Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Socioeconomic Disparities in Functional Status in a National Sample of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Key Points Question Are there socioeconomic disparities in functional status among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis seen in rheumatology practices? Findings In this national cohort of 83 965 individuals with rheumatoid arthritis, functional status was statistically significantly worse across each successively lower quintile of socioeconomic status (SES). In addition, the probability of functional decline over the study period was statistically significantly higher in individuals with low SES (18.9% in the lowest SES quintile) compared with individuals with high SES (14.1% in the highest SES quintile). Meaning These findings suggest that disparate health outcomes exist among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis seen in rheumatology practices.
Skin Metagenomic Sequence Analysis of Early Candida auris Outbreaks in U.S. Nursing Homes

Candida auris is a human pathogen of high concern due to its extensive antifungal drug resistance and high mortality rates associated with invasive infections. Candida auris skin colonization and persistence on environmental surfaces make this pathogen difficult to control once it enters a health care facility. Residents in long-term care hospitals and nursing homes are especially vulnerable. ABSTRACT Candida auris is a human fungal pathogen classified as an urgent threat to the delivery of health care due to its extensive antimicrobial resistance and the high mortality rates associated with invasive infections. Global outbreaks have occurred in health care facilities, particularly, long-term care hospitals and nursing homes. Skin is the primary site of colonization for C. auris. To accelerate research studies, we developed microbiome sequencing protocols, including amplicon and metagenomic sequencing, directly from patient samples at health care facilities with ongoing C. auris outbreaks. We characterized the skin mycobiome with a database optimized to classify Candida species and C. auris to the clade level. While Malassezia species were the predominant skin-associated fungi, nursing home residents also harbored Candida species, including C. albicans, and C. parapsilosis. Amplicon sequencing was concordant with culturing studies to identify C. auris-colonized patients and provided further resolution that distinct clades of C. auris are colonizing facilities in New York and Illinois. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing from a clinical sample with a high fungal bioburden generated a skin-associated profile of the C. auris genome. Future larger scale clinical studies are warranted to more systematically investigate the effects of commensal microbes and patient risk factors on the colonization and transmission of C. auris. IMPORTANCE Candida auris is a human pathogen of high concern due to its extensive antifungal drug resistance and high mortality rates associated with invasive infections. Candida auris skin colonization and persistence on environmental surfaces make this pathogen difficult to control once it enters a health care facility. Residents in long-term care hospitals and nursing homes are especially vulnerable. In this study, we developed microbiome sequencing protocols directly from surveillance samples, including amplicon and metagenomic sequencing, demonstrating concordance between sequencing results and culturing.
Meanings and perspectives of men on what they lived during the Covid-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE To understand the meanings and perspectives attributed by men to the period lived in the Covid-19 pandemic. METHOD Qualitative study structured on the concepts of phenomenology, based on Heidegger's ontic interpretation, carried out with 400 men residing in Brazil. Data was produced through a form made available online. The responses were processed in the NVIVO12 software and analyzed according to the Discourse of the Collective Subject. RESULTS Two units of analytical meanings revealed in discourse-synthesis emerged. These units were supported by central ideas and ordered in five subunits that represent the collectivity of the investigated phenomenon. The units are: Being and being-in-the-world in the context of the pandemic - experiencing its possibilities and The vigor of the past and the present are presented as possibilities for a new future in the face of the pandemic. CONCLUSION The meanings and perspectives revealed a being-there in the context of the pandemic based on themselves, with changes in the routine and feelings and willingness to new possibilities and transformations, which generated psychosocial impact and coping and care strategies in the period of the pandemic. As implications, it is necessary to have a new understanding of the man-being, as they demonstrate the need for care, and for a care that goes beyond physical health.
Executive summary of the 2020 clinical practice guidelines for the management of hypertension in the Philippines

