Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Notes from the Field: Use of Electronic Cigarettes and Any Tobacco Product Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2011–2018

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery-powered devices that provide nicotine and other additives to the user in the form of an aerosol (1). E-cigarettes entered the U.S. marketplace in 2007 (1), and by 2014, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. youths (2). Data from the 2011–2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), a cross-sectional, voluntary, school-based, self-administered, pencil-and-paper survey of U.S. middle and high school students, were analyzed to determine the prevalence of current use (≥1 day in past 30 days) of e-cigarettes,* current use of any tobacco product,† frequency of (number of days during the preceding 30 days) e-cigarette use, and current use (any time during preceding 30 days) of any flavored e-cigarettes among U.S. middle school (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students. Logistic regression (2011–2018) and t-tests (2017–2018) were performed to determine statistically significant differences (p<0.05). Among high school students, current e-cigarette use increased from 1.5% (220,000 students) in 2011 to 20.8% (3.05 million students) in 2018 (p<0.001) (Figure). During 2017–2018, current e-cigarette use increased by 78% (from 11.7% to 20.8%, p<0.001). The proportion of current e-cigarette users who reported use on ≥20 of the past 30 days increased from 20.0% in 2017 to 27.7% in 2018 (p = 0.008). Among high school students, during 2017–2018, current use of any flavored e-cigarettes increased among current e-cigarette users (from 60.9% to 67.8%, p = 0.02); current use of mentholor mint-flavored e-cigarettes increased among all current e-cigarette users (from 42.3% to 51.2%, p = 0.04) and current exclusive e-cigarette users (from 21.4% to 38.1%, p = 0.002).
Nanoparticle albumin bound-paclitaxel for treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer: an evaluation of the clinical evidence

ABSTRACT Introduction: Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel), a microtubule inhibitor, has demonstrated clinical efficacy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) either as monotherapy or in combination. Nab-paclitaxel was developed to reduce the toxicities associated with solvent-bound paclitaxel (sb-paclitaxel). Areas covered: This review first focuses on the clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of nab-paclitaxel in NSCLC at different settings. The approval of nab-paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin at the front-line setting for advanced NSCLC was based on the key phase III study, which showed that nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin was associated with superior overall response rate and favorable toxicity profile compared to sb-paclitaxel/carboplatin. The review also addresses the nab-paclitaxel pharmacology, other combinations (e.g. immunotherapy with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors), potential biomarkers (e.g. caveolin-1), and special subgroups (e.g. the elderly, squamous histology). Expert opinion: Existing data has established the role of nab-paclitaxel in the management of advanced NSCLC. Emerging evidence, such as preliminary results from Keynote-407 and IMpower 131 studies, indicates that novel combinations of nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors could further improve clinical benefits with manageable toxicity. Nevertheless, in order to better position nab-paclitaxel and to improve patient selection, future studies are warranted to further understand its mechanism of action, predictive biomarkers, and potential synergism with other agents.
#Votebecause: Youth mobilisation for the referendum on British membership of the European Union

For several decades, academics and political commentators have lamented the decline in electoral participation among younger citizens. In the United Kingdom, the proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds voting in general elections fell from over 60% in 1992 to an average of 40% between 2001 and 2015. Nevertheless, the high youth turnout in 2017 showed that young people will vote if they are interested in an issue or cause. Despite the scholarly interest in youth turnout, few studies have investigated the individual motivations for electoral participation among young people. This article aims to fill this gap. It presents a qualitative analysis of ‘#Votebecause’, an offline–online initiative to encourage students to vote in the 2016 referendum on British membership of the European Union. The findings identify the importance of social networks, appropriate spaces for communication, deliberation, prior group membership and internal efficacy for engaging young people in the campaign.
Synergistic Activity of Essential Oils from Herbs and Spices Used on Meat Products against Food Borne Pathogens

