Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carbapenem-Resistant Organisms Isolated in Surgical Site Infections in Benin: A Public Health Problem

An alarming worldwide increase in antimicrobial resistance is complicating the management of surgical site infections (SSIs), especially in low-middle income countries. The main objective of this study was to describe the pattern of carbapenem-resistant bacteria in hospitalized patients and to highlight the challenge of their detection in Benin. We collected pus samples from patients suspected to have SSIs in hospitals. After bacterial identification by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, antimicrobial susceptibility was performed according to the Kirby–Bauer method. Carbapenem-resistant strains were characterized using, successively, the Modified Hodge Test (MHT), the RESIST-5 O.K. N.V. I: a multiplex lateral flow and finally the polymerase chain reaction. Six isolates were resistant to three tested carbapenems and almost all antibiotics we tested but remained susceptible to amikacin. Four (66.7%) of them harbored some ESBL genes (blaCTX-M-1 and blaTEM-1). The MHT was positive for Carbapenems but not for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. As surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis, five of the six patients received ceftriaxone. The following carbapenems genes were identified: bla OXA-48(33.3%, n = 2), blaNDM (33.3%, n = 2) and blaVIM (33.3%, n = 2). These findings indicate a need for local and national antimicrobial resistance surveillance and the strengthening of antimicrobial stewardship programs in the country.
Assessing 48 SNPs in Hypertensive Paediatric Patients and Young Adults with Review of Genetic Background of Essential Hypertension

Essential hypertension in paediatric patients and young adults is rising, mostly on account of obesity-related hypertension. Clinically, the difference between obese hypertensive and non-obese hypertensive individuals is evident; yet, the pathophysiology of essential and obesity-related hypertension is multifactorial, complex and not fully understood. The aim of our study was to obtain a comprehensive view of the clinical differences between obesity-related hypertension and hypertension in non-obese paediatric patients and young adults and to do genetic tests to possibly highlight some of the pathophysiological differences with a review of their genetic backgrounds. Four hundred and thirty-six hypertensive paediatric patients and young adults were included in the study, and a study of 48 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, using Kompetitive allele specific PCR, was conducted. The subjects were divided into 243 non-obese participants with hypertension and 193 obese participants with hypertension. The data for the clinical comparison of both groups were collected as well. The differences in some clinical and biochemical parameters were confirmed. Genetic tests showed a significant difference in one allele frequency between both groups in five SNPs: rs6232, rs6235, rs12145833, rs59744560 and rs9568856. In rs6235 and rs59744560, a direct effect of different allele states could be implied. Obesity-related hypertension at a young age differs from essential hypertension in those non-obese. The reported genetic differences could be important in understanding the complex pathophysiology of early-onset obesity-related hypertension and should be further evaluated.
Selection of Suitable Reference Genes for Gene Expression Normalization Studies in Dendrobium huoshanense

Dendrobium huoshanense is a kind of precious herb with important medicinal and edible value in China, which is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for various diseases. Recent studies have paid close attention to the genetic expression of the biosynthetic pathway of the main active components (polysaccharides, alkaloids, and flavonoids), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is one of the most widely used methods for doing so. However, so far, no reference gene selections have been reported in D. huoshanense. In this study, 15 reference gene candidates (GAPDH, eIF, EF-1α, PP2A, UBCE, RPL5, TBP, APT1, MDH, PTBP3, PEPC, CYP71, NCBP2, TIP41, and F-box) were selected and evaluated for their expression stability in D. huoshanense under various experimental conditions, including in different tissues (root, stem, and leaf), abiotic stresses (oxidative, drought, cold, and UV), and hormone treatment (methyl jasmonate) using three statistical programs (geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper). Then, the RefFinder program was employed to comprehensively validate the stability of the selected reference genes. Finally, the expression profiles of the CESA and GMPP genes were further analyzed, and these results indicated that TBP, NCBP2, and CYP71 were the top three most stable reference genes after comprehensive comparison, which could be used as stable reference genes for normalizing the genes expression in D. huoshanense. This study described here provides the first data regarding on reference gene selection in D. huoshanense, which will be extremely beneficial for future research on the gene expression normalization in D. huoshanense.
Syn-Tectonic Dolomite U-Pb Geochronology Constraining Intracontinental Deformation: A Case Study from the Gelouang Gold Deposit in the Qinling Orogen, China

