Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contribution of Biologic Response Modifiers to the Risk of Coccidioidomycosis Severity.

Background The risk of coccidioidomycosis (CM) as a life-threatening respiratory illness or disseminated CM (DCM) increases as much as 150-fold in immunosuppressed patients. The safety of biologic response modifiers (BRMs) as treatment for patients with autoimmune disease (AI) in CM-endemic regions is not well defined. We sought to determine that risk in the Tucson and Phoenix areas. Methods We conducted a retrospective study reviewing demographics, Arizona residency length, clinical presentations, specific AI diagnoses, CM test results, and BRM treatments in electronic medical records of patients ≥18 years old with International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes for CM and AI from 1 October 2017 to 31 December 2019. Results We reviewed 944 charts with overlapping ICD-10 codes for CM and AI, of which 138 were confirmed to have both diagnoses. Male sex was associated with more CM (P = .003), and patients with African ancestry were 3 times more likely than those with European ancestry to develop DCM (P < .001). Comparing CM+/AI+ (n = 138) with CM+/AI- (n = 449) patients, there were no significant differences in CM clinical presentations. Patients receiving BRMs had 2.4 times more DCM compared to pulmonary CM (PCM). Conclusions AI does not increase the risk of any specific CM clinical presentation, and BRM treatment of most AI patients does not lead to severe CM. However, BRMs significantly increase the risk of DCM, and prospective studies are needed to identify the immunogenetic subset that permits BRM-associated DCM.
Promoter-Bound Full-Length Intronic Circular RNAs-RNA Polymerase II Complexes Regulate Gene Expression in the Human Parasite Entamoeba histolytica

Ubiquitous eukaryotic non-coding circular RNAs are involved in numerous co- and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. Recently, we reported full-length intronic circular RNAs (flicRNAs) in Entamoeba histolytica, with 3′ss–5′ss ligation points and 5′ss GU-rich elements essential for their biogenesis and their suggested role in transcription regulation. Here, we explored how flicRNAs impact gene expression regulation. Using CLIP assays, followed by qRT-PCR, we identified that the RabX13 control flicRNA and virulence-associated flicRNAs were bound to the HA-tagged RNA Pol II C-terminus domain in E. histolytica transformants. The U2 snRNA was also present in such complexes, indicating that they belonged to transcription initiation/elongation complexes. Correspondingly, inhibition of the second step of splicing using boric acid reduced flicRNA formation and modified the expression of their parental genes and non-related genes. flicRNAs were also recovered from chromatin immunoprecipitation eluates, indicating that the flicRNA-Pol II complex was formed in the promoter of their cognate genes. Finally, two flicRNAs were found to be cytosolic, whose functions remain to be uncovered. Here, we provide novel evidence of the role of flicRNAs in gene expression regulation in cis, apparently in a widespread fashion, as an element bound to the RNA polymerase II transcription initiation complex, in E. histolytica.
Impacts of workplace cultural differences on innovation and economic growth in Europe

Cultural differences and innovativeness are multi-faceted social phenomenon with innumerable manifestations. Majority of studies have indicated the positive impact of culture. There are some research findings which concluded that culture has a negative impact mainly due to language barriers of diverse cultural workforce which led to low level of communication, in turn led to low level of innovation. Hence the impact of culture on innovation and economic development is debated. Innovation takes place as an art of exercises routed into cultural view points and attitudes. With European Union struggling economies and financial crises, social integration and human capital mobility are key solutions to create innovation and innovative solutions. This study is, therefore aimed at examining the impacts of workplace cultural differences (in a form of human capital mobility) on innovation and economic growth in Europe. Accordingly, Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg were purposively selected based on the higher number of diversified workforce available in companies located in these countries, in order words human capital mobility. Hence, data was collected using a questionnaire random sample of 392 employees (98 from each country) were selected. Consequently, though small portion of the respondents mentioned the negative impact of cultural diversity, the majority of the respondents and the results of the in-depth interview implied that cultural diversity brings people together and enables them to be creative and enhance their innovative performance. Mobility of skilled human capital is an attribute of culturally diverse workforce in a certain company which enable them to share knowledge and skills which in turn improve their innovative capacity. Therefore, this study concluded that cultural diversity has a significant positive impact on innovation and hence on the economic growth. But the barriers that may be seen at workplace due to cultural differences should be properly managed and prior training sessions to newly employed personnel and a platform where all the employees can get an opportunity to introduce themselves and ease their communication should be arranged.
The evolving landscape of BRAF inhibitors in BRAF mutant colorectal cancer and the added value of cytotoxic chemotherapy

