Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Variation of Physicochemical Properties and Digestibility of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) Landraces of Taiwan

Foxtail millet is considered a ‘smart food’ because of nutrient richness and resilience to environments. A diversity panel of 92 foxtail millet landraces preserved by Taiwan indigenous peoples containing amylose content (AC) in the range of 0.7% to 16.9% exhibited diverse physiochemical properties revealed by a rapid viscosity analyzer (RVA). AC was significantly correlated with 5 RVA parameters, and some RVA parameters were also highly correlated with one another. In comparison to rice, foxtail millet contained less starch (65.9–73.1%) and no significant difference in totals of resistant starch (RS), slowly digestible starch (SDS), hydrolysis index (HI), and expected glycemic index (eGI) according to in vitro digestibility assays of raw flour with similar AC. RS was significantly positively correlated with AC and four RVA parameters, cold paste viscosity (CPV), setback viscosity (SBV), peak time (PeT), and pasting temperature (PaT), implying that suitable food processing to alter physicochemical properties of foxtail millet might mitigate hyperglycemia. This investigation of pasting properties and digestibility of diverse foxtail millet germplasm revealed much variation and showed potential for multi-dimensional utilizations in daily staple food and food industries.
Establishing a Differential Marker Profile for Pregnancy Complications Near Delivery.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this work was to define a differential marker profile for pregnancy complications near delivery. METHODS We enrolled pregnant women who were referred to the outpatient pregnancy clinic of the University Medical Center, Ljubljana, Slovenia, due to symptoms of pregnancy complications and women with a history of pregnancy complications attending the high-risk hospital clinic for close surveillance. They were evaluated for prior risk and were tested for biophysical and biochemical markers at the time of enrolment. Biochemical markers included the pro- and anti-angiogenic markers, along with additional previously reported markers of potential value, all tested by various formats of immuno-diagnostics. Biophysical markers included blood pressure, sonographic markers, and EndoPAT. Statistical differences were determined with Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests for continuous parameters, and Pearson χ2 for categorical values. p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS The cohort included 125 pregnant patients, 31 developed preeclampsia (PE) alone (13 were <34 weeks' gestation), 16 had intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) alone (12 were <34 weeks), 42 had both IUGR and PE (22 were <34 weeks), and 15 had an iatrogenic preterm delivery (PTD; 6 were <34 weeks). Twenty-one were unaffected and delivered a healthy baby at term. Mean arterial blood pressure and proteinuria were significantly higher in PE and PE+IUGR but not in pure IUGR or PTD. In PE, IUGR, and PE+IUGR, the levels of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) and soluble endoglin (sEng) were significantly higher, while placental growth factor (PlGF) was very low compared to unaffected controls and PTD. PE, IUGR, and PE+IUGR also had a high anti-angiogenic ratio (sFlt-1/PlGF) and a low proangiogenic ratio of PlGF/(sFlt-1+Eng). Levels of inhibin A were significantly higher in pure PE across subgroups but had many extreme values, which made it a poor differentiator. Higher uterine artery Doppler pulsatility indexes were detected in PE, IUGR, and PE+IUGR, with similar resistance indexes and peaks of systolic velocity. A significantly different marker level between PE and IUGR was found using arterial stiffness that was 10 times higher in PE; concurrently with an increase of the reactive hyperemia index, both were accompanied by a slight increase in placental protein 13. Higher tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) differentially identified iatrogenic very early PTD (<34 weeks). CONCLUSION Arterial stiffness can serve as a major marker to differentiate PE (with/without IUGR) from pure IUGR near delivery. TNFα can differentiate iatrogenic early PTD from other complications of pregnancy and term IUGR.
What does “moderate pain” mean? Subgroups holding different conceptions of rating scales evaluate experimental pain differently

Pain ratings are almost ubiquitous in pain assessment, but their variability is high. Low correlations of continuous/numerical rating scales with categorical scales suggest that individuals associate different sensations with the same number on a scale, jeopardizing the interpretation of statistical results. We analysed individual conceptions of rating scales and whether these conceptions can be utilized in the analysis of ratings of experimental stimuli in pain‐free healthy individuals and people with reoccurring/persistent pain.
Viscosupplementation improves pain, function and muscle strength, but not proprioception, in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a prospective randomized trial

