Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phasic left atrial strain analysis to discriminate cardiac amyloidosis in patients with unclear thick heart pathology.

AIMS Traditional echocardiographic parameters for the assessment of suspected cardiac amyloidosis (CA) are of limited diagnostic accuracy. We sought to explore differences and the discriminative value of phasic left atrial strain (LAS) reductions and of regional longitudinal left ventricular (LV) strain alterations (relative apical sparing; RELAPS) in CA and other causes of LV wall thickening (LVH). METHODS AND RESULTS We included 54 patients with unclear LVH (mean septal diastolic wall thickness 17.8 ± 3.5 mm); CA was bioptically confirmed in 35 patients (8 mATTR, 6 wtATTR, 20 AL, and 1 AA amyloidosis) and LVH in 19 subjects. We analysed RELAPS as well as LA reservoir (LASr), conduit (LAScd), and contraction strain (LASct) using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (EchoPAC software, GE). RELAPS was higher (1.37 ± 0.94 vs. 0.86 ± 0.29, P < 0.007), whereas atrial mechanics were significantly reduced in CA (LASr, LAScd, and LASct: 9.7 ± 5.2%, -6.5 ± 3.5%, and -5.0 ± 4.1% in CA; and 22.7 ± 7.8%, -13.9 ± 5.2%, and -13.0 ± 5.5% in LVH, respectively; P < 0.001 each). With an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.91 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82-0.99], LASr showed a higher diagnostic accuracy in discriminating CA than RELAPS (AUC 0.74, 95% CI 0.59-0.88). LASr and LAScd remained significantly associated with CA in a multivariate regression model. CONCLUSION Phasic LAS was significantly reduced in patients with CA and showed a higher diagnostic accuracy in discriminating CA than RELAPS. The additional assessment of phasic LAS may be useful to rule in the possible diagnosis of CA in patients with unclear LVH.
Child-parent interactions in American and Turkish families: Examining measurement invariance analysis of child-parent relationship scale

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in the U.S.(n = 4,450) and Turkey (n = 592) from 2014 to 2015. Using Single-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the original factor structures of the Turkish and the English versions were tested. Besides, Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided evidence for configural, metric, scalar invariance, strict factorial invariance or error variance invariance and construct level invariance across the two versions. Only configural invariance was established, which showed an agreement for the existence of an underlying theoretical construct for each subscale (Conflict and Closeness) of the Turkish and the English versions. However, item CPRS 4 was a non-significant item for Conflict in the Turkish version that affected the possibility to conduct further analyses. Findings encourage researchers to propose and assess cultural and linguistic adaptations for the Child-parent Relationship Scale before cross-cultural comparisons related to family relationships.
Study of Xoconostle (Opuntia spp.) Powder as Source of Dietary Fiber and Antioxidants

The objective of this study is to evaluate the nutritional composition, antioxidant properties, and functional characteristics of two cultivars of xoconostle Opuntia xoconostle F.A. C. Weber in Diguet cv. Cuaresmeño (XC) and Opuntia matudae Scheinvar cv. Rosa (XR). The samples were frozen (−32 °C, 48 h), lyophilized (96 h, −55 ± 1 °C, vacuum of 0.040 Mbar), and homogenized (size particle 500 μm) to get the xoconostle powder. Both cultivars (XC and XR) had a high content of carbohydrates characterized by soluble sugars (9.8 ± 0.7 and 29.9 ± 0.5 g/100 g dm) and dietary fiber (30.8 ± 0.7 and 36.8 ± 0.9 g/100 g dm), as well as lower proportions of organic acids, mainly citric acid (18.8 ± 0.0 and 13.6 ± 0.0 mg/100 g dm). These samples also had a high content of phenolic compounds (1580.3 ± 33.1 and 1068.5 ± 70.8 mg GAE/100 g dm), vitamin C (723.1 ± 16 and 320.2 ± 7.5 mg/100 g dm), and antioxidant activity ABTS·+ and DPPH· (between 1348.1 ± 74.0 and 3318.7 ± 178.8 µmol TE/100 g dm). Since xoconostle samples had a high content of dietary fiber, they were characterized by the capacity of water retention (water holding capacity 6.00 ± 0.1 and 5.5 ± 0.2 g H2O/g dm) and gel formation (swelling 5.2 ± 0.0 and 5.5 ± 0.0 g H2O/g dm), related with the retention of lipids and glucose in the food matrix similar to other foods. XR was characterized by a higher amount of dietary fiber, sugars and organic acids, while XC had higher phenols content and antioxidant properties, with higher values of functional properties. Then, our data suggest that both xoconostle cultivars in powder can be used as a functional ingredient for its fiber content and antioxidant properties, contributing with sensorial aspects as flavor and color. Therefore, these highly valued products can be used in the pharmaceutical and food industries.
A Compact Convolutional Neural Network for Surface Defect Inspection

