Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patient-Reported and Oncological Outcomes of Salvage Therapies for PSMA-Positive Nodal Recurrent Prostate Cancer: Real-Life Experiences and Implications for Future Trial Design

Introduction The role of salvage lymph node dissection (SLND) and radiotherapy (SLNRT) in the management of nodal-only recurrent prostate cancer (PC) remains controversial. In addition, impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has not been adequately evaluated yet. Materials and Methods Analysis was limited to patients that were diagnosed with nodal-only recurrent PC via PSMA-PET/CT. SLND was performed via open approach. For SLNRT, dose regimens were normo- or slightly hypo-fractionated with a simultaneous boost to the PET-positive recurrences. EORTC QLQ-C30 and PR-25 questionnaires were used to assess HRQOL. Continence status was assessed using daily pad usage and the validated ICIQ-SF questionnaire. For multivariable analysis, Cox regression models were used (p<0.05). Results 138 patients (SLND: 71; SLNRT: 67) were included in the retrospective analysis. Median follow-up was 47 months (mo) for SLNRT patients (IQR 40–61), and 33mo for SLND patients (IQR 20–49; p<0.001). In total, 61 patients (91.0%) in the SLNRT cohort and 43 patients (65.2%; p<0.001) in the SLND cohort underwent ADT anytime during the follow-up period. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, SLNRT could be confirmed as an independent predictor for increased PSA progression-free survival (PFS; HR 0.08, 95%CI 0.040 – 0.142, p<0.001). Estimated median metastasis-free survival (MFS) was 70mo for the total cohort without statistically significant differences between both subgroups (p=0.216). There were no significant differences regarding general HRQOL, daily pad usage, and ICIQ-SF scores between the respective cohorts. Conclusions In a large contemporary series of patients with nodal-only recurrent PC based on PSMA-PET/CT staging, we observed significantly increased PSA PFS in patients undergoing SLNRT while no significant differences could be observed in MFS, and functional outcomes including HRQOL.
Proportional Assist Ventilation Improves Leg Muscle Reoxygenation After Exercise in Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction

Background Respiratory muscle unloading through proportional assist ventilation (PAV) may enhance leg oxygen delivery, thereby speeding off-exercise oxygen uptake (V.⁢O2) kinetics in patients with heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF). Methods Ten male patients (HFrEF = 26 ± 9%, age 50 ± 13 years, and body mass index 25 ± 3 kg m2) underwent two constant work rate tests at 80% peak of maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test to tolerance under PAV and sham ventilation. Post-exercise kinetics of V. ⁢O2, vastus lateralis deoxyhemoglobin ([deoxy-Hb + Mb]) by near-infrared spectroscopy, and cardiac output (QT) by impedance cardiography were assessed. Results PAV prolonged exercise tolerance compared with sham (587 ± 390 s vs. 444 ± 296 s, respectively; p = 0.01). PAV significantly accelerated V. ⁢O2 recovery (τ = 56 ± 22 s vs. 77 ± 42 s; p < 0.05), being associated with a faster decline in Δ[deoxy-Hb + Mb] and QT compared with sham (τ = 31 ± 19 s vs. 42 ± 22 s and 39 ± 22 s vs. 78 ± 46 s, p < 0.05). Faster off-exercise decrease in QT with PAV was related to longer exercise duration (r = −0.76; p < 0.05). Conclusion PAV accelerates the recovery of central hemodynamics and muscle oxygenation in HFrEF. These beneficial effects might prove useful to improve the tolerance to repeated exercise during cardiac rehabilitation.
Effects of Sacubitril-Valsartan in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction in Patients Undergoing Peritoneal Dialysis

