Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship Between Mean Vancomycin Trough Concentration and Mortality in Critically Ill Patients: A Multicenter Retrospective Study

Background: It remains unclear whether the mean vancomycin trough concentration (VTC) derived from the entire course of therapy is of potential benefit for critically ill patients. This study was conducted to explore the association between mean serum VTC and mortality in intensive care units (ICUs). Methods: 3,603 adult patients with two or more VTC records after receiving vancomycin treatment in the eICU Collaborative Research Database were included in this multicenter retrospective cohort study. Mean VTC was estimated using all measured VTCs and investigated as a continuous and categorical variable. Patients were categorised into four groups according to mean VTC: <10, 10–15, 15–20, and >20 mg/L. Multivariable logistic regression and subgroup analyses were performed to investigate the relationship of mean VTC with mortality. Results: After adjusting for a series of covariates, logistic regression analyses indicated that mean VTC, as a continuous variable, was positively correlated with ICU (odds ratio, 1.038, 95% confidence interval, [1.014–1.063]) and hospital (1.025 [1.005–1.046]) mortalities. As a categorical variable, mean VTC of 10–15 mg/L was not associated with reduced ICU (1.705 [0.975–2.981]) and hospital (1.235 [0.829–1.841]) mortalities. Mean VTC of 15–20 mg/L was not correlated with a lower risk of hospital mortality (1.370 [0.924–2.029]). Moreover, mean VTCs of 15–20 and >20 mg/L were significantly associated with higher ICU mortality (1.924 [1.111–3.332]; 2.428 [1.385–4.258]), and mean VTC of >20 mg/L with higher hospital mortality (1.585 [1.053–2.387]) than mean VTC of <10 mg/L. Similar results were observed in patients with different Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV score, creatinine clearance, age, and body mass index subgroups. Conclusion: Mean VTC was not associated with reduced ICU/hospital related mortality. Our results suggested that VTC monitoring might not guarantee vancomycin efficacy for ICU patients.
Climate change will threaten endemic frogs in the Araucaria Forests of South America

Climate change threatens ecosystem dynamics and species with extinction. Endemic species with restricted geographic distribution are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and land use. Using a geographic distribution modeling approach with two future projections in time (years 2050 and 2080), two scenarios (lowest and highest carbon emissions), and land use, we predicted the trends in changing climatic areas for the future geographic distributions of seven species of endemic frogs in the Araucaria Forest of southeastern Brazil. Our results indicate that all species will lose important fractions, from 35–100%, of their current climatically suitable areas over the next 50 years. The impact of land use, on average, was 76% on all climatically suitable areas. Refugia and climatically suitable areas for all species will tend to move south, towards the current southern and easternmost areas of Araucaria Forest. Only a small fraction (3–10%) of the remaining climatically suitable areas will be within conservation units. Thus, climate change will bring severe reduction in area, and the area will move further south, for these seven species of small, dispersal-limited, endemic frogs of the Atlantic Forest. Planning will be necessary to provide refugia in the near future to protect and save these species and their habitats.
Primary Intraosseous Carcinoma in the Pediatric Mandible

Background: Primary intraosseous carcinoma (PIOC) is a rare malignant odontogenic tumor that predominantly occurs in males older than 50 years. PIOC can be misdiagnosed as odontogenic cyst because it occasionally shows well-defined border on radiography. In this study, a case of a 14-year-old female with PIOC who was misdiagnosed with odontogenic cyst clinically is reported along with a literature review of pediatric PIOC cases.Case Presentation: A 14-year-old female patient presented with painful swelling on the mandibular right premolar area. There was a radiolucent lesion with a well-defined border in panoramic view. She was diagnosed with odontogenic cyst, and the cystic mass was enucleated with extraction. However, the biopsy result was consistent with PIOC. After cancer work-up, she underwent partial mandibulectomy, selective neck dissection, and reconstruction with a fibular free flap. Although the surgical resection margins were clear, local recurrence and lung metastasis occurred four months after surgery. She underwent concurrent chemo-radiation therapy, but the prognosis was poor.Conclusions: PIOC should be diagnosed differentially from odontogenic cyst even in pediatric populations.
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on abnormal returns of insurance firms: a cross-country evidence

ABSTRACT This research investigates the abnormal returns of 958 insurance companies from Australia, Canada, Germany, USA, UK, Brazil, India, and Indonesia under the COVID-19 scenario. This study deploys the event study methodology to analyse the effects of COVID-19 on stock returns both in the short and long terms. Results reveal that, overall, COVID-19 negatively affected the stock returns, particularly in the case of insurance firms operating in developing countries. This research also explores firm-specific determinants distinguishing the most affected insurance firms. It is found that firm size, systematic risk, price-earnings ratio, profitability, and dividend yield affect the intensity of abnormal returns in response to COVID-19 but in different event windows. The investors and policymakers should consider these factors in connection with the risk mitigating strategies.
Impact of Alpha-Adrenergic Receptor Antagonists on outcomes in patients with heart failure. A post-hoc analysis using National Health Fund database

