Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A robust disease scoring method to screen Eucalyptus for resistance against the aggressive leaf blight pathogen, Teratosphaeria destructans.

Shoot and leaf blight caused by Teratosphaeria destructans is one of the most devastating foliar diseases of Eucalyptus. Therefore, breeding for resistance to this disease is considered urgent. Differences in susceptibility to T. destructans have been observed in the field, but a robust inoculation protocol has, until recently, been unavailable and a disease scoring method for precise phenotyping has not been established. A first objective of this study was to determine the optimal conidial concentration for T. destructans inoculations on a susceptible Eucalyptus host. This concentration was then used to determine differences in susceptibility of six genotypes of Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla to the pathogen by assessing the percentage of infected stomata using electron microscopy and the percentage of leaf area covered by lesions (PLACL) using image processing. In addition, we developed a disease susceptibility index (SI) of six categories ranging from highly resistant (SI= 0), to highly susceptible (SI= 1.5-2). The more resistant genotypes were moderately resistant with an SI value of 0.49 - 0.54 and a PLACL of 6.5 - 9%. In contrast, the more susceptible genotype scored an SI of 1.52 and PLACL of 48%. Host susceptibility was also assessed relative to the sporulation of the pathogen. This showed that the percentage of sporulation did significantly correlate with host resistance. Overall, the results provide the basis for rigorous screening and selection of resistant genotypes to the disease caused by T. destructans using artificial inoculation.
The adaptation of the Nurse Turnover Intention Scale into Turkish: A validity and reliability study.

AIM The aim of this study was to adapt the Nurse Turnover Intention Scale to Turkish and test its validity and reliability. METHODS This methodological study was conducted with 200 nurses. The Personal Information Form and the Nurse Turnover Intention Scale were used for data collection between November and December 2021. Language and content validity, explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis, criterion validity, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, item-total score correlation and test-retest reliability methods were used for the validity and reliability analysis of the scale. RESULTS Exploratory factor analysis showed that the Nurse Turnover Intention Scale had a single factor. Its single factor structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.902, and factor loading was between 0.60 and 0.78. Statistical analyses indicated that each item in the Turkish version of the scale had a high internal consistency. The test-retest correlation value was found as p < 0.05. CONCLUSION The Nurse Turnover Intention Scale has been confirmed to be a suitable, valid and reliable measurement tool for Turkish society. Nurse turnover intention is the most powerful predictor of actual turnover within the nursing profession. This scale will help to easily attain valid and reliable outcomes.
On the quasi-greedy property and uniformly bounded orthonormal systems

We derive a necessary condition for a uniformly bounded orthonormal basis for L2(\Omega), \Omega a probability space, to be quasi-greedy in Lp(\Omega), p \neq 2, and then use this condition to prove that many classical systems, such as the trigonometric system and Walsh system, fail to be quasi-greedy in Lp, p \neq 2, i.e., thresholding is not well-behaved in Lp, p \neq 2, for such systems.
HpaP divergently regulates the expression of hrp genes in Xanthomonas oryzae pathovars oryzae and oryzicola

Abstract The bacterial pathogens Xanthomonas oryzae pathovars oryzae (Xoo) and oryzicola (Xoc) cause leaf blight and leaf streak diseases on rice, respectively. Pathogenesis is largely defined by the virulence genes harboured in the pathogen genome. Recently, we demonstrated that the protein HpaP of the crucifer pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris is an enzyme with both ATPase and phosphatase activities, and is involved in regulating the synthesis of virulence factors and the induction of the hypersensitive response (HR). In this study, we investigated the role of HpaP homologues in Xoo and Xoc. We showed that HpaP is required for full virulence of Xoo and Xoc. Deletion of hpaP in Xoo and Xoc led to a reduction in virulence and alteration in the production of virulence factors, including extracellular polysaccharide and cell motility. Comparative transcriptomics and reverse transcription‐quantitative PCR assays revealed that in XVM2 medium, a mimic medium of the plant environment, the expression levels of hrp genes (for HR and pathogenicity) were enhanced in the Xoo hpaP deletion mutant compared to the wild type. By contrast, in the same growth conditions, hrp gene expression was decreased in the Xoc hpaP deletion mutant compared to the wild type. However, an opposite expression pattern was observed when the pathogens grew in planta, where the expression of hrp genes was reduced in the Xoo hpaP mutant but increased in the Xoc hpaP mutant. These findings indicate that HpaP plays a divergent role in Xoo and Xoc, which may lead to the different infection strategies employed by these two pathogens.
Economic burden of complicated ureteral stent removal in patients with kidney stone disease in the USA.