Aims: The effect of the angiotensin receptor–neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) sacubitril-valsartan in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains unclear, and data on ARNI treatment in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients are lacking. The present study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of sacubitril-valsartan in patients with HFpEF undergoing peritoneal dialysis. Methods and Results: End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients undergoing PD for 3 months with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II–IV heart failure, ejection fraction of 50% or higher, and elevated levels of N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were assigned to receive sacubitril-valsartan. Patients were followed up regularly after medication treatment. The alterations in clinical and biochemical parameters before and after taking sacubitril-valsartan (generally 50–100 mg b.i.d) were investigated, and safety was also assessed. Twenty-one patients were recruited in this study. Compared with baseline levels, NT-proBNP levels [9769.0 (3093.5–21941.0) vs. 3034.0 (1493.2–6503.0), P = 0.002], and heart rate [80.0 (74.5–90.5) vs. 75.0 (70.3–87.0), P = 0.031] were markedly decreased after treatment with sacubitril-valsartan. Signs and symptoms of heart failure (21/21 vs. 15/21, P = 0.021) were obviously alleviated, NYHA classification and E/e' ratio showed a notable trend of improvement after 3–12 months of follow-up. None of the patients showed adverse drug reactions. Conclusions: The present data suggested that sacubitril-valsartan treatment in patients with HFpEF undergoing PD was effective and safe.
Baicalin Attenuates Oxygen–Glucose Deprivation/Reoxygenation–Induced Injury by Modulating the BDNF-TrkB/PI3K/Akt and MAPK/Erk1/2 Signaling Axes in Neuron–Astrocyte Cocultures

Background: Baicalin (BCL), a candidate drug for ischemic stroke, has been indicated to protect neurons by promoting brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). However, the cellular source of BDNF release promoted by baicalin and its detailed protective mechanism after ischemia/reperfusion remains to be studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective mechanisms of baicalin against oxygen–glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) in a neuron–astrocyte coculture system and to explore whether the BDNF-TrkB pathway is involved. Methods and Results: A neuron–astrocyte coculture system was established to elucidate the role of astrocytes in neurons under OGD/R conditions. The results demonstrated that astrocytes became reactive astrocytes and released more BDNF in the coculture system to attenuate neuronal apoptosis and injury after OGD/R. BCL maintained the characteristics of reactive astrocytes and obviously increased the expression of cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) and the levels of BDNF in the coculture system after OGD/R. To further verify whether BDNF binding to its receptor tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB) was required for the neuroprotective effect of baicalin, we examined the effect of ANA-12, an antagonist of TrkB, on NA system injury, including oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis induced by OGD/R. The results showed that treatment of NA systems with ANA-12 significantly attenuated the neuroprotection of BCL. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways are two important downstream cascades of signaling pathways activated by BDNF binding to TrkB. We investigated the expressions of TrkB, PI3K, Akt, MAPK, and ERK. The results demonstrated that baicalin significantly increased the expressions of TrkB, PI3K/AKT, and MAPK/ERK. Conclusion: The neuroprotective effects of baicalin against oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis were improved by astrocytes, mainly mediated by increasing the release of BDNF and its associated receptor TrkB and downstream signaling regulators PI3K/Akt and MAPK/ERK1/2.
Integration of Omics Tools for Understanding the Fish Immune Response Due to Microbial Challenge

Nowadays, fish production through aquaculture and wild capture is escalating due to the higher fish protein demand for human consumption. Thus, the needs for fish products to be improved in scale and quality are becoming increasingly important to meet the nutrition requirements. The negative impacts caused by pathogens infection both in hatchery and grow-out ponds, have resulted in low aquaculture productivity and economic losses for the farmers. Therefore, a systematic study exploring relevant omics datasets through a systems biology approach will enable scientist to describe the complexity and characteristics of interactions in the host-pathogen network, leading to identifying new targets or biomarkers for diseases infection caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites. The use of different approaches and emerging technologies as a powerful tool in obtaining a new knowledge for sustainable aquaculture production has been increasingly applied by many researchers over the years. In this paper, several omics approaches used to assess the fish immune response were reviewed. A brief description is provided for the omics approaches applicable to aquacultures, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Each tool used are contributes to develop better treatment and prevention strategies to overcome aquaculture disease due to the microbial infections. In genomics and transcriptomics analysis, their parallel approach involving gene expression studies play important role in identifying immune-related genes of the host, response to infectious diseases. While for proteomics and metabolomics approaches, these omics will provide information on the biomarker discovery and understanding the immune-related biosynthetic pathway during pathogen infection. Additionally, examples of the integrative analysis of multi-omics tools required for researchers to better understand the biological systems of aquatic animals especially fish, will also be provided.
A Missense Mutation rs781536408 (c.2395G>A) of TYK2 Affects Splicing and Causes Skipping of Exon18 in vivo

