Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environment Predictive Coding for Embodied Agents

We introduce environment predictive coding, a self-supervised approach to learn environment-level representations for embodied agents. In contrast to prior work on self-supervised learning for images, we aim to jointly encode a series of images gathered by an agent as it moves about in 3D environments. We learn these representations via a zone prediction task, where we intelligently mask out portions of an agent's trajectory and predict them from the unmasked portions, conditioned on the agent's camera poses. By learning such representations on a collection of videos, we demonstrate successful transfer to multiple downstream navigation-oriented tasks. Our experiments on the photorealistic 3D environments of Gibson and Matterport3D show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art on challenging tasks with only a limited budget of experience.
Nanomorphology of Kaolinites: Comparative SEM and AFM Studies

Nanomorphological structure of well-crystallized Georgia and poorly crystallized North Queensland kaolinite particles have been compared using field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). In general, there is good agreement in information from the 2 very different imaging techniques. AFM gives more detailed information on step and ledge dimensions, microvalleys and crystallographic orientation of irregularities on basal planes and edges of the crystallites. There are major differences in nanomorphology and surface structure between the 2 kaolin samples with the Georgia kaolin showing 200–500-nm, relatively flat basal planes with some cascade-like step growth 50–100 nm wide. The edges, apparently flat and right-angled in SEM images, appear beveled in AFM images due to artifacts from the aspect ratio of the AFM tip. The North Queensland kaolinite has much more complex surface structure with anhedral crystallites attached to larger particles, high density of steps and nm-scale irregularities (often crystallographically directed). The additional step edge site contribution from the attached crystallites is estimated as a minimum of 6%, giving a total edge contribution above 30% of the kaolinite total surface area. These structures will generate a substantial pH-dependent charge across the surfaces of the North Queensland kaolinite platelets. An idealized, uniform, pH-independent, negatively charged basal plane cannot be assumed from these structures. There is also some evidence, from both SEM and AFM images, of curvature in the thinner, poorly ordered structures of the North Queensland kaolinite particles.
Fast MoS thickness identification by transmission imaging

Determining the thickness of a few-layer 2D material is a tough task that often involves complex and time consuming measurements. Here we discuss a rapid method for determining the number of layers of molybdenum disulfide, MoS 2 , flakes based on microscopic transmission imaging. By analyzing the contrast of the red, blue and green channels of the flake image against the background, we show that it is possible to unequivocally determine the number of layers. The presented method is based on the light absorption properties of MoS 2 and its validity is confirmed by micro-Raman measurements. The main advantage of this method against traditional methods is to quickly determine the thickness of the material in the early stages of the experimental process with low cost apparatus.
Shallot (Allium ascalonicum L.) oil: Diallyl sulfide content and antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogenic bacteria

Shallot (Allium ascalonicum L.) oil was studied for its major diallyl sulfide content and its antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogenic bacteria including Bacillus cereus, Camplobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytgenes, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, and Vibrio cholerae. The oil had a very low concentration of diallyl monosulfides (1.59%) in comparison with the other diallyl sulfides (24.66% for diallyl disulfide, 16.08% for diallyl trisulfide, and 10.88% for diallyl tetrasulfide). Shallot oil and all four major diallyl sulfides inhibited all of the test bacteria. Among them, E. coli O157:H7 and B. cereus was the most and the least sensitive strains, respectively. The oil had a bacteriocidal effect on C. jejuni, E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytgenes, S. aureus and V. cholerae but had a bacteriostatic effect on B. cereus and S. enterica.
Prechemoradiotherapy Systemic Inflammation Response Index Stratifies Stage IIIB/C Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients into Three Prognostic Groups: A Propensity Score-Matching Analysis

