Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correlates of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccine Hesitancy Among People Who Inject Drugs in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region

Abstract Background People who inject drugs (PWID) are vulnerable to acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We examined correlates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy among PWID in the US-Mexico border region, of whom only 7.6% had received ≥ 1 COVID-19 vaccine dose by September 2021. Methods Between October 2020 and September 2021, participants aged ≥ 18 years from San Diego, California, USA, and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, who injected drugs within the last month completed surveys and SARS-CoV-2, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) serologic testing. Logistic regressions with robust standard error estimation via generalized estimating equations identified factors associated with being unsure or unwilling to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Results Of 393 participants, 266 (67.7%) were willing to receive COVID-19 vaccines and 127 (32.3%) were hesitant (23.4% unwilling and 8.9% unsure). Older participants, those with greater food insecurity, and those with greater concern about acquiring SARS-CoV-2 were more willing to be vaccinated. Higher numbers of chronic health conditions, having access to a smart phone or computer, and citing social media as one’s most important source of COVID-19 information were independently associated with vaccine hesitancy. COVID-19-related disinformation was independently associated with vaccine hesitancy (adjusted odds ratio: 1.51 per additional conspiracy theory endorsed; 95% confidence interval: 1.31–1.74). Conclusions Nearly one third of people injecting drugs in the US-Mexico border region were COVID-19 vaccine hesitant, which was significantly associated with exposure to social media, disinformation and co-morbidities and inversely associated with food security and high perceived threat of COVID-19. Interventions that improve accurate knowledge of and trust in COVID-19 vaccines are needed in this vulnerable population.
Measuring the impact of a live, case-based, multiformat, interactive continuing medical education program on improving clinician knowledge and competency in evidence-based COPD care

Background: Major clinical gaps impede the evidence-based treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the primary care setting. Studies are needed to measure the effectiveness of continuing medical education (CME) on improving physician competency and performance toward evidence-based COPD care. Methods: Between September 26, 2009 and December 12, 2009, 769 primary care physicians participated in a series of 12 regional, live, interactive, case-based, multiformat, half-day CME programs on COPD. A subgroup of randomly selected participants (n = 50) and demographically matched nonparticipants (n = 50) completed surveys that included case vignettes, a validated tool for measuring physician performance in clinical practice. Cohen’s d was used to calcu-late the magnitude of difference between participants and nonparticipants in the delivery of evidence-based care. Results: Physicians who participated in CME programs were 50% more likely to provide evidence-based COPD care than physicians who did not participate. Compared with nonparticipants, participating physicians were more likely to recognize COPD correctly in a patient presenting with dyspnea (74% versus 94%, P = 0.007), recognize that women may have a greater susceptibility than men to the toxic effects of smoking (54% versus 90%, P , 0.001), and identify the mechanisms of action of emerging therapies (33% versus 65%, P = 0.003). Conclusion: Physicians who participated in a half-day regional CME program on COPD diagnosis, staging, and treatment were significantly more likely than nonparticipants to deliver evidence-based COPD care. With multiformat, interactive, focused educational interventions, physicians can make diagnostic and therapeutic choices in the primary care setting that align more closely with current guidelines and clinical evidence in COPD management.
Spring arrivals of migrant waders in Iceland in the 20th century

Records of first sightings of Icelandic‐breeding waders and high‐Arctic passage migrants have been made in most parts of Iceland since 1902. Two sets of records of first sightings are used here to analyse temporal changes in arrival dates during the 20th century and the effects of weather conditions. First sightings became earlier in the first half of the 20th century, as local spring temperatures increased. They ceased to do so after 1960, when temperatures were decreasing slightly, though the associations between arrival dates and annual temperatures were weak. In years with more than five records for a species, the earliest sightings were 5–9 days before the median dates of all first sightings. Though earliest sightings were delayed in cool Icelandic springs, those median dates showed little correlation with local spring temperatures. Six species arrived later when the winter or spring values of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) were high, but seven species showed no significant associations with the winter NAO. Sightings tended to be later in springs in which westerly or cyclonic systems were prevalent over Ireland and Scotland. First sightings in Iceland were substantially later than in the Outer Hebrides, though in closer synchrony with the peaks of passage there than with arrival and passage dates in Shetland and north Norway. Sustained observations at a few key sites should be useful in tracking the responses of waders to variations in climate and other environmental changes.
Hearing aids: recommendations, developments and practicalities

“what’s the difference? ” Hearing Care Professionals (HCPs) and consumers want to know whether the least expensive products are just as good as the premium products? Are specific features better than others? Where is the best place to acquire hearing aids? Are all hearing aids the same? How should these products be programmed? These are very important questions. In this article, we’ll review some of the most important concepts and ideas, and we’ll offer some insight and practical advice based on our decades of experience as audiologists, doctors and researchers.
A generalized law for brittle deformation of Westerly granite

