Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of neoadjuvant immunotherapy and traditional neoadjuvant therapy for resectable esophageal cancer: a systematic review and single-arm and network meta-analysis

Objective This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the role of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy with or without radiotherapy [NIC(R)T] compared to traditional neoadjuvant therapies, without immunotherapy [NC(R)T]. Summary background data NCRT followed by surgical resection is recommended for patients with early-stage esophageal cancer. However, it is uncertain whether adding immunotherapy to preoperative neoadjuvant therapy would improve patient outcomes when radical surgery is performed following neoadjuvant therapy. Methods We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Central databases, as well as international conference abstracts. Outcomes included R0, pathological complete response (pCR), major pathological response (mPR), overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates. Results We included data from 5,034 patients from 86 studies published between 2019 and 2022. We found no significant differences between NICRT and NCRT in pCR or mPR rates. Both were better than NICT, with NCT showing the lowest response rate. Neoadjuvant immunotherapy has a significant advantage over traditional neoadjuvant therapy in terms of 1-year OS and DFS, with NICT having better outcomes than any of the other three treatments. There were no significant differences among the four neoadjuvant treatments in terms of R0 rates. Conclusions Among the four neoadjuvant treatment modalities, NICRT and NCRT had the highest pCR and mPR rates. There were no significant differences in the R0 rates among the four treatments. Adding immunotherapy to neoadjuvant therapy improved 1-year OS and DFS, with NICT having the highest rates compared to the other three modalities. Systematic Review Registration https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2022-12-0060/, identifier INPLASY2022120060.
Identification of mutations on the EMD and EYA4 genes associated with Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and deafness: a case report

Introduction Hearing loss is the most common sensory disability, and it is estimated that 50% of cases are caused by genetic factors. One of the genes associated with deafness is the eyes absent homolog 4 (EYA4) gene, a transcription factor related to the development and function of the inner ear. Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is a rare inherited disease characterized by atrophy and weakness of the humeroperoneal muscles, multi-joint contractures, and cardiac manifestations. It is inherited in an autosomal-dominant, X-linked, or less frequently autosomal recessive manner; one of the genes associated with EDMD is the emerin (EMD) gene. Case description A total of two Ecuadorian siblings aged 57 (Subject A) and 55 (Subject B) were diagnosed with deafness and an unspecified type of muscular dystrophy based on family history and clinical findings. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) using the TruSight Cardio and Inherited Disease kits at the Centro de Investigación Genética y Genómica CIGG, Universidad UTE, was performed. The genetic analyses showed two mutations: a stop mutation in exon 11/20 (NM_004100.4:c.940G>T) of the EYA4 gene and a missense mutation in exon 6 (NM_000117.2:c.548C>G) of the EMD gene. Discussion and conclusion The in silico predictions described the EYA4 variant as likely pathogenic and the EMD variant as a variant of uncertain significance (VUS). Moreover, an ancestry analysis was performed using 46 Ancestry Informative Insertion/Deletion Markers (AIM-InDels), and the ancestral composition of subject A was 46% African, 26.1% European, and 27.9% American Indian ancestry, whereas the ancestral composition of subject B was 41.3% African, 38.2% European, and 20.5% American Indian ancestry. The present case report describes two Ecuadorian siblings with a mainly African ancestral component, muscular dystrophy, and deafness phenotypes. Moreover, using next-generation sequencing (NGS), a mutation in the EMD and a novel mutation in EYA4 genes possibly associated with the subjects' phenotype were identified and discussed.
A model of teacher enthusiasm, teacher self-efficacy, grit, and teacher well-being among English as a foreign language teachers

Introduction This study aimed to investigate the relationship among teacher enthusiasm and teacher self-efficacy, grit, and teacher psychological well-being among Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers. Methods A sample of 553 Chinese EFL teachers completed self-report measures of teacher enthusiasm, teacher self-efficacy, grit, and teacher psychological well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the validity of the scales, and structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model. Results The results indicated that teacher self-efficacy and grit were positively associated with teacher psychological well-being, providing support for the importance of these teacher characteristics in promoting teacher well-being. Furthermore, teacher enthusiasm was found to have an indirect effect on teacher psychological well-being through the mediation of teacher grit, providing evidence for the importance of teacher motivation and engagement in promoting teacher well-being. The partial mediation model was found to be the best fitting model. Discussion These findings have important implications for the development of interventions and programs aimed at promoting teacher well-being in the context of EFL teaching.
Model-based climate change adaptational potential and productivity of some cowpea genotypes and its sensitivity to bias adjustment

