Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementation science in nutrition: a summary and synthesis

Abstract Objective: This paper aimed to summarise and critically synthesise the key findings of the articles included in the supplement entitled ‘Nutrition Implementation Science: The Experience of a Large-Scale Home Fortification in Bangladesh’. Design: Commentary, summary and synthesis. Settings: Low- and middle-income country. Results: The supplement included six articles, including this summary paper. The second article presented an implementation science framework that facilitated conceptualising and evaluating the home-fortification programme in Bangladesh implemented by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). The framework encompasses five components: identifying an ‘effective’ intervention; scaling-up and implementation fidelity; course corrections during implementation and assessing the implementation’s effectiveness; promoting sustainability of interventions and consideration of a concurrent evaluation to identify ‘effective’ interventions and to assess the process and outcome indicators of implementation. The other four articles in this supplement addressed the different components of the framework. For example, the third article addressed the implementation fidelity of a home-fortification programme, and the fourth article described the use of concurrent evaluation to course correct the implementation plan that resulted in improved implementation fidelity. The fifth article explained the outcome of course correction in the programme coverage, and the sixth article described the cost-effectiveness of the BRAC home-fortification programme. Conclusions: Overall, the supplement provides a comprehensive understanding of nutrition implementation science, which is very new in the field. The lessons learned in this supplement may enhance the capacity of researchers, policymakers and key stakeholders in the nutrition field to scale up new nutrition interventions and sustain them until malnutrition is alleviated.
The multifaceted role of sortilin/neurotensin receptor 3 in human cancer development

Sortilin (also known as neurotensin receptor 3) is a multitasking protein implicated in numerous pathophysiological processes, including cancer development, cardiovascular impairment, Alzheimer‐type dementia, and depression. Although the definitive role of sortilin in human solid and hematological malignancies has been evidenced, few articles reviewed the task. The aim of the current review is to unravel the mechanisms by which sortilin controls oncogenicity and cancer progression; and also to summarize and discuss the original data obtained from international research laboratories on this topic. Questions on how sortilin is involving in the impairment of cell junctions, in exosomes composition and release, as well as in the regulation of epidermal growth factor receptor trafficking are also responded. In addition, we provide a special focus on the regulatory role of sortilin in signal transduction by either neurotrophins or neurotensin in normal and malignant cells. The relevance of sortilin with normal and cancer stem cells is also discussed. The last section provides a general overview of sortilin applications as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in the context of cancer detection. Finally, we comment on the future research aspects in which the field of cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy might be developed.
Associations between Frailty in Older Adults and Malnutrition in Rural Areas: 2019 Updated Version of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of frailty among an older adult population living in rural communities and to determine if frailty is associated with nutritional status after adjusting for sarcopenia and depression. Materials and Methods This research used baseline data from the Namgaram-2 study. Frailty was evaluated using the Kaigo-Yobo checklist in an older Korean population. The nutritional statuses of older people were measured using the Korean version of the mini nutritional assessment (MNA). The recent criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia were applied for diagnosis of sarcopenia, and depression was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form. Results The prevalence of frailty was 18.8% (male: 9.6%; female: 23.4%) and was significantly higher in individuals in their 80s [male, 35.3% (p<0.001); female, 42.3% (p<0.001)], those of poor economic status [male, 18.2% (p=0.012); female, 34.9% (p<0.001)], those with hypertension [female, 27.7% (p=0.008)], those with sarcopenia [male, 34.1% (p<0.001); female, 37.2% (p<0.001)], those with depression [male, 46.4% (p<0.001); female, 51.7% (p<0.001)], and those at high risk of malnutrition [male, 44.4% (p<0.001); female, 51.7% (p<0.001)]. After adjusting for demographic variables, including hypertension, diabetes, sarcopenia and depression, frailty was significantly associated with nutritional status [male: odds ratio (OR)=6.73, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.84–24.65; female: OR=4.83, 95% CI, 2.88–8.11]. Conclusion For older adults, MNA is a suitable tool of use in assessing both nutritional status and frailty. Moreover, the nutritional status of older adults appears to be associated with frailty, even after corrections for physical and psychological function.
The interaction of internal wave groups with a uniform sloping boundary

