Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.
Relationships Between Serum Cortisol, RAGE-Associated s100A8/A9 Levels, and Self-Reported Cancer-Related Distress in Women With Nonmetastatic Breast Cancer

ABSTRACT Objective Elevated inflammation and psychological distress in patients with breast cancer (BCa) have been related to poorer health outcomes. Regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and signaling of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) are important in the inflammatory response and have been associated with increased stress and poorer health outcomes in patients with cancer. This study examined relationships among circulating cortisol, a measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and physiological stress; s100A8/A9, a RAGE ligand and emerging cancer-related biological measure; and self-reported cancer-related distress. Methods Patients with BCa (N = 183, stages 0–IIIb) were recruited 2 to 10 weeks after surgery but before receiving adjuvant therapies. Participants provided blood samples, from which serum cortisol and s100A8/A9 levels were determined, and completed a psychosocial questionnaire. Regression analyses, adjusting for age, cancer stage, time since surgery, race, and menopausal status, were conducted examining the relationships between cortisol, s100A8/A9, and cancer-related distress (Impact of Event Scale [IES]—Revised). Results Cortisol and s100A8/A9 levels were positively related (β = 0.218, t(112) = 2.332, p = . 021), although the overall model was not significant. Cortisol levels were also positively associated with IES-Intrusions (β = 0.192, t(163) = 2.659, p = . 009) and IES-Hyperarousal subscale scores (β = 0.171, t(163) = 2.304, p = . 022). Conclusions Patients with higher cortisol levels also reported higher s100A8/A9 levels and more cancer-related distress. The relationship between cortisol and s100A8/A9 supports a link between the stress response and proinflammatory physiological processes known to predict a greater metastatic risk in BCa. Stress processes implicated in cancer biology are complex, and replication and extension of these initial findings are important.
Evaluating the concordance of functional MRI-based language lateralization and Wada testing in epilepsy patients: A single-center analysis

Background For patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, surgery may be effective in controlling their disease. Surgical evaluation may involve localization of the language areas using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or Wada testing. We evaluated the accuracy of task-based fMRI versus Wada-based language lateralization in a cohort of our epilepsy patients. Methods In a single-center, retrospective analysis, we identified patients with medically intractable epilepsy who participated in presurgical language mapping (n = 35) with fMRI and Wada testing. Demographic variables and imaging metrics were obtained. We calculated the laterality index (LI) from task-evoked fMRI activation maps across language areas during auditory and reading tasks to determine lateralization. Possible scores for LI range from −1 (strongly left-hemisphere dominant) to 1 (strongly right-hemisphere dominant). Concordance between fMRI and Wada was estimated using Cohen’s Kappa coefficient. Association between the LI scores from the auditory and reading tasks was tested using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results The fMRI-based laterality indices were concordant with results from Wada testing in 91.4% of patients during the reading task (κ = .55) and 96.9% of patients during the auditory task (κ = .79). The mean LIs for the reading and auditory tasks were −0.52 ± 0.43 and −0.68 ± 0.42, respectively. The LI scores for the language and reading tasks were strongly correlated, r(30) = 0.57 (p = 0.001). Conclusion Our findings suggest that fMRI is generally an accurate, low-risk alternative to Wada testing for language lateralization. However, when fMRI indicates atypical language lateralization (e.g., bilateral dominance), patients may benefit from subsequent Wada testing or intraoperative language mapping.
Extreme waves and modulational instability: wave flume experiments on irregular waves

We discuss the formation of large amplitude waves for sea states characterized by JONSWAP spectra with random phases. In this context we discuss experimental results performed in one of the largest wave tank facilities in the world. We present experimental evidence that the tail of the cumulative probability function of the wave heights for random waves strongly depends on the ratio between the wave steepness and the spectral bandwidth. When this ratio, called the Benjamin-Feir Index, is large the Rayleigh distribution clearly underestimates the occurrence of large amplitude waves. Our experimental results are also successfully compared with previously performed numerical simulations of the Dysthe equation.
Interactions between the Design Factors of Airplane Artificial Horizon Displays

