Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stress and resilience among women living with HIV in Nigeria

Background Psychological morbidities concurrent with HIV have been the focus of considerable scientific investigations. However, researchers have largely overlooked HIV-related stress and resilience among women living with HIV in rural communities. Aim This study explored the associations between psychological resilience and HIV-related stress among women living with HIV. Setting The study was conducted in three randomly selected hospitals that provide primary HIV care in Niger state, Nigeria. Methods A predictive cross-sectional design was used to describe the relationship between perceived stress and resilience among the study population. Results Out of 748 participants who completed the Connor–Davidson resilience scale and the perceived stress scale questionnaires, 676 returned the questionnaire in usable form. While the results showed moderate levels of perceived stress and a high level of psychological resilience, there was a significant and negative relationship between HIV-related stress and psychological resilience (r = -0.601, p = < 0.001). Also, higher resilience was significantly associated with decreased perceived stress. Conclusion It is concluded that measures to promote resilience and employment opportunity may ameliorate HIV-related stress among women living with HIV.
The deposition of CENH3 in maize is stringently regulated.

The centromere, as an essential element to mediate chromosome segregation, is epigenetically determined by CENH3-containing nucleosomes as a functional marker; therefore the accurate deposition of CENH3 is crucial to chromosome transmission. We characterized the deposition of CENH3 in maize by over-expression and mutational analysis. Our results revealed that over-expressing CENH3 in callus is lethal while over-expressing GFP-CENH3 and CENH3-YFP in callus and plants is not and can be partly deposited normally. Different mutations of GFP-CENH3 demonstrated that CENH3-Thr4 in the N terminus was needed for the deposition as a positive phosphorylation site and the last five amino acids in the C terminus are necessary for deposition. The C terminal tail of CENH3 is confirmed to be responsible for the interaction of CENH3 and histone H4, which indicates that CENH3 maintains deposition in centromeres via interacting with H4 to form stable nucleosomes. For GFP-CENH3 and CENH3-YFP, the fused tags at the termini probably affect the structure of CENH3 and reduce its interaction with other proteins, which in turn could decrease proper deposition. Taken together, multiple amino acids or motifs were shown to play essential roles in CENH3 deposition, which is suggested to be affected by numerous factors in maize.
Effects of Zinc Supplementation on Nutritional Status in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Trial

Background: Zinc is an essential micronutrient for human beings and its deficiency affects their normal growth and development. Objective: The main aim was to evaluate the effect of two doses of zinc supplementation (ZS) on the nutritional status in chronic kidney disease (CKD) children. Methods: A randomized-trial multicentric study was conducted in 48 CKD (23 females) patients under 18-years-old, for a year. At random, participants took 30 or 15 mg/day of ZS, respectively. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical analysis were performed. Hypozincemia was determined by serum zinc concentration (SZC) using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The positive or negative change in patients’ body mass index (BMI) Z-score, serum albumin, zinc and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were used to evaluate the effect of ZS. Results: Mean SZC was normal before and after ZS. Despite ZS, there were no significant changes in serum albumin, zinc and CRP levels. A positive and significant association was observed between SZC and serum albumin before (p = 0.000) and after (p = 0.007) ZS. In both groups of ZS, there was a small but positive and significant change in body mass and normalization in BMI Z-score, hypoalbuminemia, hypozincemia and high CRP, especially with 30 mg/day of ZS. Conclusions: Zinc supplementation may be beneficial for nutritional status in children and adolescents with CKD.
Total flavonoids of Epimedium ameliorates testicular damage in streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats by suppressing inflammation and oxidative stress

