Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-Life Performance of Mepolizumab in T2-High Severe Refractory Asthma with the Overlapping Eosinophilic-Allergic Phenotype

Severe asthma (SA) is categorized into multiple overlapping phenotypes and clinical characteristics driven by complex mechanistic inflammatory pathways. Mepolizumab is a human monoclonal antibody effectively targeting interleukin-5 in severe eosinophilic asthma. However, the eligibility of biologics in coincident SA phenotypes is still unclear. We assessed the efficacy and safety of mepolizumab in real-life patients with the overlapping T2-high SA endotype. This was a phase IV, single-centre observational cohort study including patients with severe refractory T2-high asthma in treatment with mepolizumab. After 12 months of treatment with mepolizumab, significant improvements (p < 0.0001) in asthma control and lung function were recorded. Rates of clinically significant annual asthma exacerbation were also decreased by 71.22% after 52-week therapy with mepolizumab (p < 0.001) associated with a reduction in the mean daily dose of oral corticosteroids. Two patients (3.27%) had to discontinue mepolizumab due to musculoskeletal disorders with no severe safety issues reported. The use of mepolizumab as an add-on therapy in routine clinical practice was safely associated with significant clinical and functional in the overlapping eosinophilic-and-allergic SA phenotype. The current data should support clinical and therapeutic decision-making in this T2-high SA endotype.
Physical and dynamical characterisation of low ΔV NEA (190491) 2000 FJ10

We investigated the physical properties and dynamical evolution of Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) (190491) 2000 FJ10 in order to assess the suitability of this accessible NEA as a space mission target. Photometry and colour determination were carried out with the 1.54 m Kuiper Telescope and the 10 m Southern African Large Telescope during the object's recent favourable apparition in 2011-12. During the earlier 2008 apparition, a spectrum of the object in the 6000-9000 Angstrom region was obtained with the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope. Interpretation of the observational results was aided by numerical simulations of 1000 dynamical clones of 2000 FJ10 up to 10^6 yr in the past and in the future. The asteroid's spectrum and colours determined by our observations suggest a taxonomic classification within the S-complex although other classifications (V, D, E, M, P) cannot be ruled out. On this evidence, it is unlikely to be a primitive, relatively unaltered remnant from the early history of the solar system and thus a low priority target for robotic sample return. Our photometry placed a lower bound of 2 hrs to the asteroid's rotation period. Its absolute magnitude was estimated to be 21.54+-0.1 which, for a typical S-complex albedo, translates into a diameter of 130+-20 m. Our dynamical simulations show that it has likely been an Amor for the past 10^5 yr. Although currently not Earth-crossing, it will likely become so during the period 50 - 100 kyr in the future. It may have arrived from the inner or central Main Belt > 1 Myr ago as a former member of a low-inclination S-class asteroid family. Its relatively slow rotation and large size make it a suitable destination for a human mission. We show that ballistic Earth-190491-Earth transfer trajectories with Delta-V < 2 km s^-1 at the asteroid exist between 2052 and 2061.
A Droplet Digital PCR Based Approach for Identification and Quantification of Porcine and Chicken Derivatives in Beef

Adulteration of high-value beef with lower-priced alternatives is a world-wide problem resulting in consumers’ distrust and market chaos. Therefore, effective methods for the identification and quantification of adulterated beef products are urgently needed. In this study, we developed a reliable droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) method targeting the single-copy nuclear genes for qualitative and quantitative detection of the presence of porcine and chicken derivatives in beef. A fixed constant (transfer coefficient) was introduced to directly transform the ratio of DNA copy number to the mass proportion of targeted meats. Results revealed that the linearity range of quantification for pork and chicken were both from 1% (w/w) to 90% (w/w). The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of the developed ddPCR method were the same for pork and chicken in beef, with LOD 0.1% (w/w) and LOQ 1% (w/w). The accuracy and applicability of the method was tested and verified using mixed samples with the known proportions and commercially available beef products. We conclude that our developed ddPCR method was accurate and reliable in identifying and quantifying porcine and chicken derivatives in beef and therefore has great potential to be applied in routine analyses and quality control of beef products.
MOLYBDENUM, RUTHENIUM, AND THE HEAVY r-PROCESS ELEMENTS IN MODERATELY METAL-POOR MAIN-SEQUENCE TURNOFF STARS

