Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diet-Related Behaviors and Diet Quality among School-Aged Adolescents Living in Greece

Prevalence of diet-related behaviors (i.e., breakfast consumption, eating with the family) and their association with a 17-point diet quality score, constructed on the basis of reported frequency (in days/week) of vegetable, fruit, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages consumption, was investigated among 3525 adolescents (51.5% girls) aged 11, 13 and 15 years, who were participants in the Greek arm of the international Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) cross-sectional study, during 2018. Almost one-third (32.9%) of the sample had breakfast ≤1 day/weekdays, 20.2% rarely ate with the family, 26.1% had a meal while watching TV ≥5 days/week, 31.7% had a snack in front of a screen ≥5 days/week and 24.1% ate in fast-food restaurants at least once/week. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression revealed that eating breakfast ≤1 day/weekdays compared to 4–5 days/weekdays (Odds ratio (OR): 1.56, 95% con-fidence interval (CI): 1.34–1.82), eating rarely with the family compared to almost every day (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.13–1.60) and eating in fast-food restaurants ≥2 times/week vs. rarely (OR: 4.59, 95% CI: 3.14–6.70) were associated with higher odds of having poor diet quality. High frequency of having meals/snacks in front of a screen/TV was also associated with poor diet quality. Efforts to prevent or modify these behaviors during adolescence may contribute to healthier diet.
“Why Couldn't I Go in To See Him?” Bereaved Families' Perceptions of End‐of‐Life Communication During COVID‐19

The COVID‐19 pandemic has resulted in rapid changes to end‐of‐life care for hospitalized older adults and their families, including visitation restrictions. We examined bereaved families' perceptions of the quality of end‐of‐life communication among Veterans, families and staff in Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Plasma cytokines for predicting diabetic retinopathy among type 2 diabetic patients via machine learning algorithms

Aims: This study aimed to investigate changes of plasma cytokines and to develop machine learning classifiers for predicting non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Results: There were 12 plasma cytokines significantly higher in the non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy group in the pilot cohort. The validation cohort showed that angiopoietin 1, platelet-derived growth factor-BB, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 2 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 were significantly higher in the NPDR group. Machine learning algorithms using the random forest yielded the best performance, with sensitivity of 92.3%, specificity of 75%, PPV of 82.8%, NPV of 88.2% and area under the curve of 0.84. Conclusions: Plasma angiopoietin 1, platelet-derived growth factor-BB, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 were associated with presence of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy and may be good biomarkers that play important roles in pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy. Materials and Methods: In pilot cohort, 60 plasma cytokines were simultaneously measured. In validation cohort, angiopoietin 1, CXC-chemokine ligand 16, platelet-derived growth factor-BB, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 1, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 2, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 were validated using ELISA kits. Machine learning algorithms were developed to build a prediction model for non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
MOLECULAR CANCER THERAPEUTICS | CANCER BIOLOGYAND TRANSLATIONAL STUDIES Neutralization of TGFb Improves Tumor Immunity and Reduces Tumor Progression in Ovarian Carcinoma

The immunosuppressive effects of TGFb promotes tumor progression and diminishes response to therapy. In this study, we used ID8-p53 / tumors as a murine model of high-grade serous ovarian cancer. An mAb targeting all three TGFb ligands was used to neutralize TGFb. Ascites and omentum were collected and changes in T-cell response were measured using flow. Treatment with anti-TGFb therapy every other day following injection of tumor cells resulted in decreased ascites volume (4.1 mL vs. 0.7 mL; P < 0.001) and improved the CD8:Treg ratio (0.37 vs. 2.5; P1⁄4 0.02) compared with untreated mice. A single dose of therapy prior to tumor challenge resulted in a similar reduction of ascites volume (2.7 vs. 0.67 mL; P1⁄4 0.002) and increased CD8:Tregs ratio (0.36 vs. 1.49; P 1⁄4 0.007), while also significantly reducing omental weight (114.9 mg vs. 93.4 mg; P 1⁄4 0.017). Beginning treatment before inoculation with tumor cells and continuing for 6 weeks, we observe similar changes and prolonged overall survival (median 70 days vs. 57.5 days). TGFb neutralization results in favorable changes to the T-cell response within the tumor microenvironment, leading to decreased tumor progression in ovarian cancer. The utilization of anti-TGFb therapy may be an option for management in patients with ovarian cancer to improve clinical outcomes and warrants further investigation.
Adaptation and co‐adaptation of skin pigmentation and vitamin D genes in native Americans

