Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Pre-bypass Autologous Blood Collection on Blood Transfusion Rates.

Pre-bypass acute autologous donation (PAAD) is a method of blood conservation that reduces exposure of blood to the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuit and may prevent the contact activation of platelets and clotting factors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of PAAD on product transfusion rates in cardiac surgical patients. This is a retrospective study of patients undergoing cardiac surgery between 2015 and 2017 for either a coronary artery bypass (CABG), valve replacement, or a combined valve/CABG procedure. PAAD was performed by removing blood from the venous line of the bypass circuit immediately before the institution of CPB. The amount of PAAD volume was determined during the surgical time-out. This was based on patient size, baseline hemoglobin, and type of case. Poisson logistic regression was used to determine whether PAAD was a significant predictor for blood product transfusion. After obtaining institutional review board approval, we reviewed 236 records on (n = 154, 65.3%) who received PAAD and (n = 82, 34.7%) with no blood withdrawal before CPB. The median PAAD volume in the PAAD group was 750 mL. Patients undergoing PAAD had a 14.3% red blood cell (RBC) transfusion rate (.27 ± .91 units), and without PAAD, the RBC transfusion rate was 62.2% (1.56 ± 1.79 units). The significant (p < .05) odds ratios (ORs) for RBC transfusion were as follows: baseline hemoglobin . 617 (.530-.719), PAAD . 998 (.997-.999), CPB time 1.009 (1.003-1.015), age 1.034 (1.013-1.055), and BSA odds ratio (OR) . 326 (.124-.857). PAAD could not be used in all patients. However, using the OR in the Poisson logistic regression model, a one-unit reduction in RBC transfusion is predicted for each 500 mL of PAAD. PAAD was also associated with a significant reduction in fresh frozen plasma and platelet transfusion.
How Consumer Behavior in Daily Food Provisioning Affects Food Waste at Household Level in The Netherlands

Food production and consumption have remarkable negative environmental effects, in particular food waste. Food waste occurs throughout the entire food system, but households make the largest contribution. Reducing unnecessary waste of food represents a crucial step toward overcoming global issues of food waste, hunger, and climate change. Identifying barriers in reducing food waste is important not only to government and policymakers, but also to food producers, retailers, and marketers. Therefore, the objective of this research was to find out how consumer behavior in daily food provisioning affects food waste. An online survey was set up to question Dutch consumers (partly) in charge of the household’s food management. A total of 211 consumers participated in answering questions on household composition, food management behavior (e.g., food purchase planning) and food waste awareness (i.e., concern about wasting food and intention not to waste food). Results show that purchase behavior in-store was the main driver of food waste. Specifically, participants indicated that buying more food than needed often had led to food waste. In addition, intention not to waste food acted as a moderator in the relationship between planning behavior and food waste. Age appears to have a diminishing impact on wasting food.
Effect of Hepatitis Viruses on the Nrf2/Keap1-Signaling Pathway and Its Impact on Viral Replication and Pathogenesis

With respect to their genome and their structure, the human hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are complete different viruses. However, both viruses can cause an acute and chronic infection of the liver that is associated with liver inflammation (hepatitis). For both viruses chronic infection can lead to fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a central role in a variety of chronic inflammatory diseases. In light of this, this review summarizes the impact of both viruses on ROS-generating and ROS-inactivating mechanisms. The focus is on the effect of both viruses on the transcription factor Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2 (NF-E2)-related factor 2). By binding to its target sequence, the antioxidant response element (ARE), Nrf2 triggers the expression of a variety of cytoprotective genes including ROS-detoxifying enzymes. The review summarizes the literature about the pathways for the modulation of Nrf2 that are deregulated by HBV and HCV and describes the impact of Nrf2 deregulation on the viral life cycle of the respective viruses and the virus-associated pathogenesis.
Task-based fMRI predicts response and remission to exposure therapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Significance The current study uses task-based functional MRI to identify brain-based predictors of psychotherapy treatment response in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Specifically, patients completed a task requiring the resolution of cognitive conflict prior to receiving a standard course of cognitive behavioral therapy. Activity in a number of critical regions predicted how much patients improved with therapy. This work represents a step toward using neural measures for precision medicine efforts (i.e., to help identify and guide individual patients to specific treatments from which they are most likely to benefit). Exposure and ritual prevention (EX/RP) is an effective first-line treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but only some patients achieve minimal symptoms following EX/RP. Herein, we investigate whether task-based neural activity can predict who responds best to EX/RP. Unmedicated adult patients with OCD (n = 36) and healthy participants (n = 33) completed the Simon Spatial Incompatibility Task during high-resolution, multiband functional MRI (fMRI); patients were then offered twice-weekly EX/RP (17 sessions). Linear mixed-effects models were used to identify brain regions where conflict-related activity moderated the slope of change in Yale–Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) scores across treatment. Conflict-related activity in the left pallidum and 35 cortical parcels/regions significantly predicted symptom improvement with EX/RP for patients with OCD (false discovery rate-corrected P < 0.05). Significant parcels/regions included cingulo-opercular and default mode network regions, specifically the anterior insula and anterior and posterior cingulate. Summarizing across these parcels/regions, greater conflict-related activity predicted greater EX/RP response and which patients achieved remission (Y-BOCS score ≤ 12; Cohen’s d = 1.68) with >80% sensitivity and specificity. The association between brain activity and treatment response was partially mediated by patient EX/RP adherence (b = −2.99; 43.61% of total effect; P = 0.02). Brain activity and adherence together were highly predictive of remission. Together, these findings suggest that cingulo-opercular and default mode regions typically implicated in task control and introspective processes, respectively, may be targets for novel treatments that augment the ability of persons with OCD to resolve cognitive conflict and thereby facilitate adherence to EX/RP, increasing the likelihood of remission.
Effects from diet-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis and obesity can be ameliorated by fecal microbiota transplantation: A multiomics approach

