Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between health literacy and quality of life among cancer survivors in China: a cross-sectional study

Objective To evaluate the association between health literacy (HL) and quality of life (QOL) among cancer survivors in China. Design Cross-sectional study in China. Setting and participants This is a cross-sectional observational study of 4589 cancer survivors aged 18 years and older from the Shanghai Cancer Rehabilitation Club. Participants were enrolled and completed the questionnaires between May and July 2017. Measurement HL was assessed by three established screening questions and QOL was evaluated using the simplified Chinese version of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire-Core 30 items. Answers to all questionnaires were collected through face-to-face interviews or through self-administered questionnaires for literate participants. Participants were excluded if they did not answer any one of the HL questions. Baseline characteristics were compared by levels of HL using χ2 test for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank-sum test for non-normal continuous variables. The item response theory (IRT) was used to evaluate the existing measure of HL. Linear regression and logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between HL and QOL. SAS V.9. 4 and MULTILOG V.7. 03 were used in the analysis. Results There were 4589 participants included in the study. The calculated results of IRT scale parameters of HL entries indicate that the entries have better discrimination and difficulty. Of the 4589 respondents, 159 (3.5%) had low HL. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, treatment regimen and years with cancers, for each one-point decrement in HL score the QOL score increased by 2.07 (p<0.001). Cancer survivors with low HL were less likely than those with adequate HL to achieve better QOL. In logistic regression, low HL was independently associated with poor QOL (adjusted OR, 2.81; 95% CI 1.94 to 4.06; p<0.001). Conclusions Low HL was independently associated with poor QOL among cancer survivors of the Shanghai Cancer Rehabilitation Club.
Arsenene: A Potential Therapeutic Agent for Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia Cells by Acting on Nuclear Proteins.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been extensively studied and widely applied for biomedical applications. Arsenene has recently emerged as a promising new material for its excellent optical and electronic properties. However, studies on bio-arsenene interactions are lacking. Herein, novel 2D arsenene nanosheets were synthesized and discovered to be effective against NB4 promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) cells, with an inhibition percentage of 82%, and induced apoptosis while showing no toxicity towards normal cells. And the higher zeta potential, the smaller size and the plane structure were crucial to the toxicity of arsenic materials. Label-free proteomic profiling analysis suggested that arsenene affected nuclear DNA replication, nucleotide excision repair and pyrimidine metabolism pathways by downregulating the DNA polymerases POLE, POLD1, POLD2 and POLD3. Besides, the bound proteins of arsenene in NB4 cells were mainly nuclear nucleotide acid-binding proteins by mass spectroscopic studies. Further cellular fluorescence studies revealed that the action of arsenene occurred mostly in nuclear and destroyed the nuclei. In vivo toxicity tests in mice also indicated the physiological biosafety of arsenene. For the first time, this work provided new insight into 2D arsenene for biomedical applications, suggesting the promise of arsenene in APL treatment.
A Translational Study of TNF-Alpha Antagonists as an Adjunctive Therapy for Preventing Hemophilic Arthropathy