Determining absolute ages of orogenic faults is critical to understanding the deformation process in the upper crust, but obtaining age remains a problem due to the lack of readily available techniques. Carbonates occur as veins in faults in a range of geological settings, and thus it is a suitable mineral for U-Pb geochronology. Here, we apply the new approach of U-Pb dating on syn-tectonic dolomite veins from the Gelouang gold deposit in the western Qinling Orogen to unravel the absolute timing of the fault formation shedding new light on the regional upper crustal deformation archive. In situ LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of dolomite yielding a successful age of 115–112 Ma demonstrates that the dolomite precipitated coeval with tectonic events ascribed to the post-orogenic deformation phase in the Qinling Orogen. This event is possibly correlated with broader intracontinental processes and might be an inevitable response to the extensional deformation of the Qinling Orogen. The presented LA-ICP-MS dolomite U-Pb age successfully represents the age of a specific structure that encompasses the intracontinental process in the Qinling Orogen. Moreover, it demonstrates the utility of the method to decipher a response to complex deformation histories on a regional scale.
Application of Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health Education in Primary and Middle Schools

: The sudden increase in the psychological needs of students, the need to improve the screening rate of psychological problems, the fact that students are guarded, and lack of initiative have highlighted the challenges of school mental health services. China's artificial intelligence psychology and behavior research continues to deepen, combined with new technologies such as biosensing, blood spectrum optical imaging, and psychological counseling big data, in order to fit the characteristics of contemporary students, based on the human-computer interaction mode of objective algorithms, and regulate emotions through real-time physiological monitoring Various paths such as status and changing cognitive models can be widely used in mental health screening and psychological counseling services in primary and secondary schools, or will become innovative points in the construction of mental health in smart campuses.
An in silico analysis: Deciphering the role of differential expressed genes in tuberculosis in response to bedaquiline antibiotic drug

Tuberculosis (TB) caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium TB (MTB) is one of the most devastating respiratory infections. The drug Bedaquiline, which is used to treat tuberculosis, was developed to improve treatment outcomes while reducing the toxicity associated with injectable medicines. Clinical prescriptions for the medication have increased in recent years, but its therapeutic efficacy has decreased. Drug resistance arises when MTB become resistant to the medications used to treat TB, and these treatments no longer suppress the gene activity. In the present study, an integrated bioinformatics analysis was performed to explore potential crucial genes, key pathways and interaction of miRNA with the transcription factor associated with the differentially expressed gene in TB in response to a multidrug resistant TB drug named bedaquiline. We have curated the dataset GSE43764 and carried out the functional and pathway enrichment analysis using various bioinformatics tool. The genes encoding dnaA, dnaB, dnaE1, atpE, atpF, and atpB were identified as hub genes. MiR-574-3p, MiR-4787-5p, MiR-601, and MiR-1234 have been found as possible target microRNA. The potential transcription factors pertaining to the Bedaquiline and TB were also found. The results indicate that the discovered key differentially expressed gene has a promising future and can be employed as biomarkers.
Efficient treatment of secondary kinetic processes for pre-partitioned adaptive chemistry approaches

Probability Density Function (PDF) methods, which allow for the direct integration of chemical kinetics, are well established to accurately simulate turbulent flames with strong turbulence-chemistry interactions. While adaptive chemistry techniques have been proven effective in reducing the high CPU cost and memory requirements associated with the handling of chemistry in such simulations, performance metrics have mostly been focussed on the primary oxidation pathways converting fuel to major products. In contrast, this work investigates the ability of adaptive techniques, in this case, the pre-partitioned adaptive chemistry (PPAC) approach, to handle secondary kinetics pathways that are parallel, but tightly coupled to the main oxidation process, taking formation as a case study. PPAC relies on a partitioning of the composition space into a user-specified number of regions, on which specialised reduced models are generated using the Directed Relation Graph with Error Propagation (DRGEP) reduction technique. The direct application of that methodology to a mix of hydrocarbon oxidation and nitrogen-related targets is shown to yield excessively detailed region-specific reduced mechanisms in order to properly capture both the main oxidation and the secondary formation processes, thereby decreasing the benefits of the adaptive approach. To address this issue, a sequential approach is proposed for the generation of the region-specific reduced mechanisms, in which the primary combustion pathways relevant for each region are identified first, followed by the selective addition, directly at the reduced level, of any secondary pathways relevant for that region using a recently developed build-up technique. This new strategy is assessed in the context of propane combustion in a partially stirred reactor (PaSR) and methane combustion in the Sandia Flame D configuration, demonstrating in both cases the benefits of the sequential approach for reduced model generation.
A Design of Spectrally-Efficient Low-Complexity QAM-FBMC Systems With Mismatched Prototype Filters

