Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing a Diet and Physical Activity Intervention for Hispanic/Latina Breast Cancer Survivors

Objectives There is limited guidance on how to effectively educate cancer survivors to adopt and maintain specific diet and physical activity recommendations, especially among underserved and under-resourced populations. Here, the objective is to present the development of a behavioral and theoretically-based multi-modal diet and physical activity intervention program for Hispanic/Latina breast cancer survivors, Mi Vida Saludable (My Healthy Life). Methods The development process was based on the 6 steps of the Nutrition Education DESIGN Procedure: (1). Decide behaviors; (2). Explore determinants; (3). Select theory-based model; (4). Indicate objectives; (5). Generate plans; and (6). Nail down evaluation. The theoretical framework for the intervention is Social Cognitive Theory. Results The resulting behavioral intervention consists of 2 components. The first component is in-person group education consisting of 4 lessons over 1 month. Each 4-hour group lesson includes a hands-on cooking component, a physical activity component, and facilitator-led nutrition education and discussion, with 2 field trips to a local grocery store and farmers’ market. The second component is an e-Health program that includes weekly text messages, biweekly emailed newsletters, and ongoing website access. Conclusion The systematic DESIGN Procedure provided practical guidance for developing a behaviorally-focused, theory-based, and culturally sensitive program that addresses both dietary and physical activity behaviors for delivery both in-person education and through eHealth. The Procedure may be useful for developing other behaviorally focused and theory-based interventions.
(Dis‐)Connected Dots in Dementia with Lewy Bodies—A Systematic Review of Connectivity Studies

Studies on dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) have mainly focused on the degeneration of distinct cortical and subcortical regions related to the deposition of Lewy bodies. In view of the proposed trans‐synaptic spread of the α‐synuclein pathology, investigating the disease only in this segregated fashion would be detrimental to our understanding of its progression. In this systematic review, we summarize findings on structural and functional brain connectivity in DLB, as connectivity measures may offer better insights on how the brain is affected by the spread of the pathology. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched Web of Science, PubMed, and SCOPUS for relevant articles published up to November 1, 2021. Of 1215 identified records, we selected and systematically reviewed 53 articles that compared connectivity features between patients with DLB and healthy controls. Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, single‐positron emission computer tomography, and electroencephalography assessments of patients revealed widespread abnormalities within and across brain networks in DLB. Frontoparietal, default mode, and visual networks and their connections to other brain regions featured the most consistent disruptions, which were also associated with core clinical features and cognitive impairments. Furthermore, graph theoretical measures revealed disease‐related decreases in local and global network efficiency. This systematic review shows that structural and functional connectivity characteristics in DLB may be particularly valuable at early stages, before overt brain atrophy can be observed. This knowledge may help improve the diagnosis and prognosis in DLB as well as pinpoint targets for future disease‐modifying treatments. © 2022 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
Computationally Efficient Simulation of Calcium Signaling in Cardiomyocytes

The objective of this paper is to develop a computationally efficient simulation model of Calcium signalling in cardiomyocytes. The model considered here consists of more than two million stiff, nonlinear, and stochastic systems, each of which is composed of 62 state equations. The size of the model, combined with the broad numerical scale, non-continuous stochastic state-transitions, and underlying physiological constraints, presents a significant implementation challenge. The method involves development of specialised algorithms for parallelisation, which include fully-implicit Runge-Kutta integration with both L-stability and step-size control, Newton's root finding method with exception handling, and Conjugate Residual Squared for solving linear systems not of full-rank within available computational precision. Parallelisation of the problem across the systems is employed to allow for practical scaling with computing resources. The results produce sparks and waves akin to those observed in actual laboratory experiments within an acceptable timeframe. Performance measures of the simulation model with respect to accuracy and computation time are also given. The conclusion is that the methodologies utilised in this work are can simulate cardiomyocyte's calcium signalling in a computationally efficient manner with the results produced replicating those in the laboratory. The significance of this paper is that computational models such as the one developed here provide a way to simulate and understand the complex biological interactions operating in organisms. Accurate simulations are extremely computationally intensive and this pursuit is considered as the grand challenge for computational science into the 21st century.
Using primary care data to assess comparative effectiveness and safety of apixaban and rivaroxaban in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation in the UK: an observational cohort study

