Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nutritional, Physical, Cognitive, and Combination Interventions and Frailty Reversal among Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Hintergrund Physische Frailty beschreibt einen Risikozustand älterer Menschen aufgrund eines Niedergangs verschiedener physischer Systeme, einhergehend mit einer reduzierten physiologischen Resistenz gegenüber Stressoren [3]. Die Betroffenen haben ein erhöhtes Risiko für negative Gesundheitsereignisse, wie z. B. Krankenhauseinweisung, Pflegebedürftigkeit oder Stürze. Die Prävalenz der Frailty bei älteren Menschen liegt in der Bevölkerungsgruppe 65+ bei 14–24% [12]. Eine der am weitesten verbreiteten Definitionen der Frailty ist die der Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), in der Fried et al. [6] Frailty als einen Phänotyp beschreiben. Die 5 Kriterien dieses sogenannten Frailty-Phänotyps umfassen ungewollten Gewichtsverlust, langsame Gehgeschwindigkeit, Muskelschwäche (Handkraft), Erschöpfung und physische Inaktivität, weshalb bei dieser Definition von „physischer Frailty“ gesprochen wird [7]. Eine Reduktion bzw. „Heilung“ der physischen Frailty durch geeignete Interventionen gilt grundsätzlich als möglich. Eine Vielzahl klinischer Studien untersuchte die Effekte von Ernährungsinterventionen, körperlichem und kognitivem Training auf physische und funktionelle Outcomes bei älteren Menschen [4, 8, 10, 13, 15]. Vor allem körperliches Training gilt als wirksam, um physische Parameter, wie z. B. Körperzusammensetzung, Muskelkraftund Muskelfunktion sowie funktionelle Fähigkeiten wie Mobilität und das Gleichgewicht positiv zu beeinflussen [4, 15]. Ernährungsinterventionen zeigen widersprüchliche Ergebnisse [8, 10, 14]. Einige wenige vorläufige Studien liefern erste Hinweise, dass kognitives Training geeignet zu sein scheint, um Gehgeschwindigkeit, Gleichgewicht und Selbstständigkeit in den Aktivitäten des täglichen Lebens (ADL) zu verbessern oder zu erhalten [13, 18]. Es existieren nur wenige Studien, in denen die Probanden anhand eines spezifischen und validierten Frailty-Instruments ausgewählt wurden. Die vorliegende Studie ist laut den Autoren die erste, die die Effekte der einzelnen Interventionen sowie in Kombination auf das Frailty-Syndrom als primäres Outcome untersuchte.
Cytokines in atherosclerosis: an intricate balance

Atherosclerosis is the underlying pathology in the majority of clinical manifestations of cardiovascular diseases, which are nowadays the main global cause of mortality. Atherosclerosis is a lipid-driven chronic inflammatory disease of the arterial wall. This inflammatory response, with cytokines as important mediators, is essential throughout all stages of atherosclerosis development and progression. It is known that an inflammatory imbalance is present in atherosclerosis, where numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IFNγ are known to promote atherosclerosis development, while anti-inflammatory cytokines like IL-10 are considered to be anti-atherogenic in general. Many experimental atherosclerosis studies have indeed shown that modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines reduces atherosclerotic lesion size and severity, and vice versa for the anti-inflammatory cytokines. As the inflammatory response is crucial for atherogenesis, modulation of inflammation will be of value in the search for new atherosclerosis therapies. Therefore, in this thesis the role of the interferons and of IL-10 in the immune response in atherosclerosis was studied by the use of treatment and myeloid specific knockout models. Additionally, the functional contribution of interferons in atherogenesis with regards to foam cell formation and foam cell inflammatory responses was assessed. This thesis provides the interferons and IL-10 as novel targets to influence the immunological imbalance in atherosclerosis. However, further characterization of these potential targets is still required to determine their clinical feasibility as atherosclerosis treatment.
Perceived Usability and the Modified Technology Acceptance Model

