Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relative importance and interactions of primary and secondary ice 1 production in the Arctic mixed-phase clouds 2

8 A discrepancy of up to 5 orders of magnitude between ice crystal and ice nucleating 9 particle (INP) number concentrations was found in the measurements, indicating the 10 potential important role of secondary ice production (SIP) in the clouds. However, the 11 relative importance and interactions between primary and SIP processes remain 12 unexplored. In this study, we implement five different ice nucleation schemes as well as 13 physical representations of SIP processes (i.e., droplet shattering during rain freezing, 14 ice-ice collisional break-up, and rime splintering) in the Community Earth System Model 15 version 2 (CESM2). We run CESM2 in the single column mode for model comparisons 16 with the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud 17 Experiment (M-PACE) observations. We find that the model experiments with aerosol18 aware ice nucleation schemes and SIP processes yield the best simulation results for the 19 M-PACE single-layer mixed-phase clouds. We further investigate the relative importance 20 of ice nucleation and SIP to ice number and cloud phase as well as interactions between 21 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-686 Preprint. Discussion started: 26 August 2021 c © Author(s) 2021. CC BY 4.0 License.
Performance comparison of micro-neutralization assays based on surrogate SARS-CoV-2 and WT SARS-CoV-2 in assessing virus-neutralizing capacity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

We compared neutralization assays using either the wild-type severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus or surrogate neutralization markers, using characterized sera. We found the results of the neutralization assays 75 % concordant overall and 80 % concordant for samples with high antibody levels. This demonstrates that commercial surrogate SARS-CoV-2 assays offer the potential to assess anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies’ neutralizing capacity outside CL-3 laboratory containment.
Unlocking the history of a trans‐Atlantic invader: Did the human slave trade impact Brown mussel dispersal?

Brown mussels exhibit a trans‐Atlantic distribution putatively caused by either native dispersal or artificial gene flow, likely in concert with the transport of enslaved people from Africa. Evolutionary history and demographic models of this widespread species may clarify how the present‐day distribution was impacted by natural versus artificial dispersal. Particularly, dating the timing of the South American/African split may determine whether the human slave trade likely impacted the contemporary distribution of brown mussels.
Drug Release and Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of Novel Implantable Mometasone Furoate Matrices in Rabbit Maxillary Sinuses

Background Intranasal corticosteroid sprays (INCSs) used to treat chronic rhinosinusitis are suboptimal due to limited penetration into the middle meatus, rapid clearance, and poor patient compliance. A bioresorbable drug matrix, developed with the XTreoTM drug delivery platform, may overcome the limitations of INCS by providing continuous dosing over several months. Objective To evaluate the in vitro drug release and in vivo pharmacokinetics of novel mometasone furoate (MF) matrices in a rabbit dorsal maxillary osteotomy model. Methods XTreoTM matrices were formulated to consistently elute MF for up to 6 months. Matrices were surgically placed bilaterally into the maxillary sinuses of New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. Tissue and plasma MF concentrations were measured to assess the in vivo drug delivery. The in vivo and in vitro drug release kinetics of the matrices were quantified and compared to those of rabbits receiving daily Nasonex® MF nasal sprays. Results XTreoTM matrices self-expanded upon deployment to conform to the irregular geometry of the maxillary sinus cavities in the NZW rabbits. Sustained release of MF was demonstrated in vitro and in vivo for 2 MF matrices of distinct release durations and an in vitro–in vivo correlation was established. Therapeutic levels of MF in local tissues were measured throughout the intended dosing durations. In contrast to the variable peaks and troughs of daily nasal sprays, sustained dosing via a single administration of MF matrices was confirmed by quantifiable plasma MF concentrations over the intended dosing duration. Conclusion The XTreoTM MF matrices provided targeted and efficient dosing to local sinus tissues that was superior to INCS. Sustained drug release was confirmed both in vitro and in vivo. The novel XTreoTM technology may provide precisely tuned, long-lasting drug delivery to sinus tissues with a single treatment.
In search of the ‘great horse’: A zooarchaeological assessment of horses from England (AD 300-1650)

Popular culture presents a deep-rooted perception of medieval warhorses as massive and powerful mounts, but medieval textual and iconographic evidence remains highly debated. Furthermore, identifying warhorses in the zooarchaeological record is challenging due to both a paucity of horse remains relative to other domesticates, and the tendency of researchers to focus on osteological size, which makes it difficult to reconstruct in-life usage of horses and activity related changes. This paper presents the largest zooarchaeological dataset of English horse bones (n = 1964) from 171 unique archaeological sites dating between AD 300 and 1650. Using this dataset alongside a modern comparative sample of known equids (n = 490), we examine trends in size and shape to explore how the skeletal conformation of horses changed through time and reflected their domestic, elite and military roles. In addition to evidencing the generally small stature of medieval horses relative to both earlier and later periods, we demonstrate the importance of accurately exploring the shape of skeletal elements to describe the morphological characteristics of domestic animals. Furthermore, we highlight the need to examine shape variation in the context of entheseal changes and biomechanics to address questions of functional morphology and detect possible markers of artificial selection on past horses.
Advancement of prognostic models in breast cancer: a narrative review.