In this article, we propose a low-complexity quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) filter-bank multicarrier (FBMC) system with high spectral efficiency and low self-interference. To circumvent the limitations imposed by the Balian-Low theorem on the interference suppression capability of QAM-FBMC systems, the proposed system relaxes time-frequency (TF) product at the transmitter (TX) and time-domain localization at the receiver (RX). The PHYDYAS filter is employed as a TX prototype filter, and a filter mismatched to the TX filter is employed as an RX prototype filter. Since the PHYDYAS filter has excellent spectral confinement, its use well compensates for the loss in TF-product and leads to higher spectral efficiency than the conventional systems in multi-user uplink. The RX has an extended observation window and a separate equalizer followed by a fixed pre-computed filter. To find the RX prototype filter that minimizes the self-interference, an optimization problem is formulated based on a bi-orthogonality condition, subject to the frequency-domain sparsity constraint in terms of the $\ell _{0}$-norm. To efficiently search for the solution, a modified relaxed LASSO procedure is proposed, where the size of the problem is reduced to make the problem numerically tractable. Numerical results and discussions show that the proposed QAM-FBMC system strikes an excellent balance between performance and complexity.
Morphine Use Did Not Eliminate the Effect of Pain on Complications After Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) are usually present complaining of severe chest pain. This pain results from an imbalance between oxygen supply and demand, leading to severe complications. Different guidelines recommend using Morphine as a drug of choice for treating this pain. This study aimed to check the effect of chest pain and Morphine use on complications rate after AMI. This was a prospective observational study with a consecutive sample of 300 patients with AMI. Data were collected by direct patients interview and medical records review in the emergency departments & Intensive Care Units (ICU). Any complication developed within the hospital stay and after AMI was recorded. All correlated variables were analyzed using the binary logistic regression model. The sample included 176 (58.7%) men and 124 (41.3%) women with a mean age of 56.92±12.13 years. A total of 83 patients (27.7%) developed one or more in-hospital complications. Acute recurrent ischemia was the most frequent complication; 70 (23.3%). Severe chest pain (≥ 7), duration of chest pain (more than 5 minutes), history of previous MI, and history of hypertension increased the occurrence of complications by 13%, 7%, 63%, and 25%, respectively. However, the use of Morphine did not have any protective effect against the development of these complications. The severity and duration of chest pain increased the occurrence of complications. Morphine administration did not have any protective effect against the development of these complications. Thus, it is recommended to update different policies and guidelines to use other types of chest pain relief methods, e.g., treating the underlying cause of chest pain and addressing the imbalance between oxygen supply and demand.
Soft Skills Enhance Employee Contextual Performance: The Case of the Maritime Industry

The maritime industry holds a prominent position in international business and world trade. This competitive and rapidly growing sector requires a highly trained workforce with specific soft skills, such as the abilities and traits that pertain to personality, attitude, and behavior. Soft skills combined with hard skills influence employees’ ability to work effectively by enhancing their performance. This study focused on the maritime industry and empirically examined the effect of four soft skills (adaptability, communication, problem-solving, teamwork) on employee contextual performance. It also explored whether there is a significant relationship between soft skills and income. An empirical survey was carried out through a self-assessment questionnaire which was administered to managers and employees of Greek shipping companies resulting in 191 usable questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis, correlation, regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were applied to examine the data. It was found that teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability and communication positively affect employee contextual performance. In addition, it was confirmed that problem-solving skills are related to employee income. This study contributes to the literature, defining which soft skills are significant factors in employee contextual performance and income. There is little literature exploring these relationships, and even fewer studies have focused on the maritime industry. This paper highlights the importance of employees developing transferable soft skills to perform effectively in the workplace. Keywords: maritime industry, soft skills, employee contextual performance, income
Entrenching positions? The dynamics of Brexit negotiations mirrored in British, Irish, and EU executives’ speeches

ABSTRACT Brexit constitutes an unprecedented crisis for the European Union and its member states. Three affected parties – the United Kingdom, the EU and Ireland – worked hard to protect their interests, making the negotiations difficult, especially regarding the Irish land border. While the key interests of the negotiating partners are clear, it is less known how and to what extent these interests were communicated by the political representatives of the three countries. We approach Brexit as a critical juncture and base our work on the framing literature. We use a unique dataset including political speeches made by EU Commission members and the UK and Irish government officials during a period from January 2016 until January 2020, relying on the innovative automated text analysis approach of keyword-assisted topic modelling. Beyond insisting on their interests, communication reflects the socio-political context. We find indications that speeches reflect the flow of the negotiations. Finally, our analysis reveals topics that largely flew under the media radar, such as research and protection.
Diversity of Collembola and occurrence of Talitroides sylvaticus in a Pinus elliottii Engelm afforestation

