Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) administration and Clostridioides difficile infection - is this a real clinical problem? A critical review of the literature

Background: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely used drugs that reduce gastric acid secretion. In recent years, there has been a gradual increase in their use. The safety of prolonged PPI therapy and the potential for cumulative side effects of these drugs raise legitimate concerns. An association between PPI administration and the risk of Clostridioides difficile infection has been suggested. The findings regarding this phenomenon require further unequivocal verification. Material and methods: A review of publications obtained from the PubMed database and published between 2016-2023. Based on the keywords "proton pump inhibitor", "PPI" and "Clostridium", 132 articles were selected. Finally, 6 meta-analyses were included in the analysis. Results: Studies conducted in recent years have shown a statistically significant increase in the risk of C. difficile infection in patients taking PPIs compared to those who avoid this therapy. The aforementioned relationship was observed in both adults and pediatric patients. One study proved that the risk remained high even up to 1 year after the end of treatment. The described relationship is still a matter of debate due to the fact that patients using antacids are usually elderly, have several comorbidities and a higher risk of developing C. difficile infection regardless of PPI use. Conclusions: The relationship between the use of PPIs and the risk of developing C. difficile infection is still controversial, which justifies the need for continued clinical trials to objectively resolve this issue. PPIs exert high efficacy in the treatment of acid-dependent diseases, but due to the many ambiguities surrounding possible side effects, caution in their administration seems warranted, especially for long-term therapy in elderly patients with polypharmacy.
Measurements of transpiration in four tropical rainforest types of north Queensland, Australia

Transpiration of four different rainforest types in north Queensland, Australia, was determined using the heat pulse technique for periods ranging between 391 and 657 days. Despite the complexity of the natural rainforest systems being studied, the relationship between sample tree size and daily water use was found to be strong, thus providing a robust means by which to scale transpiration from individual trees to the entire forest stand. Transpiration was shown to be dependent on solar radiation and atmospheric demand for moisture with little evidence of limitation by soil moisture supply. Total stand transpiration was controlled by forest characteristics such as stem density, size distribution and sapwood area. Annual transpiration for each of the four sites ranged between 353 mm for cloud forest and 591 mm for montane rainforest. In comparison with the international literature, transpiration from Australian rainforests is low; the reasons for this could be related to a combination of differences in forest structure, climatic conditions, canopy wetness duration and tree physiology. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Screening for Hepatitis C Virus Reinfection Using a Behaviour-Based Risk Score among Men Who Have Sex with Men with HIV: Results from a Case–Control Diagnostic Validation Study

We assessed the predictive capacity of the HCV-MOSAIC risk score, originally developed for primary early HCV infection, as a screening tool for HCV reinfection in 103 men who have sex with men (MSM) with HIV using data from the MOSAIC cohort, including MSM with HIV/HCV-coinfection who became reinfected (cases, n = 27) or not (controls, n = 76) during follow-up. The overall predictive capacity of the score was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve. The effects of covariates on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were assessed using parametric ROC regression. The score cut-off validated for primary early infection (≥2.0) was used, from which the sensitivity and specificity were calculated. The AUROC was 0.74 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.63–0.84). Group sex significantly increased the predictive capacity. Using the validated cut-off, sensitivity was 70.4% (95%CI = 49.8–86.2%) and specificity was 59.2% (95%CI: 47.3–70.4%). External validation from a cohort of 25 cases and 111 controls, all MSM with HIV, resulted in a sensitivity of 44.0% (95%CI = 24.4–65.1) and specificity of 71.2% (95%CI = 61.8–79.4). The HCV-MOSAIC risk score may be useful for identifying individuals at risk of HCV reinfection. In sexual health or HIV-care settings, this score could help guide HCV-RNA testing in MSM with a prior HCV infection.
BICANet: LiDAR Point Cloud Classification Network Based on Coordinate Attention and Blueprint Separation Involution Neural Network

With the advent of the era of Industry 4.0 and the continuous development of point cloud data acquisition technology, point cloud data have been widely used in the unmanned distribution of intelligent logistics. Applying deep neural networks to accurate light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point cloud classification results is considerably significant for unmanned transport. This article designs a 3-D point cloud classification model coordinate attention blueprint separation involution neural network (BICANet) with multidimensional feature extraction. First, to extract more point cloud features, 3-D point clouds are projected to a 2-D plane for calculating point cloud feature values, and multidimensional point cloud feature information is fused from different views. Second, the involution network is introduced to reduce the amount of redundant data for neural network computation and improve the whole network computation efficiency. At the same time, to further enhance the network feature learning capability, the blueprint separation convolution is combined with coordinate attention (CA). Finally, to draw our conclusions more rigorously, we conducted error analysis experiments and experimented with the generalization ability of our proposed BICANet model. The overall accuracy of BICANet in the Vaihingen and GML_B datasets was experimentally demonstrated to reach 86.0% and 98.8%, respectively. It is highly competitive with the currently available methods.
SEDIMENT PORE-WATER INTERACTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH ARSENIC AND URANIUM TRANSPORT WITHIN A URANIUM MINING- IMPACTED WATERSHED IN SOUTH DAKOTA 1

