Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Precision Medicine

Purpose: The Precision Medicine Health Disparities Collaborative fosters collaboration between researchers with diverse backgrounds in precision medicine and health disparities research, to include training at the interface between genomics and health disparities. Understanding how perceptions about precision medicine differ by background may inform activities to better understand such differences. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of Center members and beyond. Data were collected on categories of educational background, current activities, and level of agreement with 20 statements related to genomics and health disparities. Respondents categorized their background and activities as social/behavioral, genetics, both, or neither. Fisher's exact test was used to assess levels of agreement in response to each statement. Statistically significant associations were further analyzed using ordinal logistic regression adjusting for age, self-identified race/ethnicity, and gender. Results: Of 130 respondents, 50 (38%) identified educational backgrounds and current activities as social-behavioral or genomic 55 (42%). Respondents differed by educational background on the statement Lifestyle and other life experiences influence how genes impact disease risk (p=0.0009). Respondents also differed by current activities on the statement Reducing disparities in access to health care will make precision medicine more effective (p=0.0008), and on Racism and discrimination make me concerned about how genetic test results will be used (p=0.0011). Conclusions: Respondents who differed on prior education and current activities, whether social behavioral science or human genomics, were associated with different perceptions regarding precision medicine and health disparities. These results identify potential barriers and opportunities to strengthen transdisciplinary collaboration.
Could heart rate recovery and exercise capacity predict abnormal 99mTc-MIBI myocardial perfusion scan findings?

Background and aim: Ischemic heart diseases lead to numerous deaths worldwide. Prevention, rapid diagnosis and treatment are principal strategies in controlling mortality due to coronary artery diseases (CAD). Considering variety of options, finding suitable diagnostic modality for each patient has been controversial for long times. Exercise treadmill test (ETT) is a well-known and old modality compared to radionuclide scintigraphy. In this study we aimed to assess if heart rate recovery (HRR) and exercise capacity (EC) in ETT can predict perfusion defects in 99mTc-MIBI SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional, descriptive-analytic study, we enrolled 254 patients referred for MPI to nuclear medicine department of Afshar or Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, Iran. All patients underwent ETT and MPI. HRR and EC in ETT plus abnormal perfusion findings in MPI along with patient’s history and demographic information were recorded in a questionnaire. Finally, all data were analyzed using SPSS ver.22 software. Results: Based on our results, 161 (63.4%) of patients were men. Half of patients were diagnosed with hypertension. 45% were diagnosed with diabetes, 41% had hyperlipidemia and 8.3% were smokers. Based on our findings, 18.1% of patients had abnormal MPI results. Our analytic results indicated that there is no statistically significant association between transient RV visualization, transient ischemic dilation or lung to heart ratio with 1st and 2nd minute HRR and EC. Conclusion: Considering lack of association between ETT indices and MPI findings, it seems that ETT is not adequately sensitive in predicting perfusion defects in MPI. Thus, it seems logical in some cases to ignore expenses of MPI and suggest it to patients before ETT based on clinical judgement.
Clinical Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients Using Inhaled Nitric Oxide (iNO) during Intrahospital Transport

Critically ill patients with severe hypoxemia are often treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) with inhaled nitric oxide (iNO). These patients are at higher risk when they require intrahospital transportation. In this study, we collected clinical and laboratory data from 221 patients who were hospitalized in the general ICU and treated with iNO at Soroka Medical Center, Israel, between January 2010 and December 2019. We retrospectively compared the 65 patients who received iNO during intrahospital transportation to the 156 patients who received iNO without transportation. Among critically ill patients who were transported while being administered iNO, only one patient had an adverse event (atrial fibrillation) on transport. We found that maximal iNO dosage during ICU stay, duration of mechanical ventilation, and percent of vasopressor support were the only independent risk factors for ICU mortality in both study groups. No difference in primary outcome of ICU mortality rate was found between the critically ill patients treated with iNO during intrahospital transportation and those who were treated with iNO but not transported during the ICU stay. We anticipate that this study will advise clinical decision-making in the ICU, especially when treating patients who are administered iNO.
Modifying food items valuation and weight with gamified executive control training

