Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Galli–Galli Disease: A Comprehensive Literature Review

Galli–Galli disease (GGD) is a rare genodermatosis that exhibits autosomal dominant inheritance with variable penetrance. GGD typically manifests with erythematous macules, papules, and reticulate hyperpigmentation in flexural areas. A distinct atypical variant exists, which features brown macules predominantly on the trunk, lower limbs, and extremities, with a notable absence of the hallmark reticulated hyperpigmentation in flexural areas. This review includes a detailed literature search and examines cases since GGD’s first description in 1982. It aims to synthesize the current knowledge on GGD, covering its etiology, clinical presentation, histopathology, diagnosis, and treatment. A significant aspect of this review is the exploration of the genetic, histopathological, and clinical parallels between GGD and Dowling-Degos disease (DDD), which is another rare autosomal dominant genodermatosis, particularly focusing on their shared mutations in the KRT5 and POGLUT1 genes. This supports the hypothesis that GGD and DDD may be different phenotypic expressions of the same pathological condition, although they have traditionally been recognized as separate entities, with suprabasal acantholysis being a distinctive feature of GGD. Lastly, this review discusses the existing treatment approaches, underscoring the absence of established guidelines and the limited effectiveness of various treatments.
Exploring the molecular mechanism of Xuebifang in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy based on bioinformatics and network pharmacology

Background Xuebifang (XBF), a potent Chinese herbal formula, has been employed in managing diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Nevertheless, the precise mechanism of its action remains enigmatic. Purpose The primary objective of this investigation is to employ a bioinformatics-driven approach combined with network pharmacology to comprehensively explore the therapeutic mechanism of XBF in the context of DPN. Study design and Methods The active chemicals and their respective targets of XBF were sourced from the TCMSP and BATMAN databases. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to DPN were obtained from the GEO database. The targets associated with DPN were compiled from the OMIM, GeneCards, and DrugBank databases. The analysis of GO, KEGG pathway enrichment, as well as immuno-infiltration analysis, was conducted using the R language. The investigation focused on the distribution of therapeutic targets of XBF within human organs or cells. Subsequently, molecular docking was employed to evaluate the interactions between potential targets and active compounds of XBF concerning the treatment of DPN. Results The study successfully identified a total of 122 active compounds and 272 targets associated with XBF. 5 core targets of XBF for DPN were discovered by building PPI network. According to GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, the mechanisms of XBF for DPN could be related to inflammation, immune regulation, and pivotal signalling pathways such as the TNF, TLR, CLR, and NOD-like receptor signalling pathways. These findings were further supported by immune infiltration analysis and localization of immune organs and cells. Moreover, the molecular docking simulations demonstrated a strong binding affinity between the active chemicals and the carefully selected targets. Conclusion In summary, this study proposes a novel treatment model for XBF in DPN, and it also offers a new perspective for exploring the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the clinical management of DPN.
Gene inversion led to the emergence of brackish archaeal heterotrophs in the aftermath of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth

Abstract Land–ocean interactions greatly impact the evolution of coastal life on earth. However, the ancient geological forces and genetic mechanisms that shaped evolutionary adaptations and allowed microorganisms to inhabit coastal brackish waters remain largely unexplored. In this study, we infer the evolutionary trajectory of the ubiquitous heterotrophic archaea Poseidoniales (Marine Group II archaea) presently occurring across global aquatic habitats. Our results show that their brackish subgroups had a single origination, dated to over 600 million years ago, through the inversion of the magnesium transport gene corA that conferred osmotic-stress tolerance. The subsequent loss and gain of corA were followed by genome-wide adjustment, characterized by a general two-step mode of selection in microbial speciation. The coastal family of Poseidoniales showed a rapid increase in the evolutionary rate during and in the aftermath of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth (∼700 million years ago), possibly in response to the enhanced phosphorus supply and the rise of algae. Our study highlights the close interplay between genetic changes and ecosystem evolution that boosted microbial diversification in the Neoproterozoic continental margins, where the Cambrian explosion of animals soon followed.
NAVIGATING “SAFETY” IN A PANDEMIC: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF ONTARIO CHILD WELFARE SAFETY INTERVENTIONS FOR NEWCOMER PARENTS AND OTHER FAMILIES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