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of intra-articular infiltration with hyaluronic acid and dexamethasone alone and in combination in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHOD: This prospective randomized trial evaluated 44 patients undergoing treatment for OA. Patients were selected through clinical and radiological analysis using the American College of Rheumatology criteria. We included patients aged between 50 and 70 years who presented with K-L stage ≤2 knee OA and normal limb alignment. Patients with a previous history of knee injury (ligamentous, meniscal or traumatic), infection, patellofemoral OA or chondroprotective drug use in the previous year were excluded. Participants were randomized into 3 groups and underwent treatment with viscosupplementation (VS, n=16), viscosupplementation plus dexamethasone (VD, n=16) or dexamethasone (DX, n=12). All patients were evaluated before and 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months after infiltration. Analysis included a physical examination, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire (total score and domain subscores) and an evaluation of knee extensor and flexor strength and proprioception using an isokinetic dynamometer. RESULTS: VS significantly improved the WOMAC total score and subscores for pain, stiffness and function for up to 6 months after infiltration. It also improved knee extensor and flexor strength during the same period. Proprioception was not affected by any of the treatments. CONCLUSIONS: VS alone improved pain, stiffness and function according to the WOMAC total score and subscores and improved knee extensor and flexor strength, but not proprioception, for up to six months after infiltration. These findings suggest that VS has a positive effect on quadriceps arthrogenic inhibition.
Antinociceptive Potential of the Sri Lankan Endemic Plant Vernonia zeylanica.

Abstract In Sri Lankan traditional medicine, the endemic plant Vernonia zeylanica. (L.) Less (Asteraceae) is recommended for the treatment of boils and bone fractures. A strong possibility thus exists that this plant could possess antinociceptive activity, but this has not been scientifically tested. The aim of this study was to investigate the antinociceptive potential of aqueous stem extract (ASE) of V. zeylanica. in rats using two models of nociception (hot-plate and tail-flick tests) and different concentrations (750, 1500, and 2500 mg/kg, given orally). The results showed that ASE possessed marked and significant (p < 0.05) antinociceptive activity (in terms of prolongation of reaction time) when evaluated in the hot-plate test but not in the tail-flick test. The antinociceptive action had rapid onset (within 1 h) and moderately long duration of activity (up to 3 h), but was 2- to 5-fold weaker than morphine. Further, the ASE significantly suppressed the number of paw lickings and the time spent on paw licking in both phases of the formalin test. Naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, blocked the antinociceptive activity of ASE. Collectively, these observations suggest that ASE-induced antinociception was mediated centrally at the supraspinal level via opioid receptor mechanisms and is also effective against neurogenic and inflammatory pain. The ASE had mild antioxidant and moderate sedative actions, which are likely to contribute to its antinociceptive action. The ASE is well tolerated (in terms of overt signs, or renal, hepatic, or hemotoxicities) and nontoxic (by brine shrimp lethality assay). Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, phenols, and steroids, which could contribute to the antinociceptive action. It is concluded that ASE of V. zeylanica. has safe and moderate oral antinociceptive action.
Scattering of therapeutic radiation in the presence of craniofacial bone reconstruction materials

Abstract Purpose Radiation scattering from bone reconstruction materials can cause problems from prolonged healing to osteoradionecrosis. Glass fiber reinforced composite (FRC) has been introduced for bone reconstruction in craniofacial surgery but the effects during radiotherapy have not been previously studied. The purpose of this study was to compare the attenuation and back scatter caused by different reconstruction materials during radiotherapy, especially FRC with bioactive glass (BG) and titanium. Methods The effect of five different bone reconstruction materials on the surrounding tissue during radiotherapy was measured. The materials tested were titanium, glass FRC with and without BG, polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and bone. The samples were irradiated with 6 MV and 10 MV photon beams. Measurements of backscattering and dose changes behind the sample were made with radiochromic film and diamond detector dosimetry. Results An 18% dose enhancement was measured with a radiochromic film on the entrance side of irradiation for titanium with 6 MV energy while PEEK and FRC caused an enhancement of 10% and 4%, respectively. FRC‐BG did not cause any measurable enhancement. The change in dose immediately behind the sample was also greatest with titanium (15% reduction) compared with the other materials (0–1% enhancement). The trend is similar with diamond detector measurements, titanium caused a dose enhancement of up to 4% with a 1 mm sample and a reduction of 8.5% with 6 MV energy whereas FRC, FRC‐BG, PEEK or bone only caused a maximum dose reduction of 2.2%. Conclusions Glass fiber reinforced composite causes less interaction with radiation than titanium during radiotherapy and could provide a better healing environment after bone reconstruction.
Considerations on the Rational Design of Covalently Conjugated Cell-Penetrating Peptides (CPPs) for Intracellular Delivery of Proteins: A Guide to CPP Selection Using Glucarpidase as the Model Cargo Molecule

