Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Illustrated State‐of‐the‐Art Capsules of the ISTH 2020 Congress

This year's Congress of the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) was hosted virtually from Philadelphia July 17–21, 2021. The conference, now held annually, highlighted cutting‐edge advances in basic, population and clinical sciences of relevance to the Society. Despite being held virtually, the 2021 congress was of the same scope and quality as an annual meeting held in person. An added feature of the program is that talks streamed at the designated times will then be available on‐line for asynchronous viewing. The program included 77 State of the Art (SOA) talks, thematically grouped in 28 sessions, given by internationally recognized leaders in the field. The SOA speakers were invited to prepare brief illustrated reviews of their talks that were peer reviewed and are included in this article. The topics, across the main scientific themes of the congress, include Arterial Thromboembolism, Coagulation and Natural Anticoagulants, COVID‐19 and Coagulation, Diagnostics and Omics, Fibrinogen, Fibrinolysis and Proteolysis, Hemophilia and Rare Bleeding Disorders, Hemostasis in Cancer, Inflammation and Immunity, Pediatrics, Platelet Disorders, von Willebrand Disease and Thrombotic Angiopathies, Platelets and Megakaryocytes, Vascular Biology, Venous Thromboembolism and Women's Health. These illustrated capsules highlight the major scientific advances with potential to impact clinical practice. Readers are invited to take advantage of the excellent educational resource provided by these illustrated capsules. They are also encouraged to use the image in social media to draw attention to the high quality and impact of the science presented at the congress.
Inhaled Corticosteroid Therapy in Bronchiectasis is Associated with All-Cause Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background and Objective Prescribing inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for bronchiectasis (BE) in the absence of obstructive lung disease is controversial. Studies investigating ICS therapy and impact on morbidity and mortality in BE are sparse. Methods This study comprises all patients with BE managed at respiratory outpatient clinics at two university hospitals in the Capital Region of Denmark 2014–2015. Baseline data were obtained from patient medical records, and patients were followed until April 2020. Results Out of 264 patients, 122 (46%) were prescribed ICS with no demographic differences between users/non-users of ICS. Among patients prescribed ICS, 21% did not have a concomitant diagnosis of asthma or COPD. Patients prescribed ICS had lower lung function (median FEV1 65.2 vs 80.9%pred, p<0.001) and a higher symptom burden in terms of cough (p 0.028), sputum production (p <0.001) and dyspnea (p <0.001). Pseudomonas-positive sputum cultures were more common in ICS-treated patients (6.5 vs 20%, p 0.010), as were previous severe exacerbations (41% vs 21%, p <0.001). In terms of mortality, high-dose ICS use was associated with increased mortality in multivariable Cox regression adjusted for age, sex, FEV1 and concomitant asthma/COPD (HR 4.93 [95% CI 1.73–14.0], p 0.003). Conclusion In this cohort, close to one out of five patients with BE were prescribed ICS despite having no concomitant diagnosis of asthma or COPD. Overall, ICS treatment was associated with higher morbidity and mortality, though causation is difficult to establish.
Differential protein expression during growth on model and commercial mixtures of naphthenic acids in Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf‐5

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are carboxylic acids with the formula (CnH2n+ZO2) and are among the most toxic, persistent constituents of oil sands process‐affected waters (OSPW), produced during oil sands extraction. Currently, the proteins and mechanisms involved in NA biodegradation are unknown. Using LC‐MS/MS shotgun proteomics, we identified proteins overexpressed during the growth of Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf‐5 on a model NA (4′‐n‐butylphenyl)‐4‐butanoic acid (n‐BPBA) and commercial NA mixture (Acros). By day 11, >95% of n‐BPBA was degraded. With Acros, a 17% reduction in intensity occurred with 10–18 carbon compounds of the Z family −2 to −14 (major NA species in this mixture). A total of 554 proteins (n‐BPBA) and 631 proteins (Acros) were overexpressed during growth on NAs, including several transporters (e.g., ABC transporters), suggesting a cellular protective response from NA toxicity. Several proteins associated with fatty acid, lipid, and amino acid metabolism were also overexpressed, including acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase and acyl‐CoA thioesterase II, which catalyze part of the fatty acid beta‐oxidation pathway. Indeed, multiple enzymes involved in the fatty acid oxidation pathway were upregulated. Given the presumed structural similarity between alkyl‐carboxylic acid side chains and fatty acids, we postulate that P. fluorescens Pf‐5 was using existing fatty acid catabolic pathways (among others) during NA degradation.
Surgical Versus Medical Management of Necrotizing Enterocolitis With and Without Intestinal Perforation: A Retrospective Chart Review