We carried out an exhaustive review regarding human skin color variation and how much it may be related to vitamin D metabolism and other photosensitive molecules. We discuss evolutionary contexts that modulate this variability and hypotheses postulated to explain them; for example, a small amount of melanin in the skin facilitates vitamin D production, making it advantageous to have fair skin in an environment with little radiation incidence. In contrast, more melanin protects folate from degradation in an environment with a high incidence of radiation. Some Native American populations have a skin color at odds with what would be expected for the amount of radiation in the environment in which they live, a finding challenging the so‐called “vitamin D–folate hypothesis. ” Since food is also a source of vitamin D, dietary habits should also be considered. Here we argue that a gene network approach provides tools to explain this phenomenon since it indicates potential alleles co‐evolving in a compensatory way. We identified alleles of the vitamin D metabolism and pigmentation pathways segregated together, but in different proportions, in agriculturalists and hunter‐gatherers. Finally, we highlight how an evolutionary approach can be useful to understand current topics of medical interest.
Singlet-triplet excited-state inversion in heptazine and related molecules: assessment of TD-DFT and ab initio methods.

We have investigated the origin of the S 1 -T 1 energy levels inversion for heptazine and other N-doped π-conjugated hydrocarbons, leading thus to an unusually negative singlet-triplet energy gap (∆E ST < 0). Since this inversion might rely on substantial doubly-excited configurations to the S 1 and T 1 wavefunctions, we have systematically applied multi-configurational SA-CASSCF and SC-NEVPT2 methods, SCS-corrected CC2 and ADC(2) approaches, and linear-response TD-DFT, to analyze if the latter could face this challenging issue. An intricate, interplay between the singlet-triplet exchange interaction, the influence of doubly-excited configurations, and the impact of dynamic correlation effects, serves to explain the ∆E ST < 0 values found for most of the compounds.
Biocontrol potential of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LYZ69 against anthracnose of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

Anthracnose is a destructive disease of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) that causes severe yield losses. Biological control can be an effective and eco-friendly approach to control this alfalfa disease. In the present study, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LYZ69, previously isolated from healthy alfalfa roots, showed a strong in vitro antifungal activity against Colletotrichum truncatum, an important causal agent of anthracnose of alfalfa. The strain LYZ69 protected alfalfa plants (biocontrol efficacy of 82.59%) from anthracnose under greenhouse conditions. The cell-free culture (CFC) of LYZ69 (20%; v/v) caused 60% and 100% inhibition of mycelial growth and conidial germination, respectively. High-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) separated and identified cyclic lipopeptides (LPs) such as bacillomycin D and fengycin in the CFC of LYZ69. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the mixture of cyclic LPs produced by LYZ69 caused drastic changes in mycelial morphology. Fluorescence microscopy showed that the LPs induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and caused apoptosis-like cell death in C. truncatum hyphae. In summary, our findings provide evidence to support B. amyloliquefaciens LYZ69 as a promising candidate for the biological control of anthracnose in alfalfa.
Can suggestions of non-occurrence lead to claims that witnessed events did not happen?

