Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health Goal Attainment of Patients With Chronic Diseases in Web-Based Patient Communities: Content and Survival Analysis

Background Activities directed at attaining health goals are a major part of the daily lives of those fighting chronic diseases. A proliferating population of patients with chronic diseases are participating in web-based patient communities, wherein they can exchange health information and pursue health goals with others virtually. Objective In this study, we aimed to understand the effect of participation in social media–enabled web-based patient communities on health goal attainment. In particular, we studied the antecedents of health goal attainment in terms of social support and self-reflection in web-based patient communities. Methods This data set consists of web-based health management activities of 392 patients across 13 health support groups, that is, groups with medical issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and breast cancer; the data of the activities were collected from a leading web-based patient community. Content analysis was used to code the social interactions among the patients on the web-based platform. Cox regression for survival analysis was used to model the hazard ratio of health goal attainment. Results Our analysis indicated that emotional support from web-based patient communities can increase patients’ probability of achieving their goals (hazard ratio 1.957, 95% CI 1.416-2.706; P<.001) while informational support does not appear to be effective (P=.06). In addition, health-related self-reflection increases the patients’ likelihood of goal attainment through web-based patient communities (hazard ratio 1.937, 95% CI 1.318-2.848; P<.001), but leisure-oriented self-reflection reduces this likelihood (hazard ratio 0.588, 95% CI 0.442-0.784; P<.001). Conclusions Social media–enabled web-based platforms assist health goal management via both social interaction and personal discipline. This study extends the understanding of web-based patient communities by investigating the effects of both social and cognitive factors on goal attainment. In particular, our study advocates that health goals relating to chronic conditions can be better managed when patients use the facilities of web-based health communities strategically.
The Effect of Long-Term Exposure to Different Temperatures on the Mechanical Performance of Frog Muscle

This study was performed to determine whether frogs modify the mechanical properties of their muscles during long-term exposure to different temperatures. Rana pipiens were exposed to 12 C and to 28 C for 8 mo. Sartorius muscles were removed from these animals and tested at three temperatures: 5 C, 15 C, and 25 C. No differences were found in the shortening velocity, power output, or isometric force at a given temperature between muscles taken from frogs exposed to 12 C and to 28 C. Shortening velocity and power output were found to increase three- to fivefold between 5 C and 25 C, whereas isometric force increased by less than 20%.
Race-status associations: Distinct effects of three novel measures among White and Black perceivers.

Race is fraught with meaning, but unequal status is central. Race-status associations (RSAs) link White Americans with high status and Black Americans with low status. RSAs could occur via observation of racially distributed jobs, perceived status-related stereotypic attributes, or simple ranking. Nine samples (N = 3,933) validate 3 novel measures of White = high status/Black = low status RSAs-based on jobs, rank, and attributes. First, RSA measures showed clear factor structure, internal validity, and test-retest reliability. Second, these measures differentially corresponded to White Americans' hierarchy-maintaining attitudes, beliefs, and preferences. Potentially based on observation, the more spontaneous Job-based RSAs predicted interracial bias, social dominance orientation, meritocracy beliefs, and hierarchy-maintaining hiring or policy preferences. Preference effects held after controlling for bias and support for the status quo. In contrast, the more deliberate Rank- and Attribute-based RSAs negatively predicted hierarchy-maintaining beliefs and policy preferences; direct inferences of racial inequality linked to preferences for undoing it. Third, Black = low status, rather than White = high status, associations largely drove these effects. Finally, Black Americans also held RSAs; Rank- or Attribute-based RSAs predicted increased perceived discrimination, reduced social dominance, and reduced meritocracy beliefs. Although individuals' RSAs vary, only White Americans' Job-based stratifying associations help maintain racial status hierarchies. Theory-guided evidence of race-status associations introduces powerful new assessment tools. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Fungal ecology and succession on Phragmites australis in a brackish tidal marsh. I. Leaf sheaths

