Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Persistence of Lipoproteins and Cholesterol Alterations after Sepsis: Implication for Atherosclerosis Progression

(1) Background: Sepsis is one of the most common critical care illnesses with increasing survivorship. The quality of life in sepsis survivors is adversely affected by several co-morbidities, including increased incidence of dementia, stroke, cardiac disease and at least temporary deterioration in cognitive dysfunction. One of the potential explanations for their progression is the persistence of lipid profile abnormalities induced during acute sepsis into recovery, resulting in acceleration of atherosclerosis. (2) Methods: This is a targeted review of the abnormalities in the long-term lipid profile abnormalities after sepsis; (3) Results: There is a well-established body of evidence demonstrating acute alteration in lipid profile (HDL-c ↓↓, LDL-C -c ↓↓). In contrast, a limited number of studies demonstrated depression of HDL-c levels with a concomitant increase in LDL-C -c in the wake of sepsis. VLDL-C -c and Lp(a) remained unaltered in few studies as well. Apolipoprotein A1 was altered in survivors suggesting abnormalities in lipoprotein metabolism concomitant to overall lipoprotein abnormalities. However, most of the studies were limited to a four-month follow-up and patient groups were relatively small. Only one study looked at the atherosclerosis progression in sepsis survivors using clinical correlates, demonstrating an acceleration of plaque formation in the aorta, and a large metanalysis suggested an increase in the risk of stroke or acute coronary event between 3% to 9% in sepsis survivors. (4) Conclusions: The limited evidence suggests an emergence and persistence of the proatherogenic lipid profile in sepsis survivors that potentially contributes, along with other factors, to the clinical sequel of atherosclerosis.
The Role of GPR15 Function in Blood and Vasculature

Since the first prominent description of the orphan G protein-coupled receptor 15 (GPR15) on lymphocytes as a co-receptor for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 and 2 and the first report about the GPR15-triggered cytoprotective effect on vascular endothelial cells by recombinant human thrombomodulin, several decades passed before the GPR15 has been recently deorphanized. Because of new findings on GPR15, this review will summarize the consequences of GPR15 signaling considering the variety of GPR15-expressing cell types and of GPR15 ligands, with a focus on blood and vasculature.
The Risk of Chronic Diseases in Individuals Responding to a Measure for the Initial Screening of Depression and Reported Feelings of Being Down, Depressed, or Hopeless

Introduction Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless may provide a comprehensive measure for physicians to utilize, allowing a possible way to assess risk for chronic diseases. Methods A face-to-face, in-home, validated survey was conducted on participants aged 16 and older. Trained interviewers administered the questionnaire through the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) system. Through this measure, responses such as feelings of depression, diagnosis of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, being overweight, coronary heart disease, and cancer or malignancy were recorded. Statistical analysis was conducted by descriptive analysis, Chi-Square test, and multinomial regression analysis. Results: Data are presented as a mean ± SD and percentage. A total of 10560 individuals participated in the survey. Of participants reporting feeling down, depressed, or hopeless almost every day, 54.3% reported high blood pressure (χ2=116.108, p= 0.000), 44.1% with high cholesterol level (χ2=54.89, p= 0.000), 22.9% with diabetes (χ2=91.09, p= 0.000), 25.0% with asthma (χ2=93.83, p= 0.000), 49.5% had a doctor tell them they were overweight (χ2=59.32, p= 0.000), 8.2% had coronary heart disease (χ2=32.39, p= 0.000), and 11.4% that had cancer or malignancy (χ2=7.73, p= 0.655). This is compared to individuals who reported no feelings of depression, with 34.2% having high blood pressure, 32.2% with high cholesterol, 12.9% with diabetes, 14.1% told they had asthma, 14.1% told they were overweight, 3.9% with coronary heart disease, and 9.4% who had cancer or malignancy. Conclusion The assessment of feeling down, depressed, or hopeless is significantly associated with the risk of certain chronic diseases, with those who reported feelings of depression nearly every day at the highest risk.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination uptake among healthcare workers

