Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does News Tone help forecast Oil?

Abstract Does news tone help forecast oil? In this paper, we study the relationship between news tone and crude oil prices and evaluate the role news tone plays in the ability to forecast oil prices. Specifically, we use a recently developed oil-specific dictionary as well as a widely used general financial dictionary, to directly measure the sentiment of 3579 oil news articles from Financial Times for actual oil price forecasting. We find compelling evidence that news tone constructed by the oil dictionary helps forecast monthly oil prices out-of-sample over short horizons, while the news tone constructed by financial dictionary shows no out-of-sample forecasting power at all. We verify and document the economic significance of the best performing forecasting model against the others and a naive buy-hold strategy. We argue that the forecasting power of news tone is data and method dependent, and we underscore the correct use of domain-specific dictionaries in financial sentiment analysis.
Incentives for Reducing Mobile Usage: A Rational Addiction Perspective

We conducted a randomized control trial (RCT) that incentivized smartphone usage reduction. Besides a control condition, two treatments were conducted. In treatment 1, subjects were incentivized to reduce their mobile screen time by 25% for the complete treatment period. In treatment 2, subjects were incentivized to reduce screen time by 25% only for the second half of the treatment period but were informed about their incentives and targets from the beginning. We find that subjects in treatment 1 reduced their mobile usage and sustained a lower post-treatment usage. Conversely, subjects in treatment 2, especially those with excessive mobile usage, started reducing their screen time even before the incentive period, but did not sustain a lower post-treatment usage. When we increased the incentive period and targets in a follow-up RCT, treatment 2 subjects sustained a lower usage. We also study the effects of reducing usage on academic performance and COVID-19 concern.
Latitudinal influence on gametogenesis and host–parasite ecology in a marine bivalve model

Abstract Reproduction and parasites have significant impacts on marine animal populations globally. This study aimed to investigate the associative effects of host reproduction and a host–parasite interplay on a marine bivalve, along a geographic gradient of latitude. Cockles Cerastoderma edule were sampled from five European sites (54°N to 40°N), between April 2018 and October 2019. A histological survey provided data on trematode (metacercaria and sporocyst life stages), prevalence, and cockle stage of gametogenesis to assess the influence of a latitudinal gradient on both interplays. Sex ratios at the northernmost sites were skewed toward females, and spawning size was reduced at the lower latitudes. Trematode infection did not follow a latitudinal gradient. Localized site‐related drivers, namely seawater temperature, varied spatially, having an impact on cockle–trematode interactions. Spawning was related to elevated temperatures at all sites. Prolonged spawning occurred at southern latitudes, where seawater temperatures were warmer. Trematode prevalence and the impact of trematodes on gametogenesis were found to be spatially variable, but not latitudinally. Therefore, it is not possible to determine the likelihood of boom and bust events in cockles, based on the latitudinal location of a population. In terms of sublethal impacts, it appeared that energy was allocated to reproduction rather than somatic growth in southern populations, with less energy allocated to reproduction in the larger, northern cockles. The demonstrated spatial trend of energy allocation indicates the potential of a temporal trend of reduced cockle growth at northern sites, as a result of warming sea temperatures. This awareness of the spatially varying drivers of populations is crucial considering the potential for these drivers/inhibitors to be exacerbated in a changing marine environment.
Expression and gene regulation network of TYMS and BCL2L1 in colorectal cancer based on data mining

Background The purpose of this study was to study the role of thymidylate synthetase (TYMS) and B-cell lymphoma-2 like 1 (BCL2L1) in the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer and its potential regulatory mechanism. Methods The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were analyzed to examine the expression and prognostic value of TYMS and BCL2L1 in colorectal cancer. C-BioPortal analysis was used to detect the TYMS and BCL2L1 alterations. Through The Human Protein Atlas (THPA), the TYMS and BCL2L1 protein levels were also assessed. The protein protein interaction (PPI) network was built using GeneMANIA analysis, while co-expression genes correlated with TYMS and BCL2L1 were identified using LinkedOmics analysis. Finally, we collected clinical samples to verify the expressions of TYMS and BCL2L1 in colorectal cancer. Results TYMS and BCL2L1 were up-regulated, and TYMS and BCL2L1 genomic alterations were not associated with the occurrence of colorectal cancer. TYMS and BCL2L1 were significantly connected with the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients. The genes interacted with TYMS and BCL2L1 were linked to functional networks involving pathway of apoptosis, apoptosis-multiple species, colorectal cancer, platinum drug resistance and p53 signaling pathway. qRT-PCR verification results of TYMS were consistent with the result of TCGA and GEO analysis. Conclusions This study display that data mining can efficiently provide information on expression of TYMS and BCL2L1, correlated genes of TYMS and BCL2L1, core pathways and potential functional networks in colorectal cancer, suggesting that TYMS and BCL2L1 may become new prognostic and therapeutic targets for colorectal cancer.
Chemical Compositions and Physico-chemical Properties of Three Varieties Essential oils of Cymbopogon giganteus Growing to the Spontaneous State in Benin

