Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fungal Diversity and Community Composition across Ecosystems

Fungi have shaped the biosphere since the development of life on Earth. Despite fungi being present in all environments, most of the available fungal research has focused on soils. As a result, the role and composition of fungal communities in aquatic (marine and freshwater) environments remain largely unexplored. The use of different primers to characterise fungal communities has additionally complicated intercomparisons among studies. Consequently, we lack a basic global assessment of fungal diversity across major ecosystems. Here, we took advantage of a recently published 18S rRNA dataset comprising samples from major ecosystems (terrestrial, freshwater, and marine) to attempt a global assessment of fungal diversity and community composition. We found the highest fungal diversities for terrestrial > freshwater > marine environments, and pronounced gradients of fungal diversity along temperature, salinity, and latitude in all ecosystems. We also identified the most abundant taxa in each of these ecosystems, mostly dominated by Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, except in freshwater rivers where Chytridiomycota dominated. Collectively, our analysis provides a global analysis of fungal diversity across all major environmental ecosystems, highlighting the most distinct order and ASVs (amplicon sequencing variants) by ecosystem, and thus filling a critical gap in the study of the Earth’s mycobiome.
Mis-specification and goodness-of-fit in logistic regression

The logistic regression model has become a standard model for binary outcomes in many areas of application and is widely used in medical statistics. Much work has been carried out to examine the asymptotic behaviour of the distribution of Maximum Likelihood Estimates (MLE) for the logistic regression model, although the most widely known properties apply only if the assumed model is correct. There has been much work on goodness-offit tests to address the last point. The first part of this thesis investigates the behaviour of the asymptotic distribution of the (MLE) under a form of model mis-specification, namely when covariates from the true model are omitted from the fitted model. When the incorrect model is fitted the maximum likelihood estimates converge to the least false values. In this work, key integrals cannot be evaluated explicitly but we use properties of the skew-Normal distribution and the approximation of the Logit by a suitable Probit function to obtain a good approximation for the least false values. The second part of the thesis investigates the assessment of a particular goodness-of-fit test namely the information matrix test (IM) test as applied to binary data models. Kuss (2002), claimed that the IM test has reasonable power compared with other statistics. In this part of the thesis we investigate this claim, consider the distribution of the moments of the IM statistic and the asymptotic distribution of the IM test (IMT) statistic. We had difficulty in reproducing the results claimed by Kuss (2002) and considered that this was probably due to the near singularity of the variance of IMT . We define a new form of the IMT statistic, IMTR, which addresses this issue.
Efficacy of intravenous magnesium for the management of non‐post operative atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Intravenous magnesium (IV Mg), a commonly utilized therapeutic agent in the management of atrial fibrillation (AF) with rapid ventricular response, is thought to exert its influence via its effect on cellular automaticity and prolongation of atrial and atrioventricular nodal refractoriness thus reducing ventricular rate. We sought to undertake a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the effectiveness of IV Mg versus placebo in addition to standard pharmacotherapy in the rate and rhythm control of AF in the nonpostoperative patient cohort given that randomized control trials (RCTs) have shown conflicting results.
A Distributed Equivalent-Permeability Model for the 3-D Design Optimization of Bulk Superconducting Electromechanical Systems

This article deals with accelerating three 3-D optimization scenarios for bulk superconductor-based electromechanical systems. For this objective, distributed equivalent-permeability models for high-temperature-superconducting (HTS) bulks are first developed. These are stationary models capable of replicating the distribution of electromagnetic forces in bulks when subjected to external magnetic fields, minimizing the need for time-dependent simulations using the E–J power law. After introducing these models, their initialization phases are proposed to minimize their computational time requirements while still providing good accuracy. The optimization of a 3-D zero-field-cooled levitation system is presented to demonstrate the models' applicability. To validate the equivalent-permeability model, the experimental tests are carried out. The measured experimental levitation forces resulting close to the ones obtained using the proposed equivalent-permeability model and the time-dependent $H-$formulation with the E–J power law. After validation, a multiobjective optimization using the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II tool is performed to maximize levitation force while minimizing the HTS bulk volume. Hence, using the equivalent-permeability models, stationary and linear finite-element model simulations provide highly accurate results and significantly reduce computational time, mainly in the 3-D optimization scenarios.
Clinical significance of microscopic polyangiitis with interstitial lung disease and bronchiectasis: probability of preexisting comorbidities

