Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of energy and essential fatty acids content in breast milk on infant's head dimensions

Essential fatty acids (EFA), including linoleic acid (LA) and alpha‐linolenic acid (ALA), are indispensable for proper brain growth especially in the first months after birth when it develops most rapidly. Since fats, especially EFA, in breast milk are highly variable between mothers, we indirectly examined whether milk energy, LA and ALA content in breast milk affect volume and shape of the infant's head.
Biomedical Research Cohort Membership Disclosure on Social Media

To accelerate medical knowledge discovery, an increasing number of research programs are gathering and sharing data on a large number of participants. Due to the privacy concerns and legal restrictions on data sharing, these programs apply various strategies to mitigate privacy risk. However, the activities of participants and research program sponsors, particularly on social media, might reveal an individual's membership in a study, making it easier to recognize participants' records and uncover the information they have yet to disclose. This behavior can jeopardize the privacy of the participants themselves, the reputation of the projects, sponsors, and the research enterprise. To investigate the dangers of self-disclosure behavior, we gathered and analyzed 4,020 tweets, and uncovered over 100 tweets disclosing the individuals' memberships in over 15 programs. Our investigation showed that self-disclosure on social media can reveal participants' membership in research cohorts, and such activity might lead to the leakage of a person's identity, genomic, and other sensitive health information.
Moving Oral Contraceptives over the Counter: Theory-based Formative Research to Design Communication Strategy

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that oral contraceptives (OC) should be available over the counter (OTC). This study explored women’s attitudes toward OC OTC in rural South Carolina. In-depth, individual interviews were conducted with 52 women ages 18–44 years old. Data analysis was informed by a reproductive justice theoretical framework and included an inductive, constant-comparative approach using HyperRESEARCH 3.7. 5. Participants self-identified as either Black (62%) or White (28%). Participants believed that OC OTC would prevent unintended pregnancy by improving anonymity, convenience, and access to contraception. Many participants faced barriers to receiving a prescription, including time, transportation, cost, stigma, embarrassment, and clinician refusal based on religious reasons. Participants believed OC OTC would improve women’s control over their fertility and emphasized the importance of health insurance coverage for OC OTC. Some participants expressed concerns about the risk of side effects, contraindications, and the potential for abuse. Some participants believed women, especially adolescents, required physician guidance and an annual exam to use OC. Findings suggest that a lack of knowledge and misinformation about the risks of OC serve as a barrier among some women in rural areas. Widespread acceptance of OC OTC will require messaging strategies to dispel safety concerns about OC OTC and empower women.
Survey for acrylamide in processed foods from Korean market and individual exposure estimation using a non-parametric probabilistic model

ABSTRACT Acrylamide, a known carcinogen, is formed during preparation of food containing reducing sugar and asparagine. Because acrylamide exposure of the population is primarily through food, the maximum levels of acrylamide in food were set by the European Commission in 2017. Moreover, in the 2016 Korean Total Diet study, acrylamide showed the lowest margin of exposure among 23 food-processing-related chemicals, necessitating risk reduction options. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the variation of acrylamide content in different food items and identify the food categories, to provide options for risk management. Acrylamide was analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry in more than 1,000 processed food items. To estimate acrylamide exposure, the analytical data obtained herein and the food consumption data of Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2013 to 2017 were used. A non-parametric technique of a probabilistic model was used for exposure estimation. Confectioneries (here this category includes potato and similar savoury snacks) contained a wide range of acrylamide content. Particularly, the highest acrylamide content was detected in a tea made of Jerusalem artichoke. The presence of acrylamide in turmeric along with the Jerusalem artichoke was reported in this study for the first time. The main contributors of dietary acrylamide exposure were confectioneries for youths aged 3–18 years and coffee for adults aged 19–80 years. Therefore, risk management in confectionery and coffee could help reduce acrylamide exposure for Koreans. In addition, the mitigation strategies for food containing high acrylamide content, such as Jerusalem artichoke tea, are needed to reduce acrylamide exposure to loyal consumers.
A common molecular mechanism underlies the role of Mps1 in chromosome biorientation and the spindle assembly checkpoint

The Mps1 kinase corrects improper kinetochore–microtubule attachments, thereby ensuring chromosome biorientation. Yet, its critical phosphorylation targets in this process remain largely elusive. Mps1 also controls the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), which halts chromosome segregation until biorientation is attained. Its role in SAC activation is antagonised by the PP1 phosphatase and involves phosphorylation of the kinetochore scaffold Knl1/Spc105, which in turn recruits the Bub1 kinase to promote assembly of SAC effector complexes. A crucial question is whether error correction and SAC activation are part of a single or separable pathways. Here, we isolate and characterise a new yeast mutant, mps1‐3, that is severely defective in chromosome biorientation and SAC signalling. Through an unbiased screen for extragenic suppressors, we found that mutations lowering PP1 levels at Spc105 or forced association of Bub1 with Spc105 reinstate both chromosome biorientation and SAC signalling in mps1‐3 cells. Our data argue that a common mechanism based on Knl1/Spc105 phosphorylation is critical for Mps1 function in error correction and SAC signalling, thus supporting the idea that a single sensory apparatus simultaneously elicits both pathways.
US-guided laser treatment of parathyroid adenomas

