Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gene sequence alignment on a public computing platform

Public computing can potentially supply not only computational power but also memory and short term storage resources to grid and cluster scale problems. Gene sequence alignment is a fundamental computational challenge in bioinformatics with attributes such as moderate computational requirements, extensive memory requirements, and highly interdependent tasks. This study examines the performance of calculating the alignment for two 100,000 base sequences on a public computing platform utilizing the BOINC framework. When compared to the theoretical, optimal sequential implementation, the parallel implementation achieves speedup by a factor of 1.4 and at the point of maximum parallelism and ends with a speedup of 1.2. This speedup factor is based on extrapolation of the sequential performance of a segment of the problem. This extrapolation would require a theoretical sequential machine with approximately 37.3 GB of working memory or suffer performance degradation from use of secondary storage during the calculation.
Disfluency Detection using a Noisy Channel Model and a Deep Neural Language Model

This paper presents a model for disfluency detection in spontaneous speech transcripts called LSTM Noisy Channel Model. The model uses a Noisy Channel Model (NCM) to generate n-best candidate disfluency analyses and a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) language model to score the underlying fluent sentences of each analysis. The LSTM language model scores, along with other features, are used in a MaxEnt reranker to identify the most plausible analysis. We show that using an LSTM language model in the reranking process of noisy channel disfluency model improves the state-of-the-art in disfluency detection.
Amygdala Functional Connectivity with Medial Prefrontal Cortex at Rest Predicts the Positivity Effect in Older Adults' Memory

As people get older, they tend to remember more positive than negative information. This age-by-valence interaction has been called “positivity effect. ” The current study addressed the hypotheses that baseline functional connectivity at rest is predictive of older adults' brain activity when learning emotional information and their positivity effect in memory. Using fMRI, we examined the relationship among resting-state functional connectivity, subsequent brain activity when learning emotional faces, and individual differences in the positivity effect (the relative tendency to remember faces expressing positive vs. negative emotions). Consistent with our hypothesis, older adults with a stronger positivity effect had increased functional coupling between amygdala and medial PFC (MPFC) during rest. In contrast, younger adults did not show the association between resting connectivity and memory positivity. A similar age-by-memory positivity interaction was also found when learning emotional faces. That is, memory positivity in older adults was associated with (a) enhanced MPFC activity when learning emotional faces and (b) increased negative functional coupling between amygdala and MPFC when learning negative faces. In contrast, memory positivity in younger adults was related to neither enhanced MPFC activity to emotional faces, nor MPFC–amygdala connectivity to negative faces. Furthermore, stronger MPFC–amygdala connectivity during rest was predictive of subsequent greater MPFC activity when learning emotional faces. Thus, emotion–memory interaction in older adults depends not only on the task-related brain activity but also on the baseline functional connectivity.
Observer Bias: An Interaction of Temperament Traits with Biases in the Semantic Perception of Lexical Material

The lexical approach is a method in differential psychology that uses people's estimations of verbal descriptors of human behavior in order to derive the structure of human individuality. The validity of the assumptions of this method about the objectivity of people's estimations is rarely questioned. Meanwhile the social nature of language and the presence of emotionality biases in cognition are well-recognized in psychology. A question remains, however, as to whether such an emotionality-capacities bias is strong enough to affect semantic perception of verbal material. For the lexical approach to be valid as a method of scientific investigations, such biases should not exist in semantic perception of the verbal material that is used by this approach. This article reports on two studies investigating differences between groups contrasted by 12 temperament traits (i.e. by energetic and other capacities, as well as emotionality) in the semantic perception of very general verbal material. Both studies contrasted the groups by a variety of capacities: endurance, lability and emotionality separately in physical, social-verbal and mental aspects of activities. Hypotheses of “background emotionality” and a “projection through capacities” were supported. Non-evaluative criteria for categorization (related to complexity, organization, stability and probability of occurrence of objects) followed the polarity of evaluative criteria, and did not show independence from this polarity. Participants with stronger physical or social endurance gave significantly more positive ratings to a variety of concepts, and participants with faster physical tempo gave more positive ratings to timing-related concepts. The results suggest that people's estimations of lexical material related to human behavior have emotionality, language- and dynamical capacities-related biases and therefore are unreliable. This questions the validity of the lexical approach as a method for the objective study of stable individual differences.
Critical appraisal of the use of alpha lipoic acid (thioctic acid) in the treatment of symptomatic diabetic polyneuropathy