Abstract Background The association between pulmonary involvement and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) has been increasingly recognized in recent years. Whether interstitial lung disease (ILD) and bronchiectasis (BE) are disease manifestations of MPA, preexisting comorbidities or important complications remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics and prognosis of MPA with pulmonary involvement to further guide clinical management. Methods The data for 97 patients with a definitive diagnosis of MPA were retrospectively reviewed. The MPA diagnosis was based on the 2012 revised Chapel Hill Consensus Conference (CHCC) criteria. The baseline clinical information and laboratory parameters were collected and analysed at each patient’s initial diagnosis. Results Forty-seven out of the 97 (48.5%) patients who were diagnosed with MPA presented with pulmonary involvement, including 37 patients with ILD, 12 patients with BE and two patients with diffuse alveolar haemorrhage (DAH). ILD and BE antedated MPA in 56.76% and 75.00% of the patients, respectively. Compared with that in the MPA-BE group, the serum LDH level (222.86 ± 68.19 vs. 171.58 ± 31.43, p = .016) in the MPA-ILD group was significantly higher. In the multivariate Cox analysis, elevated serum creatinine (HR 4.08, confidence interval (CI) 1.38–12.05, p = . 011) was an independent risk factor for shorter survival in MPA patients with pulmonary involvement, and treatment with glucocorticoid pulse cyclophosphamide therapy (HR 0.095, 95% CI 0.019–0.47, p = .004) was independently associated with prolonged survival. Among the patients in the MPA-ILD group, acute exacerbations of ILD (HR 4.55 CI 1.16–17.86, p = .029) and elevated serum creatinine (HR 4.95, CI 1.39–17.54, p = .014) were independently associated with a poor prognosis, and treatment with glucocorticoids (HR 0.057, 95% CI 0.012–0.28, p < .001) was independently associated with significant prolongation of survival. Conclusions Patients with MPA have a high prevalence of pulmonary involvement, and ILD is the most common subtype of MPA. ILD and BE can be considered preexisting comorbidities of MPA. Elevated serum creatinine was associated with shorter survival. However, remission induction regimens with glucocorticoids and/or immunosuppressants may improve this outcome.
Internet addiction continuum and its moderating effect on augmented reality application experiences: digital natives versus older users

ABSTRACT Problematic online usage (POU) and Internet addiction (IA) lack a refined classification. Using 796 questionnaires, this study is the first to reveal a continuum ranging from Casual users (i.e. older users) to Addicts (i.e. digital natives) acknowledging five different severity levels of POU to IA. Depending on where users are located within the addiction continuum, usability of augmented reality (AR) applications has different effects. Most interestingly, the experience of Casual users is triggered by enjoyment, whilst enjoyment exerts a negative effect on the emotional and action experiences of Addicts-in-denial. The study provides actionable implications for IA, POU, and AR behaviour.
Study of Cannabis Oils Obtained from Three Varieties of C. sativa and by Two Different Extraction Methods: Phytochemical Characterization and Biological Activities