ABSTRACT In response to recent criticism of the usefulness of the construct of usability, we investigated the relationships between measures of perceived usability and the components of a modified version of the Technology Acceptance Model (mTAM) – Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease-of-Use (PEU). In three surveys, respondents used SUS, UMUX-LITE and mTAM to rate their actual (as opposed to expected) experience with three software products. As expected, the correlations between PEU and other measures of perceived usability tended to be significantly stronger than those with PU. Additional findings support the use of the UMUX-LITE as a compact measure of perceived usability that has a strong relationship to the mTAM and strong correspondence with concurrently collected SUS scores. The main theoretical result of this research were regression results providing evidence that the PEU component of the mTAM appears to be another measure of the construct of perceived usability, connecting the TAM to the construct of perceived usability through the mTAM and providing evidence against the claim that the construct of usability is a theoretical dead end.
In Silico-based Study of Cytochrome P450 and Multidrug Resistance Protein 1 from Docking Perspective to Understand Kidney Failure

Background: The need to identify causes of drug induced kidney failure has been underscored by International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) regulated agencies. In our earlier studies on adverse drug reaction (ADR) reported in Canada Vigilance Adverse Reaction Online Database it was observed that drugs azathioprine, clozaril/clozapine, diclofenac sodium, diflucan/ fluconazole, furosemide, indomethacin, metformin, micardis/ telmisartan, viread/tenofovir, and zyprexa/olanzapine lead to kidney failure. Method: Attempts have been made to understand the physiological process via bioinformatics perspective. This was done by active site identification for cytochrome P450 along with multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1). Docking against the drugs in these proteins that are categorically involved in drug binding based on their pharmacological actions are as per drug bank annotations. Results: Cytochrome P450 2C19 protein showed better interactions with drug indomethacin with a maximum score of –119.2 kcal/mol followed by drug clozaril with a score of –102.5 kcal/mol. This was finally followed by of drug zyprexa with a score of –101.0 kcal/mol. The residues which are actively involved with the drug indomethacin include Arg97 and Arg433. Drug clozaril shows interaction with Ala297. For drug zyprexa the residues like Arg97, Ala297 and Cys435 interact with the protein. For MRP1, even though it showed better binding scores for drugs azathioprine, indomethacin, diflucan and furosemide. But still, they are not able to interact within the pocket, leaving it empty during docking studies. Conclusion: Through this study, it was possible to identify active site pocket in the related proteins and the interacting amino acid residues of cytochrome P450 that may contribute to drug induced kidney failure.
Antibiotic potential of phytochemicals in Punica granatum pericarp and their proposed mechanism of action by in silico studies

Aim: Punica granatum is a very important plant with commercial interest and is known for its antioxidant potential. The pericarp is a leftover unwanted part of the fruit that has been reported to have several medicinal uses in traditional medicine. This study focuses on analyzing the antibacterial potential of the pericarp extracts and predicts its mechanism of action by in silico studies. Materials and Methods: Antibacterial activity of P. granatum extracts was analyzed using agar-well-diffusion assay. The phytochemicals reported from pericarp of P. granatum were analyzed for ADMET properties using SwissADME tool. The molecules were subjected to protein-ligand docking study using AutoDock-4. Results: Polar extracts of the pericarp demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), i.e., acetone extract showed highest activity with 18 mm zone of inhibition against MRSA and ethanol extract showed 16 mm zone of inhibition against S. aureus. The non-polar extract had no significant antibacterial activity. All ten molecules were predicted to be suitable drug-like molecules, with biocompatible physiochemical parameters. Among the analyzed ten phytochemical molecules, flavogallol and ursolic acid demonstrated significant enzyme inhibition potential against dihydrofolate reductase and topoisomerase-IV with a free binding energy of −11.0 kcal/mol and −10.7 kcal/mol, respectively. Conclusion: This suggests that the phytochemicals in the polar extracts of P. granatum pericarp exhibit a synergistic antagonism against Gram-positive bacteria. Further purification of individual molecules and investigation of their antagonistic activity are currently IN progress.
Manas Digitais: um relato sobre Ensino de Programação em Escolas Públicas no Estado do Pará

