Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simulating quantum chemistry in the seniority-zero space on qubit-based quantum computers

Accurate quantum chemistry simulations remain challenging on classical computers for problems of industrially relevant sizes and there is reason for hope that quantum computing may help push the boundaries of what is technically feasible. While variational quantum eigensolver algorithms may already turn noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) devices into useful machines, one has to make all efforts to use the scarce quantum resources as efficiently as possible. We combine the so-called seniority-zero, or paired-electron, approximation of computational quantum chemistry with techniques for simulating molecular chemistry on gate-based quantum computers and obtain a very resource efficient quantum simulation algorithm. While some accuracy is lost through the paired-electron approximation, we show that using the freed-up quantum resources for increasing the basis set can lead to more accurate results and reductions in the necessary number of quantum computing runs by several orders of magnitude, already for a simple system like lithium hydride. We also discuss an error mitigation scheme based on postselection which shows an attractive scaling when the given Hamiltonian format is considered, increasing the viability of its NISQ implementation.
Initiatives to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Severe Maternal Morbidity in the United States

Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity are critical health issues in the United States, with unacceptably high rates and racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities. Various factors contribute to these adverse maternal health outcomes, ranging from patient-level to health system-level factors. Furthermore, a majority of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. This review briefly describes the epidemiology of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the United States and discusses selected initiatives to reduce maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the areas of data and surveillance; clinical workforce training and patient education; telehealth; comprehensive models and strategies; and clinical guidelines, protocols, and bundles. Related Health Resources and Services Administration initiatives are also described.
Solving Post-acquisition Integration Failure from the Outside-in

In this article, we argue that post-acquisition performance can be improved by adding an outside-in business-level strategy to synergy-driven corporate-level strategy. Multinational companies (MNCs) frequently opt to accelerate new business development through the acquisition of innovative companies. We present an in-depth case study of an integration failure after a multi-million-dollar acquisition and also explore how the integration was eventually turned into a success. Initially, the synergies between the MNC legacy business and the acquired company do not play out as expected. As new business development stalls and important growth markets are missed, corporate value destruction occurs. As often happens, consultants are hired to fix the problem, but cannot turn the tide. Eventually, the MNC empowers key people inside the company and finds a way to solve the problem. The essence of the solution lies in deep, genuine, outside-in strategizing at the business level. In hindsight, the MNC suffered from corporate strategy myopia relying on high-level analyses and net-present value (NPV) calculations of potential synergies as a starting point for post-acquisition integration, instead of a clear, outside-in view of the strategic business model required to create value.
Variation in Headspace Volatiles of Saffron Determined by GC×GC-ToF-MS

Saffron, obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus L (Iridaceae), is the most expensive spice traded worldwide. In addition to its culinary uses, various medicinal properties have been confirmed for saffron, which has recently captured the interest of the phytotherapy industry. The quality of saffron is determined by the presence of 3 compounds, namely, crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal, with the latter being responsible for the distinct aroma characteristic of saffron. To determine the volatiles and assess possible geographical variation, headspace analysis using 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional gas chromatography (GC) on 26 samples collected from 9 countries was undertaken. The major constituents identified include safranal, 4-ketoisophorone, acetic acid, 2(5H)-furanone, and 1,4-cyclohexanedione-2,2,6-trimethyl. Quantitative rather than a qualitative variation was noted in the samples from different origins. The levels of safranal ranged from 22.1% to 62.4%. This study represents the first report on the headspace volatiles of saffron using GC×GC-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry and clearly demonstrates the superior chromatographic potential of 2-dimensional GC compared with conventional 1-dimensional GC.
Should Starch Metabolism Be a Key Point of the Climacteric vs. Non-climacteric Fruit Definition?

