Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pediatric Helicobacter pylori Isolates Display Distinct Gene Coding Capacities and Virulence Gene Marker Profiles

ABSTRACT Helicobacter pylori strains display remarkable genetic diversity, and the presence of strains bearing the toxigenic vacA s1 allele, a complete cag pathogenicity island (PAI), cagA alleles containing multiple EPIYA phosphorylation sites, and expressing the BabA adhesin correlates with development of gastroduodenal disease in adults. To better understand the genetic variability present among pediatric strains and its relationship to disease, we characterized H. pylori strains infecting 47 pediatric North American patients. Prevalence of mixed infection was assessed by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of multiple H. pylori clones from each patient. Microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization was used to examine the genomic content of the pediatric strains. The cagA and vacA alleles were further characterized by allele-specific PCR. A range of EPIYA motif configurations were observed for the cagA gene, which was present in strains from 22 patients (47%), but only 19 (41%) patients contained a complete cag PAI. Thirty patients (64%) were infected with a strain having the vacA s1 allele, and 28 patients (60%) had the babA gene. The presence of a functional cag PAI was correlated with ulcer disease (P = 0.0095). In spite of declining rates of H. pylori infection in North America, at least 11% of patients had mixed infection. Pediatric strains differ in their spectrum of strain-variable genes and percentage of absent genes in comparison to adult strains. Most children were infected with H. pylori strains lacking the cag PAI, but the presence of a complete cag PAI, in contrast to other virulence markers, was associated with more severe gastroduodenal disease.
Item response theory analyses of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System card sorting subtest

ABSTRACT In the current study, we examined the dimensionality of the 16-item Card Sorting subtest of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System assessment in a sample of 264 native English-speaking children between the ages of 9 and 15 years. We also tested for measurement invariance for these items across age and gender groups using item response theory (IRT). Results of the exploratory factor analysis indicated that a two-factor model that distinguished between verbal and perceptual items provided the best fit to the data. Although the items demonstrated measurement invariance across age groups, measurement invariance was violated for gender groups, with two items demonstrating differential item functioning for males and females. Multigroup analysis using all 16 items indicated that the items were more effective for individuals whose IRT scale scores were relatively high. A single-group explanatory IRT model using 14 non-differential item functioning items showed that for perceptual ability, females scored higher than males and that scores increased with age for both males and females; for verbal ability, the observed increase in scores across age differed for males and females. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Retinal Vessel Oxygen Saturation and Vessel Diameter in Inactive Graves Ophthalmopathy.

PURPOSE To investigate whether inactive thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) affects retinal oxygen saturation and/or vessel diameter. METHODS Via an observational case-control study, retinal circulation was measured in patients with inactive TAO (mild, moderate, and severe) and normal subjects by retinal oximetry. Complete ophthalmologic examination, including noncontact tonometry and Hertel exophthalmometry, was performed; history of smoking and dysthyroid disease were recorded. Analysis of variance or the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare oximetry values between TAO and controls. Simple linear regression was used to analyze the correlation of Hertel, smoking, and intraocular pressure with oximetry values. RESULTS Seventy-six eyes were enrolled: 19 controls, and 17 mild, 21 moderate, and 19 severe inactive TAO. Retinal oxygen saturation did not change significantly in inactive TAO versus controls; arteriole saturation: severe, 95.7% ± 7.0%; moderate, 93.2% ± 3.9%; mild, 90.3% ± 4.8%; and controls, 93.1% ± 6.4%; vein saturation: severe, 57.4% ± 7.1%; moderate, 59.0% ± 7.0,; mild, 56.3% ± 7.9%; and controls, 58.5% ± 6.5%; arteriovenous saturation: severe, 38.3% ± 8.0%; moderate, 34.2% ± 7.1%; mild, 33.9% ± 6.8%; and controls, 34.6% ± 5.9%. However, retinal venous diameter with severe TAO (137.3 ± 12.5 μm) significantly decreased in comparison with controls (148.8 ± 10.2 μm, p = 0.017). Otherwise, no significant change in vessel diameter was found between TAO and controls. No statistically significant correlations were found between Hertel values or intraocular pressure and oximetry values. However, there was a positive significant correlation between smoking and arteriovenous oxygen saturation (p = 0.017, β = 4.61). CONCLUSIONS In inactive TAO versus controls, retinal oxygen saturation fluctuated and could be affected by smoking; however, the retinal venous diameter only decreased significantly for severe TAO. This implies that TAO may affect retinal circulation; this effect could be accelerated by smoking.
Validation of the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience in a South African student sample

