Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Generalized Cortico-Muscular-Cortical Network to Evaluate the Effects of Three-Week Brain Stimulation

Objective: Post-stroke transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has gradually become a brain intervention to assist patients in the recovery of motor function. The long lasting regulatory of TMS may involve the coupling changes between cortex and muscles. However, the effects of multi-day TMS on motor recovery after stroke is unclear. Methods: This study proposed to quantify the effects of three-week TMS on brain activity and muscles movement performance based on a generalized cortico-muscular-cortical network (gCMCN). The gCMCN-based features were further extracted and combined with the partial least squares (PLS) method to predict the Fugl-Meyer of upper extremity (FMUE) in stroke patients, thereby establishing an objective rehabilitation method that can evaluate the positive effects of continuous TMS on motor function. Results: We found that the improvement of motor function after three-week TMS was significantly correlated with the complexity trend of information interaction between hemispheres and the intensity of corticomuscular coupling. In addition, the fitting coefficient (${{\bm{R}}}^2$) for predicted and actual FMUE before and after TMS were 0.856 and 0.963, respectively, suggesting that the gCMCN-based measurement may be a promising method for evaluating the therapeutic effect of TMS. Conclusion: From the perspective of a novel brain-muscles network with dynamic contraction as the entry point, this work quantified TMS-induced connectivity differences while evaluating the potential efficacy of multi-day TMS. Significance: It provides a unique insight for the further application of intervention therapy in the field of brain diseases.
The effect of placement and management of intrathecal catheters following accidental dural puncture on the incidence of postdural puncture headache and severity: a retrospective real‐world study

Accidental dural puncture during an attempt to establish labour epidural analgesia can result in postdural puncture headache and long‐term debilitating conditions. Epidural blood patch, the gold standard treatment for this headache, is invasive and not always successful. Inserting an intrathecal catheter after accidental dural puncture may prevent postdural puncture headache. We evaluated the effect of intrathecal catheter insertion on the incidence of postdural puncture headache and the need for epidural blood patch and whether duration of intrathecal catheterisation or injection of intrathecal saline affected outcome. Our retrospective study was conducted at two tertiary, university‐affiliated medical centres between 2017 and 2022 and included 92,651 epidurals and 550 cases of accidental dural puncture (0.59%); 219 parturients (39.8%) received an intrathecal catheter and 331 (60.2%) a resited epidural. Use of an intrathecal catheter versus resiting the epidural did not decrease the odds of postdural puncture headache, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) (95%CI) 0.91 (0.81–1.01), but was associated with a lower need for epidural blood patch (aOR (95%CI) 0.82 (0.73–0.91), p < 0.001). We found no benefit in leaving in the intrathecal catheter for 24 h postpartum (postdural puncture headache, aOR (95%CI) 1.01 (1.00–1.02), p = 0.015; epidural blood patch, aOR (95%CI) 1.00 (0.99–1.01), p = 0.40). We found an added benefit of injecting intrathecal saline as it decreased the incidence of postdural puncture headache (aOR (95%CI) 0.85 (0.73–0.99), p = 0.04) and the need for epidural blood patch (aOR (95%CI) 0.75 (0.64–0.87), p < 0.001). Our study confirms the benefits of intrathecal catheterisation and provides guidance on how to best manage an intrathecal catheter.
ADHD, chronotype, and circadian preference in a multi‐site sample of college students

Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and an evening chronotype are both common among college students, and there is growing interest in understanding the possible link between attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and circadian function. However, mixed findings have been reported, and many of the existing studies have used small samples that were unable to examine chronotype across attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder presentations. Participants were 4751 students (73% female; 80% White), aged 18–29 years (M = 19.28, SD = 1.50), from five universities who completed measures assessing attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as the Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire to assess chronotype (categorical) and circadian preference (dimensional). Participants with either attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder predominantly inattentive presentation or attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder combined presentation had higher rates of being an evening type (47.2% and 41.5%, respectively) than participants without elevated attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (28.5%), and participants with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder predominantly inattentive presentation also had higher rates of being an evening type than participants with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder predominantly hyperactive–impulsive presentation (30.7%). Dimensional analyses indicated that attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattentive symptoms were more strongly associated than hyperactive–impulsive symptoms with eveningness preference. Finally, greater eveningness preference strengthened the association between attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattention and depressive symptoms but not anxiety symptoms. This is the largest study to document that college students with elevated attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms are more likely to be evening types than other college students, and inattentive symptoms in particular are associated with later circadian preference.
Systemic sclerosis: changes in the incidence rates in the Finnish population during the years 1999–2018

Objective The aim of our study was to examine changes in the incidence of systemic sclerosis (SSc) in Finland using two different classification criteria. Method Medical records of patients who had been registered with ICD-10 code M34 from 1999 to 2018 in two university hospitals were reviewed retrospectively. This period was divided into 5 year periods: 1999–2003, 2004–2008, 2009–2013, and 2014–2018. Using American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2013 criteria and clinical findings, we reclassified patients into four groups: diffuse SSc, limited SSc, sine SSc, or early SSc. In the same population, we also investigated whether the ACR 1980 criteria were fulfilled. Results In 1999–2018, 246 new patients with SSc and 45 patients with early SSc were identified using ACR/EULAR 2013 criteria. Of these patients, 70 fulfilled the ACR 1980 criteria. Using ACR/EULAR 2013 criteria, the increase in new diagnoses was statistically significant when comparing the fourth period with the first period (p = 0.0012). The increase was due to a rise in limited SSc. Mean annual incidence rates in these groups were 0.9, 1.2, 1.9, and 2.8 per 100 000 inhabitants ≥ 16 years old. An increasing trend was also seen when using ACR 1980 criteria, but this was not statistically significant. Conclusion The incidence of SSc increased during the period between 1999–2003 and 2014–2018 using ACR/EULAR 2013, but not using ACR 1980 criteria. The increase was detected within a limited SSc subclass, owing to more sensitive classification criteria.
A Systematic Review of Outcomes Related to Nurse Practitioner-Delivered Primary Care for Multiple Chronic Conditions

Multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) are more common and costly than any individual health condition in the United States. The growing workforce of nurse practitioners (NPs) plays an active role in providing primary care to this patient population. This study identifies the effect of NP primary care models, compared with models without NP involvement, on cost, quality, and service utilization by patients with MCCs. We conducted a literature search of six databases and performed critical appraisal. Fifteen studies met inclusion criteria (years: 2003–2021). Overall, most studies showed reduced or similar costs, equivalent or better quality, and similar or lower rates of emergency department use and hospitalization associated with NP primary care models for patients with MCCs, compared with models without NP involvement. No studies found them associated with worse outcomes. Thus, NP primary care models, compared with models without NP involvement, have similar or positive impacts on MCC patient outcomes.
PENINGKATAN HASIL BELAJAR MATEMATIKA STANDAR KOMPETENSI LINGKARAN MELALUI METODE KINESTETIK PADA PESERTA DIDIK KELAS VIII.B SMPN 26 SATU ATAP PALLANTIKANG, KECAMATAN MAROS BARU, KABUPATEN MAROS

This study aims to improve learning outcomes mathematics using kinesthetic method. This type of research is a class action (Classroom Action Research). Subject of the study is overall VIII.B grade students of SMPN 26 One Roof Palantikang. Techniques used in data collection study is observation and tests. The results showed that there was an increase in the study of students with the material circles using kinesthetic methods in SMPN 26 One Roof Pallantikang Maros Baru subdistrict. In the first cycle the average value achieved was 64.17 from the ideal value of 100, which is considered low by percentage of completeness 52.2%, and the second cycle the average value achieved was 78 from the ideal value of 100, which is considered high with completeness percentage of 43.5%. This means an increase learners' learning outcomes which affect the increased ability of learners from lower to higher category category after use kinesthetic learning methods.
Similarity in marketing: Scope, measurement, and fields of application

