Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Smoking, asthma and airway microbial disruption

Background Normal airway microbial communities play a central role in respiratory health but are poorly characterized. Cigarette smoking is the dominant global environmental influence on lung function, and asthma has become the most prevalent chronic respiratory disease worldwide. Both conditions have major microbial components that are also poorly defined. Methods We investigated airway bacterial communities in a general population sample of 529 Australian adults. Posterior oropharyngeal swabs were analysed by sequencing of the 16S rRNA and methionine aminopeptidase genes. The microbiota were characterised according to their prevalence, abundance, and network memberships. Findings Microbial communities were similar across the population and were strongly organized into co-abundance networks. Smoking associated with diversity loss, negative effects on abundant taxa, profound alterations to network structure and expansion of Streptococcus spp. By contrast, the asthmatic microbiota were selectively affected by an increase in Neisseria spp. and by reduced numbers of low abundance but prevalent organisms. Interpretation Our study shows healthy airway microbiota are contained within a highly structured ecosystem, indicating balanced relationships between the microbiome and human host factors. The marked abnormalities in smokers may be pathogenic for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. The narrow spectrum of abnormalities in asthmatics encourages investigation of damaging and protective effects of specific bacteria. Funding The study was funded by the Asmarley Trust and a Wellcome Senior Investigator Award to WOCC and MFM (P46009). The Busselton Healthy Ageing Study is supported by the Government of Western Australia (Office of Science, Department of Health) the City of Busselton, and private donations.
Prospects for detecting early warning signals in discrete event sequence data: Application to epidemiological incidence data

Early warning signals (EWS) identify systems approaching a critical transition, where the system undergoes a sudden change in state. For example, monitoring changes in variance or autocorrelation offers a computationally inexpensive method which can be used in real-time to assess when an infectious disease transitions to elimination. EWS have a promising potential to not only be used to monitor infectious diseases, but also to inform control policies to aid disease elimination. Previously, potential EWS have been identified for prevalence data, however the prevalence of a disease is often not known directly. In this work we identify EWS for incidence data, the standard data type collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or World Health Organization (WHO). We show, through several examples, that EWS calculated on simulated incidence time series data exhibit vastly different behaviours to those previously studied on prevalence data. In particular, the variance displays a decreasing trend on the approach to disease elimination, contrary to that expected from critical slowing down theory; this could lead to unreliable indicators of elimination when calculated on real-world data. We derive analytical predictions which can be generalised for many epidemiological systems, and we support our theory with simulated studies of disease incidence. Additionally, we explore EWS calculated on the rate of incidence over time, a property which can be extracted directly from incidence data. We find that although incidence might not exhibit typical critical slowing down properties before a critical transition, the rate of incidence does, presenting a promising new data type for the application of statistical indicators. Author summary The threat posed by infectious diseases has a huge impact on our global society. It is therefore critical to monitor infectious diseases as new data become available during control campaigns. One obstacle in observing disease emergence or elimination is understanding what influences noise in the data and how this fluctuates when near to zero cases. The standard data type collected is the number of new cases per day/month/year but mathematical modellers often focus on data such as the total number of infectious people, due to its analytical properties. We have developed a methodology to monitor the standard type of data to inform whether a disease is approaching emergence or disease elimination. We have shown computationally how fluctuations change as disease data get closer towards a tipping point and our insights highlight how these observed changes can be strikingly different when calculated on different types of data.
Exercise Interventions for Survivors of Cancer Living in Rural or Remote Settings: A Scoping Review

Background: Survivors of cancer who are considered “hard to reach” have less engagement in survivorship programming and lower overall health status, well-being, quality of life, and survival. These include individuals who live in rural areas. There is a need to determine the availability, characteristics, feasibility, and effectiveness of exercise programs for individuals with cancer living in rural settings. Purpose: To conduct a scoping review describing the current literature on available exercise programming for survivors of cancer who live in rural or remote settings. Methods: Data Sources: Six databases were searched for studies. Study Selection: 105 abstracts were identified through literature searches; 84 studies remained for title and abstract screening after duplicates were removed. Thirty-three articles were included in full-text review. Data Extraction: Data related to participant characteristics, intervention characteristics, study design, and outcomes were extracted from full texts. Data Synthesis: Descriptive quantitative summaries are provided for result variables, and a narrative analysis was performed. Discussion and Limitations: Thirteen articles were selected for data extraction. The majority of interventions were phone-based walking programs for survivors of breast cancer. The interventions described were held in only 2 countries. The most common outcomes assessed were physical activity level, quality of life, and anxiety/depression. Conclusion: This scoping review highlighted the lack of accessible exercise programs for this subset of hard-to-reach survivors of cancer. This review found that there are few exercise programs accessible for survivors living in rural and remote areas, suggesting one reason for low engagement in physical activity and highlighting the need to devise novel means to implement exercise interventions for this population.
Cervical and axial dystonia secondary to mirtazapine: a case report and literature review