Aim: To examine the medical costs of simple versus complicated ureteral stent removal. Materials & methods: We included adults with kidney stones undergoing simple or complicated cystoscopy-based stent removal (CBSR) post ureteroscopy from the 2014 to 2018 Merative™ MarketScan® Commercial Database. The medical costs of patients with complicated and simple CBSR were compared. Results: Among 16,682 patients, 2.8% had complicated CBSR. Medical costs for patients with complicated CBSR were higher than for simple CBSR ($2182 [USD] vs $1162; p < 0.0001). Increased stenting time, increased age, southern US geography and encrusted stent diagnoses were significantly associated with complicated CBSR. Conclusion: Complicated ureteral stent removal doubled the medical costs associated with CBSR. Ureteral stents with anti-encrustation qualities may reduce the need for complicated CBSR and associated costs.
Phosphosites of the yeast centrosome component Spc110 contribute to cell cycle progression and mitotic exit

ABSTRACT Spc110 is an essential component of the spindle pole body (SPB), the yeast equivalent of the centrosome, that recruits the γ-tubulin complex to the nuclear side of the SPB to produce the microtubules that form the mitotic spindle. Here, we identified phosphosites S11 and S36 in maternally originated Spc110 and explored their functions in vivo. Yeast expressing non-phosphorylatable Spc110S11A had a distinct spindle phenotype characterised by higher levels of α-tubulin, which was frequently asymmetrically distributed between the two SPBs. Furthermore, expression of the double mutant Spc110S11AS36A had a delayed cell cycle progression. Specifically, the final steps of mitosis were delayed in Spc110S11AS36A cells, including expression and degradation of the mitotic cyclin Clb2, disassembling the mitotic spindle and re-localizing Cdc14 to the nucleoli, resulting in late mitotic exit and entry in G1. Thus, we propose that Spc110 phosphorylation at S11 and S36 is required to regulate timely cell cycle progression in budding yeast. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Middle-Level Feature Fusion for Lightweight RGB-D Salient Object Detection

Most existing RGB-D salient object detection (SOD) models adopt a two-stream structure to extract the information from the input RGB and depth images. Since they use two subnetworks for unimodal feature extraction and multiple multi-modal feature fusion modules for extracting cross-modal complementary information, these models require a huge number of parameters, thus hindering their real-life applications. To remedy this situation, we propose a novel middle-level feature fusion structure that allows to design a lightweight RGB-D SOD model. Specifically, the proposed structure first employs two shallow subnetworks to extract low- and middle-level unimodal RGB and depth features, respectively. Afterward, instead of integrating middle-level unimodal features multiple times at different layers, we just fuse them once via a specially designed fusion module. On top of that, high-level multi-modal semantic features are further extracted for final salient object detection via an additional subnetwork. This will greatly reduce the network’s parameters. Moreover, to compensate for the performance loss due to parameter deduction, a relation-aware multi-modal feature fusion module is specially designed to effectively capture the cross-modal complementary information during the fusion of middle-level multi-modal features. By enabling the feature-level and decision-level information to interact, we maximize the usage of the fused cross-modal middle-level features and the extracted cross-modal high-level features for saliency prediction. Experimental results on several benchmark datasets verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method over some state-of-the-art methods. Remarkably, our proposed model has only 3.9M parameters and runs at 33 FPS.
Antioxidant, total phenolic content and physicochemical properties of modified cassava flour

This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity, phenolic content, and nutritional properties of the yellow cassava variety called Adira. Sample was freeze dried cassava (cassava); oven dried cassava (cassava flour) and modified cassava flour (mocaf). Antioxidant properties of the extracts were evaluated using a DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl) assay and phenolic content using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. Nutritional properties such as water, ash, protein, lipid, and carbohydrate were analyzed. Antioxidant activity was 25.03%, 30,37%, and 31.23% for cassava, cassava flour, and mocaf respectively and in line with phenolic content mocaf had the highest total phenolic content of 3.46 mg/g GAE. Carbohydrate was the major content in Adira mocaf of > 85%, while the other content was protein of 1.44 % - 2.41 %, ash of 2.21 % - 2.85 %, and lipid of 0.04 % - 0.10 %. Analysis by the FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) analysis presented the OH group which may have been generated from phenolic and flavonoids compounds in the mocaf.
Structural brain abnormalities in endothelial nitric oxide synthase‐deficient mice revealed by high‐resolution magnetic resonance imaging

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) produces nitric oxide, which is essential for a variety of physiological functions in the brain. Previous work has demonstrated the detrimental effects of eNOS deficiency on brain function in male eNOS knockout (eNOS KO) mice. However, the effect of eNOS deficiency on brain structure and any association between these effects and sex is unknown.
Evaluating diagnostic accuracies of Panbio™ test and RT-PCR for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia using Bayesian Latent-Class Models (BLCM)