The ratios of elemental abundances observed in metal-poor stars of the Galactic halo provide a unique present-day record of the nucleosynthesis products of its earliest stars. While the heaviest elements were synthesized by the r- and s-processes, dominant production mechanisms of light trans-ironic elements were obscure until recently. This work investigates further our 2011 conclusion that the low-entropy regime of a high-entropy wind (HEW) produced molybdenum and ruthenium in two moderately metal-poor turnoff stars that showed extreme overabundances of those elements with respect to iron. Only a few, rare nucleosynthesis events may have been involved. Here we determine abundances for Mo, Ru, and other trans-Fe elements for 28 similar stars by matching spectral calculations to well-exposed near-UV Keck HIRES spectra obtained for beryllium abundances. In each of the 26 turnoff stars with Mo or Ru line detections and no evidence for s-process production (therefore old), we find Mo and Ru to be three to six times overabundant. In contrast, the maximum overabundance is reduced to factors of three and two for the neighboring elements zirconium and palladium. Since the overproduction peaks sharply at Mo and Ru, a low-entropy HEW is confirmed as its origin. The overabundance level of the heavy r-process elements varies significantly, from none to a factor of four, but is uncorrelated with Mo and Ru overabundances. Despite their moderate metallicity, stars in this group trace the products of different nucleosynthetic events: possibly very few events, possibly events whose output depended on environment, metallicity, or time.
Languages of Quantum Information Theory

This note will introduce some notation and definitions for information theoretic quantities in the context of quantum systems, such as (conditional) entropy and (conditional) mutual information. We will employ the natural C*-algebra formalism, and it turns out that one has an allover dualism of language: we can define everything for (compatible) observables, but also for (compatible) C*-subalgebras. The two approaches are unified in the formalism of quantum operations, and they are connected by a very satisfying inequality, generalizing the well known Holevo bound. Then we turn to communication via (discrete memoryless) quantum channels: we formulate the Fano inequality, bound the capacity region of quantum multiway channels, and comment on the quantum broadcast channel.
Early type galaxies have been the predominant morphological class for massive galaxies since only z~1

Present-day massive galaxies are composed mostly of early-type objects. It is unknown whether this was also the case at higher redshifts. In a hierarchical assembling scenario the morphological content of the massive population is expected to change with time from disk-like objects in the early Universe to spheroid-like galaxies at present. In this paper we have probed this theoretical expectation by compiling a large sample of massive (M_{stellar}>10^{11} h_{70}^{-2} M_{Sun}$) galaxies in the redshift interval 0 < z < 3. Our sample of 1082 objects comprises 207 local galaxies selected from SDSS plus 875 objects observed with the HST belonging to the POWIR/DEEP2 and GNS surveys. 639 of our objects have spectroscopic redshifts. Our morphological classification is performed as close as possible to the optical restframe according to the photometric bands available in our observations both quantitatively (using the Sersic index as a morphological proxy) and qualitative (by visual inspection). Using both techniques we find an enormous change on the dominant morphological class with cosmic time. The fraction of early-type galaxies among the massive galaxy population has changed from ~20-30% at z~3 to ~70% at z=0. Early type galaxies have been the predominant morphological class for massive galaxies since only z~1.
Dynamic analysis of calendar anomalies in cryptocurrency markets: evidences of adaptive market hypothesis

