Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Community Violence Exposure and Stress Reactivity in African American and Non-Latino White Adolescents With Overweight/Obesity

Adolescents who experience community violence are exposed to toxic stressors at a critical period of growth and development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between community violence exposure and stress reactivity in African American and non-Latino white adolescents with overweight/obesity. Fifty-one adolescents (47% female, 55% African American; aged 14–19) participated in this study. Community violence was assessed using the Survey of Children’s Exposure to Community Violence. Stress reactivity was assessed via salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase area under the curve (AUC) during a Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Race was a significant predictor of alpha-amylase reactivity (β = 10740±3665, p = 0.0006), with a higher alpha-amylase AUC observed in African American compared to non-Latino white adolescents. There was also a significant difference in the relationship between community violence exposure and alpha-amylase AUC by race (β = −3561±1226, p = 0.007). At similar increases in violence exposure, African Americans demonstrated a significant decline in alpha-amylase AUC while non-Latino whites demonstrated a significant increase in alpha-amylase AUC. Neither race nor violence exposure were significant predictors of cortisol AUC and there were no significant differences in the relationship between community violence exposure and cortisol AUC by race (all p’s > .05). These preliminary findings suggest exposure to community violence may act to exacerbate autonomic dysregulation in African American adolescents with overweight/obesity. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the mechanisms by which community violence exposure differentially impacts stress responses by race.
Sex‐dependent jugular vein optical attenuation and distension during head‐down tilt and lower body negative pressure

Non‐contact coded hemodynamic imaging (CHI) is a novel wide‐field near‐infrared spectroscopy system which monitors blood volume by quantifying attenuation of light passing through the underlying vessels. This study tested the hypothesis that CHI‐based jugular venous attenuation (JVA) would be larger in men, and change in JVA would be greater in men compared to women during two fluid shift challenges. The association of JVA with ultrasound‐based cross‐sectional area (CSA) was also tested. Ten men and 10 women completed three levels of head‐down tilt (HDT) and four levels of lower body negative pressure (LBNP). Both JVA and CSA were increased by HDT and reduced by LBNP (all p < 0.001). Main effects of sex indicated that JVA was higher in men than women during both HDT (p = 0.003) and LBNP (p = 0.011). Interaction effects of sex and condition were observed for JVA during HDT (p = 0.005) and LBNP (p < 0.001). We observed moderate repeated‐measures correlations (rrm) between JVA and CSA in women during HDT (rrm = 0.57, p = 0.011) and in both men (rrm = 0.74, p < 0.001) and women (rrm = 0.66, p < 0.001) during LBNP. While median within‐person correlation coefficients indicated an even stronger association between JVA and CSA, this association became unreliable for small changes in CSA. As hypothesized, JVA was greater and changed more in men compared to women during both HDT and LBNP. CHI provides a non‐contact method of tracking large changes in internal jugular vein blood volume that occur with acute fluid shifts, but data should be interpreted in a sex‐dependent manner.
Association between serum cystatin C level and post‐stroke cognitive impairment in patients with acute mild ischemic stroke

Mild ischemic stroke (MIS) has been proved to be closely related to post‐stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). However, there are relatively few studies on the risk factors of MIS. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum cystatin C (CysC) level and cognitive function in patients with acute MIS.
Reliability of slice-encoding for metal artefact correction (SEMAC) MRI to identify prosthesis loosening in patients with painful total hip arthroplasty – a single centre, prospective, surgical validation study

