Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Informal Caregivers’ Administration of Hospice Prescribed Lorazepam to Homecare Patients With Anxiety

Background: A growing number of informal caregivers (IFCs) manage hospice patients’ anxiety by administering lorazepam (Ativan), yet little is known about prescribing practices in home care or the extent to which IFCs carry out regimens. Design and Methods: Data on hospice prescribed lorazepam was determined through a retrospective review of medication records from 216 deceased patients. The dose of lorazepam and type of regimen (i.e., scheduled, PRN, combination) as well as frequency with which it was administered by IFCs was calculated upon admission to a residential care home and on patients’ day of death. Results: The majority (63.1%) of patients were prescribed lorazepam on admission to the home, and more (79.5%) were prescribed lorazepam on the day of death. While higher doses of lorazepam were prescribed and administered on the day of death, the percentage of medication consumed was low on admission (17%) and day of death (27%). Nearly all (92.8%) prescribed lorazepam on the day of death were allowed PRN medication. For PRN only regimens, less than a quarter (24.4%) of patients were given lorazepam on admission with less than half (40.4%) given it while dying. Highest lorazepam administration rates (91.2%) occurred on the day of death when lorazepam was prescribed under a combined regimen. Conclusion: The high frequency of PRN regimens reveal that IFCs are frequently tasked with making decisions about if and when to administer lorazepam. Low overall lorazepam administration suggests a closer monitoring of lorazepam use and enhanced support of IFCs may be needed.
Persistence and decay of human antibody responses to the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in COVID-19 patients

IgM and IgA responses to SARS-CoV-2 RBD in severe COVID patients decay rapidly, while IgG responses persist for over 3 months. We measured plasma and/or serum antibody responses to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 in 343 North American patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 (of which 93% required hospitalization) up to 122 days after symptom onset and compared them to responses in 1548 individuals whose blood samples were obtained prior to the pandemic. After setting seropositivity thresholds for perfect specificity (100%), we estimated sensitivities of 95% for IgG, 90% for IgA, and 81% for IgM for detecting infected individuals between 15 and 28 days after symptom onset. While the median time to seroconversion was nearly 12 days across all three isotypes tested, IgA and IgM antibodies against RBD were short-lived with median times to seroreversion of 71 and 49 days after symptom onset. In contrast, anti-RBD IgG responses decayed slowly through 90 days with only 3 seropositive individuals seroreverting within this time period. IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 RBD were strongly correlated with anti-S neutralizing antibody titers, which demonstrated little to no decrease over 75 days since symptom onset. We observed no cross-reactivity of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD-targeted antibodies with other widely circulating coronaviruses (HKU1, 229 E, OC43, NL63). These data suggest that RBD-targeted antibodies are excellent markers of previous and recent infection, that differential isotype measurements can help distinguish between recent and older infections, and that IgG responses persist over the first few months after infection and are highly correlated with neutralizing antibodies.
Imaging physiological ABC transporter expression and its relation to disease using Tc-99m-hexakis-methoxy-isobutyl isonitrile (Tc-99m-MIBI)

Tc-99m-MIBI is a substrate for ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins, including P-glycoprotein (P-gp), and has been used to image their expression, mainly in cancer. Imaging P-gp expression may have a role in renal transplantation and investigating drug toxicity. The aim of the project was to develop a functional imaging assay for ABC-transporters using Tc-99m-MIBI.
Effects of supplementation of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) to lying hens on production performance, fat digestibility, blood lipid profile, and gene expression related to nutrients transport in small intestine

