Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health Inequity in Georgia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ecological Analysis Assessing the Relationship Between County-Level Racial/Ethnic and Economic Polarization Using the ICE and SARS-CoV-2 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths in Georgia as of October 2020

Introduction The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disproportionately burdens communities of color in the United States. The prevalence of preexisting conditions in these populations has not accounted for the observed health inequities. A growing body of research indicates a significant role of racialized residential segregation and income inequality on health outcomes. The Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) is a metric which captures socio-spatial and economic polarization that has proven to be a valuable predictor of a large variety of health outcomes. Objectives The primary objective of this ecologic study was to determine the impact of socio-spatial and economic segregation on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) morbidity and mortality in Georgia. Methods The ICE scores for racial/ethnic, economic, and racialized economic segregation for each county in Georgia (n=159) were calculated and investigated as predictors of increased SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate, case-hospitalization rate, and case-mortality rate after controlling for the prevalence of preexisting conditions (diabetes, obesity, and smoking) and potential barriers to care (uninsured rate). Results Counties with the largest income disparity had 1.57 times the case rate (p<0.0001) and 1.7 times (p<0.01) the case-mortality rate compared to the most privileged counties. Cases in counties with the largest racialized economic segregation were 1.8 times more likely to be hospitalized (p<0.0001). Conclusion Racialized economic segregation is a strong correlate of pandemic health inequities in Georgia and highlights the need for structural interventions to address barriers to minority and vulnerable population health. Increased focus and efforts to address the structural and systematic barriers faced by communities of color is necessary to address health inequities.
Thyroid Cancer-Associated Mitochondrial DNA Mutation G3842A Promotes Tumorigenicity via ROS-Mediated ERK1/2 Activation

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations have been identified in various human cancers, including thyroid cancer. However, the relationship between mtDNA and thyroid cancer remains unclear. Previous studies by others and us strongly suggested that mtDNA mutations in complex I may participate in thyroid cancer processes according to sequencing results of thyroid cancer tissue, although the associated pathogenic processes remain unknown. Here, to investigate whether mtDNA mutations contribute to thyroid cancer, we reanalyzed our sequencing results and characterized thyroid cancer-associated mutations in the mitochondrial complex. The results identified the highest mutation frequencies in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydride (NADH) dehydrogenase subunit 4 gene (ND4) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (COI), which also harbored the highest rates of G > A substitutions, with most of the mutations resulting in changes in the polarity of amino acids. We then established cybrids containing the G3842A mutation identified in papillary thyroid carcinoma, which revealed it as a mutation in NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 gene (ND1) and is previously reported in follicular thyroid carcinoma, thereby suggesting a possibly pathogenic role in thyroid carcinoma. Additionally, we found that the G3842A mutation accelerates tumorigenicity and decreases the abundance and activity of mitochondrial complex I, the oxygen consumption rate, and adenosine triphosphate levels. By contrast, the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were increased to activate extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) signaling, which contributed to tumorigenicity. These findings suggest for the first time that mtDNA mutations help drive tumor development and that G3842A may represent a new risk factor for thyroid cancer. Furthermore, our findings indicate that drugs targeting ROS and ERK1/2 may serve as a viable therapeutic strategy for thyroid cancer.
3D Flow Simulation and Erosion Mechanism Analysis of the High-Pressure Throttle Valves

Throttle valves are one of the important equipments in the well-control header,the normal operation of which a successful well killing will lie on.In this paper,based on the actual flow field of the throttle,setting up a three-dimensional finite element model of the wedge-shaped throttle,and on the basis of hydrodynamics,using the modern analytic software to simulate the flow fields in high-pressure throttle valves.The results show that,because of the high-speed flow of the internal flow field of throttle,finding that erosion is first occurs along the axial direction in the wedge-shaped surface,and which is very consistent with the actual situation when comparing with the actual conditions of the oilfield.
The Association Between Insomnia and Atherosclerosis: A Brief Report