We investigated three interaction effects between the design factors of artificial horizon displays in the context of an airplane upset recovery task. To explain some inconsistent results from previous research about the superiority of moving-airplane designs, we hypothesized and explored interactions between moving element, roll scale/index, display size, and symbol size. A 24 factorial experiment was conducted with 20 novice subjects on a desktop simulator. Moving element was found to interact with display size and symbol size in an unexpected fashion, although the size of the effects was small. Spatially compatible roll scale/index was strongly supported, while the evidence for moving-airplane was weaker than expected. We explained that when redundant roll angle information is present, subjects tend to focus on the indication that appears most usable to them. Roll scale/index appeared to be more compelling than airplane symbol and horizon for roll indication purposes.
341 Repeats Is Not Enough for Methylation in a New Fragile X Mouse Model

Abstract Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a leading monogenic cause of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders, spurring decades of intense research and a multitude of mouse models. So far, these models do not recapitulate the genetic underpinning of classical FXS—CGG repeat-induced methylation of the Fmr1 locus—and their findings have failed to translate into the clinic. We sought to answer whether this disparity was because of low repeat length and generated a novel mouse line with 341 repeats, Fmr1hs341, which is the largest allele in mice reported to date. This repeat length is significantly longer than the 200 repeats generally required for methylation of the repeat tract and promoter region in FXS patients, which leads to silencing of the FMR1 gene. Bisulfite sequencing fails to detect the robust methylation expected of FXS in Fmr1hs341 mice. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting results also do not resemble FXS and instead produce a biochemical profile consistent with the fragile X-associated premutation disorders. These findings suggest that repeat length is unlikely to be the core determinant preventing methylation in mice, and other organisms phylogenetically closer to humans may be required to effectively model FXS.
Methodology to geometrically age human body models to average and subject-specific anthropometrics, demonstrated using a small stature female model assessed in a side impact

Abstract The aged population has been associated with an increased risk of injury in car-crash, creating a critical need for improved assessment of safety systems. Finite element human body models (HBMs) have been proposed, but require representative geometry of the aged population and high mesh quality. A new hybrid Morphing-CAD methodology was applied to a 26-year-old (YO) 5th percentile female model to create average 75YO and subject-specific 86YO HBMs. The method achieved accurate morphing targets while retaining high mesh quality. The three HBMs were integrated into a side sled impact test demonstrating similar kinematic response but differing rib fracture patterns.
Clinical and Structural Findings in Patients With Lesion-Induced Dystonia

Background and Objectives Brain lesions are a well-recognized etiology of dystonia. These cases are especially valuable because they offer causal insight into the neuroanatomical substrates of dystonia. To date, knowledge of lesion-induced dystonia comes mainly from isolated case reports or small case series, restricting broader description and analysis. Methods Cases of lesion-induced dystonia were first identified from a systematic review of published literature. Latent class analysis then investigated whether patients could be classified into subgroups based on lesion location and body regions affected by dystonia. Regression analyses subsequently investigated whether subgroup membership predicted clinical characteristics of dystonia. Results Three hundred fifty-nine published cases were included. Lesions causing dystonia occurred in heterogeneous locations, most commonly in the basal ganglia (46.2%), followed by the thalamus (28.1%), brainstem (22.6%), and white matter (21.2%). The most common form of lesion-induced dystonia was focal dystonia (53.2%), with the hand (49.9%) and arm (44.3%) most commonly affected. Of all cases, 86.6% reported co-occurring neurologic manifestations and 26.1% reported other movement disorders. Latent class analysis identified 3 distinct subgroups of patients: those with predominantly limb dystonias, which were associated with basal ganglia lesions; those with hand dystonia, associated with thalamic lesions; and those with predominantly cervical dystonia, associated with brainstem and cerebellar lesions. Regression demonstrated significant differences between these subgroups on a range of dystonia symptoms, including dystonic tremor, symptom latency, other movement disorders, and dystonia variability. Discussion Although dystonia can be induced by lesions to numerous brain regions, there are distinct relationships between lesion locations and dystonic body parts. This suggests that the affected brain networks are different between types of dystonia.
‘The Last Shot’—the shared and distinct brain regions involved in processing unexpectedness of success and failure in the context of social cooperation

