Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Elevated De Ritis Ratio on Admission Is Independently Associated with Mortality in COVID-19 Patients

Liver damage in COVID-19 patients was documented as increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels or an elevated AST/ALT ratio, known as the De Ritis ratio. However, the prognostic value of the elevated De Ritis ratio in COVID-19 patients is still unknown. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the De Ritis ratio compared to other abnormal laboratory parameters and its relation to mortality. We selected 322 COVID-19 patients in this retrospective study conducted between November 2020 and March 2021. The laboratory parameters were measured on admission and followed till patient discharge or death. Of the 322 COVID-19 patients, 57 (17.7%) had gastrointestinal symptoms on admission. The multivariate analysis showed that the De Ritis ratio was an independent risk factor for mortality, with an OR of 29.967 (95% CI 5.266–170.514). In ROC analysis, the AUC value of the the De Ritis ratio was 0.85 (95% CI 0.777–0.923, p < 0.05) with sensitivity and specificity of 80.6% and 75.2%, respectively. A De Ritis ratio ≥1.218 was significantly associated with patient mortality, disease severity, higher AST and IL-6 levels, and a lower ALT level. An elevated De Ritis ratio on admission is independently associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients, indicating liver injury and cytokine release syndrome.
Experience Quality, Customer Brand Engagement, Brand Performance and Brand Loyalty to Purchase Intention

This study aims to empirically test experience quality, customer brand engagement and brand performance on purchase intention with brand loyalty as a mediating variable. Data collection uses a non-probability method with purposive sampling technique. A total of 238 respondents, namely customers who consumed “brand X” more than once, were collected by distributing questionnaires via an online google form. The analysis technique uses SEM with the Smart PLS program. The results showed that experience quality and customer brand engagement can affect brand loyalty. In addition, experience quality, customer brand engagement and brand loyalty can affect purchase intention. However, the brand performance variable cannot affect brand loyalty. Furthermore, experience quality can mediate customer brand engagement on purchase intention. Furthermore, the brand loyalty variable can also mediate experience quality and customer brand engagement in influencing purchase intention. Finally, brand performance has no effect on purchase intention if it is mediated by brand loyalty.
Utilizing Sphingomyelinase Sensitizing Liposomes in Imaging Intestinal Inflammation in Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Murine Colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in severe symptoms. At the moment, the goal of medical treatments is to reduce inflammation. IBD is treated with systemic anti-inflammatory compounds, but they have serious side effects. The treatment that is most efficient and causes the fewest side effects would be the delivery of the drugs on the disease site. This study aimed to investigate the suitability of sphingomyelin (SM) containing liposomes to specifically target areas of inflammation in dextran sulfate sodium-induced murine colitis. Sphingomyelin is a substrate to the sphingomyelinase enzyme, which is only present outside cells in cell stress, like inflammation. When sphingomyelin consisting of liposomes is predisposed to the enzyme, it causes the weakening of the membrane structure. We demonstrated that SM-liposomes are efficiently taken up in intestinal macrophages, indicating their delivery potential. Furthermore, our studies showed that sphingomyelinase activity and release are increased in a dextran sulfate sodium-induced IBD mouse model. The enzyme appearance in IBD disease was also traced in intestine samples of the dextran sulfate sodium-treated mice and human tissue samples. The results from the IBD diseased animals, treated with fluorescently labeled SM-liposomes, demonstrated that the liposomes were taken up preferentially in the inflamed colon. This uptake efficiency correlated with sphingomyelinase activity.
Plant GDSL Esterases/Lipases: Evolutionary, Physiological and Molecular Functions in Plant Development

GDSL esterases/lipases (GELPs), present throughout all living organisms, have been a very attractive research subject in plant science due mainly to constantly emerging properties and functions in plant growth and development under both normal and stressful conditions. This review summarizes the advances in research on plant GELPs in several model plants and crops, including Arabidopsis, rice, maize and tomato, while focusing on the roles of GELPs in regulating plant development and plant–environment interactions. In addition, the possible regulatory network and mechanisms of GELPs have been discussed.
In utero Ramadan exposure and child nutrition

