Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NOVEL ANTIFREEZE PROTEIN CONSTRUCTS FOR IMPROVED ACTIVITY

Many organisms are exposed to subzero temperatures in nature and can survive these temperatures by the effect of antifreeze proteins (AFPs), which inhibit ice crystal growth and change the morphology of ice crystals. Although the effects of these proteins, such as recrystallization inhibition, ice growth inhibition, and crystal habit changes, are known, a conclusive description of the protein-ice crystal interaction including interaction energy, surface coverage, and lifetime of adsorbate has been elusive. In this study, different antifreeze protein constructs are designed and expressed such that they can be conjugated to polymers to increase the thermal hysteresis activity especially at low concentrations. Trimers of these proteins are also constructed using a foldon domain attached to their C-terminus. New constructs of type I and type III antifreeze proteins yield significantly higher thermal hysteresis activities than the native protein. Furthermore, we determine the binding equilibrium constant for a type III fish antifreeze protein and the relationship between thermal hysteresis and surface coverage for this protein. This is possible using experimental data from a two-domain antifreeze protein and its related single domain protein. The classical Langmuir isotherm is used to
Predictors of Intent to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccination Among the Population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Survey Study

Background The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant economic and social impact on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study explored various factors influencing the COVID-19 vaccination intention and the applicability of the health belief model (HBM) to explore vaccination intention among the population of Saudi Arabia. Methods This is an online survey conducted between January 6, 2021, and January 19, 2021, using a GoogleTM form questionnaire among Saudi population. The questionnaire aimed to assess the factors that influence the intent to receive the vaccine, by evaluating demographic details, COVID-19 experience and health self-assessment, acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination and preferences and health belief regarding COVID-19 illness and vaccination. Results The survey generated a total of 1333 responses from all over the 13 provinces of the Kingdom. The participants had mixed perceptions regarding the susceptibility and severity of COVID-19. A total of 959 (71.9%) subjects responded positively to COVID-19 vaccine intent. Those with >15,000 SR per month income, no past exposure to COVID-19, and comorbidities reported significantly higher intention to take vaccination (p<0.05). Among the HBM variables, the perceived susceptibility construct (OR=3.82, 95% CI 1.64–8.94) and perceived benefit construct (OR=7.59, CI 1.65–34.86) were important facilitators for a definite intention to vaccinate. The perceived barriers construct (safety [OR= 0.062, CI 0.03–0.15]; side effects of the vaccine [OR=0.31, CI 0.13–0.75]) and cues to action construct (OR=0.32, CI 0.13–0.77) were the significant factors hindering the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine. However, the perceived severity construct did not play an important role in predicting definite intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the Saudi population. Conclusion The study has important implications for promoting COVID-19 vaccination uptake among the population of Saudi Arabia.
Detraining Effects on Muscle Quality in Older Men with Osteosarcopenia. Follow-Up of the Randomized Controlled Franconian Osteopenia and Sarcopenia Trial (FrOST)

The present study aimed to determine the effect of detraining on muscle quality (MQ) in older men with osteosarcopenia. Forty-three community-dwelling older men (78 ± 4 years) were randomly allocated to a consistently supervised high-intensity resistance exercise training (HIRT) group (n = 21) or a control group (CG, n = 22). The HIRT scheduled a periodized single set protocol twice weekly. After the intervention, the men were subjected to six months of detraining. Muscle quality (MQ), defined as maximum isokinetic hip/leg extensor strength per unit of mid-thigh intra-fascia volume, was determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or per unit of thigh muscle mass assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Intention-to-treat analysis with multiple imputations was applied. We observed significant exercise effects for MQ (p = 0.001). During detraining, the HIRT group lost about one-third of the intervention-induced gain and displayed significantly (p = 0.001) higher MQ reductions compared to the CG. Nevertheless, after training and detraining, the overall intervention effect on MQ remained significant (p ≤ 0.004). In summary, six months of absence from HIRT induce a significant deleterious effect on MQ in older osteosarcopenic men. We conclude that intermitted training programs with training breaks of six months and longer should be replaced by largely continuous exercise programs, at least when addressing MQ parameters.
Comprehensive Profiling of Most Widely Used Spices for Their Phenolic Compounds through LC-ESI-QTOF-MS2 and Their Antioxidant Potential

