Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Local Production and Provision of Ready-To-Use Therapeutic Food (Rutf) Spread for the Treatment of Severe Childhood Malnutrition

Background Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) spread has been shown to be very effective in the rehabilitation of severely malnourished children and facilitates home-based therapy of these children. Objective To describe how RUTF spread can be manufactured on a variety of production scales. Principles of production RUTF spread is an edible lipid-based paste that is energy dense, resists bacterial contamination, and requires no cooking. The primary production principles include grinding all ingredients to a particle size < 200 microns, producing the food without the introduction of water, and embedding the protein and carbohydrate components of the food into the lipid matrix. The most widely used RUTF spread is a mixture of milk powder, sugar, vegetable oil, peanut butter, vitamins, and minerals. Scale of production RUTF spread can be produced in quantities sufficient to treat several hundred children using a planetary mixer in a clinic. Production of larger quantities of RUTF spread can be achieved in partnership with local food companies. Production sufficient to meet the needs of several thousand children can be achieved with a dedicated production facility using technology appropriate for use in the developing world. Care must be taken to avoid aflatoxin contamination, and quality control testing of the product is essential. Conclusions RUTF spread can be safely and easily produced in small or large quantities in most settings worldwide. The local availability of the necessary ingredients limits its use in some settings, and further investigation of alternative ingredients is needed to overcome this limitation.
Complete Blood Count Reference Intervals for Healthy Han Chinese Adults

Background Complete blood count (CBC) reference intervals are important to diagnose diseases, screen blood donors, and assess overall health. However, current reference intervals established by older instruments and technologies and those from American and European populations are not suitable for Chinese samples due to ethnic, dietary, and lifestyle differences. The aim of this multicenter collaborative study was to establish CBC reference intervals for healthy Han Chinese adults. Methods A total of 4,642 healthy individuals (2,136 males and 2,506 females) were recruited from six clinical centers in China (Shenyang, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Xi’an). Blood samples collected in K2EDTA anticoagulant tubes were analyzed. Analysis of variance was performed to determine differences in consensus intervals according to the use of data from the combined sample and selected samples. Results Median and mean platelet counts from the Chengdu center were significantly lower than those from other centers. Red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), and hematocrit (HCT) values were higher in males than in females at all ages. Other CBC parameters showed no significant instrument-, region-, age-, or sex-dependent difference. Thalassemia carriers were found to affect the lower or upper limit of different RBC profiles. Conclusion We were able to establish consensus intervals for CBC parameters in healthy Han Chinese adults. RBC, HGB, and HCT intervals were established for each sex. The reference interval for platelets for the Chengdu center should be established independently.
Evaluation of quality of life in fertile Turkish women with severe endometriosis

Abstract We assessed the impact of pain, dysmenorrhoea and dyspareunia on the quality of life among Turkish fertile women with severe endometriosis. A total of 33 patients with histopathologically diagnosed severe endometriosis (Stage IV, revised criteria of the American Fertility Society (rAFS score) were enrolled into the study. Patients reported chronic pelvic pain using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and severity of dysmenorrhoea, dyspareunia and pelvic tenderness using the verbal rating scale (VRS). Quality of life (physical, psychological, social, environmental domains) was evaluated using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF). There were no correlations between quality of life and VRS and VAS scores of chronic pelvic pain in patients with dyspareunia (p > 0.05). VRS in patients with dysmenorrhoea negatively correlated with physical, social and environmental dimensions of quality of life (r = −0.382, r = −0.221, r = −0.373 and p = 0.028, p = 0.013, p = 0.033, respectively). Although the severity of dysmenorrhoea seems to be related with lower quality of life, chronic pelvic pain and dyspareunia due to endometriosis may not have any deleterious effects on the quality of life.
Potentiation of amphetamine‐mediated responses in caffeine‐sensitized rats involves modifications in A2A receptors and zif‐268 mRNAs in striatal neurons

Subchronic intermittent administration of caffeine induces sensitization of motor behaviour and promotes cross‐sensitization to amphetamine motor activity. In order to evaluate the possible mechanisms at the basis of these effects, modifications in A2A receptor and zif‐268 mRNAs were evaluated in rats subchronically treated with caffeine (15 mg/kg i.p.) and challenged with caffeine (15 mg/kg i.p.) or amphetamine (0.5, 1 mg/kg s.c.) 3 days after discontinuation of treatment. Results showed that the sensitized motor response to caffeine was associated with a decrease of adenosine A2A receptor and zif‐268 mRNA levels in the striatum and nucleus accumbens, whereas cross‐sensitization to amphetamine was linked to a more pronounced increase of zif‐268 mRNA levels in the striatum, but not in the nucleus accumbens. Single‐cell analysis showed that zif‐268 mRNA modifications occurred in Enk(+) striatopallidal neurons after acute or subchronic treatment with caffeine and in Enk(–) striatonigral neurons after acute amphetamine administration. Potentiation of amphetamine effects was not associated with modifications of amphetamine‐induced dopamine release in nucleus accumbens in caffeine‐pretreated rats compared with vehicle‐pretreated rats. Results demonstrate that sensitization to caffeine and cross‐sensitization to amphetamine are associated with post‐synaptic neuroadaptive changes in selective neuronal populations of the striatum.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Seizure States

