Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isolation and cultivation as well as in situ identification of MSCs from equine dental pulp and periodontal ligament

Introduction The lifelong eruption places a great demand on the dental pulp and periodontal ligament (PDL) of horse teeth. Cells within the pulp and PDL seem to play a key role during this remodeling. Methods In this study, we isolated and cultivated MSCs (medicinal signaling cells) from dental pulp, PDL and retrobulbar fat of four horses. Subsequently, we analyzed them by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry to determine and compare their characteristics. In addition, we localized these cells within the tissue structure via immunohistochemistry of histological sections. For these analyses, several surface markers were applied. Results The described method illustrates a feasible approach to isolate and cultivate MSCs from equine dental pulp and PDL. In the flow cytometry a vast majority of cultivated cells were positive for CD90 and CD40 and negative for CD11a/18, CD45, CD105 and MHCII suggesting that these cells feature characteristics of MSCs. Immunohistochemistry of histological pulp and PDL sections showed the localization of CD90 positive cells especially in the perivascular region and the subodontoblastic layer. Discussion Our findings indicate that the isolation and cultivation of MSCs from equine dental pulp and PDL is feasible although an elaborate and complicated harvesting protocol is required. MSCs isolated from dental pulp and PDL are regarded as candidates for new therapeutical approaches in equine dental medicine like regeneration of periodontal lesions, enhancement of periodontal re-attachment after dental replantation and stimulation of pulp-obliteration and apexification in combination with endodontic therapies.
The impacts of physical activity on psychological and behavioral problems, and changes in physical activity, sleep and quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic in preschoolers, children, and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the level of physical activity (PA). However, little is known about its effect on health outcomes. Methods Articles without language restrictions published from the database inception through March 16, 2022, were retrieved using the CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases. High-quality articles assessing the effect of PA on psychological and behavioral problems. Additionally, PA, QoL, and/or sleep problems before and during the pandemic were included. Articles without data regarding PA or involving non-general populations were excluded. The PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines were followed. Data quality of the selected articles was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and GRADE approach. Data were pooled using a random-effects model and sensitivity analysis if heterogenicity was high (I2 ≥ 50%). The relationship between PA and psychological and behavioral problems; and changes in PA, QoL, and sleeping patterns before and during the pandemic in preschoolers, children, and adolescents were investigated. A meta-analysis was conducted; odds ratios (ORs), mean differences (MD), and standardized MDs (SMDs) were calculated. Results Thirty-four articles involving 66,857 participants were included. The results showed an overall significant protective effect between PA and psychological and/or behavioral problems (OR = 0.677; 95% CI = 0.630, 0.728; p-value <0.001; I2 = 59.79%). This relationship was also significant in the subgroup analysis of children (OR = 0.690; 95% CI = 0.632, 0.752; p-value <0.001; I2 = 58.93%) and adolescents (OR = 0.650; 95% CI = 0.570, 0.741; p-value <0.001; I2 = 60.85%); however, no data on the relationship in preschoolers were collected. In addition, the overall time spent on PA significantly decreased by 23.2 min per day during the COVID-19 pandemic (95% CI = −13.5, −32.9; p-value <0.001; I2 = 99.82%). Moreover, the results showed an overall significant decrease in QoL (SMD = −0.894, 95% CI = −1.180, −0.609, p-value <0.001, I2 = 96.64%). However, there was no significant difference in sleep duration during the COVID-19 pandemic (MD = 0.01 h per day, 95% CI = −0.027, 0.225; p-value = 0.125; I2 = 98.48%). Conclusion During the pandemic, less PA was contributed to poor QoL and sleep quality. However, increases in PA are associated with reduced occurrences of psychological and behavioral problems. Implementing recovery plans to address the health effect of the pandemic is essential.
Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Related to the Health Related and Well-Being Outcomes of European Mature Adults and Elderly, with an Additional Reference to Croatia

