Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring Out-of-pocket Payment, Catastrophic Health Expenditure and the Related Socioeconomic Inequality in Peru: A Comparison Between 2008 and 2017

Objectives: Describe out-of-pocket payment (OOP) and the proportion of Peruvian households with catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and evaluate changes in socioeconomic inequalities in CHE between 2008 and 2017. Methods: We used data from the 2008 and 2017 National Household Surveys on Living and Poverty Conditions (ENAHO in Spanish), which are based on probabilistic stratified, multistage and independent sampling of areas. OOP was converted into constant dollars of 2017. A household with CHE was assumed when the proportion between OOP and payment capacity was ≥0.40. OOP was described by median and interquartile range while CHE was described by weighted proportions and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). To estimate the socioeconomic inequality in CHE we computed the Erreygers concentration index. Results: The median OOP reduced from 205.8 US dollars to 158.7 US dollars between 2008 and 2017. The proportion of CHE decreased from 4.9% (95% CI, 4.5 to 5.2) in 2008 to 3.7% (95% CI, 3.4 to 4.0) in 2017. Comparison of socioeconomic inequality of CHE showed no differences between 2008 and 2017, except for rural households in which CHE was less concentrated in richer households (p<0.05) and in households located on the rest of the coast, showing an increase in the concentration of CHE in richer households (p<0.05). Conclusions: Although OOP and CHE reduced between 2008 and 2017, there is still socioeconomic inequality in the burden of CHE across different subpopulations. To reverse this situation, access to health resources and health services should be promoted and guaranteed to all populations.
Non-Contact Evaluation of Pigs’ Body Temperature Incorporating Environmental Factors

Internal body temperature is the gold standard for the fever of pigs, however non-contact infrared imaging technology (IRT) can only measure the skin temperature of regions of interest (ROI). Therefore, using IRT to detect the internal body temperature should be based on a correlation model between the ROI temperature and the internal temperature. When heat exchange between the ROI and the surroundings makes the ROI temperature more correlated with the environment, merely depending on the ROI to predict the internal temperature is unreliable. To ensure a high prediction accuracy, this paper investigated the influence of air temperature and humidity on ROI temperature, then built a prediction model incorporating them. The animal test includes 18 swine. IRT was employed to collect the temperatures of the backside, eye, vulva, and ear root ROIs; meanwhile, the air temperature and humidity were recorded. Body temperature prediction models incorporating environmental factors and the ROI temperature were constructed based on Back Propagate Neural Net (BPNN), Random Forest (RF), and Support Vector Regression (SVR). All three models yielded better results regarding the maximum error, minimum error, and mean square error (MSE) when the environmental factors were considered. When environmental factors were incorporated, SVR produced the best outcome, with the maximum error at 0.478 °C, the minimum error at 0.124 °C, and the MSE at 0.159 °C. The result demonstrated the accuracy and applicability of SVR as a prediction model of pigs′ internal body temperature.
Partial Purification and Characterization of Peroxidase from Pearl Millet (Pennisetum Glaucum [L.] R. Br.) Grains

Peroxidase from pearl millet hybrid HHB 94 was purified stepwise by (NH4)2SO4 fractionation, gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography using Sephadex G-100 and DEAE-cellulose to near homogeneity. The protocol yielded 41% of peroxidase with 33.2-fold purification. The purified enzyme preparation has molecular masses of 31 kDa, as determined by gel filtration through Sephadex G-100, and 30.4 kDa, as determined by SDS-PAGE, suggesting that the enzyme is a monomer. The enzyme exhibited maximum activity at pH 5.6 and 30C. It was significantly more stable in the pH range of 6.0–6.8 and at temperature below 35C. Peroxidase showed Km values of 0.10 and 11 mM for o-dianisidine and H2O2, respectively. The activity of peroxidase was highly inhibited by DTT, β-mercaptoethanol and hydrazine, and moderately by sodium azide, sodium borohydride, oxalic acid, EDTA, DTNB, Mn2+, Na+ and K+. The enzyme activity was enhanced by Ca2+ and Fe3+. Practical Applications Peroxidase is considered to have an empirical relationship to off-flavors and odors in foods. Earlier we have shown that peroxidase activity varied in different genotypes, i.e., HHB 94 (high) and 94222A × 78/711 (low), which appeared to be responsible for odor generation in stored pearl millet meal. In 94222A × 78/711, less off-odor was observed. The enzyme purified from mature pearl millet grains is strongly inhibited by DTT. This new information has been used to assay the enzyme in situ. We have found that in comparison to extractable activity, in situ activity of the enzyme is more strongly correlated with the development of off-odor in stored flour. Thus, in situ assay is being used to screen germplasm for selecting contrasting genotypes (with respect to off-odor) that will be used to develop pearl millet hybrids with improved shelf life of flour.
Menopausal Transition, Body Mass Index, and Prevalence of Mammographic Dense Breasts in Middle-Aged Women

