Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HIV SERO STATUS DISCLOSURE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS ATTENDING A CARE AND TREATMENT CENTRE IN KISARAWE DISTRICT HOSPITAL, TANZANIA

It is estimated that about 1.4 million people in Tanzania are infected with HIV, with 90,000 being infected annually. Previous studies in Africa on HIV status disclosure have documented low rates of disclosure that vary between countries. Limited data indicates that the disclosure rate in Tanzania ranges from 16.7% to 55%. PLWHA have difficulties in disclosing their HIV status to others for fear of negative consequences. This attitude affects the tempo of HIV prevention. Disclosure of HIV positive status in Tanzania has been focused on various areas but its association with social cultural factors remains unclear. To assess the magnitude of HIV status disclosure and explore determinants of disclosure among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) attending care and treatment centre at Kisarawe District Hospital. Materials and methods: A cross- sectional study design was employed where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from consenting PLWHA. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed using SPSS statistical software. A total of 402 PLWHA were recruited, among them, 132 (32.8%) were males. The mean age of the participants was 42.0 years (Standard deviation 9.9) with majority aged between 25-49. The overall disclosure rate to somebody was 98% while the disclosure to spouses was 56.3%. The greater number of study participants (43%) disclosed their status to five people and above. Males (74.2%) disclose more to their spouses than females (47.7%), (p<0.001). The main determinants of HIV status disclosure were gender (AOR 0.28; 95%CI 0.14-0.56) and receiving counseling (AOR 0.33; 95%CI: 0.10- 0.81). Qualitative findings also show that cultural beliefs and attitudes influence HIV status disclosure among PLWHA. Overall disclosure rate is high though relatively low among spouses. Male gender and counseling were the most important determinants of disclosure. Interventions that target women and expand counseling should be intensified.
A novel gravity-induced blood flow restriction model augments ACC phosphorylation and PGC-1α mRNA in human skeletal muscle following aerobic exercise: A randomized crossover study.

This study tested the hypothesis that a novel, gravity-induced BFR aerobic exercise (AE) model will result in greater activation of the AMPK-PGC-1α pathway compared to work rate-matched non-BFR. Thirteen healthy males (age: 22.4±3.0 yrs; V̇O2peak: 42.4±7.3 mL/kg/min) completed 2, 30-minute work rate-matched bouts of cycling performed with their legs below (CTL) and above their heart (BFR) ~2 weeks apart. Muscle biopsies were taken before, immediately, and 3 hours after exercise. Blood was drawn before and immediately after exercise. Our novel gravity-induced BFR model led to less muscle oxygenation during BFR compared to CTL (O2Hb: p=0.01; HHb: p<0.01) and no difference in muscle activation (p=0.53). Plasma epinephrine increased following both BFR and CTL (p<0.01), however only norepinephrine increased more following BFR (p<0.01). PGC-1α mRNA increased more following BFR (~6 fold) compared to CTL (~4 fold; p=0.036). VEGFA mRNA increased (p<0.01) similarly following BFR and CTL (p=0.21), and HIF-1α mRNA did not increase following either condition (p=0.21). Phosphorylated ACC increased more following BFR (p<0.035) whereas p-PKA substrates, p-p38 MAPK, and acetyl-p53 increased (p<0.05) similarly following both conditions (p>0.05). In conclusion, gravity-induced BFR is a viable BFR model that demonstrated an important role of AMPK signalling on augmenting PGC-1α mRNA. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03717948) Novelty bullets • Gravity-induced BFR AE reduced muscle oxygenation without impacting muscle activation, advancing gravity-induced BFR as a simple, inexpensive BFR model. • Gravity-induced BFR increased PGC-1α mRNA and ACC phosphorylation more than work rate-matched non-BFR AE. • This is the first BFR AE study to concurrently measure blood catecholamines, muscle activation, and muscle oxygenation.
An African-American and Latino Male Lay Health Advisor (LHA) Program: How Confidant-LHA Relationship Interdependence and LHA Preventive Health Behaviors Impact Confidant Preventive Health Behaviors

