Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of background levels of autoantibodies as a prognostic marker for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection

ABSTRACT Background: Patients with more severe forms of SARS-CoV-2 exhibit activation of immunological cascades. Participants (current or ex-smokers with at least 20 years pack history) in a trial (Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer, Scotland [ECLS]) of autoantibody detection to predict lung cancer risk had seven autoantibodies measured 5 years before the pandemic. This study compared the response to Covid infection in study participants who tested positive and negative to antibodies to tumour-associated antigens: p53, NY-ESO-1, CAGE, GBU4-5, HuD, MAGE A4 and SOX2. Methods: Autoantibody data from the ECLS study was deterministically linked to the EAVE II database, a national, real-time prospective cohort using Scotland’s health data infrastructure, to describe the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection, patterns of healthcare use and outcomes. The strength of associations was explored using a network algorithm for exact contingency table significance testing by permutation. Results: There were no significant differences discerned between SARS-CoV-2 test results and EarlyCDT-Lung test results (p = 0.734). An additional analysis of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions detected no significant differences between those who tested positive and negative. Subgroup analyses showed no difference in COVID-19 positivity or death rates amongst those diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with positive and negative EarlyCDT results. Conclusions: This hypothesis-generating study demonstrated no clinically valuable or statistically significant associations between EarlyCDT positivity in 2013-15 and the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in 2020, ICU admission or death in all participants (current or ex-smokers with at least 20 years pack history) or in those with COPD or lung cancer.
Clinical Efficacy of High-Intensity Laser Therapy on Lateral Epicondylitis Patients

Objectives Recently, high-intensity laser therapy has been used in the therapeutic protocols for pain management. We aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of high-intensity laser therapy versus other different modalities for improving lateral epicondylitis symptoms. Methodology We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on prospective randomized controlled trials from PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct until June 2021 using relevant key words. We analyzed the data using Review Manager software (RevMan 5.4). Results Six randomized controlled trials with 344 patients were included. There is low-quality evidence that high-intensity laser therapy generates a small reduction on pain intensity compared with a control group either during activity (mean difference = −0.98, 95% confidence interval = −1.6 to −0.35, P = 0.002) or during rest (mean difference = −0.98, 95% confidence interval = −1.68 to −0.09, P = 0.03). In addition, there is low-quality evidence that high-intensity laser therapy provides small improvements in quality of life (physical component) compared with control (mean difference = 9.76, 95% confidence interval = 2.69 to 16.83, P < 0.0001). Conclusions High-intensity laser therapy is an effective therapeutic modality to reduce pain and improve quality of life (36-item short form health survey physical component) in patients experiencing persistent symptoms of lateral epicondylitis. However, grip strength, hand function, and quality of life (36-item short form health survey) did not show significant differences between high-intensity laser therapy and other therapies.
Three‐dimensional ultra‐wideband carpet cloak using multi‐layer dielectrics

In this letter, a feasible three‐dimensional ultra‐broadband carpet cloak is presented. To realize the structure, use of multilayer dielectrics are proposed. The results prove that the three‐dimensional conducting bump can be concealed from all the viewing angles in an ultra‐broadband frequency range of 8–30 GHz. An experimental results confirm the performance of the proposed pyramidal cloak in practice. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:1284–1288, 2017
Feedback Processing During Probabilistic Learning in Children With Developmental Language Disorder: An Event-Related Potential Study.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine feedback processing within the context of probabilistic learning in children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). METHOD The probabilistic category learning task required 28 children ages 8-13 years old to classify novel cartoon animals that differed in five binary features into one of two categories. Performance feedback guided incremental learning of the stimuli classifications. Feedback processing was compared between children with DLD and age-matched children with typical development (TD) by measuring the magnitude of feedback-related event-related potentials. Additionally, the likelihood of each group to repeat a classification of a stimulus following positive feedback ("stay" behavior) and change a classification following negative feedback ("switch" behavior) served as a measure of the consequence of feedback processing. RESULTS Children with DLD achieved lower classification accuracy on all learning outcomes compared to their peers with TD. Children with DLD were less likely than those with TD to demonstrate "stay" behavior or to repeat a correct response following positive feedback. "Switch" behavior or changing an incorrect response following negative feedback was found to be at chance level in both groups. Electrophysiological data indicated that children with DLD had a smaller feedback-related negativity effect (i.e., smaller differential processing of positive and negative feedback) when compared to children with TD. Although no differences were found between the two groups in the amplitude of the P3a, strong positive correlations were found between "stay/switch" behavior and the P3a for children in the TD group only. CONCLUSIONS Children with DLD do not appear to benefit from incremental corrective feedback to the same extent as their peers with TD. Processing differences are captured in the initial stages of feedback evaluation and in translating information carried by the feedback to inform future actions.
Not Too Old for TikTok: How Older Adults Are Reframing Aging