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the effects known as the day of the week and the month of the year in the cryptocurrency markets. The closing values of eleven cryptocurrencies have been considered. The study employs dummy variable regression techniques, ANOVA and Friedman tests for assessing two calendar anomalies, the day-of-week and month-of-year effects. To test these calendar effects, we have applied both full sample and rolling-regression techniques for two lengths of the rolling sample intervals. Furthermore, we have examined the existence of long memory in day-of-the- week and month-of-the-year cryptocurrency returns. The results provide evidence about the existence of day-of-the-week and month-of-the-year effects in cryptocurrency returns, in particular, on Thursdays and in November. In addition, it should be added that the general results of the current study show that the calendar effect in the cryptocurrency market is dynamic rather than static, which indicates that the calendar effect is a phenomenon that varies over time.
A BENCHMARKING ANALYSIS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING OF MALAYSIAN TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS

The main purpose of this paper is to explore corporate social and environmental reporting (CSER) practices among Malaysian telecommunication companies. Using benchmarking analysis, the paper attempts to identify the current status of the CSER practices in comparison with an identified benchmark company. The empirical examination encompasses a sample that includes the annual reports of four telecommunication companies from 2013 to 2017. A content analysis approach has been applied to these annual reports. The findings show that categories of “corporate governance” and “community” received the highest amount of disclosure over the period of five years, while the least amount of disclosure was found in the “employee relation” category. It is recommended that low-level disclosures on employee relation be given more prominence by policymakers, management, and other relevant stakeholders. Such information is seen as being of critical importance to value enhancement, as uncertainty about environmental impacts of organizations is thought to have an increasing effect on financial performance. If best practice information
The Role of Amino Acids in the Formation of Aroma-Active Compounds during Shrimp Hot Air Drying by GC-MS and GC-IMS

In the present paper, the role of amino acids of Penaeus vannamei was investigated in the formation of volatile substances during drying. The variations in volatile substances among samples with different moisture contents (raw, 45%, 30%, 15%, and 5%) were obtained by gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The amino acid contents of the above samples were measured by the amino acid automatic analyzer. Correlation between pyrazines and the various amino acid contents was analyzed by the Pearson correlation coefficient. Their correlation was verified by conducting addition assays. The types and contents of volatile components increased significantly in samples with moisture contents between 30% and 5%. The most obvious increases in the type, content and odor activity value of pyrazines were observed in this range. Basic amino acids (Arg, Lys, and His) had a strong correlation with the formation of pyrazines. Addition assays verified that the addition of Arg and Lys increased the content of pyrazines in shrimp after drying.
Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms and Their Relationship with Nutritional Status and Mortality in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Background: Anxiety and depression are common in patients with cancer. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients awaiting elective surgery and whether there is an association with their preoperative nutritional status and postoperative mortality. Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 215 patients with CRC proposed for surgery. Data about nutritional status were collected using the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria, while anxiety and depression symptoms data were collected using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: HADS detected possible anxiety in 41.9% of patients, probable anxiety in 25.6%, possible depression in 21.9%, and probable depression in 7.9%. GLIM criteria found 116 (53.9%) patients with malnutrition. The HADS score for depression subscale was significantly higher in malnourished patients than in well-nourished (5.61 ± 3.65 vs. 3.95 ± 2.68; p = 0.001). After controlling for potential confounders, malnourished patients were 10.19 times more likely to present probable depression (95% CI 1.13–92.24; p = 0.039). Mortality was 1.9%, 4,2%, and 5.6% during admission and after 6 and 12 months, respectively. Compared to patients without depressive symptomatology, in patients with probable depression, mortality risk was 14.67 times greater (95% CI 1.54–140.21; p = 0.02) during admission and 6.62 times greater (95% CI 1.34–32.61; p = 0.02) after 6 months. Conclusions: The presence of anxiety and depression symptoms in CRC patients awaiting elective surgery is high. There is an association between depression symptoms, preoperative nutritional status, and postoperative mortality.
The directional p-median problem with applications to traffic quantization and multiprocessor scheduling

