Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depression, suicidal ideation, and related factors of methadone maintenance treatment users in Guangzhou, China

ABSTRACT Mental health problems are prevalent among drug users. Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is an evidence-based effective treatment for drug addiction; however, there are few studies investigating depression, suicidal ideation, and their related factors among MMT users. In this cross-sectional study, 648 MMT users were recruited from six MMT clinics in Guangzhou, China. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews by trained interviewers. Of all participants, 270 (42.7%) exhibited probable depression (Depression Subscale of the Chinese short version of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-D), score ≥ 10) and 99 (15.3%) reported having suicidal ideation in the last six months. After adjusting for significant socio-demographic characteristics, all studied variables, including drug use history, social support, family support for MMT use, and satisfaction toward MMT services were significantly associated with both probable depression and suicidal ideation in the last six months. Furthermore, depression fully mediated the associations between drug use history, satisfaction toward MMT services, and suicidal ideation. In the final multivariate models, probable depression was associated with social support (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.83–0.93) and satisfaction toward MMT services provided by doctors (OR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.40–0.86), while for suicidal ideation, social support (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.78–0.92) and probable depression (OR = 5.94, 95% CI = 3.39–10.42) were significant. The findings suggest that there are unmet mental health needs among MMT users. For countries with limited resources of psychological services, mental health care toward MMT users should be implanted into current health care settings and incorporate components such as social support, family's understanding of MMT, and service satisfaction.
Heavy Metal Contamination and Health Risk Assessment in the Vicinity of a Tailing Pond in Guangdong, China

The purpose of this study was to assess heavy metal contamination and health risks for residents in the vicinity of a tailing pond in Guangdong, southern China. Water, soil, rice, and vegetable samples were collected from the area in the vicinity of the tailing pond. Results showed that surface water was just polluted by Ni and As, while groundwater was not contaminated by heavy metals. The concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Ni, and As in the paddy soil exceeded the standard values but not those of Cr. In vegetable soils, the concentration of heavy metals was above the standard values except for Ni and As. Soil heavy metal concentrations generally decreased with increasing distance from the polluting source. Leafy vegetables were contaminated by Pb, Cr, Cd, and Ni, while the non-leafy vegetables were contaminated only by Cr. There was a significant difference in heavy metal concentrations between leafy vegetables and non-leafy vegetables. Almost all the rice was polluted by heavy metals. Diet was the most significant contributor to non-carcinogenic risk, which was significantly higher than the safe level of 1. The total cancer risk was also beyond the safe range (10−6–10−4). Results revealed that there is a risk of potential health problems to residents in the vicinity of the tailing pond.
Effect of imidazole-4-carboxamide, 5-(3,3-dimethyl-1-triazeno) on immunity in patients with malignant melanoma.

Imidazole-4-carboxamide, 5-(3,3-dimethyl-1-triazeno), NSC 45388 (DTIC), was administered for 5 consecutive days as a rapid 150-mg/sq m or 250-mg/sq m infusion to 13 patients with melanoma. DTIC did not interfere with induction of a cellular immune (delayed hypersensitivity) response to dinitrochlorobenzene in 7 of 12 patients tested or with established delayed hypersensitivity reactions in 8 of 8 patients. The 5 nonresponders to dinitrochlorobenzene were unable to manifest a cellular immune response to skin test antigens even before treatment with DTIC. DTIC did not suppress the primary humoral response to Vi antigen in 7 of 12 patients. The secondary response to tetanus toxoid was normal in 5 of 7 patients. These results indicate that DTIC at these dosage schedules was only moderately immunosuppressive and inhibited humoral immune responses slightly more than the cellular responses tested.
Caracterización nutricional, físicoquímica y microbiológica de tres abonos orgánicos para uso en agroecosistemas de pasturas en la subregión Sabanas del departamento de Sucre, Colombia

