Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Simplified 2D Numerical Simulation of Photopolymerization Kinetics and Oxygen Diffusion–Reaction for the Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) System

Additive manufacturing is a versatile technology for producing customized 3D products. In 2015, the Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) system was developed as a part of projection-type, UV-curable resin 3D printers. The CLIP system utilized the dead zone where oxygen inhibition occurs and prevents the UV-cured product from adhering to the UV illumination window. The CLIP system successfully produced complex shapes in a short time. This study investigated how the relationship between the photopolymerization rate, oxygen inhibition rate, and oxygen diffusion rate affects the shape of the product by means of a numerical simulation of the photopolymerization kinetics with oxygen diffusion and reaction. The results indicate that the vertical production speed and transmittance of UV light are crucial to controlling the conversion and shape precision of products.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in a Rocky Mountain Region City: Child Characteristics, Maternal Risk Traits, and Prevalence.

OBJECTIVE To document prevalence and traits of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and maternal risk factors in a Rocky Mountain city. METHODS Variations on active case ascertainment methods were used in 2 first-grade cohorts in all city schools. The consent rate was 59.2%. Children were assessed for physical growth, dysmorphology, and neurobehavior and their mothers interviewed. RESULTS Thirty-eight children were diagnosed with FASD and compared with 278 typically developing controls. Total dysmorphology scores summarized well the key physical indicators of FASD and defined specific diagnostic groups. On average, children with FASD performed significantly poorer than controls on intellectual, adaptive, learning, attention, and behavioral tasks. More mothers of children with FASD reported drinking prior to pregnancy and in the first and second trimesters, and had partners with drinking problems than mothers of controls; however, reports of comorbid alcohol use and 6 other drugs were similar for mothers of children with FASD and mothers of controls. Mothers of children with FASD were significantly younger at pregnancy, had lower average weight before pregnancy and less education, initiated prenatal clinic visits later, and reported more health problems (e.g., stomach ulcers and accidents). Children with FASD had significantly lower birth weight and more problems at birth, and were less likely to be living with biological mother and father. Controlling for other drug and tobacco use, a FASD diagnosis is 6.7 times (OR = 6.720, 95% CI = 1.6 to 28.0) more likely among children of women reporting prepregnancy drinking of 3 drinks per drinking day (DDD) and 7.6 times (OR = 7.590, 95% CI = 2.0 to 31.5) more likely at 5 DDD. Prevalence of FAS was 2.9-5.8 per 1,000 children, and total FASD was 34.9 to 82.5 per 1,000 children or 3.5 to 8.3% at this site. CONCLUSION This site had the second highest prevalence of FASD of the 4 Collaboration on FASD Prevalence sites and clearly identifiable child and maternal risk traits.
A Tunable Metal Oxide Shell as a Spacer to Study Energy Transfer in Semiconductor Nanocrystals.

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are promising components in various optoelectronic and photocatalytic devices; however, the mechanism of energy transport in these materials remains to be further understood. Here, we investigate the distance-dependence of the electronic interactions between CsPbBr3 nanocubes and CdSe nanoplateles using an alumina (AlOx) shell as a spacer. CsPbBr3@AlOx core@shell NCs are synthesized via colloidal atomic layer deposition (c-ALD), which allows to fine tune the oxide thickness and, thus, the distance d between the two NCs. This versatile material platform shows that the electronic interactions between the CsPbBr3 NCs and the CdSe NPLs can be tuned from electron to energy transfer by increasing the shell thickness, while previous studies on the same system had been limited to the former. Considering the applicability of the c-ALD to different NCs, we suggest that metal oxide shell spacers synthesized by this approach can generally be used to study energy transfer mechanisms at the nanoscale.
Association of Sedentary Behavior with Brain Structure and Intelligence in Children with Overweight or Obesity: The ActiveBrains Project

We investigated the associations of different sedentary behaviors (SB) with gray matter volume and we tested whether SB related to gray matter volume is associated with intelligence. Methods: 99 children with overweight or obesity aged 8–11 years participated in this cross-sectional study. SB was measured using the Youth Activity Profile-Spain questionnaire. T1-weighted images were acquired with a 3.0 T Magnetom Tim Trio system. Intelligence was assessed with the Kaufman Brief Test. Whole-brain voxel-wise multiple regression models were used to test the associations of each SB with gray matter volume. Results: Watching TV was associated with lower gray matter volume in six brain regions (β ranging −0.314 to −0.489 and cluster size 106 to 323 voxels; p < 0.001), playing video games in three brain regions (β ranging −0.391 to −0.359, and cluster size 96 to 461 voxels; p < 0.001) and total sedentary time in two brain regions (β ranging −0.341 to −0.352, and cluster size 897 to 2455 voxels; p < 0.001). No brain regions showed a significant positive association (all p > 0.05). Two brain regions were related, or borderline related, to intelligence. Conclusions: SB could have the potential to negatively influence brain structure and, in turn, intelligence in children with overweight/obesity.
Classification of Electromyographic Hand Gesture Signals Using Modified Fuzzy C-Means Clustering and Two-Step Machine Learning Approach

