Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disseminating Self-Help: Positive Psychology Exercises in an Online Trial

Background The recent growth of positive psychology has led to a proliferation in exercises to increase positive thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Preliminary evidence suggests that these exercises hold promise as an approach for reducing depressive symptoms. These exercises are typically researched in isolation as single exercises. The current study examined the acceptability of several multi-exercise packages using online dissemination. Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate methods of dissemination that could increase the acceptability and effectiveness of positive psychology exercises. To achieve this goal, we compared the use of positive psychology exercises when delivered in packages of 2, 4, or 6 exercises. Methods Self-help–seeking participants enrolled in this study by visiting an online research portal. Consenting participants were randomly assigned to receive 2, 4, or 6 positive psychology exercises (or assessments only) over a 6-week period. These exercises drew from the content of group positive psychotherapy. Participants visited an automated website that distributed exercise instructions, provided email reminders, and contained the baseline and follow-up assessments. Following each exercise, participants rated their enjoyment of the exercise, answered how often they had used each technique, and completed outcome measures. Results In total, 1364 individuals consented to participate. Attrition rates across the 2-, 4-, and 6-exercise conditions were similar at 55.5% (181/326), 55.8% (203/364), and 52.7% (168/319) respectively but were significantly greater than the attrition rate of 42.5% (151/355) for the control condition (χ2 3 = 16.40, P < .001). Participants in the 6-exercise condition were significant more likely than participants in the 4-exercise condition to use both the third (F 1,312 = 5.61, P = .02) and fourth (F 1,313 = 6.03, P = .02) exercises. For 5 of the 6 exercises, enjoyment was related to continued use of the exercise at 6-week follow-up (r’s = .12 to .39). All conditions produced significant reductions in depressive symptoms (F 1,656 = 94.71, P < .001); however, a significant condition by time interaction (F 3,656 = 4.77, P = .003) indicated that this reduction was larger in the groups that received 2 or 4 exercises compared with the 6-exercise or control condition. Conclusion Increasing the number of exercises presented to participants increased the use of the techniques and did not increase dropout. Participants may be more likely to use these skills when presented with a variety of options. Increasing the number of exercises delivered to participants produced a curvilinear relationship with those in the 2- and 4-exercise conditions reporting larger decreases in depressive symptoms than participants in the 6-exercise or control conditions. Although research generally offers a single exercise to test isolate effects, this study supports that studying variability in dissemination can produce important findings.
Relation Classification via Recurrent Neural Network

Deep learning has gained much success in sentence-level relation classification. For example, convolutional neural networks (CNN) have delivered competitive performance without much effort on feature engineering as the conventional pattern-based methods. Thus a lot of works have been produced based on CNN structures. However, a key issue that has not been well addressed by the CNN-based method is the lack of capability to learn temporal features, especially long-distance dependency between nominal pairs. In this paper, we propose a simple framework based on recurrent neural networks (RNN) and compare it with CNN-based model. To show the limitation of popular used SemEval-2010 Task 8 dataset, we introduce another dataset refined from MIMLRE(Angeli et al., 2014). Experiments on two different datasets strongly indicates that the RNN-based model can deliver better performance on relation classification, and it is particularly capable of learning long-distance relation patterns. This makes it suitable for real-world applications where complicated expressions are often involved.
Drier Mediterranean soils due to greenhouse warming bring easterly winds over summertime central Europe

Western European summers become more continental in simulations for the 21st century. Anomalously large summer warming over the Mediterranean area in concert with drier soils and a reduced surface pressure can explain this change. The warming is enhanced due to soil moisture depletion which limits the cooling of the land surface by evaporation. A large‐scale Mediterranean heat low develops, bringing easterly winds over Central Europe. Statistical analysis for present‐day conditions indicates that the same mechanism operates on intra‐seasonal timescales; dry Mediterranean soils in June are correlated with high temperature and low surface pressure in July‐August. Idealized simulations confirm the relation between the surface warming of the Mediterranean area and the development of a heat low. The development of a heat low in response to dry soils induces a positive feedback: drier Mediterranean soils in summer bring easterly winds over Europe and increase the continental character of Western European summer climate.
Turbulence transition and internal wave generation in density stratified jets

The nonlinear evolution of an unstable symmetric jet in incompressible, density stratified fluid is simulated numerically. When N2 is constant and near zero, like‐signed vortices pair by way of an instability of the mean flow to a subharmonic disturbance with wavelength twice that of the most unstable mode of linear theory. For small but finite and constant values of N2, however, the individual vortex cores are strained and vorticity is generated at small scales by the action of baroclinic torques. In this case, the mean flow of the fully evolved jet is stable to subharmonic disturbances. The linear stability of the two‐dimensional nonlinear basic states to three‐dimensional perturbations is examined in detail. From this stability analysis, it is inferred that jet flow with stratification characterized by constant N2 is a poor candidate for IGW generation. However, the existence of an efficient mechanism whereby IGW may be radiated to infinity from the jet core is demonstrated via simulations initialized .
Efficient Genome Editing in Clostridium cellulolyticum via CRISPR-Cas9 Nickase

