Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Breath of green life: Reduction in plant day and night respiration under elevated CO2

Open Access Received January 9, 2023. Accepted January 23, 2023. Advance access publication February 14, 2023 © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. N ew s an d V ie w s
PCR for detection of Leishmania donovani from microscopically negative tissue smears of suspected patients in Gondar, Ethiopia

Background As untreated visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is fatal, reliable diagnostics are pivotal for accurate treatment allocation. The current diagnostic algorithm for VL in Ethiopia, which is based on the rK39 rapid diagnostic test and microscopy of tissue smears, lacks sensitivity. This probably leads to missed cases and patients not receiving treatment. Methodology We conducted a retrospective study on stored microscopically negative spleen and bone marrow smears from suspected VL patients collected at the Leishmaniasis Research and Treatment Center (LRTC) in Gondar, northern Ethiopia between June 2019 and November 2020. Sociodemographic, clinical and treatment data were collected and samples were tested by real-time PCR targeting kinetoplast DNA. Principle findings Among the 191 eligible samples (135 spleen and 56 bone marrow) with a microscopically negative and valid PCR result, 119 (62.3%) were positive by PCR, although Ct values for some were high (median 33.0). Approximately three quarters of these undiagnosed primary VL (77.3%) and relapse (69.6%) patients did not receive antileishmanial treatment. Of the 56 microscopically negative bone marrow samples, 46 (82.1%) were PCR positive, which is considerably higher compared to the microscopically negative spleen samples, for which 73 out of 135 (54.1%) were PCR positive. The odds of being PCR positive were significantly higher for bone marrow aspirates and higher when white blood cell values were lower and splenomegaly (in cm) was more pronounced. Conclusions This study demonstrates that a lot of suspected VL patients remain undiagnosed and untreated. This indicates the urgent need for better diagnostics for VL in the East-African region. The outcomes of PCR positive should be closely monitored and treatment should be provided if the patient deteriorates. In resource limited settings, implementation of PCR on bone marrow aspirate smears of patients with low WBC values and splenomegaly could lead to considerable improvements in patient management.
Pre-treatment non-ictal cephalic allodynia identifies responders to prophylactic treatment of chronic and episodic migraine patients with galcanezumab: A prospective quantitative sensory testing study (NCT04271202)

Background Migraine is a complex neurological disorder involving generalized abnormalities in processing sensory information. Adopting evidence that central sensitization imposes major hurdles in the treatment of migraine, we hypothesized that it is the non-ictal (rather than ictal) allodynia that may determine the outcome of migraine prevention with peripherally-acting drugs. Methods To test this hypothesis, we used Quantitative Sensory Testing to determine whether it is possible to identify a patient’s response to prophylactic treatment with galcanezumab based on presence/absence of cephalic and/or extracephalic allodynia during the pre-treatment non-ictal phase of migraine. Results Using strict criteria for allodynia (heat 32–40°C, cold 32–20°C, mechanical <60 g), we report that (a) the incidence of pre-treatment non-ictal cephalic allodynia was 21% in the 24 responders (>50% decrease in monthly migraine days) and 85% in the 19 non-responders; (b) the incidence of non-ictal extracephalic allodynia distinguishes responders from non-responders less accurately; and that (c) the incidence of non-ictal cephalic allodynia was similar in the chronic migraine and high-frequency episodic migraine groups. Conclusions Clinically, the findings suggest that presence/absence of non-ictal allodynia can be used to identify galcanezumab responders with nearly 80% accuracy and galcanezumab non-responders with nearly 85% accuracy. Mechanistically, the presence of non-ictal allodynia (reflecting a state of activity-independent central sensitization) in both chronic migraine and high-frequency episodic migraine patients raises the possibility that the state of non-ictal allodynia may be attributed to physiological properties of central trigeminovascular neurons that are due to the genetic load of the individual patient rather than their migraine frequency.
On the series expansion approach to the identification of Hammerstein systems

A polynomial identification algorithm for recovering a nonlinearity in the Hammerstein system is proposed. The estimate employs the Legendre orthogonal system with adaptively selected number of terms. The global consistency along with rates of convergence are established. No assumptions concerning continuity of the nonlinearity or its functional form are made. A data-driven method using the cross-validation technique for selecting the number of terms in the estimate is presented. >
Identifying spatial domain by adapting transcriptomics with histology through contrastive learning

