Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Explaining Faculty Members’ Perceptions of Virtual Learning Based on Various Types of Educational Interactions During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak: A Qualitative Content Analysis

Background: Given that interaction is a vital element in virtual learning, using the professors’ experiences and perceptions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak can provide useful information about the quality of educational interactions in virtual learning courses in order to improve virtual learning. Objectives: This study aims to explain the perceptions of faculty members of Kerman universities regarding virtual learning based on educational interactions during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: This study was conducted with a qualitative content analysis approach in the academic year of 2021 in Kerman University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. The data collection method was semi-structured interviews with 13 professors of these universities who were included in the study using purposive sampling. Data analysis was performed using the qualitative content analysis method according to the steps introduced by Graneheim and Lundman. Results: The results of this study were presented in the form of 4 main themes: 1) Teacher-learner interactions, including the tools used, how they interact, and their barriers;2) Learner-learner interaction, learner-content interaction, and teacher-content interaction, including the professors’ actions to create and increase them;3) Teacher-teacher interactions, including professors’ instructional and research interactions and their barriers;4) Content-content interaction, which the findings indicated that professors did not pay much attention to this type of interaction. Conclusion: Virtual learning is not limited to the COVID-19 outbreak period but can be used as a supplement to face-to-face learning, even when the universities reopen;therefore, valuable experiences of professors of virtual learning can be used to strengthen various types of educational interactions and develop virtual learning in the studied universities and other universities. © 2022, Kerman University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
Activation of RegB endoribonuclease by S1 ribosomal protein requires an 11 nt conserved sequence

The T4 RegB endoribonuclease cleaves specifically in the middle of the -GGAG- sequence, leading to inactivation and degradation of early phage mRNAs. In vitro, RegB activity is very weak but can be enhanced 10- to 100-fold by the Escherichia coli ribosomal protein S1. Not all RNAs carrying the GGAG motif are cleaved by RegB, suggesting that additional information is required to obtain a complete RegB target site. In this work, we find that in the presence of S1, the RegB target site is an 11 nt long single-stranded RNA carrying the 100% conserved GGA triplet at the 5′ end and a degenerate, A-rich, consensus sequence immediately downstream. Our data support the notion that RegB alone recognizes only the trinucleotide GGA, which it cleaves very inefficiently, and that stimulation of RegB activity by S1 depends on the nucleotide immediately 3′ to -GGA-.
Phenotypic Switching in Candida lusitaniae on Copper Sulfate Indicator Agar: Association with Amphotericin B Resistance and Filamentation

ABSTRACT Candida lusitaniae is an opportunistic yeast pathogen that has the ability to develop resistance to amphotericin B (AmB). The mechanism(s) for this resistance is not well understood, although there are data supporting mutations in sterol pathways and other data supporting phenotypic switching (PS). The goal of this study was to determine whether C. lusitaniae has a PS system and to characterize any phenotypes, including any changes in AmB MICs. When 104 CFU of an AmB-resistant (MIC of 16 to 32 μg/ml) clinical strain was plated on yeast-peptone-dextrose (YPD) agar with 1 mM CuSO4, three colony colors were observed: light brown (LB) ≫ dark brown (DB) > white (W), similar to the result for Candida glabrata. Switching did occur with high AmB resistance (MIC of 256 μg/ml) being associated with W, whereas LB and DB colonies had MICs of 2 to 8 μg/ml and 2 to 16 μg/ml, respectively. Filamentation (pseudohyphae) was associated with DB colonies. All phenotypes occurred spontaneously with greater frequency (∼10−2 to 10−4) than spontaneous mutations, and all phenotypes were reversible, fulfilling the two PS criteria. High AmB MICs were always associated with W colonies but not with all W colonies. Detection of PS on YPD-CuSO4 is also similar to that in Candida glabrata, and we hypothesize that this is due to similarities in metallothionein gene expression. Phenotypic switching represents a key strategy in C. lusitaniae that confers a selective advantage during environmental challenges, including the ability to switch to AmB resistance.
Plant Beneficial Microbes and Their Application in Plant Biotechnology

Anna Russo1, Gian Pietro Carrozza4, Lorenzo Vettori2, Cristiana Felici4, Fabrizio Cinelli3 and Annita Toffanin4 1Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento 2Department of Agriculture Biotechnology, University of Florence 3Department of Fruit Science and Plant Protection of Woody Species ‘G. Scaramuzzi’, University of Pisa 4Department of Crop Plant Biology, University of Pisa Italy
Peripheral Education of the Immune System by Colonic Commensal Microbiota