Cymbopogon giganteus (Hochst.) Chiov. , Cymbopogon nardus (L.) Rendle and Cymbopogon schoen anthus (L.) Sprend. Ssp. Proximus (Hochtst. Ex A. Rich.) Maire & Weiler plants are highly aromatic and reputed in traditional medicine in Benin. Physico-chemical studies and chemical composition of the essential oils (EO) extracted from the leaves of the three plants were realized by gas chromatography connected to a flame ionization detector (GC/FID) and by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry(GC/MS). The major compounds (> 10%), marking the chemical profile of each of the essential oils studied, independently of the botanical variety considered, are constitued by the piperitone( 62.9%), geraniol (29.9-34.5%), citronellal (27.9-32.3%), limonene (10.8%-19.4%), cis-mentha-1(7),8-dien-2-ol (18.4%), trans-mentha-1(7),8dien-2-ol (17.0-19.9%), carvotanacetone (17.9%), trans-p-mentha-2,8-dien-1-ol(12.0-17.4%), cisdihydrocarvone (10.1-17.2%), δ-2-carene (14.4%), myrtenol(11.9%)and citronellol(10.1-11.7%). The results of physico-chemical analyzes performed suggest a similarity between refractive index and density of the essential oil of Cymbopogon giganteus whose values are the highest. The values of the rotatory powers and acid index values did not remain homogeneous samples of essential oil of the same botanical species. They varied according to plant species studied and their origins.
Integrated Analysis of the Association Between Alzheimer`s Disease (AD) and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

Alzheimer`s Disease (AD), the sixth leading cause of death in the US, and cardiovascular disease (CVD), the first leading cause of death in the US, are frequently associated. Past studies hypothesize that amyloid deposits damage organs, causing this association. Examining how vascular factors can influence AD pathogenesis can help in understanding the link between the blood to the brain, which can provide alternative paths of exploration for disease treatment. This study analyzes gene expression and shared biological processes between AD and CVD, specifically myocardial infarction and heart failure, via bioinformatic approaches and published datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). First, 73 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified among four datasets using blood samples from AD and CVD patients. Panther`s Gene Ontology Analysis validated several biological processes such as xylulose biosynthetic process and toll-like receptor TLR1:TLR2 signaling pathway along with molecular functions, cellular components, and pathways to be significantly enriched in the list of 73 DEGs. Analysis of protein-protein interactions and the associated gene network indicated that from the list of 73 DEGs, only six (MAPK14, TLR2, HCK, GRB2, PRKCD, PTPN6) had eight or more degrees. Next, those six genes were identified in a normalized dataset containing different brain regions of AD and non-AD patients. Two-sample t-tests for differences in mean showed statistically significant differences in GRB2 and PRKCD, supporting a blood-brain relationship in the association between AD and CVD. This study can help in developing new medications to target AD and CVD susceptible genes.
In vitro toxicological assessment of flumethrin’s effects on MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Pyrethroid pesticides are frequently used for household insect control of insects and in agriculture and livestock. Flumethrin is a pyrethroid that is used against ectoparasites in many animals. The goal of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic, apoptotic, genotoxic, and estrogenic effects of flumethrin on the mammalian breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Compared with control groups, a dose-dependent decrease was observed in cell viability at concentrations of 100 µM and higher. The cytotoxic and apoptotic effects detected by LDH assay and AO/EtBr staining increased significantly at a concentration of 1000 µM. The expression of BCL2, which is an anti-apoptotic gene, significantly decreased, whereas BAX, TP53, and P21 expression significantly increased. The results of a comet assay indicated that flumethrin significantly changed tail length, tail % DNA, tail moment, and Olive tail moment in concentrations above 1 and 10 µM. In addition, a 0.1 µM concentration of flumethrin affected ERα receptor mediated cell proliferation and increased transcription of estrogen-responsive pS2 (TFF1) and progesterone receptor (PGR) genes. As a result, flumethrin-induced apoptosis and cytotoxicity at a high concentration, while induced genotoxicity even at lower concentrations. Flumethrin is an endocrine disrupting insecticide with estrogenic effects at very low concentrations.
Dental Care Use, Edentulism, and Systemic Health among Older Adults