Access of proteins to their intracellular targets is limited by a hydrophobic barrier called the cellular membrane. Conjugation with cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) has been shown to improve protein transduction into the cells. This conjugation can be either covalent or non-covalent, each with its unique pros and cons. The CPP-protein covalent conjugation may result in undesirable structural and functional alterations in the target protein. Therefore, we propose a systematic approach to evaluate different CPPs for covalent conjugations. This guide is presented using the carboxypeptidase G2 (CPG2) enzyme as the target protein. Seventy CPPs —out of 1155— with the highest probability of uptake efficiency were selected. These peptides were then conjugated to the N- or C-terminus of CPG2. Translational efficacy of the conjugates, robustness and thermodynamic properties of the chimera, aggregation possibility, folding rate, backbone flexibility, and aspects of in vivo administration such as protease susceptibility were predicted. The effect of the position of conjugation was evaluated using unpaired t-test (p < 0.05). It was concluded that N-terminal conjugation resulted in higher quality constructs. Seventeen CPP-CPG2/CPG2-CPP constructs were identified as the most promising. Based on this study, the bioinformatics workflow that is presented may be universally applied to any CPP-protein conjugate design.
Expression of Human PTEN-L in a Yeast Heterologous Model Unveils Specific N-Terminal Motifs Controlling PTEN-L Subcellular Localization and Function

The tumour suppressor PTEN is frequently downregulated, mutated or lost in several types of tumours and congenital disorders including PHTS (PTEN Hamartoma Tumour Syndrome) and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). PTEN is a lipid phosphatase whose activity over the lipid messenger PIP3 counteracts the stimulation of the oncogenic phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. Recently, several extended versions of PTEN produced in the cell by alternative translation initiation have been described, among which, PTEN-L and PTEN-M represent the longest isoforms. We previously developed a humanized yeast model in which the expression of PI3K in Saccharomyces cerevisiae led to growth inhibition that could be suppressed by co-expression of PTEN. Here, we show that the expression of PTEN-L and PTEN-M in yeast results in robust counteracting of PI3K-dependent growth inhibition. N-terminally tagged GFP-PTEN-L was sharply localized at the yeast plasma membrane. Point mutations of a putative membrane-binding helix located at the PTEN-L extension or its deletion shifted localization to nuclear. Also, a shift from plasma membrane to nucleus was observed in mutants at basic amino acid clusters at the PIP2-binding motif, and at the Cα2 and CBR3 loops at the C2 domain. In contrast, C-terminally tagged PTEN-L-GFP displayed mitochondrial localization in yeast, which was shifted to plasma membrane by removing the first 22 PTEN-L residues. Our results suggest an important role of the N-terminal extension of alternative PTEN isoforms on their spatial and functional regulation.
DDB1 Regulates Sertoli Cell Proliferation and Testis Cord Remodeling by TGFβ Pathway

Testis cords are the embryonic precursors of the seminiferous tubules. Development of testis cords is a key event during embryonic testicular morphogenesis and is regulated by multiple signaling molecules produced by Sertoli cells. However, the exact nature and the cascade of molecular events underlying testis cord development remain to be uncovered. In the current study, we explored the role of DNA damage binding protein 1 (DDB1) in Sertoli cells during mouse testis cord development. The genetic ablation of Ddb1 specifically in Sertoli cells resulted in the compromised Sertoli cell proliferation and disruption of testis cord remodeling in neonatal mice. This testicular dysgenesis persisted through adulthood, resulting in smaller testis and low sperm production. Mechanistically, we observed that the DDB1 degradation can stabilize SET domain-containing lysine methyltransferase 8 (SET8), which subsequently decreases the phosphorylation of SMAD2, an essential intracellular component of transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) signaling. Taken together, our results suggest an essential role of Ddb1 in Sertoli cell proliferation and normal remodeling of testis cords via TGFβ pathway. To our knowledge, this is the first upstream regulators of TGFβ pathway in Sertoli cells, and therefore it furthers our understanding of testis cord development.
Phenolic Profiling of Flax Highlights Contrasting Patterns in Winter and Spring Varieties

Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a plant grown in temperate regions either for its fiber or for its seeds, which are rich in the essential fatty acid omega-3. It is also well known as a source of medicinal compounds. The chemical composition of its leaves is currently poorly described. In order to fill this gap, we have conducted a comprehensive analysis of flax leaf metabolome. The exploration of the metabolome allowed the characterization of compounds isolated for the first time in flax leaves. These molecules were isolated by preparative HPLC and then characterized by NMR, LC-MS and standard analysis. This work extended our picture of C-glycosyl-flavonoids and coniferyl alcohol derivatives accumulated in flax. The follow-up of the content of these different metabolites via UPLC-MS revealed significant accumulation differences in spring and winter flax leaves. In particular, two methylated C-glycosylflavonoids (swertisin and swertiajaponin) were the most abundant phenolic compounds in winter flax whereas they were not detected in spring flax. This result suggests that these 2 compounds are involved in cold stress tolerance in flax.
Community Ambulation: Clinical Criteria for Therapists' Reasoning and Decision-making in Stroke Rehabilitation