Mirtazapine (MTZ) is an atypical antidepressant frequently prescribed for the management of major depressive disorder. It has multiple mechanisms of action, which probably contribute to the several side effects encountered with this medication. Hyperkinetic movement disorders induced by MTZ have been rarely reported in the literature. To the best of authors’ knowledge, there are five cases of dystonia (DTN) secondary to MTZ use, but this study reports the youngest individual in a nonpsychiatric MTZ indication. We report a case of an adult woman who presented with axial and cervical DTN-type laterocollis after 5 days of MTZ use, which was indicated for hot flashes. A comprehensive review of the cases and a mechanism assumption are performed.
Understanding the Associations between Caregiver Characteristics and Cognitive Function of Adults with Cancer: A Scoping Review

Cognitive impairment (CI) is one of symptoms that adults with cancer frequently report. Although there are known factors that contribute to a patient's CI, these factors did not sufficiently explain its variability. Several studies conducted in patients with neurocognitive disorders have reported relationships between patients' cognitive function and caregiver characteristics, which are poorly understood in the context of cancer. This scoping review aims to map the literature on caregiver characteristics associated with CI in adults with cancer. We used the framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley and PRISMA-Sc. Studies published in English by 2019 were searched through seven electronic databases. All retrieved citations were independently screened and eligibility for inclusion was determined by two independent authors. Ten studies met inclusion for this review with all of them showing significant associations between a patient's cognitive function and caregiver characteristics. Caregiver's mental health was the most commonly associated with a patient's cognitive function followed by family functioning, adaptation to illness, attitude toward disclosure of the illness, burden, coping and resilience, and demographic characteristics. These review findings suggest that enhanced information about CI in relation to caregiver characteristics will eventually provide the foundation for multifocal interventions for patients with impaired cognitive function. This scoping review identified caregiver characteristics that are associated with patients CI. These characteristics should be also assessed when health providers assess and treat CI of adults with cancer.
Incidence and risk factors of reoperation in patients with adjacent segment disease: A meta-analysis

Study Design: This was a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the current literature regarding the risk factors contributing to reoperation due to adjacent segment disease (ASD). Summary of Background Data: ASD is a broad term referring to a variety of complications which might require reoperation. Revision spine surgery is known to be associated with poor clinical outcomes and high rate of complications. Unplanned reoperation has been suggested as a quality marker for the hospitals. Materials and Methods: An electronic search was conducted using PubMed. A total of 2467 articles were reviewed. Of these, 55 studies met our inclusion criteria and included an aggregate of 1940 patients. Data were collected pertaining to risk factors including age, sex, fusion length, lumbar lordosis, body mass index, pelvic incidence, sacral slope, pelvis tilt, initial pathology, type of fusion procedure, floating versus sacral or pelvic fusion, presence of preoperative facet or disc degeneration at the junctional segment, and sagittal orientation of the facets at the junctional segment. Analysis of the data was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (Biostat, Inc.). Results: The overall pooled incidence rate of reoperation due to ASD from all included studies was 0.08 (confidence interval: 0.065–0.098). Meta-regression analysis demonstrated no significant interaction between age and reoperation rate (P = 0.48). A comparison of the event rates between males and females demonstrated no significant difference between male and female reoperation rates (P = 0.58). There was a significantly higher rate of ASD in patients with longer fusion constructs (P = 0.0001). Conclusions: We found that 8% of patients in our included studies required reoperation due to ASD. Our analysis also revealed that longer fusion constructs correlated with a higher rate of subsequent revision surgery. Therefore, the surgeon should limit the number of fusion levels if possible to reduce the risk of future reoperation due to ASD. Level of evidence: IV
Decentralized and Dynamic Band Selection in Uplink Enhanced Licensed-Assisted Access: Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach

Enhanced licensed-assisted access (eLAA) is an operational mode that allows the use of unlicensed band to support long-term evolution (LTE) service via carrier aggregation technology. The extension of additional bandwidth is beneficial to meet the demands of the growing mobile traffic. In the uplink eLAA, which is prone to unexpected interference from WiFi access points, resource scheduling by the base station, and then performing a listen before talk (LBT) mechanism by the users can seriously affect the resource utilization. In this paper, we present a decentralized deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based approach in which each user independently learns dynamic band selection strategy that maximizes its own rate. Through extensive simulations, we show that the proposed DRL-based band selection scheme improves resource utilization while supporting certain minimum quality of service (QoS).
Safe food for me – and maybe for you: Upside risk, premium market access, and producer demand for a food safety technology

