Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The incidence of pregnancy hypertension in India, Pakistan, Mozambique, and Nigeria: A prospective population-level analysis

Background Most pregnancy hypertension estimates in less-developed countries are from cross-sectional hospital surveys and are considered overestimates. We estimated population-based rates by standardised methods in 27 intervention clusters of the Community-Level Interventions for Pre-eclampsia (CLIP) cluster randomised trials. Methods and findings CLIP-eligible pregnant women identified in their homes or local primary health centres (2013–2017). Included here are women who had delivered by trial end and received a visit from a community health worker trained to provide supplementary hypertension-oriented care, including standardised blood pressure (BP) measurement. Hypertension (BP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg) was defined as chronic (first detected at <20 weeks gestation) or gestational (≥20 weeks); pre-eclampsia was gestational hypertension plus proteinuria or a pre-eclampsia-defining complication. A multi-level regression model compared hypertension rates and types between countries (p < 0.05 considered significant). In 28,420 pregnancies studied, women were usually young (median age 23–28 years), parous (53.7%–77.3%), with singletons (≥97.5%), and enrolled at a median gestational age of 10.4 (India) to 25.9 weeks (Mozambique). Basic education varied (22.8% in Pakistan to 57.9% in India). Pregnancy hypertension incidence was lower in Pakistan (9.3%) than India (10.3%), Mozambique (10.9%), or Nigeria (10.2%) (p = 0.001). Most hypertension was diastolic only (46.4% in India, 72.7% in Pakistan, 61.3% in Mozambique, and 63.3% in Nigeria). At first presentation with elevated BP, gestational hypertension was most common diagnosis (particularly in Mozambique [8.4%] versus India [6.9%], Pakistan [6.5%], and Nigeria [7.1%]; p < 0.001), followed by pre-eclampsia (India [3.8%], Nigeria [3.0%], Pakistan [2.4%], and Mozambique [2.3%]; p < 0.001) and chronic hypertension (especially in Mozambique [2.5%] and Nigeria [2.8%], compared with India [1.2%] and Pakistan [1.5%]; p < 0.001). Inclusion of additional diagnoses of hypertension and related complications, from household surveys or facility record review (unavailable in Nigeria), revealed higher hypertension incidence: 14.0% in India, 11.6% in Pakistan, and 16.8% in Mozambique; eclampsia was rare (<0.5%). Conclusions Pregnancy hypertension is common in less-developed settings. Most women in this study presented with gestational hypertension amenable to surveillance and timed delivery to improve outcomes. Trial registration This study is a secondary analysis of a clinical trial - ClinicalTrials.gov registration number NCT01911494.
Shifting to the long view: engagement of pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV in lifelong antiretroviral therapy services

ABSTRACT Introduction: The advent of policies promoting lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV has shifted focus from short-term prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) to lifelong engagement in ART services. However, disengagement from care threatens the long-term treatment and prevention benefits of lifelong ART. Areas covered: A framework for considering the unique aspects of ART for pregnant and postpartum women is presented along with a review of the literature on maternal engagement in care in sub-Saharan Africa and a discussion of potential interventions to sustain engagement in lifelong ART. Expert opinion: Engaging women and mothers in ART services for life is critical for maternal health, PMTCT, and prevention of sexual transmission. Evidence-based interventions exist to support engagement in care but most focus on periods of mother-to-child transmission risk. In the long term, life transitions and health-care transfers are inevitable. Thus, interventions that can reach beyond a single facility or provide a bridge between health services should be prioritized. Multicomponent interventions will also be essential to address the numerous intersecting barriers to sustained engagement in ART services.
High Spatial Resolution Simulation of Sunshine Duration over the Complex Terrain of Ghana

