Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of Intrarectal Povidone-iodine Cleansing Plus Formalin Disinfection of the Needle Tip in Decreasing Infectious Complications After Transrectal Prostate Biopsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose: Prostate biopsy is mostly performed through the transrectal route worldwide and infectious complications may occur in up to 7% of cases. Therefore, alternative strategies to decrease infectious complications are needed. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of intrarectal povidone-iodine cleansing plus formalin disinfection of the needle tip in decreasing infectious complications after transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective, single-center, phase III trial in patients undergoing transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy randomized 1:1 to rectal mucosa cleansing with gauze soaked in 10% povidone-iodine solution wrapped around the gloved index finger and needle tip disinfection by immersion in a 10% formalin solution before each puncture vs control group. The primary end point was the rate of infectious complications defined as 1 or more of the following events: fever, urinary tract infection, or sepsis. Results: Overall, 633 patients were randomized to the intervention group and 623 to the control group. The infectious complication rate was 3.9% in the intervention group and 6.4% in the control group (RR 0.61; 95% CI 0.36-0.99; P = .049). The rates of sepsis, urinary tract infection, and fever were 0.3% vs 0.5% (P = .646), 2.3% vs 4.1% (P = .071), and 1.3% vs 1.9% (P = .443), respectively. The positive urine culture rate was 5.2% in the intervention group and 9% in the control group (RR 0.57; P = .015). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups regarding the occurrence of noninfectious adverse events. Conclusions: Intrarectal povidone-iodine cleansing plus formalin disinfection of the biopsy needle tip was associated with a reduction in infectious complications after transrectal prostate biopsy.
Evaluación de la incertidumbre en cantidades correlacionadas: aplicación al análisis elemental de aerosoles atmosféricos

Recibido el 25 de enero de 2010; aceptado el 6 de abril de 2010Uno de los aspectos que frecuentemente se pasan por alto en la evaluacion de la incertidumbre experimental es la posibilidad de que las´cantidades involucradas en el proceso est´en correlacionadas entre s ´i, por diversos factores. Un ejemplo de ello es el analisis elemental de´aerosoles atmosf´ericos, con t ´ecnicas como la ﬂuorescencia de rayos X (XRF, por sus siglas en ingl es) o la emisi´ on de rayos X inducida´por part´iculas (PIXE). En estos casos, las concentraciones elementales medidas se usan para obtener informaci on acerca de otras variables,´como las contribuciones de fuentes correspondientes al suelo, sulfatos, potasio no proveniente del suelo o la materia org´anica, las cuales enmuchas ocasiones tienen altas correlaciones entre s´i. En este trabajo se describe, como ejemplo, el m etodo requerido para la evaluaci´ ´on de laincertidumbre en variables determinadas a partir de cantidades correlacionadas, en un conjunto de muestras de aeropart´iculas colectadas enun sitio de la Zona Metropolitana del Valle de Mexico y analizadas con PIXE. El proceso se basa en las recomendaciones de la´ Guide for theEvaluation of Uncertainty de la International Organization for Standardization.Descriptores: Incertidumbre experimental; cantidades correlacionadas; aerosoles atmosf´ericos; PIXE.One of the aspects that are frequently overlooked in the evaluation of uncertainty in experimental data is the possibility that the involvedquantities are correlated among them, due to different causes. An example is the elemental analysis of atmospheric aerosols using techniqueslike X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) or Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE). In these cases, the measured elemental concentrations arehighly correlated, and then are used to obtain information about other variables, such as the contributions from emitting sources related tosoil, sulfate, non-soil potassium or organic matter. This work describes, as an example, the method required to evaluate the uncertainty invariables determined from correlated quantities from a set of atmospheric aerosol samples collected in the Metropolitan Area of the MexicoValley and analyzed with PIXE. The work is based on the recommendations of the Guide for the Evaluation of Uncertainty published by theInternational Organization for Standardization.Keywords: Experimental uncertainty; correlated quantities; PIXE.PACS: 06.20. Dk; 92.60. Mt; 32.30. Rj
Towards an automatic narcolepsy detection on ambiguous sleep staging and sleep transition dynamics joint model

