METHODS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used in this study to evaluate the psychometric features of the flexibility/inflexibility scale (MPFI) in a sample of Iranian university students.

FINDINGS: In the exploratory factor analysis involving a sample of 300 students, six factors were identified for flexibility and six for inflexibility (56.3% males and 43.7% females). In the confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of 388 participants, the results validated 60 items across a total of six flexibility and inflexibility factors. This outcome can serve as a robust estimate for flexibility, inflexibility, the second-order model, and the final model. Cronbach's alpha values for various components, including acceptance, present-moment awareness (or contact with the present moment), self as context, cognitive defusing, values, committed action, total flexibility, experiential avoidance, lack of present-moment awareness, self as content, fusion, lack of contact with values, inaction, and total inflexibility, were reported as follows: 0.818, 0.869, 0.862, 0.904, 0.935, 0.935, 0.942, 0.895, 0.839, 0.883, 0.904, 0.912, 0.941, and 0.941, respectively.

METHODS: GHS classification for reproductive toxicity of 157 UOG-related chemicals identified as potential reproductive or developmental toxicants in a previous publication was assessed using eleven governmental regulatory agency databases. If there was discordance in classifications across agencies, the most stringent classification was assigned. Chemicals in the category of known or presumed human reproductive toxicants were further evaluated for carcinogenicity and germ cell mutagenicity based on government classifications. A scoring system was utilized to assign numerical values for reproductive health, cancer and germ cell mutation hazard endpoints. Using a Cytoscape analysis, both qualitative and quantitative results were presented visually to readily identify high priority UOG chemicals with evidence of multiple adverse effects.

RESULTS: We observed substantial inconsistencies in classification among the 11 databases. By adopting the most stringent classification within and across countries, 43 chemicals were classified as known or presumed human reproductive toxicants (GHS Category 1), while 31 chemicals were classified as suspected human reproductive toxicants (GHS Category 2). The 43 reproductive toxicants were further subjected to analysis for carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. Calculated hazard scores and Cytoscape visualization yielded several high priority chemicals including potassium dichromate, cadmium, benzene and ethylene oxide.

OBJECTIVE.—: To validate Anyplex II HPV HR Detection (Anyplex II, Seegene) using FFPE samples.

DESIGN.—: We used 248 stored DNA extracts from cervical cancer FFPE samples collected during 2005-2015 that tested HPV positive using the RHA kit HPV SPF10-LiPA25, v1 (SPF10, Labo Biomedical Products) HPV genotyping assay, manufacturer-validated for FFPE samples.

RESULTS.—: Of the selected 248 samples, 243 were used in our analysis. Consistent with SPF10 genotyping results, Anyplex II detected all 12 oncogenic types and had an overall HPV detection rate of 86.4% (210 of 243 samples). Anyplex II and SPF10 showed very high agreement for the detection of the 2 most important oncogenic genotypes: HPV 16 (219 of 226; 96.9%; 95% CI, 93.7-98.75) and HPV 18 (221 of 226; 97.8%; 95% CI, 94.9-99.3).

METHODS: We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to examine the genetically predicted effects of epigenetic age acceleration as measured by HannumAge (nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)), Horvath Intrinsic Age (24 SNPs), PhenoAge (11 SNPs), and GrimAge (4 SNPs) on multiple cancers (i.e. breast, prostate, colorectal, ovarian and lung cancer). We obtained genome-wide association data for biological ageing from a meta-analysis (N = 34,710), and for cancer from the UK Biobank (N cases = 2671-13,879; N controls = 173,493-372,016), FinnGen (N cases = 719-8401; N controls = 74,685-174,006) and several international cancer genetic consortia (N cases = 11,348-122,977; N controls = 15,861-105,974). Main analyses were performed using multiplicative random effects inverse variance weighted (IVW) MR. Individual study estimates were pooled using fixed effect meta-analysis. Sensitivity analyses included MR-Egger, weighted median, weighted mode and Causal Analysis using Summary Effect Estimates (CAUSE) methods, which are robust to some of the assumptions of the IVW approach.

RESULTS: Meta-analysed IVW MR findings suggested that higher GrimAge acceleration increased the risk of colorectal cancer (OR = 1.12 per year increase in GrimAge acceleration, 95% CI 1.04-1.20, p = 0.002). The direction of the genetically predicted effects was consistent across main and sensitivity MR analyses. Among subtypes, the genetically predicted effect of GrimAge acceleration was greater for colon cancer (IVW OR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.09-1.21, p = 0.006), than rectal cancer (IVW OR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.97-1.13, p = 0.24). Results were less consistent for associations between other epigenetic clocks and cancers.

CONCLUSIONS: GrimAge acceleration may increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Findings for other clocks and cancers were inconsistent. Further work is required to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying the results.

METHODS: The dataset used in this study has been acquired by the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), using CIRRUS TM (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA, USA) SD-OCT device. The dataset consists of 32 OCT volumes (16 DME and 16 normal cases). Each volume contains 128 B-scans with resolution of 1024 px × 512 px, resulting in more than 3800 images being processed. All SD-OCT volumes are read and assessed by trained graders and identified as normal or DME cases based on evaluation of retinal thickening, hard exudates, intraretinal cystoid space formation, and subretinal fluid. Within the DME sub-set, a large number of lesions has been selected to create a rather complete and diverse DME dataset. This paper presents an automatic classification framework for SD-OCT volumes in order to identify DME versus normal volumes. In this regard, a generic pipeline including pre-processing, feature detection, feature representation, and classification was investigated. More precisely, extraction of histogram of oriented gradients and local binary pattern (LBP) features within a multiresolution approach is used as well as principal component analysis (PCA) and bag of words (BoW) representations.

AIMS: To determine the effectiveness and safety of CAM for the treatment of bronchiolitis in infants aged less than 2 years.

METHODS: A systematic electronic search was performed in Medline, Embase, CINAHL, AMED, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from their respective inception to June 30, 2016 for studies evaluating CAM as an intervention to treat bronchiolitis in infants (1 month to 2 years of age). The CAM could be any form of treatment defined by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and was utilized either as a single agent or adjunctive therapy. The predefined primary outcome was length of hospital stay. Secondary outcomes were time to resolution of bronchiolitis symptoms, adverse events, and all other clinical outcomes reported by the included studies.

RESULTS: The review identified 11 studies (8 randomized controlled trials and 3 cohort studies) examining four herbal preparations and four supplements used either as adjunctive or alternative therapy for bronchiolitis in 904 infants. Most studies were of moderate quality. Among six studies reporting on length of stay, a significant benefit was found for Chinese herbal medicine compared to ribavirin in one cohort study (n = 66) and vitamin D compared to placebo in one randomized controlled trial (n = 89). Studies of Chinese herbal medicine (4 studies, n = 365), vitamin D (1 study, n = 89), N-acetylcysteine (1 study, n = 100), and magnesium (2 studies, n = 176) showed some benefits with respect to clinical severity scores, oxygen saturation, and other symptoms, although data were sparse for any single intervention and the outcomes assessed and reported varied across studies. Only five studies reported on adverse events; no serious adverse events were reported.