Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Postprandial Responses to a Standardised Meal in Hypertension: The Mediatory Role of Visceral Fat Mass

Postprandial insulinaemia, triglyceridaemia and measures of inflammation are thought to be more closely associated with cardiovascular risk than fasting measures. Although hypertension is associated with altered fasting metabolism, it is unknown as to what extent postprandial lipaemic and inflammatory metabolic responses differ between hypertensive and normotensive individuals. Linear models adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), visceral fat mass (VFM) and multiple testing (false discovery rate), were used to investigate whether hypertensive cases and normotensive controls had different fasting and postprandial (in response to two standardised test meal challenges) lipaemic, glycaemic, insulinaemic, and inflammatory (glycoprotein acetylation (GlycA)) responses in 989 participants from the ZOE PREDICT-1 nutritional intervention study. Compared to normotensive controls, hypertensive individuals had significantly higher fasting and postprandial insulin, triglycerides, and markers of inflammation after adjusting for age, sex, and BMI (effect size: Beta (Standard Error) ranging from 0.17 (0.08), p = 0.04 for peak insulin to 0.29 (0.08), p = 4.4 × 10−4 for peak GlycA). No difference was seen for postprandial glucose. When further adjusting for VFM effects were attenuated. Causal mediation analysis suggests that 36% of the variance in postprandial insulin response and 33.8% of variance in postprandial triglyceride response were mediated by VFM. Hypertensive individuals have different postprandial insulinaemic and lipaemic responses compared to normotensive controls and this is partially mediated by visceral fat mass. Consequently, reducing VFM should be a key focus of health interventions in hypertension. Trial registration: The ClinicalTrials.gov registration identifier is NCT03479866.
Structural and magnetic properties of Mn-implanted Si

Structural and magnetic properties in Mn-implanted, p-type Si were investigated. High resolution structural analysis techniques such as synchrotron x-ray diffraction revealed the formation of MnSi{sub 1.7} nanoparticles already in the as-implanted samples. Depending on the Mn fluence, the size increases from 5 nm to 20 nm upon rapid thermal annealing. No significant evidence is found for Mn substituting Si sites either in the as-implanted or annealed samples. The observed ferromagnetism yields a saturation moment of 0.21{mu}{sub B} per implanted Mn at 10 K, which could be assigned to MnSi{sub 1.7} nanoparticles as revealed by a temperature-dependent magnetization measurement.
The Role of Diet and Dietary Patterns in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with diminished nutrition status and decreased quality of life. While the prevalence of PD is expected to increase, no preventative or curative therapy for PD exists at this time. Although nutrition and diet represent modifiable risk factors for reducing chronic disease risk, research on the impact of single nutrients on PD has yielded mixed results. As a result, this single-nutrient approach may be the driving force behind the inconsistency, and a holistic dietary approach may overcome this inconsistency by accounting for the interactions between nutrients. The following review aims to examine the impact of a generally healthy dietary pattern, the protein-restricted diet (PRD), the ketogenic diet (KD), the Mediterranean diet (MD), and the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet on PD risk, progression, and severity. While most of the included studies support the role of diet and dietary patterns in reducing the risk of PD or alleviating PD severity, the inconsistent results and need for further evidence necessitate more research being conducted before making dietary recommendations. Research on the potential beneficial effects of dietary patterns on PD should also investigate potential risks.
Assessment Tasks and Virtual Exergames for Remote Monitoring of Parkinson’s Disease: An Integrated Approach Based on Azure Kinect

Motor impairments are among the most relevant, evident, and disabling symptoms of Parkinson’s disease that adversely affect quality of life, resulting in limited autonomy, independence, and safety. Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of physiotherapy and rehabilitation programs specifically targeted to the needs of Parkinsonian patients in supporting drug treatments and improving motor control and coordination. However, due to the expected increase in patients in the coming years, traditional rehabilitation pathways in healthcare facilities could become unsustainable. Consequently, new strategies are needed, in which technologies play a key role in enabling more frequent, comprehensive, and out-of-hospital follow-up. The paper proposes a vision-based solution using the new Azure Kinect DK sensor to implement an integrated approach for remote assessment, monitoring, and rehabilitation of Parkinsonian patients, exploiting non-invasive 3D tracking of body movements to objectively and automatically characterize both standard evaluative motor tasks and virtual exergames. An experimental test involving 20 parkinsonian subjects and 15 healthy controls was organized. Preliminary results show the system’s ability to quantify specific and statistically significant (p < 0.05) features of motor performance, easily monitor changes as the disease progresses over time, and at the same time permit the use of exergames in virtual reality both for training and as a support for motor condition assessment (for example, detecting an average reduction in arm swing asymmetry of about 14% after arm training). The main innovation relies precisely on the integration of evaluative and rehabilitative aspects, which could be used as a closed loop to design new protocols for remote management of patients tailored to their actual conditions.
A Curved Magnetic Field in the Ring-like Shell of Bubble N4

