Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection and Outcomes Among Symptomatic Healthcare Workers in Seattle, Washington

Abstract Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) who serve on the front lines of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been at increased risk for infection due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in some settings. Healthcare-acquired infection has been reported in similar epidemics, but there are limited data on the prevalence of COVID-19 among HCWs and their associated clinical outcomes in the United States. Methods We established 2 high-throughput employee testing centers in Seattle, Washington, with drive-through and walk-through options for symptomatic employees in the University of Washington Medicine system and its affiliated organizations. Using data from these testing centers, we report the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among symptomatic employees and describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes among employees with COVID-19. Results Between 12 March 2020 and 23 April 2020, 3477 symptomatic employees were tested for COVID-19 at 2 employee testing centers; 185 (5.3%) employees tested positive for COVID-19. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was similar when comparing frontline HCWs (5.2%) with nonfrontline staff (5.5%). Among 174 positive employees reached for follow-up at least 14 days after diagnosis, 6 reported COVID-related hospitalization; all recovered. Conclusions During the study period, we observed that the prevalence of positive SARS-CoV-2 tests among symptomatic HCWs was comparable to that of symptomatic nonfrontline staff. Reliable and rapid access to testing for employees is essential to preserve the health, safety, and availability of the healthcare workforce during this pandemic and to facilitate the rapid return of SARS-CoV-2–negative employees to work.
Enhancing the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Epoxy Resin via Blending with Thermoplastic Polysulfone

Efficient enhancement of the toughness of epoxy resins has been a bottleneck for expanding their suitability for advanced applications. Here, polysulfone (PSF) was adopted to toughen and modify the epoxy. The influences of PSF on the mechanical and thermal properties of the epoxy resin were systematically studied by optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analyzer (TG), dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer (DMA), mechanical tests and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The dissolution experimental results showed that PSF presents a good compatibility with the epoxy resin and could be well dissolved under controlled conditions. The introduction of PSF was found to promote the curing reaction of the epoxy resin without participating in the curing reaction and changing the curing mechanism as revealed by the FT-IR and DSC studies. The mechanical properties of PSF/epoxy resin blends showed that the fracture toughness and impact strength were significantly improved, which could be attributed to the bicontinuous phase structure of PSF/epoxy blends. Representative phase structures resulted from the reaction induced phase separation process were clearly observed in the PSF/epoxy blends during the curing process of epoxy resin, which presented dispersed particles, bicontinuous and phase inverted structures with the increase of the PSF content. Our work further confirmed that the thermal stability of the PSF/epoxy blends was slightly increased compared to that of the pure epoxy resin, mainly due to the good heat resistance of the PSF component.
Cassini plasma spectrometer measurements of Jovian bow shock structure

[1] The Cassini spacecraft on its way to Saturn flew by Jupiter and crossed its bow shock more than forty times on the dusk-side of the planet, whereas the early missions targeting Jupiter explored the dawnside. Here we report the first results concerning these bow shock crossings, based on the measurements of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS), the magnetometer, and the radio and plasma wave science (RPWS) instrument. We present data for five bow shock crossings, one at about 1920 local time (LT), the other four between 2100 and 2130 LT, 47.5°–50° beyond terminator. During the flyby the solar activity was high and variable. The measurements confirm that the Jovian bow shock is huge, extending over 700 RJ down the flank; Cassini was the first to observe such distant shock features. The bow shock was turbulent and very dynamic and magnetic fluctuations were superimposed on the shock; the downstream ion distributions exhibited bimodal structure time to time. For all bow shock crossings the onset of ion thermalization was a clear shock signature supported by an electrostatic wave signal; thermalization can be used as a signature of the shock location even in those cases when the field data are rather smeared. The strength of the shock potential weakened toward more distant regions even if the local Mach number did not decrease. Reflected protons were not detected upstream above our current sensitivity limit, but the incoming solar wind fluctuated in the foot region. We argue that the Jovian bow shock is not always in a steady state, and some of the observations might be connected with this fact.
Does the size of the informal economy impede the impact of remittances on economic growth? Evidence from Sub-Saharan African countries

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between remittances and economic growth. Additionally, it examines whether the size of the informal economy alter negatively the effect of remittances on economic growth, which surprisingly has received less attention in the literature. The paper applied the Ordinary Least Squared (OLS) and system Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) by Arellano and Bond (1991) and Arellano and Bover (1995). The sample include 30 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over 1991-2015. The results show that: first, remittances have a positive and significant effect on economic growth. Second, the impact of remittances on economic growth decreases with the size of the informal economy.
Development of an art-therapy intervention for patients with personality disorders: an intervention mapping study

