Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Value of Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load and the Risk of Overweight and Obesity

Obesity, due to the scale dissemination is a major social health problem. There is a systematic increase in the frequency of its occurrence. Overweight and obesity are the result of the coexistence of genetic factors with environmental factors –low physical activity and poor nutrition. Obesity is not only the disease but is also the cause of many other medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Proper diet and physical activity play a key role in the treatment of obesity. The study estimates the value of the glycemic index and glycemic load of diet of an excessive body weight people against those with normal body weight in their daily food ration. Results show that the potential cause of weight gain in overweight and obesity could be an average intake of dietary glycemic index and high glycemic load and a relatively low intake of dietary fiber, especially in the diet of people with excessive body weight. Another factor contributing to the occurrence of overweight and obesity could be low physical activity among the said group. Key Words: Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load, Overweight, Obesity
Determination of iodine detectability in different types of multiple-energy images for a photon-counting detector computed tomography system

Abstract. In addition to low-energy-threshold images (TLIs), photon-counting detector (PCD) computed tomography (CT) can generate virtual monoenergetic images (VMIs) and iodine maps. Our study sought to determine the image type that maximizes iodine detectability. Adult abdominal phantoms with iodine inserts of various concentrations and lesion sizes were scanned on a PCD-CT system. TLIs, VMIs at 50 keV, and iodine maps were generated, and iodine contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured. A channelized Hotelling observer was used to determine the area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve (AUC) for iodine detectability. Iodine map CNR (0.57 ± 0.42) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than for TLIs (0.46 ± 0.26) and lower (P < 0.001) than for VMIs at 50 keV (0.74 ± 0.33) for 0.5 mgI/cc and a 35-cm phantom. For the same condition and an 8-mm lesion, iodine detectability from iodine maps (AUC = 0.95 ± 0.01) was significantly lower (P < 0.001) than both TLIs (AUC = 0.99 ± 0.00) and VMIs (AUC = 0.99 ± 0.01). VMIs at 50 keV had similar detectability to TLIs and both outperformed iodine maps. The lowest detectable iodine concentration was 0.5 mgI/cc for an 8-mm lesion and 1.0 mgI/cc for a 4-mm lesion.
A Double Edged Sword? Improvements in Economic Conditions over a Decade in India Led to Declines in Undernutrition as Well as Increases in Overweight among Adolescents and Women.

BACKGROUND India is facing a dual burden of undernutrition and overweight/obesity, and there are gaps in our understanding of the driving factors over time. OBJECTIVE This study examined the national and state trends for BMI and identified the determinants of underweight and overweight/obesity among adolescent girls and women. METHODS We used India's National Family Health Surveys data collected in 2005-2006 (n = 110,887) and 2015-2016 (n = 645,193). We applied multiple regression and decomposition analysis to assess determinants of underweight (BMI z score < -1 SD; <18.5 kg/m2) and overweight/obesity (BMI z score >1 SD; ≥25 kg/m2). RESULTS Over the past decade, the prevalence of underweight decreased (43% to 38% and 33% to 19%) and the prevalence of overweight/obesity increased (3% to 5% and 15% to 24%), among adolescents and women, respectively, with high heterogeneity across states. Factors associated with a lower prevalence of underweight among women included higher socioeconomic status (SES) (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.41), urban residence (OR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.54), improved diet diversity (OR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.82), and latrine use (OR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.82). Higher education levels, decision-making, and ownership of money were also associated with a lower prevalence of underweight. Factors positively associated with overweight/obesity among women included SES (OR: 3.24; 95% CI: 2.81, 3.73), urban residence (OR: 2.23; 95% CI: 2.05, 2.42), diet diversity (OR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.32), latrine use (OR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.43), and education (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.55). Adolescents shared similar determinants to women. Overall, SES was a key driver of changes in women's BMI, explaining 29% of the reduction in undernutrition and 46% of the increase in overweight/obesity. CONCLUSIONS Despite overall declines, regional and age disparities remain in the overall burden of underweight and the increases in overweight/obesity are concerning. The identified divergent risk factors (SES, residence, diet, education) highlight that simply improving economic status will not ensure healthy BMI status for women and girls. Balanced multidisciplinary approaches are needed to address both undernutrition and overweight.
Involution of retinopathy of prematurity and neurodevelopmental outcomes after intravitreal bevacizumab treatment