Recent advances in spatial transcriptomics have enabled measurements of gene expression at cell/spot resolution meanwhile retaining both the spatial information and the histology images of the tissues. Accurately identifying the spatial domains of spots is a vital step for various downstream tasks in spatial transcriptomics analysis. To remove noises in gene expression, several methods have been developed to combine histopathological images for data analysis of spatial transcriptomics. However, these methods either use the image only for the spatial relations for spots, or individually learn the embeddings of the gene expression and image without fully coupling the information. Here, we propose a novel method ConGI to accurately exploit spatial domains by adapting gene expression with histopathological images through contrastive learning. Specifically, we designed three contrastive loss functions within and between two modalities (the gene expression and image data) to learn the common representations. The learned representations are then used to cluster the spatial domains on both tumor and normal spatial transcriptomics datasets. ConGI was shown to outperform existing methods for the spatial domain identification. In addition, the learned representations have also been shown powerful for various downstream tasks, including trajectory inference, clustering, and visualization.
Intracapillary LPL levels in brown adipose tissue, visualized with an antibody-based approach, are regulated by ANGPTL4 at thermoneutral temperatures

Significance Lipoprotein lipase (LPL), an intravascular triglyceride hydrolase, is crucial for plasma triglyceride metabolism, and genetic variation that reduces LPL-mediated triglyceride hydrolysis increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Intravascular LPL levels are frequently inferred from measurements of triglyceride hydrolase activity in the plasma after a bolus of heparin, but whether such measurements truly reflect intravascular LPL levels has been unclear. We developed a direct, antibody-based method to both visualize and quantify intravascular LPL levels. We discovered that LPL levels in capillaries fall sharply in brown adipose tissue (but not heart) under thermoneutral conditions, due to increased ANGPTL4 expression. Our methods can be applied to define the impact of genetic variation, hypolipidemic drugs, and metabolic diseases on intravascular LPL levels.
Theory & Methods: A Comparison Of Two Adaptive Sampling Designs

Stratified sampling is a technique commonly used for ecological surveys. In this study there appears to be little gain in using a stratified design with adaptive cluster sampling. Two‐phase adaptive sampling is preferable to adaptive cluster sampling. Even though two‐phase adaptive sampling can give biased estimates, it is found that two‐phase adaptive sampling has a lower MSE than adaptive cluster sampling for most populations.
Miniaturized Close Dual-Band Bandpass Filter Based on Short Stub-Loaded Stepped-Impedance Resonators

Abstract Based on a short stub-loaded stepped-impedance resonator, a novel compact microstrip bandpass filter with controllable passband center frequencies is presented. To obtain dual-passband characteristics, dual-mode short stub-loaded stepped-impedance resonator and novel quad-pole-splitting techniques are investigated. The single passband is split into two with a notch when two resonators are employed, and dual passbands of a close band could be realized. It was found that the filter exhibits two desirable close passbands, an adjustable fractional bandwidth, and wide upper-stopband response. Moreover, the compact size of the proposed structure can be achieved. Good agreement between the measured and simulated results is shown.
Applications of the conjugate gradient fast Fourier Hankel transfer method with an improved fast Hankel transform algorithm

The conjugate gradient fast Fourier-Hankel transforms (CG-FFHT) method was recently proposed to solve the problems of electromagnetic wave propagation and scattering in axisymmetric inhomogeneous media. This new technique uses the CG method together with the FFHT to solve the wave equation iteratively. Each iteration of the CG method requires O(N log2 N) complex multiplications (N is the number of unknowns). For the application of low-frequency induction logging, the number of iterations is very small (less than eight). Furthermore, the CG-FFHT method only requires the storage of several vectors of dimension N. In this paper we present an improved fast Hankel transform (FHT) algorithm as well as some applications of the CG-FFHT method. It is shown that the improved FHT algorithm results in better accuracy and is more efficient than the other FHT algorithms. Moreover, with this FHT algorithm there is no need to pad the function to be transformed with zeros. Several numerical examples will be shown to illustrate the use of the improved FHT algorithm as well as the applications of the CG-FFHT method.
The bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and functional limitations among centenarian survivors in their 80s: Testing bivariate latent change score models

