Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clonal Dissemination of Clinical Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates Carrying fosA3 and blaKPC–2 Coharboring Plasmids in Shandong, China

Treatment strategies of infection by carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) are limited. Fosfomycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, has attracted renewed interest in combination therapy to fight K. pneumoniae infections. However, reports on fosfomycin-resistant K. pneumoniae are increasing. Among the 57 CRKP strains, 40 (70.2%) were resistant to fosfomycin. Thus, whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were conducted to reveal molecular characteristics of fosfomycin-resistant K. pneumoniae. Twenty-three isolates coharbored fosAkp and fosA3, with K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing ST11-KL64-wzi64-O2 (n = 13) and ST11-KL47-wzi209-OL101 (n = 8), the predominating clonal groups, while fosA3 was not detected in isolates carrying class B carbapenemase genes. Twenty-two (out of 26) ST11-KL64 strains were positive for rmpA2, of which 12 carried fosA3. Four of the 23 fosA3-positive isolates could successfully transfer their fosfomycin-resistant determinants to Escherichia coli J53AziR. All four strains belonged to ST11-KL47 with the same pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profile, and their transconjugants acquired fosfomycin, carbapenem, and aminoglycoside resistance. A 127-kb conjugative pCT-KPC-like hybrid plasmid (pJNKPN52_KPC_fosA) coharboring fosA3, blaKPC–2, blaCTX–M–65, blaSHV–12, rmtB, and blaTEM–1 was identified. ST11-KL64 and ST11-KL47 K. pneumoniae, with higher resistance and virulence, should be critically monitored to prevent the future dissemination of resistance.
Chloroplast Phylogenomic Analyses Reveal a Maternal Hybridization Event Leading to the Formation of Cultivated Peanuts

Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) offer numerous healthy benefits, and the production of peanuts has a prominent role in global food security. As a result, it is in the interest of society to improve the productivity and quality of peanuts with transgenic means. However, the lack of a robust phylogeny of cultivated and wild peanut species has limited the utilization of genetic resources in peanut molecular breeding. In this study, a total of 33 complete peanut plastomes were sequenced, analyzed and used for phylogenetic analyses. Our results suggest that sect. Arachis can be subdivided into two lineages. All the cultivated species are contained in Lineage I with AABB and AA are the two predominant genome types present, while species in Lineage II possess diverse genome types, including BB, KK, GG, etc. Phylogenetic studies also indicate that all allotetraploid cultivated peanut species have been derived from a possible maternal hybridization event with one of the diploid Arachis duranensis accessions being a potential AA sub-genome ancestor. In addition, Arachis monticola, a tetraploid wild species, is placed in the same group with all the cultivated peanuts, and it may represent a transitional species, which has been through the recent hybridization event. This research could facilitate a better understanding of the taxonomic status of various Arachis species/accessions and the evolutionary relationship among them, and assists in the correct and efficient use of germplasm resources in breeding efforts to improve peanuts for the benefit of human beings.
Exposure to Deoxynivalenol During Pregnancy and Lactation Enhances Food Allergy and Reduces Vaccine Responsiveness in the Offspring in a Mouse Model

Deoxynivalenol (DON), a highly prevalent contaminant of grain-based products, is known to induce reproductive- and immunotoxicities. Considering the importance of immune development in early life, the present study investigated the effects of perinatal DON exposure on allergy development and vaccine responsiveness in the offspring. Pregnant mice received control or DON-contaminated diets (12.5 mg/kg diet) during pregnancy and lactation. After weaning, female offspring were sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) by oral administration of OVA with cholera toxin (CT). Male offspring were injected with Influvac vaccine. OVA-specific acute allergic skin response (ASR) in females and vaccine-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) in males were measured upon intradermal antigen challenge. Immune cell populations in spleen and antigen-specific plasma immunoglobulins were analyzed. In female CT+OVA-sensitized offspring of DON-exposed mothers ASR and OVA-specific plasma immunoglobulins were significantly higher, compared to the female offspring of control mothers. In vaccinated male offspring of DON-exposed mothers DTH and vaccine-specific antibody levels were significantly lower, compared to the male offspring of control mothers. In both models a significant reduction in regulatory T cells, Tbet+ Th1 cells and Th1-related cytokine production of the offspring of DON-exposed mothers was observed. In conclusion, early life dietary exposure to DON can adversely influence immune development in the offspring. Consequently, the immune system of the offspring may be skewed towards an imbalanced state, resulting in an increased allergic immune response to food allergens and a decreased immune response to vaccination against influenza virus in these models.
Identification of DIR1-Dependant Cellular Responses in Guard Cell Systemic Acquired Resistance

