Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Postinfarction exercise training alleviates cardiac dysfunction and adverse remodeling via mitochondrial biogenesis and SIRT1/PGC‐1α/PI3K/Akt signaling

Exercise training mitigates cardiac pathological remodeling and dysfunction caused by myocardial infarction (MI), but its underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Our present study in an in vivo rat model of MI determined the impact of post‐MI exercise training on myocardial fibrosis, mitochondrial biogenesis, antioxidant capacity, and ventricular function. Adult male rats were randomized into: (a) Sedentary control group; (b) 4‐week treadmill exercise training group; (c) Sham surgery group; (d) MI group with permanent ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery and kept sedentary during post‐MI period; and (e) post‐MI 4‐week exercise training group. Results indicated that exercise training significantly improved post‐MI left ventricular function and reduced markers of cardiac fibrosis. Exercise training also significantly attenuated MI‐induced mitochondrial damage and oxidative stress, which were associated with enhanced antioxidant enzyme expression and/or activity and total antioxidant capacity in the heart. Interestingly, the adaptive activation of the SIRT1/PGC‐1α/PI3K/Akt signaling following MI was further enhanced by post‐MI exercise training, which is likely responsible for exercise‐induced cardioprotection and mitochondrial biogenesis. In conclusion, this study has provided novel evidence on the activation of SIRT1/PGC‐1α/PI3K/Akt pathway, which may mediate exercise‐induced cardioprotection through reduction of cardiac fibrosis and oxidative stress, as well as improvement of mitochondrial integrity and biogenesis in post‐MI myocardium.
Phage Therapy in the Twenty-First Century: Facing the Decline of The Antibiotic Era; Is it Finally Time for The Age of the Phage?

Burgeoning problems of antimicrobial resistance dictate that new solutions be developed to combat old foes. Use of lytic bacteriophages (phages) for the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections is one approach that has gained significant traction in recent years. Fueled by reports of experimental phage therapy cases with very positive patient outcomes, several early-stage clinical trials of therapeutic phage products have been launched in the United States. Eventual licensure enabling widespread access to phages is the goal; however, new paths to regulatory approval and mass-market distribution, distinct from those of small-molecule antibiotics, must be forged first. This review highlights unique aspects related to the clinical use of phages, including advantages to be reaped as well as challenges to be overcome. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Microbiology Volume 73 is September 9, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews. org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
The Application of Bayesian Optimization and Classifier Systems in Nurse Scheduling

Two ideas taken from Bayesian optimization and classifier systems are presented for personnel scheduling based on choosing a suitable scheduling rule from a set for each person’s assignment. Unlike our previous work of using genetic algorithms whose learning is implicit, the learning in both approaches is explicit, i.e. we are able to identify building blocks directly. To achieve this target, the Bayesian optimization algorithm builds a Bayesian network of the joint probability distribution of the rules used to construct solutions, while the adapted classifier system assigns each rule a strength value that is constantly updated according to its usefulness in the current situation. Computational results from 52 real data instances of nurse scheduling demonstrate the success of both approaches. It is also suggested that the learning mechanism in the proposed approaches might be suitable for other scheduling problems.
CNR1 and FAAH variation and affective states induced by marijuana smoking

ABSTRACT Background: Polymorphisms in cannabinoid receptor type 1 (encoded by CNR1) and fatty acid amide hydrolase (encoded by FAAH) have been associated with cannabis dependence, but it remains unknown whether variation within these genes influences cannabis’ acute effects on affect. Objective: Conduct a secondary data analysis study to determine whether previously observed acute effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on mood was dependent upon variation in CNR1 and FAAH. Methods: A balanced placebo design was used crossing marijuana administration (i.e., 0% THC vs. 2.8% THC) with stimulus expectancy. Participants (N = 118; 64% male) provided DNA and completed the Profile of Mood States questionnaire prior to and after smoking. Haplotypes were constructed from genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms for CNR1 (rs1049353 and rs806368) and FAAH (rs4141964, rs324420, and rs11576941); rs2023239 (CNR1) and rs6703669 (FAAH) were not part of a phased haplotype block. Analyses tested both main and interaction effects for genotype across CNR1 and FAAH, and drug, and expectancy effects. Results: THC increased levels of POMS Tension-Anxiety and Confusion-Bewilderment over and above the effects of variation in CNR1 and FAAH. Significant drug X genotype/haplotype and expectancy X genotype/haplotype interaction effects were observed for some but not all mood states [e.g., ‘C’ allele carriers of rs2023239 who received THC had higher levels of Anger-Hostility (β= 0.29 (0.12), p= . 02) compared to those who received placebo]. Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest individual differences in mood states after using marijuana depend on genetic variation. Such information might be useful in understanding either motivation for use of marijuana and/or risk for associated behaviors.
Is conscious awareness needed for all working memory processes?