The advent of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) has accelerated the progress of computer vision from many aspects. However, the majority of the existing CNNs heavily rely on expensive GPUs (graphics processing units). to support large computations. Therefore, CNNs have not been widely used to inspect surface defects in the manufacturing field yet. In this paper, we develop a compact CNN-based model that not only achieves high performance on tiny defect inspection but can be run on low-frequency CPUs (central processing units). Our model consists of a light-weight (LW) bottleneck and a decoder. By a pyramid of lightweight kernels, the LW bottleneck provides rich features with less computational cost. The decoder is also built in a lightweight way, which consists of an atrous spatial pyramid pooling (ASPP) and depthwise separable convolution layers. These lightweight designs reduce the redundant weights and computation greatly. We train our models on groups of surface datasets. The model can successfully classify/segment surface defects with an Intel i3-4010U CPU within 30 ms. Our model obtains similar accuracy with MobileNetV2 while only has less than its 1/3 FLOPs (floating-point operations per second) and 1/8 weights. Our experiments indicate CNNs can be compact and hardware-friendly for future applications in the automated surface inspection (ASI).
Material Characterization of PCL:PLLA Electrospun Fibers Following Six Months Degradation In Vitro

The annulus fibrosus—one of the two tissues comprising the intervertebral disc—is susceptible to injury and disease, leading to chronic pain and rupture. A synthetic, biodegradable material could provide a suitable scaffold that alleviates this pain and supports repair through tissue regeneration. The transfer of properties, particularly biomechanical, from scaffold to new tissue is essential and should occur at the same rate to prevent graft failure post-implantation. This study outlines the effect of hydrolytic degradation on the material properties of a novel blend of polycaprolactone and poly(lactic acid) electrospun nanofibers (50:50) over a six-month period following storage in phosphate buffered saline solution at 37 °C. As expected, the molecular weight distribution for this blend decreased over the 180-day period. This was in line with significant changes to fiber morphology, which appeared swollen and merged following observation using Scanning Electron Microscopy. Similarly, hydrolysis resulted in considerable remodeling of the scaffolds’ polymer chains as demonstrated by sharp increases in percentage crystallinity and tensile properties becoming stiffer, stronger and more brittle over time. These mechanical data remained within the range reported for human annulus fibrosus tissue and their long-term efficacy further supports this novel blend as a potential scaffold to support tissue regeneration.
Properties and Skin Compatibility of Films Based on Poly(Lactic Acid) (PLA) Bionanocomposites Incorporating Chitin Nanofibrils (CN)

Nanobiocomposites suitable for preparing skin compatible films by flat die extrusion were prepared by using plasticized poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA), and Chitin nanofibrils as functional filler. Chitin nanofibrils (CNs) were dispersed in the blends thanks to the preparation of pre-nanocomposites containing poly(ethylene glycol). Thanks to the use of a melt strength enhancer (Plastistrength) and calcium carbonate, the processability and thermal properties of bionanocomposites films containing CNs could be tuned in a wide range. Moreover, the resultant films were flexible and highly resistant. The addition of CNs in the presence of starch proved not advantageous because of an extensive chain scission resulting in low values of melt viscosity. The films containing CNs or CNs and calcium carbonate resulted biocompatible and enabled the production of cells defensins, acting as indirect anti-microbial. Nevertheless, tests made with Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter spp. (Gram positive and negative respectively) by the qualitative agar diffusion test did not show any direct anti-microbial activity of the films. The results are explained considering the morphology of the film and the different mechanisms of direct and indirect anti-microbial action generated by the nanobiocomposite based films.
Effects of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Visual Cues on Consumer Emotion and Purchase Intent: A Case of Ready-to-Eat Salad

With increasing demand for ready-to-eat (RTE) fresh vegetables, it is important to understand how visual information cues, both intrinsic and extrinsic, affect consumer perception of these products. This study developed an emotional and wellness lexicon related to RTE salads. Subsequent questionnaires with images of salads were used to quantify consumer (N = 150) emotional and hedonic perceptions related to green color shade, shape/size of pieces, multicolor scheme, product name, and packaging. The different visual cues significantly impacted emotions and their intensities. Qualitatively, feelings of health and wellness predominated across salad samples. Negative emotions were more influenced by size of piece and green-color (intrinsic), while positive emotions were influenced by viewing salads of multiple colors (intrinsic) and packaging (extrinsic). Pale green salads were generally less liked than darker green ones. Values, in one case, ranged from 4.39 to 7.28 (on a 9-point hedonic scale), but naming the product (“iceberg lettuce”) did raise the lowest score to 5.75. The addition of vegetables with orange and purple colors to the salad mix had a positive impact on the perception of pale green salads. This study demonstrated that intrinsic and extrinsic visual cues significantly influenced consumer emotions, hedonic perception and purchase intent of RTE salads, but the effects of extrinsic cues were generally less prominent.
Nematicidal Amendments and Soil Remediation