BackgroundThe alpha-adrenolytics (AA) are not recommended in patients with EF reduced heart failure due to safety concerns. The aim of our study was to assess the safety of AA in patients hospitalized due to exacerbation of HF and the influence of these drugs on long-term endpoints.MethodsData collected by the National Health Fund was used. Patients hospitalized due to HF exacerbation were included. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality and the secondary was the first readmission due to HF or all-cause death occurring more than 30 days after discharge.ResultsOf 140 668 patients hospitalized in the year 2013 n=53317 were included and followed for a median of 56.3 months. AA patients had lower long-term mortality (52.8% vs. 54.9%, unadjusted P=0.038). The treatment with AA positively and affected long-term survival (adjHR 0.82, 95%CI 0.78-0.87, P<0.001), as well as secondary endpoint (adjHR 0.85, 95%CI 0.81-0.90, P<0.001). Cox analysis in the subgroup treated with beta-blockers revealed that treatment with AA was associated with lower mortality (adjHR 0.82, 95%CI 0.75-0.90, P<0.001) and lower incidence of secondary endpoint (adjHR 0.85, 95%CI 0.78-0.92, P<0.001). ConclusionsIn compliant patients hospitalized due to HF exacerbation post discharge treatment with AA was safe and beneficial.
‘The video is an upgrade from them all’: how incarcerated fathers view the affordances of video in a family literacy programme

ABSTRACT In response to rising parental incarceration rates, some correctional facilities now offer family literacy and read-aloud programmes to strengthen parent–child bonds. However, the technologies used in these programmes – including older technologies such as audio and video recordings – have received little attention. Parents in the Read to Your Child/Grandchild (RYCG) programme at Pennsylvania state prisons are video recorded reading a book for their child; the book and video recording are then mailed to the child. Drawing on interview and observational data with 11 fathers at a rural prison, this study examines how fathers perceived the possibilities (affordances) of the multimodal videos. RYCG provided the only opportunity to send videos outside the prison. Moreover, the video enabled children to see their parents despite physical distance, captured a more ‘lifelike’ portrait of parents, was lasting and repeatable, and created another line of parent–child interaction. The perceived affordances of video reflected the restrictive prison setting and the desires of incarcerated fathers, including the desire to be recognised as a father and to show their children that they cared. Fathers’ insights underscore the value of examining how people in marginalised educational sites use outmoded, receding technologies to forge new connections with loved ones.
A Piece of the (Ed)Puzzle: Using the Edpuzzle Interactive Video Platform to Facilitate Explicit Instruction

Whether to embrace “flipped” pedagogy or to problem solve during a pandemic, many teachers utilize video to deliver instruction to students. Watching a video can be a passive activity without a person or a tool to facilitate active engagement. As a result, many teachers find the need to look for tools, methods, and platforms to engage learners, add elements of interactivity, and incorporate effective instructional practices into their video lessons. In this manuscript, we describe how a specific technology, Edpuzzle, can help facilitate video lessons that include explicit instruction elements such as eliciting frequent responses, offering supported practice, providing immediate affirmative and corrective feedback, and monitoring student performance. When paired with well-designed videos, teachers can use this tool to deliver effective instruction in an asynchronous environment.
A study protocol to understand urban rewilding behaviour in relation to adaptations to private gardens

ABSTRACT Urbanisation is increasing; an estimated 68% of the world’s population is expected to live in an urban conurbation by 2050. In 2019, London had 9 million inhabitants. Greater London covers an area of 1,569 km, 14% of which is vegetated private garden space, a percentage that is declining, negatively impacting biodiversity. Small adaptations to London’s private gardens can turn them into a habitat for wildlife. This study protocol provides detail of research to understand and influence urban rewilding behaviour with a focus on adaptations to private gardens in London. The research follows three phases comprising (1) a scoping review of the existing literature on intent-orientated pro-environmental behaviours with a focus on urban rewilding, coded using the COM-B model of behaviour, (2) sequential mixed methods research including interviews and a quantitative survey to understand the capability, opportunity and motivational factors influencing urban rewilding behaviour, culminating in (3) development of an intervention strategy to promote urban rewilding behaviour using the Behaviour Change Wheel framework. Combining the disciplines of design, environmental and behavioural sciences, this research will provide new insights for influencing the behaviour or urban rewilding.
Inclusive citizenship and degenderization: A comparison of state support in 22 European countries