This study investigated the validity of the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience in a South Africa context using a sample of 992 university students. Item fit and unidimensionality of the Positive and Negative Experience subscales were examined using a process of Rasch analysis. Reliability of the subscales was evaluated, and correlations between the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience, the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were examined. In general, the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience exhibited good Rasch fit and reliability. However, there were two items, one from each Positive and Negative Experience subscales, respectively, that exhibited some problems with Rasch fit. While the substantive effect of these problematic items on reliability was marginal, their identification as problematic corroborated analysis in another study, enjoining, if not their removal, certainly a direction for future research. Overall, the findings serve to both support the notion that in its present form, the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience is a psychometrically sound instrument to measure positive and negative experiences as a facet of well-being among South African university students and to indicate directions for further research on the scale.
Sodium‐glucose co‐transporter (SGLT)2 and SGLT1 renal expression in patients with type 2 diabetes

To quantify the expression of sodium‐glucose co‐transporter (SGLT)2 and SGLT1, their cognate basolateral transporters, GLUT2 and GLUT1, and the transcriptional regulator of SGLTs in renal tissue obtained from people with T2DM and a group of well‐matched people without diabetes.
Impact Evaluation of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention under Routine Program Implementation: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Burkina Faso

Abstract. Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) for children < 5 is a strategy that is gaining popularity in West African countries. Although its efficacy to reduce malaria incidence has been demonstrated in trials, the effects of SMC implemented in routine program conditions, outside of experimental contexts, are unknown. In 2014 and 2015, a survey was conducted in 1,311 households located in Kaya District (Burkina Faso) where SMC had been recently introduced. All children < 72 months were tested for malaria and anemia. A pre–post study with control group was designed to measure SMC impact during high transmission season. A difference-in-differences approach was coupled in the analysis with propensity score weighting to control for observable and time-invariant nonobservable confounding factors. SMC reduced the parasitemia point and period prevalence by 3.3 and 24% points, respectively; this translated into protective effects of 51% and 62%. SMC also reduced the likelihood of having moderate to severe anemia by 32%, and history of recent fever by 46%. Self-reported coverage for children at the first cycle was 83%. The SMC program was successfully added to a package of interventions already in place. To our knowledge, with prevalence < 10% during the peak of the transmission season, this is the first time that malaria can be reported as hypo-endemic in a sub-Sahelian setting in Burkina Faso. SMC has great potential, and along with other interventions, it could contribute to approaching the threshold where elimination strategies will be envisioned in Burkina Faso.
Oxaliplatin–Fluoropyrimidine Chemotherapy Plus Bevacizumab in Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors: An Analysis of 2 Phase II Trials

Objectives This study aimed to determine the safety and effectiveness of bevacizumab (B) plus FOLFOX or CAPOX in advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) by performing a combined analysis of 2 separate prospective phase II studies. Methods In the FOLFOX/B study, patients received chemotherapy without scheduled breaks in 3 cohorts: carcinoid, pancreatic NET, and poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas. In the CAPOX/B study, NET subtypes were pooled, and patients were treated with 4 cycles of CAPOX/B followed by optional maintenance therapy. Primary end points were radiographic response rate (RR) after 12 cycles (FOLFOX/B), progression-free survival (PFS) (CAPOX/B), and toxicity (both). Results Seventy-six patients (FOLFOX/B, n = 36; CAPOX/B, n = 40) were included. In FOLFOX/B, RR for carcinoid at 12 cycles 3/22 (13.6%), median PFS 19.3 months; RR for pancreatic NET at 12 cycles 4/12 (41.7%), median PFS 21 months; RR 1/2 (50%) in poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma; pooled RR 25% and median PFS 21 months (1-year PFS 68%). In CAPOX/B (pooled NET), RR 18% and median PFS 16.7 months (1-year PFS 65%). Predictable toxicity was observed. Conclusions Neither study met its primary end point, but radiographic responses and prolonged disease stability in previously progressing patients suggest that selected patients with NET may benefit from oxaliplatin–fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy plus bevacizumab and that the combination may warrant further study.
Selection of women at risk for cervical cancer in an HIV-infected South African population