The extent of historical uranium mining impacts is well documented for the North Cave Hills region of Harding County, South Dakota. While previous studies indicate watershed sediment and surface water exhibit up to 90x established background concentrations for arsenic (As) and uranium (U), it was unclear whether or how localized changes in sediment redox behavior influence contaminant remobilization. Five pore-water equilibration samplers (peepers) were spatially and temporally deployed within the study area to evaluate seasonal solid-liquid equilibria as a function of sediment depth. At a sampling site 2 km downstream of the mine site within a wetlands-dominated deposition zone, seasonal variations of pore-water geochemistry were observed. Summer conditions promoted strongly reducing conditions, resulting in the remobilization of sediment-bound As(III). Fall conditions promoted oxidizing conditions within the sediments, resulting in decreased As (5x) and increased U (10x) concentrations within the sediment pore-waters. Peak pore-water U concentrations (781 μg/L) were 3.5x greater than observed within the surface water (226 μg/L) immediately above the sediments. Pore-water As(V) concentrations peaked directly below the sediment-water interface, suggesting As(V) was scavenged and accumulated by strong interactions with surficial iron (hydr)oxides. The study results suggest that localized redox conditions, especially those dominated by (bio)geochemically-influenced iron and sulfur reducing processes, may influence seasonal As and U behavior within these mining impacted alluvium sediments.
OWNERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS OF HEIR PROPERTY IN A BLACK BELT COUNTY: A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH *

The existing literature identifies heir property, land held communally by heirs of someone who has died without a will, as a primary cause of land loss among African Americans and a major factor contributing to persistent poverty in the South’s demographically-defined Black Belt. Despite the importance of this form of property, little systematic research has been done to quantify the extent of heir property or the potential wealth tied up in clouded titles. This study documents the presence of more than 1,500 heir property parcels in one Alabama Black Belt county (Macon) and describes the methodological challenges involved in such research. Our analysis identified distinctive characteristics of and significant relationships between a set of key ownership variables (taxpayer location, size and value of land, structural improvements, and municipal incorporation). We argue the need to document the extent and consequences of heir property to spur action by legislators, Extension Systems across the region, and pro-bono attorneys, among others, to address the personal and economic costs associated with this form of insecure ownership. When a landowner dies intestate (without a probated will), state laws of descent and distribution regulate what happens to the property, which usually gets passed as an undivided unit to the decedent’s heirs. Because there is no right of survivorship, the property becomes further fractionalized and the number of coowners increases with each passing generation. Often only one or a handful of heirs remain on the land, paying taxes and maintaining the property. Yet these co-owners hold no more legal claim to the land than those living several states away. This form of property ownership (legally known as “tenancy in common”) is common among low-income rural populations, including Appalachians and Native Americans (see Deaton 2009; Gilbert and Sharp 2001). The prevalence of heir property relegates “a broad group of African Americans who inherited land through intestacy to a disadvantaged class of property ownership” (Rivers 2007:7). Heir property can be a source of family unity and a place of sanctuary in time of need, but the literature is full of conflicts over heir property that have torn
A Molecular Clone and Culture Inventory of the Root Fungal Community Associated with Eastern Hemlock in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Abstract Below- and above-ground microbial communities are expected to dramatically change following the loss of healthy Tsuga canadensis (Eastern Hemlock) ecosystems due to the effects of Adelges tsugae (Hemlock Woolly Adelgid [HWA]) infestation. In 2006, few healthy Eastern Hemlock stands remained in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM), and we sought to obtain baseline soil microbial data from these undisturbed areas to better understand them. This study surveyed root fungal communities (e.g., mycorrhizae) using molecular cloning and cultural methods at 2 remaining healthy Eastern Hemlock stands in GRSM. We sampled roots from 40 trees representing 2 age classes (<75 and >150 years old) and 2 elevations (486 m and 1158 m) to obtain molecular clones and isolated cultures. Molecular clones from the ITS region indicated the presence of 124 taxa in 23 genera. The dominant genera were Piloderma (8.2%), Russula (6.8%), Tomentella (4.0%), Meliniomyces (3.4%), and Clavulina (2.9%). Ninety-seven of the taxa identified occurred at <1.0% relative abundance. The most frequent fungal species were Meliniomyces variabilis (22.6%), Russula granulata (16.1%), Phialocephala fortinii (9.7%), and Cladophialophora chaetospira (16.1%). Species richness, diversity, and evenness for total fungi, ectomycorrhizal species, and saprobic species were similar at different elevations and stand ages. Using ITS sequence data, we identified 9 species from 1800 fungal isolates from Eastern Hemlock root tissue, the most common of which were Trichoderma harzianum (24.4%), Trichoderma viride (24.4%), Trichoderma asperellum (17.1%), and Ilyonectria radicicola (12.2%). Species richness, diversity, and evenness were not significantly different across locations for the molecular data. Baseline data for the fungal taxa identified in the study may be important for understanding ecological changes that can occur post-HWA damage and HWA-caused stand losses. These data could also be used to support Eastern Hemlock reforestation efforts within current or former habitats in GRSM and surrounding ecosystems.
Evolving on-farm weed management systems: the Canadian experience.

