Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early Management of Spinal Cord Injury: WFNS Spine Committee Recommendations

Scientific knowledge today is being generated more rapidly than we can assimilate thus requiring continuous review of gold-standards for diagnosis and treatment of specific pathologies. The aim of this paper is to provide an update on the best early management of spinal cord injury (SCI), in order to produce acceptable worldwide recommendations to standardize clinical practice as much as possible.The WFNS Spine Committee voted recommendations regarding management of SCI based on literature review of the last 10 years. The committee stated 9 recommendations on 3 main topics: (1) clinical assessment and classification of SCI; (2) emergency care and early management; (3) cardiopulmonary management. American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale, Spinal Cord Independence Measure, and International Spinal Cord Injury Basic Pain Data Set are considered the most useful and feasible in emergency evaluation and follow-up in case of SCI. Magnetic resonance imaging is the most indicated examination to evaluate patients with symptomatic SCI. In early phase, correction of hypotension (systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg), and bradycardia are strongly recommended. Surgical decompression should be performed as soon as possible with the ideal surgical time being within 8 hours for both complete and incomplete lesions.
ADeditome provides the genomic landscape of A-to-I RNA editing in Alzheimer's disease

A-to-I RNA editing, contributing to nearly 90% of all editing events in human, has been reported to involve in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) due to its roles in brain development and immune regulation, such as the deficient editing of GluA2 Q/R related to cell death and memory loss. Currently, there are urgent needs for the systematic annotations of A-to-I RNA editing events in AD. Here, we built ADeditome, the annotation database of A-to-I RNA editing in AD available at https://ccsm.uth. edu/ADeditome, aiming to provide a resource and reference for functional annotation of A-to-I RNA editing in AD to identify therapeutically targetable genes in an individual. We detected 1676 363 editing sites in 1524 samples across nine brain regions from ROSMAP, MayoRNAseq and MSBB. For these editing events, we performed multiple functional annotations including identification of specific and disease stage associated editing events and the influence of editing events on gene expression, protein recoding, alternative splicing and miRNA regulation for all the genes, especially for AD-related genes in order to explore the pathology of AD. Combing all the analysis results, we found 108 010 and 26 168 editing events which may promote or inhibit AD progression, respectively. We also found 5582 brain region-specific editing events with potentially dual roles in AD across different brain regions. ADeditome will be a unique resource for AD and drug research communities to identify therapeutically targetable editing events. Significance: ADeditome is the first comprehensive resource of the functional genomics of individual A-to-I RNA editing events in AD, which will be useful for many researchers in the fields of AD pathology, precision medicine, and therapeutic researches.
Co-producing uncertainty in public science: The case of genomic selection in forestry

Co-production can inform analysis and communication of the uncertainties associated with novel forms of science and technology. Genomic selection—a relatively novel management tool consisting of predictive modeling based on associations between genetic and phenotypic data—holds many unknowns, particularly when used as a climate adaptation strategy. Approaching genomic selection as an example of public science, we examined beliefs about uncertainty and public engagement in a community of forest research professionals. Findings show broad-ranging approaches to uncertainty, alongside a prevalence of deficit accounts of public engagement. Even with broad acknowledgment of a range of uncertainties, forestry experts nonetheless relied on statistical, quantitative methods to manage uncertainties, in ways that overshadowed discussions about ignorance, indeterminacy, and ambiguity. Social scientists can enhance the communication of uncertainty in public science by making apparent expert-based assumptions about knowledge and intended audiences.
Mobility-Included DNN Partition Offloading from Mobile Devices to Edge Clouds

