Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimism and the Experience of Pain: A Systematic Review

Abstract A growing body of literature provides evidence of the health-promoting effects of optimism, including its protective role in acute and chronic pain. Optimists are characterized by positive expectations concerning the future. These positive outcome expectancies lead to more and longer goal-directed efforts and the use of approach coping strategies. No systematic review on the effects of optimism on the experience of pain has so far been conducted. A search in the databases PubMed, Web of Science and PsycInfo, and the scanning of reference lists identified 69 eligible studies. These were categorized according to sample size, participants’ age and sex, design, optimism-pain relation as primary vs. secondary study objective, and level of study/publication quality. Overall percentages of positive, zero, and negative associations between optimism and pain as well as relative frequencies of these associations in the different categories were analyzed. About 70% of the studies showed a positive, i.e., beneficial association between optimism and at least one pain outcome. A larger percentage of beneficial associations was found in studies with experimental designs, in studies with the optimism-pain relation as primary objective, in high-quality studies/publications, and in studies including participants with a higher average age. The review suggests that optimism is associated with less acute and chronic pain, especially since a higher percentage of beneficial associations was found with high study/publication quality and with the primary focus on this relationship. For the moderating role of age, different explanations are proposed. Further research on causal relationships and on optimism-fostering clinical interventions is needed.
What Do Meta-Analyses Have to Say About the Efficacy of Neurofeedback Applied to Children With ADHD? Review of Previous Meta-Analyses and a New Meta-Analysis

Objective: We reviewed previously published meta-analyses of neurofeedback applied to children with ADHD and conducted a new meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that updates previous results and incorporates methodological modifications. Method: Searches were carried out through PubMed, Sage, PsycINFO, SpringerLink, and Psicodoc. We used Hedges’ (adjusted) g and a random-effects model. To assess heterogeneity, Q and I2 were calculated. We performed different analyses depending on the control groups, ADHD symptoms, pre- and/or posttreament data used and symptom evaluator. Results: We reviewed seven meta-analyses, and 17 studies were incorporated into the meta-analysis. RCTs support the efficacy of neurofeedback applied to ADHD when most proximal evaluators assess symptoms. Neurofeedback significantly improves inattention symptoms when possibly blinded evaluators assess symptoms. The preliminary results suggest that stimulant medication is more effective than neurofeedback. Conclusion: New RCTs that establish links between ADHD symptom measurements, subjects’ learning after neurofeedback, and neurophysiological measures could improve the quality of the conclusions.
Elevated plasma ceramide levels in post-menopausal women: a cross-sectional study