ANH NHAT TRAN An African-American and Latino Male Lay Health Advisor (LHA) Program: How Confidant-LHA Relationship Interdependence and LHA Preventive Health Behaviors Impact Confidant Preventive Health Behaviors (Under the direction of Eugenia Eng) INTRODUCTION: In the United States, many men of color experience poor health outcomes and confront serious healthcare obstacles. Yet, little research and few interventions have addressed men’s relationships and their influence on healthcare behaviors. METHODS: This study analyzed a male lay health advisor (LHA) intervention dataset with 227 North Carolina African-American and Latino LHAs and their “Confidants” (men they reached). This study aimed to: (1) examine racial/ethnic differences in ConfidantLHA relationship interdependence properties, (2) assess the concordance of data obtained from three one-item closeness measures, and (3) test Confidant-LHA relationship interdependence and LHA preventive health behavior effects on Confidant preventive health behaviors. These behaviors included healthcare visits, fruit and vegetable consumption, and condom use frequency. Relationship properties were diversity, length, interaction, and closeness. Closeness measures included the Inclusion of Others in Self (IOS) pictorial scale, an adapted, and a verbal equivalent IOS scale. Kendall’s tau test evaluated correspondence among three closeness measures. Hierarchical generalized linear regression analyses tested association between covariates and Confidant preventive health behaviors. RESULTS: No racial/ethnic differences were found for any relationship property mean values, other than interaction frequency. Latinos interacted with one another more
Empirical Research on Acceptance of Digital Technologies in Medicine Among Patients and Healthy Users: Questionnaire Study

Background In recent years, interest in digital technologies such as electronic health, mobile health, telemedicine, big data, and health apps has been increasing in the health care sector. Acceptance and sustainability of these technologies play a considerable role for innovative health care apps. Objective This study aimed to identify the spread of and experience with new digital technologies in the medical sector in Germany. Methods We analyzed the acceptance of new health care technologies by applying the Technology Acceptance Model to data obtained in the German ePatient Survey 2018. This survey used standardized questionnaires to gain insight into the prevalence, impact, and development of digital health applications in a study sample of 9621 patients with acute and chronic conditions and healthy users. We extracted sociodemographic data and details on the different health app types used in Germany and conducted an evaluation based on the Technology Acceptance Model. Results The average age of the respondents was 59.7 years, with a standard deviation of 16 years. Digital health care apps were generally accepted, but differences were observed among age groups and genders of the respondents. Men were more likely to accept digital technologies, while women preferred coaching and consultation apps. Analysis of the user typology revealed that most users were patients (n=4041, 42%), followed by patients with acute conditions (n=3175, 33%), and healthy users (n=2405, 25%). The majority (n=6542, 68%) discovered coaching or medication apps themselves on the internet, while more than half of the users faced initial difficulties operating such apps. The time of use of the same app or program ranged from a few days (n=1607, 37%) and several months (n=1694, 39%) to ≥1 year (n=1042, 24%). Most respondents (n=6927, 72%) stated that they would like to receive customized health care apps from their physician. Conclusions The acceptance of digital technologies in the German health care sector varies depending on age and gender. The broad acceptance of medical digital apps could potentially improve individualized health care solutions and warrants governance.
Predictive value of haematologic parameters in diagnosis of testicular torsion: Evidence from a systematic review and meta‐analysis

To compare the difference of mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet (PLT) and leucocyte between testicular torsion (TT), epididymo‐orchitis and healthy controls and further evaluate predictive values of these haematologic parameters in diagnosis and the differential diagnosis of TT. Databases were systematically retrieved, and reference search was also conducted manually. We applied Stata software 12.0 to perform a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Ultimately, five case–control studies with 672 participants were recruited for analyses. Pooled analyses indicated that TT patients had lower NLR (WMD = −1.66, 95% CI = −3.25 to −0.06) and PLT (WMD = −27.39, 95% CI = −48.03 to −6.75) compared to epididymo‐orchitis patients. In the meantime, TT patients had higher NLR and leucocyte than healthy controls (p < .05). That is to say, when a man develops TT, his NLR and leucocyte will rise up but his NLR will not reach the level of epididymo‐orchitis. To sum up, NLR, PLT and leucocyte were vital factors for TT diagnosis. Leucocyte is an useful parameter for diagnosing both TT and epididymo‐orchitis, but it cannot be used in differentiating the two diseases. NLR is beneficial parameter for differential diagnosis between TT and epididymo‐orchitis. PLT can also be utilised in differential diagnosis among young patients.
Hypoxic Environment and Paired Hierarchical 3D and 2D Models of Pediatric H3.3-Mutated Gliomas Recreate the Patient Tumor Complexity

