Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition: An Insight in Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a fundamental disease of the cardiovascular system that leads to high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The endothelium is the first protective barrier in atherosclerosis. Endothelial cells have the potential to be transformed into mesenchymal cells, in a process termed endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndMT). On the one hand, EndMT is known to contribute to atherosclerosis by inducing a number of phenotypes ranging from endothelial cell dysfunction to plaque formation. On the other hand, risk factors for atherosclerosis can lead to EndMT. A substantial body of evidence has suggested that EndMT induces the development of atherosclerosis; therefore, a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying EndMT in atherosclerosis might provide insights to reverse this condition.
Common Patterns of Skull Bone Fusion and Their Potential to Discriminate Different Ontogenetic Stages in Extant Birds

The degree of sutural closure between bones generally allows for the classification of skeleton maturity in tetrapods. In mammals, the sutural closure of skull bones was previously used as proxy to evaluate the ontogenetic stage of single individuals. However, due to temporal variation, this process can be only applied among mammalian subclades, but not for all mammals in general. In contrast, the process of sutural closures in bird skulls could be a more reliable ontogenetic proxy for this clade as adult birds commonly show a generally high degree of bone fusion. To test this, we studied the process of sutural closure in ontogenetic series of 18 extant bird species regarding the presence of an ontogenetic signal and compared the results with changes in skull size and proportions. Univariate analyses indicate that bone fusion happens faster in altricial than in precocial birds. However, the use of PCoA and multivariate regressions reveal that the skull bone fusion follows a common pattern among birds and thus can be used as proxy to identify different ontogenetic stages. In general, the process of sutural closure spreads from posterior to anterior and from ventral to dorsal. In contrast, skull measurements reflect rather interspecific allometry than ontogeny. The used of bone fusion as proxy will help to better identify and compare different stages of maturation in birds, including historical material from osteological collections.
An Ensemble Prediction System Based on Artificial Neural Networks and Deep Learning Methods for Deterministic and Probabilistic Carbon Price Forecasting

Carbon price prediction is important for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and coping with climate change. At present, a variety of models are widely used to predict irregular, nonlinear, and nonstationary carbon price series. However, these models ignore the importance of feature extraction and the inherent defects of using a single model; thus, accurate and stable prediction of carbon prices by relevant industry practitioners and the government is still a huge challenge. This research proposes an ensemble prediction system (EPS) that includes improved data feature extraction technology, three prediction submodels (GBiLSTM, CNN, and ELM), and a multiobjective optimization algorithm weighting strategy. At the same time, based on the best fitting distribution of the prediction error of the EPS, the carbon price prediction interval is constructed as a way to explore its uncertainty. More specifically, EPS integrates the advantages of various submodels and provides more accurate point prediction results; the distribution function based on point prediction error is used to establish the prediction interval of carbon prices and to mine and analyze the volatility characteristics of carbon prices. Numerical simulation of the historical data available for three carbon price markets is also conducted. The experimental results show that the ensemble prediction system can provide more effective and stable carbon price forecasting information and that it can provide valuable suggestions that enterprise managers and governments can use to improve the carbon price market.
Study Protocol of the Ten Years Up Project: Mapping the Development of Self-Regulation Strategies in Young Adults Over Time

Self-regulation is an important predictor of many outcomes relating to health and well-being. Research thus far has not systematically addressed the development of self-regulation strategies during young adulthood, but instead has focused on the predictive value of childhood self-regulation competence for outcomes later in life. The present study protocol describes the Ten Years Up (10YUP) project, a longitudinal cohort of young adults who will be followed for Ten years. By adopting a dynamic approach, we aim to examine how the nature and frequency of self-regulation strategies develop over time, document to what extent the use of strategies is affected by contextual and personal factors, and determine how these strategies affect health and well-being over the course of ten years. The 10YUP project employs a prospective longitudinal design to map the development of self-regulation strategies over time. A sample of 3,000 participants will be recruited by random selection from the general population of 16-year olds to retain a final sample of 1,000 participants after Ten years (accounting for an estimated drop-out rate of 10% each year). A mobile app will be used to collect data every 3 months. Self-regulation strategies will be assessed by means of the Goal Setting and Striving Inventory that asks participants to list their personal goals and then choose their most important goal to answer items about goal perception and strategy use. The resulting composite self-regulation index will be related to a wide range of contextual and personal factors that may act as either antecedents or consequences of self-regulation, depending on their specific time of assessment (either prior to or following self-regulation assessment) by means of cross-lagged panel analyses and other analyses allowing for establishing causal relationships over time. The 10YUP project is likely to generate novel insights into the development of self-regulation in young adulthood, how this development is affected by personal and contextual factors, and how these in turn may be influenced by how young people self-regulate—which is important for public policies aimed at guiding young people's choices and how they affect their health and well-being.
TRF1 Depletion Reveals Mutual Regulation Between Telomeres, Kinetochores, and Inner Centromeres in Mouse Oocytes

