Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic and prognostic computed tomography imaging markers in basilar artery occlusion (Review)

Acute ischemic stroke treatment has been revolutionized by the addition of mechanical and aspiration thrombectomy. Randomized controlled trials have proven beyond doubt, the substantial clinical impact of endovascular interventions in anterior circulation territory strokes. Unfortunately, patients with vertebrobasilar ischemic stroke could not be included in these early trials due to inherent clinical, radiological, and prognostic particularities of posterior circulation ischemia; thus, indications for the treatment of posterior fossa strokes and basilar artery occlusion (BAO) are mainly based on retrospective studies and registries. BAO carries high morbidity and mortality, despite the new improvements in endovascular therapy. Identifying patients who will likely benefit from invasive treatment and have a good clinical outcome resides in discovering clinical, biological, or imaging markers, that have prognostic implications. Such imaging markers have been described, especially in the last decade. Hyperdense Basilar Artery Sign (HDBA), Posterior Circulations-Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (pc-ASPECTS), Pons-Midbrain Index (PMI), Posterior Circulation Collateral Score (pc-CS), Posterior Circulation CT Angiography Score (pc-CTA), and Basilar Artery on CT Prognostic Score (BATMAN), are computed tomography (CT) markers with properties that can aid the diagnosis of BAO and can independently predict clinical outcome. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of these imaging signs to have a thorough understanding of their diagnostic and prognostic attributes.
Discrimination, Microaggressions, and Perceptions of Institutional Response in an Academic Obstetrics and Gynecology Department

Introduction Discrimination in the workplace remains a barrier to advancing diversity and inclusion in the physician workforce. This study sought to examine experiences of discrimination, microaggressions, and perceptions of the institution’s response in an academic obstetrics and gynecology department. Method All obstetrics and gynecology faculty, fellows, and residents were invited to complete an anonymous, Institutional Review Board-approved cross-sectional survey from February through June 2019. The survey incorporated questions from multiple validated tools on discrimination, microaggressions, perceptions of the institution’s response, and opportunities for comments. Data are presented as the frequency with percent and were analyzed using Stata (StataCorp, College Station, USA); two of the authors reviewed and deductively coded the qualitative data. Results The response rate was 58% (87/151), with 30% of the respondents identifying as trainees and 75% identifying as female. Thirty respondents (35%) identified as non-Caucasian. Fifty-four respondents (62%) had ever experienced discrimination and 63 (72%) reported ever experiencing microaggressions at work; of those, 14 (22%) experienced microaggressions several times per week. Of the 69 respondents (79%) who experienced microaggressions and/or discrimination, 49 (71%) felt their experiences were due to gender, and 26 (38%) felt that they were due to race/ancestry. Only 41 respondents (59%) felt that the institution was fair to all employees, and 17 (25%) did not believe diversity was managed effectively. Conclusion Most physicians in the department experienced microaggressions or discrimination, with gender or race/ancestry as common inciting factors. A small but notable portion of respondents would prefer the institution to manage diversity differently. These findings merit further investigation about how to address discrimination in academic medicine.
Between-session reliability of performance and asymmetry variables obtained during unilateral and bilateral countermovement jumps in basketball players

This study aimed to evaluate the between-session reliability of single-leg performance and asymmetry variables during unilateral and bilateral countermovement jumps (CMJ). Twenty-three basketball players completed two identical sessions which consisted of four unilateral CMJs (two with each leg) and two bilateral CMJs. Mean and peak values of force, velocity and power, impulse, and jump height were obtained separately for each leg using a dual force platform. All performance variables presented an acceptable reliability (CVrange = 4.05–9.98%) with the exceptions of jump height for the unilateral CMJs and mean power, peak velocity, peak power, and impulse for the left leg during the bilateral CMJ (CV≥11.0%). Nine out of 14 variables were obtained with higher reliability during the unilateral CMJ (CVratio≥1.16), and 4 out of 14 during the bilateral CMJ (CVratio≥1.32). Asymmetry variables always showed an unacceptable reliability (ICCrange = 0.15–0.64) and poor/slight levels of agreement in direction (Kapparange = -0.10 to 0.15) for the unilateral CMJ, while an acceptable reliability (ICCrange = 0.74–0.77) and substantial levels of agreement in direction (Kapparange = 0.65 to 0.74) were generally obtained for the bilateral CMJ. These results suggest that single-leg performance can be obtained with higher reliability during the unilateral CMJ, while the bilateral CMJ provides more consistent measures of inter-limb asymmetries.
How did the characteristics of the growing season change during the past 100 years at a steep river basin in Japan?

