Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fatalities related to intimate partner violence: towards a comprehensive perspective

Background In 2015, 1350 people in the US were killed by their current or former intimate partner. Intimate partner violence (IPV) can also fatally injure family members or friends, and IPV may be a risk factor for suicide. Without accounting for all these outcomes, policymakers, funders, researchers and public health practitioners may underestimate the role that IPV plays in violent death. Objective We sought to enumerate the total contribution of IPV to violent death. Currently, no data holistically report on this problem. Methods We used Violent Death Reporting System (VDRS) data to identify all IPV-related violent deaths in North Carolina, 2010–2017. These included intimate partner homicides, corollary deaths, homicide-suicides, single suicides and legal intervention deaths. We used the existing IPV variable in VDRS, linked deaths from the same incident and manually reviewed 2440 suicide narratives where intimate partner problems or stalking were a factor in the death. Results IPV contributes to more than 1 in 10 violent deaths (10.3%). This represents an age-adjusted rate of 1.97 per 100 000 persons. Of the IPV-related violent deaths we identified, 39.3% were victims of intimate partner homicide, 17.4% corollary victims, 11.4% suicides in a homicide-suicide event, 29.8% suicides in a suicide-only event and 2.0% legal intervention deaths. Implications If researchers only include intimate partner homicides, they may miss over 60% of IPV-related deaths. Our novel study shows the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to prevent IPV and decrease violent deaths. IPV is a risk factor for suicide as well as homicide.
Geographical isolation and morphological and habitat differentiation between birds of the Kimberley and the Northern Territory

Geographical barriers in the area of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, Victoria River and Daly River, have isolated populations of some birds in the Northern Territory from their vicariants in the Kimberley, Western Australia, thus allowing morphological divergence between them. These birds are adapted to wet-country habitats, sandstone ranges and tropical savanna woodland. Several stages of speciation are evident. At least four isolates in the Kimberley occupy different types of habitats compared with their vicariants in the Northern Territory.
When Culture Influences Genes: Positive Age Beliefs Amplify the Cognitive-Aging Benefit of APOE ϵ2.

OBJECTIVES Most studies of aging cognition have focused on risk factors for worse performance and on either genetic or environmental factors. In contrast, we examined whether two factors known to individually benefit aging cognition may interact to produce better cognition: environment-based positive age beliefs and the APOE ϵ2 gene. METHOD The sample consisted of 3,895 Health and Retirement Study participants who were 60 years or older at baseline and completed as many as 5 assessments of cognition over 8 years. RESULTS As predicted, positive age beliefs amplified the cognitive benefit of APOE ϵ2. In contrast, negative age beliefs suppressed the cognitive benefit of APOE ϵ2. We also found that positive age beliefs contributed nearly 15 times more than APOE ϵ2 to better cognition. DISCUSSION This study provides the first known evidence that self-perceptions can influence the impact of a gene on cognition. The results underscore the importance of combined psychosocial and biological approaches to understanding cognitive function in older adults.
Interleukin 23 is elevated in the serum of patients with SLE

Aim: Interleukin-23 (IL-23) is a cytokine that promotes the differentiation of T cells into pro-inflammatory Th17. We have previously shown that IL-23 is upregulated in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and lupus prone mice. As SLE is highly heterogeneous, we asked whether IL-23 production correlates with different manifestations of the disease. Methods: We recruited 56 subjects who fulfilled the ACR criteria for SLE. Interleukin-23 was measured in the serum by ELISA. Results: IL-23 levels were positively correlated with the overall SLE disease activity as measured with the SLEDAI. Moreover, IL-23 correlated with the skin, renal domains of SLEDAI and arthritis but not with cytopenias or serositis. IL-23 did also correlate with anti-dsDNA antibody positivity and inversely correlated with C3 levels. We found no relationship between patients’ demographics, prior disease manifestations, medications, or autoantibody profile and IL-23 levels. No immunomodulatory medication seemed to be affecting IL-23 levels suggesting that current medications used in SLE are not as effective in shutting down the IL-23/IL-17 axis. Conclusions: IL-23 levels track SLE disease activity mostly in the renal, skin and musculoskeletal domains. Our data suggest that IL-23 inhibitors may be helpful in combination with current standard of care in alleviating arthritis, renal and cutaneous manifestations of the disease.
[Update on Recommendations for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 During Pregnancy, Birth and Childbed].

