Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Associations of physical activity participation trajectories with subsequent motor function declines and incident frailty: A population-based cohort study

Background Maintaining physical function and delaying frailty are of significant importance in both quality of life and health longevity for successful aging. The objective of this study is to investigate whether different trajectories of long-term physical activity (PA) participation are associated with subsequent motor function declines and incident frailty in middle-aged and elderly adults. Materials and methods Data from 8,227 aged ≥ 50 years adults enrolled in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging were analyzed. Long-term PA participation trajectories were assessed using group-based trajectory modeling over the first 6-year period from wave 1 (2002–2003) to wave 4 (2008–2009). The longitudinal associations of PA trajectories with motor function declines and incident frailty were evaluated by a linear mixed model and Cox regression model, respectively, with follow-up of 10 years from wave 4 to wave 9 (2018–2019). Results Five distinct trajectories of long-term PA participation were identified in the aging cohort, including persistently low-active trajectory (N = 2,039), increasing active trajectory (N = 1,711), declining active trajectory (N = 216), persistently moderate-active trajectory (N = 2,254), and persistently high-active trajectory (N = 2,007). Compared with the persistently low-active group, the participants in persistently moderate- and high-active groups experienced significantly decelerated grip strength decline, decreased gait speed decline, and faster chair rises after multiple-adjustment. Similarly, participants maintaining moderate- and high-active PA were also associated with a lower risk of incident frailty (multiple-adjusted hazard ratio: 0.70, 95% confidence interval: 0.62–0.80, and 0.42, 95% CI: 0.36–0.49, respectively), compared with those with persistently low PA. Notably, the participants with the increasing active trajectory got similar health benefits as those with persistently moderate and high levels of PA. Conclusion In addition to persistent PA, increasing PA was linked to a slower decline in motor function and lower risk of incident frailty in the cohort. Our findings suggest that regular PA is never too late.
Immunotherapy response and microenvironment provide biomarkers of immunotherapy options for patients with lung adenocarcinoma

Background: Immunotherapy has been a promising approach option for lung cancer. Method: All the open-accessed data was obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. All the analysis was conducted using the R software analysis. Results: Firstly, the genes differentially expressed in lung cancer immunotherapy responders and non-responders were identified. Then, the lung adenocarcinoma immunotherapy-related genes were determined by LASSO logistic regression and SVM-RFE, respectively. A total of 18 immunotherapy response-related genes were included in our investigation. Subsequently, we constructed the logistics score model. Patients with high logistics score had a better clinical effect on immunotherapy, with 63.2% of patients responding to immunotherapy, while only 12.1% of patients in the low logistics score group responded to immunotherapy. Moreover, we found that pathways related to immunotherapy were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways such as fatty acid metabolism, bile acid metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and carcinogenic pathways such as KRAS signaling. Logistics score was positively correlated with NK cells activated, Mast cells resting, Monocytes, Macrophages M2, dendritic cells resting, dendritic cells activated and eosinophils, while was negatively related to Tregs, macrophages M0, macrophages M1, and mast cells activated. In addition, ERVH48-1 was screened for single-cell exploration. The expression of ERVH48-1 increased in patients with distant metastasis, and ERVH48-1 was associated with pathways such as pancreas beta cells, spermatogenesis, G2M checkpoints and KRAS signaling. The result of quantitative real-time PCR showed that ERVH48-1 was upregulated in lung cancer cells. Conclusion: Our study developed an effective signature to predict the immunotherapy response of lung cancer patients.
Education for sustainable development in physical education: Program development by use of intervention mapping

