Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Associated with Low Bone Density in Opioid Substitution Therapy Patients: A Systematic Review

Background: Long-term opioid therapy is a risk factor for low bone mineral density (BMD). However, other factors may also contribute to low BMD. Several studies have examined the variables that might contribute to low BMD in patients receiving opioid replacement therapy (OST). However, to our knowledge, there was no systemic review conducted to address this particular issue. Thus, we reviewed the articles on the factors associated with low BMD in the population of opioid use disorder receiving substitution therapy. Methods: The articles that examined correlates or risk factors of low BMD in OST population were retrieved from OVID, SCOPUS, and PUBMED from inception until July 2020 by two independent investigators. Results: A total of 429 articles from three databases were retrieved initially. After screening based on eligibility criteria, five articles were included in the final analysis. The risk factors or correlates found to be significantly associated with low BMD in the OST population include male gender, low body mass index, low testosterone level, methadone or heroin use, and longer duration of heavy alcohol use. The review limitations include small sample sizes and inconsistent definition of variables. Conclusion: OST patients should be screened for BMD and its associated factors. Guidelines and training of practitioners involving in the OST service should be provided to increase the detection of low BMD in the OST population.
Minimal Residual Disease and Survival Outcomes in Patients with Mantle Cell Lymphoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Minimal residual disease (MRD) has shown the prognostic value in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). To quantify the relationships between progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) with MRD status in MCL, we conducted this meta-analysis. Methods: We searched databases including Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library up to July 15th, 2020. Data of patients' characteristics, MRD assessment and survival outcomes were extracted and analyzed. Results: Ten articles were included. For the impact of post-induction MRD status on survival outcomes, MRD positive status was associated with worse PFS (HR=1.44; 95%CI 1.27-1.62; P<0.00001) and OS (HR=1.30; 95%CI 1.03-1.64; P=0.03) compared with MRD negative status. Regarding the impact of post-consolidation MRD status on survival outcomes, MRD positivity predicted shorter PFS (HR=1.84; 95%CI 1.49-2.26; P<0.00001) and OS (HR=2.38; 95%CI 1.85-3.06; P<0.00001) than MRD negativity. Conclusions: This study indicated that MRD positivity after induction and consolidation treatments was associated with worse PFS and OS for MCL. MRD-based treatment strategies should be further explored in clinical trials and real-world practice.
Synthesis of Poly(4‐vinylpyridine) Thin Films by Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) for Selective Nanotrench‐Based Sensing of Nitroaromatics

A new nanoscale sensing concept for the detection of nitroaromatic explosives is described. The design consists of nitroaromatic‐selective polymeric layers deposited inside microfabricated trenches. As the layers are exposed to nitroaromatic vapors, they swell and contact each other to close an electrical circuit. The nitroaromatic selective polymer, poly(4‐vinylpyridine) (P4VP), is deposited in the trenches using initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). P4VP is characterized for the first time as a selective layer for the absorption of nitroaromatic vapors. The Flory–Huggins equation is used to model the swelling response to nitroaromatic vapors. The Flory–Huggins interaction parameter for the P4VP–nitrobenzene system at 40 °C is 0.71 and 0.25 for P4VP–4‐nitrotoluene at 60 °C. Sensing of nitrobenzene vapors is demonstrated in a prototype device, while techniques to improve the performance of the design in terms of response time and sensitivities are described. Modeling shows that concentration and mass limits of detection of 0.95 ppb and 3 fg, respectively, can be achieved.
Stability Analysis of Linearized Nuclear Reactor by Finite Element Method

To examine the stability of the natural mode, the following method is developed. At first, the characteristic equation is derived by applying the finite element method to the basic equation for the natural mode. Then, the Nyquist stability criterion is applied to this equation for the present purpose. Using this method, the lowest threshold values of the moderator temperature coefficient are evaluated by trial and error for the azimuthal modes: 1, cos θ, cos 2θ, cos 3θ. Thereupon these results are compared with those of the previous method, which used the flux shape mode as a basis of modal expansion. Both agreed well. Based on these results, we may conclude that the previous analysis gives a good approximation for the lowest threshold value of an azimuthal mode, although a more extensive study is needed for a reactor of different composition. We can examine the stability of the natural mode by this method without evaluating the actual shape of radial modes, but we cannot thereby distinguish their relativ.
Immune-Based Therapies and the Role of Microsatellite Instability in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies with limited treatment options thus resulting in high morbidity and mortality. Among all cancers, with a five-year survival rates of only 2–9%, pancreatic cancer holds the worst prognostic outcome for patients. To improve the overall survival, an earlier diagnosis and stratification of cancer patients for personalized treatment options are urgent needs. A minority of pancreatic cancers belong to the spectrum of Lynch syndrome-associated cancers and are characterized by microsatellite instability (MSI). MSI is a consequence of defective mismatch repair protein functions and it has been well characterized in other gastrointestinal tumors such as colorectal and gastric cancer. In the latter, high levels of MSI are linked to a better prognosis and to an increased benefit to immune-based therapies. Therefore, the same therapies could offer an opportunity of treatment for pancreatic cancer patients with MSI. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about immune-based therapies and MSI in pancreatic cancer.
Coil-globule type transitions in polymers. 1. Collapse of layers of grafted polymer chains