Testicular damage is the anomaly that will often accompany diabetes mellitus. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the role that total flavonoids of Epimedium (TFE) played against streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic testicular dysfunction and to elucidate the mechanism of action. The diabetic rat model was induced by vein injection of STZ in healthy rats. Thirty male healthy Spraque‐Dawley rats were randomly divided into following groups: the control group, the diabetic group, and the diabetic + TFE group. Gastrointestinal administration begins at fifth week of TFE for 6 weeks. After TFE administration, all animals were euthanized. Testicular tissue samples and blood samples of rats were collected for histopathological examination and for determination of levels of various biomarkers including blood glucose, testosterone, testicular enzymes, and oxidative stress indicators. All testes were weighted to calculate the testicular organ index. Hematoxylin‐eosin staining was used for observing the testis and epididymis pathological changes. Protein expression (monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1, transforming growth factor‐beta‐1, interleukin‐6, and 3‐beta‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase) was detected by immunohistochemistry and western blot techniques. There was a significant difference in the changes between the diabetes group and the control group. As a result of treat with TFE, the blood glucose decreased but there was no significant difference, and other indicators showed significant improvement. TFE may protect against STZ‐induced testicular injury by suppressing inflammation and oxidative stress.
Meropenem-Vaborbactam Activity against Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales Isolates Collected in U.S. Hospitals during 2016 to 2018

The activities of meropenem-vaborbactam and comparators against 152 (1.1%) carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) isolates identified among 13,929 Enterobacterales isolates collected from U.S. hospitals during 2016 to 2018 were evaluated. CRE rates were higher in the Middle Atlantic census division (3.5%) than in the other divisions (range, 0.0% for the West North Central division to 1.4% for the West South Central division). ABSTRACT The activities of meropenem-vaborbactam and comparators against 152 (1.1%) carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) isolates identified among 13,929 Enterobacterales isolates collected from U.S. hospitals during 2016 to 2018 were evaluated. CRE rates were higher in the Middle Atlantic census division (3.5%) than in the other divisions (range, 0.0% for the West North Central division to 1.4% for the West South Central division). Among the CRE isolates, 134 carried carbapenemase genes, and these included 72 isolates carrying blaKPC-3, 51 isolates carrying blaKPC-2, 4 isolates carrying blaNDM-1, 3 isolates carrying blaSME-4, 2 isolates carrying blaVIM-1, 1 isolate carrying blaOXA-232, and 1 isolate carrying blaKPC-4. Meropenem-vaborbactam was active against 95.4% of the CRE isolates and 94.8% of the carbapenem-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) isolates when applying the CLSI breakpoints. All isolates producing serine carbapenemases were inhibited by meropenem-vaborbactam at ≤8 mg/liter. One Citrobacter freundii isolate carrying blaKPC-3 had a meropenem-vaborbactam MIC of 8 mg/liter and was resistant according to CLSI breakpoints (the isolate was susceptible when the EUCAST criterion of an MIC of ≤8 mg/liter for susceptible was applied), had disrupted OmpC and OmpF sequences, and overexpressed AcrAB-TolC. All carbapenemase-negative CRE isolates (n = 18) were inhibited by meropenem-vaborbactam at ≤4 mg/liter, and the MIC values of this combination ranged from 0.25 to 4 mg/liter. Among 7 isolates carrying metallo-β-lactamases and/or oxacillinases with carbapenemase activity, meropenem-vaborbactam susceptibility was 14.3% and 57.1% when applying CLSI and EUCAST breakpoints, respectively. CRE isolates were resistant to many comparator agents, and the most active agents were tigecycline, colistin, and amikacin (to which 63.2% to 96.7% of the isolates were susceptible). Understanding the epidemiology of CRE isolates in U.S. hospitals and the resistance mechanisms among these isolates is important to form guidelines for the treatment of infections caused by these organisms, which have high mortality rates.
Noninvasive ventilation via bilevel positive airway pressure support in pediatric patients after cardiac surgery