Our understanding of the molecular profile and associated targeted therapies has revolutionised the approach to treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Approximately 10% (range, 8–21%) of mCRC carry a BRAF mutation which occurs primarily (>90%) at the V600E codon and leads to overactivation of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ ERK signalling [mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK)] pathway (1). BRAF mutant (MT) mCRC are renowned for their poor prognosis with a median overall survival (OS) inferior ranging from 10 to 20 months with resistance to standard systemic therapy, often not even reaching secondline treatment (2,3). The exception is the subset of MSI-H/ dMRR patients (up to 30% of BRAF MT CRC) who benefit from immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) following the recent Keynote-177 trial (4). Unlike melanoma, previous trials with BRAF inhibition monotherapy (or combination with MEK inhibition) for BRAF MT mCRC show only minimal activity. This is due to feedback upregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that re-activates the oncogenic pathway bypassing BRAF. Benefit of combining BRAF and EGFR inhibitors to overcome this pharmacological escape has been seen in several trials now. The BEACON phase 3 trial (5) is the pivotal study of this approach showing that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib with anti-EGFR treatment (cetuximab) with or without a MEKinhibitor (binimetinib) led to significantly better OS and overall response rates (ORR) compared to irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or irinotecan with cetuximab. One strategy to ameliorate outcomes of these patients might be to combine multiple mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) targeting agents with cytotoxic agents. Encouraging preclinical data combining irinotecan with anti-BRAF molecules (6,7), led Kopetz et al. (8) to explore the addition of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib to a backbone of irinotecan and cetuximab in previously treated BRAF MT mCRC.
A Model Predictive Controlled Bidirectional Four Quadrant Flying Capacitor DC/DC Converter Applied in Energy Storage System

Energy storage system (ESS) has been widely used in photovoltaic system to ensure stable power generation. This article proposes a flying capacitor bidirectional buck–boost converter (FCBBC), aiming at making the ESS work with bidirectional four quadrant in the wide dc+bus voltage variation condition. With the symmetrical modulation strategy, the proposed FCBBC can achieve seamless switching between buck and boost mode to match the voltage changes at energy storage and dc bus side. Meanwhile, considering the ESS application requirements, a fixed frequency model predictive control (MPC) strategy based on binary search algorithm is proposed to achieve the control purpose. The decoupling relationship between flying capacitor (FC) and output voltage is derived so that the proposed MPC strategy can control the voltage of two FCs simultaneously. In addition, the adoption of binary search algorithm effectively reduces the computation load of the proposed MPC strategy. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed converter and MPC strategy are verified with a downscaled ESS experimental platform.
Therapeutic Applications of Antimicrobial Silver-Based Biomaterials in Dentistry

Abstract Microbial infection accounts for many dental diseases and treatment failure. Therefore, the antibacterial properties of dental biomaterials are of great importance to the long-term results of treatment. Silver-based biomaterials (AgBMs) have been widely researched as antimicrobial materials with high efficiency and relatively low toxicity. AgBMs have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial properties, including penetration of microbial cell membranes, damage to genetic material, contact killing, and dysfunction of bacterial proteins and enzymes. In particular, advances in nanotechnology have improved the application value of AgBMs. Hence, in many subspecialties of dentistry, AgBMs have been researched and employed, such as caries arresting or prevention, root canal sterilization, periodontal plaque inhibition, additives in dentures, coating of implants and anti-inflammatory material in oral and maxillofacial surgery. This paper aims to provide an overview of the application approaches of AgBMs in dentistry and present better guidance for oral antimicrobial therapy via the development of AgBMs.
Schools as a Relatively Standardizing Institution: The Case of Gender Gaps in Cognitive Skills

Growing evidence suggests that contrary to popular belief, schools mostly do not generate achievement gaps in cognitive skills but, rather, reflect the inequalities that already exist. In the case of socioeconomic status, exposure to school often reduces gaps. Surprisingly little is known, however, about whether this pattern extends to gender gaps in cognitive skills. We compare how gender gaps in math and reading change when children are in school versus out (in the summer) among over 900,000 U.S. children. We find that girls learn faster than boys when school is out (in both reading and math), but this advantage is completely eliminated when school is in session. Compared to the family environment, schools act as a relatively standardizing institution, producing more similar gendered patterns in learning.
Marketisation and Regulatory Labour in Frontline Disability Work

