Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cost-effectiveness of Lifestyle Africa: an adaptation of the diabetes prevention programme for delivery by community health workers in urban South Africa

ABSTRACT Background Lifestyle Africa is an adapted version of the Diabetes Prevention Program designed for delivery by community health workers to socioeconomically disadvantaged populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Results from the Lifestyle Africa trial conducted in an under-resourced community in South Africa indicated that the programme had a significant effect on reducing haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Objective To estimate the cost of implementation and the cost-effectiveness (in cost per point reduction in HbA1c) of the Lifestyle Africa programme to inform decision-makers of the resources required and the value of this intervention. Methods Interviews were held with project administrators to identify the activities and resources required to implement the intervention. A direct-measure micro-costing approach was used to determine the number of units and unit cost for each resource. The incremental cost per one point improvement in HbA1c was calculated. Results The intervention equated to 71 United States dollars (USD) in implementation costs per participant and a 0.26 improvement in HbA1c per participant. Conclusions Lifestyle Africa reduced HbA1c for relatively little cost and holds promise for addressing chronic disease in LMIC. Decision-makers should consider the comparative clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this intervention when making resource allocation decisions. Trial Registration Trial registration is at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03342274).
Optimizing gold nanostars as a colloid-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate

The one-pot seedless protocol provides a facile approach in the synthesis of gold nanostars (AuNS) that involves only three reagents, gold (III) chloride (HAuCl4), silver nitrate (AgNO3) and ascorbic acid (C6H8O6). While studies correlating the synthesis parameters of the seed-mediated protocol to surface-enhance Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement is well reported, the same understanding of the one-pot seedless protocol is limited. Here, we aim to elucidate how the synthesis parameters of AuNS from the one-pot seedless protocol, the AuNS concentration, surface passivation and aggregation level affect the colloidal SERS enhancement. Using crystal violet (CV) as a Raman probe molecule, we found that the SERS enhancement increases with Au3+/C6H8O6 molar ratio up to 0.60 and Au3+/Ag+ molar ratio up to 18. Although the surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) maintained colloidal stability, it reduced the SERS enhancement. Interestingly, the SERS enhancement did not increase monotonically with AuNS concentration, but decreased when AuNS concentration was beyond 15 pM. The SERS enhancement also increased with the increasing level of salt-induced aggregation of AuNS, but only within a few minutes. While the concept of SERS with colloidal nanostructures is not new, we have shown for the first time, a detailed systematic study of various parameters that affect the SERS enhancement of AuNS synthesized using a one-pot seedless protocol. This study enables us to optimize the SERS enhancement of AuNS at the synthesis level to make them effective colloid-based SERS substrates for potential use in intracellular biosensing.
A REACTIONARY OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE ALGORITHM FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

This paper describes the development of guidance algorithms in order to avoid a prescribed obstacle using a collision cone. The Collision Cone Method is a reactive and local method which uses a geometric approach to obstacle avoidance. Here, an avoidance zone around the obstacle is formed for the vehicle to pass the obstacle around this zone. The algorithm is first developed for a 2D (planar) and 3D environment. The algorithm is also formed for the optimized collision avoidance. The avoidance zone radius is optimized using constraint optimization; Lagrange multipliers with Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Example simulation runs are shown for each algorithm.
A regime diagram for ocean geostrophic turbulence

A two‐dimensional regime diagram for geostrophic turbulence in the ocean is constructed by plotting observation‐based estimates of the non‐dimensional eddy length‐scale against a nonlinearity parameter equal to the ratio of the root‐mean‐square eddy velocity and baroclinic Rossby phase speed. Two estimates of the eddy length‐scale are compared: the equivalent eddy radius inferred from the area enclosed by contours of sea‐surface height, and the ‘unsuppressed’ mixing length, based on an estimate of the eddy diffusivity with mean flow effects removed. For weak nonlinearity, as found in the Tropics, the mixing length mostly corresponds to the stability threshold for baroclinic instability whereas the eddy radius corresponds to the Rhines scale; it is suggested that this mismatch is indicative of the inverse energy cascade that occurs at low latitudes in the ocean and the zonal elongation of eddies. At larger values of nonlinearity, as found at mid‐ and high latitudes, the eddy length‐scales are much shorter than the stability threshold, within a factor of 2.5 of the Rossby deformation radius.
Differential effect of panic on the DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene exon 1F in chronic subjective tinnitus with distress