Background: Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) are facing a very dismal prognosis and representative pre-clinical models are needed for new treatment strategies. Here, we examined the relevance of collecting functional, genomic, and metabolomics data to validate patient-derived models in a hypoxic microenvironment. Methods: From our biobank of pediatric brain tumor-derived models, we selected 11 pHGGs driven by the histone H3.3K28M mutation. We compared the features of four patient tumors to their paired cell lines and mouse xenografts using NGS (next generation sequencing), aCGH (array comparative genomic hybridization), RNA sequencing, WES (whole exome sequencing), immunocytochemistry, and HRMAS (high resolution magic angle spinning) spectroscopy. We developed a multicellular in vitro model of cell migration to mimic the brain hypoxic microenvironment. The live cell technology Incucyte© was used to assess drug responsiveness in variable oxygen conditions. Results: The concurrent 2D and 3D cultures generated from the same tumor sample exhibited divergent but complementary features, recreating the patient intra-tumor complexity. Genomic and metabolomic data described the metabolic changes during pHGG progression and supported hypoxia as an important key to preserve the tumor metabolism in vitro and cell dissemination present in patients. The neurosphere features preserved tumor development and sensitivity to treatment. Conclusion: We proposed a novel multistep work for the development and validation of patient-derived models, considering the immature and differentiated content and the tumor microenvironment of pHGGs.
COMPARISON OF CYRIAX PHYSIOTHERAPY AND TAPING TECHNIQUE IN SUBJECTS WITH TENNIS ELBOW: A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL STUDIU COMPARATIV PRIVIND TERAPIA CYRIAX ŞI TEHNICA TAPING LA SUBIECŢII CU COTUL TENISMENULUI: STUDIU CLINIC RANDOMIZAT

Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis is a commonly encountered musculoskeletal complaint, which is characterized by lateral elbow pain often associated with gripping task. For management of this problem, elbow tape and Cyriax physiotherapy have been incorporated into the treatment. Objective. To study the comparative effectiveness of Cyriax physiotherapy and Taping in cases of tennis elbow in terms of pain, grip strength and functional activities. Methods. 40 subjects with tennis elbow over the duration of 3 months, between the age 20 to 50 years were taken up for the study. Baseline pain, grip strength and functional evaluation were recorded pre treatment (1 st day) and post treatment (7 th day). Hand dynamometer was used to measure the grip strength, VAS to assess pain and patient rated forearm evaluation questionnaire for lateral epicondylitis was used for functional evaluation. Comparison of the pre and post values was done following the treatment. Results. Within group analysis showed that there was statistically significant improvement in both the groups in the pain, grip strength and functional performance. (p<0.0001) whereas between group analysis revealed that Group A showed significant improvement compared to Group B in terms of pain and functional performance. Conclusion. This clinical trial provided evidence to support the use of cyriax physiotherapy and taping techniques in relieving pain, improving grip strength and improve functional performance in subjects with tennis elbow. Results supported that Cyriax physiotherapy was more effective than taping technique in reducing pain and functional performance.
An application study of CT perfusion imaging in assessing metastatic involvement of perigastric lymph nodes in patients with T1 gastric cancer.

