Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Correlation Between Hearing Loss, Especially High-Frequency Hearing Loss and Cognitive Decline Among the Elderly

Objective: The relation between cognition and hearing loss has been increasingly paid high attention, however, few studies have focused on the role of high-frequency hearing loss in cognitive decline. This study is oriented to role of hearing loss especially high-frequency hearing loss in cognitive impairment among elderly people (age ≥ 60 years). Methods: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) and pure tone audiometry were used to investigate the hearing loss and cognitive function of 201 elderly people older than 60 years. Factors possibly related to cognitive impairment including age, years of education, occupation, living conditions, history of otologic diseases, and high blood pressure were registered. This study consisted of two parts. First, univariate analysis and multiple linear regressions were performed to analyze the possible influencing factors of cognitive function among the 201 elderly people. Second, average hearing thresholds of low frequencies (250, 500 Hz), intermediate frequencies (1 k, 2 kHz), and high frequencies (4 k, 8 kHz) were calculated to screen out 40 cases with high-frequency hearing loss alone and 18 cases with normal hearing. Univariate analysis was used to compare the general condition, cognitive function, and each cognitive domain between the two groups, analyzing the relation between high-frequency hearing loss and cognitive function. Result: We found that age, years of education, pure tone average (PTA), occupation, living condition, history of otologic diseases, years of self-reported hearing loss, and hypertension history were related to cognitive function. Furthermore, age, education experience, duration of self-reported hearing loss, and hypertension were independent factors (p < 0.05). PTA was negatively related with attention, orientation, and general cognition (p < 0.05). There were only 18 cases (9.0%) with normal hearing, and 40 cases (19.9%) with abnormal high-frequency hearing alone. The overall cognitive function showed no significant difference between them (p > 0.05); in contrast, the speech and abstract ability were significantly decreased in cases with high-frequency hearing loss (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The increase of PTA among the elderly may affect the overall cognition by reducing attention and orientation. High-frequency hearing loss alone can affect the language and abstract ability to a certain extent, which is worthy of more attention.
Addressing Challenges in Endometriosis Pain Communication Between Patients and Doctors: The Role of Language

Introduction: In the context of the complex medical, social, and economic factors that contribute to endometriosis diagnosis delay and its consequent impact on quality of life, this report focuses on patient-practitioner pain communication and examines the role of language in doctor-patient communication. Our study explored what patients and doctors consider challenging and effective in endometriosis pain communication. It further examined what commonly used metaphors by patients could be suggestive, or not, of endometriosis to doctors. Method: A United Kingdom-based qualitative (open-ended question) survey with women with endometriosis (n131) and semi-structured telephone interviews with general practitioners (GPs) (n11). Survey and interview data were analyzed thematically. Results: Both women and GPs reported the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) to be insufficient as a standalone tool for communicating endometriosis related pain. Both also found descriptions of the quality, location, and impact on daily life of pain to more effective means of communicating pain symptoms. When presented with common metaphorical expressions surveyed women used to describe their pain, not all GPs recognized such metaphors as indicative of possible endometriosis. Further, some GPs reported some of the expressions to be indicative of other pathologies. Conclusion: Findings reveal the importance of language in pain communication and the need for additional tools to help women and doctors find the most effective way to communicate the experience and elicit appropriate investigative care. They also show the need for further investigation into how metaphor can be effectively used to improve patient-practitioner communication of endometriosis related pain.
Protein and Water Distribution Across Visual Axis in Mouse Lens: A Confocal Raman MicroSpectroscopic Study for Cold Cataract