Past research suggests there are systematic associations between oral health and chronic illness among older adults. Although causality has not yet been credibly established, periodontitis has been found to be associated with higher risk of both heart disease and stroke. We advance this literature by estimating the direct association between dental care use and systemic health using multiple waves of the 1992 to 2016 Health and Retirement Study. Through the inclusion of individual fixed effects in our regression models, we account for unobservable time-invariant characteristics of individuals that might otherwise bias estimates of the association between dental care use and health. We find statistically significant negative associations between dental care use and the number of health conditions, self-reported overall health, the incidence of heart disease, and the incidence of stroke. In particular, the use of dental care within the past 2 y is associated with a 2.7% reduction in the likelihood of being diagnosed with a heart condition and a reduction in the likelihood of a stroke diagnosis of between 5.3% and 11.6%. We also find large positive correlations between edentulism and the measures of chronic illness. Associations from models estimated separately for men and women are qualitatively similar to one another. These findings provide additional motivation for the consideration of a Medicare dental benefit.
Prenatal diagnosis of isolated perimembranous ventricular septal defects undergoing primary surgical repair in infancy

Abstract Objective We retrospectively analyzed our center’s experience with the prenatal diagnosis of isolated perimembranous ventricular septal defects that underwent primary surgical repair in infancy. Methods We identified patients born in Southern Nevada, between October 2012 and October 2020, with prenatal care that underwent surgical closure of an isolated large perimembranous ventricular septal defect between 1 and 12 months of age. The description at surgery defined ventricular septal defect morphology. We included only those with situs solitus, levocardia without dextroposition, and without any other cardiovascular abnormality. We analyzed prenatal detection rates for each of the eight years. Results We identified 81 patients. Of the 81, 35 (43%) had trisomy 21. We identified no other aneuploidies in those that underwent surgical repair; however, 1 had a 15q13.3 deletion syndrome, and 1 had a 22 q11.2 deletion syndrome. Of the 81, 27 (33%) overall were prenatally diagnosed. Increasing prenatal detection rates strongly correlated with time (R = 0.92, p = .002). Conclusions Trisomy 21 is common in isolated perimembranous ventricular septal defects undergoing primary repair in infancy. Further, prenatal detection rates significantly improved over time, up to 65% detection in the current years.
Discussing overweight in dogs during a regular consultation in general practice in the Netherlands

Abstract In previous studies, it has been demonstrated that, similar to general practitioners, veterinarians find it difficult to discuss overweight in dogs. This study aimed to provide insight in the barriers and motivators for veterinarians to discuss overweight in dogs and to compare the results with findings from human medicine. Sub‐hypotheses were postulated based on existing literature to investigate if lack of time, fear of offending clients, or lack of skills were potential barriers, and if feeling responsible and feeling compassion were potential motivators for veterinarians to discuss overweight in dogs. To this end, an online survey (n = 59) was conducted. Furthermore, 15 small animal clinicians working in general practice were interviewed by semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews. Results from the online survey indicated that veterinarians find it sometimes difficult to discuss overweight in dogs. Veterinarians who responded to the online survey did not experience strong barriers but did make use of motivators (e.g. feeling responsible and feeling compassion) when discussing overweight in dogs. Interestingly, results from the semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews showed that the responding veterinarians did experience strong barriers, as well as motivators, when discussing overweight in dogs with their clients. The most prominent barrier was customer dissatisfaction, whereas lack of time and lack of skills were also experienced. The most prominent motivator was feeling responsible for animal health and preventive veterinary medicine. These findings were strikingly similar to previous research on discussing childhood overweight by general practitioners. To improve treatment and prevention of overweight in dogs, veterinarians need more communication skills and should be more aware of the motivators that drive their self‐motivation. Improving awareness on overweight and its comorbidities should be a One Health issue.
Plug-related canaliculitis: a rare or underdiagnosed disease?

ABSTRACT Clinical relevance Conjunctivitis, chalazion and blepharitis are routinely managed by optometrists. However, it is especially important to consider the diagnosis of canaliculitis in patients with chronic or recurrent conditions. Background This study aimed to report the clinical features, radiological findings and treatment outcomes in patients with plug-related canaliculitis. Methods This retrospective study included patients with canaliculitis secondary to plug insertion between 2007 and 2020. All data regarding epidemiological characteristics, clinical presentation, isolated microorganisms, computed tomography imaging findings, treatment, and outcomes were analysed. Results A total of 20 plug-related canaliculitis from 19 patients (18.3%) among all 109 cases of canaliculitis were identified. All patients with plug-related canaliculitis were females with a past history of lacrimal plug insertion for dry eye (mean age: 58.2 years). Most patients were initially treated as conjunctivitis with the mean time lapse to a diagnosis of 5.2 months. The average time from plug insertion to onset of symptoms was 5.1 years. Eighteen patients underwent canaliculotomy, and one patient received lacrimal irrigation. Plugs were identified in 18 cases, with SmartPlug in 13 cases (72%), followed by EaglePlugTM (two cases), Herrick Lacrimal Plug (two cases), and migrated FCI Painless Plug (1 case). Cultures of discharge, concretions, and/or infected plugs mostly revealed Pseudomonas aeruginosa (42%). Orbital computed tomography in four cases with SmartPlug revealed central radiolucency with surrounding soft-tissue enhancement. No recurrent canaliculitis was observed throughout a mean follow-up period of 13.7 months. No patient needed re-plugging after canaliculotomy and plug removal, with only one required additional lubricants for recurrent dry eye. Conclusion Plug-related canaliculitis is often underdiagnosed due to late onset and similar symptoms to common ocular diseases. Awareness of plug insertion history as well as meticulous removal of the plug, concretion and/or granulation tissue is important for early diagnosis and to ensure a good outcome.
Applications of simple and accessible methods for meta-analysis involving rare events: A simulation study