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) is produced from the catalytic of soy-lecithin by phospholipase A2 activity (Joshi et al., 2006; Liu et al., 2011), so it has a greater hydrophilic properties than regular phospholipids due to the removal of one fatty acid (Joshi et al., 2006; Liu et al., 2011). LPC may be an effective natural emulsifier, since the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of LPC is 0.02–0.2 mM/l which is about 20–200 times less than bile acid (CMC = 4 mM/l) and lecithin (CMC = 0.3–2.0 mM/l) (Langmuir, 2002). Therefore, supplementing LPC seems to increase the digestion, absorption of dietary fat, and productive performance of an animal. Accordingly, Xing et al. (2004), ABSTRACT. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) supplementation on egg production, fat digestibility, blood lipid profile and gene expression related to nutrients transport in brown egglaying hens. In total, 384 commercial laying hens were divided into 4 groups (8 replicates, 12 animals each): 1. positive control (PC), 2. negative control (reduced energy to 75 ME kcal/kg; NC), 3. NC-LPC 0.05%, and 4. NC-LPC 0.1%, accordingly to a completely randomized design. There were no significant effects on productive performance during 33–41 weeks of age. Feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) significantly increased (P < 0.05) in the NC group in comparison to the PC group during 42–49 weeks of age. Supplementation of LPC (at both levels) significantly reduced feed intake and FCR (P < 0.05). Consequently, it significantly reduced feed cost per egg weight (P < 0.05). In animals supplemented with LPC increased (P < 0.05) digestibilities of dietary fat, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride and cholesterol in blood were found. The expression of gene BAT in the epithelial layer of the jejunum significantly increased in the NC group, however it decreased in the NC-LPC 0.1% group (P < 0.05). The expression of CAT-1 gene in the NC-LPC 0.1% group was higher than that of the PC group (P < 0.05). The supplemental LPC (both levels) also significantly increased the expression of the NPC1 gene in comparison to the NC group (P < 0.05). So, supplementation of LPC to the diet improved the feed efficiency via the increase of fat digestibility and the uptake of some amino acids or cholesterol to the enterocyte up-regulating the expression of some amino acids and cholesterol transporter genes. Received: 26 July 2020 Revised: 2 August 2020 Accepted: 4 September 2020
Ovarian fluid proteome variation associates with sperm swimming speed in an externally fertilizing fish

Sperm velocity is a key trait that predicts the outcome of sperm competition. By promoting or impeding sperm velocity, females can control fertilization via postcopulatory cryptic female choice. In Chinook salmon, ovarian fluid (OF), which surrounds the ova, mediates sperm velocity according to male and female identity, biasing the outcome of sperm competition towards males with faster sperm. Past investigations have revealed proteome variation in OF, but the specific components of OF that differentially mediate sperm velocity have yet to be characterized. Here we use quantitative proteomics to investigate whether OF protein composition explains variation in sperm velocity and fertilization success. We found that OF proteomes from six females robustly clustered into two groups and that these groups are distinguished by the abundance of a restricted set of proteins significantly associated with sperm velocity. Exposure of sperm to OF from females in group I had faster sperm compared to sperm exposed to the OF of group II females. Overall, OF proteins that distinguished between these groups were enriched for vitellogenin and calcium ion interactions. Our findings suggest that these proteins may form the functional basis for cryptic female choice via the biochemical and physiological mediation of sperm velocity.
Predicting susceptibility for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in domestic and wildlife animals using ACE2 protein sequence homology

Abstract The article is presenting a bioinformatics based method predicting susceptibility for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in domestic and wildlife animals. Recently, there were reports of cats and ferrets, dogs, minks, golden hamster, rhesus monkeys, tigers, and lions testing for SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA which indicated for the possible interspecies viral transmission. Our method successfully predicted the susceptibility of these animals for contracting SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. This method can be used as a screening tool for guiding viral RNA testing for domestic and wildlife animals at risk of getting COVID‐19. We provide a list of the animals at risk of developing COVID‐19 based on the susceptibility score.
Pilot study of loss of the p53/p63 target gene PERP at the surgical margin as a potential predictor of local relapse in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

PERP (p53 apoptosis effector related to PMP22) localizes to desmosomes and suppresses squamous cell carcinoma development. Loss of PERP leads to worse local control in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), likely by destabilizing desmosomes. We evaluated PERP loss at HNSCC surgical margins as a predictor of local relapse.
The Role of Rehabilitation in Peripheral Paralysis of the Facial Nerve: A Case Report of a Patient Treated with a Neuro-Cognitive Approach

