Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linking risk factors and outcomes in autism spectrum disorder: is there evidence for resilience?

Abstract Autism spectrum disorder (referred to here as autism) is one of several overlapping neurodevelopmental conditions that have variable impacts on different individuals. This variability results from dynamic interactions between biological and non-biological risk factors, which result in increasing differentiation between individuals over time. Although this differentiation continues well into adulthood, the infancy period is when the brain and behavior develop rapidly, and when the first signs and symptoms of autism emerge. This review discusses advances in our understanding of the causal pathways leading to autism and overlapping neurodevelopmental conditions. Research is also mapping trajectories of brain and behavioral development for some risk groups, namely later born siblings of children with autism and/or infants referred because of developmental concerns. This knowledge has been useful in improving early identification and establishing the feasibility of targeted interventions for infant risk groups before symptoms arise. However, key knowledge gaps remain, such as the discovery of protective factors (biological or environmental) that may mitigate the impact of risk. Also, the dynamic mechanisms that underlie the associations between risk factors and outcomes need further research. These include the processes of resilience, which may explain why some individuals at risk for autism achieve better than expected outcomes. Bridging these knowledge gaps would help to provide tools for early identification and intervention that reflect dynamic developmental pathways from risk to outcomes.
Feasibility study on continuous spinal analgesia in all stages of labor

randomly divided into two groups (n= 42 each): CSA To the Editor: Most researchers in China are concerned that the whole labor process of traditional continuous (group S) and CEA (group E). Both catheters were placed epidural analgesia (CEA) will hinder the maternal force in the second stage of labor. In contrast, a local anesthetic drug can be used for a relatively long time. Excessive intraspinal administration may inhibit the contraction of the uterine smooth muscle, which may lead to a longer labor stage, increased oxytocin use, and increased rates of forceps delivery, cesarean section, and neonatal asphyxia. Therefore, some obstetricians and midwives in China choose to stop epidural labor analgesia when the cervix opens to 7 to 8 cm or at complete cervical dilation. Thus, most parturients cannot enjoy ideal full-term labor analgesia.
Plaque neovascularization detected with contrast‐enhanced ultrasound predicts ischaemic stroke recurrence in patients with carotid atherosclerosis

Plaque neovascularization is a hallmark of carotid plaque vulnerability. With contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) it is possible to visualize plaque neovessels in vivo. Our aim was to determine if CEUS‐detected neovessels were associated with stroke recurrences in patients with a recent stroke and carotid atherosclerosis.
Prognostic factors for improved physical and emotional functioning one year after interdisciplinary rehabilitation in patients with chronic pain: Results from a national quality registry in Sweden.

OBJECTIVE To investigate prognostic factors for physical and emotional functioning following interdisciplinary multimodal pain rehabilitation, by targeting patients' baseline characteristics and health measures. METHODS A prospective cohort of 2,876 patients from 38 specialist clinics across Sweden, who were completing interdisciplinary multimodal pain rehabilitation programmes, was followed through the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation, from initial assessment to 12-month follow-up. Using logistic regression, baseline data were regressed to predict improvement in Physical functioning and Emotional functioning, fused by principal component analyses using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS Employment status emerged as having the largest effect sizes in both Physical functioning and Emotional functioning; Working: odds ratio (OR) 2.05 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.64-2.56) and OR 1.59 (95% CI 1.27-1.98), respectively. Strong beliefs in restored health, better initial emotional health, lower levels of pain and pain interference, and younger age all predicted Physical functioning. European origin, higher levels of general activity, and sense of life control all predicted Emotional functioning. Worse initial physical and emotional health predicted the corresponding dependent outcomes. CONCLUSION Employment was consistently found to be an important prognostic factor, suggesting the significance of avoiding delay in interdisciplinary multimodal pain rehabilitation. A positive treatment expectancy was of importance. In general, multidimensional measures indicated that better initial status was more favourable; however, inconsistency implies a complex prognostic picture.
Corrosion casting of the cardiovascular structure in adult zebrafish for analysis by scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray microtomography

Zebrafish have come to the forefront as a flexible, relevant animal model to study human disease, including cardiovascular disorders. Zebrafish are optically transparent during early developmental stages, enabling unparalleled imaging modalities to examine cardiovascular structure and function in vivo and ex vivo. At later stages, however, the options for systematic cardiovascular phenotyping are more limited. To visualise the complete vascular tree of adult zebrafish, we have optimised a vascular corrosion casting method. We present several improvements to the technique leading to increased reproducibility and accuracy. We designed a customised support system and used a combination of the commercially available Mercox II methyl methacrylate with the Batson's catalyst for optimal vascular corrosion casting of zebrafish. We also highlight different imaging approaches, with a focus on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐ray microtomography (micro‐CT) to obtain highly detailed, faithful three‐dimensional reconstructed images of the zebrafish cardiovascular structure. This procedure can be of great value to a wide range of research lines related to cardiovascular biology in small specimens.
From variability to vulnerability: People exposed to greater variability judge wrongdoers more harshly.

