Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of genetic alterations in couples and their products of conceptions from recurrent pregnancy loss in North Indian population

Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is one of the most common pregnancy-related complications, which can be stressful and emotionally draining for a couple. Genetic alterations, which are responsible for RPL, can be present in either of the three genomes: mother, father, or their fetuses. In addition, environmental factors interacting with these three genomes can affect germline cells. With this aim, the present study was conducted to understand the underlying etiology of RPL using Next-generation sequencing (NGS; couple exome and TRIO exomes) in combination with cytogenetic tests [karyotyping and chromosomal microarray (CMA)]. Material & Methods: In present study we recruited 61 couples with RPL (history of ≥ 2 abortions) and 31 products of conceptions (POCs). For all couples karyotyping was done at the time of recruitment, followed by collection of POC samples and parental blood samples. Before processing POC samples for CMA, they were checked for maternal cell contamination (MCC) by QF-PCR. In POC samples with no pathogenic variant, TRIO exome sequencing was done. Further, in case of unavailability of POC sample, couple exome sequencing was done for RPL couples. Results: In six individuals out of 61 couples (5%), abnormality in karyotypes was detected. Among 116 normal karyotypes, there were 11 heteromorphisms (9.5%), for which the couples had to be counselled and reassured. Out of the 31 POCs, 10 were excluded because of MCC (around 30%) and one had major aneuploidy. CMA in POCs identified pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) in 25% of cases (5/20) and variant of unknown significance (VUS) in 20% of cases (4/20). Autosomal trisomy was the most frequent chromosomal abnormality diagnosed. NGS was performed to establish single-gene causes of RPL. Couple exome sequencing was performed in 20 couples, and 14 were found to be carriers for autosomal recessive conditions. A total of 50 potential disease-causing variants in 40 genes were identified in 33 of 40 individuals (82.5%). Putative causative variants were identified in 37.5% of the TRIO cases (3/8). Mutations in few important genes (SRP54, ERBB4, NEB, ALMS, ALAD, MTHFR, F5, and APOE), which are involved in vital pathways, early embryonic development, and fetal demise, were identified in the POCs. Conclusion: It enhances our understanding of prenatal phenotypes of many Mendelian disorders. These mutated genes may play an auxiliary role in the development of treatment strategies for RPL. There was no correlation of the number of abortions with etiological yield of any technique to detect the cause of RPL. This study shows the utilization of combination of techniques in improving our understanding of the cause of early embryonic lethality in humans.
Roles of Streptococcus mutans-Candida albicans interaction in early childhood caries: a literature review

As one of the most common oral diseases in kids, early childhood caries affects the health of children throughout the world. Clinical investigations show the copresence of Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans in ECC lesions, and mechanistic studies reveal co-existence of C. albicans and S. mutans affects both of their cariogenicity. Clearly a comprehensive understanding of the interkingdom interaction between these two microorganisms has important implications for ECC treatment and prevention. To this end, this review summarizes advances in our understanding of the virulence of both C. albicans and S. mutans. More importantly, the synergistic and antagonistic interactions between these two microbes are discussed.
Investigation of incidence and geographic distribution of gliomas in Canada from 1992 to 2010: a national population-based study highlighting the importance of exposure to airport operations

Background Gliomas account for over two-thirds of all malignant brain tumors and have few established risk factors beyond family history and exposure to ionizing radiation. Importantly, recent studies highlighted the exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) as a putative risk factor for malignant brain tumors. Methods Clinical and geographic data encompassing all provinces and territories from 1992 to 2010 was obtained from the Canadian Cancer Registry and Le Registre Québécois du Cancer. Linear regression and joinpoint analyses were performed to assess incidence trends. Significantly higher and lower incidence postal codes were then interrogated using Standard Industrial Classification codes to detect significant industrial activity. Results In Canada, between 1992 and 2010, there were ~32,360 cases of glioma. Of these, 17,115 (52.9%) were glioblastoma. The overall crude incidence rates of 5.45 and 2.87 cases per 100,000 individuals per year for gliomas and glioblastomas, respectively, were identified. Our findings further revealed increasing crude incidence of gliomas/glioblastomas over time. A male predominance was observed. Provinces leading in glioma incidence included Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Significantly lower crude incidence of glioma was found in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Ontario, and Alberta. A putative regional clustering of gliomas was observed, with higher incidence rates in postal code areas correlating with industrial activity related to airport operations. Conclusion This study describes the geographic distribution of the glioma disease burden and, potentially, identifies industrial activity related to airport operations as potentially being associated with higher incidence of this cancer.
Editorial: Soil-microbial interactions

