Skovsgaardovesen9032

Accumulating evidence links ultra-processed foods to poor diet quality and chronic diseases. Understanding dietary trends is essential to inform priorities and policies to improve diet quality and prevent diet-related chronic diseases. Data are lacking, however, for trends in ultra-processed food intake.

We examined US secular trends in food consumption according to processing level from 2001 to 2018.

We analyzed dietary data collected by 24-h recalls from adult participants (aged >19 y; N=40,937) in 9 cross-sectional waves of the NHANES (2001-2002 to 2017-2018). We calculated participants' intake of minimally processed foods, processed culinary ingredients, processed foods, and ultra-processed foods as the relative contribution to daily energy intake (%kcal) using the NOVA framework. Trends analyses were performed using linear regression, testing for linear trends by modeling the 9 surveys as an ordinal independent variable. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education level, and incority of the population in the past 2 decades.

The current findings highlight the high consumption of ultra-processed foods in all parts of the US population and demonstrate that intake has continuously increased in the majority of the population in the past 2 decades.Iron deficiency occurs when iron demands chronically exceed intake, and is prevalent in pregnant women. Iron deficiency during pregnancy poses major risks for the baby, including fetal growth restriction and long-term health complications. The placenta serves as the interface between a pregnant mother and her baby, and ensures adequate nutrient provisions for the fetus. Thus, maternal iron deficiency may impact fetal growth and development by altering placental function. We used a rat model of diet-induced iron deficiency to investigate changes in placental growth and development. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a low-iron or iron-replete diet starting two weeks before mating. Compared to controls, both maternal and fetal hemoglobin were reduced in dams fed low-iron diets. Iron deficiency decreased fetal liver and body weight, but not brain, heart or kidney weight. Placental weight was increased in iron deficiency, due primarily to expansion of the placental junctional zone. The stimulatory effect of iron deficiency on junctional zone development was recapitulated in vitro, as exposure of rat trophoblast stem cells to the iron chelator deferoxamine increased differentiation toward junctional zone trophoblast subtypes. Gene expression analysis revealed 464 transcripts changed at least 1.5-fold (P less then 0.05) in placentas from iron-deficient dams, including altered expression of genes associated with oxygen transport and lipoprotein metabolism. Expression of genes associated with iron homeostasis was unchanged despite differences in levels of their encoded proteins. Our findings reveal robust changes in placentation during maternal iron deficiency, which could contribute to the increased risk of fetal distress in these pregnancies.Seminal plasma contains a high concentration of extracellular vesicles (EVs). The heterogeneity of small EVs or the presence of non-vesicular extracellular matter (NV) pose major obstacles in understanding the composition and function of seminal EVs. In this study, we employed high-resolution density gradient fractionation to accurately characterize the composition and function of seminal EVs and NV. We found that the seminal EVs could be divided into three different subtypes, namely high-density EV (EV-H), medium-density EV (EV-M), and low-density EV (EV-L) after purification using iodixanol,while NV was successfully isolated. EVs and NV display different features in size, shape and expression of some classic exosome markers. Both EV-H and NV could markedly promote sperm motility and capacitation compared with EV-M and EV-L, whereas only the NV fraction induced sperm acrosome reaction. Proteomic analysis results showed that EV-H, EV-M, EV-L, and NV had different protein components and were involved in different physiological functions. Further study showed that EV-M might reduce the production of sperm intrinsic reactive oxygen species (ROS) through Glutathione S-transferase Mu 2 (GSTM2).This study provides novel insights into important aspects of seminal EVs constituents and sounder footing to explore their functional properties in male fertility.

3D neuron segmentation is a key step for the neuron digital reconstruction, which is essential for exploring brain circuits and understanding brain functions. However, the fine line-shaped nerve fibers of neuron could spread in a large region, which brings great computational cost to the neuron segmentation. Meanwhile, the strong noises and disconnected nerve fibers bring great challenges to the task.

In this paper, we propose a 3D wavelet and deep learning based 3D neuron segmentation method. The neuronal image is first partitioned into neuronal cubes to simplify the segmentation task. Then, we design 3D WaveUNet, the first 3D wavelet integrated encoder-decoder network, to segment the nerve fibers in the cubes; the wavelets could assist the deep networks in suppressing data noises and connecting the broken fibers. We also produce a Neuronal Cube Dataset (NeuCuDa) using the biggest available annotated neuronal image dataset, BigNeuron, to train 3D WaveUNet. Finally, the nerve fibers segmented in cubes are assembled to generate the complete neuron, which is digitally reconstructed using an available automatic tracing algorithm. The experimental results show that our neuron segmentation method could completely extract the target neuron in noisy neuronal images. The integrated 3D wavelets can efficiently improve the performance of 3D neuron segmentation and reconstruction.