Spices have long been used to improve food flavor, due to their appealing fragrance and sensory attributes. Nowadays, spices-based bioactives, particularly phenolic compounds, have gained attention due to their wide range of significant effects in biological systems. The present study was conducted to characterize the 12 widely used spices (allspice, black cardamom, black cumin, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cumin, fennel, nutmeg, star-anise, and turmeric) for their phenolics with the liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QTOF-MS2), polyphenols estimation, and their antioxidant potential. Total phenolics, total flavonoids, and total tannin content and their antioxidant activities were estimated in all spices. Clove and allspice had the highest value of total polyphenol content (215.14 and 40.49 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per g of sample), while clove and turmeric had the highest total flavonoids (5.59 mg quercetin equivalent (QE) per g of sample) and total tannin contents (23.58 mg catechin equivalent (CE) per g of sample), respectively. On the other hand, black cumin and black pepper had the highest phosphomolybdate activity (15.61 and 15.43 mg ascorbic acid equivalent (AAE) per g of sample), while clove was almost identified with highest free radical scavenging capacity. A positive correlation was observed among phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities. In this quest, a total of 79 phenolic compounds were tentatively characterized by using LC-ESI-QTOF-MS2 including 26 phenolic acids, 33 flavonoids, 16 other polyphenols, and 4 lignans. The high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detector (HPLC-PDA) quantification of phenolic compounds exhibited higher phenolic acids. These results provided us some valuable information that spices have powerful antioxidant potential that can be further used in human food and animal feed as a supplement for different health promoting applications.
Obesity Development and Signs of Metabolic Abnormalities in Young Göttingen Minipigs Consuming Energy Dense Diets Varying in Carbohydrate Quality

Consumption of fructose has been associated with a higher risk of developing obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to examine the long-term effects of fructose compared to starch from high-amylose maize starch (HiMaize) at ad libitum feeding in a juvenile Göttingen Minipig model with 20% of the diet provided as fructose as a high-risk diet (HR, n = 15) and 20% as HiMaize as a lower-risk control diet (LR, n = 15). The intake of metabolizable energy was on average similar (p = 0.11) among diets despite increased levels of the satiety hormone PYY measured in plasma (p = 0.0005) of the LR pigs. However, after over 20 weeks of ad libitum feeding, no difference between diets was observed in daily weight gain (p = 0.103), and a difference in BW was observed only at the end of the experiment. The ad libitum feeding promoted an obese phenotype over time in both groups with increased plasma levels of glucose (p = 0.005), fructosamine (p < 0.001), insulin (p = 0.03), and HOMA-IR (p = 0.02), whereas the clinical markers of dyslipidemia were unaffected. When compared to the LR diet, fructose did not accelerate the progression of MetS associated parameters and largely failed to change markers that indicate a stimulated de novo lipogenesis.
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Amblyopia Among School Age Children at Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction Worldwide, amblyopia prevalence among children is in the range of 0.13% to 12.9%. However, there are no known community-based data regarding amblyopia prevalence and its associated factors among school age children in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of amblyopia and to identify factors associated with amblyopia among school age children in Bahir Dar city, northwest Ethiopia. Methods and Materials A cross-sectional study among a school age community of Bahir Dar city was conducted from April 1 to May 29, 2018. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire and checklist through interview and physical examination. Bivariable logistic regression was done, and variables with p value <0.2 were entered to multivariable logistic regression using SPSS 20. Variables with p value of <0.05 in the multivariable binary logistic regression were considered as significant predictors. Results In total 601 (94.8%) subjects participated. Amblyopia was prevalent in 6.5% of school age children in Bahir Dar city. The odds of being amblyopic among participants who had anisometropia >2D were about 9.3 times (AOR=9.35, CI: 2.86–30.60) more as compared to those who had no anisometropia. The odds of being amblyopic among participants having a refractive error >+5D hypermetropia were about 22 times (AOR=21.77, CI: 7.15–66.34) more as compared to participants who had no hypermetropia. Conclusion The prevalence of amblyopia among school age children at Bahir Dar city is higher than the World Health Organization cut point. Having anisometropia greater than 1 diopter, anisometropia >2 diopter, having anisometropia less than 1 diopter, having a history of strabismus, having a hyperopia of > +5 diopter, > +2 diopter, having a positive history of visual deprivation and having a positive history of strabismus in the family were the significant factors positively associated with amblyopia.
Antidiabetic, Antimicrobial, and Molecular Profiling of Selected Medicinal Plants

