Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Severe Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Appearing in the Advanced Stage of Alzheimers Disease: A Case Report

The association of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is not uncommon. However, we herein report a rare case of AD that showed severe NPH at the late stage of AD. A 74-year-old woman developed forgetfulness without motor disturbances at 56 years old and was diagnosed with AD because of imaging findings showing atrophy of the fronto-temporo-parietal lobes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a decrease in the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) of the frontotemporo- parietal lobes on single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Eight years later, she showed progressive rigidity and akinesia of the arms and legs suggestive of parkinsonism, along with intermittent myoclonus of the arms, both more marked on the right. Her myoclonus was moderately controlled by oral clonazepam. She became bed-ridden at 74 years old and was admitted to our hospital (Tokuyama Medical Association Hospital) for endoscopic gastrostomy. At this time, head computed tomography showed severe NPH based on the radiological diagnostic criteria of idiopathic NPH (iNPH). We concluded no indication of ventriculoperitoneal shunt operation because of her severe dementia, and then she was transferred to a nursing home. This case is interesting, as the NPH imaging findings that appeared at the late stage of AD were striking. Her severe parkinsonism might have been due in part to NPH, although the myoclonus was considered to be of AD origin. Sequential radiological studies are useful for clarifying the clinical manifestations of AD patients.
CONTROL OF HUMAN FILARIAL VECTOR, CULEX QUINQUEFASCIATUS (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) THROUGH COMBINATION OF THE ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGUS, METARHIZIUM ANISOPLIAE AND NANOPARTICLES OF ZINC OXIDE AND ALUMINUM OXIDE

Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) is a vector of many pathogens and parasites of humans,as well as domestic and wild animals. Its eradication or control is regarded as one of the important alternativeavailable in preventing and controlling such diseases. Thus, there is an urgent need to checkthe proliferation of the population of vector mosquitoes in order to reduce vector-borne diseases byappropriate control methods. This study investigated the effect of the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhiziumanisopliae against Cx. quinquefasciatus larvae, as well as its effect when combined withzinc oxide (ZnO) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles (NPs). Larvae were exposed to differentconcentrations of fungus, M. anisopliae (1.42×105, 1.42×106, 1.42×107, 1.42×108 spore/ml). Mortalityrates of fourth instars ranged from 100% for the highest spore concentration to 80% for lowest sporeconcentration tested. Larvae exposed to different concentrations of ZnO & Al2O3 (5, 10, & 30mg/ l)combined individually with low concentration of fungus, M. anisopliae, showed significantly highrates of mortality reaching 100% and 96.25% for ZnO & Al2O3, respectively after 4 days of treatment.SEM micrographs confirmed the attachment and penetration of the fungus M. anisopliae into the larvalcuticle in different body parts. The combination of NPs and fungus had a synergistic effect on larvaemortality. This study showed that addition of the synthesized nano-metal oxides to M. anisopliae havegreater efficacy on control of Cx. quinquefasciatus larvae.
Towards the Increase in Granularity for the Main Hadronic ATLAS Calorimeter: Exploiting Deep Learning Methods

During the second phase upgrade program developed for LHC and its experiments, the main hadronic calorimeter of ATLAS (TileCal) will replace completely its readout electronics, but the optical signal pathway and detector will be kept unchanged. During the R&D studies for the upgrade, initial analyses for improving the calorimeter granularity were made. A granularity improvement could be achieved through the introduction of Multi-Anode Photomultiplier Tubes (MA-PMTs) into the calorimeter readout chain, together with applications of image processing algorithms for identifying sub-regions on calorimeter cells. This paper presents the latest results from using a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to generate synthetic images, which simulate real images formed in the MA-PMT. After the classification of cell sub-regions, preliminary results show a classification accuracy of more than 98% on the experimental test set.
On the effect of the uniaxial strain on the thermal conductivity coefficient of the nitrogen-doped graphene nanosheets

In this paper, using molecular dynamics simulations, the thermal properties of the nitrogen-doped graphene sheets are investigated. For this purpose, the LAMMPS software is employed. To study the effect of the atomic structure on the thermal conductivity coefficient of the nitrogen-doped graphene, armchair and zigzag nanosheets are modelled. The thermal conductivity coefficients of the N-doped graphene with the nitrogen percentages between 0%-15% are computed. Finally, applying the uniaxial strains in the range of 0-10%, the effect of strain on the thermal conductivity coefficient of the N-doped graphene is evaluated. It is observed that zigzag N-doped graphene sheets have larger thermal conductivity coefficients than the armchair nanosheets with the same sizes and N-doping percentages. Increasing the N-percentage leads to decreasing the thermal conductivity coefficient of the armchair and zigzag graphene sheets. Furthermore, applying the uniaxial strain results in increasing the thermal conductivity coefficient of the N-doped graphene sheets. Article history Received: 2017-12-09 Revised: 2018-01-05 Accepted: 2018-02-27
Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infections in selected military camps in Tanzania