Aim The objective of the study was to clarify the occurrence of atherosclerosis in patients with insomnia. Methods A total of 60 patients with insomnia and 58 patients in a control group were selected to measure blood glucose, blood lipids and other biochemical and physiological indicators. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was measured to assess arterial stiffness, and color Doppler ultrasound was used to examine carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) and plaque incidence. These indicators were used to determine the occurrence and degree of carotid atherosclerosis, and to compare the differences between the two groups. Results While there was no significant difference in biochemical or physiological indicators between the two groups (P > 0.05), the baPWV, CIMT, and incidence of carotid plaque in the insomnia group were higher than the control group. In addition, the baPWV, CIMT, and incidence of carotid plaque in the chronic insomnia group were higher than that in the short-term insomnia group. Multiple linear regression analysis was carried out to analyze the effects of insomnia, systolic blood pressure, blood glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, BMI, age and low-density lipoprotein on atherosclerosis. The results showed that increased CIMT was significantly correlated with insomnia in atherosclerosis group (R2=0.27 on the left, R2=0.37 on the right, P < 0.001). Conclusion Insomnia correlated with increased arterial stiffness and carotid atherosclerosis, and as the duration of insomnia prolongs, the correlation between them became more obvious.
On filamentation in the dense plasma focus

Striking pictures showing filamentary structures in the plasma focus have intrigued researchers from the early days of plasma focus research. A definitive understanding of their occurrence, origin, structure, and role in plasma focus physics is still not in sight as summarized in a recent comprehensive review. This is because they are often not observed in a “standard mode” of plasma focus operation with pure deuterium, particularly in large installations, but are found in smaller experiments or those with gaseous admixtures. This has led to the suspicion that filaments are not a native feature of the plasma focus phenomenon. Recent success in observation of filaments in PF-1000 in pure deuterium operation by novel modification of the interferometer system that allows simultaneous interferometry and schlieren photography changes this situation. This Letter looks at the implications of this development in the larger context of plasma focus physics. Conceptualization of filamentation as a native feature of the traveling current distribution behind an ionizing strong shock wave is shown to be a feasible paradigm that can be formulated as a computable model for filamentation in the plasma focus.
Effect of Coverage in Ball-Burnishing on Fatigue Performance of Al2024-T4

The effects of coverage in ball-burnishing (BB) on the surface and sub-surface layer properties such as roughness and residual stress profile as well as on HCF strength were evaluated in Al2024-T4. Results are compared with previous observations on coverage effects in shot peening (SP). While SP at low coverage was seen to drastically deteriorate high-cycle fatigue (HCF) performance relative to an electropolished reference (EP), no such detrimental effect of low coverage was observed in BB. These results are explained mainly by differences in the resistance to fatigue crack nucleation between these two conditions. SP is beneficial only when the early fatigue crack nucleations caused by the high local stress concentrations at indentations are overcompensated by the well developed residual compressive stresses (at higher coverage) and their beneficial effects on micro-crack retardation. However, the absence of these stress concentrations in BB reduces their detrimental effects on the fatigue performance at low coverage.
PEAK1 attenuation sensitizes anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cells in vitro to BRAFV600E inhibitor Vemurafenib

