Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reversible Adhesion with Polyelectrolyte Brushes Tailored via the Uptake and Release of Trivalent Lanthanum Ions

Applications of end-tethered polyelectrolyte “brushes” to modify solid surfaces have been developed and studied for their colloidal stabilization and high lubrication properties. Current efforts have expanded into biological realms and stimuli-responsive materials. Our work explores responsive and reversible aspects of polyelectrolyte brush behavior when polyelectrolyte chains interact with oppositely charged multivalent ions and complexes, which act as counterions. There is a significant void in the polyelectrolyte literature regarding interactions with multivalent species. This paper demonstrates that interactions between solid surfaces bearing negatively charged polyelectrolyte brushes are highly sensitive to the presence of trivalent lanthanum, La3+. Lanthanum cations have unique interactions with polyelectrolyte chains, in part due to their small size and hydration radius which results in a high local charge density. Using La3+ in conjunction with the surface forces apparatus (SFA), adhesion has been.
Effect of Weather Conditions on the Fatty Acid Composition of Medium-Growth Chicken Reared in Organic Production System

I Departamento de Construcción y Agronomía, Facultad de Agricultura y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Salamanca, Av. de Filiberto Villalobos 119, 37007 Salamanca, Spain. II Area de Tecnología de los Alimentos, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Zamora, Universidad de Salamanca, Av. de Requejo 33, 49029 Zamora, Spain. III Departmento de Química Analítica, Nutrición y Bromatología, Universidad de Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain.
A Path Analysis of Spiritual and Religious Coping on the Depressive Symptoms, Role Stress, and Self-Efficacy of Surrogate Decision Makers of ICU Patients

Background: Under heightened states of high uncertain and emotional distress, surrogate decision makers (SDMs) are often expected to make informed medical decisions that align with the critically patient’s preferences for life-sustaining care. Under these circumstances, some SDMs use spiritual and religious coping (SRC) to mitigate the negative influence of situational and role-related stressors. However, there is a relative dearth of evidence that has explored the relationships among SRC and other determinants of surrogate decision making, such as SDM’s depressive symptoms, role stress and decision making self-efficacy, on the perceived care preference of the critically ill patient. Purpose: To evaluate the direct and indirect influence of SRC on key determinants of surrogate decision making and care preference. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, correlational study consisting of a convenience sample of 281 SDMs of critically ill adults. A battery of measures were administered to capture the SDMs’ sociodemographic data, SRC, depressive symptoms, role stress, decision making self-efficacy, and the perceived care preferences of patients. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a path analysis. Results: Our sample was predominantly, middle-aged (M = 54.4, SD = 13.6), white (76%), female (73%), and identified as being a relative (94%) of the critically ill patient. The path model had excellent fit to the data (χ2 = 26.7, p = .37; TLI = .99; CFI = .98, RMSEA = .02). Depressive symptoms (β = -.14, p < .05) and decision making self-efficacy (β = .16, p < .05) was directly associated with spiritual and religious coping. However, the only direct predictor of care preference was decision making self-efficacy (β = -.21, p < .05). Conclusion: These data clearly provide evidence that SRC influences depressive symptom severity and the decision making selfefficacy of SDMs. Based on our findings, we recommend that future research explore how to incorporate SRC into decision support interventions to improve SDMs’ decision making self-efficacy and delivery of preference concordant care to the critically ill.
Mitigating childhood food insecurity during COVID-19: a qualitative study of how school districts in California’s San Joaquin Valley responded to growing needs

Abstract Objectives: To explore best practices and challenges in providing school meals during COVID-19 in a low-income, predominantly Latino, urban–rural region. Design: Semi-structured interviews with school district stakeholders and focus groups with parents were conducted to explore school meal provision during COVID-19 from June to August 2020. Data were coded and themes were identified to guide analysis. Community organisations were involved in all aspects of study design, recruitment, data collection and analysis. Setting: Six school districts in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Participants: School district stakeholders (n 11) included food service directors, school superintendents and community partners (e.g. funders, food cooperative). Focus groups (n 6) were comprised of parents (n 29) of children participating in school meal programmes. Results: COVID-19-related challenges for districts included developing safe meal distribution systems, boosting low participation, covering COVID-19-related costs and staying informed of policy changes. Barriers for families included transportation difficulties, safety concerns and a lack of fresh foods. Innovative strategies to address obstacles included pandemic-electronic benefits transfer (EBT), bus-stop delivery, community pick-up locations, batched meals and leveraging partner resources. Conclusions: A focus on fresher, more appealing meals and greater communication between school officials and parents could boost participation. Districts that leveraged external partnerships were better equipped to provide meals during pandemic conditions. In addition, policies increasing access to fresh foods and capitalising on United States Department of Agriculture waivers could boost school meal participation. Finally, partnering with community organisations and acting upon parent feedback could improve school meal systems, and in combination with pandemic-EBT, address childhood food insecurity.
Saliva is inferior to nose and throat swabs for SARS‐CoV‐2 detection in children

