Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Associations of HIV and antiretroviral therapy with gestational diabetes in South Africa

Objective: To estimate associations of HIV status and antiretroviral (ART) regimen with gestational diabetes (GDM) and postpartum glucose metabolism. Design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: We enrolled pregnant persons with HIV (PWH) and without HIV in Cape Town, South Africa who were at least 18 years of age at 24–28 weeks’ gestation and followed up to 26 months postpartum. Participants were tested for GDM in pregnancy and for diabetes postpartum using a 75 g 2 h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and diagnosed via WHO criteria. We estimated associations of HIV status and ART regime [efavirenz (EFV) versus dolutegravir (DTG)] with GDM and postpartum impaired glucose metabolism using multivariable log binomial or linear regression models. Results: Among 397 participants [median age 30 (interquartile range (IQR) 25–34; n = 198 without HIV, n = 199 PWH], the prevalence of GDM was 6% (9 PWH versus 3% without HIV). In multivariable analyses, PWH were at higher risk of GDM [risk ratio (RR) 3.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4–10.7] after adjustment for prepregnancy BMI and other confounders. GDM risk did not differ by ART regimen (unadjusted prevalence 8.1% DTG versus 5.6% EFV, adjusted RR 1.1, 95% CI 0.2–6.6). Few participants had diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or impaired fasting glucose postpartum (n = 13, 6%) with no differences by HIV or ART status. Conclusion: In a setting of universal GDM testing, PWH had an increased risk of impaired glucose metabolism during pregnancy but not postpartum. Among PWH, GDM risk was similar regardless of EFV or DTG use. Given concerns about DTG and weight gain, diabetes risk should continue to be monitored.
Post‐nursing early life macronutrient balance promotes persistent and malleable biometric and metabolic traits in mice

It is known that dietary factors within the gestational and nursing period affect early life and stably affect later life traits in animals. However, there is very little understanding of whether dietary factors within the early life period from post‐nursing to adulthood affect traits in adulthood. To address this, we conducted studies on male C57Bl/6J mice fed from 3 weeks (immediately post‐nursing) until 12 weeks (full maturity) using nine different diets varying in all three major macronutrients to parse out the effects of individual macronutrients. Early life macronutrient balance affected body composition and glucose homeostasis in early adulthood, with dietary protein and fat showing major effects. Despite this, mice showed rapid reversal of the effects on body composition and glucose homeostasis of early life diet feeding, upon standard diet feeding in adulthood. However, some traits were persistent, with early life low dietary protein levels stably affecting lean and muscle mass, and early life dietary fat levels stably affecting serum and liver triglyceride levels. In summary, macronutrient balance in the post‐nursing early life period does not stably affect adiposity or glucose homeostasis but does impact muscle mass and lipid homeostasis in adulthood, with prominent effects of both protein and fat levels.
Hypoconnectivity networks in schizophrenia patients: a voxelwise meta-analysis of rs-fMRI

In the last few years, the field of brain connectivity has focused on identifying biomarkers to describe different health states and to discriminate between patients and healthy controls through the characterization of brain networks. A particularly interesting case, because of the symptoms' severity, is the work done with samples of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. This meta-analysis aims to identify connectivity networks with different activation patterns between people diagnosed with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Therefore, we collected primary studies exploring whole brain connectivity by functional magnetic resonance imaging at rest in patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy people. Thus, we identified 25 high-quality studies that included a total of 1285 people with schizophrenia and 1279 healthy controls. The results indicate hypoactivation in the right precentral gyrus and in the left superior temporal gyrus of people with schizophrenia compared with the control group. These regions have been linked to deficits in gesticulation and the experience of auditory hallucinations in people with schizophrenia. A study of heterogeneity demonstrated that the effect size was influenced by the sample size and type of analysis. These results imply new contributions to the knowledge, diagnosis, and treatment of schizophrenia both clinically and in research.
Postpartum post-traumatic stress symptoms during the COVID-19 period: exposure and fear as mediating factors