Premium prices conditional on food safety attributes are often proposed as a way to increase food safety for marketed produce in developing countries where regulatory capacity is weak. However, domestic markets in these settings may not support premia of sufficient magnitude to affect farmer behavior. We examine how a quality premium affects the adoption of a food safety technology among subsistence farmers who value the safety of food they consume themselves. We present a simple model showing that a modest quality premium that is too low to affect adoption on the extensive margin can harness upside production risk by providing subsistence farmers a high-value market for their excess highquality output. Through a randomized trial among maize farmers in Kenya, we find, in line with model predictions, that a modest quality premium for food safety increases subsistence farmers’ adoption of an aflatoxin-reducing technology at the intensive margin, but not at the extensive margin.
Exploring Knowledge Management Success

Discussions at previous HICSS conferences have shown that there is no general agreement on definitions of Knowledge Management (KM) and Knowledge Man - agement Systems (KMS) success. A deep understanding of these concepts would help to design and implement efficient KM initiatives and systems. We present an exploratory research study to begin and facilitate a debate that will hopefully lead to a consensus definition of KM and KMS success. We chose an expert panel approach followed by an exploratory survey to approach the KM and KMS success definition. The research shows only a few points of consensus. However, we present some areas of agreement as well as of disagreement, which are a good starting point for further discussions on KM and KMS success.
Development Aid and Regulatory Policies in Recipient-Countries: Is there a Specific Effect of Aid for Trade?

This article explores the effect of the cumulated development aid, including the cumulated amounts of each of its two components, namely Aid for Trade (AfT) and NonAfT (i.e., development aid flows not dedicated to the trade sector) on regulatory policies in recipient-countries. The analysis is performed on an unbalanced panel of 129 countries over the period 2002-2016. Results suggest that for Least developed countries (LDCs), only the cumulated NonAfT flows influences positively regulatory policies, while for NonLDCs (other countries than LDCs), it is rather the cumulated amounts of NonAfT flows that exert a positive effect on regulatory policies. This article represents the personal opinions of individual staff members and is not meant to represent the position or opinions of the WTO or its Members, nor the official position of any staff members. The author sincerely thanks the two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments that have helped improve the quality of the paper. Any errors or omissions are the fault of the author. Citation: Sena Kimm Gnangnon, (2020) ''Development Aid and Regulatory Policies in Recipient-Countries: Is there a Specific Effect of Aid for Trade? '', Economics Bulletin, Volume 40, Issue 1, pages 316-337 Contact: Sena Kimm Gnangnon kgnangnon@yahoo.fr. Submitted: June 08, 2019. Published: February 05, 2020.
The Mediating Role of Dynamic Capabilities on Innovativeness and Export Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Thailand

The purpose of this paper is to observe the effects of Innovativeness on Export Performance of Thai SMEs which based on the literature review. It was possible to describe Direct and Indirect the Effects of Innovativeness (INNO) on Export Performance (EP) through Dynamic Capabilities (DC) as Mediating variable. Therefore, this leaded to the research questions as: 1) How does Innovativeness have causal relationship to Export Performance of Thai SMEs? and 2) How do and innovativeness have causal relationship to Export Performance of Thai SMEs through Dynamic Capabilities? Quantitative Research was used in this study whereas the population was SMEs engaged in export business and registered with the Ministry of Commerce. The research tool was the questionnaire collected by mail and Location, Which a total of 238 samples and the data analysis was descriptive and Structural Model Analysis. The results showed that there was no direct relationship between INNO and EP. On the other hand the results showed that there was the relationship between INNO and EP was indirect path fully mediated by DC.
The Association of Dyslexia and Developmental Speech and Language Disorder Candidate Genes with Reading and Language Abilities in Adults

