Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of household food insecurity with developmental delay in preschool children: 2018 Ecuadorian Nutrition and Health National Survey

Abstract We investigated the association of household food insecurity (HFI) with developmental delays in 36–59-month-old preschool children (n 7005) using cross-sectional data from the 2018 Ecuadorian National Health and Nutrition Survey. HFI was assessed with the Food Insecurity Experience Scale and developmental delays with the Early Childhood Development Index. Log-binomial regression models estimated the association of HFI with global (overall) developmental delay (GDD) and delays in four individual developmental domains, adjusting for covariates. Nearly half of the children lived in households with marginal (24⋅5 %) or moderate-severe HFI (21⋅7 %). Eighteen percent were identified with GDD. Delays in the individual domains of literacy-numeracy, social-emotional, physical and cognitive development were identified for 64, 21⋅5, 3⋅3 and 3⋅1 %, respectively. GDD was more likely among preschool children from households with marginal (aPR = 1⋅29; 95 % C.I. = 1⋅10, 1⋅49) and moderate-severe HFI (aPR = 1⋅30; 95 % C.I. = 1⋅11, 1⋅51). Social-emotional development delays were also more likely among those from households with marginal (aPR = 1⋅36; 95 % C.I. = 1⋅19, 1⋅56) and moderate-severe HFI (aPR = 1⋅33; 95 % C.I. = 1⋅15, 1⋅54) different from the other three domains. Several other potentially modifiable risk (violent discipline, maternal depressive symptoms) and protective factors (adequate child stimulation, higher maternal education, handwashing with soap/detergent) were also independently associated with GDD and/or literacy-numeracy and cognitive delays. Our findings suggest that HFI is an independent risk factor for GDD and social-emotional developmental delays in Ecuadorian preschoolers. They underscore the importance of strengthening and expanding poverty reduction, food security and early childhood development policies and interventions to improve the opportunities for children to achieve their full developmental potential.
Focusing on the Unfocused: Corresponding Perspectives on Connectivity among Small-scale Non-profit Organizations Working for Street Children in Bangladesh and Their Donors

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) serve marginalized communities, such as street children. Their success highly depends on donation raising and their connections with donors, where online platforms (e.g., social media, individual websites, messaging applications, etc.) play a significant role. However, small-scale NPOs face several challenges due to their resource constraints while connecting with their donors and potential donors using existing online platforms. Therefore, we performed a mixed-method study to investigate the connectivity settings among such NPOs, donors, and potential donors. Consequently, we performed semi-structured interviews with seven NPOs working for street children and 21 current donors and conducted an online survey of 42 potential donors in a developing country (Bangladesh). The findings of our study reveal influential factors pertinent to the non-profit work contexts and gaps in connectivity among the stakeholders (small-scale NPOs, donors, and potential donors). We discover that, although having an online presence positively impacts the credibility of small-scale NPOs to the donors by introducing familiarity, possessing such an online presence is challenging for the resource-constrained small-scale NPOs. We further provide several design implications for improving the connectivity settings, especially in terms of online connectivity, among the stakeholders by focusing on their essential roles and reduction of their encountered challenges.
Antibiotics online: digital pharmacy marketplaces and pastiche medicine