Abstract Stein and colleagues argue there is no yet conclusive evidence for nonconscious working memory (WM) and that is critical to probe WM while ensuring null sensitivity to memory cues. While this stringent approach reduces the likelihood of nonconscious signaling for WM, we discuss existing work meeting this null sensitivity criteria, and, related work on nonconscious cognition in keeping with WM/awareness dissociations on the basis of a functional operational definition of WM. Further, because it is likely that WM is a nonunitary functional construct and visual awareness a gradual phenomenon, we propose that delineating the neural mechanisms for distinct WM types across different levels of awareness may prove the most fruitful approach for understanding the interplay between WM and consciousness.
Associations between Fatty Acid Intake and Status, Desaturase Activities, and FADS Gene Polymorphism in Centrally Obese Postmenopausal Polish Women

Fatty acid (FA) status is associated with the risk of several diet-related diseases. Since postmenopausal women are at increased risk of cardiometabolic disturbances, determinants of FA metabolism should be fully understood in this group. We hypothesize that FA metabolism in postmenopausal Polish women may depend on current macronutrient intake and on fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene polymorphism. One-hundred-and-twenty-eight postmenopausal women with central obesity were recruited to the study and their dietary intake, FA composition in red blood cells (RBC), and rs174556, rs174561, rs174547, and rs3834458 polymorphism of the FADS gene were analyzed. Higher levels of 18:2n-6t level in RBC were associated with higher protein or fat intake or with lower carbohydrate intake. The minor allele carriers of rs174561 of the fatty acid desaturase 1 (FADS1) gene had 9.7% lower concentration of 20:4n–6 in RBC (p < 0.05), but there were no other associations between other FA in RBC levels and FADS1 or fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2) polymorphisms. The mean D5D value was 15.3–17.9% lower in the minor allele carriers of each SNPs. We concluded that protein and carbohydrate intake may be associated with FA concentrations in RBC in centrally obese postmenopausal Polish women. The D5D value may be affected by FADS1 or FADS2 polymorphism.
LP-branching algorithms based on biased graphs

We give a combinatorial condition for the existence of efficient, LP-based FPT algorithms for a broad class of graph-theoretical optimisation problems. Our condition is based on the notion of biased graphs known from matroid theory. Specifically, we show that given a biased graph Ψ = (G, Β), where Β is a class of balanced cycles in G, the problem of finding a set X of at most k vertices in G which intersects every unbalanced cycle in G admits an FPT algorithm using an LP-branching approach, similar to those previously seen for VCSP problems (Wahlstrom, SODA 2014). Our algorithm has two parts. First we define a local problem, where we are additionally given a root vertex v0 ∈ V and asked only to delete vertices X (excluding v0) so that the connected component of v0 in G - X contains no unbalanced cycle. We show that this local problem admits a persistent, half-integral LP-relaxation with a polynomial-time solvable separation oracle, and can therefore be solved in FPT time via LP-branching, assuming only oracle membership queries for the class of balanced cycles in G. We then show that solutions to this local problem can be used to tile the graph, producing an optimal solution to the original, global problem as well. This framework captures many of the problems previously solved via the VCSP approach to LP-branching, as well as new generalisations, such as Group Feedback Vertex Set for infinite groups (e.g., for graphs whose edges are labelled by matrices). A major advantage compared to previous work is that it is immediate to check the applicability of the result for a given problem, whereas testing applicability of the VCSP approach for a specific VCSP, requires determining the existence of an embedding language with certain algebraically defined properties, which is not known to be decidable in general.
Wind prevents cliff-breeding birds from accessing nests through loss of flight control

For fast-flying birds, the ability to respond to wind during landing is critical, as errors can lead to injury or even death. Nonetheless, landing ability, and its ecological significance, remain unstudied. We show that for auks, 60% of attempts to land at their cliff nests fail in a strong breeze (80% in near-gale winds). This is most likely because wind interferes with the ability to maintain flight control in the last phase of landing. Their extreme flight costs mean that the energetic penalty for multiple landing attempts is high. We propose that exposure, and ability to respond to, such conditions will influence the suitability of breeding habitat. In support of this (i) auk colonies appear to be orientated away from prevailing winds and (ii) landing success within colonies is higher on crowded ledges with more airspace for manoeuvring. More generally, the interplay between wind and flight capacities could impact breeding distributions across species and scales.
Look Deeper See Richer: Depth-aware Image Paragraph Captioning