After localized invasion by bacterial pathogens, systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is induced in uninfected plant tissues, resulting in enhanced defense against a broad range of pathogens. Although SAR requires mobilization of signaling molecules via the plant vasculature, the specific molecular mechanisms remain elusive. The lipid transfer protein defective in induced resistance 1 (DIR1) was identified in Arabidopsis thaliana by screening for mutants that were defective in SAR. Here, we demonstrate that stomatal response to pathogens is altered in systemic leaves by SAR, and this guard cell SAR defense requires DIR1. Using a multi-omics approach, we have determined potential SAR signaling mechanisms specific for guard cells in systemic leaves by profiling metabolite, lipid, and protein differences between guard cells in the wild type and dir1-1 mutant during SAR. We identified two long-chain 18 C and 22 C fatty acids and two 16 C wax esters as putative SAR-related molecules dependent on DIR1. Proteins and metabolites related to amino acid biosynthesis and response to stimulus were also changed in guard cells of dir1-1 compared to the wild type. Identification of guard cell-specific SAR-related molecules may lead to new avenues of genetic modification/molecular breeding for disease-resistant plants.
Phylogeny and Taxonomy on Cryptic Species of Forked Ferns of Asia

Cryptic species comprise two or more taxa that are grounded under a single name because they are more-or-less indistinguishable morphologically. These species are potentially important for detailed assessments of biodiversity, but there now appear to be many more cryptic species than previously estimated. One taxonomic group likely to contain many cryptic species is Dicranopteris, a genus of forked ferns that occurs commonly along roadsides in Asia. The genus has a complex taxonomical history, and D. linearis has been particularly challenging with many intra-specific taxa dubiously erected to accommodate morphological variation that lacks clear discontinuities. To resolve species boundaries within Dicranopteris, we applied a molecular phylogenetic approach as complementary to morphology. Specifically, we used five chloroplast gene regions (rbcL, atpB, rps4, matK, and trnL-trnF) to generate a well-resolved phylogeny based on 37 samples representing 13 taxa of Dicranopteris, spanning the major distributional area in Asia. The results showed that Dicranopteris consists of ten highly supported clades, and D. linearis is polyphyletic, suggesting cryptic diversity within the species. Further through morphological comparison, we certainly erected Dicranopteris austrosinensis Y.H. Yan & Z.Y. Wei sp. nov. and Dicranopteris baliensis Y.H. Yan & Z.Y. Wei sp. nov. as distinct species and proposed five new combinations. We also inferred that the extant diversity of the genus Dicranopteris may result from relatively recent diversification in the Miocene based on divergence time dating. Overall, our study not only provided additional insights on the Gleicheniaceae tree of life, but also served as a case of integrating molecular and morphological approaches to elucidate cryptic diversity in taxonomically difficult groups.
Working Memory Depletion Affects Intertemporal Choice Among Internet Addicts and Healthy Controls

Addiction to the Internet has emerged as a new kind of addictive behavior. Although previous studies have revealed that impairments in working memory led to suboptimal decision making (e.g., a greater willingness to choose smaller, more immediate rewards), little is known about how working memory affects intertemporal choice in Internet addicts and normal users. Thus, this study’s aim was to investigate the effect of working memory task on intertemporal choice in 33 participants addicted to internet and 25 healthy controls. Participants were administered (a) a test for Internet Addiction, (b) a single delay discounting self-report questionnaire (c) a working memory task. Differences between the Internet addicts and the control group were observed in terms of delay discounting rates, reaction times, and in memory accuracy rates. We observed significantly higher delay discounting rates among individuals addicted to the Internet. Moreover, it was documented that reaction times follow the 4-level working memory condition were significantly longer than follow the 2-level condition, in both the Internet addicts and the control group. The current findings suggest that Internet addicts are more likely to make short-sighted decisions than normal Internet users. The higher the level of working memory, the more likely an individual is to choose the present smaller reward, thus making short-sighted decisions, and have longer response times.
Estimated Sweetness in US Diet Among Children and Adults Declined From 2001 to 2018: A Serial Cross-Sectional Surveillance Study Using NHANES 2001–2018