Objective: Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women in South Africa. This study evaluates DNA methylation levels in cervical (pre)cancer and aims to assess the value of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing and methylation analysis, alone or in combination, on physician-taken cervical scrapes to detect cervical cancer, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3) in an HIV-infected South African population. Design: Prospective observational multicentre cohort study. Methods: Women from a cohort of women living with HIV (n = 355) and a referral cohort (n = 109, 60% HIV seropositive) were included. Cervical scrapes were collected for hrHPV testing and methylation analysis of cell adhesion molecule 1, T-lymphocyte maturation-associated protein, and microRNA124-2 genes. Histologic endpoints were available for all participants. Performance for detection of CIN3 or worse (CIN3+) was determined in the cohort of women living with HIV and different testing strategies were compared. Results: HrHPV and methylation positivity rates increased with severity of cervical disease in the two study cohorts, each reaching 100% in samples of women with carcinoma. HrHPV testing showed a sensitivity for CIN3+ of 83.6%, at a specificity of 67.7%. Methylation analysis showed a comparable CIN3+ sensitivity of 85.2%, but a significantly lower specificity of 49.6%. HrHPV testing with reflex methylation analysis showed a CIN3+ sensitivity of 73.8%, at a specificity of 81.5%. Conclusion: In this HIV-infected South African population, stratifying hrHPV-positive women with reflex methylation analysis detects all cervical carcinomas and yields an acceptable sensitivity and specificity for CIN3+.
Caregiving Experience and Its Relation to Perceptual Narrowing of Face Gender

This research examined whether infants tested longitudinally at 10, 14, and 16 months of age (N = 58) showed evidence of perceptual narrowing based on face gender (better discrimination of female than male faces) and whether changes in caregiving experience longitudinally predicted changes in infants’ discrimination of male faces. To test face discrimination, infants participated in familiarization/novelty preference tasks and visual search tasks including female and male faces. At each age of participation, they were coded as having a female primary caregiver only or distributed caregiving experience (alternating experience with a female and male primary caregiver). Perceptual narrowing was evident for infants with a female primary caregiver, but only within the visual search task, which required location of a familiarized face among 3 novel distractor faces (exemplar-based discrimination); it was not evident within the familiarity/novelty preference task, which required discrimination between a familiarized and novel face (individual-based discrimination). Caregiving experience significantly explained individual changes in infants’ ability to locate male faces during the visual search task after 10 months. These data are the first to demonstrate flexibility of the face processing system in relation to gender discrimination when there is a change in caregiver within the infants’ natural environment after perceptual narrowing normally manifests.
The academic career: a study of subjectivity, gender and movement among women university lecturers

ABSTRACT Changes in the higher education system have resulted in increased demands on effectiveness and marketisation. These demands have changed what it means to do academic work. In this study, 19 female academic lecturers have been interviewed in order to get them to reflect upon their opportunities and conditions in career. The aim is to analyse how this specific group manoeuvres; that is their 'becoming subjectivity' in academic career. This means an interest in analysing their locations, positions as well as their material and discursive conditions. The results show how many see teaching as important in career, but also as a trap that restrains them in their chances of research advancement. Several express that a lot of teaching drain the time and energy needed for other opportunities in career. There are also a few who experience teaching as a place where people actually collaborate more than compete and find alternative career strategies. Even so, these women appear caught in their careers, which can relate to gender, and to the experience of ‘incapacity’ to find directions in a more competitive structure.
Evaluation of Parametric Response Mapping to Assess Therapeutic Response to Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells after Experimental Stroke

Stroke is the leading cause of disability in adults. After the very narrow time frame during which treatment by thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy is possible, cell therapy has huge potential for enhancing stroke recovery. Accurate analysis of the response to new therapy using imaging biomarkers is needed to assess therapeutic efficacy. The aim of this study was to compare 2 analysis techniques: the parametric response map (PRM), a voxel-based technique, and the standard whole-lesion approach. These 2 analyses were performed on data collected at 4 time points in a transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) model, which was treated with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and vessel size index (VSI) were mapped using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Two groups of rats received an intravenous injection of either 1 mL phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-glutamine (MCAo-PBS, n = 10) or 3 million hMSCs (MCAo-hMSC, n = 10). One sham group was given PBS-glutamine (sham, n = 12). Each MRI parameter was analyzed by both the PRM and the whole-lesion approach. At day 9, 1 d after grafting, PRM revealed that hMSCs had reduced the fraction of decreased ADC (PRMADC −: MCAo-PBS 6.7% ± 1.7% vs. MCAo-hMSC 3.3% ± 2.4%), abolished the fraction of increased CBV (PRMCBV+: MCAo-PBS 16.1% ± 3.7% vs. MCAo-hMSC 6.4% ± 2.6%), and delayed the fraction of increased VSI (PRMVSI+: MCAo-PBS 17.5% ± 6.3% vs. MCAo-hMSC 5.4% ± 2.6%). The whole-lesion approach was, however, insensitive to these early modifications. PRM thus appears to be a promising technique for the detection of early brain changes following treatments such as cell therapy.
Natalizumab: a new therapy for acute ischemic stroke?

