Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protein consumption in Canadian habitual diets: Usual intake, inadequacy, and the contribution of animal- and plant-based foods to nutrient intakes.

The 2019 Canada's Food Guide (CFG) emphasizes consumption of plant protein with implications for protein adequacy and nutrient intakes, yet a baseline with which to compare future dietary trends that may result from its adoption is not available. The objectives were to assess usual protein intake, inadequacy, and the contribution of animal- and plant-based foods to intake of protein and nutrients in Canada. 24-hour dietary recalls from the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey - Nutrition were used to assess dietary intake among adults (n = 13 616). The National Cancer Institute method was used to estimate usual protein intake and inadequacy. Population ratios were used to determine the contribution of animal- and plant-based foods to intake of protein, nutrients, and energy. Usual protein intake averaged 79.47±0.70 g/d; inadequacy was highest for females ≥71y (9.76±2.04%). Top protein contributors were red and processed meat (21.6±0.55%), poultry and eggs (20.1±0.81%), cereals, grains, and breads (19.5±0.31%), and dairy (16.7±0.38%). Dairy contributed most to calcium (53.4±0.61%), vitamin D (38.7±1.01%), but also saturated fat (40.6±0.69%), whereas cereals, grains, and breads contributed most to iron (46.5±0.57%) and vegetables and fruit to potassium (32±0.45%). Given that animal sources contributed overwhelmingly to protein intake in 2015, dietary shifts towards plant protein needed to meet the 2019 CFG recommendations may pose a challenge, particularly for populations most at risk of inadequacy. Novelty: • Older adults and females are most at risk of not meeting protein recommendations. • Animal sources contribute two-thirds of the protein consumed by Canadian adults.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection reaches the human nervous system: How?

Without protective and/or therapeutic agents the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection known as coronavirus disease 2019 is quickly spreading worldwide. It has surprising transmissibility potential, since it could infect all ages, gender, and human sectors. It attacks respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary, hepatic, and endovascular systems and can reach the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS) through known and unknown mechanisms. The reports on the neurological manifestations and complications of the SARS‐CoV‐2 infection are increasing exponentially. Herein, we enumerate seven candidate routes, which the mature or immature SARS‐CoV‐2 components could use to reach the CNS and PNS, utilizing the within‐body cross talk between organs. The majority of SARS‐CoV‐2–infected patients suffer from some neurological manifestations (e.g., confusion, anosmia, and ageusia). It seems that although the mature virus did not reach the CNS or PNS of the majority of patients, its unassembled components and/or the accompanying immune‐mediated responses may be responsible for the observed neurological symptoms. The viral particles and/or its components have been specifically documented in endothelial cells of lung, kidney, skin, and CNS. This means that the blood–endothelial barrier may be considered as the main route for SARS‐CoV‐2 entry into the nervous system, with the barrier disruption being more logical than barrier permeability, as evidenced by postmortem analyses.
Structure and Melting Behavior of Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Crystallized by Pressure Quenching

Multiple melting behavior in Poly(vinylidene fluoride) crystallized by pressure quenching (0.1→600 MPa at 513 K) is analyzed by means of differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is found that the endothermic peak at 477 K corresponds to the melting of the γ-form extended-chain crystal, and that at 479 K to the melting of an unknown phase ( γ'-form) similar to the γ-form crystal. The band structure is 80∼100 nm thick, which suggests the existence of extended-chain crystals, and is confirmed by TEM observation for both crystals of γ- and γ'-forms.
Adverse Childhood Experiences among Adults in North Carolina, USA: Influences on Risk Factors for Poor Health across the Lifespan and Intergenerational Implications

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a critical determinant and predictor of health across the lifespan. The Appalachian region of the United States, particularly the central and southern portions, experiences worse health outcomes when compared to the rest of the nation. The current research sought to understand the cross-sectional relationships between ACEs, social determinants of health and other health risk factors in one southcentral Appalachian state. Researchers used the 2012 and 2014 North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for analyses. An indicator variable of Appalachian county (n = 29) was used to make comparisons against non-Appalachian counties (n = 71). Analyses further examined the prevalence of ACEs in households with and without children across Appalachian and non-Appalachian regions, and the effects of experiencing four or more ACEs on health risk factors. There were no statistically significant differences between Appalachian and non-Appalachian counties in the prevalence of ACEs. However, compared with adults in households without children, those with children reported a higher percentage of ACEs. Reporting four or more ACEs was associated with higher prevalence of smoking (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.56), heavy alcohol consumption (PR = 1.69), overweight/obesity (PR = 1.07), frequent mental distress (PR = 2.45), and food insecurity (PR = 1.58) in adjusted models and with fair or poor health only outside Appalachia (PR = 1.65). Residence in an Appalachian county was independently associated with higher prevalence of food insecurity (PR = 1.13). Developing programs and implementing policies aimed at reducing the impact of ACEs could improve social determinants of health, thereby helping to reduce health disparities.
Flavonoid Preparations from Taraxacum officinale L. Fruits—A Phytochemical, Antioxidant and Hemostasis Studies