The latest results in Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have greatly improved the accuracy and performance of a variety of intelligent applications. However, running such computation-intensive DNN-based applications on resource-constrained mobile devices definitely leads to long latency and huge energy consumption. The traditional way is performing DNNs in the central cloud, but it requires significant amounts of data to be transferred to the cloud over the wireless network and also results in long latency. To solve this problem, offloading partial DNN computation to edge clouds has been proposed, to realize the collaborative execution between mobile devices and edge clouds. In addition, the mobility of mobile devices is easily to cause the computation offloading failure. In this paper, we develop a mobility-included DNN partition offloading algorithm (MDPO) to adapt to user’s mobility. The objective of MDPO is minimizing the total latency of completing a DNN job when the mobile user is moving. The MDPO algorithm is suitable for both DNNs with chain topology and graphic topology. We evaluate the performance of our proposed MDPO compared to local-only execution and edge-only execution, experiments show that MDPO significantly reduces the total latency and improves the performance of DNN, and MDPO can adjust well to different network conditions.
Characterization of Lignin Compounds at the Molecular Level: Mass Spectrometry Analysis and Raw Data Processing

Lignin is the second most abundant natural biopolymer, which is a potential alternative to conventional fossil fuels. It is also a promising material for the recovery of valuable chemicals such as aromatic compounds as well as an important biomarker for terrestrial organic matter. Lignin is currently produced in large quantities as a by-product of chemical pulping and cellulosic ethanol processes. Consequently, analytical methods are required to assess the content of valuable chemicals contained in these complex lignin wastes. This review is devoted to the application of mass spectrometry, including data analysis strategies, for the elemental and structural elucidation of lignin products. We describe and critically evaluate how these methods have contributed to progress and trends in the utilization of lignin in chemical synthesis, materials, energy, and geochemistry.
One-Year Follow-Up Diagnostic Stability of Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis in a Clinical Sample of Children and Toddlers

Some studies show that the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder could be considered reliable and stable in children aged 18 to 24 months. Nevertheless, the diagnostic stability of early ASD diagnosis has not yet been fully demonstrated. This observational study examines the one-year diagnostic stability of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in a clinical sample of 147 children diagnosed between 18 and 48 months of age. The ADOS-2 scores were used in order to stratify children in three levels of symptom severity: Autism (AD; comparison score 5–7), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; comparison score 3–4), and Sub-Threshold Symptoms; (STS; comparison score 1–2). Results: Overall, the largest part of children and toddlers diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder between 18 and 48 months continued to show autistic symptoms at one-year follow-up evaluation. Nevertheless, a significant percentage of children with higher ADOS severity scores exhibited a reduction of symptom severity and, therefore, moved towards a milder severity class one year later. Conversely, the number of subjects of the STS group meaningfully increased. Therefore, at one-year follow-up a statistically significant (χ2(2) = 181.46, p < 0.0001) percentage of subjects (25.2% of the total) who had received a categorical diagnosis of Autistic Disorder or Autism Spectrum Disorder in baseline no longer met the criteria for a categorical diagnosis. Furthermore, children who no longer met the criteria for autism spectrum disorder continue to show delays in one or more neurodevelopmental areas, possibly related to the emergence of other neurodevelopmental/neuropsychiatric disorders. Overall, the comprehensive results of the study account for a high sensibility but a moderate stability of ASD early diagnosis.
Body Roundness Index, A Body Shape Index, Conicity Index, and Their Association with Nutritional Status and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in South African Rural Young Adults

Background: The study aimed to investigate the association of Body Roundness Index (BRI), A Body Shape Index (ABSI), and Conicity Index with nutritional status and cardiovascular risk factors in South African rural young adults. Methods: The study included a total of 624 young adults aged 21–30 years from the Ellisras rural area. Anthropometric indices, blood pressure (BP), and biochemical measurements were measured. Results: BRI was significantly correlated with insulin (0.252 males, females 0.255), homeostatic model assessment (HOMA)-β (0.250 males, females 0.245), and TG (0.310 males, females 0.216). Conicity Index was significantly associated with pulse rate (PR) (β 0.099, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.017, 0.143, p < 0.013; β 0.081, 95% CI 0.000 0.130, p < 0.048), insulin (β 0.149, 95% CI 0.286 0.908, p < 0.001; β 0.110, 95% CI 0.123 0.757, p < 0.007). Conicity Index is associated with insulin resistance (IR) (odds ratio (OR) 7.761, 95% CI 5.783 96.442, p < 0.001; OR 4.646, 95% CI 2.792 74.331, p < 0.007), underweight (OR 0.023, 95% CI 0.251 0.433, p < 0.001; OR 0.031, 95% CI 0.411 0.612, p < 0.001), and obesity (OR 1.058, 95% CI 271.5 4.119, p < 0.001; OR 1.271, 95% CI 0.672 1.099, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Conicity Index was positively associated with insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidaemia. Further investigation of these indices and their association with nutritional status and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) could assist in efforts to prevent CVD in the rural South African population.
Baseline characteristics of COVID-19 Italian patients admitted to Desio Hospital, Lombardy: a retrospective study