Grain legumes are essential for the protein supply to an ever-growing population in Africa. However, little is known about the adaptational potential and thus resilience to abiotic stress of major grain legumes under future climatic change for the evaluation of climate change impact and adaptation. This study assessed the adaptation potential of some cowpea genotypes to future climate change in the moist (Kumasi—Ghana) and dry savanna (Ouagadougou—Burkina Faso) biomes of West Africa based on a validated process-based SIMPLACE model using the output of four global circulation models (GCMs) for two shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs, i.e., ssp126 and 585). In addition, it assesses the sensitivity of the cowpea model to bias corrections of the GCM outputs. In comparison of future socioeconomic pathways with historic time series, the use of bias-corrected climate model output slightly increased the rate of the phenological development of the genotypes in the future period except in Ouagadougou, in the ssp585 scenario. Without bias correction, this increase of the rate of phenological development in the future scenarios was less pronounced. With bias correction, the total aboveground biomass and yield of all genotypes were reduced in both SSPs. The change in the average water stress and phosphorous stress were genotype specific. Despite a general yield decline in both SSPs, the genotypes Asontem and GH6060 exhibited the adaptational potential to future climate change in the moist and dry savanna biomes. This is by a higher accumulation of total aboveground biomass, higher yield, and tolerance to high temperature as well as high water use and photosynthetic efficiency due to higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, despite faster phenological development.
Simplicillium sinense sp. nov., a novel potential pathogen of tinea faciei

Simplicillium species are widely distributed with a broad spectrum of hosts and substrates. Generally, these species are entomopathogenic or mycoparasitic. Notably, some isolates of Simplicillium lanosoniveum and Simplicillium obclavatum were obtained from human tissues. In this study, two fungi were isolated from the annular itchy patch of infected skin of a 46-year-old man with diabetes mellitus. Based on a combination of morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis, a novel species, Simplicillium sinense, was introduced herein. It morphologically differs from the remaining Simplicillium in the size of phialides and conidia. Additionally, it grows slowly on YPD at 37°C. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing presented that this fungus is resistant to most azole antifungals. Therefore, the diagnosis of tinea faciei was made, and after 2 weeks of being treated with oral terbinafine (250 mg, once a day) and topical terbinafine cream for 1 month, the rash was mainly resolved and no recurrence happened after 6 months of follow-up. Herein, Simplicillium sinense was introduced as a new fungal taxon. Meanwhile, a case of superficial infection caused by S. sinense was reported. So far, it is the third Simplicillium species obtained from human tissue. Meanwhile, terbinafine is recommended as the first-line antifungal treatment against Simplicillium infection.
Experimental study of supercontinuum generation in an amplifier based on an Yb3+ doped nonlinear photonic crystal fiber

The use of supercontinuum light sources in different optical measurement methods, like microscopy or optical coherence tomography, has increased significantly compared to classical wideband light sources. The development of various optical measurement techniques benefits from the high brightness and bandwidth, as well as the spatial coherence of these sources. For some applications, only a portion of the broad spectral range can be used. Therefore, an increase of the spectral power density in limited spectral regions would provide a clear advantage over spectral filtering. This study describes a method to increase the spectral power density of supercontinuum sources by amplifying the excitation wavelength inside a nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (PCF). An ytterbium doped photonic crystal fiber was manufactured by a sol-gel process and used in a fiber amplifier setup as the nonlinear fiber medium. In order to characterize the fiber’s optimum operational characteristics, group-velocity dispersion (GVD) measurements were performed on the fiber during the amplification process. For this purpose, a notch-pass mirror was used to launch the radiation of a stabilized laser diode at 976 nm into the fiber sample for pumping. The performance of the fiber was compared with a conventional PCF. Finally, the system as a whole was characterized in reference to common solid state-laser-based photonic supercontinuum light sources. An improvement of the power density up to 7.2 times was observed between 1100 nm to 1380 nm wavelengths.
Multifidelity Uncertainty Quantification Using Non-Intrusive Polynomial Chaos and Stochastic Collocation

This paper explores the extension of multifidelity modeling concepts to the field of uncertainty quantification. Motivated by local correction functions that enable the provable convergence of a multifidelity optimization approach to an optimal high-fidelity point solution, we extend these ideas to global discrepancy modeling within a stochastic domain and seek convergence of a multifidelity uncertainty quantification process to globally integrated high-fidelity statistics. For constructing stochastic models of both the low fidelity model and the model discrepancy, we employ stochastic expansion methods (nonintrusive polynomial chaos and stochastic collocation) computed from sparse grids, where we seek to employ a coarsely resolved grid for the discrepancy in combination with a more finely resolved grid for the low fidelity model. The resolutions of these grids may be statically defined or determined through uniform and adaptive refinement processes. Adaptive refinement is particularly attractive, as it has the ability to preferentially target stochastic regions where the model discrepancy becomes more complex; i.e., where the predictive capabilities of the low-fidelity model start to break down and greater reliance on the high fidelity model (via the discrepancy) is necessary. These adaptive refinement processes can either be performed separately for the different sparse grids or within a unified multifidelity algorithm. In particular, we propose an adaptive greedy multifidelity approach in which we extend the generalized sparse grid concept to consider candidate index set refinements drawn from multiple sparse grids. We demonstrate that the multifidelity UQ process converges more rapidly than a single-fidelity UQ in cases where the variance of the discrepancy is reduced relative to the variance of the high fidelity model (resulting in reductions in initial stochastic error) and/or where the spectrum of the expansion coefficients of the model discrepancy decays more rapidly than that of the high-fidelity model (resulting in accelerated convergence rates).
Age modifies the association between pet ownership and cardiovascular disease

