Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Community-Level Impacts of Management and Disturbance in Western Michigan Oak Savannas

Abstract Midwestern oak savanna systems are typically defined by their open canopy and the co-existence of scattered mature oak trees and a ground layer dominated by herbaceous vegetation. The structure of these systems is thought to be primarily maintained by disturbance such as fire. In this study we examined the plant community of 21 different oak savanna sites in western Lower Michigan, U.S.A. , across a coarse disturbance gradient created by different management practices. Herbaceous community composition differed significantly across a variety of management approaches, while overall diversity remained similar. Indicator species analysis (ISA) identified several species commonly associated with mixed oak forest understories (e.g., Maianthemum canadense) as indicators for recently abandoned oak savanna sites, whereas the indicators identified for managed or heavily disturbed sites included common savanna-associates (e.g., Lupinus perennis). Variation in soil characteristics (C:N ratio and pH) and canopy cover may be driving these differences in plant community composition between management approaches. These results reinforce the importance of disturbance to Midwestern oak savanna ecosystems. Furthermore, if long-term management goals include encouraging the establishment and maintenance of herbaceous oak savanna-associated plant species, disturbance created through management activities, such as hand cutting, will likely yield better results over inaction, especially where using fire is not an option.
In-Vitro Probiotic Potential of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated From ‘Wakalim’, a Traditional Ethiopian Fermented Beef Sausage

BACKGROUND: Probiotics are live microbial food supplements which beneficially affect the host by improving the intestinal microbial balance. To be used as a probiotic, a bacterial strain is required to have good tolerance to acidity of the stomach and bile salt of the upper small intestine. Report on the probiotic efficacy of lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional Ethiopian fermented foods, including ‘wakalim’, is scanty. Although lactic acid bacteria are known for their probiotic potential, the probiotic efficiency of Lactobacillus species are strain specific. The objective of this study was to evaluate the probiotic potential of strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from ‘wakalim’, a traditional Ethiopian fermented beef sausage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, the in-vitro probiotic potentials of lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermenting ‘wakalim’ were evaluated. ‘Wakalim’ was prepared following traditional techniques. Strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from ‘wakalim’ and evaluated for their probiotic potential were identified to species level using API 50CHL kits. The strains were investigated for tolerance to acidity (pH=2.0, 2.5, 3.0) and bile salt (oxgall) concentrations ranging from 0.3%-1.0% following the standard procedures. RESULTS: Of the total 99 strains of lactic acid bacteria isolates, 44 (44.0%) tolerated pH 3.0 and bile salt concentration ≥ 0.3% for 3 hours. The highest tolerance to pH 3.0 was observed among the pediococci (81.6%, 31/38) followed by lactobacilli (14.3%, 8/56). All the few isolates of lactococci, Leuconostoc, and Weissella were also tolerant to pH 3.0. The difference in resistance to low acidity and bile salt concentration (≥ 0.3%) of pediococci was statistically significant (p<0.05) from the Lactobacillus species. CONCLUSIONS: Strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional Ethiopian fermented sausage have promising in-vitro probiotic potential. Therefore, consumption of fermented sausages could have health enhancing effect.
Um Olhar sobre o Stress nas Mulheres com Infarto Agudo do Miocárdio

