Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical utility of WHO-recommended screening tools and development and validation of novel clinical prediction models for pulmonary tuberculosis screening among outpatients living with HIV: an individual participant data meta-analysis

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that outpatient people living with HIV (PLHIV) undergo tuberculosis screening with the WHO four-symptom screen (W4SS) or C-reactive protein (CRP) (5 mg·L−1 cut-off) followed by confirmatory testing if screen positive. We conducted an individual participant data meta-analysis to determine the performance of WHO-recommended screening tools and two newly developed clinical prediction models (CPMs). Methods: Following a systematic review, we identified studies that recruited adult outpatient PLHIV irrespective of tuberculosis signs and symptoms or with a positive W4SS, evaluated CRP and collected sputum for culture. We used logistic regression to develop an extended CPM (which included CRP and other predictors) and a CRP-only CPM. We used internal–external cross-validation to evaluate performance. Results: We pooled data from eight cohorts (n=4315 participants). The extended CPM had excellent discrimination (C-statistic 0.81); the CRP-only CPM had similar discrimination. The C-statistics for WHO-recommended tools were lower. Both CPMs had equivalent or higher net benefit compared with the WHO-recommended tools. Compared with both CPMs, CRP (5 mg·L−1 cut-off) had equivalent net benefit across a clinically useful range of threshold probabilities, while the W4SS had a lower net benefit. The W4SS would capture 91% of tuberculosis cases and require confirmatory testing for 78% of participants. CRP (5 mg·L−1 cut-off), the extended CPM (4.2% threshold) and the CRP-only CPM (3.6% threshold) would capture similar percentages of cases but reduce confirmatory tests required by 24, 27 and 36%, respectively. Conclusions: CRP sets the standard for tuberculosis screening among outpatient PLHIV. The choice between using CRP at 5 mg·L−1 cut-off or in a CPM depends on available resources. C-reactive protein at a 5 mg cut-off and two newly developed clinical prediction models from this study show clinical utility for TB screening among outpatient PLHIV, while the WHO-recommended four-symptom screen showed suboptimal clinical utility https://bit.ly/3yShJ3m
Matting Anything

In this paper, we propose the Matting Anything Model (MAM), an efficient and versatile framework for estimating the alpha matte of any instance in an image with flexible and interactive visual or linguistic user prompt guidance. MAM offers several significant advantages over previous specialized image matting networks: (i) MAM is capable of dealing with various types of image matting, including semantic, instance, and referring image matting with only a single model; (ii) MAM leverages the feature maps from the Segment Anything Model (SAM) and adopts a lightweight Mask-to-Matte (M2M) module to predict the alpha matte through iterative refinement, which has only 2.7 million trainable parameters. (iii) By incorporating SAM, MAM simplifies the user intervention required for the interactive use of image matting from the trimap to the box, point, or text prompt. We evaluate the performance of MAM on various image matting benchmarks, and the experimental results demonstrate that MAM achieves comparable performance to the state-of-the-art specialized image matting models under different metrics on each benchmark. Overall, MAM shows superior generalization ability and can effectively handle various image matting tasks with fewer parameters, making it a practical solution for unified image matting. Our code and models are open-sourced at https://github.com/SHI-Labs/Matting-Anything.
Simulation of Shape Clustering Based on Spectral Graph Theory

Spectral graph theory has been exploited widely for the purpose of shape representation,matching and clustering.The proposed algorithm focuses on two problems: Firstly,skeletal feature points and spectrum were used to build up the mathematic model of the shape.Secondly,shapes were organized into a low dimensional space by analyzing the mathematic character of models.Meanwhile,the simulation of clustering was achieved by researching the distribution of shapes in this space.Simulation experiments on the public data sets illustrate that the presented algorithm is available for shape clustering.
Peculiar CNO photospheric abundances in the central star of NGC 2392

