Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of virtual reality-based neuropsychological interventions in improving cognitive functioning in patients with mild cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Objective: Increased prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has led to a need for new neuropsychological intervention tools in this population. This meta-analysis aimed to learn about the efficacy of virtual reality (VR)-based neuropsychological interventions in improving cognitive functioning in patients with MCI. Method: This review followed the recommendations of the PRISMA statement, and it was registered in PROSPERO. The studies examined were collected from the PsycINFO, Web of Science, Pubmed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases. Results: The systematic search yielded 258 articles, of which 13 randomized controlled trials were selected. VR-based neuropsychological interventions had moderate effects on global cognition (g = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.05, 0.56; p = 0.02), small effects on attention (g = 0.27; 95% CI = 0.04, 0.49; p = 0.02), and large effects on executive function (g = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.38, 0.81; p < 0.0001), but non-significant effects on working memory, episodic memory, language, or visuoconstruction. When the length of the intervention was considered, VR-based interventions of 15 or more hours had moderate effects on working memory (g = 0.55; 95% CI = 0.11, 0.99; p = 0.01), and large effects on language (g = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.01, 1.20; p = 0.05) and visuoconstruction (g = 1.13; 95% CI = 0.58, 1.67; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Results suggest that VR-based interventions are beneficial for improving cognitive functioning in patients with MCI, and allow us to make recommendations that could have implications for clinical decision-making in this population.
Communication About Negative and Uncertain Results: Interactional Dilemmas During a Genetic Telehealth Consult

ABSTRACT This case study focuses on a video telehealth consult to discuss genetic testing results. Participants include a Genetic Counselor (GC) and a Patient (P) previously diagnosed with ovarian cancer who is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Utilizing conversation analysis (CA), attention is first given to a series of interactional dilemmas as GC delivers and P responds to negative, uncertain, and complex test results. Specific findings address practices employed by GC to structure the encounter and establish authority, impacts on P’s participation and understandings, recurring and at times problematic orientations to “negative” findings, and inherent ambiguities faced by GC and P when attempting to discern good and bad news. Close examination of these moments provides a unique opportunity to identify, describe, and explain genetic counseling as a co-produced, interactional achievement. These findings are then integrated with patient’s post-counseling survey (susceptibility, anxiety, uncertainty, fear, and hope), including reported experiences which broaden understandings of the interactional environment. Specific recommendations are raised for improving counseling skills, enhancing patients’ understandings, and building therapeutic alliances addressing both patients’ emotional circumstances and the complexities of genetic test results.
Mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts of disease, social isolation, and financial stressors

Background Although research shows that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to declines in mental health, the existing research has not identified the pathways through which this decline happens. Aims The current study identifies the distinct pathways through which COVID-induced stressors (i.e., social distancing, disease risk, and financial stressors) trigger mental distress and examines the causal impact of these stressors on mental distress. Methods We combined evidence of objective pandemic-related stressors collected at the county level (e.g., lack of social contact, infection rates, and unemployment rates) with self-reported survey data from over 11.5 million adult respondents in the United States collected daily for eight months. We used mediation analysis to examine the extent to which the objective stressors influenced mental health by influencing individual respondents’ behavior and fears. Results County-level, day-to-day social distancing predicted significantly greater mental distress, both directly and indirectly through its effects on individual social contacts, worries about getting ill, and concerns about finances. Economic hardships were indirectly linked to increased mental distress by elevating people’s concerns about their household’s finances. Disease threats were both directly linked to mental distress and indirectly through its effects on individual worries about getting ill. Although one might expect that social distancing from people outside the home would have a greater influence on people who live alone, sub-analyses based on household composition do not support this expectation. Conclusion This research provides evidence consistent with the thesis that the COVID-19 pandemic harmed the mental well-being of adults in the United States and identifies specific stressors associated with the pandemic that are responsible for increasing mental distress.
Error estimates in balanced norms of finite element methods for higher order reaction-diffusion problems

Error estimates of finite element methods for reaction-diffusion problems are often realised in the related energy norm. In the singularly perturbed case, however, this norm is not adequate. A different scaling of the $H^m$ seminorm for $2m$-th order problems leads to a balanced norm which reflects the layer behaviour correctly. We prove error estimates in such balanced norms and improve thereby existing estimates known in literature.
An RNAi screen of RNA helicases identifies eIF4A3 as a regulator of embryonic stem cell identity