Background Rapid diagnostics are vital for curving the transmission and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many commercially available antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 are recommended by the WHO, their diagnostic performance has not yet been assessed in Ethiopia. So far, the vast majority of studies assessing diagnostic accuracies of rapid antigen tests considered RT-PCR as a reference standard, which inevitably leads to bias when RT-PCR is not 100% sensitive and specific. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of Panbio™ jointly with the RT-PCR for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study was done from July to September 2021 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the third wave of the pandemic involving two health centers and two hospitals. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of Panbio™ and RT-PCR were obtained using Bayesian Latent-Class Models (BLCM). Results 438 COVID-19 presumptive clients were enrolled, 239 (54.6%) were females, of whom 196 (44.7%) had a positive RT-PCR and 158 (36.1%) were Panbio™ positive. The Panbio™ and RT-PCR had a sensitivity (95% CrI) of 99.6 (98.4–100) %, 89.3 (83.2–97.6) % and specificity (95% CrI) of 93.4 (82.3–100) %, and 99.1 (97.5–100) %, respectively. Most of the study participants, 318 (72.6%) exhibited COVID-19 symptoms; the most reported was cough 191 (43.6%). Conclusion As expected the RT-PCR performed very well with a near-perfect specificity and a high, but not perfect sensitivity. The diagnostic performance of Panbio™ is coherent with the WHO established criteria of having a sensitivity ≥80% for Ag-RDTs. Both tests displayed high diagnostic accuracies in patients with and without symptoms. Hence, we recommend the use of the Panbio™ for both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals in clinical settings for screening purposes.
Genome Sequencing Suggests Diverse Secondary Metabolism in Coral-Associated Aquimarina megaterium

We report here the genome sequences of three Aquimarina megaterium strains isolated from the octocoral Eunicella labiata. We reveal a coding potential for versatile carbon metabolism and biosynthesis of natural products belonging to the polyketide, nonribosomal peptide, and terpene compound classes. ABSTRACT We report here the genome sequences of three Aquimarina megaterium strains isolated from the octocoral Eunicella labiata. We reveal a coding potential for versatile carbon metabolism and biosynthesis of natural products belonging to the polyketide, nonribosomal peptide, and terpene compound classes.
Effect of cooling on static postural balance while wearing firefighter’s protective clothing in a hot environment

Objectives. Postural imbalance can result from hyperthermia-mediated muscular fatigue and is a major factor contributing to injuries from falling. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise-induced hyperthermia and the impact of cooling on postural balance while wearing firefighters’ protective clothing (FPC) in a hot environment. Methods. A portable force platform measured postural balance characterized by postural sway patterns using center of pressure metrics. Twelve healthy, physically fit males were recruited to stand on the force platform once with eyes open and once with eyes closed before and after treadmill exercise (40% ) inside an environmental chamber under hot and humid conditions (30 °C and 70% relative humidity) while wearing FPC. Subjects participated in two randomly assigned experimental phases: control and cooling intervention. Results. A significant increase in physiological responses and postural balance metrics was observed after exercising in the heat chamber while wearing FPC. Cooling resulted in a significant effect only on postural sway speed after exercise-induced hyperthermia. Conclusions. Hyperthermia can negatively alter postural balance metrics, which may lead to an increased likelihood of falling. The utilization of body cooling reduced the thermal strain but had limited impact on postural balance stability.
Occurrence of breast‐cancer–related lymphedema after reverse lymphatic mapping and selective axillary dissection versus standard surgical treatment of axilla: A two‐arm randomized clinical trial

The need for axillary dissection (AD) is declining, but it is still essential for many patients with nodal involvement who risk developing breast‐cancer–related lymphedema (BCRL) with lifelong consequences. Previous nonrandomized studies found axillary reverse mapping and selective axillary dissection (ARM‐SAD) a safe and feasible way to preserve the arm's lymphatic drainage.
Epidemiological, Clinical, and Oncological Outcomes of non-Alcohol Drinking and non-Smoking Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients: A Distinct Entity

