Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An updated mode of action and human relevance framework evaluation for Formaldehyde-Related nasal tumors

Abstract Formaldehyde is a reactive aldehyde naturally present in all plant and animal tissues and a critical component of the one-carbon metabolism pathway. It is also a high production volume chemical used in the manufacture of numerous products. Formaldehyde is also one of the most well-studied chemicals with respect to environmental fate, biology, and toxicology—including carcinogenic potential, and mode of action (MOA). In 2006, a published MOA for formaldehyde-induced nasal tumors in rats concluded that nasal tumors were most likely driven by cytotoxicity and regenerative cell proliferation, with possible contributions from direct genotoxicity. In the past 15 years, new research has better informed the MOA with the publication of in vivo genotoxicity assays, toxicogenomic analyses, and development of ultra-sensitive methods to measure endogenous and exogenous formaldehyde-induced DNA adducts. Herein, we review and update the MOA for nasal tumors, with particular emphasis on the numerous studies published since 2006. These new studies further underscore the involvement of cytotoxicity and regenerative cell proliferation, and further inform the genotoxic potential of inhaled formaldehyde. The data lend additional support for the use of mechanistic data for the derivation of toxicity criteria and/or scientifically supported approaches for low-dose extrapolation for the risk assessment of formaldehyde.
Suicidal Behaviors in Women With the Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome

Abstract Background Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is the most frequent heritable disorder of the connective tissue. This is characterized by a generalized fragility of tissues leading to chronic pain, disability and high levels of psychological distress. Suicidal behaviors in those affected are not uncommon but they have not been well studied. We aimed to explore aspects of suicidality and related factors in a group of patients with hEDS. Method Thirty-five women with hEDS were included in this cross-sectional study. They were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Axis 1 DSM-IV mental disorders and suicidality. They also responded to self-questionnaires assessing health (pain, BMI, and diagnosis delay) and psychosocial variables (social support, physical functioning, coping strategies, personality disturbances, and resilience). Results Eleven patients (31.4%) had attempted suicide in the past. Fifteen patients (42.9%) had some degree of suicide risk at the time of evaluation, mainly mild risk (60%). Compared with patients without a history of suicide attempt, those who had attempted suicide were younger, scored higher on personality disturbances, especially on depressive, avoidant, antisocial, and borderline trait subscores, and had an increased prevalence of lifetime major depression, mania/hypomanic episodes, and anxiety disorders (p < .05). Binary logistic regression showed that personality disturbances and anxiety disorders increase the probability of belonging to the attempters group. Conclusions Consistent with previous reports, these data highlight the high frequency of suicidal behaviors in hEDS patients as well as the importance to explore psychopathology in those affected in order to identify vulnerable individuals and provide specific support. HIGHLIGHTS Attempted suicide in patients with hEDS is not uncommon. Age and the presence of psychopathology are associated with suicide attempt in hEDS patients. Personality disturbances and lifetime anxiety disorders predicted suicide attempted in this sample.
Covid-19 shelter-at-home and work, lifestyle and well-being in desk workers

Abstract Background Emerging cross-sectional reports find that the COVID-19 pandemic and related social restrictions negatively affect lifestyle behaviours and mental health in general populations. Aims To study the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on work practices, lifestyle and well-being among desk workers during shelter-at-home restrictions. Methods We added follow-up after completion of a clinical trial among desk workers to longitudinally measure sedentary behaviour, physical activity, sleep, diet, mood, quality of life and work-related health using validated questionnaires and surveys. We compared outcomes assessed before and during COVID-19 shelter-at-home restrictions. We assessed whether changes in outcomes differed by remote working status (always, changed to or never remote) using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results Participants (N = 112; 69% female; mean (SD) age = 45.4 (12.3) years; follow-up = 13.5 (6.8) months) had substantial changes to work practices, including 72% changing to remote work. Deleterious changes from before to during shelter-at-home included: 1.3 (3.5)-h increase in non-workday sedentary behaviour; 0.7 (2.8)-point worsening of sleep quality; 8.5 (21.2)-point increase in mood disturbance; reductions in five of eight quality of life subscales; 0.5 (1.1)-point decrease in work-related health (P < 0.05). Other outcomes, including diet, physical activity and workday sedentary behaviour, remained stable (P ≥ 0.05). Workers who were remote before and during the pandemic had greater increases in non-workday sedentary behaviour and stress, with greater declines in physical functioning. Wake time was delayed overall by 41 (61) min, and more so in workers who changed to remote. Conclusions Employers should consider supporting healthy lifestyle and well-being among desk workers during pandemic-related social restrictions, regardless of remote working status.
Elevated blood purine levels as a biomarker of seizures and epilepsy