Background Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a debilitating disease that predominantly afflicts premature neonates, although it can also affect term neonates. The clinical features of the ailment vary widely and range from transient feed intolerance to life-threatening complications such as septicemia and disseminated intravascular coagulation. While surgery is usually only reserved for severe cases, such as those presenting with intestinal perforation, the role of surgical management in cases of NEC without perforation remains elusive. Methods A retrospective chart review of patients, three years in duration, was conducted and studied confirmed cases of NEC. The clinical presentations studied included cases of NEC with pneumatosis intestinalis, fixed bowel loop, pneumoperitoneum, and abdominal wall erythema. The patients were divided with regards to their intestinal perforation status and with pertinence to the treatment modality employed (medical or surgical). The results in either group were eventually analyzed in terms of the overall survival rate. Results A total of 48 patients were included in the study, of which 79.16% presented without perforation and 20.83% with perforation. Of the study participants included, 26 were females and 22 were males. Pertinently, no gender predominance was appreciated. In patients without perforation, medical management was noted to boast a lower mortality rate when compared with surgical intervention (15.6% vs 50.0%, respectively). In patients with perforation, the overall mortality was noted to hover at 50.0%, which was higher than that encountered in the non-perforation group. Conclusion In patients with NEC without perforation, surgical treatment confers no comparative therapeutic advantage when compared with medical management alone. Conservative management with broad-spectrum antibiotics including metronidazole yields equally favorable outcomes in such cases.
Visual Performances of a New Extended Depth-of-Focus Intraocular Lens with a Refractive Design: A Prospective Study After Bilateral Implantation

Purpose The aim of the present study was to evaluate the visual outcome of a new extended depth-of-focus (EDOF) intraocular lens (IOL) after bilateral implantation. A qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed and data were compared with those given by other studies regarding multifocal IOLs, which have the same purpose of giving spectacle independence to the patients. Methods The study enrolled 40 eyes of 20 patients who underwent cataract surgery with bilateral implantation of an EDOF IOL (Evolve Soleko, Rome, Italy). The mean age was 74.5±9 years (range 59–83ys). Refractive outcomes and contrast sensitivity were evaluated preoperatively and at 6-month follow-up. We also examined reading speed, glare, halos, difficulties in the night driving, the requirement for spectacles, and overall satisfaction with vision. Two questionnaires were administered for this purpose. Results At 6 months, the percentage of eyes within ±0.50 diopters (D) from emmetropia was 82.5%. Of all patients, 90% were satisfied with their vision. The percentage of spectacle-free for near and distance vision patients was 70% and 95%, respectively. A postoperative binocular uncorrected 60cm intermediate visual acuity (UI60VA) of 0.2 logMAR or better was achieved in 92% of patients. Contrast sensitivity significantly improved postoperatively (p<0.001) and mean reading speed was good. Conclusion This new EDOF IOL seems to provide an effective alternative to patients who desire a spectacle-free lifestyle postoperatively. These lenses can supply a satisfactory distance, intermediate and near vision, and retain good contrast sensitivity, with most patients reporting excellent satisfaction.
Lyophilized autologous serum stabilized with sucrose promotes the proliferation and migration of keratinocyte

Iman Permana Maksum1* , Siti Jubaedah1, Yosua Yosua1, Rostina Melpin1, Mervina Rondonowu1, Sutarya Enus2,3, Saadah Diana Rachman1, Sriwidodo Sriwidodo4, Toto Subroto1 1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia. 2Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia. 3National Eyes Center, Cicendo Eyes Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia. 4Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia.
Explainable Image Quality Analysis of Chest X-Rays

Medical image quality assessment is an important aspect of image acquisition where poor-quality images may lead to misdiagnosis. In addition, manual labelling of image quality after the acquisition is often tedious and can lead to some misleading results. Despite much research on the automated analysis of image quality for tackling this problem, relatively little work has been done for the explanation of the methodologies. In this work, we propose an explainable image quality assessment system and validate our idea on foreign objects in a Chest X-Ray (Object-CXR) dataset. Our explainable pipeline relies on NormGrad, an algorithm, which can eﬃciently localize the image quality issues with saliency maps of the classiﬁer. We compare our method with a range of saliency detection methods and illustrate the superior performance of NormGrad by obtaining a Pointing Game accuracy of 0.862 on the test dataset of the Object-CXR dataset. We also verify our ﬁndings through a qualitative analysis by visualizing attention maps for foreign objects on X-Ray images.
A nationwide study on cellular reliability: measurement, analysis, and enhancements

