Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell-free, high-density lipoprotein–specific phospholipid efflux assay predicts incident cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND Cellular cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) is a better predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events than HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) but is not suitable as a routine clinical assay. METHODS We developed an HDL-specific phospholipid efflux (HDL-SPE) assay to assess HDL functionality based on whole plasma HDL apolipoprotein–mediated solubilization of fluorescent phosphatidylethanolamine from artificial lipid donor particles. We first assessed the association of HDL-SPE with prevalent coronary artery disease (CAD): study I included NIH severe-CAD (n = 50) and non-CAD (n = 50) participants, who were frequency matched for sex, BMI, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and smoking; study II included Japanese CAD (n = 70) and non-CAD (n = 154) participants. We also examined the association of HDL-SPE with incident CVD events in the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-stage Disease (PREVEND) study comparing 340 patients with 340 controls individually matched for age, sex, smoking, and HDL-C levels. RESULTS Receiver operating characteristic curves revealed stronger associations of HDL-SPE with prevalent CAD. The AUCs in study I were as follows: HDL-SPE, 0.68; apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), 0.62; HDL-C, 0.63; and CEC, 0.52. The AUCs in study II were as follows: HDL-SPE, 0.83; apoA-I, 0.64; and HDL-C, 0.53. Also longitudinally, HDL-SPE was significantly associated with incident CVD events independent of traditional risk factors with ORs below 0.2 per SD increment in the PREVEND study (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION HDL-SPE could serve as a routine clinical assay for improving CVD risk assessment and drug discovery. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01621594. FUNDING NHLBI Intramural Research Program, NIH (HL006095-06).
Multiple-Attribute Decision-Making Based on Archimedean Bonferroni Operators of q-Rung Orthopair Fuzzy Numbers

The theory of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-rung orthopair fuzzy sets (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-ROFSs) proposed by Yager effectively describes fuzzy information in the real world. Because <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-ROFSs contain the parameter <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula> and can adjust the range of expressed fuzzy information, they are superior to both intuitionistic and Pythagorean fuzzy sets. Archimedean T-norm and T-conorm (ATT) is an important tool used to generate operational rules based on the <italic>q</italic>-rung orthopair fuzzy numbers (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-ROFNs). In comparison, the Bonferroni mean (BM) operator has an advantage because it considers the interrelationships between the different attributes. Therefore, it is an important and meaningful innovation to extend the BM operator to the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-ROFNs based upon the ATT. In this paper, we first discuss <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-rung orthopair fuzzy operational rules by using ATT. Furthermore, we extend BM operator to the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-ROFNs and propose the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-rung orthopair fuzzy Archimedean BM <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(q\hbox{-}{ROFABM})$</tex-math></inline-formula> operator and the <italic>q</italic>-rung orthopair fuzzy weighted Archimedean BM <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(q\hbox{-}{ROFWABM})$</tex-math></inline-formula> operator and study their desirable properties. Then, a new multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) method is developed based on <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q\hbox{-}{ROFWABM}$</tex-math></inline-formula> operator. Finally, we use a practical example to verify effectiveness and superiority by comparing to other existing methods.
Offline Evaluation Matters: Investigation of the Influence of Offline Performance of EMG-Based Neural-Machine Interfaces on User Adaptation, Cognitive Load, and Physical Efforts in a Real-Time Application