Objectives: To validate reliability of slice-encoding for metal artefact correction (SEMAC)-MRI findings in prosthesis loosening detection by comparing them to surgical outcomes (gold standard) in symptomatic patients following hip arthroplasties. To evaluate periprosthetic anatomical structures in symptomatic patients to identify an alternative cause of hip symptoms. Methods: We prospectively followed 47 symptomatic patients (55 hips, 39 painful hips – group P and 16 control hips – group C) at our institution from 2011 to 2016. We acquired 1.5 T MRI conventional and SEMAC-MRI images for all patients. Two consultants scored MRI for osteolysis and marrow oedema zone-wise using predefined signal characteristics and settled scoring variations by consensus. We used Spearman Rank-Order Correlation for correlation analysis and used OMERACT (Outcome Measures in Rheumatology) filter pillars to validate SEMAC-MRI findings. Results: Eleven patients needed revision surgery, all from group P. None from group C required revision surgery. Remaining 28 hips in the group P were managed conservatively pain completely resolved in 21 hips, eight hips had trochanteric bursitis, eight had extraarticular cause and the remaining five hips had spontaneous pain resolution. We found moderate-to-weak correlation between SEMAC-MRI findings for prosthesis loosening and revision surgery outcomes. Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV and NPV in Group P were (72.7, 64.3, 44.4, 85.7%) in T1W-SEMAC, (90.9, 46.4, 40.0, 92.9%) in STIR-SEMAC and (36.3, 78.5, 40.0, 75.8%) in PDW-SEMAC. Conclusion: Negative SEMAC-MRI results can effectively exclude prosthesis loosening confirmed on revision surgery and SEMAC-MRI can detect alternative cause of hip pain accurately. Advances in knowledge: Negative SEMAC-MRI in painful THA patients can effectively exclude prosthesis loosening as a cause.
Ocular Nanomedicine

Intrinsic shortcomings associated with conventional therapeutic strategies often compromise treatment efficacy in clinical ophthalmology, prompting the rapid development of versatile alternatives for satisfactory diagnostics and therapeutics. Given advances in material science, nanochemistry, and nanobiotechnology, a broad spectrum of functional nanosystems has been explored to satisfy the extensive requirements of ophthalmologic applications. In the present review, the recent progress in nanosystems, both conventional and emerging nanomaterials in ophthalmology from state‐of‐the‐art studies, are comprehensively examined and the role of their fundamental physicochemical properties in bioavailability, tissue penetration, biodistribution, and elimination after interacting with the ophthalmologic microenvironment emphasized. Furthermore, along with the development of surface engineering of nanomaterials, emerging theranostic methodologies are promoted as potential alternatives for multipurpose ocular applications, such as emerging biomimetic ophthalmology (e.g., smart electrochemical eye), thus provoking a holistic review of “ocular nanomedicine. ” By affording insight into challenges encountered by ocular nanomedicine and further highlighting the direction of future studies, this review provides an incentive for enriching ocular nanomedicine‐based fundamental research and future clinical translation.
Integrative Approach to Implementing Labor Productivity Projects in Large Industrial Companies Operating on the Territory of the Perm Krai of the Russian Federation