Pseudopodium-enriched atypical kinase 1 (PEAK1) has been demonstrated to be upregulated in human malignancies and cells. Enhanced PEAK1 expression facilitates tumor cell survival and chemoresistance, and vice versa. However, the role of PEAK1 in ATC and vemurafenib resistance in ATC cells is still unknown. Here, we observed that vemurafenib could effectively and quickly inhibit ERK phosphorylation (pERK1/2), but quickly reactivate pERK1/2 in ATC cell line 8505C and SW1736 cells harboring BRAF V600E in vitro . Vemurafenib could also quickly activate AKT phosphorylation (pAKT). Furthermore, vemurafenib transiently upregulated pro-apoptotic PUMA and Bim expression, which quickly disappeared with long time vemurafenib treatment in both of the cells in vitro . Vemurafenib treatment upregulated PEAK1 expression. And PEAP1 depletion inhibited the cell viability, colony formation and cell cycle, but not cell apoptosis, and vice versa in both of the cells in vitro . Furthermore, PEAP1 depletion sensitized 8505C and SW1736 cells to vemurafenib by decreasing cell viability, colony formation and inducing cell apoptosis. Mechanistically, combined PEAK1 depletion and Vemurafenib treatment inhibited reactivation of ERK1/2 and upregulated JNK1/2-dependant Bim as well as inhibited the activation of AKT and upregulated AKT-dependant PUMA. In conclusion, vemurafenib resistance in ATC cells harboring BRAF V600E is associated with PEAK1 activation, reactivation of ERK1/2 and activation of AKT, resulting in the inhibition of pro-apoptotic PUMA and Bim protein. PEAK1 depletion could inhibit both ERK1/2 and AKT signal and released PUMA and Bim from vemurafenib-treated cells, resulting in enhancing cell apoptosis. Therefore, targeting PEAK1 may be an effective strategy to sensitize BRAF-mutant ATC to vemurafenib.
MiR-211-5p Inhibits the Biological Behaviors of Colorectal Cancer via SPARC-Related Growth Factor Pathways

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly malignant cancer with poor prognosis. MiR-211-5p has been widely studied as an antioncogene; however, its function and mechanism in CRC are still unknown. This study aimed to investigate the expression patterns and biological implications of miR-211-5p in CRC. This study used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to evaluate miR-211-5p expression in CRC cells and tissues. MiR-211-5p mimics were constructed to overexpress miR-211-5p in Lovo and SW480 cells. Tumor bioactivities of CRC, including cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and colony formation, were evaluated. The dual-luciferase assay was used to confirm the targeted relationship between miR-211-5p expression and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC). In addition, Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining were used to measure SPARC, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression levels. This study showed downregulated miR-211-5p expression in CRC cells and tissues, and this downregulation correlated with CRC progression. Meanwhile, miR-211-5p restrained CRC cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion. Mechanistically, SPARC-related growth factor pathways, including VEGF, PDGF, and TGF-β pathways, were upregulated in CRC tissues. Furthermore, SPARC acted as the target gene for miR-211-5p. Finally, SPARC overexpression suppressed the inhibitory effect of miR-211-5p on CRC cell progression. MiR-211-5p suppressed the invasion, migration, proliferation, and progression of CRC cells through sponging SPARC-related growth factor pathways.
The Nature of the D+D Fusion Reaction in Palladium and Nickel

The LENR reaction can be made to occur in Pd and Ni having different physical forms. The behaviors of solid Pd, sintered Pd powder, and sintered Ni powder are discussed in this paper. The required deuterium ions can be made available to the LENR process by using electrolysis or exposure to D2 gas. Initiation of the nuclear reaction sometimes requires the creation of a large D/Pd ratio, but not always. In many cases, very little deuterium is required to produce detectable heating power, which is the thermal energy expressed in watts. In every case, the amount of power is not affected by the D/Pd ratio after the nuclear process starts. Also, increased temperature causes the amount of power to increase exponentially, with the activation energy being related to the source of deuterons available to the nuclear process. The reaction involving deuterium emits part of the nuclear energy as energetic ions having the characteristics of a hydrogen isotope, but not helium. [1] Very little photon radiation is detected outside the walls of the container in which the source is located. The behavior is consistent with the nuclear active environment (NAE) being in physical gaps having a critical width located outside the crystal structure, not in vacancies located within the lattice structure. Successful production of LENR involves the formation of these sites in high concentration and with reliability. This paper describes an effort to meet this challenge.
Regular 1-factorizations of complete graphs and decompositions into pairwise isomorphic rainbow spanning trees∗