The usual definition of the difference between climacteric and non-climacteric fruit relies on the fact that climacteric fruit ripens with concomitant increases of respiration and ethylene production, whereas barely any change in these two metabolisms occurs in non-climacteric fruit (Cherian et al., 2014). These authors list a series of climacteric fruit, such as tomato, banana, apple and mango, and a series of non-climacteric fruit such as strawberry, melon and grape. I think melon is a particular case, with climacteric and non-climacteric cultivars (Obando-Ulloa et al., 2009; Saladié et al., 2015), and this will not be detailed here. Other fruits have such climacteric and non-climacteric cultivars within a same species, for example Asian pears (Itai and Fujita, 2008) and plums (Minas et al., 2015). There have been many other reviews and articles over the last decade, regarding the differences between climacteric and non-climacteric fruit classes (Paul et al., 2012; Osorio et al., 2013; Saladié et al., 2015; Farcuh et al., 2017; Fuentes et al., 2019), but none pointed out that starch accumulation or breakdown could be a cornerstone in the definition of these two fruit classes. A quick data review, as detailed below, shows that most climacteric fruit accumulate starch before the onset of ripening, then starch is broken down to soluble sugars after the inception of ripening, whereas in the non-climacteric fruit the starch content drops very rapidly after anthesis, and they accumulate mainly soluble sugars throughout development and ripening. This big difference leads to different harvest strategies: climacteric fruit can be picked early, and the starch reserve will be converted to sugars over postharvest stages, whereas the non-climacteric fruit should be picked when the desired soluble sugar level is reached. However, starch metabolism is rarely mentioned as a key difference between climacteric and non-climacteric fruit. Osorio et al. (2012) suggested that the regulation of starch synthesis may be part of this difference, when comparing climacteric (tomato) and non-climacteric (pepper) fruit transcripts around the onset of ripening. Thus, I will first list starch contents in some climacteric and non-climacteric fruit, then I will review rapidly the starch synthesis and the starch breakdown metabolisms in plants, and finally I will discuss research perspectives.
Cilioretinal Arteries in Highly Myopic Eyes: A Photographic Classification System and Its Association With Myopic Macular Degeneration

Purpose: To develop a photographic classification for cilioretinal arteries and to investigate its association with myopic macular degeneration (MMD). Methods: One thousand six hundred ninety-two highly myopic eyes of 1,692 patients were included. The presence of a cilioretinal artery was determined by fundus photographs, and a photographic classification was proposed. MMD was classified according to the International META-PM Classification. Associations of the cilioretinal artery and its classifications with MMD and visual acuity were analyzed. Results: Of the eyes tested, 245 (14.5%) had a cilioretinal artery. The cilioretinal arteries were classified into four categories (temporal “cake-fork,” 35.92%; temporal “ribbon,” 53.47%; “multiple,” 6.53%; “nasal,” 4.08%) and 3 distributions based on whether its visible branches reached the central foveal area. Eyes with cilioretinal arteries had significantly less MMD of grade ≥3 and better visual acuity than those without (P < 0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that younger age, male sex, shorter axial length, and the presence of a cilioretinal artery were associated with better visual acuity in highly myopic eyes (all P < 0.05). The “nasal” category presented more MMD with grade ≥3 and worse visual acuity than the other categories (P < 0.05), whereas the “multiple” category contained no eyes with MMD grade ≥3. The cilioretinal arteries reaching the central foveal area showed less MMD of grade ≥3 and better visual acuity than those not (P < 0.05). Conclusions: We propose a photographic classification for cilioretinal arteries that has good clinical relevance to visual functions. The cilioretinal artery may potentially afford protection against MMD.
Transplacental Innate Immune Training via Maternal Microbial Exposure: Role of XBP1-ERN1 Axis in Dendritic Cell Precursor Programming

We recently reported that offspring of mice treated during pregnancy with the microbial-derived immunomodulator OM-85 manifest striking resistance to allergic airways inflammation, and localized the potential treatment target to fetal conventional dendritic cell (cDC) progenitors. Here, we profile maternal OM-85 treatment-associated transcriptomic signatures in fetal bone marrow, and identify a series of immunometabolic pathways which provide essential metabolites for accelerated myelopoiesis. Additionally, the cDC progenitor compartment displayed treatment-associated activation of the XBP1-ERN1 signalling axis which has been shown to be crucial for tissue survival of cDC, particularly within the lungs. Our forerunner studies indicate uniquely rapid turnover of airway mucosal cDCs at baseline, with further large-scale upregulation of population dynamics during aeroallergen and/or pathogen challenge. We suggest that enhanced capacity for XBP1-ERN1-dependent cDC survival within the airway mucosal tissue microenvironment may be a crucial element of OM-85-mediated transplacental innate immune training which results in postnatal resistance to airway inflammatory disease.
Agile and Value Creation in Agent-Based Social Simulation

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) has led a paradigm shift in the way social scientists understand and manipulate complex systems. However, little is known about the relationship between the two and how they can create meaningful synergies. A review of the evidence available on the connection agile-ABSS was conducted. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the value and limitations that can be derived from the connection. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common research agenda.
Establishing Global School Feeding Program Targets: How Many Poor Children Globally Should Be Prioritized, and What Would Be the Cost of Implementation?

