Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A highly powerful nonspecific strategy to reduce COVID‐19 deaths

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic caused by the coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 remains risky worldwide. We elucidate here that good IDM (isolation, disinfection, and maintenance of health) is powerful to reduce COVID‐19 deaths based on the striking differences in COVID‐19 case fatality rates among various scenarios. IDM means keeping COVID‐19 cases away from each other and from other people, disinfecting their living environments, and maintaining their health through good nutrition, rest, and treatment of symptoms and pre‐existing diseases (not through specific antiviral therapy). Good IDM could reduce COVID‐19 deaths by more than 85% in 2020 and more than 99% in 2022. This is consistent with the fact that good IDM can minimize co‐infections and maintain body functions and the fact that COVID‐19 has become less pathogenic (this fact was supported with three novel data in this report). Although IDM has been frequently implemented worldwide to some degree, IDM has not been highlighted sufficiently. Good IDM is relative, nonspecific, flexible, and feasible in many countries, and can reduce deaths of some other relatively mild infectious diseases. IDM, vaccines, and antivirals aid each other to reduce COVID‐19 deaths. The IDM concept and strategy can aid people to improve their health behavior and fight against COVID‐19 and future pandemics worldwide.
SSVEP-Based Brain Computer Interface Controlled Soft Robotic Glove for Post-Stroke Hand Function Rehabilitation

Soft robotic glove with brain computer interfaces (BCI) control has been used for post-stroke hand function rehabilitation. Motor imagery (MI) based BCI with robotic aided devices has been demonstrated as an effective neural rehabilitation tool to improve post-stroke hand function. It is necessary for a user of MI-BCI to receive a long time training, while the user usually suffers unsuccessful and unsatisfying results in the beginning. To propose another non-invasive BCI paradigm rather than MI-BCI, steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEP) based BCI was proposed as user intension detection to trigger the soft robotic glove for post-stroke hand function rehabilitation. Thirty post-stroke patients with impaired hand function were randomly and equally divided into three groups to receive conventional, robotic, and BCI-robotic therapy in this randomized control trial (RCT). Clinical assessment of Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment of Upper Limb (FMA-UL), Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) and Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) were performed at pre-training, post-training and three months follow-up. In comparing to other groups, The BCI-robotic group showed significant improvement after training in FMA full score (10.05 ± 8.03, p = 0.001), FMA shoulder/elbow (6.2 ± 5.94, p = 0.0004) and FMA wrist/hand (4.3 ± 2.83, p = 0.007), and WMFT (5.1 ± 5.53, p = 0.037). The improvement of FMA was significantly correlated with BCI accuracy (r = 0.714, p = 0.032). Recovery of hand function after rehabilitation of SSVEP-BCI controlled soft robotic glove showed better result than solely robotic glove rehabilitation, equivalent efficacy as results from previous reported MI-BCI robotic hand rehabilitation. It proved the feasibility of SSVEP-BCI controlled soft robotic glove in post-stroke hand function rehabilitation.
The effect of non-verbal working memory on graphic symbol selection

Abstract To identify the relationship between non-verbal working memory and graphic symbol selection, this study examined whether the response time to select target symbols in a sentence construction task differed between two groups: a high non-verbal working memory group and a low non-verbal working memory group. The interaction effect between non-verbal working memory skills and the degree of exposure to graphic symbols was also examined. Thirty-two non-disabled young adults participated in this study. Based on the quartile of the participants’ scores on the non-verbal working memory task (i.e., the backward matrix task), data were selected from the sentence construction task completed by seven participants who belonged to the 25%ile and less and seven who belonged to the 75%ile and more; these data were used to examine group differences. A Mann–Whitney U test showed that non-verbal working memory skills had a significant effect on graphic symbol selection, as the high non-verbal working memory group combined three symbols faster than did the low memory group. No significant interaction effect was found between non-verbal working memory skills and the degree of exposure to symbols. The theoretical and clinical implications of the research findings are discussed.
Effect of Agroecosystems on Seroprevalence of St. Louis Encephalitis and West Nile Viruses in Birds, La Pampa, Argentina, 2017–2019