It is important to identify children and adolescents infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as they are often asymptomatic and may unintentionally spread the virus. However, information on the best sampling methods are limited. Most analyse nose and throat swabs with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), but these tests are uncomfortable and young children may not co-operate, increasing sub-optimal sample collection and false-negative results. Detecting SARS-CoV-2 in adult saliva, using RT-PCR1,2 has shown promise. However, young children struggle to produce saliva spontaneously and there have been conflicting results about using this method for children.3,4 In contrast, oral swabs cause minimal discomfort, do not generate aerosols, collect adequate viral material5 and can be used by parents or day care staff without personal protective equipment.
Content Analysis and Quality Evaluation of Cesarean Delivery–Related Videos on YouTube: Cross-sectional Study

Background YouTube is one of the most popular open-access video-sharing websites, and it is also used to obtain health care information. Cesarean delivery is the most common major surgical intervention in many countries. Videos related to cesarean delivery have also been uploaded to YouTube. However, no study has explored the overall quality of cesarean delivery videos on the platform. Objective The objective of this study was to analyze the content and evaluate the quality of the most frequently viewed videos related to cesarean delivery that are accessible on YouTube. Methods We searched for a total of 18 terms by combining the 6 terms retrieved from Google AdWords and the 3 terms c section, cesarean section, and cesarean delivery, which are used interchangeably. Videos were sorted by view count, and the 100 videos with the highest view counts were chosen. The number of views, duration, likes and dislikes, content type, and source of each video were recorded. In evaluating the quality of the videos, we referred to a previous study. Additionally, we developed a detailed scoring method that comprehensively evaluates the videos related to cesarean delivery by including the necessary information for each element of the cesarean delivery and whether scientific evidence was presented. Results Of the 100 videos analyzed, the most prevalent content (n=28) was videos that contained the actual surgical procedure of a cesarean delivery, and the most common source of cesarean delivery videos was physicians (n=30). Videos directly related to cesarean delivery, such as explanation of the surgery and the actual surgical procedure, were mainly uploaded by medical groups and scored higher than the videos indirectly related to cesarean delivery, which were mainly uploaded by nonmedical groups. In addition, videos directly related to cesarean delivery were more often uploaded earlier in time, with lower like ratios compared to indirect videos. Conclusions YouTube is currently not an appropriate source for patients seeking information on cesarean delivery.
Proteases, protease inhibitors and radiation carcinogenesis

Abstract Purpose The purpose of the studies described in this mini review article was to identify nontoxic compounds that could prevent or suppress the radiation induced malignant transformation of cells and be useful as human cancer preventive agents. Conclusions (1) Many different types of potential anticarcinogenic substances were evaluated initially for their abilities to prevent or suppress radiation induced malignant transformation in vitro, and certain anticarcinogenic protease inhibitors (APIs) were observed to be the most powerful anticarcinogenic agents at suppressing this surrogate endpoint biomarker of radiation carcinogenesis. (2) Within the category of APIs, those that inhibited the activity of chymotrypsin were effective at far lower molar concentrations than other APIs. The soybean-derived protease inhibitor known as the Bowman-Birk inhibitor (BBI) is a particularly powerful chymotrypsin inhibitor that is able to prevent radiation induced transformation in vitro (at concentrations down to nanomolar levels) as well as radiation induced carcinogenesis in vivo without toxicity. (3) There were many other unusual characteristics of APIs that led to the selection of one of these APIs, BBI, as the most appropriate compound for us to develop as a human cancer preventive agent. As one example, the APIs have an irreversible effect on carcinogenesis, while the effects are reversible for most anticarcinogenic agents when they are removed from carcinogenesis assay systems. (4) Numerous studies were performed in attempts to determine the potential mechanisms by which the APIs could prevent or suppress radiation induced carcinogenesis in in vitro and in vivo systems, and the results of these studies are described in this review article. The APIs and the proteases which interact with them appear to play important roles in radiation carcinogenesis. (5) Preparations for human trials using BBI began decades ago. The cost of preparing purified BBI was far too high to consider performing human trials with this agent, so BBI Concentrate (BBIC), a soybean extract enriched in BBI, was developed for the specific purpose of performing human trials with BBI. BBIC achieved Investigational New Drug (IND) Status with the Food and Drug Administration in April,1992, and human BBIC trials began at that time. (6) Several human trials were performed using BBIC and they indicated many potentially beneficial health effects produced by BBIC administration to people in various forms (e.g. tablets). 7) It is hypothesized that BBI takes the place of α-1-antichymotrypsin, an important regulatory compound in the human body, and helps to maintain homeostasis.
Serum MCP-1 and NGAL Play an Important Role in the Acute Inflammatory Event of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract NGAL is mainly secreted by neutrophils which play the core role in AECOPD. MCP-1 is secreted specifically by monocytes and macrophages. Both biomarkers are involved in the core process of acute inflammatory reaction in COPD. So We analyzed serum NGAL and MCP-1levels to explore their potential clinical values in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) . This study enrolled 97 COPD patients and 50 healthy controls. All participants received blood collection and lung function test and arterial blood gas measurements. The expression levels of serum NGAL and MCP-1 were measured by ELISA. The serum NGAL and MCP-1 levels of COPD with community-acquired pneumonia (COPD-CAP) patients were significantly higher than those of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) patients and healthy adults. The NGAL levels of the GOLD III and IV groups were significantly higher than those of the GOLD II group. Spearman correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between NGAL and FEV1%pred, FVC% pred. ROC curves indicated that NGAL has a high diagnostic value for both AECOPD and COPD-CAP. NGAL has the value of distinguishing GOLD I and II from GOLD III and IV. MCP-1 have moderate diagnostic value for COPD-CAP and can differentiate COPD-CAP from AECOPD. This study shows NGAL has certain diagnostic value for AECOPD and COPD-CAP, but can not distinguish the two. NGAL is closely related to airway remodeling and can be used as a potential indicator to distinguish the higher GOLD degree. MCP-1 can be used as potential indicator for the diagnosis of COPD-CAP.
Food insecurity in Detroit: exploring the relationship between patient-reported food insecurity and proximity to healthful grocery stores