The effects of climate change on plant phenological events such as flowering, leaf flush, and leaf fall may be greater in steep river basins than at the horizontal scale of countries and continents. This possibility is due to the effect of temperature on plant phenology and the difference between vertical and horizontal gradients in temperature sensitivities. We calculated the dates of the start (SGS) and end of the growing season (EGS) in a steep river basin located in a mountainous region of central Japan over a century timescale by using a degree-day phenological model based on long-term, continuous, in situ observations. We assessed the generality and representativeness of the modelled SGS and EGS dates by using phenological events, live camera images taken at multiple points in the basin, and satellite observations made at a fine spatial resolution. The sensitivity of the modelled SGS and EGS dates to elevation changed from 3.29 days (100 m)−1 (−5.48 days °C−1) and −2.89 days (100 m)−1 (4.81 days °C−1), respectively, in 1900 to 2.85 days (100 m)−1 (−4.75 days °C−1) and −2.84 day (100 m)−1 (4.73 day °C−1) in 2019. The long-term trend of the sensitivity of the modelled SGS date to elevation was −0.0037 day year−1 per 100 m, but the analogous trend in the case of the modelled EGS date was not significant. Despite the need for further studies to improve the generality and representativeness of the model, the development of degree-day phenology models in multiple, steep river basins will deepen our ecological understanding of the sensitivity of plant phenology to climate change.
Effects of Simplified Antihypertensive Treatment Algorithm on Hypertension Management and Hypertension-Related Death in Resource-Constricted Primary Care Setting between 1997 and 2017

Hypertension management is poor in primary care settings of developing countries, where 75% of hypertensives are living. Exploring better ways to improve hypertension management and to decrease stroke and CVD death is needed such as introducing treatment algorithm. Therefore, we selected intervention counties from Xinjiang, an underdeveloped region in China, and introduced antihypertensive treatment algorithm, comprising locally available and affordable agents, to primary health providers since 1998. Program effects were evaluated using the data collected in various ways including cross-sectional screenings to population ≥30 years between 1998 and 2015 by comparing treatment and control rates of hypertension, changes in blood pressure (BP) levels and distribution, and proportion of case/total and NCD death for CVD and stroke. Compared to 1998–2000, treatment rate was improved by 2.78 fold (11.2% vs. 32.1%, P < 0.001), and the overall and treated control rate were improved by 53.5 fold (0.2% vs. 10.7%, P < 0.001) and by 16.8 fold (2.0% vs. 33.5%, P < 0.001), respectively, in 2015. Mean SBP and DBP showed a net reduction by 33.7 mmHg (181.3 vs. 147.6 mmHg) and 21.3 mmHg (106.3 vs. 85.0 mmHg), respectively, in 2015, compared to 1998–2000 (P < 0.001), and stage III hypertension was reduced by 75.2% (33.5 vs. 8.3%, P < 0.001). Compared to 1997–1999, stroke/NCD death was reduced by 34.1% in 2015–2017 (31.7 vs. 20.9%, P = 0.006) in the intervention counties whereas by 7.5% in control county. Introduction of treatment algorithm helps improve hypertension management and reduce stroke death in resource-constricted primary settings.
Brief communication: Plasma cortisol concentration is affected by lactation, but not intra-nasal oxytocin treatment, in beef cows

