Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incoming medical students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward people with substance use disorders: Implications for curricular training

Background Medical students may be in an ideal position to identify patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) and provide them with information about harm reduction and treatment options. Specific education regarding opioid use disorder (OUD) and naloxone during undergraduate medical training may help students identify these patients and decrease their own negative attitudes toward patients with OUD. To plan for curriculum development, this study aimed to understand baseline knowledge and attitudes among students entering medical school. Methods During orientation, all first-year medical students (Class of 2023) were asked to complete a survey that explored their previous experiences in healthcare and with SUDs as well as their attitudes toward opioid overdose and patients with SUDs. We administered the Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS), Opioid Overdose Attitudes Scale (OOAS), Medical Conditions Regard Scale (MCRS), and Naloxone Related Risk Compensation Beliefs (NaRRC-B). Results 266 students (89.6% of the class) completed the survey. Generally, these students were relatively proficient in opioid overdose knowledge, but did not feel they were competent enough to respond to an overdose. Attitudes toward patients with SUDs were mixed. Approximately half of the students thought naloxone distribution should be unrestricted, but many were uncertain whether naloxone receipt would deter individuals from seeking treatment or increase opioid use. Students’ previous experiences in healthcare (e.g., employment) results in significantly different knowledge and attitudes toward opioid overdose response. Conclusions These incoming medical students have greater healthcare experience and level of opioid overdose knowledge than the general population, but still harbor significant misinformation and stigma toward patients with SUDs. These findings provide a foundation upon which to tailor didactic efforts, starting early in medical school, so that graduating physicians can be adequately prepared for clinical care.
The Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (QuickDASH) scores in 961 Japanese volunteers

Introduction: Patient-reported outcomes recently have been used to assess treatment outcomes. The Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (QuickDASH) is a particularly convenient and useful tools. However, data on the normative values of Japanese population are lacking, so the present study was conducted to gather this information. Methods: We assessed 1098 volunteers over 18 years of age (363 men and 735 women, average 50 years old) who had not received upper limb treatment in a medical facility. These participants included our institution’s staff, their family members, and the participants in the group meetings held by institution’s staff. Their occupations were also examined. We divided occupations into nonmanual and manual labor. These factors of the participants were then analyzed to clarify which (if any) influenced the QuickDASH. Results: Valid answers were obtained from 961 subjects (87.5%). The median score was 2 (mean: 4.8) in the overall population, 0 (mean: 2.6) in men, and 2.5 (mean: 6.0) in women. The scores increased with age and were higher in women than in men. There were no significant differences by manual labor. Female sex and older age were identified as factors that influenced the QuickDASH score in the multiple regression analysis. There were high correlations among QuickDASH, work and sports/music scores. Conclusions: The present study provided QuickDASH scores for Japanese volunteers who had not received upper limb treatment in a medical facility. The scores were associated with older age and female sex. This study helps us to know the degree of potential upper limb impairment in the general population, and will help in populational strategies as primary and secondary preventive medicine for upper limb-related diseases.
Effect of Lignin Content on Properties of Flexible Transparent Poplar Veneer Fabricated by Impregnation with Epoxy Resin

In this work, poplar veneer (PV) rotary-cut from fast-growing polar was delignified to prepare flexible transparent poplar veneer (TPV). Lignin was gradually removed from the PV and then epoxy resin filled into the delignified PV. The study mainly concerns the effect of lignin content on microstructure, light transmittance, haze, tensile strength, and thermal stability of the PVs impregnated with epoxy resin. The results indicate that the lignin could be removed completely from the PV when the delignification time was around 8 h, which was proved by FTIR spectra and chemical component detection. Moreover, according to SEM observation and XRD testing, the porosity and crystallinity of the PVs were gradually increased with the removal of lignin. Also, the optical properties measurement indicated that the light transmittance and haze of the TPVs gradually increased, and the thermal stability also became more stable as shown by thermogravimetric analysis (TG). However, the tensile strength of the TPVs declined due to the removal of lignin. Among them, TPV8 exhibited excellent optical properties, thermal stability, and tensile strength. Consequently, it has great potential to be used as a substrate in photovoltaics, solar cells, smart windows, etc.
Clinical Trial Evidence Supporting US Food and Drug Administration Approval of Novel Cancer Therapies Between 2000 and 2016

Key Points Question What are the available data on cancer treatment outcomes for new cancer therapies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration? Findings In this comparative effectiveness study of 92 novel cancer therapies approved for 100 indications over 17 years, 44% of drug approvals were based on data from nonrandomized clinical trials. Randomized clinical trials typically reported that these drugs were associated with substantial tumor responses and delays in the time to progression or death, but the median absolute increase in overall survival was only 2 months. Meaning This study’s findings indicate that, at the time of drug approval, limited supporting data are available to decision-makers, and the increase in overall survival associated with new cancer drugs is typically small.
Optimization and Mechanism of the Wicket Gate Closing Law for High-Head Pumped Storage Power Stations

