Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Randomized Controlled Trial of the Gastrin/CCK2 Receptor Antagonist Netazepide in Patients with Barrett's Esophagus

Treatment of patients with Barrett's esophagus with a gastrin/CCK2 receptor antagonist did not have obvious chemopreventive effects. Hypergastrinemia has been associated with high-grade dysplasia and adenocarcinoma in patients with Barrett's esophagus, and experimental studies suggest proinflammatory and proneoplastic effects of gastrin on Barrett's esophagus. This is of potential concern, as patients with Barrett's esophagus are treated with medications that suppress gastric acid production, resulting in increased physiologic levels of gastrin. We aimed to determine whether treatment with the novel gastrin/CCK2 receptor antagonist netazepide reduces expression of markers associated with inflammation and neoplasia in Barrett's esophagus. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of netazepide in patients with Barrett's esophagus without dysplasia. Subjects were treated for 12 weeks, with endoscopic assessment at baseline and at end of treatment. The primary outcome was within-individual change in cellular proliferation as assessed by Ki67. Secondary analyses included changes in gene expression, assessed by RNA-sequencing, and safety and tolerability. A total of 20 subjects completed the study and were included in the analyses. There was no difference between arms in mean change in cellular proliferation (netazepide: +35.6 Ki67+ cells/mm2, SD 620.7; placebo: +307.8 Ki67+ cells/mm2, SD 640.3; P = 0.35). Netazepide treatment resulted in increased expression of genes related to gastric phenotype (TFF2, MUC5B) and certain cancer-associated markers (REG3A, PAX9, MUC1), and decreased expression of intestinal markers MUC2, FABP1, FABP2, and CDX1. No serious adverse events related to study drug occurred. The gastrin/CCK2 receptor antagonist netazepide did not reduce cellular proliferation in patients with nondysplastic Barrett's esophagus. Further research should focus on the biological effects of gastrin in Barrett's esophagus. Prevention Relevance: Treatment of patients with Barrett's esophagus with a gastrin/CCK2 receptor antagonist did not have obvious chemopreventive effects.
Impact of Crude Oil Weathering on the Calculated Effective Solubility of Aromatic Compounds: Evaluation of Soils from Ecuadorian Oil Fields

Effective solubility (Es) is the maximum dissolved concentration of a compound at equilibrium between an aqueous and organic phase. Published evaluations of crude oils suggest that the Es of only the most soluble aromatic compounds exceeds health-based drinking water goals. But because Es is a function of the concentration of a compound in the oil phase, it changes with weathering. The objective of this study was to evaluate weathering's impacts on the Es of aromatic hydrocarbon compounds. The Es of 20 aromatic hydrocarbons was calculated for Ecuadorian crude oil and 734 oiled soil samples collected in Ecuador. For the crude oil, the Es of mono-aromatic compounds exceeded health-based drinking water goals, while there were no exceedances for any polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). For the soil, the Es of benzene exceeded the health-based drinking water goal in nine (1.2 percent) of the 734 samples. There were no other exceedances. To further evaluate the impact of weathering, two concepts are introduced. The weathering index describes the extent of weathering of the bulk oil phase, while the concentrating factor is the relative change in concentration, and hence Es, of individual compounds. The weathering index and concentrating factor were calculated for 107 soil samples. The weathering index evaluation indicated that the oil associated with the soil was highly weathered. This reduced the Es of the mono-aromatic compounds because they were depleted to a greater extent than the bulk oil. Although the concentrating factor of some PAHs was as high as 256, their Es was still well below health-based drinking water goals. These results indicate that because of rapid weathering of the more soluble aromatics and the low effective solubility of larger PAHs, Ecuadorian crude oil impacted soil is unlikely to result in dissolved concentrations that exceed health-based drinking water goals.
Family cohesion and the relations among peer victimization and depression: A random intercepts cross-lagged model

Abstract The relation between peer victimization and depressive symptoms is complex, requiring the use of methodologically rigorous designs to examine these relations and potential mediating factors. The current study used a random intercepts cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) to investigate both between-person and within-person associations in peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and family cohesion across five waves in a sample of adolescents (N = 801, ages 13–15 years at recruitment) in the Northeast. We also investigated the moderating effects of sex and victimization status (i.e., bullying victimization vs. peer victimization). Overall, findings revealed a reciprocal relation between peer victimization and depressive symptoms for females, but no relation for males. A reciprocal relation between peer victimization and family cohesion was found for males. No significant differences were found by victimization status. Future research on peer victimization and associated outcomes and the role of family should account for both between-person and within-person variance.
Infectious Disease Burden and the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: A Population-Based Study.

