Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optic Nerve Parameters and Cognitive Function in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort Eye Study

ABSTRACT Purpose The optic nerve head (ONH) is a part of the brain that can be easily studied through the transparent medium of the eye. We explored the relationship between the properties of the optic nerve head, the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and cognitive function. Methods Participants of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC) 1966 underwent an ophthalmic and cognitive assessment after randomization at age 46. The ophthalmological parameters obtained were the disc area and the neuroretinal rim volume of the ONH and the average RNFL thickness. The surrogates used for cognitive function were the paired associates learning test (PAL), level of education, grade point average (GPA) and Humphrey 24–2 perimetric test time (HFA). We did exploratory research between the ophthalmological parameters and the surrogates for cognition and the correlations between the surrogates for cognition. Results We found that a larger disc area was associated with a higher level of education, faster accomplishment of the HFA (R = −0.065) but a lower GPA (R = −0.084). An increase in neuroretinal rim volume was associated with fewer errors in the PAL test (R = −0.056), higher level of education, higher GPA (R = 0.072) and faster accomplishment of the HFA (R = −0.047). A thicker RNFL was associated with faster accomplishment of the HFA (R = −0.047). Conclusion We were able to find statistically significant associations between the parameters of the optic nerve head, the RNFL and cognition in the NFBC Eye study. However, the correlations were negligible at best and of limited predictive value.
Identification of Deep Brain Stimulation Targets for Neuropathic Pain After Spinal Cord Injury Using Localized Increases in White Matter Fiber Cross-Section.

OBJECTIVES The spinal cord injury (SCI) patient population is overwhelmingly affected by neuropathic pain (NP), a secondary condition for which therapeutic options are limited and have a low degree of efficacy. The objective of this study was to identify novel deep brain stimulation (DBS) targets that may theoretically benefit those with NP in the SCI patient population. We hypothesize that localized changes in white matter identified in SCI subjects with NP compared to those without NP could be used to develop an evidence-based approach to DBS target identification. MATERIALS AND METHODS To classify localized neurostructural changes associated with NP in the SCI population, we compared white matter fiber density (FD) and cross-section (FC) between SCI subjects with NP (N = 17) and SCI subjects without NP (N = 15) using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We then identified theoretical target locations for DBS using fiber bundles connected to significantly altered regions of white matter. Finally, we used computational models of DBS to determine if our theoretical target locations could be used to feasibly activate our fiber bundles of interest. RESULTS We identified significant increases in FC in the splenium of the corpus callosum in pain subjects when compared to controls. We then isolated five fiber bundles that were directly connected to the affected region of white matter. Our models were able to predict that our fiber bundles of interest can be feasibly activated with DBS at reasonable stimulation amplitudes and with clinically relevant implantation approaches. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, we identified neuroarchitectural changes associated with NP in the SCI cohort and implemented a novel, evidence-driven target selection approach for DBS to guide future research in neuromodulation treatment of NP after SCI.
Acceleration of the Rate of Silver Nanoparticle Formation Using Microbubbles in a Sonochemical Process

The effect of the addition of microbubbles on the formation of silver nanoparticles produced in an ultrasonic radiation-mediated process was investigated. The addition of microbubbles with an area-based median diameter of 26.0 µm and a bubble volume density of 0.18 cm3/L significantly increased the silver nanoparticle formation rate during the sonochemical process. The size distribution of the silver nanoparticles was largely unaffected by the addition of the microbubbles. The influence of changes in the microbubble volume density on the formation of the silver nanoparticles was also investigated; it was confirmed that the rate of formation of the silver nanoparticles increased moderately with increasing volume density. The gradient in absorption spectra was approximately 30 times larger for the case when microbubbles (median diameter: 28.3 µm) were added at 0.74 cm3/L, compared with the case without microbubbles. The results suggested that the microbubbles provided reaction sites similar to cavitation bubbles in the ultrasonic reaction.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Ketamine, and Combination Treatment for Depression: Impressions of Credibility in Participants with Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms

ABSTRACT Ketamine, a novel treatment for depression, has generated considerable interest and research. Few experiments address lay impressions of the credibility of ketamine treatment relative to another popular intervention for depression, CBT. Over 500 participants with depressive symptoms read descriptions of CBT, ketamine, and a treatment that combined the two. Descriptions included pros and cons of each approach. Participants found the combination treatment more credible than ketamine but no better than CBT alone. They rated the credibility of CBT alone significantly higher than ketamine alone. Participants with psychotherapy experience tended to view ketamine as less credible than those who did not report previous psychotherapy. Depression scores did not covary with credibility ratings for any treatment. Despite media coverage and Internet claims, potential clients are cautious about ketamine. These results suggest that providing descriptions of treatments might help reveal important information about their credibility to potential clients. Extended work assessing impressions of many approaches to the treatment of psychopathology and other problems appears justifiable. Given established links between credibility and treatment outcome, additional research on individual differences in perceptions of ketamine and varied treatments for depression seems warranted.
An intelligent bioreactor system for the cultivation of a bioartificial vascular graft

