Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimization and comparative studies on activities of β-mannanase from newly isolated fungal and its mutant

Background and objective β-Mannanase has potential industrial applications in pharmaceutical field, bioethanol production, coffee extraction, food and feed technology, etc. So finding a new and promising enzyme source is a very important issue. The aim of this study was to improve the biosynthesis of β-mannanase by different techniques, such as mutation and optimization of the culture parameters. Materials and methods Five fungal isolates were tested for the production of β-mannanase. Enzyme activity, protein content, and specific activity were determined. The most potent isolated microorganism and its mutant were identified by using Transmission Electron Microscopy and 18SrDNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Ultraviolet and gamma rays were used. Optimization studies were done to maximize enzyme production from the most potent microorganism and its highly productive and stable mutant, including culture conditions and medium compositions, and statistical optimization was also carried out. Primary characterization of β-mannanase was studied. Results and conclusion In our research, we found a stable mutant strain obtained by using gamma radiation at 150 GY. The first step of the fermentation, optimized by one-factor-at-a-time technique, increased the biosynthesis of β-mannanase for Penicillium citrinium 150 GY from 65.9 to 219 IU/ml compared with the wild strain, which increased from 16.82 to 26.5 IU/ml. Statistical optimization improved P. citrinium 150 GY β-mannanase from 219 to 296 IU/ml by applying Plackett–Burman design and increased the level of β-mannanase biosynthesis to 351 IU/ml. Primary characterization of β-mannanase produced by P. citrinium and P. citrinium 150 GY proved that they are almost the same, except in a little shift to higher value (5°C) in optimum temperature.
Degenerative marrow (modic) changes on cervical spine MRI scans: prevalence, inter- and intra-examiner reliability and link to disc herniation

ABSTRACT: Study Design. A prevalence and reliability study of Modic changes in the cervical spine.Objective. To assess the prevalence and reliability of diagnosing and classifying Modic changes and their relationship to disc herniations in the cervical spine.Summary of Background Data. Degenerative marrow (Modic) changes in the spine can be seen on MRI with some evidence linking them to pain. Many studies have been published on Modic changes in the lumbar spine, but only 1 small prevalence study focusing on Modic changes in the cervical spine has been reported.Methods. The cervical MRI scans of 500 patients over the age of 50 were retrospectively evaluated for the prevalence, type and location of Modic changes and disc herniations. 200 of these same scans were independently analyzed by a second observer to evaluate interobserver reliability of diagnosis with 100 re-evaluated by the same observer 1 month later to assess intraobserver reliability. The SPSS program and Kappa statistics were used to assess prevalence and reliability. The risk ratio comparison of DH and MC was calculated.Results. 426 patients (85.2 %) met the inclusion criteria. Modic changes were observed in 40.4% of patients (14.4% of all motion segments). 4.3% were type 1 and 10.1% were type 2. Disc herniations were seen in 78.2% of patients (13.3% of motion segments). Both MC and DH were most frequently observed at C5/6 and C6/7. Disc extrusions were positively associated with MC (RR = 2.4). The reliability demonstrated an upper moderate interobserver (k = 0.54) and an almost perfect intraobserver agreement (k = 0.82). Conclusions. A high prevalence of Modic changes was observed with type 2 predominating. The C5/6 and C6/7 levels are most effected. Patients with MC are more likely to have a disc herniation at the same level. MC type 2 predominates. The classification is reliable.
Equal sensitivity to cocaine reward in addiction-prone and addiction-resistant rat genotypes

19:1025. Ž . Li T-K, Lumeng L 1984 . Alcohol preference and voluntary alcohol intakes of inbred rat strains and the NIH heterogenous stock of rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 8:485 486. Ž . Mardones J 1960 . Experimentally induced changes in the free selection of ethanol. Int Re Neurobiol 2:41 76. Ž . Meade R, Amit Z, Pachter W, Corcoran ME 1973 . Differences in oral intake of morphine by two strains of rats. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol 6:1105 1107. Ž . Michel C, Cabanac M 1999 . Opposite effects of gentle handling on body temperature and body weight in rats. Physiol Beha
Quantifying the Quantitative Meter: On Rhythmic Types in the Dactylic Hexameter

