Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anxiety and palpitations in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) and the added value of remote monitoring (RM) in the COVID-19 pandemic: an Italian single-centre experience

Background. Mood disorders are common in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). The lockdown related to COVID-19 pandemic may have further undermined their emotional well being exacerbating physical symptoms such as palpitations. We investigated the occurrence of anxiety and palpitations in CIEDs patients during the pandemic. In those with remote monitoring (RM) available, we evaluated whether these symptoms were associated with arrhythmic events. Methods and Results. The generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) 7-items questionnaire and the frequency of palpitations were assessed by telephonic interview in CIEDs patients Overall 152 CIEDs patients agreed to be interviewed (119 males, age 69±14 years). The RM was available in 54/152 (36%). Thirtyseven (24%) and 43 (28%) patients experienced anxiety and palpitations respectively, and 23 (15%) patients experienced both. Women were more likely to have symptoms than men (50% vs. 20%; p<0.01 for anxiety and 53% vs. 24%; p<0.01 for palpitations). Among patients with palpitations the RM was available in 17/43 (40%) and revealed the following arrhythmias in 7/17 (41%) patients: 8 non-sustained ventricular tachycardias (NSVT), 2 supra-ventricular tachycardias (SVT), 4 sustained ventricular tachycardias (VT). The RM enabled to detect in 6 patients a device malfunctioning: in 2 increased impedance in the shock lead, in 3 increased capture threshold for the LV lead and in 1 the battery reached the end of life Conclusion. Patients with CIEDs during the COVID19 outbreak were likely to experience anxiety and palpitations and the RM has been pivotal to ascertain the occurrence of arrhythmic events and device malfunctioning
Evaluating the Relationship of Social Service Usage to Neighborhood Community for Older Adults: A Case Study

Older adults who live in cities can cultivate a sense of neighborhood community that mitigates problems like poverty and ill health. However, it is not certain residence in urban neighborhoods is always related to community. This study investigates the potential of social services to positively associate with neighborhood community. Offering chances for older adults to interact with each other and with service providers who render basic services like social activities, meals, and housing, social services are a unique source of such community. We utilized hierarchical linear models with individual data from the Public Health Management Corporation’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey and neighborhood data from the American Community Survey. Findings suggest that the association with neighborhood community depends on the type of service and that race/ethnicity has an impact. For older adult Black respondents, residence in mostly Black neighborhoods increases the chances some services will relate to neighborhood community.
Impact of the administration of α-casozepine, a benzodiazepine-like peptide from bovine αs1-casein, and of a proteolysis fragment on neural activity in mice

L’α-casozepine (α-CZP) est un decapeptide porteur des proprietes anxiolytiques de l’hydrolysat trypsique de caseine αs1 bovine. Differentes proprietes ont pu rapprocher ce peptide de la famille des benzodiazepines, les anxiolytiques les plus prescrits. Cependant, certaines differences, dont notamment une absence d’effets secondaires, permettent aussi de distinguer l’α-CZP des benzodiazepines. Bien que de nombreux elements laissent penser qu’une action centrale reste l’hypothese principale du mecanisme d’action de l’α-CZP, aucune regulation de l’activite de zones cerebrales n’avait ete montree jusqu’a present. Ce travail de these aura donc pu montrer que les proprietes anxiolytiques de l’α-CZP sont associees a une modification de l’activite cerebrale chez la souris, apres une unique injection intraperitoneale, dans differentes regions impliquees dans la regulation de l’anxiete, notamment l’amygdale, la formation hippocampale, le noyau accumbens et certains noyaux de l’hypothalamus et du raphe. De plus, ces modifications de l’activite cerebrale ne sont pas exactement les memes que celles observees avec le diazepam, une benzodiazepine de reference, ni de celles obtenues avec YLGYL, un peptide derive de l’α-CZP, bien qu’il existe des similitudes dans le comportement de l’animal suite aux differents traitements effectues. Enfin, il a ete demontre qu’une situation anxiogene est indispensable pour reveler cet effet central. L’ensemble de ce travail aura permis d’avancer dans la comprehension du mode d’action d’un peptide alimentaire ayant des effets positifs sur le comportement et les emotions de son consommateur
Time series analysis of the δ2H, δ18O and dexcess values in correlation with monthly temperature, relative humidity and precipitation in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania: 2012–2018

