Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Topology Highlights Neural Deficits of Post-Stroke Aphasia Patients

Statistical inference of topological features decoded by persistent homology, a topological data analysis (TDA) algorithm, has been found to reveal patterns in electroencephalographic (EEG) signals that are not captured by standard temporal and spectral analysis. However, a potential challenge for applying topological inference to large-scale EEG data is the ambiguity of performing statistical inference and computational bottleneck. To address this problem, we advance a unified permutation-based inference framework for testing statistical difference in the topological feature persistence landscape (PL) of multi-trial EEG signals. In this study, we apply the framework to compare the PLs in EEG signals recorded in participants with aphasia vs. a matched control group during altered auditory feedback tasks.
Intracavitary electrocardiography-guided positioning of central vascular access device can spare unnecessary ionizing radiation exposure in pediatric patients

Background: Most hospital protocols—including those of our own institute—require the use of radiography to validate tip position in every central vascular access device placement. This study evaluated whether unnecessary ionizing radiation exposure could be spared in the pediatric population when intracavitary electrocardiography is used to guide catheter placement. Material and methods: Retrospective study of intracavitary electrocardiography-guided central vascular access device placements in our pediatric surgery department between 2013 and 2018. We evaluated the operating time, success in positioning the catheter, and accuracy of final tip position. We also assayed the effects of catheter type and of catheter access point on operating time, success, accuracy, and complications. We applied the chi-square test for statistical analysis. Results: In total, 622 interventions of central vascular access device placements were evaluated; 340 intracavitary electrocardiography-guided central vascular access device placements were included in the study. The electrocardiography method successfully positioned the tip of the catheter in 316/340 (92.94%) of placements. Where intracavitary electrocardiography placement was successful, radiography confirmed accuracy of tip position in 314/316 (99.41%) of placements. Conclusion: When electrocardiography-guided positioning is uneventful and a valid P-Wave pattern is seen, postprocedure radiograph imaging for verification is unnecessary. Any effort should be made to upgrade hospital policies according to evidences and newest guidelines to spare pediatric patients harmful exposure to radiation by limiting the use of radiography only to selected cases.
Acoustic Analysis of Diel Vertical Migration Behavior of Mysis relicta and Kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) within Okanagan Lake, British Columbia

Dual-beam acoustic surveys of Okanagan Lake suggested active diel vertical migrations of Mysis relicta and kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) within the pelagic zone. Mysis relicta were situated between 90–150 m during the day and migrated upwards into the thermocline region of the water column at night. Two groups of kokanee targets were detected. The first undertook a diel vertical migration and coalesced at dusk with a second, shallow-oriented group of targets. Daytime target strength estimates taken while the two groups were vertically segregated in the water column suggested an 8–12 db lower target strength of the deeper group. The results provide acoustic evidence for a smaller body size in the deeper group and the occurrence of an ontogenetic shift in diel migratory behavior of kokanee within Okanagan Lake. Diel comparisons of depth distribution suggested spatial segregation of Mysis and kokanee over much of the diel cycle.
Herbage yield and nitrogen accumulation by seven legume crops on acid and neutral soils in a subarctic environment

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), yellow sweet-clover (Medicago officinalis L.), fababean (Vicia faba L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) were evaluated as annual crops in central Alaska on neutral and acid soils for their potential herbage productivity and N accumulation. Herbage dry matter yields were high on the neutral soil, with an overall average yield of 6927 kg ha−1. Yields were much lower at the cooler, acid soil site with an overall average yield of 3743 kg ha−1 for inoculated legumes. Herbage N concentrations ranged from 14 to 36 mg g−1. Amounts of N-fixation, as estimated by the total N difference method, ranged from 200 kg ha−1 for fababean on the neutral soil. Inoculation resulted in increases in nodulation, growth and apparent N-fixation on the acid soil where legumes had not previously been grown, but were usually not significant on the neutral soil.
Pathways of Selenium Metabolism Including Respiratory Excretory Products

Selenium occurs in a variety of different chemical forms in plants and animals. Plants take up inorganic forms of selenium and make numerous selenium analogs of sulfur compounds. Exclusion of selenium from proteins is characteristic of plant species able to tolerate high concentrations of selenium. Animals metabolize both inorganic and organic forms of selenium into biologically active compounds, including selenocysteine in glutathione peroxidase. Intermediary metabolism of selenium in animals characteristically involves reduction and methylation, resulting in the excretion of urinary or respiratory metabolites that include the trimethylselenonium ion and dimethylselenide. Some mechanisms for reduction and methylation of selenium in animals are discussed, as well as the effects of methylation on toxicity.
Opossum shrimp (Mysis relicta) predation on zooplankton.