Understanding and classifying electromyogram (EMG) signals is of significance for dexterous prosthetic hand control, sign languages, grasp recognition, human-machine interaction, etc. The existing research of EMG-based hand gesture classification faces the challenges of unsatisfied classification accuracy, insufficient generalization ability, lack of training data and weak robustness. To address these problems, this paper combines unsupervised and supervised learning methods to classify an EMG dataset consisting of 10 classes of hand gestures. To lessen the difficulty of classification, clustering methods including subtractive clustering and fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithms are employed first to obtain the initial partition of the inputs. In particular, modified FCM algorithm is proposed to accustom the conventional FCM to the multi-class classification problem. Based on the grouping information obtained from clustering, a type of two-step supervised learning approach is proposed. Specifically, a top-classifier and three sub-classifiers integrated with windowing method and majority voting are employed to accomplish the two-step classification. The results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves 100% test accuracy and the strongest robustness compared to the conventional machine learning approaches, which shows the potential for industrial and healthcare applications, such as movement intention detection, grasp recognition and dexterous prostheses control.
Sarcoidosis: Causes, Diagnosis, Clinical Features, and Treatments

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease with nonspecific clinical manifestations that commonly affects the pulmonary system and other organs including the eyes, skin, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. Sarcoidosis usually presents with persistent dry cough, eye and skin manifestations, weight loss, fatigue, night sweats, and erythema nodosum. Sarcoidosis is not influenced by sex or age, although it is more common in adults (< 50 years) of African-American or Scandinavians decent. Diagnosis can be difficult because of nonspecific symptoms and can only be verified following histopathological examination. Various factors, including infection, genetic predisposition, and environmental factors, are involved in the pathology of sarcoidosis. Exposures to insecticides, herbicides, bioaerosols, and agricultural employment are also associated with an increased risk for sarcoidosis. Due to its unknown etiology, early diagnosis and detection are difficult; however, the advent of advanced technologies, such as endobronchial ultrasound-guided biopsy, high-resolution computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography has improved our ability to reliably diagnose this condition and accurately forecast its prognosis. This review discusses the causes and clinical features of sarcoidosis, and the improvements made in its prognosis, therapeutic management, and the recent discovery of potential biomarkers associated with the diagnostic assay used for sarcoidosis confirmation.
An international genetic platform for the assessment of gene function in rice

Rice is a food staple throughout much of the world, especially in less developed countries. Fortunately, rice has the lowest amount of DNA among the common cereals and has become a pivotal species for genomics investigations. With the complete DNA sequence virtually at hand, the time has come to have a consortium to develop an understanding of the functional genomics of this important species. With 50,000 or more genes predicted, the task ahead requires the development of many genetic resources to unravel the function and interaction of these genes and their relationship with important traits. The DNA sequence coupled with full-length cDNAs, insertional and chemical-/radiation-induced mutants, and gene arrays represent resources for examining functional genomics questions. An International Rice Functional Genomics Consortium has been established to share materials, integrate databases, elucidate gene function, and translate the information into benefits for society. Media Summary The application of science in agriculture is revolutionizing the production of food, changing the nutritional value of major crops for animals and humans, and allowing new methods for the development of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other products. Since the genetic improvement of crops has generally accounted for half of the increases in production over the last several decades, the new investigations in genomics will add to our genetic knowledge of crops and increase our ability to produce enough food for the ever-expanding population. The genetic code of rice is nearly elucidated. This paper summarizes the current status of genetic resources that will allow the understanding of the function of the estimated 50,000 genes of rice and reviews the development of a consortium to maximize progress.
Preferential Growth of ZnO Micro- and Nanostructure Assemblies on Fs-Laser-Induced Periodic Structures

In this work, we demonstrate the use of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) as templates for the selective growth of ordered micro- and nanostructures of ZnO. Different types of LIPSS were first produced in Si-(100) substrates including ablative low-frequency spatial (LSF) LIPSS, amorphous-crystalline (a–c) LIPSS, and black silicon structures. These laser-structured substrates were subsequently used for depositing ZnO using the vapor–solid (VS) method in order to analyze the formation of organized ZnO structures. We used scanning electron microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy to assess the morphological and structural characteristics of the ZnO micro/nano-assemblies obtained and to identify the characteristics of the laser-structured substrates inducing the preferential deposition of ZnO. The formation of aligned assemblies of micro- and nanocrystals of ZnO was successfully achieved on LSF-LIPSS and a–c LIPSS. These results point toward a feasible route for generating well aligned assemblies of semiconductor micro- and nanostructures of good quality by the VS method on substrates, where the effect of lattice mismatch is reduced by laser-induced local disorder and likely by a small increase of surface roughness.
ASTS: A Unified Framework for Arbitrary Shape Text Spotting