We present the analysis of long prose texts using several simple definitions of distance based on rank–frequency distributions. Various types of the Euclidean distance, the Jaccard distance, and the cosine distance are calculated. Our approach is useful for studies of groups of texts, where different definitions of distance show different relations with respect to the shortest and the longest text.
Scientific Document Clustering using Granular Self-organizing Map

Scientiﬁc document clustering (SDC) is the process of partitioning a given set of scientiﬁc articles/documents into K -groups based on some similarity/dissimilarity criterion. This task has applications in many areas like text summarization, classiﬁcation of documents, scope detection of conference/journal papers, etc. In this paper, we have developed a granular self-organizing map (GSOM) based approach for SDC. GSOM was designed to overcome the limitations of self-organizing map (SOM), i.e., to avoid the problem of over-lapping patterns present in diﬀerent clusters. Both GSOM and SOM are the types of artiﬁcial feed-forward neural networks. To represent the documents in the form of numeric vectors, various representation schemes, capable of capturing semantics of the documents like word2vec etc., are utilized in our approach. To show the potentiality of GSOM, various comparative approaches like K -means, hierarchical clustering algorithms and SOM are considered. The results are reported using an internal cluster validity index namely, Dunn index. It evaluates the performance using compactness within clusters and separation among clusters. Results show that GSOM is superior over other existing algorithms. Finally, results are validated using statistical signiﬁcant t-test.
Attentional orienting towards smoking-related stimuli

According to incentive salience theory, conditioned stimuli (CS + ) associated with drug reinforcement acquire the capacity to elicit a conditioned attentional orienting response, which controls drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviour. We sought evidence for this proposal by measuring visual attentional orienting towards smoking pictures presented briefly in the periphery of the visual field, versus control pictures likewise presented, in smokers versus non-smokers. In each trial, smokers and non-smokers responded manually to a dot probe stimulus that appeared in a location previously occupied by either a smoking picture or a control picture. Attentional bias scores were calculated by subtracting the median reaction time (RT) in the former condition from the median RT in the latter condition. In two experiments, light-smokers (smokers of fewer than 20 cigarettes/day) produced a mean bias score that was significantly greater than that of heavy-smokers (smokers of 20 or more cigarettes/day) and non-smokers. In addition, when smokers from the two experiments were pooled, a significant quadratic relationship was found between cigarettes/day and the attentional bias for the smoking stimuli. These findings are consistent with incentive salience theories and dualprocess theories of addiction. Behavioural Pharmacology 14:153–160 c 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Toward Latent Knowledge Extraction Based on the Correlation of Heterogeneous Text Data Related to Space System Development

This paper highlights the importance of careful selection of appropriate NLP tasks or techniques to derive value from past documents and improve the requirement engineering process. As a case study, an experience about introducing NLP techniques to ﬁnd the lack of requirements by using heterogeneous documents are shown. Using word similarity is one of the ways to determine the relevance between two documents though, the result of proposed scheme in ﬁnding meaningfully related pairs of document and further investigation shows that word similarity is not able to solve our problem. In our experimental results, CNN (convolutional neural network) model could estimate the relevance the best compare to other trial models.
On Proof Complexity of Resolution over Polynomial Calculus

