Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Glaesserella parasuis serotype 5 breaches the porcine respiratory epithelial barrier by inducing autophagy and blocking the cell membrane Claudin-1 replenishment

Glaesserella parasuis (G. parasuis), the primary pathogen of Glässer’s disease, colonizes the upper respiratory tract and can break through the epithelial barrier of the respiratory tract, leading to lung infection. However, the underlying mechanisms for this adverse effect remain unclear. The G. parasuis serotype 5 SQ strain (HPS5-SQ) infection decreased the integrity of piglets’ lung Occludin and Claudin-1. Autophagy regulates the function of the epithelial barrier and tight junction proteins (TJs) expression. We tested the hypothesis that HPS5-SQ breaking through the porcine respiratory epithelial barrier was linked to autophagy and Claudin-1 degradation. When HPS5-SQ infected swine tracheal epithelial cells (STEC), autophagosomes encapsulated, and autolysosomes degraded oxidatively stressed mitochondria covered with Claudin-1. Furthermore, we found that autophagosomes encapsulating mitochondria resulted in cell membrane Claudin-1 being unable to be replenished after degradation and damaged the respiratory tract epithelial barrier. In conclusion, G. parasuis serotype 5 breaks through the porcine respiratory epithelial barrier by inducing autophagy and interrupting cell membrane Claudin-1 replenishment, clarifying the mechanism of the G. parasuis infection and providing a new potential target for drug design and vaccine development.
The West Africa ICEMR Partnerships for Guiding Policy to Improve the Malaria Prevention and Control

ABSTRACT. The Mali National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) recently established a phased set of goals for eliminating malaria in Mali by 2030. Over the past decade, the scale-up of NMCP-led malaria control interventions has led to considerable progress, as evidenced by multiple malariometric indicators. The West Africa International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research (WA-ICEMR) is a multidisciplinary research program that works closely with the NMCP and its partners to address critical research needs for malaria control. This coordinated effort includes assessing the effectiveness of control interventions based on key malaria research topics, including immune status, parasite genetic diversity, insecticide and drug resistance, diagnostic accuracy, malaria vector populations and biting behaviors, and vectorial capacity. Several signature accomplishments of the WA-ICEMR include identifying changing malaria age demographic profiles, testing innovative approaches to improve control strategies, and providing regular reporting on drug and insecticide resistance status. The NMCP and WA-ICEMR partnership between the WA-ICEMR and the NMCP offers a comprehensive research platform that informs the design and implementation of malaria prevention and control research programs. These efforts build local expertise and capacity for the next generation of malaria researchers and guide local policy, which is crucial in sustaining efforts toward eliminating malaria in West Africa.
Impact of sodium nitroprusside concentration added to batch cultures of Escherichia coli biofilms on the c-di-GMP levels, morphologies and adhesion of biofilm-dispersed cells

Abstract Biofilm dispersion can be triggered by the application of dispersing agents such as nitric oxide (NO)-donors, resulting in the release of biofilm-dispersed cells into the environment. In this work, biofilm-dispersed cells were obtained by adding different concentrations of NO-donor sodium nitroprusside (0.5, 5, 50 µM, and 2.5 mM of SNP) to batch cultures of pre-formed Escherichia coli biofilms. Except for those dispersed by 5 µM of SNP, biofilm-dispersed cells were found to be wider and longer than the planktonic cells and to have higher c-di-GMP levels and greater adhesion forces to silicon nitride surfaces in water as measured by atomic force microscope. Consequently, the optimum concentration of SNP to disperse E. coli biofilms was found to be 5 µM of SNP, whose addition to batch cultures resulted in a significant biofilm dispersion and the dispersed cells having c-di-GMP levels, morphologies and adhesion strengths similar to their planktonic counterparts. Graphical Abstract
COMPATIBLE EXTENSIONS OF FUZZY RELATIONS

