Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Delayed virus‐specific antibody responses associate with COVID‐19 mortality

1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China 2Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China 3Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Influence of Low-Pressure RF Plasma Treatment on Aramid Yarns Properties

The aim of the study was to modify the surface free energy (SFE) of meta- (mAr) and para-aramid (pAr) yarns by their activation in low-pressure air radio frequency (RF) (40 kHz) plasma and assessment of its impact on the properties of the yarns. After 10 and 90 min of activation, the SFE value increased, respectively, by 14% and 37% for mAr, and by 10% and 37% for pAr. The value of the polar component increased, respectively by 22% and 57% for mAr and 20% and 62% for pAr. The value of the dispersion component for mAr and pAr increased respectively by 9% and 25%. The weight loss decreased from 49% to 46% for mAr and 62% to 50% for pAr after 90 min of activation. After 90 min, the specific strength for mAr did not change and for pAr it decreased by 40%. For both yarns, the 10 min activation in plasma is sufficient to prepare their surface for planned nanomodification.
Trends in Work Conditions and Associations with Workers’ Health in Recent 15 Years: The Role of Job Automation Probability

Job automation and associated psychosocial hazards are emerging workplace challenges. This study examined the trends in work conditions and associations with workers’ health over time in jobs with different automation probabilities. We utilized data from six waves of national questionnaire surveys of randomly selected 95,762 employees between 2001 and 2016. The Job Content Questionnaire, the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and the Self-Rated Health Scale were applied, and working time was self-reported. Automation probability was derived for 38 occupations and then categorized into three groups. Trends in work conditions and the associations between automation probability, work conditions and health were examined. We observed a 7% decrease in high automation probability jobs, an overall increase in job demands for and prevalence of shift work, and a decrease in job control. Workers with high automation probability jobs had low job demands, low job control and high job insecurity. Low automation probability was associated with burnout in logistic regression models. The odds ratio of job insecurity, long working hours, and shift work relating to health was higher in the later years of the surveys. In conclusion, there has been a decrease in high automation probability jobs. Workers employed in jobs with different levels of automation probability encountered different work condition challenges.
MIP-1α Expression Induced by Co-Stimulation of Human Monocytic Cells with Palmitate and TNF-α Involves the TLR4-IRF3 Pathway and Is Amplified by Oxidative Stress

Metabolic inflammation is associated with increased expression of saturated free fatty acids, proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and adipose oxidative stress. Macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α recruits the inflammatory cells such as monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils in the adipose tissue; however, the mechanisms promoting the MIP-1α expression remain unclear. We hypothesized that MIP-1α co-induced by palmitate and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in monocytic cells/macrophages could be further enhanced in the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated oxidative stress. To investigate this, THP-1 monocytic cells and primary human macrophages were co-stimulated with palmitate and TNF-α and mRNA and protein levels of MIP-1α were measured by using quantitative reverse transcription, polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), respectively. The cognate receptor of palmitate, toll-like receptor (TLR)-4, was blunted by genetic ablation, neutralization, and chemical inhibition. The involvement of TLR4-downstream pathways, interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-3 or myeloid differentiation (MyD)-88 factor, was determined using IRF3-siRNA or MyD88-deficient cells. Oxidative stress was induced in cells by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) treatment and ROS induction was measured by dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay. The data show that MIP-1α gene/protein expression was upregulated in cells co-stimulated with palmitate/TNF-α compared to those stimulated with either palmitate or TNF-α (P < 0.05). Further, TLR4-IRF3 pathway was implicated in the cooperative induction of MIP-1α in THP-1 cells, and this cooperativity between palmitate and TNF-α was clathrin-dependent and also required signaling through c-Jun and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). Notably, ROS itself induced MIP-1α and could further promote MIP-1α secretion together with palmitate and TNF-α. In conclusion, palmitate and TNF-α co-induce MIP-1α in human monocytic cells via the TLR4-IRF3 pathway and signaling involving c-Jun/NF-κB. Importantly, oxidative stress leads to ROS-driven MIP-1α amplification, which may have significance for metabolic inflammation.
Increased Glucose Availability Attenuates Myocardial Ketone Body Utilization

