Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the good-enough level (GEL) literature.

The "good-enough level" (GEL) model proposes that people respond differentially to psychotherapy, and that the typical curvilinear "dose-response" shape of change may be an artifact of aggregation. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the GEL literature to examine (a) whether different subgroups of adults accessing psychotherapy respond to therapy at different rates and (b) whether the shape of change is linear or nonlinear. This review was preregistered on PROSPERO. Fifteen studies were synthesized (n = 114,123), with 10 included across two meta-analyses (n = 46,921; n = 41,515). Systematic searches took place using Medline, PsycINFO and Scopus databases. A key inclusion criterion was that cases must be stratified by treatment length to examine the GEL. In support of the GEL, there was no overall association between treatment duration and outcomes (r = -0.24, 95% confidence interval [CI: -0.70, 0.36], p = .27). Longer treatments were associated with higher baseline symptom scores (r = 0.15, 95% CI [0.08, 0.22], p < .001) and slower rates of change. Different shapes of change were also evidenced: Curvilinear responses were more often found in shorter treatments, while linear shapes were more often found in longer treatments. However, findings varied depending on methodological criteria used. Although rates of change varied in line with the GEL, most people nonetheless responded within defined boundaries as described in the dose-response literature. We therefore refer to the notion of "boundaried responsive regulation" to describe the relationship between treatment duration and outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
LocusFocus: Web-based colocalization for the annotation and functional follow-up of GWAS

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have primarily identified trait-associated loci in the non-coding genome. Colocalization analyses of SNP associations from GWAS with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) evidence enable the generation of hypotheses about responsible mechanism, genes and tissues of origin to guide functional characterization. Here, we present a web-based colocalization browsing and testing tool named LocusFocus (https://locusfocus.research.sickkids.ca). LocusFocus formally tests colocalization using our established Simple Sum method to identify the most relevant genes and tissues for a particular GWAS locus in the presence of high linkage disequilibrium and/or allelic heterogeneity. We demonstrate the utility of LocusFocus, following up on a genome-wide significant locus from a GWAS of meconium ileus (an intestinal obstruction in cystic fibrosis). Using LocusFocus for colocalization analysis with eQTL data suggests variation in ATP12A gene expression in the pancreas rather than intestine is responsible for the GWAS locus. LocusFocus has no operating system dependencies and may be installed in a local web server. LocusFocus is available under the MIT license, with full documentation and source code accessible on GitHub at https://github.com/naim-panjwani/LocusFocus.
Rare cases of severe life-threatening lead poisoning due to accident or chronic occupational exposure to lead and manganese: Diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis

Background: Chronic long-term, low-dose environmental and occupational exposure to lead (Pb) has been extensively studied in large cohorts worldwide among general populations, miners, smelters, or battery workers. However, studies on severe life-threatening Pb poisoning due to accidental or chronic occupational exposure to Pb and manganese (Mn) were rarely reported. Methods: We present one case of acute severe Pb poisoning and compare it with another severe chronic occupational exposure case involving Pb and Mn. A 27-year-old woman mistakenly took a large quantity of pure Pb powder as an herbal remedy; she developed abdominal colic, severe nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and cutaneous and sclera icterus. Laboratory tests showed her blood lead level (BLL) of 173.5 µg dL−1 and urinary lead level (ULL) of 1240 µg dL−1. The patient was diagnosed with acute Pb poisoning and acute liver failure. In another chronic exposure case, a 56-year-old man worked in a Pb and Mn smelting factory for 15 years. He was brought to the emergency room with severe nausea, vomiting, and paroxysmal abdominal colic, which was intolerable during the onset of pain. His BLL was 64.8 µg dL−1 and ULL was 38 µg dL−1, but his blood and urinary Mn levels were normal. The patient was diagnosed with chronic Pb poisoning. Both patients received chelation therapy with calcium disodium ethylene-diamine-tetraacetate (CaNa2EDTA). The woman with acute severe Pb intoxication recovered well and was discharged from the hospital after treatment, and the man who survived severe Pb poisoning was diagnosed with lung cancer. Conclusion: Clinical manifestations of acute and chronic severe Pb poisoning are different. Chelation therapy with CaNa2EDTA is proven to be an effective life-saving therapy in both cases by reducing BLL. Occupational exposure to both Pb and Mn does not appear to increase Mn neurotoxicity; however, the probability that co-exposure to Mn may increase Pb toxicity in the same patient cannot be excluded.
Association between Carotid Artery Calcification and Periodontal Disease Progression in Japanese Men and Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To evaluate the association between alveolar bone loss (ABL) detected on panoramic radiographs and carotid artery calcification (CAC) detected on computed tomography (CT). Methods: The study subjects included 295 patients (mean age ± SD: 64.6 ± 11.8 years) who visited the Matsumoto Dental University Hospital. The rate of ABL and the number of present teeth were measured on panoramic radiographs. Univariate analyses with t-tests and chi-squared tests were performed to evaluate the differences in age, gender, history of diseases, number of present teeth, and the ABL between subjects, with and without CAC. Moreover, multivariate logistic regression analysis, with forward selection and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, was performed. Results: The number of subjects without and with CAC was 174 and 121, respectively. Univariate analyses revealed that CAC was significantly associated with age, hypertension, osteoporosis, number of present teeth, and ABL. Multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for covariates revealed that the presence of CAC was significantly associated with ABL (OR = 1.233, 95% CI = 1.167–1.303). In the ROC analysis for predicting the presence of CAC, the the area under the ROC curve was the highest at 0.932 (95% CI = 0.904–0.960) for ABL, which was significant. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the measurement of ABL on panoramic radiographs may be an effective approach to identifying patients with an increased risk of CAC.
Decoupled Modelling Approaches for Environmental Interactions with Monopile-Based Offshore Wind Support Structures