An instance of a p-median problem gives n demand points. The objective is to locate p supply points in order to minimize the total distance of the demand points to their nearest supply point. P-median is polynomially solvable in one dimension but NP-hard in two or more dimensions, when either the Euclidean or the rectilinear distance measure is used. In this thesis, we treat the p-median problem under a new distance measure, the directional rectilinear distance, which requires the nearest supply point for a given demand point to lie above and to the right of it. This restriction has applications to multiprocessor scheduling of periodic tasks as well as to traffic quantization and Quality of Service scheduling in packet-switched computer networks. We show that the directional p-median problem is polynomially solvable in one dimension and give two algorithms. We prove the problem NP-hard in two or more dimensions and then present an efficient heuristic to solve it. Compared to the robust Teitz & Bart heuristic for p-median, our heuristic enjoys substantial speedup while sacrificing little in terms of solution quality, making it an ideal choice for our target applications with thousands of demand points.
Investigation of Gradient Platinum-Loading and Porosity Distribution for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) are in development as a low-cost alternative to proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). AEMFCs produce water at the anode side and consume it at the cathode side, resulting in no cathode water-flooding like in PEMFCS. However, it brings complexity to water transportation behaviour and requires appropriate water balance to avoid membrane drying out. In this study, a two-dimensional two-phase multi-physics model has been developed to investigate the impacts of three key electrode parameters (porosity, catalyst loading, and ionomer content) that are responsible for water production and transport as well as the performance of an AEMFC. A piecewise constant function along the x-direction (reactant diffusion direction) is used to apply the gradient on the porosity and platinum loading. The present results show that a larger porosity gradient near the cathode gas-diffusion layer (GDL)/flow-channel interface and lower near the GDL/microporous layer (MPL) interface can enhance mass transport and water removal, which is benefited the AEMFC performance. However, anode GDL porosity gradients show a lower AEMFC performance compared to the cathode porosity gradients. Moreover, it was confirmed that for both electrodes, the performance of AEMFC was significantly dependent on each electrode parameter.
Is the Peak-Affect Important in Fast Processing of Visual Images in Printed Ads? : A Comparative Study on the Affect Integration Theories

This study investigates how affects elicited by visual images in print ads are integrated to form a liking for the ads. Assuming a sequential rather than simultaneous processing of still-cut images, we adopt the ‘think-aloud’ method to capture consumers' spontaneous responses to visual images. We hypothesize that not only would consumers show mixed affects toward a still-cut visual image but that they would also integrate their serial affects heuristically rather than simply averaging the affects as suggested by the compensatory hypothesis. By comparing the effects of two contradictory affect integration hypotheses (i.e., peak-affect and mood-maintenance) with compensatory integration, using a single regression model, we found that peak-negative along with mood maintenance integration of serial affects for a print ad works best in the formation of ad liking. The results also support our initial premise that people can have mixed valence even toward a still-cut ad.
Winter Cereal Reactions to Common Root Rot and Crown Rot Pathogens in the Field

In Australia, Fusarium pseudograminearum and F. culmorum are the two main fungi causing crown rot, while Bipolaris sorokiniana is the causal agent of common root rot. Fusarium graminearum is typically linked with Fusarium head blight; however, it has been associated with crown rot in Australia and other parts of the world. This study investigated the reactions of single cultivars of barley, bread wheat, durum wheat, oat, and triticale to inoculation with strains of F. pseudograminearum, F. culmorum, F. graminearum and B. sorokiniana in field trials across two seasons. Fusarium pseudograminearum and F. culmorum caused greater visual discolouration than F. graminearum and B. sorokiniana on both stems and sub crown internodes of all hosts. Fusarum pseudograminearum caused the greatest reduction in plant dry weight across hosts in both years. Durum wheat (cv. Hyperno) barley (cv. Grimmett), bread wheat (cv. Livingston) and triticale (cv. Endeavour) observed significantly high levels of visual discolouration on stems when inoculated with F. pseudograminearum, while oat (cv. Genie) exhibited the least visual discolouration. Despite variation in the visual discolouration, the DNA of all pathogens were detected in all cultivars. This research further highlights the complicated nature of the pathogen × strain × cultivar × environment interaction, which remains a challenge in breeding for genetic resistance. The specific infection of each fungus and the host responses in these field trials improves our understanding of disease development and its importance in cropping systems.
Two-dimensional intraband solitons in lattice potentials with local defects and self-focusing nonlinearity

