Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infrared Thermography and Vascular Disorders in Diabetic Feet

Aim: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and related foot complications constitute a growing healthcare burden. Diabetes mellitus is associated with lower-limb amputation, but diabetic foot assessment is challenging. Here, we evaluated a novel noninvasive diagnostic method—infrared thermography (IRT) —assessing its diagnostic potential compared to conventional noninvasive measurements. Methods: This study included patients with DM (n = 118) and healthy controls (n = 93). All participants underwent ankle brachial index and toe pressure (TP) measurements, and IRT using a standardized protocol with temperature measurement at five foot areas. Results: Compared to controls, patients with DM generally had warmer feet and exhibited a significantly greater temperature difference between feet (P < .001). Mean temperatures were highest in patients with DM with neuroischemia, followed by neuropathy. Patients with DM with angiopathy showed the lowest mean temperature—similar to controls and noncomplicated diabetics. Mean temperatures at all measurement sites were significantly higher with abnormal TP (<50 mmHg) than normal TP (≥50 mmHg) (P < .001). Infrared thermography revealed differences between angiosome areas, subclinical infections, and plantar high-pressure areas. Conclusion: Infrared thermography revealed local temperature differences in high-risk diabetic feet. Normal skin surface temperature varies between individuals, but in combination with other tools, IRT might be useful in clinical screening. ClinicalTrials ID: 14212016
Pain catastrophizing and pain acceptance are associated with pain severity and interference among methadone-maintained patients.

OBJECTIVE The present study examined whether pain catastrophizing and pain acceptance, two important targets of psychosocial interventions for chronic pain, are uniquely associated with pain severity and pain interference among patients on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). METHOD A total of 133 MMT patients who reported experiencing some pain during the previous week completed a battery of self-report measures. Multiple regression was used to test whether pain catastrophizing and pain acceptance are related to pain severity and pain interference above and beyond covariates including demographics, emotional distress, and current methadone dose. RESULTS Both pain acceptance and catastrophizing were significantly associated with pain severity and pain interference while controlling for covariates. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with previous literature on patients with chronic pain but without opioid use disorder, our findings suggest that both pain catastrophizing and pain acceptance are potentially important intervention targets among MMT patients with co-occurring opioid use disorder and chronic pain.
The Influence on Contaminant Bioavailability and Microbial Abundance of Lake Hongze by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project

The world famous South-to-North Water Transfer Project was built to alleviate serious water shortages in northern China. Considering that lake Hongze is an important freshwater lake in this region, analyzing the influence of water diversion on typical contaminant bioavailability and microbial abundance could aid in achieving a good overall understanding of hydrodynamic variation. Accordingly, in situ high-resolution measurements of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) and next-generation high-throughput sequencing were combined in order to survey Lake Hongze and determine the relationship between environmental factors and microbial communities. The DGT method effectively obtained more than the 85% of bioavailable concentrations of the corresponding contaminants; the results showed that labile P, S, Fe, As, and Hg concentrations were higher in areas influenced by water transfer. Moreover, the relative abundance and alpha diversity of the sampling sites distributed in the water transfer area differed significantly from other sites. The pH, conductivity, and labile Mn, As, and P were shown to be the primary environmental factors affecting the abundance and diversity of microbes. With the exception of bioturbation-affected sites controlled by labile Mn and pH, sites distributed in the water diversion area were most affected by As and conductivity, with little spatial discrepancy. Furthermore, site 2, with higher bioturbation abundance, and site 10, with stronger hydrodynamics, had low alpha diversity compared to the other sites. Consequently, the bioavailability of typical contaminants such as P, S, As, Hg, Fe, Mg, Cd, Pb, and Mn, as well as the diversity and abundance of microbial in the sites influenced by the water diversion, were significantly different to the other sites. Thus, the impacts of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project on participant lakes were non-negligible overall in the investigation.
Lung transplant outcomes are influenced by severity of neutropenia and granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor treatment

