Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Appliance Design Affect Treatment Outcomes of Class II Division 1 Malocclusion? A Two-Center Retrospective Study

ABSTRACT Objectives The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare the pre- and post-treatment values of patients treated with monoblock and twin-block appliances with the values of the skeletal Class I individuals. Material and Methods The initial lateral cephalometric radiographs of the pubertal untreated skeletal class I patients and cephalometric radiographs of 60 (30 monoblock, 30 twin-block) patients before and after the functional treatment were included in the study. Skeletal, dental, and soft tissue measurements were performed by a single researcher using Dolphin Imaging software version 11.95 (Dolphin Imaging, Chatsworth, CA, USA). Paired t-test was used for statistical evaluation and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results In both monoblock and twin-block groups, there was a statistically significant increase in the measurements of the lower jaw and the vertical direction values (sella nasion B point (SNB), pogonion nasion perpendicular, Y-axis, sella nasion-gonion gnathion, palatal-mandibular angle, anterior facial height, mandibular length P < 0.05); however, in the Twin-block group, the lower jaw was found to be displaced more forward (change for twin-block; SNB = 2.35, Wits appraisal = -4.77). The most measurements of the twin-block treated group were similar to the control group. Conclusions Both functional appliances have been identified to be useful in achieving treatment targets; however, with twin-block, results closer to ideal values are obtained.
A Novel miRNA–mRNA Axis Involves in Regulating Transcriptional Disorders in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Background Currently, there is still a lack of understanding about the mechanism and therapeutic targets of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). The potential of miRNA–mRNA networks for the identification of regulatory mechanisms involved in PAAD development remains unexplored. Methods We compared differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMIs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in PAAD and normal tissues from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Transcription factors (TFs) were obtained from FunRich. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses of DEGs and DEMIs were implemented using Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Then, key miRNAs and targeted mRNAs were identified by assessment of their expression and prognosis in UALCAN and Kaplan–Meier plotters. In the last step, the candidate miRNA–mRNA selected was confirmed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results We distinguished 62 significant DEMIs, 1314 upregulated DEGs, and 1110 downregulated DEGs. The top 10 TFs were identified. In total, there were 160 hub genes obtained by intersecting the set of 2224 predicted targets with the set of significant DEGs. And we selected 8 key miRNAs. Furthermore, low expression of miR-455-3p in PAAD tissue was closely connected with poor prognosis, and only 5 target mRNAs were predicted to be increased in PAAD tissue with poor prognosis. Therefore, a novel miRNA–hub gene regulatory network in PAAD was constructed. Finally, in vitro experiments indicated that miR-455-3p expression was decreased in PAAD sample. HOXC4, DLG4, DYNLL1 and FBXO45 were validated by qRT-PCR as highly probable targets of miR-455-3p. Conclusion A novel miRNA–mRNA axis has been discovered that may be involved in the regulation of transcriptional disorders and affected the survival of PAAD patients, which would provide a novel strategy for the treatment of PAAD.
The rescue snared wire technique for challenging transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation: a case series of two patients

Abstract Background Transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation (TPVI) is an effective treatment for right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) dysfunction. Patients affected by congenital heart disease requiring TPVI may have difficult anatomies, thus making the intervention technically demanding. Case summary We report a case series of two patients affected by RVOT dysfunction. Both the cases were characterized by difficulty to advance the valve over the wire, which was successfully overcome by the application of the snared wire technique (SWT) to TPVI. Discussion Various technical pitfalls and tips have been described to facilitate the delivery of the transcatheter Edwards Sapien valve in the pulmonary position. The SWT described by the authors may be a helpful tool to gain supportiveness and stability of the guidewire during the procedure.
Improvement in Redox Homeostasis after Cytoreductive Surgery in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