This study investigated circumstances surrounding the impact of COVID-19 on child protection investigations, particularly those affecting newcomer parents in Ontario, Canada. Recognizing that the pandemic inflicted substantial socioeconomic disadvantage on some people, the purpose of the study was to use an intersectional lens to examine challenges and solutions found by child welfare agencies when working with families. Insights for policy and practice are drawn from 11 virtual interviews with child welfare workers and managers in Ontario. Our findings reveal that some newcomer families encountered unique challenges: ineligibility for the available pandemic public assistance; inaccessibility to faith-based supports, which had often been their first key contact for mental wellness in the past; technological inequities; and language barriers. These intersecting conditions impacted newcomer families and led to innovative child protection interventions. Analysis of the interview data shows a gradual shift in Ontario from risk-focused approaches to supportive and preventative child welfare interventions in families. Furthermore, supervisors faced the dilemma of how stringently to enforce ongoing safety policies when some social workers were questioning the benefits of these rules for families with intersecting identities who were experiencing added burdens because of the pandemic.
APPLICATION OF UNDERWATER LASER SCANNING FOR SEAFLOOR SHELL FRAGMENTS CHARACTERIZATION

Two features required for modeling high-frequency acoustic scattering from seafloor are roughness and discrete objects distributed on the seafloor. A laser scanner was deployed to acquire fine-scale bottom roughness off the coast of New Jersey in 2006. On the bathymetry map, it was found that the sites were covered by shell fragments. Cross-comparison between the laser reflection intensity and the bathymetry suggests that the shell fragments have a stronger reflection intensity than the seafloor. This phenomenon was confirmed by an indoor experiment on a simulated seafloor. An intensity-based algorithm was developed to detect shell fragments on the seafloor. The field data were analyzed by this method. Shell fragments visible on the bathymetry were detected along with smaller pieces which were not obvious on the bathymetry map. Preliminary analysis shows that the seafloor was covered by shell fragments (greater than 4 mm 2 ) with an area coverage 6.80% and 9.82% for the two sites studied. The shell size probability density distribution function is well modeled by a power-law which implies the weathering of shells is from numerous processes acting on different scales. This method provides the sediment surface information over a larger area which is difficult to acquire by conventional sediment coring.
Genetic Basis of Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Approaches and Lessons Learnt from Three Decades of Inherited Predisposition Testing

Germline variants occurring in BRCA1 and BRCA2 give rise to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome, predisposing to breast, ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancers marked by elevated incidences of genomic aberrations that correspond to poor prognoses. These genes are in fact involved in genetic integrity, particularly in the process of homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair, a high-fidelity repair system for mending DNA double-strand breaks. In addition to its implication in HBOC pathogenesis, the impairment of HR has become a prime target for therapeutic intervention utilizing poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. In the present review, we introduce the molecular roles of HR orchestrated by BRCA1 and BRCA2 within the framework of sensitivity to PARP inhibitors. We examine the genetic architecture underneath breast and ovarian cancer ranging from high- and mid- to low-penetrant predisposing genes and taking into account both germline and somatic variations. Finally, we consider higher levels of complexity of the genomic landscape such as polygenic risk scores and other approaches aiming to optimize therapeutic and preventive strategies for breast and ovarian cancer.
Evaluation of the Diagnostic Capability of Spectralis SD-OCT 8 × 8 Posterior Pole Software with the Grid Tilted at 7 Degrees and Horizontalized in Glaucoma