We report the detection of a curved magnetic field in the ring-like shell of the bubble N4, derived from near-infrared polarization of reddened diskless stars located behind this bubble. The magnetic field in the shell is curved and parallel to the ring-like shell, and its strength is estimated to be in the plane of the sky. The magnetic field strength in the shell is significantly enhanced compared to the local field strength. We calculate the mass-to-flux ratio for the submillimeter clumps in the shell and find that they are all magnetically subcritical. Our results demonstrate that the magnetic field strengthens as the interstellar medium is compressed into a shell, and suggest that the magnetic field has the potential to hinder star formation triggered by H ii region expansion.
Association of Clinical Features with Spike Glycoprotein Mutations in Iranian COVID-19 Patients

Background: Mutations in spike glycoprotein, a critical protein of SARS-CoV-2, could directly impact pathogenicity and virulence. The D614G mutation, a non-synonymous mutation at position 614 of the spike glycoprotein, is a predominant variant circulating worldwide. This study investigated the occurrence of mutations in the crucial zone of the spike gene and the association of clinical symptoms with spike mutations in isolated viruses from Iranian patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the second and third waves of the COVID-19 epidemic in Isfahan, the third-largest city in Iran. Methods: The extracted RNA from 60 nasopharyngeal samples of COVID-19 patients were subjected to cDNA synthesis and RT-PCR (in three overlapping fragments). Each patient’s reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products were assembled and sequenced. Information and clinical features of all sixty patients were collected, summarized, and analyzed using the GENMOD procedure of SAS 9.4. Results: Analysis of 60 assembled sequences identified nine nonsynonymous mutations. The D614G mutation has the highest frequency among the amino acid changes. In our study, in 31 patients (51.66%), D614G mutation was determined. For all the studied symptoms, no significant relationship was observed with the incidence of D614G mutation. Conclusions: D614G, a common mutation among several of the variants of SARS-CoV-2, had the highest frequency among the studied sequences and its frequency increased significantly in the samples of the third wave compared to the samples of the second wave of the disease.
Pacific identity discourses on Twitter: constructing cyberspaces of belonging

ABSTRACT This article investigates the performance of Pacific identities on Twitter during a high-profile cultural and sporting event, Tonga and Australia’s first-ever rugby league test match in late 2018. More than 9000 tweets were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods to map different publics orienting to the event on Twitter, including a Pacific diasporic public that emerged through locative practices of identity and cultural performance. This study finds that Pacific users’ tweets were differentiated by textual and visual cues, including the use of emojis as a paralanguage of Pacificness and a racialised visual discourse of ‘Brownness’, in ways that suggest an emerging Pacific counter-public. The findings discussed here further demonstrate the ways in which social media affordances enable the construction of race and ethnicity online, and the ways in which marginalised groups are using social media to create alternative public spheres. This study also demonstrates the importance of looking more closely at the different discursive practices within Twitter public to both foreground marginalised groups’ practice and de-Westernise social media studies.
The Comparative Evaluation of Postoperative Pain After the Use of WaveOne Gold and TruNatomy Filing Systems in a Tooth With Irreversible Pulpitis: An Observational Study

Introduction The present study aimed to clinically compare the incidence of postoperative pain after the endodontic treatment of posterior teeth using the WaveOne Gold (WOG) and TruNatomy (Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) filing systems. The study gives a better understanding of the association of postoperative pain and filing systems used. The patients were selected in such a manner that they have a similar diagnosis before the initiation of treatment. It also helps to understand if the postoperative pain is dependent or independent of the filing system used. Methods In the study, 32 vital teeth with irreversible pulpitis with no periapical lesion were selected for the study. The patients were divided into two groups (n=16) according to the instrumentation system used (WaveOne Gold group and TruNatomy group). The treatments were performed in a single session. The participants were asked to rate the intensity of postoperative pain on a visual analog scale (VAS) (no pain, mild pain, moderate pain, and severe pain) after 24 hours, 72 hours, and seven days; the tests of significance used are Friedman test or Mann-Whitney test. Results The incidence of postoperative pain is comparatively less in WaveOne Gold group after 24 and 72 hours compared with those in the TruNatomy group. No postoperative pain is experienced after seven days by the participants of both groups. Conclusions Postoperative pain is expected more after the preparation of the root canal system with the TruNatomy as compared to WaveOne Gold.
Polygodial, a Sesquiterpene Dialdehyde, Activates Apoptotic Signaling in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Cell Lines by Inducing Oxidative Stress

