Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Appropriateness of diabetic down-referral letters to primary healthcare clinics in the uMgungundlovu district municipality of KwaZulu-Natal

Background: The majority of patients living with diabetes mellitus (PLWD) are diagnosed and managed at primary care level. Much research has focused on diabetes mellitus, its complications and the need for earlier referral from primary to higher levels of health care. Little research, however, has focused on down-referrals of PLWD. Methods: This study assessed whether down-referral letters of PLWD to primary healthcare clinics (PHCs) and community healthcare centres (CHCs) in the uMgungundlovu district of KwaZulu-Natal contained adequate information, were legible, had a follow-up plan and whether national guidelines were adhered to. Questionnaires were distributed to nurses and doctors working in PHCs and CHCs to assess their opinions of appropriateness of down-referrals of PLWD during November and December 2019. Results: A total of 127 referral letters and 55 questionnaires were assessed. Referral letter assessment revealed that 81.1% of PLWD had no glucose control and 85% had no renal function documented. Diabetic complications were recorded infrequently (3.94%). One-third (33.6%) of the PLWD over the age of 40 years were not down-referred on a statin while 6.3% were on a medication combination that was not in accordance with the South African Essential Medicines List. A significant number of referral letters had no clear management plan other than medications listed (96.1%), with no follow-up appointments documented (95.3%). Less than two-thirds (60%) of letters were easily legible. The most common down-referrals were from district hospitals (98.43%). Questionnaire respondents agreed that referral letters generally contained information on the patient’s medication and comorbidities but rarely contained information regarding glucose control or complications of diabetes, among which foot and eye complications were significantly omitted. Conclusion: Analysis of down-referral letters identified many omissions, in both clinical and biochemical data, that are needed by clinicians working at both CHCs and PHCs to optimally manage PLWD. It is imperative that findings of studies like this be used in developing intervention strategies targeting this level of diabetes care.
Bloom and bust: Historical trends of harmful algal blooms in Muskegon Lake, Michigan, a Great Lakes estuary

Around the world, freshwater lakes are increasingly suffering from harmful algal blooms (HABs) as a result of anthropogenic eutrophication. Muskegon Lake (Muskegon, Michigan, USA), a drowned river mouth, Great Lakes estuary, was declared an Area of Concern by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1987 with nuisance algal blooms cited as a beneficial-use impairment. The objective of this study was to quantify changes in HAB prevalence and assemblage composition in Muskegon Lake over 14 y (2003–2016) and explore the environmental factors potentially driving the changes. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses on long-term monitoring data, including environmental and phytoplankton data, to understand their relationships and temporal variation. Using linear regressions, we assessed changes in environmental variables over time and relationships between cyanobacteria biovolume and environmental variables. We used non-metric multidimensional scaling to visualize variation in annual cyanobacteria assemblage composition and association with environmental variables. Analyses revealed that, despite generally rising water temperatures, which would be expected to increase HABs, a reduction in nutrient concentrations caused by restoration efforts has likely led to substantial decreases in HAB abundance over time. Additionally, HAB assemblage composition appears to be driven by temperature and nutrient form and amount, with Microcystis (Lemmermann, 1907) often dominating. HABs in freshwater bodies should be closely monitored into the future as we enter an era of uncertain climatic conditions.
The status of Great-winged Petrel Pterodroma macroptera in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, with notes on separation from dark-morph Trindade Petrel P. arminjoniana

Summary. Great-winged Petrel Pterodroma macroptera is currently considered uncommon in the south-west Atlantic Ocean. However, via a compilation of all recent records available, we found evidence of a regular, wider distribution from breeding colonies in Tristan da Cunha and Gough towards South America. We review these records, report a new beach stranding in Brazil, which is the northernmost record in the south-west Atlantic, and discuss the problems of at-sea separation of Great-winged Petrel from the darkest-plumaged Trindade Petrel P. arminjoniana.
Review of Perfectionism Research From 1990 to 2019 Utilizing a Text-Mining Approach

Perfectionism is a personality characteristic that has been explored for its implications in mental health; reviews and meta-analyses were conducted to synthesize research findings. This study systemically synthesizes the perfectionism literature using a text-mining approach. Co-word analysis and Dirichlet Multinomial Regression topic modeling were performed on a total of 1,529 perfectionism abstracts published from 1990 to 2019. Analysis revealed that perfectionism research is closely connected with “disorder,” with “symptom” being the most frequently addressed issue. Topic-modeling results found a total of 15 topics represented perfectionism research of the past three decades. Most articles were published in psychology journals, with social and clinical psychology subdisciplines publishing perfectionism articles most frequently. There were overlaps in research topics by journal subdisciplines, while differences were also observed. This study provides a panoramic view of perfectionism literature and highlights frequently and infrequently explored areas that could be considered in future research endeavors.
Ulcerative Lupus Vulgaris on the Wrist

