Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study on Combined CNN-SVM Model for Visual Object Recognition

In this paper, a model combining convolutional neural network (CNN) and support vector machine (SVM) as a classiﬁer is studied. A traditional CNN model is used to train a dataset, which is then regarded as a pre-trained model. We then extract the feature vectors from the outputs of diﬀerent layers and feed them to SVM to perform the classiﬁcation task. The main issue of this study is to examine which layers of a traditional CNN are more suitable for SVM in terms of recognition accuracy, generalization ability, and computation complexity. Experimental results, tested on the well-known datasets MNIST, Fashion-MNIST, and CIFAR-10, demonstrate that feature maps extracted from the last convolution layer produce the best performances in both accuracy and generalization.
Physical and nutritional factors affecting the production of amylase from species of bacillus isolated from spoiled food waste

Amylase producing Bacillus sp. was isolated from spoiled food waste, which yielded 30 U ml-1 of amylase in medium containing 4% starch and 2% yeast extract at 37°C, pH 7.0 after 20 h of incubation. Maximum amylase activity was at pH 7.0 and 37°C. The enzyme retained 70% activity at pH 9.0. It exhibited 77% activity at 42°C and decreased to a low value of 25% at 52°C proving it as sensitive for temperature. In addition, the identified enzyme showed a maximum activity (32 U/ml) with sodium dodecyl sulphate compared to other additives. Wheat was found to be a suitable natural source for maximum production of amylase activity. These properties indicated possible use of this amylase in starch saccharification and detergent formulation.
Extraction of English Drug Names Based on Bert-CNN Mode

Drugs bring good news to people’s health, while the adverse reactions caused by taking two or more drugs at the same time will aggravate the damage to patients’ health. Therefore, the research on the interaction between drugs has been a hot topic in the biomedical ﬁeld. This paper proposes the method of English drug name relation extraction based on the Bert-CNN. Usually, the methods of the extraction of entity relationship are mostly based on the word vector trained by Word2vec, Glove, and so forth. The problem of those methods is that they can’t distinguish the diﬀerent semantics of polysemous words. In this paper, Bert is used to train the word vectors. The word vectors generated by Bert are dynamically represented by the surrounding words of the word. Then, word vector is used as the high-quality feature input of the downstream CNN. F1 value of the proposed method obtained on DDIExtraction2013 dataset is 72.64%.
Changes in the Phenolic Compounds of Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) Induced by Infection with Verticillium nonalfalfae, the Causal Agent of Hop Verticillium Wilt

Phenolic compounds are involved in plant responses to various biotic and abiotic stress factors, with many studies suggesting their role in defense mechanisms against fungal pathogens. Soilborne vascular pathogen Verticillium nonalfalfae causes severe wilting and consequent dieback in a wide range of economically important crops, including hops (Humulus lupulus L.). In this study, we investigated the differential accumulation of phenolics in the susceptible “Celeia” and resistant “Wye Target” hop cultivars during the pathogenesis of Verticillium wilt. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that colonization in the roots of both cultivars was intensive, but decreased continuously throughout the experiment in the resistant cultivar, while the relative fungal amount continuously increased in the stems of the susceptible cultivar. In response to colonization in the roots of the resistant cultivar, a significant increase in total flavanols was detected at three days postinoculation (dpi), suggesting a possible role in preventing fungus spread into the stems. The accumulation of phenolic compounds was less pronounced in the stems of the resistant cultivar since, compared to the latter, significant increases in flavonols at 3 and 15 dpi and hydroxycinnamic acids at 6 dpi were observed in the stems of the susceptible cultivar.
Laboratory Tests for COVID-19: A Review of Peer-Reviewed Publications and Implications for Clinical UIse.

Diagnostic tests for the coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) are critical for prompt diagnosis, treatment and isolation to break the cycle of transmission. A positive real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), in conjunction with clinical and epidemiologic data, is the current standard for diagnosis, but several challenges still exist. Serological assays help to understand epidemiology better and to evaluate vaccine responses but they are unreliable for diagnosis in the acute phase of illness or assuming protective immunity. Serology is gaining attention, mainly because of convalescent plasma gaining importance as treatment for clinically worsening COVID-19 patients. We provide a narrative review of peer-reviewed research studies on RT-PCR, serology and antigen immune-assays for COVID-19, briefly describe their lab methods and discuss their limitations for clinical practice.
A pyrene-based two-photon excitable fluorescent probe to visualize nuclei in live cells

The two-photon absorption properties of a pyrene-pyridinium dye ( 1 ) were studied for potential application in two-photon spectroscopy. When probe 1 was used in cellular two-photon fluorescence microscopy imaging, it allowed the visualization of nuclei in live cells with a relatively low probe concentration (such as 1 µM). Spectroscopic evidence further revealed that probe 1 interacted with DNA as an intercalator. The proposed DNA intercalation properties of probe 1 were consistent with the experimental findings that suggested that the observed nucleus staining ability is dependent on the substituents on the pyridinium fragment of the probe.
Effect of Xylanase Supplementation and Particle-Size on Performance of Guinea Fowl Broilers Fed Wheat-Based Diets