Simple Summary Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. The emergence of resistance to androgen deprivation therapy results in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) development. Taxanes are diterpene compounds approved to treat hormonal-resistant PCa. CRPC patients treated with taxanes show poor outcomes. Polygodial (PG) is a natural sesquiterpene compound isolated from water pepper (Persicaria hydropiper), Dorrigo pepper (Tasmannia stipitata), and mountain pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata), which has shown to exhibit anticancer properties. PG robustly inhibits the viability, colony formation, and migration of taxane-resistant CRPC (PC3-TXR and DU145-TXR) cell lines. Additionally, our data show that PG promotes anoikis and induces cell cycle arrest at the G0 phase in PCa cells. Our results reveal that PG induces oxidative stress and activates apoptosis in drug-resistant CRPC cell lines. Altogether, our data suggest that the anticancer activity of PG is via the induction of apoptosis in CRPC cells. Abstract Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. Surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and androgen deprivation therapy are currently the standard treatment options for PCa. These have poor outcomes and result in the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), which is the foremost underlying cause of mortality associated with PCa. Taxanes, diterpene compounds approved to treat hormonal refractory PCa, show poor outcomes in CRPC. Polygodial (PG) is a natural sesquiterpene isolated from water pepper (Persicaria hydropiper), Dorrigo pepper (Tasmannia stipitata), and mountain pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata). Previous reports show that PG has an anticancer effect. Our results show that PG robustly inhibits the cell viability, colony formation, and migration of taxane-resistant CRPC cell lines and induces cell cycle arrest at the G0 phase. A toxicity investigation shows that PG is not toxic to primary human hepatocytes, 3T3-J2 fibroblast co-cultures, and non-cancerous BPH-1 cells, implicating that PG is innocuous to healthy cells. In addition, PG induces oxidative stress and activates apoptosis in drug-resistant PCa cell lines. Our mechanistic evaluation by a proteome profiler–human apoptotic array in PC3-TXR cells shows that PG induces upregulation of cytochrome c and caspase-3 and downregulation of antiapoptotic markers. Western blot analysis reveals that PG activates apoptotic and DNA damage markers in PCa cells. Our results suggest that PG exhibits its anticancer effect by promoting reactive oxygen species generation and induction of apoptosis in CRPC cells.
Addressing Noise and Estimating Uncertainty in Biomedical Data through the Exploration of Chemical Space

Noise is a basic ingredient in data, since observed data are always contaminated by unwanted deviations, i.e., noise, which, in the case of overdetermined systems (with more data than model parameters), cause the corresponding linear system of equations to have an imperfect solution. In addition, in the case of highly underdetermined parameterization, noise can be absorbed by the model, generating spurious solutions. This is a very undesirable situation that might lead to incorrect conclusions. We presented mathematical formalism based on the inverse problem theory combined with artificial intelligence methodologies to perform an enhanced sampling of noisy biomedical data to improve the finding of meaningful solutions. Random sampling methods fail for high-dimensional biomedical problems. Sampling methods such as smart model parameterizations, forward surrogates, and parallel computing are better suited for such problems. We applied these methods to several important biomedical problems, such as phenotype prediction and a problem related to predicting the effects of protein mutations, i.e., if a given single residue mutation is neutral or deleterious, causing a disease. We also applied these methods to de novo drug discovery and drug repositioning (repurposing) through the enhanced exploration of huge chemical space. The purpose of these novel methods that address the problem of noise and uncertainty in biomedical data is to find new therapeutic solutions, perform drug repurposing, and accelerate and optimize drug discovery, thus reestablishing homeostasis. Finding the right target, the right compound, and the right patient are the three bottlenecks to running successful clinical trials from the correct analysis of preclinical models. Artificial intelligence can provide a solution to these problems, considering that the character of the data restricts the quality of the prediction, as in any modeling procedure in data analysis. The use of simple and plain methodologies is crucial to tackling these important and challenging problems, particularly drug repositioning/repurposing in rare diseases.
Iterative Inversion of Focusing Operators

