Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral Function and the Oral Microbiome in the Elderly in the Kyotango Area

Introduction: Prevention of tooth loss contributes to an extended life expectancy, namely longevity. Aging-related oral hypofunction, including tooth loss, markedly increases the risks of functional disorder and mortality. Dysbiosis of the oral microbiome has recently been associated with various diseases, such as liver cirrhosis, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease. Therefore, the relationship between the oral microbiome and systemic health has been attracting increasing attention. In the present study, we examined oral function and the oral microbiome in the elderly in a world-leading longevity area. Materials and Methods: An oral examination, chewing ability/tongue-lip motor function/saliva tests, and a metagenomic analysis with a 16S rRNA gene-targeting next-generation sequencer were conducted on 78 subjects aged ≥80 years. Twenty-six healthy individuals aged between 20 and 39 years were also investigated as controls. The data obtained were statistically analyzed. The protocol of the present study was approved by the Ethics Review Board of our university (ERB-C-885). Results: Chewing ability, tongue–lip motor function, and saliva volume were normal in elderly subjects with a current tooth number ≥20, but were significantly lower in those with a current tooth number <20. The oral microbiome in elderly subjects with a current tooth number ≥20 and young controls differed from that in elderly subjects with a current tooth number <20. Conclusion: Tooth number ≥20 in elderly subjects in the longevity area contributed to the maintenance of both oral function and the diversity of the oral microbiome.
In Search of Risk Factors: The Origin and Early Stages of Cardiovascular Epidemiology

Based mainly on their personal experience, the authors try to describe the origin of cardiovascular disease (CVD) epidemiology and the problems and difficulties practitioners attempted to tackle and solve during the first few decades of this discipline, which started around the middle of the last century. Beyond identifying the characteristics of those who became CVD epidemiologists, a description is given of the initial structures of the involved studies, participation rates, risk factors measurements and standardization, clinical measurements and diagnostic criteria, mortality data collection and coding, data loading and analysis, plus a number of problems still unsolved at the beginning of the 2000s. Despite many obstacles, and the initial hostility of the medical–scientific establishment, CVD epidemiology represented a revolution in researching in the bio-medical field. In the end, it also affected clinical research introducing the use of the quantitative approach bound to mathematical–statistical procedures. After decades of hard work and the development of a number of innovative tools, CVD epidemiology received its deserved recognition, eventually being accepted as a reputable and independent scientific discipline. Yet, in several countries, especially those from Southern Europe, an academic recognition of CVD epidemiology is still lacking.
An All-in-One Platform for On-Site Multiplex Foodborne Pathogen Detection Based on Channel-Digital Hybrid Microfluidics

Recently, significant progress has been made in the development of microdevices for point-of-care infectious disease detection. However, most microdevices only allow limited steps, such as DNA amplification on the chip, while sample preparation, such as lysis and DNA extraction, is conducted off the chip using the traditional method. In this study, an all-in-one platform was developed, which incorporated all necessary procedures for nucleic acid detection. Our on-chip DNA extraction method utilized the magnetic bead-based technology on a hybrid channel-digital microfluidics (C-DMF) microdevice. It yielded high recovery rates, varying from 88.43% to 95.83%, with pathogen concentrations of 103–106 CFU/mL. In particular, the on-chip method exhibited significantly higher efficacy compared to the traditional off-chip manual method, for the DNA extraction of E. coli and S. aureus, representing Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively, at a sample concentration of 103 CFU/mL. To address the need for rapid and accessible diagnostics, colorimetric LAMP amplification was integrated into the proposed microdevice. The results were visually detectable with the naked eye, making it user-friendly for non-specialists. In addition, this platform demonstrated impressive sensitivity in simultaneously detecting common foodborne pathogens in spiked meat samples, achieving the LOD of 102–103 CFU/mL. The entire process, from sampling to result, was fully automated and only required approximately 60 min, offering promising applicability in resource-limited and on-site testing scenarios.
Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT) Accuracy in Evaluating Humoral Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2