Essential oils (EOs) could be utilized as natural agents to improve the safety of meat products. However, the high concentration required to achieve an antimicrobial effect in foods might be incompatible with their sensory acceptance. To avoid this problem, combinations of EOs provide an effective approach reducing the odds of sensory rejection. In our study, 13 EOs of herbs and spices commonly used in the seasoning of meat products were assessed for their antimicrobial activity against Salmonella spp. , Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. However, only 7 of them were selected to study their synergistic effect based on their antimicrobial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against foodborne pathogens. EOs of thyme and cinnamon presented the largest antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens. Combinations of selected EOs displayed a synergic effect against foodborne pathogens and also an important decrease in their individual MIC. Thyme EO presented the lowest individual MIC, but its utilization in combination decreased the MIC of the other EOs. Utilization of cinnamon EO also improved the reduction of the individual MICs of the EOs of cumin and parsley. Our results suggest the potential use of EO mixtures to control foodborne pathogens in meat products. Although the individual MIC values of selected EOs decreased, the sensory impact on meat products needs to be assessed.
Maternal stress and placental function, a study using questionnaires and biomarkers at birth

Background Prenatal stress affects the health of the pregnant woman and the fetus. Cortisol blood levels are elevated in pregnancy, and fetal exposure to cortisol is regulated by the placenta enzyme 11β-HSD2. A decrease in enzyme activity allows more maternal cortisol to pass through the placental barrier. Combining the fetal and maternal cortisol to cortisone ratio into the adjusted fetal cortisol exposure (AFCE) represents the activity of the enzyme 11β-HSD2 in the placenta. Aim To investigate the effect of prenatal maternal stress on the ratio of cortisol and cortisone in maternal and fetal blood at birth in a normal population. Method Maternal self-reported stress was assessed at one time-point, as late in the pregnancy as convenient for the participant, using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-42), Pregnancy Related Anxiety (PRA), and Major Life Events during pregnancy. The study included 273 participants from Copenhagen University Hospital. Maternal and umbilical cord blood was sampled directly after birth and cortisol and cortisone concentrations were quantified using UPLC chromatography. Data were analyzed in a five-step regression model with addition of possible confounders. The primary outcome was AFCE, and plasma concentrations of maternal and fetal cortisol and cortisone were secondary outcomes. Results Significant associations were seen for the primary outcome AFCE and the plasma concentrations of maternal cortisol and fetal cortisone with exposure to Pregnancy Related Anxiety (PRA), though the associations were reduced when adjusting for birth related variables, especially delivery mode. The weight of the placenta affected the associations of exposures on AFCE, but not plasma concentrations of cortisol and cortisone in mother and fetus. Moreover, the study demonstrated the importance of delivery mode and birth strain on cortisol levels right after delivery. Conclusion Our main finding was associations between PRA and AFCE, which shows the effect of maternal stress on placental cortisol metabolism.
Why evolutionary biology needs anthropology: Evaluating core assumptions of the extended evolutionary synthesis

Anthropologists have a long history of applying concepts from evolutionary biology to cultural evolution. Evolutionary biologists, however, have been slow to turn to anthropology for insights about evolution. Recently, evolutionary biology has been engaged in a debate over the need to revise evolutionary theory to account for developments made in 60 years since the Modern Synthesis, the standard evolutionary paradigm, was framed. Revision proponents maintain these developments challenge central tenets of standard theory that can only be accounted for in an extended evolutionary synthesis (EES). Anthropology has much to offer to this debate. One important transition in human cultural evolution, the domestication of plants and animals, provides an ideal model system assessing core EES assumptions about directionality, causality, targets of selection, modes of inheritance, and pace of evolution. In so doing, anthropologists contribute to an overarching framework that brings together cultural and biological evolution.
Privacy Preservation for Friend-Recommendation Applications

