Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clouds, fibres and echoes: a new approach to studying random walks on fractals

Up to now the general approach of constructing evolution differential equations to describe random walks on fractals has not succeeded. Is this because the true probability density function is inherently fractal? When plotted in the appropriate similarity variable, we find a cloud which is not too smooth. Further investigation shows that this cloud has a structure that might be overlooked if one is looking for the usual single-valued probability density function. The cloud is composed of an infinite family of smooth fibres, each of which describes the behaviour of the walk on an infinite echo point class. The fibres are individually smooth and so are naturally amenable to analysis with differential equations.
Comparing different versions of computer-aided detection products when reading chest X-rays for tuberculosis

Computer-aided detection (CAD) was recently recommended by the WHO for TB screening and triage based on several evaluations, but unlike traditional diagnostic tests, software versions are updated frequently and require constant evaluation. Since then, newer versions of two of the evaluated products have already been released. We used a case control sample of 12,890 chest X-rays to compare performance and model the programmatic effect of upgrading to newer versions of CAD4TB and qXR. We compared the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), overall, and with data stratified by age, TB history, gender, and patient source. All versions were compared against radiologist readings and WHO’s Target Product Profile (TPP) for a TB triage test. Both newer versions significantly outperformed their predecessors in terms of AUC: CAD4TB version 6 (0.823 [0.816–0.830]), version 7 (0.903 [0.897–0.908]) and qXR version 2 (0.872 [0.866–0.878]), version 3 (0.906 [0.901–0.911]). Newer versions met WHO TPP values, older versions did not. All products equalled or surpassed the human radiologist performance with improvements in triage ability in newer versions. Humans and CAD performed worse in older age groups and among those with TB history. New versions of CAD outperform their predecessors. Prior to implementation CAD should be evaluated using local data because underlying neural networks can differ significantly. An independent rapid evaluation centre is necessitated to provide implementers with performance data on new versions of CAD products as they are developed.
Series and invariant theory

A safety cutoff device mounted on a pressure tank between the tank and the pressure activated pump switch for automatically locking the switch open upon the reduction of air in the tank to the point at which damage could result to the pump electrical system should the pump be allowed to continue to operate. The safety cutoff includes a float valve which is activated to segregate a pressure accommodating auxiliary tank in direct communication with the switch from the pressure tank upon the reduction of air and elevation of water level in the pressure tank to a predetermined point. The air, under pressure, locked within the auxiliary tank in turn locks the switch open and in effect deactivates the entire system until reset.
A generalized Goursat problem for elliptic equations.

(1. 3) E[U] = Uzz* + A (z, z*) Uz + B (z, z*) U** + C(z, z*) U = 0, whose solution may be represented in terms of its Riemann function for (z, z*) in any bicylinder (($, ©) < C where the coefficients of (1. 3) are holomorphic functions of the two complex variables 2, z*. Bergman [4] and Vekua [14], [11] have shown that if the coefficients for (1. 1) are real analytic in a domain © of the z-plane, and furthermore, if they have a holomorphic continuation to the bicylinder (©, ©) in the variables (z, z*), then any (g) solution of (1. 1) has a simultaneous holomorphic continuation (analytic completion) [9] to (©, ©)
Construction and Validation of a Necroptosis-Related Gene Signature for Predicting Prognosis and Tumor Microenvironment of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is notorious for its parallel morbidity and mortality rates. Recently, necroptosis, a form of programmed cell necrosis, has gained popularity for its role in tumorigenesis and metastasis. In this study, we explored the expression of necroptosis-related genes in PC and normal pancreatic tissues and identified 52 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The Cox regression analysis was applied to construct the prognostic risk model, which divided patients into high- and low-risk groups. PC patients in the low-risk group showed a significantly better overall survival (OS) than those in the high-risk group. We further validated the prognostic role in ICGC cohort. Further, Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), and tumor microenvironment (TME) analysis were used to explore the underlying mechanisms. Notably, based on the gene signature, we revealed that the risk score was strongly related to the sensitivity of chemotherapy. In conclusion, necroptosis-related genes serve as an important immune mediator, and the risk model could be used to predict the survival and to guide the development of precision drugs for patients with PC.
Evaluation and Statistical Post‐Processing of Two Precipitation Reforecast Products During Summer in the Mainland of China

