Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparison of Four Molecular Methods for Detection of Aflatoxin-Producing Aspergillus in Peanut and Dried Shrimp Samples Collected from Local Markets around Pathum Thani Province, Thailand

Aspergillus flavus is an aflatoxin-producing fungus which is poisonous to humans and animals when consumed. Detecting the fungus can help to prevent this danger. The four molecular methods, namely, conventional isothermal amplification (LAMP), PCR, quantitative LAMP (qLAMP), and qPCR, were compared to determine their efficiency for A. flavus detection. Thirty samples of peanut and dried shrimp were collected from 15 markets around Pathum Thani Province in Thailand. The samples were artificially infected with 108 conidia/ml of A. flavus for 1 hr and enriched for one day to represent real contamination. The results show that the sensitivity detection for A. flavus in PCR, LAMP, qPCR, and qLAMP was 50 ng, 5 ng, 5 pg, and 5 pg, respectively. Aspergillus in 30 peanut and dried shrimp from the market was detected by all four methods. The detection rate was about 20%, 60%, 100%, and 100% with PCR, LAMP, qPCR, and qLAMP, respectively. The molecular detection technique, especially LAMP, qPCR, and qLAMP, can detect this pathogenic fungi very rapidly with high sensitivity and reliability in comparison to conventional PCR.
The Effect of Spirituality on Mental Health Among Hypertensive Elderly People: A Cross-sectional Community-based Study

Introduction: Elderly suffering from hypertension may also experience other psychological disorders in their daily life, such as depression and anxiety. Moreover, they use spiritual practices to relieve symptoms or comorbidities of hypertension. All these practices produce a calming effect on them. Aim: This study aims at investigating the relation between spirituality and mental health among older adults with hypertension and their sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in Greece. A questionnaire consisting of the sociodemographic characteristics, the FACIT-Sp-12 scale and the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) was completed by a total of 134 hypertensive elderly (≥65 years of age) persons. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used. Results: The sample consisted of 42,5% males and 57,5% females, aged 65 to 95 years, with a mean age of 78,38 years (SD= 6,68). A statistically significant correlation was found between FACIT-Sp-12 total score and the “physical discomfort (r=-0,562 p<0.001), “anxiety” (r=-0,735 p<0.001), “social disfunctioning” (r=-0,650 p<0.001), “depression” (r=-0,735 p<0.001) and the total score of GHQ-28 (r=-0,735 p<0.001). Specifically, the higher the total score of spirituality among older hypertensive adults the lower the rates of psychosomatic disorders and the total burden of mental health (and vice versa). Conclusion: Results showed that younger elderly, living in urban areas and not experiencing any other chronic health conditions, have higher levels of spirituality compared to older. Also, a negative correlation was found between spirituality and mental health.
Calcium Ion Coordination: A Comparison with That of Beryllium, Magnesium, and Zinc

The coordination geometry of divalent calcium ions has been investigated by analyses of the crystal structures of small molecules containing this cation that are found in the Cambridge Structural Database, protein crystal structures in the Protein Databank, and by ab initio molecular orbital calculations on hydrated structures of the form Ca[H2O]n2+·mH2O, in which there are n water molecules in the first coordination shell and m water molecules in the second coordination shell (hydrogen bonded to water molecules in the first shell). Calcium ions in crystal structures generally bind to oxygen atoms in ligands (rather than any other element), and their preferred coordination numbers range from 6 to 8. In protein crystal structures the tendency of calcium to bind water molecules is less than for magnesium (1.5 versus 2.2 water molecules on the average per metal ion site, respectively). The ratio of bidentate to monodentate binding of calcium ions to carboxylate groups is similar for small molecules and prote.
The Effectiveness of Mini Primer STR CODIS in DNA Degradation as the Effect of High-Temperature Exposure