Natural products have been the center of attraction ever since they were discovered. Among them, plant-based natural products were popular as analgesics, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and cosmetics and possess widespread biotechnological applications. The use of plant products as cosmetics and therapeutics is deep-rooted in Nepalese society. Although there are few ethnobotanical studies conducted, extensive research of these valuable medicinal plants has not been a priority due to the limitation of technology and infrastructure. Here, we selected 4 traditionally used medicinal plants to examine their bioactive properties and their enzyme inhibition potential. α-Glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities were investigated using an in vitro model followed up by antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The present study shows that ethyl acetate fraction of Melastoma melabathrium (IC50 9.1 ± 0.3 µg/mL) and water fraction Acacia catechu (IC50 9.0 ± 0.6 µg/mL) exhibit strong α-glucosidase inhibition. Likewise, the highest α-amylase inhibition was shown by crude extracts of Ficus religiosa (IC50 29.2 ± 1.2 µg/mL) and ethyl acetate fractions of Shorea robusta (IC50 69.3 ± 1.1 µg/mL), and the highest radical scavenging activity was shown by F. religiosa with an IC50 67.4 ± 0.6 µg/mL. Furthermore, to identify the metabolites within the fractions, we employed high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and annotated 17 known metabolites which justify our assumption on activity. Of 4 medicinal plants examined, ethyl acetate fraction of S. robusta, ethyl acetate fraction of M. melabathrium, and water or ethyl acetate fraction of A. catechu extracts illustrated the best activities. With our study, we set up a foundation that provides authentic evidence to the community for use of these traditional plants. The annotated metabolites in this study support earlier experimental evidence towards the inhibition of enzymes. Further study is necessary to explore the clinical efficacy of these secondary molecules, which might be alternatives for the treatment of diabetes and pathogens.
Critical Assessment on Unmet Oral Health Needs and Oral Health-related Quality of Life Among Old Age Home Inhabitants in Karnataka, India

Purpose To critically assess the unmet oral health needs and oral health-related quality of life among old age home inhabitants in Karnataka, India. Methods A total of 96 older adults (males=32, 33.33%, females=64, 66.67%) aged 60 years and above, residing in old age homes were included in this cross-sectional study. The mean age of the participants included in the study was 69.25±7.99 years. Oral health status and dental needs were assessed using the Oral Hygiene Index Simplified (OHIS) and the WHO Oral Health Assessment forms. Oral health-related quality of life was evaluated by administrating the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) questionnaire through an interview format. Statistical Analysis The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17 was used. Descriptive statistics was tabulated for oral health status and GOHAI scores. Student’s t-test and ANOVA were applied to check the association of the GOHAI responses with the number of years of residence in old age homes, age groups, gender, and dentition status. Results The mean age of the participants included in the study was 69.25±7.99 years. Twenty-six (27.1%) participants reported diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Most of the participants 89 (91.7%) visited the dentist when they had dental complaints. Among the dentulous study population, the majority of the participants had untreated dental caries indicated for dental extraction and needed periodontal therapy. Amongst the participants, 68 (70.82%) required prosthetic rehabilitation. More than 10 years of residence in old aged homes, over 80 years of age, being female, and completely edentulous groups showed lower total GOHAI scores compared to their counterparts. Conclusion The majority of the participants showed unmet oral health needs and lower GOHAI scores indicating poor oral health-related quality of life.
Tweet Topics and Sentiments Relating to COVID-19 Vaccination Among Australian Twitter Users: Machine Learning Analysis