This single-centered, retrospective cohort study investigated the timing of involution of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and retinal vascularization to zone III after intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) treatment and its possible impacts on postnatal growth and neurodevelopment. Premature infants with birth weight ≤1500 g, born between 2008 to 2014 and diagnosed with ROP were enrolled. All patients with type 1 ROP underwent IVB as 1st line treatment and were recruited as the study group; those with any stage of ROP except type 1 ROP without treatment served as controls. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed using the Bayley Score of Infant Development (BSID) editions II or III. The study group included 35 eyes from 18 patients; the control group included 86 patients. Twenty-three eyes (65.7%) exhibited ROP regression after a single dose of IVB. The majority of plus sign and extraretinal neovascularization regressed within two weeks. The length of time for retinal vascularization to reach zone III was significantly longer in the treatment group compared with the control (mean post-menstruation age 54.5 vs. 47.0 weeks, p<0.001). Long-term follow-up showed no significant differences in body weight and neurodevelopment between the study and control groups up to the 2-year corrected age.
Validating a scale to measure engineers’ perceived self-efficacy for engineering education outreach

Education outreach in schools has been identified as a critical route to influence children’s perceptions and capabilities for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics careers. Evidence suggests that providing non-teaching professionals like engineers with training programmes and structured experience can boost perceived self-efficacy to perform education outreach, which in turn means better quality and more frequent public engagement. A validated measure of the construct of perceived self-efficacy for engineering education outreach will be useful for effective science communication participation, research, and practise. This article presents the methods used to develop the Engineering Outreach Self-efficacy Scale (EOSS), along with initial reliability and validation results to support the scale’s use. The 10-item scale was found to have good internal consistency and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha α = .92) with a sample of 160 engineers. The scale had convergent validity with general self-efficacy. Engineers with more experience of education outreach had higher self-efficacy for engineering education outreach. There were no significant differences between male and female engineers. Initial test-retest results showed engineers receiving training in education outreach significantly improved their EOSS scores, indicating capability to detect change over time. It is hoped this scale will prove useful for further evaluation of engineering education outreach and public engagement with science activities.
Engineering III–V Semiconductor Nanowires for Device Applications

III–V semiconductor nanowires offer potential new device applications because of the unique properties associated with their 1D geometry and the ability to create quantum wells and other heterostructures with a radial and an axial geometry. Here, an overview of challenges in the bottom‐up approaches for nanowire synthesis using catalyst and catalyst‐free methods and the growth of axial and radial heterostructures is given. The work on nanowire devices such as lasers, light emitting nanowires, and solar cells and an overview of the top‐down approaches for water splitting technologies is reviewed. The authors conclude with an analysis of the research field and the future research directions.
Acute Physical Stress Preconditions the Heart Against Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury Through Activation of Sympathetic Nervous System

Background Stress is defined as a complicated state that related to homeostasis disturbances, over-activity of the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis responses. Cardiac preconditioning reduces myocardial damages. Objective This study was designed to assess the cardioprotective effects of acute physical stress against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury through the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Methods Thirty-two male Wistar rats were divided into four groups; (1) IR (n = 8): rats underwent I/R, (2) Acute stress (St+IR) (n = 8): physical stress induced 1-hour before I/R, (3) Sympathectomy (Symp+IR) (n = 8): chemical sympathectomy was done 24-hours before I/R and (4) Sympathectomy- physical stress (Symp+St+IR) (n = 8): chemical sympathectomy induced before physical stress and I/R. Chemical sympathectomy was performed using 6-hydroxydopamine (100 mg/kg, sc). Then, the hearts isolated and located in the Langendorff apparatus to induce 30 minutes ischemia followed by 120 minutes reperfusion. The coronary flows, hemodynamic parameters, infarct size, corticosterone level in serum were investigated. P < 0.05 demonstrated significance. Results Physical stress prior to I/R could improve left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and rate product pressure (RPP) of the heart respectively, (63 ± 2 versus 42 ± 1.2, p < 0.05, 70 ± 2 versus 43 ± 2.6, p < 0.05) and reduces infarct size (22.16 ± 1.3 versus 32 ± 1.4, p < 0.05) when compared with the I/R alone. Chemical sympathectomy before physical stress eliminated the protective effect of physical stress on I/R-induced cardiac damages (RPP: 21 ± 6.6 versus 63 ± 2, p < 0.01) (LVDP: 38 ± 4.5 versus 43 ± 2.6, p < 0.01) (infarct size: 35 ± 3.1 versus 22.16 ± 1.3, p < 0.01). Conclusion Findings indicate that acute physical stress can act as a preconditional stimulator and probably, the presence of sympathetic nervous system is necessary.
Learning about Qualitative Document Analysis

www.ids. ac.uk Learning about Qualitative Document Analysis This paper outlines and reflects on the process of undertaking a Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) on policy and ‘practice’ documents in the rural water sector. This paper is relevant to organisations or researchers interested in research or evaluation methodologies that can provide a systematic analysis of policies and also serve as an engagement tool.
FeS2/C Nanowires as an Effective Catalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction by Electrolytic Water Splitting