ABSTRACT Art therapy for people diagnosed with personality disorders (PD) cluster B/C seems valuable to explore dysfunctional patterns in managing emotions. Current art therapy interventions are based on practical beliefs or commonsense approaches, without a sound basis in research results. To increase the effectiveness of art therapy for this target group, a planned, systematic and theory-based approach is needed. The principles of Intervention Mapping were applied to guide the development, implementation, and planned evaluation of the art therapy intervention. Empirical findings, theoretical models, and clinical practice experience were combined to construct a programme tailored to the needs of the target group. A structured 10-session art therapy intervention programme for patients was developed, aimed at: experiencing a (more) stable and positive sense of self, being able to express and regulate emotions, understanding emotions, thoughts and behaviours, using improved social and problem solving skills. Implementation took place and evaluation of the intervention is being carried out. The systematically developed art therapy intervention seems to be promising for PD patients in learning to deal with their problems. The results of the evaluation study may contribute to the knowledge about the use of art therapy for PD problems.
Oxidation in CSPV experiments involving H2O-bearing mafic magmas: Quantification and mitigation

Abstract A difficulty in performing high-temperature (>900 °C) experiments on near-liquidus hydrous mafic melts in gas-medium cold-seal pressure vessels (CSPV) is the tendency for H2O in the fluid phase to dissociate and H2 to diffuse through capsule material, leading to progressive oxidation of sample material. Negative consequences include premature stabilization of Fe-Ti oxide phases and commensurate deviation of the liquid line of descent toward silica enrichment. Moreover, time-variance of an intensive variable equal in importance to temperature or total pressure is an unwanted feature of any experimental study. Methodologies commonly employed to mitigate the oxidation problem, not without their own drawbacks, include incorporating CH4 into the pressurizing gas, limiting run duration to 24 h, enclosing samples in Au-alloy capsules, and incorporating solid buffering assemblages to serve as indicators of fO₂ excursion. Using the Co-Pd-O system as a fO₂ sensor, we investigated progressive oxidation of basaltic andesite at 1010 °C and PH₂O = 150 MPa. Our time-series of 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 h run durations reveals that oxidation occurs at a very high rate (~3-4 log unit change in fO₂ in 48 h). Both the variability of fO₂ and magnitude of dehydration-oxidation are considered unacceptable for phase equilibria work. Incorporation of additional CH4 serves only to offset the progressive oxidation trend toward a lower absolute range in fO₂. Ultimately, rapid oxidation in CSPV hinders the chemical equilibration of experimental charges. To mitigate the issue, we propose the following solution: Incorporation of a substantial mass of Ni metal powder as an O2 getter to the outer capsule successfully: (1) slows down oxidation; (2) stabilizes fO₂ at the nickel-nickel oxide (NNO) buffer after ~20 h; and (3) allows compositions to approach equilibrium. Runs much longer than 48 h may require one or more steps involving quenching and re-filling the pressure system with CH4.
Gait Analysis in a Box: A System Based on Magnetometer-Free IMUs or Clusters of Optical Markers with Automatic Event Detection

Gait analysis based on full-body motion capture technology (MoCap) can be used in rehabilitation to aid in decision making during treatments or therapies. In order to promote the use of MoCap gait analysis based on inertial measurement units (IMUs) or optical technology, it is necessary to overcome certain limitations, such as the need for magnetically controlled environments, which affect IMU systems, or the need for additional instrumentation to detect gait events, which affects IMUs and optical systems. We present a MoCap gait analysis system called Move Human Sensors (MH), which incorporates proposals to overcome both limitations and can be configured via magnetometer-free IMUs (MH-IMU) or clusters of optical markers (MH-OPT). Using a test–retest reliability experiment with thirty-three healthy subjects (20 men and 13 women, 21.7 ± 2.9 years), we determined the reproducibility of both configurations. The assessment confirmed that the proposals performed adequately and allowed us to establish usage considerations. This study aims to enhance gait analysis in daily clinical practice.
Alcohol Drinking and Health in Ageing: A Global Scale Analysis of Older Individual Data through the Harmonised Dataset of ATHLOS

