Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of Cytokines on Fetal Immune Programming

Fetal Immune Programming (FIP) is the reset of the normal fetal development due to the changes in the metabolic environment during critical period in the intrauterine life. Barker’s hypothesis states that, uterus is the first environment which the developing fetal immune system encounters. Several reports revealed that intrauterine growth retardation is the cause for increased risk of several non-communicable diseases to the fetus. FIP is connected with maternal immune milieu and hence has a significant impact on the fetal immune system. T-lymphocytes (T-cells) are important for coordinating the immune response and can be characterized into subsets according to their phenotypic characteristics as type-1, type-2 and regulatory T-cells. Each T-cell subset has an exclusive functional role, including their capacity to produce proand anti-inflammatory cytokines in response to an immune challenge. Type 1 T cells produce, interferon-γ, interleukin-2 and tumour necrosis factor-α, which promote cellular immune responses, whereas type 2 T cells produce IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, IL10 and IL-13 that provide optimal help for humoral immune responses. Although it is known that T cell cytokines produced in response to fetal molecules could have a role in fetal programming and fetal immune outcomes, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of the immune components at various levels are yet to be elucidated. The present review outlines the role of cytokines on fetal immune programming which would aid in understanding alarmingly increasing incidence of diseases associated with immune dysregulation in the fetus.
Mismeasured Covariate in the Long-Term Survival of Colorectal Cancer

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study aimed to determine the effect of measurement error of risk factors on the cure fraction of CRC patients. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using the medical records of 346 patients with CRC, who were followed up between 2006 and 2017 in Shiraz, Iran. In our data, lymph node ratio (LNR) was a characteristic measuring with error. This variable was used in the model with 0.04 and 0.8 of error variance. Nonmixture nonparametric cure rate model and its corrected forms, simulation-extrapolation (SIMEX) and corrected score (CS), were applied to the data. Results: In noncured cases, the mean survival time was 1115.45 (95% confidence interval, 1043.60-1187.30) days. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 0.93, 0.71, and 0.65, respectively. The proportion of cured patients was 65.2%. The SIMEX method did not change the effect of LNR substantially on cure fraction as compared with the naive method when the variance of measurement error was 0.04 and 0.80. The CS method changed the effect of LNR on cure fraction even when the variance of measurement error was 0.04. Conclusion: The best method to assess the effect of LNR on cure fraction was the naive method, and the CS method was not deemed to be a valid method to correct the measurement error in LNR.
An Augmented Reality Application for Computer Engineering Curriculum

Today, smart phones and tablet PCs have a huge application area due to their capabilities and ease of use. One of these application areas is education. Especially, supportive technologies have brought big innovations on teaching abstract concepts to the students. One of these technologies is Augmented Reality (AR) which moves graphic&animation usage one step towards. In this study, we shared our experiments on the usage of AR in computer engineering curriculum and presented the application that developed for supporting the abstract concepts of Discrete Mathematical Structures course with AR.
The effect of an alternative chromosome 17 probe on fluorescence in situ hybridization for the assessment of HER2 amplification in invasive breast cancer

Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is commonly used to determine the ratio of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) to centromere enumeration probe for chromosome 17 (CEP17), which further determines HER2 gene status in breast cancer. However, due to copy number alteration in CEP17, inaccurate diagnoses can occur. The current study was performed to investigate the diagnostic value of an alternative CEP17 reference probe for HER2 status in invasive breast cancer. A higher-order repeat in the centromeric region of chromosome 17 was identified and an alternative probe (SCEP17) was subsequently prepared. Karyotype analysis of peripheral blood was used to detect SCEP17 probe specificity. Using a HER2/CEP17 probe, karyotype analysis revealed two strong green signals at the centromere of chromosome 17 and one weaker signal at the other centromere. However, two strong hybridization signals at the centromere of chromosome 17 were observed when the HER2/SCEP17 probe was used. In the 425 patients with invasive breast cancer, no statistical difference was observed between HER2/SCEP17 and HER2/CEP17 when detecting HER2 gene amplification (P=0.157). However, in terms of copy number, the SCEP17 probe exhibited a reduced number compared with the conventional CEP17 probe (P<0.001). In conclusion, the HER2/SCEP17 probe may lead to increased accuracy HER2 status assessment in invasive breast cancer. However, a further large-scale and prospective clinical trial is required for confirmation of the potential benefits of using the HER2/SCEP17 probe.
One-year test-retest reliability of ten vision tests in Canadian athletes

