Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between Neonatal Whole Blood Iron Content and Cytokines, Adipokines, and Other Immune Response Proteins

(1) Background: High iron associates with inflammation and type 1 diabetes (T1D). Iron is essential not only for neonatal development but also for infectious microorganisms. The neonatal immune system is immature, and innate immunity prevails before immunocompetence develops. (2) Methods: In 398 newborns from the Danish Newborn Screening Biobank, we examined if whole blood iron (WB-Iron) content were associated with cytokines, adipokines, C-reactive protein (CRP), and mannose-binding lectin (MBL) in non-infected healthy neonates, and if these associations differed in newborns who later developed T1D (cases) (n = 199). WB-Iron was quantified using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on the neonatal dried blood spots. For each analyte, the relative change (RC) in the mean level was modeled by robust log-normal regression. (3) Results: A one unit increase in neonatal WB-Iron was associated with a 38% decrease in mean interleukin (IL)-6 levels (0.62; 95% CI: 0.40–0.95, p = 0.03), and a 37% decrease in mean MBL levels (0.63; 95% CI: 0.41–0.95, p = 0.03), but was not statistically significant after correction for multiple testing. (4) Conclusions: In summary, we found that higher neonatal WB-iron content was inversely associated with IL-6 and MBL, which may increase susceptibility to infections.
Ciprofloxacin Dry Powder for Inhalation: Inspiratory Flow in Patients with Non-cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis.

Background: As non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) progresses, patients suffer irreversible lung damage and deterioration in lung function. This study explored whether inhalational parameters (peak inspiratory flow [PIF, primary endpoint], inspiratory volume and time [secondary endpoints]) represent barriers to complete dosing in patients with poor lung function who are using Ciprofloxacin dry powder for inhalation (DPI) (a drug-device combination of the T-326 inhaler device and a Ciprofloxacin dry powder formulation). Methods: This open-label, multicenter study generated inspiratory flow rate data from patients with NCFB using the breath-actuated T-326 dry powder inhaler. These rates were compared against reference values to identify whether patients with all degrees of lung function impairment could generate sufficient flow rates to facilitate adequate drug delivery. Patients attended screening and a second visit 1 - 14 days later. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, and inspiratory capacity were measured via spirometry at both visits. Forty-two patients were screened for inclusion; 33 met eligibility criteria and were stratified into one of three groups based on their FEV1% predicted value (group 1: 25% ≤ FEV1% predicted <45%; group 2: 45% ≤ FEV1% predicted <70%; group 3: FEV1% predicted ≥70%). Results: No significant between-group differences occurred in PIF (mean flow rates 68.21, 66.01, and 65.18 L/min in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Individual minimum PIFs of 46.0-49.0 L/min were observed across groups. These results all exceeded the reference value (minimum PIF 45 L/min for Ciprofloxacin DPI) indicating that regardless of the level of airflow obstruction, patients were capable of achieving sufficient PIFs to aerosolize and inhale Ciprofloxacin dry powder with the T-326 inhaler. Conclusions: Our data indicate that T-326 is suitable for use in the drug-device combination Ciprofloxacin DPI to provide targeted pulmonary delivery in patients with NCFB, including those with significantly impaired lung function.
Applying Situational Theory of Problem Solving in Cancer Information Seeking: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of 2014 HINTS Survey

Informed by the Situational Theory of Problem Solving (STOPS), this study used data from the Health Information National Trends Survey, a large and representative national sample, to examine predictors of information seeking and information accessing of health information, including cancer-related information. We found that the independent variables in STOPS—problem recognition, involvement recognition, and referent criterion— well predicted people’s information seeking of cancer-related information and accessing of health information on line. However, the impact of trust in online health information was more complicated than anticipated. Our study demonstrated the utility of the STOPS in the health information context. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Monolithic Structure-Optical Fiber Sensor with Temperature Compensation for Pressure Measurement