The mean-field analytical theory describing the conformational transition related to the collapse of the layers of polymer chains grafted onto the impermeable surfaces of different morphologies (a planar surface, a sphere, and a cylinder) has been developed. The dependence of the character of this transition on the type of the surface morphology is analyzed. Analytical expressions describing the distribution of monomer units density and chain ends along the layer height at arbitrary solvent strength are obtained
Urinary Volatile Organic Compound Analysis for the Diagnosis of Cancer: A Systematic Literature Review and Quality Assessment

The analysis of urinary volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a promising field of research with the potential to discover new biomarkers for cancer early detection. This systematic review aims to summarise the published literature concerning cancer-associated urinary VOCs. A systematic online literature search was conducted to identify studies reporting urinary VOC biomarkers of cancers in accordance with the recommendations of the Cochrane Library and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines. Thirteen studies comprising 1266 participants in total were included in the review. Studies reported urinary VOC profiles of five cancer subtypes: prostate cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, leukaemia/lymphoma, lung cancer, and bladder cancer. Forty-eight urinary VOCs belonging to eleven chemical classes were identified with high diagnostic performance. VOC profiles were distinctive for each cancer type with limited cross-over. The metabolic analysis suggested distinctive phenotypes for prostate and gastrointestinal cancers. The heterogenicity of study design, methodological and reporting quality may have contributed to inconsistencies between studies. Urinary VOC analysis has shown promising performance for non-invasive diagnosis of cancer. However, limitations in study design have resulted in inconsistencies between studies. These limitations are summarised and discussed in order to support future studies.
Evaluation of Colombian Crops Fibrous Byproducts for Potential Applications in Sustainable Building Acoustics

Local production of construction materials is a valuable tool for improving the building sector sustainability. In this sense, the use of lignocellulosic fibers from local species becomes an interesting alternative to the development of such materials. As it is thought that the properties of fiber-based materials are dependent on the fibers properties, the knowledge of such properties is fundamental to promote materials development. This study compares the physical, morphological, acoustic, and mechanical characteristics of coir (Cocos nucifera) and fique (Furcraea Agavaceae) fibers and panels. The chemical composition appears to be associated with the general behavior of the fibers and panels, regarding higher tensile strength, thermal degradation behavior, and water absorption. In most tests, fique had the upper hand, showing superior performance; however, on thermal degradation and water absorption, both materials had similar behavior. The sound absorption measurement showed that the fiber diameter affects the sound absorption at high frequencies, where fique panels showed better performance than coir panels.
Indirect detection methods: Looking for what is not there

Indirect detection allows one to monitor species that normally do not give a response. It has grown from an intellectual curiosity to become an extremely useful tool. For volume displacement, polarimetry gives the best results. For charge displacement, ion chromatography and capillary zone electrophoresis are ideal situations for applying indirect fluorescence detection. LOD surpasses all but the most specialized detection schemes. Future developments in systems specially designed for indirect detection should make these schemes even more powerful.
Unsupervised Feature Selection With Extended OLSDA via Embedding Nonnegative Manifold Structure

As to unsupervised learning, most discriminative information is encoded in the cluster labels. To obtain the pseudo labels, unsupervised feature selection methods usually utilize spectral clustering to generate them. Nonetheless, two related disadvantages exist accordingly: 1) the performance of feature selection highly depends on the constructed Laplacian matrix and 2) the pseudo labels are obtained with mixed signs, while the real ones should be nonnegative. To address this problem, a novel approach for unsupervised feature selection is proposed by extending orthogonal least square discriminant analysis (OLSDA) to the unsupervised case, such that nonnegative pseudo labels can be achieved. Additionally, an orthogonal constraint is imposed on the class indicator to hold the manifold structure. Furthermore, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell _{2,1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> regularization is imposed to ensure that the projection matrix is row sparse for efficient feature selection and proved to be equivalent to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell _{2,0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> regularization. Finally, extensive experiments on nine benchmark data sets are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Group-affirmation and trust in international relations: Evidence from Ukraine