The proof system Res (PCd,R) is a natural extension of the Resolution proof system that instead of disjunctions of literals operates with disjunctions of degree d multivariate polynomials over a ring R with Boolean variables. Proving super-polynomial lower bounds for the size of Res(PC1,R)-refutations of Conjunctive normal forms (CNFs) is one of the important problems in propositional proof complexity. The existence of such lower bounds is even open for Res(PC1,𝔽) when 𝔽 is a finite field, such as 𝔽2. In this article, we investigate Res(PCd,R) and tree-like Res(PCd,R) and prove size-width relations for them when R is a finite ring. As an application, we prove new lower bounds and reprove some known lower bounds for every finite field 𝔽 as follows: (1) We prove almost quadratic lower bounds for Res(PCd,𝔽)-refutations for every fixed d. The new lower bounds are for the following CNFs:(a) Mod q Tseitin formulas (char(𝔽)≠ q) and Flow formulas,(b) Random k-CNFs with linearly many clauses. (2) We also prove super-polynomial (more than nk for any fixed k) and also exponential (2nϵ for an ϵ > 0) lower bounds for tree-like Res(PCd,𝔽)-refutations based on how big d is with respect to n for the following CNFs:(a) Mod q Tseitin formulas (char(𝔽)≠ q) and Flow formulas,(b) Random k-CNFs of suitable densities,(c) Pigeonhole principle and Counting mod q principle. The lower bounds for the dag-like systems are the first nontrivial lower bounds for these systems, including the case d=1. The lower bounds for the tree-like systems were known for the case d=1 (except for the Counting mod q principle, in which lower bounds for the case d> 1 were known too). Our lower bounds extend those results to the case where d> 1 and also give new proofs for the case d=1.
A Neural Abstractive Summarization Model Guided with Topic Sentences

The topic information plays a critical role in comprehending the main idea of a document. However, most of the recent neural sequence to sequence models fail to utilize the topic information. In this paper, we propose a novel neural abstractive summarization model guided with topic sentences, named NASTS. We ﬁrst use the extractive summarization system to extract topic sentences from the document. And then, a well designed weighted Attention-over-Attention mechanism is exploited to integrate the topic information into NASTS. In this way, NASTS can eﬀectively take advantages of extractive and abstractive summarization methods. Experimental results on the benchmark dataset CNN/Daily Mail demonstrate the superiority of our proposed model.
Dissect Sliced-RNN in Multi-Attention view

Sliced recurrent neural network (sliced-RNN) has achieved much faster speed and better performance than standard RNN. Training RNN used to be very slow, the slice structure successfully deals with this problem. The slice structure is a major breakthrough, however, the explanation of sliced-RNN is weak. It is difﬁcult to understand why sliced-RNN can get performance improvement, because intuitively the slice structure destroys the relation of several adjacent words. To tackle this problem, we propose the multi-attention mechanism to explain why the slice structure could achieve good performance, and the visualization of the attention weights shows that the slice structure could obtain more information from the sequences. The slice structure is able to capture information on different levels. Additionally, we propose a shortcut connection over the multi-attention mechanism, which could help transfer important information effectively. We propose experiments on six text classiﬁcation datasets, and the results show that the multi-attention mechanism and the shortcut connection are both useful.
Global, Regional, and National Burden of Calcific Aortic Valve and Degenerative Mitral Valve Diseases, 1990–2017

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Nonrheumatic valvular diseases are common; however, no studies have estimated their global or national burden. As part of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, mortality, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), degenerative mitral valve disease, and other nonrheumatic valvular diseases were estimated for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Methods: Vital registration data, epidemiologic survey data, and administrative hospital data were used to estimate disease burden using the Global Burden of Disease Study modeling framework, which ensures comparability across locations. Geospatial statistical methods were used to estimate disease for all countries, because data on nonrheumatic valvular diseases are extremely limited for some regions of the world, such as Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Results accounted for estimated level of disease severity as well as the estimated availability of valve repair or replacement procedures. DALYs and other measures of health-related burden were generated for both sexes and each 5-year age group, location, and year from 1990 to 2017. Results: Globally, CAVD and degenerative mitral valve disease caused 102 700 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 82 700–107 900) and 35 700 (95% UI, 30 500–42 500) deaths, and 12.6 million (95% UI, 11.4 million–13.8 million) and 18.1 million (95% UI, 17.6 million–18.6 million) prevalent cases existed in 2017, respectively. A total of 2.5 million (95% UI, 2.3 million–2.8 million) DALYs were estimated as caused by nonrheumatic valvular diseases globally, representing 0.10% (95% UI, 0.09%–0.11%) of total lost health from all diseases in 2017. The number of DALYs increased for CAVD and degenerative mitral valve disease between 1990 and 2017 by 101% (95% UI, 79%–117%) and 35% (95% UI, 23%–47%), respectively. There is significant geographic variation in the prevalence, mortality rate, and overall burden of these diseases, with highest age-standardized DALY rates of CAVD estimated for high-income countries. Conclusions: These global and national estimates demonstrate that CAVD and degenerative mitral valve disease are important causes of disease burden among older adults. Efforts to clarify modifiable risk factors and improve access to valve interventions are necessary if progress is to be made toward reducing, and eventually eliminating, the burden of these highly treatable diseases.
Contextualising the 2019 E-Cigarette Health Scare: Insights from Twitter