A 1-factorization F of a complete graph K2n is said to be G-regular, or regular under G, if G is an automorphism group of F acting sharply transitively on the vertex-set. The problem of determining which groups can realize such a situation dates back to a result by Hartman and Rosa (1985) on cyclic groups, and it is still open even though several other classes of groups were tested in the recent past. An attempt to obtain a fairly precise description of groups and 1-factorizations satisfying this symmetry constraint can be done by imposing further conditions. In this paper we prove that, regardless of the isomorphism type of G, the existence of a G-regular 1-factorization of K2n together with a complete set of isomorphic rainbow spanning trees which are in the orbit of a single one is assured if and only if n ≥ 3 is an odd number. Also, when n is even, we examine dihedral groups: for each dihedral group G of order 2n ≥ 6, it is possible to exhibit a G-regular 1-factorization of K2n together with two non isomorphic rainbow spanning trees whose partial orbits give rise to a complete set. This extends some recent results obtained by Caughman et al. (2017) and by Mazzuoccolo et al. (2019) for the class of cyclic groups.
A holisticunified framework to estimate the origins of atmospheric moisture and heat using a Lagrangian modelmodels

Despite the existing myriad of tools and models to assess atmospheric source–receptor relationships, their uncertainties remain largely unexplored and arguably stem from the scarcity of observations available for validation. Yet, Lagrangian models are increasingly used to determine the origin of precipitation and atmospheric heat, scrutinizing the changes in moisture and temperature along air parcel trajectories. Here, we present a holisticunified framework for the process-based evaluation of atmospheric trajectories to infer source–receptor relationships of both moisture and heat. The framework 10 comprises three steps: (i) the diagnosis of moisturediagnosing precipitation, surface evaporation and sensible heat from the Lagrangian trajectories using multi-objective criteria to evaluatesimulations, and identifying the accuracy and reliability of the fluxesflux detection criteria, (ii) the attribution of sources following massand energy-conserving algorithms in order to establishestablishing source–receptor relationships through the attribution of sources along multi-backward-day trajectories, and (iii) theperforming a bias correction of diagnosed fluxes and the corresponding source–receptor relationships. Applying 15 this framework to simulations from the Lagrangian model FLEXPART, driven with ERA-Interim reanalysis data, allows us to quantify the errors and uncertainties associated with the resulting source–receptor relationships for three cities in different climates (Beijing, Denver and Windhoek). Our results reveal large uncertainties inherent in the estimation of heat and precipitation origin with Lagrangian models, but they also demonstrate the synergistic impacts ofthat a sourceand sink biascorrectionscorrection acts to reduce this uncertainty. The proposed framework paves the way for a cohesive assessment of the 20 dependencies in source–receptor relationships.
[Re] Exacerbating Algorithmic Bias through Fairness Attacks

We conducted a reproducibility study of the paper Exacerbating Algorithmic Bias through Fairness Attacks [11]. 3 According to the paper, current research on adversarial attacks is primarily focused on targeting model performance, 4 which motivates the need for adversarial attacks on fairness. To that end, the authors propose two novel data poisoning 5 adversarial attacks, the influence attack on fairness and the anchoring attack. We aim to verify the main claims of the 6 paper, namely that: a) the proposed methods indeed affect a model’s fairness and outperform existing attacks, b) the 7 anchoring attack hardly affects performance, while impacting fairness, and c) the influence attack on fairness provides a 8 controllable trade-off between performance and fairness degradation. 9
Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in the Ashaiman Municipality of the Greater Accra Region in Ghana

