Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ventilatory defects and treatable traits in very elderly patients

Though the approach used to classify chronic respiratory diseases is changing to a treatable-traits (TT) approach, data regarding very elderly patients is lacking. The objectives of this study were to assess TT frequency in very elderly patients and to study the link between extrapulmonary TT and ventilatory defects. Individuals (≥75 years) residing in elderly care centres answered a standardised questionnaire, underwent spirometry, atopy and fractional exhaled nitric oxide assessments and had their blood pressure and peripheral pulse oximetry measured. Pulmonary, extrapulmonary and behavioural TT were evaluated. Outcome variables were an airflow limitation (post-bronchodilator z-score FEV1/FVC<−1.64) and a restrictive spirometry pattern (z-score FEV1/FVC ≥ +1.64 and z-score FVC<−1.64). Seventy-two percent of the individuals who took part in the study (n = 234) were women, and the median age of participants was 86 (IQR: 7.4). At least one pulmonary TT was identified in 105 (44.9%) individuals. The most frequent extrapulmonary TTs were: persistent systemic inflammation (47.0%), anaemia (34.4%), depression (32.5%) and obesity (27.4). Airflow limitation was exclusively associated with smoking (OR 5.03; 95% CI 1.56–16.22). A restrictive spirometry pattern was associated with cognitive impairment (OR: 3.89; 95% CI: 1.55–9.79). A high frequency of various TTs was found. The novel association between a restrictive spirometry pattern and cognitive impairment highlights the urgency of clinical research on this vulnerable age group.
Clinical use of machine learning‐based pathomics signature for diagnosis and survival prediction of bladder cancer

Traditional histopathology performed by pathologists by the naked eye is insufficient for accurate and efficient diagnosis of bladder cancer (BCa). We collected 643 H&E‐stained BCa images from Shanghai General Hospital and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We constructed and cross‐verified automatic diagnosis and prognosis models by performing a machine learning algorithm based on pathomics data. Our study indicated that high diagnostic efficiency of the machine learning‐based diagnosis model was observed in patients with BCa, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 96.3%, 89.2%, and 94.1% in the training cohort, test cohort, and external validation cohort, respectively. Our diagnosis model also performed well in distinguishing patients with BCa from patients with glandular cystitis, with an AUC value of 93.4% in the General cohort. Significant differences were found in overall survival in TCGA cohort (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.09, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.56‐2.81, P < . 0001) and the General cohort (HR = 5.32, 95% CI: 2.95‐9.59, P < .0001) comparing patients with BCa of high risk vs low risk stratified by risk score, which was proved to be an independent prognostic factor for BCa. The integration nomogram based on our risk score and clinicopathologic characters displayed higher prediction accuracy than current tumor stage/grade systems, with AUC values of 77.7%, 83.8%, and 81.3% for 1‐, 3‐, and 5‐y overall survival prediction of patients with BCa. However, prospective studies are still needed for further verifications.
Impact d'un épisode ischémique sur la glie de Bergmann