With recent advances on cellular technologies (such as 5G) that push the boundary of cellular performance, cellular reliability has become a key concern of cellular technology adoption and deployment. However, this fundamental concern has never been addressed due to the challenges of measuring cellular reliability on mobile devices and the cost of conducting large-scale measurements. This paper closes the knowledge gap by presenting the first large-scale, in-depth study on cellular reliability with more than 70 million Android phones across 34 different hardware models. Our study identifies the critical factors that affect cellular reliability and clears up misleading intuitions indicated by common wisdom. In particular, our study pinpoints that software reliability defects are among the main root causes of cellular data connection failures. Our work provides actionable insights for improving cellular reliability at scale. More importantly, we have built on our insights to develop enhancements that effectively address cellular reliability issues with remarkable real-world impact---our optimizations on Android's cellular implementations have effectively reduced 40% cellular connection failures for 5G phones and 36% failure duration across all phones.
Altered functional connectome hierarchy with gene expression signatures in newly-diagnosed focal epilepsy

Objective: Neuroimaging research is providing insights into epilepsy as a disorder of brain connectivity linked to functional impairments which may have an identifiable genetic component. This case-control study aims to identify imbalances in a functional connectome dimension spanning from unimodal to transmodal networks and explore the potential genetic basis of such alterations in patients with newly diagnosed focal epilepsy (NDfE). Methods: We used gradient-based analysis of resting-sate fMRI data comparing cortical gradient maps in patients with NDfE (n = 27) to age and sex-matched controls (n = 36). Using a brain-wide gene expression dataset, gene combinations associated with altered brain regions were then entered into an enrichment analysis. Results: We found an increased differentiation of connectivity profiles between unimodal and transmodal networks in NDfE, which was particularly pronounced in the patients with persistent seizures at 12-months follow-up (n=10). Differences corresponded to gradient score reductions in a visual network and increases in limbic and default mode systems which subserve higher-level cognition. Cortical difference maps were spatially correlated with regional expression of a weighted gene combination. These genes were enriched for disease and ontology terms and pathways previously associated with epilepsy and seizure susceptibility. Interpretations: Large-scale functional hierarchy may be altered from in focal epilepsy from diagnosis and correlate with response to treatment. Combining functional neuroimaging and transcriptional data analysis may provide a framework for understanding the wide-ranging impairments associated with the disorder and mechanistic insight into how gene processes may drive alterations in brain function mediating the genetic risk of epilepsy.
Surveillance of seasonal respiratory viruses among Chilean patients during the COVID‐19 pandemic

SARS-CoV-2 has generated over 122 million cases worldwide. Non-pharmaceuticals interventions such as confinements and lockdowns started in Chile on March 18th 2020. In Europe, confinements and lockdowns have been accompanied by a decrease in the circulation of other respiratory viruses such as Influenza A virus(IAV), Influenza B virus(IBV) or respiratory syncytial virus(RSV). Although changes in circulation patterns of respiratory viruses have been reported, limited information regarding the southern hemisphere is available where the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic merged with the winter season. We conducted viral surveillance of respiratory viruses and we evaluated their presence and establishing whether they were co-circulating with SARS-CoV-2.
Predicting Managers' Mental Health Across Countries: Using Country-Level COVID-19 Statistics

Background There is limited research focusing on publicly available statistics on the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as predictors of mental health across countries. Managers are at risk of suffering from mental disorders during the pandemic because they face particular hardship. Objective We aim to predict mental disorder (anxiety and depression) symptoms of managers across countries using country-level COVID-19 statistics. Methods A two-wave online survey of 406 managers from 26 countries was performed in May and July 2020. We used logistic panel regression models for our main analyses and performed robustness checks using ordinary least squares regressions. In the sample, 26.5% of managers reached the cut-off levels for anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder-7; GAD-7) and 43.5% did so for depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9; PHQ-9) symptoms. Findings We found that cumulative COVID-19 statistics (e.g., cumulative cases, cumulative cases per million, cumulative deaths, and cumulative deaths per million) predicted managers' anxiety and depression symptoms positively, whereas daily COVID-19 statistics (daily new cases, smoothed daily new cases, daily new deaths, smoothed daily new deaths, daily new cases per million, and smoothed daily new cases per million) predicted anxiety and depression symptoms negatively. In addition, the reproduction rate was a positive predictor, while stringency of governmental lockdown measures was a negative predictor. Individually, we found that the cumulative count of deaths is the most suitable single predictor of both anxiety and depression symptoms. Conclusions Cumulative COVID-19 statistics predicted managers' anxiety and depression symptoms positively, while non-cumulative daily COVID-19 statistics predicted anxiety and depression symptoms negatively. Cumulative count of deaths is the most suitable single predictor of both anxiety and depression symptoms. Reproduction rate was a positive predictor, while stringency of governmental lockdown measures was a negative predictor.
Validation and performance evaluation of a novel interferon-Î³ release assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cell response