In this paper, an optical fiber pressure sensor cascading a diaphragm-assisted Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) and a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed and demonstrated. The sensor comprises an optical fiber, a fused-silica ferrule, and a fused-silica diaphragm. We use a femtosecond laser firstly to fabricate a pit on the end face of the ferrule and then investigate the laser heat conduction welding and deep penetration welding technology for manufacturing the seepage pressure sensor of the all-fused-silica material. We develop a sensor based on a monolithic structured FPI without adhesive bonding by means of all-laser-welding. The pressure characteristics of the sensor have good linearity at different temperatures. Also, the monolithic structured sensor possesses excellent resolution, hysteresis, and long-term stability. The environmental temperature obtained by the FBG is employed to compensate for the difference in seepage pressure at different temperatures, and the difference in seepage pressure responses at different temperatures is shown to be very small after temperature compensation.
Antitumor Anthraquinones from an Easter Island Sea Anemone: Animal or Bacterial Origin?

The presence of two known anthraquinones, Lupinacidin A and Galvaquinone B, which have antitumor activity, has been identified in the sea anemone (Gyractis sesere) from Easter Island. So far, these anthraquinones have been characterized from terrestrial and marine Actinobacteria only. In order to identify the anthraquinones producer, we isolated Actinobacteria associated with the sea anemone and obtained representatives of seven actinobacterial genera. Studies of cultures of these bacteria by HPLC, NMR, and HRLCMS analyses showed that the producer of Lupinacidin A and Galvaquinone B indeed was one of the isolated Actinobacteria. The producer strain, SN26_14. 1, was identified as a representative of the genus Verrucosispora. Genome analysis supported the biosynthetic potential to the production of these compounds by this strain. This study adds Verrucosispora as a new genus to the anthraquinone producers, in addition to well-known species of Streptomyces and Micromonospora. By a cultivation-based approach, the responsibility of symbionts of a marine invertebrate for the production of complex natural products found within the animal’s extracts could be demonstrated. This finding re-opens the debate about the producers of secondary metabolites in sea animals. Finally, it provides valuable information about the chemistry of bacteria harbored in the geographically-isolated and almost unstudied, Easter Island.
Depression and risky alcohol use: an examination of the role of difficulties regulating positive emotions in trauma-exposed individuals

ABSTRACT Background: The co-occurrence of depression and risky alcohol use is clinically relevant given their high rates of comorbidity and reciprocal negative impact on outcomes. Emotion dysregulation is one factor that has been shown to underlie this association. However, literature in this area has been limited in its exclusive focus on emotion dysregulation stemming from negative emotions. Objectives: The goal of the current study was to extend research by exploring the role of difficulties regulating positive emotions in depression symptom severity, risky alcohol use, and their association. Methods: Participants were 395 trauma-exposed adults recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) platform (56.20% female, Mage = 35.55) who completed self-report questionnaires. Results: Zero-order correlations among depression symptom severity, the three subscales of difficulties regulating positive emotions, and risky alcohol use were positive. Two subscales of difficulties regulating positive emotions—nonacceptance of positive emotions and difficulties controlling impulsive behavior when experiencing positive emotions—accounted for the relationship between depression symptom severity and risky alcohol use. Conclusion: Results suggest the importance of incorporating techniques focused on improving positive emotion regulation skills in interventions for risky alcohol use among individuals with depression.
Characterization of Early Stages of Human Alveolar Infection by the Q Fever Agent Coxiella burnetii

