Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk Factors for the Impairment of Ambulation in Older People Hospitalized with COVID-19: A Retrospective Cohort Study

(1) Background: Some older people hospitalized with COVID-19 have experienced reduced ambulation capacity. However, the prevalence of the impairment of ambulation capacity still needs to be established. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of, and identify the risk factors associated with, the impairment of ambulation capacity at the point of hospital discharge for older people with COVID-19. (2) Methods: A retrospective cohort study. Included are those with an age > 60 years, of either sex, hospitalized due to COVID-19. Clinical data was collected from patients’ medical records. Ambulation capacity prior to COVID-19 infection was assessed through the patients’ reports from their relatives. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to identify the risk factors associated with the impairment of ambulation at hospital discharge. (3) Results: Data for 429 older people hospitalized with COVID-19 were randomly collected from the medical records. Among the 56.4% who were discharged, 57.9% had reduced ambulation capacity. Factors associated with reduced ambulation capacity at discharge were a hospital stay longer than 20 days (Odds Ratio (OR): 3.5) and dependent ambulation capacity prior to COVID-19 (Odds Ratio (OR): 11.3). (4) Conclusion: More than half of the older people who survived following hospitalization due to COVID-19 had reduced ambulation capacity at hospital discharge. Impaired ambulation prior to the infection and a longer hospital stay were risks factors for reduced ambulation capacity.
Individual And Environmental Factors Associated With Physical Activity Practices Among Adolescents Of Devchuli Municipality

Background: Regular physical activity helps children and adolescents to remain healthy and fit, improve muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness, have psycho-social benefits The Global School Based Student Health Survey of Nepal 2015 shows that only 15.1% of adolescents of age 13-17 years were physically active daily. The risk factor of chronic diseases are traced back up to childhood hence promoting physical activity should start from childhood. Identification of these factors that affects level of physical activity among adolescents of Nepal and its better understanding will aid in promoting physically active lifestyle and designing effective interventions.
The Importance of a Healthy Microbiome in Pregnancy and Infancy and Microbiota Treatment to Reverse Dysbiosis for Improved Health

Background: The microbiome of newborn infants during the first 1000 days, influenced early on by their mothers’ microbiome health, mode of delivery and breast feeding, orchestrates the education and programming of the infant’s immune system and determines in large part the general health of the infant for years. Methods: PubMed was reviewed for maternal infant microbiome health and microbiota therapy in this setting with prebiotics, probiotics, vaginal seeding and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Results: A healthy nonobese mother, vaginal delivery and strict breast feeding contribute to microbiome health in a newborn and young infant. With reduced microbiome diversity (dysbiosis) during pregnancy, cesarean delivery, prematurity, and formula feeding contribute to dysbiosis in the newborn. Microbiota therapy is an important approach to repair dysbiosis in pregnant women and their infants. Currently available probiotics can have favorable metabolic effects on mothers and infants, but these effects are variable. In research settings, reversal of infant dysbiosis can be achieved via vaginal seeding or FMT. Next generation probiotics in development should replace current probiotics and FMT. Conclusions: The most critical phase of human microbiome development is in the first 2–3 years of life. Preventing and treating dysbiosis during pregnancy and early life can have a profound effect on an infant’s later health.
Ecosystem Services from Tropical Forests: Review of Current Science

Tropical forests exert a more profound influence on weather patterns, freshwater, natural disasters, biodiversity, food, and human health – both in the countries where forests are found and in distant countries – than any other terrestrial biome. This report explains the variety of environmental services tropical forests provide and the science underlying how forests provide these services. Tropical deforestation and degradation have reduced the area covered by tropical forests from 12 percent to less than 5 percent of Earth’s land area. Forest loss and degradation has reduced or halted the flows of a wide range of ecosystem goods and services, increasing the vulnerability of potentially billions of people to a variety of damaging impacts. Established and emerging science findings suggest that we have substantially underestimated the global importance of tropical forests and the impacts of their loss on human well-being.
Women's wheelchair basketball lineup analysis at the Tokyo 2020 paralympic games: game related statistics explaining team sport performance