There has been controversy about the value of offline evaluation of EMG-based neural-machine interfaces (NMIs) for their real-time application. Often, conclusions have been drawn after studying the correlation of the offline EMG decoding accuracy/error with the NMI user’s real-time task performance without further considering other important human performance metrics such as adaptation rate, cognitive load, and physical effort. To fill this gap, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between the offline decoding accuracy of EMG-based NMIs and user adaptation, cognitive load, and physical effort in real-time NMI use. Twelve non-disabled subjects participated in this study. For each subject, we established three EMG decoders that yielded different offline accuracy (low, moderate, and high) in predicting continuous hand and wrist motions. The subject then used each EMG decoder to perform a virtual hand posture matching task in real time with and without a secondary task as the evaluation trials. Results showed that the high-level offline performance decoders yield the fastest adaptation rate and highest posture matching completion rate with the least muscle effort in users during online testing. A secondary task increased the cognitive load and reduced real-time virtual task competition rate for all the decoders; however, the decoder with high offline accuracy still produced the highest task completion rate. These results imply that the offline performance of EMG-based NMIs provide important insight to users’ abilities to utilize them and should play an important role in research and development of novel NMI algorithms.
Blood Purification for Adult Patients With Severe Infection or Sepsis/Septic Shock: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive and updated systematic review with network meta-analysis (NMA) to assess the outcome benefits of various blood purification modalities for adult patients with severe infection or sepsis. DATA SOURCES: We conducted a search of PubMed, MEDLINE, clinical trial registries, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases with no language restrictions. STUDY SELECTION: Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected. DATA EXTRACTION: The primary outcome was overall mortality. The secondary outcomes were the length of mechanical ventilation (MV) days and ICU stay, incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI), and kidney replacement therapy requirement. DATA SYNTHESIS: We included a total of 60 RCTs with 4,595 participants, comparing 16 blood purification modalities with 17 interventions. Polymyxin-B hemoperfusion (relative risk [RR]: 0.70; 95% CI, 0.57–0.86) and plasma exchange (RR: 0.61; 95% CI, 0.42–0.91) were associated with low mortality (very low and low certainty of evidence, respectively). Because of the presence of high clinical heterogeneity and intransitivity, the potential benefit of polymyxin-B hemoperfusion remained inconclusive. The analysis of secondary outcomes was limited by the scarcity of available studies. HA330 with high-volume continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH), HA330, and standard-volume CVVH were associated with shorter ICU stay. HA330 with high-volume CVVH, HA330, and standard-volume CVVH were beneficial in reducing MV days. None of the interventions showed a significant reduction in the incidence of AKI or the need for kidney replacement therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our NMA suggests that plasma exchange and polymyxin-B hemoperfusion may provide potential benefits for adult patients with severe infection or sepsis/septic shock when compared with standard care alone, but most comparisons were based on low or very low certainty evidence. The therapeutic effect of polymyxin-B hemoperfusion remains uncertain. Further RCTs are required to identify the specific patient population that may benefit from extracorporeal blood purification.
A Difficulty for Economic Theory: Why Claiming the Weak Axiom is 'Weak' is Wrong

The weak axiom of revealed preference constitutes the basis for neoclassical choice theory. Neoclassical consumer theory can be held to on the basis that the weak axiom upon which it is built is “weak” and has only very reasonable requirements of behaviour. In this paper I demonstrate with a simple psychological model why it is misleading to make such a claim, and that in fact the “weak” axiom is in fact rather strong in its requirements of choice.
Modeled health economic and equity impact on dental caries and health outcomes from a 20% sugar sweetened beverages tax in Australia

Abstract Dental caries is the most prevalent oral disease across the life course. This study modeled the population health and economic impact of a 20% sugar sweetened beverages tax (SSB) for preventing dental caries compared to no intervention (societal and healthcare perspective). A cost‐effectiveness analysis according to quintiles of area‐level socioeconomic disadvantage was performed for the 2020 Australian population (0–100 years old) using a closed cohort Markov model. A qualitative assessment of implementation considerations (e.g., acceptability, equity, sustainability) was undertaken. Health outcomes were modeled as decayed teeth prevented and disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs) averted. The 10‐year and lifetime scenarios were modeled with probabilistic sensitivity analysis (Monte Carlo simulation, 2000 cycles). The 10‐year scenario from a societal perspective yielded cost‐savings of AUD$63.5M, healthcare cost‐savings of AUD$42.2M, 510,977 decayed teeth averted and 98.1 DALYs averted. The lifetime scenario resulted in societal cost savings of AUD$176.6M, healthcare cost‐savings of AUD$122.5M, 1,309,211 decayed teeth averted and 254.9 DALYs averted. Modeling indicated 71.5% and 74.5% cost‐effectiveness for the 10‐year and lifetime scenarios, respectively. A three‐fold health benefit for the least advantaged was found compared to the most advantaged. A 20% SSB tax in Australia is cost‐effective and promotes health equity.
Single-cell profiling reveals comparatively inflammatory polarization of human carotid versus femoral plaque leukocytes

