Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extracorporeal Carbon Dioxide Removal in the Treatment of Status Asthmaticus.

OBJECTIVES Venovenous extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal may be lifesaving in the setting of status asthmaticus. DESIGN Retrospective review. SETTING Medical ICU. PATIENTS Twenty-six adult patients with status asthmaticus treated with venovenous extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Demographic data and characteristics of current and prior asthma treatments were obtained from the electronic medical record. Mechanical ventilator settings, arterial blood gases, vital signs, and use of vasopressors were collected from the closest time prior to cannulation and 24 hours after initiation of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal. Extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal settings, including blood flow and sweep gas flow, were collected at 24 hours after initiation of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal. Outcome measures included rates of survival to hospital discharge, ICU and hospital lengths of stay, duration of invasive mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal support, and complications during extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal. Following the initiation of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal, blood gas values were significantly improved at 24 hours, as were peak airway pressures, intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure, and use of vasopressors. Survival to hospital discharge was 100%. Twenty patients (76.9%) were successfully extubated while receiving extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal support; none required reintubation. The most common complication was cannula-associated deep venous thrombosis (six patients, 23.1%). Four patients (15.4%) experienced bleeding that required a transfusion of packed RBCs. CONCLUSIONS In the largest series to date, use of venovenous extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal in patients with status asthmaticus can provide a lifesaving means of support until the resolution of the exacerbation, with an acceptably low rate of complications. Early extubation in select patients receiving extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal is safe and feasible and avoids the deleterious effects of positive-pressure mechanical ventilation in this patient population.
Next-generation sequencing in clinical virology: A review of its applications

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has emerged as the most useful technique for wide-scale detection of infection-causing pathogens. Owing to the increasing demand for cost-effective and quick DNA sequencing protocols, many research groups have reported the use of NGS for lab research and experimentation. NGS has revolutionized the field of DNA sequencing by helping sequence big data and overcomes the limitations associated with Sangers sequencing. In the current manuscript, we have aimed to review the feasibility of using NGS in public and clinical health laboratories for disease diagnostics. We believe that this review will add to the available literature by highlighting the important aspects of NGS in the characterization of various pathogens which cannot be grown using culture media and other conventional approaches. Keywords: Biotechnology; Clinical application; Next-Generation Sequencing; Virology; Whole viral genome http://dx.doi. org/10.19045/bspab.2020. 90250
Gender and social network brokerage: A meta-analysis and field investigation.

In this article, we aim to address 2 important questions: (a) Are women less likely than men to occupy network brokerage positions? And if so, (b) what mechanisms may explain their fewer brokerage roles? Study 1, a meta-analysis examining gender differences in network brokerage, analyzed a cumulative sample of 15,743 individuals (69 independent samples) to show that women were less likely to be brokers in both instrumental and expressive networks, which partly explained their lower career success. Study 2, a follow-up study with 2 independent samples of new employees (n = 150 and 245, respectively), examined both structural opportunity (job-based opportunity and workplace discrimination) and individual agency (proactive networking) as potential mechanisms underlying the relationship between gender and network brokerage. Results of these 2 samples consistently show that proactive networking mediated gender's effect on network brokerage that was measured 6 months after the new employees entered their organizations. The predictions regarding the mediation effects of job-based opportunity and workplace discrimination were not supported. Our findings offer valuable insights into the relative positions of women and men in informal structures of organizational networks, advance our understanding of gender inequality in career outcomes, and shed new light on the relative importance of individual agency and structural opportunity in explaining individuals' occupancy of advantageous network positions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Spin dynamics at interfaces on femtosecond timescales

The excitation of magnetically ordered materials with ultrashort laser pulses results in magnetization dynamics on femto- to picosecond timescales. These non-equilibrium spin dynamics have emerged as a rapidly developing research field in recent years. Unraveling the fundamental microscopic processes in the interaction of ultrashort optical pulses with the charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom in magnetic materials shows the potential for controlling spin dynamics on their intrinsic timescales and thereby bring spintronics applications into the femtosecond range. In particular, femtosecond spin currents offer fascinating new possibilities to manipulate magnetization in an ultrafast and non-local manner, via spin injection and spin transfer torque at the interfaces of ferromagnetic layered structures. This topical review covers recent progress on spin dynamics at interfaces on femtosecond time scales. The development of the field of ultrafast spin dynamics in ferromagnetic heterostructures will be reviewed, starting from spin currents propagating on nanometer length scales through layered structures before focusing on femtosecond spin transfer at interfaces. The properties of these ultrafast spin-dependent charge currents will be discussed, as well as the materials dependence of femtosecond spin injection, the role of the interface properties, and competing microscopic processes leading to a loss of spin polarization on sub-picosecond timescales.
The numbers and distribution patterns of large mammals in the Ruaha-Rungwa area of southern Tanzania.