With the widespread availability of image captioning at a sentence level, how to automatically generate image paragraphs is yet well explored. Describing an image by a full paragraph involves organising sentences orderly, coherently and diversely, inevitably leading higher complexity than by a single sentence. Existing image paragraph captioning methods give a series of sentences to represent the objects and regions of interests, where the descriptions are essentially generated by feeding the image fragments containing objects and regions into conventional image single-sentence captioning models. This strategy is difficult to generate the descriptions that guarantee the stereoscopic hierarchy and non-overlapping objects. In this paper, we propose a Depth-aware Attention Model (\textitDAM ) to generate paragraph captions for images. The depths of image areas are firstly estimated in order to discriminate objects in a range of spatial locations, which can further guide the linguistic decoder to reveal spatial relationships among objects. This model completes the paragraph in a logical and coherent manner. By incorporating the attention mechanism, the learned model swiftly shifts the sentence focus during paragraph generation, whilst avoiding verbose descriptions on a same object. Extensive quantitative experiments and the user study have been conducted on the Visual Genome dataset, which demonstrate the effectiveness and the interpretability of the proposed model.
Tuberculosis screening among healthcare workers in Sicily, Italy.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a diffuse communicable disease; and healthcare workers (HCWs) are among the at-risk populations for the disease. This study reports the result of TB surveillance in HCWs operating in three hospitals: one classified as 'low' risk for TB and two as 'medium' risk. A total of 2228 HCWs underwent TB screening using the standard Mantoux technique (also known as the tuberculin sensitivity test [TST]). Interfero- γ release assay (IGRA) was carried out in TST-positive subjects. Results showed an overall positivity of 21% to TST and 2% to IGRA test. TST and IGRA results were statistically associated with HCWs born after 1981. This result is due to university policies that highly recommend TB immunization. Data support the use of IGRA assay in TST-positive HCWs, in order to identify latent TB infection from vaccination.
Efficacy of a novel endoscopically deliverable muco-adhesive hemostatic powder in an acute gastric bleeding porcine model

This study investigated the effectiveness of new hemostatic adhesive powder (UI-EWD) in a swine mode of acute gastric bleeding. Gastric ulcer bleeding was induced endoscopically at two locations in each of eight heparinized mini-pigs. UI-EWD and saline were sprayed endoscopically in the experimental (n = 5) and control groups (n = 3), respectively. The hemostatic effect and hydrogel persistence on ulcers were periodically evaluated endoscopically. Initial hemostasis was achieved successfully in all lesions in the experimental group. Follow-up endoscopy showed minor delayed bleeding in 10% at 6 hours in the experimental group, whereas re-bleeding was observed in 50% at 6 hours in the control group. UI-EWD gel persisted at 90%, 80%, and 50% of ulcer bases at 6, 18, and 42 hours post-application, respectively. This study suggests that muco-adhesive UI-EWD may be effective in the endoscopic treatment of active ulcer bleeding.
The Oxidative and Antioxidative Response in Glycine max (L.) Merr. Exposed to Various Abiotic Stress

Soyabean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ] is considered essential due to its high oil production and nutritive value. However, because of the different abiotic and biotic stress, the plant experiences from accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that results in severe oxidative damage. The effect of abiotic stress such as heavy metals, salinity, temperature and drought were detected on soyabean during crop production. Abiotic stress produces several morphological changes in root, stem and leaf of the plants. Plants possess homeostatic cellular mechanism to regulate the level and concentration of various abiotic factors by using several enzymatic and non enzymatic responses. The cell wall and plasma membrane are the main barriers against the metal pollutants and some other compound present in plants like phytochelatin based sequestration etc. Exposure of heavy metal to the plants could lead multiple toxic effects by inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS), which inhibit most cellular processes at various levels of metabolism. The present study summarizes the response of Glycine max to different biotic, abiotic factors as well as heavy metal pollutants.
ELITE MALE AND FEMALE SPRINTERS' BODY BUILD, STRIDE LENGTH AND STRIDE FREQUENCY

Different authors and coaches have been trying to find optimal parameters of sprint strides to improve runners’ speed. In this study the authors discuss which of the stride parameters (length or frequency) has the greatest impact on 100-m results. The study was carried out on a sample of 109 men and 79 women elite sprinters taking part in the 2003 World Championships in Paris. The research revealed that stride frequency decided about the results of the elite female sprinters, while the stride length was the most important stride parameter in male sprinters. Taller male sprinters obtained better 100-m run results. Body mass and body height significantly influenced the stride parameters – the bigger the body mass and height, the longer the strides and the lower stride frequency of the competitors. The research results point to diversity in sprint training programs for men and women.
Predicting Acute Pain After Surgery: A Multivariate Analysis.