In eukaryotic chromosomes, the centromere and telomere are two specialized structures that are essential for chromosome stability and segregation. Although centromeres and telomeres often are located in close proximity to form telocentric chromosomes in mice, it remained unclear whether these two structures influence each other. Here we show that TRF1 is required for inner centromere and kinetochore assembly in addition to its role in telomere protection in mouse oocytes. TRF1 depletion caused premature chromosome segregation by abrogating the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) and impairing kinetochore-microtubule (kMT) attachment, which increased the incidence of aneuploidy. Notably, TRF1 depletion disturbed the localization of Survivin and Ndc80/Hec1 at inner centromeres and kinetochores, respectively. Moreover, SMC3 and SMC4 levels significantly decreased after TRF1 depletion, suggesting that TRF1 is involved in chromosome cohesion and condensation. Importantly, inhibition of inner centromere or kinetochore function led to a significant decrease in TRF1 level and telomere shortening. Therefore, our results suggest that telomere integrity is required to preserve inner centromere and kinetochore architectures, and vice versa, suggesting mutual regulation between telomeres and centromeres.
Management and 30-Day Mortality of Acute Coronary Syndrome in a Resource-Limited Setting: Insight From Ethiopia. A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: Despite the fact that the burden, risk factors, and clinical characteristics of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have been studied widely in developed countries, limited data are available from sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the clinical characteristics, treatment, and 30-day mortality of patients with ACS admitted to tertiary hospitals in Ethiopia. Methods: A total of 181 ACS patients admitted to tertiary care hospitals in Ethiopia were enrolled from March 15 to November 15, 2018. The clinical characteristics, management, and 30-day mortality were evaluated by ACS subtype. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine the predictors of 30-day all-cause mortality. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The majority (61%) of ACS patients were admitted with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The mean age was 56 years, with male predominance (62.4%). More than two-thirds (67.4%) of patients presented to hospital after 12 h of symptom onset. Dyslipidemia (48%) and hypertension (44%) were the most common risk factors identified. In-hospital dual antiplatelet and statin use was high (>90%), followed by beta-blockers (81%) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs; 72%). Late reperfusion with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was done for only 13 (7.2%), and none of the patients received early reperfusion therapy. The 30-day all-cause mortality rate was 25.4%. On multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis, older age [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.003–1.057], systolic blood pressure (HR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.975–1.000), serum creatinine (HR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.056–1.643), Killip class > II (HR = 4.62, 95% CI = 2.502–8.523), ejection fraction <40% (HR = 2.75, 95% CI = 1.463–5.162), and STEMI (HR = 2.72, 95% CI = 1.006–4.261) were independent predictors of 30-day mortality. Conclusions: The 30-day all-cause mortality rate was unacceptably high, which implies an urgent need to establish a nationwide program to reduce pre-hospital delay, promoting the use of guideline-directed medications, and increasing access to reperfusion therapy.
Effect of Cold Stress on Neurobehavioral and Physiological Parameters in Rats

Objective: Cold stress is an important current issue and implementing control strategies to limit its sometimes harmful effects is crucial. Cold is a common stressor that can occur in our work and our occupational or leisure time activities every day. There are substantial studies on the effects of chronic stress on memory and behavior, although, the cognitive changes and anxiety disorders that can occur after exposure to chronic intermittent cold stress are not completely characterized. Therefore, the present study was undertaken with an aim to investigate the effects of chronic intermittent cold stress on body weight, food intake and working memory, and to elucidate cold stress related anxiety disorders using cognitive and behavioral test batteries. Methods: We generated a cold stress model by exposing rats to chronic intermittent cold stress for 5 consecutive days and in order to test for the potential presence of sex differences, a comparable number of male and female rats were tested in the current study. Then, we measured the body weights, food intake and the adrenal glands weight. Working memory and recognition memory were assessed using the Y maze and the Novel Object Recognition (NOR) tasks. While, sex differences in the effects of chronic stress on behavior were evaluated by the elevated plus maze (EPM), open field maze (OF), and Marble burying (MB) tests. Results: We found that 2 h exposure to cold (4°C) resulted in an increase in the relative weight of the adrenal glands in male rats. Given the same chronic stress 5 days of cold exposure (2 h per day), increased weight gain in male rats, while females showed decreased food intake and no change in body weight. Both sexes successfully performed the Y maze and object recognition (OR) tasks, indicating intact spatial working memory performance and object recognition abilities in both male and female rats. In addition, we have shown that stress caused an increase in the level of anxiety in male rats. In contrast, the behavior of the female rats was not affected by cold exposure. Conclusion: Overall, the current results provide preliminary evidence that chronic intermittent cold stress model may not be an efficient stressor to female rats. Females exhibit resilience to cold exposure that causes an increase in the level of anxiety in male rats, which demonstrates that they are affected differently by stress and the gender is an important consideration in experimental design.
Effect of Drinking Ration with Reduced Deuterium Content on Brain Tissue Prooxidant-Antioxidant Balance in Rats with Acute Hypoxia Model