Summary: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can be used for noninvasive measurement of more than two dozen small metabolites in the brains of living animals and humans. In the first decade of its use for study of seizure phenomena in animals, MRS successfully detected in vivo seizure‐induced cerebral acidosis and reduction of phosphocreatine concentration, changes that had been described previously by techniques requiring destruction of tissue. Thus validated, MRS was used to reveal new aspects of epileptic pathophysiology in animals: (a) dissociation of brain lactate and pH during experimental status epilepticus of low and intermediate intensity, reflecting metabolic compartmentation; and (b) long persistence of metabolically active elevated brain lactate after brief cortical electroshock. The latter phenomenon may be an extreme form of a mechanism by which lactate production primes synaptic terminals for maximal sustained firing rates during normal brain activation. Diffusion‐weigh ted imaging of rat brain has shown that status epilepticus apparently shortens the mean path length of water diffusion, a novel finding that provides new insight concerning the physical conditions under which the seizure‐related chemical changes detected by MRS occur. MRS study of epileptic patients has been undertaken more recently as instruments large enough for observations on humans have become available. Acidosis, reduction of phosphocreatine, and elevation of lactate have all been demonstrated in the human brain during seizure discharge. Chronic reduction of N‐acetylaspar‐tate in limbic regions probably reflects neuronal loss and may correlate with mesial temporal sclerosis.
Energy-efficient beam scheduling for orthogonal random beamforming in cooperative networks

In this paper, we study a joint beam and user scheduling problem in a cooperative cellular network utilizing orthogonal random beamforming technique. This paper aims to minimize total base stations' average energy expenditure while ensuring finite service time for all traffic arrivals in a given set. We leverage Lyapunov optimization technique to transform original long-term problem into short-term modified max-weight problem without knowledge of future network states such as traffic arrivals. We introduce a parameter which manipulates energy-delay tradeoff in our system as well. Since provided short-term problem is combinatorial and nonlinear optimization problem, we are inspired by a greedy algorithm to design near-optimal joint beam and user scheduling policy, namely BEANS. We prove that proposed BEANS (i) ensures finite service time for all traffic arrival rates within close to 1/2 capacity region and all (energy-delay) tradeoff parameters thanks to submodular characteristics of the objective function, and (ii) attains finite upper bounds of average energy consumption and average queue backlog for all traffic arrival rates within close to 1/4 capacity region and all tradeoff parameters. Finally, via extensive simulations, we compare the capacity region and energy-queue backlog tradeoff of BEANS with optimal and existing algorithms, and show that BEANS attains 43% of energy saving for the same average queue backlog compared to the algorithms which do not take traffic dynamics and energy consumption into considerations.
Self-reported efficacy of an ear-level prosthetic device that delivers altered auditory feedback for the management of stuttering

Numerous past efficacy studies in stuttering treatment have typically failed to assess generalization of therapeutic gains across speaking environments over time. The purpose of this study was to use a self-report format to gain insight into the improvements of clients who purchased an all in-the-ear device that provides altered auditory feedback to manage stuttering symptoms across everyday speaking situations. A total of 105 participants (age 7–81 years) returned completed questionnaires that examined seven parameters of stuttering behavior before acquiring the prosthetic device and after using the device with minimal clinical intervention for an average of 6 months. Across each parameter, participants rated a significant (P<0.001) improvement of approximately two units on seven-point scales after beginning to use the prosthetic device. In addition, the device received high overall satisfaction ratings, with a median score of 2.0 on the seven-point scale. Self-report is a ‘must’ for examining clinical efficacy in a disorder such as stuttering, which is so amenable to ‘clinic room fluency’ yet highly resistant to long-term amelioration. The data suggest that this device is helping to provide its users with functional, effective and efficient management of stuttering without the need for extended clinical follow-up.
Body fluid expansion in acromegaly is related to enhanced epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) activity.