ABSTRACT Background: Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following childbirth are common within a stressful environment and are mitigated by social support. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in such symptoms has been reported. The current study aims to longitudinally model the influence of general and pandemic-specific risk and protective factors on the temporal unfolding of symptoms among postpartum women. Methods: Participants were 226 women following a liveborn, term birth during the first lockdown in Israel. Participants completed questionnaires 10 weeks (T1) and 6 months (T2) after delivery. PATH analyses included predictors of symptoms in T1: demographics, exposure to traumatic events, medical complications during delivery or pregnancy, exposure to COVID-19-related events and their subjective impact, fear of COVID-19, and social support. Predictors of symptoms in T2 were: T1 predictors, both as direct effects and mediated by T1 PTSS, as well as predictors measured again in T2. Results: Results showed the suggested model fit the data. The effect of COVID-19-related fear and subjective impact at T1 on symptoms at T2 were fully mediated by PTSS in T1, as were the effects of marriage and high social support at T1. COVID-19-related fear at T2 positively predicted symptoms at T2, while social support at T2 had the opposite effect. Medical complications during pregnancy negatively predicted symptoms in T2 only. Discussion: Persistent fear appears to be a risk factor and supports a consistent buffer in postpartum PTSS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical complications during pregnancy served as a protective factor, possibly due to habituation to medical settings. HIGHLIGHTS Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic may unfold in a unique manner, relating to pandemic-related stressors and fears. Women who experience stressful pandemic-related events are not at heightened risk of developing PTSS within the six months following birth, but those reporting COVID-19 related fears are. Women who had medical complications during pregnancy, but not delivery, are at lower risk of developing subsequent PTSS, perhaps due to their ongoing contact with medical facilities despite the pandemic. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
The Impact of Exercise Training and Supplemental Oxygen on Peripheral Muscles in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT Objective Exercise training is a cornerstone of the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, whereas the related interindividual heterogeneity in skeletal muscle dysfunction and adaptations are not yet fully understood. We set out to investigate the effects of exercise training and supplemental oxygen on functional and structural peripheral muscle adaptation. Methods In this prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind study, 28 patients with nonhypoxemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (forced expiratory volume in 1 second, 45.92% ± 9.06%) performed 6 wk of combined endurance and strength training, three times a week while breathing either supplemental oxygen or medical air. The impact on exercise capacity, muscle strength, and quadriceps femoris muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) was assessed by maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing, 10-repetition maximum strength test of knee extension, and magnetic resonance imaging, respectively. Results After exercise training, patients demonstrated a significant increase in functional capacity, aerobic capacity, exercise tolerance, quadriceps muscle strength, and bilateral CSA. Supplemental oxygen affected significantly the training impact on peak work rate when compared with medical air (+0.20 ± 0.03 vs +0.12 ± 0.03 W·kg−1, P = 0.047); a significant increase in CSA (+3.9 ± 1.3 cm2, P = 0.013) was only observed in the training group using oxygen. Supplemental oxygen and exercise-induced peripheral desaturation were identified as significant opposing determinants of muscle gain during this exercise training intervention, which led to different adaptations of CSA between the respective subgroups. Conclusions The heterogenous functional and structural muscle adaptations seem determined by supplemental oxygen and exercise-induced hypoxia. Indeed, supplemental oxygen may facilitate muscular training adaptations, particularly in limb muscle dysfunction, thereby contributing to the enhanced training responses on maximal aerobic and functional capacity.
An approach to new physics at LHCb: study of penguin pollution to ΦS(BS⁰ → J/ΨΦ) using BS⁰ → J/ΨK*⁰ decays, and search for a light A01 Higgs boson in the NMSSM