With begin of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic the german obstetric, peri-/neonatological and pediatric professional societies published recommendations for care of pregnant and newborn, as well as for necessary staff protection in March 2020 [1-3]. Because of the rapid emerging increase of knowledge an update is required. This work therefore perceives as prosecution of the existing recommendations [1-3]. Worldwide national recommendations were recently compared and published in a consensual review [4]. In methodological dependence this update of recommendations comments on key questions of pre-, peri- and postnatal care at SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, based on publications up to 30.05. 2020. Statements represent a carefully concerned expert consensus and can change contemporary as new knowledge appears.The responsibility for concrete management remains at the local medical team, decisions should be supported by these recommendations.
Three-dimensional assessment of alveolar bone thickness in individuals with nonsyndromic unilateral complete cleft lip and palate

Background: Patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) present with thin alveolar bone around the defect. Thin alveolar bone compromises orthodontic treatment. The aim of this study was to carry out three-dimensional (3D) assessment of the thickness of alveolar bone around the teeth adjacent to cleft and to compare the thickness of alveolar bone between cleft and noncleft side. Materials and Methods: Retrospective database of 16 cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans of individuals with nonsyndromic unilateral complete CLP reported to two cleft centers in the year 2015 and 2016. Alveolar bone thickness of the teeth anterior and posterior to the cleft side in the buccal, lingual, mesial, and distal at three levels (3 mm, 6 mm, and 1 mm below the apex) from the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) using Dolphin 3D imaging software were measured. CBCT images of each cleft patient are divided into two groups, cleft and noncleft site. Each cleft side is subdivided into 1. Tooth anterior to the cleft 2. Tooth posterior to the cleft. Alveolar bone thickness of teeth at labial/buccal, palatal, and mesial/distal surfaces was measured. These subdivided groups were compared to contralateral teeth on the noncleft sites for individual surface. Statistical Analysis Used: Wilcoxon signed-ranks test and descriptive statistics were used. Results: The average alveolar bone thickness on the labial surface for teeth anterior to the cleft at 3 mm from CEJ is 0.15 (0, 0.80) mm and noncleft site is 0.85 (0.58, 1.28) mm (P < 0.05). The average alveolar bone thickness on the distal surface for teeth anterior to the cleft at 3 mm from CEJ is 0.90 (0.00, 1.65) mm and noncleft site is 1.11 (1.23, 3.60) mm (P < 0.05). The average alveolar bone thickness on the mesial surface for teeth posterior to the cleft at 3 mm from CEJ is 1.10 (0108, 1.38) mm and noncleft site is 1.45 (1.23, 1.98) mm (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The alveolar bone around the cleft sites is thin when compared with noncleft sites.
COVID-19 & Chronic Renal Disease: Clinical characteristics & prognosis

Abstract Background Patients on dialysis were susceptible to COVID-19 and were prone to severe clinical characteristics after infection; acute kidney injury was related to mortality in COVID-19 cases. Limited is known about the characteristics of COVID-19 patients with end-stage renal disease not requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT). Aim Evaluate clinical characteristics, course and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who did not require RRT and those on dialysis. Design A two-center retrospective study. Methods 836 adult patients with COVID-19 (24 CKD not on dialysis; 15 dialysis-dependent CKD) were included. The study includes no patients with renal transplantation. Risk factors were explored. Results CKD not requiring RRT is an independent risk factor for in-hospital death [adjusted OR (aOR) 7.35 (95%CI 2.41-22.44)] and poor prognosis [aOR 3.01 (95%CI 1.23-7.33)]. Compared to COVID-19 cases without CKD, those with CKD not requiring RRT showed similar percentage of initial moderate cases (75.00% vs. 73.65%) but higher incidence of in-hospital neutrophilia (50.00% vs. 27.30%) or death (50.00% vs. 9.03%). The odds ratio of dialysis associated to mortality in CKD patients was 2.00 (95%CI 0.52-7.63), suggesting COVID-19 patients with dialysis-dependent CKD were at greater risk of in-hospital death. For COVID-19 patients with CKD not requiring RRT, statins reduced the risk of neutrophilia [OR 0.10 (95%CI 0.01-0.69)] while diuretics increased the risk of neutrophilia [OR 15.4 (95%CI 1.47-160.97)], although both showed no association to mortality. Conclusion COVID-19 patients with CKD presented high incidence of neutrophilia, poor prognosis and in-hospital death, with dialysis patients being more vulnerable.
Subject-Independent Emotion Recognition of EEG Signals Based on Dynamic Empirical Convolutional Neural Network