Massive vaccination positively impacted the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, being a strategy to increase the titers of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) in the population. Assessing NAb levels and understanding the kinetics of NAb responses is critical for evaluating immune protection. In this study, we optimized and validated a PRNT50 assay to assess 50% virus neutralization and evaluated its accuracy to measure NAbs to the original strain or variant of SARS-CoV-2. The optimal settings were selected, such as the cell (2 × 105 cells/well) and CMC (1.5%) concentrations and the viral input (~60 PFU/well) for PRNT-SARS-CoV-2 with cut-off point = 1.64 log5 based on the ROC curve (AUC = 0.999). The validated PRNT-SARS-CoV-2 assay presented high accuracy with an intraassay precision of 100% for testing samples with different NAb levels (low, medium, and high titers). The method displays high selectivity without cross-reactivity with dengue (DENV), measles (MV), zika (ZIKV), and yellow fever (YFV) viruses. In addition, the standardized PRNT-SARS-CoV-2 assay presented robustness when submitted to controlled variations. The validated PRNT assay was employed to test over 1000 specimens from subjects with positive or negative diagnoses for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with severe COVID-19 exhibited higher levels of NAbs than those presenting mild symptoms for both the Wuhan strain and Omicron. In conclusion, this study provides a detailed description of an optimized and validated PRNT50 assay to monitor immune protection and to subsidize surveillance policies applied to epidemiologic studies of COVID-19.
Numerical modeling for predicting the degradation of cement-based materials due to calcium leaching

This paper describes a numerical simulation method to predict the degradation of cement-based materials due to calcium leaching. The model was constructed by the chemical equilibrium of calcium, the movement analysis of diffusion-advection of driving force and the change in mechanical properties. From the comparison of results of numerical simulation and the results of investigation for the one-hundred-year and the thirty-year old real structures or the specimens of acceleration test, it was concluded that the developed model could satisfactorily express the fundamental degradation mechanism.
Improving the Maternity Care Safety Net: Establishing Maternal Mortality Surveillance for Non-Obstetric Providers and Institutions

The siloed nature of maternity care has been noted as a system-level factor negatively impacting maternal outcomes. Veterans Health Administration (VA) provides multi-specialty healthcare before, during, and after pregnancy but purchases obstetric care from community providers. VA providers may be unaware of perinatal complications, while community-based maternity care providers may be unaware of upstream factors affecting the pregnancy. To optimize maternal outcomes, the VA has initiated a system-level surveillance and review process designed to improve non-obstetric care for veterans experiencing a pregnancy. This quality improvement project aimed to describe the VA-based maternal mortality review process and to report maternal mortality (pregnancy-related death up to 42 days postpartum) and pregnancy-associated mortality (death from any cause up to 1 year postpartum) among veterans who use VA maternity care benefits. Pregnancies and pregnancy-associated deaths between fiscal year (FY) 2011–2020 were identified from national VA databases. All deaths underwent individual chart review and abstraction that focused on multi-specialty care received at the VA in the year prior to pregnancy until the time of death. Thirty-two pregnancy-associated deaths were confirmed among 39,720 pregnancies (PAMR = 80.6 per 100,000 live births). Fifty percent of deaths occurred among individuals who had experienced adverse social determinants of health. Mental health conditions affected 81%. Half (n = 16, 50%) of all deaths occurred in the late postpartum period (43–365 days postpartum) after maternity care had ended. More than half of these late postpartum deaths (n = 9, 56.2%) were related to suicide, homicide, or overdose. Integration of care delivered during the perinatal period (pregnancy through postpartum) from primary, mental health, emergency, and specialty care providers may be enhanced through a system-based approach to pregnancy-associated death surveillance and review. This quality improvement project has implications for all healthcare settings where coordination between obstetric and non-obstetric providers is needed.
Compassion Catalysts: Unveiling Proactive Pathways to Job Performance

