Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temporally Coherent GANs for Video Super-Resolution (TecoGAN)

Adversarial training has been highly successful in the context of image super-resolution. It was demonstrated to yield realistic and highly detailed results. Despite this success, many state-of-the-art methods for video super-resolution still favor simpler norms such as $L_2$ over adversarial loss functions. This is caused by the fact that the averaging nature of direct vector norms as loss functions leads to temporal smoothness. The lack of spatial detail means temporal coherence is easily established. In our work, we instead propose an adversarial training for video super-resolution that leads to temporally coherent solutions without sacrificing spatial detail. In our generator, we use a recurrent, residual framework that naturally encourages temporal consistency. For adversarial training, we propose a novel spatio-temporal discriminator in combination with motion compensation to guarantee photo-realistic and temporally coherent details in the results. We additionally identify a class of temporal artifacts in these recurrent networks, and propose a novel Ping-Pong loss to remove them. Quantifying the temporal coherence for image super-resolution tasks has also not been addressed previously. We propose a first set of metrics to evaluate the accuracy as well as the perceptual quality of the temporal evolution, and we demonstrate that our method outperforms previous work by yielding realistic and detailed images with natural temporal changes.
An Enrichment Analysis for Cardiometabolic Traits Suggests Non-Random Assignment of Genes to microRNAs

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate the expression of the majority of genes. However, it is not known whether they regulate genes in random or are organized according to their function. To this end, we chose cardiometabolic disorders as an example and investigated whether genes associated with cardiometabolic disorders are regulated by a random set of miRNAs or a limited number of them. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) reaching genome-wide level significance were retrieved from most recent genome-wide association studies on cardiometabolic traits, which were cross-referenced with Ensembl to identify related genes and combined with miRNA target prediction databases (TargetScan, miRTarBase, or miRecords) to identify miRNAs that regulate them. We retrieved 520 SNPs, of which 355 were intragenic, corresponding to 304 genes. While we found a higher proportion of genes reported from all GWAS that were predicted targets for miRNAs in comparison to all protein-coding genes (75.1%), the proportion was even higher for cardiometabolic genes (80.6%). Enrichment analysis was performed within each database. We found that cardiometabolic genes were over-represented in target genes for 29 miRNAs (based on TargetScan) and 3 miRNAs (miR-181a, miR-302d and miR-372) (based on miRecords) after Benjamini-Hochberg correction for multiple testing. Our work provides evidence for non-random assignment of genes to miRNAs and supports the idea that miRNAs regulate sets of genes that are functionally related.
Cytoprotective Effects of N-Acetylcysteine on Streptozotocin- Induced Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in RIN-5F Pancreatic β-Cells

Background/Aims: Numerous studies have reported overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and alterations in mitochondrial energy metabolism in the development of diabetes and its complications. The potential protective effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in diabetes have been reported in many therapeutic studies. NAC has been shown to reduce oxidative stress and enhance redox potential in tissues protecting them against oxidative stress associated complications in diabetes. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the protective action of NAC on STZ-induced toxicity in insulin secreting Rin-5F pancreatic β-cells. Methods: Rin-5F cells were grown to 80% confluence and then treated with 10mM STZ for 24h in the presence or absence of 10mM NAC. After sub-cellular fractionation, oxidative stress, GSH-dependent metabolism and mitochondrial respiratory functions were studied using spectrophotometric, flow cytometric and Western blotting techniques. Results: Our results showed that STZ-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis caused inhibition in insulin secretion while NAC treatment restored the redox homeostasis, enhanced insulin secretion in control cells and prevented apoptosis in STZ-treated cells. Moreover, NAC attenuated the inhibition of mitochondrial functions induced by STZ through partial recovery of the mitochondrial enzymes and restoration of membrane potential. STZ-induced DNA damage and expression of apoptotic proteins were significantly inhibited in NAC-treated cells. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the cytoprotective action of NAC is mediated via suppression of oxidative stress and apoptosis and restoration of GSH homeostasis and mitochondrial bioenergetics. This study may, thus, help in better understanding the cellular defense mechanisms of pancreatic β-cells against STZ-induced cytotoxicity.
Ten Years After Bariatric Surgery: Bad Quality of Life Promotes the Need of Psychological Interventions

