Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
East-Asian Helicobacter pylori strains synthesize heptan-deficient lipopolysaccharide

The lipopolysaccharide O-antigen structure expressed by the European Helicobacter pylori model strain G27 encompasses a trisaccharide, an intervening glucan-heptan and distal Lewis antigens that promote immune escape. However, several gaps still remain in the corresponding biosynthetic pathway. Here, systematic mutagenesis of glycosyltransferase genes in G27 combined with lipopolysaccharide structural analysis, uncovered HP0102 as the trisaccharide fucosyltransferase, HP1283 as the heptan transferase, and HP1578 as the GlcNAc transferase that initiates the synthesis of Lewis antigens onto the heptan motif. Comparative genomic analysis of G27 lipopolysaccharide biosynthetic genes in strains of different ethnic origin revealed that East-Asian strains lack the HP1283/HP1578 genes but contain an additional copy of HP1105 and JHP0562. Further correlation of different lipopolysaccharide structures with corresponding gene contents led us to propose that the second copy of HP1105 and the JHP0562 may function as the GlcNAc and Gal transferase, respectively, to initiate synthesis of the Lewis antigen onto the Glc-Trio-Core in East-Asian strains lacking the HP1283/HP1578 genes. In view of the high gastric cancer rate in East Asia, the absence of the HP1283/HP1578 genes in East-Asian H. pylori strains warrants future studies addressing the role of the lipopolysaccharide heptan in pathogenesis.
Fourth Joint Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and other Societies on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Clinical Practice (constituted by representatives of nine societies and by invited experts)

Other experts who contributed to parts of the guidelines: Edmond Walma, Tony Fitzgerald, Marie Therese Cooney, Alexandra Dudina European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Committee for Practice Guidelines (CPG): Alec Vahanian (Chairperson), John Camm, Raffaele De Caterina, Veronica Dean, Kenneth Dickstein, Christian Funck-Brentano, Gerasimos Filippatos, Irene Hellemans, Steen Dalby Kristensen, Keith McGregor, Udo Sechtem, Sigmund Silber, Michal Tendera, Petr Widimsky, Jose Luis Zamorano Document reviewers: Irene Hellemans (CPG Review Co-ordinator), Attila Altiner, Enzo Bonora, Paul N. Durrington, Robert Fagard, Simona Giampaoli, Harry Hemingway, Jan Hakansson, Sverre Erik Kjeldsen, Mogens Lytken Larsen, Giuseppe Mancia, Athanasios J. Manolis, Kristina Orth-Gomer, Terje Pedersen, Mike Rayner, Lars Ryden, Mario Sammut, Neil Schneiderman, Anton F. Stalenhoef, Lale Tokgözoglu, Olov Wiklund, Antonis Zampelas
Talk with me! Parental linguistic input to toddlers with moderate hearing loss

Abstract This study examined the quantity and quality of parental linguistic input to toddlers with moderate hearing loss (MHL) compared with toddlers with normal hearing (NH). The linguistic input to eighteen toddlers with MHL and twenty-four toddlers with NH was examined during a 10-minute free-play activity in their home environment. Results showed that toddlers with MHL were exposed to an equivalent amount of parental linguistic input compared to toddlers with NH. However, parents of toddlers with MHL used less high-level facilitative language techniques, used less mental state language, and used shorter utterances than parents of toddlers with NH. Quantity and quality measures of parental linguistic input were positively related to the expressive language abilities of toddlers with MHL.
Decomposition of the US black/white inequality in premature mortality, 2010–2015: an observational study

Objective Decompose the US black/white inequality in premature mortality into shared and group-specific risks to better inform health policy. Setting All 50 US states and the District of Columbia, 2010 to 2015. Participants A total of 2.85 million non-Hispanic white and 762 639 non-Hispanic black US-resident decedents. Primary and secondary outcome measures The race-specific county-level relative risks for US blacks and whites, separately, and the risk ratio between groups. Results There is substantial geographic variation in premature mortality for both groups and the risk ratio between groups. After adjusting for median household income, county-level relative risks ranged from 0.46 to 2.04 (median: 1.03) for whites and from 0.31 to 3.28 (median: 1.15) for blacks. County-level risk ratios (black/white) ranged from 0.33 to 4.56 (median: 1.09). Half of the geographic variation in white premature mortality was shared with blacks, while only 15% of the geographic variation in black premature mortality was shared with whites. Non-Hispanic blacks experience substantial geographic variation in premature mortality that is not shared with whites. Moreover, black-specific geographic variation was not accounted for by median household income. Conclusion Understanding geographic variation in mortality is crucial to informing health policy; however, estimating mortality is difficult at small spatial scales or for small subpopulations. Bayesian joint spatial models ameliorate many of these issues and can provide a nuanced decomposition of risk. Using premature mortality as an example application, we show that Bayesian joint spatial models are a powerful tool as researchers grapple with disentangling neighbourhood contextual effects and sociodemographic compositional effects of an area when evaluating health outcomes. Further research is necessary in fully understanding when and how these models can be applied in an epidemiological setting.
Worldview-3 and Sentinel-2 Imagery for Mapping Naturally Occurring Asbestos (NOA) in Serpentinites Rocks in Southern Italy

