Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of dietary counselling on micronutrient intakes in pregnant women in Finland

Abstract The intake of some micronutrients is still a public health challenge for pregnant women in Finland. This study examined the effects of dietary counselling on micronutrient intakes among pregnant women at increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus in Finland. This study utilised data from was a cluster‐randomised controlled trial (n = 399), which aimed to prevent gestational diabetes. In the intervention group, the dietary counselling was carried out at four routine visits to maternity care and focused on dietary fat, fibre and saccharose intake. A validated 181‐item food frequency questionnaire was used for evaluating the participants' food consumption and nutrient intakes. The differences in changes in micronutrient intakes from baseline (pre‐pregnancy) to 36–37 weeks' gestation were compared between the intervention and the usual care groups using multilevel mixed‐effects linear regression models, adjusted for confounders. Based on the multiple‐adjusted model, the counselling increased the intake of niacin equivalent (coefficient 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.03–0.97), vitamin D (0.24, CI 0.05–0.43), vitamin E (0.46, CI 0.26–0.66) and magnesium (5.05, CI 0.39–9.70) and maintained the intake of folate (6.50, CI 1.44–11.56), from early pregnancy to 36 to 37 weeks' gestation. Except for folate and vitamin D, the mean intake of the micronutrients from food was adequate in both groups at baseline and the follow‐up. In conclusion, the dietary counselling improved the intake of several vitamins and minerals from food during pregnancy. Supplementation on folate and vitamin D is still needed during pregnancy.
Mechanistic insights into 5-lipoxygenase inhibition by pyocyanin: a molecular docking and molecular dynamics study

Abstract Pyocyanin, a redox-active phenazine pigment produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, inhibits 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) activity. However, whether pyocyanin can directly block the enzymatic activity by binding at the active site still remains a question because of its ability to produce superoxide radicals and H2O2. With the objective of characterizing this mechanism, we carried out molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations and performed Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MMPBSA) binding energy studies. The results of the study revealed that pyocyanin is dynamically stable at the active site of 5-LOX and its MMPBSA binding energy (−84.720 kJ/mol) is comparable to that of the 5-LOX standard inhibitor zileuton (−72.729 kJ/mol). Similar studies using three other phenazine derivatives − 1-hydroxyphenazine, phenazine-1-carboxylic acid and phenazine-1-carboxamide – also showed encouraging results. In light of this evidence, we postulate as a proof of concept that pyocyanin and these phenazine derivatives have the potential to inhibit 5-LOX activity by directly binding at the active site and blocking enzymatic catalysis of the substrate. Considering the potential of 5-LOX inhibitors in inflammatory diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, the findings of this study open up the exploration of phenazine derivatives in structure-based drug design against 5-LOX. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
U-Limb: A multi-modal, multi-center database on arm motion control in healthy and post-stroke conditions

Abstract Background Shedding light on the neuroscientific mechanisms of human upper limb motor control, in both healthy and disease conditions (e.g., after a stroke), can help to devise effective tools for a quantitative evaluation of the impaired conditions, and to properly inform the rehabilitative process. Furthermore, the design and control of mechatronic devices can also benefit from such neuroscientific outcomes, with important implications for assistive and rehabilitation robotics and advanced human-machine interaction. To reach these goals, we believe that an exhaustive data collection on human behavior is a mandatory step. For this reason, we release U-Limb, a large, multi-modal, multi-center data collection on human upper limb movements, with the aim of fostering trans-disciplinary cross-fertilization. Contribution This collection of signals consists of data from 91 able-bodied and 65 post-stroke participants and is organized at 3 levels: (i) upper limb daily living activities, during which kinematic and physiological signals (electromyography, electro-encephalography, and electrocardiography) were recorded; (ii) force-kinematic behavior during precise manipulation tasks with a haptic device; and (iii) brain activity during hand control using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
The Role of HLA-B27 in Argentinian Axial Spondyloarthritis Patients