Background COVID-19 is one of the greatest threats to human beings in terms of health care, economy, and society in recent history. Up to this moment, there have been no signs of remission, and there is no proven effective cure. Vaccination is the primary biomedical preventive measure against the novel coronavirus. However, public bias or sentiments, as reflected on social media, may have a significant impact on the progression toward achieving herd immunity. Objective This study aimed to use machine learning methods to extract topics and sentiments relating to COVID-19 vaccination on Twitter. Methods We collected 31,100 English tweets containing COVID-19 vaccine–related keywords between January and October 2020 from Australian Twitter users. Specifically, we analyzed tweets by visualizing high-frequency word clouds and correlations between word tokens. We built a latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic model to identify commonly discussed topics in a large sample of tweets. We also performed sentiment analysis to understand the overall sentiments and emotions related to COVID-19 vaccination in Australia. Results Our analysis identified 3 LDA topics: (1) attitudes toward COVID-19 and its vaccination, (2) advocating infection control measures against COVID-19, and (3) misconceptions and complaints about COVID-19 control. Nearly two-thirds of the sentiments of all tweets expressed a positive public opinion about the COVID-19 vaccine; around one-third were negative. Among the 8 basic emotions, trust and anticipation were the two prominent positive emotions observed in the tweets, while fear was the top negative emotion. Conclusions Our findings indicate that some Twitter users in Australia supported infection control measures against COVID-19 and refuted misinformation. However, those who underestimated the risks and severity of COVID-19 may have rationalized their position on COVID-19 vaccination with conspiracy theories. We also noticed that the level of positive sentiment among the public may not be sufficient to increase vaccination coverage to a level high enough to achieve vaccination-induced herd immunity. Governments should explore public opinion and sentiments toward COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccination, and implement an effective vaccination promotion scheme in addition to supporting the development and clinical administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
Differential Alterations in Resting State Functional Connectivity Associated with Depressive Symptoms and Early Life Adversity

Depression and early life adversity (ELA) are associated with aberrant resting state functional connectivity (FC) of the default mode (DMN), salience (SN), and central executive networks (CEN). However, the specific and differential associations of depression and ELA with FC of these networks remain unclear. Applying a dimensional approach, here we analyzed associations of FC between major nodes of the DMN, SN, and CEN with severity of depressive symptoms and ELA defined as childhood abuse and neglect in a sample of 83 healthy and depressed subjects. Depressive symptoms were linked to increased FC within the SN and decreased FC of the SN with the DMN and CEN. Childhood abuse was associated with increased FC within the SN, whereas childhood neglect was associated with decreased FC within the SN and increased FC between the SN and the DMN. Our study thus provides evidence for differential associations of depressive symptoms and ELA with resting state FC and contributes to a clarification of previously contradictory findings. Specific FC abnormalities may underlie specific cognitive and emotional impairments. Future research should link specific clinical symptoms resulting from ELA to FC patterns thereby characterizing depression subtypes with specific neurobiological signatures.
Heterogeneity of Antibiotics Multidrug-Resistance Profile of Uropathogens in Romanian Population