To meet the political goals regarding renewable energy production, offshore wind keeps expanding to waters with larger depths and harsher conditions, while the turbine size continues to grow and ever-larger foundation structures are required. This development can only be successful if further cuts in the levelized cost of energy are established. Regarding the design of the foundation structures, a particular challenge in this respect relates to the reduction of the total computational time required for the design. For both practical and commercial reasons, the decoupled modelling of offshore wind support structures finds a common application, especially during the preliminary design stage. This modelling approach aims at capturing the relevant characteristics of the different environment-structure interactions, while reducing the complexity as much as possible. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art modelling approaches of environmental interactions with offshore wind support structures. In this respect, the primary focus is on the monopile foundation, as this concept is expected to remain the prominent solution in the years to come. Current challenges in the field are identified, considering as well the engineering practice and the insights obtained from code comparison studies and experimental validations. It is concluded that the decoupled analysis provides valuable modelling perspectives, in particular for the preliminary design stage. In the further development of the different modelling strategies, however, the trade-off with computational costs should always be kept in mind.
A survey on deep learning-based non-invasive brain signals: recent advances and new frontiers

Brain signals refer to the biometric information collected from the human brain. The research on brain signals aims to discover the underlying neurological or physical status of the individuals by signal decoding. The emerging deep learning techniques have improved the study of brain signals significantly in recent years. In this work, we first present a taxonomy of non-invasive brain signals and the basics of deep learning algorithms. Then, we provide the frontiers of applying deep learning for non-invasive brain signals analysis, by summarizing a large number of recent publications. Moreover, upon the deep learning-powered brain signal studies, we report the potential real-world applications which benefit not only disabled people but also normal individuals. Finally, we discuss the opening challenges and future directions.
Inconsequential effects of flooding in 2014 on lakes in the Peace‐Athabasca Delta (Canada) due to long‐term drying

Climate‐driven decline in freshwater supplied by rivers draining the hydrographic apex of western North America has ramifications for downstream ecosystems and society. For the Peace‐Athabasca Delta (PAD), floods from the Peace and Athabasca rivers are critical for sustaining abundant shallow water habitat, but their frequency has been in decline for decades over much of its area. Here, we assess current hydrological and limnological status in the PAD by integrating spatial and temporal data. Analysis of water isotope compositions and water chemistry measured at numerous lakes across the delta shows that hydro‐limnological effects of the large‐scale ice‐jam flood event of 2014 failed to persist beyond the early ice‐free season of 2015. Isotope‐inferred paleohydrological records from five hydrologically representative lakes in the PAD indicate that periodic desiccation during the Little Ice Age occurred at the most elevated basin in response to locally arid climatic conditions, yet other lower elevation sites were influenced by high water level on Lake Athabasca owing to increased snowmelt‐ and glacier‐derived river discharge. In contrast, water isotope data during the past 15 yr at all five lakes consistently document the strong role of evaporation, a trend which began in the early to mid‐20th century according to sediment records and is indicative of widespread aridity unprecedented during the past 400 yr. We suggest that integration of hydrological and limnological approaches over space and time is needed to inform assessment of contemporary lake conditions in large, complex floodplain landscapes.
Evaluation of Compressive Strength of Mineral Admixed Recycled Aggregate Concrete Using Multiple Linear Regression Model