ABSTRACT The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a powerful and revolutionary genome-editing tool for eukaryotic genomes, but its use in bacterial genomes is very limited. Here, we investigated the use of the Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR-Cas9 system in editing the genome of Clostridium cellulolyticum, a model microorganism for bioenergy research. Wild-type Cas9-induced double-strand breaks were lethal to C. cellulolyticum due to the minimal expression of nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) components in this strain. To circumvent this lethality, Cas9 nickase was applied to develop a single-nick-triggered homologous recombination strategy, which allows precise one-step editing at intended genomic loci by transforming a single vector. This strategy has a high editing efficiency (>95%) even using short homologous arms (0.2 kb), is able to deliver foreign genes into the genome in a single step without a marker, enables precise editing even at two very similar target sites differing by two bases preceding the seed region, and has a very high target site density (median interval distance of 9 bp and 95.7% gene coverage in C. cellulolyticum). Together, these results establish a simple and robust methodology for genome editing in NHEJ-ineffective prokaryotes.
Efficacy of Nurses Led Insulin Protocol to Control Blood Glucose among Critically Ill Patients

Aim and objectives: This study aimed to determine the efficacy of nurse led insulin protocol to control blood glucose among critically ill patients. Background: Hyperglycemia is a common problem among critically ill patients in the ICUs that consistently linked with worsened clinical outcomes in various groups of patients. Thus, ensuring effectiveness, safety and a high-quality glycemic control can be achieved with a protocol that combining continuous intravenous insulin with frequent bedside blood glucose monitoring. Design: Quasi-experimental design was used in this study. Methods: This study was conducted in the ICU departments at Alexandria Main University Hospital on 60 newly admitted hyperglycemic critically ill patients. They randomly assigned into two groups; control group and intervention group. The nurse led insulin protocol was applied among the study group, while the control group managed by the routine ICU management. Results: The hyperglycemic mechanically ventilated patients who were managed by the nurse led insulin protocol experienced lower mean blood glucose level and lower glucose variability than those who were managed by routine management of the ICUs. Conclusion: The nurse led insulin protocol was an effective to control blood glucose level among critically ill patients. Relevance to the clinical practices: nurses’ led insulin protocol has strongly and consistently linked with better glycemic control and improved clinical outcomes in various groups of patients. Implementation of nurse led protocols increases nurses’ autonomy; a concept that has been associated with increasing their perceptions of improved quality of care and job satisfaction.
Inpatient Readmissions and Emergency Department Visits within 30 Days of a Hospital Admission

Introduction Inpatient hospital readmissions have become a focus for healthcare reform and cost-containment efforts. Initiatives targeting unanticipated readmissions have included care coordination for specific high readmission diseases and patients and health coaching during the post-discharge transition period. However, little research has focused on emergency department (ED) visits following an inpatient admission. The objective of this study was to assess 30-day ED utilization and all-cause readmissions following a hospital admission. Methods This was a retrospective study using inpatient and ED utilization data from two hospitals with a shared patient population in 2011. We assessed the 30-day ED visit rate and 30-day readmission rate and compared patient characteristics among individuals with 30-day inpatient readmissions, 30-day ED discharges, and no 30-day visits. Results There were 13,449 patients who met the criteria of an index visit. Overall, 2,453 (18.2%) patients had an ED visit within 30 days of an inpatient stay. However, only 55.6% (n=1,363) of these patients were admitted at one of these 30-day visits, resulting in a 30-day all-cause readmission rate of 10.1%. Conclusion Approximately one in five patients presented to the ED within 30 days of an inpatient hospitalization and over half of these patients were readmitted. Readmission measures that incorporate ED visits following an inpatient stay might better inform interventions to reduce avoidable readmissions.
Revisiting the hypothesis of sex-biased turtle road mortality

Road mortality poses a major threat to turtle populations. Several studies have suggested that the terrestrial movements associated with nesting increase this risk for females. The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (OTCC) is home to the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre, which admits 900 or more turtles a year, with road injuries the primary cause of admission. We tested the hypothesis that road mortality in turtles is female-biased using data from injured Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata), Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina), Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii), and Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica) collected over about 126 000 km2 and admitted to OTCC’s hospital from January 2013 to October 2017. There was no difference in the number of male and female admissions of Midland Painted, Blanding’s, or Snapping Turtles (P > 0.05); however, more female Northern Map Turtles than males were admitted (P < 0.001). Admission of female turtles peaked in June during the nesting season, but male admissions were more evenly distributed throughout the season. Our admissions data provide a temporally unbiased and geographically broad snapshot of turtle–vehicle interactions that can directly inform conservation and management policies. Although our data are not equivalent to mortality rates, these results demonstrate that vehicle strikes can have a substantial impact on both female and male turtles.
Intramyocardial Hemorrhage in Acute Myocardial Infarction: Prognostic Biomarker and Treatment Target?

