Study of prevalence of non alcoholic fatty liver disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and variations in liver function tests, lipid profile and mean platelet volume in patients with fatty liver in comparison with patients without fatty liver

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients potentially are at risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of NAFLD among T2DM patients, diagnosed by ultrasonography of liver, to study the age & sex incidence of NAFLD and to compare the liver function tests, lipid profile and mean platelet volume (MPV) between individuals with NAFLD and without NAFLD.Methods: Total of 97 type 2 diabetes mellitus ambulatory patients were selected for the study. Among them 62 were males (63.9%) and 35 were females (36%). 78 healthy subjects were selected as controls. Their age ranged between 27 to 75 years. Serum was used for the estimation of FBS, PPBS, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, total protein, albumin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). EDTA blood was used for the estimation of MPV. Fatty liver was diagnosed on ultrasound based on the echogenicity and size of the liver.Results: In this study, liver size & echotexture, liver enzymes such as AST, ALT, ALP and GGT, serum cholesterol, TGL and LDLC were found to be statistically significantly increased in T2DM patients when compared to controls. T2DM patients were divided in to two groups; group 1 included patients with NAFLD and group 2 included patients without NAFLD. Liver size, AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, Cholesterol and TGL were significantly increased in group 1 patients when compared to group 2 patients (P value<0.05). Elevation of MPV was found to be more in group 1 patients than group 2 patients ranging between 12.1±3.0 and 10.2±0.9 respectively.Conclusions: Early detection and optimum control of diabetes mellitus is important to minimize the effect of diabetes on liver. Hence, assay of serum levels of hepatic enzymes and USG abdomen to detect NAFLD should be done in all patients with T2DM as preliminary diagnostic tests.

Feeling Safe in the Dark : Examining the Effect of Entrapment, Lighting Levels, and Gender on Feelings of Safety and Lighting Policy Acceptability

This research examined to what extent physical factors, notably lighting and entrapment (blocked escape), and individual factors, notably gender, affect feelings of safety and the acceptability of reduced lighting levels. The authors reasoned that acceptability of reduced street lighting depends on perceived safety, which in turn depends on entrapment, lighting, and gender. Virtual representations of a residential street were used, systematically manipulating entrapment and lighting levels. As expected, people felt less safe in lower lighting and higher entrapment settings, and these settings were evaluated as less acceptable. Although women perceived a situation as less safe compared with men, the authors found no gender differences in acceptability, which extends previous research. Importantly, as hypothesized, perceived safety mediated the effect of lighting on acceptability levels, suggesting that people can accept lower lighting levels when social safety is not threatened

Efficacy and safety of metabolic interventions for the treatment of severe COVID-19: in vitro, observational, and non-randomized open-label interventional study

Background: Viral infection is associated with a significant rewire of the host metabolic pathways, presenting attractive metabolic targets for intervention. Methods: We chart the metabolic response of lung epithelial cells to SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary cultures and COVID-19 patient samples and perform in vitro metabolism-focused drug screen on primary lung epithelial cells infected with different strains of the virus. We perform observational analysis of Israeli patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 and comparative epidemiological analysis from cohorts in Italy and the Veteran's Health Administration in the United States. In addition, we perform a prospective non-randomized interventional open-label study in which 15 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 were given 145 mg/day of nanocrystallized fenofibrate added to the standard of care. Results: SARS-CoV-2 infection produced transcriptional changes associated with increased glycolysis and lipid accumulation. Metabolism-focused drug screen showed that fenofibrate reversed lipid accumulation and blocked SARS-CoV-2 replication through a PPARα-dependent mechanism in both alpha and delta variants. Analysis of 3233 Israeli patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 supported in vitro findings. Patients taking fibrates showed significantly lower markers of immunoinflammation and faster recovery. Additional corroboration was received by comparative epidemiological analysis from cohorts in Europe and the United States. A subsequent prospective non-randomized interventional open-label study was carried out on 15 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19. The patients were treated with 145 mg/day of nanocrystallized fenofibrate in addition to standard-of-care. Patients receiving fenofibrate demonstrated a rapid reduction in inflammation and a significantly faster recovery compared to patients admitted during the same period. Conclusions: Taken together, our data suggest that pharmacological modulation of PPARα should be strongly considered as a potential therapeutic approach for SARS-CoV-2 infection and emphasizes the need to complete the study of fenofibrate in large randomized controlled clinical trials. Funding: Funding was provided by European Research Council Consolidator Grants OCLD (project no. 681870) and generous gifts from the Nikoh Foundation and the Sam and Rina Frankel Foundation (YN). The interventional study was supported by Abbott (project FENOC0003). Clinical trial number: NCT04661930

Requirements Analysis for an Open Research Knowledge Graph

Current science communication has a number of drawbacks and bottlenecks which have been subject of discussion lately: Among others, the rising number of published articles makes it nearly impossible to get an overview of the state of the art in a certain field, or reproducibility is hampered by fixed-length, document-based publications which normally cannot cover all details of a research work. Recently, several initiatives have proposed knowledge graphs (KGs) for organising scientific information as a solution to many of the current issues. The focus of these proposals is, however, usually restricted to very specific use cases. In this paper, we aim to transcend this limited perspective by presenting a comprehensive analysis of requirements for an Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG) by (a) collecting daily core tasks of a scientist, (b) establishing their consequential requirements for a KG-based system, (c) identifying overlaps and specificities, and their coverage in current solutions. As a result, we map necessary and desirable requirements for successful KG-based science communication, derive implications and outline possible solutions.Comment: Accepted for publishing in 24th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries, TPDL 202

