Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prediction of Global Distribution of Insect Pest Species in Relation to Climate by Using an Ecological Informatics Method

Abstract The aim of this work was to predict the worldwide distribution of two pest species—Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), the Mediterranean fruit fly, and Lymantria dispar (L.), the gypsy moth—based on climatic factors. The distribution patterns of insect pests have most often been investigated using classical statistical models or ecoclimatic assessment models such as CLIMEX. In this study, we used an artificial neural network, the multilayer perceptron, trained using the backpropagation algorithm, to model the distribution of each species. The data matrix used to model the distribution of each species was divided into three data sets to 1) develop and train the model, 2) validate the model and prevent over-fitting, and 3) test each model on novel data. The percentage of correct predictions of the global distribution of each species was high for Mediterranean fruit fly for the three data sets giving 95.8, 81.5, and 80.6% correct predictions, respectively, and 96.8, 84.3, and 81.5 for the gypsy moth. Kappa statistics used to test the level of significance of the results were highly significant (in all cases P < 0.0001). A sensitivity analysis applied to each model based on the calculation of the derivatives of each of a large number of input variables showed that the variables that contributed most to explaining the distribution of C. capitata were annual average temperature and annual potential evapotranspiration. For L. dispar, the average minimum temperature and minimum daylength range were the main explanatory variables. The ANN models and methods developed in this study offer powerful additional predictive approaches in invasive species research.
Use of Amarakosa and Hindi WordNet in Building a Network of Sanskrit Words

Sanskrit has a rich source of lexical resources in the form of various kinds of dictionaries, and a thesaurus in the form of Amarakosa. Further the rich derivational morphology provides various kinds of relations between the derived words with their head words. With the advent of computational technology now it is possible to build tools that can help a serious reader of Sanskrit to navigate through various words passing through different linkages the word has, to get a holistic view of the meaning of a word, provided such a network exists.
Exploring Parents’ Participation Decisions on School-Based Health Screenings in Mountainous Regions

Background Increasing the participation rate in health screenings is a major challenge. In West Virginia, USA, where a statewide, state-funded school-based health screening program has been offered to fifth-grade students and their parents/guardians for nearly 20 years, more than 50% of eligible participants consistently opt-out. Consequently, the purpose of this investigation is to determine a parent/guardian’s reasons for deciding whether to participate in a school-based health screening. Methods A cross-sectional study design was used and a total of 216 parents/guardians of fourth-grade students from 10 elementary schools in the northeast region of West Virginia participated in the study. The survey, based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), was used to explore a parent/guardian’s intentions when opting in or out of a school-based health screening for their child, and included items that represented direct determinants, indirect determinants, and behavioral intentions. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to measure the questionnaire’s potential to predict intentions and identify the predictive strength of each direct determinant. Results Results show that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control in the TPB (43%) provided strong evidence for predicting participation intentions. Specifically, attitude (β=0.73, P<0.001) was the strongest predictor of intention, followed by subjective norms (β=-0.17, P<0.01). Conclusion This study suggests that strategies to facilitate positive attitudes and increase parental awareness of health screening initiatives may influence participation rates within community- and school-based programming.
The importance of clinical documentation improvement for Australian hospitals

Clinical documentation improvement (CDI) is a recent initiative gaining increased momentum in Australia. The benefits surrounding its success internationally include improved quality and patient safety outcomes and increased reimbursement. The premise of CDI is simple: engage clinicians to improve the clinical documentation in the medical record in “real time” so that it is fit for reporting, analysis and reimbursement. Every country has differing healthcare systems and this article has focused on validating the relevancy of CDI for the Australian healthcare environment.
Regulation of cytochrome P450 expression by microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs: Epigenetic mechanisms in environmental toxicology and carcinogenesis