Objective Tinnitus can be regarded as a chronic stressor, leading to dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. There is important comorbidity with anxiety, particularly panic, potentially associated with differences in HPA axis functioning and methylation patterns of HPA axis-related genes. This study examines DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) exon 1F in adults with chronic subjective tinnitus and the possible differential effect of panic. Methods In a well characterized tinnitus sample (n = 22, half of which had co-occurring panic attacks), and unaffected controls (n = 31) methylation patterns of the CpG sites were determined using pyrosequencing and compared between groups through linear mixed models. Gene expression was determined using quantitative PCR on mRNA. Results Comparing the combined tinnitus groups to the control group, no DNA methylation differences were observed; however, the tinnitus group with panic attacks showed consistently higher mean methylation values across all CpGs compared to the tinnitus-only and the control group (P = 0.03 following Tukey correction), which became even more pronounced when accounting for childhood trauma (P = 0.012). Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between methylation of the CpG7 site and the Beck Anxiety Inventory total score (P = 0.001) in the total population. NR3C1-1F expression was not significantly different between the three groups. Conclusion Panic is associated with higher DNA methylation of the NR3C1 exon 1F in adults with chronic subjective tinnitus, consistent with the reduced negative glucocorticoid feedback and HPA axis hyperfunction observed in individuals with panic disorder.
Content Representation of Tactile Mental Imagery in Primary Somatosensory Cortex

Abstract The imagination of tactile stimulation has been shown to activate primary somatosensory cortex (S1) with a somatotopic specificity akin to that seen during the perception of tactile stimuli. Using fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis, we investigate whether this recruitment of sensory regions also reflects content-specific activation (i.e., whether the activation in S1 is specific to the mental content participants imagined). To this end, healthy volunteers (n = 21) either perceived or imagined three types of vibrotactile stimuli (mental content) while fMRI data were acquired. Independent of the content, during tactile mental imagery we found activation of frontoparietal regions, supplemented with activation in the contralateral BA2 subregion of S1, replicating previous reports. While the imagery of the three different stimuli did not reveal univariate activation differences, using multivariate pattern classification, we were able to decode the imagined stimulus type from BA2. Moreover, cross-classification revealed that tactile imagery elicits activation patterns similar to those evoked by the perception of the respective stimuli. These findings promote the idea that mental tactile imagery involves the recruitment of content-specific activation patterns in sensory cortices, namely in S1.
Transient downregulation of NR4A1 leads to impaired osteoblast differentiation through the TGF‐ß pathway, and Elesclomol (STA‐4783) rescues this phenotype

Bone formation is regulated by numerous factors, such as transcription factors, cytokines, and extracellular matrix molecules. Human hormone nuclear receptors (hHNR) are a family of ligand‐regulated transcription factors that are activated by steroid hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, and various lipid‐soluble signals, including retinoic acid, oxysterols, and thyroid hormone. We found that an hHNR called NR4A1 was the most highly expressed after human MSC differentiation into osteoblasts by whole‐genome microarray. NR4A1 knockout decreased the osteoblastic differentiation of hMSCs in terms of ALPL expression and key marker gene expression. Whole‐genome microarray analysis further confirmed the decrease in key pathways when we knocked down NR4A1. Further studies with small molecule activators identified a novel molecule called Elesclomol (STA‐4783), which could activate and enhance osteoblast differentiation. Elesclomol activation of hMSCs also induced the gene expression of NR4A1 and rescued the phenotype of NR4A1 KD. In addition, Elesclomol activated the TGF‐ß pathway by regulating key marker genes. In conclusion, we first identified the role of NR4A1 in osteoblast differentiation and that Elesclomol is a positive regulator of NR4A1 through activation of the TGF‐ß signalling pathway.
Genetic analysis of 23 Y-STR loci in the Va population from Yunnan Province, Southwest China