This research project will be carried out doing data analysis in the LHCb collaboration. LHCb is one of the four big experiments running in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and is mainly designed to make precise measurements of CP violation and to study rare decays of B and D mesons. In particular, the research plan proposed here will focus in a time integrated analysis of Bs⁰ → J/ψK*⁰ decays with 3 inverse femtobarns of LHCb data to measure the branching fraction, polarization fractions and direct CP asymmetries. These observables will afterwords be used to compute the hadronic parameters which describe the loop diagram (penguin) effects in the Bs⁰ → J/ψϕ channel, which is considered to be the “golden” mode to measure the weak phase of the Bs⁰ mixing. This CP violating phase is predicted by the Standard Model to be very small, and penguin contributions could be confused with new physics phenomena if not taken into account. In addition, a search of A1⁰ → μ⁺μ⁻ decays, where A1⁰ is a light CP-odd Higgs boson in the NMSSM, is part of the research plan as well.
Tmem178 Negatively Regulates IL‐1β Production Through Inhibition of the NLRP3 Inflammasome

Inflammasomes modulate the release of bioactive interleukin (IL)‐1β. Excessive IL‐1β levels are detected in patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) and cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) with mutated and unmutated inflammasome components, raising questions on the mechanisms of IL‐1β regulation in these disorders.
ERK1/2-SOX9/FOXL2 axis regulates ovarian steroidogenesis and favors the follicular–luteal transition

ERK1/2 negatively regulates estradiol synthesis while positively regulating progesterone production in ovarian granulosa cells via the ERK1/2-SOX9/FOXL2 axis. Estradiol and progesterone are the primary sex steroids produced by the ovary. Upon luteinizing hormone surge, estradiol-producing granulosa cells convert into progesterone-producing cells and eventually become large luteal cells of the corpus luteum. Signaling pathways and transcription factors involved in the cessation of estradiol and simultaneous stimulation of progesterone production in granulosa cells are not clearly understood. Here, we decipher that phosphorylated ERK1/2 regulates granulosa cell steroidogenesis by inhibiting estradiol and inducing progesterone production. Down-regulation of transcription factor FOXL2 and up-regulation of SOX9 by ERK underpin its differential steroidogenic function. Interestingly, the incidence of SOX9 is largely uncovered in ovarian cells and is found to regulate FOXL2 along with CYP19A1 and STAR genes, encoding rate-limiting enzymes of steroidogenesis, in cultured granulosa cells. We propose that the novel ERK1/2-SOX9/FOXL2 axis in granulosa cells is a critical regulator of ovarian steroidogenesis and may be considered when addressing pathophysiologies associated with inappropriate steroid production and infertility in humans and animals.
Weight outcomes for adolescents with atypical anorexia nervosa in family-based treatment.

Background Although over one-third of adolescents presenting with restrictive eating disorders have a history of being overweight, there is no evidence-based treatment for atypical anorexia nervosa (AAN). Family-Based Treatment (FBT) is a feasible treatment and is routinely applied to treat atypical anorexia nervosa in adolescents; however, identifying a treatment target weight within FBT for these patients is a challenge. Objective This study aimed to 1) increase understanding regarding recommendations for weight gain versus weight stabilization in FBT for adolescents with AAN and 2) examine treatment outcomes in FBT for adolescents with AAN. Method Using a retrospective design, we reviewed the files of 41 patients with AAN who were referred for FBT at a pediatric eating disorder program located within a tertiary care health centre. Results We found variability in recommendations for weight gain, with 56% of the sample recommended to gain weight and 44% recommended to stabilize weight. Baseline BMI for age appeared to be a key factor in establishing recommendations for weight gain. AAN patients in our sample gained a significant amount of weight across treatment, with those recommended to gain weight showing more weight gain during treatment. Forty-nine percent of the sample completed FBT; those patients displayed a mean of 10kg of weight gain during treatment. Conclusions Findings suggest that many patients gained weight during the course of FBT for AAN. Further study on weight changes during FBT for adolescents with AAN and increased diagnostic consistency for AAN will be important for this field.
Novikov, LR- and post-Lie algebra structures, and their relation to NIL-affine crystallographic actions