The high-head pumped storage power station (PSPS) has complex working conditions and severe transient processes. Under load rejection conditions, the turbine speed and the flow channel pressure will threaten the unit. By adjusting the wicket gate closing law (WGCL), we can effectively alleviate the adverse effects of the transient process. In this study, a full flow channel refined model of a high-head PSPS was constructed, and the influence mechanism of load rejection conditions on key parameters was analyzed by tracking the operating trajectory on the S characteristic curves and simulating the transient flow field inside the pumped turbine by three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD). Given the contradiction between different parameters in the wicket gate closing process, a third-generation non-dominated genetic algorithm based on reference point selection (NSGA-III) was introduced, and a high-dimensional multi-objective WGCL optimization model was constructed. We compared parameter changes in the two-phase and three-phase WGCL optimized elite solutions and explained the rationality of adopting the three-phase WGCL in high-head PSPSs. By proposing an improved three-phase WGCL, a new scheme—the most suitable WGCL under load rejection—was obtained through precise optimization. The research embodied the excellent effect of the heuristic multi-objective (MO) optimization algorithm based on the Pareto strategy in solving the operation problem of the large fluctuation transient process of hydraulic machinery. It revealed the theoretical basis of engineering adjustment for the safe production and operation of hydropower.
Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma: Updates on WHO classification, clinicopathological features and staging.

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is an uncommon carcinoma representing 1 to 4 % of all thyroid cancers. The carcinoma is most common in females of the eight decades. It is a locally advanced cancer with frequent infiltration of surrounding organs, blood vessels and skin of neck. Paraneoplastic manifestations could occur. Approximately half of the patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma had distant metastasis with lung and brain as the most frequent sites of metastasis. The median survival of patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma reported was from 1 to 6 months. The current terminology of the cancer in World Health Organization is "anaplastic thyroid carcinoma" rather than "undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma". In the latest American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, there are updates on T and N categories. To conclude, updated knowledge of clinicopathological features, classification, pathological staging will improve our understanding of the cancer and will help in the management of the patients with this aggressive cancer.
Zero-Inflated gaussian mixed models for analyzing longitudinal microbiome data

Motivation The human microbiome is variable and dynamic in nature. Longitudinal studies could explain the mechanisms in maintaining the microbiome in health or causing dysbiosis in disease. However, it remains challenging to properly analyze the longitudinal microbiome data from either 16S rRNA or metagenome shotgun sequencing studies, output as proportions or counts. Most microbiome data are sparse, requiring statistical models to handle zero-inflation. Moreover, longitudinal design induces correlation among the samples and thus further complicates the analysis and interpretation of the microbiome data. Results In this article, we propose zero-inflated Gaussian mixed models (ZIGMMs) to analyze longitudinal microbiome data. ZIGMMs is a robust and flexible method which can be applicable for longitudinal microbiome proportion data or count data generated with either 16S rRNA or shotgun sequencing technologies. It can include various types of fixed effects and random effects and account for various within-subject correlation structures, and can effectively handle zero-inflation. We developed an efficient Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm to fit the ZIGMMs by taking advantage of the standard procedure for fitting linear mixed models. We demonstrate the computational efficiency of our EM algorithm by comparing with two other zero-inflated methods. We show that ZIGMMs outperform the previously used linear mixed models (LMMs), negative binomial mixed models (NBMMs) and zero-inflated Beta regression mixed model (ZIBR) in detecting associated effects in longitudinal microbiome data through extensive simulations. We also apply our method to two public longitudinal microbiome datasets and compare with LMMs and NBMMs in detecting dynamic effects of associated taxa.
Viburnum opulus L.—A Review of Phytochemistry and Biological Effects

Viburnum opulus (VO) is a valuable decorative, medicinal, and food plant. This deciduous shrub is found in natural habitats in Europe, Russia, and some regions in North Africa and North Asia. The VO is traditionally used to treat aliments such as cough, colds, tuberculosis, rheumatic aches, ulcers, stomach, and kidney problems, among others. Many of the health-promoting properties of VO are associated with antioxidant activity, which has been demonstrated in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The results of in vitro studies show the antimicrobial potential of VO, especially against Gram-positive bacteria. In cell-based studies, VO demonstrated anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, osteogenic, cardio-protective, and cytoprotective properties. The applicability of VO in the treatment of urinary tract diseases, endometriosis, and some cancers has been confirmed in in vivo studies. The health benefits of VO result from the presence of bioactive components such as phenolic compounds, vitamin C, carotenoids, iridoids, and essential oils. The aim of this review is to present an overview of the botanical characteristics, chemical compositions, including bioactive compounds, and pro-health properties of VO different morphological parts.
Novel tau biomarkers phosphorylated at T181, T217 or T231 rise in the initial stages of the preclinical Alzheimer’s continuum when only subtle changes in Aβ pathology are detected