Colorectal cancer (CRC) as one the most common cancer type is associated with oxidative stress. Surgery is the only curative modality for early-stage CRC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the oxidative damage biomarkers as well as enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants in patients with CRC before and after tumor resection and in healthy controls. 60 patients with stage I/II colorectal adenocarcinoma and 43 healthy controls were recruited in this study. We measured plasma levels of oxidative damage biomarkers, including advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), advanced glycation end products (AGEs), malondialdehyde (MDA), and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) at baseline and after tumor removal. We also evaluated the plasma activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) as enzymatic antioxidants and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay for nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity. Patients with CRC had significantly higher AGE, AOPP, MDA, and ox-LDL and also FRAP levels and higher SOD and GPx and lower CAT activity levels compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05). We did not observe any statistically significant correlation between redox biomarkers and the size and stage of the tumor. AGEs (72.49 ± 4.7 vs. 67.93 ± 8.8, p < 0.001), AOPP (137.64 ± 21.9 vs. 119.08 ± 33.1, p < 0.001), MDA (3.56 ± 0.30 vs. 3.05 ± 0.33, p < 0.001), and ox-LDL (19.78 ± 0.97 vs. 16.94 ± 1.02, p < 0.001) concentrations reduced significantly after tumor removal. The largest effect sizes were found in ox-LDL (d = −2.853, 95% CI 2.50-3.19) and MDA (d = −1.617, 95% CI 0.43-0.57). Serum FRAP levels (1097.5 ± 156.7 vs. 1239.3 ± 290, p < 0.001) and CAT (2.34 ± 0.34 vs. 2.63 ± 0.38, p < 0.001), GPx (102.37 ± 6.58 vs. 108.03 ± 6.95, p < 0.001), and SOD (5.13 ± 0.39 vs. 5.53 ± 0.31, p < 0.001) activity levels increased significantly after surgery. The largest effect sizes among antioxidants were seen in SOD (d = 1.135, 95% CI 0.46-0.34) and GPx (d = 0.836, 95% CI 0.35-0.23). This study indicated that patients with colorectal cancer had higher levels of oxidative stress and antioxidant activity compared to healthy controls. After surgical resection of tumor, we observed a substantial improvement in redox homeostasis.
Detection of treponemes in digital dermatitis lesions of captive European bison (Bison bonasus)

A newly-discovered foot disease of unknown origin in captive European Bison (Bison bonasus) was recently detected at Berne Animal Park. Dermatitis of the interdigital cleft of varying degrees of severity was diagnosed in all animals (n = 10). The aim of this study was to describe the gross and histological lesions of the interdigital cleft found in 10 captive European bison and to identify involved potential pathogens in affected feet using molecular-based methods for Treponema spp. , Dichelobacter nodosus and Fusobacterium necrophorum. Lesions were scored according to the degree of gross pathology at limb level. In a single animal, the gross lesions were restricted to focal lesions on the dorsal aspect of the digital skin of each foot (score 1), whereas all other animals showed at least one foot with extended lesions including the interdigital cleft (score 2). The presence of viable spirochaetes was observed in all animals using dark field microscopy. Applying fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) on biopsies, Treponema spp. were identified, infiltrating the skin lesions in varying numbers in nine animals. Nested PCRs for Treponema medium, Treponema phagedenis and Treponema pedis of swab samples showed three positive animals out of ten for the latter two, whereas pooled biopsy samples were positive in all ten animals for at least T. phagedenis (9/10) and/or T. pedis (7/10), while all samples were negative for T. medium. However, none of these Treponema species could be isolated and sequence analysis of the amplified products showed 100% match of 365 base pairs (bp) to Treponema phylotype PT3 and almost full match (530 of 532 bp, 99.6%) to Treponema phylotype PT13. The presence of T. phagedenis, PT3 and PT13 phylotypes was confirmed by FISH analyses. The phylotypes of T. phagedenis were present in all hybridized positive biopsies of Treponema spp. , and PT13 and PT3 were less abundant. Neither D. nodosus nor F. necrophorum were detected. The histological Treponema score was mostly mild. Digital dermatitis in captive European Bison is contagious and differs from bovine digital dermatitis, concerning associated pathogens as well as gross appearance.
Application of Stem Cell Therapy for ACL Graft Regeneration