This paper attempted to predict the compressive strength of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) at the ages of 28-day and 90-day for various percentages of Recycled aggregate (RA), Flyash (FA) and Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) using multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis. To develop the model 180 cube specimens with different RA replacement percentages of 0, 25%, 50% and 100%, were tested under identical laboratory conditions. The compressive strength, percentage of RA, FA and GGBFS in concrete mix preparation was considered as variables in the model. The assessment results indicate that the predictions of the proposed models are in close agreement with the test results.
Color Visual Illusions: A Statistics-based Computational Model

Visual illusions may be explained by the likelihood of patches in real-world images, as argued by input-driven paradigms in Neuro-Science. However, neither the data nor the tools existed in the past to extensively support these explanations. The era of big data opens a new opportunity to study input-driven approaches. We introduce a tool that computes the likelihood of patches, given a large dataset to learn from. Given this tool, we present a model that supports the approach and explains lightness and color visual illusions in a unified manner. Furthermore, our model generates visual illusions in natural images, by applying the same tool, reversely.
What determines the sign of the evapotranspiration response to afforestation in the European summer?

Abstract. Uncertainties in the evapotranspiration response to afforestation constitute a major source of disagreement between model-based studies of the potential climate benefits of forests. Forests typically have higher evapotranspiration rates than grassland in the tropics, but whether this is also the case in the mid-latitudes is still debated. To explore this question and the underlying physical processes behind these varying evapotranspiration rates of forests and grasslands in more detail, a regional model study with idealized afforestation scenarios was performed for Europe. In the first experiment Europe was maximally forested and in the second one, all forests were turned into grassland. The results of this modelling study exhibit the same contradicting evapotranspiration characteristics of forests and grasslands as documented in observational studies. But by means of an additional sensitivity simulation, in which the surface roughness of forest was reduced to grassland, the mechanisms behind these varying evapotranspiration rates could be revealed. Due to the higher surface roughness of a forest, solar radiation is more efficiently transformed into turbulent sensible heat fluxes, leading to lower surface temperatures (top of vegetation) than in grassland. The saturation deficit between the vegetation and the atmosphere, which depends on the surface temperature, is consequently reduced over forests. This reduced saturation deficit counteracts the transpiration facilitating characteristics of a forest (deeper roots, a higher LAI and lower albedo values than grassland). If the impact of the reduced saturation deficit exceeds the effects of the transpiration facilitating characteristics of a forest, evapotranspiration is reduced compared to grassland. If not, evapotranspiration rates of forests are higher. The interplay of these two counteracting factors depends on the latitude and the prevailing forest type in a region.
Study of gene polymorphism for stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF1/ XCL12) and its elevation in plasma of women of reproductive age with pelvic inflammatory diseases in Babylon province

Aims: To discover possible relationships between CXCL12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and determine an elevation of SDF-1α in patients with PID. Methods: Veins blood samples were aseptically collected from women of reproductive age with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and healthy control, attending in two hospitals of Babylon Province: Province: Babylon Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital, and Al-Mahaweel General Hospital, during the period from January to October 2018.The enzymelinked immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism and bacterial culture identification were, respectively, used to measure the plasma stromal cell-derived factor 1α level, stromal cellderived factor1 polymorphism in 45 healthy controls and in 43 patients with pelvic inflammatory disease before they received treatment protocols. Results: The concentration of plasma stromal cell-derived factor 1α was higher in patients with pelvic inflammatory disease compared to normal controls. There were significant correlations between plasma stromal cell-derived factor 1α level and white blood cell count in addition to between stromal cell-derived factor 1α level and neutrophil count in females with pelvic inflammatory disease.There was no significant different distribution of stromal cell-derived factor 1 genotypes between women with pelvic inflammatory disease and normal healthy controls. Patients with pelvic inflammatory disease having stromal cell-derived factor 1-3ʹ A allele were associated with significant different higher level of plasma stromal cell-derived factor 1α compared to patients with pelvic inflammatory disease having G/G homozygous alleles (P = 0.01). In healthy control, there was no significant difference in the level of plasma stromal cell-derived factor 1 concentration between women with and without stromal cell-derived factor 1-3ʹA allele. The concentration of CXCL12 was elevated in the patients with pelvic inflammatory disease than control healthy women and there were significantly different between them. In conclusion, A novel linkage and association was found between genetic variation of CXCL12 and pelvic inflammatory disease progression .
Structural and Biochemical Analyses of the Francisella tularensis Virulence Regulators MglA, SspA and PigR

Structural and Biochemical Analyses of the Francisella tularensis Virulence Regulators MglA, SspA and PigR by Bonnie Joann Cuthbert Department of Biochemistry Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Maria A Schumacher, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Richard G Brennan, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Jane S Richardson ___________________________ Seok-Yong Lee ___________________________ Raphael H Valdivia An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Biochemistry in the Graduate School of Duke University 2017 Copyright by Bonnie Joann Cuthbert 2017
Autoencoder Image Interpolation by Shaping the Latent Space

