux to voltage and is the most sensitive sensor to detect magnetism. In the previous study, authors found that the values of MCG parameters of patients with non-ST-segment myocardial infarction were greater than those of age-matched controls (AMCs). In this study, we selected five different groups of patients considering their severity. We compared 10 MCG parameters recorded from 19 healthy young subjects (26.8plusmn13.4 years), 19 age-matched healthy subjects (55.4plusmn10.7), 23 stable angina patients (56.4plusmn7.6 years) with no stenosis (=0% on coronary angiogram) and normal echocardiogram, 24 unstable angina patients (61.9plusmn9.8 years) with severe stenosis (ges70%), and 20 Q-wave myocardial infarction (QMI) patients (57.3plusmn11.2 years) with severe stenosis (ges70%). To record the magnetic signals from a heart with minimal noise, a magnetically shielded room was used. The number of abnormal parameters was counted and magnetic field map (MFM) patterns were compared. As a result, young healthy subjects showed the smallest values in all 10 MCG parameters and QMI subjects showed the greatest values. Significant difference was found from dynamics parameters such as current angle, map angle, and distance dynamics between young healthy controls and AMC groups (p>0.05). No significant difference was found from AMC and stable angina groups even though parameter values of stable angina were slightly greater than those of AMC. Significant difference was found from five parameters between AMC and QMI subjects. These results are supportive to the previous analysis. In addition, the abnormal MCG parameters increased when the ischemic disease was worsened. Abnormal MFM patterns were easily found from QMI patients than stable angina pectoris. It is clear that abnormal MFM and parameters increase when the status of ischemic heart disease patients are getting worse.
Pharmacotherapeutic options for complex regional pain syndrome

ABSTRACT Introduction: Complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS) are rare painful conditions characterized by considerable variability in possible triggering factors, usually traumatic, and in the clinical scenario. The limited knowledge of the pathophysiological mechanisms has led to countless treatment attempts with multiple conservative and surgical options that act by different mechanisms of action. Areas covered: In this narrative review, the authors discuss key points about CRPS definitions, diagnostic criteria and pitfalls, pathophysiological hypotheses, and treatment strategies with particular reference to pharmacotherapy. The article was based on a literature search using PubMed while the available guidelines for the management of CRPS were also examined. Expert opinion: According to the quality of evidence, pharmacological interventions for CRPS seem to be more effective all the more so when they act on peripheral mechanisms, particularly on nociceptive pain, and when applied early in the disease, while reliable evidence about central mechanisms of chronic pain in CRPS is lacking. In our opinion, drug therapy should be preferred as early as possible, particularly in warm forms of CRPS to prevent significant functional limitation, psychological distress, and social and economic fallout.
On statistical methods to test if sampling in trials is genuinely random

tion of Medical Editors (see http:// www.wame.org/), is enormously useful, and such organisations have a valuable role in keeping up the pressure on all parties, and at all levels, reminding them of their obligations. Medicine – and, it seems, anaesthesia in particular – has seen a flurry of research misconduct scandals recently, with potentially serious implications for the wellbeing of patients who might have received treatments that were ineffective or harmful, and ⁄ or been denied those that were beneficial. A further, and possibly longer-lasting, harm is the damage to public trust that results from such cases and the publicity around them. Our specialty is still reeling from the Reuben [8] and Boldt cases [3]; the last thing we needed was another, even bigger, case. We can only hope that the rule that bad things come in threes holds true. Such cases are deeply troubling, raising difficult questions about the framework within which research is done, the motivation and support of those who are prepared to risk so much personally and for their patients, and the reliability of the evidence upon which we rely. However, a lot has changed for the better, since Kranke et al.’s letter a decade ago: there is better awareness of the problem, stronger resolve to stamp out misconduct, and better tools to detect wrongdoing. Carlisle deserves our gratitude for contributing to the last.
Eponymous signs in dermatology

Clinical signs reflect the sheer and close observatory quality of an astute physician. Many new dermatological signs both in clinical and diagnostic aspects of various dermatoses are being reported and no single book on dermatology literature gives a comprehensive list of these “signs” and postgraduate students in dermatology finds it difficult to have access to the description, as most of these resident doctor do not have access to the said journal articles. “Signs” commonly found in dermatologic literature with a brief discussion and explanation is reviewed in this paper.
Reinforcement Learning for Dynamically Stable Legged Locomotion

