Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving measurement feedback systems for measurement-based care

Abstract Objectives: Measurement feedback systems (MFS) are a class of health information technologies developed to facilitate measurement-based care. The individual clinical decision support features within MFS are diverse and their influence on clinicians is largely unknown. This study tested the impact of MFS features on clinicians’ progress assessments and treatment decisions in different scenarios. Method: Clinicians (n = 299) were randomly assigned to view one of six combinations of the following MFS features: graph, expected change trajectory line, alert, and treatment suggestions. The assigned feature combination was paired with three vignettes and clinical data representing three clinical scenarios: patient deterioration, no progress, and approaching remission. Clinicians answered questions after each vignette, and at the conclusion. Results: MFS features differentially impacted clinicians’ progress assessment accuracy, their likelihood of making a treatment change, and their treatment choices. Which feature was most impactful varied depending on the clinical scenario. Clinicians reported graphs influenced their assessments and choices significantly more than the other features, and the majority stated they would prefer to use all of the features. Conclusions: Specific MFS features impact clinicians’ assessments and choices to greater degrees, and the impact of those features can be influenced by the clinical state of the patient.
Carotid Stenting and Mechanical Thrombectomy in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke and Tandem Occlusions: Antithrombotic Treatment and Functional Outcome

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is no consensus on the optimal antithrombotic medication for patients with acute ischemic stroke with anterior circulation tandem occlusions treated with emergent carotid stent placement and mechanical thrombectomy. The identification of factors influencing hemorrhagic risks can assist in creating appropriate therapeutic algorithms for such patients. This study aimed to investigate the impact of medical therapy on functional and safety outcomes in patients treated with carotid stent placement and mechanical thrombectomy for tandem occlusions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multicenter retrospective study on prospectively collected data was conducted. Only patients treated with carotid stent placement and mechanical thrombectomy for tandem occlusions of the anterior circulation were included. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed on preprocedural, procedural, and postprocedural variables to assess factors influencing clinical outcome, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, stent patency, and successful intracranial vessel recanalization. RESULTS: Ninety-five patients with acute ischemic stroke and tandem occlusions were included. Good clinical outcome (mRS ≤ 2) at 3 months was reached by 33 (39.3%) patients and was associated with baseline ASPECTS ≥ 8 (OR = 1.53; 95% CI, 1.16–2.00), ≤2 mechanical thrombectomy attempts (OR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.55–0.99), and the absence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (OR = 0.13; 95% CI , 0.03–0.51). Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage was associated with a higher amount of intraprocedural heparin, ASPECTS ≤ 7, and ≥3 mechanical thrombectomy attempts. No relationships among types of acute antiplatelet regimen, intravenous thrombolysis, and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage were observed. Patients receiving dual-antiplatelet therapy after hemorrhagic transformation had been ruled out on 24-hour CT were more likely to achieve functional independence and had a lower risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: During carotid stent placement and mechanical thrombectomy for tandem occlusion treatment, higher intraprocedural heparin dosage (≥3000 IU) increased symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage risk when the initial ASPECTS was ≤7, and mechanical thrombectomy needs more than one passage for complete recanalization. Antiplatelets antiplatelets use were safe, and dual-antiaggregation therapy was related to better functional outcomes.
Chondroprotective Actions of Selective COX-2 Inhibitors In Vivo: A Systematic Review