Hypertension is the most common cause of death and disability worldwide with its prevalence rising in low to middle income countries. It remains to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the Philippines with poor BP control as one of the main causes. Different societies and groups worked and collaborated together to develop the 2020 Philippine Clinical Practice Guidelines of hypertension arising for the need to come up with a comprehensive local practice guideline for the diagnosis, treatment, and follow up of persons with hypertension. A technical working group was organized into six clusters that analyzed the 30 clinical questions commonly asked in practice, looking into the definition of hypertension, treatment thresholds, blood pressure targets, and appropriate medications to reach targets. This guideline also includes recommendations for the specific management of hypertension among individuals with uncomplicated hypertension, hypertension among those with diabetes, stroke, chronic kidney disease, as well as hypertension among pregnant women and pediatric populations. It also looked into the appropriate screening and monitoring of patients when managing hypertension, and identification of groups who are at high risk for cardiovascular (CV) events. The ADAPTE process was used in developing the statements and recommendations which were then presented to a panel of experts for discussion and approval to come up with the final statements. This guideline aims to aid Filipino healthcare professionals to provide evidence‐based care for persons with hypertension and help those with hypertension adequately control their blood pressure and reduce their CV risk
Effect of one‐session focused attention meditation on the working memory capacity of meditation novices: A functional near‐infrared spectroscopy study

Previous studies have revealed that one‐session focused attention meditation (FAM) can improve top‐down attention control, which is one of the factors of working memory capacity (WMC). In addition, FAM shares various neural substrates, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), with WMC. Thus, we hypothesized that one‐session FAM would improve WMC by activating the DLPFC evoked by the top‐down attention control. In this study, we examined whether FAM modified WMC in individuals with little to no meditation experience.
Surface-enhanced spectroscopy: Toward practical analysis probe

ABSTRACT Surface-enhanced spectroscopy (SES) is a consequence of extreme electromagnetic fields and chemical interactions near a surface. SES is highly sensitive and selective and has been exploited in chemistry, physics, biology, and medicine. It is a rapidly developing technique and is expected to become an important analysis tool. This review introduces theories and concepts of SES techniques including surface-enhanced (SE) Raman scattering, SE infrared absorption, SE chiroptical spectroscopy, and SE fluorescence. Then recent research and applications are discussed to indicate current challenges and future directions.
A small number of male‐biased candidate pheromone receptors are expressed in large subsets of the olfactory sensory neurons in the antennae of drones from the European honey bee Apis mellifera

In the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), the olfactory system is essential for foraging and intraspecific communication via pheromones. Honey bees are equipped with a large repertoire of olfactory receptors belonging to the insect odorant receptor (OR) family. Previous studies have indicated that the transcription level of a few OR types including OR11, a receptor activated by the queen‐released pheromone compound (2E)‐9‐oxodecenoic acid (9‐ODA), is significantly higher in the antenna of males (drones) than in female workers. However, the number and distribution of antennal cells expressing male‐biased ORs is elusive. Here, we analyzed antennal sections from bees by in situ hybridization for the expression of the male‐biased receptors OR11, OR18, and OR170. Our results demonstrate that these receptors are expressed in only moderate numbers of cells in the antennae of females (workers and queens), whereas substantially higher cell numbers express these ORs in drones. Thus, the reported male‐biased transcript levels are due to sex‐specific differences in the number of antennal cells expressing these receptors. Detailed analyses for OR11 and OR18 in drone antennae revealed expression in two distinct subsets of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) that in total account for approximately 69% of the OR‐positive cells. Such high percentages of OSNs expressing given receptors are reminiscent of male‐biased ORs in moths that mediate the detection of female‐released sex pheromone components. Collectively, our findings indicate remarkable similarities between male antennae of bees and moths and support the concept that male‐biased ORs in bee drones serve the detection of female‐emitted sex pheromones.
Transformation and Stabilization of Lead and Chromium Using Aspergillus sp. and Bio-charcoal Amendment