Introduction Performance analysis through game-related statistics in wheelchair basketball (WB) has focused mainly on the study of the individual efficiency of players according to their functional classification. However, there is little evidence focusing on lineup performances (five players on court) and their composition. Thus, the objective of present study was to analyze the efficiency of the women's WB lineups used during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games (PG) and to determine the variables that best discriminated the lineup performances according to the final point differential. Methods The sample comprised 507 lineups used in the 31 games by the 10 national teams during the competition. Fifty-one different lineup types (LTs) were categorized. A discriminant analysis was carried out to compare the lineups with a positive and negative point difference according to the game type (balanced and unbalanced games). Results It was found that LTs 16 (1-1.5-2.5-4-4.5), 47 (1-2-2.5-4-4.5) and 14 (1-1.5-2.5-4.5-4.5) had the best means of efficiency in field goals (LT 16 = 52%; LT 47 = 44% and LT = 40%), while LT 50 (1-2-3-4-4) obtained the highest mean difference in points (3.67 ± 10.67). The variables that best discriminated winner teams in balanced games were field goal efficiency (SC = 0.55), assists (SC = 0.50) and turnovers (SC = −0.41). Discussion Field goal efficiency, assists, turnovers and steals are the game-related statistics most associated with the success of a lineup used in balanced games in WB in PG competition; this could be taken into account by coaches when deciding how to compose a given lineup in a moment of the game, to adequately select players from different functional classifications for the final squad and to choose training content related to the indicated game-related statistics, as they explain success at this competition level.
A Semi-Real-Time Method for Social Robots to Detect and Locate Overlapping Speech Events

It is useful for a social robot to detect and locate users based on their speech. Notable challenges hampering the effective localization of a speaker are background noise and overlapping speech. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have shown to yield good performance on locating single speakers on a curated dataset, but to a lesser extent in scenarios with two speakers. In addition, their computational cost is still too high for a timely reaction in real-world settings. We build on the current state-of-the-art CNN approach, and propose several improvements for distinguishing multiple speakers by time-alignment in the input representation and reducing computational costs by considerably shortening the input audio blocks. We evaluate this approach on an existing dataset with blocks of noisy and overlapping speech recorded in rooms of different sizes, predicting the number of active speech events and their azimuth locations. The results show that our approach outperforms other approaches in locating two speakers and is considerably faster than the best-performing alternative approach. The time-domain information in the input representation was found essential for predicting the location of the signal source.
Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Different Footwear Midsole Structures on Plantar Pressure Distribution and Bone Stress in Obese and Healthy Children

The foot, as the foundation of the human body, bears the vast majority of the body’s weight. Obese children bear more weight than healthy children in the process of walking and running. This study compared three footwear midsole structures (solid, lattice, and chiral) based on plantar pressure distribution and bone stress in obese and healthy children through numerical simulation. The preparation for the study included obtaining a thin-slice CT scan of a healthy 9-year-old boy’s right foot, and this study distinguished between a healthy and an obese child by applying external loadings of 25 kg and 50 kg in the finite element models. The simulation results showed that the plantar pressure was mainly concentrated in the forefoot and heel due to the distribution of gravity (first metatarsal, fourth metatarsal, and heel bone, corresponding to plantar regions M1, M4, and HM and HL) on the foot in normal standing. Compared with the lattice and solid EVA structures, in both healthy and obese children, the percentage reduction in plantar pressure due to the chiral structure in the areas M1, M4, HM, and HL was the largest with values of 38.69%, 34.25%, 64.24%, and 54.03% for an obese child and 33.99%, 28.25%, 56.08%, and 56.96% for a healthy child. On the other hand, higher pressures (15.19 kPa for an obese child and 5.42 kPa for a healthy child) were observed in the MF area when using the chiral structure than when using the other two structures, which means that this structure can transfer an amount of pressure from the heel to the arch, resulting in a release in the pressure at the heel region and providing support at the arch. In addition, the study found that the chiral structure was not highly sensitive to the external application of body weight. This indicates that the chiral structure is more stable than the other two structures and is minimally affected by changes in external conditions. The findings in this research lay the groundwork for clinical prevention and intervention in foot disorders in obese children and provide new research ideas for shoe midsole manufacturers.
Results of the Mt. Etna interferometric E-SAR campaign

The paper is aimed to the presentation of the first interferometric results of the E-SAR system obtained by processing raw data relative to an area of extreme interest from the geologic and volcanic point of view: the Mt. Etna test site. A comparison between the resulting SAR DEM and an existing photogrametric one is also included.
Effects of a Forest Therapy Program on Physical Health, Mental Health, and Health Behaviors

(1) Background: Although interest in the health-promoting effects of forest therapy is increasing, few researchers have investigated the mid-long-term impact of such therapy on health indicators or exercise behaviors. We explored changes in physical health, mental health, and exercise behaviors 1, 2, and 4 weeks after a forest therapy program concluded. We sought to establish a solid foundation for such programs and a standardized evaluation system. (2) Method: We measured the blood pressure and heart rate variability of 99 adults before and after participation in a forest therapy program. We used the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to assess anxiety, the Beck Depression Inventory to evaluate both anxiety and depression, the Profile of Mood States to explore mood, the Euro-Quality of Life-5 Dimension scale to assess the overall quality of life, and the Positive and Negative Effect Schedule to measure positive and negative mood. We employed the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire to determine exercise time, intensity, and changes in exercise type before the program and 1–4 weeks after program completion. (3) Results: Anxiety, depression, mood, quality of life, heart rate, and blood pressure control improved significantly after the program. The reduced depression and increased medium-intensity exercise time persisted for 1, 2, and 4 weeks after the end of the program. (4) Conclusions: We tracked various health indicators and clearly distinguished those that were useful in the short term from those more appropriate for evaluation in the long term. This is the first report to show that a forest therapy program affects exercise behavior; this suggests that health behaviors should be continuously tracked.
Discriminating between Homogeneous (AC-1) and Dense Fine Speckled (AC-2) Antinuclear Antibody Patterns: Re-Evaluation of Immunofluorescence Imaging

Antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) are essential diagnostic markers in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Among the 30 ANA patterns, homogeneous (AC-1) and dense fine speckled (AC-2) should be focused on owing to their somewhat indistinct presentation in immunofluorescence imaging and distinct correlation with clinical conditions. This study aimed to develop a flowchart to guide discrimination between AC-1 and AC-2 patterns and to re-evaluate ANA samples according to this flowchart to verify its detection ability. We re-evaluated immunofluorescence imaging of 62 ANA blood samples simultaneously subjected to solid-phase assays for autoantibodies against dsDNA, nucleosomes, histones, and DFS70. The results showed statistically significant odd ratios (ORs) of detection of anti-DFS70 using AC-2 after re-evaluation of total samples (OR 101.9, 95% CI 11.7–886.4, p-value < 0.001) and subgroup analysis of patients’ samples (OR 53.8, 95% CI 5.9–493.6, p-value < 0.001). The OR of anti-nucleosome/histone/dsDNA detection using AC-1 in re-evaluated data increased to 5.43 (95% CI 1.00–29.61, p-value = 0.05). In the analysis of specific autoantibodies, more than half of the samples with an AC-2 pattern (54.2%) had specific autoantibodies other than anti-DFS70. We conclude that the flowchart for discriminating between AC-1 and AC-2 ANA patterns in this study is a viable practical guide for other laboratories when encountering equivocal ANA results.
Climate change and geomorphic evolution in an Alaskan watershed and implications for salmon production

Climate change and geomorphic evolution in an Alaskan watershed and implications for salmon production Jennifer Rhiannon Griffiths Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Daniel E. Schindler School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences Freshwater ecosystems are not only the source of a disproportionate number of ecosystem services given their relative area on the planet, but they are also highly sensitive to anthropogenic impacts including climate change. Landscape heterogeneity provides a filter for regional climate forcing in aquatic systems and provides the context in which the biological components of ecosystems will interact with climate change. I used the Chignik watershed, Alaska as a case study in which to explore the response of juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) growth and body condition to differences across habitats and variation in climate. Furthermore, I investigated the interaction of climate change and geomorphic evolution and its effects on juvenile sockeye salmon habitat and growth. I used genetic tools to assess individual performance of sockeye salmon among connected freshwater habitats. I found that individual performance converged on habitat productivity rather than being determined by genetic origin. I investigated the effects of climate variability on juvenile salmon growth among lake habitats using 40 years of freshwater growth data from scales. Growth showed a coherent response to climate variables affecting growing season duration but opposing responses to growing season temperatures. This indicated that different lake habitats not only filter regional climate differently but that this leads to differences in the biological response. Juvenile sockeye salmon length data over a similar timeframe indicated that temperature had a greater effect on growth than sockeye density. Finally, I assessed the relative importance of air temperature, lake volume and tributary for lake thermal regimes and juvenile sockeye salmon growth. Increases in lake volume had little effect on lake thermal regimes which were highly sensitive to lake temperature. Future increases in air temperature will likely reduce growth of juvenile sockeye although maintaining tributary connectivity is important to reducing the effects of air temperature. Because uncertainty exists in how freshwater ecosystems will respond to climate change preserving networks of heterogeneous habitat may be critical to supporting ecosystem resilience. Intact ecosystems provide an opportunity to evaluate the relative importance of climate, geomorphology and connectivity for salmon populations and inform the management and restoration of impacted landscapes.
Detrital Zircon U-Pb Dating for the Silurian in Northern Tarim Basin and Its Significance