Abstract A purposeful growth in efficiency of large industrial companies largely depends on a balanced decision-making concerning the content, the cost, and the quality of corporate projects to increase business productivity. A traditional project management methodology does not allow improving all project’s parameters simultaneously. This leads to difficulties in implementing the developed measures and in providing the planned productivity growth. To search balanced decisions in labor productivity projects it is suggested to use an integrated approach, focused on a range of efficient instruments from allied management fields. It is recommended to integrate project management methodology with some instruments of strategic and innovative management, production systems development concepts LEAN, QRM and Agile, human resource and project portfolio management. A model of an integrated approach to labor productivity projects, which was developed and tested, is reasonable to use in large companies to develop hi-tech products and conduct organizational changes.
Global implications of crop‐based bioenergy with carbon capture and storage for terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) based on purpose‐grown lignocellulosic crops can provide negative CO2 emissions to mitigate climate change, but its land requirements present a threat to biodiversity. Here, we analyse the implications of crop‐based BECCS for global terrestrial vertebrate species richness, considering both the land‐use change (LUC) required for BECCS and the climate change prevented by BECCS. LUC impacts are determined using global‐equivalent, species–area relationship‐based loss factors. We find that sequestering 0.5–5 Gtonne of CO2 per year with lignocellulosic crop‐based BECCS would require hundreds of Mha of land, and commit tens of terrestrial vertebrate species to extinction. Species loss per unit of negative emissions decreases with: (i) longer lifetimes of BECCS systems, (ii) less overall deployment of crop‐based BECCS and (iii) optimal land allocation, that is prioritizing locations with the lowest species loss per negative emission potential, rather than minimizing overall land use or prioritizing locations with the lowest biodiversity. The consequences of prevented climate change for biodiversity are based on existing climate response relationships. Our tentative comparison shows that for crop‐based BECCS considered over 30 years, LUC impacts on vertebrate species richness may outweigh the positive effects of prevented climate change. Conversely, for BECCS considered over 80 years, the positive effects of climate change mitigation on biodiversity may outweigh the negative effects of LUC. However, both effects and their interaction are highly uncertain and require further understanding, along with the analysis of additional species groups and biodiversity metrics. We conclude that factoring in biodiversity means lignocellulosic crop‐based BECCS should be used early to achieve the required mitigation over longer time periods, on optimal biomass cultivation locations, and most importantly, as little as possible where conversion of natural land is involved, looking instead to sustainably grown or residual biomass‐based feedstocks and alternative strategies for carbon dioxide removal.
A Moderated Mediation Model of Factors Influencing Intention to Adopt Cryptocurrency among University Students

The goal of this study is to find out what people think about cryptocurrencies and how they feel about it. The study used a questionnaire to assess the factors that influence people’s willingness to accept cryptocurrency. The study used a pretest, posttest quantitative analysis to determine the level of awareness among users in the first phase. In the second step, information regarding the conceptual framework was gathered using a survey approach. For the study, 350 university students were chosen as the sample size. Hypotheses about the significant effects of perceived benefits, perceived risks, perceived value, and structural provisions on behavioral intention to adopt cryptocurrency were accepted, while hypotheses about social effects, moderating effect of self-efficacy and personal innovativeness as well as the mediator attitudes towards using cryptocurrency, were not statistically proven. The tested model and resultant findings have brought many managerial and theoretical implications for enhancing the intention to adopt cryptocurrency.
Prenatal exposure to insecticides and child cardiometabolic risk factors in the VHEMBE birth cohort

Background: As part of malaria control programs, many countries spray dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) or pyrethroid insecticides inside dwellings in a practice called indoor residual spraying that results in high levels of exposure to local populations. Gestational exposure to these endocrine- and metabolism-disrupting chemicals may influence child cardiometabolic health. Methods: We measured the serum concentration of DDT and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and urinary concentration of pyrethroid metabolites (cis-DBCA, cis-DCCA, trans-DCCA, 3-PBA) in peripartum samples collected between August 2012 and December 2013 from 637 women participating in the Venda Health Examination of Mothers, Babies and their Environment (VHEMBE), a birth cohort study based in Limpopo, South Africa. We applied marginal structural models to estimate the relationship between biomarker concentrations and child-size (height and weight), adiposity (body mass index [BMI], body fat percentage, waist circumference) and blood pressure at 5 years of age. Results: Maternal concentrations of all four pyrethroid metabolites were associated with lower adiposity including reduced BMI z-scores, smaller waist circumferences, and decreased body fat percentages. Reductions in BMI z-score were observed only among children of mothers with sufficient energy intake during pregnancy (βcis-DCCA, trans-DCCA=−0.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) = −0.7,−0.1; pinteraction=0.03 and 0.04, respectively) but there was no evidence of effect modification for the other measures of adiposity. Maternal p,p’-DDT concentrations were associated with a reduction in body fat percentage (β = −0.4%, 95% CI = −0.8,−0.0). Conclusions: Gestational exposure to pyrethroids may reduce adiposity in children at 5 years of age.
The Regulatory Protein ChuP Connects Heme and Siderophore-Mediated Iron Acquisition Systems Required for Chromobacterium violaceum Virulence

