Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial Resistance of Clostridioides difficile in Children from a Tertiary Pediatric Hospital in Shanghai, China

Background Our previous study reported a high rate of recurrence in children with Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection (CDI) after conventional antibiotic therapy. Here, we aimed to explore whether metronidazole and vancomycin resistant C. difficile isolates are circulating in pediatric CDI. Methods Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) using the agar dilution method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) were performed on C. difficile isolates collected from children with CDI between 2019 and 2022 at the Shanghai Children’s Hospital. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on all C. difficile isolates, and the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were identified using Resfinder and the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD). The presence of plasmid pCD-METRO was detected using SRST2 (v0.2.0) against 8 pCD-METRO coding sequences. Results A total of 50 C. difficile isolates were collected from stools of CDI children. The overall resistance rate on all isolates was 30.00% for metronidazole, 6.00% for vancomycin, 0% for rifaximin, 2.00% for rifampin, 24.00% for meropenem, 100.00% for ceftriaxone and clindamycin, 86.00% for erythromycin, 30.0% for levofloxacin, and 50.0% for tetracycline. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) was presented in 44 isolates (88.00%). Sixteen reported potential ARGs relating with resistance to antibiotic classes of aminoglycoside (AAC(6’)-Ie-APH(2”)-Ia, aad(6), ANT(6)-Ib, APH(2”)-If, APH(3’)-IIIa), lincosamide-clindamycin-erythromycin (ErmB, ErmQ), fluoroquinolones (CdeA), glycopeptides (vanRG), nucleoside (SAT-4), tetracycline (tetM, tetA(P), tetB(P), tetO), and trimethoprim (dfrF) were identified. However, the pCD-METRO plasmid and vanA/B were not detected in any isolates. Conclusion C. difficile isolates from children with reduced susceptibility to metronidazole and vancomycin are emerging in pediatric CDI in China. The lack of pCD-METRO plasmid and vanA/B associated with reduced antibiotic susceptibility suggests there are additional mechanisms of resistance.
Service for Deploying Digital Twins of QKD Networks

Quantum technologies promise major advances in different areas. From computation to sensing or telecommunications, quantum implementations could bring significant improvements to these fields, arousing the interest of researchers, companies, and governments. In particular, the deployment of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) networks, which enable the secure dissemination of cryptographic keys to remote application entities following Quantum Mechanics Principles, appears to be one of the most attractive and relevant use cases. Quantum devices and equipment are still in a development phase, making their availability low and their price high, hindering the deployment of physical QKD networks and, therefore, the research and experimentation activities related to this field. In this context, this paper focuses on providing research stakeholders with an open-access testbed where it is feasible to emulate the deployment of QKD networks, thus enabling the execution of experiments and trials, where even potential network attacks can be analyzed, without the quantum physical equipment requirement, nor compromising the integrity of an already built QKD network. The designed solution allows users to automatically deploy, configure, and run a digital twin environment of a QKD network, offering cost-effectiveness and great flexibility in the study of the integration of quantum communications in the current network infrastructures. This solution is aligned with the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) standardized application interface for QKD, and is built upon open-source technologies. The feasibility of this solution has been validated throughout several functional trials carried out in the 5G Telefónica Open Network Innovation Centre (5TONIC), verifying the service performance in terms of speed and discarded qubits when generating the quantum keys.
A Robust Human Activity Recognition System Using 3D CNN

: Video analytics has become a critical area of study in the domain of computer vision due to the availability of abundant video data. Automating human activity recognition from video footage is becoming increasingly popular due to its use in the fields of video surveillance, healthcare, and industry. Neural network models are currently being used in a varied range of scientific, academic, and commercial applications to solve image processing problems. One of the key benefits of 3D convolution neural networks (3D CNN) is their capability to learn hierarchical representations of spatiotemporal features. In this presented work, we proposed a novel 3D CNN model for detecting human activity from video sequences. A key contribution of our research is the development of a pre-processing technique including key frame selection, background segmentation, and the modeling and training of an e ffi cient 3D Convolutional Neural Network for classifying human activities. The proposed model is tested on benchmark datasets like KTH, Weizmann, and UT-I. The performance of the model in handling challenges in datasets is also evaluated. Our proposed technique demonstrates superior recognition accuracy and training speed compared to reference methods. The proposed method has promising applications in surveillance, healthcare, sports analysis, and human-computer interaction, where accurate activity recognition is vital.
Locomotor activity and serum tryptophan and serotonin in goats: daily rhythm