This study aims to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between the experiences of compassion and job performance. Specifically, we test if positive emotion and job crafting could help explain the experience of the compassion–job performance link. Using a sample of 312 employees in large-sized domestic companies located in South Korea, we found that the experience of compassion was positively related to job performance. In addition, we adopted the motivational approach to demonstrate that the positive relationship between the experience of compassion and job performance was sequentially mediated by positive emotion and job crafting. Our study advances the literature on workplace compassion by introducing job crafting as a novel driver in explaining the positive effects of compassion and contributes novel insights into the mechanisms underlying the relationship between compassion and job performance. Our findings also suggest that to enhance employees’ job performance and facilitate employees’ proactive behaviors (i.e., job crafting), organizations must foster a compassionate work environment by placing high importance on compassion.
Rapid Diagnosis of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis–Opportunities and Challenges

Global tuberculosis (TB) eradication is undermined by increasing prevalence of emerging resistance to available drugs, fuelling ongoing demand for more complex diagnostic and treatment strategies. Early detection of TB drug resistance coupled with therapeutic decision making guided by rapid characterisation of pre-treatment and treatment emergent resistance remains the most effective strategy for averting Drug-Resistant TB (DR-TB) transmission, reducing DR-TB associated mortality, and improving patient outcomes. Solid- and liquid-based mycobacterial culture methods remain the gold standard for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) detection and drug susceptibility testing (DST). Unfortunately, delays to result return, and associated technical challenges from requirements for specialised resource and capacity, have limited DST use and availability in many high TB burden resource-limited countries. There is increasing availability of a variety of rapid nucleic acid-based diagnostic assays with adequate sensitivity and specificity to detect gene mutations associated with resistance to one or more drugs. While a few of these assays produce comprehensive calls for resistance to several first- and second-line drugs, there is still no endorsed genotypic drug susceptibility test assay for bedaquiline, pretomanid, and delamanid. The global implementation of regimens comprising these novel drugs in the absence of rapid phenotypic drug resistance profiling has generated a new set of diagnostic challenges and heralded a return to culture-based phenotypic DST. In this review, we describe the available tools for rapid diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis and discuss the associated opportunities and challenges.
Living with Dysphagia: A Survey Exploring the Experiences of Adults Living with Neuromuscular Disease and their Caregivers in the United Kingdom

Background: Dysphagia is common in adults living with neuromuscular disease (NMD). Increased life expectancy, secondary to improvements in standards of care, requires the recognition and treatment of dysphagia with an increased priority. Evidence to support the establishment of healthcare pathways is, however, lacking. The experiences of people living with NMD (pplwNMD) and their caregivers are valuable to guide targeted, value-based healthcare. Objective: To generate preliminary considerations for neuromuscular dysphagia care and future research in the United Kingdom, based on the experiences of those living with, or caring for, people with NMD. Methods: Two surveys (one for adults living with NMD and dysphagia, and a second for caregivers) were co-designed with an advisory group of people living with NMD. Surveys were electronically distributed to adults living with NMD and their caregivers between 18th May and 26th July 2020. Distribution was through UK disease registries, charity websites, newsletters, and social media. Results: Adults living with NMD receive little information or education that they are likely to develop swallowing difficulties. Most respondents report wanting this information prior to developing these difficulties. Difficulties with swallowing food and medication are common in this group, and instrumental assessment is considered a helpful assessment tool. Both adults living with NMD and caregivers want earlier access to neuromuscular swallowing specialists and training in how best to manage their difficulties. Conclusions: Improvement is needed in the dysphagia healthcare pathway for adults living with NMD to help mitigate any profound physical and psychological consequences that may be caused by dysphagia. Education about swallowing difficulties and early referral to a neuromuscular swallowing specialist are important to pplwNMD and their caregivers. Further research is required to better understand the experiences of pplwNMD and their caregivers to inform the development of dysphagia healthcare pathways.
ERK2 Is a Promoter of Cancer Cell Growth and Migration in Colon Adenocarcinoma