Background More and more today, forensic identification through deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) examination has achieved greater recognition in supporting Indonesia's law enforcement. Such examination is to determine the origin of a child, paternity cases, genealogical relation, or identifying unknown crime victims. However, along with the development of this DNA material examination, problems arise. DNA undergoes a degradation, commonly known as degraded DNA, which is one of the serious issues frequently encountered by forensic and DNA experts. Some forensic DNA experts take one of the alternatives to overcome this issue by implementing a mini primer set that is through a method to reduce the size of STR assays on DNA core locus examination. Methods In this study, the writers conduct research using the mini primers of CSF1PO, FGA, and D21S11 of the molar teeth exposed to 500°C temperature for 20 and 30 minutes and 750°C for the same amount of time. Result The findings show the DNA contents of molar teeth significantly (p < 0.05) decreased as the effect of high-temperature exposure. PCR result visualization shows CSF1PO is the only locus detected with mini primer exposed to 750°C temperature for 30 minutes (the highest exposure during this research). Conclusions This finding suggests that this locus is potential in examining identification through DNA analysis, especially on a degraded condition as the effect of high-temperature exposure. Besides, this could accelerate the identification process especially on mass disaster events or criminal cases.
Successful Intralesional Laser Therapy for Sclerotherapy-resistant Huge Venous Malformation

Summary: Venous malformations (VMs) are compressible, blue-purple tumors that are present at birth, and are treated with either surgery or sclerotherapy, or a combination of both. Patients often experience recurrent hemorrhage, swelling, pain, or difficulty in daily life. Treatment of massive VMs can, therefore, be challenging. We applied intralesional laser photocoagulation (ILP) to a 19-year-old female patient with a huge VM who had shown resistance to sclerotherapy. It spanned from the dorsal area to the lateral chest. ILP is delivered directly into thick, deep lesions through a bare fiber delivery system. The effect on deep components is optimized without directly contacting the cutaneous or mucosal surfaces to minimize epithelial damage. We applied ILP to the lesion at 30 W in continuous mode (10 seconds) under ultrasound monitoring using an Nd:YAG laser of 1064-nm wavelength. In total, there have been 4 sessions of the same treatment; the lesion was treated with a combined 120 kJ of energy. Satisfactory regression of the huge VM was achieved by this ILP treatment. No significant complications (major bleeding, severe pain, post-perforation skin ulcer, and scar contraction) occurred during the treatment. ILP has been indicated for only sclerotherapy-resistant cases until now, but we suggest that it is a potentially safe and minimally-invasive resolution of VM without scarring or loss of normal shape, sensory feel, or function. ILP appears to be a safe and minimally-invasive resolution of VM. We propose that this technique could become a first-choice treatment modality for VM.
Tracer Responses and Control of Vessels with Variable Flow and Volume

Continuous flow vessels which are subject to variation of flow and volume are characterized by time-variable parameters. It is shown that their residence time distributions and weighting functions obtained by tracer testing are made invariant with regard to the integrated flow variables which are introduced. Under variable flow but constant volume, one such integrated variable is sufficient. Under variable volume, two different variables are suggested for the residence time distribution and weighting function, while the appropriate variable of the perfect mixer differs distinctly from that of vessels with a distinct velocity profile. It is shown through a number of example cases, that an agreement with their mathematical models is reached. The approach is extended to include also arbitrary, non-analytic response functions obtained by tracer measurements. Applications of the derived models and their incorporation in automatic control algorithms is discussed.
Autonomic Dysfunctions in Parkinson's Disease: Prevalence, Clinical Characteristics, Potential Diagnostic Markers, and Treatment

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease in the middle-aged and the elderly. Symptoms of autonomic dysfunctions are frequently seen in PD patients, severely affecting the quality of life. This review summarizes the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and treatment options of autonomic dysfunctions. The clinical significance of autonomic dysfunctions in PD early diagnosis and differential diagnosis is also discussed.
Camelina sativa Methanolic and Ethanolic Extract Potential in Alleviating Oxidative Stress, Memory Deficits, and Affective Impairments in Stress Exposure-Based Irritable Bowel Syndrome Mouse Models

