Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inefficient resource allocation is associated with reduced alpha activity in parietal regions in individuals with Parkinson’s disease

The brain's ability to act as an input filter and to suppress actions is crucial to navigate everyday life and impairments in these abilities affect quality of life substantially. Although Parkinson's disease (PD) is primarily known as a movement disorder, recent research has redefined it as a multisystem disorder affecting cognition, in particular inhibitory control and attentional resource allocation. Analysing the neural mechanisms underlying this cognitive deficit provides a better understanding of brain changes observed in patients affected by PD. Therefore, this study aimed to identify resource allocation to relevant and irrelevant stimuli in patients affected by PD. Besides neuropsychological tests, we employed electroencephalographic recordings during an auditory oddball paradigm in 13 patients suffering from idiopathic PD and 11 healthy controls (HC). Participants were instructed to ignore the standard stimulus and to respond as fast as possible to the rarely presented target tone. Event‐related potentials (ERP) and time‐frequency representations (TFR) were analyzed. Patients affected by PD showed faster response latencies to the task‐irrelevant standard tones, but slower response latencies to target tones compared to HC. This observation was prominent at frontal sites during later P3‐like processing stages. Reaction time, however, was prolonged in patients with PD, suggesting inefficient resource allocation. Additionally, TFR revealed reduced parietal alpha activity, which is associated with distractor suppression and functional inhibition in patients with PD compared to healthy controls. Thus, our results point towards inefficient resource allocation in patients with PD possibly driven by less functional inhibition through parietal alpha activity.
Restocking of Anabarilius grahami in Lake Fuxian, Southwest China: morphological and genetic effects

The restocking of the endangered Kanglang white minnow (Anabarilius grahami) in Lake Fuxian, China, has been conducted for 13 years. However, few studies have reported on the effectiveness of the captive breeding and release of this species. Here, we investigated variations in morphology, including body shape and skeletal deformities, and genetic features among hatchery-born and recaptured A. grahami from Lake Fuxian. Results showed that current hatchery-reared fish displayed a stubbier body shape than their wild conspecifics from the 1980s. Furthermore, high skeletal deformity ratios were found in two aquafarms (Luchong, 50%; Haikou, 45.2%), and the release of malformed fish elevated the skeletal deformity rate of wild stocks found near the Lake Fuxian release sites (west coast, 19.0%; east coast, 12.5%). Based on variations in the cytochrome b (cyt b) gene, existing A. grahami populations showed relatively high haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity. Hatchery populations exhibited reduced genetic variations based on microsatellite markers and reintroduction led to markedly lower genetic diversity around the west coast release sites of Lake Fuxian. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) of cyt b and microsatellite analysis showed that the greatest genetic variations were found within populations, and genetic distance and Bayesian clustering analysis showed that the 14 populations clustered into one group. Based on morphological and genetic tests, we discuss corresponding recommendations, including release size, feed formulations, breeding strategies, and release tags, to minimize potential risks and improve hatchery practices for better restocking of this species.
Performance of prediction models for COVID-19: the Caudine Forks of the external validation

Healthcare systems worldwide have observed significant changes to meet demands due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The uncertainty surrounding optimal treatment, the rapid public health urgency and clinical emergencies have caused a chaotic disruption of the cases and their related contacts at inpatient and outpatient settings. Developing more tailored healthcare plans based on the currently available scientific evidence, could help improve clinical efficacy, treatment outcomes, prognosis, and health efficiency. Existing evidence suggests that none of the COVID-19 prediction models can be supported for clinical use. Here we discuss “what next” in COVID-19 prediction. https://bit.ly/2SMtoLV
Identification of key customer requirements based on online reviews

Customer requirements are the essential driving force for successful product development. They can be grouped into several categories, including basic requirements, indifferent requirements, reverse requirements, expected requirements, and attractive requirements. Among these, the latter two are crucial for improving customer satisfaction and can be classified as key requirements. However, the literature on identifying key requirements suffers from issues related to subjective interference and the lack of a specific quantitative calculation process. Thus, this study proposes a model for identifying critical customer requirements. First, use Python to run the web crawler for extracting online customer reviews. Second, extract product engineering characteristics using the relevant text mining technology and latent Dirichlet allocation topic clustering algorithm. Third, we combine sentiment analysis and other factors that influence customer satisfaction with the product engineering characteristics to conduct the conjoint analysis and calculate utility values for the product engineering characteristics. Finally, integrate Kano model to formulate the requirements hierarchy rules, determine the final key requirements index, and identify the key customer requirements. And a case study implemented the key customer requirements identification problem for a smartphone to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
Viremia copy-years and risk of estimated glomerular filtration rate reduction in adults living with perinatal HIV infection