Introduction Studies examining associations between pet ownership and cardiovascular disease have yielded inconsistent results. These discrepancies may be partially explained by variations in age and sex across study populations. Our study included 6,632 American Gut Project participants who are US residents ≥40 years. Methods We first estimated the association of pet ownership with cardiovascular disease risk using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression, and further investigated effect modifications of age and sex. Results Cat but not dog ownership was significantly associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk (OR: 0.56 [0.42, 0.73] and OR: 1.17 [0.88, 1.39], respectively). Cat and dog ownership significantly interacted with age but not sex, indicating that cardiovascular risk varies by the age-by-pet ownership combination. Compared to the reference group (40–64 years, no cat or dog), participants 40–64 years with only a cat had the lowest cardiovascular disease risk (OR: 0.40 [0.26, 0.61]). Those ≥65 years with no pets had the highest risk (OR: 3.85 [2.85, 5.24]). Discussion This study supports the importance of pets in human cardiovascular health, suggesting optimal pet choice is age-dependent. Having both a cat and dog can be advantageous to people ≥65 years, while having only a cat may benefit those 40–64 years. Further studies are needed to assess causality.
Exploring the value of genomic predictions to simultaneously improve production potential and resilience of farmed animals

Sustainable livestock production requires that animals have a high production potential but are also highly resilient to environmental challenges. The first step to simultaneously improve these traits through genetic selection is to accurately predict their genetic merit. In this paper, we used simulations of sheep populations to assess the effect of genomic data, different genetic evaluation models and phenotyping strategies on prediction accuracies and bias for production potential and resilience. In addition, we also assessed the effect of different selection strategies on the improvement of these traits. Results show that estimation of both traits greatly benefits from taking repeated measurements and from using genomic information. However, the prediction accuracy for production potential is compromised, and resilience estimates tends to be upwards biased, when families are clustered in groups even when genomic information is used. The prediction accuracy was also found to be lower for both traits, resilience and production potential, when the environment challenge levels are unknown. Nevertheless, we observe that genetic gain in both traits can be achieved even in the case of unknown environmental challenge, when families are distributed across a large range of environments. Simultaneous genetic improvement in both traits however greatly benefits from the use of genomic evaluation, reaction norm models and phenotyping in a wide range of environments. Using models without the reaction norm in scenarios where there is a trade-off between resilience and production potential, and phenotypes are collected from a narrow range of environments may result in a loss for one trait. The study demonstrates that genomic selection coupled with reaction-norm models offers great opportunities to simultaneously improve productivity and resilience of farmed animals even in the case of a trade-off.
Hachimijiogan, a traditional herbal medicine, modulates adipose cell function and ameliorates diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice

Hachimijiogan (HJG) has originally been used to ameliorate a variety of symptoms associated with low ambient temperatures. However, its pharmacological action in metabolic organs remains unclear. We hypothesized that HJG may modulate metabolic function and have a potential therapeutic application to metabolic diseases. To test this hypothesis, we investigated metabolic action of HJG in mice. Male C57BL/6J mice chronically administered with HJG showed a reduction in adipocyte size with increased transcription of beige adipocyte-related genes in subcutaneous white adipose tissue. HJG-mixed high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice showed alleviation of HFD-induced weight gain, adipocyte hypertrophy, liver steatosis with a significant reduction in circulating leptin and Fibroblast growth factor 21 despite no changes in food intake or oxygen consumption. Feeding an HJG-mixed HFD following 4-weeks of HFD feeding, while a limited effect on body weight, improved insulin sensitivity with a reversal of decreased circulating adiponectin. In addition, HJG improved insulin sensitivity in the leptin-deficient mice without significant effects on body weight. Treatment with n-butanol soluble extracts of HJG potentiated transcription of Uncoupling protein 1 mediated by β3-adrenergic agonism in 3T3L1 adipocytes. These findings provide evidence that HJG modulates adipocyte function and may exert preventive or therapeutic effects against obesity and insulin resistance.
Development of the reading literacy questionnaire for EFL learners at primary schools