Resumo Fundamento: As mulheres parecem ser mais suscetíveis ao estresse psicossocial quando comparadas aos homens, e o estresse está associado a piora na evolução clínica dos pacientes após o infarto agudo do miocárdio (IAM). Objetivos: Investigar se o sexo feminino é preditor independente de risco para o estresse e comparar os níveis de estresse entre mulheres e homens com IAM. Métodos: Estudo transversal de uma série de casos, realizado entre janeiro de 2017 e junho de 2018. Pacientes com idade entre 18 e 65 anos, atendidos na instituição por IAM nesse período. A existência de estresse foi avaliada por meio do Inventário de Sintomas de Stress para Adultos de LIPP (ISSL), que o categoriza em quatro fases: alerta, resistência, quase exaustão e exaustão, com base em uma lista de sintomas físicos e psicológicos. Os dados foram analisados pelo programa estatístico Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) versão 24.0. O nível de significância adotado foi um valor de p < 0,05. Resultados: Dos 330 entrevistados, 89% das mulheres e 70% dos homens apresentaram estresse; o sexo feminino quase triplicou as chances de sofrê-lo (EXP (B) 2,79; p = 0,02). Quanto às quatro fases, as mulheres mostraram-se mais em quase exaustão e exaustão, e os homens, mais em resistência. Conclusões: Este estudo evidenciou que as mulheres se encontram na terceira e quarta fases do estresse, ou seja, em situações de estresse psicossocial duradouras. Tais resultados podem auxiliar no desenvolvimento de estratégias específicas para prevenção e promoção da saúde conforme os sexos, visando minimizar os efeitos do estresse nesses pacientes.
Acceptability and Effectiveness of NHS-Recommended e-Therapies for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress: Meta-Analysis

Background There is a disconnect between the ability to swiftly develop e-therapies for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and stress, and the scrupulous evaluation of their clinical utility. This creates a risk that the e-therapies routinely provided within publicly funded psychological health care have evaded appropriate rigorous evaluation in their development. Objective This study aims to conduct a meta-analytic review of the gold standard evidence of the acceptability and clinical effectiveness of e-therapies recommended for use in the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. Methods Systematic searches identified appropriate randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Depression, anxiety, and stress outcomes at the end of treatment and follow-up were synthesized using a random-effects meta-analysis. The grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation approach was used to assess the quality of each meta-analytic comparison. Moderators of treatment effect were examined using subgroup and meta-regression analysis. Dropout rates for e-therapies (as a proxy for acceptability) were compared against controls. Results A total of 24 studies evaluating 7 of 48 NHS-recommended e-therapies were qualitatively and quantitatively synthesized. Depression, anxiety, and stress outcomes for e-therapies were superior to controls (depression: standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.38, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.52, N=7075; anxiety and stress: SMD 0.43, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.63, n=4863), and these small effects were maintained at follow-up. Average dropout rates for e-therapies (31%, SD 17.35) were significantly higher than those of controls (17%, SD 13.31). Limited moderators of the treatment effect were found. Conclusions Many NHS-recommended e-therapies have not been through an RCT-style evaluation. The e-therapies that have been appropriately evaluated generate small but significant, durable, beneficial treatment effects. Trial Registration International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) registration CRD42019130184; https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero/display_record. php? RecordID=130184
Circulating Cytokine Levels in the Treatment of Comorbid Anxiety Disorders.

OBJECTIVE Psychotherapy research aims to investigate predictors and moderators of treatment outcome, but there are few consistent findings. This study aimed to investigate cytokines in patients undergoing treatment for anxiety disorders and whether the level of cytokines moderated the treatment outcome. METHODS Thirty-seven patients with comorbid and treatment-resistant anxiety disorders were investigated using multilevel modelling. Serum cytokine levels were measured three times: pretreatment, in the middle of treatment, and at the end of treatment. Anxiety and metacognitions were measured weekly throughout treatment by self-report. RESULTS The levels of MCP1, TNF-α, and IL-1RA did not change during therapy or were not related to the level of anxiety. Metacognitive beliefs predicted anxiety, but the relationship between metacognitions and anxiety was not moderated by cytokines. Limitations of the study include that the patients were not fasting at blood sampling, and we did not assess body mass index, which may affect cytokine levels. The lack of significance for cytokines as a predictor or moderator may be due to a lack of power for testing moderation hypotheses, a problem associated with many psychotherapy studies. CONCLUSION Cytokines did not predict the outcome in the treatment of comorbid anxiety disorders in our sample. Furthermore, cytokines did not moderate the relationship between metacognitions and anxiety.
Intramucosal squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus: is surgery still an option?