The creation of Human Capital is dependent upon good health and education throughout the first 8,000 days of life, but there is currently under-investment in health and nutrition after the first 1,000 days. Working with governments and partners, the UN World Food Program is leading a global scale up of investment in school health, and has undertaken a strategic analysis to explore the scale and cost of meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged school age children and adolescents in low and middle-income countries globally. Of the 663 million school children enrolled in school, 328 million live where the current coverage of school meals is inadequate (<80%), of these, 251 million live in countries where there are significant nutrition deficits (>20% anemia and stunting), and of these an estimated 73 million children in 60 countries are also living in extreme poverty (<USD 1.97 per day). 62.7 million of these children are in Africa, and more than 66% live in low income countries, with a substantial minority in pockets of poverty in middle-income countries. The estimated overall financial requirement for school feeding is USD 4.7 billion, increasing to USD 5.8 billion annually if other essential school health interventions are included in the package. The DCP3 (Vol 8) school feeding edition and the global coverage numbers were launched in Tunis, 2018 by the WFP Executive Director, David Beasley. These estimates continue to inform the development of WFP's global strategy for school feeding.
Identification and Characterization of Circular RNA as a Novel Regulator and Biomarker in Preterm Birth

Preterm birth (PTB), as the leading cause of neonatal death, is a severe threat to maternal–fetal health. The diagnosis and treatment of PTB are difficult as its underlying mechanism still unknown. Circular RNA (circRNA) is an emerging molecule that plays an essential role in the pathological processes of various diseases. However, it is still unclear whether circRNAs are abnormal or involves in the PTB pathology. In this study, we analyzed RNA-seq data of peripheral blood from preterm and term pregnant women and verified with microarray data. There were 211 circRNA expression disorders in PTB, of which 68 increased and 143 decreased. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the top 20 circRNAs competitively bind 68 miRNAs, thereby regulating 622 mRNAs mainly related to immunity, inflammation, and nerve activity, which may ultimately contribute to the occurrence of PTB. Moreover, 6 regulatory pairs, including hsa-MORC3_0001–hsa-miR-1248–CHRM2 were the core parts of this mechanism network, which might be therapeutic targets for PTB. Besides, ROC analysis indicated that hsa-ANKFY1_0025, hsa-FAM13B_0019, and hsa-NUSAP1_0010 (AUC = 0.7138, 0.9589, 1.000) have an excellent discrimination ability for PTB. Taken together, we explored for the first time the circRNA expression profile of PTB, and preliminarily analyzed its regulatory mechanism and predictive value for PTB, thus bringing new light to the diagnosis and treatment of PTB.
Genome-Wide Analysis of Cell-Free DNA Methylation Profiling for the Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

As one of the most malicious cancers, pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat due to the lack of effective early diagnosis. Therefore, it is urgent to find reliable diagnostic and predictive markers for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. In recent years, the detection of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation in plasma has attracted global attention for non-invasive and early cancer diagnosis. Here, we carried out a genome-wide cfDNA methylation profiling study of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation coupled with high-throughput sequencing (MeDIP-seq). Compared with healthy individuals, 775 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) located in promoter regions were identified in PDAC patients with 761 hypermethylated and 14 hypomethylated regions; meanwhile, 761 DMRs in CpG islands (CGIs) were identified in PDAC patients with 734 hypermethylated and 27 hypomethylated regions (p-value < 0.0001). Then, 143 hypermethylated DMRs were further selected which were located in promoter regions and completely overlapped with CGIs. After performing the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method, a total of eight markers were found to fairly distinguish PDAC patients from healthy individuals, including TRIM73, FAM150A, EPB41L3, SIX3, MIR663, MAPT, LOC100128977, and LOC100130148. In conclusion, this work identified a set of eight differentially methylated markers that may be potentially applied in non-invasive diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
Human Papillomavirus Infection in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas: Transcriptional Triggers and Changed Disease Patterns

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a heterogeneous group of cancers. Collectively, HNSCC ranks sixth in incidence rate worldwide. Apart from classical risk factors like tobacco and alcohol, infection of human papillomavirus (HPV) is emerging as a discrete risk factor for HNSCC. HPV-positive HNSCC represent a distinct group of diseases that differ in their clinical presentation. These lesions are well-differentiated, occur at an early age, and have better prognosis. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a specific increase in the proportions of the HPV-positive HNSCC. HPV-positive and HPV-negative HNSCC lesions display different disease progression and clinical response. For tumorigenic-transformation, HPV essentially requires a permissive cellular environment and host cell factors for induction of viral transcription. As the spectrum of host factors is independent of HPV infection at the time of viral entry, presumably entry of HPV only selects host cells that are permissive to establishment of HPV infection. Growing evidence suggest that HPV plays a more active role in a subset of HNSCC, where they are transcriptionally-active. A variety of factors provide a favorable environment for HPV to become transcriptionally-active. The most notable are the set of transcription factors that have direct binding sites on the viral genome. As HPV does not have its own transcription machinery, it is fully dependent on host transcription factors to complete the life cycle. Here, we review and evaluate the current evidence on level of a subset of host transcription factors that influence viral genome, directly or indirectly, in HNSCC. Since many of these transcription factors can independently promote carcinogenesis, the composition of HPV permissive transcription factors in a tumor can serve as a surrogate marker of a separate molecularly-distinct class of HNSCC lesions including those cases, where HPV could not get a chance to infect but may manifest better prognosis.
Promoting Resilience to Food Commercials Decreases Susceptibility to Unhealthy Food Decision-Making