The internet enables access to information and the purchasing of medical products of various quality and legality. Research and regulatory attention have focused on the trafficking of illicit substances, potential physical harms of pharmaceuticals, and possibilities like financial fraud. However, there is far less attention paid to antibiotics and other antimicrobials used to treat infections. With online pharmacies affording greater access, caution around antibiotic use is needed due to the increasing health risks of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The COVID-19 pandemic has helped to normalise digital healthcare and contactless prescribing, amplifying the need for caution. Little is known of how antibiotics are consumed via digital pharmacy and implications for AMR prevention. To expand insight for AMR prevention policy in Australia and internationally, we use digital ethnographic methods to explore how digital pharmacies function in the context of health advice and policy related to AMR, commonly described as antimicrobial stewardship. We find that digital pharmacy marketplaces constitute ‘pastiche medicine’. They curate access to pharmaceutical and information products that emulate biomedical authority combined with emphasis on the ‘self-assembly’ of healthcare. Pastiche medicine empowers the consumer but borrows biomedical expertise about antibiotics, untethering these goods from critical medicine information, and from AMR prevention strategies. We reflect on the implications of pastiche medicine for AMR policy, what the antibiotics case contributes to wider critical scholarship on digital pharmacy, and how medical humanities research might consider researching online consumption in future.
Incidence and outcome of perforations during medium vessel occlusion compared with large vessel occlusion thrombectomy

Background Vessel perforation during thrombectomy is a severe complication and is hypothesized to be more frequent during medium vessel occlusion (MeVO) thrombectomy. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence and outcome of patients with perforation during MeVO and large vessel occlusion (LVO) thrombectomy and to report on the procedural steps that led to perforation. Methods In this multicenter retrospective cohort study, data of consecutive patients with vessel perforation during thrombectomy between January 1, 2015 and September 30, 2022 were collected. The primary outcomes were independent functional outcome (ie, modified Rankin Scale 0–2) and all-cause mortality at 90 days. Binomial test, chi-squared test and t-test for unpaired samples were used for statistical analysis. Results During 25 769 thrombectomies (5124 MeVO, 20 645 LVO) in 25 stroke centers, perforation occurred in 335 patients (1.3%; mean age 72 years, 62% female). Perforation occurred more often in MeVO thrombectomy (2.4%) than in LVO thrombectomy (1.0%, p<0.001). More MeVO than LVO patients with perforation achieved functional independence at 3 months (25.7% vs 10.9%, p=0.001). All-cause mortality did not differ between groups (overall 51.6%). Navigation beyond the occlusion and retraction of stent retriever/aspiration catheter were the two most common procedural steps that led to perforation. Conclusions In our cohort, perforation was approximately twice as frequent in MeVO than in LVO thrombectomy. Efforts to optimize the procedure may focus on navigation beyond the occlusion site and retraction of stent retriever/aspiration catheter. Further research is necessary in order to identify thrombectomy candidates at high risk of intraprocedural perforation and to provide data on the effectiveness of endovascular countermeasures.
Variations in sexual function after laparoendoscopic single-site hysterectomy in women with benign gynecologic diseases

Abstract Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) has become a novel minimally invasive approach applied as an option to perform hysterectomy. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of LESS hysterectomy on the sexual function in women with benign gynecologic indications. From October 2016 to May 2021, a total of 486 premenopausal, sexually active women were eligible. Female sexual function index (FSFI) was used to assess sexual function preoperatively and 6, 12 months postoperatively. Total FSFI score ≤26.55 indicated female sexual dysfunction (FSD). Compared with pre-operation, each subdomain and total FSFI scores increased at 6 (all p < 0.05) and 12 months (all p < 0.001). Prevalence of FSD decreased at 6 (30 vs 39.9%, p = 0.002) and 12 months (27 vs 39.9%, p < 0.001). In patients with preoperative FSD, each subdomain and total FSFI scores improved at 6 and 12 months (all p < 0.001), while decreased at 6 months (p < 0.001) and had no significant difference at 12 months (p = 0.54) in patients without preoperative FSD. These results suggest that LESS hysterectomy has a significant positive effect on the sexual function in women with benign gynecologic diseases, especially those with preoperative FSD.
The Iso-lambda Descent Algorithm for the LASSO

Following the introduction by Tibshirani of the LASSO tech- nique for feature selection in regression, two algorithms were proposed by Osborne et al. for solving the associated problem. One is an homo- topy method that gained popularity as the LASSO modication of the LARS algorithm. The other is a nite-step descent method that follows a path on the constraint polytope, and seems to have been largely ignored. One of the reason may be that it solves the constrained formulation of the LASSO, as opposed to the more practical regularized formulation. We give here an adaptation of this algorithm that solves the regularized problem, has a simpler formulation, and outperforms state-of-the-art al- gorithms in terms of speed.
Study of human phonation in a full body domain