With the increase in life expectancy, expectation of a longer healthy life is also increasing. Importance of consumption of certain foods is confirmed to have a strong effect on quality of life. One of the healthiest dietary patterns consistently associated with a range of beneficial health outcomes is the Mediterranean diet (MD). The aim of this study was to assess MD adherence in the population over 50 years of age, in Europe, with special reference to Croatia, and to assess regional differences and investigate the association with health-related indicators (disease incidence, body mass index (BMI), grip strength measure, control, autonomy, self-realization, and pleasure scale (CASP-12)). This research uses data from the SHARE project for the population over 50 years of age. The frequency of individual responses was analyzed (frequencies, cross tables, and appropriate tests of significance, depending on the data set), and logistic regression was used to connect adherence to the Mediterranean diet with health indicators. The results of the study indicate a positive correlation between adherence to the principles of the Mediterranean diet with CASP and self-perception of health, which the followers of the MD pattern predominantly rate as “very good” or “excellent” (37.05%) what is significantly different (p < 0.05) from individuals which do not follow the patterns of MD (21.55%). The regression models indicate significant changes in the measure of maximum grip strength also among MD followers (ORMEDIUM = 1.449; ORHIGH = 1.293). Data for EU countries are also classified by regions (Central and Eastern; Northern, Southern and Western Europe), additionally allocating Croatia, and the trends in meat, fish and egg consumption showed the greatest differences for Croatian participants (39.6% twice a week) versus participants from four European regions. Data for Croatia deviates from the European average also in terms of the proportion of overweight and obese persons in all observed age groups, of which the largest proportion is in the 50–64 age group (normal BMI: only 30.3%). This study extended the currently available literature covering 27 European countries, placing the findings in a wider geographical context. The Mediterranean diet has once again proven to be an important factor related to health-related behavior. The presented results are extremely important for public health services, indicating possible critical factors in preserving the health of the population over 50 years old.
Relationship between Perceived Pain Interference and Poor Psychological Wellbeing among United States Adults

The goal of this observational project was to investigate the association among perceived pain interference and poor psychological wellbeing in United States adults. Adults over 18 years of age in the 2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey were eligible for inclusion if they were alive for the calendar year and had data available for their pain status. Hierarchical logistical regression examined statistically significant associations among perceived pain interference and poor psychological wellbeing. Results showed that greater levels of perceived pain interference were significantly related with larger odds of reporting poor psychological wellbeing. Additionally, several other variables were related with larger or lower odds of reporting poor psychological wellbeing. These findings provide insight into the effect of perceived pain interference and other variables with poor psychological wellbeing, which may help recuperate the psychological wellbeing of US adults with pain.
Assessment of Protein Nutritional Quality of Novel Hairless Canary Seed in Comparison to Wheat and Oat Using In Vitro Static Digestion Models

Hairless canary seed (Phalaris canariensis L.) is a novel true cereal that is now approved for human consumption in Canada and the United States. This true cereal grain has higher protein content (22%) than oat (13%) and wheat (16%) and represents a valuable source of plant proteins. Assessment of canary seed protein quality is therefore essential to evaluate its digestibility and ability to provide sufficient amounts of essential amino acids for human requirements. In this study, the protein nutritional quality of four hairless canary seed varieties (two brown and two yellow) were evaluated in comparison to oat and wheat. The assessment of anti-nutrients contents (phytate, trypsin inhibitor activity, and polyphenols) showed that brown canary seed varieties had the highest content in phytate and oat the highest in polyphenols. Trypsin inhibitor level was comparable among studied cereals, but slightly higher in the brown canary seed Calvi variety. In regard to protein quality, canary seed had a well-balanced amino acid profile and was particularly high in tryptophan, an essential amino acid normally lacking in cereals. The in vitro protein digestibility of canary seeds as determined by both the pH-drop and INFOGEST (international network of excellence on the fate of food in the gastrointestinal tract) protocols appears slightly lower than wheat and higher than oat. The yellow canary seed varieties showed better overall digestibility than the brown ones. For all studied cereal flours, the limiting amino acid was lysine. The calculated in vitro PDCAAS (protein digestibility corrected amino acid score) and DIAAS (digestible indispensable amino acid score) were higher for the yellow C05041 cultivar than the brown Bastia, similar to those of wheat, but lower than those of oat proteins. This study demonstrates the feasibility and utility of in vitro human digestion models for the assessment of protein quality for comparison purpose.
Magnetic neutral loop discharge (NLD) plasmas for surface processing

A neutral loop discharge (NLD) is a plasma generated along a magnetic neutral (i.e. null field) loop at magnetic cusps by an externally applied radio frequency (RF) electric field. Due to partial electron cyclotron resonance and good electron confinement by the magnetic cusps, the NLD plasma can efficiently absorb power from the RF field. For applications to material surface processing, NLD plasmas have two important advantages. One is the high ionization rates, which allow the production of high-density plasmas with relatively low electron temperatures at low gas pressures. The other is the spatial and temporal controllability of magnetic field configuration, which allows optimization of plasma configuration during processing. For example, highly uniform plasma processing over a large wafer can be achieved with time-varying shape control of an NLD plasma. In this paper, some basic properties of NLD plasmas as well as several examples of their applications to plasma processing are reviewed. It is shown that, due to their high plasma densities and low collisionality, NLD plasmas are especially suited for highly anisotropic high-throughput etching processes such as those for fabrication of micro-electromechanical systems/nano-electromechanical systems.
Spatial Heterogeneity of Vegetation Communities
and Soil Properties in a Desert Solar Photovoltaic
Power Station of the Hexi Corridor,
Northwestern China

