Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some pearl millet-based foods promote satiety or reduce glycaemic response in a crossover trial

Abstract In a previous trial in Mali, we showed that traditional pearl millet couscous and thick porridge delayed gastric emptying (about 5 h half-emptying times) in a normal-weight population compared with non-traditional carbohydrate-based foods (pasta, potatoes, white rice; about 3 h half-emptying times), and in a gastric simulator we showed millet couscous had slower digestion than wheat couscous. In light of these findings, we tested the hypothesis in a normal-weight US population (n 14) that millet foods would reduce glycaemic response (continuous glucose monitor), improve appetitive sensations (visual analogue scale ratings), as well as reduce gastric emptying rate (13C-octanoic acid breath test). Five carbohydrate-based foods (millet couscous – commercial and self-made, millet thick porridge, wheat couscous, white rice) were fed in a crossover trial matched on available carbohydrate basis. Significantly lower overall glycaemic response was observed for all millet-based foods and wheat couscous compared with white rice (P ≤ 0·05). Millet couscous (self-made) had significantly higher glycaemic response than millet couscous (commercial) and wheat couscous (P < 0·0001), but as there were no differences in peak glucose values an extended glycaemic response was indicated for self-made couscous. Millet couscous (self-made) had significantly lower hunger ratings and higher fullness ratings (P < 0·05) than white rice, millet thick porridge and millet couscous (commercial). A normal gastric emptying rate (<3 h half-emptying times) was observed for all foods, with no significant differences among them. In conclusion, some traditionally prepared pearl millet foods show the potential to reduce glycaemic response and promote satiety.
Charge dynamics in irradiated polymers

Recent progress in the field of charge storage and charge transport in polymers irradiated with partially penetrating electron beams is discussed. The analytical model used to describe these phenomena takes the following physical parameters and processes into consideration: charge and energy deposition profiles, ohmic relaxation due to the radiation-induced conductivity, charge drift due to a finite carrier mobility, deep trapping without release, and trap filling due to a finite trap density. Experiments with the laser-induced pressure-pulse method on several high-resistivity polymers yield the location of the peak of the charge layers and their shape as function of injected charge density, time, and annealing conditions. The experimental results are interpreted with the analytical model for realistic values of the required physical parameters. <<ETX>>
Calculating Geometric Surface Areas as a Characterization Tool for Metal−Organic Frameworks

Metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) synthesized in a building-block approach from organic linkers and metal corner units offer the opportunity to design materials with high surface areas for adsorption applications by assembling the appropriate building blocks. In this paper, we show that the surface area calculated in a geometric fashion from the crystal structure is a useful tool for characterizing MOFs. We argue that the accessible surface area rather than the widely used Connolly surface area is the appropriate surface area to characterize crystalline solids for adsorption applications. The accessible surface area calculated with a probe diameter corresponding to the adsorbate of interest provides a simple way to screen and compare adsorbents. We investigate the effects of the probe molecule diameter on the accessible surface area and discuss the implications for increasing the surface area of metal−organic frameworks by the use of catenated structures. We also demonstrate that the accessible surface area.
Pivoting Nursing Research and Scholarship during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous challenges for conducting the human subjects research needed to advance science and improve health. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to discuss how a college of nursing at a large public university in the southeast United States has responded to the challenges of conducting research during the novel COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS Seven faculty researchers at the University of South Carolina College of Nursing share their experiences in overcoming the unique challenges of conducting research due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Strategies to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19 are presented within the context of the research process, career implications, communication, and maintaining morale. RESULTS Fears of COVID-19 and social distancing measures have hindered participant recruitment, enrollment, and involvement in ongoing studies. Increasing virtual technology use and enhancing safety precautions have assisted researchers to overcome barriers. Scholarly writing has increased for some faculty members whose studies have been stalled by the pandemic, yet others have seen a decline due to additional personal responsibilities. The careers of faculty members across all ranks have been uniquely affected by the pandemic. With most faculty working remotely, enhanced communication strategies at the university and college have supported the research enterprise. Morale has been adversely affected, but a variety of personal and collegial efforts have helped faculty cope and preserve a sense of normalcy during this devastating pandemic. DISCUSSION Faculty and their ability to conduct the research needed to inform clinical and public health practice have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges of conducting research during this unprecedented crisis, faculty and institutions are taking novel steps to ensure the continuity of scientific progress for improving the health and well-being of patients and populations.
Early immune responses and parasite tissue distribution in mice experimentally infected with oocysts of either archetypal or non-archetypal genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii

Abstract In most of the world Toxoplasma gondii is comprised of archetypal types (types I, II and III); however, South America displays several non-archetypal strains. This study used an experimental mouse model to characterize the immune response and parasite kinetics following infection with different parasite genotypes. An oral inoculation of 50 oocysts per mouse from T. gondii M4 type II (archetypal, avirulent), BrI or BrIII (non-archetypal, virulent and intermediate virulent, respectively) for groups (G)2, G3 and G4, respectively was used. The levels of mRNA expression of cytokines, immune compounds, cell surface markers and receptor adapters [interferon gamma (IFNγ), interleukin (IL)-12, CD8, CD4, CD25, CXCR3 and MyD88] were quantified by SYBR green reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Lesions were characterized by histology and detection by immunohistochemistry established distribution of parasites. Infection in G2 mice was mild and characterized by an early MyD88-dependent pathway. In G3, there were high levels of expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IFNγ and IL-12 in the mice showing severe clinical symptoms at 8–11 days post infection (dpi), combined with the upregulation of CD25, abundant tachyzoites and tissue lesions in livers, lungs and intestines. Significant longer expression of IFNγ and IL-12 genes, with other Th1-balanced immune responses, such as increased levels of CXCR3 and MyD88 in G4, resulted in survival of mice and chronic toxoplasmosis, with the occurrence of tissue cysts in brain and lungs, at 14 and 21 dpi. Different immune responses and kinetics of gene expression appear to be elicited by the different strains and non-archetypal parasites demonstrated higher virulence.
Polypyrrole-Supported Graphite Felt for Acetylene Coupling Reaction in Solid Phase

Substrate immobilization on graphite felt for solid-phase acetylene coupling reaction was achieved by electrochemical polymerization of the substrate precursor containing a pyrrole side chain, where the amount of substrate on the electrode surface was easily controlled by the number of repeated cyclic voltammetric scannings. Couplings between terminal acetylenes and the iodobenzene-modified graphite felt electrode or aromatic iodides and the terminal acetylene-modified graphite felt electrode in the presence of palladium catalyst proceeded smoothly in satisfactory yields.
Observation of the second energy level of the EL2 defect in GaAs by the infrared absorption technique

The second energy level of the EL2 defect (EL2+/++ ) is observed by using the infrared absorption technique and monochromatic light irradiation in undoped and lightly alloyed unannealed bulk GaAs. The EL2+/++ spectrum exhibits a complex structure and it does not exist in annealed samples. The EL2+/++ →EL20/+ and EL20/+ →EL2+/++ transitions were obtained by illuminating the samples with 0.7≤hν≤0.95 eV and 1.3≤hν≤1.5 eV, respectively. The transformation EL2+/++ ↔EL20/+ can be achieved in less than 10 s and can be repeatedly switched back and forth between the two states.
Thermal conductivity of binary, ternary, and quaternary III‐V compounds

The room‐temperature thermal conductivity of III‐V compounds is analyzed. The phenomenological approach of Abeles is applied to take into account disordered structure of ternary and quaternary alloys. The procedure is used for the In1−xGaxAsyP1−y quaternary alloy. The approximate analytical expression for this case is derived. A more exact method of the calculations is also proposed. It enables presenting the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity for both the InP lattice‐matched and GaAs lattice‐matched In1−xGaxAsyP1−y alloys as a function of their composition.
The value of inquiring about functional impairments for early identification of inflammatory arthritis: a large cross-sectional derivation and validation study from the Netherlands

Objectives Healthcare professionals other than rheumatologists experience difficulties in detecting early inflammatory arthritis (IA) by joint examination. Self-reported symptoms are increasingly considered as helpful and could be incorporated in online tools to assist healthcare professionals, but first their discriminative ability must be assessed. As part of this effort, we evaluated whether inquiring about functional impairments could aid early IA identification. Design Cross-sectional derivation and validation study. Setting Data from two Early Arthritis Recognition Clinics (EARC) in the Netherlands were studied, which are easy access outpatient rheumatology clinics intermediary between primary and secondary care for patients in whom general practitioners suspect but are unsure about IA presence. Participants Between 2010 and 2014, 997 patients consecutively visited the Leiden-EARC (derivation cohort). Patients consecutively visiting the Groningen EARC (2010–2014, n=506) and Leiden-EARC (2015–2018, n=557) served as validation cohorts. Primary and secondary outcome measures Physical functioning was assessed with the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability-Index (HAQ); IA presence by physical joint examination by rheumatologists. HAQ questions were studied individually regarding discriminative ability for IA presence. For the best discriminating question, ORs and positive predictive values (PPVs) for IA presence were determined. Results IA was ascertained in 43% (derivation cohort), 53% and 35% (validation cohorts). In the derivation cohort, IA presence associated with higher mean HAQ scores (0.84 vs 0.73, p=0.003). One question on difficulties with dressing equalled discriminative ability of the total HAQ score. ‘Difficulties with dressing’ yielded ORs for IA presence of 1.8 (95% CI 1.4 to 2.4) in the derivation cohort; 2.0 (1.4 to 2.9) and 2.1 (1.5 to 3.1) in the validation cohorts. After adjustments for clinical characteristics these were 1.7 (1.3 to 2.3), 1.6 (1.1 to 2.5) and 1.9 (1.2 to 2.9). PPVs (probabilities of IA for positive answers) ranged 42%–60% and negative predictive values (probabilities of no IA for negative answers) ranged 57%–74%. Conclusions Patient-reported difficulties with dressing in patients with suspected IA associated with actual IA presence. Although further validation is required, for example, in primary care, this simple question could be of help in future early IA detection tools for healthcare professionals with limited experience in joint examination.
Rifabutin Is Inactivated by Mycobacterium abscessus Arr