Obesity and its comorbidities are currently considered an epidemic, and the involved pathophysiology is well studied. Hypercaloric diets are tightly related to the obesity etiology and also cause alterations in gut microbiota functionality. Diet and antibiotics are known to play crucial roles in changes in the microbiota ecosystem and the disruption of its balance; therefore, the manipulation of gut microbiota may represent an accurate strategy to understand its relationship with obesity caused by diet. Fecal microbiota transplantation, during which fecal microbiota from a healthy donor is transplanted to an obese subject, has aroused interest as an effective approach for the treatment of obesity. To determine its success, a multiomics approach was used that combined metagenomics and metaproteomics to study microbiota composition and function. To do this, a study was performed in rats that evaluated the effect of a hypercaloric diet on the gut microbiota, and this was combined with antibiotic treatment to deplete the microbiota before fecal microbiota transplantation to verify its effects on gut microbiota-host homeostasis. Our results showed that a high-fat diet induces changes in microbiota biodiversity and alters its function in the host. Moreover, we found that antibiotics depleted the microbiota enough to reduce its bacterial content. Finally, we assessed the use of fecal microbiota transplantation as a complementary obesity therapy, and we found that it reversed the effects of antibiotics and reestablished the microbiota balance, which restored normal functioning and alleviated microbiota disruption. This new approach could be implemented to support the dietary and healthy habits recommended as a first option to maintain the homeostasis of the microbiota.
Analysis of the Usefulness of a Serious Game to Raise Awareness about Mental Health Problems in a Sample of High School and University Students: Relationship with Familiarity and Time Spent Playing Video Games

Background: One of the main challenges in the field of mental health today is the stigma towards individuals who have psychological disorders. Aims: This study aims to analyse the usefulness of applying a serious game developed for the purpose of raising awareness among students about mental health problems and analyse whether its usefulness can be influenced by the type of video games or the time that students usually devote to playing with this type of entertainment. Method: The serious game introduces four characters who display the symptoms of different psychological disorders. A total of 530 students participated in the study, 412 of whom comprised the experimental group and 118 the control group, 291 came from secondary school classes and 239 were university students. Results: The findings show that this serious game significantly reduced total stigma among students. Variables like time habitually spent playing video games or video game preference had no bearing on the results. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the serious game is an appropriated tool to reduce stigma, both in high school and university students, independently of the type of video games that young people usually play, or time spent playing video games.
Long-term Outcome of Subacute Thyroiditis.

BACKGROUND Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is a rare inflammatory disease that presents diagnostic challenges. The underlying pathophysiology and prediction of outcomes are elusive. We investigated the long-term follow-up of SAT for up to 30 years and determined predictors for later hypothyroidism. METHODS SAT outcome data from 127 patients (age: 47.6 ± 11.0 yrs. , BMI 24.7±4.8 kg/m²) were analyzed retrospectively. Patients with pre-existing and known causes of hypothyroidism unrelated to SAT were excluded. We also excluded patients without an accelerated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. SAT outcome parameters included anterior neck pain or tenderness of the thyroid, inflammation markers, hypoechoic areas in thyroid ultrasound, hyperthyroidism, fine-needle aspiration, and thyroid scan. Pre-treatment TSH-levels, gender, age, ultrasound findings, anti-thyroid antibodies and markers of inflammation were considered as possible predictors of SAT outcome. RESULTS More than 26.8% of SAT patients developed permanent hypothyroidism within 3 years of treatment. The patient groups later developing hypothyroidism did not differ in age, BMI, pre-treatment TSH levels or initial dosage of prednisolone treatment. However, high cumulative doses of prednisolone were associated with a higher prevalence of hypothyroidism. Also, women were more likely to develop hypothyroidism (OR: 3.18 (95% CI: 1.14-8.65); p=0.0176). CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that one-quarter of patients with SAT develop hypothyroidism in the long-term. Hypothyroidism was predicted by high cumulative doses of prednisolone treatment and female gender. The reported lower prevalence of hypothyroidism in other countries may represent the faster establishment of diagnosis, different treatment protocols, or lower susceptibility to loss of thyroid function. Swift establishment of the diagnosis and rapid tapering of steroids may result in a higher proportion of patients with euthyroidism.
Klotho: A Major Shareholder in Vascular Aging Enterprises