The paper compares the potential of WorldView-3 (WV-3) and Sentinel-2 (S-2) satellite data for mapping naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) outcrops to be used by geologists in the planning phase of environmental monitoring. The wide distribution as well as the variety and extent of asbestos-bearing rocks make the selected area a significant case study for the evaluation of the feasibility of multispectral VNIR-SWIR (0.425-2.330 µm) remote sensing observations for NOA outcrops mapping, in those areas where the density of vegetation allows their spectral identification. Different classification procedures were used to produce NOA outcrops maps for the study area. In our study, we found in general a good agreement (k > 0.8) between the produced NOA outcrops maps and the extensive available in situ data for the accessible locations.
How does open innovation lead competitive advantage? A dynamic capability view perspective

The relationship between open innovation and company’s competitive advantage, and organisational capabilities required remains to be explained. This study was conducted to answer the following questions. Does open innovation create organisation's competitive advantage? What types of capabilities are needed in the process of open innovation reaching competitive advantage, and what kind of relationship do they have? This study extends the scope of theoretical discussion about open innovation from the point of dynamic capability view. The results confirmed the statistical significance of the path linking open innovation to competitive advantage through product innovation. From the viewpoint of capabilities, transforming capability plays a role of significant prerequisite of sensing capability and seizing capability, having a direct or indirect significant effect on product innovation performance and competitive advantage sequentially. The results suggest that the linkages between the needed capabilities of organisation must be considered for performing open innovation to secure competitive advantage.
Crowdsourced Security Reconstitution for Wireless Sensor Networks: Secrecy Amplification

Research in the area of security for Wireless Sensor Networks over the past two decades has yielded many interesting findings. We focus on the topic of (re-)securing link keys between sensor nodes through so-called secrecy amplification (SA) protocols. Crowdsourcing is at the very heart of these SA protocols. Not only do SA protocols work wonders even for low-level constrained nodes with no tamper resistance, they exhibit astonishing performance in networks under significant attacker control. Our work shows that even when 50% of all network links are compromised, SA protocols can re-secure over 90% of the link keys through an intriguingly simple crowdsourcing mechanism. These protocols allow us to re-take control without any broadly coordinated cooperation, without knowledge of the compromised links, with only very limited knowledge of each particular network node and independently of decisions made by other nodes. Our article first outlines the principles of and presents existing approaches to SA, introducing most of the important related concepts, then presents novel conclusive results for a realistic attacker model parametrised by attacker behaviour and capabilities. We undertook this work using two very different simulators, and we present here the results of analyses and detailed comparisons that have not previously been available. Finally, we report the first real, non-simulated network test results for the most attractive SA protocol, our implementations of which are available as open-source code for two platforms: Arduino and TinyOS. This work demonstrates the practical usability (and the attractive performance) of SA, serving as a ripe technology enabler for (among others) networks with many potentially compromised low-level devices.
Validation of the ISTH/SSC bleeding assessment tool for inherited platelet disorders: A communication from the Platelet Physiology SSC