Direct observation of fungal succession and community development on leaf sheaths of Phragmites australis have been studied over a period of 19 months in a brackish tidal marsh of the river Scheldt (The Netherlands). Seventy-seven taxa were identified: 33 ascomycetes (43%); 31 coelomycetes (40%); 9 hyphomycetes (12%) and 4 basidiomycetes (5%). Four microhabitats were screened, the top, middle and basal communities along the vertical axis of standing reed shoots and a community in the litter layer. Fungal community structure analyzed by multivariate analysis showed that all microhabitats are characterised by different mycota. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of leaf sheath samples suggests the importance of a spatial separation (microhabitat) in explaining species variation between samples. Within each of those microhabitats DCA indicated a specific temporal pattern (succession). Fungal succession (community development) was described by a sequence of three phases in fungal sporulation. For the different microhabitats and all successional stages indicator species were assigned. The importance of screening host plants in situ and the use of indicator species analysis for fungal communities is addressed. The effect of seasonality on fungal succession is discussed.
Getting to the Heart of the Matter in Later Life: The Central Role of Affect in Health Message Framing.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Adopting healthy behaviors is often influenced by message framing; gain-framed messages emphasize the benefits of engaging in a behavior, whereas loss-framed messages highlight the consequences of not engaging in a behavior. Research has begun to uncover the underlying affective pathways involved in message framing. In the current study, we examined the role of affect in message framing to encourage physical exercise program enrollment among older adults. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We mailed flyers to 126 volunteers assigned to a gain- or loss-framed condition and measured their affective reactions to the flyer and enrollment intentions. After the call, participants had the opportunity to contact us to enroll. RESULTS Gain- versus loss-framing led to more positive affect toward the flyer, which predicted intentions and enrollment. In indirect-effect analyses, frame indirectly influenced intentions and enrollment via positive affect. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS Although message framing plays an indirect role in influencing behavior, affect plays a central role.
Analysis of Two-State Folding Using Parabolic Approximation II: Temperature-Dependence

Equations that govern the temperature-dependence of the rate constants, Gibbs energies, enthalpies, entropies and heat capacities of activation for folding and unfolding of spontaneously-folding fixed two-state systems have been derived using a procedure that treats the denatured and the native conformers as being confined to harmonic Gibbs energy wells. The notion that a two-state system is physically defined only for a set temperature range is introduced. The implications of this novel treatment for protein folding are discussed.
General and Eating Disorder Psychopathology in Relation to Short- and Long-Term Weight Change in Treatment-Seeking Children: A Latent Profile Analysis.

BACKGROUND Concurrent general psychopathology (GP) and eating disorder psychopathology (EDP) are commonly reported among youth with overweight/obesity and may impact weight change. PURPOSE We identified patterns of GP and EDP in children with overweight/obesity and examined the impact on weight change following family-based behavioral obesity treatment (FBT) and maintenance interventions. METHODS Children (N = 172) participated in 4 month FBT and subsequent 8 month weight maintenance interventions. GP and EDP were assessed prior to FBT (baseline). Child percentage overweight was assessed at baseline, post-FBT (4 months), and post-maintenance (12 months). Latent profile analysis identified patterns of baseline GP and EDP. Linear mixed-effects models examined if profiles predicted 4- and 12-month change in percentage overweight and if there were two-way and three-way interactions among these variables, adjusting for relevant covariates. RESULTS Results indicated a three-profile structure: lower GP and EDP (LOWER); subclinically elevated GP and EDP without loss of control (LOC; HIGHER); and subclinically elevated GP and EDP with LOC (HIGHER + LOC). Across profiles, children on average achieved clinically meaningful weight loss (i.e., ≥9 unit change in percentage overweight) from baseline to 4 month FBT and sustained these improvements at 12 month maintenance. There was no evidence that latent profiles were related to percentage overweight change from baseline to FBT (p > .05) or baseline to maintenance (p > .05). There was no evidence for two-way or three-way interactions (p > .05). CONCLUSION Concurrent GP and EDP do not portend differential short- or long-term weight change following FBT and maintenance. Future research is warranted on the durability of weight change among youth with GP and EDP. TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT00759746.
Interaction of Neighborhood and Genetic Risk on Waist Circumference in African-American Adults: A Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND Understanding determinants of metabolic risk has become a national priority given the increasingly high prevalence rate of this condition among U.S. adults. PURPOSE This study's aim was to assess the impact of gene-by-neighborhood social environment interactions on waist circumference (WC) as a primary marker of metabolic risk in underserved African-American adults. Based on a dual-risk model, it was hypothesized that those with the highest genetic risk and who experienced negative neighborhood environment conditions would demonstrate higher WC than those with fewer risk factors. METHODS This study utilized a subsample of participants from the Positive Action for Today's Health environmental intervention to improve access and safety for walking in higher-crime neighborhoods, who were willing to provide buccal swab samples for genotyping stress-related genetic pathways. Assessments were conducted with 228 African-American adults at baseline, 12, 18, and 24 months. RESULTS Analyses indicated three significant gene-by-environment interactions on WC outcomes within the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) genetic pathway. Two interactions supported the dual-risk hypotheses, including the SNS genetic risk-by-neighborhood social life interaction (b = -0.11, t(618) = -2.02, p = . 04), and SNS genetic risk-by-informal social control interaction (b = -0.51, t(618) = -1.95, p = . 05) on WC outcomes. These interactions indicated that higher genetic risk and lower social-environmental supports were associated with higher WC. There was also one significant SNS genetic risk-by-neighborhood satisfaction interaction (b = 1.48, t(618) = 2.23, p = . 02) on WC that was inconsistent with the dual-risk pattern. CONCLUSIONS Findings indicate that neighborhood and genetic factors dually influence metabolic risk and that these relations may be complex and warrant further study. TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT01025726.
SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTIOXIDANT CONJUGATED POLY(ΒETA-AMINO ESTER) MICRO/NANOGELS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF OXIDATIVE STRESS