Repeated intra-articular hemorrhages lead to hemophilic arthropathy in severe hemophilia. Inflammation and pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα)) might be involved in this pathogenesis. We hypothesized that anti-TNFα may provide adjuvant protection for hemophilic arthropathy management. We measured TNFα in synovial lavage from hemophilia mice subjected to hemarthrosis induction and synovial fluid from patients with hemophilic arthropathy (n = 5). In hemophilia mice, recurrent hemarthroses were induced, anti-TNFα was initiated either from day (D)7 after one hemarthrosis episode or D21 after three hemarthroses episodes (n ≥ 7/treatment group). In patients with hemophilic arthropathy (16 patients with 17 affected joints), a single dose of anti-TNFα was administered intra-articularly. Efficacy, characterized by synovial membrane thickness and vascularity, was determined. Elevated TNFα in synovial lavage was found in the hemophilia mice and patients with hemophilic arthropathy. Hemophilia mice subjected to three hemarthroses developed severe synovitis (Synovitis score of 6.0 ± 1.6). Factor IX (FIX) replacement alone partially improved the pathological changes (Synovitis score of 4.2 ± 0.8). However, anti-TNFα treatment initiated at D7, not D21, significantly provided protection (Synovitis score of 1.8 ± 0.9 vs. 3.9 ± 0.3). In patients with hemophilic arthropathy, intra-articular anti-TNFα significantly decreased synovial thickness and vascularity during the observed period from D7 to D30. Collectively, this preliminary study seems to indicate that TNFα may be associated with the pathogenicity of hemophilic arthropathy and anti-TNFα could provide adjuvant protection against hemophilic arthropathy. Further studies are required to confirm the preliminary results shown in this study.
The relationship of serum vitamin D receptor levels with disease activity and clinical parameters in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum vitamin D receptor (SVDR) levels and disease activity parameters in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Patients and methods Between July 2016 and January 2017, a total of 62 patients (51 males, 11 females; mean age 36.5±12.8 years; range, 23 to 49 years) with AS and 32 healthy volunteers (25 males, 7 females; mean age 41.57±13.6 years; range, 26 to 48 years) were included in the study. The SVDR levels were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were recorded. The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) scores were used to assess disease activity. Results Although there was no significant difference between the patient and control groups (p=0.66), SVDR levels were significantly elevated in patients with active AS (BASDAI score ≥4) (p=0.01). The SVDR levels significantly increased in AS patients with peripheral joint involvement and enthesitis (p=0.01, p=0.05, respectively). The SVDR levels significantly elevated in patients treated with non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs, compared to those treated with biological agents and control group (p=0.01, p=0.03, respectively). The SVDR levels were positively correlated with the BASDAI, CRP and ESR in the patient group (p=0.01, r=0.751; p=0.01, r=0.75; p=0.01, r=0.81, respectively). Conclusion Our study results suggest that serum SVDR levels are associated with the disease activity and clinical parameters in patients with AS. Based on these findings, SVDR level may be used as a marker of disease activity in AS.
Hollow Mesoporous Tantalum Oxide based Nanospheres for Triple Sensitization of Radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the most widely used cancer treatments in clinics, while hypoxia-associated resistance often occurs. Herein, a PEGylated TaOx-based oxygen-carrying nanoplatform were constructed for triple sensitizing tumor radiotherapy. The high-Z element based hollow mesoporous TaOx nanospheres were prepared following the in situ growth of ultrasmall CuS nanocrystals and then packaged with O2-saturated perfluoropentane (PFP). NIR laser-triggered mild hyperthermia would lead to the increase of intratumoral blood flow, together with the release of O2, the radiotherapeutic efficiency would be enhanced. On the other hand, radiant energy would be deposited inside the tumor by Ta element, therefore triple sensitization of radiotherapy could be achieved. The in vivo studies showed that the as-prepared nanospheres could achieve almost total inhibition of tumor growth without obvious side effect, which provides new possibilities for multi-sensitizing tumor radiotherapy.
Review of Recent Advances in Understanding the Role of Vitamin D in Reducing Cancer Risk: Breast, Colorectal, Prostate, and Overall Cancer

This article is a narrative review of recent epidemiological findings regarding ultraviolet-B (UVB) dose or exposure, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations, vitamin D supplementation, and genetic variations in 25(OH)D concentration for incidence, survival, and mortality rates of overall and breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer. According to ecological studies, solar UVB doses are inversely correlated with incidence/mortality rates for about 20 cancer types. Observational studies support a role of higher 25(OH)D concentrations in reducing risk of breast and colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates but, for prostate cancer, in increasing incidence rates while reducing mortality rates. Mendelian randomization studies offer little support for vitamin D in reducing cancer risk. Their primary limitation is that they only investigate small variations in genetically predicted 25(OH)D concentration near the population mean value. The secondary analyses from the VITAL clinical trial indicated significant reductions from 2000 IU/d of vitamin D3 supplementation in all-cancer incidence and mortality rates for selected subgroups. Thus, Hill's criteria for causality in a biological system are now largely satisfied for supporting the claim that vitamin D reduces the risk of cancer incidence and death.
A phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) in the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study reveals potential pleiotropy in African Americans

We performed a hypothesis-generating phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) to identify and characterize cross-phenotype associations, where one SNP is associated with two or more phenotypes, between thousands of genetic variants assayed on the Metabochip and hundreds of phenotypes in 5,897 African Americans as part of the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) I study. The PAGE I study was a National Human Genome Research Institute-funded collaboration of four study sites accessing diverse epidemiologic studies genotyped on the Metabochip, a custom genotyping chip that has dense coverage of regions in the genome previously associated with cardio-metabolic traits and outcomes in mostly European-descent populations. Here we focus on identifying novel phenome-genome relationships, where SNPs are associated with more than one phenotype. To do this, we performed a PheWAS, testing each SNP on the Metabochip for an association with up to 273 phenotypes in the participating PAGE I study sites. We identified 133 putative pleiotropic variants, defined as SNPs associated at an empirically derived p-value threshold of p<0.01 in two or more PAGE study sites for two or more phenotype classes. We further annotated these PheWAS-identified variants using publicly available functional data and local genetic ancestry. Amongst our novel findings is SPARC rs4958487, associated with increased glucose levels and hypertension. SPARC has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes and is also known to have a potential role in fibrosis, a common consequence of multiple conditions including hypertension. The SPARC example and others highlight the potential that PheWAS approaches have in improving our understanding of complex disease architecture by identifying novel relationships between genetic variants and an array of common human phenotypes.
Disrupted Calcium Signaling in Animal Models of Human Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA)

Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) constitute a heterogeneous group of more than 40 autosomal-dominant genetic and neurodegenerative diseases characterized by loss of balance and motor coordination due to dysfunction of the cerebellum and its efferent connections. Despite a well-described clinical and pathological phenotype, the molecular and cellular events that underlie neurodegeneration are still poorly undaerstood. Emerging research suggests that mutations in SCA genes cause disruptions in multiple cellular pathways but the characteristic SCA pathogenesis does not begin until calcium signaling pathways are disrupted in cerebellar Purkinje cells. Ca2+ signaling in Purkinje cells is important for normal cellular function as these neurons express a variety of Ca2+ channels, Ca2+-dependent kinases and phosphatases, and Ca2+-binding proteins to tightly maintain Ca2+ homeostasis and regulate physiological Ca2+-dependent processes. Abnormal Ca2+ levels can activate toxic cascades leading to characteristic death of Purkinje cells, cerebellar atrophy, and ataxia that occur in many SCAs. The output of the cerebellar cortex is conveyed to the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) by Purkinje cells via inhibitory signals; thus, Purkinje cell dysfunction or degeneration would partially or completely impair the cerebellar output in SCAs. In the absence of the inhibitory signal emanating from Purkinje cells, DCN will become more excitable, thereby affecting the motor areas receiving DCN input and resulting in uncoordinated movements. An outstanding advantage in studying the pathogenesis of SCAs is represented by the availability of a large number of animal models which mimic the phenotype observed in humans. By mainly focusing on mouse models displaying mutations or deletions in genes which encode for Ca2+ signaling-related proteins, in this review we will discuss the several pathogenic mechanisms related to deranged Ca2+ homeostasis that leads to significant Purkinje cell degeneration and dysfunction.
Fluorescence and Opalescence of Two Dental Composite Resins

Abstract Objective Lifelike esthetic appearance of dental restorations is among the main goals in restorative dentistry. This study aimed to assess and compare the opalescence and fluorescence of two dental composite resins. Materials and Methods This in vitro experimental study evaluated the A2 shade of Filtek Z350 XT Enamel, Filtek Z350 XT Dentin, Aelite Aesthetic Enamel, and Aelite All Purpose Body composite resins. Composite discs were fabricated with 10 mm diameter and 0.5 and 1 mm thicknesses (n = 2) using a plexiglass mold and subjected to colorimetry. The color parameters were determined according to the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) L*a*b* system using a spectrophotometer. The fluorescence and opalescence were also measured and reported separately for 0.5 and 1 mm thicknesses of Z350, Aelite Body, and Enamel composite resins. To determine the opalescence, the color of samples in the reflectance mode was measured using a calibration cylinder and in the transmittance mode in presence of 100% ultraviolet (UV) light. To determine the fluorescence, the color of samples against a white background in the reflectance mode in presence or absence of 100% UV light was measured. Statistical Analysis Data were analyzed using SPSS via three-way analysis of variance and independent t-test. Results The fluorescence of 0.5 mm thickness of all composites was higher than that of 1 mm thickness (p < 0.05). The fluorescence of Aelite was higher than that of Z350 (p < 0.05). The fluorescence of Aelite Enamel was higher than that of Aelite Body irrespective of their thickness, but the results were opposite for Z350 (p < 0.05). In Aelite composite, opalescence increased by an increase in thickness (p < 0.05). The opalescence of Aelite was significantly higher than that of Z350 (p < 0.05). The opalescence of 0.5 mm thickness of Aelite Enamel was higher than that of Aelite Body, while the opalescence of 1 mm thickness of Z350 Body was higher than that of Z350 Enamel (p < 0.05). Conclusion Thickness, type, and brand of composite resins affected their fluorescence and opalescence.
»Medizinische Versorgung in der Praxis« - eine Modellstudie zur Verbesserung der hausärztlichen Versorgungsforschung in Deutschland

primary care using computerized patient records. These data are used to assess adherence to evidence-based guidelines (process measures) and clinical results (outcome measures) considering selected diseases as examples (asthma/COPD, heart failure, urinary tract infection). Several other aspects of the mentioned diseases are investigated in patients from the participating practices: • Modification of the responsiveness to topical steroids by genetic polymorphisms in patients with asthma/COPD and their influence on the course of disease. Acceptance of genetic testing in patients with asthma and COPD. • Integration of clinical guidelines for urinary tract infection in German general practices and adjustment to the needs of individual patients. • Problems of care for patients with heart failure at the interface general practice/ hospital and improvement of early diagnosis of the disease.
Academic Goals and Parental Control in Primary School Children