Mysis relicta clearance rates were not affected by changes in prey and predator density in single-prey systems where Epischura nevadensis late instars were used as food. A comparison of the results obtained from single-, two-prey, and multiple-prey systems revealed that Mysis clearance rates of E. nevadensis late instars and Diaptomus tyrrelli males were significantly affected by the presence and abundance of alternative prey.When offered natural prey assemblages, the smallest Mysis preyed preferentially on the smallest available prey (Bosmina, Ceriodaphnia, Diaptomus nauplii) while larger Mysis showed an increased preference for larger prey (Epischura, Daphnia). In general, Mysis preferred Daphnia over copepods; Epischura, Ceriodaphnia, Bosmina, and cyclopoid copepods over Diaptomus copepodites and adults; and Diaptomus males over Diaptomus females. Total consumption rates increased with increasing predator size and starvation duration. Food selectivity patterns exhibited by Mysis were attributed to the .
Detecting Subtle Cognitive Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment

ABSTRACT: Background: Although cognitive deficits are frequent in multiple sclerosis (MS), screening for them with tools such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test is usually not performed unless there is a subjective complaint. The Multiple Sclerosis Neuropsychological Questionnaire (MSNQ) is among the instruments most commonly used to assess self-reported subjective complaints in MS. Nonetheless, it does not always accurately reflect cognitive status; many patients with cognitive deficits thus fail to receive appropriate referral for detailed neuropsychological evaluation. The objective of this study was to examine the validity of the MoCA test to detect the presence of objective cognitive deficits among patients with MS without subjective complaints using the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in MS (MACFIMS) as the gold standard. Methods: The sample included 98 patients who were recruited from a university hospital MS clinic. The MSNQ was used to select patients without subjective cognitive complaints who also completed the MACFIMS, MoCA test and MSQOL-54. Results: 23.5% of patients without subjective cognitive complaints had evidence of objective cognitive impairment on the MACFIMS (z score < -1.5 on two or more tests). The MoCA had a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 68% for detecting objective cognitive impairment in this patient population using a cut-off score of 27. Conclusion: A significant proportion of patients without self-reported cognitive impairment do have evidence of cognitive deficits on more exhaustive cognitive assessment. The MoCA is a rapid screening test that could be used to target patients for whom a more detailed neuropsychological assessment would be recommended.
How to Extract More Information With Less Burden: Fundus Image Classification and Retinal Disease Localization With Ophthalmologist Intervention

Image classification using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) outperforms other state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, attention can be visualized as a heatmap to improve the explainability of results of a CNN. We designed a framework that can generate heatmaps reflecting lesion regions precisely. We generated initial heatmaps by using a gradient-based classification activation map (Grad-CAM). We assume that these Grad-CAM heatmaps correctly reveal the lesion regions; then we apply the attention mining technique to these heatmaps to obtain integrated heatmaps. Moreover, we assume that these Grad-CAM heatmaps incorrectly reveal the lesion regions and design a dissimilarity loss to increase their discrepancy with the Grad-CAM heatmaps. In this study, we found that having professional ophthalmologists select 30% of the heatmaps covering the lesion regions led to better results, because this step integrates (prior) clinical knowledge into the system. Furthermore, we design a knowledge preservation loss that minimizes the discrepancy between heatmaps generated from the updated CNN model and the selected heatmaps. Experiments using fundus images revealed that our method improved classification accuracy and generated attention regions closer to the ground truth lesion regions in comparison with existing methods.
Callus Induction and Embryoid Regeneration from the Endosperm Culture of ‘Tosa-Buntan’ Pummelo (Citrus grandis [L.] Osb.)