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale L.) roots, leaves, and flowers have a long history of use in traditional medicine. Compared to the above organs, dandelion fruits are the least known and used. Hence, the present paper was aimed at the phytochemical analysis of T. officinale fruit extract and estimating its antiradical, antiplatelet, and antioxidant properties related to hemostasis. Methanolic extract of fruits (E1), enriched with polyphenols (188 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g), was successfully separated into cinnamic acids (E2; 448 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (E3; 377 mg GAE/g) extracts. Flavonoid extract was further divided into four fractions characterized by individual content: A (luteolin fraction; 880 mg GAE/g), B (philonotisflavone fraction; 516 mg GAE/g), C (flavonolignans fraction; 384 mg GAE/g), and D (flavone aglycones fraction; 632 mg GAE/g). High DPPH radical scavenging activity was evaluated for fractions A and B (A > B > Trolox), medium for extracts (Trolox > E3 > E2 > E1), and low for fractions C and D. No simple correlation between polyphenol content and antiradical activity was observed, indicating a significant influence of qualitative factor, including higher anti-oxidative effect of flavonoids with B-ring catechol system compared to hydroxycinnamic acids. No cytotoxic effect on platelets was observed for any dandelion preparation tested. In experiments on plasma and platelets, using several different parameters (lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation, oxidation of thiols, and platelet adhesion), the highest antioxidant and antiplatelet potential was demonstrated by three fruit preparations–hydroxycinnamic acids extract (E2), flavonoid extract (E3), and luteolin fraction (A). The results of this paper provide new information on dandelion metabolites, as well as their biological potential and possible use concerning cardiovascular diseases.
Evaluation of interrater reliability of different muscle segmentation techniques in diffusion tensor imaging

Muscle diffusion tensor imaging (mDTI) is a quantitative MRI technique that can provide information about muscular microstructure and integrity. Ultrasound and DTI studies have shown intramuscular differences, and therefore separation of different muscles for analysis is essential. The commonly used methods to assess DTI metrics in muscles are manual segmentation and tract‐based analysis. Recently methods such as volume‐based tractography have been applied to optimize muscle architecture estimation, but can also be used to assess DTI metrics.
The emergence and evolution of intron-poor and intronless genes in intron-rich plant gene families.

Eukaryotic genes can be classified into intronless (no introns), intron-poor (three or fewer introns per gene), or intron-rich. Early eukaryotic genes were mostly intron-rich, and their alternative splicing into multiple transcripts, giving rise to different proteins, might have played pivotal roles in adaptation and evolution. Interestingly, extant plant genomes contain many gene families with one or sometimes few sub-families with genes that are intron-poor or intronless, and it remains unknown when and how these intron-poor or intronless genes have originated and evolved and what their possible functions are. In this study, we identified 33 such gene families that contained intronless and intron-poor sub-families. Intronless genes seemed to have first emerged in early land plant evolution, while intron-poor sub-families seemed first to have appeared in green algae. In contrast to intron-rich genes, intronless genes in intron-poor sub-families occurred later, and were subject to stronger functional constraints. Based on RNA-seq analyses in Arabidopsis and rice, intronless or intron-poor genes in AP2, EF-hand_7, bZIP, FAD_binding_4, STE_STE11, CAMK_CAMKL-CHK1, and C2 gene families were more likely to play a role in response to drought and salt stress, compared to intron-rich genes in the same gene families, whereas intronless genes in the B_lectin and S_locus_glycop gene family were more likely to participate in epigenetic processes and plant development. Understanding the origin and evolutionary trajectory, as well as the potential functions, of intronless and intron-poor sub-families provides further insight into plant genome evolution and the functional divergence of genes.
Prophages are associated with extensive CRISPR–Cas auto-immunity

CRISPR-Cas systems require discriminating self from non-self DNA during adaptation and interference. Yet, multiple cases have been reported of bacteria containing self-targeting spacers (STS), i.e. CRISPR spacers targeting protospacers on the same genome. STS has been suggested to reflect potential auto-immunity as an unwanted side effect of CRISPR-Cas defense, or a regulatory mechanism for gene expression. Here we investigated the incidence, distribution, and evasion of STS in over 100,000 bacterial genomes. We found STS in all CRISPR-Cas types and in one fifth of all CRISPR-carrying bacteria. Notably, up to 40% of I-B and I-F CRISPR-Cas systems contained STS. We observed that STS-containing genomes almost always carry a prophage and that STS map to prophage regions in more than half of the cases. Despite carrying STS, genetic deterioration of CRISPR-Cas systems appears to be rare, suggesting a level of escape from the potentially deleterious effects of STS by other mechanisms such as anti-CRISPR proteins and CRISPR target mutations. We propose a scenario where it is common to acquire an STS against a prophage, and this may trigger more extensive STS buildup by primed spacer acquisition in type I systems, without detrimental autoimmunity effects. The mechanisms of auto-immunity evasion create tolerance to STS-targeted prophages, and contribute both to viral dissemination and bacterial diversification.
A self-report questionnaire to detect hand dermatitis in nurses.