Abstract In this study, we empirically analyse whether in utero exposure to the Ramadan fasting period is negatively associated with child nutrition. The data for the analyses come from a retrospective assessment of 759,799 children from 103 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) across 56 countries during 2003–2020. Considering the month-long Ramadan exposure as a natural experiment, we implement an intent-to-treat framework, comparing stunting and underweight among children aged 0–5 years who were exposed to Ramadan fasting at any time in utero with those who were not exposed. Our findings do not show significant evidence to conclude that in utero exposure to the Ramadan fasting period is negatively associated with child nutrition. On the contrary, except for stunting in Muslim children who had in utero exposure to Ramadan fasting during the first months of pregnancy, we find no significant association between in utero exposure to Ramadan fasting and child stunting and underweight. Our main results are robust to multiple robustness checks.
“Viewed as Equals”: The Impacts of Library Organizational Cultures and Management on Library Staff Morale

Abstract The literature on academic librarian morale is burgeoning, yet less attention has been paid to the workplace experiences of staff. This research team, which included library staff and librarians, conducted 34 structured online interviews with academic library staff across the United States. A theoretical model and interview findings are presented, which reveal the ways in which organizational culture, library hierarchies, and management style affect staff morale. Recommendations are offered, suggesting that, while change can present substantial challenges, efforts to address equity in compensation, provide professional growth opportunities, and create more collegial work environments are essential to improving staff morale.
Characteristics and Motivational Factors of American Equine Journalists

The purpose of this study was to identify the demographic characteristics, career motivations, and professional development of American equine journalists. An online survey was distributed to equine journalists identified through their professional organizational membership. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Equine journalists were found to be predominately female, Caucasian, and averaged 53 years old. Nearly half were exposed to the equine industry prior to their career and have been working in the industry for over 15 years. Respondents were well educated and were most motivated towards their career as an equine journalist because of their interest in horses. Over 70% of equine journalists in this study participated in one to 10 professional developments in the last year, with social media management as the most frequently reported topic. Other frequently reported topics were marketing, journalistic writing, and magazine publication. Recommendations for practice include recruiting agricultural communications minor or certificate students from specialized programs such as animal science, equine science, equine studies, or livestock. Future research should consider the influence of pre-career experiences on equine journalist career motivations and skill development.
Unpacking High-Impact Practices in the Arts: Predictors of College, Career, and Community Engagement Outcomes

ABSTRACT Research on high-impact practices (HIPs) demonstrates positive links to student learning and development, but generally does not focus on discipline-specific activities, such as working with an artist in the community and portfolio completion. This study seeks to identify beneficial HIPs for arts training through an analysis of 23,916 arts alumni from 77 postsecondary institutions. A series of regression models suggest that HIP participation was associated with gains in academic abilities and career skills, higher levels of college satisfaction, more successful job searches, greater likelihood of employment in the arts and avocational arts practice, and more frequent arts community involvement.
Mental Health Interventions among Adolescents in India: A Scoping Review

Early adolescence is the period of the emergence of most mental disorders contributing significantly to the mental health burden globally, including India. The major challenges in India are early identification of mental health problems, treatment gap, lack of professionals, and interventions that address the same. Our review aimed to assess the effectiveness of mental health interventions among adolescents in India. We systematically searched PubMed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane databases and used cross-referencing to review the interventions published from 2010 to 2020. Eleven interventions were included in this review; nine were school-based, one community, and one digital. Most of the school-based programs used a life skills curriculum. Additionally, coping skills and resilience curricula showed improvement in depressive symptoms, cognitive abilities, academic stress, problem-solving, and overall mental well-being. The multi-component whole-school intervention was quite promising and helped in improving the overall school climate and various other mental health outcomes. Hence, school-based programs should be implemented as an entry point for screening mental health problems. However, there is a need for a more comprehensive mental health program in the country for adolescents. Additionally, there is a need to address the gap by conducting more interventions for early and out-of-school adolescents.
The interplay of perceived risk, perceive benefit and generation cohort in digital finance adoption

