Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PD-L1 inhibitor plus gemcitabine and cisplatin therapy followed by conversion surgery for initially unresectable advanced gallbladder cancer

Advanced gallbladder cancer (GBC) is not amenable to surgical resection. There are limited treatment options and the prognosis is dismal. The role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in conversion therapy remains unclear for initially unresectable advanced GBC. We present a case of a woman in her late 60s diagnosed with stage IV GBC with liver and para-aortic and retroperitoneal lymph node metastases, who achieved a pathological complete response after three cycles of programmed cell death-ligand 1 inhibitor durvalumab combined with gemcitabine and cisplatin regimen and underwent conversion surgery without complication. The patient went on to develop disease progression without adjuvant therapy 6 months after surgery.
An updated evaluation of reported no-observed adverse effect levels for chrysotile, amosite, and crocidolite asbestos for lung cancer and mesothelioma

Abstract This analysis updates two previous analyses that evaluated the exposure-response relationships for lung cancer and mesothelioma in chrysotile-exposed cohorts. We reviewed recently published studies, as well as updated information from previous studies. Based on the 16 studies considered for chrysotile (<10% amphibole), we identified the “no-observed adverse effect level” (NOAEL) for lung cancer and/or mesothelioma; it should be noted that smoking or previous or concurrent occupational exposure to amphiboles (if it existed) was not controlled for. NOAEL values ranged from 2.3–<11.5 f/cc-years to 1600–3200 f/cc-years for lung cancer and from 100–<400 f/cc-years to 800–1599 f/cc-years for mesothelioma. The range of best-estimate NOAELs was estimated to be 97–175 f/cc-years for lung cancer and 250–379 f/cc-years for mesothelioma. None of the six cohorts of cement or friction product manufacturing workers exhibited an increased risk at any exposure level, while all but one of the six studies of textile workers reported an increased risk at one or more exposure levels. This is likely because friction and cement workers were exposed to much shorter chrysotile fibers. Only eight cases of peritoneal mesothelioma were reported in all studies on predominantly chrysotile-exposed cohorts combined. This analysis also proposed best-estimate amosite and crocidolite NOAELs for mesothelioma derived by the application of relative potency estimates to the best-estimate chrysotile NOAELs for mesothelioma and validated by epidemiology studies with exposure-response information. The best-estimate amosite and crocidolite NOAELs for mesothelioma were 2–5 f/cc-years and 0.6–1 f/cc-years, respectively. The rate of peritoneal mesothelioma in amosite- and crocidolite-exposed cohorts was between approximately 70- to 100-fold and several-hundred-fold higher than in chrysotile-exposed cohorts, respectively. These findings will help characterize potential worker and consumer health risks associated with historical and current chrysotile, amosite, and crocidolite exposures.
The Use of Virtual and Augmented Reality in Anatomy Teaching

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background - There is a demand for new and efficient tools to teach anatomical sciences. Rapid developments in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) mean educational use of the technology is becoming increasingly viable. However, uptake of this technology in anatomy teaching is still limited. This brief review aims to examine the effectiveness of VR/AR in anatomy teaching and includes evaluation of: head mounted devices (HMDs), stereoscopic projectors and screens, AR Magic Mirrors and AR Magic Books. Methods - PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched for relevant articles from 2013 to 29 th June 2018. Results - Students’ academic performance was equal to or better than control methods for all four types of technology. All studies found high levels of student satisfaction for VR/AR teaching methods. Discussion - Various confounding factors and the large heterogeneity between studies are likely to have a major impact on results. Further research into the depth and longevity of learning in the different teaching methods, as well as their cost-effectiveness, would be beneficial for prospective institutions.
Meta-analysis of cortical thickness reduction in adult schizophrenia