Background: The reliable detection of the T-cell mediated response to COVID-19 or COVID-19 vaccination is important for individual patient care and for monitoring the immune response e.g. in COVID-19 vaccine trials in a standardized fashion. Methods: We used blood samples from health care workers (HCW) with or without history of COVID-19 to define test accuracy of a novel interferon-{gamma} release assay. Usefulness of qualitative and quantitative results after COVID-19 vaccination was examined in HCW receiving homologous or heterologous vaccination regimens. For a real-life performance evaluation, we analysed interferon-{gamma} response to complete vaccination in 149 patients receiving immunosuppressive or immune modulating therapies. Results: Using a double-cut-off strategy integrating the result of background stimulation the assay had a specificity of 100%. Sensitivity of the IGRA was 83.5 and 100% in HCW after SARS-CoV-2 infection more or less than 6 months ago. Quantitative results showed significant differences between first and second vaccine dose, but no difference between homologous and heterologous vaccination regimen. The majority of immunocompromised patients showed no immune response or isolated T-cell or antibody response to complete vaccination. Conclusions: The novel IGRA proved to be a highly specific and sensitive tool to detect the SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cell response to COVID-19 as well as COVID-19 vaccination. In perspective, it may serve as a standardized tool in COVID-19 vaccine trials and in clinical care of immunosuppressed patients.
Full discretization error analysis of exponential integrators for semilinear wave equations

In this article we prove full discretization error bounds for semilinear second-order evolution equations. We consider exponential integrators in time applied to an abstract nonconforming semi discretization in space. Since the fully discrete schemes involve the spatially discretized semigroup, a crucial point in the error analysis is to eliminate the continuous semigroup in the representation of the exact solution. Hence, we derive a modified variation-ofconstants formula driven by the spatially discretized semigroup which holds up to a discretization error. Our main results provide bounds for the full discretization errors for exponential Adams and explicit exponential Runge– Kutta methods. We show convergence with the stiff order of the corresponding exponential integrator in time, and errors stemming from the spatial discretization. As an application of the abstract theory, we consider an acoustic wave equation with kinetic boundary conditions, for which we also present some numerical experiments to illustrate our results.
Learner Types: A Means to Expand the Definition of Diversity and to Re- design Ethics Modules

Dr. Rider W. Foley is an assistant professor in the science, technology & society program in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia. He is the principal investigator at University of Virginia on the ’4C Project’ on Cultivating Cultures of Ethical STEM education with colleagues from Notre Dame, Xavier University and St. Mary’s College. He is also the co-leader of the ’Nano and the City’ thematic research cluster for the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. Rider is a Research Collaborator with the Sustainability Science Education program at the Biodesign Institute. His research focuses on wicked problems that arise at the intersection of society and technology. Rider holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability from Arizona State University, and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from University of New Hampshire. Before earning his doctorate, he has worked for a decade in consulting and emergency response for Triumvirate Environmental Inc.
Pitfalls in Diagnosing Urinary Tract Infection in Children below the Age of 2: Suprapubic Aspiration vs Clean-Catch Urine Sampling

Purpose: Reliable urine samples are of eminent importance when diagnosing urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children. Noninvasive procedures are convenient but likely to be contaminated. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of urine samples obtained by the midstream clean-catch method (CCU) to urine obtained by suprapubic aspiration (SPA) and to evaluate the ability of urinary dipstick to predict true infection. Materials and Methods: Retrospectively, data on children <2 years of age seen at our center for suspicion of UTI who had a CCU and a SPA performed the same day were included. Any growth in SPA was considered significant, whereas for CCU we tested 2 cutoff values of 104 and 105 CFU/ml, along with urinary dipstick results. Results: A total of 223 children were included. Using a cutoff of ≥104 CFU/ml, 16.6% of the cohort (37 cases) would be misdiagnosed if relying only on CCU. Using ≥105 CFU/ml, the rate was 24.6% (55 cases). Evaluating leukocyte esterase on urinary dipstick, a large difference between using CCU (sensitivity 94.7%, specificity 14.4%) and SPA (sensitivity 78.9%, specificity 82.2%) became obvious. Conclusions: A large number of children will be misdiagnosed if relying on CCU specimens compared to SPA. Relying on a negative leukocyte esterase dipstick test to rule out a UTI is not sufficient in a child with high suspicion of such an infection. SPA is a safe procedure, and we thus recommend its use to avoid delay of treatment and unnecessary invasive followup investigations.