BACKGROUND Soft-tissue swelling and increased extracellular volume, two features of acromegaly, are related to the antinatriuretic effects of excess GH/IGF-I, but the precise pathophysiological mechanism is unclear. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to determine the effect of the GH excess on renal and extrarenal epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) activity. DESIGN AND SETTING We conducted a prospective randomized open-label blinded-endpoint (PROBE) crossover study (www.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00531908) at a tertiary referral medical center and clinical investigation center. INTERVENTION Sixteen patients (five females, 11 males) with acromegaly were randomly assigned to receive 20 mg amiloride (an ENaC blocker) and 25 mg furosemide (a Na-K-2Cl cotransporter blocker) under a high-sodium diet to suppress endogenous renin and aldosterone. MEASUREMENTS Diuretic-induced changes in the urinary Na/K ratio (reflecting coupling between ENaC-mediated Na reabsorption and distal K secretion) and the intranasal amiloride-sensitive potential (reflecting extrarenal ENaC activity) were measured before and 6 months after (range, 1-12 months) treatment of acromegaly. RESULTS Serum IGF-I concentrations normalized in all the patients after treatment of acromegaly. Baseline plasma renin and aldosterone concentrations remained unchanged after treatment. Active acromegaly, compared with controlled disease, was associated with an enhanced response [median (interquartile range)] to amiloride [urinary Na/K, 13.9 (9.8-19.5) vs. 6.3 (4.3-8.4) mmol/mmol, P = 0.0003], a reduced response to furosemide [urinary Na/K, 5.2 (4.6-7.2) vs. 7.1 (5.4-8.8) mmol/mmol, P =0.0151], and an increased intranasal amiloride-sensitive potential [5.8 (11.9-3.8) vs. 4.2 (6.4-2.1) mV, P = 0.031], respectively. CONCLUSION GH/IGF-I excess in humans is associated with enhanced renal and extrarenal ENaC activity that may contribute to soft-tissue swelling and volume expansion in acromegaly.
Vestibular Autorotation Testing of Meniere's Disease

Ten patients with previously confirmed diagnosis of acute-stage Meniere's disease were tested with the Vestibular Autorotation Test (VAT), a portable computerized test that measures the higher-frequency vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) to compute gain and phase. Patients were asked to fixate on a target and move their heads in synchrony with a computer-generated, sweep-frequency audible cue (0.5 to 6.0 Hz) through an 18-second test epoch. Head movements in both horizontal (yaw) and vertical (pitch) planes were used separately to test horizontal and vertical VORs, respectively. All subjects easily performed the VAT. Results of the horizontal tests were within normal limits for both gain and phase. The vertical gain was markedly high throughout the 2 to 6 Hz range. Mean vertical phase lags were reduced at higher frequencies. These results imply that the vertical VORs of acute-stage Meniere's patients are hypersensitive to the faster vertical head movements that occur commonly in dally activities.
POSEIDON: An Analytical End-to-End Performance Prediction Model for Submerged Object Detection and Recognition by Lidar Fluorosensors in the Marine Environment

An analytical end-to-end model is developed to predict the performance of underwater object recognition by means of light detection and ranging (lidar) fluorosensors, as an aid to underwater lidar mission planning and system design. The proposed Performance prediction mOdel for Submerged object dEtection and recognitIon by liDar fluOrosensors in the marine eNvironment (POSEIDON) reproduces the overall end-to-end fluorescence lidar system chain—from signal generation, to signal propagation, acquisition, and processing. The goal is assessing the performance that may be obtained for spectral recognition of an underwater object in various operational scenarios in terms of several different performance metrics. In addition to the performance prediction models developed in the literature for airborne lidar bathymetry, POSEIDON embeds a novel comprehensive signal simulator that accounts for inelastic scattering phenomena as well as a signal processing module designed ad hoc to accomplish spectral recognition of an underwater object with respect to a data base of objects of interest spectrally characterized by their fluorescence spectral signatures. Test cases with a lidar system arranged in two configurations and several objects submerged at various depths in different Cases I and II waters were reproduced and explored. Results obtained within a Monte Carlo simulation framework provide proof-of-concept of POSEIDON performance forecasting capabilities for underwater object recognition.
Superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities in the lymphoid organs of diabetic rats.