Arid sandy areas have great potential for producing solar power, so many solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been constructed in desert regions. Hexi corridor, a typical and broadly representative desert ecosystem in northwestern China, is well-known for its abundant sunshine and great numbers of solar PV systems. However, spatial heterogeneity in vegetation and soil properties across different PV panel locations in Hexi Corridor remain unclear to date. To address this gap, we evaluated the spatial heterogeneity of the vegetation community, and soil properties in and near a PV station in a desert region of the Hexi corridor. Measurements were conducted at six locations under and around the panels, and at distances of 200 to 600 m from the panels. Results show that the aboveground biomass (AGB) and three plant diversity indices differed from locations inside and outside the PV station. Soil water contents to a depth of 30 cm were greatest under the panels. Soil organic carbon (SOC) inside the PV station was higher than outside the PV station, and was increased with increasing distance from the panels. On the contrary, total nitrogen (TN) contents inside the PV station was lower than those outside the PV station. The differences in plant diversity indices, SOC, and TN between inside and outside were generally not significant. Our results indicate that solar PV construction on sandy land of the Hexi Corridor impact the spatial distribution of vegetation and soil properties, and the positive effects of PV panels on vegetation and soil may outweigh the negative effects.
Effects of Microfiltered Seawater Intake and Variable Resistance Training on Strength, Bone Health, Body Composition, and Quality of Life in Older Women: A 32-Week Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial

The aim was to explore the effects of a 32-week resistance training (RT) intervention with elastic bands with or without microfiltered seawater (SW) supplementation on isokinetic strength, bone mineral density (BMD), body composition, and subjective quality of life in postmenopausal women. Ninety-three untrained women (age: 70.00 ± 6.26 years; body mass index: 22.05 ± 3.20 kg/m2; body fat: 37.77 ± 6.38%; 6.66 ± 1.01 s up-and-go test) voluntarily participated in this randomized, double-blinded, controlled trial. Participants were allocated into four groups (RT+SW, RT+PLA, CON+SW, and CON+PLA). The RT intervention (twice weekly) consisted of different exercises for the whole body performed at submaximal intensities with elastic bands. Both control groups were not involved in any exercise program. A two-way mixed analysis of variance of repeated measures revealed significant improvements in almost all the variables in both intervention groups (p < 0.05). However, significant differences with controls were encountered in isokinetic strength, body fat percentage, and bodily pain. Although the group with SW supplementation obtained greater effect sizes, non-significant differences between both RT groups were observed. In conclusion, the determinant factor of the adaptations seems to be RT rather than SW.
Phenotyping grapevine red blotch virus and grapevine leafroll-associated viruses before and after symptom expression through machine-learning analysis of hyperspectral images

Introduction Grapevine leafroll-associated viruses (GLRaVs) and grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) cause substantial economic losses and concern to North America’s grape and wine industries. Fast and accurate identification of these two groups of viruses is key to informing disease management strategies and limiting their spread by insect vectors in the vineyard. Hyperspectral imaging offers new opportunities for virus disease scouting. Methods Here we used two machine learning methods, i.e., Random Forest (RF) and 3D-Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), to identify and distinguish leaves from red blotch-infected vines, leafroll-infected vines, and vines co-infected with both viruses using spatiospectral information in the visible domain (510-710nm). We captured hyperspectral images of about 500 leaves from 250 vines at two sampling times during the growing season (a pre-symptomatic stage at veraison and a symptomatic stage at mid-ripening). Concurrently, viral infections were determined in leaf petioles by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assays using virus-specific primers and by visual assessment of disease symptoms. Results When binarily classifying infected vs. non-infected leaves, the CNN model reaches an overall maximum accuracy of 87% versus 82.8% for the RF model. Using the symptomatic dataset lowers the rate of false negatives. Based on a multiclass categorization of leaves, the CNN and RF models had a maximum accuracy of 77.7% and 76.9% (averaged across both healthy and infected leaf categories). Both CNN and RF outperformed visual assessment of symptoms by experts when using RGB segmented images. Interpretation of the RF data showed that the most important wavelengths were in the green, orange, and red subregions. Discussion While differentiation between plants co-infected with GLRaVs and GRBV proved to be relatively challenging, both models showed promising accuracies across infection categories.
Progesterone exerts a neuroprotective action in a Parkinson’s disease human cell model through membrane progesterone receptor α (mPRα/PAQR7)