Abstract The correlation of clinical, radiological and laboratory findings of patients at admission in the Emergency Department (ED) with clinical severity and risk of mortality was investigated. Adult coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients hospitalized in March 2020 in Desio Hospital, Lombardy, were retrospectively included in the study, and categorized in terms of disease severity and adverse outcome. Out of the 175 patients enrolled, 79% presented one or more comorbidities, with cardiovascular disease being the most frequent (62%). More than half of the patients showed lymphocytopenia and 20% thrombocytopenia. The patients in the severe group presented higher absolute neutrophil count (ANC), C-reactive protein (CRP), AST, LDH, procalcitonin (PCT) and BUN values compared to the non-severe group (p < .05). Increased odds of mortality associated with older age (OR = 22.43; 95% CI 5.22–96.27), partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2)/fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) ratio < 200 (OR = 4.97; 95% CI 1.55–15.84), clinical severity (OR = 21.32; 95% CI 2.27–200.13), creatinine > 106.08 µmol/L (OR = 2.87; 95% CI 1.04–7.92) and creatine kinase > 2.90 µkat/L (OR = 3.80; 95% CI 1.31–10.9) were observed on admission (p < .05). The above findings may contribute to identify early risk factors of poor prognosis, and to select the most appropriate management for patients.
NRL−/− gene edited human embryonic stem cells generate rod‐deficient retinal organoids enriched in S‐cone‐like photoreceptors

Organoid cultures represent a unique tool to investigate the developmental complexity of tissues like the human retina. NRL is a transcription factor required for the specification and homeostasis of mammalian rod photoreceptors. In Nrl‐deficient mice, photoreceptor precursor cells do not differentiate into rods, and instead follow a default photoreceptor specification pathway to generate S‐cone‐like cells. To investigate whether this genetic switch mechanism is conserved in humans, we used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to engineer an NRL‐deficient embryonic stem cell (ESC) line (NRL−/−), and differentiated it into retinal organoids. Retinal organoids self‐organize and resemble embryonic optic vesicles (OVs) that recapitulate the natural histogenesis of rods and cone photoreceptors. NRL−/− OVs develop comparably to controls, and exhibit a laminated, organized retinal structure with markers of photoreceptor synaptogenesis. Using immunohistochemistry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), we observed that NRL−/− OVs do not express NRL, or other rod photoreceptor markers directly or indirectly regulated by NRL. On the contrary, they show an abnormal number of photoreceptors positive for S‐OPSIN, which define a primordial subtype of cone, and overexpress other cone genes indicating a conserved molecular switch in mammals. This study represents the first evidence in a human in vitro ESC‐derived organoid system that NRL is required to define rod identity, and that in its absence S‐cone‐like cells develop as the default photoreceptor cell type. It shows how gene edited retinal organoids provide a useful system to investigate human photoreceptor specification, relevant for efforts to generate cells for transplantation in retinal degenerative diseases.
Atom transfer radical polymerization of styrene and methyl (meth)acrylates initiated with poly(dimethylsiloxane) macroinitiator: Synthesis and characterization of triblock copolymers

Poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS)-based triblock copolymers were successfully synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiated with bis(bromoalkyl)-terminated PDMS macroinitiator (Br-PDMS-Br). First, Br-PDMS-Br was prepared by reaction between the bis(hydroxyalkyl)-terminated PDMS and 2-bromo-2-methylpropionyl bromide. PSt-b-PDMS-b-PSt, PMMA-b-PDMS-b-PMMA and PMA-b-PDMS-b-PMA triblock copolymers were then synthesized via ATRP of styrene (St), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and methyl acrylate (MA), respectively, in the presence of Br-PDMS-Br as a macroinitiator and CuCl/PMDETA as a catalyst system at 80 oC. Triblock copolymers were characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR and GPC techniques. GPC results showed linear dependence of the number-average molecular weight on the conversion as well as the narrow polydispersity indicies (PDI < 1.57) for the synthesized triblock copolymers which was lower than that of Br-PDMS-Br macroinitiator (PDI = 1.90), indicating the living/controlled characteristic of the reaction. Also, there was a very good agreement between the number-average molecular weight calculated from 1HNMR spectra and that calculated theoretically. Results showed that resulting copolymers have two glass transition temperatures, indicating that triblock copolymers have microphase separated morphology. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
Can Cyanobacterial Diversity in the Source Predict the Diversity in Sludge and the Risk of Toxin Release in a Drinking Water Treatment Plant?

Conventional processes (coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration) are widely used in drinking water treatment plants and are considered a good treatment strategy to eliminate cyanobacterial cells and cell-bound cyanotoxins. The diversity of cyanobacteria was investigated using taxonomic cell counts and shotgun metagenomics over two seasons in a drinking water treatment plant before, during, and after the bloom. Changes in the community structure over time at the phylum, genus, and species levels were monitored in samples retrieved from raw water (RW), sludge in the holding tank (ST), and sludge supernatant (SST). Aphanothece clathrata brevis, Microcystis aeruginosa, Dolichospermum spiroides, and Chroococcus minimus were predominant species detected in RW by taxonomic cell counts. Shotgun metagenomics revealed that Proteobacteria was the predominant phylum in RW before and after the cyanobacterial bloom. Taxonomic cell counts and shotgun metagenomic showed that the Dolichospermum bloom occurred inside the plant. Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the major bacterial phyla during the bloom. Shotgun metagenomics also showed that Synechococcus, Microcystis, and Dolichospermum were the predominant detected cyanobacterial genera in the samples. Conventional treatment removed more than 92% of cyanobacterial cells but led to cell accumulation in the sludge up to 31 times more than in the RW influx. Coagulation/sedimentation selectively removed more than 96% of Microcystis and Dolichospermum. Cyanobacterial community in the sludge varied from raw water to sludge during sludge storage (1–13 days). This variation was due to the selective removal of coagulation/sedimentation as well as the accumulation of captured cells over the period of storage time. However, the prediction of the cyanobacterial community composition in the SST remained a challenge. Among nutrient parameters, orthophosphate availability was related to community profile in RW samples, whereas communities in ST were influenced by total nitrogen, Kjeldahl nitrogen (N- Kjeldahl), total and particulate phosphorous, and total organic carbon (TOC). No trend was observed on the impact of nutrients on SST communities. This study profiled new health-related, environmental, and technical challenges for the production of drinking water due to the complex fate of cyanobacteria in cyanobacteria-laden sludge and supernatant.
Ear-Bot: Locust Ear-on-a-Chip Bio-Hybrid Platform

During hundreds of millions of years of evolution, insects have evolved some of the most efficient and robust sensing organs, often far more sensitive than their man-made equivalents. In this study, we demonstrate a hybrid bio-technological approach, integrating a locust tympanic ear with a robotic platform. Using an Ear-on-a-Chip method, we manage to create a long-lasting miniature sensory device that operates as part of a bio-hybrid robot. The neural signals recorded from the ear in response to sound pulses, are processed and used to control the robot’s motion. This work is a proof of concept, demonstrating the use of biological ears for robotic sensing and control.
Predictors of glucose metabolism and blood pressure among Ethiopian individuals with HIV/AIDS after one‐year of antiretroviral therapy