There is a major unmet need for a molecular biomarker of seizures or epilepsy that lends itself to fast, affordable detection in an easy‐to‐use point‐of‐care device. Purines such as adenosine triphosphate and adenosine are potent neuromodulators released during excessive neuronal activity that are also present in biofluids. Their biomarker potential for seizures and epilepsy in peripheral blood has, however, not yet been investigated. The aim of the present study was to determine whether blood purine nucleoside measurements can serve as a biomarker for the recent occurrence of seizures and to support the diagnosis of epilepsy.
The effect of overcrowding in emergency departments on the admission rate according to the emergency triage level

Overcrowding in emergency departments is a serious public health issue. Recent studies have reported that overcrowding in emergency departments affects not only the quality of emergency care but also clinical decisions about admission. However, no studies have examined the characteristics of the patient groups whose admission rate is influenced by such overcrowding. This retrospective cohort study was conducted in a single emergency department between January 1 and December 31, 2018. Patients over 19 years old were enrolled and divided into three groups according to the degree of overcrowding—high, low, and non—based on the total number of patients in the emergency department. An emergency triage tool (the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale) was used, which categorizes patients into five different levels. We analyzed whether the degree of change in the admission rate according to the extent of overcrowding differed for each triage group. There were 73,776 patients in this study. In the analysis of all patient groups, the admission rate increased as the degree of overcrowding rose (the adjusted odds ratio for admission was 1.281 (1.225–1.339) in the high overcrowding group versus the non-overcrowding group). The analysis of the patients in each triage level showed an increase in the admission rate associated with the overcrowding, which was greater in the patient groups with a lower triage level (adjusted odds ratios for admission in the high overcrowding group versus non-overcrowding group: Korean Triage and Acuity Scale level 3 = 1.215 [1.120–1.317], level 4 = 1.294 [1.211–1.382], and level 5 = 1.954 [1.614–2.365]).
A thick semi-monolithic scintillator detector for clinical PET scanners

Both monolithic and semi-monolithic scintillator positron emission tomography (PET) detectors can measure the depth of interaction with single-ended readout. Usually scintillators with a thickness of 10 mm or less are used since the position resolutions of the detectors degrade as the scintillator thickness increases. In this work, the performance of a 20 mm thick long rectangular semi-monolithic scintillator PET detector was measured by using both single-ended and dual-ended readouts with silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays to provide a high detection efficiency. The semi-monolithic scintillator detector consists of nine lutetium–yttrium oxyorthosilicate slices measuring 1.37 × 51.2 × 20 mm3 with erythrocyte sedimentation rate foils of 0.065 mm thickness in between the slices. The SiPM array at each end of the scintillator detector consists of 16 × 4 SiPMs with a pixel size of 3.0 × 3.0 mm2 and a pitch of 3.2 mm. The 64 signals of each SiPM array are processed by using the TOFPET2 application-specific integrated circuit individually. All but the edge slices can be clearly resolved for the detectors with both single-ended and dual-ended readouts. The single-ended readout detector provides an average full width at half maximum (FWHM) Y (continuous direction) position resolution of 2.43 mm, Z (depth direction) position resolution of 4.77 mm, energy resolution of 25.7% and timing resolution of 779 ps. The dual-ended readout detector significantly improves the Y and Z position resolutions, slightly improves the energy and timing resolution at the cost of two photodetectors required for one detector module and provides an average FWHM Y position resolution of 1.97 mm, Z position resolution of 2.60 mm, energy resolution of 21.7% and timing resolution of 718 ps. The energy and timing resolution of the semi-monolithic scintillator detector in this work are worse than those of the segmented scintillator array detector and need to be further improved. The semi-monolithic scintillator detector described in this work reduces costs as compared to the traditional segmented scintillator array detector and reduces the edge effect as compared to the monolithic scintillator detector.
UNSATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY DETERMINATION BY A SCALING TECHNIQUE

A scaling technique is presented for estimating the hydraulic conductivity based on experiments of horizontal infiltration of water into an air-dry soil. From plots of the distance from the water source to the wetting front as a function of the square root of time, a scaling factor is obtained that permits the estimation of the hydraulic conductivity as a function of soil water content. The method has been established experimentally using five Brazilian tropical soils and seven California temperate soils, with one of them being taken as a standard soil. Bulk density measurements used to verify the homogeneity of each soil column and volumetric soil water content measurements were made by gamma-attenuation using 137Cs.
Magnetic Field Induced Orientation in Diblock Copolymers with One Crystallizable Block