Background: Despite a decrease in malaria burden reported between 2000 and 2015, an increasing trend of malaria transmission has been recently reported in some endemic countries including Tanzania. Periodic monitoring to identify pocket areas for asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection is vital for malaria elimination efforts. The objective of this study was to determine prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infections among military recruits in selected camps in Tanzania. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 at four military camps (Bulombora, Mgambo, Ruvu, and Rwamkoma) of National Service located in regions with varying malaria endemicity in Tanzania. Finger prick blood samples collected from asymptomatic military recruits who had been at the camps for over two months were simultaneously tested using microscopy and malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) to detect malaria parasite infections. Results: Malaria parasite prevalence among asymptomatic recruits was 20.3% and 19.4% by microscopy and mRDT respectively. There was moderate agreement (Kappa=0.724) between microscopy and mRDT test results. A significant difference (p<0.001) of malaria parasite prevalence among the four study camps was observed; ranging from 1.9% in Bulombora to 39.4% in Rwamkoma. The geometric mean parasite density was 11,053 asexual parasites/µl and most recruits (56.8%) had 200 to 1999 asexual parasites/µl. P. falciparum was the predominant (99.2%) malaria parasite species. Conclusion: Our study found high prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infections among military recruits in the selected camps, and this varied from one camp to another. The study has highlighted that public residence institutions such as military camps can be potential hotspots for malaria infection and therefore should not be skipped in routine national malaria surveillance system for monitoring trends of infections
PhostagTM-gel retardation and in situ thylakoid kinase assay for determination of chloroplast protein phosphorylation targets

The chloroplast phosphorylation network is important for posttranslational regulation of photosynthetic complexes, gene expression and metabolic pathways. In mass-spectrometric analyses a lot of putative phosphorylation targets have been found but these data need to be confirmed and brought into a physiological context. Here, we present a current protocol to quantify the phosphorylation state of thylakoid proteins and an in situ method to verify putative substrates for thylakoid associated kinases.
Non‐invasive methods for the assessment of brown adipose tissue in humans

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a recently rediscovered tissue in people that has shown promise as a potential therapeutic target against obesity and its metabolic abnormalities. Reliable non‐invasive assessment of BAT volume and activity is critical to allow its importance in metabolic control to be evaluated. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in combination with 2‐deoxy‐2‐[18F]fluoroglucose administration is currently the most frequently used and most established method for the detection and quantification of activated BAT in humans. However, it involves radiation exposure and can detect activated (e.g. after cold exposure), but not quiescent, BAT. Several alternative methods that overcome some of these limitations have been developed including different PET approaches, single‐photon emission imaging, CT, magnetic resonance based approaches, contrast‐enhanced ultrasound, near infrared spectroscopy, and temperature assessment of fat depots containing brown adipocytes. The purpose of this review is to summarize and critically evaluate the currently available methods that non‐invasively probe various aspects of BAT biology in order to assess BAT volume and/or metabolism. Although several of these methods show promise for the non‐invasive assessment of BAT volume and function, further research is needed to optimize them to enable an accurate, reproducible and practical means for the assessment of human BAT content and its metabolic function.
Application Status of Rubidium, Cesium and Research Situation of its Separation from Brine with Solvent Extraction

Rubidium, cesium and its compounds play an important role in traditional and high-tech fields. This paper focuses on the research status of separation rubidium and cesium in brine using solvent extraction, and briefly introduced the characteristics of this method, which can be used to realize industrial production of rubidium and cesium from brine.
A Fuzzy Logic-Based On-Demand Charging Algorithm for Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Networks With Multiple Chargers

Mobile chargers have greatly promoted the wireless rechargeable sensor networks (WRSNs). While most recent works have focused on recharging the WRSNs in an on-demand fashion, little attention has been paid on joint consideration of multiple mobile chargers (MCs) and multi-node energy transfer for determining the charging schedule of energy-hungry nodes. Moreover, most of the schemes leave out the contemplation of multiple network attributes while making scheduling decisions and even they overlook the issue of ill-timed charging response to the nodes with uneven energy consumption rates. In this paper, we address the aforesaid issues together and propose a novel scheduling scheme for on-demand charging in WRSNs. We first present an efficient network partitioning method for distributing the MCs so as to evenly balance their workload. We next adopt the fuzzy logic which blends various network attributes for determining the charging schedule of the MCs. We also formulate an expression to determine the charging threshold for the nodes that vary depending on their energy consumption rate. Extensive simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and competitiveness of our scheme. The comparison results reveal that the proposed scheme improves charging performance compared to the state-of-the-art schemes with respect to various performance metrics.
Expression and biochemical characterization of maltogenic amylase from bacillus lehensis G1