Circulating ceramide levels are abnormally elevated in age-dependent pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease. Nevertheless, the potential impact of age on plasma ceramide levels has not yet been systematically examined. In the present study, we quantified a focused panel of plasma ceramides and dihydroceramides in a cohort of 164 subjects (84 women) 19 to 80 years of age. After adjusting for potential confounders, multivariable linear regression analysis revealed a positive association between age and ceramide (d18:1/24:0) (β (SE) = 5.67 (2.38); p = . 0198) and ceramide (d18:1/24:1) (β (SE) = 2.88 (.61); p < . 001) in women, and between age and ceramide (d18:1/24:1) in men (β (SE) = 1.86 (.77); p = . 0179). In women of all ages, but not men, plasma ceramide (d18:1/24:1) was negatively correlated with plasma estradiol (r = −0.294; p = .007). Finally, in vitro experiments in human cancer cells expressing estrogen receptors showed that incubation with estradiol (10 nM, 24 h) significantly decreased ceramide accumulation. Together, the results suggest that aging is associated with an increase in circulating ceramide levels, which in post-menopausal women may be at least partially dependent on lower estradiol levels.
Structural Connectivity of the Posterior Cingulum Is Related to Reexperiencing Symptoms in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a heterogeneous disorder with disturbances in hyperarousal or avoidance behaviors and intrusive or reexperiencing thoughts. The uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle are white matter pathways implicated in stress and trauma pathophysiology, yet their structural integrity related to posttraumatic stress disorder symptom domains is yet to be understood. Forty-four trauma-exposed young adults underwent structural and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Stress and trauma exposure indices and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were collected and used to predict current integrity of the uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle. Severity of reexperiencing posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms was significantly related to increased fractional anisotropy (r = .469 p < .001) and decreased mean diffusivity (r = −.373, p = .013) of the right posterior cingulum bundle. No other findings emerged with respect to stress exposure or of hyperarousal (p’s > 0.05) or avoidance (p’s > 0.2) posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The posterior cingulum connects medial temporal lobe structures with visual areas in the occipital lobe and has been implicated in visual memory and self-referential thought. Increased structural connectivity along this pathway may therefore explain the emergence of reexperiencing posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. This along with the lack of results with respect to stress exposure suggests that structural aberrations in white matter pathways are more strongly linked with the actual experience of stress-related psychological symptoms than just exposure to stress.
The role of alexithymia in parent–child interaction and in the emotional ability of children with autism spectrum disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have more emotional difficulties than typically developing (TD) children. Of all the factors that impact children's emotional development, parents, and the way they interact with their children, are of crucial importance. The present study compared the amount of parent–child interactions among 35 dyads of parents and their children with ASD and 41 dyads of parents and their TD children, aged between 3 and 13 years, during a frustration‐eliciting situation. We further examined whether children's alexithymia is linked to parent–child interactions and whether parent–child interactions are linked to children's emotional difficulties. We found that parents of children with ASD interacted significantly less with their children than parents of TD children. This reduced interaction was better explained by children's alexithymia than by children's ASD diagnosis. Finally, parent–child interaction mediated the relationship between children's ASD diagnosis and children's emotion regulation ability, as well as some aspects of children's emotional reactivity but only if not accounting for children's alexithymia levels. Our results demonstrate the determinant role children's alexithymia plays on parent–child interactions and on how these interactions are linked to children's difficulties in emotion regulation and emotional reactivity. Results are discussed in light of how parent–child interactions and the emotional ability of children with ASD can be improved by targeting children's alexithymia. Autism Res 2019, 12: 458–468 © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Efficacy of reconstructive surgical therapy at peri-implantitis-related bone defects. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES The present systematic review aimed at evaluating the efficacy of reconstructive surgical therapy at peri-implantitis-related bone defects. METHODS Studies reporting on outcomes of reconstructive surgery at peri-implantitis-related bone defects at 12 months were identified through an electronic search. Following data extraction, two different sets of meta-analyses were performed. Primarily, controlled studies were used to evaluate the potential benefit of reconstructive surgical therapy over controls. Secondly, overall outcome of reconstructive surgical therapy was assessed by comparing baseline values with outcomes at 12 months. Results were expressed as weighted mean differences (WMD) or risk ratios (RR). Heterogeneity was described by I2 and prediction intervals. RESULTS The potential benefit of reconstructive techniques over control procedures was evaluated in three studies, representing a total of 116 implants. Altogether, 16 studies reported on the outcome of reconstructive measures at 12 months after surgery. The meta-analyses identified a larger improvement in marginal bone levels (MBL, WMD = 1.7 mm) and in defect fill (WMD = 57%) for test procedures, but found no differences for clinical measures (reduction of probing depth (PD) and bleeding on probing (BOP). Changes of clinical attachment and soft tissue levels were not considered. In terms of overall outcome, therapy resulted in improved MBL (WMD = 2.0 mm) and CAL (WMD = 1.8 mm), in recession (WMD = 0.7 mm), in reduced PD (WMD = 2.8 mm) and in reduced BOP (Implants: RR = 0.4/Sites: RR = 0.2). None of the included studies addressed patient-reported outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS The available evidence on reconstructive therapy at peri-implantitis-related defects is limited by (a) the low number of controlled studies, (b) the lack of controlled studies for commonly used procedures, (c) the heterogeneity between studies and (d) the choice of outcome measures. A high variability for predicted outcomes at 12 months was noted. The interpretation of the demonstrated larger MBL gain for test procedures is difficult as graft material may not be distinguishable from newly formed bone. Potential aesthetic and patient-reported advantages remain to be demonstrated.
A Many-Objective Particle Swarm Optimizer With Leaders Selected From Historical Solutions by Using Scalar Projections

The particle swarm optimizer (PSO), originally proposed for single-objective optimization problems, has been widely extended to other areas. One of them is multiobjective optimization. Recently, using the PSO to handle many-objective optimization problems (MaOPs) (i.e., problems with more than three objectives) has caught increasing attention from the evolutionary multiobjective community. In the design of a multiobjective/many-objective PSO algorithm, the selection of leaders is a crucial issue. This paper proposes an effective many-objective PSO where the above issue is properly addressed. For each particle, the leader is selected from a certain number of historical solutions by using scalar projections. In the objective space, historical solutions record potential search directions, and the leader is elected as the solution that is closest to the Pareto front in the direction determined by the nadir point and the point constructed by the objective vector of this particle. The proposed algorithm is compared with eight state-of-the-art many-objective optimizers on 37 test problems in terms of four performance metrics. The experimental results have shown the superiority and competitiveness of our proposed algorithm. The new algorithm is free of a set of weight vectors and can handle Pareto fronts with irregular shapes. Given the high performance and good properties of the proposed algorithm, it can be used as a promising tool when dealing with MaOPs.
Changes in characteristics of periodontal ligament stem cells in spheroid culture.