FOR DISSERTATION SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTIOXIDANT CONJUGATED POLY(ΒETA-AMINO ESTER) MICRO/NANOGELS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF OXIDATIVE STRESS Oxidative stress is a pathophysiological condition defined by an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can result in the growth arrest of cells followed by cell disintegration or necrosis. A number of small molecule antioxidants (e.g. curcumin, quercetin and resveratrol) are capable of directly scavenging ROS, thereby short-circuiting the self-propagating oxidative stress state. However, poor solubility and rapid 1st pass metabolism results in overall low bioavailability and acts as a barrier for its use as a drug to suppress oxidative stress efficiently. To overcome this limitation, these small molecule antioxidants were covalently conjugated into poly(β-amino ester) (PβAE) cross-linked networks to formulate prodrug gel microparticles and nanoparticles (nanogels). Being hydrolytically degradable in nature, these PβAE crosslinked systems released antioxidants in their original structural form in a sustained controlled fashion. Both quercetin and curcumin-PβAE nanogels showed prolonged suppression of cellular oxidative stress induced by H2O2. Curcumin PβAE nanogels also demonstrated protection against mitochondrial oxidative stress induced by H2O2 and polychlorinated biphenyls. Curcumin-PβAE gel microparticles were also developed as a platform to treat oral mucositis through a local antioxidant delivery route. The same synthesis chemistry was transferred to formulate resveratrol PβAE gel microparticles for topical applications, to treat UV radiation induced oxidative stress. Both formulations showed suppression of induced oxidative stress. An in vivo trial with curcumin-PβAE microparticles further showed relatively reduced the severity of induced oral mucositis (OM) in hamster check pouch as compared to placebo.
Comparison of proliferation and osteoblast differentiation of marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells on nano- and micro-hydroxyapatite contained composite scaffolds

Bones constructed by tissue engineering are being considered as valuable materials to be used for regeneration of large defects in natural bone. In an attempt to prepare a new bone construct, in this study, proliferation and bone differentiation of marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on our recently developed composite scaffolds of nano-, micro-hydroxyapatite/ poly(l-lactic acid) were compared with pure poly(l-lactic acid) scaffolds. For this purpose, some passaged-3 rat MSCs were three-dimensionally cultivated on the scaffold surfaces and their morphology was observed with scanning electron microscopy. Cell proliferations on different scaffolds were examined by MTT assays. Osteogenic cultures were established with the scaffolds loaded with MSCs for 21 days at the end of which culture mineralization; the cell alkaline phosphatase (ALP) Level and the relative expression of selected bone specific genes were quantified and compared to each other. Our results indicated that the cells having been adhered and assumed spherical morphology were able to proliferate in all studied scaffolds. The microenvironment provided by nano-scaffolds appeared much better medium than those of micro-scaffolds and pure PLLA (P < 0.05). The osteogenesis assays indicated to the superiority of nanoscaffolds in supporting MSCs undergoing bone differentiation, which was reflected in high cellular ALP levels, increased bone-related gene expression and enhanced culture mineralization. Collectively, the bone construct prepared with nano-hydroxyapatite/ poly (llactic acid) scaffold and proliferated MSCs would be suitable candidate for use in bone regenerative medicine.
Cross-lingual Unified Medical Language System entity linking in online health communities