Chromobacterium violaceum is an environmental Gram-negative beta-proteobacterium that causes systemic infections in humans. C. violaceum uses siderophore-based iron acquisition systems to overcome the host-imposed iron limitation, but its capacity to use other iron sources is unknown. In this work, we characterized ChuPRSTUV as a heme utilization system employed by C. violaceum to explore an important iron reservoir in mammalian hosts, free heme and hemoproteins. We demonstrate that the chuPRSTUV genes comprise a Fur-repressed operon that is expressed under iron limitation. The chu operon potentially encodes a small regulatory protein (ChuP), an outer membrane TonB-dependent receptor (ChuR), a heme degradation enzyme (ChuS), and an inner membrane ABC transporter (ChuTUV). Our nutrition growth experiments using C. violaceum chu deletion mutants revealed that, with the exception of chuS, all genes of the chu operon are required for heme and hemoglobin utilization in C. violaceum. The mutant strains without chuP displayed increased siderophore halos on CAS plate assays. Significantly, we demonstrate that ChuP connects heme and siderophore utilization by acting as a positive regulator of chuR and vbuA, which encode the TonB-dependent receptors for the uptake of heme (ChuR) and the siderophore viobactin (VbuA). Our data favor a model of ChuP as a heme-binding post-transcriptional regulator. Moreover, our virulence data in a mice model of acute infection demonstrate that C. violaceum uses both heme and siderophore for iron acquisition during infection, with a preference for siderophores over the Chu heme utilization system.
Risk of Osteoporotic Fractures Among Obese Women Based on Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference: A Nationwide Cohort in South Korea

We evaluated the association between obesity status by body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference (WC) and osteoporotic fracture risk. We collected data of 143,673 women with a mean age of 58.5 years without history of osteoporotic fracture from the Korean National Health Insurance Service Cohort. Participants were divided into four groups according to obesity by BMI and WC, normal BMI/WC (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2 and WC < 85 cm, reference), obese BMI/normal WC (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 and WC < 85 cm), normal BMI/obese WC (BMI < 25 kg/m2 and WC ≥ 85 cm), and obese BMI/WC (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 and WC < 85cm). Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to obtain hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the subsequent median 6.0 years, which were adjusted for age, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, morbidity index, and osteoporosis medication. Compared with the normal group, normal BMI/obese WC was associated with a higher osteoporotic fracture risk after multivariable adjustment (HRs [95% CI], 1.13 [1.05–1.21]), and obese BMI/normal WC was associated with a lower osteoporotic fracture risk (0.89 [0.84–0.94]). Obese BMI/normal WC was associated with a lower risk for hip fractures (0.75 [0.57–0.99]). Obese BMI/normal WC was associated with decreased risk of osteoporotic fracture, whereas normal BMI/obese WC was associated with increased risk of osteoporotic fracture compared with the normal group among East Asian women in their late 40s or more.
Philosophy and the study of capitalism

Sociologists, economists, historians, anthropologists, political theorists, and literary critics have all turned their attention to the study of capitalism. But philosophers remain much less engaged. Why is this? And what could philosophy bring to the study of capitalism? Could it help in the development of a general theory? My main argument here is that philosophy does have an important role to play in the study of capitalism, particularly if we want to develop a general theory. Philosophers must describe something that is peculiar to capitalism, in philosophical terms, which has not been explained by sociological, economic, or psychological means. This subject matter does exist: it is the nature of rationality within capitalism. I suggest that this can best be explained by using the theory of the space of reasons, which helps to show how rational human practices shape social and economic institutions, and how our form of rationality is in turn shaped by those practices and institutions.
Factors that influence service innovation: a systematic approach and a categorization proposal