Abstract Internal wave groups are modified by reflection from a uniform slope. At small values of the azimuth angle, θI, of a group approaching a slope the group's volume is decreased on reflection, but at sufficiently large θI volume increases. Group shape is also generally changed on reflection. Wave breaking can be driven by resonant interactions between the incident and reflecting waves or through convective and Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (CI and KHI) of steepening internal waves. Breaking through resonant interactions can occur only in a boundary layer within which incident and reflected groups co-exist. This imposes conditions that depend on the dimensions of incident groups, which may be severe requiring extremely large aspect ratios and implying that in practice the breaking of internal waves in groups incident on or reflected from a slope through CI and KHI often contributes more than resonant wave–wave interactions to mixing near a sloping boundary. Wave breaking associated with self-induced instability of waves in groups will have a greater and possibly more extensive effect on the boundary layer over a slope when the direction in which groups of waves continue to break is close to the up-slope direction of the boundary in the plane of the waves, the effective slope. This is possible only at the small slope angles which are typical of the oceanic continental slopes. Over these slopes internal wave breaking may contribute significantly to the diapycnal mixing of the deep ocean.
Changes in Bacterial and Chemical Components and Growth Prediction for Lactobacillus sakei during Kimoto-Style Fermentation Starter Preparation in Sake Brewing: a Comprehensive Analysis

It is important to produce lactic acid in kimoto-style seed mash; however, the bacterial transition is different depending on the sake brewery. The reason why there are diverse bacterial transitions during kimoto-style seed mash preparation for each sake brewery is unclear so far, and it causes difficulty in starting kimoto-style seed mash. ABSTRACT Kimoto-style seed mash is a traditional preparation method for sake that takes advantage of spontaneous lactic acid fermentation before the growth of yeast. Lactic acid helps decrease the pH in seed mash and control the growth of unfavorable microorganisms. In this study, we carried out a comprehensive analysis of the change in the bacterial community and chemical composition during the lactic acid fermentation stage in kimoto-style seed mash preparation. The bacterial transitions were diverse at five sake breweries, but they exhibited three patterns. Lactobacillus sakei was the dominant species in the later stage of lactic acid fermentation in all sake breweries. This species was found to be the most important bacterium for the accumulation of lactic acid, because its average production rate of lactic acid in seed mash reached 4.44 × 10−11 mg cell−1 h−1, which is 10 times higher than those of other species. As a result of specific growth rate analysis, it was revealed that the growth rate of L. sakei was influenced by the strain, pH, and temperature. The effects of pH and temperature were explained by the square root model, and the result indicates that the strains isolated in this study were incapable of growth below pH 3.9. The growth curve predicted using the growth model fit the actual cell density in two out of five sake breweries; however, our model did not work well for the remaining three sake breweries, and we presume that the error was caused by the strain or an unknown factor. IMPORTANCE It is important to produce lactic acid in kimoto-style seed mash; however, the bacterial transition is different depending on the sake brewery. The reason why there are diverse bacterial transitions during kimoto-style seed mash preparation for each sake brewery is unclear so far, and it causes difficulty in starting kimoto-style seed mash. Our findings indicate that the changes in pH caused by lactic acid bacteria grown prior to L. sakei in seed mash influence the growth of L. sakei and are related to the diversity of the bacterial transition. This study uses comprehensive analytical methods to reveal that there is a diversity of bacterial transition and chemical compositions in kimoto-style seed mash depending on the sake brewery and to explain the differences in bacterial transition depending on the characteristics of L. sakei.
Listeria spp. Isolated from Tonsils of Wild Deer and Boars: Genomic Characterization