Friend-recommendation applications as one kind of typical social applications can satisfy the social contact needs of different users and become tools for developing a social relationship. However, the privacy leakage has turned into an insurmountable obstacle to the market success of such applications. Existing privacy protection approaches for social applications either introduce untrusted third parties or sacrifice information accuracy. As for friend-recommendation applications particularly, the multihop trust chain and anonymous message methods still have a defect that the hacker can act as a user to acquire information. In this paper, we put forward the privacy protection mechanism based on zero knowledge without any privacy leakage to the application server. In detail, the server knows nothing about the user’s information, but can still provide users with accurate information on friend recommendation. We also analyze the potential attack methods and propose the corresponding solution. Our simulation results verify the effectivity and efficiency of our scheme.
AKT Inhibition Modulates H3K4 Demethylase Levels in PTEN-Null Prostate Cancer

Hyperactivated AKT kinase due to loss of its negative regulator PTEN influences many aspects of cancer biology, including chromatin. AKT primarily regulates acetyl-CoA production and phosphorylates many histone-modulating enzymes, resulting in their activation or inhibition. Therefore, understanding the therapeutic impact of AKT inhibition on chromatin-related events is essential. Here, we report that AKT inhibition in prostate-specific PTEN knockout mice significantly induces di- and trimethylation of H3K4 with concomitant reduction in H3K9 acetylation. Mechanistically, we observed that AKT inhibition reduces expression of the H3K4 methylation-specific histone demethylases KDM5 family, especially KDM5B expression at transcriptional levels. Furthermore, we observed that AKT negatively regulates miR-137 levels, which transcriptionally represses KDM5B expression. Overexpression of miR-137 significantly reduced KDM5B and increased H3K4 methylation levels but failed to change AKT phosphorylation. Overall, we observed that AKT transcriptionally regulates KDM5B mainly via repression of miR-137. Our data identify a mechanism by which AKT kinase modulates the prostate cancer epigenome through regulating H3K4 methylation. Additional studies on AKT inhibition–mediated induction of H3K4 methylation will help in designing strategies to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of PI3K/AKT inhibitors.
The Pathogenesis of Extraintestinal Manifestations: Implications for IBD Research, Diagnosis, and Therapy

This article reports on the sixth scientific workshop of the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation [ECCO] on the pathogenesis of extraintestinal manifestations [EIMs] in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. This paper has been drafted by 15 ECCO members and 6 external experts [in rheumatology, dermatology, ophthalmology, and immunology] from 10 European countries and the USA. Within the workshop, contributors formed subgroups to address specific areas. Following a comprehensive literature search, the supporting text was finalized under the leadership of the heads of the working groups before being integrated by the group consensus leaders.
A Compatible OpenFlow Platform for Enabling Security Enhancement in SDN

Software-defined networking (SDN) is a representative next generation network architecture, which allows network administrators to programmatically initialize, control, change, and manage network behavior dynamically via open interfaces. SDN is widely adopted in systems like 5G mobile networks and cyber-physical systems (CPS). However, SDN brings new security problems, e.g., controller hijacking, black-hole, and unauthorized data modification. Traditional firewall or IDS based solutions cannot fix these challenges. It is also undesirable to develop security mechanisms in such an ad hoc manner, which may cause security conflict during the deployment procedure. In this paper, we propose OSCO (Open Security-enhanced Compatible OpenFlow) platform, a unified, lightweight platform to enhance the security property and facilitate the security configuration and evaluation. The proposed platform supports highly configurable cryptographic algorithm modules, security protocols, flexible hardware extensions, and virtualized SDN networks. We prototyped our platform based on the Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer (SBC) hardware and presented a case study for switch port security enhancement. We systematically evaluated critical security modules, which include 4 hash functions, 8 stream/block ciphers, 4 public-key cryptosystems, and key exchange protocols. The experiment results show that our platform performs those security modules and SDN network functions with relatively low computational (extra 2.5% system overhead when performing AES-256 and SHA-256 functions) and networking performance overheads (73.7 Mb/s TCP and 81.2Mb/s UDP transmission speeds in 100Mb/s network settings).
IP6 Regulation of HIV Capsid Assembly, Stability, and Uncoating