This study was carried out for the expression and characterization of maltogenic amylase (MAG1) from Bacillus lehensis G1. Amplification of 1741 base pair gene fragments encoding MAG1 and expression in Escherichia coli have been successful. The expression of MAG1 was optimized at 30°C and 0.5 mM isopropyl s-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) for a period of 12 hour post-induction time. Purification of the crude enzyme was done using the ACTAprime System which uses the concept of affinity chromatography. The optimum temperature and pH of the purified MAG1 were 40 °C and pH 7.0 respectively. The enzyme did not show potent thermostability and was stable at pH ranging from 7.0 to 9.0. The purified MAG1 has a preference towards cyclodextrin (CD) specifically s-CD. Starches were least favored by MAG1 followed by pullulan. Only the metal ion Mn2+ increased the activity of MAG1 while K2+, Li2+ and Mg2+ slightly affect its activity. The metal ion Ca2+ significantly reduced MAG1 activity while Fe2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, Pb2+ and Ni2+ drastically reduced the activity of MAG1. In terms of additives, only 2- mercaptoethanol (2-ME) managed to enhance the activity of MAG1 while ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and Tween20 did not affect its activity. Drastic reduction of MAG1 activity was caused by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), methanol and ethanol. The hydrolysis pattern of MAG1 was studied using CDs and maltooligosaccharides. The hydrolysis of CDs resulted in the formation of maltose but no glucose was detected. MAG1 was also able to linearize the CDs. MAG1 did not react with glucose, maltose and maltotriose but did react with maltotetraose, maltopentaose, maltohexaose and maltoheptaose to produce mainly maltose and maltotriose. The Km and Vmax of MAG1 towards s-CD were 6.358 mg/mL and 91.63 µmol/min respectively
Spray drying encapsulation of red wine: Stability of total monomeric anthocyanins and structural alterations upon storage

Wine C. Sauvignon was encapsulated by spray drying to obtain a wine powder having a low water activity (aw). Maltodextrin DE10 was added to wine before atomization. The retention of Total Monomeric Anthocyanins (TMA) in the wine powder was found to be above 83%. Wine powder was stored under various relative humidities, and TMA concentration was determined up to 120 days at 38 °C. Anthocyanins decreased steadily during storage and increasing RH% enhanced the losses. Results stressed the importance of aw (or RH%) as a key control parameter for anthocyanins stability during storage. Encapsulated wine collapsed when exposed few days to 58% RH and 38 °C; this was investigated by spray drying wine model systems containing various nonvolatile components of the dry extract, namely glycerol, organic acids, and monosaccharides. Structural alterations of encapsulated wine were attributed to glycerol, main component of dry extract and which has a very low glass transition temperature. Practical applications The main practical application of this work is that it allows the wine to be transformed into a freely flowing powder by the addition of maltodextrin before the atomization stage in spray drying. The encapsulated wine contains 5 times the concentration of anthocyanins than that in liquid wine (both expressed in mg/100 g). This is the first published work on spray drying of red wine.
Prevalence of Neck Pain Among Otolaryngologists

Background: otolaryngologists spend their workdays in performing markedly precise procedures in small works places i.e. the patients’ ear, nose and throat. Due to this, they frequently adopt awkward neck, back and shoulder postures while using devices like otoscope, endoscope and microscope. So, the otolaryngologists’ job profile puts them at high risk for musculoskeletal disorders like neck pain. Purpose: of the study was to investigate the prevalence of work-related neck pain among otolaryngologists - head and neck surgeons. Patients and Methods: specific questionnaire based on Visual Analog Scale and Neck Disability Index was given to one hundred otolaryngologists, head and neck surgeons of both gender, age from 30 to 40 years selected from ENT Departments in Hospitals of Ministry of Health. Results: The statistical analysis revealed that the prevalence of work-related neck pain among otolaryngologists was (69%). Regarding the severity of pain, (80%) reported pain as mild pain while (20%) reported pain as moderate. Conclusion: It could be concluded that work related neck pain is common among Egyptian Otolaryngologists, making otolaryngologists at a high-risk group. There is a need to improve ergonomics in the clinical and operative room settings and to educate otolaryngologists on ergonomic principles.
Designing Multicolor Micropatterns of Inverse Opals with Photonic Bandgap and Surface Plasmon Resonance