OBJECTIVES The periodontal ligament (PDL) has important roles in maintaining homeostasis, wound healing, and regeneration of periodontal tissues by supplying stem/progenitor cells. Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) have mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like characteristics and can be isolated from periodontal tissues. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of three-dimensional spheroid culture on the characteristics of PDLSCs. MATERIAL AND METHODS Periodontal ligament stem cells were isolated and cultured from healthy teeth, and PDLSC spheroids were formed by pellet culture in polypropylene tubes. The proliferation of PDLSCs in spheroids and conventional two-dimensional (2D) cultures were examined by immunostaining for Ki67. Cell death and cell size were analyzed using flow cytometry. Gene expression changes were investigated by quantitative real time PCR. RESULTS Periodontal ligament stem cells spontaneously formed spheroid masses in pellet culture. The size of PDLSC spheroids was inversely proportional to the culture period. Fewer Ki67-positive cells were detected in PDLSC spheroids compared to those in 2D culture. Flow cytometry revealed an increase in dead cells and a decrease in cell size in PDLSC spheroids. The expression levels of genes related to anti-inflammation (TSG6, COX2, MnSOD) and angiogenesis (VEGF, bFGF, HGF) were drastically increased by spheroid culture compared to 2D culture. TSG6 gene expression was inhibited in PDLSC spheroids in the presence of the apoptosis signal inhibitor, Z-VAD-FMK. Additionally, PDLSC spheroid transplantation into rat periodontal defects did not induce the regeneration of periodontal tissues. CONCLUSIONS We found that spheroid culture of PDLSCs affected several characteristics of PDLSCs, including the expression of genes related to anti-inflammation and angiogenesis; apoptosis signaling may be involved in these changes. Our results revealed the characteristics of PDLSCs in spheroid culture and have provided new information to the field of stem cell research.
Slow wave sleep facilitates spontaneous retrieval in prospective memory

STUDY OBJECTIVES Previous studies have shown that sleep benefits prospective memory by facilitating spontaneous retrieval processes. Here, we investigated the sleep features supporting such a benefit. METHODS Forty-nine young adults (mean age ± SD: 22.06 ± 1.71 years; 18 males) encoded intentions comprising four related (phone-unplug earphones) and four unrelated (mirror-close the book) cue-action pairs. They were instructed to remember to perform these actions in response to cue words presented during a semantic categorization task 12 h later. The retention interval involved either a period of wakefulness (09:30-21:30; n = 24) or overnight sleep with polysomnographic monitoring (21:30-09:30; n = 25). RESULTS We found a significant Group × Relatedness interaction for prospective memory accuracy (F = 8.35, p < 0.01). The sleep group successfully executed a significantly higher percentage of related intentions compared to the wake group (mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM): 94.00 ± 2.61% vs 66.67 ± 6.84%, p < 0.001). This benefit for related intentions was associated with longer post-learning slow wave sleep (r = 0.46, p < 0.05). In contrast, the percentage of unrelated intentions successfully executed did not differ between groups (82.00 ± 5.10% vs 72.92 ± 6.88%, p = 0.29). CONCLUSION Slow wave sleep after memory encoding may strengthen the preexisting associations between semantically related cues and actions, thereby facilitating subsequent spontaneous retrieval processes.
Inclusions Among Mixed-Norm Lebesgue Spaces

A mixed LP norm of a function on a product space is the result of successive classical Lp norms in each variable, potentially with a different exponent for each. Conditions to determine when one mixed norm space is contained in another are produced, generalizing the known conditions for embeddings of Lp spaces. The two-variable problem (with four Lp exponents, two for each mixed norm) is studied extensively. The problem’s “unpermuted” case simply reduces to a question of Lp embeddings. The other, “permuted” case further divides, depending on the values of the Lp exponents. Often, they fit the “Minkowski case”, when Minkowski’s integral inequality provides an easy, complete solution. In the “non-Minkowski case”, the solution is determined by the structure of the measures in the component Lp spaces. When no measure is purely atomic, there can be no mixed-norm embedding in the non-Minkowski case, so for such measures the problem is solved. With at least one purely atomic measure, the non-Minkowski case divides further based on the structure of the measures and the values of the exponents. Various necessary conditions and sufficient conditions are found, solving a number of subcases. Other subcases are shown to be genuinely complicated, with their solutions expressed in terms of an optimization problem known to be computationally difficult. With some difficult cases already present in the two-variable problem, it is impractical to cover every case of the multivariable problem, but results are presented which fully solve some cases. When no measure is purely atomic, the multivariable problem is solved by a reduction to the Minkowski case of certain two-variable subproblems. The multivariable problem with unweighted `p spaces has a similar reduction to easy two-variable subproblems. It is conjectured that this applies more generally; that, regardless of the structures of the involved measures, when every permuted two-variable subproblem fits the Minkowski case, the full multivariable mixed norm inclusion must hold.
Comparison of Infection Risk with Corticosteroid or Hyaluronic Acid Injection Prior to Total Knee Arthroplasty