Purpose We explored the prognostic influence of the systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) on the survival outcomes of stage IIIB/C non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Methods Present propensity score-matching (PSM) analysis comprised 876 stage IIIB/C NSCLC patients who received 1–3 cycles of platinum-based doublets concurrent with thoracic radiotherapy from 2007 to 2017. The primary and secondary objectives were the relationships between the SIRI values and overall (OS) and progression-free survival, respectively. Propensity scores were calculated for SIRI groups to adjust for confounders and to facilitate well-balanced comparability between the SIRI groups by creating 1 : 1 matched study groups. Results The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified an optimal SIRI cutoff at 1.9 for OS (AUC: 78.8%; sensitivity: 73.7%; specificity: 70.7%) and PFS (AUC: 80.5%; sensitivity: 75.8%; specificity: 72.9%) and we grouped the patients into two PSM cohorts: SIRI < 1.9 (N = 304) and SIRI ≥ 1.9 (N = 304), respectively. The SIRI ≥ 1.9 cohort had significantly worse median OS (P < 0.001) and PFS (P < 0.001) than their SIRI < 1.9 companions. The further combination of SIRI with disease stage exhibited that the SIRI-1 (IIIB and SIRI < 1.9) and SIRI-3 (IIIC and SIRI ≥ 1.9) cohorts had the best and worst outcomes, respectively, with SIRI-2 cohort (IIIB and SIRI ≥ 1.9 or IIIC and SIRI < 1.9) being remained in between (P < 0.001 for OS and PFS, separately). In multivariate analysis, the two- and three-laddered stratifications per the 1.9 cutoffs and SIRI groups retained their independent significance, individually. Conclusions The SIRI ≥ 1.9 independently prognosticated significantly worse OS and PFS results and plated the stage IIIB/C patients into three fundamentally distinct prognostic groups.
Response to Braillon

We thank Dr Braillon for his comments on our recent phase IIb trial on the efficacy of low-dose aspirin to reduce the size of subsolid lung nodules. Aspirin has a long history of pros and cons regarding its role in cancer prevention, primarily for colorectal cancer but potentially also for cancers arising in other organs. At the time of the planning and performance of our study, the recent publication by Rothwell et al. (1) suggested the protective role of aspirin during early lung carcinogenesis. The rationale for our trial was that if the Rothwell meta-analyses showed divergence in lung cancer mortality within 5 years of aspirin use, then the effect on premalignancy might be assessable within 1 year of usage. Preclinical studies similarly supported the testing of aspirin in a high-risk population (2). The more recent results of the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial suggest that aspirin may, instead, increase mortality in an elderly population, but these data were not available at the time we conceptualized our trial, and the results of ASPREE were clearly unexpected. There also remains the possibility that aspirin has different effects during the early and late stages of carcinogenesis, with the ASPREE trial being heavily weighted toward late carcinogenesis, whereas trials in younger populations are more likely to address the earlier phases (3). The data on the age of our population were included in Supplementary Table 1 (available online). Only 7 (14.3%) and 5 (10.2%) participants older than age 70 years were treated with placebo and aspirin, respectively. This was the age group for non-Black and non-Hispanic participants in the ASPREE trial. Certainly, age has to be taken into account for aspirin in prevention as suggested by Cuzick at al. (4). We agree with Dr Braillon that primary prevention should involve multiple aspects starting from avoiding environmental exposures, to lifestyle, and possibly, medical interventions. The COSMOS trial, which was the main source of accrual for our study, required yearly smoking cessation counseling by a trained psychologist for all participants. In our trial, 8 (12.1%) of the 66 current smokers quit within the year of treatment, but 3 (6.3%) of the 32 former smokers restarted. Although other studies have focused on smoking cessation, showing variable success in quitting smoking with a variety of interventions, we chose to focus on a logical pharmacologic intervention as the main experimental variable. It should be noted, however, that the benefits of smoking cessation on lung cancer mortality take a long time to be realized even in those who do manage to successfully quit smoking. In the Lung Health Study, only the longterm follow-up after 14.5 years showed a decrease in lung cancer mortality after sustained quitting; a shorter follow-up of 5 years did not show any effect of quitting on lung cancer mortality (5,6). The effect of smoking cessation on lung premalignancy is even less documented and remains to be determined.
Model of Dry Matter and Plant Nitrogen Partitioning between Leaf and Stem for Coastal Bermudagrass. I. Dependence on Harvest Interval

Abstract Forage production depends on factors such as applied nutrients, available water, and harvest interval (for perennials). It has been shown that seasonal yield of Coastal bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L. Pers.) and Pensacola bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flügge) are dependent on harvest interval. A growth model has been developed which describes this dependence quite well. This analysis explains the response in terms of partitioning between leaves and stems. It accounts for the strong decrease in leaf dry matter fraction with increase in harvest interval. Data from Tifton, GA for Coastal bermudagrass are used to show that at a harvest interval of 4 wk the leaf fraction is approximately 78%. Peak dry matter production of 20.3 Mg ha−1 is estimated to occur at a harvest interval of 10.4 wk, with a corresponding leaf fraction of 51%.
Estimating the average daily rainfall in Thailand using confidence intervals for the common mean of several delta-lognormal distributions