[Correction added on 03 March 2021 after first online publication. The reference details for Kremer 2007 were inadvertently included in the Abstract section and have been removed in this current version. ] Abstract This paper argues that welfare state progress needs to be based upon support for “inclusive citizenship” – the right to care, work and earn. Comparative analyses of welfare have often focused on defamilization to capture these dimensions. But inclusive citizenship requires challenging gender roles in both work (public sphere) and care (private sphere), and thus the paper argues that the concept of degenderization is a more suitable analytical tool. This paper adds to our understanding by operationalizing the concept of degenderization to compare how (far) 22 European countries degenderize. Indeed, it goes further to examine not just how much welfare states degenderize but how – whether they focus on degendering both work and care, crucial for “inclusive citizenship”. To examine how states degenderize, it uses a new way of classifying welfare states by examining policy packages using radar charts. It examines how much they degenderize against a yardstick, using the Surface Measure of Overall Performance approach. Seven welfare types were identified, but none fully supported inclusive citizenship. Indeed, the country clusters identified in this study differ from those found by previous studies, challenging commonly held views about which countries ought to be seen as key exemplars. This reflects the paper's distinctive Received: 10 August 2018 Revised: 25 January 2021 Accepted: 28 January 2021
Prospects of spintronics based on 2D materials

Spintronics holds the promise for future information technologies. Devices based on manipulation of spin are most likely to replace the current silicon complementary metal‐oxide semiconductor devices that are based on manipulation of charge. The challenge is to identify or design materials that can be used to generate, detect, and manipulate spin. Since the successful isolation of graphene and other two‐dimensional (2D) materials, there has been a strong focus on spintronics based on 2D materials due to their attractive properties, and much progress has been made, both theoretically and experimentally. Here, we summarize recent developments in spintronics based on 2D materials. We focus mainly on materials of truly 2D nature, that is, atomic crystal layers such as graphene, phosphorene, monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, and others, but also highlight current research foci in heterostructures or interfaces. In particular, we emphasize roles played by computation based on first‐principles methods which has contributed significantly in the designs of spintronic materials and devices. We also highlight challenges and suggest possible directions for further studies. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2017, 7:e1313. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1313
Dynamic Performance of Biomass-Based Carbons for CO2/CH4 Separation. Approximation to a Pressure Swing Adsorption Process for Biogas Upgrading

Physical adsorption-based processes such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) constitute an alternative to selectively adsorb CO2 from biogas streams. There is abundant work regarding the equilibrium of adsorption of pure CH4 and CO2 on different adsorbents. However, to design an adsorption process with a selected adsorbent it is very important to account for its dynamic behavior in a packed-bed. Thus, the performance of two biomass-based activated carbons (CS-CO2 and CS-H2O) previously prepared in our laboratory to separate CO2/CH4 has been evaluated. Full adsorption–desorption cycles were conducted at 30 °C (isothermal conditions) and different pressures (1, 3, 5, and 10 bar) feeding binary CO2/CH4 (50/50 vol %) mixtures to a purpose-built fixed-bed setup. A commercial activated carbon, Calgon BPL, was also evaluated for reference purposes. CO2 equilibrium uptakes were obtained from dynamic breakthrough curves and proved to be maximum at 10 bar (5.14, 4.48, and 4.14 mol kg–1 for CS-CO2, CS-H2O, and Calgon.
Investigation of Classification Accuracy, Test Length and Measurement Precision at Computerized Adaptive Classification Tests

This study aims to compare Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT) and Confidence Interval (CI) classification criteria, Maximum Fisher Information method on the basis of estimated-ability (MFI-EB) and Cut-Point (MFI-CB) item selection methods while ability estimation method is Weighted Likelihood Estimation (WLE) in Computerized Adaptive Classification Testing (CACT), according to the Average Classification Accuracy (ACA), Average Test Length (ATL), and measurement precision under content balancing (Constrained Computerized Adaptive Testing: CCAT and Modified Multinomial Model: MMM) and item exposure control (Sympson-Hetter Method: SH and Item Eligibility Method: IE) when the classification is done based on two, three, or four categories for a unidimensional pool of dichotomous items. Forty-eight conditions are created in Monte Carlo (MC) simulation for the data, generated in R software, including 500 items and 5000 examinees, and the results are calculated over 30 replications. As a result of the study, it was observed that CI performs better in terms of ATL, and SPRT performs better in ACA and correlation, bias, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) values, sequentially; MFI-EB is more useful than MFI-CB. It was also seen that MMM is more successful in content balancing, whereas CCAT is better in terms of test efficiency (ATL and ACA), and IE is superior in terms of item exposure control though SH is more beneficial in test efficiency. Besides, increasing the number of classification categories increases ATL but decreases ACA, and it gives better results in terms of the correlation, bias, RMSE, and MAE values.
Judging the Book by Its Cover: What Comprises a Cognitive Behavioral Intervention Program for Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence?

