Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chronic bilateral asynchronous achilles tendon rupture treated using modified whole flexor hallucis longus transfer reconstruction

Abstract Introduction: Achilles tendon rupture is common, but bilateral ruptures are very rare. Treatment of chronic Achilles tendon rupture is very challenging due tendon retraction and atrophied. We report a case of bilateral asynchronous Achilles tendon rupture patient who was treated with modified minimally invasive whole flexor hallucis longus (FHL) tendon transfer to repair the defects. Patient concerns: A 52-year-old male farmer presented to our hospital complaining of bilateral heel pain that had disrupted his walking for 6 months. The patient had been misdiagnosed and under-treated for 1 year. Physical examination showed that his plantar flexors were tender and weak, with marked hypotrophy of the calf muscles. Bilateral ankle radiographs of both X-ray and computed topography (CT) revealed no bone injure. Diagnosis: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicated a bilateral Achilles tendon rupture. The diagnosis was further confirmed by postoperative histological examination, which revealed Achilles tendonitis accompanied by regional calcification and chondrometaplasia. Interventions: Surgical reconstruction of the ruptured Achilles tendons was done through a modified minimally invasive whole FHL tendon transfer followed by physiotherapy. Outcomes: The patient was immobilized in a cast for the next 6 weeks, gradual weight bearing gradually was then encouraged for another 6 weeks, and full weight-bearing started 3 months after surgery. By 6-month postoperation, the patient could walk and jog normally returned to his pre-injury working condition. Conclusion: Surgical intervention is among the primary treatment of chronic Achilles tendon rupture. However, one of the challenges in its treatment is providing suitable graft for tendon reconstruction. Our case presents a successful reconstruction procedure using less-invasive whole FHL transfer technique. This surgical technique provides satisfactory clinical and functional outcome and can be considered for future therapy.
Rice NIN‐LIKE PROTEIN 4 plays a pivotal role in nitrogen use efficiency

Summary Nitrogen (N) is one of the key essential macronutrients that affects rice growth and yield. Inorganic N fertilizers are excessively used to boost yield and generate serious collateral environmental pollution. Therefore, improving crop N use efficiency (NUE) is highly desirable and has been a major endeavour in crop improvement. However, only a few regulators have been identified that can be used to improve NUE in rice to date. Here we show that the rice NIN‐like protein 4 (OsNLP4) significantly improves the rice NUE and yield. Field trials consistently showed that loss‐of‐OsNLP4 dramatically reduced yield and NUE compared with wild type under different N regimes. In contrast, the OsNLP4 overexpression lines remarkably increased yield by 30% and NUE by 47% under moderate N level compared with wild type. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that OsNLP4 orchestrates the expression of a majority of known N uptake, assimilation and signalling genes by directly binding to the nitrate‐responsive cis‐element in their promoters to regulate their expression. Moreover, overexpression of OsNLP4 can recover the phenotype of Arabidopsis nlp7 mutant and enhance its biomass. Our results demonstrate that OsNLP4 plays a pivotal role in rice NUE and sheds light on crop NUE improvement.
Comparison of magnetization transfer‐preparation and T2‐preparation for dark‐blood delayed‐enhancement imaging

