Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of seven type 2 diabetes mellitus risk scores in a population-based cohort. The CoLaus Study.

AIM To assess the validity of seven type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk scores in predicting the 10-year incidence of T2DM in a Swiss population-based study. METHODS Prospective study including 5131 participants (55% women, age range 35 to 75 years) living in Lausanne, Switzerland. The baseline survey was conducted between 2003 and 2006 and average follow-up was 10.9 years. Five clinically-based (Balkau, Kahn clinical, Griffin, Swiss diabetes association and Findrisc) and two clinically and biologically based scores (Kahn CB and Wilson) were tested. RESULTS 405 (7.9%) participants developed T2DM. The overall prevalence of participants at high risk ranged from 13.7% for the Griffin score to 43.3% for the Balkau score. Prevalence of participants at high risk among those who developed T2DM ranged from 34.6% for the Griffin score to 82.0% for the Kahn CB score. The Kahn CB score had the highest area under the ROC [value and 95% confidence interval: 0.866 (0.849-0.883)], followed by the Findrisc [0.818 (0.798-0.838)] while the Griffin score had the lowest [0.740 (0.718-0.762)]. Sensitivities and specificities were above 70%, except for the Griffin and the Kahn C scores (for sensitivity) and the Balkau score (for specificity). The numbers needed to screen ranged from 15.5 for the Kahn CB score to 36.7 for the Griffin score. CONCLUSION The Kahn (CB) and the Findrisc performed best of all scores. Findrisc could be used in an epidemiological setting, while the need of blood sampling for the Kahn (CB) score restricts its use to a more clinical setting.
The Prevalence and Risk Factors for Antenatal Depression Among Pregnant Immigrant and Native Women in Spain

Introduction: The aim was to examine the risk factors of anternatal depression among immigrant and native pregnant women in Spain. Method: A total of 1,524 pregnant women completed the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Postpartum Depression Predictors Inventory–Revised form. Results: The native group reported a lower prevalence (15.2%) compared with immigrant group (25.8%). For immigrants, primiparity, moving, and perceived lack instrumental support from friends or emotional support from partners and family members were significant risk factors. Discussion: The study identified risk factors that can be used for preventive interventions during pregnancy. Significance: Screening and interventions for depression during pregnancy should take migration status into account to maximize effective health care. Also, health providers should consider how migration status can result in different risk factors that affect depression during pregnancy.
Symptom perception in heart failure: a scoping review on definition, factors and instruments

Background: Symptom perception in heart failure has been identified as crucial for effective self-care that is a modifiable factor related to decreased hospital readmission and improved survival. Aims: To review systematically the heart failure symptom perception literature and synthesise knowledge on definition, description, factors and instruments. Methods: We conducted a scoping review including studies reporting patient-reported symptom perception in adults with heart failure. Structured searches were conducted in Medline, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane, JBI and grey literature. Two authors independently reviewed references for eligibility. Data were charted in tables and results narratively summarised. Results: The search yielded 3057 references, of which 106 were included. The definition of heart failure symptom perception comprised body listening, monitoring signs, recognising, interpreting and labelling symptoms, and furthermore awareness of and assigning meaning to the change. Symptom monitoring, recognition and interpretation were identified as challenging. Symptom perception facilitators include prior heart failure hospitalisation, heart failure self-care maintenance, symptom perception confidence, illness uncertainty and social support. Barriers include knowledge deficits, symptom clusters and lack of tools/materials. Factors with inconsistent impact on symptom perception include age, sex, education, experiences of living with heart failure, comorbidities, cognitive impairment, depression and symptom progression. One instrument measuring all dimensions of heart failure symptom perception was identified. Conclusion: Heart failure symptom perception definition and description have been elucidated. Several factors facilitating or hampering symptom perception are known. Further research is needed to determine a risk profile for poor symptom perception – which can then be taken into consideration when supporting heart failure self-care.
Hypoglycemic Effect of Polyherbal Formulation in Alloxan Induced Diabetic Rats