Endoscopic resection is a valid treatment modality for early ESCC when lesions have no or only minimal risk of lymph node invasion. Provided the tumor is well differentiated and no lymphovascular involvement is seen on pathology, endoscopic resection is curative for intraepithelial lesions (T1am1) and lesions invading the lamina propria (T1am2), and potentially curative for lesions reaching the muscularis mucosae (T1am3) or the shallow submucosa <200μm (T1bsm1). Indeed, while the risk of lymph node metastases is < 2% for T1a m1–2 ESCC, it has been reported to be >10% for T1am3 in several studies [2]. However, this latter figure was mainly observed in surgical series, while the rates of lymph node and organ metastases from endoscopically resected T1am3 ESCC range from 2.9% to 8.7% [3, 4]. This discrepancy could be explained by pathologists handling the surgically and endoscopically resected specimens differently, resulting in a relative understaging of the T stage of the surgical specimens, and by the inclusion of various proportions of T1am3 lesions with lymph node involvement and poor differentiation. In this issue of Endoscopy, Oda et al. report the long-term outcomes of the Japan Esophageal Cohort study, which included 330 patients with endoscopically resected intramucosal ESCC across 16 Japanese centers [5]. This is the first prospective and multicenter study on the long-term outcomes of endoscopic resection for intramucosal ESCC. In 2020, the question is not whether or not intramucosal ESCC can be safely resected endoscopically by expert endoscopists, but what rates of local, metachronous, and distant recurrences one should expect after endoscopic resection of a T1a ESCC. The prospective design, the rigorous endoscopic follow-up protocol (every 3 months and every 6 months thereafter), which included computed tomography (CT) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), and the 49.4 months median follow-up period contribute to the robustness of the data presented. The authors included 396 lesions, with a mean size of 20.4mm, of which 53 (16.2%) were T1am3 lesions. They observed two cases (2/330, 0.6%) of lymph node metastases, both in patients with T1am3 lesions (2/53, 3.8%), with a metastatic disease course and unfavorable outcome even after rescue surgery. Unfortunately, the authors did not specify the tumor differentiation grade or the presence of lymIntramucosal squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus: is surgery still an option?
ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF HIP MUSCLE ACTIVATION DURING A SINGLE LIMB SQUAT LATERAL SLIDE EXERCISE.

Background Slider exercises, which may use a gliding disc or "slider", are dynamic exercises used for strengthening. They are proposed to increase challenge as the friction between the body and ground is decreased which increases the demands on muscles of the weight bearing limb. Hypothesis and purpose The purposes of this study were (1) to compare the electromyographic (EMG) activity level of hip muscles of the weight bearing limb while performing a single limb slide squat to that of a standard isometric squat and (2) to investigate the influence of trunk position on hip EMG activity. It was hypothesized that the single limb slide squat would elicit greater hip EMG activity than an isometric squat and trunk position would influence EMG activity. Study Design Analytic, observational cross-sectional study design.Methods: Twenty healthy male participants (age = 23.7 ± 1.3) volunteered. EMG hip muscle activation of the stance leg was measured during a single limb slide squat and as a comparison, the same leg during a standard double limb isometric squat. Both exercises where performed with a knee flexion angle of 60˚ and the trunk positioned 40˚ (flexed trunk) and 60˚ (upright trunk) relative to the floor. Surface electrodes were used to collect EMG data. Results EMG activity of the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, biceps femoris and rectus femoris was significantly greater with both single limb slide exercises as compared to both squat exercises. EMG activity was greater with the flexed trunk as compared to the upright trunk for the biceps femoris. Conclusion Slider exercises produced a moderate or high level of activation for all muscles whereas all squat exercises produced a low-level activation. Level of Evidence Level 3 Mechanism-based reasoning intervention study trial.
The Influence of Poststudy Action Congruency on Memory Consolidation