Background: Numerous neuroimaging studies using surface-based morphometry analyses have reported altered cortical thickness among patients with schizophrenia, but the results have been inconsistent. We sought to provide a whole-brain meta-analysis, which may help enhance the spatial accuracy of identification. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of whole-brain studies that explored cortical thickness alteration among adult patients with schizophrenia, including first-episode patients with schizophrenia, and patients with chronic schizophrenia, compared with healthy controls by using the seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images (SDM-PSI) software. Results: A systematic literature search identified 25 studies (33 data sets) of cortical thickness, including 2008 patients with schizophrenia and 2004 healthy controls. Overall, patients with schizophrenia showed decreased cortical thickness in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and bilateral insula extending to the superior temporal gyrus (STG). Subgroup meta-analysis reported that patients with chronic schizophrenia showed decreased cortical thickness in the right insula extending to the right IFG. There was no significant cortical thickness difference between first-episode patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Limitations: The results of meta-regression analyses should be viewed cautiously since they were driven by a small number of studies or did not overlap with the between-group differences found in the primary analyses. Conclusion: The meta-analysis suggested robust cortical thickness reduction in the IFG, insula and STG among adult patients with schizophrenia, particularly in those with chronic schizophrenia. The results provide useful insights to understanding the underlying pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Comparison of Powered versus Manual Tooth Brushing for Safety and Efficacy in Patients with Gingivitis: A Randomised, Multicentre Clinical Trial in China.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of powered and manual tooth brushing on gingival inflammation in a Chinese population with mild to moderate gingivitis. METHODS The present randomised, single-blind, parallel clinical trial was conducted in five cities in China. Generally healthy participants aged 18 to 65 years, who were non-smokers and had at least 20 sites of gingival bleeding, were included as eligible subjects. The subjects were randomly assigned to either the powered tooth brushing (PTB) group or standard manual tooth brushing (MTB) group. All subjects were supplied with a fluoride-containing toothpaste, Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI), Modified Gingival Index (MGI) and the Turesky modification of the Quigley-Hein Plaque Index (MPI) were used to evaluate the outcomes. RESULTS A total of 235 subjects completed the study, 118 in the PTB group and 117 in the MTB group. The mean age and sex distribution for the PTB and MTB groups were 34.40 ± 9.99 years, 89 women and 29 men, and 34.20 ± 10.14 years, 82 women and 35 men, respectively. After 6 months, the percentage decrease in MGI was 26.150% ± 26.897% for the PTB group and 14.768% ± 38.544% for the MTB group (P = 0.0092). Statistically significant differences between types of tooth brushing were also observed at 6 months for GBI, and at all time points for MPI. CONCLUSION Tooth brushing with a powered toothbrush twice a day was shown to be more effective than use of a manual toothbrush in reducing gingival inflammation, gingival bleeding and surface plaque after a 6-month period. Both kinds of toothbrushes were safe for the oral tissues.
North Africa - Working paper – Public Investment and Growth in the Maghreb Countries

In the wake of the Arab Spring, governments in the Maghreb countries have found themselves forced to undertake major economic and social reforms aiming at alleviating poverty, creating equal opportunities, and achieving higher growth and a better standard of living. One of the main obstacles facing some of these countries is the significant decline in foreign direct investment that they suffered as a result of higher uncertainty.
Individual- and community-level determinants of maternal health service utilization in southern Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis

Background: Maternal health service utilization decreases maternal morbidity and mortality. However, the existing evidence is inadequate to design effective intervention strategies in Ethiopia. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the utilization of maternal health service and identify its determinants among women of reproductive age in southern Ethiopia. Design: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 21 to November 11, 2022 on a sample of 1140 women selected randomly from the Northern Zone of the Sidama region. Methods: Data were collected using the Open Data Kit mobile application and exported to Stata version 15 for analysis. We used a multilevel mixed-effects modified Poisson regression with robust standard error to identify determinants of maternal health service utilization. Results: Utilization of antenatal care, health facility delivery, and postnatal care was 52.0% (95% confidence interval: 49.0%, 55.0%), 48.5% (95% confidence interval: 45.6%, 51.4%), and 26.0% (95% confidence interval: 23.0%, 29.0%), respectively. Antenatal care use was associated with receiving model family training (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.19; 95% confidence interval: 1.06, 1.35), knowledge of antenatal care (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.54; 95% confidence interval: 1.31, 1.81), perceived quality of antenatal care (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.02; 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.03), and having birth preparedness plan (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.13; 95% confidence interval: 1.02, 1.25). The identified determinants of health facility delivery use were middle wealth rank (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.35; 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.77), perceived quality of health facility delivery (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.02; 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.03), antenatal care (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.76; 95% confidence interval: 1.36, 2.26), and high community-level women literacy (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.55; 95% confidence interval: 1.10, 2.19). Postnatal care use was associated with facing health problems during postpartum period (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.79; 95% confidence interval: 1.18, 2.72), urban residence (adjusted prevalence ratio: 3.52; 95% confidence interval: 2.15, 5.78), knowledge of postnatal care (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.11; 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 1.19), and low community-level poverty (adjusted prevalence ratio: 0.43; 95% confidence interval: 0.25, 0.73). Conclusion: Maternal health service use was low in the study area and was influenced by individual- and community-level determinants. Any intervention strategies must consider multi-sectorial collaboration to address determinants at different levels. The programs should focus on the provision of model family training, the needs of women who have a poor perception, and knowledge of maternal health service at the individual level.
Comparative Genome Microsynteny Illuminates the Fast Evolution of Nuclear Mitochondrial Segments (NUMTs) in Mammals