(1) An aerial census of Ruaha National Park, Rungwa and Kizigo Game Reserves, and part of the proposed Mloa-Ilambi Game Controlled Area is described. (2) Zebra, eland, sable, and hartebeest were virtually restricted to the miombo woodlands. Impala and kudu were most common in the rift valley sector of the census zone. Elephants, buffalo, and giraffe occurred throughout the entire area. (3) The 31 500 km2 census zone carried one of the largest elephant populations in Africa, an estimated 43 685 ? 9254 elephants, of which 24 625 ? 7132 were estimated to occur within Ruaha National Park (10 200 km2 in area). The densities of elephants and the combined densities of the other large herbivores were highest in the National Park and lowest in the Game Controlled Area. (4) Within the National Park, comparisons with earlier counts showed an apparent increase in elephant density of 8-10% per annum since 1965. Of the large herbivores, elephants alone showed a significant increase since the 1972 census and only elephant distribution was significantly affected by the distribution of human settlement and hunting. The increase in elephant numbers within the National Park is probably the result of the change in human distribution in the region and a period of higher rainfall.
Rifampicin resistance patterns and dynamics of tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis in Enugu, South Eastern Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a public health problem globally. The burden is further exacerbated in developing countries like Nigeria, by poor diagnosis, management and treatment, as well as rapid emergence of drug-resistant TB. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of drug-resistant TB, determine the rpoB gene mutation patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and model the dynamics of multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) in Enugu, Nigeria. METHODOLOGY A total of 868 samples, from patients accessing DOTS services in designated centres within the zone, were screened by sputum-smear microscopy, while 207 samples were screened by Nucleic Acid Amplification (Xpert® MTB/Rif) Test (NAAT). A deterministic model was formulated to study the transmission dynamics of TB and MDR-TB, using live data generated through epidemiological study. RESULTS The results showed TB prevalence values of 22.1% and 21.3% by sputum-smear and NAAT assays, respectively. Analysis of the rifampicin resistance patterns showed the highest occurrence of mutations (50%) along codons 523 - 527. Factors such as combination therapy, multiple therapy and compliance to treatment had influence on both prevalence and development of TB drug resistance in the population. CONCLUSIONS This first documentation of Rifampicin resistance patterns in MTB from Nigeria shows that a majority of rpoB gene mutations occurred along codons 523 to 527, contrary to the widely reported codon 531 mutation and that multiple interventions such as combination therapy, with good compliance to treatment are needed to reduce both prevalence and development of TB drug resistance in the population.
Poverty, quality of life and psychological wellbeing in adults with congenital heart disease in Chile

The objective of this study was to assess the quality of life and psychological wellbeing of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) in Chile, and to identify other associated factors. The study enrolled 68 patients aged between 18 and 72 (median 29), 35 being females. They completed a questionnaire, which included a quality of life assessment tool (the Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey), a number of psychological scales (the General Health Questionnaire, the Basic Psychological Needs Scales and the Beck Hopelessness Scale), a socioeconomic survey, and some clinical data. CHD patients reported worse scores in those scales assessing physical dimensions of quality of life (physical function (70.5), physical role functioning (64), vitality (65.3)), and general quality of life (58.6), than in emotional or social dimensions. Female gender was associated with lower scores in physical function (59.12 versus 82.66; p<0.01) and physical role functioning (53.68 versus 75; p<0.05); poverty was associated with worse results in physical function (61.92 versus 82.96; p<0.01), role physical (53.21 versus 79.63; p<0.01), vitality (60.89 versus 71.67; p<0.05), social role functioning (70.19 versus 82.87; p<0.05) and bodily pain (65.77 versus 81.2; p<0.05). Furthermore, we found that psychological scales had an association with quality of life, but clinical variables did not show significant correlations to any dimension. Poverty has an impact on the quality of life of CHD patients. This population only has a decrease in the quality of life physical dimensions, suggesting that quality of life depends on many different factors.
Silencing of long non‐coding RNA DLX6‐AS1 weakens neuroblastoma progression by the miR‐513c‐5p/PLK4 axis