The effect of alloxan-induced diabetes on CuZn- and Mn-superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities, as well as the content of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) were examined in rat lymphoid organs (mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), thymus and spleen) and, for comparison, red and white muscle fibres. The capacity for generation of reduced equivalents was also evaluated by measuring the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (pentose-phosphate pathway-cytosol) and citrate synthase (Krebs cycle-mitochondria). Diabetes raised the capacity for the generation of reducing equivalents in the lymphoid organs: in the mitochondria of the thymus and spleen and in the cytosol of the mesenteric lymph nodes and thymus. In muscles, diabetes reduced CuZn-SOD activity in soleus and raised the activity in gastrocnemius, and depressed the activities of catalase in soleus and of glutathione peroxidase in both soleus and gastrocnemius. In relation to the lymphoid organs, the spleen showed a decrease in the antioxidant enzyme activities (except for glutathione peroxidase), whereas the thymus showed an increased level (except for Mn-SOD), and the MLN presented a reduction in Mn-SOD and catalase activities and an increase in GPX activity caused by diabetes. The content of TBARs in the tissues followed the changes in GPX activity inversely: i.e. a decrease in the lymphoid organs (except in the spleen) and an increase in the muscles of diabetic rats compared with the control group. All these changes found in diabetic rats were reversed by insulin treatment and were not modified by the normalization of glycaemia.
Registration of ultra-high resolution 3D PLI data of human brain sections to their corresponding high-resolution counterpart

The structural analysis of nerve fibers of the human brain is an important topic in current neuroscience. To obtain information about neural connections with micrometer resolution, polarized light imaging (3D PLI) of histological brain sections is well suited. In our application, both high-resolution (HR, 64µm in-plane pixel size) and ultra-high resolution (ultra-HR, 1.3µm) 3D PLI data of human brain sections are acquired. However, due to arbitrary translations and rotations caused by the sectioning and mounting process, spatial coherence between sections is lost and image registration is necessary. We introduce a new feature-based approach for registration of ultra-HR 3D PLI data to their corresponding HR images. The approach is based on a novel multi-scale salient feature detection method that is well suited for 3D PLI data. We have successfully evaluated the approach and applied it to 83 sections of a human brain. An experimental comparison with previous state-of-the-art feature detectors demonstrates the superior performance of our approach.
Simple change in initial standing position enhances the initiation of gait.

PURPOSE Older adults and individuals with Parkinson's disease exhibit impaired gait initiation performance with less effective anticipatory postural adjustments (APA) and less dynamic stepping characteristics. These observations may reflect impaired interactions between the postural and locomotor components of this task. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of altering the stance position of the initial swing limb on improving APA characteristics and stepping performance. METHODS Three groups (healthy young adults, individuals with Parkinson's disease, and age-matched older adults) of 12 participants initiated gait from three initial stance conditions: normal, backward displaced swing limb, and forward displaced swing limb. Ground reaction forces and whole body kinematics were recorded to characterize the APA and step parameters. RESULTS Initiating gait from the back condition produced more forceful weight shifting (P < 0.001), greater propulsive forces (P < 0.001), and faster center-of-mass velocities throughout the stepping phases (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Translating the swing limb 0.5-ft-length backward seems to enhance the interaction between posture and locomotion, which may have therapeutic potential for improving gait initiation performance.
Effect of Consanguinity on Low Birth Weight: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Consanguinity (when couples share at least one common ancestor) is a public health issue with a variety of distributions and incidence rates worldwide. Several epidemiological studies have explored the association between consanguinity and low birth weight (LBW). However, the results are inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the overall association between consanguineous marriage and LBW. METHODS We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and reference lists of articles up to May 2015. We included cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies addressing the association between consanguinity and LBW. We assessed heterogeneity using Q-test and I2 statistic. We explored publication bias using the Egger's and Begg's tests and the funnel plot. We meta-analyzed the data and reported the overall odds ratio (OR) and mean difference with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using the random-effects model. RESULTS We included 24 out of 3941 retrieved studies, with 44,131 participants. We indicated that LBW was associated significantly with first-cousin marriages (OR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.69) and non-significantly with second-cousin marriages (OR = 1.20; 95% CI: 0.49, 1.91). Furthermore, first-cousin marriages can reduce the birth weight of siblings of consanguineous couples 144 g more compared to non-consanguineous marriages. CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis measured the association between consanguinity and LBW. Based on the current evidence, consanguineous marriage can increase the risk for LBW. However, further evidence based on large cohort studies conducted in different settings is required to make a robust conclusion regarding the effect of consanguinity on LBW.
Lightning and Severe Thunderstorms in Event Management

Abstract There are a few national position stands/guidelines that address environmental conditions in athletics, yet they do not govern all outdoor sports. Extreme heat and cold, lightning, and severe wind can all be fatal, yet the majority of outdoor sports have no published guidelines addressing these conditions in relation to activity. Available research on extreme heat and cold conditions in athletics provides prevention strategies, to include acclimatization. Lightning and severe wind are two environmental conditions to which humans cannot accommodate, and they both can be deadly. There are strong positions on extreme heat/cold and lightning safety in athletics, but none affiliated with severe winds. Medical personnel involved in planning large outdoor sporting events must know of the presence of nationally published weather-related documents and apply them to their event. In addition, research needs to be expanded in the realm of establishing guidelines for safety to participants and spectators in severe wind conditions.