Abstract Objectives The purpose of the study was to examine a bivariate latent change score model of depressive symptoms and functional limitations (activities of daily living) among centenarian or near-centenarian survivors over four waves using the Health and Retirement Study. Method Four hundred and sixty participants who eventually survived to age 98 or older were included by calculating their death age. Data from the time when the participants were in their 80s were analyzed. The mean age at baseline (1994) was 85.5 years. The observation interval was 2 years, from 1994 to 2000. Including age, gender, and education as a covariate, eight different models were conducted to examine the bivariate effects among depressive symptoms and functional limitations. Results Of the eight models, the bivariate model of depressive symptoms predicting change in functional limitations fitted the data best. The parameter estimates of the final model indicated significant predictive pathways from depressive symptoms to subsequent changes in depressive symptoms and functional limitations. Conclusion This study tested the bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and functional limitations among centenarian survivors in their 80s, which uncovered that depressive symptoms is a dominant variable among the two constructs. Our findings add to a lacking number of longitudinal studies with oldest old adults.
Opisthorchis viverrini, Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis felineus liver flukes affect mammalian host microbiome in a species-specific manner

Background Opisthorchis felineus, Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis are epidemiologically significant food-borne trematodes endemic to diverse climatic areas. O. viverrini and C. sinensis are both recognized to be 1A group of biological carcinogens to human, whereas O. felineus is not. The mechanisms of carcinogenesis by the liver flukes are studied fragmentarily, the role of host and parasite microbiome is an unexplored aspect. Methodology/Principal findings Specific pathogen free Mesocricetus auratus hamsters were infected with C. sinensis, O. viverrini and O. felineus. The microbiota of the adult worms, colon feces and bile from the hamsters was investigated using Illumina-based sequencing targeting the prokaryotic 16S rRNA gene. The analysis of 43 libraries revealed 18,830,015 sequences, the bacterial super-kingdom, 16 different phyla, 39 classes, 63 orders, 107 families, 187 genera-level phylotypes. O. viverrini, a fluke with the most pronounced carcinogenic potential, has the strongest impact on the host bile microbiome, changing the abundance of 92 features, including Bifidobacteriaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, [Paraprevotellaceae], Acetobacteraceae, Coriobacteraceae and Corynebacteriaceae bacterial species. All three infections significantly increased Enterobacteriaceae abundance in host bile, reduced the level of commensal bacteria in the gut microbiome (Parabacteroides, Roseburia, and AF12). Conclusions/Significance O. felineus, O. viverrini, and C. sinensis infections cause both general and species-specific qualitative and quantitative changes in the composition of microbiota of bile and colon feces of experimental animals infected with these trematodes. The alterations primarily concern the abundance of individual features and the phylogenetic diversity of microbiomes of infected hamsters.
Impaired social functioning in adolescent and young adult sarcoma survivors: Prevalence and risk factors

Sarcomas account for almost 11% of all cancers in adolescents and young adults (AYAs; 18–39 years). AYAs are increasingly recognized as a distinct oncological age group with its own psychosocial challenges and biological characteristics. Social functioning has been shown to be one of the most severely affected domains of health‐related quality of life in AYA cancer survivors. This study aims to identify AYA sarcoma survivors with impaired social functioning (ISF) and determine clinical and psychosocial factors associated with ISF.
Diagnostic accuracy of natriuretic peptide screening for left ventricular systolic dysfunction in the community: systematic review and meta‐analysis

Heart failure (HF) is a global health burden and new strategies to achieve timely diagnosis and early intervention are urgently needed. Natriuretic peptide (NP) testing can be used to screen for left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD), but evidence on test performance is mixed, and international HF guidelines differ in their recommendations. Our aim was to summarize the evidence on diagnostic accuracy of NP screening for LVSD in general and high‐risk community populations and estimate optimal screening thresholds.
On a conformal theory of gravitation

Abstract Recently Hoyle and Narlikar(2) have put forward a conformal theory of gravitation in which they obtain an explicit solution of the field equations using certain approximations and assumptions of symmetry. To obtain the solution, the metric is assumed to have a special form. In the present paper a more general form of the metric is considered, and it is shown that many of the features of the special solution are shared by the solution in the more general case. In particular, the implications of the special solution as concerns the sign of the gravitational constant remain valid in the more general case under certain assumptions.
Computer Simulations of a Monolayer of Like-charged Particles Condensed on an Oppositely-charged Flat Area