Abstract Background and Objectives Although reputed for being the virtual playground of teenagers, TikTok has since made its way to older adults, some of whom have become content creators with millions of followers. Despite their immense sway over audiences, as well as their potential to reconfigure socially constructed notions of aging, these older TikTok personalities have been given scant attention in gerontological literature. We fill this gap by exploring how older adults use TikTok to engage in discourses on old age. Research Design and Methods We compiled the most viewed videos of users aged 60 and older with at least 100,000 followers, generating 1,382 videos with over 3.5 billion views. Videos that did not feature older adults engaging in discourses on aging were excluded, resulting in 348 videos for content analysis. Both inductive and deductive approaches guided the qualitative analysis. Results Three themes emerged: Nearly 3 in 4 videos featured older adults “Defying Age Stereotypes” (71%; Theme 1), 18% featured them “Making Light of Age-Related Vulnerabilities” (Theme 2), and 11% involved older adults “Calling out Ageism” (Theme 3). Discussion and Implications This is the first known study exploring how older adults consciously engage in discourses of aging through their participation on TikTok. Our findings highlight the potential for older adults to be put at the vanguard of a movement aimed at challenging socially constructed notions of old age.
Analysis of Oncological Outcomes After Robotic Liver Resection for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Background Concerns regarding minimally invasive liver resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC) include inadequate resection margins and inferior long-term overall survival (OS) when compared to an “open” approach. Limited data exists to address these issues. We aimed to compare perioperative variables, tumor distance to margin, and long-term outcomes after IHCC resection based on surgical approach (robotic vs open) in our hepatobiliary center to address these concerns. Methods With IRB approval, 34 patients who underwent robotic or open hepatectomy for IHCC were prospectively followed. Patients were stratified by tumor distance to resection margin (≤1 mm, 1.1-9.9 mm, ≥10 mm) for illustrative purposes and by approach (robotic vs open). Where appropriate, regression analysis and cox model of proportional hazards were utilized. Survival was stratified by margin distance and approach utilizing Kaplan-Meier curves. Data are presented as median (mean ± SD). Results Patients undergoing robotic vs open hepatectomy had similar demographics. Patients undergoing the robotic approach had significantly lower estimated blood loss (EBL). Tumor distance to margin between the two approaches were similar (P = .428). Median OS between the two approaches was similar in patients of any margin distance. In the subgroup analysis by margin distance, the robotic approach yielded less EBL for patients in the 1.1-9.9 mm and ≥10 mm margin groups, and a shorter ICU length of stay for patients with ≥10 mm margin. Discussion Similar margins were attained via either approach, translating into oncological non-inferiority of robotic IHCC resection. Robotic approach for the treatment of IHCC should be considered an alternative to an open approach.
Efficacy and safety of combined oral sucrose and nonnutritive sucking in pain management for infants: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Pain management is currently important in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The superiority in pain relief of the combined oral sucrose (OS) and nonnutritive sucking (NNS) to other single intervention has not been well established. The administration of sucrose has been considered to potentially induce adverse events, which has been controversial. This study aims to investigate the combined effects and safety in comparison with other single intervention methods, including NNS, OS alone, breast milk and oral glucose. Methods We searched databases including Medline (via Pubmed), Embase (via Ovid), web of science, and Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials from Jan 1, 2000 to Mar 31, 2021. The data were analyzed in the meta-analysis using Review manager Version 5.3. Pain score was the primary outcome in this meta-analysis. The adverse events were assessed qualitatively. Results A total of 16 studies were eligible in the meta-analysis. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in pain score in the NNS+OS group compared with NNS alone (SMD = -1.69, 95%CI, -1.69,-0.65) or sucrose alone (SMD = -1.39, 95% CI, -2.21,-0.57) during the painful procedures. When compared NNS+OS with breast milk, no significant difference was detected (SMD = -0.19, 95% CI: -0.5, 0.11). Conclusion The combined effects of NNS and OS might be superior to other single intervention method. However, the effects might be mild for moderate-to-severe pain.
DNA damage in a Chilean population exposed to pesticides and its association with PON1 (Q192R and L55M) susceptibility biomarker

