Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of screen time in the clinical outcome of therapy in children with Autism spectrum disorder and social communication disorder

Children of present day are exposed to excessive screen time from a very young age itself. Among the factors which contribute to this is easy accessibility to gadgets, nuclear families with less support for childrearing due to parental preoccupation, etc. Though there are studies addressing the association between screen time and health effects, there isn’t’ any study addressing the effect of screen time on progress of therapy session in children with special needs, especially Autism or social communication disorders. For the present study, we enrolled children between 2-5years with ASD / SCD and assessed their initial problems and improvement post interventions with ATEC scoring. They were questioned about the screen time their children were exposed initially as well as at the end of training duration and were grouped as <1 hour and >1 hour. Following complete assessment using all the required tools, the children were given all the required standardised therapies according to our unit protocol for ASD and SCD, respectively. This includes sessions of Occupational therapy, speech therapy, ABA, etc. for 6 months. The effect of the sessions in the form of improvement in ATEC scores- total and individual domain scores of both ASD and SCD children were correlated with the screen time exposure and assessed for significance. 70 % of the kids with special needs (ASD& SCD) had media exposure >1 hours in the first year itself and were continuing at >2 hour/day. The present study showed that screen time has significant negative influence affecting improvement following therapies in both ASD and SCD. But ASD children seem to be more affected than SCD. ATEC scoring may be used in both ASD and SCD for follow-up assessment. However, this may require a larger sample for further validation. We caution the use of low quality Screen media intervention in therapy sessions or home for engaging these 2 groups of children.
Interactive robots with model-based ‘autism-like’ behaviors

Abstract Due to their predictability, controllability, and simple social abilities, robots are starting to be used in diverse ways to assist individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In this work, we investigate an alternative and novel research direction for using robots in relation to ASD, through programming a humanoid robot to exhibit behaviors similar to those observed in children with ASD. We designed 16 ‘autism-like’ behaviors of different severities on a NAO robot, based on ADOS-2, the gold standard for ASD diagnosis. Our behaviors span four dimensions, verbal and non-verbal, and correspond to a spectrum of typical ASD responses to 3 different stimulus families inspired by standard diagnostic tasks. We integrated these behaviors in an autonomous agent running on the robot, with which humans can continuously interact through predefined stimuli. Through user-controllable features, we allow for 256 unique customizations of the robot’s behavioral profile.We evaluated the validity of our interactive robot both in video-based and ‘in situ’ studies with 3 therapists. We also present subjective evaluations on the potential benefits of such robots to complement existing therapist training, as well as to enable novel tasks for ASD therapy.
High Intensity Functional Training (HIFT) and competitions: How motives differ by length of participation

High Intensity Functional Training (HIFT) is a unique fitness method that promotes an active lifestyle and has seen exponential and continual growth over the last two decades. Motivation to exercise is likely to change over time as individuals’ motives to initiate exercise may be different than those which motivate them to maintain an exercise program. The purpose of this study was to examine the motivational factors reported by individuals who actively engage in HIFT with varying length of participation and competition levels. 737 adults (32.4 ± 8.2 years) with more than three-months of HIFT experience completed an online version of the Exercise Motivation Inventory (EMI-2) survey. Those who had greater length of participation reported more motives associated with relatedness (i.e., affiliation, competition) and enjoyment, while those with less HIFT participation were more motivated by body-related variables (i.e., weight management). Further, motivational variables (e.g., social recognition, affiliation, challenge) varied depending on whether or not individuals had competed in an online qualifier. Understanding these differences in motivation may aid in exercise promotion, initiation, and adherence, and moreover promote long-term physical and mental health benefits.
The utility of genomic public databases to mitochondrial haplotyping in contemporary Mestizo population of Mexican origin

Abstract There are different public databases and open access information that can be exploited to be reused in different research projects. With this concept in mind, we carried out a study to answer the question about the prevalence of haplogroups in human populations of modern Mexico. Since the publication of genomic and mitochondrial data in Latin American populations are very scarce and with very small samples, our work proposes to consider the availability of genomic and genetic data collections that can be reused for other purposes, different from those initially proposed in the investigations where the sequences were obtained. The objective of the present study was to explore the population structure of Mexico using available information in the public database. Through the search of information in the nucleotide database of National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of complete sequences of mitochondrial genome (16 Kb) of indigenous people, Mexican Mestizo population and Mexican-Americans living in the United States, they were classified according to the polymorphisms associated with haplogroups A, B, C and D reported in the literature as the most frequent. We obtained 283 sequences, of which 255 were selected with the criteria mentioned. The haplotyping results showed 113 different clades and subclades distributed in a general way in eight haplogroups. The most frequent groups that dominate the population were the haplogroup A with 90 individuals representing 36%, followed by haplogroup B in 65 individuals representing 26% of the sample.
Effect of Process Parameters and High-Temperature Preheating on Residual Stress and Relative Density of Ti6Al4V Processed by Selective Laser Melting