L’ischemie cerebrale est caracterisee par une interruption totale ou partielle de l’apport sanguine au cerveau, conduisant a une privation d’oxygene et de glucose pour les cellules du cerveau. La serie de processus cellulaires qui sont declenchees par une ischemie cerebrale sont nombreux et complexes. La reduction severe d’oxygene et de glucose la diminution de la production d’ATP et un changement drastique de la concentration de K+, du pH intracellulaire et extracellulaire et de la production de lactate. La perturbation du metabolisme energetique au sein des tissus ischemies conduit rapidement a la depolarisation membranaire et au relarguage de neurotransmetteurs dans le milieu extracellulaire. Dans le cervelet, l’impact d’un stress ischemique a largement ete etudie sur les cellules de Purkinje, seule voie de sortie neuronale du cortex cerebelleux. Il a ete montre que le glutamate, relargue par une surexcitation des fibres glutamatergique et par l’inversion des transporteurs du glutamate, est la cause principale de la depolarisation anoxique des cellules de Purkinje. Cependant, la comprehension de la reponse astrocytaire et l’influence des astrocytes vis-a-vis de l’ischemie ne sont pas encore connu.La cellule de Bergmann est un astrocyte radiaire qui compose un reseau couple electriquement, formant des interactions anatomiques et fonctionnelles complexes avec les neurones du cortex cerebelleux. En utilisant un modele in vitro d’ischemie cerebrale, la privation d’oxygene et de glucose (OGD), plusieurs caracteristiques de base de la reaction astrocytaire a l'ischemie sont analyses. Des experiences en patch clamp et d’imagerie calcique sont realisees sur tranche de cervelet adulte revelant la reponse de la glie de Bergmann a l’OGD par une depolarisation progressive de la membrane, avec en parallele une augmentation de calcium cytosolique soutenue. L’enregistrement apparie entre cellule de Purkinje et cellule de Bergmann revele des differences importantes de reponse a l’OGD entre ces deux types cellulaires. De plus, nous avons mesure les changements de la concentration de K+ extracellulaire durant l’OGD en utilisant des microelectrodes sensibles aux ions. Nos resultats montrent une correlation importante entre la dynamique du K+ extracellulaire et la depolarisation membranaire de la cellule de Bergmann au cours de l’OGD.
Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus human-to-human transmission

Background Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) was listed as one of the most severe infectious disease by world health organization in 2017. It can mostly be transmitted by tick bite, while human-to-human transmission has occurred on multiple occasions. This study aimed to explore the epidemiological and clinical characteristics and make risk analysis of SFTS human-to-human transmission. Methods Descriptive and spatial methods were employed to illustrate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of SFTS human-to-human transmission. The risk of SFTS human-to-human transmission was accessed through secondary attack rate (SAR) and basic reproductive number (R0). Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the associated risk factors. Results A total of 27 clusters of SFTS human-to-human transmission were reported in China and South Korea during 1996–2019. It mainly occurred among elder people in May, June and October in central and eastern China. The secondary cases developed milder clinical manifestation and better outcome than the index cases. The incubation period was 10.0 days (IQR:8.0–12.0), SAR was 1.72%-55.00%, and the average R0 to be 0.13 (95%CI:0.11–0.16). Being blood relatives of the index case, direct blood/bloody secretion contact and bloody droplet contact had more risk of infection (OR = 6.35(95%CI:3.26–12.37), 38.01 (95%CI,19.73–73.23), 2.27 (95%CI,1.01–5.19)). Conclusions SFTS human-to-human transmission in China and South Korea during 1996–2019 had obvious spatio-temporal distinction. Ongoing assessment of this transmission risk is crucial for public health authorities though it continues to be low now.
Evidence for Ram Pressure Stripping of NGC3073 by Outflowing Gas from NGC3079

VLA H I observations in both C and D configurations have been made of the active galaxy NGC 3079 and its two companions NGC 3073 and MCG 9-17-9. The dwarf SO galaxy NGC 3073 is found to exhibit an elongated H I tail which is remarkably aligned with the nucleus of NGC 3079. Several scenarios are investigated as to the cause of the tail, including ram pressure and tidal effects. It is suggested that ram pressure due to outflowing gas from NGC 3079 is responsible for the H I tail. 27 references.
Epitope mapping of novel monoclonal antibodies to human angiotensin I‐converting enzyme