There is a worldwide concern about the small number of women in the Information Technology areas. Companies and universities have been campaigning and launching special programs and projects for career women or young people who want to enter these areas. As the Digital Manas have as objective the practice of motivational and informative character with the students of the Elementary and High School, the gender equality in the careers and courses of the Computing areas, conducting Programming workshops in 5 public schools, using Computation as a resource. Unplugged. When reviewing recent results, consider whether you can use the concepts of Programming Logic in Basic Way and Fun Teaching. Resumo. Há uma preocupação mundial com a diminuição do número de mulheres nas áreas da Tecnologia da Informação. Empresas e universidades têm feito campanhas e lançado programas e projetos especiais para mulheres que estão na carreira ou para jovens que desejem ingressar nessas áreas. As Manas Digitais têm como objetivo a realização de práticas de caráter motivacional e informativo com alunas de Ensino Fundamental e Médio visando à equidade de gênero nas carreiras e cursos das áreas de Computação, realizando oficinas de Programação em 5 escolas públicas, utilizando como recurso a Computação Desplugada. Ao analisar os resultados iniciais, considera-se que é possível introduzir conceitos de Lógica de Programação no Ensino Básico de maneira lúdica e divertida.
The biopsychosocial-spiritual health of active duty women

ABSTRACT Women have been an active part of the military since the beginning of American history, holding various roles in the military for centuries. The purpose of this review is to explore the literature pertaining to the biopsychosocial and spiritual health of active duty women. These comparisons help to highlight factors that are most unique to women who are serving in our active duty armed forces. The current review revealed that while active duty women and men report similar levels of resiliency, and women may be no more susceptible to the negative effects of combat than men, there is evidence that active duty women experience higher levels of posttraumatic stress due to physical and sexual trauma in the military aside from combat exposure. Findings suggest that further research is needed to better understand the unique challenges of women in the military in order to create service delivery models that support the BPSS health of women in order to maintain mission readiness and retain women in the military.
Participants’ Gender and Theoretical Knowledge of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation after Two Methods of CPR Training

Introduction: Adequate information on influence of gender on CPR could help to adjust or improve future education in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This study aimed at assessing the possible impact of gender on the post-training theoretical knowledge of bystander CPR involving both the conventional CPR group and the hands-only CPR group. Materials and Method: Using a quasi-experimental cohorts design, two cohorts of some University students were exposed to the conventional CPR and hands-only CPR techniques. Before CPR trainings, 140 copies of a self-administered questionnaire on the knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were distributed to assess the pre-training CPR theoretical knowledge of the participants - 70 of them in each of the two cohorts. The participants were again served the same questionnaire in the post-training stage to respond to the same questions on CPR theoretical knowledge. The data was analysed with descriptive statistics and the ANOVA with the level of significance set at P < 0.05. Results: The male gender was found to have statistically significant association with post-training CPR knowledge in one of the questions in the hands-only CPR group and another one in the conventional CPR group (P < 0.05), while the female gender had statistically significant association with post-training CPR knowledge in one question in the conventional group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Although statistically significant gender associations were found in three of the CPR knowledge questions, this study has revealed no consistent gender association with either of the genders with neither of the CPR training techniques.
ACCEPTED AUTHOR VERSION OF THE MANUSCRIPT: Polymorphisms in JAK2 gene are associated with production traits and mastitis resistance in dairy cattle