Camelina sativa is mainly used as an oilseed crop; its edible oil is being also used as a traditional home remedy for the treatment of ulcers, wounds, and eye inflammations, due to the antioxidant activities. In the present study, the chemically characterized alcoholic extracts of Camelina sativa var. Madalina defatted seeds (5 g/kg body weight p.o., suspended in CMC-Na 0.1%) were administered to stress-induced animal models of irritable bowel syndrome (based on combinations of contention stress and multifactorial stress and maternal stress) and evaluated for the behavioural (short-term memory by the Y maze test, the anxious behaviour using the elevated plus maze test, and the antidepressant effect using the forced swimming test) and brain and bowel tissue oxidative status (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase enzymes activities and malondialdehyde and total soluble protein levels) improving effects. According to the chemical characterization, the extracts were rich in sinapine, glucosinolates, and flavonol glycosides. Moreover, this study showed the beneficial effects of Camelina sativa seed methanolic and ethanolic extracts on the behaviour and brain and bowel tissues oxidative stress status of stress exposure-based IBS mouse models. Despite the slight differences in the chemical composition of the methanolic and ethanolic extracts, the results suggested that the Camelina sativa extracts could reverse the short-term memory impairments caused by stress exposure and also could decrease the intensity and frequency of the anxiety and depressive-like behaviours observed in the stress-exposed animal models of IBS. Furthermore, the Camelina sativa extracts showed a significant effect on the oxidative stress markers in the brain and bowel tissues of the studied animal model by decreasing the superoxide dismutase activity and increasing the glutathione peroxidase activity. However, the results suggested that the extracts could also increase lipid peroxidation in bowel tissues. In this way, this study provides additional evidence that the administration of Camelina sativa seed alcoholic extracts could improve cognitive performances and mood and exhibit the antioxidant capacity in both the brain and bowel tissues.
Transient Studies of 2-Propanol Photocatalytic Oxidation on Titania

Transient reaction techniques were used to study the room-temperature, photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) of 2-propanol on a thin catalyst film of titania (Degussa P25) in an annular reactor. Adsorbed 2-propanol was photocatalytically oxidized in the absence of gas-phase 2-propanol, and the species remaining on the TiO2 surface were characterized by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and oxidation (TPO). Nonphotocatalytic decomposition (TPD) and oxidation (TPO) of 2-propanol and acetone were also studied. The initial PCO of 2-propanol at room temperature rapidly forms acetone and water; water can displace acetone into the gas phase. Adsorbed acetone is subsequently oxidized photocatalytically to CO2 and H2O at a slower rate than 2-propanol photocatalytically oxidizes to acetone and it may form a surface intermediate before complete oxidation. Thus, at steady-state, the TiO2 surface is expected to be covered with H2O and strongly bound acetone or an intermediate. The surface reaction steps require near-UV light, but desorption does not. Formation of gas-phase acetone and water are desorption limited, but CO2 and CO formation are reaction limited. The rate of PCO to form acetone is essentially independent of O2 pressure, and acetone forms at room temperature even in 30 ppm O2, apparently utilizing lattice oxygen. In contrast, complete oxidation to CO2 is first order in O2 at low concentrations and zero order at higher O2 concentrations. The coverage of photoadsorbed oxygen is low (less than 1 μmol/ g TiO2), and the oxygen is strongly bound to the surface (∼ 200 kJ/mol binding energy). There are no indications that photoadsorbed oxygen was important for PCO; gas phase O2 is needed to replace lattice oxygen, but this may or may not be photoadsorbed. In the absence of near-UV light, titania is an oxidation catalyst only at much higher temmperatures. Thermal oxidation of 2-propanol also proceeds through acetone formation, but acetone thermally oxidizes faster than 2-propanol. Methanol and ethanol also undergo PCO on TiO2 at room temperature to form aldehydes, CO2, and H2O.
Prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia intestinalis and molecular characterization of group A rotavirus associated with diarrhea in children below five years old in Gaborone, Botswana