Using wide-angle X-ray scattering, we show that diblock copolymers with one crystallizable block can be oriented by crystallization in a strong magnetic field (B = 7 T). The resulting structure consists of a stack of alternating crystalline and amorphous layers of different chemical compositions with the layer normal being oriented perpendicular to the applied field. As a necessary prerequisite the crystallization process has to start with a high nucleation density. Orientation parameters of about S ≈ −0.3 have been achieved. This approach presents a novel route to produce oriented chemically heterogeneous nanostructured materials.
Predicting Edema Resolution After Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty for Fuchs Dystrophy Using Scheimpflug Tomography.

Importance Predicting the extent of corneal edema resolution after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) may help in preoperative decision-making by identifying patients who may benefit from restoring endothelial function. Objective To develop and validate a predictive model for edema resolution after DMEK using Scheimpflug tomographic imaging. Design, Setting, and Participants Two prospective studies recruited participants with advanced Fuchs dystrophy at a university-based tertiary referral center between July 1, 2017, and August 31, 2019. Analyses were designed in November 2019 and completed on June 30, 2020. Development of a predictive model using linear least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression was conducted in a derivation cohort (100 eyes). Overall performance, discrimination, and calibration were tested in the separate validation cohort (32 eyes). Exposures Preoperative Scheimpflug parameters and patient-reported visual disability were considered as potential predictors of edema resolution: (1) tomographic features (irregularity of lines of equal corneal thickness, displacement of the thinnest point of corneal thickness from the inferior-temporal quadrant, and absolute amount of focal posterior corneal depression), (2) standardized anterior and posterior corneal backscatter, (3) preoperative central corneal thickness, and (4) Fuchs dystrophy-specific visual disability. Main Outcomes and Measures Decrease in central corneal thickness after DMEK indicative of edema resolution. Results Of the 88 patients included in the analysis, 54 were women (61%); median age was 68 years (interquartile range [IQR], 59-76 years). A median of 13 months after DMEK (IQR, 9-16 months), median corneal thickness was 77 μm lower (IQR, 51-94 μm) in the derivation cohort and 75 μm lower in the validation cohort (IQR, 54-96 μm) than before surgery. Per 10-μm edema resolution, eyes gained 0.66 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters (95% CI, 0.09-1.23) in best-corrected visual acuity. Three tomographic features were present in 68 of 100 eyes (68%) in the derivation cohort and in 18 of 32 eyes (56%) in the validation cohort before DMEK and in only 1 of 132 eyes (1%) after DMEK. To predict edema resolution after DMEK based on preoperative assessment, 5 variables were selected by the statistical learning algorithm: nonparallel isopachs, focal posterior depression, anterior and posterior corneal backscatter, and central corneal thickness. In the separate validation cohort, the model showed high overall performance, discrimination, and calibration. Conclusions and Relevance These post hoc analyses of prospective cohorts support a model for use in the prediction of edema resolution after DMEK using Scheimpflug measurement to identify patients benefitting most from DMEK.
Cultivation and Photophysiological Characteristics of Desmids in Moderately Saline Aquaculture Wastewater

Although desmids typically inhabit freshwater environments characterized by low amounts of nutrients and low salinity, several desmid species have been recorded in eutrophic waters, indicating their adaptation to elevated pollution and conductivity. This study aimed to determine whether desmids could be used for remediation of moderately saline aquaculture wastewater (AWW) from a fish farm situated in the southeast of Sweden. Fourteen desmid strains isolated from different climates (tropical to polar) and trophic conditions (oligotrophic to eutrophic) were cultivated in diluted AWW and we estimated their growth rates, biomass, nutrient removal efficiency, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and cellular C, N and P quotas. Despite being grown at moderate salinity, unfavourable N:P ratio, and relatively low light/temperature regime the eutrophic strains, Cosmarium humile, Cosmarium laeve and a meso‐oligotrophic species Cosmarium impressulum, completely absorbed nitrate and phosphate from AWW media after 7 d, indicating their potential for remediation of fish effluents in colder climates. These species, along with the typical eutrophic species, Cosmarium meneghinii and Staurastrum chaetoceras, had biomass in the range 0.45–1.19 g · L−1 while maximum growth rates ranged from 0.36 to 0.51 · d−1, similar to published rates for several fast‐growing green microalgae cultivated in various AWW types. Tropical desmids had distinctly high values of saturating irradiance (Ik > 1,000 µmol photons · m−2 · s−1), and, along with eutrophic desmids, had high potential electron transport (rETRmax > 155 rel. units). Hence, the desmids studied demonstrated inherent photophysiological responses corresponding to their climate and trophic origin under the suboptimal growth conditions.
Pathogen disgust sensitivity protects against infection in a high pathogen environment

