Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Brief communication: Impact of the recent atmospheric circulation change in summer on the future surface mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Abstract. Since the 2000s, a change in the atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic resulting in more frequent blocking events has favoured warmer and sunnier weather conditions over the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) in summer, enhancing the melt increase. This circulation change is not represented by general circulation models (GCMs) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), which do not predict any circulation change for the next century over the North Atlantic. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of an atmospheric circulation change (as currently observed) on projections of the future GrIS surface mass balance (SMB). We compare GrIS SMB estimates simulated by the regional climate model MAR forced by perturbed reanalysis (ERA-Interim with a temperature correction of +1, +1.5, and +2 ∘C at the MAR lateral boundaries) over 1980–2016 to projections of the future GrIS SMB from MAR simulations forced by three GCMs over selected periods for which a similar temperature increase of +1, +1.5, and +2 ∘C is projected by the GCMs in comparison to 1980–1999. Mean SMB anomalies produced with perturbed reanalysis over the climatologically stable period 1980–1999 are similar to those produced with MAR forced by GCMs over future periods characterised by a similar warming over Greenland. However, over the 2 last decades (2000–2016) when an increase in the frequency of blocking events has been observed in summer, MAR forced by perturbed reanalysis suggests that the SMB decrease could be amplified by a factor of 2 if such atmospheric conditions persist compared to projections forced by GCMs for the same temperature increase but without any circulation change.
Novel Associations of F2-Isoprostanes, F3- Isoprostanes and Isofurans in Older Adults with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: An Exploratory Study

Plasma levels of F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs), a whole body oxidative stress marker, have been noted to be elevated in populations with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). We hypothesized that the oxidative stress biomarkers of F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs), isofurans (IsoFs) and F3-isoprostanes (F3-IsoPs) are related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) subjects assessed by plasma dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and cortisol and gene expression of sirtulin-1 (SIRT1). Plasma samples were obtained from nine CFS individuals aged 65 years or older. The mean levels of plasma F2-IsoPs (M=178 pg/ml, SD=100) and IsoFs (M=266 pg/ml, SD=205) were several-fold higher than previously reported in healthy subjects. F2-IsoPs:F3-IsoPs and SIRT1 were negatively associated (r=– .674, p<.05) whereas F3-IsoPs were inversely correlated with DHEA (r=– .586, p<.05) and positively associated with SIRT1 (r=.733, p<.05). After correction for age and sex, the F2-IsoPs:IsoFs ratio was positively correlated to DHEA:cortisol (r=.758, p<.05). The findings indicate that plasma IsoFs and F2-IsoPs are elevated in older subjects with CFS and that isoprostane and isofuran ratios are associated with HPA dysregulation.
The role of secure peer groups in social and emotional outcomes for adolescents in an academically selective high school setting

This qualitative study sought the voice of eight adolescents attending two academically selective high schools in New South Wales to better understand how peer groups influence the social and emotional wellbeing of ability grouped students. The 21-item Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) was used to measure participants’ self-reported psychological wellbeing. Individual semi-structured interviews explored the factors that contributed to the formation and maintenance of secure peer relationships, and a school’s role in this. Transcripts were interrogated utilising iterative principles of interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith, 1995). The findings from this study suggest that secure peer groups have a positive influence on the social and emotional outcomes of students who attend academically selective high schools. The formation and maintenance of school-based friendship groups, however, is hindered by several logistical constraints outside the control of the individual students.
Mycoflora and Mycotoxins of Cereal Grains in Delta, Egypt

Five cereal grains (wheat, barley, rice, maize and sorghum) were collected from three Egyptian provinces known to be grain producers (Daqahlia, Gharbia and Kafer el-Sheikh). Two species of Alternaria (A. raphani and A. tenusinae); two species of Aspergillus (A. flavus and A niger); one species of Cunninghamella (C. elegans); one Dreschslera species (D. myaki); three Fusarium species (F. graminearum, F. moniliform and F. solani); one Rhizopus species (R. stolonifer) and two species of Penicillium (P digitatum and P. notatum) were isolated from the grains. The densities of these fungi and their frequencies of occurrence have been investigated. All the fungal isolates were tested for the production of toxic metabolites in culture media and the percentages of toxigenic isolates were calculated. The biological assay of the toxigenic fungal isolates showed significant variations in toxigenic activity. Thin layer chromatography revealed that the most active isolate produces moniliformin in culture media. The effect of culture conditions on the production of moniliformin was studied.
In vitro susceptibility of duck, chicken, and pig erythrocyte lipids to peroxidation

e susceptibility of erythrocyte lipid to in vitro peroxidation as measured by TBARS (thiobarbi- turic acid-reactive substances) and concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) in whole blood and erythrocyte suspension before and after incubation with hydrogen peroxide was assessed in ducks, chickens and pigs. A high susceptibility of erythrocytes to peroxidation in vitro was observed in all animals tested, but this susceptibility was of different intensity. Pig erythrocytes exhibited the lowest resistance to oxidative stress in vitro as compared with that in ducks (P < 0.01) and chickens (P < 0.02). A high level of GSH in the erythrocytes of ducks and chickens offers higher resistance to oxidative stress in comparison with that in the pig erythrocytes.
GraphNER: Using Corpus Level Similarities and Graph Propagation for Named Entity Recognition