Abstract Background Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) polymorphisms are widely used in forensic DNA analysis. However, there is a lack of information about the Chinese Va population in the Y-STR Haplotype Reference Database. Aim To establish the Y-chromosome Haplotype Reference Database of the Yunnan Va population and investigate the population genetic relationships with other geographically adjacent groups. Subjects and methods In total, 23 Y-STR loci were genotyped with the PowerPlex Y23 Kit in 368 unrelated healthy Va males from Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Genetic polymorphism was analysed using the YHRD’s AMOVA tools and the MEGA 6.0 software. Results The gene diversity (GD) of the 23 Y-STR loci ranged from 0.3092 (DYS19) to 0.7868 (DYS385a/b). According to haplotype analysis, 204 different haplotypes were obtained, out of which 144 were unique. The haplotype diversity (HD) and discrimination capacity (DC) were 0.9852 and 0.5543, respectively. By comparing the Yunnan Va group with the other 22 referential groups, the results revealed that Yunnan Va was isolated from other groups. Conclusions The 23 Y-STR loci were highly polymorphic and informative in the Yunnan Va population, and the results enriched the basic genetic information for forensic investigation and population genetic studies.
A commentary on ‘Laparoscopic versus open repeat hepatectomy for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of propensity score-matched cohort studies’

For patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (RHCC) that can be resected, repeat hepatectomy provides a better long-term prognosis than nonsurgical treatments [1] . Laparoscopic hepatectomy, with its advantages of less blood loss, fewer post-operative complications, and shorter hospital stays compared to the open approach, is considered a safe and feasible method for the treatment of HCC [2] . However, laparoscopic repeat hepatectomy (LRH) for RHCC presents challenges related to intra-peritoneal adhesions, changes in residual liver volume, and local anatomical alterations resulting from the initial procedure. We read with great interest the recent meta-analysis by Xiang et al. [3] , reporting the surgical and oncological outcomes of LRH and open repeat hepatectomy (ORH) for RHCC. The authors included ﬁ ve studies involving a total of 818 patients and concluded that LRH might be a preferable treatment option for RHCC. Most surgical outcomes with LRH, including blood loss, operative time, major complication rate, and length of hospital stay, were superior to those of ORH, with comparable oncological results. Although this study was well-designed and high-quality, several issues warrant further discussion. First, apart from the ﬁ ve articles selected by the authors, two additional studies [4,5] were found to meet the inclusion criteria and should be considered for pooled analysis in this systematic review. Second, there were
Review of analytical methods for screening and quantification of fentanyl analogs and novel synthetic opioids in biological specimens

Fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and other novel synthetic opioids (NSO), including nitazene analogs, prevail in forensic toxicology casework. Analytical methods for identifying these drugs in biological specimens need to be robust, sensitive, and specific. Isomers, new analogs, and slight differences in structural modifications necessitate the use of high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), especially as a non‐targeted screening method designed to detect newly emerging drugs. Traditional forensic toxicology workflows, such as immunoassay and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS), are generally not sensitive enough for detection of NSOs due to observed low (sub‐μg/L) concentrations. For this review, the authors tabulated, reviewed, and summarized analytical methods from 2010–2022 for screening and quantification of fentanyl analogs and other NSOs in biological specimens using a variety of different instruments and sample preparation approaches. Limits of detection or quantification for 105 methods were included and compared to published standards and guidelines for suggested scope and sensitivity in forensic toxicology casework. Methods were summarized by instrument for screening and quantitative methods for fentanyl analogs and for nitazenes and other NSO. Toxicological testing for fentanyl analogs and NSOs is increasingly and most commonly being conducted using a variety of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS)‐based techniques. Most of the recent analytical methods reviewed exhibited limits of detection well below 1 μg/L to detect low concentrations of increasingly potent drugs. In addition, it was observed that most newly developed methods are now using smaller sample volumes which is achievable due to the sensitivity increase gained by new technology and new instrumentation.
PSO Algorithm with Repairing Strategy for Community Detection