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), tau phosphorylation in the brain and its subsequent release into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood is a dynamic process that changes during disease evolution. The main aim of our study was to characterize the pattern of changes in phosphorylated tau (p‐tau) in the preclinical stage of the Alzheimer’s continuum. We measured three novel CSF p‐tau biomarkers, phosphorylated at threonine‐181 and threonine‐217 with an N‐terminal partner antibody and at threonine‐231 with a mid‐region partner antibody. These were compared with an automated mid‐region p‐tau181 assay (Elecsys) as the gold standard p‐tau measure. We demonstrate that these novel p‐tau biomarkers increase more prominently in preclinical Alzheimer, when only subtle changes of amyloid‐β (Aβ) pathology are detected, and can accurately differentiate Aβ‐positive from Aβ‐negative cognitively unimpaired individuals. Moreover, we show that the novel plasma N‐terminal p‐tau181 biomarker is mildly but significantly increased in the preclinical stage. Our results support the idea that early changes in neuronal tau metabolism in preclinical Alzheimer, likely in response to Aβ exposure, can be detected with these novel p‐tau assays.
Association of smoking and drug abuse with treatment failure in individuals with tuberculosis: a case-control study.

INTRODUCTION Treatment failure in tuberculosis (defined as a positive sputum smear 5 months after the initiation of anti-TB treat-ment) is a major threat to the control over TB. This study aimed to investigate the association of smoking and drug abuse with treatment failure among individuals with TB. MATERIAL AND METHODS Out of 286 TB patients with available data registered by the health system of Hamadan Provinces in western Iran, 24 TB patients with treatment failure (positive sputum smear, 5 months after initiation of anti-TB treatment) and 262 patients without treatment failure (negative sputum smear, five months after initiation of anti-TB treatment) were selected as case and control groups, respectively. These two groups were compared to each other in terms of demographic status which include age, sex, job, residence, and risk factors such as smoking and drug abuse status. An odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval was used as a measure of association. The Bonferroni correction was used to counteract multiple comparisons, therefore, a p-value of less than 0.004 was statistically significant. RESULTS No significant association was found between treatment failure and age, residence, comorbidity, education level, job status, sex, smoking, and method of drug abuse (P > 0.004). However, a significant association was found between duration of smoking, number of cigarettes per day, and drug abuse with treatment failure in univariate analysis (P < 0.004). In multivariate analysis, only an association with drug abuse was significantly associated with treatment failure (P = 0.047). CONCLUSION Drug abuse substantially increases the risk of treatment failure. Therefore, in order to control TB, it is suggested that preventive programs are designed in order to decrease drug abuse among TB patients before starting treatment.
Admission Cardiac Diagnostic Testing with Electrocardiography and Troponin Measurement Prognosticates Increased 30‐Day Mortality in COVID‐19

Background Cardiovascular involvement in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is common and leads to worsened mortality. Diagnostic cardiovascular studies may be helpful for resource appropriation and identifying patients at increased risk for death. Methods and Results We analyzed 887 patients (aged 64±17 years) admitted with COVID‐19 from March 1 to April 3, 2020 in New York City with 12 lead electrocardiography within 2 days of diagnosis. Demographics, comorbidities, and laboratory testing, including high sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs‐cTnT), were abstracted. At 30 days follow‐up, 556 patients (63%) were living without requiring mechanical ventilation, 123 (14%) were living and required mechanical ventilation, and 203 (23%) had expired. Electrocardiography findings included atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter (AF/AFL) in 46 (5%) and ST‐T wave changes in 306 (38%). 27 (59%) patients with AF/AFL expired as compared to 181 (21%) of 841 with other non‐life‐threatening rhythms (P<0.001). Multivariable analysis incorporating age, comorbidities, AF/AFL, QRS abnormalities, and ST‐T wave changes, and initial hs‐cTnT ≥20 ng/L showed that increased age (HR 1.04/year), elevated hs‐cTnT (HR 4.57), AF/AFL (HR 2.07), and a history of coronary artery disease (HR 1.56) and active cancer (HR 1.87) were associated with increased mortality. Conclusions Myocardial injury with hs‐cTnT ≥20 ng/L, in addition to cardiac conduction perturbations, especially AF/AFL, upon hospital admission for COVID‐19 infection is associated with markedly increased risk for mortality than either diagnostic abnormality alone.
Breast Cancer Heterogeneity and Response to Novel Therapeutics