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition mainly characterized by cartilage degradation. Currently, no effective treatment exists to slow down the progression of OA-related cartilage damage. Selective COX-2 inhibitors may, next to their pain killing properties, act chondroprotective in vivo. To determine whether the route of administration is important for the efficacy of the chondroprotective properties of selective COX-2 inhibitors, a systematic review was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. Studies investigating OA-related cartilage damage of selective COX-2 inhibitors in vivo were included. Nine of the fourteen preclinical studies demonstrated chondroprotective effects of selective COX-2 inhibitors using systemic administration. Five clinical studies were included and, although in general non-randomized, failed to demonstrate chondroprotective actions of oral selective COX-2 inhibitors. All of the four preclinical studies using bolus intra-articular injections demonstrated chondroprotective actions, while one of the three preclinical studies using a slow release system demonstrated chondroprotective actions. Despite the limited evidence in clinical studies that have used the oral administration route, there seems to be a preclinical basis for considering selective COX-2 inhibitors as disease modifying osteoarthritis drugs when used intra-articularly. Intra-articularly injected selective COX-2 inhibitors may hold the potential to provide chondroprotective effects in vivo in clinical studies.
A normative study of the Color Trails Test in the adult Indian population

Abstract The Color Trails Test (CTT) is a neuropsychological measure assessing for frontal and executive functioning, while also minimizing the cultural and language barriers inherent in similar measures such as the Trail Making Test (TMT). This study establishes convergent validity for the CTT in the Indian population by comparing participant performance on the CTT and TMT. It also generates culturally appropriate normative data for CTT-Form A among the Indian adult population. Six-hundred and sixty-nine cognitively healthy, community-dwelling individuals between ages 18 and 69 participated in the study and were stratified based on age, gender, and educational attainment. Participant performance on the CTT and TMT were correlated to establish convergent validity. Strong correlation was found between TMT-A and CTT-1 (r = 0.61) and between TMT-B and CTT-2 (r = 0.66). An analysis of variance test was used to determine the mean and standard deviation for each stratified participant group. Further analysis found that age and educational attainment significantly impact participant performance on CTT-1 [F(4, 649) = 4.395, p = 0.002], whereas gender, age, and educational attainment significantly impact participant performance on CTT-2 [F(4,649) = 2.446, p = 0.045]. Normative data generated from this study has important clinical implications and contributes to the growing body of culturally appropriate normative data available for the Indian population.
Taxonomic status of members of the subgenus Erebicambarus, genus Cambarus (Decapoda: Cambaridae), east of the Mississippi River

ABSTRACT In an effort to evaluate and clarify the taxonomic status of crayfishes of the subgenus Erebicambarus east of the Mississippi River morphometric and meristic characters were examined. Multivariate and univariate analyses of characters do not support the recognition of Cambarus laevis and Cambarus ornatus and they are herein considered as synonyms of Cambarus tenebrosus. A pattern of clinal variation in the width of the areola of C. tenebrosus was revealed. Examination of type material of Cambarus cahni supports the designation of Hobbs (1989) of C. cahni as a synonym of C. tenebrosus. An amended key to the subgenus Erebicambarus is provided.
Association between PSA density and pathologically significant prostate cancer: The impact of prostate volume

The early diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) is mainly based on prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) blood levels and digital rectal examination. However, this approach may result in a high rate of negative biopsies and increased detection of clinically insignificant PCa (CS‐PCa). An important prognostic biomarker, PSA density (PSA‐D) demonstrated improved performance in PCa detection compared to PSA. The relationship between prostate volume and the prognostic accuracy of PSA‐D remains mostly unclear. The aim of our study is to investigate the PSA‐D predictive value of CS‐PCa detection at different prostate volumes.
Detecting the Signature of Body Mass Evolution in the Broad-Scale Architecture of Food Webs

Body mass–based links between predator and prey are fundamental to the architecture of food webs. These links determine who eats whom across trophic levels and strongly influence the population abundance, flow of energy, and stability properties of natural communities. Body mass links scale up to create predator-prey mass relationships across species, but the origin of these relationships is unclear. Here I show that predator-prey mass relationships are consistent with the idea that body mass evolves to maximize a dependable supply of resource uptake. I used a global database of ~2,100 predator-prey links and a mechanistic optimization model to correctly predict the slope of the predator-prey mass scaling relationships across species generally and for nine taxonomic subsets. The model also predicted cross-group variation in the heights of the body mass relationships, providing an integrated explanation for mass relationships and their variation across taxa. The results suggest that natural selection on body mass at the local scale is detectable in ecological organization at the macro scale.
Current Antibiotic Resistance Trends of Uropathogens in Central Europe: Survey from a Tertiary Hospital Urology Department 2011–2019