In 1930 Szpilrajn proved that any strict partial order can be embedded in a strict linear order.This theorem was later refined by Dushnik and Miller (1941), Hansson (1968), Suzumura (1976),Donaldson and Weymark (1998), Bossert (1999). Particularly Suzumura introduced the important concept of compatible extension of a (crisp) relation. These extension theorems have an important role in welfare economics. In particular Szpilrajn theorem is the main tool for proving a known theorem of Richter that establishes the equivalence between rational and congruous consumers. In 1999 Duggan proved a general extension theorem that contains all these results. In this paper we introduce the notion of compatible extension of a fuzzy relation and we prove an extension theorem for fuzzy relations. Our result generalizes to fuzzy set theory the main part of Duggan's theorem. As applications we obtain fuzzy versions of the theorems of Szpilrajn, Hansson and Suzumura. We also prove that an asymmetric and transitive fuzzy relation has a compatible extension that is total, asymmetric and transitive.Our results can be useful in the theory of fuzzy consumers. We can prove that any rational fuzzyconsumer is congruous, extending to a fuzzy context a part of Richter's theorem. To prove that acongruous fuzzy consumer is rational remains an open problem. A proof of this result can somehowuse a fuzzy version of Szpilrajn theorem.
Cervical cancer elimination in Indian context: Moving from barriers to facilitators

It has been 46 years since the launch of cancer control programs in India and yet the recent National Family Health Survey (fifth round, 2019–2021) has reported that just 1.9% of women aged 30–49 years have ever undergone cervical cancer screening. The cost of delayed diagnosis of cervical cancer and its treatment is overwhelming, and the rural population takes the worst hit. It is the need of the hour that the Indian health system and policymakers identify the barriers and facilitators for cervical cancer early detection and provide pragmatic solutions so that the targets of cervical cancer elimination can be achieved in a timely manner.
Multi-Scale Geometric Consistency Guided Multi-View Stereo

In this paper, we propose an efficient multi-scale geometric consistency guided multi-view stereo method for accurate and complete depth map estimation. We first present our basic multi-view stereo method with Adaptive Checkerboard sampling and Multi-Hypothesis joint view selection (ACMH). It leverages structured region information to sample better candidate hypotheses for propagation and infer the aggregation view subset at each pixel. For the depth estimation of low-textured areas, we further propose to combine ACMH with multi-scale geometric consistency guidance (ACMM) to obtain the reliable depth estimates for low-textured areas at coarser scales and guarantee that they can be propagated to finer scales. To correct the erroneous estimates propagated from the coarser scales, we present a novel detail restorer. Experiments on extensive datasets show our method achieves state-of-the-art performance, recovering the depth estimation not only in low-textured areas but also in details.
Genomic evidence supports genetic convergence of a supergene controlling the distylous floral syndrome.

Heterostyly, a plant sexual polymorphism controlled by the S-locus supergene, has evolved numerous times among angiosperm lineages and represents a classic example of convergent evolution in form and function. Determining whether its underlying molecular convergence has occurred could provide insights on the constraints of floral evolution. Here, we investigated S-locus genes in distylous Gelsemium (Gelsemiaceae) to determine if there is evidence of molecular convergence with unrelated distylous species. We used several approaches, including anatomical measurements of sex-organ development and transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing, to identify components of the S-locus supergene. We also performed evolutionary analysis with candidate S-locus genes and compared them with those reported in Primula and Turnera. The candidate S-locus supergene of Gelsemium contained four genes, of which three appear to have originated from gene duplication events within Gelsemiaceae. Both the style-length genes GeCYP in Gelsemium and CYP734A50 in Primula likely arose from duplication of the same gene, CYP734A1. Three out of four S-locus genes in G. elegans were hemizygous, as previously reported in Primula and Turnera. Our study provides genomic evidence on the genetic convergence of the supergene underlying distyly among distantly related angiosperm lineages and helps to illuminate the genetic architecture involved in the evolution of heterostyly.
A Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Description of Docetaxel-Conjugate Release from PLGA Matrices