OBJECTIVES To assess metastatic involvement of perigastric lymph nodes (PLNs) in patients with T1 gastric cancer by using CT perfusion imaging (CTPI). METHODS A total of 82 annotated PLNs of 33 patients with T1 gastric cancer confirmed by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) underwent CTPI and portal Phase CT scan before operation. The scan data were postprocessed to acquire perfusion maps and calculate perfusion parameters including blood flow (BF) and permeability surface (PS). A radiologist measured the short axis diameters and perfusion parameters of PLNs. According to the post-operative pathology result, PLNs were divided into two groups: metastatic and inflammatory LNs. Perfusion parameters values and the size of PLNs between two groups were respectively compared statistically by t test, and a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the optimal diagnostic cutoff value with sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS Examined 82 PLNs were metastatic in 45 (54.9%) and inflammatory in 37 (45.1%). The mean values of perfusion parameters and the short axis diameters in metastatic and inflammatory PLNs, respectively, were BF of 97.48 vs 81.21 ml/100 mg /min (p < 0.001), PS of 45.11 vs 36.80 ml/100 mg /min (p < 0.001), and the size of 1.51 cm vs 1.29 cm (p = 0.059). The sensitivity of 84.4%, specificity of 67.6% and AUC of 0.826 for BF with cutoff value of 88.89 ml/100 mg /min for differentiating metastatic from inflammatory nodes were higher than those of PS or the size of PLNs (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS CT perfusion parameters values were different between metastatic and inflammatory PLNs in T1 gastric cancer. BF value may be the most reliable diagnostic marker of metastatic PLNs, and it is helpful for clinicians to choose treatment modality or management plan in T1 gastric cancer patients. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE CTPI gives information on vascularization of LNs.BF value might be a more effective marker than PS or the size of LNs for differentiating metastatic from inflammatory LNs in patients with T1 gastric cancer.
Berberine Inhibits Proliferative Ability of Breast Cancer Cells by Reducing Metadherin

Background Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor worldwide. Despite the huge advances in modern medicine, many patients still face a high risk of recrudescent and metastatic breast cancer. Berberine was widely implemented in clinic treatment of breast cancer. This study was performed to contribute to a better understanding on the mechanisms underlying berberine affecting breast cancer. Material/Methods We mined survival data of metadherin (MTDH) in breast cancer patients through Kaplan-Meier Plotter and analyzed the transcriptional and posttranscriptional expression profile of MTDH in several breast cancer cell lines. The cell viability and MTDH mRNA level were detected under the si-MTDH vector and different concentrations of berberine. The MTDH-expression vector was transfected into MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, and the changes of cell viability and apoptosis were determined after berberine (50 μM) treatment. Results High MTDH expression was related to worse relapse-free survival (RFS) of breast cancer (P-value=6.2e-08). High-expressed MTDH is common in breast cancer cells, compared with that in normal breast cells (P<0.01). MTDH knockout could inhibit the viabilities of MCF-7 and MDA-MA-231 cells (P<0.01). When the concentration was higher than 10 μM, the suppressive effects of berberine on viability and MTDH reached significant level. As MTDH expression increased, the enhanced apoptosis rates of breast cancer cells by berberine were remarkably inhibited. Conclusions High-expressed MTDH was helpful to cell proliferation and survival in breast cancer. The anti-cancer ability of berberine in breast cancer may be partially dependent on the regulation of MTDH.
Double-Tap Interaction as an Actuation Mechanism for On-Demand Cueing in Parkinson’s Disease

Freezing of Gait (FoG) is one of the most debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and is an important contributor to falls. When the management of freezing episodes cannot be achieved through medication or surgery, non-pharmacological methods, such as cueing, have emerged as effective techniques, which ameliorates FoG. The use of On-Demand cueing systems (systems that only provide cueing stimuli during a FoG episode) has received attention in recent years. For such systems, the most common method of triggering the onset of cueing stimuli, utilize autonomous real-time FoG detection algorithms. In this article, we assessed the potential of a simple double-tap gesture interaction to trigger the onset of cueing stimuli. The intended purpose of our study was to validate the use of double-tap gesture interaction to facilitate Self-activated On-Demand cueing. We present analyses that assess if PwP can perform a double-tap gesture, if the gesture can be detected using an accelerometer’s embedded gestural interaction recognition function and if the action of performing the gesture aggravates FoG episodes. Our results demonstrate that a double-tap gesture may provide an effective actuation method for triggering On-Demand cueing. This opens up the potential future development of self-activated cueing devices as a method of On-Demand cueing for PwP and others.
Trends and success stories in research on occupational and environmental health.