Objective. Mixing/dissociation of sleep stages in narcolepsy adds to the difficulty in automatic sleep staging. Moreover, automatic analytical studies for narcolepsy and multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) have only done automatic sleep staging without leveraging the sleep stage profile for further patient identification. This study aims to establish an automatic narcolepsy detection method for MSLT. Approach. We construct a two-phase model on MSLT recordings, where ambiguous sleep staging and sleep transition dynamics make joint efforts to address this issue. In phase 1, we extract representative features from electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrooculogram (EOG) signals. Then, the features are input to an EasyEnsemble classifier for automatic sleep staging. In phase 2, we investigate sleep transition dynamics, including sleep stage transitions and sleep stages, and output likelihood of narcolepsy by virtue of principal component analysis (PCA) and a logistic regression classifier. To demonstrate the proposed framework in clinical application, we conduct experiments on 24 participants from the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, considering ten patients with narcolepsy and fourteen patients with MSLT negative. Main results. Applying the two-phase leave-one-subject-out testing scheme, the model reaches an accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 87.5%, 80.0%, and 92.9% for narcolepsy detection. Influenced by disease pathology, accuracy of automatic sleep staging in narcolepsy appears to decrease compared to that in the non-narcoleptic population. Significance. This method can automatically and efficiently distinguish patients with narcolepsy based on MSLT. It probes into the amalgamation of automatic sleep staging and sleep transition dynamics for narcolepsy detection, which would assist clinic and neuroelectrophysiology specialists in visual interpretation and diagnosis.
Spin Waves in 2D ferromagnetic square lattice stripe

In this work, the area and edges spin wave calculations were carried out using the Heisenberg Hamiltonian and the tridiagonal method for the 2D ferromagnetic square lattice stripe, where the SW modes are characterized by a 1D in-plane wave vector $q_x$. The results show a general and an unexpected feature that the area and edge spin waves only exist as optic modes. This behavior is also seen in 2D Heisenberg antiferromagnetic square lattice. This absence of the acoustic modes in the 2D square lattice is explained by the fact that the geometry constrains for NN exchange inside the square lattice allow only optical modes. We suggest that this unexpected behavior of spin waves in the 2D square lattice may be useful in realizing an explanation for HTS.
Healthcare professionals’ perceptions and experiences of physiotherapy for people with mental illness: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-ethnography

Introduction There is a high global prevalence of patients presenting with physical and mental health comorbidities. Physiotherapeutic interventions, such as exercise, can have positive benefits for physical and mental health. However, poor accessibility and negative experiences of healthcare services for those with mental illness (MI) have been consistently observed within literature with recent research identifying poor experiences of physiotherapeutic interactions and processes such as referrals and discharges. One way to help improve physiotherapy services for this population is to understand the personal experiences and perceptions of healthcare professionals (HCPs) toward physiotherapy for patients with MI. Qualitative-based evidence syntheses are suited to bring this data together with the aim of improving physiotherapy services for patients with MI. This review will systematically search and synthesise existing evidence around HCP experiences and perceptions of physiotherapy for people with MI. Methods and analysis A systematic search and seven-phase meta-ethnography will be undertaken. A comprehensive search of electronic databases (CINAHL plus, MEDLINE, Pubmed, Embase and Psycinfo) and search engines as well as grey literature (unpublished primary research such as theses) will be completed. Searches are planned to take place in July 2022. Eligibility criteria include: (a) qualitative data, (b) perceptions identified from HCP, including physiotherapists, assistants and HCP referring into physiotherapy, about physiotherapy for patients with MI and (c) are primary studies. Ethics and dissemination This work is exempt from requiring ethical approval due to review methodology with data accessed from published works. This systematic review is expected to provide insight into experiences and perceptions of HCP around benefits and barriers to accessing physiotherapy for patients with mental health illness. Findings will be used to inform further research and co-develop recommendations to overcome barriers and optimise facilitators to care for this population. Findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journal, conference presentations and to key stakeholder groups. PROSPERO registration number CRD42021293035.
A PERIOD DISTRIBUTION OF X-RAY BINARIES OBSERVED IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF M31 WITH CHANDRA AND THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

Almost all Galactic black hole (BH) binaries with low-mass donor stars are transient X-ray sources; we expect most of the X-ray transients observed in external galaxies to be BH binaries also. Obtaining period estimates for extragalactic transients is challenging, but the resulting period distribution is an important tool for modeling the evolution history of the host galaxy. We have obtained periods, or upper limits, for 12 transients in M31, using an updated relation between the optical and X-ray luminosities. We have monitored the central region of M31 with Chandra for the last ∼12 years, and followed up promising transients with the Hubble Space Telescope; 4σ B-magnitude limits for optical counterparts are 26–29, depending on crowding. We obtain period estimates for each transient for both neutron star and BH accretors. Periods range from <0.4 to 490 ± 90 hr (<0.97 to <175 hr if all are BH systems). These M31 transients appear to be somewhat skewed toward shorter periods than the Milky Way (MW) transients; indeed, comparing the M31 and MW transients with survival analysis techniques used to account for some data with only upper limits yields probabilities of ∼0.02–0.08 that the two populations are drawn from the same distribution. We also checked for a correlation between orbital period and distance from the nucleus, finding a 12% probability of no correlation. Further observations of M31 transients will strengthen these results.
An Investigation of Equivalence between Bulk-based and Brane-based Approaches