PurposeFinancial service providers are facing challenges in the acceptance of digital financial services. The study, therefore, intends to identify factors contributing towards the adoption of digital finance. It has worked on the influencers and demotivators of digital finance adoption by individuals. These influencers are labelled as perceived benefits and demotivators as perceived risks. In addition to perceived benefit and risk, the study has also included the difference in perception on the basis of generation cohort.Design/methodology/approachThe data have been collected through a structured questionnaire from 411 respondents. Partial least squares structured equation modelling (PLS-SEM) has been used to analyse the proposed model on SmartPLS.FindingsThe findings suggested that the benefits were more influential in adoption behaviour than perceived risk. In addition to perceived benefit and risk, the study has also included the difference in perception on the basis of generation cohort. The results summarised that benefits had a more significant impact in Generation Z (Gen Z) than in Millennials.Research limitations/implicationsThe evaluation and categorisation of perceived risk and benefits into meaningful dimensions generate value to the adoption behaviour of digital finance. Thus, the findings are useful for the policymakers and researchers to contemplate the perception of individuals in digital finance based on the generation cohort.Originality/valueThe empirical findings of the present research contribute to limited evidence of a relationship between perceived risk, perceived benefit and digital finance adoption on the basis of generation cohort.
The Variability in Phonology of Indonesian Learner’s Interlanguage: A case study on English marked-fricatives

Interlanguage is the most fruitful issue in the field of second language acquisition. In the interlanguage phase, Indonesian learners of English tend to alternate between two forms of language features to express the same language function where a variation of language forms will be exhibited to mark the variable of linguistic function. Variability in phonology of interlanguage is the most interesting subject to investigate based on markedness differential hypothesis theory. This study is aimed at finding out (1) marked sounds of English fricatives: [θ], [ð], [ʃ], and [ʒ] which are indicated as interlanguage variants; and (2) how interlanguage sound variants emerge based on surround the varying element. There were 30 college students of English study purposively selected to become respondents in this research representing advance and intermediate proficiency of English speaking. The data were taken from two types of task namely word list reading and sentence reading. There were 600-word tokens containing target marked sounds of fricative [θ], [ð], [ʃ], and [ʒ] obtained from the data collection. The analysis was done quantitatively to find the percentages of non-interlanguge sounds and interlanguge ones produced by respondents. The result showed that fricatives such as [θ], [ʃ], and [ʒ] have phonological variations in interlanguage with certain positions of word being pronounced. These phonological variations emerge due to the generalization of pronunciation by similar-ending sounds, the certain vowel sound preceding marked sounds, and the absence of consonant clusters in learners’ native language which bears the variation of certain marked fricatives of English.
Age-Coherent Mortality Modeling and Forecasting Using a Constrained Sparse Vector-Autoregressive Model

Accurate forecasts and analyses of mortality rates are essential to many practical issues, such as population projections and the design of pension schemes. Recent studies have considered a spatial–temporal autoregressive (STAR) model, in which the mortality rates of each age depend on their own historical values (temporality) and the neighboring cohort ages (spatiality). Despite the realization of age coherence and improved forecasting accuracy over the famous Lee-Carter (LC) model, the assumption of STAR that only the effects of the same and the neighboring cohorts exist can be too restrictive. In this study, we adopt a data-driven principle, as in a sparse vector autoregressive (SVAR) model, to improve the flexibility of the parametric structure of STAR and develop a constrained SVAR (CSVAR) model. To solve its objective function consisting of non-standard L2 and L1 penalties subject to constraints, we develop a new algorithm and prove the existence of the desirable age-coherence in CSVAR. Using empirical data from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, and Australia, we show that CSVAR consistently outperforms the LC, SVAR, and STAR models with respect to forecasting accuracy. The estimates and forecasts of the CSVAR model also demonstrate important demographic differences between these five countries.
Spatio-temporal Distribution of Suicide Risk in Iran: A Bayesian Hierarchical Analysis of Repeated Cross-sectional Data