The aim was to investigate prooxidant-antioxidant system in the blood and brain homogenates functional activity in rats with acute hypoxia model with different deuterium/protium (D/H) ratios in drinking diet. Studies have shown that consuming DDW (–665 ‰) within 8 weeks lead to deuterium concentration decrease in blood plasma at 317 ‰ and brain at 209 ‰ of rats, in comparison to control group, consuming natural water. DDW consumption before hypoxia modeling in rats improves antioxidant defense enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase) activity in the blood, increasing its antioxidant potential by 20 %, while free radical oxidation intensity in plasma and biomolecules peroxide modification rate in erythrocytes. Also, in brain tissues consuming DDW, there were no abnormalities in catalase, superoxide dismutase activity, and it was noted increase (by 71 %) in reduced thiol-containing compounds concentration, which reduces nerve hypoxiс cell damage risk. Neuroprotective effect presence is confirmed by higher (by 32 %) antioxidant activity markers of lyophilized brain tissues, and by free radical oxidation lower intensity (by 13 %) and biomolecules oxidative modification rate (by 16 %) in these lyophilized tissues. Thus, the advisability of using DDW neuroprotective effects in cerebral circulation disturbance in experimental and clinical practice.
Analysis of the Genetic Diversity Associated With the Drug Resistance and Pathogenicity of Influenza A Virus Isolated in Bangladesh From 2002 to 2019

The subtype prevalence, drug resistance- and pathogenicity-associated mutations, and the distribution of the influenza A virus (IAV) isolates identified in Bangladesh from 2002 to 2019 were analyzed using bioinformatic tools. A total of 30 IAV subtypes have been identified in humans (4), avian species (29), and environment (5) in Bangladesh. The predominant subtypes in human and avian species are H1N1/H3N2 and H5N1/H9N2, respectively. However, the subtypes H5N1/H9N2 infecting humans and H3N2/H1N1 infecting avian species have also been identified. Among the avian species, the maximum number of subtypes (27) have been identified in ducks. A 3.56% of the isolates showed neuraminidase inhibitor (NAI) resistance with a prevalence of 8.50, 1.33, and 2.67% in avian species, humans, and the environment, respectively, the following mutations were detected: V116A, I117V, D198N, I223R, S247N, H275Y, and N295S. Prevalence of adamantane-resistant IAVs was 100, 50, and 30.54% in humans, the environment, and avian species, respectively, the subtypes H3N2, H1N1, H9N2, and H5N2 were highly prevalent, with the subtype H5N1 showing a comparatively lower prevalence. Important PB2 mutations such D9N, K526R, A588V, A588I, G590S, Q591R, E627K, K702R, and S714R were identified. A wide range of IAV subtypes have been identified in Bangladesh with a diversified genetic variation in the NA, M2, and PB2 proteins providing drug resistance and enhanced pathogenicity. This study provides a detailed analysis of the subtypes, and the host range of the IAV isolates and the genetic variations related to their proteins, which may aid in the prevention, treatment, and control of IAV infections in Bangladesh, and would serve as a basis for future investigations.
Fluid Homeostasis May Predict the Prognosis of Non-infectious Fever After Total Knee Arthroplasty Within 7-Day: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: In the perioperative management of Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), postoperative fever has always been a concern. Current research focuses on infectious fever, and there is no relevant research on the occurrence of non-infectious fever (NIF) and its risk factors. Hence, the aim of this study was to clarify the risk factors for NIF after TKA, and construct an easy-to-use nomogram. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Consecutive patients undergoing primary unilateral TKA were divided into the non-infectious fever group and the control group. Clinicopathological characters were collected from electronic medical records. Univariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the related independent risk factors. The optimal threshold for each selected factor and combined index was determined when the Youden index achieved the highest value. And the predictive nomogram was developed by these independent factors. Results: Ultimately, 146 patients were included in this study. Of them, 57 (39.04%) patients experienced NIF. Results of the univariable logistic regression analysis indicated that intraoperative blood loss (OR, 1.002; 95% CI, 1.000–1.0004), postoperative drainage fluid volume (OR, 1.003; 95% CI, 1.001–1.006) and frequency of blood transfusion (n = 1; OR, 0.227; 95% CI, 0.068–0.757) were independent risk factors of NIF occurrence. The predictive nomogram that incorporated the above independent risk factors was developed, and it yielded an areas under the curves (AUC) of 0.731 (95% CI: 0.651–0.801; P < 0.0001) with 54.39% sensitivity and 82.02% specificity. Conclusions: Non-infectious fever after TKA prolongs the time of antibiotic use and hospital stay. Our results demonstrated that the nomogram may facilitate to predict the individualized risk of NIF occurrence within 7-day by intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage fluid volume and frequency of blood transfusion.
Association Between Postoperative Thrombocytopenia and Outcomes After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery

Objectives: The effect of postoperative thrombocytopenia on adverse events among coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between postoperative thrombocytopenia and perioperative outcomes of CABG. Methods: This is a retrospective study with MIMIC-III (Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III) database. Adult patients who underwent CABG were included to analyze the impact of thrombocytopenia in patients' outcomes. Postoperative thrombocytopenia was defined as a platelet count <100 × 109/L on the first day after CABG surgery. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was utilized to adjust the effect of thrombocytopenia on outcomes for baseline and covariates, and to determine the association with outcomes. Results: A total of 4,915 patients were included, and postoperative thrombocytopenia occurred in 696 (14.2%) patients. Postoperative thrombocytopenia was not associated with increased 28-day mortality (OR 0.75; 95% CI 0.33–1.72; P = 0.496) or in-hospital mortality (OR 0.75; 95% CI 0.34–1.63; P = 0.463) after adjusting for confounders. Regarding the secondary outcomes, it was associated with a higher risk of a prolonged stay in the intensive care unit (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.18–1.97; P = 0.001), prolonged hospital stays (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.21–2.06; P = 0.001), prolonged mechanical ventilation time (OR 1.67; 95% CI 1.14–2.44; P = 0.009), and a trend toward increased occurrence of massive bleeding (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.00–2.01; P = 0.054). There was no significant association between an increased risk of prolonged vasopressor use and the continuous renal replacement therapy rate. Conclusions: Postoperative thrombocytopenia was associated with prolonged ICU and hospital stays but not with increased perioperative mortality among CABG patients.
SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SOME 4-SUBSTITUTED THIAZOLIDINONE DERIVATIVES

This study is concerned with the synthesis and characterization of 4-thiazolidinone derivatives ) 3a-3h (. These compounds were prepared by reacting mercaptoacetic acid with the appropriate Schiff bases (imines) by heating at 50-60 °C in chloroform with moderate yields (51-75 %). The structures of these 4-thiazolidinone derivatives were established on the basis of the spectral studies using IR, 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, 13 C-NMR DEPT and MS.
Chiral Separation and Quantitation of KHAT Designer Drug- Synthetic Cathinones- In Urine And Plasma

This dissertation is concerned with the latest class of the new designer drugs (NDDs) which overruns the world in the last few years as “legal high” drugs, under the name of bath salts or synthetic cathinones. Bath salts are a group of central nervous system stimulants that consists mainly of synthetic cathinone derivatives. In nature, cathinone (β-keto amphetamine) exists in the leaves of the Catha edulis plant which can be found easily in the region of northeast Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. All synthetic cathinone derivatives contain a chiral center and most probably sold out as a racemic mixture. Commonly, one of the enantiomers will have greater psychological effect in human biological system than the other one. Therefore it’s important to distinguish between synthetic cathinone enantiomers. Enantiomeric separation and determination of these NDD’s may give information about the source of these synthetic drugs and the raw materials that were used in the synthesis process and also facilitates the drug tracking. The main objective of this dissertation is to develop and validate sensitive and selective analytical methods that use direct and indirect chiral separation and quantitation for synthetic cathinones in real biological samples using chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer detector (MSD) and Diode Array detector (DAD). The study goals were achieved successfully by developing and validation of three different methods for chiral separation and quantitation for 65 compounds of synthetic cathinones. Enantiomer quantitation in urine and plasma were performed and reported for the first time in this study; also it’s the first time to report the chiral viii separation of tertiary amine cathinones where we were able to separate 19 out 22 of them.
Past Matters: Supporting LTL+Past in the BLACK Satisfiability Checker

LTL + Past is the extension of Linear Temporal Logic ( LTL ) supporting past temporal operators. The addition of the past does not add expressive power, but does increase the usability of the language both in formal verification and in artificial intelligence, e.g., in the context of multi-agent systems. In this paper, we add the support of past operators to BLACK , a satisfiability checker for LTL based on a SAT encoding of a tree-shaped tableau system. We implement two ways of supporting the past in the tool. The first one is an equisatisfiable translation that removes the past operators, obtaining a future-only formula that can be solved with the original LTL engine. The second one extends the SAT encoding of the underlying tableau to directly support the tableau rules that deal with past operators. We describe both approaches and experimentally compare the two between themselves and with the nuXmv model checker, obtaining promising results.