The effect of xylanase enzyme supplementation and particle-size in wheat (Triticum durum)-based diets was studied in guinea broilers from 29 to 91 days of age. Weekly body weight, gain, feed consumption and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) were determined. Was formed 4 groups, each fed: diet A (ground wheat with enzyme); diet B (ground wheat without enzyme); diet C (ground wheat passed through 3 mm sieve, pelleted and after crumbled with enzyme): diet D (crumbled wheat without enzyme). The highest body weights values were recorded by guinea fowls fed diet C. Birds fed diet B have shown low mean values of body weight. Subjects fed diet C were obtained values of mean body weight different (p 0.05) compared to the diets C and D, regardless the supplementation of xylanase. Within every typology of diet (ground versus crumbled) aren't recorded differences (p<0.05) for the presence or not of enzyme, even if between crumbled diets, supplementation however has reduced feed consumptions. FCR of every diets shown't differences (p<0.05) among them, with values in guinea broilers fed supplemented diets similar to data recorded in birds fed unsupplemented diets. The supplementation of xylanase in a crumbled wheat-based diet improved the growth performance of guinea fowl broilers.
The effects of COVID-19 on perioperative morbidity and mortality in patients with hip fractures.

AIMS During the COVID-19 pandemic, many patients continue to require urgent surgery for hip fractures. However, the impact of COVID-19 on perioperative outcomes in these high-risk patients remains unknown. The objectives of this study were to establish the effects of COVID-19 on perioperative morbidity and mortality, and determine any risk factors for increased mortality in patients with COVID-19 undergoing hip fracture surgery. METHODS This multicentre cohort study included 340 COVID-19-negative patients versus 82 COVID-19-positive patients undergoing surgical treatment for hip fractures across nine NHS hospitals in Greater London, UK. Patients in both treatment groups were comparable for age, sex, body mass index, fracture configuration, and type of surgery performed. Predefined perioperative outcomes were recorded within a 30-day postoperative period. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to identify risk factors associated with increased risk of mortality. RESULTS COVID-19-positive patients had increased postoperative mortality rates (30.5% (25/82) vs 10.3% (35/340) respectively, p < 0.001) compared to COVID-19-negative patients. Risk factors for increased mortality in patients with COVID-19 undergoing surgery included positive smoking status (hazard ratio (HR) 15.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) 4.55 to 52.2; p < 0.001) and greater than three comorbidities (HR 13.5 (95% CI 2.82 to 66.0, p < 0.001). COVID-19-positive patients had increased risk of postoperative complications (89.0% (73/82) vs 35.0% (119/340) respectively; p < 0.001), more critical care unit admissions (61.0% (50/82) vs 18.2% (62/340) respectively; p < 0.001), and increased length of hospital stay (mean 13.8 days (SD 4.6) vs 6.7 days (SD 2.5) respectively; p < 0.001), compared to COVID-19-negative patients. CONCLUSION Hip fracture surgery in COVID-19-positive patients was associated with increased length of hospital stay, more admissions to the critical care unit, higher risk of perioperative complications, and increased mortality rates compared to COVID-19-negative patients. Risk factors for increased mortality in patients with COVID-19 undergoing surgery included positive smoking status and multiple (greater than three) comorbidities.
Proposal of Markov chains to determine buying probability in a period, with non-determined probability factors to elucidated consumer behavior

Since computer’s born, life in various aspect of life started to change. New technologies made possible faster and more accurate calculus processes, data analysis and information building. Now a day it is well know the powerful help of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to society. Resumen Es muy importante reconocer el rol que juega el estudio de mercado para la implementación de una estrategia de mercado. Además de ello es importante considera que el estudio de mercado requiere de una gran cantidad de diferentes recursos de la organización, principalmente recursos financieros. Sin embargo, esta clase de son necesarios con el objeto de generar parámetros para el proceso de toma de decisiones, sobre todo en el momento de colocar el producto o servicio en el mercado de consumo. Lo anterior debido a que el estudio de mercado genera un punto de partida y provee información para determinar las necesidades del consumidor final. La cadena de Markov es una herramienta muy útil, especialmente al considerar un ambiente de escases de recursos. Mediante el uso de las TIC (Tecnología de Información Comunicación), es posible generar escenarios en los cuales se pueda predecir la preferencia del consumidor por cierto tipo de producto.
Learning with Feature and Distribution Evolvable Streams