Background: Vision tests are used in concussion management and baseline testing. Concussions, however, often occur months after baseline testing and reliability studies generally examine intervals limited to days or one week. Our objective was to determine the one-year test-retest reliability of these tests. Methods: We assessed one-year test-retest reliability of ten vision tests in elite Canadian athletes followed by the Institut National du Sport du Quebec. We included athletes who completed two baseline (preseason) annual evaluations by one clinician within 365±30 days. We excluded athletes with any concussion or vision training in between the annual evaluations or presented with any factor that is believed to affect the tests (e.g. migraines). Data were collected from clinical charts. We evaluated test-retest reliability using Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and 95% limits of agreement (LoA). Results: We examined nine female and seven male athletes with a mean age of 22.7 (SD 4.5) years. Among the vision tests, we observed excellent test-retest reliability in Positive Fusional Vergence at 30cm (ICC=0.93) but this dropped to 0.53 when an outlier was excluded in a sensitivity analysis. There was good to moderate reliability in Negative Fusional Vergence at 30cm (ICC=0.78), Phoria at 30cm (ICC=0.68), Near Point of Convergence break (ICC=0.65) and Saccades (ICC=0.61). The ICC for Positive Fusional Vergence at 3m (ICC=0.56) also decreased to 0.45 after removing two outliers. We found poor reliability in Near Point of Convergence (ICC=0.47), Gross Stereoscopic Acuity (ICC=0.03) and Negative Fusional Vergence at 3m (ICC=0.0). ICC for Phoria at 3m was not appropriate because scores were identical in 14/16 athletes. 95% LoA of the majority of tests were ±40% to ±90%. Conclusions: Five tests had good to moderate one-year test-retest reliability. The remaining tests had poor reliability. The tests would therefore be useful only if concussion has a moderate-large effect on scores.
Study of correlation between clinical findings, radiological and intra operative findings in lumbar disc prolapse

Background: Lumbar disc prolapse is one of the common causes of low back pain seen in the working population [1, 2]. Clinical examination is mainstay of diagnosis, to be confirmed by plain X-ray, invasive radiography like myelography, discography etc. There is a good correlation between the findings of clinical features and MRI. However, all MRI abnormalities do not correlate with the findings of clinical features. Study was conducted to correlate between clinical findings, radiological and intra operative findings in lumbar disc prolapsed.Materials and Methods: Fifty eight cases of symptomatic prolapsed intervertebral disc confirmed by MRI who were not relieved by conservative line of management for a period of 6 weeks were selected for surgical intervention, were studied from 2014 to 2019. Patients presenting with clinical features of lower limb radiculopathy to the out patient department of orthopedics were screened for inclusion in the study. The patients with clinical diagnosis of lumbar disc prolapse were included in the study. Patients who presented with acute onset of symptoms and were having radicular symptoms for the first time were treated with simple bed rest and analgesics for 6 weeks and patients who had completely recovered were excluded from the study.Results: There was positive correlation between clinical, MRI findings and intra operative findings in 55 out of 58 and negative correlation in 3 out of 58 patients.Conclusion: There was positive correlation between clinical, MRI findings and intra operative findings. MRI is a helpful preoperative diagnostic investigation which shows structural changes in the disc the size and the site of the extrusion or protrusion.
Current Advances in Immuno-oncology for Head and Neck Cancer

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the 6th most common cancer globally, originating from the epithelial surface of the upper aerodigestive tract from the lips to the larynx. It commonly presents with locally advanced disease, with a recurrence rate of around 50% despite aggressive multimodality treatment involving surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy or EGFR inhibition as appropriate. Improvements in understanding the underlying cancer biology and its evolution within the complex interactions of the tumor microenvironment, there is gathering interest in and evidence for the use of immunomodulating agents in the management of HNSCC. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, primarily programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitors to date, which inhibit the inhibitory interaction between PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1, have demonstrated durable improvements in patient outcomes in advanced/metastatic HNSCC, with both nivolumab and pembrolizumab being granted FDA approval in 2016. There are numerous clinical trials ongoing exploring the role of checkpoint inhibitors both as single agents and in combination, administered with established modalities such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, as well as alongside other novel immune modulators. These trials are not limited to advanced/ metastatic HNSCC, but also explore neoadjuvant or adjuvant settings. As studies complete and more data become available, immunotherapy agents are likely to have expanding roles within the treatment algorithms of HNSCC, and with greater biomarker development have the potential to further improve patient outcomes via a personalized therapy approach.
Oxidative Stress and Diminished Total Antioxidant Capacity in Malaria Patients Correspond to Increased Parasitemia and Severity of the Disease

Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Of the five Plasmodium species that cause malaria, P. falciparum is the deadliest. Oxidative stress might be increased in malaria patients and contribute to severity and complications. This may originate from intracellular parasitized erythrocytes and extra-erythrocytes as a result of hemolysis and host immune response. Oxidative stress-induced oxidation of hemoglobin to methemoglobin may cause further complications in malaria patients. The aim of this study was to estimate the total oxidative stress and non-enzymatic antioxidant levels in malaria patients. The study was undertaken with 60 malaria patients and 40 healthy controls. Severity of malaria was determined by the density of parasitemia. Out of the 60 malaria patients, 32 had low, 16 moderate, and 12 high parasitemia. Levels of total oxidative stress (TOS), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), oxidative stress index (OSI), uric acid, albumin, and total bilirubin and direct bilirubin levels were measured in the serum of malaria patients and healthy controls. Our results showed that TOS, OSI, uric acid, and total bilirubin and direct bilirubin levels were significantly increased in the serum of malaria patients compared to healthy control subjects. On the other hand, TAC and serum albumin levels were significantly reduced in malaria patients compared to control cases. The changes of oxidative stress and antioxidant status also correlated to the severity of parasitemia. Oxidative stress might thus contribute to the pathophysiology of malaria.
Undiagnosed hypertension and diabetes among the elderly in Amirkola, North of Iran

Background: As populations of elderly grow, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension increases. These diseases can be asymptomatic for a long time and cause irreversible damages to organs. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension and diabetes among the elderly in Amirkola. Methods: This is a descriptive/analytical cross-sectional study and a part of the first phase of a cohort study on the health status of the elderly in Amirkola (a city in the North of Iran) which has been conducted on all people aged 60 and over since 2011. The demographic information was collected using a questionnaire, the hypertension was diagnosed by measuring blood pressure in lying down- position and the diabetes was diagnosed by measuring fasting blood glucose level. Results: This study was conducted on 1568 elderly participants including 703 (44.8%) females and 865 (55.2%) males. The overall prevalence of diabetes was 30.6% of which, 23.3% was diagnosed and 7.4% was undiagnosed. Nearly one-fourth (24.1%) of the participants with diabetes were unaware of their disease. Thirty-one percent of the people with undiagnosed diabetes also had undiagnosed hypertension. The overall prevalence of hypertension in this study was 62.8%, including 41.2% diagnosed and 21.5% undiagnosed hypertension. Conclusion: Regarding the results of this study and the high prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes and hypertension in elderly, improving the individual’s general awareness and screening in older adults for timely management are necessary.
Analyzing Factors related to Parents’ Self Efficacy with Children’s Cancer Treatment

The incidence of childhood cancer in Indonesia increased annually. The successful treatment of childhood cancer remains low. One of the factors that influence cancer care was parent’s self-efficacy. Adequate parent’s selfefficacy would improve the quality of care in children with cancer, however, limited studies examine factors associated with parent’s self-efficacy. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with parent’s selfefficacy in order to undergo cancer treatment. The type of research was descriptive analytic. The population was parents with cancer children. This study was conducted in childhood cancer shelter home community, 40 parents were chosen using the consecutive sampling technique. Self-efficacy was measured using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed with univariate and bivariate analysis. The results showed that 23 (57.5%) of parents have higher self-efficacy. There were significant relationship between enactive mastery experience (p =0.011), vicarious experience (p=0.030), verbal persuasion (p=0.003), the nature of the task faced (p=0.022), external incentives (p=0,009), the status or role of the individual in the environment (p=0.024) and education level (p=0.031) with parent’s self-efficacy. While the physiological state (p=0.284), parent’s sex (p=0.277), parent’s age (p=0.513), and parent’s culture (p=0.174) were not significantly associated with parental self-efficacy in the treatment of childhood cancer. Based on these results, it was very clear that parents who have higher selfefficacy are expected to carry out their duties better, so nurses should provide opportunities and support for families to demonstrate the capabilities and competence of the family to meet the care needs for child cancer.
Expanding the Clinical and Molecular Spectrum of PSMD12-Related Neurodevelopmental Syndrome: An Additional Patient and Review