Timely primary percutaneous coronary intervention to restore myocardial perfusion is pivotal in acute ST elevation myocardial infarction. The major determinants to reduce myocardial injury before intervention are reducing ischemia duration and severity, and the major determinants after intervention are restoring microvascular flow and minimizing reperfusion injury. When necrosis within the myocardium at risk reaches substantial extent, however, restoration of flow may risk to aggravate the injury by causing intramyocardial hemorrhage (IMH). If microvascular perfusion is restored within ≈30 minutes, myocardial injury is usually detected by troponins, whereas late gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)1 may demonstrate little or no enhancement as a sign of necrosis.2,3 Myocardial function is often restored completely. With increasing duration of ischemia, however, myocardial cells will progressively lose control of intracellular homeostasis. This leads to progressive myocyte necrosis as a function of time within the myocardium at risk from endocardium to epicardium called the “wavefront phenomenon” by Reimer et al4 and Reimer and Jennings.5 The rate at which the amount of infarcted myocardium increases as a result of this process is slower in man compared with most animal experiments.2 Also, with increasing ischemia duration the swelling of ischemic tissue on reperfusion impedes microvascular flow. This no-reflow phenomenon, as described in experimental …
Leg Blood Flow During Submaximal Cycle Ergometry is not Reduced in Healthy Older Normally Active Men.

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that leg blood flow responses during submaximal cycle ergometry are reduced with age in healthy normally active men. Eleven younger (20-25 yr) and eight older (62-73 yr) normotensive, nonendurance-trained men performed both graded and constant-load bouts of leg cycling at the same absolute and relative [% of peak O(2) consumption (Vo(2 peak))] exercise intensities while leg blood flow (femoral vein thermodilution), mean arterial pressure (MAP; radial artery), cardiac output (acetylene rebreathing), blood O(2) content, and plasma catecholamines were measured. Leg blood flow responses at the same absolute submaximal power outputs (20-100 W) and at a fixed systemic O(2) demand (1.1 l/min) did not differ between groups (P = 0.14-0.19), despite lower absolute levels of cardiac output in the older men (P < 0.05). MAP at the same absolute power outputs was 8-12 mmHg higher (P < 0.05) in the older men, but calculated leg vascular conductance responses (leg blood flow/MAP) were identical in the two groups (P > 0.9). At the same relative intensity (60% Vo(2 peak)), leg norepinephrine spillover rates were approximately twofold higher in the older men (P = 0.38). Exercise-induced increases in leg arterial-venous O(2) difference were identical between groups (P > 0.9) because both arterial and venous O(2) contents were lower in the older vs. younger men. These results suggest that the ability to augment active limb blood flow and O(2) extraction during submaximal large muscle mass exercise is not impaired but is well preserved with age in healthy men who are normally active.
Is Self-Monitoring Related to Social Comparison? It Depends How You Ask

Self-monitoring and social comparison are theoretically related, as the former involves searching the environment for information to inform changes in one's own behavior and the latter involves seeking out social information for the purposes of comparison. We examined the relation between these two constructs, while simultaneously examining how scale choice for self-monitoring can greatly influence one's results and possible conclusions. Self-monitoring measures differed in their relation with social comparison based on their theoretical background. Moreover, self-monitoring measures related to social comparison exhibited diverging relations with the two major aspects of social comparison. These results illuminate our understanding of self-monitoring and social comparison, and the psychometric distinction between construct and measurement.
Prognostic Value of a Quantitative Analysis of Lipoarabinomannan in Urine from Patients with HIV-Associated Tuberculosis

Background Detection of the mycobacterial cell wall antigen lipoarabinomannan (LAM) in urine can be used to diagnose HIV-associated tuberculosis (TB) using a qualitative (positive/negative) read-out. However, it is not known whether the quantity of LAM present in urine provides additional prognostic information. Methods/Findings Consecutively recruited adult outpatients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa were investigated for TB regardless of clinical symptoms using sputum smear microscopy and liquid culture (reference standard). Urine samples were tested using the Clearview TB-ELISA for LAM and the Xpert MTB/RIF assay. The ELISA optical densities (OD) were used as a quantitative assessment of urine LAM. Among 514 patients with complete sputum and urine LAM OD results, culture-confirmed TB was diagnosed in 84 patients. Twenty-three (27.3%) were LAM-positive with a median LAM OD of 0.68 (IQR 0.16–2.43; range, 0.10–3.29) and 61 (72.6%) were LAM negative (LAM OD <0.1 above background). Higher LAM ODs were associated with a range of prognostic indices, including lower CD4 cell counts, lower haemoglobin levels, higher blood neutrophil counts and higher mycobacterial load as assessed using both sputum and urine samples. The median LAM OD among patients who died was more than 6.8-fold higher than that of patients who remained alive at 3 months (P<0.001). The small number of deaths, however, precluded adequate assessment of mortality risk stratified according to urine LAM OD. Conclusions In patients with HIV-associated TB, concentrations of LAM in urine were strongly associated with a range of poor prognostic characteristics known to be associated with mortality risk. Urine LAM assays with a semi-quantitative (negative vs. low-positive vs. high-positive) read-out may have improved clinical utility over assays with a simple binary result.
Minimal Realizations of Linear Systems: The “Shortest Basis” Approach