Mycobacterium abscessus exhibits arr (ADP-ribosyltransferase)-dependent rifampin resistance. In apparent contrast, rifabutin (RBT) has demonstrated promising activity in M. abscessus infection models, implying that RBT might not be inactivated by Arr. ABSTRACT Mycobacterium abscessus exhibits Arr (ADP-ribosyltransferase)-dependent rifampin resistance. In apparent contrast, rifabutin (RBT) has demonstrated promising activity in M. abscessus infection models, implying that RBT might not be inactivated by Arr. RBT susceptibility testing of M. abscessus Δarr revealed a strongly decreased MIC. Our findings suggest that the efficacy of RBT might be enhanced by rendering RBT resilient to Arr-dependent modification or by blocking M. abscessus Arr activity.
Theory-of-Mind Development in Young Deaf Children With Early Hearing Provisions

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children born to hearing parents have profound theory-of-mind (ToM) delays, yet little is known about how providing hearing assistance early in life, through cochlear implants and hearing aids, influences their ToM development. We thus addressed (a) whether young DHH children with early hearing provision developed ToM differently than older children did in previous research and (b) what ToM understandings characterize this understudied population. Findings from 84 three- to six-year-old DHH children primarily acquiring spoken language demonstrated that accumulated hearing experience influenced their ToM, as measured by a five-step ToM scale. Moreover, language abilities mediated this developmental relationship: Children with more advanced language abilities, because of more time using cochlear implants and hearing aids, had better ToM growth. These findings demonstrate the crucial relationships among hearing, language, and ToM for DHH children acquiring spoken language, thereby addressing theoretical and practical questions about ToM development.
β3-Adrenergic Receptor Agonist Prevents Diastolic Dysfunction in an Angiotensin II–Induced Cardiomyopathy Mouse Model

β3-Adrenergic receptor expression is enhanced in the failing heart, but its functional effects are unclear. We tested the hypothesis that a β3-agonist improves left ventricular (LV) performance in heart failure. We examined the chronic effects of a β3-agonist in the angiotensin II (Ang II)–induced cardiomyopathy mouse model. C57BL/6J mice were treated with Ang II alone or Ang II + BRL 37344 (β3-agonist, BRL) for 4 weeks. Systolic blood pressure in conscious mice was significantly elevated in Ang II and Ang II + BRL mice compared with control mice. Heart rate was not different among the three groups. Systolic performance parameters that were measured by echocardiography and an LV catheter were similar among the groups. LV end-diastolic pressure and end-diastolic pressure-volume relationships were higher in Ang II mice compared with control mice. However, the increase in these parameters was prevented in Ang II + BRL mice, which suggested improvement in myocardial stiffness by BRL. Pathologic analysis showed that LV hypertrophy was induced in Ang II mice and failed to be prevented by BRL. However, increased collagen I/III synthesis, cardiac fibrosis, and lung congestion observed in Ang II mice were inhibited by BRL treatment. The cardioprotective benefits of BRL were associated with downregulation of transforming growth factor-β1 expression and phosphorylated-Smad2/3. Chronic infusion of a β3-agonist has a beneficial effect on LV diastolic function independent of blood pressure in the Ang II–induced cardiomyopathy mouse model. Significance Statement Chronic infusion of a β3-adrenergic receptor agonist attenuates cardiac fibrosis and improves diastolic dysfunction independently of blood pressure in an angiotensin II–induced hypertensive mouse model. This drug might be an effective treatment of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
Effect of multilayer configuration of [Fe/Pt] multilayer to attain (001) oriented FePt ordered alloy thin films