‘土佐文旦’における胚乳培養による三倍体個体を育成する目的で, ‘土佐文旦’に‘水晶文旦’を交配し, 胚乳の採取時期, カルス誘導, 増殖および再分化条件について検討した. 受粉後85～95日目に採取した胚乳が胚乳培養に好適なことが認められ, この時期の胚乳からのカルス誘導は, MS培地 (1/2N) にショ糖1%およびBA1μM+NAA5μMを添加すると, カルス発生率は75%と高かった. カルス増殖にはショ糖3～7%およびBA1μM+NAA5μMの添加が適当であると考えられた. 胚乳カルスからの再分化条件は明らかにできなかったが, GA330μMを添加したMS培地で胚様体が形成され, 不定根がみられた. カルスは三倍性であることが認められ, カルスから発生した不定根の染色体数は2n=3x=27の三倍体であった. これらのことから, 胚乳培養による三倍体個体の育成が期待できると考えられた.
Diamond Field-Effect Transistors With V2O5-Induced Transfer Doping: Scaling to 50-nm Gate Length

Wereport on the fabrication and measurement of hydrogen-terminated diamond field-effect transistors (FETs) incorporating V2O5 as a surface acceptor material to induce transfer doping. Comparing a range of gate lengths down to 50 nm, we observe inversely scaling peak output current and transconductance. Devices exhibited a peak drain current of ~700 mA/mm and a peak transconductance of ~150 mS/mm, some of the highest reported thus far for a diamond metal semiconductor FET (MESFET). Reduced sheet resistance of the diamond surface after V2O5 deposition was verified by four probe measurement. These results show great potential for improvement of diamond FET devices through scaling of critical dimensions and adoption of robust transition metal oxides such as V2O5.
Diurnal Timing Dependent Alterations in Gut Microbial Composition Are Synchronously Linked to Salt-Sensitive Hypertension and Renal Damage

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Alterations of diurnal rhythms of blood pressure (BP) and reshaping of gut microbiota are both independently associated with hypertension. However, the relationships between biorhythms of BP and gut microbial composition are unknown. We hypothesized that diurnal timing-associated alterations of microbial compositions are synchronous with diurnal rhythmicity, dip in BP, and renal function. To test this hypothesis, Dahl salt-sensitive (S) rats on low- and high-salt diets were examined for time of day effects on gut microbiota, BP, and indicators of renal damage. Major shifts in night and day patterns of specific groups of microbiota were observed between the dark (active) and light (rest) phases, which correlated with diurnal rhythmicity of BP. The diurnal abundance of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were independently associated with BP. Discrete bacterial taxa were observed to correlate independently or interactively with one or more of the following 3 factors: (1) BP rhythm, (2) dietary salt, and (3) dip in BP. Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities revealed diurnal timing effects on microbial pathways, characterized by upregulated biosynthetic processes during the active phase of host, and upregulated degradation pathways of metabolites in the resting phase. Additional metagenomics functional pathways with rhythm variations were noted for aromatic amino acid metabolism and taurine metabolism. These diurnal timing dependent changes in microbiota, their functional pathways, and BP dip were associated with concerted effects of the levels of renal lipocalin 2 and kidney injury molecule-1 expression. These data provide evidence for a firm and concerted diurnal timing effects of BP, renal damage, and select microbial communities.
Evaluation of physical fitness in children with congenital heart diseases versus healthy population.