The study of simply transitive and crystallographic NIL-affine actions on the Lie algebra level leads to different concepts, including Novikov, LRand postLie algebra structures, which are studied in this thesis. In our research we can distinguish three aspects: construction, existence and structure. In the construction aspect, we search for examples by using different techniques as the lifting of such structures, using theoretical considerations and using computer experiments. In the existence aspect, we try to answer the question which Lie algebras admit such structures. In the structure aspect, we study the algebraic structure of Lie algebras admitting a Novikov, LRor post-Lie algebra structure. The results obtained here, are of great importance in the construction and existence aspect. For Novikov and LR-structures we try to find out what we can say about ideals, quotients, subalgebras,. For post-Lie algebra structures we study how the existence of such a structure imposes certain algebraic conditions on the Lie algebras involved and how the algebraic structures of these Lie algebras depend on each other.
Numerical modelling of H-mode plasmas on JET

This thesis describes the numerical modelling of H-mode plasmas on the Joint European Torus (JET), both during and between edge localised modes (ELMs). The multi-fluid code EDGE2D-EIRENE has been benchmarked against experimental data from the inter-ELM phase of an ITER-relevant JET plasma. Despite matching all other reliable experimental measurements to within a factor ∼ 1.5, the simulated radiation was located primarily at the targets, whereas the experimental radiation was located primarily at the X-point. This discrepancy occurred because the majority of radiating carbon ions in the simulation were located near the targets. In addition, the inner target Dα measurement was underestimated in the simulation by a factor of 9. A wide parameter scan did not change these two discrepancies. The inclusion of a thermoelectric parallel current in the simulations was found to be consistent with experimental measurements and to give more realistic degrees of in/out power asymmetry. A fuelling scan was carried out from the benchmarked simulation and compared to experiment. For similar increases in upstream density, the simulated and experimental outer target profiles were seen to agree well. This lead to an experimentally verified scaling of Q ‖ = 154 ( n e,sep −4.48 for the maximum parallel energy flux density at the outer target as a function of the electron separatrix density at the outer mid-plane. Preliminary simulations with nitrogen seeding are also discussed. The ELM transport phase has also been modelled. By making a simple modification to the analytic ion free streaming equations (Fundamenski et al. 2006 PPCF, 48:109-156), the equations are shown to match the impulse responses for target particle and energy fluxes, as calculated by a 1d kinetic code, to a high degree of accuracy. The linearity of the force-free Vlasov equation means that a distributed ELM source in time and space can be modelled by convolving the impulse responses with the ELM source function. Although this introduced
A descriptive study of treatment-seeking adults with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder at residential and inpatient levels of care

ABSTRACT Most research on avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) has been with children and adolescents, while the limited research on adults with ARFID has been in the domain of outpatient treatment. This descriptive study sought to explore psychological characteristics (N = 45; measured with self-report questionnaires) and physiological characteristics (N = 66; e.g. vital signs, bloodwork) at admission for 66 adults with ARFID seeking residential and inpatient levels of care. While adults with ARFID presented with significant food restriction as well as mild depressive symptoms, high anxiety symptoms, and impaired quality of life, patients presented with mostly normal physiology, except for low bone density, and trivial abnormalities in serum creatinine and hepatic enzymes. Patients in this sample were most likely to endorse fear of aversive consequences, especially those for whom ARFID symptoms had first arisen in adulthood. These results note the psychological impairment and relative physiological normalcy of treatment-seeking adults with ARFID at the outset of residential and inpatient treatment, identifying future treatment and outcome research priorities in this understudied population.
On the Limits to Multi-Modal Popularity Prediction on Instagram - A New Robust, Efficient and Explainable Baseline