Peripheral paralysis of the facial nerve is a pathology that, although not involves any risks for the patient's life, significantly affects not only motor, but also communicative, psychological, and social aspects, having an important impact on the quality of life. The most widely used therapeutic proposals do not always respond to the need to intervene on all the functional components related to the facial nerve, but to prevent and treat complications. The neuro-cognitive proposal, although not found in the literature or in the biomedical databases, takes into account the motor, communicative, verbal and non-verbal functions related to facial mimic, as well as the cognitive-exploratory function of some districts of the face and intervenes following the phases of nervous recovery limiting an abnormal reinnervation. The case reported concerns a patient with a paralysis caused by surgical removal of acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma), with grade III on the House-Brackmann scale, seems to be an example of how an approach of this type is constructed in such a way as to follow the various phases of recovery of the peripheral nerve injury, promoting the recovery of the various functions related to the facial. The patient evaluated with the Sunnybrook Facial Grading System (SFGS) went from 21/100 to 92/100 and did not develop synkinesias after about 5 months of treatment. The neuro-cognitive approach would seem to progressively improve the quality of movement. Moreover, being selective with respect to muscle recruitment and inserted in a functional perspective that respects recovery times, it would seem to limit the appearance of pathological sequelae such as synkinesias and spasms.
Effects of Adding Subtitles to Video via Apps on Developing EFL Students’ Listening Comprehension

It is unclear if using videos and education apps in learning adds additional value to students’ listening comprehension. This study assesses the impact of adding text to videos on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ listening comprehension. The participants were 76 prep college EFL students from Taibah University, divided into two groups. The semi-experimental measure was employed to compare the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group watched an English learning video and then wrote text subtitles relating to the video using apps, and later took a listening test to evaluate their ability in acquiring information through the videos. The control group watched videos during live lectures but did not add subtitles on the content they viewed. A paired samples t-test was used to assess the extent of listening comprehension achievement and posttest results were compared. Results revealed statistically significant increases in posttest listening comprehension scores. The result indicated superior performance and a significant positive impact through teaching/learning via video watching and adding text apps.
Scaling up Simhash

The seminal work of (Charikar, 2002) gives a space eﬃcient sketching algorithm (Simhash) which compresses real-valued vectors to binary vectors while maintaining an estimate of the Cosine similarity between any pairs of original real-valued vectors. In this work, we pro-pose a sketching algorithm – Simsketch – that can be applied on top of the results obtained from Simhash. This further reduces the data dimension while maintaining an estimate of the Cosine similarity between original real-valued vectors. As a consequence, it helps in scaling up the performance of Simhash. We present theoretical bounds of our result and complement it with experimentation on public datasets. Our proposed algorithm is simple, eﬃcient, and therefore can be adopted in practice.
Parents’ Perceptions and Management of Children’s Learning of Chinese as a Heritage Language: A Case Study of Cross-cultural Families in Australia

Parents play an important role in children’s learning of their heritage language (HL) in immigrant countries. Fostering HL learning is a hard task for parents, particularly in immigrant families, and this difficulty is exacerbated in cross-cultural families. The existing studies have not fully addressed the importance of consistent parental perceptions and language management in children’s HL learning. This gap is particularly clear in the research concerning learning Chinese as an HL among cross-cultural families’ children living in English-speaking immigrant countries such as Australia. The present qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to fill this gap by examining the perceptions and language management strategies of three cross-cultural families in Australia whose children are learning Chinese as one parent’s HL. The results suggest that, in English countries, Chinese-background and non-Chinese-background parents in cross-cultural families have quite different opinions about their children learning Chinese, which are reflected in their dissimilar language management strategies. The results highlight the importance and challenges of developing a stable family language policy in cross-cultural families in order to maintain their children’s HL learning.
Detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae by using the polymerase chain reaction