BACKGROUND Previous studies suggested a link between various infectious pathogens and the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), posing the question whether infectious disease could present a novel modifiable risk factor. OBJECTIVE To assess whether infectious disease burden due to clinically apparent infections is associated with an increased risk of AD. METHODS We conducted a population-based nested case-control study using the United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink. We included all dementia-free subjects ≥50 years of age enrolling in the database between January 1988 and December 2017. Each case of AD identified during follow-up was matched with up to 40 controls. Conditional logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of AD associated with ≥1 infection diagnosed > 2 years before the index date compared with no infection during the study period. We further stratified by time since first infection and cumulative number of infections. RESULTS The cohort included overall 4,262,092 individuals (mean age at cohort entry 60.4 years; 52% female). During a median follow-up of 10.5 years, 40,455 cases of AD were matched to 1,610,502 controls. Compared with having no burden of infectious disease, having a burden of infectious disease was associated with an increase in the risk of AD (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.08). The risk increased with longer time since first infection, peaking after 12-30 years (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.05-1.17). The risk did not increase with cumulative number of infections. CONCLUSION The overall risk of AD associated with infectious disease burden was small but increased gradually with longer time since first infection.
Subject- and task-independent neural correlates and prediction of decision confidence in perceptual decision making

Objective. In many real-world decision tasks, the information available to the decision maker is incomplete. To account for this uncertainty, we associate a degree of confidence to every decision, representing the likelihood of that decision being correct. In this study, we analyse electroencephalography (EEG) data from 68 participants undertaking eight different perceptual decision-making experiments. Our goals are to investigate (1) whether subject- and task-independent neural correlates of decision confidence exist, and (2) to what degree it is possible to build brain computer interfaces that can estimate confidence on a trial-by-trial basis. The experiments cover a wide range of perceptual tasks, which allowed to separate the task-related, decision-making features from the task-independent ones. Approach. Our systems train artificial neural networks to predict the confidence in each decision from EEG data and response times. We compare the decoding performance with three training approaches: (1) single subject, where both training and testing data were acquired from the same person; (2) multi-subject, where all the data pertained to the same task, but the training and testing data came from different users; and (3) multi-task, where the training and testing data came from different tasks and subjects. Finally, we validated our multi-task approach using data from two additional experiments, in which confidence was not reported. Main results. We found significant differences in the EEG data for different confidence levels in both stimulus-locked and response-locked epochs. All our approaches were able to predict the confidence between 15% and 35% better than the corresponding reference baselines. Significance. Our results suggest that confidence in perceptual decision making tasks could be reconstructed from neural signals even when using transfer learning approaches. These confidence estimates are based on the decision-making process rather than just the confidence-reporting process.
Characterization of C9orf72 haplotypes to evaluate the effects of normal and pathological variations on its expression and splicing

Expansion of the hexanucleotide repeat (HR) in the first intron of the C9orf72 gene is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in Caucasians. All C9orf72-ALS/FTD patients share a common risk (R) haplotype. To study C9orf72 expression and splicing from the mutant R allele compared to the complementary normal allele in ALS/FTD patients, we initially created a detailed molecular map of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) signature and the HR length of the various C9orf72 haplotypes in Caucasians. We leveraged this map to determine the allelic origin of transcripts per patient, and decipher the effects of pathological and normal HR lengths on C9orf72 expression and splicing. In C9orf72 ALS patients’ cells, the HR expanded allele, compared to non-R allele, was associated with decreased levels of a downstream initiated transcript variant and increased levels of transcripts initiated upstream of the HR. HR expanded R alleles correlated with high levels of unspliced intron 1 and activation of cryptic donor splice sites along intron 1. Retention of intron 1 was associated with sequential intron 2 retention. The SNP signature of C9orf72 haplotypes described here enables allele-specific analysis of transcriptional products and may pave the way to allele-specific therapeutic strategies.
An Analysis of the Inclusion of Women, Older Individuals, and Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Rehabilitation Clinical Trials

Supplemental digital content is available in the text. Objective Our objective was to investigate whether women, people 65 yrs and older, or individuals who identify with racial and/or ethnic minority groups, were underrepresented among participants in rehabilitation clinical trials. Design This is a cross-sectional study of completed rehabilitation clinical trials investigating the number and percentage of women, older adults, and racial and/or ethnic minorities enrolled in rehabilitation clinical trials between January 1, 2011, and January 1, 2020. Secondary outcome measures were inclusion by diagnostic group, as well as International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health category, and intervention by diagnostic group. Results Of the 108 studies meeting inclusion criteria, a majority (69%) were based in the United States. Stroke was the most frequent diagnostic group, followed by musculoskeletal conditions. Ninety-six percent of the United States–based trials included at least one female participant in their study, but among specific diagnostic groups, this ranged from 5% to 73%. Age information was reported inconsistently; however, of the trials reporting age, 100% of cardiac trials included older adults, whereas no spinal cord injury (SCI) trials included them. Among trials based in the United States reporting race, 70% of participants were White, followed by 20% Black or African American and 1% Asian. Among trials based in the United States reporting ethnicity, Hispanic or Latino participants were underrepresented overall and among each diagnostic group. Conclusions In this study, we found that among participants of rehabilitation clinical trials women, older individuals, and racial/ethnic minorities were generally underrepresented. In contrast, Black or African American participants were overrepresented with the exception of cardiac trials. An important finding was that many trials did not report age and/or race/ethnicity. Investigators should aim to include underrepresented populations and improve reporting.
The credibility of social media beauty gurus in young millennials’ cosmetic product choice