The interrelationship between menopausal stage, excessive adiposity and dense breasts remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the relationship between menopausal stage and dense-breast prevalence in midlife women while considering a possible effect modification of being overweight. The present cross-sectional study comprised 82,677 Korean women, aged 35–65 years, who attended a screening exam. Menopausal stages were categorized based on the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop (STRAW + 10) criteria. Mammographic breast density was categorized according to Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). Dense breasts were defined as BI-RADS Breast Density category D (extremely dense). The prevalence of dense breasts decreased as menopausal stage increased (p-trend < 0.001), and this pattern was pronounced in overweight women than non-overweight women (p-interaction = 0.016). Compared with pre-menopause, the multivariable-adjusted prevalence ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) for dense breasts were 0.98 (0.96–1.00) in early transition, 0.89 (0.86–0.92) in late transition, and 0.55 (0.52–0.59) in post-menopause, among non-overweight women, while corresponding prevalence ratios were 0.92 (0.87–0.98), 0.83 (0.77–0.90) and 0.36 (0.31–0.41) among overweight women. The prevalence of dense breasts was inversely associated with increasing menopausal stages and significantly decreased from the late menopausal transition, with stronger declines among overweight women.
Effects of COMT Genotypes on Working Memory Performance in Fibromyalgia Patients

Growing research has reported the presence of a clear impairment of working memory functioning in fibromyalgia. Although different genetic factors involving dopamine availability (i.e, the COMT gene) have been associated with the more severe presentation of key symptoms in fibromyalgia, scientific evidence regarding the influence of COMT genotypes on cognitive impairment in these patients is still lacking. To this end, 167 participants took part in the present investigation. Working memory performance was assessed by the application of the SST (Spatial Span Test) and LNST (Letter and Number Sequence Test) belonging to the Weschler Memory Scale III. Significant working memory impairment was shown by the fibromyalgia patients. Remarkably, our results suggest that performance according to different working memory measures might be influenced by different genotypes of the COMT gene. Specifically, fibromyalgia patients carrying the Val/Val genotype exhibited significantly worse outcomes for the span of SST backward, SST backward score, SST total score and the Working Memory Index (WMI) than the Val/Val healthy carriers. Furthermore, the Val/Val patients performed worse on the SST backward and SST score than heterozygotes. Our findings are the first to show a link between the COMT gene and working memory dysfunction in fibromyalgia, supporting the idea that higher COMT enzyme activity would contribute to more severe working memory impairment in fibromyalgia.
Genetic Variability in the Italian Heavy Draught Horse from Pedigree Data and Genomic Information