The data and codes for this work are available at https//github.com/LiQiufu/3D-WaveUNet.

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Assess the effects of filgotinib on inflammatory and structural changes at various spinal locations, based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in the TORTUGA trial.

In TORTUGA, patients with AS received filgotinib 200 mg (n = 58) or placebo (n = 58) once daily for 12 weeks. In this post-hoc analysis, spine MRIs were evaluated using the Canada-Denmark (CANDEN) MRI scoring system to assess changes from baseline to week 12 in total spine and subscores for inflammation, fat, erosion, and new bone formation (NBF) at various anatomical locations. Correlations were assessed between CANDEN inflammation and clinical outcomes and Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) MRI scores, and between baseline CANDEN NBF and baseline Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) and Metrology Index (BASMI) scores.

MRIs from 47 filgotinib- and 41 placebo-treated patients were evaluated. There were significantly larger reductions with filgotinib vs placebo in total spine inflammation score and most inflammation subscores, including posterolateral elements (costovertebral joints, transverse/spinous processes, soft tissues), facet joints, and vertebral bodies. No significant differences were observed for corner or non-corner vertebral body inflammation subscores, spine fat lesion, bone erosion, or NBF scores. In the filgotinib group, change from baseline in total inflammation score correlated positively with SPARCC spine score. Baseline NBF scores correlated with baseline BASMI but not BASFI scores.

Compared with placebo, filgotinib treatment was associated with significant reductions in MRI measures of spinal inflammation, including in vertebral bodies, facet joints, and posterolateral elements.

clinicaltrials.gov, https//clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03117270.

clinicaltrials.gov, https//clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03117270.

The incidence of Graves disease (GD) is rising in children, and adequate care of these patients requires a multidisciplinary approach. Whether patients are seen in the context of endocrinology, nuclear medicine, or surgery, it is important to know the nuances of the therapeutic options in children.

Given the rarity of GD in children, it is important to recognize its various clinical presenting signs and symptoms, as well as the tests that may be important for diagnosis. The diagnosis is typically suspected clinically and then confirmed biochemically. Imaging tests, including thyroid ultrasonography and/or nuclear scintigraphy, may also be used as indicated during care. It is important to understand the indications for and interpretation of laboratory and imaging tools so that a diagnosis is made efficiently and unnecessary tests are not ordered. Clinicians should be well-versed in treatment options to appropriately counsel families. There are specific scenarios in which medical therapy, radioactive iodinelly the first-line treatment, but sustained remission rates with medical management are low in the pediatric population. Consequently, definitive treatment is often necessary, either with radioactive iodine or with surgery, ideally performed by experienced, high-volume pediatric experts. Specific clinical characteristics, such as patients younger than 5 years or the presence of a thyroid nodule, may make surgery the optimal treatment for certain patients.

Although bone conduction devices (BCDs) have been shown to improve audiological outcomes of patients with single-sided sensorineural deafness (SSD), their effects on the patients' quality of life (QOL) are unclear.

To investigate the association of BCDs on QOL in patients with SSD.

Literature search of databases (Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov) from January 1, 1978, to June 24, 2021, was performed.

Prospective interventional studies with 10 or more participants with SSD (defined as pure tone average >70 dB hearing loss in the worse hearing ear and ≤30 dB in the better hearing ear) who underwent unilateral BCD implantation and assessment of QOL before and after the intervention using a validated tool were eligible for inclusion. DNA Damage inhibitor Studies on adults and children were eligible for inclusion. Patients with only conductive, mixed, or bilateral hearing loss were excluded.

Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers. Study clinical and demographic characteristics were obtaine.46-1.92; I2 = 78.4%), speech (mean change, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.68-2.37; I2 = 0), and spatial hearing (mean change, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.57-2.44; I2 = 81.1%) subscales. There was no significant change detected in the mean HUI-3 scores (mean change, 0.03; 95% CI, -0.04 to 0.10; I2 = 0). The risk of bias was assessed to be low to moderate.

These findings suggest that adult patients who receive BCDs may experience improvements in hearing-specific QOL measures but not in generic QOL measures. Prospective QOL studies should be considered in this cohort, particularly for children with SSD.

These findings suggest that adult patients who receive BCDs may experience improvements in hearing-specific QOL measures but not in generic QOL measures. Prospective QOL studies should be considered in this cohort, particularly for children with SSD.