Social media influencers play a role in the beauty industry by making it more accessible and diverse, engaging in cultural acceptance and diversity, and making their lives public through social media. Known as ‘beauty gurus’, these influencers use their makeup skills to work with cosmetics brands, in which they earn substantial remuneration by raising brand awareness among social media audiences. While work was conducted on social media influencers, there was no clear focus on how influencers engage with young millennials regarding the choice of cosmetics products and its use. Hence, this study analysed the beauty ‘gurus’ credibility in influencing young female millennials’ cosmetics brands of choice. A survey method was used to collect data using a judgemental sampling from young females who have subscribed and observed makeup tutorials on social media platforms, such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, among many others. Additionally, a total of 271 usable questionnaires were gathered and analysed using AMOS. Credibility traits, such as knowledge, attractiveness, and relatability, were the core elements of an influencer’s capability to influence young millennials. Social media influencers were seen as a new and effective marketing tool in targeting a broad demographic and increasing brand awareness.
On realized serial and generation intervals given control measures: The COVID-19 pandemic case

The SARS-CoV-2 pathogen is currently spreading worldwide and its propensity for presymptomatic and asymptomatic transmission makes it difficult to control. The control measures adopted in several countries aim at isolating individuals once diagnosed, limiting their social interactions and consequently their transmission probability. These interventions, which have a strong impact on the disease dynamics, can affect the inference of the epidemiological quantities. We first present a theoretical explanation of the effect caused by non-pharmaceutical intervention measures on the mean serial and generation intervals. Then, in a simulation study, we vary the assumed efficacy of control measures and quantify the effect on the mean and variance of realized generation and serial intervals. The simulation results show that the realized serial and generation intervals both depend on control measures and their values contract according to the efficacy of the intervention strategies. Interestingly, the mean serial interval differs from the mean generation interval. The deviation between these two values depends on two factors. First, the number of undiagnosed infectious individuals. Second, the relationship between infectiousness, symptom onset and timing of isolation. Similarly, the standard deviations of realized serial and generation intervals do not coincide, with the former shorter than the latter on average. The findings of this study are directly relevant to estimates performed for the current COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the effective reproduction number is often inferred using both daily incidence data and the generation interval. Failing to account for either contraction or mis-specification by using the serial interval could lead to biased estimates of the effective reproduction number. Consequently, this might affect the choices made by decision makers when deciding which control measures to apply based on the value of the quantity thereof.
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays for the Detection and Quantitation of Gluten in Cereal-Based Foods

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for gluten quantitation use specific antibodies that interact with epitopes of gluten proteins that trigger an immune response in celiac disease patients. To date, four ELISA methods for gluten quantitation have been validated by international collaborative studies. The Skerritt ELISA method was validated in 2001. Three proprietary gluten ELISA methods have since been developed and were validated between 2010 and 2013: the R5 sandwich ELISA, R5 competitive ELISA, and G12 sandwich ELISA kits. In collaborative studies, the R5 sandwich ELISA had a limit of detection (LOD) of 3 mg of gluten/kg and a relative reproducibility standard deviation (RSDR) of 17 to 27% for samples containing intact gluten, whereas the G12 sandwich ELISA had an LOD of 4 mg of gluten/kg and an RSDR of 19 to 33% in 8 of 9 samples containing intact gluten. The R5 competitive assay targets hydrolyzed gluten and was less sensitive (LOD of 10 mg/kg) and showed higher variation (RSDR of 25 to 37%).
Liquid Crystal Compounds Incorporating the Trans-1,4-Substituted Cyclohexane Ring System