Angiotensin I‐converting enzyme (ACE, CD143) plays a crucial role in blood pressure regulation, vascular remodeling, and immunity. A wide spectrum of mAbs to different epitopes on the N and C domains of human ACE have been generated and used to study different aspects of ACE biology, including establishing a novel approach–conformational fingerprinting. Here we characterized a novel set of 14 mAbs, developed against human seminal fluid ACE. The epitopes for these novel mAbs were defined using recombinant ACE constructs with truncated N and C domains, species cross‐reactivity, ACE mutagenesis, and competition with the previously mapped anti‐ACE mAbs. Nine mAbs recognized regions on the N domain, and 5 mAbs–on the C domain of ACE. The epitopes for most of these novel mAbs partially overlap with epitopes mapped onto ACE by the previously generated mAbs, whereas mAb 8H1 recognized yet unmapped region on the C domain where three ACE mutations associated with Alzheimer's disease are localized and is a marker for ACE mutation T877M. mAb 2H4 could be considered as a specific marker for ACE in dendritic cells. This novel set of mAbs can identify even subtle changes in human ACE conformation caused by tissue‐specific glycosylation of ACE or mutations, and can detect human somatic and testicular ACE in biological fluids and tissues. Furthermore, the high reactivity of these novel mAbs provides an opportunity to study changes in the pattern of ACE expression or glycosylation in different tissues, cells, and diseases, such as sarcoidosis and Alzheimer's disease.
Effect of temperature and humidity on the sensing performance of TiO2 nanowire-based ethanol vapor sensors

In this paper, we study the influence of two key factors, temperature, and humidity, on gas sensors based on titanium dioxide nanowires synthesized at 4 different temperatures and with different morphology. The samples’ structure are investigated using SEM, XRD and FTIR analysis. The effects of humidity and temperature are studied by measuring the resistance and gas response when exposed to ethanol. At room temperature, we observed a 15% sensitivity response to 100 ppm of ethanol vapor and by increasing the operating temperature up to 180 °C, the response is enhanced by two orders of magnitude. The best operating temperature for the highest gas response is found to be around 180 °C. Also, it was observed that every nanowire morphology has its own optimum operating temperature. The resistance of sensors is increased at higher Relative Humidity (RH). Besides, the response to ethanol vapor experiences a gradual increase when the RH rises from 10% to 60%. On the other hand, from 60% to 90% RH the gas response decreases gradually due to different mechanisms of interaction of the TiO2 with H2O and ethanol molecules.
Mutant KRAS Downregulates the Receptor for Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) to Enhance a Signature of Glycolysis in Pancreatic Cancer and Lung Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is characterized by aberrant activity of oncogenic KRAS, which is mutated in 90% of pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Because KRAS itself is a challenging therapeutic target, we focused on understanding key signaling pathways driven by KRAS as a way to reveal dependencies that are amenable to therapeutic intervention. Analyses in primary human pancreatic cancers and model systems revealed that the receptor for the cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is downregulated by mutant KRAS. Furthermore, downregulation of the LIF receptor (LIFR) is necessary for KRAS-mediated neoplastic transformation. We found LIFR exerts inhibitory effects on KRAS-mediated transformation by inhibiting expression of the glucose transporter GLUT1, a key mediator of the enhanced glycolysis found in KRAS-driven malignancies. Decreased LIFR expression leads to increased GLUT1 as well as increases in glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration. The repression of GLUT1 by LIFR is mediated by the transcription factor STAT3, indicating a tumor-suppressive role for STAT3 within cancer cells with mutated KRAS. Finally, reflecting a clinically important tumor-suppressive role of LIFR, decreased LIFR expression correlates with shorter survival in pancreatic cancer patients with mutated KRAS. Similar findings were found in non–small cell lung cancers driven by mutated KRAS, suggesting that silencing LIFR is a generalized mechanism of KRAS-mediated cellular transformation. These results indicate that the LIFR/STAT3 pathway may mediate either tumor-promoting or tumor-suppressive signaling pathways depending on the genetic background of tumor cells, and may play diverse roles within other cells in the tumor microenvironment. Implications: Mutant KRAS drives downregulation of the receptor for LIF, thereby allowing an increase in expression of the glucose transporter GLUT1 and increases in glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration.
Facile production of chlorophyllides using recombinant CrCLH1 and their cytotoxicity towards multidrug resistant breast cancer cell lines