Previous studies have indicated that there are a variety of factors influencing reading literacy assessment, including linguistic, cognitive, and affective factors, but little has been done on how to integrate these influential factors reasonably in a reading literacy instrument. As such, the purpose of this study is to develop and validate an English Reading Literacy Questionnaire (ERLQ) for English as foreign language (EFL) learners at the elementary level. The ERLQ was designed and revised through three rounds of validation with a sample of 784 pupils (Grades 3–6) in six primary schools from six provinces in China. Validity and reliability tests of the questionnaire were conducted with item analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), reliability test, and the analysis of criterion validity in SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 23.0. Results indicated that the revised ERLQ had high internal consistency, ranging from 0.729 to 0.823. The criterion validity of the ERLQ was supported by significant correlations to the Chinese Students’ English Rating Scale verified by the authoritative department, with a correlation coefficient of 0.871. The study shows that the revised questionnaire, with 3 dimensions of 14 items, has high reliability and validity, which can be used as an assessment instrument for the intended audience. It also suggests that modifications may be made for further use in other regions and countries, depending on the background information of the learners.
Physiological feedback technology for real-time emotion regulation: a systematic review

Background Previous studies suggest that physiological feedback can be an effective method for emotion regulation (ER). However, studies on the specific effects of physiological feedback have shown conflicting results due to inconsistencies in study designs. Therefore, we present this systematic review to further validate the effectiveness of physiological feedback for ER, clarify its specific effects, as well as summarize the factors that influence its effectiveness. Method This systematic review following PRISMA guidelines covers all studies using physiological feedback in emotions. A literature search was conducted in Web of Science, PubMed, PsychINFO, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WANFANG DATA. And a standardized quality assessment was performed. Results We identified 27 relevant articles (25 studies), and the majority of these studies showed a significant regulatory effect of physiological feedback on different emotions. The feedback's content, explanation, authenticity, real-time capability, and modality were the key factors that influenced its effects, and this technology will achieve its optimal ER effect when these factors are considered comprehensively. Conclusions These findings further confirmed the effectiveness of physiological feedback as an ER method, as well as providing key factors that should be addressed in its application. Meanwhile, due to the limitations of these studies, more well-designed studies are still needed.
A review on multiple sclerosis prognostic findings from imaging, inflammation, and mental health studies

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain is commonly used to detect where chronic and active lesions are in multiple sclerosis (MS). MRI is also extensively used as a tool to calculate and extrapolate brain health by way of volumetric analysis or advanced imaging techniques. In MS patients, psychiatric symptoms are common comorbidities, with depression being the main one. Even though these symptoms are a major determinant of quality of life in MS, they are often overlooked and undertreated. There has been evidence of bidirectional interactions between the course of MS and comorbid psychiatric symptoms. In order to mitigate disability progression in MS, treating psychiatric comorbidities should be investigated and optimized. New research for the prediction of disease states or phenotypes of disability have advanced, primarily due to new technologies and a better understanding of the aging brain.
Peripheral nerve repair is associated with augmented cross-tissue inflammation following vascularized composite allotransplantation

Introduction Vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA), with nerve repair/coaptation (NR) and tacrolimus (TAC) immunosuppressive therapy, is used to repair devastating traumatic injuries but is often complicated by inflammation spanning multiple tissues. We identified the parallel upregulation of transcriptional pathways involving chemokine signaling, T-cell receptor signaling, Th17, Th1, and Th2 pathways in skin and nerve tissue in complete VCA rejection compared to baseline in 7 human hand transplants and defined increasing complexity of protein-level dynamic networks involving chemokine, Th1, and Th17 pathways as a function of rejection severity in 5 of these patients. We next hypothesized that neural mechanisms may regulate the complex spatiotemporal evolution of rejection-associated inflammation post-VCA. Methods For mechanistic and ethical reasons, protein-level inflammatory mediators in tissues from Lewis rats (8 per group) receiving either syngeneic (Lewis) or allogeneic (Brown-Norway) orthotopic hind limb transplants in combination with TAC, with and without sciatic NR, were compared to human hand transplant samples using computational methods. Results In cross-correlation analyses of these mediators, VCA tissues from human hand transplants (which included NR) were most similar to those from rats undergoing VCA + NR. Based on dynamic hypergraph analyses, NR following either syngeneic or allogeneic transplantation in rats was associated with greater trans-compartmental localization of early inflammatory mediators vs. no-NR, and impaired downregulation of mediators including IL-17A at later times. Discussion Thus, NR, while considered necessary for restoring graft function, may also result in dysregulated and mis-compartmentalized inflammation post-VCA and therefore necessitate mitigation strategies. Our novel computational pipeline may also yield translational, spatiotemporal insights in other contexts.