Abstract Environmental exposures to hazardous chemicals are associated with a variety of human diseases and disorders, including cancers. Phase I metabolic activation and detoxification reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) affect the toxicities of many xenobiotic compounds. Proper regulation of CYP expression influences their biological effects. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are involved in regulating CYP expression, and ncRNA expression is regulated in response to environmental chemicals. The mechanistic interactions between ncRNAs and CYPs associated with the toxicity and carcinogenicity of environmental chemicals are described in this review, focusing on microRNA-dependent CYP regulation. The role of long noncoding RNAs in regulating CYP expression is also presented and new avenues of research concerning this regulatory mechanism are described.
Effect of Cotton Cultivar on Development and Reproduction of Aphis gossypii (Homoptera: Aphididae) and Its Predator Propylaea japonica (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Abstract The effects of three cotton cultivars with low (‘ZMZ13’), medium (‘HZ401’), and high (‘M9101’) gossypol contents on the development, reproduction, and survival of Aphis gossypii Glover and its predator Propylaea japonica (Thunberg) were investigated. Developmental duration and immature survivorship did not vary between aphids on the three cultivars, whereas A. gossypii feeding on M9101 (high gossypol cultivar) displayed significantly shorter adult longevity and lower fecundity than aphids fed on ‘ZMS13’ and ‘HZ401’. Free fatty acid content in cotton aphids reared on ‘M9101’ was greater than in those reared on ‘HZ401’ and ‘ZMS13’. No significant differences in survival and lifetime fecundity of P. japonica were observed between P. japonica fed cotton aphids reared on the three different cultivars. P. japonica fed aphids from ‘M9101’ showed a significantly shorter developmental period and greater adult weight than those fed aphids from the other two cultivars. The decreased larval developmental duration and increased adult weight of P. japonica fed cotton aphids reared on the high gossypol-containing cultivar might have been caused by the high fatty acid content of the prey aphids. Our results indicate that high gossypol in host cotton had an antibiotic effect on A. gossypii and showed a positive effect on growth and development of P. japonica at the third trophic level. This suggests compatibility between one form of host plant resistance and biological control by predators. The allelochemical contents should be taken into account in integrated pest management for their effects on both herbivores and entomophagous insects.
Can the CANTAB identify adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? A controlled study

Abstract We examined the diagnostic utility of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) for identifying adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The sample consisted of clinically referred adults aged 18 to 60 years old, with (n = 474) and without (n = 163) DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD. All subjects were administered seven subtests from the CANTAB that targeted domains of executive functioning and verbal memory. Data were analyzed to identify which CANTAB tasks would best predict ADHD status. Our results failed to show any diagnostic utility for the CANTAB in adults with ADHD, even when using the most robust tests (Affective Go/No-go [AGN] Total Commissions and [RTI] Simple Reaction Time) identified from stepwise logistic regression (forward selection; p > 0.05 for entry). However, the CANTAB was helpful in identifying executive functioning disorder (EFD) in adults with ADHD when compared with controls subjects. Even though the CANTAB lacked diagnostic utility for adults with ADHD, the findings provided further evidence that adult ADHD is strongly associated with EFD. This study represents the most comprehensive evaluation of the diagnostic utility of the CANTAB in a clinical sample of adults with ADHD.
Sex differences in cardiovascular responses to orthostatic challenge in healthy older persons: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND Premenopausal women show a higher incidence of orthostatic hypotension than age-matched men, but there are limited data available on sex differences in cardiovascular responses to orthostatic challenge in healthy older persons. We investigated sex differences in hemodynamic and autonomic responses to orthostatic challenge in healthy older males and females. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fourteen older healthy women and 10 age-matched men performed a sit-to-stand test (5 min of sitting followed by 5 min of standing). A Task Force® Monitor continuously measured the following beat-to-beat hemodynamic parameters: heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, stroke index, cardiac index, and total peripheral resistance index. Cardiac autonomic activity, low-frequency (LF: 0.04-0.15 Hz) normalized (LFnuRRI) and high-frequency (HF: 0.15-0.4 Hz) normalized (HFnuRRI) components, and the ratio between LF and HF power (LF/HF) were calculated using power spectral analysis of heart rate variability. RESULTS Across all hemodynamic parameters, there were no significant differences between the sexes at baseline and during standing. LFnuRRI (median: 70.2 vs. 52.3, p < 0.05) and LF/HF ratio (median: 2.4 vs. 1.1, p < 0.05) were significantly higher, whereas HFnuRRI (median: 29.8 vs. 47.7, p < 0.05) was lower among women at baseline. All other heart rate variability measures did not differ between the sexes. CONCLUSIONS The data indicate that older women showed higher sympathetic and lower parasympathetic activity at rest compared to age-matched men. These results are contradictory to the observations from previous studies, which showed a reduced sympathetic and enhanced parasympathetic activity in women in all ages. Further studies are required to determine the underlying mechanisms contributing to higher incidence of orthostatic hypotension in older females.
Energy trends and the water-energy binomium for Brazil