An agreed-upon measure of total dietary sweetness is lacking hindering assessments of population-level patterns and trends in dietary sweetness. This cross-sectional study used 24-h dietary recall data for 74,461 participants aged ≥ 2 y from nine cycles (2001–2018) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to evaluate trends in the sweetness of the diet in the United States (US). LCS-containing items were matched to a sugar-sweetened counterpart (e.g., diet cola–regular cola or sucralose sugar). The matched pair was used to estimate the sugar equivalents from LCS-sweetened foods or beverages to estimate dietary level sweetness, which was described as grams of approximate sugar equivalent (ASE) per day. Trends in ASE were estimated overall and by subgroup, and trends were further disaggregated by food or beverage category. Overall, LCS sources contributed about 10.5% of ASE. Total ASE declined from 152 g/d to 117 g/d from 2001–2002 to 2017–2018 (p-trend < 0.001), with comparable declines in children and adults. Declines in total ASE were predominantly driven by beverages (−36.7% from 2001–2002 to 2017–2018) and tabletop sweeteners (−23.8%), but not food (−1.5%). Observed trends were robust to sensitivity analyses incorporating random, systematic, and sensory trial informed estimates of sweetness and also an analysis excluding possible under-reporters of dietary energy. This practical approach and underlying data may help researchers to apply the technique to other dietary studies to further these questions.
Colon unraveling based on electrical field: recent progress and further work

CT colonography (CTC) is a new technology, which permits endoscopic-like evaluation of the mucosal surface. Recently, an electrical field based approach was developed to unravel the colon in spiral CT image volumes, that is to digitally straighten then flatten the colon using curved cross-sections. In this paper, we report (1) an exact and computation- intensive algorithm for straightening the colon using curved cross-sections, and (2) an approximate but computationally efficient straightening algorithm. In the direct straightening algorithm, each curved cross-section of the colon is defined by electrical force lines due to charges distributed along the colon path, and constructed by directly tracing the force lines. In the fast straightening algorithm, only representative force lines are traced that originate equiangularly from the current colon path position, while other force lines are interpolated from the traced force lines. The experiments are performed with both phantom and patient data. It is demonstrated that straightening the colon with curved cross-sections facilitates visualization and analysis, has potential for use in CTC; and the speed of the interpolation based straightening algorithm is practically acceptable, which is about 40 times faster than that of the direct algorithm.
Data Processing for City Planning

Abstract In city planning, data-processing machines permit the rapid handling and summarization of data in housing, renewal, land use, transportation, and basic urban research. Electronic computers. specifically, are exciting because they offer a means of solving complex city planning problems, especially in forecasting land use and travel demand. For most planning operations punched card data processing is superior to other processes. The functions of these machines are described herein and three examples of data processing are elaborated on. In future years, planning techniques may have to be altered considerably to take advantage of the potentials of data processing.
Isolation and Identification of The Fungal Pathogen Aspergillus aflatoxiformans Strain and Its Role in Controlling The Two-Spotted Spider Mite Tetranychus urticae (Koch)