45 46 Rationale: Femoral atherosclerotic plaques are less inflammatory than carotid plaques 47 histologically, but limited cell-level data exist regarding comparative immune landscapes 48 and polarization at these sites. 49 50 Objectives: We investigated intraplaque leukocyte phenotypes and transcriptional 51 polarization in 49 total patients undergoing femoral (N=23) or carotid (N=26) 52 endarterectomy using single-cell ribonucleic acid sequencing (scRNA-seq; N=13), flow 53 cytometry (N=24), and immunohistochemistry (N=12). 54 55 Findings: Comparative scRNA-seq of CD45 positive-selected leukocytes from femoral 56 (N=9; 35265 cells) and carotid (N=4; 30655 cells) plaque revealed distinct 57 transcriptional profiles. Inflammatory foam cell-like macrophages and monocytes 58 comprised 2.5to 4-fold higher proportions of myeloid cells in carotid plaques, whereas 59 non-inflammatory foam cell-like macrophages and LYVE1-overexpressing resident-like 60 macrophages comprised 3.5to 9-fold higher proportions of myeloid cells in femoral 61 plaque (p<0.001 for all). A significant comparative excess of CCR2 macrophages in 62 carotid versus femoral plaque was observed by flow cytometry in a separate validation cohort. B 63 cells were more prevalent and exhibited a comparatively anti-inflammatory profile in 64 femoral plaque, whereas cytotoxic CD8+ T cells were more prevalent in carotid plaque. 65
Osteogenic differentiation and reconstruction of mandible defects using a novel resorbable membrane: An in vitro and in vivo experimental study.

To evaluate the cellular response of both an intact fish skin membrane and a porcine-derived collagen membrane and investigate the bone healing response of these membranes using a translational, preclinical, guided-bone regeneration (GBR) canine model. Two different naturally sourced membranes were evaluated in this study: (i) an intact fish skin membrane (Kerecis Oral®, Kerecis) and (ii) a porcine derived collagen (Mucograft®, Geistlich) membrane, positive control. For the in vitro experiments, human osteoprogenitor (hOP) cells were used to assess the cellular viability and proliferation at 24, 48, 72, and 168 h. ALPL, COL1A1, BMP2, and RUNX2 expression levels were analyzed by real-time PCR at 7 and 14 days. The preclinical component was designed to mimic a GBR model in canines (n = 12). The first step was the extraction of premolars (P1-P4) and the 1st molars bilaterally, thereby creating four three-wall box type defects per mandible (two per side). Each defect site was filled with bone grafting material, which was then covered with one of the two membranes (Kerecis Oral® or Mucograft®). The groups were nested within the mandibles of each subject and membranes randomly allocated among the defects to minimize potential site bias. Samples were harvested at 30-, 60-, and 90-days and subjected to computerized microtomography (μCT) for three-dimensional reconstruction to quantify bone formation and graft degradation, in addition to histological processing to qualitatively analyze bone regeneration. Neither the intact fish skin membrane nor porcine-based collagen membrane presented cytotoxic effects. An increase in cell proliferation rate was observed for both membranes, with the Kerecis Oral® outperforming the Mucograft® at the 48- and 168-hour time points. Kerecis Oral® yielded higher ALPL expression relative to Mucograft® at both 7- and 14-day points. Additionally, higher COL1A1 expression was observed for the Kerecis Oral® membrane after 7 days but no differences were detected at 14 days. The membranes yielded similar BMP2 and RUNX2 expression at 7 and 14 days. Volumetric reconstructions and histologic micrographs indicated gradual bone ingrowth along with the presence of particulate bone grafts bridging the defect walls for both Kerecis Oral® and Mucograft® membranes, which allowed for the reestablishment of the mandible shape after 90 days. New bone formation significantly increased from 30 to 60 days, and from 60 to 90 days in vivo, without significant differences between membranes. The amount of bovine grafting material (%) within the defects significantly decreased from 30 to 90 days. Collagen membranes led to an upregulation of cellular proliferation and adhesion along with increased expression of genes associated with bone healing, particularly the intact fish skin membrane. Despite an increase in the bone formation rate in the defect over time, there was no significant difference between the membranes.
Neural Networks with Finite Intrinsic Dimension have no Spurious Valleys

Neural networks provide a rich class of high-dimensional, non-convex optimization problems. Despite their non-convexity, gradient-descent methods often successfully optimize these models. This has motivated a recent spur in research attempting to characterize properties of their loss surface that may be responsible for such success. In particular, several authors have noted that \emph{over-parametrization} appears to act as a remedy against non-convexity. In this paper, we address this phenomenon by studying key topological properties of the loss, such as the presence or absence of "spurious valleys", defined as connected components of sub-level sets that do not include a global minimum. Focusing on a class of two-layer neural networks defined by smooth (but generally non-linear) activation functions, our main contribution is to prove that as soon as the hidden layer size matches the \emph{intrinsic} dimension of the reproducing space, defined as the linear functional space generated by the activations, no spurious valleys exist, thus allowing the existence of descent directions. Our setup includes smooth activations such as polynomials, both in the empirical and population risk, and generic activations in the empirical risk case.
Production of biochar from Melia azedarach seeds for the crystal violet dye removal from water: combining of hydrothermal carbonization and pyrolysis