Affective computing is one of the key technologies to achieve advanced brain-machine interfacing. It is increasingly concerning research orientation in the field of artificial intelligence. Emotion recognition is closely related to affective computing. Although emotion recognition based on electroencephalogram (EEG) has attracted more and more attention at home and abroad, subject-independent emotion recognition still faces enormous challenges. We proposed a subject-independent emotion recognition algorithm based on dynamic empirical convolutional neural network (DECNN) in view of the challenges. Combining the advantages of empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and differential entropy (DE), we proposed a dynamic differential entropy (DDE) algorithm to extract the features of EEG signals. After that, the extracted DDE features were classified by convolutional neural networks (CNN). Finally, the proposed algorithm is verified on SJTU Emotion EEG Dataset (SEED). In addition, we discuss the brain area closely related to emotion and design the best profile of electrode placements to reduce the calculation and complexity. Experimental results show that the accuracy of this algorithm is 3.53 percent higher than that of the state-of-the-art emotion recognition methods. What's more, we studied the key electrodes for EEG emotion recognition, which is of guiding significance for the development of wearable EEG devices.
Interventions to reduce dehydration related to defunctioning loop ileostomy after low anterior resection in rectal cancer: a prospective cohort study

Defunctioning loop ileostomy (DLI) in low anterior resection (LAR) in rectal cancer patients reduces the morbidity of anastomotic leakages. In our previous study, 30% of patients developed dehydration due to DLI, mostly during the first 6 weeks. This interventional study aimed to reduce these figures by establishing a surveillance programme.
Effects of the first month of lockdown for COVID-19 in Italy: A preliminary analysis on the eyecare system from six centers

Purpose: To compare the number of eye surgical procedures performed in Italy during the first month of lockdown with those performed in the same period in 2019. Methods: Review of the surgical procedures performed from 10 March to 9 April 2019 and from 10 March to 9 April 2020 (the first month of lockdown because of the COVID-19 outbreak) at six academic institutional centers of Italy. A distinction was made between urgent procedures: any trauma repairment, trabeculectomy/drainage implant for glaucoma, any operation for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair, pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for vitreous hemorrhage (VH), macular hole, or retained lens fragments; elective procedures: corneal transplant, phacoemulsification for cataract extraction, silicone oil removal, and PPV for epiretinal membrane; and intravitreal injections (either anti-vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] or dexamethasone) to treat exudative maculopathies. The main outcome measure was the rate of reduction in urgent and elective surgeries performed. Results: Overall, 3624 and 844 surgical procedures were performed from 10 March to 9 April 2019 and from 10 March to 10 April 2020, respectively (−76.7% in 2020 compared to 2019, p < 0.0001). Urgent and elective surgical procedures and intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF drugs or dexamethasone reduced significantly in 2020 in comparison to 2019 (p < 0.0001 for urgent and elective surgeries and 0.01 for intravitreal injections). Conclusion: A significant reduction in the rate of urgent and elective surgeries and intravitreal injections was recorded during the first month of lockdown compared to the same period in 2019. With this analysis, the authors hope to provide some preliminary insights about the consequences of lockdown for the eyecare system in Italy.
Global exploration of the metabolic requirements of gallid alphaherpesvirus 1