Background: Noninvasive bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) support ventilation applied by nasal mask in children with impending respiratory failure enhances oxygenation/ventilation, decreases the work of breathing, and may obviate the need for an artificial airway. This study was to provide a prospective evaluation of clinical experience in this special population, suggesting a wider role for this less intrusive ventilatory support modality. Methods: Twenty-five patients (3 months to 11 years, mean 2.3 years) who underwent corrective cardiac surgery and developed respiratory insufficiency after extubation were enrolled in the study. All patients required airway support or oxygenation/ventilatory support and were firstly treated with noninvasive BiPAP ventilation before re-intubation. The changes of clinical symptoms and arterial blood gas were measured. Results: The 25 patients with 30 episodes of respiratory insufficiency requiring airway support or oxygenation/ventilatory support were treated with BiPAP ventilation with a mean duration of 1.96 days (range, 0.03 to 12 days). No major complications were observed. Twenty-five episodes (83.3%) benefited from BiPAP and avoided re-intubation. One hour after institution of BiPAP, the patients showed an acute improvement of oxygenation. pH increased from 7.37±0.02 to 7.41±0.01, SaO2 increased from 93.8±1.0% to 97.7±0.4%, PaO2/FiO2 increased from 189.9±25.0 to 253.6±21.2 mmHg, and A-aDO2 decreased from 241.8±18.7 to 182.1±16.5 mmHg (all P<0.05). Four hours after BiPAP, PaCO2 significantly decreased from 44.0±2.1 to 38.9±0.8 mmHg (P<0.05). Meanwhile, heart rate decreased from 157±4 to 139± 4 beats/minute, respiratory rate decreased from 46±2 to 37±2 breaths/minute, rate-pressure product decreased from 17 230±685 to 14 046±423 mmHg · beats/minute (all P<0.05). Five episodes in 4 patients were unable to stabilize progression of respiratory failure and an artificial airway was subsequently placed. All patients survived with a mean mechanical ventilation duration of 3.4 days and an ICU stay of 10.6 days. Conclusions: Noninvasive nasal mask BiPAP can be safely and effectively used in children after cardiac surgery to improve oxygenation/ventilation, decrease the work of breathing. It may be particularly useful in patients whose underlying condition warrants avoidance of re-intubation. World J Pediatr 2006;4:297-302
Nonlinear and nonstationary data analysis of the renal autoregulatory dynamics in normotensive and hypertensive rats

Stony Brook University Libraries. SBU Graduate School in Biomedical Engineering. Lawrence Martin (Dean of Graduate School), Dr. Ki H. Chon, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Dissertation Advisor, Dr. Leon C. Moore, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Committee Chair, Dr. Emilia Entcheva, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Dr. William A. Cupples, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Outside Member.
FIRST TRIMESTER DRINKING AND SMOKING HABITS OF PREGNANT WOMEN TAKING SELECTIVE SEROTONIN REUPTAKE INHIBITORS

OF THE THESIS First Trimester Drinking and Smoking Habits of Pregnant Women Taking Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors by Thuy G. Nguyen Master of Public Health with a Concentration in Epidemiology San Diego State University, 2012 Depression is a condition that is very common among women of childbearing age with a prevalence of 25-35%. There are many characteristics associated with depression, including: low income, low education level, marital status, tobacco and alcohol use, and illicit drug use. Drinking and smoking occur frequently among those who are depressed and are linked with many adverse outcomes in the fetus. SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are the most commonly used antidepressants. Some studies have shown that the use of SSRIs are linked with either an increase or decrease in smoking and drinking during pregnancy depending on personal characteristics. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the true prevalence of alcohol and cigarette use among pregnant women who take SSRIs in the first trimester of pregnancy. A cohort of 2169 pregnant women were studied to test the associations of SSRI use with drinking, drinking and smoking simultaneously, the greatest number of drinks consumed, binge episodes, and average number of drinks. Results of the study found that smoking (p-value=<0.0001) and greatest number of drinks (p-value=0.01) were significantly associated with SSRI use. The odds of smoking were 2.73 (95% CI 1.70, 4.38) times more likely among those that took an SSRI versus those that did not take an SSRI after controlling for mother education, age, SES, prepregnancy weight, maternal weight gain, greatest number of drinks, illicit drug use, and race. Women who take an SSRI have an increase of 0.07 greatest number of drinks versus women who do not take an SSRI, after controlling for smoking, illicit drug use, parity, and SES. There were two significant interaction terms. It was concluded that the odds of smoking and drinking simultaneously varied across levels of illicit drug. SSRI use and binge episodes varied across levels of socioeconomic status. The odds of smoking and drinking among those that did not use an illicit drug were higher for those that took an SSRI versus those that did not. Among those with Low SES, those who took an SSRI had a higher number of binge episodes (p-value=<0.0001) than those who did not take an SSRI (p-value=0.30). Average number of drinks was found to not be significantly associated to SSRI use. Results from these findings can greatly benefit healthcare professionals in determining possible ways to treat depression and may be helpful in developing interventions that can reduce the rates of alcohol and cigarette use among the high-risk population of pregnant women who are depressed. Future research is needed to confirm the relationship between the use of an SSRI, smoking, and drinking.
Traditional Korean Medicine-Based Forest Therapy Programs Providing Electrophysiological Benefits for Elderly Individuals