Community detection is of great importance in many disciplines where systems are often represented as graphs. In this paper an efficient method based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is proposed for community detection which can determine automatically the number of the community in a network. The popular measure criterion modularity Q is used as the fitness function. PSO is adopted to maximize network modularity Q for community. A special encoding scheme based on the partition solution of a network is applied to represent the community partition. A strategy is given to repair the isolated node in a partition which can make the partition result reasonable and enhance the convergence rate of PSO. The experiment in three real-world networks demonstrates that the algorithm obtains high modularity and achieves good community results.
Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy before resection to avoid delay for early‐stage lung cancer or oligometastases during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Pathologic outcomes from the SABR‐BRIDGE protocol

During coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19)–related operating room closures, some multidisciplinary thoracic oncology teams adopted a paradigm of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) as a bridge to surgery, an approach called SABR‐BRIDGE. This study presents the preliminary surgical and pathological results.
Predictors of pacemaker implantation within three months after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation

It is inevitable for patients to have a temporary or permanent pacemaker implanted during or after radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) in some cases. The aim of our study was to evaluate the incidence of pacemaker implantation (PMI) during or within 3 months of RFCA for AF and to identify the risk factors that were associated with PMI.
Integrated multi-omics analysis identifies epigenetic alteration related to neurodegeneration development in post-traumatic stress disorder patients

Introduction Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is associated with an elevated risk of neurodegenerative disorders, but the molecular mechanism was not wholly identified. Aberrant methylation status and miRNA expression pattern have been identified to be associated with PTSD, but their complex regulatory networks remain largely unexplored. Methods The purpose of this study was to identify the key genes/pathways related to neurodegenerative disorder development in PTSD by evaluating epigenetic regulatory signature (DNA methylation and miRNA) using an integrative bioinformatic analysis. We integrated DNA expression array data with miRNA and DNA methylation array data - obtained from the GEO database- to evaluate the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms. Results Our results indicated that target genes of dysregulated miRNAs were significantly related to several neurodegenerative diseases. Several dysregulated genes in the neurodegeneration pathways interacted with some members of the miR-17 and miR-15/107 families. Our analysis indicated that APP/CaN/NFATs signaling pathway was dysregulated in the peripheral blood samples of PTSD. Besides, the DNMT3a and KMT2D genes, as the encoding DNA and histone methyltransferase enzymes, were upregulated, and DNA methylation and miRNA regulators were proposed as critical molecular mechanisms. Our study found dysregulation of circadian rhythm as the CLOCK gene was upregulated and hypomethylated at TSS1500 CpGs S_shores and was also a target of several dysregulated miRNAs. Conclusion In conclusion, we found evidence of a negative feedback loop between stress oxidative, circadian rhythm dysregulation, miR-17 and miR-15/107 families, some essential genes involved in neuronal and brain cell health, and KMT2D/DNMT3a in the peripheral blood samples of PTSD.
Impaired Speaking-Induced Suppression in Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease involving cognitive impairment and abnormalities in speech and language. Here, we examine how AD affects the fidelity of auditory feedback predictions during speaking. We focus on the phenomenon of speaking-induced suppression (SIS), the auditory cortical responses’ suppression during auditory feedback processing. SIS is determined by subtracting the magnitude of auditory cortical responses during speaking from listening to playback of the same speech. Our state feedback control (SFC) model of speech motor control explains SIS as arising from the onset of auditory feedback matching a prediction of that feedback onset during speaking, a prediction that is absent during passive listening to playback of the auditory feedback. Our model hypothesizes that the auditory cortical response to auditory feedback reflects the mismatch with the prediction: small during speaking, large during listening, with the difference being SIS. Normally, during speaking, auditory feedback matches its predictions, then SIS will be large. Any reductions in SIS will indicate inaccuracy in auditory feedback prediction not matching the actual feedback. We investigated SIS in AD patients [n = 20; mean (SD) age, 60.77 (10.04); female (%), 55.00] and healthy controls [n = 12; mean (SD) age, 63.68 (6.07); female (%), 83.33] through magnetoencephalography (MEG)-based functional imaging. We found a significant reduction in SIS at ∼100 ms in AD patients compared with healthy controls (linear mixed effects model, F(1,57.5) = 6.849, p = 0.011). The results suggest that AD patients generate inaccurate auditory feedback predictions, contributing to abnormalities in AD speech.
Inducing Self-Motion Sensations With Haptic Feedback: State-of-The-Art and Perspectives on “Haptic Motion”