Summary Search for an effective drug, alone or in combination, for treatment of diabetes still remain elusive. Herbal formulations used extensively in traditional systems of medicine may provide a suitable alternative for this. Therefore present study was designed to evaluate the effect of a four weeks treatment of polyherbal formulation consisting of (Tribulus terrestris, Piper nigrum, Ricinus communis), at doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg on blood glucose level and other biochemical parameters like cholesterol, urea, creatinine, billirubin and SGPT in alloxan (150mg/kg, IP) induced diabetic rats. Oral administration of polyherbal formulation to diabetic animals up to four weeks dose dependently reduced the blood glucose level, which was comparable to that of glibenclamide (5 mg/kg). Significant decrease in body weight also was observed with diabetic control, which was partially restored upon administration of polyherbal formulation. The polyherbal formulation also reduced elevated levels of selected biochemical parameters and prevented other complication of hyperglycemia. These findings provide scientific evidences to anti-diabetic use of a traditional formulation and suggest that administration of polyherbal formulation to rats, in a dosage used safely by humans, reduces the production of various diabetes causing biochemical parameters and concomitantly prevents the development of Type 2 (NIDDM) diabetes in established animal models.
Selective debridement of burn wounds using hydrosurgery system

In recent years, hydrosurgery is a technology that has been applied more and more in debridement procedures. However, the selectivity of hydrosurgery to cutaneous necrotic tissues has not been proved. This study was designed to investigate the possible tissue selectivity of hydrosurgery in the debridement in burn wounds. Deep partial‐thickness burns were produced on the back of porcine, and 48 hours later, both burn wounds and normal skin were debrided using the hydrosurgery system. Then tissue samples were taken, and histological staining was performed and observed under microscope. Burn wound resection rates and the normal skin damaged rates were measured. Our result indicated that the burn wounds were significantly more sensitive than the normal skin when the water pressure produced by the hydrosurgery system was set between 3000 and 5000 psi (pounds per square inch), that is, the necrotic tissue portions were debrided more easily than the normal skin tissue. Based on these data, we suggest that 3000 to 5000 psi of water pressure in the hydrosurgery system has a skin tissue selectivity in burn wounds.
Mesenteric lymph drainage alleviates hemorrhagic shock-induced spleen injury and inflammation 1

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the effect of mesenteric lymph drainage on the spleen injury and the expressions of inflammatory cytokines in splenic tissue in mice following hemorrhagic shock. Methods: Male C57 mice were randomly divided into the sham shock, shock and shock+drainage groups. The mice in both shock and shock+drainage groups suffered femoral artery bleeding, maintained mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 40±2 mmHg for 90 min, and were resuscitated. And mesenteric lymph drainage was performed in the shock+drainage group at the time of resuscitation. After three hours of resuscitation, the splenic tissues were harvested for the histological observation and protein and mRNA expression analysis of cytokines. Results: The spleen in the shock group revealed a significantly structural damage and increased mRNA expressions of MyD88 and TRAF6 and protein expressions of TIPE2, MyD88, TRIF and TRAF3 compared to the sham group. By contrast, the splenic pathological injury in the shock+drainage group was alleviated significantly, and the mRNA and protein expressions of TIPE2, MyD88, TRIF, TRAF3 and TRAF6 were significantly lower than those in the shock group. Conclusion: These results indicate that post-hemorrhagic shock mesenteric lymph drainage alleviates hemorrhagic shock-induced spleen injury and the expressions of inflammatory cytokines.
Deep Learning for Fingerprint-Based Outdoor Positioning via LTE Networks