OBJECTIVES To identify perioperative practice patterns that predictably impact postoperative pain. BACKGROUND Despite significant advances in perioperative medicine, a significant portion of patients still experience severe pain after major surgery. Postoperative pain is associated with serious adverse outcomes that are costly to patients and society. METHODS The presented analysis took advantage of a unique observational data set providing unprecedented detailed pharmacological information. The data were collected by PAIN OUT, a multinational registry project established by the European Commission to improve postoperative pain outcomes. A multivariate approach was used to derive and validate a model predictive of pain on postoperative day 1 (POD1) in 1008 patients undergoing back surgery. RESULTS The predictive and validated model was highly significant (P = 8.9E-15) and identified modifiable practice patterns. Importantly, the number of nonopioid analgesic drug classes administered during surgery predicted decreased pain on POD1. At least 2 different nonopioid analgesic drug classes (cyclooxygenase inhibitors, acetaminophen, nefopam, or metamizol) were required to provide meaningful pain relief (>30%). However, only a quarter of patients received at least 2 nonanalgesic drug classes during surgery. In addition, the use of very short-acting opioids predicted increased pain on POD1, suggesting room for improvement in the perioperative management of these patients. Although the model was highly significant, it only accounted for a relatively small fraction of the observed variance. CONCLUSION The presented analysis offers detailed insight into current practice patterns and reveals modifications that can be implemented in today's clinical practice. Our results also suggest that parameters other than those currently studied are relevant for postoperative pain including biological and psychological variables.
Topical Phrase Extraction from Clinical Reports by Incorporating both Local and Global Context

Making sense of words often requires to simultaneously examine the surrounding context of a term as well as the global themes characterizing the overall corpus. Several topic models have already exploited word embeddings to recognize local context, however, it has been weakly combined with the global context during the topic inference. This paper proposes to extract topical phrases corroborating the word embedding information with the global context detected by Latent Semantic Analysis, and then combine them by means of the Polya urn ´ model. To highlight the effectiveness of this combined approach the model was assessed analyzing clinical reports, a challenging scenario characterized by technical jargon and a limited word statistics available. Results show it outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in terms of both topic coherence and computational cost.
Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Validation of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) into the Malay Language

Background: Patient feedback is an important tool in assessing health system quality. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) was developed in 2006 as a standardized instrument to assess patient perceptions in the United States of America. This study aimed to translate and validate the HCAHPS questionnaire into the Malay language in order to assess patient perceptions of health services in Malaysia. Methods: The original HCAPHS in English was translated into Malay based on the established guideline. The content validation involved an expert panel of 10 members, including patients. The face validation pilot testing of the HCAHPS-Malay version was conducted among 10 discharged patients. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) used principal axis factor, and varimax rotation was established based on a cross-sectional study conducted among 200 discharged patients from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (Hospital USM). Results: The overall content validity index was 0.87, and the universal face validity index was 0.82. From the EFA, the factor loading value ranged from 0.652 to 0.961 within nine domains. The internal consistency reliability with Cronbach’s alpha was 0.844. Conclusion: The HCAHPS-Malay is a reliable and valid tool to determine patients’ perception of healthcare services among inpatients in Hospital USM based on the content and face validation result together with a good construct validity and excellent absolute reliability. Further testing on HCAHPS-Malay version in other settings in Malaysia needs to be done for cross-validation.
Recurrent Rumen Tympany Caused by Trichobezoars in Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis): A Series Report

This series report was carried out for 3 years on 15 buffaloes suffering from recurrent rumen tympany associated with trichobezoars. Full case history, thorough clinical examination, ferroscopy, and vaginal and trans-rectal examination were carried out in all cases. The affected buffaloes were treated with rumenotomy. All cases were lactating buffaloes and had heavy hair coat. The age of affected buffaloes ranged between 5-10 years. Clinical signs included anorexia, depression, sharp decrease in milk yield, intermittent respiratory distress, recurrent rumen tympany and dehydration. Hematological and biochemical analyses revealed leukocytosis, hypokalemia and hypochloremia. Rumenotomy was curative in all cases and revealed trichobezoars in either rumen (n=14) or rumen and reticulum (n=1). Trichobezoars were black and their number ranged between 2-6 balls/animal. The diameter and weight of the removed hairballs ranged between 10-40 cm and 100-370 g, respectively. All operated animals recovered and gained their normal milk production one day post operative. In conclusion, trichobezoars should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent rumen tympany in buffaloes.