Human Q fever is caused by the intracellular bacterial pathogen Coxiella burnetii. Q fever presents with acute flu-like and pulmonary symptoms or can progress to chronic, severe endocarditis. ABSTRACT Human Q fever is caused by the intracellular bacterial pathogen Coxiella burnetii. Q fever presents with acute flu-like and pulmonary symptoms or can progress to chronic, severe endocarditis. After human inhalation, C. burnetii is engulfed by alveolar macrophages and transits through the phagolysosomal maturation pathway, resisting the acidic pH of lysosomes to form a parasitophorous vacuole (PV) in which to replicate. Previous studies showed that C. burnetii replicates efficiently in primary human alveolar macrophages (hAMs) in ex vivo human lung tissue. Although C. burnetii replicates in most cell types in vitro, the pathogen does not grow in non-hAM cells of human lung tissue. In this study, we investigated the interaction between C. burnetii and other pulmonary cell types apart from the lung environment. C. burnetii formed a prototypical PV and replicated efficiently in human pulmonary fibroblasts and in airway, but not alveolar, epithelial cells. Atypical PV expansion in alveolar epithelial cells was attributed in part to defective recruitment of autophagy-related proteins. Further assessment of the C. burnetii growth niche showed that macrophages mounted a robust interleukin 8 (IL-8), neutrophil-attracting response to C. burnetii and ultimately shifted to an M2-polarized phenotype characteristic of anti-inflammatory macrophages. Considering our findings together, this study provides further clarity on the unique C. burnetii-lung dynamic during early stages of human acute Q fever.
Comparison of the EQ-5D 3L and the SF-6D (SF-36) contemporaneous utility scores in patients with chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional survey

Objectives The aim of this study was to compare utility weights of EuroQoL-five-dimension-3 levels (EQ-5D-3L) and Short-Form six-dimension (SF-6D) in a representative cohort of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). A cost–utility analysis (CUA) is designed to report the change to costs required to achieve an estimated change to quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The quality component of a QALY is measured by utility. Utility represents the preference of general population for a given health state. Classification systems of the multi-attribute utility instruments (MAUIs) are used to define these health states. Utility weights developed from different classification systems can vary and may affect the conclusions from CUAs. Design A community-based cross-sectional study. Setting Anuradhapura, a rural district in Sri Lanka. Participants A representative sample of 1096 patients with CKD, selected using the population-based CKD register, completed the EQ-5D-3L and SF-36. SF-6D was constructed from the SF-36 according to the published algorithm. The study assessed discrimination, correlation and differences across the two instruments. Results Study participants were predominantly male (62.6%). Mean EQ-5D-3L utility score was 0.540 (SD 0.35) compared with 0.534 (SD 0.09) for the SF-6D (p=0.588). The correlation (r) between the scores was 0.40 (p<0.001). Utility scores were significantly different in both males and females between the two tools, but there was no difference in age and educational categories. Both MAUI scores were significantly lower (p<0.001) among those who were in more advanced stages of the disease and the corresponding utility scores of the two instruments in different CKD stages were also significantly different (p<0.05). The largest effect size was seen among the patients on dialysis. Conclusions The correlation between the scores was moderate. SF-6D had the lowest floor and ceiling effect and was better at detecting different stages of the disease. Thus, based on the evidence presented in this study, SF-6D appears to be more appropriate to be used among patients with CKD.
Protocol for prospective randomised assessor-blinded pilot study comparing hyperbaric oxygen therapy with PENtoxifylline+TOcopherol± CLOdronate for the management of early osteoradionecrosis of the mandible

Introduction Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the mandible is a painful and debilitating condition occurring after radiotherapy to the head and neck to treat cancer. For decades, hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) has formed the mainstay of the early management of ORN. Literature about the efficacy of HBO is contentious. Recently, Oral and Maxillofacial surgical units in France and UK have trialled a combination of medications to treat ORN, also known as PENTOCLO (PENtoxifylline+TOcopherol±CLOdronate). This regime has shown promising results to date however randomised controlled trials in the area comparing HBO against PENTOCLO are lacking and there are no current trials registered in Europe, UK, Australia and the USA. The purpose of this pilot study is to generate a hypothesis that can be tested in large multi-centre controlled trials. Methods and analysis For this pilot study we will recruit 16 patients who will be randomly allocated to one of either HBO or PENTOCLO. After a 4 week period of uniform ‘pre-treatment’ medication patients will be commenced on their allocated treatment. Standard follow-up examination, imaging and photographs will be taken and de-identified and then presented to two Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons for allocation of a Notani & Lyons classification score. Data for each patient will be tracked over the 18 months of treatment and follow-up. The results will then be analysed using descriptive statistics and all patients included in an intention to treat analysis. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for this study has been granted by the South Metropolitan Health Service HREC (PRN RGS0000001193). Data generated by conducting this study will be uploaded to an open access repository in a de-identified form. Results from this study will be disseminated at national and international conferences as well as peer reviewed medical publications. Trial registration number ACTRN12618001099213; Pre-results.
Prosodically Conditioned Consonant Duration in Djambarrpuyŋu