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the JAK2 gene on the production and mastitis related traits in dairy cattle. Blood and milk samples were collected from 201 lactating dairy cattle of three breeds i.e. Holstein Friesian (HF), Jersey (J) and Achai (A) and their crosses maintained at well-established dairy farms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Generalized linear model was used to evaluate the association between genotypes and the studied traits. A DNA pool was made from randomly selected 30 samples which revealed three SNPs i.e. SNP 1 in 5 / upstream region (G>A, rs379754157), SNP 2 in intron 15 (A>G, rs134192265), and SNP 3 in exon 20 (A>G, rs110298451) that were further validated in the population under study using SNaPshot technique. Of the three SNPs, SNP 1 did not obey Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ( P <0.05). SNP 2 and SNP 3 were found to be in strong linkage disequilibrium and allele G was highly prevalent compare to allele A in these SNPs. In SNP 1, the GG genotype was associated with significantly ( P < 0.01) higher SCC whereas, SNP 2 and SNP 3 were significantly ( P < 0.01) associated with higher lactose percentage compared to the other genotypes. The haplogroups association analysis revealed that H1H2 (GG GG AG) has significantly lower SCC than H2H2 (GG GG GG). The results infer that JAK2 could be an important candidate gene and the studied SNPs might be useful genetic markers for production and mastitis related traits. studies have shown that SNPs in JAK-STAT pathway related genes have significant effect on different inflammatory diseases in different species as well as productive traits in cattle. Therefore, the present study evaluated the association of SNPs in JAK2 gene with production and mastitis-resistance traits in dairy cattle under sub-tropical conditions of Pakistan. To our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating the effect of SNPs in the JAK-STAT pathway related genes on mastitis resistance and productive traits in various dairy cattle breeds of Pakistan.
Genetics of male infertility and related genes within Y chromosome

Objective: The infertility is a reproductive health problem that affects nearly 7% of all couples in the human population. It has been estimated that nearly 50% of infertility cases are due to genetic defects. Male infertility may be contributory to 30 - 40 % of infertile couples. Male infertility focuses on genetic factors impairing spermatogenesis and structural abnormalities such as Y chromosome microdeletions. The Y chromosome microdeletions are the most frequent genetic cause of male infertility. In this review article, we will focus on the structural abnormality and related gene functions on infertility.
Lung Endothelial Injury Induced by HNA-3a Antibodies in TRALI

Abstract 40 Transfusion related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a severe side-effect of blood transfusion characterized by the acute onset of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema. Meanwhile, TRALI turned out to be the leading cause of transfusion related fatalities. Accumulated evidence demonstrates that antibodies against human neutrophil antigens (HNAs) play a major role in the pathomechanism of TRALI. Recent studies show that antibodies against the allelic isoform of choline transporter like protein 2 (CTL-2 Arg154 isoform; also known as HNA-3a) are associated with high TRALI mortality. The mechanism underlying this fatal reaction, however, is not clear. In this study, we aimed to identify the mechanism of fatal TRALI induced by HNA-3 antibody under in vitro as well as in vivo conditions. Analysis of mRNA by real-time PCR in different blood cells and endothelial cells (EC) revealed abundant copies of CTL-2 transcripts in ECs in comparison to neutrophils and platelets. This result was confirmed by immunochemical analysis using rabbit antibody specific for CTL-2 as well human antibodies against HNA-3a. In contrast to treatment of neutrophils, treatment of EC with HNA-3a antibodies, but not with antibodies against the antithetical allelic CTL-2 isoform (Gln154 isoform; HNA-3b), leads to significant production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). When HNA-3aa EC monolayers were treated with human anti-HNA-3a antibodies, a significant increase in albumin-FITC influx in transwell system was observed when compared to controls. In line with this observation, a strong reduction of transendothelial electrical resistance was measured. Microscopically, drastic stress fiber formation and gap formation was visible. Immunoblotting analysis of HNA-3a treated ECs showed a significant degradation of VE-cadherin. This observation indicates that anti-HNA-3a antibodies induce EC barrier disturbance via ROS-mediated destabilization of VE-cadherin in cell junctions. Accordingly, this antibody-mediated barrier leakage can be ameliorated by the vasoactive peptide adrenomedulin (ADM), which prevents cell destruction in response to oxidative stress. In an in vivo murine model of TRALI , with lipopolysaccharide primed C57BL/6 mice upon injection of HNA-3a antibodies a significant increase in lung weight and elevated concentration of albumin and number of neutrophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage was observed, indicating the formation of lung edema in these mice. Neutrophil depletion mitigated this effect in mice, but failed to prevent TRALI. Our data demonstrate the direct influence of transfused HNA-3a antibodies on endothelial barrier integrity in vitro as well as in vivo . This novel mechanism of TRALI may be helpful in defining prevention and treatment strategies in order to decrease transfusion mortality. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Evaluating Software Testing Techniques: A Systematic Mapping Study