Objective To compare real-world effectiveness and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AFib) for prevention of stroke. Study design and setting A comparative cohort study in UK general practice data from The Health Improvement Network database. Participants and interventions Before matching, 5655 patients ≥18 years with nonvalvular AFib who initiated at least one DOAC between 1 July 2014 and 31 December 2020 were included. DOACs of interest included apixaban, rivaroxaban, edoxaban and dabigatran, with the primary comparison between apixaban and rivaroxaban. Initiators of DOACs were defined as new users with no record of prescription for any DOAC during 12 months before index date. Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome was stroke (ischaemic or haemorrhagic). Secondary outcomes included the occurrence of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), transient ischaemic attacks (TIA), major bleeding events and a composite angina/MI/stroke (AMS) endpoint. Results Compared with rivaroxaban, patients initiating apixaban showed similar rates of stroke (HR: 0.93; 95% CI 0.64 to 1.34), all-cause mortality (HR: 1.03; 95% CI 0.87 to 1.22), MI (HR: 0.95; 95% CI 0.54 to 1.68), TIA (HR: 1.03; 95% CI 0.61 to 1.72) and AMS (HR: 0.96; 95% CI 0.72 to 1.27). Apixaban initiators showed lower rates of major bleeding events (HR: 0.60; 95% CI 0.47 to 0.75). Conclusions Among patients with nonvalvular AFib, apixaban was as effective as rivaroxaban in reducing rate of stroke and safer in terms of major bleeding episodes. This head-to-head comparison supports conclusions drawn from indirect comparisons of DOAC trials against warfarin and demonstrates the potential for real-world evidence to fill evidence gaps and reduce uncertainty in both health technology assessment decision-making and clinical guideline development.
Genotoxicity mechanism of food preservative propionic acid in the in vivo Drosophila model: gut damage, oxidative stress, cellular immune response and DNA damage

Abstract Propionic acid is a short-chain fatty acid that is the main fermentation product of the enteric microbiome. It is found naturally and added to foods as a preservative and evaluated by health authorities as safe for use in foods. However, propionic acid has been reported in the literature to be associated with both health and disease. The purpose of this work is to better understand how propionic acid affects Drosophila melanogaster by examining some of the effects of this compound on the D. melanogaster hemocytes. D. melanogaster was chosen as a suitable in vivo model to detect potential risks of propionic acid (at five concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 10 mM) used as a food preservative. Toxicity, cellular immune response, intracellular oxidative stress (reactive oxygen species, ROS), gut damage, and DNA damage (via Comet assay) were the end-points evaluated. Significant genotoxic effects were detected in selected cell targets in a concentration dependent manner, especially at two highest concentrations (5 and 10 mM) of propionic acid. This study is the first study reporting genotoxicity data in the hemocytes of Drosophila larvae, emphasizing the importance of D. melanogaster as a model organism in investigating the different biological effects caused by the ingested food preservative product.
Scalar Curvature and the Einstein Constraint Equations

We survey some results on scalar curvature and properties of solutions to the Einstein constraint equations. Topics include an extended discussion of asymptotically flat solutions to the constraint equations, including recent results on the geometry of the center of mass of such solutions. We also review methods to construct solutions to the constraint equations, including the conformal method, as well as gluing techniques for which it is important to understand both conformal and non-conformal deformations of the scalar curvature.
Neuronal activity patterns in microcircuits of the cerebellar cortical C3 zone during reaching

The cerebellum is the largest sensorimotor structure in the brain. A fundamental organizational feature of its cortex is its division into a series of rostrocaudally elongated zones. These are defined by their inputs from specific parts of the inferior olive and Purkinje cell output to specific cerebellar and vestibular nuclei. However, little is known about how patterns of neuronal activity in zones, and their microcircuit subdivisions, microzones, are related to behaviour in awake animals. In the present study, we investigated the organization of microzones within the C3 zone and their activity during a skilled forelimb reaching task in cats. Neurons in different microzones of the C3 zone, functionally determined by receptive field characteristics, differed in their patterns of activity during movement. Groups of Purkinje cells belonging to different receptive field classes, and therefore belonging to different microzones, were found to collectively encode different aspects of the reach controlled by the C3 zone. Our results support the hypothesis that the cerebellar C3 zone is organized and operates within a microzonal frame of reference, with a specific relationship between the sensory input to each microzone and its motor output.
Evaluation of the Regulatory Role of Circadian Rhythm Related Long Non-Coding RNAs in ADHD Etiogenesis

Objective: ADHD is associated with increased sleep problems and circadian rhythm disturbances. This study aimed to examine ADHD patients and healthy controls in terms of chronotypic features and expression levels of CLOCK, PER1, lncRNA HULC, lncRNA UCA1. Method: Eighty-three children were included (43 ADHD). Conner’s Parent Rating Scale-Revised Short Form, Childhood Chronotype Questionnaire, Children’s Sleep Disorders Scale were administered. Gene expression levels were studied from peripheral blood. Results: Evening chronotype, sleep initiation/maintenance disorder, sleep-wake transition disorder, excessive sleepiness disorder were higher in the ADHD group compared to the controls in the scales reported by the parents. Expression levels of all examined genes were statistically significantly higher in the ADHD group. There was no significant relationship between genes and sleep parameters in the ADHD group. Conclusion: Our study provides the first evidence that lncRNA HULC and lncRNA UCA1 might have a role in the etiology of ADHD.
Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty and Pandemic Uncertainty on International Tourism: What do We Learn From COVID-19?