Refers to the following texts of the Journal: 2016;42(3):181-191 2015;41(5):491-503 2015;41(2):153-163 2015;41(2):164-174 2015;41(1):54-64 2014;40(2):109-132 2014;40(1):5-18 2014;40(2):195-202 2010;36(2):81-84 1975;1(1):1-14 1977;3(3):144-153 1992;18(1):1-9 2007;33(4):245-251 1993;19(5):297-312 2007;33(1):1-3 1997;23(4):243-256 1997;23(4):311-316 1999;25(2):85-99 1999;25(6):465-469 2006;32(6):413-419 2006;32(6):431-442 2006;32(6):443-462 2016;42(3):177-18
Ultrasound Microflow Imaging Technology for Diagnosis of Adhesive Capsulitis of the Shoulder

To assess the diagnostic accuracy of Superb Microvascular Imaging (SMI; Canon Medical Systems, Otawara, Japan) at the subcoracoid triangle for adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder, to compare the diagnostic value of SMI with that of conventional ultrasound (US) and power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) findings, and to investigate the correlation between vascular flow on SMI with clinical features.
Dysfunctional missense variant of OAT10/SLC22A13 decreases gout risk and serum uric acid levels

Organic anion transporter 10 (OAT10), also known as SLC22A13, has hitherto been identified as a urate transporter by in vitro analyses.1 Despite the reported expression of OAT10 on the apical membrane of the renal proximal tubular cells,1 the physiological impact of OAT10 on urate handling in humans remains to be elucidated. Accumulating evidence suggests that functional variants of already-characterised, physiologically important urate transporters—URAT1/SLC22A12, GLUT9/SLC2A9, BCRP/ABCG2 and NPT1/SLC17A1—affect serum uric acid (SUA) levels and susceptibility of gout,2–6 the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. However, there are no reports on the association between OAT10 gene and either hyperuricaemia or gout. Here, for the first time, we reveal that a dysfunctional variant of OAT10 decreases both gout risk and SUA levels, suggesting OAT10 to be physiologically involved in urate reabsorption in the human kidney, as described below. To explore exonic variants in OAT10 potentially associated with gout susceptibility, we sequenced all exons of OAT10 in 480 gout cases and 480 controls of Japanese male6 and conducted an association analysis (see online supplementary tables S1 and S2), followed by a replication study on 924 gout cases and 2113 controls (see online supplementary figure S1). In two identified OAT10 variants with minor allele frequency (MAF) >0.5%, only rs117371763 (c.1129C>T; p.Arg377Cys [R377C]) was significantly associated with gout susceptibility after Bonferroni correction (p=0.014). The significant association between rs117371763 and gout susceptibility was replicated, and our meta-analysis showed a significant protective effect of rs117371763 on gout susceptibility (OR=0.67; 95% CI 0.53 to 0.85; pmeta …
Base excision repair but not DNA double‐strand break repair is impaired in aged human adipose‐derived stem cells

The decline in DNA repair capacity contributes to the age‐associated decrease in genome integrity in somatic cells of different species. However, due to the lack of clinical samples and appropriate tools for studying DNA repair, whether and how age‐associated changes in DNA repair result in a loss of genome integrity of human adult stem cells remains incompletely characterized. Here, we isolated 20 eyelid adipose‐derived stem cell (ADSC) lines from healthy individuals (young: 10 donors with ages ranging 17–25 years; old: 10 donors with ages ranging 50–59 years). Using these cell lines, we systematically compared the efficiency of base excision repair (BER) and two DNA double‐strand break (DSB) repair pathways—nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR)—between the young and old groups. Surprisingly, we found that the efficiency of BER but not NHEJ or HR is impaired in aged human ADSCs, which is in contrast to previous findings that DSB repair declines with age in human fibroblasts. We also demonstrated that BER efficiency is negatively associated with tail moment, which reflects a loss of genome integrity in human ADSCs. Mechanistic studies indicated that at the protein level XRCC1, but not other BER factors, exhibited age‐associated decline. Overexpression of XRCC1 reversed the decline of BER efficiency and genome integrity, indicating that XRCC1 is a potential therapeutic target for stabilizing genomes in aged ADSCs.