Background: This study aims to evaluate long-term quality of life (QoL) and primary clinical outcomes, 10 years after biliointestinal bypass (BIB) surgery. It was expected that, although BIB might show encouraging primary outcomes, long term QoL could be significantly impaired. Methods: Ninety patients were contacted for a phone interview [age 41.0 ± 10.6 (mean ± SD) years, age-range 31-65 years]. QoL (by SF-36) and the clinical situation (by ad hoc questionnaire) were collected. Data were analyzed with SPSS 22. SF-36 scores were compared with Italian normative data from general and healthy population. We also compared primary clinical outcomes and SF-36 scores between patients who reported high and low levels of satisfaction with BIB. Results: Considering SF-36 results, patients showed significant impairments in QoL compared to general and healthy populations. Sixty-five percent would repeat the BIB. All patients showed at least one chronic adverse event. It occurred a significant decrease in pre-post co-occurrence rates of diabetes (χ2 = 18.41; p < 0.001) and hypertension (χ2 = 50.27; p < 0.001). Large and significant weight loss indexes (i.e., percent excess weight loss (%EWL); body mass index) were observed between pre-post intervention. Conclusion: BIB showed promising primary clinical outcomes (i.e., hypertension, diabetes, and weight loss). However, subjects reported a significant impairment in all SF-36 domains. Ad hoc psychological interventions should be implemented to ameliorate the quality of life of these patients.
The retrospective identification and molecular epidemiology of porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) in swine in Thailand from 2006 to 2017

Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) has recently been detected in pigs worldwide, with similar clinical manifestations to porcine circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD) from porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection. Here, we report the identification and molecular epidemiology of PCV3 in swine in Thailand from clinical samples retrieved from 2006 to 2017. The epidemiological data revealed co-infection with PCV2, PRRSV, and PCV2/PRRSV was common in our samples. Circulating PCV3 from this study shared a high similarity of nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the partial capsid gene (96.7%-100% and 96.7%-100% respectively), indicated the genetic stability of PCV3 in Thailand. Phylogenetic analysis based on the capsid gene revealed scatter clustering with current PCV3 having no relation to the geographical origin of the virus strains. In this retrospective study, results have demonstrated that PCV3 has spread extensively within Thai swine from as early as 2006 and may also be involved in PRDC and PCVAD.
Study on Air-to-Ground multipath channel and mobility influences in UAV based broadcasting

In this paper, we present the study results on the possible multipath channel models for UAV(unmanned aerial vehicle) based broadcasting. In UAV based communications, the channel models consider only the path losses, the received signal strength and the conditions for Rayleigh/Ricean channel but present no multipath profiles for A2G(air-to-ground) channel, while multipath channel models in A2G channel is necessary for UAV based broadcasting to analyze reception performances. Thus according to the decision criterion of Rayleigh/Ricean channel in the UAV communication, we tried to combine approximately this criterion with DVB-T2 multipath channel models of terrestrial broadcasting. We also discussed on the preparations for the influences of yaw and tilt in UAV based broadcasting.
Relationships between sleep paralysis and sleep quality: current insights

Sleep paralysis is the unusual experience of waking up in the night without the ability to move. Currently little is known about the experience, despite the fact that the vast majority of episodes are associated with extreme fear and in a minority of cases can lead to clinically significant levels of distress. The aim of this work was to review the existing literature pertaining to the relationship sleep paralysis has to sleep more generally, measured both with subjective questionnaires and objective laboratory recordings. In terms of subjective sleep variables, worse sleep quality has been found in multiple studies to be associated with increased odds of sleep paralysis occurrence. In addition, insomnia symptoms (but not a diagnosed insomnia disorder) have also been found to predict sleep paralysis. Associations between sleep paralysis and other unusual and/or threatening sleep experiences such as nightmares, exploding head syndrome, and lucid dreaming have been reported. In terms of objective measurements, the limited literature to date shows sleep paralysis to be a “mixed” state of consciousness, combining elements of rapid eye movement sleep with elements of wakefulness. Future research needs to focus on longitudinal designs to disentangle the direction of effects and more typically employ a broader assessment of sleep paralysis that better captures associated features such as hallucinations, fear, and distress.
Impact of Out-of-Pocket Cost on Herpes Zoster Vaccine Uptake: An Observational Study in a Medicare Managed Care Population