Degradation of proteins by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is an essential biological process that eukaryotic cells use to regulate their functions and coordinate their signaling networks. In particular, it plays a crucial role in neuronal development regulating very important functional and morphological interplays of neurons, such as synaptic plasticity, neurotransmitter release and morphogenesis of axons. Pathogenic alterations of genes involved in the proteolysis by UPS have been associated with several neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and human diseases, highlighting the importance of this regulatory mechanism to developmental processes and neurogenesis. Here, we describe a 19 years old male patient showing a syndromic form of NDD. The main clinical features are intellectual disability/speech delay, congenital anomalies and facial dysmorphisms. Through a targeted resequencing approach (TRS), we identified a missense variant in PSMD12, a gene recently associated to an emerging syndromic form of NDD, which encodes for the non-ATPase subunit of the 19S regulator of 26S proteasome complex. The variant described herein, inherited from the father with apparently borderline cognitive ability, is useful to expand the molecular spectrum of heterozygous PSMD12 mutations and to provide insight into the molecular pathogenesis of this new condition since it is, to the best of our knowledge, the first missense substitution to date reported in medical literature. More importantly, our study highlight once again the utility of next generation sequencing in establishing an etiological basis in clinically and genetically heterogeneous conditions such as NDDs, thus allowing a better diagnosis, counseling and management of affected patients and their families.
Treatment of arterial hypertension in patients with diabetes mellitus

The presence of arterial hypertension in patients with diabetes mellitus is very common, and it substantially increases the risk of total and cardiovascular mortality in this group of patients. Current guidelines recommend a goal for antihypertensive treatment blood pressure value < 130/80 mmHg (in patients > 65 years old, blood pressure value < 140/90 mmHg), but not lower than < 120/70 mmHg. Initial pharmacologic treatment with two antihypertensive medications as a fixed tablet (preferentially RAS blocker with calcium antagonist) with thiazide-like diuretic as an additional drug is recommend. Results from recent years confirm the role of RAS blockers as first-line treatment in patients with diabetes, because they have additionally cardioand nephroprotective properties. Recently it was also documented that treatment with a new class of antidiabetic drugs, namely sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors, may reduce blood pressure with additional cardioand nephroprotective
Fault Diagnosis of Phase Shifted Full Bridge Converter Based on Wavelet Packet and Extreme Learning Machine Optimized by Firefly Algorithm

As auxiliary power supply of locomotive, phase shifted full bridge converter has complex fault type and large amount of fault information. A novel fault diagnosis method for PSFB convert based on wavelet packet transform and extreme learning machine as classifier which is optimized firefly algorithm is proposed. The WPT is used to extract the feature vector of the output voltage of PSFB converter which is taken as the research object. Then ELM is employed to classify the feature vector of the output voltage, and the FA optimizes the input weights and the hidden layer of the ELM, which improves the classification performance of ELM. The simulation results show that the method can effectively diagnose the PSFB converter.
Acute pulmonary hypertension as a symptom of Bard’s syndrome and pulmonary lymphangitis carcinomatosa – rare manifestation of malignant gastric cancer

Introduction. Acute pulmonary hypertension leading to right ventricular failure and circulatory collapse is usually caused by a pulmonary embolism. However, in extremely rare cases, similar clinical manifestations can be related to another diseases, such as lymphangitis carcinomatosa. Aim. The purpose of this paper is to report on the case of a 29-year-old male patient presented with rapidly progressing dyspnoea. Description of the case. The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism was made on the basis of echocardiographic signs of pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular (RV) dilatation, and the recommended therapy was introduced. On the suspicion of bronchopneumonia, antibiotics and steroids were applied. However, the previously stated diagnosis of pulmonary embolism was not confirmed by the angio-CT scan, which showed small diffusive lung parenchyma intra-biliary nodules (ground glass opacity) with the peripheral appearance of a tree-in-bud sign. Consecutive CT of pelvis and abdomen along with endoscopy revealed a metastatic gastric cancer with the presence of lymphangitis carcinomatosa and miliary dissemination to the lungs. The presence of pulmonary metastases in the course of disseminated gastric cancer is known in literature as Bard’s syndrome. Conclusion. Extrapulmonary malignancies, particularly gastric cancer, should be taken into consideration in differential diagnosis in patients with an acute right ventricular failure and nonspecific lesions in the respiratory system.
Interactive visualization of large image collections

• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.