A semiempirical constitutive law is presented for the brittle deformation of intact Westerly granite. The law can be extended to larger displacements, dominated by localized deformation, by including a displacement-weakening break-down region terminating in a frictional sliding regime often described by a rate- and state-dependent constitutive law. The intact deformation law, based on an Arrhenius type rate equation, relates inelastic strain rate to confining pressure Pc, differential stress σΔ, inelastic strain ei and temperature T. The basic form of the law for deformation prior to fault nucleation is lne˙i=c-(E*/RT)+(σΔ/aσo)sin-a(πei/2eo) where σo and eo are normalization constants (dependent on confining pressure), a is rate sensitivity of stress, and α is a shape parameter. At room temperature, eight experimentally determined coefficients are needed to fully describe the stress-strain-strain rate response for Westerly granite from initial loading to failure. Temperature dependence requires apparent activation energy (E* ∼ 90 kJ/mol) and one additional experimentally determined coefficient. The similarity between the prefailure constitutive law for intact rock and the rate- and state-dependent friction laws for frictional sliding on fracture surfaces suggests a close connection between these brittle phenomena.
Regional scale modeling of hillslope sediment delivery: a case study in the Ésera—Isábena watershed, central Spanish Pyrenees, with WATEM/SEDEM

Soil erosion and sediment delivery to streams is an important environmental problem and a major concern for sustainable development. The spatial nature of soil erosion and sediment delivery, as well as the variety of possible soil conservation and sediment control measures, require an integrated approach to catchment management. A spatially-distributed soil erosion and sediment delivery model (WATEM/SEDEM) was applied to the watershed of the Barasona Reservoir (1504 km 2 ; central Spanish Pyrenees), which is drained by the Esera and Isabena rivers. Several input data layers with a 20 x 20 m resolution were derived using a GIS package comprising a digital terrain model (DTM), and stream network, land use, rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility and crop management factors. Validation of the model was based on the depositional history of the Barasona Reservoir using data on suspended sediment obtained over three years (May 2005 to May 2008) at the outlet of the Isabena River. This enabled estimation of the average annual sediment yield to the reservoir, as well as the relative contribution of each river. Almost 70% of the sediment yield to the reservoir was derived from the Esera River, which coincided with the relative size of its sub-catchment. Large spatial variability in hillslope sediment delivery was found within the catchment, with major sediment sources being located in the lower part of the watershed (agricultural fields), and in the badlands on Eocene marls located in the middle part of the watershed (Pyrenean Inner Ranges), which are strongly eroded over convex hillsides with a moderately inclined slope.
Cover crop effects on soil water relationships

ABSTRACT: Cover crops help control erosion, prevent nutrient leaching, fix nitrogen, improve sail conditions, and protect seedlings, but also use water, thus affecting soil water relationships far the next crop. Effects are positive when cover crops are managed to improve infiltration and decrease evaporation, or to remove water from a wet soil to allow timely establishment of the next crop. Effects are negative when they limit water for the next crop or aggravate a wet soil condition. Cover crops are better suited to humid and subhumid regions where precipitation is more reliable than to semiarid regions where precipitation is limited. Where cover crops are not used, use of conservation tillage that involves crop residue retention on the soil surface helps conserve soil water and provides many of the benefits of cover crops, except for nitrogen fixation, soil nutrient (especially nitrate) uptake to prevent leaching, excess water removal, and additional organic matter inputs.
Complications in patients with transfusion dependent thalassemia: A descriptive cross‐sectional study

One of the most common hemoglobinopathies globally related to blood transfusion and iron overload in the body is thalassemia syndrome. Increasing ferritin levels can cause severe damage to the patient's body organs. This study aims to evaluate the complications of iron overload on vital body organs in patients with transfusion‐dependent beta‐thalassemia.
On the utilization of the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) model to study substance use disorders: A scoping review protocol

Introduction Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are cells derived from somatic cells via reprogramming techniques. The iPSC approach has been increasingly used in neuropsychiatric research in the last decade. Though substance use disorders (SUDs) are a commonly occurring psychiatric disorder, the application of iPSC model in addiction research has been limited. No comprehensive review has been reported. We conducted a scoping review to collate existing evidence on the iPSC technologies applied to SUD research. We aim to identify current knowledge gaps and limitations in order to advance the use of iPSCs in the SUD field. Methods and analysis We employed a scoping review using the methodological framework first created by Arksey and O’Malley and further updated by Levac et al. and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). We adopted the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Protocols (PRISMA-P) to report items for the protocol. We searched evidence from four electronic databases: PubMed®, Embase®, Web of Science™, and Scopus®. Primary research, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses were included and limited to studies published in English, at the time from 2007 to March 2022. This is an “ongoing” scoping review. Searched studies will be independently screened, selected, and extracted by two reviewers. Disagreement will be solved by the third reviewer and discussion. Extracted data will be analyzed in descriptive and quantitative approaches, then summarized and presented in appropriate formats. Results will be reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guideline and disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and conference presentations. Conclusion To our best knowledge, this is the first comprehensive scoping review of iPSC methods specifically applied to a broad range of addictive drugs/substances that lead to SUDs or misuse behavior. Registration This protocol is registered on Zenodo repository (https://zenodo.org/) with doi:10.5281/zenodo.7915252.
A terrane of 1,350- to 1,400-m.y.-old silicic volcanic and plutonic rocks in the buried Proterozoic of the mid-continent and in the Wet Mountains, Colorado