In many liberal welfare states, market-based reforms aimed at enhancing competition and choice in disability services have necessitated extensive regulatory reforms to ensure quality service provision. This article explores how the changing regulatory environment surrounding an individualised funding scheme is transforming frontline disability work. Drawing on data from a survey of 2341 Australian disability support workers, the article contributes to sociological understandings of market regulation by foregrounding the importance of frontline workers’ labour to the regulation of social service markets. Various regulation-related tasks and duties are identified which, while practically embedded among the client-focused components of care work previously documented, are analytically distinct from them. This category of undertheorised, unrecognised, often unpaid work is referred to as ‘regulatory labour’. The article illuminates the mechanisms through which workers enact and resist regulatory processes and help absorb market risks and failures in ways previously underexplored in theories of marketised social care.
A Provably Secure Three-Factor Authentication Protocol Based on Chebyshev Chaotic Mapping for Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless sensor network has been widely used and plays a vital role in the Internet of Things, smart cities, military, and other fields, and its security has also attracted the attention of many researchers. In view of the security defects in Shin and Kwon’s scheme such as failure to provide three-factor security, lack of anonymity and untraceability, user impersonation attack, desynchronization attack and privileged insider attack, we suggest an improved provably secure three-factor user authentication scheme based on Chebyshev chaotic mapping for wireless sensor network, which employs fuzzy verifier technique to prevent attacker from offline guessing attack on user identity and password when the stolen/lost smartcard is acquired by the attacker. During the authentication phase, a dynamic identity mechanism is used to ensure the anonymity of the user and sensor to prevent desynchronization attack, and the Chebyshev chaotic mapping is introduced to improve security and reduce computation overhead. The rigorous security proof under the random oracle model and the formal verification via ProVerif show that our protocol overcomes the weaknesses in Shin and Kwon’s scheme. In addition, by comparing the performance of our proposed scheme with that of others, we demonstrate that our proposal not only solves the security risks of Shin and Kwon. ’s protocol, but also achieves a better tradeoff between security and efficiency, therefore, it is more suitable for user authentication in wireless sensor network environments.
Analysis of e-learning systems Success using Google Classroom in PGMI major of Universitas Islam Lamongan: SEM (Structural Equation Modelling)

<p align="center"><strong><em><span lang="EN-US">Abstract</span></em></strong><em></em></p><em><span lang="EN-US">Online learning is a learning approach during the COVID-19 pandemic, Google Classroom is an e-learning platform used by the Islamic University of Lamongan (Unisla) Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Teacher Education study program (PGMI). This study aims to analyze the factors that influence the success of online learning with google classroom during the covid 19 pandemic. The research data was collected through a google form-assisted questionnaire with a sample of 127 PGMI Unisla students. The data analysis used is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) assisted by Smart PLS. The results of the study indicate that system quality, quality of instructors, perceived usefulness, and student satisfaction are factors that influence the success of online learning with Google Classroom. These findings can be used as input in determining the improvement strategy (planning and improvement) of using google classroom for the Success of online learning in the future. </span></em>
Dimensional Stabilization through Heat Treatment of Thermally Compressed Wood of Korean Pine

1) Post-heat treatment experiments were carried out for complete dimensional stabilization of thermally compressed wood (Pinus koraiensis). An absorption test was carried out to evaluate the dimensional stability. The specific gravity increased from 0.43 to 0.79 by thermal compression at a compression ratio of 50% thickness. Through the post-heat treatment of compressed wood, the water absorption and thickness swelling decreased with increasing the heat treatment temperature and time. In the case of the thickness recovery rate, when the heat treatment was performed for 24 hours at 120 °C, 140 °C and 160 °C, the thickness recovery was less than 1%. Therefore, it can be confirmed that the method of dimensional stabilization method of the thermal compression wood can be carried out very effectively through post heat treatment process.
A Novel Multi-Modal Network-Based Dynamic Scene Understanding

In recent years, dynamic scene understanding has gained attention from researchers because of its widespread applications. The main important factor in successfully understanding the dynamic scenes lies in jointly representing the appearance and motion features to obtain an informative description. Numerous methods have been introduced to solve dynamic scene recognition problem, nevertheless, a few concerns still need to be investigated. In this article, we introduce a novel multi-modal network for dynamic scene understanding from video data, which captures both spatial appearance and temporal dynamics effectively. Furthermore, two-level joint tuning layers are proposed to integrate the global and local spatial features as well as spatial and temporal stream deep features. In order to extract the temporal information, we present a novel dynamic descriptor, namely, Volume Symmetric Gradient Local Graph Structure (VSGLGS), which generates temporal feature maps similar to optical flow maps. However, this approach overcomes the issues of optical flow maps. Additionally, Volume Local Directional Transition Pattern (VLDTP) based handcrafted spatiotemporal feature descriptor is also introduced, which extracts the directional information through exploiting edge responses. Lastly, a stacked Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) network along with a temporal mixed pooling scheme is designed to achieve the dynamic information without noise interference. The extensive experimental investigation proves that the proposed multi-modal network outperforms most of the state-of-the-art approaches for dynamic scene understanding.
Designing an Arabic Speaking and Listening Skills E- Course: Resources, Activities and Students' Perceptions