How can states with a history of recent armed conflict trust one another? Distrust between Ukraine and Russia aggravates security fears and limits hopes for a meaningful resolution of the bloodiest armed conflict in Europe since 1994. Hostility levels have risen dramatically between the populations of Ukraine and Russia after the events of 2013–2015. Political psychology offers two competing approaches to increase trust between the publics of different countries: appealing to an overarching, common identity above the national level vs. affirming a sense of national identity. This project asks which of these approaches increases trust towards Russia among the Ukrainian public. The study employs a survey experiment (between-subjects design) to evaluate these competing claims. The survey is to be fielded by a reputable public opinion research firm, the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, based in Ukraine.
Antimicrobial Effects of Essential Oils on Oral Microbiota Biofilms: The Toothbrush In Vitro Model

The present investigation intended to evaluate the bacteriostatic and bactericidal abilities of clove, oregano and thyme essential oils against oral bacteria in planktonic and biofilm states. Furthermore, aiming to mimic everyday conditions, a toothbrush in vitro model was developed. Determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum bactericidal concentration, minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration and minimum biofilm eradication concentration were achieved using the microdilution procedure. To simulate the toothbrush environment, nylon fibers were inoculated with oral bacteria, which, after incubation to allow biofilm development, were submitted to contact with the essential oils under study. Thyme and oregano essential oils revealed promising antimicrobial effects, both in growth inhibition and the destruction of cells in planktonic and biofilm states, while clove essential oil showed a weaker potential. Regarding the toothbrush in vitro model, observation of the nylon fibers under a magnifying glass proved the essential oil anti-biofilm properties. Considering the effects observed using the in vitro toothbrush model, a realistic approximation to oral biofilm establishment in an everyday use object, a putative application of essential oils as toothbrush sanitizers to help prevent the establishment of bacterial biofilm can be verified.
Can athletes be tough yet compassionate to themselves? Practical implications for NCAA mental health best practice no. 4

Recent tragic events and data from official NCAA reports suggest student-athletes' well-being is compromised by symptoms of mental health (MH) disorders. Self-compassion (SC) and mental toughness (MT) are two psychological constructs that have been shown effective against stressors associated with sports. The purpose of this study was to investigate SC, MT, and MH in a NCAA environment for the first time and provide practical suggestions for MH best practice No.4. In total, 542 student-athletes participated across Divisions (Mage = 19.84, SD = 1.7). Data were collected through Mental Toughness Index, Self-Compassion Scale, and Mental Health Continuum–Short Form. MT, SC (including mindfulness), and MH were positively correlated. Males scored higher than females on all three scales. No differences were found between divisions. SC partially mediated the MT-MH relationship, but moderation was not significant. Working towards NCAA MH best practice should include training athletes in both MT and SC skills (via mindfulness).
Elevated Carbon Dioxide Levels Decreases Cucumber Mosaic Virus Accumulation in Correlation with Greater Accumulation of rgs-CaM, an Inhibitor of a Viral Suppressor of RNAi

Plant viruses cause a range of plant diseases symptoms that are often responsible for significant crop production losses and the severity and spread of the symptoms may be affected by climate change. While the increase in anthropogenic activities has caused a critical problem of increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere, these elevated CO2 levels have been reported to reduce virus disease severity in some plant species. In such instances, it is not clear if the plant defense mechanisms are being enhanced or virus-mediated mechanisms to overcome plant resistance are being defeated. Additionally, a few studies have been attempted in this area to determine if reduced disease is the norm or the exception under enhanced CO2 levels. In the present study, the effects of elevated CO2 levels (750 ppm vs. 390 ppm) on RNAi-mediated resistance of Nicotiana tabacum against the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), and the activity of viral suppressor of RNAi (VSR) 2b protein of CMV were evaluated. On the one hand, our results showed that elevated CO2 decreased the transcription of dicer-like protein 2 (DCL2), DCL4, and argonaut 1 (AGO1) genes with functions related to RNAi-mediated resistance when infected by CMV, which is contradictory with the decreased CMV copy numbers under elevated CO2. On the other hand, we found that elevated CO2 increased the calcium concentration and expression of the calcium-binding protein rgs-CaM in tobacco plants when infected by CMV, which directly weakened the function of 2b protein, the VSR of CMV, and therefore decreased the infection efficiency of the virus and suppressed the severity of CMV in tobacco plants under elevated CO2. This study provides molecular insights into the ecological implications underlying the development of prevention strategies against plant virus infection in the context of climate change.
The Lipid A from the Lipopolysaccharide of the Phototrophic Bacterium Rhodomicrobium vannielii ATCC 17100 Revisited