The goal of the present study was to investigate the daily amount of motor activity and the daily rhythm of tryptophan and serotonin in goats housed in individual boxes under a 12/12 light/dark cycle. We equipped six Girgentana breed goats with Actiwatch-Mini® (Cambridge Neurotechnology Ltd., UK), actigraphy-based data loggers that record a digitally integrated measure of motor activity. Also blood samples were collected at four-hour intervals over a 48 h period via an intravenous cannula inserted into the jugular vein. The concentration of tryptophan (TRP) and serotonin (5-HT) were assessed by the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Our results outline a diurnal pattern of motor activity and levels of tryptophan in the serum, and a nocturnal pattern of levels of serotonin in the serum, which underline the impact of endogenous serotoninergic activity on the behavioural aspects of the circadian response to light.
Waist Circumference Percentile in Jena Children (Germany) 6- to 18-Years of Age

PURPOSE A central fat accumulation correlates with adverse health outcomes even in childhood. Therefore simple anthropometric measurements are required which correctly identify children with high trunk fat mass. Mostly the body mass index is used to identify total body fat of a child or an adult, but for the central fat mass the waist circumference is more suitable. The purpose of this study was to develop age- and sex-specific percentile curves for 6- to 18-year old Jena children and to compare the adequacy of circumference and BMI as measures of obesity. METHODS Height, weight and waist circumference (at the level of maximum waist narrowing between the tenth rib and the iliac crest) were measured in 2544 children (1288 male and 1256 female) between 6 and 18 years of age in 2005/2006. Smoothed percentile curves were performed using the LMS method. RESULTS High correlations (Spearman) could be found between waist circumference and BMI. The mean waist circumference increases with age in both sexes. By doing so the values of boys are constantly higher than those of girls. The percentile curves in boys continuously increase with age whereas the curves in girls begin to level off with the age of puberty. Our comparison of BMI and waist circumference for the description of obesity shows, that by using BMI alone a greater proportion of children with high waist circumferences could not be identified whereas only few children exist with normal waist circumferences but high BMI values. These findings indicate that, waist circumference is necessary to characterise the abdominal fat deposition and the risk of further morbidity in children. CONCLUSION The waist circumference should be used routinely as a screening instrument in health studies.
Agriculture crop yield prediction using inertia based cat swarm optimization

Crop yield prediction is among the most important and main sources of income in the Indian economy. In this paper, the improved cat swarm optimization (ICSO) based recurrent neural network (RNN) model is proposed for crop yield prediction using time series data. The inertia weight parameter is added to position equation that is selected randomly, and a new velocity equation is produced which enhances the searching ability in the best cat area. By using inertia weight, the ICSO enhances performance of feature selection and obtains better convergence in minimum iteration. The RNN is applied to produce direct graph using sequence of data and decides current layer output by involving all other existing calculations. The performance of the model is estimated using coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), mean squared error (MSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) on the yield from the years 2011 to 2021 with an annual prediction for 120 records of approximately 8 million nuts. The evaluated result shows that the proposed ICSO-RNN model delivers metrics such as R2, MAE, MSE, and RMSE values of 0.99, 0.77, 0.68, and 0.82 correspondingly, which ensures accurate yield prediction when compared with the existing methods which are hybrid reinforcement learning-random forest (RL-RF) and machine learning (ML) methods.
MULTI-PERIOD PORTFOLIO SELECTION: A PRACTICAL SIMULATION-BASED FRAMEWORK

The topic of optimal portfolio selection over time has garnered signiﬁcant attention from investment researchers since the introduction of portfolio theory in 1952 . While computational , theoretical , and numerical methods have advanced , solutions introduced to date have yet to effectively address many practical aspects of the multi-period portfolio selection problem. In this paper , we propose three key requisites for practical multi-period portfolio selection solutions that highlight the central challenges of managing portfolios across a multi-period investment horizon : effective duration management , incorporating real-world asset dynamics , and considering investment frictions and illiquidities. Based on these criteria , we detail an analytical framework for multi-period portfolio selection that provides intuition and yields guiding principles that describe how allocations and duration should evolve across a multi-period investment horizon , given speciﬁc investor objectives. We then introduce a practical simulation-based portfolio selection (SBPS) framework and present solutions for common investor objectives that are not only aligned with intuitive principles but also demonstrate the ﬂexibility afforded by SBPS in allowing us to address the three stated requisites for practical multi-period solutions.
Investigating How the Perception of Appraisal Politics and Bias Influence Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior, with Trust Playing a Moderating Role among Employees