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used to detect Mycoplasma pneumoniae. A specific DNA sequence for M. pneumoniae was selected from a genomic library, and two oligonucleotides were chosen in this sequence to give an amplified fragment of 144 base pairs. We show that DNA from different M. pneumoniae strains can be detected by PCR, with DNA from other Mycoplasma species giving negative results. Analysis of biological samples (throat swabs) obtained from hamsters that were experimentally infected with M. pneumoniae showed that PCR was more sensitive and reliable than conventional culture techniques for the detection of M. pneumoniae. Initial experiments on artificially seeded human bronchoalveolar lavages showed that PCR can be used to detect 10(2) to 10(3) organisms.
EVALUATION OF BROILER CHICKENS LIPID PROFILE INFLUENCED BY DIETARY CHILI PEPPER ADDITION

Experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of chili pepper in broiler nutrition on productive performances and blood lipid profile. For biological research three treatments with the total of 450 broilers were formed, within four replicates. Control treatment (C) of chickens were fed with mixture based on corn flour and soybean meal of standard composition and quality, while the experimental treatments were fed with the same mixture only with addition of two levels of chili pepper 0.5 (CP-0.5) and 1.0 g/100g (CP-1.0). Addition of chili pepper in the amount of 0.5 g/100g has led to the highest final body weight of chickens (2460.6 g), followed by the addition of 1.0 g/100g (2442.4 g) with significant differences (p<0.05) compared to a control treatment (2075.8 g). The lowest amounts of triglycerides, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and non-high density lipoprotein (non HDL) was recorded in broilers in treatments with chili with statistically significant (p<0.05) differences compared to a control treatment. The highest share of high density lipoprotein (HDL) with statistical significance (p<0.05) was determined also in chili pepper treatments. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the addition of chili pepper in broiler chicken nutrition has positive effects on production performances and in improvement of chicken blood lipid profile.
The Comparative Endocrinology of Sea Turtles

In recent years, an effort has been made to begin to understand the endocrine regulation systems of endangered sea turtles. The purpose of the present paper is to review this area. The glycoproteins follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) have been purified from pituitaries of Chelonia mydas. A homologous radioimmunoassay for LH has been used to document a clear relationship between LH, ovulation and a pronounced progesterone peak which occurs as albumin is being secreted in the oviduct. A distinct role for FSH has yet to be proven, although, because estrogens seem to be out of phase with LH and progesterone, FSH may regulate estrogen. A complication with this suggestion, however, is that the reptiles which have been studied seem unique among tetrapods in not having LH and FSH receptor specificity. Circulating estrogens are at very low titers (20-50 pg/ml), with peaks in spring that may correlate with migration and ovarian maturation as well as during the internesting interval when subsequent follicular size classes are maturing. Testosterone is elevated slightly in female C. mydas during mating receptivity, but is much lower than early spring samples from mating males. The two species in the genus Lepidochelys hold mature eggs in their oviducts, apparently to ensure adequate recruitment of nesters for their unique mass nesting (arribada) system. Environmental temperature appears to directly affect some sea turtle endocrine systems. The unusually elaborate pineal complex in marine turtles produces the hormone melatonin which is reduced in the circulation and cerebrospinal fluid by the animal's exposure to light. Temperature, photoperiod and nutritional history appear capable of regulating reproductive cycling in these multiannual nesters. Much less is now known about males than about females. Growth hormone (GH) and to a lesser degree prolactin are somatotrophic in marine turtles. GH also appears to synergize with gonadotropin in inducing final testicular spermiation. TSH from sea turtles or mammals did not stimulate the sea turtle thyroid in two separate assays, an observation which is both unexpected and unexplained. The ACTH-interrenal-stress axis in sea turtles is similar to other vertebrates with the glucocorticoid corticosterone demonstrating peaks at hatching, entry into the ocean and during induced stress situations.
the three ‘Windy Mckinley’ terranes of Stevenson ridge (115Jk), western Yukon