Although therapeutics targeting viral metabolic processes have been considered as promising strategies to treat herpesvirus infection, the metabolic requirements of gallid alphaherpesvirus 1 (ILTV), which is economically important to the poultry industry worldwide, remain largely unknown. Using the ILTV-susceptible but nonpermissive chicken cell line DF-1 and the ILTV-permissive chicken cell line LMH as models, the present study explored the metabolic requirements of ILTV by global transcriptome analysis and metabolome assays of ILTV infected cell lines in combination with a set of functional validations. The extensive metabolic exploration demonstrated that ILTV infection tended to promote a metabolic shift from glycolysis to fatty acid (FA) and nucleotide biosynthesis and utilizes glutamine independently of glutaminolysis, without significant general effect on the TCA cycle. In addition, different metabolic pathways were found to be required for distinct stages of ILTV replication. Glucose and glutamine were required for the transcription of viral immediate early gene ICP4 and subsequent steps of viral replication. However, FA synthesis was essential for assembly but not required for other upstream steps of ILTV replication. Moreover, the metabolic requirements of ILTV infection revealed in chicken cell lines were further validated in chicken primary cells isolated from chicken embryo kidneys and chicken embryo livers. The present study, to the best of our knowledge, provides the first global metabolic profile of animal herpesviruses and illustrates the main characteristics of the metabolic program of ILTV.
Prenatal distress levels of pregnant women in Turkey and affecting factors: a multicentre study

Abstract This study was conducted to determine prenatal distress levels of pregnant women from seven provinces of Turkey and factors affecting prenatal distress levels. The multicentre descriptive study included 2365 pregnant women who were in the twentieth gestational week and above. The data were collected using the pregnancy information form, prenatal distress questionnaire and spousal support scale. Descriptive statistics, Student’s t-test, ANOVA and logistic regression were used to evaluate the data. The results of this study demonstrated that pregnant women’s prenatal distress levels are affected by such factors as the region lived in, lack of spousal support and being a primary school graduate. Nurses should develop intervention strategies that involve the pregnant woman's spouse to reduce prenatal distress and the factors affecting prenatal distress. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? Prenatal distress can have significant effects on pregnancy, maternal health and human development across the lifespan. What the results of this study add? Spousal support could also have an effect on the psychological health of mothers. What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Nurses and midwives monitor the pregnant women, and therefore, they should evaluate the prenatal distress levels in the prenatal period, plan intervention strategies for pregnant women with high stress levels and include the pregnant women’s spouses in these intervention strategies.
Evaluation of users' experience and posture in a rotated swivel seating configuration

Abstract Objective This study aims to evaluate a car passenger’s experience and actions in a rotated seat in terms of interaction with an adjacent passenger. Methods A static user study was conducted, using a stationary test vehicle with two front row seats facing rearwards. The seats were mounted on a swivel plate which allowed inboard rotation. Thirty-two participants in 16 test pairs were grouped based on stature; short or tall. The participants within each pair knew each other. Three seating configurations were evaluated; 0° and 10° and 20° inboard rotated position of both seats. The participants were seated in each seating configuration for 10 min; 5 min they engaged in a conversation with each other and 5 min they were watching media on an Ipad mounted in front of them. Subjective data from each participant on their experiences and preferences were collected through questionnaires, and objective data on sitting postures and eye gaze were collected through video recording. Results Ninety-two percent of the short participants preferred to sit in the 20° rotated seating configuration when watching media and 75% preferred the 20° seating configuration when engaged in conversation. Compared to short participants, the tall participants showed a relative larger spread in seating configuration preference; 15% and 30% of them preferred the reference position for media and conversation, respectively. Leg interference was common for tall participants when 20° inboard rotated. They perceived it uncomfortable and used various strategies to avoid contact, including crossing legs or feet. Time spent with mutual eye contact did not vary by seating configuration. Conclusions This static user study shows that rotated seats could be a desired seating configuration in future autonomous vehicles for individuals who know each other. It reveals the reasons behind the preferences and the extent of desired seat rotation, showing differences between tall and short individuals. By understanding how occupant position and posture can be influenced by offering various seating configurations, the occupant can choose a comfortable position that is also safe. The leg and feet positions are raised as the body region with most variations and for which an increased understanding of influence in a crash is encouraged.
Rough Diamond: A Carbon Isotopic Biomarker of Added Sugar Intake