Performance appraisals are regular review of an employee’s occupation performance and overall share to a company. Also known as an "annual review", "performance review or evaluation", or "employee estimation or employee appraisal". A performance appraisal evaluates an employee’s skills, achievements and growth, or shortcoming thereof. Organizations use performance appraisals to give their employees feedback of their work and to amend wage increases and bonuses, as well as promotion or termination from the job proposition. They can be conducted at any given time but tend to be annual, semi-annual or quarterly. This study is related to effects of performance appraisal politics and biasness on job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior of employees with moderating role of trust in pharmaceutical sector of Pakistan in Rawalpindi and Islamabad Regions. For the purpose of finding the relationship and impact of variables, an adopted questionnaire was distributed among different employees of the pharmaceutical companies located in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Out of 500 a total of 261 respondents returned the questionnaires with authentic data. The sample size was drawn from the population of pharmaceutical companies’ employees using convenience sampling technique. Data was analyzed through SPSS 20.0 for this study and results were inferred using reliability test, regression analysis, Pearson correlation and one-way ANOVA tests. Results of the study show that there is a significant positive relationship between biasness in performance appraisal and perception of appraisal politics, which influence negatively job satisfaction and organization citizenship behavior variables, whereas, variable Trust plays a positive moderating role in the relationship between biasness in performance appraisal, perception of performance appraisal politics, and both job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior.
Research on the Diamond Price Prediction based on Linear Regression, Decision Tree and Random Forest

Diamonds are the symbol of the pure and indestructible love and the luxury that people have always sought after. However, because people know less about diamonds, they often only rely on the introduction of salespeople and jewelers in diamond trading. Therefore, it is difficult for consumers to buy diamonds of equal value and price. To solve this problem, this paper uses Multiple Linear Regression model, Decision Tree Regression model and Random Forest Regression model to predict diamond prices based on various diamond evaluation metrics in data set, so that consumers can intuitively learn about the normal price of the evaluation metrics of selected diamonds. Through this paper, it is found that the Random Forest Regression model has the best fitting and predictive ability in diamond prediction task, which is also the most recommended model.
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor and IL-13 signaling crosstalk in human keratinocytes and atopic dermatitis

Introduction Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an allergic skin disease mediated by skin barrier impairment and IL-13-driven immune response. Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) has shown promise in early clinical trials for AD; however, the mechanism by which AHR partially ameliorates AD is not well known. Methods Gene expression data from human biopsies were analyzed, and compared to gene expression from RNA-sequencing in our in-vitro HaCaT cell model system. Western blot, ELISA qRT-PCR were used to further explore the relationship between AHR and IL-13 signaling in HaCaT cells. Results The AHR target gene CYP1A1 was decreased in lesional skin compared with healthy control skin (p = 4.30 × 10−9). Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) demonstrated increased AHR expression (p < 1.0 × 10−4) and decreased CYP1A1 expression in lesional AD keratinocytes compared with healthy control keratinocytes (p < 0.001). Activation of AHR by AHR agonists in HaCaT cells reversed IL-13-dependent gene expression of several key genes in AD pathogenesis, most notably the eosinophil chemoattractant CCL26 (eotaxin-3). Differentially expressed genes in keratinocytes of patients with AD substantially overlapped with genes regulated by AHR agonists from HaCaT cells by RNAseq, but in reverse direction. Mechanistically, there was evidence for direct transcriptional effects of AHR; AHR binding motifs were identified in the differentially expressed genes from lesional AD keratinocytes compared to control keratinocytes, and AHR activation did not modify IL-13-dependent signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) translocation to the nucleus. Discussion Together, these data suggest that the AHR pathway is dysregulated in AD and that AHR modulates IL-13 downstream signaling in keratinocytes through genome-wide, transcriptional regulatory effects.
Characteristics of Intermolecular Interactions between Encapsulated Molecules and the Lantern-Like Carcerand Superphanes

The main topic of the article is to provide the characteristics of individual intermolecular interactions present between three lantern-like superphanes and the H2O, NH3, HF, HCN, and MeOH molecules trapped inside them. Despite the large cavity, the freedom of the trapped molecules is significantly limited by the presence of numerous interaction sites on the side chains of the superphane molecule. It is shown that the molecule trapped inside the superphane is stabilized mainly by only one or, less often, two strong hydrogen bonds involving the imino nitrogen atom, but QTAIM calculations also suggest the presence of many other intermolecular interactions, mainly hydrogen bonds involving imino or central hydrogen atoms from the side chains of the superphane molecule. Moreover, it is also shown that the structural simplification of the side chains does not significantly affect both the size of the superphane molecule and the obtained encapsulation energies, which is important in modeling this type of carceplexes. Noticeably, the parent superphane considered here was previously synthesized by the group of Qing He, so the results obtained will help in understanding this type and similar systems.
Hydrologic Evaluation of Low Impact Development Using a Continuous, Spatially-Distributed Model

