Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Neuroprotective Effects of Melatonin: Possible Role in the Pathophysiology of Neuropsychiatric Disease

Melatonin is a hormone that is secreted by the pineal gland. To date, melatonin is known to regulate the sleep cycle by controlling the circadian rhythm. However, recent advances in neuroscience and molecular biology have led to the discovery of new actions and effects of melatonin. In recent studies, melatonin was shown to have antioxidant activity and, possibly, to affect the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In addition, melatonin has neuroprotective effects and affects neuroplasticity, thus indicating potential antidepressant properties. In the present review, the new functions of melatonin are summarized and a therapeutic target for the development of new drugs based on the mechanism of action of melatonin is proposed.
Rationally Designed, Conformationally Constrained Inverse Agonists of RORγt ‒ Identification of a Potent, Selective Series with Biologic-Like In Vivo Efficacy.

RORt is an important nuclear receptor that regulates the production of several pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-17 and IL-22. As a result, RORt has been identified as a potential target for the treatment of various immunological disorders such as psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases. Structure and computer assisted drug design led to the identification of a novel series of tricyclic RORt inverse agonists with significantly improved in vitro activity in the reporter (Gal4) and human whole blood assays compared to our previous chemotype. Through careful SAR, several potent and selective RORt inverse agonists have been identified. Pharmacokinetic studies allowed the identification of the lead molecule 32 with a low peak-to-trough ratio. This molecule showed excellent activity in an IL-2/IL-23-induced mouse pharmacodynamic study and demonstrated biologic-like efficacy in an IL-23-induced preclinical model of psoriasis.
An Improved Energy-Efficient Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Cluster-based hierarchical routing protocols play an essential role in decreasing the energy consumption of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). A low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) has been proposed as an application-specific protocol architecture for WSNs. However, without considering the distribution of the cluster heads (CHs) in the rotation basis, the LEACH protocol will increase the energy consumption of the network. To improve the energy efficiency of the WSN, we propose a novel modified routing protocol in this paper. The newly proposed improved energy-efficient LEACH (IEE-LEACH) protocol considers the residual node energy and the average energy of the networks. To achieve satisfactory performance in terms of reducing the sensor energy consumption, the proposed IEE-LEACH accounts for the numbers of the optimal CHs and prohibits the nodes that are closer to the base station (BS) to join in the cluster formation. Furthermore, the proposed IEE-LEACH uses a new threshold for electing CHs among the sensor nodes, and employs single hop, multi-hop, and hybrid communications to further improve the energy efficiency of the networks. The simulation results demonstrate that, compared with some existing routing protocols, the proposed protocol substantially reduces the energy consumption of WSNs.
Communicating risk differences between electronic and combusted cigarettes: the role of the FDA-mandated addiction warning and a nicotine fact sheet

Introduction The US Food and Drug Administration requires e-cigarettes to carry a nicotine addiction warning. This research compared the effects of messages communicating comparative risk of electronic and combusted cigarettes (CR messages) with and without the mandated warning and tested the effects of showing a nicotine fact sheet (NFS) before exposure to CR messages with warning. Method In an online experiment, 1528 US adult smokers were randomised to one of four conditions: (1) three CR messages, (2) three CR messages in condition one with an addiction warning, (3) an NFS followed by the three messages in condition 2 and (4) control messages. Outcomes included message reactions and perceived effectiveness, e-cigarette-related and cigarette-related beliefs and behavioural intentions and nicotine-related beliefs. Results CR messages with and without an addiction warning did not differ. The NFS condition produced higher odds of correctly understanding the risk of nicotine and stronger beliefs that switching to e-cigarettes could reduce health risks (response efficacy) than other treatments. Compared with control, all messages made it more likely for people to report e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes and increased response efficacy and switch intentions to e-cigarettes. Only NFS condition increased correct beliefs about the risk of nicotine and self-efficacy about switching to e-cigarettes. Conclusion Including an addiction warning on CR messages did not reduce intentions to switch to e-cigarettes. Communicating accurate risk of nicotine together with CR messages and addiction warning increased smokers’ self-efficacy beliefs about switching completely to e-cigarettes, making it a potentially promising antitobacco communication strategy.
Protein and Proteome Atlas for Plants under Stresses: New Highlights and Ways for Integrated Omics in Post-Genomics Era