El objetivo del presente trabajo es presentar los resultados de un estudio tendiente a caracterizar nutricional, fisico-quimica y microbiologicamente tres abonos organicos, para su uso en agroecosistemas de pasturas en la Subregion Sabanas del departamento de Sucre. Fueron preparados tres abonos organicos (Composta de pollinaza, Composta de bovinaza y Lombricompost) con materias primas procedentes de la zona de estudio. A cada abono organico se le hizo caracterizacion nutricional, fisico-quimica y microbiologica. Para relacionar los parametros nutricionales, fisicoquimicos y microbiologicos de los abonos, se emplearon tecnicas multivariadas (analisis de componentes principales o analisis de correspondencias simples) y el programa estadistico R, 2009. Los resultados muestran que la composta de pollinaza presenta una mayor contribucion nutricional, mayor retencion de humedad y una alta volatilizacion, mientras la composta de pollinaza y el lombricompost muestran la mas baja densidad fisica (0.40g/cm3). Los tres abonos tienen concentraciones de Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni y Pb por debajo de los niveles maximos permisibles por la NTC 5167 de 2004, y concentraciones de Cu y Zn inferiores a las maximas permitidas por la Comunidad Europea- (Real decreto 824 de 2005, de Espana). Con relacion a la diversidad de comunidades microbiologicas, la composta de bovinaza presento mayor diversidad poblacional de hongos y bacterias. El contenido nutricional, la facilidad de liberacion, las caracteristicas fisicas, quimicas (metales pesados) y microbiologicas de un abono organico, son determinantes de su calidad, razon por lo que estos deben ser evaluados antes de su aplicacion en cualquier agroecosistema.
Interference with Visualization

It is often claimed that visualizing and perceiving interfere with each other because they compete for special purpose visual processing resources. The arguments for this view (e.g. Brooks, 1967, 1968) are criticised. Five experiments are then reported which attempt to determine whether specific processing activities interfere with the visualization of novel abstract patterns. Visualization was greatly interfered with by adding five digits but not by reading them. Presentation modality of the digits did not affect the interference they caused. When the intervening activity involved processing patterns similar to those being visualized, the amount of interference depended upon whether the subject had to form and use representations that outlived the icon. Perception caused interference when it involved formation of a maintainable representation, but not when it required only sensory storage. It is concluded that visualization requires general purpose resources, and that interference between visualization and perception could be due to competition for these resources.
Peripheral neuropathy reduces asymmetries in inter-limb transfer in a visuo-motor task

ABSTRACT Asymmetry of inter-limb transfer has been associated with the specialization of the dominant and non-dominant motor system. Reductions of asymmetry have been interpreted as behavioural evidence showing a decline of hemispheric lateralization. A previous study showed that ageing did not qualitatively change the inter-limb transfer asymmetry of a visuo-motor task. The current study elaborates on these findings; it examines whether diminished somatosensory information as a result of peripheral neuropathy (PN) adversely affects inter-limb transfer asymmetry. Twenty individuals affected by PN and 20 older controls were recruited and divided equally across two groups. One group trained a visuo-motor task with the right hand while the other group trained it with the left hand. Performance (initial direction error) of the untrained hand before and after training was collected to determine learning effects from inter-limb transfer. Similar to previous studies, the current study showed asymmetric inter-limb transfer in older controls. In contrast, PN showed inter-limb transfer in both directions indicating that PN reduces inter-limb transfer asymmetry. Increased bilateral hemispheric recruitment is suggested to be responsible for this reduced asymmetry which may compensate for deteriorated tactile and/or proprioceptive inputs in PN. Two possible hypotheses are discussed explaining the relationship between declined somatosensory information and increases in bilateral hemispheric recruitment.
Genotype–Phenotype Correlations Emerging from the Identification of Missense Mutations in MBTPS2