Simple Summary Genetic diversity has been investigated in Italian Heavy Draught horse (IHDH) using both a traditional and a genomic-based approach. The combined use of approaches has allowed depicting the complex history of the IHDH population, in which the progressive increase in inbreeding was counteracted by an increase in genetic variability when the population base was enlarged, also thanks to the contribution of French Breton stallions. A complex framework of the population structure was observed, with two subpopulations recognizable, which was likely to be due to breeding practices including the different use of French stallions to support the genetic variability in the breed. Some highly selected genomic regions were found and related to disease resistance, which was not specific for the two subpopulations. The population history and structure of IHDH has shown that despite the pretty small population size, genetic variability is still high in the breed, which does not yet require specific conservations programs. Abstract This study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity in the Italian Heavy Horse Breed from pedigree and genomic data. Pedigree information for 64,917 individuals were used to assess inbreeding level, effective population size (Ne), and effective numbers of founders and ancestors (fa/fe). Genotypic information from SNP markers were available for 267 individuals of both sexes, and it allowed estimating genomic inbreeding in two methods (observed versus expected homozygosity and from ROH) to study the breed genomic structure and possible selection signatures. Pedigree and genomic inbreeding were greatly correlated (0.65 on average). The inbreeding trend increased over time, apart from periods in which the base population enlarged, when Ne increased also. Recent bottlenecks did not occur in the genome, as fa/fe have shown. The observed homozygosity results were on average lower than expected, which was probably due to the use of French Breton stallions to support the breed genetic variability. High homozygous regions suggested that inbreeding increased in different periods. Two subpopulations were distinguished, which was probably due to the different inclusion of French animals by breeders. Few selection signatures were found at the population level, with possible associations to disease resistance. The almost low inbreeding rate suggested that despite the small breed size, conservation actions are not yet required.
Ergogenic Effect of BCAAs and L-Alanine Supplementation: Proof-of-Concept Study in a Murine Model of Physiological Exercise

Background: Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs: leucine, isoleucine, valine) account for 35% of skeletal muscle essential amino acids (AAs). As such, they must be provided in the diet to support peptide synthesis and inhibit protein breakdown. Although substantial evidence has been collected about the potential usefulness of BCAAs in supporting muscle function and structure, dietary supplements containing BCAAs alone may not be effective in controlling muscle protein turnover, due to the rate-limiting bioavailability of other AAs involved in BCAAs metabolism. Methods: We aimed to evaluate the in vivo/ex vivo effects of a 4-week treatment with an oral formulation containing BCAAs alone (2:1:1) on muscle function, structure, and metabolism in a murine model of physiological exercise, which was compared to three modified formulations combining BCAAs with increasing concentrations of L-Alanine (ALA), an AA controlling BCAAs catabolism. Results: A preliminary pharmacokinetic study confirmed the ability of ALA to boost up BCAAs bioavailability. After 4 weeks, mix 2 (BCAAs + 2ALA) had the best protective effect on mice force and fatigability, as well as on muscle morphology and metabolic indices. Conclusion: Our study corroborates the use of BCAAs + ALA to support muscle health during physiological exercise, underlining how the relative BCAAs/ALA ratio is important to control BCAAs distribution.
The ANEMONE: Theoretical Foundations for UX Evaluation of Action and Intention Recognition in Human-Robot Interaction