The purity of chlorophylls plays one of the key role for the production of chlorophyllides. We have designed a facile method for chlorophyll purification by twice solvent extraction. Twice extraction causes the loss of chlorophylls, but the purity of total chlorophylls can be enhanced 182%. Then, the purified chlorophylls can be converted to relatively pure chlorophyllides facilely. The results show that higher purity of chlorophyllides could be obtained when purified chlorophylls (ethanol-hexane extract) was used as starting materials than that of crude chlorophylls (ethanol-only extract). In biocompatibility test, the results showed that the prepared chlorophyllides can be applied as biomaterials. When the prepared chlorophyllides were applied to anticancer tests, they were active both in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 (multidrug resistant breast cancer cells) cell lines. In addition, the results suggested that the prepared chlorophyllides could be a potential candidate of combination therapy with doxorubicin to breast cancers.
Application of machine learning and genetic optimization algorithms for modeling and optimizing soybean yield using its component traits

Improving genetic yield potential in major food grade crops such as soybean (Glycine max L.) is the most sustainable way to address the growing global food demand and its security concerns. Yield is a complex trait and reliant on various related variables called yield components. In this study, the five most important yield component traits in soybean were measured using a panel of 250 genotypes grown in four environments. These traits were the number of nodes per plant (NP), number of non-reproductive nodes per plant (NRNP), number of reproductive nodes per plant (RNP), number of pods per plant (PP), and the ratio of number of pods to number of nodes per plant (P/N). These data were used for predicting the total soybean seed yield using the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Radial Basis Function (RBF), and Random Forest (RF), machine learning (ML) algorithms, individually and collectively through an ensemble method based on bagging strategy (E-B). The RBF algorithm with highest Coefficient of Determination (R2) value of 0.81 and the lowest Mean Absolute Errors (MAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) values of 148.61 kg.ha-1, and 185.31 kg.ha-1, respectively, was the most accurate algorithm and, therefore, selected as the metaClassifier for the E-B algorithm. Using the E-B algorithm, we were able to increase the prediction accuracy by improving the values of R2, MAE, and RMSE by 0.1, 0.24 kg.ha-1, and 0.96 kg.ha-1, respectively. Furthermore, for the first time in this study, we allied the E-B with the genetic algorithm (GA) to model the optimum values of yield components in an ideotype genotype in which the yield is maximized. The results revealed a better understanding of the relationships between soybean yield and its components, which can be used for selecting parental lines and designing promising crosses for developing cultivars with improved genetic yield potential.
Screening of dementia indicating signs in adults with intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND In intellectual disability, the cognitive delay is observed during developmental age, whereas in dementia, cognitive decline occurs during post-developmental period. So far, the risk of dementia in people with intellectual disability, excluding those with Down syndrome, is poorly known. METHOD We screened dementia signs in a study group of 230 adults (34-80 years of age) with the help of the British Present Psychiatric State-Learning Disabilities assessment. RESULTS Of the study members, 42% showed two or more signs. The overall frequency of symptoms did not differ between age groups. The number of individuals with a genetic syndrome or disease manifesting with a shortened lifespan was greater in the younger age groups when compared to the older age groups. CONCLUSION People with an intellectual disability represent numerous rare syndromes with comorbidities. It seems that dementia signs may affect any age groups of adults with intellectual disability.
Retroactivity induced operating regime transition in an enzymatic futile cycle