Abstract The escape of DNA from mitochondria into the nuclear genome (nuclear mitochondrial DNA, NUMT) is an ongoing process. Although pervasively observed in eukaryotic genomes, their evolutionary trajectories in a mammal-wide context are poorly understood. The main challenge lies in the orthology assignment of NUMTs across species due to their fast evolution and chromosomal rearrangements over the past 200 million years. To address this issue, we systematically investigated the characteristics of NUMT insertions in 45 mammalian genomes and established a novel, synteny-based method to accurately predict orthologous NUMTs and ascertain their evolution across mammals. With a series of comparative analyses across taxa, we revealed that NUMTs may originate from nonrandom regions in mtDNA, are likely found in transposon-rich and intergenic regions, and unlikely code for functional proteins. Using our synteny-based approach, we leveraged 630 pairwise comparisons of genome-wide microsynteny and predicted the NUMT orthology relationships across 36 mammals. With the phylogenetic patterns of NUMT presence-and-absence across taxa, we constructed the ancestral state of NUMTs given the mammal tree using a coalescent method. We found support on the ancestral node of Fereuungulata within Laurasiatheria, whose subordinal relationships are still controversial. This study broadens our knowledge on NUMT insertion and evolution in mammalian genomes and highlights the merit of NUMTs as alternative genetic markers in phylogenetic inference.
Sea-levels and Archaeology in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

Nous etudions l'histoire de la reserve de parc national des Iles-Gulf au niveau de la mer en datant, par le radiocarbone, des echantillons organiques paleomarins et archeologiques. Ces travaux mettent en evidence le probleme de visibilite des sites de plus d'un ou de deux millenaires situes pres des cotes dans cette region. Ils montrent egalement l'importance de voir a ce que les evaluations archeologiques comprennent des enquetes systematiques, notamment des essais a la pelle et a la tariere, dans la zone intertidale.
Ocorrência de mastite em rebanhos leiteiros do município de Santarém – Pará

Within Brazilian dairy cows, milk production has been gaining prominence in the current scenario. Milk samples were collected from all the rooms of the 31 dairy cows in lactation from the properties from October to November of 2013. The cows had no clinical symptoms. Of the animals evaluated 5 (16.1%) presented positive for the diagnosis of CMT varying between one, two and three crosses. E 26 (83.9%) did not present without positivity for the test. It was concluded that the California Mastitis Test (CMT) was able to identify cows with subclinical mastitis in 16.1% of the cows, and 83.9% were negative.
Interaction between pesticides and other factors in effects on bees

Bees are important pollinators of both managed crops and wild flora. An overview of the interactions between pesticides and other factors in effects on bees considered: 1) The importance of the different exposure routes in relation to the overall exposure of bees to pesticides; 2) Multiple exposure to pesticides (including substances used in bee medication) and potential additive and cumulative effects; and 3) Interactions between diseases and susceptibility of bees to pesticides. Nectar foraging bees are likely to experienced highest exposure to both sprayed and systemic seed and soil treatments compounds followed by nurse and brood-attending bees. In both cases the major contribution to exposure was contaminated nectar with direct overspray playing a significant role in exposure. However, there are a variety of other routes (and other bee species) where there is currently insufficient data to fully total exposure: There are a large number of studies that have investigated the interactions between pesticides in bees. By far the majority have related to the interactions involving EBI fungicides and can be related to their inhibition of P450. The scale of the synergy is shown to be dose and season-dependent in acute exposures but there are few data relating to the effect of time between exposures, the effect of route of exposure or on chronic exposure effects at realistic exposure levels. There are a wide range of factors which affect the immunocompetence of bees including diet quality, pest and diseases. Although there are a limited number of laboratory based studies which suggest effects of a pesticide on disease susceptibility there is no clear evidence from field-based studies that exposure of colonies to pesticides results in increased susceptibility to disease or that there is a link between colony loss due to disease and pesticide residues in monitoring studies.
Parental emotionality is related to preschool children’s neural responses to emotional faces

Abstract The ability to accurately decode others’ facial expressions is essential for successful social interaction. Previous theories suggest that aspects of parental emotionality—the frequency, persistence and intensity of parents’ own emotions—can influence children’s emotion perception. Through a combination of mechanisms, parental emotionality may shape how children’s brains specialize to respond to emotional expressions, but empirical data are lacking. The present study provides a direct empirical test of the relation between the intensity, persistence and frequency of parents’ own emotions and children’s neural responses to perceiving emotional expressions. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded as typically developing 3- to 5-year-old children (final Ns = 59 and 50) passively viewed faces expressing different emotional valences (happy, angry and fearful) at full and reduced intensity (100% intense expression and 40% intense expression). We examined relations between parental emotionality and children’s mean amplitude ERP N170 and negative central responses. The findings demonstrate a clear relation between parental emotionality and children’s neural responses (in the N170 mean amplitude and latency) to emotional expressions and suggest that parents may influence children’s emotion-processing neural circuitry.
Three‐dimensional body composition parameters using automatic volumetric segmentation allow accurate prediction of colorectal cancer outcomes