The active ingredients in pesticides are known to be genotoxic that can cause mutations, chromosomal aberrations, or other types of DNA damage. Early detection of genotoxicity reduces the risk of developing diseases such as cancer or suffering from reproductive disorders. In turn, the genotoxic risk depends on the intrinsic capability of the individual to metabolize and eliminate the xenobiotic from the organism. This study aimed to determine if two polymorphisms of paraoxonase‐1 (PON1), which is involved in the metabolism of several organophosphate (OP) pesticides, are predictors of susceptibility to DNA damage in agricultural workers and inhabitants of rural areas chronically exposed to pesticides. A cross‐sectional study was made considering three groups: agricultural workers (occupational exposure, OE, n = 85), rural inhabitants (environmental exposure, EE, n = 60), and an unexposed group conformed by people living far from agricultural areas (U, n = 33). The level of individual DNA damage was measured using the comet assay, and genotyping was done to determine the PON1 Q192R and L55M polymorphisms. Acetylcholinesterase and butyrilcholinesterase activities were also measured to determine exposure to OP. Individuals belonging to EE and OE groups displayed higher levels of DNA damage compared with U group (p < .001). OP exposure was the main predictor of genotoxicity (β = 16.19; 95% CI: 1.85, 30.52), instead of PON1 polymorphisms (β = −12.20; 95% CI: −27.87, 3.48). These results confirm the genotoxic effects of pesticide exposure and suggest that the catalytic efficiency of PON1 to metabolize OP pesticides becomes negligible in individuals with a history of long‐term environmental or occupational exposure to these substances.
Capturing Time Dynamics From Speech Using Neural Networks for Surgical Mask Detection

The importance of detecting whether a person wears a face mask while speaking has tremendously increased since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), as wearing a mask can help to reduce the spread of the virus and mitigate the public health crisis. Besides affecting human speech characteristics related to frequency, face masks cause temporal interferences in speech, altering the pace, rhythm, and pronunciation speed. In this regard, this paper presents two effective neural network models to detect surgical masks from audio. The proposed architectures are both based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), chosen as an optimal approach for the spatial processing of the audio signals. One architecture applies a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to model the time-dependencies. Through an additional attention mechanism, the LSTM-based architecture enables the extraction of more salient temporal information. The other architecture (named ConvTx) retrieves the relative position of a sequence through the positional encoder of a transformer module. In order to assess to which extent both architectures can complement each other when modelling temporal dynamics, we also explore the combination of LSTM and Transformers in three hybrid models. Finally, we also investigate whether data augmentation techniques, such as, using transitions between audio frames and considering gender-dependent frameworks might impact the performance of the proposed architectures. Our experimental results show that one of the hybrid models achieves the best performance, surpassing existing state-of-the-art results for the task at hand.
Using molecular network analysis to explore the characteristics of HIV-1 transmission in a China-Myanmar border area