The Generation and propagation of the human voice is studied in two-dimensions using a full-body domain, using direct numerical simulation. The fluid/air in the vocal tract is modeled as a compressible and viscous fluid interacting with the non-linear, viscoelastic vocal folds (VF). The VF tissue material properties are multi-layered, with varying stiffness, and a finite-strain model is utilized and implemented in a quadratic finite element code. The fluid-solid domains are coupled through a boundary-fitted interface and utilize a Poisson equation-based mesh deformation method. The full-body domain includes the near VF region, the vocal tract, a simplified model of the soft palate and mouth, and extends out into the acoustic far-field. A new kind of inflow boundary condition based upon a quasi-one-dimensional formulation with constant sub-glottal volume velocity, which is linked to the VF movement, has been adopted. The sound pressure levels (SPL) measured are realistic and we analyze their connection to the VF dynamics and glottal and vocal tract geometries.
A Study on Anger Expression Mode of Nursing Students

Background/Objectives: This study was conducted to examine nursing students’ anger expression modes. Methods/Statistical analysis: A structured survey was used to examine the anger expression modes of first- and second-year nursing students in C Region and D region. Collected data was used for frequency analysis, reliability analysis and correlation analysis using SPSS/WIN 22.0. , and factors that influence nursing students’ anger expression modes were examined through multiple regression analysis. Findings: Nursing students’ anger expression modes included anger control (17.24±2.85), anger suppression (17.14±2.73), and anger expression (15.55±3.18). In terms of factors that influence anger expression modes, self-esteem and family climate were statistically significant (F=22.17, p<.001), and anger expression mode’s explanation power on the two regression variables was 12%. Improvements/Applications: Development and application of program that helps nursing students’ control and express anger can help them develop into professional nurses.
3D Human Face Reconstruction and 2D Appearance Synthesis

OF DISSERTATION 3D Human Face Reconstruction and 2D Appearance Synthesis 3D human face reconstruction has been an extensive research for decades due to its wide applications, such as animation, recognition and 3D-driven appearance synthesis. Although commodity depth sensors are widely available in recent years, image based face reconstruction are significantly valuable as images are much easier to access and store. In this dissertation, we first propose three image-based face reconstruction approaches according to different assumption of inputs. In the first approach, face geometry is extracted from multiple key frames of a video sequence with different head poses. The camera should be calibrated under this assumption. As the first approach is limited to videos, we propose the second approach then focus on single image. This approach also improves the geometry by adding fine grains using shading cue. We proposed a novel albedo estimation and linear optimization algorithm in this approach. In the third approach, we further loose the constraint of the input image to arbitrary in the wild images. Our proposed approach can robustly reconstruct high quality model even with extreme expressions and large poses. We then explore the applicability of our face reconstructions on four interesting applications: video face beautification, Generating personalized facial blendshape from image sequences, face video stylizing and video face replacement. We demonstrate great potentials of our reconstruction approaches on these real-world applications. In particular, with the recent surge of interests in VR/AR, it is increasingly common to see people wearing head-mounted displays. However, the large occlusion on face is a big obstacle for people to communicate in a face-to-face manner. Our another application is that we explore hardware/software solutions for synthesizing the face image with presence of HMDs. We design two setups(experimental and mobile) which integrate two near IR cameras and one color camera to solve this problem. With our algorithm and prototype, we can achieve photo-realistic results. We further propose a deep neutral network to solve the HMD removal problem considering it as a face inpainting problem. This approach doesn’t need special hardware and run in real-time with satisfying results.
Optical trapping of single quantum dots for cavity quantum electrodynamics