Abstract Background Parameters obtained from two‐dimensional (2D) cross‐sectional images have been used to determine body composition. However, data from three‐dimensional (3D) volumetric body images reflect real body composition more accurately and may be better predictors of patient outcomes in cancer. This study aimed to assess the 3D parameters and determine the best predictive factors for patient prognosis. Methods Patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC) between 2010 and 2016 were included in this study. Preoperative computed tomography images were analysed using an automatic segmentation program. Body composition parameters for muscle, muscle adiposity, subcutaneous fat (SF) and abdominal visceral fat (AVF) were assessed using 2D images at the third lumbar (L3) level and 3D images of the abdominal waist (L1–L5). The cut‐off points for each parameter were determined using X‐tile software. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify the association between the parameters and the treatment outcomes, and the relative influence of each parameter was compared using a gradient boosting model. Results Overall, 499 patients were included in the study. At a median follow‐up of 59 months, higher 3D parameters of the abdominal muscles and SF from the abdominal waist were found to be associated with longer overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (all P < 0.001). Although the 3D parameters of AVF were not related to survival outcomes, patients with a high AVF volume and mass experienced higher rate of postoperative complications than those with low AVF volume (27.4% vs. 18.7%, P = 0.021, for mass; 27.1% vs. 19.0%, P = 0.028, for volume). Low muscle mass and volume (hazard ratio [HR] 1.959, P = 0.016; HR 2.093, P = 0.036, respectively) and low SF mass and volume (HR 1.968, P = 0.008; HR 2.561, P = 0.003, respectively), both in the abdominal waist, were identified as independent prognostic factors for worse OS. Along with muscle mass and volume, SF mass and volume in the abdominal waist were negatively correlated with mortality (all P < 0.001). Both AVF mass and volume in the abdominal waist were positively correlated with postoperative complications (P < 0.05); 3D muscle volume and SF at the abdominal waist were the most influential factors for OS. Conclusions 3D volumetric parameters generated using an automatic segmentation program showed higher correlations with the short‐ and long‐term outcomes of patients with CRC than conventional 2D parameters.
Single-Polymer Friction Force Microscopy of dsDNA Interacting with a Nanoporous Membrane

Surface-grafted polymers can reduce friction between solids in liquids by compensating the normal load with osmotic pressure, but they can also contribute to friction when fluctuating polymers entangle with the sliding counter face. We have measured forces acting on a single fluctuating double-stranded DNA polymer, which is attached to the tip of an atomic force microscope and interacts intermittently with nanometer-scale methylated pores of a self-assembled polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) membrane. Rare binding of the polymer into the pores is followed by a stretching of the polymer between the laterally moving tip and the surface and by a force-induced detachment. We present results for the velocity dependence of detachment forces and of attachment frequency and discuss them in terms of rare excursions of the polymer beyond its equilibrium configuration.
Intergenerational Comparison of Value of Children among Urban Women Population in Mashhad, Iran, 2014

Introduction: The theory of value of children refers to the needs which children provide for their parents. Considering the close relationship between the value orientation of people with the decisions in organizing life and forming a family, including having children, and according to decreased fertility rate in Iran, the present study was performed with aim of intergenerational comparison of the value of children and its dimensions among women in Mashhad. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed as multi-stage sampling on 712 women referred to health centers in Mashhad and using a demographic questionnaire and the questionnaire of value of children, including three emotional, economic and social dimensions, which its validity was determined using content validity and its reliability by internal consistency. Data was analyzed using SPSS software (version 16). P Results: The studied women more perceived emotional value of children with a mean score of 68.89 ± 18.02, and then the economic value of children with a mean score of 46.13 ± 19.36, and the social value of children with a mean score of 43.89 ± 15.15 had the lowest priority among women. Also, the mean score of emotional value of children was higher among younger women and economic and social value was higher among older women. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate more importance of emotional value of children among women and changing the value of children from economic and social point of view to emotional one among younger generation that suggests a new vision to design comprehensive and regular training plans in order to promote women's reproductive behavior.
¿Qué está pasando en tu ciudad? Descubriendo eventos geolocalizados a través de Social Media

Machine learning is one of many subfields in Artificial Intelligence, which seeks the creation of intelligent applications, from data inputs, to be provided with knowledge. In the other hand, social media has become a very powerful tool nowadays. They allow us to extract information either from people or from events, thanks to the possibility of sharing experiences among users at any time. In this work we study the issue of anomaly detection based on social networks. To do so we used Twitter, as the social network, with the purpose of finding different events in interesting geographic zones in the city of Barcelona from geolocalized tweets. This tweets have been clustered by proximity, in sectors, using their creation date and their geographic coordinates to develop the anomaly detection methodology. To achieve this task we have created a web application developed in JavaScript using the Twitter STREAMING API which grants access to geolocalized tweets of the city and Google Maps API to cluster and visualize the tweets.