The daily average natural rainfall amounts in the five regions of Thailand can be estimated using the confidence intervals for the common mean of several delta-lognormal distributions based on the fiducial generalized confidence interval (FGCI), large sample (LS), method of variance estimates recovery (MOVER), parametric bootstrap (PB), and highest posterior density intervals based on Jeffreys’ rule (HPD-JR) and normal-gamma-beta (HPD-NGB) priors. Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to assess the performance in terms of the coverage probability and average length of the proposed methods. The numerical results indicate that MOVER and PB provided better performances than the other methods in a variety of situations, even when the sample case was large. The efficacies of the proposed methods were illustrated by applying them to real rainfall datasets from the five regions of Thailand.
Exogenous melatonin improves growth in hulless barley seedlings under cold stress by influencing the expression rhythms of circadian clock genes

Background Melatonin is a hormone substance that exists in various living organisms. Since it was discovered in the pineal gland of cattle in 1956, the function of melatonin in animals has been roughly clarified. Nevertheless, in plants, the research on melatonin is still insufficient. Hulless barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum hook. f.) is a crop that originates from cultivated barley in the east, usually grown on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, becoming the most important food crop in this area. Although the genome and transcriptome research of highland barley has gradually increased recently years, there are still many problems about how hulless barley adapts to the cold climate of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Methods In this study, we set three temperature conditions 25°C, 15°C, 5°C hulless barley seedlings, and at the same time soaked the hulless barley seeds with a 1 µM melatonin solution for 12 hours before the hulless barley seeds germinated. Afterwards, the growth and physiological indicators of hulless barley seedlings under different treatment conditions were determined. Meanwhile, the qRT-PCR method was used to determine the transcription level of the hulless barley circadian clock genes under different treatment conditions under continuous light conditions. Results The results showed the possible mechanism by which melatonin pretreatment can promote the growth of hulless barley under cold stress conditions by studying the effect of melatonin on the rhythm of the circadian clock system and some physiological indicators. The results revealed that the application of 1 µM melatonin could alleviate the growth inhibition of hulless barley seedlings caused by cold stress. In addition, exogenous melatonin could also restore the circadian rhythmic oscillation of circadian clock genes, such as HvCCA1 and HvTOC1, whose circadian rhythmic phenotypes were lost due to environmental cold stress. Additionally, the results confirmed that exogenous melatonin even reduced the accumulation of key physiological indicators under cold stress, including malondialdehyde and soluble sugars. Discussion Overall, these findings revealed an important mechanism that exogenous melatonin alleviated the inhibition of plant vegetative growths either by restoring the disrupted circadian rhythmic expression oscillations of clock genes, or by regulating the accumulation profiles of pivotal physiological indicators under cold stress.
Examining the utility of DNA barcodes for the identification of tallgrass prairie flora

Premise The tallgrass prairies of North America are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world, making efficient species identification essential for understanding and managing diversity. Here, we assess DNA barcoding with high‐throughput sequencing as a method for rapid plant species identification. Methods Using herbarium collections representing the tallgrass prairie flora of Oak Lake Field Station, South Dakota, USA, we amplified and examined four common nuclear and plastid barcode regions (ITS, matK, psbA‐trnH, and rbcL), individually and in combination, to test their success in identifying samples to family, genus, and species levels using BLAST searches of three databases of varying size. Results Concatenated barcodes increased performance, although none were significantly different than single‐region barcodes. The plastid region psbA‐trnH performed significantly more poorly than the others, while barcodes containing ITS performed best. Database size significantly affected identification success at all three taxonomic levels. Confident species‐level identification ranged from 8–44% for the global database, 13–56% for the regional database, and 21–80% for the sampled species database, depending on the barcode used. Discussion Barcoding was generally successful in identifying tallgrass prairie genera and families, but was of limited use in species‐level identifications. Database size was an important factor in successful plant identification. We discuss future directions and considerations for improving the performance of DNA barcoding in tallgrass prairies.
The Bascom Cleft Lift as a Solution for All Presentations of Pilonidal Disease