Uncertainty is an overarching aspect of life that is particularly pertinent to the present COVID-19 pandemic crisis; as seen by the pandemic’s rapid worldwide spread, the nature and level of uncertainty have possibly increased due to the possible disconnects across national borders. The entire economy, especially the tourism industry, has been dramatically impacted by COVID-19. In the current study, we explore the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and pandemic uncertainty (PU) on inbound international tourism by using data gathered from Italy, Spain, and the United States for the years 1995–2021. Using the Quantile on Quantile (QQ) approach, the study confirms that EPU and PU negatively affected inbound tourism in all states. Wavelet-based Granger causality further reveals bi-directional causality running from EPU to inbound tourism and unidirectional causality from PU to inbound tourism in the long run. The overall findings show that COVID-19 has had a strong negative effect on tourism. So resilient skills are required to restore a sustainable tourism industry.
Oxidation state-specific fluorescent copper sensors reveal oncogene-driven redox changes that regulate labile copper(II) pools

Significance Copper sustains fundamental chemical processes across all kingdoms of life by cycling between two major oxidation states, Cu(I) and Cu(II). However, in contrast to advances in fluorescent sensors and related probes to help decipher Cu(I) biology, Cu(II) detection remains lacking. We present a strategy using metal-directed acyl imidazole chemistry to enable both metal and oxidation state-specific Cu(II) detection by a tandem activity-based sensing/labeling reaction. We use this platform to identify the existence of loosely bound, labile Cu(II) pools, a Cu(II) import protein in cells, and reciprocal Cu(II) elevations and Cu(I) deficiencies driven by a loss of antioxidant defense in cellular models of cancer.
Effects of Surface Pretreatments on Bond Strength and Morphology of Aprismatic Enamel.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of different pretreatment protocols and adhesives on the shear bond strength and surface morphology of aprismatic enamel. MATERIALS AND METHODS Human maxillary incisors (N = 120) were assigned to five different groups according to pretreatment: 1) no treatment; 2) glycine; 3) sodium bicarbonate; 4) Al2O3 and 5) extra-fine bur. Then the teeth were divided into three subgroups, according to the adhesive applied: 3-step etch-and-rinse (ER), universal adhesive in ER mode, and universal adhesive in self-etch (SE) mode. Shear bond strength (SBS) testing was performed with a universal testing machine. For SEM observation, fifteen human molars were collected and analyzed after pretreatment with/without etching with 37% H3PO4 for 30s. RESULTS Al2O3 showed higher SBS than all other groups considered. Comparable SBS values were obtained for other pretreatments. Universal adhesive in E&R mode performed better than did 3-step E&R and universal adhesive in SE mode. SEM images showed visible differences in enamel surface roughness. CONCLUSIONS Airborne-particle abrasion with Al2O3 followed by etching with H3PO4 increased SBS on aprismatic enamel. The combination of airborne-particle abrasion with alumina powder followed by 15 s of H3PO4 etching and application of a universal adhesive in E&R mode proved to be the most effective adhesive protocol.
Neural representational geometry underlies few-shot concept learning

Significance Humans have an extraordinary ability to learn new concepts from just a few examples, but the cognitive mechanism behind this ability remains mysterious. A long line of work in systems neuroscience has revealed that familiar concepts can be discriminated by the patterns of activity they elicit across neurons in higher-order cortical layers. How might downstream brain areas use this same neural code to learn new concepts? Here, we show that this ability is governed by key geometric properties of the neural code. We find that these geometric quantities undergo orchestrated transformations along the primate visual pathway and along artificial neural networks, so that in higher-order layers, a simple plasticity rule may allow novel concepts to be learned from few examples.
Socioeconomic inequalities in molecular risk for chronic diseases observed in young adulthood

Significance The analysis of gene expression in peripheral whole blood of US young adults in their late 30s revealed socioeconomic status-based inequalities in the molecular underpinnings of the most common chronic conditions of aging. Associations involved immune, inflammatory, ribosomal, and metabolic pathways, and extra- and intra-cellular signaling. Body mass index was a plausible, sizable mediator of many associations. Results point to new ways of thinking about how social inequalities “get under the skin” and also call for renewed efforts to prevent chronic conditions of aging decades before diagnoses.
Critical illness associated new onset atrial fibrillation: subsequent atrial fibrillation diagnoses and other adverse outcomes