Monitoring of pathogen resistance profiles is necessary to guide empirical antibiotic therapy before culture and sensitivity results become available. The aim of this study was to describe current antibiotic resistance patterns of five most frequent causative uropathogens in a Department of Urology of a tertiary referral centre in Central Europe over a period of nine years. The Hospital Department of Clinical Microbiology database was used to extract data on all positive urine samples from inpatients in the Department of Urology between 2011 and 2019. Numbers of susceptible and resistant isolates per year were calculated for five most frequent uropathogens: Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp. , Klebsiella spp. , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Proteus spp. Antimicrobial agents selected for the survey included: ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, piperacillin/tazobactam; cefuroxime, cefotaxime, ceftazidime and cefepime; ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin; gentamicin and amikacin; ertapenem, meropenem and imipenem; trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (co-trimoxazole), nitrofurantoin, colistin, and vancomycin. High resistance rates of Gram-negative uropathogens were demonstrated to most common antimicrobials, with statistically significant increasing or decreasing trends in some cases. No carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae were isolated. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. strains were rare in our population.
Microsurgical treatment for the recurrent cerebral aneurysm initially treated using coil embolization

Objective Microsurgical treatment could be a good alternative for the treatment of recurrent cerebral aneurysm after coil embolization. The purpose of this study was to present our experience of microsurgical treatment for recurrent cerebral aneurysm previously treated using coil embolization. Methods From June 2012 to May 2019, 34 patients consecutively received microsurgical treatment for a recurrent cerebral aneurysm previously treated using coil embolization after it ruptured. Results Of the 34 patients with aneurysm, 33 had the aneurysm located in the anterior circulation. The most common location was the anterior communicating artery (13 cases). Immediate radiologic outcome at coil embolization was completed (n=6), residual neck (n=26), and residual sac (n=2). The reason for microsurgical treatment included rebleeding (n=12), persistent residual sac (n=1), and recurrence on follow-up study (n=21). Rebleeding occurred within 10 days after coil embolization in 10 cases, and the other 2 were due to regrowth. In the 20 recurred and saccular aneurysms, coil compaction was present in 11 aneurysms and regrowth in 9 aneurysms. Simple neck clipping (n=29) and clipping with coil mass extraction (n=3) was possible in the saccular aneurysms. The blood blister like aneurysm (n=2) were treated using bypass and endovascular internal carotid artery trapping. In the follow-up study group after microsurgical treatment there were no severe complications due to the treatment. Age, cause of retreatment, and modified Rankin Scale before microsurgery were associated with good outcome (p<0.001). Conclusions Microsurgical treatment may be a viable and effective option for treating recurrent aneurysms previously treated by endovascular techniques.
Osteogenic differentiation potential of porcine bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell subpopulations selected in different basal media