Background Perturbations in myocardial substrate utilization have been proposed to contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiac dysfunction in diabetic subjects. The failing heart in nondiabetics tends to decrease reliance on fatty acid and glucose oxidation, and increases reliance on ketone body oxidation. In contrast, little is known regarding the mechanisms mediating this shift among all 3 substrates in diabetes mellitus. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that changes in myocardial glucose utilization directly influence ketone body catabolism. Methods and Results We examined ventricular‐cardiac tissue from the following murine models: (1) streptozotocin‐induced type 1 diabetes mellitus; (2) high‐fat‐diet–induced glucose intolerance; and transgenic inducible cardiac‐restricted expression of (3) glucose transporter 4 (transgenic inducible cardiac restricted expression of glucose transporter 4); or (4) dominant negative O‐GlcNAcase. Elevated blood glucose (type 1 diabetes mellitus and high‐fat diet mice) was associated with reduced cardiac expression of β‐hydroxybutyrate‐dehydrogenase and succinyl‐CoA:3‐oxoacid CoA transferase. Increased myocardial β‐hydroxybutyrate levels were also observed in type 1 diabetes mellitus mice, suggesting a mismatch between ketone body availability and utilization. Increased cellular glucose delivery in transgenic inducible cardiac restricted expression of glucose transporter 4 mice attenuated cardiac expression of both Bdh1 and Oxct1 and reduced rates of myocardial BDH1 activity and β‐hydroxybutyrate oxidation. Moreover, elevated cardiac protein O‐GlcNAcylation (a glucose‐derived posttranslational modification) by dominant negative O‐GlcNAcase suppressed β‐hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase expression. Consistent with the mouse models, transcriptomic analysis confirmed suppression of BDH1 and OXCT1 in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and heart failure compared with nondiabetic patients. Conclusions Our results provide evidence that increased glucose leads to suppression of cardiac ketolytic capacity through multiple mechanisms and identifies a potential crosstalk between glucose and ketone body metabolism in the diabetic myocardium.
The Bulk Heterojunction in Organic Photovoltaic, Photodetector, and Photocatalytic Applications

Organic semiconductors require an energetic offset in order to photogenerate free charge carriers efficiently, owing to their inability to effectively screen charges. This is vitally important in order to achieve high power conversion efficiencies in organic solar cells. Early heterojunction‐based solar cells were limited to relatively modest efficiencies (<4%) owing to limitations such as poor exciton dissociation, limited photon harvesting, and high recombination losses. The development of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) has significantly overcome these issues, resulting in dramatic improvements in organic photovoltaic performance, now exceeding 18% power conversion efficiencies. Here, the design and engineering strategies used to develop the optimal bulk heterojunction for solar‐cell, photodetector, and photocatalytic applications are discussed. Additionally, the thermodynamic driving forces in the creation and stability of the bulk heterojunction are presented, along with underlying photophysics in these blends. Finally, new opportunities to apply the knowledge accrued from BHJ solar cells to generate free charges for use in promising new applications are discussed.
Robust Vector Perturbation Precoding Design for MIMO Broadcast Channel.

We consider the vector perturbation (VP) precoder design for multiuser multiple-input single output (MU-MISO) broadcast channel systems which is robust to power scaling factor errors. VP precoding has so far been developed and analyzed under the assumption that receivers could have known the power scaling factor in advance of tranmission perfectly, which is hard to obtain due to the large dynamic range and limited feedforward. However, as demonstrated in our results the performance of VP precoding is quite sensitive to the accuracy of power scaling factor and always encounter an error floor at mid to high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regimes. Motivated by such observations, we propose a robust VP precoder based on the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion. Simulation results show that, the robust VP precoder outperforms conventional VP precoding designs, as less sensitive to power scaling factor errors.
Improving Machine Vision Using Human Perceptual Representations: The Case of Planar Reflection Symmetry for Object Classification

Achieving human-like visual abilities is a holy grail for machine vision, yet precisely how insights from human vision can improve machines has remained unclear. Here, we demonstrate two key conceptual advances: First, we show that most machine vision models are systematically different from human object perception. To do so, we collected a large dataset of perceptual distances between isolated objects in humans and asked whether these perceptual data can be predicted by many common machine vision algorithms. We found that while the best algorithms explain <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mo>∼</mml:mo></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="pramod-ieq1-3008107.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>70 percent of the variance in the perceptual data, all the algorithms we tested make systematic errors on several types of objects. In particular, machine algorithms underestimated distances between symmetric objects compared to human perception. Second, we show that fixing these systematic biases can lead to substantial gains in classification performance. In particular, augmenting a state-of-the-art convolutional neural network with planar/reflection symmetry scores along multiple axes produced significant improvements in classification accuracy (1-10 percent) across categories. These results show that machine vision can be improved by discovering and fixing systematic differences from human vision.
Peripheral Nerve Imaging Aids in the Diagnosis of Immune-Mediated Neuropathies—A Case Series