Copyright: © 2013 Oh DW. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. In stroke rehabilitation, walking function is critical to maintaining functional independence and improving daily activity levels, and is strongly associated with the quality of life post-stroke. Functional improvement should be prioritized when establishing the therapeutic strategy and selecting the means of treatment for patients with poststroke hemiparesis. Accordingly, most clinicians recognize the recovery of walking function as the main goal in stroke rehabilitation [1]. This may be the essential criterion in the decision to discharge a patient from the initial care clinic or hospital to return to home life [2]. In general, the walking function of stroke patients has been assessed using clinicbased measurements. However, as environmental structures within clinics and hospitals are designed with functionally impaired patients in mind, this may not accurately reflect their ability for community ambulation. Although most patients can walk independently after a rehabilitation course for post-stroke functional problems, they have difficulty in returning to premorbid life [3], and only a few patients can perform community ambulation without any trouble [4]. In general, patients with post-stroke hemiparesis use aids such as a cane or walker to compensate their impaired walking function. However, increased dependency on walking aids aggravates body asymmetry and functional problems over time.
Health gain through screening — Mental health: Developing Primary Health Care Services for People with an Intellectual Disability

Referrals to mental health services are highly variable and depend on local factors such as availability of psychiatric and community nursing services, general practitioners' awareness of mental health problems in people with an intellectual disability, and knowledge and attitudes of professional and family carers. The study aimed to identify individuals with significant mental health problems who were not receiving services. As part of a general health screening procedure the PAS-ADD (Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with a Developmental Disability) checklist was administered to 127 adults with intellectual disability and their carers. Referrals were then made to the appropriate service. Forty-two (33%) of the individuals screened were rated to have a score above the threshold in one of the PAS-ADD's subscores. Fifty-three percent of this population were receiving active treatment from the local psychiatric service. In contrast, 44% of people below the thresholds were being treated. The difficu.
SGLT2 inhibitor ipragliflozin alone and combined with pioglitazone prevents progression of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in a type 2 diabetes rodent model

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has become the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide in recent years. The pathogenesis of NASH is closely linked to metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance, obesity, dyslipidemia, and type 2 diabetes. However, there is currently no pharmacological agent for preventing the progression of NASH. Sodium–glucose cotransporter (SGLT) 2 inhibitors increase urinary glucose excretion by inhibiting renal glucose reabsorption, and improve various pathological conditions of type 2 diabetes, including insulin resistance. In the present study, we examined the effects of ipragliflozin, a SGLT2‐selective inhibitor, alone and in combination with pioglitazone on NASH in high‐fat diet‐fed KK/Ay type 2 diabetic mice. Type 2 diabetic mice with NASH exhibited steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in the liver as well as hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and obesity, features that are observed in human NASH. Four‐week repeated administration of ipragliflozin (0.1–3 mg/kg) led to significant improvements in hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and obesity in addition to hyperlipidemia and liver injury including hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. Moreover, ipragliflozin reduced inflammation and oxidative stress in the liver. Repeated administration of pioglitazone (3–30 mg/kg) also significantly improved various parameters of diabetes and NASH, excluding obesity. Furthermore, combined treatment comprising ipragliflozin (1 mg/kg) and pioglitazone (10 mg/kg) additively improved these parameters. These findings indicate that the SGLT2‐selective inhibitor ipragliflozin improves hyperglycemia as well as NASH in type 2 diabetic mice. Therefore, treatment with ipragliflozin monotherapy or coadministered with pioglitazone is expected to be a potential therapeutic option for the treatment of type 2 diabetes with NASH.
Unsupervised neural network for evaluating the ability of the SF-36 instrument to differentiate individuals.

Background Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and well-being refer to the positive, subjective state that is contrary to illness. HRQoL instruments include some common questionnaires, which may often be understood differently depending on the level of individuals' knowledge. Aims To investigate the ability of 36 Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) as a well-known questionnaire in evaluating people's well-being. Methods We compared unsupervised artificial neural networks with a self-organized map learning algorithm and k-means clustering method. Understanding of the content of the questionnaire was also checked according to age group and sex. The study included 1087 people aged > 18 years (640 healthy individuals and 447 patients with chronic diseases) in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran between 2011 and 2013. Results The eight subscale scores of the SF-36 instrument were not able to evaluate the well-being of people. The ability of all 36 items in the questionnaire was > 60% in both self-organized map and k-means methods. The self-organized map learning algorithm evaluated people better than the k-means clustering method, based on the accuracy rate in prediction. The SF-36 instrument was better understood by young people. Conclusions Differences in people's health conditions may not appear on the SF-36 subscale scores; therefore, the findings from the subscale scores of SF-36 should be cautiously interpreted.