Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feasibility study of functional near-infrared spectroscopy in the ventral visual pathway for real-life applications

Abstract. Significance fNIRS-based neuroenhancement depends on the feasible detection of hemodynamic responses in target brain regions. Using the lateral occipital complex (LOC) and the fusiform face area (FFA) in the ventral visual pathway as neurofeedback targets boosts performance in visual recognition. However, the feasibility of utilizing fNIRS to detect LOC and FFA activity in adults remains to be validated as the depth of these regions may exceed the detection limit of fNIRS. Aim This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using fNIRS to measure hemodynamic responses in the ventral visual pathway, specifically in the LOC and FFA, in adults. Approach We recorded the hemodynamic activities of the LOC and FFA regions in 35 subjects using a portable eight-channel fNIRS instrument. A standard one-back object and face recognition task was employed to elicit selective brain responses in the LOC and FFA regions. The placement of fNIRS optodes for LOC and FFA detection was guided by our group’s transcranial brain atlas (TBA). Results Our findings revealed selective activation of the LOC target channel (CH2) in response to objects, whereas the FFA target channel (CH7) did not exhibit selective activation in response to faces. Conclusions Our findings indicate that, although fNIRS detection has limitations in capturing FFA activity, the LOC region emerges as a viable target for fNIRS-based detection. Furthermore, our results advocate for the adoption of the TBA-based method for setting the LOC target channel, offering a promising solution for optrode placement. This feasibility study stands as the inaugural validation of fNIRS for detecting cortical activity in the ventral visual pathway, underscoring its ecological validity. We suggest that our findings establish a pivotal technical groundwork for prospective real-life applications of fNIRS-based research.
Predicting the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele carrier status based on gray matter volumes and cognitive function

Abstract Background Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4 carriers have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and show brain atrophy and cognitive decline even before diagnosis. Objective To predict ApoE ε4 status using gray matter volume (GMV) obtained from magnetic resonance imaging images and demographic data with machine learning (ML) methods. Methods We recruited 74 participants (25 probable AD, 24 amnestic mild cognitive impairment, and 25 cognitively normal older people) with known ApoE genotype (22 ApoE ε4 carriers and 52 noncarriers) and scanned them with three‐dimensional (3D) T1‐weighted (T1W) and 3D double inversion recovery (DIR) sequences. We extracted GMV from regions of interest related to AD pathology and used them as features along with age and mini–mental state examination (MMSE) scores to train different ML models. We performed both receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and the prediction analysis of the ApoE ε4 carrier with different ML models. Results The best model of ML analyses was a cubic support vector machine (SVM3) that used age, the MMSE score, and DIR GMVs at the amygdala, hippocampus, and precuneus as features (AUC = .88). This model outperformed models using T1W GMV or demographic data alone. Conclusion Our results suggest that brain atrophy with DIR GMV and cognitive decline with aging can be useful biomarkers for predicting ApoE ε4 status and identifying individuals at risk of AD progression.
External Rotation Strength After TSA in Osteoarthritic Shoulders with Eccentric Deformity Is Not Impacted by Posterior Rotator Cuff Deficiency

Background: Patients with persistent glenohumeral osteoarthritis symptoms despite nonoperative management may pursue anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). TSA revision rates are higher in patients with preoperative eccentric (asymmetric posterior erosion) compared with concentric (symmetric) glenoid deformity. If posterior rotator cuff deficiency demonstrated preoperatively in patients with eccentric deformity persists after TSA, it may manifest as relative weakness in external compared with internal rotation secondary to deficient activity of the shoulder external rotator muscles. Persistent posterior rotator cuff deficiency is hypothesized to contribute to TSA failures. However, it remains unknown whether rotational strength is impaired after TSA in patients with eccentric deformity. Our goal was to determine if patients with eccentric deformity exhibit relative external rotation weakness that may be explained by posterior rotator cuff deficiency after TSA. Methods: Patients who were >1 year after TSA for primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis and had had preoperative eccentric or concentric deformity were prospectively recruited. Torque was measured and electromyography was performed during maximal isometric contractions in 26 three-dimensional direction combinations. Relative strength in opposing directions (strength balance) and muscle activity of 6 shoulder rotators were compared between groups. Results: The internal (+) and external (−) rotation component of strength balance did not differ in patients with eccentric (mean internal-external rotation component of strength balance: −7.6% ± 7.4%) compared with concentric deformity (−10.3% ± 6.8%) (mean difference: 2.7% [95% confidence interval (CI), −1.3% to 6.7%]; p = 0.59), suggesting no relative external rotation weakness. Infraspinatus activity was reduced in patients with eccentric (43.9% ± 10.4% of maximum voluntary contraction [MVC]) compared with concentric (51.3% ± 10.4% of MVC) deformity (mean difference: −7.4% [95% CI, −13.4% to −1.4%] of MVC; p = 0.04). Conclusions: A relative external rotation strength deficit following TSA was not found, despite evidence of reduced infraspinatus activity, in the eccentric-deformity group. Reduced infraspinatus activity suggests that posterior rotator cuff deficiencies may persist following TSA in patients with eccentric deformities. Longitudinal study is necessary to evaluate muscle imbalance as a contributor to higher TSA failure rates. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Hypermethylation of MGMT Gene Promoter in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells as a Noninvasive Biomarker for Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis

Abstract Background: Early colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis can drastically reduce CRC-related morbidity and mortality. In this regard, increasing attention is now being directed to DNA-based tests, especially the evaluation of methylation levels, to prioritize high-risk suspected persons for colonoscopy examination. Therefore, we aimed to assess the accuracy of MGMT gene promoter methylation levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for distinguishing CRC patients from healthy people. Materials and Methods: For this study, a total of seventy individuals with CRC and 75 healthy individuals from Iran were included. The methylation level of MGMT in the DNA isolated from PBMCs was evaluated using the methylation quantification endonuclease-resistant DNA technique. To assess the diagnostic capability of the MGMT promoter methylation level, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated. Results: The mean promoter methylation level of MGMT in the CRC and control groups was, respectively, 27.83 ± 22.80 vs. 12.36 ± 14.48. The average percentage of methylation of the MGMT promoter between the CRC and control groups was significantly different (P < 0.001). Also, the MGMT promoter was more hypermethylated in female patients than in males. ROC analyses indicated that the diagnostic power of the MGMT promoter methylation level for CRC was 0.754, with a sensitivity of 81.43% and a specificity of 75.71%, indicating a good biomarker for CRC diagnosis. Conclusion: Methylation evaluation of MGMT in PBMCs could be utilized as a diagnostic biomarker with high accuracy for prioritizing suspected CRC patients before colonoscopy.
Development and Psychometric Assessment of Islamic Spiritual Health Scale for Muslim Patients Based On Islam Teachings

Introduction: Until now, the concept of spiritual health has not been explained according to Islamic teachings and Iranian culture and there is no appropriate scale. The aim of this study was to construct and validate a scale to measure the spiritual health of Islamic patients based on Islamic teachings in Iran. Methods: A mixed method study was done. In the first qualitative stage, a hybrid model with five stages was employed. Using the MAXQUDA 7 software, the data were analyzed according to qualitative content analysis. According to definition and attributes of spiritual health based on Islamic teachings, an 82- item scale wass developed. In the second stage, a quantitative, cross-sectional study was carried out on 310 Muslims patients in Mashhad and Bojnord, Iran. Psychometrics of the scale was examined with face validity, content validity, construct validity and reliability using the SPSS 11 software. Results: At the qualitative stage, definitions, 30 empirical referents, insequences, and consequences were developed based on Islamic teachings. At the quantitative stage, the final scale of spiritual health, based on Islamic teachings consisting of 32 items with cognitive and behavioral domain, was developed. Conclusions: A nursing care model should be designed to promote spiritual health and follow up the outcomes should be based on the context of the Islamic society.
User opinion extraction model concerning consumer properties of products based on a recurrent neural network

This article offers a long short-term memory (LSTM) based structured prediction model taking into account existing approaches to sequence tagging tasks and allowing for extraction of user opinions from reviews. We propose a model configuration and state transition rules which allow us to use past predictions of the model alongside sentence features. We create a body of annotated user reviews about mobile phones from Amazon for model training and evaluation. The model trained on reviews corpus with recommended hyperparameter values. Experiment shows that the proposed model has a 4.51% increase in the F1 score for aspects detection and a 5.44% increase for aspect descriptions compared to the conditional random field (CRF) model with the use of LSTM when F1 spans are matched strictly. The extraction of user opinions on mobile phones from reviews outside of the collected corpus was conducted as practical confirmation of the proposed model. In addition, opinions from other product categories like skin care products, TVs and tablets were extracted. The examples show that the model can successfully extract user opinions from different kinds of reviews. The results obtained can be useful for computational linguists and machine learning professionals, heads and managers of online stores for consumer preference determination, product recommendations and for providing rich catalog searching tools.This study was conducted under government order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, project No. 8.8184. 2017/8.9
Collagen and actin network mediate antiviral immunity against Orsay virus in C. elegans intestinal cells