Abstract RNA helicases are involved in multiple steps of RNA metabolism to direct their roles in gene expression, yet their functions in pluripotency control remain largely unexplored. Starting from an RNA interference (RNAi) screen of RNA helicases, we identified that eIF4A3, a DEAD-box (Ddx) helicase component of the exon junction complex (EJC), is essential for the maintenance of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Mechanistically, we show that eIF4A3 post-transcriptionally controls the pluripotency-related cell cycle regulators and that its depletion causes the loss of pluripotency via cell cycle dysregulation. Specifically, eIF4A3 is required for the efficient nuclear export of Ccnb1 mRNA, which encodes Cyclin B1, a key component of the pluripotency-promoting pathway during the cell cycle progression of ESCs. Our results reveal a previously unappreciated role for eIF4A3 and its associated EJC in maintaining stem cell pluripotency through post-transcriptional control of the cell cycle.
Enrollment and Completion Characteristics for Novel Remote Delivery Modes of the Self-management Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploratory Analysis

Background In-person, evidence-based, peer-facilitated chronic disease self-management programs have been shown to be effective for individuals from a variety of backgrounds, including rural and minority populations and those with lower socioeconomic status. Based in social learning theory, these programs use group processes to help participants better manage their chronic disease symptoms and improve their quality of life. During the pandemic, these in-person programs were forced to rapidly transition to remote delivery platforms, and it was unclear whether doing so increased disparities within our rural population. Objective The objectives of this analysis were to ascertain self-management program enrollment and completion characteristics between 2 remote delivery platforms, as well as determine the individual level characteristics that drove enrollment and completion across delivery modes. Methods We analyzed enrollment and completion characteristics of 183 individuals who either enrolled in a self-management workshop delivered through a web-based videoconference (VC) system or through a traditional, audio-only conference call (CC) offered by our health care network between April and December 2020. Chi-square tests of association were used to describe the characteristics of and differences between groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine significant predictors of enrollment and completion. Results Those who enrolled in the VC platform were significantly likelier to be younger and college educated than those who enrolled in the CC platform. Those who completed a program, regardless of delivery mode, were likelier to be older and college educated than those who did not complete a program. Multivariate analyses indicated that of those enrolled in the CC platform, completers were likelier to not be enrolled in Medicaid. Among those enrolled in the VC platform, completers were older, college graduates, female, and likelier to have reported poorer health than those who did not complete the program. Conclusions The transition of self-management programs to remote delivery modes, particularly to those that rely on VC platforms, revealed that certain demographic groups may no longer be able or willing to access the service. Efforts need to be made to increase engagement in remote self-management workshops. In addition, equivalent quality services that do not rely on a digital platform must continue to be offered in order to promote health equity.
Incorporation of Non-Canonical Amino Acids into Antimicrobial Peptides: Advances, Challenges, and Perspectives

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance is a global health concern and calls for the development of novel antibiotic agents. Antimicrobial peptides seem to be promising candidates due to their diverse sources, mechanisms of action, and physicochemical characteristics, as well as the relatively low emergence of resistance. ABSTRACT The emergence of antimicrobial resistance is a global health concern and calls for the development of novel antibiotic agents. Antimicrobial peptides seem to be promising candidates due to their diverse sources, mechanisms of action, and physicochemical characteristics, as well as the relatively low emergence of resistance. The incorporation of noncanonical amino acids into antimicrobial peptides could effectively improve their physicochemical and pharmacological diversity. Recently, various antimicrobial peptides variants with improved or novel properties have been produced by the incorporation of single and multiple distinct noncanonical amino acids. In this review, we summarize strategies for the incorporation of noncanonical amino acids into antimicrobial peptides, as well as their features and suitabilities. Recent applications of noncanonical amino acid incorporation into antimicrobial peptides are also presented. Finally, we discuss the related challenges and prospects.
Strong magnetism by closely spaced gold nanohoops

In this work, we show that closely-spaced gold nanohoops periodically distributed in a square lattice can provide a strong magnetic response in the near infrared regime when illuminated under normal incidence (perpendicular to the structure plane). Therefore, just a single metallic layer is needed to achieve the magnetic activity. A key point to achieve this response is that the aspect ratio must be higher than 1. Transmission and reflection spectra taken by means of a Fourier-Transform Infrared spectrometer show a strong absorbance peak at a wavelength that can be tuned by modifying the hole radius of the nanohoops or the underlying dielectric substrate. Numerical simulations show that at the resonance wavelength a virtual current loop is created, giving rise to a strong magnetic moment and a large magnetic field enhancement in the space between nanohoops.
An fMRI study of cognitive planning before and after symptom provocation in pediatric obsessive–compulsive disorder