Objectives We aimed to estimate the space-time distribution of the risk of suicide mortality in Iran from 2006 to 2016. Methods In this repeated cross-sectional study, the age-standardized risk of suicide mortality from 2006 to 2016 was determined. To estimate the cumulative and temporal risk, the Besag, York, and Mollié and Bernardinelli models were used. Results The relative risk of suicide mortality was greater than 1 in 43.0% of Iran’s provinces (posterior probability >0.8; range, 0.46 to 3.93). The spatio-temporal model indicated a high risk of suicide in 36.7% of Iran’s provinces. In addition, significant upward temporal trends in suicide risk were observed in the provinces of Tehran, Fars, Kermanshah, and Gilan. A significantly decreasing pattern of risk was observed for men (β, −0.013; 95% credible interval [CrI], −0.010 to −0.007), and a stable pattern of risk was observed for women (β, −0.001; 95% CrI, −0.010 to 0.007). A decreasing pattern of suicide risk was observed for those aged 15–29 years (β, −0.006; 95% CrI, −0.010 to −0.0001) and 30–49 years (β, −0.001; 95% CrI, −0.018 to −0.002). The risk was stable for those aged >50 years. Conclusions The highest risk of suicide mortality was observed in Iran’s northwestern provinces and among Kurdish women. Although a low risk of suicide mortality was observed in the provinces of Tehran, Fars, and Gilan, the risk in these provinces is increasing rapidly compared to other regions.
User-Independent Hand Gesture Recognition Classification Models Using Sensor Fusion

Recently, it has been proven that targeting motor impairments as early as possible while using wearable mechatronic devices for assisted therapy can improve rehabilitation outcomes. However, despite the advanced progress on control methods for wearable mechatronic devices, the need for a more natural interface that allows for better control remains. To address this issue, electromyography (EMG)-based gesture recognition systems have been studied as a potential solution for human–machine interface applications. Recent studies have focused on developing user-independent gesture recognition interfaces to reduce calibration times for new users. Unfortunately, given the stochastic nature of EMG signals, the performance of these interfaces is negatively impacted. To address this issue, this work presents a user-independent gesture classification method based on a sensor fusion technique that combines EMG data and inertial measurement unit (IMU) data. The Myo Armband was used to measure muscle activity and motion data from healthy subjects. Participants were asked to perform seven types of gestures in four different arm positions while using the Myo on their dominant limb. Data obtained from 22 participants were used to classify the gestures using three different classification methods. Overall, average classification accuracies in the range of 67.5–84.6% were obtained, with the Adaptive Least-Squares Support Vector Machine model obtaining accuracies as high as 92.9%. These results suggest that by using the proposed sensor fusion approach, it is possible to achieve a more natural interface that allows better control of wearable mechatronic devices during robot assisted therapies.
Constructing Beginnings: A Role for Building Technology in Architectural Design Education

lakov Chernikhov's definition of Constructivism prescribed a methodology to unite design, theory, and technology into a connected order. As a concept, Constructivism needs to be associated with real objects to demonstrate itself. Like play, it provides a magic state in which a creative synthesis of logic and fantasy may occur. The fundamental principles of Constructivism as codified by Chernikhov provided the structure for a design-build pedagogy that addressed the formal and compositional, and the technical and constructional.
Non-Marked Hypoechogenic Nodules: Multicenter Study on the Thyroid Malignancy Risk Stratification and Accuracy Based on TIRADS Systems Comparison