Herpes zoster (HZ) vaccination is approved for adults aged 50+ for the prevention of HZ, but it is underutilized. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between out-of-pocket cost and HZ vaccine utilization. Adults aged 65 or older enrolled for at least 12 months in Medicare Advantage/Part D (MAPD) and Medicare Part D only (PDP) plans from 1 January 2007 to 30 June 2014 were selected. Abandonment was defined as a reversed claim for HZ vaccine with no other paid claim within 90 days. Out-of-pocket costs used were actual amounts recorded in the claim. Overall, the HZ vaccine abandonment rate was 7.3%. Mean out-of-pocket costs were higher for individuals who abandoned versus those who did not ($88 (±$55) versus $80 (± $49)). Logistic regression indicated individuals with out-of-pocket costs of $80–$90 were 21% more likely (OR = 1.21, 1.16–1.27 95% CI), and those with out-of-pocket costs >$90 were 90% more likely (OR = 1.90, 1.85–1.96 95% CI) to abandon than those with out-of-pocket costs <$80. The models also suggested that socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic disparities in vaccine abandonment existed. Different vaccine targeting efforts and pharmacy benefit design strategies may be needed to increase use, improve adherence, and minimize disparities.
Practical measurement of body composition using bioelectrical impedance, air displacement plethysmography and ultrasound in stable outpatients with short bowel syndrome receiving home parenteral nutrition: comparison of agreement between the methods

Abstract Background People diagnosed with intestinal failure (IF) as a result of short bowel syndrome are dependent on home parenteral nutrition (HPN). Measuring nutritional status is essential for monitoring treatment. The present study aimed to determine the agreement and feasibility of three methods bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), ultrasound and air displacement plethysmography (ADP) for measuring body composition in people receiving HPN. Methods Body composition data were collected from patients attending an IF clinic. Results There were 50 participants recruited and data were collected for BIA (n = 46), ultrasound (n = 49) and ADP (n = 9). Numbers for ADP were much lower because of a lack of participant uptake. Fat‐free mass (FFM) measured by BIA and ultrasound in comparison to ADP was found to have good intraclass correlation (ICC) 0.791 (95% confidence interval (CI) CI −0.21 to 0.96) and a moderate ICC 0.659 [95% (CI) −0.27 to 0.92], respectively. Fat mass (FM) measured by both BIA and ultrasound in comparison to ADP was found to have moderate ICC 0.660 (95% CI −0.28 to 0.92) and poor ICC −0.005 (95% CI −0.73 to 0.65), respectively. Conclusions Compared to ADP, BIA indicated moderate to good agreement for measuring body composition, whereas ultrasound indicated far less agreement, particularly when measuring FM. The lack of uptake of ADP suggests that participants found the Bodpod (COSMED Srl, Shepperton, UK) unfavourable. Considering that ultrasound has limited agreement and ADP was not the preferred option for participants, BIA shows some potential. However, the difference between ADP and BIA was larger for FM compared to FFM, which needs to be considered in the clinical setting.
Comparison of a Smartphone Otoscope and Conventional Otoscope in the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Otitis Media

Acute otitis media (AOM) is a leading cause of health encounters and antimicrobial prescriptions in children worldwide. We assessed (1) the rates of antimicrobial prescribing by pediatric emergency department clinicians using a smartphone otoscope device as compared with a conventional otoscope and (2) clinician acceptability of the smartphone device. We conducted a randomized control study in children’s hospital emergency departments over 6 months. More than 1500 encounters were analyzed. The odds of prescribing antibiotics after being given a diagnosis of AOM by clinicians assigned to the smartphone group was 11% higher than the conventional group (18.8% vs 18.0%, odds ratio = 1.106, P = .600). Eight (73%) of the 11 physicians in the smartphone group preferred the smartphone device over the conventional otoscope. Use of a smartphone otoscope for detection of AOM in a pediatric emergency department setting did not lead to an increased likelihood of AOM diagnosis.
Batch Feature Erasing for Person Re-identification and Beyond