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death, accounting for 31% of deaths worldwide. As purely synthetic grafts implicate concomitant anticoagulation and autologous veins are rare, tissue‐engineered vascular grafts are urgently needed. For successful in vitro cultivation of a bioartificial vascular graft, the suitable bioreactor should provide conditions comparable to vasculogenesis in the body. Such a system has been developed and characterized under continuous and pulsatile flow, and a variety of sensors has been integrated into the bioreactor to control parameters such as temperature, pressure up to 500 mbar, glucose up to 4.5 g/L, lactate, oxygen up to 150 mbar, and flow rate. Wireless data transfer (using the ZigBee specification based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard) and multiple corresponding sensor signal processing platforms have been implemented as well. Ultrasound is used for touchless monitoring of the growing vascular structure as a quality control before implantation (maximally achieved ultrasound resolution 65 μm at 15 MHz). To withstand the harsh conditions of steam sterilization (120°C for 20 min), all electronics were encapsulated. With such a comprehensive physiologically conditioning, sensing, and imaging bioreactor system, all the requirements for a successful cultivation of vascular grafts are available now.
Treatment Patterns and Clinical Outcomes After the Introduction of the Medicare Sepsis Performance Measure (SEP-1)

BACKGROUND Medicare requires that hospitals report on their adherence to the Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle (SEP-1). OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of SEP-1 on treatment patterns and patient outcomes. DESIGN Longitudinal study of hospitals using repeated cross-sectional cohorts of patients. SETTING 11 hospitals within an integrated health system. PATIENTS 54 225 encounters between January 2013 and December 2017 for adults with sepsis who were hospitalized through the emergency department. INTERVENTION Onset of the SEP-1 reporting requirement in October 2015. MEASUREMENTS Changes in SEP-1-targeted processes, including antibiotic administration, lactate measurement, and fluid administration at 3 hours from sepsis onset; repeated lactate and vasopressor administration for hypotension within 6 hours of sepsis onset; and sepsis outcomes, including risk-adjusted intensive care unit (ICU) admission, in-hospital mortality, and home discharge among survivors. RESULTS Two years after its implementation, SEP-1 was associated with variable changes in process measures, with the greatest effect being an increase in lactate measurement within 3 hours of sepsis onset (absolute increase, 23.7 percentage points [95% CI, 20.7 to 26.7 percentage points]; P < 0.001). There were small increases in antibiotic administration (absolute increase, 4.7 percentage points [CI, 1.9 to 7.6 percentage points]; P = 0.001) and fluid administration of 30 mL/kg of body weight within 3 hours of sepsis onset (absolute increase, 3.4 percentage points [CI, 1.5 to 5.2 percentage points]; P < 0.001). There was no change in vasopressor administration. There was a small increase in ICU admissions (absolute increase, 2.0 percentage points [CI, 0 to 4.0 percentage points]; P = 0.055) and no changes in mortality (absolute change, 0.1 percentage points [CI, -0.9 to 1.1 percentage points]; P = 0.87) or discharge to home. LIMITATION Data are from a single health system. CONCLUSION Implementation of the SEP-1 mandatory reporting program was associated with variable changes in process measures, without improvements in clinical outcomes. Revising the measure may optimize its future effect. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR QUANTITATIVE MASS SPECTROMETRY DATA ANALYSIS AND ITS APPLICATION TO DISCOVERY BASED PROTEOMICS IN C. ELEGANS