Despite the extensive use of poly-lactic-glycolic-acid (PLGA) in biomedical applications, computational research on the mesoscopic characterization of PLGA-based delivery systems is limited. In this study, a computational model for PLGA is proposed, developed, and validated for the reproducibility of transport properties that can influence drug release, the rate of which remains difficult to control. For computational efficiency, coarse-grained (CG) models of the molecular components under consideration were built using the MARTINI force field version 2.2. The translocation free energy barrier ΔGt* across the PLGA matrix in the aqueous phase of docetaxel and derivatives of varying sizes and solubilities was predicted via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and compared with experimental release data. The thermodynamic quantity ΔGt* anticipates and can help explain the release kinetics of hydrophobic compounds from the PLGA matrix, albeit within the limit of a drug concentration below a critical aggregation concentration. The proposed computational framework would allow one to predict the pharmacological behavior of polymeric implants loaded with a variety of payloads under different conditions, limiting the experimental workload and associated costs.
Statistical modelling and regression structures : festschrift in honour of Ludwig Fahrmeir

The Smooth Complex Logarithm and Quasi-Periodic Models. - P-spline Varying Coefficient Models for Complex Data. - Penalized Splines, Mixed Models and Bayesian Ideas. - Bayesian Linear Regression - Different Conjugate Models and Their (In)Sensitivity to Prior-Data Conflict. - An Efficient Model Averaging Procedure for Logistic Regression Models Using a Bayesian Estimator with Laplace Prior. - Posterior and Cross-validatory Predictive Checks: A Comparison of MCMC and INLA. - Data Augmentation and MCMC for Binary and Multinomial Logit Models. - Generalized Semiparametric Regression with Covariates Measured with Error. - Determinants of the Socioeconomic and Spatial Pattern of Undernutrition by Sex in India: A Geoadditive Semi-parametric Regression Approach. - Boosting for Estimating Spatially Structured Additive Models. - Generalized Linear Mixed Models Based on Boosting. - Measurement and Predictors of a Negative Attitude towards Statistics among LMU Students. - Graphical Chain Models and their Application. - Indirect Comparison of Interaction Graphs. - Modelling, Estimation and Visualization of Multivariate Dependence for High-frequency Data. - Ordinal- and Continuous-Response Stochastic Volatility Models for Price Changes: An Empirical Comparison. - Copula Choice with Factor Credit Portfolio Models. - Penalized Estimation for Integer Autoregressive Models. - Bayesian Inference for a Periodic Stochastic Volatility Model of Intraday Electricity Prices. - Online Change-Point Detection in Categorical Time Series. - Multiple Linear Panel Regression with Multiplicative Random Noise. - A Note on Using Multiple Singular Value Decompositions to Cluster Complex Intracellular Calcium Ion Signals. - On the self-regularization property of the EM algorithm for Poisson inverse problems. - Sequential Design of Computer Experiments for Constrained Optimization.
Development and validation of a goal attainment scale for families affected by maternal substance use

Abstract The Team for Infants Exposed to Substance use (TIES) Program is a longstanding home‐based family support program that provides a multidisciplinary, community‐facing model to address the complex needs of families with young children affected by maternal substance use. The model required a comprehensive assessment tool to guide creation of individualized family goals with steps to achievement and measurement of progress on those goals. This article describes the development of a goal attainment scale and the analysis conducted to validate the scale for the service population. TIES model developers and community partners developed the goal attainment scale to assess outcomes in key domains: maternal substance use, parenting, child and maternal health, income, and housing. Data were collected from 2012 to 2019 from 220 participants and analyzed in 2020. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted. Twenty‐five of the original 30 items were retained in a six‐factor structure. The total percentage of variance explained was 64.44% with six factors, and Cronbach's alpha was . 90. For the split‐half method, the reliability of scale was . 90 for unbiased conditions. Therefore, the scale reached acceptable reliability and validity. The scale provides a comprehensive approach to measure family outcomes across multiple domains addressing key risk and protective factors. This family‐centered scale serves both therapeutic and evaluation purposes, acting as an intervention guide and a goal attainment measurement tool.
Quadratic finite element and preconditioning methods for options pricing in the SVCJ model