Abstract Individual success and failure in social cooperation matter not only to oneself but also to teammates. However, the common and distinct neural activities underlying salient success and failure in social cooperation are unclear. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, participants in the social group (Experiment one) cooperated with two human beings during a dice-gambling task, whereas those in the nonsocial group (Experiment two) cooperated with two computers. The social group reported more pride in success and more guilt in failure. The fMRI results in Experiment one demonstrate that left temporoparietal junction (LTPJ) activation increased exclusively with linearly changing unexpected success, whereas increasing anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation was only coupled with increasing unexpectedness of failure. Moreover, the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) and left anterior insula were recruited in both success and failure feedback conditions. Dynamic causality model analysis suggested that the dMPFC first received information from the LTPJ and ACC separately and then returned information to these regions. The between-experiment comparison showed more dMPFC activity in social vs nonsocial contexts irrespective of success and failure feedback. Our findings shed light on the common and distinct neural substrates involved in processing success and failure feedback in social cooperation.
Digital Health Competencies Among Health Care Professionals: Systematic Review

Background Digitalization is not fully implemented in clinical practice, and several factors have been identified as possible barriers, including the competencies of health care professionals. However, no summary of the available evidence has been provided to date to depict digital health competencies that have been investigated among health care professionals, the tools used in assessing such competencies, and the effective interventions to improve them. Objective This review aims to summarize digital health competencies investigated to date and the tools used to assess them among health care professionals. Methods A systematic review based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist was performed. The MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases were accessed up to September 4, 2021. Studies assessing digital health competencies with quantitative designs, targeting health care professionals, and written in English were included. The methodological quality of included studies was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute tools. Results A total of 26 studies, published from 1999 to 2021, met the inclusion criteria, and the majority were cross sectional in design, while only 2 were experimental study designs. Most studies were assessed with moderate to low methodological quality; 4 categories and 9 subcategories of investigated digital health competencies have been identified. The most investigated category was “Self-rated competencies,” followed by “Psychological and emotional aspects toward digital technologies,” “Use of digital technologies,” and “Knowledge about digital technologies. ” In 35% (9/26) of the studies, a previously validated tool was used to measure the competencies assessed, while others developed ad hoc questionnaires. Conclusions Mainly descriptive studies with issues regarding methodology quality have been produced to date investigating 4 main categories of digital health competencies mostly with nonvalidated tools. Competencies investigated might be considered while designing curricula for undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing education processes, whereas the methodological lacks detected might be addressed with future research. There is a need to expand research on psychological and emotional elements and the ability to use digital technology to self-learn and teach others. Trial Registration PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42021282775; https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero/display_record. php? RecordID=282775
Global well-posedness for the 3-D density-dependent liquid crystal flows in the critical Besov spaces

In this paper, we prove the local well-posedness of 3-D density-dependent liquid crystal flows with initial data in the critical Besov spaces, without assumptions of small density variation. Furthermore, if the initial density is close enough to a positive constant and the critical Besov norm of the liquid crystal orientation field and the horizontal components of the initial velocity field polynomially small compared with the critical Besov norm to the veritcal component of the initial velocity field, then the system has a unique global solution.
Institutional Surgical Response and Associated Volume Trends Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic and Postvaccination Recovery Period

Key Points Question How did surgical volumes change with respect to subspecialty and patient acuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and did they recover after the peak and vaccine release periods? Findings In this cohort study, a retrospective analysis of 129 956 records of weekly surgical procedures from January 6, 2019, to December 31, 2021, revealed that the overall volume did not fully recover to pre–COVID-19 levels well into 2021. Recovery rates were inconsistent across surgical subspecialties and case classes. Meaning Further research and hospital-level changes are needed to address the backlog of surgical services and muted recovery of surgical procedures to pre–COVID-19 volumes.
The Association Between Peripheral Oxytocin Levels and Depressive Symptoms in People With HIV