Accelerated vascular aging is a condition that occurs as a complication of several highly prevalent inflammatory conditions such as chronic kidney disease, cancer, HIV infection and diabetes. Age-associated vascular alterations underlie a continuum of expression toward clinically overt cardiovascular disease. This has contributed to the striking epidemiologic transition whereby such noncommunicable diseases have taken center stage as modern-day global epidemics and public health problems. The identification of α-Klotho, a remarkable protein that confers powerful anti-aging properties has stimulated significant interest. In fact, emerging data have provided fundamental rationale for Klotho-based therapeutic intervention for vascular diseases and multiple other potential indications. However, the application of such discoveries in Klotho research remains fragmented due to significant gaps in our molecular understanding of Klotho biology, as well as hurdles in clinical research and experimental barriers that must first be overcome. These advances will be critical to establish the scientific platform from which future Klotho-based interventional trials and therapeutic enterprises can be successfully launched.
Elemental Contamination in Indoor Floor Dust and Its Correlation with PAHs, Fungi, and Gram+/− Bacteria

In this study, we performed elemental analysis for floor dust samples collected in Jordanian microenvironments (dwellings and educational building). We performed intercorrelation and cluster analysis between the elemental, polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), and microorganism concentrations. In general, the educational building workshops had the highest elemental contamination. The age of the dwelling and its occupancy played a role on the elemental contamination level: older and more occupied dwellingshad greater contamination. The elemental contamination at a dwelling entrance was observed to be higher than in the living room. We found exceptionally high concentrations for Fe and Mn in the educational workshop and additionally, Hg, Cr, and Pb concentrations exceeded the limits set by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. According to the cluster analysis, we found three major groups based on location and contamination. According to the enrichment factor (EF) assessment, Al, Co, Mn, Ti, and Ba had EF < 2 (i.e., minimal enrichment) whereas P, S, Pb, Sb, Mo, Zn, Hg, and Cu had EF > 40 (i.e., extremely enriched). In contrast, Ca and P were geogenically enriched. Furthermore, significant Spearman correlations indicated nine subgroups of elemental contamination combined with PAHs and microbes.
Detection of Cell Surface Ligands for Human Synovial γδ T Cells

Key Points TCR-γδ tetramer identified ligand expression by flow cytometry. TCR-γδ ligands were induced on activated monocytes or T cells. Bioinformatics combined with mass spectrometry produced an overlapping list of 16 candidate ligands. Visual Abstract Lack of understanding of the nature and physiological regulation of γδ T cell ligands has considerably hampered full understanding of the function of these cells. We developed an unbiased approach to identify human γδ T cells ligands by the production of a soluble TCR-γδ (sTCR-γδ) tetramer from a synovial Vδ1 γδ T cell clone from a Lyme arthritis patient. The sTCR-γδ was used in flow cytometry to initially define the spectrum of ligand expression by both human tumor cell lines and certain human primary cells. Analysis of diverse tumor cell lines revealed high ligand expression on several of epithelial or fibroblast origin, whereas those of hematopoietic origin were largely devoid of ligand. This allowed a bioinformatics-based identification of candidate ligands using RNAseq data from each tumor line. We further observed that whereas fresh monocytes and T cells expressed low to negligible levels of TCR-γδ ligands, activation of these cells resulted in upregulation of surface ligand expression. Ligand upregulation on monocytes was partly dependent upon IL-1β. The sTCR-γδ tetramer was then used to bind candidate ligands from lysates of activated monocytes and analyzed by mass spectrometry. Surface TCR-γδ ligand was eliminated by treatment with trypsin or removal of glycosaminoglycans, and also suppressed by inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum–Golgi transport. Of particular interest was that inhibition of glycolysis also blocked TCR-γδ ligand expression. These findings demonstrate the spectrum of ligand(s) expression for human synovial Vδ1 γδ T cells as well as the physiology that regulates their expression.
Effects of feeding on plasma concentrations of vitamin A in captive African penguins (Spheniscus demersus)