The rapidly growing amount of research papers in computational biology makes it difficult for researchers to keep up to date on new results. The motivation behind this paper is to use natural language processing to automatically understand relevant concepts from the large amount of text data in published papers in computational biology. As a proofof- concept, we focus on the gene mention detection task, which allows us to identify genes that are being discussed in papers, making it possible to search for concepts like genes rather than searching on words. In this paper we introduce GraphNER, a semi-supervised machine learning model for named entity recognition (NER). In particular, we use GraphNER to identify gene mentions in natural language data such as biomedical papers. It combines training data where the gene mentions are identified by human experts and unlabelled data that contains many other relevant gene mentions. The labeled and unlabeled data are linked together using similarities between n-grams that occur in the two data sources (an n-gram is a contiguous sequence of n words in the text). GraphNER uses the information gleaned from this graph, and combines it with a conditional random field (CRF) model for NER. We consider two different CRF-based NER systems on two different datasets combined with our graph model for semi-supervised learning for the task of gene mention detection. We show that GraphNER consistently improves the overall quality of gene mention detection due to its higher precision. GraphNER is freely available at http://www.bcgsc. ca/platform/ bioinfo/software/graphner.
Interactions Between the Augmentatively Released Predaceous Mite Galendromus occidentalis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and Naturally Occurring Generalist Predators

Abstract Predatory mite releases can be an effective means of managing spider mites in many perennial cropping systems, yet little research has been performed in annual cropping systems. Herein we evaluate the compatibility of predaceous mite releases with the conservation of resident natural enemies in an annual agroecosystem. We quantify the impact of naturally occurring generalist predators, Geocoris spp. and Orius tristicolor White, and the omnivore Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), on the establishment of the western predatory mite Galendromus occidentalis (Nesbitt) and how these predator-predator interactions influence spider mite control. Field experiments showed that in the absence of generalist predators, released predatory mites can establish populations on cotton, increase in abundance through reproductive recruitment, and suppress spider mite populations. Hemipteran predators had a negative impact on predatory mite populations but generally improved spider mite suppression. The presence of F. occidentalis had no impact on predatory mite performance.
Evaluating Feature Importance Estimates

Estimating the influence of a given feature to a model prediction is challenging. We introduce ROAR, RemOve And Retrain, a benchmark to evaluate the accuracy of interpretability methods that estimate input feature importance in deep neural networks. We remove a fraction of input features deemed to be most important according to each estimator and measure the change to the model accuracy upon retraining. The most accurate estimator will identify inputs as important whose removal causes the most damage to model performance relative to all other estimators. This evaluation produces thought-provoking results -- we find that several estimators are less accurate than a random assignment of feature importance. However, averaging a set of squared noisy estimators (a variant of a technique proposed by Smilkov et al. (2017)), leads to significant gains in accuracy for each method considered and far outperforms such a random guess.
Technical Note: Animal-borne CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers for real-time oceanographic data collection

Abstract. The increasing need for continuous monitoring of the world oceans has stimulated the development of a range of autonomous sampling platforms. One novel addition to these approaches is a small, relatively inexpensive data-relaying device that can be deployed on marine mammals to provide vertical oceanographic profiles throughout the upper 2000 m of the water column. When an animal dives, the CTD-Satellite Relay Data Logger (CTD-SRDL) records vertical profiles of temperature, conductivity and pressure. Data are compressed once the animal returns to the surface where it is located by, and relays data to, the Argos satellite system. The technical challenges met in the design of the CTD-SRDL are the maximising of energy efficiency and minimising size, whilst simultaneously maintaining the reliability of an instrument that cannot be recovered and is required to survive its lifetime attached to a marine mammal. The CTD-SRDLs record temperature and salinity with an accuracy of better than 0.005 °C and 0.02 respectively. However, due to the limited availability of reference data, real-time data from remote places are often associated with slightly higher errors. The potential to collect large numbers of profiles cost-effectively makes data collection using CTD-SRDL technology particularly beneficial in regions where traditional oceanographic measurements are scarce or even absent. Depending on the CTD-SRDL configuration, it is possible to sample and transmit hydrographic profiles on a daily basis, providing valuable and often unique information for a real-time ocean observing system.
EMDR for Depression: a systematic review of controlled studies