Better understanding of glucose metabolism in patients with HIV after initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) is important to target treatment and follow‐up for diabetes risk and other non‐communicable diseases in resource‐limited settings. The aim of this study was to assess the changes and predictors of glucose metabolism and blood pressure among patients with HIV on ART for 12 months.
Current practice for diagnosing immediate drug hypersensitivity reactions in Korea

Background/Aims Skin (STs) and drug provocation (DPTs) tests are essential for identifying the culprit drugs causing drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs). Several protocols have been developed for the identification of some culprit drugs, but they are neither thoroughly validated nor standardized. Furthermore, language barriers may impede the exchange of information necessary for test standardization. Methods We searched the Korean literature for articles on drug hypersensitivity published from 1933 to 2016 using the KoreaMed search engine and archives of Korean journals. We reviewed and rated all articles according to the description of STs and DPTs. Results Of the 632 articles obtained in our initial search, 34 had adequate descriptions of 15 STs and 22 DPTs. Up to 27 healthy control subjects in STs were enrolled to determine non-irritating concentrations. The concentrations used for intradermal tests were commonly a 1/10 dilution of those used for skin prick tests. The interpretations of the STs were mostly similar among researchers. For DPTs, most procedures were single-arm open-label tests of various drugs. The initial dose ranged from a quarter dose to a single therapeutic dose, depending on the severity of the original hypersensitivity reaction. The interval between doses was usually 30 to 60 minutes, and a positive reaction usually occurred within twice the time of the original reaction. Conclusions Efforts to distribute information are necessary to standardize protocols and better understand DHRs.
Wheat Bread Fortification by Grape Pomace Powder: Nutritional, Technological, Antioxidant, and Sensory Properties

Grape pomace powder (GPP), a by-product from the winemaking process, was used to substitute flour for wheat bread fortification within 0, 5, and 10 g/100 g. Rheological properties of control and fortified doughs, along with physicochemical and nutritional characteristics, antioxidant activity, and the sensory analysis of the obtained bread were considered. The GPP addition influenced the doughs’ rheological properties by generating more tenacious and less extensible products. Concerning bread, pH values and volume of fortified products decreased as the GPP inclusion level increased in the recipe. Total phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity of bread samples, evaluated by FRAP (ferric reducing ability of plasma) and ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) assays, increased with GPP addition. Moreover, the GPP inclusion level raised the total dietary fiber content of bread. Regarding sensory evaluation, GPP fortification had a major impact on the acidity, the global flavor, the astringency, and the wine smell of bread samples without affecting the overall bread acceptability. The current results suggest that GPP could be an attractive ingredient used to obtain fortified bread, as it is a source of fiber and polyphenols with potentially positive effects on human health.
Piezoelectric Transducer-Based Diagnostic System for Composite Structure Health Monitoring

This paper focuses on the investigation of the diagnostic system for health monitoring and defects, detecting in composite structures using a piezoelectric sensor. A major overview of structural defects in composite materials that have an influence on product performance as well as material strength is presented. Particularly, the proposed diagnostic (health monitoring) system enables to monitor the composite material plate defects during the exploitation in real-time. The investigated health monitoring system can indicate the material structure defects when the periodic test input signal is provided to excite the plate. Especially, the diagnostic system is useful when the defect placement is hard to be identified. In this work, several various numerical and experimental studies were carried out. Particularly, during the first study, the piezoelectric transducer was used to produce mechanical excitation to the composite plate when the impact response is measured with another piezoelectric sensor. The second study focuses on the defect identification algorithms of the raw hologram data consisting of the recorded oscillation modes of the affected composite plate. The main paper results obtained in both studies enable us to determine whether the composite material is characterized by mechanical defects occurring during the response to the periodic excitation. In case of damage, the observed response amplitude was decreased by 70%. Finally, using the time-domain experimental results, the frequency response functions (FRFs) are applied to damage detection assessment and to obtain extra damage information.