Background The prevalence of human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27) is variable around the world. Our objectives were to estimate the frequency of HLA-B27 in an Argentinian cohort of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), to evaluate the differences between HLA-B27–positive and HLA-B27–negative patients, and to analyze its performance as a diagnostic biomarker. Methods Observational study including patients older than 18 years, with axSpA diagnosis assessed in a fast track program (Reuma-Check SpA). All patients underwent the following: blood tests, HLA-B27, sacroiliac images, and enthesitis ultrasound. Sociodemographic data and SpA symptoms were also collected. The clinical assessor was blinded to complementary studies. For the sensitivity and specificity analysis, patients with chronic low back pain without axSpA who performed the same circuit in the same period were used as control, paired 1:1 (sex and age). Results One hundred fifty patients were included, 75 axSpA and 75 controls. The frequency of HLA-B27 was 43% (95% confidence interval [CI], 30–53). The differences between HLA-B27–positive and HLA-B27–negative patients were observed in age of low back pain onset (36 vs 46 years), BASFI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index) (4 vs 5), and extra-articular SpA features such as uveitis and inflammatory bowel disease (29% vs 50%). When this frequency was compared (low back pain control group), the difference was 43% versus 9% (odds ratio, 7.7; 95% CI, 2.8–24), and HLA-B27 had a sensitivity of 43%, specificity of 91%, positive predictive value of 85%, negative predictive value of 58%, and likelihood ratio of 4.9 (95% CI, 3–8). Conclusions The frequency of HLA-B27 in axSpA was 43%; positive patients had an earlier age of onset (36), a higher BASFI, and more SpA features. For the diagnosis of SpA, HLA-B27 had a good specificity but low sensitivity.
Neural correlates of visual stimulus encoding and verbal working memory differ between cochlear implant users and normal‐hearing controls

A common concern for individuals with severe‐to‐profound hearing loss fitted with cochlear implants (CIs) is difficulty following conversations in noisy environments. Recent work has suggested that these difficulties are related to individual differences in brain function, including verbal working memory and the degree of cross‐modal reorganization of auditory areas for visual processing. However, the neural basis for these relationships is not fully understood. Here, we investigated neural correlates of visual verbal working memory and sensory plasticity in 14 CI users and age‐matched normal‐hearing (NH) controls. While we recorded the high‐density electroencephalogram (EEG), participants completed a modified Sternberg visual working memory task where sets of letters and numbers were presented visually and then recalled at a later time. Results suggested that CI users had comparable behavioural working memory performance compared with NH. However, CI users had more pronounced neural activity during visual stimulus encoding, including stronger visual‐evoked activity in auditory and visual cortices, larger modulations of neural oscillations and increased frontotemporal connectivity. In contrast, during memory retention of the characters, CI users had descriptively weaker neural oscillations and significantly lower frontotemporal connectivity. We interpret the differences in neural correlates of visual stimulus processing in CI users through the lens of cross‐modal and intramodal plasticity.
Kobe project for the exploration of newer strategies to reduce the social burden of dementia: a study protocol of cohort and intervention studies

Introduction This research project addresses the lack of screening tools for the early detection of high-risk individuals for long-term care, through four individual studies. Study 1 investigates the predictive ability of the ‘Kihon Check List’, study 2 the ‘Cognitive Function instrument’ and EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) and study 3 the ‘Cognitive Function instrument’ and EQ-5D as well as the ‘Frail Kenshin’ health check-up, for incident long-term care certification over a follow-up period of up to 4 years. This is the first large prospective study to evaluate the predictive ability of these tools for the outcome measure long-term care certification. The last subsection of this project study four aims to explore a mixed methods intervention for delaying the need for long-term care. This section is purely exploratory, looking for clues for further studies. Methods and analysis Baseline data have been collected through local government programs, as well as through postal self-reported questionnaires. The primary outcome variable for all studies is long-term care certification data. Statistical analysis will be carried out using Kaplan-Meier, Multiple Cox regression as well as logistic regression. Conclusion This project hopes to identify tools effective in predicting long-term care need. This will enable identification of citizens that are of higher risk for long-term care in the near future. This subset of high-risk individuals can in the future be addressed for extra support/intervention. Ethics and dissemination All studies have been approved by respective institutional ethical committees and the WHO ethical committee ERC.0002899. In addition, all studies conform to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki and are conducted in accordance with Japan’s ‘Ethical Guidelines for Medical and Health Research Involving Human Subjects’. All findings will be disseminated at conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number UMIN000023283.
Endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder stenting for acute cholecystitis using a novel integrated inside biliary stent and nasobiliary drainage catheter system

