Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mycobacterium colombiense Pneumonia in HIV-Infected Patients: Three Case Reports and a Literature Review

Background Mycobacterium colombiense pneumonia in HIV-infected patients is relatively unusual but is associated with a high mortality rate, as well as high rates of misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis. Clinical metagenome next-generation sequencing (mNGS) may have potential for its accurate and timely diagnosis. Case Presentation We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of three HIV-infected patients who presented with M. colombiense pneumonia in Zhejiang Province between January 2019 and December 2020. No specific clinical presentations or radiological manifestations were found in any of the patients. The detection of M. colombiense is 28–55 days earlier using mNGS on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) compared to traditional culture methods. A combined treatment of rifabutin, clarithromycin, or azithromycin, and ethambutol did not provide timely relief of symptoms in these three patients. In the early stage of treatment, moxifloxacin and linezolid were used for several weeks. The average course of treatment for all three patients was close to 17 months. Conclusion We recommend early BALF mNGS for fast and accurate diagnosis of M. colombiense pneumonia in HIV-infected patients with low CD4 counts and long duration of symptoms. Further, moxifloxacin and linezolid may be beneficial in the early stage of treatment.
Effects of Long-term Irrigation with Saline Water on Soil Physical-chemical Properties and Activities of Soil Enzyme

In order to analyze the feasibility of the saline water irrigation,an experiment was conducted under long-term location saline water irrigation in Hengshui.The effects of border irrigation and alter furrow and border irrigation with saline water on soil physical-chemical properties and activities of soil enzyme,and cotton yield after continuous seven years irrigation during the cotton growing season in 2012were studied.Results showed that border irrigation and alter furrow and border irrigation with saline water both led to salt accumulation in the soil profile,and the desalinization level was better in alter furrow and border irrigation treatment under furrow irrigation.With the increasing salinity of irrigation water,the soil salinity,soil bulk density,and pH value in 0-20cm soil layer increased.Compared with alter furrow and border irrigation treatment,the soil salinity and pH value of the corresponding border irrigation treatment were higher,while the soil bulk density was lower.Soil organic matter of border irrigation treatment at the initial and final stage of experiment was higher than that of corresponding alter furrow and border irrigation treatment by 8.9%~16.0%and 13.8%~19.4%,respectively.The recovery capability of soil invertase activity was strong in two irrigation treatments,but urease activity was relatively stable.Soil enzyme activity of border irrigation treatment washigher than that of alter furrow and border irrigation treatment when the soil salinity was the same.With the increasing soil salinity,the seed cotton yield of border irrigation treatment first increased and then decreased,while the yield of alter furrow and border irrigation treatment decreased linearly.The seed cotton yield of border irrigation treatments were higher than that of alter furrow and border irrigation treatments when the soil salinity was the same and lower than 0.8dS/m.The opposite was lower.By the analysis above,it was concluded that saline water irrigation led to soil salt accumulation,soil enzyme activity restraint,pH and topsoil bulk density rising.Compared with border irrigation treatment,alter furrow and border irrigation treatment had the superiority of lower soil salinity level and better desalinization effect,but it increased the topsoil bulk density,and decreased the organic matter,soil enzyme activity and seed cotton yield.
An Improved Mask R-CNN Micro-Crack Detection Model for the Surface of Metal Structural Parts

Micro-crack detection is an essential task in critical equipment health monitoring. Accurate and timely detection of micro-cracks can ensure the healthy and stable service of equipment. Aiming at improving the low accuracy of the conventional target detection model during the task of detecting micro-cracks on the surface of metal structural parts, this paper built a micro-cracks dataset and explored a detection performance optimization method based on Mask R-CNN. Firstly, we improved the original FPN structure, adding a bottom-up feature fusion path to enhance the information utilization rate of the underlying feature layer. Secondly, we added the methods of deformable convolution kernel and attention mechanism to ResNet, which can improve the efficiency of feature extraction. Lastly, we modified the original loss function to optimize the network training effect and model convergence rate. The ablation comparison experiments shows that all the improvement schemes proposed in this paper have improved the performance of the original Mask R-CNN. The integration of all the improvement schemes can produce the most significant performance improvement effects in recognition, classification, and positioning simultaneously, thus proving the rationality and feasibility of the improved scheme in this paper.
Respiratory event index underestimates severity of sleep apnea compared to apnea-hypopnea index