Objective This study is a report on 700 consecutive patients treated with the Bascom cleft lift as treatment for both simple and complex pilonidal diseases between 1993 and 2020. Patients and methods The Bascom cleft lift was used in patients with primary disease, recurrent disease, perianal disease, and failed flap procedures. Some technical modifications had to be made to accommodate patients with perianal disease, and they are described. All patients were treated by the author in private practice clinics and hospitals between 1993 and 2020 and were entered into a database concomitantly with their treatment. Patients were subsequently surveyed in preparation for this study, by phone, email, or email survey to determine the current status. The procedure consisted of excision of the sinus tracts, cysts, and open wounds; raising a skin and subcutaneous tissue flap; and flattening the gluteal cleft. Failure of the procedure was defined as lack of complete healing or recurrent pilonidal disease requiring revisional surgery. Complications were recorded and are described. Results We found that of the 700 patients, 3.4% required revision of the cleft lift (confidence interval for proportion based on binomial distribution: 2.1%-4.8%). The median follow-up time for patients without recurrence was six months (IQR: 2-19.5). Once primary healing was obtained, there were no late recurrences in the 156 patients followed beyond 24 months. Factors that negatively impacted the success rate were having had previous failed pilonidal surgery (5.3% required revision) and open wounds on the edge of the anus (15.5% required revision). Conclusions The Bascom cleft lift had an overall success rate of 96.6%. There was no category of patients for which this was not a good option, but analysis of this data reveals that patients who have had previous failed surgery, and patients with wounds on the edge of the anus had a higher failure rate than the group as a whole.
Exercise intolerance — from spiroergometry to transdiaphragmatic myocardial punch biopsy: a case report of isolated cardiac sarcoidosis

Abstract Background Several aetiologies account for exercise intolerance, with cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) constituting a rare cause thereof. The pathogenesis of CS is still unresolved and its diagnosis still difficult to establish, in the absence of any extracardiac manifestations in particular. Case summary A 49-year-old amateur athlete presented with exercise intolerance during running over a 3-week period. Coronary artery and structural lung disease were excluded by coronary angiography and computer tomography. The symptoms could be reproduced during spiroergometry during which an exercise-induced high-degree atrioventricular (AV) block was documented. During electrocardiographic monitoring, a 2:1 AV block was observed. Different imaging modalities showed inferobasal septal inflammation and fibrosis. Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography-guided endomyocardial biopsies were inconclusive and only subsequent epicardial biopsy performed by transdiaphragmatic minimally invasive surgery lead to the histological diagnosis of non-caseating granuloma, confirming CS. The patient was treated with high-dose steroids 1 week after implantation of a primary prevention dual-chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). While tapering steroids, recurrence of myocardial inflammation occurred. However, no tachytherapies and <0.1% right ventricular pacing were needed after 2 years of follow-up. Discussion Differential diagnoses were either an infiltrative disease, a tumour, or an infectious disease. Due to the different treatment options, we had to establish definite diagnosis by myocardial biopsy. Retrospectively, the implantation of the ICD can be discussed. However, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed fibrosis which is usually irreversible and substrate for potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmia. Confirming the diagnosis of isolated CS is challenging. Long-term management should be guided individually based on clinical and imaging findings.
Diurnal Variation in Visual Simple Reaction Time between and within Genders in Young Adults: An Exploratory, Comparative, Pilot Study

Simple reaction time (SRT) is the minimum time required to respond to a stimulus; it is a measure of processing speed. Our study aimed to determine the variation in visual SRT with time among individuals of the same gender and between genders. We carried out a prospective, parallel group, pilot study involving ten male and ten female medical students aged 18–25 years. After obtaining written informed consent, the participants were familiarized with the procedures, and each completed a single practice session of a computerized visual SRT which was administered using Psychology Experiment Building Language Version 2.0 software. On a predetermined day, the participants completed the exercise at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. , and 5 p.m. The results showed no statistically significant difference in SRT based on time of day between genders (χ2(2) = 4.300, p=0.116) as well as within gender (males (χ2(2) = 0.600, p=0.741); females (χ2(2) = 5.000, p=0.082). Our study showed that visual SRT does not change significantly at different times of the day and within and between genders. Intraindividual variations in visual SRT can mask the presence of a small but significant difference; hence, further studies are warranted.
Size-Dependent Phase Transformations in Bismuth Oxide Nanoparticles. II. Melting and Stability Diagram

Melting of nanocrystalline bismuth oxide particles between 6 and 50 nm was investigated in situ in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). It revealed a size-dependent melting behavior with a strong melting point reduction (−55% at 6 nm). One reason is a −230 K offset in the bulk melting temperature which is apparently caused by the β-phase in which the nanomaterial resides. As a second reason, a strong size dependency was observed from which an approximate solid-surface energy of 0.3 J/m2 was determined. Yet, the conditions in the TEM could cause a lowering of the transition temperatures compared to chemically neutral conditions, although theoretical considerations predict reduction in the solid state to be negligible. Everything indicates that no stable, liquid surface layer forms prior to melting. In spite of the covalent-ionic bonds in this oxide material the qualitatively same size dependence shows like in metals. Combined with size-dependent evaporation examined in a companion study [Guenther et.