Substantial literature has examined the effectiveness of intimate partner violence (IPV) interventions, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is noted as the second most common approach used in group interventions for partner violent men. However, as little research has examined how CBT principles are operationalized across program curricula, there is currently insufficient information from which to make recommendations for model CBT approaches in IPV interventions. In the current study, we review the literature to determine a set of core elements for comprehensive CBT interventions and use session-level curriculum data from 10 community-based programs to examine the presence of 14 components reflecting 4 CBT factors. Results suggest heterogeneity in the emphasis on CBT elements across programs, despite almost all managers listing CBT as a theoretical approach. Implications are discussed with a call for evaluators and meta-analysts to code for actual curriculum content as opposed to stated program labels.
Observed Decrease in Soil and Atmosphere Temperature Coupling in Recent Decades Over Northern Eurasia

Coupling of soil‐air temperature is fundamentally relevant to various biophysical and biogeochemical functions near the land surface. However, coupling at an interannual scale is less addressed than at finer timescales, such as diurnal and seasonal scales. Here, we show that interannual variability of soil‐air temperature coupling decreased significantly during 1984–2013 across 196 stations in northern Eurasia. Coupling at a depth of 0.2 m remained significant in only 53% of stations during 1999–2013, while it was significant in 80% of stations during 1984–1998. Decreased coupling is mainly attributable to air temperature change in the snow‐free season and snow cover retreat. Moreover, change in the extreme snow cover frequency also contributes to the decline, while other climate extremes are less influential. The findings can help us to understand long‐term land‐climate thermal interactions and to evaluate soil temperature profiles simulated by land surface models.
Credit crunch: Chinese infrastructure lending and Lao sovereign debt

Lao PDR's push for large infrastructure‐led economic growth has been delivered through a significant amount of financial leverage and a build‐up of sovereign debt obligations. The government now finds itself in danger of a sovereign default. This article traces the roots of this debt crisis over the past decade, focusing particularly on the role of hydropower. A significant share of infrastructure lending to Laos has been through Chinese policy banks. We argue that over‐lending to dam projects focused on the domestic energy market has been at the core of Laos' debt situation. Through 2020 the Lao Government has undertaken a series of restructuring measures, including privatisation of state assets, engaging in debt renegotiations with China, and attempts to secure new short‐term credit. We outline a range of other options Laos has to reschedule or restructure their sovereign debt, and offer policy targeted recommendations focusing on reforms in the energy sector.
Surface mines show little progress towards native species forest restoration following 35 years of passive management after initial reclamation

Restoration techniques using passive management rely on natural plant community succession after reclamation to return disturbed areas to native ecosystems. This approach is often used in areas affected by mining activity, but effectiveness is variable and depends on the ability of native plants to establish in highly degraded soil and outcompete invasive species. We evaluated the restoration progress of three former surface mines where activity had exposed alkaline glacial till parent material. The mines underwent reclamation (grading, soil compaction, and planting fast‐growing herbaceous species) followed by passive management for 7, 28, and 35 years. At the time of initial restoration planning in the 1980s, native woody species were expected to recolonize the site within 10–20 years. Treating the sites as a chronosequence, we observed that woody vegetation increased inconsistently over this 35‐year timespan. Most of the woody plants present today are invasive species (Elaeagnus umbellata and Rhamnus frangula) that are counterproductive to reestablishment of native forest. However, results were not entirely negative, with increased overall native species and decreased exotic species in the older sites, and plant community composition changing somewhat consistently over time. This suggests that succession has been slowed rather than completely arrested, and native herbaceous plants are establishing. The progression of restoration appears to be far slower than expectations during initial planning. Furthermore, native woody plants struggle to establish, whereas invasive woody plants are thriving, raising doubts that passively managed succession can lead to the desired outcome of a native species forest in this significantly degraded habitat.
Using learner-centred feedback design to promote students’ engagement with feedback

ABSTRACT Students’ engagement with feedback is a major determinant of feedback effectiveness. There is evidence, however, that not all students engage with feedback well because the transmission, teacher-centred approach overlooks students’ role in feedback processes. This study explores how learner-centred feedback processes could be designed to enhance students’ engagement. Embedded in two-stage assignments, the first step of the design involved peer feedback on a mid-term assignment. The second step included students producing an audio file to self-assess performance, followed by their teacher’s audio response to their self-assessment prior to the submission of a related, final assignment. Data analysis on an open-ended survey, interviews with 35 taught postgraduates and selected feedback vignettes indicated that this learner-centred design could promote students’ engagement by increasing their feedback responsibility, evaluative judgement and psychological safety. The significance of this article lies in discussing learner-centred feedback design principles and the wider application of the learner-centred practice.