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide, and current treatment options are unsatisfactory on the long term. Several studies suggest a potential neuroprotective action by female hormones, especially estrogens. The potential role of progestogens, however, is less defined, and no studies have investigated the potential involvement of membrane progesterone receptors (mPRs). In the present study, the putative neuroprotective role for mPRs was investigated in SH-SY5Y cells, using two established pharmacological treatments for cellular PD models, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+). Our results show that both the physiologic agonist progesterone and the specific mPR agonist Org OD 02-0 were effective in reducing SH-SY5Y cell death induced by 6-OHDA and MPP+, whereas the nuclear PR agonist promegestone (R5020) and the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol were ineffective. Experiments performed with gene silencing technology and selective pharmacological agonists showed that mPRα is the isoform responsible for the neuroprotective effects we observed. Further experiments showed that the PI3K-AKT and MAP kinase signaling pathways are involved in the mPRα-mediated progestogen neuroprotective action in SH-SY5Y cells. These findings suggest that mPRα could play a neuroprotective role in PD pathology and may be a promising target for the development of therapeutic strategies for PD prevention or management.
Protein and Leucine Intake at Main Meals in Elderly People with Type 2 Diabetes

Background: The recommended protein intake for the elderly is 25–30 g at main meals, with at least 2500–2800 mg of leucine at each meal. There is still little evidence regarding the amount and distribution of protein and leucine intake with meals in the elderly with type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated protein and leucine intake at each meal in elderly patients with T2D. Methods: A total of 138 patients (91 men and 47 women) with T2D, aged 65 years or older, were included. Participants performed three 24-h dietary recalls for the evaluation of their dietary habits and protein and leucine intake at meals. Results: The average protein intake was 0.9 ± 0.2 g/kg body weight/day, and only 23% of patients complied with the recommendations. The average protein intake was 6.9 g at breakfast, 29 g at lunch, and 21 g at dinner. None of the patients reached the recommended protein intake at breakfast; 59% of patients complied with the recommendations at lunch; and 32% at dinner. The average leucine intake was 579 mg at breakfast, 2195 g at lunch, and 1583 mg at dinner. The recommended leucine intake was not reached by any patient at breakfast, by 29% of patients at lunch, and by 13% at dinner. Conclusions: Our data show that, in elderly patients with T2D, the average protein intake is low, particularly at breakfast and dinner, and that leucine intake is remarkably lower than the recommended levels. These data raise the need to implement nutritional strategies capable of increasing protein and leucine intake in the elderly with T2D.
Non-CA resists for 193 nm immersion lithography: effects of chemical structure on sensitivity

Initial studies are presented on the use of polysulfones as non-chemically amplified resists (non-CARs) for 193 nm immersion lithography. Polynorbornene sulfone films on silicon wafers have been irradiated with 193 nm photons in the absence of a photo-acid generator. Chemical contrast curves and contrast curves were obtained via spectroscopic ellipsometry and grazing angle - attenuated total reflectance FTIR spectroscopy. Results were consistent with previously reported mechanisms for the degradation of aliphatic polysulfones with ionizing radiation. It was shown that E0 values could be reduced significantly by using a post exposure bake step, which propagated depolymerization of the polymer. Initial patterning results down to 50 nm half pitch were demonstrated with EUV photons.
Cervical cancer prevention program in Mexico disrupted due to COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and opportunities

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the preventive services for cervical cancer (CC) control programs in Mexico, which will result in increased mortality. This study aims to assess the impact of the pandemic on the interruption of three preventive actions in the CC prevention program in Mexico. Methods This study is a retrospective time series analysis based on administrative records for the uninsured population served by the Mexican Ministry of Health. Patient data were retrieved from the outpatient service information system and the hospital discharge database for the period 2017–2021. Data were aggregated by month, distinguishing a pre-pandemic and a pandemic period, considering April 2020 as the start date of the pandemic. A Poisson time series analysis was used to model seasonal and secular trends. Five process indicators were selected to assess the disruption of the CC program, these were analyzed as monthly data (N=39 pre-pandemic, N=21 during the pandemic). HPV vaccination indicators (number of doses and coverage) and diagnostic characteristics of CC cases were analyzed descriptively. The time elapsed between diagnosis and treatment initiation in CC cases was modeled using restricted cubic splines from robust regression. Results Annual HPV vaccination coverage declined dramatically after 2019 and was almost null in 2021. The number of positive Papanicolaou smears decreased by 67.8% (90%CI: -72.3, -61.7) in April–December 2020, compared to their expected values without the pandemic. The immediate pandemic shock (April 2020) in the number of first-time and recurrent colposcopies was -80.5% (95%CI:−83.5, −77.0) and -77.9% (95%CI: −81.0, −74.4), respectively. An increasing trend was observed in the proportion of advanced stage and metastatic CC cases. The fraction of CC cases that did not receive medical treatment or surgery increased, as well as CC cases that received late treatment after diagnosis. Conclusions Our analyses show significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with declines at all levels of CC prevention and increasing inequalities. The restarting of the preventive programs against CC in Mexico offers an opportunity to put in place actions to reduce the disparities in the burden of disease between socioeconomic levels.