Abstract Objective To determine the clinical efficacy of laser ablation for the tredatment of primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). Materials and methods Twelve patients with pHPT were treated with laser ablation. Energy was administered by means of 1.5 m optical fibers percutaneously placed into the target via 21 G needles. A laser ablation unit (EchoLaser X4, Esaote) applied 3 W power for 400–600 s/fiber/insertion to a total 3600–9000 Joules of energy. Patient serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcium levels were checked at baseline and thereafter every 6 months. Patients were followed-up for 2 years with serologic and contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Therapeutic success was defined as normal PTH and calcium levels together with disappearance of nodule-related symptoms. Results All procedures were performed in single session. Immediately following ablation, contrast enhanced ultrasound confirmed that all but one target had become avascular (technical success rate 11/12; 92%), remaining avascular at all follow-up ultrasound examinations, thereafter. The mean volume of parathyroid nodules decreased from 0.54 cc to 0.36 cc (72.0%). Serum PTH and calcium levels were significantly lower at 1, 12 and 24 m compared to baseline (p < 0.01). By 6 m, PTH and calcium returned to normal and were stable until 24 m in all successfully treated patients. All cases of hyperparathyroid-related symptoms resolved by 6 m (ostealgia [n = 5], repeated renal colic [n = 5], vomiting [n = 3]). Only one patient (8%) reported transient dysphonia as a minor complication. Conclusion Laser ablation of enlarged, symptomatic parathyroid glands is safe and well-tolerated and can produce long-term, sustained reduction of serum PTH and calcium levels.
Deep Recognition of Vanishing-Point-Constrained Building Planes in Urban Street Views

This paper presents a new approach to recognizing vanishing-point-constrained building planes from a single image of street view. We first design a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture that generates geometric segmentation of per-pixel orientations from a single street-view image. The network combines two-stream features of general visual cues and surface normals in gated convolution layers, and employs a deeply supervised loss that encapsulates multi-scale convolutional features. Our experiments on a new benchmark with fine-grained plane segmentations of real-world street views show that our network outperforms state-of-the-arts methods of both semantic and geometric segmentation. The pixel-wise segmentation exhibits coarse boundaries and discontinuities. We then propose to rectify the pixel-wise segmentation into perspectively-projected quads based on spatial proximity between the segmentation masks and exterior line segments detected through an image processing. We demonstrate how the results can be utilized to perspectively overlay images and icons on building planes in input photos, and provide visual cues for various applications.
The influence of COMT rs4680 on functional connectivity in healthy adults: A systematic review

The aim of this systematic review was to qualitatively synthesise the available research that investigated the influence of COMT genotype at SNP rs4680 on both task‐based and resting‐state connectivity in healthy adults. Thirty‐five studies were identified that met inclusion criteria. Of the included studies, 20 studies reported resting‐state findings and 16 studies reported task‐based findings (emotion‐processing, memory, working memory, reward‐based learning and executive function). Studies were highly heterogeneous but an overall trend towards an association of the Val allele with greater resting‐state connectivity and the Met allele with greater task‐based connectivity is reported. A possible interpretation of current findings is discussed, whereby the Val allele is associated with improved cognitive flexibility allowing integration of novel relevant stimuli, and the Met allele allows improved sustained attention and targeted neural processing, particularly between limbic regions and prefrontal cortex. The most promising brain regions implicated in a COMT genotype influence on functional connectivity include prefrontal regions, amygdala and hippocampus.
Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart) seed extract protects against maternal vascular dysfunction, hypertension, and fetal growth restriction in experimental preeclampsia

ABSTRACT Objective To investigate whether Euterpe oleracea Mart. (açaí) seed extract (ASE) prevents maternal cardiovascular changes and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in experimental preeclampsia (PE). Methods ASE administration (200 mg/﻿kg/day) during mid to late pregnancy in a rat model of L-NAME-induced PE. Results ASE impaired the maternal hypertension and microalbuminuria as well as the lower fetal and placental weight in experimental PE. ASE also prevented the maternal vascular dysfunction and lipoperoxidation in this model. Conclusion ASE protected against maternal cardiovascular changes and IUGR in the L-NAME-induced PE. The protective effect of ASE may be partly explained by its antioxidant property.
Left Atrial End-Diastolic Volume Index as a Predictor of Cardiovascular Outcomes