Objective To provide a reference for clinical work and guide the decision-making of healthcare providers and end-users, we systematically reviewed the development, validation and classification of classical prognostic models for breast cancer. Background Patients suffering from breast cancer have different prognosis for its high heterogeneity. Accurate prognosis prediction and risk stratification for breast cancer are crucial for individualized treatment. There is a lack of systematic summary of breast cancer prognostic models. Methods We conducted a PubMed search with keywords "breast neoplasm", "prognostic model", "recurrence" and "metastasis", and screened the retrieved publications at three levels: title, abstract and full text. We identified the articles presented the development and/or validation of models based on clinicopathological factors, genomics, and machine learning (ML) methods to predict survival and/or benefits of adjuvant therapy in female breast cancer patients. Conclusions Combining prognostic-related variables with long-term clinical outcomes, researchers have developed a series of prognostic models based on clinicopathological parameters, genomic assays, and medical figures. The discrimination, calibration, overall performance, and clinical usefulness were validated by internal and/or external verifications. Clinicopathological models integrated the clinical parameters, including tumor size, histological grade, lymph node status, hormone receptor status to provide prognostic information for patients and doctors. Gene-expression assays deeply revealed the molecular heterogeneity of breast cancer, some of which have been cited by AJCC and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. In addition, the models based on the ML methods provided more detailed information for prognosis prediction by increasing the data dimension. Combined models incorporating clinical variables and genomics information are still required to be developed as the focus of further researches.
A Novel SR-DCSK-Based Ambient Backscatter Communication System

In order to expand the application of differential chaos shift keying (DCSK) technology in Internet of Things, a novel ambient backscatter communication system is proposed. In this system, the ambient short reference DCSK (SR-DCSK) signal is ultilized as radio frequency (RF) source, and the modulation waveform design can be easily generated by the state transition of the SR-DCSK modulation symbol according to the transmitted information bit, so as to eliminate strong direct-link interference. Furthermore, a noise reduction method based on averaging operation at the detector is designed for enhancing the bit error rate (BER) performance. Theoretical BER expression over Rayleigh fading channel is derived and validated via simulation. Moreover, the performance of the proposed system is compared with those of other DCSK-based systems.
The MINT Sprint: Exploring a Fast Administration Procedure with an Expanded Multilingual Naming Test

Abstract Objectives: The present study examined if time-pressured administration of an expanded Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) would improve or compromise assessment of bilingual language proficiency and language dominance. Methods: Eighty Spanish–English bilinguals viewed a grid with 80 MINT-Sprint pictures and were asked to name as many pictures as possible in 3 min in each language in counterbalanced order. An Oral Proficiency Interview rated by four native Spanish–English bilinguals provided independent assessment of proficiency level. Bilinguals also self-rated their proficiency, completed two subtests of the Woodcock-Muñoz, and a speeded translation recognition test. We compared scores after 2 min, a first-pass through all the pictures, and a second-pass in which bilinguals were prompted to try to name skipped items. Results: The MINT Sprint and a subset score including original MINT items were highly correlated with Oral Proficiency Interview scores for predicting the degree of language dominance – matching or outperforming all other measures. Self-ratings provided weaker measures (especially of degree of balance – i.e., bilingual index scores) and did not explain any unique variance in measuring the degree of language dominance when considered together with second-pass naming scores. The 2-min scoring procedure did not improve and appeared not to hamper assessment of absolute proficiency level but prompting to try to name skipped items improved assessment of language dominance and naming scores, especially in the nondominant language. Conclusions: Time-pressured rapid naming saves time without significantly compromising assessment of proficiency level. However, breadth of vocabulary knowledge may be as important as retrieval speed for maximizing the accuracy in proficiency assessment.
Reward disturbances in antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode psychosis and their association to glutamate levels