The Problem: The limit cycle stability of walking robots with only two legs, and even quickly moving robots with four or more legs, cannot be described as transitions between a set of stable fixed points in the configuration space of the robot. In these cases, the stability of the limit cycle depends critically on the dynamics of the walking machine. Because of the complexity of these dynamics, the fact that many of these robots are underactuated[3], and the uncertainty involved with walking on an unmodelled surface, the problem of constructing a control algorithm to provide this limit cycle behavior remains an open and interesting research question.
Inula L. Secondary Metabolites against Oxidative Stress-Related Human Diseases

An imbalance in the production of reactive oxygen species in the body can cause an increase of oxidative stress that leads to oxidative damage to cells and tissues, which culminates in the development or aggravation of some chronic diseases, such as inflammation, diabetes mellitus, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Secondary metabolites from Inula species can play an important role in the prevention and treatment of the oxidative stress-related diseases mentioned above. The databases Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science and the combining terms Inula, antioxidant and secondary metabolites were used in the research for this review. More than 120 articles are reviewed, highlighting the most active compounds with special emphasis on the elucidation of their antioxidative-stress mechanism of action, which increases the knowledge about their potential in the fight against inflammation, cancer, neurodegeneration, and diabetes. Alantolactone is the most polyvalent compound, reporting interesting EC50 values for several bioactivities, while 1-O-acetylbritannilactone can be pointed out as a promising lead compound for the development of analogues with interesting properties. The Inula genus is a good bet as source of structurally diverse compounds with antioxidant activity that can act via different mechanisms to fight several oxidative stress-related human diseases, being useful for development of new drugs.
Potato consumption and the risk of overall and cause specific mortality in the NIH-AARP study

Background Potato consumption has been hypothesized to be associated with higher risk of hypertension, diabetes, and colorectal cancer. Objective The aim of this study was to examine the association between potato consumption and the risk of overall and cause specific mortality in the large prospective National Institutes of Health–AARP (NIH-AARP) Study. Design The NIH-AARP study recruited 566,407 persons, aged 50–72 years in 1995–1996. We excluded subjects that reported a history of chronic disease at baseline. Potato consumption data from a validated food frequency questionnaire completed at baseline was used in Cox proportional hazard models to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for overall and cause specific mortality. Final models were adjusted for potential risk factors for mortality. Results Among 410,701 participants included in this analysis, 76,921 persons died during the 15.6 years of follow-up. Eating baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes, French fries or potato salad seven or more times per week was associated with higher risk of overall mortality, in models adjusted only for age and sex (HR C4 vs C1 = 1.17, 95%CI = 1.13, 1.21). These results were attenuated in fully adjusted models (HR C4 vs C1 = 1.02, 95%CI = 0.97, 1.06). Potato consumption was not associated with risk of mortality caused by cancer (HR C4 vs C1 = 1.04, 95%CI = 0.97, 1.11), heart disease (HR C4 vs C1 = 1.00, 95%CI = 0.93, 1.09), respiratory disease (HR C4 vs C1 = 1.16, 95%CI = 0.99, 1.37), or diabetes (HR C4 vs C1 = 0.91, 95%CI = 0.71, 1.19). We tested for an association with different preparation methods and found limited evidence for differences by preparation method. The only statistically significant association was that for French fry consumption with cancer-related mortality (HR C4 vs C1 = 1.27, 95%CI = 1.02, 1.59), a finding for which uncontrolled confounding could not be ruled out. Conclusion We find little evidence that potato consumption is associated with all-cause or cause-specific mortality.
Direct Radiation Detection by a Semiconductive Metal-Organic Framework.