Background: The threat of heavy metals such as Cr and Pb is already known; they have serious negative effects on animal and human health and also persist for a long time in the environment, which is the reason they are frequently detected in soil and water and efforts are made to convert them to nontoxic forms and stabilize them. Objectives: The current study aimed at finding an efficient organism with high transforming capability of Cr and Pb and well surviving ability to get back into the soil further, and adding biochar to stabilize the transformed metals. Methods: The current study first dealt with Cr and Pb transformation by Aspergillus sp. in different concentrations and further applied to contaminated soil to treat contaminant, next untransformed metal from the soil was stabilized by bio-charcol amendment provided from Pistia stratiotes leaves. Results: The obtained results demonstrated that Aspergillus sp. could transform 96% of Cr and Pb at 40 mg/L. At 80 and 100 mg/L, transformation was up to 87.22% and 74.87% for Cr and 76.52% and 68.12% for Pb by forming well biomass in malt extract medium. Further application to soil containing 20 and 40 mg/kg of Cr and Pb respectively, Aspergillus sp. minimized significant quantities of both metals in the exchangeable fraction; at 20 mg/kg there was almost no available form of metals, but at 40 mg/kg there was about 5 mg/kg of Cr and about 3 mg/kg of Pb, but in the control, exchangeable form contained almost the same concentration about 17 mg/kg and 38.6 mg/kg of Cr and 18.6 mg/kg and 38.3 mg/kg of Pb were found. Further biochar was applied to Aspergillus sp. treated soil and great impact was observed on the stabilization of metals and it also reduced the exchangeable fraction of metals. Conclusions: Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the strains used in the current study efficiently transformed the metals and biochar successfully stabilized metal at greater extent in the soil. Therefore, it is suggested as a considerably important factor to treat metal contaminated sites in the environment.
Change in Loneliness Experienced by Older Men and Women Living Alone and With Others at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Building on theory suggesting that loneliness is distinct from living arrangements, social isolation, and perceived social support, we examined change in loneliness for older people at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing 14-years of data with multilevel mixed-effects models, we found higher levels of loneliness among people living alone, people more socially isolated, and people with less perceived support. Gender affected changes in loneliness, controlling for social isolation, perceived support, living arrangements, age, education, income, health, and marital status. Women, whether living alone or with others, experienced increases in loneliness; women living alone reported the greatest increase in loneliness. Men living alone reported high levels of loneliness prior to the pandemic, but only a slight increase over time. These analyses, which demonstrate that loneliness changed at the onset of the pandemic as a function of gender and living arrangement identify older people most likely to benefit from intervention.
Insulin and IGF-1 receptors regulate complex-I dependent mitochondrial bioenergetics and supercomplexes via FoxOs in muscle.

Decreased skeletal muscle strength and mitochondrial dysfunction are characteristic of diabetes. Action of insulin and IGF-1 through insulin receptor (IR) and IGF-1 receptor (IGF1R) maintain muscle mass via suppression of FoxOs, but whether FoxO activation coordinates atrophy in concert with mitochondrial dysfunction is unknown. We show that mitochondrial respiration and complex-I activity were decreased in streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic muscle, but these defects were reversed following muscle-specific FoxO1/3/4 triple knockout in STZ-FoxO TKO. In the absence of systemic glucose or lipid abnormalities, muscle-specific IR knockout (M-IR-/-) or combined IR/IGF1R knockout (MIGIRKO) impaired mitochondrial respiration, decreased ATP production, and increased ROS. These mitochondrial abnormalities were not present in muscle-specific IR/IGF1R and FoxO1/3/4 quintuple knockout mice (M-QKO). Acute tamoxifen-inducible deletion of IR/IGF1R also decreased muscle pyruvate respiration, complex-I activity, and supercomplex assembly. Although autophagy was increased when IR/IGF1R were deleted in muscle, mitophagy was not increased. Mechanistically, RNA-seq revealed that complex-I core subunits were decreased in STZ-diabetic and MIGIRKO muscle, and these changes were not present with FoxO knockout in STZ-FoxO TKO and M-QKO. Thus, insulin-deficient diabetes or loss of insulin/IGF-1 action in muscle decreases complex-I driven mitochondrial respiration and supercomplex assembly, in part by FoxO-mediated repression of Complex-I subunit expression.
Coefficient Omega.

This article raises the concern that nursing education research may be unduly subject to several limitations inherited from an overreliance on Cronbach's α. Consequently, researchers are encouraged to make greater use of coefficient omega since it is expected to perform just as well as or better than Cronbach's α, especially when tau-equivalence goes unmet. Several resources are noted that may help researchers estimate omega for composite measurements. [J Nurs Educ. 2021;60(8):429-430. ].
Weakly supervised learning on unannotated H&E‐stained slides predicts BRAF mutation in thyroid cancer with high accuracy