Among people with perinatal HIV infection (PHIV), non-communicable diseases, such as chronic kidney disease, are increasing. Both HIV replication and antiretroviral therapy are recognised causes of renal impairment. Objective of the study is to describe the impact of viremia copy-years (VCY) and antiretroviral therapy on trend of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in a cohort of adults with perinatal HIV infection. We conducted a multicentre observational study in sixty adults living with PHIV across a 9-year period, from January 2010 to December 2018. The mean values of eGFR were analysed at the first (T0) and last year of observation (T1). VCY was defined as the area under HIV-RNA curve during the study period. We analysed data according to antiretroviral therapy: tenofovir disoproxil (TDF), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), boosted protease inhibitors (PI/b), integrase inhibitors (INI). We observed a mean overall eGFR reduction from 126.6 mL/min (95%CI: 119.6–133.5) to 105.0 mL/min (95%CI: 99.55–110.6) (p<0.001). Older age, higher baseline eGFR, higher VCY and longer exposure to INI treatment were associated with eGFR reduction at univariate analysis. In the multivariate model, older age (p = 0.039), baseline eGFR (p<0.001) and VCY (p = 0.069), were retained. We also observed a longer exposure to PI/b and INI in patients with lower control on HIV-RNA, expressed as VCY>2 log10. Our study outlines a progressive eGFR reduction in young adults with PHIV, related to the lower control on HIV-RNA VCY and related to aging.
A comparative study of the application of two horse welfare assessment protocols

ABSTRACT Two assessment protocols for horse welfare were compared: the Swedish official protocol (OP) and a newly developed horse welfare assessment protocol (HWAP). The protocols differ in composition: the HWAP contains 20 animal-based (35.7%), 28 resource-based (50.0%) and 8 management-based (14.3%) measures whereas the OP has 4 animal-based (8.9%), 21-resource-based (46.7%), 16-management-based (35.6%) and 4-uncategorized measures (8.9%). The HWAP detected more welfare issues than the OP for 11 out of 12 welfare criteria. The OP took less time to assess (2–4 h) compared to the HWAP (3 h 20 min to 8 h 40 min). The added level of detail and more animal-based measures means that the HWAP provides a more thorough assessment of welfare of the individual animal than the OP.
Predicting smartphone location-sharing decisions through self-reflection on past privacy behavior

Smartphone location sharing is a particularly sensitive type of information disclosure that has implications for users’ digital privacy and security as well as their physical safety. To understand and predict location disclosure behavior, we developed an Android app that scraped metadata from users’ phones, asked them to grant the location-sharing permission to the app, and administered a survey. We compared the effectiveness of using self-report measures commonly used in the social sciences, behavioral data collected from users’ mobile phones, and a new type of measure that we developed, representing a hybrid of self-report and behavioral data to contextualize users’ attitudes toward their past location-sharing behaviors. This new type of measure is based on a reflective learning paradigm where individuals reflect on past behavior to inform future behavior. Based on data from 380 Android smartphone users, we found that the best predictors of whether participants granted the location-sharing permission to our app were: behavioral intention to share information with apps, the “FYI” communication style, and one of our new hybrid measures asking users whether they were comfortable sharing location with apps currently installed on their smartphones. Our novel, hybrid construct of self-reflection on past behavior significantly improves predictive power and shows the importance of combining social science and computational science approaches for improving the prediction of users’ privacy behaviors. Further, when assessing the construct validity of the Behavioral Intention construct drawn from previous location-sharing research, our data showed a clear distinction between two different types of Behavioral Intention: self-reported intention to use mobile apps versus the intention to share information with these apps. This finding suggests that users desire the ability to use mobile apps without being required to share sensitive information, such as their location. These results have important implications for cybersecurity research and system design to meet users’ location-sharing privacy needs.
Effective coverage of medical treatment for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia in Japan: An analysis of National Health and Nutrition Surveys 2003–2017