A non-traditional approach to the computer simulation study of a class of quasi-two-dimensional Coulomb systems (charged particles confined to a layer near a charged planar surface) is presented. The essence of the approach lies in exploiting the fact that the charged confinement is of finite dimensions. The main consequence of such a finiteness is a non-zero potential gradient along the finite charged area that includes a non-zero tangential component of the electric field. A system of like-charged spherical particles confined by the planar surface that includes an oppositely charged squared area is considered as an example. We find that the like-charged particles, independent of their concentration, all become confined on the oppositely charged area, if the surface charge balances the total charge carried by the particles, and if the electrostatic coupling is sufficiently large. The local density of the particles above the charged area is not homogeneous; near the boundaries of the charged square a clear tendency of layer formation along the square sides is observed.
Fatigue and its relation to general cognition, social cognition and social activity in multiple sclerosis and stroke

ABSTRACT Introduction The relationship between fatigue and (socio-)cognitive deficits in neurological diseases has sparked increasing research interest in the past years. So far, findings are inconsistent. Most studies focused on general cognitive functioning in specific disorders, particularly cancer or multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods This study aims to examine the relationship between fatigue, social cognition and social activity, also taking into account general cognition, more closely, including a stroke patient group (n = 57), a MS patient group (n = 31) and a healthy control group (n = 20). The participants underwent a comprehensive (socio-)cognitive test battery and completed questionnaires on fatigue and psychopathology which, in addition to fatigue, can also affect (socio-)cognitive performance. Results In both MS and stroke patients high fatigue scores were observed. Irrespective of aetiology, patients with high and low fatigue did not differ with regard to general cognition and social cognition. However, high fatigue scores were associated with a reduction of social activities in both patient groups. No other significant relationships were observed between fatigue and (socio-)cognitive measures. Conclusions Future studies ought to further explore the potentially complex nature of fatigue symptoms and their relationship with (socio-)cognitive performance and social activity in neurological populations.
Mathematical methods for the characterization of ultrasound in anisotropic materials

Although the fundamental equations for the propagation of elastic and acoustic waves in anisotropic materials have not changed in more than a 100 years, the last few decades have seen a surge in interest in the topic. Much of this interest stems from the growing need for characterization of an increasing number of exotic materials. The intent of this paper is to review, for the benefit of beginning researchers in acoustics and ultrasonics, the fundamental phenomena related to elastic wave propagation in anisotropic media. We also present the most common and interesting theoretical methods developed over the past 20 years to model bulk wave propagation in such media. The methods discussed include plane wave superpositions, ray asymptotic theory, paraxial beams, and Green's functions. More peripheral issues, including anisotropic effects combined with various other exotic effects, are dealt with in the bibliography. PACS No.: 43.90
The ultraluminous and hyperluminous infrared galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and 6dF Galaxy Survey

We present a result of cross-correlating the Infrared Astronomical Satellite Faint Source Catalogue (IRAS FSC) with the spectroscopic catalogues of galaxies in the Fourth Data Release of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Final Data Release of 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and the Second Data Release of 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS). We have identified 324 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) including 190 newly discovered ULIRGs, and 2 hyperluminous infrared galaxies (HLIRGs). Adding these new ULIRGs, we increase the number of known ULIRGs by about 30 per cent. The reliability of the cross-correlation is estimated using the likelihood ratio method. The incompleteness of our sample introduced by the identification procedure in this study is estimated to be about 5 per cent. Our sample covers the redshift range of z=0.037 0.517 with a median redshift of ¯ z=0.223, which is larger than that (¯ z=0.184) of the sample of previously known ULIRGs.
Posttraumatic stress among trauma-exposed Hispanic/Latinx adults: relations to mental health

ABSTRACT Latinx persons are exposed to higher rates of traumatic events and conditional risks for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and comorbid mental health symptoms compared to other minority groups. The study evaluated PTSD symptom severity for global and specific cluster severity relating to co-occurring anxiety, social anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among 326 Latinx adults who endorsed trauma exposure. Results indicated that global PTSD symptom severity was significantly related to greater social anxiety, anxious arousal, depression, and suicidal ideation symptoms. PTSD arousal and reactivity symptom cluster had the strongest relation to anxious arousal, social anxiety, and depression, whereas negative alterations in cognitions and mood symptoms had the strongest association with social anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. The findings suggest that global PTSD symptom severity, alongside arousal and reactivity and negative alterations in cognitions and mood, are related to a range of concurrent negative mental health symptoms among trauma exposed Latinx young adults.