The coexistence of robots and humans in shared physical and social spaces is expected to increase. A key enabler of high-quality interaction is a mutual understanding of each other’s actions and intentions. In this paper, we motivate and present a systematic user experience (UX) evaluation framework of action and intention recognition between humans and robots from a UX perspective, because there is an identified lack of this kind of evaluation methodology. The evaluation framework is packaged into a methodological approach called ANEMONE (action and intention recognition in human robot interaction). ANEMONE has its foundation in cultural-historical activity theory (AT) as the theoretical lens, the seven stages of action model, and user experience (UX) evaluation methodology, which together are useful in motivating and framing the work presented in this paper. The proposed methodological approach of ANEMONE provides guidance on how to measure, assess, and evaluate the mutual recognition of actions and intentions between humans and robots for investigators of UX evaluation. The paper ends with a discussion, addresses future work, and some concluding remarks.
The Effect of Gaseous Ozone Therapy in Conjunction with Periodontal Treatment on Glycated Hemoglobin Level in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: An Unmasked Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: It is established that inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) by promoting insulin resistance and impaired beta cell function in the pancreas. Among the hypothesized independent risk factors implicated in the pathogenetic basis of disease, periodontal infection has been proposed to promote an amplification of the magnitude of the advanced glycation end product (AGE)-mediated upregulation of cytokine synthesis and secretion. These findings suggest an interrelationship between periodontal disease and type 2 diabetes, describing poor metabolic control in subjects with periodontitis as compared to nondiabetic subjects and more severe periodontitis in subjects with T2DM as compared to a healthy population, with a significant positive correlation between periodontal inflammatory parameters and glycated hemoglobin level. Results from clinical trials show that periodontal treatment is able to improve glycemic control in subjects with diabetes. Many therapeutic strategies have been developed to improve periodontal conditions in conjunction with conventional treatment, among which ozone (O3) is of specific concern. The principal aim of this trial was to compare the clinical effectiveness of an intensive periodontal intervention consisting of conventional periodontal treatment in conjunction with ozone gas therapy in reducing glycated hemoglobin level in type 2 diabetic patients and standard periodontal treatment. Methods: This study was a 12-month unmasked randomized trial and included 100 patients aged 40–74 years older, with type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosed. All the patients received conventional periodontal treatment, or periodontal treatment in conjunction with ozone gas therapy in a randomly assigned order (1:1). The primary outcome was a clinical measure of glycated hemoglobin level at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months from randomization. Secondary outcomes were changes in periodontal inflammatory parameters. Results: At 12 months, the periodontal treatment in conjunction with ozone gas therapy did not show significant differences than standard therapy in decreasing glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) level and the lack of significant differences in balance is evident. Conclusions: Although the change was not significant, periodontal treatment in conjunction with the gaseous ozone therapy tended to reduce the levels of glycated hemoglobin. The study shows a benefit with ozone therapy as compared to traditional periodontal treatment.
Toll-Like Receptor 2 Expression as a New Hallmark of Advanced Endometriosis

Recent evidence suggests that immunological aspects play a pivotal role in this disorder. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is crucial in recognizing microbial infections and mediating innate immune response. The objective of our study was to rate with flow cytometry the levels of several subsets of dendritic cells, monocytes, and basic peripheral blood lymphocytes expressing TLR2, aiming at the determination of a possible correlation between the expression of TLR2 and the clinical outcomes of endometriosis in 40 patients and 40 age-matched healthy women. Our study showed the importance of TLR2 expression, mainly on myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) and B cells in patients with endometriosis. Both mDCs BDCA1+CD19-TLR2+ and B lymphocytes CD19+TLR-2+ proved useful in the differentiation of affected individuals with stages 3–4 of the disease (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve /AUC/ = 0.96, p < 0.0001 for mDCs; AUC = 0.78, p = 0.0001 for B lymphocytes), and those presenting adhesion (AUC = 0.92, p < 0.0001 for mDCs; AUC = 0.82, p < 0.0001 for B lymphocytes) or infertility (AUC = 0.83, p < 0.0001 for mDCs; AUC = 0.73, p = 0.006 for B lymphocytes). Our findings suggest that the levels of TLR2-expressing cells, particularly mDCs and B lymphocytes, may be an effective biomarker of endometriosis, because the disease currently lacks clinically useful noninvasive biomarkers enabling early and cost-effective diagnosis.
Ambient Exposure to Agricultural Pesticides during Pregnancy and Risk of Cerebral Palsy: A Population-Based Study in California

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common neuro-motor disability in young children. Disruptions of maternal hormone function during pregnancy have been linked to CP risk. We investigated whether prenatal exposure to pesticide compounds with endocrine-disrupting action affect CP risk. We conducted a case-control study of 3905 CP cases and 39,377 controls born between 1998 and 2010 in California to mothers who lived in proximity (within 2 km) to any agricultural pesticide application recorded in the California Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR) system. We focused on 23 pesticides considered endocrine disruptors that are frequently used, and we found that exposure to any of the 23 pesticides in the first trimester was associated with elevated CP risks in female offspring (OR = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.05–1.35) but not males (OR = 0.99; 95% CI: 0.89–1.09) compared to the unexposed offspring. Positive associations were estimated for 15 pesticides suspected to affect the estrogen and 7 pesticides suspected to affect the thyroid hormone system. Our study suggests that first trimester exposure to pesticides that are suspected endocrine disruptors are associated with CP risk in female offspring. Pesticide exposures in early pregnancy may have sex-specific influences on the neuro-motor development of the fetus by interfering with endocrine systems.
Effect of Supplementary Materials on the Autogenous Shrinkage of Cement Paste