Activated phosphorylation-dephosphorylation biochemical reaction cycles are a class of enzymatic futile cycles. A futile cycle such as a single MAPK cascade governed by two underlying enzymatic reactions permits Hyperbolic (H), Signal transducing (ST), Threshold-hyperbolic (TH) and Ultrasensitive (U) operating regimes that characterize input-output behaviour. Retroactive signalling caused by load due to sequestration of phosphorylated or unphosphorylated form of the substrate in a single enzymatic cascade without explicit feedback can introduce two-way communication, a feature not possible otherwise. We systematically characterize the operating regimes of a futile cycle subject to retroactivity in either of the substrate forms. We demonstrate that increasing retroactivity strength, which quantifies the downstream load, can trigger five possible regime transitions. Retroactivity strength is a reflection of the fraction of the substrate sequestered by its downstream target. Remarkably, the minimum required retroactivity strength to evidence any sequestration triggered regime transition demands 23% of the substrate bound to its downstream target. This minimum retroactivity strength corresponds to the transition of the dose-response curve from ST to H regime. We show that modulation of the saturation and unsaturation levels of the enzymatic reactions by retroactivity is the fundamental mechanism governing operating regime transition.
Fractional data-driven control for a rotary flexible joint system

As one of the most promising topics in complex control processes, data-driven techniques have been widely used in numerous industrial sectors and have developed over the past two decades. In addition, the fractional-order controller has become more attractive in applied studies. In this article, a fractional integral control is implemented for a rotary flexible joint system. Moreover, an adjusted virtual reference feedback tuning (VRFT) technique is used to tune the fractional-order integrator. In this method, fractional integral control is designed based on state feedback control. Then, VRFT is adjusted and applied to the fractional integral controller. The effectiveness of the proposed adjusted VRFT method is discussed and presented through simulation and experimental results. The tracking performance of the rotary arm and the minimization of the vibration tip is evaluated based on the proposed method. In this article, the comparison of our proposed VRFT fractional scheme is made with the classical state feedback as well as a recently developed state feedback-based fractional order integral (SF-FOI) controller. The current investigations determine the performance improvement of our proposed scheme of comparable structure to the recent SF-FOI, with the introduction of the VRFT to the SF-FOI scheme.
COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption on university teaching and learning and competence cultivation: Student evaluation of online learning experiences in Hong Kong

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has forced online teaching and learning to be the primary instruction format in higher education globally. One of the worrying concerns about online learning is whether this method is effective, specifically when compared to face-to-face classes. This descriptive quantitative study investigates how students in higher education institutions in Hong Kong evaluated their online learning experiences during the pandemic, including the factors influencing their digital learning experiences. By analysing the survey responses from 1,227 university students in Hong Kong, this study found that most of the respondents felt dissatisfied with their online learning experiences and effectiveness. Meanwhile, this study confirms that respondents’ household income level and information technology literacy affected their online learning effectiveness. Moreover, this study highlights the significant contributions of the community of inquiry, which places social presence on the promotion of a whole person development that could not be achieved when relying mainly on online learning. Findings encourage university leaders and instructors to search for multiple course delivery modes to nurture students to become caring leaders with the 21st century skills and knowledge set.
Household heterogeneity in valuation of heating energy costs

This paper studies consumer heterogeneity in the valuation of lifetime heating energy costs. The valuation is expressed as the willingness to pay higher upfront costs to obtain savings over the lifetime of the heating system. The analysis relies on administrative register data on new residential houses built by private persons in Finland during 2010-2011. The data allow estimating the WTP as a function of several observable household characteristics. The median WTP in the estimation sample is e8, with a range of e2 to e15. Households with higher income and education are estimated to have higher WTP. Other characteristics that impact the WTP are household debt, family type and size, current dwelling status and previous experience of building a house.
An Examination of Herding Behavior in the Brazilian Equity Market

The aim of the present study is to investigate herding behavior in the Brazilian stock market. This bias is quite common in times of market downturns and can cause investors to suffer large losses. It is very difficult to effectively identify its real occurrence. Through the method of Chang et al. (2000), it is possible to show that the occurrence of herd behavior is associated with the following phenomena: high trading volume; high volatility, market downturn; and misbalancing of orders. The main contribution of the paper is to identify that herding behavior reacts asymmetrically to the sign of past shocks. The results suggest that an intense selling movement can generate uncertainty in agents, causing them to imitate others in imminent loss periods.