There is little information on the development of school-based programs to change students’ sustainability behavior. The goal of this article is to describe the systematic development and the content of a program that includes education for sustainable development in regular physical education. The Intervention Mapping approach was used as a methodological framework for program design. Participatory workshops with relevant stakeholders and experts were part of the process. Considering the physical education curriculum with its multiple objectives, four main behavioral outcomes were derived: Reduction in clothes consumption, change in diet, change in dealing with trash and increased usage of bike/public transportation. Behavior change methods were specifically selected to be suitable for physical education. The developed practical applications are in line with the physical education curriculum. It is reflected on the use of intervention mapping as a methodological framework for program design in the specific field of sustainability behavior and the equally specific setting of physical education. Benefits and limitations of the developed program are discussed.
Comprehensive characterization of RNA cargo of extracellular vesicles in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are g7aining increased attention as carriers of cancer-derived molecules for liquid biopsies. Here, we studied the dynamics of EV levels in the plasma of breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and explored the relevance of their RNA cargo for the prediction of patients’ response to the therapy. EVs were isolated from serial blood samples collected at the time of diagnosis, at the end of NAC, and 7 days, 6, and 12 months after the surgery from 32 patients with locally advanced BC, and 30 cancer-free healthy controls (HCs) and quantified by nanoparticle tracking analysis. The pre-treatment levels of EVs in BC patients were higher than in HCs, significantly increased during the NAC and surgery, and decreased to the levels found in HCs 6 months after surgery, thus showing that a substantial fraction of plasma EVs in BC patients are produced due to the disease processes and treatment. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that the changes in the EV levels were associated with the alterations in the proportions of various RNA biotypes in EVs. To search for RNA biomarkers that predict response to the NAC, patients were dichotomized as responders and non-responders based on Miller-Payne grades and differential expression analyses were carried out between responders and non-responders, and HCs. This resulted in the identification of 6 miRNAs, 4 lncRNAs, and 1 snoRNA that had significantly higher levels in EVs from non-responders than responders at the time of diagnosis and throughout the NAC, and significantly lower levels in HCs, thus representing biomarkers for the prediction of response to NAC at the time of diagnosis. In addition, we found 14 RNAs representing piRNA, miRNA, lncRNA, snoRNA, and snRNA biotypes that were induced by NAC in non-responders and 2 snoRNAs and 1 piRNA that were induced by NAC in patients with early disease progression, thus warranting further functional studies on their role in chemoresistance and metastasis.
Robustness of a quasiparticle interference test for sign-changing gaps in multiband superconductors

Recently, a test for a sign-changing gap function in a candidate multiband unconventional superconductor involving quasiparticle interference data was proposed. The test was based on the antisymmetric, Fourier transformed conductance integrated over a range of momenta $\mathbf{q}$ corresponding to interband processes, which was argued to display a particular resonant form, provided the gaps changed sign between the Fermi-surface sheets connected by $\mathbf{q}$. The calculation was performed for a single impurity, raising the question of how robust this measure is as a test of sign-changing pairing in a realistic system with many impurities. Here we reproduce the results of the previous work within a model with two distinct Fermi-surface sheets, and we show explicitly that the previous result, while exact for a single nonmagnetic scatterer and also in the limit of a dense set of random impurities, can be difficult to implement for a few dilute impurities. In this case, however, appropriate isolation of a single impurity is sufficient to recover the expected result, allowing a robust statement about the gap signs to be made.
Large animal models for the study of tendinopathy

Tendinopathy has a high incidence in athletes and the aging population. It can cause pain and movement disorders, and is one of the most difficult problems in orthopedics. Animal models of tendinopathy provide potentially efficient and effective means to develop understanding of human tendinopathy and its underlying pathological mechanisms and treatments. The selection of preclinical models is essential to ensure the successful translation of effective and innovative treatments into clinical practice. Large animals can be used in both micro- and macro-level research owing to their similarity to humans in size, structure, and function. This article reviews the application of large animal models in tendinopathy regarding injuries to four tendons: rotator cuff, patellar ligament, Achilles tendon, and flexor tendon. The advantages and disadvantages of studying tendinopathy with large animal models are summarized. It is hoped that, with further development of animal models of tendinopathy, new strategies for the prevention and treatment of tendinopathy in humans will be developed.
Quantification of the pulmonary vascular obstruction index on ventilation/perfusion lung scintigraphy: Comparison of a segmental visual scoring to the Meyer score