Background: Diagnosis of immune-mediated neuropathies and their differentiation from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can be challenging, especially at early disease stages. Accurate diagnosis is, however, important due to the different prognosis and available treatment options. We present one patient with a left-sided dorsal flexor paresis and initial suspicion of ALS and another with multifocal sensory deficits. In both, peripheral nerve imaging was the key for diagnosis. Methods: We performed high-resolution nerve ultrasound (HRUS) and 7T or 3T magnetic resonance neurography (MRN). Results: In both patients, HRUS revealed mild to severe, segmental or inhomogeneous, nerve enlargement at multiple sites, as well as an area increase of isolated fascicles. MRN depicted T2 hyperintense nerves with additional contrast-enhancement. Discussion: Peripheral nerve imaging was compatible with the respective diagnosis of an immune-mediated neuropathy, i.e., multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) in patient 1 and multifocal acquired demyelinating sensory and motor neuropathy (MADSAM) in patient 2. Peripheral nerve imaging, especially HRUS, should play an important role in the diagnostic work-up for immune-mediated neuropathies and their differentiation from ALS.
Effect of intraoperative iv dexmedetomidine on emergence agitation after sevoflurane anaesthesia in children undergoing tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy

Introduction: Sevoflurane, a popular inhalational anaesthetic agent for paediatric anaesthesia is associated with high incidence of emergence agitation (up to 80%). This study aims to evaluate the effects of intraoperative dexmedetomidine on incidence and severity of emergence agitation (EA) in children after tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy under sevoflurane anaesthesia. Materials and Methods: This prospective, randomized double blind study included 70 patients aged 2-10 years with ASA physical status I and II who were randomly allocated into two groups. Group D (n = 35) received intravenous dexmedetomidine 0.3 μg/kg and Group C (n = 35) received normal saline, both given post intubation over 10 min. After extubation, emergence agitation (EA) was assessed using the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) score, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale (CHEOPS) for evaluating postoperative pain and modified Aldrete score for PACU discharge time were noted. Results: Demographic profile was comparable between two groups. Incidence of emergence agitation was significantly less in Group D than Group C (20% vs 42.86%). Postoperative pain was significantly less in Group D in comparison of Group C (14.3% vs 37.15%). Emergence time, extubation time and PACU discharge time were significantly longer in Group D in comparison to Group C (8.1 ± 1.4 vs 7.1 ± 1.4 min, 9.06 ± 1.59 vs 8.06 ± 1.39 min and 23.1 ± 7.6 vs 18.1 ± 8.2 min respectively). No complications were observed between two groups except vomiting. Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine (0.3 μg/kg) given intravenously just after intubation may be considered as an effective drug to reduce emergence agitation after sevoflurane anaesthesia in children undergoing tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy.
Assessing Niche Shifts and Conservatism by Comparing the Native and Post-Invasion Niches of Major Forest Invasive Species

Invasive species experience biotic and abiotic conditions that may (or may not) resemble their native environment. We explored the methodology of determining climatic niches and compared the native and post-invasion niches of four invasive forest pests to determine if these species experienced shifts or changes in their new climatic niches. We used environmental principle components analysis (PCA-env) method to quantify climatic niche shifts, expansions, and temporal changes. Furthermore, we assessed the effect of variable selection in the delineation and comparison of niche space. We found that variable selection influenced the delineation and overlap of each niche, whereas the subset of climatic variables selected from the first two PCA-env axes explained more variance in environmental conditions than the complete set of climatic variables for all four species. Most focal species showed climatic niche shifts in their invasive range and had not yet fully occupied the available niche within the invaded range. Our species varied the proportion of niche overlap between the native and invasive ranges. By comparing native and invasive niches, we can help predict a species’ potential range expansion and invasion potential. Our results can guide monitoring and help inform management of these and other invasive species.
Wetland Fire Scar Monitoring and Its Response to Changes of the Pantanal Wetland

Fire is an important disturbance factor which results in the irreversible change of land surface ecosystems and leads to a new ecological status after the fire is extinguished. Spanning the period from August to September 2019, the Amazon Forest fires were an unprecedented event in terms of the scale and duration of burning, with a duration of 42 days in the Pantanal wetland. Based on the observation data of wildfire and two Sentinel-2A images separated by a 35-day interval, the objectives of this study are to use the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) to map the spatiotemporal change features of fire and then quantitatively measure the fire severity and the impact of fire on the Pantanal wetland. The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of the extracted results of wetland types reached 80.6% and 0.767, respectively, and the statistically analyzed results showed that wildfires did not radically change the wetland types of the Pantanal wetland, because the hydrological variation of the burned area was still the main change factor, with a dynamic ratio of ≤50%. Furthermore, the savanna wetland in the burned area was the wetland type which was most affected by the fire. Meanwhile, fire scars belonged to the moderate and low-severity burned areas, with a maximum burn area of 599 km2. The case enriches the research into the impact of wildfire as the main disturbance factor on the change of wetland types and provides a scientific reference for the restoration and sustainable development of global wetland ecosystems.
Reliability of Miniaturized Transistors from the Perspective of Single-Defects