In this paper, we propose a remote sensing model based on a 1 × 1 km spatial resolution to estimate the spatio-temporal distribution of sunshine percentage (SSP) and sunshine duration (SD), taking into account terrain features and atmospheric factors. To account for the influence of topography and atmospheric conditions in the model, a digital elevation model (DEM) and cloud products from the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) for 2010 were incorporated into the model and subsequently validated against in situ observation data. The annual and monthly average daily total SSP and SD have been estimated based on the proposed model. The error analysis results indicate that the proposed modelled SD is in good agreement with ground-based observations. The model performance is evaluated against two classical interpolation techniques (kriging and inverse distance weighting (IDW)) based on the mean absolute error (MAE), the mean relative error (MRE) and the root-mean-square error (RMSE). The results reveal that the SD obtained from the proposed model performs better than those obtained from the two classical interpolators. This results indicate that the proposed model can reliably reflect the contribution of terrain and cloud cover in SD estimation in Ghana, and the model performance is expected to perform well in similar environmental conditions.
Effects of high-intensity interval training on microvascular glycocalyx and associated microRNAs.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been proposed to exert vasculoprotective effects. This study aimed to evaluate whether HIIT affects the microvasculature, including the endothelial glycocalyx barrier, and to identify associated microRNAs (miRNAs). Fifty healthy participants (23.1 ± 3.0 yr) performed a 4-wk 4 × 30-s all-out running HIIT. Sidestream dark-field imaging was performed at baseline and follow-up to detect changes of the sublingual microvasculature including the endothelial glycocalyx. Exercise parameters were determined by continuous running field test and documentation of high-intensity runs. miRNAs potentially associated with glycocalyx thickness were selected by structured literature search and blood samples for miRNA, and lactate measurements were drawn at baseline and follow-up HIIT. At baseline, a correlation between maximal exercise performance capacity and glycocalyx thickness (determined by perfused boundary region) was detected (P = 0.045, r = 0.303). Increased exercise performance at follow-up also correlated with glycocalyx thickness (P = 0.031, r = 0.416), and increased high-intensity sprinting speed was associated with an increased number of perfused vessels (P = 0.0129, r = 0.449). Literature search identified miR-143, -96-5p, and -24, which were upregulated by HIIT already at baseline and showed an association with peak blood lactate levels after sprints (all P < 0.05). Moreover, increased baseline miR-143 levels predicted increased glycocalyx thickness at follow-up (AUCmiR-143 = 0.92, 95% confidence interval, 0.81-1.0, P = 0.0008). Elevated resting miR-126 levels after the intervention were associated with cell-free versican mRNA levels. We conclude that HIIT induces changes in the endothelial glycocalyx of the microvasculature. Associated miRNAs such as miR-143 may represent a tool for monitoring early vasculoprotective adaptations to physical activity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY High-intensity interval training is known to improve health-related fitness in general and in lifestyle-induced chronic diseases. To visualize microvasculature structure and to detect exercise-induced changes, sublingual sidestream dark-field imaging microscopy was used, and circulating miRNAs were measured. This study shows that exercise-induced changes correlate with associated circulating miRNA, which might be useful for monitoring vasculoprotective effects. Furthermore, sidestream dark-field imaging may represent a sensitive tool for the early detection of exercise-induced systemic vascular changes.
L-Arginine Inhibited Inflammatory Response and Oxidative Stress Induced by Lipopolysaccharide via Arginase-1 Signaling in IPEC-J2 Cells

This study aimed to explore the effect of L-arginine on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory response and oxidative stress in IPEC-2 cells. We found that the expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88), cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14), nuclear factor-kappaBp65 (NF-κBp65), chemokine-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and chemokine-6 (IL-6) mRNA were significantly increased by LPS. Exposure to LPS induced oxidative stress as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malonaldehyde (MDA) production were increased while glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were decreased in LPS-treated cells compared to those in the control. LPS administration also effectively induced cell growth inhibition through induction of G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. However, compared with the LPS group, cells co-treatment with L-arginine effectively increased cell viability and promoted the cell cycle into the S phase; L-arginine exhibited an anti-inflammatory effect in alleviating inflammation induced by LPS by reducing the abundance of TLR4, MyD88, CD14, NF-κBp65, and IL-8 transcripts. Cells treated with LPS+L-arginine significantly enhanced the content of GSH-Px, while they decreased the production of ROS and MDA compared with the LPS group. Furthermore, L-arginine increased the activity of arginase-1 (Arg-1), while Arg-1 inhibitor abolished the protection of arginine against LPS-induced inflammation and oxidative stress. Taken together, these results suggested that L-arginine exerted its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects to protect IPEC-J2 cells from inflammatory response and oxidative stress challenged by LPS at least partly via the Arg-1 signaling pathway.
A Quantitative Evaluation of Joint Activity and Attenuation Reconstruction in TOF PET/MR Brain Imaging