Background: The most common of the neuropathies associated with diabetes mellitus, diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) is a syndrome of diffuse, length-dependent, symmetric nerve dysfunction. The condition is linked with substantial morbidity, frequent healthcare utilization, and compromised quality of life due to related discomfort. Correspondingly, anti-depressants, anticonvulsants, and opioids are regularly prescribed with the goal of pain control. However, the agents rarely provide complete pain relief and fail to address progression of the disorder. Whereas strict blood glucose control can slow the onset and worsening of DSPN, near-normoglycemia is not easily attainable. Evidence implicating oxidative processes in the pathogenesis of DSPN offers one potentially important therapeutic avenue. Due to its properties as a potent antioxidant, alpha lipoic acid (ALA) could mitigate the development of DSPN and attenuate resultant symptoms and signs. Approved for treatment of DSPN in Germany, the agent is not more widely used due to uncertainty about its efficacy and reported adverse effects. Here we review the effectiveness and tolerability of ALA in the treatment of symptomatic DSPN. Methods: The MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for English-language literature on the topic. Randomized, blinded studies comparing parenteral and oral ALA with placebo in the treatment of peripheral neuropathy in diabetic adults were selected. Analysis included studies with a level of evidence of at least 2b. Results: The current appraisal summarizes data from 1160 participants in the ALADIN, SYDNEY, ORPIL, SYDNEY 2, and ALADIN III trials. In four of the studies, ALA provided significant improvement in manifestations of DSPN. Conclusion: Treatment with ALA 600 mg iv daily for 3 weeks represents a well-tolerated and effective therapy for DSPN. An oral dose of 600 mg daily administered for up to 5 weeks could offer benefits in symptoms and signs of DSPN without significant side effects.
CD31/PECAM-1 is a ligand for alpha v beta 3 integrin involved in adhesion of leukocytes to endothelium

To protect the body efficiently from infectious organisms, leukocytes circulate as nonadherent cells in the blood and lymph, and migrate as adherent cells into tissues. Circulating leukocytes in the blood have first to adhere to and then to cross the endothelial lining. CD31/PECAM- 1 is an adhesion molecule expressed by vascular endothelial cells, platelets, monocytes, neutrophils, and naive T lymphocytes. It is a transmembrane glycoprotein of the immunoglobulin gene superfamily (IgSF), with six Ig-like homology units mediating leukocyte-endothelial interactions. The adhesive interactions mediated by CD31 are complex and include homophilic (CD31-CD31) or heterophilic (CD31-X) contacts. Soluble, recombinant forms of CD31 allowed us to study the heterophilic interactions in leukocyte adhesion assays. We show that the adhesion molecule alpha v beta 3 integrin is a ligand for CD31. The leukocytes revealed adhesion mediated by the second Ig-like domain of CD31, and this binding was inhibited by alpha v beta 3 integrin-specific antibodies. Moreover alpha v beta 3 was precipitated by recombinant CD31 from cell lysates. These data establish a third IgSF-integrin pair of adhesion molecules, CD31-alpha v beta 3 in addition to VCAM-1, MadCAM-1/alpha 4 integrins, and ICAM/beta 2 integrins, which are major components mediating leukocyte-endothelial adhesion. Identification of a further versatile adhesion pair broadens our current understanding of leukocyte-endothelial interactions and may provide the basis for the treatment of inflammatory disorders and metastasis formation.
Large vocabulary automatic speech recognition for children

Recently, Google launched YouTube Kids, a mobile application for children, that uses a speech recognizer built specifically for recognizing children’s speech. In this paper we present techniques we explored to build such a system. We describe the use of a neural network classifier to identify matched acoustic training data, filtering data for language modeling to reduce the chance of producing offensive results. We also compare long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent networks to convolutional, LSTM, deep neural networks (CLDNN). We found that a CLDNN acoustic model outperforms an LSTM across a variety of different conditions, but does not specifically model child speech relatively better than adult. Overall, these findings allow us to build a successful, state-of-the-art large vocabulary speech recognizer for both children and adults.
Specificity of cytotoxic T cells from athymic mice

In normal mice, self-H-2 antigens in the thymus have a profound influence on T cell specificity. We have therefore investigated the properties of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) precursors from athymic nude mice (5) with the notion that they may provide a model system for the study of T cells whose receptro specificity is closer to the germ-line- encoded repertoire. It was found that the precursors of nude CTL are, themselves, THy-1+ cells. The possibility that these nude t cells were derived from the phenotypically normal mother by placental transfer was ruled out. In the presence of T cell growth factor, nude CTL can be induced by polyclonal activation with concanavalin A or by stimulation with allogeneic or trinitrophenyl (TNP)-modified syngeneic stimulator cells, but not by stimulation with minor H antigens in the context of self-H-2. Alloreactive, nude CTL--like those from normal mice-- recognize H-2K- and H-2D-region-encoded antigens in killer-target cell interactions, but, unlike normal CTL, did not cross-react on third- party target cells. Whereas the anti-TNP response of nude mice is H-2 restricted, it does not seem to be influenced by self-H-2 antigens in the same manner as in normal mice. This is suggested by the finding that the immunodominance of H-2k over H-2d in the anti-TNP-self response of normal (H-2d X H-2b)F1 mice is absent in (H-2d X H-2k)F1 nude mice. These observations are discussed in relation to the role of the thymus in the generation of the normal mature T cell receptor repertoire.
Prognostic Significance of Blood Lactate and Lactate Clearance in Trauma Patients