The predictability of social media popularity is a topic of much scientific interest and significant practical importance. We present a new strong baseline for popularity prediction on Instagram, which is both robust and efficient to compute. The approach expands previous work by a comprehensive ablation study of the predictive power of multiple representations of the visual modality and by detailed use of explainability tools. We use transfer learning to extract visual semantics as concepts, scenes, and objects, which allows us to interpret and explain the trained model and predictions. The study is based in one million posts extracted from Instagram. We approach the problem of popularity prediction as a ranking problem, where we predict the log-normalised number of likes. Through our ablation study design, we can suggest models that outperform a previous state-of-the-art black-box method for multi-modal popularity prediction on Instagram.
A vanguard randomised feasibility trial comparing three regimens of peri‐operative oxygen therapy on recovery after major surgery

International recommendations encourage liberal administration of oxygen to patients having surgery under general anaesthesia, ostensibly to reduce surgical site infection. However, the optimal oxygen regimen to minimise postoperative complications and enhance recovery from surgery remains uncertain. The hospital operating theatre randomised oxygen (HOT‐ROX) trial is a multicentre, patient‐ and assessor‐blinded, parallel‐group, randomised clinical trial designed to assess the effect of a restricted, standard care, or liberal peri‐operative oxygen therapy regimen on days alive and at home after surgery in adults undergoing prolonged non‐cardiac surgery under general anaesthesia. Here, we report the findings of the internal vanguard feasibility phase of the trial undertaken in four large metropolitan hospitals in Australia and New Zealand that included the first 210 patients of a planned overall 2640 trial sample, with eight pre‐specified endpoints evaluating protocol implementation and safety. We screened a total of 956 participants between 1 September 2019 and 26 January 2021, with data from 210 participants included in the analysis. Median (IQR [range]) time‐weighted average intra‐operative FiO2 was 0.30 (0.26–0.35 [0.20–0.59]) and 0.47 (0.44–0.51 [0.37–0.68]) for restricted and standard care, respectively (mean difference (95%CI) 0.17 (0.14–0.20), p < 0.001). Median time‐weighted average intra‐operative FiO2 was 0.83 (0.80–0.85 [0.70–0.91]) for liberal oxygen therapy (mean difference (95%CI) compared with standard care 0.36 (0.33–0.39), p < 0.001). All feasibility endpoints were met. There were no significant patient adverse events. These data support the feasibility of proceeding with the HOT‐ROX trial without major protocol modifications.
Evaluating the Personal Narrative Skills of Monolingual Turkish-Speaking 7- and 10-Year-Old Children with Typical Development through Global TALES: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Studies on personal narratives are rare in Turkey and there is no standard protocol for eliciting them. The aim of this small-scale study was to translate the Global TALES Protocol into Turkish, with cultural adaptations, and to present the results regarding its usability for two different age-groups of 7- and 10-year-old school children. We investigated narrative skills in terms of verbal productivity (number of utterances, total number of words), syntactic complexity (mean length of utterance), and semantic diversity (number of different words). In addition, group comparisons were made in terms of the participants’ gender and age. Methods: A total of 20 children, 10 from each age-group (7;0–7;11 and 10;0–10;11) participated in the study. All children were monolingual Turkish-speaking children with typical development. Participants were recruited through personal and/or social networks. All personal narratives were gathered via online connections (Zoom). Results: Descriptive statistics were used to describe the children’s performance, and the analysis of group differences was made separately according to age and gender. All children produced narratives in response to the six protocol prompts. In addition, the number of children who did not require the scripted follow-up prompts was higher than those needing a scripted follow-up prompt to produce a response. No statistically significant group differences were found in terms of gender and age on any of the measurements. Conclusion: The results from this small-scale investigation showed that the translated version of the Global TALES Protocol was effective in eliciting personal narratives from Turkish-speaking children. We concluded that there is no need to change the directions or give additional guidance or prompts to the children. Future studies with larger samples are needed to confirm these findings.