Abstract In three experiments, we examined whether general suggestions of non-occurrence –suggestions that experienced events did not occur– would lead participants to claim that events they witnessed never happened. Participants viewed a video depicting the investigation of a child kidnapping case and subsequently were exposed to suggestions of non-occurrence either once (Experiments 1 and 3) or three times (Experiments 2 and 3). The results provided no evidence that single suggestions of non-occurrence influenced participants’ memories or belief (Experiments 1 and 3). However, in two experiments (E2 and E3) the results provided clear evidence that repeated elaboration of suggestions of non-occurrence led participants to claim that the events they witnessed never happened. The finding that participants were influenced by repeated, but not single elaboration of suggestions of non-occurrence shows that reflective elaboration processes played an important role in leading participants to disbelieve the events they had witnessed.
Fully Distributed Adaptive Finite-Time Consensus for Uncertain Nonlinear Multiagent Systems

In this article, the adaptive finite-time consensus problem is discussed for uncertain nonlinear multiagent systems. In contrast with the correlative literature, the systems permit multiple uncertainties (not only in control coefficients but also in inherent nonlinearities), and typically the consensus protocol is pursued in a fully distributed fashion (independent from any global information of network topology). This essentially challenges the realization of the finite-time consensus. To overcome the challenge, a new continuous fully distributed protocol is proposed by combining adaptive techniques such that the finite-time consensus of the systems under investigation is achieved. Remarkably, a dynamic high gain, rather than multiple ones in the related literature, is adequate to resist two kinds of uncertainties and to guarantee the fully distributed fashion of the consensus protocol. Moreover, the adaptive finite-time consensus protocol is specified on the scenario of leader-following multiagent systems. Simulation results of three interaction topologies are acquired to illustrate the validity and the wider applicability of the proposed protocol.
Ethylene oxide review: characterization of total exposure via endogenous and exogenous pathways and their implications to risk assessment and risk management

ABSTRACT This review is intended to provide risk assessors and risk managers with a better understanding of issues associated with total exposures of human populations to ethylene oxide from endogenous and exogenous pathways. Biomonitoring of human populations and lab animals exposed to ethylene oxide has relied upon the detection of hemoglobin adducts such as 2-hydroxyethylvaline (HEV), which provides a useful measure of total exposure to ethylene oxide from all pathways. Recent biomonitoring data from CDC provide an excellent characterization of total exposure to ethylene oxide to the general U.S. population by demographic factors such as age, gender, and race as well as smoking habit, which might be comparable to previous measurements reported for humans and lab animals. The biochemical pathways including gastrointestinal (production by bacteria) and systemic (enzymatic production) pathways by which endogenous ethylene is generated and converted to ethylene oxide are described. The relative importance of endogenous pathways and exogenous pathways via ambient air or tobacco smoke was quantified based upon available data to characterize their relative importance to total exposure. Considerable variation was noted for HEV measurements in human populations, and important sources of variation for all pathways are discussed. Issues related to risk assessment and risk management of human populations exposed to ethylene oxide are provided within the context of characterizing total exposure, and data needs for supporting future risk assessment identified.
Diet and lifestyle factors associated with cognitive performance in college students

Abstract Objective Engaging in a healthy diet and positive lifestyle behaviors have been shown to improve cognitive functioning in children and older adults, however, few have examined these factors in college-aged students. Participants: A diverse sample of 115 college students were recruited on two university campuses. Method: Completed computerized cognitive testing and an online survey about diet and lifestyle behaviors. Results: All analyses were conducted with Pearson’s correlations. Higher fruit consumption was correlated with better visual memory scores. Higher seafood consumption was correlated with better learning performance. Increased fast food consumption was correlated with poorer executive functioning in resident students and poorer visual memory performance in commuter students. Increased fluid intake on testing day was correlated with better visual memory and better verbal memory performance. Conclusions: Behavioral changes such as increasing hydration, eating more fruit and fish, and eating less fast food may improve cognitive performance in college students.
Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Reveals Different Courses of Disease in Pediatric and Adult Cerebral Malaria