In mammals, including sheep and mice, lactation attenuates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and plasma cortisol concentration. Oxytocin, one neuropeptide present in the blood during lactation, may contribute to such stress attenuation. Providing oxytocin intra-nasally increases plasma oxytocin concentration in cattle and can be used in non-lactating cows to mirror plasma oxytocin concentration of lactating cows. Therefore, our hypothesis was that there would be no difference in plasma cortisol between non-lactating beef cows intra-nasally administered oxytocin and lactating beef cows intra-nasally treated with saline. Twenty Bos taurus cows were randomly allocated by lactational status to one of four treatments, in a 2×2 factorial arrangement: 1) Non-lactating, saline (NL-S; n = 5); 2) Non-lactating, oxytocin (NL-OXT; n = 5); 3) Lactating, saline (L-S; n = 5); and 4) Lactating, oxytocin (L-OXT; n = 5). Two hours pre-treatment, cows were catheterized, moved to their appropriate chute and baseline blood samples were collected at -60, -45, -30, and 0 minutes before treatments were administered. Directly following the 0-minute sample, cows were administered their intra-nasal treatment via a mucosal atomization device. Subsequently, blood was collected at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, and 120 minutes. Non-lactating cows had greater (P = 0.02) plasma cortisol concentration compared with lactating cows. There was no lactation by treatment interactions for either plasma cortisol (P = 0.55) or oxytocin (P = 0.89) concentration. Although a treatment by time interaction was identified for oxytocin (P < 0.0001), there was no main effect of lactation on plasma oxytocin concentration (P = 0.34). Similar oxytocin and dissimilar cortisol concentration in lactating and non-lactating cows indicate that oxytocin alone cannot be responsible for reduced plasma cortisol in lactating ruminants. Further investigations are needed to elucidate alternative mechanisms that may be involved in the stress hypo-responsive condition of lactating mammals.
CT Image Analysis and Clinical Diagnosis of New Coronary Pneumonia Based on Improved Convolutional Neural Network

In this paper, based on the improved convolutional neural network, in-depth analysis of the CT image of the new coronary pneumonia, using the U-Net series of deep neural networks to semantically segment the CT image of the new coronary pneumonia, to obtain the new coronary pneumonia area as the foreground and the remaining areas as the background of the binary image, provides a basis for subsequent image diagnosis. Secondly, the target-detection framework Faster RCNN extracts features from the CT image of the new coronary pneumonia tumor, obtains a higher-level abstract representation of the data, determines the lesion location of the new coronary pneumonia tumor, and gives its bounding box in the image. By generating an adversarial network to diagnose the lesion area of the CT image of the new coronary pneumonia tumor, obtaining a complete image of the new coronary pneumonia, achieving the effect of the CT image diagnosis of the new coronary pneumonia tumor, and three-dimensionally reconstructing the complete new coronary pneumonia model, filling the current the gap in this aspect, provide a basis to produce new coronary pneumonia prosthesis and improve the accuracy of diagnosis.
The Interaction Effects of Suicidal Ideation and Childhood Abuse on Brain Structure and Function in Major Depressive Disorder Patients

Suicidal ideation (SI) is a direct risk factor for suicide in patients with depression. Regarding the emergence of SI, previous studies have discovered many risk factors, including childhood abuse as the major public problem. Previous imaging studies have demonstrated that SI or childhood abuse has effects on brain structure and function, respectively, but the interaction effects between them have not been fully studied. To explore the interaction effect between SI and childhood abuse, 215 patients with major depressive disorder completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to evaluate childhood abuse and Beck's Scale for Suicidal Ideation to evaluate SI. Then, they completed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within one week after completing questionnaires. Respectively, we preprocessed the structural and functional images and analyzed gray matter volumes (GMV) and mean fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (mfALFF) values. Results showed that the changes of GMV in the cuneus, precuneus, paracentric lobule, inferior frontal gyrus, and caudate nucleus and local activity in cuneal and middle temporal gyrus are in relation with SI and childhood abuse. And in left caudate, SI and childhood abuse interact with each other on the influence of GMV. That is, the influence of SI in GMV was related to childhood abuse, and the influence of childhood abuse in GMV was also related to SI. Therefore, the combination of SI and childhood abuse based on imaging should help us better understand the suicide ideation developing mechanism and propose more effective targeted prevention strategies for suicide prevention.
Electroacupuncture in the Contralesional Hemisphere Improves Neurological Function Involving GABA in Ischemia–Reperfusion Injury Rats