Although neutropenia is a common complication after lung transplant, its relationship with recipient outcomes remains understudied. We evaluated a retrospective cohort of 228 adult lung transplant recipients between 2008 and 2013 to assess the association of neutropenia and granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (GCSF) treatment with outcomes. Neutropenia was categorized as mild (absolute neutrophil count 1000‐1499), moderate (500‐999), or severe (<500) and as a time‐varying continuous variable. Associations with survival, acute rejection, and chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) were assessed with the use of Cox proportional hazards regression. GCSF therapy impact on survival, CLAD, and acute rejection development was analyzed by propensity score matching. Of 228 patients, 101 (42.1%) developed neutropenia. Recipients with severe neutropenia had higher mortality rates than those of recipients with no (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 2.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05‐8.41, P = .040), mild (aHR 14.508, 95% CI 1.58‐13.34, P = .018), or moderate (aHR 3.27, 95% CI 0.89‐12.01, P = .074) neutropenia. Surprisingly, GCSF treatment was associated with a higher risk for CLAD in mildly neutropenic patients (aHR 3.49, 95% CI 0.93‐13.04, P = .063), although it did decrease death risk in severely neutropenic patients (aHR 0.24, 95% CI 0.07‐0.88, P = .031). Taken together, our data point to an important relationship between neutropenia severity and GCSF treatment in lung transplant outcomes.
BRAZILIAN RAILWAYS : AN APPLICATION OF COST ANALYSIS

It is widely argued that rail transport is cheaper, safer and more sustainable than using the road transport. However, the Brazilian railway system faces many problems such as right-ofway invasion, critical level crossing and logistical bottlenecks. The use of techniques, as the Economic Analysis of Projects, is essential to help the decision makers to better allocate financial resources for transportation projects. However, cost analysis methods are not generally used for infrastructure investments, especially in developing countries like Brazil. This paper aims to present a method to support the identification, evaluation and prioritization of Railway projects that may contribute to address currently observed problems. The research applies a cost analysis technique, which was found suitable to analyze projects, without a need for expensive data collection neither complex models to produce satisfactory results. The method proved to be simple and efficient in meeting planning needs and helping the decision making.
Five Decades of Hippocampal Place Cells and EEG Rhythms in Behaving Rats

Over the last 50 years, much has been learned about the physiology and functions of the hippocampus from studies in freely behaving rats. Two relatively early works in the field provided major insights that remain relevant today. Here, I revisit these studies and discuss how our understanding of the hippocampus has evolved over the last several decades.
Factors Affecting Health Care Engagement of Patients With End-Stage Heart Failure: An Exploratory Survey Study

Background. The decision to receive a permanent left ventricular assist device (LVAD) to treat end-stage heart failure (HF) involves understanding and weighing the risks and benefits of a highly invasive treatment. The goal of this study was to characterize end-stage HF patients across parameters that may affect their decision making and to inform the development of an LVAD decision support tool. Methods. A survey of 35 end-stage HF patients at an LVAD implant hospital was performed to characterize their information-seeking habits, interaction with physicians, technology use, numeracy, and concerns about their health. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, grounded theory method, and Bayesian network learning. Results. Most patients indicated an interest in using some type of decision support tool (roadmap of health progression: 46%, n = 16; personal prognosis: 51%, n = 18; short videos of patients telling stories of their experiences with an LVAD: 57%, n = 20). Information patients desired in a hypothetical decision support tool fell into the following topics: prognoses for health outcomes, technical information seeking, expressing emotions, and treatment decisions. Desire for understanding their condition was closely related to whether they had difficult interpreting their electronic medical record in the past. Conclusions. Most patients reported interest in engaging in their health care decision making and seeing their prognosis and electronic health record information. Patients who were less interested in their own treatment decisions were characterized by having less success understanding their health information. Design of a decision support tool for potential LVAD patients should consider a spectrum of health literacy and include information beyond the technical specifications of LVAD support.
Physical Activity, APOE Genotype, and Cognitive Decline: Exploring Gene-Environment Interactions in the UK Biobank.