The mechanisms that drive formation of the HIV capsid, first as an immature particle and then as a mature protein shell, remain incompletely understood. Recent discoveries of positively-charged rings in the immature and mature protein hexamer subunits that comprise them and their binding to the cellular metabolite inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) have stimulated exciting new hypotheses. In this paper, we discuss how data from multiple structural and biochemical approaches are revealing potential roles for IP6 in the HIV-1 replication cycle from assembly to uncoating.
Resting state functional connectivity patterns associated with pharmacological treatment resistance in temporal lobe epilepsy

There are no functional imaging based biomarkers for pharmacological treatment response in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). In this study, we investigated whether there is an association between resting state functional brain connectivity (RsFC) and seizure control in TLE. We screened a large database containing resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI) data from 286 epilepsy patients. Patient medical records were screened for seizure characterization, EEG reports for lateralization and location of seizure foci to establish uniformity of seizure localization within patient groups. Rs-fMRI data from patients with well-controlled left TLE, patients with treatment-resistant left TLE, and healthy controls were analyzed. Healthy controls and cTLE showed similar functional connectivity patterns, whereas trTLE exhibited a significant bilateral decrease in thalamo-hippocampal functional connectivity. This work is the first to demonstrate differences in neural network connectivity between well-controlled and treatment-resistant TLE. These differences are spatially highly focused and suggest sites for the etiology and possibly treatment of TLE. Altered thalamo-hippocampal RsFC thus is a potential new biomarker for TLE treatment resistance. Summary Resting State functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI), previously utilized to predict lateralization of seizure foci in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), is utilized to determine potential mechanisms and biomarkers for treatment-resistant and well-controlled unilateral TLE. We found significant differences in thalamo-hippocampal functional connectivity between treatment-resistant and well-controlled TLE patients. Differences in functional connectivity were focused to thalamo-hippocampal connections and more pronounced in the hemisphere ipsilateral to seizure foci. Aberrant functional connectivity patterns as measured by Rs-fMRI could thus serve as biomarkers for treatment response in TLE.
UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-dolichyl-phosphate N-acetylglucosaminephosphotransferase is indispensable for oogenesis, oocyte-to-embryo transition, and larval development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

N-linked glycosylation of proteins is the most common post-translational modification of proteins. The enzyme UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-dolichyl-phosphate N-acetylglucosaminephosphotransferase (DPAGT1) catalyses the first step of N-glycosylation, and DPAGT1 knockout is embryonic lethal in mice. In this study, we identified the sole orthologue (algn-7) of the human DPAGT1 in the nematode C. elegans. The gene activity was disrupted by RNAi and deletion mutagenesis, which resulted in larval lethality, defects in oogenesis and oocyte-to-embryo transition. Endomitotic oocytes, abnormal fusion of pronuclei, abnormal AB cell rotation, disruption of permeation barriers of eggs, and abnormal expression of chitin and chitin synthase in oocytes and eggs were the typical phenotypes observed. The results indicate that N-glycosylation is indispensable for these processes. We further screened an N-glycosylated protein database of C. elegans, and identified 456 germline-expressed genes coding N-glycosylated proteins. By examining RNAi phenotypes, we identified five germline-expressed genes showing similar phenotypes to the algn-7 (RNAi) animals. They were ribo-1, stt-3, ptc-1, ptc-2, and vha-19. We identified known congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) genes (ribo-1 and stt-3) and a recently found CDG gene (vha-19). The results show that phenotype analyses using the nematode could be a powerful tool to detect new CDG candidate genes and their associated gene networks.
A Secure Multimedia Data Sharing Scheme for Wireless Network