This study investigated the effect and mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) on the contralesional hemisphere in rats with ischemic stroke. EA of 2 Hz was applied on the contralesionally Luoque (BL8) and Tongtian (BL7) acupoints of the scalp to investigate the neurological status and mechanism in ischemia–reperfusion injury rats. The differences in the neurological deficit score and Rotarod test time between days 3 and 15 after reperfusion were significantly lower in the sham group (0.00 (−1.00, 0.00) and 3.53 (−0.39, 7.48) second, respectively) than in the EA group (−4.00 (−4.00, −3.00) and 44.80 (41.69, 54.13) second, respectively, both p < 0.001). The ratio of infarction volume was 0.19 ± 0.04 in the sham group greater than 0.07 ± 0.04 in the EA group (p < 0.001). On day 15, in the cerebral cortex of the lesioned hemisphere, the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A/actin ratio in the normal group (1.11 ± 0.36) was higher than that in the sham group (0.38 ± 0.07, p < 0.05) and similar to that in the EA group (0.69 ± 0.18, p > 0.05); the difference between the EA and sham groups was significant (p < 0.05). EA of 2 Hz on the BL8 and BL7 acupoints on the contralesional scalp can improve motor function and also can reduce infarction volume, and this effect of EA, and that GABA-A, plays at least a partial role in ischemia–reperfusion injury rats.
Adiponectin Treatment Attenuates Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury through HIF-1α-Mediated Antioxidation in Mice

Adiponectin (ADPN) plays an important role in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Although previous studies have confirmed that ADPN pretreatment has a protective effect on ischemic stroke, the therapeutic effect of ADPN on ischemic stroke and the underlying mechanism are still unclear. In order to clarify these questions, focal transient cerebral ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice and ADPN was administered for three times at 6 h, 24 h, and 48 h after reperfusion. Meanwhile, a virus-delivered HIF-1α siRNA was used before ADPN administration. The infarct volume, neurological score, cellular apoptosis, and oxidative stress were assessed at 72 h after reperfusion. The long-term outcome of mice after stroke was recorded as well. The results indicated that ADPN treatment reduced the infarct volume (P = 0.032), neurological deficits (P = 0.047), cellular apoptosis (P = 0.041), and oxidative responses (P = 0.031) at 72 h after MCAO. Moreover, ADPN increased both the protein level and transcriptional activity of HIF-1α as evidenced by the transcription levels of VEGF (P = 0.046) and EPO (P = 0.043) at 72 h after MCAO. However, knockdown of HIF-1α partially reversed the antioxidant and treatment effect of ADPN after cerebral ischemia. In the observation of long-term outcome after ADPN treatment, it demonstrated that ADPN not only prevented the cerebral atrophy (P = 0.031) and the neurological function decline (P = 0.048), but also promoted angiogenesis (P = 0.028) after stroke. In conclusion, our findings suggest that ADPN is effective in treatment of ischemic stroke which could be attributed to the increased antioxidant capacity regulated by HIF-1α.
Identification of Salty Dietary Patterns of the Japanese Macroregion

Objective The traditional Japanese dietary pattern, “Washoku,” is considered to provide an ideal nutritional balance. However, it tends to have a high salt intake. To reduce population-level salt intake, it is important to review the overall dietary patterns over a wide area. Methods To identify dietary patterns with high salt intake, partial least squares regression analysis was conducted using population-based household survey data from 52 cities. Annual salt consumption was set as the target variable, and the annual purchase weight of 109 foods was set as the explanatory variable. Result At least three dietary patterns (traditional, urban, and local) accounted for more than 90% of the variation in salt consumption and 29% of the explanatory variables (food purchases). Traditional patterns explained the salt consumption and regional differences in energy and protein consumption; however, their relationship to fat consumption was weak. The results reconfirmed that “Washoku” has an ideal nutritional balance but has high salt intake. The distribution of scores for traditional Japanese food patterns was high in northeast Japan and low in southwest Japan, with a geographical gradient. This pattern is thought to have formed over a long period of time because of the influence of environmental factors, such as local climate.
Unhealthy lifestyles and brain condition: Examining the relations of BMI, living alone, alcohol intake, short sleep, smoking, and lack of exercise with gray matter volume