We aimed to evaluate and compare the physical fitness of children with different severity of the cardiac defect with their healthy peers. We included 182 children after cooperation for congenital heart disease (CHD) and 129 healthy children as controls, 6-18years old, who performed a complete cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) in a cross-sectional observational study. The CHD patients were further subdivided into three subgroups according to diagnostic characteristics and surgical methods: simple CHD group (SCHD), complex CHD group (CCHD)and total cavopulmonary connection group (TCPC). Physical fitness was compared between groups using generalized linear model and multiple linear regression analysis. In comparison with age and gender adjusted healthy controls, children in SCHD, CCHD and TCPC subgroups had accordingly graded down values of peak oxygen consumption (VO2max: 44.86±5.41 vs. 39.91±5.59 vs. 36.95±5.92 vs. 32.04±5.38 ml/kg/min, P<0.05) and %predicted VO2max (1.01±0.14 vs. 0.91±0.13 vs. 0.83±0.15 vs. 0.72±0.13, P<0.05) for each group. The proportion of %predicted VO2max above 80% in the CHD and the control group were 60.4% and 96.1% (P<0.001). The VO2max decreased by 0.98ml/kg/min per year in CHD children, and the corresponding % predicted reference diminished by 2.0%. Children with TCPC had the highest mean decrease of VO2max and %predicted VO2max per year of age (1.23ml/kg/min, corresponding 3.0%). Although the mean overall physical fitness of children with simple and complex defect after biventricular correction were significantly different from healthy population, they were close to normal (>80%predicted VO2max). However, TCPC group had much lower exercise capacity.
Volatile Antimicrobial Agents and In Vitro Methods for Evaluating Their Activity in the Vapour Phase: A Review

Abstract This review summarizes data on the in vitro antimicrobial effectiveness of volatile agents of plant origin and in vitro methods for evaluating their activity in the vapour phase. As a result of literature analysis, the antimicrobial efficacy of vapours from 122 different plant species and 19 pure compounds examined in 61 studies using different in vitro tests against a broad spectrum of microorganisms was identified and summarized. In addition, 11 different techniques found in the literature are described in detail. An original classification of methods based on the solid and liquid matrix volatilization principle is proposed because carrier medium/matrix selection is crucial for the volatilization of any agents tested. This review should be useful for medicinal, pharmaceutical, food, and agricultural experts working in areas related to the management of infectious diseases (especially respiratory and skin infections), food preservation (active packaging), and protection of agriculture products (controlled atmosphere). It may also stimulate the interest of pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and agriculture industries in the research and development of new antimicrobial agents of natural origin. Since several original apparatuses previously developed for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in the vapour phase are described in this review, labware manufacturers may also be interested in this topic. The review also provides specific guidelines and recommendations for researchers studying the antimicrobial activity of volatile agents. The article will therefore appeal to communities of industrial stakeholders, pharmacists, physicians, food experts, agriculturists, and researchers in related areas such as pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, microbiology, natural product chemistry, food preservation and plant protection.
Improved Filtered Back-projection Reconstruction for Inverse Geometry CT without Gridding

Inverse geometry CT (IGCT) with multiple sources and a small detector poses new challenges on accurate reconstruction. Current rebinning methods convert IGCT projections into a sinogram of single source via gridding, leading to inevitable loss of image resolution. Although direct filtered-backprojection (FBP) reconstruction with no gridding or iterations generates images with high spatial resolution, it will cause severe artifacts when the overlapping areas are insufficient, because sharp transitions on the edges will cause peaks in the filtered projections. In this paper, we propose a new FBP reconstruction algorithm to avoid filtering on those sharp edges. We introduce a simple interpolation prior to the filtration step to expand the projections to full size. After filtering the expanded projections, weighting functions are employed to eliminate redundancy. We design an IGCT system with nearly zero overlap, on which the proposed method is evaluated via both simulation studies on the Shepp-Logan phantom and phantom studies on the Catphan® 600. Our algorithm demonstrates a performance on numerical accuracy and spatial resolution almost identical to that of a direct FBP method implemented in situations with sufficient redundancy. While maintaining spatial resolution identical to that of the direct FBP method, no artifacts will occur in situations with insufficient overlap. And time required for interpolation is negligible. Moreover, here is potential on reducing the computation burden, because data required for backprojection is N (the number of sources) times less than that in the direct FBP method.
Metabolism of 2-oxoaldehydes in yeasts