Abstract Background Aberrant anticipation of motivational salient events and processing of outcome evaluation in striatal and prefrontal regions have been suggested to underlie psychosis. Altered glutamate levels have likewise been linked to schizophrenia. Glutamatergic abnormalities may affect the processing of motivational salience and outcome evaluation. It remains unresolved, whether glutamatergic dysfunction is associated with the coding of motivational salience and outcome evaluation in antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode psychosis. Methods Fifty-one antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode psychosis (22 ± 5.2 years, female/male: 31/20) and 52 healthy controls (HC) matched on age, sex, and parental education underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (3T) in one session. Brain responses to motivational salience and negative outcome evaluation (NOE) were examined using a monetary incentive delay task. Glutamate levels were estimated in the left thalamus and anterior cingulate cortex using LCModel. Results Patients displayed a positive signal change to NOE in the caudate (p = 0.001) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; p = 0.003) compared to HC. No group difference was observed in motivational salience or in levels of glutamate. There was a different association between NOE signal in the caudate and DLPFC and thalamic glutamate levels in patients and HC due to a negative correlation in patients (caudate: p = 0.004, DLPFC: p = 0.005) that was not seen in HC. Conclusions Our findings confirm prior findings of abnormal outcome evaluation as a part of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The results also suggest a possible link between thalamic glutamate and NOE signaling in patients with first-episode psychosis.
Development of a nutritional index to evaluate the effectiveness of total parenteral nutrition during the early postoperative period after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Background Malnutrition leads to adverse effects on the short- and long-term prognosis in patients with periampullary diseases who underwent surgery. Nutritional risk indicators based on albumin and body weight have been developed to evaluate nutritional status and nutritional therapy efficacy, but no standard objective measurement has been devised to evaluate nutritional status during the early period after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Therefore, this study aimed to assess the efficacy of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) during the early postoperative period after PD. Methods We analyzed 28 patients with a periampullary disease-common bile duct cancer, ampulla of Vater cancer, pancreatic head cancer, neuroendocrine tumor, chronic pancreatitis-who have undergone PD from Jan. 1, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2016. For all the patients, TPN was administered from postoperative day (POD) 1 at 25 Kcal/kg ideal body weight. Various nutritional indicators were measured such as Body mass index, nutritional risk index, protein, albumin, prealbumin, C-reactive protein. The volume of skeletal muscle area, muscle density, visceral and subcutaneous fat areas were assessed two times, preoperatively and on POD 7 by CT scan at the 3rd lumbar spine (L3) level. Results Average age of the 28 study subjects (18 males and 10 females) was 63.5±9.7 years. Although there is no difference in BMI between preoperative result and POD 7, protein, albumin, and prealbumin levels were significantly lower POD 7 the preoperative (P<0.001), but CRP was higher (P<0.001), and prealbumin and CRP levels were negatively correlated (R=-0.682, P<0.01). Muscle mass increased postoperatively (P=0.02), but the amount of visceral fat decreased (P=0.00). Based on CRP, and muscle density results, muscle, visceral and subcutaneous fat masses did not change after PD. Conclusions In order to evaluate the nutritional status accurately after the hepato-biliary radical surgery, we suggest the muscle and fat mass measurement that can adjust the degree of inflammation during the early postoperative period.
Impact of macroeconomic variables on sustainability indices using ARDL model

ABSTRACT The present study is conducted to check the effect of the collection of macroeconomic variables on Indian sustainability indices. The independent variables adopted are Industrial Index, Wholesale Price Index, Economy Money Supply (M3), Crude Oil Prices, Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER), while dependent variables are S&P BSE GREENEX and S&P BSE CARBONEX. The study uses monthly data (converted into natural log form) from April 2012 to March 2021. Our study shows that GREENEX is linked with the index of Industrial Production, Wholesale Price Index, M3, Crude Oil Prices, and (REER) and CARBONEX is linked with the index of Industrial Production, M3, Crude Oil Prices, and REER while it is not linked with wholesale prices index. There is no association of interest rates with any of the indices taken (GREENEX and CARBONEX).
Comparing Social Media and In-Person Recruitment: Lessons Learned From Recruiting Substance-Using, Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents and Young Adults for a Randomized Control Trial