L10-FePt ordered alloy thin films with (001) preferential orientation were fabricated from [Pt(1 nm)/Fe(1 nm)]3/Pt(3 nm)/Fe(3 nm) multilayers to reduce the ordering temperature. Pt(3 nm)/Fe(3 nm) layer beneath the [Pt(1 nm)/Fe(1 nm)]3 multilayer played a role as a seed layer to attain perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These films, after being annealed at 500 °C under hydrogen atmosphere, exhibited better growth characters of FePt(001) oriented crystallites than those of FePt prepared from [Pt(1 nm)/Fe(1 nm)]6. Additionally, [Pt(1 nm)/Fe(1 nm)]3/Pt(3 nm)/Fe(3 nm) multilayers, after being annealed at 500 °C, showed high value of saturation magnetization around 12 kG.
A classification-based approach to estimate the number of resting fMRI dynamic functional connectivity states

Recent work has focused on the study of dynamic (vs static) brain connectivity in resting fMRI data. In this work, we focus on temporal correlation between time courses extracted from coherent networks or components called functional network connectivity (FNC). Dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) is most commonly estimated using a sliding window-based approach to capture short periods of FNC change. These data are then clustered to estimate transient connectivity patterns or states. Determining the number of states is a challenging problem. The elbow criterion is a widely used approach to determine the optimal number of states. In our work, we present an alternative approach that evaluates classification (e.g. healthy controls versus patients) as a measure to select the optimal number of states (clusters). We apply different classification strategies to perform classification between healthy controls (HC) and patients with schizophrenia (SZ) for different numbers of states (i.e. varying the model order in the clustering algorithm). We compute cross-validated accuracy for different model orders to evaluate the classification performance. Our results are consistent with our earlier work which shows that overall accuracy improves when dynamic connectivity measures are used separately or in combination with static connectivity measures. Results also show that the optimal model order for classification is different from that using the standard k-means model selection method and that such optimization improves resulting in cross-validated accuracy. The optimal model order obtained from the proposed approach also gives significantly improved classification performance over the traditional model selection method. In sum, the observed results suggest that if one’s goal is to perform classification, using the proposed approach as a criterion for selecting the optimal number of states in dynamic connectivity analysis leads to improved accuracy in hold-out data.
Deep learning for brain disorders: from data processing to disease treatment

In order to reach precision medicine and improve patients' quality of life, machine learning is increasingly used in medicine. Brain disorders are often complex and heterogeneous, and several modalities such as demographic, clinical, imaging, genetics and environmental data have been studied to improve their understanding. Deep learning, a subpart of machine learning, provides complex algorithms that can learn from such various data. It has become state of the art in numerous fields, including computer vision and natural language processing, and is also growingly applied in medicine. In this article, we review the use of deep learning for brain disorders. More specifically, we identify the main applications, the concerned disorders and the types of architectures and data used. Finally, we provide guidelines to bridge the gap between research studies and clinical routine.
Environmental controls on the stable carbon isotopic composition of soil organic carbon: implications for modelling the distribution of C3 and C4 plants, Australia

We use multivariate statistics to examine the continental-scale patterns of the stable carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) of soil organic carbon (SOC) from a data set collected throughout the natural range of variation in climatic, edaphic and biotic controls in Australia. Climate and soil texture (percent of mineral particles < 63 μm) are found to be the dominant controls on δ13CSOC. Of the environmental variables analysed, the strongest correlations to δ13CSOC do not simply occur with respect to mean annual temperature or precipitation, but rather to ecosystem-scale measures of water availability such as mean annual vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and an index of the annual flux of available water available to plants (W). After the variance of δ13CSOC attributed to W was removed, the proportion of particles . 63 μm diameter remained the only secondarily significant correlation (p < 0.05). Based on this observation, we also develop a model of the primary climatic control on δ13CSOC, which is rooted in the assumption of optimized water-use efficiency of C3 and C4 vegetation, and can be extrapolated to continental or global data with readily available environmental data. The model describes optimized water-use efficiency controls on δ13CSOC in terms of a function of the variable W. We estimate model parameters of climatic control on δ13CSOC using an analysis of surface samples (0.5 cm) of sandy soils (<10% mineral particles .63 μm diameter) from which other edaphic and biotic controls are minimized. This simple model function is modified to account for variation of δ13CSOC due to variation of respiration rates and variable incorporation of the terrestrial Suess effect with mean annual temperature (MAT). Model regression of δ13CSOC to these continental-scale climate data accounts for 92% of the variance observed using a model function with simple variables (W and MAT) and physically meaningful constants. We also examine edaphic controls on δ13CSOC using particle size separates from soil textural gradients within four climatic zones of Australia. These data indicate the protection of 13C-enriched old, stable SOC in association with fine mineral particles, consistent with variable incorporation of the terrestrial Suess effect.