Missense mutations affecting membrane‐bound transcription factor protease site 2 (MBTPS2) have been associated with Ichthyosis Follicularis with Atrichia and Photophobia (IFAP) syndrome with or without BRESHECK syndrome, with keratosis follicularis spinulosa decalvans, and Olmsted syndrome. This metalloprotease activates, by intramembranous trimming in conjunction with the protease MBTPS1, regulatory factors involved in sterol control of transcription and in cellular stress response. In this study, 11 different MBTPS2 missense mutations detected in patients from 13 unrelated families were correlated with the clinical phenotype, with their effect on cellular growth in media without lipids, and their potential role for sterol control of transcription. Seven variants were novel [c.774C>G (p.I258M); c.758G>C (p.G253A); c.686T>C (p.F229S); c.1427T>C (p.L476S); c.1430A>T (p.D477V); c.1499G>A (p.G500D); c.1538T>C (p.L513P)], four had previously been reported in unrelated sibships [c.261G>A (p.M87I); c.1286G>A (p.R429H); c.1424T>C (p.F475S); c.1523A>G (p.N508S)]. In the enzyme, the mutations cluster in transmembrane domains. Amino‐acid exchanges near the active site are more detrimental to functionality of the enzyme and, clinically, associated with more severe phenotypes. In male patients, a genotype–phenotype correlation begins to emerge, linking the site of the mutation in MBTPS2 with the clinical outcome described as IFAP syndrome with or without BRESHECK syndrome, keratosis follicularis spinulosa decalvans, X‐linked, Olmsted syndrome, or possibly further X‐linked traits with an oculocutaneous component.
Inter-Annotator Agreement in Sentiment Analysis: Machine Learning Perspective

Manual text annotation is an essential part of Big Text analytics. Although annotators work with limited parts of data sets, their results are extrapolated by automated text classification and affect the final classification results. Reliability of annotations and adequacy of assigned labels are especially important in the case of sentiment annotations. In the current study we examine inter-annotator agreement in multi-class, multi-label sentiment annotation of messages. We used several annotation agreement measures, as well as statistical analysis and Machine Learning to assess the resulting annotations.
The 'digital curious': first steps towards a new typology for mapping adults' relationships with others when using ICT

The study described in this article used grounded theory methodology to investigate adults’ accounts of their relationships with others when using information and communication technologies (ICT). Ten women and ten men were interviewed. All were Italians born between 1952-1961. It was found that the participants shared a common eagerness to learn and use ICT, which led us to coin the term ‘digital curious’. They recognised the growing importance of using ICT and realised that they were competent enough to support others in ICT learning or use. Their awareness of their competence and role was linked to their approach to interactions with older and younger people, not all of them easy. The study findings illustrate how the participants’ relationships with older and younger people when using ICT are seen as relevant and offer meaningful experiences. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are also discussed. (DIPF/Orig.)
Electromechanical modulation of catabolic and anabolic pathways in chronically inactive, but neurally intact, muscles

The extent and mechanisms by which neural input regulates skeletal muscle mass remain largely unknown. Adult spinal cord isolated (SI) rats were implanted unilaterally with a microstimulator, whereas the contralateral limb served as SI control (SI‐C). A 100‐HZ, 1‐s stimulus was delivered every 30 s for 5 min, followed by a 5‐min rest. This was repeated six times consecutively (SI‐Stim1) or with a 9‐h interval after the third bout (SI‐Stim2) for 30 days (1 min of daily activity). SI‐Stim1 and SI‐Stim2 paradigms attenuated plantaris atrophy by 20% and 38%, respectively, whereas only SI‐Stim2 blunted soleus atrophy (24%) relative to SI‐C. Muscle mass changes occurred independent of the IGF‐1/PI3K/Akt pathway. No relationships between SI or electromechanical stimulation and expression of several atrophy markers were observed. These data suggest that regulatory mechanisms for maintaining muscle mass previously shown in acute states of atrophy differ substantially from those observed in chronic states. Muscle Nerve, 2010
Relationship between difficulty in performing daily activities and clinical measures of visual function in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.