Abstract Aims Amongst patients with critical illness associated new onset AF (CI-NOAF), the risk of subsequent atrial fibrillation (AF) diagnoses and other adverse outcomes is unknown, and the role for long-term anticoagulation is unclear. This study sought to determine the factors associated with subsequent AF diagnoses and other adverse outcomes in this cohort. Methods and results Admissions to a tertiary general intensive care unit (ICU) between December 2015 and September 2018 were screened for AF episodes through hourly analysis of continuous ECG monitoring. Patients with a prior history of AF were excluded. AF burden was defined as the percentage of monitored ICU hours in AF. The primary endpoint was subsequent AF diagnoses, as collated from the statewide electronic medical records. Secondary endpoints included mortality, embolic events, MACE and subsequent anticoagulation. Results Of 7030 admissions with 509 303 h of monitoring data, 309 patients with CI-NOAF were identified, and 235 survived to discharge. Subsequent AF diagnoses were identified in 75 (31.9%) patients after a median of 413 days. Increased AF burden had the strongest independent association with AF recurrence (OR = 15.03, P = 0.002), followed by increased left atrial area (OR = 1.12, P = 0.01). Only 128 (54.5%) patients had their AF diagnosis acknowledged at ICU discharge, and 50 (21.3%) received anticoagulation at hospital discharge. Conclusion CI-NOAF is often under-recognized, and subsequent AF diagnoses are common post-discharge. AF burden during ICU admission has a strong independent association with subsequent AF diagnoses. Left atrial size is also independently associated with subsequent AF.
Functional traits mediate individualistic species‐environment distributions at broad spatial scales while fine‐scale species associations remain unpredictable

Abstract Premise Numerous processes influence plant distributions and co‐occurrence patterns, including ecological sorting, limiting similarity, and stochastic effects. To discriminate among these processes and determine the spatial scales at which they operate, we investigated how functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness influence the distribution of temperate forest herbs. Methods We surveyed understory plant communities across 257 forest stands in Wisconsin and Michigan (USA) and applied Bayesian phylogenetic linear mixed‐effects models (PGLMMs) to quantify how functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness influence the environmental distribution of 139 herbaceous plant species along broad edaphic, climatic, and light gradients. These models also allowed us to test how functional and phylogenetic similarity affect species co‐occurrence within microsites. Results Leaf height, specific leaf area, and seed mass all influenced individualistic plant distributions along landscape‐scale gradients in soil texture, soil fertility, light availability, and climate. In contrast, phylogenetic relationships did not consistently predict species‐environment relationships. Neither functionally similar nor phylogenetically related herbs segregated among microsites within forest stands. Conclusions Trait‐mediated ecological sorting appears to drive temperate‐forest community assembly, generating individualistic plant distributions along regional environmental gradients. This finding links classic studies in plant ecology and prior research in plant physiological ecology to current trait‐based approaches in community ecology. However, our results fail to support the common assumption that limiting similarity governs local plant co‐occurrences. Strong ecological sorting among forest stands coupled with stochastic fine‐scale interactions among species appear to weaken deterministic, niche‐based assembly processes at local scales.
Community Health Workers as Patient-Site Facilitators in Adult Hearing Aid Services via Synchronous Teleaudiology: Feasibility Results from the Conexiones Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of Community Health Workers (CHWs) as patient-site facilitators in teleaudiology-facilitated hearing aid services to improve hearing aid rehabilitation outcomes for older Hispanic/Latino adults in a medically underserved, rural, US-Mexico border community. Design: A total of 28 adults (aged 55 to 89) with bilateral hearing loss participated in this study. Individuals were randomized to one of two teleaudiology intervention arms that differed at the level of the patient-site facilitator. Participants in the experimental group were assisted locally by trained CHW facilitators. Participants in the control group were assisted locally by trained university student facilitators. Synchronous (real-time) teleaudiology hearing aid services took place with participants located at a rural community health center and the clinician located a university 70 miles away. The results of this feasibility study are presented within the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation fidelity, and maintenance implementation framework. Results: Regarding reach, the participants in this study population are historically under-represented in research (primarily low-income Hispanic/Latino older adults). A total of 57 individuals were recruited, 47 were consented and assessed for eligibility and 28 individuals met inclusion criteria and were randomized. The average age of participants was 73.9 years, (range: 55 to 89 years) and most individuals were female (75%). Most participants (86%) reported having incomes less than $20,000 annually. Effectiveness results (via the Self Efficacy for Situational Communication Management Questionnaire) showed that both groups (CHW and control) significantly improved listening self-efficacy from pre-fitting baseline and no difference between groups was observed. Regarding datalogging, at the short-term follow-up, participants in the CHW group wore their hearing aids for more hours/day on average compared with participants in the control group. Implementation fidelity was high for both groups. Long-term maintenance of CHW-supported teleaudiology appears feasible given that training and institutional support is in place. Conclusions: Teleaudiology-delivered hearing aid services were feasible when facilitated locally by trained CHWs. Future efficacy and effectiveness research is warranted with CHWs and teleaudiology, potentially leading to a significant reduction in barriers for rural and medically under-resourced communities.