Background The China-Myanmar border area is considered a hot spot of active HIV-1 recombination in Southeast Asia. To better understand the characteristics of HIV-1 transmission in this area, a cross-sectional HIV-1 molecular epidemiological survey was conducted in Baoshan Prefecture of Yunnan Province. Methods In total, 708 newly reported HIV-1 cases in Baoshan Prefecture from 2019 to 2020 were included in this study. HIV-1 gag, pol and env genes were sequenced, and the spatial and demographic distributions of HIV-1 genotypes were analyzed. The characteristics of HIV-1 transmission were investigated using the HIV-1 molecular network method. Results In the 497 samples with genotyping results, 19 HIV-1 genotypes were found, with URFs being the predominant strains (30.2%, 150/497). The main circulating HIV-1 strains were mostly distributed in the northern area of Baoshan. URFs were more likely identified in Burmese individuals, intravenous drug users and those younger than 50 years old. CRF08_BC was more likely detected in farmers and those of Han ethnicity, CRF01_AE in the young and those of Han ethnicity, and CRF07_BC in the subpopulation with junior middle school education and higher. Moreover, CRF118_BC and CRF64_BC were more likely found in the subpopulation aged ≥40 years and ≥50 years, respectively. Among 480 individuals with pol sequence detection, 179 (37.3%) were grouped into 78 clusters, with Baoshan natives being more likely to be in the network. The proportion of the linked individuals showed significant differences when stratified by the regional origin, marital status, age and county of case reporting. In the molecular network, recent infections were more likely to occur among nonfarmers and individuals aged below 30 years. Conclusions HIV-1 genetics has become complex in Baoshan. HIV-1 molecular network analysis provided transmission characteristics in the local area, and these findings provided information to prioritize transmission-reduction interventions.
Depression in Brazilian farmers: prevalence and associated factors.

BACKGROUND The unique characteristics of rural areas and agricultural work can contribute to the genesis of diseases, including mental disorders such as depression. AIMS To estimate the prevalence of and factors associated with depression symptoms in Brazilian farmers. METHODS A cross-sectional epidemiological study involving 784 farmers of the state of Espírito Santo/Brazil was carried out. Depression was identified using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to assess the associated factors. RESULTS The prevalence of depression symptoms among farmers was 16.8% (n = 132). Of those experiencing symptoms, 6.1% (n = 48) we're currently experiencing a depressive episode, and 10.7% (n = 84) a recurrent depressive episodes. The associated factors were: female gender (OR 1.63; 95% CI 1.04-2.54), not owning the land (OR 1.79; 95% CI 1.11-2.89), professional dissatisfaction (OR 1.99; 95% CI 1.18-3.35), previous pesticide poisoning (OR 2.87; 95% CI 1.45-5.67), complex multimorbidity (OR 1.95; 95% CI 1.15-3.31) and occurrence of previous depressive episodes (OR 9.83; 95% CI 4.39-21.99). CONCLUSIONS A high prevalence of depression symptoms was identified among rural workers. Sociodemographic, occupational, clinical, and professional dissatisfaction factors were associated with a higher risk of depression symptoms in this population.
Persistent contamination of a duodenoscope working channel in a non-clinical simulated ERCP setting