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne bacterial pathogen responsible for listeriosis. Whole-genome sequencing has been extensively used in public health and food industries to characterize circulating Listeria isolates, but genomic data on isolates occurring in natural environments and wild animals are still scarce. ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes is a major human and animal foodborne pathogen. However, data from environmental reservoirs remain scarce. Here, we used whole-genome sequencing to characterize Listeria species isolates recovered over 1 year from wild animals in their natural habitats in Spain. Three different Listeria spp. (L. monocytogenes [n = 19], Listeria ivanovii subsp. londoniensis [n = 4], and Listeria innocua [n = 3]) were detected in 23 animal tonsils (9 deer, 14 wild boars) and 2 feeding troughs. No Listeria species was detected in feces. L. monocytogenes was detected in tonsils of 44.4% (8 out of 18) of deer and 40.7% (11 out of 27) of wild boars. L. monocytogenes isolates belonged to 3 different core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) types (CTs) of 3 distinct sublineages (SL1, SL387, and SL155) from lineages I and II. While cgMLST type L1-SL1-ST1-CT5279 (IVb; clonal complex 1 [CC1]) occurred only in one animal, types L1-SL387-ST388-CT5239 (IVb; CC388) and L2-SL155-ST155-CT1170 (IIa; CC155) were retrieved from multiple animals. In addition, L1-SL387-ST388-CT5239 (IVb; CC388) isolates were collected 1 year apart, revealing their long-term occurrence within the animal population and/or environmental reservoir. The presence of identical L. monocytogenes strains in deer and wild boars suggests contamination from a common food or environmental source, although interhost transmission cannot be excluded. Pathogenicity islands LIPI-1, LIPI-3, and LIPI-4 were present in 100%, 5%, and 79% of the L. monocytogenes isolates, respectively, and all L. monocytogenes lineage II isolates (n = 3) carried SSI-1 stress islands. This study highlights the need for monitoring L. monocytogenes environmental contamination and the importance of tonsils as a possible L. monocytogenes intrahost reservoir. IMPORTANCE Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne bacterial pathogen responsible for listeriosis. Whole-genome sequencing has been extensively used in public health and food industries to characterize circulating Listeria isolates, but genomic data on isolates occurring in natural environments and wild animals are still scarce. Here, we show that wild animals carry pathogenic Listeria and that the same genotypes can be found at different time points in different host species. This work highlights the need of Listeria species monitoring of environmental contamination and the importance of tonsils as a possible L. monocytogenes intrahost reservoir.
Radiosynthesis of a novel potential adenosine A3 receptor ligand, 5-ethyl 2,4-diethyl-3-((2-[18F]fluoroethyl)sulfanylcarbonyl)-6-phenylpyridine-5-carboxylate ([18F]FE@SUPPY:2)

Abstract Since, to date very limited information on the distribution and function of the adenosine A3 receptor is available, the development of suitable radioligands is needed. Recently, we introduced [ 18F]FE@SUPPY (5-(2-[ 18F]fluoroethyl) 2,4-diethyl-3-(ethylsulfanylcarbonyl)-6-phenylpyridine-5-carboxylate) as the first PET-ligand for the A3R. Regarding the metabolic profile – this class of dialkylpyridines comprises two ester functions within one molecule, one carboxylic and one thiocarboxylic – one could expect carboxylesterases significantly contributing to cleavage and degradation. Therefore, our aim was the development of [ 18F]FE@SUPPY:2 (5-ethyl 2,4-diethyl-3-((2-[ 18F]fluoroethyl)sulfanylcarbonyl)-6-phenylpyridine-5-carboxylate), the functional isomer containing the label at the thiocarboxylic moiety. For satisfactory yields in high scale radiosyntheses, a reaction temperature of 75 °C has to be applied for at least 20 min using 20 mg/mL of precursor. So far, 6 complete high-scale radiosyntheses were performed. Starting from an average of 51.2±21.8 GBq (mean±SD) [ 18F]fluoride, 5.8±4.1 GBq of formulated [ 18F]FE@SUPPY:2 (12.0±5.4%, based on [ 18F]fluoride, not corrected for decay) were prepared in 75±8 min.
Future imaginaries in the making and governing of digital technology: Multiple, contested, commodified