BACKGROUND Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype affects the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with inconclusive evidence on the opportunity to mitigate related adverse effects by lifestyle changes. OBJECTIVE To examine the individual and interactive associations of APOE and objectively-measured physical activity (PA) and sedentary activity with cognitive decline. METHODS We used data from middle-aged and older UK Biobank participants with repeat tests on visuospatial memory (n = 52,767) and fluid intelligence (n = 19,713), and who also took part in the accelerometer sub-study. PA and sedentary activity were assessed by a wrist-worn accelerometer over a seven-day period. Cognitive decline was defined as >1 standard deviation (SD) reduction in memory or fluid intelligence score, and the mean follow up from baseline was 5.8 years. RESULTS There was an age dependent association between APOEɛ4 genotype and memory decline (page-interaction = 0.01), with the association only seen in participants who were >65 years (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.24; for <65 years OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.14). The OR for the APOEɛ4 association with fluid intelligence decline was 1.11 (95% CI 0.99 to 1.24), and there was no evidence for age interaction (page-interaction = 0.99). High PA and low sedentary activity were associated with reduced mean memory decline (p < 0.02 for both). There was no interaction between PA or sedentary activity with APOEɛ4 regarding either of the cognitive decline measures (p > 0.63 for all). CONCLUSION This large-scale study using objectively measured PA did not find differential effects of PA on cognitive decline based on APOE genotype.
Potent LpxC Inhibitors with In Vitro Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

New drugs with novel mechanisms of resistance are desperately needed to address both community and nosocomial infections due to Gram-negative bacteria. One such potential target is LpxC, an essential enzyme that catalyzes the first committed step of lipid A biosynthesis. Achaogen conducted an extensive research campaign to discover novel LpxC inhibitors with activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. ABSTRACT New drugs with novel mechanisms of resistance are desperately needed to address both community and nosocomial infections due to Gram-negative bacteria. One such potential target is LpxC, an essential enzyme that catalyzes the first committed step of lipid A biosynthesis. Achaogen conducted an extensive research campaign to discover novel LpxC inhibitors with activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We report here the in vitro antibacterial activity and pharmacodynamics of ACHN-975, the only molecule from these efforts and the first ever LpxC inhibitor to be evaluated in phase 1 clinical trials. In addition, we describe the profiles of three additional LpxC inhibitors that were identified as potential lead molecules. These efforts did not produce an additional development candidate with a sufficiently large therapeutic window and the program was subsequently terminated.
EVALUATION OF THE PROXIMATE , MINERAL AND VITAMIN CONTENT OF JUICES PRODUCED FROM IMPORTED AND LOCAL LESSER KNOWN FRUITS IN NIGERIA

Background: Lesser known fruits are often poorly consumed compared to the imported variety and we do not have data base of their nutritive contents. Materials and methods: The brix, pH, titratable acidity, proximate, vitamin, mineral content and antioxidant activity a of juice from ten local lesser known and imported fruits: Solanum melongena L (Eggplant), Annona muricata (Soursop), Citrus reticulata (Clementine), Ribes uva-crispa L (Gooseberry), Cucumis melo (Golden melon), Vitis vinifera (White grape), Actinidia chinensis (Kiwi), Litchi chinensis (Lychee), Prunus persica (Peach), Prunus domestica (Plum) and Punica granatum (Pomegranate) were evaluated. Results: The pH varied from 2.55-5.85; S. melongena L had the lowest brix and carbohydrate but highest protein contents (3.88±0.18%, 4.91 ±0.83% and 4.61± 0.13%) respectively. The ash content ranges from 0.52±0.14% in V. vinifera to 1.46 ±0.12% in S. melongena L. Lipids levels were very low (0.29±0.05% 1.31±0.13%). All juice samples had low fibre and high moisture contents. Vitamins concentrations varied Ascorbic acid (9.18±0.52-32.06±1.28 mg/100ml), vitamin E (0.11±0.03-1.95±0.21 mg/100ml), vitamin A (0.45±0.13-7.01±0.28 mg/100ml), β-carotene (7.34±1.20-152.96±10.55 μg/g), riboflavin (0.06±0.02-0.54±0.08 mg/100ml) and thiamine (0.27±0.04-2.22±0.17 mg/100ml). All the fruit juices contained Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, K and Zn except C. reticulata which was lacking in Cu and Zn. C. melo had the lowest while P. granatum had the highest antioxidant Conclusion: Generally, all the samples had poor reducing power ability, iron chelating ability and DPPH radical scavenging ability. All fruits showed excellent total antioxidant activity and A. muricata had the highest value. S. melongena had low brix and high fibre content.
Overexpression of an alfalfa glutathione S-transferase gene improved the saline-alkali tolerance of transgenic tobacco