Software testing techniques are crucial for detecting faults in software and reducing the risk of using it. As such, it is important that we have a good understanding of how to evaluate these techniques for their e ciency, scalability, applicability, and e↵ectiveness at finding faults. This thesis enhances our understanding of testing technique evaluations by providing an overview of the state of the art in research. To accomplish this we utilize a systematic mapping study; structuring the field and identifying research gaps and publication trends. We then present a small case study demonstrating how our mapping study can be used to assist researchers in evaluating their own software testing techniques. We find that a majority of evaluations are empirical evaluations in the form of case studies and experiments, most of these evaluations are of low quality based on proper methodology guidelines, and that relatively few papers in the field discuss how testing techniques should be evaluated.
Repeated Use of IMF-Supported Programs: Determinants and Forecasting

This paper studies the determinants of repeated use of Fund-supported programs in a large sample covering virtually all General Resources Account (GRA) arrangements that were approved between 1952 and 2012. Generally, the revolving nature of the IMF’s resources calls for the temporary sup-port of member countries to address balance of payments problems while repeated use has often been viewed as program failure. First, using probit models we show that a small number of country-specific variables such as growth, the current account balance, the international reserves position, and the institutional framework play a significant role in explaining repeated use. Second, we discuss the role of IMF-specific and program-specific variables and find evidence that a country’s track record with the Fund is a good predictor of repeated use. Finally, we conduct an out-of-sample forecasting exer-cise. While our approach has predictive power for repeated use, exact forecasting remains challenging. From a policy perspective, the results could prove useful to assess the risk IMF programs pose to the revolving nature of the Fund’s financial resources.
Dental visits may prevent penumonia

Several sources are reporting on a paper presented at IDWeek that showed people with a regular dental checkup had half the incidence of bacterial pneumonia (1). Michelle Doll and colleagues used the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from 2013. The researchers were able to assess participants' access to dental care and used ICD-9 codes to look for bacterial pneumonia in the previous year. The survey had data on 26,687 people, including 441 who had an episode of bacterial pneumonia. Thirty-four percent of those who developed pneumonia reported having at least two dental checkups a year, compared with 46% of those who did not. It is important to point out that this is an observational study and there were significant differences between those who developed and did not develop bacterial pneumonia. Those who got pneumonia were: more likely to be white and older, with an average age of 47 versus 40; more likely to have comorbidities and cognitive limitations; and less likely to have dental insurance.
Accelerated multiobjective design of miniaturized microwave components by means of nested kriging surrogates

Design of microwave components is an inherently multiobjective task. Often, the objectives are at least partially conflicting and the designer has to work out a suitable compromise. In practice, generating the best possible trade‐off designs requires multiobjective optimization, which is a computationally demanding task. If the structure of interest is evaluated through full‐wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis, the employment of widely used population‐based metaheuristics algorithms may become prohibitive in computational terms. This is a common situation for miniaturized components, where considerable cross‐coupling effects make traditional representations (eg, network equivalents) grossly inaccurate. This article presents a framework for accelerated EM‐driven multiobjective design of compact microwave devices. It adopts a recently reported nested kriging methodology to identify the parameter space region containing the Pareto front and to render a fast surrogate, subsequently used to find the first approximation of the Pareto set. The final trade‐off designs are produced in a separate, surrogate‐assisted refinement process. Our approach is demonstrated using a three‐section impedance matching transformer designed for the best matching and the minimum footprint area. The Pareto set is generated at the cost of only a few hundred of high‐fidelity EM simulations of the transformer circuit despite a large number of geometry parameters involved.