This paper presents a new training mechanism called Batch Feature Erasing (BFE) for person re-identification. We apply this strategy to train a novel network with two branches and employing the ResNet-50 as the backbone. The two branches consist of a conventional global branch and a feature erasing branch where the BFE strategy is applied. When training the feature erasing branch, we randomly erase the same region of all the feature maps in a batch. The network then concatenates features from the two branches for person re-identification. Albeit simple, our method achieves state-of-the-art on person re-identification and is applicable to general metric learning tasks in image retrieval problems. For instance, we achieve 75.4% Rank1 accuracy on the CUHK03-Detect dataset and 83.0% Recall-1 score on the Stanford Online Products dataset, outperforming the existed works by a large margin (more than 6%).
Outcome of Decompressive Craniectomy in Traumatic Closed Head Injury

Objective: The aim of the current study was to observe functional outcomes of patients undergoing decompressive craniectomy (DC) for raised intracranial pressure (ICP) after blunt head injury and to assess possible predictive factors. Methodology: This study was a prospective cohort study which was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi over a period of 2 years (January 2015–December 2016). Adult patients, aged between 15 and 65 years of both genders undergoing DC during the study period were selected. Outcomes of DC were assessed at an interval of 3 months following injury using the Glasgow outcome score. The data were analyzed on IBM statistics SPSS version 21. Results: Seventy-two patients underwent DC for raised and refractory ICP. Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at discharge, 1-month and 3-month follow-up were reported. GOS at 3-month follow-up showed 21 patients (29.2%) patients had a good recovery, moderate disability was reported in 16 patients (22.2%), and severe disability in 12 patients (16.7%), persistent vegetative state was seen in five patients (6.9%). Eighteen patients had in hospital mortality (25.0%). Tracheostomy and sphenoid fractures were found to be negative predictors of good functional outcome. Conclusions: DC is associated with an in hospital mortality of 25.0%. Favorable outcomes were seen in 51.4% patients. Tracheostomy and sphenoid fractures were negative predictors of good functional outcome. The results are comparable to international literature.
Molecular epidemiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in University Clinical Center of Kosovo

Background Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen. It is frequently resistant to many commonly used antibiotics and develops easily resistant forms. Colonization with this organism often precedes infection, and its prevention is, therefore, critical. There is no information on molecular epidemiological investigation of outbreaks caused by P. aeruginosa in Kosovo. Materials and methods The present investigation was carried out to enlighten molecular epidemiology of P. aeruginosa in University Clinical Center of Kosovo (UCCK) using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). During our study period, 80 isolates of P. aeruginosa were included. The overall antimicrobial susceptibility pattern showed a high level of resistance against amino-glycosides and the lowest against carbapenems. Forty isolates of P. aeruginosa were subjected to genotyping, of whom 31 (77.5%) were male patients and nine (22.5%) were female patients. Results The most common diagnosis upon admission was polytrauma, sepsis, and coma cerebri. Majority of the patients were in mechanical ventilation (76.2%). Bacterial isolates were most frequently recovered from respiratory tract specimens (60%) and wounds (22.5%). Majority of the samples were recovered from intensive care unit (ICU) (47.5%). The length of ICU stay was higher compared to patients from other units. Genotype analysis of P. aeruginosa isolates identified seven distinct PFGE patterns, with the predominance of PFGE clone A (40%) and PFGE clone N (12.5%). All of these isolates were indistinguishable. The appearance of the indistinguishable genotypes supports the possibility of a cross and horizontal transmission of P. aeruginosa due to insufficient preventive measures. Conclusion The results emphasize the need for strict infection control measures to prevent the nosocomial transmission of P. aeruginosa in our hospital.
More Frequent Nutrition Counseling Limits Weight Loss and Improves Energy Intake During Oncology Management: A Longitudinal Inpatient Study in Taiwan