What did I eat last month? Even as I write this in the monotony of Covid-19-lockdown, I am hard-pressed to recall accurately and quantitatively what I ate last week, let alone last month. Or last year. Yet so much of nutritional epidemiology relies on accurately answering the initial question for both individuals and cohorts. The inherent biases of recall methods and FFQs have driven a quest for objective biomarkers of nutritional exposure. A good biomarker gives an accurate and precise indication of the target intake, be that of macronutrients, energy, or particular foods, ideally with a useful exposure chronology. In this issue of The Journal of Nutrition, Yun et al. (1) demonstrate that carbon isotope ratios of the amino acid alanine in blood serum (δCalanine) correlate with added sugar intake in a controlled feeding study of postmenopausal women in the United States. Their study builds on work by the authors and others over the last decade documenting the correlation between consumers’ carbon isotope ratios and the sugar that they eat (2–6). In such work, there has been iterative progress in the strength of the relation between target variable and proxy measure (from hair to blood to RBC to amino acid), moving from observational to mechanistic, from correlation to causation. Consumption of added sugars and sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked with a range of chronic diseases that require public health interventions as well as clinical treatments. However, accurately quantifying sugar intake is difficult (7). The relation Yun et al. find between added sugar intake, serum δCalanine, and participant characteristics was comparable to the performance of well-established recovery biomarkers in the same cohort (8), offering the potential of a biomarker of longterm added sugar intake in free-living populations whose sugar is derived from cane and not beet. Like doubly labeled water (DLW), the “gold-standard” biomarker for energy intake, the biomarker measured here is an isotope ratio: the relative proportion of the rarer heavy version of an element compared with the more common lighter form. Stable isotope ratios are ideal biomarkers in many ways: the ratios are intrinsic at the atomic (elemental) level, so the patterning can be tracked as molecules transformed through metabolic processes; the consumer is unaffected by the mass differences between isotopes—it makes no difference to them what their isotope ratio is; and the isotopes (and ratios) are
Functional characterization of the Glyoxalase-I (PdGLX1) gene family in date palm under abiotic stresses

ABSTRACT Methylglyoxal (MG), a cytotoxic oxygenated short aldehyde, is a by-product of various metabolic reactions in plants, including glycolysis. The basal level of MG in plants is low, whereby it acts as an essential signaling molecule regulating multiple cellular processes. However, hyperaccumulation of MG under stress conditions is detrimental for plants as it inhibits multiple developmental processes, including seed germination, photosynthesis, and root growth. The evolutionarily conserved glyoxalase system is critical for MG detoxification, and it comprises of two-enzymes, the glyoxalase-I and glyoxalase-II. Here, we report the functional characterization of six putative glyoxalase-I genes from date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) (PdGLX1), by studying their gene expression under various environmental stress conditions and investigating their function in bacteria (Escherichia coli) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) mutant cells. The putative PdGLX1 genes were initially identified using computational methods and cloned using molecular tools. The PdGLX1 gene expression analysis using quantitative PCR (qPCR) revealed differential expression under various stress conditions such as salinity, oxidative stress, and exogenous MG stress in a tissue-specific manner. Further, in vivo functional characterization indicated that overexpression of the putative PdGLX1 genes in E. coli enhanced their growth and MG detoxification ability. The putative PdGLX1 genes were also able to complement the loss-of-function MG hypersensitive GLO1 (YML004C) yeast mutants and promote growth by enhancing MG detoxification and reducing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) under stress conditions as indicated by flow cytometry. These findings denote the potential importance of PdGLX1 genes in MG detoxification under stress conditions in the date palm.