To analyze the reliability of semiconductor transistors, changes in the performance of the devices during operation are evaluated. A prominent effect altering the device behavior are the so called bias temperature instabilities (BTI), which emerge as a drift of the device threshold voltage over time. With ongoing miniaturization of the transistors towards a few tens of nanometer small devices the drift of the threshold voltage is observed to proceed in discrete steps. Quite interestingly, each of these steps correspond to charge capture or charge emission event of a certain defect in the atomic structure of the device. This observation paves the way for studying device reliability issues like BTI at the single-defect level. By considering single-defects the physical mechanism of charge trapping can be investigated very detailed. An in-depth understanding of the intricate charge trapping kinetics of the defects is essential for modeling of the device behavior and also for accurate estimation of the device lifetime amongst others. In this article the recent advancements in characterization, analysis and modeling of single-defects are reviewed.
Abundance, Density, and Diversity of Neotropical Migrants at the Lula Lake Land Trust, GA

Abstract I used point counts and mist netting at the Lula Lake Land Trust, GA, a reclaimed mining area, to assess its suitability for migrating and breeding long-distance migratory landbirds. The results suggest that the property is suitable for migrants. The proportion of migrants is similar to other areas of the southeastern United States, as well as other reclaimed forestland. In addition, migrant populations were either stable or increased over the three years of monitoring, and 4% of migrants banded returned in subsequent years. Management of the Trust properties should continue to emphasize maintaining large areas of mature forest, and Trust managers should take measures to ensure that increased human recreational activity on the property does not degrade habitat quality.
Proton Conductive Zr-Phosphonate UPG-1—Aminoacid Insertion as Proton Carrier Stabilizer

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are an attractive green technology for energy generation. The poor stability and performances under working conditions of the current electrolytes are their major drawbacks. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have recently emerged as an alternative to overcome these issues. Here, we propose a robust Zr-phosphonate MOF (UPG-1) bearing labile protons able to act a priori as an efficient electrolyte in PEMFCs. Further, in an attempt to further enhance the stability and conductivity of UPG-1, a proton carrier (the amino acid Lysine, Lys) was successfully encapsulated within its porosity. The behaviors of both solids as an electrolyte were investigated by a complete experimental (impedance spectroscopy, water sorption) and computational approach (MonteCarlo, water sorption). Compared with the pristine UPG-1, the newly prepared Lys@UPG-1 composite showed similar proton conductivity but a higher stability, which allows a better cyclability. This improved cyclability is mainly related to the different hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance of the Lys@UPG-1 and UPG-1 and the steric protection of the reactive sites of the MOF by the Lys.
Epigenetic Mechanisms in Gastric Cancer: Potential New Therapeutic Opportunities

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the deadliest malignancies worldwide. Complex disease heterogeneity, late diagnosis, and suboptimal therapies result in the poor prognosis of patients. Besides genetic alterations and environmental factors, it has been demonstrated that alterations of the epigenetic machinery guide cancer onset and progression, representing a hallmark of gastric malignancies. Moreover, epigenetic mechanisms undergo an intricate crosstalk, and distinct epigenomic profiles can be shaped under different microenvironmental contexts. In this scenario, targeting epigenetic mechanisms could be an interesting therapeutic strategy to overcome gastric cancer heterogeneity, and the efforts conducted to date are delivering promising results. In this review, we summarize the key epigenetic events involved in gastric cancer development. We conclude with a discussion of new promising epigenetic strategies for gastric cancer treatment.
Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis Related to Groundwater in Costa Rica: Diagnostic Confirmation of Three Cases and Environmental Investigation

During the first trimester of 2020, the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica reported the first three cases of primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). In two cases, laboratory personnel of the hospitals preliminarily identified amoeboid forms in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. For the molecular confirmation of species, CSF samples were sent to our laboratory. We carried out microscopic analyses and exflagellation assays. Besides, samples were cultured in 2% casein hydrolysate medium and in non-nutrient agar plates supplemented with Escherichia coli. Finally, PCR and sequencing were employed for the molecular diagnosis and species identification. In all cases, the presence of Naegleria fowleri was confirmed. An environmental investigation to identify the possible infection sources was also performed. Water samples from hot springs and groundwater from an artisan well were collected and after filtration and culture in non-nutrient agar plates supplemented with E. coli, thermotolerance and exflagellation assays were carried out. For the positive samples, PCR and sequencing were performed, confirming the presence of N. fowleri in several water samples. The report of these cases and the possible association with hot springs has had a significant impact on the population and health authorities of Costa Rica.