TYK2 variants can impact disease onset or progression. In our previous study, we identified abnormal splicing that happened near rs781536408 in the TYK2 gene. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of the mutation on alternative splicing in vivo and in vitro. Whole exome sequencing was performed to identify the mutations followed by bidirectional Sanger sequencing. Then the minigene analysis was carried out based on HeLa and HEK293T cell lines. The results showed that rs781536408 (c.2395G>A, p.G799R) was homozygous in the patient, but heterozygous in parents. PCR amplification confirmed the abnormal splicing in the somatic cells of the patients, but not in the parents. Sanger sequencing results showed that there was a skipping of exon18 near the mutation. For minigene analysis, there was no difference between the wild-type and the mutant type in the two minigene construction strategies, indicating that mutation c.2395G>A had no effect on splicing in vitro. Combining the results of in vivo, we speculated that the effect of the mutation on splicing was not absolute, but rather in degree.
The Endosymbiotic Coral Algae Symbiodiniaceae Are Sensitive to a Sensory Pollutant: Artificial Light at Night, ALAN

Artificial Light at Night, ALAN, is a major emerging issue in biodiversity conservation, which can negatively impact both terrestrial and marine environments. Therefore, it should be taken into serious consideration in strategic planning for urban development. While the lion’s share of research has dealt with terrestrial organisms, only a handful of studies have focused on the marine milieu. To determine if ALAN impacts the coral reef symbiotic algae, that are fundamental for sustainable coral reefs, we conducted a short experiment over a period of one-month by illuminating isolated Symbiodiniaceae cell cultures from the genera Cladocopium (formerly Clade C) and Durusdinium (formerly Clade D) with LED light. Cell cultures were exposed nightly to ALAN levels of 0.15 μmol quanta m–2 s–1 (∼4–5 lux) with three light spectra: blue, yellow and white. Our findings showed that even in very low levels of light at night, the photo-physiology of the algae’s Electron Transport Rate (ETR), Non-Photochemical Quenching, (NPQ), total chlorophyll, and meiotic index presented significantly lower values under ALAN, primarily, but not exclusively, in Cladocopium cell cultures. The findings also showed that diverse Symbiodiniaceae types have different photo-physiology and photosynthesis performances under ALAN. We believe that our results sound an alarm for the probable detrimental effects of an increasing sensory pollutant, ALAN, on the eco-physiology of symbiotic corals. The results of this study point to the potential effects of ALAN on other organisms in marine ecosystem such as fish, zooplankton, and phytoplankton in which their biorhythms is entrained by natural light and dark cycles.
A Novel SARS-CoV-2 Viral Sequence Bioinformatic Pipeline Has Found Genetic Evidence That the Viral 3′ Untranslated Region (UTR) Is Evolving and Generating Increased Viral Diversity

An unprecedented amount of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing has been performed, however, novel bioinformatic tools to cope with and process these large datasets is needed. Here, we have devised a bioinformatic pipeline that inputs SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing in FASTA/FASTQ format and outputs a single Variant Calling Format file that can be processed to obtain variant annotations and perform downstream population genetic testing. As proof of concept, we have analyzed over 229,000 SARS-CoV-2 viral sequences up until November 30, 2020. We have identified over 39,000 variants worldwide with increased polymorphisms, spanning the ORF3a gene as well as the 3′ untranslated (UTR) regions, specifically in the conserved stem loop region of SARS-CoV-2 which is accumulating greater observed viral diversity relative to chance variation. Our analysis pipeline has also discovered the existence of SARS-CoV-2 hypermutation with low frequency (less than in 2% of genomes) likely arising through host immune responses and not due to sequencing errors. Among annotated non-sense variants with a population frequency over 1%, recurrent inactivation of the ORF8 gene was found. This was found to be present in the newly identified B.1. 1.7 SARS-CoV-2 lineage that originated in the United Kingdom. Almost all VOC-containing genomes possess one stop codon in ORF8 gene (Q27∗), however, 13% of these genomes also contains another stop codon (K68∗), suggesting that ORF8 loss does not interfere with SARS-CoV-2 spread and may play a role in its increased virulence. We have developed this computational pipeline to assist researchers in the rapid analysis and characterization of SARS-CoV-2 variation.
Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Salmonella Phage vB_SalP_TR2