Abstract Polygraphy (PG) is often used to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, it does not use electroencephalography, and therefore cannot estimate sleep time or score arousals and related hypopneas. Consequently, the PG-derived respiratory event index (REI) differs from the polysomnography (PSG)-derived apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). In this study, we comprehensively analyzed the differences between AHI and REI. Conventional AHI and REI were calculated based on total sleep time (TST) and total analyzed time (TAT), respectively, from two different PSG datasets (n = 1561). Moreover, TAT-based AHI (AHITAT) and TST-based REI (REITST) were calculated. These indices were compared keeping AHI as the gold standard. The REI, AHITAT, and REITST were significantly lower than AHI (p < 0.0001, p ≤ 0.002, and p ≤ 0.01, respectively). The total classification accuracy of OSA severity based on REI was 42.1% and 72.8% for two datasets. Based on AHITAT, the accuracies were 68.4% and 85.9%, and based on REITST, they were 65.9% and 88.5% compared to AHI. AHI was most correlated with REITST (r = 0.98 and r = 0.99 for the datasets) and least with REI (r = 0.92 and r = 0.97). Compared to AHI, REI had the largest mean absolute errors (13.9 and 6.7) and REITST the lowest (5.9 and 1.9). REI had the lowest sensitivities (42.1% and 72.8%) and specificities (80.7% and 90.9%) in both datasets. Based on these present results, REI underestimates AHI. Furthermore, these results indicate that arousal-related hypopneas are an important measure for accurately classifying OSA severity.
Functional Leadership in a Changing and Bounded World: The Relevance of Managerial Behavioral Training

Successful organizations require functional leadership. This article evaluates a new leadership development intervention, Managerial Behavioral Training (MBT), that targets concrete leadership behaviors associated with flexible, healthy, and successful work environments. Within an applied behavioral analytical framework, managers participating in MBT were trained by a leadership coach during six biweekly sessions in specific functional leadership behaviors. Sixteen managers were interviewed one year after participating in this individualized leadership intervention. Functional contextualism was used as the theoretical framework to analyze the interview transcripts, and a mind-mapping approach was used to illustrate themes. The findings show four success factors and indicate that MBT provides managers with analytical tools and training opportunities for developing functional leadership behaviors, allowing them to successfully manage organizational change. Participating managers described the scheduled time for reflection with a coach as important for adjusting dysfunctional leadership behaviors in new situations. Taking time to listen to employees’ perspectives gave managers a way to engage employees that increased productivity. Scheduling time for planning and setting clear goals for the team and for individual employees was fo und to be important for the employees’ motivation and productivity. Stress management, taking time for recovery, and having a meaningful private life were found to enable successful managerial decision-making. The four success factors for functional leadership are discussed and related to theories on organizational management and leadership.
Evaluating Antioxidant Performance, Biosafety, and Antimicrobial Efficacy of Houttuynia cordata Extract and Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Biogenic Silver Nano-Antibiotics

