Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of α-synuclein and apolipoprotein E as potential biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid to monitor pharmacotherapeutic efficacy in dopamine dictated disease states of Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia

Background and objective Dopamine plays an important role in the disease pathology of Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. These two neuropsychiatric disorders represent disease end points of the dopaminergic spectrum where Parkinson’s disease represents dopamine deficit and schizophrenia represents dopamine hyperactivity in the mid-brain. Therefore, current treatment strategies aim to restore normal dopamine levels. However, during treatment patients develop adverse effects due to overshooting of physiological levels of dopamine leading to psychosis in Parkinson’s disease, and extrapyramidal symptoms in schizophrenia. Absence of any laboratory tests hampers modulation of pharmacotherapy. Apolipoprotein E and α-synuclein have an important role in the neuropathology of these two diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of apolipoprotein E and α-synuclein in patients with these two diseases so that they may serve as biomarkers to monitor therapy in Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. Methods Drug-naïve Parkinson’s disease patients and Parkinson’s disease patients treated with dopaminergic therapy, neurological controls, schizophrenic patients treated with antidopaminergic therapy, and drug-naïve schizophrenic patients were recruited for the study and CSF was collected. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were carried out to estimate the concentrations of apolipoprotein E and α-synuclein. Pathway analysis was done to establish a possible role of these two proteins in various pathways in these two dopamine dictated diseases. Results Apolipoprotein E and α-synuclein CSF concentrations have an inverse correlation along the entire dopaminergic clinical spectrum. Pathway analysis convincingly establishes a plausible hypothesis for their co-regulation in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. Each protein by itself or as a combination has encouraging sensitivity and specificity values of more than 55%. Conclusion The dynamic variation of these two proteins along the spectrum is ideal for them to be pursued as pharmacotherapeutic biomarkers in CSF to monitor pharmacological efficacy in Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.
Gender differences in the perceived effectiveness of female-focused graphic health warnings against smoking in South Korea

Objective: Numerous studies have examined the effectiveness of graphic health warnings on different population segments, including male and female smokers, in an effort to reduce health disparities in Europe and the USA. However, research exploring the impact of gender-specific tobacco control interventions on Asian smokers is lacking. This study aimed to assess the perceived effectiveness of graphic health warning images featuring women smokers compared to gender-neutral warnings on South Korean women and men, by smoking status. Setting: Online survey with 1,200 adults (500 women; 475 smokers) in South Korea Design: A survey with four graphic health warnings (two female-focused and two gender-neutral warnings). Method: Participants were assigned to view two female-focused warnings (depicting smoking during pregnancy and risk of premature skin aging) or two gender-neutral warnings (depicting lung cancer and oral cancer), and rated their effectiveness in terms of persuading smokers to quit smoking and non-smokers to not begin smoking. Results: A significant interaction between gender and smoking status was found with the pregnancy warning. A post hoc comparison showed a significant difference between female smokers and female non-smokers, between male smokers and male non-smokers, and between female non-smokers and male non-smokers in their perceptions of warning effectiveness. Female non-smokers showed higher perceived effectiveness than male non-smokers and female smokers. Male non-smokers rated its perceived effectiveness lower than male smokers. Regarding the gender-neutral warnings, a participant’s age affected their perceived effectiveness of the cancer warnings. Conclusion: Findings suggest that graphic health warnings of smoking during pregnancy are perceived more effective by female non-smokers than female smokers and male non-smokers. Gender-neutral warnings with cancer images are perceived differently by age group. Future studies need to examine how social and cultural factors surrounding female smokers in South Korea affect their perceptions about female-focused warnings and the effects of the warnings on their motivation to quit smoking.
Mindfulness-based relapse prevention to reduce lapse and craving

ABSTRACT Background: Lapse and craving are common phenomena observed in patients undergoing addiction treatment programs such as Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT). Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to find whether Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) can help reduce lapse and craving in such patients. Methods: a total of 55 Iranian adult males undergoing MMT were selected through multistage random sampling and were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 26) and control (n = 29) groups. The experimental group received eight sessions of MBRP while the control group received no intervention. To collect data, the Heroin Craving Questionnaire (HCQ) was distributed among both groups and they were required to take the urine drug tests in the three follow-up phases of the study to find the possible instances of lapse. Results: The results revealed that three out of the five subscales of HCQ, i.e., intention to use, anticipation of relief from withdrawal and desire to use significantly decreased due to MBRP. Moreover, the results of urine drug tests revealed fewer lapse percentages in the experimental group. Conclusions: it is recommended to complement the common substance treatment programs with those that enhance awareness and acceptance and reduce the desire to use the substance.
Application of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve to Determine the Diagnostic Ability of A Validated Ten - Item Questionnaire (SS - 10) In Estimating the Prevalence of Sensitive Skin in Hong Kong Population