The aim of this study is to observe the effect of process parameters on residual stresses and relative density of Ti6Al4V samples produced by Selective Laser Melting. The investigated parameters were hatch laser power, hatch laser velocity, border laser velocity, high-temperature preheating and time delay. Residual stresses were evaluated by the bridge curvature method and relative density by the optical method. The effect of the observed process parameters was estimated by the design of experiment and surface response methods. It was found that for an effective residual stress reduction, the high preheating temperature was the most significant parameter. High preheating temperature also increased the relative density but caused changes in the chemical composition of Ti6Al4V unmelted powder. Chemical analysis proved that after one build job with high preheating temperature, oxygen and hydrogen content exceeded the ASTM B348 limits for Grade 5 titanium.
Interactions between Membrane Resistance, GABA-A Receptor Properties, Bicarbonate Dynamics and Cl−-Transport Shape Activity-Dependent Changes of Intracellular Cl− Concentration

The effects of ionotropic γ-aminobutyric acid receptor (GABA-A, GABAA) activation depends critically on the Cl−-gradient across neuronal membranes. Previous studies demonstrated that the intracellular Cl−-concentration ([Cl−]i) is not stable but shows a considerable amount of activity-dependent plasticity. To characterize how membrane properties and different molecules that are directly or indirectly involved in GABAergic synaptic transmission affect GABA-induced [Cl−]i changes, we performed compartmental modeling in the NEURON environment. These simulations demonstrate that GABA-induced [Cl−]i changes decrease at higher membrane resistance, revealing a sigmoidal dependency between both parameters. Increase in GABAergic conductivity enhances [Cl−]i with a logarithmic dependency, while increasing the decay time of GABAA receptors leads to a nearly linear enhancement of the [Cl−]i changes. Implementing physiological levels of HCO3−-conductivity to GABAA receptors enhances the [Cl−]i changes over a wide range of [Cl−]i, but this effect depends on the stability of the HCO3− gradient and the intracellular pH. Finally, these simulations show that pure diffusional Cl−-elimination from dendrites is slow and that a high activity of Cl−-transport is required to improve the spatiotemporal restriction of GABA-induced [Cl−]i changes. In summary, these simulations revealed a complex interplay between several key factors that influence GABA-induced [Cl]i changes. The results suggest that some of these factors, including high resting [Cl−]i, high input resistance, slow decay time of GABAA receptors and dynamic HCO3− gradient, are specifically adapted in early postnatal neurons to facilitate limited activity-dependent [Cl−]i decreases.
Vestibular stimulation induced alteration in glutamate levels improves memory and anxiety scores in scopolamine induced dementia rats

Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter which is essential for cognition but, at the same time, a neurotoxin if accumulated beyond a certain level. The derangement of glutamate level in brain is closely associatedwith Alzheimer’s disease. Vestibular stimulation is known to stabilize various neuro-chemical transmission in central nervous system, especially effective in enhancing acetyl choline level and reduction of acetyl cholinesterase level. So the current study has undertaken to evaluate glutamate level in dementia and vestibular stimulation groups and its role in improving memory and anxiety scores. In the present study, 32 Wistar rats were used. Scopolamine was used to induce dementia and caloric stimulation (bilateral, unilateral right and unilateral left) was used stimulate vestibular system. Behavioral parameters like water maze used to asses memory and elevated plus maze was used to assess anxiety in our study. Glutamate was quanti ied by spectro lurimetry and histopathology of hippocampus and cortex were assessed. Caloric vestibular stimulation effectively reduced glutamate level near to normal values and this result re lected in increased memory scores in water maze and increased exploratory activities in elevated plus maze. Especially unilateral left vestibular stimulation has found bene icial in reducing glutamate level. All these positive outcomes have proven that vestibular stimulation can increase memory and anxiety scores in dementia and thereby can be used as an alternative therapy in this ield. Further animal studies and human studies are needed to dig deep into the molecular mechanisms behind its actions.
Periodontal Disease: A Risk Factor for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease, initiated by the presence of a bacterial biofilm, called dental plaque, which affects both the periodontal ligaments and bone surrounding teeth. In the last decades, several lines of evidence have supported the existence of a relationship between periodontitis and systemic health. For instance, as periodontitis acts within the same chronic inflammatory model seen in cardiovascular disease (CVD), or other disorders, such as diabetes, several studies have suggested the existence of a bi-directional link between periodontal health and these pathologies. For instance, people with diabetes are more susceptible to infections and are more likely to suffer from periodontitis than people without this syndrome. Analogously, it is now evident that cardiac disorders are worsened by periodontitis, both experimentally and in humans. For all these reasons, it is very plausible that preventing periodontitis has an impact on the onset or progression of CVD and diabetes. On these grounds, in this review, we have provided an updated account on the current knowledge concerning periodontal disease and the adverse effects exerted on the cardiovascular system health and diabetes, informing readers on the most recent preclinical studies and epidemiological evidence.
Doctor Consultation through Mobile Applications in India: An Overview, Challenges and the Way Forward