Abstract To investigate the influence of local climate and transboundary circulation of moisture on the stable isotope of precipitation in Ramnicu Valcea, Romania, monthly values of δ2H, δ18O, deuterium excess (dexcess), temperature, relative humidity and precipitation were determined between January 2012 and December 2018. Monthly analysis showed differences in dexcess varying between 24.2‰ (October 2015) and −23.7‰ (July 2013) with a multi-annual average of 6.1 ± 5.9‰, suggesting an Atlantic origin of moisture with episodic Mediterranean transport. Also a significant correlation between the North Atlantic Oscillation on the local temperature during winter season was noticed. The local meteoric water line (LMWL) for the entire period showed slope and intercept values similar to those for neighbouring localities with the same altitude. When the analysis was extended to summer (April–October) and winter (November–March) seasons, the LMWL slope and intercept were different, reflecting the summer–winter difference in temperatures and air circulation. The monthly values of all parameters formed equal-spaced time series whose detailed analysis confirmed at p <0.01 that δ2H, δ18O, temperature and relative humidity show a well-evidenced one-year periodicity. In contrast, precipitation and dexcess seasonality were almost unrecognizable, most probably owing to the reduced number of observations.
Energy Shaping Control for Wireless Power Transfer System in Automatic Guided Vehicles

This paper proposes an energy shaping controller of a DC/DC converter for automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) wireless power transfer (WPT). A transformer is inserted after the LCC topology to improve the transfer power, and the DC/DC boost converter is added before this topology to obtain desired systematic power dynamically. The system power transfer model is derived based on the idea of voltage transformation and the desired power can be implemented indirectly through regulating desired output voltage of DC/DC converter. With the proposed controller, this WPT system will have a much better dynamic performance and the effective working time can be increased significantly. Furthermore, this paper proposes dynamical regulation strategy for output power to get real time target power according to the charging curve of the battery. Simulation and experimental results verified the control performance of the proposed control scheme. A WPT prototype with power up to 1.65 kW was built, and 92.12% efficiency from DC power source to battery load is achieved, which is 4% higher than that obtained by the conventional PID method.
Concept and analysis of a coupled split-ring resonator for wide-/dual bands, self-filtering, high out-of-band suppression and highly efficient antennas

Abstract An inspired metamaterial-based highly efficient monopole antenna displaying wide-/dual-band resonances along with self-filtering properties is presented. The monopole has high out-of-band suppression characteristics that lead to very close to 0 dB band-stop between the antenna dual resonant bands. The antenna operates at the two WLAN services of 2.65–3.25 and 5–7 GHz with stopband with total reflection at 4.5 GHz. The designed filtering characteristics are based on current coupling for the dual-band functions and current neutralization for the stopband function. Moreover, the proposed antenna has a very high radiation efficiency of 97 and 99% at 3 and 6 GHz, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed antenna exhibits an omni-directional radiation pattern with coplanar waveguide feed for simple integration with passive/active devices. Moreover, the antenna properties are achieved with a compact antenna size (30 × 30 mm2). With all presented results, the proposed antenna is very competitive over recent relevant antennas. In addition, a very good agreement between theoretical, full-wave simulations and measurements is achieved.
Vitamin A supplement after neonatal Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia alters CD4+T cell subset and inhibits allergic asthma in mice model

Background Previously, we showed that neonatal pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) promoted adulthood ovalbumin (OVA) induced allergic asthma. Many studies have demonstrated that vitamin A deficiency induced the development of allergic asthma. Whether neonatal S. pneumoniae pneumonia promoted allergic asthma development was associated with vitamin A concentrations remains unclear. Methods Female BALB/c neonates were infected with S. pneumoniae strain D39 and subsequently treated with vitamin A. Vitamin A concentrations in lung, serum and liver were monitored on 2, 5, 7, 14, 21, 28 days post infection. Four weeks after infection, mice were sensitized and challenged with OVA to induce allergic airway disease (AAD) in early adulthood. Twenty-four hours after the final challenge, lung histo-pathology, cytokine concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and lung CD4+T cells were measured. Results We demonstrated that neonatal S. pneumoniae pneumonia induce lung vitamin A deficiency up to early adulthood. Moreover, neonatal S. pneumoniae pneumonia aggravated airway inflammatory cells accumulation and increased AHR during AAD, decreased Foxp3+Treg and Th1 productions remarkably, while Th2 cell expression was increased significantly. Further study indicated that vitamin A supplement after neonatal S. pneumoniae pneumonia can promote Foxp3+Treg and Th1 productions, decrease Th2 cell expressions, alleviate AHR and inflammatory cells infiltration during AAD. Conclusions Using a mouse model, we demonstrate that Vitamin A supplement after neonatal Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia alters the CD4+T cell subset and inhibits the development of early adulthood allergic asthma.
Genetic variability of Rhizoctonia spp. isolated from different hosts and locations