Purpose: To explore the discrepancy in clinicopathological and prognostic features between smoking and alcohol drinking (SA) and non-smoking and non-alcohol drinking (NSNA) patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Methods: This retrospective study including 1735 patients with LSCC was conducted from January 2005 to December 2010, which were categorized into 4 groups, NSNA group, smoking only group, alcohol-drinking only group, and SA group. We compared overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) using the Kaplan–Meier method and indicated clinicopathological features by Cox proportional hazards regression models before and after propensity score matching (PSM). Results: A total of 415 patients (23.92%) were identified as NSNA. The SA group was predominantly patients ≤60 years old (46.63%) while the NSNA group was more older (58.07%). NSNA group was more likely to present at earlier disease stage and more female. No significant difference in OS (P = .685) and DFS (P = .976) was found between the 2 groups. In addition to age and recurrence and metastasis being common independent prognostic factors in terms of OS in both groups of patients, NSNA group also exhibited other factors, namely tumor area >3.7 cm2 and positive resection margin. For DFS, N + stage, tumor size >3.7 cm2, and positive resection margin were prognostic features specific to NSNA group. Conclusion: The outcome is similar in LSCC patients with and without SA. NSNA group shows a distinct profile from that found in SA group. Clinicopathological features from NSNA group should be considered for LSCC management.
The quadratic plus the tensor potentials for particle with 1/2‐spin via L2 method under the spin symmetry

In the present letter, the relativistic equation for particle 1/2‐spin have been obtained for the quadratic scalar and vector potentials in the presence of the tensor interaction that depends on the radial component either linearly and inversely. Under the spin symmetry, the relativistic equation is calculated by using the idea of L2 that supports a tridiagonal matrix representation of the wave operator. By this requirement, the relativistic energy spectrum and corresponding spinor wave functions are obtained. Also, the obtained analytically result is compared with other results that are in good agreement. Some of the numerical results are given, too. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Romanian Treebank Annotated with Verbal Multiword Expressions

In this paper we present a new version of the Romanian journalistic treebank annotated with verbal multiword expressions of four types: idioms, light verb constructions, reflexive verbs and inherently adpositional verbs, the last type being recently added to the corpus. These types have been defined and characterized in a multilingual setting (the PARSEME guidelines for annotating verbal multiword expressions). We present the annotation methodologies and offer quantitative data about the expressions occurring in the corpus. We discuss the characteristics of these expressions, with special reference to the difficulties they raise for the automatic processing of Romanian text, as well as for human usage. Special attention is paid to the challenges in the annotation of the inherently adpositional verbs. The corpus is freely available in two formats (CUPT and RDF), as well as queryable using a SPARQL endpoint.
Hate Speech Classification in Bulgarian

In recent years, we have seen a surge in the propagation of online hate speech on social media platforms. According to a multitude of sources such as the European Council, hate speech can lead to acts of violence and conflict on a broader scale. That has led to in- creased awareness by governments, companies, and the scientific community, and although the field is relatively new, there have been considerable advancements in the field as a result of the collective effort. Despite the increasingly better results, most of the research focuses on the more popular languages (i.e., English, German, or Arabic), whereas less popular languages such as Bulgarian and other Balkan languages have been neglected. We have aggregated a real-world dataset from Bulgarian online forums and manually annotated 108,142 sentences. About 1.74% of which can be described with the categories racism, sexism, rudeness, and profanity. We then developed and evaluated various classifiers on the dataset and found that a support vector machine with a linear kernel trained on character-level TF-IDF features is the best model. Our work can be seen as another piece in the puzzle to building a strong foundation for future work on hate speech classification in Bulgarian.
Evaluation of Off-the-Shelf Language Identification Tools on Bulgarian Social Media Posts

Automatic Language Identification (LI) is a widely addressed task, but not all users (for example linguists) have the means or interest to develop their own tool or to train the existing ones with their own data. There are several off-the-shelf LI tools, but for some languages, it is unclear which tool is the best for specific types of text. This article presents a comparison of the performance of several off-the-shelf language identification tools on Bulgarian social media data. The LI tools are tested on a multilingual Twitter dataset (composed of 2966 tweets) and an existing Bulgarian Twitter dataset on the topic of fake content detection of 3350 tweets. The article presents the manual annotation procedure of the first dataset, a dis- cussion of the decisions of the two annotators, and the results from testing the 7 off-the-shelf LI tools on both datasets. Our findings show that the tool, which is the easiest for users with no programming skills, achieves the highest F1-Score on Bulgarian social media data, while other tools have very useful functionalities for Bulgarian social media texts.
Cellulose Modification with Maleic Anhydride

Cellulose modification is a challenge due to molecules characteristics – equatorial conformation, hydrogen bonds both withing molecule and among neighboring molecules etc. Esterification of cellulose hydroxyl groups (-OH) with dicarboxylic compounds is challenging. In presented study simple modification with maleic anhydride is performed in an anhydrous environment. Scanning electron microscopy reveals clean fibers of cellulose-maleic anhydride derivatives. FTIR proves unique peak at 1735cm-1 that corresponds to ester carbonyl groups. Titration of carboxylic (-COOH) groups solidifies that one part of anhydride has bonded with cellulose and other carboxylic groups is accessible for further development.