ABSTRACT Biochar has shown large potential in water treatment because of its low cost, good textural properties, and high reusability. In this study, two porous biochars were developed from the Melia azedarach seeds via direct pyrolysis process (B-700) and through hydrothermal carbonization followed with pyrolysis (HB-700). They were characterized by morphology, structural characteristics, and surface features and used to adsorb the crystal violet (CV) dye in water environment. Results of the isotherm approaches demonstrated that the removal capacity of these biochars reached 119.4 mg/g for B-700, and 209 mg/g for HB-700 (at 45°C). Also, the Avrami model best fitted the kinetic data. The electrostatic attraction was regarded as one of the adsorptions mechanisms of CV dye. The regeneration tests reveal that both B-700 and HB-700 are good reusable adsorbents. Finally, findings of the study showed that the hydrothermal carbonization method that precede the pyrolysis process can improve significantly the adsorption capacity of the produced biochar.
Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Blood and Scute Trace Element Concentrations in the Northern Great Barrier Reef

Marine turtles face numerous anthropogenic threats, including that of chemical contaminant exposure. The ecotoxicological impact of toxic metals is a global issue facing Chelonia mydas in coastal sites. Local investigation of C. mydas short‐term blood metal profiles is an emerging field, while little research has been conducted on scute metal loads as potential indicators of long‐term exposure. The aim of the present study was to investigate and describe C. mydas blood and scute metal profiles in coastal and offshore populations of the Great Barrier Reef. This was achieved by analyzing blood and scute material sampled from local C. mydas populations in five field sites, for a suite of ecologically relevant metals. By applying principal component analysis and comparing coastal sample data with those of reference intervals derived from the control site, insight was gleaned on local metal profiles of each population. Blood metal concentrations in turtles from coastal sites were typically elevated when compared with levels recorded in the offshore control population (Howick Island Group). Scute metal profiles were similar in Cockle Bay, Upstart Bay, and Edgecumbe Bay, all of which were distinct from that of Toolakea. Some elements were reported at similar concentrations in blood and scutes, but most were higher in scute samples, indicative of temporal accumulation. Coastal C. mydas populations may be at risk of toxic effects from metals such as Co, which was consistently found to be at concentrations magnitudes above region‐specific reference intervals. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2375–2388. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
Postural adjustments preceding string release in trained archers

ABSTRACT Optimal postural stability is required to perform in archery. Since the dynamic consequences of the string release may disturb postural equilibrium, they should be integrated into an archer motor programme to optimize postural stability. This study aimed to characterize the postural strategy archers use to limit the potentially detrimental impact of the bow release on their postural stability and identify characteristics that may explain a better performance. Six elite and seven sub-elite archers performed a series of 18 shots at 70 metres, standing on two force plates. Postural stability indicators were computed during the aiming and the shooting phase using the trajectory of the centre of pressure. Two postural strategies were defined, as whether they were triggered before (early) or after (late) the string release time. Both groups used anticipated postural adjustments, but elite archers triggered them before the string release more often and sooner. Scores differed between the two groups, but no differences were found between early and late shots. Trained archers seem to have finely integrated the dynamic consequences of their bow motion, triggering anticipated postural adjustments prior to the string release. However, it remains unclear whether this anticipation can positively influence the performance outcome.
Leukemia Stem Cells in Blood Cells; Focused on Acute Myeloid Leukemia

It is known that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous blood cancer, which is enormously propagated by self-renewing leukemia stem cells (LSCs). The persistence of LSCs after chemotherapy can contribute to minimal residual disease and relapse by LSCs can be evoked promptly. Elucidating special molecules and cellular activity of LSCs is an extremely important to eliminate AML. Despite an increasing understanding of the origin of LSCs by incessant study, AML still remains a notorious disease with high mortality. An exact identification of the LSCs that sustain the proliferation of neoplastic clone is a fundamental issue in AML treatment. CD34+CD38- conventional phenotype is overall regarded as LSCs, but it has a limitation that is still hard to demarcate exactly due to similarity with normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Not all primary blasts and progenitors have equal function, thus a bona fide marker for identifying LSCs from HSCs is needed in hematologic malignancy, especially in AML. These findings have direct important implications in both in mechanistic study of LSCs as well as in the strategies of more effective therapies. In this review, I briefly summarized current advances in LSCs biology, focusing on membrane markers and a functional behavior of LSCs in AML treatment with monoclonal antibodies. Ultimately, it may be helpful in overviewing the status of LSC research, while expecting the clinic benefits of target therapy by specific inhibition.