Background and Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the predictive value of the ultrasound criterion “non-marked hypoechogenicity” for malignancy and to determine whether classification of these nodules as TIRADS 3 could improve the overall accuracy of consequently adjusted M-TIRADS score. Materials and Methods: A total of 767 patients with 795 thyroid nodules were subject to ultrasonography examination and ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy. Nodules were classified by Kwak TIRADS and modified (M-TIRADS) categories 4A, 4B, and 5 according to number of suspicious US features (marked hypoechogenicity, microlobulated or irregular margins, microcalcifications, taller-than-wide shape, metastatic lymph nodes). Non-marked hypoechoic nodules were classified as TIRADS 3. Results: Thyroid nodules were classified as TIRADS 2, 3, 4A, 4B, and 5 in 14.5, 57.5, 14.2, 8.1, and 5.7%, respectively. Only histopathologic results (125 nodules underwent surgery) and highly specific cytology results (Bethesda II, VI) were accepted as a standard of reference, forming a sub-cohort of 562/795 nodules (70.7%). Malignancy was found in 7.7%. Overall, M-TIRADS showed sensitivity/specificity of 93.02/81.31%, and for PPV/NPV, these were 29.2/99.29%, respectively (OR—18.62). Irregular margins showed the highest sensitivity and specificity (75.68/93.74%, respectively). In TIRADS 3 category, 37.2% nodules were isoechoic, 6.6% hyperechoic, and 52.2% hypoechoic (there was no difference of malignancy risk in hypoechoic nodules between M-TIRADS and Kwak systems—0.9 vs. 0.8, respectively). Accuracy of M-TIRADS classification in this cohort was 78.26% vs. 48.11% for Kwak. Conclusions: The non-marked hypoechoic nodule pattern correlated with low risk of malignancy; classification of these nodules as TIRADS 3 significantly improved the predictive value and overall accuracy of the proposed M-TIRADS scoring with malignancy risk increase in TIRADS 4 categories by 20%; and no significant alteration of malignancy risk in TIRADS 3 could contribute to reducing overdiagnosis, obviating the need for FNA.
Short- and Long-Term Outcomes in Patients With Right Ventricular Infarction According to Modalities of Reperfusion Strategies in China: Data From China Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry

Purpose We sought to investigate the short- and long-term outcomes in patients with right ventricular infarction in China. Methods Data from China Acute Myocardial Infarction (CAMI) Registry for patients with right ventricular infarction between January 2013 and September 2014 were analyzed. Results Of the 1,988 patients with right ventricular infarction, 733 patients did not receive reperfusion therapy, 281 patients received thrombolysis therapy, and 974 patients underwent primary PCI. Primary PCI and thrombolysis were all associated with lower risks of in-hospital (3.1 vs. 12.6%; adjusted OR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.27–0.87; P = 0.0151 and 5.7 vs. 12.6%; adjusted OR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.22–0.85; P = 0.0155, respectively), and 2-year all-cause mortality (6.3 vs. 20.9%; adjusted HR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.34–0.73; P = 0.0003 and 11.0 vs. 20.9%; adjusted HR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.38–0.92; P = 0.0189, respectively), compared with no reperfusion therapy. Meanwhile, primary PCI was superior to thrombolysis in reducing the risks of in-hospital atrial-ventricular block (4.2 vs. 8.9%; adjusted OR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.23–0.91; P = 0.0257), cardiogenic shock (5.3 vs. 13.9%; adjusted OR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.23–0.83; P = 0.0115), and heart failure (8.5 vs. 23.5%; adjusted OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.22–0.56; P < 0.0001). Primary PCI could reduce the risk of 2-year major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (19.1 vs. 33.3%; adjusted HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.56–0.92; P = 0.0092) relative to no reperfusion therapy, whereas thrombolysis may increase the risk of 2-year revascularization (15.5 vs. 8.7%; adjusted HR: 1.90; 95% CI: 1.15–3.16; P = 0.0124) compared with no reperfusion therapy. Conclusions Timely reperfusion therapy is essential for patients with right ventricular infarction. Primary PCI may be considered as the default treatment strategy for patients with right ventricular infarction in the contemporary primary PCI era.