Cross-linguistically, segments typically lengthen because of proximity to prosodic events such as intonational phrase or phonological phrase boundaries, a phrasal accent, or due to lexical stress. Australian Indigenous languages have been claimed to operate somewhat differently in terms of prosodically conditioned consonant lengthening and strengthening. Consonants have been found to lengthen after a vowel bearing a phrasal pitch accent. It is further claimed that this post-tonic position is a position of prosodic strength in Australian languages. In this study, we investigate the effects of proximity to a phrasal pitch accent and prosodic constituent boundaries on the duration of stop and nasal consonants in words of varying lengths in Djambarrpuyŋu, an Australian Indigenous language spoken in northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Our results suggest that the post-tonic consonant position does not condition longer consonant duration compared with other word-medial consonants, with one exception: Intervocalic post-tonic consonants in disyllabic words are significantly longer than word-medial consonants elsewhere. Therefore, it appears that polysyllabic shortening has a strong effect on segment duration in these data. Word-initial position did not condition longer consonant duration than word-medial position. Further, initial consonants in higher-level prosodic domains had shorter consonant duration compared with domain-medial word-initial consonants. By contrast, domain-final lengthening was observed in our data, with word-final nasals preceding a pause found to be significantly longer than all other consonants. Taken together, these findings for Djambarrpuyŋu suggest that, unlike other Australian languages, post-tonic lengthening is not a cue to prosodic prominence, whereas prosodic domain-initial and -final duration patterns of consonants are like those that have been observed in other languages of the world.
Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity, offspring cord blood DNA methylation, and offspring cardiometabolic health in early childhood: an epigenome-wide association study

ABSTRACT Pre-pregnancy obesity is an established risk factor for adverse sex-specific cardiometabolic health in offspring. Epigenetic alterations, such as in DNA methylation (DNAm), are a hypothesized link; however, sex-specific epigenomic targets remain unclear. Leveraging data from the Newborn Epigenetics Study (NEST) cohort, linear regression models were used to identify CpG sites in cord blood leukocytes associated with pre-pregnancy obesity in 187 mother-female and 173 mother-male offsprings. DNAm in cord blood was measured using the Illumina HumanMethylation450k BeadChip. Replication analysis was conducted among the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort. Associations between pre-pregnancy obesity-associated CpG sites and offspring BMI z-score (BMIz) and blood pressure (BP) percentiles at 4–5-years of age were also examined. Maternal pre-pregnacy obesity was associated with 876 CpGs in female and 293 CpGs in male offspring (false discovery rate <5%). Among female offspring, 57 CpG sites, including the top 18, mapped to the TAPBP gene (range of effect estimates: −0.83% decrease to 4.02% increase in methylation). CpG methylation differences in the TAPBP gene were also observed among males (range of effect estimates: −0.30% decrease to 2.59% increase in methylation). While technically validated, none of the TAPBP CpG sites were replicated in ALSPAC. In NEST, methylation differences at CpG sites of the TAPBP gene were associated with BMI z-score (cg23922433 and cg17621507) and systolic BP percentile (cg06230948) in female and systolic (cg06230948) and diastolic (cg03780271) BP percentile in male offspring. Together, these findings suggest sex-specific effects, which, if causal, may explain observed sex-specific effects of maternal obesity.
Challenging the public stigma of mental illness: a meta-analysis of outcome studies.