My research initially began with the goal of identifying substrates of the C. elegans protein tyrosine phosphatase ptp-3 through the use of quantitative mass spectrometry. To identify substrates of ptp-3, we employed stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) labeling of C. elegans to detect changes in the phosphorylation levels of a C. elegans ptp-3 knockout strain as compared to wild type. This strategy was employed because we rationalized that by removing a phosphatase, the phosphorylation levels of its substrates would increase. Therefore, phosphopeptides that are more abundant in the mutant can be inferred as either direct or indirect substrates of the phosphatase. However, after initial experiments it was discovered that C. elegans metabolized one of the SILAC labels, arginine, into other amino acids, resulting in a dataset that could not be accurately analyzed by existing applications. Thus, to salvage the data I built a program, PyQuant, that was capable of processing the mass spectrometry data and capable of accurately quantifying the SILAC data from C. elegans. Through the use of PyQuant, over 60,000 phosphopeptides were quantified, as compared to ~12,000 quantified by a another program, Proteome Discoverer. Following this, we realized that PyQuant could be easily adapted to address many shortcomings of quantitative mass spectrometry data analysis. This work focuses on the development of PyQuant and how it drastically increases the proportion of quantified mass spectrometry data and enables advanced data analysis. Lastly, we show how
Economic evaluation of workplace health promotion interventions focused on Lifestyle: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIM To identify and evaluate randomized clinical trials focusing on economic evaluation of workplace health promotion (WHP) interventions based on healthy lifestyles, physical activity and nutrition. DESIGN A systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out between March and May 2019, following the PRISMA statement. DATA SOURCES The literature search was conducted on Cochrane Library, Scopus, WOS and Medline databases. REVIEW METHODS The quality appraisal included the overall risk of bias (Cochrane Collaboration tool), the quality of the evidence (GRADEpro) and the quality of the health economic analysis (QHES instrument). RESULTS Of the 15 studies selected, 3 were interventions based on nutrition, 11 were focused on lifestyle and only one on physical activity. Given the heterogeneity of included studies, it was decided to do a subgroup analysis. For the weight loss (n = 5 studies), a general increase of 0.56 Kg (95% CI = 0.76, 0.84) I2 = 99.41%, and for the Quality-adjusted Life Years achieved (n = 5 studies) a very small increase of 0.003 (95% CI = 0.002, 0.004) I2 = 99.25%, were observed. CONCLUSIONS The implementation of lifestyle interventions in the workplace has proven to be cost-effective for both employers and society. IMPACT What problem did the study address? There are few studies aimed at evaluating the efficiency of WHP interventions. However, those that identify and assessing interventions related to lifestyle are particularly scarce, despite the evidence showing that these researchers improve the quality of care of occupational health. What were the main findings? This systematic review demonstrates the effectiveness of the WHP interventions, and in some cases, the efficiency of these interventions for both employers and society. Additional research in this area is necessary as well as the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of such interventions. Where and on whom will the research have an impact? To know the cost-benefit of different WHP interventions allows more efficient management of resources, which helps to make political and business decisions, becoming healthier and safer workplaces.
Effect of dietary treatment and fluid intake on the prevention of recurrent calcium stones and changes in urine composition: A meta-analysis and systematic review

To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for investigating the effect of dietary treatment and fluid intake on the prevention of recurrent calcium stones and changes in urine composition. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, EBSCO, and Cochrane Library databases (updated November 2020) were searched for studies with the following keywords: diet, fluid, recurrent, prevention, randomized controlled trials, and nephrolithiasis. The search strategy and study selection process was conducted by following the PRISMA statement. Six RCTs were identified for satisfying the inclusion criteria and enrolled in this meta-analysis. Our result showed that low protein with or without high fiber diet intervention does not decrease the recurrence of stone upon comparing with control groups (RR = 2.32, 95% CI = 0.42–12.85; P = 0.34) with significant heterogeneity among the studies (I2 = 81%, P = 0.02). But normal-calcium, low protein, low-salt diet had recurrences did reduced the recurrence compared to normal-calcium diet. And the fluid intake has a positive effect on prevention of recurrent stone formation (RR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.19–0.80; P = 0.01) with insignificant heterogeneity among the studies (I2 = 9%, P = 0.30). The different components of urine at baseline were reported in four studies. Upon reviewing the low protein with or without high fiber dietary therapy groups, it was found that there were no obvious changes in the 24-hour urine sodium, calcium, citrate, urea, and sulfate. In conclusion, our study shows that the only low protein with or without fiber does not affect recurrence, but low Na, normal Ca diet has a marked effect on reducing recurrence of calcium stone. And fluid intake shows a significant reduction in the recurrence of calcium stone.
Attentional Bias Toward Reproduction-Related Stimuli and Fertility Concerns Among Breast Cancer Survivors

Abstract The current study examined whether an attentional bias exists for reproduction-related visual cues among breast cancer survivors and its relationship with fertility concerns and emotional distress. Breast cancer survivors (n = 38) aged 18–40 were compared to 37 healthy women recruited from the general population. Attentional bias was investigated using a visual dot-probe task and response times (RT) were measured. Participants also completed several questionnaires, including the Reproductive Concerns After Cancer Scale (RCACS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Biased cognitive processing toward reproduction-related stimuli was observed for all young women. However, attentional bias was a significant predictor of concerns about partner disclosure of fertility status, with higher bias scores associated with higher levels of concern only for breast cancer survivors. The desire to have a (or another) biological child was also a significant predictor of higher concerns related with fertility potential for all young women. Higher vigilance regarding reproduction-related cues seems to lead to higher concerns among women with breast cancer history whose fertility is threatened. This result may have important research and clinical implications. Interventions focused on goal-oriented attention self-regulation and problem-solving can help to manage fertility concerns and distress in the course of the disease.
Consensus for Second-Order Discrete-Time Agents With Position Constraints and Delays