According to the demands of energy saving and carbon emission reduction, the water vs. energy nexus has become a major concern worldwide. Brazil occupies a singular position in the global energy system. A major portion of the Brazilian occupancies has electricity and the energy system expansion that, at first, possesses adequate means for supporting the economic growing may experience some turnovers. The Brazil determination through alternative fuels was a natural choice, given its large hydropower potential and land agricultural base. In the transportation sector Brazil has developed its energy matrix towards an important rate of ethanol and biodiesel. Although those fuels are low carbon emitter, they may probably not be an affordable alternative regarding land use, food security and water footprint. In this way, considering the recent advances in the exploration of oil from Pre-salt (9-15 million barrels) and the discovery of shale gas wells up to 245 tcf, together to unfavorable social and environmental issues associated to biofuels, the Brazilian energy matrix might turn back to the fossil fuels again. These represent challenges to the Brazilian policymakers and how they will be solved will reflect not only in Brazil but also to the world at large.
Using the distress thermometer to guide electronic referrals to psychosocial services

Abstract Purpose: Evaluate a new administration protocol of the distress thermometer (DT) and assess its use in guiding electronic referrals within the medical record. Design: Data were gathered as part of a quality improvement project. Sample: Any patient within Saint Luke’s Cancer Institute from March of 2016 to December of 2017. Methods: The DT was administered at every appointment with surgical and medical oncology and on Mondays while completing radiation. A referral to supportive services was offered to any patient scoring a 4 or above. Findings: Referrals to all supportive services increased by 69%. Staff adherence to distress screening guidelines increased to 95.42% and patient refusal to accept referrals fell to 2.72%. Conclusion: Administering the DT on a more regular basis and utilizing the DT to guide electronic referrals is achievable and results in increased referrals to supportive services. Implications for psychosocial providers or policy: Utilizing the DT in this manner can increase the number of patients identified and treated for distress.
Efficient plagiarism detection for large code repositories

Unauthorized re‐use of code by students is a widespread problem in academic institutions, and raises liability issues for industry. Manual plagiarism detection is time‐consuming, and current effective plagiarism detection approaches cannot be easily scaled to very large code repositories. While there are practical text‐based plagiarism detection systems capable of working with large collections, this is not the case for code‐based plagiarism detection. In this paper, we propose techniques for detecting plagiarism in program code using text similarity measures and local alignment. Through detailed empirical evaluation on small and large collections of programs, we show that our approach is highly scalable while maintaining similar levels of effectiveness to that of the popular JPlag and MOSS systems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
MRI Tumor Segmentation for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Using Knowledge-based Fuzzy Clustering

Tumor segmentation is one of the important steps for volume measurement of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tumor by imaging diagnostics. A knowledge-based fuzzy clustering (KBFC) MRI segmentation algorithm was proposed to obtain accurate NPC tumor segmentation. An initial segmentation was performed on T1 and contrast enhanced T1 MR images using a semi-supervised fuzzy c-means (SFCM) algorithm. Then, three types of anatomic and space knowledge--symmetry, connectivity and cluster center were used for image analysis which contributed to the final tumor segmentation. Visual evaluation on MR images of NPC patients showed that KBFC achieved better tumor segmentation results than seeds growing (SG) and maximal likelihood method (MLM), compared with ground truth (GT). KBFC could provide high quality of MRI tumor segmentation for further tumor volume measurement, 3D visualization and treatment planning.
Neurocognitive processes underlying academic difficulties in very preterm born adolescents

ABSTRACT Very preterm birth is associated with academic difficulties, but the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms of these difficulties remain largely unclear. The present study aimed to assess the role of working memory (WM), attentional processes, and processing speed in academic difficulties of very preterm born adolescents at 13 years. Participants included 55 very preterm and 61 full-term adolescents. Academic performance, visuospatial WM, alerting, orienting, executive attention, sustained attention, and processing speed (simple and choice reaction time [RT]) were compared between groups. Mediation analyses with multiple, parallel mediators were performed to examine whether these functions mediate the relation between very preterm birth and academic performance. Very preterm born adolescents showed poorer reading comprehension, arithmetic, visuospatial WM, alerting, sustained attention, and choice RT than full-term controls. The relationship between very preterm birth and arithmetic was mediated by visuospatial WM, sustained attention, and choice RT. The relationship between very preterm birth and reading comprehension was mediated by visuospatial WM and choice RT. The findings indicate that very preterm birth affects arithmetic and reading comprehension through its negative effect on visuospatial WM, sustained attention, and processing speed. These neurocognitive processes may identify very preterm born children at risk for academic difficulties and could serve as targets for interventions.
Artificial neural networks for distributed adaptive routing on dynamic topology networks