Parenting styles have been used to explain the effects of family socialization on children’s learning skills. In this research, we have considered build an instrument for evaluating academic goals in the primary school stage, that allows us determine the relationships between the different types of goals and the different ways of establishing and policing the rules that the participants perceive from their parents. Those participating in this research were 550 pupils from of primary education. The Questionnaire on Academic Goals (QAG) has highly acceptable psychometric characteriztics. The analysis has shown the existence of four solid, well-defined factors. The relationships between the different types of goals and the different ways of establishing and policing the rules are verified. The pupils classified in the groups concerning the goals of social evaluation and reward were characterized by a more indulgent parenting style, determined by an absence of rules and limits for their children’s behavior. On the other hand, those pupils classified in the groups concerning the goals of learning and achievement were characterized by parents with an inductive style, determined by the use of reasoning and explanations towards their children in so far as the consequences of breaking the rules.
Genetic Polymorphisms in IL-10 Promoter Are Associated With Smoking and Prostate Cancer Risk in African Americans

Background/Aim: Even though prostate cancer (PCa) has good prognosis, there is a discrepancy in the risk among ethnic groups, with high morbidity in African American men. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in interleukin 10 (IL-10) have been associated with inflammation and cancer risk. We investigated the association of five SNPs in the IL-10 promoter with clinical features such as Gleason score and smoking. Materials and Methods: A total of 413 DNA samples were obtained from a nested case-control study of African American males who were genotyped for 5 SNPs utilizing pyrosequencing. Multiple and binary logistic regression models were applied to analyze the clinical and genotypic data. Results: rs12122923 and rs1800871 were associated with PCa risk. Smoking was also found to increase the risk of PCa by 1.6-fold. rs1800893 was found to be associated with lower grades for prostate cancer. Conclusion: IL-10 promoter polymorphisms might be a risk factor for PCa development in smoking subjects and PCa progression.
Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale: An Update Review about An Emerging Poultry Pathogen

Respiratory diseases in birds generate sanitary and economic impacts and may be related to the environment and climate. Mycoplasma gallisepticum, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT), Pasteurella multocida, Avibacterium paragallinarum, Escherichia coli, Riemerella anatipestifer, and Bordetella avium are among the most important avian respiratory pathogens. ORT is responsible for causing ornitobacteriosis, a disease characterized by clinical signs ranging from mild to severe respiratory conditions, with high mortality rates, mainly affecting turkeys and chickens. The first report of ornitobacteriosis was in 1981 in Germany. Despite its importance, few studies on ORT have been published. In addition, the presence of this pathogen has been neglected in poultry farms, mainly due to the lack of appropriate diagnostic protocols. The lack of correct isolation and diagnostic protocols along with inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents have been contributing to treatment failure. Due to its economic importance to the poultry industry, ornitobacteriosis should be monitored and included in national programs for the prevention and control of avian respiratory diseases. This review aimed to update and discuss important issues related to ORT since this pathogen has great economic and sanitary implications for the chicken production chain.
Immune Therapy for Liver Cancers

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and biliary tract cancers (BTC) display a poor prognosis with 5-year overall survival rates around 15%, all stages taken together. These primary liver malignancies are often diagnosed at advanced stages where therapeutic options are limited. Recently, immune therapy has opened new opportunities in oncology. Based on their high programmed death-ligand 1 expression and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, HCC and BTC are theoretically good candidates for immune checkpoint blockade. However, clinical activity of single agent immunotherapy appears limited to a subset of patients, which is still ill-defined, and combinations are under investigation. In this review, we provide an overview of (i) the biological rationale for immunotherapies in HCC and BTC, (ii) the current state of their clinical development, and (iii) the predictive value of immune signatures for both clinical outcome and response to these therapies.
Alignment of Perceived Competencies and Perceived Job Tasks among Primary Care Managers

In this study we aimed to explore how managers in primary health care (PHC) organizations assess their managerial knowledge and skills, as well as the importance of these competencies for their job, and to identify whether there is an alignment between these two perceptions; therefore, whether there is a need for management competency improvement. With this study, we tried to address a high demand for information about health managers, especially in health systems in low- and middle-income countries. In a sample of 58 primary health care centers (n = 106 managers) in Serbia, we used a basic managerial competency matrix consisting of the following six competencies—communication, team-building, planning and priority-setting, performance assessment, problem-solving, and leading. Managerial perception of the importance of their job tasks differs by educational level and managerial position. The best alignment between the importance of knowledge and skills was for communication and leading. The study pointed out that managers were aware of the necessity to improve their level of managerial competencies, particularly in the domains of planning and priority-setting, performance assessment, and problem solving. The study highlights the need for formal managerial education for managers in PHC settings and commitment to continuously evaluate and improve management competencies in order to better manage PHC.