In many real-world applications, data are collected in the form of a stream, whose feature space can evolve over time. For instance, in the environmental monitoring task, features can be dynamically vanished or augmented due to the existence of expired old sensors and deployed new sensors. Furthermore, besides the evolvable feature space, the data distribution is usually changing in the streaming scenario. When both feature space and data distribution are evolvable, it is quite challenging to design algorithms with guarantees, particularly theoretical understandings of generalization ability. To address this difﬁculty, we propose a novel discrepancy measure for data with evolving feature space and data distribution, named the evolving discrepancy . Based on that, we present the generalization error analysis, and the theory motivates the design of a learning algo-rithm which is further implemented by deep neural networks. Empirical studies on synthetic data verify the rationale of our proposed discrepancy measure, and extensive experiments on real-world tasks validate the effectiveness of our algorithm.
Quantifying Kids

It has been known for several decades that young children have difficulties with universal sentences. In this article, I present an analysis of the main errors that have been reported in the literature. My proposal is based on an old idea, namely, that children's errors are caused by a noncanonical mapping from syntactic form to semantic representation. Previous theories based on this assumption were not entirely successful because they lacked the proper framework for dealing with quantification. In particular, they failed to recognize the importance of the distinction between weak and strong quantifiers. Everything falls into place, or so I argue, if this distinction is taken into account.
Ammonium release by nitrogen sufficient diatoms in response to rapid increases in irradiance

It has been hypothesized that nitrogen-replete diatoms, but not flagellates, may release NO2 - , NH4 + or dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) following rapid increases in irradiance (and conse- quently an increase in cellular electron energy), as might be expected to occur in a vertically well mixed estuarine system. Just as the increase in irradiance leads to an increase in cellular energy, so too would a decrease in temperature, due to the temperature dependency of biosynthetic enzymes. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the response of nitrogen-replete diatoms (Skeletomena costatum, Thalassiosira weissflogii and Chaetoceros sp.) and flagellates (Dunaliella tertiolecta, Pavlova lutheri and Prorocentrum minimum) to rapid increases in irradiance and decreases in temperature. Short-term (<3 h) changes in extracellular NO2 - and NH4 + concentrations were measured in cultures following these experimental shifts, as well as in cultures retained at the growth irradiance. Net rates of NO2 and NH4 + release were calculated from the time course of extracellular nitrogen concentra- tions. As a fraction of NO3 - uptake, NO2 - release rates under the increased irradiance increased marginally relative to NO2 - release rates under the growth irradiance. Release rates of NH4 + under the increased irradiance increased nearly fivefold over release rates at the growth irradiance, and accounted for 84% of the NO3 - uptake rate. In direct contrast to the diatom species, the flagellate species released NO2 under the higher experimental irradiance at rates one half those of the release rates under the growth irradiance, and continued to take up NH4 + under both irradiance conditions. Within the experimental boundaries, these findings have important physiological and ecological impli- cations. The magnitude of the observed nitrogen release represents a significant physiological sink for electrons and, in fact, calculations suggest that up to 62% of the total electrons harvested could be consumed. From an ecological perspective, these findings add to the body of literature which suggests that a significant fraction of the nitrogen that is taken up is ultimately released in dissolved form. More importantly, these data suggest that DON is not the only compound that phytoplankton may release in the aquatic environment.
The Arginine Deiminase Pathway Impacts Antibiotic Tolerance during Biofilm-Mediated Streptococcus pyogenes Infections

Biofilm-mediated bacterial infections are a major threat to human health because of their recalcitrance to antibiotic treatment. Through the study of Streptococcus pyogenes, a significant human pathogen that is known to form antibiotic-tolerant biofilms, we demonstrated the role that a bacterial pathway known for responding to acid stress plays in biofilm growth and antibiotic tolerance. This not only provides some insight into antibiotic treatment failure in S. pyogenes infections but also, given the widespread nature of this pathway, provides a potentially broad target for antibiofilm therapies. This discovery has the potential to impact the treatment of many different types of recalcitrant biofilm infections. ABSTRACT Bacterial biofilms are responsible for a variety of serious human infections and are notoriously difficult to treat due to their recalcitrance to antibiotics. Further work is necessary to elicit a full understanding of the mechanism of this antibiotic tolerance. The arginine deiminase (ADI) pathway is responsible for bacterial pH maintenance and is highly expressed during biofilm growth in multiple bacterial species. Using the group A Streptococcus (GAS) as a model human pathogen, the ADI pathway was demonstrated to contribute to biofilm growth. The inability of antibiotics to reduce GAS populations when in a biofilm was demonstrated by in vitro studies and a novel animal model of nasopharyngeal infection. However, disruption of the ADI pathway returned GAS biofilms to planktonic levels of antibiotic sensitivity, suggesting the ADI pathway is influential in biofilm-related antibiotic treatment failure and provides a new strategic target for the treatment of biofilm infections in GAS and potentially numerous other bacterial species. IMPORTANCE Biofilm-mediated bacterial infections are a major threat to human health because of their recalcitrance to antibiotic treatment. Through the study of Streptococcus pyogenes, a significant human pathogen that is known to form antibiotic-tolerant biofilms, we demonstrated the role that a bacterial pathway known for responding to acid stress plays in biofilm growth and antibiotic tolerance. This not only provides some insight into antibiotic treatment failure in S. pyogenes infections but also, given the widespread nature of this pathway, provides a potentially broad target for antibiofilm therapies. This discovery has the potential to impact the treatment of many different types of recalcitrant biofilm infections.
Crystal-Plasticity-Finite-Element Modeling of the Quasi-Static and Dynamic Response of a Directionally Solidified Nickel-Base Superalloy