We investigated the relation between alcohol drinking and healthy ageing by means of a validated health status metric, using individual data from the Ageing Trajectories of Health: Longitudinal Opportunities and Synergies (ATHLOS) project. For the purposes of this study, the ATHLOS harmonised dataset, which includes information from individuals aged 65+ in 38 countries, was analysed (n = 135,440). Alcohol drinking was reflected by means of three harmonised variables: alcohol drinking frequency, current and past alcohol drinker. A set of 41 self-reported health items and measured tests were used to generate a specific health metric. In the harmonised dataset, the prevalence of current drinking was 47.5% while of past drinking was 26.5%. In the pooled sample, current alcohol drinking was positively associated with better health status among older adults ((b-coef (95% CI): 1.32(0.45 to 2.19)) and past alcohol drinking was inversely related (b-coef (95% CI): −0.83 (−1.51 to −0.16)) with health status. Often alcohol consumption appeared to be beneficial only for females in all super-regions except Africa, both age group categories (65–80 years old and 80+), both age group categories, as well as among all the financial status categories (all p < 0.05). Regional analysis pictured diverse patterns in the association for current and past alcohol drinkers. Our results report the need for specific alcohol intake recommendations among older adults that will help them maintain a better health status throughout the ageing process.
Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performance of Anisotropic Polyimide/graphene Composite Aerogels.

In this work, a series of anisotropic polyimide (PI)/graphene composite aerogels were successfully fabricated. Poly(amic acid) ammonium salt (PAS)/graphene suspension was firstly prepared by mixing poly(amic acid) (PAA), deionized water, triethylamine (TEA) and graphene together, then the suspension successively underwent unidirectional freezing, freeze drying and thermal imidization process. The unidirectional growth of ice crystals during unidirectional freezing process endowed the composite aerogels with highly aligned tube-like pores, which gave PI/graphene composite aerogels with anisotropic electrical conductivity, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, heat transfer and compression performance. Moreover, the composite aerogel with low density (0.076g·cm-3) exhibited high EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of 26.1-28.8 dB in X band, and its specific EMI SE value reached up to 1373-1518 dB·cm2·g-1 when graphene content was 13 wt%. The dominating EMI shielding mechanism for these composite aerogels was microwave absorption. The composite aerogels had excellent thermal stability, their 5% weight loss temperature in nitrogen was beyond 546 °C.
Unemployment Insurance and Job Search Behavior

Unemployment insurance (UI) can affect unemployment duration and re-employment wages, through various dimensions of unemployed workers’ job search behavior. We shed light on the effects of UI on job search behavior using new longitudinal data: we link administrative registers to data from a major online search platform, and track the job applications sent over the unemployment spells of about 500,000 French workers. We identify changes in individual search behavior caused by UI around benefits exhaustion, after accounting for changes in the sample composition—i.e. dynamic selection—and for the effect of the time spent unemployed—i.e. duration dependence. We show that search effort (the count of job applications) increases by at least 50% during the year preceding benefits exhaustion and remains relatively high thereafter. The target monthly wage decreases by at least 2.4% during the year preceding benefits exhaustion, and remains relatively low thereafter. We document particularly large dynamic selection around benefits exhaustion, as some workers increase their search effort more before exhaustion and find a job faster. We also show evidence for duration dependence: workers decrease their target wage by 1.5% over each year of unemployment, irrespective of their UI status. Overall, the effect of UI on individual search behavior is consistent with the predictions of search models and constitutes evidence against search-free models where UI merely subsidizes leisure.
Altered Cortical Thickness-Based Individualized Structural Covariance Networks in Patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

Structural covariance is described as coordinated variation in brain morphological features, such as cortical thickness and volume, among brain structures functionally or anatomically interconnected to one another. Structural covariance networks, based on graph theory, have been studied in mental disorders. This analysis can help in understanding the brain mechanisms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We investigated cortical thickness-based individualized structural covariance networks in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were obtained from 39 patients with schizophrenia, 37 patients with bipolar disorder type I, and 32 healthy controls, and cortical thickness was analyzed via a surface-based morphometry analysis. The structural covariance of cortical thickness was calculated at the individual level, and covariance networks were analyzed based on graph theoretical indices: strength, clustering coefficient (CC), path length (PL) and efficiency. At the global level, both patient groups showed decreased strength, CC and efficiency, and increased PL, compared to healthy controls. In bipolar disorder, we found intermediate network measures among the groups. At the nodal level, schizophrenia patients showed decreased CCs in the left suborbital sulcus and the right superior frontal sulcus, compared to bipolar disorder patients. In addition, patient groups showed decreased CCs in the right insular cortex and the left superior occipital gyrus. Global-level network indices, including strength, CCs and efficiency, positively correlated, while PL negatively correlated, with the positive symptoms of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for patients with schizophrenia. The nodal-level CC of the right insular cortex positively correlated with the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, while that of the left superior occipital gyrus positively correlated with the Young Mania Rating Scale scores for bipolar disorder. Altered cortical structural networks were revealed in patients, and particularly, the prefrontal regions were more altered in schizophrenia. Furthermore, altered cortical structural networks in both patient groups correlated with core pathological symptoms, indicating that the insular cortex is more vulnerable in schizophrenia, and the superior occipital gyrus is more vulnerable in bipolar disorder. Our individualized structural covariance network indices might be promising biomarkers for the evaluation of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Solar Energy in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Challenges and Opportunities of Technological Leapfrogging