Abstract Objective In Hebrew online health communities, participants commonly write medical terms that appear as transliterated forms of a source term in English. Such transliterations introduce high variability in text and challenge text-analytics methods. To reduce their variability, medical terms must be normalized, such as linking them to Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts. We present a method to identify both transliterated and translated Hebrew medical terms and link them with UMLS entities. Materials and Methods We investigate the effect of linking terms in Camoni, a popular Israeli online health community in Hebrew. Our method, MDTEL (Medical Deep Transliteration Entity Linking), includes (1) an attention-based recurrent neural network encoder-decoder to transliterate words and mapping UMLS from English to Hebrew, (2) an unsupervised method for creating a transliteration dataset in any language without manually labeled data, and (3) an efficient way to identify and link medical entities in the Hebrew corpus to UMLS concepts, by producing a high-recall list of candidate medical terms in the corpus, and then filtering the candidates to relevant medical terms. Results We carry out experiments on 3 disease-specific communities: diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and depression. MDTEL tagging and normalizing on Camoni posts achieved 99% accuracy, 92% recall, and 87% precision. When tagging and normalizing terms in queries from the Camoni search logs, UMLS-normalized queries improved search results in 46% of the cases. Conclusions Cross-lingual UMLS entity linking from Hebrew is possible and improves search performance across communities. Annotated datasets, annotation guidelines, and code are made available online (https://github.com/yonatanbitton/mdtel).
Metal‐based nanoparticles for bone tissue engineering

Tissue is vital to the organization of multicellular organisms, because it creates the different organs and provides the main scaffold for body shape. The quest for effective methods to allow tissue regeneration and create scaffolds for new tissue growth has intensified in recent years. Tissue engineering has recently used some promising alternatives to existing conventional scaffold materials, many of which have been derived from nanotechnology. One important example of these is metal nanoparticles. The purpose of this review is to cover novel tissue engineering methods, paying special attention to those based on the use of metal‐based nanoparticles. The unique physiochemical properties of metal nanoparticles, such as antibacterial effects, shape memory phenomenon, low cytotoxicity, stimulation of the proliferation process, good mechanical and tensile strength, acceptable biocompatibility, significant osteogenic potential, and ability to regulate cell growth pathways, suggest that they can perform as novel types of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. The basic principles of various nanoparticle‐based composites and scaffolds are discussed in this review. The merits and demerits of these particles are critically discussed, and their importance in bone tissue engineering is highlighted.
Secondary Sclerosing Cholangitis in Critically Ill Patients Alters the Gut–Liver Axis: A Case Control Study

Secondary sclerosing cholangitis in critically ill patients (SC-CIP) occurs after long-term intensive care treatment. This study aimed to assess the gut–liver axis in SC-CIP. Stool microbiome composition, gut permeability, bacterial translocation and serum bile acid profiles of 18 SC-CIP patients compared to 11 patients after critical illness without liver disease (CIP controls), 21 patients with cirrhosis and 21 healthy controls were studied. 16S rDNA was isolated from stool and sequenced using the Illumina technique. Diamine oxidase, zonulin, soluble CD14 (sCD14) and lipopolysaccharide binding protein were measured in serum and calprotectin in stool. Serum bile acids were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Reduced microbiome alpha diversity and altered beta diversity were seen in SC-CIP, CIP controls and cirrhosis compared to healthy controls. SC-CIP patients showed a shift towards pathogenic taxa and an oralization. SC-CIP, CIP controls and cirrhotic patients presented with impaired gut permeability, and biomarkers of bacterial translocation were increased in SC-CIP and cirrhosis. Total serum bile acids were elevated in SC-CIP and cirrhosis and the bile acid profile was altered in SC-CIP, CIP controls and cirrhosis. In conclusions, observed alterations of the gut–liver axis in SC-CIP cannot solely be attributed to liver disease, but may also be secondary to long-term intensive care treatment.
Psychological interventions for depression among informal caregivers of older adult populations: protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Introduction Increased life expectancy has led to an increased demand for family members to provide informal care for their older relatives in the home. Many studies suggest informal caregivers are at greater risk of experiencing symptoms of depression. However, there is a lack of research examining the effectiveness of psychological interventions targeting these symptoms alongside clinical and methodological moderators potentially associated with intervention effectiveness. This review aims to address this gap and will inform the development of a psychological intervention targeting depression among adult-child caregivers of older parents, given many studies show that among informal caregivers of older adults, adult children experience specific difficulties and needs for psychological support. Further, the lack of studies targeting adult children specifically necessitates conducting this review targeting caregivers of older adults in general. Methods and analysis Randomised controlled trials of psychological interventions targeting symptoms of depression among informal caregivers will be identified via a systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Excerpta Medica DataBase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and Web of Science) and supplemented by handsearching of previous systematic reviews, reference and forward citation checking, and expert contact. If possible, a meta-analysis will be conducted to examine the: (1) effectiveness of psychological interventions for depression among informal caregivers of older adults, (2) effectiveness of psychological interventions for secondary outcomes such as anxiety, stress, caregiver burden, psychological distress, quality of life, well-being and self-efficacy and (3) moderating effects of clinical and methodological factors on effectiveness. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval will not be necessary for this study given primary data will not be collected. Results will inform the development of a psychological intervention for adult-child caregivers of older parents and will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020157763.