Salmonella is a widely distributed foodborne pathogen. The use of Salmonella phages as biocontrol agents has recently gained significant interest. Because the Salmonella genus has high diversity, efforts are necessary to identify lytic Salmonella phages focusing on different serovars. Here, five Salmonella phages were isolated from soil samples, and vB_SalP_TR2 was selected as a novel phage with high lytic potential against the host Salmonella serovar Albany, as well as other tested serovars, including Corvallis, Newport, Kottbus, and Istanbul. Morphological analyses demonstrated that phage vB_SalP_TR2 belongs to the Podoviridae family, with an icosahedral head (62 ± 0.5 nm in diameter and 60 ± 1 nm in length) and a short tail (35 ± 1 nm in length). The latent period and burst size of phage vB_SalP_TR2 was 15 min and 211 PFU/cell, respectively. It contained a linear dsDNA of 71,453 bp, and G + C content was 40.64%. Among 96 putative open reading frames detected, only 35 gene products were found in database searches, with no virulence or antibiotic resistance genes being identified. As a biological control agent, phage vB_SalP_TR2 exhibited a high temperature and pH tolerance. In vitro, it lysed most S. Albany after 24 h at 37°C with multiplicities of infection of 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100. In food matrices (milk and chicken meat), treatment with phage vB_SalP_TR2 also reduced the number of S. Albany compared with that in controls. These findings highlighted phage vB_SalP_TR2 as a potential antibacterial agent for the control of Salmonella in food samples.
The Role of Progressive Resistance Training in the Management of Multiple Sclerosis

INTRODUCTION AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY ultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, auMtoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. About 1 million individuals in the United States and nearly 3 million individuals worldwide are living with this disease (1). Diagnosis normally occurs between the ages of 20 and 50 years, and it affects more than twice as many females as it does males (2). MS begins with an immune-mediated attack on the myelin sheaths, the protective covering on nerve axons (Figure 1). After the attack and associated damage, nerve impulses are not properly conducted. Neural signals are either altered or lost, and hardened plaques begin to form on white and gray matter.
Hadoop in Secure Mobile Cloud for Bigdata Storage and Processing

: Nowadays Big data storage and processing in the mobile devices are one of the more challenging processes. This paper addresses these challenges for both big data storage and processing in the mobile cloud by using K-out-of-n computing. By using Shamir secret sharing scheme can retrieve the whole uploaded file if it has at least K chunks out of n chunks of the distributed file. This process is different from the traditional way of downloading files. Hadoop on a mobile cloud enables the devices to run data-intensive computing applications. These applications have energy efficiency and reliability constraints (e.g., caused by unexpected device failures or topology changes in a dynamic network). As mobile devices are more susceptible to unauthorized access when compared to traditional servers. Security is also a consideration in this paper as it is a concern for sensitive data. The Experimental results show that the system is capable for big data analytics of unstructured data like media files, text and sensor data.
Sulfur Transformation in Microbially Mediated Pyrite Oxidation by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans: Insights From X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy-Based Quantitative Depth Profiling