Graft regeneration after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery is a complex three-stage process, which usually takes a long duration and often results in fibrous scar tissue formation that exerts a detrimental impact on the patients' prognosis. Hence, as a regeneration technique, stem cell transplantation has attracted increasing attention. Several different stem cell types have been utilized in animal experiments, and almost all of these have shown good capacity in improving tendon-bone regeneration. Various differentiation inducers have been widely applied together with stem cells to enhance specific lineage differentiation, such as recombinant gene transfection, growth factors, and biomaterials. Among the various different types of stem cells, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have been investigated the most, while ligament stem progenitor cells (LDSCs) have demonstrated the best potential in generating tendon/ligament lineage cells. In the clinic, 4 relevant completed trials have been reported, but only one trial with BMSCs showed improved outcomes, while 5 relevant trials are still in progress. This review describes the process of ACL graft regeneration after implantation and summarizes the current application of stem cells from bench to bedside, as well as discusses future perspectives in this field.
Coronary embolism due to possible thrombosis of prosthetic aortic valve - the role of optical coherence tomography: case report

Abstract Background Coronary embolism is an important non-atherosclerotic cause of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) that requires an individualized diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Although certain angiographic criteria exist that render an embolic origin likely, uncertainty remains. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution intracoronary imaging technology that enables visualization of thrombus and the underlying coronary vessel wall, which may be helpful to distinguish between an atherosclerotic and non-atherosclerotic origin of AMI. Case summary A 50-year-old male was admitted with ongoing chest pain. Eleven years ago, he underwent implantation of a mechanical aortic valve prosthesis due to degenerated bicuspid valve with normal coronaries on preoperative angiography. The electrocardiogram showed anterior ST-segment elevation. Emergent angiography revealed total occlusion of the proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD). Thrombus was aspirated along with administration of intravenous glycoprotein IIbIIIa inhibitor. Except the apical part of the LAD showing distal embolization, coronary flow was completely re-established with no evidence of significant atherosclerosis. Stents were not implanted on the basis of the OCT finding, which demonstrated at the site of occlusion a normal vessel wall without atherosclerosis that could explain an erosion or plaque rupture event. Transoesophageal echocardiography confirmed a floating structure in the left ventricular outflow tract, suggesting that an embolus originating from the prosthetic aortic valve obstructed the LAD. The international normalized ratio 2 days prior to presentation measured 1.9. Discussion This case illustrates the utility of OCT to rule out the atherosclerotic aetiology of myocardial infarction and to avoid unnecessary stenting.
Making External Validation Valid for Molecular Classifier Development

PURPOSE Accurate assessment of a molecular classifier that guides patient care is of paramount importance in precision oncology. Recent years have seen an increasing use of external validation for such assessment. However, little is known about how it is affected by ubiquitous unwanted variations in test data because of disparate experimental handling and by the use of data normalization for alleviating such variations. METHODS In this paper, we studied these issues using two microarray data sets for the same set of tumor samples and additional data simulated by resampling under various levels of signal-to-noise ratio and different designs for array-to-sample allocation. RESULTS We showed that (1) unwanted variations can lead to biased classifier assessment and (2) data normalization mitigates the bias to varying extents depending on the specific method used. In particular, frozen normalization methods for test data outperform their conventional forms in terms of both reducing the bias in accuracy estimation and increasing robustness to handling effects. We make available our benchmarking tool as an R package on GitHub for performing such evaluation on additional methods for normalization and classification. CONCLUSION Our findings thus highlight the importance of proper test-data normalization for valid assessment by external validation and call for caution on the choice of normalization method for molecular classifier development.
Modeling Secondary Organic Aerosol Production from Photosensitized Humic-like Substances (HULIS)