ABSTRACT Objective Depression is common in people with HIV (PWH), yet little is known about the mechanisms contributing to depressive symptoms in PWH. Previous research across a range of populations has suggested a relationship between the neuropeptide oxytocin and depressive symptoms, with variable directionality. This article investigated the association between peripheral oxytocin levels and depressive symptoms in PWH. Methods Unextracted oxytocin serum concentrations were assayed in 79 PWH (44% female, mean age = 34.35 [8.5], mean body mass index = 25.69 [5.46], mean CD4 = 516.60 [271.15]) who also completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). CES-D items were evaluated in an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and the relationships between oxytocin, total CES-D score, and the resulting EFA factors were analyzed with multivariate linear regressions conducted in R. Multiple regression models were used to adjust for age, sex, body mass index, CD4, and education. Results Contrary to hypothesized, higher peripheral oxytocin levels were associated with higher CES-D total scores with a small-to-moderate effect size (β = 0.26, p = .009). Following Bonferroni correction, oxytocin was not significantly associated with any of the five factors identified from the EFA: depressed affect, positive affect, appetite, cognitive symptoms, or perceived failure (p values > .042). Small effect sizes were found for the depressed affect (β = 0.22) and perceived failure (β = 0.21) factors (p values > .042). Conclusions In a sample of predominately Black or African American individuals with HIV, higher oxytocin was associated with higher total depressive symptoms. In addition, this relationship was slightly stronger than those of specific depressive symptoms. These findings warrant further study into the role of oxytocin in mood symptoms within PWH.
Prostate-specific membrane antigen targeted, glutathione-sensitive nanoparticles loaded with docetaxel and enzalutamide for the delivery to prostate cancer

Abstract Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common malignant tumor in men. Chemotherapy with docetaxel (DTX) and novel hormonal agents such as enzalutamide (EZL) and abiraterone are the preferred first-line therapeutic regimens. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is overexpressed on the surface of PCa cells. This study aimed to prepare a PSMA targeted (Glutamate-Urea-Lysine, GUL ligand modified), glutathione (GSH)-sensitive (Cystamine, SS), DTX and EZL co-loaded nanoparticles (GUL-SS DTX/EZL-NPs) to treat PCa. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was conjugated with oleic acid (OA) using a GSH-sensitive ligand: cystamine (PEG-SS-OA). GUL was covalently coupled to PEG-SS-OA to achieve GUL-PEG-SS-OA. GUL-PEG-SS-OA was used to prepare GUL-SS DTX/EZL-NPs. To evaluate the in vitro and in vivo efficiency of the system, human prostate cancer cell lines and PCa cells bearing mice were applied. Single drug-loaded nanoparticle and free drugs systems were utilized for the comparison of the anticancer ability. GUL-SS DTX/EZL-NPs showed a size of 143.7 ± 4.1 nm, with a PDI of 0.162 ± 0.037 and a zeta potential of +29.1 ± 2.4 mV. GUL-SS DTX/EZL-NPs showed high cancer cell uptake of about 70%, as well as higher cell growth inhibition efficiency (a maximum 79% of cells were inhibited after treatment) than single drug-loaded NPs and free drugs. GUL-SS DTX/EZL-NPs showed the most prominent tumor inhibition ability and less systemic toxicity. The novel GUL-SS DTX/EZL-NPs could be used as a promising system for PCa therapy.
Exploring the Expectations and Preferences of Health Sciences Library Subject Guides Users

Abstract Using survey methodology, this study aimed to explore and describe health sciences library users’ subject guide expectations and preferences. Respondents showed an overwhelming lack of familiarity with the guides and expressed a preference for quick and easy access links as the most important feature. Most respondents also appeared to want some guidance about which resources to use within the guides, but less extensive learning or instructional content. The results of this study will inform both future guide development and research on best practices.
The young generation in radiation protection (IRPA YGN) in social media and online learning: ‘Brave New World’ or ‘Online Nightmare’?

While online working seems to have become more common since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, social media has the potential to offer greater interactivity and networking capacities. Thus it seems relevant for the IRPA Young Generation Network to investigate the use of social media by members of the young generation in radiation protection (RP) through an online survey. It was also the opportunity to collect early feedback about on-line learning. The survey received 89 answers from 15 countries. The most commonly used social media platforms were first Facebook, then LinkedIn and Twitter, but other social media were reported. The respondents have a multi-objectives approach while on social media, using it for different purposes (chiefly for sharing news and RP related information/educational material) and different audiences (e.g. public, professional). Yet, they are making a very moderate use based on the frequencies of publication and consultation and the challenges they see in social media. The survey also collected the view of the young generation about their practical experience in learning in a virtual setting and its advantages and disadvantages vs. in-person learning. Most participants expressed mixed-feelings about on-line learning. The results show that the young generation can play a role in supporting the extra- and intra-communication activities of the RP community.