ABSTRACT Abiotic stresses restrict the productivity and quality of agricultural crops. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) utilizes glutathione to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) that result from abiotic stresses. This study aimed to determine the expression pattern of the MsGSTU8 gene and its effects on saline-alkali tolerance. MsGSTU8, from alfalfa (Medicago sativa ‘Zhaodong’), was transformed into transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and overexpressed to determine its effects on saline-alkali tolerance. The gene products in alfalfa localized to the cytoplasm and the transcript levels were higher in the leaves than the roots and stems. Expression was strongly induced by cold, drought, salt and saline-alkali stresses as well as abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. The transgenic tobacco lines had significantly higher transcription levels of the abiotic stress-related genes and higher GST activity than the wild types. Transgenic tobacco lines with saline-alkali treatments maintained their chlorophyll content, showed improved antioxidant enzyme activity and soluble sugar levels, reduced ion leakage, O2. −, H2O2 accumulation and malondialdehyde content. Our results indicate that overexpression of MsGSTU8 could improve resistance to saline-alkali stresses by decreasing the accumulation of ROS and increasing the levels of antioxidant enzymes. Furthermore, they suggest that MsGSTU8 could be utilized for transgenic crop plant breeding. Summary: The glutathione S-transferase gene of Medicago sativa can effectively alleviate osmotic and oxidative damage induced by saline-alkali stress in transgenic tobacco.
Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to adapt the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire (ALSAQ), developed for the evaluation of quality of life in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, into the Turkish society. METHODS This methodological study was conducted in 92 ALS patients registered in 2 chapters (Istanbul and Izmir) of Turkish ALS-Motor Neuron Diseases Association. The expert opinion and forward-backward translation methods were applied for the linguistic validity of the ALSAQ (long and short versions: ALSAQ-40 and ALSAQ-5, respectively). RESULTS In the analysis of internal consistency, the Cronbach's α reliability coefficient was . 96 for the total scale, whereas it was between . 88 and . 98 for the 5 dimensions. The dimensions of the long form were correlated with the items of the short form. CONCLUSION The Turkish versions of the ALSAQ short and long forms are valid and reliable tools to be used in the assessment of the quality of life in ALS patients.
Biomarker-Based Signature of Alzheimer’s Disease in Pre-MCI Individuals

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology begins decades before the onset of clinical symptoms. It is recognized as a clinicobiological entity, being detectable in vivo independently of the clinical stage by means of pathophysiological biomarkers. Accordingly, neuropathological studies that were carried out on healthy elderly subjects, with or without subjective experience of cognitive decline, reported evidence of AD pathology in a high proportion of cases. At present, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) represents the only clinically diagnosed pre-dementia stage. Several attempts have been carried out to detect AD as early as possible, when subtle cognitive alterations, still not fulfilling MCI criteria, appear. Importantly, pre-MCI individuals showing the positivity of pathophysiological AD biomarkers show a risk of progression similar to MCI patients. In view of successful treatment with disease modifying agents, in a clinical setting, a timely diagnosis is mandatory. In clinical routine, biomarkers assessment should be taken into consideration whenever a subject with subtle cognitive deficits (pre-MCI), who is aware of his/her decline, requests to know the cause of such disturbances. In this review, we report the available neuropsychological and biomarkers data that characterize the pre-MCI patients, thus proposing pre-MCI as the first clinical manifestation of AD.
PlutoNet: An Eﬃcient Polyp Segmentation Network with Modiﬁed Partial Decoder and Consistency Training