Fingerprint-based positioning techniques are a hot research topic because of their satisfactory accuracy in complex environments. In this study, we adopted the deep-learning-based long-time-evolution (LTE) signal fingerprint positioning method for outdoor environment positioning. Inspired by state-of-the-art image classification methods, a novel hybrid location gray-scale image utilizing LTE signal fingerprints is proposed in this paper. In order to deal with signal fluctuations, several data enhancement methods are adopted. A hierarchical architecture is put forward during the deep neural network (DNN) training. First, the proposed positioning technique is pre-trained by a modified Deep Residual Network (Resnet) coarse localizer which is capable of learning reliable features from a set of unstable LTE signals. Then, to alleviate the tremendous collection workload, as well as further improve the positioning accuracy, by using a multilayer perceptron (MLP), a transfer learning-based fine localizer is introduced for fine-tuning the coarse localizer. The experimental data was collected from realistic scenes to meet the requirement of actual environments. The experimental results show that the proposed system leads to a considerable positioning accuracy in a variety of outdoor environments.
Evaluation of the Normality Assumption in Meta-analyses.

Random-effects meta-analysis is one of the mainstream methods for research synthesis. The heterogeneity in meta-analyses is usually assumed to follow a normal distribution. This is actually a strong assumption, but one that often receives little attention and is used without justification. Although methods for assessing the normality assumption are readily available, they cannot be used directly because the included studies have different within-study standard errors. We present a standardization framework for evaluation of the normality assumption and examine its performance in random-effects meta-analyses with simulation studies and real examples. We use both a formal statistical test and a quantile-quantile plot for visualization. Simulation studies show that our normality test has well-controlled type I error rates and reasonable power. We also illustrate the real-world significance of examining the normality assumption with examples. Investigating the normality assumption can provide valuable information for further analysis or clinical application. We recommend routine examination of the normality assumption with the proposed framework in future meta-analyses.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG components, SLP, gDNA and CpG, exert protective effects on mouse macrophages upon lipopolysaccharide challenge

The aim of this study was to determine whether Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) components (surface layer protein, SLP; genomic DNA, gDNA; unmethylated cytosine‐phosphate‐guanine‐containing oligodeoxynucleotide, CpG‐ODN), alone or in combination, could affect immunomodulation, and evaluate the signalling mechanism in mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LGG components were used to treat cells before LPS stimulation. Cytokine and Toll‐like receptor (TLR) expression were assessed using real‐time quantitative PCR (RT‐qPCR). Mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK) and nuclear factor‐kappa B (NF‐κB) signalling pathways were evaluated using immunoblots and immunofluorescence. SLP or SLP + gDNA pre‐treatment significantly reduced the LPS‐induced mRNA expression of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α). Pre‐treatment with LGG single components (SLP, gDNA or CpG) or their combinations (SLP + gDNA or SLP + CpG) significantly decreased the LPS‐induced interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) mRNA level (P < 0·05). Pre‐treatment with SLP or gDNA, alone or in combination, significantly suppressed LPS‐induced TLR2 and TLR4 mRNA levels (P < 0·05). SLP pre‐treatment also significantly decreased the LPS‐induced expression of TLR9 (P < 0·05). Pre‐treatment with LGG single components or combinations significantly suppressed the LPS‐induced phosphorylation levels of ERK (P > 0·05). In conclusion, pre‐incubation with LGG components, singly or in combination, generally inhibited the activation of TLR, MAPK and NF‐κB signalling pathways in LPS‐stimulated cells, leading to attenuated inflammatory cytokine TNF‐α and IL‐6 production. These results indicate that nonviable probiotic LGG components exert an anti‐inflammation effect on epithelial cells.
Acetylene and Diacetylene Functionalized Covalent Triazine Frameworks as Metal‐Free Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Peroxide Production: A New Two‐Electron Water Oxidation Pathway