PurposeService innovation (SI) is crucial for social and economic development. However, most of the studies about innovation relate to product/manufacturing. Aimed at enhancing the academic debate about SI, this paper intends to (1) assess the factors applied in empirical studies about SI from 2006 to 2020, (2) evaluate if researchers differentiate innovation in services from innovation in manufacturing, (3) evaluate if researchers differentiate innovation among distinct service segments within the heterogeneous service industry and (4) propose a categorization model for the factors that influence SI.Design/methodology/approachOur study employs a five-step approach for a systematic literature review of 99 relevant empirical papers from 2006 to 2020.FindingsOur findings demonstrate a persistent lack of conceptual consolidation in the area, adding value to the ongoing dispute between opposite views on current SI's maturity level. Our results also evidence the non-observance of differentiation of innovation factors between service and manufacturing empirical papers. In addition, our paper shows an even higher lack of differentiation in the use of innovation factors among different service segments.Originality/valueThis paper provides the first more systematic verification of the lack of service differentiation within the empirical innovation study field. In addition, despite the abundance of factors that influence SI, the proposed categorization model offers the possibility to promote an area's conceptual consolidation. Our findings and categorization also support the debate about pathways for the field's development and help researchers in their future study designs and analyses.
Correlation between Motivational Orientations and Self-Control on Learners’ English Achievement

The objectives of this study are to probe the correlation between motivational orientations and self-control on Learners’ English achievement as evidenced by the TOEFL score, and to investigate which of the two psychological aspects is more dominantly contributive in affecting the learners’ achievement. It employed mixed-method design which combined qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the data elicited from distributed questionnaires and interviews. The researcher purposely took English Department Students as the participants who had attended TOEFL Test. Questionnaires were distributed to measure their motivation and self-control in relation to their English learning. Besides, from the 32 participants who returned the questionnaire, there were only 10 of them chosen to become the representatives in the interview session. The finding showed the correlation between both motivational orientations exhibited a great difference. Integrative motivation has a positive correlation (r=0.371) with the TOEFL score although classified as moderate while the instrumental one is negatively correlated (r= -0.240). This means that integrative motivation is relatively more contributive to English achievement. The significant value of the integrative motivation was lower than the confidence level (0.05; Sig. INT =0.037), whereas the significant level of instrumental motivation showed higher than the confidence level (Sig, INS =0.186) indicating that instrumental motivation and the learners’ achievement in English were not significantly correlated. Meanwhile, self-control has a strong correlation to the TOEFL score (r=0.532) with confidence level higher than the significant value obtained (0.02).
Cellulose Amphiphilic Materials: Chemistry, Process and Applications

In the last decade, amphiphilic cellulose (AC) is emerging as attractive biomaterial for different therapeutic use, due to its unique chemical and physical properties. Using it as alternative to synthetic polymers, AC opens up new avenues to prepare new bio-sustainable materials with low impact in the cellular environment. Herein, most recent methods to synthesize and processing AC materials from different sources—i.e., cellulose nanofibers, bacterial cellulose, cellulose derivatives—will be discussed. By an accurate optimization of morphology and surface chemistry, it is possible to develop innovative amphiphilic platforms, promising for a wide range of biomedical applications, from drug delivery to molecular/particle adsorption.
The Synergistic Properties and Gas Sensing Performance of Functionalized Graphene-Based Sensors

The detection of toxic gases has long been a priority in industrial manufacturing, environmental monitoring, medical diagnosis, and national defense. The importance of gas sensing is not only of high benefit to such industries but also to the daily lives of people. Graphene-based gas sensors have elicited a lot of interest recently, due to the excellent physical properties of graphene and its derivatives, such as graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Graphene oxide and rGO have been shown to offer large surface areas that extend their active sites for adsorbing gas molecules, thereby improving the sensitivity of the sensor. There are several literature reports on the promising functionalization of GO and rGO surfaces with metal oxide, for enhanced performance with regard to selectivity and sensitivity in gas sensing. These synthetic and functionalization methods provide the ideal combination/s required for enhanced gas sensors. In this review, the functionalization of graphene, synthesis of heterostructured nanohybrids, and the assessment of their collaborative performance towards gas-sensing applications are discussed.