COPYRIGHT © 2023 Dlamini, Sekhohola-Dlamini and Cowan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Editorial: Soil-microbial interactions
Dietary supplementation with Chinese herb ultrafine powder improves intestinal morphology and physical barrier function by altering jejunal microbiota in laying hens

Introduction Chinese medicinal herbs play important roles in anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities. However, the effects of Chinese herb ultrafine powder (CHUP) on laying hens still need to be elucidated. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary CHUP supplementation on jejunal morphology, physical barrier function, and microbiota in laying hens. Methods A total of 576 Xinyang black-feather laying hens (300 days old) were randomly assigned into eight groups, with eight replicates per group and nine hens per replicate. The hens were fed a basal diet (control group) and a basal diet supplemented with 0.5% Leonuri herba (LH group), 0.25% Ligustri lucidi fructus (LF group), 0.25% Taraxaci herba (TH group), 0.5% LH + 0.25% LF (LH-LF group), 0.5% LH + 0.25% TH (LH-TH group), 0.25% LF + 0.25% TH (LF-TH group), and 0.5% LH + 0.25% LF + 0.25% TH (LH-LF-TH group), respectively, for 120 days. Results The results showed that dietary LH-LF and LH-LF-TH supplementation increased (p < 0.05) the jejunal villus height to crypt depth ratio of laying hens. Dietary LF-TH supplementation up-regulated jejunal claudin-5 expression, while LH supplementation up-regulated jejunal claudin-1 expression and increased the jejunal abundances of potentially beneficial bacteria related to short-chain fatty acids and bacteriocins production, such as Blautia, Carnobacterium, Clostridiales, and Erysipelotrichales (p < 0.05). In addition, dietary LH supplementation enriched (p < 0.05) the tetracycline biosynthesis, butirosin/neomycin biosynthesis, and D-arginine/D-ornithine metabolism, whereas steroid biosynthesis and limonene/pinene degradation were enriched (p < 0.05) in the LH-LF and LH-LF-TH groups. Moreover, Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed the potential correlation between the abundance of the jejunal microbiota and jejunal morphology and the physical barrier function of laying hens. Discussion Collectively, these findings suggest that dietary CHUP supplementation could enhance the beneficial bacteria abundance, physical barrier function, and metabolic function associated with short-chain fatty acids and bacteriocins production. Moreover, combined supplementation of dietary CHUP showed better effects than the sole CHUP supplementation.
Revitalizing myocarditis treatment through gut microbiota modulation: unveiling a promising therapeutic avenue

Numerous studies have demonstrated that gut microbiota plays an important role in the development and treatment of different cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, heart failure, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, and atherosclerosis. Furthermore, evidence from recent studies has shown that gut microbiota contributes to the development of myocarditis. Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease that often results in myocardial damage. Myocarditis is a common cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults. The incidence of myocarditis and its associated dilated cardiomyopathy has been increasing yearly. Myocarditis has gained significant attention on social media due to its association with both COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccinations. However, the current therapeutic options for myocarditis are limited. In addition, little is known about the potential therapeutic targets of myocarditis. In this study, we review (1) the evidence on the gut-heart axis, (2) the crosslink between gut microbiota and the immune system, (3) the association between myocarditis and the immune system, (4) the impact of gut microbiota and its metabolites on myocarditis, (5) current strategies for modulating gut microbiota, (6) challenges and future directions for targeted gut microbiota in the treatment of myocarditis. The approach of targeting the gut microbiota in myocarditis is still in its infancy, and this is the study to explore the gut microbiota-immune system-myocarditis axis. Our findings are expected to pave the way for the use of gut microbiota as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of myocarditis.
Status of udder health performance indicators and implementation of on farm monitoring on German dairy cow farms: results from a large scale cross-sectional study