Abstract Objective: The objective of the current study was to determine if patients of a large health care system in Detroit who self-identify as food insecure live further away from healthy grocery stores compared with food secure patients. Second, we explored whether food insecurity and distance to healthy grocery stores are related to ecological measures of vehicle availability in the area of residence. Design: A secondary data analysis that uses baseline data from a pilot intervention/feasibility study. Setting: Detroit, Michigan, USA. Participants: Patients of Henry Ford Health System were screened for food insecurity to determine eligibility for a pilot intervention/feasibility study (i.e. Henry’s Groceries for Health), conducted through a collaboration with Gleaners Community Foodbank of Southeastern Michigan. Only patients residing in Detroit city limits (including Highland Park and Hamtramck) were included in the secondary analysis. Of the 1,100 patients included in the analysis, 336 (31 %) were food insecure. Results: After accounting for socio-demographic factors associated with food insecurity, we did not find evidence that food insecure patients lived further away from healthier grocery stores, nor was this modified by ecological measures of vehicle access. However, some neighbourhoods were identified as having a significantly higher risk of food insecurity. Conclusions: Food insecure patients in Detroit are perhaps limited by social and political determinants and not their immediate neighbourhood geography or physical access to healthy grocery stores. Future research should explore the complexity in linkages between household socio-economic factors, socio-cultural dynamics and the neighbourhood food environment.
Prevalence of stroke survival in rural communities living in northern Peru

Background and purpose Stroke is the leading cause of neurological impairment in the South American Andean region. However, the epidemiology of stroke in the region has been poorly characterized. Methods We conducted a staged three-phase population-based study applying a validated eight-question neurological survey in 80 rural villages in Tumbes, northern Peru, then confirmed presence or absence of stroke through a neurologist’s examination to estimate the prevalence of stroke. Results Our survey covered 90% of the population (22,278/24,854 individuals, mean age 30±21.28, 48.45% females), and prevalence of stroke was 7.05/1,000 inhabitants. After direct standardization to WHO’s world standard population, adjusted prevalence of stroke was 6.94/1,000 inhabitants. Participants aged ≥85 years had higher stroke prevalence (>50/1000 inhabitants) compared to other stratified ages, and some unusual cases of stroke were found among individuals aged 25–34 years. The lowest age reported for a first stroke event was 16.8 years. High blood pressure (aPR 4.2 [2.7–6.4], p>0.001), and sedentary lifestyle (aPR 1.6 [1.0–2.6], p = 0.045) were more prevalent in people with stroke. Conclusions The age-standardized prevalence of stroke in this rural coastal Peruvian population was slightly higher than previously reported in studies from surrounding rural South American settings, but lower than in rural African and Asian regions. The death rate from stroke was much higher than in industrialized and middle-income countries.
Perception of nurses’ professional identity during the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic infections.