Unhealthy lifestyles are damaging to the brain. Previous studies have indicated that body mass index (BMI), alcohol intake, short sleep, smoking, and lack of exercise are negatively associated with gray matter volume (GMV). Living alone has also been found to be related to GMV through lowered subjective happiness. However, to our knowledge, no GMV study has dealt with these unhealthy lifestyles simultaneously. By our analyses based on 142 healthy Japanese participants, BMI, alcohol intake, living alone, and short sleep were negatively associated with the gray-matter brain healthcare quotient (GM-BHQ), an MRI-based normalized GMV, after controlling for age, sex, and facility, not only individually but also when they were entered into a single regression model. Moreover, there were small but significant differences in the proportion of the variance for GM-BHQ explained by variables in a regression model (measured by R squared) between when these unhealthy variables were entered in an equation at the same time and when they were entered separately, with the former larger than the latter. However, smoking and lack of exercise were not significantly associated with GM-BHQ. Results indicate that some kinds of unhealthy lifestyles are somewhat harmful on their own, but may become more noxious to brain condition if practiced simultaneously, although its difference may not be large. To our knowledge, this study is the first to show that overlapping unhealthy lifestyles affects the brains of healthy adults.
Predictive Value of Red Blood Cell Distribution Width in Poststroke Depression

Purpose Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is increased in a variety of inflammatory-related diseases. However, there is no report of its clinical significance in poststroke depression (PSD). This study explores the clinical significance of RDW in PSD patients. Methods A total of 185 patients with first-ever acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) in the Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University were chosen as subjects. A retrospective observational study was conducted from February 2019 to February 2020. PSD patients were diagnosed at 6 months after stroke based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV criteria. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from all patients. Coefficient of Variation (RDW-CV) and standard deviation (RDW-SD) were used to statistically report the performance of red blood cell distribution width. Results At the 6-month follow-up, 46 patients were diagnosed with PSD. Compared with non-PSD patients, PSD patients exhibited an increase in RDW-CV and RDW-SD, which positively correlated with serum interleukin 6 (IL-6) concentrations. In PSD patients, only RDW-SD demonstrated a consistent positive association with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) scores at 6 months after admission. RDW-CV, RDW-SD, and IL-6 were recognized as independent predictors of PSD. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of RDW-SD was 0.796 (95% CI: 0.731-0.852) for the prediction of PSD, which was superior to that of RDW-CV. The specificity for predicting PSD was 60.43%, and the sensitivity was 91.30% if RDW-SD was higher than 43.80 fL. Conclusions RDW-SD is a simple, inexpensive, rapid, and easily accessible parameter that can be used to predict PSD in patients with stroke.
Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Barriers to Their Consumption among University Students in Kuwait: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Data on fruit and vegetable (F/V) consumption and barriers to their intake by Kuwait college students are needed for health promotional activities to curtail obesity and related comorbidities prevalent in Kuwait. This study employed a cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the median F/V intake in a sample of Kuwait University students to determine its relationship with gender, body weight, college affiliation, and family monthly income and to explore perceived barriers to eating F/V. The median total F/V intake was 2.06, and the median intake of F/V without fries was even lower. Significant gender differences were found in intakes of fruit juice and the percentage of juice from fruit intake, with males consuming more servings per day compared to females. Male students were found to consume proportionately more fried potatoes of total vegetable intake when compared to females, whereas female students were found to consume more vegetables without fries than males. Taste, inconvenience, and lack of knowledge on F/V intake recommendations and preparation methods were among the main barriers to consuming more F/V. College students require encouragement to consume more F/V through targeted campaigns to increase awareness of recommendations, health benefits, and ways to incorporate F/V in their daily diet.