Electrolytic water splitting with evolution of both hydrogen (HER) and oxygen (OER) is an attractive way to produce clean energy hydrogen. It is critical to explore effective, but low-cost electrocatalysts for the evolution of oxygen (OER) owing to its sluggish kinetics for practical applications. Fe-based catalysts have advantages over Ni- and Co-based materials because of low costs, abundance of raw materials, and environmental issues. However, their inefficiency as OER catalysts has caused them to receive little attention. Herein, the FeS2/C catalyst with porous nanostructure was synthesized with rational design via the in situ electrochemical activation method, which serves as a good catalytic reaction in the OER process. The FeS2/C catalyst delivers overpotential values of only 291 mV and 338 mV current densities of 10 mA/cm2 and 50 mA/cm2, respectively, after electrochemical activation, and exhibits staying power for 15 h.
Sulforaphane-assisted preparation of tellurium flower-like nanoparticles

A new method for the fabrication of flower-like tellurium nanoparticles is reported. It is based on the reduction of tellurite precursor by products generated during decomposition of sulforaphane at elevated temperature in aqueous medium. These species and other organic molecules present in the reaction mixture are being adsorbed on the surface of tellurium nuclei and govern further tellurium growth in the form of nanoflowers. The obtained particles have been characterized by a range of physicochemical techniques. It was shown that the average size of the nanoflower particles is ca. 112 nm, and they are composed of smaller domains which are ca. 30 nm in diameter. The domains are crystalline and consist of trigonal tellurium as shown by x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The tellurium nanoflowers were examined from the perspective of their potential anticancer activity. The in vitro cell viability studies were conducted on breast cancer (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7) and normal cell lines (MCF-10A) employing MTT and CVS assays. It was shown, that the nanoflowers exhibit considerable cytotoxicity against cancer cells which is ca. 3–7 times higher than that observed for reference normal cells. The preliminary in vivo investigations on rats revealed that the nanoflowers accumulate predominantly in pancreas after intraperitoneal administration, without observable negative behavioral effects.
A past medical history of heart failure is associated with less fluid therapy in septic patients

Objective To identify the underlying factors that affect fluid resuscitation in septic patients. Methods The present study was a case-control study of 181 consecutive patients admitted to a Medical Intensive Care Unit between 2012 and 2016 with a diagnosis of sepsis. Demographic, clinical, radiological and laboratory data were analyzed. Results One hundred-thirty patients (72%) received ≥ 30mL/kg of IV fluids on admission. On univariate analyses, a past history of coronary artery disease and heart failure was associated with less fluid therapy. On multivariate analyses, a history of heart failure (OR = 2.31; 95%CI 1.04 - 5.14) remained significantly associated with receiving less IV fluids. Left ventricular ejection fraction, systolic/diastolic function, left ventricular hypertrophy and pulmonary hypertension were not associated with IV fluids. The amount of IV fluids was not associated with differences in mortality. During the first 24 hours, patients with a past history of heart failure received 2,900mLof IV fluids [1,688 - 4,714mL] versus 3,977mL [2,500 - 6,200mL] received by those without a history of heart failure, p = 0.02. Conclusion Septic patients with a past history of heart failure received 1L less IV fluids in the first 24 hours with no difference in mortality.
Hierarchical recruitment of competition alleviates working memory overload in a fronto-parietal model

The storage limitations of visual working memory have been the subject of intense research interest for several decades, but few studies have systematically investigated the dependence of these limitations on memory load that exceeds our retention abilities. Under this real-world scenario, performance typically declines beyond a critical load among low-performing subjects, a phenomenon known as working memory overload. We used a fronto-parietal cortical model to test the hypothesis that high-performing subjects select a manageable number of items for storage, thereby avoiding overload. The model accounts for behavioural and electrophysiological data from high-performing subjects in a parameter regime where competitive encoding in its prefrontal network selects items for storage, inter-areal projections sustain their representations after stimulus offset, and weak dynamics in its parietal network limit their mutual interference. Violation of these principles accounts for these data among low-performing subjects, implying that poor visual working memory performance reflects poor control over fronto-parietal circuitry, and making testable predictions for experiments.
Enhanced oxidative stress contributes to worse prognosis and delayed neurofunctional recovery after striatal intracerebral hemorrhage in 5XFAD mice

Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with an increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) caused by hypertension and cerebral amyloid angiopathy, the precise clinical course after hypertensive ICH in AD patients is still unknown. In this study, we investigated how striatal ICH, a frequent site for hypertensive ICH, affected the prognosis of AD. We employed 17‐ and 18‐month‐old male 5XFAD (5X) mice and littermate (LT) controls, and striatal ICH was induced by collagenase injection. First, to address the acute effects of ICH on 5X mice, hemorrhagic volume and brain edema were evaluated 3 days after ICH. Next, to address the long‐term effects of ICH on 5X mice, morbidity, mortality, neurological function (beam‐walking and rotarod tests), and cognitive function (Y‐maze and nest‐building tests) were monitored. Twenty‐eight days later, the animals were euthanized, their brains were isolated, and the cytotoxic alterations were investigated. The results revealed that the acute effects of ICH were not significantly different between 5X and LT mice. In contrast, 5X mice showed significantly higher morbidity and mortality in response to ICH, as well as delayed neurological function recovery, compared to LT mice through 28 days. ICH did not affect cognitive function in either group. Infiltrated macrophages in the perihemorrhagic cortex, gp91phox, p67phox, and COX‐2 were significantly increased in 5X mice in response to ICH. We demonstrated that striatal ICH deteriorated prognosis and delayed neurofunctional recovery in 5X mice, which might be associated with enhanced oxidative stress in the presence of AD‐like pathology.
Natural hazard threats to pollinators and pollination

Natural hazards are naturally occurring physical events that can impact human welfare both directly and indirectly, via shocks to ecosystems and the services they provide. Animal‐mediated pollination is critical for sustaining agricultural economies and biodiversity, yet stands to lose both from present exposure to natural hazards, and future climate‐driven shifts in their distribution, frequency, and intensity. In contrast to the depth of knowledge available for anthropogenic‐related threats, our understanding of how naturally occurring extreme events impact pollinators and pollination has not yet been synthesized. We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis to examine the potential impacts of natural hazards on pollinators and pollination in natural and cultivated systems. From a total of 117 studies (74% of which were observational), we found evidence of community and population‐level impacts to plants and pollinators from seven hazard types, including climatological (extreme heat, fire, drought), hydrological (flooding), meteorological (hurricanes), and geophysical (volcanic activity, tsunamis). Plant and pollinator response depended on the type of natural hazard and level of biological organization observed; 19% of cases reported no significant impact, whereas the majority of hazards held consistent negative impacts. However, the effects of fire were mixed, but taxa specific; meta‐analysis revealed that bee abundance and species richness tended to increase in response to fire, differing significantly from the mainly negative response of Lepidoptera. Building from this synthesis, we highlight important future directions for pollination‐focused natural hazard research, including the need to: (a) advance climate change research beyond static “mean‐level” changes by better incorporating “shock” events; (b) identify impacts at higher levels of organization, including ecological networks and co‐evolutionary history; and (c) address the notable gap in crop pollination services research—particularly in developing regions of the world. We conclude by discussing implications for safeguarding pollination services in the face of global climate change.
Circulating Very-Long-Chain SFA Concentrations Are Inversely Associated with Incident Type 2 Diabetes in US Men and Women.

BACKGROUND Very-long-chain SFAs (VLCSFAs), such as arachidic acid (20:0), behenic acid (22:0), and lignoceric acid (24:0), have demonstrated inverse associations with cardiometabolic conditions, although more evidence is needed to characterize their relation with risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). In addition, little is known regarding their potential dietary and lifestyle predictors. OBJECTIVE We aimed to examine the association of plasma and erythrocyte concentrations of VLCSFAs with incident T2D risk. METHODS We used existing measurements of fatty acid concentrations in plasma and erythrocytes among 2854 and 2831 participants in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS), respectively. VLCSFAs were measured using GLC, and individual fatty acid concentrations were expressed as a percentage of total fatty acids. Incident T2D cases were identified by self-reports and confirmed by a validated supplementary questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate the association between VLCSFAs and T2D, adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and dietary variables. RESULTS During 39,941 person-years of follow-up, we documented 243 cases of T2D. Intakes of peanuts, peanut butter, vegetable fat, dairy fat, and palmitic/stearic (16:0-18:0) fatty acids were significantly, albeit weakly, correlated with plasma and erythrocyte VLCSFA concentrations (|rs| ≤ 0.19). Comparing the highest with the lowest quartiles of plasma concentrations, pooled HRs (95% CIs) were 0.51 (0.35, 0.75) for arachidic acid, 0.43 (0.28, 0.64) for behenic acid, 0.40 (0.27, 0.61) for lignoceric acid, and 0.41 (0.27, 0.61) for the sum of VLCSFAs, after multivariate adjustments for demographic, lifestyle, and dietary factors. For erythrocyte VLCSFAs, only arachidic acid and behenic acid concentrations were inversely associated with T2D risk. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that, in US men and women, higher plasma concentrations of VLCSFAs are associated with lower risk of T2D. More research is needed to understand the mechanistic pathways underlying these associations.