Purpose: The aims of the study were to investigate cellular mechanisms of cold cataract in young lenses of wild-type C57BL/6J (B6WT) mice treated at different temperatures and to test a hypothesis that cold cataract formation is associated with the changes in lens protein and water distribution at different regions across lens fiber cells by Raman spectroscopy (RS). Methods: RS was utilized to scan the mouse lens at different regions with/without cold cataract. Three regions with various opacification along the equatorial axis in the anterior–posterior lens section were scanned. The intensity ratio of Raman bands at 2,935 and 3,390 cm−1 (Ip/Iw) were used to evaluate lens protein and water distribution. We further determined water molecular changes through Gaussian profiles of water Raman spectra. Results: Three specific regions 1, 2, and 3, located at 790–809, 515–534, and 415–434 μm away from the lens center, of postnatal day 14 B6WT lenses, were subjected to RS analysis. At 37°C, all three regions were transparent. At 25°C, only region 3 became opaque, while at 4°C, both regions 2 and 3 showed opacity. The sum of the difference between Ip/Iw and the value of linear fitting line from scattered-line at each scanning point was considered as fluctuation degree (FD) in each region. Among different temperatures, opaque regions showed relatively higher FD values (0.63 and 0.79 for regions 2 and 3, respectively, at 4°C, and 0.53 for region 3 at 25°C), while transparent regions provided lower FD values (less than 0.27). In addition, the decrease in Gaussian peak II and the rising of Gaussian peak III and IV from water Raman spectra indicated the instability of water molecule structure in the regions with cold cataract. Conclusion: Fluctuation degrees of RS data reveal new mechanistic information about cold cataract formation, which is associated with uneven distribution of lens proteins and water across lens fiber cells. It is possible that RS data partly reveals cold temperature-induced redistribution of lens proteins such as intermediate filaments in inner fiber cells. This lens protein redistribution might be related to unstable structure of water molecules according to Gaussian profiles of water RS.
The Effectiveness of a Community Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program Led by Laypeople in China: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Background: Community psychiatric rehabilitation has proven effective in supporting individuals and their families in recovering from mental illness. The delivery of evidence-based community rehabilitation services, however, requires health care workers to possess a set of specially trained knowledge and skills. Most developing countries, including China, do not have specially trained mental health personnel. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and efficacy of a community psychiatric rehabilitation program delivered by laypeople. Method: We conducted a randomized controlled study. Patients at two sites in Chengdu, China, were randomly assigned to either the laypeople-delivered (LPD) community psychiatric rehabilitation group (N = 49) or the drop-in center control group (N = 45). The outcomes were changes in symptoms, social functioning, and family functioning over 6 months, as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP), the Family Burden Scale of Disease (FBS), and the Family APGAR index. Results: The number of sessions received over the 12-week period of treatment ranged from 20 to 100%, with a mean completion rate of 77.32% for all 12 sessions. Statistically significant interactions between group and time were found for the total PANSS [F(2, 94) = 12.51, p < 0.001] and both the Negative PANSS [F(2, 94) = 5.89, p < 0.01] and Positive PANSS [F(2, 94) = 6.65, p < 0.01] as well as the PSP [F(2, 94) = 3.34, p < 0.05], FBS [F(2, 94) = 5.10, p < 0.01], and Family APGAR index [F(2, 94) = 4.58, p < 0.01]. The results showed that the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in symptom management, personal social functioning, family care burden, and coherence. Conclusion: These results support the feasibility and efficacy of having laypeople deliver psychiatric rehabilitation services. A discussion and limitations of the study have been included.
Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain Have an Individual Movement Signature: A Comparison of Angular Amplitude, Angular Velocity and Muscle Activity Across Multiple Functional Tasks

Despite a large body of evidence demonstrating spinal movement alterations in individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP), there is still a lack of understanding of the role of spinal movement behavior on LBP symptoms development or recovery. One reason for this may be that spinal movement has been studied during various functional tasks without knowing if the tasks are interchangeable, limiting data consolidation steps. The first objective of this cross-sectional study was to analyze the influence of the functional tasks on the information carried by spinal movement measures. To this end, we first analyzed the relationships in spinal movement between various functional tasks in patients with CLBP using Pearson correlations. Second, we compared the performance of spinal movement measures to differentiate patients with CLBP from asymptomatic controls among tasks. The second objective of the study was to develop task-independent measures of spinal movement and determine the construct validity of the approach. Five functional tasks primarily involving sagittal-plane movement were recorded for 52 patients with CLBP and 20 asymptomatic controls. Twelve measures were used to describe the sagittal-plane angular amplitude and velocity at the lower and upper lumbar spine as well as the activity of the erector spinae. Correlations between tasks were statistically significant in 91 out of 99 cases (0.31 ≤ r ≤ 0.96, all p < 0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) to differentiate groups did not differ substantially between tasks in most of the comparisons (82% had a difference in AUC of ≤0.1). The task-independent measures of spinal movement demonstrated equivalent or higher performance to differentiate groups than functional tasks alone. In conclusion, these findings support the existence of an individual spinal movement signature in patients with CLBP, and a limited influence of the tasks on the information carried by the movement measures, at least for the twelve common sagittal-plane measures analysed in this study. Therefore, this work brought critical insight for the interpretation of data in literature reporting differing tasks and for the design of future studies. The results also supported the construct validity of task-independent measures of spinal movement and encouraged its consideration in the future.
The Impact of ACTN3 Gene Polymorphisms on Susceptibility to Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage and Changes in Running Economy Following Downhill Running