C. elegans is a free-living nematode that is widely used as a small animal model for studying fundamental biological processes and disease mechanisms. Since the discovery of the Orsay virus in 2011, C. elegans also holds the promise of dissecting virus-host interaction networks and innate antiviral immunity pathways in an intact animal. Orsay virus primarily targets the worm intestine, causing enlarged intestinal lumen as well as visible changes to infected cells such as liquefaction of cytoplasm and convoluted apical border. Previous studies of Orsay virus identified that C. elegans is able to mount antiviral responses by DRH-1/RIG-I mediated RNA interference and Intracellular Pathogen Response, a uridylyltransferase that destabilizes viral RNAs by 3′ end uridylation, and ubiquitin protein modifications and turnover. To comprehensively search for novel antiviral pathways in C. elegans, we performed genome-wide RNAi screens by bacterial feeding using existing bacterial RNAi libraries covering 94% of the entire genome. Out of the 106 potential antiviral gene hits identified, we investigated those in three new pathways: collagens, actin remodelers, and epigenetic regulators. By characterizing Orsay virus infection in RNAi and mutant worms, our results indicate that collagens likely form a physical barrier in intestine cells to inhibit viral infection by preventing Orsay virus entry. Furthermore, evidence suggests that actin remodeling proteins (unc-34, wve-1 and wsp-1) and chromatin remodelers (nurf-1 and isw-1) exert their antiviral activities by regulating the intestinal actin (act-5), a critical component of the terminal web which likely function as another physical barrier to prevent Orsay infection.
Functionalized Nanomaterials Capable of Crossing the Blood–Brain Barrier

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a specialized semipermeable structure that highly regulates exchanges between the central nervous system parenchyma and blood vessels. Thus, the BBB also prevents the passage of various forms of therapeutic agents, nanocarriers, and their cargos. Recently, many multidisciplinary studies focus on developing cargo-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) to overcome these challenges, which are emerging as safe and effective vehicles in neurotheranostics. In this Review, first we introduce the anatomical structure and physiological functions of the BBB. Second, we present the endogenous and exogenous transport mechanisms by which NPs cross the BBB. We report various forms of nanomaterials, carriers, and their cargos, with their detailed BBB uptake and permeability characteristics. Third, we describe the effect of regulating the size, shape, charge, and surface ligands of NPs that affect their BBB permeability, which can be exploited to enhance and promote neurotheranostics. We classify typical functionalized nanomaterials developed for BBB crossing. Fourth, we provide a comprehensive review of the recent progress in developing functional polymeric nanomaterials for applications in multimodal bioimaging, therapeutics, and drug delivery. Finally, we conclude by discussing existing challenges, directions, and future perspectives in employing functionalized nanomaterials for BBB crossing.
EARLY MOBILIZATION OF PATIENTS WITH SUBARACHNOID HAEMORRHAGE: A NATIONAL SURVEY OF FRENCH INTENSIVE CARE UNITS

Objective To describe French intensive care unit practices regarding the mobilization of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage. Design A cross-sectional nationwide survey study. Subjects Intensivists and physiotherapists or nurses from French intensive care units managing patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage. Methods An online questionnaire survey was distributed through the Neurocritical Care and Neuro Anesthesiology French Speaking Society. Results The response rate was 89%. Of these, 90% did not have a mobilization protocol for patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage. Sixteen percent of departments prohibited all forms of motor physiotherapy for a predefined period. Nineteen percent systematically prohibited out-of-bed mobilization, regardless of the severity of subarachnoid haemorrhage and in the absence of any complication, for a predefined period. The main factors that would delay or interrupt physiotherapy prescription were intracranial hypertension (79%), currently treated vasospasm (59%), and suspicion of vasospasm (44%). Ninety-one percent of the centres identified at least one complication that could be associated with standing upright. These mainly included decreased cerebral perfusion (71%), dislodged external ventricular or lumbar derivations (68%), and haemodynamic instability (65%). Conclusion Mobilization of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage is heterogeneous among French neuro-intensive care units and several barriers preclude improvement of mobilization practices. Interventional studies assessing mobilization practices, as well as education and training of staff, are crucial to ensure the proper management of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage and to improve outcomes. LAY ABSTRACT No recommendations concerning the mobilization of patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage have been published to date. This survey examined mobilization practices of French intensive care units managing patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage. The study found that 90% of departments did not have a mobilization protocol for patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage and, consequently, the study found that practices were highly heterogeneous. It was also noted that there were concerns that early mobilization could be deleterious for these patients. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal modalities and timing of mobilization for these patients.
Multimorbidity measured with Charlson Comorbidity Index is not associated with clinically relevant risk of revision after primary total hip arthroplasty: a population-based cohort study on 98,647 patients from the Danish Hip Arthroplasty Register.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Evidence for guiding healthcare professionals on the risks of total hip arthroplasty (THA) in multimorbid patients is sparse. We aimed to examine the association between multimorbidity and the risk of revision due to any cause and specific causes after primary THA due to osteoarthritis. PATIENTS AND METHODS We identified 98,647 THA patients and subsequent revisions in the Danish Hip Arthroplasty Register from 1995 to 2018. Multimorbidity was measured with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Using the CCI (low, medium, high), we calculated the cumulative incidence function (CIF) of first revision up to 10 years after THA. Adjusted cause-specific hazard ratios (aHRs) were estimated using Cox regressions. All estimates are presented with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS Overall, the prevalence of patients with low, medium, and high CCI was 70%, 24%, and 6%. The CIF of any revision within 10 years was 6.5% (CI 6.2-6.7) in low and 6.5% (CI 5.8-7.3) in high CCI, with an aHR of 1.4 (CI 1.2-1.6) for patients with high compared with low CCI. The corresponding aHRs for cause-specific revision were 1.3 (CI 1.0-1.6) for aseptic loosening within 10 years, 1.2 (CI 0.9-1.6) for infection, and 1.7 (CI 1.3-2.2) for dislocation, both within 2 years. CONCLUSION Multimorbidity is associated with a minor but not clinically relevant increased risk of revision up to 10 years after primary THA.
Docking for Molecules That Bind in a Symmetric Stack with SymDOCK