Introduction Cryptosporidium, Giardia and rotaviruses are amongst the leading causes of acute gastroenteritis in children ≤5 years worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine the occurrence of Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia intestinalis and molecular characteristics of rotaviruses after Rotarix® introduction in Botswana. Methods in this case study, 200 diarrheic stool specimens and 100 control samples from children under five years old were collected between March and November, 2017. Samples were analyzed by modified Ziehl Neelsen staining technique for cryptosporidium, wet mount procedure for Giardia and negative samples were confirmed by immunochromatographic assay. Specimens were analyzed for rotavirus by ELISA, PAGE, RT-PCR, sequencing of VP7 and VP4 antigen followed by phylogenetic analysis. Results prevalence rates of 20.5%, 16.5% and 11.0% in diarrhea cases were observed for Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia intestinalis and rotavirus, respectively. Four percent of diarrheic specimens had multiple infections. The predominant rotavirus genotype was GIP[8] (7/15) followed by G2P[4] (2/15) and G3P[8] (1/15). Twenty percent of specimens were non-typeable. One mixed strain, G1+G2P[4,8] (2/15), was detected. Phylogenetic analysis of VP4 and VP7 sequences clustered Botswana rotavirus strains within G1 lineages 1 and 2, G3 lineage 1, P[8] lineage 3 and P[4] lineage 5 together with Southern African strains. Conclusion this study provides important information on occurrence and demographic risk groups for Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia intestinalis and rotavirus in young children as well as genetic diversity of rotaviruses after vaccine introduction in Botswana. Constant monitoring of circulating rotavirus strains is essential in assessing effectiveness of current vaccines in Botswana.
A Knowledge-Fusion Ranking System with an Attention Network for Making Assignment Recommendations

In recent decades, more teachers are using question generators to provide students with online homework. Learning-to-rank (LTR) methods can partially rank questions to address the needs of individual students and reduce their study burden. Unfortunately, ranking questions for students is not trivial because of three main challenges: (1) discovering students' latent knowledge and cognitive level is difficult, (2) the content of quizzes can be totally different but the knowledge points of these quizzes may be inherently related, and (3) ranking models based on supervised, semisupervised, or reinforcement learning focus on the current assignment without considering past performance. In this work, we propose KFRank, a knowledge-fusion ranking model based on reinforcement learning, which considers both a student's assignment history and the relevance of quizzes with their knowledge points. First, we load students' assignment history, reorganize it using knowledge points, and calculate the effective features for ranking in terms of the relation between a student's knowledge cognitive and the question. Then, a similarity estimator is built to choose historical questions, and an attention neural network is used to calculate the attention value and update the current study state with knowledge fusion. Finally, a rank algorithm based on a Markov decision process is used to optimize the parameters. Extensive experiments were conducted on a real-life dataset spanning a year and we compared our model with the state-of-the-art ranking models (e.g., ListNET and LambdaMART) and reinforcement-learning methods (such as MDPRank). Based on top-k nDCG values, our model outperforms other methods for groups of average and weak students, whose study abilities are relatively poor and thus their behaviors are more difficult to predict.
Adverse outcomes in COVID-19 and diabetes: a retrospective cohort study from three London teaching hospitals

Introduction Patients with diabetes mellitus admitted to hospital with COVID-19 have poorer outcomes. However, the drivers of poorer outcomes are not fully elucidated. We performed detailed characterization of patients with COVID-19 to determine the clinical and biochemical factors that may be drivers of poorer outcomes. Research design and methods This is a retrospective cohort study of 889 consecutive inpatients diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 9 and April 22, 2020 in a large London National Health Service Trust. Unbiased multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine variables that were independently and significantly associated with increased risk of death and/or intensive care unit (ICU) admission within 30 days of COVID-19 diagnosis. Results 62% of patients in our cohort were of non-white ethnic background and the prevalence of diabetes was 38%. 323 (36%) patients met the primary outcome of death/admission to the ICU within 30 days of COVID-19 diagnosis. Male gender, lower platelet count, advancing age and higher Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) score (but not diabetes) independently predicted poor outcomes on multivariate analysis. Antiplatelet medication was associated with a lower risk of death/ICU admission. Factors that were significantly and independently associated with poorer outcomes in patients with diabetes were coexisting ischemic heart disease, increasing age and lower platelet count. Conclusions In this large study of a diverse patient population, comorbidity (ie, diabetes with ischemic heart disease; increasing CFS score in older patients) was a major determinant of poor outcomes with COVID-19. Antiplatelet medication should be evaluated in randomized clinical trials among high-risk patient groups.
Reactivity of the surface of zirconium during pickling in nitric-hydrofluoric acid