Abstract Background Cerebral malaria is a common presentation of severe Plasmodium falciparum infection and remains an important cause of death in the tropics. Key aspects of its pathogenesis are still incompletely understood, but severe brain swelling identified by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was associated with a fatal outcome in African children. In contrast, neuroimaging investigations failed to identify cerebral features associated with fatality in Asian adults. Methods Quantitative MRI with brain volume assessment and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analyses were performed for the first time in 65 patients with cerebral malaria to compare disease signatures between children and adults from the same cohort, as well as between fatal and nonfatal cases. Results We found an age-dependent decrease in brain swelling during acute cerebral malaria, and brain volumes did not differ between fatal and nonfatal cases across both age groups. In nonfatal disease, reversible, hypoxia-induced cytotoxic edema occurred predominantly in the white matter in children, and in the basal ganglia in adults. In fatal cases, quantitative ADC histogram analyses also demonstrated different end-stage patterns between adults and children: Severe hypoxia, evidenced by global ADC decrease and elevated plasma levels of lipocalin-2 and microRNA-150, was associated with a fatal outcome in adults. In fatal pediatric disease, our results corroborate an increase in brain volume, leading to augmented cerebral pressure, brainstem herniation, and death. Conclusions Our findings suggest distinct pathogenic patterns in pediatric and adult cerebral malaria with a stronger cytotoxic component in adults, supporting the development of age-specific adjunct therapies.
Response to comments on: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease associated with anterior ischemic optic neuropathy in a young woman presenting as acute angle-closure glaucoma.

Dear Editor, We read with interest the case reported by Patyal et al.[1] on Vogt‐Koyanagi‐Harada (VKH) disease associated with anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) in a young woman presenting as acute angle‐closure glaucoma. We are surprised by the authors’ decision to attribute the disc damage to AION. Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy is typically associated with optic disc edema with neuroretinal rim pallor in majority. [2] It is also associated with “flu”‐like symptoms, weight loss, fever of unknown origin, headaches, scalp tenderness, neck pain, jaw claudication and anemia, none of which were reported in this case. Investigational evidence such as delayed filling and late leakage at optic disc in fluorescein angiography (FA) and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C‐reactive protein levels were also not reported. Nakao et al. in a series of 52 VKH patients reported 6 patients who developed non‐reversible visual field loss attributed to AION. [3] All these eyes exhibited disc edema and AION features in FA, in addition to the systemic manifestations.
Validation of a next-generation sensory organization test in adults with and without vestibular dysfunction.

BACKGROUND The traditional Sensory Organization Test (T-SOT) is a gold standard balance test; however, the psychometric properties of assessing sensory organization with a virtual-reality-based posturography device have not been established. OBJECTIVE Our overall aims were to assess the criterion, concurrent, and convergent validity of a next-generation Sensory Organization Test (NG-SOT). METHODS Thirty-four adults (17 vestibular-impaired) participated. We compared the area under the curve (AUC) for receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis for the T-SOT and NG-SOT composite scores. Between-group and between-test differences for the composite and sensory analysis scores from each SOT were assessed using Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests. Additionally, we ran Spearman correlations between the NG-SOT composite score and outcomes of interest. RESULTS The AUCs for the NG-SOT and T-SOT were 0.950 (0.883, 1) and 0.990 (0.969, 1) respectively (p = 0.168). The median composite, vision, and visual preference scores were lower on the NG-SOT compared to the T-SOT; whereas, the median somatosensory score was higher on the NG-SOT compared to the T-SOT. Associations between the composite score and patient-reported or performance-based outcomes ranged from poor to strong. CONCLUSIONS The NG-SOT is a valid measure of balance in adults. However, the results of the NG-SOT and T-SOT should not be used interchangeably.
How the Chinese Government Has Done with Public Health from the Perspective of the Evaluation and Comparison about Public-Health Expenditure