We aimed to develop forest therapy programs (FTPs) to prevent dementia and related health problems in the elderly population, with the assumption that health benefits are FTP-type specific and depend on the participant’s psychophysiological traits. For this purpose, we developed two distinct FTPs, namely, a guided-breathing meditation program (BP) and a walking program (WP); we adopted the approach of Sasang constitutional (SC) medicine, which categorizes individuals into one of three SC types (SC1, SC2, or SC3) for medical care. The FTPs ran 11 sessions over 11 weeks. We recruited 29/31/28 participants who were 65 years of age or older for the BP/WP/control groups, respectively; obtained electrophysiological measurements via electroencephalogram (EEG), heart rate variability (HRV), and bioimpedance; and analyzed the intervention effects with analysis of covariance. Compared with the control, the BP and WP resulted in benefits for neural activity and parasympathetic nervous activity (PNA), respectively, and both FTPs yielded distinct beneficial effects on bioimpedance. Constitution-specific effects were also present. The SC1- and SC2-type participants gained positive effects in neural activity from the BP and WP, respectively. The SC3-type participants showed improvements in PNA from the WP. In conclusion, for older individuals, both programs conferred health benefits that would help prevent dementia, and the benefits were program-specific and constitution-specific.
The miR‐28‐5p‐CAMTA2 axis regulates colon cancer progression via Wnt/β‐catenin signaling

Colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer with high morbidity and mortality. Calmodulin‐binding transcription activator 2 (CAMTA2) belongs to the calmodulin‐binding transcription activator protein family. The functional role of CAMTA2 in colon cancer development remains unclear. Our research found out that CAMTA2 was high‐level expressed in colon cancer, and the upregulated CAMTA2 expression was markedly correlated with poor survival. Functional experiments showed that knockdown of CAMTA2 repressed colon cancer cell proliferation/migration in vitro and attenuated proliferation in vivo. In additional, CAMTA2 expression was controlled by miR‐28‐5p via posttranscriptional regulation and miR‐28‐5p expression was reversely correlated with CAMTA2 expression in colon cancer. Moreover, enforced miR‐28‐5p expression downregulated the expression of CAMTA2 significantly and the restoration of CAMTA2 expression abolished the inhibitory effect of miR‐28‐5p on colon cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. Mechanistically, overexpression of miR‐28‐5p suppressed Wnt/β‐catenin signaling and the inhibitory could be partly abolished by overexpression of CAMTA2. In summary, our findings reveal that miR‐28‐5p/CAMTA2 axis plays a critical role in human colon cancer, which might be a promising diagnosis and therapeutic target for colon cancer treatment.
Immunohistochemical overexpression of BCL-2 protein predicts an inferior survival in patients with primary central nervous system diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Abstract This study was designed to analyze the clinical characteristics and prognostic value of c-MYC and BCL-2 proteins expression in patients with primary central nervous system diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PCNS-DLBCL). 82 patients newly diagnosed with PCNS-DLBCL, from January 2008 to November 2018, were enrolled in this study. Clinical characteristics, immunohistochemical features, laboratory examinations, and treatment outcome were analyzed among these patients. Among these 82 cases, 45 were males (54.9%) and 37 were females (45.1%). Age ranged from 16 to 78 years old, and 29 patients (35.4%) were elder than 60 years old, with median age at 57 years old. According to Hans classification, 25 were accounted for origin of germinal center B-cell (GCB) subtype (30.5%) and 49 were accounted for non-GCB subtype (59.8%), respectively. Eight patients were unclassified due to lack of detailed pathological results. The median survival of these 82 patients was 30 months, and 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 59.7%, 44.6%, and 34.1%, respectively. Patients treated with sequential HD-MTX based chemotherapies showed a superior prognosis than those without. In combination with rituximab, the outcome was further improved. The median OS was 55 months in HD-MTX + R group, 27 months in HD-MTX group, and 9 months in other groups, respectively. Univariate analysis identified age ≥60, ECOG score ≥ 2 points, and overexpression of BCL-2 protein (≥85%) were adverse prognostic factors for OS. Co-expression of c-MYC (≥40%) and BCL-2 (≥50%) proteins was associated with poor ECOG score, high Ki-67 expression, and trended towards an inferior outcome. Gender, lesion location, number of lesions, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), cell of origin, BCL-6 protein expression, expression of c-MYC protein alone and Ki-67 ≥85% had no significant impact on OS. In patients with PCNS-DLBCL, age ≥60 years old, ECOG score ≥2 points, and overexpression of BCL-2 protein (≥85%) were associated with a poor survival. HD-MTX based chemotherapies in combination with rituximab could improve the prognosis.
Why are undergraduate emerging adults anxious and avoidant in their romantic relationships? The role of family relationships

