Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Outcomes of Congenital Zika Virus Infection During an Outbreak in Valle del Cauca, Colombia.

BACKGROUND Despite increasing information in the literature regarding congenital Zika infection, gaps remain in our knowledge of its clinical manifestations. METHODS We did a prospective observational study of exposed fetuses and infants whose mothers developed symptomatic and confirmed Zika infection during pregnancy in Valle del Cauca, Colombia. We performed neurological, ophthalmologic and audiologic evaluations, and classified outcomes as possibly or uncertainly related to Zika. Frequencies of outcomes were compared according to the trimester of pregnancy when infection occurred. RESULTS We evaluated 171 products of gestation including 17 pregnancy losses and 154 patients evaluated postnatally. Ninety (52.6%) pregnancies presented an adverse outcome, 36% possibly related with Zika and the remaining 64% of uncertain relation. Infection in the first trimester had the highest frequencies of adverse outcomes possibly related with Zika compared with the second and third trimesters (39% vs. 12.5% vs. 12%) with risk ratios of adverse outcomes possibly related to Zika in pregnancies infected in the first versus second or third trimester of 3.1 (95% CI: 2.4-4.1) and 3.3 (95% CI: 2.5-4.2), respectively. The frequencies of pregnancy loss and microcephaly were 9.4% and 4.5%, respectively. Auditory and ophthalmic abnormalities possibly related with Zika were present in 3% and 6% of the patients evaluated, respectively. CONCLUSIONS We observed a high frequency of gestational and neonatal complications in pregnant women who acquired Zika infection, especially in early pregnancy, resulting in a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. Preventive measures are urgently needed to reduce the clinical burden during future Zika outbreaks.
OTFS-Based Multiple-Access in High Doppler and Delay Spread Wireless Channels

We propose a multiple-access (MA) method in the uplink of a orthogonal time frequency space modulation-based wireless communication system where the channel has high Doppler and delay spread. Each user terminal (UT) is allocated delay-Doppler (DD) resource blocks which are spaced at equal intervals in the DD domain. This limits the corresponding time-frequency (TF) transmit signal to a sub-domain of the entire TF domain. By allocating non-overlapping portions to the TF transmit signal of different UTs, multi-user interference (MUI) is avoided. The proposed MA method is analytically shown to be MUI free and therefore has a significantly higher sum spectral efficiency when compared to other methods proposed in literature which utilize guard bands in the DD domain to reduce MUI.
Dense Convolutional Networks for Semantic Segmentation

Recent studies have greatly promoted the development of semantic segmentation. Most state-of-the-art methods adopt fully convolutional networks (FCNs) to accomplish this task, in which the fully connected layer is replaced with the convolution layer for dense prediction. However, standard convolution has limited ability in maintaining continuity between predicted labels as well as forcing local smooth. In this paper, we propose the dense convolution unit (DCU), which is more suitable for pixel-wise classification. The DCU adopts dense prediction instead of the center-prediction manner used in current convolution layers. The semantic label for every pixel is inferred from those overlapped center/off-center predictions from the perspective of probability. It helps to aggregate contexts and embeds connections between predictions, thus successfully generating accurate segmentation maps. DCU serves as the classification layer and is a better option than standard convolution in FCNs. This technique is applicable and beneficial to FCN-based state-of-the-art methods and works well in generating segmentation results. Ablation experiments on benchmark datasets validate the effectiveness and generalization ability of the proposed approach in semantic segmentation tasks.
Simultaneous analysis of patin fish oil (Pangasius micronemus) and bandeng
(Chanos chanos) fish oil using FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics

Patin fish (Pangasius micronemus) and bandeng fish (Chanos chanos) has high levels of oils containing essential fatty acids which are necessary for the human body. Therefore, quantitative analysis of fish oils extracted from patin fish and bandeng fish was very important. This research aimed to combine Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with partial least square (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR) for simultaneous analysis of the binary mixture of patin fish oil (PFO) and bandeng fish oil (BFO). The method has consisted of extraction of both oils, preparation of calibration and validation samples, scanning of samples using FTIR spectrophotometer, and developing the calibration and validation models using PLS and PCR. The simultaneous analysis of PFO in a binary mixture with BFO was performed based on first derivative spectra at combined wavenumbers of 3050-2800, 1800-1700, and 1500-650 cm-1 assisted with PLS. In addition, BFO in binary mixtures with PFO was determined using the first derivative spectra using the same wavenumbers. The coefficient of determination for calibration (Rcal 2 ) and validation (Rval 2 ) were 0.9998 and 0.9994, with low errors (RMSEC = 0.0072 and RMSEP = 0.0121). The combination of FTIR spectroscopy with PLS using suitable wavenumbers can be potential tools for the simultaneous analysis of PFO and BFO.
Reliability analysis of reconfigurable manufacturing system structures using computer simulation methods

Choosing the right production structure (configuration) is one of the most important steps in the process of designing a reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS). Whether or not a production process to be executed is capable of achieving the assumed performance parameters depends, among others, on the reliability of the machines and technological devices that make up the system under design. Because the individual components of a manufacturing system have different levels of reliability, the reliability of the system as a whole depends to a large extent on the way in which they are configured. This article discusses the process of selecting the structure of a manufacturing system with changing machine reliability, which allows to accommodate these changes to maintain the stability of the production process. The focus of the study was a manufacturing system under design dedicated to the machining of body parts. The experiments were carried out using analytical methods and computer simulation methods. Simulations were performed using Enterprise Dynamics software.
Kemampuan Komunikasi Matematis Siswa SMP Kelas VIII di Kampung Cigulawing

This research is motivated by the students' low mathematical communication skills. The research objective was to obtain a description of the students' mathematical communication skills in class VIII in mathematics learning. The research method is descriptive qualitative. The research subjects were 4 grade VIII students of SMP Negeri 7 Garut. The results showed (1) the students' mathematical communication skills in the data presentation material of class VIII SMP Negeri 7 Garut in Cigulawing Village, were generally said to be less good. Because most students have not been able to meet all the indicators; (2) Students with high mathematical abilities can achieve almost all indicators of mathematical communication skills; (3) Students with moderate mathematical abilities have not mastered several indicators of mathematical communication skills; (4) Students with low math abilities have not been able to master the indicators of mathematical communication skills.
Initial Trials With Susceptibility-Based and Empiric Anti-H. pylori Therapies in Mongolia