A health scare can be described as a campaign that attempts to alert the public of a particular substance or activity that can lead to a negative effect on health. A recent health scare to emerge relates to the health hazards associated with the use of e-cigarettes, which has caused widespread debate, which peaked towards the end of 2019. Health scares need to be studied in the context in which they occur, and one method of studying them is through social media. This paper identifies two key topics of discussion on Twitter, which consisted of pro-vaping and anti-vaping views. The paper then identifies influential users, frequently occurring words, hashtags, and websites related to this time period in order to gain insight into e-cigarette perceptions. The paper then reviews current scientific evidence and develops a flowchart for the general public, which can be used to for public reassurance and guidance.
Initial Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate Decline and Long-Term Renal Function During Intensive Antihypertensive Therapy

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Lowering blood pressure (BP) can lead to an initial decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). However, there is debate how much eGFR decline is acceptable. We performed a post hoc analysis of ACCORD-BP (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes-Blood Pressure) and SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial), which randomized patients to intensive or standard systolic BP-targets. We determined the relation between initial decline in mean arterial pressure and eGFR. Subsequently, we stratified patients to BP-target and initial eGFR decrease and assessed the relation with annual eGFR decline after 1 year. A total of 13 266 patients with 41 126 eGFR measurements were analyzed. Up to 10 mm Hg of BP-lowering, eGFR did not change. Hereafter, there was a linear decrease of 3.4% eGFR (95% CI, 2.9%–3.9%) per 10 mm Hg mean arterial pressure decrease. The observed eGFR decline based on 95% of the subjects varied from 26% after 0 mm Hg to 46% with a 40 mm Hg mean arterial pressure decrease. There was no difference in eGFR slope (P=0.37) according to initial eGFR decline and BP-target, with a decrease of 1.24 (95% CI, 1.09–1.39), 1.20 (95% CI, 0.97–1.43), and 1.14 (95% CI, 0.77–1.50) in the 5%, 5% to 20%, and >20% stratum during intensive and 0.95 (95% CI, 0.81–1.09), 1.23 (95% CI, 0.97–1.49), and 1.17 (95% CI, 0.65–1.69) mL/minute per 1.73 m2 per year during standard treatment. In patients at high cardiovascular risk with and without diabetes mellitus, we found no association between initial eGFR and annual eGFR decline during BP-lowering treatment. Our results support that an eGFR decrease up to 20% after BP lowering can be accepted and suggest that the limit can be extended up to 46% depending on the achieved BP reduction. Registration— URL: https://www.clinicaltrials. gov; Unique identifier: NCT00000620, NCT01206062.
Healthcare Workers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about Vaccinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Italy

The cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the recommended vaccinations and factors affecting such outcomes among a sample of healthcare workers (HCWs) in public hospitals in Italy. Only 14.1% knew all the recommended vaccinations for HCWs. Physicians and those who had received information about vaccinations from scientific journals, educational activities, or professional associations were more likely to have this knowledge, while those aged 36–45 were more likely to have less knowledge than those in the age group below 36 years. Only 57.3% agreed that the information received about vaccinations was reliable. Respondents who had children, who worked in pediatric/neonatal wards, who were more knowledgeable, or who did not need further information about vaccinations considered the available information to be reliable. Only 17.7% of respondents always recommended vaccinations to their patients. This behavior was more likely to occur in physicians, in HCWs, in pediatric/neonatal wards, in those who considered the information received about vaccinations reliable, and in those who considered themselves to be at high risk of transmitting an infectious disease to their patients. Health promotion programs and efforts are needed to improve the level of knowledge about vaccinations and immunization coverage among HCWs.
Trade‐offs in soil carbon protection mechanisms under aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Oxygen (O2) limitation is generally understood to suppress oil carbon (C) decomposition and is a key mechanism impacting terrestrial C stocks under global change. Yet, O2 limitation may differentially impact kinetic or thermodynamic versus physicochemical C protection mechanisms, challenging our understanding of how soil C may respond to climate‐mediated changes in O2 dynamics. Although O2 limitation may suppress decomposition of new litter C inputs, release of physicochemically protected C due to iron (Fe) reduction could potentially sustain soil C losses. To test this trade‐off, we incubated two disparate upland soils that experience periodic O2 limitation—a tropical rainforest Oxisol and a temperate cropland Mollisol—with added litter under either aerobic (control) or anaerobic conditions for 1 year. Anoxia suppressed total C loss by 27% in the Oxisol and by 41% in the Mollisol relative to the control, mainly due to the decrease in litter‐C decomposition. However, anoxia sustained or even increased decomposition of native soil‐C (11.0% vs. 12.4% in the control for the Oxisol and 12.5% vs. 5.3% in the control for the Mollisol, in terms of initial soil C mass), and it stimulated losses of metal‐ or mineral‐associated C. Solid‐state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrated that anaerobic conditions decreased protein‐derived C but increased lignin‐ and carbohydrate‐C relative to the control. Our results indicate a trade‐off between physicochemical and kinetic/thermodynamic C protection mechanisms under anaerobic conditions, whereby decreased decomposition of litter C was compensated by more extensive loss of mineral‐associated soil C in both soils. This challenges the common assumption that anoxia inherently protects soil C and illustrates the vulnerability of mineral‐associated C under anaerobic events characteristic of a warmer and wetter future climate.
Identification of critical isthmus using coherent mapping in patients with scar‐related atrial tachycardia

Accurate identification of slow conducting regions in patients with scar‐related atrial tachycardia (AT) is difficult using conventional electrogram annotation for cardiac electroanatomic mapping (EAM). Estimating delays between neighboring mapping sites is a potential option for activation map computation. We describe our initial experience with CARTO 3 Coherent Mapping (Biosense Webster Inc,) in the ablation of complex ATs.
An Appraisal of Antidotes’ Effectiveness: Evidence of the Use of Phyto-Antidotes and Biotechnological Advancements

Poisoning is the greatest source of avoidable death in the world and can result from industrial exhausts, incessant bush burning, drug overdose, accidental toxication or snake envenomation. Since the advent of Albert Calmette’s cobra venom antidote, efforts have been geared towards antidotes development for various poisons to date. While there are resources and facilities to tackle poisoning in urban areas, rural areas and developing countries are challenged with poisoning management due to either the absence of or inadequate facilities and this has paved the way for phyto-antidotes, some of which have been scientifically validated. This review presents the scope of antidotes’ effectiveness in different experimental models and biotechnological advancements in antidote research for future applications. While pockets of evidence of the effectiveness of antidotes exist in vitro and in vivo with ample biotechnological developments, the utilization of analytic assays on existing and newly developed antidotes that have surpassed the proof of concept stage, as well as the inclusion of antidote’s short and long-term risk assessment report, will help in providing the required scientific evidence(s) prior to regulatory authorities’ approval.