Farmers must continuously deal with weed infestations in crops. Herbicides are very effective tools to control weeds yet there has been an over reliance on their use at the expense of other useful methods of weed management. Successful long-term weed management requires a shift away from simply controlling problem weeds to implementing cropping systems that prevent weed reproduction, reduce weed emergence, and minimise weed competition with crops. Agricultural systems that utilise diverse crop rotations, competitive crops, higher crop seed rates, specific fertiliser management, crop mulches, and cover crops can effectively manage weed populations, especially when used in conjunction with limited but targeted use of herbicides. Farmers in Canada are slowly, but surely, adopting these more sustainable weed management systems. Further research and extension efforts are required to ensure that these integrated weed management systems are consistently effective and economically viable to ensure more universal adoption at the farm level.
Fatigue Safety Assessment of Concrete Continuous Rigid Frame Bridge Based on Rain Flow Counting Method and Health Monitoring Data

The fatigue of concrete structures will gradually appear after being subjected to alternating loads for a long time, and the accidents caused by fatigue failure of bridge structures also appear from time to time. Aiming at the problem of degradation of long-span continuous rigid frame bridges due to fatigue and environmental effects, this paper suggests a method to analyze the fatigue degradation mechanism of this type of bridge, which combines long-term in-site monitoring data collected by the health monitoring system (HMS) and fatigue theory. In the paper, the authors mainly carry out the research work in the following aspects: First of all, a long-span continuous rigid frame bridge installed with HMS is used as an example, and a large amount of health monitoring data have been acquired, which can provide efficient information for fatigue in terms of equivalent stress range and cumulative number of stress cycles; next, for calculating the cumulative fatigue damage of the bridge structure, fatigue stress spectrum got by rain flow counting method, S-N curves and damage criteria are used for fatigue damage analysis. Moreover, it was considered a linear accumulation damage through the Palmgren-Miner rule for the counting of stress cycles. The health monitoring data are adopted to obtain fatigue stress data and the rain flow counting method is used to count the amplitude varying fatigue stress. The proposed fatigue reliability approach in the paper can estimate the fatigue damage degree and its evolution law of bridge structures well, and also can help bridge engineers do the assessment of future service duration.
The Effect of Astrocytes in Synaptic Transmission and Rhythmogenesis in Hippocampus

We study the role of astrocytes in the regulation of synaptic transmission and hippocampal rhythmogenesis. We examine the concept known as ‘tripartite synapse’ that refers to an existence of feedback loop between astrocytes and neurons. To study the peculiarities of astrocytic regulation of synaptic transmission, we built biological model (biological experiment) of neuron-astroglial network based on the hippocampal slices of laboratory mice. Light-sensitive receptors (channelrhodopsin 2) were pre-expressed in astrocytes, which were activated by light and transmit Ca2+ ions. As a result, a cascade of biochemical reactions was activated in astrocytes, which leads to the gliotransmitters release and synaptic transmission modulation. Preliminary experimental resuts shown that the gliotransmitters released from optogenetically activated astrocytes have an impact on GABAergic currents on postsynaptic neuron in the tripartite synapse and regulate spontaneous sharp-wave-ripples (SWR). Obtained results of biological experiment were confirmed by mathematical modeling.
A Group-Based Approach to Measuring Polarization

Despite polarization’s growing importance in social science, its quantitative measurement has lagged behind its conceptual development. Political and social polarization are group-based phenomena characterized by intergroup heterogeneity and intragroup homogeneity, but existing measures capture only one of these features or make it difficult to compare across cases or over time. To bring the concept and measurement of polarization into closer alignment, I introduce the cluster-polarization coefficient (CPC), a measure of multimodality that allows scholars to incorporate multiple variables and compare across contexts with varying numbers of parties or social groups. Three applications to elite and mass polarization demonstrate that the CPC returns substantively sensible results, and an open-source software package implements the measure.
Investigation on electromagnetic measurement ahead of drill-bit