Objective To examine trends in effective medical treatment coverage for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia in Japan, using a metric to assess effective coverage of health interventions derived from a health system performance assessment framework. Methods We obtained cross-sectional data for 96,863 individuals aged 40–74 years from the 15 annual Japanese National Health and Nutrition Surveys (2003–2017). We defined treatment need for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia as biomarkers equal to or greater than diagnostic thresholds or medication use. For individuals needing treatment, we conducted nearest-neighbour matching to estimate treatment effects and effective coverage, defined as the fraction of potential reductions in biomarkers actually achieved in treated individuals by medications. Results The age-standardized prevalence of treatment need for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia remained around 40%, 7% and 33%, respectively, in 2003–2017. Average treatment effects for those treated in 2013–2017 were 14.8 mmHg (95% confidence interval: 14.2–15.4) for systolic blood pressure, 1.2 percentage points (0.8–1.6) for haemoglobin A1c and 57.9 mg/dl (56.6–59.2) for non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Effective coverage significantly increased between 2003–2007 (hypertension: 48.4% [44.7–52.0], diabetes: 43.8% [35.7–51.8], dyslipidaemia: 86.3% [83.1–89.5]) and 2013–2017 (hypertension: 76.2% [74.2–78.2], diabetes: 74.7% [71.0–78.5], dyslipidaemia: 94.6% [93.3–95.9]). Conclusions Effective coverage of medical treatment for metabolic risk factors has increased. Most of the potential reductions in non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol have been achieved by statins. Further efforts are necessary to improve the effectiveness of antihypertensive and antidiabetic drugs.
Enhancing care for people living with HIV: current and future monitoring approaches

ABSTRACT Introduction Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the most significant advance in the medical management of HIV-1 infection. Given the fact that HIV cannot be eradicated from the body, ART has to be indefinitely maintained. New approaches need to be defined for monitoring HIV-infected individuals (PLWHIV), including clinical, virologic, immunological parameters and also ways to collect individual points of view and quality of life. Areas covered We discuss which tests may be used to improve the management of PLWHIV and respond to a comprehensive health demand. Expert opinion Viral load and CD4 counts are well-validated outcome measures and we still need them, but they do not completely depict the health status of PLWHIV. We need to better understand and to apply to clinical practice what happens in sanctuaries, what is the role of HIV DNA, what is the meaning of low-level viremia. Most of these questions do not yet have a definitive response. Further, we need to understand how to modify these variables in order to improve outcomes. Similar points may be raised for immunological measures and for tests exploring the tolerability of drugs. The goal must be the evolution from a viro/immunologic-based to a comprehensive quality-of-health-based evaluation of PLWHIV.
Responsiveness, minimal important difference, minimal 

relevant difference, and optimal number of patients for a study

Several terms are used to describe changes in PROM scores in relation to treatments. Whether the change is small, large, or relevant is defined in different ways, yet these change scores are used to recommend or oppose treatments. They are also used to calculate the necessary number of patients for a study. This article offers a theoretical explanation behind the terms responsiveness, minimal important difference (MID), minimal important change (MIC), minimal relevant difference (MIREDIF), and threshold of clinical importance. It also gives instructions on how these and the optimal number of patients for a study are calculated. Responses to two domains of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), before and 1 year after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament of 164 patients, are used to illustrate the calculations. This paper presents the most common methods used to calculate and interpret MID. Results vary substantially across domains, patient location on the scale, and health conditions. The optimal number of patients depends on the minimal relevant difference (MIREDIF), the standard error of the measure (SEM), the desired statistical power for the measurement, and the responsiveness of the measurement instrument (the PROM). There is often uncertainty surrounding the calculation and interpretation of responsiveness, MID, and MIREDIF, as these concepts are complex. When MID is used to evaluate research results, authors should specify how the MID was calculated, and its relevance for the study population. These measures should only be used after thorough consideration to justify healthcare decisions.
Quantification of Thioguanine in DNA Using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Routine Thiopurine Drug Monitoring in Patients With Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Background We developed an assay to measure DNA-incorporated 6-thioguanine (DNA-TG) and validated its clinical applicability in Korean pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in order to improve individualized thiopurine treatment and reduce the life-threatening cytotoxicity. Methods The DNA-TG assay was developed based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, with isotope-labeled TG-d3 and guanine-d3 as internal standards. This method was applied to 257 samples of pediatric ALL patients. The DNA-TG level was compared with erythrocyte TG nucleotide (RBC-TGN) level in relation to the TPMT and NUDT15 genotypes, which affect thiopurine metabolism, using Spearman’s rank test and repeated measure ANOVA. Results For DNA-TG quantification, a linearity range of 10.0-5,000.0 fmol TG/µg DNA; bias for accuracy of –10.4% –3.5%; coefficient of variation for intra- and inter-day precision of 3.4% and 5.8% at 80 fmol TG/µg DNA and of 4.9% and 5.3% at 800 fmol TG/µg DNA, respectively; and recovery of 85.7%–116.2% were achieved without matrix effects or carry-over. The median DNA-TG level in the 257 samples was 106.0 fmol TG/µg DNA (interquartile range, 75.8–150.9). There was a strong correlation between DNA-TG and RBC-TGN levels (ρ = 0.68, P < 0.0001). The DNA-TG/RBC-TGN ratio was significantly higher in NUDT15 intermediate metabolizers (*1/*2 and *1/*3) than in patients with wildtype alleles (P < 0.0001). Conclusions This simple and sensitive method for measuring DNA-TG level can improve therapeutic drug monitoring for thiopurine treatment.
Concussion Alters Dynamic Pupillary Light Responses in Children