From the traditional Chinese medicine point of view, although Houttuynia cordata extract (HCE) possesses an incredible amount of phytonutrients and exhibits antioxidant activities, excessive doses of HCE can cause danger to organisms and lead to death. In this study, we first examine HCE’s overall phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant efficacy, and antibacterial activity. Results show that HCE is suitable as a bio-reducing agent for the microwave-assisted synthesis of silver nanoparticles (HCE-AgNPs) with enhanced antioxidant and antimicrobial performance. Under an optimized microwave condition (i.e., 100 °C for 10 min), the HCE-stabilized AgNPs were confirmed with a UV-visible peak at 430 nm and 19.7 ± 4.2 nm in size. Physicochemical properties of HCE-AgNPs were extensively characterized by zeta-potential, FT-IR, XRD, and XPS measurements. Compared to the HC extract counterpart, HCE-AgNPs display superior antioxidant activity, higher DPPH scavenging efficiency, and enhanced broad-spectrum bactericidal activity to inhibit the growth of all tested bacterial strains at doses of 2 μg/mL. Biosafety evaluation indicated that HCE-AgNPs are noncytotoxic on human red blood cells. These data show that the microwave synthesis of AgNPs exhibits a great antioxidant ability, superior antibacterial activity, and a trivial hemolytic effect, providing another bactericidal therapy strategy to address the increasing healthcare-associated infections.
Autocrine IGF-II-Associated Cancers: From a Rare Paraneoplastic Event to a Hallmark in Malignancy

The paraneoplastic syndrome referred in the literature as non-islet-cell tumor hypoglycemia (NICTH) and extra-pancreatic tumor hypoglycemia (EPTH) was first reported almost a century ago, and the role of cancer-secreted IGF-II in causing this blood glucose-lowering condition has been widely established. The landscape emerging in the last few decades, based on molecular and cellular findings, supports a broader role for IGF-II in cancer biology beyond its involvement in the paraneoplastic syndrome. In particular, a few key findings are constantly observed during tumorigenesis, (a) a relative and absolute increase in fetal insulin receptor isoform (IRA) content, with (b) an increase in IGF-II high-molecular weight cancer-variants (big-IGF-II), and (c) a stage-progressive increase in the IGF-II autocrine signal in the cancer cell, mostly during the transition from benign to malignant growth. An increasing and still under-exploited combinatorial pattern of the IGF-II signal in cancer is shaping up in the literature with respect to its transducing receptorial system and effector intracellular network. Interestingly, while surgical and clinical reports have traditionally restricted IGF-II secretion to a small number of solid malignancies displaying paraneoplastic hypoglycemia, a retrospective literature analysis, along with publicly available expression data from patient-derived cancer cell lines conveyed in the present perspective, clearly suggests that IGF-II expression in cancer is a much more common event, especially in overt malignancy. These findings strengthen the view that (1) IGF-II expression/secretion in solid tumor-derived cancer cell lines and tissues is a broader and more common event compared to the reported IGF-II association to paraneoplastic hypoglycemia, and (2) IGF-II associates to the commonly observed autocrine loops in cancer cells while IGF-I cancer-promoting effects may be linked to its paracrine effects in the tumor microenvironment. Based on these evidence-centered considerations, making the autocrine IGF-II loop a hallmark for malignant cancer growth, we here propose the functional name of IGF-II secreting tumors (IGF-IIsT) to overcome the view that IGF-II secretion and pro-tumorigenic actions affect only a clinical sub-group of rare tumors with associated hypoglycemic symptoms. The proposed scenario provides an updated logical frame towards biologically sound therapeutic strategies and personalized therapeutic interventions for currently unaccounted IGF-II-producing cancers.
Isolation and Cholinesterase Inhibitory Activity of Narcissus Extracts and Amaryllidaceae Alkaloid

Alkaloid extracts of eleven Narcissus (Amaryllidaceae) species and varieties were studied with respect to their acetylcholinesterase (HuAChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (HuBuChE) inhibitory activity and alkaloid patterns. Forty-two alkaloids were determined by GC/MS, and thirty of them identified from their mass spectra, retention times and retention indexes. Promising HuAChE inhibition activity was demonstrated by nine Narcissus taxa and HuBuChE inhibition by Narcissus poeticus cv. Pink Parasol with an IC50 value of 3.3 ± 0.5 μg/mL. The alkaloid identified as (11C-S)-homolycorine was isolated in pure form from Narcissus Sir W. Churchill using preparative TLC and was tested for its biological activity. Homolycorine inhibited HuAChE and HuBuChE in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 values of 63.7±4.3 μM and 151.0±15.2 μM, respectively.
Tensile Properties Characterisation of Hybrid Luffa/GCW Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite

Extensive research has been conducted on fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, which have demonstrated superior mechanical properties compared to their individual components. In order to add on to current research trends, the use of ground coffee waste (GCW) and Luffa fibers reinforced polyethylene (PE) composites were fabricated to produce a hybrid natural FRP composite. Tensile testing of the composite indicates that the optimum fiber volume to be between 15% and 35%, as the tensile strength exhibited 9.32 MPa and 8.75 MPa, respectively. Similarly, the tensile modulus of the fabricated composite peaked at 25% with 238 MPa, then declined to 173 MPa at 35%. This indicates that the fibers effectively reinforce the polymer matrix, but once the composite reaches its optimal fiber volume, a decrease in both tensile strength and tensile modulus is observed. The reduction in tensile properties can be attributed to an uneven distribution of load-bearing capacity throughout the composite, as the fibers are no longer able to fully support the matrix once the optimal fiber volume is reached. The specific tensile strength and specific tensile modulus also shows that with the inclusion of Luffa fiber and GCW microfiber contributed to a lighter weight composite. In a nutshell, the hybrid composite fabricated using 25% fiber volume exhibited a tensile strength almost similar to its neat matrix counterpart, though has a noteworthy value in terms of its tensile modulus. The hybrid composite can be as strong in terms of tensile strength, but far more significant in its rigidity, in comparison to the neat polyethylene laminate. Therefore, it showed that the hybrid natural Luffa/GCW FRP has the potential in the engineering industry, such as lightweight furniture, household appliances, automotive parts, and other composite engineering applications.
Fabp5 is a common gene between a high-cholesterol diet and acute pancreatitis

Background and aims Hypercholesterolemia has been identified as risk factor for severe acute pancreatitis (AP). We aimed to identify the common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between a high-cholesterol diet and AP. Methods We retrived gene expression profiles from the GEO database. DEGs were assessed using GEO2R. For AP hub genes, we conducted functional enrichment analysis and protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis. GeneMANIA and correlation analysis were employed to predict potential DEG mechanisms. Validation was done across various healthy human tissues, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, peripheral blood in AP patients, and Sprague–Dawley rats with AP. Results The gene “Fabp5” emerged as the sole common DEG shared by a high-cholesterol diet and AP. Using the 12 topological analysis methods in PPI network analysis, Rela, Actb, Cdh1, and Vcl were identified as hub DEGs. GeneMANIA revealed 77.6% physical interactions among Fabp5, TLR4, and Rela, while genetic correlation analysis indicated moderate associations among them. Peripheral blood analysis yielded area under the ROC curve (AUC) values of 0.71, 0.63, 0.74, 0.64, and 0.91 for Fabp5, TLR4, Actb, Cdh1 genes, and artificial neural network (ANN) model respectively, in predicting severe AP. In vivo immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated higher Fabp5 expression in the hyperlipidemia-associated AP group compared to the AP and control groups. Conclusion Fabp5 emerged as the common DEG connecting a high-cholesterol diet and AP. Rela was highlighted as a crucial hub gene in AP. Genetic interactions were observed among Fabp5, TLR4, and Rela. An ANN model consisting of Fabp5, TLR4, Actb, and Cdh1 was helpful in predicting severe AP.
Clinical Characteristics and Therapeutic Management of Osteogenesis Imperfecta in Iraqi Children

Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare congenital condition that results in bone fragility, recurrent fractures, and various extra-skeletal manifestations. Currently, intravenous bisphosphonate is the mainstay of medical treatment in OI. Objective: To identify the effect of current management strategies on Iraqi children diagnosed with OI. Methods: A retrospective study enrolled OI patients who were registered in Central Child Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, from January 2015 to December 2022. We enrolled confirmed OI cases (either clinically and/or radiologically) who received cyclic pamidronate therapy for at least 3 cycles. They neither received other types of bisphosphonates nor underwent surgical intervention. Results: A total of 52 cases of OI had been identified, but only 36 patients were eligible for the current study. The mean age of the patients was 6.64±4.22 years. A statistically significant drop in the annual fracture rate in OI patients who received intravenous pamidronate cycles was seen, along with a significant rise in weight for age Z-score, lumbar spine bone mineral density DEXA Z-score, and alkaline phosphate levels. No significant improvement was documented in height for age Z-score in OI patients. Conclusions: Intravenous pamidronate cycles for Iraqi children with osteogenesis imperfecta work to lower their risk of breaking bones every year and raise their weight, lumbar spine bone mineral density, and alkaline phosphate levels. Pamidronate did not result in an improvement in the height of OI children.
Holocene coastal evolution of the Rio Acu Area (Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil)

