Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology of liver failure in Asia‐Pacific region

The global burden of deaths caused by liver failure is substantial. The Asia‐Pacific region is home to more than half of the global population and accounted for 62.6% of global deaths because of liver diseases in 2015. The aetiology of liver failure varies in different countries at different times. Viruses (Hepatitis A, B and E), drugs (herbs and anti‐tuberculous drugs), toxins (alcohol use) and autoimmune flares are mainly responsible of majority of liver failure in individuals with normal liver (acute liver failure; ALF); else these may precipitate liver failure in those with chronic liver disease (acute‐on‐chronic liver failure; ACLF). Concomitant increases in alcohol misuse and metabolic syndrome in recent years are concerning. Ongoing efforts to address liver failure‐related morbidity and mortality require accurate contemporary estimates of epidemiology and outcomes. In light of the ever‐changing nature of liver disease epidemiology, accurate estimates for the burden of liver failure across the countries are vital for setting clinical, research and policy priorities. In this review, we aimed to describe the current as well as changing epidemiological trends of common liver failure syndromes, ALF and ACLF in the Asia‐Pacific region.
Inovação tecnológica na indústria farmacêutica: diferenças entre a Europa, os EUA e os países farmaemergentes

The pharmaceutical sector has been dominated by multinational companies from Europe and the USA - the so called Big Pharma. However, the importance of pharmaceutical emerging markets, especially China and Brazil, is a consensus in the literature, and these ‘pharmerging’ countries will play a vital role in the sustainable growth of the pharmaceutical industry. This study aimed to develop a technological and industrial mapping of the pharmaceutical sector based on information from international patent databases (WIPO and Derwent) between 1996 and the last year of record (2013). After that, a numerical analysis for prediction of scenarios was conducted using the Method of Least Squares and an algorithm was implemented in MATLAB. The results confirmed the leadership of Europe and the USA in the pharmaceutical sector, highlighting the innovative capacity of Hoffmann-La Roche. However, an important growth of Brazilian (41%) and Chinese (27%) patents was estimated, suggesting the beginning of technological and scientific dissemination and increased competition in the pharmaceutical segment due to the advancement of the ‘pharmerging’ countries, mainly China.
Projected Impact of Expanded Long-Acting Injectable PrEP Use Among Men Who Have Sex With Men on Local HIV Epidemics

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a key component in helping to reduce HIV incidence in the United States. Long-acting injectable (LAI) PrEP is a new alternative to oral PrEP; its potential to affect local HIV epidemics remains unclear. Methods: The Johns Hopkins HIV Economic Epidemiological model (JHEEM) is a dynamic model of HIV transmission in 32 US urban areas. We used JHEEM to project the HIV incidence among men who have sex with men (MSM) from 2020 to 2030 under a range of interventions aimed at increasing PrEP use. Results: In the absence of any intervention (ie, current levels of oral PrEP and HIV care engagement), we projected a 19% reduction (95% credible interval, CrI 1% to 36%) in HIV incidence among MSM from 2020 to 2030 across all 32 cities. Adding 10% LAI PrEP uptake (above a base case of all oral PrEP) reduced the incidence by 36% (95% CrI 23% to 50%) by year 2030. This effect varied between cities, ranging from 22% in Atlanta to 51% in San Francisco. At 25% additional LAI PrEP uptake, this incidence reduction increased to 54% (95% CrI 45% to 64%). Reductions in incidence after introducing LAI PrEP were driven primarily by increased uptake and sustained usage rather than increased efficacy. Conclusions: LAI PrEP has the potential to substantially reduce HIV incidence among MSM, particularly if it increases PrEP uptake and continued use beyond existing levels. Because potential effects vary by city, the effectiveness of expanding PrEP use is dependent on local dynamics.
Memorial GAN With Joint Semantic Optimization for Unpaired Image Captioning

Most works of image captioning are implemented under the full supervision of paired image–caption data. Limited to expensive cost of data collection, the task of unpaired image captioning has attracted researchers’ attention. In this article, we propose a novel memorial GAN (MemGAN) with the joint semantic optimization for unpaired image captioning. The core idea is to explore implicit semantic correlation between disjointed images and sentences through building a multimodal semantic-aware space (SAS). Concretely, each modality is mapped into a unified multimodal SAS, where SAS includes the semantic vectors of image <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, visual concepts <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${O}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, unpaired sentence <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${S}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and the generated caption <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${C}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. We adopt the memory unit based on multihead attention and relational gate as a backbone to preserve and transit crucial multimodal semantics in the SAS for image caption generation and sentence reconstruction. Then, the memory unit is embedded into a GAN framework to exploit the semantic similarity and relevance in SAS, that is, imposing a joint semantic-aware optimization on SAS without supervision clues. To summarize, the proposed MemGAN learns the latent semantic relevance of SAS’s multimodalities in an adversarial manner. Extensive experiments and qualitative results demonstrate the effectiveness of MemGAN, achieving improvements over state of the arts on unpaired image captioning benchmarks.
Direct Detection of Lithium Exchange across the Solid Electrolyte Interphase by 7Li Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer

Lithium metal anodes offer a huge leap in the energy density of batteries, yet their implementation is limited by solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation and dendrite deposition. A key challenge in developing electrolytes leading to the SEI with beneficial properties is the lack of experimental approaches for directly probing the ionic permeability of the SEI. Here, we introduce lithium chemical exchange saturation transfer (Li-CEST) as an efficient nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) approach for detecting the otherwise invisible process of Li exchange across the metal–SEI interface. In Li-CEST, the properties of the undetectable SEI are encoded in the NMR signal of the metal resonance through their exchange process. We benefit from the high surface area of lithium dendrites and are able, for the first time, to detect exchange across solid phases through CEST. Analytical Bloch-McConnell models allow us to compare the SEI permeability formed in different electrolytes, making the presented Li-CEST approach a powerful tool for designing electrolytes for metal-based batteries.
The association of sedentary behavior and physical activity with periodontal disease in NHANES 2011-12.

BACKGROUND Periodontal disease is one of the most prevalent oral pathologies and a major chronic disease worldwide. Lifestyle habits such as poor nutrition and smoking have been established to contribute to the development of periodontal disease, but limited research investigated whether physical activity and sedentary lifestyle plays a role. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and periodontal disease. METHODS We used a nationally representative dataset from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2012. We examined the association between physical activity and sedentary behavior and periodontal disease using multivariable logistic regression models and reported odds ratios (OR). RESULTS Individuals with higher total physical activity, higher leisure time physical activity, and lower amount of total sedentary behavior had lower periodontal disease prevalence. Adjusted multivariable regression models showed that higher sedentary behavior (more than 7.5 hours/day) was associated with higher odds of periodontal disease (OR= 1.17; 95% CI,1.00,1.36; p=0.045). CONCLUSION Findings showed that higher sedentary behavior is associated with higher odds of periodontal disease. Future prospective longitudinal studies and strategies are needed to investigate implications further and define the magnitude of the association between physical activity and periodontal disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Association of Sugar-Sweetened, Artificially Sweetened, and Unsweetened Coffee Consumption With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality

BACKGROUND Previous observational studies have suggested an association between coffee intake and reduced risk for death, but these studies did not distinguish between coffee consumed with sugar or artificial sweeteners and coffee consumed without. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the associations of consumption of sugar-sweetened, artificially sweetened, and unsweetened coffee with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Data were extracted from the UK Biobank. PARTICIPANTS A total of 171 616 participants (mean age, 55.6 years [SD, 7.9]) without cardiovascular disease (CVD) or cancer at baseline were eligible. Baseline demographic, lifestyle, and dietary data from the UK Biobank were used, with follow-up beginning in 2009 and ending in 2018. MEASUREMENTS Dietary consumption of sugar-sweetened, artificially sweetened, and unsweetened coffee was self-reported. All-cause, cancer-related, and CVD-related mortality were estimated. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3177 deaths were recorded (including 1725 cancer deaths and 628 CVD deaths). Cox models with penalized splines showed U-shaped associations of unsweetened coffee, sugar-sweetened coffee, and artificially sweetened coffee with mortality. Compared with nonconsumers, consumers of various amounts of unsweetened coffee (>0 to 1.5, >1.5 to 2.5, >2.5 to 3.5, >3.5 to 4.5, and >4.5 drinks/d) had lower risks for all-cause mortality after adjustment for lifestyle, sociodemographic, and clinical factors, with respective hazard ratios of 0.79 (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.90), 0.84 (CI, 0.74 to 0.95), 0.71 (CI, 0.62 to 0.82), 0.71 (CI, 0.60 to 0.84), and 0.77 (CI, 0.65 to 0.91); the respective estimates for consumption of sugar-sweetened coffee were 0.91 (CI, 0.78 to 1.07), 0.69 (CI, 0.57 to 0.84), 0.72 (CI, 0.57 to 0.91), 0.79 (CI, 0.60 to 1.06), and 1.05 (CI, 0.82 to 1.36). The association between artificially sweetened coffee and mortality was less consistent. The association of coffee drinking with mortality from cancer and CVD was largely consistent with that with all-cause mortality. U-shaped associations were also observed for instant, ground, and decaffeinated coffee. LIMITATION Exposure assessed at baseline might not capture changes in intake over time. CONCLUSION Moderate consumption of unsweetened and sugar-sweetened coffee was associated with lower risk for death. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE National Natural Science Foundation of China, Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by CAST, and Project Supported by Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation.
EVALUACION DE LAS PRACTICAS DE GESTION DE RIESGO DE LOS CONTRATISTAS GENERALES DE FLORIDA EVALUATION OF FLORIDA GENERAL CONTRACTORS RISK MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Construction is a highly risk-prone industry with not a very good track record of coping with risks. The participants in the industry, as a result, have been enduring the agonizing outcomes of failure in the form of unusual delays in project completion, with cost surpassing the budgeted cost and sometimes failed to meet quality standards and operational requirements. Thus, an effective analysis and management of construction associated risks remains a big challenge to the industry practitioners. This paper via, questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews, evaluates the current practices of risk analysis and management adopted by the general contractors in the Florida construction industry and presents the comparison with four other US states considered to have highly profitable and modernized construction industry. The results reveal that in the Florida construction industry, risk analysis and management techniques are rarely used by the general contractors due to a lack of knowledge coupled with doubts on the suitability of these techniques for the construction industry. It is recommended that formal and informal training of general contractors and construction managers is essential to implement such techniques in Florida. This will lead to improved profitability, reduced conflicts and on time and within budget project completions.
An Integrated mHealth App for Smoking Cessation in Black Smokers With Anxiety: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Black smokers have greater difficulty in quitting and higher rates of smoking-related diseases and disabilities than the general population. The smoking disparities experienced by this group are, in part, a consequence of multiple chronic life stressors (eg, racial discrimination) that engender increased exposure to interoceptive stress symptoms (eg, anxiety), which can ultimately lead to smoking as a means of immediate emotion regulation. Objective This study aimed to culturally adapt and initially test a novel mobile intervention (ie, Mobile Anxiety Sensitivity Program for Smoking [MASP]) that targets anxiety sensitivity (AS; a proxy for difficulty and responsivity to interoceptive stress) among Black smokers. The MASP intervention is culturally informed to address interoceptive stress management difficulties among Black smokers and is thus hypothesized to facilitate smoking cessation. Methods In phase 1, a total of 25 Black smokers with elevated AS will be administered MASP for 6 weeks. Following the completion of phase 1, we will further refine the MASP based on qualitative and quantitative data from participants to produce the final MASP iteration. In phase 2, a total of 200 Black smokers with elevated AS will be enrolled and randomly assigned to receive nicotine replacement therapy and either the smartphone-based National Cancer Institute QuitGuide app for standard mobile smoking cessation treatment or the MASP intervention. All participants in phases 1 and 2 will be enrolled remotely and will complete a web-based study screener; smartphone-based baseline assessment; daily smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments for 6 weeks; phone-based end-of-treatment qualitative interviews; and smartphone-based follow-up assessments at postbaseline weeks 1, 2 (quit date), 3, 4, 5, 6, 28, and 54 (weeks 28 and 54 follow-ups will be completed by phase 2 participants only). The MASP intervention is intended to offset barriers to treatment and encourage treatment engagement via smartphones. Results This project was funded in September 2020. Phase 1 data collection began in January 2022. Phase 2 data collection is scheduled to begin in July 2022. Conclusions If successful, data from this study will support culturally informed treatment approaches for Black smokers and, pending findings of efficacy, provide an evidence-based mobile intervention for smoking cessation that is ready for dissemination and implementation. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04838236; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04838236 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/38905
Effect of dietary L-theanine supplementation on skeletal muscle fiber type transformation in weaning piglets

Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the effect of dietary L-theanine (LT) supplementation on skeletal muscle fiber type transformation in weaning piglets. Our data showed that LT significantly increased the slow-twitch fiber-related genes expression and the percentage of slow oxidative fiber, and decreased the MyHC IIb mRNA expression and the percentage of fast glycolytic fiber. In addition, LT significantly increased the succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activities and increased the LDH activities. In addition, LT significantly affected mitochondrial biogenesis and function and antioxidative related genes expression, and increased the protein expression of p-adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), NADPH quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and decreased the Keap1 protein levels. Furthermore, our data indicated that LT significantly increased the mRNA and protein expression of prospero-related homeobox 1 (Prox1), calcineurin A (CnA), and NFATc1, suggesting that dietary LT supplementation promoted skeletal muscle fiber transition from types II to I might be via activation of calcineurin signaling pathway. Taken together, these findings suggested that LT promoted the transformation of muscle fiber types from slow oxidative to fast glycolytic by increasing antioxidant capacity and improving mitochondrial biogenesis and function and activation of calcineurin signaling pathway.
TRIM33 Modulates Inflammation and Airway Remodeling of PDGF-BB-Induced Airway Smooth-Muscle Cells by the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway

Asthma is a chronic airway disease involving airway inflammation and remodeling. Studies showed that tripartite motif-containing protein 33 (TRIM33) regulated natural immunity, inflammation, and pulmonary fibrosis. However, the role and regulatory mechanism of TRIM33 in children’s asthma are unclear. In this study, the TRIM33 expressions in serum samples and platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB)-induced airway smooth-muscle cells (ASMCs) were evaluated. A gain-of-function experiment was performed, and cell proliferation and migration were detected using CCK-8 and wound healing assays. Besides, the protein levels of EMT biomarkers and airway-remodeling markers were determined by Western blot assay. ELISA analyzed the contents of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the supernatant. The modulation of Smad4 expression and subsequent activation of Wnt/β-catenin by TRIM33 were also assessed. We found that TRIM33 was downregulated in the serum from children who were asthma patients and PDGF-BB-induced ASMCs. TRIM33 overexpression showed decrease of PDGF-BB-induced ASMC proliferation and migration. Moreover, the augment of TRIM33 reduced the PDGF-BB-induced cell EMT and airway-remodeling marker levels and suppressed the secretions of inflammatory cytokines in PDGF-BB-induced ASMCs. Additionally, TRIM33 overexpression inhibited activation of Wnt/β-catenin via reducing Smad4 expression to regulate asthma inflammation and airway remodeling. All in all, our study revealed that TRIM33 expression was downregulated in children who were asthma patients and PDGF-BB-induced ASMCs. TRIM33 modulated PDGF-BB-induced inflammation and airway remodeling of ASMCs by the Wnt/β-catenin pathway via regulating Smad4, which may provide a new treatment direction for asthma.
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex and emotion regulation: lost in translation?

Neuroimaging studies implicate the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in a wide range of emotional and cognitive functions, and changes in activity within vmPFC have been linked to the aetiology and successful treatment of depression. However, this is a large, structurally heterogeneous region and the extent to which this structural heterogeneity reflects functional heterogeneity remains unclear. Causal studies in animals should help address this question but attempts to map findings from vmPFC studies in rodents onto human imaging studies highlight cross‐species discrepancies between structural homology and functional analogy. Bridging this gap, recent studies in marmosets – a species of new world monkey in which the overall organization of vmPFC is more like humans than that of rodents – have revealed that over‐activation of the caudal subcallosal region of vmPFC, area 25, but not neighbouring area 32, heightens reactivity to negatively valenced stimuli whilst blunting responsivity to positively valenced stimuli. These co‐occurring states resemble those seen in depressed patients, which are associated with increased activity in caudal subcallosal regions. In contrast, only reward blunting but not heightening of threat reactivity is seen following over‐activation of the structurally homologous region in rodents. To further advance understanding of the role of vmPFC in the aetiology and treatment of depression, future work should focus on the behaviourally specific networks by which vmPFC regions have their effects, together with characterization of cross‐species similarities and differences in function.
Mechanical properties of fabric materials for draping simulation

Most of the cloth simulation and modelling techniques rely on the energy function of the system. The geometric deformation is related to the energy function by the fabric material characteristics, which are usually dif®cult to measure directly. This paper discusses how the fabric material properties are related to the measurable mechanical properties of the fabric such as tensile modulus, Poisson’s ratio etc. These properties are incorporated into a cloth simulator to produce draping results. The simulated image and real object are then compared to show the realism.
Behavioral activities of white-lipped peccary ( Tayassu pecari, Link, 1795 ) in a semi-intensive farming system in Brazil

This study aimed to describe the main behaviors of white-lipped peccaries ( Tayassu pecari ) expressed in a semi-intensive production system in Brazil. The behavioral activities of two groups of peccaries allocated in two paddocks were assessed, totaling 17 adult animals and eventual pups in different developmental stages. The animals were visually observed using the ad libitum sampling and scan sample methods during the adaptation and experimental phases, respectively. The animals were evaluated in the morning, afternoon, and at night. The behavioral activities observed by ad libitum sampling comprised feeding, pool contact, moving, staying inside the handling area, resting, mud bathing, mutual rubbing, rubbing, aggression, sexual behavior, copulation, foraging, breastfeeding, sleeping, territorial marking, interactions, birthing, gnawing, and other behaviors. All behaviors observed by the ad libitum sampling method were confirmed in the experimental period by scan sample , except for territorial marking and birthing. The effects of time of day were statistically significant (p <0.05) for eating, pool contact, movement, staying inside the handling area, resting, mud bathing and sleeping. These results contribute to the understanding of instinctive animal habits and to the development of nutritional, environmental and health management protocols that meet the requirements of peccaries.