Abstract Objective: To assess reasons for noncompliance with COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers (HCWs). Design: Cohort observational and surveillance study. Setting: Sheba Medical Center, a 1,600-bed tertiary-care medical center in Israel. Participants: The study included 10,888 HCWs including all employees, students, and volunteers. Intervention: The BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was offered to all HCWs of the hospital. Noncompliance was assessed, and pre-rollout and post-rollout surveys were conducted. Data regarding uptake of the vaccine as well as demographic data and compliance with prior influenza vaccination were collected, and 2 surveys were distributed. The survey before the rollout pertained to the intention to receive the vaccine, and the survey after the rollout pertained to all unvaccinated HCWs regarding causes of hesitancy. Results: In the pre-rollout survey, 1,673 (47%) of 3,563 HCWs declared their intent to receive the vaccine. Overall, 8,108 (79%) HCWs received the COVID-19 vaccine within 40 days of rollout. In a multivariate logistic regression model, the factors that were significant predictors of vaccine uptake were male sex, age 40–59 years, occupation (paramedical professionals and doctors), high socioeconomic level, and compliance with flu vaccine. Among 425 unvaccinated HCWs who answered the second survey, the most common cause for hesitancy was the risk during pregnancy (31%). Conclusions: Although vaccine uptake among HCWs was higher than expected, relatively low uptake was observed among young women and those from lower socioeconomic levels and educational backgrounds. Concerns regarding vaccine safety during pregnancy were common and more data about vaccine safety, especially during pregnancy, might improve compliance.
Reducing Over-Interviewing in the Anesthesiology Residency Match

Background The U.S. residency recruitment process is expensive and time-consuming because of application inflation and over-invitation. Objective Using interview and match data, we quantify the predicted effects if anesthesiology residency programs excluded interviews for applicants who are very unlikely to match. Methods We previously published the validity and accuracy of the logistic regression model based on data from interview scheduling software used by 32 U.S. anesthesiology residency programs and 1300 applicants from 2015-18. Data used were program region, applicant address, numbers of interviews of the interviewee, medical school US News and World Report (USNWR) rank, the difference between United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 and 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) scores, and the historical average of USMLE scores of program residents. In the current study completed in 2020, the predicted probabilities and their variances were summed among interviewees for 30 deidentified programs. Results For anesthesiology, the median residency program could reduce their interviews by 16.9% (97.5% confidence interval 8.5%-24.1%) supposing they would not invite applicants if the 99% upper prediction limit for the probability of matching was less than 10.0%. The corresponding median savings would be 0.80 interviews per matched spot (0.34-1.33). In doing so, the median program would sustain a risk of 5.3% (97.5% confidence interval 2.3%-7.9%) of having at least one interviewee removed from their final rank-to-match list. Conclusion Using novel interview data and analyses, we demonstrate that residency programs can substantively reduce interviews with less effect on rank-to-match lists. The data-driven approach to manage marginal interviews allows program leadership to better weigh costs and benefits when composing their annual list of interviewees.
Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Post-Tuberculosis Bronchiectasis: Findings from the KMBARC Registry

The clinical characteristics of patients with post-tuberculosis (TB) bronchiectasis have not been well evaluated. We enrolled 598 patients with bronchiectasis who participated in the Korean prospective bronchiectasis registry and compared the characteristics of post-TB bronchiectasis (19.7%) with post-infectious (19.6%), idiopathic (40.8%), and other (19.9%) bronchiectasis. The patients with post-TB bronchiectasis had a lower body mass index, higher rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower rate of asthma than those in the other groups. The patients with post-TB bronchiectasis had more upper lobe involvement, more severe radiological extent, and worse lung function than those in the other groups. Long-acting muscarinic antagonist/long-acting ß agonist use and mucolytics were more commonly used in the patients with post-TB bronchiectasis than those in the other groups, while inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting ß agonist was less commonly used. There were no significant intergroup differences in bronchiectasis severity scores except for FACED, the number of exacerbations, and quality of life. Post-TB bronchiectasis is characterised by reduced lung function and higher rates of mucolytic use when compared with other bronchiectasis; thus, adequate bronchodilator use and airway clearance techniques may alleviate symptom burden in this population.
Sensory-Based Identification of Aroma-Active Compounds in Hotpot Seasoning before and after Boiling