We report a case of ulcerative lupus vulgaris (LV) in a unique site, which facilitated the detection of internal organ tuberculosis (TB). A 68-year-old Japanese man presented with a reddish ulcerated painless lesion on his right wrist that had initially appeared 4 weeks earlier as a nontender nodule. There was no recent history of fever, weight loss, or cough. The results of tissue culture, PCR, and contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography were consistent with the diagnosis of ulcerative LV with underlying pulmonary TB and tuberculous lymphadenitis. The patient was started on anti-TB therapy. After 1 month of therapy, epithelialization of the ulcer was noted.
Improvement in Food Intolerance Symptoms after Pretreatment with Antibiotics Followed by Faecal Microbiota Transplantation: A Case Report

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal condition characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel habits. Non-immune food reactions or food intolerances affect up to 20% of the general population and are commonly seen in patients with IBS. Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been described as an emerging, effective treatment for IBS. To date, there have been no reports on changes in food intolerances in patients with IBS treated with FMT. A 35-year-old female presented with an 18-month history of nausea, abdominal pain, alternating bowel habits, headaches/migraines, brain fog, and fatigue. The patient described severe food intolerances to dairy, gluten, egg, and soy. Extensive investigation identified no pathology, and IBS was diagnosed. The patient underwent treatment with antibiotics followed by treatment with FMT enema infusions decreasing in frequency for 12 months. At 12-week follow-up during FMT infusions, the patient reported an 80–90% improvement in her symptoms with formed bowel motions 1–2/day, occasional abdominal pain, and nausea and improved energy levels. The patient reported progressive improvements in her food tolerance from approximately 2 months into the FMT treatment. At week 24, she was tolerating gluten and dairy foods in her diet. At week 52, she was including gluten and dairy in her diet with no symptoms. This case demonstrates that antibiotics, followed by FMT may be an effective treatment for IBS and food intolerances pointing to the gut microbiome as a potential target for treatment.
Interruptions in Human-Agent Interaction

Turn management is one of the necessary social interactions skills. In human-human interactions, turn changes are naturally completed by interruption, "cooperatively" or "competitively". Interruptions are inherent in conversation. They can be considered disruptive at first glance, but can also be cooperative and participate to enriching the interaction. To create natural human-agent interaction, Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA) should be able to communicate autonomously with humans both verbally and nonverbally. A challenge is then to handle interruptions during their interaction. This article presents our ongoing work to endow ECA to manage interruption during the interaction with a human partner. In order to achieve this goal, we start by analyzing human-human interaction data.
Social Signals of Cohesion in Multi-party Interactions

Group conversation is a frequently used form of communication for exchanging ideas and making decisions. Cohesion is an emergent phenomenon that describes the members' attraction towards the group and towards working together. In this paper, we present the cohesion labels assigned to segments from [redacted], a multimodal dataset of simulated medical consultations. Then, we present the analysis performed to identify social cues that characterize cohesion and report the accuracy for classifying cohesion. Results show that non-verbal social cues like gaze, facial AUs, laughter etc., indeed convey information regarding the level of cohesion. Finally we present a preliminary evaluation conducted using the prominent cues to simulate a cohesive group of agents.
The importance of listening to patient preferences when making mental health care decisions