Significance Disgust likely evolved to regulate exposure to pathogen-related stimuli and behaviors. One key prediction, that individuals with greater pathogen disgust sensitivity (PDS) will be exposed to fewer pathogens and thus suffer fewer infections, has never been tested directly. To function adaptively, PDS must respond to the local cost/benefit context of avoidance, but this too has been undertested. We provide a test of these predictions among an Indigenous population with notable variation in PDS, infection, and infrastructure. We document predicted negative associations between PDS and pathogen exposure, while illuminating complex, multidirectional relationships among disgust, infection, and environmental variation. Our findings support the hypothesis that disgust functions to regulate pathogen exposure, demonstrating the importance of evolved psychological mechanisms in disease avoidance. Disgust is hypothesized to be an evolved emotion that functions to regulate the avoidance of pathogen-related stimuli and behaviors. Individuals with higher pathogen disgust sensitivity (PDS) are predicted to be exposed to and thus infected by fewer pathogens, though no studies have tested this directly. Furthermore, PDS is hypothesized to be locally calibrated to the types of pathogens normally encountered and the fitness-related costs and benefits of infection and avoidance. Market integration (the degree of production for and consumption from market-based economies) influences the relative costs/benefits of pathogen exposure and avoidance through sanitation, hygiene, and lifestyle changes, and is thus predicted to affect PDS. Here, we examine the function of PDS in disease avoidance, its environmental calibration, and its socioecological variation by examining associations among PDS, market-related lifestyle factors, and measures of bacterial, viral, and macroparasitic infection at the individual, household, and community levels. Data were collected among 75 participants (ages 5 to 59 y) from 28 households in three Ecuadorian Shuar communities characterized by subsistence-based lifestyles and high pathogen burden, but experiencing rapid market integration. As predicted, we found strong negative associations between PDS and biomarkers of immune response to viral/bacterial infection, and weaker associations between PDS and measures of macroparasite infection, apparently mediated by market integration-related differences. We provide support for the previously untested hypothesis that PDS is negatively associated with infection, and document variation in PDS indicative of calibration to local socioeconomic conditions. More broadly, findings highlight the importance of evolved psychological mechanisms in human health outcomes.
Novel health system strategies for tuberculin skin testing at primary care clinics: Performance assessment and health economic evaluation

Background Tuberculin skin test (TST) for guiding initiation of tuberculosis preventive therapy poses major challenges in high tuberculosis burden settings. Methods At a primary care clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, 278 HIV-positive adults self-read their TST by reporting if they felt a bump (any induration) at the TST placement site. TST reading (in mm) was fast-tracked to reduce patient wait time and task-shifted to delegate tasks to lower cadre healthcare workers, and result was compared to TST reading by high cadre research staff. TST reading and placement cost to the health system and patients were estimated. Simulations of health system costs were performed for 5 countries (USA, Germany, Brazil, India, Russia) to evaluate generalizability. Results Almost all participants (269 of 278, 97%) correctly self-identified the presence or absence of any induration [sensitivity 89% (95% CI 80,95) and specificity 99.5% (95% CI 97,100)]. For detection of a positive TST (induration ≥ 5mm), sensitivity was 90% (95% CI 81,96) and specificity 99% (95% CI 97,100). TST reading agreement between low and high cadre staff was high (kappa 0.97, 95% CI 0.94, 1.00). Total TST cost was 2066 I$ (95% UI 594, 5243) per 100 patients, 87% (95% UI 53, 95) of which were patient costs. Combining fast-track and task-shifting, reduced total costs to 1736 I$ (95% UI 497, 4300) per 100 patients, with 31% (95% UI 15, 42) saving in health system costs. Combining fast-tracking, task-shifting and self-reading, lowered the TST health system costs from 16% (95% UI 8, 26) in Russia to 40% (95% UI 18, 54) in the USA. Conclusion A TST strategy where only patients with any self-read induration are asked to return for fast-tracked TST reading by lower cadre healthcare workers is a promising strategy that could be effective and cost-saving, but real-life cost-effectiveness should be further examined.