Autoencoders represent an effective approach for computing the underlying factors characterizing datasets of different types. The latent representation of autoencoders have been studied in the context of enabling interpolation between data points by decoding convex combinations of latent vectors. This interpolation, however, often leads to artifacts or produces unrealistic results during reconstruction. We argue that these incongruities are due to the structure of the latent space and because such naively interpolated latent vectors deviate from the data manifold. In this paper, we propose a regularization technique that shapes the latent representation to follow a manifold that is consistent with the training images and that drives the manifold to be smooth and locally convex. This regularization not only enables faithful interpolation between data points, as we show herein, but can also be used as a general regularization technique to avoid overfitting or to produce new samples for data augmentation.
Microsaccades in Applied Environments: Real-World Applications of Fixational Eye Movement Measurements

Across a wide variety of research environments, the recording of microsaccades and other fixational eye movements has provided insight and solutions into practical problems. Here we review the literature on fixational eye movements—especially microsaccades—in applied and ecologically-valid scenarios. Recent technical advances allow noninvasive fixational eye movement recordings in real-world contexts, while observers perform a variety of tasks. Thus, fixational eye movement measures have been obtained in a host of real-world scenarios, such as in connection with driver fatigue, vestibular sensory deprivation in astronauts, and elite athletic training, among others. Here we present the state of the art in the practical applications of fixational eye movement research, examine its potential future uses, and discuss the benefits of including microsaccade measures in existing eye movement detection technologies. Current evidence supports the inclusion of fixational eye movement measures in real-world contexts, as part of the development of new or improved oculomotor assessment tools. The real-world applications of fixational eye movement measurements will only grow larger and wider as affordable high-speed and high-spatial resolution eye trackers become increasingly prevalent.
Glyphosate and Sc-0224 for Bermudagrass (Cynodon Spp.) Cultivar Control

An undesirable bermudagrass [Cynodon dacytlon (L.) Pers. # CYNDA] often must be removed before converting to an improved bermudagrass turf or to a different turfgrass species. Because bermudagrass control with glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] has been inconsistent, an experiment was initiated to determine the necessary application rates and frequency for glyphosate and SC-0224 (trimethylsulfonium carboxymethylaminomethylphosphonate) to control bermudagrass. Both glyphosate and SC-0224 applied in three applications (May, June, and August) had controlled three bermudagrass hybrids [Cynodon transvaalensis Burtt-Davy # CYNTR x C. dactylon (L.) Pers. Tifway’, Tifgreen’, and ‘Tifdwarf’] and ‘Ormond’ bermudagrasses when evaluated the next June. None of the cultivars were controlled effectively with either herbicide applied in one (May) or two (May and June) applications regardless of rate. Control with glyphosate and SC-0224 was similar.
Profile of viral skin infections encountered among Albaha King Fahd Hospital attendants: A hospital-based study

Background: Viral infections of the skin are widespread, highly contagious, and often recurring, though the most life-threatening are preventable with vaccinations. The frequently encountered causes for the viral skin diseases are like herpes simplex, herpes zoster ANALYSIS 24(104), July August, 2020 Medical Science ISSN 2321–7359 EISSN 2321–7367
Thorium(IV) removal and recovery from aqueous solutions using modified silica nanoparticles with cysteine or methionine amino acids

In this study, SiO2 nanoparticles were modified by cysteine (SiO2-Cys) or methionine (SiO2Meth) and then applied for removal thorium(IV) ion from aqueous solution. Silica nanoparticles and its modified forms were characterized by elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, zeta potential, and Fourier transform infrared analyses. Sorption of Th(IV) ion using a batch technique by silica nanoparticles, SiO2-Cys and SiO2-Meth was studied as a function of pH, sorbent dosage, temperature, initial concentration, and contact time. The kinetic studies show that sorption of Th(IV) ion by silica nanoparticles, SiO2-Cys, and SiO2-Meth was well-described by the pseudo-second-order equation. Negative values of Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) suggest the spontaneity of the sorption process on silica nanoparticles and its modified forms (SiO2-Cys) and (SiO2-Meth). Positive values of enthalpy (ΔH°) indicate the endothermic adsorption process. The sorption isotherm was better fitted by Langmuir model with maximum sorption capacity for silica nanoparticles, SiO2-Cys and SiO2-Meth was found to be 5.3, 8.2, and 7.0 mg/g at 25°C, respectively. Desorption studies indicate that the most favorable desorption reagent for Th(VI) is 0.1 M nitric acid.