In Argentina, the Pampa ecoregion has been almost completely transformed into agroecosystems. To evaluate the environmental (agricultural area, tree coverage, distance to the nearest water body and urban site) and biological (dove, cowbird, and sparrow abundance) effects on free-ranging bird exposure to St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and West Nile virus (WNV), we used generalized linear mixed models. For 1,019 birds sampled during 2017–2019, neutralizing antibodies were found against SLEV in samples from 60 (5.8%) birds and against WNV for 21 (2.1%). The best variable for explaining SLEV seroprevalence was agricultural area, which had a positive effect; however, for WNV, no model was conclusive. Our results suggest that agroecosystems in the La Pampa ecoregion increase the exposure of avian hosts to SLEV, thus potentially increasing virus activity.
Chronic Pulmonary Disease Caused by Tsukamurella toyonakaense

Unidentified Mycobacterium species are sometimes detected in respiratory specimens. We identified a novel Tsukamurella species (Tsukamurella sp. TY48, RIMD 2001001, CIP 111916T), Tsukamurella toyonakaense, from a patient given a misdiagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease caused by unidentified mycobacteria. Genomic identification of this Tsukamurella species helped clarify its clinical characteristics and epidemiology.
Conceptualizing and considering Cannabis-Related “Harm-to-Others”: The Role of Cannabis-Related Violence

Abstract Public health-oriented frameworks for cannabis use of control, including legalization, are evolving. Most frameworks aim to reduce cannabis-related health harms that materialize among users; there has been comparably limited focus on cannabis-related “harm-to-others”. A longstanding issue for other psychoactive substances, and increasingly recognized form of cannabis-related harm-to-others involves violence/aggression. We briefly review relevant epidemiological and psycho-behavioral data related to cannabis-related violence and aggression, and discuss intervention prospects. Systematic review and other study data show a moderately positive association between cannabis use and perpetration of physical (including intimate-partner) violence, for example involving assault, aggression, and fighting; this risk may be further elevated by intensive use patterns. Such harms may involve injuries/deaths and contribute to the cannabis-related burden of disease. Within the contexts of public health-oriented frameworks for cannabis control, greater awareness and targeted interventions regarding the risk for exposure to violence related to cannabis use should be promoted in addition to protections for users’ health.
An Atlas of QSO Spectra

We present here the low-dispersion optical spectra of 295 QSO candidates. The great majority of the objects were originally selected as QSOs from the Parkes 2700 MHz radio survey, although we have also included spectra of several optically selected QSOs. A few of the QSO candidates are now better described as radio galaxies and BL Lac objects. This collection of spectra is not suitable for statistical studies unless due consideration is given to selection effects.
Random walks in dynamic random environments

Random walks in dynamic random environments are random walks evolving according to a random transition kernel, i.e., their transition probabilities depend on a stochastic process called dynamic random environment. In this thesis, we study asymptotic properties of such random walks on the integer lattice, in which the dynamic random environment is given by an interacting particle system.
Patient-reported quality of life and eligibility for cataract surgery: assessing the relationship between ethnicity and 'Impact on Life' questionnaire scores in New Zealand.