Simple Summary Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that is driven by genetic, epigenetic and phenotypic modifications and is also affected by the microenvironment and the metabolism. In this article we review genetic and non-genetic causes of tumor heterogeneity focusing on the impact that heterogeneity has on resistance to therapy. We will provide examples of personalized medicines and their translation to the clinic. Abstract Targeted cancer therapies against oncogenic drivers are actively being developed and tested in clinical trials. Targeting an oncogenic driver may only prove effective if the mutation is present in most tumoral cells. Therefore, highly heterogeneous tumors may be refractory to these therapies. This makes tumor heterogeneity a major challenge in cancer therapy. Although heterogeneity has traditionally been attributed to genetic diversity within cancer cell populations, it is now widely recognized that human cancers are heterogeneous in almost all distinguishable phenotypic characteristics. Understanding the genetic variability and also the non-genetic influences of tumor heterogeneity will provide novel insights into how to reverse therapeutic resistance and improve cancer therapy.
Efficacy of Dietary Supplementation with Capsicum Annum L on Performance, Hematology, Blood Biochemistry and Hepatic Antioxidant Status of Growing Rabbits

Simple Summary The inclusion of phytochemicals in animal diets is a strategy that has been used to improve animal productivity by increasing the production yield. The addition of red-hot pepper (RHP) powder enhances productive rabbit performance and immunological, biochemical, and antioxidant statuses. Rabbits fed 2% RHP powder had higher weights. Thus, adding 1 or 2% RHP powder to rabbit diets is an easy, simple, and safe option for producers. The slaughter index and physical blood characteristics red blood cells (RBC’s), packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscle hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscle hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were significantly improved by feeding growing rabbits on RHP levels. Low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and very-low were distinctly (VLDL-C) decreased (p < 0.05) when feeding rabbits either 1 or 2% RHP supplemented diets. Furthermore, supplementing the rabbit’s diet with 1% RHP led to a significant increase (p < 0.001) in the total antioxidant capacity when compared to the rabbits fed with the basal diet. Additionally, the thyroxin concentration was increased with RHP supplementation. A remarkably significant effect on serum and hepatic oxidative stress responses was observed with RHP supplementation. Abstract Animals fed with a high amount of a wide range of antioxidants in their diet are significantly protected against oxidative stress. Powerful antioxidant substances such as vitamin E, vitamin C, and carotenoids are present naturally in red-hot pepper (RHP). This study hypothesized that using RHP may provide protection against oxidative stress and enhance animal physiological responses. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of feeding New Zealand white rabbits with RHP-supplemented diets on their physiological and biochemical responses. New Zealand White rabbits (age = 6 weeks, n = 48) were split equally into three groups (n = 16 in each group). One group was fed a basal diet only (control group), with the other two groups fed a basal diet along with 1 and 2% RHP. Mass spectrometric analysis for the RHP methanolic extract showed some phenolic compounds, such as p-coumaric, sinapinic acids, vanillic, and luteolin, as well as catechin and its isomers. Hepatic antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GSH, GSH-Px, and CAT) were significantly elevated (p < 0.05) by feeding rabbits diets supplemented with 1 or 2% RHP. The addition of RHP significantly enhanced immune-responses; phagocytic activity, chemotaxis, TIg, IgG, IgM, and IgA increased when growing rabbits were fed RHP compared with the control group. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 1 or 2% RHP may play a role as an enhancer of growth and immune response in growing rabbits.
Design of Novel 4-Aminobenzofuroxans and Evaluation of Their Antimicrobial and Anticancer Activity

A series of novel 4-aminobenzofuroxan derivatives containing aromatic/aliphatic amines fragments was achieved via aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction of 4,6-dichloro-5-nitrobenzofuroxan. The quantum chemistry calculations were performed to identify the factors affecting the regioselectivity of the reaction. The formation of 4-substituted isomer is favored both by its greater stability and the lower activation barrier. Antimicrobial activity of the obtained compounds has been evaluated and some of them were found to suppress effectively bacterial biofilm growth. Fungistatic activity of 4-aminobenzofuroxans were tested on two genetically distinct isolates of M. nivale. The effect of some benzofuroxan derivatives is likely to be more universal against different varieties of M. nivale compared with benzimidazole and carbendazim. Additionally, their anti-cancer activity in vitro has been tested. 4-aminofuroxans possessing aniline moiety showed a high selectivity towards MCF-7 and M-HeLa tumor cell lines. Moreover, they exhibit a significantly lower toxicity towards normal liver cells compared to Doxorubicin and Tamoxifen. Thus, benzofuroxans containing aromatic amines fragments in their structure are promising candidates for further development both as anti-cancer and anti-microbial agents.