Background To mitigate duodenoscope contamination, recent design enhancements have primarily focused on the distal tip. However, the working channels remain unchanged, which may be linked to biofilm formation. We assessed the persistence of microorganisms, indicative of biofilm formation, in reprocessed duodenoscopes in a non-clinical endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) simulation setting. Methods Three new duodenoscopes were over-soiled in non-clinical ERCP simulations followed by reprocessing. After 40 tests, the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain in the soil (Pa-type 1) was switched to a different P. aeruginosa strain (Pa-type 2) for 20 subsequent tests. Cultures of the tip and working channel were acquired after high level disinfection and overnight storage. Results One duodenoscope showed persistent growth of P. aeruginosa from the fifth test until the end of the study. Pa-type 1 remained present until the end of the study in the cultures of this duodenoscope, even after discontinuation of exposure to that specific strain. The other two duodenoscopes only showed incidental contamination. Conclusion Persistent contamination by Pa-type 1 was seen in one out of three duodenoscopes after exposure to supraphysiological levels of gut microorganisms. No clear explanation was found for this persistent contamination as exposure and handling were identical and no abnormalities of this particular duodenoscope were identified by borescope inspection.
High MHC diversity confers no advantage for phenotypic quality and reproductive performance in a wild bird

Abstract Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encode antigen‐binding molecules and are an integral part of the acquired immune response of vertebrates. In general, high individual MHC diversity is expected to increase fitness by broadening the spectrum of pathogens recognized by the immune system, in accordance with the heterozygote advantage mechanism. On the other hand, the optimality hypothesis assumes that individuals with optimal (intermediate), rather than maximum, diversity of the MHC will achieve the highest fitness because of inherent costs associated with expressing diverse MHC alleles. Here, we tested for associations between individual diversity of the MHC class I and class II genes (binding antigens of intra‐ and extracellular pathogens respectively) and a range of fitness‐related traits (condition, ornament expression and reproduction) in an urban population of the Eurasian coot Fulica atra. Contrary to our expectation, we found that high within‐individual allelic diversity of MHC genes (both class I and II) was associated with poorer condition (lower blood haemoglobin concentrations), weaker expression of the putative ornament (smaller frontal shield), later onset of breeding and smaller clutches. An analysis of functional MHC allele clusters (supertypes) provided further support for negative associations of MHC diversity with phenotypic quality and reproductive performance, but most of these relationships could not be explained by the presence of specific maladaptive supertypes. Finally, we found little empirical support for the optimality hypothesis in the Eurasian coot. Our results suggest that the costs of high MHC diversity outweighed any benefits associated with broad MHC repertoire, which could be driven by depauperate pathogen diversity in an urban landscape. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies providing consistent evidence for negative associations of MHC diversity with a range of fitness‐related traits in a natural avian population.
Perceived vs. objective frailty in patients with atrial fibrillation and impact on anticoagulant dosing: an ETNA-AF-Europe sub-analysis

Abstract Aims Frailty is common in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), with possible impact on therapies and outcomes. However, definitions of frailty are variable, and may not overlap with frailty perception among physicians. We evaluated the prevalence of frailty as perceived by enrolling physicians in the Edoxaban Treatment in Routine Clinical Practice for Patients With Non-Valvular AF (ETNA-AF)-Europe registry (NCT02944019), and compared it with an objective frailty assessment. Methods and results ETNA-AF-Europe is a prospective, multi-centre, post-authorization, observational study. There we assessed the presence of frailty according to (i) a binary subjective investigators’ judgement and (ii) an objective measure, the Modified Frailty Index. Baseline data on frailty were available in 13 621/13 980 patients. Prevalence of perceived frailty was 10.6%, with high variability among participating countries and healthcare settings (range 5.9–19.6%). Conversely, only 5.0% of patients had objective frailty, with minimal variability (range 4.5–6.7%); and only <1% of patients were identified as frail by both approaches. Compared with non-frailty-perceived, perceived frail patients were older, more frequently female, and with lower body weight; conversely, objectively frail patients had more comorbidities. Non-recommended edoxaban dose regimens were more frequently prescribed in both frail patient categories. Conclusions Physicians’ perception of frailty in AF patients is variable, mainly driven by age, sex, and weight, and quite different compared with the results of an objective frailty assessment. Whatever the approach, frailty appears to be associated with non-recommended anticoagulant dosages. Whether this apparent inappropriateness influences hard outcomes remains to be assessed.