Boiling, the most frequent edible way to hotpot seasoning (HS), exerts a significant impact on the aroma of HS. The present study employed, for the first time, a novel switchable system between GC-O-MS and GC×GC-O-MS (SGC/GC×GC-O-MS) to study the aroma compounds of HS and hotpot seasoning boiling liquid (HSBL). A total of 79 aroma compounds and 56 aroma-active compounds were identified. The aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) was used to analyze the differences between the key aroma-active components in the HS and HSBL. The results showed that 13 aroma-active components were significantly affected by boiling, such as D-limonene, methional, and linalool. Moreover, a total of 22 key aroma-active components were identified through the odor activity values (OAVs) calculation. Of them, (E)-2-octenal (fatty) and linalool showed a significant difference, suggesting them to be the most critical aroma-active compounds in the HSBL, and HS, respectively. Finally, the correlation between key aroma-active compounds and the sensory properties of HS and HSBL was studied. These results demonstrated that the OAVs of key aroma-active compounds could characterize the real information of samples through bidirectional orthogonal partial least squares (O2PLS). The analysis results were consistent with the sensory evaluation results.
Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Could Predict Outcome in Patients Presenting with Acute Limb Ischemia

Introduction: Acute limb ischemia (ALI), classified according to Rutherford’s classification (RC), is a vascular emergency burdened by high rates of mortality and morbidity. The need of new and different prognostic values for ALI has emerged, and, among all, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been proven as a strong outcome predictor in vascular disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of preoperative NLR in predicting clinical outcomes in patients presenting acute limb ischemia. Material and Methods: A single-center retrospective study was conducted between January 2015 and December 2019. Demographic and clinical characteristics, procedural technical aspects, postoperative and early (up to 30-day) outcomes were recorded. All enrolled patients were categorized into low- and high-NLR at baseline, using a cut-off value of 5. Study outcomes were 30-day all-cause mortality and amputation rates. Results: A total of 177 ALI patients were included in the final analysis (6 RC I, 44 RC IIA, 108 RC IIB, and 19 RC III), 115 males (65%), mean age 78.9 ± 10.4 years. Mean NLR at hospital presentation was 6.65 ± 6.75 (range 0.5–35.4), 108 (61.1%) patients presented a low-NLR, 69 (38.9%) a high-NLR. Immediate technical success was achieved in 90.1% of cases. At 30 days, freedom from amputation and freedom from death rates were 87.1% and 83.6%, respectively. At the univariate analysis, amputation (p < 0.0001, OR: 9.65, 95%CI: 3.7–25.19), mortality (p = 0.0001, OR: 9.88, 95%CI: 3.19–30.57), and cumulative event rates (p < 0.001, OR: 14.45, 95%CI: 6.1–34.21), were significantly different between the two groups according to NLR value. Multivariate analysis showed that a high baseline NLR value was an independent predictor of unfavorable outcomes in all enrolled patients. Consistently, at ROC analysis, a preoperative NLR > 5 was strongly associated with all outcome occurrences. Conclusion: Preoperative NLR value seems to be strongly related to ALI outcomes in this unselected population. The largest series should be evaluated to confirm present results.
Myocardial Work by Echocardiography: Principles and Applications in Clinical Practice