Background: The goal was to evaluate the diagnostic capability of different parameters obtained with the posterior pole (PP) software in Spectralis SD-OCT with the 8 × 8 grid tilted at 7° and horizontalized in glaucomatous eyes. Methods: A total of 299 eyes were included, comprising 136 healthy eyes and 163 with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). The following segmentations were evaluated: complete retina, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), GCL and inner plexiform layer (GCLIPL), ganglion cell complex (GCC), outer plexiform layer and outer nuclear layer (OPLONL), inner retinal layer (IRL), and outer retinal layer (ORL). Different patterns of macular damage were represented using heatmaps for each studied layer, where the areas under the curve (AUROC) values and a retinal thickness cutoff point were defined to discriminate POAG patients. Results: There was not any difference in the diagnostic capability for detecting glaucoma between the grid tilted at 7° and horizontalized. The macular segmentations that offer the highest diagnostic ability in glaucoma discrimination were, in the following order, RNFL (AUROC = 0.796), GCC (AUROC = 0.785), GCL (AUROC = 0.784), GCLIPL (AUROC = 0.770), IRL (AUROC = 0.755), and the complete retina (AUROC = 0.752). In contrast, ORL and OPLONL do not appear to be helpful for discriminating POAG. Conclusions: Some results of PP software may be useful for discriminating POAG.
Direct Ascription of Missing Categorical Values in Survey Research Data

The complete datasets are a prerequisite for sustainable analyses, robust an- alytics and unbiased interpretation of results. Missing values in a survey occur when no data value is stored for the variable in an observation. Missing data can have a significant effect on the conclusions that can be drawn from the data. Direct ascription is the process of replacing missing data with predicted values. The aim of this work is to describe an approach to direct ascription of missing categorical values in survey research data based both on the assumption that values in a data set are missing at random and on the implementation of the correspondence analysis.
Hierarchical Sliding Mode Control for Underactuated Multicopters With Time-Scale Separation Enforcement

This paper is concerned with the attitude and position control of underactuated multirotor aerial vehicles in the presence of matched disturbances and uncertainties, using the hierarchical scheme that nests the attitude control loop inside the position one. It is well-known that the effectiveness of this scheme depends on a proper control tuning for achieving a sufficient time-scale separation (TSS) between the closed-loop (faster) rotational and (slower) translational dynamics. However, a TSS cannot be ensured under an ideal sliding mode position control law since the attitude command, computed from the position control signal, is infinitely fast. The present paper tackles this problem in a way to enforce TSS without losing robustness and using a dull trial-and-error tweak of gains. That is achieved by designing, on the one hand, a new adaptive integral sliding mode attitude control law (AISMAC) that, under a sufficient smooth attitude command, ensures the existence of an attitude sliding mode during all the time, including the adaptation phase, thus allowing an infinitely fast inner loop. On the other hand, the outer loop is equipped with a disturbance-observer-based proportional-derivative position control law that ensures the required smoothness of the attitude command and provides robustness with respect to unknown force terms. The proposed design is extensively evaluated in a realistic simulator and shows to effectively enforce the TSS.
Extension of the Mesozoic Rhodope thrust units in the Vertiskos-Kerdilion Massifs (Northern Greece)

Les gneiss mylonitiques des Massifs du Vertiskos et de Kerdilion (dits Serbo-Macedoniens) en Grece ont ete deformes pendant un metamorphisme regional du facies amphibolite. La deformation cisaillante ductile vers le SW est associee a la mise en place d'un complexe de nappes d'echelle crustale. Des differences de lithologies et d'histoire metamorphique permettent de distinguer une unite inferieure et une unite superieure. Des metaophiolites ont ete impliquees tectoniquement dans la zone majeure de chevauchement pendant l'epaississement crustal d'âge vraisemblablement mesozoique. Nous considerons les Massifs du Vertiskos et de Kerdilion comme les prolongations SW du massif du Rhodope, avec lequel ils forment un element important du systeme orogenique tethysien
Interlaboratory Comparison of Leg 46 Basalt Standards