In recent years more and more attention has been given to autogenous shrinkage due to the increasing use of high-performance concrete, which always contains supplementary materials. With the addition of supplementary materials—e.g., fly ash and blast furnace slag—internal relative humidity, chemical shrinkage and mechanical properties of cement paste will be affected. These properties significantly influence the autogenous shrinkage of cement paste. In this study, three supplementary materials—i.e., silica fume, fly ash and blast furnace slag—are investigated. Measurements of final setting time, internal relative humidity, chemical shrinkage, compressive strength and autogenous deformation of the cement pastes with and without supplementary materials are presented. Two water-binder ratios, 0.3 and 0.4, are considered. The effects of different supplementary materials on autogenous shrinkage of cement paste are discussed.
protein2vec: Predicting Protein-Protein Interactions Based on LSTM

The semantic similarity of gene ontology (GO) terms is widely used to predict protein-protein interactions (PPIs). The traditional semantic similarity measures are based mainly on manually crafted features, which may ignore some important hidden information of the gene ontology. Moreover, those methods usually obtain the similarity between proteins from similarity between GO terms by some simple statistical rules, such as MAX and BMA (best-match average), oversimplifying the possible complex relationship between the proteins and the GO terms annotated with them. To overcome the two deficiencies, we propose a new method named protein2vec, which characterizes a protein with a vector based on the GO terms annotated to it and combines the information of both the GO and known PPIs. We firstly try to apply the network embedding algorithm on the GO network to generate feature vectors for each GO term. Then, Long Short-Time Memory (LSTM) encodes the feature vectors of the GO terms annotated with a protein into another vector (called protein vector). Finally, two protein vectors are forwarded into a feedforward neural network to predict the interaction between the two corresponding proteins. The experimental results show that protein2vec outperforms almost all commonly used traditional semantic similarity methods.
Prevalence of Misophonia and Correlates of Its Symptoms among Inpatients with Depression

Misophonia is an underexplored condition that significantly decreases the quality of life of those who suffer from it. It has neurological and physiological correlates and is associated with a variety of psychiatric symptoms; however, a growing body of data suggests that it is a discrete disorder. While comorbid diagnoses among people with misophonia have been a matter of research interest for many years there is no data on the frequency of misophonia among people with psychiatric disorders. This could be the next step to reveal additional mechanisms underlying misophonia. Until recently, the use of a variety of non-validated questionnaires and the dominance of internet-based studies have been also a major obstacles to a proper definition of misophonia. A total of 94 inpatients diagnosed with depression were assessed for misophonia with face-to-face interviews as well as with MisoQuest—a validated misophonia questionnaire. The prevalence of misophonia among these patients and the congruence of MisoQuest with face-to-face interviews were evaluated. Additionally, the patients filled in a series of questionnaires that measured a variety of psychiatric symptoms and psychological traits. Anxiety, depression, impulsivity, somatic pain, vegetative symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, gender, and age were analyzed in relation to the severity of symptoms of misophonia. Between 8.5 to 12.76% of inpatients with depression were diagnosed with misophonia (depending on measurement and inclusion criteria). MisoQuest accuracy was equal to 92.55%, sensitivity-66.67% and specificity-96.34%. Severity of misophonia symptoms was positively correlated to the greatest extent with anxiety. Moderate positive correlation was also found between severity of misophonia symptoms and depressive symptoms, intrusions, and somatic pain; a weak positive correlation was found between severity of misophonia and non-planning impulsivity, motor impulsivity, avoidance, and vegetative symptoms. There was no relationship between the severity of misophonia symptoms and attentional impulsivity or the age of participants.