ERK1/2 phosphorylation is frequently downregulated in the early phase of colon tumorigenesis with subsequent activation of ERK5. In the current work, we studied the advantages of ERK1/2 downregulation for tumor growth by dissecting the individual functions of ERK1 and ERK2. The patient sample data demonstrated decreased ERK1/2 phosphorylation in the early phase of tumorigenesis followed by increased phosphorylation in late-stage colon adenocarcinomas with intratumoral invasion or metastasis. In vitro results indicated that SOD3-mediated coordination of small GTPase RAS regulatory genes inhibited RAS-ERK1/2 signaling. In vitro and in vivo studies suggested that ERK2 has a more prominent role in chemotactic invasion, collective migration, and cell proliferation than ERK1. Of note, simultaneous ERK1 and ERK2 expression inhibited collective cell migration and proliferation but tended to promote invasion, suggesting that ERK1 controls ERK2 function. According to the present data, phosphorylated ERK1/2 at the early phase of colon adenocarcinoma limits tumor mass expansion, whereas reactivation of the kinases at the later phase of colon carcinogenesis is associated with the initiation of metastasis. Additionally, our results suggest that ERK1 is a regulatory kinase that coordinates ERK2-promoted chemotactic invasion, collective migration, and cell proliferation. Our findings indicate that ROS, especially H2O2, are associated with the regulation of ERK1/2 phosphorylation in colon cancer by either increasing or decreasing kinase activity. These data suggest that ERK2 has a growth-promoting role and ERK1 has a regulatory role in colon tumorigenesis, which could lead to new avenues in the development of cancer therapy.
Eastern Indonesian Women on the Move: Domestic Work in Global Cities

Terpacu oleh krisis moneter di Indonesia, sejumlah perempuan merantau menjadi pembantu rumah tangga di negeri orang. Pendapatan yang relatif tinggi sebagai pembantu (Tenaga Kerja Wanita/TKW) di negara asing selain tentunya menopang pendapatan keluarga, juga membantu neraca perdagangan negara. TKW secara umum mencerminkan hubungan berbagai lintasan hirarkis antarkelas, lokalitas/suku bangsa dan gender. Studi lapangan tentang mobilitas TKW yang berasal dari Nusa Tenggara Timur ini menunjukkan bahwa menjadi TKW merupakan salah satu strategi mobilitas perempuan dalam menempatkan diri pada alur hubungan kekuasaan. Dengan menggunakan studi kasus, studi ini bermaksud menguak dan memahami lebih jauh keadaan dan proses mobilitas TKW. Terminologi lokal 'langgar laut' dipakai sebagai konsep analitik untuk mendalami perpindahan fisik dan metaforik yang dialami dan dipilih para perempuan untuk mencapai jajaran hubungan sosial yang diinginkannya.
Maternal Pregnancy and Pre-Pregnancy Weight and Behavioural Outcomes in Children

Reported associations of pre-pregnancy weight and/or gestational weight gain with offspring behavioural outcomes are inconsistent. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), this study aimed to examine these associations at five developmental stages between the ages of 3 and 16. Over 6800 mother–offspring pairs at age 3 and 3925 pairs at age 16 were included. Pre-pregnancy underweight was associated with a 22% increased risk of total behavioural difficulties (OR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.02–1.45). In separate analyses using the SDQ subscales, pre-pregnancy underweight was linked to a 37% (OR = 1.37, 95% CI 1.14–1.65) and 33% (OR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.01–1.76) increased risk of emotional symptoms and prosocial behaviour problems over time, respectively. While pre-pregnancy overweight was associated with an 11% (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.03–1.20) and 18% (OR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.03–1.36) increased risk of conduct and peer relationship problems, respectively, pregnancy obesity was associated with a 43% increased risk of emotional problems (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.16–1.77). We found no evidence of associations between gestational weight gain and child behaviour except for a reduced risk in prosocial behaviour problems (OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.70–0.96). Our findings provide insights into the link between preconception BMI and child behaviour, underscoring the necessity for further research to validate these associations and elucidate underlying mechanisms.
Personalized Medicine in Urolithiasis: AI Chatbot-Assisted Dietary Management of Oxalate for Kidney Stone Prevention