Background and aim of the work: The main purpose of this study is to investigate on the experience of nurses working in the Covid-19 area focusing on their role’s perception. In particular, we explored the nurses’ perception of job satisfaction in relation to the images sent back by public opinion through the mass media and social communication channels. During the first wave of Covid-19 nurses have acquired media visibility, but their feeling is represented more by the discomfort of finding themselves suddenly glorified in the face of a lack of professional, social, and economic recognition. Materials and methods: A Mix-Method methodology and convenience sampling was adopted, on the population of professionals and students in post-graduate specializations, belonging to the Department of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Parma, and by nurses from the ASST-Bergamo Est, Lombardia Italy, who worked in the Covid emergency during the first wave of the pandemic, from February 2020 to May 2020. In the quantitative phase Stamm’s Professional Quality of Life Scale - ProQOL was administered to 89 respondents through a Google Form, In the qualitative phase, 3 Focus Groups were conducted on a total of 17 students. Results: At the ProQOL questionnaire, a moderate score was found in the Compassion Satisfaction scale (CF = 38.28) and in the Secondary Traumatic Stress subscale (STS-24.33), while low values emerged in the Burnout subscale (BO = 16.02). Five specific topics emerged from the focus groups: Professional collaboration, Job satisfaction, Nurse’s personal skills, Failure to protect the public image and the nursing profession. Conclusions: The professional collaboration, union with the work team, sense of solidarity, job satisfaction, professional growth, and awareness of one’s role seem to have worked favorably on Compassion Satisfaction, while keeping Compassion Fatigue levels under control.
Acetaldehyde Excitation of Lateral Habenular Neurons via Multiple Cellular Mechanisms

Acetaldehyde (ACD), the first metabolite of ethanol, is implicated in several of ethanol's actions, including the reinforcing and aversive effects. The neuronal mechanisms underlying ACD's aversive effect, however, are poorly understood. The lateral habenula (LHb), a regulator of midbrain monoaminergic centers, is activated by negative valence events. Although the LHb has been linked to the aversive responses of several abused drugs, including ethanol, little is known about ACD. We, therefore, assessed ACD's action on LHb neurons in rats. The results showed that intraperitoneal injection of ACD increased cFos protein expression within the LHb and that intra-LHb infusion of ACD induced conditioned place aversion in male rats. Furthermore, electrophysiological recording in brain slices of male and female rats showed that bath application of ACD facilitated spontaneous firing and glutamatergic transmission. This effect of ACD was potentiated by an aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) inhibitor, disulfiram (DS), but attenuated by the antagonists of dopamine (DA) receptor (DAR) subtype 1 (SCH23390) and subtype 2 (raclopride), and partly abolished by the pretreatment of DA or DA reuptake blocker (GBR12935; GBR). Moreover, application of ACD initiated a depolarizing inward current (IACD) and enhanced the hyperpolarizing-activated currents in LHb neurons. Bath application of Rp-cAMPs, a selective cAMP-PKA inhibitor, attenuated ACD-induced potentiation of EPSCs and IACD. Finally, bath application of ZD7288, a selective blocker of hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels, attenuated ACD-induced potentiation of firing, EPSCs, and IACD. These results show that ACD exerts its aversive property by exciting LHb neurons via multiple cellular mechanisms, and new treatments targeting the LHb may be beneficial for alcoholism. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Acetaldehyde (ACD) has been considered aversive peripherally and rewarding centrally. However, whether ACD has a central aversive property is unclear. Here, we report that ACD excites the lateral habenula (LHb), a brain region associated with aversion and negative valence, through multiple cellular and molecular mechanisms. Intra-LHb ACD produces significant conditioned place aversion. These results suggest that ACD's actions on the LHb neurons might contribute to its central aversive property and new treatments targeting the LHb may be beneficial for alcoholism.
Combinatorial constraint coding based on the EORS algorithm in DNA storage

The development of information technology has produced massive amounts of data, which has brought severe challenges to information storage. Traditional electronic storage media cannot keep up with the ever-increasing demand for data storage, but in its place DNA has emerged as a feasible storage medium with high density, large storage capacity and strong durability. In DNA data storage, many different approaches can be used to encode data into codewords. DNA coding is a key step in DNA storage and can directly affect storage performance and data integrity. However, since errors are prone to occur in DNA synthesis and sequencing, and non-specific hybridization is prone to occur in the solution, how to effectively encode DNA has become an urgent problem to be solved. In this article, we propose a DNA storage coding method based on the equilibrium optimization random search (EORS) algorithm, which meets the Hamming distance, GC content and no-runlength constraints and can reduce the error rate in storage. Simulation experiments have shown that the size of the DNA storage code set constructed by the EORS algorithm that meets the combination constraints has increased by an average of 11% compared with previous work. The increase in the code set means that shorter DNA chains can be used to store more data.