Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prostate volume and age are predictors of energy delivery using the CoreTherm Concept in patients with LUTS/BPO: a study on thermal dose

Abstract Objective: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the scientific evidence supporting the use of thermal dose as a secondary (or an alternative) endpoint when using the CoreTherm Concept. Material and methods: Baseline and treatment data from 283 consecutive treatments were evaluated. All patients had lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). After evaluation, benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) with benign prostatic obstruction (BPO) was evident. As treatment, the CoreTherm Concept was used in all patients with LUTS/BPO. Data parameters were retrospectively extracted and included patient age, prostate volume, energy delivery, treatment time and calculated cell kill. In addition, assessment of temperature curves and calculated intraprostatic blood flow was made to define an optimal treatment. In total, 199 treatments assessed as optimal were included in the study. Results: There was a significant correlation between pretreatment prostate volume and energy delivery (p < .001). Age also influenced energy consumption significantly (p = .01). Conclusion: The solid correlation between pretreatment prostate volume and age versus total energy deposition implies the recommendation that a pretreatment calculation of an appropriate energy deposition should be used in all treatments as an alternative treatment endpoint.
Corbicula fluminea (Asian Clam) in the Roanoke River, North Carolina: A Stressed Population?

Abstract Principal component analysis, correlation, and multiple regression were used to evaluate the relationships of 12 environmental variables to the recorded values of density and biomass of Corbicula fluminea (Asian clam) collected in a 13-km segment of the lower Roanoke River delta, NC, in 1992–1993. Sediment fractions, pH, conductivity, and oxygen saturation accounted for the most variance in density, and, with the addition of shell length, water temperature, and river kilometer, accounted for the most variance in biomass. Similar variables were important in principal component analysis and multiple regression, although regression was less useful due to lower tissue weights of clams at two stations, which resulted in low predictive power for some regressions. The results of this preliminary census indicate that there were relationships among Asian clam density and biomass and various environmental factors. Higher density and biomass were found where the substrate was > 40% fine sand, < 45% silt, and < 8% organic content. This habitat type was limited in the study area and resulted in the majority of Asian clams living in a 4-km segment. Seasonal extremes in water temperature, low pH and calcium concentration, and phytoplankton limitations may also have contributed to the low weight of Asian clams in the Roanoke River. A more extensive sampling effort is warranted to further define the role of environmental stressors in the Asian clam population.
Macrophyte succession in Minnesota beaver ponds

Beavers (Castor canadensis Kuhl.) are keystone species that dramatically alter nutrient cycles and food webs in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems by modifying their hydrology and selectively removing riparian trees. We documented macrophyte succession in 36 beaver ponds ranging from 4 to over 40 years old. We used impounded bogs, because they were isolated from other waterbodies and less prone to washout. Richness and diversity increased linearly in ponds during the first four decades. Pond age and the product of pond size and the number of neighboring ponds in a 0.25-km radius explained 64% (p = 0.001) of the variation in richness. Compositional trends were best explained by propagule dispersal traits. Initial colonists included vagile species, like free-floating macrophytes and desirable foods for waterfowl, like the narrow-leaved pondweeds. Ponds of intermediate age (1140 years) had the highest diversity, with both floating-leaved and submersed life forms represented. Two community types were identif.
Access to Healthcare for Immigrant Children in Canada

Immigrants experience poorer health outcomes than nonimmigrants in Canada for several reasons. A central contributing factor to poor health outcomes for immigrants is access to healthcare. Previous research on access to healthcare for immigrants has largely focused on the experience of immigrant adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate how immigrants access health services for their children in Alberta, Canada. Our study involved a descriptive qualitative design. Upon receiving ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, we invited immigrant parents to participate in this study. We interviewed 50 immigrant parents, including 17 fathers and 33 mothers. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed according to the themes that emerged. Findings reveal that systemic barriers contributed to challenges in accessing healthcare for immigrant children. Participants identified several of these barriers—namely, system barriers, language and cultural barriers, relationship with health professionals, and financial barriers. These barriers can be addressed by policymakers and service providers by strengthening the diversity of the workforce, addressing income as a social determinant of health, and improving access to language interpretation services.
Recovery from the coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) in two patients with coexisted (HIV) infection