A novel integrated inside biliary stent and dedicated nasobiliary drainage catheter system (UMIDAS NB stent; Olympus Medical Systems, Tokyo, Japan) has been recently developed in Japan. The 7-Fr biliary stent placed over a 4-Fr nasobiliary drainage catheter can be deployed simultaneously using a dedicated pushing catheter over the guidewire [1] (▶Fig. 1). Here, we describe a case of successful endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder stenting for acute cholecystitis using this drainage system. A 77-year-old man, who underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy for biliary stones 2 months prior, was admitted for moderate gallstone-induced cholecystitis. Emergency cholecystectomy and percutaneous gallbladder drainage were considered high risk owing to percutaneous coronary intervention 1 month earlier, followed by dual antiplatelet therapy. Therefore, we performed endoscopic naso-gallbladder drainage using the novel integrated biliary stent and nasobiliary drainage catheter system (▶Fig. 2). We then performed gallbladder irrigation with saline via the nasobiliary drainage catheter, as appropriate. A cholecystogram via the nasobiliary drainage catheter performed 2 days later showed contrast medium drained from the gallbladder into the lower bile duct and duodenum (▶Fig. 3). After acute cholecystitis improved 7 days later, the nasobiliary drainage catheter, stretched using a 0.025-inch guidewire (VisiGlide 2; Olympus Medical Systems), was removed and the biliary stent was placed from the gallbladder to the common bile duct as a bridge to cholecystectomy under fluoroscopic guidance (▶Fig. 4, ▶Video 1). The patient was discharged without any adverse events on post-endoscopic naso-gallbladder drainage day 10. This case suggests that this novel integrated inside biliary stent and dedicated nasobiliary drainage catheter system may be useful for endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder drainage, because it allows gallbladder irrigation via the nasobiliary drainage catheter and allows E-Videos
Top-k Self-Adaptive Contrast Sequential Pattern Mining

For sequence classification, an important issue is to find discriminative features, where sequential pattern mining (SPM) is often used to find frequent patterns from sequences as features. To improve classification accuracy and pattern interpretability, contrast pattern mining emerges to discover patterns with high-contrast rates between different categories. To date, existing contrast SPM methods face many challenges, including excessive parameter selection and inefficient occurrences counting. To tackle these issues, this article proposes a top- $k$ self-adaptive contrast SPM, which adaptively adjusts the gap constraints to find top- $k$ self-adaptive contrast patterns (SCPs) from positive and negative sequences. One of the key tasks of the mining problem is to calculate the support (the number of occurrences) of a pattern in each sequence. To support efficient counting, we store all occurrences of a pattern in a special array in a Nettree, an extended tree structure with multiple roots and multiple parents. We employ the array to calculate the occurrences of all its superpatterns with one-way scanning to avoid redundant calculation. Meanwhile, because the contrast SPM problem does not satisfy the Apriori property, we propose Zero and Less strategies to prune candidate patterns and a Contrast-first mining strategy to select patterns with the highest contrast rate as the prefix subpattern and calculate the contrast rate of all its superpatterns. Experiments validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm and show that contrast patterns significantly outperform frequent patterns for sequence classification. The algorithms and datasets can be downloaded from https://github.com/wuc567/Pattern-Mining/tree/master/SCP-Miner.
Associations of Current and Remitted Cannabis Use Disorder With Health-related Quality of Life and Employment Among US Adults