The concept of similarity is central to marketing research. Its fields of application are very varied. Yet this concept, which is more complex than it seems, is still poorly understood. It must be distinguished from other closely related concepts such as similitude, difference, fit, and congruence. This article shows that the type of similarity used (literal or relational) has different effects on consumers’ cognitive processes. This can dramatically alter the results of an experiment. The same applies to the type of measurement used.
Metal-organic framework derived CdSe wrapped with rGO for enhanced lithium storage performance

Considering the advantages of MOF-based, CdSe-based, and rGO-based materials, CdSe nanoparticles encapsulated with rGO (CdSe@rGO) were synthesized by a metal-organic framework derived method. CdSe nanoparticles encapsulated with rGO can effectively tolerate volume expansion and improve electrical conductivity, leading to excellent cycling stability (396 mAh g−1 at 0.3 A g−1 after 200 cycles, 311 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 500 cycles), and rate performance (562 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and 122.2 mAh g−1 at 4 A g−1) for lithium-ion storage. This strategy for preparing metal selenides protected by carbon layers can be extended to the design of other high-performance materials.
Diabetic MAFLD is associated with increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and mortality in chronic viral hepatitis patients

Metabolic dysfunction‐associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) can coexist with chronic viral hepatitis. MAFLD is a heterogeneous disease because the diagnostic criteria include various metabolic traits. We aimed to identify patients at high risk of poor long‐term outcomes based on MAFLD subgroups in chronic viral hepatitis patients. We evaluated 63 273 chronic hepatitis B and C patients. Patient with a fatty liver index ≥30 was defined to have hepatic steatosis. MAFLD was defined as the presence of hepatic steatosis with any one of the following three conditions, overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes or ≥2 metabolic risk factors. The prevalence of MAFLD was 38.4% (n = 24 290). During a median 8.8‐year follow‐up, 1839 HCCs and 2258 deaths were documented in MAFLD patients. Among MAFLD patients, diabetes could identify patients at high risk of HCC and mortality, whereas overweight/obesity and metabolic risk factors did not. Compared with non‐MAFLD patients, risk of HCC and mortality was significantly higher in diabetic MAFLD patients (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26‐1.43 for HCC; aHR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.08‐1.22 for mortality). Risk of HCC and mortality was significantly higher in diabetic MAFLD patients (aHR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.26‐1.55 for HCC; aHR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.63‐1.93 for mortality) compared with non‐diabetic MAFLD patients. Diabetic MAFLD is associated with increased risk of HCC and mortality among chronic viral hepatitis patients. Our findings highlight the need for close surveillance and effective treatment for these high‐risk patients to reduce HCC and mortality in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.
2‐methoxyestradiol restrains non‐small cell lung cancer tumorigenesis through regulating circ_0010235/miR‐34a‐5p/NFAT5 axis

Non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most prevalent and severe malignant tumors in the world and its molecular mechanism is still unclear. In recent years, increasing evidence indicates the significant roles of circRNAs in NSCLC. It has been determined that 2‐methoxyestradiol (2‐MeOE2) exerts antitumor roles in many cancers. However, the molecular mechanism of 2‐MeOE2 in regulating the development of lung cancer needs further elucidation.
Disease associations with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance can only be evaluated using screened cohorts: results from the population-based iStopMM study

Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is an asymptomatic precursor condition that precedes multiple myeloma and related disorders but has also been associated with other medical conditions. Since systematic screening is not recommended, MGUS is typically diagnosed due to underlying diseases and most cases are not diagnosed. Most previous studies on MGUS disease associations have been based on clinical cohorts, possibly resulting in selection bias. Here we estimate this selection bias by comparing clinically diagnosed and screened individuals with MGUS with regards to demographics, laboratory features, and comorbidities. A total of 75,422 participants in the Iceland Screens, Treats, or Prevents Multiple Myeloma (iStopMM) study were screened for MGUS by serum protein electrophoresis, immunofixation and free light chain assay (clinicaltrials gov. Identifier: NCT03327597). We identified 3,352 individuals with MGUS, whereof 240 had previously been clinically diagnosed (clinical MGUS), and crosslinked our data with large, nationwide registries for information on comorbidities. Those with clinical MGUS were more likely to have at least one comorbidity (odds ratio=2.24; 95% confidence interval: 1.30-4.19), and on average had more comorbidities than the screened MGUS group (3.23 vs. 2.36, mean difference 0.68; 95% confidence interval: 0.46-0.90). They were also more likely to have rheumatological disease, neurological disease, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, heart failure, or endocrine disorders. These findings indicate that individuals with clinical MGUS have more comorbidities than the general MGUS population and that previous studies have been affected by significant selection bias. Our findings highlight the importance of screening data when studying biological and epidemiological implications of MGUS.
Considerations and clinical management of infections in sarcoidosis

Purpose of review To summarize data from recent reports about risks and outcomes of the infections most often reported in patients with sarcoidosis. Recent findings Rates of fungal infections and other severe infections are higher in patients with sarcoidosis compared to controls. Immunosuppression further increases the risk for an infection requiring hospitalization. In contrast, outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are not worse unless lung impairment or other comorbidities are present. Summary Tuberculosis, fungal infections, and other severe infections requiring hospital admission are, fortunately, relatively rare in patients with sarcoidosis who live in nonendemic regions. However, ongoing vigilance is required when the course of sarcoidosis is atypical or inexplicably progressive, as costs are high when these infections are missed. In contrast, COVID-19 and other respiratory viral illnesses are common, including among patients with sarcoidosis. When organ impairment is minimal, an underlying diagnosis of sarcoidosis does not appear to increase the risk of severe COVID-19, but patients may have higher risks due to comorbidities, which are important factors to address in routine sarcoidosis care. The burden from respiratory viral events, including impacts on quality of life and life functionality including work capacity, is unknown and is important to measure.
An appraisal of emerging therapeutic targets for multiple sclerosis derived from current preclinical models

ABSTRACT Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory, demyelinating, and neurodegenerative condition affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Although therapeutic approaches have become available over the last 20 years that markedly slow the progression of disease, there is no cure for MS. Furthermore, the capacity to repair existing CNS damage caused by MS remains very limited. Areas covered Several animal models are widely used in MS research to identify potential druggable targets for new treatment of MS. In this review, we look at targets identified since 2019 in studies using these models, and their potential for effecting a cure for MS. Expert opinion Refinement of therapeutic strategies targeting key molecules involved in the activation of immune cells, cytokine, and chemokine signaling, and the polarization of the immune response have dominated recent publications. While some progress has been made in identifying effective targets to combat chronic demyelination and neurodegeneration, much more work is required. Progress is largely limited by the gaps in knowledge of how the immune system and the nervous system interact in MS and its animal models, and whether the numerous targets present in both systems respond in the same way in each system to the same therapeutic manipulation.
CHARACTERIZATIONS OF p-CONVEX FUNCTIONS

Department of Mathematics, Universittl di Pis a, Via Buonarroti 2, 56127 Pisa, Italy The concept of p-convexity was introduced by Vial in [12] for functions defined on ! Rn • In the same paper, the author showed that f is p--convex if and only if the function f(x) ~lIxll2 is convex. In this paper we observe that such characterization does not hold when the domain of f is not an Hilbertian space. For this reason, we characterize the p-convexity of a lower semicontinuous function via the p-monotonicity of its DiniHadamard directional derivative and of its generalized subdifferential.
Thompson Sampling for Bandit Problems