Abstract Using new, high signal-to-noise CFHT ESPaDOnS visual spectrograms, and archive IUE and FUSE UV spectrograms, together with state-of-the-art non-LTE hydrodynamical model atmospheres, we have obtained accurate He, C, N, O photospheric abundance determinations in the central stars of NGC 2392, IC 4593, and NGC 6826. We compare with the corresponding nebular abundances, taken from the literature. The central star of NGC 2392 shows high He, N, and very low C, O abundances. We propose that these peculiar abundances must have originated in a common-envelope phase of interaction with a close binary companion. If we assume that the companion is more evolved than the visible central star, this offers a way of solving the old mystery of the discrepant He II Zanstra temperature of NGC 2392.
Research on Time Delay Estimation Algorithm Based on Generalized Cross Correlation in Acoustic Emission Source Location

Because of containing several model waveforms, the source rub-impact acoustic emission signal transmitting in complicated body would cause waveform distortion for varying transmission speed of each model and dispersion effect. It is difficult to achieve exact source location by traditional correlation algorithm. To avoid the deviation caused by these factors, the generalized cross correlated time delay estimation was introduced to the calculation of time difference. A transmission model of acoustic emission (AE) was established based on modal AE and stochastic process theory. An optimal linear filter algorithm based on fractional Fourier transform was proposed to de-noise; the distorted waveform due to different speed in transmission would induce difficulty in extraction maximum correlated point, therefore, the correlated production and log transform based on section were proposed to solve this problem. The experiment results show that the method is prior to common time-delay estimation in location accuracy.
Null Broadening and Sidelobe Control Method Based on Multi-parametric Quadratic Programming

The direction-of-arrival of jammer can be aimed at automatically based on the adaptive beamforming algorithm.However,it will be resulted in the mismatch between adaptive weight and data due to the perturbation of the interference location.Besides,the traditional beamformers may have unacceptably high sidelobes when few samples are available.To solve the above problems,an effective approach was presented to broaden null and control sidelobes.Firstly,a tapered covariance matrix was constructed to modify the measured covariance matrix.Secondly,multiple quadratic inequality constraints outside the mainlobe beampattern area were used to control sidelobes.Thirdly,the resulting optimization problem was formulated as a multi-parametric quadratic programming (mp-QP) problem.Simulation results were presented to verify the efficiency of the proposed algorithm,such as it can achieve higher array gain and the optimal weight vector can be easily obtained by real-valued computation.
Analysis of Displacement of the Curved Bar Structure Based on Diagram Multiplication

This paper aims to study on calculation method of displacement of curved bar structure,and verify the validity and applicability of diagram multiplication in the curved bar structure displacement calculation.The diagram multiplication is to solve the displacement calculation method of building structure.However;it is generally believed that the curved bar structure cannot be directly applied to diagram multiplication displacement analysis due to the conditions of application.Taking three-hinge arch of engineering as an example,three hinged arch is divided into several segments,each segment is approximately a straight bar.It can be calculated by each segment,comparing and verifying the results through the integral method and the model test results,the error between diagram multiplication calculation value of displacement and integral analysis results alignment is 3.9%,the error compared with model test value is 3.5%. The conclusion is that the integral method of displacement bar structure is accurate,but the calculation process is complicated,especially the mathematical modeling process is complex and difficult.However;the method of diagram multiplication calculation for curved bar displacement is convenient and simple,the results can meet the engineering requirements and it can be applied widely.
Radiated emissions test performance of the GHz TEM cell

The gigahertz transverse electromagnetic (GTEM) cell has recently been recognized as a competing technology for the accomplishment of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) radiated emissions testing for the demonstration of compliance with commercial specifications. As a competing technology, the direct comparison of the performance of a GTEM, for such compliance measurements, to the results obtained from an open area test site (OATS) is an obvious and necessary step. The direct comparison of results of two series of tests is described. Two differing comparisons are described: three separate sets of reference dipole comparison measurements, and two full personal computer (PC) systems tested per the requirements of ANSI 63.4, Draft 11.4 on an OATS and in a GTEM. In addition to a direct comparison, the resultant data has been subjected to statistical analysis. The statistical analysis was performed on maximum electric field strength data comparing GTEM calculated levels with open area test site measured levels. Pearson's correlation coefficient and the student-t distribution were used to analyze the data. Good agreement of results, both by direct comparison and by the statistical analysis have been found. <<ETX>>
Adaptive Color Classification with Gaussian Mixture Model