Background The associations of current and remitted cannabis use disorder (CUD) with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and employment have not been studied, and we aim to address these gaps. Methods The 2012–2013 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions III (NESARC III) surveyed a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized civilian US adults (≥18 years) (n = 36,309 unweighted). Using DSM-5 criteria, adults with current CUD were compared with those with CUD in remission and no history of CUD on standard measures of the mental and physical component scores of HRQOL and of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) along with employment in the past 12 months. Multivariable-adjusted regression analyses were used to adjust for and examine the role of covariates. Results Overall, 2.5% of the study sample, representing 6.0 million adults nationwide, met criteria for current CUD, and 3.7%, representing 8.8 million adults, met the criteria for CUD in remission. Adults with current or past CUD had lower mental HRQOL and QALYs, as compared to adults who never had CUD. However, these differences were no longer significant when adjusted for behavioral co-morbidities and personal histories. Current CUD was associated with lower odds of being employed (Adjusted odds ratio AOR = 0.76; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 0.60–0.96), but CUD in remission with a greater likelihood of employment (Adjusted odds ratio = 1.53; 95% CI, 1.23–1.91), both as compared to those never experiencing CUD. Conclusions Both current CUD and past CUD are adversely associated with HRQOL and current CUD with not being employed; Since CUD associations are not independent of comorbidities, treatment must take a wide-ranging approach.
Intestinal Flora is a Key Factor in Insulin Resistance and Contributes to the Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Abstract Context The key gut microbial biomarkers for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and how dysbiosis causes insulin resistance and PCOS remain unclear. Objective To assess the characteristics of intestinal flora in PCOS and explore whether abnormal intestinal flora can affect insulin resistance and promote PCOS and whether chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) can activate intestinal farnesoid X receptor (FXR), improving glucose metabolism in PCOS. Setting and design The intestinal flora of treatment-naïve PCOS patients and hormonally healthy controls was analyzed. Phenotype analysis, intestinal flora analysis, and global metabolomic profiling of caecal contents were performed on a letrozole-induced PCOS mouse model; similar analyses were conducted after 35 days of antibiotic treatment on the PCOS mouse model, and glucose tolerance testing was performed on the PCOS mouse model after a 35-day CDCA treatment. Mice receiving fecal microbiota transplants from PCOS patients or healthy controls were evaluated after 10 weeks. Results Bacteroides was significantly enriched in treatment-naïve PCOS patients. The enrichment in Bacteroides was reproduced in the PCOS mouse model. Gut microbiota removal ameliorated the PCOS phenotype and insulin resistance and increased relative FXR mRNA levels in the ileum and serum fibroblast growth factor 15 levels. PCOS stool-transplanted mice exhibited insulin resistance at 10 weeks but not PCOS. Treating the PCOS mouse model with CDCA improved glucose metabolism. Conclusions Bacteroides is a key microbial biomarker in PCOS and shows diagnostic value. Gut dysbiosis can cause insulin resistance. FXR activation might play a beneficial rather than detrimental role in glucose metabolism in PCOS.
Implications of cryopreservation on structural and functional attributes of bovine spermatozoa: An overview

Sperm cryopreservation is an important adjunct to assisted reproduction techniques (ART) for improving the reproductive efficiency of dairy cattle and buffaloes. Improved understanding of mechanisms and challenges of bovine semen cryopreservation is vital for artificial insemination on a commercial basis. Although cryopreservation of bovine spermatozoa is widely practiced and advanced beyond that of other species, there are still major gaps in the knowledge and technology. Upon cryopreservation, disruption of spermatozoal plasma membrane configuration due to alterations in metabolic pathways, enzymes and antioxidants activity add to lower efficiency with loss of sperm longevity and fertilising ability. Therefore, the effective amalgamation of cryo‐variables like ambient temperature, cooling and thawing rates, nucleation temperature, type and concentration of the cryoprotectant, seminal plasma composition, free radicals and antioxidant status are required to optimise cryopreservation. Novel strategies like supplementation of cholesterol‐loaded cyclodextrins (CLC), nanovesicles, osteopontin, antioxidants, etc., in an extender and recent techniques like nano‐purification and modified packaging have to be optimised to ameliorate the cryodamage. This article is intended to describe the basic facts about the sperm cryopreservation process in bovine and the associated biochemical, biophysical, ultra‐structural, molecular and functional alterations.
Changes in intraocular pressures associated with inhalational and mixed anesthetic agents currently used in ophthalmic surgery