ABSTRACT Introduction: Natalizumab, a well-characterized treatment for multiple sclerosis, is a humanized antibody against alpha-4 integrin (CD49d) that mitigates the transmigration of leukocytes across the endothelium. Although numerous experimental studies have evaluated the efficacy of anti-CD49d antibody treatment for ischemic stroke, discrepancies in their results have raised concerns about the benefits of this approach. Areas covered: This article reviews the main experimental studies on the blockage of CD49d and identifies the potential underlying causes for their inconclusive results. Despite these divergences and the difficulties in translation of experimental studies, a phase II clinical trial has recently been conducted to evaluate the efficacy of natalizumab in stroke patients (ACTION trial). Preliminary results of the trial are also discussed here, together with a general overview of the emerged importance of the neuroprotective strategies based on the mitigation of post-stroke neuroinflammation. Expert commentary: Despite natalizumab showing positive effects on functional outcome similar to what was found in experimental models, a better understanding of how this happens without reducing the infarct volume requires further research. Therefore, new clinical trials are needed to confirm its neuroprotectant role in ischemic stroke.
Associations of Bisexual-Specific Minority Stress and Health Among Cisgender and Transgender Adults with Bisexual Orientation

Among sexual minorities, bisexuals are at the greatest risk for poor health due in part to prejudice and stigma. This research examined associations of bisexual-specific minority stress and health among cisgender (non-transgender) and transgender adults with bisexual orientation. Participants were 488 adults (378 cisgender women, 49 cisgender men, 61 transgender individuals), age 18 to 66 years, with bisexual orientation based on identity and/or attractions to multiple genders. Participants completed an online survey. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted with sexual minority stress and bisexual-specific minority stress as the predictors and physical health, measured by the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36), as the outcome. Models controlled for demographic variables. Moderation analyses were conducted to test for gender differences. Greater bisexual-specific minority stress significantly predicted poorer overall physical health (β = −0.16), greater pain (β = −0.16), and poorer general health (β = −0.25) above and beyond the effects of sexual minority stress. Gender moderated the association between bisexual-specific minority stress and health, such that bisexual-specific minority stress predicted overall physical health and role limitations for transgender individuals but not for cisgender women. Addressing bisexual-specific minority stress is necessary to improve the health and well-being of bisexual individuals.
Suicide in older adults: differences between the young-old, middle-old, and oldest old

ABSTRACT Background: In the limited research into suicides in older adults, they have been treated as a homogenous group without distinguishing between different age groups. This study aimed to compare differences in sociodemographic variables, recent life events, and mental and physical illnesses between three age groups within older adults who died by suicide: young-old (65–74 years), middle-old (75–84 years), and oldest old (85 years and over) in Queensland, Australia, during the years 2000–2012 (N = 978). Methods: The Queensland Suicide Register was utilized for the analysis. Annual suicide rates were calculated. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals and χ 2 tests for trend were calculated to examine differences between the three groups. Results: Suicide rates were increasing with age for males, but not for females. Hanging and firearms were the predominant methods of suicides. However, suffocation by plastic bag and drowning as suicide methods increased with age, in contrast firearms and explosives decreased with age. Overall, psychiatric problems, suicidal behavior, legal and financial stressors, and relationship problems decreased significantly with age, meanwhile physical conditions and bereavement increased with age. Conclusion: Suicide across older adulthood is not a homogenous phenomenon. Our findings showed significant differences in the prevalence of potential risk factors within the three different age groups considered. To prevent suicide in older adults would require targeting specific factors for each subgroup while using holistic and comprehensive approaches.
Sexual Behavior, Definitions of Sex, and the Role of Self-Partner Context Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults

Prior research has examined how heterosexual individuals define sex; however, these studies have rarely focused on sexual minority individuals or included a full range of applicable sexual behaviors. Participants were recruited from a local Pride Festival across two years. Study 1 (N = 329) was primarily descriptive and examined which physically intimate behaviors lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) participants included in their definitions of sex and the behaviors in which they had previously engaged. Study 2 (N = 393) utilized a between-subjects design to assess differences in definitions of sex when judging one’s own behavior compared with that of a partner outside of the relationship. The behaviors in which participants were most likely to have engaged were manual-genital (82%) and oral-genital stimulation (79%). Regarding definitions of sex, a clear “gold standard” emerged for men, with 90% endorsing penile-anal intercourse as sex. No equally clear standard existed for women. Participants who were asked to consider their partner’s behavior outside of their relationship were more likely to endorse the behavior as “having sex” than participants asked to consider their own behavior. This study addressed a major limitation of prior research by investigating definitions of sex among a community sample of LGB adults, with implications for provision of health care and sexual agreements between same-sex couples.