Abstract Introduction: Malnutrition increases the risk of cancer treatment-related complications. Nutritional intervention is beneficial for the outcomes of outpatients with cancer. This study investigated the impacts of nutrition consultation and care on energy intake and weight change in inpatients receiving cancer treatment. Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study, enrolling 3221 inpatients with head and neck, lung, hepatobiliary, upper gastrointestinal, colorectal, breast, or gynecological cancer who received at least two nutrition consultations between April 2010 and July 2015. In every consultation, a dietitian calculated the total energy requirement and the actual energy intake was assessed using a 24-h dietary recall. Results: Patients with head and neck cancer lost the most weight (1.16 kg/mo). For every consultation, a 0.03-kg weight gain per month was observed (P = 0.001). The average energy consumption percentage (% estimated energy requirement) at the third consultation was 87.0%. After controlling for potential covariates, the energy consumption percentages at the third, fourth, fifth–seventh, eighth, and subsequent consultations were significantly higher than those at the first consultation (P < 0.05). Conclusion: For oncology inpatients, routine screening and at least three active nutrition consultations with dietitians effectively improved energy intake and preserved body weight.
Genetic diversity and population structure of Haloxylon salicornicum moq. in Kuwait by ISSR markers

Haloxylon salicornicum moq. Bunge ex Boiss (Rimth) is one of the native plants of Kuwait, extensively depleting through the anthropogenic activities. It is important to conserve Haloxylon community in Kuwait as it can tolerate extreme adverse conditions of drought and salinity to be potentially used in the desert and urban revegetation and greenery national programs. Therefore, a set of 16 inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to assess genetic diversity and population structure of 108 genotypes from six locations in Kuwait. The ISSR primers produced 195 unambiguous and reproducible bands out of which 167 bands were polymorphic (86.5%) with a mean PIC value of 0.31. The overall average values of Nei’s gene diversity (h') and Shannon’s diversity index (I) were 0.254 and 0.375, respectively. Results of AMOVA revealed high genetic variations within populations (77.8%) and low among populations (22%). The values of Fixation index (FST = 0.22; P = 0.0), Genetic differentiation (GST = 0.262; G’ST = 0.327; D = 0.335 and Gene flow (NM = 0.880) were indicative of heterozygous populations. The results of STRUCTURE and split decomposition analysis suggested that the Rimth accessions of Kuwait can be grouped into five and six subpopulations, respectively. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) grouped them into three clusters. The pairwise Nei’s genetic distances (DS) among populations demonstrated a narrow range from 0.047 to 0.187 (Scale-0.0 to 1.0). The Mantel’s test revealed a weak correlation (r2- 0.188; P-0.013) between the genetic distance and geographic distances. Our results suggest that the narrowly distributed Haloxylon community in Kuwait demonstrated a high genetic diversity within the populations however the overall population structure was weak.
Overexpression of Collapsin Response Mediator Protein 1 Inhibits Human Trophoblast Cells Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion

Collapsin response mediator protein 1 (CRMP-1) is widely expressed in the nervous system and has tumor suppressive effects. Our previous studies have demonstrated that CRMP-1 was expressed in the trophoblasts of the whole stage of pregnancy with significantly increasing expression in the placenta of early-onset preeclampsia. Preeclampsia, especially early onset, is strongly associated with the dysfunction of trophoblast including proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion. In this study, we found an inhibitory effect of CRMP-1 on proliferation, migration, invasion, and an enhanced effect on apoptosis in human trophoblast cell lines HTR-8/SVneo and JEG-3 by MTT assay, colony formation assay, cell viability assay, caspase 3/7 activity assay, scratch wound assay, and Matrigel Transwell assay. Overexpression of CRMP-1 in trophoblast cells led to downregulate expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9. The expression of CRMP-1 was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Thus, we suggested that CRMP-1 might have implications for the pathogenesis of preeclampsia by regulating the biological behavior of trophoblast cells.