BACKGROUND Hand dermatitis is highly prevalent among nurses due to their frequent exposure to wet work. Providing cost-effective dermatological health surveillance for this occupational group presents a challenge to health service providers. AIMS To ascertain the predictive value of nurses' self-assessment of whether they had current hand dermatitis using a screening questionnaire when compared with the assessment made by a dermatologist of the nurses' hand photographs. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study comparing the self-report decision made by student and intensive care nurses using a single hand dermatitis screening question with the clinical assessment of their hand photographs made by dermatologists using a standardized photographic guide. RESULTS We analysed data collected at study baseline (n = 1599). The results showed that the screening question had a high negative predictive value (91%; 95% CI 89-93), but a low positive predictive value (39%; 95% CI 34-45). It demonstrated acceptable accuracy in distinguishing those with and without the disease (area under the receiver operator curve = 0.7) and had a high specificity (86%; 95% CI 84-88) but a sensitivity of only 52% (95% CI 46-59) in identifying hand dermatitis. CONCLUSIONS We found that nurses were able to accurately self-assess themselves as not having any signs of hand dermatitis. By contrast, they were less able to accurately self-assess positive cases suggesting under-recognition of early disease. We propose that a questionnaire containing a single hand dermatitis screening question should be considered as a tool for screening out clear cases as part of a workplace health surveillance programme for detecting hand dermatitis.
Individuals With Less Severe Manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 Infection May Not Develop Long-Lasting Humoral Immunity

To the Editor The recent publication by Phipps et al adds further to our knowledge of antibody responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The authors report that measurement of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies does not predict for disease severity. Although, in this study, serum IgG levels appeared to persist in those patients with more severe infection (to over 40 days after symptom onset in one case), there was a lack of follow-up data on serum IgG levels in milder cases. Interestingly, in another recent publication, Ibarrondo et al performed serial measurements of IgG levels in 34 persons who had recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 infection, most of whom had mild infection, and detected rapid decay of anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. This raises the possibility that humoral immunity may not be long lasting in most patients following SARS-CoV-2 infection. It will, therefore, be very important that future studies accurately determine the reinfection rate for individuals following recovery from SARS-CoV-2 and correlate this to both severity of initial infection and persistence or not of serum IgG levels. Development of an anamnestic antibody response to reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, however, seems unlikely, given the findings of previous studies that naturally acquired humoral immunity for SARS-CoV-1 infection persists for a limited time only.
A tecpr2 knockout mouse exhibits age-dependent neuroaxonal dystrophy associated with autophagosome accumulation

ABSTRACT Mutations in the coding sequence of human TECPR2 were recently linked to spastic paraplegia type 49 (SPG49), a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder involving intellectual disability, autonomic-sensory neuropathy, chronic respiratory disease and decreased pain sensitivity. Here, we report the generation of a novel CRISPR-Cas9 tecpr2 knockout (tecpr2 −/−) mouse that exhibits behavioral pathologies observed in SPG49 patients. tecpr2 −/− mice develop neurodegenerative patterns in an age-dependent manner, manifested predominantly as neuroaxonal dystrophy in the gracile (GrN) and cuneate nuclei (CuN) of the medulla oblongata in the brainstem and dorsal white matter column of the spinal cord. Age-dependent correlation with accumulation of autophagosomes suggests compromised targeting to lysosome. Taken together, our findings establish the tecpr2 knockout mouse as a potential model for SPG49 and ascribe a new role to TECPR2 in macroautophagy/autophagy-related neurodegenerative disorders.
Countermovement Jump Height in National-Team Athletes of Various Sports: A Framework for Practitioners and Scientists.