Regional benchmarking data enables farmers to compare their animal health situation to that of other herds and identify areas with improvement potential. For the udder health status of German dairy cow farms, such data were incomplete. Therefore, the aim of this study was (1) to describe the incidence of clinical mastitis (CM), (2) to describe cell count based udder health indicators [annual mean test day average of the proportion of animals without indication of mastitis (aWIM), new infection risk during lactation (aNIR), and proportion of cows with low chance of cure (aLCC); heifer mastitis rate (HM)] and their seasonal variation, and (3) to evaluate the level of implementation of selected measures of mastitis monitoring. Herds in three German regions (North: n = 253; East: n = 252, South: n = 260) with different production conditions were visited. Data on CM incidence and measures of mastitis monitoring were collected via structured questionnaire-based interviews. Additionally, dairy herd improvement (DHI) test day data from the 365 days preceding the interview were obtained. The median (Q0.1, Q0.9) farmer reported incidence of mild CM was 14.8% (3.5, 30.8%) in North, 16.2% (1.9, 50.4%) in East, and 11.8% (0.0, 30.7%) in South. For severe CM the reported incidence was 4.0% (0.0, 12.2%), 2.0% (0.0, 10.8%), and 2.6% (0.0, 11.0%) for North, East, and South, respectively. The median aWIM was 60.7% (53.4, 68.1%), 59.0% (49.7, 65.4%), and 60.2% (51.5, 67.8%), whereas the median aNIR was 17.1% (13.6, 21.6%), 19.9% (16.2, 24.9%), and 18.3% (14.4, 22.0%) in North, East, and South, respectively with large seasonal variations. Median aLCC was ≤1.1% (≤ 0.7%, ≤ 1.8%) in all regions and HM was 28.4% (19.7, 37.2%), 35.7% (26.7, 44.2%), and 23.5% (13.1, 35.9%), in North, East and South, respectively. Participation in a DHI testing program (N: 95.7%, E: 98.8%, S: 89.2%) and premilking (N: 91.1%, E: 93.7%, S: 90.2%) were widely used. Several aspects of udder health monitoring, including exact documentation of CM cases, regular microbiological analysis of milk samples and the use of a veterinary herd health consultancy service were not applied on many farms. The results of this study can be used by dairy farmers and their advisors as benchmarks for the assessment of the udder health situation in their herds.
Enzymatic synthesis of new antimicrobial peptides for food purposes

Growing consumer awareness of the potential negative health effects of synthetic antibiotics has prompted the search for more natural preservatives that can improve the safety and quality of food. In this study we report the enzymatic synthesis of N-α-[Carbobenzyloxy]-Ile-Gln (Z-IQ) which is the precursor of Ile-Gln (IQ), a new antibacterial dipeptide, using an aqueous–organic biphasic system formed by 50% (v/v) ethyl acetate in 0.1 M Tris – HCl buffer pH 8. A partially purified proteolytic extract from the fruits of Solanum granuloso leprosum, named granulosain, proved to be a robust biocatalyst for the synthesis of Z-IQ, eliciting 71 ± 0.10% maximal peptide yield in the above described conditions. After cleaving and purifying IQ dipeptide, antimicrobial activity was assayed against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Staphylococcus hominis A17771, and Staphylococcus aureus C00195, and MIC values between 118 ± 0.01 μg/mL and 133.7 ± 0.05 μg/mL were obtained. In addition, IQ showed MIC of 82.4 ± 0.01 μg/mL and 85.0 ± 0.00 μg/mL against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Escherichia coli A17683, respectively. IQ did not show inhibitory activity against single-drug resistance (SDR) strains, such as Klebsiella oxytoca A19438 (SDR) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa C00213 (SDR), and against multidrug-resistant Enterococcus faecalis I00125 (MDR). IQ also caused growth inhibition of Helicobacter pylori NCTC 11638 and three wild-type H. pylori strains, which are sensitive to AML, MTZ, LEV and CLA (H. pylori 659), resistant to LEV (H. pylori 661 SDR), and resistant to MTZ (H. pylori 662 SDR). Finally, this study contributes with a new dipeptide (IQ) that can be used as an antimicrobial agent for food preservation or as a safe ingredient of functional foods.
Effects of mindfulness on stress, life satisfaction, and savoring beliefs among Hong Kong Chinese adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Adolescents all over the world are vulnerable in facing developmental challenges. Recent studies have evidenced that the unexpected interruptions of school learning during the COVID-19 pandemic have raised concerns about the well-being of adolescents. This present study sought to investigate the relationship between mindfulness, stress, savoring beliefs, and satisfaction of life among adolescents in Hong Kong during COVID-19. A total of 240 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age (M = 15.60; SD = 0.70) from schools with different religious backgrounds completed an online survey. Findings from hierarchical linear regression indicated that statistically, mindfulness negatively predicted stress and positively predicted life satisfaction and savoring beliefs. Students with faiths did not show any significant differences in mindfulness and other variables in this study from students without faiths. In terms of implications, these findings provide positive evidence that mindfulness may be an important aspect for interventions designed to enhance life satisfaction and savoring beliefs, and reduce stress of adolescents over challenging times. Overall, this study suggests youth service providers to develop effective strategies in schools and communities for further promoting wellbeing and resilience of adolescents.
MetaPro 2.0: Computational Metaphor Processing on the Effectiveness of Anomalous Language Modeling