Time-of-flight (TOF) PET data provide an effective means for attenuation correction (AC) when no (or incomplete or inaccurate) attenuation information is available. Since MR scanners provide little information on photon attenuation of different tissue types, AC in hybrid PET/MR scanners has always been challenging. In this contribution, we aim at validating the activity reconstructions of the maximum-likelihood ordered-subsets activity and attenuation (OSAA) reconstruction algorithm on a patient brain data set. We present a quantitative comparison of joint reconstructions with the current clinical gold standard—ordered-subsets expectation maximization—using CT-based AC in PET/CT, as well as the current state of the art in PET/MR, that is, zero time echo (ZTE)–based AC. Methods: The TOF PET emission data were initially used in a preprocessing stage to estimate crystal maps of efficiencies, timing offsets, and timing resolutions. Applying these additional corrections during reconstructions, OSAA, ZTE-based, and the vendor-provided atlas-based AC techniques were analyzed and compared with CT-based AC. In our initial study, we used the CT-based estimate of the expected scatter and later used the ZTE-based and OSAA attenuation estimates to compute the expected scatter contribution of the data during reconstructions. In all reconstructions, a maximum-likelihood scaling of the single-scatter simulation estimate to the emission data was used for scatter correction. The reconstruction results were analyzed in the 86 segmented regions of interest of the Hammers atlas. Results: Our quantitative analysis showed that, in practice, a tracer activity difference of +0.5% (±2.1%) and +0.1% (±2.3%) could be expected for the state-of-the-art ZTE-based and OSAA AC methods, respectively, in PET/MR compared with the clinical gold standard in PET/CT. Conclusion: Joint activity and attenuation estimation methods can provide an effective solution to the challenging AC problem for brain studies in hybrid TOF PET/MR scanners. With an accurate TOF-based (timing offsets and timing resolutions) calibration, and similar to the results of the state-of-the-art method in PET/MR, regional errors of joint TOF PET reconstructions are within a few percentage points.
Sensorimotor Control in Dystonia

This is an overview of the sensorimotor impairments in dystonia, a syndrome characterized by sustained or intermittent aberrant movement patterns leading to abnormal movements and/or postures with or without a tremulous component. Dystonia can affect the entire body or specific body regions and results from a plethora of etiologies, including subtle changes in gray and white matter in several brain regions. Research over the last 25 years addressing topics of sensorimotor control has shown functional sensorimotor impairments related to sensorimotor integration, timing, oculomotor and head control, as well as upper and lower limb control. In the context of efforts to update the classification of dystonia, sensorimotor research is highly relevant for a better understanding of the underlying pathology, and potential mechanisms contributing to global and regional dysfunction within the central nervous system. This overview of relevant research regarding sensorimotor control in humans with idiopathic dystonia attempts to frame the dysfunction with respect to what is known regarding motor control in patients and healthy individuals. We also highlight promising avenues for the future study of neuromotor control that may help to further elucidate dystonia etiology, pathology, and functional characteristics.
N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) delays post-ovulatory oocyte aging in mouse

The quality of post-ovulatory oocytes decreases with aging. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), a broadly used antioxidant, on oocyte quality in mouse post-ovulatory oocyte aging in vitro. NAC at 0.6mM concentration was added to culture medium (M2), and the quality of oocytes was analyzed at 6h, 12h, 18h and 24h of culture. We found that the frequency of spindle defects decreased in NAC-treated oocytes compared to those without NAC treatment. NAC treatment significantly decreased abnormal distribution of cortical granules (CGs) in oocytes during aging for 18h and 24h. Decreased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was also observed. Increased intracellular ATP levels and decreased abnormal distribution of mitochondria could be observed with NAC supplementation during post-ovulatory oocyte aging in vitro. These results indicate that NAC will maintain the quality of oocytes, and delay post-ovulatory oocyte aging as studied in the mouse.
The Nexus of Selected Macroeconomic Variables toward Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Indonesia

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows are a major instrument of economic growth in developing countries. Indonesia is one of the developing countries that has received more FDI with macroeconomic stability. The macroeconomic stability indicator is seen as an important factor in driving economic growth and attracting FDI inflows in Indonesia. Therefore, this study examines the relationship of selected macroeconomic variables toward the FDI in Indonesia over the period 1980-2019. Using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL), the empirical results showed that market size, domestic investment, government spending and foreign exchange rate are key factors influencing long-run FDI inflows. However, financial development revealed no relationship with FDI inflows in Indonesia. Overall findings indicated that macroeconomic variables influence FDI inflows. These findings guided policymakers in formulating new policies to ensure macroeconomic indicators' stability in driving economic growth.
FSHD1 or FSHD2: That is the question