Background: Mongolia has a high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer. We conducted a prospective, randomized, single-blind study to evaluate the efficacy of common regimens in Mongolia and to obtain specimens for susceptibility testing. Methods: Empiric treatments: 270 patients with confirmed H. pylori infection were randomized to receive 10 days clarithromycin-triple therapy (Clari-TT) (n = 90), modified bismuth quadruple therapy (M-BQT) (n = 90), or sequential therapy (ST) (n = 90). A second group of 46 patients received susceptibility-based Clari-TT. H. pylori was cultured from 131 patients and susceptibility testing was performed. H. pylori eradication was confirmed by stool antigen 4 weeks after the therapy. Results: Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis cure rates were 71.1% (95% CI = 61.7–80.5%) for Clari-TT, 87.8% (95% CI = 81–94.6%) for M-BQT, 67.8% (95% CI = 58.1–77.5%) for ST vs. 89.1% (95% CI = 86–98.2%) for susceptibility-based Clari-TT. Per-protocol (PP) analysis results for these therapies were 72.7% (63.4–82%), 89.8% (83.5–96.1%), 68.5% (58.8–78.2%), and 97.6% (89.5–99.8%), respectively. Among 131 cultured H. pylori, resistance rates to amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and metronidazole were 8.4, 37.4, and 74%, respectively. Conclusion: In Mongolia, the prevalence of H. pylori resistance is high requiring bismuth quadruple therapy or susceptibility-based therapy to obtain acceptable cure rates.
Defining features of age-specific fertility and seed quality in senescing indeterminate annuals.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY A trade-off between fertility and offspring viability underpins plant reproductive response to sub-optimal environmental conditions. Senescence involves internal resource limitation, and it is a sub-optimal body condition. We tested if senescence affects age-specific fertility and seed viability (quality) in indeterminate annuals. METHODS Fertility in individual pods on the monopodial indeterminate inflorescence of Arabidopsis thaliana and its big-seeded relative Brassica nigra was quantified. The reproductive phase was divided into three phases: (1) early-senescence (initial flowers) (2) mid-senescence and (3) late-senescence (wilting leaves). Seed-viability probability as a function of pod position on the inflorescence (a proxy for parent's age) and seed position within pod was verified by germination tests in Brassica and then analysed using a binomial logistic regression model. KEY RESULTS Age-specific fertility increased gradually, peaked, and then declined significantly during senescence in Arabidopsis and Brassica. Acropetal size distribution of rosette leaves was similar to that of pods (age-specific fertility) in Arabidopsis. Seeds positioned closest to stigma tended to be heavier and more viable than others in highly fertile pods, characteristic of mid-senescence phase in Brassica. Pod position (parent's age) was a significant predictor of seed-viability probability or seed quality, which improved in old and senescing Brassica. CONCLUSIONS High viability probability of seeds produced in low-fertility pods during late-senescence phase suggests weakening of maternal control over seed-size optimization (bigger, fewer, and better seeds) in internally resource-depleted older parent plants. Proximity to stigma can increase seed quality. The unexpected increase in fertility and seed viability during early-senescence phase is likely due to highly conserved developmental constraints on leaf and pod phenotype. Indeterminate annuals can shed light on fertility, offspring quality and senescence relationships in all plants that reproduce sexually and indeterminately.
Burden of caregivers of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration – a scoping review

ABSTRACT Background: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is the second-most common cause of young-onset dementia. Personality and behavior changes lead to high caregiver stress and burden, but little support is available. Our aim is to present the evidence on the characteristics, challenges and unmet needs of caregivers as well as on possible interventions. Methods: We conducted a scoping review on caregiver burden using PubMed, Web of Science and ScienceDirect. A total of 69 articles were considered eligible and were analyzed in the present study. Results: Through the analysis of 69 empirical articles, our results show that caregivers of patients with FTLD are often younger in age, have children and find behavioral disturbances to be the most burdensome. Nine studies assessed the needs of and support for caregivers. Ten studies compared the burden in different forms of FTLD, 19 compared FTLD to other types of dementia, and one compared the caregiver burden between two countries. Eight studies reported on interventions for caregivers or interventions taking burden into account. One study assessed the support structure for caregivers of FTLD patients. Five case reports, eight research overviews and three reviews addressed specific needs and challenges. Conclusions: Further research should reproduce and validate efficacious interventions and focus on underage children of FTLD patients and findings from non-Western countries. Additionally, support structures for FTLD caregivers should be assessed and extended. Awareness both in the wider population and among healthcare professionals is an urgent need for the future.
MICROBIAL SIGNATURES IN THE RHIZOSPHERE AND SURROUNDING BULK SOILS AND DIFFERENTIAL ABUNDANCE DUE TO WATERING FOR SWEET INDIAN MALLOW (ABUTILON FRUTICOSUM)

The present study aims to decipher microbiota signatures of rhizosphere soil of the medicinal plant A. fruticosum and surrounding bulk soil. The study also investigates differential response of microbes potentially serving to promote drought tolerance in the plant. Microbiomes of rhizosphere and bulk soils were collected after 0, 24 and 48 h of watering, deep sequenced and annotated to the different taxonomic ranks. The results strongly indicated higher relative abundance in rhizosphere soil microbiomes compared to those in the bulk soil of phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Acidobacteria. Of these, growth of Acidobacteria and Firmicutes, in addition to Gemmatimonadetes, Melainabacteria, Elusimicrobia and Armatimonadetes, responded positively to watering across microbiome source. While Cyanobacteria was the only abundant phylum in bulk soil and showed lower abundance in rhizosphere soil due to watering. At the genus level, Bacillus , Microvirga , Adhaeribacter , Sphingomonas , Arthrobacter and Pontibacter are the most abundant in rhizosphere soil, while growth of genera Ramlibacter , Haliangium , Gemmatimonas and unidentified genera of taxon Acidobacteria significantly increased 24 h after watering. Results of the present study warrant comprehensive research to dissect factors influencing differential stress responses and plant-bacterial relationships in order to provide feasible soil management programs in the future.
Thiamine and Difficulties in Differentiating Type A From B Lactic Acidosis.