We report here a nanostructure that traps single quantum dots for studying strong cavity-emitter coupling. The nanostructure is designed with two elliptical holes in a thin silver patch and a slot that connects the holes. This structure has two functionalities: (1) tweezers for optical trapping; (2) a plasmonic resonant cavity for quantum electrodynamics. The electromagnetic response of the cavity is calculated by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, and the optical force is characterized based on the Maxwell’s stress tensor method. To be tweezers, this structure tends to trap quantum dots at the edges of its tips where light is significantly confined. To be a plasmonic cavity, its plasmonic resonant mode interacts strongly with the trapped quantum dots due to the enhanced electric field. Rabi splitting and anti-crossing phenomena are observed in the calculated scattering spectra, demonstrating that a strong-coupling regime has been achieved. The method present here provides a robust way to position a single quantum dot in a nanocavity for investigating cavity quantum electrodynamics.
Flicker light stimulation induces thalamocortical hyperconnectivity with LGN and higher-order thalamic nuclei

The thalamus is primarily known as a relay for sensory information; however, it also critically contributes to higher-order cortical processing and coordination. Thalamocortical hyperconnectivity is associated with hallucinatory phenomena that occur in various psychopathologies (e.g., psychosis, migraine aura) and altered states of consciousness (ASC, e.g., induced by psychedelic drugs). However, the exact functional contribution of thalamocortical hyperconnectivity in forming hallucinatory experiences is unclear. Flicker light stimulation (FLS) can be used as an experimental tool to induce transient visual hallucinatory phenomena in healthy participants. Here, we use FLS in combination with fMRI to test how FLS modulates thalamocortical connectivity between specific thalamic nuclei and visual areas. We show that FLS induces thalamocortical hyperconnectivity between LGN, early visual areas and proximal upstream areas of ventral and dorsal visual streams (e.g., hV4, VO1, V3a). Further, an exploratory analysis indicates specific higher-order thalamic nuclei, such as anterior and mediodorsal nuclei, to be strongly affected by FLS. Here, the connectivity changes to upstream cortical visual areas directly reflect a frequency-dependent increase in experienced visual phenomena. Together these findings contribute to the identification of specific thalamocortical interactions in the emergence of visual hallucinations. Highlights Flicker light stimulation (FLS) induces thalamocortical hyperconnectivity between the first-order thalamic LGN and early visual cortices, likely due to entrainment. Thalamocortical connectivity between LGN and upstream visual areas, but not V1, is associated with the intensity of visual hallucinations. Thalamocortical connectivity changes with higher-order thalamic nuclei, such as anterior and mediodorsal nuclei, show strongest modulation by flicker frequency, which corresponds to the intensity of visual hallucinations.
Transformation of Nonlinear MIMO Discrete‐Time Systems into the Extended Observer Form

The paper addresses the problem of transforming discrete‐time multi‐input multi‐output nonlinear state equations into the extended observer form, which, besides the inputs and outputs, also depends on a finite number of their past values. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the extended coordinate transformation are formulated in terms of differential one‐forms, associated with the input‐output equations, corresponding to the state equations. The difference between the single‐input single‐output and multi‐input multi‐output cases is described. The applicability of the conditions is illustrated by an example.
Drug screening in human physiologic medium identifies uric acid as an inhibitor of rigosertib efficacy

The non-physiological nutrient levels found in traditional culture media have been shown to affect numerous aspects of cancer cell physiology, including how cells respond to certain therapeutic agents. Here, we comprehensively evaluated how physiological nutrient levels impact therapeutic response by performing drug screening in human plasma-like medium (HPLM). We observed dramatic nutrient-dependent changes in sensitivity to a variety of FDA-approved and clinically trialed compounds, including rigosertib, an experimental cancer therapeutic that has recently failed in phase 3 clinical trials. Mechanistically, we found that the ability of rigosertib to destabilize microtubules is strongly inhibited by the purine metabolism waste product uric acid, which is uniquely abundant in humans relative to traditional in vitro and in vivo cancer models. Structural modelling studies suggest that uric acid interacts with the tubulin-rigosertib complex and may act as an uncompetitive inhibitor of rigosertib. These results offer a possible explanation for the failure of rigosertib in clinical trials and demonstrate the utility of physiological media to achieve in vitro results that better represent human therapeutic responses.
When Maturation is Not Linear: Brain Oscillatory Activity in the Process of Aging as Measured by Electrophysiology