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is the 3rd most common form of muscular dystrophy. While the initial pattern of muscle involvement is familiar to most clinicians (facial weakness, scapular winging, and foot drop), the genetic mechanism likely is not and is unique for the dystrophies, with epigenetic de-repression playing a key role. Epigenetic repression is the mechanism by which our cells turn sections of our DNA off. If you think of our chromosomes like a series of cookbooks, and the genes like recipes, then the way we regulate which recipes are read is by epigentic repression, which in the cell is done by methylation or other chemical mechanisms. Highly methylated areas are turned off; this would be like a book in a store still shrink-wrapped in plastic, so you cannot read what is inside. Each area of the DNA can be separately regulated, and genes whose role is DNA methylation are called chromatin repressors. Most individuals (>95%) will have FSHD type 1 (FSHD1), due to a deletion of large repeated units (RU) on the long arm of chromosome 4, typically between 1 and 10 RU.1 A minority of individuals will have FSHD type 2 (FSHD2): these individuals show digenic inheritance and have associated mutations in genes that have a role in chromatin repression (SMCHD1, DNMT3B). 2,3 The unified model for FSHD both emphasizes the epigenetic nature of FSHD and provides a link between FSHD1 and 2.4 In both FSHD type 1 and 2, there is decreased methylation in the D4Z4 region: in FSHD1 due to deletion of RU and in FSHD2 due to mutations affecting genes responsible for DNA methylation. To return to the cookbook metaphor, decreasing methylation on the DNA is like ripping the plastic shrink-wrap off the book, so now the recipes inside can be read. In addition to the epigenetic changes, both FSHD types 1 and 2 also require a permissive polymorphism providing a polyadenylation sequence to the DUX4 transcript (4qA allele). At its simplest level, FSHD is due to a toxic gain-of-function, where a gene contained in the D4Z4 repeats and is normally silenced, DUX4, gets “turned on,” which is toxic to cells.
An archaeomalacological investigation of chitons on the Hane Dune site, Ua Huka, Marquesas Islands

Abstract The contribution of shellfish to ancient subsistence has been overlooked in many archaeological studies in Central-East Polynesia. Archaeomalacology, however, can shed light on a wider range of exploited mollusks. In this paper we investigate the exploitation of the chiton Acanthopleura gemmata from the Hane Dune site, Ua Huka, Marquesas Islands. Although several previous studies have highlighted the importance of chitons in Hane’s archaeological record, little information has been presented about this important subsistence item as it is seldom identified with precision and is usually quantified by weight. Using zooarchaeological methods, spatial analysis, and biometry, we demonstrate the importance of chitons in past ‘Enata subsistence. We highlight the intensive exploitation of A. gemmata during the first three centuries of occupation of the site, beginning ca. AD 950, until its abrupt depletion, correlated with the progressive exploitation of the limpet Cellana radiata. Through this case study, we stress the importance of precise taxonomic identification and refined recovery protocols to better understand subsistence trends.
Epoxyeicosatrienoic acid analog EET-B attenuates post-myocardial infarction remodeling in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and their synthetic analogs have cardiovascular protective effects. Here, we investigated the action of a novel EET analog EET-B on the progression of post-myocardial infarction (MI) heart failure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Adult male SHR were divided into vehicle- and EET-B (10 mg/kg/day; p.o., 9 weeks)-treated groups. After two weeks of treatment, rats were subjected to 30-min left coronary artery occlusion or sham operation. Systolic blood pressure and echocardiography measurements were performed at the beginning of study, 4 days before, and 7 weeks after MI. At the end of the study, tissue samples were collected for histological and biochemical analyses. We demonstrated that EET-B treatment did not affect blood pressure and cardiac parameters in SHR prior to MI. MI was induced and cardiac parameters were measured 7 weeks later. Fractional shortening (FS) was decreased to 18.4±1.0% in vehicle-treated MI rats compared with corresponding sham (30.6±1.0%) 7 weeks following MI induction. In infarcted SHR hearts, EET-B treatment improved FS (23.7±0.7%), markedly increased heme oxygenase-1 immunopositivity in cardiomyocytes and reduced cardiac inflammation and fibrosis (by 13% and 19%, respectively). In conclusion, these findings suggest that EET analog EET-B has beneficial therapeutic actions to reduce cardiac remodeling in SHR subjected to MI.
Univariate and Multivariate Analysis of Phosphorus Element in Fertilizers Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Rapid detection of phosphorus (P) element is beneficial to the control of compound fertilizer production process and is of great significance in the fertilizer industry. The aim of this work was to compare the univariate and multivariate analysis of phosphorus element in compound fertilizers and obtain a reliable and accurate method for rapid detection of phosphorus element. A total of 47 fertilizer samples were collected from the production line; 36 samples were used as a calibration set, and 11 samples were used as a prediction set. The univariate calibration curve was constructed by the intensity of characteristic line and the concentration of P. The linear correlation coefficient was 0.854 as the existence of the matrix effect. In order to eliminate the matrix effect, the internal standardization as the appropriate methodology was used to increase the accuracy. Using silicon (Si) element as an internal element, a linear correlation coefficient of 0.932 was obtained. Furthermore, the chemometrics model of partial least-squares regression (PLSR) was used to analysis the concentration of P in fertilizer. The correlation coefficient was 0.977 and 0.976 for the calibration set and prediction set, respectively. The results indicated that the LIBS technique coupled with PLSR could be a reliable and accurate method in the quantitative determination of P element in complex matrices like compound fertilizers.