A 52-year-old pine forest is characterized as an environment with low plant diversity and large accumulation of allelopathic litter with poor nutrient content. Collembola is sensitive to environmental conditions and may have difficulties living in these forests. This study aimed (1) to evaluate the abundance and richness of Collembola in the soil of a 52-year-old pine afforestation with different moisture contents; and (2) to identify the landhopper sampled unintentionally. For sampling, pitfall traps were set up for four days, in areas of a Pinus elliottii afforestation with high and low soil moisture located at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Collembola specimens were counted and identified to family and genus level. The total abundance of springtails was greater in the low soil moisture area. The genera Desoria and Lepidocyrtus, and specimens of the family Onychiuridae were more abundant in low soil moisture, meanwhile, the genus Ceratophysella was more abundant in the high soil moisture. The landhopper Talitroides sylvaticus was sampled unintentionally by traps set up in the soil with higher moisture and calcium content. Six genera of Collembola and the landhopper T. sylvaticus were identified in soil of a P. elliottii afforestation and their distribution is influenced by soil moisture.
Evaluating the effects of Virtual Reality on perceived effort during cycling: preliminary results on healthy young adults

Virtual Reality (VR) has proven effective in improving rehabilitation by providing engaging and customized inter-ventions. The application of VR in pulmonary rehabilitation is still limited, although it may increase patients' exercise tolerance. Studies on other target groups prove that VR can modify exercise performance and reduce perceived effort. Despite encouraging, the methodological differences among studies prevent reaching definitive conclusions on whether VR can influence exercise tolerance and which factors are more impactful. Our work aims to define and validate an experimental protocol for quantitative evaluation of the effects of VR on perceived effort. Secondary goals are to investigate whether a higher degree of immersion or interaction induces a lower perceived exertion. The experimental protocol consists of cycling at light/moderate intensity under four conditions: no VR, non-immersive VR, immersive VR with and without a dual-task. Heart rate, breathing response (breathing rate, tidal volume, and minute ventilation), cycling cadence, and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) are measured. Thirteen healthy adults $(25.08\pm 5.50$ years) participated in the study. Results show that the protocol is sustainable and suitable for the aims set. All participants maintained the predefined exercise intensity and the desired cadence. RPE was not influenced by any VR factor (p = 0.224), although showing a tendency to decrease in the case of immersive VR (RPE = 11). In the future, a broader sample will allow drawing more definitive results. Further investigations include more factors in the analysis and replicate the study to healthy elderly and respiratory patients.
Off-Grid DOA Estimation Using Sparse Bayesian Learning for MIMO Radar under Impulsive Noise

Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation is an essential and fundamental part of array signal processing, which has been widely used in radio monitoring, autonomous driving of vehicles, intelligent navigation, etc. However, it remains a challenge to accurately estimate DOA for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar in impulsive noise environments. To address this problem, an off-grid DOA estimation method for monostatic MIMO radar is proposed to deal with non-circular signals under impulsive noise. In the proposed method, firstly, based on the property of non-circular signal and array structure, a virtual array output was built and a real-valued sparse representation for the signal model was constructed. Then, an off-grid sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) framework is proposed and further applied to the virtual array to construct novel off-grid sparse model. Finally, off-grid DOA estimation was realized through the solution of the sparse reconstruction with high accuracy even in impulsive noise. Numerous simulations were performed to compare the algorithm with existing methods. Simulation results verify that the proposed off-grid DOA method enables evident performance improvement in terms of accuracy and robustness compared with other works on impulsive noise.
Adaptive Trajectory Tracking Algorithm of a Quadrotor with Sliding Mode Control and Multilayer Neural Network

To improve the trajectory tracking accuracy, the anti-jamming performance, and the environment adaptability of a quadrotor, the paper proposes a new adaptive trajectory tracking algorithm with multilayer neural network and sliding mode control method. The major difference between other related approaches is that the paper uses the multilayer neural network in the system and the neural network is online computing in the whole process. Firstly, the paper establishes the quadrotor dynamic model and introduces the conception of Sigma-Pi neural network. Then, the paper adds the neural network to the attitude and trajectory tracking control loop. Moreover, the paper designs the adaptive neural network control law. At last, to illustrate the stability of the adaptive control law, the paper gives the Lyapunov stability analysis. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, the paper gives different types of simulation. Comparing with different cases, when increasing the layer of the neural network, the trajectory tracking performance becomes better. In addition, introducing multilayer neural network into the system could improve the anti-interference ability of the system and has a high-precision in tracking the desire trajectory.