In the post-genomics era, integrative omics studies for biochemical, physiological, and molecular changes of plants in response to stress conditions play more crucial roles. Among them, atlas analysis of plants under different abiotic stresses, including salinity, drought, and toxic conditions, has become more important for uncovering the potential key genes and proteins in different plant tissues. High-quality genomic data and integrated analyses of transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomics, and phenomic patterns provide a deeper understanding of how plants grow and survive under environmental stresses. This editorial mini-review aims to synthesize the 27 papers including two timely reviews that have contributed to this Special Issue, which focuses on concluding the recent progress in the Protein and Proteome Atlas in plants under different stresses. It covers various aspects of plant proteins ranging from agricultural proteomics, structure and function of proteins, novel techniques and approaches for gene and protein identification, protein quantification, proteomics for post-translational modifications (PTMs), and new insights into proteomics. The proteomics-based results in this issue will help the readers to gain novel insights for the understanding of complicated physiological processes in crops and other important plants in response to stressed conditions. Furthermore, these target genes and proteins that are important candidates for further functional validation in economic plants and crops can be studied.
Concurrent T cell leukaemia and equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis in a Hanoverian Warmblood mare

Summary Equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis (EMPF) and primary leukaemia are uncommon diseases in horses. This case report describes a horse with both diseases which might be linked via the equine γ-herpesvirus EHV-5. In man Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), also a γ-herpesvirus, is associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis as is EHV-5 with EMPF. Furthermore, EBV is also associated with lymphoproliferative disease. Similarly in horses, primary leukaemia might be associated with EHV-5. This is the first report associating EHV-5 with primary leukaemia in horses.
Increased leptin, decreased adiponectin and FGF21 concentrations in adolescent offspring of women with gestational diabetes.

OBJECTIVE Fetal exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases the risk of metabolic diseases in the offspring. Leptin, adiponectin, and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) may play potential roles in the underlying disease mechanisms. We investigated the impact of fetal exposure to GDM on leptin, adiponectin, and FGF21 concentrations and their associations with measures of adiposity and metabolic traits during childhood/adolescence. DESIGN AND METHODS The follow-up study included 504 GDM and 540 control offspring aged 9-16 from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Anthropometric measurements, fasting blood samples, puberty status and fat percentages by Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry were examined. Serum concentrations of leptin, adiponectin, and FGF21 were measured by validated immune assays. RESULTS GDM offspring had 38% (95% CI: 22-55%) higher leptin, 0.6mg/L (95% CI -1.2, -0.04mg/L) lower adiponectin, and 32% (95% CI: -47%, -12%) lower FGF21 concentrations than control offspring (p<0.05). After adjustment for confounders including maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, GDM offspring had borderline higher leptin (p=0.06) and significantly lower FGF21 concentrations (p=0.006). When accounting for offspring BMI z-score, GDM exposure had no significant independent effect on leptin or adiponectin concentrations whereas FGF21 was still significant. In univariate analyses, leptin and adiponectin were associated with fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, and adiposity, and FGF21 with total fat percentage. CONCLUSIONS GDM offspring had higher leptin, lower adiponectin and FGF21 concentrations than control offspring. Elevated leptin and decreased adiponectin concentrations associated with adverse metabolic traits and were most likely driven by higher obesity prevalence among GDM offspring. The functional implications of decreased FGF21 concentrations among GDM offspring need to be further explored.
Downregulation of S100a7a antimicrobial peptide in acne vulgaris patients after isotretinoin therapy

The S100a7a protein is expressed in keratinocytes, its level is increased in acne condition. As isotretinoin therapy is known to alter some of S100 peptides, these could be important specific targets for acne therapy and may have an important role in clinical remission. A randomized controlled trial was held in a dermatology clinic in Baghdad, where 30 patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris condition aged 16–31 years were enrolled. Five milliliters of venous blood samples were taken before and after 6 weeks of isotretinoin therapeutic trial. A placebo‐control group of 26 acne patients was also enrolled. The S100a7a peptide was measured in both groups using the ELISA technique before and after the trial. High levels of serum S100a7a were found in acne patients of both groups before therapeutic trial. Following the trial, a significant statistical difference (p = .0003) was noticed between mean S100a7a protein level of study and control groups. By comparing the mean S100a7a protein level before and after isotretinoin therapy in the study group, a highly significant statistical difference was also found (p = .001). The current study showed a downregulatory effect of isotretinoin therapy on the S100a7a peptide mean level.
3D Reconstruction of Slug Flow in Mini-Channels with a Simple and Low-Cost Optical Sensor

The present work provides a new approach for 3D image reconstruction of gas-liquid two-phase flow (GLF) in mini-channels based on a new optical sensor. The sensor consists of a vertical and a horizontal photodiode array. Firstly, with the optical signals obtained by the vertical array, a measurement model developed by Support Vector Regression (SVR) was used to determine the cross-sectional information. The determined information was further used to reconstruct cross-sectional 2D images. Then, the gas velocity was calculated according to the signals obtained by the horizontal array, and the spatial interval of the 2D images was determined. Finally, 3D images were reconstructed by piling up the 2D images. In this work, the cross-sectional gas-liquid interface was considered as circular, and high-speed visualization was utilized to provide the reference values. The image deformation caused by channel wall was also considered. Experiments of slug flow in a channel with an inner diameter of 4.0 mm were carried out. The results verify the feasibility of the proposed 3D reconstruction method. The proposed method has the advantages of simple construct, low cost, and easily multipliable. The reconstructed 3D images can provide detailed and undistorted information of flow structure, which could further improve the measurement accuracy of other important parameters of gas-liquid two-phase flow, such as void fraction, pressure drop, and flow pattern.
Phonocardiography-based mitral valve prolapse detection using an artificial neural network