Introduction Quantifying the pulmonary vascular obstruction index (PVOI) is essential for the management of patients with pulmonary embolism or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). The reference method for quantifying the PVOI with planar lung ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scintigraphy is the Meyer score, which was validated using pulmonary angiography as a reference standard. However, it is complex to use in daily practice. In contrast, a rapid and fast quantification method consists in estimating the PVOI based on the number of segmental perfusion defects. However, the accuracy of this method has never been evaluated. In this study, we aimed to compare PVOI quantification on planar V/Q scintigraphy assessed by a segmental visual scoring (SVS) to the Meyer score. Materials and methods The eligible study population consisted of consecutive patients who underwent planar V/Q scan for CTEPH screening. A central review was performed by three nuclear medicine physicians. PVOI was assessed by summing the number of segmental perfusion defects or equivalent (2 sub-segments = 1 segment = 5%) and by Meyer’s method. The two interpretations were performed 6 months apart. A Spearman rank correlation coefficient was calculated to evaluate correlation between the two measurement methods. An intra-class correlation (ICC) was calculated to assess agreement. A Bland et Altman plot analysis was used to evaluate agreement between the two measurements. Results A total of 226 V/Q scans were interpreted. Spearman rank correlation coefficient between SVS and Meyer was 0.963 (95%CI 0.952–0.971) for mismatched perfusion defects and 0.963 (95%CI 0.953–0.972) for perfusion defects regardless of ventilation. Intra-class correlation (ICC) for agreement was 0.978 (95%CI 0.972–0.983) for mismatched perfusion defects and 0.968 (95%CI 0.959–0.976) for perfusion defects regardless of ventilation. In Bland & Altmann analysis, the mean difference between the SVS method and the Meyer score was 0.42 and 0.61 for the mismatched or matched evaluation, respectively. Conclusion Our study shows a high correlation, and low differences in PVOI quantification when using a segmental visual scoring (SVS) as compared to the Meyer score. The SVS has the great advantage to be easy and rapid to apply in daily practice.
Drifting marine plastics as new ecological habitats for harmful eukaryotic microbial communities in Jeju Strait, Korea

Micro/macro plastics are ubiquitous and are emerging agents causing many ecological problems in marine environments. Plastics carry various fouling organisms, including harmful microorganisms, that could potentially have ecological impacts on the marine environment and eventually human health. In this study, marine micro/macro plastics drifting at multiple locations in the Jeju Strait and around Jeju Island, Korea, were collected and analyzed. DNA metabarcoding and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the species composition of the attached eukaryotic microbial communities, with a special emphasis on harmful or toxic dinoflagellates, fungi, and parasites. A total of 1,035 eukaryotic microbial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified from plastics and surrounding seawater samples. Two types of samples shared half of the eukaryotic OTUs, and of which approximately 12% were unique to plastic samples. These included 68 Archaeplastida (54.0%), 45 Stramenopiles (35.7%), 12 Opisthokonta (9.5%), and 3 Alveolata (2.4%) OTUs. The harmful or toxic dinoflagellates observed on the plastic surface were Alexandrium, Coolia, Dinophysis, Heterocapsa, Karlodinium, Noctiluca, Ostreopsis, Prorocentrum, Scrippsiella, and Tripos. The most dominant parasite community of the plastisphere was represented by fungi (42% of all parasite OTUs), followed by Oomycota (33%), Stramenopiles (14%), and dinoflagellates (12%). Nonetheless, this study demonstrates that the eukaryotic communities are considerably shared between the plastisphere and seawater. This implies plastics serve as a new ecological habitat in the sea and could function as dispersal vectors that facilitate the spread of harmful eukaryotic species and parasites.
Prediction of chemical indicators for quality of Zanthoxylum spices from multi-regions using hyperspectral imaging combined with chemometrics