Background: Pediatric obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has been associated with poorer planning in laboratory, school and home settings. It is unclear whether this impairment is a standalone cognitive issue or the result of OCD symptoms. No study has examined the influence of provoked distress on planning performance and neural correlates in pediatric OCD. Methods: Before and after a symptom provocation task, youth with OCD (n = 23; 9 boys; mean age ± standard deviation 15.1 ± 2.6 years) and matched healthy controls (n = 23) completed the Tower of London task during functional MRI scanning. Results: During planning, participants with OCD recruited the left superior frontal gyrus to a greater extent than healthy controls after symptom provocation (group × time point interaction; t44 = 5.22, p < 0.001). In a seeded, region of interest–constrained, functional connectivity analysis, we identified greater connectivity between the left superior frontal gyrus and the right middle frontal gyrus, left precuneus and left inferior parietal lobule in participants with OCD than healthy controls. We also identified greater connectivity between the right amygdala and right medial frontal gyrus in patients with OCD than healthy controls, but only before symptom provocation. Limitations: The fixed-order design of the study and the number of participants taking medication (n = 20) should be noted. Conclusion: Participants with OCD demonstrated greater amygdalar–cortical connectivity before symptom provocation, while sustaining greater recruitment and connectivity of task-related planning areas throughout the task. These results suggest that brain activity and connectivity is altered after symptom provocation, in the absence of impaired planning performance.
PIK-24 Inhibits RSV-Induced Syncytium Formation via Direct Interaction with the p85α Subunit of PI3K

PI3K protein has many functions and regulates various cellular processes. As an important regulatory subunit of PI3K, p85α can regulate the activity of PI3K signaling. ABSTRACT Phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) signaling regulates many cellular processes, including cell survival, differentiation, proliferation, cytoskeleton reorganization, and apoptosis. The actin cytoskeleton regulated by PI3K signaling plays an important role in plasma membrane rearrangement. Currently, it is known that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection requires PI3K signaling. However, the regulatory pattern or corresponding molecular mechanism of PI3K signaling on cell-to-cell fusion during syncytium formation remains unclear. This study synthesized a novel PI3K inhibitor PIK-24 designed with PI3K as a target and used it as a molecular probe to investigate the involvement of PI3K signaling in syncytium formation during RSV infection. The results of the antiviral mechanism revealed that syncytium formation required PI3K signaling to activate RHO family GTPases Cdc42, to upregulate the inactive form of cofilin, and to increase the amount of F-actin in cells, thereby causing actin cytoskeleton reorganization and membrane fusion between adjacent cells. PIK-24 treatment significantly abolished the generation of these events by blocking the activation of PI3K signaling. Moreover, PIK-24 had an obvious binding activity with the p85α regulatory subunit of PI3K. The anti-RSV effect similar to PIK-24 was obtained after knockdown of p85α in vitro or knockout of p85α in vivo, suggesting that PIK-24 inhibited RSV infection by targeting PI3K p85α. Most importantly, PIK-24 exerted a potent anti-RSV activity, and its antiviral effect was stronger than that of the classic PI3K inhibitor LY294002, PI-103, and broad-spectrum antiviral drug ribavirin. Thus, PIK-24 has the potential to be developed into a novel anti-RSV agent targeting cellular PI3K signaling. IMPORTANCE PI3K protein has many functions and regulates various cellular processes. As an important regulatory subunit of PI3K, p85α can regulate the activity of PI3K signaling. Therefore, it serves as the key target for virus infection. Indeed, p85α-regulated PI3K signaling facilitates various intracellular plasma membrane rearrangement events by modulating the actin cytoskeleton, which may be critical for RSV-induced syncytium formation. In this study, we show that a novel PI3K inhibitor inhibits RSV-induced PI3K signaling activation and actin cytoskeleton reorganization by targeting the p85α protein, thereby inhibiting syncytium formation and exerting a potent antiviral effect. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most common respiratory pathogens, causing enormous morbidity, mortality, and economic burden. Currently, no effective antiviral drugs or vaccines exist for RSV infection. This study contributes to understanding the molecular mechanism by which PI3K signaling regulates syncytium formation and provides a leading compound for anti-RSV infection drug development.
Symmetry Breaking in Non-Abelian Gauge Theories

According to the Goldstone theorem, any manifestly covariant broken-symmetry theory must exhibit massless particles. However, it is known from previous work that such particles need not appear in a relativistic theory such as radiation-gauge electrodynamics, which lacks manifest covariance. Higgs has shown how the massless Goldstone particles may be eliminated from a theory with broken $U(1)$ symmetry by coupling in the electromagnetic field. The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss the analogous problem for the case of broken non-Abelian gauge symmetries. In particular, a model is exhibited which shows how the number of massless particles in a theory of this type is determined, and the possibility of having a broken non-Abelian gauge symmetry with no massless particles whatever is established. A secondary purpose is to investigate the relationship between the radiation-gauge and Lorentz-gauge formalisms. The Abelian-gauge case is reexamined, in order to show that, contrary to some previous assertions, the Lorentz-gauge formalism, properly handled, is perfectly consistent, and leads to physical conclusions identical with those reached using the radiation gauge.
Micro/nanostructured bioactive titanium implant surface with sol-gel silicate glass nanoparticles.