The coastal development of the Rio Aqu area (Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil) and the response of the river mouth to the Holocene sea level rise were reconstructed from seismostratigraphy. A sharply defined stratigraphic boundary between the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits was recognised. The seismic data reveal that, during sea level lowstand, a valley up to 9 km wide was cut into the Pleistocene deposits of the shelf platform. This valley extends perpendicular to the shoreline and is preserved in the recent morphology. It narrows at similar to 20 kin offshore to a I km wide channel, which then widens to its former size a few hundred meters further offshore. Several incised valleys and cut and fill structures up to 2500 in wide and 12 in deep were observed in the Pleistocene deposits. These extend to 45 in below sea level, and indicate that the ancient Rio Aqu meandered. A sediment sequence with sigmoidal structures increases in thickness offshore to 12 in, is composed of reworked material, and is interpreted as an embankment. A tilted block composed of more solid material was identified over a distance of at least 800 in. Holocene sediments thin out above this block, indicating postglacial neotectonics in the area.
Association of M-Type Phospholipase A2 Receptor Deposition in Kidney Tissue with Treatment Outcomes in Patients with Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the deposition of M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) in the kidney tissues of patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). Method We enrolled a total of 61 patients diagnosed with IMN in the past 8 years who were admitted at the Jinjiang Municipal Hospital and the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University. PLA2R immunofluorescence was used to stain kidney tissues, and all patients were treated with steroid combined with immunosuppressive agents or conservative regimens. The duration of follow-up was more than 48 weeks. Based on the deposition of PLA2R in kidney tissues, we divided the patients into the PLA2R Positive group and the PLA2R Negative group. Further, patients with PLA2R-positive kidney tissues were divided into “1+”, “2+”, and “3+” groups based on the extent of their PLA2R deposition, and we compared the therapeutic outcomes of the various groups. Results At week 12 of follow-up, the partial remission rate of kidney tissues in the PLA2R Negative group was significantly higher than that in the Positive group (P = 0.004). Among the various deposition groups with PLA2R-positive kidney tissues, the complete remission rate of the “2+” group was higher than that of the “3+” group at weeks 24, 36, and 48 of follow-up (P < 0.05). In IMN patients treated with a combination regimen of steroid and tacrolimus, the complete remission rate in kidney tissues of the PLA2R Negative group was higher than that of the Positive group at weeks 24 and 48 of follow-up (P < 0.05). Conclusion The overall effective rate of treatment in kidney tissues of PLA2R-negative patients was higher than that in the kidney tissues of PLA2R-positive patients. The varied levels of PLA2R deposition in kidney tissues were related to the treatment outcomes of IMN, and those with lower PLA2R deposition levels had better outcomes.
A HIGH-TECH START-UP’S DEBT FINANCING STRATEGY: IMPLICATIONS FOR VALUING SOFT INFORMATION

How does entrepreneurial financing differ from traditional financing? This study sheds new light on this central question of entrepreneurial finance literature by exploring the distinctive role of soft information in a high-tech start-up’s debt financing. Entrepreneurial investors can obtain soft information from strong relationships with potential investees and use the information to evaluate and select promising investees. Using a dataset on 683 SBA 7(a) loan activities involved with information technology based start-ups, this study provides empirical evidence that high-tech start-ups tend to experience a lower rate of default if they are located close to the lending banks and the lending banks are of considerable size. These conditions allow the lending banks to collect and utilize soft information regarding high-tech start-ups in an efficient manner.