Raw weather forecasts from numerical prediction models usually suffer from systematic bias, which can be removed by statistical post‐processing methods to achieve accurate and reliable ensemble forecasts. The post‐processing of precipitation forecasts often requires reforecasts with long historical archives to ensure sufficient sample size. In this work, we provide an evaluation of two widely used short‐range reforecast products during summer in the mainland of China, including reforecasts from the Integrated Forecasting System of the European Center for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and reforecasts from Global Ensemble Forecast System version 12 (GEFSv12) of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The results suggest that ECMWF reforecasts outperform GEFSv12 reforecasts in accuracy and discrimination in most regions of China, especially for heavy rain. On the other hand, the post‐processed GEFSv12 reforecasts are better than post‐processed ECMWF reforecasts in reliability for light rain in several dry regions. Moreover, we combine ECMWF and GEFSv12 reforecasts by Bayesian model averaging (BMA). The results show that BMA is able to combine the advantages of two reforecasts. Post‐processed forecasts from BMA perform as well as ECMWF reforecasts in accuracy and discrimination skill for heavy rain in wet regions of southern China. BMA results are also as reliable as post‐processed GEFSv12 reforecasts in dry regions of northern China. The evaluation results in this study could serve as a useful guide for further applications of those reforecast products in China.
Association between chronic kidney disease and mortality in patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis

Objective To determine the association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and mortality in persons with a confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis. Methods Cross-sectional secondary baseline study. The study population consisted of 243,065 patients confirmed to have COVID-19 during May–December 2020. Stata 16.0 was used for statistical analysis, Chi-square test was used for bivariate analysis, and Poisson regression with robust variances was used for multiple analysis. Results The prevalence of patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis who had CKD and died was 1.42 times the prevalence of mortality in those without CKD. The comorbidities combined with CKD that presented the highest probability of mortality were diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Conclusions CKD is associated with a high mortality rate in patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. Patients with CKD, diabetes mellitus, and arterial hypertension have a higher prevalence of mortality than those without comorbidities.
Temperature-dependent breakdown and pre-breakdown conduction of polyethylene terephthalate

In this paper, electrical conduction of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films at ultrahigh fields up to breakdown was experimentally investigated using a specially designed circuitry with a dynamic gain-controlled capacitive current cancellation. The breakdown strength of PET is found stable in the temperature range from 25 °C to 100 °C, while the charge-to-breakdown exhibits a dramatic increase over the same temperature range. Furthermore, a turning point is observed around the glass transition temperature (T g) of PET for the onset field of the nonlinear conduction. The impact of this secondary transition process in PET on the pre-breakdown conduction is revealed by the Arrhenius analysis, with distinctively different activation energies of 0.70 and 0.22 eV determined for above and below the glass transition temperature, respectively, indicating clearly an increased temperature-dependence of conduction above T g. Explicit space-charge-limited-current features are extracted for the pre-breakdown conduction above T g. With exponential trap distribution model, the characteristic temperature of PET films is extracted from the trap-filling region to be 665 K, and the total trap density is determined to be 1.66×1017 cm−3 . This study unveils the important role that the physical long-chain topological disorder plays in the electronic and dielectric properties of polymeric dielectrics in association with the secondary transition process. Further study holds the promise for better understanding of underlying physics of breakdown in the design of new polymeric dielectrics.
Prevalence and distribution of selected cervical human papillomavirus types in HIV infected and HIV uninfected women in South Africa, 1989–2021: A narrative review

Background Human papillomavirus infection, a causative agent of cervical cancer, is of great concern, more so in populations with high HIV prevalence, such as South Africa. Aim This review aimed to examine the prevalence and distribution of selected cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) types in HIV infected and HIV uninfected women in South Africa. Methods PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched using key words. For data integrity, data was assessed by two authors independently. The study inclusion criteria comprised records on cervical HPV, HPV genotyping and HPV type distribution among South African women. Statistical analysis was performed using Social Science Statistics. Results Sixty-nine articles met the inclusion criteria for analysis. Data on cervical HPV prevalence and type distribution was available only for five of the nine provinces of South Africa. Only 4/69 studies used sequencing as an approach to identify HPV types. In a general population, HPV type 16 was the most frequent (8.80%), followed by types 35 (4.86%), 18 (4.14%), 58 and 52 with the frequency of 3.65% and 3.62%, respectively. Furthermore, the least frequent type was HPV 70 (0.74%). Both HIV infected and HIV uninfected populations had a higher prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) types 16, 18 and 35 than other HPV types; while HPV types 6, 11 and 70 were the least frequent types from these populations. Lastly, HPV 16 was the most predominant type among women with normal (2.03%) and abnormal cervical cytology (6.60%). Conclusion Expanding on HPV genotyping will improve the knowledge in patterns of HPV type distribution in South Africa that will further help in decision making to improve current diagnostics, and future vaccine development and assessment.
Dynamics of Drying Turmeric Rhizomes (Curcuma longa L.) with Respect to Its Moisture, Color, Texture and Quality