Aim: To investigate the impact of concussion on pupillary function in children by examining pupillometric parameters and assessing for differences in children reporting photosensitivity. Methods: Retrospective chart review was performed of pediatric patients referred for visual symptoms after concussion from 2017 to 2018 seen in a single academic outpatient clinic. Pupillometry data of 92 patients were included. Outcomes were compared to normative pediatric data from the same institution by 2-sample t tests. The association between photosensitivity and each outcome was assessed by use of linear mixed models with photosensitivity as a fixed effect and random patient effect. Results: Outcomes of 181 eyes in 92 concussion patients were averaged by patient and compared to normative values in scotopic conditions. Concussion patients had an average age of 13.8 ± 2.64 years. Average constriction velocity (P = .0008), maximum constriction velocity (P = .0012), and average dilation velocity (P = .0034) were faster in concussion patients, whereas 75% recovery times (P = .0027) was increased. Photosensitivity did not significantly affect measured pupillary responses. Conclusion: Dynamic pupillary responses may be increased in pediatric concussion. Pupillometry may provide insight into the complex pathophysiological changes underlying pediatric concussion.
Low body weight and involuntary weight loss are associated with Raynaud’s phenomenon in both men and women

Objectives: Low body weight is an easily assessable cause of Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP), and is frequently overlooked by clinicians. We aim to investigate the association of low body weight (body mass index < 18.5 kg/m2), involuntary weight loss, and nutritional restrictions with the presence of RP. Method: Participants from the Lifelines Cohort completed a validated self-administered connective tissue disease questionnaire. Subjects who reported cold-sensitive fingers and biphasic or triphasic colour changes were considered to suffer from RP. Patient characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and nutritional habits were collected. Statistical analyses was stratified for gender. Results: Altogether, 93 935 participants completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of RP was 4.2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.1–4.4%], and was three-fold higher in women than in men (5.7% vs 2.1%, p < 0.001). Subjects with RP had a significantly lower daily caloric intake than those without RP. Multivariate analysis, correcting for creatinine level, daily caloric intake, and other known aetiological factors associated with RP, revealed that low body weight [men: odds ratio (OR) 5.55 (95% CI 2.82–10.93); women: 3.14 (2.40–4.10)] and involuntary weight loss [men: OR 1.32 (1.17–1.48); women: 1.31 (1.20–1.44)] were significantly associated with the presence of RP. Low-fat diet was also associated with RP in women [OR 1.27 (1.15–1.44)]. Conclusion: Low body weight and prior involuntary weight loss are associated with an increased risk of RP in both men and women. This study emphasizes that low body weight and weight loss are easily overlooked risk factors for RP, and should be assessed and monitored in subjects with RP.
Optimal Asynchronous Stabilization for Boolean Control Networks With Lebesgue Sampling

Using semitensor products (STPs) of matrices, sampled-data state-feedback control (SDSFC) with the Lebesgue sampling region <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {S}_{\tau }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is first considered to stabilize a Boolean control network (BCN) to a fixed point, under which a necessary and sufficient condition for stabilization is obtained when the considered BCN with the Lebesgue sampling region is converted to a switching system. Meanwhile, the corresponding asynchronous SDSFC gains are designed from a sequence of reachable sets. Then, an algorithm is shown to obtain the minimal number of controlling times and all states globally stabilize to the desired state with the fastest convergence rate under the minimal number of controlling times. Besides, the results have been extended to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Lebesgue sampling regions <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {S}_{\tau _{i}}, i=1,2,\ldots, p$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. And some results are presented for this situation, including the necessary and sufficient conditions stabilization under the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Lebesgue sampling regions, the asynchronous SDSFC gains, and the algorithm to obtain the optimal states sampling regions. Examples are listed to show the effectiveness of our results, and the biological example indicates that the SDSFC with Lebesgue sampling is also suitable for stochastic BCNs.