Background:Lactate has been shown to be a prognostic biomarker in trauma. Although lactate clearance has already been proposed as an intermediate endpoint in randomized trials, its precise role in trauma patients remains to be determined. Methods:Blood lactate levels and lactate clearance (LC) were calculated at admission and 2 and 4 h later in trauma patients. The association of initial blood lactate level and lactate clearance with mortality was tested using receiver-operating characteristics curve, logistic regression using triage scores, Trauma Related Injury Severity Score as a reference standard, and reclassification method. Results:The authors evaluated 586 trauma patients (mean age 38 ± 16 yr, 84% blunt and 16% penetrating, mortality 13%). Blood lactate levels at admission were elevated in 327 (56%) patients. The lactate clearance should be calculated within the first 2 h after admission as LC0–2 h was correlated with LC0–4 h (R2 = 0.55, P < 0.001) but not with LC2–4 h (R2 = 0.04, not significant). The lactate clearance provides additional predictive information to initial blood lactate levels and triage scores and the reference score. This additional information may be summarized using a categorical approach (i.e., less than or equal to −20 %/h) in contrast to initial blood lactate. The results were comparable in patients with high (5 mM/l or more) initial blood lactate. Conclusions:Early (0–2 h) lactate clearance is an important and independent prognostic variable that should probably be incorporated in future decision schemes for the resuscitation of trauma patients.
Epidemiology and clinical management of XDR-TB: a systematic review by TBNET

Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is present in all regions and poses serious challenges for public health and clinical management. Laboratory diagnosis is difficult and little evidence exists to guide clinicians in treating people with XDR-TB effectively. To summarise the available data on diagnosis and treatment, the current authors performed a systematic review on 13 recent studies of the epidemiology and clinical management of XDR-TB. Studies that met inclusion criteria were reviewed, in order to assess methodology, treatment regimens and treatment outcomes. Meta-analysis of currently available data is not possible because of inconsistent definitions and methodologies. Data show that XDR-TB can be successfully treated in up to 65% of patients, particularly those who are not co-infected with HIV. However, treatment duration is longer and outcomes are in general poorer than for non-XDR TB patients. To strengthen the evidence for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis diagnosis, treatment and prevention, future studies should: 1) be prospective in design; 2) adopt standardised, internationally accepted definitions; 3) use quality-assured laboratory testing for all first- and second-line drugs; and 4) collect data on an agreed-upon set of standard variables, allowing for comparisons across studies. Early diagnosis and aggressive management of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis provide the best chance of positive outcome, but prevention is still paramount.
Mortality in British vegetarians: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Oxford).

BACKGROUND Few prospective studies have examined the mortality of vegetarians. OBJECTIVE We present results on mortality among vegetarians and nonvegetarians in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Oxford). DESIGN We used a prospective study of men and women recruited throughout the United Kingdom in the 1990s. RESULTS Among 64,234 participants aged 20-89 y for whom diet group was known, 2965 had died before age 90 by 30 June 2007. The death rates of participants are much lower than average for the United Kingdom. The standardized mortality ratio for all causes of death was 52% (95% CI: 50%, 54%) and was identical in vegetarians and in nonvegetarians. Comparing vegetarians with meat eaters among the 47,254 participants who had no prevalent cardiovascular disease or malignant cancer at recruitment, the death rate ratios adjusted for age, sex, smoking, and alcohol consumption were 0.81 (95% CI: 0.57, 1.16) for ischemic heart disease and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.90, 1.16) for all causes of death. CONCLUSIONS The mortality of both the vegetarians and the nonvegetarians in this study is low compared with national rates. Within the study, mortality from circulatory diseases and all causes is not significantly different between vegetarians and meat eaters, but the study is not large enough to exclude small or moderate differences for specific causes of death, and more research on this topic is required.
Exploiting self-similarities to defeat digital watermarking systems: a case study on still images

Unauthorized digital copying is a major concern for multi-media content providers. Since copyright owners lose control over content distribution as soon as data is decrypted or unscrambled, digital watermarking has been introduced as a complementary protection technology. In an effort to anticipate hostile behaviors of adversaries, the research community is constantly introducing novel attacks to benchmark watermarking systems. In this paper, a generic block replacement attack will be presented. The underlying assumption is that multimedia content is highly repetitive. It should consequently be possible to exploit the self-similarities of the signal to replace each signal block with another perceptually similar one. Alternative methods to compute such a valid placement block will be surveyed in this paper. Then,experimental results on still images will be presented to the efficiency of the presented attack in comparison with other reference image processing operations. Finally, a will be conducted to exhibit the properties that a watermark should have to resist to this attack.
Replantation of 400 avulsed permanent incisors. 1. Diagnosis of healing complications.