Humic-like substances (HULIS) are ubiquitous in atmospheric aerosols. Despite experimental evidence that HULIS can catalyze secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation through photosensitizer chemistry, the potential contribution of this pathway to ambient SOA has not been quantified. In this study, GAMMA, a photochemical box model, was used to analyze the experimental data of Monge et al. ( Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2012, 109, 6840−6844) to quantify the kinetics of uptake of limonene by particles containing humic acid, a laboratory proxy for HULIS. The results indicate that limonene is taken up by irradiated particles containing humic acid efficiently, with a reactive uptake coefficient of 1.6 × 10–4. Consequently, simulations of limonene–HULIS photosensitizer chemistry under ambient conditions, simultaneously with other aqueous SOA formation processes, show that this pathway could contribute up to 65% of the total aqueous SOA at pH 4. The potential importance of this pathway warrants further laborat.
Inflammation and Alzheimer's Disease: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications by Natural Products

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with no clear causative event making the disease difficult to diagnose and treat. The pathological hallmarks of AD include amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and widespread neuronal loss. Amyloid-beta has been extensively studied and targeted to develop an effective disease-modifying therapy, but the success rate in clinical practice is minimal. Recently, neuroinflammation has been focused on as the event in AD progression to be targeted for therapies. Various mechanistic pathways including cytokines and chemokines, complement system, oxidative stress, and cyclooxygenase pathways are linked to neuroinflammation in the AD brain. Many cells including microglia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes work together to protect the brain from injury. This review is focused to better understand the AD inflammatory and immunoregulatory processes to develop novel anti-inflammatory drugs to slow down the progression of AD.
Pigment analysis based on a line-scanning fluorescence hyperspectral imaging microscope combined with multivariate curve resolution

A rapid and cost-effective system is vital for the detection of harmful algae that causes environmental problems in terms of water quality. The approach for algae detection was to capture images based on hyperspectral fluorescence imaging microscope by detecting specific fluorescence signatures. With the high degree of overlapping spectra of algae, the distribution of pigment in the region of interest was unknown according to a previous report. We propose an optimization method of multivariate curve resolution (MCR) to improve the performance of pigment analysis. The reconstruction image described location and concentration of the microalgae pigments. This result indicated the cyanobacterial pigment distribution and mapped the relative pigment content. In conclusion, with the advantage of acquiring two-dimensional images across a range of spectra, HSI conjoining spectral features with spatial information efficiently estimated specific features of harmful microalgae in MCR models.
The complete chloroplast genome of Rhododendron kawakamii (Ericaceae)

Abstract Rhododendron kawakamii is endemic in Taiwan island and is a unique and epiphytic species. Here, we report its complete chloroplast genome. The length of the R. kawakamii chloroplast genome is 230,777 bp, with a large single-copy region of 146,155 bp, a small single-copy region of 72,082 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRA) of 6,270 bp each. The genome contains 77 protein-coding genes, 29 transfer RNA genes, and four ribosomal RNA genes. In addition, the genome contains 81 simple sequence repeats. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that R. kawakamii is genetically related to R. datiandingense.
Prospective 3-month study on the efficacy of UV-free blue light in mild psoriasis vulgaris treatment

Introduction Psoriasis is one of the most common chronic skin diseases affecting up to 2% of the general population. In recent years, an important direction for the development of treatment for psoriasis has been the use of blue light emitted by LED lamps. Aim To evaluate the efficacy of blue-light emitting device in psoriasis vulgaris treatment. Material and methods The study involved 30 adults with a mild form of psoriasis vulgaris not previously receiving biological treatment and other forms of phototherapy. Participants of the study used a device emitting blue LED light for 3 months. Each participant received a device for use at home, with which he/she exposed 2 psoriatic lesions located on the limbs. Before and after the study, the severity of the disease was evaluated using PASI, DLQI and LPSI. Results During 3 months of the therapy, a statistically significant decrease in the mean LPSI (in both treated locations) and DLQI was noted (LPSI decrease from 5.25 ±1.82 to 1.98 ±1.74, p < 0.0001; DLQI from 7.36 ±5.59 before the study to 5.23 ±4.62 after the study. Conclusions Our results confirm that phototherapy using blue LED light is both a safe and highly effective way to treat psoriasis.
Nurses Who Assume the Role of Advocate for Older Hospitalized Patients: A Qualitative Study