Fruits of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim (Red “Huajiao,” RHJ) and Z. schinifolium Sieb. et Zucc. (Green “Huajiao,” GHJ) are famous spices around the world. Antioxidant capability (AOC), total alkylamides content (TALC) and volatile oil content (VOC) in HJ are three important quality indicators and lack rapid and effective methods for detection. Non-destructive, time-saving, and effective technology of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) combined with chemometrics was adopted to improve the indicators prediction in this study. Results showed that the three chemical indexes exhibited significant differences between different regions and varieties (P < 0.05). Specifically, the mass percentages of TALC were 11–22% in RHJ group and 21–36% in GHJ group. The mass percentages of VOC content were 23–31% and 16–24% in RHJ and GHJ groups, respectively. More importantly, these indicators could be well predicted based on the full or effective HSI wavelengths via model adaptive space shrinkage (MASS) and iteratively variable subset optimization (IVSO) selections combined with wavelet transform (WT) method for noise reduction. The best prediction results of AOC, TALC, and VOC indicators were achieved with the highest residual predictive deviation (RPD) values of 7.43, 7.82, and 3.73 for RHJ, respectively, and 6.82, 2.66, and 4.64 for GHJ, respectively. The above results highlight the great potential of HSI assisted with chemometrics in the rapid and effective prediction of chemical indicators of Zanthoxylum spices.
BgNet: Classification of benign and malignant tumors with MRI multi-plane attention learning

Objectives To propose a deep learning-based classification framework, which can carry out patient-level benign and malignant tumors classification according to the patient’s multi-plane images and clinical information. Methods A total of 430 cases of spinal tumor, including axial and sagittal plane images by MRI, of which 297 cases for training (14072 images), and 133 cases for testing (6161 images) were included. Based on the bipartite graph and attention learning, this study proposed a multi-plane attention learning framework, BgNet, for benign and malignant tumor diagnosis. In a bipartite graph structure, the tumor area in each plane is used as the vertex of the graph, and the matching between different planes is used as the edge of the graph. The tumor areas from different plane images are spliced at the input layer. And based on the convolutional neural network ResNet and visual attention learning model Swin-Transformer, this study proposed a feature fusion model named ResNetST for combining both global and local information to extract the correlation features of multiple planes. The proposed BgNet consists of five modules including a multi-plane fusion module based on the bipartite graph, input layer fusion module, feature layer fusion module, decision layer fusion module, and output module. These modules are respectively used for multi-level fusion of patient multi-plane image data to realize the comprehensive diagnosis of benign and malignant tumors at the patient level. Results The accuracy (ACC: 79.7%) of the proposed BgNet with multi-plane was higher than that with a single plane, and higher than or equal to the four doctors’ ACC (D1: 70.7%, p=0.219; D2: 54.1%, p<0.005; D3: 79.7%, p=0.006; D4: 72.9%, p=0.178). Moreover, the diagnostic accuracy and speed of doctors can be further improved with the aid of BgNet, the ACC of D1, D2, D3, and D4 improved by 4.5%, 21.8%, 0.8%, and 3.8%, respectively. Conclusions The proposed deep learning framework BgNet can classify benign and malignant tumors effectively, and can help doctors improve their diagnostic efficiency and accuracy. The code is available at https://github.com/research-med/BgNet.
Identification of genes related to sexual differentiation and sterility in embryonic gonads of Mule ducks by transcriptome analysis