The exploration of and search for romantic relationships is one of the developmental tasks that characterise emerging adulthood, a new developmental phase halfway between adolescence and full adulthood. This study aims to explore, in a Mediterranean country, the existing relationships between the subjective perception of some parental behaviour and the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment during emerging adulthood. To do so, 1,502 university students (903 women and 599 men) aged between 18 and 29 (M = 20.32 and SD = 2.13) completed a self-report questionnaire. The results revealed that perceived family support and perceived parental warmth were negatively associated with the avoidance and anxiety dimensions. In contrast, perceived parental control (both behavioural and psychological) was found to be positively associated with both attachment dimensions. Perceived behavioural control was also found to play a moderator role between perceived parental warmth and romantic attachment anxiety. Only in cases in which emerging adults of our sample perceived low levels of behavioural control was warmth found to be negatively associated with anxiety. The main conclusion of this work is the negative impact that parental control seems to have on romantic attachment during emerging adulthood. The results are discussed with a focus on the continuing importance of the family context in relation to the completion of developmental tasks, even during emerging adulthood.
Normalized US hurricane damage estimates using area of total destruction, 1900−2018

Significance We present an approach to normalize hurricane damage, where damage is framed in terms of an equivalent area of total destruction. This has some advantages over customary normalization schemes, and we demonstrate that our record has reduced variance and correlates marginally better with wind speeds and pressure. That is, it allows us to better address climatic trends. We find that hurricanes are indeed becoming more damaging. The frequency of the very most damaging hurricanes has increased at a rate of 330% per century. Hurricanes are the most destructive natural disasters in the United States. The record of economic damage from hurricanes shows a steep positive trend dominated by increases in wealth. It is necessary to account for temporal changes in exposed wealth, in a process called normalization, before we can compare the destructiveness of recorded damaging storms from different areas and at different times. Atmospheric models predict major hurricanes to get more intense as Earth warms, and we expect this trend to eventually emerge above the natural variability in the record of normalized damage. However, the evidence for an increasing trend in normalized damage since 1900 has been controversial. In this study, we develop a record of normalized damage since 1900 based on an equivalent area of total destruction. Here, we show that this record has an improved signal-to-noise ratio over earlier normalization schemes based on calculations of present-day economic damage. Our data reveal an emergent positive trend in damage, which we attribute to a detectable change in extreme storms due to global warming. Moreover, we show that this increasing trend in damage can also be exposed in existing normalized damage records by looking at the frequency of the largest damage events. Our record of normalized damage, framed in terms of an equivalent area of total destruction, is a more reliable measure for climate-related changes in extreme weather, and can be used for better risk assessments on hurricane disasters.