Vitamin A comprises vitamin A1 and vitamin A2; vitamin A1 is retinol and its fatty-acid esters and vitamin A2 is 3,4-didehydroretinol and its fatty-acid esters. Although vitamin A1 is generally recognized as the major vitamin A, vitamin A2 is found in some birds and mammals that eat fish containing vitamin A2. Plasma concentration of retinyl esters, but not retinol, is known to increase postprandially in humans. The objectives of this study were to confirm the presence of vitamin A2 in fish fed to penguins, and in penguin plasma, and the postprandial changes in vitamin A concentration in penguin plasma. Blood was collected from six male African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) before and after feeding on jack mackerels (Trachurus japonicus) along with a vitamin premix containing vitamin A1. Vitamin A1 concentration in fish was much higher than the requirement, and was 5-fold higher than the vitamin A2 concentration. Vitamin A2 was present in plasma but its concentration was at least 100-fold below that of plasma retinol, suggesting that vitamin A2 is much less bioavailable than vitamin A1 in penguins. Plasma retinol and retinyl palmitate concentrations were found to be stable after the meal. Plasma retinol concentration is suggested to be homeostatically controlled in penguins against the rapid flow of vitamin A1 after meal. The absorbed vitamin A1 is thought to be transported to the liver via the portal vein for storage in penguins, resulting in stable retinyl palmitate concentration in plasma after meal.
Zygomatic Anterior Temporal Approach for High-position Upper Basilar Aneurysm

Skull base techniques have often required high-position upper basilar aneurysm surgery based on a surgical corridor. Examples are the orbitozygomatic osteotomy for the trans-sylvian approach and zygomatic osteotomy for the subtemporal approach. However, clarity remains to be archived for the additional technique of the anterior temporal approach, including the middle surgical corridor of the trans-sylvian approach and subtemporal approach. In the present study, we describe the methodology and the problems associated with the zygomatic anterior temporal approach for high-position upper basilar artery aneurysms. Between 2007 and 2018, a total of 14 consecutive patients were received the same procedures of the zygomatic anterior temporal approach for high-position upper basilar aneurysms. Additionally, four patients underwent additional techniques to acquire further wide retro-carotid space. Complete ligation of all aneurysms was archived through the wide retro-carotid space in the absence of major surgical complications. Using the zygomatic anterior temporal approach, it is possible to both acquire a wide retro-carotid space and perform safety clip ligation of high-position upper basilar aneurysms without orbiotomy. However, additional orbiotomy should be taken into consideration by the surgeons if the orbital rim or internal carotid artery interferes with the surgical instruments or procedures.
Machine Learning-Enabled Automated Determination of Acute Ischemic Core From Computed Tomography Angiography.

Background and Purpose- The availability of and expertise to interpret advanced neuroimaging recommended in the guideline-based endovascular stroke therapy (EST) evaluation are limited. Here, we develop and validate an automated machine learning-based method that evaluates for large vessel occlusion (LVO) and ischemic core volume in patients using a widely available modality, computed tomography angiogram (CTA). Methods- From our prospectively maintained stroke registry and electronic medical record, we identified patients with acute ischemic stroke and stroke mimics with contemporaneous CTA and computed tomography perfusion (CTP) with RAPID (IschemaView) post-processing as a part of the emergent stroke workup. A novel convolutional neural network named DeepSymNet was created and trained to identify LVO as well as infarct core from CTA source images, against CTP-RAPID definitions. Model performance was measured using 10-fold cross validation and receiver-operative curve area under the curve (AUC) statistics. Results- Among the 297 included patients, 224 (75%) had acute ischemic stroke of which 179 (60%) had LVO. Mean CTP-RAPID ischemic core volume was 23±42 mL. LVO locations included ICA (13%), M1 (44%), and M2 (21%). The DeepSymNet algorithm autonomously learned to identify the intracerebral vasculature on CTA and detected LVO with AUC 0.88. The method was also able to determine infarct core as defined by CTP-RAPID from the CTA source images with AUC 0.88 and 0.90 (ischemic core ≤30 mL and ≤50 mL). These findings were maintained in patients presenting in early (0-6 hours) and late (6-24 hours) time windows (AUCs 0.90 and 0.91, ischemic core ≤50 mL). DeepSymNet probabilities from CTA images corresponded with CTP-RAPID ischemic core volumes as a continuous variable with r=0.7 (Pearson correlation, P<0.001). Conclusions- These results demonstrate that the information needed to perform the neuroimaging evaluation for endovascular therapy with comparable accuracy to advanced imaging modalities may be present in CTA, and the ability of machine learning to automate the analysis.