Arbitrary shape text spotting remains a challenging computer vision task. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end trainable unified framework for arbitrary shape text spotting to overcome the limitations inherent in the existing methods. Specifically, we propose to perceive and understand text based on different levels of semantics, $i.e$ . , holistic-, pixel- and sequence-level semantics, and then unify the recognized semantics for robust text spotting. To implement the framework, we customize the detection and mask branches of Mask R-CNN to explore both holistic- and pixel-level semantics for text recognition. According to the recognition results, the text spotting task can then be formulated in the two-dimensional feature space. Then, by feeding the two-dimensional feature maps into an additional text recognition branch, our framework further delivers one-dimensional sequence-level semantics for text recognition based on an attention-based sequence-to-sequence network. Finally, the results from all the three levels of semantics are merged as the final result. Therefore, our framework is capable of simultaneously recognizing texts from both the one- and two-dimensional perspectives, achieving highly comprehensive text recognition. In addition, because some existing datasets lack character-level annotations, the extensive descriptions of texts from our framework further allow us to use only word-level annotations as weak supervision for training a robust text spotting model. Experiments on ICDAR 2013, ICDAR 2015, and Total-Text show that our framework achieves state-of-the-art performance for both detection and recognition.
Profiling of Oral Bacterial Communities

The profiling of bacterial communities by the sequencing of housekeeping genes such as that encoding the small subunit ribosomal RNA has revealed the extensive diversity of bacterial life on earth. Standard protocols have been developed and are widely used for this application, but individual habitats may require modification of methods. This review discusses the sequencing and analysis methods most appropriate for the study of the bacterial component of the human oral microbiota. If possible, DNA should be extracted from samples soon after collection. If samples have to be stored for practical reasons, precautions to avoid DNA degradation on freezing should be taken. A critical aspect of profiling oral bacterial communities is the choice of region of the 16S rRNA gene for sequencing. The V1-V2 region provides the best discrimination between species of the genus Streptococcus, the most common genus in the mouth and important in health and disease. The MiSeq platform is most commonly used for sequencing, but long-read technologies are now becoming available that should improve the resolution of analyses. There are a variety of well-established data analysis pipelines available, including mothur and QIIME, which identify sequence reads as phylotypes by comparing them to reference data sets or grouping them into operational taxonomic units. DADA2 has improved sequence error correction capabilities and resolves reads to unique variants. Two curated oral 16S rRNA databases are available: HOMD and CORE. Expert interpretation of community profiles is required, both to detect the presence of contaminating DNA, which is commonly present in the reagents used in analysis, and to differentiate oral and nonoral bacteria and determine the significance of findings. Despite advances in shotgun whole-genome metagenomic methods, oral bacterial community profiling via 16S rRNA sequence analysis remains a valuable technique for the characterization of oral bacterial populations.
Carvacrol Prodrugs with Antimicrobial Activity Loaded on Clay Nanocomposites

Background: Carvacrol, an essential oil with antimicrobial activity against a wide range of pathogens, and its water soluble carvacrol prodrugs (WSCP1-3) were intercalated into montmorillonite (VHS) interlayers to improve their stability in physiological media and promote their absorption in the intestine. Methods: Intercalation of prodrugs by cation exchange with montmorillonite interlayer counterions was verified by X-ray powder diffraction and confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis. Results: In vitro release studies demonstrated that montmorillonite successfully controlled the release of the adsorbed prodrugs and promoted their bioactivation only in the intestinal tract where carvacrol could develop its maximum antimicrobial activity. The amount of WSCP1, WSCP2, and WSCP3 released from VHS were 38%, 54%, and 45% at acid pH in 120 min, and 65%, 78%, and 44% at pH 6.8 in 240 min, respectively. Conclusions: The resultant hybrids successfully controlled conversion of the prodrugs to carvacrol, avoiding premature degradation of the drug.
Efficacy of BRS® and Alpron®/Bilpron® Disinfectants for Dental Unit Waterlines: A Six-Year Study