Careful assessment of bleeding history is the first step in the evaluation of patients with mild/moderate bleeding disorders, and the use of a bleeding assessment tool (BAT) is strongly encouraged. Although a few studies have assessed the utility of the ISTH‐BAT in patients with inherited platelet function disorders (IPFD) none of them was sufficiently large to draw conclusions and/or included appropriate control groups.
Comparing a Tailored Self-Help Mobile App With a Standard Self-Monitoring App for the Treatment of Eating Disorder Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Eating disorders severely impact psychological, physical, and social functioning, and yet, the majority of individuals with eating disorders do not receive treatment. Mobile health apps have the potential to decrease access barriers to care and reach individuals who have been underserved by traditional treatment modalities. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a tailored, fully automated self-help version of Recovery Record, an app developed for eating disorders management. We examined differences in eating disorder symptom change in app users that were randomized to receive either a standard, cognitive behavioral therapy–based version of the app or a tailored version that included algorithmically determined clinical content aligned with baseline and evolving user eating disorder symptom profiles. Methods Participants were people with eating disorder symptoms who did not have access to traditional treatment options and were recruited via the open-access Recovery Record app to participate in this randomized controlled trial. We examined both continuous and categorical clinical improvement outcomes (measured with the self-report Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire [EDE-Q]) in both intervention groups. Results Between December 2016 and August 2018, 3294 Recovery Record app users were recruited into the study, out of which 959 were considered engaged, completed follow-up assessments, and were included in the analyses. Both study groups achieved significant overall outcome improvement, with 61.6% (180/292) of the tailored group and 55.4% (158/285) of the standard group achieving a clinically meaningful change in the EDE-Q, on average. There were no statistically significant differences between randomized groups for continuous outcomes, but a pattern of improvement being greater in the tailored group was evident. The rate of remission on the EDE-Q at 8 weeks was significantly greater in the group receiving the tailored version (d=0.22; P≤.001). Conclusions This is the first report to compare the relative efficacy of two versions of a mobile app for eating disorders. The data suggest that underserved individuals with eating disorder symptoms may benefit clinically from a self-help app and that personalizing app content to specific clinical presentations may be more effective in promoting symptomatic remission on the EDE-Q than content that offers a generic approach. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02503098; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02503098.
Mortality from venous thromboembolism and myocardial infarction in young adults in England and Wales

SIR—Combined oral contraceptives containing desogestrel or gestodene may be associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism compared with other combined preparations. However, they may not carry an increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI), although the evidence is inconclusive. If these risks also apply to fatal events it would be anticipated that, provided there were no changes in overall use of oral contraceptives or in other risk factors, mortality in young women from venous thromboembolism would increase, while mortality from MI would fall following the
Development of an automated identification system for nanocrystal encoded microspheres in flow cytometry.

ii Cranfield University Ab stract Aim: This work sets out to use haplotype-based tagSNP selection and a systematic in silico analysis for design of multiplex-compatible PCR primer and SAT probe sets to capture maximum variation with minimum tests across candidate genes IGF1, IGFBP1 and IGFBP3. Additionally, the work aims to develop a number of robust, high-efficiency, high-specificity multiplex PCR constructs for amplification of these targets and to demonstrate the applicability of these target types to suspension array genotyping for non-insulin-dependant diabetes mellitus association facilitation. Methods: Haplotypes for predominantly European Caucasian populations were constructed and tagSNP selection performed using Haploview to capture maximum variation across candidate genes IGF1, IGFBP1 and IGFBP3. Extensive in silico analysis was performed for design, evaluation and selection of robust high-specificity primer and probe pairs, suitable for downstream multiplex PCR and SAT analysis. Singleplex endpoint and real-time PCR was performed for primer pair profile determination which informed multiplex PCR set construction and optimisation. The applicability of this complex target type to suspension array-based genotyping was investigated using a model probe pair using both quantum dot-encoded and fluorophore-encoded microspheres. Results: Haploview was used for haplotype construction and linkage disequilibriumbased tagSNP selection across candidate genes, reducing the number of SNP targets from 292 to 32 with minimal information loss. Extensive evaluation of potential tagSNPs was performed and 29 SNPs, representing 29 bins across target genes were designed for multiplex analysis. Singleplex end-point and real-time PCR was performed for primer pair profile determination which allowed four multiplex PCR sets to be constructed and optimised for simultaneous amplification of 14, six, five and two targets. The applicability of this complex target type (14-plex) to suspension array-based genotyping was demonstrated using a model probe pair. Conclusion: In silico analysis techniques have been applied for successful development of four robust multiplex PCR sets (14-plex, 6-plex, 5-plex and 2-plex) which display high-efficiency and target-specific amplification of tagSNPs, capturing maximum assaycompatible variation across candidate genes IGF1, IGFBP1 and IGFBP3 for European Caucasian populations. The applicability of these multiplex PCR constructs to suspension array-based genotyping has been demonstrated, thus paving the way for development of large multiplex suspension array-based genotyping assays using probes designed during the course of this work. This work offers the potential for comprehensive association analyses to become more accessible to the wider-scientific community by facilitating reduced genotyping burdens which allow increased accessibility for powerful association.
A combined intrapleural administration of dornase alfa and tissue plasminogen activator is safe in children with empyema – A pilot study