Abstracts Currently, much effort is being placed into obtaining extracts and/or essential oils from Cannabis sativa L. for specific therapeutic purposes or pharmacological compositions. These potential applications depend mainly on the phytochemical composition of the oils, which in turn are determined by the type of C. sativa and the extraction method used to obtain the oils. In this work, we have evaluated the contents of secondary metabolites, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and cannabidiol (CBD), in addition to the total phenolic, flavonoids, and anthraquinone content in oils obtained using solid–liquid extraction (SLE) and supercritical fluid extraction (SCF). Different varieties of C. sativa were chosen by using the ratio of THC to CBD concentrations. Additionally, antioxidant, antifungal and anticancer activities on different cancer cell lines were evaluated in vitro. The results indicate that oils extracted by SLE, with high contents of CBD, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds, exhibit a high antioxidant capacity and induce a high decrease in the cell viability of the tested breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). The observed biological activities are attributed to the entourage effect, in which CBD, phenols and flavonoids play a key role. Therefore, it is concluded that the right selection of C. sativa variety and the solvent for SLE extraction method could be used to obtain the optimal oil composition to develop a natural anticancer agent.
Long-term biochemical progression-free survival following brachytherapy for prostate cancer: Further insight into the role of short-term androgen deprivation and intermediate risk group subclassification

Introduction Brachytherapy is a well-established treatment of localized prostate cancer. Few studies have documented long-term results, specifically biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS) in men with brachytherapy alone, with or without short-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), or in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Our aim was to analyze long-term bPFS of brachytherapy treated patients. Materials and methods Retrospective analysis of 1457 patients with low and intermediate risk prostate cancer treated with brachytherapy alone (1255) or combined with EBRT (202). Six-months ADT was administrated for all EBRT combined patients and for prostate volume downsizing when >55 cc (328). Failure was by the Phoenix definition. Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate Cox regression estimated and compared 10-yr and 15-yr rates of bPFS. Results Median follow-up was 6.1 yr. Ten and 15-yr bPFS rates of the entire cohort were 93.2% and 89.2%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, PSA density (PSAD), ADT and clinical stage were significantly associated with failure. The most powerful independent factor was PSAD with a HR of 3.5 (95% CI, 1.7–7.4) for PSAD above 0.15. No significant difference was found between low and intermediate risks patients regardless of treatment regimen. However, comparison of two intermediate risk groups, Gleason score (GS) 7, PSA<20 ng/ml versus GS≤6 and PSA = 10–20 ng/ml, revealed 10- and 15-yr bPFS rates of 94.2% and 94.2% compared to 88.2% and 79.9%, (P = 0.022), respectively. ADT improved bPFS rates in low risk patients. The ten and 15-yr bPFS rates were 97.6% and 94.6% compared to 92.3% and 88.2%, (P = 0.020), respectively. Conclusions Our retrospective large scale study suggests that brachytherapy provides excellent long-term bPFS rates in low and intermediate risk disease. Combination of brachytherapy with EBRT yields favorable outcomes in GS 7 intermediate risk patients and short-term ADT has a positive effect on outcomes in low risk patients. Further prospective studies are warranted to discriminate the role of adding either EBRT and/or ADT to brachytherapy protocols.
CrudeBERT: Applying Economic Theory towards fine-tuning Transformer-based Sentiment Analysis Models to the Crude Oil Market

Predicting market movements based on the sentiment of news media has a long tradition in data analysis. With advances in natural language processing, transformer architectures have emerged that enable contextually aware sentiment classification. Nevertheless, current methods built for the general financial market such as FinBERT cannot distinguish asset-specific value-driving factors. This paper addresses this shortcoming by presenting a method that identifies and classifies events that impact supply and demand in the crude oil markets within a large corpus of relevant news headlines. We then introduce CrudeBERT, a new sentiment analysis model that draws upon these events to contextualize and fine-tune FinBERT, thereby yielding improved sentiment classifications for headlines related to the crude oil futures market. An extensive evaluation demonstrates that CrudeBERT outperforms proprietary and open-source solutions in the domain of crude oil.
Parabolic H-convergence and small-amplitude homogenization

H-convergence and small-amplitude homogenization is studied for linear parabolic problems with coefficients, which may depend on time. The small-amplitude homogenization consists of taking a sequence of coefficients, whose difference is proportional to a small parameter, and then computing the first correction in the limit. We recall the definition and main results on H-convergence for non-stationary diffusion equation, and prove that the smoothness (with respect to a parameter) is preserved in the process of taking the H-limit, which is essential for our purposes. The explicit expression for the correction is obtained by using a recently introduced parabolic variant of H-mesures.
Testing Conditional Mean Independence Under Symmetry