ABSTRACT Multipotent porcine mesenchymal stem cells (pMSC) are invaluable for research and therapeutic use in regenerative medicine. Media used for derivation and expansion of pMSC may play an important role for the selection of MSC subpopulation at an early stage and thereby, the specific basal medium may also affect differentiation potential of these cells. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of αMEM, aDMEM, M199, αMEM/M199, aDMEM/M199 and αMEM/aDMEM media on (1) porcine bone marrow MSC derivation; (2) expression of number of osteogenic markers (ALP, COL1A1, SPP1 and BGLAP) at 5th and 10th passage in pMSC before differentiation; and (3) differentiation of pMSC (at 5th passage) to osteogenic lineage. Morphological changes and matrix formation in osteogenic cells were evaluated by microscopic examination. Calcium deposits in osteocytes were confirmed by Alizarin Red S staining. Based on expression of different markers, it was evident that selection of bone marrow pMSC subpopulations was independent of basal media used. However, the differentiation of those pMSCs, specifically to osteogenic lineage, was dependent on the medium used for expansion of pMSC at the pre-differentiation stage. We demonstrated here that the pMSC grown in combined αMEM/aDMEM (1:1) medium expressed number of osteogenic markers and these pMSC underwent osteogenic differentiation most efficiently, in comparison to porcine mesenchymal stem cells grown in other media. In conclusion, osteogenic differentiation potential of pMSC maintained in αMEM/aDMEM medium was observed significantly higher compared to cells cultivated in other media and therefore, the combined medium αMEM/aDMEM (1:1) may preferentially be used for expansion of pMSC, if needed for osteogenic differentiation. Summary: Basal media influence differentiation potential of porcine mesenchymal stem cells (pMSCs). We report here αMEM/aDMEM generates pMSC subpopulations expressing osteogenic markers and differentiate efficiently to osteogenic cells.
Anti-Biofilm Effect of Tea Saponin on a Streptococcus agalactiae Strain Isolated from Bovine Mastitis

Simple Summary Tea saponin (TS), an inexpensive and easily-available plant extract, exhibited antibacterial activity against a Streptococcus agalactiae strain isolated from a dairy cow with mastitis. In addition, TS can inhibit the biofilm formation ability of this strain by down-regulating the transcript levels of biofilm-associated genes including srtA, fbsC, neuA, and cpsE. Hence, TS might be a potential alternative herbal cure for bovine mastitis. Abstract Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) is a highly contagious pathogen which not only can cause neonatal meningitis, pneumonia, and septicemia but is also considered to be a major cause of bovine mastitis (BM), leading to large economic losses to the dairy industry worldwide. Like many other pathogenic bacteria, GBS also has the capacity to form a biofilm structure in the host to cause persistent infection. Tea saponin (TS), is one of the main active agents extracted from tea ash powder, and it has good antioxidant and antibacterial activities. In this study, we confirmed that TS has a slight antibacterial activity against a Streptococcus agalactiae strain isolated from dairy cow with mastitis and inhibits its biofilm formation. By performing scanning electron microscopy (SEM) experiments, we observed that with addition of TS, the biofilm formed by this GBS strain exhibited looser structure and lower density. In addition, the results of real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) experiments showed that TS inhibited biofilm formation by down-regulating the transcription of the biofilm-associated genes including srtA, fbsC, neuA, and cpsE.
The Lipidome Fingerprint of Longevity

Lipids were determinants in the appearance and evolution of life. Recent studies disclose the existence of a link between lipids and animal longevity. Findings from both comparative studies and genetics and nutritional interventions in invertebrates, vertebrates, and exceptionally long-lived animal species—humans included—demonstrate that both the cell membrane fatty acid profile and lipidome are a species-specific optimized evolutionary adaptation and traits associated with longevity. All these emerging observations point to lipids as a key target to study the molecular mechanisms underlying differences in longevity and suggest the existence of a lipidome profile of long life.
Preparation and Properties of Plant-Oil-Based Epoxy Acrylate-Like Resins for UV-Curable Coatings

Novel oil-based epoxy acrylate (EA)-like prepolymers were synthesized via the ring-opening reaction of epoxidized plant oils with a new unsaturated carboxyl acid precursor (MAAMA) synthesized by reacting maleic anhydride (MA) with methallyl alcohol (MAA). Since the employed epoxidized oils including epoxidized soybean oil (ESO), epoxidized rubber seed oil (ERSO), and epoxidized wilsoniana seed oil (EWSO) possessed epoxy values of 7.34–4.38%, the obtained epoxy acrylate (EA)-like prepolymers (MMESO, MMERSO, and MMEWSO) indicated a C=C functionality of 7.81–4.40 per triglyceride. Furthermore, effects of the C=C functionality and the addition of hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) diluent on the ultimate properties of the resulting UV-cured EA-like materials were investigated and compared with those of commercially available acrylated ESO (AESO) resins. As the C=C functionality increased, the storage modulus at 25 °C (E’25), glass transition temperature (Tg), 5% weight–loss temperature (T5), tensile strength and modulus (σ and E), and hardness of the coating for both the pure EA and EA/HEMA resins increased significantly as well. These properties indicated similar trends when comparing the EA materials with 30% of HEMA with those pure EA materials. Specially, although ERSO had a clearly lower epoxy value that ESO, both the UV-cured pure MMERSO and MMERSO/HEMA materials showed much better E’25, Tg, σ, and E than their AESO counterparts, indicating that the MAAMA modification of epoxidized plant oils was much more effective than the modification of acrylic acid to achieve high-performance oil-based epoxy acrylate resins.
Clinical Evidence of Antidepressant Effects of Insulin and Anti-Hyperglycemic Agents and Implications for the Pathophysiology of Depression—A Literature Review