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: The left atrial end-systolic volume index (LAESVI) is a predictor of cardiovascular outcomes and is the recommended measurement of left atrial size. The left atrial end-diastolic volume index (LAEDVI), representing the minimum or residual left atrial volume, has not been fully evaluated as a predictor of cardiovascular events. This study evaluated the predictive power of LAEDVI compared with LAESVI for heart failure (HF) hospitalizations, a composite of HF hospitalizations, myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart disease death, and all-cause mortality. Methods: We measured LAESVI and LAEDVI in subjects without atrial fibrillation or flutter or significant mitral valve disease. Using Cox proportional-hazard models, the association of LAESVI and LAEDVI with the stated outcomes was examined. Results: After a mean of 7.3±2.6 years of follow-up, there were 147 HF hospitalizations, 118 myocardial infarctions, 45 strokes, 96 heart disease deaths, and 351 deaths from all causes in 938 subjects. When comparing the highest and the lowest quartiles of LAEDVI, there was a near 6-fold increase in the hazard ratio (HR) for HF hospitalization (HR, 5.96; P<0.001). This was higher than what was seen with LAESVI (HR, 4.85; P<0.001). Similar associations were noted for the composite cardiovascular outcome (HR for LAEDVI, 2.97; P<0.001) and for all-cause mortality (HR for LAEDVI, 2.08; P<0.001). In adjusted models, LAEDVI demonstrated equal or better predictive power than LAESVI for HF hospitalization and the composite cardiovascular outcome. Conclusions: LAEDVI is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events in ambulatory patients with stable coronary heart disease and may merit routine use.
Micro‐elimination of hepatitis C through testing of Egyptian pregnant women presenting at delivery: implications for screening policies

Despite the high burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Egypt, screening of pregnant women is not yet universal, making national and global elimination unlikely. This study assessed the proportion of pregnant women who were screened for HCV infection at delivery, the prevalence and risk factors for HCV infection, the associated adverse neonatal outcomes, and the real‐life linkage to care of infected women and follow‐up of their infants’ HCV status and timing of testing.
In vitro neuroprotective effects of farnesene sesquiterpene on alzheimer’s disease model of differentiated neuroblastoma cell line

Abstract Objective To investigate neuroprotective properties of the farnesene sesquiterpene on the experimental Alzheimer’s disease model in vitro. Methods Human neuroblastoma cell line (SHSY-5Y) was differentiated into neuron-like cells by using retinoic acid to constitute the in vitro Alzheimer’s Disease model. β-amyloid 1-42 protein was applied to the transformed cells for 24 and 48 hours in a wide dose ranges (3.125-200 μM) to establish AD cytotoxicity. Then, farnesene was applied to cell cultures in a wide spectrum dose interval (1.625-100 μg/ml) to investigate neuroprotective effect against β-amyloid for 24 and 48 hours. 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl) 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release tests were executed to determine cytotoxicity in the Alzheimer model. Nuclear DNA integrity of cells was examined under the fluorescent microscope using the Hoechst 33258 staining method. Furthermore, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total oxidative status (TOS) levels were analyzed to understand the protection mechanism of the farnesene application on the cell culture model. Finally, flow cytometry analysis was used to find out the cell death mechanism after beta-amyloid and farnesene application to the cell culture. Results Cell viability tests revealed significant neuroprotection against β-amyloid toxicity in both 24 and 48 hours and the Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining method showed a significant decrease in necrotic deaths after farnesene application in the cell cultures. Finally, flow cytometry analysis put forth that farnesene could decrease necrotic cell death up to 3-fold resulted from beta-amyloid exposure. Conclusion According to the investigations, farnesene can potentially be a safe, anti-necrotic and neuroprotective agents against Alzheimer’s disease.
Quadriceps strengthening with blood flow restriction for the rehabilitation of patients with knee conditions: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to compare the effects of low load resistance combined with blood flow restriction (BFR) versus conventional quadriceps strengthening on knee symptoms and function as well as knee extensor strength and muscle thickness in adults with knee conditions. LITERATURE SURVEY Guidelines based on the latest evidence highlight the importance of quadriceps strengthening to reduce pain and improve function in patients with knee conditions. Blood flow restriction is based on brief periods of vascular occlusion which cause muscle hypertrophy and increased strength. Before it can be recommended for individuals with knee conditions, quadriceps strengthening with low load resistance combined with BFR (LL-BFR) must show beneficial effects on clinical outcomes in addition to quadriceps strength and mass. METHODS A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted to identify relevant studies through PubMed, PEDro, and ScienceDirect up to January 2019. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42019121306). Differences in pre- and post-intervention means and standard deviations were extracted to calculate the standardized mean difference for each intervention in each included study. SYNTHESIS Eight studies were included. Limited evidence suggests that LL-BFR is more beneficial on quadriceps strength and thickness in patients with knee conditions than LL training alone or in addition to a rehabilitation program. Limited evidence indicates that LL-BFR training is equally effective in improving function and muscle thickness compared with a HL quadriceps strengthening program but elicits less knee pain, corresponding to additional benefits of 22 (95% confidence interval 1 to 43) mm on a 0-100 mm visual analogue scale. CONCLUSIONS BFR could be a useful option for patients with knee conditions where conventional quadriceps strengthening program exacerbate knee symptoms. Future investigations should compare different BFR protocols to help establish better guidelines for clinicians.
Aromatherapy: Cure or curse? A case report of allergic contact dermatitis caused by essential oils