COVID-19 has become a global health concern. HIV-infected patients are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 due to their immune-compromised status. The clinical manifestations and clinical outcomes of these patients are not clear. In this report, we presented two special COVID-19 patients with HIV infection and other comorbidities. We described the clinical characteristics, clinical manifestations, treatments and clinical outcomes of both patients. One patient with prior HIV-infection continued anti-HIV treatment when diagnosed with COVID-19. The other patient was newly diagnosed with HIV-infection when diagnosed with COVID-19 and had not begun anti-HIV treatment. Both patients were treated with anti-viral, antibiotics, oxygen treatment and supportive care and recovered from severe pneumonia. The experience of these two cases suggested that COVID-19 patients with HIV infection could still have satisfactory clinical outcomes following proper medical care. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The Post-COVID-19 Functional Status scale: a tool to measure functional status over time after COVID-19

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most attention has focused on containing transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and addressing the surge of critically ill patients in acute care settings. Indeed, as of 29 April 2020, over 3 million confirmed cases have been accounted for globally [1]. In the coming weeks and months, emphasis will gradually involve also post-acute care of COVID-19 survivors. It is anticipated that COVID-19 may have a major impact on physical, cognitive, mental and social health status, also in patients with mild disease presentation [2]. Previous outbreaks of coronaviruses have been associated with persistent pulmonary function impairment, muscle weakness, pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, vocational problems, and reduced quality of life to various degrees [3–5]. An ordinal tool is proposed to measure the full spectrum of functional outcomes following COVID-19. This “Post-COVID-19 Functional Status (PCFS) scale” can be used for tracking functional status over time as well as for research purposes. https://bit.ly/3cofGaa
eMental Health Literacy and Knowledge of Common Child Mental Health Disorders among Parents of Preschoolers

Abstract The purpose of the study was to assess the eMental health literacy of parents of preschool children and explore the relationships between their eMental health literacy skills and their knowledge of common child mental health disorders and their child difficulties. Online survey data were collected using Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Parents of preschool children completed questionnaires related to internet-based mental health information seeking behavior, knowledge of common child mental health disorders using case vignettes, and child difficulties. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. eMental health literacy of parents was high but knowledge of the child mental health disorders was low. Only 14% of parents correctly identified all three disorders; 41.1% identified attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 64.9% recognized autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and 19.1% identified separation anxiety disorder (SAD). Parents with high eMental health literacy (≥30) were more likely to endorse professional help and seek information on how to manage problem behaviors for all three disorders. Parents with low eMental health literacy (<30) were more likely to have a child with a high risk of a mental health disorder. The findings will be used to inform educational initiatives on the use of online resources and recognition of child mental health disorders to promote early intervention and appropriate help seeking.
Innovative Visualization and Quantification of Extracellular Vesicles Interaction with and Incorporation in Target Cells in 3D Microenvironments

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) showed therapeutic properties in several applications, many in regenerative medicine. A clear example is in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), where adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs)-EVs were able to promote regeneration and reduce inflammation in both synovia and cartilage. A still obscure issue is the effective ability of EVs to be internalized by target cells, rather than simply bound to the extracellular matrix (ECM) or plasma membrane, since the current detection or imaging technologies cannot fully decipher it due to technical limitations. In the present study, human articular chondrocytes (ACHs) and fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) isolated from the same OA patients were cocultured in 2D as well as in 3D conditions with fluorescently labeled ASC-EVs, and analyzed by flow cytometry or confocal microscopy, respectively. In contrast with conventional 2D, in 3D cultures, confocal microscopy allowed a clear detection of the tridimensional morphology of the cells and thus an accurate discrimination of EV interaction with the external and/or internal cell environment. In both 2D and 3D conditions, FLSs were more efficient in interacting with ASC-EVs and 3D imaging demonstrated a faster uptake process. The removal of the hyaluronic acid component from the ECM of both cell types reduced their interaction with ASC-EVs only in the 2D system, showing that 2D and 3D conditions can yield different outcomes when investigating events where ECM plays a key role. These results indicate that studying EVs binding and uptake both in 2D and 3D guarantees a more precise and complementary characterization of the molecular mechanisms involved in the process. The implementation of this strategy can become a valuable tool not only for basic research, but also for release assays and potency prediction for clinical EV batches.
Rape, Child Sexual Abuse, and Mental Health in a Brazilian National Sample