Given a discrete-time linear system <i>C</i>, a shortest basis for <i>C</i> is a set of linearly independent generators for <i>C</i> with the least possible lengths. A basis <i>B</i> is a shortest basis if and only if it has the predictable span property (i.e., has the predictable delay and degree properties, and is non-catastrophic), or alternatively if and only if it has the subsystem basis property (for any interval <i>J</i>, the generators in <i>B</i> whose span is in <i>J</i> is a basis for the subsystem <i>CJ</i>). The dimensions of the minimal state spaces and minimal transition spaces of <i>C</i> are simply the numbers of generators in a shortest basis <i>B</i> that are active at any given state or symbol time, respectively. A minimal linear realization for <i>C</i> in controller canonical form follows directly from a shortest basis for <i>C</i>, and a minimal linear realization for <i>C</i> in observer canonical form follows directly from a shortest basis for the orthogonal system <i>C</i><sup>⊥</sup>. This approach seems conceptually simpler than that of classical minimal realization theory.
Developmental Increase in Top–Down and Bottom–Up Processing in a Phonological Task: An Effective Connectivity, fMRI Study

We examined age-related changes in the interactions among brain regions in children performing rhyming judgments on visually presented words. The difficulty of the task was manipulated by including a conflict between task-relevant (phonological) information and task-irrelevant (orthographic) information. The conflicting conditions included pairs of words that rhyme despite having different spelling patterns (jazz–has), or words that do not rhyme despite having similar spelling patterns (pint–mint). These were contrasted with nonconflicting pairs that have similar orthography and phonology (dime–lime) or different orthography and phonology (press–list). Using fMRI, we examined effective connectivity among five left hemisphere regions of interest: fusiform gyrus (FG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), intraparietal sulcus (IPS), lateral temporal cortex (LTC), and medial frontal gyrus (MeFG). Age-related increases were observed in the influence of the IFG and FG on the LTC, but only in conflicting conditions. These results reflect a developmental increase in the convergence of bottom–up and top–down information on the LTC. In older children, top–down control process may selectively enhance the sensitivity of the LTC to bottom–up information from the FG. This may be evident especially in situations that require selective enhancement of task-relevant versus task-irrelevant information. Altogether these results provide a direct evidence for a developmental increase in top–down control processes in language processing. The developmental increase in bottom–up processing may be secondary to the enhancement of top–down processes.
Assessment of Hair Aluminum, Lead, and Mercury in a Sample of Autistic Egyptian Children: Environmental Risk Factors of Heavy Metals in Autism

Background and Aims. The etiological factors involved in the etiology of autism remain elusive and controversial, but both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated. The aim of this study was to assess the levels and possible environmental risk factors and sources of exposure to mercury, lead, and aluminum in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to their matched controls. Methods. One hundred ASD children were studied in comparison to 100 controls. All participants were subjected to clinical evaluation and measurement of mercury, lead, and aluminum through hair analysis which reflects past exposure. Results. The mean Levels of mercury, lead, and aluminum in hair of the autistic patients were significantly higher than controls. Mercury, lead, and aluminum levels were positively correlated with maternal fish consumptions, living nearby gasoline stations, and the usage of aluminum pans, respectively. Conclusion. Levels of mercury, lead, and aluminum in the hair of autistic children are higher than controls. Environmental exposure to these toxic heavy metals, at key times in development, may play a causal role in autism.
Negative information enhances the attentional blink in dysphoria

Background: Research has suggested that depression is characterized by maintained attention for negative information. Methods: In this study, we examined whether maintained attention for emotional words influenced the attentional blink in a sample of stable dysphoric (n=14) and non‐dysphoric (n=14) undergraduates. In a rapid serial visual presentation of white words, two green target words (T1, T2) had to be identified. If attention is maintained at negative information, T2 identification should be hampered by presenting a negative word at T1. Results: Results supported the hypothesis that negative words as T1 hampered the identification of T2 words if T2 was presented within 300 ms. Conclusions: These results improve our understanding of the nature of attentional bias in dysphoria. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.