In considering distributed adaptive routing schemes for large networks with dynamic topology, the need for an unconventional shortest path algorithm arises from the excessive computation overhead associated with repeated path/distance calculations. The authors provide the design specifics of such an algorithm, and establish its performance characteristics through rigorous analysis and simulation. The new algorithm exploits the intrinsic parallelism of neural network architectures and solves the single-pair shortest path problem in such a way that: (i) the computation time is independent of the number of network nodes; and (ii) the frequent shortest distance/path re-calculations inherently associated with topology changes are performed much faster than conventional algorithms. Simple exploitation of the inherent parallelism allows extension of the algorithm to solving single-source and all-pair shortest path problems without compromising the trait of constant convergent complexity. <<ETX>>
In search of the cuckoo's nest (computer security)

In C. Stoll's recent book, The Cuckoo's Egg, he describes the pursuit of a computer hacker who, like the cuckoo, left something in the computing nests of other users. The author offers an auditing perspective to find the vulnerable computer nest which may have some malicious code planted in it by an intruder because of a breakdown in security design or practice of the targeted computing environment nest. He examines the security implications for an increasingly open network architecture, the lessons learned from performing intrusion post-mortems, the need for architecture plans and systems engineering for security, and an audit framework for evaluating security. <<ETX>>
Perfusion CT radiomics as potential prognostic biomarker in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

M. Bogowicz , S. Tanadini-Lang, P. Veit-Haibach, M. Pruschy, S. Bender, A. Sharma, M. H€ ullner, G. Studer, S. Stieb, H. Hemmatazad, S. Glatz, M. Guckenberger and O. Riesterer Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Institute for Radiation Oncology, Cantonal Hospital Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland; Center for Radiation Oncology, KSA-KSB, Cantonal Hospital Aarau, Aarau, Switzerland
Mining Fuzzy Frequent Item Set using Compact Frequent Pattern (CFP) Tree Algorithm

The problem of mining quantitative data from large transaction database is considered to be an important critical task. Researchers have proposed efficient algorithms for mining of frequent itemsets based on Frequent Pattern (FP) tree like structure which outperforms Apriori like algorithms by its compact structure and less generation of candidate itemsets mostly for binary data items from huge transaction database. Fuzzy logic softens the effect of sharp boundary intervals and solves the problem of uncertainty present in data relationships. This proposed approach integrates the fuzzy logic in the newly invented tree-based algorithm by constructing a compact sub-tree for a fuzzy frequent item significantly efficient than other algorithms in terms of execution times, memory usages and reducing the search space resulting in the discovery of fuzzy frequent itemsets.
Redox signals at the ER–mitochondria interface control melanoma progression

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are emerging as important regulators of cancer growth and metastatic spread. However, how cells integrate redox signals to affect cancer progression is not fully understood. Mitochondria are cellular redox hubs, which are highly regulated by interactions with neighboring organelles. Here, we investigated how ROS at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–mitochondria interface are generated and translated to affect melanoma outcome. We show that TMX1 and TMX3 oxidoreductases, which promote ER–mitochondria communication, are upregulated in melanoma cells and patient samples. TMX knockdown altered mitochondrial organization, enhanced bioenergetics, and elevated mitochondrial‐ and NOX4‐derived ROS. The TMX‐knockdown‐induced oxidative stress suppressed melanoma proliferation, migration, and xenograft tumor growth by inhibiting NFAT1. Furthermore, we identified NFAT1‐positive and NFAT1‐negative melanoma subgroups, wherein NFAT1 expression correlates with melanoma stage and metastatic potential. Integrative bioinformatics revealed that genes coding for mitochondrial‐ and redox‐related proteins are under NFAT1 control and indicated that TMX1, TMX3, and NFAT1 are associated with poor disease outcome. Our study unravels a novel redox‐controlled ER–mitochondria–NFAT1 signaling loop that regulates melanoma pathobiology and provides biomarkers indicative of aggressive disease.
Impaired skeletal muscle mitochondrial pyruvate uptake rewires glucose metabolism to drive whole-body leanness

Metabolic cycles are a fundamental element of cellular and organismal function. Among the most critical in higher organisms is the Cori Cycle, the systemic cycling between lactate and glucose. Here, skeletal muscle-specific Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier (MPC) deletion in mice diverted pyruvate into circulating lactate. This switch disinhibited muscle fatty acid oxidation and drove Cori Cycling that contributed to increased energy expenditure. Loss of muscle MPC activity led to strikingly decreased adiposity with complete muscle mass and strength retention. Notably, despite decreasing muscle glucose oxidation, muscle MPC disruption increased muscle glucose uptake and whole-body insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, chronic and acute muscle MPC deletion accelerated fat mass loss on a normal diet after high fat diet-induced obesity. Our results illuminate the role of the skeletal muscle MPC as a whole-body carbon flux control point. They highlight the potential utility of modulating muscle pyruvate utilization to ameliorate obesity and type 2 diabetes.