The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of self-reported rape and its associations with other forms of violence and mental health outcomes. The Brazilian National Alcohol and Drugs Survey is a probabilistic household survey that collected data from 4,283 Brazilians aged 14 years and older in 2012. The prevalence of rape was 2.3% (n = 107) and the majority (n = 81) of rapes were reported by women. Female gender increased the chances of rape (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.7, 4.3]). Adults aged 35 to 46 years (AOR = 2.0, 95% CI = [1.2, 4.4]) and being without religion (AOR = 2.2, 95% CI = [1.3, 3.8]) were also associated with increased chances of rape. Participants with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) were 16.5 times (95% CI = [10.1, 26.7]) more likely to report having been raped. Other outcomes related to been raped were history of child prostitution (AOR = 5.1, 95% CI = [2.1, 13.4]) and witnesses of violence during childhood (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI = [1.5, 3.8]). People without social support (AOR≅3, 95% CI = [1.8, 4.3]), victims of multiple recent negative events (AOR = 3.7, 95% CI = [2.4, 5.8]), people with depression (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI = [1.7, 3.9]), history of suicidal ideation (AOR = 3.8, 95% CI = [2.0, 7.1]), and history of suicide attempts (AOR = 2.2, 95% CI = [1.1, 4.3]) are other outcomes related to having been raped. In this sample, rape was related to gender and to other forms of violence and victimization. Self-reports of rape appear to underestimate the true prevalence as the figures obtained from the survey were low. Other methods should be used to investigate this issue.
Performance evaluation of first full‐scale primary filtration using a fine pore cloth media disk filter

Over the past 20 years, various new filter technologies have been developed that can be used to (a) enhance the performance of or (b) replace conventional primary treatment facilities. To enhance the performance of a primary sedimentation facility, primary effluent is filtered to further reduce the constituent concentrations discharged to the secondary treatment facilities. This form of primary enhancement is known as primary effluent filtration (PEF). In the second case, where some type of filter technology is used to replace primary sedimentation, the process application is known as primary filtration (PF). The principal focus of this paper is on the performance of the first full‐scale PF project using a fine pore cloth media disk filter to maximize the diversion of carbon for the production of energy and to reduce energy usage. Performance data from related pilot‐scale cloth disk primary filter (CDPF) systems are included for process verification. The removal performance for total suspended solids (TSS) from the three CDPF installations varied from 83% to 85%, as compared to 55%–60% typically achieved with primary sedimentation. The total overall TSS removal performance achieved with PF is essentially the same as that achieved with PEF, without the need for a primary sedimentation tank. The removal performance for five‐day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) from the three CDPF installations varied from 46% to 58%, as compared to 32%–38% BOD removal typically achieved with primary sedimentation. The full‐scale CDPF results reported in this paper are from an on‐going research and demonstration project, conducted for the California Energy Commission (CEC), to demonstrate the potential energy savings that can be achieved through the implementation of PF.
The Effect of Sodium Reduction by Sea Salt and Dry Sourdough Addition on the Wheat Flour Dough Rheological Properties

The aim of this research was to investigate a technological approach to decrease the sodium content from bakery products in order to respond to the World Health Organization (WHO)’s recommendation to reduce dietary salt intake. Due to the fact that sodium chloride is one of the main ingredients from baking products that affects dough rheology and therefore the technological process of the bakery products, it is important to evaluate these properties. This study analyzes the effect of sea salt with low sodium content (SS) and dry sourdough from wheat flour (SD) as substitutes for sodium chloride on dough rheological properties and on mixing, extension, pasting, and fermentation process by using Farinograph, Extensograph, Amylograph, Falling Number, and Rheofermentometer devices. The results were analyzed using response surface methodology. SS presented a strengthening effect on the gluten network whereas SD presented a weakening one. On extension properties, SS and SD presented a significant positive effect (p < 0.01) on resistance to extension (R50) and maximum resistance to extension (Rmax) values. For pasting properties, SS increased peak viscosity and falling number values whereas SD decreased them. On fermentation properties, SS decreased the maximum height of gaseous production and total CO2 volume production and increased the retention coefficient whereas SD presented an antagonistic effect on these parameters.
Momentary Physical Activity Co-Occurs with Healthy and Unhealthy Dietary Intake in African American College Freshmen

Background: Research investigating interrelations between physical activity and dietary intake has primarily used retrospective, summary-based measures of behavior subject to increased recall bias. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods with accelerometry to determine within-day, momentary associations between physical activity and dietary intake behaviors in African American college freshmen. Methods: Participants (N = 50) completed a dietary EMA protocol that assessed food/fluids consumed over the past 2 h at five random times per day and wore an activPAL accelerometer for 7 days to measure physical activity. Physical activity was operationalized as step counts in the 2 h prior to the EMA prompt (matching the EMA recall window). Results: On occasions when participants took more steps than was typical for them in the 2 h prior to the EMA prompt, they were more likely to consume sugar-sweetened beverages (OR = 1.37, p < 0.001), water (OR = 1.28, p < 0.001), fruit (OR = 1.44, p < 0.001), vegetables (OR = 1.19, p = 0.02), and fried fast food (OR = 1.21, p = 0.04) over that same time. Conclusion: Momentary physical activity co-occurred with momentary consumption of both healthy and unhealthy dietary intake. These behavioral interrelations suggest potential implications for obesity risk and multiple health behavior change interventions in young adult African Americans.
Challenges Experienced by Family Caregivers of the Adult Intensive Care Unit Patients in Korea: An Integrative Review