Structural coloration provides unique features over chemical coloration, such as nonfading, color tunability, and high color brightness, rendering it useful in various optical applications. To develop the structural colors, two different mechanisms of coloration–photonic bandgap (PBG) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR)–have been separately utilized. In this work, a new method is suggested to create structurally colored micropatterns by regioselectively employing SPR in a single film of inverse opal with PBG. The inverse opals are prepared by thermal embedding of opal into a negative photoresist and its subsequent removal. The inverse opals have a hexagonal array of open pores on the surface which serves as a template to make SPR‐active nanostructures through a directional deposition of gold, a perforated gold film and an array of curved gold disks are formed. With a shadow mask lithographically prepared, the gold is regioselectively deposited on the surface of the inverse opal, which results in two distinct regions of gold‐free inverse opal with PBG and gold nanostructure with SPR. As PBG and SPR develop their own structural colors respectively, the resultant micropatterns exhibit pronounced dual colors. More importantly, the micropatterns show the distinguished optical response for evaporation of volatile liquids that occupy the pores.
Trophic states regulate assembly processes and network structures of small chromophytic phytoplankton communities in subtropical coastal ecosystem

Small chromophytic phytoplankton (SCP) are anticipated to be more important for a significant proportion of primary production in estuarine-coastal ecosystems. However, responses of SCP community to coastal eutrophication are still unclear. In this study, we investigated diversity, co-occurrence and assembly features of SCP communities, as well as their relationship with environmental factors in the subtropical Beibu Gulf. The results exhibited that the alpha diversity (ANOVA, p < 0.001) and beta diversity (ANOSIM, p < 0.001) of SCP communities were significantly different among eutrophic states. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed a complex interaction between SCP community and environmental factors. Most ASVs in modules of the network were specific to trophic states. Further, phylogenetic based β-nearest taxon distance analyses revealed that stochastic processes mainly provided 69.26% contribution to SCP community assembly, whereas deterministic processes dominated community assembly in a heavy eutrophic state. Importantly, increased environmental disturbances, such as nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients, could alter SCP community structure and disrupt ecological processes. Overall, our findings elucidate the mechanism of diversity and assembly in marine SCP community and promote the understanding of SCP ecology related to subtropical coastal eutrophication.
PROTOPLAST AT THE TIME OF GENOME EDITING

Many uses of protoplasts, plant cells with the cell wall removed, have been explored. Many advantages of the system have been realized and proven in recent years in various physiological, biochemical, genetic, and molecular biological studies. Reliable methods to isolate viable protoplasts from a broad variety of plant species have been established. Regeneration of plants from protoplasts has become one of the options involved in crop gene manipulation and crop improvement. Here, we present how protoplast system may help crop gene editing and novel trait development, and discuss the potentials and challenges of this approach.
A Complex Intervention to Improve Intercultural Communication and Aboriginal Patient Outcomes: Which Components Worked?

BackgroundAboriginal language interpreters are under-utilised in healthcare in northern Australia. Self-discharge from hospital is an adverse outcome occurring at high rates among Aboriginal people, with poor communication thought to be a contributor. We previously reported increased Aboriginal interpreter uptake and decreased rates of self-discharge during implementation of a 12-month hospital-based intervention. Interrupted time-series analysis showed sudden increase and up-trending improvement in interpreter use, and a corresponding decrease in self-discharge rates, during a 12-month intervention period (April 2018 - March 2019) compared with a 24-month baseline period (April 2016 – March 2018). This paper aims to explore reasons for these outcomes, and further explore the likelihood of a causal association between study activities and outcomes. MethodsWe used the ‘Template for Intervention Description and Replication’ (TIDieR) as a framework to describe intervention components and evaluate their relative importance. Information on intercurrent activities that may have contaminated study findings was reviewed. The relationship between proportion of hospital separations among Aboriginal people ending in self-discharge and numbers of Aboriginal interpreter bookings made during April 2016-March 2019 was tested using linear regression. ResultsOne full-time Aboriginal Interpreter Coordinator was employed for the intervention period who identified language needs, promoted interpreter use and mentored interpreters. The intervention period start date corresponded with commencement of this role. Three ‘Working with Interpreter’ training sessions were held during the intervention period reaching 83 clinicians, and three medical officers volunteered as champions of interpreter use in hospital practice. Employment of the Aboriginal Interpreter Coordinator was deemed the most important component of the intervention, based on reach compared to the other components and timing of the changes in outcomes. There was an inverse association between interpreter bookings and self-discharge rate among Aboriginal inpatients (p=0.02). This association, the timing of changes and assessment of intercurrent activities at the hospital indicated that the study intervention was likely to be casually related to the measured outcomes. ConclusionsCommunication in healthcare can be improved through targeted strategies, with associated improvements in patient outcomes. Health services with high interpreter needs would benefit from employing an interpreter coordinator.