Background: Recent studies have shown that intra-articular injections ⩽3 months before total knee arthroplasty increase the risk of periprosthetic joint infection. We are aware of no previous study that has differentiated the risk of periprosthetic joint infection on the basis of the type of medication injected. In addition, we are aware of no prior study that has evaluated whether hyaluronic acid injections increase the risk of infection after total knee arthroplasty. In this study, we utilized pharmaceutical data to compare patients who received preoperative corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid injections and to determine whether a specific injection type increased the risk of periprosthetic joint infection. Methods: Patients undergoing unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty were selected from a nationwide private insurer database. Ipsilateral preoperative injections were identified and were grouped by medication codes for corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid. Patients who had received both types of injections ⩽1 year before total knee arthroplasty were excluded. The outcome of interest was periprosthetic joint infection that occurred ⩽6 months following the total knee arthroplasty. The risk of periprosthetic joint infection was compared between groups (no injection, corticosteroid, hyaluronic acid) and between patients who received single or multiple injections. Statistical comparisons were performed using logistic regression controlling for age, sex, and comorbidities. Results: A total of 58,337 patients underwent total knee arthroplasty during the study period; 3,249 patients (5.6%) received hyaluronic acid and 16,656 patients (28.6%) received corticosteroid ⩽1 year before total knee arthroplasty. The overall infection rate was 2.74% in the no-injection group. Multivariable logistic regression showed independent periprosthetic joint infection risk for both corticosteroid (odds ratio [OR], 1.21; p = 0.014) and hyaluronic acid (OR, 1.55; p = 0.029) given ⩽3 months before total knee arthroplasty. There was no increased risk with injections >3 months prior to total knee arthroplasty. Direct comparison of corticosteroid and hyaluronic acid showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) between medications or between single and multiple injections. Conclusions: Preoperative corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid injection ⩽3 months before total knee arthroplasty increased the risk of periprosthetic joint infection. There was no difference in infection risk between medications or between multiple and single injections. On the basis of these data, we recommend avoiding both injection types in the 3 months prior to total knee arthroplasty. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Risk characterisation from the presence of environmental contaminants and antibiotic residues in wild and farmed salmon from different FAO zones

ABSTRACT Salmon consumption is increasing year by year. Salmon aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system in the world, and often uses feed mixed with antibiotics or other drugs. Feed can be also contaminated by environmental contaminants like persistent organic pollutants and organophosphorus pesticides that usually accumulate in fatty tissue, or emerging contaminants such as perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), that instead bioaccumulate in protein tissues. Therefore, there is the need to investigate the presence of antibiotics and environmental contaminants, with multi-class and multi-residue liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry and gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry methods to monitor a broad spectrum of residues comparing between wild and farmed salmons. The presence of residues was encountered at a concentration range of 0.35–51.52 ng g−1 for antibiotics only in farmed salmon, 0.19–34.51 ng g−1 for PFASs and 0.26–9.01 ng g−1 for (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) PBDEs, and 0.19–5.91 ng g−1 for organochlorine pesticides with higher frequencies and concentrations in farmed fish. Finally, the risk deriving from salmon intake is low, being of minor concern only for PBDE 99 and perfluorooctanoic acid.
The Role of Gβ Protein in Controlling Cell Expansion via Potential Interaction with Lipid Metabolic Pathways1[OPEN]

The heterotrimeric G-protein β subunit controls anisotropic cell expansion, likely by regulating a patatin-like phospholipase, suggesting a link between the G-protein and lipid signaling pathways. Heterotrimeric G-proteins influence almost all aspects of plant growth, development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses in plants, likely via their interaction with specific effectors. However, the identity of such effectors and their mechanism of action are mostly unknown. While investigating the roles of different G-protein subunits in modulating the oil content in Camelina (Camelina sativa), an oil seed crop, we uncovered a role of Gβ proteins in controlling anisotropic cell expansion. Knockdown of Gβ genes causes reduced longitudinal and enhanced transverse expansion, resulting in altered cell, tissue, and organ shapes in transgenic plants during vegetative and reproductive development. These plants also exhibited substantial changes in their fatty acid and phospholipid profiles, which possibly leads to the increased oil content of the transgenic seeds. This increase is potentially caused by the direct interaction of Gβ proteins with a specific patatin-like phospholipase, pPLAIIIδ. Camelina plants with suppressed Gβ expression exhibit higher lipase activity, and show phenotypes similar to plants overexpressing pPLAIIIδ, suggesting that the Gβ proteins are negative regulators of pPLAIIIδ. These results reveal interactions between the G-protein–mediated and lipid signaling/metabolic pathways, where specific phospholipases may act as effectors that control key developmental and environmental responses of plants.