Much of the Precambrian basement of the mid-continent region of the United States is underlain by silicic volcanic rocks and related silicic epizonal granite bodies. In the St. Francois Mountains of southeastern Missouri and in the buried basement of Illinois, Indiana, and eastern Ohio, these rocks mainly yield ages of 1,450 to 1,480 m.y. Previously published U-Pb ages from zircons showed that rhyolite and granite in the subsurface of southwestern Missouri, southern Kansas, and parts of Oklahoma were formed 1,350 to 1,400 m.y. ago. New U-Pb age data from zircons presented here show that this terrane makes up much of the basement of eastern and central Oklahoma, where it includes both rhyolite and granite, and extends into the Texas Panhandle, where the Panhandle Rhyolite Terrane, which was thought to be ∼1,200 m.y. old, yields zircon U-Pb ages of 1,350 to 1,400 m.y. Zircons from the San Isabel batholith of the southern Wet Mountains, Colorado, also yield U-Pb ages of 1,360 m.y. and are thus coeval with the granite and rhyolite of the southern mid-continent region. The San Isabel batholith intruded crust formed at least 1,700 m.y. ago. A possible model is that the granite and rhyolite of the mid-continent are essentially a veneer emplaced upon and within an older, possibly 1,700-m.y. -old crust; the mesozonal San Isabel batholith is a body formed during this igneous activity that is exposed in contact with older crust because of later uplift in the southern Rocky Mountains. The tectonic setting of the emplacement of these rocks is obscure but appears to be continent-marginal, because only younger rocks are known to the south.
Recent Shift in Age Pattern of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, Brazil

To the Editor: Brazil is responsible for >60% of reported cases of dengue fever (DF) in the American region (a designation of the Pan American Health Organization, which includes all of North, Central and South America) (1). The epidemiologic characteristics of dengue diseases in Brazil differ from those described in Southeast Asia. In Brazil, the incidence of DF and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is highest in adults. By contrast, in Southeast Asia, DHF cases predominate and occur more often in children than in adults (2,3).
Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience

connection, i.e. only one vesicle, or quantum, can be released in the event of a pre-synaptic spike from each contact (Gulyas et al. At the hippocampus, this constraint is relieved when the release probability increases (either through short-term facilitation or pharmacologically), and multiquantal release from single contact points was implicated (Oertner et al., 2002; Biró et al., 2006; Christie and Jahr, 2006). In the neocortex, though, at connections from layer-4 spiny stellate cells onto layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons, the baseline release probability is high (∼0.8), yet uniquantal release was observed (Silver et al., 2003). The amplitudes of neocortical synaptic responses can be signifi cantly stronger than those studied in Silver et al. (2003; ∼0.5 mV), with comparable number of contact points (2–8 contacts). In the framework of the single vesicle hypothesis, this would imply a higher quantal size at the stronger synap-tic connections, or a higher release probability. An alternative explanation would be that at stronger synapses, several quanta, or vesicles, could be released from a given synaptic contact upon pre-synaptic activation. The different alternatives lead to distinct predicted effects on the properties of synaptic transmission beyond the changes to the response amplitude. For example, a higher release probability, or a higher number of release sites, results in a decrease in response variability, which is not the case for larger quantal size.
Statistical Methods for the Analysis of Spatial Patterns: a Geoadditive Approach

The explosive growth of spatial data and widespread use of spatial databases emphasize the need for the discovery of spatial knowledge. Nowadays, very rich databases of spatially referenced socio-economic data are available from local statistical offices and in the last few years the demand of spatially detailed statistical data is dramatically increased. Extracting interesting and useful patterns from spatial data sets is more difficult than extracting corresponding patterns from traditional numeric and categorical data due to the complexity of spa tial data types, spatial relationships, and spatial autocorrelation. The complexity of spatial data and intrinsic spatial relationships limits the useful ness of conventional techniques (i.e. data mining) for extracting spatial patterns. Moreover, the area definition and the assignment of the data to appropriate areas can pose problems in the estimation process. This paper presents statistical methods which face these problems and analyze the geographical pattern of the spatially referenced socio-economic data by incorporating the spatial location as an additional covariate.
Transferring the Benefits of Water Quality Enhancements in Small Catchments