Purpose: The aim of this study was to measure changes in intraocular pressures (IOPs) associated with inhalational and mixed anesthetic agents currently used for general anesthesia (GA) in ophthalmic surgery. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 48 eyes from 48 consecutive subjects that underwent ophthalmic surgery under GA were included. Mixed anesthetics were used in 26 eyes and sevoflurane in 22 eyes. IOPs of the nonsurgery eyes were recorded at T1 (5 min before induction of anesthesia), T2 (5 min after intubation), and T3 (at the conclusion of surgery before extudation) using ICare PRO and Perkins tonometers. Linear mixed-effects models were used to compare differences in IOPs at various time points. Outcome measures were changes in IOP after induction of GA, intubation, and just before extubation and comparisons of decreases in IOPs induced by sevoflurane and mixed anesthetics. Results: Mean preanesthesia IOP for patients in this study (mean age ± standard deviation = 26.9 ± 18.3 years; range: 5–70 years) was 17.9 ± 4.9 (range: 10–30) mm Hg. There was a significant decrease in the mean IOP (standard error (SE) (in mm Hg) at T2 (Perkins: –4.65 (0.57); ICare PRO: –5.16 (0.56) and T3 (Perkins: –5.63; ICare PRO: –5.36) as compared to the IOP at T1 (P < 0.001). The decreases in IOPs at T2 and T3 were similar in both anesthetic groups (T2:P = 0.60; T3: P = 0.33). Conclusion: Significant decreases in IOPs after GA were observed and the differences were not significantly different between sevoflurane and mixed anesthetic agents. For management decisions in pediatric glaucoma, the IOP measurements under GA are crucial, the underestimation of IOP as noted with currently used anesthetic agents has to be accounted for and decisions are taken appropriately.
Modeling the catalyst selectivity in the ethylene epoxidation reaction : a first principles study

S ri e o l a re n d o i i z S a t n u r e d t i n A I v a a l n o z u a c t S i-m a a z p n e e r c s s o eg n u o i c r e v i e rtut Modeling the catalyst selectivity in the ethylene epoxidation reaction A first principles study Thesis submitted for the degree of
Validation of the Workplace Integrated Safety and Health (WISH) assessment in a sample of nursing homes using Item Response Theory (IRT) methods

Objectives To validate and test the dimensionality of six constructs from the Workplace Integrated Safety and Health (WISH) assessment, an instrument that assesses the extent to which organisations implement integrated systems approaches for protecting and promoting worker health, safety and well-being, in a sample of nursing homes in the USA. Design Validation of an assessment scale using data from a cross-sectional survey. Setting Nursing homes certified by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare services in three states of the USA: Ohio, California and Massachusetts. Participants 569 directors of nursing from nursing homes serving adults and with more than 30 beds participated in the study. Results Graded response Item Response Theory (IRT) models showed that five out of six constructs were unidimensional based on balanced interpretation of model fit statistics—M2 or C2 with p value >0.05, Comparative Fit Index >0.95, lower bound of the root mean squared error of approximation 90% CI <0.06 and standardised root mean square residual <0.08. Overall measure and construct reliability ranged from acceptable to good. Category boundary location parameters indicated that items were most informative for respondents in lower range of latent scores (ie, β1, β2, β3 typically below 0). A few items were recommended to be dropped from future administrations of the instrument based on empirical and substantive interpretation. Conclusions The WISH instrument has utility to understand to what extent organisations integrate protection and promotion of worker health, safety and well-being; however, it is most informative in organisations that present lower scores.