Abstract A number of esters and other compounds containing a trans-1,4-substituted cyclohexane ring system-have been prepared, and the liquid crystal thermal stabilities of these new mesogens are discussed in relation to those of their analogues containing the 1,4-phenylene ring. The observed effects are discussed in terms of a possible thermal energy absorption by the cyclohexane ring in causing minor conformational changes. Other physical properties of these new mesogens are also discussed with particular reference to their potential in applications. In relation to electro-optical display devices, such properties as birefringence, dielectric anistropy, viscosity etc., are important parameters, and the new materials have been assessed in this context as possible additives to the 4-n-alkyl- and 4-n-alkyloxy-4′-cyanobiphenyls for producing a favorable combination of physical parameters. Also reported is a liquid crystal mixture which has a 100°C nematic range and which contains only materials which are ali.
Empowerment as a Pivotal Deterrent to Employee Silence: Evidence from the UAE Hotel Sector

ABSTRACT Based on time-lagged data focusing on frontline employees (N=285) operating in five-star hotels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we examined the individual and combined effects of empowerment, job satisfaction, and perceived organizational support on employee silence. Using structural equation modeling for data analysis, we explored a hypothetical model. The results indicated that empowerment had a significant negative impact on employee silence while job satisfaction and perceived organizational support had no significant direct impact. However, these latter two variables had an impact when feelings of empowerment were also present. The result suggests indicates that empowerment plays a central (pivotal) role in silence behavior. The implications of these findings for both management practice and future research are discussed.
An Exploration on the Public Stigma of Sexual Addiction

Abstract This study explored the stigma toward individuals with sexual addiction and how it compared to gambling addiction, alcohol addiction, and depression in both males and females. Undergraduate students (N = 241) were assigned to read one of eight vignettes (mental illness x gender) and completed quantitative stigma measures (e.g., social distance). Results showed that alcohol addiction was the most stigmatized, followed closely by gambling addiction. Sexual addiction and depression had similar levels of stigma. Participants were less stigmatizing toward females with sexual addiction, and no other gender differences emerged. Additional variables and measures (e.g., perceived causes) were also explored.
Settling the identity and phylogenetic position of the psychrotolerant green algal genus Coleochlamys (Trebouxiophyceae)

ABSTRACT Despite significant recent advances, our understanding of the diversity and phylogeny of coccoid green algae remains incomplete, partly because of the existence of numerous previously described taxa that are yet to be reinvestigated to clarify their identity and phylogenetic position. An essentially forgotten taxon is the genus Coleochlamys Korshikov, presently classified in the class Chlorophyceae. Here we present the results of our investigations of one new and four previously available strains identified as Coleochlamys. Based on morphological features and molecular evidence, the strains represented two clearly differentiated species: Co. apoda, the type species of the genus, and Co. oleifera, which are both epitypified in this study. The two species differ in cell shape and presence or absence of a cell wall extension resembling a papilla. They are also differentiated by multiple compensatory base changes (CBCs) in the ITS2 region. Our data support the previous proposal that the genera Rhopalocystis and Fusochloris are later synonyms of Coleochlamys, and additionally suggest that the algae originally described as Characium perforatum K.W. Lee & H.C. Bold and Rhopalocystis cucumis are conspecific with Co. apoda. Phylogenies of both 18S rRNA and rbcL genes place Coleochlamys in the class Trebouxiophyceae, in a clade with Microthamnion. Analysis of environmental DNA data has revealed the existence of at least one additional Coleochlamys species, and of a closely related sister lineage (potentially a separate genus) encountered in an Alaskan glacier. The occurrence data on Coleochlamys indicate that the genus includes psychrotolerant algae that may be common in cold environments worldwide.
Differential Associations between Paraphilic Interests and Sexual Satisfaction

Abstract Although paraphilias encompass a broad range of sexual interests, they often are regarded broadly as maladaptive. Doing so, however, may conceal relatively well-adjusted and satisfying forms of sexuality. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk and completed online questionnaires assessing paraphilic interests, sexual satisfaction, resilience, and attachment. Participants were 614 adults, aged 19 to 30 years (M = 26.08, SD = 3.18). Regression analyses demonstrated that atypical paraphilias, paraphilias related to nonconsensual sexual activities, and paraphilias related to BDSM explained a significant proportion of variance in sexual satisfaction. Findings suggest directions on the conceptualization and treatment of paraphilias.
Student-Centered Learning and Sustainability: Solution or Problem?

While discussions surrounding education for sustainable development (ESD) are diverse, most scholars and policy makers view student-centered learning (SCL) as axiomatic. In contrast, we argue that promoting SCL potentially stymies educational contributions to sustainability by extending a culturally specific belief in ontological individualism. We first highlight that countries committed to SCL tend to be dominated by ontological individualism and then show that these same countries score lower on a range of social and environmental sustainability indices. Moreover, countries where the belief in ontological individualism reigns tend to be liberal market economies, an institutional arrangement largely ineffective or even detrimental to social and environmental sustainability. In raising these issues, we seek less to provide a definitive account of the key relationships than to catalyze a deeper conversation about how to reimagine the taken-for-granted logics of education as the sustainability imperative looms.