REVIEWER COMMENTS. This study was the first to demonstrate that gut bacterial colonization may affect B-cell activation and maturation in humans. The study showed that early colonization of the gut with S aureus, which is increasingly common with improved sanitary conditions in the Western world, is associated with lower counts of circulating memory B cells in infants, whereas early colonization with E coli and bifidobacteria is associated with B-cell activation and maturation. The study team suggests that S aureus colonization may reflect low diversity of gut microbiota and E coli and bifidobacteria colonization may reflect greater diversity of gut microbiota. Whether either the gut microbiome or lower levels of B-cell activation and maturation in early life are risk factors for developing allergic disease is unknown, but evidence linking either to allergic disease would support the conduct of prevention studies aimed at increasing the diversity of the gut microbiome.
Prospective evaluation of short-term, high-volume isovolemic hemofiltration on the hemodynamic course and outcome in patients with intractable circulatory failure resulting from septic shock

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of short-term, high-volume hemofiltration (STHVH) on hemodynamic and metabolic status and 28-day survival in patients with refractory septic shock. DesignProspective, interventional. SettingIntensive care unit (ICU), tertiary institution. PatientsTwenty patients with intractable cardiocirculatory failure complicating septic shock, who had failed to respond to conventional therapy. InterventionsSTHVH, followed by conventional continuous venovenous hemofiltration. STHVH consisted of a 4-hr period during which 35 L of ultrafiltrate is removed and neutral fluid balance is maintained. Subsequent conventional continuous venovenous hemofiltration continued for at least 4 days. Measurements and Main ResultsCardiac index, systemic vascular resistance, pulmonary vascular resistance, oxygen delivery, mixed venous oxygen saturation, arterial pH, and lactate were measured serially. Fluid and inotropic support were managed by protocol. Therapeutic endpoints were as follows during STHVH: a) by 2 hrs, a ≥50% increase in cardiac index; b) by 2 hrs, a ≥25% increase in mixed venous saturation; c) by 4 hrs, an increase in arterial pH to >7.3; d) by 4 hrs, a ≥50% reduction in epinephrine dose. Patients who attained all four goals (11 of 20) were considered hemodynamic “responders”; patients who did not (9 of 20) were considered hemodynamic “nonresponders. ” There were no differences in baseline hemodynamic, metabolic, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation and Simplified Acute Physiology Scores between responders and nonresponders. Survival to 28 days was better among responders (9 of 11 patients) than among nonresponders (0 of 9). Factors associated with survival were hemodynamic-metabolic response status, time interval from ICU admission to initiation of STHVH, and body weight. ConclusionsThese data suggest that STHVH may be of major therapeutic value in the treatment of intractable cardiocirculatory failure complicating septic shock. Early initiation of therapy and adequate dose may improve hemodynamic and metabolic responses and 28-day survival.
Surface Blending Using a Power Series Solution to Fourth Order Partial Differential Equations

In our previous work, we proposed a general fourth order partial differential equation (PDE) for the generation of blending surfaces together with an accurate closed form solution for special boundary conditions where closed form solutions exist. In general, however, a closed form solution of a PDE is often either not existent or not obtainable depending on the boundary conditions and the coefficients of the PDE. In order to solve a wider range of surface blending problems using the new form of PDE, we propose in this paper a much more general resolution method using power series expansion. The main idea is to decompose the boundary conditions into a number of basic functions and separate them into two groups, one with and the other without closed form solutions. For the first group, the closed form solutions are produced with our previously proposed method. For the second group, a composite function is constructed which combines these basic functions with the power series of one parametric variable. The unknown constants of the composite function are determined by making use of both the boundary conditions and the weighted residual method, which minimizes the surface errors. Compared with existing resolution methods, the proposed method exhibits a number of advantages: 1) it is a general resolution method and hence able to solve a much wider class of surface blending problems; 2) the boundary conditions are always satisfied exactly that is crucial to the quality of blending surfaces; and 3) only a small number of collocation points and unknown constants are needed, making our method computationally efficient. Several examples given in the paper have demonstrated that this method is not only accurate, but fast enough for interactive applications.
Evaluation of Possible Predictive Variables for the Outcome of Shock Wave Lithotripsy of Renal Stones