Biofilms in dental unit waterlines (DUWL) are a potentially significant source of contamination posing a significant health risk as these may come into contact with patients and dental staff during treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbiological quality of DUWL water treated by Biofilm-Removing-System® (BRS®) and Alpron®/Bilpron® disinfectant solutions for six years in a French university hospital. The microbiological quality of water supplied by 68 dental units—initially shock treated with BRS®, then continuously treated by Alpron® with sterile water during working days and Bilpron® during inactivity period, and combined with purging every morning and after each patient—was assessed biannually during six years for total culturable aerobic bacteria at 22 °C and 36 °C, Legionella sp. , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and total coliforms. A total of 628 samples were analyzed, 99.8% were compliant with extended microbiological levels, and we never detected pathogen bacteria like Legionella sp. and P. aeruginosa. Only one sample (0.2%) was noncompliant with the level of total culturable aerobic bacteria at 36 °C, which exceeded 140 colony forming units per mL. The protocol implemented in our university hospital gives excellent results and enables control of the microbiological quality of DUWL water in the long term.
Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Increases Erythropoietin by Activation of Citrate Cycle and Stimulation of Hypoxia-Inducible Factors Expression in Rats

Erythropoietin (EPO) is the primary regulator of erythropoiesis in the mammalian fetus and adult. Deficiency of EPO induces anemia. In this study, we investigated the effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on serum EPO levels and erythropoiesis in rats. Expression levels of Epo-related genes were measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and expression of Epo and Epo receptor (Epor) proteins were measured by immunohistochemistry. The gene and protein expression profiles of kidney tissue in GABA-treated rats were evaluated by ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequencing and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), respectively. GABA significantly increased serum EPO levels and expression levels of Epo and Epor. GABA increased expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor (Hif)-1 and Hif-2. Seven proteins with expression levels showing >2-fold change were identified by 2-DE followed by MALDI-TOF MS in GABA-treated rat kidney. The top KEGG pathway from the identified proteins was the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase were identified as key proteins. GABA treatment significantly increased ATP levels and NADH dehydrogenase activity in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, GABA shows a new physiological role in EPO production, and it can thus can contribute to the prevention of anemia when used alone or in combination with other anemia treating drugs.
Fabrication and Characterization of Solid Composite Yarns from Carbon Nanotubes and Poly(dicyclopentadiene)

In this report, networks of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are transformed into composite yarns by infusion, mechanical consolidation and polymerization of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD). The microstructures of the CNT yarn and its composite are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and a focused ion beam used for cross-sectioning. Pristine yarns have tensile strength, modulus and elongation at failure of 0.8 GPa, 14 GPa and 14.0%, respectively. In the composite yarn, these values are significantly enhanced to 1.2 GPa, 68 GPa and 3.4%, respectively. Owing to the consolidation and alignment improvement, its electrical conductivity was increased from 1.0 × 105 S/m (raw yarn) to 5.0 × 105 S/m and 5.3 × 105 S/m for twisted yarn and composite yarn, respectively. The strengthening mechanism is attributed to the binding of the DCPD polymer, which acts as a capstan and increases frictional forces within the nanotube bundles, making it more difficult to pull them apart.
Specific Dietary Components and Gut Microbiota Composition are Associated with Obesity in Children and Adolescents with Prader–Willi Syndrome

Prader–Willi syndrome is a rare genetic disorder associated with impaired body composition, hyperphagia, and excessive weight gain. Strict dietary restrictions from an early age is crucial to prevent or delay the early onset of obesity, which is the main driver of comorbidities in these patients. The aim of this study was to identify dietary and gut microbiota components closely linked to weight status of these patients. We studied a cohort of children and adolescents with genetic diagnosis of Prader–Willi syndrome (N = 31), in which we determined adiposity by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and dietary composition with 4-day food records. Furthermore, we obtained fecal samples to assess microbiota composition by 16S sequencing. Multivariate regression models showed that body mass index standard deviation score (BMI-SDS) and body fat mass were directly associated with saturated fat intake and meat consumption, and inversely associated with fruit consumption. Furthermore, the gut microbiome from normal weight patients was characterized by higher phylogenetic diversity compared to those overweight or obese, with differential abundance of several genera, including Alistipes, Klebsiella, and Murimonas. Notably, Alistipes abundance was inversely correlated to adiposity, lipid and glucose homeostasis parameters, and meat intake. Our results suggest that limiting meat and increasing fruit intake might be beneficial for body weight management in children and adolescents with Prader–Willi syndrome.
Prioritizing LTSS Quality: Exploring the Views of Older Adults, Families, and Professionals

ABSTRACT We conducted a cross-sectional survey involving 349 older adults, family members, and long-term services and supports (LTSS) professionals in Minnesota to assess their views on priorities for residential LTSS quality. We found considerable agreement among the three groups on the highest priorities to ensure the wellbeing of older adults who use LTSS: safety, dignity, and staffing. Relationships were also viewed as a high priority. However, older adults prioritized the physical environment over professionals, and they expressed more varied opinions on priorities overall. Older adults also consistently rated autonomy/choice as less important than other quality domains, a finding worth further exploration.