Introduction Patient advocacy, acting on behalf of patients’ unmet needs, is fundamental to nursing, and the perception of the need for advocacy motivated this study. Nurses experience moral discomfort, which results from a divergent view regarding medical or caregivers’ decisions about patients’ clinical proceedings, in which patients’ involvement in making those decisions is either doubtful or absent. Objectives The aim of this study is to assess the need for advocacy and explore the perspectives of nurses engaged in the care of older patients. Methods The methodological orientation is that of a qualitative design, by using a purposive and criterion sampling. The sample was of 14 nurses of a ward of general medicine. Focus group as collecting data tool was used, followed by a thematic analysis. Results Nurses demonstrated a high level of moral sensitivity to ethical problems in clinical practice and on occasions, the courage to bring the problem to the physicians or patients’ family’s attention, or help patients develop self-determination. However, it is difficult to advocate because of insufficient communication between professionals, insufficient knowledge of ethics, and the emotional burden it places on nurses which results in emotional resignation in the face of interprofessional teams’ lack of consideration of nurses’ opinions. Conclusion This research highlighted nurses’ need for advocacy to promote patients’ rights, wishes, and values. It is essential for nurses to be aware of their level of moral sensitivity and develop a strategy to regain courage to engage in advocacy. Therefore, ethics education and interprofessional ethical leadership is desired, which inspires healthcare professionals’ work and allows the foundations of an ethical decisionmaking process to be laid through patients and their families’ active involvement.
Educational Case: Hereditary Colorectal Cancer and Association With Endometrial Carcinoma

The following fictional case is intended as a learning tool within the Pathology Competencies for Medical Education (PCME), a set of national standards for teaching pathology. These are divided into three basic competencies: Disease Mechanisms and Processes, Organ System Pathology, and Diagnostic Medicine and Therapeutic Pathology. For additional information, and a full list of learning objectives for all three competencies, see http://journals.sagepub. com/doi/10.1177/2374289517715040. 1
Influence of anticholinergic drugs on the development of an experimental periodontitis model

The endogenous microbiome of the oral cavity plays an essential role in the development of periodontal disease. It also has a significant pathogenic effect on the inner-vation of the oral cavity organs. The experimental determination of the effectiveness of various drugs is required for the effective treatment of periodontal disease, and this involves the creation of a model of experimental periodontitis. The objective of this series of studies was to determine the possibility of reproduction of the experimental model of periodontitis and the study of the effects of anticholinergic drugs on the development of an experimental periodontitis model. The reproduction of the experimental model of periodontitis was performed by injecting the gums of rats with solutions of pathogenic factors: lipopolysaccharide, hyaluronidase and trypsin. We aimed to study the effect of anticholinergic drugs (pilocarpine and atropine) on the development of an experimental model of periodontitis after the injection of a hyaluronidase solution (2 mg/ml) into the rats' gums. The study was performed on white Wistar rats. Elastase activity, malonic dialdehyde content, urease activity (bacterial contamination index), lysozyme activity (an indicator of nonspecific immunity), and catalase activity (an antioxidant enzyme) were determined in the homogenate of the studied tissues. The results of a comparative study of the effect of three pathogenic factors (lipopolysaccharide, hyaluronidase, and trypsin) on the activity of elastase in different tissues of experimental animals (gums, tooth pulp, serum, and gastric mucosa) showed that hyaluronidase has the greatest proinflammatory effect. The action of pilocarpine and atropine was determined with an underline experimental periodontitis model. It was shown that both anticholinergic drugs stimulate the inflammatory process in the periodontium and that anticholinergic drugs enhance the proinflammatory effect of hyaluronidase.