Accurate information regarding oxalate levels in foods is essential for managing patients with hyperoxaluria, oxalate nephropathy, or those susceptible to calcium oxalate stones. This study aimed to assess the reliability of chatbots in categorizing foods based on their oxalate content. We assessed the accuracy of ChatGPT-3.5, ChatGPT-4, Bard AI, and Bing Chat to classify dietary oxalate content per serving into low (<5 mg), moderate (5–8 mg), and high (>8 mg) oxalate content categories. A total of 539 food items were processed through each chatbot. The accuracy was compared between chatbots and stratified by dietary oxalate content categories. Bard AI had the highest accuracy of 84%, followed by Bing (60%), GPT-4 (52%), and GPT-3.5 (49%) (p < 0.001). There was a significant pairwise difference between chatbots, except between GPT-4 and GPT-3.5 (p = 0.30). The accuracy of all the chatbots decreased with a higher degree of dietary oxalate content categories but Bard remained having the highest accuracy, regardless of dietary oxalate content categories. There was considerable variation in the accuracy of AI chatbots for classifying dietary oxalate content. Bard AI consistently showed the highest accuracy, followed by Bing Chat, GPT-4, and GPT-3.5. These results underline the potential of AI in dietary management for at-risk patient groups and the need for enhancements in chatbot algorithms for clinical accuracy.
Turkish adaptation, validation and reliability of the US Adult Food Security Survey Module in university students

Objective: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the US Adult Food Security Survey Module (AFSSM). Design: A cross-sectional study collected data from 117 university students. The AFSSM questionnaire was completed by all participants. Psychometric evaluation for scale, content, construct, and convergent validity and reliability of the scale was tested. The construct validity was assessed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on data collected from university students. Cronbach’s α (internal consistency) and composite reliability were used to assess the reliability (P < 0·05). Setting: Students were recruited from the university. Participants: This research was conducted with volunteer university students with a mean age of 22·74 ± 4·19 years. Results: Three factors were extracted from eight items through EFA: (1) inadequate nutrition, (2) economic concern and (3) hunger. These factors accounted for 77·4 % of the total variance, and factor loadings ranged from 0·755 to 0·953. Cronbach’s α was 0·769. The results of the CFA suggested the fit indices were acceptable (χ2/s d = 0·235, root mean error of approximation: 0·034, goodness-of-fit index: 0·994, comparative fit index: 0·992 and normed fit index: 0·986). Conclusions: This is the first study that validates and reports the Turkish version of AFSSM in university students, and the results of our study show that the Turkish AFSSM is a valid and reliable tool for determining food security in university students. AFSSM can be used by researchers to examine the food security of university students.
Evolving Landscape of Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Insights from a Decade-Long Study in North-East Slovenia on Incidence, Management, Diagnostic Delays, and Early Biologic Intervention

Background: In the past decade, significant progress has been achieved in the care of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our study concentrated on assessing the incidence and management of IBD in children in North-Eastern Slovenia over a 10-year period. Methods: Medical data from children and adolescents diagnosed with IBD in North-Eastern Slovenia (2014–2023) was analysed. Disease incidence and management of children were assessed. Findings were compared between two periods (2014–2019 and 2020–2023, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic). Results: 87 patients (median age 15.5 year; 50.6% male) with IBD (43.7% Crohn’s disease (CD)), diagnosed between 2014 and 2023 were included. Extraintestinal manifestations were more common in CD than ulcerative colitis (UC) (15.8% vs. 2.4%, p < 0.05). Median delay from symptom onset to diagnosis was 2 months, lower in UC than CD (NS). Mean annual IBD incidence per 100,000 children aged 0 to 19 years was 6.4 (95% CI 4.4–8.3), slightly lower for CD than UC (2.8/100,000 vs. 3.1/100,000). In the second period, IBD incidence significantly rose (9.1 vs. 4.6, p < 0.05). During this period, 53% of CD patients transitioned to biological treatment within three months of diagnosis. Conclusion: IBD incidence rose among children in North-Eastern Slovenia over the past decade. Additionally, more children with CD underwent biological therapy in the second period.