This paper presents a fully online course model for teaching speaking and listening skills for students learning Arabic as a foreign language at the International Peace College South Africa on the NEO learning management platform. It also investigates the students' attitudes towards the course. The course was developed by the researcher during the first semester of 2020. This period coincided with South Africa’s first wave of COVID-19, and the country’s first strict lockdown. The syllabus consists of three components: listening, speaking and conversational Arabic. It includes various technology-enhanced activities and resources which were developed by using LMS features, Web 2.0 tools, and e-learning specifications such as Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) and Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM). The integration of technology in the course is based on an approach that combines Bloom's taxonomy and Technology Integration Matrix (TIM). Apart from the description of the course, this study used a thirty-item questionnaire to investigate the attitudes of thirty-one learners who participated in the course. They answered questions about the course’s resources, activities as well as its impact on their language skills. Results from the questionnaire revealed that the respondents' attitudes towards the online course were positive and statistically significant at p < . 05. The design and the approach adopted in this study can apply to any context of language teaching. It provides a myriad of technology-enhanced activities that can be effectively used to teach listening and speaking skills virtually. Foreign language teachers can adopt this approach in its entirety, or with idiosyncratic modifications to design their language courses, irrespective of the virtual learning ecology (VLE) they use.
Socio-economic and technological aspects of mental health of older persons: the role of strong and weak ties in Ghana

Abstract Research indicates that social capital can influence the extent to which socio-economic status (SES) and information and communications technology (ICT) affect mental health. This study uses empirical data to examine the veracity of this claim by examining the effect of SES and ICT use on the mental health of older persons in Ghana, as well as the moderating role of bonding (i.e. strong ties) and bridging (i.e. weak ties) social capital in these associations. Data were drawn from 409 older persons from four regions in Ghana as part of a broader cross-sectional survey. Ordinal logistic regression analyses showed that SES and ICT use had positive associations with mental health after adjusting for other socio-demographic factors. Bridging social capital modified the association between SES and mental health positively. Bonding social capital also moderated the relations between ICT use on mental health positively. We argue that the prevalent nature of resources embedded in strong ties and the diversity of support that emerge from weak ties account for the difference in their influence observed in this study. Thus, while advances in socio-economic and technological conditions can enhance older persons’ mental health, equal attention must be paid to the characteristics of their strong and weak ties as they possess the resources to make socio-technological policies even more meaningful.
Atezolizumab-Induced Sarcoidosis-Like Reaction in a Patient with Metastatic Breast Cancer

Tumor-related sarcoidosis-like reactions (SLR) have been reported with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). We report a case of 50-year-old woman who observed an enlarged lymph node in the right hilar region and the appearance of a subcutaneous mass in the extremities during chemotherapy with atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Skin biopsy revealed the formation of epithelioid granulation species with the Langhans giant cell. After discontinuing atezolizumab in the treatment procedure, the hilar lymph nodes and the subcutaneous mass were reduced. A pathological examination was effective in differentiating tumor exacerbation from SLR. Owing to limited information on ICI-related SLR in breast cancer, future studies are recommended to properly manage immune-related adverse effects during cancer treatment.
Meta-omics-aided isolation of an elusive anaerobic arsenic-methylating soil bacterium

Soil microbiomes harbour unparalleled functional and phylogenetic diversity. However, extracting isolates with a targeted function from complex microbiomes is not straightforward, particularly if the associated phenotype does not lend itself to high-throughput screening. Here, we tackle the methylation of arsenic (As) in anoxic soils. As methylation was proposed to be catalysed by sulfate-reducing bacteria. However, to date, there are no available anaerobic isolates capable of As methylation, whether sulfate-reducing or otherwise. The isolation of such a microorganism has been thwarted by the fact that the anaerobic bacteria harbouring a functional arsenite S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase (ArsM) tested to date did not methylate As in pure culture. Additionally, fortuitous As methylation can result from the release of non-specific methyltransferases upon lysis. Thus, we combined metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics to identify the microorganisms actively methylating As in anoxic soil-derived microbial cultures. Based on the metagenome-assembled genomes of microorganisms expressing ArsM, we isolated Paraclostridium sp. strain EML, which was confirmed to actively methylate As anaerobically. This work is an example of the application of meta-omics to the isolation of elusive microorganisms.