The behaviour of zirconium in hydrofluoric-nitric acid pickling solutions has been studied using electrochemical methods, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectrometry. During a pickling experiment the depletion of the solutions could be correlated with the consumption of hydrofluoric acid to form metal oxo- or oxofluorocomplexes. The role of nitric acid added to the hydrofluoric acid for pickling has been discussed after replacing it by other strong acids or by hydrogen peroxide. It appears that the zirconium dissolution rate only depends on the hydrofluoric acid concentration, but that the properties of the oxide film are determined by the nature of the strong acid added to HF; it can be assumed that metal dissolution occurs through the oxide film and that ionic diffusion through the film is a rate determining step. Reaktivitat der-Zirkoniumoberflache wahrend des Beizens in einer Losung von Flus- und Salpetersaure Das Verhalten von Zirkonium in einer Beizlosung von Flus-und Salpetersaure wurde mit elektrochemischen Methoden (Rontgenstrukturanalyse und Raman-Schwingungsspektroskopie) untersucht. Mit der Zeit verringert sich die Beizwirksamkeit dieser Losung sowie die Konzentration an Flussaure, die zur Bildung von loslichen Fluor- oder Oxofluor-Komplexen fuhrt. Die vorliegende Untersuchung vergleicht die Wirkung der Salpetersaure wahrend des Beizens mit der von anderen starken Sauren oder mit Hydroperoxidlosung. In salpeterhaltiger Flussaure lost sich das Zirkonium auf, wobei die Zirkoniumionen durch die entstehende Oxidschicht wandern. Die Auflosungsgeschwindigkeit des Metalls hangt nur von der Flussaurekonzentration ab, die Eigenschaften der Oxidschicht sind auch von der Art der zugefugten starken Saure abhangig.
Nephroprotective Effect of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Therapy of Kidney Disease Induced by Toxicants

Background Renal damage caused by drug toxicity is becoming increasingly common in the clinic. Preventing and treating kidney damage caused by drug toxicity are essential to maintain patient health and reduce the social and economic burden. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the nephroprotective effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the treatment of kidney disease induced by toxicants. Methods The Cochrane Library, Embase, ISI Web of Science, and PubMed databases were searched up to December 31, 2019, to identify studies and extract data to assess the efficacy of MSCs treatment of kidney disease induced by toxicants using Cochrane Review Manager Version 5.3. A total of 27 studies were eligible and selected for this meta-analysis. Results The results showed that a difference in serum creatinine levels between the MSC treatment group and control group was observed for 2, 4, 5, 6-8, 10-15, 28-30, and ≥42 days (2 days: WMD = −0.88, 95% CI: -1.34, -0.42, P = 0.0002; 4 days: WMD = −0.74, 95% CI: -0.95, -0.54, P < 0.00001; 5 days: WMD = −0.46, 95% CI: -0.67, -0.25, P < 0.0001; 6-8 days: WMD = −0.55, 95% CI: -0.84, -0.26, P = 0.0002; 10-15 days: WMD = −0.37, 95% CI: -0.53, -0.20, P < 0.0001; 28-30 days: WMD = −0.53, 95% CI: -1.04, -0.02, P = 0.04; ≥42 days: WMD = −0.22, 95% CI: -0.39, -0.06, P = 0.007). Furthermore, a difference in blood urea nitrogen levels between the MSC treatment group and control group was observed for 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and ≥28 days. The results also indicate that MSC treatment alleviated inflammatory cells, necrotic tubules, regenerative tubules, and renal interstitial fibrosis in kidney disease induced by toxicants. Conclusion MSCs may be a promising therapeutic agent for kidney disease induced by toxicants.