Children are vulnerable to adverse effects of food advertising. Food commercials are known to increase hedonic, taste-oriented, and unhealthy food decisions. The current study examined how promoting resilience to food commercials impacted susceptibility to unhealthy food decision-making in children. To promote resilience to food commercials, we utilized the food advertising literacy intervention intended to enhance cognitive skepticism and critical thinking, and decrease positive attitudes toward commercials. Thirty-six children aged 8–12 years were randomly assigned to the food advertising literacy intervention or the control condition. Eighteen children received four brief intervention sessions via video over 1 week period. In each session, children watched six food commercials with interspersed embedded intervention narratives. While watching food commercials and narratives, children were encouraged to speak their thoughts out loud spontaneously (“think-aloud”), which provided children's attitudes toward commercials. Eighteen children in the control condition had four control sessions over 1 week, and watched the same food commercials without intervention narratives while thinking aloud. The first and last sessions were held in the laboratory, and the second and third sessions were held at the children's homes. Susceptibility to unhealthy food decision-making was indicated by the decision weights of taste attributes, taste perception, food choices, ad libitum snacking, and cognitive and affective attitudes toward food commercials. As hypothesized, the intervention successfully decreased susceptibility to unhealthy food decision-making evidenced by reduced decision weights of the taste in food decisions, decreased tasty perception of unhealthy foods, and increased cognitive skepticism and critical thinking toward food commercials. In addition, as children's opinions assimilated to intervention narratives, their cognitive skepticism and critical thinking toward commercials increased. The aforementioned results were not shown in the control condition. However, this brief intervention was not enough to change actual food choices or food consumption. Results of this study suggest that promoting resilience to food commercials by enhancing cognitive skepticism and critical thinking effectively reduced children's susceptibility to unhealthy food-decision making.
Systematic Analyses of the Role of the Reader Protein of N6-Methyladenosine RNA Methylation, YTH Domain Family 2, in Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background YTH domain family (YTHDF) 2 acts as a “reader” protein for RNA methylation, which is important in tumor regulation. However, the effect of YTHDF2 in liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) has yet to be elucidated. Methods We explored the role of YTHDF2 in LIHC based on publicly available datasets [The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)]. A bioinformatics approach was employed to analyze YTHDF2. Logistic regression analyses were applied to analyze the correlation between YTHDF2 expression and clinical characteristics. To evaluate the effect of YTHDF2 on the prognosis of LIHC patients, we used Kaplan–Meier (K–M) curves. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was undertaken using TCGA dataset. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were used to ascertain the correlations between YTHDF2 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics with survival. Genes co-expressed with YTHDF2 were identified and detected using publicly available datasets [LinkedOmics, University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), and GEO]. Correlations between YTHDF2 and infiltration of immune cells were investigated by Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) and GEPIA. Results mRNA and protein expression of YTHDF2 was significantly higher in LIHC tissues than in non-cancerous tissues. High YTHDF2 expression in LIHC was associated with poor prognostic clinical factors (high stage, grade, and T classification). K–M analyses indicated that high YTHDF2 expression was correlated with an unfavorable prognosis. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses revealed that YTHDF2 was an independent factor for a poor prognosis in LIHC patients. GSEA revealed that the high-expression phenotype of YTHDF2 was consistent with the molecular pathways implicated in LIHC carcinogenesis. Analyses of receiver operating characteristic curves showed that YTHDF2 might have a diagnostic value in LIHC patients. YTHDF2 expression was associated positively with SF3A3 expression, which implied that they may cooperate in LIHC progression. YTHDF2 expression was associated with infiltration of immune cells and their marker genes. YTHDF2 had the potential to regulate polarization of tumor-associated macrophages, induce T-cell exhaustion, and activate T-regulatory cells. Conclusion YTHDF2 may be a promising biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of LIHC and may provide new directions and strategies for LIHC treatment.