OBJECTIVE Public stigma and discrimination have pernicious effects on the lives of people with serious mental illnesses. Given a plethora of research on changing the stigma of mental illness, this article reports on a meta-analysis that examined the effects of antistigma approaches that included protest or social activism, education of the public, and contact with persons with mental illness. METHODS The investigators heeded published guidelines for systematic literature reviews in health care. This comprehensive and systematic review included articles in languages other than English, dissertations, and population studies. The search included all articles from the inception of the databases until October 2010. Search terms fell into three categories: stigma, mental illness (such as schizophrenia and depression), and change program (including contact and education). The search yielded 72 articles and reports meeting the inclusion criteria of relevance to changing public stigma and sufficient data and statistics to complete analyses. Studies represented 38,364 research participants from 14 countries. Effect sizes were computed for all studies and for each treatment condition within studies. Comparisons between effect sizes were conducted with a weighted one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS Overall, both education and contact had positive effects on reducing stigma for adults and adolescents with a mental illness. However, contact was better than education at reducing stigma for adults. For adolescents, the opposite pattern was found: education was more effective. Overall, face-to-face contact was more effective than contact by video. CONCLUSIONS Future research is needed to identify moderators of the effects of both education and contact.
Dielectrophoretic cell trapping for improved surface plasmon resonance imaging sensing

The performance of conventional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors can be limited by the diffusion of the target analyte to the sensor surface. This work presents an SPR biosensor that incorporates an active mass‐transport mechanism based on dielectrophoresis and electroosmotic flow to enhance analyte transport to the sensor surface and reduce the time required for detection. Both these phenomena rely on the generation of AC electric fields that can be tailored by shaping the electrodes that also serve as the SPR sensing areas. Numerical simulations of electric field distribution and microparticle trajectories were performed to choose an optimal electrode design. The proposed design improves on previous work combining SPR with DEP by using face‐to‐face electrodes, rather than a planar interdigitated design. Two different top‐bottom electrode designs were experimentally tested to concentrate firstly latex beads and secondly biological cells onto the SPR sensing area. SPR measurements were then performed by varying the target concentrations. The electrohydrodynamic flow enabled efficient concentration of small objects (3 μm beads, yeasts) onto the SPR sensing area, which resulted in an order of magnitude increased SPR response. Negative dielectrophoresis was also used to concentrate HEK293 cells onto the metal electrodes surrounded by insulating areas, where the SPR response was improved by one order of magnitude.
The Importance of Body Composition in Explaining the Overweight Paradox in Cancer-Counterpoint.

Despite a greater risk of cancer associated with higher BMI, overweight (BMI 25-<30 kg/m2) and class I obese (BMI 30-<35 kg/m2) patients often have a paradoxically lower risk of overall mortality after a cancer diagnosis, a phenomenon called the "obesity paradox. " Only when patients exceed a BMI ≥35 kg/m2 are elevations in mortality risk consistently noted. This paradox has been dismissed as the result of methodologic bias, which we will describe and debate here. However, even if such bias influences associations, there is growing evidence that body composition may in part explain the paradox. This phenomenon may more accurately be described as a BMI paradox. That is, BMI is a poor proxy for adiposity and does not distinguish muscle from adipose tissue, nor describe adipose tissue distribution. Low muscle mass is associated with higher risk of recurrence, overall and cancer-specific mortality, surgical complications, and treatment-related toxicities. Patients with who are overweight or obese have on average higher levels of muscle than their normal-weight counterparts. Also, there is some evidence that patients with moderate levels of subcutaneous adipose tissue may have lower mortality. More research utilizing body composition is needed to clarify the effects of adiposity on cancer mortality. Cancer Res; 78(8); 1906-12. ©2018 AACR.