A material of 322 patients with 400 avulsed and replanted permanent teeth were followed prospectively in the period from 1965 to 1988 (mean observation period = 5.1 yrs). The age of the patients at the time of replantation ranged from 5 to 52 yrs (mean = 13.7 yrs and median = 11.0 yrs). Standardized patient records were used through the entire period in order to obtain valid data concerning the extent of injury and treatment provided. At the follow-up period, pulpal and periodontal healing were monitored by clinical examination, mobility testing and standardized radiographic controls. Thirty-two of the replanted teeth (8%) showed pulpal healing. When related to teeth with incomplete root formation, where pulpal revascularization was anticipated (n = 94) the frequency of pulpal healing was 34%. Periodontal ligament healing (i.e. with no evidence of external root resorption) was found in 96 teeth (24%). Gingival healing was found in 371 teeth (93%). During the observation period, 119 teeth (30%) were extracted. Tooth loss was slightly more frequent in teeth with incomplete root formation at the time of replantation than in teeth with completed root formation.
Lessons for appropriate technology generation : example of soil management technology at IITA. Key note

There are many legume-based technologies capable of regenerating soil fertility but few are being adopted by farmers in West Africa. At the IITA we found that alley cropping and cover cropping systems are biologically sustainable but have low adoption by farmers in the medium term. Negative reactions by farmers stimulated us to consider grain legume rotations for soil fertility maintenance, a decision that permitted a concentration of effort by several disciplines on the system. The short-term payoff was the generation of a large body of scientific information. Positive reactions of farmers have lead to research at the farm level focusing on the increases in maize yield due to the N benefits and the reduction in Striga hermonthica parasitism. A preliminary estimate of impact can be calculated for northern Nigeria where gross revenue from soybean-maize rotation is 50 to 70% higher than continuous maize cropping. Several research and development efforts are now underway testing soybean or cowpea rotation with maize
The wideband slope region of BPSK and QPSK for broadcast channels in the low-power regime

We consider a multi-user scenario, where the users are operating at a low SNR level. The low SNR level entails that the energy per bit of each user is close to the minimum that allows for reliable transmission. In existing work of the last years, the wideband slope was introduced, which describes the behavior of capacity as SNR tends to zero and which thus is an adequate quality criterion for channels with low SNR. It has already been shown that in single-user channels, QPSK achieves the optimum slope reached by Gaussian alphabets, while BPSK only achieves half the slope. In this paper, we extend this result to two-user broadcast channels and show that the users achieve the optimum slope region if they use QPSK. As in the single-user case, each user's slope attainable with QPSK is halved when using BPSK instead. Furthermore, we show that the suboptimality of the TDMA slope region, which was already shown for multi-user channels with Gaussian inputs, persists.
Monocular ORB-SLAM and Pose Retrieval for Autonomous Driving

Autonomous smart cars are an integral part of smart cities. This paper partly addresses the localization and mapping challenges that need to be addressed in order to autonomously control the movement of a car. Further, we explore multiple use-cases such as camera pose retrieval, thermal visual SLAM, and GPS-constrained Visual SLAM. Finally, we conduct our experiments using the classic and our own, modified version of ORB-SLAM, using both the KITTI Dataset and our own datasets, recorded using Valeo's autonomous car prototypes.
Trends and Rates of Stillbirths: An Observational Study in a Tertiary Level Hospital, Faridpur, Bangladesh

Fetal death at any time during pregnancy is a very tragic situation for the parents and treating obstetricians. Pregnancy loss is a distressing problem and retention of dead fetus in utero has its own ill effects on physical, psychological, and social aspects. Mifepristone is commonly used for induction of labour when a fetus dies in the utero. This cross-sectional survey aimed to determine the incidence and trend of intrauterine fetal death and socio-demographic characteristics, maternal obstetric history, health seeking behavior among the women who experience a stillbirth delivery. It will also aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of using Mifepristone in case of induction of labour. This study was done at the Obstetric & Gynecology department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College and a total of 219 stillbirth deliveries were recorded out of 4275 total deliveries from January to December 2022, resulting in a stillbirth rate of 51 per thousand live births. The majority of stillbirths were preterm between 28-38 weeks, and more than half were delivered via normal vaginal deliveries. The study revealed poor distribution of prenatal care, with only 9.59% of mothers having had the recommended 4 ante natal care visits, while 29.22% were primiparous. The results underscore the need for effective prenatal care to reduce the incidence of stillbirth and highlight the importance of careful management of intrauterine fetal death cases to mitigate physical, psychological, and social effects. The findings of this study provide valuable information for clinicians, policy makers, and researchers working in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Med. Coll. J. 2024;3(1):38-43