PURPOSE To develop a surface coating of sol-gel 70S30C bioactive glass (BAG) nanoparticles on titanium disks and dental implants and to characterize the results in terms of average surface roughness, adhesion strength, and coating stability upon implant insertion under clinical settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS BAG was prepared with the modified sol-gel technique, then milled into nanoparticles. The resultant powder was characterized in terms of phase structure, composition, and particle size. Titanium disks and dental implants were coated with BAG nanoparticles by electrophoretic deposition. Surface characterization of coated implants was conducted. Uncoated vs BAG-coated implants were examined for average surface roughness by a confocal laser scanning microscope. The pull-off test was conducted to measure the adhesion strength of BAG coating to the underlying disks. Coated implants were inserted under clinical settings into artificial and natural bone to measure the amount of coating loss and to evaluate the effect of insertion on coating thickness. RESULTS BAG nanoparticles had an amorphous structure, with a particle size of < 20 nm in diameter. Electrophoresis resulted in a continuous coating covering the whole implant surface. Microscopic analysis confirmed the porous nanostructure of BAG coating, which formed a homogenous surface with microcracks. BAG coating had a uniform thickness of 35.38 ± 4.67 μm. Average surface roughness was significantly lower for BAG-coated implants, with a reduction of surface irregularities (3.34 ± 0.45 μm for uncoated implants, 1.45 ± 0.23 μm for BAG-coated implants). Adhesion strength of 18.51 ± 3.37 MPa was recorded for BAG coating, and 66.23% ± 10.23% of the coating weight was found to remain on the implant surface after insertion into artificial bone. A reduction in BAG coating thickness occurred only in sites of high friction with bone after implant insertion into bovine bone. CONCLUSION Coating titanium implants with 70S30C BAG nanoparticles is attainable through electrophoretic deposition and results in a homogenous coating layer with a moderately rough surface, considerable adhesion strength, and high coating stability observed during implant insertion.
Increased Carotid Intima-media Thickness and Its Association with Carbohydrate Metabolism and Adipocytokines in Children Treated with Recombinant Growth Hormone

Objective: Reports on the association between growth hormone (GH) therapy and cardiovascular risk factors in children are limited. This study aimed to evaluate carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in children treated with recombinant human GH (rhGH) and assess the effects of rhGH therapy and changes in serum carbohydrate metabolism, lipid profile and adipocytokines on cIMT. Methods: Seventy-one isolated idiopathic GH deficiency (GHD) children and 44 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The study group was divided into two subgroups according to insulin resistance (IR) on oral glucose tolerance tests. Insulin secretion [homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) B, total insulin] and sensitivity (HOMA-IR, QUICKI, Matsuda) indices were calculated. cIMT was measured and the standard deviation scores (SDS) were calculated. Associations between cIMT-SDS and insulin secretion and sensitivity indices, serum lipid levels, adipocytokines (leptin, resistin, ghrelin), and other rhGH treatment-related factors were evaluated. Results: cIMT-SDS was increased in GHD children treated with rhGH compared to the controls [0.02 (2.27) vs. -1.01 (1.63), p=0.003]. cIMT-SDS did not differ between those children on rhGH treatment with or without IR. High cIMT-SDS was significantly associated with higher serum ghrelin levels and lower serum high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels (β=0.491, p=0.001 and β=-0.027, p=0.017), but not with BMI-SDS, blood pressure, insulin secretion and sensitivity indices, or the dose and duration of rhGH therapy. Conclusion: Our findings showed that GHD children treated with rhGH have increased cIMT. Alterations in carbohydrate metabolism were not associated with cIMT in children treated with rhGH. GH therapy per se appears to be associated with this increased cIMT but causality should be elucidated in further studies. cIMT also appears to be associated with higher ghrelin and lower HDL levels.
Using social media to recruit individuals for health-related research: Feasibility and lessons learned

Online recruitment via social media for health-related research is increasing. Metrics regarding social media recruitment may increase its use in this field. This study evaluates the feasibility of recruiting individuals with a smoking history through targeted advertising on Facebook for a randomized study focused on lung cancer screening. Individuals completed eligibility questions and were randomized to one of two groups. We analyzed advertisement reach and response patterns, advertisement cost, data integrity and sample representativeness. The advertisement was active for 34 days and resulted in 2111 unique clicks on the survey link. Four hundred thirty-three eligibility entries were collected, and 61 entries were excluded due to failure to correctly answer the data integrity check. Two hundred eighty-two participants met eligibility criteria and were randomized, 191 participants completed questionnaires and 10 entries were subsequently excluded due to a failed attention check. Recruitment utilizing targeted advertising on Facebook is an effective and efficient strategy for health-related research.