Abstract. The actions associated with objects are thought to be automatically activated when processing object names. Recent studies, however, have failed to find evidence for a role of the motor system in long-term memory for objects. One exception is a study by van Dam et al. (2013) in which participants studied object names associated with pressing (e.g., doorbell) or twisting (e.g., jar), followed by pressing or twisting actions in a seemingly unrelated task. In the final memory test, performance for action congruent words was better than for action incongruent words. We aimed to generalize these findings. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found no effect of action congruency on repetition priming in lexical decision and man-made/natural decision. In Experiment 3, the action congruency manipulation was administered immediately after initial study or a day later, just prior to the recognition memory test. We found no effects of action congruency and timing of the action. Finally, Experiment 4 was a direct replication of Experiment 1 of van Dam et al. (2013). Again, we failed to find an effect of poststudy action congruency. Thus, we obtained no evidence for the view that motor actions play a role in long-term memory for objects.
Digestibility and growth performance of DorperAfar F1 sheep fed Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) hay supplemented with alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Lablab (Lablab purpures), Leucaena leucocephala and concentrate mixture

A study was conducted to determine effect of supplementation with isonitrogenous level of concentrate mixture (CM; 33% noug seed cake (NSC) and 67% wheat bran (WB)), alfalfa, lablab, and Leucaena leucocephala (LL) on feed intake, digestibility, daily body weight gain (ADG) and net return of sheep kept on Rhodes grass hay (RGH) basal diet. Twenty four yearling male Dorper×Afar F1 crossbred sheep were used in completely randomized block design blocked by initial body weight into 6 blocks of 4 animals and allocated to one of the treatments. Treatments were RGH fed ad libitum to all treatments plus 300 g/day CM (T1), 286 g/day alfalfa hay (T2), 326 g/day lablab hay (T3) and 299 g/day LL hay (T4). The study contained 90 days feeding and 7 days digestibility trials. The CP, NDF and ADF contents of RGH was 11, 77 and 51%, respectively. The CP contents of NSC, WB, alfalfa, lablab and LL were 32, 17, 23, 20 and 22%, respectively. Among the supplements alfalfa and lablab had relatively higher NDF and ADF levels. Total DM intake differed among treatments and was greater (P T1 = T2 > T3 (P 0.05) with all other treatments. The apparent digestibility of CP was greater for T1 than T2 and T3, but values for T4 was similar with the other treatments (82.3, 78.7, 78.3 and 80.4 (SEM = 0.02) for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively). ADG was 65, 45, 40 and 69 g/day (SEM = 8.36) for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively and the values were greater (P 0.05). The net return in the currents study was 836, 797, 888 and 982 ETB. Thus, based on biological performance and net return, T4 and T1 outweighs other treatments. However, all supplements used in this study induced favorable ADG and thus can be employed in feeding systems depending on their availability and relative cost. Key words: Isonitrogenous, crossbred, digestibility, ADG, RGH, DM, SEM.
Development of aldose reductase inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory disorders and cancer: current drug design strategies and future directions.

Aldose Reductase (AR) is an enzyme that converts glucose to sorbitol during the polyol pathway of glucose metabolism. AR has been shown to be involved in the development of secondary diabetic complications due to its involvement in causing osmotic stress as well as oxidative stress. Various AR inhibitors have been tested for their use to treat secondary diabetic complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy in clinical studies. Recent studies also suggest the potential role of AR in mediating various inflammatory complications. Therefore, the studies on the development and potential use of AR inhibitors to treat inflammatory complications and cancer besides diabetes currently are on rising. Further, genetic mutagenesis studies, computer modeling, and molecular dynamics studies have helped design novel and potent AR inhibitors. This review discussed the potential new therapeutic use of AR inhibitors in targeting inflammatory disorders and cancer besides diabetic complications. Further, we summarized recent studies on how AR inhibitors have been designed and developed for therapeutic purposes in the last few decades.
Differentiation of pain levels by deploying various electroencephalogram synchronization features and a dynamic ensemble selection mechanism