World Psychiatry 20:3 October 2021 tal health problems is depicted by the media may have an important impact on their use and perhaps also their effectiveness, decreasing or reinforcing stigma related to mental health problems. Without explicitly addressing issues of stigma and shame, those who feel alienated with mental health needs will remain mistrustful of those perceived as privileged, while, at the same time, those offering support will continue to place responsibility on those appearing to be unwilling to accept help. We need to empower a massive trusted workforce to deliver effective psychotherapies, harvesting the results of over five decades of research, to the large numbers in our societies who need them. This will require not only a significant change in the training of those delivering these treatments, but also an increased willingness on the part of mental health professionals to immerse themselves in the concerns of minority groups. Allyship requires a commitment which is long-term, not just during crises.
Measuring Experience in International Business: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract The paper explores the indicators that measure the experience in international business. Literature review was used to ascertain the state of the art of the existing indexes and theories. The internationalisation of businesses is a fundamental strategic step to increase companies' competitive advantage and profits. Nevertheless, even though internationalisation is widely accepted as an important source of value for companies and is a broad object of investigation, there is still much to study about how to measure experience at the level of international business. The absence of a coherent approach to measure experience in international businesses in past empirical studies made it difficult to create a solution with theoretical concepts that would support further studies in this matter. The results are not contradictory, but complementary, as, through individual internationalization indicators, it is possible to evolve and create indices, such as the Transnationality Index or the Transnational Activities Spread Index. The biggest constraint on the analysed indices is the fact that they focus mainly on the internationalisation of transnational companies and the type of data that was used to build the indexes (secondary data). However, by studying international experience through the number of years and the network spread, it is possible to overcome some of the existing challenges.
Effects of Body Position and Hypovolemia on the Regional Distribution of Pulmonary Perfusion During One-Lung Ventilation in Endotoxemic Pigs

Background: The incidence of hypoxemia during one-lung ventilation (OLV) is as high as 10%. It is also partially determined by the distribution of perfusion. During thoracic surgery, different body positions are used, such as the supine, semilateral, lateral, and prone positions, with such positions potentially influencing the distribution of perfusion. Furthermore, hypovolemia can impair hypoxic vasoconstriction. However, the effects of body position and hypovolemia on the distribution of perfusion remain poorly defined. We hypothesized that, during OLV, the relative perfusion of the ventilated lung is higher in the lateral decubitus position and that hypovolemia impairs the redistribution of pulmonary blood flow. Methods: Sixteen juvenile pigs were anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, submitted to a right-sided thoracotomy, and randomly assigned to one of two groups: (1) intravascular normovolemia or (2) intravascular hypovolemia, as achieved by drawing ~25% of the estimated blood volume (n = 8/group). Furthermore, to mimic thoracic surgery inflammatory conditions, Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide was continuously infused at 0.5 μg kg−1 h−1. Under left-sided OLV conditions, the animals were further randomized to one of the four sequences of supine, left semilateral, left lateral, and prone positioning. Measurements of pulmonary perfusion distribution with fluorescence-marked microspheres, ventilation distribution by electrical impedance tomography, and gas exchange were then performed during two-lung ventilation in a supine position and after 30 min in each position and intravascular volume status during OLV. Results: During one-lung ventilation, the relative perfusion of the ventilated lung was higher in the lateral than the supine position. The relative perfusion of the non-ventilated lung was lower in the lateral than the supine and prone positions and in semilateral compared with the prone position. During OLV, the highest arterial partial pressure of oxygen/inspiratory fraction of oxygen (PaO2/FIO2) was achieved in the lateral position as compared with all the other positions. The distribution of perfusion, ventilation, and oxygenation did not differ significantly between normovolemia and hypovolemia. Conclusions: During one-lung ventilation in endotoxemic pigs, the relative perfusion of the ventilated lung and oxygenation were higher in the lateral than in the supine position and not impaired by hypovolemia.
In silico Identification of Key Factors Driving the Response of Muscle Sensory Neurons to Noxious Stimuli

Nociceptive nerve endings embedded in muscle tissue transduce peripheral noxious stimuli into an electrical signal [i.e., an action potential (AP)] to initiate pain sensations. A major contributor to nociception from the muscles is mechanosensation. However, due to the heterogeneity in the expression of proteins, such as ion channels, pumps, and exchangers, on muscle nociceptors, we currently do not know the relative contributions of different proteins and signaling molecules to the neuronal response due to mechanical stimuli. In this study, we employed an integrated approach combining a customized experimental study in mice with a computational model to identify key proteins that regulate mechanical nociception in muscles. First, using newly collected data from somatosensory recordings in mouse hindpaw muscles, we developed and then validated a computational model of a mechanosensitive mouse muscle nociceptor. Next, by performing global sensitivity analyses that simulated thousands of nociceptors, we identified three ion channels (among the 17 modeled transmembrane proteins and four endoplasmic reticulum proteins) as potential regulators of the nociceptor response to mechanical forces in both the innocuous and noxious range. Moreover, we found that simulating single knockouts of any of the three ion channels, delayed rectifier voltage-gated K+ channel (Kv1.1) or mechanosensitive channels Piezo2 or TRPA1, considerably altered the excitability of the nociceptor (i.e., each knockout increased or decreased the number of triggered APs compared to when all channels were present). These results suggest that altering expression of the gene encoding Kv1.1, Piezo2, or TRPA1 might regulate the response of mechanosensitive muscle nociceptors.
Effects of Dietary Energy Levels on Rumen Fermentation, Gastrointestinal Tract Histology, and Bacterial Community Diversity in Fattening Male Hu Lambs