Drying involves removing moisture from food. Therefore, to preserve the phenolic and bioactive compounds such as curcumin, dimethoxy curcumin and bisdemethoxi curcumin, etc., an efficient drying method is considered necessary. The primary drying methods are sun drying, hot air oven drying and fluidized bed drying. Traditional drying methods result in the loss of volatile oil (up to 25%) by evaporation and destruction of some light-sensitive oil constituents. Three methods of drying Turmeric with pretreatments boiled/unboiled and whole/sliced (2.5 cm long) were compared on physical and quality parameters. Texture analysis from sundry sliced boiled rhizomes achieved maximum peak force (45.40 kg), which was an indication of maximum uniform drying. Moisture content was strongly and significantly associated with drying time in different drying methods. Out of the three drying methods, in general, the sun drying showed a declining trend of L*, a* and b* values with drying time. Whereas a slower rate of decrease in L*, a* and b* values was predominant in the oven dry method. Interestingly, in the case of the fluidized method, almost static L*, a* and b* values were measured at 3 h of drying onwards after a declining trend of those values. In the case of sun and oven drying, the hue angle reached its peak at the fourth hour of drying, then gradually declined up to final drying. However, for fluidized bed drying, it had a continuous declining trend for other parameters such as chroma and total color change; there was a sharp decreasing trend for all throughout. Turmeric whole boiled dried in the sun produced the maximum curcumin (5.82%) and the sliced boiled ones produced the maximum oleoresin (8.10%), indicating good quality powdered product among all other drying treatments. Considering all the aspects, it is recommended that sun drying should be followed in post-harvest operations, as it produces a quality powder with comparatively more curcumin, despite its longer drying time.
Response of the legume Macrotyloma axillare ‘Java’ to different inoculum levels of Meloidogyne javanica and defence responses

Abstract This study aimed to examine the relationship between Macrotyloma axillare ‘Java’ and Meloidogyne javanica at different levels of nematode inoculum, and to assess the activity of plant defence enzymes in the presence of nematodes. In Experiment 1, ‘Java’ and soybean (control) were inoculated with 300 to 8000 eggs + second-stage juveniles (J2) of M. javanica in two different periods (Trials 1 and 2). To confirm the results, a third trial was conducted using 1000 to 4000 eggs + J2 per plant. In Experiment 2, β-1,3-glucanase (GLU), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POX), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities were measured in non-inoculated plants and in plants inoculated with 2000 eggs + J2. ‘Java’ presented a reproduction factor (RF) < 1 at all inoculum levels in Trial 1 (RF of 0.17–0.78) and at 2000, 3000, and 6000 eggs + J2 in Trial 2 (RF of 0.47, 0.86, and 0.59, respectively). In Trial 3, ‘Java’ showed a RF < 1 at all inoculum levels except for 3000 eggs + J2 (RF = 1.1). There was no difference in ‘Java’ vegetative variables in relation to inoculum levels in any experiment. In Experiment 2, inoculated plants showed increased GLU, PAL, POX, and PPO activities, when compared with non-inoculated plants. ‘Java’ appears to be moderately resistant to M. javanica, reducing nematode reproduction at different inoculum levels. The plant exhibits increased GLU, PAL, POX, and PPO activities in the presence of M. javanica.
Analysis of Volatile Anesthetic-Induced Organ Protection in Simultaneous Pancreas–Kidney Transplantation

Background: Despite recent advances in surgical procedures and immunosuppressive regimes, early pancreatic graft dysfunction, mainly specified as ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI)—Remains a common cause of pancreas graft failure with potentially worse outcomes in simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT). Anesthetic conditioning is a widely described strategy to attenuate IRI and facilitate graft protection. Here, we investigate the effects of different volatile anesthetics (VAs) on early IRI-associated posttransplant clinical outcomes as well as graft function and outcome in SPKT recipients. Methods: Medical data of 105 patients undergoing SPKT between 1998–2018 were retrospectively analyzed and stratified according to the used VAs. The primary study endpoint was the association and effect of VAs on pancreas allograft failure following SPKT; secondary endpoint analyses included “IRI- associated posttransplant clinical outcome” as well as long-term graft function and outcome. Additionally, peak serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and lipase during the first 72 h after SPKT were determined and used as further markers for “pancreatic IRI” and graft injury. Typical clinicopathological characteristics and postoperative outcomes such as early graft outcome and long-term function were analyzed. Results: Of the 105 included patients in this study three VAs were used: isoflurane (n = 58 patients; 55%), sevoflurane (n = 22 patients; 21%), and desflurane (n = 25 patients, 24%). Donor and recipient characteristics were comparable between both groups. Early graft loss within 3 months (24% versus 5% versus 8%, p = 0.04) as well as IRI-associated postoperative clinical complications (pancreatitis: 21% versus 5% versus 5%, p = 0.04; vascular thrombosis: 13% versus 0% versus 5%; p = 0.09) occurred more frequently in the Isoflurane group compared with the sevoflurane and desflurane groups. Anesthesia with sevoflurane resulted in the lowest serum peak levels of lipase and CRP during the first 3 days after transplantation, followed by desflurane and isoflurane (p = 0.039 and p = 0.001, respectively). There was no difference with regard to 10-year pancreas graft survival as well as endocrine/metabolic function among all three VA groups. Multivariate analysis revealed the choice of VAs as an independent prognostic factor for graft failure three months after SPKT (HR 0.38, 95%CI: 0.17–0.84; p = 0.029). Conclusions: In our study, sevoflurane and desflurane were associated with significantly increased early graft survival as well as decreased IRI-associated post-transplant clinical outcomes when compared with the isoflurane group and should be the focus of future clinical studies evaluating the positive effects of different VA agents in patients receiving SPKT.
Feline Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Sclerosing Fibroplasia—Extracellular Matrix Proteins and TGF-β1 Immunoexpression