The key genes of avian gonadal development are of great significance for sex determination. Transcriptome sequencing analysis of Mule duck gonad as potential sterile model is expected to screen candidate genes related to avian gonad development. In this study, the embryonic gonadal tissues of Mule ducks, Jinding ducks, and Muscovy ducks were collected and identified. Six sample groups including female Mule duck (A), male Mule duck (B), female Jinding duck (C), male Jinding duck (D), female Muscovy duck (E), and male Muscovy duck (F) were subjected to RNA sequencing analysis. A total of 9,471 differential genes (DEGs) and 691 protein-protein interaction pairs were obtained. Totally, 12 genes (Dmrt1, Amh, Sox9, Tex14, Trim71, Slc26a8, Spam1, Tdrp, Tsga10, Boc, Cxcl14, and Hsd17b3) were identified to be specifically related to duck testicular development, and 11 genes (Hsd17b1, Cyp19a1, Cyp17a1, Hhipl2, Tdrp, Uts2r, Cdon, Axin2, Nxph1, Brinp2, and Brinp3) were specifically related to duck ovarian development. Seven genes (Stra8, Dmc1, Terb1, Tex14, Tsga10, Spam1, and Plcd4) were screened to be specifically involved in the female sterility of Mule ducks; eight genes (Gtsf1, Nalcn, Tat, Slc26a8, Kmo, Plcd4, Aldh4a1, and Hgd) were specifically involved in male sterility; and five genes (Terb1, Stra8, Tex14 Tsga10 and Spam1) were involved in both female and male sterility. This study provides an insight into the differential development between male and female gonads of ducks and the sterility mechanism of Mule ducks through function, pathway, and protein interaction analyses. Our findings provide theoretical basis for the further research on sex determination and differentiation of birds and the sterility of Mule ducks.
Validity and reliability of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for assessing dietary vitamin D and calcium intakes in Iranian childbearing age women

This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) designed to estimate dietary vitamin D and Calcium (Ca) intakes in a sample of Iranian childbearing age women. An 87-item FFQ was developed and 84 healthy childbearing age women completed it. FFQ was validated by comparing its results with the 24-h dietary recall (24-h recall) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25(OH)D) as the references methods. The FFQ was completed for the second time after 4 weeks to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using spearman’s correlation, cross-classification analysis, Bland–Altman plots, the weighted κ, intraclass classification, and the method of triads. Spearman’s correlations between vitamin D and Ca intakes by the FFQ and 24-h recalls and between vitamin D intakes and S-25(OH)D were significant (r: 0.706, r: 0.959, and r: 0.682, respectively, all, P < 0.001). Cross-classification for vitamin D and Ca between two dietary methods and for vitamin D intake of FFQ and S-25(OH)D demonstrated that most of the quartiles were categorized into the same or adjacent quartiles. The Bland Altman plots for these nutrients also demonstrated good agreement. For vitamin D, the validity coefficients (VCs) calculated by the method of the triad for three methods were in the range of 0.808–0.843. The weighted κ for agreement of vitamin D and Ca by FFQ1 and FFQ2 were 0.18 and 0.638, respectively. The findings indicated that the developed FFQ has acceptable validity for estimating vitamin D and Ca. Its reliability for Ca was stronger than vitamin D.
Motivational profiles of kindergarten teachers in minority areas of China and their association with outcomes

Academic discourses regarding teacher motivation have been on-going for decades for those who teach in ethnic minority areas. Yet research findings failed to provide a consistent conclusion regarding if kindergarten teachers’ motivation pattern would vary based on a case-to-case scenario. Therefore, further studies are needed to probe the motivation patterns among this population. The study firstly examined kindergarten teachers’ motivational profiles based on Expectancy Value Theory (EVT), and then examined how teachers’ motivation related to outcome variables (work engagement, workplace wellbeing, and retention intention). Participants included 1,199 kindergarten teachers from ethnic minority areas in China. Latent profile analysis identified three motivation profiles for teachers: low value-high cost (profile 1), moderate all (profile 2), and high value-low cost (profile 3). Teacher with different motivation profiles had significant differences in work engagement, workplace wellbeing, and retention intention. In addition, chain mediation analysis revealed that work engagement and workplace wellbeing mediated the relationship between motivation profiles and retention intention. The implications of the findings for study are discussed.