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate possible predictive variables for the outcome of shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) of renal stones in a single center. Materials and Methods Between March 2008 and March 2010, a retrospective review was performed of 115 patients who underwent SWL for solitary renal stones. The patients' characteristics and stone size, location, skin-to-stone distance (SSD), and Hounsfield units (HU) of stone were reviewed. The impact of the possible predictors on the disintegration of the stones was evaluated by logistic regression analysis. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to compare the predictive powers of the variables. Results Seventy-nine patients (68.7%) had successful outcomes, whereas 36 patients (31.3%) had residual stones. Significant differences were found in the mean size and mean HU of the stones (size: 8.34±3.58 mm vs. 13.57±5.41 mm, p<0.001; HU: 675.29±254.34 vs. 1,075.00±290.41, p<0.001). In the unadjusted model, age, stone size, and stone density were significant predictors. In the reduced model, stone density and size were significant predictors for the outcome of SWL. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was significantly higher for stone density and size than for the other parameters, but the AUC between stone density and size did not differ significantly (stone density: 0.874, stone size: 0.827, p=0.388). Conclusions Stone density and size were significant predictors of the outcome of SWL for renal stones less than 2.0 cm in diameter. We should consider HU and stone size when making decisions on the treatment of renal stones.
Can't Catch a Break: Intersectional Inequalities at Work

: The labor market is the site of longstanding and persistent inequalities across race and gender groups in hiring, compensation, and advancement. In this paper, we draw on data from 13,574 hourly service-sector workers to extend the study of intersectional labor market inequalities to workers’ experience on the job. In the service sector, where workers are regularly expected to be on their feet for long hours and contend with intense and unrelenting workloads, regular break time is an essential component of job quality and general well-being. Yet, we find that Black women are less likely than their counterparts to get a break during their work shift. Although union membership and laws mandating work breaks are effective in increasing access to breaks for workers overall, they do not ameliorate the inequality Black women face in access to work breaks within the service sector. A sobering implication is that worker power and labor protections can raise the floor on working conditions but leave inequalities intact. Our findings also have implications for racial health inequalities, as the routine daily stress of the service sector takes a disproportionate toll on the health of Black women.
Compartmentalized Toxoplasma EB1 bundles spindle microtubules to secure accurate chromosome segregation

The opportunistic apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii divides by intertwined closed mitosis and internal budding. Centrosome positioning and MT acetylation control spindle dynamics, and the MT-associated protein TgEB1 residing in the nucleus contributes to mitotic fidelity by bundling the spindle MTs.
Effect of mulching on growth of ginger in Ishiagu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The paper investigates effect of mulching on growth of ginger in ishiagu, ebonyi state, Nigeria. The experiment was carried out at the experimental farm of Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu, Ivo LGA of Ebonyi State, Nigeria, during the 2009 and 2010 cropping seasons, using ginger as test crop. In 2009, there was less than 40% sprouting of ginger at 4 WAP but all the mulched plots were significantly higher than the control. In 2010, there was also significant difference (P rice husk> saw dust > black polythene > control. There was increase in plant height from 4-12 WAP in 2009 and 2010. The organic mulches available were suitable for ginger production in the study area and the test crop UG1 is well adaptable to Ishiagu Environment. It is therefore concluded that mulching is imperative for ginger production and variety UG1 could be used to maximize production at Ishiagu environment. Dry grass and rice husk mulches should be used in Ishiagu environment. Keywords: mulch, growth, ginger, rice husks
Geological context, biostratigraphy and systematic revision of late early Cambrian olenelloid trilobites from the Parker and Monkton formations, northwestern Vermont, U.S.A.

In northwestern Vermont, upper lower Cambrian (Dyeran Stage) dysoxic deposits of the Franklin Basin are separated by 7 km from coeval, shallow-shelf deposits of the Monkton Formation on the Middlebury platform. This report presents a systematic revision of olenelloid trilobites from three localities within the basinal facies of the Parker Formation (including the Parker quarry Lagerst tte) and three localities within the Monkton Formation. The study reveals a previously underestimated diversity of olenelloid species in both formations. 'Olenellus agellus, O. crassimarginatus, O. transitans' and 'O'. aff. 'transitans' are presently known only from the basinal facies; 'Bolbolenellus hermani', 'B. ' cf. 'brevispinus' and several indeterminate olenelloid species are presently known only from the shelf facies; and 'O. thompsoni', O. aff. 'Fowleri' and 'Mesonacis vermontanus' occur in both facies. The revisions demonstrate that (1) the Parker and Monkton formations share several species, thus strengthening previous claims for at least partial age-equivalence of the units; and (2) the regression(s) represented by the Monkton Formation began after the formation of the Franklin Basin but prior to the deposition of the Parker quarry Lagerstatte. Some newly documented elements of the Parker and Monkton formation faunas are possibly conspecific with olenelloids from Nevada, which permits a provisional correlation of the Parker quarry Lagerstatte with the 'Bolbolenellus euryparia' Zone or overlying uppermost Dyeran 'Nephrolenellus multinodus' Zone of the Laurentian Cordilleran margin. The Monkton Formation regression(s) were broadly contemporaneous with one or more of the four late Dyeran shallowing-up events that have been identified in the southwestern United States. This indicates that the regression(s) were a eustastic rather than an epeirogenically controlled phenomenon.
Exploiting Probabilistic Independence for Permutations