Bandit problems are the most basic examples of the sequential decision making problems with limited feedback and an exploitation/exploration trade-off. In these problems, an agent repeatedly selects an action out of a pool of candidates and receives a reward sampled from the action’s reward distribution. The agent’s goal is to maximize the sum of rewards that he receives over time. The trade-off at each time step is between exploitation of the actions that already produced high rewards in the past and exploration of the poorly understood actions that have the potential to yield even higher rewards in the future. Bandit problems arise naturally in many applications, such as clinical trials, project management and online news recommendation. Thompson Sampling is a popular strategy to solve bandit problems. It selects actions using the ”probability matching” principle. In the first part of this thesis, we analyze Thompson Sampling from several different angles. First, we prove a tight bound on Thompson Sampling’s performance when the performance is averaged with respect to the prior distribution that Thompson Sampling uses as input. Next, we look at the more realistic non-averaged performance of Thompson Sampling. We quantify the sensitivity of Thompson Sampling’s (non-averaged) performance to the choice of input prior, by providing matching upper and lower bounds. Finally, we illustrate Thompson Sampling’s ability to optimally exploit prior knowledge by thoroughly analyzing its behavior in a non-trivial example. In the second part of this thesis, we switch our focus to the most-correlated-arms identification problem, where the actions’ reward distributions are assumed to be jointly Gaussian and the goal is to find actions with the most mutually correlated rewards. In this problem and unlike in bandit problems, we focus on exploring the actions to acquire as much relevant information as possible and only exploit the acquired information at the end to return the set of correlated actions. We propose iii two adaptive action-selection strategies and show that they can have significant advantages over the non-adaptive uniform sampling strategy. Our proposed algorithms rely on a novel correlation estimator. The use of this accurate estimator allows us to get improved results for a wide range of problem instances.
A Novel Robust Method Mimicking Human Substratum To Dissect the Heterogeneity of Candida auris Biofilm Formation

Heterogeneity is seen when multidrug-resistant C. auris biofilm is cultured using different reported methods. Biofilm formed on the gelatin surface mimics the condition of a host environment that has multilayers and EPS. ABSTRACT Candida auris is a pathogen of urgent threat level as marked by the CDC. The formation of biofilms is an essential property of this fungus to establish infection and escape drug treatment. However, our understanding of pathogenesis through biofilm is hampered by heterogeneity in C. auris biofilms observed in different studies. It is imperative to replicate in vivo conditions for studying C. auris biofilm formation in vitro. Different methods are standardized, but the surface used to form biofilms lacks consistency as well as the architecture of a typical biofilm. Here, we report an in vitro technique to grow C. auris biofilms on gelatin-coated coverslips. Interestingly, C. auris cells grown on gelatin-coated coverslips either on modified synthetic sweat media or RPMI 1640 resulted in similar multilayer biofilm formation with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). This method is also consistent with the biofilm formation of other Candida species, such as Candida glabrata and Candida albicans. Biofilms of C. glabrata developed through this method show pseudohyphae and EPS. This method can be used to understand the molecular basis of biofilm formation, associated pathogenesis, and drug tolerance. The technique is cost-effective and would thus serve in rightful screening and repurposing drug libraries for designing new therapeutics against the less-studied high-alarm pathogen C. auris. IMPORTANCE Heterogeneity is seen when multidrug-resistant C. auris biofilm is cultured using different reported methods. Biofilm formed on the gelatin surface mimics the condition of a host environment that has multilayers and EPS. This method has feasibility for drug screening and analyzing biofilms through three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction. This in vitro biofilm formation technique is also exploited to study the formation of biofilm of other Candida species. The biofilms of C. glabrata and C. albicans can also be correctly mimicked using gelatin in the biofilm-forming environment. Thus, the novel in vitro method for biofilm formation reported here can be widely used to understand the mechanism of biofilm formation, related virulence properties, and drug tolerance of C. auris and other Candida species. This simple and low-cost technique is highly suitable for screening novel inhibitors and repurposed libraries and to design new therapeutics against Candida species.