There are two different approaches to handle brane-world models brane-based or bulk-based. In the brane-based approach, the brane is chosen to be fixed on a coordinate system, whereas in the bulk-based approach, it is no longer static as it moves along the extra dimension. It is aimed to get a general formalism of the equivalence between two approaches obtained for a specific model in Mukohyama et all [12]. We found that calculations driven by a general anisotropic bulk-based metric yields a brane-based metric in Gaussian Normal Coordinates by conserving spatial anisotropy.
High-specificity protection against radiation-induced bone loss by a pulsed electromagnetic field

Radiotherapy increases tumor cure and survival rates; however, radiotherapy-induced bone damage remains a common issue for which effective countermeasures are lacking, especially considering tumor recurrence risks. We report a high-specificity protection technique based on noninvasive electromagnetic field (EMF). A unique pulsed-burst EMF (PEMF) at 15 Hz and 2 mT induces notable Ca2+ oscillations with robust Ca2+ spikes in osteoblasts in contrast to other waveforms. This waveform parameter substantially inhibits radiotherapy-induced bone loss by specifically modulating osteoblasts without affecting other bone cell types or tumor cells. Mechanistically, primary cilia are identified as major PEMF sensors in osteoblasts, and the differentiated ciliary expression dominates distinct PEMF sensitivity between osteoblasts and tumor cells. PEMF-induced unique Ca2+ oscillations depend on interactions between ciliary polycystins-1/2 and endoplasmic reticulum, which activates the Ras/MAPK/AP-1 axis and subsequent DNA repair Ku70 transcription. Our study introduces a previously unidentified method against radiation-induced bone damage in a noninvasive, cost-effective, and highly specific manner.
Facilitators and barriers to using virtual reality and augmented reality and its impact on social engagement in aged care settings: a scoping review protocol

Introduction Increasingly more studies are being conducted on the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in aged care settings. These technologies can decrease experiences of loneliness which is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the growing interest in using VR/AR in care settings among older adults, a comprehensive review of studies examining the facilitators and barriers of adopting VR/AR in these settings is needed. This scoping review will focus on facilitators and barriers related to VR/AR in care settings among older adults, as well as the impact on social engagement and/or loneliness. Methods and analysis We will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology. We will search the following databases: CINHAL, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science. Additional articles will be handpicked from reference lists of included articles. Inclusion criteria includes articles that focus on older adults using VR or AR in aged care settings. Our team (which includes patient and family partners, an academic nurse researcher, a clinical lead and trainees) will be involved in the search, review and analysis process. Ethics and dissemination We will be collecting data from publicly available articles for this scoping review, so ethics approval is not required. By providing a comprehensive overview of the current evidence on the strategies, facilitators, and barriers of using VR/AR in aged care settings, findings will offer insights and recommendations for future research and practice to better implement VR/AR. The results of this scoping review will be shared through conference presentations and an open-access publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Modern Bayesian Inference in Zero-Inflated Poisson Models

The Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP) distribution, typically assumed for modeling count data with excess of zeros, assumes that with probability $p$ the only possible observation is zero, and with probability $1-p$ a $Poisson(\psi)$ random variable is observed. Both the probability $p$ and the mean $\psi$ may depend on covariates. In this paper we discuss and apply Bayesian inference based on matching priors and on higher-order asymptotics to perform accurate inference on $\psi$ only, even for small sample sizes.
Central arterial pressure and patient-specific model parameter estimation based on radial pressure measurements

Abstract One-dimensional arterial flow simulations are suitable to estimate the aortic pressure from peripheral measurements in a patient-specific arterial network. This study introduces a reduction of the system parameters, and a novel calculation method to estimate the patient-specific set and the aortic curve based on radial applanation tonometry. Peripheral and aortic pressure curves were measured in patients, optimization were carried out. The aortic pressure curves were reproduced well, with an overestimation of the measured Systolic and Mean Blood Pressures on average by 0.6 and 0.5 mmHg respectively, and the Root Mean Square Difference of the curves was 3 mmHg on average.
Statistical physics and biological information : hydrophobicity patterns in protein design and differential motif finding in DNA