AIMS The 'Impact on Life' (IoL) questionnaire is a patient reported quality-of-life assessment tool used to prioritise cataract surgery in New Zealand (NZ). This study evaluated the association between ethnicity and IoL questionnaire responses. METHODS This is a retrospective cohort study of patients prioritised for public-funded cataract surgery between November 2014 and March 2019 in New Zealand. Data were extracted from the New Zealand Ministry of Health National Prioritisation Web Service database. Ethnic, demographic and IoL data for all patients who were prioritised for surgery were analysed after controlling for age, gender, visual acuity and cataract type. RESULTS Of the 58,648 prioritisation events, over the four-and-a-half-year period, 46,352 prioritisation events had documented scores for the IoL questionnaire. The study population had a mean age of 74.4 years and had a female preponderance (74%). The average IoL score was 22.5/36 (SD 7.8). After controlling for age, gender, visual acuity (VA) and cataract type, there was only a marginal difference between Māori and non-Māori IoL scores (22.8/36 vs 22.4/36) despite statistical significance for the difference (p=0.001). Māori and Pacific people presented at a younger age (68.5 years and 66.7 years, respectively) with worse visual acuity than other ethnic groups (mean range 70.1-76.7 years). Mean IoL scores were 23.0/36 for Māori and Pacific people and 22.4/36 for other ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS Māori and Pacific people present younger with worse VA and more advanced cataracts at time of surgical prioritisation when compared with other ethnic groups. Despite these differences, after controlling for confounding factors, the mean IoL score did not differ to a level that was clinically significant between different ethnic groups in New Zealand at time of prioritisation for cataract surgery. These results suggest that there are no meaningful ethnic specific differences in patient reported quality of life for patients with cataract in New Zealand after controlling for other factors. Alternatively, the IoL tool may lack the sensitivity to detect meaningful ethnic disparities that may exist for quality of life in this cohort of patients.
Distributional assumptions in the representation of random taste heterogeneity

This paper examines how well a wide range of parametric distributions can reproduce given target distributions, which are constructed to reflect common assumptions about taste variation in transport models. Using ExpertFit to fit the distributions and to measure the differences between the fitted and the target distribution, a large data set of performance measures is constructed, revealing some systematic patterns of bias. Mixed results are obtained for the given target distributions (Normal censored/uncensored and with/without mass points, Johnson Sb and Lognormal). They show that flexible distributions, such as the Johnson SU, Gamma, Beta, Erlang, Laplace and Logistic have certain advantages over inflexible distributions, but these advantages disappear for specific constellations. The analysis also shows the usual problems with the heavy tails of the Lognormal distribution, but worryingly also suggests that the recently much-heralded Johnson-SB distribution does not perform well in all scenarios. The analysis shows that the use of symmetrical distributions, such as the Normal, can lead to problems with the tails, such that, if the Normal is used, no information should be inferred on the basis of its tail behaviour, though it can offer valid estimates of the mean and variance. Overall, these results suggest that, in the absence of software allowing for the use of empirical distributions, or mixtures between continuous and discrete distributions, the most flexible distribution should be used to minimise the risk of biased results.
Thermally stable gold nanorod dispersed silicone composite with plasmonic resonance in the optical communication window

Gold nanorods (AuNRs) possess a high optical nonlinear coefficient, ultrafast optical response speed and widely tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength covering the visible and near infrared region. Therefore, they are extensively investigated for many optical applications. However, the poor thermal stability of the AuNRs seriously restricts their practical performance. In addition, for many applications, such as optical communication or laser modulation, AuNRs have to be combined with transparent solids, for example polymers, glass or crystals to make devices. Here, we report on the preparation of 0.23 mg AuNR dispersed methyl silicone resin (MSR) with longitudinal LSPR (L-LSPR) wavelength (1450 nm) in the optical communication window. We found that AuNR-silicone composites possess high thermal stability. After calcination in ambient environment at a temperature of 250 °C for 10 h, the L-LSPR peak of the sample can remain longer than 1380 nm, implying that the NR shape of the Au particles was well maintained. Using the open-aperture Z-scan technique, the nonlinear absorption coefficient of the composites was measured as −11.71 cm GW−1, higher than many nonlinear materials. Thus, the thermally stable AuNR@SiO2-MSR composite with high nonlinearity is promising for practical applications in the optical communication window.
Assessment of the Potential Ecotoxicological Effects of Pharmaceuticals in the World's Rivers