The COVID-19 epidemic has crashed on the social and economic stability of China and even the world, and raised the question: how has the Chinese government done with public health in recent years? The purpose of this paper is to clarify the definition and items of Chinese public-health expenditure, then to objectively evaluate the Chinese government’s performance, so as to help the government to perform better in public health. To achieve this goal, we measure the Chinese public-health expenditure at national and provincial levels based on our definition, and then compare it with the expenditures of other countries. The results show that: (1) the level of public-health expenditure in China is relatively low and far lower than that in developed countries; (2) Chinese governments have not paid enough attention to the prevention and control of major public-health emergencies, which may be an important reason for the outbreak of COVID-19; (3) Chinese public-health expenditure shows a fluctuating growth trend, but the growth rate is so slow that it is lower than that of GDP and fiscal expenditure; (4) although the Chinese government inclines the public-health expenditure to the poor provinces in central and western regions, the imbalance and inequity of public-health resource allocation are still expanding among provinces; (5) there is a lot of waste of resources in the public-health system, which seriously reduces the efficiency of public-health expenditure in China. Therefore, the Chinese government should improve the quantity and quality of public-health expenditure in the above aspects.
Discovery of Euryhaline Phycoerythrobilin-Containing Synechococcus and Its Mechanisms for Adaptation to Estuarine Environments

Understanding the strategies developed by different microbial groups to adapt to specific niches is critical. Through genome and transcriptome analyses of two newly isolated novel euryhaline Synechococcus strains, this study revealed that cluster 5 phycoerythrobilin-containing Synechococcus, which are thought to be strictly marine strains, could be abundant in low-salinity waters of the Pearl River estuary (salinity <15 ppt) and explained the molecular mechanisms that enabled them to adapt the low and fluctuating salinity in the estuarine environment. ABSTRACT Synechococcus are among the most abundant and widely distributed picocyanobacteria on earth. Cluster 5 phycoerythrobilin-containing (PEB-containing) Synechococcus, the major marine Synechococcus, were considered to prefer high salinity, and they are absent in estuarine ecosystems. However, we have detected PEB-containing Synechococcus in some low-salinity (<15-ppt) areas of the Pearl River estuary at an abundance up to 1.0 × 105 cells ml−1. Two PEB-containing Synechococcus strains (HK01 and LTW-R) were isolated, and tests on them revealed their ability to cope with variations in the salinity (from 14 to 44 ppt). Phylogenetic analysis showed that HK01 belonged to a novel Synechococcus clade (HK1), whereas LTW-R was clustered with S5.2 strains. Whole-genome analysis revealed that a membrane channel protein with glycine zipper motifs is unique to euryhaline Synechococcus. The upregulation of this protein, the osmotic sensors, and the heat shock protein HSP20 and the downregulation of the osmolyte biosynthesis enable euryhaline Synechococcus to well adapt to the low and fluctuating salinity in the estuarine environment. In addition, decreasing the salinity in LTW-R strongly downregulated several important metabolic pathways, including photosynthesis, and the Calvin-Benson cycle, whereas its growth was not significantly affected. Moreover, obtaining PEB genes from horizontal gene transfer expands the light niche significantly for euryhaline Synechococcus. These results provided new insights into the life strategies and ecological function of marine PEB-containing Synechococcus under the unique environmental condition of estuarine waters, particularly in response to salinity variations. IMPORTANCE Understanding the strategies developed by different microbial groups to adapt to specific niches is critical. Through genome and transcriptome analyses of two newly isolated novel euryhaline Synechococcus strains, this study revealed that cluster 5 phycoerythrobilin-containing Synechococcus, which are thought to be strictly marine strains, could be abundant in low-salinity waters of the Pearl River estuary (salinity <15 ppt) and explained the molecular mechanisms that enabled them to adapt the low and fluctuating salinity in the estuarine environment. This study expands current understanding on mechanisms involved in niche separation of marine Synechococcus lineages.