Abstract Reading and language abilities are critical for educational achievement and success in adulthood. Variation in these traits is highly heritable, but the underlying genetic architecture is largely undiscovered. Genetic studies of reading and language skills traditionally focus on children with developmental disorders; however, much larger unselected adult samples are available, increasing power to identify associations with specific genetic variants of small effect size. We introduce an Australian adult population cohort (41.7–73.2 years of age, N = 1505) in which we obtained data using validated measures of several aspects of reading and language abilities. We performed genetic association analysis for a reading and spelling composite score, nonword reading (assessing phonological processing: a core component in learning to read), phonetic spelling, self-reported reading impairment and nonword repetition (a marker of language ability). Given the limited power in a sample of this size (~80% power to find a minimum effect size of 0.005), we focused on analyzing candidate genes that have been associated with dyslexia and developmental speech and language disorders in prior studies. In gene-based tests, FOXP2, a gene implicated in speech/language disorders, was associated with nonword repetition (p < .001), phonetic spelling (p = .002) and the reading and spelling composite score (p < .001). Gene-set analyses of candidate dyslexia and speech/language disorder genes were not significant. These findings contribute to the assessment of genetic associations in reading and language disorders, crucial for understanding their etiology and informing intervention strategies, and validate the approach of using unselected adult samples for gene discovery in language and reading.
Utility of SOFA (Sequential Organ Function Assessment) score to predict outcome in critically ill patients at a tertiary care hospital, Nagpur

Prognostication is an important part of management of any critically ill patients. It helps in predicting the reliable outcome of a patients’ current standing. SOFA (Sequential Organ Function Assessment) score is a prognostic scoring system used to track a person’s status during the stay in an intensive care unit. It is based on functions of 6 organ systems-respiratory system, cardiovascular system, Hepatic system, coagulation system, excretory system and nervous system. Although it contains many parameters which are difficult to remember, one can use the readymade calculators present on internet. This study was undertaken with the objective to study the utility of SOFA scores in predicting outcome in critically ill patients. Outcome measures being ICU mortality and length of ICU stay. This prospective observational hospital based longitudinal study was carried out over a period of 2 months in a tertiary care hospital catering more of rural population. Adult critically ill patient irrespective of underlying cause were included in study after taking written consent from patient or his akin. Patient’s demographic profile, the main diagnosis leading to hospitalization in the ICU, previous interventions, complications and hospital outcomes were recorded for each patient. Appropriate investigations were done. SOFA score was calculated in period 0-24 hrs (SOFA 1), 24-48 hrs (SOFA 2) and 48-96 hrs (SOFA 3) from admission to ICU. SOFA scores were correlated with outcome measures ICU mortality and length of ICU stay. The non survivors had high initial, mean and highest SOFA scores as compared to survivors. Initial and highest scores of more than 15 corresponded to mortality of more than 75%. The predictive value of the mean score had negligible relation and therefore was independent of the length of ICU stay. Length of stay is not significant and independent of mortality. Increasing SOFA score in first 48 hrs gives a mortality rate of >50%. The SOFA scoring system is useful in predicting outcomes in ICU. High SOFA scores, and increasing trend in SOFA scores were found to be significantly associated with mortality and length of ICU stay. Keywords: ICU stay, SOFA score, Tertiary care hospital.
Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance Using Evidence-Based Practice

• Accountability needs to start with senior leaders making hand hygiene an organizational priority in the reduction of HAIs. Leadership can show its support by providing adequate resources, including the use of a tool like the Joint Commission Transforming Healthcare’s Targeted Solutions Tool (Ellingson et al., 2014). PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION • Conducted literature search for sources regarding hand hygiene published between 2012 and 2017 • peer-reviewed • terms searched: hand hygiene, compliance, barriers, observations, improvement, alcohol, soap, recommendations, and Joint Commission.
Null phenotype of neurofibromatosis type 1 in a carrier of a heterozygous atypical NF1 deletion due to mosaicism

We coincidently detected an atypical deletion of at least 1.3‐Mb, encompassing the NF1 tumor suppressor gene and several adjacent genes at an apparent heterozygous level in the blood of a 65‐year‐old female patient. She had multiple subcutaneous tumors that appeared with a certain similarity of subcutaneous neurofibromas, which, however, was revealed as lipomas by histological examination. Comprehensive and exhaustive clinical and radiological examinations did not detect any neurofibromatosis type 1‐related clinical symptoms in the patient. Multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification detected no or only very low level of the 1.3‐Mb NF1 deletion in six lipomas and two skin biopsies. Digital polymerase chain reaction estimated the proportion of cells carrying a heterozygous NF1 deletion at 87% in the blood, and 8%, 10%, 13%, 17%, and 20%, respectively, in the five lipomas investigated by this method, confirming our hypothesis of mosaicism. Our findings suggest that de novo cases of genetic disease are potentially mosaic regardless of finding the mutation at an apparently heterozygous level in the blood and that the possibility of mosaicism should be considered in genotype–phenotype studies and genetic counseling.