During their production, use, and disposal, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are released into aquatic systems. Because they are biologically active molecules, APIs have the potential to adversely affect nontarget organisms. We used the results of a global monitoring study of 61 APIs alongside available ecotoxicological and pharmacological data to assess the potential ecotoxicological effects of APIs in rivers across the world. Approximately 43.5% (461 sites) of the 1052 sampling locations monitored across 104 countries in a recent global study had concentrations of APIs of concern based on apical, nonapical, and mode of action–related endpoints. Approximately 34.1% of the 137 sampling campaigns had at least one location where concentrations were of ecotoxicological concern. Twenty‐three APIs occurred at concentrations exceeding “safe” concentrations, including substances from the antidepressant, antimicrobial, antihistamine, β‐blocker, anticonvulsant, antihyperglycemic, antimalarial, antifungal, calcium channel blocker, benzodiazepine, painkiller, progestin, and lifestyle compound classes. At the most polluted sites, effects are predicted on different trophic levels and on different endpoint types. Overall, the results show that API pollution is a global problem that is likely negatively affecting the health of the world's rivers. To meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, work is urgently needed to tackle the problem and bring concentrations down to an acceptable level. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:2008–2020. © 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
Telepsychiatry services during COVID‐19: A cross‐sectional survey on the experiences and perspectives of young adults with first‐episode psychosis

Limited evidence exists on the implementation of telepsychiatry within the context of early intervention services for psychosis, the need for which has become even more relevant during the COVID‐19 pandemic. To address this gap, we investigated the experiences and perspectives of young adults recovering from a first‐episode psychosis (FEP) following their use of telepsychiatry services (i.e. use of video conferencing technology to deliver mental health services to patients in real time).
The role of myo-inositol supplement in assisted reproductive techniques

Abstract Assisted reproductive techniques can help many infertile couples conceive. Therefore, there is a need for an effective method to overcome the widespread problems of infertile men and women. Oocyte and sperm quality can increase the chances of successful in vitro fertilisation. The maturation environment in which gametes are present can affect their competency for fertilisation. It is well established that myo-inositol (MI) plays a pivotal role in reproductive physiology. It participates in cell membrane formation, lipid synthesis, cell proliferation, cardiac regulation, metabolic alterations, and fertility. This molecule also acts as a direct messenger of insulin and improves glucose uptake in various reproductive tissues. Evidence suggests that MI regulates events such as gamete maturation, fertilisation, and embryo growth through intracellular Ca2 + release and various signalling pathways. In addition to the in-vivo production of MI from glucose in the reproductive organs, its synthesis by in vitro-cultured sperm and follicles has also been reported. Therefore, MI is suggested as a therapeutic approach to maintain sperm and oocyte health in men and women with reproductive disorders and individuals of reproductive age.
Infective endocarditis in patients with rheumatic heart disease: a single-centre retrospective comparative study.

AIMS We reviewed the baseline characteristics and outcomes of patients with infective endocarditis (IE) and compared those with and without rheumatic heart disease (RHD). METHODS We retrospectively reviewed patients ≥15 years with IE treated at Auckland City Hospital between January 2016 and December 2018 and excluded device-related IE and complex congenital heart disease. RHD status was based on echocardiographic features or previous history of rheumatic fever with valvular disease. Microbiologic and echocardiographic results, treatment modalities and complications were recorded. Demographics and outcomes were compared based on RHD status. RESULTS There were 155 patients with IE. Twenty-two had RHD. The mean age at admission was 45 years for RHD patients, which was 19 years younger than for non-RHD patients. There were significantly more Pacific patients with RHD (55% vs 14%). Previous IE and prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) were more common in RHD patients (27% vs 5%, and 77% vs 29%, respectively). After a median follow-up of 29 months, there was no significant difference in all-cause mortality between the two groups. However, 25/155 patients (16%) had died from IE-related causes (septic or cardiogenic shock post cardiac surgery, or embolic complications), with a significantly higher mortality in patients with RHD (7/22 (32%) patients, HR: 2.5) on univariate analysis. On multivariable analysis, PVE, heart failure, Staphylococcus aureus infection, diabetes, stroke and cardiac abscess were all associated with increased mortality, whereas RHD was not independently associated with increased mortality. CONCLUSIONS In this retrospective single-centre audit, patients with RHD experienced IE at a younger age, had a higher incidence of prosthetic valve endocarditis and a prior history of IE. Although there was no difference in all-cause mortality, mortality in patients with RHD was almost exclusively secondary to complications of IE. This highlights the need for prevention strategies against endocarditis in the RHD population, including use of antibiotic prophylaxis¬, accessible dental health care and a high clinical suspicion for IE in RHD by healthcare providers.
CONCENTRATION DEPENDENCE OF THE ANOMALOUS MOLE FRACTION EFFECT IN SINGLE CALCIUM CHANNELS