The oxidation of pyrite and other sulfides is responsible for the generation of acid mine drainage and acid rock drainage, which leads to further contamination of soil and water. In these processes, microbial oxidation usually prevails over chemical oxidation. To determine the mechanism of microbial oxidation of pyrite, the interaction of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans with pyrite was comprehensively studied, and the sulfur transformation in the interaction was disclosed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling. Abundant bacterial cells attach to pyrite surface and form biofilms, which greatly enhances surface corrosion and results in two types of etching pits: bacteria-driven rod-shaped and chemically driven hexagonal etching pits. The details of XPS depth profiles on a reacted pyrite surface reveal that the surface sulfur was first oxidized into elemental sulfur. Thereafter, elemental sulfur was further oxidized to intermediate species S2O32−, SO32−, and ultimately to SO42−. The oxidation sequence of sulfur is S22−/S2−→Sn2−, S0→SO32−, and S2O32−→SO42−. Meanwhile, the remnant ferrous iron in the surface layer was released into solution and subsequently oxidized into Fe3+ by A. ferrooxidans and dissolved oxygen, which in turn enhanced the oxidation of sulfur. Fe3+, sulfate, and other ions (e.g., K+, Na+, NH4+) in the solution precipitated as jarosite, hydroniumjarosite, and ammoniojarosite. On the basis of results, a three-staged model is proposed to interpret the kinetics of microbial oxidation of pyrite.
FairPlay: Search Rank Fraud and Malware Identification clinched alongside Google Play

— Androids open-source accessibility and accomplished achievement has resulted it in becoming the best accepted adaptable operating system. In turn, it has additionally admiring counterfeit behaviors and awful proliferation. To ascertain malware, all the antecedent techniques accept focused on activating assay of app executables and changeless assay of cipher and permissions. This cardboard introduces FairPlay, a malware apprehension framework that discovers and leverages traces larboard abaft by counterfeit developers, to analyze both malware and look rank artifice subjected to apps in Google play. The apprehensive app is articular by the accession of co-reviews, rankings and ratings. Finally accumulation all the activities of the front-end active apps, it achieves over 95 percent accurateness in free the amiable accepted datasets of malware, accepted and counterfeit apps. FairPlay detects abundant counterfeit apps that alike the Google’s Bouncer’s apprehension technology fails to discover. It has additionally helped in absolute a new blazon of analysis attack namely “co-ercive” –where users are affected into autograph absolute reviews and into additionally to install and analysis added apps.
PREDICTION OF CUSTOMER CHURN IN TELECOM INDUSTRY USING DEEP LEARNING TECHNIQUES

: Churn is the process, where a customer moves away or breaks off a subscription with his provider. Customer churn prediction performs a primary role in telecommunication industry due to the smart phone dominated era. It is very necessary to interpret and forecast the behaviour of customers. Achieving the new customer is more costly than engaging the old one. In previous study, machine learning techniques were used to forecast the client’s churn which comparatively produced less accuracy. The latest technologies in neural networks are CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) and RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) that commit the result to the problem by predicting the customer
OPTIMIZATION OF NON-UNIFORM PRI COSTAS SIGNAL USING GREY WOLF OPTIMIZER ALGORITHM FOR IMPROVING RANGE RESOLUTION

Abstract Pulse compression techniques have been widely used in several modern radar systems. Costas signal also called as Costas array is one of the techniques of pulse compression. Costas signal is used to generate a sequence of frequencies that produces unambiguous range and Doppler measurements within radar while minimizing the crosstalk between frequencies. Generation of non uniform PRI sequences of Costas signals are considered using conventional methods. The performance of the signal measured by two main parameters, Peak Sidelobe Level Ratio (PSLR) and Integrated Sidelobe Level Ratio (ISLR). The PSLR and ISLR are derived from the autocorrelation pattern. Here, evolutionary algorithms used to optimize non-uniform PRI sequence of radar signal (Costas signal) for improving the range resolution. This work will compare two optimization algorithms which are Genetic algorithm and Grey Wolf optimizer algorithm.
Development and Validation of a UV-Spectrophotometric Method for the Determination of Lodenafil Carbonate in Tablets and Comparison with the LC-method

A rapid, economical, reproducible, and simple direct UV-spectrophotometric method was developed and validated to assay lodenafil carbonate in pharmaceutical formulations. Lodenafil carbonate concentration was estimated at 292 nm in water at pH 4.0. The method was validated for specificity, linearity, precision and accuracy. There was no interference of the excipients in the determination of the active pharmaceutical ingredient. The method developed was linear (r = 0.9998), accurate (102.1%) and precise (RSD < 2.0%). This method was compared to a previously developed and validated method for liquid chromatography and no evidence of a significant difference was observed (p < 0.05). The proposed method is appropriate for the determination of lodenafil carbonate in tablets and can be used in routine quality control.