Emerging evidence has demonstrated the crucial roles of long noncoding RNAs in human cancers, including neuroblastoma (NB). DLX6 antisense RNA 1 (DLX6‐AS1) has been identified as an oncogenic driver in NB. However, the mechanisms of DLX6‐AS1 in NB progression are not fully understood. Our data showed that DLX6‐AS1 was significantly overexpressed in NB tissues and cells. Moreover, DLX6‐AS1 silencing repressed NB cell viability, colony formation, migration, and invasion, and promoted cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in vitro, as well as decreased tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, DLX6‐AS1 operated as a miR‐513c‐5p sponge. MiR‐513c‐5p mediated the regulation of DLX6‐AS1 on NB cell malignant progression in vitro. PLK4 was a target of miR‐513c‐5p‐ and DLX6‐AS1‐controlled PLK4 expression via sponging miR‐513c‐5p. Furthermore, the suppressive effect of miR‐513c‐5p overexpression on NB cell malignant progression in vitro was reversed by PLK4 upregulation. Our findings identified a novel regulatory mechanism, the DLX6‐AS1/miR‐513c‐5p/PLK4 axis, in NB progression, highlighting a strong rationale for developing DLX6‐AS1 as a new target for NB management.
Dietary patterns and glycaemic control among Qatari adults with type 2 diabetes

Abstract Objective: To assess the association between dietary patterns and glycaemic control among Qatari adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Design: Cross-sectional analysis using data from the Qatar Biobank Study. Poor glycaemic control was defined as HbA1c ≥7·0 %. Dietary patterns were constructed using factor analysis based on habitual food intake assessed by a FFQ. Medication use was based on self-report. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association. Setting: Qatar. Participants: Adults aged ≥18 years (n 1000) with known diabetes. Result: The mean age of the participants was 52·3 (sd 11·5) years. Overall, the prevalence of poor glycaemic control was 57·6 %, and 27·7 % of the participants were insulin users. Three dietary patterns were identified. The modern dietary pattern (high intake of fast food, croissants, white bread and cheese) was inversely associated with poor glycaemic control. The sd increments of the modern pattern had OR for poor glycaemic control of 0·86 (95 % CI 0·68, 1·08) in men and 0·76 (95 % CI 0·61, 0·95) in women. There was a significant interaction between the modern pattern and diabetes medication in men but not in women. In men without diabetes medication, the modern pattern was positively associated with poor glycaemic control with an OR of 2·35 (95 % CI 1·13, 4·87). Conclusions: Male diabetes patients took medication to control diabetes but ate more unhealthy food. In men who were not taking diabetes medication, modern dietary pattern was associated with poor glycaemic control. Promoting healthy eating should be encouraged especially among those under diabetes medication.
Lung ultrasound completely replaced chest X-ray for diagnosing neonatal lung diseases: a 3-year clinical practice report from a neonatal intensive care unit in China

Abstract Background and objective Lung ultrasound (LUS) has been widely used in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of neonatal lung diseases (NLDs), but whether it can replace the routine use of chest X-ray (CXR) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) remains controversial. This paper summarizes the clinical practice of our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) during the past three years to explore the feasibility and necessity of using LUS instead of CXR to diagnose NLDs in the NICU setting. Methods The clinical data and LUS examination results from 1,381 newborn infants with respiratory difficulty who were hospitalized in our NICU from March 2017 to February 2020 were retrospectively collected to analyze the types of lung diseases diagnosed and the reliability of LUS for diagnosing NLDs. Results (1) During this period, 1381 newborn infants with dyspnea were admitted to our NICU, accounting for 41.2% of all hospitalized children. (2) Among the 1381 infants, 17 patients with respiratory distress were confirmed as having severe heart disease by echocardiography, while the remaining 1364 patients had different kinds of lung diseases: pneumonia (697 patients, 51.1%), respiratory distress syndrome (251 patients, 17.4%), transient tachypnea of the newborn (197 patients, 13.3%), atelectasis (89 patients, 5.6%), pneumothorax (46 patients, 3.2%), pulmonary hemorrhage (69 patients, 4.5%), severe pleural effusion (18 patients, 1.32%), congenital pulmonary sequestration (3 patients, 0.22%), bullae of the lung (2 patients, 0.15%), and congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (2 patients). (5) Among the 1381 infants, 217 received CXR examination before admission, which resulted in misdiagnosis in 45 patients (20.7%) and missed diagnosis in 12 patients (5.5%); the missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis rate was 26.3%. Conclusion Our 3-year clinical practice experience indicated that LUS could completely replace chest X-ray for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of NLDs in the NICU. Compared with X-ray, LUS had higher accuracy and reliability in diagnosing NLDs.
Human ABCB1 with an ABCB11-like degenerate nucleotide binding site maintains transport activity by avoiding nucleotide occlusion