Sensitive skin is a complex skin condition with patients presented mainly subjective neurological symptoms. Prevalence of sensitive skin across populations vary from 13% in Chinese cities to a three-fold higher in American and European countries. Our study aims to develop a cutoff value using the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve in clinical sample in Hong Kong and examine the prevalence of sensitive skin in a community sample across five districts of Hong Kong. Method: The first group of participants consisted of a total of 1,111 new clinic attendees in a local clinic in Kowloon area of Hong Kong. The second group of data was collected from 500 community samples across 5 areas of Hong Kong, with the geographic characteristics ranging from highly to less populated. Participants filled in a questionnaire which contained their demographic information as well as the 10-item version of Sensitive Skin Scale (SS-10). For the clinical sample, a dermatologist diagnosed all the participants for sensitive skin and identified 84 cases (7.56%) of true sensitive skin. Results and conclusion: The Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.866 of the ROC curve suggested a good diagnostic ability of SS-10 in population of Hong Kong. A cutoff value of 25.5 with a sensitivity of 91.7% and specificity of 75.5% gave rise to 11.4% of prevalence of sensitive skin in the community sample, which is coherent with that in Mainland China. The study may have significant clinical implications for SS-10 to be a standardized and cost-effective screening tool in Asian populations.
Students making meaning through language : case studies of Tasmanian primary school teachers’ knowledge of teaching grammar

This study investigates how three Tasmanian primary school teachers have developed their knowledge of teaching grammar and the types of strategies they use to deliver the learning outcomes of the language strand of the Australian Curriculum: English (AC:E). The renewed focus on the teaching of grammar in the AC:E poses challenges for teachers in terms of the linguistic and pedagogical knowledge required to best support all students to use language more effectively. Research over the past three decades demonstrates that an explicit teaching focus on making meaning through language enhances students’ reading and writing abilities and improves low-achieving students’ literacy attainment. In this study, case studies were used to provide in-depth analyses of how teachers developed their knowledge of grammar and how they go about teaching it. An customised analytical framework was created and applied to the data to identify the degree of scaffolding provided to assist students use grammar effectively while reading and writing. This study finds that teachers with strong linguistic knowledge, who use scaffolded approaches to teaching grammar, contribute to enhanced outcomes for students, including those struggling with literacy and those who are already capable readers and writers. The study suggests that highly effective teachers are essential in assisting colleagues to develop better strategies for teaching grammar and that teachers can ensure equitable literacy instruction for all students when they utilise scaffolding strategies during discussion and when sequencing instruction.
Analysis of Dietary Behaviors, Food Consumption Frequency and Blood Clinical Indices by Residence Types of Female College Students in Seoul

Objectives: College is an important time for students to establish their identity as an independent subjects and develop a foundation to maintain a healthy adulthood. However, after female students become college students, their eating habits are likely to become more irregular and they may experience various health problems because of excessive weight control. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the dietary behaviors and blood clinical indices of female college students by residence types. Methods: A total of 374 subjects were classified as home group, self-boarding group or boarding group according to residence type. Dietary habits, frequency of food intake, and eating attitudes were examined through questionnaires and anthropometric measurements and blood clinical indices were analyzed. Results: The meal most frequently skipped by female college students was breakfast, and the frequency of skipping breakfast was significantly lower in the home group than other groups. Most college students recognized that their eating habits had worsened since becoming college students, with the self-boarding group in particular feeling that their eating habits changed negatively. The consumption frequencies of protein foods, fruits, dairy products, seaweed, and fatty meats were significantly lower in the self-boarding group than other groups. The home group ate food cut into smaller pieces, while the self-boarding group tried new and rich foods. Residence types did not affect blood clinical indices. Conclusions: The self-boarding group had inadequate dietary habits compared to the home group. Although residence type did not affect the blood clinical indices, the students still had poor dietary habits. Therefore, proper nutrition education is needed to improve the nutritional status of college students, especially those that self-board.
Enhancing Science Learning through Computational Thinking and Modeling in Middle School Classrooms: A Mixed Methods Study.