CASE REPORT A 45-year-old woman presented at the outpatient clinic with dermatitis of the hands, forearms, legs, and face for the last 2 months (Figure 1). The patient reported an orthopedic surgery 3 months ago and using aromatherapy for pain relief on a regular basis afterwards. Clinical examination revealed erythema, itchy plaques, papules, and vesicles in the aforementioned areas. She also reported a history of allergic rhinitis with positive skin prick test in mite, dog epithelia, cat epithelia, and olive tree pollen; the personal medical history was otherwise unremarkable. Her dermatitis cleared after topical treatment with steroids but soon relapsed. Based on the history and examination she was referred for patch testing. A baseline series, a fragrance series, a hairdresser series (allergEAZE, SmartPractice, Calgary, Canada), as well as the essential oils that she used (R.C. oil, a blend of various oils including Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen), Boswellia carterii (frankincense), Eugenia caryophyllus (clove), Lavandula angustifolia (lavender), Cupressus sempervirens (cypress), and Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) oils; see Table 1) were applied on the patient's back for 2 days. Readings were performed on day (D) 2 and D3, and the results are presented in Table 1. Contact allergies were directly related to the use of aromatherapy and she was advised to avoid these products.
The gut microbiome and inflammation in obsessive‐compulsive disorder patients compared to age‐ and sex‐matched controls: a pilot study

To compare the gut microbiome profile (by way of taxon analysis and indices of β‐ and α‐diversity) and inflammatory markers (C‐reactive protein [CRP], interleukin‐6[IL‐6] and tumour necrosis factor‐α [TNF‐α]) of obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) outpatients and non‐psychiatric community controls.
Innovation in chimpanzees

The study of innovation in non‐human animals (henceforth: animals) has recently gained momentum across fields including primatology, animal behaviour and cultural evolution. Examining the rate of innovations, and the cognitive mechanisms driving these innovations across species, can provide insights into the evolution of human culture. Especially relevant to the study of human culture is one of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Both wild and captive chimpanzees demonstrate an impressive ability to innovate solutions to novel problems, but also a striking level of conservatism in some contexts, creating a unique and at times puzzling, picture of animal innovation. Whilst the animal innovation field is rife with potential for expanding our knowledge of human and non‐human cognition and problem‐solving, it is undermined by a lack of consistency across studies. The field is yet to settle on a definition of the term ‘innovation’, leading to studies being incomparable across and even within the same species. Here, we fill two gaps in the literature. First, we discuss some of the most prevalent definitions of ‘innovation’ from different fields, highlighting similarities and differences between them. Secondly, we provide an up‐to‐date review of accounts of innovations in both wild and captive chimpanzees. We hope this review will provide a resource for researchers interested in the study of innovation in chimpanzees and other animals, as well as emphasising the need for consistency in the way in which innovations are reported.
Factor XII blockade inhibits aortic dilatation in angiotensin II-infused apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an important cause of mortality in older adults. Chronic inflammation and excessive matrix remodelling are considered important in AAA pathogenesis. Kinins are bioactive peptides important in regulating inflammation. Stimulation of the kinin B2 receptor has been previously reported to promote AAA development and rupture in a mouse model. The endogenous B2 receptor agonist, bradykinin, is generated from the kallikrein-kinin system following activation of plasma kallikrein by Factor XII (FXII). In the current study whole-body FXII deletion, or neutralisation of activated FXII (FXIIa), inhibited expansion of the suprarenal aorta (SRA) of apolipoprotein E-deficient mice in response to angiotensin II (AngII) infusion. FXII deficiency or FXIIa neutralisation led to decreased aortic tumor necrosis factor-α-converting enzyme (TACE/ADAM-17) activity, plasma kallikrein concentration and epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation compared with controls. FXII deficiency or neutralisation also reduced Akt1 and Erk1/2 phosphorylation and decreased expression and levels of active matrix metalloproteinase (Mmp)-2 and Mmp-9. The findings suggest that FXII, kallikrein, ADAM-17 and EGFR are important molecular mediators by which AngII induces aneurysm in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. This could be a novel pathway to target in the design of drugs to limit AAA progression.