Computational metaphor processing is an important task for linguistic and psycho-linguistic research. Metaphor identification and interpretation are two major tasks in this domain. Although metaphor identification has been widely studied, the development of metaphor interpretation techniques is much slower. This is likely because of the lack of large annotated datasets and effective pre-trained language models (PLMs) that can support the learning of metaphor interpretation. Thus, we propose a dataset with over 10,000 sequences with token-level metaphor paraphrases and a metaphor processing-oriented PLM with a novel anomalous language modeling (ALM) method. We benchmark our proposed ALM-based PLM with comparable PLM baselines on the new dataset, finding that the ALM method largely improves model performance on metaphor identification and interpretation.
Reliability of partialk-tree networks

Recent developments in graph theory have shown the importance of the class of partial k-trees. This large class of graphs admits several algorithm design methodologies that render efficient solutions for a large number of problems inherently difficult for general graphs. In this thesis we develop such algorithms to solve a variety of reliability problems on partial k-tree networks with node and edge failures. We also investigate the problem of designing uniformly optimal 2-trees with respect to the 2-terminal reliability measure. We model a communication network as a graph in which nodes represent communication sites and edges represent bidirectional communication lines. Each component (node or edge) has an associated probability of operation. Components of the network are in either operational or failed state and their failures are statistically independent. Under this model, the reliability of a network G is defined as the probability that a given connectivity condition holds. The l-terminal reliability of G, Rel$\sb{l}$(G), is the probability that any two of a given set of lnodes of G can communicate. Robustness of a network to withstand failures can be expressed through network resilience, Res(G), which is the expected number of distinct pairs of nodes that can communicate. Computing these and others similarly defined measures is #P-hard for general networks. We use a dynamic programming paradigm to design linear time algorithms that compute Rel$\sb{l}$(G), Rel(G), and some other reliability and resilience measures of a partial k-tree network given with an embedding in a k-tree (for a fixed k). Reliability problems on directed networks are also inherently difficult. We present efficient algorithms for directed versions of typical reliability and resilience problems restricted to partial k-tree networks without node failures. Then we reduce to those problems reliability problems allowing both node and edge failures. Finally, we study 2-terminal reliability aspects of 2-trees. We characterize uniformly optimal 2-trees, 2-paths, and 2-caterpillars with respect to Rel$\sb{2}$ and identify local graph operations that improve the 2-terminal reliability of 2-tree networks.
Behandlung von Patienten mit Hypertonie unter Berücksichtigung des kardiovaskulären Gesamtrisikos