Because a number of laboratories planned to analyze Leg 46 basalts, three samples from Hole 396B were selected for interlaboratory comparison. These are: (1) Sample 7-1, 50-57 cm, a sparsely phyric pillow basalt with olivine and plagioclase phenocrysts from chemical unit A-1, (2) Sample 15-2, 120-133 cm, a piece of sparsely phyric cooling unit in chemical unit A-3, and (3) Sample 22-3, 28-38 cm, a phyric pillow basalt with olivine and plagioclase phenocrysts from chemical unit B-2. All samples appeared in hand specimen to be among the freshest available. All three samples were returned to the NASA-Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and were powdered and homogenized there. Each investigator was then sent a 25gram split. Six laboratories analyzed the three samples for major elements. Tables 1, 2 and 3 present the analyses as reported. The six laboratories are Centre Océanologique de Bretagne, Brest, France (COB, Bougault et al., this volume); the Department of Earth Sciences of Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan (KAN, Sato, et al., this volume); the Laboratoire de Petrologie, Universite de Nancy 1, Nancy, France (UN-1, Mével et al., this volume); the NASAJohnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC, Dungan et al., this volume); the Institut für Mineralogic, RuhrUniversitàt Bochum, Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany (R-UB, Flower et al., this volume); and the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, USSR (VIG, Dmitriev, this volume). The XRF laboratory aboard the Glomar Challenge did not analyze the standards, but did analyze Samples 7-1, 53-55 cm, and 15-2, 129-131 cm, which are from the same intervals as standards 1 and 2. These analyses are included in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
Invisible Image Watermarking on Selected Regions using DWT

This paper proposes a novel grayscale image watermarking scheme using discrete wavelet transform. The objective of the scheme is to improve the existing digital watermarking techniques in terms of imperceptibility and robustness. The proposed watermarking process performs watermark embedding without introducing any significant content degradation. A block based region selective algorithm is proposed to identify least perceptible areas to human eyes for integrating the watermark instead of applying the watermark over the entire image area thereby impairing the visual quality of host image. After avoiding all sensitive regions in the image from the process of watermark embedding, a two-level DWT operation is used for integrating the watermark bits. The experimental results obtained for PSNR, SSIM and NCC measurements stands for the superior image quality and higher resilience to attacks on watermarked images.
Comparison of Robotic Versus Conventional Open Thyroidectomy for Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Safety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This review aims to investigate the safety of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) by comparing robotic thyroidectomy (RT) versus open thyroidectomy (OT) in Western and Asian populations. Two main outcomes of this review were (1) the safety of RLN comparing the robotic and OT assessing transient and permanent laryngeal nerve (PLN) palsy as a postoperative complication in each surgical procedure and (2) the safety of RLN comparing the robotic and OT assessing transient and permanent laryngeal nerve (PLN) palsy as a postoperative complication between studies conducted in USA/Europe and Asia. We searched relevant literature in electronic databases such as PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane CENTRAL, ScienceDirect, and Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health (CINAHL) up to September 2022. Further research was performed during January 2024 in the Scopus database. Two primary outcomes were set: transient RLN palsy and permanent RLN palsy, comparing RT and OT. In this review, 18 non-randomized studies were included. A statistically significant difference between robotic and conventional OT was not observed either in transient RLN or in permanent RLN palsy. The odds ratio (OR) for the overall comparison of transient RLN palsy was 1.18, and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.80-1.74. The subgroup analysis for transient RLN palsy between USA/Europe studies was OR 1.28, and the 95% CI was 0.64-2.58. The subgroup analysis for transient RLN palsy between Asian studies was OR 1.14, and the 95% CI was 0.72-1.82. The OR for the overall comparison of permanent RLN palsy was OR 0.90, and the 95% CI was 0.38-2.15. The subgroup analysis for permanent RLN palsy between USA/Europe studies was OR 0.45, and the 95% CI was 0.07-2.97. The subgroup analysis for permanent RLN palsy between Asian studies was OR 1.13, and the 95% CI was 0.42-3.05. Heterogeneity I2 was 0% in all outcomes. The Mantel-Haenszel method fixed effect was used. First, RT and open conventional thyroidectomy have comparable safety for RLN, although the analysis showed no statistically significant results. Second, no statistically significant results were found for RLN safety in either USA/Europe or Asian studies. Considering that there is not a statistically significant difference between the two approaches for RLN safety, and due to the limited number of studies from Western countries, the results should be considered with caution. Important factors such as the patient’s body characteristics, the existing thyroid pathology, and the surgical approach should be kept in mind. More comparable studies are needed on the Western population.
Addressing a Pre-Clinical Pipeline Gap: Development of the Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patient-Derived Xenograft Program at Texas Children’s Hospital at Baylor College of Medicine