Metal‐free polymer photocatalysts have shown great promise for photocatalytic H2O2 production via two‐electron reduction of molecular O2. The other half‐reaction, which is the two‐electron oxidation of water, still remains elusive toward H2O2 production. However, enabling this water oxidation pathway is critically important to improve the yield and maximize atom utilization efficiency. It is shown that introducing acetylene (CC) or diacetylene (CCCC) moieties into covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) can remarkably promote photocatalytic H2O2 production. This enhancement is inherent to the incorporated carbon–carbon triple bonds which are essential in modulating the electronic structures of CTFs and suppressing charge recombinations. Furthermore, the acetylene and diacetylene moieties can significantly reduce the energy associated with OH* formation and thus enable a new two‐electron oxidation pathway toward H2O2 production. The study unveils an important reaction pathway toward photocatalytic H2O2 production, reflecting that precise control over the chemical structures of polymer photocatalysts is vital to achieve efficient solar‐to‐chemical energy conversion.
A survey of the domiciliary situation of urban and rural patients of a palliative care unit in south India

Aim: A demographic study was conducted to understand the social status of the urban and rural patients attending a palliative care unit in South India. Methods: Fifty rural and 50 urban patients attending the palliative care outpatient clinic of the Christian Medical College and Hospital, South India were prospectively surveyed using a structured interview and home visits. Parameters studied included age, gender, marital status, education, occupation, religion, caste, housing, economic status, diagnosis, distance to the nearest health resource personnel and hospitals. Results: Occupation, religion, caste, housing, electricity, toilet and accessibility to health care were found to be significantly different between urban and rural patients. Seventy percent of the patients were below 60 years of age. The majority were unskilled laborers or housewives. One-third had never been to school and only 3% had been educated beyond high school. Half the patients slept on the floor, 50% of the dwellings had only one or two rooms and did not have toilets or running water. Ninety-five percent had electricity. The economic status of the patients correlated significantly with age, occupation and facilities in the house such as number of rooms, availability of beds, toilets and water supply. Women and older patients were significantly less likely to have completed school education. Women were less likely to be the main decision-makers and more likely to be the main caregivers. Conclusion: Economic status was a strong predictor of the various facilities available to the patient. A significant proportion of this population lived in deprived circumstances. A knowledge and understanding of the social conditions of the palliative care patients helps provide better-tailored care.
Healthy aging delays the neural processing of face features relevant for behavior by 40 ms

Fast and accurate face processing is critical for everyday social interactions, but it declines and becomes delayed with age, as measured by both neural and behavioral responses. Here, we addressed the critical challenge of understanding how aging changes neural information processing mechanisms to delay behavior. Young (20–36 years) and older (60–86 years) adults performed the basic social interaction task of detecting a face versus noise while we recorded their electroencephalogram (EEG). In each participant, using a new information theoretic framework we reconstructed the features supporting face detection behavior, and also where, when and how EEG activity represents them. We found that occipital‐temporal pathway activity dynamically represents the eyes of the face images for behavior ~170 ms poststimulus, with a 40 ms delay in older adults that underlies their 200 ms behavioral deficit of slower reaction times. Our results therefore demonstrate how aging can change neural information processing mechanisms that underlie behavioral slow down.
Detection of Stress Induced by Soybean Aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) Using Multispectral Imagery from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract Soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a common pest of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill (Fabales: Fabaceae), in North America requiring frequent scouting as part of an integrated pest management plan. Current scouting methods are time consuming and provide incomplete coverage of soybean. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are capable of collecting high-resolution imagery that offer more detailed coverage in agricultural fields than traditional scouting methods. Recently, it was documented that changes to the spectral reflectance of soybean canopies caused by aphid-induced stress could be detected from ground-based sensors; however, it remained unknown whether these changes could also be detected from UAV-based sensors. Small-plot trials were conducted in 2017 and 2018 where cages were used to manipulate aphid populations. Additional open-field trials were conducted in 2018 where insecticides were used to create a gradient of aphid pressure. Whole-plant soybean aphid densities were recorded along with UAV-based multispectral imagery. Simple linear regressions were used to determine whether UAV-based multispectral reflectance was associated with aphid populations. Our findings indicate that near-infrared reflectance decreased with increasing soybean aphid populations in caged trials when cumulative aphid days surpassed the economic injury level, and in open-field trials when soybean aphid populations were above the economic threshold. These findings provide the first documentation of soybean aphid-induced stress being detected from UAV-based multispectral imagery and advance the use of UAVs for remote scouting of soybean aphid and other field crop pests.
A brief report: The National Adult Reading Test (NART) is a stable assessment of premorbid intelligence across disease severity in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a widely prevalent disorder that can affect cognitive function. The relationship between cognitive function and OSA is known to be affected by an individual's premorbid cognitive ability. Tools to measure premorbid intelligence across OSA disease severity have not been validated. This brief report aims to establish if the National Adult Reading Test (NART) provides a stable estimate of premorbid intelligence across levels of OSA disease severity. We examined if NART scores varied systematically across levels of untreated OSA severity (defined according to the apnea–hypopnea index [AHI]) and mean oxygen saturation in sleep clinic (n = 121) and community samples (n = 398) using regression analysis. Simple linear regression was used to predict NART scores based on the AHI. NART‐estimated premorbid IQ scores without demographics did not vary systematically with AHI (F < 1; β = 0.01) or mean SpO2 (F < 1; β = 0.12). NART‐estimated premorbid IQ scores with added demographic information also did not vary systematically with AHI (F < 1; β = −0.01) or mean SpO2 (F < 1; β = 0.15). This preliminary examination shows that the NART provides a stable estimate of premorbid intelligence across untreated OSA disease severity, as demarcated by AHI or mean nocturnal SpO2.
Impact of Urbanization on Ecosystem Health: A Case Study in Zhuhai, China