Conditional mean independence (CMI) is one of the most widely used assumptions in the treatment effect literature to achieve model identification. We propose a Kolmogorov–Smirnov-type statistic to test CMI under a specific symmetry condition. We also propose a bootstrap procedure to obtain the p-values and critical values that are required to carry out the test. Results from a simulation study suggest that our test can work very well even in small to moderately sized samples. As an empirical illustration, we apply our test to a dataset that has been used in the literature to estimate the return on college education in China, to check whether the assumption of CMI is supported by the dataset and show the plausibility of the extra symmetry condition that is necessary for this new test.
Component of splicing factor SF3b plays a key role in translational control of polyribosomes on the endoplasmic reticulum

Significance p180/RRBP1 is an essential factor for high-rate protein synthesis on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in terminally differentiated secretory cells. A unique system for selectively enhanced translation has been proposed for p180-associated polyribosomes. Here we provide evidence that SF3b4, an RNA-binding protein in the splicing factor, plays a key and unexpected role in translation control as a cofactor for p180. It appears that abundant expression of both SF3b4 and p180 is critical for increased ER mRNA targeting, and consequently leads to the heavy polyribosome assembly. This discovery could shed light on the pathogenesis of Nager syndrome caused by SF3B4 mutation, as such mutations may result in abnormal collagen biosynthesis, potentially affecting bone morphogenesis in patients with this disease. One of the morphological hallmarks of terminally differentiated secretory cells is highly proliferated membrane of the rough endoplasmic reticulum (ER), but the molecular basis for the high rate of protein biosynthesis in these cells remains poorly documented. An important aspect of ER translational control is the molecular mechanism that supports efficient use of targeted mRNAs in polyribosomes. Here, we identify an enhancement system for ER translation promoted by p180, an integral ER membrane protein we previously reported as an essential factor for the assembly of ER polyribosomes. We provide evidence that association of target mRNAs with p180 is critical for efficient translation, and that SF3b4, an RNA-binding protein in the splicing factor SF3b, functions as a cofactor for p180 at the ER and plays a key role in enhanced translation of secretory proteins. A cis-element in the 5′ untranslated region of collagen and fibronectin genes is important to increase translational efficiency in the presence of p180 and SF3b4. These data demonstrate that a unique system comprising a p180–SF3b4–mRNA complex facilitates the selective assembly of polyribosomes on the ER.
23-Year-Old Male with Testis Cancer with Spontaneous Ruptured Teratocarcinoma and No History of Trauma: A Case Report

Teratocarcinoma is one type of testis cancer that can be represented in the youth population and usually shows itself with swelling of the testis and edema and a rise of BHCG and alpha-fetoprotein, but spontaneous rupture is a rare manifestation. A 23-year-old man was referred to the Sina Hospital with complaints of testis pain and swelling. Laboratory findings were alpha f.p more than 2,000, BHCG titer 255.21, and LDH 504. Sonography findings showed the right testis had been detected with a heterogeneous mass with vascularity and cystic area with microcalcification, measuring 76*69 mm. During surgery, we faced rupture tumor that was unusual and rare. The radical orchidectomy was done successfully without any complications. After the surgery, pathology showed teratocarcinoma of the right testis, and a 6-month observation and follow-up were done without any complication.
The influence of gender and race on heart failure self-care