Semiconductive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted extraordinary research interest in recent years; however, electronic applications based on these emerging materials are still in their infancy. Herein, we show that a lanthanide-based semiconductive MOF (SCU-12) can effectively convert X-ray photons to electrical current signals under continuous hard X-ray radiation. The semiconductive MOF-based polycrystalline detection device presents a promising X-ray sensitivity with the value of 23.8 μC Gyair-1 cm-2 under 80 kVp X-ray exposure, competitive with the commercially available amorphous selenium ( α-Se) detector. The lowest detectable X-ray dose rate is 0.705 μGy s-1, representing the record value among all X-ray detectors fabricated by polycrystalline materials. This work discloses the first demonstration of hard radiation detection by semiconductive MOFs, providing a horizon that can guide the synthesis of a new generation of radiation detection materials by taking the advantages of structural designability and property tunability in the MOF system.
Functional connectivity networks in the autistic and healthy brain assessed using Granger causality

In this study, we analyze brain connectivity based on Granger causality computed from magnetoencephalographic (MEG) activity obtained at the resting state in eight autistic and eight normal subjects along with measures of network connectivity derived from graph theory in an attempt to understand how communication in a human brain network is affected by autism. A connectivity matrix was computed for each subject individually and then group templates were estimated by averaging all matrices in each group. Furthermore, we performed classification of the subjects using support vector machines and Fisher's criterion to rank the features and identify the best subset for maximum separation of the groups. Our results show that a combined model based on connectivity matrices and graph theory measures can provide 87.5% accuracy in separating the two groups. These findings suggest that analysis of functional connectivity patterns may provide a valuable method for the early detection of autism.
Assessing the Levels of Knowledge Transfer Within e-Commerce Websites of Tourist Organisations in Africa

This paper reports research to investigate how tourist organisations based in Africa acquire, disseminate and apply knowledge through their websites. Interactivity is the key to put information into context to become knowledge. A survey found there are some interactive knowledge-transfer tools provided on the websites of African tourist organisations, but only on the few, fully-fledged e-commerce websites was knowledge transfer being effectively utilised. The authors recommend that organisations incorporate more tools to acquire and apply knowledge as it is fundamental for ecommerce success.
A prospective study comparing topic platelet-rich plasma vs. placebo on reducing superficial perioral wrinkles and restore dermal matrix

ABSTRACT Introduction: The goal of our prospective study was to assess the efficacy of the topical Platelet-rich plasma on reducing superficial perioral wrinkles and restoring the dermal matrix. Materials and methods: 50 women with moderate to severe perioral wrinkles were treated on the perioral area by a single session of fractional CO2 laser skin resurfacing plus intradermal injection of prp. 25 patients (group 1) applied topically prp twice a day for 12 weeks as post laser treatment. 25 (group 2) applied gentamicin and betamethasone twice a day for the first 7 days and then hyaluronic acid gel for the following 12 weeks. Results: In group 1, moisture (p < 0.001), amount of collagen fiber (p < 0.001) skin elasticity (p < 0.001), PSAl (p < 0.001) and SSAl (p < 0.001) improved significantly. In group 2 all the parameters investigated improved but did not reach significant difference. Discussion: Our medical device with a plasma-like formulation is able to maintain prp active for a period of 7 days so patients are able to apply topically growth factors at home. Conclusions: Our prospective study proves that the use of topical prp reduces superficial perioral wrinkles and restore dermal matrix when used at home for 12 weeks.
Analytic Solutions for Pulse Propagation in Shielded Power Cable for Symmetric and Asymmetric PD Pulses

Shielded power cable can be considered as a lossy transmission line, the high frequency attenuation of which causes the PD pulse amplitude, as well as the pulse energy, to decrease as a function of distance propagated. We develop analytical expressions which characterize PD pulse propagation in a shielded power cable for both symmetric and asymmetric PD pulse waveforms for an attenuation constant which increases linearly with frequency.
HER2 Upregulates ATF4 to Promote Cell Migration via Activation of ZEB1 and Downregulation of E-Cadherin

HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) activation is critical in breast cancer development. HER2 promotes cell proliferation, angiogenesis, survival, and metastasis by activation of PI3K/Akt, Ras/MEK/ERK, and JAK/STAT pathways. However, beyond these signaling molecules, the key proteins underlining HER2-mediated metastasis remain elusive. ATF4 (Activating transcription factor 4), a critical regulator in unfolded protein response (UPR), is implicated in cell migration and tumor metastasis. In this study, we demonstrate that HER2 upregulated ATF4 expression at both mRNA and protein levels, resulting in cell migration increased. In addition, ATF4 upregulated ZEB1 (Zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1) and suppressed E-cadherin expression resulting in promoting cell migration. Restoration of E-cadherin expression effectively inhibited HER2- or ATF4-mediated cell migration. In addition, upregulated expression of ATF4 was found in HER2-positive breast cancer specimens. Together, this study demonstrates that ATF4-ZEB1 is important for HER2-mediated cell migration and suggests that ATF4-ZEB1 may be potential therapeutic targets for breast cancer metastasis.
Finding suitable places for live campaigns using location-based services