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is the most common valve anomaly and most often cause of isolated mitral insufficiency. MVP has mostly benign course and prognosis in childhood, while the complications like severe mitral regurgitation, infectious endocarditis, pulmonary embolism, arrhythmia and sudden death more often occur with elderly people, which demands prompt diagnostics and prevention. Due to its frequent occurrence, diagnostic failure and clinical importance of early MVP detection, the aim of this study was to develop an original, non-invasive and easily applicable diagnostic method for MVP detection in children and adolescents by using artificial neural network (ANN). Cardiac sounds in 48 children with MVP, 49 healthy children and 38 children with pathological heart murmur of atrial septal defect (ASD), ventricular septal defect (VSD), ductus arteriousus persistence (DAP), aortic stenosis (AS), pulmonic stenosis (PS), aortic coarctation (ACo), mitral regurgitation (MR), mitral insufficiency (MI) and tricuspid insufficiency (TI) were recorded by auscultation using electronic stethoscope. In electronic stethoscope the sound is archived in internal memory of the stethoscope and then transmitted to a computer memory by a transmitter. Basic software for checkup and analysis of sound is delivered together with electronic stethoscope and provides phonocardiograph and spectral presentation of auscultative finding. In further qualitative analysis, phonocardiogram in digital form (format *. е4k) is transformed into standard*. wav format, which is the first step in the processing of digital signal, study and testing of ANN. The obtained precision of MVP classification category was 71.2%, while total precision of category identification of 73.62% was the result of averaging all four cross-validation steps. These results can be interesting in phonocardiograph MVP diagnostics of children and adolescents. Key words: phonocardiography – mitral valve prolapse –neural network
Typical ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with normal coronary arteries: a case report

Myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) is a potentially multipathogenic syndrome that affects a subgroup of patients who present with acute myocardial infarction yet have no significant coronary artery disease on angiography. We herein describe a 71-year-old man with typical angina who showed inferior ST-segment elevation on electrocardiography and an increased troponin-I level. Emergency coronary angiography showed no angiographic stenosis. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) and myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) with two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI) were performed after coronary angiography. Good consistency was observed between the CMR findings and MCE with 2D-STI findings in identifying the potential causes of MINOCA. We explored an imaging method that is potentially more effective and accurate than CMR, namely MCE combined with 2D-STI, to identify myocardial abnormalities when angiography reveals no obstruction. This application of MCE with 2D-STI may optimize timely treatment. MINOCA has various causes, and the patient in this case was discharged with aspirin, verapamil, and atorvastatin on the presumption that the infarct had arisen from either plaque disruption or coronary spasm. In this study, we analyzed the etiology, clinical diagnosis, and treatment of MINOCA with reference to the relevant literature.
Redefining a "new normality": A hermeneutic phenomenological study of the experiences of patients with chronic heart failure.

AIM To explore the perception of normality in life experienced by patients with chronic heart failure. DESIGN A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted. METHODS Individual conversational interviews were held with 20 outpatients with chronic heart failure between March 2014 and July 2015. Van Manen's phenomenology of practice method was used for data analysis. RESULTS From the analysis, four main themes emerged: a) Accepting my new situation; b) Experiencing satisfaction with life; c) Continuing with my family, social and work roles; and d) Hiding my illness from others. CONCLUSIONS The present study makes a novel contribution to understanding the importance of the perception of normality in the lives of patients with chronic heart failure. It was found that patients need to incorporate this health experience into their lives and reach a "new normal", thus achieving well-being. Several factors were identified that can help promote this perception in their lives; therefore, nursing interventions should be designed to help develop scenarios encouraging this normalization process. IMPACT Although the implications of having a sense of normality or experiencing "normalization" of the illness process in life have been studied in other chronic patient populations, no studies to date have examined how patients with chronic heart failure experience this phenomenon in their lives. For the first time, the results of this research prove that the perception of normality is a key aspect in the experience of living with chronic heart failure.
Maternal Blood Concentration of Tadalafil and Uterine Blood Flow in Pregnancy