This study aimed to investigate if ACTN3 gene polymorphism impacts the susceptibility to exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) and changes in running economy (RE) following downhill running. Thirty-five healthy men were allocated to the two groups based on their ACTN3 gene variants: RR and X allele carriers. Neuromuscular function [knee extensor isometric peak torque (IPT), rate of torque development (RTD), and countermovement, and squat jump height], indirect markers of EIMD [muscle soreness, mid-thigh circumference, knee joint range of motion, and serum creatine kinase (CK) activity], and RE (oxygen uptake, minute ventilation, blood lactate concentration, and perceived exertion) for 5-min of running at a speed equivalent to 80% of individual maximal oxygen uptake speed were assessed before, immediately after, and 1–4 days after a 30-min downhill run (−15%). Neuromuscular function was compromised (P < 0.05) following downhill running with no differences between the groups, except for IPT, which was more affected in the RR individuals compared with the X allele carriers immediately (−24.9 ± 6.9% vs. −16.3 ± 6.5%, respectively) and 4 days (−16.6 ± 14.9% vs. −4.2 ± 9.5%, respectively) post-downhill running. EIMD manifested similarly for both the groups except for serum CK activity, which was greater for RR (398 ± 120 and 452 ± 126 U L–1 at 2 and 4 days following downhill running, respectively) compared with the X allele carriers (273 ± 121 and 352 ± 114 U L–1 at the same time points). RE was compromised following downhill running (16.7 ± 8.3% and 11 ± 7.5% increases in oxygen uptake immediately following downhill running for the RR and X allele carriers, respectively) with no difference between the groups. We conclude that although RR individuals appear to be more susceptible to EIMD following downhill running, this does not extend to the changes in RE.
The Importance of Phonological Awareness in Learning Disabilities’ Prevention: Perspectives of Pre-School and Primary Teachers

There is robust empirical evidence regarding predictors of success in reading and writing. However, pre-school and primary teachers are not always aware of this evidence and often do not know how to apply it in practice. Considering the importance of the role of these teachers and the importance of early school years in preventing learning difficulties, it is essential to study teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, and strategies for improving educational processes toward successful development of literacy skills. Particularly, recognizing the impact of phonological awareness on the development of reading skills, this study has two main research questions: What is the importance pre-school and primary teachers attribute to the promotion of phonological awareness? and Which strategies for promoting phonological awareness do they apply in their professional practice? This qualitative study includes individual interviews with 10 pre-school and primary teachers, seeking to understand the perspective of each participant about phonological awareness, its importance, and implementation in practice. Data were collected in a context of great adversity (e.g., child maltreatment, early life stress). The results reveal that both pre-school and primary teachers recognized the relevance of phonological awareness among other pre-academic skills. Regarding the activities teachers implement, in their perspective, the playfulness seems to better result to stimulate this specific skill. Preschool teachers tend to focus on the dynamics that promote syllabic, intrasyllabic and phonemic awareness. Despite recognizing the gaps in phonological awareness in the first graders, primary teachers seem not to prioritize activities that stimulate and consolidate this skill, privileging the fluency and comprehension processes. The collaborative work between professionals was highlighted as very important to optimize the stimulation phonological awareness as well as facing other learning difficulties teachers find in this context. The results are discussed considering the role of pre-school teachers and primary teachers in reading difficulties’ prevention in contexts facing multiple vulnerabilities.
Real Time Estimator to Perform Targeted Biopsies With a Free-Wrist Robot Despite Large Deformations of the Insertion Orifice