l-Threonine catabolism by Saccharomyces cerevisiae was studied to determine the role of glycolytic bypath as a detoxyfication system of 2-oxoaldehyde (methylglyoxal) formed from l-threonine catabolism. During the growth on l-threonine as a sole source of nitrogen, a large amount of aminoacetone was accumulated in the culture. The enzymatic analyses indicated that l-threonine was converted into either acetaldehyde and glycine by threonine aldolase or 2-aminoacetoacetate by NAD-dependent threonine dehydrogenase. Glycine formed was condensed with acetyl-CoA by aminoacetone synthase to form 2-aminoacetoacetate, a labile compound spontaneously decarboxylated into aminoacetone. The enzyme activities of the glycolytic bypath of the cells grown on l-threonine were considerably higher than those of the cells grown on ammonium sulfate as a nitrogen source. The result indicated the possible role of glycolytic bypath as a detoxification system of methylglyoxal formed from l-threonine catabolism.
Surprising low diversity of the plant pathogen Phytophthora in Amazonian forests.

The genus Phytophthora represents a group of plant pathogens with broad global distribution. The majority of them causes collar and root-rot of diverse plant species. Little is known about Phytophthora communities in forest ecosystems, especially in Neotropical forests where natural enemies could maintain the huge plant diversity via negative density dependence. We characterized the diversity of soil-borne Phytophthora communities in the North French Guiana rainforest and investigated how they are structured by host identity and environmental factors. In this little-explored habitat, 250 soil cores were sampled from ten plots hosting ten different plant families across three forest environments (Terra Firme, Seasonally Flooded and White Sand). Phytophthora diversity was studied using baiting approach and metabarcoding (High Throughput Sequencing) on environmental DNA extracted from both soil samples and baiting-leaves. These three approaches revealed very similar communities, characterized by an unexpected low diversity of Phytophthora species, with the dominance of two cryptic species close to Phytophthora heveae. As expected, Phytophthora community composition of French Guiana rainforest was significantly impacted by the host plant family and environment. However, these plant pathogen communities are very small and are dominated by generalist species, questioning their potential roles as drivers of plant diversity in these Amazonian forests. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Genetic divergence of sympatric resident and anadromous forms of Oncorhynchus mykiss in the Walla Walla River, U.S.A.

Genetic structure (six microsatellites) and gene flow were examined among anadromous (steelhead; n = 326), resident (rainbow trout; n = 52), and mixed (n = 407) Oncorhynchus mykiss life-history forms collected from the major drainages the mainstem Walla Walla River and the Touchet River within the Walla Walla River sub-basin, Washington, U.S.A. Genetic structure was detected between the two major drainages. Exact tests, F ST , multi-locus assignment tests and a neighbour-joining dendrogram revealed genetic divergence between sympatric reference populations of adult steelhead and resident rainbow trout in the mainstem Walla Walla River, but not in the Touchet River. Tests of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium indicated anadromous and resident O. mykiss reference populations were in equilibrium, but many of the mixed life-history collections were out of equilibrium. Populations out of equilibrium in the mainstem Walla Walla River appeared to be admixtures as confirmed by multi-locus assignment tests. This is evidence of genetic divergence probably resulting from assortative mating between life-history forms or out-of-basin stocking practices.
Chronic toxicity of waterborne thiocyanate to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Des truites arc-en-ciel (Oncorhyncus mykiss) juveniles ont ete exposees pendant 16 semaines a du thiocyanate (SCN - ) en concentrations de 35, 77, 115 ou 154 mg/L. On a observe une mortalite chronique durant la periode d'exposition et une mortalite due au syndrome de mort subite, lequel survenait immediatement apres les pesees bihebdomadaires. La toxicite chronique du SCN - chez la truite arc-en-ciel se caracterisait par une combinaison de goitre diffus hyperplasique et colloide, une baisse de croissance ainsi que des indices hepatosomatiques et splenosomatiques et des taux de thyroxine reduits par comparaison aux poissons temoins ayant eu la meme alimentation. On a aussi observe chez les sujets une anemie caracterisee par un hematocrite et un taux d'hemoglobine reduits. Les taux de SCN - plasmatique ont augmente avec l'elevation des concentrations dans le milieu, les facteurs de bioconcentration allant de 9,3 a 13,4. Ces observations indiquent que la toxicite chronique du SCN - chez la truite arc-en-ciel est due en partie a une perturbation de la fonction normale de la thyroide.