In this paper we present an adaptive color clas­ sification algorithm for RoboCup. Color-based vision faces the challenge of perceived color being variant to illumination. We propose a color classification algorithm that is robust and reliable under dynamic lighting conditions. Supported by the dichromatic reflectance model, we use a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) of two components to represent the distribution of a color class of interest in the YUV space. The color model is continuously updated to achieve adaptation. We show experimentally that a GMM with two components can be used as an accurate and complete representation of a dichromatic surface, and that our algorithm is capable of adapting and classifying color classes in real time.
CNS-dominant human FMRP isoform rescues seizures, fear, and sleep abnormalities in Fmr1-KO mice

Fragile X syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the absence of the mRNA-binding protein fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein (FMRP). Because FMRP is a highly pleiotropic protein controlling the expression of hundreds of genes, viral vector–mediated gene replacement therapy is viewed as a potential viable treatment to correct the fundamental underlying molecular pathology inherent in the disorder. Here, we studied the safety profile and therapeutic effects of a clinically relevant dose of a self-complementary adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector containing a major human brain isoform of FMRP after intrathecal injection into wild-type and fragile X–KO mice. Analysis of the cellular transduction in the brain indicated primarily neuronal transduction with relatively sparse glial expression, similar to endogenous FMRP expression in untreated wild-type mice. AAV vector–treated KO mice showed recovery from epileptic seizures, normalization of fear conditioning, reversal of slow-wave deficits as measured via electroencephalographic recordings, and restoration of abnormal circadian motor activity and sleep. Further assessment of vector efficacy by tracking and analyzing individual responses demonstrated correlations between the level and distribution of brain transduction and drug response. These preclinical findings further demonstrate the validity of AAV vector–mediated gene therapy for treating the most common genetic cause of cognitive impairment and autism in children.
The Effect of Fluid Resuscitation Timing in Early Sepsis Resuscitation

Purpose The dose and timing of early fluid resuscitation in sepsis remains a debated topic. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of fluid timing in early sepsis management on mortality and other clinical outcomes. Methods Single-center, retrospective cohort study of emergency-department-treated adults (>18 years, n = 1032) presenting with severe sepsis or septic shock. Logistic regression evaluating the impact of 30 mL/kg crystalloids timing and mortality-versus-time plot controlling for mortality in emergency department sepsis score, lactate, antibiotic timing, obesity, sex, systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria, hypotension, and heart and renal failures. This study is a subanalysis of a previously published investigation. Results Mortality was 17.1% (n = 176) overall and 20.4% (n = 133 of 653) among those in septic shock. 30 mL/kg was given to 16.9%, 32.2%, 16.2%, 14.5%, and 20.3% of patients within ≤1, 1 ≤ 3, 3 ≤ 6, 6 ≤ 24, and not reached within 24 h, respectively. A 24-h plot of adjusted mortality versus time did not reach significance, but within the first 12 h, the linear function showed a per-hour mortality increase (odds ratio [OR] 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.67) which peaks around 5h, although the quadratic function does not reach significance (P = .09). When compared to patients receiving 30 mL/kg within 1 h, increased mortality was observed when not reached within 24 h (OR 2.69, 95% CI 1.37-5.37) but no difference when receiving this volume between 1 and 3 (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.62-2.01), 3 and 6 (OR 1.83, 95% CI 0.97-3.52), or 6 and 24 h (OR 1.51, 95% CI 0.75-3.06). Receiving 30 mL/kg between 1 and 3 versus <1 h increased the incidence of delayed hypotension (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.23-2.72) but did not impact need for intubation, intensive care unit admission, or vasopressors. Conclusions We observed weak evidence that supports that earlier is better for survival when reaching fluid goals of 30 mL/kg, but benefits may wane at later time points. These findings should be viewed as hypothesis generating.
Application of 2-D large eddy simulation to flows in impeller of double-flow-conduits-sewage pump