Recent decades have seen increased variability in diverse domains, such as the climate and asset prices. As more resources are required to cope with greater variability in the outside world, exposure to greater variability can make people feel that society is more vulnerable. This sense of vulnerability, in turn, can lead people to judge and punish wrongdoers more harshly. Studies 1a-2c found that people who were exposed to graphs representing greater variability were more willing to punish wrongdoers, both in domains that were related to the source of variability and those that were unrelated. Studies 3 and 4 found that people who experienced more variable dice rolls were more likely to punish unethical behaviors in hypothetical scenarios and in experimental games, even at a financial cost to themselves. Studies 5a and 5b provided evidence for the underlying mechanism-sense of vulnerability-using correlational designs. Study 6 provided experimental evidence for the underlying mechanism. These findings suggest that increasing variability in diverse domains can have unexpected psychological consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Veterinary utility of dried blood spots for detailed analysis of chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls by gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds of anthropogenic origin that resist atmospheric and microbial degradation and thus persist in the environment and in food chains for exceptionally long periods of time. Veterinarians and wildlife researchers need simple methodologies for monitoring and measuring such compounds including two large and diverse categories, organochlorine pesticides (OCs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), compounds that have been largely banned from production and use except for specific exceptions. We present development of methodologies for detection and quantitation of 22 OCs and 10 PCB congeners by tandem quadrupole gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis of Dried Blood Spots (DBS). Development was enabled by (1) optimization of suspension and extraction methodologies for DBS; (2) strategic streamlining and condensation of Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) settings on GC/MS/MS; and (3) improvement of GC settings to accommodate all 32 compounds in a single chromatographic run per sample. The method was validated for parameters of linearity, limits of detection and quantitation, recovery and precision, and results from blood were shown to correlate well with those from DBS despite both being only 50 uL in volume. The method was applied successfully to blood samples from nine avian specimens submitted to the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, and all were shown to bear the burden of varying levels of OCs and/or PCB compounds.
Establishing K-levels and prescribing transtibial prostheses using six-minute walk test and one-leg standing test on prosthesis: a retrospective audit

Rehabilitation programs after amputation often include fitting a prosthesis, but prescriptions vary under similar circumstances. The US Medicare Functional Classification Level (K-level) is a scale for describing functional abilities of persons after lower-limb amputation (from 0 = no ability or potential to ambulate, to 4 = prosthetic demands of a child/active adult/athlete). Different outcome measures are used to assess K-level, including six-minute walk test (6MWT). We attempted to predict the assigned K-level of unilateral transtibial prosthesis users from their results of 6MWT and one-leg standing test on prosthesis (OLSTP). Outpatients who had been rehabilitated and fitted with transtibial prosthesis at the University Rehabilitation Institute in Ljubljana in 2014 were included in a retrospective audit. The data were analysed using receiver-operating-characteristics curves, linear discriminant analysis, classification trees and ordinal logistic regression. Among the 120 patients (aged 39–90, mean 67 years; 79% men), eight belonged to K1 level, 94 to K2, and 18 to K3 or K4; 61 could not stand on the prosthesis, eight stood on it for 1 s, and 51 stood on it for 2 s or more. With a simple classification rule based only on 6MWT (130 m threshold for K2/K3/K4 vs. K1, 340 m for K3/K4 vs. K1/K2), we observed sensitivity and specificity close to 90%. The more sophisticated statistical approaches yielded substantially similar and comparably accurate results. 6MWT and OLST could therefore be used as predictors for transtibial prosthesis prescription in clinical practice.
A fair comparison of tree‐based and parametric methods in multiple imputation by chained equations

Multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE) has emerged as a leading strategy for imputing missing epidemiological data due to its ease of implementation and ability to maintain unbiased effect estimates and valid inference. Within the MICE algorithm, imputation can be performed using a variety of parametric or nonparametric methods. Literature has suggested that nonparametric tree‐based imputation methods outperform parametric methods in terms of bias and coverage when there are interactions or other nonlinear effects among the variables. However, these studies fail to provide a fair comparison as they do not follow the well‐established recommendation that any effects in the final analysis model (including interactions) should be included in the parametric imputation model. We show via simulation that properly incorporating interactions in the parametric imputation model leads to much better performance. In fact, correctly specified parametric imputation and tree‐based random forest imputation perform similarly when estimating the interaction effect. Parametric imputation leads to slightly higher coverage for the interaction effect, but it has wider confidence intervals than random forest imputation and requires correct specification of the imputation model. Epidemiologists should take care in specifying MICE imputation models, and this paper assists in that task by providing a fair comparison of parametric and tree‐based imputation in MICE.
Socioeconomic status, remoteness and tracking of nutritional status from childhood to adulthood in an Australian Aboriginal Birth Cohort: the ABC study

Objectives To determine prevalences of underweight and overweight as well as low and high waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in three prospective follow-ups and to explore tracking of these measures of nutritional status from childhood to adolescence and adulthood. The influence of socioeconomic status, remoteness, maternal body mass index (BMI) and birth weight on weight status was assessed. Design Longitudinal birth cohort study of Indigenous Australians. Setting Data derived from three follow-ups of the Aboriginal Birth Cohort study with mean ages of 11.4, 18.2 and 25.4 years for the participants. Participants Of the 686 Indigenous babies recruited to the study between 1987 and 1990, 315 had anthropometric measurements for all three follow-ups and were included in this study. Primary and secondary outcome measures BMI categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity),WHtR categories (low and high), sex, areal socioeconomic disadvantage as defined by the Indigenous Relative Socioeconomic Outcomes index, urban/remote residence, maternal BMI and birth weight. Logistic regression was used to calculate ORs for belonging to a certain BMI category in adolescence and adulthood according to BMI category in childhood and adolescence. Results Underweight was common (38% in childhood and 24% in adulthood) and the prevalence of overweight/obesity increased with age (12% in childhood and 35% in adulthood). Both extremes of weight status as well as low and high WHtR tracked from childhood to adulthood. Underweight was more common and overweight was less common in remote and more disadvantaged areas. Birth weight and maternal BMI were associated with later weight status. There were significant sex differences for prevalences and tracking of WHtR but not for BMI. Conclusions Socioeconomic factors, remoteness and gender must be addressed when assessing nutrition-related issues in the Indigenous communities due to the variation in nutritional status and its behaviour over time within the Indigenous population.
Caring About the Human Operator: Haptic Shared Control for Enhanced User Comfort in Robotic Telemanipulation

Haptic shared control enables a human operator and an autonomous controller to share the control of a robotic system using haptic active constraints. It has been used in robotic teleoperation for different purposes, such as navigating along paths minimizing the torques requested to the manipulator or avoiding possibly dangerous areas of the workspace. However, few works have focused on using these ideas to account for the user's comfort. In this article, we present an innovative haptic-enabled shared control approach aimed at minimizing the user's workload during a teleoperated manipulation task. Using an inverse kinematic model of the human arm and the rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) metric, the proposed approach estimates the current user's comfort online. From this measure and an a priori knowledge of the task, we then generate dynamic active constraints guiding the users towards a successful completion of the task, along directions that improve their posture and increase their comfort. Studies with human subjects show the effectiveness of the proposed approach, yielding a 30% perceived reduction of the workload with respect to using standard guided human-in-the-loop teleoperation.
Ecotype-Specific Pathways of Reactive Oxygen Species Deactivation in Facultative Metallophyte Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke Treated with Heavy Metals