Objective: Depression is one of the most common mental disorder, with huge societal costs. although psychotherapy and medication can improve remission rates, the success rates of current treatments are limited. Given the recent research indicating that trauma and other adverse life experiences can be potential risk factors for depression, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has been considered effective also in the treatment of depression. The aim of the present systematic review was to summarize current literature on EMDR efficacy in patients with depression. Method: a literature search was undertaken using pubMed, cochrane central Register of controlled trials, EMBasE, psycinfo, and cinaHl. further research was performed on the specialized francine shapiro library collection. controlled studies with depression as a primary outcome published up to March 2017 were included. Results: seven studies were included, of which 6 were published. they cover years from 2001 to 2016. three studies used a controlled design and four were randomized clinical trials. studies differed greatly for population and intervention characteristics, with a scarce methodological quality. Conclusions: Controlled studies evaluating the efficacy of EMDR in treating depression as a primary outcome are few and with various methodological flaws. Despite further, better designed research is needed, current evidence suggests that EMDR could be a promising therapy to treat depression.
Analysis and comparative of virtual learning environments

In this paper we are going analyze existing platforms to create online learning communities and so, promoting online learning. These tools are basic for new models of education because the fundamental idea is to reduce the number of hours face-to-face in the classroom and to promote remote individual work. This is the basic idea of the new European models given by the Bologna process. Then, from a previous study, we are going to expound the most popular platforms and we are going to give the details of their features and main differences between them. In the last part of the paper, we will show the study we have done about this type of educational social software. This study involves a questionnaire to some lecturers of our university, Polytechnic University of Valencia. Our analysis presents most important results.
ASSESSING THE P ATTERN OF DRUG USE A MONG PREGN ANT WOMEN AND EVALUATING THE IMPAC T OF COUNSELLING ON MEDICATION ADHERENCE AMONG THEM

In the present study an attempt is made to assess the pattern of drug use among pregnant women and to evaluate the impact of counseling on medication adherence by providing patient education regarding pregnancy. During the study period pregnant women were enrolled in the study after obtaining consent from them. The prescriptions containing atleast one drug were analyzed and the drugs prescribed were classified a ccording to their pharmacological class. Analysis of prescription patterns did not show the use of any drugs that should not be prescribed during pregnancy. Majority of the drugs prescribed belonged to vitamins, minerals and nutrients which play a very maj or role in foetal development. During the study, medication adherence of the pregnant women was assessed and the impact of counseling on adherence was seen. There is an increase in the rate of adherence in the pregnant women during their first and second f ollow - ups when compared with their baseline medication adherence. Pregnant women should be counseled and educated regarding the advantages and disadvantages of various drug used during pregnancy. The impact of self - medication and other alternative therapie s should also be explained to them.
Pre-Activation of Toll-Like Receptor 2 Enhances CD8+ T-Cell Responses and Accelerates Hepatitis B Virus Clearance in the Mouse Models

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a crucial role in activation of innate immunity, which is essential for inducing effective adaptive immune responses. Our previous studies have shown that toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is required to induce effective virus-specific T-cell responses against hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vivo. However, the contribution of TLR2 activation to adaptive immunity and HBV clearance remains to be clarified. In this study, we explored the hydrodynamic injection (HI) mouse models for HBV infection and examined how the TLR2 agonist Pam3CSK (P3C) influences HBV control and modulates HBV-specific T-cell response if applied in vivo. We found that TLR2 activation by P3C injection leads to the rapid but transient production of serum proinflammatory factors interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α and activation of CD8+ T cells in vivo. Then, the anti-HBV effect and HBV-specific T-cell immunity were investigated by TLR2 activation in the mouse models for persistent or acute HBV infections using HBV plasmids pAAV-HBV1.2 and pSM2, respectively. Both P3C application at early stage and pre-activation promoted HBV clearance, while only TLR2 pre-activation enhanced HBV-specific T-cell response in the liver. In the mouse model for acute HBV infection, P3C application had no significant effect on HBV clearance though P3C significantly enhanced the HBV-specific T-cell response. Collectively, TLR2 pre-activation enhances HBV-specific T-cell responses and accelerates HBV clearance in HI mouse models. Thus, the modulation of host immune status by TLR2 agonists may be explored for immunotherapeutic strategies to control HBV infection.
PREVALENCE OF PATHOGENS IN PEDIATRIC CANCER PATIENTS WITH FEBRILE NEUTROPENIA