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all countries of the world and resulted in more than one million deaths worldwide and as of2nd May 2021, about 779 deaths were recorded in Ghana. With the economic disruption that characterized the advent of this pandemic and the fear of subsequent waves, every country was considering vaccines as the best hope against the pandemic. As COVID-19 vaccines have been developed, one of the questions being asked is what determines its acceptance by the world with regards to our experience, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and understanding of vaccines. Methodology: This was a quantitative cross-sectional study conducted in the Ashaiman Municipality of Ghana between January and March 2021 among 267 randomly selected participants aged 18 years and above. Analysis was done using Fisher’s Exact estimation and Multivariate logistic regression models with a p-value < 0.05 as the threshold for statistical significance respectively. Results: Of the 267 study participants, 155 (58.05%) reported they would not accept the COVID-19 vaccine even if it was available for uptake. Female study respondents were more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine [OR = 2.4, 95%CI=1.33-4.48] compared to their male counterparts. Study participants who would accept the COVID-19 vaccine [OR=16.4, 95%CI=6.41-41.76] were also highly likely to do so as soon as the vaccine is approved and is available compared to their counterparts who would not accept the vaccine. Those who indicated their trust in the government for a good vaccine also showed a high likelihood of accepting the COVID-19 vaccine [OR=6.4, 95%CI=3.08-13.20] compared to their counterparts who would not accept the COVID-19 vaccine. More study participants who had adequate prior knowledge about vaccines 224 (83.90%) would accept the COVID-19 vaccine compared to the remaining 43 (16.10%) who would accept the vaccine anyway but do not have good knowledge about vaccines. Again, a good number of study participants 180 (67.42%) who had been vaccinated in the past would readily accept the COVID-19 vaccine than their remaining 87 (32.58%) counterparts who had no vaccines in the past. Those who disagreed that COVID-19 was deadly had a lower likelihood [OR=0.79, 95%CI=0.26-2.43] to accept the COVID-19 vaccine compared to the base group who agreed that COVID-19 is a deadly disease. Conclusion: Gender, ethnicity, how soon vaccines are made available, adequate knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccines, past vaccine uptake, trust in government, perceived risk of COVID-19, trust in vaccines as a remedy for the spread of COVID-19, among others were found to be significant determinants of the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. Earlier and adequate education on vaccination should be created to influence vaccine uptake. Government, healthcare workers, and other stakeholders in health should work to earn the trust of people as trust issues affect vaccine uptake.
Intraoral Lesions Associated with Complete Denture Use among Edentulous Patients in Jordan

Geriatric patients wearing complete denture may have a variety of intraoral lesions. These lesions can cause discomforts which interfere with mastication, swallowing, speech, and daily social activities. These oral findings in patients wearing removable prosthesis can be found as an acute or chronic reaction to a mechanical injury, microbial infection (mostly Candida), or denture base material irritation. These injuries could be denture stomatitis, traumatic ulcer and fibrous hyperplasia. The aim of this art icle is to determine the most common type of oral lesions in patients attending royal medical service hospitals in Jordan. Then the final results will be correlated to patient age, gender, and length of time of denture usage. Oral health is essential in the quality of life of edentulous patients. For this reason, it is important to know the most common intraoral lesion, to determine its main risk factor, and to decide the best treatment option.
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS Statins and Prostate Cancer Risk: A Case-Control Study

Observational studies have shown that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (statin) use may be associated with reduced cancer risk. The purpose of this case-control study was to elucidate the association between statin use and prostate cancer risk. Prostate cancer cases (n 1⁄4 100), recruited upon referral for prostate biopsy, and frequency age-matched, prostate-specific antigen-normal clinic controls (n 1⁄4 202) were recruited from the Portland, Oregon, Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Information on any use of statins from May 1997 through August 2004 was obtained from an electronic pharmacy database. Days of use, type of statin, dose, and prescription changes were recorded. Duration and intensity were calculated for each statin type on the basis of days of use and prescribed dose. Thirty-six percent of cases and 49 percent of controls had a record of any statin use. Following adjustment for other potential risk factors, statin use was associated with a significant reduction in prostate cancer risk (odds ratio 1⁄4 0.38, 95% confidence interval: 0.21, 0.69). Furthermore, in analyses stratified by Gleason score, the inverse association with statin use was maintained only among men with Gleason scores of 7 (odds ratio1⁄4 0.24, 95% confidence interval: 0.11, 0.53). The results of this case-control study suggest that statins may reduce the risk of total prostate cancer and, specifically, more aggressive prostate cancer.