The survival rate of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (pAML) is currently around 60%. While survival has slowly increased over the past few decades, the development of novel agents likely to further improve survival for this heterogeneous patient population has been limited by gaps in the pAML pre-clinical pipeline. One of the major hurdles in evaluating new agents for pAML is the lack of pAML patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. Unlike solid tumors and other types of leukemias, AML is notoriously hard to establish in mouse models, likely due in part to the need for specific human microenvironment elements. Our laboratory at TCH/BCM addressed this gap by establishing a systematic PDX workflow, leveraging advanced immunodeficient hosts and capitalizing on our high volume of pAML patients and close coordination between labs and clinical sections. Patients treated at TCH are offered the chance to participate in specimen banking protocols that allow blood and bone marrow collection as well as the collection of relevant clinical data. All patients who consent and have samples available are trialed for PDX development. In addition, samples from the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) are also trialed for PDX generation. Serially transplanting PDX models are validated using short tandem repeat (STR) and characterized using both targeted DNA/RNA next generation sequencing and RNAseq. As of March 2023, this systematic approach has resulted in 26 serially transplanting models. Models have been shared with requesting labs to facilitate external pAML pre-clinical studies. Available PDX models can be located through the BCM PDX Portal. We expect our growing PDX resource to make a significant contribution to expediting the testing of promising novel therapeutics for pAML.
PersoNet: A Novel Framework for Personality Classification-Based Apt Customer Service Agent Selection

Personality classification has garnered significant interest in psychology, computational social science, and Machine Learning (ML) due to its wide-ranging applications. This paper presents PersoNet, an innovative framework developed to identify personality types using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), aimed at enhancing customer service experiences by matching customers with suitable support agents. PersoNet employs a Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) neural network architecture and has achieved an impressive classification accuracy of over 93.98%. Our extensive experiments with the MBTI dataset reveal that the BiLSTM architecture effectively captures both temporal dependencies and semantic subtleties in textual data, contributing to this high level of accuracy. Consequently, PersoNet can accurately select customer service agents who match customer personalities, achieving a Customer Satisfaction Rate (CSR) of over 97.82%–a notable improvement of 20.25% in CSR based on our experimental data. These results establish PersoNet as a cutting-edge tool in personality classification, surpassing existing methods in both accuracy and computational efficiency and markedly enhancing customer service quality.
The role of pectin methylesterase activity in explosive seed dispersal in Cardamine hirsuta

Cardamine hirsuta and Arabidopsis thaliana are close relatives that differ dramatically in seed dispersal. C. hirsuta uses explosive pod shatter for ballistic seed dispersal, whereas pod shatter in A. thaliana is non-explosive. The aim of my project is to understand whether the species-specific expression of cell wall-remodeling genes is associated with the dramatically different seed dispersal strategies of C. hirsuta and A. thaliana. Genes that control pectin methylesterase activity in the cell wall were previously identified as differentially expressed during fruit development specifically in C. hirsuta, but not A. thaliana. In this project, I characterized the expression dynamics of these genes. I found that eight genes unique to C. hirsuta, with no clear orthologues in A. thaliana, were spatially and temporally restricted in expression. All eight of these genes were expressed only in seeds during stage 16 of fruit development. I designed artificial microRNAs to target individual or groups of these pectin methylesterase inhibitor genes in C. hirsuta. Using this approach, I generated transgenic plants that can be used to characterize the function of cell wall-remodeling genes in explosive seed dispersal.