OBJECTIVES To assess the level of perceived difficulty experienced by patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in the performance of everyday activities and to determine the correlation between patients' self-reported difficulty and clinical measures of visual function. METHODS One hundred sixty-seven patients with typical RP and Usher syndrome type 2, with a wide range of disease severity, rated their difficulty in the performance of 33 activities. We obtained data on visual acuity and visual field area for all patients, and electroretinogram (ERG) recordings on a subgroup of 49 of these patients. Results from the questionnaire were analyzed with factor analysis, and patients' self-reports were compared with their clinical data using correlational analyses and multiple regression. RESULTS The patients' questionnaire responses clustered into 6 factors: activities involving central vision, miscellaneous activities (no discernible common factor), activities related to mobility, driving, negotiating steps, and eating meals. Of the clinical tests, visual acuity was most strongly related to the patients' ratings of their difficulty in performance. Visual field area also was related to patients' self-assessments but not as strongly as visual acuity. Because visual field area and the ERG measures were correlated, adding ERG information did not improve predictability. CONCLUSIONS In patients with RP, perceived difficulty in performing common tasks was most strongly related to level of visual acuity and visual fields. Although certain ERG amplitude measures did show positive correlations with some self-reported activities, overall, the ERG amplitude measures showed the least relationship with patients' self-reports. Our results provide insight into RP patients' perceived difficulties in performing everyday activities and the clinical measures of visual function that most highly correlate with these difficulties.
Younger Age Predicts Failure to Achieve Viral Suppression and Virologic Rebound Among HIV-1-Infected Persons in Serodiscordant Partnerships.

BACKGROUND Antiretroviral therapy (ART) markedly reduces the risk of HIV-1 transmission in serodiscordant partnerships. We previously found that younger age and higher CD4 counts were associated with delayed initiation of ART by HIV-1-infected partners in serodiscordant partnerships. Among those initiating ART, we sought to explore whether those same factors were associated with failure to achieve viral suppression. METHODS In a prospective study of HIV-1-infected persons who had a known heterosexual HIV-1-uninfected partner in Kenya and Uganda [Partners Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Study], we used Cox proportional hazards regression to evaluate correlates of viral nonsuppression (HIV-1 RNA >80 copies/ml). RESULTS Of 1,035 HIV-1-infected participants initiating ART, 867 (84%) achieved viral suppression: 77% by 6 months and 86% by 12 months. Younger age [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.05 for every 5 years younger; p = . 006], lower pretreatment CD4 count (aHR 1.26; p = .009 for ≤250 compared with >250 cells/μl), and higher pretreatment HIV-1 RNA quantity (aHR 1.21 per log10; p < .001) independently predicted failure to achieve viral suppression. Following initial viral suppression, 8.8% (76/867) experienced virologic rebound (HIV-1 RNA >200 copies/ml): 6.3% and 11.5% by 6 and 12 months after initial suppression, respectively. Age was the only factor associated with increased risk of virologic rebound (aHR 1.33 for every 5 years younger; p = .005). CONCLUSIONS For HIV-1-infected persons in serodiscordant couples, younger age was associated with delayed ART initiation, failure to achieve viral suppression, and increased risk of virologic rebound. Motivating ART initiation and early adherence is a key to achieving and sustaining viral suppression.
From Africa to Ifrīqiya: Settlement and Society in Early Medieval North Africa (650–800)

North Africa is rarely mentioned in scholarship on the medieval Mediterranean. This paper demonstrates the potential of archaeology for understanding the impact of the Arab conquests on settlement and society in seventh- and eighth-century North Africa. Despite difficulties in dating early medieval occupation, synthesis of the available evidence reveals that the Arab conquest was not catastrophic for settled life. Mapping the distribution of urban sites across North Africa shows that the majority of Byzantine towns were not abandoned but remained significant centres. The rural evidence is less clear, but suggests a relatively busy countryside of estates, farms and fortified villages. The paper then presents three detailed case-studies of the towns of Tocra, Sbeïtla and Volubilis in the early medieval period, before considering more broadly the evidence for fortifications, religious buildings (churches and mosques), housing and production in towns. It concludes with some preliminary observations on the nature of Arab rule in North Africa from the perspective of the archaeological evidence.
Modulation diversity for frequency-selective fading channels