Feline gastrointestinal eosinophilic sclerosing fibroplasia (FGESF) has been described as an inflammatory disorder with an eosinophilic component with etiopathogenesis that is still unknown. Sixteen intestinal samples from two veterinary diagnostic services (2014–2017) were included in the study. A histopathological criterion classified the cases into three grades (mild, moderate, and severe) according to the distribution of the lesions and the course. An immunohistochemical study of collagen I, collagen III, fibronectin, and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) was performed in each case. An immunohistochemical study of mild grades shows greater collagen III immunoexpression, compared to collagen I and fibronectin, which suggests an “early” stage of fibrosis. In more intense grades, an increased immunoexpression of collagen I, compared to collagen III, suggests a “late” stage of fibrosis. Otherwise, the highest expression of TGF-β1 was observed in the moderate phase, due to the high proliferation of reactive fibroblast and intense inflammation. The results suggest that the inflammatory infiltrate is the trigger for the elevation in TGF-β1, altering the collagen type III:I ratio. In conclusion, immunohistochemical studies can be a very useful method in diagnosing cases of FGESF of mild grades and could help to apply a differential diagnosis regarding feline eosinophilic chronic enteritis (CEE) in the context of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Effects of Explicit Connected Speech Instruction on Libyan EFL Learners’ Perceptions of Listening Comprehension Problems in Speech Recognition, Parsing and Utilisation

This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of explicit connected speech instruction in reducing EFL learners’ listening comprehension problems associated with speech recognition, parsing and utilization. Sixty-two (N = 62) Libyan intermediate-level EFL learners, aged 19 to 21, served as the subjects. They were randomly assigned to either the treatment (n = 32) or control group (n = 30). The treatment subjects were exposed to explicit instruction on the features of connected speech for one term (i.e., 12 weeks). An adapted Listening Comprehension Processing Problems questionnaire was administered to both groups before and after the treatment in order to investigate the problems they encountered in comprehending connected speech. The questionnaire contained items measuring language comprehension difficulties in three categories, i.e., speech recognition, parsing, and utilisation. Following the 12-week intervention, the treatment group showed a significant improvement in their report of comprehension problems, while the control group remained constant or unchanged in their perception of the problems. The effect sizes of the differences between the treatment and control group were large, ranging between d = 1.14 (parsing) and d =1.19 (recognition). The findings highlight the necessity to teach connected speech recognition in the EFL curriculum to improve learners’ listening comprehension ability.
Intestinal Microbial Composition of Children in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Probiotics to Treat Acute Gastroenteritis

Compositional analysis of the intestinal microbiome in pre-schoolers is understudied. Effects of probiotics on the gut microbiota were evaluated in children under 4-years-old presenting to an emergency department with acute gastroenteritis. Included were 70 study participants (n=32 placebo, n=38 probiotics) with stool specimens at baseline (day 0), day 5, and after a washout period (day 28). Microbiota composition and deduced functions were profiled using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and predictive metagenomics, respectively. Probiotics were detected at day 5 of administration but otherwise had no discernable effects, whereas detection of bacterial infection (P<0.001) and participant age (P<0.001) had the largest effects on microbiota composition, microbial diversity, and deduced bacterial functions. Participants under 1 year had lower bacterial diversity than older aged pre-schoolers; compositional changes of individual bacterial taxa were associated with maturation of the gut microbiota. Advances in age were associated with differences in gut microbiota composition and deduced microbial functions, which have the potential to impact health later in life. Clinical Trial Registration www.ClinicalTrials. gov, identifier: NCT01853124.