Does it look safe? An eye tracking study into the visual aspects of fear of crime

Studies of fear of crime often focus on demographic and social factors, but these can be difficult to change. Studies of visual aspects have suggested that features reflecting incivilities, such as litter, graffiti, and vandalism increase fear of crime, but methods often rely on participants actively mentioning such aspects, and more subtle, less conscious aspects may be overlooked. To address these concerns, the present study examined people’s eye movements while they judged scenes for safety. Forty current and former university students were asked to rate images of day-time and night-time scenes of Lincoln, UK (where they studied) and Egham, UK (unfamiliar location) for safety, maintenance and familiarity, while their eye movements were recorded. Another twenty-five observers not from Lincoln or Egham rated the same images in an internet survey. Ratings showed a strong association between safety and maintenance and lower safety ratings for night-time scenes for both groups, in agreement with earlier findings. Eye movements of the Lincoln participants showed increased dwell times on buildings, houses, and vehicles during safety judgments, and increased dwell times on streets, pavements, and markers of incivilities for maintenance. Results confirm that maintenance plays an important role in perceptions of safety, but eye movements suggest that observers also look for indicators of current or recent presence of people

Bringing the margins into the middle:Reflections on racism, class and the racialized outsider

This paper explores Virdee’s account of how racialized minorities in socialist movements ‘played an instrumental role in trying to align struggles against racism with those against class exploitation’ (p. 164). In so doing, Virdee makes an important intervention at a time when popular historians and other ideologues are colluding in the elevation of myths and – no doubt in their view – noble lies that preclude these stories. Moving through theoretical debates concerning the relationships between race and class, the nature and form of sociologies of ‘outsiders’, to political issues of mobilization, Virdee’s book successfully brings in from the margins an account the multi-ethnic character of the working class in England from the very moment of its inception

Pedestrian Injury and Human Behaviour: Observing Road-Rule Violations at High-Incident Intersections

Background Human behaviour is an obvious, yet under-studied factor in pedestrian injury. Behavioural interventions that address rule violations by pedestrians and motorists could potentially reduce the frequency of pedestrian injury. In this study, a method was developed to examine road-rule non-compliance by pedestrians and motorists. The purpose of the study was to examine the potential association between violations made by pedestrians and motorists at signalized intersections, and collisions between pedestrians and motor-vehicles. The underlying hypothesis is that high-incident pedestrian intersections are likely to vary with respect to their aetiology, and thus are likely to require individualized interventions – based on the type and rate of pedestrian and motorist violation. Methods High-incident pedestrian injury intersections in Vancouver, Canada were identified using geographic information systems. Road-rule violations by pedestrians and motorists were documented at each incident hotspot by a team of observers at several different time periods during the day. Results Approximately 9,000 pedestrians and 18,000 vehicles were observed in total. In total for all observed intersections, over 2000 (21%) pedestrians committed one of the observed pedestrian road-crossing violations, while approximately 1000 (5.9%) drivers committed one of the observed motorist violations. Great variability in road-rule violations was observed between intersections, and also within intersections at different observation periods. Conclusions Both motorists and pedestrians were frequently observed committing road-rule violations at signalized intersections, suggesting a potential human behavioural contribution to pedestrian injury at the study sites. These results suggest that each intersection may have unique mechanisms that contribute to pedestrian injury, and may require targeted behavioural interventions. The method described in this study provides the basis for understanding the relationship between violations and pedestrian injury risk at urban intersections. Findings could be applied to targeted prevention campaigns designed to reduce the number of pedestrian injuries at signalized intersections

Air quality and mental health: evidence, challenges and future directions

Background: Poor air quality is associated with poor health. Little attention is given to the complex array of environmental exposures and air pollutants that affect mental health during the life course. Aims: We gather interdisciplinary expertise and knowledge across the air pollution and mental health fields. We seek to propose future research priorities and how to address them. Method: Through a rapid narrative review, we summarise the key scientific findings, knowledge gaps and methodological challenges. Results: There is emerging evidence of associations between poor air quality, both indoors and outdoors, and poor mental health more generally, as well as specific mental disorders. Furthermore, pre-existing long-term conditions appear to deteriorate, requiring more healthcare. Evidence of critical periods for exposure among children and adolescents highlights the need for more longitudinal data as the basis of early preventive actions and policies. Particulate matter, including bioaerosols, are implicated, but form part of a complex exposome influenced by geography, deprivation, socioeconomic conditions and biological and individual vulnerabilities. Critical knowledge gaps need to be addressed to design interventions for mitigation and prevention, reflecting ever-changing sources of air pollution. The evidence base can inform and motivate multi-sector and interdisciplinary efforts of researchers, practitioners, policy makers, industry, community groups and campaigners to take informed action. Conclusions: There are knowledge gaps and a need for more research, for example, around bioaerosols exposure, indoor and outdoor pollution, urban design and impact on mental health over the life course.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC): NE/V002171/1; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC): EP/V052462/1; EP/W001411/1; EP/T003189/