The author replies: We thank Drs. Feng and Leng (1) for their kind words regarding our recently published article (2) in Critical Care Medicine. We trust you find our results useful in caring for your patients. With regards to your request for additional subgroup analyses for the assessment of treatment effect on mortality, we refer you to the second last paragraph of our Methods section. Multiple a priori subgroups were proposed to be investigated by stratified analysis only if potential differential treatment effects, detected via statistical heterogeneity, were sufficient to question the veracity of pooled results. However, because clinical and methodological heterogeneity did not manifest themselves as statistical heterogeneity, we had no evidence to suggest that differential treatment effects occurred within any subgroups. Therefore, we conclude that pooled results obtained from all included trials are valid estimates of the magnitude of mortality reduction attributable to the initiation of early enteral nutrition across and within strata defined by severity of burn injury and/or intervention starting dose and target. With regards to the conduct of a trial sequential analysis, we do not believe it is appropriate at this point in time. As Feng and Leng (1) point out, trial sequential analysis may be useful to mitigate type I errors arising from “repetitive testing on accumulating data. ” More specifically, trial sequential analysis may help protect from type I errors when a previously published “negative” meta-analysis is updated each time a new trial is published, because each of these multiple updates in response to a single new trial may inflate the type I error rate in the same way multiple interim analyses of a single clinical trial inflates the overall type I error rate (3). In the specific situation of our recent meta-analysis of early enteral nutrition in patients with major burn injury (2), our meta-analysis is not negative nor is it an update of a previous meta-analysis. Indeed, although we are aware of previous systematic reviews on this topic, none have conducted meta-analysis of any outcomes. Because “repetitive testing on accumulating data” has not occurred, the single p value obtained from traditional meta-analysis of our primary outcome is not subject to type I error rate inflation arising from multiple sequential testing and therefore stands as the most valid measure to guide the interpretation of our findings. Dr. Doig’s institution received funding from Fresenius Kabi Deutschland GmbH and Baxter Healthcare Pty Ltd, and he received funding from Fresenius Kabi Deutschland GmbH and speakers honoraria from Baxter Healthcare Australia, Pty Ltd, Nestle Healthcare, Vevy, Switzerland, and Nutricia Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. China. Gordon S. Doig, PhD, University of Sydney's Northern Clinical School Intensive Care Research Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital ICU, St Leonards, NSW, Australia
Hybrid Compact-WENO Finite Difference Scheme with Radial Basis Function Based Shock Detection Method for Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

A hybrid scheme, based on the high order nonlinear characteristicwise weighted essentially nonoscillatory (WENO) conservative finite difference scheme and the spectral-like linear compact finite difference scheme, has been developed for capturing shocks and strong gradients accurately and resolving fine scale structures efficiently for hyperbolic conservation laws. The key issue in any hybrid scheme is the design of an accurate, robust, and efficient high order shock detection algorithm which is capable of determining the smoothness of the solution at any given grid point and time. An improved iterative adaptive multiquadric radial basis function (IAMQ-RBF-Fast) method [W. S. Don, B. S. Wang, and Z. Gao, J. Sci. Comput, 75 (2018), pp. 1016--1039], which employed the $O(N^2)$ recursive Levinson--Durbin method and the Sherman--Morrison--Woodbury method for solving the perturbed Toeplitz matrix system, has been successfully developed as an efficient and accurate edge detector of the piecewise smooth function.
Enterovirus D68 Causing Acute Respiratory Infection: Clinical Characteristics and Differences With Acute Respiratory Infections Associated With Enterovirus Non-D68.