Several recent independent studies on macroscopic Ca currents have demonstrated the anomalous mole fraction effect in mixtures of Ca and Ba at concentrations of 10 mM or less. Recently, Hess and Tsien (1984; Nature 309) proposed a dual binding site model, based upon Eyring rate theory, to account for this effect in L-type cardiac Ca channels. This model predicts that the anomalous mole fraction effect can be accounted for solely in terms ofopen single channel permeation properties; it was able to adequately reproduce the effect for macroscopic Ca currents recorded in 10 mM solutions. However, the electrochemical gradients under which single Ca channel current recordings are routinely made with the patch clamp technique vary dramatically from those used for macroscopic Ca currents. To properly assess the general validity of the Hess and Tsien model at the single Ca channel level, the effects of both large electrical potentials and elevated divalent concentrations must be understood. Computer simulations were therefore carried out using the original parameters used by Hess and Tsien under conditions designed to mimic those used in patch clamp studies. The permeation behavior generated by this model is quite complex. In particular, hyperpolarization and increased divalent concentration combine to reduce and ultimately abolish the anomalous mole fraction effect. It may therefore be very difficult to observe the anomalous mole fraction effect at the single Ca channel level; the dual-site model displays a relationship between current and mole fraction generally associated with a single-site model under the conditions frequently employed to resolve single Ca channel activity. Nonetheless, analysis of such monotonic mole fraction behavior can still be used as a test for the general validity of the dual-site model. Apparent Kms for Ca and Ba can be extracted from such monotonic behavior, and may not only be functions of membrane potential but may also depend upon the total divalent cation concentration. This is a unique prediction which is incompatible with the simple single-site model. Our analysis provides (a) a possible resolution for the apparent discrepancies presently existing in the experimental literature regarding the existence of the anomalous mole fraction effect at the single Ca channel level, (b) a mechanistic description of previously unexplained observations on the voltage-dependence of the anomalous mole fraction effect, and (c) a useful theoretical framework for future experimentation designed to test the general validity of the dual binding site model of the Ca channel.
PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS AND BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH EPILEPSY AND ADHD

Background— ADHD coexisting with epilepsy is poorly understood, thus we compared the clinical correlates and psychiatric comorbidities in 36 children with epilepsy and ADHD, aged 6 to 17 years enrolled in an ADHD treatment trial, to those reported in the literature on children with ADHD without epilepsy. Methods— Measures included the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (KSADS), the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), and the Scales for Independent Behavior-Revised (SIB-R). Results— Mean IQ was 86±19, and SIB-R Standard Score was 72±26. The ADHD-Combined subtype, composed of both inattentive and hyperactive symptoms, was most frequent (58%). Sixtyone percent exhibited a comorbid disorder, including anxiety disorders (36%), and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (31%). Conclusions— Comorbidity in ADHD with epilepsy is similar to that of ADHD without epilepsy reported in the literature. These preliminary data argue that the pathophysiology of ADHD has common components in both populations.