The structure of lipid A from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Rhodomicrobium vannielii ATCC 17100 (Rv) a phototrophic, budding bacterium was re-investigated using high-resolution mass spectrometry, NMR, and chemical degradation protocols. It was found that the (GlcpN)-disaccharide lipid A backbone was substituted by a GalpA residue that was connected to C-1 of proximal GlcpN. Some of this GalpA residue was β-eliminated by alkaline de-acylation, which indicated the possibility of the presence of another so far unidentified substituent at C-4 in non-stoichiometric amounts. One Manp residue substituted C-4′ of distal GlcpN. The lipid A backbone was acylated by 16:0(3-OH) at C-2 of proximal GlcpN, and by 16:0(3-OH), i17:0(3-OH), or 18:0(3-OH) at C-2′ of distal GlcpN. Two acyloxy-acyl moieties that were mainly formed by 14:0(3-O-14:0) and 16:0(3-O-22:1) occupied the distal GlcpN of lipid A. Genes that were possibly involved in the modification of Rv lipid A were compared with bacterial genes of known function. The biological activity was tested at the model of human mononuclear cells (MNC), showing that Rv lipid A alone does not significantly stimulate MNC. At low concentrations of toxic Escherichia coli O111:B4 LPS, pre-incubation with Rv lipid A resulted in a substantial reduction of activity, but, when higher concentrations of E. coli LPS were used, the stimulatory effect was increased.
Extended Relevance Vector Machine-Based Remaining Useful Life Prediction for DC-Link Capacitor in High-Speed Train

Remaining useful life (RUL) prediction is a reliable tool for the health management of components. The main concern of RUL prediction is how to accurately predict the RUL under uncertainties. In order to enhance the prediction accuracy under uncertain conditions, the relevance vector machine (RVM) is extended into the probability manifold to compensate for the weakness caused by evidence approximation of the RVM. First, tendency features are selected based on the batch samples. Then, a dynamic multistep regression model is built for well describing the influence of uncertainties. Furthermore, the degradation tendency is estimated to monitor degradation status continuously. As poorly estimated hyperparameters of RVM may result in low prediction accuracy, the established RVM model is extended to the probabilistic manifold for estimating the degradation tendency exactly. The RUL is then prognosticated by the first hitting time (FHT) method based on the estimated degradation tendency. The proposed schemes are illustrated by a case study, which investigated the capacitors’ performance degradation in traction systems of high-speed trains.
Cis selectivity of salt-free Wittig reactions: a "Leeward Approach" of the aldehyde at the origin?

In THF at 25 Deg, Et3P:CHMe reacts with heptanal, Me3CCHO, PhCHO and p-ClC6H4CHO to afford, after 2-4 h, the corresponding olefins in 89-99% yield. In each case the trans isomer prevails, cis/trans ratios ranging from 33:67 to 4:96. The remarkable cis-stereoselectivity of Wittig reactions using triphenylphosphonium alkylides is now attributed to a very specific and almost rigid orientation of the Ph groups around the P atom, which sterically hinders approach to the aldehyde in a way that would lead to the formation of a trans-substituted oxaphosphetane. [on SciFinder (R)]
Structural phase transitions in K3Na(SeO4)2 crystals

Thermal, dielectric, and elastic properties of K3Na(SeO4)2 crystals grown from aqueous solution are studied versus temperature. Two improper structural phase transitions are observed, on cooling, in the temperature range from 300 to 400 K: the nonferroic continuous phase transition with no change of 3m point group at 346 K, and the ferroelastic discontinuous phase transition from the trigonal point group 3m to the monoclinic 2/m one at 334 K. The first transition is manifested as anomalous temperature behaviour of heat capacity and thermal expansion of the crystal. The second one is detected by direct observations of domain structure in the polarized light below 334 K and by softening of elastic moduli in selected crystallographic directions. Die thermischen, dielektrischen und elastischen Eigenschaften von K3Na(SeO4)2-Kristallen, die aus wasriger Losung gezuchtet wurden, werden als Funktion der Temperatur untersucht. Im Temperaturbereich von 300 bis 400 K werden beim Abuhlen der Kristalle zwei uneigentliche Phasenumwandlungen festgestellt: eine kontinuierliche, nichtferroische Umwandlung in der Punktsymmetriegruppe 3m bei T0 = 346 K und eine nichtkontinuierliche, ferroelastische Umwandlung aus der trigonalen Punktgruppe 3m in die monoklinische 2/m bei Tc = 334 K. Die erste wird als eine anomale Temperaturabhangigkeit der Warmekapazitat und der thermischen Ausdehnungskoeffizienten beobachtet. Die zweite wird direkt durch Beobachtung der Domanenstruktur in polarisiertem Licht bei T < 334 K und als eine Anderung der elastischen Koeffizienten in ausgewahlten kristallographischen Richtungen festgestellt.