AKSIT, OSMAN. Enhancing Science Learning through Computational Thinking and Modeling in Middle School Classrooms: A Mixed Methods Study. (Under the direction of Dr. Eric N. Wiebe). Computational thinking and modeling are authentic practices that scientists and engineers use frequently in their daily work. Advances in modern computing technologies over the past couple of decades have further emphasized the centrality of modeling in science by making computationally-enabled model use and construction more accessible to scientists. For this reason, it is important for students to get exposed to these practices in K-12 science classrooms. This mixed-methods study investigated how a one-week intervention in regular middle school science classrooms that introduced computational thinking practices and simulation-based model building through a visual block-based programming environment influenced students’ understanding of computational thinking concepts and practices as well as their conceptual understanding of a physical science topic, force and motion. The study also examined whether and how seventh-grade students’ attitudes towards programming changed as a result of participating in the intervention course. Eighty-two seventh-grade students from a public middle school in the southeastern United States participated in the study. Quantitative data sources included preand post-tests of students’ knowledge of computational thinking concepts and practices, force and motion concepts, and their attitudes towards programming. Qualitative data sources included classroom observation notes, interviews with students, and reflection statement responses. During the classroom intervention, students were introduced to computational thinking concepts and practices through a block-based programming environment called Scratch and constructed simulationbased computational models of physical phenomena. The findings of the study indicated that engaging in building computational models through Scratch programming environment in regular science classrooms resulted in significant conceptual learning gains for the sample of this study. The affordances of the dynamic nature of computational models let students both “observe” and “interact” with the target phenomenon in real time while the generative dimension of model construction promoted a rich classroom discourse facilitating conceptual learning. The results also indicated that students had more favorable attitudes towards programming on the post-test compared to the pre-test. This study contributes to the nascent literature on integrating computational modeling into K-12 science curricula by emphasizing the affordances and generative dimension of model construction through block-based programming.
Lectin from the sea mussel Crenomytilus grayanus and its effects on Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In this study, the properties of a GalNAc/Gal-specific lectin from the sea mussel Crenomytilus grayanus (CGL) and its effects on Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied. The heat stability of CGL was determined and the free energy change (G') of hemagglutination activity of the lectin in denaturation process was evaluated by Van’t Hoff plot. The amino acid sequences about six segments of CGL were acquired by mass spectrum (MS) and the sequences have no homology with other lectins. In the effect of CGL, it can be observed that CGL can promote the yeast cells growth and ethanol production by yeast cells. In addition, the nitric oxide (NO) production decreases with increasing CGL concentration, except for the concentration of 3.25 mg/l. The results show that CGL is the potential yeast stimulators in fermentation process. Key words : Lectin, sea mussel, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ethanol, nitric oxide.
Role Of Insulin Like Growth Factor-1 and Insulin Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 In Patients Of Coronary Artery Disease Attending Suez Canal University Hospital

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality, not only in the Western world, but also in developing countries. It has been suggested that circulating insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-I) and insulin like growth factor binding protein-3(IGFBP3) are involved in the pathophysiological processes underlying coronary artery disease. We evaluated the relationship between the levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 nd coronary atherosclerosis in sixty two patients attending Cardiac Clinic and Coronary Care Unit at Suez Canal University Hospital, and 30 healthy controls. IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were measured using Immulite 1000. Fasting blood glucose and lipid profile were measured for all subjects. Coronary artery disease was more frequent among males compared to females (67.7%, and 32.3% respectively). Total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) and triacylglycerol (TAG) levels were significantly higher, while HDL was significantly lower in patients than controls. The means of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were significantly higher among control group compared to patients group (212.5 ± 109.1 ng/ml and 6.4 ± 2.3 ng/ml versus 129.5 ± 66.2 ng/ml., 4.4 ± 1.6 ng/ml respectively, p= 0.001 for each). Thirty (48.4%) of patients had 3 stenosed vessels. The mean percent of stenosis was 74.7 ± 14.2 %. IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were lower in the group of three affected vessels but there was no significant correlation between both parameters and severity of the disease. There was significant correlation between IGF-1 and HDL (r =0.254, p-value = 0.046) in patients group while no significant correlation between IGF-1 and other parameters in both groups. There was no significant correlation between IGFBP-3 and other parameters in both groups. In conclusion, IGF-1, IGFBP-3 may be used to determine the risk of coronary artery disease in Egyptian population living in Suez Canal area.
Health Risk Assessment of a Food Supplement Containing Lactobacillus reuteri Protectis®