Objectives To layout mHealth (mobile health) applications operating in India with the facility of either online doctor consultation or offline doctor appointment booking. Methods A cross-sectional, observational and web-based study was conducted. We searched the Google Play Store with the search strategy “health apps in India”. In the results, 250 applications (apps) appeared. Out of 250 apps, finally, 22 apps were found to be providing online doctor consultation and/or doctor appointment booking-related services. Results Among the selected mHealth apps operating in India and providing doctor consultation-related services online/offline, Practo, mfine, DocsApp, 1mg, Netmeds, Lybrate, MediBuddy, and Medlife were found to be the eight most popular ones with over a million downloads and on average four-plus user rating out of five. Practo, mfine, and Lybrate offer doctor consultation through chat, audio, and video calling. Netmeds and DocsApp offer doctor consultation through both chat and audio call. 1mg offers free chat consultation, while MediBuddy and Medlife offer audio call consultation only. Considering booking doctor appointments for offline consultation, Practo, mfine, 1mg, and Lybrate only offer this facility among the eight most popular selected mHealth apps. Conclusions mHealth apps providing doctor consultation are gaining popularity in India, and they have enormous potential in the country. The government should make enabling policies to facilitate and popularise mHealth apps.
Fearful-Avoidant Attachment: A Specific Impact on Sexuality?

Abstract In this study, we investigated sexual outcomes in individuals presenting fearful-avoidant attachment, that is, those who have both high avoidant and anxious attachment tendencies (reluctant to engage in a close relationship and a dire need to be loved by others). A community sample of men and women (N = 600; 25–45 years) completed self-reported questionnaires related to attachment, sexuality, and control variables. Results showed that fearful avoidance is predictive of (a) more sexual partners in individuals during their lifetime and (b) greater sexual compliance. These effects were true for women as well as for men.
Reflective functioning in fathers with young children born preterm and at term

ABSTRACT The present study assessed 322 parents of 173 children aged between 12 and 20 months (74 children born preterm) with the Parent Development Interview (PDI) to capture parents’ Reflective Functioning (RF). RF scores were obtained, and topics were disclosed, for which modeling with Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) was applied. The study addressed (a) whether RF scores differed between fathers of children born preterm and at term, and diverged from the mothers’ RF and, (b) whether topics on fathers’ minds differed regarding parenting preterm or at-term children, and diverged from topics on parenting raised by mothers. Results indicated that parents of at-term children revealed similar RF scores, though fathers of children born preterm scored lower than mothers of children born preterm. Whereas fathers’ RF scores were associated with topics about the paternal role, interests and activities, mothers’ RF was related to concerns about how to meet the child’s needs.
The association of six-minutes walking test (6MWT) with cardiovascular disease risk among older women with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a rural primary health care: a pilot observational study

The recent systematic review found that cardiovascular events contributed to approximately half of all deaths among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Several studies suggested that the six-minutes walking test (6MWT) could be a valuable prognostic tool for predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in particular diseases. However, less is known concerning the role of 6MWT in predicting CVD events among patients with T2DM. Thus, this pilot observational study aimed to test the feasibility of conducting the 6MWT and to examine the association of measures collected during 6MWT with ASCVD risk estimator parameters for predicting CVD events among T2DM patients. Fourteen older women with T2DM in a rural primary health care were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Blood pressure measurement, heart rate measurement, and blood sampling for HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol measurements were carried out during rest. Both heart rate and distance were measured at the end of the following 6MWT. Feasibility data were collected. Recruitment rate and measurement completion rate were 85.7% and 40% respectively. No adverse events during the 6MWT were reported. Patient’s heart rate at the end of 6MWT was correlated with diastolic blood pressure (r=0.5 p=0.48). Multivariate analyses suggested that every one-meter increase in distance of 6MWT, there is a decrease in diastolic blood pressure of -0.9 mmHg (p=0.01; 95% CI= -1.6 to -0.2). In conclusion, 6MWT is a feasible simple test which could provide a valuable prediction of ASCVD risk among older women with T2DM. Thus, this test should be considered to be conducted as a part of routine examination. Cohort study with a larger sample could be suggested to establish the usefulness of the 6MWT in predicting CVD risk.
The transcriptome analysis of Protaetia brevitarsis Lewis larvae