In the recent years, the idea of reaching customers through human experience has triggered a new marketing strategy known as live campaigns. We can expect that live campaigns will become more pervasive and profitable, but not before addressing key business challenges. It can be easily ruined if the campaign agency fails to identify the optimal location and time. In this paper, we address the challenge of finding a suitable location from online location based services for arranging a live campaign according to given schedule among a set of candidate locations. We study the predictive power of various spatio-temporal mining features on the capability of gathering audience through the use of a dataset collected from Foursquare of New York City. Finally, we develop models which will predict the expected audience at a location based on these features. We achieve 50.46% accuracy in individual feature based approach and an accuracy of 72.6% in Support Vector Machine (SVM) regression model.
An Interactive Mobile App Game to Address Aggression (RegnaTales): Pilot Quantitative Study

Background The rapid advancement in media technology has radically changed the way we learn and interact with one another. Games, with their engaging and interactive approach, hold promise in the delivery of knowledge and building of skills. This has potential in child and adolescent mental health work, where the lack of insight and motivation for therapy are major barriers to treatment. However, research on the use of serious games in mental health interventions for children and adolescents is still in its infancy. Objective This study adds to the research on serious games in mental health interventions through the development and evaluation of RegnaTales, a series of 6 mobile apps designed to help children and adolescents manage anger. We examined the usability and playability of RegnaTales, as well as children’s aggression levels before and after the game play. Methods A total of 72 children aged between 6 and 12 years were recruited for the study. Thirty-five participants had a clinical diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorders (DBD), whereas 37 were typically developing (TD) children. Each child played 1 of the 6 RegnaTales apps for approximately 50 min before completing the Playability and Usability Questionnaire. The Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire was completed before and after the game play. Results The overall results showed high levels of enjoyment and playability. TD children and children with DBD had similar experienced fun and perceived playability scores on all 6 mobile apps. All 6 mobile apps garnered comparable experienced fun and perceived playability scores. Furthermore, 42% (5/12) to 67% (8/12) of the children indicated that they would like to play the games again. Importantly, children felt that they acquired skills in anger management, were motivated to use them in their daily lives, and felt confident that the skills would help them better manage their anger. Children reported significantly lower reactive aggression after playing the mobile apps Rage Raver (P=.001), Abaddon (P=.008), and RegnaTools (P=.03). These apps focused on the psychoeducation of the link between thoughts and emotions, as well as equipping the participants with various emotion regulation strategies such as relaxation and cognitive restructuring. Conclusions This study presents evidence to support RegnaTales as a feasible serious game. The preliminary findings associated with reduction in reactive aggression, coupled with future research to further establish its efficacy, could warrant RegnaTales as a potential intervention for anger issues among clinical and community populations.
Protective effects of chlorogenic acid, curcumin and beta-carotene against gamma-radiation-induced in vivo chromosomal damage.

The mouse bone marrow micronucleus test was carried out to evaluate the possible role of the dietary constituents chlorogenic acid (CGA), curcumin (CR) and beta-carotene (BC) in modulating the in vivo chromosomal damage induced by gamma-radiation. The results obtained suggest that oral administration of CGA (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg b.w.), CR (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg b.w.) and BC (0.5 and 2.5 mg/kg b.w.) to mice can significantly reduce the frequencies of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (Mn PCEs) induced by whole body exposure to gamma-radiation (1.15 Gy; 0.05 Gy/s). With CGA and CR, this effect was observed after a single administration either 2 h before or immediately after irradiation. However, with BC a 7-day feeding before irradiation was necessary to obtain a significant reduction in the incidence of Mn PCEs. The protective effects of CGA, CR and BC were observed in bone marrow cells sampled 24, 30 and 48 h after exposure to radiation.