In the context of keyhole surgery, and more particularly of uterine biopsy, the fine automatic movements of a surgical instrument held by a robot with 3 active DOF’s require an exact knowledge of the point of rotation of the instrument. However, this center of rotation is not fixed and moves during an examination. This paper deals with a new method of detecting and updating the interaction matrix linking the movements of the robot with the surgical instrument. This is based on the method of updating the Jacobian matrix which is named the “Broyden method”. It is able to take into account body tissue deformations in real time in order to improve the pointing task for automatic movements of a surgical instrument in an unknown environment.
PmtA Regulates Pyocyanin Expression and Biofilm Formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa expresses a small molecular weight, cysteine-rich protein (PmtA), identified as a metallothionein (MT) protein family member. The MT family proteins have been well-characterized in eukaryotes as essential for zinc and copper homeostasis, protection against oxidative stress, and the ability to modify a variety of immune activities. Bacterial MTs share sequence homology, antioxidant chemistry, and heavy metal-binding capacity with eukaryotic MTs, however, the impact of bacterial MTs on virulence and infection have not been well-studied. In the present study, we investigated the role of PmtA in P. aeruginosa PAO1 using a PmtA-deficient strain (ΔpmtA). Here we demonstrated the virulence factor, pyocyanin, relies on the expression of PmtA. We showed that PmtA may be protective against oxidative stress, as an alternative antioxidant, glutathione, can rescue pyocyanin expression. Furthermore, the expression of phzM, which encodes a pyocyanin precursor enzyme, was decreased in the ΔpmtA mutant during early stationary phase. Upregulated pmtA expression was previously detected in confluent biofilms, which are essential for chronic infection, and we observed that the ΔpmtA mutant was disrupted for biofilm formation. As biofilms also modulate antibiotic susceptibility, we examined the ΔpmtA mutant susceptibility to antibiotics and found that the ΔpmtA mutant is more susceptible to cefepime and ciprofloxacin than the wild-type strain. Finally, we observed that the deletion of pmtA results in decreased virulence in a waxworm model. Taken together, our results support the conclusion that PmtA is necessary for the full virulence of P. aeruginosa and may represent a potential target for therapeutic intervention.
Development and Validation of a Pyroptosis-Related Long Non-coding RNA Signature for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive malignant disease, and numerous studies have demonstrated that an inflammatory environment can induce normal cells to transform into cancerous. Methods: We integrated genomic data to comprehensively assess the association between pyroptosis and tumor microenvironment (TME) cell-infiltrating characteristics in HCC, as well as the potential molecular function and clinical significance of lncRNA. Results: The analysis of CNV alteration frequency displayed that CNV changes were common in 33 PRGs, and most were focused on copy number amplification. As a result of lasso regression analysis, nine differentially expressed lncRNAs (AL031985.3, NRAV, OSMR-AS1, AC073611.1, MKLN1-AS, AL137186.2, AL049840.4, MIR4435-2HG, and AL118511.1) were selected as independent prognosis factors of HCC patients. Patients at high risk have poorer survival than those in the low-risk group in training and testing cohorts. A low-risk score was significantly associated with an IC50 of chemotherapeutics such as bortezomib (p < 0.001), but a high-risk score was significantly linked to docetaxel (p < 0.001), implying that signature served as a prospective predictor for chemosensitivity. Conclusion: This work suggests pyroptosis-related lncRNAs features and their potential mechanisms on tumor microenvironment. The exploration may assist in identifying novel biomarkers and assist patients in predicting their prognosis, clinical diagnosis, and management.
Développement d'éléments continus de coques axisymétriques et de coudes

ABSTRACT In this paper, the continuous element method, based on the ‘quasi-exact’ solution of the dynamic equations, is presented. An axisymmetric continuous shell element and a curved pipe continuous element are developed and their dynamic stiffness matrices are numerically constructed. The dynamic response of several pipelines to harmonic excitation are then computed by assembling the continuous elements; inertance and dynamic flexibility curves are compared with experimental and finite elements curves. The main advantages of the method are finally shown: swiftness of the modelling, direct and accurate response at high frequency domains, possibility to take into account structural damping fund ion of the frequency.
Artificial Intelligent Multi-Modal Point-of-Care System for Predicting Response of Transarterial Chemoembolization in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks the second most lethal tumor globally and is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Unfortunately, HCC is commonly at intermediate tumor stage or advanced tumor stage, in which only some palliative treatment can be used to offer a limited overall survival. Due to the high heterogeneity of the genetic, molecular, and histological levels, HCC makes the prediction of preoperative transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) efficacy and the development of personalized regimens challenging. In this study, a new multi-modal point-of-care system is employed to predict the response of TACE in HCC by a concept of integrating multi-modal large-scale data of clinical index and computed tomography (CT) images. This multi-modal point-of-care predicting system opens new possibilities for predicting the response of TACE treatment and can help clinicians select the optimal patients with HCC who can benefit from the interventional therapy.
Food safety in land-based shrimp productions

The aquaculture industry is on a global scale becoming acutely aware of the demand for increased and intensified production systems to supply people with food fish. Moreover there are requirements for these systems to be more ecologically sound managements. As an attempt to address these concerns and after years of research, VegaFish AB has initiated an innovative project aiming to develop proprietary, highly cost efficient and environmentally sustainable systems for land-based shrimp production, based on the Biofloc Technology (BFT) system. The European food law requires all food processing operators to provide food fit for human consumption which contributes to the public health and well-being. The food law is based on a preventive approach through implementation of prerequisite programs (PRP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans. VegaFish aims to meet not only the requirements of the international ISO 22000 standard addressing food safety but also the European Commission’s intention to extend the food law regarding primary productions by the establishment of a HACCP plan. Aquacultured products are in generally classified as low risk food in terms of incidence of food-borne disease outbreaks. Along with the fact that HACCP plans are not required, shrimp producers can seldom prove if any measures are taken to prevent food-borne dis-ease outbreaks. Nevertheless, it is of great importance to understand the potential public health risks associated with a shrimp production to be able to manage them in an effective way. By the establishment of a HACCP plan and PRPs, VegaFish will work with a preven-tive approach on food-borne diseases. The thesis aims to conduct a food safety hazard analysis and establish a HACCP plan for the shrimp production facilities in Uppsala and Bjuv and has been developed in collaboration with VegaFish. A number of control points controlled by the PRPs were determined along with one Critical Control Point (CCP) during the harvest regarding the need to keep the cold chain to prevent pathogen growth.