Rhizoctonia species is well known as a destructive fungal pathogen in various agro-ecosystems globally. The current study attempted to investigate the genetic diversity among various anastomosis groups of Rhizoctonia species obtained from different locations and crops. Two types of markers were used to detect the genetic variability among isolates. The results showed that all the molecular markers were able to show reasonable polymorphisms. The clustering tree and PCA plot analysis supported the separation based on taxonomic groups more than the separation according to geographical origin and host. This indicates that there are other important factors that contribute to the genetic variation among Rhizoctonia isolates. The knowledge gathered in this study would be useful for developing crops that are resistant to Rhizoctonia diseases. This will assist in planning for the right crop rotation and proper disease management programs.
Phase complex of the system Na,Ca||SO4,CO3,HCO3-H2O at 100 ºC

The article discusses the results of determining the possible phase equilibria in geometric images of a five-component reciprocal water-salt system of sulfates, carbonates, sodium bicarbonates and calcium at 100 oC with subsequent construction of its phase complex diagram. The laws that determine the structure of the phase complex diagram of this system are needed to be obtained for the production of scientific data used both as a reference material and also to create the optimal conditions for the recycling of liquid waste industrial production of aluminum-containing sulfate carbonate and bicarbonate salts of sodium and calcium. It was established that the system under study at 100oC is characterized by the presence of 31 divariant double saturation fields, 25 monovariant trisaturation curves and 14 invariant points.
Organizational Guidelines for Embrapa Advanced Quantitative Methods and Scientific Computing Area

This study aimed to define organizational guidelines on advanced quantitative methods and scientific computing (QMSC) for the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), a public institution under the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA). The study was based on a strategic and systemic perspective to support the strengthening of governance of the area of research, development and innovation (RD&I) at Embrapa. This exploratory qualitative study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, a benchmarking study of organizational model restructuring, especially in areas of QMSC, was carried out in Brazilian and international RD&I institutions. The second phase included an analytical and critical study on the general panorama of QMSC research. Both phases supported the generation of the final result of this study, which was the formulation of a proposal for organizational guidelines for the QMSC area at Embrapa. The study presented the following main results: 1) there is no similarity between the institutions surveyed in the benchmarking and Embrapa, either in terms of the scope of institutional performance, or in relation to the interests focused on organizational innovation in the QMSC area; 2) quantitative methods and scientific computing as areas of expertise and knowledge are widely spread in Brazil, especially at Embrapa, however we did not find equivalence and/or similarity with organizational structure of international institutions. The study highlights the need to expand the scope of the QMSC area at Embrapa, due to the emergence of new fields of activity and new lines of research, for example Data Science. The study recommends Embrapa to prioritize Data Science as a strategic line of research to achieve its results, through research data use and reuse engineering, in order to generate new information and knowledge for decision-making and/or public policy formulation and management.
Attention differentially modulates the amplitude of resonance frequencies in the visual cortex

Rhythmic visual stimuli (flicker) elicit rhythmic brain responses at the frequency of the stimulus, and attention generally enhances these oscillatory brain responses (steady state visual evoked potentials, SSVEPs). Although SSVEP responses have been tested for flicker frequencies up to 100 Hz [Herrmann, 2001], effects of attention on SSVEP amplitude have only been reported for lower frequencies (up to ~30 Hz), with no systematic comparison across a wide, finely sampled frequency range. Does attention modulate SSVEP amplitude at higher flicker frequencies (gamma band, 30-80 Hz), and is attentional modulation constant across frequencies? By isolating SSVEP responses from the broadband EEG signal using a multivariate spatiotemporal source separation method, we demonstrate that flicker in the alpha and gamma bands elicit strongest and maximally phase stable brain responses (resonance), on which the effect of attention is opposite: positive for gamma and negative for alpha. Finding subject-specific gamma resonance frequency and a positive attentional modulation of gamma-band SSVEPs points to the untapped potential of flicker as a non-invasive tool for studying the causal effects of interactions between visual gamma-band rhythmic stimuli and endogenous gamma oscillations on perception and attention.
Thermoregulation of Prodigiosin Biosynthesis by Serratia marcescens is Controlled at the Transcriptional Level and Requires HexS