In this paper, Gauss filter function is used to filter the N S equation and the subgrid scale Reynold stress model is introduced to deduce the practical form of LES equation for 2 D flow calculation of hydraulic machine. Then the LES equation and its discrete form in body fitted coordinate system are obtained and the numerical calculation program is developed. The incompressible turbulent flow in double flow conduits sewage pump impeller is computed by using the abovementioned program, and the distribution laws of velocity and pressure in flow field are obtained. Based on this, the designs of double flow conduits sewage pump impeller are optimized.
Growth of Enterococcus faecalis ∆plsX strains is restored by increased saturated fatty acid synthesis

ABSTRACT The Enterococcus faecalis acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) phosphate acyltransferase PlsX plays an important role in phospholipid synthesis and exogenous fatty acid incorporation. Loss of plsX almost completely blocks growth by decreasing de novo phospholipid synthesis, which leads to abnormally long-chain acyl chains in the cell membrane phospholipids. The ∆plsX strain failed to grow without supplementation with an appropriate exogenous fatty acid. Introduction of a ∆fabT mutation into the ∆plsX strain to increase fatty acid synthesis allowed very weak growth. The ∆plsX strain accumulated suppressor mutants. One of these encoded a truncated β-ketoacyl-ACP synthase II (FabO) which restored normal growth and restored de novo phospholipid acyl chain synthesis by increasing saturated acyl-ACP synthesis. Saturated acyl-ACPs are cleaved by a thioesterase to provide free fatty acids for conversion to acyl-phosphates by the FakAB system. The acyl-phosphates are incorporated into position sn1 of the phospholipids by PlsY. We report the tesE gene encodes a thioesterase that can provide free fatty acids. However, we were unable to delete the chromosomal tesE gene to confirm that it is the responsible enzyme. TesE readily cleaves unsaturated acyl-ACPs, whereas saturated acyl-ACPs are cleaved much more slowly. Overexpression of an E. faecalis enoyl-ACP reductase either FabK or FabI which results in high levels of saturated fatty acid synthesis also restored the growth of the ∆plsX strain. The ∆plsX strain grew faster in the presence of palmitic acid than in the presence of oleic acid with improvement in phospholipid acyl chain synthesis. Positional analysis of the acyl chain distribution in the phospholipids showed that saturated acyl chains dominate the sn1-position indicating a preference for saturated fatty acids at this position. High-level production of saturated acyl-ACPs is required to offset the marked preference of the TesE thioesterase for unsaturated acyl-ACPs and allow the initiation of phospholipid synthesis.
Analysis of core mutation and TET2/ASXL1 mutations DNA methylation profile in myelodysplastic syndrome

ABSTRACT Objectives The study aims to analyze genetic mutation and clinical characteristics and study their correlation with survival prognosis of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Moreover, the differential DNA methylation profiles between TET2 mutated (Mut)/ASXL1 wild-type (WT) and TET2-Mut/ASXL1-Mut MDS samples were investigated to explore the mechanism of MDS patients with TET2/ASXL1 mutations. Methods The clinical data of 195 patients diagnosed with MDS were selected and statistically analyzed. The DNA methylation sequencing data set was obtained from the GEO and bioinformatics analyzed. Results Of the 195 MDS patients, 42 (21.5%) carried TET2 mutations. 81% of TET2-Mut patients could detect comutated genes. The most commonly comutated gene in MDS patients with TET2-Mut was ASXL1, which had a tendency towards poorer prognosis (P = 0.08). GO analysis showed that highly methylated differentially methylated genes (DMGs) was mainly enriched in biological processes such as cell surface receptor signal pathway and cell secretion. Hypomethylated DMGs was mainly enriched in cell differentiation and cell development. KEGG analysis showed that hypermethylated DMGs was mainly enriched in Ras signal pathway and MAPK signal pathway. Hypomethylated DMGs was mainly enriched in extracellular matrix receptor interaction and focal adhesion. PPI network analysis identified 10 hub genes of hypermethylated and hypomethylated DMGs that may be associated with patients with TET2-Mut/ASXL1-Mut respectively. Conclusions Our results illustrate the interrelationships between genetic mutations and clinical phenotypes and disease outcomes, with substantial potential for clinical application. Differentially methylated hub genes might represent potential biomarkers and provide novel insights and possible targets for MDS with double TET2/ASXL1 mutations.
Genomic diversity of mpox virus in Paris area (France) during the 2022 outbreak