Left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) has established itself in the last decade as a reliable, more objective method for the evaluation of LV systolic function, able to detect subtle abnormalities in LV contraction even in the presence of preserved ejection fraction (EF). However, recent studies have demonstrated that GLS, similar to LV EF, has important load dependency. Non-invasive myocardial work (MW) quantification has emerged in the last years as an alternative tool for myocardial function assessment. This new method, incorporating measurement of strain and LV pressure, has shown to overcome GLS and LV EF limitations and provide a loading-independent evaluation of myocardial performance. The presence of a commercially available echocardiographic software for the non-invasive MW calculation has allowed the application of this new method in different settings. This review sought to provide an overview on the current knowledge of non-invasive MW estimation, showing its potential applications and possible added value in clinical practice.
Prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a sleep breathing disorder that often remains undiagnosed and untreated. OSAS prevalence is increasing exponentially. Starting on the dentist’s role as an epidemiological and diagnostic “sentinel”, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of OSAS. The clinical diaries of 4659 patients were reviewed through a single-center retrospective analytic study. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Only 0.26% of patients reported to suffer from sleep apnea and were then diagnosed with OSAS. It was found that, out of 4487 patients, 678 suffered from hypertension (14.80%), 188 from gastro-esophageal-reflux-disease (GERD = 4.10%) and 484 from gastritis (10.78%). These results could be related to a difficult diagnosis of OSAS and to the absence of a dedicated section on sleep disorders in medical records. Therefore, the introduction of a question dedicated to sleep disorders, the administration of questionnaires (such as the STOP-BANG questionnaire) for early diagnosis, a multidisciplinary approach and pneumological examination could support the dentist in identifying patients at risk of OSAS.
β-Glucan Extracted from Highland Barley Alleviates Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in C57BL/6J Mice

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which significantly affects human health, has two primary presentations: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). Highland barley is the most common food crop for Tibetans and contains much more β-glucan than any other crop. Highland barley β-glucan (HBBG) can relieve the gastrointestinal dysfunction and promote intestines health. This study aimed to evaluate whether HBBG can relieve UC in mice. A mouse model of UC was established by adding 2% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) to drinking water for 1 week. UC was alleviated after the introduction of the HBBG diet, as indicated by reductions in the disease activity index (DAI) score, histopathological damage, and the concentration of colonic myeloperoxidase (MPO), along with an improvement in colonic atrophy. Furthermore, we found that HBBG can increase the relative transcriptional levels of genes encoding ZO-1, claudin-1, occludin, and mucin2 (MUC2), thereby reducing intestinal permeability. Additionally, HBBG maintained the balance of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and modulated the structure of the intestinal flora.
Determinants of Users’ Attitude and Intention to Intelligent Connected Vehicle Infotainment in the 5G-V2X Mobile Ecosystem

With the accelerating industrialization of 5G-V2X and smart automobiles, the intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) integrated with sophisticated communication, caching, computing, and control techniques enhance the functionality of in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and also provide more powerful telematic or entertainment choices in vehicular environment. The diverse needs of ICV users (e.g., drivers and passengers) can be satisfied during commuting and traveling. However, considering the limitations of transportation environment, the potential attitude and usage behavior for the upcoming ICV infotainment directly impacts on the traffic and road safety in sustainable cities. In this paper, we conduct an online and offline survey to investigate the key factors influencing the user attitude and intention of ICV infotainment, where the answers of a total of 502 valid respondents (i.e., IVI users) are collected in China. A conceptual technology acceptance model with the constructs of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), social influence (SI), consumer innovation (CI), and perceived risk (PR) is established, and then assessed via partial least square structural equation modeling. We find that the constructs of PU, PEOU, CI, and SI have a direct impact on attitude and usage intention, of which 46.8% and 73.4% of variance, respectively, are explained. The respondents show positive attitudes and higher usage intention towards the ICV infotainment. Although PR has insignificant path with attitude and intention, the driving experience moderation effect exists between PR and usage intention. We can see that ICV infotainment will become a trend in future transportation scenario. Through this survey, reference for traffic safety and usage norms will be provided to reduce the risky of public health issues (e.g., traffic accidents) in the context of ICV infotainment.
The Diverse Applications of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Organoids