Permutations are ubiquitous in many real world problems, such as voting, rankings and data association. Representing uncertainty over permutations is challenging, since there are n! possibilities. Recent Fourier-based approaches can be used to provide a compact representation over low-frequency components of the distribution. Though polynomial, the complexity of these representations grows very rapidly, especially if we want to maintain reasonable estimates for peaked distributions. In this paper, we rst characterize the notion of probabilistic independence for distributions over permutations. We then present a method for factoring distributions into independent components in the Fourier domain, and use our algorithms to decompose large problems into much smaller ones. We demonstrate that our method provides very signi cant improvements in terms of running time, on real tracking data.
Insights into the causal relationship between slow slip and tectonic tremor in Guerrero, Mexico

Similar to other subduction zones, tectonic tremors (TTs) and slow‐slip events (SSEs) take place in the deep segment of the plate interface in Guerrero, Mexico. However, their spatial correlation in this region is not as clear as the episodic tremor and slip observed in Cascadia and Japan. In this study we provide insights into the causal relationship between TTs and SSEs in Guerrero by analyzing the evolution of the deformation fields induced by the long‐term 2006 SSE together with new locations of TTs and low‐frequency earthquakes (LFEs). Unlike previous studies we find that the SSE slip rate modulates the TT and LFE activity in the whole tremor region. This means that the causal relationship between the SSE and the TT activity directly depends on the stressing rate history of the tremor asperities that is modulated by the surrounding slip rate. We estimated that the frictional strength of the asperities producing tremor downdip in the sweet spot is around 3.2 kPa, which is ~2.3 times smaller than the corresponding value updip in the transient zone, partly explaining the overwhelming tremor activity of the sweet spot despite that the slow slip there is smaller. Based on the LFE occurrence‐rate history during the interlong‐term SSE period, we determined that the short‐term SSEs in Guerrero take place further downdip (about 35 km) than previously estimated, with maximum slip of about 8 mm in the sweet spot. This new model features a continuum of slow slip extending across the entire tremor region of Guerrero.
The effectiveness of farm programmes on Bangladesh Betar in educating farmers

ABSTRACT Farm programmes (FPs) of varied categories have been developed and aired over several decades by Bangladesh Betar, the national radio of Bangladesh for the diffusion of farm technologies. The study aimed to produce an in-depth academic evaluation of their effectiveness in educating farmers in Bangladesh. A sample of 465 respondents from the Khulna and Rajshahi divisions in Bangladesh was randomly selected for a questionnaire survey. To analyse the data, relevant documents were collected from the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh. Frequency distribution, z-test, and binary logistic regression analysis were used as statistical tools. The farm knowledge levels of the farmers were considered the predictors for evaluating the effectiveness of FPs. The results revealed that 93.33% of the sample did not listen to the FPs, while only very few of the listeners listened regularly. Despite this, at the ‘weak’ and ‘average’ levels of knowledge significant differences were noted between listener and non-listener farmers of FPs. The binary logistic regression analysis (Model 1) identified that the farmers who listened to the FPs were likely to acquire farm knowledge 6.62 times more than the farmers who did not listen to the FPs. The farmers who listened to the FPs were likely to have farm knowledge 2.64 times more than the farmers who did not listen to the FPs but consulted with other sources of farming information (Model 2). Similarly, a listener of FPs with farm training was likely to acquire farm knowledge 5.76 times more than a non-listener with farm training (Model 3). The FPs were found to be very effective and could be used to better complement other mechanisms for educating farmers. Regular access to the FPs ought to be ensured through appropriate stimulants for the diffusion of farm technologies.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Trastuzumab-modified DM1-loaded nanoparticles for HER2+ breast cancer treatment: an in vitro and in vivo study

Abstract We, the authors, Editors and Publisher of the journal Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, have retracted the following article: Ling Rong, Shuping Zhou, Xinkuang Liu, Amin Li, Tao Jing, Xueke Liu, Yinci Zhang, Shiyu Cai & Xiaolong Tang (2018) Trastuzumab-modified DM1-loaded nanoparticles for HER2+ breast cancer treatment: an in vitro and in vivo study. Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 46:8, 1708–1718, DOI: 10.1080/21691401.2017. 1391821 Since publication, the authors noticed errors in Figures 7 b and 5c, which directly impacts the reported results and conclusions. The authors alerted the issue to the Editor and Publisher and all have agreed to retract the article to ensure correction of the scholarly record. The authors plan to re-run the experiment and verify their data. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.