Recently developed dark‐blood techniques such as Flow‐Independent Dark‐blood DeLayed Enhancement (FIDDLE) allow simultaneous visualization of tissue contrast‐enhancement and blood‐pool suppression. Critical to FIDDLE is the magnetization preparation, which accentuates differences between myocardium and blood‐pool. Here, we compared magnetization transfer (MT)‐preparation and T2‐preparation for use with FIDDLE. Variants of FIDDLE were developed with MT‐ or T2‐preparation modules and tested in 35 patients (11 at 1.5 T, 24 at 3 T). Images were acquired with each FIDDLE variant in an interleaved fashion 10 minutes after gadolinium administration with otherwise identical acquisition parameters. Images were visually and quantitatively assessed for artifacts and differences in right ventricle to left ventricle (RV‐to‐LV) blood‐pool suppression. Bright artifacts, reflecting incomplete blood‐pool suppression, were frequently observed in the left atrium with T2‐preparation FIDDLE at 1.5 and 3 T (82% and up to 100% of patients, respectively). MT‐preparation FIDDLE resulted in fewer patients with artifacts (0% at 1.5 T, 22% at 3 T; P < .01). Left atrial blood‐pool signal was significantly more homogeneous with MT‐preparation than with T2‐preparation at 1.5 and 3 T (P < .001 for all comparisons). Visibly different RV‐to‐LV blood‐pool suppression was observed with T2‐preparation in 36% of patients at 1.5 T and up to 94% at 3 T. In these patients, RV blood‐pool signal was elevated, reducing the conspicuity of the myocardial‐RV blood‐pool border. Conversely, there were no visible differences in RV‐to‐LV blood‐pool suppression with MT‐preparation. Quantitative assessment of differences in blood‐pool suppression and blood‐pool artifacts was consistent with visual analyses. We conclude that for dark blood–blood delayed‐enhancement imaging of the heart, MT‐preparation results in fewer bright blood‐pool artifacts and more uniform blood‐pool suppression than T2‐preparation.
Community-engaged and community-based participatory research to promote American Heart Association Life’s Simple 7 among African American adults: A systematic review

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and African Americans (AA) have a disproportionately greater burden of CVD as compared to Whites. The American Heart Association (AHA) Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) framework outlines goals for attaining ideal cardiovascular health. Yet, there is a lack of evidence summarizing best practices to maximize LS7 attainment. The objective of the present study was to systematically review the extant peer-reviewed literature on community-engaged and community-based participatory research (CBPR) aimed at improving one or more LS7 metrics among AA. Methods PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase databases were searched. We included articles that reported quantitative results for one or more of the following LS7 metrics: physical activity, diet, cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, smoking, and glycemia. We included analyses with a greater than 50% AA study population focused on adults (≥18 years of age). Results Of the 1008 unique studies identified, 54 met inclusion criteria; 27 of which were randomized controlled trials. 50% of studies assessed more than one LS7 metric but only two studies evaluated all seven of the LS7 metrics. No studies had a high proportion of AA males. 40 studies improved at least one LS7 metric at the study end-point. Formative research was used in many studies to guide intervention design. Studies were of varying quality, but overall rated “fair” using a modified approach to the National Institute of Health quality assessment tool. Conclusion There is insufficient data to recommend a specific community-engaged or CBPR intervention to improve attainment of LS7 metrics among AA. Future studies using rigorous methodology with increased gender diversity and utilizing the AHA LS7 framework are required to establish a validated program to improve LS7 in AAs.
Fully-Connected Neural Networks with Reduced Parameterization for Predicting Histological Types of Lung Cancer from Somatic Mutations

Several challenges appear in the application of deep learning to genomic data. First, the dimensionality of input can be orders of magnitude greater than the number of samples, forcing the model to be prone to overfitting the training dataset. Second, each input variable’s contribution to the prediction is usually difficult to interpret, owing to multiple nonlinear operations. Third, genetic data features sometimes have no innate structure. To alleviate these problems, we propose a modification to Diet Networks by adding element-wise input scaling. The original Diet Networks concept can considerably reduce the number of parameters of the fully-connected layers by taking the transposed data matrix as an input to its auxiliary network. The efficacy of the proposed architecture was evaluated on a binary classification task for lung cancer histology, that is, adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, from a somatic mutation profile. The dataset consisted of 950 cases, and 5-fold cross-validation was performed for evaluating the model performance. The model achieved a prediction accuracy of around 80% and showed that our modification markedly stabilized the learning process. Also, latent representations acquired inside the model allowed us to interpret the relationship between somatic mutation sites for the prediction.
Alternative nivolumab duration and scheduling in advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer: A real‐world evidence

In advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (aNSCLC), stopping nivolumab after 12 months negatively affects outcomes. We performed a world data‐based analysis assessing the value of nivolumab continuation and optimal dosing beyond 24 months. Out of 697 consecutive patients with aNSCLC in whom nivolumab was initiated between 2015 and 2018, 45 patients receiving nivolumab for ≥24 months were selected. These were divided into Groups A: nivolumab administered at a dose 3 mg/kg q2 weeks/240 mg q2 weeks/480 mg q4 weeks, n = 25; B: nivolumab re‐scheduled to a nonstandard dose 3 mg/kg q3 weeks‐q8 weeks, n = 13; C: nivolumab stopped after 24 months, n = 7; (in Groups B and C—for reasons other than progressive disease or intolerable toxicity). Progression‐free survival (PFS) (Revised Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, version 1.1) and safety (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 4.03) were assessed. With median follow‐up of 35.6 months (interquartile range 28.4‐41.8), 4%, 31%, 29% and 30% of patients progressed in Groups A, B, C and B+C, respectively. PFS at 36 months since nivolumab initiation comprised 100%, 67%, 67% and 67%, in Groups A, B, C and B+C, respectively. PFS at 40 months since nivolumab initiation comprised 83%, 67%, 67% and 67%, in Groups A, B, C and B+C, respectively. Allocation to Group A vs Group B, C and B+C was associated with hazard ratio for PFS‐0.20 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02‐1.77, P‐.15), 0.20 (95% CI, 0.02‐2.25, P‐.19) and 0.20 (95% CI, 0.02‐1.66, P‐.14), respectively. No differences in newly occurring or worsening adverse events between the groups were observed. A trend for worse PFS was observed with alternative nivolumab scheduling or quitting 24 months after initiation. Continuing nivolumab at a standard dose until disease progression or intolerable toxicity remains the standard treatment option.
Frontal alpha asymmetry in schizotypy: electrophysiological evidence for motivational dysfunction

ABSTRACT Introduction: Schizotypy is defined as personality traits reflecting an underlying risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. As yet, there is a dearth of suitable objective markers for measuring schizotypy. Frontal alpha asymmetry, characterised by reduced left versus right frontal region activity, reflects trait-like diminished approach-related systems and has been found in schizophrenia. Methods: The present study used electroencephalography (EEG) recorded on a consumer-grade mobile headset to examine asymmetric resting-state frontal alpha, beta, and gamma power within the multidimensional schizotypy (e.g. positive, negative, disorganised) during a three-minute “eyes closed” resting period in college undergraduates (n=49). Results: Findings suggest that schizotypy was exclusively related to reduced left versus right-lateralised power in the alpha frequency (8.1–12.9 Hz., R 2= .16). Follow-up analysis suggested that positive schizotypy was uniquely associated with increased right alpha activity, indicating increased withdrawal motivation. Conclusions: Frontal asymmetry is a possible ecologically valid objective marker for schizotypy that may be detectable using easily accessible, consumer-grade technology.
A High-Performance Face Illumination Processing Method via Multi-Stage Feature Maps

In recent years, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)-based illumination processing of facial images has made favorable achievements. However, some GANs-based illumination-processing methods only pay attention to the image quality and neglect the recognition accuracy, whereas others only crop partial face area and ignore the challenges to synthesize photographic face, background and hair when the original face image is under extreme illumination (Image under extreme illumination (extreme illumination conditions) means that we cannot see the texture and structure information clearly and most pixel values tend to 0 or 255. ). Moreover, the recognition accuracy is low when the faces are under extreme illumination conditions. For these reasons, we present an elaborately designed architecture based on convolutional neural network and GANs for processing the illumination of facial image. We use ResBlock at the down-sampling stage in our encoder and adopt skip connections in our generator. This special design together with our loss can enhance the ability to preserve identity and generate high-quality images. Moreover, we use different convolutional layers of a pre-trained feature network to extract varisized feature maps, and then use these feature maps to compute loss, which is named multi-stage feature maps (MSFM) loss. For the sake of fairly evaluating our method against state-of-the-art models, we use four metrics to estimate the performance of illumination-processing algorithms. A variety of experimental data indicate that our method is superior to the previous models under various illumination challenges in illumination processing. We conduct qualitative and quantitative experiments on two datasets, and the experimental data indicate that our scheme obviously surpasses the state-of-the-art algorithms in image quality and identification accuracy.
Frequency and Characterization of Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence Genes of Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci from Wild Birds in Spain. Detection of tst-Carrying S. sciuri Isolates