This study investigated rumen fermentation and histological and microbial diversity in male Hu lamb fed diets with different metabolizable energy (ME) levels (MEA, 9.17 MJ/kg, MEB, 10.00 MJ/kg, and MEC, 10.82 MJ/kg). Thirty-six male Hu lambs were randomly allotted to three treatments, and the feeding trial lasted for 67 days. Rumen fermentation results suggest that the iso-valerate had a significant effect on dietary energy level. The papillary height (PH) of rumen was the highest in the MEB group, the crypt depth (CD) was significantly increased in the duodenum and jejunum, and the villus height (VH)-to-CD ratio (VH/CD) was significantly decreased in the duodenum by increasing dietary energy levels; the VH, villus width (VW), and VH/CD also had significant differences in the ileum. 16S rRNA sequencing results showed that the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) number, the ACE, and Chao1 indices were linearly decreased by increasing dietary energy level; 24 phyla including 124 genera were identified, and the relative abundance of Papillibacter and Quinella linearly decreased by increasing the dietary energy level. Compared to MEA and MEB groups, the relative abundance of unidentified_Veillonellaceae and Anaerovibrio was significantly increased in the MEC group at the genus level. The relative abundance of the carbohydrate metabolism pathway predicted by Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) was linearly increased by increasing the dietary energy levels. Three metabolic pathways identified in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) level 3 were significantly influenced as the dietary energy level increased. In summary, these results demonstrated that the dietary energy levels affected the rumen fermentation parameters, morphological structures of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), and the composition and function of rumen microflora in male Hu sheep.
Application of Video-to-Video Translation Networks to Computational Fluid Dynamics

In recent years, the evolution of artificial intelligence, especially deep learning, has been remarkable, and its application to various fields has been growing rapidly. In this paper, I report the results of the application of generative adversarial networks (GANs), specifically video-to-video translation networks, to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The purpose of this research is to reduce the computational cost of CFD simulations with GANs. The architecture of GANs in this research is a combination of the image-to-image translation networks (the so-called “pix2pix”) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). It is shown that the results of high-cost and high-accuracy simulations (with high-resolution computational grids) can be estimated from those of low-cost and low-accuracy simulations (with low-resolution grids). In particular, the time evolution of density distributions in the cases of a high-resolution grid is reproduced from that in the cases of a low-resolution grid through GANs, and the density inhomogeneity estimated from the image generated by GANs recovers the ground truth with good accuracy. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons of the results of the proposed method with those of several super-resolution algorithms are also presented.
GPR171 Agonist Reduces Chronic Neuropathic and Inflammatory Pain in Male, But Not Female Mice

Chronic pain is a growing public health crisis that requires exigent and efficacious therapeutics. GPR171 is a promising therapeutic target that is widely expressed through the brain, including within the descending pain modulatory regions. Here, we explore the therapeutic potential of the GPR171 agonist, MS15203, in its ability to alleviate chronic pain in male and female mice using a once-daily systemic dose (10 mg/kg, i.p.) of MS15203 over the course of 5 days. We found that in our models of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), MS15203 did not alleviate thermal hypersensitivity and allodynia, respectively, in female mice. On the other hand, MS15203 treatment decreased the duration of thermal hypersensitivity in CFA-treated male mice following 3 days of once-daily administration. MS15203 treatment also produced an improvement in allodynia in male mice, but not female mice, in neuropathic pain after 5 days of treatment. Gene expression of GPR171 and that of its endogenous ligand BigLEN, encoded by the gene PCSK1N, were unaltered within the periaqueductal gray (PAG) in both male and female mice following inflammatory and neuropathic pain. However, following neuropathic pain in male mice, the protein levels of GPR171 were decreased in the PAG. Treatment with MS15203 then rescued the protein levels of GPR171 in the PAG of these mice. Taken together, our results identify GPR171 as a GPCR that displays sexual dimorphism in alleviation of chronic pain. Further, our results suggest that GPR171 and MS15203 have demonstrable therapeutic potential in the treatment of chronic pain.