We consider option pricing problems in the stochastic volatility jump diffusion model with correlated and contemporaneous jumps in both the return and the variance processes (SVCJ). The option value function solves a partial integro-differential equation (PIDE). We discretize this PIDE in space by the quadratic FE method and integrate the resulting ordinary differential equation in time by an implicit-explicit Euler based extrapolation scheme. The coefficient matrix of the resulting linear systems is block penta-diagonal with penta-diagonal blocks. The preconditioned bi-conjugate gradient stabilized (PBiCGSTAB) method is used to solve the linear systems. According to the structure of the coefficient matrix, several preconditioners are implemented and compared. The performance of preconditioning techniques for solving block-tridiagonal systems resulting from the linear FE discretization of the PIDE is also investigated. The combination of the quadratic FE for spatial discretization, the extrapolation scheme for time discretization, and the PBiCGSTAB method with an appropriate preconditioner is found to be very efficient for solving the option pricing problems in the SVCJ model. Compared to the standard second order linear finite element method combined with the popular successive over-relaxation (SOR) linear system solver, the proposed method reduces computational time by about twenty times at the accuracy level of 1 cent and more than fifty times at the accuracy level of 0.1 cent for the barrier option example tested in the paper.
Estimation method for the anisotropic electrical conductivity of in vivo human muscles and fat between 10 kHz and 1 MHz

Objective. In low frequency dosimetry the variability in the electrical conductivity values assigned to body model tissues represents a major source of uncertainty. The aim of this study is to propose a method for estimating the conductivity of human anisotropic skeletal muscle and fat in vivo in the frequency range from 10 kHz to 1 MHz. Approach. A method based on bounded electrical impedance tomography was used. Bioimpedance measurements were performed on the legs of ten subjects. Anatomically realistic models of the legs were then created using magnetic resonance images. The inverse problem of the tissue conductivities was solved using the finite element method. The results were validated using resampling techniques. These findings were also used to study the effects of muscle anisotropy on magnetic field exposure. Main results. The estimated conductivities for anisotropic muscle were found to be in good agreement with values found in existing literature and the anisotropy was shown to decrease with increasing frequency, with the ratio of lateral to longitudinal conductivity increasing from 37% to 64%. The conductivity of fat was found to be almost a constant 0.07 S m−1 in the frequency range considered. Significance. The proposed method was shown to be a viable option when estimating in vivo conductivity of human tissue. The results can be used in numerical dosimetry calculations or as limits in future investigations studying conductivity with bioimpedance measurements.
Greater protein quality of an egg breakfast may be inadequate to induce satiety during weight loss, compared with a cereal breakfast of equal protein quantity

Abstract We compared the effects of consuming egg-breakfast of superior protein quality to cereal-breakfast of similar energy density and protein quantity, but lower protein quality. Two, two-week randomised crossover clinical trials included 30 otherwise healthy women with overweight or obesity. Subjects received counselling to follow a reduced-calorie diet. Under supervision, participants consumed either breakfast for one-week then crossed over to the opposite breakfast. Experiment-1 outcome variables included post-breakfast appetite hormones, glucose and insulin, subjective markers of satiety and energy intake at lunch and dinner. In Experiment-2, an appealing food (brownies) was included in lunch. Following the breakfasts, Experiment-1 showed no significant differences in outcome variables. In Experiment-2, the egg-breakfast increased fullness (p = 0.038), but lunch-time energy intake was not different. If these findings apply to other breakfasts, it suggests that in comparing two breakfasts with similar protein quantity, the greater protein quality of a breakfast may not be adequate to induce satiety.
Modeling and error analysis of a superconducting gravity gradiometer

Abstract : The demand for higher accuracy in inertial navigation systems has pushed the development of more accurate accelerometers and gyroscopes. Inertial navigation systems (INS) can now be built with error stemming mainly from the uncertainty of the vertical along the flight path (Savet, 1970). The deflection of the vertical is produced by mass anomalies on the surface of the earth. The error can be corrected by measuring the gravity gradient and using it in the navigation equations. This possibility has generated intensive interest and research in the field of gravity gradiometry. The lower bound of the resolution of room temperature gravity gradiometers is thermal (Brownian) noise. By lowering the temperature to 4 K, the noise level is smaller by an order of magnitude. A comparatively simple gravity gradiometer can be built using some newly developed superconducting technology. (Author)
Counting: An imprecise reference standard for respiratory rate measurement