Rocks assigned to the Windy McKinley Terrane occur in Stevenson Ridge and Kluane map areas of western Yukon. Based on new mapping in Stevenson Ridge area, rocks mapped as Windy McKinley Terrane have been divided into three fault-bound assemblages: 1) a structurally lowest assemblage of muscovite-quartz schist, calcsilicate schist, and minor marble, carbonaceous quartzite and schist, pebble meta-conglomerate and granitic meta-plutonic rocks; 2) an imbricated ophiolitic assemblage of meta-chert, probably intrusive greenstone, leucogabbro, variably serpentinized dunite and harzburgite, and mafic greywacke; and 3) an assemblage of fine-grained clastic and calcareous rocks intruded and variably hornfelsed by voluminous Early Triassic (Mortensen and Israel, 2006) gabbro. Assemblage 1 probably correlates with Yukon-Tanana Terrane. Assemblage 2 more strongly resembles the Chulitna Terrane of Alaska rather than either the Windy or McKinley terranes as originally defined. Assemblage 3 resembles part of McKinley Terrane, as well as the Aurora Peak and Pingston terranes. These terrane re-assignments have implications for the area’s mineral potential.
Destructive Behavior of a Person in Historical Retrospective: Factors, Diagnosis and Prevention

In conditions of the current development of society which is characterized by mounting social, economic and political crises, the problem of destructive behavior of an individual acquires special significance and topicality. The paper presents the results of a theoretical and methodological analysis of this problem in foreign and domestic literature in several areas: analysis of the attitude of society towards destructive behavior in its historical aspect; philosophical and theological approach; sociological and demographic areas in the study of destructive behavior, biological and biochemical; genetic approaches; psychological and socio-psychological aspects in the study of destructive behavior of a person. In view of the analysis of various approaches and areas in the study of destructive behavior, the conclusions have been drawn that destructive behavior is represented as a complex phenomenon, caused by biological factors (genetic predisposition, constitutional features of the body structure, the use of psychoactive substances, etc.), social (economic and social crises ), psychopathological (connection with mental disorders), psychological (especially the system of needs and motives of activity), socio-psychological (the impact of socio-psychological maladaptation and characteristics of the values and meaning sphere of an individual) plans. These factors are interconnected and each of them has its own specific role in the complex of destructive behavior, and therefore it is impossible to obtain a holistic view of the phenomenon under consideration taken separately from the entire system of interconnected components.
PATTERN OF RIFAMPICIN RESISTANCE (RIF) IN CBNAT POSITIVE CASES.

Background: Emergence of Multidrug resistant Tuberculosis (MDRTB) has become a significant obstacle for Tuberculosis (TB) control. Rifampicin (RIF) resistance is important indicator of MDRTB. Rapid simultaneous detection of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) and RIF resistance are very essential for effective disease management. CBNAAT (Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) also known as Gene Xpert MTB/RIF assay is a novel diagnostic tool for detection of MTB and RIF resistance. Aims and Objectives : To study the usefulness of CBNAAT for rapid detection of MTB and RIF resistance in MDRTB suspected cases. Materials and Methods: 1002 sputum samples were collected retrospectively from MDRTB suspected cases including both new cases and previously treated cases. These were processed using Gene Xpert MTB/RIF assay. The results were statistically analyzed. Results: Out of 1002 sputum samples, Rifampicin resistance was detected in 202 (20.15%) samples and RIF sensitive was detected in 800 (79.84%) samples. Out of 800 rifampicin sensitive cases sputum smear positive in 443(55.37) and negative in 357(44.62). Out of 202 RIF resistant samples, sputum smear were positive in 127 (62.87%) cases and negative in 75 (37.12%) cases. Conclusions: Gene Xpert MTB/RIF assay is a good screening tool for diagnosis of MTB and detection of RIF’s resistance from MDRTB suspected cases within a shorter period.