The Norwegian Scientific Commitee for Food Safety (VKM) appointed a working group of experts to answer a request from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority regarding health risk assessment of Lactobacillus reuteri Protectis® in a food supplement intended for use by infants and young children. The mandate of this health risk assessment was not to evaluate the health claims related to the products as such health claims are assessed by EFSA. The specific strain DSM 17938 is a “daughter strain” of the strain ATCC 55730 which was originally isolated from normal human milk. ATCC 55730 harbours two plasmids carrying transferable resistance genes against tetracycline and lincosamides respectively. The “daughter strain” DSM 17938 was established in 2008 by curing the ATCC 55730 for these plasmids, but is in all other respects claimed to be identical to ATCC 55730 and bioequivalence of the two strains has been suggested. The strain DSM 17938 was still resistant to tetracycline (although at a considerably lower level than ATCC 55730) and a number of other antibiotics, but these resistances were all considered being intrinsic by FBO. The absence of possible transferable/mobile genes has, to our knowledge, not been confirmed in later studies. We are not aware of any data indicating that L. reuteri has been the cause of serious human diseases – and none of the studies examined has reported any adverse or undesirable short time effects. It has also been used in preterm infants with dosage corresponding to the actual recommended doses - without reporting any adverse, short term reaction. There is therefore no evidence leading to consider the strain DSM 17938 at the dosage recommended as unsafe. However, more long-term data are still lacking and the long-term safety for the age groups considered in this assessment cannot be established. As evidence is accruing that the early microbial composition of the infant gut is important for the development of the gut flora and the immune system of the growing child, it is not possible to exclude that a daily supply of a particular bacterial strain over a prolonged period of time to an immature gastro-intestinal tract may have long-term, albeit still unknown, adverse effects on it’s development. As the long-term data are lacking it is not possible to answer whether the amount of the food supplement or the age of the infant or young child is of importance. However, if later long-term data should reveal any adverse reaction, it is reasonable to assume that the actual age group will be the most vulnerable. As the safety was not entirely established, the question of whether there are any vulnerable groups (i.e. premature, infants or children with diseases) where there are health risks associated with the intake of Lactobacillus reuteri Protectis®, as a food supplement was not considered.
A population based epidemiological study on the prevalence and risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in The Gambia

INTRODUCTION: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 70% of global deaths, 80% occurring in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to assess the magnitude of NCDs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); estimate the prevalence and associated risk factors of hypertension, obesity and smoking in The Gambian adult population (25-64 years); and assess the clustering of NCD risk factors in the country. //. METHODS: I conducted a systematic review of WHO STEP surveys conducted in SSA and undertook secondary analysis of the nationally representative 2010 WHO STEP cross sectional survey data of The Gambia. Analyses were restricted to non-pregnant participants with three valid blood pressure measurements (n=3573) and valid weight and height measurement (n=3533) for the analyses on hypertension and obesity respectively. The analysis on smoking was restricted to men (n=1766) and that of clustering included participants with valid information on all five NCD risk factors (n=3000). I conducted gender-stratified univariate and multivariate regression analyses to identify the strongest factors associated with each of my outcome variables. // RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension and CVD risk factors are high in SSA. Almost one-third of adults in The Gambia were hypertensive, two-fifths were overweight/obese and 30% had three or more risk factors. Rural and semi-urban residents and overweight/obese persons had increased odds of hypertension. Urban residence was associated with obesity and was also associated with the clustering of three or more risk factors. // CONCLUSIONS: Rural residence was strongly associated with hypertension but urban residence was associated with obesity and clustering of risk factors in The Gambia. Intervention to reduce the burden of hypertension in The Gambia could be further targeted towards persons living in rural areas. Preventive efforts should focus on diet and possible sociocultural factors that might facilitate the increasing burden of hypertension, obesity and the clustering of risk factors. These unique findings generate new hypotheses that should be explored further.
Texto & Contexto Enfermagem

Objective: determine the prevalence of drug use and to investigate the relationship between knowledge of consequences and drug consumption as well as the relationship between academic performance and drug consumption among university undergraduate students in Jamaica. Method: the study uses a cross sectional design. A total of 250 undergraduate students were selected through a randomized cluster sampling process. A modified survey instrument consisting of over 70 items relating to socio-demographics, knowledge of consequences, drug consumption and academic performance measures was used to test the research question and hypothesis. Results: the findings revealed low levels of drug usage as well as problematic usage, however, there was a weak negative yet statistically significant correlation between the academic performance and alcohol use (r=-.139, p=.028) which suggested that an increase in alcohol usage is associated with reduction in academic performance. The independent T test also revealed a statistically significant difference between those who used alcohol and those who did not use alcohol in the past 12 months based on academic performance. Conclusion: the findings will inform policy decisions regarding drug use and the provision of intervention services. It is recommended that this research should be extended to other universities in Jamaica. DESCRIPTORS: Knowledge. Drugs. Consequences of drug use. University. Students.