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is an important clinical problem in pediatric cancer patients who have been treated with chemotherapy. This study set forth to investigate the characteristics of FN, the sources of infection, and the prevalence of causative agents in pediatric cancer patients with FN. This retrospective chart review was conducted in pediatric cancer patients under 15 years of age who developed an episode of FN and who were treated at the Department of Pediatrics, Siriraj Hospital (Bangkok, Thailand) during the January 2005 to September 2013 study period. There were 214 episodes of FN from 179 patients. Median temperature at diagnosis was 38.9C (range: 38.3-41). Of all FN episodes, 44.4% had initial absolute neutrophil count (ANC) <100 cell/mm, and 10.8% had identifiable causes of infection. Respiratory tract was the most common site of infection, and influenza virus was the most prevalent identifiable organism. Septicemia occurred in 5.61% of cases, and the most common type of pathogen was gram-positive bacteria. A majority of cases (77.5%) responded well to initial empirical antibiotic treatment. Two patients (0.93%) died from serious infection. Good response to treatment and low mortality was observed among the pediatric cancer patients with FN that were included in this study. Laboratory evaluation for viral pathogen, especially in patients with signs and symptoms of respiratory tract infection, should be strongly considered. A shift in tendency from gram-negative to gram-positive bacteria as the common pathogens in bacteremia is also emphasized.
Effects of Tranexamic Acid Based on its Population Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Distraction Osteogenesis for Craniosynostosis: Rotational Thromboelastometry (ROTEMTM) Analysis

Background: Distraction osteogenesis for craniosynostosis is associated with significant hemorrhage. Additionally, patients usually require several transfusions. Tranexamic acid (TXA) is effective for reducing blood loss and the need for transfusions during surgeries. However, the significance of TXA infusion has not been thoroughly described yet. Methods: Forty-eight children undergoing distraction osteogenesis for craniosynostosis were administered intraoperative TXA infusion (loading dose of 10 mg/kg for 15 min, followed by continuous infusion at 5 mg/kg/h throughout surgery; n = 23) or normal saline (control, n = 25). Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEMTM) was conducted to monitor changes in coagulation perioperatively. Results: Blood loss during surgery was significantly lower in the TXA-treated group than it was in the control group (81 vs. 116 mL/kg, P = 0.003). Furthermore, significantly fewer transfusions of red blood cells and fresh frozen plasma were required in the TXA group. In the control group, clotting time during the postoperative period was longer than it was during the preoperative period. Similarly, clot strength was weaker during the postoperative period. D-dimer levels dramatically increased in the control group compared with the TXA group after surgery. The duration of mechanical ventilation and the number of postoperative respiratory-related complications were significantly greater in the control group than they were in the TXA group. Conclusions: TXA infusion based on population pharmacokinetic analysis is effective in reducing blood loss and the need for transfusions during the surgical treatment of craniosynostosis. It can also prevent the increase in D-dimer levels without affecting systemic hemostasis.
Urinary NAG, AAP and Microalbuminuria as Indicators of Hypertensive Disease

In the current study certain kidney biochemical markers were measured in the urine of Saudi patients suffering from diabetes mellitus. Two enzyme markers, N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), a lysosomal enzyme in the catalysis of glycoprotein and alanine amino- peptidase (AAP) a brush border enzyme of the proximal tubules involved in amino acid metabolism, have been reported to be sensitive indicators of renal damage. The established marker, microalbuminuria was also measured, as it is productive of overt nephropathy and renal diseases. The results showed that in diabetes mellitus high levels of urinary NAG activity were associated with high microalbuminuria and elevated AAP levels; NAG activity was high in the normotensive IDDM patients. Microalbuminuria was higher in hypertensive patients than in normotensive patients. In hypertensive patients lower total protein values were associated with IDDM but not with NIDDM. NAG assay, AAP and microalbuminuria may be useful markers for early detection of kidney damage and as an alternative measurements for renal dysfunction, although they may not be useful in diagnosing late stage of kidney failure.
Robust pose tracking with a joint model of appearance and shape

We present a novel approach for estimating the 2D pose of an articulated object with an application to automated video analysis of small laboratory animals. We have found that deformable part models developed for humans, exemplified by the flexible mixture of parts (FMP) model, typically fail on challenging animal poses. We argue that beyond encoding appearance and spatial relations, shape is needed to overcome the lack of distinctive landmarks on laboratory animal bodies. In our approach, a shape consistent FMP (scFMP) model computes promising pose candidates after a standard FMP model is used to rapidly discard false part detections. This "cascaded" approach combines the relative strengths of spatial-relations, appearance and shape representations and is shown to yield significant improvements over the original FMP model as well as a representative deep neural network baseline.