This research aimed to indicate mechanisms involved in protection against the imbalanced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during heavy metals (HMs) exposition of Silene vulgaris ecotypes with different levels of metal tolerance. Specimens of non-metallicolous (NM), calamine (CAL), and serpentine (SER) ecotypes were treated in vitro with Zn, Pb, and Cd ions applied simultaneously in concentrations that reflected their contents in natural habitats of the CAL ecotype (1× HMs) and 2.5- or 5.0-times higher than the first one. Our findings confirmed the sensitivity of the NM ecotype and revealed that the SER ecotype was not fully adapted to the HM mixture, since intensified lipid peroxidation, ultrastructural alternations, and decline in photosynthetic pigments’ content were ascertained under HM treatment. These changes resulted from insufficient antioxidant defense mechanisms based only on ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity assisted (depending on HMs concentration) by glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and peroxidase activity at pH 6.8 in the NM ecotype or by GST and guaiacol-type peroxidase in the SER one. In turn, CAL specimens showed a hormetic reaction to 1× HMs, which manifested by both increased accumulation of pigments and most non-enzymatic antioxidants and enhanced activity of catalase and enzymes from the peroxidase family (with the exception of APX). Interestingly, no changes in superoxide dismutase activity were noticed in metallicolous ecotypes. To sum up, the ROS scavenging pathways in S. vulgaris relied on antioxidants specific to the respective ecotypes, however the synthesis of polyphenols was proved to be a universal reaction to HMs.
Collagen biology and non‐invasive biomarkers of liver fibrosis

There is an unmet need for high‐quality liquid biomarkers that can safely and reproducibly predict the stage of fibrosis and the outcomes of chronic liver disease (CLD). The requirement for such markers has intensified because of the high global prevalence of diseases such as non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In particular, there is a need for diagnostic and prognostic tools, as well as predictive biomarkers that reflect the efficacy of interventions, as described by the BEST criteria (Biomarkers, EndpointS, and other Tools Resource). This review covers the various liver collagens, their functional role in tissue homeostasis and delineates the common nomenclature for biomarkers based on BEST criteria. It addresses the common confounders affecting serological biomarkers, and describes defined collagen epitope biomarkers that originate from the dynamic processes of extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling during liver injury.
Total and specific immunoglobulin E in induced sputum in allergic and non-allergic asthma

Background Most patients with nonallergic asthma have normal serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels. Recent reports suggest that total and aeroallergen-specific IgE levels in induced sputum may be higher in nonallergic asthmatics than in healthy controls. Our objective is to compare total and dust-mite specific (Der p 1) IgE levels in induced sputum in allergic and nonallergic asthmatics and healthy controls. Methods Total and Der p 1-specific IgE were measured in induced sputum (ImmunoCAP immunoassay) from 56 age- and sex-matched asthmatics (21 allergic, 35 nonallergic) and 9 healthy controls. Allergic asthma was defined as asthma with a positive prick test and/or clinically-significant Der p 1-specific serum IgE levels. Results Patients with allergic asthma presented significantly higher total and Der p 1-specific serum IgE levels. There were no significant between-group differences in total sputum IgE. However, Der p 1-specific sputum IgE levels were significantly higher (p = 0.000) in the allergic asthmatics, but without differences between the controls and nonallergic asthmatics. Serum and sputum IgE levels were significantly correlated, both for total IgE (rho = 0.498; p = 0.000) and Der p 1-specific IgE (rho, 0.621; p = 0001). Conclusions Total IgE levels measured in serum and induced sputum are significantly correlated. No significant differences were found between the differents groups in total sputum IgE. Nevertheless, the levels of Der p 1-specific sputum IgE levels were significantly higher in the allergic asthmatics, but without differences between the controls and nonallergic asthmatics. Probably due to the lack of sensitivity of the test used, but with the growing evidence for local allergic reactions better methods are need to explore its presence. The Clinical Trials Identifier for this project is NCT03640936.
Population variation in early development can determine ecological resilience in response to environmental change

Summary As climate change transforms seasonal patterns of temperature and precipitation, germination success at marginal temperatures will become critical for the long‐term persistence of many plant species and communities. If populations vary in their environmental sensitivity to marginal temperatures across a species’ geographical range, populations that respond better to future environmental extremes are likely to be critical for maintaining ecological resilience of the species. Using seeds from two to six populations for each of nine species of Mediterranean plants, we characterized patterns of among‐population variation in environmental sensitivity by quantifying genotype‐by‐environment interactions (G × E) for germination success at temperature extremes, and under two light regimes representing conditions below and above the soil surface. For eight of nine species tested at hot and cold marginal temperatures, we observed substantial among‐population variation in environmental sensitivity for germination success, and this often depended on the light treatment. Importantly, different populations often performed best at different environmental extremes. Our results demonstrate that ongoing changes in temperature regime will affect the phenology, fitness, and demography of different populations within the same species differently. We show that quantifying patterns of G × E for multiple populations, and understanding how such patterns arise, can test mechanisms that promote ecological resilience.