In this article, modulation diversity (MD) for frequency-selective fading channels is proposed. The achievable performance with MD is analyzed and a simple design criterion for MD codes for Rayleigh-fading channels is deduced from an upper bound on the pairwise error probability (PEP) for single-symbol transmission. This design rule is similar to the well-known design rule for MD codes for flat fading and does not depend on the power-delay profile of the fading channel. Several examples for MD codes with prescribed properties are given and compared. Besides the computationally costly optimum receiver, efficient low-complexity linear equalization (LE) and decision-feedback equalization (DFE) schemes for MD codes are also introduced. Simulations for the widely accepted COST fading models show that performance gains of several decibels can be achieved by MD combined with LE or DFE at bit-error rates (BERs) of practical interest. In addition, MD also enables the suppression of cochannel interference.
Waist-to-Height Ratio and Triglycerides/High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Were the Optimal Predictors of Metabolic Syndrome in Uighur Men and Women in Xinjiang, China.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify the best single predictor of metabolic syndrome by comparing the predictive ability of various anthropometric and atherogenic parameters among a Uighur population in Xinjiang, northwest China. METHODS A total of 4767 Uighur participants were selected from the Cardiovascular Risk Survey (CRS), which was carried out from October, 2007, to March, 2010. Anthropometric data, blood pressure, serum concentration of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGs), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and fasting glucose were documented. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its individual components were confirmed according to International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of each variable for the presence of metabolic syndrome was compared. The sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Spe), distance in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and cutoffs of each variable for the presence of metabolic syndrome were calculated. RESULTS In all, 23.7% of men had the metabolic syndrome, whereas 40.1% of women had the metabolic syndrome in a Uighur population in Xinjiang; the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women was significantly higher than that in men (P<0.001). In men, the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) had the highest AUC value (AUC=0.838); it was followed by TGs/HDL-C (AUC=0.826), body mass index (BMI) (AUC=0.812), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (AUC=0.781), and body adiposity index (BAI) (AUC=0.709). In women, the TGs/HDL-C had the highest AUC value (AUC=0.815); it was followed by WHtR (AUC=0.780), WHR (AUC=0.730), BMI (AUC=0.719), and BAI (AUC=0.699). Similarly, among all five anthropometric and atherogenic parameters, the WHtR had the shortest ROC distance of 0.32 (Sen=85.40%, Spe=71.6%), and the optimal cutoff for WHtR was 0.55 in men. In women, TGs/HDL-C had the shortest ROC distance of 0.35 (Sen=75.29%, Spe=75.18%), and the optimal cutoff of TGs/HDL-C was 1.22. CONCLUSION WHtR was the best predictor of metabolic syndrome in Uighur men, whereas TGs/HDL-C was the best predictor of metabolic syndrome in Uighur women in Xinjiang.
Surface Dyslexia in Semantic Dementia: A Comparison of the Influence of Consistency and Regularity

Abstract This study addressed the question of exactly which aspects of spelling-sound consistency influence accuracy of reading aloud in surface dyslexic patients with semantic dementia. Oral reading data were obtained from twelve patients on three sets of words that varied in regularity (defined according to grapheme-phoneme correspondences) and consistency (defined according to the pronunciation of word body neighbours). The patients were less accurate for irregular/inconsistent words, which they commonly pronounced in line with sound-spelling regularities, as expected in surface dyslexia. They produced plausible but incorrect responses for some regular as well as many irregular words, suggesting that their reading performance was influenced by sound-spelling relationships not captured by grapheme-phoneme correspondences. On a set of items that varied consistency and regularity independently, the patients showed a large effect of regularity and a smaller but significant effect of consistency in reading aloud. In addition, there was a correlation between degree of semantic impairment and level of reading accuracy for inconsistent items. These findings are discussed in terms of two influential models of reading: the dual-route-cascaded model (Coltheart et al., 2001) and the triangle model (Plaut et al., 1996). It is argued that the triangle model provides a more straightforward account of the relationship between word comprehension and consistency effects in reading.