Background and Objectives: Tadalafil for treatment of fetal growth restriction (FGR) or preeclampsia is given once a day orally. The drug kinetics of tadalafil were investigated to determine the ideal dosage to promote uterine blood flow. Materials and Methods: We recruited five pregnant women with FGR or preeclampsia before administration of tadalafil, all of which were administered tadalafil (20 mg/day, once-daily dosing). The blood concentration of tadalafil was measured 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 24 h after administration, and uterine blood flow was measured before tadalafil administration and 2–4 and 20–24 h after. We then analyzed the correlation between tadalafil blood concentration and uterine artery blood flow. Results: The blood concentration of tadalafil correlated with uterine artery blood flow in pregnant women. The blood concentration of tadalafil and uterine artery blood flow decreased 5 h after administration of tadalafil. Conclusions: The blood concentration of tadalafil and uterine artery blood flow fluctuate in parallel, the latter was decreased by reduced blood concentration. Thus, a study of tadalafil administered twice a day in pregnant women will be needed to stabilize uterine artery blood flow.
Tailoring Cod Gelatin Structure and Physical Properties with Acid and Alkaline Extraction

Gelatin (G) was extracted from the skin of Atlantic cod at different pH of the aqueous phase (pH 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9) and at a temperature of 50 ± 1 °C. The yield of gelatin (G3, G4, G5, G8, and G9, respectively) was 49–55% of the dry raw material. The influence of extraction pH on the physicochemical and functional properties of gelatin was studied. Sample G5 was characterized by higher protein content (92.8%) while lower protein content was obtained for sample G3 (86.5%) extracted under more aggressive conditions. Analysis of the molecular weight distribution showed the presence of α- and β-chains as major components; the molecular weight of the samples ranged between 130 and 150 kDa, with sample G5 having the highest molecular weight. IR spectra of all samples had absorption bands characteristic of fish gelatin. The study of the secondary structure demonstrated higher amounts of ordered triple collagen-like helices for G5 extracted under mild conditions. Accordingly, sample G5 formed gels with high values for the storage modulus and gelling and melting temperatures, which decrease as pH changes into acidic or alkaline regions. In addition, the differential scanning calorimetry data showed that G5 had a higher glass transition temperature and melting enthalpy. Thus, cod skin is an excellent source of gelatin with the necessary physicochemical and functional properties, depending on the appropriate choice of aqueous phase pH for the extraction.
Animal Pain: A Practice-Oriented Approach to Effective Pain Control in Animals

The stated purpose o_f the editor and the contributing authors is to provide readers with the tools to achieve adequate pain relief in animals more effectively. The contributing authors are recognized experts from North America and Europe, which gives the book a broader perspective than do most texts on pain management. The book includes excellent chapters on the ethics of pain control in companion animals, the changing roles of animals in modern society, the recognition of pain behavior in animals, and the clinical pharmacology of analgesic agents. The book also includes chapters on the clinical management of pain in dogs, cats, horses, and exotic animals. Some of the chapters were well referenced, others had only a few references. There were a number of grammatical and typographical errors throughout the text, including a grammatical error in the title. For the most part, the book achieved its stated objective. The chapters on the ethics of pain control and the recognition of pain behavior in companion animals are the major strengths of the book. There are also a number of tables in each of the chapters on the clinical management of pain that allow rapid access to drug and dosage information for various species. A major weakness of the book is the limited amount of information on local and regional anesthetic techniques — including a complete lack of illustrations. An additional weakness is the absence of information on the management of pain in animals raised for food and fiber (ruminants and swine). In summary, the book is a good introductory text for veterinary technicians, students, and practitioners seeking a broad overview of the management of pain in animals.
Deep Learning of Fuzzy Weighted Multi-Resolution Depth Motion Maps with Spatial Feature Fusion for Action Recognition

Human action recognition (HAR) is an important yet challenging task. This paper presents a novel method. First, fuzzy weight functions are used in computations of depth motion maps (DMMs). Multiple length motion information is also used. These features are referred to as fuzzy weighted multi-resolution DMMs (FWMDMMs). This formulation allows for various aspects of individual actions to be emphasized. It also helps to characterise the importance of the temporal dimension. This is important to help overcome, e.g., variations in time over which a single type of action might be performed. A deep convolutional neural network (CNN) motion model is created and trained to extract discriminative and compact features. Transfer learning is also used to extract spatial information from RGB and depth data using the AlexNet network. Different late fusion techniques are then investigated to fuse the deep motion model with the spatial network. The result is a spatial temporal HAR model. The developed approach is capable of recognising both human action and human–object interaction. Three public domain datasets are used to evaluate the proposed solution. The experimental results demonstrate the robustness of this approach compared with state-of-the art algorithms.
Optimal timing and dosing of platelet transfusions

Background Over the past 20 years there have been more than 20 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that have investigated various aspects of platelet transfusion therapy in haematology/oncology patients. These studies have focused on the best platelet product, the importance of ABO compatibility, pathogen inactivation of platelets, platelet triggers and the optimal platelet dose.