In drilling for oil, overpressured shale zones, which can be disastrous to drilling, are occasionally encountered. The overpressured zones usually exhibit lower electrical resistivity. Electromagnetic methods are therefore proposed to predict the location and intensity of the overpressured zones at tens of meters ahead of a drill-bit. The existing methods in petroleum well logging are sensitive to the formation volume up to 3 meters lateral to the borehole. To predict the formation ahead of drill-bit, it is essential to use a time-domain or a wide-band frequency domain approach. In a conductive medium, the high frequency fields are more confined to the volume around the source while the low frequency components reach larger volume of formation. In the time-domain situation, early time response is closely related to the formation property near the sensor while later time measurement is more sensitive to the property of the far away formation. It is found that the presence of an overpressured zone at 10's of meters ahead of a drill-bit can be detected. Besides the prediction of overpressured zone, the method can also provide better geosteering to guide the drilling trajectory and to improve formation evaluation.
A Machine Vision Based In-Line Quality Assessment Method for the Fabrication of Structured Surfaces

The engineering of structured surfaces has gained significant attention due to their unique functionalities such as optical diffusion and scattering. However, the fabrication of these surfaces at the microscale with low cost and high accuracy remains challenging, primarily due to the complexity of the quality assessment processes. Traditional methods for assessing structured surfaces with surface topography measurement instruments are inefficient and costly and are not suitable for inline detection of surface defects. In light of these challenges, this paper presents a novel in-line quality assessment method that integrates the Hough transform and graph cut algorithms to enable fast on-machine quality assessment for structured surfaces. The proposed method enables the evaluation of key quality factors, such as the number, dimensions, and potential defects of the machined microstructures in seconds, without requiring the removal of the part from the machine. This method has been successfully integrated into an ultra-precision diamond machine. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been demonstrated through the in-line assessment of typical structured surfaces. The proposed method provides a potential solution to the fast and cost-effective in-line quality control of high-performance structured surfaces.
Monitoring Head Orientation Using Passive RFID Tags

This paper describes an RFID system for head orientation tracking (R-SHOT), a novel wireless and battery-free approach for monitoring head kinematics. R-SHOT uses two linear polarized antennas mounted on a metal frame backpack, three commercial RFID tags placed orthogonally on the subject’s head, an RFID reader, software for data collection and processing, and an IMU for calibration. Training datasets were collected using stationary head positions with varying yaw, pitch, and roll, which were then used to develop a second-order multi-variate model to predict the Euler angles (R2 = 0.997 and standard error = 1–3°). Attempts to use a first-order model, reduce variables, and increase the number of static head positions for model training did not yield favorable results. Challenges in model development due to noise and asynchronous sampling were overcome using a Kalman filter and linear interpolation. The R-SHOT model developed using static head positions was found to predict Euler angles - when applied to full head motion - with low error, especially when the head position was closer to an extreme. The development of this model holds the keys to future real-time application of R-SHOT for patient care and mobility aid solutions.
Variations in the Diversity and Biomass of Soil Bacteria and Fungi under Different Fire Disturbances in the Taiga Forests of Northeastern China

Fire is a crucial disturbance factor for the structure and function of forest ecosystems, as it directly or indirectly affects plant growth, animal life and soil biogeochemical properties. Here, the effects of different fire severities and key driving environmental factors on soil microbial diversity and biomass were investigated in taiga forests that had undergone light, moderate or heavy fires, more recently or in the past, with unburned taiga forest included as a control (CK). The sample sites were located in the Greater Khingan mountains in the northeast of China. Critical soil parameters were determined, and bacterial and fungal content was inferred from determined phospholipid fatty acids (TPLFAs). The results showed that (1) all three fire severities significantly increased the concentrations of soil microbial carbon (MBC), moisture content (MC) and total nitrogen content (TN), but they significantly decreased soil available potassium (AK) content compared with the CK. (2) Recent light and moderate fires significantly decreased the Simpson and Shannon indices of soil microbial communities compared to CK; moderate fire did not change the Menhinick and Margalef indices. (3) Following moderate fire disturbance, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in relative abundance of total soil bacteria (Ba), Gram-positive bacteria (G+), Gram-negative bacteria (G−) and content of TPLFAs compared to the control, either as a result of more recent fires or earlier fires. (4) Redundancy analysis revealed that soil MC, TN, soil organic carbon (SOC), available P (AP) and alkaline N (AN) all strongly significantly affected the composition of the microbial communities, with a total explanation of 85.16% of the data. The species diversity and biomass of Ba, G+, G− and TPLFAs were in accordance with the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. The change pattern of soil fungi was in accordance with their own characteristics of reproduction and growth, which was in line with k-selection and ecological countermeasures.