Recent lines of research suggest that repeated executive control of motor responses to food items modifies their perceived value and in turn their consumption. Cognitive interventions involving the practice of motor control and attentional tasks have thus been advanced as potential approach to improve eating habits. Yet, their efficacy remains debated, notably due to a lack of proper control for the effects of expectations. We examined whether a one-month intervention combining the practice of Go/NoGo and Cue approach training modified the perceived palatability of food items (i.e. decrease in unhealthy and increase in healthy food items' palatability ratings), and in turn participants’ weights. We assessed our hypotheses with a parallel, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Motivation and adherence to the intervention were maximized by a professional-level gamification of the training tasks. The control intervention differed from the experimental intervention only in the biasing of the stimulus–response mapping rules, enabling to balance expectations between the two groups and thus to conclude on the causal influence of motoric control on items valuation. We found a larger decrease of the unhealthy items' palatability ratings in the experimental (20.6%) than control group (13.1%). However, we did not find any increase of the healthy items’ ratings or weight loss. Overall, the present registered report confirms that the repeated inhibition of motor responses to food cues, together with the development of attentional biases away from these cues, reduces their perceived value.
Spatial connectivity in mosquito-borne disease models: a systematic review of methods and assumptions

Spatial connectivity plays an important role in mosquito-borne disease transmission. Connectivity can arise for many reasons, including shared environments, vector ecology and human movement. This systematic review synthesizes the spatial methods used to model mosquito-borne diseases, their spatial connectivity assumptions and the data used to inform spatial model components. We identified 248 papers eligible for inclusion. Most used statistical models (84.2%), although mechanistic are increasingly used. We identified 17 spatial models which used one of four methods (spatial covariates, local regression, random effects/fields and movement matrices). Over 80% of studies assumed that connectivity was distance-based despite this approach ignoring distant connections and potentially oversimplifying the process of transmission. Studies were more likely to assume connectivity was driven by human movement if the disease was transmitted by an Aedes mosquito. Connectivity arising from human movement was more commonly assumed in studies using a mechanistic model, likely influenced by a lack of statistical models able to account for these connections. Although models have been increasing in complexity, it is important to select the most appropriate, parsimonious model available based on the research question, disease transmission process, the spatial scale and availability of data, and the way spatial connectivity is assumed to occur.
A novel approach for predicting risk of vector-borne disease establishment in marginal temperate environments under climate change: West Nile virus in the UK

Vector-borne diseases (VBDs), such as dengue, Zika, West Nile virus (WNV) and tick-borne encephalitis, account for substantial human morbidity worldwide and have expanded their range into temperate regions in recent decades. Climate change has been proposed as a likely driver of past and future expansion, however, the complex ecology of host and vector populations and their interactions with each other, environmental variables and land-use changes makes understanding the likely impacts of climate change on VBDs challenging. We present an environmentally driven, stage-structured, host–vector mathematical modelling framework to address this challenge. We apply our framework to predict the risk of WNV outbreaks in current and future UK climates. WNV is a mosquito-borne arbovirus which has expanded its range in mainland Europe in recent years. We predict that, while risks will remain low in the coming two to three decades, the risk of WNV outbreaks in the UK will increase with projected temperature rises and outbreaks appear plausible in the latter half of this century. This risk will increase substantially if increased temperatures lead to increases in the length of the mosquito biting season or if European strains show higher replication at lower temperatures than North American strains.
Industrial relations and inequality: the many conditions of a crucial relationship

This article develops an analytical framework for exploring the complex (and sometimes contradictory) relationship between industrial relations and inequality. It discusses whether, under what conditions and to what extent the often-made claim that industrial relations can contribute to reducing inequality is warranted, by focusing on the two dimensions of intra- and inter-class inequality. Following the main lines of the proposed analytical framework, the article then presents a selective review of the empirical literature and how the contributions in this issue can help to refine and integrate the proposed analytical framework. The conclusions present some reflections on how the role of industrial relations in addressing inequality can be enhanced.
Implementing Eye-Tracking for Persona Analytics

Investigating users’ engagement with interactive persona systems can yield crucial insights for the design of such systems. Using eye-tracking, researchers can address the scarcity of behavioral user studies, even during times when physical user studies are difficult or impossible to carry out. In this research, we implement a webcam-based eye-tracking module into an interactive persona system, facilitating remote user studies. Findings from the implementation can show what information users pay attention to in persona profiles.
Fixational stability as a measure for the recovery of visual function in amblyopia

People with amblyopia have been shown to have decreased fixational stability, particularly those with strabismic amblyopia. Fixational stability and visual acuity have been shown to be tightly correlated across multiple studies, suggesting a relationship between acuity and oculomotor stability. Reduced visual acuity is the sine qua non of amblyopia, and recovery is measured by the improvement in visual acuity. Here we ask whether fixational stability can be used as an objective marker for the recovery of visual function in amblyopia. We tracked children’s fixational stability during patching treatment over time and found fixational stability changes alongside improvements in visual acuity. This suggests fixational stability can be used as an objective measure for monitoring treatment in amblyopia and other disorders.
55 Rides: attention annotated head and gaze data during naturalistic driving