It is commonly known that stable bright solitons in periodic potentials, which represent gratings in photonics/plasmonics, or optical lattices in quantum gases, exist either in the spectral semi-infinite gap (SIG) or in finite bandgaps. Using numerical methods, we demonstrate that, under the action of the cubic self-focusing nonlinearity, defects in the form of “holes” in two-dimensional (2D) lattices support continuous families of 2D solitons embedded into the first two Bloch bands of the respective linear spectrum, where solitons normally do not exist. The two families of the embedded defect solitons (EDSs) are found to be continuously linked by the branch of gap defect solitons (GDSs) populating the first finite bandgap. Further, the EDS branch traversing the first band links the GDS family with the branch of regular defect-supported solitons populating the SIG. Thus, we construct a continuous chain of regular, embedded, and gap-mode solitons (“superfamily”) threading the entire bandgap structure considered here. The EDSs are stable in the first Bloch band, and partly stable in the second. They exist with the norm exceeding a minimum value; hence they do not originate from linear defect modes. Further, we demonstrate that double, triple, and quadruple lattice defects support stable dipole-mode solitons and vortices.
Evaluation of the Efficacy of Fludora® Fusion WP-SB 56.25 (Mixture of Clothianidin and Deltamethrin) against Anopheles coluzzii Laboratory and An. arabiensis Wild Colonies

For malaria control, the application of long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying has led to a significant reduction in morbidity and mortality. However, the sustainability of these gains is hampered by the increase in insecticide resistance. It is therefore judicious to evaluate new insecticide formulations. In comparison to clothianidin and deltamethrin, the efficacy and residual effect of Fludora® Fusion was evaluated using an Anopheles coluzzii laboratory and An. arabiensis wild colonies in huts from August 2016 to June 2017 on cement and mud walls. Mortality was recorded at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h post exposure. Like deltamethrin and clothianidin, Fludora® Fusion showed delayed mortality rates above the WHO’s 80% threshold over a period of 11 months with the laboratory strain. With the wild strain, while residual efficacy was observed at 2 months for the three insecticides, no residual efficacy was observed at 8 months at 24 h in both substrates. However, the increased efficacy was observed with increased holding periods (72 h and 96 h). These findings suggest that Fludora® Fusion could be an alternative candidate since this duration covers the transmission period in most areas in Senegal.
MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Online Identification of Trichophyton indotineae Using the MSI-2 Application

Trichophyton indotineae is an emerging pathogen which recently spread from India to Europe and that is more prone than other species of the Trichophyton mentagrophytes complex to show resistance to terbinafine, resulting in the necessity of rapid identification. Here, we improved the online MSI-2 MALDI-TOF identification tool in order to identify T. indotineae. By multiplying the culture conditions (2 culture media and 6 stages of growth) prior to protein extractions for both test isolates and reference strains, we added 142 references corresponding to 12 strains inside the T. mentagrophytes complex in the online MSI-2 database, of which 3 are T. indotineae strains. The resulting database was tested with 1566 spectra of 67 isolates from the T. mentagrophytes complex, including 16 T. indotineae isolates. Using the newly improved MSI-2 database, we increased the identification rate of T. indotineae from 5% to 96%, with a sensitivity of 99.6%. We also identified specific peaks (6834/6845 daltons and 10,634/10,680 daltons) allowing for the distinction of T. indotineae from the other species of the complex. Our improved version of the MSI-2 application allows for the identification of T. indotineae. This will improve the epidemiological knowledge of the spread of this species throughout the world and will help to improve patient care.