Objective: The aim of this study was to measure pain intensity in an objective manner by analyzing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Although this problem has attracted the attention of researchers, increasing the resolution of this measurement by increasing the number of pain states significantly decreases the accuracy of pain level classification. Approach: To overcome this drawback, we adopt state-of-the-art synchronization schemes to measure the linear, nonlinear and generalized synchronization between different EEG channels. Thirty-two subjects executed the cold pressor task and experienced five defined levels of pain while their EEGs were recorded. Due to the large number of synchronization features from 34 channels, the most discriminative features were selected using the greedy overall relevancy method. The selected features were applied to a dynamic ensemble selection system. Main results: Our experiment provides 85.6% accuracy over the five classes, which significantly improves upon the results of past research. Moreover, we observed that the selected features belong to the channels placed over the ridge of the cortex, the area responsible for processing somatic sensation arising from nociceptive temperature. As expected, we noted that continuation of the painful stimulus for minutes engaged regions beyond the sensorimotor cortex (e.g. the prefrontal cortex). Significance: We conclude that the amount of synchronization between scalp EEG channels is an informative tool in revealing the pain sensation.
Pro-apoptotic properties and mitochondrial functionality in platelet-like-particles generated from low Aspirin-incubated Meg-01 cells

Abstract Long-term therapy with low Aspirin (ASA) dose is basis to prevent thrombotic acute events. However, the anti-platelet mechanisms of ASA remain not completely known. The aim was to analyze if in vitro exposure of human megakaryocytes to low ASA concentration may alter the apoptotic features of the newly formed platelets. Cultured Meg-01 cells, a human megakaryoblastic cell line, were stimulated to form platelets with 10 nmol/L phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) in the presence and absence of ASA (0.33 mmol/L). Results revealed that platelet-like particles (PLPs) derived from ASA-exposed Meg-01 cells, showed higher content of pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Bak than PLPs from non-ASA incubated Meg-01 cells. It was accompanied of reduced cytochrome C oxidase activity and higher mitochondrial content of PTEN-induced putative kinase-1 in PLPs from ASA-incubated Meg-01 cells. However, only after calcium ionophore A23187 stimulation, caspase-3 activity, the cytosolic cytochrome C content, and reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential were higher in PLPs from ASA-incubated megakaryocytes than in those from Meg-01 without ASA. Nitric oxide synthase 3 content was higher in PLPs from ASA-exposed Meg-01 cells than in PLPs from non-ASA incubated Meg-01 cells. The L-arginine antagonist, NG-Nitro-L-arginine Methyl Ester, reduced caspase-3 activity in A23187-stimulated PLPs generated from ASA-incubated Meg-01 cells. As conclusions exposure of megakaryocyte to ASA promotes that the newly generated PLPs have, under stimulating condition, higher sensitivity to go into apoptosis than those PLPs generated from Meg-01 cells without ASA. It could be associated with differences in mitochondrial functionality and NO formation.
Signatures of post-glacial genetic isolation and human-driven migration in the Dothistroma needle blight pathogen in western Canada.

Many current tree improvement programs are incorporating assisted gene flow strategies to match reforestation efforts with future climates. This is the case for the lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia), the most extensively planted tree in western Canada. Knowledge of the structure and origin of pathogen populations associated with this tree would help improve the breeding effort. Recent outbreaks of the Dothistroma needle blight (DNB) pathogen Dothistroma septosporum on lodgepole pine in British Columbia and its discovery in Alberta plantations raised questions about the diversity and population structure of this pathogen in western Canada. Using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) on 119 D. septosporum isolates from 16 natural pine populations and plantations from this area, we identified four genetic lineages, all distinct from the other DNB lineages from outside of North America. Modeling of the population history indicated that these lineages diverged between 31.4 and 7.2k years ago, coinciding with the last glacial maximum and the post-glacial recolonization of lodgepole pine in western North America. The lineage found in the Kispiox Valley from British Columbia, where an unprecedented DNB epidemic occurred in the 1990s, was close to demographic equilibrium and displayed a high level of haplotypic diversity. Two lineages found in Alberta and Prince George (British Columbia) showed departure from random mating and contemporary gene flow, likely resulting from pine breeding activities and material exchanges in these areas. The increased movement of planting material could have some major consequences by facilitating secondary contact between genetically isolated DNB lineages, possibly resulting in new epidemics.