In the past decade, a large amount of biological data has been generated, enabling new quantitative approaches in biology. In this thesis, we focus on two biological questions by using techniques from statistical physics: hydrophobicity patterns in proteins and their impact on the designability of protein structures and regulatory motif finding in DNA sequences. Proteins fold into specific structures to perform their functions. Hydrophobicity is the main force of folding; protein sequences try to lower the ground state energy of the folded structure by burying hydrophobic monomers in the core. This results in patterns, or correlations, in the hydrophobic profiles of proteins. In this thesis, we study the designability phenomena: the vast majority of proteins adopt only a small number of distinct folded structures. In Chapter 2, we use principal component analysis to characterize the distribution of solvent accessibility profiles in an appropriate high-dimensional vector space and show that the distribution can be approximated with a Gaussian form. We also show that structures with solvent accessibility profiles dissimilar to the rest are more likely to be highly designable, offering an alternative to existing, computationally-intensive methods for identifying highly-designable structures. In Chapter 3, we extend our method to natural proteins. We use Fourier analysis to study the solvent accessibility and hydrophobicity profiles of natural proteins and show that their distribution can be approximated by a multi-variate Gaussian. The method allows us to separate the intrinsic tendencies of sequence and structure profiles from the interactions that correlate them; we conclude that the alpha-helix periodicity in sequence hydrophobicity is dictated by the solvent accessibility of structures. The distinct intrinsic tendencies of sequence and structure profiles are most pronounced at long periods, where sequence hydrophobicity fluctuates less, while solvent accessibility fluctuates more than average. Correlations
Individualized tourism recommendation based on self-attention

Although the era of big data has brought convenience to daily life, it has also caused many problems. In the field of scenic tourism, it is increasingly difficult for people to choose the scenic spot that meets their needs from mass information. To provide high-quality services to users, a recommended tourism model is introduced in this paper. On the one hand, the tourism system utilises the users’ historical interactions with different scenic spots to infer their short- and long-term favorites. Among them, the users’ short-term demands are modelled through self-attention mechanism, and the proportion of short- and long-term favorites is calculated using the Euclidean distance. On the other hand, the system models the relationship between multiple scenic spots to strengthen the item relationship and further form the most relevant tourist recommendations.
Applications of cardiac biomarkers in chronic kidney disease

Purpose of review Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The mechanisms connecting CKD and cardiovascular disease are complex, and serum biomarkers can help improve our understanding. Nt-proBNP and troponin have documented success as biomarkers to diagnose and provide mechanistic insights in non-CKD populations. The purpose of this review is to summarize evidence suggesting efficacy and potential for clinical application of Nt-proBNP and troponin in individuals with CKD. Recent findings Our understanding of how Nt-proBNP and Troponin should be interpreted in those with CKD is evolving. Although both biomarkers are in part cleared by the kidney, elevated levels predominantly reflect cardiovascular disease. Both Nt-proBNP and troponin are associated with risk for future cardiovascular events in CKD. Determining CKD-specific cutoffs and using biomarkers to guide therapy remains under active investigation. Summary Of the many serum biomarkers under investigation, Nt-proBNP and troponin best meet the criteria for effective biomarkers in CKD. Assays are widely available and proven to be accurate in CKD populations. Nt-proBNP and troponin deserve special focus in ongoing research of cardiovascular risk reduction in CKD, especially to identify patients at the highest risk, suggest targetable mechanisms and assess treatment efficacy.
Cognitive and behavioral effects of hearing loss

Purpose of review Hearing loss is one of the largest modifiable risk factors for developing dementia, accounting for up to 9% of the overall modifiable risk. The neuropsychologic and psychosocial impacts of hearing loss are becoming increasingly appreciated. The objective of this review is to explore the recent literature regarding the cognitive and behavioral effects of hearing loss and the role of hearing rehabilitation, particularly in older adults. Recent findings Cognitive decline may begin while patients have subclinical hearing loss, earlier than previously thought. Hearing rehabilitation, either via hearing amplification, middle ear surgery, or cochlear implantation, likely plays a role in preventing or slowing the rate of cognitive decline in patients with hearing loss. Hearing loss can increase the likelihood of social isolation, loneliness and depression in older adults, but it is unclear at this time what effect hearing rehabilitation has on these domains. Summary Hearing loss is one of the largest modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline, and hearing rehabilitation can play a significant role in preserving cognitive function. Understanding the cognitive and psychosocial impact of hearing loss can help facilitate the development of approaches for prevention and treatment.