Discovering ligands for amyloid fibrils, such as those formed by the tau protein, is an area of great current interest. In recent structures, ligands bind in stacks in the tau fibrils to reflect the rotational and translational symmetry of the fibril itself; in these structures, the ligands make few interactions with the protein but interact extensively with each other. To exploit this symmetry and stacking, we developed SymDOCK, a method to dock molecules that follow the protein’s symmetry. For each prospective ligand pose, we apply the symmetry operation of the fibril to generate a self-interacting and fibril-interacting stack, checking that doing so will not cause a clash between the original molecule and its image. Absent a clash, we retain that pose and add the ligand–ligand van der Waals energy to the ligand’s docking score (here using DOCK3.8). We can check these geometries and energies using an implementation of ANI, a neural-network-based quantum-mechanical evaluation of the ligand stacking energies. In retrospective calculations, symmetry docking can reproduce the poses of three tau PET tracers whose structures have been determined. More convincingly, in a prospective study, SymDOCK predicted the structure of the PET tracer MK-6240 bound in a symmetrical stack to AD PHF tau before that structure was determined; the docked pose was used to determine how MK-6240 fit the cryo-EM density. In proof-of-concept studies, SymDOCK enriched known ligands over property-matched decoys in retrospective screens without sacrificing docking speed and can address large library screens that seek new symmetrical stackers. Future applications of this approach will be considered.
Elderly patients benefit from minimally invasive mitral valve surgery: perioperative risk management matters

Abstract OBJECTIVES The goal was to assess the single-centre results of minimally invasive mitral valve surgery (MIMVS) in the elderly population. METHODS All patients referred for minimally invasive valve surgery underwent a standardized preoperative screening. We performed a retrospective analysis of 131 consecutive elderly patients (≥75 years) who underwent endoscopic MIMVS through a right mini-thoracotomy. Survival and postoperative course were assessed in 2 groups: a repair group and a replacement group. RESULTS Eighty-five patients underwent mitral valve repair, and 46 had mitral valve replacement. The mean age was 79 ± 2.9 years, and the median follow-up duration was 3.8 years. The cardiopulmonary bypass time (128.7 min vs 155.9 min, P = 0.012) and the cross-clamp time (84.9 min vs 124.1 min, P = 0.005) were significantly longer in the replacement group. Except for more reinterventions for bleeding in the replacement group (10.9% vs 0%, P = 0.005), there were no significant differences in the postoperative course between the 2 groups. Low mortality rates at the midterm follow-up were observed in both groups, and no differences were observed between the 4-and the 12-month follow-up. Survival rates after 1 year and 5 years were 97.6% and 88.6%, respectively, with no significant differences between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS MIMVS is an excellent treatment option in vulnerable elderly patients with excellent short- and long-term results. Although other studies suggest that repair could be superior to replacement even in older patients, our experience suggests that replacement is equivalent to repair in terms of mortality and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events. Experience and standardized preoperative screening are mandatory to achieve optimal results.