The flow stress behaviour of a directionally solidified nickel-base superalloy, MAR-M247, is presented through the combination of experiments and crystal-plasticity simulations. The experimental campaign encompassed quasi-static and dynamic testing in the parallel and perpendicular orientation with respect to the columnar grains. The material showed low strain-rate sensitivity in all cases. Virtual samples were generated with DREAM3d and each grain orientation was established according to the DS nature of the alloy. The elasto-visco-plastic response of each crystal is given by phenomenological-base equations, considering the dislocation–dislocation interactions among different slip systems. The hardening-function constants and the strain-rate sensitivity parameter were fitted with the information from tests parallel to the grain-growth direction and the model was able to predict with accuracy the experimental response in the perpendicular direction, confirming the suitability of the model to be used as a tool for virtual testing. Simulations also revealed that in oligocrystalline structures of this type, the yield-strength value is controlled by the grains with higher Schmid factor, while this influence decreases when plastic strain increases. Moreover, the analysis of the micro-fields confirmed that grains perpendicular to the loading axis are prone to nucleate cavities since the stresses in these regions can be twice the external applied stress.
Effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy on Evoked and Induced Gamma Oscillations in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a behaviorally diagnosed neurodevelopmental condition of unknown pathology. Research suggests that abnormalities of elecltroencephalogram (EEG) gamma oscillations may provide a biomarker of the condition. In this study, envelope analysis of demodulated waveforms for evoked and induced gamma oscillations in response to Kanizsa figures in an oddball task were analyzed and compared in 19 ASD and 19 age/gender-matched neurotypical children. The ASD group was treated with low frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), (1.0 Hz, 90% motor threshold, 18 weekly sessions) targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In ASD subjects, as compared to neurotypicals, significant differences in evoked and induced gamma oscillations were evident in higher magnitude of gamma oscillations pre-TMS, especially in response to non-target cues. Recordings post-TMS treatment in ASD revealed a significant reduction of gamma responses to task-irrelevant stimuli. Participants committed fewer errors post-TMS. Behavioral questionnaires showed a decrease in irritability, hyperactivity, and repetitive behavior scores. The use of a novel metric for gamma oscillations. i.e., envelope analysis using wavelet transformation allowed for characterization of the impedance of the originating neuronal circuit. The results suggest that gamma oscillations may provide a biomarker reflective of the excitatory/inhibitory balance of the cortex and a putative outcome measure for interventions in autism.
Do specific types of sleep disturbances represent risk factors for poorer health-related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease? A longitudinal cohort study.

OBJECTIVES Poor global sleep quality is commonly reported in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and is linked to poorer health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, understanding is currently limited by a lack of: (1) longitudinal research and (2) research investigating the impact of specific types of problems sleeping on IBD-related outcomes, particularly on HRQoL. DESIGN Observational longitudinal cohort study. METHODS N = 276 participants with IBD completed measures at baseline (T1) and 4 weeks later at T2. Four specific sleep disturbances associated with IBD including sleep apnoea, insomnia, restless legs, and nightmares were measured alongside depression, anxiety and stress, and HRQoL. RESULTS After controlling for participant demographics and clinical characteristics, T1 depression, anxiety, stress, and T1 HRQoL, more severe symptom severity of sleep apnoea (B = -0.30, p < .05) and insomnia symptoms (B = -0.23, p < .05) at T1 significantly predicted poorer HRQoL at T2. However, the experience of restless legs (B = -0.03, p > .87) and nightmares (B = -0.14, p > .11) at T1 did not predict HRQoL. CONCLUSION Symptoms synonymous with sleep apnoea and insomnia might represent modifiable risk factors that provide independent contributions to HRQoL over time in those with IBD. These findings suggest that interventions designed to improve sleep apnoea and insomnia could confer benefits to HRQoL in those with IBD. However, more longitudinal research is needed to understand the contribution of sleep disturbances over the longer term, as well as more randomized controlled trials testing the effect of improving sleep on IBD-related outcomes.