Deep neural networks (DNNs) that predict mutational status from H&E slides of cancers can enable inexpensive and timely precision oncology. Although expert knowledge is reliable for annotating regions informative of malignancy and other known histologic patterns (strong supervision), it is unreliable for identifying regions informative of mutational status. This poses a serious impediment to obtaining higher prognostic accuracy and discovering new knowledge of pathobiology. We used a weakly supervised learning technique to train a DNN to predict BRAF V600E mutational status, determined using DNA testing, in H&E‐stained images of thyroid cancer tissue without regional annotations. Our discovery cohort was a tissue microarray of only 85 patients from a single hospital. On a large independent external cohort of 444 patients from other hospitals, the trained model gave an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.98 (95% CI 0.97–1.00), which is much higher than the previously reported results for detecting any mutation using H&E by DNNs trained using strong supervision. We also developed a visualization technique that can automatically highlight regions the DNN found most informative for predicting mutational status. Our visualization is spatially granular and highly specific in highlighting strong negative and positive regions and moves us toward explainable artificial intelligence. Using t‐tests, we confirmed that the proportions of follicular or papillary histology and oncocytic cytology, as noted for each patient by a pathologist who was blinded to the mutational status, were significantly different between mutated and wildtype patients. However, based solely on these features noted by the pathologist, a logistic regression classifier gave an average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.78 in five‐fold cross‐validation, which is much lower than that obtained using the DNN. These results highlight the potential of weakly supervised learning for training DNN models for problems where the informative visual patterns and their locations are not known a priori. © 2021 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis PE_PGRS20 and PE_PGRS47 Proteins Inhibit Autophagy by Interaction with Rab1A

Tuberculosis is a significant global infectious disease caused by infection of the lungs with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which then resides and replicates mainly within host phagocytic cells. Autophagy is a complex host cellular process that helps control intracellular infections and enhance innate and adaptive immune responses. ABSTRACT Autophagy is a fundamental cellular process that has important roles in innate and adaptive immunity against a broad range of microbes. Many pathogenic microbes have evolved mechanisms to evade or exploit autophagy. It has been previously demonstrated that induction of autophagy can suppress the intracellular survival of mycobacteria, and several PE_PGRS family proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been proposed to act as inhibitors of autophagy to promote mycobacterial survival. However, the mechanisms by which these effectors inhibit autophagy have not been defined. Here, we report detailed studies of M. tuberculosis deletion mutants of two genes, pe_pgrs20 and pe_pgrs47, that we previously reported as having a role in preventing autophagy of infected host cells. These mutants resulted in increased autophagy and reduced intracellular survival of M. tuberculosis in macrophages. This phenotype was accompanied by increased cytokine production and antigen presentation by infected cells. We further demonstrated that autophagy inhibition by PE_PGRS20 and PE_PGRS47 resulted from canonical autophagy rather than autophagy flux inhibition. Using macrophages transfected to express PE_PGRS20 or PE_PGRS47, we showed that these proteins inhibited autophagy initiation directly by interacting with Ras-related protein Rab1A. Silencing of Rab1A in mammalian cells rescued the survival defects of the pe_pgrs20 and pe_pgrs47 deletion mutant strains and reduced cytokine secretion. To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify mycobacterial effectors that directly interact with host proteins responsible for autophagy initiation. IMPORTANCE Tuberculosis is a significant global infectious disease caused by infection of the lungs with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which then resides and replicates mainly within host phagocytic cells. Autophagy is a complex host cellular process that helps control intracellular infections and enhance innate and adaptive immune responses. During coevolution with humans, M. tuberculosis has acquired various mechanisms to inhibit host cellular processes, including autophagy. We identified two related M. tuberculosis proteins, PE_PGRS20 and PE_PGRS47, as the first reported examples of specific mycobacterial effectors interfering with the initiation stage of autophagy. Autophagy regulation by these PE_PGRS proteins leads to increased bacterial survival in phagocytic cells and increased autophagic degradation of mycobacterial antigens to stimulate adaptive immune responses. A better understanding of how M. tuberculosis regulates autophagy in host cells could facilitate the design of new and more effective therapeutics or vaccines against tuberculosis.
Resilience and supporting people living with dementia during the time of COVID-19; A qualitative study

Objectives To explore the different factors of resilience for people living with dementia and unpaid carers, in response to sudden changes in care and lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Unpaid carers and people living with dementia were offered telephone interviews in April 2020 to discuss their experiences since the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were asked about the benefits and challenges of accessing dementia support, as well as coping, symptoms, strategies and impacts. Each transcript was analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis by two researchers. Findings Semi-structured interviews from 50 participants (n = 42 unpaid carers and n = 8 people living with dementia) reported protective and risk factors of resilience concerning (1) communication, (2) adaptations, (3) support networks and (4) lifestyle factors and coping mechanisms. Conclusions Resilience factors considered both organisational factors for external support, along with individual coping mechanisms. Organisations and social support services should consider resilience factors in future service planning, to better support people living with dementia, or caring someone living with dementia, during times of great stress. The ecological model of resilience established from this research refers to resilience during times of unexpected change in the COVID-19 pandemic; however, it could be considered relevant in other periods of high stress within this cohort.