The intensification of agriculture has created concerns about soil degradation and toxicity of agricultural chemicals to non-target organisms. As a result, there is great urgency for discovering new ecofriendly tools for pest management and plant nutrition. Botanical matrices and their extracts and purified secondary metabolites have received much research interest, but time-consuming registration issues have slowed their adoption. In contrast, cultural practices such as use of plant matrices as soil amendments could be immediately used as plant protectants or organic fertilizers. Herein, we focus on some types of soil amendments of botanical origin and their utilization for nematicidal activity and enhancement of plant nutrition. The mode of action is discussed in terms of parasite control as well as plant growth stimulation.
Good soldiers, good guys, and good parents: the meanings of donation and donated tissue in the context of the Danish donor sperm industry

Denmark is a major exporter of both anonymous and identity-release donor sperm worldwide, and is home to one the world's largest sperm bank networks. The country's legal framework allows for sperm donors to make the choice whether to be anonymous or to release their identity to potential offspring, in contrast to the majority of European countries which require either anonymity or identity-release donation. As such, it represents a chance for researchers to draw comparisons between donors who have explicitly made these different choices. This thesis draws on data from thirteen in-depth semi-structured interviews carried out with donors at a major Danish sperm bank. I suggest that neither the traditional ‘beer money for the weekend’ nor the currentlypopular ‘wanting to help’ narrative of sperm donation tells the full story; the experiences of these donors cannot be expressed fully using an altruistic gifting model, but neither are they fully captured in terms of the capitalist exchange of labour; as ‘help’ or as ‘work’. Donor virility, and by extension masculinity, is represented through sperm quality and the discourse of “good sperm”, which then explicitly informs donor payment, complicating the relationship between donors’ embodied experience, their pride in their ‘product’ and the various ways in which semen as a substance is understood: “good sperm” could make a donor into a ‘good guy’ who could help with the falling national birth count, whereas sperm that was “bad” could be reframed as the product of donors’ lifestyles or as ‘good soldiers’ fighting against the freezing process. Donor accounts of sperm donation were also informed by the wider web of connections that are formed through the process of sperm donation: real, potential, or imagined connections between donor and offspring, donor and their imagined ‘good’ recipient, offspring and donor families, and donors and the wider Danish nation in terms of the production of so-called ‘Viking sperm’ and the extension of the ‘help’ discourse through the falling Danish sperm count.
Severe cutaneous drug reactions in Guinean children: a monocentric retrospective study of 35 cases

© Our Dermatol Online 2.2018 118 How to cite this article: Tounkara TM, Baldé H, Soumah MM, Bangoura M, Diané BF, Keita M, Kanté MD, Traoré FA, Sako FB, Touré M, Doumbouya A, Cisse M. Severe cutaneous drug reactions in Guinean children: a monocentric retrospective study of 35 cases. Our Dermatol Online. 2018;9(2):118-122. Submission: 19.09. 2017; Acceptance: 02.11. 2017 DOI: 10.7241/ourd.20182. 3 Severe cutaneous drug reactions in Guinean children: a monocentric retrospective study of 35 cases
Environmental Factors that Impact the Workplace Participation of Transition-Aged Young Adults with Brain-Based Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Workplace participation of individuals with disabilities continues to be a challenge. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) places importance on the environment in explaining participation in different life domains, including work. A scoping review was conducted to investigate environmental facilitators and barriers relevant to workplace participation for transition-aged young adults aged 18–35 with brain-based disabilities. Studies published between 1995 and 2018 were screened by two reviewers. Findings were categorized into the ICF’s environmental domains: Products and technology/Natural environment and human-made changes to environment, Support and relationships, Attitudes, and Services, systems and policies. Out of 11,515 articles screened, 31 were retained. All environmental domains of the ICF influenced workplace participation. The majority of the studies (77%) highlighted factors in the Services, systems and policies domain such as inclusive and flexible systems, and well-defined policies exercised at the organizational level. Social support mainly from family, friends, employers and colleagues was reported as a facilitator (68%), followed by physical accessibility and finally, the availability of assistive technology (55%). Attitudes of colleagues and employers were mostly seen as a barrier to workplace participation (48%). Findings can inform the development of guidelines and processes for implementing and reinforcing policies, regulations and support at the organization level.
Communication and swallowing changes, everyday impacts and access to speech-language pathology services for people with Parkinson's disease: An Australian survey