Trained eye patterns are essential for safe driving. Whether for exploration of the surrounding traffic or to make sure that a lane is clear through a shoulder check - quick and effective perception is the key to driving safety. Surprisingly though, free and open access data on gaze behavior during driving are yet extremely sparse. The environment inside a vehicle is challenging for eye-tracking technology due to rapidly changing illumination conditions, such as exiting a tunnel to brightest sunlight, proper calibration and safety. So far, available data exhibits environments that likely influence the viewing behavior, sometimes dramatically (e.g., driving simulators without mirrors, limited field of view). We propose crowd-sourced eye-tracking data collected during real-world driving using NIR-cameras and illuminators that were placed within the driver’s cabin. We analyze this data using a deep learning appearance-based gaze estimation, with raw videos not being part of the data set due to legal restrictions. Our data set contains four different drivers in their habitual cars and 55 rides of an average of 30 minutes length. At least three human raters rated each ride continuously with regard to driver attention and vigilance level on a ten-point scale. From the recorded videos we extracted drivers’ head and eye movements as well as eye opening angle. For this data, we apply a normalization with respect to different placement of the driver monitoring camera and demonstrate a baseline for driver attention monitoring based on eye gaze and head movement features.
Climate change overlooked. The role of attitudes and mood regulation in visual attention to global warming

Why, in the face of climate catastrophe, do people still seem to underestimate the weight of the threat without taking adequate action to fight global warming? Among many reasons for this, the current study aims to dive into people’s cognitive abilities and explore the barriers located at the individual level, using an eye-tracking methodology. Previous findings indicate that a pro-environmental attitude does not necessarily lead to pro-environmental behavior. What may stand in the way is ignorance that can be mediated by other factors. This study will examine whether visual distraction from images depicting the impacts of climate change is mediated by mood regulation and environmental concern. This will help to fit educational and information materials to specific viewers, which may result in more pro-environmental behaviors in the future.
Fixation: A universal framework for experimental eye movement research✱

We propose a free and open-source framework for experimental eye movement research, whereby a researcher can record and visualize gaze data and export it for analysis using an offline web application without proprietary components or licensing restrictions. The framework is agnostic to the source of the raw gaze stream and can be used with any eye tracking platform by mapping data to a standard json-based format and streaming it in real time. We leverage web technologies to address data privacy concerns and demonstrate support for recording at 300 Hz and real-time visualization.
Sea level acceleration under the magnifier

Abstract Detection and quantification of sea level accelerations at tide gauge stations are needed for assessing anthropogenic contributions to the climate change. Nonetheless, uniform or non-uniform sea level accelerations/decelerations are particularly di˚cult to discern partly because of their small magnitudes and partly because of the low frequency sea level variations as confounders. Moreover, noisy excursions in the observed sea level variations also exacerbate reliability of estimated sea level accelerations. This study explores the uniformity of a sea level acceleration graphically that is left unmodeled in the residuals of a least squares solution using cumulative sum charts. Key West, USA tide gauge station’s record is studied for a demonstration. The cumulative sum charts of the residuals of a rigorous kinematic model solution without the acceleration parameter revealed its crisp and uniform signature experienced at this station since 1913.
Hippocampal TRPV1 channels in the modulation of contextual fear conditioning

Psychiatric disorders have been linked to impairments in fear memory circuitry. Thus, pharmacological approaches that impair aversive memories have been investigated as new treatments. The TRPV1 channel modulates biological processes related to memory consolidation and retrieval. However, TRPV1 seems involved in memories generated by high intense conditioning. Anandamide (AEA), the main endocannabinoid, is an agonist of both, TRPV1 channels and CB1 receptors which are colocalized in several brain structures. Remarkably, AEA has twenty-times more affinity for CB1 than for TRPV1, which may be involved in the intensity-dependent recruitment of this channel. In order to evaluate the role of intensity of the conditioning in the recruitment of TRPV1, the animals were submitted to the contextual fear conditioning (CFC) and conditioned with low, moderate or high intensity. Before the retrieval a TRPV1 blocker was administered into the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC). The levels of AEA were quantified by Mass Spectrometry. The RNA levels of Arc, Zif and Trkb, involved in memory and plasticity, were quantified by PCR. Our results showed that TRPV1 blockers impair the retrieval of memory in animals conditioned with moderate and high intensity but not low ones. As revealed by Mass Spectrometry, this different recruitment among intensities seems to be associated with the levels of AEA released. Moreover, the impairment in freezing induced by blocking TRPV1 was prevented by a subeffective dose of the cannabinoid receptor CB1 antagonist which suggest that TRPV1 blockers act increasing AEA availability in the synaptic cleft to act through CB1 receptors. Despite blocking TRPV1 channels impairs freezing in moderate and high intensities, it increases the RNA levels of Arc, Zif and Trkb only in animals conditioned with the moderate intensity. In accordance, the treatment impairs retrieval in both intensities but only in the moderate intensity is able to prevent the reinstatement. Summarizing, our results suggested that intensity of the conditioning modulates AEA levels which in turns determines if TRPV1 will be recruited at the retrieval and which molecular pathways will be engaged due to TRPV1 blocking.
Report: Evaluating the ability of the TMA Clinical Decision Support platform to identify interventions in a clinical setting.