Abstract Several biotypes of the Gram-negative bacterium Serratia marcescens produce the tri-pyrole pigment and secondary metabolite prodigiosin. The biological activities of this pigment have therapeutic potential. For over half a century it has been known that biosynthesis of prodi giosin is inhibited when bacteria are grown at elevated temperatures, yet the fundamental mechanism underlying this thermoregulation has not been characterized. In this study, chromosomal and plasmid-borne luxCDABE transcriptional reporters revealed reduced transcription of the prodigiosin biosynthetic operon at 37°C compared to 30°C indicating transcriptional control of pigment production. Moreover, induced expression of the prodigiosin biosynthetic operon at 37°C was able to produce pigmented colonies and cultures demonstrating that physiological conditions at 37°C allow prodigiosin production and indicating that post-transcriptional control is not a major contributor to the thermoregulation of prodigiosin pigmentation. Genetic experiments support the model that the HexS transcription factor is a key contributor to thermoregulation of pigmentation, whereas CRP plays a minor role, and a clear role for EepR and PigP was not observed. Together, these data indicate that thermoregulation of prodigiosin production at elevated temperatures is controlled largely, if not exclusively, at the transcriptional level.
Kooperatif Tipe Group Investigation Melalui Setting Lesson Study Terhadap Kompetensi Pengetahuan IPA

Natural science knowledge is currently still in a bad condition, this is due to the lack of plan that was done by the teacher and the activeness of students’ learning, that was the basis of this research. The aim of this research was to determine the effectiveness of the group Investigation model in the set of lesson study toward the natural science competency on fourth grade elementary students. This research was a quasi-experimental with a non-equivalent post-test only control group design. The population of this research was 162 students. The research sample was determined by random sampling technique, there were 27 students of grade 4 elementary students at SD N 1 Penglatan as the experimental group and there were 23 students of grade four elementary students at SDN 3 Penglatan as the control group. Objective tests were used to collect data on natural science competency and then it analyzed by using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (t-test). Based on the results of data analysis, the average score of experimental group was 17.43 higher than the average score of control group 14.27. In addition, t-count = 2.77> t-table = 2.01 for a significance level of 5%, so it could be concluded that the application of the group Investigation model in the set of lesson study could affect the natural science competency. This learning model would be an alternative way for the teachers in designing innovative learning processes.
Additive effect of contrast and velocity proves the role of strong excitatory drive in suppression of visual gamma response

Visual gamma oscillations are generated through interactions of excitatory and inhibitory neurons and are strongly modulated by sensory input. A moderate increase in excitatory drive to the visual cortex via increasing contrast or motion velocity of drifting gratings results in strengthening of the gamma response (GR). However, increasing the velocity beyond some ‘transition point’ leads to the suppression of the GR. There are two theoretical models that can explain such suppression. The ‘excitatory drive’ model infers that, at high drifting rates, GR suppression is caused by excessive excitation of inhibitory neurons. Since contrast and velocity have an additive effect on excitatory drive, this model predicts that the GR ‘transition point’ for low-contrast gratings would be reached at a higher velocity, as compared to high-contrast gratings. The alternative ‘velocity tuning’ model implies that the GR is maximal when the drifting rate of the grating corresponds to the preferable velocity of the motion-sensitive V1 neurons. This model predicts that lowering contrast either will not affect the transition point or will shift it to a lower drifting rate. We tested these models with magnetoencephalography-based recordings of the GR during presentation of low (50%) and high (100%) contrast gratings drifting at four velocities. We found that lowering contrast led to a highly reliable shift of the GR suppression transition point to higher velocities, thus supporting the excitatory drive model. No effects of contrast or velocity were found for the alpha-beta response power. The results have important implications for the understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying gamma oscillations and the development of gamma-based biomarkers of brain disorders.
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK APPROACH FOR THE PREDICTION OF EFFLUENTS STREAMS FROM A WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT: A CASE STUDY IN KOCAELI (TURKEY)

A three-layer Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was employed to develop and estimate the effluent stream parameters of two different wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in Kocaeli, Turkey. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solid (SS), pH and temperature as the output parameters were estimated by five input parameters such as flow rate, COD, pH, SS and temperature. The ANN model was developed with 400 data sets for prediction of effluent pH, temperature, COD and SS. The benchmark tests were employed to achieve an optimum network algorithm. The network model with optimum functions at hidden and output layers were applied for the forecasts of effluent streams of both WWTPs. The regression values of training, validation and test using this function were found as 0.94, 0.96 and 0.95, respectively. The optimum neuron numbers were determined according to the minimum mean square error values. ANN testing outputs revealed that the model exhibited well performance in forecasting the effluent pH, temperature, SS and COD values.