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and diversity of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) species from wild birds in Spain, as well as to analyze the antimicrobial resistance phenotype/genotype and the virulence gene content. During 2015–2016, tracheal samples of 242 wild birds were collected in different regions of Spain for staphylococci recovery. The species identification was performed using MALDI-TOF. The antimicrobial resistance phenotype and genotype was investigated by the disk diffusion method and by PCR, respectively. The presence of the virulence genes lukF/S-PV, tst, eta, etb, etd and scn was investigated by PCR. Moreover, CoNS carrying the mecA gene were subjected to SCCmec typing. Of the tested animals, 60% were CoNS-carriers, and 173 CoNS isolates were recovered from the 146 positive animals, which belonged to 11 species, with predominance of S. sciuri (n = 118) and S. lentus (n = 25). A total of 34% of CoNS isolates showed a multidrug resistance phenotype, and 42 mecA-positive methicillin-resistant CoNS (MRCoNS) were detected. The isolates showed resistance to the following antimicrobials (percentage of resistant isolates/antimicrobial resistance genes detected): penicillin (49/ blaZ, mecA), cefoxitin (24/ mecA), erythromycin and/or clindamycin (92/ erm(B), erm(C), erm(43), msr(A), mph(C), lnu(A), lsa(B), vga(A) and sal(A)), gentamicin and/or tobramycin (5/ aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2″)-Ia, ant(4′)-Ia), streptomycin (12/str), tetracycline (17/ tet(K), tet(L), tet(M)), ciprofloxacin (4), chloramphenicol (1/ fexA), fusidic acid (86/ fusB, fusD) and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (1/ dfrK). None of the isolates harbored the lukF/S-PV, eta, etb, etd and scn genes, but two S. sciuri isolates (1%) carried the tst gene. Wild birds are frequently colonized by CoNS species, especially S. sciuri. We identified scavenging on intensively produced livestock and feeding on landfills as risk factors for CoNS carriage. High proportions of MRCoNS and multidrug resistant CoNS were detected, which coupled with the presence of important virulence genes is of concern.
Challenges in Human Skin Microbial Profiling for Forensic Science: A Review

The human microbiome is comprised of the microbes that live on and within an individual, as well as immediately surrounding them. Microbial profiling may have forensic utility in the identification or association of individuals with criminal activities, using microbial signatures derived from a personal microbiome. This review highlights some important aspects of recent studies, many of which have revealed issues involving the effect of contamination of microbial samples from both technical and environmental sources and their impacts on microbiome research and the potential forensic applications of microbial profiling. It is imperative that these challenges be discussed and evaluated within a forensic context to better understand the future directions and potential applications of microbial profiling for human identification. It is necessary that the limitations identified be resolved prior to the adoption of microbial profiling, or, at a minimum, acknowledged by those applying this new approach.
A Novel Hierarchical Nanostructure for Enhanced Optical Nonlinearity Based on Scattering Mechanism.

Surface modification of nonlinear optical materials (NOMs) is widely applied to fabricate diverse photonic devices, such as frequency combs, modulators, and all-optical switches. In this work, a double-layer nanostructure with heterogeneous nanoparticles (NPs) is proposed to achieve enhanced third-order optical nonlinearity of NOMs. The mechanism of modified optical nonlinearity is elucidated to be the scattering-induced energy transfer between adjacent NPs layers. Based on the LiNbO3 platform, as a typical example, double layers of embedded Cu and Ag NPs are synthesized by sequential ion implantation, demonstrating twofold magnitude of near-infrared enhancement factor and modulation depth in comparison with a single layer of Cu NPs. With the elastic collision model and thermolysis theory being considered, the shift of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak reveals the formation mechanism of the double-layer nanostructure. Utilizing the enhanced optical nonlinearity of LiNbO3 as modulators, a Q-switched mode-locked waveguide laser at 1 µm is achieved with shorter pulse duration. It suggests potential applications to improve the performance of nonlinear photonic devices by using double-layer metallic nanostructures.
Diurnal Regulation of In Vivo Localization and CO2-Fixing Activity of Carboxysomes in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942