Meta-analysis of clinical trials targeting rare events face particular challenges when the data lack adequate number of events and are susceptible to high levels of heterogeneity. The standard meta-analysis methods (DerSimonian Laird (DL) and Mantel–Haenszel (MH)) often lead to serious distortions because of such data sparsity. Applications of the methods suited to specific incidence and heterogeneity characteristics are lacking, thus we compared nine available methods in a simulation study. We generated 360 meta-analysis scenarios where each considered different incidences, sample sizes, between-study variance (heterogeneity) and treatment allocation. We include globally recommended methods such as inverse-variance fixed/random-effect (IV-FE/RE), classical-MH, MH-FE, MH-DL, Peto, Peto-DL and the two extensions for MH bootstrapped-DL (bDL) and Peto-bDL. Performance was assessed on mean bias, mean error, coverage and power. In the absence of heterogeneity, the coverage and power when combined revealed small differences in meta-analysis involving rare and very rare events. The Peto-bDL method performed best, but only in smaller sample sizes involving rare events. For medium-to-larger sample sizes, MH-bDL was preferred. For meta-analysis involving very rare events, Peto-bDL was the best performing method which was sustained across all sample sizes. However, in meta-analysis with 20% or more heterogeneity, the coverage and power were insufficient. Performance based on mean bias and mean error was almost identical across methods. To conclude, in meta-analysis of rare binary outcomes, our results suggest that Peto-bDL is better in both rare and very rare event settings in meta-analysis with limited sample sizes. However, when heterogeneity is large, the coverage and power to detect rare events are insufficient. Whilst this study shows that some of the less studied methods appear to have good properties under sparse data scenarios, further work is needed to assess them against the more complex distributional-based methods to understand their overall performances.
Digital delivery of non-pharmacological intervention programmes for people living with dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impeded face-to-face health and social care delivery for people living with dementia and their carers. Interruption of meaningful activity engagement along with increased social isolation is known to be associated with loss of skills, increased loneliness, physical deterioration and decline in cognition and mood in people with dementia. To ensure continuity of care for people living with dementia, for whom multimodal, non-pharmacological intervention programmes were being provided, there was an urgent need to adopt a remote delivery model. Guidance on digitally delivered assessment and care specific to non-pharmacological interventions for dementia is lacking. Adoption of technology-enabled care for people with dementia requires overcoming barriers to technology use, adaptation of therapeutic guidelines, adaptation of communication methods and carer support. Despite these challenges, therapists successfully transitioned from in-person to digital delivery of therapeutic interventions with associated benefits of continued meaningful activity engagement discussed.
Impact of group transdiagnostic cognitive-behavior therapy for anxiety disorders on comorbid diagnoses: Results from a pragmatic randomized clinical trial in primary care.

BACKGROUND Anxiety and depressive disorders are the most common mental illnesses worldwide, with most individuals meeting criteria for more than one diagnosis. Most cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) approaches target only one disorder at a time, resulting in the need to treat comorbid diagnoses sequentially. Transdiagnostic CBT protocols have been developed that simultaneously treat principal and comorbid disorders. METHOD The current study reports on a secondary analysis of data from a pragmatic effectiveness randomized trial of group tCBT in comparison to treatment-as-usual (TAU) in primary care. Of the trial sample of 231 patients, 191 had at least one comorbid diagnosis of clinical severity at T0. RESULTS Overall rates of comorbidity decreased over time (82.0% at T0, 45.0% at T1, 45.7% at T3) and those receiving tCBT showed a significantly lower rate of comorbidity at T1 (33.7%) than TAU (55.7%) and at T3 (tCBT: 27.9%, TAU: 60.2%). Comorbid diagnosis severity ratings reduced to a significantly greater extent in tCBT than in TAU. CONCLUSIONS tCBT is effective in promoting remission of and reducing the severity of comorbid diagnoses. Implications for the treatment of whole persons as opposed to specific diagnoses is discussed.