For decades, Africa was generally perceived as the dumping ground for obsolete technologies. In recent years, technological leapfrogging, which is associated with the newly industrialized economies in Asia, has transpired in some key industries. In this article, we present the solar photovoltaic industry as one such industry and an integrated model of scaling up solar technologies. We identified five unique models aimed at scaling up solar energy in Africa: state-led, nongovernmental organization and other agency–led, emerging-market multinational enterprises–led, Avon, and pay-as-you-go models. Our analysis focused on four countries in particular (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya) and Africa in general. Despite the promising opportunities of this industry, a number of factors such as high up-front capital costs and limited end-user financing schemes have limited the technological process. We conclude by outlining the implications of the findings for theory and practice. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Leucine Potentiates Glucose-mediated 18F-FDG Uptake in Brown Adipose Tissue via β-Adrenergic Activation

Significant depots of brown adipose tissue (BAT) have been identified in many adult humans through positron emission tomography (PET), with the amount of BAT being inversely correlated with obesity. As dietary activation of BAT has implications for whole body glucose metabolism, leucine was used in the present study to determine its ability to promote BAT activation resulting in increased glucose uptake. In order to assess this, 2-deoxy-2-(fluorine-18)fluoro-d-glucose (18F-FDG) uptake was measured in C57BL/6 mice using microPET after treatment with leucine, glucose, or both in interscapular BAT (IBAT). Pretreatment with propranolol (PRP) was used to determine the role of β-adrenergic activation in glucose and leucine-mediated 18F-FDG uptake. Analysis of maximum standardized uptake values (SUVMAX) determined that glucose administration increased 18F-FDG uptake in IBAT by 25.3%. While leucine did not promote 18F-FDG uptake alone, it did potentiate glucose-mediated 18F-FDG uptake, increasing 18F-FDG uptake in IBAT by 22.5%, compared to glucose alone. Pretreatment with PRP prevented the increase in IBAT 18F-FDG uptake following the combination of glucose and leucine administration. These data suggest that leucine is effective in promoting BAT 18F-FDG uptake through β-adrenergic activation in combination with glucose.
Variation in Chin and Mandibular Symphysis Size and Shape in Males and Females: A CT-Based Study

The chin is a unique anatomical landmark of modern humans. Its size and shape play an important role from the esthetic perspective. However, disagreement exists in the dental and anthropological literature regarding the sex differences in chin and symphysis morphometrics. The “sexual selection” theory is presented as a possible reason for chin formation in our species; however, many other contradictory theories also exist. This study’s aims were therefore to determine how chin and symphysis size and shape vary with sex, and to discuss “sexual selection” theory as a reason for its formation. Head and neck computed tomography (CT) scans of 419 adults were utilized to measure chin and symphysis sizes and shapes. The chin and symphysis measures were compared between the sexes using an independent-samples t-test, a Mann–Whitney test, and the F-statistic. The chin width was significantly greater in males than in females (p < 0.001), whereas the chin height, area, and size index were significantly greater in females (p < 0.001). Symphysis measures did not differ significantly between the sexes. Size accounted for 2–14% of the chin variance and between 24–33% of the symphysis variance. Overall, the chin was found to be a more heterogeneous anatomical structure than the symphysis, as well as more sexually dimorphic.
Heterogeneity, Stratification, and Growth: Macroeconomic Implications of Community Structure and School Finance

This paper examines how socioeconomic stratification and alternative systems of education finance affect inequality and growth. Agents interact through local public goods or externalities (school funding, neighborhood effects) and economywide linkages (complementary skills, knowledge spillovers). Sorting families into homogeneous communities often minimizes the costs of existing heterogeneity but mixing reduces heterogeneity faster. Integration, therefore, tends to slow down growth in the short run yet raise it in the long run. A move to state funding of education presents society with a similar intertemporal trade-off. Local and global complementarities play major roles in determining the efficient social and educational structures. Copyright 1996 by American Economic Association.