Abstract Purpose To investigate people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD): 1) self-reported communication and swallowing difficulties due to Parkinson's disease (PD), 2) participation and psychosocial impacts of these difficulties and 3) experience with and access to speech-language pathology (SLP) services. Method A cross-sectional mix-methods survey was conducted using nonprobability, purposive sampling for recruitment. An inclusion criterion was that participants needed to have self-reported communication and/or swallowing changes due to PD. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were utilised. Result All of the 78 PwPD who participated reported changes to their communication (97%) and/or swallowing (93%). A diverse range of participation restrictions was found in social, recreational, vocational and everyday living activities. Adverse emotional impacts including frustration, loss of self-confidence, depression and isolation were reported due to these changes. Only 59% of our sample had accessed SLP services. The most common reason for PwPD not accessing services was that neither their general practitioner nor neurologist had referred them to SLP. The majority of PwPD wanted to access SLP at some point in the future. Wide variability in the SLP services provided was evident. Most of the PwPD who had received SLP support wanted further ongoing management. Conclusion This study provided insight into the everyday impacts of communication and swallowing changes experienced by PwPD, and the gap between service supply and demand.
Health Related Lifestyle Behaviors among Undergraduate Medical Students in Patan Academy of Health Sciences in Nepal

Objectives: This descriptive study of 219 undergraduate medical students at Patan Academy of Health Sciences in Nepal was conducted to evaluate the relationships of their demographic variables with a health-promoting lifestyle profile. Methods: The Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) questionnaire was used to study students’ lifestyles. We compared the HPLP scores according to gender, residence type, school background and year of study. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple comparison test were conducted to identify significant differences among university year (first, second, third and fourth) groups. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the effects of various demographics on the overall HPLP score and the six health-promoting lifestyle subscales. Results: The overall HPLP mean score of participants was 2.60 ± 0.29, with the highest mean scores being for spiritual growth (2.99 ± 0.42) and interpersonal relations (2.90 ± 0.35), and the lowest mean scores being for health responsibility (2.39 ± 0.39) and physical activity (2.25 ± 0.54), respectively. The overall HPLP score of the students was the highest for the first year students at 2.65 ± 0.26. The male students had a better overall HPLP score, although female students obtained better score in some subscales such as health responsibility, interpersonal relations and nutrition. The students from a public school background had significantly higher scores for health responsibility, physical activity and stress management than those who graduated school level education from a private school. Conclusions: The results of this study reveal that the status of health promoting behaviors among the students was acceptable with ample room for improvement. Implementation of health education and promotion programs with an emphasis on the different dimensions of health lifestyle behaviors is recommended.
Vesiculation of Red Blood Cells in the Blood Bank: A Multi-Omics Approach towards Identification of Causes and Consequences

Microvesicle generation is an integral part of the aging process of red blood cells in vivo and in vitro. Extensive vesiculation impairs function and survival of red blood cells after transfusion, and microvesicles contribute to transfusion reactions. The triggers and mechanisms of microvesicle generation are largely unknown. In this study, we combined morphological, immunochemical, proteomic, lipidomic, and metabolomic analyses to obtain an integrated understanding of the mechanisms underlying microvesicle generation during the storage of red blood cell concentrates. Our data indicate that changes in membrane organization, triggered by altered protein conformation, constitute the main mechanism of vesiculation, and precede changes in lipid organization. The resulting selective accumulation of membrane components in microvesicles is accompanied by the recruitment of plasma proteins involved in inflammation and coagulation. Our data may serve as a basis for further dissection of the fundamental mechanisms of red blood cell aging and vesiculation, for identifying the cause-effect relationship between blood bank storage and transfusion complications, and for assessing the role of microvesicles in pathologies affecting red blood cells.
Beyond the Wall: Death Education at Middle School as Suicide Prevention

This study investigates the psychological effects of participation in Death Education (DeEd) by middle school children in two towns in northeast Italy in which suicides occur to a greater extent than in the rest of the region. The aims of the project “Beyond the Wall” were inherent to the prevention of suicide, address existential issues and enhance the meaning of life through positive intentions for the future and reflection on mortality. It involved eight classes (150 students in four classes in the experimental group; 81 in four classes in the control group) engaging with films, workgroup activities, photovoice and psychodrama. The constructs of resilience, emotional competency and psychological well-being were monitored with the Resilience Scale for Adolescents, the Hopelessness Scale for Children, the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children and the Stirling Children’s Well-being Scale. The DeEd intervention was found to be significantly related to some of the variables investigated, improving the students’ ability to recognise emotions and communicate them verbally while maintaining stable initial characteristics, such as psychological well-being and positive expectations for the future.