Low Impact Development (LID) is gaining popularity as a solution to erosion, flooding, and water quality problems that stormwater ponds partially address. LID analysis takes a spatially lumped approach, based on maintaining the predevelopment Curve Number and time of concentration, precluding consideration of the spatial distribution of impervious areas and Integrated Management Practices (IMP’s), runoff-runon processes, and the effects of land grading. Success is thus dependent on the accuracy of the assumption of watershed uniformity, applied to both land cover distribution and flow path length. Considering the cost of long-term paired watershed monitoring, continuous, spatially-distributed hydrologic modeling was judged a better method to compare the response of LID, forest, and conventional development. Review of available models revealed EPA-SWMM 4.4H as the most applicable to the task. A 4.3-acre subwatershed of a local subdivision was adapted to LID using impervious surface disconnection, forest retention, and IMP’s. SWMM was applied to the LID development at a fine spatial scale, yielding an 80-element SWMM model. The LID model was modified to reflect conventional development, with gutters, storm sewer, and detention. A predevelopment forest model was also developed. Two parameter sets were used, representing a range of assumptions characterized as favorable or unfavorable toward a particular development form. Modeled scenarios included favorable and unfavorable versions of Forest, LID, uncontrolled Conventional Development, and Conventional Development with Stormwater Management. SWMM was run in continuous mode using local rainfall data, and event mode using NRCS design storms. Runoff volumes, peak flows, and flow duration curves were compared.
How Does Fertility Policy Relaxation Affect Household Financial Asset Allocation? Evidence from the Universal Two-Child Policy in China

Both fertility policy and the healthy development of financial markets are important topics for sustainable economic and social development. By using the difference-in-difference (DID) model, this paper investigates how the universal two-child policy (UTCP) in China aiming to improve fertility affects household financial asset allocation, based on the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data from 2010 to 2018. The results show that the implementation of UTCP has a significant negative impact on household risk asset holdings. Specifically, the policy decreases the probability of households participating in the financial market by 3.1 percentage points, reduces the total value of risk assets held by 50.2%, and lowers the proportion of risk asset investment by 1.76 percentage points. Mechanism analysis suggests that the implementation of the policy has a significantly negative impact on labor market outcomes for women, which decreases household income and increases the time and effort spent on caring for children. As a result, the financial resources available for household financial asset investment are diminished, and the time for activities such as information gathering and financial asset transactions is squeezed out, ultimately leading to a decrease in household risk asset investment. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that households with self-employed wives (higher income instability), households without a co-resident status with grandparents (more time spent on childcare), and high-income households (stronger willingness to have more children) are more affected by the policy. This study provides new supplements on how fertility policies affect the allocation of household financial assets and proposes constructive suggestions on how to establish a comprehensive system of childcare welfare and alleviate the economic pressure of family childcare in developing countries.
The Impact of Lens Epithelium-Derived Growth Factor p75 Dimerization on Its Tethering Function

The transcriptional co-activator lens epithelium-derived growth factor/p75 (LEDGF/p75) plays an important role in the biology of the cell and in several human diseases, including MLL-rearranged acute leukemia, autoimmunity, and HIV-1 infection. In both health and disease, LEDGF/p75 functions as a chromatin tether that interacts with proteins such as MLL1 and HIV-1 integrase via its integrase-binding domain (IBD) and with chromatin through its N-terminal PWWP domain. Recently, dimerization of LEDGF/p75 was shown, mediated by a network of electrostatic contacts between amino acids from the IBD and the C-terminal α6-helix. Here, we investigated the functional impact of LEDGF/p75 variants on the dimerization using biochemical and cellular interaction assays. The data demonstrate that the C-terminal α6-helix folds back in cis on the IBD of monomeric LEDGF/p75. We discovered that the presence of DNA stimulates LEDGF/p75 dimerization. LEDGF/p75 dimerization enhances binding to MLL1 but not to HIV-1 integrase, a finding that was observed in vitro and validated in cell culture. Whereas HIV-1 replication was not dependent on LEDGF/p75 dimerization, colony formation of MLLr-dependent human leukemic THP-1 cells was. In conclusion, our data indicate that intricate changes in the quaternary structure of LEDGF/p75 modulate its tethering function.