This article addresses a consensus problem of second-order discrete-time agents in general directed networks with nonuniform position constraints, switching topologies, and communication delays. A projection operation is performed to ensure the agents stay in some given convex sets, and a distributed algorithm is employed for the consensus achievement of all agents. The analysis approach is to use a linear transformation to convert the original system into an equivalent system and then merge the nonlinear error term into the convex null of the agents’ states so as to prove the consensus convergence of the system based on the properties of the non-negative matrices. It is shown that all agents finally converge to a consensus point while their positions stay in the corresponding constraint sets as long as the union of the communication graphs among each certain time interval is strongly connected even when the communication delays are considered. Finally, numerical simulation examples are given to show the theoretical results.
The clinical potential of prm-PASEF mass spectrometry

ABSTRACT Introduction The continuous technical improvement in sensitivity and specificity placed mass spectrometry as an alternative method for analyzing clinical samples. In parallel to the rapid development of discovery proteomics, targeted acquisition has been implemented as a complementary option for measuring a small set of proteins with high sensitivity and robustness in a large sample cohort. The combination of trapped ion mobility with a rapid time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer improves the sensitivity even further and triggers the development of prm-PASEF. Areas covered This article discusses the development of prm-PASEF and its advantages over the existing targeted and discovery methods for analyzing clinical samples. We are also highlighting the different requirements for the use of prm-PASEF on clinical samples. Expert opinion prm-PASEF takes advantage of a dual ion-mobility trap enabling highly multiplexed targeted acquisition. It allows the implementation of a short chromatographic separation setup without sacrificing the number of targeted peptides. Analyzing clinical samples by prm-PASEF holds the promise to significantly improve throughput while maintaining sensitivity to detect the selected target proteins.
Frailty and Quality of Life After Cochlear Implantation in Older Adults

Objective To examine the relationship among frailty index, hearing measures, and hearing-related quality of life (QOL) in older recipients of cochlear implants. Study Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Academic medical center. Methods Adults aged ≥65 years at the time of receiving cochlear implants between July 13, 2000, and April 3, 2019, were asked to complete a questionnaire on hearing-related QOL. Chart review was performed to identify patients’ characteristics. Correlations were calculated between frailty index and audiologic outcome measures as well as between speech recognition scores and QOL scores. Linear regression models were developed to examine the impact of clinical characteristics, frailty index, and hearing measures on hearing-related QOL. Results Data for 143 respondents were included. The mean age was 80.7 years (SD, 7.1), with a mean 27.8 years of hearing loss (SD, 17.4) before implantation. The mean frailty index was 11.1 (SD, 10.6), indicating that patients had 1 or 2 of the measured comorbidities on average. No correlation was found between lower frailty index (better health) and hearing scores, including pure tone averages (PTAs) and speech recognition scores. Lower frailty index and larger improvement in PTA after cochlear implantation predicted better QOL scores on univariate analysis (respectively, P = .002, β = −0.42 [95% CI, −0.68 to −0.16]; P = .008, β = −0.15 [95% CI, −0.26 to −0.04]) and multivariate analysis (P = .047, β = −0.28 [95% CI, −0.55 to −0.01]; P = .006, β = −0.16 [95% CI, −0.28 to −0.05]). No speech recognition scores correlated with QOL after cochlear implantation. Conclusions Frailty index does not correlate with hearing scores after cochlear implantation in older adults. Lower frailty index and more improvement in PTA predict better QOL scores after cochlear implantation in older adults.
Strategic Topological Formation for Wireless Control Systems

The excessive use of nodes and communication links in a wireless control system (WCS) causes unnecessary utilization of resources. In this article, a strategic topological formation is studied for a WCS, where a previously proposed topology consisting of a plant system, a controller system, and an intermediate network system is further developed. More specifically, this article presents a modeling framework and a design procedure for the topology that results in the utilization of a reduced number of nodes and communication links. It also discusses several conditions for the connectivity of the nodes under different topological scenarios. This article uses a four-tank process system as an application example to demonstrate the strategic topological formation of its WCS.
Sources of individual differences in adults’ ICT skills: A large-scale empirical test of a new guiding framework

We develop an integrative conceptual framework that seeks to explain individual differences in the ability to use information and communication technologies (ICT skills). Building on practice engagement theory, this framework views the continued usage of digital technologies at work and in everyday life (ICT use) as the key prerequisite for the acquisition of ICT skills. At the same time, the framework highlights that ICT use is itself contingent upon individual and contextual preconditions. We apply this framework to data from two recent German large-scale studies (N = 2,495 and N = 2,786, respectively) that offer objective measures of adults’ ICT skills. Findings support our framework’s view of ICT use as a key prerequisite for ICT skills. Moreover, they demonstrate that literacy skills have strong associations with ICT skills, largely by virtue of their indirect associations through ICT use. By comparison, regional digital cultures (as proxied by internet domain registration rates) evince only limited explanatory power for individual differences in ICT skills.