Changes in brain oscillatory activity are commonly used as biomarkers both in cognitive neuroscience and in neuropsychiatric conditions. However, little is known about how its profile changes across maturation. Here we use regression models to characterize magnetoencephalography power changes within classical frequency bands in a sample of 792 healthy participants, covering the range 13 to 80 years old. Our results reveal complex, non-linear trajectories of power changes that challenge the linear model traditionally reported. Moreover, these trajectories also exhibit variations across cortical regions. Remarkably, we observed that increases in slow wave activity are associated with a better cognitive performance across the lifespan, as well as with larger gray matter volume for elderlies, while fast wave activity decreases with adulthood. These results suggest that elevated power in low-frequency resting-state activity during aging may reflect a proxy for deterioration, rather than serving as a compensatory mechanism, as usually interpreted. In addition, it enhances our comprehension of both neurodevelopment and the aging process by highlighting the complexity and regional specificity of changes in brain rhythms. Furthermore, our findings have potential implications for understanding cognitive performance and structural integrity.
Examining the cultural dimension of contact-tracing app adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland

ABSTRACT Contact-tracing applications (CTAs) have been introduced as part of the COVID-19 containment strategy worldwide. In most countries, however, their uptake has been too low to realize their full potential. This study contributes to the understanding of CTA adoption by investigating the influence of public perceptions on adoption and the role of media in forming these perceptions in Singapore and Switzerland. In a comparative approach, online surveys in both countries (Singapore: N = 998; Switzerland: N = 1,022) and multigroup structural equation modeling reveal national differences. First, attention to media was associated more strongly with app-related perceptions in Singapore than in Switzerland, with news media attention correlating positively with favorable perceptions in both countries (i.e., perceived usefulness of the CTA, perceived social norms of adoption) and social media attention correlating negatively with these perceptions in Singapore. Second, regarding the influence of these perceptions on CTA adoption, perceived usefulness was associated with CTA adoption in Switzerland but not in Singapore; conversely, perceived social norms were more important in Singapore than in Switzerland. These results suggest that the communicative formation of public perceptions and their behavioral relevance are contingent on media systems (authoritarian vs. democratic media system) and cultural values (collectivism vs. individualism), highlighting the theoretical value of a country-comparative approach and the practical need for a culturally sensitive implementation of health technologies.
Generation of rising‐tone chorus in a two‐dimensional mirror field by using the general curvilinear PIC code

Recently, the generation of rising‐tone chorus has been implemented with one‐dimensional (1‐D) particle‐in‐cell (PIC) simulations in an inhomogeneous background magnetic field, where both the propagation of waves and motion of electrons are simply forced to be parallel to the background magnetic field. In this paper, we have developed a two‐dimensional (2‐D) general curvilinear PIC simulation code and successfully reproduced rising‐tone chorus waves excited from an anisotropic electron distribution in a 2‐D mirror field. Our simulation results show that whistler waves are mainly generated around the magnetic equator and continuously gain growth during their propagation toward higher‐latitude regions. The rising‐tone chorus waves are observed off the magnetic equator, which propagate quasi‐parallel to the background magnetic field with the wave normal angle smaller than 25°. Due to the propagating effect, the wave normal angle of chorus waves is increasing during their propagation toward higher‐latitude regions along an enough curved field line. The chirping rate of chorus waves is found to be larger along a field line with a smaller curvature.