A large number of wireless devices like WiFi cameras and 4G robots have been deployed in the rapidly growing wireless network such as Internet of Things. All of the devices (sensors) are collecting and analyzing multimedia data all the time while they are actively working, and it is also required to share data among these the sensors. Typically, the wireless data is transmitted through the network gateway or the cloud platforms. In such a wireless environment, if there is no appropriate protection to the data, it is easy to cause potential data leakage. In reality, the owner of the sensor might only want to share the multimedia data stored in the sensor with a trusted third party (e.g., a family member or a coworker) through an internet gateway or the cloud platform. Ideally, the gateway or the cloud platform in the wireless network should transform one user’s encrypted data (wireless multimedia data) directly into another ciphertext under a set of new users (e.g., a trusted third party) without accessing the user’s plaintext data. In this work, a new secure notion called fuzzy-conditional proxy broadcast re-encryption (FC-PBRE) is presented to address the concern. In a FC-PBRE scheme, the proxy (the gateway or cloud server) uses a broadcast re-encryption key to re-encrypt the encrypted wireless multimedia data which can be decrypted by a set of delegatees if and only if the broadcast key’s conditional set W is close to the conditional set W′ of the ciphertext. With the FC-PBRE scheme, the wireless multimedia data is not disclosed and cannot be learnt by the proxy (the gateway or cloud server). In this paper, we first present the definition of security against chosen-ciphertext attacks for FC-PBRE. Second, we propose an efficient fuzzy-conditional proxy broadcast re-encryption scheme. Third, we prove that our FC-PBRE scheme is CCA-secure in the random oracle model based on the Decisional nBDHE assumption.
TREK-1 channels regulate pressure sensitivity and calcium signaling in trabecular meshwork cells

&NA; Mechanotransduction by the trabecular meshwork (TM) is an essential component of intraocular pressure regulation in the vertebrate eye. This process is compromised in glaucoma but is poorly understood. In this study, we identify transient receptor potential vanilloid isoform 4 (TRPV4) and TWIK‐related potassium channel‐1 (TREK‐1) as key molecular determinants of TM membrane potential, pressure sensitivity, calcium homeostasis, and transcellular permeability. We show that resting membrane potential in human TM cells is unaffected by “classical” inhibitors of voltage‐activated, calcium‐activated, and inwardly rectifying potassium channels but is depolarized by blockers of tandem‐pore K+ channels. Using gene profiling, we reveal the presence of TREK‐1, TASK‐1, TWIK‐2, and THIK transcripts in TM cells. Pressure stimuli, arachidonic acid, and TREK‐1 activators hyperpolarize these cells, effects that are antagonized by quinine, amlodipine, spadin, and short‐hairpin RNA‐mediated knockdown of TREK‐1 but not TASK‐1. Activation and inhibition of TREK‐1 modulates [Ca2+]TM and lowers the impedance of cell monolayers. Together, these results suggest that tensile homeostasis in the TM may be regulated by balanced, pressure‐dependent activation of TRPV4 and TREK‐1 mechanotransducers. &NA; The trabecular meshwork (TM) plays a fundamental role in intraocular pressure regulation, but its mechanotransduction pathway is poorly understood. Yarishkin et al. show that the mechanosensing channel TREK‐1 regulates TM membrane potential, pressure sensitivity, calcium homeostasis, and impedance.
A Deep Learning Approach on Building Detection from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Images in Riverbank Monitoring

Buildings along riverbanks are likely to be affected by rising water levels, therefore the acquisition of accurate building information has great importance not only for riverbank environmental protection but also for dealing with emergency cases like flooding. UAV-based photographs are flexible and cloud-free compared to satellite images and can provide very high-resolution images up to centimeter level, while there exist great challenges in quickly and accurately detecting and extracting building from UAV images because there are usually too many details and distortions on UAV images. In this paper, a deep learning (DL)-based approach is proposed for more accurately extracting building information, in which the network architecture, SegNet, is used in the semantic segmentation after the network training on a completely labeled UAV image dataset covering multi-dimension urban settlement appearances along a riverbank area in Chongqing. The experiment results show that an excellent performance has been obtained in the detection of buildings from untrained locations with an average overall accuracy more than 90%. To verify the generality and advantage of the proposed method, the procedure is further evaluated by training and testing with another two open standard datasets which have a variety of building patterns and styles, and the final overall accuracies of building extraction are more than 93% and 95%, respectively.