Carboxysomes are the specific CO2-fixing microcompartments in all cyanobacteria. Although it is known that the organization and subcellular localization of carboxysomes are dependent on external light conditions and are highly relevant to their functions, how carboxysome organization and function are actively orchestrated in natural diurnal cycles has remained elusive. Here, we explore the dynamic regulation of carboxysome positioning and carbon fixation in the model cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 in response to diurnal light-dark cycles, using live-cell confocal imaging and Rubisco assays. We found that carboxysomes are prone to locate close to the central line along the short axis of the cell and exhibit a greater preference of polar distribution in the dark phase, coupled with a reduction in carbon fixation. Moreover, we show that deleting the gene encoding the circadian clock protein KaiA could lead to an increase in carboxysome numbers per cell and reduced portions of pole-located carboxysomes. Our study provides insight into the diurnal regulation of carbon fixation in cyanobacteria and the general cellular strategies of cyanobacteria living in natural habitat for environmental acclimation.
Beyond Human Hand: Shape-adaptive and Reversible Magnetorheological Elastomer-based Robot Gripper Skin.

Developing a simple and universal solution for gripping fragile, multiscaled, and arbitrary-shaped objects using a robot gripper is challenging. Herein, we propose a universal, shape-adaptive/retaining and reversible, hardness-variable gripper skin that serves as a resourceful solution for grasping such objects without damaging them. The proposed universal gripper skin based on a magnetorheological elastomer is attached to a robot gripper. The proposed skin takes the shape of a target object as soon as the gripper grasps the object. At this time, we solidify the gripper skin by applying a magnetic field, thereby allowing the gripper to grasp the target object easily. After releasing the objects, the magnetic field is removed and the deformed proposed gripper skin rapidly restores its original shape. The proposed adaptive gripper skin is made to grasp various target objects, such as cylinders, cuboids, and triangular prisms, based on which its grasping performance is evaluated.
Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Covalent Organic Frameworks: A Review.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are relatively recent materials. They have received great attention due to their interesting properties. However, the application of microwaves in its synthesis, despite its advantages, such as faster and more reproducible processes, is a minority. We report herein a comprehensive compilation of the research results published in the microwave assisted synthesis (MAS) of COFs. This review includes articles of 2D, and 3D COFs prepared using microwaves as source of energy. The articles have been classified depending on the functional groups including boronate ester, imines, enamines, azines, and triazines, among others. It compiles the main parameters of synthesis and characteristics of the materials together with some general issues related with COFs and microwaves. Also, the current and future perspectives of the topic have been discussed.
Emotional Education in Early Onset Schizophrenia and Asperger’s Syndrome

In this study, we aim to verify how emotional training can improve empathy and theory of mind (ToM) in patients diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia and Asperger’s syndrome. The study design includes 100 subjects divided into two experimental groups and two control groups. The two experimental groups followed a rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) protocol. The two control groups instead underwent cognitive behavioral psychotherapy training. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to analyze the difference between the Asperger’s syndrome (AS) and early onset schizophrenia (EOS) groups, pre and post training. Our analysis shows that the AS group improved post emotional training but only when emotions were internalized, as demonstrated by the improvement of the scores in the post-treatment eye test (ET) but not in the emotional quotient (EQ) test. The EOS group instead showed post-training improvement, not only concerning skills leading to internalizing emotions but also in empathy, as demonstrated by the improvement of EQ and Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ) test scores. These scores remained lower than in the control group. Finally, our findings reveal that the value of the treatment was more considerable for the EOS group than for the AS group due to the improvement in first- and second-order ToM skills and an improvement of empathic skills in the first group, followed by the group comprising AS subjects. In the AS group, the treatment only favored the enhancement of first-order ToM skills; however, this improved quality of life and social adaptation.