BACKGROUND Enterovirus (EV) D68 is mainly associated with acute respiratory infection (ARI). Since 2014, when outbreaks in different countries were observed, this emerging virus was considered a potential threat to public health. METHODS During 2015-2017, the presence of enterovirus RNA was investigated in all respiratory samples of children younger than 15 years of age with ARI, obtained for virologic studies in the Pediatric Emergency Care Units and wards of 2 hospitals in Gipuzkoa (Spain), using a commercial multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction. When enterovirus was detected, a polymerase chain reaction to amplify a specific viral polyprotein (VP1) gene region of EV-D68 was performed. RESULTS In 2016, EV-D68 circulation was associated to ARI, with the highest incidence in the spring months. EV-D68 was detected in 44 children, mean age 30.1 ± 31.7 months old, 23 (52.3%) of them females and 17 (38.6%) with underlying respiratory medical conditions. Thirty-two patients (72%) required hospital admission, receiving the discharge diagnosis of recurrent wheezing (37.5%), asthmatic crisis (37.5%) or bronchiolitis (12.5%). Seven children (15.9%) needed the support of the pediatric intensive care unit. When coinfections were excluded, children with EV-D68 infection presented with increased work of breathing, recurrent wheezing or asthmatic crisis, more frequently than those with ARI associated with EV non-D68. Moreover, clinical outcomes (hospitalization, respiratory support) were more severe. All 44 EV-D68 strains detected belonged to lineage B3. CONCLUSIONS EV-D68 circulated widely in Gipuzkoa during 2016 and was associated with severe ARI. In children with severe ARI of unknown etiology, the presence of EV-D68 should be considered.
Regulation of signaling mediated by nucleic acid sensors for innate interferon-mediated responses during viral infection

Abstract Type I and type III interferons are important anti-viral cytokines that are massively induced during viral infection. This dynamic process is regulated by many executors and regulators for efficient eradication of invading viruses and protection from harmful, excessive responses. An array of innate sensors recognizes virus-derived nucleic acids to activate their downstream signaling to evoke cytokine responses including interferons. In particular, a cytoplasmic RNA sensor RIG-I (retinoic acid-inducible gene I) is involved in the detection of multiple types of not only RNA viruses but also DNA viruses. Accumulating findings have revealed that activation of nucleic acid sensors and the related signaling mediators is regulated on the basis of post-translational modification such as ubiquitination, phosphorylation and ADP-ribosylation. In addition, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated as a new class of regulators in innate signaling. A comprehensive understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of innate sensor activation and its signaling in host–virus interaction will provide a better therapeutic strategy to efficiently control viral infection and maintain immune homeostasis.
Interactions between rodents and weeds in a lowland rice agro‐ecosystem: the need for an integrated approach to management

Abstract Rodents and weeds are important pests to rice crops in Southeast Asia. The interaction between these 2 major pests is poorly documented. In temperate cereal systems, seeds of grass weeds can be an important food source for rodents and weed cover along crop margins provides important refuge for rodents. In 2012 and 2013, a replicated study (n = 4) in Bago, Myanmar compared 4 treatments (rodents and weeds; no rodents and weeds; rodents and no weeds; no rodents and no weeds) each of 0.25 ha in transplanted rice. Weeds were managed with hand weeding in the wet season, and hand weeding and herbicides in the dry season. Plastic fences were installed to exclude rodents. We examined the weed cover and relative abundance of weed species, rodent damage, rodent population dynamics and rice yield loss caused by rodents and weeds. The dominant rodent species was Bandicota bengalensis. In the dry season, Cyperus difformis was dominant at the tillering stage and Echinochloa crus‐galli was the dominant weed species at the booting stage. In the wet season E. crus‐galli was a dominant weed throughout the season. Damage by rodents was higher in the dry season. There were larger economic benefits for best weed management and effective rodent control in the dry season (258 US$/ha) than in the wet season (30 US$/ha). Concurrent control of weeds in and around rice fields combined with coordinated community trapping of rodents during the early tillering stage and ripening stage of rice are recommended management options.