Objectives To explore gender and racial differences in heart failure (HF) self-care processes and examine whether gender and race predict HF self-care. Methods A secondary analysis of baseline data (n = 107) from a longitudinal HF study (54.2% males; 56% non-Caucasians) was conducted. The self-care of heart failure index was used to measure self-care maintenance, management, and confidence. Descriptive statistics and univariate analyses examined gender and racial differences in HF self-care outcomes. Multiple linear regression examined whether gender and race predicted HF self-care maintenance, management, and confidence. Results Univariate analyses indicated that Caucasians reported significantly better self-care maintenance (p = 0.042), while non-Caucasians reported significantly better self-care management (p = 0.003). Males had significantly higher self-care confidence scores versus women (p = 0.017). Multiple regression analysis indicated Caucasian race predicted significantly worse self-care management (β = −11.188; p = 0.006) versus non-Caucasian, while male gender predicted significantly higher self-care confidence scores (β = 7.592; p = 0.010) versus female gender. Gender nor race significantly predicted self-care maintenance. Discussion Although gender and race may influence HF self-care, other factors may be more important. More research is needed to identify individual factors that contribute to HF self-care to improve education and intervention.
Characterization and mapping of MIS‐2 thermal contraction crack polygons in Western Transdanubia, Hungary

The Pannonian Basin was located in the southernmost, disputed limit of permafrost during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). In the western part of the basin, over an area of 1,200 km2, more than 150 sites with polygonal patterned ground were surveyed, and 72 sediment samples from forms identified as relict sand wedges were collected. Ten optically stimulated luminescence ages were obtained from the infills, while morphometric analyses were also carried out on satellite images. Our study revealed that the polygonal networks developed in several phases, from 15.01 ± 1.68 to 23.0 ± 1.7 ka. The polygons have an average diameter of 13–23 m and are mainly present on flat surfaces, intruding into the gravelly, alluvial host of the paleo‐Rába. Statistical analyses highlighted the short transportation period of the sandy infill and multiple sediment provenances. This study adds further data to assess the presence of permafrost or deep seasonal frost and to the interpretation of the LGM in the central European periglacial domain.
Effects of chlorpyrifos toxicity on brain, pseudobranchial neurosecretory system and swimming performance of a catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis

Abstract In the present study, it was aimed to evaluate the adverse effects of CPF on the histopathology of the optic tectum and cerebellum, pseudobranchial neurosecretory system (PNS), biochemical assays of brain tissue, and locomotory behavior in catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis. The fishes were exposed to an environmentally relevant concentration of 0.09 and 0.192 mg/L of CPF for 7, 15, and 30 d. The CPF toxicity induced degenerative changes with significantly decreased cell size, number, and nucleo-cytoplasmic (N/C) ratio of the PNS; and altered neuro-architectural pattern of optic tectum with degenerative changes in mononuclear and granular cells and necrotic variation in granular and Purkinje cells of the cerebellum. The Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and Catalase (CAT) activity in the CPF-exposed brain was significantly decreased, whereas Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) level was significantly increased in comparison with control. In CPF-exposed fishes, the respiratory movements and locomotory behavioral pattern like swimming speed, total distance traveled, time mobile, absolute turn angle, head: distance traveled, maximum speed were significantly decreased, whereas time immobile and time freezing episodes were significantly increased as compared to control fishes. The present study concludes that environmentally relevant concentration of CPF may induce histopathological, biochemical, physiological, and behavioral disturbances in a non-target organism, H. fossilis. Graphical Abstract
An Exploration of Learners' Theorems-in-Action Used in Problems on Ratio and Proportion.

The purpose of this study is to explore Grade 9 learners’ understanding of ratio and proportion. The sample consists of a group of 30 mathematics learners from a rural school in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Data were generated from their responses to two missing value items, adapted from the Concepts in Secondary Mathematics and Science test set in the United Kingdom over 30 years ago. The study utilised Vergnaud’s notion of theorems-in-action to describe the learners’ strategies. It was found that the most common strategy was the cross multiplication strategy. The data reveal that the strategy was reduced to identifying and placing (often arbitrarily) three given quantities and one unknown in four positions, allowing the learners to then carry out an operation of multiplication followed by the operation of division to produce an answer. The study recommends that the role of the function underlying the proportional relationship should be foregrounded during the teaching of ratio and proportion.