ArCo: the Italian Cultural Heritage Knowledge Graph

ArCo is the Italian Cultural Heritage knowledge graph, consisting of a network of seven vocabularies and 169 million triples about 820 thousand cultural entities. It is distributed jointly with a SPARQL endpoint, a software for converting catalogue records to RDF, and a rich suite of documentation material (testing, evaluation, how-to, examples, etc.). ArCo is based on the official General Catalogue of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MiBAC) - and its associated encoding regulations - which collects and validates the catalogue records of (ideally) all Italian Cultural Heritage properties (excluding libraries and archives), contributed by CH administrators from all over Italy. We present its structure, design methods and tools, its growing community, and delineate its importance, quality, and impact

Monitoring the genomic stability of in vitro cultured rat bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells capable of self-renewal and differentiation into multiple cell types. Accumulating preclinical and clinical evidence indicates that MSCs are good candidates to use as cell therapy in many degenerative diseases. For MSC clinical applications, an adequate number of cells are necessary so an extensive expansion is required. However, spontaneous immortalization and malignant transformation of MSCs after culture expansion have been reported in human and mouse, while very few data are present for rat MSCs (rMSCs). In this study, we monitored the chromosomal status of rMSCs at several passages in vitro, also testing the influence of four different cell culture conditions. We first used the conventional traditional cytogenetic techniques, in order to have the opportunity to observe even minor structural abnormalities and to identify low-degree mosaic conditions. Then, a more detailed genomic analysis was conducted by array comparative genomic hybridization. We demonstrated that, irrespective of culture conditions, rMSCs manifested a markedly aneuploid karyotype and a progressive chromosomal instability in all the passages we analyzed and that they are anything but stable during in vitro culture. Despite the fact that the risk of neoplastic transformation associated with this genomic instability needs to be further addressed and considering the apparent genomic stability reported for in vitro cultured human MSCs (hMSCs), our findings underline the fact that rMSCs may not in fact be a good model for effectively exploring the full clinical therapeutic potential of hMSCs

The impact of psychological support on weight loss post weight loss surgery: a randomised control trial

Background The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the impact of a health psychology-led bariatric rehabilitation service (BRS) on patient weight loss following bariatric surgery at 1 year. Methods A single-site open-randomised parallel group control trial based at St. Richard’s Hospital in Chichester in the UK. Patients (n=162) were recruited immediately prior to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and randomly allocated to receive either treatment as usual (n=80) or the BRS (n=82). The BRS involved three 50-min one-to-one sessions with a health psychologist and provided information, support and mentoring pre and post surgery addressing psychological issues such as dietary control, self esteem, coping and emotional eating. Weight loss was assessed at 1 year. The key outcome variable was BMI and change in BMI. Results Follow-up weight was available for 145 patients. Intention-to-treat analysis (n=162) using last measured weights showed that mean change in BMI by 1 year post surgery was −16.49. There was no significant difference between the two groups (control group=−16.37, 95 % CI= 15.15–17.57; intervention=−16.6, 95 % CI=15.42–17.81; ηp 2=0.001). Similarly, explanatory analysis (n=145) showed a mean change inBMI of −17.17. The difference between the two groups was not significant (control group=−16.9, 95 % CI=15.78–18.18; intervention=−17.35, 95 % CI=18.5– 16.16; ηp 2=0.001). Conclusions Psychological support pre and post bariatric surgery had no impact on weight loss as measured by BMI and change in BMI by 1 year. It is argued that psychological support should be targeted to patients who start to demonstrate weight regain at a later stage

MindKind: A mixed-methods protocol for the feasibility of global digital mental health studies in young people

While an estimated 14-20% of young adults experience mental health conditions worldwide, the best strategies for prevention and management are not fully understood. The ubiquity of smartphone use among young people makes them excellent candidates for collecting data about lived experiences and their relationships to mental health. However, not much is known about the factors affecting young peoples’ willingness to share information about their mental health. OBJECTIVE: We aim to understand the data governance and engagement strategies influencing young peoples’ (aged 16-24) participation in app-based studies of mental health. We hypothesize that willingness to participate in research is influenced by involvement  in how their data is collected, shared, and used. METHODS: Here, we describe the MindKind Study, which employs mixed methods to understand the feasibility of global, smartphone-based studies of youth mental health. A pilot 12-week app-based substudy will query participants’ willingness to engage with remote mental health studies. Participants will be randomized into one of four different data governance models designed to understand their preferences, as well as the acceptability of models that allow them more or less control over how their data are accessed and used. Enrolees will receive one of two different engagement strategies. A companion qualitative study will employ a deliberative democracy approach to examine the preferences, concerns and expectations of young people, with respect to remote mental health research. We also detail our engagement with young people as co-researchers in this study. This pilot study is being conducted in India, South Africa and the United Kingdom. CONCLUSION: This study is expected to generate new insights into the feasibility of, and best practices for, remote smartphone-based studies of mental health in youth and represents an important step toward understanding which approaches could help people better manage their mental health

Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants

Background Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effectively control hypertension. We aimed to measure the prevalence of hypertension and progress in its detection, treatment, and control from 1990 to 2019 for 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30–79 years from population-representative studies with measurement of blood pressure and data on blood pressure treatment. We defined hypertension as having systolic blood pressure 140 mm Hg or greater, diastolic blood pressure 90 mm Hg or greater, or taking medication for hypertension. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and the proportion of people with hypertension who had a previous diagnosis (detection), who were taking medication for hypertension (treatment), and whose hypertension was controlled to below 140/90 mm Hg (control). The model allowed for trends over time to be non-linear and to vary by age. Findings The number of people aged 30–79 years with hypertension doubled from 1990 to 2019, from 331 (95% credible interval 306–359) million women and 317 (292–344) million men in 1990 to 626 (584–668) million women and 652 (604–698) million men in 2019, despite stable global age-standardised prevalence. In 2019, age-standardised hypertension prevalence was lowest in Canada and Peru for both men and women; in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and some countries in western Europe including Switzerland, Spain, and the UK for women; and in several low-income and middle-income countries such as Eritrea, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Solomon Islands for men. Hypertension prevalence surpassed 50% for women in two countries and men in nine countries, in central and eastern Europe, central Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. Globally, 59% (55–62) of women and 49% (46–52) of men with hypertension reported a previous diagnosis of hypertension in 2019, and 47% (43–51) of women and 38% (35–41) of men were treated. Control rates among people with hypertension in 2019 were 23% (20–27) for women and 18% (16–21) for men. In 2019, treatment and control rates were highest in South Korea, Canada, and Iceland (treatment >70%; control >50%), followed by the USA, Costa Rica, Germany, Portugal, and Taiwan. Treatment rates were less than 25% for women and less than 20% for men in Nepal, Indonesia, and some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Control rates were below 10% for women and men in these countries and for men in some countries in north Africa, central and south Asia, and eastern Europe. Treatment and control rates have improved in most countries since 1990, but we found little change in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Improvements were largest in high-income countries, central Europe, and some upper-middle-income and recently high-income countries including Costa Rica, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, and Iran. Interpretation Improvements in the detection, treatment, and control of hypertension have varied substantially across countries, with some middle-income countries now outperforming most high-income nations. The dual approach of reducing hypertension prevalence through primary prevention and enhancing its treatment and control is achievable not only in high-income countries but also in low-income and middle-income settings. Funding WHO