Close connections between depression and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) have been suggested by many epidemiological and experimental studies. Disturbances in insulin sensitivity due to the disruption of various molecular pathways cause insulin resistance, which underpins many metabolic disorders, including diabetes, as well as depression. Several anti-hyperglycemic agents have demonstrated antidepressant properties in clinical trials, probably due to their action on brain targets based on the shared pathophysiology of depression and T2DM. In this article, we review reports of clinical trials examining the antidepressant effect of these medications, including insulin, metformin, glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ agonists, and briefly consider possible molecular mechanisms underlying the associations between amelioration of insulin resistance and improvement of depressive symptoms. In doing so, we intend to suggest an integrative perspective for understanding the pathophysiology of depression.
Extracellular vesicles in spontaneous preterm birth

Feto‐maternal communication helps to maintain pregnancy and contributes to parturition at term and preterm. Endocrine and immune factor are well‐reported communication mediators. Recent advances in extracellular vesicle (EV) biology have introduced them as major communication channels between the mother and fetus. EVs are round structures with a lipid bilayer membrane. EVs are generally categorized based on their size and mode of biogenesis. The most commonly reported EVs are exosomes with a size range of 30‐160 nm that are formed inside the intraluminal vesicles of multivesicular body. Microvesicles (MVs) are larger than > 200 nm and formed by outward budding of plasma membrane. Vesicles are released from all cells and carry various factors that reflect the physiologic state of cell at the time of their release. Analysis of vesicle provides a snapshot of origin cell. Recent studies in perinatal medicine have shown that exosomes are key communicators between feto‐maternal units, and they can cross placenta. Fetal‐derived exosomes released under term labor‐associated conditions can cause parturition‐associated changes in maternal uterine tissues. Exosomes carrying inflammatory cargo can cause preterm birth in animal models suggesting their functional role in parturition. A few reports have profiled differences between exosome cargos from term and preterm pregnancies and indicated their biomarker potential to predict high‐risk pregnancy status. There are hardly any reports on MVs and their functional roles in reproduction. Herein, we review of EVs and MVs, their characteristics, function, and usefulness predicting adverse pregnancy complications such as preterm birth.
Nasal Inflammation and Ulceration Secondary to Repeated Use of an Intranasal Delivery Device in Rabbits

Intranasal administration of drugs is gaining popularity in medicine, and several animal models have been used to test the safety and efficacy of this delivery route. Nevertheless, the nasal anatomy of animals is different from humans, which can lead to pathological changes that stem from the delivery device and not the drug itself. Here, we report on nasal inflammation and ulceration in rabbits, secondary to the repeated trauma caused by the intranasal device. Similar changes were noted in the animals treated with the vehicle and with the tested drug, and therefore, these changes were not attributed to the drug itself. In some animals, superficial ulcer and stromal inflammation were noted in the eyes, secondary to nasal duct obstruction from the nasal inflammation. These observations emphasize the importance of proper interpretation of histopathological changes, attributed to trauma-induced pathological changes related to the handling of the animal and not to the tested product, which is the drug itself and the device that is optimized for clinical (human) use.