The analysis of Silurian sedimentary provenances plays an important role in the evolution of the Silurian in the Tarim basin and the surrounding orogenic belts in which it is the first widespread sandstone cap rock in the Tarim basin. The U-Pb isotopic age of zircons from 2 clastic rocks in the northern Tarim basin was obtained in situ by LA-ICP-MS,it indicates that there are three groups sedimentary source ages for the Silurian:1500-1600 Ma of the early Mesoproterozoic,750-900 Ma of early Neoproterozoic,450-500 Ma of Ordovician. The zircon 207Pb/235U-206Pb/238U concordant ages were 447±65 Ma,760±6 Ma,1600±20 Ma respectively for the western and 474±50 Ma,885±1 Ma,1556±290 Ma for the eastern area in the northern Tarim basin. There are obvious different provenance regions and provenance ages for the Silurian between the eastern and western areas. Based on the data of detrital zircon ages and regional geology,the Ordovician igneous rocks in Altun Tagh were the main source of the Silurian in eastern area,and the Precambrian basement of the northern paleo-uplifts is the main provenance of the Silurian in western area. It is indicated that there is a large scale intraplate extension and magmatism in Nanhuan Period,and the Tarim plate had the same convergent and breakup history as the Rodinia supercontinent in the Neoproterozoic. It also demonstrated that the north Tarim continent maybe has the same tectonic event as the breakup of Columbia supercontinent,but not the same as the southern Tarim continent in the early Mesoproterozoic. This result has yielded a new intraplate age evidence to study the Precambrian evolution of the Tarim plate.
The development of a new type of functional fresh apple juice using
 prebiotic fibers, ginger extract, and cardamom essential oil: Antioxidant
 capacity and chemical analysis

The formulation of a novel functional fresh apple juice enriched with dietary prebiotic fiber (inulin or polydextrose), ginger extract (GE), and cardamom essential oil (CEO) was carried out based on a combined D-optimal design. In the first stage, sensory evaluation was performed to screen and select the optimum sample for further experiments. The sensory evaluation showed that the sample containing inulin 0.25 g/100 g GE and 0.03 g/100 g CEO had the highest organoleptic score. In the second stage, various chemical experiments, including pH, acidity, formalin index, total phenol, flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, and vitamin C content, were evaluated on the selected enriched apple juices. The addition of GE and CEO caused changes in nutritional characteristics, including antioxidant capacity, total phenol, flavonoids, vitamin C, and IC50, from 35 g/100 g, 350 mg GAE/g, 17 mg/L, 370 mg/kg, and 1,800 mg/kg to 45 g/100 g, 460 mg GAE/g, 21 mg/L, 420 mg/kg, and 1,200 mg/kg respectively. The steady shear flow and dynamic oscillatory shear rheological tests were also performed on the screened samples, and results showed that the addition of dietary fiber in apple juices increased the apparent viscosity, storage modulus, loss modulus, and complex viscosity. In general, adding plant extracts and processed essential oil to apple juice increased the nutritional-nutraceutical value and sensory attributes of apple juice.
A MicroRNA-Based Method for High-Viremia Detection—A New Approach on a Romanian Lot of Chronically Infected Patients with Hepatitis B Virus

The HBV (hepatitis B virus) infection is intended for elimination, but evaluating patients is both costly and insufficiently applied in several countries. An expensive analysis in Romania is HBV-DNA quantification, with a limited prognostic potential. Our study intended to find new predictors for high viremia in HBV patients, using molecules involved in the multiple assessment of various HBV complications, such as microRNAs. A total of 61 subjects (48 patients with chronic HBV infection and 13 healthy subjects) were generally evaluated. Using a RT-PCR method, with a 2−ΔΔCT algorithm, we detected the expressions of miR-122 and miR-146a in 33 subjects. MiR-21 was the internal control. The results were analyzed with the R 4.2. 2. software. Kruskal–Wallis’s comparisons, Spearman correlations, and several logistic regression methods were applied. The median age of the patients was over 40 years. Without microRNAs, we could not obtain a good prediction formula. The combination of miR-122 and age proved to be the best prediction method for high viremia, with an AUC of 0.827, and a sensitivity of 89.5%. This is the first study which included age and miR-122 as independent predictors for high viremia in Romanian HBV-positive patients. MiR-122 is a new potential biomarker in the evaluation of Romanian patients.
A Novel MAE-Based Self-Supervised Anomaly Detection and Localization Method

Despite significant advancements in self-supervised anomaly detection, multi-class anomaly detection tasks still pose substantial challenges. Most existing methods require individual network training for each category of objects. This paper presents a novel end-to-end approach for multi-class anomaly detection: self-supervised Mask-pretrained Anomaly Localization Autoencoder (MALA). Firstly, the masked autoencoder (MAE) and Pseudo Label Prediction Module (PLPM) are utilized to recover and perceive normal image patterns. Subsequently, the encoder weights are frozen for further end-to-end network training to predict anomalous maps directly. Token Balance Module(TBM) facilitates anomalous perception and improves anomaly segmentation. By utilizing the Visual Transformer and employing image inpainting as a proxy task, remarkable generalization results are achieved. The proposed method demonstrates its applicability across diverse styles of industrial products. Experiments are conducted on MVTech AD, VisA, KolektorSDD2, and MT datasets, achieving state-of-the-art results in multi-task anomaly detection and segmentation tasks. Specifically, we obtain image AUROC of 98. % and pixel AUROC of 97.1% on the MVTech AD dataset, pixel AUROC of 97.1% on the VisA dataset, and pixel AUROC of 98.7% on the KolektorSDD2 dataset.