Ziel dieser Analyse ist es, die hausärztliche Behandlung von Patienten mit Bluthochdruck in Relation zu ihrem kardiovaskulären Risiko (CVR) darzustellen und zu bewerten. Querschnittsstudie mit kardiovaskulären Daten von 3.355 Patienten aus 89 Hausarztpraxen. Die Auswertung erfolgte getrennt für drei Risikoklassen: Primärprävention mit „niedrigem CVR” und „hohem CVR” sowie Sekundärprävention. Die Blutdruck-Kontrollrate < 140/90 mmHg lag insgesamt bei 45,8 % (< 160/100 bei 84,2 %); „niedriges CVR”: 55 % (88,5 %), „hohes CVR”: 37 % (79,5 %), Sekundärprävention: 53 % (87,1 %). Betablocker wurden in 57,7 % (Monotherapie: 43,1 %) eingesetzt, Diuretika bei 48,8 % (6,7 %), AT-1-Blocker bei 18,3 % (11,5 %). Die Blutdruckeinstellung ist in der Gesamtgruppe besser als in früheren Studien, in der Hochrisikogruppe der Primär- sowie in der Sekundärprävention aber noch unbefriedigend. Betablocker und AT-1-Blocker werden zu häufig und Diuretika zu selten eingesetzt.
Beratungsanlass Beinschwellung: Differenzialdiagnostik in der Allgemeinpraxis

In dem Text wird das für die Allgemeinpraxis sinnvolle Vorgehen beim mehrdeutigen Symptom „Beinschwellung” dargelegt. Es wird der Ausschluss abwendbar gefährlicher Verläufe behandelt, und das stufenweise differenzialdiagnostische Vorgehen unter Bezug auf Multi- und Komorbiditäten beschrieben. An therapeutischen Maßnahmen werden sowohl die in der Akutsituation unmittelbar erforderlichen Schritte angeführt wie auch allgemeine Maßnahmen im Rahmen der Grundversorgung. Auf die Behandlung ursächlicher Erkrankungen wird nicht eingegangen, ebenso werden Ödeme während der Schwangerschaft aufgrund des anderen Vorgehens im vorliegenden Artikel nicht behandelt.
Zur Bedeutung von Traumafolgestörungen in der hausärztlichen Praxis

Lange ist bekannt, dass traumatische Erfahrungen erhebliche Bedeutung für die Entstehung psychischer, aber auch körperlicher Störungen besitzen. Weder der Relevanz der primärärztlichen Versorgung noch den Spezifika der hausärztlichen Arbeitsweise wird dabei in der Debatte um adäquate Versorgungs- und Therapiekonzepte bisher Rechnung getragen. Die Behandlungsrealität zeigt, dass Posttraumatische Belastungsreaktionen (PTBR) in der hausärztlichen Versorgung häufig auftreten. Aber auch für komplexe Traumafolgestörungen (cPTBS) und die Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung (PTBS) ist bekannt, dass eine erhöhte Komorbidität und Wechselbeziehungen mit Erkrankungen bestehen, die in der hausärztlichen Versorgung von Relevanz sind. Dieser Beitrag bietet einen Einblick in psychotraumatologische Grundbegriffe und die Entstehung von Traumafolgestörungen. Dabei steht die Frage nach der Bedeutung dieser Erkenntnisse für die hausärztliche Versorgung im Fokus. Auch werden mögliche Beratungs- und Behandlungsansätze für Hausärzte/innen skizziert. Die vorliegende Datenlage deutet darauf hin, dass die Entwicklung angemessener Versorgungskonzepte notwendig ist. Erklärte Ziele sind dabei, die Versorgungssituation traumatisierter Patienten/innen zu verbessern sowie zur Entlastung im hausärztlichen Praxisalltag beizutragen.
A comparison of two analytical systems for 3-D reconstruction from biplane videoradiograms

The authors compare the accuracy and reproducibility of two systems for measuring three-dimensional motions of the human heart from biplane videoradiograms of surgically inserted radiopaque markers. System 1 uses orthogonal imaging systems with coincident perpendicular central rays and a modified parallel-ray approximation. System 2 uses a mathematical determination of the geometry of the imaging systems each time a sequence is recorded. Accuracy of the calculated lengths, expressed as mean percentage error of a series of known lengths, is <0.7% for system 1 and 0.2% for system 2; reproducibility is 3.1% for system 1 and 1.0% for system 2. In both systems, reproducibility is limited by resolution of the imaging-recording-digitizing chain. The authors conclude that both systems could be improved by increasing the effective digitizer resolution, either by making the image larger or by using digitizing hardware with greater resolution, or both. Because system 2 provides improved accuracy and reproducibility and geometrical alignment requirements are minimal, it has been selected for biplane image data acquisition and three-dimensional reconstructions. <<ETX>>