Simple Summary Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have very few treatment options. In order to identify new treatment opportunities, and develop new drugs for clinical use, appropriate model systems that take into account the complexities of a tumor are required. In this review, we summarize the current and emerging opportunities to accurately model pancreatic cancer using organoid technologies. We highlight the need for continued development of these complex model systems in order to inform personalized treatment. Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal solid malignancies. While immortalized cancer cell lines and genetically engineered murine models have increased our understanding of PDAC tumorigenesis, they do not recapitulate inter- and intra-patient heterogeneity. PDAC patient derived organoid (PDO) biobanks have overcome this hurdle, and provide an opportunity for the high throughput screening of potential new therapies. This review provides a summary of the PDAC PDO biobanks established to date, and discusses how they have advanced our understanding of PDAC biology. Looking forward, the development of coculturing techniques for specific immune or stromal cell populations will enable a better understanding of the crosstalk that occurs within the tumor microenvironment, and the impact of this crosstalk on treatment response.
Effect of Compensatory Mechanisms on Postural Disturbances and Musculoskeletal Pain in Elite Sitting Volleyball Players: Preparation of a Compensatory Intervention

The aim of the study was to identify the effect of compensatory mechanisms on the prevalence of sagittal spinal curvature deformity and musculoskeletal pain and to assess the interrelationships between those components in sitting volleyball players. Twenty-one elite Polish sitting volleyball players (age = 34.1 ± 7.5, BM = 77.9 ± 16.0) participated in the study in which direct participatory systematic observation and a non-invasive method were used. Both objective (anthropometric, spinal curvature–Idiag M360) and subjective (musculoskeletal ailments–NMQ = 7) measurements were performed. The Statistica 13.3 software package was used for statistical analyses. The neck, lower back (43%), and upper back (38%) were the most frequently reported painful areas. Of all participants, 76% reported sagittal spinal deformities. In the habitual position, the results indicated moderate correlations (r = 0.5, p < 0.05) between the lumbar concavity of the back and low back pain (LBP) and between thoracic convexity and LBP (r = 0.4, p < 0.05). Internal and external compensation have an effect on the prevalence of spinal curvature deformities in the sagittal plane, with thoracic hyperkyphosis (38%) and lumbar hyperlordosis (33%) being the most common. More severe lower and upper back pain were correlated with greater angles of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis in the habitual position.
Optical Properties of Magnesium-Zinc Oxide for Thin Film Photovoltaics

Motivated by their utility in CdTe-based thin film photovoltaics (PV) devices, an investigation of thin films of the magnesium-zinc oxide (MgxZn1−xO or MZO) alloy system was undertaken applying spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). Dominant wurtzite phase MZO thin films with Mg contents in the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.42 were deposited on room temperature soda lime glass (SLG) substrates by magnetron co-sputtering of MgO and ZnO targets followed by annealing. The complex dielectric functions ε of these films were determined and parameterized over the photon energy range from 0.73 to 6.5 eV using an analytical model consisting of two critical point (CP) oscillators. The CP parameters in this model are expressed as polynomial functions of the best fitting lowest CP energy or bandgap E0 = Eg, which in turn is a quadratic function of x. As functions of x, both the lowest energy CP broadening and the Urbach parameter show minima for x ~ 0.3, which corresponds to a bandgap of 3.65 eV. As a result, it is concluded that for this composition and bandgap, the MZO exhibits either a minimum concentration of defects in the bulk of the crystallites or a maximum in the grain size, an observation consistent with measured X-ray diffraction line broadenings. The parametric expression for ε developed here is expected to be useful in future mapping and through-the-glass SE analyses of partial and complete PV device structures incorporating MZO.