In response to: Spurr R, Ng E, Onchiri FM, Rapha B, Nakatumba-Nabende J, Rosenfeld M, Najjingo I, Stout J, Nantanda R, Ellington LE. Performance and usability of a new mobile application for measuring respiratory rate in young children with acute lower respiratory infections. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2022 Aug 22. doi: 10.1002/ppul.26125 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Malaria Resilience in South America: Epidemiology, Vector Biology, and Immunology Insights from the Amazonian International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research Network in Peru and Brazil

ABSTRACT. The 1990s saw the rapid reemergence of malaria in Amazonia, where it remains an important public health priority in South America. The Amazonian International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR) was designed to take a multidisciplinary approach toward identifying novel malaria control and elimination strategies. Based on geographically and epidemiologically distinct sites in the Northeastern Peruvian and Western Brazilian Amazon regions, synergistic projects integrate malaria epidemiology, vector biology, and immunology. The Amazonian ICEMR’s overarching goal is to understand how human behavior and other sociodemographic features of human reservoirs of transmission—predominantly asymptomatically parasitemic people—interact with the major Amazonian malaria vector, Nyssorhynchus (formerly Anopheles) darlingi, and with human immune responses to maintain malaria resilience and continued endemicity in a hypoendemic setting. Here, we will review Amazonian ICEMR’s achievements on the synergies among malaria epidemiology, Plasmodium-vector interactions, and immune response, and how those provide a roadmap for further research, and, most importantly, point toward how to achieve malaria control and elimination in the Americas.
Locally Linear Embedding

Locally linear embedding (LLE), is an unsupervised learning algorithm that computes low-dimensional neighborhood preserving embeddings. • Given N real-valued vectors Xi, each of dimensionality D. • Suppose data point and its neighbors lie on or close to a locally linear patch. • Characterize the local geometry of these patches by linear coefficients that reconstruct each data point from its neighbors. Reconstruction errors are measured by cost function
Representation of an integer as the sum of a prime in arithmetic progression and a squarefree integer with certain parity

The Goldbach conjecture states that every even integer greater than two can be expressed as the sum of two primes. Although this remains an open problem due to the parity phenomenon, there are various progress and relaxations which contributes toward this direction. Mordern sieve method can be traced back to the earlier works of Brun. In 1920 Brun [1] showed that every sufficiently large even integer can be written as the sum of two numbers which have together at most nine prime divisors. Later, the celebrated result of Chen [2] provided the best result in this direction and established that every sufficiently large even integer can be written as the sum of a prime and a number with at most two prime factors. Initiated by Linnik [12] in 1953, he showed that every sufficiently large even integer can be written as a sum of two primes and at most K powers of two, where K is an absolute constant although non-explicit. Many authors have made K explicit but the best result K = 13 is due to Heath-Brown & Puchta [8]. Another relaxation is the ternary Goldbach conjecture which states that all odd integer greater than five is the sum of three primes. Vinogradov [19] developed a way to estimate sums over primes which combined with the circle method showed that the ternary Goldbach conjecture is true for all large odd integer greater than C > 0. Recently,
Semi-counterfactual cryptography

In counterfactual quantum key distribution (QKD), two remote parties can securely share random polarization-encoded bits through the blocking rather than the transmission of particles. We propose a semi-counterfactual QKD, i.e., one where the secret bit is shared, and also encoded, based on the blocking or non-blocking of a particle. The scheme is thus semi-counterfactual and not based on polarization encoding. As with other counterfactual schemes and the Goldenberg-Vaidman protocol, but unlike BB84, the encoding states are orthogonal and security arises ultimately from single-particle non-locality. Unlike any of them, however, the secret bit generated is maximally indeterminate until the joint action of Alice and Bob. We prove the general security of the protocol, and study the most general photon-number–preserving incoherent attack in detail.