The past decades have witnessed rapid urbanization around the world. This is particularly evident in Zhuhai City, given its status as one of the earliest special economic zones in China. After experiencing rapid urbanization for decades, the level of ecosystem health (ESH) in Zhuhai City has become a focus of attention. Assessments of urban ESH and spatial correlations between urbanization and ESH not only reveal the states of urban ecosystems and the extent to which urbanization affected these ecosystems, but also provide new insights into sustainable eco-environmental planning and resource management. In this study, we assessed the ESH of Zhuhai City using a selected set of natural, social and economic indicators. The data used include Landsat Thematic Mapper images and socio-economic data of 1999, 2005, 2009 and 2013. The results showed that the overall ESH value and ecosystem service function have been on the decline while Zhuhai City has continued to become more urbanized. The total ESH health level trended downward and the area ratio of weak and relatively weak health level increased significantly, while the areas of well and relatively well healthy state decreased since 1999. The spatial correlation analysis shows a distinct negative correlation between urbanization and ESH. The degree of negative correlation shows an upward trend with the processes of urban sprawl. The analysis results reveal the impact of urbanization on urban ESH and provide useful information for planners and environment managers to take measures to improve the health conditions of urban ecosystems.
Genetically engineered distal airway stem cell transplantation protects mice from pulmonary infection

Severe pulmonary infection is a major threat to human health accompanied by substantial medical costs, prolonged inpatient requirements, and high mortality rates. New antimicrobial therapeutic strategies are urgently required to address the emergence of antibiotic resistance and persistent bacterial infections. In this study, we show that the constitutive expression of a native antimicrobial peptide LL‐37 in transgenic mice aids in clearing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1), a major pathogen of clinical pulmonary infection. Orthotopic transplantation of adult mouse distal airway stem cells (DASCs), genetically engineered to express LL‐37, into injured mouse lung foci enabled large‐scale incorporation of cells and long‐term release of the host defense peptide, protecting the mice from bacterial pneumonia and hypoxemia. Further, correlates of DASCs in adult humans were isolated, expanded, and genetically engineered to demonstrate successful construction of an anti‐infective artificial lung. Together, our stem cell‐based gene delivery therapeutic platform proposes a new strategy for addressing recurrent pulmonary infections with future translational opportunities.