Visions of the future are omnipresent in current debates about the digital transformation. This introductory article and the full special issue are concerned with the function, power, and performativity of future visions and how they relate to the making and governing of digital technology. Revisiting existing concepts, we particularly discuss and advance the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries. In difference to ephemeral visions and partisan ideas, imaginaries are collectively held and institutionally stabilized. Nonetheless, we hold that they are multiple, contested, and commodified rather than monolithic, linear visions of future trajectories enacted by state actors. Introducing and summarizing the articles of the special issue, we conclude that imaginaries are increasingly dominated by technology companies that not only take over the imaginative power of shaping future society, but also partly absorb public institutions’ ability to govern these very futures with their rhetoric, technologies, and business models.
The characterization of talc-based coating for application for Al-Si alloy casting

In this paper is presented, a correlation of the technological parameters of talc-based coating production and the silumine casting quality obtained by the Evaporate Pattern Casting Method. Special attention was paid to the correlation of refractory coating production, keeping in mind the requirements for application in foundry practice. For the evaluation of the obtained results, comparative examinations were performed with sand mould castings under the same conditions.
Biomechanics of red blood cells in human spleen and consequences for physiology and disease

Red blood cells (RBCs) can be cleared from circulation when alterations in their size, shape, and deformability are detected. This function is modulated by the spleen-specific structure of the interendothelial slit (IES). Here, we present a unique physiological framework for development of prognostic markers in RBC diseases by quantifying biophysical limits for RBCs to pass through the IES, using computational simulations based on dissipative particle dynamics. The results show that the spleen selects RBCs for continued circulation based on their geometry, consistent with prior in vivo observations. A companion analysis provides critical bounds relating surface area and volume for healthy RBCs beyond which the RBCs fail the “ physical fitness test ” to pass through the IES, supporting independent experiments. Our results suggest that the spleen plays an important role in determining distribu- tions of size and shape of healthy RBCs. Because mechanical retention of infected RBC impacts malaria pathogenesis, we studied key biophys- ical parameters for RBCs infected with Plasmodium falciparum as they cross the IES. In agreement with experimental results, surface area loss of an infected RBC is found to be a more important determinant of splenic retention than its membrane stiffness. The simulations provide insights into the effects of pressure gradient across the IES on RBC retention. By providing quantitative biophysical limits for RBCs to pass through the IES, the narrowest circulatory bottleneck in the spleen, our results offer a broad approach for developing quantitative markers for diseases such as hereditary spherocytosis, thalassemia, and malaria. fourfold increase in membrane shear modulus (14). Innate mechanical retention of a proportion of normally circulating ring-iRBCs has been observed ex vivo in a Significance The 3D opening of the interendothelial slit in human spleen creates a physical fitness test for red blood cells (RBCs) and clears them from circulation if their geometry and deformability are altered. We present a unique computational framework for the development of prognostic markers for diseases that alter RBC physical characteristics and identify quantitative limits for splenic slit clearance. Our work shows how the splenic slit determines distributions of size and shape of healthy RBCs. Our work lays the groundwork for systematic reconstruction of RBC navigation in the human spleen with consequences for a variety of acute and chronic medical conditions associated with hereditary alterations of RBCs, infectious diseases, and cancers.
A Short Bout of Exercise With and Without an Immersive Virtual Reality Game Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety in Adolescents: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Anxiety and stress are prominent issues for the adolescent population. Physical activity is known to reduce symptoms of anxiety and stress; however, many adolescents lack the time or motivation to exercise regularly, particularly during stressful exam weeks. Virtual Reality (VR) has the potential to make exercise more enjoyable and more engaging than exercise alone. We aimed to investigate the immediate effect of a 10-min dodgeball exercise session, with and without a VR headset, on self-reported stress, anxiety and cognitive performance in adolescents during times known to induce stress in high school, such as exam weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to a VR group (n = 16) where participants were immersed in a virtual dodgeball environment (exergame), or a dodgeball group (n = 14) which played a simple game of one-on-one dodgeball. Executive function was measured using the Trail Making Test (TMT) Parts A and B. Anxiety was self-reported on the Pediatric Anxiety Short Form 8a (PASF). Stress was self-reported on the Psychological Stress Experiences-Short Form 8a (PSES). Both groups significantly improved their TMT A and B performance and reduced stress and anxiety scores with effect size ranging from 0.59 to 1.2 (main effect of time p < 0.001 for all outcomes). There were no significant differences between groups and no time by group interaction for any outcome. A short bout of exercise, with or without VR, during stressful high school exam weeks was shown to be effective for immediate reduction of stress and anxiety and enhancement of cognitive function in a small sample of high school students. High schools looking to apply interventions to help their students manage anxiety and stress should consider encouraging them to take a “time-out” to exercise and play. The cost-effectiveness of exergames inside the school settings and implications for academic success should be investigated in future research.
High-Level Representations in Human Occipito-Temporal Cortex Are Indexed by Distal Connectivity