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) is the major mite pest infesting many cultivated crops. The fungus, Aspergillus aflatoxiformans Frisvad, Ezekiel, Samson & Houbraken produces aflatoxins where it considered as secondary polyketide metabolites, which cause the death of pests. Therefore, this work aimed to isolate and identify this fungus by amplify the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA, as well as to evaluate the efficiency of this fungus to control T. urticae. Results showed 300bp DNA product corresponding to the omt-A gene. The existence of omt-A gene in A. aflatoxiformans reflected its ability to produce aflatoxin, which may be responsible of mite control. The efficacy of A. aflatoxiformans against T. urticae recorded the highest reduction percentage of eggs hatch at concentration of 1x10 conidia/ml within the 5 and 6 day after exposure. These percentages were 99.42 and 100%, respectively. The highest mortality percentage was recorded on the 4, 5 and 6 day at higher concentration of 1x10. No eggs and larvae of T. urticae were observed within the 5 and 6 day after treatment at 1x10. There were not observed nymphs at all tested concentrations. Microelectronic photos showed fungal conidia with cluster shaped which were developed at all T. urticae body surface 6 days after treatments at 1x10 and 1x10. Results also confirmed that A. aflatoxiformans could be used successfully to control T. urticae eggs, immature stages and adults. Therefore, this fungus could be involved in any IPM programs of the two-spotted mite.
Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Using hLDA Models to Evaluate Communication in Banco Central do Brasil

Central bank communication is a key tool in managing inflation expectations. This paper proposes a hierarchical Latent Dirichlet Allocation (hLDA) model combined with feature selection techniques to allow an endogenous selection of topic structures associated with documents published by Banco Central do Brasil’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom). These computational linguistic techniques allow building measures of the content and tone of Copom’s minutes and statements. The effects of the tone are measured in different dimensions such as inflation, inflation expectations, economic activity, and economic uncertainty. Beyond the impact on the economy, the hLDA model is used to evaluate the coherence between the statements and the minutes of Copom’s meetings.
"Passive Attention in Artificial Neural Networks Predicts Human Visual Selectivity

CIFAR AlexNet 2.50M [2] [3] (MIT) CIFAR VGG-19 (w/ BatchNorm) 20.09M [4] [3] (MIT) CIFAR ResNet-110 1.73M [5] [3] (MIT) ImageNet AlexNet 61.10M [2] [6] (BSD-3) ImageNet VGG-16 (w/ BatchNorm) 138.37M [4] [6] (BSD-3) ImageNet ResNet-101 44.55M [5] [6] (BSD-3) ImageNet EfficientNet-B0 5.29M [7] [8] (Apache 2.0) ImageNet ViT-S/16 22.05M [9, 10] [8] (Apache 2.0) Places AlexNet 58.50M [2] [11] (CC BY) Places ResNet-50 24.26M [5] [11] (CC BY)
The Rise of Jim Crow Rhetoric in Republican Economic Speeches∗

I use computational text analysis methods to quantitatively show that the Republican Party has taken the rhetoric that was used by segregationists to defend Jim Crow racial segregation in the Mid-20th Century and incorporated it into their modern-day speeches about economic issues. I analyze speeches from the Congressional Record and use machine learning methods to quantitatively identify phrases that were (i) disproportionately used in explicitly racial speeches related to Jim Crow from 1947-1967 and (ii) strongly associated with pro-segregation politicians. I then track the use of these pro-segregation phrases in speeches about economic issues into the present day. I find that over the course of the late-20th and early-21st Century, segregationist language and ideology from the Jim Crow era has become increasingly associated with the Republican Party in speeches about economic issues. However, Republicans have brought back only the abstract, legalistic language from the Jim Crow era— such as language related to "states’ rights"— rather than explicitly racist language. This evidence suggests the importance of dog-whistles for signaling racial conservatism in Republican economic
LIFE QUALITY OF PATIENTS WITH HEMORRHAGIC COMPLICATIONS OF PORTAL HYPERTENSION IN THE REMOTE PERIOD AFTER ENDOSCOPIC AND SURGICAL TREATMENT

Bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and stomach in patients with portal hypertension syndrome and cirrhosis of the liver remains the cause of death in 30-80% of cases with the absence or delay of medical care. The only radical method of treating these forms of pathology is liver transplantation, however, today in the whole world its demand remains much higher than the real possibilities of transplant services. Therefore, palliative techniques, including endoscopic technologies of hemostasis and surgical interventions aimed at the separation of the portal vein system by the pool of unpaired and semi-unpaired veins. One of the leading criteria for the effectiveness of palliative care is quality of life. The purpose of this study: a comparative analysis of the quality of life of patients of different sex and age in the long term after endoscopic and surgical treatment of bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and stomach. The research method was to determine the quality of life by calculating the calculated indicators of the SF-36 questionnaire in 338 patients aged 22 to 50 years who were urgently admitted for inpatient treatment for ongoing bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and stomach arising from portal hypertension cirrhotic origin. All study participants were divided into 2 groups depending on the methods used to stop bleeding: endoscopic ligation and / or sclerotherapy (group No. 1, n = 162) and surgical azigo-portal isolation according to M.D. Paсiora (group No. 2, n = 176). SF-36 values were determined before treatment, 3 months, 1, 2 and 3 years after treatment. Results: After 3 months, 1, 2 and 3 years after using endoscopic hemostasis methods, in all patients, without exception, the SF-36 indices were 11-74% higher than those who underwent surgery according to M.D. Paсiora. In group No. 1, the best results were obtained in 3140and 41-45-year-old patients, lower in patients aged 22-25, 26-30 and 46-50 years old, in group No. 2 as the number increased past years, a decrease in scores on all scales SF-36 36 Conclusion: The use of endoscopic ligation and / or sclerotherapy in order to stop bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and stomach in patients of different sex and age provides for at least three years after the intervention a higher quality of life compared to that after the operation of azigo-portal dissociation according to the method of M.D. Paсiora.
Achieving Web Services Composition - a Survey

Web Services composition development is too complex and dynamic. Software engineering approach is adopted to develop composite service systematically. Co mposition development process involves modelling, discovering & binding, publishing and invoking a co mposite service. Th is paper aims to make the co mposition development process clear by classifying the literature on web services composition into the phases of composition development process. As a result of this, the definit ion, requirements, approaches, techniques and evaluation of an end-to-end web services co mposition development process is made clear. The current research area which requires a lot of attention is identified and discussed at the end to further extend the topic.
On-line texture analysis for flat products inspection. Neural nets implementation

This paper describes two texture-based implementations applied to quality assessment of flat products continuously produced (metal strips, wooden surfaces, cork, textile products, .) where on-line inspection is demanded. Surface inspection implies analysis of surface appearance, a hard inspection task for image processing hardware where human-like inspection ability is required. A common feature to many of these products, which makes it difficult to achieve on-line automated visual inspection, is the presence of non-deterministic texture on their surfaces. Two main subjects are discussed: statistical techniques for both surface finishing determination and surface defect analysis as well as real-time implementation for on-line inspection in high-speed applications. For surface finishing determination different techniques are discussed and implementation of a gray level difference technique is presented to perform over low resolution images, that is, unzoomed images. Every incoming image is analyzed. Defect analysis is performed by means of statistical texture analysis over defective portions of the surface. On-line implementation of quality assessment is accomplished by means of neural networks. When a defect arises, textural analysis is applied which result in a data-vector, acting as input of a neural net, previously trained in a supervised way. This approach tries to attain on-line performance in automated visual inspection applications when texture is present in flat product surfaces. <<ETX>>
MODELADO DEL PRECIO SPOT DE LA ELECTRICIDAD EN BRASIL USANDO UNA RED NEURONAL AUTORREGRESIVA ELECTRICITY SPOT PRICE MODELLING IN BRASIL USING AN AUTOREGRESSIVE NEURAL NETWORK

An autoregressive neural network model is estimated for the monthly Brazilian electricity spot price, which describes the prices dynamics better than a linear autoregressive model and a classical multilayer perceptron using the same input and neurons in the hidden layer. The proposed model is specified using a statistical procedure based on a likelihood ratio test. The model passes a battery of diagnostic tests. The proposed specification procedure allows us to select the number of units in hidden layer and the inputs to the neural network based on statistical tests, taking into account the number of data and the model fitting to the price time series. The final model specification demonstrates that the price for the next month is a nonlinear function of the current price, the current energy inflow, and the energy saved in the equivalent reservoir in the current month and two months ago.