PURPOSE To quantify possible differences in countermovement jump height across sport disciplines and sex in national-team athletes. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 588 women (23 [5] y, 66 [8] kg) and 989 men (23 [5] y, 82 [12] kg) from 44 different sport disciplines (including 299 medalists from European Championships, World Championships, and/or Olympic Games) tested a countermovement jump on a force platform at the Norwegian Olympic Training Center between 1995 and 2018. RESULTS Athletic sprinting showed the highest values among the men (62.7 [4.8] cm) and women (48.4 [6.0] cm), clearly ahead of the long jump/triple jump (mean difference ± 90% CL: 6.5 ± 5.0 and 4.3 ± 4.1; very likely and likely; moderate) and speed skating sprint (11.4 ± 3.1 and 7.5 ± 5.5 cm; most likely and very likely; very large and moderate). These horizontally oriented sports displayed superior results compared with more vertically oriented and powerful sports such as beach volleyball, weightlifting, and ski jumping, both in men (from 2.9 ± 4.7 to 15.6 ± 2.9 cm; small to very large; possibly to most likely) and women (5.9 ± 4.8 to 13.4 ± 3.4 cm; large to very large; very likely to most likely), while endurance sports and precision sports were at the other end of the scale. Overall, the men jumped 33% higher than the women (10.3, ±0.6 cm; most likely; large). CONCLUSIONS This study provides practitioners and scientists with useful information regarding the variation in countermovement jump height among national-team athletes within and across sport disciplines.
Could HPV Testing on Self-collected Samples Be Routinely Used in an Organized Cervical Screening Program? A Modeled Analysis

Background: Cervical screening on self-collected samples has mainly been considered for targeted use in underscreened women. Updated evidence supports equivalent sensitivity of PCR-based human papillomavirus (HPV) testing on self-collected and clinician-collected samples. Methods: Using a well-established model, we compared the lifetime impact on cancer diagnoses and deaths resulting from cervical screening using self-collected samples only, with and without the existing restriction in Australia to women aged 30+ years and ≥2 years overdue, compared with the mainstream program of 5-yearly HPV screening on clinician-collected samples starting at 25 years of age. We conservatively assumed sensitivity of HPV testing on self-collected relative to clinician-collected samples was 0.98. Outcomes were estimated either in the context of HPV vaccination (“routinely vaccinated cohorts;” uptake as in Australia) or in the absence of HPV vaccination (“unvaccinated cohorts”). Results: In unvaccinated cohorts, the health benefits of increased participation from self-collection outweighed the worst case (2%) loss of relative test sensitivity even if only 15% of women, who would not otherwise attend, used it (“additional uptake”). In routinely vaccinated cohorts, population-wide self-collection could be marginally (0.2%–1.0%) less effective at 15% additional uptake but 6.2% to 12.4% more effective at 50% additional uptake. Most (56.6%–65.0%) of the loss in effectiveness in the restricted self-collection pathway in Australia results from the requirement to be 2 or more years overdue. Conclusions: Even under pessimistic assumptions, any potential loss in test sensitivity from self-collection is likely outweighed by improved program effectiveness resulting from feasible levels of increased uptake. Impact: Consideration could be given to offering self-collection more widely, potentially as an equal choice for women. See related commentary by Lim, p. 245
Neighbourhood walkability and physical activity: moderating role of a physical activity intervention in overweight and obese older adults with metabolic syndrome

Abstract Background While urban built environments might promote active ageing, an infrequently studied question is how the neighbourhood walkability modulates physical activity changes during a physical activity intervention programme in older adults. We assessed the influence of objectively assessed neighbourhood walkability on the change in physical activity during the intervention programme used in the ongoing PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED)-Plus trial. Method The present study involved 228 PREDIMED-Plus senior participants aged between 55 and 75, recruited in Palma de Mallorca (Spain). Overweight/obese older adults with metabolic syndrome were randomised to an intensive weight-loss lifestyle intervention or a control group. A walkability index (residential density, land use mix, intersections density) was calculated using geographic information systems (1 km sausage-network buffer). Physical activity was assessed using accelerometer and a validated questionnaire, at baseline and two follow-up visits (6-months and 1-year later). Generalised additive mixed models were fitted to estimate the association between the neighbourhood walkability index and changes in physical activity during follow-up. Results Higher neighbourhood walkability (1 z-score increment) was associated with moderate-to-vigorous accelerometer assessed physical activity duration, (β = 3.44; 95% CI = 0.52; 6.36 min/day). When analyses were stratified by intervention arm, the association was only observed in the intervention group (β = 6.357; 95% CI = 2.07;10.64 min/day) (P for interaction = 0.055). Conclusions The results indicate that the walkability of the neighbourhood could support a physical activity intervention, helping to maintain or increase older adults’ physical activity.
Predicting Quality of Life among Mothers in an Online Health Community for Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Quality of life of parents of children with chronic disease is important for disease self-management. This study aimed to identify predictors of quality of life among mothers of children with type 1 diabetes. A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 208 mothers of children with type 1 diabetes were recruited from an online health community. Online health community collective empowerment and social support, diabetes self-efficacy, diabetes-related burden, and quality of life were measured. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine predictive factors for quality of life. Multiple regression analysis showed that diabetes-related burden and the child’s age were predictors of quality of life, and total variance explained by the model was 64.1% using two factors. In mothers of younger children, it is important to reduce the diabetes-related burden. Factors that increase the diabetes-related burden should be identified, and strategies to reduce the diabetes-related burden must be established.