Several ABC exporters carry a degenerate nucleotide binding site (NBS) that is unable to hydrolyze ATP at a rate sufficient for sustaining transport activity. A hallmark of a degenerate NBS is the lack of the catalytic glutamate in the Walker B motif in the nucleotide binding domain (NBD). The multidrug resistance transporter ABCB1 (P-glycoprotein) has two canonical NBSs, and mutation of the catalytic glutamate E556 in NBS1 renders ABCB1 transport-incompetent. In contrast, the closely related bile salt export pump ABCB11 (BSEP), which shares 49% sequence identity with ABCB1, naturally contains a methionine in place of the catalytic glutamate. The NBD-NBD interfaces of ABCB1 and ABCB11 differ only in four residues, all within NBS1. Mutation of the catalytic glutamate in ABCB1 results in the occlusion of ATP in NBS1, leading to the arrest of the transport cycle. Here we show that despite the catalytic glutamate mutation (E556M), ABCB1 regains its ATP-dependent transport activity, when three additional diverging residues are also replaced. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the rescue of ATPase activity is due to the modified geometry of NBS1, resulting in a weaker interaction with ATP, which allows the quadruple mutant to evade the conformationally locked pre-hydrolytic state to proceed to ATP-driven transport. In summary, we show that ABCB1 can be transformed into an active transporter with only one functional catalytic site by preventing the formation of the ATP-locked pre-hydrolytic state in the non-canonical site.
Characterization and expression of MUSTN1 gene from different duck breeds

Abstract Muscle growth rate and muscle mass are important economic traits in animal production. Musculoskeletal embryonic nuclear protein 1 (MUSTN1) gene has been implicated in myofusion as well as skeletal muscle growth and repair; however, the exact role and expression of MUSTN1 in different duck breeds are not fully understood. To gain insights into the biological functions of MUSTN1 in skeletal muscle development, the MUSTN1 coding sequence of Pekin ducks (BD) and Cherry Valley ducks (CD) was compared to various other animals using the Editseq in DNAstar and MEGA software. The results showed that the duck had the highest homology with chicken. The RT-qPCR and western blot were performed to estimate the mRNA and protein expression pattern of MUSTN1 in leg muscles of BD and CD at 3 and 6-weeks of age. At 3 weeks of age, the mRNA and protein expression levels of MUSTN1 were significantly higher in BD than in CD (p < 0.05). At 6 weeks, the expression level was higher in BD than in CD. In conclusion, MUSTN1 might play a key role in positive regulation of muscle growth and development of ducks.
Concordance in parent and offspring cortico-basal ganglia white matter connectivity varies by parental history of major depressive disorder and early parental care

Abstract Social behavior is transmitted cross-generationally through coordinated behavior within attachment bonds. Parental depression and poor parental care are major risks for disruptions of such coordination and are associated with offspring’s psychopathology and interpersonal dysfunction. Given the key role of the cortico-basal ganglia (CBG) circuits in social communication, we examined similarities (concordance) of parent–offspring CBG white matter (WM) connections and how parental history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and early parental care moderate these similarities. We imaged 44 parent–offspring dyads and investigated WM connections between basal-ganglia seeds and selected regions in temporal cortex using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography. We found significant concordance in parent–offspring strength of CBG WM connections, moderated by parental lifetime-MDD and care. The results showed diminished neural concordance among dyads with a depressed parent and that better parental care predicted greater concordance, which also provided a protective buffer against attenuated concordance among dyads with a depressed parent. Our findings provide the first neurobiological evidence of concordance between parents-offspring in WM tracts and that concordance is diminished in families where parents have lifetime-MDD. This disruption may be a risk factor for intergenerational transmission of psychopathology. Findings emphasize the long-term role of early caregiving in shaping the neural concordance among at-risk and affected dyads.
An Exploration of the Application of Usability Evaluation Methods by Disabled Users

— The involvement of system users during the system usability evaluation with the full awareness of their specific nature and characteristics is a key factor for achieving effective usability evaluation results. However, conducting usability evaluations for systems designed for disabled users is a challenging process that requires further considerations as compared to other ordinary usability evaluation procedures. This is due to the special needs and conditions of disabled users that must be considered while performing the usability evaluation. Therefore, it is essential to assess the effectiveness of different usability evaluation methods to help the evaluator selecting the most suitable ones for a particular system and a particular user group. The main contribution of this paper is to conduct an analysis of the effectiveness of applying several usability evaluation methods by disabled users. This analysis is based on the special characteristics of users with disabilities and on what adjustments should take place before the evaluation process begins. After conducting this exploratory analysis, we found that usability evaluation methods including inspection and testing methods can be applied to special needs users but many considerations should take place before selecting which methods are most effective. We believe that this work is particularly useful for the novice designers and usability engineers who have never conducted usability evaluations by disabled users before.