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) sets targets of "Good Ecological Status" for water bodies across the EU. Environmental regulatory authorities must undertake economic analysis of all water bodies as part of the process of drawing up catchment management plans. In this paper, we test the transferability of benefit estimates across the kinds of smaller catchments where original benefits estimation is unlikely to be undertaken on grounds of costs. This is done in a context where agricultural-source nonpoint pollution and irrigation water abstraction are the main threats to ecological status.
Benefits of meeting the Baltic Sea nutrient reduction targets - Combining ecological modelling and contingent valuation in the nine littoral states

One of the most serious threats to the Baltic Sea and its ecosystem services is human-induced eutrophication. European Union legislation, in the form of the Marine Strategy and Water Framework Directives, requires information on the benefits of improving the condition of the sea to a good environmental status. Our study uses a unique dataset collected from all nine littoral countries of the Baltic Sea, in combination with state-of-the-art marine modelling of the area, to estimate the benefits of reducing eutrophication in the Baltic Sea. We find average willingness to pay (WTP) for decreased eutrophication to differ substantially by country, but also that there is a general acceptance to pay more to improve the status of the whole sea area. We estimate the aggregate WTP for an improvement in the eutrophication level following the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) to be 4000 million Euros annually. Our results provide, however, a strong message to the decision makers about the need for ensuring fulfilment of the policy targets in the BSAP. Failure to fulfil the targets would imply foregoing substantial societal benefits.
Durability is improved by both low and high intensity endurance training

Introduction: This is one of the first intervention studies to examine how low- (LIT) and high-intensity endurance training (HIT) affect durability, defined as ‘time of onset and magnitude of deterioration in physiological-profiling characteristics over time during prolonged exercise’. Methods: Sedentary and recreationally active men (n = 16) and women (n = 19) completed either LIT (average weekly training time 6.8 ± 0.7 h) or HIT (1.6 ± 0.2 h) cycling for 10 weeks. Durability was analyzed before and after the training period from three factors during 3-h cycling at 48% of pretraining maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max): 1) by the magnitude and 2) onset of drifts (i.e. gradual change in energy expenditure, heart rate, rate of perceived exertion, ventilation, left ventricular ejection time, and stroke volume), 3) by the ‘physiological strain’, defined to be the absolute responses of heart rate and its variability, lactate, and rate of perceived exertion. Results: When all three factors were averaged the durability was improved similarly (time x group p = 0.42) in both groups (LIT: p = 0.03, g = 0.49; HIT: p = 0.01, g = 0.62). In the LIT group, magnitude of average of drifts and their onset did not reach statistically significance level of p < 0.05 (magnitude: 7.7 ± 6.8% vs. 6.3 ± 6.0%, p = 0.09, g = 0.27; onset: 106 ± 57 min vs. 131 ± 59 min, p = 0.08, g = 0.58), while averaged physiological strain improved (p = 0.01, g = 0.60). In HIT, both magnitude and onset decreased (magnitude: 8.8 ± 7.9% vs. 5.4 ± 6.7%, p = 0.03, g = 0.49; onset: 108 ± 54 min vs. 137 ± 57 min, p = 0.03, g = 0.61), and physiological strain improved (p = 0.005, g = 0.78). VO2max increased only after HIT (time x group p < 0.001, g = 1.51). Conclusion: Durability improved similarly by both LIT and HIT based on reduced physiological drifts, their postponed onsets, and changes in physiological strain. Despite durability enhanced among untrained people, a 10-week intervention did not alter drifts and their onsets in a large amount, even though it attenuated physiological strain.
The Knowledge Base for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal Targets on Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene

Safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are fundamental to an improved standard of living. Globally, 91% of households used improved drinking water sources in 2015, while for improved sanitation it is 68%. Wealth disparities are stark, with rural populations, slum dwellers and marginalized groups lagging significantly behind. Service coverage is significantly lower when considering the new water and sanitation targets under the sustainable development goals (SDGs) which aspire to a higher standard of ‘safely managed’ water and sanitation. Lack of access to WASH can have an economic impact as much as 7% of Gross Domestic Product, not including the social and environmental consequences. Research points to significant health and socio-economic consequences of poor nutritional status, child growth and school performance caused by inadequate WASH. Groundwater over-extraction and pollution of surface water bodies have serious impacts on water resource availability and biodiversity, while climate change exacerbates the health risks of water insecurity. A significant literature documents the beneficial impacts of WASH interventions, and a growing number of impact evaluation studies assess how interventions are optimally financed, implemented and sustained. Many innovations in behavior change and service delivery offer potential for scaling up services to meet the SDGs.