Abstract Objective There is still no consensus regarding the treatment of empyema in children. Intrapleural combination of tissue plasminogen activator and dornase alfa is a promising treatment for empyema in adults. The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether this combination is safe and successful in pediatric empyema. Methods Previous well children diagnosed with empyema as classified by the British Thoracic Society. After chest tube insertion, intrapleurally dornase alfa 2.5 mg for 2 days and tissue plasminogen activator 0.15 mg/kg for 3 days was given after which the chest tube was clamped for 4 h. Primary outcome was safety. Results Ten consecutive children were included (4 boys, aged 3.2 (1.3–15.0) years old). No serious adverse events were seen. One child developed urticaria but additional intervention or cessation of the trial was not needed. There was no bleeding or mortality and no additional procedures were performed. The median hospital stay after intervention was 7.5 days. Conclusions The intrapleural treatment of dornase alfa and tissue plasminogen activator as treatment of empyema was safe in ten children with empyema. If confirmed in further studies, this combination of intrapleural therapy may improve the management of pediatric empyema.
Effect of proinflammatory diet before pregnancy on gestational age and birthweight: The Japan Environment and Children's Study

Abstract The daily diet plays a role in systematic inflammation and may be one of the causes of preterm birth. We aimed to examine the effect of a daily proinflammatory diet before pregnancy on gestational age and birthweight using a large birth cohort in Japan. We used data of singleton pregnancies in the Japan Environment and Children's Study involving live birth from 2011 to 2014 to calculate the dietary inflammatory index. We used individual meals with 30 food parameters from a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, which assessed diet intake before pregnancy. Participants were categorized according to the quartile of dietary inflammatory index. A multiple logistic regression model was used to estimate the risk of a proinflammatory diet on preterm birth (PTB) before 37 or 34 weeks and low birthweight (LBW) less than 2,500 or 1,500 g, accounting for maternal age, body mass index before pregnancy, smoking status, education, and household income. After applying our inclusion criteria, 89,329 participants were eligible for the present study. Multiple regression analysis showed that the proinflammatory diet had an increased risk of PTB < 34 weeks (adjusted odds ratio: 1.29, 95% confidence interval [1.07, 1.55]) and <2,500‐g LBW (adjusted odds ratio: 1.08, 95% confidence interval [1.01, 1.16]) compared with the control. In conclusion, a proinflammatory diet before pregnancy was a risk factor for PTB < 34 weeks and LBW < 2,500 g. Therefore, proinflammatory diet needs to be controlled to improve perinatal prognosis.
Forest carbon allocation modelling under climate change

Abstract Carbon allocation plays a key role in ecosystem dynamics and plant adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Hence, proper description of this process in vegetation models is crucial for the simulations of the impact of climate change on carbon cycling in forests. Here we review how carbon allocation modelling is currently implemented in 31 contrasting models to identify the main gaps compared with our theoretical and empirical understanding of carbon allocation. A hybrid approach based on combining several principles and/or types of carbon allocation modelling prevailed in the examined models, while physiologically more sophisticated approaches were used less often than empirical ones. The analysis revealed that, although the number of carbon allocation studies over the past 10 years has substantially increased, some background processes are still insufficiently understood and some issues in models are frequently poorly represented, oversimplified or even omitted. Hence, current challenges for carbon allocation modelling in forest ecosystems are (i) to overcome remaining limits in process understanding, particularly regarding the impact of disturbances on carbon allocation, accumulation and utilization of nonstructural carbohydrates, and carbon use by symbionts, and (ii) to implement existing knowledge of carbon allocation into defence, regeneration and improved resource uptake in order to better account for changing environmental conditions.
Cell Biology International

In response to osmotic stress, the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica produces erythritol, a four‐carbon sugar alcohol, from erythrose‐ P, an intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway. Under non‐stressing conditions (isotonic environment), the produced erythritol is subsequently recycled into erythrose‐P that can feed the pentose phosphate pathway. Herein, gene YALI0F01584g was characterized as involved in the erythritol catabolic pathway. Several experimental evidences suggested that it encodes an erythrulose‐1P isomerase that converts erythrulose‐1P into erythrulose‐4P. On the basis of our previous reports and results gathered in this study with genetically modified strains, including ΔYALI0F01584g and ΔYALI0F01628g disrupted mutants, the entire erythritol catabolic pathway has been characterized.