Larvae of the pest Protaetia brevitarsis are used to treat infections in traditional Chinese medicine. However, genomic information about this non-model species is currently lacking. To better understand the fundamental biology of this non-model species, its transcriptome was obtained using next generation sequencing and then analyzed. A total of 7.62 Gb of clean reads were obtained, which were assembled into 169,087 transcripts corresponding to 142,000 annotated unigenes. These unigenes were functionally classified according to Gene Ontology (GO), euKaryotic Ortholog Groups of proteins (KOG), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotations. A total of 41,921 unigenes were assigned to 56 GO terms, 21,454 unigenes were divided among 26 KOG categories, and 16,368 unigenes were assigned to 32 KEGG pathways. In addition, 19,144 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified. Furthermore, several kinds of natural antimicrobial peptides and proteins, 4 histones with potential antimicrobial activity, and 41 potential antimicrobial peptide sequences were identified. These data are the first reported whole transcriptome sequence of P. brevitarsis larvae, which represents a valuable genomic resource for studying this species, thus promoting the utilization of its medical potential.
FOTOKATALITIČKA RAZGRADNJA NAPROKSENA MEŠAVINOM ZnO/TiO2 NANOČESTIČNOG PRAHA

In this paper, the efficiency of photocatalytic degradation of naproxen in the aqueous medium using photocatalysts based on ZnO/In2O3 nanoparticle powder which is activated by UV radiation, has been examined. The results indicates the justification of the combination of zinc oxide with titanium dioxide in order to increase the efficiency of the photocatalytic decomposition process of naproxen and opens the prospect that some other mixtures could also improve these results.
The presence of anti-neutrophil extracellular trap antibody in patients with microscopic polyangiitis.

OBJECTIVE Although ANCA is the major autoantibody in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis, previous studies have suggested the presence of anti-neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) antibody in patients with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), one type of ANCA-associated vasculitis. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence and pathogenic role of anti-NET antibody (ANETA) in MPA. METHODS We examined the presence or absence of ANETA in sera obtained from 19 MPA patients by indirect immunofluorescence. We compared the clinical parameters, including age, sex, MPO-ANCA, creatinine, CRP, MPO-DNA complexes and vasculitis activity, in ANETA-positive and ANETA-negative MPA patients. We investigated the serum NET induction and degradation abilities of ANETA-positive and ANETA-negative MPA patients with reference to healthy controls (n = 8). Furthermore, we assessed the relationship between ANETA and the effect of IgG depletion on the serum NET degradation ability. RESULTS ANETA was present in 10 of the 19 MPA patients. There was no significant difference in the clinical parameters in ANCA-positive and ANCA-negative MPA patients. Although the NET induction ability was higher and the NET degradation ability was lower in MPA sera than those in healthy controls, these abilities were not different between ANETA-positive and ANETA-negative MPA sera. Interestingly, the NET degradation ability in some sera with ANETA was markedly increased by IgG depletion. CONCLUSION Some MPA patients produce ANETA and some ANETA possess an inhibitory function against the serum NET degradation ability. Although further studies are needed, ANETA is worthy of attention in order to understand the pathophysiology of MPA.
Chromone-Derived Polyketides from the Deep-Sea Fungus Diaporthe phaseolorum FS431

Five new chromone-derived polyketides phaseolorins A-F (1–5), together with nine known compounds, were isolated from the deep-sea derived fungus Diaporthe phaseolorum FS431. The structures of new compounds were determined by analysis of their NMR and high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (HRESIMS) spectroscopic data. The absolute configurations were confirmed by chemical transformations, extensively experimental electron capture detection (ECD) calculations, or X-ray crystallography. Among them, compound 2 represented the first example for a new family of chromone derivative possessing an unprecedented recombined five-member γ-lactone ring. Moreover, the new compounds (1–5) were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxic activities against a panel of human cancer cell lines.