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a leading cause of morbidity for both males and females. The overconsumption of antibiotics in general medicine, veterinary, or agriculture has led to a spike in drug-resistant microorganisms; obtaining standardized results is imposed by standard definitions for various categories of drug-resistant bacteria—such as multiple-drug resistant (MDR), extensive drug-resistant (XDR), and pan drug-resistant (PDR). This retrospective study conducted in three university teaching hospitals in Romania has analyzed urine probes from 15,231 patients, of which 698 (4.58%) presented multidrug-resistant strains. Escherichia coli was the leading uropathogen 283 (40.54%), presenting the highest resistance to quinolones (R = 72.08%) and penicillin (R = 66.78%) with the most important patterns of resistance for penicillin, sulfonamides, and quinolones (12.01%) and aminoglycosides, aztreonam, cephalosporins, and quinolones (9.89%). Klebsiella spp. followed—260 (37.24%) with the highest resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanate (R = 94.61%) and cephalosporins (R = 94.23%); the leading patterns were observed for aminoglycosides, aminopenicillins + β-lactams inhibitor, sulfonamides, and cephalosporins (12.69%) and aminoglycosides, aztreonam, cephalosporins, quinolones (9.23%). The insufficient research of MDR strains on the Romanian population is promoting these findings as an important tool for any clinician treating MDR-UTIs.
Sequential Antioxidants Foliar Application Can Alleviate Negative Consequences of Salinity Stress in Vicia faba L.

Salinity is one of the most limiting abiotic stresses in agricultural productivity. Exogenously applied antioxidants successfully enabled salt-stressed plants to cope with stress. Two-season field experiments were conducted consecutively in 2016/17 and 2017/18 to study the effects of foliar applications of singular (ascorbate, AsA; proline, Pro; and glutathione, GSH) or sequential (AsA-Pro-GSH and GSH-Pro-AsA) antioxidants on growth, yield, physio-biochemical attributes, and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidative defense system of Vicia faba L. (CV. Sakha-1) plants grown under saline soil conditions (EC = 4.53 dS m−1). Under soil salinity conditions, AsA, Pro, or GSH-Pro-ASA improved growth and productivity, photosynthesis efficiency, stomatal conductance (gs), plant water status, as well as enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. However, sequential AsA-Pro-GSH foliar application followed by singular GSH significantly exceeded all other treatments (i.e., AsA, Pro, and GSH-Pro-AsA), improving growth characteristics (shoot length, shoot fresh and dry weights, and leaves area), photosynthesis efficiency, stomatal conductance, plant water status, and yield and its components (green pods weight/plant−1, green pods yield/hectare−1, and seed yield/hectare−1), as well as enzymatic (ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione reductase) and non-enzymatic (AsA, GSH, Pro, phenolic aglycone, phenolic glycosides) antioxidants compared to control. Overall, our results clearly demonstrate that sequential AsA-Pro-GSH foliar application has a positive effect on salt-stressed Vicia faba plants.
Urolithiasis Develops Endothelial Dysfunction as a Clinical Feature

An increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity has been reported in lithiasic patients. In this context, endothelial dysfunction (ED), an earlier status of atherogenesis, has been identified in hyperoxaluria rat models of urolithiasis. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the endothelial vascular function in patients with urolithiasis in relation to systemic inflammatory, oxidative stress, and vascular function serum markers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed between 27 urolithiasic patients, matched for age and sex, with 27 healthy patients. Endothelial function was assessed by measuring flow-mediated dilation (Celermajer method). Fasting blood was collected to determine metabolic parameters (glucose and lipid profile), along with serum CRP, IL-6, MDA, ADMA, and VCAM-1. Results: Both the control and urolithiasis groups were homogenous in anthropometric, exploration, and general laboratory measures. Flow-mediated dilation (%FMD) was 11.85% (SE: 2.78) lower in the lithiasis group (p < 0.001). No significant differences were achieved between groups when CRP, IL-6, MDA, ADMA, and VCAM-1 were compared, although slightly higher values of CRP, ADMA, and VCAM-1 were detected in the lithiasic group. A correlation was not reached in any of the serum markers when they were related to flow-mediated values, although a slight negative correlation trend was observed in MDA, VCAM-1, and IL-6 values. Conclusions: Endothelial dysfunction constitutes an important disorder related to urolithiasis patients. It must be considered as an early feature responsible for future cardiovascular events. Our study did not find a significant association between inflammatory, oxidative stress, endothelial serum markers, and flow-mediated dilation.