Consistent with global trends, population aging in South Korea is necessitating increasing admissions to intensive care units (ICU). This integrative review describes the challenges experienced by family caregivers of ICU patients in South Korea and evaluates relevant intervention studies. Using Whittemore and Knafl’s methods, we identify and synthesize findings from 20 (14 descriptive and 6 experimental design) articles and evaluate study quality. South Korean ICU family caregivers reported challenges such as feelings of powerlessness and vulnerability, difficulty in maintaining their own health and well-being, and mixed feelings regarding patients’ transition to the general ward. Intervention studies, which were based on quasi-experimental design, examined modified visiting hours, information provision strategies, nurse-led transitional care programs, and educational support. Findings highlight the current state of the science in this topic area in South Korea. Future studies should use more robust methods, such as longitudinal cohort studies and randomized controlled trials.
Blood eosinophils predict inhaled fluticasone response in bronchiectasis

The use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in patients with bronchiectasis is a matter of debate [1]. International registries report up to 42% of bronchiectasis patients receiving ICS, although several guidelines recommend their prescription only in the presence of specific comorbidities (e.g. allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA), asthma, COPD, and inflammatory bowel disease) or of eosinophilic inflammation [2, 3]. Assessment of eosinophil counts in sputum is not considered, to date, a standard of care. Blood eosinophils have been shown to be a predictor of ICS response in COPD and asthma [4, 5]. The identification of a specific population of bronchiectasis patients who might respond to ICS is key. Response to ICS can be measured in bronchiectasis patients evaluating not only the reduction of exacerbations but also the improvement of their quality of life (QoL). We hypothesised that bronchiectasis patients with a high blood eosinophil count can benefit from ICS in terms of a clinically meaningful improvement of QoL. 6-month treatment with inhaled fluticasone propionate significantly improved quality of life in bronchiectasis patients who show a blood eosinophil counts ≥3%. https://bit.ly/3fsn4na
Association between inflammatory bowel disease and prostate cancer: A large‐scale, prospective, population‐based study

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer. Recent reports suggesting IBD is also a risk factor for prostate cancer (PC) require further investigation. We studied 218 084 men in the population‐based UK Biobank cohort, aged 40 to 69 at study entry between 2006 and 2010, with follow‐up through mid‐2015. We assessed the association between IBD and subsequent PC using multivariable Cox regression analyses, adjusting for age at assessment, ethnic group, UK region, smoking status, alcohol drinking frequency, body mass index, Townsend Deprivation Index, family history of PC and previous prostate‐specific antigen testing. Mean age at study entry was 56 years, 94% of the men were white, and 1.1% (n = 2311) had a diagnosis of IBD. After a median follow‐up of 78 months, men with IBD had an increased risk of PC (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03‐1.67, P = .029). The association with PC was only among men with the ulcerative colitis (UC; aHR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.11‐1.95, P = .0070), and not Crohn's disease (aHR 1.06, 95% CI = 0.63‐1.80, P = .82). Results are limited by lack of data on frequency of health care interactions. In a large‐scale, prospective cohort study, we detected an association between IBD, and UC specifically, with incident PC diagnosis.
Ticagrelor Prevents Endothelial Cell Apoptosis through the Adenosine Signalling Pathway in the Early Stages of Hypoxia

Background: Several studies have reported the beneficial effects of anti-platelet drugs in cardioprotection against ischaemia–reperfusion injuries. To date, no studies have focused on the indirect cytoprotective effects of ticagrelor via adenosine receptor on the endothelium. Method: By evaluating cell viability and cleaved caspase 3 expression, we validated a model of endothelial cell apoptosis induced by hypoxia. In hypoxic endothelial cells treated with ticagrelor, we quantified the extracellular concentration of adenosine, and then we studied the involvement of adenosine pathways in the cytoprotective effect of ticagrelor. Results: Our results showed that 10 µM ticagrelor induced an anti-apoptotic effect in our model associated with an increase of extracellular adenosine concentration. Similar experiments were conducted with cangrelor but did not demonstrate an anti-apoptotic effect. We also found that A2B and A3 adenosine receptors were involved in the anti-apoptotic effect of ticagrelor in endothelial cells exposed to 2 h of hypoxia stress. Conclusion: we described an endothelial cytoprotective mechanism of ticagrelor against hypoxia stress, independent of blood elements. We highlighted a mechanism triggered mainly by the increased extracellular bioavailability of adenosine, which activates A2B and A3 receptors on the endothelium.