In May 2022, several countries reported mpox cases from patients without history of traveling to endemic areas. France was one of the most affected European countries by this outbreak. In this study, the clinical characteristics of mpox cases in France were described, and the genetic diversity of the virus was studied. Patients diagnosed with mpox infection (quantitative polymerase chain reaction ct < 28) between May 21, and July 4, 2022 and between 16th August and 10th September 2022 were included to this study. Twelve amplicons corresponding to the most polymorphic regions of the mpox genome and covering ~30 000 nucleotides were generated and sequenced using the S5 XL Ion Torrent technology to evaluate the genetic diversity of mpox sequences. One hundred and forty‐eight patients were diagnosed with mpox‐infection. 95% were men, 5% transgender (M‐to‐F), 50% were taking human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pre‐exposure prophylaxis, and 25% were HIV seropositive. One hundred and sixty‐two samples (some patients had two samples) were sequenced and compared to GenBank sequences. Overall, low genetic diversity of mpox sequences was found compared with pre‐epidemic Western‐African sequences, with 32 distinct mutational patterns. This study provides a first glance at the mutational landscape of early mpox 2022 circulating strains in Paris (France).
Prognostic factors for regorafenib treatment in patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer: A real-life retrospective multi-center study

Regorafenib, an oral multikinase inhibitor, has improved survival in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients who have progressed on standard therapies. Our study aimed to evaluate prognostic factors influencing regorafenib treatment and assess the optimal dosing regimen in a real-life setting. We retrospectively analyzed 263 patients with mCRC from multiple medical oncology clinics in Turkey. Treatment responses and prognostic factors for survival were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analysis. Of the patients, 120 were male and 143 were female; 28.9% of tumors were located in the rectum. RAS mutations were present in 3.0% of tumors, while BRAF, K-RAS, and N-RAS mutations were found in 3.0%, 29.7%, and 25.9% of tumor tissues, respectively. Dose escalation was preferred in 105 (39.9%) patients. The median treatment duration was 3.0 months, with an objective response rate (ORR) of 4.9%. Grade ≥ 3 treatment-related toxicity occurred in 133 patients, leading to discontinuation, interruption, and modification rates of 50.6%, 43.7%, and 79.0%, respectively. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 3.0 and 8.1 months, respectively. RAS/RAF mutation (hazard ratio [HR] 1.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–2.3; P ═ 0.01), pre-treatment carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels (HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.3; P ═ 0.008), and toxicity-related treatment interruption or dose adjustment (HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.4; P ═ 0.01) were identified as independent prognostic factors for PFS. Dose escalation had no significant effect on PFS but was associated with improved OS (P < 0.001). Independent prognostic factors for OS were the initial TNM stage (HR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0–1.9; P ═ 0.04) and dose interruption/adjustment (HR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2–0.9; P ═ 0.03). Our findings demonstrate the efficacy and safety of regorafenib. Treatment line influences the response, with dose escalation being more favorable than adjustment or interruption, thus impacting survival.
The Comparison Study on Image Smoothing Algorithms & Improve Strategy

As a key image enhancement technology to remove the noise in images, image smoothing is a necessary function in various image-processing software. In this paper, mean smoothing,median smoothing,edge keeping smoothing and so on are discussed based on analyzing noise model ,then their corresponding algorithm principle, realization methods and work efficiency are compared with each other.Tests on corrupted images of different noise model show that methods in the paper can be the reference of image processing researchers, and improve the efficiency of the development of image processing software.