Deep learning models are used to minimize the number of polyps that goes unnoticed by the experts and to accurately segment the detected polyps during interventions. Although state-of-the-art models performwell, theyrequiretoomanyparameters, whichcanposeaproblemwithreal-timeapplications. To address this problem, we propose a novel segmentation model called PlutoNet which requires only 2,626,537parameterswhileoutperformingstate-of-the-artmodelsonseveraldatasets. WithPlutoNet, weproposeanovelconsistencytrainingapproachthatconsistsofasharedencoder,themodiﬁedpartial decoder,andtheauxiliarydecoderthataretrainedwithacombinedlosstoenforceconsistency. Weusealightweightarchitectureandproposethemodiﬁedpartialdecoder,whichisacombinationofthe partialdecoderandfull-scaleconnectionsthatfurtherreducesthenumberofparametersrequired,aswellascapturessemanticdetails.Weuseasymmetricconvolutionstohandlevaryingpolypsizesand thenweweigheachfeaturemapbyusingasqueezeandexcitationblock.Then,weenforceconsistencybycombiningthelossofthemodiﬁedpartialdecoderandtheauxiliarydecoder,whichhelpsimprove theencoder’srepresentationswithoutlosinglearnedrelevantsemanticdetails.Thiswayweareabletoreducefalsepositiverates. Weperformextensiveexperimentstoshowthatourmodeloutperforms thestate-of-the-artmodelsandisabletogeneralizewelltoseveraldatasets.Ourmodeloutperformsthestate-of-the-artmodelsontheEndoScenedataset,Etisdataset,2018DataScienceBowlChallenge dataset,andKvasirInstrumentdataset. Wealsoperformanablationstudytoshowtheeﬀectivenessofeachcomponentofourmodel.
Subdural versus subgaleal drainage for chronic subdural hematomas: a post hoc analysis of the TOSCAN trial.

OBJECTIVE The use of subdural drains after surgical evacuation of chronic subdural hematoma (CSH) decreases the risk of recurrence and has become the standard of care. Halfway through the controlled, randomized TOSCAN (Randomized Trial of Follow-up CT after Evacuation of Chronic Subdural Hematoma) trial, the authors' institutional guidelines changed to recommend subgaleal instead of subdural drainage. The authors report a post hoc analysis on the influence of drain location in patients participating in the TOSCAN trial. METHODS The study involved 361 patients enrolled in the TOSCAN trial. The patients were stratified according to whether they received surgery before (cohort A) or after (cohort B) the change in institutional protocol. An intention-to-treat analysis was performed with surgery for recurrence as the primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints were outcome-based on modified Rankin Scale scores, seizures, infections, parenchymal brain injuries, and hematoma diameter. RESULTS Of the 361 patients included in the analysis, 214 were stratified into cohort A (subdural drainage recommended), while 147 were stratified into cohort B (subgaleal drainage recommended). There was a 31.78% rate of crossover from the subdural to the subgaleal drainage insertion site due to technical or anatomical difficulties. No differences in the rates of reoperation (21.5% [cohort A] vs 25.17% [cohort B], OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.50-1.34, p = 0.415), infections (0.47% [cohort A] vs 2.04% [cohort B], OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.02-2.19, p = 0.199), seizures (3.27% [cohort A] vs 2.72% [cohort B], OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.35-4.21, p = 0.765), or favorable outcomes (modified Rankin Scale score 0-3) at 1 and 6 months (91.26% [cohort A] vs 96.43% [cohort B], OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.14-1.07, p = 0.067; 89.90% [cohort A] vs 91.55% [cohort B], OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.39-1.73, p = 0.605) were noted between the two cohorts. Postoperatively, patients in cohort A had more frequent parenchymal brain tissue injuries (2.8% vs 0%, p = 0.041). Postoperative absolute and relative hematoma reduction was similar irrespective of the location of the drain. CONCLUSIONS Subgaleal rather than subdural placement of the drain did not increase the risk for reoperation for recurrence of CSHs, nor did it have a negative impact on clinical or radiological outcome. The intention to place a subdural drain was associated with a higher rate of parenchymal injuries.