While virtual reality applications flourish, there is a growing need for technological solutions to induce compelling self-motion, as an alternative to cumbersome motion platforms. Haptic devices target the sense of touch, yet more and more researchers managed to address the sense of motion by means of specific and localized haptic stimulations. This innovative approach constitutes a specific paradigm that can be called “haptic motion”. This article aims to introduce, formalize, survey and discuss this relatively new research field. First, we summarize some core concepts of self-motion perception, and propose a definition of the haptic motion approach based on three criteria. Then, we present a summary of existing related literature, from which we formulate and discuss three research problems that we estimate key for the development of the field: the rationale to design a proper haptic stimulus, the methods to evaluate and characterize self-motion sensations, and the usage of multimodal motion cues.
Nowhere to Disguise: Spot Camouflaged Objects via Saliency Attribute Transfer

Both salient object detection (SOD) and camouflaged object detection (COD) are typical object segmentation tasks. They are intuitively contradictory, but are intrinsically related. In this paper, we explore the relationship between SOD and COD, and then borrow successful SOD models to detect camouflaged objects to save the design cost of COD models. The core insight is that both SOD and COD leverage two aspects of information: object semantic representations for distinguishing object and background, and context attributes that decide object category. Specifically, we start by decoupling context attributes and object semantic representations from both SOD and COD datasets through designing a novel decoupling framework with triple measure constraints. Then, we transfer saliency context attributes to the camouflaged images through introducing an attribute transfer network. The generated weakly camouflaged images can bridge the context attribute gap between SOD and COD, thereby improving the SOD models’ performances on COD datasets. Comprehensive experiments on three widely-used COD datasets verify the ability of the proposed method. Code and model are available at: https://github.com/wdzhao123/SAT.
The Mar, Sox, and Rob Systems

Environments inhabited by Enterobacteriaceae are diverse and often stressful. This is particularly true for Escherichia coli and Salmonella during host association in the gastrointestinal systems of animals. ABSTRACT Environments inhabited by Enterobacteriaceae are diverse and often stressful. This is particularly true for Escherichia coli and Salmonella during host association in the gastrointestinal systems of animals. There, E. coli and Salmonella must survive exposure to various antimicrobial compounds produced or ingested by their host. A myriad of changes to cellular physiology and metabolism are required to achieve this feat. A central regulatory network responsible for sensing and responding to intracellular chemical stressors like antibiotics are the Mar, Sox, and Rob systems found throughout the Enterobacteriaceae. Each of these distinct regulatory networks controls expression of an overlapping set of downstream genes whose collective effects result in increased resistance to a wide array of antimicrobial compounds. This collection of genes is known as the mar-sox-rob regulon. This review will provide an overview of the mar-sox-rob regulon and molecular architecture of the Mar, Sox, and Rob systems.