The estimation of a velocity model is an important step in seismic imaging. To a large extend, seismic data interpretation is implicitly based on this model. Thus, the velocity model influences important conclusions such as size and shape of the reservoir and the expected volume of producible hydrocarbons. In the Common Focus Point (CFP) technology, the estimation of the velocity-depth model is split into two separate processes. First, one-way focusing operators are estimated from the seismic data. These focusing operators can be seen as the response of a secondary source (called a focal point) in the subsurface towards receivers at the surface, therefore they can be considered one-way Green's function of the subsurface. Second, these one-way operators are translated into a velocity-depth model via tomographic inversion. In this way, one complicated problem is split into two simpler problems. This thesis deals with the second step of this procedure, the inversion of the focusing operators with the goal of recovering the depth-velocity model of the subsurface. Therefore, the input of the inversion consists of the focusing operators, while the output are both the velocity model and the location of the focal points. We consider two options for the way these one-way focusing operators are defined: simple one-way traveltimes operators and one-way full waveform operators. The presented approach of one-way full waveform operator inversion can be seen as a way of accounting for the non-linearity between the measured data and the velocities in the subsurface. The low frequencies brought in the data will help in our challenge of obtaining accurate initial or background models.
Structural Determinants of Child Health in Rural China: The Challenge of Creating Health Equity

Over the past two decades, the literature has shown a clear gradient between child health and wealth. The same health–wealth gradient is also observed among children in China, with a large gap in health between rural and urban children. However, there are still unanswered questions about the main causes of China’s rural–urban child health inequality. This paper aims to review the major factors that have led to the relatively poor levels of health among China’s rural children. In addition to the direct income effect on children’s health, children in rural areas face disadvantages compared with their urban counterparts from the beginning of life: Prenatal care and infant health outcomes are worse in rural areas; rural caregivers have poor health outcomes and lack knowledge and support to provide adequate nurturing care to young children; there are large disparities in access to quality health care between rural and urban areas; and rural families are more likely to lack access to clean water and sanitation. In order to inform policies that improve health outcomes for the poor, there is a critical need for research that identifies the causal drivers of health outcomes among children. Strengthening the pediatric training and workforce in rural areas is essential to delivering quality health care for rural children. Other potential interventions include addressing the health needs of mothers and grandparent caregivers, improving parenting knowledge and nurturing care, improving access to clean water and sanitation for remote families, and most importantly, targeting poverty itself.
The SPLASH and Chandra COSMOS Legacy Survey: The Cross-power between Near-infrared and X-Ray Background Fluctuations

We study the source-subtracted near-infrared and X-ray background fluctuations of the COSMOS field using data from the Spitzer SPLASH program (∼1272 hr) and Chandra COSMOS Legacy Survey (4.6 Ms). The new auto-power spectra of the cosmic infrared and X-ray background fluctuations reach maximum angular scales of ∼3000″ and ∼5000″, respectively. We measure the cross-power spectra between each infrared and X-ray band and calculate the mean power above 20″. We find that the soft X-ray band is correlated with 3.6 and 4.5 μm at ∼4σ significance level. The significance between hard X-ray and the 3.6 μm (4.5 μm) band is ∼2. 2σ (∼3.8σ). The combined infrared (3.6 + 4.5 μm) data are correlated with the X-ray data in soft ([0.5–2] keV), hard ([2–7] keV), and broad ([0.5–7] keV) bands at ∼5. 6σ, ∼4. 4σ, and ∼6. 6σ levels, respectively. We compare the new measurements with existing models for the contributions from known populations at z < 7, which are not subtracted. The model predictions are consistent with the measurements, but we cannot rule out contributions from other components, such as Direct Collapse Black Holes (DCBH). However, the stacked cross-power spectra, combining other available data, show excess fluctuations about an order of magnitude on average at ∼4σ confidence at scales within ∼300″. By studying the X-ray SED of the cross-power signal, assuming no significant variation from the infrared, we find that its shape is consistent with DCBHs.
The Design of 3D-Printed Polylactic Acid–Bioglass Composite Scaffold: A Potential Implant Material for Bone Tissue Engineering

Bio-based and patient-specific three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds can present next generation strategies for bone tissue engineering (BTE) to treat critical bone size defects. In the present study, a composite filament of poly lactic acid (PLA) and 45S5 bioglass (BG) were used to 3D print scaffolds intended for bone tissue regeneration. The thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) technique was used to produce composite spheres that were extruded into a continuous filament to 3D print a variety of composite scaffolds. These scaffolds were analyzed for their macro- and microstructures, mechanical properties, in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo biocompatibility. The results show that the BG particles were homogeneously distributed within the PLA matrix and contributed to an 80% increase in the mechanical strength of the scaffolds. The in vitro cytotoxicity analysis of PLA-BG scaffolds using L929 mouse fibroblast cells confirmed their biocompatibility. During the in vivo studies, the population of the cells showed an elevated level of macrophages and active fibroblasts that are involved in collagen extracellular matrix synthesis. This study demonstrates successful processing of PLA-BG 3D-printed composite scaffolds and their potential as an implant material with a tunable pore structure and mechanical properties for regenerative bone tissue engineering.