The TMA Precision Health Clinical Decision Support system is a commercially available software platform focused on the confirmation of a precision diagnosis and generation of a personalized care plan to rapidly deliver therapeutic optionality and improve quality of life for rare and complex disease patients. For this study, we worked with our partners in Medellin, Colombia to evaluate the efficacy of the platform in identifying previously unexplored modes of care within a small sample population of adult patients suffering from a diverse set of rare diseases. Although challenges were encountered during the curation of data from multiple sources, personalized care plans and medication options were identified successfully for 94% of cases, suggesting a high level of impact for deployment at scale.
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol: Beta adrenoreceptor drugs and risk of Parkinsons disease

Parkinsons disease (PD) is a progressive nervous system disorder characterised by the loss of dopaminergic neurons leading to motor and non-motor symptoms. Accumulation of -synuclein protein (SNCA) in the form of Lewy bodies has been observed in dopaminergic neurons of PD patients. Potential relationships between {beta}-adrenergic drugs (agonists and antagonist) and SNCA synthesis in PD have been recently suggested. This study aims to systematically review the evidence from various epidemiological studies that analysed the association between beta-adrenoceptors (agonists and antagonists) and the risk of PD. Biomedical databases such as PubMed and Embase will be searched to identify the individual studies that reported the relationship between beta-adrenoceptors and the risk of PD. JBI critical appraisal tool scale will be used to assess the quality of included studies. The primary outcome will be to compute the pooled risk of PD among beta-agonist and antagonist users. Furthermore, we will consider the pooled risk of PD based on study design, types of beta-agonist or antagonist exposure under secondary outcomes. RevMan 5, STATA 16, and ProMeta 3.0 will be used to conduct the statistical analysis.
Eukaryotic Biodiversity and Spatial Patterns in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone and Other Abyssal Regions: Insights From Sediment DNA and RNA Metabarcoding

The abyssal seafloor is a mosaic of highly diverse habitats that represent the least known marine ecosystems on Earth. Some regions enriched in natural resources, such as polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), attract much interest because of their huge commercial potential. Since nodule mining will be destructive, baseline data are necessary to measure its impact on benthic communities. Hence, we conducted an environmental DNA and RNA metabarcoding survey of CCZ biodiversity targeting microbial and meiofaunal eukaryotes that are the least known component of the deep-sea benthos. We analyzed two 18S rRNA gene regions targeting eukaryotes with a focus on Foraminifera (37F) and metazoans (V1V2), sequenced from 310 surface-sediment samples from the CCZ and other abyssal regions. Our results confirm huge unknown deep-sea biodiversity. Over 60% of benthic foraminiferal and almost a third of eukaryotic operational taxonomic units (OTUs) could not be assigned to a known taxon. Benthic Foraminifera are more common in CCZ samples than metazoans and dominated by clades that are only known from environmental surveys. The most striking results are the uniqueness of CCZ areas, both datasets being characterized by a high number of OTUs exclusive to the CCZ, as well as greater beta diversity compared to other abyssal regions. The alpha diversity in the CCZ is high and correlated with water depth and terrain complexity. Topography was important at a local scale, with communities at CCZ stations located in depressions more diverse and heterogeneous than those located on slopes. This could result from eDNA accumulation, justifying the interim use of eRNA for more accurate biomonitoring surveys. Our descriptions not only support previous findings and consolidate our general understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, but also provide a data resource inviting further taxon-specific and large-scale modeling studies. We foresee that metabarcoding will be useful for deep-sea biomonitoring efforts to consider the diversity of small taxa, but it must be validated based on ground truthing data or experimental studies.