Human object recognition is dependent on occipito-temporal cortex (OTC), but a complete understanding of the complex functional architecture of this area must account for how it is connected to the wider brain. Converging functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence shows that univariate responses to different categories of information (e.g., faces, bodies, and nonhuman objects) are strongly related to, and potentially shaped by, functional and structural connectivity to the wider brain. However, to date, there have been no systematic attempts to determine how distal connectivity and complex local high-level responses in occipito-temporal cortex (i.e., multivoxel response patterns) are related. Here, we show that distal functional connectivity is related to, and can reliably index, high-level representations for several visual categories (i.e., tools, faces, and places) within occipito-temporal cortex; that is, voxel sets that are strongly connected to distal brain areas show higher pattern discriminability than less well-connected sets do. We further show that in several cases, pattern discriminability is higher in sets of well-connected voxels than sets defined by local activation (e.g., strong amplitude responses to faces in fusiform face area). Together, these findings demonstrate the important relationship between the complex functional organization of occipito-temporal cortex and wider brain connectivity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Human object recognition relies strongly on OTC, yet responses in this broad area are often considered in relative isolation to the rest of the brain. We employ a novel connectivity-guided voxel selection approach with functional magnetic resonance imaging data to show higher sensitivity to information (i.e., higher multivoxel pattern discriminability) in voxel sets that share strong connectivity to distal brain areas, relative to (1) voxel sets that are less strongly connected, and in several cases, (2) voxel sets that are defined by strong local response amplitude. These findings underscore the importance of distal contributions to local processing in OTC.
Chaperones Skp and SurA dynamically expand unfolded outer membrane protein X and synergistically disassemble oligomeric aggregates

Periplasmic chaperones Skp and SurA are essential players in outer membrane protein (OMP) biogenesis. They prevent unfolded OMPs from misfolding during their passage through the periplasmic space and aid in the disassembly of OMP aggregates under cellular stress conditions. However, functionally important links between interaction mechanisms, structural dynamics, and energetics that underpin both Skp and SurA association with OMPs have remained largely unresolved. Here, using single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy, we dissect the conformational dynamics and thermodynamics of Skp and SurA binding to unfolded OmpX, and explore their disaggregase activities. We show that both chaperones expand unfolded OmpX distinctly and induce microsecond chain reconfigurations in the client OMP structure. We further reveal that Skp and SurA bind their substrate in a fine-tuned thermodynamic process via enthalpy–entropy compensation. Finally, we observed synergistic activity of both chaperones in the disaggregation of oligomeric OmpX aggregates. Our findings provide an intimate view into the multi-faceted functionalities of Skp and SurA and the fine-tuned balance between conformational flexibility and underlying energetics in aiding chaperone action during OMP biogenesis.