Background Recruiting large samples of diverse sexual and gender minority adolescent and young adults (AYAs) into HIV intervention research is critical to the development and later dissemination of interventions that address the risk factors for HIV transmission among substance-using, sexual and gender minority AYAs. Objective This paper aimed to describe the characteristics of the samples recruited via social media and in-person methods and makes recommendations for strategies to recruit substance-using, sexual and gender minority AYAs, a hardly reached population that is a priority for HIV prevention research. Methods Using data from a randomized control trial of an HIV and substance use intervention with sexual and gender minority AYAs, aged 15 to 29 years in southeastern Michigan (n=414), we examined demographic and behavioral characteristics associated with successful recruitment from a range of virtual and physical venues. Results We found that paid advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, and Grindr offered the largest quantity of eligible participants willing to enroll in the trial. Instagram offered the largest proportion of transgender masculine participants, and Grindr offered the largest proportion of Black/African American individuals. Although we attempted venue-based recruitment at clubs, bars, community centers, and AIDS service organizations, we found it to be unsuccessful for this specific hardly reached population. Social media and geobased dating applications offered the largest pool of eligible participants. Conclusions Understanding factors associated with successful recruitment has the potential to inform effective and efficient strategies for HIV prevention research with substance-using, sexual and gender AYAs. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02945436; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02945436 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/resprot.9414
Autoeficacia, estado emocional y autorregulación del aprendizaje en el estudiantado universitario durante la pandemia por COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on all areas of society, including education. At the university level, online instruction has generated several challenges for students to manage their personal resources and achieve academic goals. From a socio-cognitive perspective, this study aims to analyze the relationship between self-efficacy, emotional state, and self-regulated learning in university students and contrast its variation according to gender and academic term during COVID-19 pandemic confinement. Participants were 1665 people from different Mexican universities who answered an online questionnaire between June and August 2020. Regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy to cope with stressful situations and emotions of despair, fear, and hope, positively affect self-regulated learning, while anger does it negatively. Women indicated more significant levels of fear, gratitude, compassion, and self-regulated learning. Postgraduate students reported tranquility, hope, and gratitude with the most significant frequency. On the other hand, the undergraduate students’ group from the last semesters (7th-10th) indicated anger, fear and disinterest more frequently and the lowest level of self-efficacy and self-regulated learning, compared to students from initial and intermediate academic periods. From these data, it is necessary to promote actions that support university students in enhancing their capacities to improve their academic achievement by awareness of the difficulties that can limit their learning and careful control of their cognition, emotional state, and behavior during and after confinement.
A comparative study between manual vacuum aspiration and electronic suction for surgical treatment of abortion

Background: Present study is done to study the safety, efficacy and complications of using manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) for surgical management of first trimester abortion in comparison to electronic suction.Methods: It is a retrospective observational study conducted in department of obstetrics and gynecology at tertiary care hospital. Out of 100 cases taken, 50 abortions were terminated by MVA and 50 were terminated by electric suction/vacuum aspiration (EVA). Results: In this study, majority of the patients were primigravida (60%). Most of the patients had period of gestation between 7 to 9 weeks (40%) followed by up to 6 weeks (33%) in both groups. Time taken for the procedure was less in MVA (5-9 min.) than electronic suction (7-11 min.). In terms of complications, blood loss ≥100 ml was more with EVA (18%) compared to MVA (6%). Uterine perforation was seen with EVA (4%) and none with MVA. As far as success rate is concerned, EVA got 98% while MVA got 90%. Post-operative hospital stay was less with MVA (≤12 hours) than EVA (up to 24 hours). Post-operative pain perception was less with MVA (18% severe pain) while with EVA, 36% with severe pain.Conclusions: Both the evacuation techniques are almost equally effective and safe, still duration; post-operative pain and hospital stay are less with MVA. Success rate is better with EVA.
The Virus, Vaccination, and Voting

Vaccination rates have a statistically significant downward effect on the Covid-19 death rate across US counties, as of August 12, 2021. Controlling for poverty rates, age, and temperature lowers the magnitude of the estimate a little. Using the Biden-Trump vote in the 2020 election as an instrument for vaccination rates raises the magnitude of the estimate. Presumably it corrects for a positive effect of observed local Covid deaths on the decision to get vaccinated. Overall, the estimated beneficial effect holds up and has risen over time.
Health-related quality of life among cervical cancer patients at Kenyatta National Hospital

Background Previous study showed that health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was adversely affected during treatment of cervical cancer, with a worsening global score. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the HRQoL of cervical cancer patients at Kenyatta National Hospital. Methods A cross-sectional study design was employed among cervical cancer patients. All eligible consecutive samples of 103 cervical cancer patients were included in the study. Following consent, patients were interviewed using The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-30) and Cervical Cancer Module CX24 (EORTC QLQ-CX24). The data were entered and analyzed using the SPSS version 20.0 software. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the predictors of HRQoL. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The majority (69%) of the patients had a poor overall quality of life while 31% of study participants had a good quality of life. Patients with early-stage disease were 7.3 times (AOR = 7.3, 95% CI = 2.4–21.7, p = 0.000) more likely to have a good HRQoL than patients with advanced-stage disease. Patients with no comorbidities were 3.1 times (COR = 3.1, 95% CI = 1.1–9.1, p = 0.037) more likely to have a good HRQoL than patients with comorbidities. Conclusion The overall HRQoL among cervical cancer patients was poor in the setting. Advanced stage of disease and presence of comorbidities were the significant predictors of poor quality of life.